#intro: island daze

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

Bad Blood (intro)

Anxiety roiled in Sebastian's gut. He wanted to shout, he wanted to scream. Wanted to run far away. Yet he stayed where he was, his eyes fixed on Varsarudh.

"When did you hear this?" Gods, was that his voice? He sounded too calm.

"Last week." The Auri woman answered. "I didn't know whether to send you a letter--because gossip is gossip, but I told Mistress Tataru. She said she'd get some of her own people to look into it. Then just the other day, she told me you would be coming here--and for me to tell you what I'd heard."

Which means it's not just gossip. There's truth in it. Sebastian thought.

"So the reason why my ex has been seeking me out is that he's in some type of trouble?" Thaliak, it sounded so banal. So stupid. And yet...

The price of fame and glory. Turn into a somebody and everyone wants to become your best friend. Mathye's voice echoed in Sebastian's mind.

"That's the general gist of it. He's under a Forum order to stay away from you." Sebastian started in surprise, that was something he hadn't been aware of. "The rumors are it's perhaps gambling debts."

"Lacelle doesn't gamble. Or rather, didn't, when we were together. From what I saw." Things could have changed. But the only vice Sebastian remembered his ex boyfriend having was for the more expensive liquors.

Even so...why is Riven's grandmother sniffing around him? The quintet had been doing their level best to steer clear of Astrid DeGlass since Sevestre's attempt to blackmail both her and Riven. The fallout from that was still ongoing--with several high-ranking Biblotec members under investigation. Sevestre was too busy protecting himself to cause trouble, and so the group had been happy to wash their hands of him. As for Astrid, Riven's threat seemed to be still working--the DeGlass matriarch was behaving. For the moment.

"DeGlass has quite the reputation on the island." Varsarudh reported. "She is not the type of woman you want to encounter if you are potentially a danger or have committed high crimes against the city. The business with her family aside, there's rumors she's the one the Forum turns to when there's dirty work to be done."

"And somehow Lacelle's wandered into her orbit." Sebastian finished. Scholar, he wanted to walk away, pass off the whole thing as the grapevine going into overdrive. The end of winter was approaching, perhaps people were just going stir-crazy.

"I would hope that you're not planning on doing anything!" Varsarudh demanded. Sebastian snapped out of his daze--and stared as the Auri woman glared at him, stamping a foot. "Let the man hang on his hook! You can do so much better!"

"I-trust me, I'm not planning on engaging with him or anything of the sort!" Sebastian quickly held up his hands. "Thank you, Varsarudh. And please pass on my gratitude to Tataru as well. You both didn't have to."

"We wanted to!" Varsarudh's tail flicked. "Just be...careful when you're around here. People will do funny things when they're in a desperate situation."

[writinggremlin]

Self Intro V. 2.0

Almost done with the updated masterlist let's gooooo poggies babagaboosh!!! In the meantime, here's a little bit about me (again)!

You may call me Gremlin (The Soup Hoarder Keeper works too). My pronouns are she/they, with no preference between them. You can stick with she/her, you can stick with they/them, or you can casually change it every other sentence, I don't care. Hell, if you're feeling extra zesty, you can even change them out mid-sentence too. "She decided that she was going to eat their lunch at the park today." Are you still talking about the same person, or somebody else entirely? Who knows! (Tip: The more cursed you can make it, the more bonus points you can get!) For the minor dni blogs, my current life level is 20. If that's all you've come here for, then have a nice day! My current hobbies include: writing (ofc), daydreaming about what I'm going to write, reading (but not my own writing, that's guaranteed to make me cringe /j), going on walks that are way too long, going on bike rides that are way too long (this was written before The Incident (TM)), going to the library, and... existing?? I guess??? Life is my favorite hobby!! :D!!

Tropes I Enjoy:

Delirium/Half-Conscious/Dazed

Mind Control/Hypnosis/Brainwashing (I guess you could say that I tend to... lose my mind over this stuff!) (No. I'm not getting rid of this pun. You can't make me. Fuck you *runs away*)

Drugged/Spiked

Sick/Fever

Fainting (Get some of that myoclonic jerking in there too and you immediately have my full undivided attention)

Hypoxia (Those hypoxia simulation chambers that are typically used to train pilots. Give. Me.)

Just about anything that involves a Whumpee's mind going blank, numb, and quiet. That is the feral soup.)

Lab Whump (Still a little tricky to write, but we're improving)

Starvation/Restrictive Eating Disorders (I feel that it is important to note that this blog is not centered around this topic, and that I support and encourage recovery from such an ordeal. If you are recovering then first off, I am proud of you, second, please be careful browsing my blog and following me, as I may post triggering content from time to time. I will be sure to tag appropriately, but I still advise that caution be used here. Feel free to block me if need be. Thank you.)

Pushed to the limit, and then some. Doesn't matter who's pushing who.

Tropes I Don't So Much Enjoy:

I don't really have anything in terms of triggers, but there are still some topics that I don't exactly feel comfortable reading and writing.

Sexual Non-Con (I just feel squeamish reading it. Gives the heebie jeebies)

Oddly Specific/Unorthodox Gore (Yanking teeth, scooping eyeballs, pulling out entire finger/toe nails, etc. Anything along those lines also heebies my jeebies)

I tend to stay away from kink in general, especially in sickfic and emeto. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with kink stuff, I have no qualms about it existing. I'll support you guys from the sidelines, and even maybe rb a kink fic if it hits the right notes. But overall, kink just isn't really my thing; it's not really what I come here for, y'know? YKINMKATO 👍 (thumbs up)

Well, now that I've made you read this far, it's time for me to hit you with the juicy juice. I have OCs. I have many OCs. You might've already noticed this, but if you didn't, now you know. I also have a couple different original realms/dimensions too. One is a cluster of floating islands in the void, and the other is a liminal space. No-- not that liminal space -- though the Backrooms is a cannon place here -- but this liminal space doesn't have an uncanny feeling about it at all, sorry to disappoint. It's a liminal space in the fact that it's a space between universes; a nexus, a bridge, a crossroads. Which universes does it connect to? Well... I don't want to spill everything right off the bat here! Guess you'll just have to wait and see for yourself. Anygay, I will be writing with these characters and occasionally use those settings, but be aware that any plot and development will most likely be shown through blurbs and bits, and not a central series. Well, at least for now. There might be a thing or two currently in the works teehee.

Check out my OC Information post for more information regarding the gang! (Currently bare bones scaffolding. You'll probably learn more about them from checking their post tags, which are linked in the info post. I infodump in the tags a lot lmao)

If you have any questions about the characters, the universe, or even for me myself, feel free to send in an ask!! Asking me to infodump is fully welcomed and wanted here, I swear my day will be made. So don't be shy, I don't bite! Kage and Ember probably would though, so be sure to wear your padded gloves around those two.

And I think that's about it! I can't wait to show you all my favorite pathetic lil wet fucks! Hopefully you'll become just as excited about them as I've been! Until then, I'll be seeing you around! Thanks for reading all of this, and I hope you have a lovely day/night/life! Stay safe!!

[socaprince]

SOCA THERAPY - JANUARY 14, 2024

Soca Therapy Playlist 

Sunday January 14th 2024

Making You Wine From 6-9pm on Flow 98.7fm

Penthouse (Dr. Jay Plate) - Voice

Counting My Blessings - Nadia Batson

Everytime - Nadia Batson

Life After Fete - Kerwin Du Bois

Soca Party - Jimmy October & Tano

Tack Back - Kes & Tano

Junction - Coutain & Tano

Brain Freeze - Leadpipe & Jus-Jay

Center - Grateful Co

Touch - Hypasounds

Push Back - Saddis

Sugar Waist - Kerwin Du Bois & Yung Bredda

Search Party - Preedy

Arch - Rhea Layne

Hot Gyal Anthem - GBM Nutron

Holiday (Clean) - Problem Child

Call My Name - Destra

Lucy - Destra

Obsessive Winers - Destra, Alison Hinds, Denise Belfon

In The Center - GBM Nutron & Farmer Nappy

One Ah Dem - Shal Marshall

Closer - Imani Ray 

Roxanne - Problem Child

Festival - Jasper YMC

Niceness - Kenny Montana

Happy Music (DJ Kevin Edit) - Ricardo Drue

I Am Soca - Kerwin Du Bois & Patrice Roberts

DNA (DJ Shy Drum Intro) - Mical Teja

Impossible - Problem Child & Patrice Roberts

Ah Love It Here - Ricardo Drue

The Menu - Teddyson John 

Fete Woman and Alcohol (F.W.A) - Terron

Outside Jam - GBM Nutron & DJ Spider

Good Mood - Adam O

I'm Yuh Lover - Nadia Batson

TOP 7 AT 7 (Powered By The Soca Source)

Top Ricardo Drue Songs Streamed On Spotify

7. No Name - Ricardo Drue & Rupee

6. Homesick - Ricardo Drue

5. I.D. (Stamp Yuh Name) - Ricardo Drue

4. Weak - Ricardo Drue

3. Toxic Love - Ricardo Drue & Patrice Roberts

2. Professional - Ricardo Drue

1. Vagabond (DJ Crown Prince Intro) - Ricardo Drue

Come Home (Official Roadmix) - Nailah Blackman x Skinny Fabulous x Badjohn x Advokit x Anson Pro x Xplicit 

Tornado (Riddim Master Road Intro) - Ricardo Drue

Hurricane - Skinny Fabulous & Lyrikal

Do What You Want - Skinny Fabulous x Asa Bantan x Mr Killa

Devotion - Destra

Jumpin' - Destra

Bonnie & Clyde - Destra

Bacchanal - Destra

Shake The Place - Machel Montano & Destra

Best Self - Nailah Blackman & Lyrikal

Beatin Road (Muv Bass Edit) - Preedy & Smiddy Smith

My All - Nadia Batson 

All The Wine - Jab King

Good Oil - Tallpree

Bag Ah Sugar - Terra D Governor

Entering GreenzLand - Bunji Garlin

Toot Toot (Clean) - Temptress

Pandemonium - Voice x Lil Natty & Thunda

Carnival Day (D Ninja Edit) - Voice & Patrice Roberts

PAN MOMENTS Woman On The Bass - Neal And Massy Trinidad All Stars

TANTY TUNE OF THE WEEK Teaser - Becket

Play De Music - Kes

Sing Me Ah Melody - Drastic Of Them Island Boyz

Party In Space 2012 - Ricardo Drue & Swallow

Nat U (Sheed Clap Intro) - Claudette Peters

Welcome To Carnival - V'ghn

Welcome Back - Imani Ray

Trajectory - Bunji Garlin

Happy Daze - Nailah Blackman

Rum Sweet - Problem Child

Horn - Marlo Benn

Bequia - OG Park

Who Am I - H.S. Phaktor feat. Bomani

It's Carnival (remix) - Destra & Machel Montano

Waistline (Radio Edit) - Quan De Artist 

Rubber Waist - Major Shackie

Jammers - TC

Anxiety - Patrice Roberts

NORTHERN PRESCRIPTION Restless - Jaxx

Soca People - Russ & Shal Marshall

Sokah - Nailah Blackman, Len Boogsie Sharpe & Mungal Patasar

Follow Dr. Jay @socaprince​ and @socatherapy

“Like” Dr. Jay on http://facebook.com/DrJayOnline

[yoongiblunt]

If you haven't been keeping up with where the bts lore has gone, don't worry, I have. 

So about 7hours ago a japenese unit named &team debuted an extended MV for their song, ‘under the skin’.  This track and short film basically explain that they are werewolves and are sent to kill vampires. 

Lets backtrack to one year ago when Enhypen debuted and posted Drunk-Dazed. The intro to Drunk-Dazed is a girl finding an invitation to a party at a bus stop and the enhypen boys are standing there, smirking with that seems to be a looming shadow of a wolf behind them. At the time, we just assumed that all of the boys were different kinds of supernatural creatures. 

As it turns out, hence the &team mv, their outro is literally them standing at the bus stop as an entire pack of wolves. Its the same scenes, the same sets, just new boys. 

SO. Enhypen and &team are enemies. How does this tie into BTS? 

When TXT debuted Cat&dog we saw our first glimpse of the cat with Green and Blue eyes-- a colour combo we see throughout all of HYBE’s mv’s, usually symbolizing poison or death. Another colour is purple. The cats eyes can either be green/blue or yellow/purple, depending on the lighting in the mv. as far back as prewings content we see these glimpses-- but we see this in the meowing back track and the small pawprint on the beach. 

This exact beach and pawprint exist in the bts SAVE ME webcomic on webtoon. 

This cat is a nonstop entity in the TXT verse. 

So, the running theory at the moment on how its all connected. 

BTS is stuck in limbo between parallel realities due to magic island’s influence. As we’ve seen in the txt lore, the boys accidentally set that shit on fire-- or they pissed off the dragon that we see in the make it right, bts, mv. Whatever the reason, magic island is fucked and txt are mega cursed for breaking the promise to the witch, who we can assume is not looking out for their best interest and is evil. Enhypen are LIKELY from magic island. We see them speaking to a woman in all white in the dd mv, which references back to the witch in txt lore, along with the potential practice room ghost. However, there’s reason to believe a member of enhypen may also be this ghost. This is to be decided. Regardless, this witch is trifling. 

how do we know? 

because she points and sends the enhypen boys to the world of the living where, way back in the gap, they started having carnivals to lure people. We see this carnival in ruins in bts lore, but we also see this carnival in active use in txt lore, which argues that txt and enhypen predate bts. 

Kai from TXT literally DIES at a carnival, which breaks the promise the boys made to the witch. Naturally we can assume she did this on purpose. Like making a deal with the devil, she has to collect her debts. So each of the boys are cursed, and much like Taehyung (bts), Kai (txt) is an angel, unable to move on and trapped to make the same mistakes over and over until something changes. 

so the tldr? 

BTS is fucked because of TXT but thats because of Enhypen and &team are tryna merk enhypen. Thanks for coming to my autistic tedtalk. 

[lagavuling]

aesthete > athlete

name: nathan

pronouns: he/him/bruh

timezone: us cst / gmt -6

what’s your style?: this is a dangerous question to ask me because i care too much about aesthetics

appearance | voluminous hair + side part circa 1950 / short shorts / wedding ring tanline / navy / stretchy pants because thicc legs / “performance” officewear / allbirds / rainbows / basiq bro 

writing | long-winded / the only outlet for my unused minor in western literature, philosophy and theology / really obscure references / complex sentences / not kosher with ap style, mla style, chicago style, or any style

aesthetic | various shades of olive and navy / succulents / majestic casual / late summer in the south / not being a beach person / jeep wrangler towing a trailer full of kayaks / enneagram 3 wing 4 / enfj / curated playlists / chip and joanna gaines / phil dunphy (modern family) meets schmidt (new girl) meets chidi anagonye (the good place) / johnnyswim / bourbon cocktails / pipe tobacco

favorite plots/type of threads: bromance, harmonious relationships, lots of crying.

song you think represents you: the prince of the hanging gardens by beatenberg - it’s a bougie bop

song that actually represents you: we hate it when our friends become successful by morrisey - because petty af

anything else?: i put too much effort in this

gif or image that represents you:

[ofdarkestdesires]

So, I finally watched the first episode of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, and I have some thoughts

First of all, the intro for this first episode being a nightmare of one of the flying cities plummeting to earth during the eventual War of the Calamity, with Asmodeus himself offering to one of our protagonists the suggestion that the Betrayer Gods weren't the true traitors? Holy fuck, Brennan Lee Mulligan, what the hell are you doing?!

After that, I don't have much to say other than just how incredible everyone's characters are--they feel so unique and real, I feel like I know so much about all six of the Ring of Brass even though we just met them. Obviously, Cerrit is my favorite--Travis has been pulling some crazy characters these last couple campaigns and Cerrit might be my favorite yet. Honestly, I want to watch a full-on animatic of his investigation of the ritual room, with all the descriptions cut out so it's just dialogue, set to an intense mystery soundtrack, it's so good!

And of course, there are the references. Rumors of Aeor planning to strike against another region--Brennan clearly paralleling Aeor's machinations to Russia's recent actions--and hinting at the first test of the Factorum Malus. The appearance of Champion Purvon, and his feeling of dread from the Matron. This world is so much what I'd hope for pre-Calamity Exandria, and it's so good.

And then there are the story threads--there's so much going on with these characters, and it pains me knowing that there is a high likelihood that they'll all just end up loose because these characters are fated to die. There is a chance that they might live, but it is such a slim chance! But I'm especially curious for what Laerryn has planned with that piece of Celestial Gold--obviously she's planning something extraplanar, something likely to do with the leylines mentioned at the start of the episode, but what is it?

And of course, that last scene. Both the show of incredible skill from Cerrit in the middle of another investigation, to the haunting sight that reappeared as he killed his invisible watcher, to the otherworldly visitor he was almost assaulted by. Brennan came out this first episode swinging and ended it with a haymaker to put us down for a week, and I'm still dazed!

My biggest question, though, is what is going to happen to the city? I mean, you don't introduce a flying city and a crater it perfectly fits into without something going amiss. Critical Role already has a two-for-two history with flying islands getting sent crashing to earth--first with Draconia, and then with the history of Aeor. The fact that this whole mini-arc has already introduced a praised and lauded return to earth and remooring itself as the major note of import, and that it is a very specific mountain...

All I can think of, honestly...is if Brennan is going to make Avalir crash into the earth with such force, that the mountain is split and shattered into the five spires of J'rusar we know today. The spires were once one mountain that was struck by a Betrayer god during the Calamity--why couldn't it have been struck down from the air high above first?

[viastro]

there for you | chwe vernon hansol

ミ★ synopsis: in which you can’t admit you’re in love with your best friend, vernon, so joshua takes matters into his own hands.

ミ★ genre: best friends to lovers!au, humor, fluff, some angst

ミ★ warnings: none!

ミ★ word count: 3,752

ミ★ pairings: vernon x female reader

ミ★ notes: hi guys! I just wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for following me! I just hit 100 followers last night and that was really crazy to me HAHA. It really means so much to me and I’m so grateful that 100 people like my writing, so thank you so much ! I hope you enjoy this oneshot for vernon! <3

“I just think that megalodon is still out there, like what if they’re just swimming at the bottom of the ocean!” You exclaim, Vernon turning to look at you with a scoff. 

“You’re crazy, there’s no way that big ass shark bitch is still alive.” You frown at those words, choosing to shove him off your bed as a response. 

“BRUH.” Vernon shouts from your carpeted floor, and you let out a content sigh. 

“Don’t disrespect my boy megalodon like that.” You simply tell him, and you can feel him roll his eyes from your floor. “Don’t roll your eyes at me!” You say, leaning off your bed to point at him.

He gives you an evil grin, and before you know it, he’s grabbed your arm and pulled you down on top of him. He lets out a loud, “OOF!” and you laugh in his face, making him chuckle and roll you off of him. 

“I was not expecting you to literally knock the breath out of me. Holy fuck I wasn’t ready.” Vernon groans and you giggle, staring up at the worn out glow in the dark stars on your ceiling.

You and Vernon became friends in your freshman year of high school. You met each other through your mutual friend Joshua, who may have had secret matchmaking intentions, and the two of you instantly clicked. You started hanging out after school, going to the library to study together, joining drama club for fun but getting kicked out for being too loud during the actual play itself. 

You and Vernon are quite literally two peas in a pod (or is the phrase three peas in a pod?) Either way, you’re best friends. This is proven from the fact that you’re both in your last year of college, about to graduate and obtain your bachelor’s degree, and are still hanging out just the same. You both almost got an apartment together, but you decided to room by yourself and Vernon would room with Joshua. However, it’s almost as if you guys live together anyways by how much you go over to his apartment and he goes to yours. 

No matter how busy you both are, you still try and make time to see each other. Especially on Fridays, those were your cooking nights. Joshua joins in on this tradition as well, considering that it involves eating food. The three of you research recipes to offer to the table on Friday, whoever’s recipe gets the most votes, then you guys make it. It’s the highlight of your week, if you’re being honest.

Those around you have always thought you and Vernon were dating at some point in knowing the both of you, but you and him have never made any move to push your friendship into something more. The only thing you guys have done is be each other's first kiss, which is actually a very anticlimactic story. no it’s not.

It was the winter of senior year, you and Vernon were making it a mission to build an igloo due to the recent heavy snowfall that hit Seoul. You were focused on building the igloo, but Vernon had other ideas.

“Vernon, please! I wanna at least get this base layer done-” You’re cut off when you get hit in the face with a snowball, knocking you over from your crouched position. You close your eyes, hearing Vernon’s loud laugh at your tragic fate.

“I’m gonna kill you Chwe Vernon.” You mutter, standing up and making a snowball. 

“If you can catch me yn!” He taunts, thus beginning your chase around his backyard. 

“I swear to god! I just wanted to make an igloo!” You yell, laughing when he slips and falls backwards, knocking the wind out of him. You run up to him, placing your snowball right on top of his nose. He lets out a small laugh, making you giggle as well. He grabs your arm and pulls you down so that you’re laying beside him in the cold snow. 

“Have you ever thought about the fact that we’re eighteen, and still haven’t had our first kiss yet?” Vernon asks you, turning to glance at you. You stare at the small snowflakes falling, watching your breath expand into the sky due to the cold.

“What makes you think I haven’t had my first kiss yet?” You challenge, turning your head to look back at him. He scoffs at that, immediately calling out your lie, “Yeah, okay. Says the girl who literally ran away from her crush when he tried to give her back her pencil.” 

You sit up, hitting his stomach and he lets out a loud laugh, “You’re gonna look at me and tell me that I’m wrong?” He asks, sitting up as well and turning to face you.

“I mean, you’re not. But still! I hate that memory with a passion.” You say with a pout, and he smiles at you. “Why would you even bring up that topic though?” You ask and he shrugs, turning away.

“I don’t know. I was gonna ask if we could be each other’s first kiss, to get it over with, ya know?” Your eyes widen once his proposition falls past his lips. The tips of his ears are red, and you can’t tell if it’s because of the cold, or because of what he just suggested, or maybe both. Either way, they’re red, and your face is very warm.

“You’re crazy.” You sputter and he shakes his head.

“It’s not a bad idea though, like if anyone asks we could say that we’ve had our first kiss. We don’t even need to mention that we were each other’s first kiss! This is strictly for the sake of our egos.” Vernon says, and you hate how right he sounds. 

“Ugh, fine.” You mutter and Vernon’s eyes widen, turning to look at you to make sure you are serious.

“R-really?” 

“I’m about to take it back if you don’t kiss me now.” You state, turning towards him and closing your eyes. “See! My eyes are even closed, just get it over with.” 

Vernon lets out a nervous chuckle, taking in the visual of you with snowflakes on your hair, the snowflake on the tip of nose, and your ridiculously pretty lips. He knew that he didn’t have feelings for you, and that this was simply a… platonic… kiss, but he knew this image would be ingrained in his mind for the rest of his life.

He reaches his hand out, slowly brushing it against your cheek. You let out a small huff of air through your lips, and he smiles. That’s when he decides to lean in and give you both your very first kiss.

“Oh shit, I have to go get ready.” Vernon says, snapping you back to reality. He gets up off the floor, and you stare at him with a dazed expression.

“Why? It’s only 5-”

“I have a date tonight.” He tells you with a small sheepish smile, and you feel your heart slowly sink into your ass.

“Deadass? With who?” You ask, feeling a strange sense of DEATH linger in your ass.

“You know that one girl I partnered with in my intro to literature class, Minji? I asked her out the other day because I’ve been interested in her since we did that project together, turns out the feelings were reciprocated. We’re going on our first date at 6, so I should head back to my apartment to get ready.” Vernon explains quickly as he grabs his wallet, phone, and charger. He pats your head and heads out of your room. 

“I’ll text you later tonight!” He calls, then you hear your apartment door close. You stay in the same position for awhile, wondering why the fuck your heart sank into your ass.

You and Vernon are just friends! Besties! Bffies! Of course he’s gonna go find a person to date, so are you! College is the time for exploring and possibly meeting the person you’re gonna spend the rest of your life with! It’s such a good thing that Vernon has found himself a date! You’re his best friend! You should be ecstatic over this!!

So why the FUCK are you sitting here feeling like your heart got ripped out of your ASSHOLE .

“It’s probably because I’m jealous,” You say, feeling your stomach twist at the sentence, “jealous of the fact that she might replace me and Vernon won’t need a best friend anymore. Yeah. That’s better.” it’s not better.

“Oh God, I’m gonna call Joshua. I feel like I’m gonna hurl.” You mutter, whipping your phone out of your pocket to text Joshua to come over.

✿✿✿✿✿✿

“Have you considered the thought that you might be, I don’t know, jealous?” Joshua asks from your kitchen as he whips up two eggs for the both of you. Joshua came as soon as you called, and you sat down at your kitchen island to tell him the story while he went into your kitchen to cook you some comfort food.

“Yes! That’s the conclusion I came up with-”

“Oh thank fucking God. I was wondering how long it was gonna take for one of you to realize that you both like-”

“That I’m jealous of the fact that Minji might take my place! Like, I’m pretty much one of the only girls in his life aside from his mom and his sister, so I feel threatened! Especially because Vernon has never been on a date in the duration of our friendship. That’s why I’m jealous. It makes perfect sense.” You finish, taking a large gulp of your green tea. Joshua stares at you, realizing how stupid you are. 

“Uh, you okay Shua? Your eye is like… twitching…” You point out, and he raises a hand up to his eye, letting out a small exasperated chuckle.

“I’m fine…” He responds, realizing that his two best friends are fucking idiots. I didn’t introduce the two of them to each other in freshman year of high school JUST for them to stay best friends god DAMN IT. He thinks to himself, placing the finished eggs on each of your plates.

Joshua walks over to your kitchen island, sitting down on the stool and handing you your plate. You mutter a small “Thank you, Shua.” then you both begin to eat, seemingly ignoring the subject to focus on filling your empty stomachs.

Also because Joshua thought he was gonna explode if he spent another second discussing it.

Actually no he’s gonna say ONE LAST THING.

“Do you really think you’re jealous of that? Like, do you really think-”

“Yes! It makes the most sense Shua, what else would I be jealous about-”

“Maybe because you have feelings for Vernon that you’ve been suppressing all these years due to the fear that he might not reciprocate them?” He suggests, turning to glance at your reaction.

You freeze at his words, staring down at the yolk oozing out of the egg onto your rice. You can’t help but feel like you’ve been caught, but you haven’t been caught? Because it’s not true… right? it’s true.

“That’s not true.” You mean to say this confidently, but you mutter it so quietly that even Joshua has a hard time being able to understand what you said.

“What?”

“It’s not true!” You announce, feeling more upset and sick by the minute. Joshua can’t help but feel guilty, but he knows that this conversation is important or else you’ll always hold in these feelings.

“Yn, you know that it’s true.” He says softly, and you let out a shaky breath, “I’m scared.” Joshua cocks his head to the side, confused as to why you’d be scared.

“Why?” He asks, and you bite your lip. You turn your head and give him a small smile, feeling tears flood your eyes.

“Because if I say it, then it’s true. It’ll be out there. It won’t be the secret I’ve been hiding since I was nineteen, the day he got me cotton candy at the store for no reason, simply because he knew it’s my favorite.” You answer honestly, wiping away the stray tears that fell. 

“I knew it then. That was the day I really knew my feelings weren’t just adoration and love because we were close friends. It was because I really did love him. I had a feeling that what I was feeling towards him wasn’t really… normal in friendships. That I was actually developing feelings for him, but I always just pushed it back.” You explain, avoiding eye contact with Joshua. He stays quiet beside you, and you anxiously shove two spoonfuls of egg and rice in your mouth. 

“Why don’t you tell him? If you don’t say anything now then it’ll be too late-”

“It already is too late Joshua! He’s already on a date with a girl he’s been interested in for awhile. I,” You sigh, taking in another shaky breath before continuing. “I haven’t told him or tried to initiate anything because I didn’t wanna ruin our friendship either. It’s so cheesy and like the most generic excuse someone could give for falling for their best friend, but it’s true! If he doesn’t feel the same, and I confess how I feel, then it all just gets awkward. We won’t go back to how we used to be.”

You shove the last spoonful of rice and egg in your mouth, standing up with your plate to go and wash it. Joshua watches you with sad eyes as you aggressively start soaping up your plate and silverware.

“I just,” you turn off the faucet and place your hands on the counter, gripping it to keep you in place. “The day that him and I kissed? Just for the sake of us having our first kiss? It taunts me. I didn’t even like him at that time, but the memory is like a slap in the face. It was hard to not fall in love with him, I still failed at that though, right?” 

Joshua lets out an agitated sigh, “I have to tell you something-”

“No, don’t say that he loves me too. Don’t give me false hope like that Shua, it’s too late anyways.” You tell him, turning and giving him a sad smile. 

“But it’s not! He’s literally crazy about you yn!” You open your mouth to object, only to be cut off by a knock on your door. Joshua gives you a look as if to say, were you expecting someone? To which you give him a look that means, no, I didn’t.

Joshua walks over to look through your peephole to see who’s at the door, only for his eyes to widen when he sees Vernon waiting on the other side. He turns to look at you, motioning for you to come over. You wipe your wet hands on your kitchen towel before walking over. Eyes immediately widening when you see Vernon through the peephole.

“Yn? Are you home?” He calls, and you let out a small squeak. 

“Alright, I’m coming in anyways.” He responds, taking out your spare key from his pocket. Joshua turns to look at you with wide eyes and you give him a panicked look.

“He has your keys?!” He whispers as you both run to your kitchen to act as if you didn’t hear Vernon.

“Of course he has my keys! I have your guys’ key too!” You whisper back, frantically turning on the sink. Joshua shoves the last of the rice in his mouth before walking over to your side to act as if he was helping you wash dishes.

“You have our keys?!” He whisper shouts and you swat his arm, muttering that this is not the problem at hand.

“Yn?” Vernon calls as he steps in, noticing another pair of shoes beside your door.

“In the kitchen with Joshua!” You call back and Vernon nods his head, placing the bag of store bought goods on your kitchen island.

“Yall hung out without me?” He asks with a pout, and you almost giggle out a response before Joshua beats you to it.

“You were on a date anyways Vernon, we wouldn’t want to fourth wheel.” He teases, but Vernon notices the slight edge in his tone that you’re unable to.

“By the way, how was the date?” You ask, trying to ignore the pang in your heart as soon as the question leaves your mouth. He shrugs, sitting on one of the stools in front of your kitchen island.

 “Kinda disappointing I guess? It wasn’t a proper fit, her and I.” Vernon says, and you scold yourself for feeling a twinge of hope.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” You respond, and Joshua nudges you. You turn and look at him, and he gives you a look that basically means, TELL HIM YOU LOVE HIM BEFORE I DO! You glare back at him, shaking your head NO!

“So now you guys are speaking in code too? Damn, what did I miss in those two hours.” Vernon jokes. 

“If you don’t do it, I will. I’m tired of seeing you two act like you’re not hurting.” Joshua whispers and you glare at him. “You wouldn’t dare Joshua Hong-”

“Yn is in love with you Vernon.” Your mouth drops open when the sentence leaves his mouth, and so does Vernon’s mouth. 

My god he really done diddly dared.

“N-no I don’t.” You sputter, turning off the sink and wiping your hands on the kitchen towel.

“Yes she does. She’s been pushing her feelings away this whole time. Also, yn,” Joshua says, turning around to face you. 

“Vernon’s been in love with you since you both had your first kiss when it was snowing. I’ll be taking my leave now, please use protection if this newfound information takes you to that route once I leave. Love you! Update me later!” Joshua says, waving goodbye as he leaves your apartment. 

Leaving you and Vernon to just stand there, staring at each other with wide eyes and warmth rushing tp your faces. You look down at the kitchen floor, unsure of what to do now that your feelings are literally out and about, but you know that what you had feared didn’t come true.

because vernon loves you.

“I uh,” Vernon starts, coughing into his arm before continuing, “bought us cotton candy ice cream to eat? We can eat it while we talk if you want?” 

You feel your heart melt at the fact that he bought your favorite ice cream flavor in the world on his way home, so you nod your head. You grab two bowls and two spoons, placing them on the kitchen island. Vernon scoops out the pink and purple colored ice cream into each bowl. Once he’s done, you place the tub in the freezer, and you both head towards your couch. 

He sits down, and you sit down beside him. For the first few minutes, you both kinda just sit there eating your ice cream. In those few minutes, you’re both having an internal battle in your minds.

Until you break the silence and turn to him, causing him to look back at you, spoon in his mouth and all.

“I love you. I’ve loved you for years, I just didn’t accept it until now.” You state, but he’s staring at the small dribble of ice cream at the corner of your lip. He reaches out and brushes it off with his thumb, before bringing his thumb back to his mouth to suck off the ice cream. 

“D-did you hear what I just said?” You stutter, currently a panicking mess at the previous move he pulled even though he’s done it countless of times before. It’s different now.

“Yes, and I’m currently losing my marbles internally over that because I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.” He says, giving you a small nervous smile. He places his bowl on your coffee table, taking your bowl as well and placing it beside his. Now that your hands are empty, he grasps them, giving them a small squeeze.

“I knew from the moment you closed your eyes, waiting for me to kiss you as the snow fell around us, that I was in love with you. I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed in my eighteen years of living at that time, and I still think that you are the most beautiful, precious person that I have been blessed to have in my life.” Vernon confesses, and you feel an intense rush of warmth flood to your cheeks as he stares into your eyes with the most genuine look you’ve ever seen on him.

“I love you, yn. I’ve loved you since we were eighteen. I went on that date with Minji today because I thought I could try and get over you that way, which is dumb I know, don’t need to tell me twice. I just, fuck. When we were at the restaurant, I’d look at her, right,” He makes a hand motion as if he was looking through a pair of binoculars and you let out a giggle.

“And I would wish that she was you. That’s why the date didn’t work out, because she and I didn’t fit. I can’t try and date someone else when all I wish is for them to be you.” Vernon says and you bite the inside of your cheek, feeling your heart pang against your chest. You squeeze his hands, and he lets out a small laugh.

“That being said, will you go on a date with me?” Vernon asks, and you smile, nodding your head softly.

“I’d love to.” You answer and he gives you a big smile, opening his arms and pulling you in them. You wrap your arms around his waist, hearing his loud heartbeat against his chest. He presses a kiss to the top of your head, smiling happily.

“I love you.” He whispers and you let out a small squeal, making him laugh. You raise your head up from his shoulder, looking into his deep brown eyes.

“I love you too.” You whisper back, closing your eyes and pressing a kiss to his lips. He responds right away, squeezing your hips softly. He lets a smile break loose, making you smile as well until the kiss is just teeth clashing. You pull away, laying your head in the crook of his neck once again. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that again since the first time. Jesus Christ, it’s been four years since we had our first kiss.” He mutters and you laugh, lifting your head up again so that you’re facing each other. 

“Can I kiss you again?” Vernon asks and you smile.

“You don’t have to ask if you can kiss me silly.”

“Of course I have to! I need to respect women!”

“Oh my God, your mind.”

meanwhile...

Joshua is at his apartment, playing his guitar quietly. He’s at peace knowing that all is well and his ship has finally sailed happily.

“I better be his best man for pulling that one.” Joshua mutters to himself, smiling at the prospect that you and Vernon are finally together. 

All because of ME BABY! All ME!

JOSHUA FIRST WIN!

[weuschoiceheart]

Theory: Drunk-Dazed + Connections to Gfriend and TXT Universe

Based on this theory by @soyatenada + my own connections to Gfriend’s mv

Because my big brain has finally been activated (thank you soy bene) and I’m obsessed with analyzing pieces of music, here we go:

Last chorus of “Apple” —

“Dream the red dream, endless and deep Let rise the shimmering light of destruction Don’t agonize, let go the timid child Take me, the endless witching hour descends”

The “red dream” = blood, a.k.a taking vampire blood. We’ll come back to the dream part later, because that’s important. But the red here, in my opinion, represents both blood and the apple, saying “temptation can lead to consequences.” Or if you want to be simple, it can just mean blood as in vampires. And this is also the color of the drink that Sunoo is holding in the teaser...

“shimmering light of destruction” - leading Enhypen to their destruction

“Don’t agonize, let go of the timid child”- this can symbolize them telling Enhypen to let go of their old selves, surrender themselves to another being that’s more powerful and controlling. They were scared before, trapped as children in the orphanage, but having trust in their friends (if we’re going with evil Sunoo and protective Jake theory) and following this temptation of theirs gives them a chance to shed that timid self and become confident and powerful. The “don’t agonize” part is kind of ironic, since it’s a contrast to how they will feel pain after getting bitten. Of course, it can just be false words to tempt them to become vampires.

“Take me, the endless witching hour descends” - I can see it from two perspectives: Enhypen as in them saying “take us, take everything (*cough* familiar lyrics anyone?) OR it can represent the apple/Gfriend telling them to take the path to destruction. And as I mentioned before in Bene’s post, the witching hour is when they finally crossed the line to vampire land (and yes, pun very much intended).

So....you might be wondering, well ok, that’s Gfriend’s pov, but how about Enhypen’s? And why do they use the “dream” and why does that even matter? How does it all come together?

*takes a deep breath* Grab a bucket of popcorn, because this is gonna be hella long, and I might be stretching some points, but I think this goes beyond bigger than just the Enhypen universe. It connects to both Gfriend’s and Txt’s as well (and possibly BTS’, though I need more information and research on that).

Firstly, let’s look at the lyrics from the drunk-dazed teaser (This is just a rough translation from what I’ve learned in Korean, with a little help from Google Translate. I’m not fluent in Korean, so please correct me if the translations are wrong!):

“Dazed, dazed, dazed / Dance, dance, dance / Eh, I wake you up / Eh, burn my heart / Eh, fill up my dream”

Ok, let’s break it down. There’s two main points in these lyrics alone that I feel is crucial to understanding the whole universe in general.

“Dance, dance, dance” are lyrics that also appear repeatedly in the pre-chorus and post-chorus of Gfriend’s “Apple,” further strengthening my point about the link between the two songs/groups. In this context, it can illustrate the carnival itself — a huge event meant to conceal a darker secret. The sirens, or Gfriend, want the boys to keep dancing, having fun, slowly pulling them into their trap. Again, another example of temptation luring them in.

Also, in Gfriend “Mago” they also talk about “dancing in this moment” and “my life has been waiting for you”....I have a feeling that this somehow connects to Enhypen’s next comeback...but for now, let’s just leave it here because I don’t have enough evidence to support my reasoning yet.

“I wake you up / burn my heart / fill up my dream” — In a broader sense, this can be Enhypen waking up their “other half,” a side they never shown before, as they transition to vampires. But let’s delve deeper into the last line “fill up my dream” because that’s where everything sort of fall into place (it’s more of a jumble of puzzle piece that clashes and mashed up, but I’m going to try to piece it out).

Enhypen has mentioned this “dream” before, in “Cross the Line” - “If I wake from dreamless sleep. May tomorrow begin like a dream.”

This “dream” is also referenced in one of Shakespeare sonnets, whose lines are used in “Outro: Wormhole.” The lyrics are “And yet when most I wink / Then do mine eyes best see.”  I’m not going to paste the whole sonnet here, but in short, the sonnet talks about longing and dreaming. This line in colloquial terms means “But when I’m asleep / I see the best.” This can illustrate how they see the best when dreaming, and relating to the sonnet, they see “you” in their dreams. Whoever this “you” is, it’s important to them.

(Oh my god, I just got an idea of how this can also connect to their idol life as well, but Imma make that into another post instead because my brain is about to explode.)

(I got these lyrics from Genius, and some engenes there also analyze the Shakespeare language that Enhypen used in Intro: The Invitation. I might make another theory about how the sonnet in that song connects to the Outro, but I don’t want to confuse y’all so I’m sticking to the “dream” aspect in this post. If you want to see the translation and the theory, here you go)

So this dream of Enhypen’s is important to them, and the carnival seem to trigger the dream again for them. As we can see from “Cross the Line,” they want their tomorrow to be dreamlike, because their today was dull. I feel like their journey can be divided into two parts: the dull, gray, timid life of theirs in the orphanage, where they’re under the control of someone else. And then there’s the wild, fantasy-like, vampire transition, where they’re thrown into this dream-like atmosphere, and they are still being controlled, but they can’t resist it.

Now let’s go back to the line in Gfriend’s song, “Dream the red dream, endless and deep.” They want Enhypen to keep dreaming. And them becoming vampires represent that they are currently in that dream of blood.

So, ok, they’re happily living this dream of theirs. But a dream is still fake, a false distortion of reality. So...what’s reality?

Here’s where I’m kind of stretching it a bit, and this might even sound crazy (I’m already crazy so it doesn’t matter). I got this idea from @hseungsteeth, when Beanie mentioned how even it’s a prince concept, it looks futuristic. And the Down and Hype versions of the concept photos....I think they represent the reality, the opposite of this dream of theirs. We see the car crash, the red lights and gangster like outfits, so it makes me wonder: what if they want to live in this dream to escape reality? Are they living in a dystopian world where people get hurt constantly and are attacked by creepy clowns and skulls (objects from the Hype teaser videos)? I don’t have a solid claim for this yet, but I like the idea of dream and reality, two things that we also see in TXT’s videos.

Alright, this is where I try my best to link this to TXT. I think TXT has their own storyline, that differs from Enhypen, but the part where the two meet is in their depictions of dream and reality. I’m not going to go in depth into TXT’s theories, but we can see how Soobin can hear the calling of danger in magic island, how Beomgyu (I think it was Beomgyu? Or it was Soobin again) saw the images through the practice mirror, their dream of “running away” portrayed by the concept of Harry Potter. TXT also want to escape reality, because in their dream, they’re with their friends again, they’re are accepted for who they are (ex: in Crown, they realize they are not a monster just because they have horns on their head. They accept it as their “crown” and will wear it like the kings they are), and they can just be themselves. But these dreams are short, as we can see from “Blue Hour,” where Beomgyu is once again left alone after that blissful hour passes.

And these dreams come with danger too. In both Enhypen’s and TXT’s universes, we see the danger of getting marked and transition into vampires, we see the fires that can burn down that magic island. So, how can they save their dream, and confront reality?

[igiveyoumyblood]

Dimension: Dilemma First Look

ENHYPEN have been releasing a steady stream of teasers and concept videos for their upcoming album ‘Dimension: Dilemma’, which have been a mix of exciting, confusing, and enlightening.

Although I (and others) need a lot more research and content from the album before making more solid guesses, here is some information/key things to note about the content we have so far (including the Whiteout MV).

I will also note that intros and outros are VERY important to the ENHYPEN storyline, and Whiteout is no exception.

The album itself; name, versions etc.

Literal entering of a new dimension.

Although myths (especially Greek) have been referenced in the ENHYPEN storyline before, this brings them to the forefront.

Specifically, the Odyssey and Scylla + Charybdis, which is a symbol of picking the lesser evil, taking a gamble, and needing to make sacrifices to gain anything. It’s an epic, which is also about a voyage with certain steps/monsters to overcome, which has inspired other texts such as Narnia’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The stylisation of the name ‘Dimension: Dilemma’ includes a mirrored ‘mm’ on the word ‘Dilemma’, which mirrors the idea of, well, mirrors, which in turn relate to entering a new world, mirror dimensions, different selves, the inner self, and different versions of things, etc.

The album, especially the Whiteout lyrics/MV, discuss the idea of needing to give and take, which relates back to the beginning of their journey in I-Land and during the Border: Day One promotions = cyclical structure.

Content of the Whiteout MV/Lyrics

Describes a new world which they are in + blinded by. This is the new world they travelled to through the Wormhole at the end of Border: Carnival, which is probably representative of the wider kpop world.

Describes the lesser of two evils = a choice between the two monsters, but also possibly a choice between the Queen from the ‘Drunk-Dazed’ MV and some other entity?

A heavy emphasis on sacrifice and needing to sacrifice to gain (a common theme in their storyline).

The wormhole which can lead to a new world, but can also swallow you.

Need to go against the odds.

Brings back the motif of needing to run.

A new quest - fame and fortune? Or power and happiness?

Describes a futile effort (hence the need to go against the odds etc).

Dreams vs reality.

Key things to note about the audio teasers which have been released on Instagram etc.

Scylla sounds which are; coins/tokens clinking, glass clinking, and the sound of sea monsters. All are obviously related to being in ships and the idea of gaining something, but also of needing to sacrifice to gain. The tokens are related to this, as they are a method of payment but possibly also carry a curse. Additionally, they reference a coin flip, which will determine whether or not the heroes will survive against their monster. The tokens also have a similar design to those seen with the Queen from the ‘Drunk-Dazed’ MV.

The Charybdis sounds are a bit harder to understand. One seems to be someone writing on parchment, which obviously connects to being on a ship + making plans, but I’m not sure what else. One is cicada and insect sounds which possibly related to them being in a new world and on an idillic island. The last is a mechanical sound, which reminds me of a camera but could be something else? If it is a camera, it would likely relate to ‘storing’ experiences, which relates to the awe of being in a wide new world.

Symbols/motifs

Coin/token

The island and wormhole.

Sacrifice, give or take, lesser evil etc

Ship, paper etc

Wealth/royalty/throne/power etc

Cyclical stories

[dumbfuck-mojave]

Companions React to Sole With Talkative Bird: Part 1

This is part one of a single ask. I just wanted to split it up since it would be long af otherwise. This react includes: Codsworth, Curie, Cait along with a short pre-war intro. Warnings for this part: Swearing (obviously) and brief mention of Cait’s drug abuse in one sentence. 

This was such a hilarious request how could I not start it (almost) immediately. Also, thank you for the request! If you enjoyed, feel free to request more!

For context, I did “two parts” to each react: A part where the companions first meet Sole and their bird and another general reaction to it being so talkative.  They aren’t exactly split up in a sense but I hope you get what I’m saying. I also didn’t really have a set focus on how long the certain “parts” were going to be so yeahhh 😅.

As the sirens blared, Sole looked helplessly around the house. 

“Sole, come on!” Their spouse yelled frantically, holding a fussing Shaun in their arms. But another fussing was heard from the room the two lovers shared. It would never be allowed, but Sole couldn’t just leave him there. Bolting to the room, they hurriedly unlocked the large cage in the corner, holding their hand out so their precious bird could climb on. 

“I don’t mean to rush but you three must hurry and go now!” Codsworth said, it almost sounded like there was a bit of nervousness in his tone. Sole rushed out into the living room once more. They looked at Codsworth.

“Codsworth, stay safe.” Sole said solemnly as their spouse rushed them to the door, somehow  either missing the bird or choosing to ignore it.

“Babe, they will never let you bring him in.” Sole’s spouse said as they ran up the hill.

“We already had to leave Codsworth, I couldn’t leave Comet too. He was screaming so loud, I just had too. I'll find a way to hide him, I’m sure of it. “

Astonishingly, Sole did find a way to hide the bird during the journey through Vault 111. Comet had to have appeared on the life monitor, but it was no use worrying about now,  were Sole’s thoughts as they lost their last slivers of consciousness. 

Sole was so grateful Comet managed to survive being cryogenically frozen and unfrozen twice, because after what they had seen, he was the only thing that was keeping them grounded. Stumbling their way through the now deserted Vault, bright light blinded them as they were brought to the surface after more than 200 years.

Codsworth: “Sole, you’re back!”, Codsworth shouted gleefully as he saw Sole walking towards Sanctuary, Comet perched on their shoulder.

“Hello Codsworth.”, Sole seemed to be in a dazed state as they continued to look around what was once a lively, vibrant neighborhood. 

“Well then, it’s to see you again! Comet is with you as well! Oh, that’s wonderful! May I ask, where are <spouse> and young master Shaun? They mustn’t be late for dinner.... Again. You do know how your spouse loved to take Shaun on walks. I remember-”

“Codsworth, please. Did you see them? The people that took Shaun? They must have passed through here right?”

“Oh, you always were a jokester, weren’t you? Unless…. You’re serious? Oh heavens!” Codsworth waved his arms around frantically, “Then what has happened to your dear spouse?”

“They’re dead, Codsworth. I need to go find out who killed them, and find Shaun. Do you know of anywhere that could help me?”

“Well, there is the town of Concord over the bridge. It’s a bit of a walk but you may be able to find some help there.”

“Ok, that’s where I’ll start. I just- I think I need to sit down for a moment.” Sole suddenly gasped, gently holding their hand to their chest. Comet snuggled his beak into the side of their head.

“Gracious, come inside at once.” Codsworth led them into their pre-war house and sat them down on the couch, “I will try to find you something to fill your stomach, not eating for two hundred years must have left you famished!”

Sole blankly stared down. How could this be? Had it really been 200 years? Who had taken Shaun? And why? So many questions rushed through their mind as Comet made his way from their shoulder to their open hands. 

“Hey!” Comet chirped and whistled, looking up and Sole. Sole looked up at Comet with glistening eyes, weakling lifting their free hand to pet him on the head. After a few moments, Comet hopped off and flew into the back of the house. 

“Um, mum/sir? I do apologize, but I can’t quite seem to find anything that would give you a full meal.” Codsworth floated back into the house and hovered in front of Sole, “Are you okay?”

Sole looked up, startled and focusing on the present once more, “That’s okay Codsworth. Thank you for trying anyways.” 

“I think your spouse was planning on giving this to you as a gift before everything happened.” Codsworth extended his claw to drop a holotape in Sole’s hand.”, My protocol prevents me from listening to it, but I think it’s a message for you.” 

Sole flipped the tape over in their hands, running their pointer finger along the ridged edge. Hi Honey was written in slanted handwriting on a small piece of paper attached to one side, a few ink spots splattered around it. Sole’s hands tightened around it as they felt more sobs grow in their chest. Whatever they were going to do after that was interrupted by Comet flying back into the room, landing on the scratched-up island in the middle of the kitchen. Comet jumped up and down, aggressively shaking his favorite toy: A small ball with a bell trapped inside it. Both Codsworth and Sole stared at him. 

“I always told you you never should have gotten that for him. He went on and on with that thing during the night.” Codsworth sighed exasperatedly. Oh, of course Codsworth remembered Comet from before the war. Comet was with Sole long before Codsworth was, so they’ve known each other  since the day Codsworth was booted up. 

What he did not expect was how talkative the bird was going to be. Comet always seemed to be saying something and at first Codsworth thought Comet was going to only say compliments and affections. Whether Comet was complimenting Sole while on their shoulder or talking to Sole’s spouse through the cage, it was always the sweetest little things. He even complimented Codsworth, calling him “Pretty Codsy” as he perched on one of Codsworth’s eyes. Sole told Codsworth Comet probably picked it up from them calling him Codsy offhandedly and Comet’s preference for compliments. It’s not like Codsworth minded, it even gave him a small boost of confidence being complimented so frequently. 

But Comet had a preference for something else. One day, while  Codsworth was cleaning the living room, Comet flew in and promptly called Codsworth a “Fucking rustbucket”. Codsworth stopped in shock the same way he did when one of the neighbor's called him that earlier that day. It was probably where he learned such a vile saying. From that point forward, Codsworth slowly learned to deal with it. Comet was just repeating phrases he had heard, no matter if it was vicious insults or heartfelt compliments. And even though he would never admit it, Codsworth did feel some joy after hearing Comet tell a raider to fuck off.

Curie: When Comet flew past the window into Curie’s room, she almost couldn’t believe it.

“Is that an African Grey Parrot?” Curie asked in her gentle voice and she moved to the window, “How did such a thing ever get down here?”

“Is someone in there?” Sole’s voice echoed down the hall as Comet flew back and sat on their head. 

“Oh! A human! Finally. I have been waiting so long for you to come.” Curie gasped, “Please tell me you are authorized to release me.” 

“I’m not a person from Vault-Tec. Why do you need me to release you, why can’t you do it yourself?” Sole asked. 

“I am not authorized to do so without written or verbal permission from a Vault-Tec representative. Are you authorized to release me? Please say yes.”

“Yes!” Comet harped on top of Sole’s head. Sole sighed exasperatedly while Comet looked down at them, waiting for a treat. Sole held up their arm so he could climb down on it and put a seed ball in their hand for him to grab.

“You now what? Whatever. I’m authorized to let you out. So you may come out.” Sole flatly said. 

“Oh this is great news indeed!” Curie replied eagerly,” I will open the door for you at once” 

As the door slid open, Curie held out a vial to Sole.

“I am pleased to report I finished all my duties 83 years ago. The molerats were infected with a variety of pathogens and this was made as a cure-all formula. Quite amazing, is it not? Do be careful where you use this though, as it is the only one left and I do not have the materials to make more.” 

“Alright, thank you!” Sole smiled as they took the cure. They had taken extra steps to prevent getting bitten by the rabid molerats travelling through the Vault and it worked. Now all they had to do was get it back to the main part and give it to Austin, “ Would you like to come with me back to the Vault?”

“I very much would, monsieur/madame. I haven’t been out of that room for ages.” 

“Let’s get going then.” Sole nodded, setting off towards the stairs.

As they were drawing close to the exit, Curie couldn’t help but stare and the bird perched on Sole’s shoulders. 

“May I ask where you got your bird? I have not seen one for a very long time and a healthy Parrot no less! You must take good care of them.”

“Oh!” Sole laughed, “I’ve been with this guy a long time. I’ve had him about five/six years now.”

“He seems to trust you very much. If it is possible, I would like to take a closer look at his habits when we get out of this place.” 

“You fucker!” Comet squawked as Curie finished her sentence. 

“Mon Dieu! That is so rude!” Curie puffed, hovering a few inches upward. 

“I’m sorry! He doesn’t mean anything by it, I think, he just repeats things he’s heard.” Sole faltered as Comet gleefully said fuck over and over, “ I may have a swearing problem to work on.”

“African Grey parrots are very intelligent, so it isn’t surprising that he picked up so many words.” Curie explained, “ Not to say that was called for.” 

“I swear, he’s a really sweet bird. Comet, you’re nice aren’t you?”Sole turned to their bird, “Come on, isn’t Curie nice?” 

“Very nice!”, Comet twittered, bouncing up and down, “Pretty voice, woo-hoo!” 

“Oh, why thank you! My vocal pattern and accent is unique to me, designed by one of the scientists that used to be here, Mr. Collins!”  

As talked about, Curie did examine Comet when they got back into Vault 81. Sole knew their bird was very much an attention hog and chuckled as Comet sat pridefully when Curie gently observed him. Comet took a liking to Curie fairly quickly and complimented her frequently. When she finally got her synth body, Comet immediately flew to her and snuggled his head against her cheek. Though she enjoyed the compliments, Comet would scream out a random curse word from time to time, startling Curie. She mostly was just excited there was a living, breathing parrot for her to interact and study with. 

Cait: “Holy fuck!” A raider screamed, right before choking on his own blood. 

As a gunfight started, Cait looked out of the metal cage to see a shadowed figure ripping apart raiders with an assault rifle. 

“Cait! Keep your head down!” Tommy whispered as he crouched in the corner.

“Oh shove off, you coward.”

“Yeah, bitch!”

Both Cait and Tommy looked at the bird that landed in the cage with confusion. Even more confusion followed when the shadowy figure stepped into the cage, the parrot immediately flying to them.  

“Hey, buddy! What’s the deal with you killing all my customers?” Tommy scoffed at Sole, who seemed mildly displeased that they had gotten so much blood on their skin.

“Um, I just saved your life. You should be grateful that those raiders didn’t start in-fighting before I got here.” 

“Yeah, bitch!”

“Comet, hush,” Sole rubbed their bird’s head with a calloused thumb, “What even is this place anyway?”

“Not from around these parts, huh? This, my bird whispering friend, is the Combat Zone.” Tommy opened his arms a bit at the now empty theater, “It was a raider fighting hotspot until you decided to clear the house.” 

The wheels turned in Tommy’s head and when he turned back around you could almost envision the light bulb popping up. Ding!

“So, you saw the end of my little bird’s fight, correct? How’d you like it?”

“God Dammit Tommy! I told you to stop calling me that.” 

“It was very impressive.” Sole turned towards Cait, “ You are a very capable fighter.”

Cait slapped her palms against her thighs, then up in the air, “Finally, someone with some appreciation.” 

“Listen, I might appreciate more if you didn’t keep plunging that junk into your arm. You’re high right now, aren’t you!” Tommy said angrily.

“Why do you care!? It helps me bring in the caps, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t matter how I do it!”

“It’s making you sloppy Cait!” Tommy said exasperatedly, “You know what? Let’s make a deal. Since I’m not bringing in any caps at the moment and you think Cait here is a capable fighter, why don’t you take her off my hands while I try to figure out a new business strategy.”

“Only if she agrees to it.” 

“She’ll agree to it once she figures out we got no audience, no caps, and no one else to talk to but me.” 

“Jesus, point taken,” Cait huffed, turning to Sole, “Let’s get out of here before I change my mind.” 

Once out on the road again, Cait started asking questions about Comet.

“So, where the hell did you get something like that?”

“Comet? Oh, I got him before the war.”

“You what?”

Sole smiled, “It’s a long story to be honest.” 

Comet jumped off of Sole’s shoulder onto their bag, reaching inside to grab at his bell. He started rattling it aggressively in Cait’s direction. 

“Oh, that means he likes you!” Sole piped in. 

“Well if you don’t quit that rattling I’m about to take that bell away from you.” Cait growled as the rattling got louder and faster.

Sole, not wanting to piss off Cait more, gently pried the bell from Comet’s beak and put it back in the bag. 

“You’re beautiful, woo-hoo!” Comet swayed back and forth on Sole’s arms, nodding his head to an imaginary beat. 

“Come on, Cait. He’s just trying to impress you.” Sole pushed, bobbing their arm up and down to match Comet’s dance. 

“The day I take a compliment from a critter is the day I give up the last shred of decency I have.”

Though it took awhile, Cait eventually got used to Comet’s presence. She would never show it, but she was actually a bit scared of him at first. The first time Comet got on her shoulder she nearly slapped him off out of fear, if it wasn’t for Sole swooping in and calming her down. But during her withdrawals, when she felt too nauseous to even stand up, Comet let her pet his head softly, crooning a soft tune. That changed something in Cait. Now you wouldn’t even know Cait was scared of birds at first, as she handles him like a pro. She still doesn’t like him, so don’t even think that *wink wink*. 

[justsome-di]

Flotsam and Jetsam

Wow I’m actually posting a story. Here’s something I wrote for class last semester. It’s an intro to my lesbian pirate and siren characters. Enjoy! Please be gentle! 

Syan began staring at the ocean after one month. She stood as close to the edge of the ship as Andy would let her. Her hands occasionally lay on the railing, fingers avoiding the splinters of wood that had pierced everyone a hundred times before. Other times, her arms hung limp by her side.

Her eyes were always distant—never focused on the horizon, Andy noticed. They were glassy until she called for her attention. Andy would take her hand—a thin, soft, slightly unhuman hand in a rough, small one—and lead her to a meal or to bed.

                                                            ***

Andy was always willing to fight any man who tried questioning her captaincy. She had rightfully earned her role when she took over the ship, killing her captain and having the crew swear their loyalty to her. She was merciless. She had no reservations about pulling her sword out on a fellow pirate. She denied any femininity—keeping her hair cut short and her figure built with muscle and splattered with scars. She was well-known and well-feared.

Yet, she couldn’t muster any malice to the siren she was cutting free.

The siren’s distressed screams had been heard from a mile away. Unable to bear the echoing cries that made the crew feel as though they were being driven mad, Andy ordered the ship to follow the screams. By a vacant island they found the creature withering in pain, tangled in a heavy net, on the rocks by the shore.

“Be gentle with her,” she ordered.

Two of her crew held the siren’s arms down while she cut away at the ropes.

Andy had never been so close to a siren before. In her younger days when she was just starting out on a ship, she had heard stories of attacks from her captain, Eli. He taught her almost everything he knew when he believed her to be a young boy. Once, he had told her, he barely plugged his ears with wax before sirens pulled half his shipmates overboard. He said that they were demonic things.

Andy always imagined they were ugly. According to the books she studied, their tails were twice as long as their torsos and when they pulled themselves out of the water, they transformed into legs. They could almost pass as humans, but their faces were still slightly wrong. Their irises were reflective slits—like cat eyes—and their teeth were sharp. Humans were only disillusioned by their songs that entranced them, making them see sirens as the epitome of beauty as they were pulled into the waters. Eli said he saw their true form in his sleep every night, taunting him.

But the siren they were helping didn’t look like those creatures. She had a gentle face, human eyes, and her teeth were round when they bared in pain. Her tail wasn’t quite as long as Andy had expected, but it was still an impressive length.

“You’re almost free,” Andy said, sawing more rope.

She was never fond of Eli. His words meant nothing to her now.

Blood ran from scales that had been torn away. It covered Andy’s hands and knife, and she imagined that if it weren’t approaching total darkness, they would see the shallow water turn red as well.

The last of the net fell away. The siren’s tail started weakly thumping against the rocks. She winced and pushed herself further down into the water. Andy took a step back.

“I think we can leave her—”

She stopped when the siren pulled herself back up on the rocks, letting out an agonizing scream. In place of a tail were human legs. In the dark, Andy could make out the gashes and scrapes. The siren looked up at her, her eyes helpless. She looked so small. She would probably stand taller than Andy, but she still wouldn’t live up to expectations of her species. Maybe sirens were always like that. The books could have been wrong. Or maybe this one was a runt, finally left behind by her pack.

Andy was ripped from her thoughts when a handkerchief was shoved in the siren’s mouth. Andy’s first mate, Tobi, yanked her head back from the force of tying the ends of the cloth behind her head.

“What are you doing?”

“Gagging her. If she can’t sing, we all stay alive.”

Andy wanted to protest. She wanted to point out that it seemed unnecessary. The siren was obviously in no shape. It might have seemed liked an elaborate plan of attack to the crew, but Andy couldn’t see any malice hidden under the vulnerability of the siren. She was proud of her intuition, and she wasn’t going to start going against her gut feelings over her crew thinking a weak siren could overpower them.

“Why do you think she’ll sing?” she asked.

“It’s just a precaution. She can take it off when we’re far enough away,” he said, glaring at the siren.

“We’re not leaving her here. She’s hurt,” Andy said. “She’ll be stuck here, and you all know that the Navy goes through these waters. If they find her—”

“She’ll lead them to us… I didn’t think of that.”

That wasn’t exactly what Andy was thinking. The Navy was infamous for their treatment of sirens. They had captured groups over the past decade and subjected them to cruel tests. No one knew exactly what happened behind closed doors, but it made Andy sick. There was no one she hated more than the Navy. They killed her own and had no mercy on anything else. They were committing genocide and covered it up with the excuse of science. All the Navy cared about was themselves and their paychecks. Maybe sirens wouldn’t be so notoriously violent if they weren’t hunted.

“And we don’t want another victory for the Navy,” Andy said. “They’ve had enough. If we leave her here, we’re basically handing her over.”

“So, we take her as our own prisoner.” Tobi smirked.

                                                          ***

Andy woke in the dead of night. The water was calm, and her room was pitch black. She fumbled for matches and grabbed the candlestick she kept by her bed. Her hands were clumsy from sleep, but she managed to strike the match and hold the flame to the wick.

The cot by her side was empty.

She pulled on boots and walked up to the deck.

Bathed in the moonlight, Syan was standing against the rails. Her hair blew behind her, tangling and knotting in the wind. As Andy walked closer, she could see how pale Syan’s cheeks were.

“Sy?”

Syan turned her head slowly. Her dark eyes were vacant. The air was cold. Andy hid a shiver.  

“Let’s go back to bed, yeah?”

She took Syan by the hand and gently tugged. Syan took a step with her. Then another. Then another.

                                                                ***

The siren had been carried to Andy’s quarters under her instruction.

“We can’t just dump her anywhere. It’ll take a while longer to get to land, but we need to make sure she’s off our boat.”

She paced around the deck, watching over the crew as they were brought back up to the ship and pulled up any evidence that they had been there. Tobi followed her.

“How far are you willing to go for this little siren?” he asked

“We can handle being at sea for a little longer than planned. It should be plenty of time to get her back.”

“Our supplies are low.”

“We won’t be out for that long. We can make everything stretch by at least another month. It’ll be cutting it close, but we can make it work.”

Tobi hummed. A few crewmen threw the soaking, tangled net on the deck. It hit the wood with a disgusting splat. Andy wrinkled her nose.

“I’m sure it won’t be too difficult,” she said. “I’ll make peace with her, let her know we’re only interested in getting on with our own lives. Maybe she knows where her… pack went. We’ll spend maybe a week or two with her.”

“I’d be careful,” Tobi said. “If you keep these men at sea for too long, they’ll turn on you.”

He began laughing. Andy forced a smile, suddenly feeling cold.

***

Andy didn’t like to think that her morals aligned with empathy, but there was something about Syan that made Andy feel like she was staring at herself from years ago. She was raised in a Puritan community, stuffed into stiff, heavy black dresses, forced to read the Bible and attend church. Her father left for the sea often, transporting merchandise back and forth across Europe. Occasionally, she was allowed on the ship for brief moments before being reminded of her womanly duties by her aunt and pulled back into their house.

When Eli had learned that she was a woman after forcibly stripping her clothes away, she imagined sirens returning before he had a chance to kill her. In a daze as his calloused fingers scraped at her skin, she thought of a siren’s song drifting to his quarters and lifting him away. He would forget Andy and follow the song into a siren’s arms, succumbing to the icy water as it filled his lungs. His water-bloated body would be left to the dark ocean floor. But sirens never appeared, so Andy grabbed the gun he kept by his bed.

Andy had adjusted to her new captaincy quicker than she had expected. It wasn’t an intentional coup, she insisted, but she didn’t let the crew forget that she—a woman—had killed Eli so easily. She couldn’t feel sorry knowing it would have been her dead body dropped over railings if she hadn’t made such a hasty decision. She gained respected, but she also felt isolated.

Syan laid in her cot, staring at Andy from across the room. Andy recognized the vacant eyes.

                                                            ***

“I’ll take the gag off if you promise to keep quiet,” Andy said.

The siren nodded. She sat on Andy’s bed, legs dangling over the edge. Her bare toes brushed against wood floor. She wore a shirt from Andy’s wardrobe. The hems didn’t reach her wrists as they should have, and the shoulders were tight as the rest was baggy.

Andy untied the handkerchief from behind the siren’s head. She tossed it aside and dropped to her knees, taking the siren’s right ankle. Her calloused fingers prodded the soft, damaged legs, careful to avoid the rope burns and deep cuts.

“Please don’t hurt me,” the siren whispered.

Andy looked up at her. Her throat must have been raw for her voice was rough from the screaming. Her hands, also blemished with tiny scratches, clutched the edge of the mattress. Her face was ashen, and her breathing was quick.

"I won’t,” Andy said. She took a moment before she said, “so you can talk?”

The siren nodded.

“Do you have a name?”

The siren stared at her. Her eyes were wide, and she trembled.

“Syan.”

Andy grabbed a handkerchief and bottle of rum from her nightstand.

“I’m Andy. I’m the captain—you know what a captain is, right? I’m in command here.”

Syan nodded. Andy dampened the handkerchief with rum and kneeled back down to Syan’s legs. She examined the gashes again. They weren’t too deep. Blood was starting to clot on the cuts on her calves and red trails were left behind from the blood that ran from her scraped knees. Andy pressed the rag to a dark slice.

Syan whined and jerked her leg. Andy kept a tight grip on her ankle.

“Where did you come from?” Andy asked. “Where’s your family?”

It was the best she could do to keep Syan distracted.

“I’m lost. I was separated from my choir.”

That was another thing Andy could make a note of about sirens. They traveled in choirs. Not schools like fish or packs like wolves. She dabbed another wound with the alcohol-rag.

“I’m not as strong as the others,” Syan said. “I never have been. I don’t fare well in dangerous waters.”

“Where did you see them last?”

“I don’t know.” Syan took a deep breath and rolled her ankle, obviously trying to find some comfort from the stinging. “I didn’t think we were in dangerous waters, but your Navy showed up—”

“Wait. First, they’re not my Navy,” Andy snapped.

“You’re all humans. They belong to you.”

“Second, how much do you know about them? And humans?”

“More than you think. Your Navy—”

“The Navy.”

“The Navy has been invading our homes for decades. We’ve learned enough to stay away from them—from all humans—but they’ve been sailing deeper into our waters. We have islands that we know are usually safe, but they were along that shore tonight.”

“Was that their net you were in?”

Syan nodded. Andy scrubbed at her left knee.

"I’m not sure if the rest of my choir got away in time.” Syan’s voice was strained as Andy continued scrubbing and dousing the handkerchief in more rum.

“You’re not leading a Navy ship to us, are you? That’d be bad for all of us. We can help you find your family—choir—as long as you don’t start any trouble.”

“I don’t think it’s me that we should be worry about starting trouble.”

“Well, it’s not us that you have to worry about. There’s two types of humans on the sea: there’s the Navy and there’s pirates. Which one tried to kill you?”

Andy grabbed Syan’s legs and pulled them up to the bed, forcing Syan to turn until she was lounging, supporting herself on her elbows. The rational side of her said that Syan was just scared. The more dominant—aggressive—part of her that lead her to fights said that Syan was stubborn and unappreciative of the help.

“Sleep here for the night. We’ll find out what to do with you in the morning—even if it means throwing you back out in the water.”

                                                            ***

“How long are we going to keep her?” Tobi asked.

They were mapping out a new route. They sat at his desk, a map spread in front of them and a bottle of rum between them. Patches of sea had been circled and crossed out in messy ink. Corks and broken pens represented where they suspected the Navy of being.

Andy shrugged. “For as long as we need to.”

“You said a couple weeks.” Tobi leaned forward in his chair. “We need to return to land soon. Our supplies are running out.”

“I know.”

“And we’re wasting our time running around the ocean looking for creatures that might kill us or might be dead.”

Andy struggled to not scream. They didn’t have much time or supplies to spare. She knew that she was asking a lot of the crew, but she tired of reminding them every day that she was the captain. She was in charge.

She was exhausted. Her nights for over a month had been spent finding Syan out of bed, and her days had been spent arguing with the crew more than usual.

“Don’t worry about what I’m planning,” she said.

“We’re going to attract the Navy. It’s not safe.”

“We’re not attracting the Navy any more than we usually do.”

“And what if we run into them? And they find that we’re harboring a siren?”

“We’ll deal with it.”

“They’ll kill all of us.”

Andy slammed her fist on the table. Tobi didn’t budge.

“Do you really think I haven’t thought this through?” she said. “And are you really so scared of the Navy now?”

“No. But if they’ve been showing up where they shouldn’t be—”

"They’re going to always be showing up where they don’t belong. When have they ever stayed close to the continent?”

“Things are changing. Why are we risking our own lives to help a siren?”

Andy’s face burned. She had become protective of Syan over the months. There was nothing she could think of that would justify throwing any siren back into the water at this point. Especially if the siren was Syan. Sirens didn’t travel alone well, and Syan struggled even more. To dump her off, she would definitely be dead within a day.

“If you’re questioning my orders, you don’t have to be on this ship,” she snapped. “We can find a nice piece of ocean to drop you off in. Are you questioning my orders?”

Tobi clenched his jaw. His hands were balled in fists in his lap. He shook his head.

“Then why are we having problems?” Andy asked.

“We aren’t.”

Andy stood. “Good.”

She turned on her heel and left.  

                                                            ***

Andy didn’t wait for Syan to wake up before looking at her legs again.

She pulled the blankets away and sat on the edge of the bed. Syan gasped, and her eyes snapped open. Andy could see the damage better with the sunlight streaming down the stairs.

Syan’s legs were already scarring. There were permanent depressions and discoloration developing where the net had dug into her flesh.

Syan sat up.

“It’s not bad,” Andy said. “Do sirens heal fast?”

Syan nodded.

Andy wondered what her tail would look like. Scales could be lost forever. Maybe her tail fin would be torn.

“It hurts,” Syan said. Her hands went to her thighs.

“You’ll be fine.”

Syan traced a gouge that ran up to her hip. “Am I your prisoner?”

Andy looked to the ground. Her boots were dirty and stained from the seawater.

“No,” she said.

“Are you letting me go?”

“No.”

Syan pulled her legs to her chest. Her hand covered a rope burn on her shin.

“We’re keeping you for a while,” Andy said. “We don’t want you to draw attention to us if you’d be struggling in waters next to us. And, if you’d like, we can try to help you find your choir.”

Syan nodded. “Thank you.”

“Don’t think that we’re doing this to be kind. We’re just stuck with you, and we’re trying to deal with it.”

Syan curled up a little more. “How do I know you’re not hunters? What if you find my choir and then—”

“We’re not the Navy. Unless you give us a reason to, we won’t hurt you. What would we even do with you if we killed you?”

“Sell us to the Navy.”  

“That’s a great idea. A ship of pirates selling a siren to the Navy. We’d be hanged with you. Find some pants. Get dressed, and come up on the deck. We’re putting you to work.”

                                                            ***

Andy found Syan on the deck in the moonlight again.

They sat together, watching the small waves approach the ship before feeling the gentle rocking.

                                                            ***

Weeks passed without any change.

Syan told the navigator everything she knew about the travel patterns of her choir, but nothing ever helped. They sailed as close as they dared to areas they knew were always occupied by the Navy. Andy grew anxious about that and put an end to it.

The crew was impatient. Andy had taken to staying by Syan’s side everywhere they went in fear that the men would throw her overboard. Or kill her. Or hold her hostage. Or harm her in any other way. Andy had threatened them in every way possible, but she also feared that they would grow to hate Syan more than they feared Andy if they stayed on the water too long.

Syan’s legs fully healed, but ugly scars still remained where the net had strangled them. Andy had caught Syan examining them when they were alone.

When tempers calmed down every night after another long day of searching, Andy would return to her cabin. Syan slept on a cot on the other end of the room. One night, Andy found her under blankets and curled up. She was about to blow out the candles when she heard sobs.

It was awkward. Andy didn’t know how to comfort a crying being, and Syan wasn’t exactly crying. Sirens seemed incapable of it. Her chest heaved, and her face screwed up in emotional agony, but no tears fell. Andy offered her a drink and a walk.

“I never believed in God. I didn’t buy into the Biblical bullshit that my family force-fed me. I left as soon as I could, and let me tell you, I’m better off alone.”

“You’re on a ship full of people you see every day. How are you alone?”

“I don’t think you understand humans as well as you think.”

They talked all night, first walking in circles around the ship and eventually settling back in Andy’s cabin. They took turns telling one another about options, and then about their lives. Syan taught her about sirens’ history from before the Navy existed. Andy told her about her mother’s baking—something she had never talked about before. They fell into a comfortable pattern of taking turns to share.  

“Even when I was younger, my choir thought of me as a burden. I was the slowest and the smallest, and I think the Navy found us because of me... Maybe they left me on purpose.”

“That’s brutal.”

“It’s cynical.”

They walked in silence for a minute longer. Syan stopped, suddenly, and turned to Andy.

Syan calmed in the early hours of the morning and slept through the afternoon.

Andy was oddly quiet the next day.

                                                            ***

“What if I never get back to my choir?”

Andy had thought about that. They had been searching for so long, and they should have stopped already. They needed to return to land soon, and what if Syan was still with them? Andy had made a plan in case that happened. Syan would need to learn about daily human life. They would need to find clothes for her and teach her how to be inconspicuous while they bought new supplies. It could be a potential disaster.

“They have to be looking for you, too,” Andy said.

“What if they’re dead?”

The sun would be coming up soon. They had sat on the deck for hours before Andy could coax Syan into talking.

“I don’t know,” Andy said. “What if they are?”

“I’d have nowhere to go.”

The stars looked like pinpricks in the black sky where the heavens could shine through. Andy could stare at the sky all night.

Syan watched the water.

“We’re running out of time. We have to return to land soon—and I mean very soon,” Andy said. “Do you want to give up?”

Syan said nothing. Andy nudged her leg.

“Give up, and you can stay with us,” she said. “Or give up and go on your own way.”

Syan’s hand went to her legs.

“It’s your choice,” Andy said. “But you’re welcome to join us. You’ve been here long enough.”

Syan looked back out to the water. She closed her eyes and bowed her head.

“I think I’m ready to go to bed.”

[jefferyryanlong]

Fresh Listen - Kalapana, Kalapana II (Kalapana Music, 1976)

(Some pieces of recorded music operate more like organisms than records. They live, they breathe, they reproduce. Fresh Listen is a periodic review of recently and not-so-recently released albums that crawl among us like radioactive spiders, gifting us with superpowers from their stingers.)

A few lovingly employed jazz chords elevated the material on Kalapanaʻs 1975 self-titled debut album from standard Seventies singer-songwriter fare. Already young masters of dramatic ballads, acoustic soft-rock, and a Hall and Oates cover that whipped the lackadaisical original to a harder, steadier groove, the clarity of the the bandʻs sonic expression was equally appropriate in the protective womb of noise-canceling headphones, the breezy, smokey outdoor arena, and the humid disco of nylon and polyester sweat. 

After several listens to that first record, it becomes clear that the creative restlessness of the bandʻs principal songwriters, Mackey Feary and Malani Bilyeu, promise something greater to come, something more colorful than their punctiliously strummed guitars and easy, blended harmonies. An expansion of the template of their sound, manifested by a band whose technical proficiency is and was arguably unparalleled in the past and present music scene of Hawaiʻi.

Musically, lyrically, thematically--in totality--Kalapanaʻs second album, Kalapana II, is the band unleashed. Feary and Bilyeu, along with DJ Pratt, Kirk Thompson, and auxiliary member Michael Paulo (indelible, exuberant saxophone and wistful, impassioned woodwinds) must have been inspired by the same musical spirit, a living energy summoned into contemporaneous song-time by each musicianʻs set of particular gifts, a common drive toward melodic and rhythmic precision, the generosity and camaraderie obvious in the bandʻs collective playing, and that place that gave birth to the band--east Oahu specifically, with its mountains and beaches, but also with its nightclubs and urban problems. Kalapana II is a document of a band in sync, its purpose unspoken except as presented in a set of songs deliberately inscribed on two sides of black plastic.

Unlike most of the bandʻs peers of the time (with the exception of Cecilio and Kapono), Kalapanaʻs connection to and evocation of Hawaiʻi as musical idea is primarily implicit. Aside from “Kona Daze,” a track from Kalapana, the are no songs from the bandʻs first two records that address Hawaiian place or culture. The bandʻs name, according to legend, was decided upon Grateful Dead-style, by simply pointing out a random spot on a map, not out of any significance of that town on the Big Island to its members. Why Kalapana avoided direct references to Hawaiʻi might be an attempt at Seventies-era universality, or because its songwriters were simply very young townies. Nevertheless, Hawaiʻi as a feeling emanates through every note and beat on Kalapana II, from Bilyeuʻs “(For You) Iʻd Chase a Rainbow” to Thompsonʻs “Black Sand” to Fearyʻs “Juliette,” which evokes a night-time glide by canoe, facing the shore, a mountain-side aglow with moonlight. 

The album opens as warmly as the transition out of a hot noon sun into the cool shade of a Waikiki parking structure. In “Love ʻEm,” inexplicably listed as an explicit track on Apple Music, the generally heartbroken Feary looks away from his own pain to espouse love as a choice, a more difficult but ultimately more rewarding process when applying it to those who fear you, despise you, or generally donʻt deserve it. Doing the work to move past mistrust and pain to embrace what is different, what is strange, is what, as Feary sings, “the one thing that will save us from destruction.” If anything, taking simple steps to conciliation with others or reconciliation with the self will “make this place less a Hell.”

“Freedom,” a kind of mega-collaboration between Bilyeu, Feary, and the jazz-oriented Thompson, illustrates the virtuosic ability each of the band members attained after their first record, especially of Bilyeu (on guitar) and Feary (on bass). Only saxophonist Paulo can match the ferocity of Bilyeuʻs dirty yet articulate solo. The call and response vocals of the two songwriters compete with a joyful intensity.

Along with innovation in Kalapana II, there are also examples of Bilyeu and Feary tapping into the musical personae theyʻd established on their first record. Bilyeuʻs “(For You) Iʻd Chase a Rainbow,” in spirit and execution, is the sequel to his earlier “Naturally,” while Fearyʻs “Moon and Stars,” with its celestial intermediaries for unrequited passion, is a more melodically powerful extension of “Nightbird” (in which a feathered buddy served as middleman between lovelorn Feary and the object of his affections). Of the later songs, “Moon and Stars,” Love Boat-inspired intro and all, resounds more effectively, though both singers have a tendency to push their voices toward a tone of abject desperation that comes across as pitiable.

For all its talents, Kalapana wasnʻt geared to finding liberation in the prescribed structure of the blues, which is why Feary eventually tears into “Way That I Want It to Be” as a simmering, dramatic soul ballad, after toying around with a smokey, piano-driven twelve-bar. “Play It, Sing It” likewise pulls a thankful bait-and-switch, beginning as a down-home, fiddle-rocking country number before being quickly usurped into the bandʻs pre-established groove of harmonious Hawaiian soul.

Excluding the jazz-rock classic “Black Sand”--Thompsonʻs immortal contribution Kalapanaʻs legacy and to local Hawaiʻi music--the two masterpieces on Kalapana II are the quietest on the album. “Dorothy Louise,” with its gentle, “Balckbird”-style percussion evolving into a cleverly programmed backwards hi-hat, transcends even “Helpless”-era Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in terms of hard-learned desolation. Bilyeu does press his point a little forcefully when he takes the bridge alone, adding theatrics to what has, without the vocal, been a pure expression of sadness. But the song is strong enough to bear Bilyeuʻs self-inflicted drama, floating and sinking like the realization of a drowning man who accepts that he will not be saved. 

Tragically, even in his early Twenties, an on-top-of-the-world Feary had already struggled with the dark understanding that he might not be saved. Maybe the most eloquent distillation of clinical depression, “Lost Again” strikes so deeply because of its casual understatement. The singer can’t name the feeling that buries him so deep, only the slim possibility that something might help him forget the hollow always floating around him, threatening to subsume his better self and his music. 

Feary left the band after Kalapana II, never releasing another record with them, though occasionally reuniting with Bilyeu and others for live appearances. After drug problems, jail time, and suicide attempts, Feary hung himself with his bedsheets in a cell in 1999. Bilyeu continued with more lukewarm versions of the band until his death in 2018. Though Feary and Bilyeu’s Kalapana released a minimal amount of material in their brief time together, the fusion of their talents resulted in an explosion and residual radioactivity with a forever half-life, a music to impress upon the imagination some more perfect vision of time and place that remains, like the greatest of ideals, just out of reach. 

[t0ddt]

[ matt hitt, agender, he/them, 23 ] — have you seen todd turner, the engineering science student around oxford yet ? i hear they can be disjointed and mellow, but those who know them insist they’re reminded of veiny hands, mad hallucinations, falling asleep during a zombie movie when they’re around. rumour has it that they almost overdosed twice. is it true ? only time will tell…

yo-hoo and HUGE greetings from this side ! i’m alex, a massive sucker for mints that burn ur tongue & specialist at c r a p  intros. welcome to my clusterfunk of a babie . 

- theodore turner, always goes by todd. born in westerly, rhode island during parent’s honeymoon tour ‘round the states. lived in bristol for a couple of years, or until parents split up and father quickly married a nice lady from leeds, who at that time had a one year old daughter.  - todd moved in with them shortly after his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (ms), as that’s when she, herself, decided she would not be able to take care of the child.  - his father and step mom own a hotel, good business; going great, and thus there’s always some money in the house.  - this is still a pretty fresh muse soooooo . . more backstory details will come at some point  - personality wise todd is very disconnected. probably had his brain fried by some acid n other. narcotics at a fairly young age.  - he’s v mellow, melancholic, a ragdoll type. you can do with him whatever the heck u please. he’s always somewhat dazed, despite not being high all the time. it’s just.. the way he is, really. think 2d from gorillaz.  - is in a band. plays the keyboard. goes to music festivals a lot, has all these types of bracelets all over his wrists.  - despite his genuinely confused and chill persona, he gets attached to ppl a lot !! someone’s nice to him? BAM he’ll make a mixtape !! because of this he’s had some troubles finding a girl-boy-friend-whatever-partner thing, ‘cause uh he kinda just starts writing them songs n poems and that usually . scares any possible love interest away ??  - not a stupid kid. quite book-smart which def helps him get by  - a part of the riot club , but doesn’t let that get to his head  - doesn’t really identify as anything. completely neutral, but goes by any pronoun.  - looks ill all the time. skinny child. gets frequent nosebleeds. - has almost overdosed twice. on what?? well the first time he was told it was mdma, but .. you never know. the second was a bad mixture of pills and alcohol, however not meant to be a suicide attempt; just a thoughtless action rly  - his step sister is 17. they get along just fine.  - todd is very much into human contact. all for cuddling with ppl, having someone play with his awkwardly long fingers, touch his hair, etc etc.  - lives with two very lovely girls.  - is very good at getting himself into strange or dangerous situations.  - lovable kid however. VERY harmless. perhaps somewhat misunderstood?

if interested, u can find the pinterest board here

wcs: someone he has a huge crush on / attached to ,  friends with benefits, housemates, close friends, enemies, hook-ups, boys n girls who will just hold him–– you name it ! 

[glowingjesusgirl]

Chocolate Coins

By Jana K. Rego-Heins

 I stood nervously in front of the class in a royal blue bedazzled, sleeveless ball gown, white evening gloves with a tiara perched regally on my head. The one minute PowerPoint clip from a scene in the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo, was coming to an end. The clip is the scene where “Zatara” aka “Edmond” (Jim Caviezel) and “Jacopo” (Luis Guzmán) find themselves in an underwater cave on an island knee deep in hidden treasure: gold coins, gold crowns, and all sorts of precious jewels. Suddenly, with the same enthusiasm and delight that Jacabo displayed in frolicking in the immense treasure, I grabbed a handful of chocolate “gold” coins and flung them out into the classroom full of students. To my surprise and dismay, the students were not trying to catch them in greedy, hungry delight as I had envisioned in my preparation for the past several weeks, but instead, they were ducking from the “coins” for fear of injury as though my intent were to pelt them with solid gold shrapnel. What had gone wrong?!

Clearly this was not the reaction I had been anticipating.  

What brought me to this absurd moment?

In the spring of 2012 in an ongoing effort to complete my bachelor’s degree, I enrolled in a freshman level communications class. Although I was a senior, taught several classes of medical terminology, various massage classes and was the interim massage therapist program coordinator at Illinois Central College, I had missed this very basic general education requirement.

Truth be told, I was excited about the class. I had chosen a section of

Communications 110 taught by Professor Joseph Chianakas. Professor Chianakas was not only an outgoing, dynamic, all around funny guy, but he had also been the high school communications instructor for four of my seven children before he had accepted a position at Illinois Central College. I had become acquainted with him through parent teacher conferences for my children. Oddly, I felt pressure to perform well because my children had all done well in his classes. I did not want to be the one in our family to get less than an excellent evaluation from him.

The first day of class Mr. Chianakas went over the syllabus and described the three public speaking assignments that had to be completed successfully to fulfill the class requirements. Many groans, concerns, and complaints ensued. Mr. Chianakas words of comfort were that there would be several weeks of lecture and discussion before any public speaking began. True to his word, during the first few weeks the class examined the definition of and various forms of communication. We discussed the differences that cultures and subcultures had on communication styles, body language, and personal space. We also discussed the sympathetic “fight or flight” response that affects almost all public speakers to one degree or another, and coping tools for the adrenaline rush.  

Finally, after two and a half weeks, we received our first speaking assignment.

We were to give a five minute persuasive speech about a movie, music video, or video game. We had to use a one minute clip from the movie, music video, or video game in a PowerPoint presentation as well as at least fifteen still shots using different transitions, animations and formatting styles in the PowerPoint for visual aids.  Additionally, Mr. Chianakas said he wanted us to have an attention getter in our introduction. He stressed this several times. He wanted us to do whatever it took to capture the audience’s mind right from the start. The first presentations would start in three weeks. I was one of two non-traditional students in the class, and almost everyone else was already trembling, so I volunteered to present first. I really wanted to impress Mr. Chianakas, clearly an issue of family and personal pride was at stake.  

The movie choice was easy, The Count of Monte Cristo. To make sure I really liked it I watched it again with my husband, Kris, who had never seen it. I took notes of possibilities for the one minute clip and ideas for the still shots. As I pondered the assignment, a vision began to form for my introduction. I would present in costume as a Countess wearing a fancy ball gown, evening gloves, a tiara, and I would toss out to my audience gold coins made of chocolate!  

I knew that making the PowerPoint was going to be the most time consuming aspect of preparation since I was unfamiliar with some of the tools we were required to use. I learned how to take a clip from a YouTube video and insert it into the presentation. I also learned to use the animations for entry and exit of slides and different frames and shadows for the pictures. It was exciting to discover features of PowerPoint that I had never used before. Once I was satisfied that I had met all of the requirements for the presentation I began pulling together the elements of my attention grabber.  

My daughter Angela had been in the prom court or prom queen all four years in high school, so I had quite a collection of tiaras and dresses from which to choose. Any of the dresses would look ridiculous on me because I was a 50+ year old woman playing dress up in a ball gown, but I finally selected a strapless, royal blue, silver bedazzled full length dress that laced up in the back. I remember making the comment when I bought this particular dress for Angela that it was so expensive and beautiful I was going to find some occasion to wear it myself, I joked that maybe I would use if for a wedding dress if I ever got married again. With the costume chosen I felt that so far my plan for a “big opening” was going well. The finishing touch would be the chocolate gold coins to toss to my classmates. I was getting so excited about this introduction that I could not sleep at night. My desire to impress my children’s speech teacher/college professor was now bordering on obsession.

I began my quest for chocolate gold coins about a week before the presentation. My initial efforts to find the prize were at Dollar General, Walmart, Walgreens, Target and the like. If it had been Christmas time I probably could have found them at any of these stores, but it was now couple of weeks before Easter and there were none to be found. I refined my search to specialty stores like Party Barn and Party City. Much to my chagrin I could not find chocolate coins anywhere! Time was running out, I was only a day away from my presentation! On the edge of panic, I contemplated changing the introduction, but every other idea I came up with paled in comparison to the chocolate coins. Additionally, I had already made my PowerPoint presentation with the one minute clipped scene to jibe with the chocolate coins intro. What was I to do? I did what I have found is the best thing to do, I asked Jesus to help me. This was not a fancy formal prayer, more like a sigh, "Jesus help me!" I was a little embarrassed praying for such an insignificant thing, but impressions came that if it was important to me then it was important to Him. Somehow, I expressed to Him my growing concern that I had not been able to find the chocolate gold coins. All I understood in response was that He was listening and He was the provider, yet I had no clear direction except to keep looking.

I went back to Target because it was the department store closest to where I worked. (This was the equivalent of looking under the streetlight for a coin that you lost in the dark end of the street.) I ventured over to the seasonal section with a bit of renewed hope, after all, it was Easter time and even though gold coins did not fit the Easter story, I thought perhaps I might find thirty chocolate silver coins, I could make that work, but no. I then searched the candy aisle, again nothing but Easter egg M&M’s and traditional candy. I was beginning to feel like all was lost. I did not have time now to come up with and prepare for an alternative for my “big opening”. I was wondering why I had been so stubborn and had not changed my plan a week ago when there would still have been opportunity...

I was in a pouting daze wandering around the store when I came to myself standing in the baking aisle facing rows and columns of flour. There was self-rising flour, all-purpose flour, unbleached flour, bread machine flour, cake flour, etc. Rousing myself to full alertness I wondered what had brought me to that aisle. I am allergic to gluten and have not been in the flour aisle for years. I stood staring at the rows and columns of different types and brands of flour in different sized bags and then chastised myself for wasting time. I needed to be doing something, pouting was not going to solve this problem, and neither was staring at bags of flour, but what was I to do now! I took one more look at the rows and columns of flour began to turn away. As I turned I noticed that all of the columns were adjacent to each other, bag touching bag in each row, except for a hand width space about the middle of the second row. Something drew me to that unexplained space. It was not big enough to be a missing column of flour bags, too narrow. Why was there a space there? I looked closer and nothing was there as far as I could see. I was strangely intrigued by this. I am not sure why I was so intrigued, or why I even noticed it, but I soon found myself sticking my hand into the nothingness, reaching far back to find out what, if anything, was there. At full arm extension, my shoulder pressed against the surrounding bags of flour, I reached with my fingers and touched something. It felt like fine plastic netting, like the kind of fine plastic netting which contained the chocolate coins of my childhood Christmas stockings. Puzzled, I closed my hand around the netting covered objects and drew them out of the darkness of the flour filled shelves into the light. Opening my hand I squealed with delight! I put my arm back into the crevasse and touched more netting. I pulled that out too. Over and over I repeated this process squealing with more delight each time, because there hidden in the abyss in back of all the bags of flour were at least ten bags of chocolate gold coins! I was blown away! Barely able to contain myself, I quickly took my treasure to the cashier. When she tried to ring the coins up, she said that her register did not recognize the item, the coins were not in the system. I laughed and said of course they were not in the system because Jesus had just made them for me. She did not quite know what to think of that response. Smiling and ready with good customer service, she charged me a dollar a bag and rang them up manually. I broke out in praise songs as I left the store. Even in this, a matter of pride, Jesus proved exceedingly faithful to me!

Now, in front of the class, I was seeing that the chocolate coins may have been too much of a success, the students’ first impression was that they were being bombarded with heavy coins that could injure them. I broke character and paused my “big opening” for just an instant to calm the audience and exclaimed, “It’s okay, these won’t hurt you, they are only chocolate!” As soon as the students perceived that they were not in physical danger they began to smile and collect the chocolate coins. From that point on the presentation was a great success. During the Q&A following, one of the students asked me if I was “Mercedes”, the Countess, from the movie. I was flattered and amused. Mr. Chianaka’s comment at the end of the Q&A to the students was, “The bar has been set high for the rest of you” and to me, “Wow, now I know where your kids get it from!”

Thank you, Jesus, you are the God Who Provides in every need, even the little ones!

[hwarangs-say-what]

TY for tagging me @seonnyeo26

Rules: answer 20 questions and tag 20 people you want to know better. 

name: Carri Daze zodiac sign: Aquarius (I think I may be a cusp with Capricorn but I’m not sure...)  height: 153 languages spoken: English, a bit of Spanish and Viet.  nationality: American  favorite fruit: Apples, Bananas, Kiwis, Blueberries, Strawberries, Watermelon, Oranges, Litchi, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Coconut, Raspberries, Blackberries... (I’m a fruit bitch)  favorite scent: Citrus (Have I mentioned I’m a fruit bitch?), Roses, on guys I like those really strong bourbon-like kind of scents.  favorite color: blue!!!!! I also like some shades of pink, purple, red... favorite animal: doggos, kitties, TURTLES, snaeks, sharks. coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: depends on my mood. I usually drink tea because I can’t drink coffee without a lot of sugar and milk and I’m lactose intolerant.  favorite candy: I’m also a bitch for Swedish fish.  dream trip: I want to visit Jeju Island. It looks so pretty. Also Busan, because someone once said Busan’s beaches are like California’s and I want to be the judge of that  favorite fictional character: Trisha Cappelletti from Most Popular Girls in School. I love her monologues.   when your blog was created: Like a couple of months after Hwarang premiered? Although I’ve been on Tumblr since 2010 give or take a year or two. I had other blogs before this one.  last movie you’ve seen: A film adaptation of the Vietnamese version of Cinderella called “Tam Cam: The Untold”. It’s a pretty cool movie, although some of the costumes and effects are questionable, but it really gave more depth to the original story- which, if you don’t know, is kinda messed up.    songs you’ve had on repeat: - Intro: Singularity. Like Taetae’s voice is so soothing I can’t even.  favorite holiday: Christmas, because I’m basic. On my mom’s side of the family, we gather around to open presents and it comes to an end when we start throwing wrapping paper at each other like it’s a snow fight.  

Tags: 

Whoever wants to do it. 

@heniareth @memyselfandi1738 @2nameles2write @kittys-little-world @kimtaehyung-ish @scifikimmi @jindongdongie @ylleulb @awkwardaardvarkforever @ecarlateetoileb @potterbeann @laughingjackscandy @cyphertaehyungahh @canyoucallthiswriting @junspurplehair @athenafernandes13 @pointlesshittyblog @pretty-cure-thoughts @lemonade-of-gods @merelin28

[madscienceforhire]

Goddess Forgotten

@divinexremembrance is hosting a fun little discord event where people take each others characters and revamp them as if they were their own. So basically how would you have made this character look if you had the basic idea for them. In the spirit of that idea, I took her character Nemesis. a goddess of time and space(that also day jobs as a librarian named Tori) and whipped up what would be the intro to her story if I had created the character. 

Ages ago humanity got sick of the Gods’ nonsense and sealed them away to be forgotten and weakened. Nemesis awoke in modern times, felt betrayed by humanity, but never able to completely isolate herself away from it because she loved them, and could even relate to why they did what they did. She tried to live a normal and quiet life as Tori, but she runs into Jacob, and gets pulled into a crazy plot of the other gods to create artificial humans that will worship them, empower them and remain loyal to them. 

This will likely be the only bit of this that I write as it’s a fun little collab event, so disclaimer, I offer no illusions that this story will be continued. This is just a fun what if?

 Tori locked the door to the library and ran through one last mental checklist to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She assured herself that she hadn’t missed anything. The sky was getting dark and clouds heavy. She wanted to be on the way home before the storm started. 

 “You got everything, don’t worry, and if you did forget something can’t be that important anyway.” Tori nodded and left. She walked on autopilot. There was nothing she hadn’t seen on this route. The same buildings, the same places, less people than usual, but even that didn’t surprise her. The storm clouds cast a pallor over the city, muted the noises, and gave Tori an uneasy feeling. Well, she could hardly say that any quiet time she was left lone with her thoughts didn’t give her an uneasy feeling. She just focused on home, the ice cream she had in the freezer, and which show was up next for binge watching. Raindrops slowly dotted the sidewalk around her. She was halfway home, Tori wasn’t worried. As long as she didn’t stop for anything… Tori’s thought trailed as she slowed and stood in front of an alleyway. Why had she stopped? She needed to get home, but she couldn’t break her eyes away from the shadows. They seemed so deep, darker than they should be. She felt drawn into them. She stepped into the alley and felt as if she left the world she knew. Her feet just kept taking her forward, she couldn’t bring herself to stop, even when she heard the noises. Ripping, tearing, wet slops, and popping. The she saw it, hunched over a body. Tori just stood there. The thing didn’t notice her at first, content with its kill. She stared at its broad back, muscles twisted and deformed, limbs longs and misshapen with too many joints for them to comfortably rest as it ate. It paused, its head shot up and looked over its shoulder at Tori. No face, just mottled flesh, but Tori could feel it looking at her. Its head shook and flesh teared into a jagged hole that could barely count as a mouth. It turned to her and stood, its body popped and cracked as if any movement was constantly breaking whatever passed for bones for this monster. It slouched at ten feet tall at least. It stomach covered in mouths filled with jagged teeth, dripping with gore and bit of the last victim. It let out a noise that shook Tori’s bones and scrambled at her. Its gait awkward, the cracking and breaking sounds reached a crescendo and it leapt at her, arms out. Time slowed as Tori watch the creature go airborne but fall short of her by a foot. A man held desperately onto its legs, and acted as an anchor to short the leap. 

 “Lady, run!” He shouted as the monster bounced and kicked to break from the man’s grip. Tori snapped out of her daze. She ran, not away, but to the thing. It reached out to her, still only concerned with the kill. Its arms whipped around at her, Tori caught them both and sunk her fingers into the flesh. The creature understood things were going wrong, it struggled to get out of her grip, but it was useless, with one swift pull Tori ripped its arms from the body and tossed them away. The man scrambled to monster’s back held a metal baton high and bashed its head in. He kept smashing until there was nothing but a viscous black goo left on the alley floor. He stood up and dusted his coat off. He looked to her. A knot formed in Tori’s stomach, what would he say about her dismembering this thing?            

 “Holy shit, thanks for the assist. Wouldn’t have faulted you for turning tail and running.” He crotched down and looked at the stumps where the monster’s arms had been. “Adrenaline’s a bitch. Knew the joints were weak, but I still wouldn’t had the balls to try and just rip the bastard’s arms off. Nice.” He gave Tori a quick thumbs up. 

 “Yeah, adrenaline… What the hell is this thing?” Tori shifted focus away from her. 

“Better question, where’s Mr. Big Hand?” The man looked around the alley, he walked out to a T intersection to another alley. 

 “Who?” Tori asked as a giant clawed hand slammed into the man and pinned him against the wall. The claws speared the brick, and the man struggled with one clawed finger in his chest. Another creature shuffled into the alley. This one a bloated tumor of a thing, that dragged its body along the ground by its hand. Tori grabbed tendril that attached the hand to the body. She pulled at it but it stretched and gave in her grip. It was like rubber. Tori stepped back, looked at the man writhing in pain on the wall, and shook her head. She’d have to do it. She held her hand out and space and reality flexed and tore the tendril in two. The one half whipped around spraying black ooze every where. The tumor just sat there with its wound now. Tori grabbed a dumpster by the side, lifted it above her head with ease and hammered it down onto the tumor. Flesh, ichor, and garbage mixed into a disgusting paste and once Tori was sure it was done she dropped the dumpster and ran to the man. She grabbed the hand.

 “This is going to hurt.” She warned.

 “Already does.” He grimaced. 

 Tori positioned her hands to try and pull the claw back as straight as she could. So it wouldn’t rip a bigger wound into the man. She pulled the hand loose and caught the man as he slumped down the wall. A trail of blood smeared behind him.

 “I’ll call an ambulance.” Tori said.

 “No, no ambulance, no police. I’m done either way. Thing nicked an artery, my heart’s going a mile a minute. I’ll bleed out before they even get here. Listen, be smarter than I was, go home and forget this shit. Me, the fucking monsters, just pretend it was a bad dream. Trust me on this.” The man’s breaths became ragged, his eyes glazed a bit, and blood soaked the front of his shirt and coat. The weather finally broke and rain poured down onto them. 

 “Well, ain’t this a picturesque way to kick it? Heh.” The man grimaced. Tori knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder to offer some comfort. 

 “Listen, lot to ask of a stranger, but you saved my ass twice, so you seem like good people. Could you stick around? Won’t be long now I promise. I’m, just a bit worried. I’m a real piece of shit. Don’t think I have a good place waiting for me.” 

 Tori leaned in and kissed him. 

 “Thank you.” She said once she broke the kiss.

 “For what?”         

 “You came to save me.” Tori smiled.

 “Oh, well, think you could’ve handled yourself, but thanks Angel, could use all the good karma I can get right about now…” The man’s head dropped. Tori held her up to his mouth. He was still alive, but barely. His breaths were shallow, it wouldn’t be long now. Tori stood and looked back to the entrance of the alley. She thought about the man’s words, just leave, forget it all. She considered heeding it, but she looked to his slumped body. She held out her hand to him, the rain drops caught in the air as she bent space to her will one more time. 

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

 Jacob jumped up and looked around. Where was he? What the hell was going on? He scanned the room. It was a bedroom. He was in bed. Not his motel, much nicer, and a lot better than… dying in an alley.

 “Ok, something weird happened. Not enough fire to be Hell, but thought Heaven would be nicer.” Jacob said to himself.

 “You’re up.” The woman from last night walked into the room.

 “Never mind, must be Heaven. an angel’s come to visit.” Jacob smiled.

 “Or I’m just a demoness here to punish you.” She teased.

 “Well I’m into that too so win/win.” Jacob shrugged. He noticed the bandage on chest. He ran his fingers over it, “I have a lot of questions.”

 “Breakfast first.” She commanded. Jacob hopped out of bed. He put his shirt back on and looked around for his coat. He headed into the living room. He looked around. He knew this was an apartment if only due to the size. Shelves covered the walls, statues and art all through the place. 

 “Art lover?” He asked.

 “Oh? Just thought they classed the place up a little.” She said as she set a plate down on little island counter in the kitchen.

 Jacob caught sight of his coat hanging by the door.

 “They’re all still there.” She said, “You carry a lot of weapons.” 

 “In the habit of running into some unsavory characters these days.” Jacob said offhandedly. He wanted to check his coat, but the smell of eggs and bacon won out over his paranoia. He sat down on the stool on the other side of the island, grabbed a fork and dug in. “Oh god, these are the best eggs I’ve ever had.” Jacob said between mouthfuls.

 “Nothing special, but thank you.” She stood there and watched him. 

 “Oh, assuming you didn’t go though my wallet for ID. Jacob Cross, private investigator.” Jacob held out his hand. 

 “Tori.” She shook his hand.

 “Just Tori? No last name? Very avant-garde.” Jacob joked, but Tori didn’t take the bait. Jacob inhaled the rest of the food and set his fork down on the plate.

 “Well Tori, elephant in the room, why aren’t I dead?” Jacob kept his eyes on her, looked for any twitch or change in body language, but she was good, not a flinch. Jacob made a note to not play her in poker any time soon. 

 “You weren’t hurt as bad as you thought you were, I brought you back here and stitched you up.” Tori said.

 Jacob could remember his blood pumping out of his chest, he knew an arterial bleed when he saw it. 

 “Well, nice to have a Guardian Angel.” Jacob ignored her lie for now. His life got stranger by the day since he took that damn case. “So, any questions for me?” 

 “Are you well enough to leave?” She cocked an eyebrow.

 “Ouch, Tori.” Jacob held his hand over his heart and feigned insult. “You’re taking this in stride much better than I did.”

 “Just taking your advice, and forgetting this shit. Your shoes are by the door.”  

 Jacob laughed. Well, he couldn’t argue against that, but he needed to get some more answers before he’d let her kick him out. He stood and walked over to Tori. 

 “Yeah, I get that, but I can’t leave until I clear up a fews things.” Jacob took his intimidating stance. At 6’4” he normally had enough height to get that good condescending look down, but Tori was too damn tall. He only had a few inches on her, and he had the feeling this wasn’t going to work. She gave a wry smile and cocked her head to the side to consider him and then just grabbed him under his armpits and lifted him off his feet like nothing. Jacob struggled a bit but couldn’t shake loose as she carried him to the door and dropped him on his feet. 

 “Shoes, coat, door, go.” She pointed to each one respectively as she spoke. Well, this made the whole dumpster scene he recalled seem less likely to be a blood loss induced hallucination. Jacob held his hands up in defeat, got his shoes and coat on. The familiar weight of his guns and tools made him feel better. He opened the door and took a step out but paused.

 “One more thing,” Jacob turned back to her.

 “What now?” Tori crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Jacob leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. She was more surprised than angry, thankfully, and it served as a good enough distraction for him to palm a piece of mail sitting on a table near the door.  

 “What was that for?” 

 “You saved my life.” Jacob shrugged. Tori pushed him out the door and shut it in his face. He leaned his ear against it and could hear her on the other side.

 “That man’s going to get himself killed again.”

 “Not if I had some help!” He shouted through the door. 

 “Leave already!” Tori yelled as she hit the other side of the door. Jacob jumped back from the impact. He stepped away from the door to make sure she didn’t catch sight of him in the peephole. He looked at the mail he stole from her. Her full name there on the front.

 “I’ll leave for now Angel, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last for each other.”