#i need italics bolds and bullet points if i do not have those. i have nothing

[nexus-nebulae]

fun fact so i have a tendency to write all my long rambly thoughts into bullet point format because it's literally one of the only ways my brain can process information. like if its just text my brain stops working but add a Little Dot and suddenly everything is fixed. ???

[vinnoa-articles]

The Cure from Sleep Insanity

[Image by Winter Mohn]

Rating: +18, meaning if you are under this age, do not read. You have been told.

Word count: 3,352

Type: Smut

Characters: reader (female), Law, Chopper and mentions of other Strawhats, Heart Pirates and other pirates.

Trigger warnings/content: choking, consent, some anger, swearing, teasing, restraints, multiple orgasms, fatigue, aftercare, a little rough.

Info: Some of it will be in italics, it is thoughts by another character. If it is Bold and Italics, then it is an ability.

“Why can’t I suture the wound closed when it’s-”

“Because the bleeding might start again, and it may cause more pain!” The little horned reindeer claimed, pointing his hoof at the irritated doctor of the Heart Pirates. Their hats sat side-by-side, in contrast to how they were sitting. He pointed across the books sprawled table, with a single candle flickering in between. The bags of restlessness was prominent under Law’s eyes.  “Think about it, if we wait and let time go by, it may be better”. Law glanced at the furry creature, and usually he would have a soft spot for this creature, but when it comes to the right choice as to what to do in the heat of the moment; he fights it out. Whereas Chopper always thinks with his heart, trying to save people with his soul instead of fighting with his fists. “You could remove the bullet from their chest cavity with your abilities. Tra-guy”. The tired doctor grumbled and scratched his head, trying to comprehend this small creature. Chopper really does seem to go the more humane route, but then again, he typically doesn’t get his paws dirty out in the field in a fight, but rather helping those who need treatment. Where as for Law-

“Yes, but there are limitations to my abilities. Even your abilities have a limit, yes?” His right hand rested under his jaw now, glancing quickly at the fluff ball. “I just-”.

“You need to sleep Tra-guy. You haven’t slept. Thinking rationally is what you need right now, especially if you haven’t been spending a lot of time with your partner”. Sluggishly, Law’s eyes finally met Chopper’s. How long has it been? Granted, a lot of stuff was on his mind such as the Marines, Big Mom, Kaido, Don Flamingo, and many other rivals. Even Luffy and Eustass Kid kept his mind busy, but he even had to think about his pals Bepo and the rest of his crew. Shit, it has been a while hasn’t it. The more I have been fighting and been researching, the more I have been… He hates being wrong next to the reindeer. Rather, he hates more than ever that he is right, and that he does need more sleep and social interaction; over fighting and reading. Leaving an exasperated sigh, and an aggravated groan, he leans on his chair. His messy hair was now slowly being pushed into one direction with how many times his hands ran through his hair tonight.

“Ah! God dammit Chopper-ya. I hate it when you are right, but…” his voice trailed off. Law’s mind was in the clouds, it has been ages since he unwound, let alone rest on a soft surface. Sleeping in chairs, the wooden deck of Sunny, the metal floor of Polar Tang, heck the grass on Sunny was a little better, however a bed sounds divine. Maybe even some time with his partner, but the grogginess has been getting to him. Being up for forty-some hours, he did start seeing visions; Bepo in an Uta outfit, a cooked thing of meat with a straw-hat on top, and-

“Law?” There is no way he heard your voice. He stares at Chopper, whose head was turned to the entrance. Finally turning his head, he saw your figure. Standing against the doorframe. Your eyebrows raised, as you look at him up and down. “Up…again? I can at least tell you bathed today”. God, they really do give him little credit, but as a doctor, if duty calls he has to be somewhat clean right? His black and yellow robe adorned his body loosely, the belt nearly coming undone, with his bare feet propped up on the table, you just had to take in this sight.

“Well, I need to head to bed. I can’t be late to breakfast in the morning!” Chopper hops off the chair nearly twice his height. You can see he is wearing his cute little pig pajamas, and you couldn’t help but smile at his cuteness. Then again, who wouldn’t be chuckling at this cute little doctor. “Jya-na (Japanese: See Ya)”. As he is about to leave the room, you bend down and plant a small little kiss, then pat his head.

“Thanks Chopper. At least we have one responsible doctor that cares about both his patients and himself”. Chopper hopped past you and froze quick before turning to you and glancing up.

“W-w-well…that doesn’t make me happy, konoyaro! (Japanese: you idiot)”, as he did his little cute bashful dance. As his small feet carry him out of your sight, his cute little hooves pit-patting down the long hallway of Sunny-Go. Chuckling at his reaction, you look up to see Law still leaning back in his chair staring at you. His frown was still on his face. When it happened was not apparent since his resting-bitch-face is usually what his default is. However, you can tell he was annoyed by something. By what, you are not really sure. Sighing, you walk closer to him, the candle still flickering near the doctor’s headpieces. Law’s gaze did not falter as you got within a few paces in front of him. He looks irritated even. What could it have been? The lack of sleep? Or maybe…jealousy?

“Law, you do see me right?” He blinked once, then twice, then closed his eyes. A small exhale escaped his lips as he slicked his hair back again, as some hairs came back to place.

“I am surprised you came to see me, if you are really here to see me”. His words stung, yet you could understand why he said that. He hasn’t slept, he has been stuck in this room for a long time. Even Bepo and Chopper bring meals to the library here and there to make sure he isn’t starving himself. Sanji gave up because Law used to forget to eat and the fresh food almost would go wasted; until he force fed it to Law which caused him to do a personality-switch-operation with Zoro and Sanji. Which led to an all out fight that nearly had Nami, Robin, Bepo, Penguin and even Jimbei get involved in. It got resolved, but it nearly took a day for Franky to fix the ship, and a stern scolding from Nami and Luffy to get Law, Zoro and Sanji to get back on track.

“Law, it is me”, your outfit was a lot tighter on your body than you were used to, yet your skirt was flowing so not only would you look cute but at least elegant. You dressed up earlier and didn’t change yet because you were partying at the island before, and you were on nightwatch with Brook tonight. Brook knew that you needed your own version of romance, he has been alive long enough to know that. Brook knew what he was doing, well maybe. “Law, come on…listen to me. It is me, even Chopper talked to me today. Despite how busy he is too!” He was super confused now, he wasn’t sure if it was his dick was talking because he wanted your touch, your skin against his, the warmth of your flesh emanating close to his fingers, the scent of salt from the sea and your body penetrating the air, or if it was the sleepiness and the depravity of rest. “Please look at me when I talk to you”, as you raise your hands to touch his stubble and beard, He smelled so nice of cleaner, yet also musky. He always did smell nice, usually. You could feel his face rest slowly, softly into your palms. Basking in your touch, the soft skin that cradled his jaw, which his fingers were on calloused from using his knives, to his sword. His fingers crawled up to hold your right hand under his jaw, while massaging it gently. This is what he wanted, but God was he going crazy. A man of composure, even in battle, and even when Luffy tells him what to do irks him beyond belief. Right now though, he could smell your scent, his head was starting to get muddled with thoughts. He craved you, a drug that could cure his insanity at this moment.

“God, I need sleep. I can’t be going this dumb over you”, he gasped out. Now you were hurt, how could he say such a thing? He should be happy to see you, not disappointed. You snatch your hands back, but you couldn’t help and hesitate to almost reach back to grab him. He looked tired, yet hot. His sigh rang out into the quiet air, only the slight crackle of the candle could be heard. “Listen, y/n-ya”.

“Save your excuses, I guess if you didn’t want to see me, then you could have said it in the first place”. You were agitated now. There is no way he talked to you like that just now.

“Wait, y/n-ya, that’s not what I meant. You know what I meant-”, Law was fumbling with his words. His robe was withstanding the heat emanating from his body. He could feel his member twitch, but he put down his legs from the table and crossed his legs to hide his growth. “Please, look…you know I didn’t mean it like that dammit,” slicking his hair back again. It was irresistible when he did that normally, and yet you couldn’t care now. “Please listen to me, I just want to understand what else I can do to save those around me. If I can’t do that then…”

“Then what Law? You can’t neglect your social health for just your studies. Your connections are just as important!”

“I know that! God dammit!” He slammed his hand on the table, wishing that was you earlier. “Do you know how long I have wanted to get this done so I can focus on you? Just you?” You were upset, but you have heard enough talk from him; you wanted more action.

“Put your money where your mouth is. Your hands work well on patients, yet it seems you don’t know how to work them at all outside of a fight”. That did it for him. He got up and grabbed your shoulders, nearly slamming you down on the wooden table, snuffing out the candle as you landed. You could see his eyes darkening as he looked at you. His robe was hanging off his frame, his belt so loose you could poke it and it would come undone.

“Say it again. You don’t know how hard I have been working here” nearly shaking you on the table. God, you could feel his hands trembling, yet gripping your shoulders as he shook you.

“I said, you don’t know how to work your hands outside of a fight”, those words made him want to prove you wrong. He was told what to do by Luffy, Chopper was right earlier, and now he cannot let you be right too. Law was slipping more and more from who he was, becoming sloppy with his thoughts. His face gets super close to yours, while he puts his left hand under your head and lifts it up to crash his lips onto yours. Tugging your hair slightly so that he could get a response from you. He knows you love it when he tugs your hair. In this moment though, you were just as stubborn as he, and you tried to fight the urge; no matter how hard it was for you to not moan. His kisses got deeper, and deeper, his tongue was exploring yours and you let go fighting his tongue. Closing your eyes, his lips left yours. You open your eyes to see his eyebrows furrowed, perplexed that what he was doing wasn’t making you moan already “is that all you got?” This brat… Lips traveling down your jaw and to your neck, marking and sucking to make sure people know who you belonged to. Regardless of whether you were right or if he was by the end of this. He looks up, and takes a step back.

Room

You knew what might happen now, and as you saw the space change-

Shambles

You were now in the medical room, of course you were. He must have switched something with you two, and now here you were. His robe comes undone, and you just see him in his black boxers with a bulge that you have seen here and there. You didn’t realize your body was partially leaned back on the medical table, it was cold and yet the room was slightly lit due to the small emergency light plug-in, in case Chopper had to come in. Before you could take in everything, your body gets flipped over, your chest pressing on the cold table. 

“I’ll show you how a doctor works, if you allow me-”

“Of course, you have my consent. Unless you really can’t work with your hands then-” He had heard enough of your back-talk. Room…Shambles Feeling the retrains popping into his hands, tying your hands behind your back. He already has to deal with you talking back, he doesn’t want to give you that power too. His hands gripping your tied hands, he hiked up your skirt so he could see your panties. You tried to stand up properly, but his grip was pushing you down firmly on the table.

“Now now, I can’t have my patient move around while I have to figure out what is wrong, now can I?” You can tell he was smirking based off his tone. His right hand was still gripping onto your wrists and you could feel his rough fingers slowly touching the outside of your panties. “I can tell my patient is aroused. Yet, the only medicine can only be administered by me.” You wanted his fingers in you, and he knew that. Your core ached, this is what you two have missed out on for awhile now. Heck, even the empty space next to you, day-in and day-out was making you restless. Shaking your ass, you waited for your reward for a response, but it never came. “What? You want these?” You felt his right hand loosen, yet his hand went up and on your neck. Subtly choking you, sticking his long fingers into your mouth. God, you wanted it his fingers, and how you longed for it. Subtly sucking on his fingers, you wanted to show him you were serious.

“P-puwase, ah need” Your words a mess, incoherent even to you.

“Need what? I can’t understand my patient.” He removed his fingers from your mouth and back under your neck, choking you slightly but not enough to even hurt. You could feel his other fingers tracing the outside of your wetness on your panties. You knew what was coming, but when? You gasped as you felt his fingers on your neck choke, then release, choke then release. He was a doctor, he knew what it would do to people if he did that.

“I need your fingers, Law!” You felt his fingers leave, only to dive into your panties, into your core. This is what you wanted, and finally you could feel this knot coming undone. His digits were moving in and out, then curling one he went in. He really did do his homework. Your moans and gasps kept emanating in rhythm, as you were grinding into his fingers. “Law- Law I am going to-” before you could finish, you came right onto his fingers. Your moan so loud, you could feel it reverberate through the room. Trembling as you rode out your high, as it has been so long since you felt this.

“So I don’t know how to use my hands, yes?” You couldn’t help it, you wanted to give in, he was right. If you denied it, you don’t even know what would happen, but you are a person of your word.

“Yes, yes you are right. God, now untie me”, you gasp out. Feeling the restraints go undone, he flips you back around, now you are on your back. He looks you up and down. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A tight shirt hugging your body, your skirt a mess, your underwear ajar. Whereas for you, what a sight to behold, his abs and tattoos. His hair was a mess from a little bit of sweat. It was as if you two were looking at each other for the first time again. Licking his fingers, he finally smiled. This was the smile you love, the one that makes you want to grab him and kiss him. To hug him and tell him that the One Piece is near for the taking.

“Y/n-ya…” he bends down to kiss your forehead, and smiles softly, “I don’t think my patient is fully done.” He grabbed a condom, and tore off the wrapper. Slowly pushing his boxers lower, and lower, seeing his v-line almost made you lose your mind. He knew what he was doing, and a doctor was observant.

“Please, Trafalgar…I love you,” you couldn’t help but laugh softly at his cute words. He was a doctor, and at moments you were his love patient. Your heart was robbed by this man, and yet it seemed you didn’t want it back. He pushes his boxers so it is off his waist and it falls to the floor. He peels off your underwear, and you could feel the cold air hit your pussy. Easily rolling the condom on, he lifts your legs up and onto his shoulders. 

“I missed this, y/n. I love you”. Hearing your name fall from his lips without his cute little accent, made your heart skip a beat.

“I missed this too Law. I love you”. Slowly pushing his cock into you, he watched as your mouth formed an “O” shape. He didn’t want to hurt you, but he knew you were ready. Your moans were slipping past your lewd lips, as he kept going in deeper and deeper until his abs nearly touched your stomach. Going slowly, then picking up the pace, the room was full of moans and grunts. “Fuck, Law, yes right there!” His groans and grunts were picking up the pace, you can feel his cock twitching inside you. The pit in your stomach started to form, it coming again. The slaps of skin, the smell of sweat, the creaking of the medical table was ringing in both your ears. He bent down to capture your lips with his, and finally he said his words.

“I am cumming”.

You were too, and with both your release, he slowed down his pace. Gasping for air as his high was running down. You, on the other hand, were shaking. Second orgasm in one night and it was intense due to your emotions of love becoming more than lust from the last orgasm. He slicked his hair back, which now was staying in place. Law tidied up himself so he didn’t look as dissolved from the fuck session. Taking off your clothes gently, he put his robe on your making sure despite being warm from what just happened, the room was still cold. Lifting you up, you could hear him gently say room…shambles. Feeling the plushness of a mattress and sheets on you. Was he here with you? Or was he in the room still? Suddenly, you felt a hand softly go on top of your side. He was here, next to you, by your side.

“Sorry Law for making you so upset”, you whispered not to wake up Zoro, Luffy, Chopper and Usopp from their slumber. Law chuckled slightly, and kissed your neck where there were his love bites slowly deepening in color.

“Its okay, I think I can finally get some good nights rest. Thank you for being my doctor in need.”

And yet, Brook had been wondering where you had been all night, no matter to him. He could sing his heart out tonight without a care in the world.

[ostrichmonkey-games]

Ostrichmonkey Hack: Layout Behind the Scenes

Been procrastinating on this enough! So here is a look at some of the process and decisions that went into doing the layout for the Ostrichmonkey Hack.

Let's start with the goals I had in mind:

Keep it simple.

Keep it easy to make.

With those goals set, next step is gathering materials and resources (not all of this was done as cleanly as I'm making it out to be, but this is the gist).

Materials used:

Classic Explorer Template

Affinity Publisher and Photo

Fonts

Art

The text itself

The Classic Explorer Template was critical in getting this layout done efficiently, since it does a lot of the work for you. It's not a replacement for having a rough idea on how to do layout, but it can serve as a nice tutorial/explainer on different elements of layout and typesetting, and honestly, is worth its (digital) weight in gold. There's a free version available if you want to check out what it offers.

I use the Affinity Suite for my layout work. It's a nice set of programs with a manageable learning curve, but there are plenty of other alternatives so go with whatever works for you (one of my favorite elements of using multiple Affinity programs is that within Publisher, you can access both Designer (vector illustration) and Photo (photo editing, illustration etc) functions, which is just a nice workflow).

Here's what my setup looks like, with all the guidelines/base grid stuff turned on;

Normally I start with some style tests and “sketches” to get a feel for what I want the layout to look like, but the Classic Explorer’s does a lot of that heavy lifting for me already so I get to skip this step for this project. Speed and efficiency is one of the main reasons I wanted to use the template - this was envisioned as a “I just need to get something done” kind of project.

So next up on getting it done, fonts!

There are lots of great places to get fonts from, just make sure you're getting them from legitimate sources. Do your homework and make sure that "free" font is actually free to use in commercial projects.

I pulled three fonts from the depths of my collection.

One for the title and main headers (Wallau Deutsch)

One for the second header (Rakkas)

One for the body text (PT Serif)

Technically a secret fourth font for some "bullet points" (1651 Alchemy)

I picked these fonts out because they work together well and are readable. The title/main header fonts are comparatively less readable, but you can get away with that since headers are Big and used less frequently. The second header (Rakkas) is a nice middle ground between a full on blackletter font like the main header, and the classic-y serif of the body text. It creates a transition between the two fonts.

I used PT Serif since it was already in the template, but it also had the bold/italics versions I knew I would need, is readable at a variety of sizes, and had all the special glyphs I would need (it actually did not, but whoops, we'll get to that later).

Normally when I start layout, I do a quick "sketch page" where I try out different fonts and style tests that can look something like this;

But that wasn't necessary for this project (another advantage of the using the template).

Now, let's get to some choices in formatting the text itself.

Each time a key term came up, it was highlighted by bolding and italicizing it. Any time after that, it was just normal text. I went back and forth on highlighting it every single time, but the current format just looked cleaner so it won out.

Additionally, in several places in the text, rather than introducing a third header (which just broke up the page too much, disrupting the flow and clean look), I instead put what would have been the new third header (HP or WOUNDS in the above example) in all caps and behind a colon. This ended up not disrupting the text too much, and was only necessary a handful of times. But when it was necessary, I made sure to stay consistent. Consistent and organized formatting is one of the key ways to make your layout look nice and clean.

Aside from changing some font choices, one of the other ways I tweaked the template was with some spacing (between "sections", like in the above text, introducing an extra line break between the Attributes and Staying Alive sections) and the "bullet points".

The large bullet points that accompany the second headers are actually a glyph pulled from a different font. I picked that one out specifically because its just a little irregular and handwritten looking (1651 Alchemy is a handwritten styled font), and it also helped pull you to the start of new sections, further enhancing the second header. It helps make each section discrete and more "modular".

Back to extra spacing for a second now. So each "chapter" of the text uses the main header to designate it as a full "chapter".

"Characters" up top there is one of those chapter headers. It's nice and big and special, and also takes up a good chunk of space. One a full spread, this also means that the second page of text begins higher up than the text on the first page (compare where Attributes starts vs where Dying starts).

I played around with the format of spreads that did not have a main chapter header on them, starting the first page text up toward the top to have it line up with the second page. Which, probably would have been totally fine, but I preferred the look when each spread had the same kind of spacing. But repeating the main header on each spread was too clunky. So the solution;

Bam! A line!

Blank empty space looked too empty, but slapping a quick line there took up just enough visual space for it to work. Then, I carried that line-design-language to other places (to separate footnotes from the body text, within the tables, and sort of on the cover). This then made the line choice feel even more cohesive and purposeful.

And speaking of footnotes, that was another extra tweak/flourish I added not present in the template (the sidebars are part of the template, but sidebars rule so they would have happened regardless). The footnotes served as a way to share specific references as an informal "works cited". A lot of NSR/OSR design is super iterative, so I thought it would be cool to shout out some of the more direct inspirations and references I used when making my game.

But the footnotes were also kind of not really my downfall. Turns out PT Serif didn't seem to have all the necessary footnote glyphs, nor did it want to make proper superscripts of integers past 3. So, rather than trying to find a new body font (or deal with the headache of using a font solely for superscript notation), I just fudged the formatting some and stuck to asterisks, and restarting "numbering" on each spread. Oh well.

Let's now briefly touch on laying out tables.

It sucks.

My advice is find an example of a really nice looking table and then try and figure out what makes it look nice, and then doing that forever. Luckily, the template saves me again by including multiple examples of tables, ripe for tweaking. Which ended up looking like this;

Nice and clean! Hooray!

Okay, there's a lot of small decisions that goes into making text properly formatted and look nice, but I skipped some of those decisions and didn't go ham on typesetting, but whatever. That all about covers the important parts regarding the text. Now let's talk about art.

Public domain art is your best friend.

I went and trawled through a bunch of art I've saved from the Met's Open Access collection (there's plenty of great open access collections out there, just happened to have some from the Met handy), and settled on this piece;

Which I then dropped into Affinity Photo and played around until I ended up with this;

Nothing too wild, but it Felt Right, so it's done.

I then immediately dropped that onto the cover page, slapped the title on, added a quick border (and also spent some time trying to fix some weird issues that ended up being solved by just rasterizing it, whoops) and bam;

And that's the only art piece used throughout the zine! But I made the most out of it. Between each chapter, I had a single splash page and dropped in different zoomed/cropped versions of the art. Like so (and even on the back cover!);

The original image was high resolution, so zooming in worked, plus the effects/distortions I created hid any imperfections.

So that's the art sorted and the zine finished!

Now, this is getting pretty long, so if there's anything anyone reading this is interested that I didn't touch on, shout in the notes!

[byoldervine]

First Draft Plan

I'm currently working on the first draft of my WIP Byoldervine and I've currently got a plan worked out for getting a fully edited first draft sorted. I know this probably isn't the way most people would view the work but I've decided to split the first draft workload into four separate stages:

1. Plotting

I like to plot as I write so that I can switch up my plans and adapt to new ideas as I go. I'll plot out about five chapters in one go using bullet points for each new thing I want to happen followed by indented bullet points beneath those to get a little more specific with it. I usually leave funny comments behind as well while I'm there so when I'm coming back to the plotting notes as I write I can have a laugh

2. The Initial Draft

I have one rule when it comes to writing my initial draft; no writing tips involved. I don't watch any writing tip videos, I don't look for advice on how to improve, I don't go back to edit or improve anything. This isn't the editing stage, this isn't even the final outcome of the first draft, this is just making this project exist in tangible for. At this stage, you don't have to worry about how it looks or if it's clear or consise or conveys it in just the way you want. You can't edit a blank page, so get it down so you have the ability to edit

Additionally, if I get to a bump in the road and don't know what to write - say I'm trying to work out X clever solution to Y problem, but while my character is clever enough to figure it out, I'm not - I can just put a brief summary of what needs to happen there in brackets, make it stand out with underlines or bold or italics or highlights, and then carry on from after that scenario. This is acceptable in the initial draft phase, because this isn't even a completed first draft. If it can stop me from breaking my writing momentum, I'll take it and come back to it later. I don't have to be smart or clever here, I just need to dump out a bunch of verbal diarrhoea and call it a day

3. The First Edit

So now I've completed my initial draft (I wish) my next step will, of course, be editing. I like to go through first just amending any SPAG mistakes and filling in any blanks I left in my writing, such as finally getting around to working out X solution to Y problem as we mentioned earlier

Once all the minor corrections and blanks are handled, I properly jump into editing, playing around with different word choices, checking character voices and motivations are all consistent, peppering in little moments of foreshadowing here and there, anything I think can improve the quality of what I currently have and tying it into everything else I have. It's so much easier to edit with fresh eyes rather than trying to do it as you go, and it also helps you to identify certain issues in a way you just can't without time out, such as working out which character is speaking in a string of dialogue without tags

4. The Clean Draft

Finally, I can start putting my chapters together into Google Docs. What I'll do is set it up so both screens are displayed simultaneously, then start rewriting everything from the edited draft into Google Docs. This is the point of full-scale change happening if so desired, rather than just playing with what's currently there. I can still use what I've currently got, of course, but having both versions side by side and writing it all up a second time rather than just copy/pasting it over can help me to think how I'd write it differently. It means I'm thinking critically about each word I put down rather than just reading over it and calling it a day. I haven't done this stage yet for any of my personal projects but I did it for school ones a lot and it really helped, so I'm looking forward to seeing just how much better it'll be now I'm really passionate in the material

It's basically like the initial draft but instead of bullet points and general vibes I've actually got a full reference. Working from essentially scratch is a pain, but with the reference already complete, you can breeze right through, even if retyping a gazillion words takes a good while it's much quicker than having to think about every single detail

Additionally, you can now play with formatting and fonts and all that fun stuff once you've got the clean draft done, and you can have a more accurate sense of how many pages you've got. I'm really excited for the clean draft to be ready to start!

[zablionsea]

About my writing process

I saw something that made me think about this

I start with an idea, like a premise. I usually open up a document and write down that basic premise and a few things I want to happen in the plot. Stories sometimes start as daydreams, so I try to add in as many details as I can remember from said daydream.

Next, using plot arc structure (exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution), I create an outline. I first jot down my broad ideas and refine them to ensure the plot is coherent and logical.

It's in this format

Exposition: Here are some background details that need to get established.

Inciting Incident: Here is the moment that sets the plot into motion. This is when the conflict gets introduced.

etc. That's how I write it. Sometimes, if the background information is unusually complicated, I add in bullet points of "author's reference" notes and highlight what is relevant in the story.

Once I'm happy with my outline, I start writing. I do edit as I go, apparently this is discouraged for grammar.

For me personally, I tend to get more hung up if I don't edit something because I know I will have a harder time fixing it later.

However, editing as I write does slow me down. I don't recommend it unless you know it's better for you to do it this way.

The amount I edit while writing is dependent on the importance of diction in a given work. For Imprisoned, as those are drabbles, having good word choice makes or breaks a given chapter. But for something like my canon divergent Mappy Episode 4 WIP, that relies more on dialogue and action, where diction can be altered without having cascading effects on the story progression.

When I'm done with a writing session, at the bottom of the page, I leave a summary of what happens next. The summary is broad but describes the main focus of the next part (important actions and thoughts). Nearly always, I do this because losing a good idea is frustrating, and I would rather have it written down in a messy way than not at all.

After writing, of course, I go back and revise. Usually, this is minor grammar and phrasing errors I can only notice upon a reread. I like to read aloud to catch these things. I try to make sure my plot progression is solid before this point (usually at outline stage) to prevent any major overhauls.

For fics going to AO3: I actually write down my tags before import because I forget to tag things if I don't do it ahead of time. The import process from Google Docs is usually a pain because I have to manually add back in italics and bold afterwards. Less frustration at upload time is appreciated.

[shopjust]

Plain text workflow

#Plain text workflow how to

#Plain text workflow pdf

#Plain text workflow pro

#Plain text workflow code

That’s a lot of technobabble, let me break that down some. The major downside is that it is expensive, although the developer lets you use it without paying if you can put up with periodic scolding popups.Įverything is saved to a git repository which gets to be in a private repo on GitHub. But I like Sublime Text over those other alternatives because (a) it’s extremely fast, stable, and lightweight (basically the opposite of Word), and (b) it has a plug-in system based in Python, which is one of my preferred programming languages-so it’s very easy for me to directly program my editor. There are fine alternatives for editing plain text, like Atom, BBEdit (Mac-only), and Notepad++ (Windows-only). I use Sublime Text pretty much only for editing markdown or plain text prose-when I write code, I usually use emacs or vim-so I don’t have to muck around with complicated file-type-specific settings. On the Mac, I do most of my markdown writing in Sublime Text, which is a totally bulletproof programmer’s text editor. Typically, for longer works (big articles, books) or multi-stage projects, I’ll have multiple markdown files with different logically separated portions of text, plus files for notes, paragraphs that need to be discarded or moved to a better home, etc. etc.

#Plain text workflow how to

For people who are interested in Markdown, I wrote a tutorial on how to work with Markdown here. There are different flavors of Markdown (for reasons to be described below, I use the Pandoc version), but the basics are very simple.

#Plain text workflow pdf

It’s readily convertible to MSWord format, as well as PDF (if you’ve installed LaTeX), HTML, and all kinds of more arcane things-it’s very commonly used by programmers and bloggers, and I think it’s by far the best way to write initial drafts. Markdown, for those who aren’t familiar, is a plain text format with very lightweight markup for things like bold/italics, links, and the like. So my workflow has the following elements: I want to use git for version control so that I can recover prior versions if something gets horribly screwed up. I like being able to relatively seamlessly switch between writing on my MacBook and on my iPad.Į. I also hate manually formatting my citations.ĭ. Most of the major alternatives to word (OpenOffice, Google Docs, Pages) are crap.Ĭ. Word “features” like styled paste, auto-conversion of URLS to links, bizarre dictatorial bullet point numbering, etc. I also want something that doesn’t impose involuntary formatting on me.

#Plain text workflow code

My writing needs to be scriptable-I need to be able to read my writing into an ordinary programming language as a string, run code on it, and spit it back out again as a string. If I want to do something weird or automated with my content, I want to be able to do so. It takes longer to start than XCODE, which, for those of you who program, you’re probably screaming in horror at the very idea.)

#Plain text workflow pro

I have a brand new souped up 16-inch Macbook Pro with an i9 and 32 gigs of ram. (It’s utterly mind-blowing how badly Word performs. I want something that doesn’t crash or hang all the time, unlike Word. Yet I recognize that many people that publish things I write need Word format, so I need to do something that converts to Word fairly readily. Subconsiderations: I won’t use it if it can be helped at all. I’m incredibly paranoid about losing work.ī. Here are the considerations, in rough order of priority, that drive me:Ī. This is a work in progress document I’ve promised to share my toolkit with a couple people, so, as those people say to me “hey, this makes no sense,” I’ll probably edit to clarify. I have an unusual and complicated academic writing workflow/toolkit, but one that might be of use to some other people, so I thought I’d share it here. This one is for academics rather than practitioners, though some of the details are applicable to practitioners as well.

[mikeysbabygirl]

DEAD GIRLS TELL NO TALES

Masterlist-

Previous chapter-

Next chapter-

Pairing: Bonten! Rindou Haitani x reader. Bonten! Ran Haitani x reader.

Synopsis : " 'cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"

" heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned. "

What if their first love came back ? What if everything they thought they knew about that night was a lie ?

WARNING : 18+, minors DNI. This fic will contain explicit smut. This chapter contains description of violence, torture ( slightly ), dirty talk, curses, angst with comfort.

Tag-list : @rans-baby @trashmemebitch @inuiskitten @fantasyismyreality @bontensbabygirl @mydream-synopsis @crown5 @redhood278 @glxar @owensuitcase @qualitygiantshoepsychic @Bontenswh0re @akemiixx01 @mutandis-extremis993 @blueanthology @notacandy @moodyhuesworld2 @agos997 @slylittlebutterfly

Please let me know if you wanna be added in the tag-list.

What is written in bold and italics are flashbacks.

CHAPTER 06:

Why are paper cuts so painful ?

They're small, tiny details which could be a great bother. And perhaps you never realize how paper-thin your plans are until you get those paper cuts.

You were always so focused on details, how could you have missed that one ? Maybe you were too focused on the words you'd be saying to Alaya that you didn't paid attention to the shadows hiding in the dark.

-" I knew at some point you'd end up here " she stated, back still facing you while pouring herself a glass of wine, you frowned.

-" Yet I don't see any police car. "

-" Huh, why would I do that ?" She turned, a glimpse of surprise could've been spotted in her eyes. She remembered your face, sure she would, it has been on the news for weeks, four years ago. " We might not be in the same team, but we got the same enemies. "

-" right, the soon to come elections" you chuckled, the journalist tilted her head to the side.

-" I believe we both don't want the governor to serve a second term. "

She barely had time to stretch her hands before the USB key you threw reached her, she eyed it curiously.

-" It's all there. From the highest ranks to the lowest dirty cops." Her pupils expanded. " Understand that if you do this, they'll put a target on your head. "

Oh she knew that, and though fear was a constant shadow over her head someone had to do something.

-" I know that very well-"

-" And understand that " you paused. " They won't lay a hand on you as long as I'm breathing. Not another woman will be hurt in my lifetime. "

She smiled, she knew was not staring at a woman, but a kingdom.

-" Right, the hunter only comes for men " you snorted at her joke, already making your way to the front door.

-" They portray me as a misandrist, I'm not. " holding the doorknob, you turned slightly to look at her. " I may be a vigilante, a rebel, a criminal, but not a misandrist. "

-" just happened that from everyone who wanted to ruin me, there was not any single woman. "

Few words exchanged between the two of you were enough, you needed no befriending when you shared the same hatred.

That's when things started to get weird, back in the parking lot.

It was quiet, almost too quiet. And maybe that day the silence was too loud, screaming for you to notice the silencer, the bullet piercing the air.

•••

One breath at the time.

He will remain calm, he needed to keep his head in the game, no matter how hard it seemed.

-" He doesn't answer his phone since hours. " Ran stated through the phone, his other hand gripping the steering wheel tightly. " I'm gonna kill him Rin, I'm gonna so fucking kill him. "

He heard his brother cursing at the other end of the line, Rindou who was standing tall in front of a tied up Conor eyed the pretty beaten up government agent before answering.

- " Go to that damn reporter's house, this bastard says she might be the last person to see her".

-" God Fuck- if I'm late and she already left... "

No more words were needed, hearing his younger brother sighing through the phone, Ran hung up and threw his phone on the passenger's seat.

No matter how hard he tried reaching the mole that Mikey had successfully placed amongst Hiroto Mori's organization, the latter was no where to be found. In other words, their only chance of knowing what might be La compagnie's next move against you was gone.

The cages seemed to shrunk, hopes getting lost in the turmoil of the mess around. There's gotta be another way out, you three always ended up finding a way, right ?

He pressed the pedal harder, ever increasing the speed to get to Alaya's house. God keep her there.

The landscape through the window getting blurrier, trees molding with each other into a huge fog, where only fragmented memories shone through.

And you were there to sketch a picture of yourself all in his head, and then colour the linings of the dull reality as easily as you filled his thoughts.

A thousand years ago.

A thousand tears ago.

How strong they thought they were back then, teenagers wearing their fists like the heaviest machine guns. He remembered how they took down all that gang by their own, with his faithful Rindou standing in the chaos of the afterwards. Of the after-war.

-" You'll need more men to take over Roppongi" his brother scoffed, laying down a kick on one of the guy's stomach.

-" C'mon Rin', I'm starting to get hungry. " How pretentious has he been, swirling his baton around one of his braids.

His brother's attention was stolen from him, the second a broken chuckle left one of the injured men's mouth.

-" Now now what's so funny ? Mind to share ?" Ran stretched a smile, peering down at the latter.

- " bold of you to assume we'd send all our-" he paused to spit blood, Rindou's nose wrinkled from disgust. " We'd send all our men in a platter to you. "

-" Without a B plan. " Another voice echoed as one of the guys hardly stood up, Ran tilted his head to the side, stretching his arms above his head as Rindou's eyes bored into them.

-" You pussies really wanna die " he chuckled, standing in position.

-" Oh no, I'm way too spent up to be the plan B " the one who just stood up leaned against the alleyway wall.

Ran's smile was soon to fall. And Rindou's heart.

Because at the end of the alleyway, three new shapes were making their way toward them.

And as the sunshine got dimmer, the walls around began caving in, just like the tears on your face.

If not both the men's arms holding yours from each side, the ground would be scratching your knees, under the skirt of your school uniform. Through your teary eyes could be seen a gut devouring terror, one they would've preferred to never see on your face.

Their face.

-" Gentleman, the plan B. "

Your eyes widened, as one of the men holding you pressed the cold metal of the knife under your throat, a broken sob falling from your lips like glass cutting through their skins.

Lavender twin eyes found each other, no smile no words could be heard only the beasts roaring louder than ever.

Ran stared blankly at both the men, straightening his body. The words falling from his lips with his eyes on them were bloodcurdlingly low.

-" You're dead. "

•••

But paper cuts hurt.

And missing the sound of that bullet was like a hundred cuts through your skin.

You couldn't make up anything before your body was propelled in the air, hitting the ground only seconds later and waiting for the pain to spread.

It didn't spread.

It didn't spread.

And your eyes widened, feeling the heavy weight on you.

And he shifted slightly from on top of you.

Lavender.

And he found you. Not in soulless pictures, nor in restless dreams.

Ran found you in erratic heart beats, in wide-eyed gazes, and in stunned whispers of your name that shook your core.

-" Ran... "

Your voice, it was here, you were there. And after many lifetimes where he'd look for you in every empty face, in crowded streets and every whiskey bottle, his heart found yours.

It felt ethereal... As a grasp of water, temporary, fear of that moment slipping between his fingers likewise. As ephemeral as a dream, desperately blinking away reality's heart crushing attempts, he could not believe his eyes.

Your name flew out of his mouth as a prayer, a curse or a bullet, and when your eyes widened and your hands grabbed his arms, Ran Haitani finally put down all the burden and collapsed against you, head buried in your neck.

-" Fuck, you're here, you're... " Your hands wrapped around him, holding him so tightly that you couldn't tell where you began and where he ended. As your scent invaded his nostrils, he smelled love, touched a feeling, and suddenly all the time that flight by faded in an embrace.

-" Ran, Ran you're bleeding !" You urged him, trying to hide both of you deeper in the alleyway.

Yes, he felt the numbness in his arm, along with the hot liquid pouring out of it. He felt it. Yet he couldn't care less, because for the first time his own heart was not a dead weight to carry, truth is, his chest never felt so light.

-" give me a minute " he whispered against your skin, as you went to object his arms tightened around you. " ... Jus' a minute to make sure... You're real "

And how could you say anything with your heart in your throat ? Choking you filling your eyes with salty bullets ? Your hands ran through his ever so smooth hair, and just like that, it didn't mattered anymore.

Whether you died next or not, whether your soul left your body because your whole world was in your arms currently, and his meer crumbs were enough after years of craving him.

Pulling away felt as ripping his own skin off of himself, because out of your embrace he felt incomplete, as if he was art drawn by your own love, but soon your face smiled at him and he found solace.

-" I missed you, so, so much. God, words can never... " A broken sob threatened to escape your lips, your hand flew to your mouth to keep you quiet, the last thing both of you needed was to be spotted by the one who aimed the bullet at you.

-" hey angel, don't cry on me now, yeah ? I'll- shit" hearing sound of footsteps coming, Ran tried moving his arm but soon felt how numb and heavy it was. Panic started stirring his guts, he had to operate with one arm.

-" Don't move " you commanded, right before tearing a piece of your shirt. He hissed and you shushed him, straddling him to wrap the tourniquet around his bleeding arm. " I can fight, I can do it for both of us-"

-" won't you just show up already ?" The unknown voice reaching both your ears shout, you two froze hearing how close the voice was to the alley, too close...

-" We want no war with Bonten, c'mon just give us the girl already !"

You gulped down, eyeing Ran's gaze which never has been so dark. The voice was different, there were many footsteps, too much...

-" Holy shit... " Ran cursed under his breath, pulling you closer against him in an attempt to hide both of you. You closed your eyes slightly, It was unfair, you suffered their absence for so many years just in order to keep them away from your shit, all for what ?

Yes you two had guns, but you were two, they were very much, and Ran was injured... Walls crumbled down brick by brick, a falling hope, a sinking ship. You both knew, and the words no one dared to speak poisoned the air in between.

-" Listen " he cupped your cheeks in his warm hands, lifting his injured arm as best as he could. " They're... They're going to take you. "

No, those were not words, but swords. Sinking in his guts and slicing his throat, jaw clenched, you've never witnessed such a scary look on his face.

-" I know, Ran. I knew what I was getting myself into from-"

-" Silence. "

You froze, no matter how hard you've grown to be, Ran's authoritative voice would always cut you sharper than any knife.

-" They'll take you away from me. But God fucking knows I'd give my whole life. I'd rock heaven and earth to find ya, 'kay ?"

As your heart sunk in your chest, your throat tightened, your eyes burned with tears you fought to not shed.

-" Please, stay away from this. " Your voice broke, you couldn't contain your sobs anymore. " Stay away from me, please don't... "

-" Shhh, y'know I'll do it whatever. If death couldn't do us apart, nothing alive will. "

In his eyes, you read the unspoken words and unshed tears of four years, and yes you knew, there was nothing you could ever say to keep them from following you.

Both you attentions were stolen from each other to the small sound that echoed through the alleyway, and before you could make up anything, you found yourself pressing Ran's body against the floor, hiding his face in your chest as the gas bomb began spreading smoke around you.

-" Shit, shit shit ! " You cursed, Ran's arms tightened around you the best he could, he probably should be closing his eyes but how to ? When he knew the second he would close them, you would disappear.

Again.

The fog around drawed patterns of old scars, how sadistic was fate,how heart breaking was it to lose each other right after being reunited.

And for once, as he was holding you in the middle of the chaos, Ran allowed his eyes to cry, he allowed his heart to bleed again, past's ghosts nipping at their old favorite dish, his skin.

Except this time, he would watch the life snatch you away from his arms, rip you away from his heart. Rip the life out of his breathing lungs.

-" We'll come back for ya... "

-" Ran, don't- don't speak!" You coughed, feeling your head becoming dizzier. But he ignored you, burying his head in your neck.

-" I'll bring you back home. I promise... "

Could the sky fall or the fires burn, nothing would stop him from uttering the words engraved in his tongue since four years. Not again.

-" 'cause I... " and though he coughed, he believed nothing would burn his lungs more than the unspoken feelings. "Won't lose the love 'f my life to death. Not again".

And as his words rocked you to faint, your grasping reflex never released his shoulders. His image started getting blurry, yours too, and as much as he tried to keep them open, gas around you was too heavy to even distinguish anything.

So you both let go of your fears, closed your eyes, and surrendered.

Because when even the reaper's scythe couldn't keep your hearts away, you'll always find your way back home.

And I lost you. I lost you with my arms around you.

•••

-" Where the fuck is she ?"

Crestfallen was an euphemism to describe how Ran got back to the Bonten headquarters under all his co-workers eyes, no he did not only came back with empty hands, but holding his bleeding heart in them.

He woke up a dead man, in that empty alleyway. He couldn't tell how much time has passed after they left with you, but he could count the roars of devils inside his mind. And so he stood up, uncaring about the dizziness of his head, of his bleeding arm, or his broken heart. Drove to the headquarters and there he was.

He stared blankly at Rindou's eyes, who was clearly upset from his expression and how disheveled he was.

-" How did you know I found her ?" He wearily asked, throwing himself on the couch as Kakucho sighed and started checking the state of his arm. " I removed the bullet when I woke up".

-" When you woke up ?" His younger brother inquired, he chose to ignore him and focus on Kakucho's words.

-" The mole finally called. " Kakucho's words fell on his shoulders as a thousand tons, Ran straightened in his seat, suddenly eyes wide. " He couldn't speak a lot, said everyone's on the lookout there, but he gave the address of a medical practice. "

-" The damn doctor " he hissed while Kakucho took of the tourniquet. " They might've took her-"

-" They what ?" Rindou's voice never been sharper. And for the first time, Ran couldn't even look into his brother's eyes, shame was a too heavy burden for his heart.

He was supposed to protect you both, he was the elder, he failed you, and failed Rindou...

-" What do you mean, they took her ?"

Making a step toward him, Kakucho tried stopping the younger brother but was quickly shoved away, as the latter grabbed his elder by the collar and made him stand up, facing him directly.

-" Speak. What do you mean they fucking took her ?"

He still could find nothing to say, and he knew Rindou was losing it from how tight he was clenching his jaw, anything he'll give him he would take it, fist, spit, curse, he deserved it.

-" Enough. "

As much as the temperature increased between the two brothers, Mikey's voice was enough to drop it. Rindou didn't flinched, still holding his brother by the collar until Sanzu and Kakucho separated them.

-" Mikey said enough " Sanzu pushed Rindou away from Ran, which got him a pretty glare from the youngest.

-" What if we tried figuring out something instead of acting like animals ?" Takeomi offered, Ran peered at him curiously, then at Mikey who just had a blank stare.

-" so you mean... "

-" Mikey will help us find her. "

The elder stared curiously at his brother, then at his boss who seemed galaxies away from them despite everything.

-" shit, you're not messing with me ? What's in it for you ?"

Sanzu cleared his throat, signaling him to watch his mouth but Ran couldn't care less, as Mikey shrugged.

-" Don't be stupid, Haitani. This the reason why you two joined Bonten in the first place, right ?"

That was true, but he never thought he would actually help them directly.

Ran's lavender hues found his brother's one when the latter kneeled next to him with an alcohol bottle, in order to disinfect his wound. Though he would never utter it, it could be read in Rindou's face that after the anger dropped down, he regretted the attitude he gave him.

- " Kakucho and Sanzu will come with us. But first, we need to talk to the Blondie" his brother explained, as he started cleaning the wound.

-" D'ya managed to get anything from him ?"

-" crumbs. Government shits are trained to resist investigations. " And as much as jealousy tightened his throat, Rindou swallowed it and added. " But he cares about her. I'm sure he'll talk if we tell him they got her. "

Ran clenched his jaw, as much as he didn't liked it, Conor was a necessary step to get to you, though he couldn't bring himself to trust a guy who kept you hidden away from them for years.

-" I'm fine" he moved Rin's hand away when that one began wrapping a bandaid around his arm. Standing up, he nodded toward his boss after Rindou stood up too. " Let's not waste more time. "

•••

-" You better not pass out on me yet, we still got so much fun to have !"

Amidst the aching of your body from your restrained limbs, and the stabbing pain his scalpel left here and there on your skin, his darkly cheerful voice reached your ears.

-" You, pretty, gave us a pretty hard time. We lost a lot of money because of you, daddy's gonna be so mad at his little girl... "

A giddy sensation took over you as soon as his blood stained glove reached for yet another instrument, a huge, rusty pair of pliers. A whimper left your dry lips, clenching your fist because you could do no more with how your hands and feet were tied to that operating table.

-" Cause oh yes ! Did I mention he'll be here soon ? " His sadistic smile only accentuated your hatred, while his hand seized your fist to open it by force. " Until then... "

-" Wait- No ! No, stop, stop !"

But he looked already so far gone, slipping those pliers between your cuticules. The next thing you know, your finger tingles, even the blood dripping out of where your nail used to be hurts, your visions gets blurry, his proud smile is blurred by your own tears. Screams of pain escape your lips along with shallow breaths, and you're none but an aching, crying, sweating mess of blood.

-" Your cries are music to my ear, darling. But I'm sure I can get more out of you. Like what in hell was a Bonten member doing with you ?"

-" Go-" a broken sob cut through your words, the pain lacerating on almost every inch of your skin making it hard to stay awake. " Go to hell..."

-" What a brave girl we have here !" Caged-animal grunts escaped your lips, his devilish grin was nothing but bad news. " You make me crave your begging, sweetheart. Why won't you beg for me ? "

Threatening, he went for your second nail. Your toes curled, heart beating so slowly you thought you would faint anytime, you pressed your lips together as tight as possible to muffle your cries.

-" I'm sure they left you for dead, who helped you? You couldn't have done this by yourself... " For nothing came out of your mouth, he pressed the pliers harder in between your cuticules, making you whimper and bite your lip. " So you're not speaking, eh ?"

- " Do your tricks, if you must... I'm- I'm not speaking a word. "

He seemed not the less bothered by your statement, and as he ripped the second nail, you felt as if your soul has been ripped off of you, scream probably reaching miles and miles away from the medical practice you two were in. Tears overflowed from your eyes, which you closed, shaking your head from left to right.

-" Fuck you... I'll kill you, I'll fucking k-" nausea made it hard for you to even speak, whilst he ignored your threats and moved at the end of the table.

-" God have mercy on me, pain looks so good on you " the disgusting old doctor grunt, white coat splattered with blood as his gloved hand rested on your bare thigh. You shivered to the spine, through the mind striking pain, he started sliding the plier up your thigh, smoldered pupils focused under the hospital gown you woke up in.

And then, when he looked up at your eyes, he knew he got the best of you, he knew he succeeded into slipping under your skin, into the darkest roads of your numb mind where your old demons were still hardly breathing.

Though your nails hurt, you dug them as deep as you could in your palms, closing your eyes and praying. Praying because you had no other hope.

-" Kill me. " The words sliced your throat. " You won't get anything from me. Just kill me. "

-" I'd be screwed to disobey your dad. Boss said he had a special bullet for your pretty skull " Tilting his head with a faux sympathy tone, he gripped your thigh to part them open, sliding his pliers upper. " But I really, really want to hear the cute sounds you can make, begging for me. "

You did expect no more.

So was this the end ? Endless nightmare like a broken record would be repeating ?

Except this time, you would not let it happen.

Opening your eyes again, soulless. Numb. You abruptly lifted your head, again, and again making your neckless bounce until it reached your mouth. And as you went for biting the pendant...

Hours ago...

-" Huh... So you brought... You brought big brother to make me talk ?" Conor smiled, head still hanging low while both the Haitani entered the room where he was tied to the chair.

Only greeted by silence, he lifted his head and his gaze fell on stone cold faces, a stoic Rindou Haitani and his unmoved brother putting on his brass knuckles. He looked in pain, arm bandaged but wore a determined face. The blond gulped down, cursing under his breath.

-" So you didn't found her... "

The elder ignored him, directly making his way to him and kneeling down in front of the bleeding man.

-" Enough. "

Conor's inner cheek skin met his teeth in a frightening scream, Ran's fist putting him through unbearable pain as blood began dripping from his lips and little cuts adorned his skin.

-" Normally, I would've took my time roasting you american fucker's skin. "

Another punch, Conor spat blood, grunting from pain and throwing a death glare toward his assaulter.

-" But I'm afraid we're running out of time. " He grabbed his collar, lifting him, and the chair he was tied to, to meet his gaze. " so you're gonna tell me everything you know 'bout that doctor fucking Endo. And I might just put an end to your suffering, and life. "

Through his hatred stuffed green hues, Ran watched doubt widening them the next seconds.

-" Wait... Wait shit, he got her ?"

Rindou clenched his jaw, meeting his brother's gaze. Both stayed silent, eyeing the man who understood the lack of words.

-" Fuck... " His chest tightened as if going up in altitude, panic could be clearly seen in his eyes. " You gotta find her, quick, please... I- I can help, I ca-"

-" Who the hell do you think you are ?" Rindou, making a step toward them inquired, while Ran was focused on the blond's reaction.

Something was off, he knew.

-" think you want her back more than we do ?"

-" Stop ! That's not what I freaking meant !" For the first time, he lost his composure. "We got some... Last resort plan, for cases like this... "

Silence, the brother's eyes met in an agonizingly long second, their faces growing scarier and closer to the government agent.

-" What do you mean. Last resort ?" Ran uttered every word in a bloodcurdling low voice, Conor closed his eyes.

-" We were... Pretty aware we could get caught, by La Compagnie guys. We both have a necklace... "

-" Speak. " In a split second, Rindou pressed his gun to the tied man's head.

-" All she has to do is bite the pendant, there's cyanide powder... A suicid pill. "

.

.

.

.

Hound-like grunting fury, beast roaring car's engine, that highway probably never knew such a speed. They drove with the weight of the world on their shoulders, not fast enough, never enough.

-" Go ahead, we'll take care of it " Kakucho's voice reached Rindou, who nodded and started running along the medical practice, while Sanzu and Kakucho distracted the security guards and began taking them down one by one.

And with each step he made, opening every damn door there ,a star died in his sky, his heartbeats were a countdown, erratic when he kicked one more door, expecting another empty room.

It was not.

There stood the filthy old man, and Rindou's grip tightened around his gun.

-" The fuck ! Security-"

But his bullet was faster, piercing the atmosphere fiercely to settle in the doctor's chest who fell down directly.

His lungs seemed filled with salty water, each foot of him weighted a ton within the seconds he made his way toward you on the table. Necklace in your mouth. Feeling those tons under his feets trying to bring him down on his knees, suffocating on the salty water.

Then you dropped the pendant, closed, and intact. And he could finally breath again.

-" Thanks fucking god " he threw his head back, breathing heavily. Your eyes widened, heart beating faster at the sight of him.

-" R... Rindou ? "

Yes, life has effortlessly been breathed in him upon hearing your voice, bringing him back to reality. To a reality where you were there, alive, breathing. not yet another dream, you were real.

-" Lemme help you with this " he managed to free your hands, ignoring the unpleasant rage shaking his guts when he saw the blood on your nails, then moved to your right foot as you untied the left.

-" Oh god, Rin. You're here, you're doing fine ... Is Ran okay ? " He helped you to your feet, making sure you could stand up then nodded, making you sigh in relief.

-" Let's go, we gotta be quick " you nodded, tugging at your hospital gown and quickly grabbing the doctor's gun on the table, but frowned when he stopped you. His hand reached for your necklace and ripped it, throwing it somewhere in the room. "I'm not losing you again. Never again. "

God, it was really not the time for blushing. Rindou took your hand in his and you both began running down the corridor. His hand in yours felt warm, and although the years, familiar. No matter how skilled and trained you grew up to be, only his touch could make you feel so safe.

Deep in thoughts while running, you had barely the time to pull him inside a random room before the bullets started flying from the end of the corridor, closing the door behind you two.

-" Shit... It's Hiroto's men... " You explained, locking the door of the closet you two stepped in, remembering the doctor's words. You turned toward him and found his lilac gaze only inches away from yours, drinking in your face and getting high on memories.

Not now, he had to remind himself, nothing to do, no way to scar when your eyes were still broken glass embedded in his skin.

-" Rin... "

But there's no room in war for feelings, and you two could've testified it when the first kick on the door echoed, making you both startle.

-" back off, I'm in charge now. " He shoved you behind him, reaching for his gun.

-" Rin, I'm begging you to leave- I... I can handle myself, you could get injured like Ran, they're not gonna let me go now that they found-"

-" They'll have to get through me before they get to you. " he wearily loaded his gun with bullets and determination, you grunt desperately tugging at his sleeve.

-" for god's sake Rin please !"

When those amethyst eyes landed on you, you knew trying to convince him was a lost battle, since he was hell bent on fighting by your side.

He quickly gripped your face, squeezing your cheeks with his ever-bored expression, cold voice reached your ears.

-" Shhh, love ? It's my life over yours, dontcha get that ? " His eyes quickly drifted toward your lips, before getting back to your eyes. " Now be my pretty good girl and back off. "

-" No. "

Freezing, he turned toward you as another kick nearly threw the door open.

- " What do you mean, no ?"

You gulped down. no need to fear him, you were not a teenager anymore.

Back then, with your school uniform on and a knife pressed to your throat, your tears stained your cheeks as you called for the boys.

-" I'm- I'm sorry " your sobs knife-like, cutting through their flesh. " If I had been more careful, you... You two wouldn't be in trouble... "

Strange right ? Until making both of them clench their jaws, you were the one with the reaper's scythe pressed to your flesh because of them, and you were apologizing. For putting them in trouble.

How could they possibly not willingly give their lives for you ?

-" That's really, really not smart from you. " Ran began, making a step toward both the guys, until one of them pressed you to him and yelled at Ran to stop.

-" One move, and your bitch dies " he threatened, Rindou's eyes studied the distance between you five, how much time it would take if he raced, if he threw himself on them, would they have enough time to hurt you ? Anxiety ate his brain alive, the enemy's caged seemingly closing in around him.

- " Now we can talk about who can take over Roppongi. "

-" Rin, if we go down, we go down together, remember ?" You uttered, tightening your hands around the gun you stole from doctor Endo. He stared at your blood stained face, stared at the past right in the eyes.

Teenage himself watched it in slow motion, as your hand insidiously slipped in your school bag hanging from your shoulder. Everything was too slow until both the guys holding you got their eyes spread with perfume, screaming and dropping down the knife. It was their chance, he realized, launching himself toward you.

-" You bitch-" your assaulter hissed toward you once the brothers took care of them. Ran's foot hit his rib, while the other brother approached him, pulling his head up by his hair.

-" Yes she is. The bitch two brothers would burn down this town for. "

There, that's when you brought him from the prison of his own pride, he realized he never was meant to fight on his own, neither were you, or Ran. And when the door finally gave in under the enemy's kicks, they knew you three came in a package deal.

Too starstruck to even realize, the bullets flew through both the men's bodies, making of them your own horror canevas.

-" Quick !" He yelled, pulling you from your wrist, running down those stairs and corridors again. Back to the reception, you avoided the dead bodies on the ground, blood splattered everywhere and Rindou seemed to look for something but just pulled you outside the practice when he found no body. Stepping finally outside, as the adrenaline started coming down, your wounds and all the blood you lost along with the tiredness came back with force, almost dropping you on your knees if not for Rindou's arm to grab your waist.

-" Wow, stay with me, 'kay ? We're almost there " he held you close to him, you nodded and tried chasing the dizziness of your head away, blinking quickly before he cupped your face, analyzing your unfocused eyes.

-" Hey, live f'me until we're done with this shit, and I swear I'm putting a damn ring on your finger, yeah ?"

His voice reached your ears in broken words, muffled by the roaring sound of an engine coming from behind.

-" And I swear I'll always step in between " was it Ran's voice ? You really could not tell, hours of grueling torture finally getting to you. " C'mon Rinnie, ya really think it's time for the mushy shit ? "

Rindou grunt, opening the door and bringing you with him, on his lap in the passenger seat.

-" You took your fucking time. Where's Kakucho and the druggy ?"

-" Taking care of the bodies. Close the door, we don't want more La compagnie men glued to our ass."

He made a point, making his brother quickly close the car's door. Lavender hair fainted in a blur, words making their way to you in slow, too far voices, your eyelids weighted a ton and soon your grip on Rindou's shirt was the only thing holding you to reality, while you dived deep into unconsciousness.

Ran's lazy smile made his way back to his face, eyes dropping into your sleeping form in his brother's arms.

There is it, home. Where the heart is in peace, not anymore in a million piece.

You whimpered in your sleep, moving slightly in Rindou's arms before his hand reached your cheek.

-" Feel this? This my hand on ya, you're never going anywhere again."

Ran winced, stretching his painful arm to rest on your thigh, feeling the warmth of your skin and grinning lazily.

-" Welcome home, angel. "

Network : @tokyo-ballroom @downtown-roponggi

Reblogs and comments are appreciated!thanks for reading <3

[falcqns]

Winter loves you too

pairing: The Winter Soldier x Reader, Bucky Barnes x Reader

summary: Winter tells you he loves you.

warnings: slight angst, fluff, Winter is becoming a good guy, Winter and Bucky are two people in one body.

a/n: this is based off a shifting experience where Bucky told me that Winter loves me too. bolded italics is Winter, non bolded italics is Bucky.

everyone thought that Winter was just a persona.

brought out by those words. they thought that he only existed when those words were spoken, but Bucky knew different.

he was always there. sometimes he liked him, but the majority of the time he hated him, and sometimes he had to laugh at the bullshit rambling in Russian that he did when something was taking too long for his liking. and, even when he did like him, it was a barely tolerable like. but all in all, he reminded Bucky that he wasn't alone.

today was one of those days that he liked him.

he was in a coffee shop, ordering your's and his coffee for the day after a fight, and he almost got your order wrong, when a voice in his head chimed in.

do not forget the cream.

Bucky wanted to roll his eyes and tell him that he wasn't going to forget the cream, and he wasn't THAT stupid, but that would have been weird.

he ignored it, and decided to pay attention to the barista. when she rattled his order back to him, and he heard that he did indeed forget the cream, he wanted to slap himself. he corrected the barista, and once he got his coffee, he was on his way.

thanks.

you are welcome. do not make her more angry than she already is.

Bucky almost cackled at that. you were pretty heated last night. he doesn't even remember why the two of you were fighting as he walked down the street to the tower.

you threw us in front of a bullet that ended up missing on the last mission. Winter informed him, and Bucky wanted to slap himself again. he did do that.

he arrived back at the tower a few minutes later, and Winter chimed in again when he was in the elevator.

it would be best to apologize.

Bucky really rolled his eyes this time.

no shit.

I do not see any evidence of feces in this elevator currently.

it's a saying idiot.

the doors opened and he noted that the tower was eerily quiet this morning, until he realized that the team had another urgent mission this morning, but you and him were on mandatory rest hours due to your mission the day before, so you couldn't join.

he headed towards the bedroom, and slowly opened the door. you were still curled up under the bedsheets like when he left. he went to flick on the light, but Winter stopped him.

wake her gently. do not wake her abruptly.

now Bucky was thoroughly confused. how did Winter know these things, and more importantly, why did he care? he shook the thought from his head before Winter could intercept it, and placed the coffees on the bedside table and crouched down next to you.

run your fingers through her hair.

why?

it is calming to her. she will wake gently.

how the hell do you know that?

I am not at liberty to divulge that information.

he rolled his eyes, but did what Winter told him to. to his surprise, instead of the scowl he usually got in the morning, he was greeted with a smile.

"can I touch you?" you asked, and Bucky nodded a slight confused look on his face. some sort of recognition flashed behind your eyes, but you sat up and wrapped him up in a hug before he could think about it to much.

"I'm sorry I got so angry." you said, and Bucky shook his head.

"don't be. I shouldn't have thrown myself in front of the bullet. I could have shoved us to the ground or something. all I could think of was keeping you safe." you smiled in his arms and moved your head back slightly.

"I love you." you said and Bucky smiled before pressing a kiss to your lips. "I love you too," he mumbled against your lips.

you two pulled a part and Bucky climbed back over to his side before taking his coffee from your hand.

the tv was turned on a few minutes later, and you two watched it as you two drank your coffees. a thought came back to Bucky, and he turned to look at you.

"why did you ask if you could touch me?" he watched as a smile spread on your face.

"I thought you were Winter." you said simply, and that made Bucky even more confused.

"how?"

you turned to look at him with a confused face. "that's how Winter wakes me up. he plays with my hair, you rub my back." you said.

"h-he wakes you up?" he asked, quickly looking you over for any marks. when he finds none, he makes eye contact with you again.

"do you not know?" You asked, and Bucky gave you a look that said 'clearly', and you smiled.

"sometimes, at night, Winter comes out and wakes me up." you said and Bucky's eyes grew huge. "he doesn't hurt me. he tells me his only mission now is to protect me, but at night, he just needs some love."

"he, a ruthless killing machine, needs some love?"

I heard that.

yeah no shit. that's the point.

"yes he does. you may find this hard to believe, but he hates HYDRA just as much as you do. more, if that's possible. sometimes he wakes up and is scared that he's back there and needs reassurance that he's not."

thank you for not hurting her.

I could never hurt her. I love her.

Bucky felt himself tearing up, and you asked what was wrong.

"h-he said that he loves you." you smiled, and ran your hands through his hair in a way you never had before.

"I love you too, Winter."

maybe Winter wasn't too bad after all.

[thedelusionreaderbitch]

Kaz Brekker x fem! mute! reader - Dancing eyes

(Image not mine)

A/n: I just thought about this and here we are. Also! I will have at least two more imagines coming out today or tomorrow! I'm also sorry if I offended anyone I really tried to make a good representation of the reader and I did some research but I'm not mute so I don't know exactly what's that's like. So if you guys could tell me if I did anything wrong, just some feedback that would be nice!

Warnings: Mentions of trauma, death, angst, blood, gore, the reader is mute, fluff I think that's it? You have been warned!

Summary: Kaz falling in love with you

(The sign language is in italics bold!)

All rights go to leigh bardugo, netflix, and you! I just own the plot!

She was dancing when he first saw her.

She did a few twirls, her leg went into the air flawlessly into a arabesque to the side. It was powerful and controlled but it was graceful. The girl did a paw de chat and jumped high into the air turning around and landing with one leg behind her perfectly straight and pointed, one leg on the ground and her hands in front of her like she was presenting something to the audience.

The crowd clapped and applauded her but she did not smile, not till she did a low curtsy and while she did her y/c/e orbs meant his. Kaz's breath got lodged in his throat when he saw her beautiful eyes. Then they lit up like all the stars were in her eyes and her lips curved upwards forming a small grin.

Kaz shook his head, she wasn't valuable to the dregs so she wasn't worth looking for, so he turned swiftly on his feet and started walking towards the slat.

But you wish she was.

Kaz started looking for her everyday, and everyday she would be in her spot near the slat doing a dance. Her graceful movements often caught his eye and he would often find himself watching her from his window.

Weak.

But one day something else caught his eye about her, she had enough money for shoes and clothes, it didn't look like the girl ate much, barely enough to keep her alive. Thought still, she bought food.

Or did she?

He observed her in a different way now - for a week and to say the Brekker boy was surprised would be an understatement. The little dancer had been stealing.

Sometimes she would steal food, money, and do a few magic tricks here and there but the thing was he never saw her steal only saw the people leave with empty pockets.

Kaz could admit to himself that she was good, possibly better than him - which was dangerous. But could she kill someone? Maybe he could train her but he found he didn't want to force that upon the girl that danced outside his window everyday. Stealing food, money and even clothes sometimes.

Saints, I'm growing soft. Kaz thought to himself.

The next time he saw her was three weeks later well, the thing is he didn't see her outside his window dancing all day from 6:00pm sharp all the way to 3:30am.

He wondered how the girl slept.

He was limping down a street and he turned a corner only to hear a voice and it wasn't recognizable so he quietly limped over and peaked his head out.

It was the little dancer.

She had a grisha steel dagger pressed up against a man's throat. The man was trembling in fear, and the little kitten that once danced was gone and her claws were coming out.

"Please-please! I did can-can pay-pay you back! Please! I-I know people who-who can help!"

The man looked young but was definitely a sleaze ball, with his brown hair that looked like it was decaying, his round bodice, his fat arms and legs and he retched of alcohol and young girls.

He was nothing compared to the girl.

The tiger had a snarl on her face, but she didn't make a sound as she stabbed the dagger threw his forehead killing him. Then she pulled the knife and grabbed a piece of paper presumably writing something down on it.

She spun on her heels and she faced him.

Shit.

She just blinked at him and made some weird hand movements which Kaz identified as sign language.

Oh he did know what sign language was, he knew how to use it too.

If you wanted a show, you could have just asked dirtyhands.

The girl smiled when he rolled his eyes.

"I don't want a show, but I would like you to join the dregs." He said out loud in a monotone voice. She looked taken aback that he could understand her but she grinned even brighter that he could.

Of course. It's better.

She signs, using just those words and not adding anything else - just it's better. Though he knew actually what she meant.

"What are you. You seem to know your way around here, not to mention the stealing and killing."

I'm a assassin. I Trained somewhere... not in Kerch, and I escaped and went here.

Her signing his precise and graceful almost like her dance movements. She starts to walk away but she pause's and turn's to him.

You can call me Nemesis.

Then she walks away. He didn't even know the time or whether she was even going to show up. He didn't even know her real name - not a single thing about her real identity really.

Only that she dances.

After that day he dreamed of her every night. Sometimes she would be dancing outside or she was working on a job with him. On the occasion he would get a dream about her in a meadow holding up a flower and showing it to someone. But that seemed more like a memory more then anything because she looked younger - a child only five maybe seven.

He longed for the sleep.

Once after a job with the Crows she came to his room and her hair flowed down her back as she climbed into his desk chair while he was on his bed.

He didn't even hear her come into the room.

Writing something down on the paper she turns around and hands him it.

My name is Y/n.

That's when he knew she trusted him.

After that moment they slowly began to come together - slowly but surely. Whether it be a small brush of the hand or full on skin to skin contact they we're there and then they weren't. Technically, they weren't dating - not officially anyways but no one (not even the Crows) could find where Kaz or Y/n began or where they ended. It was like they we're on one big loop, they we're on person yet they we're different.

The first time he kissed her she was coming back from killing someone.

Y/n was his personal assassin, because of that she killed a lot of people and had to be never seen, no evidence, not always clean kills. But Y/n had already admitted to killing many people and she signed that she probably had killed more people in her childhood then he will ever tell her to kill in his lifetime.

So when she came back in tears after a murder he was rightly confused. Her bright y/c/e eyes we're filled to the brim with tears and the eyes that usually danced with emotions were almost dead looking. Though to Kaz they still looked beautiful.

That's not what she needs right now.

Kaz sat on the bed staring at the assassin that stood in the middle of his room, that looked nearly like the little dancer that he once thought she was. But her eyes looked shattered like glass spread across the floor in pieces.

He patted the room beside him on the bed and she reluctantly followed where his hand was and sat down. She kept her eyes cast down, and it killed Kaz to not see those beautiful eyes that danced. The only thing the left of her innocence in his opinion.

With an ungloved hand he lifted her chine up to his and slowly her eyes meant his. Her breath stuttered, she breathed in and started moving her hands using sign language to talk.

There was a child.

She started, always trying to get to the point fast enough.

They went up to me and...

Her hand movements came to an erupt stop and she slowly breathed in a breath preparing.

They called me a monster.

Kaz looks at her and the tears in her eyes. She needs comfort or something at least but he's not so sure he can give her that. He's not sure if he's even ready for that.

Yes you are. And Kaz could finally agree with the voice in his head.

He slowly brought their lips together and brushed them together in sync. He lifted his hand to go to her cheek and he stroked it. They pulled away, it was barley a kiss but it was enough.

"You could never be a monster Y/n." He whispered as their foreheads touched again.

__________TIME SKIP_____________________________________

Knives, arrows, and bullets were flying though the air. Some hitting people and some not. Kaz looked over to Y/n, he knew he shouldn't have brought her on this job.

She had an air of royalty around her, she killed whomever she liked out of the Blacktips.

That's if she granted them mercy.

If she didn't you would die a very painful death. Her hair was blowing in the wind making it look like she was floating, and for all Kaz knew about her, this girl was full of surprise's. She might as damn well been.

Her reflects were quick and graceful but deadly. Just how she dances. He thought. Her eyes were on fire and they seemed to burn everything around them.

She really was a Saint.

Focus. He scolded himself.

You can think about her more later and maybe tell her what you think boy. It was a different voice this time, and it vaguely sounded like his father but he pushed the thought away and kept on fighting.

The heist was over and he looked around for Y/n because usually on mission's like these they would go together and just sit. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes they would just enjoy each other's presences. It was all they needed, just a reminder for them that they we're still alive.

"Did you see Y/n." He said flatly not wanting to seem worried although he really was.

"Ya, I saw her slip away earlier she looked fine." Nina supplied.

He gave her a quick nod and started walking back to the slat. At the least he knew she was fine.

They couldn't find her.

It had been a week and she didn't show up, they were all desperately trying to find the assassin but she was no where to be found. She silent girl was gone, they didn't even know if she was captured or not.

After another week the others had given up saying if their was a lead they would be there. Then Kaz found a note on his desk.

Dear Mr Brekker,

Hello Kaz this is Y/n, so I'm sorry for doing this but it had to be done. I'm not captured no, and I'm safe for now no ones really safe in the barrel. I have many enemies and they will find out you and the Crows are my weakness and I can't have that. You mean so much to me in words I could never describe and it pains me so much to leave knowing - I love you. You are some much stronger than me and a considerably better person then I ever could be although you fight against that statement. You put your Armour down for me and I couldn't do that for you. I'm sorry.

May the stars watch over you,

with love Y/n

Kaz didn't know what to do, Y/n was gone the loop was broken and everything was back to the way it was. He closed his eyes and thought about her eyes - those dancing eyes.

Like for part 2!

Words 1930

-thedeluisonreaderbitch

[spectrestephrogers]

Resume tips from a recruiter’s assistant

I’ve been working as a recruiting assistant for a few months now and I wanted to share tips for job hunters. As a recruiter’s assistant I’m the one that scours Monster and CareerBuilder and reads your resume first. So here are ten things that make your resumes a little better (100% I have rejected some resumes that were impossible to read before). These are all fairly general so I think should help everyone

1. 1-2 pages max PLEASE I BEG YOU. It is rare that I really feel you need more than that, but if you feel you do please proceed with caution. (I’m looking at you engineers with your 7 page resumes that include actual tables. I will you find you and I will fight you)

2. Microsoft templates may not be the most flashy but they are almost always readable and I appreciate that

3. KEYWORDS! Pepper your resume with as many relevant keywords as you think apply. And I do mean put them in your resume. Just putting them in your skill profile on Monster doesn’t mean anything to me if I can’t figure out where you have that keyword experience. If you can’t think of keywords it can help to look up example resumes or even “*job* keywords”. Of course, only add them in if you can back them up with your experience.

4. Try not to use bullet points with single words. If you’re using bullet points at all use them with sentences. I’ve asked people to write better resumes when they have too many single word bullet points. 

5. Those indeed proficiency tests mean nothing to me. Absolutely nothing. Except that they almost always ending up adding another page to your resume and please see point 1. 

6. Cute, colorful resumes don’t mean much to me as I print everything in grayscale. Bolds, italics, and underlines catch my eye better once I’ve printed them out. (Caution, this might be different for more artistic jobs which I don’t generally look for)

7. If you have a large gap on your resume for a decent reason, fill the gap. You don’t have to put in took time off for school since I’ll see that in your education section. But if you were injured, taking care of sick family or children, etc you can briefly mention that. 

8. Put start and end dates for each position. You don’t have to put down why you left, I will ask.

9. Put your phone number & City + zip at the top of your resume in an easy to see spot. I do not need your exact address and I DEFINITELY DO NOT NEED YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.

10. Upload your resume to job sites. Please do not just copy and paste your resume as it will be formatted horribly and I’ll hate you for making me open up word to copy your resume into. Job sites sometimes suck and ruin the formatting of your resume anyways but its better than txt format style resumes with no paragraph spacing.

[valeriethepussycats]

Assemble

Chapter 1

Pairing- Loki x Reader x Steve (one side)

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

Flashback Are Bold

“And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born--to fight the foes no single superhero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then--for now, the Avengers Assemble!"

Burning blue flame. A smoky cube shape emerges -The Tesseract.

Kneeling behind a throne, a clothed, armored figure known as The Other. “The tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power,...” He holds out the scepter. Coming out from the shadows, Loki takes the staff. “But our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow.” Thousands of Chitauri are awaiting orders.

“The world will be his. The universe yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?” The Other declared.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Y/n was walking home from Queensbridge park at Ten o’clock at night her mind on Thor and his Brother Loki .

The Destroyer hand comes to touch the Force field and all the wounds on Y/n’s body are all healed.

Why would Loki heal me?

Y/n shakes the thought out of her head not trying to dwell on it because she knows she’s never going to get the answers she want. It’s been a whole year so she’s heard or seen Thor.

What’s the point of thinking about it when I might not see Thor ever again.

Truth be told Y/n miss Thor more then she thought she would. To her Thor was the ideal best friend he understood her without even trying.

We found her.

Y/n scoffs. 

I can’t have a moment of peace.

“You might as well come out I know you’re there.” Y/n shouted.

Two boys walk out from behind a tree one wearing a red and orange suit while the other one is wearing a helmet and a black and white suit.

“St. John Allerdyce aka Pyro and Dominikos Petrakis also known as Avalanche. What do you want?” Y/n asked with a sigh of irritation.

“How did she know our names.” Avalanche murmured to himself.

“Our boss wants to have a little chat. He thinks you could be a valuable mutant to the Brotherhood.” Pyro answered.

Y/n laughs and starts to walk away from the two boys. “There’s nothing I need to talk to your “boss” about ok I will never join the Brotherhood...isn’t fulled with children.

“Children. I have you know the Brotherhood except all ages of mutants.” Pyro explained.

Y/n stops walk and turns around  and looks at Avalanche and Pyro with  a Blank stare. “Well we’ll have to agree to disagree m’ok. Now I’m tired and I just want to go home and  Watch cartoons until I fell asleep nowadays you’ll excuse me.”

“You won’t take us serious I’ll make you.” Avalanche declared

“You want a fight I’ll give you a fight.”

Y/n’s eyes turn white and thunder claps as lightning flashes across the sky then hits a nearby light post which causes a chain reaction and all the light post

“Well color me impressed that would be all boys head back to the base.” Said a voice behind Y/n.

Pyro and Avalanche walk away in a hurry.

“Magneto....what do you want?” Y/n said in a curious tone.

“I heard about what you did in New Mexico saving those people.” Magneto addressed.

“Me helping innocent people ruin your plans?” Y/n wondered.

“No I’m just wondering why your not team X-men.”

“Why would I want to be an X-men.”

“Because your mother is an X-men.”

“My-my mother? My mother die trying to free me from the Weapon X Program.” Y/n explained.

“Then why was she stopping me from turning every human being into on earth into mutants.” Magneto pulls out his phone and show Y/n  a picture of her mother.

Y/n clenched her jaw as she winced. “You didn't know my sweet child she's been alive this entire time.” Magneto noted.

“Why are you doing this? What get out of this?” Y/n uttered.

“Everyone deserves the truth no matter who gives it to them.” Magneto confessed then disappears and all the lights in the park turns back on.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Shield facility at night. They are evacuating by helicopter and vehicle, and one helicopter lands, dropping off Maria Hill and Nick Fury while Agent Phil Coulson is awaiting them.

“Where is Agent Munroe?” Nick Fury asked Agent Coulson.

“Sydney,Australia sir.” Agent Coulson answered.

“Does she know that Erik Selvig is here?” Nick wondered.

“No she doesn’t not.”

“Good.....Now how bad is it?”

“That's the problem sir. We don't know.”

They enter the facility, passing fleeing technicians, taking only the essentials. “Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago.” Agent Coulson finished.

“NASA didn't authorise Selvig to test phase.” Nick stated.

“He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement.” Agent Coulson explained.

“It just turned itself on?” Agent Maria Hill Chimed in.

“What are the energy levels?” Nick asked Agent Coulson.

“Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac.” Agent Coulson replied.

“How long to get everyone out?”

“Campus should be clear in the next half hour.”

“Do better.”

Coulson nods then proceed  in the other direction as Nick and Maria  continue walking down deeper into the facility.

“Sir, evacuation may be futile.” Agent Hill disclosed.

“We should tell them to go back to sleep?” Nick asked sarcastically

“If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance.” Agent Hill explained

“I need you to make sure Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out.”

“Sir, is that really a priority right now?”

“Until such a time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every peice of Phase 2 on a truck and gone.”

“Yes sir.” Then Hill walks over to agents nearby. “With me.”

Nick fury  walks in the radiation facility housing the Tesseract, the area cluttered with machines and people leaving.

“Talk to me doctor.” Nick announced.

Dr. Erik Selvig walks from behind a CMS machine, concerned. The Tesseract is glowing unusually birghter and a flare of blue shoots out from it, hitting things at random. “Director.”

“Is there anything we know for certain?”

“The Tesseract is misbehaving.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's... misbehaving.”

“How soon until you pull the plug?” Nick asked.

“She's an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level...” Erik trailed off.

“We've prepared for this doctor. Harnessing energy from space.” Nick replied.

“We don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation.” Erik explained.

“That can be harmful. Where's Barton?”

“The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual.”

Clint Barton, dressed in black tactical gear, up on the railings watching them below. Fury calls Barton on his earpiece. “Agent Barton, report.”

Barton rappels down from the catwalk, and walks up to Fury. They both walk around the bottom of the facility in a discreet manner.

“I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things” Nick finished

“Well, I see better from a distance.” Agent Barton replied.

“Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off? Nick wondered.

“Doctor, it's spiking again.”  NASA scientist shouted Erik.

“No one's come or gone. It's oven is clean. No contancts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end.” Agent Barton passed on

“At this end?” Nick questioned.

“Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? The doors open from both sides.”  Agent Barton answered

Dr. Erik Selvig types on his keyboard and the monitor flashes. Suddenly, the Tesseract thunders and shakes the entire facility. Both Agent Coulson nearby, and Maria Hill topside, feel the tremors. The cube glows brighter and emits a ring of light, and builds like a beam, similar to the Bifrost bridge. The power hits the edge of the platform, and begins to form a vortex, which becomes a portal. Space appears through the portal, and a gust of blue energy knocks people back. The cloud shoots to the ceiling, and the portal on the platform opens up as Loki steps through. The portal vanishes, and Loki grins at everyone, holding his spear. He frowns as he sees them looking at him.

“Sir please put down the spear.” Nick shouted.

Loki responds with firing a blast of blue energy from his spear, while Barton narrowly tackles Fury out of the way. Everyone shoots at Loki, but the bullets deflect off of him. Loki immediately takes down everyone shooting at him easily, with knives and energy blasts from his sceptre. He pauses, grinning, and looks to who will attack him next. Barton attempts to attack him, but Loki grabs his wrist, disarming him.

“You have heart.” Loki places the tip of the spear against Barton's chest.

Barton's eye glow black, and he stops resisting. Loki begins controlling other agents around the room. Fury sneak up, grabs the Tesseract, and places it in a briefcase, trying to sneak out.

“Please don't. I still need that.” Loki disclosed.

Nick turns to face Loki. “This doesn't have to get any messier.”

“Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”  Loki proclaimed.

“Loki? Brother of Thor?” Erik murmured.

“We have no quarrel with your people.” Nick told Loki

“An ant had no quarrel with a boot.”

“You planning to step on us?”

“I come with glad tidings, of a world made free.”

“Free from what?”

“Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart...” Like a gunslinger, Loki turns to face Selvig who's standing behind him and places his spear against Selvig's heart. Selvig's eyes glow black.

“You will know peace.” Loki finished.

“Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean The other thing.” Nick remarked.

the vacuum chamber ceiling, the Tesseract's energy cloud rapidly builds into what may be an implosion.

“Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us.” Agent Barton informed Loki.

“Like the Pharaohs of Odin.” Nick stated

“He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.” Erik explained.

“Well then.“

Loki looks to Barton, who without hesitation shoots Fury, who falls to the ground. Barton grabs the case containing the Tesseract and leaves the lab with Loki, Selvig, and the other controlled Shield personnel.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The controlled Shield personnel are gathering weapons and getting ready to leave the facility. Agent Hill watches in confusion.

Agent Barton Points to Loki and his team. “Need these vehicles.”

“Who's that?” Agent Hill wondered.

“He didn't tell me.” Agent Barton mumbled.

Agent Hill eyes them suspiciously as they get into a truck and begin to drive away.

Nick grabs a walkie talkie. “Hill, do you copy?”

Loki and his crew look back at Agent Hill.

Back at the lab, Fury is sitting up, pulling the bullet out, and breathing hard.

“Barton is...” Nick trailed off.

Maria turns around and shoots Barton, who is already shooting at her, and they drive away while she takes cover, still firing at them.

Nick is Running out of the lab, holding his side. “He's got the Tesseract! Track it down!.”

The energy discharge from the Tesseract is building up on the ceiling, rumbling and growing recklessly, destroying structures and cracking the walls.

Maria Hill jumps into a Jeep and takes chase on Loki and crew. Several other trucks begin to attack Loki's truck as well, and Loki releases a blast of energy, obliterating  Shield trucks and causing a blockage in the tunnel. Agent Hill is forced to keep distance on her pursuit.

Down below, Fury is racing against the clock as pipes burst around him. The walls are cracking, and the facility is suffering an internal earthquake.

Agent Coulson is grabbing cases, and trips down the stairs while the ground shudders. Others with him drop cases full of information and equipment.

“No! Leave it!” Agent Coulson urged  They all leave the cases behind and leave the lab running.

Barton and Agent Hill are caught in a truck race, where she pulls in front of him to try and block him. He responds with firing at her at close range, which causes Agent Hill to shoot out her own windshield to try and hit him.

Agent Coulson and his group take a Jeep and evacuate as well. “You're clear, sir! You need to go!” Agent Coulson said into walkie talkie.

Fury runs across the tarmac to a helicopter. The ground gives way seconds after the helicopter leaves the ground, falling into a sinkhole.

Still racing down the tunnel, Agent Hill and Barton are locked in combat. A blast wave from the Tesseract causes the tunnel to collapse partially. One of Loki's trucks makes it out, but Maria's truck is stuck.

The Tesseract's energy cloud now shrinks into a small ball of white light, hovering in the air. In a flash of blue light, the facility is consumed along with its surroundings. Fury watches from below as a rapid build up into an implosion.

Several miles away, Agent Coulson's van jolts from the blastwave on the horizon behind them.

The entire facility implodes with terrifying magnitude, and the implosion rocks the ground.

Maria Hill is stuckher jeep behind as the full force of the blast tears down on the tunnel, covering herself by being inside of the jeep, light from the night spilling in close by.

Barton's truck drives away, but Fury's helicopter hovers over it, and Fury opens fire with his pistol. Loki, in a fit of rage, fires an energy blast at the helicopter. The helicopter is skimmed my the blast, but catches fire. He jumps out of the flaming helicopter seconds before it hits the ground and shreds itself into debris. Fury stands back up, dazed, and shoots at Loki, but they're too far away.

“Director? Director Fury, do you copy?” Agent Coulson called into the walkie talkie

“The tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down. Hill?” Nick voiced.

Agent Hill climbs out of the wreckage of her jeep and speak into the  walkie. “A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors.”

From the ground, Fury surveys the wreckage. “Sound the general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase.”

“Roger that.” Agent Hill answered.

“Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war.” Nick disclosed

“What do we do?” Agent Coulson asked.

Nick Fury looks up, a thought on his mind.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Russia. There is a building, a warehouse, next to some unfinished railroad tracks under construction. The building is only occupied by Georgi Luchkov, a Russian general, and two thugs, with a prisoner amongst them, tied to a chair. The taller thug is in the middle of hitting the spy, a red headed Russian woman in a black tank top.

“This is not how I wanted the evening to go.”Georgi Luchkov commented.

“I know how you wanted this evening to go. Believe me, this is better.” Natasha Romanoff replied.

“I'd like to know why they sent you to carry out a carrier, a stained glass and other random items.” Luchkov explained.

The taller thug pushes her chair back, tilting it over the edge of a few story drop, and Natasha hides her fear.

“I thought General Solohob was in charge of the export business.” Natasha Remarked.

“Solohob? Your reputation is quite a progression. The famous Black Widow. Nothing but a pretty face.” Luchkov commented.

“You really think I'm pretty?” Natasha wondered.

Luchkov walks over to a table filled with tools of torture and interrogation, picking up a pair of pliers. The tall thug next to her forces her jaw open.

“We do not need the Lermontov to transfer the tanks. Tell him, well...You may have to write it down.” Luchkov stated.

A phone rings, and the weasely thug looks to his phone in confusion. He picks it up. “Ya?” He looks to Luchkov. “It's for you.”

Luchkov takes the phone, annoyed and angry. “Who the hell is...”

“You're at 114 Solenski Plaza, 3rd floor. We have an F22 exactly 8 miles out. Put the woman on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby.” Agent Coulson warned.

Luchkov places the cell phone against Natasha's ear seeing how she's tied to a chair with her hands tied behind her back.

“We need you to come in.” Agent Coulson noted.

“Are you kidding? I'm working!” Natasha declared.

“This takes precedence.” Agent Coulson stressed.

“I'm in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is giving me everything.” Natasha explained.

“I don't give everything.” Luchkov said confused.

Natasha frowns at Luchkov “Look, you can't pull me out of this right now.”

“Natasha. Barton's been compromised.” Agent Coulson disclosed.

After a beat. “Let me put you on hold.” Natasha nods to Luchkov. When he grabs the phone, she hits him with her leg and headbuts him. She stands, still tied to the chair, and kickboxes the tall thug in the face. She rolls over to the weasely thug, trips him, and stomps on his foot when he tries to pin her, then she knocks him out with a headbut. Coulson waits calmly, listening to her take three men down with her arms literally tied behind her back. She flips, breaking the chair on weasely thugs' ribcage, and looks to the tall thug, standing up. She kicks him too, chocking him out cold. She then wraps Luchkov's legs with a chain and pushes him down the hole he was threatening to drop her down. He hangs there, in pain, and she grabs her shoes and the phone.

“Where's Barton now?” Natasha asked Coulson.

“We don't know.” Coulson replied.

“But he's alive.”

“We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy.”

“Coulson, you know that Stark only trusts me about as far as he can throw me.” Natasha replied.

“No, I've got Stark. You get the big guy.” Coulson told Natasha.

Natasha pauses then hangs up the phone.”Bozhe moi.”

 Part 2

[theyneverblindmedarling]

My Tears Ricochet (Anon Theory)

(The lyrics will be in bold, anon’s thoughts in italics and mine just normal)

We gather here, We line up meeting in a sunlit room

And If I’m on fire You’ll be made of ashes, too

“In hoax she says ‘I’m barren land, I’m ash from your fire’ so we can assume the fire is joe and he burned Taylor and thus Harry too”

I do find this interesting especially with the lyrical parallels to hoax where the roles of ash and fire are switched. I read somewhere that someone pointed out that maybe this indicates the first person burnt already and now she’s on fire burning herself after watching them burn. If that’s the case then these roles are reversed in hoax where she’s been burnt by the person. I’ll state early on that for a good portion of this song I do think the lines are about her losing her masters however, some lines do seem to either have double meanings (could be about two people but with context reads differently towards them). I think this could be one of those lines especially with hoax parallels (since I don’t think that one is about Sc*tt, Sc*oter and her masters)

Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe all the hell you gave me?

Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you, till my dying day

“This might mean how when she wanted him, he was indecisive which put her through hell because she couldn’t have what both of them wanted. The last three lines mean how she died in Rep era and she couldn’t love him after because she had to move on or they would hurt more”

I do find this one really compelling. I do think the Rep era comparison is valid. Since Rep era was supposed to sort of be a reset where it was like she died and came back as what she is now sort of erasing her past and maybe him. Clearly it didn’t work though since we see him bleed into rep and Lover and now we have folklore which is her “digging up the grave another time”. Also the worst day did I deserve all the hell you gave me? implies that she hurt him too and this is one where I think its possible that its a double meaning line. Implying that Harry maybe hurt her worse but she hurt him too (possibly because of his indecisiveness and hesitance to commit despite what they had) while also being about Sc*tt betraying her by selling her masters to Sc*oter (implying that throughout the years she had bad days and maybe lashed out but his betrayal was so so much worse).

I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace

And you’re the hero flying around saving face

And if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?

Cursing my name, wishing I stayed

Look at how my tears ricochet

“Basically, sign of the times, how he is here even when their relationship “died” kind of like the DBATC why am I still writing pages line and how he wanted her to stay and it seems she wanted to as well and like she’s crying now again and again too.”

Hmm I can definitely see some parallels in the line and if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake. It is kind of in that vein of like “if its over why isn't it actually over” (there’s still an attachment there). Also I feel like go with grace may mean they didn’t have a clean break like maybe she (they) didn’t handle it very well and it made the last ending messy like in exile where its clear she feels she gave enough warning but he doesn’t understand how she could have just done that with no warning. Wishing I stayed reminds me of like reverse AYHTDWWS (like that’s how he’s feeling now). I also do think that the lines are indicative of her battle with her masters (the war imagery like her tears are bullets etc.) Also the hero saving face I don’t really align with Harry either.

We gather stones Never knowing what they'll mean Some to throw Some to make a diamond ring You know I didn't want to, Have to haunt you But what a ghostly scene You wear the same jewels, That I gave you As you bury me

Maybe stones might be a metaphor of memories, thus how some of them we try to throw away/forget while others we immortalize as diamonds. The next part might mean how he is haunted by her because now they are just two ghosts now like ghosts haunt each other and stuff. The last three might mean how she gave him that ring and maybe memories that he still wears on his heart and breathes through his music (falling much?!) as he buried her, meaning tried to forget her or left her when the Taylor “died”

Okay so first off the stones/memories things is interesting especially since I don’t quite know how to interpret these lines. The other compelling theory I’ve seen is that the stones are words that can either be “thrown” in an argument or be used to make amends, apologize, propose etc. (i do think that that also fits sort of with your interpretation of them haunting each other and writing songs etc.) The haunting thing is interesting a well. Maybe it means she didn’t want to have to haunt him but its just how it is now like she hoped she could have a clean break and leave with grace but she couldn’t and now they haunt each other (what ifs and whatnot). The what a ghostly scene feels like a play on words like what a ghastly scene. The jewels that I gave you as you bury me is another line that goes two ways for me depending on how I’m interpreting it. The first interpretation is like yours where I think it could be about the ring she gave him that he still wears sometimes even though she’s “dead”. On the other hand I think it could also be indicating the countless awards she’s won for her albums that she now doesn’t own anymore.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace 'Cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave And if I'm dead to you why are you at the wake? Cursing my name Wishing I'd stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

Basically. how she misses their words of encouragement when she needs them now more than ever and kind of asking him why is he at her doorway if she is dead to him like kind of wanting him to speak his mind because if he wants he needs to ask her with words (speak now?)

I do think this is an interesting interpretation of the line and if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake? like “if this is over why am i still writing pages” or if we’re over why are you (at my door, showing up at my party etc.) still here/ why am I still wishing you were etc.

And I can go anywhere I want, Anywhere I want Just not home And you can aim for my heart, go for blood But you would still miss me in your bones And I still talk to you (When I'm screaming at the sky) And when you can't sleep at night (You hear my stolen lullabies)

I think this is kind of a juxtaposition of when in Wonderland she says “I knew I had to go back home” but I feel like this time she doesn’t. Kind of like how in daylight she says “I don’t want to think of anything now that I saw you.” Also, the next lines may mean how he tried to erase her or hurt her but he would miss her nonetheless cause it’s marked by blood. And how she still thinks of him when she’s looking up at the sky (the 1 and wanting him again vibes) and he can’t sleep either because he hears her music made for him (Soulmate stuff you know lol)

Okay so there’s a lot to unpack in this one. First the reference to home stands out here especially since a lot of their songs about each other reference home in some way (Take me home - Style, I’m not your homeland anymore - Exile etc.) I am sort of pushing for interpreting this line the same in both ways I look at it where she’s saying she can’t go home even if she wants to and the wonderland comparison makes this interesting. The blood reminds me of “marked me like a bloodstain” and “bleeding love” where the love marked them and even if they try to erase or hurt each other they’d still miss each other.( This line could also be interpreted to be Sc*tt and Sc**ter trying to tear down her reputation but still wishing she was on their side). Every time I hear the line “and I still talk to you when I’m screaming at the sky i think of the sign of the times video because of that one edit post lol. I do think that line could be like her cursing his name or like you said looking up at the sky and thinking of him/talking to him even though she can’t. (She could also be screaming at Sc*tt and Sc**ter for what they did to her.)  The when you can’t sleep at night I interpret similarly to you where he hears the songs she writes about him and it keeps him up at night. The stolen lullabies in both interpretations I think is about those songs especially 1989 since it was stolen from her and she now has to rerecord it. When you can’t sleep at night could also have a more bitter tone if you think of it as you can’t sleep because you don’t have a clear conscience. 

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And so the battleships will sink beneath the waves You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same Cursing my name, Wishing I stayed You turned into your worst fears And you're tossing out blame Drunk on this pain Crossing out the good years And you're cursing my name Wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

Maybe that line of not having grace might mean how she’s had enough of not communicating with Harry. And the battleships sinking beneath might mean how their other relationships will fail because of the lack of closure in Haylor? He once said being alone is his biggest fear so well he got that now and blaming her and others, basically Falling and how he forgot their good years which she is bringing back now in Folklore and like they are both hurting because they still want each other.

Okay so the going with grace I do believe is indicative of miscommunication and not having a clean break (unfinished business etc.)  The battleships sort of confuses me. It combines the sinking ships in this love with the darker battle imagery of this song. Maybe instead of him showing up this time they tried to let each other go so the ships sank and they both drowned or something. Like maybe you had to kill me but it killed you just the same means they had to let each other go but it killed them to do so idk. (This line is still very confusing to me lol) It could also be interpreted I suppose as Sc*tt and Sc**ter trying to damage her reputation but taking themselves out instead by damaging their own reputations. The worst fears could be interpreted that way too. This last chorus of the song is the most confusing to me lol. It could also be once again Sc*tt supposedly being on her side and then turning on her and blaming her but again I really am having the hardest time interpreting this last chorus (If anyone has ideas please share). The line also reminds me of how in TBSL Harry sings “Don’t blame me for falling, I was just a little boy” Where he says she can’t blame him for what he did because he was so young at the time. The reason I’m hesitant to interpret this fully as Harry though is all the lines where it seems a little more negative such as him cursing her name (mostly because he’s said nothing but wonderful and nice things about her since they broke up and even got upset when people thought he was dissing her in some way). 

Anyways that’s the entire anon interpretation of My Tears Ricochet (plus my thoughts) What does everyone else think? I’d love to hear all other opinions I hope people see this and comment.

[rpschtuff]

Carrd.co

Hello roleplayers!! Are you looking for an easy, good-looking, and accessible place to host your blog info on outside of Tumblr? Is Google Docs just not cutting it for you? Then I have a solution for you. Consider checking out Carrd.co.

Carrd lets you create “simple, free, fully responsive one-page sites for pretty much anything.” And I know what you’re thinking -- ‘One page? Surely I can’t put all my info on just one page!’ But I assure you, you can. Despite being technically one page, your content can be easily spread across multiple sections for clear organization, much like a blog with pop-ups or tabs here on Tumblr.

Check out this sample site I whipped up to see what I mean.

In this post, I will walk through how I made this sample Carrd site, to demonstrate how simple and customizable it is. But first, to answer what you’re already wondering -- what makes Carrd any better than Google Docs? And I have three answers for you:

There is no issue of privacy or security. Your account name and email is not accessible anywhere on your Carrd site, nor are any viewers visible.

Carrd is much more mobile friendly than Google Docs. I don’t even attempt to open Docs on my phone anymore, as they’re a bit of a nightmare and I can never do it anonymously. But I’ve never once struggled with a Carrd site. Everything is automatically put into a mobile friendly format, and if the automatic settings do mess up, you have the ability to go in and manually change how things will be displayed on mobile.

This may be a bit more personal opinion, but I found Carrd easier to customize as far as colors, images, backgrounds, etc. After about ten minutes, I was comfortably manipulating all of the elements on my site, and much happier with the end result than anything I’ve seen on Docs.

Join me under the cut for a walkthrough of creating the site linked above.

As a note, I’m not intending this to be a full guide to all of Carrd’s features, just a general overview to see how things are laid out. It’s fairly intuitive so once you see the basics, you should be able to play around with it more and get your site just the way you want it.

When you create a Carrd account, you will be given this screen. (If you’re on the main dashboard instead, click New Site.)

You can either explore premade templates below, or you can start from scratch by clicking the link in “blank canvas”. I prefer a blank slate myself, but I encourage you to check out the templates if they seem easier for you.

After clicking “blank canvas” you will arrive at this screen.

These are just Carrd’s instructions. I’ll hit ‘Okay, got it!’ to get rid of it.

The first thing I want to do is customize the background. It’s a good starting point. To do that, click on the three lines in the top right corner...

...and select Background.

Options will open on the left side of the screen, as seen here. Your customization options are fairly straightforward.

You can change the color...

Or change it to something else entirely. I’m going to use an image.

After uploading your image, you have the option to recrop it.

Now I hit accept, and this will be my site’s background.

There are other options as well, that can reposition the image, change its size, tile it, etc.

I can also add a gradient or a pattern to this image. I’m going to scroll down to Overlay and select Gradient.

And change those colors and the angle a bit.

Ahh, lovely. I’ll also add a pattern...

But that looks rather ugly. I think I’ll play with the color, size, and thickness a bit more.

I like that. Nice and subtle. Let’s call the background done.

Now let’s customize the page itself. This isn’t necessary, if you like the text directly on top of your background, but I like how neat it looks.

Go back to the three lines, and this time select Page.

Under Style, I’m going to change Default to Box.

You can change the position, padding, and other settings of the box in this sidebar. Personally, I want to round the corners...

...change the color...

...and change the opacity.

I’d also like to add a border...

...plus a customized drop shadow.

And we’ll call that done.

Now! Let’s see what this site looks like on mobile. In the top right menu, to the left of the save icon, is an icon that looks like a phone. Click that.

As you can see, your view resized to demonstrate how your site will appear to a mobile user. It’s a very good reference. I’m going to switch back to desktop now (the same button, which now looks like a computer monitor).

Let’s get some content on this site now! I’m going to start with the text that’s already present, that says ‘Nothing here yet! :)’. Click on that.

Options for this text will appear. First, I’m going to click the word Text itself. This will cycle through various options, such as default text, headings, subheadings, etc. I want this to be my site title, so I settle on that. (This step isn’t necessary at all, but I find it helps keep me a bit more organized.)

Now, for the content itself. The box is where I enter what I want this text to say. Markdown instructions for bold, italics, links, etc. are always below the box for easy reference.

I want to change how this text looks. Above Site Title, you’ll see an icon that looks like a paintbrush. Click it to reveal the next tab.

Here you can change color, font, size, weight, and anything else that strikes your fancy. There are a lot of options here and they’re pretty straightforward, so play around with it. Here’s what I settled on.

Remember you can check it on mobile, as well.

Time to add more text. Let’s start with a bio, maybe?

Hit the plus sign in the upper right menu to add new content, then select text.

By default, new text will match the formatting of the most recent text used. I’m going to the first tab, the one marked A, and making this text Paragraph.

Then I go back to the paintbrush tab to make some changes to the style.

Then back to the first tab to add some content. I’m just dropping in some lorem ipsum, since this is only a sample. Obviously you’d want something a bit more practical here.

Let’s say I want a link in there. I’ll follow the markdown format to get one (instructions are below the box, as always).

Now it’s in there, as the third sentence. You can see it underlined. But I want to customize that link. If I go back to the paintbrush tab, options for Link and Hover have appeared. I can change the color there.

And if I scroll all the way down, I can change the link style from Underlined to Plain.

That looks nice. I’ll call that done.

Let’s add a subheading to that section. I’ll add another text box.

Then click and drag it above the previous one.

On the first tab, I’m going to change this one to Main Heading.

Then customize it as before.

Now for the actual text itself.

Lovely.

Let’s add some rules! I want to add a new title, so for that, I’m going to select the text that says About. Then in the bottom left is a button that looks like two overlapping squares. This will copy the text, so we don’t need to reformat it identically.

Click and drag the new title where you want it, and change the text to what you want.

I’m going to add a list now. It’s one of. the other options under the plus sign.

As you can see, some bullet points have appeared. Markdown instructions are still under the box where you enter the content. I’m going to fill it with lorem ipsum again.

Under the paintbrush tab, you’ll see that there are multiple tabs. The first lets you change some style and formatting.

The second lets you change the bullets themselves. I’m going to play with that a bit.

The third lets you change the actual text formatting. (I don’t know why my purple bullet points disappeared, I must have hit an undo at some point without noticing. Pretend they’re still purple.)

And I’ll call that done.

Mobile check!

Not bad.

But the question of the hour, how do you make these separate pages? Let me show you. Under the plus sign, choose Control.

A blue dotted line will appear. Drag this to the top of what you would like to be a new section.

On the left tab, the type should read Section Break. Type in something simple and easy to remember under Name.

This has designated everything under the Control as a new section. We need to create a link to it in the very first section.

I prefer to use Buttons for this, but any link option on this site should work. I’m going to add a Button under the Sample Site title.

By clicking the small word Button (inside the box on the left tab), I can change its settings.

The Label is what the button will actually say. The URL is where the button will take me. I can enter any URL, but if I enter the name of the Control I made with a # in front of it, it will take me to that section.

There are options to. change colors of each button individually, but I prefer to go to the paintbrush tab and change their appearance altogether, so each new button in this group will look the same.

Unfortunately, you can’t properly preview the section breaks while you’re editing. So I’m going to publish this site now so I can view it. Go to the three lines in the top right and choose Publish. Fill out all the options there, then hit Publish. (You can also save as a draft here, if you want to keep your progress but aren’t ready to publish yet, but this doesn’t let you preview it properly.)

Now, if I hit view site, I will be able to see it properly. And as you can tell...

It only displays everything up until that first section break. And when I click the About button that I made...

...everything else appears.

So it’s working! Let’s go back to the editor and add another section break for the rules.

(As a note, you can also set something as a Scroll Point rather than a Section Break, so that any links will scroll down to that spot as opposed to hiding then revealing a new section. You may prefer that option, it’s in the dropdown under Type.)

Now I want to go back to my button...

...scroll down on the left options tab and choose Add.

This creates a second button within this group, that I can edit the same as the first.

Lovely. Let’s preview this in mobile quickly.

Notice how the buttons automatically resized for full width on mobile, and are displaying differently than they appeared on desktop? This is by default, but you can change this behavior if you wish. Select the buttons, and on the paintbrush tab, scroll all the way down until you see Mobile.

By default, it’s set to Auto, where it makes its best guess at what will work for mobile. If you switch to Manual, you can change its behavior.

If I change the dropdown under Layout from Stack to Default, it will display as it does on desktop.

For something as simple as buttons, this likely doesn’t matter, and full width buttons may actually be more mobile friendly. But it’s important to know where these options are, in case something is actually broken on mobile and requires fixing. Check everything on your site in mobile to make sure it actually works.

Let’s publish this again to preview it now.

Our new button looks good, and both redirect you to the appropriate place.

But wait!! Once you’re in one section... there’s no button to get back!! I’m trapped!! This is very important. Always provide a way to leave the current section, so your viewer doesn’t get stuck somewhere on your site.

The easiest way to do this is to add a new Control on your first section, called #home. Then, at the bottom of each section, add a button that will link back to it. (You could also add buttons for all the sections at the bottom of each, but I find that more tedious to set up. But it’s entirely down to your preference.)

Now if you republish the site, it should all be functional, and you can navigate it with ease.

Let’s check the actual site on mobile, too. I’m going to actually get out my phone and go to the URL.

It all looks good there, so I will call this one done.

And that’s a rough guide to using Carrd.co! Obviously this is geared more towards my style and preferences, but there are so many ways to customize this to suit your needs and tastes. I also didn’t cover things like images and videos, as I feel they’re pretty straightforward.

A few notes:

Carrd currently limits free users to only three sites per account. However, Gmail’s alias trick and SessionBox totally work. I run multiple Carrd accounts as easily as I run multiple Tumblrs.

A free Carrd site can only have up to 100 items on it. For my sites, I haven’t even come close to that limit, but I can see larger blogs or multimuses potentially struggling with that.

[15001700tt]

Descendants of The Moon

Descendants of the Moon Masterlist

Tag list: @chastja  @multi-fan-trash @serpentityx @syublush @laadychat @whoissheff Dm me if you want to be on the tag list!

Word Count: 5,154

Key: Italics- things that happened in the drama but do not old any importance to the story line

Key: Bold- Dialogue said in the Drama

Getting Caught and Catching A Virus

Episode 10:

Captain Yoo doesn’t respond to Dae Young’s radio calls so they head to where they are, but by then Agus and his men have left. Shi Jin summarized what happened. Fatima is a girl that was going to get sold today and she managed to shoot Agus from behind, Mo Yeon was able to remove the bullet and they left but Captain Yoo doubted this would be the last time they would meet. The soldiers help the children to get into the truck and back to the field hospital to get treated.

Once they’re back, Mo Yeon helps the doctors test and treat the infected children. Doctor Sang and Nurse Ha were treating one kid while Mo Yeon looked at the X-rays. 

“I see signs of pneumonia,” she told Sang Hyun. 

“We’ll take it from here, go wash up,” Sang Hyun told Mo Yeon. she nodded and went to the water basin and started scrubbing her hands. She was so distracted she didn't notice Yoo Ji approaching her.

“Are the children vaccinated?” Yoo Ji asked, her eyes not focusing, but it was subtle. Mo Yeon didn't catch it. Mo Yeon was snapped back to reality when she turned to respond but was taken off guard by the strong smell of alcohol.

“Have you been drinking?” she squinted her eyes at her friend, who in return shrugged.

“A little” Yoo Ji responded, her words slurring together. 

“I won’t even ask where you got the booze but why are you drinking now?” Mo Yeon thought Yoo Ji was doing so well staying sober or at least not abusing her alcohol allowance.

“Gwang Nam is being an ass,” Yoo Ji muttered. 

“He seems pretty nice to me” Mo Yeon scrubbed her hands harder. 

“It's a facade, why do you have blood on your hands?” Yoo Ji slurred, but her gaze didn't falter from Mo Yeon’s hands. Mo Yeon sighed, she didn't know how to explain what happened in the last few hours to her friend.

“I’ll explain later when you’re sober” Mo Yeon chose the easy way out.

“So what happened with First Sergeant Lim?”

“He keeps digging information about the Kim Hoon Jae case” Yoo Ji picked at the loose hem of her shirt.

“He won’t let it go, and I have no idea how to distract him enough that he forgets about it” she huffed.

“You still have the nightmares?” Mo Yeon asked that case affected Yoo Ji the most out of all her work. What she had gone through, changed her so much, sometimes Mo Yeon can barely recognize her friend. Mo Yeon knows the kind of psychological damage that Yoo Ji endured because of her involvement, she recommended multiple psychiatrists to Yoo Ji but she never confirms nor denies whether she actually goes or not. Yoo Ji nodded.

“I think it's good to tell him about it, maybe actually help you feel lighter. Holding it in isn’t going to make anyone feel any better,” Mo Yeon tried to recommend. Mo Yeon wiped her hands on the cloth towel by the sink, Yoo Ji shook her head, her face was red from the alcohol. Mo Yeon’s eyes were drawn to behind Yoo Ji to the moving figure behind them. 

“Doctor Kang! The girl you brought with you says that she’s leaving. What should I do?” Nurse Choi’s concerned voice sounded out, her eyes drawn to the drunk girl beside Mo Yeon.

“Are you drunk?” she asked Yoo Ji with surprise, Yoo Ji smiled cheekily and gave her a smile.

“Shhh, don’t tell anybody” she hushed Nurse Choi. 

“Take her back to her room and I’ll handle the kid,” Mo Yeon told Min Ji and nodded at Yoo Ji who was dozing off. Min Ji nodded and guided Yoo Ji away from the Medi-Cube. 

“I can walk” Yoo Ji shrugged Min Ji’s hand. Halfway through they ran into a few soldiers. Min Ji bowed and excused themselves before Yoo Ji made a fool of herself. Gwang Nam was one of the soldiers they passed. He paused and looked back.

“Yoo Ji?” he asked with uncertainty. Yoo Ji looked drunk, her cheeks red, and her eyes were unfocused 

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out” she responded with a goofy chuckle. 

Gwang Nam told the soldiers to go ahead and he’ll see them inside. He came closer to the two girls. 

“Please don’t tell anyone, if someone knows she might get fired.” Min Ji excused.

“It’s ok, I’ll take her back, you can go back to the Medi-Cube” Gwang Nam smiled at the nurse who nodded and left.

“Aw, everyone is leaving me tonight” Yoo Ji huffed and pouted. 

“I haven’t, but you’re pushing me away” Gwang Nam took her shoulders and steadied her as she started swaying.

“And you’re driving me crazy” she responded. Gwang Nam looked at her hard, it was throwing him off how she can be so drunk that she can’t walk properly but can hold a conversation just fine.

“Why won’t you tell me anything about yourself or your work?” Gwang Nam tried again.

“Because it’s not as exciting as I want you to think” Yoo Ji pointed her finger at his nose, her eyes glistening and unfocused. 

“Besides, it’s not like you’re telling me anything either” Yoo Ji slurred. 

“This is a different situation” Gwang Nam refuted, “you’re a reporter, isn’t everything out for the public?” he continued.

“Indeed, but not my personal psychological problems, I’d like to keep those private” Yoo Ji responded rolling her eyes.

“Just what are you hiding?” Gwang Nam’s curiosity filled him but he couldn’t get more out of Yoo Ji because right after her head hit his shoulder and her soft breathing evened out. 

Gwang Nam sighed again, she’s proving to be more work as they get to know each other more. He looked at her face that seemed so peaceful. He wondered if something happened that made her so wary of everyone around her. He reached the bunker and laid her down. He covered her and left her to sleep for the rest of the night. He glanced at the empty whiskey bottle by her bed and put it in the trash, just in case someone decided to look for Yoo Ji in her room.

Gwang Nam made his way to the Medi Cube, at this point he’ll miss the meeting but he’ll talk with Captain Yoo about it later. Gwang Nam was going to find out what happened with Kim Hoon Jae that Yoo Ji is being more resistant to giving information. Well, more than she already is but he knows sometimes she does that to annoy him and remind him that he’s also withholding information about his job too.

He found both First Lieutenant Yoon and Doctor Kang stocking up the cabinets in the Medi-Cube. They were talking about Myung Ju’s trip to the village to treat the remaining kids. It looked like Mo Yeon was ready to leave but halted when she saw Gwang Nam coming to them.

“Power of unity” Gwang Nam saluted Myung Ju and she nodded at him. 

“Did you need something?” Doctor Kang asked.

“Uh yes, I was curious about something” Gwang Nam started, turning to Mo Yeon. Mo Yeon raised an eyebrow, she knew he was with Yoo Ji and was bugging her about the Kim Hoon Jae case. She stared at his face and tried to see if he had any ill intentions, she knows Yoo Ji won’t ever tell him about what happened when she was on that case, but that doesn’t mean Mo Yeon won’t tell him the basics. He needs to stop bringing it up and just accept it.

“Yoo Ji was involved in the serial killer case of Kim Hoon Jae, she won’t let me ask about it” he continued looking uncomfortable, “I wanted to know if it had affected her in any way”.

“Mun Yoo Ji was involved in that case?” Myung Ju’s surprised tone told Mo Yeon that she didn't know any of this either.

“It was a very complicated case, he was on the loose and had killed so many girls and the detectives had no idea how to find him, his killings were irregular, he didn't have a pattern or a connection to his victims” Mo Yeon started leaning against the shelf lightly. 

“But he was found because of his medical records, right? I heard about it on the news, it was very impressive” Myung Ju commented. 

“It was Yoo Ji that was able to tip the police of his location, she looked up his medical records and his file from the police department, she was able to find the exact bar he hung out at because he had Hodgkin's lymphoma-” Mo Yeon was cut off by Gwang Nam.

“And the bar he hung out at was the only one in the area that had two separate bars with virgin drinks, yeah, I know that part but was she ever involved in the arrest or came in contact with him?” Gwang Nam asked but Mo Yeon knew that he would come to realize that Yoo Ji is psychologically hurt from that case.

“I only know some of what happened, not everything but yes, she was involved in the arrest,” she answered.

“Wait, didn't Kim Hoon Jae break out of prison and kidnap someone” Myung Ju’s eyes widened as she started putting the pieces together. 

“Yoo Ji’s connection to the major media channels was able to leave her name out of the news, but yeah, she was the one that was kidnapped by him. He had her for two weeks, he psychologically and physically abused her,” Mo Yeon told them. Gwang Nam held his breath, he didn't know it was this serious.

“Her need for information is just something that helps ease her anxiety, because when she was with him, he seemed to know everything about her life, like he was there when it happened, and that broke her. Yoo Ji is not the kind to feel helpless often and this one really did a number” Mo Yeon informed them of the severity. Myung Ju and Gwang Nam made eye contact. With Gwang Nam’s line of work, he may never be able to tell her the entire truth. 

“But this need for information is destroying her from the inside out, it’s not healthy and she often has insomnia because her brain is going haywire with so much information, and the nightmares,” Mo Yeon told them. 

“I feel like a jerk now because of what I said” Myung Ju sighed. 

“You can’t take it back, Yoo Ji will know that I told you and will get pissed off” Mo Yeon informed her.

“She doesn’t want people to know because if they do they might change how they act around her, she doesn’t want to be tiptoed around or get any pity” Mo Yeon explained Yoo Ji’s thought process.

“She’ll know I told you tonight, and she’ll be pissed off. Don’t let it put you off though, it’s her way of testing you” Mo Yeon told Gwang Nam, she picked up her stuff and bid them good night. Gwang Nam sighed and leaned against the wall. Just as he thought things were getting easier.

“Regretting asking about it?” Myung Ju asked him.

“No, but I thought she was messing with me, I didn't think it was something this serious” his tired and defeated voice responded. 

“You should’ve known from the moment she kicked the crap out of the thugs at the hospital; she’s not normal, none of us are” Myung Ju finished off, and smiled at him sympathetically, she told him good night and left him alone.

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

-The Next Morning-

Dae Young and Myung Ju went to the village but they found it completely deserted, so they came back, Mo Yeon and Shi Jin were having a moment *the hair tying* and then the packages from Korea came. At this point in their morning/afternoon, Yoo Ji woke up with a hangover and drank coffee, and moved on with her day, a hangover was not stopping her from doing her usual routine. 

She heard the packages had arrived so she went to see if she got anything, she noticed a box with lots of hearts and the names of the Captain and his Deputy leader on it and knew that they were in deep shit. So she hung out near the corner of the room to watch the show.

“Sergeant First Class Seo, there's a package from someone named Shin Ji Young.” Mo Yeon radioed Dae Young, which made Yoo Ji choke on her laugh, Myung Ju should be coming any minute now.

“Where are you now?” his voice was serious yet panicked.

“In the kitchen” Mo Yeon responded. Almost five seconds later, Myung Ju came bursting through the door and grabbed the box from Mo Yeon’s hands.

“Oh! That surprised me.” Mo Yeon squeaked

 “I'm going to have to inspect this real quick.” Myung Ju glared at the box. Myung Ju read the messages written on the box, each sentence growing angrier.

“Does Dae Young have a younger sister?” Mo Yeon asked curiously.

“Dae Young is an only child!”

“That shouldn’t be my fault” Mo Yeon defended. Myung Ju huffed and ripped open the package and got out the envelope, it seemed like there was a picture in there because Mo Yeon got closer to Myung Ju to get a closer look and squinted her eyes.

“Omo, why is Shi Jin here?” Yoo Ji silently laughed, looking at those two jealous fools. 

“The day we met Shi Jin Oppa. We send our memories to you.” Mo Yeon read out loud.

“First Lieutenant Yoon, bring your gun.” Mo Yeon looked murderous, it made Yoo Ji crinkle her eyes more, just to stop herself from making any noise.

“It’s a misunderstanding” Shi Jin and Dae young came barreling in, probably ran all the way here from where they were.

Yoo Ji watched as they tried to explain the package but failed miserably and were digging themselves into bigger holes. Mo Yeon told Shi Jin to follow her leaving Myung Ju and Dae Young alone. As they left Yoo Ji noticed three people behind the wall and she went over and found Woo Geun, Cheol Ho, and Gwang Nam.

“What are you doing?” she murmured, hiding with them

“I was right. It was obvious it was a blind date.” Gwang Nam broke his stare off with Yoo Ji, well it wasn’t really a stare-off, she avoided his gaze.

“You’re talking about the first birthday party of Bravo Team's Sergeant Park's son? They both disappeared right after they gave their presents” Cheol Ho confirmed.

Woo Geun sighed in annoyance and brought out money to pay the bet that he had with Gwang Nam, Yoo Ji smirked, it seemed like Woo Geun was horrible at making winning bets.

“They said that a high school classmate's father had passed away.” Woo Geun scoffed

“It doesn't even make sense that the two of them would have the same classmate.” Gwang Nam told him, they didn't go to school together. Yoo Ji chuckled

“They couldn't even get their story straight with us either.” Cheol Ho smiled. 

“A room full of special forces agents and none of them can lie correctly” Yoo Ji mused, shaking her head. Yoo Ji turned and left them.

“Nurse Choi called Mo Yeon because of an Emergency in the Medi-cube, Yoo Ji made her way there, Sang Hyun and Nurse Ha followed her. Mo Yeon arrived before them.

“The narcotics are gone,” Nurse Choi Min Ji said.

“Who would’ve taken them?” Sang Hyun pondered.

“All the patients are here and nothing else is missing” Nurse Ha stated.

“Not everyone, someone has been missing” Mo Yeon sighed, getting out her radio.

“Has anyone seen Fatima lately?” 

“Come on we need to find Shi Jin” Yoo Ji informed Mo Yeon.

Once they found him, they made their way into town, the bar valentine ran might have information.

“How have you been?” Shi Jin greeted Val, Yoo Ji nodded in acknowledgment at the girl.

“You need something,” Val stated, getting straight to the point.

“Information. A red dress, a 15-year-old girl. She's stealing narcotics.” Shi Jin gave her the basic info. Val shook her head, already refusing his request.

“I keep telling you, we sell everything here except women and information” she reiterated.

“Val please, this is urgent and serious.” Yoo Ji pleaded for her to hear them out.

“You don’t have to, but there must be someone else who could” Shi Jin interrupted.

“Please, she’s only 15 years old,” Shi Jin asked again. Val cleared her throat and looked away, she sighed and rang someone up on her phone.

“Where is the black market for narcotics?”

As soon as they got the location, Yoo Ji paid Val the amount she wanted and they were set on their way. 

“How do we find it?” Mo Yeon asked once they reached the place, there were a bunch of buildings that looked run down and were on the verge of collapsing. They didn't wait long until they heard a girl scream. They ran over to the sound.

“Son of a bitch! were you lying to me this whole time?” Fatima asked angrily.

“No, Fatima you trusted me too much, now follow me before I beat you harder,” the boy said as he held Fatima by her hair.

“Stop! Don’t touch her” Yoo Ji shouted at the boy. 

“Is he a soldier?”  one of the boys asked, Yoo Ji sighed.

“Your uniform is always bringing us trouble” she Sighed as she looked at the boys pulling out their weapons.

“Don’t worry, we have more weapons than him,” the leader, Yoo Ji assumed, said.

“I hope you weren’t looking for us” he continued with a smirk on his face as all three of them put their hands up in surrender.

“More guns? Why are there guns every day? What kind of country is this?” Mo Yeon whined as she felt fear penetrate her, Yoo Ji chuckled.

“It's because you both ran in with no plan,” Shi Jin told her.

“If we came later, she might’ve been hurt more” Mo Yeon refuted. Yoo Ji is still making eye contact with the leader.

“Yes, good job because Fatima will be fine while we get shot at” Shi Jin’s sarcastic voice was lowered but Yoo Ji still heard him. 

“What are they saying?” one of the goons, asked.

“Who cares? Put your gun down if you don't want to die” the leader told the captain.

“What the hell are we going to do now?” Mo Yeon asked.

“Well, it isn't like there isn't a way” Shi Jin said as he evaluated the situation.

“Seven guns. Mun Yoo Ji takes the right side. I'll take the left side.” he joked, Yoo Ji nodded.

“Don't be scared,” he whispered to Mo Yeon. 

“I hope you were serious” Yoo Ji gritted her teeth readying herself to fight with speed she never used to beat the boys with machines that can kill her in twenty seconds.

“Let’s see if you're really made of what you say you are,” Shi Jin said to Yoo Ji with a chuckle.

“Okay, let’s make a deal” Shi Jin moved forward, with his hands still raised in surrender.

“I’ll drop my weapon and you let the girls go”

“What do you mean, you’re gonna drop your weapon and the girls get on their knees now” the boy refuted shaking his gun around. Yoo Ji noticed his loose grip, either from carelessness or from inexperience. Probably only shot it once or twice before today. She surveyed the other boys and found them to be pretty much the same.

“Huh, I thought I could fool him” he paused, “okay, no more jokes when I say now, you run back to the car and wait by the door,” he instructed Mo Yeon. 

“Five minutes should do it,” he evaluated once again.

“You’re overestimating my ability to move fast enough to avoid the guns Captain Yoo, make that 10” Yoo Ji added.

“If five minutes pass and we’re not out, just leave no matter what.” he continued, ignoring Yoo Ji’s comment.

“Oh god, Gwang Nam is going to kill me” Shi Jin glanced at Yoo Ji. 

“I’ll try to spare you by not getting injured,” Yoo Ji told him.

“What is that bastard saying? Shut up and drop your weapon” the leader said moving towards them and putting his hand to stabilize the gun in his other.

“Okay, okay” Shi Jin muttered. 

“I’ll drop it, do you like this spot?” Shi Jin asked with a small smile on his lips.

“I can’t use this gun anyway” Shi Jin continued, the boys can’t understand him still because he was speaking Korean but Yoo Ji understood. He’d had to write a lot of reports.

Yoo Ji realized that he was going to take the leader’s gun and use that instead, so she quickly picked a target and zeroed in on his actions. 

Shi Jin waited until the boy was lowered enough and slid his gun backward and jammed the boy’s hand upwards so he couldn't shoot him. 

“Now!” Mo Yeon sprung in action and so did Fatima. Yoo Ji quickly grabbed the boy’s hand towards one of the other boys so that he wouldn't shoot, and then kicked him in his stomach so he would double over. She quickly was able to get his gun.

“You think I’ll get arrested if I use the gun” Yoo Ji wondered out loud to Shi Jin.

“Yes!” he yelled back. She huffed and threw the gun far away from their reach. Shi Jin was able to grab another boy’s gun and twisted his elbow so he had no control of his hand and shot in the clutter of boys’ direction but didn’t hit anyone specific mostly to scare them and to make them back off. 

Yoo Ji yelped as she heard the gun go off and quickly punch another boy coming at her. She disabled another gun as another smaller boy came at her, the gun in her hand went slamming down on his shoes. He yelled in pain and she looked away and saw Shi Jin do the same.

“Aw man, now you're just stealing my moves,” she called out to him, but she was running out of breath, she breathed hard as a blond boy circled around her, his hands on his gun shaking. 

“Do you even know how to shoot that?” Yoo Ji asked him in English, taunting him. He clicked his safety off but didn't get a chance to press the trigger before Yoo Ji hit his knee cap to the side, breaking it. He fell to his knees and she kneed his nose, he dropped the gun and she kicked it toward the other pile of guns.

She held her breath, noticing a boy sneaking towards the direction Fatima ran to take cover in, her call of warning died in her throat as Shi Jin started shooting towards the boys’ shoes making his fall and stay down. She didn't think he was shot, just knocked out. He started walking backward towards Fatima, who didn't run with Mo Yeon to the car as Yoo Ji assumed. Yoo Ji breathed hard.

“Well this was a work out” she tried to slow down her breathing. She started making her way to them when she saw the boys getting up and starting to shoot again, she rolled her eyes and snuck up behind one of them and elbowed the back of his head, knocking him out. 

“Why don't you guys stay down” she growled. They pointed their guns between her, Shi Jin, and Fatima.

“Shouldn’t Mo Yeon do something to help us?” Yoo Ji shouted at the Captain.

“I told her to leave if we don’t come out” he yelled back as he ran out of bullets and took cover behind the old truck. He tried to reach for another gun but couldn't get it in time. 

“Now what?” Yoo Ji yelled as she kicked another boy away from her and grabbed his gun and pointed at him. Her question went unanswered as she heard a car come screeching towards them, she managed to roll out of the way. She glanced at the car to see it was the military car that they came in and Mo Yeon was driving it now. 

She suddenly backtracked the car almost crushing Shi Jin’s hand,

“Hurry, get in!” she told Shi Jin. Yoo Ji who was on the other side of the car from Shi Jin opened the door and jumped inside the front passenger seat while Shi Jin and Fatima got in the back. As they made their way back, Mo Yeon was grinning.

“Wow, awesome! This is totally exciting!” she said laughing. Yoo Ji looked back towards Shi Jin who looked at her disbelief. Yoo Ji and Shi Jin were heaving, trying to catch their breath from fighting a whole gang.

“I'm still excited! Did you become a soldier for this?” Mo Yeon asked the Captain.

“I fought off the enemy!” she yelled in glee. 

“You mean you ran over the enemy, we fought off the enemy” Yoo Ji responded with amusement in her voice.

“You almost ran me over too!” Shi Jin told her.

“I knew you would avoid it, it was all calculated” Mo Yeon replied with a grin on her face.

“With calculations like that, how did you make it through medical school?” he grunted in the back. Yoo Ji chuckled.

“She could save people but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t put them in hospitals” Yoo Ji replied jokingly, which Mo Yeon fake glared at her. The car started slowing down and came to a stop.

“What’s wrong with this car?” Mo Yeon asked in confusion.

“Why don’t you know? You beat it up too much, this woman now wrecked three cars” he said Yoo Ji laughed as she got out of the car.

“I'll try to get in contact with anyone nearby.” Shi Jin pulled out his walkie talkie.

“Big Boss transmitting. The location is roughly 15 km from the city towards the barracks. The car is down. If there is any soldier within the radius, contact me.” Captain Yoo said. A second later Dae Young’s voice responded.

“Wolf transmitting. Currently on landmine operation in the direction of Phantom Village.”

“What’s the matter? Why do you always get stuck on roads?” Dae Young’s voice cut through with a bit of an edge.

“No kidding” Shi Jin responded while looking at the car engine.

“I’ll send Sergeant Gong” Dae Young sighed. 

“They’re sending Cheol Ho to pick us up,” Shi Jin told the girls. Mo Yeon took Fatima a little farther to scold her while Yoo Ji stayed near the car

They were finally able to make it back to the base and Mo Yeon went to take a shower and Yoo Ji decided that she should do the same, her muscles will start to ache from her vigorous workout. As soon as Yoo Ji got out of the shower the lights went out. She sighed and felt her way back to her room.

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

-The Next Morning-

The Alpha team got the news that manager Jin got arrested for identity fraud by the Mohoru Police and then one of the patients told Shi Jin and Dae young that manager Jin has a fistful of diamonds. Shi Jin concluded that he was probably on the run from someone. 

*The Alpha team gets all suited up in all black and goes to save the manager but it's a black op so it’s not officially said that they rescued the man. While they are there Shi Jin faces off with Agus one more time. As he is the one that’s been haunting manager Jin down for the diamonds.* 

They came back with the man and he was put into the Medi-Cube. Shi Jin was interrogating him. When Manager Jin started coughing and calling for a doctor. It turns out he has internal bleeding from the diamonds. 

Yoo Ji sighed as she shook her head trying to shake away the dizziness. Damn it's happening more often now. She felt light-headed and couldn't focus. Gwang Nam came running towards her, he looked so shaken up.

“Doctor Kang and First Lieutenant Yoon” he stated but paused. 

“They’re in OR, what’s wrong?” Yoo Ji said, confused.

“Manager Jin has the M virus” Gwang Nam spilled out finally. Yoo Ji’s chair fell as she suddenly stood up.

“What?!” her voice rang through the room. 

“They are in isolation in the OR” Gwang Nam informed her. Yoo Ji’s dizziness was forgotten as she booked it towards the Medi-Cube, Gwang Nam following her. 

Once she arrived, she found Shi Jin and Dae Young glued to the doors separating the girls from the rest of them. She pushed through the doctors and stood in between the men.

“The U.S. base has a laboratory but I am not sure they will cooperate,” Myung Ju said.

“I'll take care of that,” Shi Jin said as he opened his phone.

“I'll go prepare the transportation,” Dae Young said as he ran out. 

“What’s going on?” Yoo Ji’s voice was strong but her eyes wavered, looking at both her friends.

“Manager Jin seems to have the M Virus, we both got contaminated by blood” Myung Ju responded. 

“We’ll be ok,” Mo Yoeon assured Yoo Ji. 

Yoo Ji started swaying slightly, the rush of adrenaline had left her body and all she felt now was exhaustion, days of not sleeping, and not getting any rest was taking its toll on her. Her swaying got more noticeable and Mo Yeon gasp alerted everyone that's wasn’t aware, as Yoo Ji almost hit the floor. Gwang Nam swooped in and supported Yoo Ji holding onto her waist. Shi Jin looked at Yoo Ji with complete shock. 

“What is wrong with her?” Gwang Nam asked.

“She needs an IV and dextrose solution, she needs rest” Mo Yeon instructed one of the nurses. This wasn’t the first time this happened, but it put everyone on edge, the circumstances were horrible.

“Overexertion and insomnia, she’ll be fine.” Mo Yeon explained, “we’ll be fine” Myung Ju looked at Mo Yeon with concern for Yoo Ji while she was also anxious about their own situation. Gwang Nam settled Yoo Ji on one of the beds.

Captain Yoo and Deputy Leader Seo came back, Gwang Nam saw both of them march to the OR. Gwang Nam peaked at the situation, Dae Young hugged Myung Ju tightly and wouldn’t let go. Gwang Nam figured that she’s probably the one that got it. He looked back at Yoo Ji, she was sleeping peacefully, but once she wakes up, he’ll have to tell her.

[harmandy]

—- ☼ (keri russell, forty-one, cis female, she/her.) have you met HARMONY ANDREWS? they’ve been living in PEARL HEIGHTS for ELEVEN YEARS now, but are originally from ESSEX. you can catch them working as a RECEPTIONIST, which makes sense as they’re GOOD-NATURED and OPTIMISTIC, as well as OVER-PROTECTIVE, and HOT-HEADED. keep an eye out for them! (ooc: pace, 21+, gmt, she/her)

hi, friends ! y’all can call me pace, and you may remember me from such roles as ‘admin that calls everybody her pals and uses too many exclamation marks’ ! i’m super excited to get bayhaven up and running ( and hopefully thriving ! ) and writing with your glorious muses ! i’m also playing FREYA and SOFIA, and their intros should be up just after this one ! so, in the words of shania twain, let’s go girls ! p.s i’m famously bad at intros at the best of times, but i’ve been wrestling a migraine for the last few days and i’m actually writing these up early and scheduling them; i’m hoping to be around, but want to be prepared for if i can’t be. so i gotta be honest, these are all a lil rushed, but hopefully they give a vague idea and enough of a gist !

ABOUT:

so, harmony’s actually a lot of fun for me -- she actually started as an npc from a different character’s background, and i just grew really attached to her ! i loved harmony as a concept and as a character, so thought it was about time i played her properly ! so, i revived her ( did i mention she was always dead before ? my gal was always dead before oopsie ) and here she is !

she’s a receptionist up at bayhaven’s hospital, so sometimes works funky hours, and has four smashing lil’ children ! i say children,,, two of them are grown adults, but... her kids !!! she’s dedicated her life to those little demons !

harmony is a chocolate loving, pasta making, scrapbooking, junk journal doing, laundry folding, zero-luck-with-love-having, legend, and she just has a lot of love to give.

i miiiiight be open to putting up wc’s for the two oldest kids at some point ( with like lots of wiggle room and ofc as Different characters than the ones i’ve developed before ) but i’ll have to see ! i keep flip-flopping between wanting to and not so i feel like that’s a ‘i should think on it and see how things go’ kinda sign !

i tried to whip up a a condensed rundown of her backstory, her kids and how they came to be, etc. but it got so long and rambly. however, i’ve copy and pasted the bullet points and whacked them HERE instead if you’re curious, especially while her full biography is a wip !

so she’s a mother of four to nevaeh ‘nev’, faith, harvey, and avalon ‘ava’ and they range from aged six to age twenty-four. she had her eldest at seventeen, and has been cut off from the rest of her family ever since. 

however, her aunt didn’t plan on dying when she did, so hadn’t gone over her will recently ---- if she had, she may have realised that she never took harmony out of it, and harms inherited her house in bayhaven when her youngest child ( at the time ) was four, and she and her family have lived together in pearl heights ever since. 

she loves the community in pearl heights. she loves that everyone seems to have eachother’s backs, and actually like she fits in somewhere. they have a nice lil four bedroom house ( or three bedrooms and a box, as she calls it ) and since the arrival of harm’s fourth and final kid six years ago, and w/ nev being older, they converted the loft into an extra bedroom, so nev sleeps in the attic like a rat !

she’s a busy bee, tbh ! she works full time, has a herd of youngens to keep track of, loves cooking so makes nice hearty, homey meals almost every night, has a Very precise laundry routine, and she’s a creative lil fuck ?? really into bullet journaling but also making junk journals and loooooooves a scrapbook. 

she’s a very sort of No Nonsense lady. she just doesn’t have time or tolerance for bullshit anymore, life’s too short and she’s had enough shit thrown at her. 

however, her heart is Big. her life is dedicated to her kidsies, but she’s always known for taking in strays. a mate of her kids’ need to stay ? okay cool lemme grab you a blanket and the guest pj’s. her house is very Busy, like all the time. everyone is welcome at all times. friends over for dinner !!!! extra kids running around because harm is absolutely nuts and probably thought ava having three friends over would be fiiiine !

she has stats !

as well as a pinterest board !

CONNECTION IDEAS:

friends friends friends !!!

neighbours !!

friends thru their kids ?? her kids are 24, 21, 15, and 6, so if other folks have kids near those ages ! yeehaw !

youngens she’s basically adopted because she’s such a ‘your parents suck ? i’m your mum now’ person tbh.

harmony has such potential for angst and i’m always for it my guys. 

EXTRAS:

i know bayhaven exists in a wonderful world where the dreaded c-word ( no, not that one -- not that one either... ) doesn’t exist, but we’re sadly not so lucky, so i hope everybody is keeping well and looking after themselves, and that bayhaven can function as a nice distraction, as well as a creative outlet and something to fill the time !

i usually am a ‘i love rp icons, i love gif icons, i love gifs, use whatever and i’ll match’ kinda person, but two out of the three fc’s i’m using are ones i didn’t have a folder for before the rp, and keri has zero gif icons until i make some ! i’m workin’ on it ! but she’s beeeeautiful and has lots of gifs and some rp icons, and i’d be happy to make more in the future too, so we’re goin’ with it for now !

i’m a small text gal, but if you wanna make it bigger when reblogging our threads, you’ll get no complaints from me ! the only thing i ask is that bold/italic text is left alone and not reformatted, as they’re almost always used as ( in the wise words of josh peck ) emphasis, when it comes to me !

a bit too personal, but i’m actually currently coming off my adhd meds, and one of the things i’ve noticed, is that i find spotting typos harder and that kind of thing, so if we could just Bear With, i’d really appreciate it ! it also makes me forgetful as sin in the short-term, so again, please just !!! bear with !!! and patience is reaaaallly appreciated !

[sharpened-fantastic]

what are the reasons to vote for Biden? because you're out here talking about how we shouldn't vote green/abstain from the presidential, but can you please tell me what exactly would be different about a Biden presidency vs a Trump one? besides that a second Trump turn would keep liberals engaged and give us more chances to radicalize them. Joe Biden is just as bad as Trump on nearly every level and if he miraculously wins the gen, the DNC will be left unchecked. I'm curious on who that helps!

Hey! A genuine thank you for sending a full, non-anonymous ask. 

However, the biggest thing to remember is that having a democrat in the office will lead to policy changes and will change how our country is shaped for literal decades to come. 

Yes--Biden is a shit head, he would probably continue a lot of the racist and outright idiotic policies that Trump either put in place or continued from previous presidencies. I wish it weren’t true but that’s a simple fact. I agree that this sucks dick and makes me not want to vote at all.

One BIG thing is having a leader, regardless of political views, that has literally any political experience other than “accidentally got elected for four years as president”. Even compared to other presidents, even other republicans, his approach is overly militaristic, explicitly fueled by monetary gain, and he refuses to bend to even feign concern or duty towards American citizens. His open xenophobia (that has literally been UNPRECIDENTED, even to other politicians sharing his beliefs) has allowed greater mobility and reach for hate groups, and has let other politicians feel more comfortable in presenting non-coded, upfront, racist policy. It’d be one thing if it just showed the American public “oh wow, all of these places were racist the whole time”, but elevating literal concentration camps (yes, those did exist during the Obama era) to “let’s use abandoned warehouses to strip kids from their families, live in conditions we legally don’t let a lot of animals live in, and give them marked psychological scarring!”, among other things (I’m gonna put references at the end of this I’d hate to be talking purely out of my ass).

Trump is also horrifically undiplomatic--severing or straining our ties to other developed nations--, overemotional and unprofessional constantly on social media, and speaks positively on radically bigoted and backwards groups.

I think you’re giving Trump a lot of credit by saying he and Biden are equally bad. Both racist? yes. Both made bad policy decisions? oh yeah. However, Biden is still left enough that the democratic party accept him, the republican party has been squabbling since 2016 that Trump is too right-wing for republicans. Let’s have a president that even pretends to condemn Charlottesville or the dozens of other explicit hate crimes across the country. Let’s have a president that has better tax policies, or maybe even pays their taxes at all! Sure, they’re both bad! It’s a shit situation we’re in! But would you rather be trapped in a room with a child throwing trash, or a child setting the room on fire? 

Oh and one other big thing, I don’t want Trump choosing the supreme court for an entire generation, thanks.

Who knows, that’s up to you I guess, and if you don’t wanna vote I can’t stop you, I mean, it’s punishment enough that you’re gonna have to live with your decision. 

Here’s the biggest thing to remember: voting isn’t fair. It’s a broken system that supports those who abuse it, and those who abuse it are shitty people that don’t deserve that power. HOWEVER, refusing to vote only allows those who support people who abuse power to become more brazen in their racism, disregard for the American public, and signals to republicans “we give up! we swear we’re gonna have a revolution one of these days, but until then, you choose who’s in office!”

Biden is the wrong choice for presidency, but he’s our only choice. I don’t support Biden, I support voting, and I refuse to support letting Trump have another minute in office just to “radicalize leftists”. Not to be rude, but I think anyone who’s gonna get radicalized in this direction has been radicalized, but there are plenty of centrists that were taught “racism is bad” in grade school, but are getting a ton of support from the “racism can benefit you” crowd.

Ok, I’ve held off from the caps lock and stupid italics and bold for long enough, but “a second Trump turn would keep liberals engaged and give us more chances to radicalize them.”?! 

Are you fucking kidding me???

I don’t think anyone should have to think on having their political ideologies shifted while hundreds of Americans die due to lack of access to basic necessities, having their families torn apart, and while the future of the country burns in the background. Trust me, regular republicans do enough heinous shit to radicalize me and the majority of my group, you just normally need to dig ever-so-slightly deeper than surface level to see it, and providing that information to people is something I’m willing to do to get Trump out of office.

I really hope that I’m misreading what you said there, because holy hot fuck is that the most disgusting thing I’ve heard all fuckin month.

But here’s the biggest thing! VOTING IS SO EASY TO DO. PLEASE JUST DO IT. DON’T ACTIVELY ALLOW TRUMP TO WIN. I KNOW IT’S MUCH MORE DIFFICULT IN SOME STATES COMPARED TO OTHERS, BUT IF YOU DO HAVE THAT PRIVILEGE I WILL BURN YOU TO THE GROUND IF YOU THROW IT AWAY. 

Sorry, this was way longer and more of a rant than I intended. TL;DR--

Both are bad, but saying that Biden is “just as bad” as Trump is flat-out irresponsibly ignorant

One has political experience. That’s it that’s the bullet point.

As far as bad presidents go, Trump has been fuckin record breaking

Trump goes on overemotional, uneducated rants on social media, refuses to speak against extremely open, literal hate speech groups, and is straining America’s relationships with all other developed nations

There are some differences in their policies, again, both are bad, but this is not the time for black and white thinking please 

A radical president radicalizes people in both directions

I can’t even properly express my distaste for the comment “a second Trump turn would keep liberals engaged and give us more chances to radicalize them” I am literally praying that I’m misinterpreting what you’re saying right now, holy fuck

IF YOU CAN VOTE AND YOU CHOOSE NOT TO, I’M MORE ENRAGED AT YOU THAN PEOPLE WHO STILL THINK THIRD-PARTIES CAN STILL WIN, BECAUSE AT LEAST THEY GIVE ENOUGH OF A SHIT TO ENGAGE WITH DEMOCRACY. 

Ok references (sorry they’re all in the wrong order and of varying quality): x x x x x x x x x x x