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rainy-autumn-day · 4 years

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10 Books to read this Autumn & Halloween🍁🍂🍁

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker

This start of beautiful season off with something classic and a little scary.

The name of Dracula brings to mind visions of vampires, stakes, garlic, and crucifixes. Yet, when you read the novel, it becomes self-evident how twisted modern vampire fiction now is. The vampires in this classic story are not meant to inhabit the roles of heroes. Instead you go back a few hundred years when men and women believed truly that the vampire was a real immortal, cursed to quench his undying thirst with a living mortal’s blood. The very idea of a blood drinker should, therefore, inspire the image of a villain and that is what the titular character of this novel is. A villan you can’t help but keep reading about.

2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Another story that is perfect if you want something that will keep you up at night like it did for me when I read it last year.

There is scarcely any comfort to be found in this book, only an ancient, arcane horror. Ten people receive a mystery letter from someone they don't know that indicates they should come to a remote island. Why would they go????? After arriving, they try to figure out the connection between all of them while waiting for their mysterious host. After coming across a cute little poem about how ten little indians die, they decide they will wait it out until the next morning when the ferry comes back to take them home. But it will never come! Each guest suddenly dies matching the line from a poem. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

3. THE BONE WITCH BY RIN CHUPECO

A story about a young witch just fits so well with this season, but this story is not about a teenage witch =just flying around on a broom. No it’s far darker than that. When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha—one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.

4. Night Film by Marisha Pessl

This story opens in October on a cool evening with a blood chilling scene, it’s really everything you could hope for on a autumn night.

Night Film opens on a cold, cursed October evening, when Ashley Cordova, a young women full of potential, is found dead in a warehouse. Police rule her death a suicide, but investigative journalist Scott McGrath isn't so sure. From that inception point, Scott McGrath enters the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley's life and death, and comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror film director Stanislaus Cordova--a man who hasn't been seen in public for more than thirty years. For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova's dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself. Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova's eerie, hypnotic world. The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more.

5. Autumn by Ali Smith

Ali Smith's lauded Seasonal quartet, a series of four novels rooted in a different time of year, kicks off with Autumn there we watch as love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as they always do.

6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I can’t tell you how many times i have read this beaful story in my life buti wants have it one my list to read at last once a year and i find it fits so well in to the amazing season that is autumn with The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring

7.I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney

This story is haunting and it will stay with you after you read it.

It's dark, twisted and unpredictable until the very last chapter keeping me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning. You are met with the unknown as you meet Aimee Sinclair, an actress who after coming home, she realizes her husband is missing and after that you are sent on a wild ride to find him.

8.Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Another classic. I have always found that that reading about a world now gone is so very perfect for autumn, as we watch the leaves we had watch grow turn colors and fly away from us.

Little Women is a beauty told story with each of the sisters seeks out a different form of happiness: Meg wants to marry, Jo wants to be a writer, Beth wants to care for her family, and Amy craves material success. We get to live their world as we following the lives and loves of the four March sisters and their mother as they mature from youth through adolescence and adulthood.

9.Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

If you love gothic horror, this one is for you. It has the same feeling as Jane Eyre but way creepier and set in 1950’s Mexico.

The atmosphere is perfect for the season, a debutante heads to a creepy countryside house, after receiving an ominous letter from her newlywed cousin, and finds the dark secrets that lie within the house and its occupants.

10.The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

A suspenseful and eerie mystery told via dual timelines all surrounding a rundown roadside motel and the secrets lurking that captivated a woman so much that she went missing in the 1980’s and now have caught the attention of her niece 35 years later. If you love a good mystery mixed with timeline jumping this a perfect one for you.

Bonus

11.The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Handmaid’s Tale meets Salem: Born of rebellious feminist resistance by a girl who is branded as cursed because of her mother’s sins and facing the dark powers to make definite and concrete changes at the dystopian, puritanical, secluded society consisted of hypocrisy, ignorance, illogical and unfair laws.

This is another terrifying, fist clenching, soul shivering, mind crushing, heart pounding, forehead sweating, edgy, spooky, bleak, dark journey take you to the dark woods to face the four witches are ready to haunt you in your dreams and place a quite irritating thoughts inside your brains.

#reading #read #Halloween #autumn #books

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some-dr-writings · 4 years

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Gundham x tattoo artist Reader

· It was a day like any other when Gundham strolled into your life. You didn’t think much of it, he was simply one of your customers. He didn’t ask for much either just a simple design on his back, between the shoulder blades. There was just one… issue you guessed one would call it. He was a bit apprehensive for you to touch him, despite that being very necessary for the process. Strange since he didn’t seem to not like needle, just human touch. “I’ll be wearing gloves through the whole process, just standard protocol.” That somehow eased him a bit, but… that interaction stuck with you, even after your work was done. He was very pleased with your work… you thought at least. He was smiling as he spoke those… words? He had a very flowery vocabulary that went straight over your head at times, especially when he became excited.

· After that you simply went about your life. You had actually completely forgotten about him till as you were exiting your workplace one wintery day. You sighed, watching your frozen breath drifting away, smiling to yourself, recalling those long gone days where you and your friends fancied yourselves as dragons, smoke wasting from your nostrils preparing to unleash a burst of flames from your mouth to warm yourself and the frosty world around you. Was that where your love of dragons came from you wondered. You dug your hands into the pockets of your coat, your gloves not being enough to keep them from freezing. Letting out a huff you watched your breath, wishing you truly could breathe fire like you had drawn so many times over as a child of your dragonsona… rather embarrassing times to recall. As your cheeks steadily darkened that bright apple red due to the memories instead of the cold as most would assume, you didn’t notice that dark cloaked figure approach you. “So it seem I’ve caught you just in time.” “Huh? Oh, it’s you. Hello. I assume you want another tattoo?” “Greetings, and your intuition is correct, I wish to seek thy aid in concentrating my power in this form, increasing my astral level. Your last talisman has done wonders and only one with as high a skill level as you may even come close to accomplishing that which I seek.” “astral… Uh… I’m on break right now, you can talk with Troy, they just started their shift and I think they’re open right now.” “What!? I scoff at such a statement! Are your ears clogged by this ice that’s consumed the land? I had stated before, did I not, that only one of your skill may take up this task?” “Still? Well, Troy is new but they’re talented, I can assure that you’re in good hands… Uh, that is what you’re upset about, right?” “Are you mocking me!?” “No? I’m just… having a hard time understand you, but I’m trying my best.” No, not that! Sending me off to seek out another in your stead.” “… You… only want me to work on you?” With his arms crossed he closed his eyes, giving you a single curt nod. “Indeed.” “… Buy me lunch.” Before Gundham could respond you started walking away. “Excuse me!?” “You’re using up my break time which is short. Buy me lunch and we can discuss what you’d like during my break so we can get straight to business when my break ends.” “Hmm.” After a moment Gundham trotted up to you, silently agreeing to this.

· “Animals?” “Indeed, do you believe you can complete such a task?” “Well…” Resting your chin on your propped-up hand you mulled it over, slowly munching on our lunch. “Yeah, I’ve done animals before. I specialize with scaled or feathered critters though. I mean I an do fur well, but I certainly have more practice with the other two.” “That I can see, your fondness for such creatures is imprinted into your being.” You smiled, looking to your sleeve tattoo with a snakelike dragon predominantly on it. “Yeah, kinda obvious, I guess. Hell, drawing those guys so much is why I pursued this path in the first place. Being payed to draw what I love most in a rather permanent form sounded nice to me.” You caught how Gundham’s eyes seemed to sparkle at that. “I even have some friends at home. A python and a pair of macaws. Ah, the stories I can conjure up of those three troublemakers.” You lightly chuckled, shaking your head recalling the many messes they managed to get themselves into. “Oh go on, I’d love to hear of such tales.” “Maybe on our next date, we really need to get back to business now.” You were desperate to repress your laughter seeing how Gundham instantly grew flustered, his pale skin igniting in those bright red hues. “I jest, I jest, but we do need to talk business though. A small spot between your shoulder blades is one thing, a full sleeve is another, but the rest of your back would take a long time, many sessions along with time for your skin to heal, I also have other customers which could cause delays so, if you’re willing to be patient, I could get it done.”

· And so Gundham would regularly come for his scheduled appointments. You quickly began to look forward to these days, over time you figured out how to translate his vernacular and you had rather fun chats with him. Eventually you ended up spending time together outside of work, first inviting him out for dinner after your shift which turned into visiting one another places, adoring their animal companions. Quickly you were just together. A mutual understanding that wasn’t explicated stated. Even after his tattoos were finished the pair of you discussed at length to adding more to it, maybe getting you some with similar elements.

· You also rather liked how Gundham could rope his friends into getting tattoos from you. He’d gladly show them off if others asked, but especially for his high school classmates, his only human friend group it seemed. You never thought you’d get to ink a princess, but Gundham easily got that unfathomable dream to come true. He also was rather fond of showing you off to his friends, going on and on about you, your talent, animal companions, how extraordinary you were at drawing out other’s inner power! You were rather calm and chill most everyone but one person you were a bit… on edge around was Fuyuhiko. It was nothing he did, it was just what he represented. You rather despised the stigmatism that only gang members like he got tattoos, people like him gave your art and profession a bad name, even being banned from some places if you had tattoos, no matter who you were. It didn’t help that Fuyuhiko got work for the Kuzuryu clan for you, but… he was a nice guy. You liked him but didn’t care for what his predecessors had done.

· Gundham’s friends were certainly a colorful bunch and welcomed you with open arms.

· Despite Gundham being perfectly fine with you sticking ink into his skin he was still apprehensive to touch. This especially so with strangers who wanted to be rather touchy of his tattooed arm. You’d often have to calm Gundham or tell off the strangers before they touched him. Each time you did so Gundham would heartfully thank you. At first the only touch your Overlord of Ice was alright with was you laying your hands upon your work, “What you’ve given me, it is like eternal contact, your power is imbued there, and with such a concentration of power you are safe from my own.” You didn’t truly know the extent of those words till you started noticing a habit of his. Whenever he was uncomfortable or upset, he’d gently rub his sleeve tattoo. “W-why, I do so?” A blush would flair across his face as his demeanor turned sheepish, tenderly holding his tattooed arm. “You’ve left an eternal mark upon my being. No matter where or when, you are with me, I may a fragment of your embrace even when, I, myself is yet prepared for such connection… I… I thank you so much for your understand on this matter, how you’ve always respected it.”

· Gundham always served as your muse when you needed inspiration when drawing or making new designs. You adored watching him interacting with animals, how he so earnestly smiled in that way only he could that melted our heart each and every time. Everything abut him was just so captivating to you. You also loved how you’d catch Gundham not so covertly looking your shoulder, curious as to what shape you were forming with those misshapen lines.

· The pair of your adored one another. You happily gave Gundham more tattoos while he helped you figure out what you wanted for yourself next. You both were amazing for one another, always serving as inspiration for the other. You both loved one another, wanting to help the other in whatever they pursued. Neither of you could want for another.

#gundham tanaka #gundham x reader #Mod Gundham #danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #danganronpa2 #Super Danganronpa 2 #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa imagine #danganronpa 2 imagine #danganronpa 2 imagines #dr imagine #dr imagines #dr 2 imagine #dr 2 imagines #danganronpa x reader

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gyucore · 4 years

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run to the shadows

pairing: soobin x reader

genre: angst (?), supernatural au

word count: 5.1k

warnings: swearing, blood and wounds, character death

synopsis: the city is on a lockdown. people with uncontrollable elemental powers are springing up left and right. the government is trying to capture every single elemental in the guise of protecting the citizens. much to your dismay, your fiancé, soobin, just had to be one of them.

The rays of the sunset left a warm sensation on your skin. The gentle breeze passing by gives you a moment of coolness that vanished as fast as it came. Children's laughter could be heard close by, their parents watching over them from afar. Sometimes, someone would pass by and greet you with a smile before continuing their way beside the calm waters of the lake. You look on to the horizon and gaze upon the direction where the sun had set, holding on to this scenic view one last time.

The blanket of the night sky soon came, a reminder that you had to quickly return home. You leave the lakeside with a heavy feeling on your chest— one that you can't seem to shake off. But there were more important matters to be dealt with.

"Hurry inside, sweetie, before the raiders come." You hear a mother say, ushering her child inside their car, her tone laced with worry as she made sure the doors were closed shut. "We don't want to be around when they capture the bad people."

Capturing bad people, huh. Even hearing the phrase was distasteful. One wouldn't expect for a government that's supposed to protect its citizens to go around doing something as inhumane as capturing someone and imprisoning them despite having done nothing wrong, and branding these victims as bad people just because they were forced into their situation.

Your thoughts fill with worry and the heavy feeling in your chest worsens. You're not sure whether this was the usual looming threat of having your life endangered, or the effect of having left your fiance's side after a huge argument. Part of you knows it's the latter.

"Soobin.." You sigh, your chest not feeling any lighter as you did. Scenes from earlier replay in your mind and you silently wish things had gone differently.

The walk home was quiet. Not a lot of people were wandering around at night anymore, even the questionable individuals that once littered the darker streets and alleys. Whether this was a good thing or not was up to how much the whole situation affected an individual.

In the more populated neighborhoods, the lights would be dimmed, the curtains drawn, the gates closed, and the windows locked shut. The clean asphalt beneath your feet soon met with bits and pieces of rubbish as you reach the farthest back of the neighborhood. The place was dark with most of the streetlight broken. You'd think that after a year, at least most of them would've been fixed but the government had a more important investment to focus on than providing their citizens the bare minimum security they at least deserve.

A creaking sound from the dark alerts your senses. Your hands come up in front as balled fists as you take a defensive stance, reminding yourself that if ever worse comes to worst, you had a dagger hidden in your pocket.

You make a quick scan of your surroundings, taking notice of every minute movement and sound your senses could pick up. No one. You'd like to think you were just being paranoid but you never know what might happen. Your heart beats faster in your chest as you go through ever possible scenario that might happen to you, or worse— to Soobin.

"Come out and face me!" You scream. Even if no one was there, no other person was living in this neighborhood that would bother to report a screaming maniac marching around their streets.

A few minutes pass and after checking each and every nearby nook and cranny, you slowly let your guard down. Perhaps you truly were just being paranoid. But who could blame you? The past few months hadn't exactly been the best. You've been in a lot of awful situations from having to hide for a week inside an abandoned theme park cave to nearly beating someone to death over food rations if Soobin hadn't stopped you.

It all started when one day, a phenomenon struck the city. Hundreds of people were turning up, reporting that they've been experiencing strange things with their body and surroundings. Eventually, it was discovered that they had somehow acquired the ability to manipulate the elements. The whole situation looked like it came straight out of a fantasy novel. But this wasn't your average story where the gifted ones get to go on crazy adventures to fulfill or prevent some messed up destiny. Quite the opposite actually.

The citizens with newfound abilities were tracked down to the ends of the city and captured. The government released a statement on how these citizens are no longer human. They were branded as monsters with uncontrollable powers that were planted in the city to harm the citizens, and eventually, the world.

They proposed a solution to lockdown the city in order to prevent the escape of these monstrous individuals and that they'd clear the streets at night from any and every individual who is suspected of possessing such abilities. Soon after, people were disappearing left and right. No one had been spared. They'd captured adults, teenagers, the elderly, and even children as young as a year old, and brought them into the holding facilities. Reports state that they were simply being held captive to enforce the necessary safety measures, but you knew all too well that they didn't stop there.

Experiments. They'd never admit to it but those that were heavily affected by these regulations knew that behind closed doors were vicious experiments being held in order to find a way to utilize these abilities for the government's advantage. One way to avoid this fate was to keep out of the prying eyes of the raiders, the ones in charge of finding and capturing the ability users.

"Y/N?"

Your eyes widen and you snap back to your senses, whirling around to see a familiar pair of eyes staring back at you.

"Y/N.." In an instant, you were engulfed in a tight hug. You feel his warmth slowly being passed down to you and for a brief moment, you allow yourself to melt in his arms. "You're safe.. I was so worried.."

You look up at none other than your fiancé, Soobin. Now that he was closer, you could see the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. It was clear that he'd been worried sick, and you were the same. A feeling of regret washes over you for ever leaving his side and causing him this much worry.

"Soobin, I—" You pause, forcing yourself out of his arms to look at the surroundings. "Let's talk inside. It's not safe out here."

Soobin nods, adjusting his hoodie as the two of you walk back inside your temporary base. The two of you had escaped into the lesser populated areas of the city to avoid public eye. You couldn't risk being seen by anyone at this state. Despite the government's unprecedented tactics, you hated to admit that they were right about one thing— most of the ability users couldn't control their powers, and unfortunately, Soobin was one of them.

Soobin paces back and forth in the living room, his mind racing with thoughts of worry. What if you had gotten mixed up into something dangerous while you were out? What if they had falsely accused you as an ability user? He wanted to scream the frustration out of his system, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good.

He regretted it. He regretted ever arguing with you in the first place. It wasn't even worth the risk of endangering both of you.

Soobin hated his newfound powers, hated how he had to hide in the slums of the city to stay alive, hated how he could never go out to see the world without putting his life at risk, and hated how you could only do so much to console him. How would you, an ordinary person, be able to relate to his worries? Eventually, he grew envious of how you could leave the house even if it was only to purchase groceries at a nearby store, and how you could bask in the warmth of the sun without having to worry about your abilities going berserk. All that pent-up emotion ended up with a huge fight. And eventually, you stormed out of the house.

Soobin had only come to terms with himself after watching you yell out in frustration before slamming the door behind and leaving.

It was you who had been by his side throughout everything. You didn't have a reason to hide, but you moved into the back of the city with him and catered to his every need. You held his hand at night when he feared he might go crazy in his sleep, and had been patient and understanding with him whenever his powers went haywire. You had protected him even when he insisted on being able to protect himself, and went to vast lengths to help him make it through until the end. Not once did you waver in front of him, and he felt so ashamed. How could he have let all those negative thoughts cloud his judgement?

Even now that he had risked his life and went outside to find you, he felt the regret deep inside his chest. Even now that he held you safely in his arms in the middle of the street, he couldn't let it go.

"Let's talk inside. It's not safe here."

Inside. It was for the best. "Okay."

It felt safer inside the house. The dim light coming from the living room lamp, thick walls, and drawn curtains brought on a familiar sense of comfort. Soobin had taken off his hoodie and tossed it aside, leaving him in his favorite loose white shirt. One thing you've come to notice even before your engagement was that he wore that specific shirt whenever he wanted some room to breathe. You hoped that he's had a good amount of that when you'd left him alone earlier.

Soobin makes himself comfortable on the couch next to the window, patting the spot next to him. You refrain from taking his offer. "Soobin, about earlier.."

“I'm sorry.” / “I'm sorry.”

Soobin looks up at you, blinking, and the two of you burst into laughter. After a while, he clears his throat and speaks up. You lean against the counter to hear him out. "You know, it's funny. Earlier I had this whole apology planned out in my head explaining everything— why I said all that stuff, and how I regret every single word. I wanted you to maybe understand where I'm coming from and how sorry I am but.." His eyes once again meet yours and as if a silent message had been conveyed, Soobin smiles. "Somehow, I feel like you already know."

You smile back, finally taking up his offer and plopping down right next to him on the couch. You rest your head on Soobin's shoulder, and he does the same. The warmth of his hand spreads throughout yours as he interlocks your fingers, bringing them close to your faces. The edge of your engagement rings glisten against the dim light, a promise of eternity with each other that would soon be sealed. An eternity in each other's embrace.

Before all of this had started, you had spent countless nights like this with Soobin, balled up together on the sofa or bed, and enjoying the warmth in each other's arms. Now, you'd barely spent the nights together. Rules had been established to keep you two safe from the prying eyes of the government, and naturally, there were also rules you'd agreed on to keep each other safe. One of those rules was that you couldn't sleep on the same bed. Soobin had no control of his powers and feared that he might hurt you in his sleep. You had tried it out once during the first week, ignoring the possibility. It didn't end well.

A knock on the front door breaks the silence in the room.

Soobin pulls you closer in his arms, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. A frown creeps up his lips as he leaned in closer to your face. “I know what you're thinking but please listen to me—”

“Soobin..” You look him in the eyes, holding his hand tighter. “I heard a noise on the way back. I think I might have been followed.”

Another knock sounds from the door, sounding more impatient than before

“In that case, I want you to stay behind.” Soobin says, letting go of your hand as he gets up from the couch.

“What? Why?” You follow right after, blocking Soobin's path to the door.

“You said you were being followed. If it's a raider then it couldn't have followed you to get to me when I haven't been outside in a long time.” Soobin sighs, walking around you. It wasn't news that raiders would falsely accuse random citizens as ability users for some short-term glory of having allegedly protected the city from these monsters. “I have a bad feeling about this, Y/N. I don't want you getting hurt.”

“And I don't want them to capture you.”

“They won't.”

“Soobin, please listen to me. You can't control your abilities yet. What if—” You were about to run after him when you notice you couldn't move. You look down and see that your feet had been bound to the ground by chains of ice. Since when had Soobin gained this much control over his powers? was the first thought that came to mind. He'd been training for a while but the results have been rather unhelpful. But not this time.

Soobin wasn't sure when he'd started feeling confident about his abilities, but he's sure of one thing. He'd use his abilities to protect what matters to him the most: you.

“Is someone there?” He asks before opening the door, heart thumping in his chest as he waited for an answer.

“Raid officer. I'm here to have a word, if I may.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“Justice sleeps for no one, sir.”

Justice. Soobin holds his breath as he opens the door, preparing himself for the worst. He comes face to face with a young man around his age— blond hair, clean and kempt raider uniform— he didn't look like the type to be fooled easily.

“What brings you here this late at night, officer?”

The officer smiles, straightening himself up. “Sorry for the disturbance. I'm Officer Kang Taehyun, and that's my partner, Choi Yeonjun.” He points at a pink haired officer with unkempt uniform, leaning against their motorbikes. “We'd like to ask you a few questions.”

Soobin agrees to their request, fully stepping out of the house.

“Full name?”

"That's.." Soobin hesitates, pondering whether he should tell him his real name or not. He notices the folder Taehyun was holding, and figured that the Officer might have already known his identity. He was testing him. “Choi Soobin.”

“A pleasure meeting you, Mr. Choi Soobin. You live alone?”

“Yes.”

The officer raises a brow. “I see. Any visitors over? A relative, or perhaps a lover?”

Soobin's heart races. He could spot the officer's partner at the back, preparing hid gear. He didn't like where this was going. “No.”

"Is that so?" The officer, Taehyun, breaks into a smile— cold, unsettling. He wonders if this smile was the last others have seen before getting sent straight to the facilities.

"This side of the neighborhood is pretty quiet, don't you think? No one else is living here except you."

"This place certainly has its charms." Soobin shrugs, trying his best to drive away suspicion. "I don't mind living alone and the groceries aren't that far from here anyway."

Officer Yeonjun steps in, gear in place and face unreadable. He nudges Taehyun to the side and takes over the conversation. "Listen, we'll make this quick for you. My partner and I spotted a suspicious woman walking around this area. No one else is living here except you. Do you know anything about her?"

There it was. Soobin supposes he couldn't have avoided the question any longer. "No, I don't. I haven't seen anyone nearby either. I was here at home the entire night, making dinner."

"I see." Yeonjun nods, his hand slowly reaching for something in his pocket. "You seem like a pretty agreeable guy. I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we checked inside to see if you're telling the truth."

"Not at all." Soobin grins, opening the door wider. It's not like he could refuse them in the first place. Raiders had been given the authority to search any premises without a warrant. He just hopes you had half a mind to hide yourself by now.

And you did. Both of you had prepared the house for circumstances like this. There was a trap door in the living room where you could hide in the case of an emergency. Soobin had melted the ice once Officer Yeonjun stepped in, and that was enough of a signal for you to hide. You couldn't afford to put Soobin in any more risk than he was already in.

Heavy footsteps liter the living room. Two, no, three pairs? That meant the two officers had gone inside with Soobin.

"Mr. Choi, would you mind showing my partner upstairs?"

"Of course."

You feel your pulse start to race. Soobin being alone with a raider was putting them in a stickier situation. If he loses control at any moment, this could mean the end of their lives. You couldn't help but peek through the hole on the floorboard. Only the pink haired officer was left behind to search the living room. You try to breathe quieter, hoping he wouldn't notice your presence.

The officer brings his hand to his ear, head shifting around as if making sure there weren't any witnesses.

"What is he doing?" You think to yourself, bracing for the worst.

"Taehyun's got him cornered upstairs. The girl isn't here. We'll proceed as planned."

You hold back a gasp and stumble back. A loud thump sounds upstairs followed by a glass shattering. Soobin!

The officer hears the noise and sighs, smashing his communicator onto the ground. He crouches down onto the floorboard and knocks twice. "Hey, I know you're there. Listen to me."

You don't respond, shock and fear stopping you from even breathing.

"This may be too much to ask, but please trust me. I'm part of the anti-faction unit that's here to support the ability users. My partner will capture your boyfriend and bring him to the facilities and I don't have a choice but to help him. I'll report you as a missing case so run away after my partner and I leave. There's no saving your boyfriend now so you could at least save yourself."

"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just save him?" You choke on your words, anger slowly rising. If he was here as an undercover agent then he could've at least saved Soobin.

"It's loo late. The facility's had an eye on him for months. If I do anything now, my cover would be blown. I can't have that." The officer frowns. You could see his fallen expression through the hole but that wasn't enough to calm you down.

"And I can't have Soobin getting killed." You snarl, hands balling into fists.

"He won't." The officer says before standing up. "They'll be down soon. Just do as I say and save yourself."

You feel your blood boiling. They knew Soobin was an ability user from the start and had used you as an excuse to lure him in a tight spot. Abandon Soobin? Not a chance. You didn't abandon him back then and you were sure as hell you wouldn't be abandoning him now when he needed you most.

"Move."

"Hm?"

The trap door had enough space to hide in, but that also meant you had enough space to make a running start. "I said move." You ram against the floorboard, knocking Yeonjun off and bursting the door open.

You were free.

"Soobin! Get out of there!" You scream the moment you got out, running as fast as your legs could carry you towards the stairs.

"Are you crazy?!" Yeonjun runs after you, breath hitching as he manages to grab your leg. "You could get killed!"

You kick Yeonjun's hand, causing him to stumble behind. "Soobin!" You scream, dashing upstairs. You make a sharp turn towards his bedroom and find him down on the floor, blood dripping from his hands.

Soobin looks at you, tears threatening to prick his eyes. "Y/N, get away from here!"

"Soobin.." Your gaze shifts from his worried eyes to Officer Taehyun's cold ones, looking at you like you were as significant as a tiny insect. It was only then that you realized what a mess the place was. The book case had been knocked over, sending the books scattering around the room. A huge spear of ice had bursted from the ground and crashed onto the glass window, coming in between Soobin and the officer.

"So, you were here all along?" Officer Taehyun scoffs, his tone as cold as his expression.

"Y/N, stand back. I'll handle this." Soobin tells you, wincing as he holds a hand towards the officer.

"You can't do anything to me." Taehyun smirks, crossing his arms. "You used up all your energy making this freak ice appear and for what? To buy time? You're the type who loses energy while using your abilities, so why not stop now?" You see him glance your way before snickering. "Is it the girl? Do monsters even have time for love?"

"Might want to check in the mirror." You slowly inch towards Soobin's side. "Who's the monster here? A guy who's just trying to live his life quietly, or the one who's had innocent blood spilled in his hands for countless nights?"

Taehyun's amused expression falls. "Last time I checked, none of them were innocent. And I'm not the one who conjured ice from the ground to harm an officer. Normal humans don't do that shit. Monsters do. Isn't that right, Yeonjun?"

Before you knew it, you were pinned to the ground. Yeonjun had crept up on you from behind while you were distracted.

"Y/N!" Soobin rushes after you but stops as Yeonjun takes out a knife and puts it to your neck.

"Move and I'll cut her." Yeonjun spits out his empty threats. You knew he wouldn't harm you. He just wanted to get out of this mess as fast as possible.

Soobin clicks his tongue, lowering his hands in defeat. Taehyun finds himself smiling at the entire situation. "There you go. And just when I thought you'd lost your common sense."

He walks over to Soobin, carefully maneuvering through the ice and shards of glass. "Come with us quietly, and we'll set her free. No scratches, no anything. Do we have a deal?" He takes out specialized handcuffs used to detain ability users and twirls it around his fingers.

"Don't! Soobin, please! There must be another way!" You scream, trying to break free from Yeonjun's hold but that only made him pin you down harder.

Soobin looks back at you and then at Taehyun, shedding a tear as he holds his hands out in front. "Keep your end of the deal. I surrender."

"No!"

"Quiet." Yeonjun puts the blade back into his pockets and puts his hand over your mouth. "Mmf!"

You felt powerless as you watch Soobin get handcuffed, his eyes never leaving yours— taking in your face one last time. "I'm sorry." He whispers.

"Oh, and for safety measure." Taehyun hums as he takes out a tranquilizer needle, stabbing Soobin on the neck. Soobin's falls on the ground, unconscious. "You can't be too careful with these monsters." Taehyun chuckles, bending down and hoisting Soobin up in his shoulders. He walks over to you and Yeonjun, leaving behind a few instructions for his partner. "Release her when I give the signal."

"My communicator's broken."

Taehyun raises a brow.

"It fell and got stepped on when this chick came out of nowhere and ambushed me."

Taehyun sighs. "I suppose we don't have a choice. Use my communicator." He uses his free hand to hand Yeonjun his communicator.

Yeonjun holds it in his hand and nods. You try to look over the door towards Soobin, but they were long gone. Yeonjun notices this and bends down, whispering.

"Listen. The plans have changed." He holds out Taehyun's communicator in front of you and smashes it to the ground. "Taehyun has no means of contacting the others for backup, and they can't hear us from where they're parked. We might be able to save Soobin." He loosens his grip and lets you go.

"What made you change your mind?"

Yeonjun sighs, helping you up. "We actually have a fighting chance now if we work together."

"What do you mean?"

"It's gonna take Taehyun a while to sort through the mess blocking the door."

"Mess? What mess?" And then it hit you. "You missed it up on purpose." That's why it took him so long to catch up.

Yeonjun takes out a gun from his holster and cocks it. "Listen carefully. We don't have a lot of time. Taehyun's has his guard down right now. I'm gonna sneak up to him and shoot hid arm that's holding Soobin. As soon as he drops him, I want you to grab Soobin and take him to the back. I'll meet you there."

You didn't exactly trust the guy but you weren't in a situation to be picky. "Fine."

"On my signal." Yeonjun whispers, taking a step forward from your hiding spot.

The plan sets in motion. The two of you sneak downstairs, peeking at Taehyun who's trying to sift through the broken furniture with one hand.

"Wow, looks like the girl got away. My bad."

"What are you—"

Yeonjun pulls the trigger before Taehyun could turn around, hitting the heel on his right leg.

"Shit!" Taehyun winces in pain. He reaches for his gun but Yeonjun was faster, shooting two other bullets through his other leg and his shoulder that's holding Soobin. He drops Soobin to the ground with a thud.

Yeonjun turns to you. "Now!"

You sprint towards Soobin's body, adrenaline coursing through your veins.

"Hold it right there." Taehyun pulls out a knife and holds it towards Soobin's throat. "One step closer and I'll kill him. Even if that traitor shoots me, I'll just use the last of my energy to slash his throat. You don't want that now, do you?" The look in Taehyun's eyes infuriated you. He looked so confident that you wouldn't dare take another step further, none of you would. And he was right.

Your eyes fall upon Soobin, your heart squeezing in your chest at the thought of losing him. All you could hope for was a miracle. To hell, it didn't even need to be a miracle. It could be a tragedy, a curse, whatever. Just let Soobin return safely in your arms.

You feel your hands heating up despite the cool air rushing inside from the open windows. A warm sensation fills your chest and you gasp for air. Taehyun and Yeonjun observe as you grip your stomach. You feel like throwing up. It felt like you've lost all control in your body. You were sweating from the heat, and the world looked like it was spinning out of control. Your vision clouds until a bright light flashes, stunning you for a brief moment.

"What's wrong with you?"

Your attention shifts towards Taehyun who'd spoken and all you could see was red. "Let him go."

Taehyun tightens his grip on the handle. "I didn't know this monster's life meant so little to you."

"Sorry to break it to you, but his worth is immeasurable in my eyes. I'd do anything for him." You narrow your eyes at his face. "Even if it meant I'd have to spill blood in my hands."

"Y/N, what are you doing?" Yeonjun asks, his tone laced with worry.

"Committing a murder." You answer, not bothering to look at him. "But not a crime."

In a split-second, the door behind Taehyun explodes, the flaming debris piercing Taehyun straight in the chest, miraculously missing Soobin. Taehyun's lifeless body falls onto the ground and Yeonjun takes cover from the explosion. You stay plotted at the same spot, scratches littering your sides as you nearly miss the flying debris. The fire slowly spreads throughout the living room and your legs give in as you drop to the floor.

You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding, your arms instinctively reaching towards Soobin. Drained seemed like an understatement. You could barely move. It was as if all the energy you had earlier had been sucked out of your body.

"Y/N, get a hold of yourself!" Yeonjun rushes towards your side as soon as the coast was clear. "We have to get out of here!"

The world around you darkens and your mind turns blank. You couldn't even think at this point. Soobin was right in front of you yet nothing of what has happened has processed in your head. In the end, all you could do was stare at his face as hot tears spilled from your eyes.

"Snap out of it!"

You feel a stinging sensation coming from your cheek and you look up at Yeonjun. The air rushes back up your lungs and you gasp.

"Listen to me. We need to get out of here right now. If the fire spreads throughout the house, we're done for. We either die in flames or be killed once the backup finds us. Can you walk?"

"Yeah.. I think I can." You try your best to answer. He helps you on your feet before rushing towards Soobin.

Yeonjun stumbles as he hoists Soobin onto his back. He looks at you, eyes determined. "We managed to escape now, but who knows what'll happen next. What do we do now?"

In the end, it all came down to this. Wherever you went, it was all the same. You and Soobin have suffered too much, and it was time to put an end to it. Strangely enough, the flames that had swallowed your living room didn't make you afraid. It made you feel powerful— powerful enough to make a change.

"I don't want to cower in fear anymore." You lock eyes with Yeonjun who earnestly gangs on to your every word. "We've hidden ourselves in the darkness in fear of being captured but I think it's time we use the what we're familiar with to fight them off— use the darkness to turn against our oppressors."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Yeonjun settles right next to you.

You face your resolve, reaching your hand to caress Soobin's sleeping face. "For now.."

"We run to the shadows."

#txt #tomorrow x together #txt x reader #txt imagines #txt fic #soobin fic #soobin angst #soobin x reader #soobin imagines #soobin imagine #soobin oneshot

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entracteofevil · 3 years

Text

Round Table Discussion with the Cover Illustrators

Entr’acte of Evil, page 142-145

--First, everyone please introduce yourselves.

Ichika: I’ve been responsible for the first cover and the illustrations for the series. My name is Ichika.

Suzunosuke: I am Suzunosuke. I normally just draw what I want to. I was able to make the cover for the second book.

You: I am You, and I was charged with the cover for this book. I’m really nervous, but I look forward to being able to do this interview with you.

--When did you all first start making illustrations?

Ichika: Since I could first remember. I don’t recall it all that clearly, but by the time I was in first year I was already drawing.

Suzunosuke: I think it was about middleschool. Apparently when I was a kid my parents were consulted by my teachers on the fact that I couldn’t actually draw pictures.

--You couldn’t draw pictures?

Suzunosuke: Even when I was made to stay behind by myself in kindergarten, the only things I drew were like little pictures of flowers on my drawing paper. It wasn’t that I was sick or anything like that, I was just a normal kid who couldn’t draw.

--I see, that’s very unexpected. What about you, You-san?

You: I don’t clearly remember when I first started drawing as a hobby, but my first picture was when I was three years old, and was a portrait of my caregiver in nursery. Back then I always wanted to use every color of crayon I had, and I guess the fact that I’m still always using rainbow colors even now just goes to show that what you learn in the cradle you carry to the grave.

Suzunosuke: I think that’s cool.

--Incidentally, when did you start making pictures related to VOCALOID?

Ichika: I think around 2007…maybe? I remember the first time I drew Miku was after listening to Yuuyu-P’s “White Season”.

Suzunosuke: I don’t remember how many years ago it was, but I feel like the first thing I drew was Kurousa-P’s “Cantarella”.

You: I listened to VOCALOID the first time in the winter of 2007, so I think it was probably around that time.

--So then, when was the first time you encountered AkunoP’s work?

Ichika: It was right after “Daughter of Evil” was posted on Piapro. I had just finished up making a PV, and when I was looking for new content on Piapro I got drawn in by the title and started listening to it.

Suzunosuke: The “Servant of Evil” was on NicoNico Douga’s rankings, and when I opened up the PV it had a tag saying to watch it after “Daughter of Evil”, so I watched them in order of “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil” for the first time.

You: Like Suzunosuke-san, probably in the autumn of 2008. The “Daughter of Evil” had a lot of buzz when it was first uploaded! I saw it in so many places with Ichika-san’s illustrations~ It feels so strange to see it having taken this form so many years later.

--Suzunosuke-san and You-san, this was the first time you’d seen a song that used Ichika-san’s illustrations, wasn’t it?

Ichika: I’m sorry for being alive…

Suzunosuke: Sorry, haha

You: Hey, hahaha

Ichika: I’m honestly really shaking here, haha

Suzunosuke: Maybe we should reply with “You’re a very wonderful person” ha ha.

-(Laughs) So what was everyone’s thoughts on the work when they saw “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil”?

Ichika: I think the imagery in it was really easy to get emotional about. I also thought it was a really interesting concept that although “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil” had a really different feel to them, they still felt like part of the same story.

Suzunosuke: All else aside I thought it was really sad, and I kept getting stuck on the fact that Allen couldn’t be saved. Still, it was because it was such a sad story that I was captivated by it. It also really made me feel the potential of the VOCALOID genre. It’s a derivative work, but also original content.

You: At the time I had thought it was really interesting and unusual to make a work with such dark fantasy elements using VOCALOID. I also really liked how catchy the tune was. It was also really impressive with all the derivative songs and fanart that got uploaded as things went on. I think it’s a work that shouldered a main pillar of the VOCALOID community in its heyday. And it’s really cool that it’s continuing to spread around the world even now.

--What image do you get of its creator, AkunoP?

Suzunosuke: Given he’s got “Akuno” (of evil) in his name, I thought he might be a scary person.

Ichika: Generally the people who do DTM have a kind of science-y image, so there’s that. And when we actually met, I remember he was a lot like that image. Though he was a bit thinner than I had imagined. Maybe if Akuno-san had shown up to our first meeting with his sunglasses look I’d answer that his image was different, haha.

You: Before I met him offline…He made a lot of romantic-type works, so I actually wondered if maybe he was a woman. When we actually met, it was apparently right after he’d changed his look, so I was a little amused to see him wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses.

--Have you all met AkunoP-san wearing sunglasses?

Suzunosuke: I actually just brushed him off because I didn’t know who he was for a second. As a fan the way he is now is probably close to his image as AkunoP, I would think.

Ichika: I also brushed him off.

You: Everybody brushed him off!

--Well that was an unexpected outcome, haha. Next, do you have a favorite AkunoP work?

Ichika: I actually really like “Clockwork Lullaby”. I prefer the quietly compelling melody and lyrics. Aside from that, I remember when I listened to “Daughter of Evil” I was really drawn to it, wondering what other kind of work he’d done, so that left a significant impression.

Suzunosuke: I think that might be “Re_Birthday”. The flow of sin and rebirth is so painfully beautiful, and I always get misty-eyed no matter how many times I listen to it.

You: Like Suzunosuke-san, I like “Re_Birthday”. I really love the music, and as for the story of it I think it’s really great it has that theme of salvation.

--I see. I had thought that Suzunosuke-san might say “Lunacy of Duke Venomania”, so that was surprising.

Suzunosuke: I could also say “Lunacy of Duke Venomania”, but I don’t want people to think I’m someone who likes erotic content, haha. But that’s also another song that I really like.

About the Novel Illustrations

--How did you feel when you heard about the “Daughter of Evil” becoming a novel?

Ichika: I was simply surprised.

Suzunosuke: I thought it was awesome.

You: I thought it was awesome for Akuno-san. I thought there must have been so many fan’s voices there, and that kind of invisible strength was deeply moving.

--Ichika-san, in the first book you did the cover illustration as well as the ones in the book itself—What was something that was hard about that?

Ichika: I’d have to say highlights.

--Highlights…! Certainly you had to do quite the interaction there… Honestly, was there any point where you were like, “I hope these editors step in dog crap”? haha

Ichika: Nah, ‘cause ever since I’ve become able to put in highlights more seriously, so I’d say it was good practice, haha.

--Suzunosuke-san, you were asked to do the cover for the second book; how was it when they approached you for that?

Suzunosuke: I had thought for sure that they were going to have me just do a pinup on the inside of the book, so then I was kind of like, “Now what?” The others who’ve been involved in it are such amazing illustrators, so I wondered if I’d be good enough for it.

--Was there anything you had trouble with?

Suzunosuke: Drawing the two of them to be just adorable was a little hard.

--I understand you had a bit of revision going on…?

Suzunosuke: Oh no, I saw that as being good training in a lot of ways, so even now it’s a good memory for me.

--You-san, you’ve been asked to do a lot of color illustrations each time, and in this guidebook you were entrusted with the cover illustration. How did you feel after finishing your work?

You: I really like doing the pinups, and I’ll generally paint them as I like, but I dealt with the cover with some different feelings in mind. As a fan I thought that Ichika-san would be given preference for sure. And I’ve refined on my composition a bit looking over past work. I wanted to emulate the flow of things up to now, so like Suzunosuke-san’s work I made it very horizontal.

--Who are some characters that were fun for you to draw in this novel series?

Ichika: All the characters are fun to draw, but if you’re gonna make me choose I’d say Elluka…I had this sense of security while drawing her, like it wasn’t an issue if I made her look a little bit like a villain.

Suzunosuke: I’ve only drawn two characters, so that would be the harmonius Clarith and Michaela. That pair so really cute, so I like them a lot.

--Suzunosuke-san, are there any characters that you would like to draw?

Suzunosuke: I love old man figures, so I’m a bit intrigued by Leonhart. Though I know that’s probably not what you were looking for, haha.

Ichika: (after half a second) It is!

Suzunosuke: Yay, haha

--You-san, you’ve probably drawn all of the main characters at this point; are there any that you’re fond of?

You: Everyone’s fun with how cute they are. I think Riliane-chan is really precious with how her hair is done up. And then there’s the princely Kyle-san—for some reason I’m always grinning when I draw him.

--Please tell us the impressions you were left with as the story has developed.

Ichika: I wasn’t expecting the romantic love between Michaela and Clarith, so that surprised me a bit.

Suzunosuke: I was actually really surprised that the base for Michaela and Gumillia’s appearances were those characters in those other songs.

You: I was also surprised at Michaela and Clarith. I felt the books complemented the content that wasn’t expanded on in the songs, which made them have a lot of interesting points. I think it’s also pretty great that I can now listen to the songs with a fresh perspective.

--Conclusively, how do you think the story will develop in the third book?

Ichika: I think Kyle’s mom is gonna be the final boss.

Suzunosuke: Hmm, I think all of the countries might get wrapped up in the fires of war. All the preliminary announcements have a pretty foreboding feeling to them.

You: All will go according to the will of god (AkunoP).

--Please let us know any final thoughts you have.

Ichika: Thanks for having me here. I don’t know yet how the third book is going to go, but I look forward to being able to go through the novels again with you.

Suzunosuke: I’d be really happy if I could be with you on the sidelines. This interview has been great!

You: I’m really happy to be linked to this series and involved in the work in this way. Thank you very much!

--Thank you very much for joining us everyone!

directory

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mylovelyfandoms · 4 years

Text

Jeonghan’s backstory

The Symbol of the Cloud

Basic Information

A/N: I hope you guys enjoy!

Warnings: Torture by burning, depictions of blood, cutting arm, kind of clueless Jeonghan

(GIF not mine)

- Unlike the others, he has no clue who his parents are

- He was ‘bred in captivity’

- When the affected turn 20, they’re taken from their cells into the ‘undergound’

- There, the soldiers do more extreme testing

- The tests usually depend on their powers

- For clouds, they’re used to breed/cross breed

- The scientists in the underground use them to make more of the affected so they can test them from birth

- They experiment to see if their powers are genetically passed

- He was the result of one of those experiments

- When he was born, he was a fire elemental

- He was kept in solitude, the only people he ever saw were the soldiers and scientists

- They called him ‘1004′ because all of the experiments were given numbers, not names

- 1004 was either in his room or in the lab

- He thought that everything they did was normal

- He thought that all the pain they caused was normal

- He didn’t know anything else

- When 1004′s fifth birthday was coming up, they did extra tests than usual

- 1004 didn’t even question it, he just went with it like he always did

- They kept him in the lab the day of his birthday, studying him closely

- When midnight passed, the scientists gave him a piece of hair and told him to focus on it

- He did as they told and nothing happened

- 1004 spent the next few days in that testing room

- Everything had started to become routine and 1004 knew what they wanted him to do before they did

- On the third day after his birthday, he held out his hand for the piece of hair before they could try to explain anything to him again

- He did as he always did and closed his eyes, focusing on the hair

- But something different happened this time

- 1004 felt lighter for a second before he started to feel incredibly heavy

- When he opened his eyes, he was taller than he was used to

- 1004 blinked as if to try to wake himself up and started looking at his appearance

- When he looked down, he saw that he had busted out of the shirt that he was wearing

- Luckily the pants only ripped in the back so the front was completely covered

- Instead of his own body, there was a foreign one sitting below him

- It was larger than he was ever used to and his stomach was bigger than he thought it could get

- His hands and feet were thick and rough rather than soft and thin

- His skin was dark and there was hair all over him

- When he looked up at the glass in front of him, he saw that it wasn’t him sitting there, but one of the guards that he’s seen before

- “Hey!” He exclaimed

- 1004 saw the man’s mouth moving, and heard his voice, but it wasn’t him

- In a panic, he dropped the piece of hair and watched as purple sparkles surrounded him and his body started to shrink down

- “What happened? Something’s wrong with me!”

- The door opened to reveal the scientists walking in with accomplished looks on their faces

- The male scientist gave 1004 a small smile, something he had only seen the soldiers and scientists give to each other

- He didn’t know why it caused a strange warm feeling in his chest

- “You did excellently, number 1004.”

- The female scientist that was with him hit his arm

- “Don’t talk to it like he’s one of us.”

- The male scientist glared at the female as he gave 1004 a fresh pair of clothes

- “He’s just a child.”

- They called in a soldier and he walked in with some sort of small machine

- Since 1004 had already pulled on his shirt, the soldier decided to bring the machine down to his leg

- 1004 yelped out in pain the minute the tip of the machine touched his skin and carved ink into it, branding him with a cloud symbol

- Afterwards, 1004 was finally able to go back to the comfort of his isolated room where they gave him a pair of leather gloves

- He stayed in there for a little while, only seeing a couple of soldiers when they brought him food

- Then he was back to a schedule

- Years passed and he stayed on the same old boring schedule

- The only thing that changed was the type of tests he would be taking each day

- But even that was on a weekly schedule

- So one day, when 1004 was brought into testing room, he was completely surprised to find a boy around his age sitting on the chair that he usually sat on

- There was a chair facing the boy, so 1004 took a seat there

- “Hello,” 1004 shyly greeted, not used to seeing people that were his age

- “Hi, I’m Joshua.”

- 1004 furrowed his eyebrows

- What kind of number was Joshua?

- “I’m 1004.”

- The boy blinked at him in confusion

- “You don’t know your name?”

- He cocked his head to the side

- “What’s a name?”

- Joshua opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out

- 1004 looked back over to the doors and furrowed his eyebrows

- Usually the scientists came in by now to do some sort of test

- “A name is something your parents call you. What do your parents call you?”

- 1004 started to feel frustrated

- “I don’t know, I never met my parents.”

- “Oh.”

- 1004 hated the sudden silence that came in the room

- “Are...are you a shifter? Like me?”

- Joshua looked up at the sound of 1004′s voice and smiled at his attempt of conversation

- “Yeah, I am.”

- The two started to talk and get to know each other better

- 1004 was suspicious of what the scientists might do, but he was also fascinated by everything Joshua told him

- That was the day he learned about the outside world

- That there actually is an outside world

- After that day, 1004 left the testing room feeling...warm

- It was the same feeling he had when that soldier smiled at him

- He wasn’t physically warm, he had checked his own temperature, but he still felt it

- His lips were tugged into a smile the entire time he went back to his room

- As the days went by, 1004 hoped that he would walk into the testing room and see Joshua sitting there again with a welcoming smile

- But that day never came

- For the longest time, 1004 was starting to convince himself that Joshua was just a dream or a hallucination that the scientists made him see

- It had been more than a year since 1004 last saw Joshua

- And he was almost completely convinced that he wasn’t real

- Almost

- When 1004 walked into the room and saw Joshua sitting in his chair, just like he did a year before, a smile instantly appeared on 1004′s face

- “Joshua!”

- “10-4!”

- 1004 felt that warm feeling again

- 10-4 was probably the closest thing to a nickname that he ever had

- (He had learned from Joshua what a nickname was last time; a title that a friend calls you)

- He also had to learn what a friend was

- “So, I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s time you had a name.”

- 1004 raised an eyebrow

- “You mean another nickname?”

- Joshua smiled, “No, a name. Like a real name, not a number.”

- 1004 felt a wave of excitement wash over him

- He would have a name, a real human name

- “How about John? Does John sound nice?”

- 1004 leaned in closer with furrowed eyebrows

- “Jeong?”

- “That works too.”

- 1004 thought a little while longer

- “It sounds a little plain, doesn’t it?”

- After what felt like hours debating, 1004 and Joshua finally came to an agreement

- “Jeonghan. My name is Jeonghan.”

- Joshua smiled at him, “I can call you Hannie. It sounds like ‘honey.’”

- “What’s honey?”

- After their time was up, Jeonghan walked back to his room happier than he was the other time

- That night, Jeonghan laid on the spot on the floor where he usually slept, staring up at the plain white ceiling

- He repeated his new name over and over again, loving the way it felt familiar on his tongue

- The next day, he stepped into the testing room and was not expecting to see Joshua again for the second day in a row

- Though, this time, there were three soldiers in the room wearing hazmat suits

- One of them, Jeonghan recognized as the one he first shifted into

- The other was a soldier he had seen many times before

- But the third one was shorter and smaller than the others

- Interrupting him from his thoughts, Jeonghan heard the familiar sound of the door opening and footsteps walking in

- “1004, 1230,” The female scientist greeted

- Jeonghan turned to Joshua and saw him scowl at the sound of his number

- “If you both cooperate, this will be over before you know it.”

- She pulled on a pair of gloves and pulled out a piece of Jeonghan’s hair, making him wince

- She pulled Joshua’s glove off of him and placed the hair in his palm

- “Shift.” She demanded

- Joshua closed his eyes and did as he said

- Jeonghan watched Joshua start to shift, completely amazed by how it happened

- He had never seen it from an outside perspective before

- Joshua’s features started to change into Jeonghan’s and before he knew it, he was staring at his own body in front of him

- “Woah,” Jeonghan mumbled in a dazed tone

- It was as if he was staring in a mirror, but the reflection wasn’t following his actions

- Bringing him out of his daze, the scientist roughly grabbed onto his wrist

- As he whipped his head to her, he saw something glint in her hands

- Then, he felt a sharp and stinging pain, making him thrash around in his chair and yell out in pain

- When she was done cutting a line into the outside of his forearm, she threw it to the side and Jeonghan inspected the cut, touching the crimson red blood that was dripping onto the floor

- Once Jeonghan looked up again, he felt panic rise in his chest as the scientist grabbed onto his reflection’s Joshua’s arm

- Just as he was about to speak up, the scientist tutted and placed the knife down

- She looked at the watch on her arm and turned to the soldiers at the doors

- “Alert me if there are any changes in ten minutes. And don’t let 1230 shift back to his form.”

- Once the scientist left the room, Joshua immediately leaned forward to look at Jeonghan’s arm

- “Are you okay?”

- Jeonghan brought his arm out to show Joshua, but Joshua must have dropped the hair because he shifted back to his true form

- Jeonghan’s eyes widened and Joshua stood still, paralyzed in fear.

- “Hey!” The soldier’s voice boomed as the other one spoke into his earpiece

- “I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry. Please, please don’t hurt me.”

- Jeonghan’s heart sank at his friend’s quivering tone

- Joshua sank back onto his chair with his head in his hands as the door opened and the scientist walked in

- “You couldn’t even follow directions for 5 minutes? Typical useless affected,” She spat.

- “Please don’t hurt me,” Joshua begged

- The scientist scoffed and plucked another hair from Jeonghan’s head

- She grabbed a piece of tape and taped it to Joshua’s palm

- Joshua closed his eyes and shifted again, but this time, when he shifted into Jeonghan, he let out a yelp of pain

- The scientist stopped glaring at him and her eyes widened

- “Fascinating...” She muttered as she crouched down to inspect the cut that mirrored Jeonghan’s

- Jeonghan saw Joshua open his mouth to speak and shook his in an attempt to stop him

- Unfortunately, Joshua didn’t see and spoke up anyways

- “Does this mean I’m not getting punished?”

- The scientist looked back to him with a glare and took the hair out of his palm, watching him shift back to his true form

- She inspected the arm where the cut was and saw that it was gone

- Jeonghan grimaced as she stood up and roughly grabbed Joshua’s wrist, dragging him out of the chair and out of the room

- Jeonghan sat in his spot for a while, clutching onto the cut on his arm and trying to get it to stop hurting as much

- When ten minutes passed, the doors opened again

- Jeonghan sat up and hoped for Joshua to be back, but he saw a couple of soldiers instead

- “There’s a situation in the underground, it’s all hands on deck!”

- The two soldiers widened their eyes and looked between Jeonghan and the third shorter soldier

- One of the soldiers turned to Jeonghan

- “If you try anything, this sun is going to make you rip your own skin apart, got it?”

- The two larger soldiers ran out of the room and followed the crowd of soldiers running in the hallway

- Jeonghan gulped as he turned back to the short soldier, or ‘sun’ as the soldiers called him

- He felt his fear spike when the sun started to walk up to him, keeping his eyes on the door

- The sun took his helmet off and Jeonghan widened his eyes

- The sun seemed to be around his age

- Jeonghan watched as the sun reached up to his own head and plucked the hair from his head, handing it to Jeonghan

- “Get out of here. They’re scared of me, so if you just raise your hands to them like this-” the sun lifted his hands so that they were extended in front of him- “they’ll run away and you’ll be able to leave!”

- Jeonghan nodded quickly, grabbing onto the hair and taking off his glove

- He held the hair in his palm, closing his eyes and shifting into the sun’s body

- Without a second thought, Jeonghan sprinted out of the room and ran down the hall

- Since Jeonghan didn’t exactly know how to get out, he had to slow down at every door, trying to figure out which one was the exit

- “Hey!” Jeonghan heard, making him freeze

- He turned around and saw a soldier running right towards him

- Jeonghan remembered what the sun said and lifted his hand, making the soldier stop in his tracks

- With a small smirk, Jeonghan turned around, ready to run, whne he bumped into another soldier standing behind him

- The force caused the piece of hair to slip from Jeonghan’s fingers, and he felt himself shifting back into his own body

- The soldier that he bumped into snarled and grabbed him by the shoulders, lifting him up and pressing him against the wall

- “How did you get that hair? Where are your gloves?”

- Jeonghan was paralyzed in fear

- He wanted to answer, he wanted to speak up to save himself for any further punishment he would get

- He wanted to tell the soldier that the sun was the one who gave him the hair

- That the sun was the one that told him to run

- But he knew that he’d get punished anyways

- “I...I swiped it! I grabbed it from the sun’s hair and I ran!”

- The soldier scowled and took Jeonghan off of the wall, throwing him on the floor

- It was then that he was painstakingly reminded that his forearm was cut open

- He held onto his forearm as he got back to his feet

- “Where is the sun?”

- “H-he’s in that testing room.”

- The soldier gripped onto the back of Jeonghan’s shirt and dragged him to the room that he was pointing to

- When they got into the room, the sun was sitting on the floor, as if he didn’t know whaht to do next

- “Sun!” The soldier’s voice boomed, making the sun scramble to his feet

- “Yes sir!”

- As the soldier dragged Jeonghan into the room, the sun’s face fell

- “Is it true this cloud got the better of you and took a piece of your hair?”

- The sun’s head whipped to look at Jeonghan

- Jeonghan could tell that the sun wasn’t expecting him to defend him

- “Y-yes sir.”

- The soldier tsked at the sun and shook his head

- He then turned to Jeonghan with a disgustingly evil smirk on his face

- “You’re going to see what happens to sticky fingers.”

- The soldier took Jeonghan and the sun to the west wing

- He already alerted the other soldiers and scientists what was about to happen, so a crowd had gathered around the table that was sitting in the middle of the room

- Jeonghan was confused, looking around at all of the unaffected waiting with anticipation as he took a seat on the chair

- When he glanced at the sun, Jeonghan saw a grim expression on his face that caused fear to embed itself in his chest

- Jeonghan’s eyes followed the soldier as he lifted Jeonghan’s hands and trapped them in a rubber pillory

- He glanced all around the crowd

- When they started to cheer, his eyes fell on the area where the crowd was splitting

- In walked in someone that seemed almost twice Jeonghan’s age

- The more Jeonghan looked at him, the more he saw the tattoo that was clearly on the base of his neck

- It was a raindrop with the letter ‘F’ next to it

- He was a fire elemental

- Once Jeonghan realized what they were about to do, he started to thrash around, tugging at his hands in hope that he could somehow break free

- The fire elemental took a seat in front of Jeonghan, making him look at the elemental in fear

- “Please...” He begged, knowing that there was no point

- The soldier stepped back to stand with the crowd

- “Come on, sun,” The soldier gruffly laughed, nudging the smaller boy that he stood next to. “This one’s for you.”

- Jeonghan didn’t hear anything else

- He was staring at the elemental with wide eyes, as if silently begging him not to do what he was forced to

- Jeonghan didn’t even hear the count down

- The next thing he knew, the elemental’s body started to glow and Jeonghan was in pain

- Even before the flames met his hand, he yelled out, already feeling the heat

- Jeonghan didn’t even notice when the elemental stopped

- His hands were so hot that they were almost cold

- They were sensitive to everything, stinging even when the air slightly picked up

- So when the soldier decided to poke at them, he was in agony

- Jeonghan didn’t even notice that he was screaming until the soldier clamped his hand over his mouth

- Ever since that day, Jeonghan didn’t dare step out of line again

- The only times he ever felt like himself was when he was with Joshua

- But that was still once or twice every year

- He went back to a boring schedule that he wished was different

- On a regular night, Jeonghan was laying in the same corner of his room when he heard a distant siren

- At first he thought he was imagining it, but then the doors swung open, making him sit up

- “What happened?” Jeonghan asked, as if they’d answer

- The soldier spoke into the radio on his shoulder

- “Number 1004 is accounted for. All the clouds in the south west wing are accounted for.”

- And just like that, the soldier was out of the room

- Jeonghan let out a breath and fell back onto the floor, covering his eyes with his arms and trying to tune out the alarms that were still ringing

- That was about the most out of ordinary thing that happened

- Everything went back to normal

- Jeonghan was back to his same old boring schedule

- Weeks passed since the day of the alarm and Jeonghan was excitedly counting down the days until he saw Joshua again

- When he stepped into the testing room, instead of seeing Joshua sitting in the chair and waiting like he usually did, there were guards scattered all over the floor

- “What the hell?” The soldier from behind him asked, putting his hand to his belt for his weapon

- The soldier walked into the room carefully, looking around for the culprit

- Jeonghan heard a couple of footsteps from the hallway and snapped his head to see what it was

- There he saw the sun and another boy inching towards him with a finger to their lips to keep him quiet.

- Jeonghan gave a small nod and turned back to look at the soldier

- He was crouched down on the floor, feeling the necks of the soldiers on the floor

- Just when the soldier was about to turn to his radio, the sun ran into the room, sticking his hand out and bringing the soldier to his knees

- “Come on, let’s go!” The other boy exclaimed, grabbing Jeonghan’s arm and running with him

- Jeonghan turned back to look at the room as he ran, adrenaline rushing through his veins like he never felt before

- He followed this boy that he really had no reason to trust

- While the boy had a serious look on his face, Jeonghan was laughing

- He laughed like he never did before, feeling relief and happiness as he made his way to the other side of the walls

- When the boy brought him behind a couple of trees next to the opening of the facility

- There, Jeonghan saw Joshua crouched down with a smaller boy at his side

- “Joshu-ji,” Jeonghan said, using the nickname he made up for his friend

- “Hey, Hannie,” Joshua smiled

- The two boys introduced themselves as Hoshi and Woozi

- The sun, S. Coups, met up with them soon after and they all made their way into the forest

- Woozi led them through, explaining how they were starting a clan called ‘Seventeen’ and that there were already a couple of members already

- “We’re going to break in and rescue more people like us,” S. Coups explained

- “We’re starting with the people we know, and then we’re going to get more and more until there’s no one else to torture and test in that facility,” Woozi added.

- “Are you with us? Because we need all the numbers we can get,” Hoshi asked.

- Jeonghan and Joshua shared a look

- When they turned back to the three leaders, Jeonghan shot them a glinting smile

- “We’re with you.”

- Jeonghan went with S. Coups to every rescue mission and raid that they planned

- He loved that every day was different

- Jeonghan made sure to keep Joshua by his side and the two became even closer than they were before

- They worked together to gather different kinds of DNA and keeping them in little jars that they raided from a crafts store

- They helped each other master their powers so that they could shift without using as much focus

- And Hoshi trained them with weapons since their powers weren’t exactly the best for offense

- And when they weren’t working around the campsite or rescuing others or training, Jeonghan was pranking people

- The warm feeling that he only usually had once or twice a year became a common thing

- Jeonghan never had a boring day again

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justlookatthosesausages · 4 years

Text

“In the eye of the storm” ◊◊◊◊ a post-Frozen 2 fanfic ◊◊◊◊ CHAPTER 8: Condensation

"Be careful. It's teeming with magic, I can feel it in my core. We should all take our distances." Advised Elsa.

"We don't risk anything, relax." Smiled Anna. "Besides, this can't possibly be Mjöllnir, right? I mean... Those are stories..." She added nervously.

The others didn't know what to respond and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Yeah, it can't be." Scoffed Kristoff. "Eydis, give the hammer to Papa."

The little girl hesitated, looking down at her new tool. She stretched her arm and put the shaft in his hand. But suddenly, it was like Kristoff was handed an anvil and that it had entirely dropped in his palm.

With a yelp, he fell to the floor in a fast and heavy move, his arm twirling with the uncanny weight of the hammer which made his shoulder slam the parquet, dragging him flat down with his head knocking it as well.

"Kristoff!"

"Holy f..."

"Wow, Papa, are you okay?"

The man groaned from his posture, taking his fingers off the shaft. The hammer calmly stayed on the floor where it was, its metal part down, almost sarcastically staring at them.

"M' fine." Muttered Kristoff.

He massaged his shoulder after the twist it endured. The two sisters looked at him speechlessly, not able to decide either to laugh out loud at his fail or find the situation scary.

"What the heck was that?"

They all slowly realized that if Kristoff, a tall muscular man who had enough force to lift blocks of ice, was unable to take a hammer that a little girl was making twirl in her hand just before, then it could only mean one thing: they indeed were in the presence of Mjöllnir.

Anna slowly turned from her husband to the hammer. "Okay... I remember reading in books that it's a magic hammer, and it's impossible to lift it. Except maybe by exceptional people..."

"Those who are worthy." Recited Elsa, as she naturally had read the same books.

The redhead helped Kristoff sit up, and they now were all seating on the hall's floor around the strange object.

Elsa brushed her fingers along the metal of the hammer and the wood shaft. A vibration seemed to come out of it, and she could feel that magic was emanating from the whole object, in a similar manner than the element crystals.

She gulped in apprehension, then dared to circle her fingers around the shaft. Her azure blue eyes fixed the hammer and she tried to lift it as well.

It was an odd sensation. It both weighed nothing, feeling like a simple piece of cork, and at the same time she could feel all the magic of the universe maintaining it down to the floor with a supernatural gravity. Her fascinated expression soon turned to a frown and a clenched jaw, and she had to use both hands to lift it, leaning on her knees. Elsa used all her force, her muscles tight, but nothing much happened; Mjöllnir slightly tilted up, but then down, slipping in her hands.

She exhaled loudly, her shoulders dropped. "Never mind. This is impossible."

Anna had been mesmerized by the scene, and she blinked, then smirked. "'Impossible' is not in my vocabulary. Let me try."

Kristoff and Elsa stopped her immediately when she approached both her hands, and they each grabbed one arm. The Queen looked at them with frustration.

"What?"

"The magic." Said Elsa.

"The floor." Said Kristoff at the same time.

They looked down because his observation was new compared to Elsa's. In fact, the floor around the hammer had been cracked. Fissures distorted the wood of the parquet, and it hadn't been only due to when the hammer dropped with Kristoff's hand, but also when Elsa had lifted it and applied a pressure on the edge of the metal.

"If we keep going like this, we're going to break the whole floor."

Elsa nodded, and looked at her younger. "It also emanates a phenomenal quantity of magic. I'd prefer it if you don't touch it."

Anna puffed. "I admire your care for the castle and my health."

Her eyes went down. "There truly is no way for us to move it away?"

Eydis didn't understand where the problem was.

"Why you don't lift it? It's easy. I'm gonna show you!" Smiled the girl.

"No, Eydis!"

Anna made a barrier with her arm in front of her daughter before she could reach the hammer.

"But I wanna—"

"I know, sweetie." Came in Kristoff. "However, it's better if you don't touch it anymore. We have to be safe. Let the adults deal with it."

Eydis pouted.

"But it's my hammer."

"You're right, yet—"

"Well, technically, it's not her hammer, it's—"

"Don't interrupt me!"

"Then explain to your daughter that—"

"Stop!" Grumbled the little girl. "Why can't I keep it?"

Anna bent to her daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "We're not taking it from you, love. It's just that we need to be certain that it's not dangerous first. Do you understand?"

The girl continued to pout for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah..."

"Good." Smiled the Queen, and she kissed her head, which lifted the corner of Eydis' lips for a smile too.

A silence passed.

"Now what do we do?"

"Nothing much. It's stuck here for now." Sighed Kristoff.

Elsa bent to have a better look at it. "I wonder what those runes stand for. Maybe we can get answers from them."

Anna lifted a curious eyebrow. She usually had a good sense of observation, how did she miss the ancient letters on the hammer?

"Where are they?"

Elsa scoffed. "Right here. The big engravings, all along the metal part. It's kind of obvious."

A silence followed.

"Elsa, what are you talking about?" Asked Anna.

"What engravings?" Frowned Kristoff too.

They now where bending close to Mjöllnir, not daring to touch but attentively watching. Elsa looked at them like they were idiots.

"...You two are pranking me, right? This is not really the time for jokes."

Anna stared at her elder's eyes. "...You can see runes on it?"

The Snow Queen switched between the two. "What, you don't see it? Is it because of the dim light outside? They're enormous! Right here!"

She pointed at the runes with her fingers.

To Anna's and Kristoff's eyes, there was nothing but smooth grey metal.

"There's nothing there, Elsa." Murmured Anna.

"I can see them too." Intervened an innocent voice.

They all turned to the beaming child.

"Eydis...?"

The little princess dropped her elbows on her knees and put her face in her hands, admiring the hammer. "I like the decorations on it. It has pretty drawings. And those are letters, right? So I wanted to know what they are."

Elsa widened her eyes at her curiosity and cleverness. Anna widened her eyes for a different reason.

"Wait... This is why you had come to my study the other day... Is this why you asked for the runes glossary?"

"The what?"

"The book about runes." Explained Kristoff.

"Yeah! That one!"

Elsa was captivated. "Did you get to know what those inscriptions mean, then?"

Eydis pouted a bit. "No. Mama was about to bring me the book from the library, but then she talked loud with Auntie all the afternoon."

The sisters exchanged a gaze. It was indeed on the day they had argued against each other, before Anna left for Hitiheimr.

"Oh dear, I had completely forgotten... I'm so sorry."

Eydis smiled in the warm hug her mother gave her. "It's okay. I played parcheesi with Papa instead."

Anna smiled above the princess' head, her chin in her hair. She looked at her sister.

"So only you and Elsa can see them. I suppose that it's due to magic then."

"Wow, wow, wow... Wait... Is Eydis magic too? Does she have magical powers? Did I miss something?" Panicked Kristoff, his voice rising a bit.

Anna lifted her hands, parting from the hug. "No. She isn't. Right?" Her panic rose as well. "No, no no no. Can't be. Right, Elsa?"

The latter blinked. "What, I'm the judge in this? How would I know?"

Eydis had all eyes turned to her again, and she blinked with a confused expression.

Elsa frowned, then smiled and chuckled. "No, I'd have felt it."

She then realized that she couldn't really, because the magic emanating from Mjöllnir on the floor was covering the whole hall and even the whole castle with its power range, and it skewed her measurement. As she was thinking about that fact, she made a scrunching thinking face, and Anna stared at her.

"Elsa? What is it?"

The Snow Queen fidgeted with her fingers as she was lost in thoughts. "It's just... Speaking of magic... Mjöllnir's power is so big, I think I was able to feel it from the other end of the castle when Eydis had it stored in her toolkit in her room."

Kristoff snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "So that's why you had all those weird behaviors!"

He quickly cleared his throat. "No, wait, I didn't mean it that way..."

Elsa smirked. "No offense taken."

"I'm talking about your magic boosts. They kind of came from nowhere, no? And yet, they only happened when you were in the castle."

Anna and Elsa exchanged a stunned gaze. "He's right. I didn't happen when we were out of Arendelle."

The redhead put the pieces together. "It only was in presence of Mjöllnir."

"In the living room, in her bedroom..." "And when you were happy."

Elsa let out an amazed smile. She then couldn't help but stare at the hammer again, like she was attracted by it. Why was this charm so familiar?

"Its power... I've never felt an object exhaling this much magic since..."

"Since what?"

Elsa winced. "Well, it's not really an object, but... Since Ahtohallan."

Anna and Kristoff stared at her.

"The last time I had this sensation was on my last visit to Ahtohallan."

"Another magic source?" Murmured her sister.

The blonde nodded. Anna was so dumbfounded that she fell back on her ankles, her shoulders slumped.

"Damn, magic is wild."

It then led to another realization. "Hold on... So that's why you said you felt like it was regenerating you. Like you were resourcing, or refreshing your magic."

Elsa's mouth dropped. "It's true. Like I said, that's the same feeling than when I step out of Ahtohallan... Every time, it gives me that feeling."

She once more passed her fingers along Mjöllnir without touching it. Anna admired her fascination.

"And the boosts happened when you were sensing the source. It refilled your magic, and you had a burst of power. You suddenly had strong reactions. Just like when I drink a lot of coffee and the energy kicks in."

Elsa snorted at her comparison. "It's the equivalent, yes." She then held her chin as she thought. "Actually, I'd say it's more like when you have a sugar rush."

"Oh, does it taste like chocolate?" Understood Anna.

"What?"

"Magic."

Elsa frowned, and gave her a sarcastic eyebrow lift. "Are you saying that I taste magic when it's coming to me?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me. Doesn't it leave a sensation on your tongue? Or flicker in your body, like coffee or sugar?"

The Snow Queen snorted. "It's an emotion, Anna. Not something I actually have on my skin. It's like instinct, or an ancestral feeling, as old as the glacier up the Dark Sea. I just... Know it. It calls to a part of me that makes me whole."

Anna smiled fondly.

"And how did it feel when you had the first boost?"

Elsa looked down with a small smile.

"It's hard to put it in words... What did you feel when you entered my ice palace for the first time?"

"Other than amazement? I don't know, it was cold, but like cool cold, I mean, cool in the awesome sense of the term. Not like, cold cold."

Elsa grinned. Anna's slips when she was complimenting her magic were just precious.

"Well, the thrill, the excitement when I build it... I'd say that I experience a longer version of it when I get those magic boosts."

"So is it like, a sugar rush that you get after eating a treat you love, or after discovering a treat you never tried before?"

"Girls, can we please get back to it?" Laughed Kristoff as they rambled.

"Sorry." Echoed the two sisters.

He eyerolled, and bent to Mjöllnir. "I wouldn't be surprised that it's a magic source. It's a legendary hammer, after all."

Anna remembered the tales she used to read during Elsa's isolation. As far as she recalled, only one being was able to hold it...

"Then... Why does Eydis have it in her possession?"

Kristoff then realized that, too fascinated by the hammer, they had forgotten to ask again for a crucial question.

"Eydis... Did you find this hammer, or someone gave it to you?"

"It was offered to me!" Smiled the girl, happy to help.

Anna dove her teal blue eyes in hers. "Eydis, this is really important... Who gave it to you? And when?"

"A Giant! Last summer."

Elsa's brain cogs turned quickly. "You mean, the first time you met the Earth Spirit in the Forest?"

"Yes!" Chirped her niece.

The Snow Queen looked down as she mumbled. "I remember that they had felt pride to know her, because they saw great capacities in her. They said... I mean, they conveyed... That she would grow to deserve all the trust of the Spirits..."

Anna took that in, and murmured as well. "That Eydis would become... Worthy?"

Too impressed to actually confirm that out loud, Elsa nodded. Eydis looked at them with adorable blinking eyes, only wondering why they all turned to her again, and also when would dinner be served.

"So... The Giant handed it to you?" Asked the Queen.

The girl shrugged. "Yeah."

Anna was stunned. "And they were holding it? And then you held it as well? Just like that?"

Eydis frowned. "What? Like it's hard?"

The redhead scoffed a laughter, both nervous and proud. Eydis once more got confused by a new sudden hug from her.

"My baby girl... You'll never cease to amaze me."

She smiled in her embrace despite being lost about the situation.

"Which Giant was it?" Wondered Elsa.

"Maybe we should stop with the questions..." Gently advised Kristoff.

His daughter however was happy to answer. "A big one!"

That gave the Snow Queen an interesting clue. "Was it the biggest one you saw during your whole stay?"

"I dunno." Murmured Eydis.

Elsa couldn't blame her. With their hive mind, the Earth Spirit was composed of numerous Giants, and it was possible that she hadn't seen them all.

"What did they look like?"

"It was made or rocks."

Anna giggled above her daughter's head. Elsa had to restrain a giggle too.

"I meant physically. Did they have, for example, a big nose, or a long chin, or very large shoulders?"

"A square body!"

"A square?" Repeated Kristoff.

"Yes, perfect square!"

Eydis' recent passion for geometry and handiwork allowed them to make sure that she was saying the truth. Elsa grinned.

"That narrows it to three possible Giants."

She counted on her fingers. "Tetra, Ruckus, and Thwomp."

"Thwomp?" Repeated Kristoff, taken aback. "Wait, did you name the Giants?"

Anna grinned. "I'd love to have that conversation now, but we'll save it for later."

As Elsa eyerolled, her gaze passed by the window, and she saw an intriguing change in the weather outside. The wind had calmed down, yet it wasn't replaced by rain.

"What the..."

"Your Highnesses?" Echoed Kai's voice in the hall. "Why are the four of you kneeling on the floor like this?"

They all turned to the servant who had stepped back into the room after discarding the broken armors with the rest of the staff.

"We're talking about my hammer, Kai!" Exclaimed Eydis.

"Oh, really?" Smiled the man, happy to see her enthusiasm about her tools. "Which one?"

"This one!"

She grabbed the shaft of Mjöllnir and, not thinking about the consequences of her actions like any child, she naturally lifted the hammer in one quick move and high up so that Kai could see it from the other end of the room.

Anna, Elsa and Kristoff hadn't finished screaming and flipping around that an enormous lightning bolt erupted from Mjöllnir, jolting to the ceiling and exploding the roof vertically in a hole. It sent tiles flying in the air above the castle, and the lightning reached the sky in a direct line.

The bright light invaded the room, its flash reflecting on Eydis and Kai's surprised wide eyes, and underlining the others' terrified expressions. The strike disappeared as fast as it emerged, but all, in that short moment, had different reactions.

Kristoff jumped out of dread and fell to the floor on his elbows; Elsa stood still, transfixed by the sheer power of magic that had escaped from the hammer, similar to one of her outbursts; Anna screamed and ran with all her might to grab her daughter and hold her close as she rolled on the floor with the girl in her arms, to prevent her from getting hurt by the falling pieces of the ceiling.

Soon, Kristoff and Elsa shook out of their stupor and ran to Eydis to check her state, for it really had looked like she got electrocuted. The princess was alright, despite being stunned by the crazy situation.

Outside, thunder started to rumble. Other typical cracking noises snapped above their heads in the sky, reverberating in trembling sounds which were so strong that the windows of the halls vibrated.

Eydis whimpered in Anna's arms as Mjöllnir, still in her hands, started to shake. She gasped and released it, yet actually didn't have much choice as it suddenly slipped off her fingers and flew up to the sky as swiftly as an arrow, and the girl watched it dash away with wide eyes.

Anna held her closer, and everyone stared at the sky through the hole in the roof where the magic hammer suddenly had disappeared.

A flash of light appeared in the sky, and they winced. Something seemed to descend, and Elsa realized with horror that it was going down very, very fast.

"Everyone, step away!"

When they all looked at her instead of moving, she yelled with force.

"STEP AWAY, NOW!"

They all stumbled from where they were, the Queen urging to stand up and run as far as possible from under the hole, Eydis in her arms.

It was just in time, for one second later, something heavy smashed down and exploded the parquet, splitting it and sending bits around. They all yelped in terror at the deafening sound it made, and they protected their eyes from the splinters and pieces of beams and tiles that had fell along and shattered on the floor.

The entire hall was filled with dust, and wood squeaked still as the thunder continued to rumble outside.

Kristoff put his arm down after shielding himself from the floating dust, and squinted. Whatever had landed wasn't something, but someone.

A very tall, very muscular man, with long blond hair braided at parts, and a beard that reached the torso part of his shining armor, straightened up. He was covered from shoulders to toes with plaques of dark grey metal, and had a crimson red long cape which floated behind him after the move of his impact to the floor.

Elsa watched as well, stunned by the presence of the stranger. The storm had been replaced by flashing thunder, and it lit the man's armor in a bright way, which gave him a sort of magical aura. Unless he actually had one...

The man chuckled a bit, and dusted its armor and belt. He sheathed Mjöllnir there in a leather loop that seemed tailor-made for the shaft, and looked at the people present in the room.

"Hello everyone. Let's make the presentations. I guess that you know me already, but I prefer to make things polite. I'm Thor."

He waved, and everyone stared at him, paralyzed by his arrival. He smiled widely.

"Nice to meet you."

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heyitmelexie · 5 years

Text

No One Compares To You (Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Reader) Chapter 1

Hi guys! Something new from me today!

This will be a fanfiction with several chapters. If you want to be tagged - just tell me!

Pairing: James Buchanan Barnes/The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes x Plus Size! Reader

Word Count: 1935

Summary: You are the daughter of Pepper and Tony. Currently living isolated (by choice) in Siberia to work on your master’s exam, someone stumbles into your life and changes it completely.

Author’s Note: In this work Pepper and Tony are a couple for way longer. The Events starting with Captain America: The Winter Soldier (and following) will happen at the same time they actually did (sounds weird but I think you know what I mean).

Always here for advice so please tell me what you think and what I could do better! :)

Now enjoy ♥

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

Snow was falling heavily outside your hut. Like every day, Siberia was covered in snow, a white fairy tale, far away from any other civilization. It was just you, the forest and its inhabitants. And you loved it.

The white landscape of Siberia was a dream. An introvert’s dream, mostly, but a dream after all. Although your hut was miles and miles away from the next city you didn’t feel alone or isolated. The animals here were your friends. Thanks to a part of your mutation, you were able to communicate with all animals. You didn’t need human interaction if it wasn’t necessary. All you needed was a nice cup of hot chocolate, your fire place, a good book and occasionally a funny chat with a bear friend maybe. Doesn’t sound so bad, right?

The silence here helped a lot to focus on your studies. You studied palaeontology and were working on your master’s exam. It consumed most of your time, but it was worth it. Fascinating and exactly what you wanted to do since you watched Jurassic Park for the first time when you were about 5.

You remember the moment you first looked at the hut your dad had bought for you. And he had said jokingly “I spared no expenses” when you walked around the rooms. Luckily, he respected your wishes and didn’t make it all too extravagant. You know, Tony Stark style, all tech and stuff. But you wanted it cosy and decent and he kept it that way. It was a beautiful little wooden hut in the middle of a Siberian forest with a little pond right next to it. A little kitchen, modern but nothing high-tech. Wooden furniture with fuzzy rugs, a bunch of fluffy pillows and blankets, stuff like that. Basically how you would imagine a semi-modern wooden hut in the middle of nowhere. With a basement stuffed with food and drinks for months. Cosy as heck.

Tony didn’t mind that you weren’t a tech geek like him or a business woman like your mother Pepper, he was proud anyways. You did everything in order to reach your goals and to achieve your dreams. Never once did you complain that it was stressful to write so many essays, that it was stressful having that many deadlines. Never. The only thing you did was huff in frustration occasionally, but nothing else. You were tough, like your mother, and he appreciated it. You looked like a chubby mini-version of Pepper mixed with Merida. You were a ginger, messy curls that almost reached your butt and pale skin covered in freckles. Eyes like your mothers and a character exactly like hers, with a little bit of Tony showing sometimes. The side of Tony that messed with Pepper all the time. So Tony saw a mini-Pepper in you and Pepper saw a mini-Tony in you. Perfect.

Your childhood as the Stark kid was rather normal, considering the circumstances. Your parents always made sure that you were out of danger and didn’t witness all of the things they’ve been put through. But when you grew up and developed your mutation, they had to take action.

At the age of 5 you started to do weird things by accident. The first thing that happened was that, during a tantrum, you somehow created a small tornado that completely messed up your whole room. Baffled you had stopped crying immediately and watched in silence, fascinated yet shocked at how that could have happened. You had only felt a slight vibration rushing throughout your body but assumed it was because of the anger you had felt. Today you know it was the power soaring through your body before all hell broke loose.

It would take too long to count and explain all the things that happened after that first incident, so let’s just explain the mutation rather simple: You were able to control all five elements and connected to that you could communicate with animals. ¹ To you the mutation was a gift. You absolutely loved it and wouldn’t want it any other way. It was perfect to you. Logically you went to Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. During your time there you discovered everything your mutation had to offer. Which sometimes resulted in cataclysmic situations (a huge and deep hole in the ground, a completely dried out pond, stuff like that) but today you were completely in charge of it. You used your mutation to do good things like growing trees and grass, creating wells with fresh water in regions of need, restoring sections of the rainforest, things like that. But, if necessary, you could use it as a weapon as well. You just didn’t have to, yet.

All in all your life wasn’t too bad. The only thing bothering you was your body.

You have always been a heavy kid. Your family didn’t mind, they loved you nonetheless and always thought you were the most beautiful girl in the entire universe. They always told you that it doesn’t matter if you’re thick or thin. That people might be mean towards you because they think they are better than you just because they were skinny but that their foul words would mean nothing.

One day you came home from school crying because the new kid in your class had called you bad names because of your weight and had made fun of you.

“People can be arse holes” your dad had said to you.

“Tony!” Your mother lightly slapped his arm and looked at him angrily.

“You know I’m right, Pepper. People can be really mean. So sweetie, listen to me. If they say mean things to you: Ignore them. Nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong with you. You are beyond perfect the way you are. Yes you are chubbier than other kids but you’ve got a heart of gold which they don’t have and that makes you better than them. Being kind is way more important than being skinny. You are a little angel and you make me and mommy extremely proud. And no one can ever tell us different. Because people are often very superficial and judge others by their looks. There are people that might be ‘super skinny and beautiful’ but when you get to know them they’re shit.” Another slap. You giggled a little and sniffled and he continued.

“Whatever you do in your life, remember that you do it for yourself and not for others. Never change yourself for anyone. Never let anyone tell you how to live your life and certainly never let anyone rule over you. Your life lies in your hands. Yours only. Your body doesn’t define you, but your character, your actions and the way you treat others do. So stay who and how you are. Be kind, help those that need help and do good things. And don’t you ever worry about the size and shape of your body. You are gorgeous the way you are, honey and I love you to pieces. You don’t need negative people in your life. But there will be people who will love you for who you are. And honestly? If someone thinks you’re not pretty just because you’re bigger, than they are idiots and superficial losers with sticks high up their asses.” He winked at you and you giggled. Your mom just shook her head but smiled.

It made you feel better to hear these words from your dad but the kids at school continued calling you names and bullying you. Their behaviour made you hate your body and at some point not even your parents or even auntie Nat could make you feel better.

You had always wished for a Prince Charming that would love every bit of your body passionately and that would treat you like a Greek goddess. Little did you know that someone would soon burst into your life like uncle Steve once crashed full force into a bridal shop back in the day (he had told you the story several times when you were younger) and turned it upside down, positively.

But back to your current situation. It’s around five pm. You’re sitting on your sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, a mug with hot chocolate on the table and your laptop on your legs, working on your exam paper. This week has been very successful, you’ve filled about 21 more pages and the topic captivated you more and more. You wrote about the Jurassic Park movies and their accuracy compared to the real deal back then. As much as you loved the movies, but many facts were just wrong. A 2-meter Velociraptor? Yeah, no. There were 10 more pages ahead of you and 2 more weeks of time to fill them. 120 pages in 6 months, you felt very proud of yourself.

You decided to stop writing for today. Your eyes grew heavy and your mind was empty for now. And you knew that before you could have a relaxing bath you would have to go outside and carry some wood inside for the fire place. So you put on thick clothing and stepped outside into the cold evening. ² As you made your way to the little shack that holds your wood you noticed a dark pile of something between the trees, halfway covered in snow. This doesn’t look like an animal. It’s all black and doesn’t seem to have any fur covering it. Strange.

Wondering what or who this could possibly be you slowly made your way towards it, preparing for a possible assault. Maybe it’s a human? But who, besides me, would be out here? You hadn’t seen any other human in the past almost 6 months since you live here. And someone getting lost and finding exactly your hut in this isolated area? Only a small chance but you would have to see.

As you got closer you saw a face almost completely buried in the snow. Now you realized there was actually a man lying in the snow, half frozen to death, face blue and body stiff. You felt for a pulse. First you didn’t feel anything and almost panicked but then you could feel a slight beat against your fingers and exhaled relieved. He lived.

You picked him up but struggled. He was really heavy. Not able to carry him all the way back to your hut like this you just drag him through the snow and into the warmth. You put a thick blanket in front of the fire place and him onto it. Then you used your powers to slowly warm him up and at the same time dry him off. The colour slowly crawled back into his face and you felt his pulse getting stronger.

When his body had a normal temperature again you covered him in a bunch of blankets and went into the kitchen to prepare some hot chocolate.

He was wearing weird clothing. All black and it resembled some weird kind of uniform. Also a mask covering his mouth and goggles that you both had taken off his face. It gave you a creepy feeling but for now you would have to make sure he’d get better again before you could ask him some questions.

You just took some mini marshmallows out of the bag to put them on top of the hot chocolate as a body pressed you against the counter. The person wrapped an arm tightly around your torso to hold you in place and you felt a blade being pressed against your throat.

“Move and I’ll kill you.”

(End of Chapter 1)

Author’s Note:

1) Five elements: Air, Fire, Earth, Water and Soul. I got this idea from House of Nights. The main character was able to control the soul element if I remember correctly, I read the books too many years ago to remember any details but this is only an explanation as to why I am referring to five elements rather than four as people usually do. I also personally think seeing the soul as a fifth element is quite logical, it’s as natural as the other elements. But this is not just the soul of a human, it’s basically also the soul of animals and plants etc. It will occur that I’ll talk about auras and moods and stuff like that. Like, seeing the aura of people mostly (like the concept of Vampire Academy), the aura having different colours indicating their moods and states of their souls and stuff like that. I will also create a little legend that tells you what colour means which mood or state of mind/soul.

2) Of course basically you could warm yourself up with your mutation but everything has a price. Using it too much means you’re also using your own energy and that is exhausting. So you rather only use it if you have to, saving your energy.

#bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #the winter soldier #plus size #plus size reader #tony stark #pepper potts #Steve Rogers #captain america #black widow #natasha romanoff #fanfiction #bucky barns x reader #bucky barnes x plus size reader

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onestowatch · 4 years

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Conjuring the Magic of Youth, bloody white Opens Up About the“first time” [Premiere + Q&A]

Photos: Brighton Galvan

As we grow older, the memories of our youth begin to fade and with it, our recollection of what it was like to experience the peaks and valleys of life for the first time. Yet through music, we can relive those experiences and re-remember the exact feelings associated with most formative moments of our youth.

For 20-year-old, artist, songwriter, producer and mixing & mastering engineer bloody white, the trials and tribulations of youth are sitting at his doorstop, much of which are still packaged by the unknown. The Santa Barbara-based wunderkind began tinkering with beats at age 11, moving on to write fully crafted songs in his teens. Self-taught in his childhood bedroom, bloody is a rarity in the music industry, as he not only writes and performs his music, but produces, mixes and masters his work as well.

Cutting through the noise with break out single “tongue tied” earlier this year, bloody’s unique blend of anti-pop, punk, electronic and lo-fi hip hop allows for an active listening experience, one that is both intriguing and magically captivating. Fresh on the horizon with new music just around the corner, bloody releases the next single “first time” off his debut EP you’d walk right over me, due Sept. 9.

A song chronicling his first intimate experience with a girl he truly loved, bloody outlines the profound impact the encounter made on him musing, "First time, / I could hardly move / It’s like the first time / And I don’t know what to do / And you just pause time, And you lose yourself inside my breath.”

Sonically he plays with an amalgamation of sounds and the juxtaposition of heavy and light percussion, mirroring the vulnerable yet explosive sentiment attached to his experience. Highly emotive in his vocal performance, bloody reminds us all of what it’s like to express love for the first time. Accompanied by home-video stylized video, edited by Jay Seba, bloody creates a distinct feeling of nostalgia, featuring moments captured from his everyday life during this very unique period in his life.

We had the chance to catch up with bloody white on a range of subjects from his first experiences with music to the grappling with mental health, a subject that has become the crux of his upcoming debut. Read on below…

Ones to Watch: Where does your story with music begin?

bloody white: I’ve been listening to music since before I can remember, just hearing whatever my parents put on. But I really started to get into music when I got my first laptop and pirated as much Coldplay, Deadmau5, and Daft Punk as my hard drive could hold. I got really into EDM when Dubstep became a meme back in 2011-2012 and that set me on a path to learning production. But it wasn’t until later that I began to write lyrics and sing over my instrumentals.

Where do you see that story ending?

I really don’t think it’ll ever end. Even if in the future i’m not making as much music, I’ll always be a fan of other artists.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of the solo creation process?

My favorite part would have to be building the instrumental from the ground up. To me, nothing really comes close to getting lost in the creation of an instrumental. My least favorite part is definitely mixing/mastering. It just isn’t as creatively fulfilling as the earlier stages of the song creation, but maybe i just need to learn to be more patient.

You can only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what is it?

That’s a really good question. If i absolutely had to pick, it’d be ‘The Definition’ by Jon Bellion

What was the inspiration behind your newest single “first time”?

The inspiration came from me reflecting on the first time I had sex with a girl that i was in love with, and how drastically different it felt from any other personal experience up to that point. I’ve had a lot of firsts in my life so far, but that one was unlike anything else.

Tell us about the making of the song’s home-made visual companion and what the significance of going the home-video style was for you?

The process was pretty laid back: just bringing a camera with me whenever I went out for a couple months and capturing as much of myself and my friends as I could before it got annoying. As far as the home-video style, I just really like how tape camera footage looks aesthetically and of course there’s also a comforting nostalgic element to it as well.

Your debut EP ‘you’d walk right over me‘ covers such subjects as suicidal thoughts and addiction. Can you tell us about your personal experience with mental health?

Yeah, I mean I’ve struggled with bouts of pretty severe OCD since I was a kid and was never really sure what was causing them. And by the time I got into high school I was totally consumed with obsessive thoughts and strange compulsions, which made everyday life quite tedious and difficult. I would have panic attacks multiple times a day and have trouble focusing on anything but my thoughts. My four years in high school were pretty rough because of that, but having been through all of that, I was slowly able to start recognizing useless thought patterns and dig myself out of the hole I was in. So, thankfully i’m in a much much better place than i was several years ago.

Can you tell us about a time of significant pain in your life that transformed into strength?

I think all of high school was pretty difficult due to my mental illness and self destructive behaviors, but if i hadn’t gone through any of that I don’t think I’d be able to understand myself or relate to people the way i do now.

If you could give the younger you one piece of advice, what would that be?

Don’t be a dick to yourself.

Who are your Ones to Watch?

There’s this dude I found on Soundcloud that goes by JKuch who’s been putting out some really innovative stuff. I don’t know what genre he’d fit in to but that’s probably part of why I like him so much. Great voice, insane production and overall just makes killer tracks. And if you’re just looking for some grimy beats there’s this guy that goes by Yojas. on soundcloud. Dude makes some of the craziest hip hop/trap beats I’ve ever heard. Highly recommend.

Check out the video for “first time” below!

youtube

#bloody white #first time #pop #alt #electronic #interview

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chubberbaria · 5 years

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Baria x fat Peter Parker? Gotta get some of that spider chub👀👀👀

Doing this again cause hell yea, plus i just rewatched endgame so))

A wave of heat washed over his body, turning everything on fire. It felt like he might die, if it weren't for his super suit. Baria seethed as he looked at their enemy, a new villian who used elemental guns much like one Peter Quill. He was posing as the hero after all.

"alright, drop the gig. You know you cant win this." Baria said seriously, he stood a few paces away. Wearing a helmet and other protective wear. Baria was a super, he had the ability to change his shape at will. Whether it be height, or looks.

"oh but i can." The villian argued with a chuckle, Baria cocked a brow. His eyes widened when he saw Peter in his captivity.

He was in his civilian clothes, which was strange to Baria. Since usually Spider-Man would be on this sort of thing.

" I've been meaning to test this new metabolism manipulator on someone... One step from you, and he might be the new victim." The villian smirked, Baria grit his teeth as he stood at a stand still.

Baria clenched his fists, "what do you want?" He forced out.

"everything, yet nothing at the same time." The elemntal said thoughtfully. "I wish for power, to put it simply mr. Changer."

Ok, Baria's codename wasnt the best. Sue him.

"right, well you got it. So let the man go." Baria can't risk showing he knows Peter, he can't risk his life like that.

Elemental just laughed, "i don't think I wil." He smirked, before Baria could think he pushed the gun to Peters neck and shot. Peter fell to the ground in a heap, Baria yelled before growing big and pushing the man to the ground and knocking him out.

Baria went back to normal size and scooped up Peter in his arms, he was out like a light... Baria softly bit his lip.

"yea, Im gonna need back up... We have a man down."

Peter woke up, mostly to sunshine and a lot of warmth. Fuck, he was super warm. Looking around, he recognized that he was in the sick ward at avengers tower. Baria sat beside him with his head hanging.

"B-Bar?..." Peter swallowed a bit, rubbing his eye. "What happened..."

Baria lifted his head, his eyes brightened and he beamed. Pulling Peter into the tightest hug imaginable.

"you scared me Pete... How the fuck did you get into enemy hands?" He asked ridiculously, his hazel eyes pretty intensily staring into Peters brown.

Peter blinked, then remembered. "He took me, from work... I couldnt... Change into Spider-Man, so i had to play helpless... " He smiled, "but thankfully, you were there."

Baria blushed then sighed, "yea well... I couldn't save all of you... You got hit with a devise, Tony says it slowed your metabolism down to a crawl." He explained.

Peter blinked, "s-so wait does that..."

"it means... You're gonna have to watch what you eat." Baria said awkwardly

Peter blushed softly, well that shouldnt be too hard should it? He ate good. Usually he had salads and didnt over eat... Right? He should be in the good books on that regard.

Boy, was he wrong.

It took him barely a week to start noticing changes, even with his super heroing he was starting to get a potbelly. It would show through the tight spandex, and jiggle so damn much when he fought. The worst thing was, he knew it was only getting bigger.

The only amusing part was, it made Baria go red everytime. The usually well put together shapeshifter seemed to get red in the face everytime he saw Peter, especially when he was eating.

Peter wanted to test this theory, inviting Baria out for dinner. Though he was already there, he had order quite literally most one of everything. It took up the entire table, and did in fact make Barias cheeks red.

"think you got enough?" Baria commented as he sat, clearing his throat a bit.

"mm... Yea, but i could always go for more." Peter shrugged, slowly taking a bite.

Baria nodded slowly, his cheeks seemed to get redder, "i heard youre going to take time off from spider-man... Was Miles just going to take over?" He asked quickly, in the attempt to make conversation.

"ya, thats sorta the plan..." He smacked his belly, "a bit more than out of commission for that now." Peter said jokingly.

Baria swallowed, "y-yea i suppose... No one found a cure for that yet?'

Peter shook his head, taking a giant bite of a oancake. He chewed and some syrup dripped down his chin. "Not a single clue, guess im stuck this way."

A slow nod was the response.

Peter smiled, it was cute seeing Baria flustered. He didnt usually get this way, it was nice to see. "You dont mind right?" He asked.

Baria stiffened, "n-not at all."

"thanks, cause i wouldnt mind going out with you again " he took a giant gob of whipped cream and shoved it in his face.

Baria flushed more, "are.. do you want me to be your

.."

"boyfriend? Yea." Peter said casually.

Baria looked ready to explode.

"of course! I um... Yea, id love to do this again." He smiled happily, his glow bright as he shifted in his seat.

Peter smiled, eating more food, he could feel his stomach enter that familiar fullness. Though this time he pushed it. he could feel his stomach begin to bloat because of it. He was happy that he could now officially be dating Baria though.

He remembered first meeting Baria, he had used his powers to sneak into the tower as clint. That didnt last too long, but he got far. Tony had offered special training in exchange for dropping the breaking and entering charges.

Who else to train a shapeshifter like a Spider-Man?

Baria continued blushing as Peter leaned back, his belly pushing out past his waist band as it grew toght. Baria swallowed hard.

He cod tell this was going to be a long dinner.

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ship-obsessions · 5 years

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The 100 Season 6 Speculations

Okay, so first of all I want to say I’m loving season 6 so far. Give me all of the delinquent interactions. I’m also obsessed with the Bellarke crumbs they are ALREADY GIVING US and how their repressed feelings for each other were shown (although not directly) in 6x02. A while ago I saw on Twitter that a reviewer compared The 100′s 6x02 episode to Motel California in Teen Wolf and now I totally see it. The way the plant toxin affects the delinquents parallels the werewolves being affected by the wolf’s bane... and the focus on the main group of delinquents (specifically Clarke, Bellamy, and Murphy) parallels the focus on the original core 4 in TW (Scott, Stiles, Allison, Lydia). I absolutely LOVED the core 4 dynamic in TW and I’m already loving this trio dynamic between Clarke, Bellamy, and Murphy. Give me more episodes like this! (and maybe add Raven after her and Clarke make up).

That said, I watched the first two episodes when they were leaked, so I’ve been DYING for the next episode 6x03. (Note: I’ve also been streaming them again since they’ve officially aired, so I’ve watched each one like 4 times). Since new content is finally coming next week, I wanted to get out some of my random speculations for what’s coming up later this season even though we literally know so little about this new planet, these new people, the creepy children, etc.. Of course, being curious (like a psychopath), I went through all of the season 6 episodes on IMDb to see what (if anything) it could tell me. I’m sure someone else has probably already done this, but I found some interesting things I needed to put out there...

6x03

We already have a name “The Children of Gabriel” as well as a description (Clarke tries to win over the leaders of Sanctum in order to let her people stay. Meanwhile, Bellamy, Octavia, and Echo discover a new threat while on a mission to retrieve the transport ship.), so we have somewhat of a gist of what is coming next week. I don’t think they will fully go into the backstory of these “children of Gabriel” but we obviously know the geneticist from the flashback was named Gabriel and the actor, Ian Pala, is only listed for 2 episodes on his personal page and one of those is Sanctum (uncredited). So I’d assume this means we won’t get another flashback of him specifically or the origins of his “children”. But I do think when Clarke meets Russell and the other people somehow this backstory/history (at least a shortened version) will be explained. We know that the episode titles are all explicitly mentioned or referred to in the episodes themselves somewhere, so that’s my reasoning there.

However, I noticed one other small thing in the cast list that stuck out as strange/interesting. Sarah-Jane Redmond’s character (aka the Sanctum hostage that tried to hijack the mothership) is named Taylee in 6x02 but Tilly in 6x03. At first I thought it could have been some kind of error (idk) but it’s listed the same way on her personal IMDb actor page. Is she playing twins?? Is there validity to this clone theory I saw floating around and read about in the Hypable review?? Either way, I’m definitely interested in whatever that’s about.

Also, I’m excited to meet JR Bourne’s character this episode! We obviously know he is Russell Lightbourne but after all my research (lol I’m taking this WAY more serious than I ever took school), I’m wondering if he’s not just a descendant of the Lightbourne’s but is actually a clone or somehow has the same consciousness from Mr. Lightbourne (Josephine’s dad) in 6x02 (again saw this in the Hypable article around a similar flame storyline theory since Becca created Eligius tech as well). It’s worth noting that we don’t actually know the character’s real name and Sean Maguire is just credited as Mr. Lightbourne -- no first name. Hmmmmm

6x04

Again we have a name “The Face Behind the Glass” and a short description (Clarke embraces the traditions of Sanctum and tries to make amends for her past actions.), but not much else... (or do we??) This episode is probably where we will see Clarke dancing in the room painting and maybe even the lanterns floating in the sky (ie. Sanctum tradition?) -- I’m thinking several “happy” moments with her. I also have a theory -- going out on a limb here -- that it is where we could see the whole “flashback” scene of Clarke in Mount Weather from the trailer. It’s probably not an actual flashback but some kind of hallucination or psychosis thing again, (or maybe even a dream?) but maybe that is where the title comes from -- she’s literally looking at herself from behind the broken glass in MW’s contamination rooms. OR we’re not quite there yet and it’s referring to the stained glass-looking red window/door thing that Emori was trying to open before going crazy in 6x01.

The kicker for me in this episode’s listing was Jordan Bolger’s credit as Shaw, who we all saw die in 6x01. In what capacity is he coming back? Maybe it’s Raven’s hallucination or even a dream? I could see them showing us her full reaction once she knows what really happened to him, but I’m not sure how or in what way he would come back at some point in the episode (I say “come back” because the actor will actually appear). It will be super interesting how the sci-fi elements work on this new planet. We’ve already seen the eclipse-induced psychosis but what other strange things will occur or happen to our characters? If they are all facing their demons (ie. Clarke with Mount Weather and Octavia with Blodreina) I wonder how those scenes will be played out.

6x05

Again Jordan Bolger is credited... is Miles Ezekiel Shaw back again??? What is going on?

6x06 - 6x07

I didn’t really notice anything super strange in episode 6, but GUESS WHO IS CREDITED FOR EPISODE 7: none other than Chris Browning as Jake fucking Griffin. Maybe this is another flashback or memory or hallucination -- assuming by Clarke.

Note: Madi is not credited to appear in 6x06 or 6x08 so I’m thinking her “kidnapping” or whatever happens with the creepy person who is holding her captive in the woods happens in 6x07. Or maybe it’s even earlier in 6x05?

6x08

In episode 8, the cast list introduces 2 notable new characters: Josephine VII and Hope. Okay, so with Josephine VII it could be some descendant of the original Josephine Lightbourne in the 6x02 flashback, but it could ALSO be another hint at this clone and/or flame consciousness theory. But Hope... where have we heard that name before? Oh yeah, Diyoza’s unborn child. But Diyoza hasn’t even had her baby yet and in the promo trailers it looked like she was shot (and possibly killed?). Also, this actress who plays Hope is like 6 years old, not a newborn baby. It’s still weird to me though because what are the chances there is another character -- another child, no less -- with that same name Diyoza mentioned she was planning to give her baby. Just seems a little too coincidental to me.

6x09

Okay, I’m going out on a limb here, but THIS MIGHT BE THE ICONIC RAVE SCENE FROM THE TRAILER. Stay with me... I was originally thinking this would happen earlier in the series when I saw this in the trailer, probably like everyone else, but in the IMDb cast list there are 5 “dancers” credited. I mean it is more logical for a rave scene to happen early in the season (because usually all the good things or happy stuff comes in the first half of the season and NEVER this late), but what else would “dancers” be credited for??? The 100 doesn’t do dance numbers LOL. Anyway this idea has me shook because if it is this late in the season, there is a better chance that Bellamy and Echo have ended things by this point and that super short blurry speck in the bottom right corner of the rave dance scene could be Bellamy (you know what I’m talking about). Will they actually make my LIFE and have Bellamy and Clarke dancing at that rave together? Seems way too good to be true, but I had to throw the possibility out there. I mean who knows, my Bellarke-owned ass can always hope for the best.

After the slim possibility of that amazing possibility, here’s a scary thought to consider (sounds kind of like the show itself), this is the last episode of the season that credits Lola Flanery as Madi... WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HER. Does whatever experiment being done on her in the promo trailer kill her? Pls don’t hurt Clarke’s smol child.

6x10

So here is where I started low key freaking out because the cast list dwindles DRAMATICALLY for credits this episode. We only have Eliza as Clarke, Shannon as Jordan, and Luisa as Emori out of ALL of the main characters we know and love. Something major has to happen for everyone else to suddenly become absent from this episode. And I’m a little scared to know what that is.

6x11

Okay thank god, the main characters are all back on the credits list for this episode. ALSO there is a new actor credited as young Echo. OMG an Echo flashback?! Will we finally understand who she was and why she is the way she is? Will I even care to get invested in her this late in the game?

Also, IMDb lists that this is the episode Bob Morley directs!

6x12 - 6x13

Our other mains are gone AGAIN from the cast list. It’s back to only listing Clarke and Jordan among the characters we already know. WTF is going on. I need answers NOW. To reiterate, I’m saying that IMDb doesn’t list Abby, Bellamy, Octavia, Raven, Murphy, Echo, Kane, Madi, Miller, or Jackson in episode 10, 12, or 13 (+ Emori in 12 or 13).

I’m honest to god just hoping that IMDb isn’t fully updated with the entire cast list in these last episodes yet -- is that a thing? pls tell me it is -- because if we don’t have a finale that includes Murphy, Raven, or most of all, BELLAMY... I swear to God I will riot. Of course, I’m hoping no one dies (obvi), but now that we know there is a season 7, could J Roth be trying to kill us with some dramatic cliffhanger where Clarke and Jordan are separated from the rest of the group? (PSA: STOP SEPARATING CLARKE FROM EVERYONE). But if so, why would this absence of all of those other characters be TWO WHOLE EPISODES? And during the two part finale of all things. UGHHH my mind is spiraling, someone pls calm me down.

On the plus side, 6x12 lists Antonio Negret as the director for the episode and we all know he brought us the brilliant (yet angsty AF) episode 5x08 last season where Bellamy poisoned Octavia to save Clarke. But if Bellamy isn’t even in this episode WHY SHOULD I EVEN BOTHER CARING.

What’s left that I missed? Probably a lot LOL. I tried going back to watch what I might have missed from the extended trailer but I couldn’t find the video ANYWHERE. It’s like disappeared from YouTube (says it is “unavailable”). What is that about?

Anyways, the scene with everyone together in the house (standing at the bar, shot looking at us) has to be in one of the episodes where all main cast members are credited -- I don’t think it will be the next one so maybe 6x04 or 6x05? Same thought for the Madi/Clarke reunion, I feel like that is in the same episode. I also have no idea when in the season Bellamy is going to strangle Russell with Clarke and Murphy in the room (again my favorite new trio!). And that being said I’m confused on JR Bourne because he was all hyped up as a new character this season but he’s only credited in the next episode 6x03. Does the strangling take place next week? It can’t right? Because Bellamy is off with Echo and Octavia on the other mission and Clarke is the only one in the castle. Also if 6x04 is Clarke trying to embrace the traditions of Sanctum and make amends, there is no way she could do that the episode after Russell (the leader of Sanctum) is killed.

Sorry for the crazy rambling and this long AF post, but I have so much on my mind after this speculation deep dive. I need to just go to bed.

#The 100 #the 100 season 6 #the 100 speculation #bellarke #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #john murphy #sanctum #the 100 6x03 #the 100 6x04 #parallels #teen wolf #teen wolf 3x06 #motel california #wtf did i get myself into #my mind is going crazy #i need the rest of the season now

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imagineclaireandjamie · 5 years

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Hope in Change - Epilogue

Murtagh stumbles across a couple arguing in the street and quickly realizes the young woman is Brianna.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

Murtagh, Jamie, and Ian were at work building a cabin for Fergus and Marsali and Claire had taken Lizzie to help deliver a baby at one of the settler’s cabins several miles away, so Brianna volunteered to run back and forth fetching spare or replacement tools, bringing food and water, leading Clarence back to his pen when they’d finished moving the heavier logs into place for stripping and cutting.

The mule was stubborn and reluctant to return to captivity after having a chance to stretch his legs and do more than pull a cart. Each time Brianna disappeared around the house to grab him some more food or check to see how the laundry was drying on the line, he made a ruckus when she came back into sight and stamped his foot to get her attention.

“You’re like a toddler throwing a tantrum,” she muttered before rolling her eyes and heading to check on the goats and horses for their midday meal.

This time he started making noises before she’d even reached an area where he could see her. But when she rounded the corner he wasn’t alone.

“Roger?” she gasped, dropping an empty pail to the ground and running to him as he tried to dismount before his horse had stopped walking. She threw herself in his arms and buried her face in his neck. He held her tightly, sighing with relief.

“You need a bath,” she told him, her words muffled by his coat.

“Nice to see you too,” he chuckled, pulling back to look at her. She smiled then stood on her toes to kiss him.

“Did Bonnet or his men give you any more trouble? They didn’t hurt you, did they? Is that why it took you so long to find your way here?” she rambled, her eyes roving over him taking in the details of his appearance to be sure he was really there and truly in one piece.

He laughed again taking a step back to spread his arms so she could better see him. “I’m no injured. They gave me a hard time but it wasna anything I couldna handle—no after spending all that time wi’ them at sea. And it took me so long to get here because it’s a long bloody way from Philadelphia to Fraser’s Ridge when ye’ve naught but yer own two feet for much of the way—it has to be close to a thousand miles… or at least, it feels that far. I didna manage to find a horse I could afford till I’d nearly reached Virginia.”

Convinced by his cheerful indignation, Brianna grinned and moved to lead his horse to the barn while she filled him in on what she’d been up to in his absence.

“Mama probably won’t be back until tomorrow but Da and the others will be home a little before dark. Come in and help me make supper and maybe I’ll let you have some too,” she teased.

There wasn’t much left to be done as she’d accomplished the more difficult preparation earlier—dough for a pie crust, the meat (venison) cleaned and cut as finely as she could manage, kept that separate from the potatoes and carrots she’d diced. She rolled out the dough and began piecing the elements together while Roger built up the fire in the hearth.

“How are ye doin’ wi’ everything?” Roger asked, taking a seat on the bench opposite and watching her closely.

“It’s… been interesting. I’ve been hunting with Jamie and we’ve talked a lot. It’s strange, but not in a bad way… just… disorienting,” she told him, her attention entirely on the food in her hands as she stacked and arranged the pie’s filling, careful to make sure all the ingredients were distributed in equal measure. “It’s hard to explain. Every time I feel like I’ve got a handle on the past—on my childhood—I see something or hear a story and it shifts all over again. Like when I see him come up behind my mother and rub her neck… and she leaned into it and… I remember all the times I saw Daddy try to do that and she shrugged him off… until he just stopped touching her that way. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being surprised by him—by them. You’ll hardly recognize Mama when you see her.”

“Bein’ in this time… it changes ye,” he agreed. “Makes sense now, how different yer mam could be after she returned—and no just because of Jamie. I ken I’ve a newfound appreciation for many a convenience I took for granted back home. Indoor plumbing and modern transportation bein’ verra high on that list. I’ll say a prayer of thanks each and every time I so much as look at a proper toilet.”

Brianna gave him a weak smile as she crimped the crust on the pie and turned to set it into the brick oven at the side of the hearth. The rebuilt fire was beginning to warm the space but it would take a while for the pie to be thoroughly cooked.

“I’ll get you some water you can use to clean up,” Brianna said, puttering around the cabin to locate a bucket and fill it with warm water from the enormous cauldron near the hearth. She led him out the door and in the direction of a small hut. “Since Lizzie went with Mama and they shouldn’t be back till tomorrow, you can borrow her bed tonight. We can figure out something else in the morning. You’ll want to rest and brace yourself for meeting my father and cousin. Murtagh shouldn’t be too intimidating for you at this point. Blankets,” she exclaimed after setting the bucket down. “I’ll go find some.”

By the time she returned, Roger had managed to clear most of the sweat and dust from his face, neck, and arms. He’d pulled his shirt off as well and was splashing water over his chest and dribbling it down his back, not caring that it was soaking into his breeks and continuing on its way down the rest of his body. He had a single change of clothes in his pack but those weren’t in much better shape than what he was wearing.

“Here,” Brianna said, showing him the quilt and furs she’d brought. She set them down on the bed along one side of the hut’s walls. She stepped closer to him, taking the ragged stock he was using as a washcloth and wringing it out thoroughly before wetting it again and helping him reach the difficult spots on his back. “Hmm. Much better. I’ll show you the creek we use for bathing in the morning. It’s a bit chilly but easier than trying to heat the water for a hot bath.”

“If that’s Lizzie’s bed,” Roger nodded to the one she’d put the blankets on, “then the other would be yers, I’m guessin’?”

“You would be guessing right,” Brianna confirmed. “And… you don’t have to sleep in Lizzie’s bed if you don’t want to. It’s small but it’ll be warmer and cozier in mine.”

“Bree… I’ve missed ye—Lord knows I have—but… have ye changed yer mind? About marryin’ me?” he asked quietly.

“I can’t,” she told him, tears in her eyes. “I just… it wouldn’t be fair to you. Not when things are so different now.”

“Different?” he asked, taking a step closer to her. “Different how? Ye still want to take me to yer bed. Tha’s no different, or am I misunderstandin’ yer invitation?”

Her cheeks went pink with embarrassment.

“No, I still love you and want you to be the first man I… take to my bed, as you put it. But… spending these last weeks with Mama and Da… I told them about the fire. They’re not sure there’s anything that can be done to keep it from happening either. And we don’t know when exactly it’s going to happen. It could be this year or the next or five years from now… But just in case we can’t stop it and the worst does happen… I don’t want to regret that I didn’t spend more time with them when I had a chance to.”

Roger took a step back, his expression going slack as what she meant sank in. “Ye’re stayin’ here. Ye mean to stay no just for a few weeks or months… but years.”

“Yes. I remember what it was like to lose Daddy and how much I wished I’d agreed to go with him when he had to run errands or that I’d stayed at the office with him while he worked and I’d gone off with my friends instead. I want to know that I’ve done everything I can to save my parents and that I spent every second with them that I could.”

“And ye dinna think I’d stay with ye?”

“It wouldn’t be fair for me to ask you to,” Brianna pressed, her face getting redder as she forced herself to confess, “and I don’t want to lose you without knowing what it’s like to be with you, to show you how much I do love you.”

Roger laughed and the redness in Brianna’s face switched from the self-conscious shades toward those darker shades born of rising fury. But he rested his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her narrowed eyes and furrowed brow.

“Ye’re not askin’ and ye dinna need to. Ever. If ye’re goin’ to stay then so am I. Ye love me enough to let me go? I love you enough not to care where—or when—we are, so long as it’s together.”

Her face softened and tears pooled in her eyes as she beamed at him a second before throwing her arms around him and kissing him silly.

They laughed and held each other tight, Roger lifting her off her feet and spinning her around in the cramped quarters of the hut. Setting her down again, Roger kissed her softly, then again longer. She clung to the damp, bare muscles of his back, pressed herself against the length of him. They pulled back to look at each other, the simple joy replaced with the deeper yearning both felt. Neither said a word as Brianna pulled him toward her bed.

“The spare head should be right inside the barn door,” Jamie told Lizzie while Claire fussed with the dressing around his hand. “Be quick about it. Murtagh will be lookin’ for it. We wanted to be done wi’ preppin’ the beams ‘fore givin’ up for the day and he’s stubborn enough to try workin’ in the dark… And Ian’s foolish enough to go along wi’ it.”

“Oh, give them more credit than that,” Claire suggested, frowning at the cut on the back of Jamie’s hand from when the head of the hatchet came loose mid swing and flown off the handle. His reflexes were fast or he might have been in danger of losing the hand altogether. Instead it was superficial and shallow, a scrape across the back with deeper gouges at the knuckles. “Or give yourself fewer airs. If it weren’t for your mishap here, you’d be just as determined to work whatever the light conditions might be. Let’s get inside so I can clean and bandage this properly.”

“I need to tend yer horse,” he objected, moving to take the reins even as she reached to release the straps that held her medical box in place.

“I can tend the horse while you go in and rest a few minutes,” she insisted. “See what we have for supper and—”

“Bree came back to make supper some time ago,” Jamie reminded her. “We hadna thought ye’d be back tonight.”

“Well, that’s what happens when the baby arrives before the midwife. All it took was a quick check on mother and child, a small glass of whisky to wet the baby’s head, and we were headed back the way we came.”

“Mistress Claire, Mister Jamie,” Lizzie exclaimed, running toward them with the spare hatchet head in her hand. “There’s a strange horse in the barn,” she informed them, her eyes wide and frightened.

“Never mind about that,” Jamie told her calmly. “Get that back to Murtagh and Ian and stay wi’ them until they come home. Perhaps wi’ you waitin’ there for ‘em they’ll decide to just be done for the day.”

Lizzie nodded and headed off down the path.

When she was out of sight Claire began calling for Brianna and Jamie went to check the house when she failed to appear.

“There’s a pie cookin’ in the oven,” he told Claire, “so she’s no likely to have gone far.”

“And the ‘strange horse’ is in the barn so whoever it belongs to must be nearby as well. Perhaps they only went to fetch wood or to get more water,” Claire suggested hopefully.

A moment later, Brianna emerged from the hut she shared with Lizzie. She brushed some loose curls out of her flushed face and smoothed her hands down the front of her bodice.

“Mama… What’re you doing home? You weren’t supposed to be back till tomorrow,” Brianna remarked.

“The baby came quick,” Claire explained, her eyes narrowing at her daughter.

“D’ye ken who the horse in the barn belongs to, a nighean?” Jamie asked.

“Actually… yes. Roger arrived a little while ago. I was making up Lizzie’s bed for him since she was supposed to be with you all night, Mama. But I can put it back the way it was and he can sleep somewhere else. He’s cleaning up a bit from being on the road so long,” she told them, glancing back over her shoulder.

Roger poked his head out. “Good to see ye, Claire. I’ll right there. Dinna want to be sayin’ ‘hello’ still smellin’ of horse.”

“Mmmhmm,” Claire murmured, trying to keep a straight face as she turned to look at Jamie. He looked torn between laughter and shock. “We’ll be in the cabin when you’re ready,” Claire called to them, nudging Jamie in the other direction. “Your father hurt his hand and I need to clean it.”

#so in this version (if I kept going) roger and bree would be handfast (in front of her family) within a fortnight #and they'd realize she's pregnant with Jem a few weeks after that #;mod lenny #Hope in Change AU #show!verse #featuring: bree #featuring: roger #featuring: lizzie

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evien-stark · 5 years

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✧I Need You✧ Chapter 20 [19% - Begin: Iron Man 2]

Despite all the obstacles in your way, time being the biggest one and sadly so since it was impossible to fight against, you found your way through the mess that Tony had laid out for you. Stark Expo was opening tonight and everything felt like it was right in place. He’d done as he said he would and cut back on outgoing missions so that he could spend time helping you clean up and prepare and fix- although it still didn’t stop him from spending long hours in the lab.

You’d fussed over his bow tie, nerves getting the better of you. It was strange how many huge events you’d attended and opened for him and yet every single one was always fraught with challenges. You never felt settled. Maybe that was how you kept your edge. “Should we put a bow tie on the suit, too?”

“Now’s not the time to try and be cute.” You were still miffed he hadn’t come to any dress rehearsals, because as he put it, all I have to do is fall out of the sky and onto a platform.

“I saw what the dancers are wearing. You think you could sneak one of those home?”

Finished prepping him, and because now was the perfect time, you took one of the fairground pamphlets in hand and smacked him on the side of the head. “Can you be serious for even one minute?”

His hands came to your shoulders. “My limit is thirty seconds.” Almost quite literally leaning in to steal a kiss before he wisely stepped far away to get into Iron Man. You left well enough alone.

The Expo was already flooded with people by the time you got back there an hour later and you knew you didn’t have to worry about Tony boarding his jet to be taken overhead. It seemed a little overplayed, over priced too. If he could just take himself up and come back down, but it was Tony after all. He wanted an extremely flashy entrance.

It was why girls in teeny-tiny Iron Man booty shorts and crop tops with LED lights on their palms and boots worked up a sweat on stage as Shoot To Thrill boomed over the speakers. “Start fireworks over main stage.” You were pacing in the back, barking orders into your headset. This all had to go perfect, not because a slip up would bother Tony, but it would bother you.

You hadn’t busted your ass this hard for it to all fall apart now.

The pilot taking Tony in crackled over your transmission, “270 at 30 knots holding steady at 15,000 feet. You are clear for exfiltration over the drop zone.”

“All you, Tony.” You had no idea if he was even listening, peering up from your spot behind the front curtain to look up at the night sky.

Illuminated among huge bursts of color you could see him coming in hot- ...and tried to ignore that he may or may not have gotten hit with a firework. The crowd was screaming at this point, excitement overwhelming every single person in attendance. He’d been on countless dangerous missions, life threatening ones, at this point trying to do his own peace work- but this was the thing that scared you the most.

He fell right through the perfect point in the huge glass dome and landed smack center of his mark. Flash in the pan. Handful of seconds. Standing up he lifted his arms as the machine that he’d designed to take off the suit folded up from underneath the stage. You knew how hard he’d been trying to perfect a single exit delivery, but for some reason he just hadn’t gotten the specs right yet.

It didn’t matter.

The crowd was going wild as his helmet came off with the rest of the pieces, bit by bit. Tony was in his most casual element. Playing for other people. Grinning brightly, pointing a finger across the throes. The song finally started coming to its close and the dancers moved to half circle him, palms up.

Hardest part done. Blind run after no rehearsals. Beautiful.

Chants of his name along with thunderous applause lit up the night. “Oh! It’s good to be back. You missed me.” Turning away from watching him on stage, a few show runners came up to you with clipboards and other scheduling snafus that needed your attention. You tried quickly to abate them as Tony was teasing the crowd so that you could turn your full attention back to him.

He hadn’t prepped a speech either- at least, he hadn’t let you prep one for him. But what damage could he do? He’d already spilled every last secret to the world. Well. All his anyway. There was always you. Even knowing he wouldn’t dare, you pushed away an attention hungry intern as you peeked back out. Needing to keep an eye on him. To watch.

“I’m not saying that the world is enjoying it’s longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me.” The crowd erupted again. He spoke over them. “I’m not saying that from the ashes of captivity never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history.” Arms outstretched his head fell forward and he drowned in the people’s adoration. Only briefly, though, thank goodness, as he started moving across the stage. “I’m not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair sippin’ on an iced tea because I haven’t come across anyone man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day!”

A chill crept across your skin. No wonder he wouldn’t let you prep him. You’d have never signed off on something like that. Still inviting trouble after everything. He seemed to be melting in their praise as another chant of his name broke across. Followed by a very determined woman screaming, “I LOVE YOU TONY!”

“Please.” He waved his hand dismissively despite the fact that he was eating all of this up. “It’s not about me. It’s not about you.” Waiting a moment for the crowd to hush a little. “It’s not even about us. It’s about legacy. It’s about what we choose to leave behind for future generations. And that’s why, for the next year, and for the first time since 1974, the best and brightest-”

A touch at your shoulder interrupted your attention. You were almost ready to actually physically hit the next person who couldn’t give you five minutes to watch, but upon seeing it was Happy you calmed yourself. Now you were getting too wrapped up in Tony like everyone else. “The suit’s packed. The car’s around back.”

Despite all the planning and effort and wanting to reignite this huge thing, Tony actually hadn’t wanted to stay to witness much of it past its introduction- his introduction. You hadn’t asked why. You didn’t want to either. Being able to hand it off to the next qualified person was a delight. “Thank you. We’re gonna wait a few minutes for the crowd to thin out but we should be alright.” There would be other things to see and do and security would herd them out the other way so everything would be good.

Howard Stark’s voice rolled from the stadium speakers, an older clip welcoming people to the first ever Stark Expo all those years ago. Looking up you’d missed Tony’s exit across the other side of the stage. Of course he had no idea he was supposed to come see you on the right side, since he’d never once asked. Didn’t matter, you tried to tell yourself, as you walked around back.

Approaching him, his back turned to you, there was a slight flutter of anxiety. Maybe, like you, these things were still hard for him, too. Crazy to think about. Carefully you laid a hand to his shoulder. “You did great out there.” He shifted, hand easing out from his suit jacket to grab hold of the water bottle Happy was offering to him.

“Can’t ask for more than perfection.” Easy smile on his face. Lifting the cap of the bottle he took a long sip, exhaling loudly after. “I need to get into something a little more inconspicuous- you mind?”

You weren’t sure who he was asking, but Happy took the cue to put his hands up and walk himself backwards. “The dressing room is right over here.” He still seemed a little jittery. It felt unwise to leave him completely alone.

Once inside, you handed him the black button up and vest you’d brought, all pristine in its dry-cleaning plastic. “You know… I don’t mind you watching, but if we’re keeping up this secret, I think it looks weird my assistant just walked in here with me.” He started pulling his bow tie undone.

“Maybe they think you’re so helpless you can’t even get dressed without me.” Said sweetly with just as saccharine a smile.

He chuckled as he shed his suit jacket. “Next thing you know, everyone’s gonna be saying you’re the one in the suit with that kind of attitude.”

“Hm, Iron Lady does have a sophisticated ring to it.” Immediately you knew this was a mistake.

“See- I’m glad you feel that way- because-”

Reaching up you yanked his discarded clothes from him, folding them over your arm. “Kidding, Tony. Never in a million years.” Even though you’d turned him down a few times now you had a very huge sneaking suspicion he was working on something for you down in his lab.

He exchanged clothes with you. “Suit yourself. Literally. If we could just work out some specs-”

“You really would just like to eat dinner by yourself, wouldn’t you?”

“Now who’s being ridiculous?” Turning to you, tugging the edges of his vest. A stunning silhouette all in black. “How do I look?”

Setting his other clothes aside you reached up to smooth the lines of his shoulders. “Looks like you’ve got a hot date.” Which was ridiculous, if the two of you were really intent on keeping this a secret (that you thought no one was buying at this point), going out to dinner together after a hugely televised event was the worst thing to do.

But he had asked, and so…

“Yeah. I do.”

Damn him.

Leaning up on tiptoe, you grounded yourself with your palms on his shoulders, risking a short but satisfying kiss. At this point it was clear the two of you were playing it fast and loose. It was rare you’d appear at any event without one another, and while it was easy to say it was just because you were his assistant and kept his life together…

Part of you wanted to announce it. To have it known.

But the other part was terrified.

A knock at the door broke the two of you apart and you went to gather his things. Happy poked his head in. “Ready to go?”

“Already?” There was no way things were quiet outside yet.

But Tony grabbed your free hand. “Yeah, let’s hit it.” And at your disapproving look, “What? They’re gonna hang out there all night anyway. Might as well just brave the frenzy and be free.”

Frenzy was right. Out of the safety of the back stage, hundreds of voices called out as Happy tried to get the two of you through crazed people all pulling and pushing for a piece of Tony. Women and men alike trying to whisper to him, phone and hotel numbers all the same. But he did stop briefly to sign a few autographs for some kids waiting on the stairs. Say a few passing hellos to some fellow developers and celebrities…

It felt endless. And you really would have liked to have waited so as to not be bombarded with all of it. But in moments the thick air of the night greeted you outside, and the noises died to a hush as the doors closed behind you, security keeping people from crossing out after.

“I brought the new model up.” The R8 Spyder. Brand new, in fact, at Tony’s request that it be here. Flashy for his own sake, and you’d noticed a growing trend of him getting attached to that particular model. Sleek, silver, and convertible. Perfect for a night out on the town in this muggy weather.

“Beautiful. She come with it?” Finally out of your thoughts once you heard him ask this, you saw a woman leaning against the car.

Very quickly you were thrust into full alert, dropping his hand and stepping forward. You tried not to let the thrum of amused pride wafting from Tony get the better of you. “Can I help you?” Why had security let her out here? Why had they let her wait?

“I’m hoping so.” She pushed away from the car to come a few steps closer, papers tucked under her arm.

“You got a name?” Tony seemed entirely nonchalant about the whole thing.

“Marshall.” Happy moved around her as she answered, opening the top of the car and taking the rest of Tony’s clothes from you to stow them in the trunk. Clearly he was just as unbothered.

“Irish. I like it.” All charm. It kind of bugged you. Tony was still very used to getting cozy with all sorts.

“I don’t. What do you want?” After all, if this was some sort of corporate nonsense, maybe someone mad they were kicked off the guest list, it was your job to handle it.

“I want to give him something.” Voice soft. But you weren’t buying it.

“I’m on the wheel.” Tony stepped aside the scuffle to get into the driver’s seat. He was intent on leaving, it seemed, so you got into the passenger side with him. Happy went around, rethinking getting into his car, standing by to see what would come of this. Tony looked up at her again. “What are you giving me?”

“A subpoena.” Holding the paper out to him.

Dread struck through you as Tony made a face. “Yikes.”

You bristled. “For what?”

“If he would just take it-”

“I don’t like being handed things.” Adamant. As if it would help the situation.

You reached up to yank it from her, reading over the top words as she spoke them aloud. “You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 A.M.”

“You can’t serve subpoenas for a court date that’s twelve hours from now- in a different state.” Glaring up at her. No. This was absolutely not happening. They couldn’t just bully Tony to come to a senate hearing.

“He can take the suit.” Playing coy. If that was really their angle, it would have mitigated the legality of sufficient time for him to get there.

Tony looked up at her. “Can I see a badge?” Of course. You should have asked for the same thing. Now he was doing your job for you.

She just smiled. “You wanna see the badge?” Reaching into her pocket she got it out, waving it in front of him. “You like it?”

“Not as much as I thought I would.”

You just put your hand to your head, a sigh escaping. Turning to look up at Happy who had come to your side of the car. “How long would it take to get from here to DC?”

He made a noise of thought and then shrugged. “About 250 miles... Four hours and change.”

“Still time for dinner, then.” Tony said suddenly, revving the engine to a start and pulling out in a sudden screech of wheels.

Hurriedly you pulled your seat belt on as wind whipped around you. Taking out your phone was the next step. “I’ll make some calls-” Who could you call? A lawyer, first of all. There was no way the government was just going to drop a surprise like this on you without complete and total recourse. Then maybe… Coulson?

His hand came up over yours, pushing your cell down. “Let’s eat. Then make some reservations somewhere in DC.”

“And drive all night?” You tried to keep above upset.

“If we put this off now, they’re just gonna keep coming. And, besides, if I don’t show up they’ll start calling me a delinquent.” It was hard to tell if he was taking this seriously or not.

But he did have a point. This wasn’t as much of a surprise as it was a shock. Those senate members had been on TV for months now pissing and moaning about Iron Man. ...maybe some of them had a point, but you would keep that to yourself. You’d even combated with more news anchors than you would have liked, defending Tony’s name. Iron Man’s name.

You had just been sort of hoping that would be all it was. And that they wouldn’t do something like this. Because the next step, probably, was breaking down the door to the lab and seizing the suits. And you really wouldn’t know what to do then.

“Relax. Don’t let them get you angry. That’s what they want.” It wouldn’t prove useful to show up to a hearing in a huff, that was for sure. It would only be broadcast on every news station for the next few days how you let your emotions get the better of you in defense of your vigilante boss. You could see the headlines now. “We don’t have time to put this off, so we’ll deal with it now and then go about our lives.”

Just be easier to get it done now, he was saying. You guessed he was mostly right… And if he was intent on doing it anyway, there was nothing you could do to stop him. You ended up shaking your head. “Alright. I’ll do some research on the drive up. Try and see what they’ve got.” It was extremely obvious they were going to argue with him about whether or not Iron Man was a weapon, and for that reason that a private citizen should not own it. But they must have had something that finally pushed them to this point.

His hand moved to give your leg a squeeze. “I said relax. You’ve been busting your ass for this Expo and I don’t need you overworking yourself now that it’s over.”

At this you really couldn’t hold back a roll of your eyes. “Work still goes on Tony. If it wasn’t this, it was something else.”

“But it doesn’t have to be this and something else.” Being pedantic at this point.

Leaning over, you rested your head against his arm. That was just it, though. “There’s always more.” No end in sight. Tired, you closed your eyes.

“Yeah.” His voice was a million miles away.

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

Tony had gone out for food which both annoyed you and was equally fine. After deciding it was just easier to make the drive now, you’d ended up canceling the dinner reservations and going home to pack an overnight bag. A little under four hours of driving time as the roads were mostly clear- and Tony had a huge problem with obeying the speed limit. Something you could hardly fault him for since he was used to going hundreds of miles an hour most days. He was otherwise a safe driver- and your mind was elsewhere, anyway.

You’d gotten a hotel room at 1:30 in the morning, trying to ignore the gushing front desk staff. Also trying to ignore their stares when you requested the suite with one bed. Easier, right? Let them talk. You’d stopped caring very recently. The media was more concerned with Tony’s activities as a superhero rather than that he was spotted everywhere with you. And booking one-bed hotel rooms with you.

The first thing once you got upstairs was offering to just call room service. But he seemed oddly buzzing with energy, not wanting to sit for a moment. You just chalked it up to the fact that he was going to be berated and questioned for hours tomorrow by the biggest assholes in the country. There would probably be no sleep tonight.

So he’d said he was going to go out for a drive and go get food. And then he was gone.

You were in your PJs, cross-legged on the overly large bed with your laptop open when he came back. “Are you still working? I told you to cut that out.”

Looking up from your screen, you spotted the three brown bags he had in hand as he approached. “...did you bring back Burger King?” Of course he had. You should have gone with him.

“Only thing open.” For one reason or another you doubted this. But it didn’t really matter in the end. He came to sit on the side of the bed, dumping the first bag’s contents out. Burgers. Lots of them. Immediately he started unwrapping one and took a huge bite. “You gonna put that away or am I gonna have to take it from you?”

You couldn’t help the laugh. “Now you’re starting to sound like me.”

“All things considered, not the worst thing in the world.” The burger was already gone. His hand came up to shut the lid of your laptop. “I’m serious. Eat something. Please.”

At this point you were too tired to fight. You were also sure you’d found everything you were going to find. So going into the second bag you pulled a chicken sandwich out and took a few bites. “So… Justin Hammer is here.”

“Here? We’ll have to get a different hotel.” Offended at the very thought.

You grinned. “I don’t know if here, here. But he’s in the area. It’s likely they’re going to pull him as an expert.”

Tony scoffed. “An expert at what? Failure? Brown nosing?”

“Weapons.” Despite how true it all was, you tried to keep on task. “He’s on their payroll.” Having picked up a very nice weapons contract after Tony had pulled out. Memories of him bothering you in that airport bar touched the back of your brain.

“And he never even sent us a Christmas card for that.” Wonderful gift that it had been. “God knows he never would have secured it on his own.”

“You have no idea.” Breathing out a tired sigh just as you finished up your sandwich.

He raised a brow, starting in on his third burger. “Enlighten me.”

Now was not a very good time for this. But now there’d be no getting out of it. And so… “When you first announced to the world you were pulling out of weapons, he stalked me to an airport bar and asked me to give him abandoned schematics.”

“You-...” Tony seemed shocked. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” But very quickly he was shaking his head with a big smile. “And here I thought I knew the bottom to his well of shame. You were holding out on me.” Waggling his finger your way.

“He insisted we were old friends and took issue with me questioning his sanity over it.” You unwrapped another sandwich, sharing a much needed laugh.

“Unbelievable. You really should have told me he was following you around, though. Could have given Happy an excuse to put him on the floor.” Going in to the last bag, he pulled two bottles of water.

One which you accepted gratefully as it was handed to you. “Please.” Offended. “I could snap Justin Hammer over my knee.”

“Yes you could. I’d love to see it, too.” A little raise of his brows in enjoyment of the implication.

“No.” You chastised. “I’m not going to assault Justin tomorrow.”

“Come on. Just a little light assault? We could all use a laugh. He’ll probably thank you for the opportunity.”

You were giggling still as you leaned forward to rest your head at the back of his shoulder. “I can’t believe Iron Man is asking me to attack an innocent bystander.”

“Correction.” He held up a finger. “Tony Stark is asking his girlfriend to provide some entertainment at the world’s largest jackass’ expense.”

A fuzz of warmth settled in your chest. “Well Tony Stark’s girlfriend is politely refusing to go to jail tomorrow.”

He sighed. “Oh alright. Fine.” You tilted your head up to look at him. “I’ll go to jail for assault tomorrow.”

Giggling still, especially as he laughed when you gave his shoulder a shove with your head, “No one is going to jail tomorrow.”

Sitting back on the bed more fully, he put an arm around you. “Good thing. I don’t do so well in captivity.”

Your hand came up to rest over his chest. “Don’t I know it.” It would have been nice to let the air settle. Maybe offer to go to bed. But there was one more thing… “Tony...”

“That sounds like bad news. Let’s wait until after the hearing tomorrow.” Sarcastic, knowing it was exactly about that.

As much as you would have liked to not do this, “Rhodey compiled a report at the Senate’s request.”

Tony’s voice was far away when he answered, “He did, huh?”

“I can’t see it right now, it’s sealed from the public. But I’m sure it’s as fair as he could make it.” Being asked to do it, there would be no way for Rhodey to say no without jeopardizing himself. You had to believe in the best for him. “I think because of all this they’re going to make the case you shouldn’t have the suit.” They were going to try very hard. “I mean- not that you couldn’t have figured that out.” Backing out of any credit here. This had been a hot topic for months. It was obvious that’s what the hearing was about.

He gave you a little squeeze. “I’m not going in there completely blind, at least.” Then he shrugged, easing out a deep breath. “Better to get this over with now. Maybe they’ll stop bugging you on TV about it.”

You smiled softly. “If I’m lucky.”

“I’d say you’re not doing half bad.”

“Me either. And just for the record, rebuffing news anchors on your behalf is one of the easier parts of my job. Wouldn’t change it for the world.” Defending him wasn’t always easy, it never had been. Before all this or after. “I’d do it every day, if I had to.” As long as it meant something.

He was quiet for much longer than you expected. “You won’t.” Dwelling on that, perhaps.

Just a tiny, teeny tiny, sliver of unease settled. “Got big plans to tell everyone off tomorrow? Just please at least try to be professional.” He must have just been thinking it over. It was going to be a tough day.

“I’ll do my best.”

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark x Reader #INY Chapter Twenty

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canadiananimatorguy · 5 years

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The first KyoAni series I watched was back in 2006.

I was just starting high school at the time and was also just getting into watching anime. Til then I had just watched whatever they had on YTV (a Canadian channel), you know, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh! all the kids stuff. Fullmetal Alchemist started to pull me into more serious shounen types of anime and then there was Bleach. I was in the middle of Bleach, grinding through the hundreds of episodes of standard action and prolonged fights. It was cool to me, I liked the characters and sword fights, I was content.

Then a friend told me to watch Air. She said it really affected her and strongly urged me to watch it. I was hesitant at first. The art style wasn’t what I was used to, I hadn’t really seen a moe-type anime before. But, being a dumb kid going into high school, of course I wanted to impress this girl, so I watched it.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The conversations flowed naturally, not like the stiff writing I was accustomed to. The characters, how they acted, the world, it all felt so grounded and real. Of course the art was weird at first, but once I actually saw it in motion that perception melted away. If anything the characters in Air moved so fluidly and authentically that it felt like Bleach was the unnatural show in comparison. I had also never seen a slice of life series before. I had only watched anime about battles and fantasies, I hadn’t seen a show (live action or not) that was just about people. People doing things, people talking, people crying, people with problems. The story wasn’t straightforward and that mystified me. The ending left me feeling confused and strange, but I wanted more. I had been touched by the KyoAni magic.

Then I watched The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I heard it was good, and read online it was by the same animation studio. This was the one that changed everything. As good as Air was, Haruhi was on a whole other level. It was all so interesting. The set up, the plot, the characters, the way I had to watch it in broadcast order and keep track of the non-linear storytelling. Bleeding in these other-worldly elements into a daily school life felt like a new concept, even though that was exactly how Bleach began. The reason it felt so different was because of how it was framed, the amazing fantastical stuff wasn’t the focus, in fact it barely showed up in some episodes. The real focus was on the people. Once again they felt so real and lifelike, they acted like actual teens would. It was funny and clever and so dense with quality. It was like I had hit a goldmine of anime.

After that point I stopped watching Bleach altogether. It was simple math. Why waste my time on 200+ episodes of Bleach when I could get an experience just as gripping in a short-but-amazing 14 episodes? Other interesting anime stories and experiences had to be out there too. I went on the hunt for more of the classics. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Hellsing, FLCL, Wolf’s Rain, Death Note etc.

It was when I took on Lucky Star that I started to take notice of KyoAni’s distinct mark of quality. Buttery smooth animation. Genuinely well executed comedy. Cute characters. This sort of attention to detail that was hard to find elsewhere. I got into the mindset that whenever I watched a series by KyoAni I wasn’t going to be let down. That mindset has never changed. I began to hoard their backlog like a dragon on his pile of gold, saving watching their shows until I felt the time was just right.

Clannad After Story was one that really stuck with me. It still does. To this day it’s my personal favourite series KyoAni has made. Even with all their newer stuff I still love Clannad the most. To me it’s slice of life at it’s peak, a perfect mixture of drama and comedy with a healthy mix of tears. I won’t hesitate to admit I bawled like a child by the ending. It’s affected me in ways that nothing else ever has, and I know countless other people feel the same way. This one was the moment that solidified KyoAni as the best anime studio in my eyes. The only series I love more than it is Gurren Lagann, but in terms of watching something that’s grounded in our world, Clannad can’t be topped. KyoAni’s consistent track record of amazing anime is unbeatable in my opinion and as the years kept rolling by that idea only got stronger.

A couple years later I started becoming more obsessed with watching anime. Browsing online Pokemon forums led me to a sub-board where people kept up to date with current anime series. Before long I dipped my toes in. In my first actual season of watching *new* anime, Nichijou started to air. The look of it reminded me of Lucky Star, and I knew it was by the same animation studio so I jumped into it. It was even funnier than I imagined, easily becoming my favourite anime comedy series, each episode had me laughing my head off. For the next 25 weeks I eagerly anticipated every Saturday. The ritual of sitting down to catch a new episode was so ingrained into my mind that yes, I STILL remember that it aired on Saturdays nearly a decade later. Saturdays were Nichijou Days, every week, no questions asked, until the very last episode had aired.

After that I was in. Any season past that point when a new KyoAni show premiered, I would watch it. Hyouka, Chuunibyou, Tamako Market. Even Free!, it didn’t matter what. I would go online and post gifs and awe at the animation. I would listen to the theme songs wherever I went. I always found myself captivated by the beautiful storytelling that held together each series. Watching KyoAni’s episodes would be the highlight of any week they had a show airing. Every year there was a new project to get excited for, a new thing to end up loving.

Going back a bit... At the same time frame as Nichijou I was just as obsessed with video games as I was with anime. I had chosen games as my career path. I wanted to be a game designer, or someone who worked on games. I was dumb and young and hopeful, so the actual position didn’t matter. Reality hit soon after. For monetary reasons outside of my control I couldn’t continue with games as a post secondary education. I was pulled from my university Game Design course just one semester in. Because of those circumstances I missed my opportunity to get into the other Game Design course at a more cheap local college. I was left distraught. It was then that I had to make a choice. Take the college’s other course offered to me... or wait an entire year for my next shot. That course was Animation.

Without my current love of anime I probably would have reconsidered. The affection for the anime medium had been nurtured inside me for years at that point. I don’t think I’d had the same love for it as I do without Kyoto Animation and all their shows. I’d still be watching low quality stuff like Bleach, I might have even gotten bored of it and stopped watching anime altogether. The path I took was because I had seen Clannad, because I had seen Haruhi, because I had seen Air even. KyoAni literally changed my life. Without them I wouldn’t have gone into an animation career. I wouldn’t have ever got my name in credits of Avengers. I honestly don’t know where I would be, if I would keep trying with video game stuff or go some place completely different.

It was devastating to hear about the fire yesterday. I’m still torn up about it and I’m probably going to be feeling like shit for a while. I don’t think I can express enough how much my heart goes out to them. KyoAni has affected me so personally, and I know the same goes for millions of others. Their work is something no one else can replicate, the amount of heart and soul that goes into each production is palpable. I felt it from the first time I ever saw it in Air and I can still feel it now. I pray and wish them all the best in this horrible time. There is no taking back what happened. Someday I hope they can return to doing what they love. It will be a long and difficult journey getting there, but if their hearts are anywhere as strong as the ones they’ve given to all of us then I know they can make it through.

#KyoAni #Kyoto Animation #PrayForKyoAni

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eternityunicorn · 5 years

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At My Mercy: Part One

Author: eternityunicorn

Genre: Romance/Drama/AU

Pairing: Elijah Mikaelson x OC, Klaus Mikaelson x OC

Warnings: Violence, Smut (*Smut chapters marked +18)

Summary: Elijah and Klaus Mikaelson are joint business partners of the seedy variety. They run an organization that indulges in slavery, particularly enslaving and selling their captured enemies to the highest bidder at special monthly auction. However, when the ethereal beauty, Eternity, ends up in their possession, the Original brothers decide she’s too rare a creature to hand over to anyone else. Therefore, they keep her for themselves, subjecting her to all kinds of indulgences. With time, one brother makes the mistake of falling in love with the rare beauty. But what happens when new slaves to be auctioned go missing? Is Eternity involved?

NOTE: OC and original elements are from my up and coming novel series!

AUTHOR’S COMMENTARY: This fic a replacement of sorts for my previous fic ‘Brothers’. Therefore, I hope that anyone who was reading that fic will like this incarnation just as much!

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There were no two brothers whom were closer than Elijah Mikaelson and his young brother Niklaus Mikaelson. They had the strongest sibling bond out of all the Mikaelson children.

Together, they took command of the supernatural community, ruling it with an iron fist from their chosen headquarters of Mystic Falls. To those loyal, they received much benevolence and privilege. However, to those who dared to oppose them, if they were captured - and they always were by the bounty hunters they employed - they were subjected to a life of servitude, as part of the two brothers’ business venture.

They ran an organization called Slave Row. Here, they auctioned off their captives to the highest bidder to live as their new master’s slave, forcing their captives to submit to the wills of their owners. To say that business was booming was an understatement. People came from all over to bid on the newest captives, making Elijah and his little brother very rich men, on top of being powerful ones.

Once a month, there was an auction, where their captives were paraded around naked and in chains to further humiliate them, before they were sold off to their new masters. Niklaus typically ran the show, while the older Original watched from the shadows. He didn’t take the level of enjoyment from selling their enemies into slavery as his little brother seemed to. No, he simply stood on the sidelines to ensure everything went smoothly, while his brother took on hosting duties.

Yes, everything was perfect, or at least, that was what Niklaus would say.

Truth be told, Elijah was only involved in this cruel and tyrannical business, because he wanted to protect his family from their enemies and in his opinion, subjecting their captured foes to slavery was still kinder than simply killing them. Though personally, the older Original hadn’t the taste for either. However, he tolerated it so long as it sent the correct message to others who dared to oppose them as the ruling family.

Then one day, there came a most usual request for a private audience with the Kings of the Supernaturals. Elijah and Niklaus permitted it, meeting in dinning hall of their family manor with a mysterious, hooded stranger, who came with a rare treasure indeed. They didn’t ask for the name of the hidden bounty hunter, as it didn’t matter to them, despite the fact that neither of them having employed the man. Instead, they focused on the deal the shadowy figure was wanting to make with them.

While Niklaus talked price with the mystery hunter, the older Original was transfixed by the beautiful creature he had bound and chained beside him.

Sitting on the floor at the hunter’s feet was a pale woman with obscenely long white hair and large, almond shaped sapphire eyes. She sat there tensely, looking around at each of the men without an ounce of submission, only a great and fiery defiance, despite being completely naked. She did not fear.

Elijah had heard of this rare creature from rumors that had spread far and wide across the supernatural community. She was a fierce warrior, if he recalled correctly, taking on those who dared to harm the innocent, particularly the unaware human race. She had left quite the trail of bodies and a great sense of fear in the supernaturals, specifically the vampires, who needed to drink human blood to survive. At first, he had thought she was only a myth, a story to protect humanity, but it seemed she was, in fact, quite real.

When their eyes met, the older Mikaelson felt as though his breath had been stolen away. The connection was immediate and profound. At least, it was for him...and there was a hint of familiarity in it too. A curious thing, as he was certain he had never met this woman before. How strange.

“My brother and I are very interested in the ‘White Goddess’, who has been terrorizing the supernatural community for quite some time,” Niklaus was saying to the bounty hunter. “We shall reward you handsomely for bringing her to us, good sir, and with our deep gratitude.”

“Thank you, my lord,” the bounty hunter replied. “I do hope you enjoy her well.”

The younger Mikaelson grinned widely, while gazing at the ethereal beauty, “Oh, we shall enjoy her greatly. Won’t we, Brother?”

Elijah turned his attention to the two other men, pretending that he hadn’t been completely captivated flawlessly. He smirked, “Yes, I do believe we shall.”

“Excellent,” the hunter replied. “A word of warning, before I go: do not remove the gold bracelets upon your newest acquisition’s wrists, as they are the only things that will keep her from tearing you both apart.”

“Duly noted, my good man,” Niklaus said. “We will be sure to heed your warning. Here is your payment.”

The hybrid snapped his fingers and a servant approached with a chest of money to give to the bounty hunter, which the mystery man took without hesitation. The hunter rose from his seat with his payment. With a final nod, he made his exit, leaving behind the exquisite beauty for the Original brothers to do with as they pleased.

“So, Elijah, what do you think we should do with her?” Niklaus asked, gazing hotly at the pale woman. “Do you think we should sell her as we have most of our other captives? Or do you think we should keep her for ourselves? It has been a while since we have had slave of our own, and never have we had one so rare as this exotic creature. What say you, Brother?”

The older Original thought about it, but he didn’t have to think on it long. There wasn’t any way in hell he was going to give this strange and fierce woman away. He was already possessive of her, to a frightening degree. No, she belonged to them - to him, he decided.

“I say we keep her as our own,” answered Elijah with a devious smile. “It has been a while since we have kept a slave for our own amusement and as you’ve said, she is too rare to simply give away. Yes, she should be ours and ours alone.”

Niklaus grinned pleasantly, getting up from the table and going over to where their new plaything sat. He quickly fisted her hair and yanked the woman’s head back sharply. “Do you hear that, pet? You belong to the Mikaelson brothers now,” he chuckles down at her. “We shall enjoy all your splendors immensely, I’m sure.”

“Yes, and why not begin right away, Brother?” Elijah stood gracefully, buttoning his suit jacket deftly as he did. “I don’t know about you, Niklaus, but I should like to sample her wonders immediately.”

His little brother agreed, “I had the very same thought. On your feet, love.”

The ethereal beauty allowed the hybrid to help her rise to her feet, but neither Original was prepared for what came next. The second she was at her full height, the feisty little woman attacked. First, by grabbing hold and twisting Niklaus’s hand that held her until he was forced to let go and then gave him a strong kick to the stomach, sending him sailing across the room. Then she went at Elijah himself, throwing a series of punches and kicks at him, all of which he barely was able to maneuver away from or block. However, he did manage to evade her.

They were equally matched, something that the older Original knew wouldn’t be so, if those golden trinkets weren’t holding her back. She was fierce indeed, even with them keeping her subdued, and it was that fire in her, that defiance that made him hard. It called to his baser self that demanded he make her submit, giving him a burst of strength to eventually overtake her.

With one swift move, Elijah had the fighting woman pinned to the table with her throat in one hand and with her wrists in the other, as he pulled her arms over her head, subduing her. He stared down at her with a look of dark desire. “Oh, I am going to enjoy breaking you, Sweetheart,” he told her, his face close to hers.

“We will see about that,” she spat in return, defiant to the end.

“You will be made to submit, by my hand, one way or another,” he murmured. “There isn’t another out there that I haven’t been able to break. You will be no different.”

Then Elijah acted on impulse and kissed the rare woman passionately, prying her mouth open with his tongue and diving inside to taste her throughly. She tasted sweet and he could see himself becoming addicted to her very quickly.

“Easy, Brother,” chuckled Niklaus as he rejoined him.

Immediately, the older Original pulled his mouth away from the ethereal beauty’s, collecting himself swiftly before his baby brother could notice the effect she was having on him - and he didn’t just mean that in a sexual way either. If he were perfectly honest with himself, he was intrigued by this rare jewel in every way.

“Forgive me, I might have gotten a little carried away,” Elijah replied with a small smirk, while he still held the woman in subjugation. “Shall we get started?”

The hybrid nodded eagerly, “Yes, but I believe a change of plans in in order. I want the first crack at her. I owe her for sending me flying across the room.”

The older Mikaelson laughed lightly, agreeing to his brother’s terms, before shouting a request to one of the servants to bring him a collar and leash, along with a pair of shackles. Once he had the items in hand, he asked Niklaus to do the honors, while he continued to hold their new acquisition down. She struggled a bit, but it wasn’t as heartfelt as before, leaving Elijah to wonder why that was.

Once the shackles were in place and the collar was secured around her neck, the older Original released his hold on her. He stepped away while grabbing onto the leash that had been attached to the collar and tugging her up off the table.

“I’m going to enjoy tearing you both apart,” the resilient and bold woman grinned wolfishly, as she stood upright.

Elijah looked at her, then his brother, whom had done the same at her audacity. They both smiled at each other, liking her boldness. The bolder the captive, the more fun it was to break the captive. Yes, she was going to be quite the treat, especially with how she started at them directly in the eye without any sense of fear or submission.

“I wouldn’t threaten those who hold you at their mercy, love,” Niklaus replied. “That isn’t a very wise thing to do.”

“No, it is not...Miss?” Agreed Elijah. “What is your name, Sweetheart?”

The ethereal beauty looked at him and replied readily, “Eternity.”

Niklaus reached over then and grabbed hold of her chin, pulling her face to look at him instead. “A lovely name, for a lovely woman,” he complimented her, before he kissed her with the same forceful passion Elijah had shown her.

Eternity was more tense with the hybrid, but she didn’t put up much of a fight. The older Original looked on, feeling his blood heat at the sight, from both lust and an intense jealousy. The latter he knew he had no business to feel, but couldn’t help it. Yet, he kept it hidden away masterfully, as to not let his brother know just how under his skin this rare creature was.

When Niklaus pulled away, he licked his lips and looked at his brother. “I can definitely see why you couldn’t wait to have a taste,” he said to him with a chuckle. “Come. Let us begin.”

To Be Continued....

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Tag List: @elejah-wonderland @dendrite-lover @xanderling @inmylifeilovedthemall @x-memi12 @lalabluues @missnmikealson @esclisa @elizamonet @hawaiianohana31 @freshsuitcasewinnereagle @lolelijahishot @loulouisa @teekillerin @elejahforever

#elijah mikaelson #daniel gillies #klaus mikaelson #elijah x eternity #klaus x eternity #klaus x eternity x elijah #romance #drama #dark fic #slavery #angst #the originals #the originals fanfiction #the vampire diaries #the vampire diaries fanfiction

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