#i had so much trouble trying to make this look different from regular Victor

[discountsoysauce]

Fem!Victor has arrived

[guacam011y]

***SPOILERS FOR WANDAVISION EPISODE 6***

So I’m still processing everything but holy shite that ep was wild...

FIRST THINGS FIRST - WANDA, VISION, BILLY AND PIETRO ALL IN COMIC ACCURATE-ISH COSTUMES AND TOMMY IN A MINI QUICKSILVER COSTUME

PIETRO CALLING BILLY AND TOMMY DEMON SPAWN - GOD DAMMIT, IT’S MEPHISTO ISN’T IT? HOUSE OF M HERE WE COME

HERB ASKING WANDA IF SHE WANTED SOMETHING CHANGED

AGNES ASKING VISION ABOUT THE AVENGERS AND STUFF AND AT FIRST SHE SEEMED GENUINELY FREAKED OUT BUT THEN STARTED LAUGHING MANIACALLY AND I STILL DON’T TRUST HER AND AGNES BEING DRESSED AS A WITCH? AGATHA HARKNESS WAS A WITCH - COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!

DARCY LOOKING OVER MONICA’S MED SCANS AND TELLING HER HOW THE HEX AFFECTS HER EACH TIME SHE GOES IN - IS SHE DEVELOPING HER POWERS?

PIETRO’S CORPSE - SCARED ME JUST AS MUCH AS VISION’S

MOVIES SHOWING IN THE THEATRE IN THE BACKGROUND - THE INCREDIBLES: A MOVIE BASED AROUND A SUPERHERO FAMILY AND THE PARENT TRAP: A MOVIE ABOUT TWINS WHO MEET AT CAMP AND TRY AND SET THEIR PARENTS UP

DON’T GO PAST ELLIS AVENUE - NOW I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS A CONNECTION OR JUST A COINCIDENCE BUT ELLIS IS THE LAST NAME OF THE PRESIDENT DURING IRON MAN 3

TOMMY HAVING HIS SPEED POWERS AND BILLY HAVING HIS REALITY WARPING/TELEKINETIC POWERS - WELCOME SPEED AND WICCAN

A CALL BACK TO INFINITY WAR WHEN VISION EXITED THE HEX? SLIGHTLY DUSTING AND HE PROBABLY WON’T SURVIVE BEING OUTSIDE OF THE HEX - HE’LL JUST DIE AGAIN 🥲

I STILL DON’T TRUST HAYWARD - HE’S VERY SUS

DARCY BEING TAKEN INTO THE HEX WITH THE OTHER S.W.O.R.D AGENTS - HOPEFULLY WE CAN SEE THE OUTFITS THAT KAT DENNING’S WAS EXCITED ABOUT

I SWEAR THEY BETTER NOT STRAIGHTWASH BILLY AND TOMMY OR I WILL RIOT 😤

***FURTHER UPDATES***

So sit-com wise, it seems they were referencing Malcolm in the Middle as the twins broke the fourth wall and talked to the audience, like Malcolm did

However, the theme song has told the viewer to stop questioning the reality of Westview - which could be a little reference to Mystery Science Theatre 3000? - When Pietro first shows up in the title sequence, along with his name title card, the lyrics say “Though there may be no way of knowing who’s come to play” - Istg, I do not trust Pietro

Vision says to Wanda that he had to wear his Halloween costume because there were no other clothes in his closet, Wanda is trying to move the plot along and forcing Vision to play along

Evan Peters’ ‘Mom’ tattoo is shown, which is a tattoo he actually has in real life ! But could this stand for ‘Multiverse of Madness’ or some other red herring?

Pietro mentions to Wanda that if he had found ‘Shangri-La’ he wouldn’t want to leave either - Shangri-La is a real place on Earth-616 that was founded by a version of Vision

Tommy refers to Pietro’s speed as ‘kickass’ and then Wanda repeats that, saying ‘kickass’ again - Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Evan Peters (both versions of QuickSilver) were in Kick-Ass together

The ad for this episode was freaky af - the character on the beach who starved and decomposed could be a little nod to Indiana Jones, where a Nazi’s face melts in - and it could also be reference to Wanda being all alone and struggling to process her grief. The shark in the ad could also be Nightmare or Mephisto or just someone more powerful than Wanda offering her a new beginning with Vision or trapped her in some way - and is feeding off her magic? The flavour of the yoghurt is strawberry flavoured and strawberry’s are red on the outside and pink-ish on the inside - much like Wanda’s og costume and her magic being red 👀

Pietro and Wanda talk about their Sokovian accents at a point in the episode and how neither have them anymore. Wanda’s, as we know, has disappeared over the course of the MCU movies and Pietro’s just doesn’t exist - another nice little nod to Peter Maximoff from the fox X-Men films? Also, Pietro states that “I’m just trying to do my part, okay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the brother-in-law, stir up trouble with the Rugrats (a 90’s cartoon 👀) and ultimately give you grief.” - in reference to the grief part, could Pietro be killed off again? Stir up trouble with the rugrats, being possible shards of the demon Mephisto’s soul, could this be Mephisto trying to influence them on a deeper level? It’s also many many common sitcom clichès

Pietro talks about how “I got shot like a chump on the street for no reason at all” - nice little nod to how Pietro was killed off unnecessarily and how we as a fandom still talk about how regular bullets shouldn’t have killed him

Herb is dressed as Frankenstein’s monster - Dr. Frankenstein created his monster and soon lost control over him, and he was created using electricity or lightning - much like Vision was created and brought to life by Thor using Mjolnïr to bring lightning down to his incubator thingy majig. Could this also be a reference to either Wanda slowly losing control over Westview or someone else controlling Wanda/controlling the citizens of Westview - we saw in episode 3 that Agnes told Herb to be quiet as it seemed he was about to spill the beans 👀

Vision goes towards Ellis avenue and is at a ‘crossroads’ of sorts - in folklore, crossroads are often used to speak to or summon the devil and are also used when an important character is making a decision that could change everything. He spots some citizens repeating certain actions and/or just standing completely still, could these be npc’s (non playable characters)? And now that the barrier of the Hex has spread, will those citizens now start to move? 👀 Also I know that all stop signs look like it, but the stop sign is also a red hexagon 🛑

Darcy scrolls through Hayward’s computer files and goes past a file called “Project C4-113” - it could reference Avengers Issue #113 in which Wanda and Vision both appear on the cover and she says she’s going to make the world pay for Vision’s death. There’s also another file called “Project M5-247” which could be a nod to Avengers Issue #247, which shows the origin of the Eternals and in the same vein, Scarlet Witch and Vision trying to help Captain Marvel. And when Darcy emails Hayward’s cataract plans, you can see the names of “James Alexander and James Gadd” - James Alexander is a visual effects producer on Wandavision and James Gadd works on post production at Marvel

Also: Agnes pulls as Mrs Hart and repeats the same phrase over and over again

After Wanda blasts Pietro, you can see on a fake grave stone the name of “Janell Sammelman”, Janell is a first assistant director on Wandavision

When Wanda moves Westview to save Vision, she turns S.W.O.R.D and it’s agents into clowns + a circus - I just love that the agents turned into clowns 😂 but there is a nice little plot line in the comics where Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Hawkeye join the circus - and this COULD be stretch, but earlier in the episode there is the number #22 which could be Avengers Issue #22, which is the Issue that they join the circus

As soon as Vision was brought back into Westview, he was healed - which means if he was to exit again, he probably wouldn’t survive 😭

The episode title is ‘All-New Halloween Spooktackular!” - which “All-New” is a designation that is often used on covers for comic books. And the first issue of the second The Vision and the Scarlet Witch series takes place on Halloween night - but the events in this comics didn’t influence this episode’s plot

Pietro points out that he has the “XY chromosome” - X for X-Men? Plus there’s the X gene 😂

He mentions “Uncle Peter to the rescue” - Peter is the name of Quicksilver from the Fox X-Men Franchise

Pietro and Tommy quote the movie Top Gun (1986) by saying “I fell the need, the need for speed”

Wanda almost seems hesitant to trust this version of Pietro (rightfully so, in my opinion) and is wary of him being around Tommy and Billy

Pietro says some very Mephisto/Nightmare-like things this episode - “Unleash hell, demon spawn!”, “The kids need a father figure”, “Damnit, if Westview isn’t charming as Hell...” - And if Pietro isn’t Mephisto/Nightmare, it HAS to be Agnes or her other half Ralph and Pietro is probably Ralph tbh...or could Pietro just be a scapegoat and Hayward is Ralph? 👀

The theatre in town, which is playing the Incredibles and The Parent Trap, is called the Coronet. There’s a classic poem called “The Coronet” written by Andrew MARVELL (Marvell, is also the true name of the first incarnation of Captain Marvel in the comics) and is about a guy who knows that the sins of mankind led to the death of Christ. He attempts to create a new crown for Christ’s head in an attempt to atone, but finds that there is sin in the crown as well, as the devil is within the crown and therefore he may achieve glory and success with his new creation 👀

Hayward’s confidential project “Cataract” included experimenting on Vision’s body, as was revealed by Darcy (my wife 💙 and Monica is also my wife 💚 and so is Wanda 💛, I just love women, you know? 😂). A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision - is Hayward trying to weaponise Vision? Or maybe even trying to bring Ultron back? Or do what Tony wanted to do in the first place, and make a suit of armour that’s around the world? Either way, it’s for nefarious purposes

Who is Monica’s guy? Jimmy and Monica are off to meet him - could it be Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic)? Or could it be Victor Von Doom (Dr Doom)? Could it be Hank McCoy (Beast)? Or even Adam Brashear (Blue Marvel)? Or if it is a woman, could it be the Skrull daughter of Talos that Monica befriended at the end of Captain Marvel? Could it be Abigail Brand (A major character in recent S.W.O.R.D comics and an Alpha Flight Member)? Or even Toni Ho (Iron Patriot, and could she be introduced to help lay the ground work for my other queen, Riri Williams/Iron Heart?)? Or could it even be Sue Storm (Invisible Woman)?

In the background of the episode we see a number of children and adults dressed up as many different characters, which includes: Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, Jason Voorhees, with a sweater striped like Freddy Krueger’s and even a kid that looks dressed in an off-brand Charizard costume 😂 Pokèmon has always been popular, but saw an increase during the 90’s

Pietro and the kids are drinking “Kane Cola” which could be a reference to the 90’s drinks “Jolt Cola” or even “Surge” - it could also, with all the X-Men Easter eggs, be a reference to Garrison Kane, who was a member of Cable’s mercenary team “Six Pack” and is sometimes also known as ‘Weapon X’

The kid that Wanda mentions having a “skin thing” in the orphanage - could that be a reference to her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants co-worker Toad? Or maybe even Mystique? Maybe Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler)?

One of the houses has a sign up that says ‘Macabre Mansion’ - another possible reference to House of M?

During a flashback, it’s shown that the twins are playing Dance Dance Revolution, which came out in 1999. Also this might be a stretch, but the boys have a dog plushie in their room the right - which is coloured red and black - could this be a reference to Dogpool? 😂

I love this show 🤣💙

[athena-is-a-chaotic-lil-shit]

Getting back at writing, is, well, hard. My grammar and vocabulary and basically everything is messed up so I apologize in advance for that. It's been, almost a year ever since my last written fic. That time I was still crazy with Kimetsu no Yaiba and the KyoTan ship. I'll post it some other time ^^.

Anyways, I present to you my attempt in making a plotted work from a random thought that came over me this morning.

Pairing: Tai'chi Kashharzol (Orc) x Pearl Blackbell (Human OC/Reader)

Warnings: Basically none. Except for some curse words.

UD 01/10/21: Cleaned and revised some parts! Tried my best, hope it was enough.

•

Of Ice and Blood

Part 1

Quick backstory and some details I left out in the main work.

It was in summer, 28th of July, when Pearl Blackbell turned 19. She left her home and moved closer to the university she’ll be going to. She rented an apartment about five blocks from the school. Albeit small, it was cozy and proper, having what she needed: a kitchen, a decent-sized bedroom, a small living area with a worn but comfy couch, and a bathroom.

When she was younger, her parents started training her in martial arts and the use self-defense weapons. They needed to make sure she knew how to protect herself against assaulters and dangerous people, she was after all, their only child and baby girl . They want their daughter to be strong, both inside and outside, by the time she sets out on her own and leaves home.

Her favorite self-defense weapon was brass knuckles, despite her parents’ protests. She enjoys punching nasty people and feel the crunch of their bones beneath her fists, especially racists, sexists, bullies, and the lot. The main reason why she got into detention multiple times.

Painting it with a ruddy color, she keeps it in her person, no matter where she goes. She has two, one is for extreme situations, while the other has only two knuckles. It stills maximizes the damage dealt but it is relatively less dangerous than the full dusters. The second one is usually a spare, though she rarely uses it.

She also occasionally carries a pair of retractable nunchucks, which she designed to be hidden within her regular baggy clothes. Her father had trained her vigorously with them and she even bested him in a match before she left for the city.

Selkoth, the city of marvels.

Distant sounds of buzzing cars reached my ears as I opened my eyes and blinked away the sleepiness, the light shining from the spaces in my curtains rather helping, together with the warmth it brought to my chilled tawny skin.

[Start of the actual work]

I fully woke up as I registered the sound of my phone alarm, shortly getting up to prepare when I realized what day it was.

Monday, the first day of my college life.

I stepped into the bathroom and took a quick shower, knowing I bathed thoroughly last night to save some time today.

Time management is key.

I dried myself down, turned to my closet and started putting on the outfit I picked out the night before.

Prioritizing comfortability over appearance, I wore my favorite orange cotton shirt, my blackish-blue hoodie (that had been stained with blood some time ago, but don’t worry, I know how to clean out blood. Mama raised no fool.) over it, together with a pair of black skinny jeans. And of course, tight black sports bra and boxers, even mentioning my underwear yes?

I looked over to my mirror and it was—

Simple. And I loved it. The more simple it is the better.

'“Keep a low profile over there, sweetie. Don’t get into fights when you can help it okay??? We already taught you and prepared you to the best of our abilities. Promise to us that you’ll stay safe, and healthy. Okay? And don’t forget to call sometime.”' I sighed, remembering my mother’s words.

"Yes mama, I will.”

With a smile, I did my hair and went for a tight Dutch braid, it going down between my shoulder blades and ending a little above my waist. I ran to my kitchen to eat breakfast, satisfied with my look.

I eat fast okay

Backpack, check. White sneakers, check. Phone and keys, check. Airpods on, playlist shuffled, I bolted out of my apartment and jogged all 50 blocks to school.

Exercise is always important, and what other way to utilize time for exercising than to do it while heading to your destination, right?

I snickered.

As I made my way to the university, I saw bizarre creatures and monsters of different sizes, coexisting, and interacting with humans. Even so, I noticed other people’s disdain and bitterness towards them when I passed by. My nose is awfully sensitive to scents that sometimes the ones their body releases tells me what they feel at the moment. It’s all science, I guess. I was made extra susceptible to these, so I wear a mask everywhere and every time I go out just to partly block most of the smells.

My first day at a university open to everyone across the country gets my blood pumping with excitement. To think that I’m going to study at Ernestine State University, the Ernestine State University!

I first heard about the uni back when I was a child. News broke out about Victor Ernestine, committing suicide by driving his car off a cliff because he couldn’t accept that his daughter was one of the major leaders who made the unity of all people, of all races, possible.

Dramatic.

Months after Mr. Ernestine died, all his properties and riches were passed down to her daughter, who took over as the new founder of the university and rebuilt it to accommodate everyone, no matter the size and shape.

The strictly all-human school, renovated, reshaped, and repurposed, was now the first university to open its gates to everyone in the country of Yundomia.

I’ve always yearned to get to know other species in this world. I didn’t get the chance previously because my parents sent me to an all-human, local high school. Which sucks. I hated how everyone had a certain hatred for the other races, especially orcs. They keep talking about how they are wild beasts and savages that aren’t meant to be in society.

They treated them like animals that are void of emotions and intelligence.

Come to think of it, I mostly fought with humans who were either racist, bullies, bastards trying to hit on me, or a mix of all of them together.

I chuckled, remembering how many times I got counseled on not punching people in the face.

High school was pure torture, being a human-exclusive campus making it worse, considering how everybody smells so horrible and the principal was an egoistic dumbass I was a hair away from gutting him. My poor nose.

But now I’m done with that! I’m starting anew in this school, in this city. Perhaps make some friends along the way.

Which is kinda problematic.

I’m not the social type. I tend to keep things to myself and hardly open up to anybody. I wanna make at least one friend that isn’t human! Or just, one good friend. I didn’t have or made any friends in the past since people tend to shun me out just because I can tell how they are feeling and find it creepy.

Or they’re afraid to get punched in the face.

Entering the campus gates was like stepping into another world. I was met with the sight of humans and monsters walking together and conversing! It was nice, and I don’t get to see this much often.

I walked around and took in the landscape of the campus. It was huge! And beautifully designed to have a great number of trees and plants, while also having space more than enough to accommodate every student going to their respective classrooms.

I was minding my own business and it was all serene, until some bastards pushed past through me and knocking me to the side. I stumbled but didn’t fall. I was gonna say something, but I shut my mouth. I didn’t want to cause any trouble on the first day for goodness’ sake. So I brushed it off and went straight to the gym for the orientation.

*************************************

The orientation was, intriguing. The dean seems nice, though I couldn't smell him from where I sat. There's also a student council made up of both humans and monsters which is a good sign. The student council president was a Minotaur with a dark brown coat and horns curving front and pointing up. The vice-president was a male student who looked decent enough. The secretary was an elf. The treasurer, a dwarf. And the rest were humans. I couldn't scent any of them to tell me what they were feeling at the moment, but the Minotaur looked uncomfortable, his hands behind his back, body going stiff when they were introduced to the freshmen. There was a larger numbr of humans than monsters, which was expected. I also noticed how both were grouped, a white line in the middle of the gym separating us from them.

Maybe to avoid any misunderstandings?

We were informed that today will be for introductions to your classmates and subject teachers so there will be no lessons at all. Hooray!

I was walking to my first classroom when a damned familiar smell attacked my nose. I stopped to stand for a moment and adjusted my mask. I looked around to spot the one emitting it and of course, saw a human. He looked, well, the typical playboy cool boy who used too much body spray on himself.

Not wanting to stand there like an idiot and prolong my suffering, I speed walk to my classroom and planned to sit at the back hoping no one would notice or ask why I’m wearing a mask.

That's always what they ask first. Not my name or how I was doing.

I expected to find no one inside since it was still early, but I was startled to see a massive orc sitting at the back looking out at the window. He was wearing a dark gray knitted sweater that was hugging his hulking frame very…well. Along with what looked like thick cargo pants and black boots.

He turned to look at me when I let out a small yelp, greeting me with his piercing, blue eyes.

Beautiful.

The orc had long, braided, jet-black locks. Two of them had distinct beads that trailed down from the side of his face and down to his chest, the rest of his hair behind him braided with intricacy and tied and ended halfway down his back.

I was pushed out of my trance when a person entered and crashed into me, swearing under my breath that it was intentional, nearly making me plant face-first on the trash bins if I hadn’t changed my footing at the last moment.

“Watch it, bitch, you’re gonna ruin my make-up,” she snapped.

Wow. She dared to call me that and not apologize like I’m the one who shoved her. Just wow. Usually at this point, I would have planted her face on the floor, but I stopped myself.

Low profile! Low profile Pearl! You’re in college now! You definitely don’t want to get suspended on the first fucking day of class now do you?? Keep it together.

Straightening up, I walked towards the back and sat beside the orc. Whose gaze fell on me, curious, when I wasn’t looking.

I made myself settled in my seat before the professor came in.

There were other races in my class. A blue tiefling sat three rows in front, wearing a casual outfit. A black-haired elf who looked and dressed clever, a row away. A cute pink pixie on my far right. A satyr wearing glasses, two seats in front of me, and a female lizardfolk a seat from of the pixie.

"Are you...alright?"

I almost jumped from my seat when the orc beside me spoke. I couldn’t help but admire how deep his voice was. I tried not to appear flustered, my mask helped with that.

“Uh…yes?”

The orc regarded me for a second before continuing.

“You were pushed earlier.”

Oh. He saw that?

“Oh, yeah, I’m okay.” I smiled at him. Then I remembered he can’t see my face. But I hoped the crinkling of my eyes gave it away.

“I’m Pearl, by the way.” I reached out my hand to him, socializing not my best suit but at least I tried.

He paused for a second before taking it into his bigger one, engulfing mine and shook it slowly. I was again, surprised by how gentle he was.

“Tai'chi.”

Interesting.

“Nice to meet you, Tai'chi.”

He lets go of my hand when the professor started talking up front.

“Nice to meet you too, Pearl."

***************************************

Thoughts? I am wide open for constructive criticism :D

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Check pinned post for latest chapter updates💕

[lia-jones]

Growing Together - Chapter Twenty-Eight - The Proof Is In the Brownie

Author's note:

Hello beautiful people! It's been such a long time since I have posted, and I'm truly sorry for the no-show, but things ahve been hectic at work and I really couldn't get myself in the right headspace to write, but now we're hopefully rolling! I struggled a lot deciding whether I should write this chapter or not. It doesn't feel like my usual narrative, some of you will find it unusual, and still I had to get it out of my head. If you can, leave me a comment or an ask with your opinion!

So, without further ado, let's get to it!

“Oh God.” I croaked, looking around. “I think we took this thing way too far.”

Victor lifted his head from my shoulder, disheveled hair still covered with flour.

“You think?” He frowned. “We destroyed the kitchen.”

Feeding Instructions

“Andy, will you come here for a second?” I heard Victor call from the hallway.

“Yeah.” I stopped beside the aquarium, running my fingers through my wet hair.

“This is how much you give him.” He showed me a small plastic spoon with lobster pellet food. “Twice a day. Once in the morning, once in the evening. No more than that.”

Here we go.

“Are you also instructing me on how many times I should feed our son, or is it just the lobster?”

“You forget you fed him, and then you feed him more than necessary.” He dropped the food into the aquarium. “He’s getting fatter, his exoskeleton doesn’t even get a chance to harden.” He paused, staring at the aquarium. “Maybe I should make you a sheet to keep track of his feeding.”

“For the last time, Victor, I am not overfeeding the lobster! I am perfectly able to remember if I have fed him or not, I’m not senile.” I walked back to our room, starting to feel annoyed.

“This from the person who forgot her phone inside the refrigerator.” I heard him follow me.

“That is different, I was getting a yogurt for Owen and I was holding the phone...”

“I would buy you some memory supplements, but you’ll probably forget to take them.” He mocked me.

“You know, if you are so worried about the lobster, don’t go.” I turned to him. “Stay and feed him yourself.”

“You know I can’t do that. I need to make sure everything is running smoothly before the inauguration.” He held me by the waist.

“Right.” I leaned my head against his chest with a heavy sigh. ”And I need to stay behind to look after LCG and help Goldman if he needs me.”

“It’s only for two weeks.” He pressed his chin on top of my head. “Then you’ll meet me in Paris, and we can make up for the lost time.”

I wrapped my arms tightly around him, like somehow my embrace could force him to stay. Although traveling was a big part of Victor’s job, since we got Owen he used to avoid it as much as he could, and I got used to having him with us all the time. I knew LFG France was a big project that demanded a lot of his attention, especially during the first months, and he had no choice but to go, yet I still resented the fact that I would have to endure two weeks without his warmth, sleeping alone in a cold bed.

“In the meantime, will you please try not to kill our pet?” He broke our embrace, pecking me in the forehead. “Twice a day. No more, no less.”

“Oh, for the love of-”

“Nevermind, I’ll just ask Owen.”

And with that, my husband left me alone in our bedroom, probably to avoid the insults I was about to throw at him.

A Brownie a Day Keeps the Sadness Away

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Owen poked his eggs. “But I have to go to school today, I won’t have any time to be with you before we leave.”

“We have tonight.” Victor smiled at his son.

“It’s no use, it’s not enough time.” The boy pouted. “And I’ll be too sad to enjoy it anyway.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at my five-year-old drama. Victor gave me a knowing look.

“Well, that being the case, I may as well return the tickets I bought to the Insectopia exhibition.” Victor spoke casually, his eyes on his phone.

Owen dropped his fork and looked at his father, his sweet brown eyes sparkling.

“We are going to see Insectopia today?”

Victor got up from the table calmly, retrieving an orange cardboard box from the fridge.

“We were, but since you are so depressed, you may not want to do it. I even bought your favorite brownies from Hungry Hippo, but I understand if you lost your appetite.”

“I can have brownies for breakfast?!?” Owen’s eyes opened so wide I thought they were going to pop out.

“Finish your eggs first.” Victor took three more plates from the cupboard, serving us all brownies. Owen took his fork again, eating his eggs in a rush.

“Done!” He announced after what felt like 10 seconds. “I want a brownie please!”

“God, Owen, did you even chew your food?!?” I looked at my son’s plate, surprised to see it empty. But I don’t think he even heard me, already busy cutting his brownie.

“Hmmm, these are sooo goood!” Owen closed his eyes as he took a bite of his brownie. “The best brownies ever, better than all other brownies! Not even Dad can make brownies this good!”

My husband’s face fell.

“My brownies are not this good?”

“No, these are so much better!” Owen replied with his mouth full of chocolate.

Victor gave me an inquisitive look. I sipped my coffee, pretending not to notice.

“Hmm.” He frowned, cutting a piece of his brownie with the fork and bringing it to his mouth. After a moment, his frown deepened. “They are. But how?”

Playing My Brownies Right

As usual, we drove Owen to school and headed to LFG Tower to work. On a regular day, Victor and I would spend our commute time talking about our daily affairs, clients we would meet, who would cook dinner or pick Owen up. But since it was his last day at home before he flew to Paris, all of that seemed irrelevant. The whole day just felt a bit sad for me.

“I wish you could take the day off for us to spend some time together. It’s been ages since we had some time for ourselves.”

“Some other time.” He sighed. “I need to get some last-minute affairs in order before I leave.”

“Can’t you take some time and have Goldman do it?” I complained. “You’ve been working non-stop.”

“I should take care of some things myself.”

“Funny, back when I was publishing my study, you were such a firm believer in delegating.” I squinted at him.

“Different situations.”

“Because I’m me and you’re you?”

There was a moment of silence, and I smiled thinking Victor was mulling over my astonishing comeback. Turns out, he wasn’t even listening.

“Do you think those brownies are better than mine?”

“That is your main concern right now!?”

“Well, are they?” He insisted.

“Ok, consider this a lesson of tough love.” I turned to him. “Yes, they are. Happy Hippo’s brownies are vastly superior to yours. And that’s ok. You don’t have to be good at everything. Someone can’t be good at everything.”

“I beg to differ.” He frowned, watching the road. “My whole life, I worked hard to achieve perfection, and I have reached it. I believe that with consistent effort and dedication, one can be good at anything.”

I stifled a laugh.

“Not brownies, though.”

“Don’t think I can’t tell you are mocking me.”

“Oh no, I’m going to lose brownie points.” I poked him.

“Will you back off?” He poked back. “I have plenty to do today, I don’t want to catch moronitis from you.”

“You know, if you were so good at everything, I’m sure you would have no trouble delegating your tasks to Goldman and spending the day with me.” I gave him a daring look. “In fact, I bet you can’t.”

“You bet?” He smiled mischievously at me. There was nothing Victor loved more than a good challenge. Unfortunately for him, I was well aware of that.

“Want to make it official?”

“It depends. What are the terms of this bet?”

“For today, until Owen arrives from school, if I dare you to do something, you’ll need to do it, and you need to do it perfectly. If I win, you’ll have to admit you are not good at everything. Also, you can’t nag me about anything for a whole month. Not about lobster food, not about the mess I make in the bathroom, nothing.”

“Fair enough. So if I win, you’ll have to always agree with what I say and act accordingly for a month. During that time, what I say goes, and you can’t go against it. And you will have to acknowledge my prowess as well.”

“I always have to agree? So I can never tell you that you’re wrong?” I frowned.

“Not for thirty days, you can’t.”

“Not even if you are talking your way into sleeping on the couch?”

“That won’t happen because you’ll always agree with me.” He smiled. “See? It’s a foolproof plan.”

“You have to win first.” I dared.

“I’m confident about my chances.” Keeping a cautious eye on the road, he pressed the screen of his phone. “And to show you I mean it, I will complete the first challenge.”

“You’re taking the day off?” I smiled, surprised to see my teasing work so well.

“I was already planning to, you idiot.” He pretended to be angry, although I could see him suppressing a smile. “I only had a short meeting to attend and then I would whisk you away from the office for some time for two. Sadly, you had to act childishly and ruin the surprise.”

Awww, soft Victor. I leaned against his bicep, my heart filled with love for this man. It almost made me feel bad for planning to make his day a living hell. Almost.

Put Your Mouth Where Your Brownie Is

“A supermarket? That’s your idea of time for two?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a quiet day at home, just the two of us.” Victor replied, filling our cart with several items. “And cooking together seems like a nice activity.”

“Well, since you’ll be gone for so long, I thought we could use some more…” I batted my eyelids at him. “... intimate time.”

“Fear not, I will not leave my wife unsatisfied.” He smiled.

That smile was enough to leave me a babbling horny mess. Get it together, Andrea.

It wasn’t until we stopped by the dairy fridge that I paid close attention to the contents of our cart: chocolate, sugar, flour, and a stick of unsalted butter Victor had just put there.

“We’re going to bake brownies.” My good mood was gone at that exact second. We were supposed to be taking time for us, how could he even think about brownies?

“We are going to try and recreate that recipe, perhaps even improve it.”

“Well, don’t use that butter then. Use this one instead.” I retrieved a stick of regular butter from the fridge.

“I will not use cheap butter to bake.” He put the salted butter in its original place. “It alters the consistency and flavor. It belongs on warm bread, not brownies.”

I could say I was disappointed that Victor was more concerned about his pride than the short time we had to be together before his trip. I could even say that it upset me how condescending he would sound sometimes, always telling me how to do things, like I was Owen’s age. All of these were true, but that wasn’t what was bothering me the most. Victor would leave soon, and we wouldn’t see each other for two weeks, and I knew I would be a needy insecure mess during the time he would be away, barely able to sleep on that giant bed by myself, missing his loving whispers in the morning, his huge sweaty body making love to me. To add insult to injury, this distance didn’t seem to affect Victor at all. He was cool as a cucumber, like this long trip away from his family was just another Tuesday.

I felt entitled to some pettiness.

“You know what? Forget about the old bet.” I took the stick of butter and placed it again in our cart. “Let’s make a new one. Same consequences, different challenge.”

“What do you have in mind?” He came closer, looking me in the eye.

“Simple.” I stared back defiantly. “The best brownie wins.”

All is Fair in Love and Brownies

The terms were pretty straightforward: we had fifteen minutes to prepare the batter, after which we would put both trays in the oven, simultaneously, and bake them for the exact same time. If we couldn’t decide on which brownie was the best, Owen would have the final say. The winner would have absolute power over the household for a month, and could not be defied during that time, unless in dire circumstances.

We placed the ingredients on the counter, along with the bowls and pans we would need. Victor started the timer on his phone.

“Ready?” He glanced at me.

“Let’s get this party started.” I smiled.

It was showtime.

Victor and I loved cooking together, but our cooking methods couldn’t be more different. I was more of a messy cooker, leaving eggshells on the counter, and flour everywhere, and most times my clothes would also become victims of my culinary endeavors, while Victor was methodical and clean, neatly arranging his ingredients on the counter, carefully measuring each one of them. Surprisingly, we worked pretty well together: Victor quickly embraced my spontaneous side and I obviously benefited immensely from his methodic one. Side by side, as competitors, not so much. That became clear when I grabbed the flour and placed it absentmindedly on the counter, the bag still open.

“Close the bag after you use it.” Victor paused his mixing to close the flour bag. “Clumsy as you are, you’ll spill flour all over the counter.”

“So what?” I shrugged, busy mixing my batter. “It’s just flour, we’ll clean it afterward.”

“Have you noticed how filthy your side of the counter is? How can you work in such chaos?” He scolded. “Eggshells everywhere, flour and sugar on the floor…” He wiped my forehead. “How did you even get flour on your face?”

And there he was again, talking to me like I was five. Oh boy.

“I’m sorry, is my mess making you uncomfortable?”

“Just stay on your side of the counter, I don’t want to get stains on my shirt.”

That was enough. If Victor was so adamant about treating me like a child, I would act like one.

“Oops!” I tilted the sugar jar over the counter, sugar spilling all over Victor’s side. “You are right, I can be really messy.”

“What’s the matter with you?” He quickly grabbed a cloth. “Are you trying to aggravate me on purpose?”

“Maybe I am.” I shrugged. “I mean, I’m sure a perfect man like you must be prepared to deal with all challenges life throws at him, including a messy wife.”

“A little sugar isn’t going to stop me, if that's what you think.” He gave me a smug look, returning to his work. “I’ll still win.”

“Is that so?” I paused my mixing, wondering what I could do to get him pissed.

“Easy now, don’t go doing things you might regret.” Victor raised an eyebrow at me, like he somehow had read my mind.

“I think my batter is ready. Tell me what you think.” I grabbed the spoon I was using to mix and whipped it towards Victor, a bunch of brownie batter landing on his neck and face. “Yummy, right?”

Victor paused, his eyes closed, taking a deep breath as he wiped the chocolate from his face. For a moment I thought he would just scream at me and storm away. I had something quite different.

“Not quite ready yet.” He took the flour bag and dumped it all over me. “It needs more flour."

“Are you sure?” I gave him a defying look, after wiping some of the flour off me. “Have another taste.”

And I did the unthinkable. I took my mixing bowl and poured it all over his shirt and pants.

“For the record,” Victor said after recovering from the initial shock, “you were the one who started this.”

I really can’t tell who threw what next, but the next thing I know is we were in full battle mode, ingredients flying everywhere. Victor got a clear advantage when he remembered he had some eggs close by. Thankfully, I was quick to react and managed to avoid being bombarded by opening the fridge door and hiding behind it. And that’s when I saw it. The can of whipped cream I had bought to garnish the other brownies, and that Victor had refused to use because food in a can is unacceptable. Well, I would put it to good use now. I emerged from behind my improvised shelter, shaking the can vigorously.

“Now, if you’re smart,” I pointed the nozzle at him, “you’ll admit defeat and walk away.”

“If you were smart”, he walked confidently towards me, “you’d know it takes a lot more than whipped cream for me to fold.” Before I could react, he grabbed both my wrists and made me twirl, holding my arms behind my back, the can forgotten on the floor. “Now admit defeat.” He whispered in my ear, from behind me.

“Oh, bite me.” I scoffed.

He didn’t waste a second. He took my earlobe in his mouth and bit it hard.

“Satisfied?”

I gave him a daring look.

“Harder.”

Bigger Brownies to Bake

My defiance was like a trigger in Victor’s mind. He didn’t give me any time to think or react, turning me effortlessly in his arms, his mouth taking mine in a passionate kiss. And just like that, our food fight turned into a steamy make-out session.

Yes, the kitchen was a mess, and Victor would be leaving soon, but none of the things that bothered us before seemed to matter at that moment, as we focused solely on each other and the way we felt, the world a blurry notion in the back of our minds. We simply gave in to our lust, kissing, touching, teasing, hands ripping clothes apart and throwing them on the ground. Victor was far from cold, despite popular belief, he was a very intense man, and loving him was just as intense. Every time we gave in to our feelings like this, it was like being swallowed by a gigantic yet pleasurable wave, only hoping we would come out whole in the end. We made love right then and there, on our kitchen island, too entranced to think of anything else. It was only when we came down from our high, landing in each other’s arms with a wide grin on our faces, that we minded the real world again.

“Oh God.” I croaked, looking around. “I think we took this thing way too far.”

Victor lifted his head from my shoulder, his hair covered with flour.

“You think?” He frowned. “We destroyed the kitchen.”

Our eyes met for a second before we both burst into laughter. Problems like a dirty kitchen seem so silly when we’re happy.

“Will you tell me why you have been so moody with me lately?” He pulled me closer to his chest.

“I haven’t…” I started defending myself, but gave up when I noticed him glaring at me. “I have been moody, yes, you are right.” I sighed. “I know this is stupid and you’ll probably make fun of me, but the idea of having you away for so long… it’s unsettling.”

“Idiot, it’s only for a few weeks.” He chuckled. “Before you know it, you’ll be taking the jet to meet me.”

“See? And that infuriates me too!” I pushed away from his arms. “Here I am, pouring my heart out, and you laugh! Like this is a joke, like there is no reason for me to be feeling that way, especially when it’s clear you won’t-”

He pressed his lips against mine, and as usual, my thoughts evaded me completely. His kiss was sweet and soothing, taking away all my anxiety. He took my face in his hands and broke the kiss to look into my eyes, his voice with a sweeter yet vulnerable tone now.

“You are usually so good at reading me.” He smiled. “How can you think I don’t care?”

His eyes were filled with such honesty that I began to question my reasoning as well. That man did nothing but love me, deeply, every day. How could I possibly question that? I watched as he lifted my wrist, holding the red ruby charm between these fingers.

“I carry your heart with me.” He whispered.

“I carry it in my heart.” I returned.

“I may not say much, but my word is biding. You never need to worry about these things, you have the answer to them already. Here.” He pointed at my bracelet. “Here.” He took my left hand, kissing my ring finger. “And hopefully, here.” His hand rested on my chest. “Even when this gets you in trouble.” He tapped my forehead with a smile. “I give all these reminders and still you forget? You are in dire need of those memory supplements.”

“Damn it.” I shook my head. “You won.”

“No, the terms were that the best brownie would win. We didn’t get to bake them.”

“You wanted to prove to me that you are perfect.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “And you did. You are absolutely perfect. At least for me.”

“Well, that being the case…” He came closer, brushing his lips against mine. “I think we have a tie.”

The kitchen was pristine clean when Owen came from school, and our little adventure became our secret, a private joke we shared in our moments of intimacy. Another proof that, even in chaos and uncertainty, we would always find each other.

This project has been going for a year now (it started in February 2020) and it won't be over any time soon, so I would like to ask you, as much as possible, for your support, because we still have a very long way to go. So, if you enjoy the work, don't forget to comment and reblog. It gives it traction and enables other people to learn about it, and for me to get more excited about what I do.

[that-rock-chick]

Love Bites

Love sucks. That's pretty much common knowledge. Combine that with addiction, money, fame, and childhood trauma and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Same shit, different fucking day.

Don't ask me how I'm balancing six days a week at my job and band practice three to four days a week, because I truly have no fucking idea. I tried college but once the band formed, I cut that out of my schedule completely.

It's been about a months since the argument with Gwen and Tiffany went down and our band hasn't practiced. I tried to be sympathetic for the longest time, but it's beyond ridiculous now. Veronica, Tiffany, and I have been wanting to do band stuff but Gwen refuses because she's mad that Tiffany is dating a man SHE broke up with. It's not like Tiffany did it intentionally, and the fact that she's letting her own personal stuff interfere with our band is really pissing me off.

We've all got shit going on, but Gwen loves being a drama queen. Veronica has suggested kicking her out of the band a few times and Tiffany has echoed the same sentiment, but I don't think my patience has thinned to that extent just yet.

But it's getting there.

Young musicans aren't hard to come by, but finding someone who fits the band's sound as perfectly as Gwen's adds on a large layer of difficulty that I'm not prepared for. We'd have to start all over, teach our new singer the songs, establish chemistry...it seems exhausting and more trouble than it's worth, at least for the time being.

"Hey Julie." Dylan greeted me as I walked past, something he does whenever we work together. Sometimes it ends up being the best part of my day.

As the day progresses, I find myself smiling a lot more than I usually do. Customers are easier to deal with and a large amount of them were actually friendly. It created a light-hearted atmosphere in the restaurant that we don't get too often, unfortunately. The time seemed to fly by.

"Good luck Dylan." I said goodbye and walked out of the front door. Dylan was always there a hour before I arrived, and an hour before I left. The rest of the staff is pretty cool, but Dylan is the only one I'd consider to be a friend of mine. He's essentially the less musically inclined male version of me.

I head to our rehearsal space for the second time this week. I've extended the invitation to Gwen, as if she needs an invitation to show up to her own fucking band's rehearsal. If she doesn't show up tonight, she's out. Our time is just as important as hers and we're all tired of it being wasted.

I'm usually the first person to show up, but some days that isn't the case, like today.

"Hey." Gwen says shyly.

I give her a blank stare and proceeded to put my things down on a table nearby.

"Nice of you to finally decided to show up." I stated plainly.

"Look, I know I've missed a lot of practice and I totally understand the three of you being pissed at me, but can you please take one second to see this from my perspective?"

I couldn't help but scoff at what was coming out of Gwen's mouth. Has she seriously taken an objective look at the situation and came to the conclusion that she has a leg to stand on.

"Okay fine. You broke up with a guy, he moved onto Tiffany, you were so jealous that he wasn't falling you around like a lost puppy, and you took it out on Tiffany."

Gwen rolled her eyes but before she could speak, Tiffany and Veronica entered the room. Anger was written all over Tiffany's face, while Veronica seemed to be as cool as a cucumber.

That's one thing I've always liked about Veronica. She can keep her cool in some pretty tough situations. That's not all there is to like about her, though. She's utterly gorgeous. Her dark skin and hair that was almost always styled in an afro were truly beautiful features that I couldn't help but admire. She's beautiful, smart, talented, and has an amazing personality. She's the full package.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Tiffany wasted no time begining the screaming match we all knew was about to go down.

"We're in the same band." Gwen managed to maintain her regular tone of voice, but if I know Tiff like I think I do, and trust me, I do, she'll keep going until she sets Gwen off and then everything will go up in flames.

"Clearly the band hasn't been very high on your list of priorities for the past four weeks. Finally make time in your schedule for us, princess?" Tiffany was speaking with her genuine emotions, but part of her wanted to get a reaction out of Gwen. She knows how Gwen feels about being called "princess".

Gwen looks like she wants to say something to Tiffany that would no doubt escalate the situation even further, but she takes a deep breath and regains her composure.

"I'm sorry, okay? For everything. Julie was right, I should've maintained my professionalism above all else...and I shouldn't have put some guy over you and our friendship."

The three of us looked at Gwen semi-shocked. That girl never apologizes for anything. Instead of responding, Tiffany tells Veronica and I that she's stepping out for a smoke.

I'm not sure if we should discuss things further or let bygones be bygones, but it's not exactly my place to make that call.

Tiffany returns just as I finshed tuning my guitar and walked up to Gwen. If I didn't know Tiffany, I'd say she was going to punch Gwen in the face with the speed she was moving.

"That whole situation was fucked up, but I know how hard it is for you to apologize to people, so I forgive you." Tiffany pulls Gwen in for a hug and for the first time in awhile, things seem okay between the four of us.

"I would like to reiterate that Gwendolyn said I was right." I smiled proudly.

"Yeah, don't get used to hearing that from me."

It was nice while it lasted, at least.

Band practice turned out to be super productive, and it hasn't been that way in a long time. We got a lot of work done today and hopefully we can keep this up for awhile. We spent about 7 hours in our rehearsal space and it felt more like 5 minutes. Time really does fly when you're surrounded by positivity.

The girls and I said our goodbyes and parted ways for the night. Tiffany had mentioned that we haven't seen each other this past month like we usually do. Of course I feel bad about that, she's been my best friend for so long. But I've been spending a lot of time with the Guns N' Roses boys...Axl in particular can be a persuasive little shit when he wants to be. I've already told the guys that Tiffany's birthday is this weekend and they can't keep monopolizing my time. I need more feminine energy!

"Julie!" I hear someone call out. I recognize the voice as soon as it hits my ears.

"Hey Slash, what's up?"

Minus Izzy, I'm becoming pretty close with the members of Guns N' Roses. I just wish that man wasn't so goddamn illusive.

Slash and I walk and talk. Clearly he's decided we're hanging out tonight. I don't mind it much since Tiffany's going out with Victor tonight, Gwen is visiting her parents, and Veronica is doing god knows what, like always. So even if I wanted to make plans with someone, it's not like I had anyone else anyway.

"I don't think anyone's at the house, besides Izzy." From the way he phrased his sentence, it was a clear indication that Slash had no interest in staying at the "Hell House" with Izzy, he usually opted to spend his nights the same way he spent his days: completely wasted. It didn't matter if it was alcohol or heroin, if it got him high, he'd take it.

But this isn't about Slash. I want to see Izzy...I might have a slight obsession with a man who has never even said a single word to me, but I mean, he's absolutely gorgeous. There's something about him that keeps me drawn to him and I'm determined to figure out what it is. No matter how long it takes me.

"Then let's go to the house."

Before Slash can process what I said so he could say no, I grab him by the arm and run as fast as I possibly can while dragging a grown man behind me. It only takes about 15 seconds of running before I realized, Slash in tow or not, I'm very out of shape. I'm running out of breath, determined to get to the band's house. I'll be wheezing all the way down Sunset Boulevard and trying to convince myself it's worth it by the time we get there. But knowing me, it won't.

We enter the house and lo and behold...

Izzy isn't there. Despite me struggling to breathe, the look of defeat plasters my face and Slash starts laughing his ass off.

"Izzy's out working, I just wanted to see how you'd react. Sure didn't think you'd go runnin to our house, though." Slash manages to get out through his fit of hysterical laughter.

"Slash! Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because I know you like him. I got the confirmation I needed. Just wait until I tell Duff!" Slash heads for the stairs, but I grab his arm before he starts his ascent.

"You cannot tell Duff." I tell him seriously.

"He can't tell Duff what?" Duff appears from the kitchen

"And why are you out of breath? And why are you holding Slash's arm?"

"She totally likes Izzy, dude. I told her that he was here and she dragged me through the streets. We almost got hit by like, 5 cars."

My shocked face slowly twists into a look of confusion as Duff rolls his eyes, pulls out his wallet, and hands Slash a 20 dollar bill.

"Dude, you guys bet on whether I liked Izzy or not?" I was part shocked, part confused, and part mortified that my crush on Izzy was that obvious. Izzy seems like a smart man, so I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of him knowing and not talking to me because I'm a weird chick who likes him without even knowing anything about him.

"Yeah, and now I'm out 20 bucks because you can't control your goddamn hormones." Duff says in mock frustration. I ignore his joke as the overthinking sets in further.

"Does...does he know?"

"Nah. The man's pretty oblivious, plus he doesn't pay much attention to anything except drugs, work, and music. It's fine." Duff reassures me.

Then Izzy walks in. The three of us get quiet when he shuts the door behind him. He looked at the guys then looks me up and down. He then looks back up at my face like he's done several times before, but this time he doesn't look away when our eyes meet, not immediately, at least. I feel my heart start beating a mile a minute at the momentary eye contact and feel myself longing for it again when it breaks.

He nods his head and walks up the stairs. I guess his first words to me will have to wait another day.

"What does Izzy do for work?" I ask, to no one in particular.

"He's a drug dealer." Duff replies nonchalantly.

I don't know how to respond to that, so I don't. Slash and Duff have their own conversation and I find myself wondering what kind of person Izzy is. I don't know what to think. All I know is he's a damn good musician, an equally gifted writer, and a drug dealer.

Who the hell is Izzy Stradlin?

[pernatius]

Lost in Space Part 11: Ch 2

Previous 

Summary: Finally, on Commander Knox’s spaceship, the trio finds themselves running out of time before the commander becomes an all too powerful Watcher.

Lost in Space on Tumblr

Lost in Space on ao3

Both grab the doorway. Like with Ashley, both Tauvoxes were fitted with gauntlets, but theirs are fingerless. Their sheer strength bends the walls and stretches them, breaking the glass part of it. We cover our eyes from the flying of sharp, translucent material. 

Shiitake grabbed Saamuki and me and shoved us down as the two of them thrust their claws at us. They ripped through the circular wall behind us, shattering the already cracking glass and tearing through the metal, and graze against Shiitakee’s arm. The cuts are minor, but he still cringes at the pain. It will take him seconds to heal, but I still am stricken at seeing his blood. 

Saamuki pushes the two minotaurs away from us with her powers. She lashes a blue ray of light at them. They skid across the floor, but not too far from us because both giants grab the floor before they can be forcibly thrown any further. It’s still enough distance to give us time to get out of that cramped, broken space. 

The leftover glass behind us continues to crack until it eventually shatters. Just in time yet again and yet again, it’s Shiitakee that protects us when he catches Khavas’ fist. The long, thick, and stringy vegetable tissues that make up his arms and legs expand a moment after the impact, nearly tearing apart. They contract back after when he stops sliding backward, but his body proceeds to shake from having to stop a mass triple his mass. 

Shiitakee is on one knee when he asks through his whimpering, “Any of you going to step in?”

Mikrovos comes up from behind the bigger Tauvox. His shadow engulfs the wilting mushroom. He’s about to turn Shiitakee into a pancake until Saamuki blasts him. She runs over to him with glowing blue fists when he falls with a hard thud. I get out my sword again and step over to help Shiitakee, but the Tauvox he’s engaging with points his free hand at me. The gauntlet stretches and clutches me, and when I’m lifted several feet in the air, he tightens his grip until I feel my ribs cracking. I scream, flail, and try to keep my sword from slipping out of my shaking hand. 

Even with my limited mobility, I try jerking my sword at my suffocating seal. It merely clinks rather than cutting me free. 

Saamuki punches Mikrovos across his face, but he follows it up with his own punch. She dodges that and even catches the next one, but she doesn’t get to counter his kick. The kick from the beefy alien flings the flail alien, causing her to come barreling back towards the elevator, but she readjusts herself so that her feet hit it instead of her back—the metal dents around her feet. 

Just like with Khavas, Mikrovos extends one of his gauntlets towards her. She tries blasting at it, but she’s too slow. Saamuki is grabbed too, but he swung her over us, across the room, and then let go when she passed us. 

Saamuki smashes through the roof, and I am sent falling back down. We crash into the floor. Someone screams as soon as we do. 

My body tried to relent. It screamed at me, but I forced it to get back up. Breathing became difficult. It is as if a Tauvox is sitting on me, pressing their mass onto my chest. Considering my chest has collapsed in on itself as I can see through blurry eyes that some pieces of ribs have pierced through my skin, of course, with my squirting blood, the feeling makes sense. Standing back up is met with slipping and falling back down face first. I still have my sword in my hand through my struggles, which I transform into a shield and get my blaster out. I try aiming it at Khavas because he’s currently engaged in a brawl with Shiitake. This is probably the first time I’ve ever seen him truly mad. Annoyed he’s been, but nothing even remotely close to this. He swings left and right, giving no time for Khavas to do anything but be his punching bag. With every swing, his fists crack, but they quickly reknit. The same is said for Khavas, but his nanites can’t process fast enough because of the downright brutal jabs. His chest is covered in bruises, a sizable second-degree burn, and his face is covered in his blood. He can’t stand anymore, and I think I can see pieces of rib have torn through his flesh as well. The Tauvox goes unconscious, hitting the floor; the out of breath victor tries cooling his smoking hands by shaking them about. Although his victory doesn’t last long. Mikrovos brings himself back into our senses, Shiitakee’s mainly, when he grabs the worn mushroom’s face. 

I crawl out of that crater and limp towards them. I shoot as well, but he blocks all but one. It digs into his flesh, dispersing a clump of fur on his cheek, and twists it until it comes out of him. Mikrovos huffs then while squeezing the now squirming Shiitakee. Something takes over me. Is this what Ojos was talking about? Heart racing, everything in the room blurs but him. I don’t feel the pain anymore. I didn’t even realize I dived away from his fist and smashed the shield into his stomach, cutting into it, but as soon as the collision occurs, Shiitakee’s head explodes in his grip. 

He drops the headless Shiitakee. Around Shiitakee’s twitching body is his blood gushing out of his neck and pooling underneath him. I turn back to the beast above me and look into his lifeless eyes. I shove my shield upwards. It smashes his face. His head juts back, and when he returns it forward, I see that his nose is bleeding, but I shove the shield again into his face. He growls and reforms both of his hands into blades. They are rammed towards my neck, but I shoot into his mouth, missing his spinal cord. It’s now his attention is focused on himself. Mikrovos presses down on the wound, covering the spurting blood. 

I’m crying, but I’m smiling. I’m too scared to mourn yet. “It’s because of you I’m standing before you. You’ve saved my life, my dear friend, too many times. Now I am going to save yours once and for all.” My shield’s fire soars onto me. It consumes me as I transform the broad piece of metal into a war hammer. The weapon, the biggest one I’ve ever had to create, has two faces on either side as big as the Tauvox’s face. Without this invigorating feeling, I wouldn’t be able to hold this monstrous weapon upright with just a single hand. I wouldn’t be able to hold it at all.

I ready myself, widening my stance and tightening my grip. The hole in Mikrovos’ neck must’ve been patched up because he returns his focus onto me and stretches both his gauntlets towards me. I outmaneuver some and strike the rest. Shoot, too, as I’m circling around and inching closer towards him. Mikrovos evades all of them. I knew he would, and I made such a seemingly pointless effort because it made it all that much easier to get onto one of his gauntlets and dash across the rippling armor. Upon noticing how close I am to him, he tries batting me off with his other hand. I slid under it and beat my hammer on his forehead. 

Another Tauvox lay knocked out. Both will get up soon, but I still head to the comrade I have left and begin to carry her away from the brutality. Upon my touch, she begins to wake up, but she’s groggy. 

“S-Shiitakee...Where is he?” Her eyes move around the room until she spots what’s left of the man in question. She tears up, but she can’t bring herself to cry. I place her head on my chest. We stand there in silence as my eyes linger on Shiitakee’s lifeless body. I still can’t bring myself to cry, but I can bring myself to bring our focus back to the bright room at the end of this hallway. Both of us drag our feet. 

The crystal is colossal and purple. Besides the size and color difference compared to the Tauvoxes’ spaceship, this crystal is covered in beating veins. They cover the room as well. What was once an energy source now looks to have become a parasite. Stepping inside the room validates that assumption because the two of us become weak. She’s slipping in and out of consciousness, her eyes flick from blue to its regular color, as streams of blue light emanating from her float towards the sickly rock, and now I’m having trouble keeping us both upright. When I get on my knees, she moves a trembling glowing blue hand towards me. I, in turn, grab it with a fiery one. 

Our unworldly powers blend into each other and surround us, creating a rainbow-colored bubble. Our energy comes back to us, but we find out we have our backs to Commander Knox as he slowly claps. I have my blaster ready to blow off his head, and she’s ready to blast him into deep space to choke on his failure, but he grabs the two of us before we can and throws us further into the room.

We go tumbling, and as I do, I see he rips into particles. He teleports on top of me and presses down on my neck with his foot. Saamuki comes right behind him and blasts a blinding ray of light. That would’ve easily killed Cala, but Knox reaches out towards it. The blast doesn’t even scratch the metal arm. He grabs her face and throws her across the room. She goes right through the wall across from us and several others beyond it. 

Knox laughs at my pitiful attempts at trying to pry him off. I feel myself growing weaker again. “I didn’t get a good look at you the last time we saw each other, cousin. What an ugly sight you are.”

“Your people have gotten this far yet none have created a mirror.”

“A true shame, isn’t it? But I don’t need one when I know the beauty I carry, centuries worth of splicing and dicing our DNA with some of the most powerful civilizations.”

“Power, but the catch was your humanity.”

He grabs my collar and lifts me up. Then, slams me into the wall directly facing us. “Your people would do the same things I have done. In fact, they have done them—wars and slavery. Our histories have always been about atrocities. It should not be a surprise a semi-human would be at the forefront of the second intergalactic war, but we’ve always done it all for a reason.

“So, now I’m here asking why you are trying to stop me? Humans have made Earth a living hell, but they’ve also made it one of the best planets in the universe. I’ve caused destruction. Beyond these walls, thousands are dying as we speak, but sacrifices must be made to make the universe a better place.

“The Lords are merely puppets. They do not care for us, but I do. Do you really think it doesn’t hurt me knowing so many are dying out there?”

 I don’t respond. 

“This is the part where you explain yourself before I kill you.”

“How did you even know we would be here?”

“Instead, you bring out a question rather than an answer? Fine. Relieving you of your worries is the only mercy I can grant you.

“That idiot Syco, a child that kissed the ground I walked on, has been missing my calls, so of course I began to question. I wondered for some time if he finally moved on from his daddy issues. Thankfully my suspicions were proven to be right long before you entered my ship.” He snaps his fingers. S1Y jumps down from the roof with a familiar, limp shape over his shoulder. He throws Skeema’s pummeled body towards us. 

Skeema’s eyes are swollen shut, his legs are bent the wrong way, and he is covered in dried blood. He’s breathing, but barely. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled out. 

Another snap of his fingers and one of S1Y’s hands impales him. 

“Skeema!”

Because of the state that Virmus is in, he doesn’t relent when S1Y yanks his still-beating heart out. The robot squeezes it until it explodes. I cry out. 

“There are plenty of places to hide on this ship, but there’s only so much time before a rat becomes hungry. He survived far longer than I calculated. I’ll give him that.”

Once more my fire envelopes me. I punch the Virmus’ commander square in the face with such a force he lets go of me and crashes into his crystal. He lands back on the ground with a shaking body and looks up at me with the broadest, toothy grin I’ve ever seen from anyone. 

S1Y is about to engage me, but with the third snap of Knox’s fingers, the robot returns to being an audience member. Knox dusts himself off. 

“All of you messed up fucks only know how to care about yourselves! You make us pawns in your sick little game, but us pawns are people just like you. We have history. We have thoughts. We have feelings. All so meaningful, precious, but it takes you to be brought to your lowest for you to finally understand that, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to cut off that stupid smile off your horrid face.”

“The outdated fighting against its perfect form?”

“More like it’s broken form.” In an instant, I’m in front of him with my longsword about to slice off his head. He stops me from doing so with just a single finger pressing against the blade. Again, not even a cut. He smirks as my eyes widen.

“I am God and in these few minutes you have left I will make you understand that.”

[thgfanficinspo]

Fear of the Water - 20

Annie meets the other victors from District 4

From the Start - Jonsa - Coryo

(ANNIE)

There are nice clothes in my closet but I don’t want to wear them because I know they’re from the Capitol. And I’m not in the Capitol anymore and I don’t want it on me I don’t want it hanging off my skin.

I find one of my everyday dresses that Bosun brought along to the new house and slip it on. I always wear big shapeless dresses that go to my knees. I like them because they don’t get in my way – I can run around or work or sleep or do anything without them causing me any trouble. They’re long enough that I don’t have to worry about people seeing too much if I crouch or bend or climb, and the materials are simple and comfortable, and the fact that they’re so loose means I don’t have to keep adjusting them like I would with regular dresses. And I like that they’re dresses, too.  Pants always trip me up, and I don’t like worrying about two different pieces of clothing when I can just wear one.

I don’t like being in this new bedroom, at least not yet. I don’t like being in this house. It’s too big. Too many rooms. Creaky floorboards and rusty door hinges. Too many places for something to hide.

I change as fast as I can and then run back downstairs. Bosun is pacing in a circle around the main room. He glances up at me. “Get changed; we’re gonna be late.”

I shake my head.

He opens his mouth and curls his lip like always does when he’s about to yell at me but he makes himself stop and take a deep breath to calm down because I think he knows he shouldn’t yell at me, at least not yet. He’s trying to wait a couple days to let me settle in before he starts up again. I hope he doesn’t start up again at all.

When things are good with Bosun, they’re great. It’s like we’re the only people in the world and we’re everything to each other. But then when I start counting things or get “stuck in a loop,” as he says, he gets annoyed and tells me to stop even though he knows I can’t. if I stop it feels like a million tiny ants covering every bit of my skin and I can’t move or do anything until I’ve finished counting.

He raises his eyebrows at me in some sort of prompt. “Ready?”

There are three big dogs in front of Mags’s porch that stare at us as we approach. I think of the dogs in the arena and start to pull away from Bosun, but he holds onto me. “They’re just dogs,” he says. “You can’t be afraid of dogs forever.”

Mags appears in the doorway. “Annie! Bosun!” She waves her hand at the dogs and they disperse. “Ignore them. They hang around wherever they think they can get food. They’re harmless.”

All the homes on Victor’s Isle follow a formula, but there are subtle differences in each. My new house seems to have less walls than Mags’s. Hers is artfully decorated and looks comforting and warm. She’s had almost sixty years to work on it.

“The others are already inside. I don’t think Eefa will make it, though. She’s not one for socializing.”

The others, including Broadsea.

Broadsea. He was a member of the Career pack during his Games. He betrayed them relatively early on – probably because he didn’t like working with other people and he didn’t want them out there working against him. Broadsea was on watch one night while his allies slept. He killed them each, one by one, by slitting their throats or stabbing them through the heart.  

One of them managed to get a knife and hack his face apart before dying.

I’m still lost in my thoughts when we find him in the kitchen.

“Annie, Bosun, this is Broadsea.”

And there he is – arms crossed over his enormous chest. He’s well over six feet and at least two inches taller than Finnick, who’s already taller than six feet, too. The best word I can think to describe him is sturdy.  He looks like he could stand in one spot during a tidal wave and not even notice it crashing over him. He has hazel eyes and his jaw is strong and square and half his face is hardly a face at all.

That scar – it’s one thing to see on television, but completely different in person. He had some medicine to treat the wound, but not enough. The wound was infected. He did a piecemeal job of stitching it back together with threads pulled from his fallen allies’ clothing.

They cleaned it up as best they could in the Capitol, even removed some tissue and tried to build him a new cheek artificially, but it didn’t work. I still can’t believe he survived such a thing. Now it’s as wide as a finger from his right cheekbone to his jaw, where it dips under his chin and stretches down almost onto his neck. Ghostly pale against his coffee-colored skin. He grew a beard to partially cover it, but no hair grows over the corrupted flesh, so it just makes it stand out even more.

Not to mention the fingertips and toes he lost to frostbite. And the tip of his nose. But those have all been patched up.

He gives of us each a good up and down look before turning away without a word.

Proteus turns away from the stove to greet us and I feel a little bit better because Proteus is not scary or mean and I sort of know him. “Ah, I’m glad you’re here. I wanted your opinion on the sauce I made for the duck before I serve it.” He gives me and Bosun each a little spoonful of orangey-brown stuff. Bosun takes a lick and offers his compliments.

Finnick strolls in as we taste, completely ignoring Broadsea even though they’re about to walk right into each other. He stops for a moment and shoots him a mocking smile before he steps aside to let him through. Broadsea keeps on walking, knocking back another glass of liquor as he makes his way to the sitting room. Finnick is bright again as soon as Broadsea gone. “Do I get a sample?” he asks, flashing that winning smile.

He was fourteen when he was in my place. A child. But he doesn’t look like a child anymore. He was never exactly childlike, though; in the arena he was handsome and young with a chiseled face and sparkling eyes, his cheeks always flushed from being outside. He was gorgeous, and everyone was impatient to watch him grow up and therefor more handsome. And so they could touch him. So he could touch them.

I still don’t understand that – why he wants to jump from bed to bed. Surely the gifts they give him can’t be worth all the trouble. Is he just bored? Or is sex really that good? Having someone flop around and sweat all over you doesn’t sound terribly appealing to me, even with someone like Finnick.

Finnick pulls me out of my mind when he sidles up next to me. “I see you met Broadsea,” he murmurs. He produces a handful of sugar cubes seemingly out of nowhere, pops some in his mouth, and stars crunching away. He speaks through the mouthful: “Don’t feel bad – he hardly ever talks. And he’s an asshole anyway.” He realizes something. “Oh, do you want some candy or sugar or something? I keep a stash in the pantry. Mags thinks it’s bad for me, but I’m nineteen, so what I eat doesn’t really matter.”

If only he knew what it was like to be a woman.

“You might as well sit down,” Proteus says to us over his shoulder. “I’m almost ready to serve.”

Proteus’s wife, Brona, is already seated at the oval dining table, which is made of reclaimed wood.

Her clear, smooth skin is the color of honey and almonds, and she keeps her dark hair tied behind her head in a tight bun that pulls the skin on her forehead taut. Her mouth and teeth are big, but they fit better with her face than my big mouth and teeth fit with mine. She introduces herself and shakes Bosun’s hand. She doesn’t try to shake mine; somebody probably warned her about it.

I wonder how hard it must be for her and Proteus, to be separated from your love for the whole summer. Assuming they love each other.

It surprises me that so many victors have families – about a third of them, I think – but the fact that any of them has one is surprising. Any one of us, now.

Eefa got married at nineteen – a normal age in the districts but unbelievably young for the Capitol – and had two children, but she only speaks to one of them now. Proteus is married, of course, which honestly seems odd to me. He and Brona appear more like friends than lovers, but even friends might be too intimate a term. They don’t have children. On television, they always show Proteus next to a victor from District 5 who won a few years after him – the 55th Games, I think. He actually shows genuine fondness for the man; that’s obvious even through a televisions screen.

I wonder if Brona knows about this man. She seems very cold so I don’t know if she’d care.

We sit down and tuck in to eat. Finnick pulls out Mags’s chair and then mine and pushes them both in for us. He takes the chair between us and smiles at me as he settles in and my ears get red. Bosun is on my other side. Broadsea is directly across from me. I try not to look at him.

Proteus brings out a thick orange soup as our first course. He tells us what it’s made from but I don’t pay attention since the smell is so distracting. I start eating before everyone’s been served, which I think is rude but I don’t care. I slurp down two bowls and a fist-sized loaf of bread before anyone else finishes their first serving. I don’t care enough to look up at them or excuse myself.

I didn’t really eat today. Our kitchen isn’t stocked yet but I found some nuts and hid them in my pocket because I forget that there will be more food and that I don’t have to be hungry anymore ever. I haven’t counted them yet.

Bosun keeps looking back and forth from me to the other victors – trying to gauge my reactions to them and their reactions to me. He looks like he’s ready to leap across the table if he has to, though I don’t know why he would. He’s too smart to tangle with a victor. And he doesn’t even get into arguments with people he’s not related to. But he’s plenty argumentative with me and our cousins and Chelsea and me and me and me.

Broadsea observes me throughout the first course, which takes about half an hour for everyone to finish. He looks at me like some new trinket – strange and intriguing and more than anything else, a source of amusement. He’s continually eating hunks of bread which he tears from the rolls with his stumpy fingers (they had to amputate four fingertips above the knuckle after he won due to frostbite) and dips them in the soup. For every mouthful of bread he tears some off and puts it in his pocket. Maybe he forgets, too. About not being hungry anymore.

Finnick watches me too, but in a much softer way. His pretty green eyes are warm where his gaze touches my skin. He smiles whenever I do, and he’s quick with a story whenever there’s a lull in conversation.  

Proteus brings out the main course, which is made with duck rather than fish. People in District 4 get sick all the time from eating too much fish, so duck is a usual substitute, since that’s really the only other animal around except for seagulls. Duck is fancier than seagull. More expensive. But I guess that’s not a big deal since victors have so much money and we don’t ever have to be hungry anymore.

It’s served with turnips and Katniss root.

When I see it on the platter my stomach starts to roll over itself. My hands are shaking.

“Annie?”

I don’t know who says it. I don’t know who they’re saying it to.

I stand up fast, knocking my chair over and then tripping on it as I try to get away. I can’t be here. They’ll kill me to get my food. They’ll kill me for still being alive. I have to get away or they’ll kill me like they killed Piers and I don’t want to die but my legs aren’t working so I have to drag myself across the floor I can’t breathe.

“Annie! Annie!” It’s many voices now. They’re behind me, above me, closing in on me and I can’t breathe. I scoot back until my back slams against the wall. Put my hands over my ears so I can’t hear the mutts eating the boy from 6 or Piers screaming while they saw through him.

Bosun’s face is right in front of mine, saying “Annie? Annie?”

He’s not supposed to be here. His name wasn’t drawn. Why is he here? Why isn’t he home? They’ll cut his head off and they’ll poke out his eyes I’ll poke out his eyes and get goop on my hands and I can’t wipe it off.

“Run!” I scream at him. “Bosun, run! Run!”

And all the voices start screaming “Annie!” too loud and I don’t like it.

I try to shuffle further back but my head hits the wall and it goes dark.

[silenthillmutual]

2020 Creator Wrap

I was tagged by @stvlti to do the 2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works tag! Thank you, sm!! c:

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Tagging: @lawliyeeeet​ @soupcans @kunoiichi @milk-teeths @darkpaladin and anyone else who wants to!! Though there’s no pressure to do this if you don’t want<3

So... according to my AO3, I seem to have published or updated 63 works in 2020, which is just a whole hell of a lot more than I usually do! So I’ll pick the going from oldest to newest that I’m most happy with :)

CONTENT WARNING though, under 18 please do not read below the cut as two of the fics are M and one is E. Additional content warning: two deal with self harm and one with intrusive thoughts, and one with pregnancy.

01 || Communication (T)

I think this was when I really hit my stride with understanding how I wanted to characterize Daniil, specifically, and more generally when I worked out how I wanted to write his relationship with Artemy. I tend to focus on the ways in which they communicate differently, and I think I pulled off their voices relatively well.

Favorite moment, when I managed to slip some autism into my characterization:

This is a flaw of his - a messy, embarrassing secret, this inability to distinguish jokes and sarcasm from serious discussion. He masks his insufficiency with a flat-toned seriousness. People find it harder to separate the sarcasm and the jokes from his regular speech when he makes no vocal distinction, and he enjoys the discomfort it brings in others. He considers it, to a degree, payback. A taste of their own medicine. And when he wants to make it clear where his feelings lie, he’ll be picky with the words themselves. He is, if absolutely nothing else, exceptional in the area of verbal self-expression. 

02 || sine sole sileo (M)

This is one of my older works and it is far from being my best, it’s terribly out of character and woobifying, but I’m fond of it as my first really long and more emotional work for the fandom. I had fun writing the first chapter out as a Twitter thread, and then expanding on it. It’s multi-chaptered and actually finished, which is something I have a hard time with!

Favorite moment, which I still actually kind of like, despite everything:

He knows the silence behind the doors, too. It’s a stillness that makes the tips of his fingers buzz. How many days has it been now? Three, four? Artemy though he’d changed the sheets, added new notations. Welcomed in the vocals, the strings, the what-ever-else accompanied performances like this in the Capital. His verses hadn’t been well-sung, but the band had started to play with him. He’d come to anticipate the thrumming percussion. A heart with its own rhythm. Footsteps that rose and fell. Words that lilted, that lead, that brought the symphony to a heightened frenzy.

But silence is a kind of noise too. Where the heart doesn’t beat. Where the voices don’t speak. Even when there is nothing, there is noise.

Artemy has to take a breath before he opens the door. He knows he won’t like what he sees, but he’s seeing so much more in his mind than will be there to greet him. His eyes shake and jostle him to great many things: a gun, a hook, a rope, stained bedsheets and curtains ripped from windows. He sees death even before his eyes adjust because he can smell it, and because he can hear it.

Twelve, he thinks.

03 || o tempora, o mores (M)

This fic was my baby! I wanted so badly to write a character struggling with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder the way I do, and while it’s not my best-performing fic for the fandom (I haven’t kept track of which one is, actually) it’s probably my favorite. I worked so hard on this one, trying to replicate what it’s like to struggle with OCD, and it felt so gratifying to do. I’m currently working on a follow-up to this one, and I’m very excited for it as well!

Favorite moment is really the whole thing, but I do like this in particular, because I feel it really resonated with how intrusive thoughts and compulsions work for me:

The self-talk gives him enough of a boost to get him through the doors of the hospital. It feels safer here, where there’s only the ill and the dead instead of the thousand living eyes trying to touch him. No one comes to bother him here, just him and Artemy and sometimes Clara and Rubin until a few days ago –

YOUR FAULT. HE IS SICK BECAUSE OF YOU. HE IS IN TROUBLE BECAUSE OF YOU. IF RUBIN DIES, IT IS BECAUSE OF YOU. “Stop it, stop it, stop it,” Daniil mutters. THE EYES KNOW THE VACCINE DIDN’T WORK. THEY ARE WAITING FOR YOU TO ADMIT IT, ADMIT THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH TO PROTECT THEM SO THEY CAN HAND YOU TO THE DOGS. THEY WANT TO RIP YOUR BODY OPEN AND DEVOUR YOU. CANNIBALS, ALL OF THEM. AND YOU CAN’T RUN FOREVER. “Stop it,” he repeats, and tries to dig a jagged nail into his wrist.

It won’t go. Too slippery from the ointment Victor applied. He has something in his bag to help, another jagged edge, a rusted pair of scissors lost to their original purpose. The Morae were busy here, he’d thought the first time he saw them, and had laughed at his own clever joke. But now he feels the red string is his skin.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.                                  (it is starting to hurt these could be infected they are dirty they are rusted,) Eight.                                     (but it has to be ten he has to get to ten it has to be even) Nine.                                     (has to be a multiple of five but even always even, no odd numbers in sight)

04 || vita in motu (E)

Heheh I’m in danger (chuckles).

I’ve only managed to get one piece of hate for this fic which I figured would draw way more ire and make me orphan it, and I’m glad I haven’t had to because I’m stupidly attached to the concept. I was trying not to go for E rated fics for this, but this fic meant so much to me to write and for something marked explicit I put a lot of thought into how I wanted to characterize Daniil for it.

So. Yeah. Publishing it was scary as hell but I’m glad I did. I also got some really nice feedback on it, and more than I expected to. I’m very happy with how it turned out.

Favorite moment was actually much longer at the start of it, though kind of like with o tempora, o mores I actually really like how the whole fic turned out. But I really liked this part because I view Artemy as someone who would be very grounding for Daniil to be with:

“Stay in the moment,” Artemy tells him, and kisses him again, kisses him slowly. “Stay here with me. I love you.”  

 It should be utter nonsense, to give in so quickly to this, but Artemy makes it easy. Daniil would never have seen this in his future, would not have even made this as a joke. Something had to beat down his resistance to the emotional, a pro to outweigh the cons he associated with vulnerability. Keeping tightly bound was the safest bet, the easy one. He could say he lacked emotion, and anyone would buy it. Nothing short of a miracle could drag him back to the land of the living – but then again, nothing short of a miracle could have saved this town. Artemy Burakh is a man who manufactures miracles.  

05 || it’s sacrilege, you say (T)

This is the last fic that I wrote out that I took a lot of time planning instead of going “hey, I think this idea would be neat” and slapping it onto paper. And I think it turned out really well!! I almost wanted to do something darker with it, more akin to Silent Hill, but I have other ideas in mind for that kind of AU that I’ll play with later, one of which will be a sort of crossover with TMA.

Favorite moment is when I actually implied the twist, though I’m not sure you can call it a twist at all when I used proper tags:

Her eyes drift from Daniil to the wall, pivoting to look through the window. “No,” she says. “I don’t know why he made you.”

 The center of Daniil’s chest feels like a flower, budded but unopened. Smooth, perhaps, but heavy to move, and his petals are made of something sharp. Crystal, maybe. And he can feel the petals start to part with her words, though they make so little sense to him. He steps forward, closer, half expecting Aspity to recoil from him, but she stays unnaturally still as he approaches. He reaches out to wet his lips, dry as sand, before he speaks. “Made me?” There’s no tone in his voice. “What do you mean, made me? And who are you talking about?”

 She doesn’t turn to face him. She blinks, and lashes fall on sunken cheeks. “Do you remember how you got here, doctor?” He opens his mouth, but she’s faster. “Not to my home. To Town. Think: Can you remember how it is you came to be here?” Daniil grinds his teeth on the side of his tongue, sharp edges digging into the flesh. The flesh.      The flesh    . “Take your time,” she says, but it sounds like a joke. “The last train that arrived brought the menkhu, and no one else aboard it. There are no other ways into our Town.”

[agentbarton12]

and we started something by mistake

summary: the development of something more between victor and andrew, as seen through the eyes of everybody else

a/n: im kinda obsessed with these boys ngl. this can be read as secret dating if you want

warnings: fluff

word count: 1.4k

masterlist

benji

Andrew spends a lot of time at Brasstown. This is a new thing, Benji notes, because he cannot recall a single time the other had ever come to the shop. Except for Battle of the Bands, but he hardly thinks that counts.

There’s a routine of sorts:

1. Andrew comes in with Victor before his shift starts

2. He sits at a table and doesn’t order anything until Victor moves to the counter

3. Andrew flirts with Victor until his shift ends and they leave together

The last one shouldn’t bother him as much as it does. Andrew was a regular customer who always tipped generously; there was no reason for Benji to be so off put by him spending so much time here.

Except for the fact that Andrew was not a regular customer. At least not to Victor. Victor had always had excellent customer service—always patient and polite even with difficult customers—but it was different with Andrew. There was a smile Victor reserved just for him, only appearing when Andrew did.

It irked him because he transferred back to this branch to be around Victor again. Benji pretends not to be bothered by the fact that they only say a handful of words to each other a day.

He tries not to sound bitter when he tells Victor to stop lounging around with Andrew and to get back to work. It doesn’t work.

mia

This was, in fact, an emergency.

Lake had sent her yet another flirty text, that Mia knows shouldn’t be taken out of context, but she’s pining and she can’t help it dammit.

She’s power walking through the halls during her study period, hunting Andrew down because he was the only one she’s told about her teensy crush on her best friend. He hadn’t been answering any of the frantic texts she’d sent him in the past ten minutes, so, yes, scouring the halls for him was her only option.

Mia finds him by his locker, leaning against it, arms crossed, talking to someone she can’t identify just yet from how far she was. They were leaning in close, whispering, foreheads almost touching—which is saying a lot considering Andrew towered over most people.

It’s only when she gets closer that she realises that this person was Victor. Victor, who is supposed to be in English class right now. They are both wearing matching lazy smiles, as though they can’t help it, and the sight would have been sweet if it didn’t confuse the hell out of her.

She clears her throat to get their attention. They don’t exactly jump apart at her presence, but they do slowly step away from each other, although reluctantly. As though being apart is the last thing they want to do.

Andrew glances at her curiously. “Code Hudson” is all she says and he nods knowingly.

“I’ll call you later, yeah?” Victor nods at that, a bright smile on his face as he walks away from them, presumably to the class he was supposed to be in.

The shorter girl regards her friend with crossed arms and a steely glare. “I texted you.”

Andrew shrugs easy. “I was busy.” Mia looks past his shoulder in the direction Victor left in, and thinks she’ll ask more about it later. Right now though, she needed to come up with a calm and collected text that said I definitely did not spend twenty minutes trying to come up with a response.

felix

Had he not been paying attention, Felix is sure he wouldn’t have noticed anything.

Mia’s house had become the unofficial official hangout, with Victor’s coming in close second. Everyone had vetoed playing Catan, which Felix tried not to take too personally, so they settled on 30 Seconds.

Lake and Mia were on a team, he and Pilar on another, and Andrew and Victor were together. Like, literally.

Throughout the evening, Andrew has had a hand on Victor’s knee; an arm thrown lazily over his shoulder; sitting way closer together than actually necessary, Felix thinks.

He tries to rack his brain for the moment when this started. When Victor and Andrew’s relationship stops being curt nods and one armed hugs and turns into casual and lingering touches.

Right now, Andrew’s arm was draped over the back of the couch, behind Victor’s head, fingers playing with the curls in his hair. Victor, who was never the biggest fan of physical intimacy, leans into his touch slightly, relaxes.

Felix can’t think of a distinct moment, eventually gives up trying to solve this mystery. Then, with an exaggerated grin, he realises that it isn’t really a mystery. He’s not surprised by this. In fact, he finds, this has been a long time coming.

He drags his attention back to the game when Pilar smacks the back of his head after he messes up an answer, and brings their team to victory.

And when Andrew rests his head on Victor’s shoulder, snuggling into his neck, Felix nods to no one in particular. Yeah, he muses to himself, this makes sense.

lake

If there was one thing Lake was sure of, it’s that Victor was a good kid. A teacher’s pet, if you were feeling petty, which, it seems, she was because that’s exactly what Victor was.

The point is, if she was expecting anyone to be talking during class, Victor would be the last.

And yet, here they were.

Lake only looked up from her notebook she was pretending to be writing notes in when Victor’s incessant hissing became far too annoying for her to ignore. She opens her mouth to tell him off, when she realises he’s trying to get Andrew’s (who sat in front of him) attention.

He turns around, an easy smirk on his lips as he regards Victor with an amused look. “Just can’t get enough of me, can you, Salazar?” he teases.

Victor shrugs noncommittally, grinning cheekily at the other boy. “It seems so, doesn’t it?” And what? Because Andrew was a natural flirt, that part wasn’t surprising, but Victor was flirting back.

Andrew isn’t phased the slightest (is this a normal thing for them??), just laughs lowly and smiles brightly at the other boy. “If you keep talking to me, we’re gonna get in trouble and then I won’t be able to go to that movie with you.”

“We can’t have that, now can we?”

“Pay attention,” Andrew instructs with a fond eyeroll. Because that’s the only way to describe the way he’s looking at Victor right now. Fond. Lake wants to gag.

Without tearing his eyes away from Andrew’s face, Victor says levely, “I am.” And, well, smooth. Ten points to Hufflepuff.

Andrew snorts involuntarily. “Dork,” he says, catching the attention of their teacher. He faces the front again, giving Mr Hutcherson a sheepish grin. When his back is to the class again, Andrew twists in his seat and whispers, “I’ll pick you up at eight.”

No seriously, when did this happen?

pilar

Even though Felix had told her about…whatever it was that was going on between Victor and Andrew (and she believed him, because, well, it made sense), it was still weird to witness it herself.

It’s around eleven p.m. when Pilar hears them stumble through the front door. She vaguely remembers Victor mentioning something about going out with Andrew—a movie, or food, she isn’t sure—and not to wait up. She wasn’t going to, but whatever.

The thing is, when Victor said they were going out, Pilar didn’t think he meant going out. Like, on a date. The realisation catches her off guard.

Her room is right across from his and they were standing in the hallway, giggling quietly, as if they’re trying not to make a noise, but this only makes them laugh louder. The walls are thin. They need to shut up.

“Are you staying over?” Victor asks in a way that isn’t really a question. More like he’s suggesting it. Inviting Andrew to stay over.

“Ooh, does Victor want me to sleep with him?” Andrew asks suggestively.

The boy in question doesn’t miss a beat when he says, “Buy me dinner first.”

Andrew hums thoughtfully. “Didn’t I just do that?”

“No, I don’t think so,” her brother muses.

“No, no, I’m pretty sure I did. Now, does that mean I get to sleep with you?”

Whatever is said next is muffled and Pilar can’t make it out, but she hears the next part loud and clear, they might as well have shouted it from the rooftop.

“You love me.”

“Never said I didn’t.” And oh.

She wonders how no one noticed that this was going on right in front of them, because it’s not as if they were being discreet about it. Whatever, she thinks finally. She’ll text Felix in the morning.

[cookiedoughmeagain]

Haven DVD Commentary: 5.10 - Mortality

Commentary with Speed Weed (writer of the last episode) and Adam Higgs (writer of this episode)

AH: This was my first episode of Haven to write. It was a lot of fun. SW: Yeah you came in when we were already a couple of episodes into the season, and you just got up to speed so fast, it was really great. AH: It was a really nice room to come into, great writers, good people. So we changed the opening of this episode a lot. This fist scene of 5.10 was at one point at the end of 5.09, we had it further down near the end of act one at one point. [As we see Audrey driving] SW: There’s the Toyota integration AH: Yes, and a nice beauty shot of the Toyota there. So Audrey here is coming back from dropping off Hank SW: And Emily is talking here to Lucas Bryant’s wife, who did such a good job on the show [as Rebecca Rafferty] AH: I really wanted to start this episode with lots of tension. I thought Speed took us to a nice level, everyone’s against each other, there’s so much conflict going on, and I wanted to start this episode really hot and just push through. And keep raising the tension to be honest. SW: Yeah, and it ramps up very high, by the time we’re done.

AH: So, the fact that this contagion does set off Troubles like crazy, made this episode have some of the most Troubles SW: I don’t think we’ve ever had nearly as many Troubles on one episode as this one AH: I think we might have trumped it with our next pair of episodes, but up to this point it’s a record SW: And it was great to have your fresh blood in the room because, we sort of have this exhaustive pile, or what we thought was an exhaustive pile, of potential Troubles. And you had the challenge of having a bunch of little Troubles, or not little - they were big Troubles but we didn’t make big stories out of them. So you had to sort of ping them here and there; this Trouble’s happening, then this Trouble’s happening. And you did a really good job of getting a whole bunch of Troubles into one episode that we’d never seen before. We as a room had never talked about before. AH: it was a lot of fun. There’s a list for the room of Troubles that they wanted to have in previous episodes, but didn’t have enough context to tell a whole story around, so we were able to talk those dribs and drabs and mush them together to make one big story.

AH: Another nice shot of the inside of a Toyota there [as Charlotte puts the dashcam on.] And this is a nice little scene here, a bit of Haven meet-cute. SW: Yeah; for our first date we can go to a firing range and you can shoot me! Adam you wrote some scenes for Laura’s audition [Laura who plays Charlotte]. Was it a version of this scene? It was before we had actually gone to script on these episodes. AH: Yeah, there was a version of this scene, and then a version of another scene which is coming up later. So we got to hear her perform some of this in our audition.

SW: There was even an earlier version where Dwight’s last line in 5.09 was “I’m going to tell her [Charlotte] about the Troubles.

*both laughing at Mara and Duke’s first lines to each other* AH: I like the interplay between Duke and Mara SW: Yeah. AH: It’s nice to pair certain characters off together; Duke and Mara, Charlotte and Dwight. SW: It’s a big decision for Duke here, it alters the course of the entire season. AH: What a different show it would be if he was just like; Nope. And left Mara chained up for the rest of the season. And that nice sly smile from Mara there.

AH: So again a couple more Troubles here to demonstrate [the Guard member turning a banana ripe with her touch]. One of the things we wanted to do here was just really try to deal with the reality of what it would be like for a person of science to see the Troubles and really accept what it is. And so we see some push back, instead of how often on a show like this, or on this show, it’ll be like; I’m magic! And there’s just an acceptance right away. But we wanted to really push to see what it would take for someone to buy it.

[As Vince is talking to whichever public official it is in Bangor] AH: So here is Conrad Coates who I worked with on Republic of Doyle, it was fun to have him here for this storyline. We got to have Vince throw his weight around a bit, which I really enjoyed. SW: I love that he decided to wear a tie but keep the plaid shirt. AH: And I think Conrad is now on a sci-fi [SyFy?] show … I want to say Dominion I think he’s been cast in, as a new regular.

[As Audrey and Nathan are on their way to the cells to speak to Victor Kirby] SW: Here’s a story line that worked out very well, but I wish we’d had a chance to do your original - you were going to do a nod to Kristine … AH: Yeah so Victor Kirby who we’re about to meet, has a very different Trouble from what he originally had. We had planned to have him have the machine Trouble SW: Louis Pufahl’s AH: Right, machine man with the zamboni episode where machines fell in love with him and reacted accordingly. And Kirby was going to have a Kristine-like Trouble, but instead of the machines loving him, because he treated them poorly they were trying to kill him. So we had this wonderful sequence with a car chase and Nathan trying to take out the engine and stuff and it was great. We went pretty far on it; Rick, the director had it all story-boarded out, and then we ended up having to cut it. SW: It just proved too expensive in the end I think ,right? AH: Yeah, it was a cost issue. So we went and looked for a different curse for him to have. And one of the fun things here was to bring back something from a past episode. And the ability to see the future, in a way, was a fun one just to tease what’s going to happen. SW: Well the pay off is great. It did much more for the arc of the season than the Kristine one would have done. AH: Exactly, it did just fit into place a lot better. SW: Yeah; he sees Audrey’s death. AH: Vanessa Stanley’s Trouble. And it also reminds us of Duke’s experience of this Trouble in terms of the vision Vanessa had of the arm, which we’ll play on in episode 26.

AH: I love that little dog on Duke’s dashboard there. And again, it was such fun to write these scenes. Mara has such a different voice from a lot of the characters on the show. And again this is a really tense episode, the stakes are really high and she’s able to inject a bit of humour, a bit of fun. AH: And this was fun, getting to have Stan have a little interplay here with Eric. SW: Good old Glen Lefchak, such a nice guy. AH: So we’ve got a Victor Kirby and Stan the Man references, going back to my love of the printed form. So references to Jack Kirby, and then Stan Lee, for Duke’s “Stan the Man” line. I think that’s all I did in this one, sometimes in other episodes I’ll name everyone after a hockey or something, so I always try to have some kind of naming convention. SW: Oh that’s good, I’ve never done that.

[As Charlotte is looking through press clippings about gas leaks] AH: And again we’re trying to deal with the reality of it all. SW: Yeah, make Dwight earn it. AH: And it’s kind of fun to deal with the layers of it all. One of the things we haven’t talked about yet is how Vince and Dave have been using the paper to hide the Troubles, but now we’ve also got this character Peter Palek who’s been using information and data to hide the Troubles for years - his whole life basically.

[As we see the Troubled bear suit in the station] AH: I love this music, it’s such a great little cue. And it was great how well this bear curse lined up with what’s going on with Audrey. SW: Thematically with Audrey, right; her worries about is she just an empty suit like the bear AH: There’s some wonderful resonance there. And I like the interplay here with Nathan and Audrey too. It was fun in this season, and coming on board in this season, with the relationship between them being a bit more solid. It’s not a will-they-won’t-they thing, it’s more of a; We’re a couple and we’re in a relationship, and what is like when you’re in a relationship; how you protect each other, but can still give each other space, because you’re in that comfort zone of knowing that this is going to continue. You don’t have to always be buying flowers and dinners every night. Though I’m sure Nathan still does do that every night. SW: Oh, for sure. AH: And again there’s some call backs to previous Troubles there [as Nathan is mentioning douens and golems]. It was fun to come onto a show that has so much mythology and so many stories to highlight. And I think one of the goals for this season was just to lean into that a bit and make reference to where we’ve been and - [sentence cuts off abruptly, presumably as they go to the ad break]

AH: There’s Jayne [who plays Gloria]. I liked writing for her as well, she has an interesting role as a character where she can say some things that no one else gets to say. SW: Yeah, totally free of pretence

SW: It’s interesting about Audrey and Nathan’s relationship. It makes me think that in a lot of ways - I certainly hope the show comes back, but we were writing it to 5.26 imagining that it might not, and wanting to wrap it up in a satisfying way. And, as all shows do, or certainly supernatural shows as they age they become much more serialised, and you can see how much more serialised we’re getting here. And it allowed us to take Audrey and Nathan to a new level, because we didn’t have to build up from there. But if the show comes back, it will come back in a way from 5.26 that has to be reinvented; it coudln’t be the same show. The stakes get too big AH: Yeah we can’t just pick up from where 5.26 left; so much has changed, so much is different. SW: No, I mean, we bring in William Shatner, that’s now big it gets. The Captain himself.

AH: So again we’re ratcheting up the tension here SW: Yeah, if 5.09 was structured as a farce, this is structured as a disaster movie.

AH: It’s interesting, five seasons into a show, getting to see how characters grow and change. Like Speed was saying, it becomes more serialised. And just to see how far Dwight’s come since his first episode when he was a fixer in the background. SW: Yeah, huge change. AH: And he’s now in charge of the Guard, in charge of the police. He’s the hero of this town and he has to act like it. Big decisions, big pressure. SW: And we did that because he let us. He came out of wrestling, never really having acted before, and just did a phenomenal job. And every time we gave him a new inflection, he really delivered. So we really came to feel that there was nothing we could give him to do that he wouldn’t just hit out of the park, and he did. He has a long career in Hollywood if he wants it. AH: For sure.

AH: Now I don’t remember exactly what the combination is on this lock [on the safe in the police station with the aether in], but I do know it’s a Stephen King reference. And this was fun for me to write [as Mara and Duke hid under the desk when Dwight comes in]; inadvertent sexiness. And I’m sure it’s going to be OK that Mara knows the combination to the safe now. SW: She’ll keep it to herself. AH: Exactly, she’s a very private person.

AH: I like Conrad Coates’ wardrobe here; he’s rocking that yellow tie with the yellow shirt there. Very different palette. And these were some of the issues, you know that maybe somebody influenced a political campaign, the Troubles in other parts of the world besides Haven, when we came up with the idea of the shroud, this was an answer to what’s happening outside Haven with the Troubles.

AH: Peter Palek is named after a doctor friend of mine, a good friend of mine, Gary Palek. And I’ve named a couple doctors after him in various shows. And we looked at Contagion the movie to get some of this nice research - and then of course, looked it up. But this R0 stuff [that Peter is writing up on the blackboard in the morgue] SW: And the other source of information that we had that was very helpful in these two episodes, is Adam has a close relationship with an epidemiologist in Canada, right? AH: Dr David Kelvin, my girlfriend’s father, is one of those WHO (World Health Organisation) doctors who travels around the world. He’s in China right now actually, there’s a bad outbreak there. So, if it goes really bad, then sorry you’re listening to this at the end of the world, but enjoy! [I feel the need at this point to note this was being recorded in 2015] SW: I love that the dude has a farm in the middle of nowhere in Canada in an undisclosed location, and suggests that everyone have such a place for armageddon. AH: Well the scariest thing was over Christmas I was told to stock up on tamiflu. But he was a great resource for some of this information on how diseases travel and how a CDC doctor would react. And odd fact about him is he wanted to be a screenwriter when he was younger, and ended up becoming a doctor instead. SW: Oh really! You can shoot him a freelance someday.

AH: Oh here we go, this was the scene that I wrote for the audition [Charlotte telling Dwight about tearing her containment suit in the middle of an outbreak in the Congo]. And she nailed it then and she nails it here again. And those were really the first scenes I wrote for Haven, and Speed gave me really good notes on them. I have to give huge props, and it helped so much to get that out of the way before I got to write this episode. So thank you again Speed. And there’s a reference to Cake Lady again! We love cake lady [the woman who everything she touches turns to cake] SW: She comes back in 26 doesn’t she? AH: I think so. SW: I hope she does. I haven’t seen a cut of 26 yet. AH: I have yet to see it as well. There’s a lot of cameos in 26 though. SW: There are; a lot of people involved. All shot in Canada. AH: Really good work by the two actors there in this scene. And props to Rick, the director as well.

[As Dwight is talking to Kirk in the hospital] AH: So this was an interesting bit of casting here, where we had numerous different characters in this role and it ended up working really well because Kirk continues on in the next two episodes. SW: Very prominently, and we’ve seen him before. AH: We have, and this was a different Guard member for a couple of drafts; it kept changing. Very happy where we ended up though.

[As Mara watches Charlotte leave the lab] AH: Now for everyone at home who’s seen the next few episodes, this is a big moment for Mara. SW: Huge. AH: Huge moment. She just saw … somebody who she’s kind of related to

[As Nathan and Peter talk to Dwight about how Peter is the source of the contagion and we see him struggling to stay calm about it] SW: We’ve always been interested (since I’ve been on the show starting from the beginning of season four) in people that you can’t Trouble Whisper. Shernold and I wrote an episode, 4.12, about a Troubled baby; you can’t Trouble Whisper a baby. And Adam did a great job here with someone that you can’t Trouble Whisper because Troubles work on emotions and Peter Palek is Asbergers - we never quite say it but, AH: He’s on the spectrum SW: Right

AH: I remember this was a later addition, this oxygen Trouble [Kirk’s Trouble sucking the oxygen out of the room], and it worked really well SW: It worked really well. Though we went back and forth about how Duke could actually move when everyone else was down. I forget what we added; oh he’s a scuba diver AH: There’s a scene that was added where he gasps for air at the open window. But we had gone through a bunch of things.

SW: Different Troubles are different in our universe. If someone dies in the middle of expressing a Trouble, some people the Trouble dies with them, other people it can live past them. We think it makes sense. AH: I think so. It was interesting coming on to the show because everything is well thought out. Nothing is random. There’s so much logic behind everything. The history of Troubles of how everything happened in previous episodes is all thought about, nothing is discarded, everything has to line up. And it was interesting to come on board and find how to tell these stories within those margins and those rules. Which I thought made for better stories.

AH: Now Nathan here is not remembering what you learn on an airplane that you should put the oxygen mask on yourself first. SW: He isn’t, but there was only one. He had to put it on his beloved.

AH: So here’s Duke taking a big breath out the window before he goes inside the hospital SW: His pearl diving. For black pearls.

AH: I love the shaky camera work here [to show the lack of oxygen]. Really good work by Rick. SW: Absolutely. I wonder how he shot that; is that a Go Pro on her chest? When you see their arms in front. AH: I think you’re right I think it would have to be. SW: Rick our director was a camera operator and then a DP and then a director, and you can really see that the camera work is just exceptional.

[As Peter is talking to Duke with Mara outside the hospital] SW: This ability of Duke’s has been quite the story engine for us over the years. It’s a real curse, to get a great benefit from killing somebody. What do you do? It’s a moral dilemma of the highest sort. And we’ve done a lot of flavours on it, but we hadn’t done this yet, where Mara forces the issue. Super cool, you did a really good job on this Adam. AH: And that ability, the fact that Duke is special, that Duke is different from everyone else, really builds for the end of this season and then even into the next SW: Much more so for his finale, so to speak AH: I really liked this a lot how all of the Troubles aren’t just powers they are actually curses, things you wouldn’t want to have. And they’re emotional, everything is routed in emotion, and there are places for the characters to go because of that.

AH: So there was originally an additional scene. This [where Dwight wakes up on the lab floor and Charlotte finds him] was not initially the last scene between Dwight and Dr Cross here, we went further on the first draft of this episode where they actually kiss. SW: Oh I had forgotten that. We just have to wait until 5.11 I guess right? AH: It might be 5.12 I think. But it would have been too fast to have it here. It was a great choice to wait. And the chemistry between Audrey and Nathan here is great. I loved writing them as a couple.

Nathan, on screen; “Things are finally starting to look up.” AH: Oh, can’t have that, things can’t go too well in Haven. Audrey; *coughing fit*

AH: And it was fun to tidy up this episode with all these little coda scenes at the end because  there’s just so much more coming. SW: And I just love this scene Adam [Mara talking to Duke in the front seat of the landrover], really, it’s the kind of emotional scene that we don’t get to do too often. It’s very real. It takes a supernatural thing where he had to kill this guy, and talks about the manipulation behind it. AH: It was interesting, I do believe personally from a writing standpoint that with Mara there is some honesty here. There is some truth in what she’s saying. SW: Yeah. AH: This isn’t just her trying to trick somebody. And that’s a fun device too, of Mara knowing everything that Audrey did, having all of Audrey’s memories. It’s a really unique way of utilising a character when you can flip their perspective completely and you still have all of that context. Mara, to Duke; “We’re on our own.” AH: It’s fun to think of this through the filter of what Mara just saw, seeing her mom.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Forty-Four: Bearing Fruit ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

For so long, he had so little to show for his actions.

His growth while training in Konoha felt...stagnate. From age seven when the massacre occurred to thirteen when the chūnin exams concluded, it was like he crawled along at a snail’s pace while time raced forward. Time, time, he never had enough time…!

Training under Orochimaru was...better, but still felt...lacking. Not in the sense that the snake sannin was keeping things from him, or...coddling him. More like he didn’t take Sasuke entirely seriously. Their views...differed. Whenever Sasuke spared those Orochimaru demanded he kill, he was called soft. It didn’t matter that he argued no one else had to die but Itachi. He could still see the derision in his teacher’s eyes.

A look that clearly said weak.

Then, finally, nearly a decade of work paid off. He confronted his brother, had a long and bloody battle...but emerged the victor. At last, his clan would have peace. Revenge.

But...no.

It was all a lie.

Madara - or Obito, as Sasuke later learned he was truly called - pulled the rug out from under him. Granted...as furious and confused as he was, Sasuke had to be grateful. If not for Obito and his scheming...he’d likely have never known about the truth of the Uchiha incident. Behind the slaughter of his family, his clan, his people.

But what irked him most wasn’t that he’d been lied to...it was that, once again, all his efforts were in vain. He mourned his brother, of course...but it felt like he’d been knocked all the way back to square one. Seeking revenge against those who wronged him.

Once again he was a little boy staring up angrily at the people who had truly taken everything from him.

But this time...he wouldn’t fail.

Danzō was simple enough. The fool’s martyrdom didn’t bother Sasuke in the slightest. It wasn’t like he’d have lasted much longer anyway. Next on his list was Konoha.

But before that could happen, Obito went and started a war. And during that war, Sasuke confronted even more truths. Learned even more about the futility of his previous plans, as he spoke to both his brother, and the prior Hokage.

Could nothing be simple?

Even his ultimate plan - to clean the slates of the old ways, and bring the shadows of the shinobi world to light - was stopped in its tracks.

By none other than Naruto.

How nauseatingly typical.

Of course, by now, he’s come to terms with that...interruption. But at the time, his rage, his disappointment, his fervor to do something, anything, about a world that had led to so many wars, so many deaths, so many massacres, pushed him to the most radical of solutions.

But at least he’d tried to do something…!

How many others simply laid down and accepted such a world? A world where genin watched young and grown men throw their lives away as tools? Where children were burdened with beasts of unimaginable power...and treated like pariahs when they’d had no choice in such matters? Where an entire clan could be wiped off the map simply for demanding equal treatment beneath a rigged and biased system?

It, quite frankly, sickened him.

But, for a time...Sasuke grew tired. So, so tired. Finally he had the power to make such a change reality. Ten years after the loss of his clan, he was practically a god among shinobi. But his only equal dogged his every step. Tempered him, maybe...but also refused to see any path, any method, but his own.

So, Sasuke intended to leave. Clear his head. Try to figure out the true path to peace.

But, Life had other plans. Itachi was revived. Shisui revealed himself to be alive. His niece and nephew were sparks of potential for a new generation of Uchiha, half-blood or not.

Something new finally bloomed in him.

Hope.

He wasn’t alone…! He had not one, but two of his kin at his side. Suddenly the bleak future of solitude he’d accepted was no more.

...but what to do with that hope?

They started at the top. Oust the prior council. Unite the clans against the imbalance of power between the administration and their populations. Homura and Koharu were forced to step down, stripped of their powers. Never again would they incite violence against their own people. Itachi was pardoned to match his brother.

At last, the Uchiha were free…!

Of course...it wasn’t so simple. Legally they’d been reinstated. Socially? They were still outcasts. But Sasuke cared little about that. He had his family. He needed nothing else.

...well...almost nothing else.

Idling was, for him, an impossibility. Sit too long without an occupation, and he’d surely go mad. So, he started scavenging for something to do. At first he considered rejoining the shinobi ranks - his brother had done so, taking over the ANBU branch. Shisui took a job as a Hokage bodyguard. But what could he do…? Simply doing grunt shinobi work seemed...pointless. He was too strong to be wasted on petty missions. ANBU work was challenging, sure, but...not his style.

And then...it hit him.

He’d return to his roots. A job he’d daydreamed of holding when he was just a boy.

Sasuke decided to rebuild the police force.

Of course, he knew he couldn’t do so alone. Strong as he was, he was just one man. To patrol an entire village - meet all of its citizens’ needs - he’d never manage.

So, he turned to their allies.

Having offered a hand to the Uchiha early on in their return, the Hyūga were like a looming shadow behind them, daring anyone to bring trouble to their distant cousins. Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui were mighty - among the mightiest. But they lacked numbers. And that was where the Hyūga came in.

Among them, Sasuke had been getting to know Hinata best. No longer heiress (and no longer seeking to be), she instead had been serving as a kind of diplomat between their clans. With a returned Neji acting as Hanabi’s advisor, she in turn was the bridge between the families.

Which was wise. She wasn’t stuffy or overbearing like Sasuke quickly learned the rest of the Hyūga were. She he could get along with.

Rather well, actually.

Which is why he brought his idea first to her.

Something had sparked in her eyes. An eagerness. Quickly agreeing, she helped organize and bring the idea before her father, sister, and cousin.

After brief deliberation, it was agreed. The Uchiha and Hyūga would unite to create a new police force. The eyes to watch over Konoha from within.

Just as Itachi watched beyond their wall.

To Sasuke’s honest surprise, Hinata was among the first to join. She admitted to a similar sensation: one of idleness and feeling useless. Diplomacy, yes, she was well-versed in...but it felt unsatisfying. Shinobi missions, too, were just not the same. Not enough. She agreed perfectly that helping Konoha from within would help strengthen it. Clear out bad will, keep order, help those that needed help when a shinobi wasn’t able.

Was it any wonder, then, that they became partners, soon leading the force together?

It was then, some time after their founding, that Sasuke felt...complete. Like he’d finally found his role. All of his efforts - all the years, the work, the pain - were finally bearing fruit. No longer did he feel like a failure, always one step behind.

No...now, he’d taken the reins of his own destiny. He would protect and shape Konoha from within to something bigger, better, than it was before. The shadows would be cleared under his watchful eyes.

And he wouldn’t do it alone.

In fact...he’d never have to do anything else alone ever again. He’d found and gathered his family...rebuilt the bonds with his friends...and found a quiet love in the last place he expected to find it.

The fruits of his labors were sweet, indeed.

     I'm...slightly early for once! Woohoo!      Another of my more...introspective pieces. Sometimes when a prompt feels a bit too...vague, I do pieces like this. Not based on a scene, or dialogue, but more on a recap of how that prompt overarches for a character. And...most of the time it's Sasuke, lol - I don't know why! In all honesty I relate to Hinata very closely, so...I don't know why I default to writing from Sasuke's POV more often. He's just easier for me to write. *shrugs*      ANYWHO, this is - obviously - about how Sasuke finally finds a place and a purpose post-war. ALAS has a LOT of canon divergence post-699 (as my regulars will know), and this sums up a few ways it's different. There's...a LOT more to it, like the main conflict of arc three (aka everything post-699), but...that's not the focus for tonight.      But, before I blabber on, I'll call it a night - I can finally get to bed early for once xD And as always, thank you for reading!

[takingtea-and-tellingtales]

thoughts while re-watching ep. 2x12 of Gotham

*ice puns intensify*

wow harvey, interrogating jim gordon at this trial is a little two-faced of you (i will never stop)

drink for “someone tries to say ‘oswald cobblepot’ and with gravitas” 

(and then drink like nine more times for the rest of the scene)

i watched a crack-vid that played “love crime” from the finale of Hannibal over Jim and Oswald killing Galavan and now I can’t unhear it???? i also can’t find it again to leave a link here???? 

“detective, did you have anything to do with the murder of theo galavan?” “what? no. what? who’s galavan. never heard of him. is it hot in here? maybe you killed him, didja ever think of that???” BE A BETTER LIAR, JAMES

prosecutor voice: “jim gordon, is there perhaps a small shaky mobster being tortured in arkham for a crime YOU committed?” (yeah, yeah, oswald has committed upwards of 50 murders at this point i’m AWARE but he didn’t do this one)

okay, friends, let’s TALK about SOME THINGS: 

(1) I SEE YOU, JOKER-CULT SPRAY PAINT

CALLED. OUT. 

(2) This:

i should clarify. i know i’m generally very excited about pretty much everything oswald wears because he is STYLISH AF at all times. but this is different. everyone get out your shipper goggles and strap in, this is going to be a ride...

these are not oswald’s clothes. 

i know this for a few reasons

(1) oswald is a much better dresser than this

(2) oswald is a much less practical dresser than this

(3) that coat is too big for him

(i know this because @tigerinkangel and i spent way way way too long looking at the few shots of oswald in this coat in the episode and we determined that the coat is made for someone taller and with broader shoulders... gee. who was oswald just staying with who is taller and has broader shoulders? i wonder.)

these are ed’s clothes 

ed has given oswald not just a coat but THREE LAYERS OF CLOTHES so he DOESN’T GET COLD including a little checked scarf (that surely would match ed’s fab red coat from later this season) and a knitted toque (a hat for all you non-Canadians) 

this is PRECIOUS

i want you all to image how this went down:

“i have to go, ed, they’ll find me and you’ll get into trouble too”

“where will you go?”

“just lay low for a while”

“where?”

“around”

“you’re going to be cold and, frankly, recognizable in that getup” 

“i can’t exactly go back home and change now, can i?”

“well then you’ll take some of my clothes”

“your clothes?” 

“yes. i think i have some sweaters...” 

*cut of ed forcing ugly knit sweaters over oswald’s head as the grumpy little murder-bird complains the whole damn time*

*cut to ed making sure he has a walking stick because the umbrella is a dead giveaway but he needs something for his leg*

*smash-cut to me being trash. oh wait. that’s all the time.”

alright. rant kind of over for now. 

i am HERE FOR the moment in the lab where Ed has the police scanner running and he hears news of Oswald and drops the thing (tooth?) he is holding in his tweezers and stares at the radio. I AM HERE FOR IT. 

i’m slightly less here for butch’s drill-bit arm though it does give him a nice bond-villain vibe

otp: strangely enough i am kind of fond of you 

(Tabitha is me trying to flirt: “you don’t suck i guess whatever”)

come on, Mr. Fries, be cool 

chill out, Mr. Fries, no need for such a... frosty reception 

Harvey Bullock saying “you don’t deserve these lips” is now my preferred method of rejection

“froze her?” “told you it was weird” - oh my sweet summer child you don’t even KNOW how weird this is going to get

(when will there be live penguins wearing tiny rockets you cowards?????)

okay there’s a ton to unpack in this ed-explains-the-roses-and-liquid-nitrogen scene but i’m not going to unpack any of it because i spend a whole chapter doing that in my very long fanfic and i don’t want to spoil it for y’all... i promise it’s super extra, though, and very shippy. you’re welcome. 

i will, however, take a tiny moment to FREAK OUT about ed shattering the rose and saying “i don’t like being called names, detective” through gritted teeth because DAMN that’s a good moment

also harvey looking at ed in this scene is harvey staring into the void and the void staring back - i like to think he saw the riddler in that moment. i just really love it it’s super powerful okay??? 

jim: “what is your relationship with oswald cobblepot?” ed: “i believe the kids today refer to it as “endgame”? i admit the terminology is a little fuzzy...”

(i’m not sorry)

“saying the word ‘Cobblepot’ with gravitas: Ed Nygma edition” 

penguin looks so tiny being dragged through the GCPD bullpen in a coat that’s too big for him. 

also ed watching oswald get thrown in the holding cell #hearteyes

i LOVE this interrogation scene. oswald is beat up, cold, arrested, wearing borrowed clothes and he still has all the power in the scene. 

HOWEVER - why does he cover for jim, here? honest question. is he still kinda infatuated with jim? his he hoping this will pay off in the long run? what’s his game here? 

victor, your research is cold comfort in this hard time of illness (#i’llneverstop)

dear victor, being able to freeze someone without bringing them back is just murdering them more slowly. delayed-murder. 

hey it’s me, shipper trash, back again to talk about the scene where ed and oswald chat through the bars of the holding cell. 

first - the overhead shot of ed pretending to look through files and oswald sitting in the cell is awesome. just... awesome

“you doing okay? you look kind of funky” - ED STAHP he’s the head of the gotham mob - ugh he’s too cute i mean, normal things. i’m fine

sub-point: oswald’s tiny smile and laugh tell me that my above freakout is also his internal monologue

ed just wants to helpppppp they LOVE EACH OTHER (i’m FINE)

i wish we had a scene of ed leaving flowers on Gertrud’s grave that would have been nice i think

gee, i wish ed had gone to visit ed in Arkham so i didn’t have to write 100k of fanfic fixing that (jokes, i loved writing it)

Lucius Fox explaining cryogenics to Harvey is the epitome of patience. he is a better soul than any in Arkham

oh this scene in Arkham is so cringey i feel so bad for oswald (yes i know he killed lots of people just let me be sad about this)

“my name is oswald cobblepot” is gotham’s “harriet jones, prime minister”

*dalek voice* “we. know. who. you. are.”

Victor’s a cool customer in this tense lab experiment. #i’mhilarious

i’m having Fringe flashbacks watching this body melt and not in a good way

any fellow Fringe fans out there? yes? no? 

why the hell isn’t there a refill order on Nora’s medication? how did that happen? 

Alright let’s take a moment to appreciate the hell out of BD Wong as Hugo Strange because holy shit he knocks it out of the park. 

remember how i said earlier that oswald still has all the power in the scene with barnes? yeah this scene where he shakes hands with strange you can just see all the power gather around strange like - i was immediately genuinely afraid for oswald’s safety

he’s got to stand toe-to-toe with the worst of the worst in gotham and still have the upper hand and his presence on screen makes that happen from moment 1

those pink glasses are awesome and i love them 

i really like Mr. Freeze’s homemade outfit it’s adorable 

why is Freeze bothering to hide the bodies at this point? like he really should just run - he has the meds and doesn’t need the bodies

back to BD Wong because i love him

he’s so creepy i love the way he chuckles through the word “yes” 

he’s just got this low, rumbling voice - never yelling, never talking faster - that you absolutely have to listen to whenever he talks. such a great contrast to ozzie’s scream-crying 

oswald’s freckles are very cute in this scene which is a weird thing to focus on i realize but we don’t really see them much in other scenes and they are cute

the little power-play with the tea cup - i love it. oswald pouring tea for himself, hugo taking it away. so. much. intensity. and. passive. aggression. i. love. it. 

now, after all this time, nora finds the murder-basement - freaks out, then just sits there staring at the body. 

harvey and jim arguing over the name is pure though i love them they are absolute disasters. 

while conceptually i’m aware i’m supposed to be invested in victor fries as a character i’m just not - it was a good call to push him mostly to the background after this. 

jfc the guy in arkham gouging out his own eyes i forgot about that. did i mention i LOVE all the arkham plots it is my favourite setting in gotham 

ed doing a little crouch to check for the missing dead body under the table then just going “huh” is like... peak gotham. ed’s got the hang of this city 

“also seems to have had a rather unhealthy relationship with his deceased mother” - hugo strange, not afraid to tell the truth we all try not to talk about

everytime the newspapers give someone a nickname i headcanon it’s valerie vale, living her best life, naming literally every batman villain 

... alright folks i know it’s been a year since i finished one of these but i’m back at it on the regular now so, stay tuned if you enjoy this sort of nonsense. 

[bokatankryse]

i haven’t done this before, but i love these 2 so i though i’d give it a shot. 

here are some gert x chase first time head canons to help you through your day. 

(also, its not said what their ages are in the show, but since the 5 were all in the same class i’ve rounded them to 16)

the first time gert remembered meeting chase, they were 4 and they were best friends. the pride knew how much their children loved each other (much to their confusion) and made sure to have regular play dates between the 7 of them. nico, amy and alex always wanted to play hide and seek, but gert and chase thought that playing pirates was much more fun, so every time the future runaways were together they split into 2 groups, with karo swapping each time and molly following after karolina.

this time they were at molly’s house and gert had arrived before chase. she hated waiting, so when he arrived (10 minutes late), the moment she heard the car pulling up in the drive way she sprinted to the door. when molly’s parents let chase inside, gert gave him a quick hug before dragging him to the back yard, already telling him what today’s adventure would be about. (looking back at 16, gert knows that this wasn’t the first time they’d met, but it was her oldest full formed memory of him and she cherished it much more than she ever let on)

the first time chase remembered missing gert was when they were 6 and put into a different class in school. he and gert usually sat next to each other and helped the other with their work. on the first day, he turned to tell gert something funny he saw out the window and was surprised  to see alex sitting there instead. this kept happening all day, so when he got home he told his dad who immediately rung gert’s parents to see of she felt the same way. when her parents confirmed that she did, his dad rung the school and used all his influence to have them put in the same class. (after that no school dared to separate them, lest they invoke the wrath of victor stein)

the first time gert got in trouble for chase, they were 11 and some idiot boys had been trying to bully him. gert knew that chase’s dad had been unhappy with his grades recently, and had been making chase feel terrible. somehow, 3 idiot boys had also found out. they approached chase (and gert) at lunch and started making fun of him, telling chase that he was pathetic, that there was no way he could ever be as good as his dad and that his dad would never be able to love someone as dumb as him. gert had gotten so angry she couldn’t see properly. when she turned to chase to see if she should handle them, she saw that instead of getting angry like she had, he had seemed to have shrunken in on himself. this made gert somehow even angrier. she turned to the boys, got right up in their faces and gave them a speech they would never forget (all about human decency and how they were no better than garbage), then punched each of them in the face. when she was finished, she turned to chase to see him already looking at her, smiling.

unluckily for gert, a teacher walked by just in time to catch the tail end of the fight. even though both her and chase insisted that the boys started it and that gert was just defending chase, she still got 2 weeks of lunch time detention. when chase had run out of ways to try and get gert out of it, he told the teacher that he had punched the boys too. before gert could say anything, chase had also gotten 2 weeks detention and the teacher had walked away. when gert told him that he shouldn’t have done it, chase just laughed and said that he couldn’t have let his best friend suffer 2 weeks of detention alone just for defending him.

the first time chase called molly his sister she was 10 and he and gert were 12. chase spent most afternoons at their house, as well as spending all weekend with either just gert or the rest of the runaways. he was at their house one thursday after school and was helping molly bake biscuits while gert did her homework on the kitchen counter. he had rolled out the dough and molly was taking forever to pick her favourite biscuit cutters when he said “i never thought having a little sister would mean that i had to be so patient” and then the room went quiet. he realized what he said a few seconds later and cringed. when he looked up at gert, she was staring at him like he was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. when he tried to talk himself out of the hole he’d dug, molly interrupted him to say “i never thought having an older brother would mean he got to nag at me when he got bored”. chase laughed in relief, thinking that maybe he hadn’t made a mistake after all.

they’d known each other for years, but when gert first realized she might like like chase, they were 14 and they were at amy’s funeral. even though he was a boy and gert knew that people thought boys shouldn’t cry, he didn’t seem to care. he was just standing by his parents and silently letting the tears roll down his face. 

at the wake, when the runaways (minus alex) gathered in a corner to grieve together, he made sure to tell nico how sorry he was and asked if there was anything he could do to help. when she said no, he started helping gert distract molly from thinking about how the last funeral she had attended was her parents, making jokes and telling stories until molly told him that all she wanted was to hold someone’s hand. he didn’t let go of her hand once til his parents made him get in the car to leave.

the first time chase thought gert was beautiful (but not the last) was when they were 15 and he saw her with purple hair for the first time. by then, they had stopped being friends, so the first time he saw her after was from across the hall and he had been shocked, because gert, the girl who had never let anyone else touch her hair, gert, the girl who always wore brightly coloured hippy clothes, gert, the girl who always got to class on time and handed her homework in was wearing an over sized graffiti-ed  jacket, ripped stocking and purple hair. he had just stared at her until his new lacrosse friends asked him what he was looking at. when they turned to see, he quickly herded them in the direction of their class room, saying that he thought he had seen a spider.

(I have now cleaned this up a bit and posted it on AO3, if you want to read a more polished version)

[classicallyelegant]

Yes, it’s me again......progress has been steady --- I guess. I don’t know. If you have a minute.....please let me hear from you. Thank you!

We go out of the building arm in arm. I can’t exactly explain why, but I’m so excited! It feels like such a weight has been lifted and I get to spend a day with the guy that means the world to me. Now, he’s not Matt, but Rod is so very thoughtful and I really meant what I said earlier. I would love to share things with him that I can’t really with Matt. It may sound complicated, but I do love, adore, cherish both of them. There are differences though. Matt and I can only go so far together. I think we’ve both realized that. Rod can go beyond……if we can only get to where we have that openness….that trust together! I truly hope we do because I honestly don’t want to give him up!

“Which direction do we go?”

“Could we drop by the restaurant first? I’d like to let Russ know I’m OK.”

“Sure, that sounds like a nice idea.” He smiles as he squeezes my hand. We go in and I ask the wait staff for Russ. A few minutes later, his smiling face is right in front of us.

“Princess! You’re up and about! I’m glad to see you, my dear.” He hugs me and shakes hands with Rod.

“Yes, I feel a bit better. I just wanted to thank you for checking on me. I am so sorry to make so much trouble this morning.”

“Oh now! I was glad to help out where I could and I’m so glad to see that Rod was a good nurse to you!” Rod blushes. “Are you two hungry now?”

We both look at each other and shake our heads. “No, darling, we already ate. We’re going to roam around the neighborhood since we finally have a free day together. Thanks for the offer though! I don’t want to keep you from your important work.” I smile.

“Nothing is that important around here.” He giggles.

“NOT TRUE! You are the true food master here!” I tell him. Now he’s blushing too. “I’m not the first to say such, I know! No one can top you, Russ!” He puts his hand over his heart and I just have to hug him again!

“Only one other person’s opinion means as much to me.” He whispers while I’m in his arms. I have to smile because I know he means Matt. I feel very privileged to be included anywhere with him, but especially in Russ’ eyes! I gently touch his face and he lightly kisses my hand. I adore this guy so much! I’m so glad he’s the one to be with Matt.

“Darling, we better get going.” Rod puts his hand on my back. Yes, of course, you’re right! We both wave goodbye to Russ and now…..off on our adventure!

We go walking towards our usual bus stop but we decide to keep going. As we round a corner, a music shop catches my eye. I didn’t think we even had such anymore. I grab Rod’s arm in amazement. He giggles and says “Wanna go in?” I can only nod because I’m speechless to see it. We go in and I’m immediately transported back to when this used to be a regular occurrence. Music posters and t-shirts everywhere and records….REAL vinyl records…..along with CDs and cassettes! I’m in HEAVEN! We stay close together but we each point out singers and bands we recognize. This is so much fun! We’re both looking at several records, but we have nothing to play them on at home.

“Excuse me, you two need something?” We turn to see a rather gruff looking man say to us.

“Oh, we were just looking at these records, but we don’t have any record player.” Rod says sadly.

“That all? We can fix that!” he motions for us to follow him. He leads us to a small room with several record players on display. I spot a red suitcase one that I fall in love with instantly! It has a beat up look about it but I ask if we can try it.

“Sure, darling…..here you go.” The man presents us with a record and I try it out. Oh this sounds so good! I think I’m almost hypnotized by this whole thing! I just clasp my hands and smile as broadly as I can to Rod. He looks a little skeptical but he asks the man how much. The man sees me and says, “Well, normally, I would ask about $50 for that record player.” Both our faces drop. “But in this case, I’ll take $25.” He smiles at me. I’m so happy; I hug him and Rod both! I gladly pay him and Rod picks out three records for us to listen to. We thank him and make our way back home. I can’t wait to listen! When we get back, Rod says he wants to go back for food, but I want to set up our new player, so he goes without me. I carefully take the record out and set it on the player. It’s real and in my hands! This is too cool! It begins to play and I can’t help it, I just start swaying along with the music. The slow jazzy tune has me slowly turning around when I notice Rod left the door slightly ajar. Crazy guy! I walk to close it when a hand comes through it. Who? What in the…?

“Hello, Maxey! Remember me?” My eyes focus and I recognize Mr. Key, the guy in charge of Russ and Matt’s adoption. What is he doing here?

“Umm, hi Mr. Key. I wasn’t expecting to see you.” I open the door only slightly more than it already is. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“No, I actually was looking for Russ but I heard the music coming from here, so I thought I would just drop by.” He smiles and looks down.

“You need him for something?”

“It’s nothing really. Just checking on him and his partner.”

“But neither of them are home right now.”

“Yes, I figured that when there was no answer. Oh well! It’s nice to see you again. I wanted to apologize about that little mix-up with the DVD. I really thought I heard your voice in that show.” He looks back up at me and he seems a little lost.

“Oh it’s OK. I didn’t have anything to do with that show though.” I’m standing by the door and waiting for him to get to his point.

“Have you known Matt and Russ for a long time?”

“Yes, I guess you could say that. I work with Matt.”

“Oh I see. That’s nice. He does seem to have all the luck.” He says more to himself than to me.

“I’m sorry?”

“It’s nothing really! I was just thinking out loud I suppose.” He tries to smile to me. “You still have your music going I hear. That sounds very good.”

“Thanks! My boyfriend will be happy to hear that you approve of his taste.” I watch him shift nervously. Is he really trying to talk to me for some reason?

“Of course you would have a boyfriend…….I figured such…..” He looks at me but I see over his shoulder that Rod has finally returned!

“Hi! I’m back with sandwiches again!” Rod grins and I’m overjoyed to see him. I open the door to let him in.

“So….you’re the lucky guy?” Mr. Key turns to Rod. Rod looks at me and then at him and smiles his biggest smile.

“If you mean that I live here, then yes! That would be me!” He comes in and sets his bags on the table before coming back and wrapping me in his arms. ‘I see you got the music going.” He says to me. I simply smile up to him then snuggle under his chin.

“I better get going! I’ll see y’all soon…..maybe….” Mr. Key goes down the stairs. Why did he even come anyway? Rod and I both say goodbye but I doubt he even heard us.

“Who was that?” he looks at me.

“Mr. Key. He was the one in charge of Matt and Russ’ adoption. I saw him when I went with Russ. He was the one to tell him no.”

“Oh I see! Why was he here then?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I have no idea!” Rod only smiles and rocks me in his arms.

“Tell me something….” He says as we make our way to the table. “Did I ever look that desperate to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Wasn’t it obvious? That guy is totally in love with you! Did I ever come off that badly?”

“Oh you!” I can’t help but laugh as we both sit down. “How can you say that when this is only the third time I’ve seen him? I highly doubt I could capture his heart in such a brief time period.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself. You don’t realize the power you wield!” He smiles. Oh goodness! Not even in my wildest dreams would anyone be smitten with me at the first glance. “I know firsthand!”

“Oh whatever! You make me sound like some sort of witch or something and I am no such thing!”

“No, you’re no witch.”

“See?”

“You are an enchantress! A seductress! A…”

“And you’re crazy!” I laugh. “Maybe you need both sandwiches to get your head straight!”

“No, seriously…” Rod looks at me full of feeling. “Since I first saw you, I’ve felt like I was under your spell. You seemed to make any other around you just fade away. They didn’t matter. They didn’t exist! It was you! Only you! That’s why I’ve been so intent on keeping you. I’ve seen it firsthand how you don’t have to do anything….you just are something so special. I just worry someone else will see it and want it for himself. I will not go down without a fight though!”

“Dear, again you seem to think I have no say in this. I will just go along with any victor and forget what was? NO! That’s not who I am! Rod, I want you to realize something, please. A relationship is for both of us…..not just one. We both work at it; we both try to make it the best we can. That takes commitment, trust, friendship, communication, and love! Love on both our parts…..not just yours! I couldn’t tell you I love you if I didn’t mean it. Darling, I can’t be your ideal….I’m far from a perfect girl, but I want to be….no, I hope to be your partner, your equal, your best friend! The place you feel safest and the one you can run to with your secrets. Please don’t put me on a pedestal because clumsy me will fall off. Keep me close to you!”

He stands up and brings me up beside him. His eyes are misty, but he sweeps me into a kiss and I’m lost in his arms. “This is why you are amazing! You talk to me and my fears disappear. You keep me grounded but yet you’re there to celebrate any successes. I love you so much!” He picks me up and spins me around. “I don’t want anything to come between us but then I see how others react to you and I worry. Like today….if I had been alone in that record shop, that guy would have probably charged me even more, but he saw you…..your child-like delight, your humbling beauty…..he caved!” I smile and caress his face. I don’t see how I got him any better deal but if he wants to believe that, who am I to say no? “You were too irresistible!” He laughs and nuzzles into my neck. I keep both hands cradling his head.

[qveensbury]

ch 4: i ain’t gotta flex

summary: iwaizumi shows off and you’re lovestruck. a college au iwaizumi x reader fic.

AO3  | just a little oh a little bit | ko-fi

The temperature was finally falling and you could wear the jacket you bought specifically for your first year away from home.

Noa’s uni was hosting a festival. It received much more funding than your high school festival. They brought in different food stalls, vendors, and competitive games. It was a chance for students, alumni, faculty, and staff to relax. Kaede was planning on joining you but had to meet with a group for their class project. She promised to head straight there when they finished. “Okay. We should mill around until the lines die down then grab something to eat,” Noa said, adjusting her bag. “Ok.” “I think there was a booth selling postcards. We should check that out.” “Yea! I’ve been meaning to send my grandmother one.” “How’s that history class? More manageable?” “Noa, it’s gotten worse.” Noa groaned. “That’s horrible.” “My classmate said there’s got to be a way to read less and still understand what’s going on but it’s tough.” “Ito-chan?” She turned. “Oikawa.” She waved. “Iwaizumi.”

You turned to face the guys. Iwaizumi raised both eyebrows. “Hey.” "Hi,” you said back. “Why don’t we walk around together?” Oikawa put his arm around Noa. “Sure. Kaede is coming later and she still hasn’t met you.” Noa tugged him to start walking. You and Iwaizumi followed them. “I’m sure Iwa-chan has been telling her all kinds of lies about me.” Oikawa turned to look at Iwaizumi. “You’re so conceited. What makes you think I’d bore Miki with stories about you?” Noa giggled, “Oh, I’m not the only one keeping your ego in check? Good.” “So mean,” Oikawa whined. “____-chan, please don’t join their bullying.” “Don’t worry about ____, Oikawa. Iwaizumi and I have it covered.” Noa patted his back. “Oh, do you wanna try to win me a Pokémon? You have arm strength from volleyball. There’s an arm-wrestling machine.” “I can try, but I make no promises.” “Finish strong,” she cheered. Oikawa sat at the machine listening to the operator’s instructions. “I don’t think you and Oikawa would be interested in this. Otherwise, I would have texted you.” “Well, I could have texted you, too.” Iwaizumi rubbed the back of his neck. You smiled. “Next time then.” At the end of the speech, Oikawa nodded to indicate he was ready. Different music started to play. “Oh.” He braced his opposite arm against the table and groaned, trying to pull his arm to the winning side. “No no no no!” The mechanical arm began moving slowly taking the advantage before claiming victory. “Ugh!” Oikawa stood up. “Don’t sweat it! Those machines are really hard.” Noa brushed off Oikawa’s shoulders. “Yea, they’re not designed to be beatable,” Iwaizumi added. “I’ll only believe that if you can’t believe it, Iwa-chan.” Iwaizumi scoffed. “What difference will it make?" “C’mon, it won’t hurt to try.” Oikawa gestured to the seat. “You’re probably way stronger than Oikawa anyway,” Noa leaned against Oikawa. “There’s no need to be modest, Iwa-chan. It’s okay to show off a little.” Iwaizumi sighed and sat down. He listened to the instructions and nodded at the end. The same music began to play and you could hear the machine power up again. But Iwaizumi’s arm didn’t move. Oikawa let out a small tch. “Told you.” Iwaizumi braced his hand against the side of the machine and moved the mechanical arm toward the mat. Bells rang declaring him the victor. “Whoa! Iwaizumi, that was amazing!” you cheered. Iwaizumi turned to you, his mouth slightly ajar. His cheeks started to get a little pink. “T-thanks.” “He’s so cool, right? ____-chan?” “That was so cool.” You turned to Oikawa, nodding your head. You hadn’t seen anyone beat one of these machines before and Iwaizumi did it practically effortlessly. Iwaizumi put a hand on his neck and looked away. “Do you want a plush? They don’t have one I want.” “You should pick one—“ “That one right there is one of her favorites.” Noa pointed to one of the Hoenn starter pokémon. Iwaizumi nodded to the attendant and she took one down for him. “Here you go.” The attendant handed it to Iwaizumi who stood up and handed it to you. “Thank you.” Iwaizumi nodded. Oikawa grabbed Iwaizumi’s arm and tugged him forward. “Let’s see what else we could win.” Noa chuckled when the boys were out of earshot. “He was trying to flirt with you, dummy. C’mon! Thank goodness I’m here.” Oikawa waved to you two. “Iwa-chan is gonna try to win this dart game.” “I haven’t done this since our last year of middle school,” Iwaizumi mumbled. “I’m sure you’ll do great,” you added. Iwaizumi looked back at you, his lips slightly parted. He chuckled and faced the balloons shaking his head. “He needs to pop three balloons of the same color and he gets five tries,” Oikawa said. “Oh ____-chan, you should pick the color.” You jolted. “Um…blue.” “Blue? Ok.” Iwaizumi rolled his shoulders. He picked up the first dart. You held your breath. He threw it and popped a blue balloon. “Nice!” Oikawa pumped a fist. Iwaizumi threw another dart popping a second blue balloon. “One more.” He shook his shoulders and threw it. You let out a breath. “Wow.” The attendant spoke with Iwaizumi before he selected a Godzilla plush.

“Iwiazumi, that was amazing!” He turned back and smirked at you. You felt your cheeks burning. He’s so cool. “Wow,” Oikawa scoffed, “so cool.” “Don’t be jealous Oikawa,” Noa said. Iwaizumi walked over to you three. And, you couldn’t look away. You smiled at him. His confidence on the court, once he got into a groove, was one thing but this? A whole new beast. It was magnetic. “What’s next?” you asked. “There was a 3 point game. Let’s try that.” You nodded, following Iwaizumi. You turned to see if Noa and Oikawa were behind you. They were whispering—a huge smirk on Noa’s face. You snorted, softly. “Everything ok?” You looked at Iwaizumi briefly. “That was really cool, Iwaizumi. I’ve never seen anyone get three in a row like that.” He shrugged, rubbing his neck. “Why are you being modest? That was so amazing!” You widened your eyes to emphasize your point. Iwaizumi blinked at you, before running into another student. “Sorry.” Iwaizumi grabbed him steadying the other guy before he could fall. “It’s okay.” The student laughed once he got his bearings. Noa giggled once the other student walked around your group. “Careful there, Iwaizumi.” There was a line for the three-point contest. “Let’s get something to eat.” Oikawa gestured at a food stall behind him. You all agreed and after you got your food you stood opposite the basketball hoop. The other contestants tried to score as many points in the thirty-second window. Oikawa noticed Iwaizumi studying them. “What do you think? A trick hoop?“ Iwaizumi shook his head. “It looks like a regular hoop. Like this guy,” he pointed with his chin, “looks like he plays basketball. He doesn’t have any trouble making the points once he gets in a rhythm.” “So,” Oikawa smirked, “how many points are you gonna make?” “Tch,” Iwaizumi took the last bite of his meal. He shrugged. “4 out of 8.” “Sure, set the expectation low.” “I’m telling you: it’s not like high school where someone would pass me the ball.” “Otherwise, you’d get 8 out of 8. Right?“ Iwaizumi shook his head. “The line’s died down.” Noa finished her meal. “Then, let’s go.” You all followed him to the contest. The basketball hoop was surrounded by a short gate. “____, hold the Godzilla for Iwaizumi,” Oikawa said. You held your plush under one arm and his with the other. Music started and the attendant blew a whistle. Iwaizumi grabbed a basketball and took a shot. Noa let out a sharp hiss when the ball bounced off the rim. “Don’t mind,” Oikawa mumbled. Iwaizumi didn’t hesitate. He took another shot and didn’t make it again. The next ball flew from his fingers and through the hoop. “Yes!” Noa pumped a fist. He made the following five with no problem. The three of you cheered as Iwaizumi walked back. Iwaizumi grinned, holding your gaze a beat longer. “Only four baskets, right?” Iwaizumi shrugged one shoulder. “I’m on a roll.” He glanced at you. Your heart skipped a beat. “Oh.” Noa answered her phone. “Hello. Kaede?.... Yea, where are you?” She listened for a beat. “Does anyone remember where the merry-go-round is?” “Yea, it’s past the darts.” Iwaizumi turned around, “So that way,” he pointed. “Let’s go.” Noa beckoned with her head. Iwaizumi walked beside her. “____-chan.” You turned to Oikawa who’d fallen in step with you. “Mm?” “If you keep this up, you’ll have Iwa-chan wrapped around your little finger.”

A/N: title from Swoope’s Flex. if you don’t have a favorite starter Pokémon from Hoenn, congratulations Iwaizumi got you a Mudkip.

[elmyre]

Tagged by @belovedyuuri (Thank you!! ^^ I’m sorry about getting to this so late, stress + my usual habit of putting things off/straight up forgetting things constantly has been getting to me)

Rules:

1) Always post the rules. 2) Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you. 3) Write 11 questions of your own. 4) Tag 11 people.

I’ll just tag @sakuracat96 @wheredidvictorleavemenow @peanut-musings @gotvodka @l3monsoda @mostladylikeladythateverladied @dragonsrulemyheart and anyone else who wants to answer my questions (if I tagged you and you don’t want to do it that’s fine too)

1.  What is the last song you listened to on repeat?

I’m not usually the type to put songs on repeat just cause I get tired of them really quickly but last one was Cherry Wine by Hozier cause omg how amazing is that song????? ; ;

2.  Which Yuri on Ice fanfic would you recommend to somebody who’s never read yoi fanfic before?

I mean I’d definitely say the Rivals Series (a canon divergent series of fics with some delicious angst) cause it’s my absolute favorite and I’d pretty much recommend those fics to EVERYBODY but there’s also AU fics like The Merman in my Private Bath (merman Victor and human Yuuri AU with very cute art sprinkled in the chapters) and Expomise (amazing Harry Potter AU) that are just so unbelievably fluffy and sweet. There’s also really good long fics like Met by Accident (the title says it all but the fic itself has a nice balance of romance and angst and friend/familial relationships + it has some Otayuri + the original characters the author made are so extremely lovable). Starstruck is another favorite of mine as well (Actor/Single Dad Victor and his adopted son Yurio meet new babysitter Yuuri, it’s also hilarious and one of the very first fics I read when I started reading YoI fics) I’d keep going since there are so many more fics I’ve read and loved but this is long enough as is so I’ll cut it off here. If anyone who is reading this wants some more personal recommendations feel free to hmu via asks or pm’s ;D

3.  You can take any smell (and I mean any smell) and make a candle out of it. What would the candle smell like?

You know that scent in the air at the beginning of spring where everything smells really earthy and fresh? That smell.

4.  Your comfort book/fic/movie/TV show that you indulge in when you need a ‘pick me up’ is…

Okay it’s totally Yuri on Ice XD I rewatched the entire thing not too long ago since I’ve been worrying myself too much recently and my poor sleep deprived brain keeps making me dream about the upcoming YoI movie and I really just needed something to hold me over

5.  What is your headcanon for Yuuri and Phichit’s first meeting?

(You know, I’m really loving all these YoI related questions XD) I have actually never even thought of that before now but I’d like to think it started when Phichit and Yuuri first became roommates in their college days, when Yuuri had first moved to Detroit.  Yuuri was so incredibly nervous to be in an entirely new country with people who speak a completely different language and rooming with someone who he barely knew.  So he set his bags down in front of the door to his new shared room, and barely even a second after knocking the door swings open and there’s a crazy excited Phichit on the other side.  He goes, “Yuuri, you’re finally here!!! Hold these.” And dumps some hamsters into his arms before grabbing his selfie stick, throwing an arm around Yuuri’s shoulder, and snapping a “First Day with the New Roomie” selfie.  Yuuri is absolutely reeling while Phichit just carries his bags in for him and helps him move in while telling him about the hamsters.  He even helps Yuuri with his Victor posters while Yuuri begins to talk about his poodle and they share stories about their families back home.  He starts out so shy and awkward (and kinda overwhelmed by Phichit being so giddy and talkative) but by the end of the night he’s really happy he gets to room with him.

Also, Phichit totally gave Yuuri a framed picture of their first selfie a year after he moves in, along with a very sweet message.  He may or may not shed some tears over it.

6.  Have you ever named a pet/plushie/object after a character from YOI? What was it and why did you choose that name?

Uuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh does the Yuuri nendoroid count?

7.  Your top 5 headcanons for what life at the Katsuki-Nikiforovs’ place looks like?

They’ve got a bunch of sticky notes around the house. Just everywhere. Victor is a very forgetful person and I’d imagine that Yuuri leaves them for him so he doesn’t forget important things, like meetings or chores. Victor really appreciates it, especially when Yuuri writes a little heart at the end.

They totally massage each other’s feet after a hard day of practice.  No question.

On a similar train of thought, Victor probably does a lot of things for Yuuri that he brushes off as just looking after him for “”“Coaching Reasons””” like running him warm baths or tucking him in or bringing food to him in bed. But really Victor just loves spoiling Yuuri. Yuuri appreciates Victor’s sweetness as long as he doesn’t go overboard, like putting his slippers on his feet or carrying him to the bathroom in the morning. Which Victor has definitely done. More than once.

Anyone who walks into their house without knowing either of them very well would probably think that all the toys strewn out across the living room floor are for their child.  They would be mistaken.  They’re all for the dog.

When Yuuri first came to stay with Victor in St. Petersburg, after having spent about a year back at his old home in Hasetsu, he begins feeling a little homesick.  Victor notices how Yuuri sometimes looks a bit sad and quiet when they’re just relaxing at home, so Victor finds some old Japanese music that Yuuri used to love and asks Yuuri to dance with him. It ended up putting a huge smile on Yuuri’s face for a long while afterwards, and it became a regular activity for them to do when they want to take their minds off something, get some extra exercise, or just have a little fun. They have a playlist with hundreds of songs set up for it now.

8.  Have you drunk water recently? Eaten something? Taken your meds? Untensed? Please do so if you haven’t.

I mean that hardly qualifies as a question but omg that is so sweet?????? ; ; Thank you <333

9.  What is the one quote/song lyric/poem that resonates with you?

“And in the middle of the night when you’re on your own,

I’m chasing down light in the indigo,

It’s just the way you are when you’re overgrown...

...And I will never let you go.”

A quote from this amazing song, which the creators also explained a bit about on their facebook if you wanna check it out!

10.  If you could effortlessly learn one skill in no time at all, what would it be?

I never really have time anymore to study languages so I’d totally try and learn either fluent Spanish or Japanese (since I really want to travel to Mexico or Japan someday)

11.  What is the one question you wish people asked you? What is the answer?

I mean this isn’t really a question with a specific answer, but I’m so absolutely awful with asking other people for help when I need it, so I’d appreciate it if people asked me if they could help me with something.  And then I’d say YES I’VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG EVEN THOUGH I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO ASK  FIRST BUT ANYWAY

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My questions would be:

What events are happening this year/next year that you’re looking forward to?

If you could drop everything and go somewhere right now without consequences or limitations, where would you go? What would you do?

What is your favorite mythical creature?

Do you have a song/playlist that you listen to for relaxation? If so, what is it?

What do you usually do when you have trouble falling asleep?

What was your favorite toy/game to play as a child?

Your opinion on wearing socks?

How do you like your coffee or tea?

If you’ve ever done cosplay before, who did you cosplay as most recently? If you’ve never done it before, what is your dream cosplay?

Who is the fictional character that you most relate to, and how are you two alike?

What is the most fond memory you have from the past few years?