#i think the last two movies are so bad and cringe but i love vampires and werewolves so here we are

[lorebled-a]

Fred’s Underworld verse

Fred is a pure-born vampire. He is the only child of Markus Hafström, one of the co-founders of the Nordic Coven. Fred underwent the cocooning process for the first time at fourteen as a rite of passage into adulthood. The ritual gave him the unique ability to suppress the memories of others, allowing him to prevent others from thinking of him and becoming “invisible” in a way. He went through another ritual two years later and gained the ability to manipulate the blood of other living creatures. The ever-peaceful Nordic vampires saw his newest gift as something dark and twisted. Even his father began to fear him. A profoundly introverted young man, Fred hated the attention he was getting from his coven because of his gifts. He left the coven once he turned 18, determined to see the world for himself and be free of his coven judgement. A year later in Hungary, Fred attracted the attention of Antigen when he successfully fended off a large group of Lycans on his own. Intent on making him one of their subjects, Antigen hunted him down and bought him to their headquarters. Antigen experimented on him without pause for months until an experimental dose containing Eve’s blood nearly kills him, forcing Antigen to turn their attention back to other subjects. Fred manages to escape in the chaos that follows Selene and Eve’s escape. Though it nearly killed him, Eve’s blood has made him more powerful and granted him immunity to UV light.

[doomspiral]

Doom's Movie Rec List

Some of these are bangers, some of these are the worst thing I have ever seen in my life, but I think they are all worth watching and enjoying one way or another. Sometimes the enjoyment is cringe and sometimes its staring at a wall for three hours. <3

The seventh seal (1957)

Classic chess game with Death film, I presume the entire thing is Bergman staring into the soul of the viewer in dead silence until you can read his mind.

The cabinet of Dr. Caligary (1920)

Strange, lurching, I watched this in German without knowing enough to keep up and I believe my confusion added to the experience.

Atomic blonde (2017)

This is my favorite movie. This is the one that I can't stop rewriting in my fics. I can't get the "lies" soliloquy out of my mind. My soul is tied to this fillum. Hot insane woman does a lot of violence, kisses women, beats up a guy who truly deserves it. Iron Curtain Spy Nonsense.

Hackers (1994)

Am I depressing you? Good, watch Hackers to experience child-like wonder and also see a grown man skateboard down a foggy street in the middle of the night to harass the homosexual teenagers (and slim shady) he's beefing with.

The core (2003)

This is not a good movie. But there is a little freak in there named "Rat" who I am obsessed with.

Angel's egg (1985)

This is the kind of movie where you have to not try to figure out what's going on and instead let it take you by the hands, just experience it, just keep your mouth shut and your mind at rest and you can consider the implications afterward when its safe.

Princess mononoke (1997)

I watched this as a child and saw those beasts dissolve into bloody worms and apparently that left a lasting mark on my brain.

Nausicaä of the valley of wind (1984)

I actually read the manga for this one but this is a movie rec list, so please go watch this for the death and rebirth vibes, and some mild foeyay yuri.

Invasion of the body snatchers (1978)

Horror movie that's odd and disturbing and clearly betraying some better dead than red fears, worth it for the horrible despicable freakish noise the guy makes at the end while pointing at the viewer.

Strange days (1995)

Please read up on this before watching it, it revolves around a fictional, then-futuristic critique of the adult film industry, HEAVY focus on the capitalistic dehumanization and devaluing of human life.

Underworld (2003)

Bad asses in leather fighting monsters. Core memory.

Blade (1998)

Bad asses in leather fighting monsters but maybe you need a break from how white this whole movie list is overall. That's okay, I see you, this vampire flick fucks severe.

Fright night (1985, 2011)

The first movie is pretty campy (fun) but the remake dug into my actual stressors and fears and scared the lights from my eyes for a day or two. Welcome... to FrrrighT NighT.

Dracula (1931, 1992)

First movie is a classic, this is thee one with the guy crawling around like a lizard and there's armadillos for no reason. The 90's version has no business being as deranged as it is and for this it is a core personality trait movie.

Fast&furious: Tokyo drift (2006)

Not sure I would say this is peak cinema but it's a racing movie that falls in line with the F&F tradition of being clearly in love with the entire premise, location, and cast. Rent free.

Drive (2011)

I like this movie because it is not about the guy getting the girl, it is about doing the right thing every single time because that's what it takes to be a real human bean. being. whichever. I was so obnoxious about this movie when I watched it with my now-ex gf that I wish I could siphon the memory of it out of her brain, because I kept pointing at actors I knew.

Green room (2015)

This is the best punk parable I can think of. Litany against not reading the room, litany against being the hero when there's no one to save, litany against thinking shared trauma is gonna get you any pussy.

Lords of chaos (2018)

I'm obsessed with the band Mayhem there is no other explanation.

There will be blood (2007)

WILD WEST TOXIC YAOI. I'm not apologizing for this summary and I'm not elaborating.

Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid (1969)

I don't know. I watched this in the wee hours of the morning with my best friend and actually cried about it. Doomed criminals and a famous final stand.

Saw (2004)

I used to watch Saw movies when I lived in the trailer park while hiding from my family in a neighbor's place so I don't know if these movies are good or if I needed to watch tortureporn to relax bcs the roof leaked on my bed when it rained? But I think everyone should at least watch the first movie or how are you going to play any games?

Chernobyl diaries (2012)

I walked out of this movie shaking head to toe and couldn't think about anything else for months. I don't think I'd be as scared now but I can't say if that's because I'm not 16 anymore. Warning against going into a dangerous situation with a guy you met off Craigslist.

Constantine (2005)

Demon hoards, evil angels, catholic bullshit, 9/10.

The neverending story (1984)

Well after all that let's reinstate some whimsy into our souls again bcs this is the Jim Henson Power Hour. This one is just a solid entry point into "puppets are fun and practical effects are my best friend".

The dark crystal (1982)

My babysitters put this on for me as a bed-time story when I was five (5) years old and I do not believe I slept, I think they regretted this and had to tell my parents what they did. But now I will never stop making Skeksis noises at people I love.

Labyrinth (1986)

Y'know the phenomenon of alt teens and preteens dating young adult men who are total and complete losers, including actual band members? It's not that this pre-dates any of that, but I believe it does a good job representing it through the lens of a modern fairy tale. Like when you watch this you have to realize this is wish fulfillment for people who want to be Sarah because their age-gap goth boyfriend in the real world is a manipulative disappointment.

Pacific rim (2013)

Love letter to the mecha and kaiju genre(s). Makes no sense, compels me though.

Eurotrip (2004)

This is the movie "Scotty doesn't know" is from. Some high schoolers fuck off to Europe and have the most misadventure possible. It's somehow exactly the kind of cringe humor you would expect from the 00's without being cruel or overly disgusting. I used to watch a lot of really bad 00's comedies and this is a good one I promise. Scussie.

Hamlet (1996)

Personality point, I think this is the best version on film because the guy actually looks like how I envisioned Hamlet. Ignore your girl! Avenge your dad!

Advantageous (2015)

This movie goes in on the connection between race and class in a sci-fi future where you can change the former through predatory, dangerous cosmetic surgery.

Gravity (2013)

This is my go-to movie when I need to sob like a sick little baby. Space travel as a metaphor for motherhood, spaceships as the womb, scientists are the babies who left their babies back on earth. It's about what you give up in the name of fulfilling your human urge for the unknown.

All clear on the western front (2022)

Thee anti-war fillum. Very well done. I never recovered from one of the final scenes to the point I wrote a final paper on it. Without spoiling it, the Ending gave me the feeling of when you're a kid and you want to go play, but you're grounded and you fall asleep listening to your friends outside in the street. I hope this sentence ruins your life if you watch this movie.

Inglorious basterds (2009)

They lock some nazis in a theatre and set them on fire, good cinema.

Shadow dancer (2012)

Domhnall Gleeson in one of his classically pathetic twink roles but its about British imperial violence and Irish reactionary violence.

Logan (2017)

Good art film, a story about dementia, legacies, and why putting children in cages is fucking evil.

The batman (2022)

Weird art film, next question.

Joker (2019)

I do not care about the opinions of straight men who watch things uncritically, this is a good movie because of the depictions of poverty in the US. I don't believe this needed to be about the DC Joker this should have been a standalone art film about a mime.

Dragonheart (1996)

Medieval era dragon nonsense, I will never be convinced this is a bad movie.

Sleeping beauty (1959)

Personality trait was rooting for the dragon.

Snow dogs (2002)

I'm not defending this one it stands on its own, please watch this movie if you wanna see Cuba Gooding Jr. bite a husky's ear so it'll stop ruining his life.

Luck of the irish (2001)

This movie is genuinely so bad I have considered it some kind of hate crime since the day it came out, because I watched this the day it was a direct-to-TV movie. I think I was too young to feel insulted but I was deeply, deeply bemused.

Black swan (2010)

There is a woman inside her and she is trying to crash the plane. Can I get away with calling this foe-yay yuri also? I'm going to.

I, tonya (2017)

Sufjan Stevens' song "Tonya Harding in Eb major" makes me so unreasonably emotional, so one day I watched this movie and then the film of the 1988 Calgary Olympics in the living room while all of my housemates had to sneak around in the dark. This is just a solid movie about ambition, betrayal, abuse, tragedy, and having to get over it and move on because you're not dead yet.

Phantom of the opera (2004)

Whatever was going on in Labyrinth, this is the adult version. Weird man in a sewer possessing a soprano. I think there's some gender happening here but it gets a little lost under the love(?) triangle.

A knights tale (2001)

Just go watch some more medieval nonsense, it's good for you, its fun.

White chicks (2004)

I'm not defending this choice, it's a good movie. "You were thinking it" "Yeah but you said it" there are some phrases you could use to see if I had been replaced with a body double and this is one of them.

Heathers (1988)

Ouughhgh ough oh. Personality trait. Watched this because I kept listening to the musical soundtrack, love both but agree the themes are much tighter in the movie. This is just a fun schlock to tell teens life is stupid and difficult and bad things will happen, so don't abandon your friends.

Priscilla queen of the desert (1994)

Classic homo fillum, if you wonder why I write Gilbert Like That it's partially because of the mean little fruit from this movie. It's about the Aussie drag scene and who belongs in the queer community.

300 (2006)

I'm not sure that I would call this a "good" movie, but it's a classic as far as I'm concerned. This is the "THIS IS SPARTA" movie.

The foreigner (2017)

I actually don't remember the plot of this one too solidly but the suspense and action were solid, and I enjoyed the setup. Good for if you wanna be really pissed off for two hours.

Conan the barbarian (1982)

Look at me. Look into my eyes. You're going to watch this movie. You're going to think about the wheel of pain and you're going to go wow, this is so stupid. Don't look away I'm not done. You're going to watch this movie and then you're going to get a couple of paper towel tubes and find someone to beat the shit out of each other with the tubes.

Law abiding citizen (2009)

I don't know I think watching this movie changed my brain chemistry in very special ways. Guy fucking loses it and becomes a problem for his local community by kidnapping and torturing people who killed his family. Cathartic and vile.

Black dog (1998)

:D DO YOU WANNA WATCH AN ACTION MOVIE ABOUT AN 18-WHEELER?

The hunt for red october (1990)

Almost forgot this one. Lithuanian Submariner off the shits, goes rogue, I'm not sure what accent Sean Connery is going for, I get the impression he just showed up to gigs and did whatever he wanted.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Dark Shadows (2012)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

Dark Shadows shows promise at first, with tried-and-true but effective “fish out of water” humour. From there, the plot gets progressively unsure of where it wants to go, until it starts throwing stuff at the screen haphazardly. I don’t know if anyone could’ve salvaged a workable film from the woeful screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith but director Tim Burton doesn’t seem to be trying very hard.

In 1760, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) breaks the heart of his servant, Angelique (Eva Green). After she uses dark magic to kill Barnabas' fiancée (Bella Heathcote) she transform him into a vampire - so that he will outlive anyone he ever loves. Soon after, he is captured by villagers and buried "alive" in a coffin. Escaping from his prison in 1972, Barnabas finds his descendants in financial ruin, his beloved reincarnated as their new nanny (Bella Heathcote as Victoria), and Angelique still alive and still obsessed with him.

After the fact, it’s obvious Barnabas is the film’s main character. While watching, it isn’t so clear. You think Victoria will be a major player but she’s an afterthought with no personality. Most of the character feel like director Tim Burton self-indulging a little by tossing a bone to his favourite performers (Christopher Lee has a minor role which can’t have taken more than a day to shoot) or like inclusions put there just because they had an equivalent in the original 1966 television series. The film lasts nearly two hours. If you cut out Helena Bonham Carter as the Collins family doctor who does very little doctoring, the kinda-sorta misfit son David (Gully McGrath), his ne’er-do-well father (Johnny Lee Miller), the rebellious teenage daughter (Chloë Grace Moretz), the elderly maid (Ray Shirley) and the drunken groundskeeper (Jackie Earle Haley), you probably wouldn’t have more than 40-minutes’ worth of a movie. That’s not much but it’d be tighter, focussed and more enjoyable. None of these people have anything to do, and the less said about Alice Cooper’s cameo as himself, the better.

It feels like a bad soap opera that’s being made-up on the spot. Stuff just happens and sure, sometimes it’s funny but nothing’s building up to anything bigger. Now Dr. Hoffman is seducing Barnabas. Ok? Why? So we can cement that everyone finds Johnny Depp in vampire makeup irresistible? I guess that’s a thing but I don’t really get it.

Then, finally, a facsimile of a plot rears its ugly head. Ah! So the film is about Angelique and Barnabas’ rivalry. Wait. She waited 200 years for him to escape from the box she buried him in and in the meantime, she’s been using her fishing business to drive the Collins out of house and home? What a lame way to use your magic powers. It all builds to a lacklustre conclusion in which people are thrown around by magic. I think we’re supposed to feel upset about doomed romances and people caught between two irreconcilable worlds but so little time has been spent fleshing out the mushy stuff you just don’t care.

As an 18th-century vampire struggling to keep up with “modern” technology and sensibilities, Johnny Depp does well. He delivers all of the film’s best moments and yeah, some of it you’ve seen before but it’s still effective. The costumes, sets and art direction are also quite good so visually, Dark Shadows is pleasant to look at - especially when Eva Green is seducing Barnabas. Just about everything else is cringe-inducing and tone-deaf. Sexy as she may look, Green is terrible in this role and I can’t even blame her. No one shines thanks to the weak screenplay and scatterbrained direction torn between drama, horror and comedy. I nearly completely forgot about Michelle Pfeiffer, which is too bad because her character actually contributes something of value to the story.

The first time I saw Dark Shadows, I didn’t love it but found things to enjoy and gave it a mildly positive review. Re-examining it now, 3 stars seems way too generous. Although never awful, Dark Shadows doesn't give you many reasons to watch it. (April 5, 2019)

[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here! / Part 7 Here! / Part 8 Here! / Part 9 Here! / Part 10 Here! / Part 11 Here! / Part 12 Here! / Part 13 Here! / Part 14 Here! / Part 15 Here! / Part 16 Here! / Part 17 Here! / Part 18 Here! / Part 19 Here!/ Part 20 Here! His POV Part 1! Here /  His POV Part 2 Here!  / Part 21 Here! < This is Part 22!>

Donate to Move to Higher Ground HERE!

Commission Info For Love Letters Here!

A/N: This has some NSFW themes, so if you’re under 18 don’t interact. 

Also the Tag list is closed, I think this is about how many people can add for this. An alternative is to follow and turn on post notifications. 

Um.. I guess this will be going on hiatus for a few weeks. I’m just busy at work, and I’m kind of out of ideas, also low engagement in the last few parts has made me feel a little discouraged.

That being said- if you order a letter with a twilight character, I’ll probably end up giving a hint for some things that will happen in the series. So if you are on the fence about getting a letter- or you just really can’t stand to wait, there’s always that option haha. 

 Anyway hope you like it ~

* “(Y/N).... what are you doing?”

* Muffled noise escapes you as you dig yourself deeper , drowning in his scent

* “(Y/N)”

* Your name leaves in a whisper and a smile curls onto his mouth

* “I mean how can you even see the television from that angle” he mumbles

* You sigh, your breath fanning across the lilac shirt he wore, you’re head firmly nestled in his back

* You’re in his room, lying beside him on his bed, essentially spooning him. The movie flickers on in front of you, you’re only half way through the first Harry Potter movie right now

* Honestly you’ve wanted to snuggle into Edward’s back for a while now, ever since you did it right before you both kissed for the first time

* It just feels so warm and safe here

* “I can hear it just fine” you mumble back. You feel the muscles in his back ripple as he shifts, your arm slinging over his chest.

* His hand covers your own. His hands so big it almost entirely envelops your own. And you can’t help but imagine what that hand would feel like in other places

* Tangled in your hair, trailing up and down your sides, under your shirt, dipping beneath the waist band of your shorts-

* Nope nope nope

* Gotta keep it PG 13

* He wants to go slow after all. Or at least you think he does. But well, you thought he might want to be with Bella

* And that was wrong

* Ugh, you want to pull out your own hair. how easy would it be if he could just read your mind and let you know-

* No it doesn’t work like that

* You sigh

* You have to put the work in if you want to make this work

* You have to communicate

* You stir besides him, wiggling you hand out of his and tapping the hard muscle of his abs

* Ugh, of course he’s chiseled like a statue

* Wait you’re a vampire, you tap your own stomach. It feels like a hard slab

* Well damn

* “Hm?”

* “We need to talk”

* “About what?” He asks absentmindedly, eyes never straying from the television.

* He must really like Harry Potter.

* “About sex.”

* He shoots right up. The remote falling to the ground with a clatter

* “Ah sorry, let me get that” he mumbles, climbing out of the bed to pick up the remote and put the movie on pause

* He clears his throat, sitting on the edge of the bed, a whole 5 feet away from you

* “So what did you want to talk about, again?”

* He seems so awkward, maybe you were right, maybe he does want to go slow

* But then what was with that “I’m not waiting for marriage” crap?”

* “I want to be physically intimate with you” you say bluntly

* Why did you say it like that? Like you’re some kind of scientist or something?

* *internal cringe*

* Not that he seems to care

* Edward’s grinning

* “Are you seducing me right now?”

* You’re not sure why but that smile annoys you

* You scoff

* “I’m trying to find out where you’re at, sexually speaking”

* He looks at the ground for several long seconds before finally meeting your eyes

* “So I um-“

* Okay you’re finally getting somewhere

* “I guess I have this kink where I like being called-“

* “No Edward not that!”

* You’re a little annoyed,

* But also a little turned on

* You’ll have to put a pin in that,

* oh boy, Edward with a kink.

* It’s probably something super vanilla like a praise kink

* or something cheesy like a daddy kink

* Like what are you, sixteen-

* Well, he technically is but-

* You’re getting off track

* “Do you-“

* how do you say this?

* “Do you want to have sex with me?”

* And it would sound like your propositioning him if you hadn’t emphasized the ‘want’

* You know he’s on the asexuality spectrum, maybe he just doesn’t feel like that for you

* You know he loves you a lot

* And wether or not he wants to have sex won’t change the way you feel about him,

* But knowing will help you manage your expectations

* “Why...why would you think that I don’t?”

* He looks almost hurt as he says it

* “We’ve been dating for two months and you haven’t made a move”

* Not after he said that thing about ‘Not waiting for Marriage’™

* You feel his hand cover your own, he’s still a heathy distance away from you

* But even just the touch of his hand on yours sends a shiver down your spine

* “How could you ever think I don’t-“ he cuts himself off

* His free hand moves to cradle your face, brushing hair away in that way he’s always done

* You sigh leaning into his touch

* “You’re so beautiful...so lovely.. of course I want to be closer to you in whatever way I can” his words leave breathlessly, and you can see he wants you just as bad as you want him

* “Then why-“

* “You live in my house,” he stresses. “You’re surrounded by my family, who haven’t been very subtle with how pleased they would be for you to join the family. We are literally never away from each other”

* “Do you want me to move back to Denali?” You joke and he laughs, amber eyes warm as he looks into yours.

* “I just don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable... or suffocated.” He squeezes your hand

* “I don’t want to make you feel like you have to do anything you don’t want to, for me.. or anyone else.”

* So he’s been trying to be considerate of you

* And of the living situation

* Isn’t that just so like him?

* You feel a small smile stretch across your lips, your hand threading into his hair

* “I don’t ever feel uncomfortable, not around you.”

* And it’s true, you trust him completely.

* You know he’ll never hurt you, never

* You foreheads are pressed together, and it’s only a small shift to catch his lips in your own

* Your hand escapes from his and trails to his face, your hands tipping his head back to get a better angle

* He feels so good like this

* He would feel so good underneath you, begging you to go just a little further

* “Now I’m propositioning you” you feel a small breathless chuckle escape him

* “There’s ... another reason I haven’t brought it up” he mumbles

* You hold your breath- he doesn’t have that bubbling desire does he?

* You were right, he-

* “If we did it in the house everyone would know”

* Huh?

* Noticing your confused expression he clarifies

* “Everyone would hear it happen, and everyone would know”

* Oh

* So all this times you’ve kissed-

* And that time in the car -

* Everyone knew?

* You groan covering your face in your hands, how will you ever be able to face Carlisle again?

* “Emmett would have bought us a cookie cake-“

* You raise an eyebrow and he falters

* “He would have bought me a cookie cake...it would say ‘bye bye virginity’ in pink icing” he whispers

* And you laugh

* “That’s so wasteful”

* No doubt Edward would be too embarrassed to let their humans friends eat it - which you don’t blame him for

* “Alright I’ll try to keep my dirty fantasies to a minimum” you laugh when he tugs you into his lap

* “Oh what kind of fantasies?” There’s that teasing boyish grin again

* “Please enlighten me”

* Well, it’s only right to tease him a little after all those hours you’ve spent mulling over what ‘I’m not waiting for marriage’ could mean

* “Well they all start off with a kiss, a good kiss, the kind that makes you feel like you’re just going to melt-“

* You rest your head against his shoulder, whispering into his ear

* “And then when it’s over, one of your hands is under my shirt,”

* you gently trace up his back and he shivers

* “and both of mine are under yours”

* “And then?” His voice is low, but he doesn’t dare to look at you

* You really shouldn’t tease him this much...

* but it’s so fun

* “We kiss again, my hands tracing over every inch of you, and when we stop I unbutton your shirt, trailing kisses down your neck”

* You trail a cold finger down the side of his neck

* He lets out a low sound, akin to a whine

* “And then I’ll suck here” your finger presses lightly into the hollow of his neck before repeating the process on his collarbone “and here”

* “You look so pretty with your neck marked up with hickeys, like poppy’s blooming in snow”

* You can tell he likes it by the shiver and whine

* So he likes that sensual shit huh

* You wonder what else he likes

* “And you look so pretty Edward, breathless, with that hungry needy look in your eyes just for me”

* Your hand trails down to his chest, and he trembles as your hand moves across his stomach. Resting on his lower abdomen

* His breath hitches, teeth digging into hi plush pink lip. He’s so needy, your finger trails in absentminded circles, and you swear he whimpers

* Aw so cute

* “And that’s about it” you say bluntly patting his stomach twice before moving to get off of him

* His eyes shoot open, a frown arching onto his mouth

* You hold back a laugh

* before you can fully get off of his lap he tugs you back to him

* “I see what you’re doing” he tried to pretend to be stern but you a smile twitching at the end of his lips

* “I don’t know what you mean. That’s just where the fantasy ends” you say as innocently as possible which only makes him grin

* “I’m sorry, I know I’ve been teasing you too much”

* “Hmm have you been?” You mock confusion and he laughs again, kissing the spot where your neck and shoulder meet

* “I’m sorry I got your hopes up”

* You scoff

* “My hopes weren’t up-“ Edward tilts your head towards him and you avert your eyes

* Okay they were a little high

* He pulls you into another kiss, soft and gentle

* “I promise I’ll make all your fantasies come true soon.”

* He already has, how many dreams that you never thought you would be able to have has he made come true?

* God, you adore this boy

* “But until then you’re going to have to leave”

* Scratch that

* “W-what?!”

* What did you do something to turn him off in the last .05 seconds?

* “It’s nothing personal-“

* You’re taking this very personally

* “I just need some time alone, and maybe a cold shower”

* Oh

* O H

* “R-right, well I’ll leave you to that” you mumble, clearing your throat as you move away from him, only briefly stopping on your way out

* “I’m going to take a few of these okay?” You say grabbing the other two Harry Potter movies

* You don’t wait for him to respond, leaving the room and heading to your own

* You run into Emmett who sends you a mischievous grin

* “Hey (Y/N), what were you-“

* “Nothing you would need to a buy a cookie cake for” you say, sliding into your room

* You look down at the DVD’s

* Why did you take these? You don’t even have a TV in your room

* Meanwhile Emmett’s still in the hallway

* “How did they know I was going to get him a cookie cake?”

* .

* ..

* ...

* You’re not sure where you are at first

* It’s foggy burst of green and brown

* And then you see him

* It’s Edward

* You breathe a sigh of relief moving towards him, as long as he’s here you’re okay

* “I’m sorry-“ you stop in your tracks

* there’s someone else there, clinging to his side

* “You were right- I do love her” He says and you’re confused

* The most faded and its Bella her wide brown eyes narrowed into a glare

* “Did you think you could just steal my future away from me?” She spats at you like her words are venom

* No- of course you never meant to take her place

* But you always hoped to- didn’t you?

* The intrusive voice causes a shiver to erupt down your spine

* You walk back, feet tangling into one another

* No that’s not right, Edward loves you- this isn’t right

* That’s when you bump into something hard- immovable

* You turn to see someone else entirely

* They’re wearing a black and red cloak

* Someone from the Volturi

* You gulp hard.

* So they’ve come for you have they

* The figure moves to remove the hood of their cloak, and you feel a gasp escape you.

* It’s you

* Only your face seems...sharper somehow, even more beautiful. But in an unnatural way, devoid of humanity

* Your eyes are as red as rubies

* You fall back, your foot getting caught in a tree root

* The Volturi-you sighs, crouching down so their impassive eyes can meet yours

* “You’ve really got to get over that whole timeline” their voice is different too, an air of disappointment ringing in every word. They sound bored

* You can’t manage to string together a single thought, let alone any words

* “Well don’t look so scared. I’m here to help you know” but their smile is cruel

* “Unless you can snap out of that lovesick dream of yours and finish what you started, this is the future that’s waiting for you”

* “That’s not true”

* Carlisle saved you, Eleazer took you in, Edward gave you a new future.

* You’re never going back to the Volturi

* But the you clad in the black and red robe’s smile only grows wider

* “It’s not true for now, but how many more years do you think you can handle until you get bored?”

* “Another 20? Let’s say 50 for good measure- then what?”

* You feel like a cold finger runs down your spine, your hair standing on end

* “I think you know exactly what” the cloaked you says, their eyes are serious now as they look at you

* “You need to finish what you started-“

* Finish what? What are they talking about? What did you start?

* Noticing your confusion they sigh

* “You need to stop focusing so much on what happened in the story, and start thinking about what happened after the story”

* After the story?

* Like after Edward and Bella had Their baby?

* “Now wake up”

* The words echo in your head until you fly upright, breathing hard as you take in the space around you

* For a second you’re not sure where you are

* This is your room, at the Cullen’s house in Forks

* You’re fine

* You’re safe

* You try to regulate your breathing, attempting to calm your mind with it

* It was just a nightmare. Not that you ever remember falling asleep to begin with

* “I didn’t think I could fall asleep anymore” you whisper

* You pretend to sleep, because it feels good. But you’ve never lost yourself like that before

* It felt so real

* “Finish what I started? And then after the story-“ You feel the hair on the back of your neck stand on end

* There was something- something you had tried a long, long time ago-

* Back when you still lived in Denali

* An idea you had come across once- after Edward told you how painful it was for him to turn

* But how would you even go about proving something like that?

* And what’s what might have happened after the book series got to do with any of this?

* You sigh, your head in your arms. It was just a dream wasn’t it? A nightmare from your insecurities?

* If you just whispered his name, Edward would be beside you, whispering sweet nothings into your ear, erasing all your worries

* “ Unless you can snap out of that lovesick dream of yours and finish what you started, this is the future that’s waiting for you”

* You gulp

* You don’t need Edward to coddle you through every little nightmare, you decide

* Turning in your bed, closing you eyes and hoping to dream a more pleasant dream this time But you don’t dream at all, tossing and turning until light filters in through the blinds

Tags:  @moonlights27 @thebluetint @the100thtwilight @awesomebooklover17 @oneofthepotterheads @smileygirl08 @imdoingathingmom @iconicgguk @yrawn @alyciaswhore @little-horror-show @wicked-watering-can @lazydreamers @ xxxmuxxx @ideas-for-you-to-adopt @poisoinedhope @maryleigh8796 @moose-squirrel-asstiel @hotmessgoodness @jaimewho @corabmarie @what-am-i-doing10 @alluring-venus @imdoingathingmom @anotheryooniverse @im-tired-not-sleepy @emmettcullenisahimbo @my-super-musical-life @smolvampiregirl @it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream @mihikaahujaaa @werewolflover3252 @teenagezombiekryptonite @shynz @reclusive-chicken-nugget @monkeyluver4546 @wonhomarshmallow @bwbatta @bubblyabs @thatwaspossesion @helzerat @parascape @ xxxmuxxx @katrodriguez99 @leilanixx

[multishipper-baby]

Ok so I made this silly AU but cringe culture is DEAD and I’m spiteful so:

Monster High x Danganronpa. I’m imagining two scenarios:

Either the group that experimented on Izuru also experimented on the other students (some against their will I presume) in the name of despair,

Or that they were all just born like monsters. I’m preferring the first version though, since it actually adds drama and conflict, though this second idea is also good considering how wildly their backstories could change.

So far all I’ve come up with is that:

Monokuma and the other kubz +monomi/usami became/are human. And still being assholes (with the exception of the latter)

Everyone else is a monster. Whether that’s because they were simply born that way or transformed into monsters by the group stated before (I’ll call them Lovers Of Despair for times sake) is up to the people who wanna divulge into this AU. Speaking of, they also have to hide their monsterous identities from the public, because Jim is afraid of the public response (and apparently rightly so considering that one of the movies involved humans getting freaked TF out and policemen + civilians trying to kill the monsters). Some students disagreed with him, especially Kyoko, but they listened to him anyway because it was the safest option.

^^^

Adding onto that— I decided that Makoto is a Frankenstein, Kyoko is a vampire, Byakuya is a werewolf, Toko/Jill are mummies, Aoi is a zombie, and Yasuhiro is a Sea Monster. (For the last two I considered reversing them cause it’d make more sense but I thought it’d be funnier if Yasuhiro got the sea monster attributes and Hina always argues with him about “I SHOULD’VE BEEN THE SEA MONSTER THIS ISNT FAIR” in groaning form of course lol)

I might do sprite edits later actually…

Anyway yea that’s it lol, I did my best

Ohhhh I haven't seen Monster High on forever but I do remember some stuff from it (mostly just the petty school stuff lol). And honestly I could see the students being turned into monsters more by Hope's Peak Academy than by Monokuma... We all know their instance on human experimentation cofcofIzuru.

Mostly I love the idea of werewolf Byakuya, because he's always so uptight and fancy so how would he deal with suddenly being covered by fur and having urges to do wild shit? It would be hilarious. Especially since now he and Kyoko can continue the long standing rivalry between vampires and werewolves. Also I feel really bad for Aoi, being a very active zombie sounds like it would really suck.

Also, you only included the survivors in this AU, but I think this could be expanded to the whole class (maybe as part of the Killing Game? Idk) tho I'd have to think of a lot more monsters for that. My thoughts about that are: Gorgon Celestia- I know she has vampire aesthetic, but she'd look drop dead gorgeous with eastern indigo snakes in her hair <3

[all-my-love-for-harry]

Watching Twilight with Harry.

summary: y/n forces harry to join her in her Twilight marathon.

word count: 1.5k

warnings: none! just tons of fluff

a/n: alright, folks. here’s the result of me going through my Twilight phase again. Enjoy! also, i should turn into a series watching tv with harry lmao

You can find the rest of my masterlist here

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･:

Life was full with guilty pleasures. It could be a movie, a TV show, a food, even a celebrity. Y/N’s guilty pleasure was Twilight. She wasn’t sure why, but there was something about those movies that made her feel all blissful and excited, like she was a teenager all over again. And she enjoyed that.

Enjoyable things was exactly what she needed in order to not lose her mind during lockdown. Two months in and Y/N thought there was nothing else she could do that she hasn’t done already, so it was safe to say she was starting to feel a little trapped

One afternoon, Harry was out getting groceries and some other things they needed for the house and Y/N was just chilling in the living room, waiting for him to come back. As she scrolled down her instagram, she received a message from one of her cousins. It was just an inside joke about how they thought vampires were so cool when they were younger, and as she giggled, her brain clicked.

I wanna watch twilight. She thought.

Without giving it a second thought, Y/N turned on the TV and searched for the movies on Netflix. Deciding she’d watch the first one, she got comfortable on the couch before pressing play.

You see, everybody would agree the first movie of the saga was poorly edited and overall not that great, and although she’d cringe a lot during it, it was hilarious to watch years after it went out.

Y/N was so into the movie, almost drooling over Robert Pattinson, that she didn’t even hear Harry open the front door. “Babe?! I’m home!”

Harry’s voice snapped her out of her focus on the movie. “In the living room!” she answered. The curly-haired man gave her a dimpled smile before running upstairs to take a quick shower. Every time one of them went out of the house, they’d strip out of their clothes and take a shower in one of the guest bathrooms as a precaution.

He came back around twenty minutes later to put the groceries away and after doing so, he went to the couch and left himself fall next to his girlfriend making a ‘plop’ noise. “What are you watching?”

“Twilight.” She said, not taking her eyes off the screen but moving closer to Harry. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, letting her fingers play with his hand without paying much attention.

“The one about the vampires?” He chuckled.

“Yeah, did you ever watch it?” she finally turned to look at him. For a split second he thought about teasing her about watching cringy 2008 cliché movies, but he noticed the way her eyes were light up with excitement, so he decided to shut up.

“I watched the first one, but because of Gemma.” He said. “But never watched the other ones. There’s other ones, right?”

“There’s five of them, and we’re watching them all.”

“Are we now?” He asked, squeezing her a little.

“You just said you’ve never watched the rest, you bet your ass we’ll watch them now.”

“Ugh, fine. Just because I love you.” He cupped her face with his free hand, forcing her to look at him. He planted a sweet kiss on the top of her nose before letting her eyes focus on the screen again.

To be honest, Harry couldn’t care less about what they were watching, but what he did love was the comments Y/N would make during it. She’d throw jokes, make fun of the character’s choices or mannerisms and while some people find it annoying when a person couldn’t shut up during movies, Harry happened to love that about her. He thought that without those little comments here and there, he’d die of boredom.

“Edwards is so cute!” She nearly squealed. “I swear to god he was like, the love of my life when I was fourteen.”

“I think I like the Jacob guy better.” He stated.

“No, you don’t. He gets annoying in the next ones so be prepared.” They kept watching in silence, until Y/N’s favorite scene came out. “God, this was such a cultural reset.”

“Babe, they’re playing… baseball.”

“Iconic.”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh at the last scene of Bella and Edwards dancing at prom. “Holy shit, that’s awkward babe.”

The first movie ended and Y/N was quick to put the second one and this time, Harry paid a little more attention because he hasn’t seen it before.

“Oh my god, why would he throw her to the freaking wall when he could’ve just pushed the other dude out of the way.” He said.

“Am I right? That was so dramatic.”

They reached the scene where Edward leaves Bella alone in the woods after he told her he didn’t want her anymore. “But he was lying right?”

“Yeah, he did it so she’d forget about him.” She said. “But homegirl was depressed. I swear there’s nothing more Twilight than having life changing conversations in the middle of the woods.”

Y/N cuddled closer to Harry, wrapping one of her arms around his torso. She had to admit New Moon wasn’t her favorite out of the whole saga, but it was just because she didn’t get to see Edward enough, and God knows how much Y/N loves some Edward Cullen screen time. However, Harry was pretty much enjoying himself.

“Of course she went with my man Jacob.” He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows when Y/N looked up at him.

“Oh my god.” She snorted. “I hate that he’s a minor and Bella is already 18.”

“The vampire is like, a hundred years older than her.”

“That’s hot.”

Harry let out a big belly laugh, having a hard time to catch his breath. Now, he couldn’t be jealous of her little teenage crush, and he actually found it quite adorable and hilarious at the same time.

“So she’s trying to get herself killed or something?”

“She’s trying to see Edward.”

“Why?! He felt her alone in the middle of the woods!”

“He thought he was doing the right thing!” She defended. “You know, I actually cried in the theater when I went to watch it. My sister doesn’t let that die.”

“Should I send a video to Molly when you start crying?” He teased.

“Don’t be mean.” She pouted. Harry copied her before pressing his lips on hers gently.

“Look, the vampires are back, yay.”

She giggled but turned back to the television anyway. It was the scene were Alice went back looking for Bella, then there was the scene were Jacob and Bella were alone in the kitchen and the phone rang.

“I hate this part.” She said, clinging into Harry’s arm.

“He made him believe she was dead.” Harry’s lips went into an ‘o’ shape, surprised. “Is he going to kill himself?”

“That’s his plan. Keep watching.” She told him. “God, poor Edward looked so bad.”

“Ooh, I like that car.” Harry pointed at the yellow Ferrari Alice stole in Italy. “Should we get a car like that?”

“To keep it in the garage until we can go out again?”

“I won’t be needing your services after all, gentlemen.” They heard Edward said.

“He says that like he was ordering his own murder on postmates.” Y/N scoffed, making her boyfriend laugh.

“Oh my god, he flies.” Harry said when the vampires started fighting and Edward was sent to the other side of the room.

They were reaching the end of the movie, were Bella made the Cullens vote to see if she’d become a vampire or not.

“If I were a vampire, would you turn into one for me?” Harry asked suddenly.

“Why are you the vampire? I have the most knowledge.”

“Baby, Twilight knowledge is not vampire knowledge.” He pinched her cheek.

“Whatever.” She scoffed. “And of course I’d do it. You’d be a pretty grumpy vampire if I wasn’t with you.” She gave him a playful smile.

“True.”

It was the last scene. Bella, Jacob and Edward were in to woods again, and the two men were going to start a fight.

“… Don’t make me choose, because it’ll be him. Is always been him.”

“Girl, same.” Y/N said.

“Heeeey.” Harry furrowed his eyebrows playfully.

Y/N put her hand on Harry’s thigh, knowing what was coming next.

“He’s gonna do it.” She squealed.

“Do what?”

“I have one condition, if you want me to do it myself. And then forever. Marry me, Bella.”

“Hell yes.”

“It ends like that?” He asked.

“Yep. Imagine having to wait another year to watch the next one.”

“Didn’t you read the books? You knew what’s gonna happen.”

“I mean, yeah. But what’s the fun in it if I can’t see Robert Pattinson’s face?”

“Alright, that’s enough for today.” He took the remote from her hands and hid it behind his back.

“Give it back, we have to watch the next one!”

“All I’m seeing is my girlfriend thirsting over a bloody vampire!”

“C’mon, I’m thirsty over you too.” She rolled her eyes.

“Now we’re talking.” Harry came closer to her so their faces were only inches away. He looked down to her lips then back to her eyes, smirking when he noticed her blushing. “You’re not too bad yourself, love.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He chuckled, giving her back the remote but not without stealing a little kiss from her. He went out of the couch and Y/N protested immediately. “Lemme go to the bathroom first, woman!”

“Don’t take too long, we still have work to do!”

[donutloverxo]

Love the way you lie

Part one

Note - this is a prequel to love the way you lie. I know y'all wanted a sequel not a prequel but I thought this would be fun. I'll get the third and last part out soon!

Summary - You begin a relationship with your boss Mike.

Warnings - smut, unprotected sex(i still stand by my advice of never rawdogging mike), addictions, emotional cheating

Pairing - Mike Weiss x reader

Word count - 2.7k

Masterlist

“Babe come on! Just come by at six” Ray whined over the telephone and you had half a mind of slamming the phone and hanging up on him.

“I don’t want to watch you play video games for the whole evening! I’d rather be at my office party” You snapped. Your relationship had been sort of nice in the beginning. You were in your twenties and still a virgin, you decided to lower your standards and compromise a little bit so you wouldn’t be so alone anymore. You didn’t know you’d be stuck with a complete man-child.

“What? You hate those things. Just last week you were whining about how boring the small talk is” You had to hold the phone away from your ear just so you wouldn’t hear his annoying shrill voice.

Last months party was boring and grey. But that’s because he wasn’t there. He was in a rehab facility for over three weeks. You never even knew he had a drug problem until Paul told you he had overdosed and been admitted to a rehab. You couldn’t really tell if there was much of a difference between sober Mike and coked up Mike.

“Why do you even want to see me so bad?” You rolled your eyes.

“Look I tried to cook I really did!” He whined again “But it’s just so hard babe. Just come over here and make your lasagna? You’re so good at it. I promise I’ll thank you anyway I can”

You yelped as you heard Mike’s voice over the intercom “Please come into my office “ he said and you felt goose bumps and shivers in your entire body just hearing his husky voice.

“Yeah I’ll be right there” You stammered cringing as you abruptly hung up on Ray without even saying goodbye. You collected your notepad and a pen, Mike often liked to bounce ideas off of you. With how fast paced and clever he was you could barely keep up but you tried your best to impress him. You quickly took out your lipstick, touching up your lips a bit and heading towards his office.

Maybe it was wrong of you to be fixated on a man that wasn’t your boyfriend. A mess of a man at that. But maybe you were more of a mess than him. He was a lawyer, a smart man who actually made some difference and did real work. And you were just a secretary who still lived with her mother. What would HE see in you?

You knocked on his door and entered to see him surrounded by scattered papers. “You called Mike?” You asked standing straight, suddenly hyper aware of your posture.

“Yeah I think I – I –“ He trailed off looking at a file

“Mike?” you promoted him to speak.

“Yeah yeah. I thought I needed help but maybe not” He said still looking at the papers and scratching his forehead with his pen “I think I’ll take off early today” He finally looked up to you.

“Oh but the party!” You blurted out. You really need to learn how to bite your tongue. He quirked a brow at you urging you to speak. “I was hoping you’d be there” You shrugged shifting suddenly feeling so uncomfortable.

“Yeah” He nodded leaning back on his chair tapping his pen against the edge of his table “Wouldn’t your Boyfriend be opposed to that” He said the word with such venom. It almost made you hopeful.

But hopeful for what? Nothing was going to happen. If nothing else you are a good person. You’d never cheat. “Why would he mind?” You shrugged playing dumb.

He scoffed at that “You know I’m very good at reading people. And you’re too obvious. Not a very good liar. You’d make a terrible lawyer”

You scowled at him “Well that’s good, I’m not trying to be one. You don’t exactly make it look so glamourous”

“I didn’t mean to offend you” He chuckled at your little outburst which only annoyed you even more “That why you don’t wanna see him tonight? You were talking on the office line sweetheart “

“Well yeah that and...he’s just boring now” You couldn’t remember the last time you two went on a real date. Mike only hummed at that and it was then that you noticed his leg shaking incessantly under his desk. “Mike” you walked around his desk to stand next to him. You didn’t know a lot about drugs, but from movies you could tell that restlessness was a sign of withdrawal. How could he still be going through withdrawal? “Are you alright? Is there anything I can do?” you asked, your voice laced with worry. Maybe you could call Paul. Would that help him? You didn’t know if he had any other friends.

“I’m fine” He stated and steering his leg shaking to a halt. “So you wanna go to that party tonight?” He asked but you had a feeling he was just trying to change the subject.

“I don’t Mike. I don’t think it would be right” You wanted to say how you should both be ashamed to even consider something like that but held your tongue.

“Why?” He asked tracing his thumb over your knuckles.

“I have a boyfriend. And you’re well...”

“I’m clean now” He frowned.

“I wouldn’t know” You snatched your hand out of his hold and snapped back to reality from your fantasy. “If you don’t need anything else I’ll be on my way” You left his office before he could stop you. It was one thing to daydream about another man, another to actually indulge in that it.

***

You ended up not going over to Rays Or the party. If he was so hungry he could order take out or something. You were done putting up with his bullshit and told him you needed space over the phone. Maybe it was a dick move to not do something so sensitive personally but you needed to get to it before you change your mind.

You were in bed after dinner letting your mind wander to Mike, and how his suspenders made his shirt cling to his body and gave you a nice view of what lays underneath. All that working out and the disgusting green smoothies he drinks surely paid off. With one hand in your cunt, dipping in your folds and thinking of him. Of how much better it would be if it was his hand. You couldn’t actually get yourself off, you needed to buy one of those special toys for women. But it was still nice to just tease a bit.

Your self care session was interrupted by your mom calling out for you. You groaned pulling your hand out and wiping it off on your sheets. You climbed out of bed to go downstairs to see what the ruckus is about. As soon as you unlocked and opened your door you were greeted with the man you were just dreaming about.

“Mike?” You didn’t know what he could possibly be doing here this late. “Are you drunk?”

“No I am not drunk” He said as if he was scolding you “What you don’t want to invite me in?” He teased.

“What are you a vampire? Come on in” You stepped aside to let him in. You cringed at how messy your room looks, with your sheets all bunched up and your clothes sprayed out all over.

“You sleep in that?” He looked you up and down.

You were wearing your white cotton nightie that ended just above your knees. “I know it’s not the sexiest but it makes me comfortable”

“I never said it wasn’t sexy” He said as if he was stating a fact.

You stared into his eyes in hopes of intimidating him to make him stop ogling you. But it didn’t work. He kept unabashedly checking you out. You now recalled your lack of bra and panties.

“What are you even doing here?”

“I just wanted to see you” You took a step back as he stalked towards you with a predatory gaze.

The back of your knees hit the edge of your bed. “I – think you should leave Mike” your voice wavering “I’ve got work tomorrow. And you do to”

He hummed at that playing with the helm of your nightgown “You really want me to leave?” He asked looking up at you.

You wished you could give him an honest straight answer. He was your dirty little secret. Someone a good girl like you shouldn’t be thinking about. Not when you had a boyfriend. You never thought you’d get to actually live out your fantasies. You considered the consequences. Did you really want to give your heart to someone who would probably break it? You scoffed to yourself. He wasn’t here for your heart. He only wanted what most if not all men want.

He kissed your forehead and murmured against your hair. “You make me feel good you know. Life isn’t so bleak when you’re around.”

“I don’t do that. Hook ups or whatever you call them.” You said breathing in his musky scent. It was getting harder and harder to say no.

“That’s alright” He pulled back cupping your face and staring into your eyes “you’re not the kinda girl someone hooks up with”

He crashed his lips onto yours stealing your breathe. Whatever doubt you may have had were gone in that instant. His beard so soft and fuzzy against your mouth. His lips were so cushy, his kiss so fierce.

He pushed you back on your bed making quick work of removing his suspenders along with his shirt and pants. You couldn’t help but stare at his naked fit body covered with various tattoos. You had never been a fan of them, but they all looked so beautiful littered across his body. You gasped at the sight of his erect cock hitting his abdomen.

He loomed over you pushing your nightie off of you. Desperate to see you naked, finally. “We have to be quiet” You rasped in between kisses as he rid of you of your nightie “My mothers downstairs”

You moaned and cursed on the mattress as he worked you up with his fingers. Making you come undone on them within minutes. How he figured you out so well and so soon you’ll never know. You hesitated and almost pushed his head away when his broad shoulders settled between your legs.

No one had ever gone down on you before. It was amazing, miserable and sensual at the same time. Just when you thought you’d achieve your peak he stopped making you whine. He lined his cock up to your entrance. Slowly sinking in. And you looked as you saw your juices smeared all over you mouth and beard. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

It was unlike anything you had felt before. It was never that good with Ray. Mike didn’t last long the first time but made sure to only finish after you. He cuddled you in your small bed before he made love to you again. Properly and slowly this time. Giving you both the time to truly enjoy yourselves.

You asked him to sneak out in the middle of the night so your mother wouldn’thave to see him leave. She did gave you an earful about having such relations with an addict. And how she couldn’t believe you actually found someone that was worse than Ray.

***

You knew that the next day Mike would pretend nothing had happened. You’d both probably forget about that night soon enough. You and the all your coworkers were stunned when he greeted you with a kiss on your lips. As if you’d been together forever.

He asked you to be his girlfriend at lunch. Which you said no to, obviously. You were a lady and you were to be wined and dined. Which he did. He took you out on several dates almost everyday. He took you to his house so you could spend some time together peacefully. And you immediately left seeing just how messy the whole place was.

“It just needs a feminine touch” He had said back then.

So you made him spend the nights at your place. After tolerating the sneers and snide remarks from your mother for a while, he quickly cleaned up his house, made proper cabinets and book shelf’s for all his scattered papers and books. He even got flowers to lighten up the place every once in a while. He didn’t need your mother third wheeling you both.

You were spending more time at his house than your own. He gave you your own drawer and you were practically living there. You were surprised at just how much of a ‘normal' boyfriend Mike was. He was always considerate of your needs. He did sometimes have a problem of giving you unwarranted advice when you bitched about your day to him

“When women talk they just want to be listened to” You shut him up and he threw his hands up surrendering to you. He didn’t give you any solutions or advice unless you asked for it.

He worked a lot more than you. So whatever free time he had he liked to spend with you. You were a bit worried that he didn’t really have any friends. Sure you could consider Paul to be a friend but they weren’t that close. And Paul barely knew anything about Mike.

The sex was... well amazing. Mike knew exactly what to do to make you putty in his hands. He had a high appetite and with the way he worshipped you, you had absolutely no problems feeding it.

“Say yes” He growled before wrapping his mouth around your clit furiously sucking on it.

“I can’t I – “ you could barely speak or even comprehend what was going on. It was the same fight on a different day. Him wanting you to move in with him. So you can spend more time together. And for you to quit your job, which to be fair was boring. Being the picture perfect 90s housewife couldn’t possibly be any worse.

So he stopped again when you were just about to meet your end. He edged you and you knew just how relentless he was. He wouldn’t stop until you said yes. “Yes! Oh god yes! I’ll do whatever you want Mike. Just please please let me cum” You wailed as tears escaped your eyes.

Shoving three of his fingers inside you he fucked you through your orgasm. You almost blacked out. He laid on his side next to you propping himself up on his elbow. He was grinning down at you. “You’ll quit your job too.” He stated but you knew it was more of a demand.

“I can’t do that. I said I’ll move in with you no” You looked at him before closing your eyes again. Still recovering from your earth shattering orgasm.

“Why not?” His grin dropped instantly and he frowned at you. “I will take care of you. I need you at home.”

“I – what if we break up...” you trailed off. Even if you didn’t want to entertain the idea. It was very much possible that you would.

“We won’t. Why? Do you plan on breaking up with me?”

“No I just” You rubbed your temples really needing a cuddle session and not this conversation “I just need security. It’s not like we’re married or even engaged” You sighed and added “yet” just so he wouldn’t think the worst again.

“Then let’s” He murmured tracing a finger along your belly button.

“Let’s what?”

“let’s get married” He pressed kisses on your jaw and down your neck.

“I – wait are you proposing?” You asked completely confused.

“I guess I need to spell it out for you” He gave you an unimpressed look “Marry me”

And really you couldn’t find a single reason to say no. He had battled his demons and won over them. He had a stable job which made him happy. He promised to take care of you. You were scared of the unknown future. But come what may you’ll both face it together.

***

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[solar-pxwered]

A List Of Norman Reedus Movies/Shows I Have Seen And My Opinions On Them

1. The Boondock Saints

The Best. A classic. Bloody and inappropriate and if I remember my count correctly, contains 194 “fucks” or variations of it (this movie certainly illustrates the diversity of the word). Terrible Irish accents. A KICKASS soundtrack. Willem DeFoe crossdressing. Dropping toilets on people’s heads. Over the top action sequences. Cheesy dialogue. Campy as fuck. I freakin’ love it.

2. The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day

Some people didn’t like this one as much as the first one, and I admit that I wasn’t as fond of the new detective in this one as I was of Smecker...but, overall, I really enjoyed it and I drove 2 hours to see it in theaters. I love Romeo more than Rocco. The humor was on point. It was nice to see the original actors for Doc, Dolly, Duffy and Greenley. There was more terrible Irish accents, another KICKASS soundtrack, cheesy dialogue, over the top action sequences, still campy as fuck. I freaking love it.

3. The Walking Dead

Cannot even describe how much I love this show. I have ALWAYS loved zombie related shows and movies so this show was right up my alley from the very beginning all the way back in 2010. I watched it religiously every Sunday. I adore this roller coaster ride of a show and I especially adore Daryl, Carol and Jerry. This show has it all: Comedy, drama (hella lots of that), tragedy and triumph...and it never fails to pulls me in and hold my interest.

4. Mimic

Honestly, I saw this a LONG time ago and I hated it because...well, because I have a cockroach phobia, ok?! Don’t judge. Norman’s part was pretty small, not one of his lasting impressions on me.

5. Six Ways To Sunday

This is a weird one. It’s about an overly innocent 18 year (played by Norman) who gets involved in the Mob and develops an alter ego that’s violent and his complete opposite. There’s murder, prostitutes and good ol’ fashioned mother-son incest and it wasn’t a movie I suggest for the lighthearted or anyone with those sort of triggers. 

That being said, I watched the whole thing and didn’t hate it. It was just uncomfortable...as seems to be a theme with Norman Reedus movies.

6. Dark Harbor

This fucking movie...

Ok, so, I’ll be straight with you: I really enjoyed this dumbass movie. It had me guessing right up to the very end and it took me on a very strange ride along the way. 

If watching someone sexually feed a woman a poisonous mushroom, lots of dark eyed staring scenes or Norman Reedus making out with Alan Rickman is your thing, then go for it. 

7. Let the Devil Wear Black

It’s modern Hamlet. What else is there to say? If you like Hamlet, you’ll like this movie. If you like pre-car accident, baby face Reedus with the black hair, you’ll like this movie. I liked it.

8. 8MM

You know what the best thing about this movie is? Nicholas Cage. He steals the damn show no matter what movie he’s in and no one can even deny that fact. Norman’s part in this one is pretty small too but I liked this movie anyway because...well, Nick Cage. Enough said.

9. Bad Seed

I honestly can’t remember how this movie ends, all I remember was that it wasn’t at all how I expected it. I liked this movie because it’s a psychological thriller and that’s my most favorite genre of all time. The movie’s premise is a guy suspects his wife of having an affair and comes home one night and finds her murdered so he goes after her lover (Reedus) to try and kill him because he believes he was the one who killed her. It’s a cat and mouse chase sort of thing...now I need to rewatch it because I can’t, for the life of me, remember how it ends.

10. Gossip

Ok, no JOKE, this is the best movie I ever randomly discovered and I can’t believe how many people have never heard of it! It’s got some big names in it (Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, James Marsden and Kate Hudson to name a few).

It’s a psychological thriller/mystery drama in which three friends start a rumor at their school as a social experiment for their class. The rumor grows, however, and suddenly it’s out of their hands and spiraling out of control. People start getting hurt, reputations get dragged through the mud and then it escalates to the point of someone losing their life. The three main characters {Reedus, Headey and Marsden) try to figure out the truth behind the out of control rumors and discover more than they ever imagined, or ever wanted.

I HIGHLY recommend this movie. I really, REALLY do. The ending is one of the best twists I’ve seen in a LONG time.

11. The Beatnicks

This movie is so weird. It’s like...it’s just really weird. It revolves around two beat poets who find a magic box that somehow magically helps them get good at being poets but it’s like...an evil box and so they decide to only use it once and then get rid of it. Yeah, it’s a weird movie. Not my highest suggestion.

12. Blade II

Ok, if you’ve never seen the Blade Trilogy then I just don’t even know what to tell you. 

My favorite of the three movies, Blade 2 gives us the glorious Reedus character of Scud, the pot smoking, horrible-shirt-wearing, mechanical genius and Blade’s sidekick. Not only is he precious and adorable, the movie in all is enjoyable and has a fun rave-esque soundtrack. 

The one thing I hate? *SPOILER ALERT* Scud’s scummy betrayal.

13. Tough Luck

This is another one of those movies that I liked but it’s just so freaking weird. 

It’s a psychological drama where a down on his luck con artist, Archie (Reedus), tries to rip off a carnival worker and gets caught. As punishment, he’s hired to work at the carnival  to pay off the debt. He gets involved in a scheme to murder the owner’s wife, but falls in love with her in the process.

Things go to shit. He gets the short end of the stick. More plots and lies develop. It’s all twisted until the end and the answers fall into place.

I really like this movie, it’s one that I kept and still have my copy of. 

A word of warning though, never leave this movie on your movie shelf for your father to find and watch while you’re away at college, resulting in your mother calling you and asking you why you have such a nasty movie. Because the sex scene at the end is OUTRAGEOUS. I mean, it is the FUNNIEST fucking sex scene I have ever seen in my life and I can’t ever watch it without cringing and laughing. My mother, however, didn’t think it was funny at all and my father was too shocked to even form a sentence.

I highly suggest this trippy as hell movie.

14. Octane

Ok, to be fair, this movie is actually alright, although Norman’s character gets the shittiest death possible. I mean, imagine dying because some psycho vampire kisses you and bites your tongue out. That’s one shitty death.

But, overall, this is a good thriller. Johnathan Rhys Meyers plays the villain and he’s always pretty quality. The story is basically a teenager has a disagreement with her mom and gets picked up by this drugged up, blood sucking, vampire wannabe cult and indoctrinated joining them. Her mother joins up with a tow truck driver (Reedus) whose daughter was also kidnapped years ago and who has been hunting the cult down ever since. 

It was a cringe filled, yet interesting, movie and I didn’t hate it.

15. John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns

This is John Carpenter....OF COURSE I liked this one. 

I won’t say what it’s about because that would ruin the story, but it’s part of an anthology and John Carpenter loved Norman’s role so much he STILL talks about it today and suggests Norman to people in the industry.

It’s a good one if you’re into horror shorts or anthologies or the genius of the legend that is John Carpenter.

16. A Crime

I had completely forgotten about this movie until I started making this post, but now that I remember...I REALLY liked this one!!

This is a pretty sad one, but it was very good and Norman’s acting in it is absolutely wonderful. His character’s wife was murdered and the suspect was never found so his neighbor, who really likes him, creates a fake culprit so that he can finally get some closure. 

This is a good one. I suggest this one if you’re in the mood for a strange sort of romance movie that has underlying thriller tones.

17. Moscow Chill

I remember watching this one, and I remember enjoying it, but I honestly can’t remember anything about it except that it’s a Russian film in which Norman plays a computer hacker who gets hired to hack into a Russian bank and gets caught and put in prison. But I honestly can’t remember what happens in detail.

If you like foreign movies with hacking and subterfuge plots, then give it a try because I do remember enjoying it while I watched.

18. Red Canyon

This one is kinda fucked up. Imagine Daryl Dixon mixed with Breaking Bad mixed with Deliverance and you’ve pretty much got the story...

A brother and sister return to their mother’s hometown to settle things and put their horrible past behind them...but upon returning they end up reliving the nightmare all over again.

It’s a good thriller/horror watch, but there are scenes of sexual violence so if that’s not something you can handle, then don’t watch this one.

19. Hero Wanted

This. Is. A. GOOD. Movie.

Cuba Gooding Jr. is the lead and he does an AMAZING job. Gooding’s character is a garbage man who falls in love with a girl who never takes any notice of him. To get her attention, he stages a heist in which he is supposed to jump in, save the day, and win the girl...only the heist turns out to be real and he is shot and the girl is also shot in the process. He sets out for revenge and gets in way over his head.

Norman’s part in this isn’t very big...but HOLY SHIT, was it impactful. His character didn’t have a lot of screen time, in comparison to a lot of other people, but he had a solid backstory and reason for being involved and MY GOD did I cry about it. This was actually the first movie of his I watched AFTER discovering Boondock Saints and it solidified my love for his acting abilities.

A very good watch. Highly suggest.

20. Messengers 2: The Scarecrow

This one is pretty ok, actually, as far as lame horror movies go. 

The plot is simple: Blonde, beardy, corn farmer Norman gets slowly driven insane by the haunted scarecrow in his field that he thinks putting up is a good idea for some damn reason. He starts to get more and more violent and rapey as time goes on until his family is forced to take up arms against him.

It’s not bad. Second part in what I THINK is a trilogy? I’ve only ever seen the first two. If you like horror movies then this one is a good watch. As I mentioned though, there is an attempted rape scene in this one so just be aware.

21: Pandorum

It’s an alien movie. Astronauts run into a species that is stronger and hungry for tasty humans. Shepard (Norman’s character) doesn’t make it out alive. If you’re not in the mood to see Norman get LITERALLY gutted or other characters get nommed by aliens, then don’t watch.

If you ARE, then go ahead and watch, because it was pretty alright.

[xbreezymeadowsx]

A Telford Tea Party

A/N: Pure, unadulterated FLUFF. Inspired by my favorite thirsty Flanagan obsessed girls and what’s said in our chat.

Chibs x Reader

This has not been proofread and therefore may contain spelling or grammatical errors. Oops.

TW: Nothing should be triggering unless you hate daddies having tea parties with their little girls.

PREPARE YOUR OVARIES!

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(this gif just seemed appropriate somehow. Not mine, credit to the maker.)

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Dada... Chibs grumbled burying his face in his pillow. "Dada." He cracked one eye open and squint, scanning the bits of room he could see when a little face was suddenly taking up his whole view. "Daddy." The four year old girl said firmly, letting him know he wouldn't be going back to sleep. He smiled sleepily and moved an arm from under his pillow to tuck some of her silky brunette hair from her face. "Mornin', Tilly." He graveled. Her hazel eyes lit up and she giggled. "Goo monin'!" She smiled brightly. Chibs groaned as he rolled to his back again and stretched as his daughter knelt on the bed, the empty half of the bed. "Where's yer Ma?" He asked with a yawn, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Da movie place." She told him. "Aun'ie Lyla as'ed her fo' sum'tin. Baby Mal wen', too." "Oh, okay." He thanked her for explaining it further. "Daddy, can we have a tea party?" She begged, giving him puppy dog eyes. "Do we hafta?" Chibs grumped. "Pweeeeeeease?" The little girl plead and clasped her hands in front of herself. He sighed, it didn't take much for the little one to get her way with him. "Fine." He huffed, scoffing at his lack of will power. "Lemme take a shower quick, okay?" "O'tay!" "Go ge' yer sissy an' set up in the playroom." He told her, tickling her side and making her squeal and jump off the bed. "BRINNNNAAAAAAA!!!" She hollered as she raced out the bedroom door. After showering and quickly dressing in black jeans and black SAMCRO t-shirt, Chibs went into the kitchen to grab a jug of sweet tea and tin of shortbread. However, as he turned the corner, he was greeted with the sight of his six year old standing on the counter next to the fridge, the four year old standing on the chair they'd pushed over there, and their six year old brindled shepherd mix Jameson prancing excitedly in place watching his little humans going after something near the treats he couldn't reach and hoping they'd knock the container down. The pajama clad girls- the pair looked nearly identical save for the elder being a head taller- froze in place and stared wide-eyed at him. "Sabrina Rose. Matilda Mae." Chibs said sternly, setting his fists on his hips. "Uh-oh." They gasped in unison. Chibs scooped them up and set them on the hardwood floor. "Couldn' wait ten minutes, eh?" He asked in amusement. He shook his head, chuckling and ruffled their long hair. He reached on top of the refrigerator and took the blue tin the girls had been after, handing it to his oldest. "I'll get the tea." Y/N opened the truck door and reached in to get the three month old out of his carseat as he babbled and waved his orange rattleball around. The neck of his green dinosaur onesie was covered in slobber and drool. "Yes, yes, yes. We're so happy, aren't we? Yes, we are." Y/N cooed as she picked the baby up and held under his butt as he leaned into her shoulder. "Auntie Lyla and the girls spoiled you, didn't they? I saw them sneaking you whipped cream. All that damn sugar's got you wound up." She slung the Harley Davidson diaper bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bag of groceries she'd picked up on the way home before heading to the front door. Once inside, she set the bags on the kitchen table and shift her son to her other arm. "Now, where's Daddy and the girls, huh?" She asked the baby. He looked at his mother curiously before letting out a shrill scream of joy. Y/N cringed. "Malcolm Robert Telford, you're gonna make my ears bleed." In the playroom, Chibs shift uncomfortably in his tiny, tiny pink chair. He would've liked to have sit on the floor, but his girls insisted he had to sit at the table like a proper gentleman. He watched Tilly- a sky blue fairy costume on over her pajamas including wings with an Anna from Frozen glittery tiara- pick up the little plastic pink teapot in the middle of the round white table and pour nothing into a mismatched tiny purple teacup in front of one of their guests. "Mo' tea, Mr. Bear?" She asked the large teal teddy bear. She turned to her other side and poured some into a large blue teacup for her sister's yellow lab, Jax. "May I have more tea, Daddy?" Brina asked in a horrible attempt at some kind of European accent. While her younger sibling was clearly a typical girly-girl, Sabrina wasn't. She, too, wore a costume dress but her's was black velvet with gold trim. She looked like a regal witch or vampire... if it weren't for the mini felt top hat and the headband that made it look like she had an arrow through her head. "Of course, sweethear'." He replied warmly and picked up the larger stainless steel teapot. Clinking came from inside from ice cubes sloshing around as he poured iced tea into her cup which was actually a black enamel camping mug. "Can I have a'nudder cookie?" Tilly asked sweetly, not bothering to fake an accent. "Haven' ya already 'ad three?" Chibs asked, raising an eyebrow and already knowing the answer. "Nooooo." His younger daughter trailed off not looking her father in the eye. Sabrina cackled at her sister's bad acting. Chibs pretend to wipe his face to hide his smirk. "How abou' we split one?" He compromised and picked up a shortbread from the Santa platter the girls had piled them on. Tilly nodded eagerly and held out her little plastic Disney Inside Out Joy dessert plate. Chibs broke the cookie in two pieces as even as he could and set one half on her plate and the other on his red Elmo face plate. "Daddy! Your hat!" Sabrina exclaimed realizing Chibs had taken it off at some point without them noticing. He reached up and felt his head. "Oh no! It's gone!" He cried, faking shock. "Someone stole it!" He shout, so clearly upset at this revelation. Tilly started frantically looking behind the plushies and lifting plates up as if the rainbow striped pinwheel hat would be hiding under them. Brina searched in the nearest toy chest, suspicious. The last two times the hat went missing, that's where it was. She slammed the lid shut hopelessly when her search came up empty. "Sissy, look'it!" Matilda ordered pointing a little index finger across the room. Chibs internally cringed and prayed the hat was destroyed by now. "Jamie, no!" Sabrina rushed the dog and began tugging the hat from him. He growled lightly and tugged back, wagging his tail and thinking she wanted to play. Unfortunately for the mutt, he'd done enough damage already that one more solid yank and the fabric seperated with an audible rrrrrrrip. The little girl flopped on her behind with a thump. "Bad dog!" She reprimanded him. Jameson spit out his half of the rainbow and whimpered, approaching the little girl and snuffling around her head. He licked her cheeks and she scrunched her shoulders, shrieking with laughter at his tickly whiskers and unable to stay mad at the innocent beast. "Wha's Daddy supposed to wear now? He needs a hat!" The young toddler declared before scurrying to the dress-up closet. Chibs whistled and called the dog off his daughter, her face having been slurped on enough. "Go lay down, ya mongrel." He chide goodnaturedly. He helped his daughter wipe her face off with a napkin. "I found a hat, Daddy!" Matilda proclaimed, emerging from the closet and holding something up triumphantly. Chibs face feel momentarily at the sight before changing his expression to something neutral. "Maybe no' tha' one, princess." He denied gently. The green plastic bowler hat was missing a chunk of hat and the white ribbon with four leaf clovers that usually wrapped around it was dangling over the edge of the rim like a graduation cap tassel. The little girl frowned and studied the hat. "I guess not." She agreed sadly and chucked it in the small trash bin between the girls' drawing tables. Seeing her sister on the verge of crying, Sabrina hurried over and ushered her back into the closet to help her find a more suitable hat. Y/N stood in the doorway watching her husband interact with their girls. Malcolm was quietly sucking on his thumb, head laying on her shoulder. It melt her heart every time she saw them all. Filip was always so good with his children and the girls had him wrapped around their little pinkies most of the time. He was stern when he needed to be, but honestly the girls were rarely brats. She swooned when she saw Matilda run to her father and hold up a plastic gold crown with colored jewel beads adorning it. Chibs gushed at how perfect the item was and scooped the girl up, standing her on his knees so she could place it on his head. Thrilled, Tilly set the crown atop his head and declared him king of the tea party. She hopped back to the carpeted floor as Sabrina joined her and the pair curtsied before their king. "Greetings, my liege." Chibs snapped his eyes up and found his wife and baby boy watching them from the doorway. A loving smile gracing Y/N's face. "Miladies," He addressed his daughters. "Look! Tis my Queen returned from her travels!" The girls curtsied to her. Y/N curtsied back with a soft giggle. "I do apologize for missing tea time. I needed to acquire more covers and a rash tincture for Prince Malcolm's royal fanny." Her daughters roared with laughter, falling to the floor in a pile of wiggly court jesters. The baby picked his head up and watched his big sisters before giggling sleepily. Chibs groaned as he stood. He pressed his hands to his lower back, leaning backwards to stretch his aching bones. He carefully skirt around the flopping sillies on the floor and held his hands out with wide eyes and big smile. "There's ma'boy!" He cheered. His smile threatened to split his face in two when he saw the baby boy excited to see him. Malcolm screeched and giggled, trying to fling himself from his mother's arms towards his father. "Hiya! Were ya good fer yer Mama?" He questioned in a voice he reserved for babies. "Didya go see Auntie Lyla? Was she filmin'?" He heard Y/N scoff as she fixed the little one's cotton shorts. "Ha! No. Say we didn't see any of that naughty stuff, Daddy." Y/N told her son to say knowing he'd just babble or blow a spit bubble instead. She looked to her husband as he kissed the light haired, blue-grey eyed bundle of joy all over his head and cheeks. "They were on lunch... brunch, I guess? when we got there. Everyone in robes, dirty bits hidden from innocent eyes." "Tha's a shame." Chibs joked earning a backhand on his free shoulder. He snickered and winked at Y/N before leaning in for a kiss. "Missed ya." He muttered against her lips. "Mm, you missed sleeping till noon." Y/N teased. "Tha', too." He agreed with a cheeky grin. "Daddy, can we go to the park?" Matilda asked, the girls' laughing fit having subsided finally. Chibs turned to his wife. Before Y/N could answer Malcolm started grunting, his face going red before the unpleasant sounds of a much needed diaper change filled their ears. "EEWWW!" The girls exclaimed, faces scrunched up in disgust. "We can go later, okay?" Y/N told them. "It's lunchtime now, then naptime." The girls started whining. "Hey, no whining." "No nap, no park." Chibs said, backing up his wife. The girls scowled, knowing it was too late to try to persuade him otherwise now that he showed he was with Mom. "Keep makin' tha' face an' it'll stick like tha'." He threatened, a sideways glance to Y/N who gave him a mischevious half-grin. "I'll ge' the lad changed an' down fer his nap." He told her, kissing her cheek. Y/N sighed softly, leaning into his lips. "Okay. We'll clean up in here and get lunch going." She decided, stepping aside to let the boys out of the room. "Come along, ya wee bug. We'll get a fresh nappie, read tha' book abou' a wee mouse an' a biscuit, play some o' tha' Celtic lullaby music ya love, an' have a bit o' dreamin'. Sound good?" Chibs spoke softly to his son as he moved down the hallway to the baby's room. Y/N turned to her daughters, taking out her phone and snapping a picture of the dressed up pair before smiling at them. "Shall we have chicken fingers for lunch?" She quiered. The girls nod enthusiastically. "Anything else?" "Neeps an' tatties!" Chibs called down the hallway. Y/N rolled her eyes, but the girls were already getting more excited. The girls loved her homemade mashed potatoes and turnips. "Alright, then. I think we have some mash leftover from dinner." She sighed. "Start cleaning and I'll get the chicken in the oven." She told the girls. "Okay, Mama!" They agreed as she turned and made her way to the kitchen. Once the food was warming up, she was jotting something down on the grocery list on the counter when the sounds in her house distracted her. Sabrina and Matilda were giggling with each other, toys and make believe sets were clattering here and there as the siblings no doubt were throwing everything haphazardly into random toy chests, the rumbles of Chibs' Scottish brogue float down the hallway as he read a bedtime story to their baby, and the sounds of yipping and collar tags jingling were heard from the living room as Jameson dreamed of chasing squirrels. Y/N breathed deeply and sighed, content. This was her favorite thing in the world. The sounds of home.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 209

209

The problem with supernatural senses was the ability to hear everything. Lance sympathised with Keith, cringing in second hand embarrassment for how his fiancé tried to talk to Pidge. Keith’s awkwardness was a thing of legend. There were a lot of “ums” in his sentence, and he’d twice assured Pidge “that it was okay if she didn’t want to”, before he finally asked if they could talk. The pair of them heading into the house as Hunk kept his eye on them.

“Catching” Hunk staring, Lance decided to say fuck it to manners. Hunk wasn’t upsetting Pidge on purpose. Shay wasn’t upsetting Pidge on purpose. They just weren’t quite clicking and though it wasn’t his place to say it, he didn’t want Pidge to feel left out because her best friend was dating the woman of his dreams

“Hunk, what’s up?”

“Pidge just went off with Keith... I thought they were going to check on Shiro and Curtis... I’m just... uh, I’m kind of wondering why they left”

Scratching the back of his head, Hunk stumped the other “adults” at the table. Allura and Coran both nursing empty tea cups, with Krolia kicked back and holding her half empty beer near her stomach

“It’s nothing to be worried about. They’ll be fine”

“Yeah, but... Dude, don’t you think she’s been acting weird lately? She doesn’t message me as much as she used to, and she didn’t defend how useful UV light could be to hunting vampires”

Hunk took the bait. Sure, Lance had been leading him

“Keith noticed Pidge isn’t happy and he’s gone to have a chat and make sure she’s okay”

Hunk gaped at him. Lance would have chuckled at his friend’s surprise if he hadn’t squashed his ego down. He didn’t want to hurt Hunk, nor did he particularly enjoy the conversation they needed to have. Shay pressed her lips together for half a moment in thought, before breaking her silence

“I can’t remember anything that would have upset her. Are you sure she’s upset?”

“Pidge is learning how much adulting sucks. We’re all in relationships now. We don’t do the fun things we used to do together. We don’t have games night anymore. We don’t hunt. Her best friend is moving in with his girlfriend and she wants to be involved. You guys haven’t done anything technically wrong, she just misses the old times. She’d decapitate me for the hell of it if she heard me. She’s feeling a little insecure right now, but Keith’ll calm her down”

Hunk immediately teared up. Nooo. Not Hunk tears. Whenever Hunk got teary, he did too

“I didn’t... I didn’t realise”

The first tear rolled down Lance’s cheek, causing him to sigh at himself mentally. He was so weak when it came to Hunk tears

“That’s because you haven’t done anything wrong. I’d be mad if you had and my face wound be all scary. Everyone grows and changes. Keith and I can hardly deny we’re very focused on each other. It’s really easy to do when you’re in love. Maybe at the end of the night you could suggest a games night? Or you could have her look at properties with you? She’d probably be able to blackmail the realestate agent into giving you cheaper rent...”

“I didn’t...”

“Dude, I know. I’m in no position to talk either. I let her down too. I let all of you guys down. I love you, bro. I love her, too. You guys are my family. Pidge just needs a little reassurance your still best friends for life... I kind of hope they’re not inside too long, I need to pee... I can’t wait for this pregnancy to be over... I want to meet them already”

Allura placed her hand on his shoulder

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon. We all can’t wait to meet them. You and Keith shall be amazing parents”

“Yeah. It’s going to be weird not having them inside me anymore...”

Lance loved it when they moved. He loved resting his hands on his belly and feeling them moving. Already so full of life. He loved belly rubs from Keith, and the way Keith cuddled into his stomach, peppering kissed to his stretched skin as if trying to kiss their twins through it. But everything else was getting too much. The joint pain. The fatigue. The constant heavy feeling in his chest. The last week of feeling constantly ill. His stupid yoyoing ego that couldn’t understand how a pregnancy had weakened him so much. The fits of anger. His overly active sense of smell. He was tired... and tired of waiting... but he... he also wanted to wait until he went into labour naturally so he could keep feeling them inside of him. For years he’d wondered how it’d feel to be human again. To fall in love and do all the other amazing things humans did... He’d never felt more human than in the last month of his pregnancy. He wasn’t sure he could mentally cope with his ego if he and Keith did chose to wait much longer. Mums to be were amazing. Movies just didn’t do justice to all the ups and downs of pregnancy. Feeling a tingling in his skin, Lance looked down at his arm, realising he was starting to burn under the lack of cloud cover. He wanted to give Keith and Pidge privacy, but if he stayed outside much longer, he’d go up in flames... Then again, Keith did say he was “smoking hot”.

*

Lance’s living room had also been transformed. The same bunting that hung outside, hung from everywhere it could inside. Stopping by the bathroom, Lance waddled in on Keith and Pidge mid-hug. Keith probably didn’t know what to do with being hugged so fiercely, still, it was a nice moment between the pair of them

“Hey, guys. Got room for one more?”

Breaking the hug, Pidge moved to make space between her and Keith. Lance waddling over to drop himself down between the pair of them. Yeah. Keith had a point. Maybe it’d be better to deliver early rather than feel cramping when he sat wrong, or sat too fast. He’d recognised that with fatigue came pain sensitivity. Small cramps had been happening more often over the last week, and he’d been reduced to crying over them more than once.

Leaning in, Keith kissed his cheek, Lance smiling at the action because he was so grossly in love with Keith that even a small kiss still managed to make him feel a million times better

“I thought I left you outside?”

Lance moved to show Keith the start of the sunburn on his arm. He’d run it under cold water to ease the burn, but it was still warm and tender to the touch

“You did. Apparently too much sun is bad for vampires... who would have thought?”

“I did wonder if I should find you an umbrella...”

“I’m fine. Plus, I’ve got my two favourite people here, so I thought I’d come stock up on some love”

Excusing himself to the bathroom, Lance knew he’d upset Hunk yet Hunk had to figure out how to make things right with Pidge without his meddling. He probably could have been more tactful about things, and picked a better time to bring the subject up. This was supposed to be party, not a counselling session. Feeling the twins kicking up a storm, he took Pidge’s hand, placing it on his belly. His friends were good about not just touching his belly without asking first, Pidge the one who seemed to hesitate the most when it came to feeling him being bashed up internally

“I think they know that their Aunty Pidge is here”

“Either that or they’ve inherited Keith’s inability to sit still”

Keith pouted, Pidge poking her tongue at him causing the werewolf to huff

“Lance is just as bad as I am”

“Lance has changed a lot since you came into our lives. You both have. You can tell you two are dating. You’ve got that old married couple vibe where you finish each other’s sentences and sound the same”

Lance couldn’t deny it. Keith had picked up so many of the expressions he used. And Lance had definitely picked up Keith’s habit of swearing openly.

“That’s what happens when you fall in love. Actually, Keith and I have something to tell you. We’re madly grossly in love, not just in love”

Pidge rolled her eyes at him

“I already know that. One bite between you and you’ve both turned into idiots”

“You know what they say, “Once bitten, twice stupid””

“Dude, it’s “once bitten, twice shy”. But I like your one better. You bit Keith to save his life and you both turned into love struck morons with a shared brain cell between you”

Keith frowned heavily at Pidge’s joke, Lance snorting due to how true it was

“He really does feel like the other half of me. I’d be happy to share a brain cell with him any day of the week. I know you’re worried about the future, but you’re always going to be a sister to me, and an aunt to the twins. No more sad, Pidge, not when she’s a scary little ankle biting gremlin that we all love”

Pidge pulled her hand back, looking to her lap

“Hey, you know I’m proud of you, Katie. You’ve been through a heck of a lot, like the rest of us. Things might have changed and they might be scary, but you’ll always have a home here with us... provided you don’t bring your work home and destroy my house with your experiments”

Pidge groaned deeply

“You blow up a circuit board once and they never let you forget it. And, if you call me “Katie” again, I’m going to give you a dead arm to go with that dead body of yours”

“Oh no! The gremlin’s getting angry. Quick, babe. You’d better make her a coffee before her wrath descends upon us”

“Fuck you”

“I’m flattered, but I’m in a loving and committed relationship... I mean, if I were two decades younger...”

Pidge punched his arm to shut him up

“You suck”

Lance continued with his shit stirring mood

“Quite well, don’t I, babe?”

“I’m not getting into this, but yes”

“See, my skills have got Keith’s stamp of approval”

“You’re going to have my footprint stamped to your arse if you keep traumatising me like this”

Wrapping his arms around his gremlin, Lance kissed her hair. Pidge trying to shove him off

“I love it when you’re mean. I wouldn’t change a single thing about you”

“Keith, help. Lance is being weird”

Keith hefted him back so Lance was laying awkwardly in his arms looking up at his fiancé. Bopping him on the nose, Lance went cross eyed as Keith let his finger hover

“Babe, leave the bitey creature alone. She’s fine. More importantly, did you put cream on your arm?”

Lance didn’t really prescribe to the use of burn cream seeing he healed on his own. Cold water would forever be the best things for burns

“Burn cream isn’t always good for burns, aaaaand the aloe vera is in our bathroom. Which is upstairs, and totally too much effort right now”

“You can’t ignore it. Where else got burnt?”

“I don’t know. Stop picking on me. I thought we were picking on Pidge”

“We’ve done that. I’ll grab the aloe vera, and Pidge can get you some blood. We have the whole day to relax... provided no one’s gone and planned party games”

Pidge burst that bubble. That tiny bubble of maybe fitting an uncaught nap in... This fatigue thing was ridiculous

“Oh, dude. There’s totally party games. We’re going to set up penalty beer pong under lunch”

Keith scrunched his brow. From how he was positioned, Lance kind of wanted to poke his finger right up Keith’s nose. It was like his nose was staring down at him, begging to be poked

“Should I be worried?”

Lance didn’t like to brag, but beer pong was his jam. His first time through college not so much, second time, he was pretty much undefeated. With how long it took to set up, it wasn’t usually one of their party games. Poor Keith had no idea what penalty beer pong had in store for him, Lance would have to defend his fiancé’s honour

“Seeing it’ll be you and Lance facing off, you should definitely be worried. Buuuut I totally didn’t tell you that. If you two are going to keep being gross, I’m going to go back to the party”

Whelp. Keith was on his own then... It was nice knowing him

“It’s okay, Pidgeon. Go forth and abandon us. Leave us... be that way... We’ll be back out as soon as I’ve had some blood and this sunburn starts healing. Maybe I should change into something longer, I don’t want to burst into flames at my own baby shower”

Keith bopped him on the nose again, before helping Lance sit back up

“That’s probably a good idea, babe. You’re smoking hot as it is. That’d make you literally flaming hot”

Pidge was completely right. They really did share one brain cell. The idea leaving a stupidly huge grin on his face that Pidge called “creepy” before leaving the pair of them.

*

Penalty beer pong... of all the things they could have played, they’d chosen some kind of abomination that belonged in hell. After lunch, Hunk had taken Lance aside, while Matt and Pidge took Keith inside. Both of them forced to wear headphones so they couldn’t hear each others answers to the questions for their friends had prepared. Keith felt very very dumb. 20 questions on Lance should have been easy... but their friends had really wracked their brains being creative and going for the odd, mostly unknowable things that he was supposed to know about his “boyfriend”.

With the living area the only place big enough to fit all of them, the coffee table was covered with a thick piece of plywood where the cups were set up. Keith didn’t like to admit that he’d never played beer pong. He’d never had the kinds of friends that did, nor did he go to college. One of the more popular games at Blade headquarters was darts with knives instead of darts, and vampire faces for targets. You took a shot if you failed to stick the knife in the vampire when it was your throw. He’d never been invited to play with James and the rest of them... He and Shiro used to have shooting target competitions, but that was just the pair of them with the winner getting out of some mundane house chore, that Adam usually scolded them about.

Kneeling across from him, they’d both avoided the penalty cups so far. Keith thought not getting the ball in one meant not having to drink what was it in. No. Instead the penalty was played out for each question they got wrong about each other. Each cup contained some kind of condiment construction Keith really wanted to avoid. It started tame, first with chilli sauce, then soy, then vinegar... slowly progressing in quantity and combination. The last cup was a grotesque mix of what seemed to be a little of everything from Lance’s pantry. Having swapped questionnaires, Hunk and Matt were their quiz masters. They were fifteen questions in, Keith not feeling the effects of the vodka he’d had to chug when Lance got the ping pong ball in his cups. His fiancé, not able to drink, was delegated water. Keith wasn’t sure that Lance actually won anything from playing against him seeing he’d have to pee the moment the game was done.

“Lance. What is Keith’s most annoying habit?”

Throwing the ping pong ball, his fiancé landed it perfectly in the cup. That’s how it went. Question, throw, answer, shot...

“His amazingly lacking self confidence since turning into a werewolf”

His damn fiancé got that one right... like the rest of them.

“Keith. How many years, combined, did Lance spend attending University?”

How the fuck was he supposed to know that? He didn’t know how long it took to be a lawyer... he didn’t know how long it took, or if Lance had any recognition of prior training to drop the amount of time he was required to study, plus his fiancé was a smart little shit... Lance looked sympathies and smug at the same time. Yeah. His questions were far easier than Keith’s had been. Tossing the retrieved ping pong ball, it landed in one of the penalty cups

“Um... I’m going to with... um... 12 years”

Lance groaned, Keith knowing he’d gotten the answer wrong. Matt delighted in telling him

“11 years and six months. Apparently being a lawyer in the early 90’s meant less time in class... Your first penalty shot is chilli sauce. Bottoms up”

If a jalapeño’s had sex with another jalapeño, then their offspring continued in breeding, that would only explain the fire in Keith’s mouth. His eyes running as his throat burned. That wasn’t simple chilli sauce in there

“God... it burns... what the hell is that?”

“Ghost pepper sauce”

Lance shot Matt a glare

“That’s not very nice. You guys are dicks”

Matt shrugged at Keith fanned his burning mouth

“Then he shouldn’t have gotten the question wrong”

“We didn’t really talk about it. Babe, you okay? Rieva, can you get Keith some milk, please. You guys are banned from giving Keith chilli ever again”

“Chill, dude. He’ll survive. Right, it’s your turn”

Lance plucked the ball from what looked to be soy sauce, unamused Keith’s ego wanted to flip the stupid board of cups over. Their friends were slightly laughing at his reaction to the chilli and Rieva hadn’t gone to get him a glass of milk

“Okay, Lance. What’s Keith’s deepest secret that he’s hiding at he moment?”

Keith had answered “He’d always believe in mothman until his dying breath”. Lance hummed at the question

“That he doesn’t hate Lotor as much as he says... it’s either that, something to with me, or something to do with his crush on mothman”

“Correct...”

No. That wasn’t correct at all! The game was rigged

“You two didn’t bother telling us that you’re engaged! Which is a secret to do with Lance, so technically correct!”

Suddenly Keith got the feeling that beer pong was less about what they knew about each other and more about what the group suspected and wanted to confirm

“They’re what?!”

From Pidge’s yelling, she mustn’t have been in on it... So this was all Matt’s idea to get them to confess to their secret engagement?! He could strangle him for putting them both on the spot like this. Right. He could play it cool... yep. No secret here

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb, dude. We found the empty ring box in your bedside drawers. Why didn’t you tell us?! Do you know how happy we are for you guys?! This is awesome... Maybe not as awesome as Rieva saying yes to me, but we’re supposed to be your friends! We need to have a party to celebrate this”

Ahhhh. Keith wanted to laugh in relief. They hadn’t been caught yet, and now it seemed like a pretty fun idea to mess with Matt for going through their things

“That’s was from Krolia. There was never any ring in that box”

“You expect us to believe that?”

Keith glanced to his mother, Krolia shrugging as the others also looked to her

“Miriam and I both thought they’d make the cutest grooms. It’s not my fault he hasn’t proposed yet”

“What makes you think I’d be the one asking? Lance could always ask me, right, babe?”

“Yep. I totally could have been the one to ask him”

Sharing a look, Matt and Hunk both chuckled. Their “Sunshine Teddy” shaking his head

“Man, we all know Lance is the romantic one. He’d spend everyday waiting for you to ask, rather than asking you. Then, he’d expect the whole fairytale night. Dinner at a fancy restaurant. A bouquet of red roses as big as him...”

Hunk counted on his fingers, Matt adding as Hunk stalled mid-thought

“Don’t forget the champagne and the hotel room”

Hunk quickly counted those two on his fingers

“Yep. Lance is too much of a romantic”

Matt nodded quickly

“He’d drop hints too... Romcoms. Jewellery brochures... Though you’d probably miss them like you missed Valentine’s Day”

The pair were ganging up on him, Keith depressed about the fact they were right. Lance would have loved all that, but his fiancé didn’t need all that. He’d proposed in a horrible hotel room...

“Keith is romantic. Sure, his idea of good date is a trip to a shooting range, or some other combat related activity, but he’s very romantic. I don’t need all the fuss, I just need him”

Hunk faked feeling faint as he grabbed Matt by the arm, Matt playing it up and acting as if he were concerned

“Hunk?!”

“I’m okay... I never thought I’d live to hear Lance say something so unLance like. Pregnancy has changed you, man. Next thing you’ll give up watching your soap operas... Dude, my heart can’t handle the changes”

Keith mentally thanked Lance for trying to stick up for him. He wasn’t the world’s greatest fiancé, yet he felt better that Lance thought he was good enough for him. His fiancé had more to say on the matter

“You two keep picking on Keith. He’s awkward and he’s a little emo, but he makes me happy. We could get engaged in a room so dingy that Jesus couldn’t save it, and I’d still be happy”

Hunk waved his arm, kind of weirdly and kind of as if he were trying to gesture “how big this was”. Keith felt his lips turn upwards as Lance pretty much told everyone they’d gotten engaged while away, yet none of their friends would put two and two together

“But as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always been a sucker for those big movie engagement scenes”

“Movies aren’t real life. Matt, that box wasn’t any of your business. What were you doing in our room?”

“Helping Shiro and Curtis build your present. We were looking for an adjustable spanner”

Lance leaned back to rest his weight on his hands, bottom lip wobbling

“You know the tools are kept in the laundry, and you know you’re not supposed to be in my room...”

“We were...”

No one messed with Lance’s room, or his bed. Lance washed and changed the sheets alone, swapping the blankets whenever the whim took over

“I don’t care. I’m sorry, but I can’t... I need air”

Keith jumped to his feet before Lance started started struggling to his. As Coran went to help the vampire, Lance slapped his hand away with a sad “sorry”. Moving to Lance’s side, Keith looped his arm around his waist

“You guys can take over playing. No listening in”

[itsa-lie]

Birth Of A Liar Part Three

||Part One||Part Two||Part Three||Part Four||Part Five||

Oh boy, I have some angst in store for you today let me tell you. This poor boy has been through a lot.

Trigger warning for murder, taking care of babies, bl**d, and cl*wns

DICE...everyone liked the sound of that. Hanako gloated that it was like she was in one of those secret spy organizations like in the movies and, well Kokichi couldn’t agree more. He did sneak into a cinema once or twice so he knew a thing or two about evil organizations. Not that he thought he was evil, hell no, couldn’t be farther from the truth. But from Maki and Goro’s comments about stealing being evil it was kind of hard not to have that mindset.

So he went with it. Even practiced making evil faces in the mirror a few times. Practice makes perfect after all.

And would you know it the young boy actually loved having company. Sure Goro was quiet and always apologizing for the dumbest things, Maki scared the shit out of him, and Hanako cried for almost everything, but it was fine. Besides, Hanako taught him a really great trick to guilt-trip adults. All he had to do was cry. That easy. Just cause a scene and everyone would go to your aid. Plus with extra people they were able to get more things like televisions and game consoles. It wasn’t stealing, it was giving to orphans and that wasn’t evil...right?

However it really wasn’t an organization with only four people...in the movies they had more members. So once as Kokichi was sitting in front of the store he usually steals or guilt-trips people to buy from he sees something odd going on in the street. A woman carrying a bundle in her arms while another man chases her from behind. He seemed to have a gun in his hands, the woman was running for her life! A headache filled the boy’s head as a memory crossed his mind. He was smaller. A woman with black hair holding him. A man with purple hair knocking a gun out of the hand of a man pointing it right for him. Cringing at the slight pain Kokichi held his head. He didn’t know why he did this but he got up and chased the man. 

His feet were not as fast as the man however and out of no where there’s a loud bang. Then a baby crying. Kokichi quickly hid behind a brick wall. It was a good thing he did too, since the gunned ban came out of the alleyway with a handful of cash leaving a crying baby at his wake. Should he dare look back there? He definitely wouldn’t like what he was going to see. Still he turned around slowly into the dark alleyway. The woman was face down in a puddle of blood while the baby cries brokenhearted and afraid beside her. Cautiously Kokichi approached the woman and checked for signs of life. There was none. Also for a second he could see the woman being that black haired woman carrying him in his memories which made him gasp and fall back.

“N-No...t-that’s not mama...” He consoled himself. She’s probably okay and will come back for him, after all the body was gone the next day, who’s to say an ambulance didn’t pick her and his father up and bring them to safety? Now they’re just looking for him! But this baby...what if something happens to it? It was much too young to take care of itself like he was. Ooooh but what would Maki and the rest say? He has to decide quickly, the sounds of sirens were coming closer and closer.

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

“YOU BROUGHT HOME A BABY?!” Maki’s loud tone of voice made Kokichi jump and the baby cry even louder. “Yeah! It’s our new pet! Surprise!” Maybe if he pretends it’s a gift they won’t get so mad. He was wrong. Goro smiles politely, even if it was easy to see the baby just made more worry on him. Maki was very angry, angry enough to beat Kokichi to a bloody pulp and she probably would have if he wasn’t cradling a baby in his arms. Hanako was very excited though, jumping up and down to try to see the baby.

“Babies aren’t pets, dipshit.” Maki growled holding her temples. She does her best not to curse in front of little ones but by God was she in a bad mood. Even Goro could see the steam rising out of her. Maybe he should try to heal the situation a little bit.

“Now now, Maki. You did the same thing when Hanako was in danger.” Goro tries to put a hand on his sister’s shoulder before she pulls away. “That was different! You can’t just STEAL a baby! What if the parents find out? What if they find out about us?”

Kokichi was silent, he shows the blanket with a bloodstain on it.

 “They won’t...it’s mom is dead.”

“D-Don’t call them an ‘it’! And what about their dad?!”

“I-I dunno! W-Why are you yelling at me? You’re scaring the baby!”

Maki quickly took the baby from Kokichi’s arms and examined them. Their cries getting louder and louder, the baby thrashed and moved. Finally Maki looks at the others, her eyes closed. “They need a diaper change.”

“W-What?!”

“N-No  way am I doing that again! I already used to change yours, I’m not doing THAT again.”

“Ewww hehehe!”

“You don’t have to. You just need to get me some diapers and diaper cream. You steal from the store all the time, right?” Maki states, bouncing the baby on her shoulder. That oddly seemed to calm it down a little. How was she this gifted with kids? “Fine, but don’t let it barf or poop or whatever on our stuff. Hana, stay with Maki and help her with the baby. Goro, come with me.” True to his leader form Kokichi gives orders imminently and the rest follow. Perhaps what Maki said was right. Being a leader does run in his “jeans”. As ordered Kokichi managed to snag a bag of diapers and diaper cream as Goro distracted the workers as usual. Man Kokichi hopes he doesn’t grow much taller because stealing is way easy because of his height. At long last they arrive at the abandoned building they lived in.

“We got the-”

“Give me that.” Maki practically took the supplies out of his arms. She must be really desperate to stop the infants crying. Even Hanako was covering her ears. Swiftly Maki places the baby on a table and begins working. Curiously Kokichi looked over Maki’s shoulder to see what she was doing and then quickly regrets it, his face turning green and close to dry heaving. That was a horrible idea. Yet Maki seemed...unbothered by it? It was almost mesmerizing at how fast she changed them. Once she was done the crying...stopped?

“Did you fix it?” Kokichi asked, now feeling better from the peace and quiet without the baby yowling.

“Did you fix him. He’s a boy.” Maki corrects him as she cradles the child. “And yes. He’s fine now. Also his name is Kenji...” The baby quickly falls asleep in her arms finally making the place quiet.

“How do you know?” asked Goro tilting his head to the side. Maki simply shows Kenji’s tiny chubby arm to reveal a hospital bracelet on it.

-Kenji Date, DOB: 7/6/20XX, Paitent ID: 11037

So the baby was probably born recently given how close the dates were, maybe about one month old. Still Maki was looking angry with Kokichi, but didn’t do anything. “C’moooon you can’t stay mad at me forever can you? Look at this faaaace. It would be sad without my ultimate assassin friend.”

“Call me that again and you’ll be the next victim...” she warns, her eyes narrowing again. “But aren’t assassins and murderers different things?” Kokichi asks, honestly confused. “They’re the same thing, dumbass...” Well shit he didn’t know. Another awkward silence. 

“I guess everything worked out in the end though. And hey! We can add more members with other orphans! Think of this, a whole network of orphans working together to protect each other!”

Maki shook her head. “That sounds like a cartoon...”

“But you’d watch it, wouldn’t you?”

“Fine, I guess so...but no babies okay? They’re really hard to take care of as it is.”

And with that promise, DICE gained more and more members. In about a few years the whole place would be practically crawling with orphans or kids who wanted to be away from abusive homes. In fact so many orphans had lived there that they even had to move some to upstairs rooms. And with more members came cool new stuff! More toys, books, games, anything they could steal they would. It was like running their own little orphanage. However they did have to have some other leaders in power too making sure the other’s stayed in line. Kokichi picked nine others to “co-star” as he put it in his operation. Of course Maki was one, so was Goro, but because he was immature only the tall kids get to be the co-leaders.

“But you’re shorter than all of them! How are you leader?” Hanako asked one day as everyone was making masks to wear for Halloween to play their usual pranks and to hide their identity. “Because I came up with this idea so, as it’s so plainly obvious to see, I should be leader!” Kokichi grins booping the girl on the nose. “Hmph! Well I thought only tall people could be leader so...”

“Nhyhehehe, oh Hana. Tell you what, if anything ever happens to me, you become leader okay?” He tips his leader hat and flaunts his cape as if he was trying to be dramatic. Though how dramatic can you be with an old baseball cap and a tattered old bed sheet flowing behind you? Hanako looked hopeful as her eyes sparkled. “I can have the hat and cape too?” Kokichi dramatically held the bed sheet in front of himself like a vampire would. “Any perks of being DICE leader you can have. But I won’t be leaving any time soon you know~”

As the children drew their masks, Kokichi starts the meeting.

“Hello my fellow crime syndicates! As you know, today is Halloween. We’ve been waiting for this day all year my friends. And finally it came!” The whole building filled with applause which made him laugh. Maki just shook her head. If he keep it up they’ll be found out but he kept everyone so...so together. “Now I know what you’re thinking...’why would we be making clown masks for?’ Well I’ll tell you! Bring in the boxes!”

Hoards of boxes came rushing in being displayed in front of all the children eliciting “oohs” and “ahhs” This was probably their biggest heist yet! Never have the kids seen so much stuff come in before, not even food. What sort of wonders awaited inside those containers? “Now, open!” The bigger kids opened the box to reveal the most amazing thing! Costumes and prank supplies covered the ground. This was the year! This was the year they have an actual, real Halloween! All the kids went forward to grab some stuff but the co-leaders organized them into a single file line to make sure everyone got a costume and supplies.

“Sorry, all the costumes are clown costumes but, hey that’s why I made you all make the masks!” Kokichi exclaimed. Everyone didn’t mind. This was a fun activity and now they had something they can do that normal kids with parents usually do! However Maki was the only one to speak up. “You got crates of costumes? How do you expect not to get caught?! You know they have security cameras, right?” Kokichi shrugged his shoulders and places his hands behind his head. “So? Look at their faces! Even Kenji and Hanako are smiling! Worrying about that stuff will just ruin the moment so just reeeelax a bit Maki.” It was true. The kids looked more happy than ever. But something inside her seemed like this was going to be a bad idea...

Once everyone was dressed they all hit the streets. Each child knew about their one rule: no killing. Their leader was against murder in any way possible teaching the children how horrible death was and how they should avoid it. All of the kids got a costume, as well as eight of the Co-Leaders, but Maki and Kokichi were left without one. “I don’t mind. As long as the kids have one I will just go as Kokichi Ouma for Halloween.”

Boy was this the most fun these children have ever had, With their clown suits and masks on their faces they made mischief in the city. Toilet paper rolls on houses, chalk graffiti on walls, water buckets on doors, the whole place was crawling with little clown gremlins causing mayhem in their wake. It was enough to make Kokichi proud. “Oh this is enough to bring a tear to my eye~!” The leader claims dramatically. Maki just rolled her eyes and said nothing, however she was happy to see the children having the time of their lives. However she stops as she was walking, looking like a deer in headlights at the televisions in a shop window. Kokichi waves his hand in front of her as to get a reaction. All she could do was point.

A newscaster on the screen started talking, a picture of a clown at his side, underneath the headline states: “Clown thieves hit the streets”. Kokichi could feel the lump forming in his throat.

“Good evening.” The newscaster began as he bangs his stack of papers on the table once to align them. “A group of pranksters? Or a group of kidnappers? A hoard of clown suit wearing children hit the streets today causing panic and anger across the city. We have no idea where they come from or what they want, but they continue to wreak everything in their path. We go live to our reporter, Michiko Nakajima.” The screen changes to a woman in a dress with a microphone in her hands. Kokichi could have sworn that the woman was behind him somewhere.

“Thank you, Natsumi-San. I am standing here on the very street where young Kenji Date was taken from his mother’s arms seven years ago. His mother shot dead in an abandoned alley. They couldn’t find the killer or the child’s body, however one clown who has been taken into custody had Kenji’s hospital bracelet in his pocket!” The screen shows a picture of Kenji, his mask off, looking sad and disappointed. The two leaders could feel their souls about to fly from their body.

“I like where I am! You’re not gonna take me to some stinky orphanage!” Kenji exclaimed on the screen as two men take him away. “Luckily the father was still alive to bring little Kenji back home to his rightful place.” The reporter finishes as it then cuts to a man who has red puffy eyes. It seems he had been crying. This makes Kokichi feel immense guilt rise up in the pit of his stomach. “I’m just happy I can finally see my son...these clown people took seven years of me getting to know him.” The man looks like he could break down at any second. “He won’t even call me ‘dad’, he just says ‘where’s Kokichi and Maki’ or ‘Kokichi will save me’!”

The name “Kenji” meant “an intelligent child” but also meant “ public prosecutor”. It all made sense in a way. Just like his own name, “Kokichi”, meant “little luck”. Right now he was having no luck. Maki was beginning to sweat too. From the corner of her eye she could see the news reporter and camera crew come closer. “This makes it even more curious. Years ago another child had been lost after his parents death. Kokichi Ouma, then three years old, was deemed lost as both his parents were killed by his father’s own gang. Another, Maki Haruwaka, the youngest of many children, killed her father in cold blood before leaving with her older brother Goro Haruwaka. Both these children have yet to be found, but law enforcement is still on the look out.”

Without warning Maki began to run. She knew this was a horrible idea! No one would even know their secret if Kokichi just did an inside Halloween party instead like they usually do. 

“M-Maki wait-”

But it was too late, she already ran too far. He tries to catch her, but was stopped by a big brawny man who held him by the shoulders. Kokichi kicked and thrashed, but the man had no trouble taking him to where he wanted him to go.

“Maki!!!”

The newscaster looks back at the camera, obviously excited by this rise in the story she was reporting.

“We have word that we might have just found the lost children Kokichi Ouma and Maki Haruwaka! Could this be a clue to find more missing children? We will give updates as soon as they’re avalible. Michiko Nakajima, Tokyo news.”

[ironandsilvcr]

poor temper.

SUMMARY: taking place during new moon. you are paul lahote’s imprint, the two of you trying to take the whole bond thing slowly while you get your head around the whole wolf thing and get to know him. still, when you hear his temper could have been the cause of injury to bella swan you can’t help but say something. ( fluff with a little angst. requests are open. )

WORDCOUNT: 3,000

The length of time you spent at the reservation really shouldn’t have been surprising to anyone anymore. Schoolwork, your part-time job at the cafe you loved in Forks and trying to keep some sense of normality at home all tried to keep you away and yet, you still found yourself sat in Emily’s kitchen most Saturdays. Listening to the howling laughter of the boys whilst sat at the table doing homework. Sitting beside Paul and Embry watching a movie, you didn’t care what you did when you got there. You even helped Emily make a muffin or two, although no one could claim you were a match for her in the kitchen. Settling in amongst them all had been as easy as sighing after a long day, easy in a way you weren’t really prepared for. It almost seemed as if you had never needed to be anywhere else.

The packs reasons for inviting you tended to change. It was usually something like letting you get to know the pack, them needing another player for their board game of choice, or even just to escape the chaos of forks for a little while. You had however come to have your own suspicions. The pack was getting larger and you were no stranger to stories of Paul’s temper. It had been a point of warning for you once sat next to Emily at a bonfire. You had had to promise her to get out of harm’s way the second something had seemed off. There was a part of you wondered if he was simply easier to be around when you were there too. Something along the lines of making him softer, getting him to let his guard down. The thought was enticing, no matter how new this thing between the two of you. You had to admit it was endearing to think you could have such an effect on him.

Today had been one of the busier days between the sightings of the ginger vampire and Jacob admittedly struggling to handle the shift Paul had made it clear when he’d called the house phone that you weren’t likely to see much of him that day. You headed over to Emily’s anyway ignoring the feeling of disappointment in your gut. On busy days like these, you figured Emily was going to need all hands on deck to make sure the pack didn’t make a mess of her place.

The sound of a truck outside and the familiar hooting of wolves pulled you from your thoughts. Turning your head to grin at Emily. The boys were back and going by the fact none of them had run in at full speed yelling about a problem they were in one piece for now at least. Embry and Jared entered through the screen door and you busied yourself fetching some juice for the table, Emily taking the muffins from the oven.

“You guys hungry? Like I have to ask,” You heard Emily joke as you turned around, a grin spilling onto your own features as you knew exactly what appetite she was referring to.

Still, when you lifted your gaze to the door, it was not Sam, Paul or Jacob standing there, but rather none other than Bella Swan. A girl you had barely spoken to since you were kids.

“Who’s this?” You heard Emily ask looking to the boys for an answer, you meanwhile lifted your hand in a somewhat awkward wave. Luckily she didn’t really seem to notice too busy looking just about everywhere in the house but at Emily. You figured one of the boys must have mentioned her scars and she was now actively trying to avoid making this any worse than it had to be.

You couldn’t be sure whether or not Emily had noticed, but you watched her grin anyway as you moved to take your usual seat at the table leaving a seat between you and Jared that Paul would fill later. Shooting a confused look to the two boys who all of a sudden seemed hesitant to meet your gaze. The very fact that their behaviour was off and Bella was there meant that something must have happened. You opened your mouth ready to fill the silence and ask where the other three might be, but Emily beat you to it.

“So,” Emily hummed. “You’re the vampire girl,”

Relief washed over Bella’s features as she stepped into the room, her hands stuffed into her jacket pockets. You could help but be amused by Emily’s ability to put people at ease.

“So you’re the wolf girl,”

Laughter flashed over Emily’s features then, you could tell she’d decided at that moment that Bella maybe wasn’t as bad as some of the boys had made her out to be “I guess so… well I’m engaged to one,”

The moment the muffins finally hit the table you knew they weren’t they were going to last very long. Not that that stopped Emily from trying her hardest to make sure that the boys kept their manners reaching out to catch Jared’s hand.

“Save some for your brothers,” she sighed pushing their shoulders. “And ladies first,” Her eyes bounced between your’s and Bella’s then gesturing to the plate. You didn’t need to be told twice, having learnt from past experience that you needed to act fast.

“Sure, thanks.”Bella seemed to get the hint, heading over in your direction and taking one for herself.

“You okay Bella?” You asked cautiously, ensure what you could and couldn’t say even though she clearly looked like she had been shaken up.

She raised a brow in response, almost as if she had forgotten that you were there at all. “Yeah, I guess,” Bella shrugged. “Given… everything,”

You didn’t really have time to think about what it was that she might have meant as it seemed Emily had managed to put the pieces together much faster than you.

“Leave Jacob to figure out a way around Sam’s gag order,”

What really took you by surprise was just how calm she sounded.

“Wait… what?” You questioned seemingly the last to know. As far as you were aware the boys weren’t able to go against Sam, so just what has Jacob done?

“He um, didn’t tell me anything,”

“Yeah it’s a wolf thing,” Embry spoke despite the daggers you were shooting him over the table. “Alpha’s orders get obeyed whether we want ‘em to or not. Oh and check it out we can hear each other’s thoughts,”

You didn’t need wolf based telepathy to picture Sam cringing.

Luckily Embry’s comments were enough for Jared to try and step in even with his mouth full of crumbs. “Would you shut up? These are trade secrets. Damn it this chick runs with vampires,”

“You can’t really run with vampires,” Bella corrected to Emily’s amusement. “’ Cause they’re fast,”

You couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy about the way she found it so easy to talk about the bloodsuckers that you had become so scared of in the past few months. What would Bella have been like, you wondered, had your places been reversed and she had been witness to so many stories about the destruction the cold killers could leave in their wake.

“Yeah?” Jared commented as if he could hear your thoughts. Leaning forward as if it might make Bella take him more seriously. “Well, we’re faster, freaked out yet?”

Everything was going to be a competition to the pack it seemed but at that moment you were glad for the normality. Shaking your head at just how standoffish Jared could appear to be to strangers.

Bella shook her head, you could have applauded her for the way that she was willing to stand up for herself. “You’re not the first monsters I’ve met,”

“Jake’s right,” Sam spoke from where he finally appeared in the doorway. His appearance a welcome sight to everyone. “You’re good with weird,”

You watched him walk across the room then his focus on Emily alone. He took the few steps across the kitchen to reach her side before he whispered the softest ‘hey’ you ever heard and kissed her about a hundred times.

It always made you feel a little odd watching Sam and Emily, despite how dear the two of them had become to you. They were the only other imprinted couple in the pack and were about as close to true love as two people could get and that was from the viewpoint of an outsider. The fact that you and Paul had the chance to have a similar relationship was not lost on you, even if you preferred not to think about it for the moment. Imprint or not, you owed it to him to get to know him as a person rather than just the wolf.

Seemingly responding to your thoughts Jake and Paul arrived on the porch a few moments later, shoving at each other in a way that had become familiar and playful. Whatever tension you had been holding dissolving for a moment at the sight. Clearly, whatever it was that had happened out there had done no permanent damage.

Jake and Bella were, of course, wrapped up in each other from the moment he arrived, you, however, could say nothing given the way that Paul’s eyes lighten slightly upon noticing you at the table. You grin as his hand brushes against your shoulder and he, as predicted, pulled out the seat beside you and reached for a snack of his own. It was no big romantic gesture compared to what you had seen between Sam and Emily but it was enough for the two of you at that moment.

Then when after he had seemingly convinced himself that you were indeed real rather than something made up in his mind. He turned to Bella, the grin still filling his features highlighting the way that he could never manage to take things seriously.

“Sorry,”

Sorry? You questioned. What had happened?

You didn’t miss the way that Jared had to get five dollars out of his shorts to hand to Embry five dollars, that being the biggest clue any of them could have given.

Bella and Jacob disappeared a few seconds later off to one of the beaches most likely. The pair leaving behind a few beats of silence after they left like the others needed to catch their breath. It was a big deal for all of you, trusting someone else with such intimate knowledge not just about the pack but about their tribe.

“Something tells me we’re going to be seeing her more often,” Sam spoke from where he was still standing, arms wrapped around Emily like he hadn’t seen her in months.

Embry scoffed shaking his head. “As long as she knows that she has to keep quiet,“

“Says you!” Jared spoke in disbelief.

The shook your head then, despite the softness you held towards the pack their bickering could still be annoying.

“Look,” you sighed. “Is one of you going to bite the bullet and say what happened, or are Em and I supposed to figure it out for ourselves?”

The mood at the table shifted then, the boys looking over to Paul expectedly while the playfulness alighting his features disappeared. Clearly, you were more frightening than Bella.

“Well?” you asked pointedly looking between the four of them for answers.

“You should have seen it y/n,” Embry spoke excitedly. “Jacob phased like that,” snapping his fingers for effect.

“Embry shut up,” Paul huffed in his seat beside you. He looked more anxious than before like he was scared of something.

Sam got the hint then, moving from Emily’s side to clasp the two other boys on the shoulder. “C’ mon lets give them the room,”

Paul shot him a grateful glance, while Emily moved to squeeze your shoulder lightly before following after the other three.

You waited until you were sure the two of you were alone before shifting in your seat. Moving to take Paul’s hand, not really thinking about anything other than the way he always seemed to find comfort from your touch. It must have been an imprint thing you guessed. Standing with his arm around your shoulder, or a hand or in the small of your back, or even sitting so close your legs brushed under the table. The two of you had long surpassed any form of physical boundaries in that regard.

“You gonna tell me what happened? Remember unlike most people in your house I can’t read your mind to help you out,”

That caused him to laugh at least.

“We were heading over to Billy’s to check on Jake, you know what he’s been like lately,”

You nodded. Jake had been the first real newcomer to the pack you had witnessed, you had been too new yourself when Embry had phased, but even with your limited experience, you could tell he wasn’t taking it all that well.

“Well Bella was over for something, I don’t know, and so she bolts up to the four of us and starts yellingat Sam. Really aside from Jake I don’t think anyone’s ever really yelled at him like that ever. Anyway, she’s shoving at him and I’m already frustrated thinking Jake must have told her somehow and then she makes this claim that he’s afraid of us and that’s why he’s not speaking, which of course I laugh at because, you know, Jake’s our brother, but she really didn’t like that because next, she slaps me right across the face,”

You couldn’t help but cringe, not because it would hurt but that might have been the stupidest decision Bella had made in her entire life.

“So then I just can’t take it anymore and I phase right there in front of her,”

“Poor girl you must have given her a heart attack,” You sighed. There could be no doubt the wolves were an intimidating sight when a person first lay eyes on them.

“I mean it was fine,” He backtracked “Because Sam had gotten her to at least give me some space, and I at least had enough sense not to hurt her, but then Jake comes running out of the house, volts over the porch and shifts jumping over Bella as she ran away,”

You raised your brow at that, unsure if you had heard of anyone else shifting that fast.

“Anyway the two of us got into a bit of a fight and may have broken Billy’s boat,”

You sighed then, resting your forehead on your free palm for just a moment. “Well for starters I hope you apologised,”

He nodded. “Look y/n -” He went to speak before you cut him off.

“That was stupid you know,” You sighed although there was no real annoyance in your tone. “If she’d been standing closer if there had been someone else with her…” Your thoughts providing a never-ending list of just how that could have been so much worse. Still, you don’t move your hand from his. You had known that his temper was an issue right from the first time he took you to First beach. it was not going to scare you away now.

“I know it doesn’t sound like it, but I did try to stay calm,” There was a degree of tenderness in his tone, directly related to the way that (admittedly unsaid) you simply refused to be scared off.

You nodded then. “I’m sure,” If there was one thing you had faith in it was that Paul was a lot more emotional and caring then people might think initially. “Listen if she slapped me I would have been… Maybe just try and remember how intimidating you guys can be from the outside next time alright?”

He seemed to visibly relax then, squeezing at your hand a little more and slumping back into a more comfortable posture in his chair somewhat, even though it seemed like there was still something he needed to say.

“It’s just with this and what happened to Emily, I just didn’t want you to think that I wasn’t trying, or didn’t take this seriously. I’m not going to put you in danger, I’d rather die,”

The two of you had had plenty of quiet intimate moments between the two of you, with just how loud the pack could be, and how chaotic your life was at the best of times they were necessary just to make sure the two of you had some time together, but you could have sworn you’d never seen him be that vulnerable until that moment. Emotions were usually something Paul could disguise pretty well so for something to have shaken him up this much must have been a pretty big deal.

“I know,” You spoke gently, looking right at him. “Just like I know exactly what signs to watch out for if things get bad… I’m not going anywhere Paul, so you can stop worry about scaring me off,” Usually you wouldn’t have been so stern with him, but it was what he needed to hear at that moment.

Getting up from your seat, you saw a second of confusion in his gaze whilst you closed the gap between you and wrapped your arms around his (quite bare) shoulders. Not really thinking about what it was you were doing you pressed a kiss to his cheek, before the two of you just held onto each other in a moment of silence.

Then when you were sure you had been of some comfort to him, you pulled away and grabbed his hand again. You tugged until he stood up from his chair a stray hand coming to reach for your waist.

“C’ mon,” You spoke lightly. “We should go catch up to the others. Emily will want to make sure you’re okay,”

[megumis-lashes]

Love Bites!

Vampire! Han Jisung x Reader Part 3 (Final part)

**Contains**: mentions of blood/blood drinking, parental abuse, bullying, fighting, slight swearing, emotional abuse, friends to lovers, werewolf Hyunjin, western high school standards, female reader

Flashback =

> Hello

Jisung’s POV

As much as I was overjoyed at how similar name and I were, I was struggling to hold back my anger. I had already been skeptical on what name had been up to throughout the time she stayed at my place, but hearing about the torture she went through the past few weeks was the breaking straw for me. I was furious. Thankfully I was able to have a solid conversation with her in which I rarely had to lie. Well I wasn’t really lying, more just describing my life while keeping it pretty vague. Yes, I am under a lot of pressure from my parents but it’s for slightly different reasons. I’m the next successor in one of the oldest and most powerful bloodlines in all history. A vampiric blood line. These blood lines are thousands of years older than any human bloodline. My family in particular was responsible for keeping balance among the ‘supernatural communities’. My position was so important that if were to fail in some way, a war between supernaturals and eventually humans could break out. It’s not an understatement to say I’m under a lot of pressure.

After watching a movie with name, she fell asleep on the couch. I carried her to her room and as promised, I finished her homework for her. The last thing I had to do for her was save her record. Before I went to sleep that night I made a small plan as to how I would deal with the bullies.

The next day name and I walked to school together. It was strange to say the least. I hadn’t walked with anyone before so I was worried it would be awkward. Thankfully it wasn’t. She seemed to be an extremely good mood but I could tell she was still a bit anxious about her grades.

“Look name, I promised to take care of it ok! You don’t need to worry! Your grades will be back to perfect by the end of the day!” I comforted her as I threw my arm over her shoulder.

“Alright if you say so.” She chuckled. “I’m really in debt to you aren’t I. You’ve helped me so much I have no idea how to pay you back!” She chided as she rubbed her neck bashfully.

“Name! I’ve told you not to worry about it! The only thing you need to do to pay me back is be my friend!” I exclaimed as we neared the school gates. Her cheeks warmed a bit and she adverted her eye contact from mine. If I had the capability to blush, I’d probably be blushing as well. We arrived at the school gates.

“Ha if you say so! Do you want me to meet you here after school?” She questioned.

“No, no I have something to do after school and I’m not sure how long it will take. Meet me at home?” I would convince the bullies to leave her alone after school but I didn’t want name to know.

“Ok if you say so!” She chided as she started walking through the gates.

“Here I’ll walk you to class!”

“But what about them-“

“Don’t worry about it! They’re just jealous! Try your best to ignore them and if it’s really bothering you I’ll talk to them about it!”

“Alright.”

Name was talking about the jealous stares and whispers that would fill the hallways each time someone ‘popular’ came around. I knew it bothered her as on the first day she was incredibly anxious. I learned to just drown out the noise.

After classes were ended I began to walk back to my locker. I quickly packed my bag and began searching the halls. I needed to find those girls and have a little chat with them. I couldn’t let them continue to hurt people out of jealousy. It was pathetic. I found them huddled around their ‘leader’s’ locker, chatting about the day. I tapped the leader on her shoulder, effectively causing her to jerk around facing me.

“Hi your Mia right?” I questioned keeping my ignorant act up.

“Yes. Did you need something?” She giggled. She was clearly enthused that I wanted to talk to her. He shrill giggles were painful to my sensitive hearing.

“Yes. Would you and your friends mind talking outside? I have some questions to ask you.” I tried to act as nonchalantly as possible.

“Sure!” Well that was easier than I thought. I guess they really are blinded by ‘love’. I led the girls outside to a small clearing in the back of the school. I knew that no one would interrupt us there. Once I was sure they were there to listen, I broke my ignorant act and glared at them with an icy stare. They were still trying to keep their ‘nice girl’ act.

“You wouldn’t happen to be those girl who have been bothering name right?” I questioned, a sly smile on my face.

“Oh whatever it’s not like anyone cares about her. We were just putting her back in her place. She can’t always be at the top of the school.” Their ‘leader’ Mia snapped. It didn’t take much for her to get angry. Her ‘nice girl’ act was quickly left behind.

“Are you serious? Do you know how hard she worked to get where she was? Huh? You don’t know even half of the hardships she’s had to face!” I shouted. I was furious.

“Oh? And what do you care? What is she your girlfriend or something? Don’t make me laugh!” She broke out into a small fit of laughter.

“And what if she was huh? What would you do about it? Oh that’s right I know! You’d blackmail her into staying away from her friends and threaten to ruin everything she’s built for herself!” I countered.

“No way she told you? Haha! You think your little speech will change my mind? I can just as easily ruin you!” She continued to chuckle as she wiped small tears of laughter from her eyes.

“Not on my watch.” I mumbled, blinking my eyes more heavily than normal.

As I blinked them open, the girls gasped in shock. My eyes were a blazing red, my pupils shrunken into the slits of a predator. As I opened him mouth to speak, the girls could see the slight glint of the light on my fangs. I made sure to put on a show for them.

“Has anyone ever taught you that actions have consequences?” I growled. As I shifted slightly forward, the girls cowered back in fear. “What are you!” The girls screamed.

“I’m your worst nightmare.” I smirked. This was kind of fun.

The two girls scrambled away in fear, leaving their ‘leader’ to fend for herself. She shouted back in retaliation, furious that her disciples valued themselves more than her.

“I’m willing to make a compromise with you. None of us have to get hurt.” I mumbled as I leaned against the wall.

“W-what is it?” She asked as she shivered.

“If you promise to leave name alone and never bother her again, then I won’t feel the need to hurt you or your friends.” I scoffed.

“Fine. Just don’t touch me you monster!” I cringed at the name. It brought back bad memories.

“Oh and you are to never mention what you saw here today. You tell no one what you’ve seen me look like. Make sure your little friends don’t start spreading rumors either.” I sighed. The last thing I needed were more conspiracy theories about me.

“Whatever. You win. Just don’t hurt me.” She mumbled as she began to collect herself and run away. I sighed. This week was really difficult.

Name’s POV

Time passed fast. Jisung and I grew closer over the weeks I stayed at his house. We bonded over what I thought were completely negative topics to me. It’s strange how friendship works. At the same time I finally started talking to Hyunjin again. I explained the situation to him and he was furious but then saddened by the fact I didn’t trust him enough to tell him anything about my family. He offered to let me stay at his house out of kindness and competition, as he an Jisung seemed to have some form of dislike for each other. I brushed it off as some childish, competitive thing but some of their interactions were a bit strange. Despite them agreeing to act civil around each other when in front of me, I could still see the icy stares they gave each other when they thought I wasn’t looking.

Compared to my previously hectic life, everything seemed to be a lot less stressful now. It was fall, nearing Halloween, and school was nearing fall testing. Jisung had dealt with my bullies in some magical way. I didn’t see them at all and they never bothered me again. The only reminder of their existence was a small note left in my locker. I found it a few days after Jisung had told them off. It was a short note written on a cute pastel card. The girl’s name was Aimee. In the letter she expressed how sorry she was for not helping me out. She explained how the other two girls had persuaded her to be ‘friends’ with them, although they didn’t treat her that way. She was their little errand girl whom they had also blackmailed in the past. The note was sweet so I thanked her for it and asked if she wanted to be friends. She accepted and we often studied together. The only thing that was seeming out of place in this situation was her handwriting on the note. It was messy and looked rushed, almost as if she was writing quickly out of fear. When I asked Aimee about it she said she was simply late for class and was rushing. Maybe I was just looking to far into it? I would’ve dismissed it entirely if it weren’t for Jisung’s description of what happened.

> “Hey Jisung? I mumbled.

> “Hmm?” He hummed as he glanced my way. It was the day after he had ‘taken care of’ my bullies and I was curious.

> “How did you take care of the bullies? It’s been a full 24 hours and I haven’t even caught a glimpse of one of them.”

> “Oh I just uh... scared them a bit a guess.” He chuckled.

> “Huh? Wait you didn’t blackmail them back did you? Jisung!” I shouted as I leaned forward from my spot on the couch.

> “No haha.. I wouldn’t call it black mail. Think of it as a negotiation of sorts. I’m just so good at my social skills I managed to convince them to leave you alone!” He chided.

> “You think I believe that? Hah just say you blackmailed them I won’t tell! Plus what could you have even said? I mean what’s worse than being kicked out of school?” I questioned.

> “Come on Name I told you I didn’t blackmail them! Just forget about it. It doesn’t matter how it happened just be happy they left you alone.”

> Sensing the slight irritation in his voice I decided to leave it alone.

This whole interaction seemed strange to me. Why wouldn’t he feel comfortable telling me what happened? He couldn’t have done something wrong could he? As much as I wanted an answer, I dismissed it as unimportant. The only issue was Jisung began to act very odd. As it neared the end of the month, I saw him less and less. Whenever I questioned him about it, he simply said he was busy with extra school work and errands. I sure as hell didn’t believe him now. Despite his family’s problems, they were never super focused on Jisung’s grades. He wasn’t a bad student but he definitely didn’t care enough about school to voluntarily spend extra time doing work.

It was a cool Friday in late October. Tomorrow was Halloween. Jisung and I had agreed to watch horror movies tomorrow in Halloween spirit. Despite the recent positive events in my life, I was still on edge. Something was out of place. Jisung had been spending less time at home and his excuses became more and more suspicious. I wanted to dismiss the whole idea but it was still nagging at the back of my mind. It was nearing 9:30 PM. Jisung had told me he was going out with friends today and would be home a bit later than normal. I wondered how long he would be out for.

Bored out of my mind I knew I had to do something. I was beginning to feel anxious and I needed to shake off the feeling. I decided to go for a small walk to get hot chocolate from the small shop in town. I quickly grabbed an oversized hoodie, that just so happened to belong to Jisung, and threw on some boots. I grabbed some cash from my wallet and began to walk to the shop. As much as I hoped the cool air would calm me, walking in the night seemed to give the opposite effect than I wished for. It was pitch black, the only light source being the glowing full moon. For some reason the streets that were typically bustling with some amount of people at all times were empty. No was was around. It was quiet, almost too quiet. Suddenly I heard a ‘howl’ from behind me. The loud noise cut through the silence like butter. I shivered, picking up my pace. I could hear growling from behind me as I walked. I was terrified. My quick pace quickly morphed into a sprint as I dashed across the street to the shop doors. I was almost there. Despite the hot breath I could feel at my ankles, I dared not to look back. I didn’t have anything with me to defend myself this time. Upon reaching the shop doors I slammed inside, shocking the few people at the store.

“Is something wrong miss?” The store clerk questioned my dramatic entry. I knew no one would believe my wild animal story so I quickly made up an excuse.

“Ahh I’m sorry! You see I’m in track and cross country and I like to time myself on how long it takes me to run to certain places! Don’t mind me!” I awkwardly rubbed my neck as I slipped into the store. I quickly put together a small hot chocolate and payed for it. I wanted to get home as soon as possible. As I left the store in a light jog, I decided to take a different way home.

My breathing was cut off short as I was slammed into an alley wall. I had been stupid enough to take a back way through an alley. No one would hear me if I called for help. The thing that had slammed me into the wall was what I assumed to be the same animal that had chased me. It was a jet black creature, its features resembling those of a wolf. It was growing and snarling above me. I was wondering as to why it didn’t kill me yet. Surely it was capable of such an act.

“Hyunjin, come on. You know I never agreed to baby sit you all day, but I don’t think your parents would appreciate it if you murdered some girl in an ally way.” I knew that voice. It was Jisung. And he mentioned Hyunjin? What would they be doing over here? My thoughts were cut short when a person, who I could only assume was Jisung, walked towards the creature in front of me. He seemingly ‘chopped’ the creatures neck, effectively knocking the creature to the ground. As the creature fell to the ground, I was met with the face of the boy I had spent my time with lately, Han Jisung.

The usually hyper boy looked like completely different now. He wore a black sweatshirt and jeans along with black combat boots. His appearance was rather disheveled. The most disturbing features of all were how inhuman he looked. He had piercing red eyes, his pupils shrunken to the slits of a predator. He had blood all over his face, more specifically trailing from the corner of his mouth. His sweatshirt was torn in multiple places, the one that stood out the most were the long claw shaped tears. Through the holes I could see his skin glimmer with blood. He had been wounded somehow.

“N-name?” He stuttered. “What are you doing out here at night?” I shivered. I had no idea how to react to the images in front of me. I was shocked to say the least.

“I c-could ask you the same thing J-jisung! What are you doing?” I questioned. I had never been more confused and concerned.

“Uuhhh..” He scratched his neck nervously. “It’s hard to explain. But it’s not as bad as it looks ok! I’ll explain when we get home....but first....” he mumbled avoiding eye contact.

“Huh?” I was still extremely confused. I didn’t want to just jump to conclusions but he didn’t exactly look innocent. Seeing the confusion etched on my face, Jisung sighed and pointed to the ground. I glanced down and nearly collapsed out of shock. On the ground was Hwang Hyunjin. He looked almost five times as disheveled as Jisung. He was clad in black as well. His shirt was in shreds leaving him practically shirtless. The most shocking detail was his wolf like featured. He had patches of pitch black fur scattered across his skin paired with black ears and tail. From what I could tell he also had fangs. He was sound asleep on the ground.

“Could you help me carry him home? He won’t wake up for at least 24 hours and I could really use your help.” Jisung pleaded. I stumbled back into the wall, almost tripping over my own feet. Then I started chuckling which eventually built into a full blown laughing fit.

“Ji-Jisung! Haha! This is the most elaborate prank I’ve ever seen! It’s hilarious honestly! You just wanted to scare me for Halloween huh! But I’m curious as to how you did it! Hyunjin’s costume looked so realistic!” I squeezed out between laughs. When I looked up I saw Jisung. He had the most dead pan expression on his face.

“Name, we’re not joking or pranking you for that matter.” He stated. I shuffled, my laughter trailing into silence.

“Huh? You’re kidding me.” I didn’t want to believe it.

“Look name, I really don’t want to explain everything in a dark alleyway. If you can help me bring Hyunjin home I promise I’ll explain everything thoroughly.” He began reaching for Hyunjin’s body.

“Please name.” He pleaded, making eye contact for the first time that night. His eyes were still a fiery red.

“Alright, but you sure as hell better explain everything.” I mumbled as I threw Hyunjin’s right arm over my shoulder.

Carrying Hyunjin home was just as difficult as Jisung said. He was taller than both of us and didn’t exactly weigh nothing. It took a solid half an hour to carry him to Jisung’s house. We brought him to another guest room and closed the door. Out of exhaustion, we both collapsed on his sofa.

“Ok Han, explain.” I stated as I made eye contact with him. He was still covered in blood and his hoodie was still iin shreds.

“Actually let me fix your wounds first.” I quickly went to grab a first aid kit and a wet towel. I handed him the towel and told him to wash his face.

“Lift up your sweatshirt I’ll clean your stomach wounds.” I bashfully looked away.

“No don’t worry about those. They’ll heal on their own.” He waved his hands in front of him.

“Jisung those wounds are deep. If I don’t clean them they’ll get infected.” I pushed up his sweatshirt myself, blushing at the contact, and washed his wounds with the towel.

“Name I’m serious you don’t need to do anything! Give them a minute and they’ll be gone!” He pleaded.

“I told you these wounds are deep! You could die if they get infected!” He shook his head and nodded towards the wounds. I went to continue checking them to see something surprising. The wounds were gone. The only sign that they were there at all were the slight scars that remained.

“See I told you not to worry. I don’t die that easily.” He murmured. “The scarring should go away in a couple hours.” I blinked in shock. I sat back on the couch.

“Somehow you now have even more to explain.” I stated, rolling my eyes.

“Alright I’ll explain. But you have to promise me you won’t laugh.” He crossed his arms.

“Fine.” I was ready to hear his explanation.

“Alright so I’ll start from the beginning. I’m not human. I’m what you humans would call a ‘vampire’ as dumb as it must sound.” He sighed and rubbed his neck. “I drink blood for survival but not from humans, from animals. I honestly don’t like it but I would die if I didn’t. I’m the next successor of my family’s blood line, I wasn’t lying when I said that. My parents have always been ‘peace keepers’ of sorts. I have to be strong enough to take the position. It’s a lot of pressure.” He paused to massage his temples. This was clearly difficult for him to explain. “About what you saw today, it’s a full moon. Most ‘supernaturals’ like me are at full strength on full moons as cliche as it sounds. Most typically hunt on those days. For my physical features of course you’ve seen my eyes and healing abilities but I also have fangs of course.” He opened his mouth to show me.

“What about Hyunjin? Is he a werewolf or something?” I chuckled. I was more amused than scared at this point.

“Actually you’re correct! He’s a werewolf, in a similar position to me. He’s the next alpha of his pack. The only issue is he’s terrible at controlling his wolf, especially on full moon days. I’m typically assigned to watch over him on those days, despite the feud between vampires and werewolves.” He explained.

“Wow.” I was at a loss of words. Despite all this I still wasn’t scared. I knew neither of them would try to harm me, at least not out of free will. I was just shocked as all.

“Look name I’m really sorry for keeping this all from you! It’s hard to explain and I understand if you don’t want to be friends-“ I quickly cut him off by pressing my lips to his. A quick peck was enough to make him stop talking.

“Jisung!” I giggled. “You don’t how to worry about it I understand! I know neither of you would harm me and I can see that this is a difficult topic to explain! I’m here for you just like you are there for me!” I smiled. I was happy he trusted me enough to explain this. He blinked in shock. Still processing that I had just kissed him. He quickly broke from his trance and rubbed his neck bashfully.

“Wow I didn’t expect you to take it that well. I honestly thought you would hate me.” He chuckled

“Come on I could never hate you! I do like you after all!” I’m not sure how this conversation ended with a confession, but for some reason I was feeling confident.

“Really? You can like me even while knowing what I really am?” He questioned in disbelief.

“Yep! You’re still Jisung aren’t you?” I giggled.

“Well in that case I like you too!” This time he kissed me effectively stopping me from laughing.

For the rest of that night we watched Halloween theme movies, some of which Jisung ruined by claiming they were all false. Everything seemed fine until we finished the second movie. It was really late now and I was close to passing out. Jisung got up and began to put his shoes and coat on.

“Jisung where are you going it’s really late?” I questioned, rubbing my eyes to stay awake.

“Well you see I was watching Hyunjin the whole time and didn’t have much time to hunt. I’m really hungry.” He confessed while scratching his neck, I nervous habit he would constantly lean into.

“This late though? It’s not safe!” I began to walk to him.

“Name you know I can hold my own ground. I’ll be quick I promise!” He waved his hands in front of him.

“Why don’t you just eat here?” I questioned.

“From where-“ I cut him off.

“From me! I promised to help you! You can drink from me!” I proclaimed. The look on his face said other wise.

“No no absolutely not happening! I never drink from people! I don’t want to hurt you!” He frantically dismissed my idea.

“I know you won’t hurt me! Plus I can always tap you if it becomes to much! Pleassseee! I promise I’ll be ok!” I really wanted him to stay here. Despite his strength, walking outside in the middle of the night wasn’t exactly safe.

“Alright but just this one time! And only a little!” He still didn’t look very convinced. We walked to his sofa and sat down.

“Alright so how does this work?” I asked tilting my head in confusion.

“So I’ll just bite your neck. It will be slightly painful at first but it’ll fade. I’ll be quick I promise. Are you sure you want to do this?” He questioned out of concern.

“I’m sure! I’ll be fine ‘Sung you don’t need to worry!”

He gulped and gently turned my head, giving him greater access to my neck. He brought his face to the area. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain. He bit down. As he described there was a slight prick of pain but it quickly dissipated. It evolved into a feeling of numbness. It felt kind of nice. We sat there for a few minutes until Jisung pulled away.

“Are you alright?” He questioned, staring into my eyes.

“I’m fine.” I smiled. “I am really tired though.” I yawned. He nodded. He stood up and grabbed a cup of water and a bandaid. As I was drinking the water he placed the bandaid over my small wound. He kissed my forehead and led me to bed.

“Let’s go to sleep.” He smiled.

We both climbed into his bed. I pecked his lips one last time before closing my eyes and snuggling up to him.

“Hey Jisung?” I mumbled.

“Yeah?”

“I think I love you.”

“I think I love you as well”

I smiled and I drifted to sleep. Today had been an even full day.

Also happy belated Halloween :) 🎃

[nooowestayandgetcaught]

1-36 ALL OF EM. ALL OF EM.

THIS IS WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR, BRO. ALL FANDOMS.

1. First ship you remember

Peter Pan/Wendy Darling (Disney’s Peter Pan) is my best guess as far back as I can remember. That’s the original OTP next to Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle (DCU) and Ariel/Prince Eric (Disney’s The Little Mermaid).

2. Your newest ship

Hmmm,,, I haven’t really watched anything new,,,,,,, but I mean I did get into Geralt/Jaskier (Netflix’s The Witcher) recently. I really like them.

3. Favourite ship ever

STARES LONGINGLY AT PETER/WENDY

I go between them and Mulan/Li Shang (Disney’s Mulan) and Korra/Asami Sato (Avatar: Legend of Korra) and  Yuuri Katsuki/Viktor Nikiforov (Yuuri On Ice) and Arya Stark/Gendry Waters (GOT/ASOIAF)  for my favorite ships of all time 

4. Favourite m/f ship

I grew up on the His Dark Materials books and I always was a Lyra Belaqua/Will Parry shipper and that has never ever changed. They’re so sweet. I WOULD LIKE PHILIP PULLMAN TO BRING THEM IN THE NEXT BOOK THAT IS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT. DO NOT FUCK AROUND.

5. Favourite m/m ship

you really can’t wrong with Ash Lynx/Eiji Okumura (Banana Fish) except you can and I don’t care,,,, everyone’s alive and fine and not depressed,,,,,,,

6. Favourite f/f ship

do you know how much my heart broke when they refused to do Emma Swan/Regina Mills (Once Upon A Time) EVEN THOUGH everything in canon said they were True Love????? now I’m just pissed,,,,, I can’t let go of them

7.Most innocent ship

OH GOD,,, KATARA/AANG (AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER). THE FLUFFIEST. THE HAPPIEST. THE SWEETEST BABIES.

8.Most fluffy ship

WHAT DID I LITERALLY JUST SAY???

9.Most angsty ship

good god it’s Clarke Griffin/Lexa (The 100) but I still love them and I know I wasn’t THERE for Lexa dying but I’m STILL livid about what they did and how they treated the LGBT+ community and I’m gonna throw hands,,,, ever since it happened and Clexa is mentioned in the show,,, it’s always so painful,,,,, Clarke is not letting Lexa go and tbh she shouldn’t and I’m gonna get mad again

10. Most smutty ship

Smut is optional, not a requirement for my ships.

11. Ship that you would never have wanted in canon but like in fanworks

I don’t fucking trust MCU so they can have none of my ships!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12. Character that you can only imagine in one ship

BOOOOOOOOOOOOORING.

13. Most shippable character

Merlin (BBC Merlin) and Harry Potter.

14. Character that you can’t imagine in any ship

Any character I don’t like.

15. Favourite poly ship

I love love love love Rey/Finn/Poe Dameron. Finnreypoe. Jedistormpilot. I fell in love with Rey/Finn and Finn/Poe through “The Force Awakens” and then saw in the novelization that there was hints of Rey/Poe Dameron and LATCHED onto it. Don’t even fight me with “The Rise Of Skywalker” because it was COMPLETELY a Jedistormpilot movie and that’s all I was there for. Those three characters.

16. Characters that you kinda ship but prefer as brotp FRIENDSHIP

since I think Katniss might be aroace,,, I wanna say Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark and don’t get wrong,,,, I do ship but more platonic ship

17. Characters that you ship and can’t imagine to be friends

Spike himself said that Buffy Summers/Angel (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) dynamic could never be friends and only friends and he’s right

18. Guilty pleasure ship

GUILT IS CRINGE!! CRINGE CULTURE IS DEAD!!! YOU SHIP THINGS TO YOUR HEART’S DELIGHT!!!!! HAVE FUN!!!

19. Ship that you never expected to ship.

I was straightbaited by Black Sails while watching as it aired and never saw Captain James Flint/Thomas Hamilton coming,,,, or them unburying the gays,,,,, I thought the whole time Thomas and James were sharing Miranda,,,

20. Ship that you liked but don’t anymore

at one point I liked Callum/Soren (The Dragon Prince) but I’m over them and I’m over that show and I don’t support Aaron fucking Ehasz

21. Ship that one day you were thinking of and thought “wait,when I started shipping it?”

I DO THAT LITERALLY WITH EVERY SHIP I HAVE

22. Ship that you immediately fall in love with after one scene despite not considering it before.

aahhhh I saw Toni Topez interact with Cheryl Blossom from Riverdale after their confrontation which was like,,,, the first time they ever spoke to each other,,,, but then the diner scene happened, and now I ship them. And they’re canon.

23. Poly ship that you ship despite not shipping some of the characters in it outside of poly ship.

I only ship Ryn/Maddie Bishop/Ben Powell with each other. That’s it. IT’S A CANON INTERRACIAL LGBT+ SHIP. IT’S REAL. I’M SO HAPPY.

24. Biggest notp

Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon (DCU),,,,, oooh don’t get me fucking started

25. Favourite foe yay ship

L/Light (Death Note). That’s a classic. I know Light made sure his ass was murdered but c’mon,,, c’mon,,,, THE CREDITS TO THE LAST EPISODE THO??? DID YOU SEE THAT SHIT???? THAT WAS GAY AS HELL.

26. Characters that you like in every dynamic (lovers,friends,enemies)

we gotta go with Doctor/Master (Doctor Who),,, they’ve been all three,,,,, nobody can tell me otherwise and that’s the beauty of these two! My favorite versions are 1) Thirteen/Dhawan!Master, 2) Ten/Simms!Master, and 3) Twelve/Missy and if you add Simms!Master with the last one then it’s GOLDEN

27. Ship that you expected to ship before reading/watching franchise and you do

I saw gifs and things of Anne Lister/Ann Walker (Gentleman Jack) before I started watching and I already knew I was gonna fall in love AND I DID

28. Ship that you expected to ship before reading/watching franchise and you don’t

this might be a weird one but I really thought I was gonna ship Victor Van Dort/Victoria Everglot or Victor Van Dort/Emily (Corpse Bride) and I just didn’t for either of them. I DO HOWEVER SHIP EMILY/VICTORIA EVERGLOT.

29. Favourite crossover ship

OHHHHH we gotta go with Kate Kane/Kara Danvers (Arrowverse) like look at them look at the gay it’s like SuperBat but the female millennial version

30. Favourite canon ship

Princess Bubblegum/Marceline (Adventure Time)! I’m overjoyed they are canon! I’m not done watching all of this show but still,,,,, and that means we can get Prince Gumball/Marshall Lee to be confirmed canon too?? Yes?? 

31. Favourite non-canon ship

I know we can’t like CONFIRM in canon but Frodo Baggins/Samewise Gamgee are in love and there’s no denying this. They’re canon enough to me.

32. Favourite ship for hurt-comfort

All of my ships are good for hurt/comfort and whump. I don’t discriminate.

33. Ship that you ship in one installment of franchise but not in other (for example in movie,but not in the book this movie is based on)

I ship Hannibal Lecter/Clarice Starling in the movies for Hannibal related things, even though Will Graham exists in them, but I ship Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham for NBC’s Hannibal 100% and won’t ship them with anyone else

34. Ship that you never expected to ship when you were younger but here you are

I never expected to ship Harry Potter/Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger all together years down the road,,,,, since as a kid I flip-flopped between Ron/Hermione & Harry/Me,,,, er,,,,,,,,, I mean Harry/My OC That Was Definitely Not Me At All and Harry/Hermione but here we are

35. Ship that you have kinda love/hate relationship with

right now it’s Rue Bennett/Jules Vaughn (HBO’s Euphoria) because they’re so cute,,, they really are,,, but they can be so bad together and I hate that! I just want it to work out but Jules doesn’t understand her own feelings,,, and is kinda fucking around with Rue’s feelings,,,,,, and Rue needs to deal with her drug addiction problems first,,,, but let’s see what happens for Season 2

36. Characters that you can’t decide if you prefer as ship or brotp

okay FIRST OFF we don’t “brotp” anything no more because the term was created with homophobic connotations so replace it with “friendship” and honestly I can’t decide if I like Lucifer/Chloe Decker (Netflix’s Lucifer) as a romantic or platonic ship or somewhere between. I haven’t decided.

[takaraphoenix]

Hey! What are your favorite fantasy/fairytale books, shows and movies?

Well, that is a very broad question. So... let’s structure this and tackle it.

Phoe’s Favorite Fantasy Books!

I don’t read much, so that’s a very short list. Seeing as you’re on my blog, I assume you know I read and loved Percy Jackson and the Olympians so that. However, there are fantasy series that I love way more than that.

For one the Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire, my favorite author who I adore and worship. Takes the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz and goes “but what if she was actually a restistance fighter trying to overthrow a corrupt government under their dictator, the Wizard?”. It’s amazing, I love it. Hardest recommend for the first two books. Been not too big on the third and fourth though, but that’s what happens when these things aren’t born out of being intended as a series but rather just... sequels... happening.

Golden classic that seems silly to even mention but I love these books - Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I. Love. Them. I love Alice, I love the world, I love the fantasy. One of only three books that I personally allow to classify as modern fairy tales (Peter Pan and Wizard of Oz being the other two. I just... I do think that there is a difference between “fairy tale” and just general “fantasy book(s)”, but these three I do think deserve a place in the canon of fairy tale classics). Also, fun fact: my above mentioned favorite author wrote a third installment for this series for the original book’s anniversary, it’s called After Alice. (I own a signed copy. I squealed very loudly when I opened it.)

My favorite fantasy book series though is the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud. I adore these books. Yes, if taken as a singular book, the first installment of the Wicked Years, which works as a standalone too due to the series’ nature of having sequels instead of being an intended series, takes the crown, however as a whole, coherent series, including all books in the series, no fantasy franchise beats Bartimaeus for me. It is sarcastic, snarky, fun, filled with heart, totally lacking unnecessary forced romance, has a fascinating world, the writing is a great read. I love this series to bits and pieces.

Now, since you specifically said fantasy/fairytale, I’d be a fool not to mention William Joyce’s Guardians of Childhood, the book-series that Rise of the Guardians is... let’s say a sequel to? While not necessarily fairy tales in the traditional sense, having the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman and Santa as its main characters, it does go very much into fairy tale elements. It’s a really fun read, I personally think that Joyce has a delightful and enjoyable style.

So, that’d be the five book series that I’d recommend for fantasy.

Unless you meant actual literal fairy tale books - then I will have to disappoint you, unless you’re German. Because being German, my fairy tale collection is... well... German. I got this one. Mainly, I admit, for the illustrations - Tony Wolf worked on the majority of them and I love his illustrations, he was the author and illustrator of my favorite children’s book series when I was a kid. Which, talking about fantasy, fairy tales and books, I will absolutely also recommend here. Their English name is The Woodland Folk and it is very adorable and also very scaring for small children because fairies die in it. I was very traumatized as a kid but I still loved it a lot.

Phoe’s Favorite Fantasy Movies!

Now, movies are... it depends on what movies you want; live-action or animated. I do feel that those are vastly different categories that set vastly different expectations. And then there’s the overlapping between fantasy and supernatural in many such movies.

Let’s start with live-action, which is going to be a very short list because I am really not huge when it comes to movies - I barely watch any movies and if, then they are animated in 80% of the cases.

Lord of the Rings. Yes, I know, book-people would have filed that in the category above, but look... I am not a huge reader. And the movies have pretty blonde Orlando Bloom. But I do truly love these movies, I try to rewatch them regularly but consider I less see them as a trilogy and more as one 12 hour movie, it’s always quite the time-commitment.

And, with this one I am never quite sure whether to count it as a movie series or as a mini TV series, but the way they were released on TV, they were a movie series - so The 10th Kingdom, which is basically Once Upon a Time before that came out and without the Disney. It’s about the grandson of Snow White ending up in modern day New York and getting the help of a waitress and her dad to take down his evil stepmother, who is trying to take over the 9 fairy tale kingdoms. I love this series so very, very much.

Also The Librarian, which is a fun fantasy relic hunting movie series. But more on that when we get to TV shows, because the trilogy has a tie-in series.

I do realize that actually the majority of movies in my fantasy/supernatural section are... in fact... more supernatural than fantasy. So, pathetically enough, that is... kind of it.

Now, animated movies is harder because I quite literally have a list with 360 animated movies I saw and liked to various degrees of which the majority would qualify as fantasy due to the nature of most Western animated movies. So I’ll try to “best of” as narrow as possible (seeing as I once successfully managed to narrow my favorite animated movies down to 65...). So, a shorter version of that.

Now, when it comes to fairy tales and animated movies, Disney goes without saying so I’m not even going to say it because it’s very obvious, we all know the movies, seeing the tales. I love most of them, especially their princess movies, with one huge exception. So let’s only name-drop Sleeping Beauty because I adore it, and assume you’ve already seen all other Disney animated fantasy and fairy tale movies and move on from that.

I am also morally obligated to say “Barbie movies” here, because they did a ton of fairy tale adaptations too and the majority of them are fantasy - but to keep it brief, here is a link to my ultimate Barbie movie ranking for more individual recommendations from the Barbie canon and let me also only name-drop my favorite - Diamond Castle.

Don Bluth’s Thumbelina, as well as his Anastasia are two absolute must-sees when we’re talking fantasy (and fairy tale in Tumbles’ case).

DreamWorks wise I love and adore Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, The Road to El Dorado and Rise of the Guardians.

Now we’re getting into what I like to think of as “deep dive” territory because they’re not mainstream, they’re not big names. But I still love them.

Naturally have to say Swan Princess (1994) - the first three movies anyway, I ignore those 3D animated chep looking sequels. But the OG trilogy is a very perfect trilogy, I adore it so very much.

Another total classic would be The Last Unicorn (1998).

FernGully (1992) is a beautiful tale about fairies and one of my absolute favorite movies of all time.

A newer entry here would be Epic (2013), which is also about fairies and was written by William Joyce!

And, even if it may sound silly. The original Care Bears movies. The three from the 80s. I love them a lot, I think they’re great fantasy fun, who doesn’t love a Care Bear they are adorable, seriously.

Phoe’s Favorite Fantasy Shows!

And we move on to our last segment of this ask. I like a lot of TV shows, so I will try to keep this to my actual favorites.

My absolute favorite is Relic Hunter, it is and always will be my favorite TV show. Even if it’s cheesy at times and only has three seasons. I love it a lot. It’s... very much as it says on the tin; hot archeologist and her nerdy assistant search for magical relics.

If you like that genre, you have to also watch The Librarians - the tie-in sequel series to the movies. More librarians! More magic! More artifacts! More fun. I really love this and I mourn that they cancelled it.

Naturally Once Upon a Time - fairy tales and fantasy and I just love this TV show. Skip the last season though.

And all-time classic for me is the original Charmed - three witch-sisters discovering magic together. This was... the first ever show I actually... really consumed, with everything around it. I was totally obsessed with this, I love it. Which is why I won’t touch the reboot at all, because there’s “I loved this thing. Now there’s a new version of it! Fun!” but there is also “I loved this thing, as it is, there is no need to make a new one, why are you touching this?” - and this one was so very near and dear to my heart growing up that it is definitely the second category for me.

Definitely gotta mention BBC’s Merlin, even if it’s very, very, very flawed. It’s still fun, the characters are lovable. It has a scary fandom... in that it’s still alive and thriving, even so many years after the show’s end.

Also Grimm, though more supernatural than fantasy, it is a fairy tale show. In a way. It’s dumb but fun, because the Grimms were actually not just scholars, they were monster hunters and now modern day descendants of them are still out there hunting the same Big Bad Wolves (who aren’t all bad). I don’t know, I love it, despite the occasional cringe.

Now, lastly on the fantasy - Galavant. A musical comedy about a knight. Very fairy tale-y. Very hilarious and lovable. Sadly cancelled after two seasons.

There are many, many more fantasy shows I watch(ed), but those would be my favorites. Though I do have to tag on that elements such as vampires and werewolves are something I categorize as supernatural so they wouldn’t find mention here in fantasy (Grimm aside, due to the fairy tale theme).

I... hope I could provide a good recommendation or two!

[sprnklersplashes]

heart of stone (1/?)

AO3 (trigger warning for teenage cancer)

Janis Sarkisian has a heart of stone and a spine of steel. Her body, however, is just as fallible as anyone else's. When the world comes crashing down around you, how do you stay standing? More importantly, who stands with you?

Janis zips up her backpack, the same one she carried with her through the first three years of high school. It may be old, but everything inside is new, pencils, pens, notebooks, you name it. Her mom even got her a new water bottle that keeps her water cool all day for her. She assured her that it wasn’t breaking the bank and maybe it wasn’t, but that’s not the point. The point is her mom still went out and bought her a fancy water bottle to keep her water cold for her.

She laces up her boots and looks in the mirror, a surge of insecurity coming over her, the kind she hasn’t felt since she was thirteen and stepping back into middle school after a year. It’s been a while since she’s spent this long picking out her clothes for school, but the plus side she guesses is that she doesn’t have to spend so much time on her hair now. So swings and roundabouts, really.

Cady spent almost all of last night on Facetime with her, telling her about being ‘the new kid’ and listening to Janis complaining about it. She had nodded sympathetically, almost nothing to say to her other than ‘you’ll be fine’ and ‘good luck’ and ‘I love you’. It’s not her fault, but it’s the way it is. Because Janis isn’t the new kid, not really. Certainly not in the way Cady was. Cady was joining a group of total strangers, but practically everyone in North Shore knows Janis’ name by now, even if she doesn’t know 99% of them and they’re a year younger than her. Everyone she knows is off in college, living their best lives, and she’s starting senior year now.

It’s funny when she thinks about it. In middle school and high school she had to disappear for a year, both due to factors beyond her control. Fingers crossed she’ll make it through college without a hitch.

Downstairs, her parents are no doubt having a hushed discussion about her even going to school. They had gone over it with her so many times it made her head spin, asking her if she’d prefer to Skype her classes and work from home. Her mom had even asked Mrs Heron about homeschooling her, much to the other woman’s delight. Who knew that when her mom and Cady’s mom finally bonded, it would be over this.

The old Janis would have rolled her eyes at them and tossed her hair over her shoulder, telling them they’re being over protective and dumb and that she’ll be absolutely fine, there’s nothing to worry about. But now, Janis can’t blame them, can she?

They’d one hell of a year.

One year (and 10 days) earlier

Asking out Cady Heron was probably the best decision Janis had ever made. Okay, it wasn’t entirely her decision given that Damian had told her that Cady liked her, suggested Janis ask her out and also pushed her towards Cady’s locker, as well as hanging around just within earshot so he could intervene if something went wrong. Which miraculously, it didn’t, and she and Cady had spent a lovely evening with dinner and a movie and a kiss that made the butterflies in Janis’ stomach flap their little wings so hard she nearly flew away herself.

That was a lovely four months ago, and now she and Cady are laying on her bed, hands joined, legs intertwined, Love Simon playing on her laptop. While her computer is burning her legs (damn she needs a new one), Cady’s the one who is really keeping her warm, the warmth and gentle and golden in her chest as she nuzzles into Janis a little. Her dad likes to jokingly call Cady a pixie, as in ‘she’s a pixie and you’re a vampire, Jan’, but Janis thinks there might actually be some truth in it, since her skin tingles when Cady’s hand slides under her top and her fingertips run across her side and stomach. Janis isn’t looking, but she wouldn’t be surprised if there was a trail of pink sparkles in her wake.

Janis kisses the top of her head, adjusting her hold on her girlfriend and pull her closer (she’ll never get used to that word, girlfriend, being used to describe Cady in relation to her).

“I’ve watched this movie like 10 times,” Cady begins. Janis won’t tell her, but she’s actually wrong. They’ve watched it 13 times, and she knows she’s watched it with Damian at least three more times. It’s a masterpiece though, so that’s acceptable. “But every time I watch it, I start worrying that Blue won’t show up at the Ferris wheel.”

“Or it would be Martin,” Janis says just as Simon gets on the ride for the first time.

“You know when you first showed me this, I thought that he was Blue?” Cady says. “Just for like a tiny, tiny second. But that’s what I thought.” Janis’s bed shakes as she laughs, her usual loud cackle that she’s still a little self-conscious about, even now. But it’s fading more and more every day. Cady laughs along with her, her light and musical tone more than making up for it. “Don’t blame me. I was close to peak Plastic back then.”

“Peak Plastic,” Janis echoes, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, a little purple lipstick coming off.

“Mm-hm.” Janis bites her lip, just a little, her skin beginning to crawl. She’s told Cady over and over that she’s been forgiven, even before they were this, but she wonders if Cady’s sure of it. Hell, Janis herself still wonders if she’s been forgiven for everything she did. Sometimes she likes to pretend that their junior year ended in December with Regina’s butt eating her underwear at the talent show, and then she and Cady got together and everything just became beautiful.

So she gives Cady a double kiss on the head to make sure she knows.

When Blue does show up, Cady lets out the most adorable squeak of excitement and her hand squeezes Janis’, her smile putting the late-August sunshine outside to shame. She buries her face in Janis’ chest so that only her brown eyes peek out, and lets out a long, high-pitched hum that makes Janis’ heart melt.

“They’re so cute,” she whispers. “They’re so cute, I am dying, send help.”

“You’re dying?” Janis asks thoughtfully, walking her fingers up and down her arm while she subtly and slowly pushed herself up on her side, her legs tingling as she mounts her attack. “Does that mean you need mouth to mouth?”

“Wh-”

Before Cady can answer, Janis flips the two of them over, her bed shaking and tapping loudly against her wall with the force. She takes a moment to hope her parents weren’t passing as she tries to catch her breath. For a few seconds, the world gets darker and her chest heaves, seemingly desperate for air. It does strike Janis as odd; she’s out of shape, maybe, but this out of shape? Really? Has her summer vacation been getting to her?

“Janis?”

“Did I hear someone say she needs mouth to mouth?” Janis asks, already feeling herself again. Cady’s anxious expression disappears, replaced by a flirtatious smile, her hands grasping Janis’ shirt.

“Maybe,” she responds, tilting her head up a little.

Some responses come to mind, but they all make Janis cringe, and so she leans in and presses a kiss to her girlfriend’s lips, sighing at the taste of honey and lemonade and the scent of orange blossom in her hair. Most of all, the sweetness of her lips, how gentle they are, how they make her toes curl and Janis’ head settle, chasing away any worries or woes. There’s no room for them here, not when it’s her and Cady and the world doesn’t matter.

Yeah, her girlfriend must be magical.

Cady texts her mom when the movie is over, as per Mrs Heron’s request. As over parents go, the Herons actually aren’t that bad, probably because Cady sticks to the rules they’ve laid out. She tells them where she’s going, and with whom; up until recently she’d text them every time they ran into someone, and how exactly she knows them. She obeys her curfew and is always home for dinner, asking ahead of time if she can come home later and guaranteeing she’ll eat when she’s out. As a result, Mrs Heron lessens her curfew more and more with each week and is apparently close to letting Cady learn to drive. That’s what Janis likes about the Herons, not that she hates her own parents; they see Cady as a person, and when she respects them, they respect her.

The two wait in the living room for Cady’s dad to pick her up, throwing the ball for Maxie, only interrupted once, by Janis’ dad, who tells them to be careful not to get Maxie too hyper or he will most definitely shit himself in the hallway.

“And I am not clearing that up,” he tells them, gesturing wildly with the end of the newspaper.

“Cady can do it,” Janis offers, scratching Max behind the ears while he nips at her hand. Okay, maybe her dad had a point. “She spent all her time before moving here cleaning up animal poop.”

“No I didn’t,” Cady protests before considering it. “Okay, a little bit. Kind of. But I did a lot more than animal poop.”

“Animal piss?”

“I’m going to leave before this conversation gets weirder,” her dad announces, eyeing the two of them with equal amounts of fondness and confusion. “Although if Cady ever wants a job cleaning up after Maxie, we’re open.”

“Get them dollas, Caddy,” Janis tells her, punching her arm gently.

“You know, I actually might get a job this year,” Cady says, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “You know, start saving up for college.”

“Smart plan,” Janis agrees. Despite the temptation, she’s not quit her mall job yet, designated her ‘the money friend’. College had never crossed her mind until Cady brought it up.

“Wish I’d thought of it earlier,” she says glumly, resting her chin on her knee. “What with school starting next week, I won’t have time!”

“Eleven days,” Janis reminds her, tapping her cheek. “School starts in eleven days. And you’ll find somewhere. I’ll help you.”

“Really?” Cady asks, her cheek smushing against the couch cushions. “You’d do that?”

“Of course, miss Caddy,” Janis replies, running her finger through Cady’s softer-than-soft hair. “That way you can start paying for date nights and we can be real fancy.” Cady grins, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist, making Janis’ cheeks glow and bite her lip to trap the excited giggle where it is. She will not giggle, not in her own living room where her parents can hear.

“Oh, that’s my dad,” Cady sighs as a car horn toots out front. Janis is sort of in love with Cady’s dad’s car, mostly because it looks exactly like the kind of car Cady’s dad would own. It’s small and shaped like a box and dark blue, a little silver line running around the edge, and the horn toots like a little cartoon car. It came straight out a 1950’s move and it’s one of the most precious things Janis has ever seen. She hopes that when Cady starts driving, it’s this little shit she drives around in so Janis can revel in the cuteness all the time.

“See you tomorrow,” she tells her at the door, her hand resting on the handle. She glances shyly down the hall; both her parents absent, before looking back at Cady, whose eyes sparkle with anticipation. Who am I to refuse the lady? she thinks as she bends down to give her a goodbye kiss, humming in contentment against her mouth and lingering in her space a little after she pulls away.

“See you tomorrow, Janis,” Cady replies, slipping out the door, taking a final look at Janis when she reaches the gate and giving her a finger-wiggling wave. Janis salutes lazily with her finger, watching as Cady gets into her dad’s car and they pull away from the kerb, rattling along down the road and around the corner, off to Cady’s little house.

And then Janis can feel the worst feeling of all; the relief that she’s gone.

It’s not relief, not exactly. Well, it is. Just not for that reason. Being with Cady is one of her favourite things to do in the world. But once Cady’s gone, she can drop the act she’s been keeping up for hours and her legs can give way, her back hitting the wall as she drags her hand over her face. A long, heavy sigh escapes her and her eyes fall shut as the remaining strength drops from her body. She could almost fall asleep standing against the wall were it not for the dog pawing at her legs, demanding hugs.

She’s just so damn tired.

She’s not entirely sure how long this has been going on, maybe just before school finished, or at the start of the break, but she’s felt like there’s been this little creature clinging to her back and sucking all the energy out of her. She’s gotten relatively okay at hiding it, thanks to extra espresso in her coffee and make-up hiding the shadows under her eyes, not to mention that her friends are always down for chill, relaxed activities. It’s not really affected her mood either, in fact, now that she’s with Cady, found some sort of friendship with Gretchen and Karen (Regina is a big question mark) and found some catharsis for her past, she’s found that, emotionally speaking, she’s better than she’s been in a long while.

But it’s there. Clinging to her back and reaching down to her legs, slowing her down, keeping her in bed longer than she wants to be and making her miss being at home even when she’s with her two most favourite people in the world.

Whatever this is, it may hurry up and leave before school starts, she thinks as she makes her way to the kitchen and leans against the counter, rubbing her heavy eyes. She is not dealing with this crap during a six hour day.

“You okay hon?” her mom asks, concern lining the edges of her voice.

“Just tired,” she replies, flipping the kettle on and taking out her Disney mug.

“Oh, you look it.” She knows her mom means well, what with the ‘what’s wrong sweetheart’ edge and airy tone of her voice, but her words are so blunt that Janis can’t help snorting.

“Love you too, Mom.”

“You know what I mean,” she says fondly. Her voice trails off, leaving a tense silence, her mom cocking her head to one side as she studies her. “You’ve been tired a lot lately.”

“I have?” she says, feigning ignorance and dropping the tea bag into her mug. “Didn’t notice.” Her mom hums in agreement and then pats Janis on the shoulder, her touch careful and casual, and yet Janis jumps a little, stifling a gasp.

“You’re okay though, right?” she asks. Janis nods, her mind involuntarily going back to the time where she picked at meals and spent hours in her room and walking around the house with empty, haunted eyes and shadows on her face. There’s a reason Regina remains a question mark, no matter how many times she sits with her at lunch.

“I’m fine, Mom, really,” she says, turning to face her. “Just need to catch up on the sleep.” Her mom nods and runs a hand through her hair with a half-convinced smile.

“Okay kid,” she says after a while, her voice strained at the edges. “Do you need me to pick anything up for you tomorrow?”

A fully functioning body she thinks as she lifts her warm mug. Instead she shakes her head, giving her mom the ‘I’m okay’ smile she knows no one in her house fully believes anymore and mumbling a response before heading to her room, her hand always on a wall or bannister to keep her upright.

                                                                                               *****

She’s pulled from sleep in the early hours of the morning, her eyes blinking open and adjusting to the darkness just in time for her to feel her sleep shirt clung to her back and her hair wrapped around her throat and sticking like a spider’s web.

“Oh shit,” she sighs. She throws the covers off and runs a hand down her damp leg, sighing in frustration before pulling herself up and making her way to the bathroom.

She looks worse when she turns the light on. Black patches are splattered across her top and the sweat glistens in a pretty vile way, making Janis shudder. In addition to being tired pretty much every damn day, she’s also been dealing with this. It was sparing at first, but recently it seems like it’s every other night she’s woken up in the middle of the night a hot and sticky mess. And worst part is that the novelty of an innuendo has long since faded.

She presses a cold washcloth to her neck, sighing as the coolness fights against the heat of her skin. She considers getting in the shower and just letting the cold water pour over her body for a while, but she doesn’t want to wake her parents and once she gets in, there’s a chance she won’t get out. Her parents would find a giant cold raisin instead of their daughter. So she pulls her top off instead and holds the cloth against her chest, her stomach, her back, anywhere she can, forcing the prickling warmth off her body as quickly and as quietly as she can.

She hasn’t let her parents know about this. Mostly because she’s sure it’s nothing, some days it slips her mind entire. But also because she’s sure her mom would go batshit and be fussing over her every single day, buying out the entire herbal tea section at the store and all the medicine she can legally buy in one go. Two different responses clash in Janis’ head; one urging her to smile as a surge of fondness rises in her and another pulling it down, dampening the wave and pulling her back, all the while scolding her. Her parents took care of her enough back in eighth grade. They deserve a nice life for themselves now.

So she keeps doing what she was doing, taking care of herself, something she’s more than capable of doing anyway. She refreshes the cloth and holds it against herself, counting to ten each time. Much as she appreciates all they do for her and loves every part of them, she doesn’t really need her parents, not now. She’s got all this under control.

Besides, she thinks with a shrug, flicking off the light. It’s probably nothing serious.

                                                                                               ******

She wakes with a stiff neck and heavy eyes the next morning, as well as her bare legs rubbing against her mattress and goosebumps prickling along her skin. Just before she collapsed onto her bed a few hours ago, she decided to take her pants off as well and stuff them under her pillow along with her shirt. Despite the chills that raced through her body and made her tremble, the way her pants stuck to her legs became way too uncomfortable for her. So she pulled the blanket around her almost-naked body and shut her eyes tight until she fell asleep.

Sleep is still reluctant to let her go, wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her back down. She may as well, after all, her alarm hasn’t even gone off yet. She turns over and grabs her phone to check the time, ready to give into her body’s demands once she knows-

“Fuck.”

11:37. She was meant to meet her friends almost ten minutes ago. That’s why she had an alarm set for 10:45, specifically for this purpose. So she wouldn’t be late. Like she is now. There’s three texts from Cady, two from Damian and one from Karen, all variations of ‘where are you?’ or ‘are you coming?’.

“Oh crap, okay,” she sighs. She pushes herself out of her bed, rubbing her heavy eyes with one hand and pulling on clothes with the other. Not having time to go to her closet, she picks the same loose grey t shirt and black skirt she wore yesterday, hoping Cady doesn’t notice or mind. She runs a brush through her hair while texting Cady a quick apology, promising that she’s on her way. She doesn’t even have the time of doing make-up, instead throwing some eyeliner and mascara in her bag and haphazardly lacing up her boots before taking the stairs two at a time.

“Dad?” she asks, leaning on the living room doorframe. The world tilts and sways a little and her hands tighten on the wood. Her dad looks up from his laptop, clad in jeans and a shirt and tie, the classic working from home look. “Dad… I’m sorry but I overslept and I was meant to meet my friends ten minutes ago and can you drive me to the mall?” Her tone is the kind of apologetic caution that was common in her preteen years, and even as he stands up and lifts his jacket, Janis feels a quick, sharp pang of guilt cut through her chest. “Actually screw it, I can walk.”

“No, it’s fine,” her dad says, picking his car keys up and closing his laptop. “I don’t have a meeting until one. I can drive you.”

“Okay,” she replies. Her dad pauses as he approaches her, his eyes scanning her face with concern. All Janis can offer him is a shrug as she tries to get her breathing back to normal.

“I’ll do my make up in the car,” she says.

“Okay.” Clearly, that’s not what he was thinking, but he takes it. “Did you eat breakfast?”

“Dad, I don’t have time-”

“Yes you do,” he insists. “Most important meal of the day.” He makes a detour to the kitchen and grabs her a granola bar and banana. As he presses them into her hands, his eyes narrow and he gives her another once-over. “You’re alright, aren’t you?”

“I’m fine,” she insists, crossing her fingers behind her back. She briefly considers about calling Cady and saying that she’s sick but dismisses it just as quickly. “Just a little... you know.”

She manages to do a decent job of her eyeliner and mascara, wishing she’d thought to put concealer or powder or something in there as well. Still, she’s done a good enough job of hiding the circles under her eyes and if anyone asks, she can dismiss it as stray make-up.

When her dad pulls up at the mall, her friends are hanging around the entrance, not exactly hard to spot. She thinks she could find Cady in any crowd, and Damian is over six feet tall and today decided to don a rainbow t-shirt and red suspenders. And aside from them, Karen’s ice cream bag stands out more than anything.

“Thank you,” she says, turning to her dad, once again feeling normal. “A lot.”

“You’re welcome kid,” he smiles back, squeezing her hand gently. “Go have fun, I’ll pick you up when you need to.”

She jogs up to them while her dad pulls away, Cady meeting her halfway for a light hug.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says, grasping Cady’s hand. “I slept through my alarm.”

“Maybe set a better alarm next time,” Regina suggests, not a note of kindness in her voice as she inspects her nails. Janis takes in a deep breath but doesn’t bother to hide the eye roll. Not even Cady can make her promise that.

“Okay, let’s go,” Damian says, steering Janis away from Regina before it can turn ugly. Regina ignores Janis’ eyes entirely, toying with her blonde curls and feigning interest in whatever Karen is telling her. That’s just fine by her; Janis can cuddle up to Cady, revelling in the joy of holding her hand out where everyone can see, and listen to Cady excitedly point at the drawings of animals at the art stall, sold between $5-10 a pop. As they walk past the other shoppers, she likes to think she is silently communicating “that’s my girlfriend!” with her beaming smile. She can swing their hands and insist on buying Cady an iced coffee and they can share a little muffin and Cady can slip her hand into Janis’ back pocket and rest her head on her shoulder. They can do all this out here, in public, and most importantly in front of Regina, and Janis can just not give two shits.

They follow the Plastics around the make-up store first, since apparently they’re all in need of some back to school make-up. That’s fine too since Janis can look at her favourite brands and test out new shades on her skin. Karen even bounds up to her with the same kind of energy that Maxie has when Janis comes home from school and asks her opinion on eyeshadow colours. A few months ago this would have sent alarm bells going off in Janis’ head and her eyes darting around and her waiting for the catch. Now she smiles and compares the colours to Karen’s fair skin and recommends she buy the pale ones. There’s something satisfying about Karen’s smile and bounce as she thanks her, squeezing her hand a little before running off to the counter to pay. And it’s not the kind of satisfied she felt when she was watching Regina fall; while she won’t admit it to anyone, it’s kind of better.

Once they’re done there they head off to the stationery store, all six of them in need of new stuff for school. Janis is relying on her spikey backpack to get her through the last year of school, since it took her through the first three, but she wraps her arms around Cady as she contemplates which backpack to get, enchanted by the one with little cartoon frogs and captivated by one with flowers sketched onto the fabric. Janis chuckles and hugs her tighter. She could watch Cady choose backpacks forever. That’s why she’s fine standing there, not because she’s tired.

“So should we just leave you here for an hour or so?” Damian jokes as Janis approaches the art department. She chuckles, poking her tongue out at him.

“I’ll just be a second,” she says. “I got a load of new stuff over the summer. I just need a new book.” She ignores the hardbacked books and the ones with the highly decorated covers in favour of the same ones she always gets; bottom shelf, end of the row, the plain black covers that she can decorate herself. If her art is inside it, why shouldn’t it be on the outside too?

As she bends down, she finds herself pressing her hand against the shelf to steady herself. She hadn’t realised how tired she had felt until she was sitting down, even if her legs are bent awkwardly beneath her and it’s not exactly the most comfortable position. Maybe it’s from oversleeping, but she could just lay down here if she didn’t care about her pride or store policy. She lets out a long breath-has her chest been this tight all day?  

“Janis?” Damian asks, frowning a little, his Mom-friend instincts overriding anything else. He’s probably a minute away from kneeling down and whispering ‘you okay baby’ in her ear. To which she would reply “yeah” because that’s what she is. Completely fine.

“I’m good,” she says, picking up the book and pulling herself up, her weary legs protesting as she does so. She shakes her head, resisting the urge to rub her eyes, and gives them a smile that she hopes is convincing. “I got it. I’m fine.”

As she passes them, Cady and Damian share an uncertain look that they think she doesn’t see, and she tries not to be annoyed at it.

Once she noticed how tired she is though, she can’t ignore it, and it’s not for a lack of trying. Weakness and fatigue settle into her body and cloud her mind as they go about their day, and it becomes harder and harder to shake off. Her chest soon starts feeling hollow and cold, her legs unstable and shaky. The worst part is her brain lagging and freezing like the computers in school. Focussing seems to become more of a challenge with each step she takes and the long, steady beep of the store’s alarm doesn’t do much to help.

Oh, right, she thinks to herself, feeling foolish. That’s me.

She pulls her jacket tighter around herself as the air turns colder. Did they go outside? No, they can’t have, they’re still in the mall. Did someone leave a door open maybe?

A weight falls from her hand and it’s then she realises that she hasn’t passed anything yet.

“Janis?” Cady asks. She blinks, looking at Cady’s barely-concealed worry, her eyes wide, her hand slowly creeping towards her. She looks behind her and sees Karen looking at Gretchen, then Regina and finally Damian in confusion while Gretchen’s mouth falls into an O shape and even Regina looks worried, her hand halfway extended towards her and her eyes wide.

Janis scoffs at herself, or at least she thinks she does. It’s hard to tell right now. She needs to get her shit together, and that needs to happen now.

“I’m fine,” she says breathlessly. Because she is. The room is definitely not tilting. “I’m just… I’m just tired.”

The word ‘tired’ has barely left her mouth before her legs crumple and her body crashes into something warm and both soft and firm at the same time. No, not something. Someone. Damian guides her down to the floor, his arms strong around her, one hand holding hers and the other stroking her head.

“I’m okay,” she whispers. For a second, she wonders if anyone heard her, but the thought flies out of her head in an instant. Damian asks if she can hear him and she nods, mumbling something that probably made more sense in her head. She leans against him, letting her body have the rest it’s been begging for. Cady kneels next to her, asking Damian something she can’t make out and beginning to pull Janis’ coat off her despite her protests. Or what are meant to be protests anyway. She feels Cady’s hand against her cheek and manages to hear the word ‘burning up’ in her voice.

She pushes herself up on her elbows, trying to sit somewhat independently despite Cady and Damian’s wishes. Someone offers her a bottle of water and she takes it gladly, not having realised how thirsty she was. She thinks it might have been Regina but logic doubts it. Regina would pour the water out in front of her instead.

The world comes back into focus again, little by little, and thankfully she feels too drained to be embarrassed.

“You’re back?” Damian asks. She nods in response, taking another swing of water. Has water always tasted this good? “Think you can make it outside? I’m going to call your dad-”

“No, Damian,” she protests, her voice cracking. “You don’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

“No you’re not,” Cady corrects her. “Janis, you’ve got a fever and you just passed you. You’re not fine.” She strokes her cheek, a gesture that’s half affection, half worry, her brown eyes pleading and breaking Janis’ heart with the way they grow. “Please, Janis.”

“Okay,” she sighs, squeezing Cady’s hand. “Okay I’ll go home. I can get outside.” And she makes it, even if she’s mostly leaning on Damian. As he calls her dad, she sits on one of the benches with Cady on one side and Karen on the other, the Plastic rubbing her back and stroking her hair, while she keeps sipping water and her brain puts itself back together.

Yep. There’s the embarrassment.

“I’m sorry guys,” she says. “I’m sorry I messed up our day.”

“You didn’t mess it up,” Gretchen assures her. She’s kept her distance since Janis collapsed, but now she inches forward a little, and then a little more and kneels in front of her, patting her knee kindly. “You just got sick, it happens.”

Janis hums in acknowledgement and takes another shaky sip of water, wincing a little. This is probably to some degree her own fault. Not like her body wasn’t giving her all the warning signs possible.

“Here.” She hands Karen the pink flask when her dad’s car pull up beside them. “Thanks Karen.”

“Oh it’s Regina’s,” she corrects, throwing the other girl the bottle. Janis’ head swings so quickly from Karen to Regina that she almost passes out again and the queen bee offers her nothing but a casual shrug and a sympathetic look that makes Janis’ hands curl into fists.

So it’s gotten to the point of Regina being nice to her? Is that where she’s at now?

Christ she better get over this fast.

Damian helps her into her dad’s car and pats her head gently.

“Rest up, Buttercup,” he tells her affectionately, his face still creased with concern. She squeezes his hand and gives him a smile before he closes the door and her dad pulls out of the parking lot. The farther away they go, the more her heart clenches in her already-pained chest, a nasty cocktail made of anxiety, embarrassment and guilt brewing and bubbling inside her. She checks her phone and tells herself she’s stupid for doing so. They’re having fun. Without her. That’s their right, isn’t it?

“You just lay down, kid,” her dad tells her, helping her into her room. She’s past the point of refusing help by now and leaned on her dad all the way up the stairs and into her room. “You need anything? Some water, some food?”

“I’m okay,” she says, leaning back on her hands and wincing at the sharp pain in her head. “I just want to lie down.”

“Okay, kid,” he replies, ruffling her hair affectionately and checking her temperature at the same time. He takes in a sharp breath, his shoulders tensing. “I’m going to get you some medicine, just to be safe, okay?”

“Fine.” When her dad leaves, she tosses her jacket to the corner and starts unlacing her boots before peeling off her tights and skirt. She’s cold in just her t-shirt but getting a sweater would involve getting out of bed and she doesn’t trust herself to stay upright. So she presses her face into her pillow and pulls the covers tighter around her, the pain in her head and heart fading the closer to sleep she gets.

When her mom comes home from work that evening, she’s managed to change into leggings and a sweater and move her ass down to the living room.  A grilled cheese sits on her lap and her dog’s head rests beside her as she watches TV. Despite being warned by her dad, she slips Maxie little bits of sandwich every now and then. If she’s not going to finish it, then it may as well go to a good home.

“How’s the patient?” her mom asks, leaning on the doorframe.

“Fine,” she replies, meaning not at all. Her whole body feels empty and run-down like an abandoned house; she imagines cobwebs hanging from her ribcage and a family of mice burrowing in her chest.

And that image put her off her sandwich.

“Your dad said you passed out,” she presses, coming to sit on the edge of the couch. Janis nods, looking down at her lap. There have been texts since this morning from everyone bar Regina; when she woke up there were six just from Damian alone, five asking if she was okay and one asking how he looked in the new waistcoat he’d bought. Despite how shit she had felt, Damian’s concern had made her forget just for a few minutes.

“Yeah. I think I was just overtired or something,” she sighs. “I overslept this morning.”

“And you’ve got a fever.”

“Okay, WebMD,” she jokes, shrugging. “I don’t know. I’ve probably just come down with something. It’ll go away on its own.”

“I don’t know about that…” Her mom moves closer to her, her face falling even more, confusion clouding her features. “Janis… how long has that been going on?”

“How long has what-ow!” Sharp pains jerk through her neck and her back and even up to the back of her head. Her breathing turns short and rapid until it subsides and she’s left with a phantom feeling buzzing on her skin. “Mom!”

“Sorry, hon,” she says. “Just… that swelling around your neck, when did that happen?”

“Swelling, what, where?” she asks. She gets up and goes over to the mirror on the wall, at first seeing nothing, but when she turns the light on, moves her hair and looks closer, she finds fat little lumps on the underside of her jaw. Turning around and straining her eyes, she can see some on the back of her neck as well, normally hidden by her hair. It looks like someone shoved a ping pong ball down her throat. Against her better judgement she pokes one, gasping as the same pain jumps out at her. “The hell?”

Had those always been there?

“Are they new?” her mom asks.

“I don’t know.” She lowers herself onto the chair behind her, resting her head against the wall and chewing her nail. Her mom doesn’t even tell her to stop.

“Maybe I should make a doctor’s appointment for you,” her mom says, checking her forehead again. “Hopefully, it’s nothing… wouldn’t want you to have to miss your first day.”

“Okay,” Janis agrees, her fingers straying to the swellings again. Now that she’s seen them, she can’t not be aware of their presence. They call out to her like little sirens that live on her body. Her mom pats her head before going to the kitchen, her phone already out of her bag. Down the hall, she hears her talking to her dad about her, mentioning strep throat and tonsillitis and other such illnesses. Janis sighs, leaning her head back only to be created with painful twinges. Thanks, little body sirens, she sighs.

On the couch, Maxie shows no sympathy towards her, instead gobbling up her leftover sandwich. He looks over at her, eyes innocent and mouth covered with crumbs and cheese, and it makes her laugh.

“You’re lucky I wasn’t planning on finishing that,” she tells him seriously and she takes his little squeak as an ‘I know’.

Janis really doesn’t like doctor’s offices. Everything’s way too clean and the people are too smiley, save for the bored looking receptionist who has to remind herself to be happy every couple of minutes. People avoid each other’s eyes as they wait; an exhausted mom holding a newborn on her knee and a toddler at her feet, a little girl playing with the outdated toys, a grandpa with a newspaper spread across his lap. They all look at phones or books and not each other, except for when the toddler comes over and starts poking at Janis’ boots, fascinated by the silver buckle and deciding he wants it.

When Janis’ name is called, the kid protests loudly, and she agrees with him. Sitting here chilling with a toddler sounds way more pleasant than whatever’s going to happen in there.

“Hi sweetie,” the nurse greets. Her white coat is thrown over the chair and her light hair tied back in a ponytail, her smile is covered in pale pink lipstick and her gentle eyes are framed with eyeliner and pink eyeshadow. It almost puts Janis at ease. Almost. “So your mom said you’ve been sick for the past few days? You passed out on Wednesday, right?”

“Yeah.” Janis sits up on the bed, taking comfort in the way her feet dangle above the floor. At her height, this is a pretty rare occurrence, so sue her for liking it. “I um… I’ve been really tired lately.”

“Okay… do you know when this started?” She bites her lip, shaking her head.

“Um… maybe just before school ended, or just at the start of summer,” she says, rubbing the back of her neck and wincing. “Oh, and I’ve got these boys.” She pulls her hair up so her doctor can get a better look at them. “I don’t know when they showed up. My mom noticed them before she made the appointment.”

“Do they hurt?”

“Only when I touch them,” she answers. “Then they scream like a-then they hurt.” Her doctor chuckles at her word choice, although her smile quickly disappears.

“Has there been anything else?” she asks. “Chills, fever, night sweats?”

“Check, check and check,” she replies grimly. “I um… I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night and just…” She gestures to all of herself, searching for a less-gross way to put this. Her brain immediately thinks ‘does she really need to know this’, apparently unaware that they’re in a doctor’s office for this very purpose, and this probably isn’t the most disgusting thing she’s heard today. “Sweat. Everywhere.”

Is it any wonder she’s never seen above a B in English?

“Okay,” the doctor says thoughtfully. “What we’re going to do is take a little blood from you so we can run some tests, and I’ll just give you a quick check to rule out anything else. We’ll hopefully have the results in less than a week, and until then just rest up, try not to do anything too wild, and maybe limit contact with other people, just in case you have something contagious. Sound good?”

“I’ll clear my social calendar,” Janis replies. She takes a deep breath as the doctor sticks the needle into her arm and she turns to look at the posters on the wall instead. In the back of her mind, there’s a little black cloud, trying its best to grow bigger and bolder, insisting this won’t be over soon. Like there’s something around the corner, something bad, and that the little prickle of anxiety is right.

And the scariest part is that she can’t wave it off this time.