#i didn't drew smith just realized :(

[eruruvii]

Beloved by Time

(and anons)

@occasionalsnippets

Hi, okay bye.

I love MCverse so true so real

[peachhcs]

second chances

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

being at will’s going away party leaves samy feeling confused, so she looks to gabe and ryan for help

2.5k words

woohoo a fic!! finally!! i had to rewrite this like 3 different times bc i just didn’t like how it was being written, so i think i finally like this one lmao. we are getting closer to samy and will getting back together, but keep requesting for things! (i’m also working on my other requests dw!!)

au masterlist

"okay, smile!" samy exclaimed while she held her little digital camera up to her face to get a picture of the boys all together. technically, she forced them into a photo—somehow being able to find all seven of them for a quick photo.

will's house was packed with people everywhere, so even finding an open space in his yard was like some miracle. the hockey boys smiled widely as samy's flash went off and the picture quickly displayed itself on the screen a moment later.

"aw, you guys are so adorable," the girl laughed, flipping the camera around so they could see the result.

"we should get that framed," ryan smiled as well.

"we'll take it again in like ten years to see how much we've changed," drew joked, but it only made the realization set in further that they probably wouldn't be all together again until then.

"samy should get in with her three boys," aram urged meaning her, ryan, gabe, and will.

it was determined pretty early on that those three and samy were the closest. not saying that the others weren't close with her, but it was easy to see how much of a connection all of them had with one another. samy's cheeks flushed, but she didn't have time to oppose because aram grabbed the camera from her hands and motioned for the four of them to get together.

"smile big!" the taller brunette grinned.

gabe and ryan smushed samy between them while will hung off gabe's side. their arms brushed, touching slightly behind gabe's back. the flush on the girl's cheeks didn't disappear as the flash went off again with the other boys peering over aram's shoulder.

"best one yet," the hockey player laughed, passing the camera to samy so she could see.

the sight was bittersweet. they all sported wide smiles while clinging to each other to hold onto the last moments with one another because who knew when they'd all be in the same place at once again. schedules were only getting busier as they grew into their careers. plus, things between samy and will were still somewhat rocky even though they were back on speaking terms.

that seemed to be the worst part.

"thanks for putting up with my pictures," the youngest hughes smiled, shutting off her little camera for now.

"i think you're the only reason we even have pictures together, so we should be thanking you," drew teased a bit making the others laugh. samy's gaze swept over the still massive crowd in the backyard until she landed back on will.

he must've sensed her gaze on him because he met hers almost immediately. a look neither of them really understood sat on their expressions—a mix between "i want to talk to you" and "i shouldn't talk to you" that had them struggling which one to choose.

will's family was hosting all of the hughes family for the weekend while they were in boston for the farewell party. the two only made a bit of small talk since last night when they got in to now. it was hard to describe what their relationship was at the moment. they sort of fixed things at the vacation back in july, but not much talking happened outside of that.

"hey will!" someone broke the two from their staring. both of their gazes slid to whoever just called his name, seeing a family friend motioning the blonde over.

samy watched as will said goodbye to them for now before pushing his way into the crowd. her eyes fell from his retreating figure until she found gabe's who must've been watching that entire interaction. the look in his eyes told her that he knew what she was thinking. he nodded his head, a motion saying to walk with him to somewhere less crowded so they could talk.

somehow, her and gabe have been reading each other a lot more easier than before. it must've been something they picked up ever since samy began ranting to him about everything going on her life since she didn't have will there anymore.

the two slipped away from the group through the yard until they were in the front of the house. gabe led the way to the front steps where he sat on one of the bottom ones, patting the spot beside him for samy to sit down.

"how are you?" the dark-haired boy began.

"i'm fine," the girl shrugged.

"are you guys still not talking much?"

samy pursed her lips, eyes on the car-filled driveway, "i guess. we haven't talked a whole lot since i got in last night."

"does that bother you?" gabe really turned into a therapist whenever him and samy talked about the breakup because he asked questions only her therapist would ask her about her feelings.

samy had to laugh at that thought making the boy beside her raise his eyebrow, "sorry, i'm just laughing because you kind of sound like my therapist. i don't know how i'm feeling to be honest. kind of weird? sad? happy?"

"i get it. i'm sure it's weird being here still," the hockey player sympathized and samy nodded.

"i just..i guess it makes me kind of sad that..all of our lives will and i talked about this day happening and how he'll go off somewhere to pursue his dreams and i'll still stick right by his side, but now we can hardly talk to one another and he's leaving in three days to the other side of the country," she bit her lip, pushing all the tears edging its way up her throat.

a frown found its way to gabe's lips, slowly pulling his arm around the girl for a small hug. his gesture forced the tears out as samy buried her face into her hands. he didn't say anything, instead letting her cry it out while he offered the best comfort he could in silence.

"i'm sorry. i think everything is just hitting me again," samy apologized while she wiped her tears away.

"don't apologize. it's good to feel all of it. i get it. this whole weekend has felt sad," gabe rubbed her arm in little circles.

"tell me about it," the girl mumbled earning a little chuckle from both of their lips.

samy rested her head on gabe's shoulder. the two sat in silence for a moment until they caught sight of ryan coming up from the backyard. the brunette smiled when she saw her other friend. "they told me you guys disappeared this way," ryan explained while a small smile, but it faded when he saw samy's somewhat red eyes.

"are you okay?" he quickly wondered.

"yeah, i'm fine. just got a little sad," she laughed, but not in a funny way, more like to fill the awkward silence kind of way.

ryan found gabe's eyes as the two of them spoke in only looks before he joined the two on the bottom step. "this could be your chance to talk to him more. i know it's been kind of awkward still between you guys."

"i don't know. it seems like all we can manage is weird small talk before things get awkward and tense," samy frowned. "i just wish things could go back to how they were, you know?"

"i mean..technically, you still can. you just have to do a lot of talking," ryan shrugged.

"i don't even know if i want to take him back or even like..go back to being in a relationship. do you guys even think i should?" the girl glanced between ryan and gabe. the two looked at one another again, their expressions unreadable.

"you know we can't answer that," gabe finally said.

"can you please just humor me and tell me because i can't even decide for myself," she rolled her eyes.

"he is still your best friend, you know. that kind of shit doesn't just go away, no matter how much you guys don't talk or whatever. from what we know, he's really sorry for hurting you," ryan glanced at gabe again for a second. "i don't know if we're supposed to tell you this, but like a few months ago when he was at the bauer combine he called us from rutger phones having a panic attack about you. it sounded like he really regretted what he did and he knows how much he messed up."

samy took in ryan's words, her mouth forming into an oh.

"do with that what you will, but he is really sorry and if you did take him back, he won't ever hurt you like that again. he was being stupid and i'm not defending his actions, but he really did make a stupid decision and i do hate him for not talking to you before he did it," ryan continued when samy didn't respond at first.

she looked over at gabe who nodded in agreement to everything the taller brunette said.

"you know him more than we do, samy. it's really your choice, but i think you should at least try to hear him out more and let him talk to you. at least let your friendship happen again," the dark-haired boy added.

"even if i did take him back, we don't have summer anymore. he's leaving in three days," samy finally spoke again. she watched her friends exchange another glance like they knew something she didn't.

"just talk to him. you know what they say about distance. if they really love you then nothing else matters. not even being all the way across the country," ryan said.

it looked like samy had a lot to think about, but she appreciated the truth from the boys.

—

people left the party around seven leaving everyone else staying to help with the clean up. samy started in the backyard with a big trash bag picking up the cans and bottles people left around. she actually didn't understand how guests just left their trash when there were numerous trash bins all across the yard to throw stuff in.

the others were inside picking up the rooms, so she was by herself until the back door slid open. will stood on the back deck getting the trash up there, but his gaze kept looking over at samy further down the yard. the blonde glanced back inside where he met ryan and gabe's gazes. both of them gave him a thumbs up saying go talk to her.

will walked down the deck, taking a deep breath before opening his mouth, "need any help?"

his voice somewhat startled samy, quickly looking over her shoulder and meeting his gaze. "oh, uh, yeah, sure."

the awkward silence quickly overtook them as will picked up the cups and cans on the grass. samy thought about ryan and gabe's words from earlier, cursing to herself as she plucked up the courage to try and talk.

"the party was nice," she began.

will popped back up, smiling almost immediately, "thanks. mom basically planned all of it."

"yeah i could tell. she looked like she was stressing me about everything going well," samy laughed knowing how mrs. smith got with making sure everything always went perfectly.

"thanks for coming..it..it means a lot," will's tone softened out a bit.

"yeah, i'd never miss this. i'm proud of you. you're gonna do great," the girl managed a little grin.

"thank you. you're gonna do great this upcoming season, too," will said talking about samy's soccer season.

"thanks, i hope so. it's looking pretty promising," the brunette hummed.

she found will's gaze again. his eyes searched hers like he was looking for something in her expression before looking back up the yard and awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"when do you leave for school again?" the boy wondered.

"not for another two weeks. pre season won't start until the middle of august," samy explained briefly.

"makes sense. when do your brothers head back to van and jersey?"

"pretty soon. they're gonna hang around for another week and then leave."

the question was on the tip of will's tongue, he just didn't know if he could bring himself to ask. it seemed like a stretch considering him and samy hadn't even really talked since july, but gabe and ryan insisted.

"it's kind of hard to believe i'm gonna be playing against them soon," will laughed a little as they moved to a different part of the yard.

"oh yeah, i know. playing against quinn and jack will probably be scary since you've never competitively played then," samy giggled mostly to herself thinking about quinn taking down will on the ice.

"i'm actually kind of scared to play them. luke is one thing, but they've got like..years of experience under their belts," will chuckled too.

"let's just hope they go easy on you first game because you're family," the youngest hughes smiled.

her and will fell into a more comfortable silence as they continued picking up people's garbage. the conversations felt a little easier now, so samy kept talking.

"what's the plans for the apartment?" she wondered because her and will used to talk for hours about what his place in san jose would look like.

"uh, i'm not sure yet. mom's been looking at pictures online, but we'll get a feel when we're there," the boy responded.

"hey, there's always the pinterest boards i made," samy joked, but she missed the look on will's face and the question on threatening to spill out.

"actually, i..i was wondering if you'd wanna be there?" the blonde got out, eyes on samy waiting for her reaction.

the girl stopped what she was doing, "what?"

"i know it's a really crazy ask considering we haven't even really made up, but i don't know. we always talked about how you'd be there helping me move-in and decorate. for some reason, i can't picture you not there," will explained himself briefly.

samy's expression softened out, heart swelling that will wanted her there still.

"oh. i..i mean..i don't have any money for a ticket there.." her cheeks flushed into a bright pink and it was a good thing it was dark so will couldn't see the embarrassing blush.

"that's okay. i can pay for it," he said.

"no, no. i can't..i can't make you do that. no," she shook her head.

"you're not making me do it. i'm willing to do it. i have the money," the blonde quickly shook his head.

samy sighed, her eyes bouncing from the grass to will's face. "are you sure?" she asked but more as a double meaning.

are you sure you want me there? are you sure about us? about me?

"yeah, i'm really sure. maybe it can be a way we can continue to..mend our friendship," will nodded even though saying friendship hurt because he wanted nothing more than to call her his again.

"i promise i'll pay you back," samy laughed a little.

"shut up, you don't have to pay me back. i know this probably won't be the only time i'm flying you out to california," the boy grinned a little making samy blush even further.

something in the air started feeling lighter as the two walked back up to the house. that awkward tension that had been building up for the last three months slowly began dissipating while the spark began rekindling.

[mj-ackerman]

Translation of Tatsuya Endo's Interview with Katsumaru: (You can read the original here X)

Katsumaru: My wife and child are both big fans of "Spy x Family", so they were both excited for me to be able to meet you today. Why did you choose the theme "Spy" in the first place?

Endo: I didn't have any particular desire to draw a spy story or something like that, but I had always liked military kinds of things and was interested in war related things, so when I combined those aspects with the theme of "lies", it naturally ended up as a spy story. However, I haven't seen many spy movies, and for movies like "007", I've only seen one or two of them.

Katsumaru: What? Really? The information about spies that appears in the story, even for someone like me who's been an avid follower of the genre, gives an impression that it's very well thought out. How on earth did you acquire such knowledge?

Endo: Most of it is from books. And then some of it is from documentary films and the likes. There was an old movie called "Shiri" (This is a 1999 Korean film), it's about the battle between North Korean Special Operation Forces and South Korean Intelligence Agency. I liked that very much.

Katsumaru: The setting, in which the husband, Loid, is a spy and the wife, Yor, is an assassin, reminded me of the movie "Mr & Mrs Smith"

Endo: When the series was just starting, I see that title being mentioned a lot in the comments, but to be honest I've never seen it before....(Laughs). I didn't have much time to prepare for the serialization, and since it's a comedy, I thought I didn't have to be that particular about the settings as I drew it. I incorporated the knowledge I had gained from books, but since it's still a manga, I kept the "No way, that's impossible" aspects to it.

Katsumaru: I think it has a really good balance between realistic depiction and entertainment. Spies are part of everyday life, and some of them even established a "fake family" as in "SPY X FAMILY". In reality, there are cases where married couples had been living together without realizing that their husbands are spies.

Endo: That balance is what I pay the most attention to. I guess you can say it's a process of determining the "minimum level of reality" in each scene.

Katsumaru: How concerned are you about the difference between "reality and manga", Endo-sensei?

Endo: This one is difficult. It's a case by case basis, but in manga, there are many parts where I can just go "let's fake the reality at this part for the time being". When you're working alone, you don't have time to do research about this or that fact. However, in anime, you have to create much more detailed settings, so there isn't much room to put on tricks. When the anime team would ask me "What would happen in this part?" I would often reply with "I'm sorry but I haven't thought about it yet...." (Laughs).

Katsumaru: Have you not strictly defined the scene or time period the story is set in yet?

Endo: I had the image of the period setting somewhere between the 1960s and 1970s. I'm trying to explore what I can do with the technologies in this era thinking "This technology might be possible". I also have softened the reality of things, such as the political form. The cold war between the East and West is also part of the motif, but if you just tell the readers that "it's a conflict of ideologies" , it won't make sense to them. So, I put it into a form that is easy to understand as a manga, there are also some parts that I, myself don't know about after all. Similarly, in the real world, for example, spies probably have very few horizontal connections, right? Like for security reasons. However, as a manga, in order to develop the story, it was necessary for me to depict conversations between spies. All the more that this is a comedy story, so it wouldn't work without conversation. It's difficult to find the right flavor between the two.

Katsumaru: It's pretty unique that you came up with the name "Dalc" which is similar to the name of the currency "Mark" (It's Deutsche Mark which is no longer in use since 2002) used in Germany.

Endo: It's actually a combination of "Mark" and "Dollar". I often use names of places and buildings that actually exist in real life. However, I have a pretty bad memory, so I often ask myself later "Where did I get the name of this place again?" (Laughs)

Katsumaru: Is there any expert historical research or supervision of intelligence agencies involved in this?

Endo: I basically think about all the detailed settings all by myself.

Katsumaru: Since the real-life aspects are well-constructed, I thought an expert in international politics was involved in supervising this.

Endo: There are also some readers who read too deep into the historical situation, but I didn't actually put much thought into the details in writing the story. This is just a fictional country called "Westalis and Ostania" after all.

Katsumaru: In "Spy x Family", there are some Russian-speaking names such as "Anya" and "Yuri" that appears, but spies in that country uses more analog method. For example, "flash contact", in which documents are handed over to another person as they pass each other, or a "drop dead", in which documents are hidden in an agreed-upon location and later picked up by a colleague. There is also a method for communication. Although this method is considered extremely inefficient, it is sometimes considered to be highly secure because it prevents interception of communications.

Endo: So there's still that kind of analogs even now huh? Now that technology has developed and everything is digitalized, I certainly think it's much safer now. In other countries, there are organization such as M16 (United Kingdom Secret Intelligence Service) and CIA (US Central Intelligence Agency), Japan also has organizations with such characteristics.

Katsumaru: The "Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Bureau (Public Safety)", where I worked, is the counterintelligence arm of Japan. In "VIVANT" (It's a 2023 Japanese Drama), which I supervised, Hiroshi Abe and Ryo Ryusei are playing roles with these type of characters. We have obtained as collaborators people who have a lot of information and people who are in position to meet various people such as reporter.

The only problem was that we didn't have enough people. The CIA has a large number of subordinates under it's station chief, and a large budget. When I was temporary transfered to a Japanese embassy overseas, I was alone, my budget was limited, and I was also reponsible for issuing passports, so there is no doubt that working at an intelligence agency overseas with better environment had allowed me to concentrate more on my mission.

Endo: Do you hire locals overseas?

Katsumaru: There are times when we ask locals to work with us by paying them a reward. Or, we can ask them to connect us with people who has information. The Public Safety is very good at finding and training people who can bring good quality information and can do good work.

[403tarot]

KPOP READING: jake sim X anonymous in bed

DISCLAIMER: this is for entertainment purposes only. tarot is a game. it shouldn't be used to take serious decisions nor anything in this aspect. take everything with a grain of salt.

* explicit content taken out of a reading simulating a relationship between jake and one of my querents.

MINORS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO INTERACT !

As the final card regarding what Jake would like about the chemistry between you two, I got The Devil's card. I would like to draw a brief comparison between this card and The Lovers card.

Both cards depict a couple. I drew The Lovers card first, which represents how much Jake would appreciate the chemistry between you two in the emotional aspect. Then we have The Devil card, indicating that this would also extend to how much Jake would enjoy the sexual chemistry the two of you would share.

As I mentioned a bit in the previous reading, Jake would feel a strong need for physical touch. I believe due to the intense attraction and deep feelings he would have for you, this need to feel connected through touch would intensify even more.

He would become addicted to you, to your touch, your kisses, your scent... He also wouldn't be able to keep his hands off you. The areas he would pay the most attention to would be your neck, back, and shoulders. While you were busy doing something, he might come up from behind, hug you, leave kisses on your neck, touch your arms and shoulders. I see him doing this constantly, seeking at least a bit of your attention.

He would probably be the type who wants to fuck all the time, who is playful and always eager to have you close. It's as if he has a neon sign with your name flashing in the background of his mind 24/7. One thing I can visualize is both of you lying down while watching something together, and he rests his head on your chest as if it's a pillow (lol). He would ask you to play with his hair while doing so, and probably after the movie ends, he wouldn't be able to name a single character because of it. It's important to emphasize that your intimacy wouldn't be limited to just sex but also moments like the one I described. You could take showers together, something that requires a high level of intimacy even in a relationship, for instance.

As for his feelings having sex with you, I can see that Jake would feel very lucky to be with a woman who connects with him both emotionally and sexually. He would worry about giving you pleasure as if his life depended on it, he would find you so affectionate, sexy and willing for him that he would want to repay all your dedication in the best possible way while he has his head between your thighs.

Touch and consequently sex ends up being one of the strongest love languages he would present in this relationship. Besides, I see that he could also be a little more possessive while you were having sex, it's a moment when people end up being a little less irrational and more instinctive and with him it would be no different, he could, for example, want to mark your skin with bites or hickeys to claim you belong to him or else make you say you're his while he thrusts deep into you.

I also asked what feelings he would get the most out of while you were having sex and the ace of cups practically jumped out of my pile of cards as I shuffled. Regardless of anything his heart would be overflowing with love for you, he is a passionate lover and could get talkative as he would shower you with compliments, tell you how beautiful you are, how much you make him hard and about the little things you do during the day that drives him completely crazy and you don't even realize it.

He would want to make your bodies merge into one, skin slipping on skin, hearts beating fast, lots of sweat and vows of love. If you didn't take care of yourselves... Jake would get you pregnant for sure.

deck used: rider waite-smith tarot

you can book a reading with me too! check my pinned to know more or send me a dm!

[olderthannetfic]

A lot of people in your inbox are doing the thing from that Tumblr post about how way too many people only think of feminism discussions in terms of the Most Oppressed Man and Least Oppressed Woman. Y'all really need to stop comparing marginalized men to white cis straight female CEOs, and instead compare them to women who are similarly marginalized.

I think the gender pay gap in many countries - an objective reality with tons of statistics to back it up - is a good way to illustrate this. Yeah, if you're a man in a low level at a company, the women ranked above you probably make more than you. But what about the women at the same level as you? That's what the pay gap is referencing: that women tend to make less than men (of the same race and other factors - there's also a racial pay gap, and black women make even less than white women but also less than black men) for doing the same work, at the same level, etc.

(And sometimes the disparity isn't even between people on the "same level": Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown, a show ABOUT Queen Elizabeth II, and she made less than Matt Smith did playing Prince Philip until she found out and drew attention to it and the studio was forced to pay her what they owed her.)

The argument of comparing more privileged women and less privileged men, though, is one that anti-feminists like Men's Rights Activists use to deny the gender pay gap. They'll argue that because some individual women in higher-powered jobs make more than they do, that the pay gap doesn't exist, even though those women are likely making less than men in similarly high-powered jobs.

We need ways to talk about these systematic realities because we can't really address the problem if you don't know what causes the problem. But I also hope people realize that this particular thought distortion can be applied to pretty much any type of marginalization.

And, in fact, outside of Tumblr, it DOES get used that way. I've seen people do this with race: suggest that the existence of multimillionaire black athletes and actors alongside the existence of, say, homeless white people, means that white privilege/racism isn't real. Or use the existence of affluent gay people or gay politicians like Pete Buttigieg, or the fact that a lot of white cis gay people can buy into racism or transphobia, to suggest that homophobia doesn't exist. Just about every disabled person I know has a story about someone suggesting their disability "can't be all that bad" because of other advantages they had in life. Yeah, having an advanced degree and supportive family, friends and spouse means my ADHD doesn't affect me as badly as if I didn't have those things - but if I didn't have ADHD I'd still have fewer struggles. That's the comparison point.

When you're designing an experiment you can't alter every variable at once. You have to stick to just one variable at a time.

--

[natalievoncatte]

"In the end, you can only count on blood."

Lena stood there in Lex's stronghold, staring him down as best she could, and it was still pathetic. He wanted to tell her, to see her face crumble as he explained to her in exquisite detail how weak and pathetic she was. Good God, the woman had given herself a glow-up before confronting him. Who goes to their supervillain brother's secret base, intent on challenging him, in heels? With that shade of makeup? She was still playing the sexpot, unthinkingly using her "advantages" the way that their father had trained her to, when he'd first used her to distract a rival at the negotiating table. At the time, Lex had been disgusted, and confronted the old man privately, earning himself a few bruises.

Over a decade later, he wondered how he hadn't seen it sooner. So desperate for belonging, for approval. Beneath the power suits and fuck me pumps, she was just a little girl crying for her teddy bear, endlessly searching for someone to pat her widdle head and tell her it was okay, and she'd latched onto the Kryptonian of all people. He understood her proclivities, even if he didn't share them, or much interest in the act generally, and on an aesthetic level he knew why Lena was drawn to Kara Danvers, but how could she be so dense?

No, he had to play this properly. He'd written this little drama piece by piece, laying out the steps for her to follow, just as he'd manipulated her so many times at the chess table. All he had to do was pick up the remote on the table beside him and show her the truth, watch her crumble, and when she was reduced to rubble on the floor, rebuild her properly. She'd be his apprentice yet, be worthy. For all her faults, his half-sister was the closest thing he'd ever to know an equal, a worthy partner.

So worthy was she, in fact, that she smoothly swept back her jacket, and in a practiced motion, drew the revolver she carried in a basket-weave, FBI-cant holster on her strong side. Lex recognized it; he gave it to her. A Smith and Wesson J-Frame Ladysmith with custom ebony wood grips. The very one that Lex had gifted Lena on her twenty-first birthday, having already taught her to shoot on the grounds of the family estate.

"This is no time for theatrics, dear sister," said Lex.

Lena responded by shooting him twice, missing his heart. The pain was towering, enormous, and he was on the ground before he realized he'd fallen. Nothing had ever hurt this much.

In his usual detached way, he assessed. Gurgling when he breathed and copper on his breath: she'd hit a lung. When he pulled his hand back from one of the wounds, the blood was a rich, earthy red. Gutshot, then, too. Sadistic, if it was intentional. From the way her hand was shaking it probably wasn't.

"The world will never be safe with you in it," Lena choked out, still holding the gun in front of her as if it might shield her from what she'd done.

"Pathetic," Lex choked out. "Just as I thought." The gurgling came harder now.

He was going to die; that was inevitable. But he'd still get his licks in. They probably thought the Harun-El, or Red Daughter, or the Lexosuit were his master-stroke, but no, it was more intimate. More subtle. He willed himself to draw breath, commanded by force of will that blood keep carrying oxygen to his brain. Despite the agony ripping through him at every breath, he carried on. This made it worth it.

Oh, yes, she'd killed Lex Luthor, but he'd destroy her.

"What will you be without me? You have no one, and nothing."

She seemed confused. How had Lex ever thought that this bovine, dull creature could be worthy of ruling the world beside him? She had some low cunning and a technician's aptitude for laboratory work, but she was no peer of his.

"Go back and cry to your friends," he croaked. "All of them have been mocking you. Alex and Jimmy, your boyfriend, and that little alien runt, and her most of all. The truth was right in front of your face."

He managed to reach the remote and activate the monitors, relief flooding through him, cooling the heat of his dying. Lex slumped back, watching Lena watch her world unravel.

"They've been lying to you all this time, her most of all. Kara Danvers." He pronounced the name carefully, adding the proper Kryptonian inflection to Kara's name.

This. This was the thrust that ended the duel, the cutting stroke, the killing blow. He watched her eyes widen.

"Even your own mother has been lying to you. It's been right there the whole time."

Lena looked at him, the gun drooping in her hand. She looked at the monitor, back to him. Her expression hardened, twisting into a scowl. Perfect. She might even still be able to save him. He knew she was worthless now, of course, but she would be easily to manipulate and once she followed his instructions and healed his wounds, the guilt would take over and-

She was still looking at him. He met her gaze.

"Kara Danvers is Supergirl," Lex croaked out.

Lena's voice was heavy with sadness.

"I know."

Fuck.

Lena pulled the trigger. Lex saw a flash but heard no sound, felt no pain. It was simply over.

It was, but he wasn't.

Somehow, he did not hear, but sensed Lena leaving, not by the clack of her heels on concrete or the explosive rush of pressure as she stole his damned portal watch, but by some other means he didn't understand.

This was odd.

Lex hadn't counted on there being an afterlife. Nor had he considered that it would be so pedestrian and mundane, and that he'd end up staring down at his own body from above. The tunnel of light was probably next; going into said light was most likely, at least for Lex Luthor, an amazingly terrible idea.

This was truly strange. He supposed he should have been in shock and awed at the entire situation, but all he could really feel was a kind of confusion. Looking at his body was like walking the halls of the first boarding school he'd attended, trying to reconcile the memories of a child with the physicality and perspective of an adult who felt too large for those spaces.

In other words, had he really been that short? Had no one had the fortitude to tell him how silly that beard looked?

Lex waited, and started to wonder. Now if this was the afterlife, staring at his own corpse, that would be oddly fitting, in an ironic Greek hell sort of way. He could appreciate the poetry.

Out of of the corner of his eye -or the fringes of his bodyless, formless perception- Lex spotted movement and turned towards it instinctively. A wisp of thick vapor was snaking under the door, curling through the gap. Tendrils of the mist slithered along the floor, spreading and flowing until it surrounded the corpse, which Lex was now more comfortable thinking of as the body rather than my body.

Said mist was filling the room, rising higher and higher. Lex felt a peculiar tug, a nonphysical pull, a kind of involuntary lunge back towards his fallen body. As the mist grew heavier, it reduced the looped footage of Kara using her powers at L-Corp to a glowing blur behind the swirling fog.

Had Lena set the bunker on fire before she left? Perhaps she'd meant to giving him a Viking funeral. He rather liked that.

What he did not like was the jarring sensation of gurgling, pain swelling in his lungs in a molten wave that climbed up his throat, burning its way into a ragged, wet cough that filled his nostrils with metallic stink as surely as if he'd shoved pennies up his nose. He took another breath, or tried to.

Pain rocketed through his body. It felt as if invisible fingers were crudely ripping his wounds closed, knitting the flesh not only carelessly but with deliberate, sadistic glee. Lex cried out and tasted blood on his tongue.

There was a cold floor, hard beneath him. He blinked a few times, the world coming into blurry existence before his now-functional eyes. When he took another breath, the pain had abated, but the memory of it was a non-physical ache, a drag on his lungs nevertheless. As his eyes focused, he realized he was staring up at a new ceiling, in unknown surroundings. The arched stone above his head made him think castle. Maybe he'd been somehow carried off to a bunker in Kaznia, and was about to be interrogated.

Lex sat up.

He was in a castle, indeed. There was a thick carpet under his backside, doing little to protect him from the bitter cold of a hard stone floor. Elaborate tapestries hung on the walls, and in front of them stood heavy, solid bookcases that showed deep age in the wood and craftsmanship, the shelves packed with a vast number of volumes, all of them finely bound. Lex took a few tentative steps and looked over the spines. Most were unmarked. One had a cover of a strange, pale leather that felt loathsome to the touch.

Scanning the room, Lex decided he need to figure out where he was, who brought him here, and attempt to deduce why. It was important, even vital, to project a constant air of control, even if he had no idea what the hell was going on. He'd feel out his captor and find the best posture to start influencing them and guiding them down paths he had already calculated, towards the inevitable goal of escape, and if possible, control. Master of circumstances was Lex's central drive. He didn't play his pieces, he played his opponent; the game itself was merely an exercise in satisfying his intellectual vanity by minimizing the number of moves between opening and checkmate.

So, he assessed.

Wealth. Power. Aristocracy. Those were his first thoughts. The person who owned this place had vast resources and considered themselves vastly important, and to some degree they were right. On the wall opposite the bookcases, Lex found an assortment of arms and armor, full suits of plate on arming racks and heavy longswords and axes, all lovingly cared for.

The room was dominated by a painting. Lex paused to study it; the faded oils depicted, as through a dark glass, a striking young woman of great beauty, dressed in rich regalia. The artist had given her a lively visage, with curious, expressive eyes that were somehow full of mute appeal. She seemed familiar, though the aging of the painting made it difficult for Lex to say how.

Lex heard a scuff of leather and realized he wasn't alone.

At the far end of the room stood a tall man in rich, elaborate, and very antiquated robes and a heavy cloak. Very pale, he had an aristocratic look about him, with jet black hair worn long, swept back from a pronounced windows peak. In one hand, he delicately held a fine golden goblet, and in the other, he regarded some kind of elaborately decorated card; Lex at first thought of the tarot, but it wasn't part of the major or minor arcana, and he didn't recognize the design at all.

He turned and met Lex's gaze.

Lex flinched back and immediately loathed himself for it. He hadn't reacted like this to anyone in years, not since the first time the Kryptonian had paid him a visit. He held the stranger's gaze firmly, though it felt like nails pulled across his skin.

There was an expectant pause. Lex remained still, schooling his features.

"You are Alexander Luthor," the stranger said, gently placing his cup on the broad desk in front of him, settling in a rare open space amongst books and papers.

"My friends call me Lex."

He looked up, considering Lex briefly.

"I have brought you here, and raised you from death at great expense, for a singular purpose, Master Luthor."

Lex spread his hands in a conciliatory gesture.

"What purpose is that?"

"You will tell me everything you know about this woman."

He held something out, clearly expecting Lex to cross the room and accept it. Lex briefly weighed which option was best- to appear obedient and begin his manipulations that way, or force the other man to move from his position of presumed authority and reframe the conversation between them as an exchange between equals.

The moment stretched too long. The stranger's expression darkened slightly. Lex crossed the gap and accepted what turned out to be an eight by ten photograph. He looked at the familiar face.

"Her name is Kara Danvers," said Lex. The photo was her headshot from the CatCo Media website.

God, had no one ever put a picture of Supergirl in Google and done a reverse image search? It was so obvious. She was even more careless than Kent!

"This I know," the man said, taking the picture back. He studied it, lovingly dragging one finger down the edge.

"You seem rather taken with her," said Lex.

The stranger looked up, and carefully slipped the photograph between the pages of one of his books.

"She is important to my plans. I must bring her here, safely and securely, to my home."

Lex couldn't help it, he really couldn't. He barked out a laugh.

"Do you have any idea what you're dealing with? Kara Danvers is Supergirl."

The stranger's eyes flashed with fury, and for a moment, there was something absolutely bestial in his face, his features flowing and changing, twisting into something monstrous and carnivorous.

"It is you who have no idea what you are dealing with, little man," he said.

This wasn't going well.

"I'd be glad to help you, if you help me. I'm sure we can work out a-"

The man moved as fast as a damned Super. He blurred around the desk, suddenly just there, and whipped his hand across Lex's throat. At first, he thought he'd been slapped, but the pain was too sharp, too vital. A hot gush followed it, and Lex realized he was about to die. Again. His throat had been cut.

His knees hit the stone floor and he clutched at his neck, desperate to staunch the flow, but it sluiced between his fingers and spattered on the floor.

The stranger murmured a word, and the air itself seemed to twist around him, bent and mangled by the sound he made as a faint light twisted around his fingers as he bent and curled them in impossible configurations.

The pain of the wound closing was worse than its making; that had been quick, the edge sharp. This felt like someone was grasping Lex's parted flesh with greasy fingers and reshaping it like so much clay.

The stranger looked at the blood splattered on his fingers and hand.

"It is unfortunate that the offal that pollutes your veins is too poor a vintage, Luthor. I would not soil my tongue with it, but perhaps there are others that might be sated by lesser stock."

A hand closed around his neck, and Lex was hauled up, his toes kicking six inches above the floor.

"I could crush you like an insect, remake you, and crush you again," he said,  with a strange, mirthless joy in his voice. "You think yourself your world's smartest man. Next to me, you are nothing. Your world is nothing. I have ruled this land for a thousand years. I am beyond your comprehension."

He let go, and Lex fell, rolling with the impact, lucky not to pop something in his knee. He fell onto his side, gasping and struggling to breathe, unsure he still could.

"You will do as you are commanded. You will tell me everything you know of this woman, and hold nothing back. Her origins, her ways, her home, her family, everything you know, and if I am satisfied that you have been suitably forthcoming, I shall reward you by allowing you to live and serve me."

"Who are you?" Lex choked out.

The stranger stared down at him, smiling for the first time, a cold smile without a hint of anything human in it.

"I am the Ancient. I am the Land. I am Strahd."

[hangesdarling]

Hange my dream I’m missing you I know there’s a time and place yet I wish the universe would collapse so that we’d be together constantly, you’re busy yes but I wish you weren’t I wish we could be together in public my love.

Love, anon

send hange a short love note!

when: the time they were promoted as the commander

You were newly transferred to the Survey Corps after leaving the Garrison Regiment. Many told you it was stupid to do so, that your corpse would pile down among the others and only a meaningless death awaits outside the walls. But you were curious; you don't want to live for fear but for the desire to protect and understand.

It wasn't a good time to join when the Survey Corps was about to retake Shiganshina but you faced that bloodbath with a resolute heart.

The tragedy left you with scars that could only be learned when you have been outside those walls. Lives were taken right before your eyes, the blood of the comrades you ate your food with splattered on the emblem right at your chest, and the last dying screams reverberating around you.

It felt too much. Too severe. Maybe you weren't carved out for this as nausea and fear intertwined in the deep pit in your stomach, creating a hole that only revenge, or perhaps, understanding could ever fill.

You sat by your Commander's funeral, watching people give their final goodbye to their fallen commander. Their hands fill with flowers, not only for their leader but for all those who died in that expedition. You couldn't utter a word. Not a goodbye or a wish to find paradise, but a promise of peace.

You thought it was easy to serve humanity and bear that emblem in your heart without loathing it. But your resolve shook, seeing how a battle with the Titans grew into something more demanding, more morally challenging.

You worked under Commander Hange's leadership after Erwin Smith's death. Their resolve and commitment drew you into their presence and one night when they asked you out for a drink, your affection grew larger. You tried to see them as nothing more than your respectable leader, a life you wanted to protect because the regiment you serve needs their mind and leadership to thrive.

But it was never just that, wasn't it?

It was those times when they would make you smile or laugh, how their ideas and theories alone could have you on your knees in fascination, or maybe how they've treated everyone as their equals without regard for the hierarchy.

Such temperate heart and ingenious mind had you in a chokehold. You kept your feelings but eventually realized how much it gushes through when Hange pulled you aside one night and kissed you.

They were your Commander, yes. But as you held them that night, they made you known that they were Hange. They reminded you to call them that.

Your love budded the way a shy flower would keep its petals tucked and overlapping. There is no time to publicize anything, or put priority in letting people know. After all, Hange is the Commander of the Survey Corps, a job demanding of more than what they could give.

Your love managed to transpire in the most subtle ways. Becoming their right hand, their guard— a trustworthy figure always placed around the position where you could protect them.

You couldn't erase their worries nor bury their pain to the ground, but Hange knows that your constant presence meant that you didn't want them to hurt any further.

In the hours they stole to spend time with you, Hange never failed to remind you of their earnest love. Work might have kept them behind their desk, their mind tied around the constant need to launch orders or make decisions, but their heart resides with yours. For as long as they breathe, see, and feel. Their heart not only belongs to humanity but to you. Their keeper, their most beloved.

One morning, they seemed to be in high spirits. Perhaps it was the warm spring morning, or the fresh leaves growing around the headquarters. But that tranquil morning, Hange wore a simple coat over their sleeves, taking your hand as you stroll through the park. You saw the sparkle in their eye, felt their slender fingers laced around yours, and their mouth whispered a promise that in the future, they will spend every single moment with you when things go the right way.

Just a little more, my love, they would say and you knew they were talking about their frequent absence due to work or the nights they were too tired to even utter a loving word before leaving you in the morning.

I'll wait even if it takes forever. I'll protect you to no end. The world may collapse at this very moment but I won't let go of you.

All the words you wanted to tell them created a trail of coals ablaze in your aching throat. This time, you let your lips speak for you. The kiss was firm and gentle on Hange's lips, every move of your tongue speaking of that love you couldn't utter.

[notmoreflippingelves]

Personally I feel Kristoph just regrets having killed Zak so suddenly on an impulse. Reminder that the locks appeared when asked why he killed Zak specifically. He hated him for turning him down and probably never saw himself capable of murder. Once he killed him he probably felt glad he got revenge and didn't get exposed, but then had that sudden clarity of "oh shit, I actually killed someone", which combined with his paranoia, stressed him out immensely. He tragically traumatized himself.

Zak's murder has always screamed unplanned, desperate "crime of passion" to me, given how dramatically different to the other murder we know Kristoph committed (and set in motion 7 years earlier). Criminology-wise, it's already very unusual for a criminal to change their modus operandi so dramatically without a good reason. And it becomes immediately more striking when we look at the weapons: blunt object in Zak's case vs. poison for the Mishams'.

Poison has long held the stereotype of being a "woman's weapon" rather than a man's. Which yeah, it is a pretty unnecessarily gendered and heteronormative way to look at it. But like what the stereotype is actually saying by this is that poison--regardless of the gender(s) of the person using it--is almost always the method preferred by people who would prefer not to use psychical forms of violence even once they have determined that they "need" to enact violent ends.

These sorts of killers may lack the physical strength or athletic skill to wield a gun/sword/bat/spear,/blunt instrument, they may not be able to summon the adequate aggression to do so, they may want to avoid a bigger "mess" w/ more pieces of evidence, or they may just lack the "sadistic urge" to directly use their hands to enact another's pain. All of the above seem that they could apply to Kristoph given what we know of him.

Even though he has determined that he's going to go through with the murder plot, Kristoph vastly prefers a more detached, less messy, and (in his mind) quicker and less cruel method. Because his heart may not really be in it in the long run. Like do you really think he'd want to get actual blood on his pretty little nails if he didn't have to? He's not killing for the fun of it like some of the other AA killers; he's killing because he's convinced himself he has to.

(Unlike a lot of other fans, I tend to hc that Zak and Drew were actually the *only* deaths that Kristoph was responsible for. Because I maintain that that there was something much more specific and important about the Gramarye case to Kris than simply "wah, I was fired from my first big case and now I'm gonna be petty af about it." No like, this case in particular--besides just "an important case that could make my career"-- was personal to Kris for reasons we may never know).

Even though he knew that this could very well come back to bite him in the derriere, Kristoph was probably secretly relieved that the poison didn't work right away for the Mishams--or that if it had worked, he wouldn't have to find out about it. Out of sight, out of mind and he wouldn't have to face his conscience. And in the worst case scenario, the murder plan was still in place should Kristoph need to enact it later. (Which he did by writing to Drew *during* (and not before) Kristoph's incarceration following Zak's murder.)

So with all that in mind, Kristoph's murder of Zak just seems more and more of a desperate, impulsive act. It's not his style at all, and yet he did it. He saw Zak, realized he was at risk, and panicked.

And yeah, I would imagine that even if we assume he had no regrets/second thoughts about Drew Misham's murder, Zak's murder would psychologically feel really really different to Kris. And I imagine that it could potentially prove even more psychologically damaging to him.

Because braining "Shadi Smith" with a grape juice bottle is an act that is sudden, violent, impulsive and totally out-of-character for Kristoph Gavin--coolest defense in the West ,whose intellect is his weapon of choice and who prefers to keep his pretty nails (if not his soul) clean.

[greenlantern94to04]

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #8 (Spring 1994)

When Hal Jordan went bonkers in GL#50, he didn't just kill the Green Lantern Corps -- he also killed Green Lantern Corps Quarterly, the anthology series that, as the editor goes out of his way to point out in this final issue's letter column, was still selling pretty well when it got cancelled. DC could have kept the series going with past stories of the Corps, or maybe current stories of past Corps members, but I guess they wanted to go all in on the "only ONE Green Lantern left" thing and felt this series undermined that idea, so they asked Lobo to stop by and help kill it.

The stories included in this loosely "Emerald Twilight"-connected issue are:

"The Book of Endings"

The issue's framing story is written by Superman editor Mike Carlin, which I'm guessing means it had to be done at the last minute and he drew the short straw at the office. This story reveals that, while Hal and Sinestro where fighting in GL #50, they didn't even notice that the Book of Oa, the massive book containing the history of the Corps and the Guardians of the Universe, was burning up right in front of them (and neither did the Guardians, apparently, or they would have thrown some water on it or something).

As the oversized pages burn, we see stories that have absolutely nothing to do with "Emerald Twilight," like...

"Close Encounters"

This story is set during World War II, when Green Lantern Abin Sur, Hal Jordan's predecessor, is sent to Earth to stop a murderous madman -- but not the murderous madman, because the Guardians have forbidden him from interfering in human wars. Abin's target is an alien mercenary called Dask N'oir, who comes to Earth looking to offer his services (and sci-fi weapons) to the Nazis. Fortunately, the Nazis aren't big on multiculturalism and don't understand alien languages, so they think Dask is a demon and try to fight him.

The Nazis are so spooked that some run off to the Allied side to ask for help against the "demon." There, they bump into the 1940's Flash and (non-Corps affiliated) Green Lantern, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott, who bravely confront Dask... and are knocked out in one blast.

Abin Sur shows up to arrest the alien criminal, but he too gets easily knocked out when Dask shoots some yellow goo at his hand that incapacitates his Green Lantern ring. When Abin wakes up, he realizes Dask stole the ring, leaving him defenseless. That's when Abin notices that one of the unconscious Earthlings around him happens to have an off-brand GL ring on his finger...

So, Abin borrows Alan's ring and goes off to fight Dask, eventually tricking him into shooting that yellow goo at his own hand, thus allowing Abin to retrieve his ring. Before leaving with Dask, Abin returns Alan's ring and wipes his and Jay's memory of the encounter. The story ends with Abin looking forward to the day he can return to Earth (spoilers: he shouldn't) as Alan wakes up and wonders why his ring is in the wrong finger.

"Bad Intentions"

This one is written by future Guy Gardner: Warrior writer Beau Smith, and features an extremely Beau Smith character called Probert the Bad One, a sort of alien Conan the Barbarian with guns. One day, right after Probert has blown up a T. Rex to rescue a kid from being eaten, a Guardian shows up to ask him for help in taking down his sector's Green Lantern, Krudd, who has used his ring to take over a wealthy planet. Great pick, Guardians.

Probert only agrees to help because Krudd has taken his former lover, Poola, as a concubine, but he refuses to take the ring the Guardian offers him, because Probert don't wear no pansy-ass rings. (This might explain why Poola is a former lover.)

Of course, Probert regrets that decision once he's fighting Krudd and realizes his machine gun is no match for a power ring that can conjure up anything, including anti-machine gun force fields. Just as he's saying that, a GL battery materializes right next to him. Probert starts trying to activate the battery with various oaths ("It's probably something girly-like. Flower flower, give me the powers.") until he lands on something that works: "GIVE ME THE JUICE!"

Suddenly, despite still wearing no ring, Probert is imbued with green power, which he uses to materialize more guns. Krudd fights dirty and is actually quite good with the ring, so Probert ends up taking it away by cutting his finger off with a green energy knife (at least he didn't cut off the entire hand, unlike some other maniac).

Once Krudd is incapacitated, the Guardian comes back to take him and Probert's power away, but Probert says nah, it's his now. The Guardian takes that to mean that Probert has agreed to continue helping them "on retainer" and vanishes before Probert can protest.

He still ain't wearing no ring, though.

"Yella Belly!"

In this Gene Ha-drawn story, L.E.G.I.O.N. sends Lobo to Garnet, the most crime-ridden planet in the universe, to collect a criminal. This puts him in conflict with Garnet's very un-Green Lantern-like Green Lantern, Jack T. Chance. Lobo's not in the mood for fighting one of his many '90s ripoffs... until Jack calls him a "yella belly." Big mistake.

In the fight that ensues, Jack tries killing Lobo with a green chainsaw, but the ring stops him because that's not within its parameters. "Letting its wearer get kicked in the nuts" is within those parameters, though.

Jack tries shooting Lobo in the head with a regular gun, but Lobo catches the bullets with his teeth and headbutts him after playing dead. As Jack is recovering from that blow with the assistance of some booze, Lobo gets an idea based on Jack's hurtful remark from earlier: he covers himself in the yellow blood of some other alien he'd killed earlier and exploits the ring's yellow weakness to beat the crap out of Jack, yelling "Yella belly! Yella belly! YELLA BELLY!"

Lobo tries stealing Jack's ring, but it's "encoded by his D.N.A." and can't be stolen... so, for the second time this issue, someone cuts a ring-bearer's finger off. By simply "wearing" Jack's severed finger on top of his own, Lobo is able to access the ring's power and thinks about all the wonderful things he's gonna do with it (starting with exploding L.E.G.I.O.N.'s planet) -- until the ring informs him that it only works in planet Garnet, killing Lobo's interest.

As Lobo leaves with that criminal he came for, we see the finger crawling back to Jack and reattaching itself to his hand. Upon waking up and learning that Lobo left, Jack takes that as a victory and declares himself the baddest dude in Garnet. (Until he was easily beaten by Hal and left for dead in space, anyway.)

Back to the framing story, the narration concludes that the Guardians are a bunch of incompetent asses and kinda had this whole "Emerald Twilight" thing coming. All the stories in this issue feature a ring being stolen and used for nefarious purposes (not always in that order), so maybe it has a point. As the Book of Oa finishes burning, we get a small glimpse of the future: it appears to be a young man...

...wearing a crab on his face?! Huh, weird.

Plotline-Watch:

I guess the above panel means this issue is technically the first appearance of Kyle Rayner's classic "crab face" costume, discounting ads and stuff like that. This should be going for hundreds on eBay, not a couple of bucks!

We'll see Probert the Bad One return on Guy Gardner: Warrior pretty soon. Alan Scott will also make some appearances there, starting sooner than you might think.

Lobo and L.E.G.I.O.N. will cross paths with Kyle Rayner in the near future, though they won't be called L.E.G.I.O.N. anymore...

Speaking of Lobo, as he's leaving Garnet's atmosphere, he kicks some little dweeb off his flying vehicle while exclaiming "One side, fan boy!" I have no idea if that's supposed to be someone in particular or if it's just a random joke, so I will assume it's the titular fanboy from the 1999 Fanboy miniseries by Sergio Aragonés.

And speaking of planet Garnet, I looked it up and its next appearance is in Superboy and the Ravers, of all places, so I guess we'll see that eventually over at the '90s Superman blog.

Guy-Watch:

Guy Gardner: Warrior #19 continues the "Emerald Fallout" storyline and also Guy's fight with Militia (or as Guy has started calling him, "Melissa"). Ice helps, but then she starts getting a little too aggro (a side-effect of her new powers) and tries to take on Militia all by herself while leaving Guy behind, which doesn't go too well for her.

With Ice down and Guy's new armor malfunctioning, Militia's really got our hero by the balls. Militia picks that moment to reveal his identity and why hunting Guy was so personal to him: he's Guy's supposedly dead cop brother, Mace Gardner! Cue emotional "family reunion" music.

Mace resented Guy for becoming a superhero so, after getting crippled, he faked his death and volunteered for government experiments that gave him his legs back at the cost of making him look and sound like a '90s supervillain. Just when it seems like Mace might kill him, Guy's yellow power ring, which has been on the fritz for the past two issues, gets a sudden burst of energy that allows him to defeat his bro in about two seconds.

Seeing that Militia failed them again, his superiors at the Quorum decide to ditch him and remotely disable his armor, leaving him crippled again. What's all this stuff got to do with "Emerald Twilight," you might ask? Not much, until Alan Scott suddenly shows up (told you he'd be back soon) and tells Guy the universe is in danger. So, you know, TO BE CONTINUED.

[im-a-goddamn-cat]

Future Bliss

Neggie/Negan Smith x Maggie Rhee || Rated: G || Words: 729

Summary: Maggie gets a glimpse into what will be.

A/N: This is a Secret Santa gift for Jana (haleyjscott on AO3)! Happy Holidays, Jana! <3

Prompt given: Time Travel Neggie AU.

AO3 || FF.net || ↓

......

Maggie watched as Hershel taught Ginny how to draw. She was briefly confused on how they got here as the last thing she remembered was going to sleep after leaving Negan behind but she didn't question it too much, chalking it up to all the stress messing with her memories. She watched them, the sight of these kids having fun warming her heart. Then suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and a kiss on her cheek. She jumped in surprise and the person responsible apologized. She looked up and saw that it was Negan. Her feeling changed from confusion to shock.

"Negan?" she said, bewildered.

"Morning, darling," he said.

Darling? Maggie questioned in her mind.

"You forgot your wedding ring on the bedside table," Negan told her and then handed a ring to her. Maggie took it, thinking it was her wedding ring for Glenn. However, upon looking at it, she saw that it was a different one. She then looked to Negan, who had moved to sit with the kids, and saw on his finger a matching ring. Realization dawned on her that these rings were meant for them. This was starting to get weird and the confusion was distressing her.

I must be dreaming, this isn't real, she thought to herself. But it felt very real. She sat quietly, trying to make sense of all of this. While she did this, she watched Negan, Hershel, and Ginny. They were all getting along and seemed to like each other very much. It was odd to Maggie but it also made her… Happy. To see them being friendly and acting like a family comforted her. After years of fighting and turmoil, it was nice to see some peace.

"Mom, come join us," Hershel spoke up, snapping Maggie out of her thoughts. Ginny smiled at her and Negan gestured with his hands for her to come over. "Yeah, come over," he said. Maggie was still very confused but she moved to join them. She sat next to Negan and he moved one of his hands to hold hers and she didn't fight it. They sat and all talked while Hershel and Ginny drew their pictures. Maggie felt very happy for the first time in a long time. She never thought she'd get along with Negan, let alone have any sort of happy family dynamic, but here she was with both of those things.

"Mom!" a voice suddenly said loudly. Maggie whipped her head to look at the sound of the voice and saw her son looking down at her. Then she looked around and realized she was laying in bed and had woken up from a dream.

"Finally, you're awake. Everyone is looking for you, you're late for your morning meeting," Hershel told her in an annoyed tone. His happy demeanor from her vision was gone, instead replaced with the angst that she was used to. He then left the room without waiting for her response.

Maggie blinked in confusion and then sat up. She then saw the drawings that Hershel did of the place he was taken to and the woman he was with and she realized she had fallen asleep looking at them.

So it was just a dream… Maggie thought disappointedly. Or… Was it? she then thought. She felt crazy even considering this but that "dream" had felt too real to her. She has heard of people having visions of the future in dreams. She always scoffed at it and thought it was a load of shit but maybe there was some truth to it after all.

Maggie looked down at the drawings again. Whether what she saw was just a dream or something yet to come, she was determined to make it a reality. She wanted to heal, she wanted her son and Ginny to have a happy life, and she even wanted Negan to be a part of it all too. She couldn't believe that they were married in the future, though there was a small part of her that was even happy about that. She would never admit that though… At least, not yet.

Maggie got up out of bed and began packing supplies. After she finished, she informed who she needed to of where she was going and headed out. She was going to get Negan back and make everything right.

......

A/N: Thank you for reading! <3

[esters-notepad]

I didn't have time to write yesterday, which means I've lost my lead time. This story for the fifth day of @chrumblr-whumblr is actually written today, on the fifth of May. Prompt: forced to obey. Inspired by the Johnny Cash song I Still Miss Someone.

She had the same blue eyes as Daisy. That's the first thing I noticed. Her hair was the same light brown colour as Daisy's, as well, but while Daisy wore hers in a simple bob, this unknown woman's hair was shingled and curled to perfection. Her skirt was a little shorter, her dress a little slimmer, her neckline a little deeper. Not quite immodest, but certainly suggestive. Her cigarette holder, long and slender like a young ash-tree, was made of ivory. She met my eyes and blew a seductive cloud of smoke in my direction.

"Hello, handsome."

Her voice was deep and velvety, but she lisped ever so slightly on the s, adding a touch of childish innocence to the image of a worldly woman she projected. My face felt hot in a way I hadn't felt since my school days. Still, she looked at me, expecting a response.

"What brings you to our little town, Miss...?"

"Farr. Lucy Farr."

"I'm Adam Morrison. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Farr."

She looked at me through long, black eyelashes. I cleared my throat and sipped at my lemonade.

"Have you lived here long, Mr. Morrison?"

"I grew up here."

"Really? You surprise me." She drew another breath on her cigarette. "You have the air of a man who's seen the world."

"In a way, I have. I was in Europe for the Great War."

"How fascinating!"

So I told her several anecdotes. She listened attentively and made clever comments of her own. Sometime during our conversation, I realized that there was something odd about her tongue. She noticed me noticing, but instead of hiding it, she opened her mouth and showed me. The tip was split like a snake's tongue. She was born that way, she said. I complimented her on speaking so well despite her defect. She laughed and blew a smoke ring at me.

Old Wright at the piano announced a ladies' dance. Miss Farr smiled a predatory smile and threw back the rest of her drink.

"Dance with me, Mr. Morrison!"

She danced like an ocean wave, like a summer breeze over the prairie, like a lover's caress. When she leaned into my arms and turned her face towards mine, I only hesitated for a moment. Then I kissed her. She kissed back, hungrily, and her split tongue embraced mine. I had never kissed with tongues before. She tasted like fire. There must have been something prohibited in that drink she'd been drinking. I hadn't thought Thompson's would serve such things.

The dance ended. We returned to our seats at the bar.

"You're mine now, Mr. Morrison," Miss Farr said. "Every man whom I kiss is mine."

I laughed uneasily, thinking that it had to be some kind of joke. She looked earnestly at me until my laughter died down.

"Do you see the woman sitting by herself in that booth?" she said. "Dance the next dance with her. And the one after that. Then, follow her home and kiss her goodnight. Kiss her just like you kissed me."

"But... that's Dora Smith. That's Jimmy Baker's fiancee!"

"Oh yes, I know. They've had a little lover's tiff. Nothing serious. If we leave them alone, they will mend things tomorrow, get married as planned, and live happily ever after. But if you dance with her tonight and kiss her, your old pal Jimmy will hear about it and break off the engagement. Wouldn't that be fun?"

I stared at her, feeling nauseous.

"Go, Mr. Morrison. Show Miss Smith a good time tonight. I command you."

Despite myself, I got up from my stool. I tried to leave. I tried to head for the door. Instead, I found myself standing by Dora Smith's booth.

"Pardon me," I heard myself saying. "But would you do me the honour of dancing with me?"

[peachhcs]

rainy day at the lake house

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

summary: there’s always someone around at the lake house meaning will can never get his girl alone without someone chirping at them

2.3k words

warnings: kissing, heated make out, lowkey sub!will, implications and talk of sex but no sex actually described, hickeys, will being clingy and kind of insecure (i don’t think i missed anything) (lowkey self-indulgent but whatever)

okkk this is my first time publishing something like this & i'm lowkey nervous for the feedback/reactions so pls be nice LMAOO obviously they’re both 18/19 in this and everything is consensual! if y’all really like this i can make a pt. 2 (maybe? it will be explicit if i do tho!!) i didn’t wanna make anything too explicit for my first time posting something like this anywaysss enjoy :)

au masterlist

will didn't realize how hard it would be to get his girl alone with almost twenty people in one house. he thought maybe—just maybe—there'd be a time when someone wasn't around and he could pull samy away for an hour, but there was always someone. always. he'd turn a corner and one of luke's friends would be hanging out there, or a devil's guy perched himself in the next room making it impossible to even breathe without having someone at your side.

and when the moment did arise, everyone would just chirp at him. he'd get up to go find samy and one of the guys would make some comment leaving the poor boy red in the face and swallowed by embarrassment. will couldn't even kiss her anywhere without someone having something to say.

will smiled, lacing his arm around samy's shoulder when she found a spot next to him. the girl returned his smile, pinching his arm while the blonde leaned in for a kiss.

their lips met for a brief second before getting pulled apart by some snickering from moldy and rut. their faces flushed, samy easily brushing them off and engaging in a conversation with them. will, however, couldn't rid his cheeks of the embarrassing crimson, slowly sinking down in his seat.

the chirping never usually bothered the boy, but at this point it was getting old. why couldn't everyone just grow up and stop poking fun at him for wanting to show some affection to his girlfriend? no one ever chirped as badly at ryan and julianne, or even rutger and kayleigh. what was so different about will and samy that everyone always had something to say?

one thing about michigan was that summers were always unpredictable. one minute everyone would burn in the 90° heat for days and then the next it rained forcing everyone to get close as they curdled up inside.

every room in the lake house filled itself with people trying to pass the time. turning a corner was like a jumpscare because you had no idea who you'll see. will found himself searching for samy. she left with hannah to go do something, abandoning will on a couch with gabe, ryan, drew, and aram who took turns playing mario kart. the boy got tired of them, wanting to spend time with his girl instead.

he nodded to some of the older guys as he passed through the house, wondering where exactly the brunette wandered off to. she must've went upstairs because he didn't see her anywhere downstairs, so will started up to the second floor. he finally started hearing faint voices of what sounded like samy and hannah coming from her room. the boy gently knocked on the door, not wanting to barge into whatever they were doing.

hannah's face appeared, a small smile on her lips when she saw the tall blonde standing sheepishly before her. "look what the storm blew in," the girl joked as she opened the door wider.

"hi will," samy grinned from where she sat on her bed. a sheepish grin spread across will's own lips.

"hi," he felt relieved that he finally found her while his eyes darted across the room. something about her room at the lake house was like a time capsule because every memory held itself in there.

the two held one another's gaze before slowly glancing at hannah, hoping she'd take the hint that they wanted to be alone.

"oh, right. this is my cue to leave," hannah chuckled and quickly slipped back out the door.

samy and will shared a small laugh before the boy shuffled himself closer to the bed, eyeing the pictures spread out across the comforter.

"we got bored, so we came up here and i decided to look through all of these pictures," samy explained when she saw her boyfriend's expression.

"feels impossible to get a moment away, huh?" the boy mumbled, gaze flicking back up to the brunette. she flushed under his stare, pushing the pictures into a pile before scooting herself closer to will.

her arms carefully wrapped themselves around his shoulders, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of his head. will's hands quickly clasped around her wrists as he pushed his face into the crook of her neck, breathing her in. it felt so good finally getting a second alone.

"i guess that's what happens with twenty people in one house," samy chuckled lightly.

will turned his body into her more. the two fell back on the bed, eyes never leaving the other. samy reached out to brush away some of will's messy curls while his own hands wandered to the exposed skin of her (his) t-shirt and waistband.

"i feel like i've hardly been able to get you away for a moment. everyone's always pulling you away from me," will said almost sadly. "and when i do, someone's always got something to say about it."

maybe the boy was just a little bitter he couldn't show his affection because people chirped every time. samy laughed, pushing herself closer.

"i know, the guys are annoying aren't they? i dunno why they're like that," the girl shrugged lightly. she wasn't all too bothered by it though being so used to the teasing by now.

"they don't even do it around ryan and julianne. or rutger and his girlfriend," will continued with his annoyances.

"maybe it's just because this is the first summer we're finally actually together. everything was so different last summer as we figured stuff out. plus, the guys think they have to tease me all the time because i'm their designated little sister," samy rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"that's stupid," the blonde muttered making samy laugh again. his touches on her bare skin made a shiver go down her spine. she clearly missed will's absent touches too. he's had to restrict himself knowing someone would say something if his hands were anywhere but to himself.

"we're together now, though?" the girl tried, caressing will's cheek. he blushed under her touch, breaking a tiny smile.

"for like ten minutes until someone barges in," he mumbled in annoyance. "we can't even sleep together without someone saying something and i don't mean it in a sexual way."

the one thing will looked forward to all summer was being able to fall asleep with samy in his arms and wake up with her still there. he craved that the entire school year. her weekend visits weren't nearly enough for him and now they couldn't even fall asleep with one another without someone making a sex joke. the brunette frowned briefly.

"you know you still can, right? i can make hannah sleep somewhere else," samy said.

"that would be kind of rude of me to make you do that," will was also extremely considerate and he wasn't gonna make hannah sleep on some flimsy blow up mattress.

"no, it wouldn't. i think she'd understand. why do you care so much about what people are saying about us anyway? i thought their chirping never bothered you?" the girl searched her boyfriend's eyes.

"i dunno.. maybe i just feel i'm supposed to gain their approval? you said it yourself, you're like their little sister. i'm the boyfriend half of them haven't even met before. i don't wanna make the wrong impression.. make them think i'm not good enough or something," will finally confessed. he sat up so samy wouldn't see his expression that glued itself to her carpet.

"hey, are you scared of jack, quinn, and luke's hockey friends?" samy raised her eyebrow, sitting up and trying to get will's eyes back on her. a slight tease hid in her tone.

"i dunno. maybe?" the boy mumbled.

"baby, you've got nothing to worry about. they like you, trust me and you don't have to try and please them all the time. i know it's only like your 2nd or 3rd summer with these guys, but you'll get used to it. they just wanna be annoying because they can be and that's what they like doing. yes, the chirping is annoying, but it's in good fun and it'll start sliding off your back soon," the youngest hughes held will's face in her hands so he'd look at her. his expression softened out a bit while his smile returned to his lips.

"plus, they're gonna have to like you. you're family," the girl chuckled. will carefully pushed his forehead against hers, still smiling.

"what are you implying?" the boy teased some.

"that you're gonna be around for a long time."

with that, will pushed his lips to her cherry-stained ones. the taste was intoxicating leaving the hockey player wanting more and more. his hands drifted down to her waist while samy's tangled themselves into his hair, messing it all up again. having her lips against his own was a feeling will missed after holding himself back for days while around everyone. he knew samy felt the same with the way she sucked and nipped his lips.

things started getting heated fast. all of the pent up sexual tension blew through the air as will worked to get his shirt off. samy threw her own somewhere on the floor leaving her in her bikini top that also had will going crazy anytime he saw her in it.

they reattached their lips, samy's back hitting the bed while will hovered over her. he started moving downwards, nipping at her neck before going into the spot right below her ear that he knew she loved. a gasp escaped samy's lips as soon as will's made contact with her skin.

"i knew you'd like that," the blonde said against her skin. his hot breath had the girl squirming underneath him. "will," she half moaned half warned because she knew someone was in the room right next door.

the boy disregarded her and continued moving down. his next stop was her chest, not caring that people would see the marks. will wasn't the possessive type, but sometimes he liked people knowing what was his. his mouth moved fast, sucking hickey after hickey across samy's chest in the most visible places.

"will, people are gonna see," the girl breathed out, trying to tug his head away despite how good his mouth felt on her.

"so?" the boy quirked an eyebrow. she flushed under his stare before will went back in, adding to his growing collection.

"can i at least return the favor?" samy mumbled, wanting to mark her boyfriend up too. also because she could and didn't have to worry about fans seeing them under his uniform or something.

will hummed in response and samy took that as her cue that she could. she quickly flipped them over, not wasting a second attaching her lips to the boy's warm skin. she found his spot—in the same spot as hers—and sucked. her plump lips had will groaning in pleasure. he missed her lips on him like this.

"oh yeah, right there," the blonde hummed making samy smirk.

"good luck not getting chirped at after this," the girl teased as she drifted further down will's chest. the boy flushed.

her hot breath made will squirm. a few whimpers escaped his lips which prided samy knowing she made him fall apart like this and the fact that she was the only one who could see him in this way.

"so handsome," the girl praised, running her fingers down the boy's toned abdomen that showed off all the hard work he's put in over the years for the sport he loved.

she got dangerously close to his waistband, ignoring the bulge pressing against her thigh. her dancing fingers sent a shiver down will's spine—more whimpers falling from his lips.

"s-samy," will breathed, voice shaking a little.

"hmm?

"please—"

"please what?" the girl raised her eyebrow. she loved seeing will's scrunched up expression and the way his breathing became rigid and unsteady.

"if you keep doing that, i don't know if i'll be able to control myself," the boy got out. his eyes slid towards samy's fingers still dancing dangerously close to his waistband and where he wanted her touch the most.

"then what do you want?" samy's lips were very close to will's ear. her voice dropped, sending another shiver down his spine.

will met her gaze, pushing his head up to connect for a kiss. they melted into one another as if their lips were made for one another. will's one hand wrapped around samy's waist before slowly drifting down until he reached the waistband of her shorts. samy's one hand lost itself in his hair while the other dragged along his torso. in the next second, will's hand dropped further until he hand a handful of her ass. his action made the girl giggle and that's when her finger broke his waistband.

"we don't have to do this," samy said when she felt will tense a bit. the boy quickly shook his head, eyes wide.

"no, no, i want to. there's just..so many people here," his cheeks reddened, getting embarrassed at the idea of getting caught.

"good thing doors have locks. just gotta be quiet," the brunette grinned, pushing herself up to go and lock her door. "plus, you're the one who's loud anyway," samy smirked while will's entire face became a deeper shade of red.

"shut up," he mumbled.

samy laughed, climbing back onto the bed and straddling will's lap. his eyes were on every part of her, admiring the work he did as his thumbs made small circles across her thighs.

"also, if they do hear us, i'm sure they'll never let either of us live it down."

that made both of them laugh as samy dipped her head back down to reconnect their lips. will couldn't be happier that today turned into a rainy day.

[swagmagussupreme]

Scrapped Alt of Kotwr ch. 74 - Love & Lineage

Ruby stared between Weiss and the armored fay, completely unsure. Not unsure of herself, per se, but unsure of exactly what was happening, because from what she could see…

Well, it didn't look good, and that was ignoring the fact that Weiss was encased in a block of solid ice.

Weiss was crazed— no, frenzied would be more appropriate. Bloodlust burned in her eyes, the usual blue tone of her irises mulled into something closer to a hazy indigo, with the whites clouded by a light shroud of red. Her face was almost entirely covered in blood, mainly from a vicious scar up the left side, but it also actively poured from the sides of her lips.

And, when Weiss opened her mouth to speak, Ruby's heart leapt into her throat.

“Enough to give me a real… kick!”

Her voice, her teeth… good gods…

And then those teeth were facing her, Weiss’ thirsting, psychotic eyes locking onto Ruby's own, and thick blood was spewing with her demand:

“Fuck's sake, Ruby, kill him!”

Ruby did not move. Weiss’ request sounded more like a threat, locking her legs in place. She couldn't move a muscle, not before her opportunity passed and the fay turned towards her. 

Kill him?

“I…” Ruby weakly croaked, “I can't—”

Weiss stared at her with disbelief, but the fay acted decisively, bounding across the path towards Weiss, uncaring for how heavy his armor must be.

Ruby reached out from the grass, her feet landing on flagstone. She didn't have any weapons; she'd blown through all her Aura to get to Weiss as quickly as possible, and now this fay had the pointed talons of his gauntlet pressed threateningly against Weiss’ temple, drawing a crimson bead.

Ruby raised her hands placatingly. “Look, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding— or Weiss said something horribly offensive to you, which she will apologize for— but violence isn't the way to go.”

The fay cackled. “Sure it is! I love violence!”

Ruby winced. So it was like that. Great. “Okay, well… uh…”

Weiss’ wide eyes weren't scared at all, surprisingly, and she seemed to be trying to extend her neck up so she could take a bite out of this stranger's hand.

Ruby continued, summoning some false confidence from deep in her soul. “Well, I'm a Huntress, so you shouldn't trifle with my friends. She's very important to me; I'm afraid you'd have to face my full wrath if any harm came to her.”

Weiss broke from her aggressive biting attempts just to give Ruby the most disappointed look the smith had ever seen.

The fay laughed again. “Very important to you, you say?”

Ruby realized how grave of a mistake she made. “N-no, I— wait, who is that lady?”

The fay wasn't at all convinced, and dragged his clawed fingers down, digging them deeper as he cut all the way to her jaw, surely grazing bone with how far he'd pressed the talons into her face.

To her credit, Weiss seemed pretty unfazed by what must be excruciating pain. Actually, with the way she was biting her lip, it looked like she was trying to hide a smirk.

“So,” the fay drawled into Weiss’ ear, “you mean a lot to this one? I didn't know Schnees could form real, human bonds like that.”

Weiss’ restrained smile twisted into cruel rage as she snapped and gnashed her teeth at the fay, who only had to shrink back a couple inches to be out of her ice-locked range. “Fuck you!” She wrenched her neck up and snapped at him, dragging the claws through her flesh once more. “Silence! Die!”

“Weiss, stop!” Ruby pleaded, unable to watch the girl eviscerate her own face any further. 

The duelist's rage broke, becoming something desperate as she turned back to Ruby. Her muddled gaze drew Ruby's eyes back towards her. “Ruby!” she called, voice haggard. “Ruby, help! Don't look at me! Go away!”

Ruby reeled from her contradictions, fists clenching anxiously. The well of her soul was trickling in once more, but it refilled slower than ever. “Weiss, I… I can't, I don't have a weapon, my Aura—”

Ruby had apparently been bold to assume Weiss couldn't get scarier, because she watched her arm suddenly burst from the ice, twist fully out of its socket, and arc up to the fay's head.

He dodged at the last second, but he wouldn't be left unscathed. Weiss’ saber cleft his long ear from his skull with ease, drawing a spurt of purple blood as the fay reeled, clutching the hewn flesh and yelling through gritted teeth. “Cunt!” He screamed, “I'll fucking—”

“Ruby, here!” Weiss called. Her dislocated arm laid sickeningly limp at her side, her sword dropped from her fingers. “The sap, drink it! It'll give you strength!”

Ruby darted to her side, draining her barely-recovered Aura with a rapid burst of rose petals. Indeed, Weiss’ cut had drawn a long line up the tree in its path, and a trickle of glittering red sap bled from the wound.

“Take it, Ruby,” Weiss begged, voice rising and falling randomly, still rough like she'd been eating stones. “See through new eyes, find your strength, kill the shim.”

Ruby reeled from the slur, but Weiss’ discolored eyes were miles away. “Weiss, what's wrong?” She asked. “This isn't you.”

“Not me!” Weiss loudly repeated, cackling. “Me, me! I've never been more Weiss, Ruby! Now drink the fucking sap!”

Ruby felt sick to her stomach. Closer now, she could see Weiss’ gnashing teeth with clarity. Where once had been a full set of whites— likely bleached and only a little offset— now there menaced four pairs of vicious fangs, forcing out Weiss’ canines and incisors as long, sharp replacements had shoved their way to the surface. They barged through her gums, making way for themselves by forcing her other teeth aside and causing them to bunch and overlap at the front. Ruby turned her eyes. 

“W-Weiss, your…” Ruby wanted to point out the teeth— they were too prevalent not to mention— but the blood loss was the bigger problem. Half of Weiss’ face had been shred to pulpy ribbons, the wound across the other half was barely closed, and Ruby could see a huge bloom of red through the ice, somewhere around her chest area. “You've lost a lot of blood, we need to—”

“Hey!” 

Oh, that's right, the fay. Ruby protectively placed herself between him and her paramour, even though Weiss was definitely the most threatening of the two. 

His chain-wrapped hand held the bleeding notch where his ear used to be. “That's my quarry, little girl,” he snarled. “Begone, before you join her.”

Ruby let the threat roll off of her; Pyrrha had said worse, done worse, and yet Ruby remained. “I'm not going to do that.”

Valerius’ eyes narrowed, observing her, analyzing her, just as she did the same to him. He would pounce soon, Ruby could see that from the twitch of his fingers and the tightening of his shoulders, but he clearly had something to say. 

He stared at her, rage sobering, face pinching as if he were trying to remember something buried deep He did that for a long time, his muscles slackening as his face slowly dawned with a mixture of awe and terror. “L— Legatus?”

Ruby frowned, confused. “Pardon?”

He eyed her, still holding his shorn ear as he took careful steps towards her.

Ruby tensed. “Hey!” She shouted, muscles tightening in anticipation. “Don't get any closer, I'll… I'll cast a spell on you!”

The fay smirked. “Roseus, desine. Scio te.”

Ruby froze. She didn't understand what he was telling her, but the one word she could catch entrapped her. Roseus, like her mother, but not quite. The name latched onto her soul and made her eyes tingle.

He came nearer, only a lunge and a half away, but Ruby was too stiff with shock to fight. Suddenly he stopped, and his eyes widened, smirk falling. “Ah, I see,” he looked around the sides of her head and frowned, disappointed. “So you're medius, are you?”

Ruby backed up, but she only got one step back before her heel budged Weiss’ block.

“The sap, Ruby,” Weiss whispered as she neared, “take some, or give it to me. I can get us out of this.”

Ruby ignored her; something was very wrong with Weiss, and she had a sinking feeling it was because of that sap.

“A human would've used magic by now,” the fay reasoned, “and a fay… well, you'd look like a fay. That thing you did, with the red and the speed, that's your Animus, right? Your Semblance?”

Ruby gulped. “N-no.”

He smirked. “You're her daughter, aren't you?”

Ruby's eyes darted everywhere but his. “Whose?”

The fay laughed, then drew took up the longsword at his feet in one fluid motion. It was thin, with a cruciform crossguard, and the blade had a slight undulation. It was more reflective than any steel Ruby had ever seen, and had a brilliant sparkle.

He moved suddenly, causing Ruby to jump, but it was only to throw his sword her way. Bewildered, she fumbled it edge-first, the blade making her Aura shimmer as it glided dangerously between her fingers.

She bent half over to pick it up when she remembered who had thrown it to her, and her head shot up to watch him.

The fay's arms were crossed over his chest, his lips were set in an impatient line, and he tapped his foot in annoyance. Seeing her caution, he shrugged. “Please, I'm not just going to kill Aelia's child while it's disarmed. Take the sword, let the Roseus line die with respect.”

Ros-ay-us, why did he say it like that? “It's Rose,” she corrected, slowly taking the offered sword. “And who's Aelia?”

“Rose?” His face twisted with disgust. “Ugh, she spent too long in that godless realm, too much iron in her brain. To abandon her gens so brazenly…”

Ruby's stance tweaked a little awkwardly. “Wh… huh?”

“What's your mother's name, girl.”

Ruby shifted, feeling the weight of the fay’s longsword. It was odd, heavier than she'd expected for its size, but counterbalanced perfectly. She only lamented her lack of longsword experience; if history was anything to go by, she'd mangle this poor blade. “Summer Rose. Why?”

The fay laughed. “Summer? Really? Little on-the-nose isn't it?” In a mumble, he added, “Not as much as Rose, I guess.”

“I don't know what—”

He was upon her in the blink of an eye, crossing the distance and covering his advance by cracking his chain-whip towards her face.

Ruby rolled to the side, narrowly ducking below the links— the fay was fast; his clawed gauntlet was already raised for a slash, but Ruby wouldn't be fazed, not after everything she'd been through. She stabbed towards his unarmored arm, spearing directly through his forearm and making him jerk. His gauntlet kept falling, but his momentary fault gave her an extra second to kick out his knee.

Ruby scrambled back and tried to plant her feet, but the fay’s chain ensnared her ankles, pulling her legs out from under her. She hit the ground hard and grunted, all the wind forced out of her lungs as her arms splayed out, barely keeping her grip on the longsword. She lay essentially prostrate before Weiss’ frozen figure.

“Ruby!” Weiss cried. “Ruby, get up!”

Ruby groaned. Yeah, yeah, she was gonna get up; she'd been through worse. She just needed him to get a little closer.

“Ruby, please!” Weiss screamed, her voice bloodcurdling in the way it tore from her throat. “Get up and mur— argh! Fight!”

Ruby looked up at her, unable to help herself. Was she getting better?

Weiss was watching her, eyes wide, still crazed, but… blue. Not the brilliant cerulean she was used to, but getting closer, and the whites had clarified a little. Ruby hoped these were all good signs.

But it wasn't the time for musing, the fay was approaching, almost within fighting distance, and as Ruby's eyes fell from Weiss, she realized something.

The saber— it was right there, its resplendent silver decorated with stripes of purple blood. Cursed, but surely powerful— powerful enough to get her out of this mess without risking herself or Weiss.

Ruby scoffed. She preferred two weapons, anyways.

[paintedscales]

FFXIV Write 2023 :: Day 20

Prompt :: Hamper Characters :: Nomin tal Kheeriin, Lorha Keipah, R'ayzel Mhazu (belongs to @blossomblade), Ralne Dalduos Word Count :: 1,399

FFXIV Write 2023 Master List

Traveling Vylbrand had been a rest of endurance on some days, as Nomin learned. She would have set up camp not far from Aleport if someone had not advised against it, and if she had not seen the clouds for herself. The weather had been all but tempestuous in the time she had been back in order to carry out a request to clear out the area known as the Sastasha Seagrot.

Rain beat down on the lands, the spattering of it a steady thrum as Nomin sat at the table at the small inn they stayed at. Across and next to her were her travel companions and friendly faces: Lorha and R'ayzel. They had formed their own small party, and were supposed to meet someone else there to make up a team of four to properly venture through the caves where the Serpent Reavers had been hiding out.

"I hope that these storms that have been blowing through hasn't hampered whoever we're supposed to introduce ourselves to…" Lorha commented, sighing as she idly stirred her spoon in her soup. Like the other two, she had been growing impatient, being confined to the indoors for now until they had gotten their adventuring party rightfully sorted out.

“If it has, maybe the Smiths can provide us with someone on short notice?” Nomin posited, hopeful that perhaps that could be the case.

“I wouldn’t place your bets on it. They mostly just provide a lot of tips and pointers for those starting off in the adventuring lifestyle…” R’ayzel replied, her brow furrowed as she leaned back in her seat. Similar to Nomin and Lorha, R'ayzel had not originally been from Eorzea -- so far as she had been told. They shared plenty of skeptical viewpoints at any rate.

Eating their meals in mostly silence, all three of them looked toward the door once it had burst open, the silhouette of a tall figure walking in shortly after. What drew Nomin's attention more than anything were the long, leoprine ears that protruded from the woman's head, dappled brown and white. Once the door had been closed, the woman removed her cowl to reveal herself; she had alabaster skin, and light brown hair.

"Um…I hope I'm finally in the right place…" the woman started, looking around at the patrons that were holding up for the time being. The three at the table watched her curiously, wondering if she was the one they were meeting with. The viera cleared her throat, "I'm…I'm looking for the Sastasha adventuring party?"

"Oh, oh! That would be us!" Lorha said, dropping her spoon with a small clatter into her bowl as she excitedly waved toward the newcomer. There was a wide grin upon her face, and her ears had perked upward with a sense of glee.

Relief was palpable from the viera, who walked over and gave them all a small, sheepish smile in greeting. She adjusted her cloak and slowly took a seat in the empty chair. There was a moment where the viera glances between each of them: two miqo’te and one au ra…

"Um…" the viera started. "Well! I'm Ralne! I'm, uh…well, I'm part of the Dutiful Sisters of the Edelweiss in Limsa Lominsa."

R'ayzel quirked a brow at that, electing to stay silent.

"'Sister'? Oh, does that mean you're a fellow healer like me?" Lorha asked. "I suppose I can do more offensive things, too. In order to help out with anything that might come across as rough or unfortuante, that is! I didn't realize we'd be getting someone who heals."

"I…I suppose you could call what I do healing…after a fashion." Ralne then cleared her throat and gave a sidelong glance to R'ayzel and Nomin. "You see, the activities of the Serpent Reavers have been coming awfully close to Limsa Lominsa. I elected to take on the job and sign up as an adventurer at the Drowning Wench to do so. I do this on behalf of the Sisters to set their own minds at ease, you see. With their own duties revolving around Limsa Lominsa and offering succor to the residents and the great city itself, matters outside its walls often -- and regrettably -- go unanswered."

Ralne’s ears twitched momentarily before they drooped backward. Her expression had become sheepish once more as she laced her fingers over top of the table.

“Sorry, I tend to overexplain a bit…” Ralne softly said. “‘Tis an unfortunate thing, especially when you serve the Sisters.”

“It’s fine -- it’s a nice introduction at the very least!” Lorha replied, leaning on the table with her elbows propped upon it, and her knuckles against her cheeks. “I’m Lorha! That’s Nomin over there, and we have R’ayzel right there!”

In response, Nomin offered a small wave -- rather, a curl of the fingers in greeting. Meanwhile, R’ayzel had only merely nodded her head upward somewhat as a less proper means of greeting Ralne.

“So…what…what exactly is our formation here?” Ralne asked.

“I’ll be leading, making sure I keep everyone else safe behind me,” R’ayzel said, stuffing her mouth with some cornbread before taking a spoonful of soup into her mouth. Speaking up once more, she seemed to care little when flecks and crumbs of food went spilling forward or flying out of her mouth: “so don’ do ahny’fing stufid, lih rumin’ in fron’ off me.”

“Er, oh! Duly…duly noted…” Ralne said, picking up a stray cloth that she assumed had no owner before wiping away the bits of cornbread and spittle that had fallen onto the table in front of her. She glanced at Nomin, “what about you? What are you going to do in our little formation?”

“Sharpeye…” Nomin replied, simple and to the point. “I’m an archer. I plan on eliminating threats before they can come close. Or…taking care of anyone that might want to attack from a distance themselves.”

“Oh good…I actually prefer being in melee combat myself. I won’t be an issue, you don’t think?”

“As long as I can tell you apart from the others that we’re there to take care of, I don’t think you should be…” Nomin glanced at Ralne’s ears. “You’re quite…noticeable from what I’ve seen in my time in Eorzea, I’ll say. So I really don’t think you have anything to worry about if you are concerned about my arrows making you their mark.”

“That is a relief, actually!” Ralne smiled before turning her attention back toward Lorha. “And then, going back to what you said, you provide healing and aid?”

“That’s right!” Lorha beamed, her tail curling upward. “You won’t have to worry about bleeding out, or wallowing in injury! Rose and I will have everyone taken care of should things look particularly hairy! I don’t think we have anything to worry about, though! I think we’re probably pretty solid!”

“‘Probably’?” Nomin took a slow sip from her cup of orange juice, looking pointedly at Lorha.

“Well, of course!” Lorha looked at everyone. “I’ve seen you and how you’ve not only handled a bow, but have handled a lance as well, Nomin! But we’ve not really spent too long with R’ayzel, and we just met Ralne today. I don’t mean to sound negative about our odds, I just recognize the fact that there may be some aspects of teamwork that might have us stepping on each others’ toes at first.”

Lorha then pointed a finger up next to her cheek as she elaborated; “it’s like when I studied back in Sharlayan. It’s all well and good when you excel in your field or art of study. Though when you’re put into a group of like-minded scholars or practitioners of your field without knowing them, there are times your knowledge and perceptions of that knowledge will come to clash. Twelve knows I’ve seen a number of hotly debated topics that never come to a head because some scholars will swear by one way when other scholars swear by another.”

Placing both her hands on the table, Lorha then continued: “but…should we come together and learn from one another -- especially should we start coming to the point of stepping on each others’ toes -- we can create quite the team.”

“Learn from one another so as not to hamper one another. You could have honestly used fewer words,” R’ayzel said, tapping her finger on the side of her spoon before getting another slurp of her soup.

[arkholt]

# Floyd Gottfredson on how he got the job drawing the Mickey Mouse strip

GOTTFREDSON:...Walt [Disney] asked me what sort of work I was most interested in, and I told him comic strips. He says, "You don't want to get into that. Newspaper work is a rat race." And he says. "Animation is where the future is going to be. That's the place to go. So I said, "All right, fine. I'll go into that if you have an opening. And he says, "Sure, we'll put you to work as an in-betweener. I'm especially interested in you because you've had this much experience with pen and ink reproduction." He says,"We're just beginning to develop the Mickey Mouse daily comic strip for newspapers, for King Features. It might be good to have you as a back-up man, in case the fellow who's drawing it needs some help or anything happens to him."

SABA: Who was that at that time?

GOTTFREDSON: This was Win Smith.

SABA: I thought Ub Iwerks actually drew the first few weeks.

GOTTFREDSON: No, I'll tell you how this happened. So I went in to animation then and started training as an in-betweener, and the first 18 strips were pencilled by Ub. They were written by Walt. Walt had lifted gags out of the animated shorts--the Mickey shorts up to that time--and adapted them to the strip. Ub pencilled the first 18, and Win Smith inked them. Then, after the first 18, Win pencilled and inked the strip, and Walt continued to write them. But he tried to get Win to write them, and Win kept stalling. And I don't know whether he just didn't want to take on the extra work...

In April--now the strip was launched in January 1930--and in April, Win came in to my desk, my animation desk, and he was pretty red in the face and quite agitated. I could see it. He says, "I think you got a new job." And I said, "What do you mean?" And he said, "I just quit." And I said, "Why the hell would you do thavt?" And he said, "No G.D. young whipper-snapper's going to tell me what to do." So he walked out into oblivion. And, of course, the young whipper-snapper turned out to be Walt Disney. [Laughter] But Walt had been after him all this time to write the strip, and Win kept stalling. And finally Walt called him into the office that morning and had a showdown with him. And Win, who had sort of a short fuse anyway, blew up and walked out...

About a halt hour after Win left the studio, Walt called me into the office and asked me if I would take over the strip. I said, "Well, Walt, I've come to realize that you were right when you told me that the comic strip business and the newspaper business was no place to go, that animation was where it was." And I said, "By now I've become quite interested in animation. I'd like to stay with it." He said, "Well, just take it over for two weeks until I find someone." And at the end of a month, I began to wonder if he was looking for anyone, and at the end of two months I began to worry for fear he was going to find someone. [Laughter] Because I had adjusted to the strip now, and was beginning to like it. So I continued for 45 and a half years. [Laughter]

[spacecadetspe]

A snippet from last year...

Jun. 1, 2023

To my surprise, the oneiroi don't seem to be angry with me.  I got a surprise visit from Phantasos last night, and he seemed to be puzzled as to why I visited the Nightmare Cliffs and the Infirmary so often, but not so much his beautiful Archipelago.

My response was that I was frequently injured or attempting to deal with intense emotions, and didn't often feel like I deserved to have that kind of relaxation.

He gave me funny look and insisted I come with him because, as he put it, I'm always working.

The whole beach was covered in revelers, drinking, shouting, singing, and feasting around campfires.  For the first time in awhile, I felt deeply out of place; like my dour mood wouldn't serve to lift anyone's spirits.

"What do you think you should feel when you're here in the Archipelago?" Phantasos asked.

I bowed my head in thought.  "Free," I said.  "Inspired, curious, joyous."

"And what do you want to feel?"  He led me up to a little bungalow on the cliffside with a deep, tiled bath, and urged me to relax.

I was quiet for a moment while I thought.  "I just want to not hurt for awhile," I said quietly.

I lay in the bath for a few minutes and let myself unwind.  I didn't realize how long I had been holding myself back until I let myself release.  I wept on Fortitude's shoulder for awhile, and it came to me that all the anger I'd been feeling... wasn't anger at all.

"I sat with my anger until she told me her name was grief." — C.S. Lewis.

Not long after I'd shed my tears, I was approached by Morpheus and a group of the dwarven smiths I'd managed to ally ourselves with.  They plied me with medicine and alcohol until the pain inside me relaxed.  I'd been suffering with the injuries I sustained from trying to process Cure... or so I thought.  Morpheus and the Dwarves brought me a different theory; that I was trying to release another two or more aspects.

They waited until the drug kicked in, and then surgically removed the naughty aspect.  She was kicking and screaming (not unusual) and I could easily tell she was the source of my unrest... as well as the majority of my irritability and physical discomfort.

The dwarves took her away, but Morpheus stayed with me to help me process.

It wasn't pretty.  My aspect showed me that she worked very hard to try to help others, but a lot of what she did was aimless, and so the very people she tried to help drew away from her.  Which meant that the people she loved began to resent her, and in turn she began to resent herself.  It wasn't long before the people she had spent so much energy trying to help refused to even offer her a seat at their table anymore.

The dwarves trapped her inside a marble and tried all night to subdue her so that she could be forged.  But it was no use.  So this morning, they called upon me to tame her.  I talked to her until she calmed down, and then the dwarves forged her into a blood- mace.  She'll be stronger, calmer, and more decisive now.