#i enjoyed. i literally dodged so many bullets. learning about it makes me feel like that scene from spiderman

[crowswarm]

😤

[rent-a-bat]

Drabble #3

Promt: #1 “You don’t have to do this alone”

Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader

Requested by: Anonymous

A/N: Aaaaaand it's done!! I really liked writing this one, it made me soft all over. I really hope you like it!! There was a dialog I really wanted to include but didn't really know how, let's see if you can find it. Enjoy!

Requests open

The first time it happened, it took you by surprise.

He arrived with a crash, falling from the ceiling, and getting straight into action. The way he moved, how he fought, everything he did was calculated, yet it flowed so easily like a second nature to him. If Batman was all brawl, Nightwing was all movement, he moved like he was giving a show, one you couldn't help but watch. Nothing like the clumsiness you moved with, relieved if only a little that your lack of any formal training could be helped by your abilities.

The warehouse you were in was one of the many you’ve been taking down for a while, a place where people gathered for illegal purposes, too small for the big guys to notice, which meant it was a job for you, nothing unusual, except for the number of people you were not ready for.

A job that should have been easy but escalated as more people started to come. He arrived just as a jab had you on the floor, not before you took out the one responsible, if he was surprised at the number of bodies already taken out, he didn't show it. The moment you realized who he was had you hiding as fast as you could, careful not to be seen and happy to let him finish with the rest.

You watched him fight until the last one fell unconscious. He lingered for a while after that, making a call to what you guessed was the GCPD, looking around as he did so, like waiting for you to come out and then, just as fast as he came, he was gone. You stayed hiding even after he left, you were sure he hadn't seen you, but one can never be too sure, so you waited, in case he wanted to come back. Minutes passed but he never came. Before you knew it the sounds of sirens surprised you, the police were getting closer, which meant you also had to go.

Gotham was your home, born and raised, and like many who did so, you were used to its antics but cared for the city nonetheless, even when this city was a danger to people like you, people with abilities that will have them either fighting for you or trying to kill you, if you were not with them you were against them, something they needed to get rid of.

You knew you were different from a young age. After your parents died you went into the system, a place that's not easy on those who've lost it all, where the first lesson you learned was that in order to survive, you had to fight for everything, literally. And the more you fought, the easier it was to see what made you different.

Your abilities were far from super, but where enough. Just fast enough to dodge a bullet, just strong enough to lift a car, just invulnerable enough to keep going, just enough to save a life, to help those who needed it, to keep the weak safe. And that's what you did.

It took you time to be ready, training yourself to control your power. Too much force might break them, too fast and you’d be doing more damage. Your suit was easier, something light so you could move freely, but strong enough not to break. All black to hide yourself at night, your hair neatly pinned down and a hood to cover yourself, attaching to mask that hid half of your face. It was a long way, but when you were finally ready, you took it to the streets.

While the big ones took out big organizations or fought against the ever-growing list of rouges, you helped the ones that thought were lost, that thought they weren’t important enough to be saved. A girl trying to get home safe, a student getting mugged, doing the little things, because you knew that helping the people of Gotham was the real change.

Trying to go unnoticed in the city where the greatest detective resided was a feat in itself, but you had managed to do it so far, until the little problems you were trying to fix got bigger.

The second time it happened you were expecting it, still, you couldn't hold your surprise when you saw him appear.

A growing number of disappearances and a little digging through the streets of Gotham had you at the docks. Turns out, the warehouses you had been taking down were part of a larger operation, still small, but if left alone it could grow into something much more troublesome, which explains why Nightwing appeared that night and how your chances of staying anonymous were closing to zero.

He arrived just like the first time, so when he landed on the floor and all eyes were on him, you took it as your queue to go, freeing the people your top priority.

The Intel you had was scarce, rumors here and there, bits of information you heard passing by, so you weren't sure how much you could trust it. Luckily for you, that information proved to be true. The area you were headed remained heavily guarded, even with all the commotion on the other side.

Deciding it was now or never, you charged. Taking advantage of your speed, you made your way to the farthest corner of the warehouse, to some merely a blur, a well-placed hit taking them down, but even then you weren't invisible, the moment they saw what was happening they began to shoot. Bullets grazing you as you made your way to the container where they kept them, the hits weren't strong enough to pierce but they still hurt, leaving bruises and scratches on your skin. Moving through the pain you kept going, until you took down each of them, clearing the area enough to check on the people while Nightwing continued fighting with the rest.

The container was chained close, nothing a good pull from you couldn't break, but before you could do anything else, a quick glance to the other side made you stop. Nightwing was a good fighter, you could tell that from the last time you almost met, but they were closing in on him, you could see he was getting tired, his body losing the previous easiness he had, there were more than last time, and he was fighting alone.

You had to make a choice, taking the chance, and freeing the people now, leaving him to his luck, or risk everything you've worked on remaining invisible and help him. Letting out a groan, you moved before you could regret it further, hurrying to meet him in the middle, knocking out a guy as you reached him. He paused for a moment to look at you, smiling a little before he went back to fighting.

You worked in tandem. He moved with you. Every open you had, he covered it, the ones you fought, he made sure they stayed down sending some your way so you could do the same. It felt like dancing.

The both of you working together managed to take them all in no time. You hurried to check on the people, making sure everyone was okay and no one was hurt, confirming they were the ones that'd been reported missing. Leaving the rest to him you quickly made your way out, before being stopped just as you crossed the door.

"Hey! Wait!" He grabbed you from the arm, his grip firm but soft. A little tug had you turning around to look at him, his face flushed from the fighting, smiling from ear to ear.

You looked down to the hand that was still holding you, following your gaze he let you go, holding up his hands as a sign of peace. You rubbed at the spot his hand left, it felt warm.

"What?" You said, not trying to hide how much you did not want to have this conversation. You had done enough showing yourself like that when you helped him, talking was another mistake you didn't want to add for tonight.

"I saw what you did back there. You handled yourself well." He kept smiling, ignoring the sharpness in your voice.

You remained silent, eyes locked on him. Seeing nothing else was coming from you at the moment, he kept talking.

"You're welcome, by the way" you laughed at that. His smile grew as he looked at you, making you do the same.

"Cocky much?" The question leaving your mouth before you could think

"Some might say that." He winked, getting another laugh from you.

“I could've handled it on my own.”

“I know you would.”

“I would! I ha- I had a plan.” Your emotions were getting the best of you. You took a deep breath to calm yourself. “I didn't need help.”

“I know.”

“Don't be condescending.” Now was his turn to laugh. You glared at him, his laugh making you feel things you were not in the mood to acknowledge.

“I'm not! You seem more than capable enough to me, but I can't help saving someone so clearly in distress.”

“I'm not some ‘lady in distress’ for you to come and save me or whatever it is that you do”

“Are you sure?” he was having fun, if the amusement and the ever-growing smile on his face were any indication, and you were in no shape, physically or mentally, to keep up with his games.

“Dick.” you huffed, no malice in your voice as you said it.

“At your service.” he said with a wink. Was it a habit of his?

"I'm Nightwing." He introduced himself as if he wasn't one the most famous vigilantes in Gotham, extending his hand towards you, expecting.

You looked at his hand for a moment, thinking what it would mean to take it.

"And I'm leaving." You finally said, turning around as you began to walk, leaving your speed for when you were further away from him, hurrying to leave before the GCPD could arrive.

"I didn't hear your name." His shout making you pause for a moment. "It'd be nice to have a name for the mask."

You thought about it for a moment, how fast were you to change your mind for someone you'd just met, but he had something that made you want to open up and break your own rules, something that made you want to reach out.

"I'm Nobody!" You shouted without turning back. Your name was a little play on words. If they say nobody is going to save you, you could at least give nobody a body to do so.

"See you around, Nobody!" You could hear the smile in his voice as he shouted back.

You walked a little more before breaking into a run. Your conversation leaving a warm feeling in your chest.

A third time became a fourth, and a fifth, and before you knew it you began to wait for him to come and vice versa, working together on the case and sometimes more. Keeping each other company on patrol in the nights where you could barely catch your breath and the ones where all you did was talk. He became your friend, someone you could rely on, who you could talk and tell things no one else would be able to understand. The life of a vigilante was lonely, you both knew that well, but the nights you spent together made you feel otherwise.

The night you finally decided to reveal your identity was one you'll never forget. After years of being almost invisible, of not daring to appear, fearing who might find you what they'd do if they knew about you, the time spent with him had you tossing all of them away. And when you finally did, taking down your hood and removing your mask, your heart roaring in your ears as you looked at him, waiting. The joy, the calm, everything you felt when his hand went to his own mask revealing his face, his permanent smile and his beautiful eyes for you to see, where nothing you'll ever be able to describe.

“I’m Dick.” he extended his hand to you, much like the first time he did so, only this time, you took it, no longer afraid of the meaning.

“And I’m y/n.”

The more involved you became with him, it was a matter of time before you finally met the big guy. Batman was imposing, but you could see why Dick respected him so much. He welcomed you, offered help, if you needed. The rest of the group was just as welcoming, chatting and joking with them. Dick was more than happy by your interaction, beaming as he looked at you. Here, with these people, you felt welcomed, safe, all thanks to him.

Today was one of the few nights where Gotham was calm, it wasn't like nothing happened, but it was slow enough that you could still rest and take your time. You were sitting with Dick on a rooftop, enjoying each other’s company in silence, you always felt comfortable with him, that's why you took it as a now or never.

“Hey, Dick?”

“What is it y/n.” the way he said your name leaving goosebumps all over.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.” You took a deep breath. You could do it.

“I wasn't the best with you at first, and you didn't know me, we were strangers. So why keep coming back?” You finally asked the one question that’d been rounding your head from the beginning. He remained silent for a while before he could answer, his cheeks and ears getting redder with every second.

“We, uh, heard from you a long ago.” he started to say, visibly flustered. “Nothing specific, just that there was someone helping out in the streets.” he glanced at you as he rushed through his words.

“Batman let it pass because it wasn't anything dangerous and it was pretty on the low, we actually lost track of you a couple of times.” he smiled, “That was quite impressive, you were really good at that.”

“That was the point.” you blushed at his admission, not that you weren't as invisible as you thought, but that he was still impressed that you managed it, if even a few times. He left out a chuckle, low enough to for you to miss if you weren't by his side, his sight lost in the horizon like lost in thought.

“But then, we found each other that first night, you had taken out half of them already, I was impressed. I couldn't see you, but I knew you were there, that's why I stayed, I wanted to talk.” he looked at you once more, his sight fixed on you as he continued. “Then I thought that if you were trying so hard to cover your tracks then you'd show yourself when you were ready, so I left, but the feeling lingered.” you felt his hand on yours. Not daring to look down, you took it and held it firmly, relishing the warmth it gave you.

“I guess, what I wanted to say that night was that, you don't have to do this alone.” your heart clenched, tears threatening to come out as his words echoed in your head.

“That's why I kept showing up. I wanted to support you, let you know in a way that there are people you could count on. That you could count on me.” he was the first to look away, taking both your hands in his as he waited for you.

You knew words wouldn’t be enough to convey what you felt, not enough to thank him for what he did, of how he did that and more, the lump in your throat not helping either. He gave you a place to come back, someone to trust. So, you did the only thing close to that. You took your hands away from his, ignoring the question that flashed through his eyes, placing them on his face, holding it carefully as you pulled him down to you, hoping he could feel everything you did as your lips touched. He let out a surprised gasp, before he took your face and deepened the kiss, his mouth moving with yours like an answer, that he understood. Tears freely flowed down your face, not touching the ground as he wiped them away with his thumb, caressing your cheek. When you finally broke apart, foreheads touching while you caught your breath, you smiled, a laugh passing between the two. You held each other after that, holding closer as you enjoyed the night. The start of many to come.

[lady-amethyst18]

The Sodapop Incident

Leo and Emma liked visiting the Balan Theater every time it dropped by. Most people left with no memory of going inside, but with them, there was an exception. They couldn't forget their old friend Balan. How could they? They seemed to be one of the only two people that really touched his heart. With that, he allowed them to drop by anytime they liked. And what luck! The theater was just through a narrow gap between two buildings. It also helped that the tims led them there.

Emma and Leo stood at the large mahogany door as the neon lights shined brightly as ever. Seeing this place always brought them joy. How they helped all those people balance their hearts and all the fun shenanigans Balan had to offer... Oh, there was Lance too, but he mostly kept to himself.

"You sure it's ok if we drop by unannounced?" Emma questioned, looking at Leo. He just shrugged with a smug grin on his face. "Balan said we can drop by anytime we like. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we hung out just for a minute or two. After all, besides Lance, I think he likes the extra company." Emma smiled at him, agreeing that Balan would've liked to see them again. With that, they opened the theater doors.

The lights flickered on as the door creaked open. It looked just the way they remembered it to be. The side-to-side mirrors that looked like they went on forever to the sleek floors and velvet carpet. They wandered deeper inside, looking for the top-hatted maestro. Upon making it to the lobby, they were surprised to see it empty. "I guess he's not here." Emma declared. "Well, he's got to be around someplace. I don't think he or Lance can leave the theater... Can they?" Leo questioned. Emma's only response was shrugging her shoulders.

They continued to search until a tiny little yellow puffball approached them. Chirping as a way to greet them. Leo turned and found one of the tims. "Hey there, little guy!" Leo said as he picked it up. "Hey, Emma! I found one of the tims!" Emma looked over and jogged to his side. She wiggled her finger as she lightly tickled its cheek. "Hi there, little fella. Do you know where Balan is?" She asked. The tim jumped out of Leo's hands and lead them down the hallway to the auditorium. It made the teens happy knowing that Balan was still inside.

The little yellow tim dragged them both to the stage. They looked around and saw Balan floating in the air with a feather duster and a mask over his mouth. "Balan!" Cried them both. Balan paused and looked over his shoulder to see who was calling him. To his surprise, he saw Emma and Leo and bowed respectively. "Leo, Emma! How good to see you face to face! If I knew you were coming earlier, I would've tidied the place." He said. "Looks like you already got started." Leo snickered.

Balan landed next to the teens, taking the mask off his face to reveal his large grin. "We didn't come at a bad time, did we?" Emma asked sheepishly. "No, no. I'm glad you two came here. I'm never too busy for you, my dear. I was just cleaning the stage today. A clean theater is a healthy one, I always say." Balan said. "Do you need some help? Me and Leo don't have anything going on today." Leo wanted to oppose. He came to have some fun, not to do chores. But after looking around, it did look like it could use some love. "Uh, yeah. what she said." Leo added. "I'd be more than happy if you lent a hand. Cleaning this place is too much, even for this man." She said as he handed them some masks and gloves.

Leo took the vacuum while Emma took the sponge and bucket. He cleaned up around the floors while Emma scrubbed the tables. As for Balan, he dusted around the box seats, cleaning up the cobwebs. Sometimes even the tims helped by squeezing underneath the chairs to get out the hard-to-reach stuff. Seeing them all dirty and covered in dust made them laugh.

After half the work was done, Leo decided to take a break. He took off his gloves and mask and went over to his backpack that was sitting in one of the chairs. He unzipped it and pulled out two cans of soda. "Hey, Emma!" He called. "Want to have a soda break?" Emma took off her gloves and mask and scooted towards him. "Sure. I'll have some." She said as Leo handed her another soda.

Both the teens were enjoying their beverages until Leo looked up to see Balan still dusting. He looked at his can of soda and back at him again. He had a thought. "Emma, do you think Balan has ever had a soda before?" He asked. She took another gulp before answering. "Uh... I don't know. Honestly, I don't even know if he needs to eat at all." "He's working hard too. Don't you think he deserves it? Besides, you and I both know he wants to really connect with us... Uh... Humans, I mean." Emma stood silent for a minute, thinking over what Leo was suggesting.

"Well... Don't get me wrong, Leo. I think offering him one would be nice. But at the same time, I don't think it'd be good for him." She said. "Why?" Leo asked. "Don't you know that soda is nothing but saturated sugar? With Balan being as high energy as he is, I don't think he could take it. That stuff could send him running down the hallways like he was on fire. Again, as nice as it would be, I don't think it'd be good for him. I'm just saying." She took the final sip of her drink and threw it in a trash bag she had by her, continuing to clean up the stage.

Leo, not finished with his yet, sat and thought about what Emma said. What harm could come if Balan just drank a small can of soda? It's not like it would kill him, right? After all, with him being so energetic, how could he get more hyped up than he already was? Part of him was saying not to do it. But on the other hand, he just had to see for himself.

"Hey, Bal!" He called. Balan looked over and landed towards Leo. "Leo, my boy. Is there something wrong? You haven't been standing here for very long." "No, it's nothing really. I was just wondering if you care to share a soda pop with me." Balan cocked an eyebrow. "Soda pop? This I have not heard. Tell me, what is the meaning of this word?" Leo reached into his backpack for another can. "Soda is a kind of drink. It's carbonated, so it's kind of fizzy when it goes down. But it's pretty good. Here, I've got another one for you." He handed Balan the can of soda. He looked confused at first.

"I just figured we needed a break from this cleaning for a minute. Go on. Have some." He insisted, opening the can for him. He heard it fizzle in the can and smelled it. It didn't smell like anything he's tried before, but it didn't smell bad. "I'm always one for trying something new. Tell me, Leo, is this ok with you? I'd hate to take something that would be yours. Especially for working so hard with all the chores." Leo snorted light-heartedly. "Please, I have more back at home. Besides, you've been working hard too. I think you deserve it." There was a three-second pause before Balan finally decided to take a drink. "If you insist, Leo. I'll give it a taste. After all, it'd be a shame to let it go to waste." He held it up to his lips, taking a big slurp from the can.

Emma looked over to see what was going on with the two. She looked over another angle to see what Balan was drinking... Uh oh... "Wait! No! Stop!" She yelled, but it was too late. Upon taking that huge gulp, Balan's eyes showed a weird expression. Leo was confused. Did he not like it? "Uh... Bal... You ok?" He asked. In less than a second, Balan started running around the auditorium. Literally bouncing off the walls.

Both Emma and Leo ducked and dodged to avoid being hit by their friend. He was like a pinball bouncing around everywhere, trying to hit as many things as he could to get the highest score. The teens both hid underneath a small corner in the stairs. Even the tims ran away to hide somewhere. "What have you done!" Emma yelled! "I told you it would get him all riled up!" "I didn't think he'd be going crazy like THAT!" Leo tried to defend. "I was just trying to be nice!" They sat in that corner as they continued to watch the maestro run around like a speeding bullet.

It took at least 25 minutes before Balan finally slowed down. He landed on the ground very dizzy until he fell on his back and passed out. The teens ran over to make sure he was ok, as well as the tims. "Balan? Balan!" Called Emma. She lifted up his head and rocked him around to make sure he was still conscious. To her relief, he woke up. She helped him sit up as he held his head to re-orient himself not long after he jerked his hand to his stomach. "What happened? I don't feel so good... Maybe I shouldn't have drunk that much as I should." He said woozily. The maestro covered his mouth to hide a belch.

"Leo gave you a can of soda. I warned him not to do it, but he didn't listen." She gave him a sharp scowl. "I was just trying to offer you something nice. I didn't expect you to go nuts... I'm sorry, Balan." Leo said with a sigh. He really did feel guilty for making Balan feel sick.

"It's ok, don't feel bad. I don't blame either of you. I didn't expect that beverage to make me go cuckoo. At least we all learned something in the end. Though I think it's best if I didn't have that drink again." He tried to stand up, his hand still clenched to his stomach. Leo and Emma got concerned when his face turned a slight green. "Bouncing off the walls made me feel uneasy. Though I think it's that soda that's making me feel queasy."

"I think you should take a rest, Bal. You don't look so hot." Leo pointed out. "I agree. You should relax until your stomach settles. We'll take you to your room so you can rest easy." Balan wanted to say he was fine, but his stomach said not to argue. So the teens lifted him up and held him steady until they got to his office.

The maestro tried to silently cover his burps as they walked to his room. When they finally arrived, they sat Balan down on the couch. The tims hopped up, chirping with concern. All he could do was smile, reassuring them that he was ok. "I'm sorry about that, Balan. That was my fault." Leo said, rubbing the back of his neck." "Now, now, my boy. There's no need for shame. These things happen all the same." He didn't want to make the boy feel bad.

"Ok now," Emma started. "You're going to stay right here until your tummy settles down. I promise you, it won't last long." "Yeah. You'll just feel a little gassy for now." Leo added. "We'll finish cleaning up the stage for the trouble we caused. Let us know when you're feeling better." Emma ended as she and Leo left his room. "Thank you for the kindness. I appreciate you two. If you need anything, I'll be there to help you." He said as he laid sitting up on the sofa.

Meanwhile, Emma glared at Leo. She opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by him. "Yeah, yeah. I know what you're going to say. It's my fault, I shouldn't have done that, I'm stupid, and blah, blah, blah, blah." He lifted his hand like a puppet as he spoke. Emma's glare softened. She couldn't help but giggle. "I'm not mad, Leo. But maybe next time, think twice before you offer something like that. I know you were trying to offer something nice, but maybe that wasn't the way to go." "Yeah, I know. I always gotta see things the hard way, don't I?" "Well, at least you learn a valuable lesson in the end. Come on. Let's finish cleaning. Then we'll check on Balan." They re-entered the auditorium and continued to finish what they started.

Art is welcome and appreciated

[qnfarc]

Hello hello ^•^ How're you doing? I hope well and not too busy! Do you have any exams approaching? Sorry if you already said, I'm just wondering because this is the time I'd be sitting them if I was in college rn 😭 dodged a bullet fr this year but if you have them I wish you all the best with them!!

I actually finished breaking bad last night and after watching Quackitys upload I wanted to ask how did Hank from breaking bad and gnf get along so well 😭 Nothing in the world could've prepared me for the dynamic duo gn. I won't say too much in case you're holding out on watching but there was a period where three of them were huddled around, each somehow in a variation of a walter white skin and it got me so bad. The actor himself also tweeted after saying how it was a funny edit, so true and real king. I found it entertaining although bbh was definitely more on the sidelines, I'm not too surprised considering Qnfs shared love of the show. I also got round to signing up to Dracula Daily (and caught up on the earlier letters) and I was wondering if you were also? :D I've never read Dracula in my life but doing it day by day is a really fun way to go about it plus putting the times in perspective 🥵 chefs kiss, maybe this will be the push I need to read more classics (maybe just read more fullstop). Also also were you ever a Dan and Phil fan? I checked in on Dan's channel the weekend when he uploaded his comeback? Maybe? Vid but didn't get too far. I did however, go to Phil's channel and found out that they still have real old (vintage 😍) d+p merch for sale from like 2016 which was wild to me. Honestly I thought they would've sold like hot potatoes back in the day but relooking at the store (literally all on sale for 1 pound) and I can see why it didn't sell. The design was far more lazier than I remember and comparing Gmfs merch for instance there is a wild increase in quality. Although price goes up with it too it is nice to see the standard rising. That being said I've yet to buy and YouTubers merch and I don't think I honestly ever will at this point because not many YouTubers have me checking for uploads these days. This really is ramblings but I hope you've been having a good day / week, also very final note have you been watching Spy Family? I started it the weekend for fun and it is very much the fake dating au of dreams although I wish the focus was more on that side of things. Ok that's it fr this time 😭 no rush on reply legend enjoy ur week!!!

Hello hello sunshine ^_^ Yeah, a little busier right now, most of my exams will probably be in June so yeah, around now it's a lot of finishing projects, presentations, papers and trying to study with mixed results 😐 Very happy you don't have to deal with that this year! Watching qnf just interact is always fun and tbh I'm not surprised George got along well cause he is the type of getting to know someone or hanging out with new people, he is after all most likely to be on the teams with people playing mcc for the first time which always just makes me appreciate his easy-going personality so much more. Definitely have to get around on watching Breaking Bad, at the very least to enjoy that video more, it's entertaining in itself but all the inside jokes and references definitely were flying over my head lmao I wasn't but after seeing references and memes and now you mentioning it I went and signed up, call that peer pressure but fun type :D I also definitely want to read more classics, same with poetry... in general sometimes I feel like there is so much to enjoy, do, watch, read, learn and so little time but that's uhh let's put that small existential crisis back in a box under a lock were it belongs 😌 Recently I got great quote from Sylvia Plath on my dash that expressed this feeling very well and in general I feel like her quotes are just... if no one gets me I know Sylvia Plath gets me type, I actually have bought one of her books, The Bell Jar and it's waiting on my shelf for hopefully summer time after exams (same with literature analysis book sadly). Last book I read was SVSSS don't know if you heard about it? It's Chinese danmei novel. Protagonist is very fun, I usually get *chasing after them with a blanket and hot chocolate and getting them into hurt/comfort fics cause 👌🏻* vibes but he just makes me feel like he should be made fun of (lovingly) and if someone needs blatant example of unreliable narrator I'm slamming that book on their table hahah In general very enjoyable book you can enjoy just reading but definitely has layers and deeper themes you can get into if you want! It's one of mxtx works, if you would hear about one I feel it probably would be mdzs? And I actually never watched Dan and Phil, I think I watched Dan's coming out video and planned to watch hia new one cause I really enjoyed his video style and sharing his perspective. I heard there is definitely a pattern of people who did watch their videos and then started watching dream team which actually is kinda interesting how that works. And yeah, definitely working as youtuber and /or streamer became much more widespread which definitely results in rising expectations and quality of merch and in general. And same, I don't own any, I think like the only ones that made me go hmmm maybe was one of George's merch hoodies (some milestone one I think) but I don't remember which one and hoddies Quackity was selling with that limited Las Nevadas merch drop but having to multiply price cause of currency exchange and not even adding shipment I was like actually I'm fine, thanks 😭 But I definitely like how recently the merch George puts out has some fun inside jokes, like that one for 9 mil(?) with a cat, just makes it more fun. And don't worry about ramblings for real, they make me happy :D I didn't but with how much popularity it's getting I definitely will although with my binging tendencies I prefer to wait till whole season is out (if it actually already is I'm sitting down and watching the whole thing). Hope you are going to have nice weekend, get some deserved rest!

[wwilloww]

cliff diving pt. 1 | kth

CLIFF DIVING | KTH 1 of 3

genre: fluff. smut. nonidol!au. camping!au.

pairings: Taehyung | Reader

rating: 18+. NSFW. Explicit.

word count: 2.9k

warnings: cursing. talk of sex. undressing. pining. minor jealousy. mxm makeout. handholding ? (this list will get longer as I add more chapters)

summary: Every year as soon as the weather warms up, your friends haul ass out of the city to the mountains where you camp and hike in the shadow of giant rocks and ancient evergreens—and now apparently jump off of cliffs for fun. This time, an innocent round of truth or dare inspires you and Tae to play a mischievous game without getting caught by your friends.

a/n: Wow, okay, this is not what I expected. This is part 1 of 3, meaning the other chapters are written, I’m just spicin’ them up for you 😉

So many thanks to @spicykoreantatertots for beta reading this at LITERALLY the last minute and for her incredible support. If you like this, please let me know! And if you want to be added to the tag list, leave a comment and you’ll be notified as soon as part 2 is up! Okay okay, enough chitterchatter, lets get it.

moodboard

masterlist || series masterlist || ao3 || next chapter ->

WWILLOWW©️ DO NOT TRANSLATE, REPOST, OR COPY MY WORK.

CHAPTER ONE

Fifty feet beneath you, the deep blue swimming hole awaits, dark and cold from mountain snowmelt. The evening sun beats down gloriously on your back, teasing freckles to the surface of your skin.

This is not your idea of fun.

The five of you sit on the top of a large piece of natural red rock, panting from the climb and sipping on luke-warm beers while you admire the stark beauty of the mountains rising up around you, singing in late summer glory. Every year as soon as the weather warms up, your friends take a couple of days off of work, haul ass out of the city to the mountains to camp in the shadow of giant rocks and ancient evergreens—and now apparently jump off of cliffs for fun.

As much as you love your friends and would probably follow them anywhere, you can’t deny how dizzy you feel peeking over the stark red rock and into the waiting waters below. Even sitting several feet away from the edge does nothing to quell the feeling of tipping over the edge of the rock and into the open air.

While you all cool down from the hike and enjoy the image of the mountains sprawled out around you, Jin has convinced you all into a classic game of truth or dare—something you haven’t done since college. But with the combination of the height swirling in your body and the fact that it seems your friends have some kind of secret pact to pass along every intimate truth and absurd dare to you, you are feeling oddly tense. They had steadily extracted secrets you had no intention of ever sharing, like all the gory, embarrassing details of your last hookup (the toe guy). Meanwhile, the boys seemed to skate by with harmless dares and less-than entertaining truths.

Jin nudges you. “It’s your turn,” he winks.

“Alright,” you let out a shaky breath you didn’t realize you were holding. “Truth.”

Groans rise up from the four boys around you.

“You always pick truth,” Jungkook complains. “You’re so booring.” He draws the last word out, slumping against your shoulder in a dramatic show of his disappointment.

“Okay, okay, fine, dare,” you shoot back.

“Nope! You already picked truth,” a grinning Jimin pipes from across the circle. “So you get a truth.” You groan. By the look in his eyes, he’s going to make this painful for you. Jimin has proven himself to an expert at extracting the most devilish truths.

The question that springs to his lips seems almost preconceived.

“If you were to pick any of us to have a friends-with-benefits thing wit—, no, wait—”

“To fuck, who would you fuck?” Jin finishes.

“Fwa—?!” you sputter, spitting beer. “What the hell kind of question is that?!”

The four boys around you crack up, Jin slaps his knees as his signature bray echoes off the rocks. Jimin giggles, Jungkook snorts, and Tae—well, Tae is oddly quiet. You wonder if he disapproves of the question.  

To be honest, it’s not as if you had never thought of it before. You had undeniably attractive friends. You had seen the way Jimin’s hips moved when he practiced his dance routines. You’d watched Jungkook grow from a scrappy boy to a strong and kind young man. And Jin was an expert at balancing the dynamic of the group, always so gentle and hilarious—and undeniably the most handsome of your friends. And Tae, well, then there was Tae.

He had started on the outskirts of your small group of childhood friends as one of Jungkook’s besties, but because he lived several towns over you rarely saw him. However, after all of you ended up at the same university, Tae’s boxy smile and gentle humor became a constant as he gradually wove his way into your hangouts and your heart. While you had initially written him off for his ridiculously good looks, he proved himself to be more than just a pretty face. You quickly learned that his sharp gaze was trained--not to judge--but to make sure everyone had what they needed. He became a shoulder to lean on and someone to look up to and when he spoke about the things he was most passionate about, a soft smile would take over his features and his voice would deepen with a unique kind of magic.

Over the years you had found yourself lingering on the idea of Tae. It crept into your life naturally, starting with an urge to text or see him popping into your thoughts. And you gave that no mind. But it soon developed into something that tasted almost like a craving. You would find yourself glancing at the door when you knew he was on his way over. He started invading your dreams at night, leaving you to wake clammy and confused in the mornings. When he was busy finalizing a case at work while you were out with the rest of your friend group, you felt as if there was a piece missing. During movie nights, it was his form that you wanted to curl into--and you were always thrilled when he obliged, wrapping himself around you on the couch.

There were even moments when you thought your craving for him might be reciprocated, only to find the moment halted and stalled, never progressing past friendship. So you never pushed. You never pursued him.  

And now his eyes are locking on yours, intense and searching.

If Tae is honest, he hasn’t considered it before. At least really, seriously considered it. He had always found you attractive, that was true, but since the moment he met you, the knowledge that you were the closest friend of his closest friends had him shoving down any thought of you in more than a platonic way. Even then, he couldn’t help ruminating on the little things you’d do—repeatedly tucking the same piece of stray hair behind your ear, or the way you swing your heels over your shoulder after a long night out and skip down the city concrete, or how you’d try to claim objects by licking them. He would find himself grinning from ear to ear at your smallest moments of delight. But that’s normal for friends, right? Especially one as delightful as you.

But now now that the thought is out there, the idea of you with Jin or Jungkook or Jimin—your legs wrapped around their waist as they kiss slowly down your neck, your hands pressed against their cheeks, holding them so tenderly—you with anyone else, really, doing any of that. It sets off something tight and painful in his stomach. He hates it.

His eyes narrow with the thought, and you catch it, confused by the sallow expression on his face.

“Tae—?” you blurt out before you realize what you’re saying. You had meant to simply call his name, not answer with it.

“TAE!” Jungkook hollers. The boys explode into hoots of laughter. “I can’t even imagine that!”

You’re in shock.

“I mean… I mean all of you,” you add, trying to diffuse the situation.

“ALL OF US!” Jungkook screams.

The laughter only escalates.

Your friends are cackling around you and all you can do is crack a weak smile.

“Well, I guess you know where to go when your next hookup falls through,” Jungkook tosses another beer can at Tae.

Tae chuckles.

“Could be worse, eh?”

He brings himself out of the mess of emotions swirling within and back to the present moment. To where you’re sitting across from him, beet red and looking wildly disappointed. Are you disappointed with the options for a FWB set in front of you? Are you disappointed in his response?

Still, the slight pout resting on your lips has him wondering how anyone could ever make sulking look cute.

“Well, Taetae, as entertaining as that was, it’s now your turn.” Jin claps his hands, rubbing his palms together in the same manner as when he’s getting ready to prepare one of his famous five-course meals.

“Uh, it’s definitely not m—”

“Truth or dare,” Jin orders.

“Fine. Dare,” Tae says, thinking he dodged the bullet unlike you.

“Okay. Kiss.”

It’s now Tae’s turn to spit his beer out. It feels like your heart stops in your chest.

“Uh, no—what? That’s not fair—that’s not—what?”

“Definitely fair,” Jungkook intercepts Tae’s fumbling. “It’s truth or dare. It’s not truth or dare without someone kissing someone.”

“True. You can kiss anyone. It’s up to you. Does that make it fairer?” Jimin adds.

Tae purses his lips. Then, answers, “Fine. I, uh—” his eyes flicker to yours, and excitement sparks in your belly. Is this it? Is it really that easy? You feel a smile spread across your lips. But then his eyes dart away and he grins, “Jimin, my friend, smoochy, smoochy.” He makes grabby hands in the air.

Jimin’s mouth falls open and he looks between the two of you.

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

The young men lean into the circle and reach for each other. Jimin’s hand comes to gently cup Tae’s cheek as they press together, their features softening as their lips move in sync. You can’t deny they look beautiful like this. When they pull away from the lingering kiss, a rosey wash has started to creep up Jimin’s neck and Tae is grinning from ear to ear.

“A round of applause!” Jin cheers.

You clap as Tae grabs his beer to polish off the rest of it, before rubbing at your red cheeks, hoping that those pesky tell-tales will fade into nothingness. You feel surprised at the disappointment that bubbles up in you. Had you expected that his kind gaze meant he wanted to kiss you?

You don’t want it. You don’t want to be disappointed over such an inconsequential game, you don’t want to deal with the confusing and unnamable desire that you’ve been pushing down for years—and you definitely don’t want to be stuck replaying an unending reel of the delightful blush that crept up Teahyung’s neck when you called his name.

But that seems to be exactly where you are: disappointed and stuck. There’s really only one way out.

“I’m jumping,” you state as you stand.

Earlier in the day, Jimin had promised to hold your hand when you finally jumped off the cliff, knowing how much it terrified you. But now, with your face burning and your hands balled into tiny fists, there was no ounce of fear left in your body.

“Wha—” Jin floundered. “Now?”

“Yep, now,” you said as you peel off the little remaining clothes you’re wearing. There’s half a thought in your mind to be sexy while undressing, but instead, your shirt gets stuck on your head.

The noise of the men jostling and joking behind you fades as you stride over to the cliff edge. You look over your toes gripping the edge into the dark water below you. There was something about that kind of darkness—unseeable, unknowable—just waiting for you to dive straight into it. A pulse of adrenaline shoots through your body, raising goosebumps on your skin despite the mid-summer heat.

In a second, body and mind align. Yes, there’s fear. And there’s also something else, some kind of song, a call to tip yourself off the edge and into the unknown. It sings up to you, it sings you forward. You push through the fear. You push through and—

Jump.

It feels like you’re flying, your heart expanding into every corner of your body. The world becomes sharper. The wind around you feels like a blanket, the fading sun like a caress.

Deep breath in. Hold it.

It’s effortless.

The next thing you know you’re hitting the sublime coolness of the water, plunging into the darkness that waits.

It’s consuming, this darkness, this coldness.

It wraps heavy around your limbs, sparking energy, delight, life in you. You could exist here, weightless, suspended in between the feeling of being consumed by something larger than you and the sense of absolute presence.

It’s not long before your lungs start to ache and you resentfully kick to the surface.

As the water parts around your face, you are hit with the warmth of the sun and you can’t help but smile, endorphins pulsing through your body. You paddle away from the center just in time to hear the echoing whoops above you and look up to see, one by one, the rest of the group plummeting into the swimming hole. The water becomes turbulent and choppy around you, lifting your body and swaying you in the small waves.

As you watch each of your friends pop up from the dark water, shaking the water from their hair and eyes,  a second thrill zaps through you.

“You did it!” Jimin exclaims, swimming over to you to hug you from behind. Jimin rocks you back and forth in excitement and you giggle at the awkwardness of his movements. “I’m so proud of you. You didn’t even look scared when you jumped!”

Taehyung is the last to dive off the cliff and the last to pop up out of the water. When he does, the first thing he is met with is the sight of Jimin wrapped around you, your head thrown back in laughter as he praises you. His eyes narrow at the sight, that same fiery discomfort from before burning in his gut.

Jimin lifts his face from where he’d buried it in your hair to glance over at Taehyung to ask him if--but the words turn cold in his mouth at the sight before him. His friend is gaping at you, eyebrows furrowed, and some emotion between anger and desire simmering in his eyes.

“Tae?” Jimin calls unsurely.

Tae’s eyes snap into focus and the tension on his face begins to melt. He opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by Jungkook’s dark head popping up between the three of you, a pair of goggles strapped too tightly to his face--so tightly that they pull his eyes down comically.

“Guys! I found a GoPro!” he gasps, flipping the goggles up to reveal the red suction rings around his eyes. He must have somehow managed to dive down to the floor of the swimming hole because indeed, he’s holding an expensive and dripping camera in his hands.

The five of you spend the next half-hour diving, swimming, and floating in the cool water. Jungkook continues to dive, each time bringing up his finds to show you all. He finds two more GoPros, a water-logged watch, and an old flip phone and proudly displays his growing collection of treasures on a boulder in the middle of the water. Taehyung seems a little reserved to you, surprisingly quieter than his usual collected but boisterous self.

“Who’s going to bring our shit down from the cliff?” Jimin asks as you all are getting ready to head back to the lake to set up camp.

“I’ll get it!” Jungkook, ever the energizer bunny, yells from the water. He immediately starts paddling to the shore before leaping out and sprinting up the steep trail barefoot.

The rest of you start to make your way to shore where a precarious stack of towels is waiting for you. You glance behind you to see Tae still floating on his back in the middle of the swimming hole, lost in thought. Just as you are turning around to swim back to him, the sun dips below the mountains, casting him and the water in a dusky gold film. You pause for a moment, admiring the way the light reflects off the water droplets on his face, seemingly covering him in specks of gold.  

“Tae—are you coming?”

“Hm?” He lifts his head, effectively moving his body into an upright position again.

“We’re going,” you say softly.

Taehyung watches as you swim towards him. Your hair, darkened by the water and floating like silk strands around your shoulders,  falls in your eyes and around your shoulders. You can’t help but grin at him as you near him and reach out to grab his hand. With his fingers intertwined in yours, he automatically stretches out with his free hand to tug on a strand of hair that has gotten stuck in your mouth. His gaze glides along the slight pout of your lips, the lovely dip of your cupid’s bow, the gentle shadow beneath your lower lip.

As Taehyung meets your eyes, your cheeks fill with the prettiest blush he has ever seen, like a dusty rose. You’ve noticed his lingering stare. Despite your blooming cheeks, you hold his gaze, tilt your head, and let the smallest smile play across your lips.

That’s the moment he knows.

He wants you, unapologetically.

tag list (let me know if you’d like to be added): @dontaskshhhhh​ @myimaginationsrunningwild​

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[smolbeandrabbles]

Almost Maybes - Ralph Anderson x Jeannie Anderson (The Outsider)

@wltz-bby​ @happyskywhale​

Happy Birthday @mandy23b​ 😘💕

May I proudly present to you, your babies!

Author’s Note: Pretty much entirely book canon and references, which is how we like things in this house!

I’m not gonna lie, when I very first heard this song (in... April?) I thought about it as a Ralph song, and then a Ralph/Jeannie concept and I knew that if I was going to do it - I would write it for you for your Birthday, so, it’s been a little while in the making, to say the least!

I hope you enjoy, and that you don’t mind that it’s not a reader insert for your birthday 🎁💙

Love you lots @mandy23b​! 😘😘

Almost Maybes - Jordan Davis

Disclaimer: Show watchers only, a whooole bunch of book references ahead / The Outsider & characters belong to Stephen King / gifs & lyrics not mine

Premise: Ralph reminisces on everything that has led to him being right here, right now...

Words: 1452

Warnings: N/A - literally there is more swearing in the lyrics than there is anything in the story.

_______

I had one saying we were done In a Baton Rouge college bar It kinda came out of nowhere Man, I took that one pretty hard And I had another one in another town And I spent a whole lot of nights missing her 'Til it all went black, she stopped texting back And I finally got the picture So here's to the almost, so close It's over out of the blues Here's to the "hey, I think we need to talk" And the "it ain't me, it's you" Here's to the tears and beers and wasted years On the weeds that looked like daisies I wouldn't be sitting here next to you If it weren't for the almost maybes Here's to the one that my family thought Was gonna make me drop to one knee And I tried like hell, but I couldn't help My mama loved her more than me And to all those July crushes Turning into September leavin's Goodbyes that didn't feel good back then It happened for a real good reason Wouldn't be no all alones Wouldn't be no sad songs Wouldn't be no had enough Pick yourself up and get to moving ons From the didn't work outs The girls next door and the bat shit crazies There wouldn't be no you and me right now If it weren't for the almost maybes No, it wouldn't be no you and me right now If it weren't for the almost maybes

---

It was a fairly quiet day in the Anderson household – which all three of them could be glad of. Derek had been to Summer camp again this year and, having only been back a few weeks, Ralph was trying to encourage ample family time. Today, though, he’d let his son off and let him sleep in until 12pm (probably). Ralph was sitting out in the backyard, staring out across the grass even though he wasn’t really looking at anything. Instead, and probably why he was letting Derek sleep in, Ralph was doing some reminiscing. It wasn’t often he thought about his life before his family; probably because there wasn’t much to think about. Nothing particularly worth highlighting: he and his brother had drifted apart and only shared the occasional holiday or birthday card. There wasn’t really anything of note in his career either, sure he had plenty of horrifying stories from his early days at Flint City PD – but that was all overshadowed by the events of the previous summer. (And who in their right mind would want to reminisce any of that?!) The only good thing about last summer was meeting Holly. Instead Detective Anderson was reminiscing on how exactly he got to be right here, right now. How did he arrive at this moment in time, with the son he was allowing to sleep in… and Jeannie. Ralph wasn’t really one to go around proclaiming his love from the rooftops, but if he felt the need to ever get sappy… Well, there wasn’t any other words for it, she was the love of his life. Arguably the only love he’d ever really had. Which is what he was thinking on right now. Sure he’d had crushes, high school girlfriends, college girlfriends… summer romances and then the kinds of ‘love’ that lasted about as long as Spring Break. Geez, that’s too long ago to want to think about! But Jeannie was like none of those, there was no all-consuming passion or ever the belief of holding onto something and making it work just because… Sure he’d had those fast-heart-beat do-not-screw-this-one-up-Ralph! Your-life-depends-on-it! moments when he’d first met her. But Jeannie always made everything so easy; Ralph worked hard for her because he loved her, because he wanted to be impressive – not just good boyfriend material, but husband material… and then father material. Now he could think back to 15 years ago when she’d come rushing to him to announce the result of her pregnancy test: as scary as the Outsider? Well it had been to him at the time. Jeannie was his best friend; she had been for 25 years. And to him, that was what really mattered. They had stuck together through everything: good and bad, the very toughest of times – and Ralph could also count a fair few of those. He laughed to himself, suddenly remembering some of the break ups. He and Jeannie had had many an argument and disagreement but they’d never fought; not in the way that had ever had him thinking they wouldn’t make it. Ralph fretted more that they wouldn’t make it because he wasn’t good enough for her; worried over that one for years, even when they’d first got married. He’d probably never been more nervous than asking her father for his blessing… then more terrified that she’d simply say no. But some of the other break ups. Sometimes the arguments were just plain funny to think back on – even if they hadn’t been at the time. Ralph had taken plenty of rejections pretty hard, that when he examined them in hindsight revealed he’d probably dodged bullets. Oh, he’d done his fair share of breaking up with people – some had even been pretty amicable! – but there was some bad mixed in too, one so awkward that Ralph hadn’t even been able to tell her he was breaking up with her because she wouldn’t stop crying. Yeah, probably best not to reflect on that one… It took a little time for him to realise she’d been calling him. “-Honey, are you alright!?” “Oh!” He smiled instantly, “Yeah, sorry, I-” She shook her head at him gently, there was no need for an explanation, Jeannie already knew. “Would you like coffee?” He nodded, “That would be great!” “White and sweet?” “Like me!” Ralph beamed, stealing Jeannie’s favourite phrase – it’s what she always said. He at least raised a laugh from her as she headed back inside and he watched her go, still beaming. That immediately set his mind to good things, for they had shared many more of those. In fact, Ralph wasn’t the only one with previous horror story relationships. He and Jeannie had had many a giggle together about some of her own. When he was a little younger Ralph used to joke about arresting anyone who had formerly broken her heart – if he were honest with himself, he’d probably still do it. She joined him then, placing his coffee down on the garden table she sat beside him, hands around her own. Jeannie sighed contentedly as she took her first sip – comfortable in the silence and Ralph’s presence as they observed their garden together. “So, what’s on your mind today, Mr. Anderson?” “Oh…” He shifted with a shrug, “Nothing exciting, previous relationships. Everything that lead to me being here.” She looked across to him with a raised eyebrow, almost choking on her next sip, “Lord, that seems a little deep for a Sunday morning!” “I can be deep, sometimes!” She laughed at that, the way Ralph folded his arms but couldn’t keep that scowl up. Eventually instead he held his hand out for hers, and Jeannie was only too glad to slip her hand into his. Ralph squeezed hers gently, “I love you, you know that?” “Hmm, occasionally.” She couldn’t help her tease, taking another sip, “What’s gotten into you?” He sighed, “I dunno… I just…” “You know that Derek isn’t going to rise until early afternoon too, right?” It was past time for Ralph to drag him out of bed, anyway. “Well that’s part of it.” “What is?” Jeannie tipped her head gently at the way her husband was chewing the inside of his mouth. “Spending time together… Y’know? He’ll be heading to college before we know it and I just don’t want to miss-” “Ralph, Ralph!” She calmed him, “Sweetie, we have years yet, first you think too much on the past and then too much on the future! Don’t you give that brain of yours a rest?” She knew the answer, but Ralph shook his head anyway, “Can’t.” Her voice was soft, and she placed her mug down to gather his hand between both of hers, “You can.” “Okay, but… I was thinking about you too, you know?” There was suddenly that smile he loved so much upon her face, “Of course I do.” And his face lit up too, “I know exactly what you’re thinking, Ralph, I know you.” “Better than anyone.” He agreed, “Sometimes it’s scary.” Jeannie laughed again, “Well I figure sometimes I gotta be scary, or nothing would get done.” “Eh.” Although he wouldn’t quite disagree, “…I’d rather you be scary than some of our exes!” This time her laugh was infectious and he couldn’t help but chuckle as she placed a hand to her temple, “Oh, please! NO! Ralph-! I haven’t had to think about ex loves in 25 years, I shouldn’t like to start now!” “I just got thinking, if it wasn’t for all these people before you and everything I learned, I don’t think I’d ever be with you.” He’d screwed up before, more times than he’d probably care to admit, but Ralph couldn’t ever have afforded to with Jeannie. You know when you know; and Ralph had, almost immediately. Jeannie wasn’t about to let him take all the ‘credit’; “I messed up a bunch of times too.” She was as glad for it as he was, and despite her words, she knew he was right. Without all that, she wouldn’t be here holding his hand and wishing that Derek would wake up a little earlier without being forced to. “It was only ever really you.” She nearly blushed, “It was only ever really you, too.” “Oh?” He raised an eyebrow with a cocky grin, “That good, am I?” Jeannie shook her head, leaning across the table, Ralph leant in too, to accept her kiss. As sweet as their very first, and just as unforgettable as every kiss she’d ever given him. He chased her; one kiss wouldn’t be enough this morning. She had no complaints, he tasted just like the sugar in his coffee. That only had Jeannie laughing again, “You’ll do!”

---

Thank you for reading!!! 🥰🥰

[anonniemousefics]

My Dearest Inej | Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Masterlist

Originally posted on AO3

Rating: Teen And Up

Synopsis: A series of letters kept among the personal belongings of Captain Inej Ghafa.

Chapter Sixteen: My Dearest Jailbird

Good morning, Sunshine!

If you are reading this, you are probably waking up alone and wondering where you are and how you got there. And your assumptions are correct – Wylan and I are indeed criminal masterminds who’ve drugged you and kidnapped you and sold you to the Shu. Now all of your suits are mine!

Yes, I’m joking. Don’t kill me. In all of this mess, the one thing I’ve found amusing is thinking of how this must all be playing out from your perspective. You take a dog for a walk, you fall asleep on my couch, you wake up surrounded by Shu. Sorry about that. The real truth is you were poisoned, pretty badly. Inej says the Shu have the best hospitals and mediks – you’re in Bhez Ju. And before you start complaining, we paid a lot of money to convince them to take you, so keep the whining to a minimum.  

I know your Shu’s a little rusty, but Wylan is with you. His Shu is also rusty, but between the two of you, hopefully you’ll manage all right. As soon as you’ve got a clean bill of health (just physically speaking – no one’s assessing your laundry list of mental problems, don’t worry), Specht is prepared to bring you home.  

That’s the where of it all with a bit of the why. I imagine you have a lot more questions. Why were you poisoned, for example? Great question, Kaz. I think it’s because you stabbed a twelve-year-old. Can you not do that again, please? It really pissed him off, and some old enemies happened to catch wind of it and then we had to fight them. Which enemies, you ask? Yes, with you, this statement does require some clarification; there are so many. The Haskells, Kaz. I know, your favorites.

They tried to seize control of the Dregs, but they had kind of banked on you dying. Thank the Saints you’re stubborn in that department. Inej came back and handled it. Oh, you want to know how? I’ll tell you how, but if you’re going to be gross about how amazing she was, do it in private, all right?

Right. Let me set the scene. It was early morning in the warehouse district, sun coming up over the harbor. We hadn’t slept in days. We’d whisked you to the coast to meet Specht just the morning prior, before sunrise. We’d pressured Wylan to go, too – it was unpleasant. There may have been tears. (Not mine, let’s get that on the record right now.) And then Inej was orchestrating a massive takedown. Anika was delivering missives while pretending to look loyal to Haskell. (Whatever you’re paying her, it’s not enough.) The crew of the Wraith was assembling. Pistols, knives, explosives. We were all ready for the showdown of the decade.  

(For you, Brekker. I hope you’re picking up on this. You may be a bastard, but you’re our bastard. No one else is allowed to poison you but us.)

Inej had brokered terms with Haskell, and they had agreed to meet in the warehouse district. Haskell wanted a gentlemen’s duel – pistols at dawn -- which was downright laughable given the cheating tactics he’d already shown willing to employ. But Inej was eager to make a show of his humiliation for any remaining holdouts.  

I was nervous, I’ll admit. Guns and bullets are my thing. I was not happy that she was acquiescing to Haskell’s wishes – she’s meant for knives. I’m learning, though, as I’m sure you are, that second-guessing Inej is a waste of energy.  

And she assured me it wouldn’t matter whether she won or lost, not with the attack she was strategizing with her crew. She and Anika were working out how to use them to take out every one of Haskell’s snipers without word getting back to him. You know, the sneaky things Inej does best.

So, the morning of the duel arrives. Haskell and five of his associates stride in to the warehouse district, armed to the teeth in pistols and grenades. It feels very much my last morning in the world, and if Inej feels the same way, she doesn’t look it. She’s sharpened all of her knives all night until they’re practically mirrors, hidden away in all of her limbs, and I loaned her one of my pistols (I think I cried over that).  

Rhett Haskell made some bloviating demands about how we were to hand you over when we lost, because of course he was unaware that you were already halfway to Shu Han, but that’s beside the point. Inej told him to shut up and name his second. They met in the middle of the street, back to back, and began their paces. I began counting them down.

This is when shit started to hit the proverbial fan.

Haskell had no intention of abiding by the rules and turned at the count of eight.  

Inej anticipated, but Haskell had already drawn.  

Anika was watching it all and gave the command. Inej leapt left, Haskell’s bullet singing past her face. She springs the quick release on the bone-handled knife you gave her.  

And then the rest of the Dregs start pouring in at Anika’s orders just as Inej’s knife handle is sticking out of Rhett Haskell’s throat. They’re moving in to take out the rest of Haskell’s men.  

Then in that same goddamn minute – The Stadwatch roll in. Rifles, batons, handcuffs, smoke grenades. They’re coming in with wagons and shields, rounding up anyone they can get their hands on, carting them off. It was Haskell’s last trick. He’d tipped them off. If he couldn’t have the Dregs, no one would.  

Where was I in all of this? That’s a good question. Inej had named me her second. For a moment, I thought she’d been shot when I saw her go down to dodge the bullet, and I ran at her. I was aiming at anyone who’d get too close, and then, when she pulled herself up and I saw she was all right, we were back-to-back to fight our way out, pistols and knives at the ready.

But then, the Stadwatch. Kaz, you’ve got to believe that I was prepared to do whatever it took to get her out of there. If she wasn’t so heavily armed, I’d have even thrown her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but she most definitely would have stabbed me if I’d tried. When the Stadwatch rolled in, she told me to run. It happened so fast, Kaz. She said I was the one who could arrange to have you cared for, arrange for the payments and such. She said I had to go. She fucking hit me in the face, Kaz, like really hard. So, I did what I was told.

So, that is both the good news and the bad news. And the infinitely worse bad news. The good news is the Haskells no longer maintain hold over the Dregs. The bad news, of course, is that the majority of the Dregs are in the custody of the Stadwatch. And the worst of it is that that number includes Inej. She will stand before a judge next month, who will almost definitely sentence her to Hellgate.

But don’t panic! We have time. You can write her; I visit her regularly with the solicitor I’ve procured for her case. And it’s just Stadhall right now. If you’re reading this, you’re awake, and you can help me figure out how to break her out. That’s a cake walk for you. Don’t panic. We have been in worse scrapes than this.  

Do try to keep things light when you write her, though, all right? What happened to you hit her pretty hard. It’s been difficult to watch.

And, for Saint’s sake, thank Wylan for me. Daily. He doesn’t say it, but I know he’s furious.  

Best wishes,

J. Fahey

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

My dearest Inej, most cherished jailbird in all of Ketterdam,

First things first, I’m all right. Probably infinitely better than you, actually. I can move all ten fingers and toes and speak in complete sentences, and I’ve never been so patronized in my life for such menial accomplishments. At least I think that’s what these Shu mediks are doing when I do something they want. It sounds very patronizing, anyway.

I won’t bore you with too many details, which could easily be done, because it’s very boring here. The food is bizarre and horrible. I’m forced to walk laps around the ward at least three times a day, no matter how badly my leg hurts, but I’m proud to report I’ve not strangled a single nurse, even though I’ve really wanted to. Wylan has even said I can tell you that I’m a “model patient” – although I did glare at him rather heavily to get him to agree to do so. You can let Jesper know we're getting on all right. He enjoys my card tricks the most out of any of you, so if I can't be stuck with you, at least it's him.

All of this is, of course, thanks to you. I’m caught up on the letters, and I can hardly believe it all. I owe you far more than a debt of gratitude. I owe you my life. I owe you an entire city. I owe you everything.

Which, of course, brings me to your predicament. I’m working on it. I have said I would come for you, and I have always meant it. I will, love, just as soon as I can manage it. I am spending every waking second until then scheming what needs to be schemed to get you out of this.

In the meantime, have you tried not getting caught? That usually works for me.

With love and with gratitude and with every bit of strength I have,

I’m yours,

K. Brekker

P.S. – And, for gods’ sake, tell Jesper to stop telling me not to panic. It’s literally the most panic-inducing thing a person can say, and the nurses keep saying it's bad for my constitution.

P.P.S. - What happened to Artie Galligan in all of this? Or is the answer to that question bad for my constitution as well?

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

Zenik,

I had to call in some favors to get this to you. Don't ask, but you are allowed to be impressed. I need your help.

-Brekker

[roguebotanist]

I’ve been playing around with talk to transformer today and thought it would be fun to extend a bunch of sim bios! I think someone may have done something similar recently, but I’m not really sure. Anyway, here’s every sim in Strangetown (bolded parts are their original bios). Long post ahead:

Loki Beaker

As soon as he perfects his latest invention, Loki is sure to get the recognition he knows he deserves. In the meantime, he keeps himself busy by trying to assemble a nuclear reactor out of common household items. During one of his experiments, he accidentally melts the family dog. Realizing that his so-called tools of destruction are so harmless, Loki gladly takes his pet back home and happily adopts it. Fearing that the strange creature will cause more damage if he is ever left alone, Loki goes to great lengths to keep it, including stacking hundreds of baby chicken eggs in the backyard.

Circe Beaker

Circe knows 238 different ways to make someone scream, and none of them are nice. She enjoys taxidermy and collecting coat hangers. She has a wonderful knowledge of names and an affinity for Hallmark, which is why all her books are centered around Christmas and spring holidays. This is particularly important to her, as her whole life is completely shaped by them. The children love to ask questions about things, and they are able to make up as many of the answers as they like. Do you have a huge embarrassment problem? One of Circe's known phrases is 'Where's the finger in your back pocket?'.

Sometimes in the garden, she prances

Nervous Subject

His hobbies include twitching and blinking a lot. He's also fond of travelling and baking. Along with the broad and meaty teeth of a canine, St George the giant groundhog has a day-old beard and a partial gingivitis – which is the inflammation of a plaque inside the teeth. His beard and gingivitis don't hurt his routine; they just mean he's a bit slower and a bit more circumspect.

That's because he's aged.

Olive Specter (yes, it gave her stats)

Olive will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She spends her time collecting mushrooms, sharpening sticks, and excavating her yard. As you might expect, she has a big appetite, and eats anything that she thinks is good enough for her. She's as much of a carnivore as you are, and is able to catch fish or birds at the least opportunity. She doesn't bother with plants, and prefers to live in areas full of food.

Alignment: Neutral evil

Hit Dice: 1d8+2

Speed: 30 feet

Ophelia Nigmos (this one is unsettling and strangely coherent)

Ophelia's hobbies include hypochondria and monitoring the air quality. She worries about the future... and the past... and the present. Especially right now.

Her past memories have become like mantras, repeating over and over in her head. They are the most important thing to her. This time, she's not sure she will remember them the way she did before. She's aching to go back and erase her past.

That which is most important to her--the things she left behind--has been forgotten. And nobody can help her. Nobody.

PT9 Smith

The only thing PT9 loves more than his lawn is his family. When he is not spending time with his children, he enjoys clipping coupons and staring up at the sky. Over the years PT9 has found his place in the aquarium world. He has helped educate people on different types of fish and he has hosted various education seminars for clients who have "fish stories" to share. In his spare time, PT9 enjoys spending time with his wife and his grandchildren.

Jenny Smith

Jenny loves having a career, but she wishes she could spend more time with her family, and maybe make some new friends. She really likes green. She wishes she had more friends. She wishes her mom would talk to her more often. She wishes she had nicer hair. She wishes her nose looked like a horse's. She has a lot of sympathy for humans and hopes to see one in the future. Jenny is a cross between a cat and a dog with a medium build, no special traits, but that means she's got a lot of muscle and a huge body

Johnny Smith

Johnny dreams of being the hero that rides in on a white horse, or at least a cool sports car. He'd go on to become the worst Superhero in all of space and time, which I guess is exactly what a normal, human teenage boy would do.

Jill Smith

When Jill closes her eyes, she sees dolphins. She has her heart set on becoming a deep sea welder someday. She loves dolphins so much, she's often put one in the trunk of her car and hit the gas to cheer her up.

"I love them so much," Jill declares. "I'm a Dolphin Lover."

Pascal Curious

No matter what happens, Pascal believes there is a logical explanation for everything. In his free time, he practices home psychoanalysis and collects conspiracy theories. He's become adept at opening jars containing creepy little bones or fragments of jellyfish, an odd skill in the world of ponysaurus hunting.

"I have been extremely lucky with bone fragments and that's not even being exaggerating," Pascal said.

Vidcund Curious

Serious and exact, Vidcund strives to fit the universe into a nice tidy package. He has an unnatural fondness for African violets. He is literally covered in them, from head to toe, if not technically. This is an odd love-hate relationship, a love-love and a hate-hate; that leaves us to sit and imagine the potential war between the vine and the earth.

Lazlo (”Twilight”) Curious

Not as studious as his older brothers, Lazlo got his degree in Phrenology. He likes to call phone psychics and spends hours trying to bend forks with his mind. His middle name is "Twilight" because his father was a vampire. He hates flowers.

General Buzz Grunt

The General likes to have his clocks set to military time. He used to enjoy barbershop quartet singing, but that is classified information. It's unknown when he fell in love, but it's possible that he was one of the first humans to understand the concept of love.

Tank Grunt

Tank Grunt wants to be just like his old man. He spends his days lifting heavy things, dodging imaginary bullets, and being bigger than the other guy, but deep down inside, he wonders if anyone really knows who he is. He hates it when his grandmother wants him to call her "Mama" and his grandma is pissed, and he just wants to stay in the dark and get away from the boring world around him. If he could just learn to love himself, he'd be unstoppable.

Ripp Grunt

Ripp totally doesn't care what you think of him. He is going to do whatever he wants to do, which is mostly what everyone else is doing. He has this whimsical desire to show off his tattoos, even though they give me nightmares (sometimes it feels like these tattoos are like a big torture device). He is hyperbolic and outrageous and uncouth and rude to the point that he's almost comical.

Buck Grunt

More than anything else, Buck wants to be a pet stylist to the stars. He spends a lot of time wondering why his father never seems to notice him.

"I want to have big hands and big feet, and I'm hoping I'm going to end up a couple of feet longer than my parents are," Buck said. "My Dad tells me a lot of things like, 'My son is going to be that guy who gets attention by the funnest side of you you've ever seen.' "

Cousins' health makes him optimistic about his prospects

Ajay Loner

To pass the hours, Ajay enjoys counting the grains of sand in his backyard. He may be about to blow his last few thousand, so he worries no more. "You can always count them. You just have to keep on keeping on," he says.

Chloe Curious

The complete opposite of her sister, Chloe just wants to meet new people and to have a good time. She can often be found daydreaming or chatting on the phone. She is very positive and has a creative mind, a big help when composing mean tweets. She always makes sure she keeps her emotions under control and is not too outgoing in social situations.

Lola Curious

Intelligent and focused, Lola knows what she wants and how to get it. She enjoys politics and telling those around her what to do. She keeps her enemies close and keeps a close eye on her enemies' backbones. Her love of Doctor Who and her interest in exploration drive her to travel the galaxy.

Erin Beaker

Erin spends a lot of time working on her psychic powers. Of course, she isn't really psychic, but don't tell her that. Erin's already a pro at picking out great dates with potential future partners. Nothing beats having a psychic date.

Kristen Singles

Kristen envisions herself as a world famous sports champion. She doesn't particularly care for Strangetown, but it's only a pit stop on her track to greatness. As much as she hates to admit it, her talent has never been in question, but that's not stopping her from strutting and parading around town in a T-shirt advertising her skills. She's no longer treating her sport as a game, but instead is obsessed with her prowess as a self proclaimed "muscle mom." 

[anansislibrary]

All of my thoughts on RWBY: taken from one of my videos here

If you haven’t watched RWBY yet... I honestly don’t know what to tell you. The show is genuinely one of my favorite anime of all time. It’s got an amazing cast of interesting characters, great writing, an amazing world to get immersed in. Every character you meet sticks with you, many of the fights are fast paced and memorable, and being a lore buff like me pays off in this world.

But RWBY isn’t... perfect, and having finished the newest season and rewatched the show from the beginning... I have some issues.

Don’t get me wrong, the new season had some excellent parts. The fight between Blake and Adam was literally perfect, and side note, idk why fans are saying Adam got nerfed for this fight or made weaker, when some of his only notable feats happen during this fight. The man lands hits like mortal kombat combos.

Anyway, I don’t want to just crap on the show so before I go into what I didn’t like, I’ll get into what I did. But before then, I’ll have to give you a brief rundown of the show. But before THEN I gotta give my obligatory plug

So make sure you like and subscribe if you enjoy this video and want to see more like it, and consider donating to my Ko-fi if you’re able to to help support my channel and help me make better content.

Without further ado

Here’s RWBY

Quick basic spoiler full rundown of the show.

Rwby takes place in a world callled remnant, with a shattered moon. Why is the moon shattered you ask? Satan threw a temper tantrum

Anyway

There’s monsters

Schools for people to fight monsters

Except no Because the main character’s school gets blown up by this BITCH NAMED CINDER, SCREW YOU CINDER.

Prompting Ruby and her Gucci gang to go on an adventure.

Got it? Good.

So here’s everything I love about the series.

I really like the character designs. Every single character has an excellent design and I could really do a video on how character design helps develop character and tell a story just using this show. Every person in the show has an interesting and cool design that helps you to remember and understand them.

An easy example is Weiss. She dresses like an actual princess, her color scheme and weapons are all very elegant looking and it hints at her high class status without even having to spell it out for you.

Plus I love how characters names are based off of fairy tales or mythology. For example, Sun, Sage, and the ironically named Neptune. The motif of fairy tales is fun too, for example Ruby being Little Red Riding hood, Ozpin and Glenda Goodwich being wizard of oz references, ironwood being the tin man and Leo being the lion, Qrow and scarecrows and all of that. Weiss and Winter both have names very directly based on snow.

Every name in this show was very clearly thought out, and even abilities too.

Sun can make clones of himself just like in the myth, Blake has issues with running from her problems, so she can make clones, yang has anger issues and can go super saiyan, almost everyone’s power has something to do with their personality.

Salem is such a fun villain. I wish she could do more because she’s really sinister and scary. She’s such a fun villain to watch but she doesn’t do shit.

I also love the fight scenes, I love how bombastic and fast paced they are, and it’s really cool how every character has their own unique style of movement and fighting that vary between them. The fights in this show are quick and stick in your mind, and there’s an emphasis put often on how much a character can move in a short amount of time.

Cinder as much as I hate her is also a great villain, and that’s why I hate her.

Roman Torchwick is also a GREAT villain and The way he dies is satisfying as hell, and seeing Neo again made me scream.

The worldbuilding is my favorite aspect of the show. Now I’m weird and I like info dumps and that’s why I enjoy those World Of Remnant videos that expand on the worldbuilding so as not to bog down story with info dumps. The world is really fun to learn about, how humanity has evolved in terms of technology is fun to speculate on, for example since Grimm attacks are common and destructive, towns outside of major cities are less technologically advance because they often don’t have time to explore that and have to move from town to town quickly in an emergency.

The Grimm are excellent monsters with varying abilities that make them scary. I love the Apathy from the most recent season, and how it doesn’t just attack you like a Beowulf, Ursa, or Nevermore, but it drains away your will to fight back at all.

This show also has my favorite trope of all time MIXED TIMELINES

YOU GOT TRADITIONAL CHINESE CLOTHING AND DRESS AND ASIAN ARCHITECTURE ON TOP OF CELL PHONES TOWERS AND ALL OF THAT

this trope is so fun because it really makes a world feel unique.

The world of Naruto has all kinds of modern stuff, but until Boruto it was mixed with older tech and tradition, really selling how this is not our world.

Another thing I love: every weapon is a gun. That is SO fun.

Now as good as the show is, it does have problems. That’s inevitable though, all shows, movies, and books have problems, nothing is perfect.

Except Avatar. Avatar is flawless.

Me pointing out the issues I have with this show is by no means to say it’s bad, just to point them out.

I truly do have love for this series and I still cry about Phyrra and her death.

I love you baby.

But that being said, pointing out the issues a show has can be important for both understanding the pitfalls to avoid in our own writing, and helping creators fix issues later on.

A lot of hard work goes into making this show and I would just be an asshole if I did nothing but shit on the show.

No matter how many issues it has, I can tell the people making it love what they’re doing, and that always shines through a series no matter how many issues it has, just like a show or movie can do everything conventionally right and still be a soulless shit show.

Looking at you call of duty black ops 3.

So here’s the issues

Fight scenes

I love the fight scenes. I’ve said that, they really can be so fun to view and I find myself coming back to them a lot.

But I have issues.

Lemme just say first that I don’t like complaining against animation. Animators go through enough crap already and it feels mean to criticize them at times, but this needs to be said.

One, I hate how people throw punches in this show.

They swing so wide it’s annoying.

Okay listen. If you swing at someone with a punch this wide, and they know how to fight, it will not land. They will block or dodge. I know this because as my subscribers know, I am a martial artist. I know jujitsu and boxing, and I took taeqwondo.

This is a bad punch.

My theory is that they do it to emphasize the impact of a bit, but that’s not necessary. There are other ways to do that.

You could say “they’re animators they don’t know how fighting works.”

But Naruto exists and those animators get martial arts stuff down PAT.

Hell, avatar the last airbender depends on its animators being able to animate fights with consistent accuracy, and those characters use styles most people have never heard of like Baguazhang.

And I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is. It’s hard to really get behind fight scenes at times when the characters can’t throw a simple punch right.

And again it’s not like it’s impossible for animation to animate a fight.

There’s a scene during a fight in Naruto where Obito Uchiha kicks Kakashi, and Kakashi uses his foot to redirect the kick and pull obito off balance.

This is a real move, that people do, and it’s done accurately, but RWBY seems to struggle with accuracy in their fights. Which is fine when a character’s weapon looks like this, but not in hand to hand.

This issue comes up in sword fights too. The way Weiss fights annoys me because her sword is a rapier, and the most important characteristic of a rapier is that often times they don’t have blades, they have points, and when they do have blades, they aren’t meant for slashing. Rapiers were made to exploit the gaps in someone’s armor by stabbing them, and thus it is a thrusting sword, not a slashing one. A sword like a Katana or Khopesh would be good for slashing. Roman gladius can kind of do both, but not as good as either one.

The point is that if they’re gonna give Wiess a rapier, they need to stop animating her slashing with it. Especially when her rapier doesn’t appear to have a sharp edge.

My next complaint is wasted characters.

It’s very frustrating when RWBY takes times to show us a character, but then never uses them.

I didn’t even know sun had a full team sometimes because you never see them.

And furthermore it’s annoying when a fight scene will just stop so that a character can do a cool thing.

Oh no this robot is so hard to beat, how will we beat this dangerous and powerful robot

Oh wait, this character can solo it because the plot needs to pause so she can be cool then promptly never be seen again.

It is so frustrating and it makes it hard to actually know when a character is in danger.

It takes 20 hits to kill a Grimm in one scene, then like two in another.

And the reason for that is because the plot is being pushed aside for the sake of spectacle.

A character’s abilities will be made inconsistent for a chance to make them seem cool.

Like this scene where Tyrion is fighting qrow, he uses his tail to block bullets.

But why?

He has his Aura up, the bullets wouldn’t hurt him anyway! Then when he gets shot later after he looses his aura his tail comes off.

If he was fast enough to use his tail to block bullets he wasn’t even paying attention to, why can’t he do it now!

There is no internal consistency.

Like why are Grimm so strong if they don’t have auras? That’s not explained because they Grimm rarely serve the plot, they spectacle. Adam putting 20 kombo hits into yang to beat her makes sense. He has to wear down her aura to actually hurt her.

But 20 hits to kill a grim that then gets solo’d by a character later on?

No.

Then there’s hazel.

He annoys me.

His villainous motivation is that his sister joined a school for trained soldiers, then died because it was dangerous and now he hates Ozpin.

Dude what?

Like I get why he’s mad, but she knew the risk and someone had to sign off on her getting in for her to be able to go to beacon at all. A child can’t just register for a school especially one where it’s a known risk you could die.

Also another thing I hate is how characters will overreact to stuff in annoying ways.

This is mostly in the most recent season.

Spoiler alert here

But everyone finds out the history of Ozpin and Salem’s relationship from Djinn

And then they just all hate and distrust Ozpin.

Here’s my reaction to finding out about ozpins relationship

It’s just... not that big a deal.

Okay so he was pipping the villain at one point

Nigga so was dumbldore!

It’s just annoying how Ozpin didn’t really do anything but he still was treated like he was just a bad person when he wasn’t.

That whole plot point feels empty, and I found myself more annoyed with the characters for being mad at him and wasting time, than mad at Ozpin for wanting to get laid.

My next complaint on this nitpick fest is

Shit what was I gonna say again?

Oh yea, that annoying ass military lady and her whole reason for not letting the heroes into atlas.

That was so annoying and pointless. She really had no reason not to let them through, and her getting into a giant mecha to fight them pulled me so far away from the story because it was just too ridiculous.

The mecha is for fighting Kaiju grim but it’s taken down by like five kids and their drunk grandpa.

Which like... fine but I hate it.

I hate that whole sequence.

It didn’t have to happen like that, it was another fight purely for spectacle.

It made me mad.

Plus I really really hate mecha anime and mecha fights in general.

God I hate them.

I skipped almost every mecha fight in Voltron because I hate them.

Look the point is that rwby is definitely a good show and I love almost every part of it, but these issues really pull me away from the story at times and you can really sense how much of the story is less about progression and more about increasing drama like the Ozpin thing, or looking cool.

Please watch rwby it really is worth your time, just be aware of the issues it has.

[pinkykitten]

Trust

Marvel

Bucky Barnes x Frankie Winchester (oc)

Warning: fighting, curse words

Specifics: comedy, romance, fluff, one-shot, oc

People: bucky barnes, steve rogers

Words: 1,826

Requested: By @the-gang-makes-a-tmblr for a prompt i was thinking they first get together after they save the world in some way, and it's kind of fluffy, and it's basically how they can relate in some things in their life being difficult. And that's part of what draws them together in this. But just gonna start with them getting together basically.

Authors Note: i kinda changed up the prompt a bit so instead of them fighting to save the world i just made it that they fought something small since this is just them meeting. i really enjoyed this oc and writing this it was super fun and forgive me for taking so long to write this. 

“Hey bonehead, you think you can go any faster?” Frankie asked impatiently. Her heels of her boots constantly making contact with the floor making a clicking sound. 

“What did you call me?” The man turned around, anger evident on his face. Frankie smirked as the two waited in line at Frankie’s favorite bakery. 

“I’m sorry I just didn’t realize you were deaf...bonehead. I called you bonehead. You keep looking at the menu for five god da*m minutes like just pick something. I’m starving and haven’t had any breakfast and I gotta run somewhere so hurry.” Frankie crossed her arms. 

The man stopped ordering and tried to punch Frankie. Frankie dodged the blow and instead caught his arms in a death lock. The cashier lady already used to Frankie’s attitude smiles as she gives Frankie her special order. “Extra berries like I asked?”

The lady nodded and Frankie smiled, “thats why you’re my favorite. Gotta love ya! Here take this,” Frankie hands the cashier girl a tip but the lady denies it. “You are our best customer, you know you don’t need to pay.”

“I know lady but I’m trying to be nice and everything so just take the da*m money already, alright.”

The lady chuckled and took it, mumbling, “stubborn.”

Frankie let the man go and walked out with her order, putting her sunglasses on. 

She moaned in delight taking a big bite of her pie. The movement of the car got some of the filling on her outfit. “Sh*t.” 

Frankie missed her brothers, it was almost as everything reminded her of them. 

As Frankie parked the car on the side of the road trying to take out the stain she remembered when she was little and how her brothers used to play dress up with her. They would treat her so specially. All she wanted to do in life was be like them. 

“Lets put some music on,” she looked through her discs of her favorite music. “Which one do I want?” She tried to decide between Fall out Boy, or Green Day but she was interrupted by a phone call. 

“Who is this?” 

“Um Frankie,” Steve Rogers said, sounding serious on the other end. 

Frankie sat up straight, worried, “what happened Steve?”

“I think it would be better if you come here.”

“Okay I’m on my way.”

Munching on the rest of her pie she sprinted indoors of the Avengers Tower, wiping off the residue of breakfast onto her clothes. She could hear talking on the other side of the wall. 

“Steve! Steve!” She was greeted with, “Bucky?” Her eyes wide with surprise. Steve was behind Bucky, a guilty look on his face. “Yeah, hi Frankie.”

Frankie looked between Bucky and Steve, “hey Mr. America, can I speak to you in the back...alone?” Steve nodded and Frankie gripped his arm tightly, knowing she was not hurting him but getting her point across. She lead him inside his room, closing the door. “What the he*l Steve? What is he doing out there?”

“Look I know Frank this is weird-”

“Don’t call me that-”

“But he’s my friend,” Steve continued on, “he’s gotten better.”

“Steve, you know what he does. What he’s like. He’s bad, like really bad. Worse than this pain I’m feeling in my stomach from-”

“Too much pie,” Steve answered for her.

“Wow...is it that obvious.”

Steve grinned, “no, I just know you that well.”

“Steve, me and you are friends, he is not. He has tried and succeeded in killing so many people. He is one of the bad guys and now you want to let him into our life and what you just expect me to just accept him?”

Steve was quiet, peering down at his shoes. 

“Oh my god thats what you were thinking!”

“Frankie, its more than that. Even though he’s done terrible things I just can’t leave him alone. He is terrible and has done terrible things but I suspect if we help him, if we cure him he can be the Bucky I used to know.”

Frankie touched lightly Steve’s cheek, “the Bucky you used to know is not here anymore, Steve. He’s gone and you have to understand that and let go of the past.”

“You want me to let go of the past? Well, I don’t see you letting go of the past about your brothers.”

Frankie gasped. That was a personal, private topic she never liked to discuss but she trusted in Steve so much that she told him everything. He knew he shouldn’t have crossed that line. Steve knew he went a little too far, “Frankie, I’m sorry.”

She put her hand out, “no, you’ve made it very clear who’s side you’re on.”

She left the room, trying to hold back her tears. 

Training was a great stress relieve. Frankie would just imagine either someone she hated as the punching bag or the issue in her life, trying to knock it down physically and figuratively. 

Sweat dripped from her forehead as she repeatedly kept punching. Her arms were numb but still she kept at it. Finally with one last blow the punching bag flew and ripped in the middle, clean. The sand that made it heavy poured out, “sh*t, gonna have to get another one.” She wiped her forehead as she ripped the bandages across her knuckles off. 

“Has that happened before?” A foreign voice called out to her. Frankie turned to see Bucky, the enemy. Frankie thought to keep silent but instead answered him with a growl, “yes...why are you here Bucky?”

“What? Can’t see a pretty lady like yourself fight?” Frankie looked at him, rolling her eyes. “I see, not really into that type of talk, noted. How did you do that though?”

Frankie shrugged, “do what?”

Bucky pointed at the punching bag, “how did you learn how to fight like that?”

Frankie sat down on the bench and took a swig from her water bottle. She smiled, “my brothers taught me. They literally taught me everything I know.” Bucky sat beside her and could see the love and happiness she had as she talked about her family. 

“And your powers?”

Frankie chuckled, “long story bud, but my powers are basically I can fly and I can beat the sh*t out of people with my superhuman strength.” Frankie created a fist as she showed her muscles, smirking. Bucky chuckled lightly, “I can tell you’re a tough one.”

Frankie playfully hit his arm, “oh really? Who told you?”

Bucky grinned widely, “you know Steve talks a lot about you...” The air was thick and silent. Frankie almost forgot about that man sitting next to her. She almost forgot about what he had done to people. She held onto her water bottle tightly, almost popping it. The anger she felt when Steve chose Bucky over her had risen up again. She stood up but Bucky held onto her hand, “please Frankie, I know I did terrible things but...that wasn’t me. You need to understand Steve is in a hard place right now.”

Frankie looked deep into his blue orbs and shook her head. Her blonde pony tail shaking with her, “I can’t Bucky. I just can’t trust you.” She brought her hand back and proceeded to leave.

From that day on Bucky had tried to get closer to Frankie. He would converse with her about her childhood, about her life. Her dislikes and likes. He wanted to know everything about her, he wanted to prove to Frankie that she could trust him. 

She even opened up to him about her past, and how difficult it was. In some ways Frankie and Bucky were the same. They both had gone through terrible things in their lives and still made it. Frankie had to admit that Bucky had been through a lot and sometimes she found her self admiring his strength and perseverance. 

“Guys suit up. We got some men around near the warehouses. Trying to steal military weapons,” Steve announced.  

Frankie got her suit together noticing the way Bucky was staring at her with big eyes. 

“You think you’ll be okay?” He asked her, grabbing Frankie’s arm. Frankie scoffed, “what, you think I won’t be? I’ve lived without you for while, I think I can handle this myself.”

The team went to the area and Steve teamed up Bucky with Frankie. “C’mon Steve, I don’t want to babysit.”

“Guess you’re stuck with me,” Bucky grabbed his guns as he tried to take control. 

“Who does he think he is?” Frankie mumbled as the two met up with the group of men. One group went to a truck and sped away leaving Frankie flying after them, “I’m going after them, Bucky you keep an eye out for these guys.” She points to the rest of robbers. Bucky fights them while Frankie flies over the truck. The men inside try to shoot at her but she dodges it or breaks the bullet. “Is that all you got?”

The men bring out a machine gun and Frankie pauses, eating her words, “oh.”

They shoot at her non stop but she dodges all of the bullets. “You good Frank,” Steve asks through her ear piece.

“Again, don’t call me that, and yeah, I’m good, still alive at least.” Frankie flies under the truck and with her super strength lifts the truck, throwing it upside down. It crashes into tanks with an explosion and fire. Frankie up in the air laughs victoriously and flies below. 

Of course some men are dead but one man is still alive, coughing and trying to get out of the truck. The flames almost consume him but he makes it out. With ashes on his face he is sneaky. He creeps up on Frankie, who thinks all of them are dead. “Well it looks like my work here is done.” She places a hand on her hip. 

“Look out!” Bucky calls to Frankie. Frankie turns around and sees the man that is still alive lift a sharp piece of the truck and is about to stab Frankie. Frankie is too slow and does not protect herself but Bucky runs to her aid and pushes the man away. Bucky punches the man in the face knocking him unconscious.

Bucky so worried runs to Frankie, “hey are you okay? He didn’t hurt you right?”

Frankie is shocked. Surprised that Bucky would do such a thing and cared that much. Bucky wraps her up in his arms and for once she lets him. She lets him in, and is slowly but surely trusting him more and more. She’s starting to open her eyes and see the real Bucky. 

“Bucky...you....you saved my life.”

Bucky helped her in getting up and back to the tower. “I couldn’t let anything bad happen to you Frankie, I just couldn’t.”

Frankie smiled and accepted the hug, embracing him harder, “thank you Bucky.” The two walked hand in hand back to the tower. 

Tag list: @harrington-lover, @angelgl16, @perfectlybeautifulsuit, @hyehoney, @haven-prelude (wont let me tag), @leasly, @totally-alexa21, @creamy-pasta-boi, @multireese, @fanfictionrecommendations-com, @prentisskelley, @malereaderforkpop (wont let me tag), @guardian-of-cookies, @justafangirl-97, @teenageshitposts (wont let me tag), @andreaoreas, @dippergravity (wont let me tag), @some-booty, @fromfoolishpeopletodeadpeople, @collectiveyou, @wtfisalltherandoms, @dirbel, @eastcoasthaven, @fangirl-4-life415 (wont let me tag), @marwantr, @divaanya, @wassupitschloe, @idontknowwhattocallthisworld (wont let me tag), @spycii, @eminemsgiraffe

wanna be tagged in my crap? comment!

[catalinda04]

Carried Away Chapter 5: Breakfast Confessions

Masterlist

“I’m sorry Sir, but Miss Claussen has asked not to be disturbed. You may leave her a message, and I can assure you it will be delivered first thing in the morning.” The middle-aged woman behind the front desk assured him.

“No, no thank you. No message.” Henry walked away from the desk of the hotel. “How could you be so stupid?” He chastised himself. “You weren’t going to take her to bed tonight. Why did you ask? Now she most assuredly thinks you’re some sex-crazed playboy just out for a good time. You need to make this right. But how can I if she won’t see me?” He argued with himself. “I’ll just have to wait for morning. I’ll wait for her and apologize then.” Pleased with his plan, he went home to take a cold shower, and try not to think about Lucy and her soft lips, and sparkling eyes.

Lucy couldn’t remember crying harder in her life. She needed a friend and she needed one now. Sarah would know what to say.

“Oh, Sarah! I made a mess of things! He wanted me! ME! And instead of just going for it, I ran away. Literally! I RAN away from him! He must think I’m some kind of weirdo, glad that he dodged a bullet there.” She sobbed into the phone.

“Sweetie, it’s ok. I wish I could be there to give you a hug. Now explain. Tell me exactly what happened.” Lucy explained about the dinner and the wine and the dancing in the park, and the kiss that had fried her synapses with its heat and intensity.

“I ruined it! He wanted me! Now I’ve ruined the whole thing. I don’t even have his phone number or know where he lives to explain myself.”

“Honey, I’m sorry. Why don’t you get some sleep, and maybe everything will seem better in the morning. If nothing else, please don’t wallow in this. You’re in London! Go out and see the city, do all of the things you had planned, and try to forget about it.”

“Thank you. I know it’s silly. I only met this guy today, I shouldn't be so messed up over this. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you too. Get some sleep.”

Lucy contemplated the pint bottle of vodka she’d purchased earlier in the day. She hoped that by finishing it, she could at least sleep through the night. She finished the bottle and fell into a fitful sleep, full of jumbled dreams, where Superman was flying overhead while Henry laughed at her.

She awoke to a jackhammer in her brain, and a roiling in her stomach. The vodka probably wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had, she decided. After a long shower, a bottle of water, a handful of ibuprofen, and a gallon of concealer she finally felt ready for a day of exploring the city. The first item on her agenda; buy a map of the city. No more getting lost in strange neighborhoods. Only trouble came from that.

She put on her Jackie O. sunglasses to hide the dark circles the concealer didn’t quite cover, stepped out the front door of the hotel, and almost ran right into Henry.

“Good morning. I brought you a cup of tea.” He said handing her a paper to go cup.

“Henry! What are you doing here?” Lucy paled at his appearance.

“I came to apologize. I obviously came on too strong last night. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, I’m sorry. I DID get scared, and I ran away, instead of facing my feelings. Would you like to go get some breakfast, and maybe I can shed some light for you.”

They made small talk as Henry led her to a nearby restaurant. Perusing the menu, she asked, “What does a ‘Full English’ breakfast consist of?”

“A ‘Full English’ is usually fried eggs, sausages, bacon or black pudding, fried veg, beans, and toast.”

“And people say Americans fry too much. How can anyone eat that much fried food this early in the morning.”

“There’s nothing better after a night at the pub.” He smiled. Lucy had planned on skipping breakfast today, but it seemed since seeing Henry, her stomach had forgotten all about the vodka incident.

“I feel like I owe you an explanation.” Lucy started after giving the waitress their orders. “First of all, again, I’m sorry for how I left last night. I really did have a wonderful time, it was probably the best evening I’ve ever spent. Then you...made your...request...and I didn’t know how to handle it.”

“I’m sorry I said it. It was incredibly forward of me to even suggest that we might take things to that level, we’d known each other for less than 12 hours. I didn’t mean to imply that I thought that you were…” And he just trailed off.

“It’s not that I was offended, or didn’t want to. I did, oh good lord how I did, it’s just…I can’t believe I’m telling you this…I’ve…um...never…um...well you know.”

“Had a one-night stand?” He suggested.

“Had ANY night stand.” She supplied, not meeting his eyes.

“Oh…OH!” He exclaimed, his eyes going wide as understanding hit him. “But you’re what 26, 27? How does that happen? Is it a religion thing?”

“No, it’s a never had the opportunity thing, and I’m a month shy of 31 thank you very much for reminding me. I wasn’t popular in high school, and in college, I was focused on my studies, then well, guys have never shown an interest in me. Which is why I was so surprised when you actually showed at the coffee shop yesterday.” She explained fidgeting her hands on the table.

Thankfully their food arrived at just that moment, halting Lucy’s rambling and giving them a few moments to take in what had already been said.

After a few minutes of thoughtful eating Henry finally broke the silence. “So what is on our schedule for today?”

“Our? What do you mean our?”

“If you wouldn't mind, I’d like to accompany you around town today.”

“What? Why?” Lucy asked, genuine shock crossing her features.

“Because I’d like to get to know you better. And I’d like to see where this could lead.”

Lucy sat dumbfounded, staring at Henry “You, want to spend the day with me? Even after how I behaved last night, and all that’s been explained over breakfast?”

“Why is that so hard for you to comprehend?”

“Because. No man has ever wanted to...get to know me.”

“Well, then they are supremely daft. Because I’ve thought about nothing but getting to know you since the coffee shop yesterday.” She gaped at him slightly, her brow furrowing in disbelief. “I would like to keep spending time with you while you’re here in London.”

“I’m just planning on doing standard sightseeing, nothing that you’d want to do, I’m sure.”

“I have a few days before we start filming on my latest project. I would like to spend as much of those few days with you as you’ll allow.”

For a few seconds, Lucy couldn’t speak. Had he just said that? he wanted to spend more time with her. Her brain could barely fathom the idea. “Well, I was going to go to the Globe, followed by the Tate and St. Paul’s.”

“Wow, that’s quite a bit for one day.”

“I’m only here for a few days, I want to see as much as I can.”

Henry stood. “Well then, we had better be off, but before we go,” He leaned close when Lucy stood as well. “I want to tell you, my ‘offer’ from last night is on the table, so to speak. But I will leave it up to you to decide if you want to pick it up. There will be no pressure from me” Lucy gaped after him as he left to pay the bill.

Once they were outside, he donned a pair of sunglasses and a hat. “Disguise.” He explained. “It’s not a great one, but it’s better than nothing.”

Lucy and Henry spent the entire day together. Talking, laughing, learning little bits about each other, like her love for Picasso, and his aversion to black olives. Lucy surprised herself. She was normally a very selfie-phobic person, but she found she would take as many selfies as possible as long as Henry was by her side.

That evening, they enjoyed a lovely meal at a little bistro near Leicester Square, before Henry escorted Lucy back to her hotel. When she tried to say goodnight at the front door, he insisted on seeing her to her room.

Her room was at the back of the hotel, through an outdoor courtyard. When they arrived at her door, Lucy unlocked it and turned to say goodnight to Henry.

“Is this your entire room? He asked peering inside. “This may be the smallest hotel room I’ve ever seen.”

“The bathroom is so small that in order to turn around, you have to step out of it.” She laughed, gesturing in, indicating he should have a look.

He stepped into the room and what had once been a small room, seemed positively minuscule. He turned to Lucy. He had planned to say goodnight, give her a simple kiss and be on his way. But the nervous, expectant look on her face nearly undid him. He took the two steps possible to cross the room and framed Lucy’s face in his hands. He lowered his lips to hers, intending to give her a slow, sweet kiss goodnight. She responded with abandon. Wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. She opened her mouth, and her tongue dueled with his.

He slowly sat down on the bed, pulling Lucy with him. She sat next to him and buried her hands in his hair. Henry turned to lay her down on the bed, her hands slid down his strong back to slide under the hem of his shirt. His hand left her face to slide down her neck, moulding his palm to her breast. Lucy moaned against his mouth.

His hand continued its downward slide to her waist, toying with the hem of her shirt. When his hand slid under to touch the bare skin of her stomach, she started. She put a hand on his chest. “Stop.” She gasped. “We need to stop. I...no. Not yet.” She could barely get the words out around her gasping for breath, sitting up, she left the hand on his chest.

“Yes. Stop. Good idea.” Henry agreed once his brain started working again.

Lucy stood up and pulled Henry with her. “You should go.” She said kissing him again, all but pushing him out of the room. “Good night Henry. Thank you for a wonderful day.” She said, kissing him once more, before shutting the door and falling back onto it.

Henry stood staring at her door. He started back toward the hotel exit before he turned and knocked on Lucy’s door. She answered with a slightly dazed expression on her face.

He grabbed her and kissed her one long, deep, thorough, kiss. Resting his forehead against hers, he breathed heavily. “I’ll go now, but think about this. When we do finally make love. We’re going to set the sheets on fire.” Then he kissed her again for good measure and walked off. As last words went, that was one for the record books.

Chapter 4          Chapter 6

[avaquet]

Rydaal: Shedding Our Skin

Day 3 prompts! Late night rendezvous! This story is for MERweek, and takes place pre-relationship. :3

WARNING: Mentions of abuse!

I paced the Tempest, and I thought everyone was asleep, or piloting. We were headed back to Aya to reunite the Moshae with the angara. I jumped out of my skin when Jaal suddenly came out of his room. He shared the same response.

“I thought you were asleep.” We both said. Not in sync.

“I can’t.” I replied. “Been walking the ship for the past hour.”

“I was busy sending a report to Evfra. Came out to get a drink.” He cleared his throat. “Care to join?”

I shrugged. “Sure. I don’t have anything else to do anyways.” We walked together down to the kitchen.

He sat down next to me with his water. “I uh… I wanted to ask you a question, if you don’t mind.”

I chuckled. “I’m surprised your holding back.”

“Yes well, I also have to ask Evfra this, but I wanted your opinion on it first.”

“Ah, well, I’m listening.”

He smiled widely as he spoke. “I’ve come to enjoy being on the ship, with you and the crew. I was wondering if I may stay.”

“You don’t want to go back? Even...even after what you saw?”

“I want to stay. I feel important here, and we got many things accomplished. I feel like I’m not waiting on something to happen when I’m here. Also, the crew seems to enjoy my presence.”

I chuckled. “That they do, Jaal. I-the crew would love to see you stay, and you’re a kickass fighter. As long as it’s okay with Evfra, then we’d love to have you here.”

“What about you?” He took a drink.

“What about me?” I raised a brow.

“I want to know what you think about me staying. You are the one in charge.”

I scoffed, “Hardly.”

“Then let me rephrase. I care about what you think.” Jaal clarified.

That phrase oddly took me by surprise. I knew he was open about pretty much everything, but maybe it’s because I haven’t really heard that being said to me. I cleared my throat. “Um, well, yes. I really enjoy your presence here.” I smiled gently. “You’ve been a good friend to me so far, despite me being completely alien to you.”

“It nice to see that we can prove the bigots wrong. And myself.”

“What do you mean?”

He chuckled. “Ah, when I first met you, I wished they would’ve killed you. In truth, I was afraid we would have more opposition. I had only heard of what happened on Kadara, but I’ve never seen the Initiative species.”

“I’m surprised you volunteered to go with me then.”

“I’m not. Mainly because I noticed something that was extremely different in you, than the kett. And I wanted to see for myself if I could be hopeful.” He smiled.

“What was the difference? Other than we’re obviously better looking.” I joked.

“The way you showed your emotions. Kett have but one, dominance. They came confidently and asked for peace. Never said sorry, never seemed afraid. But you,” I scoffed and held back any more laughter as I remembered how I acted. “You were so afraid. You apologized for the way you landed. I...felt bad. Just a bit, I wasn’t sure if it was just an act. Then you pleaded Evfra for help.”

“So, you got hope out of my fear?” I grinned, not meaning it seriously.

Jaal shook his head, “Not exactly. But, if you were confident and careless, I may have been the one to plead Evfra to shoot you. Or permission to.”

“I literally dodged a bullet by being absolutely terrified. Ah, nice.” I gave out a dry chuckle.

He giggled with me, “I doubt they would’ve actually listened to me. Though, I am glad that I was proven wrong about you.”

“Hell, me too. I don’t want to be anything like a kett. Cold soulless bastards. Er, sorry.”

“For what? You didn’t make the kett. And I agree.” He had looked down for a moment then back up. “I have another thing to ask you.”

“Fire away.” Haha, fire away. After talking about getting shot. Hah…

“Did I make you uncomfortable on Voeld?”

I thought for a moment, “At first I felt weird, but I wasn’t going to complain. Voeld was a lot colder than any of us had prepared for.” Lexi had warned us, but like kids leaving the house in the middle of winter stating it is not that cold out, Mom, I’ll be fine! Off we went.

“Are you saying you got used to it?”

“Had to. Not that you’re uncomfortable or anything, in fact I think I rather enjoyed it. Though you gotta blame that one on me being utterly touch starved for like, months.” My face felt hot.

He cocked his head, “Are you...blushing?” I could see a small smile forming that made me feel funny.

There was an awkward pause of me thinking about how to respond. I cleared my throat, “Um, heh, yeah. Yeah I am. Just a… Just a bit.” I couldn’t look into his eyes. What in the hell is happening to me? I know what...just fucking why? Why now? Damn, this is so inappropriate. I’m like a captain of the ship and he’s a crew member. Except I’m not, and he’s technically not. He answers to Evfra, it’s just that Evfra tells him to listen to me. Ack, no no no no, you’re not feeling anything, Sara. You’re just touch starved and trying to trauma bond. This is just hormones. This shit will go away. Yeah but, this isn’t the first time I felt this. So? He’s spent his whole life fighting and killing aliens. Even if your feelings were true, do you honestly think he would reciprocate them? Could his brain have the wirings to feel any ounce of attraction towards you? An alien? Again, he fought and despised aliens his whole life. Him being your friend should be good enough is it not, Sara? Just accept it.

“Do humans really closet their emotions that much?” His voice broke my thoughts. “If you liked something just say it. What harm will it do to let others know that you enjoy something?”

“It’s ah, cultural thing. Usually people don’t sleep together unless they’re well...together. With the exception of children and their parents. Humans for some reason have to see literally everything as something sexual or romantic, because apparently plantonic doesn’t exist.” I mocked. “It’s stupid, really.”

It took him a moment to respond, “Was that why it was uncomfortable for you at first?”

I nodded, “Yeah. Society ingrained itself into my head, and I want it out. It would be wildly inappropriate for me to have that sort of feelings for you.”

He shrugged, “And why is that?”

“It would be like a co-worker getting with their boss.”

“So? Is that not allowed?”

What? “Wait, you’re telling me, it is allowed in your culture?” He nodded. “Doesn’t that cause like, biased or opinionated ah, um, things to happen? Like who’s in charge of what or where?”

“That happens anyways, does it not? Your feelings don’t simply go away when you ignore them. They’re stored. The only way to deal with them is by acknowledging them and getting them out. If you romantically like someone, you will still make decisions that show that. Same thing with family or friends.” He clarified.

“Aren’t there any problems with this? Like if a boss was with a worker and the boss made them a manager just because they favor them and not for their abilities?”

“Even though your culture sees it as inappropriate, does it stop what you’re describing?” I shook my head. “Making someone in charge because you like them, is wrong. No matter what. It hurts many many things. But people are charged by emotions anyways, ignoring them will not make a difference. Usually it makes things worse.”

“If word got around, people would usually fire the boss for even thinking about it.”

“That’s idiotic. Fire the boss if the boss abuses their power and puts someone in charge that doesn’t qualify. Don’t fire the boss for simply being a person.” He retorted.

“Our ideology comes from the fear of people acting out their emotions. Humans go to the extreme a lot, so we feel that ignoring these emotions will be the best.”

He seemed confused, “Ah, could you elaborate?”

“It’s not uncommon for...let’s say a boss who likes their worker, to try and have sex with them because of how they feel. And because they are the boss, they use that position to try and sorta order them or blackmail them to have sex with them.”

He had the most disgusted look on his face. “Not that that ever happens in our society, because it has. But that is absolutely outrageous and sickening. Abusive bosses should be fired. Don’t restrict others to being mere...robots because you refuse to fire a horrible boss.”

“But yeah. That’s where that stems from. Humans cannot handle their emotions.”

“Because you never deal with them.” Jaal seemed frustrated. “You’ve never learned how to properly work with them. For angara, this is taught from birth. It’s not perfect, but at least very few of us are emotionally repressed.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make things frustrating for you.”

“I imagine it must be frustrating for you because you have to live in it constantly.”

I nodded, “Yeah. A bit.”

He let out a frustrated grunt. “No wonder...have I made your crew uncomfortable by...being the way I am? So open?”

“A little, yeah. But they sorta figured out it was part of your culture anyways.”

“Doesn’t excuse it. So, all the compliments I gave...they weren’t received as platonic, were they?”

“I cannot speak for everyone, but the consensus seems to be that no, they weren’t. And even if they were, it took everyone by surprise.”

He buried his head in his hands. “I’m...so sorry. I...I should’ve thought better.”

I reached out to his shoulder, “Hey, it’s okay. I believe we understand now. All first contact is awkward for a while. We’re just getting used to each other.”

He relaxed and looked at me, “Thank you. I will watch what I say.”

I sat back, “Oh pfft. Don’t. I love it when you compliment us. Or, we love it, anyways. Heh. Just...continue being you. We love it. I think your personality is much needed in times like this. And, maybe you could teach us a thing or two about dealing with our emotions.”

He smiled, “Maybe. I’m not sure how good of a teacher I will be, but I can do my best. Thank you, Sara.”

I bowed my head, “It’s not a problem. In fact it’s relieving to be around you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re contagious like that. Since you’re so open, I feel like I can be open and comfortable around you, too. I’m not going to complain.”

“I’m glad I have that effect. I don’t complain when I’m around you either.” He smirked. Is he..?

“Hah, careful. I already like you, you don’t want me to end up liking you or- wait. No, that’s not.” My face got hot again and then I was the one with the buried face. “I don’t understand words.” I could hear him chuckle.

“Hmm… I’ll have to think on that.”

[shirtlesssammy]

13x13: Devil’s Bargain

Welcome to a Very Buckleming Episode! Our intent is to keep things humorous but even going in with low expectations, this episode was a wild ride.

Then:

Here is a picture of Badass Cas to ease you into tonight’s recap

Now:

We open with a montage/flashback of Cas in a forest, weakened and with blood pouring from his mouth, remembering his fight with Lucifer. How did Cas get to the forest? Why is he coughing up blood? Why is he so weakened that he’s unconscious for hours? We just don’t know. Two boys come along to see the dead body one found earlier, and they poke it.

Cas awakens with a start, and the boys scatter to the wind.

Cas - who had been banished by Lucifer? - walks back to the insane asylum, but no Lucifer.

We’re suddenly in a Lifetime movie! A woman, in a tan trench-like coat, is rollerblading down the street and trips, falling literally and figuratively for a man, with close cropped light brown hair (and slightly elfin ears), who catches her. The elaborate wedding cake he was carrying is destroyed in the process. A creepy dude watches approvingly, when Lucifer surprises him and reveals he’s actually an overdressed Cupid! He steals his grace and then kills him.

Cas is now in the bunker and giving the brothers the lowdown on all that’s been going on this season. Poor Sam has to learn that Lucifer is Earth 1 side. Dean has to learn that he hasn’t been talking to Cas this whole time.

The boys also learn that Mary is alive (which Jack showed them already?)

Lucifer hams up the almost-human bit. He’s cold and hungry. (I don’t rewatch 9x03 because it’s hard to watch Cas in this position. This is just annoying. Will Lucifer burn out his vessel on borrowed grace? Fingers crossed.)

Asmodeus and Ketch meet to discuss recent events. What was Asmodeus’s “important errand”? In any event, it’s pointed out by Ketch how monumentally stupid Asmodeus is. Ha. I mean, he really fails at a lot.  

Asmodeus tasks Ketch with killing the devil. Ketch seems less than impressed with the idea.

Luci tries emulating another homeless man, but fails. The other man offers to get Lucifer some food, and while they’re dumpster diving, he tells Lucifer about Sister Jo, a faith healer. Luci has his next meal lined up!

At the bunker, Dean and Cas finally have a couple minutes alone before Interrupting Moose interrupts.

Dean apologizes for not knowing Cas was captured. Cas deflects the unnecessary sentiment. He also deflects Dean’s question on whether he’s fine. CAS.

Sam arrives at the bunker and he has Donatello with him! He’s here because they have a plan. Use the demon tablet to open a door to the AU, throw Lucifer into that world, get their mom and Jack back, and escape before Michael follows them. Why use Donatello to translate the demon tablet if it’s only a maybe that the spell is on it? As many people have pointed out, why not use Kevin’s Elamite translations? (Boris: I watch 9x06 more than is allowed and wondered this right away!) (Natasha: at first I assumed they were going to unwrap Kevin’s translations and give Donatello a head start.) Ahem, rolling with the plot. Cas hears on Angel Radio that an angel was killed.

Cut to Sister Jo and her miraculous healing abilities, and Lucifer watching.

Team Free Will investigates the angel murder. They put it together that Lucifer is feeding on grace, trying to restore his power. Dean flirts with Cas. Cas flirts back. Sam looks distressed.

Lucifer introduces himself to Sister Jo, who is not impressed or intimidated. She’s really Anael, a rogue angel that Hannah and Cas didn’t find back in season 10. She’s a savy businesswoman who knows what she wants and how to play the game of humaning, so I’ll handwave that away. She talks Lucifer into using her grace a bit at a time. Apparently angel grace can recharge?! Gah, I’ve read theories (but can’t find them now!) that Cas’s grace didn’t recharge because of his depression. I’ll take all the positive head canons for this episode that I can find.

Meanwhile, the guys start asking questions about the death of the cupid. Sam interviews the homeless man that helped Lucifer. “Actually we had a lovely chat.” Sam’s eyebrows couldn’t get much higher. Oh, Sam. The man leads the guys to Sister Jo.

Ok, Stop.

I am 1000% creeped out by the whole new way to extract angel grace. So. Fucking. Unnecessary. And. Gross.

Ok, Go.

That night, we find Lucifer feeding on Anael’s grace. He admits to killing the last angel, and Anael gets worried. Who knows who will come to her place next?

Team Free Will, that’s who.

They enter Jo’s meeting hall, to find...Ketch.

Ketch greets them like old pals. He tells them he’s in the area to kill Lucifer. Sam wants to know who he’s working for and Ketch dodges the question by suggesting a teamup. 

Cas is...not swayed by this argument. They stuff the unconscious Ketch in the trunk of the Impala and Dean suggests that they head back to the bunker, “find out what he knows and put a bullet in him. Burn his bones, and flush his ashes.” Cas in ON BOARD. Sam distracts them from their revenge fantasies to show them video of Sister Jo, who Cas immediately recognizes as fellow angel Anael. They head off to search for her body. Sam put a tracer on her credit card and when it’s used, they’ve got a clue on where to find her...or Lucifer.

Meanwhile, Sister Jo’s credit card is getting busy at a motel and so are...Sister Jo and Lucifer. Lucifer slowly sucks her grace in a sexualized manner and I just...

Basically, to me this approach to angel grace extraction with Sister Jo uses non-consensual (or at the very least, dubiously consensual) sexual overtones as a lazy shorthand to an imbalance of power between a man and woman. Of course, we’re overly sensitive to this because it’s essentially on a bingo card for these writers. We’ve seen the use of non-con or dub-con before by these writers in the past couple of seasons. (For example: in 12x2, 12x13, 13x02, and 13x13) When it appears, we throw up our hands and rant, regardless of how fair that is, because we’re steeling ourselves for it. On the other hand, maybe I’m still just pissed about what Toni Bevell did to Sam and how that was just brushed aside.

ANYWAY, afterward Anael and Lucifer collapse onto the bed breathlessly and talk about how less grace makes you feel more human emotions. Emotions are a wild ride that majorly weirds out angels. “When I’m in that place I can see how there’d be pain but there’s also hope. Love even.” Anael keeps it positive and then she reflects on the lot of angels. She was an unhappy cog in the machine in Heaven and falling to Earth was a blessing. It freed her.

Down in Kentucky Fried Hell, Asmodeus is catching up on his reading when a demon minion interrupts to tell him they’ve located the prophet. Donatello, meanwhile, is purchasing copious amounts of fried chicken wings. 

Cas appears and asks how his work with the Winchesters is going. Donatello blithely spills ALL the beans. His work with the demon tablet is going great and soon he’ll unravel how to open a door to another world (facepalm). Oh Donatello. “The ingredients are very, very complicated,” Donatello frets, talking about the spell to open a rift and NOT for example seven secret herbs and spices. Casmodeus then slips into his southern accent, freezes Donatello, and compels him to become his spy. Casmodeus sniffs at the fried chicken in a nod to fandom’s nickname for him.

The next morning TFW rolls up to the motel where Anael is staying. They draw her out by pretending to be motel management checking on her credit card. When she sees them and they ask about Lucifer she asks them for help. 

Sam and Dean greet Lucifer in the hotel room. “Morning sunshine,” Dean says and we both growl protectively over that phrase which should NOT BE SULLIED by being applied to Lucifer. Lucifer’s awkward while Anael quietly clues Lucifer in to the fact that TFW thinks he’s still depowered. Thanks, Anael. “Trapped” by TFW Lucifer engages in small talk, makes a crack about Sam’s hair (fuck you Lucifer), and asks about their plans for him.

Suddenly Anael and Lucifer team up to hurl TFW across the room with their rather powered up angel mojo. Lucifer does the patented heart-clench with his fists and Sam, Dean, and Cas writhe in pain on the floor. Suddenly Ketch appears and chucks a spell at the ground.

Lucifer and Anael flap out of there and wind up in the woods somewhere. “I help you and you help me,” Anael tells him. Lucifer accepts this at face value and asks her for further direction. I can see she’s manipulating him but we both fear that this is going to lead to a sudden death for her at some point towards the end of the season. We both hoping we get to see her written with a little more depth later on in the season, and not just some fleeting medium-bad adjunct.

Back in the hotel, Ketch thanks TFW for their rampant gratitude. He then suggests that they pool their resources and go after Lucifer together. He confesses to working for Asmodeus. “How is that supposed to make us feel better?” Dean demands. Ketch says he’ll pass intel on to TFW. Apparently Ketch draws the line at letting Lucifer prance around the planet.

For Science:

Back to Lucifer, he’s chatting with a few of the angel host out by the Heavenly sandbox. Threats are traded between them but Lucifer promises to make more angels if they raise him up as ruler of Heaven. Duma laughs at this offer at first but Lucifer offers to give them back their wings. Ooooo now we’re talking.

Speaking of wings, Donatello adds more bones to his ridiculous pile of consumed chicken. Donatello’s...on edge. He’s enjoying the tablet translation headache that Kevin always suffered from. (Kevin! I weep) He promises that he’s working out all the necessary ingredients.

As TFW gets closer to opening a rift to rescue Mary and Jack, Lucifer assumes his throne in Heaven with Anael just chillin’ by his side.

Some time later Ketch chats with Asmodeus and they bond over liquor. Ketch worries that he can’t defeat the devil at full power. Kentucky Fried Demon pulls out a prized acquisition: an archangel blade.

It can only be wielded by an archangel which seems to make things tricky. However, Asmodeus has one more secret in his pocket. He leads Ketch to a cell with a mysterious figure in it. The figure looks up and….IT’S GABRIEL! (Asmodeus is using Gabe’s powers headcanon)

In summary, holy shit.

Southern Fried Quotes:

That money’s going into the ol’ leg fund.

Most of what we do are long shots. You get used to it.

All that time you were with Asmodeus, I..I, we should have known it wasn’t you.

The usual, bewildered.

“We’re boned.” “Epically.”

I’m the lesser of at least three evils.

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

[yourdevilwolf-blog]

Fox and Wolf

                   “You’re late...you know how I feel about that, Shilo...”

Fox’s ears flexed back and forth, the sound of boots and the movement of leather pricking at them as Shilo neared closer, his spicy cologne arriving to Zael’s senses far faster then his heart beat or his physical body.

“Ayyyy, Sorry...you know how Dad is, he was having another one of his rants - took both me Father to calm him down..” 

The crimson haired man who had been waiting for nearly half an hour beyond the agreed time, seemed to calm. Ether was indeed a hectic handful, and there was no doubt behind the truth of Shilo’s words. He’d remembered plenty of times he’d been called to assist his Boss; Deysen, with the corralling of the hyper hexxer. Zael gave a long winded sigh, golden slitted eyes shifting towards the arrival of the young man he’d taken to training during the dark hours of the night, and he found himself sighing again.

Leather pants, black loose tunic, and....those boots.

And were all those straps necessary? 

Zaelius shook his head, stopping for a moment to rub his temples in slight irritation, as much as he loved the boy like another son; Shilo had been a wild child since birth. The Shatterstar heir’s fascination for his own Son, did not ease his distress over Shi’s careless attitude, though he could sense so much potential under those bright silver eyes. 

No matter, the night wouldn’t last forever...

“Did you at least remember to ask your father to brew the poison I instructed you to ask him for?” 

“Nope...” 

A long growl was heard from the fox, and he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or distressed over Shilo’s next words..

“Made it myself, ain’t too hard...dunno why I had to ask Father.” 

Of course, why would Shilo do as he was told? How could Fox have been so naive as to believe he would do so? Perhaps, however...Zael mulled, perhaps it wasn’t so much he didn’t want to listen.

Shilo was proud. He wanted to do everything himself; he didn’t take lightly to help. 

“Let me see it, you’ve never made it before - do you know what this poison is capable of? If made incorrectly it can - - “

“Paralyze and completely debilitate your senses; even possibly causing seizures or side effects akin to that of rabies in wild animals. Yeah, I do study a little, Fox.” 

Zaelius paused, Shilo wasn’t wrong, and the poison itself was made perfectly. Infuriatingly perfect. The boy had never been stupid, no far from it, Shi was very intelligent and picked up quickly on anything you put in front of him. Which had brought both praise and punishment to the young rogue in training. Shilo could look at a lock once and figure out how to pick it in record time, and lately he seemed to be have an uncanny ability to...slip through Zael’s fingers anytime he’d go looking for him when he snuck out a night.

Previously, Zael had to look no further then his own Son’s bedroom, Shi was a frequent visitor and usually he’d find the two cuddled up together, fast asleep after Zan reading to his best friend for most likely hours.

Best friend...

Fox rolled his eyes, that’s what Shilo called himself, but he knew better. The boy had been in love with his son since he laid eyes on him, and he had a hunch that Zan felt the same. But...Shi was more complicated then that; and he certainly didn’t seem to want Zan involved in whatever he had been sneaking out to do every night. At first; Fox had suspected he was visiting the underbelly again. However after searching night after night, and even talking to Shi’s, errrr, “friend” down in the shady underground establishment - he’d found that was not the case.

And when Shi did wander back onto the ship ?

- he looked like he’d seen death.

“Very well, it looks right to my eye, now...are you ready to begin? Coat your blades with what you’ve made and let me know when you are ready to begin.I won’t be holding back tonight, Shi.” 

There was shift in movement, only heard not seen, and he could feel that cocky smirk reply to his statement; but he also knew the young man had the bullet to back up the bang. 

“Wouldn’t expect anythin’ different for ya, Zael!” 

Shilo turned around for a split second, making some gestures with his hands, then turned around with two black steeled daggers, and Fox narrowed his brows curiously. His trainee had not had then a second earlier, nor had they been anywhere on his person. Zael himself had a few hidden holsters, straps, and secret pockets for his many daggers or knives; however these were far too large to have been hidden...

And what was that smoke coming off of them? 

“Shilo...where did you obtain those?” 

A split second of silence, a shift of silver, and another tug at the tanned man’s smirk.

“Oh, just...around.” 

The Fox adjusted his weight, a hand now resting testily on his hip; did Shilo find this to be a game?

“No, I do not believe I’ve ever heard of the place...”around” as you so eloquently put it, is it a newly charted isle?” 

“Yeah, totally...can’t believe you haven’t heard of it, Zael.” 

         “You’re full of shit Shilo....” 

“Yeah, Dad tells me that too, all the time...we gonna do this or nah?” 

Fox took a deep breath, there was no use in trying to get it out of the young Shatterstar if he didn’t want to divulge it - that much Zael knew. He straightened his stance, catching his own blades in his hands and prepared to adjust himself to the boy he was training nightly. Of course, his blood prevented him from going full throttle on Shi, but he would give him a run for his money to ensure he did indeed learn something. 

And to be honest?

Zaelius did enjoy sparing with Shilo. 

Shilo had taken after both parent’s and was incredibly agile and acrobatic; allowing Zael to let loose for a  change. It was rare that he caught Shilo unaware, even with his own personal unique abilities, and it was refreshing to have a combat partner that he could teach, but still enjoy the thrill of the battle without worry. He and Izhka had sparred only once; and it ended in a flurry of fangs and claws.

Dey had forbidden it from happening again.

“No guns, daggers only...” Zael reminded Shi, “You know I don’t like those things.” 

Shi nodded, unstrapping the “Twin Knights; Black Knight and White Knight” from his hip, tossing them to the side compliantly, and curiously Zael noticed the ‘Black Knight’ no longer held silver bullets as it had previously, an ear giving a flex as his golden eyes made contact with Shi’s silver ones. He couldn’t help but ask..

“What’s the reason for the lack of silver bullets, Shi? I thought you said they were useful?” 

The answer came easily; and honestly Fox wasn’t surprised by it. Not one bit.

“Zan said he doesn’t like them, makes ‘em nervous for some reason. So, I ditched ‘em. No big deal.” 

Fox smiled as he crouched a little lower to the ground, preparing himself to vault towards Shilo at full speed; err...well not entirely his version of ‘full speed’ but a mortals. He watched as the young man made ready, a different off coloured glint in his eye this time, which did not escape the seasoned assassins notice. 

Blade met blade, blow met blow, and Fox bit his bottom lip. 

Shilo was fighting...differently. 

Stronger.

Zael rarely admitted if something caught him off his guard, but this surely did, and he couldn’t seem to land on a hit on his opponent, poison dripping off both their blades. Shi was light on his feet to begin with, but tonight he was certainly on his game, blocking, flipping, and dodging, the air heavy with the loud clanging as their daggers met over and over again; and to a onlooker he appeared more like dancing then actual fighting. Fox had always known that Shi could most likely land on a pin standing straight up on deck with his littlest toe if he wanted to - but this was different. He was literally....smoke through his hands.

Not to mention he kept losing track of the boy’s heartbeat...

and his scent..

“Shilo...” 

He was greeted with a cocky side smirk mere inches from his face, strength biting down on his dagger, and he felt his own blood start to pump wildly, less restraint on his own powers was needed - apparently Shi could handle it. 

And when Shi landed a sound kick to his chest, sending him reeling across deck and nearly over the side of the hard wood railing...he decided it was time to take the gloves off with this boy.

When Zael came; he came. It was relentless, hit after hit, Shilo doing all he could to block the wild fury filled attacks, but somehow - he was doing it. The pair seemed to dance like this for hours, with only the sound of the wind and the soft whistle of the helmsman as their companions. Both panting and covered in sweat, hair sticking to foreheads and each smirks a bit wider when they landed a perfectly timed hit. 

It felt good, and both were lost to the moment of complete abandon to the primal urge of the fight, ruthless and unforgiving. Zael picked up quickly on Shi’s movements, but also noticed that Shilo had done so in return; but that was expected. Unpredictability was something Shi used to his advantage, he was never constant in his style, always able to easily read his opponent and even easier to throw them off. 

But when Shi sent a well timed knife whizzing past his ear; nicking it just lightly. Zael found a proud smile plastered on his face, one he could not get rid of no matter how serious he tried to make himself. Shilo had grown, something he’d oversaw personally, and he as so damn proud of him. Despite all the trouble to two toned haired, leather wearing, smoking little shit brought him - he was proud of him. 

Though, he did confess himself a little curious as to where he’d developed these new techniques, but he’d leave that for later.

The sun was starting to rise, and they both needed to rest after such a night. 

“That will be enough for tonight...” Fox sheathed his dagger, “I will see you again tonight - - “

“Ah, I can’t tonight...” 

Zael narrowed his eyes at his panting sparing partner, he’d never missed practice before, and what could he possibly have to do? Begrudgingly, Fox thought the only permissible excuse would be he was taking his son on a date, finally. However...somehow he doubted it.

“Why?” 

“I have to go mainland, it’s for a mission.” 

“Ah, I see..I’m sure Dey won’t mind me tagging along - - “

“It’s not for Father - it’s personal.” 

Gold met Silver, and Zael’s normally passive face held quite a bit of expression, disbelief and suspicion clearly written on his features. 

“Shilo... “ Both stood there ground, even as the air shifted around Fox. “What?” 

“Yeah, just something I gotta take care of, well - suns up! Gotta get back to the cabin...see ya ‘round, Foxy!” 

Zael would have given him a sharp look for the nickname if he wasn’t frozen to the spot with speechlessness, his curiosity once again spiked. Where was Shilo going, and why wasn’t he telling anyone? Zan didn’t even seem to know, and looked pained when Zael brought it up, which told him Shi was keeping it secret even from him. Slowly, Fox made his way back to his cabin, shrugging off his over vest as he noted his wife’s movements in the kitchen, she was up with the sun as always. 

“Good morning, my love.” 

“Goodnight, my Fox.” 

He smiled at their passing greeting, the same every morning, but it was something they shared, and the rogue pecked a soft kiss to her forehead as he tiredly made his way to their bed, held filled with questions. 

He’d try harder to follow Shilo tonight, and he would find out what secret he was keeping...

Mark his words..

[mistermiaou]

My opinion on The newest episode of The Strain.

As you’ll soon find out, I fucking love this series. I love the books, the comics and crappy spin off comics. I also love the show.. As hard as its been in its last season.. I told you guys I would have rambles about things. So, I’m starting here.. with this episode “Tainted Love”.. (I’ll circle back to last weeks episode too... don’t get me started on that mess).(I don’t plan to explain any characters to new people.. this is a rant specifically for the fans of the strain.. so.. skip this post if you have no interest in this show.. comics.. books.. cause you’re in for a long post.. also SPOILERS)

The Strain is a good series.. Good.. not great.. Its a good TV show if you like vampires, moderately cheesy dialog and a fun cast who all seem to blend together well. This episode was chalk full of humor between characters like Quinlan and Fet.. Eichorst(who is my favorite character) does things.. like being a bad ass and driving a truck shooting at a plane..(which also comes off cheesy in some ways). The main things I wanted to touch on though for this episode of scenes related to Quinlan and Zach.(I hear your groans already. but hear me out..)

Zach this season is more bratty and horrible and we’re starting to see him break down in some ways.. Which is actually pretty awesome.. When Abby is being killed he is seen holding his head and trying to block out what is happening. The books mention him having OCD rituals and anxiety problems due to The Master’s care.. Seeing that part of him freaking out was  a nice touch. But it was also a nice touch seeing something so real happen in the series.. I told friends why the scene was hard to watch.. But in a not cringy way.. in a “This hurts on levels only some people will understand”. Its a very real scene of what happens to many people now and days. Zach reacts to rejection like many people have lately.. Abby becoming the victim to that reaction.. I can not tell you how many times I or friends have heard the lines.. “I was nice to you. You were nice to me. I gave you things. Why can’t I be you significant other? You better like me or else”. While.. we all saw her character’s death from a mile a way.. It still stuck out to me. Its one death that will probably stick with me for some time. I’ve been in a dangerous situation where being nice to someone got me hurt because they thought something simple like holding their hand so i don’t fall meant.. “Take me now”.. We hear lots of things on the news or social media of victims being hurt due to someone “rejecting” their love. Abby herself even says “I don’t owe you anything. Thats not how this works”. I loved it.. It was a great scene. So if there’s some one you’re crushing on hard.. If they don’t feel the same way.. please don’t murder them or hurt them.. 

Now on to Quinlan. This character is drastically different from his other counter parts in the comics and books. Quinlan pretty much doesn’t talk till book 3.. I expect changes to the TV show version. They have to make him super cool and stand out from the others.. They want him to seem mysterious and cold.. Which.. I know that show writers.. stop hammering that into my head. Last week’s episode and this week we learned more about his back story.. Which.. I will literally rant about this for hours on end about why the changes to his background just fall flat and don’t work.. Last week we were introduced to Louisa and daughter. The TV show counter part to Tasa and her daughter.. Like many book fans.. I didn’t like this... (I’m expecting a visit from a certain “critic” for writing this). Louisa is seeking out Quinlan.. because he brother is dying or now dead.. and its the stupidest shit show ever.. (I told you.. i hate it). The flash backs are written like a bad fanfic.. Like.. a bad knock off fanfic. I know I’m suppose to care about this cute child set in a time period I love so much.. But I don’t.. She’s not mentioned or hinted at like Quinlan’s family in the books and comics. She has no tragic back story like Tasa and her daughter.. There’s no real drama or conflict to make me care for them. Tasa was a slave like Quinlan and something they had in common. In the spin off comics we see Quinlan rescuing Tasa and her child while his people are raiding her village.. We’re pretty much set up to care about these characters from the get go. Louisa and her child are well to do. Their story isn’t tragic or set up to make me care about them. She paints Quinlan up(don’t get me going on this make up and wig...) to look human and they... Umm.. I guess have sex? I don’t know what to call the love scene really.. It made me feel.. embarrassed.. I was embarrassed for watching one of my favorite show. Maybe if I wasn’t watching with other people.. I’d feel less embarrassed.. I doubt it.

Anywhoo.. Quinlan fights Papa Master and doesn’t win.. Papa kills not wife and child and Quinlan just sighs and releases his “family”. There’s no heart or soul to these scenes. There’s no drama or heart ache.. It falls flat. In the comics Quinlan is tricked and runs home to Tasa and their child who are now turned and attack him. He’s taunted and has to slay his family.. Its more heart breaking because there’s more of a build up. We grow to like these characters for a few brief moments and really get to see Quinlan grow more as a character. We get to see him “act “ human with out having to be painted human. He is loved for himself and has earned this family. We see them act like a family and Tasa sings to him. We see him being taken care of in the comics by her(the spin off comic)..  Louisa’s daughter is seen playing with Quinlan in this episode but It feels stiff. I don’t get the sense of this being a family. We aren’t showed a montage of them being more family like.. or them growing more.. We don’t get to see how close they have gotten. When he says “I have to go fight the master”. Louisa is upset and slaps him.. “What about us” I eye rolled faster than Eichorst dodging bullets. Nothing really feels at sake.. she guilt trips him into her death.. I don’t feel a sadness for these characters.. The only thing that will keep their memories alive is fans going, “You guys remember that awful sex scene?”. I understand many show watchers may not feel this way due to the fact they’ve never read the books.  But those who have.. (the many I’ve talked too) do feel that way,

Also, can we talk about what a bad ass Charlotte is? She’s in my new top favorites for the show. She’s a strong female character who can actually defend herself and handles people like a champ. She’s not mean or cold towards Quinlan. She’s the reason they get out of there because she stuck around to fight off Eichorst. She’s not stupid and knows what she wants and how shes going to survive. I’m sad we probably wont see her ever again. But I really did enjoy the character. Her explaining to Fet she wasn’t coming with was one of my favorite parts of the episode. The Strain doesn’t have very many strong female characters at this point.. I don’t count Dutch, her character is awful.. (I have a rant about that later). Sorry let a person gush about a new refreshing character.

Also, when did Eichorst have time to heal from being burned? Gentlemen, I do believe he was on fire.. I know he’s a vampire and all.. but I don’t feel like he had time to heal that fast and go find Quinlan and company out in no where land. I know he had some burn marks.. but.. like.. We skipping where he was ON FIRE?

Welp, I’m going to wrap up this post here. I already know people are going to hate this a lot. But, I welcome the discussion and hate.I know there’s a certain “critic” making her rounds to these things.. So I’m expecting her to appear. 

TL/DR:

I rant about shit.. and say stuff i like. 

[tancong]

Modus Operandi (Chapter 1)

A story about a lone mercenary who has yet to find his way. In a world where Talon and Overwatch are at odds with each other, what will a single man be able to do for himself and the world?

Includes:

Sarcastic and coy main character

Zero fucks and flashy combat scenes

Life! Romance! Plotting! Mind games!

An irresistible smirk and mocking voice lines for every hero

Three characters with differing yet similar backgrounds on their own parts of life, complete with a fully functional combat kit and abilities!

I hope you'll enjoy :D

Some say that the first time a person kills another, they learn something about themselves. Not morality. Not honor. Not about the inherent evil of mankind or their capability. They learn whether they can sleep the night after or they can’t.

However, life is never so simple. Nothing is ever so black and white. Even those who can’t sleep may not regret a single thing they did, even if the memory will haunt them for life. As for those who can sleep, well there is plenty to talk about.

There are those who can sleep peacefully, knowing that they had done the right thing. The righteous ones, the ones who followed the way of the world saw fit and are commended for their efforts. Those who sleep peaceful nights knowing that what they did was completely justified and necessary.

And then, there are those who sleep and dream. They dream not of those they have killed but of those they have yet to kill and trained their mind and eyes to kill.

Some group them all as psychopaths, those who are insane and turn into serial killers with no remorse and no purpose. However, that was not always true. There was a difference between a psychopath and a high-functioning sociopath after all. One of them does not allow themselves to get caught.

There was a figure hooded in black who has killed and been killed. There was a man who dreamt of faces of the living, those who he vowed to get his vengeance on. There was a man with a purpose, conviction, and emotions that make his more powerful than any killers in the world.

When the scent of gunfire and blood reached him, the man called Reaper would come to meet the icy eyes of a man who was like him. Eyes who dreamt of death and is a harbinger of death. However, there would be something different.

Some say that to truly understand someone, a person must fight them. But they need not go so far. If the battle is true, then it only took a glance of the eye to understand the opponent. Even the world’s best poker player could not hide their true intention and purpose when their eyes gleamed with the desire to kill.

Desire. Now that was a strong word. There are many desires. Yet the desire to kill was the only one that others can feel the best. The tingling on one’s neck or the slash of pressure against one’s body as they feel the intent of the blade to find them. The best of the best honed this sense, reacting before their opponents even struck. Only then could they learn to hide it.

The man who stood in front of Reaper was one of such man. He knew not what the stranger wanted nor how he was going to attack. All he saw in the man’s eyes was the conviction that he would accomplish the task he came to do.

That, and the hardened nature of eyes who have seen Death, greeted him with a warm smile, and offered to help him with his job. This was a man who dreamt not of his nemesis but spent his life training every moment for survival. The scarred body and face of someone who experienced danger firsthand while training himself every other moment. And the mind of someone who continued to train even as he slept.

“What is your business here?”

The stranger blinked and looked around him, raising an eyebrow as if he had been greeted with a nonsensical question unworthy of his time. However, he replied regardless, his expression unchanging as his eyes remained focused on his objective.

“You. I was wondering how many more of these I would have to carve through. You people sure love your minions. At least give them some useful weapons for once. I get bored of using my gun now and then. Life is rough for mercenaries everywhere isn’t it.”

The stranger held twin pistols that did not stand out besides flawless their onyx paint. Well, the butt of the gun was not, indicating that more than a few heads had gotten bashed in on the way here but overall, it was rather unscratched.

Talon was going to have to seriously up their recruit training after all. Well, they were a mercenary organization at best. Such funding was better spent on resources for the council and mission assets for the main strike team.

“Well, here I am. What is it that you want?”

The man’s expression changed from its neutral stoic state to an annoyed state of disbelief. That was the only answer he felt fitting before he raised his pistols and fired.

In the world of mercenaries, life and death did not have anything to do with chivalry. As such, the man had no obligation to wait for Reaper to draw his guns. That was accepted. What the man was probably not accepting was for Reaper to phase into a cloud of smoke and flowed right past the bullets.

In a world of hard-light construction, resurrection from the dead, and a literal talking gorilla scientist, people didn’t live through war by being shocked and calling bullshit on everything. The bullets kept flying toward Reaper until there were no more.

The shadow moved quickly forward toward the next cover, shotgun raised in wait for the man to peek from his. The twin pistols came from the other side, raining yet more bullets down toward Reaper.

An expert knew how to count bullets. With Reaper, it was clear whenever he threw his shotguns away that he ran out of bullets. With the stranger, Reaper counted 13 shots per pistol, totaling in 26 shots.

Another cover was taken and Reaper peeked around the side to fire his shotgun directly at where he thought the man was. However, he had already moved. A volley from the side forced Reaper into his wraith form once more, evading death as he found cover.

Most people make the mistake of never looking up. No matter how many games and movies are released about assassinations from above, they never did. However, as Reaper descended upon the man, he was forced in wraith form as bullets ascended from below.

16.

The mist descended onto the ground, the man rolling out of the way and preemptively firing at the center where the figure would appear.

10.

Reaper spun to the side of the tall metal beam, firing his shotgun at the man’s location and forcing him to roll out of the way.

4.

Reaper quickly advanced, his energy draining but the fact not showing on him as he wraith formed to close the gap and dropped his empty shotguns behind him.

0.

The last four shots rang out as Reaper dodged them expertly, throwing his fist at the figure wearing light synthetic chest armor and combat pants. There was no trace of flair or bad attempts at camouflage to be found on the man who knew what his capabilities were and what the mission needed from him.

The man’s fist ripped through a cloud of black mist where Reaper’s face had been, making him grit his teeth and turn around quickly with an elbow. Reaper pinned him up close, gripping his armor by the neck and cracking it with ease.

Bang.

Reaper’s eyes widened as the man smirked, a bullet ripping through the black armor and into Reaper’s torso. However, a quick strike to his neck left him gasping for air even as he was thrown to the ground.

A black shotgun was aimed at his face as his hand was painfully kicked to remove his other pistol. This was all accompanied with a boot on his chest as he tried to get back up for another chance to fight, making him freeze and his eyes stained with disgust and indignation.

“That’s enough.”

A booming voice in the near distance made Reaper pause and look behind him, though never moving his foot away. Out of the bottom corner of his hazy vision, he could see a broad dark-skinned man approaching, wearing an unmistakable gauntlet on his right hand.

“Mister Nyx. I’ve heard much about you. Well, not really. Only a bit in prison, but not much beyond inmates with a grudge for being caught.”

The man did not crouch next to Nyx. Instead, he simply stood high above, blocking the sun as Nyx gazed up at him. Akande then smiled and offered a hand.

“Considering that you managed to singlehandedly put a bullet in Reaper here and your reputation with dealing with other powerful individuals, I have a proposal that may interest you. It’s not one you can’t refuse. Of course, the result of refusing would be death but that’s besides the point. You do have the choice.”

“Join us, or die.”

Nyx blinked up at the man towering above him. His glance was then gazed up at the sky. It was an important question of course. He had asked himself that many times in his life. Many of them were recently too.

However, he was not a man without a purpose in life. Despite having many reasons to refuse, betraying his employer was not one of them. What was an employer to a freelancing mercenary?

“You know. It’s hard to say yes when you have someone stepping on your lungs.”

Reaper stared down at Nyx, renewing the pressure of his foot before Akande laughed and tapped his shoulder. Only then did the boot get removed, allowing Nyx to get a full breath and a chance to prop himself up with a painful grunt.

“Welcome to Talon. Refer to me by Akande and that’s all you’ll need to know about us. From now on, we’ll make sure you have plenty of work to do.”

Nyx simply stood up and gazed at the thoroughly scratched paint of his pistols with a sigh. He picked them up and dropped the magazine, one with an extra bullet remaining. He would not need to reload it anymore for the day.

And so, began his new story.

Chapter 2: The Wanderer