#jeez why did this dream leave such an impact on me

[goblin-enjoyer]

Ok I think I’m too far gone. I had a dream where izutsumi was demanding I eat better in a gift shop connected to what seemed like some sort of dark iron dwarf raid entrance. I know “haha watching/reading dungeon meshi makes the characters pop up in your head and tell you to eat better” is the funny joke around here, but were you gits not 100% joking or something? Am I just looking too much into a random dream? (Probably)

[yunopouts]

stars on the beach - k. doyoung

-> kim doyoung x reader

-> era: punch!

-> genre: crack, smut (barely)

-> w: smut, alcohol consumption, mentions of food, mentions of eating, swearing, mentions of shitting (SORRY I FELT THE NEED TO MENTION THIS) tell me if i've missed anything

-> taglist: @doieclayed @foreverdy @neomulucased @ncteaxhoe

-> network: @nct-frathouse

-> a/n: here's a shitty blurb that i speed wrote. it's not detailed- definitely is actually very shitty i don't know what happened lmao

Your head rolled back as he kissed down your neck, enjoying the way his hands acted as if your body was the most brittle thing on earth- one sliding down your side while his right hand focused on your chest. His thumb grazed your nipple, making you moan loudly.

“Like that?” he asked, thumb now pressing down on the bud. He let out an arrogant laugh at your whine, enjoying the torture he was putting you through. You gasped when he took your nipple in between his teeth, tongue poking at the tip before sucking on it whole.

“I want you inside.” your voice was strained when it came out.

“If you promise to scream my name so loud we get a complaint, then you’ve got yourself a deal.” His voice was velvet smooth, like the devil. “Can you do that, beautiful?” You nodded eagerly, badly needing him. “Good.” he chuckled, giving you a closed-mouth smile, blinking once at you before feeling your core. “God, you’re so fucking wet.”

As you were about to respond a vibrating noise came from your right, you both looked to the side table- where it was coming from. The man without a name looked back to you, his face now obscuring that you had been interrupted.

He opened his mouth to speak again but his voice was fading out and instead you heard a bang.

Snapping your eyes open at the sound of something hitting the floor, you sat up and looked around your room, searching for what had fallen. They were drawn to the phone that was vibrating on your carpet.

“What do you want, Mark?” You asked, picking up the call.

“Well hello to you too.” He chuckled

“You woke me up.” You grumbled. “Why are you even calling me at this ungodly hour?”

“Y/n, it's three thirty in the afternoon. You’re supposed to be here.”

“Where am I supposed to be? Need I remind you that it’s Saturday?”

“Need I remind you that you’re supposed to be at the house because you’re sleeping over?”

“Crap.” You cursed, scrambling to get out of bed.

“Watch your potty mouth, missy.” You could hear the stupid smirk he was wearing in that moment.

“Shut it, shit face.” You huffed. “I’ll see you in twenty.”

“That’s more like it. Bring your shit for tonight.”

“Watch your potty-” he cut you off as he hung up. You groaned, stalking over to the bathroom, you slumped down onto the counter, resting your head on your arms.

A vibration shot up your leg as someone sent you a text. You pulled your phone out of your pocket to check the notification— it was a text from mark.

-

lee [15:40] get off your counter and get ready, you turd.

you [15:41] tell the boys to clean the bathrooms or else i’ll give all of them swirlies after someone takes a dump

lee [15:42] we already did. and it won't be me getting a swirly cause i cleaned mine

you [15:43] tell hyuck to clean it again

lee [15:44] okay mom

you [15:45] don’t ever call me mom again unless you want me to shit on your pillow

read 15:45 pm

-

After getting ready you grabbed your duffle bag and ran to the front of your apartment, slipping on your shoes and speeding out the door. You were about to jog down the street all the way to the boys house, but stopped when there was a honk behind you.

You were about to tell them off when someone called your name, making you freeze in your tracks.

The voice from your dream.

“What are you doing? Get your ass in the car!” Mark yelled.

Slowly turning on your heel, you moved as slow as a turtle, not even daring to raise your gaze any higher— because if you did, you would be looking straight at the voice from your wet dream just an hour before.

“Hi Y/n,” the familiar velvety smooth voice cooed from the front seat.

“Hey.” you gulped, staring into the capturing eyes of the one person you were dreading to see.

Kim Doyoung.

-

“Oh fuck, my ass hurts.” Johnny groaned as he stretched his long limbs once he stepped out of his car after three hours of driving.

“Comere’ lemme massage it.” Jaehyun held out his hands, to which Johnny jokingly backed up, making Doyoung snort before he walked to the front door of the beach house.

You and Mark hopped out of the back after Jaehyun, and popped the trunk.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mark asked as the two of you unloaded the bags from the trunk of Johnny’s jeep. “You were silent the whole ride, what happened to you?”

“I had a sex dream…” you mumbled, yanking a bag out and swinging it over your shoulder.

“Okay, why would that impact-”

“About Doyoung.” the blond's eyes almost popped out of his head.

“You had a wet dream about- ow!” he winced, rubbing his arm after you punched it. “You had a wet dream about Doyoung?” Mark hissed. “What the fuck?”

“I know.” you whined, also confused as to why you had a lewd dream of Mark’s friend. “I don’t know what’s wrong.” Your head fell back in annoyance.

“What’s wrong?” A deep voice appeared beside you, making you flinch… hard. “Jeez, are you okay?” Jaehyun asked, steadying you out with both his hands on your biceps.

“She had a sensual dream about Doyoung.” Mark explained to the older boy and he gasped, eyes glowing.

“You’re so nasty.” He shimmied his shoulders, feigning a flirtatious tone. You rolled your eyes and groaned loudly.

“Would you guys please-”

“Who had a sensual dream about me?” Once again, you flinched, this time almost falling backwards after stepping on Mark’s foot— who was now yelling in pain.

“Mark did. He said he had a dream and he walked in on you rubbing one off.” Jaehyun lied straight through his teeth, but the man believed it, scrunching his nose.

“Oh, I thought you were talking about Y/n.” Jaehyun wheezed at the comment, nudging you in the ribs. Shooting him a look as you joined in, laughing awkwardly.

“Mark you dirty pig.” He sent you a glare before stabbing you with his own comeback.

“Well at least I didn’t have sex with my ex and moan Jaehyun’s name.”

“You did what?” The 97 liner looked down at you with an incredulous smirk before you turned to Mark, kissing your teeth.

“Shit.” The golden haired boy sprinted and you chased after him, Jaehyun following and taunting you from behind- leaving Doyoung standing alone, confused and surrounded by their luggages.

-

“Okay,” Taeyong clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “We need to figure out who is sleeping with who, and where. There are five bedrooms, so we can split equally.”

“Thank god.” Haechan mumbled. He had arrived earlier, along with Jungwoo, Yuta, Taeyong and Taeil, but they decided to wait for you to come to figure this out in a fair way. “I call Taeil!” He shouted, almost jumping out of his seat.

“I wanted Taeil.” Mark whined as he watched the younger boy sit in the eldests lap, wrapping his arms around his neck before sticking his tongue out at Mark.

“I’ll take Mark since y/n will kill him if she’s alone with him.” Yuta suggested, raising a hand.

“I can be with Taeyong;” Johnny hollered from the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge.

“Woo.” Jaehyun patted the knees of the boy who was sitting in his lap.

“Okay so that leaves Doyoung and Y/n.” Mark and Jaehyun both looked at you as if they knew something, because they did. “Y/n are you cool with that

“Y-yeah sure; it’s fine.”

“Are you sure? Cause I can just sleep on the couch.” Doyoung stepped in, to which you shook your head.

“No, no it’s really fine. I bet you Doyoung is a better roommate than all of you.” You stuck out your tongue at the others who were gasping dramatically. “Except for Taeil;” The eldest let out a teasing laugh before someone began speaking again.

“They get the master bedroom.” Jaehyun added and you froze, catching his and Mark’s growing smile.

“Did say masterb-”

“Master room;” Doyoung muttered in your ear. You nodded slowly as tingles went down your spine, sitting back against the couch with a soft ‘oh’ leaving your lips. “Thanks man,” you missed the wink he sent the plotting pair.

“Anything to spare ourselves from her cursing us for taking the comfortable bed.” Hyuck said.

“You know, you guys make me out to be some scary monster that will bite your head off.”

“You bit my arm when I took the last Nanaimo bar!” Mark argued.

“Because I said I didn’t have one! How do you bring someone, who’s never been there, to B.C and not let them try an authentic desert?” You fought back.

“That’s kind of cruel, Mark.” Jungwoo mumbled, the others agreeing with him.

“We were in Coquitlam for another three days, you could have gone to Nanaimo on your own!”

“You were going to let a foreigner travel two and a half hours by herself?” Doyoung’s voice raised as the rest of the boys began to scold him too.

“Shameful.” Taeyong shook his head. Mark got up with a huff and began stomping away. “Get back here you dimwit, we didn’t decide the rooms.”

“I’m gonna go unpack.” Doyoung followed Mark in standing up. “Wanna come?” He asked, holding out a hand.

“Sure.” You took it and the older boy helped you up, leading you to the second floor.

-

Only when you let go to sit on the bed did you realize that you were still holding on to Doyoungs hand when you reached the room. It was nice, had eggshell coloured walls— very much like a beach house. The bed was nice too, white sheets on a king size mattress that sat on a rustic looking post bed. Everything in the room was the same eggshell colour as the walls, and the handles and knobs matched the metal posts of the bed frame.

“Which side do you normally sleep on?” Doyoung asked as he unloaded some of his clothes into a drawer, pulling you out of your thoughts.

“I’m fine with any side.” you replied, hands running over the cool comforter.

“You sure you’re okay with sharing?” The boy turned to look at you, finding you with your back flat against the bed.

“We’re both adults.” Was all you said before he turned back, organizing his shirts as he let out a soft chuckle.

“Is it okay if I sleep on the right side, then?”

“Of course.”

“Cool, thank you.”

“No problem, Doyoung.”

You were about to start a different conversation to make yourself feel a bit more comfortable when Johnny appeared at your door.

“Beach in twenty?”

“It’s seven.” Doyoung stopped his movements and looked at the older boy.

“We’re going to a beach party.”

“Alcohol?” You strained your neck when peeked up at the older boy when he said ‘party’. Johnny laughed, nodding in response to your question.

“I’m a little tired from the drive, so I’m gonna pass.” Johnny nodded and left the room. Doyoung made his way to the bed, latching himself onto a bedpost. “Do you want me to get out?” you shook your head.

“I’m just gonna wear this.” the both of you laughed lightly. “You really not gonna go?” propping yourself up on your elbows, you cocked your head to the side. He pushed up the clear-frame glasses that sat perched on that perfect nose of his, smiling down softly at you.

“Nah, I think I’m just going to chill; I kinda wanna take a nap.” You hummed gratefully when he helped you up again.

Doyoung accidentally pulled you with too much force, forcing you to come crashing into his chest. He grunted as you stumbled back, the boy's arms wrapping around your waist. He was warm and he smelt like an enchanting fabric softener. You stayed that way for a few extra seconds, Doyoung wanting to stay in your grip, and you in his- but it all came to an end when a phone vibrated on the dresser.

You jolted back and picked up the phone, reading the message. “I-I’m gonna go.”

“Y-yeah, yeah. Um… have fun.”

“You too.” you replied awkwardly, practically running out the door.

-

“So, you have a boyfriend?” a random guy next to you raised a brow as he slurred his words.

“No,”

“Do you wanna-” “No, I don’t want to fuck you.” rolling your eyes, you turned on your heel and walked away, towards the group of boys that were on top of each other.

“Y/N!!!!” Haechan raised his hands in the air, spilling his tequila shot on Taeyongs head. “Oh whoops.” he sniggered.

“How’s your grinding going?” you asked, staring at the group of drunken friends- only one, Jungwoo, was completely sober.

“Only Jaehyun and Johnny have gotten somewhere.” Mark, who’s cheeks were a dark red, was pouting.

“As expected.” you sighed, sipping from your beer bottle. “Oh fuck, it’s already two.” you cursed, checking your phone before sliding it in your back pocket again. “I’m gonna go; don’t really want to be hit on by anyone anymore.”

They wished you farewell before you began your short journey back to the house. When you got to the front door, you kicked off your flip flops and entered. Quietly but quickly, you made it up the stairs and opened the door. You did a double take before your eyes zeroed in on the sight in front of you.

There you saw Doyoung, laying on the bed half naked, with his cock in hand, moaning your name. It would be a lie if you said it wasn’t hot- because it most definitely was, your heart might have even skipped a beat.

What are you, a pervert? You scolded yourself and tried to shut the door as discreetly as possible but he called your name again, this time, not in a moan- but in a calm manner.

“Stay.” his voice was raspy before it turned into a soft moan. Locking the room once you entered, you kept your back pressed to the cool wood of the door. “Come.” he ordered and like a trained dog, you obeyed, slowly making your way to the bed.

“Can I…” the words came out as a whisper, but he still heard and agreed.

His hand ghosted over yours, letting you take hold of his member, whimpering at your cold touch. You began by grazing your thumb over the slick slit, pressing down just enough for him to pinch your thigh in annoyance. Smiling, you began to work your wrist, moving your hand in swift motions so good it made Doyoung’s thighs shake.

“Fuck,” his noises left his mouth breathlessly as he bucked his hips into your fist. “Hmm, wait, stop.” you paused, body going still. “Strip, I wanna fuck you.”

You gasped at his words, but removed your clothing with his help. Doyoung held your waist as you mounted him with your knees on either side of his own torso. “Slowly;” he mumbled, bringing you down on his dick.

“Doyoung,” you sighed while he leaned forward to place his lips on yours. They were soft and supple, everything you’ve ever wanted in a pair of lips that had the job of kissing you. Once he bottomed out and made sure you were comfortable, Doyoung held your ass to guide you in moving up and down, all the while he pulled you in close so that his mouth could reach your nipple. Taking the bud in his mouth, his soft tongue grazed over it softly before sucking and pulling on it. Even though it was the simplest of actions, you were being so vocal- and Doyoung loved that. Your whines only egged him on, pushing you further, forcing you to cry out louder.

As your hips rolled with his, Doyoung became harsher with his thrusts, handling you like you were a toy- like you were as light as a feather.

“Not to sound like a creep, but I’ve dreamt of this moment.” he panted out as his cock hit a new length. “I’m pretty sure you have too, if I’m not mistaken.”

You couldn’t say a word, when you tried to, only a grunt of pleasure left you- making the boy under you chuckle. Almost screaming when his thumb reached your clit, rubbing intensely on the nub, like it was a mission of his, like his life depended on it. “Fuck, Doyoung… fuck, Doy-”

“Close?” he asked. He took you letting out a long whine as a hint and started thrusting faster and harder. “Don’t be shy baby,” he tugged you closer by his grip on the back of your neck. “Cum for me.” he whispered in your ear.

When your eyes rolled back, you saw stars; stars one the ceiling, stars on the beach, stars in his eyes- everywhere, there were stars everywhere.

When he felt his cock twitch, he stopped moving you- even though you were at the very end of your high. You watched for yourself- what Doyoung looks like when he comes, and you can now proudly say that it was the hottest thing you’d ever seen. With his lips slightly parted, head tilted back against the wall and fingers digging into your sides, he let go, ropes of white painting your walls.

A few minutes later, once you were clean and laying beside him, you mumbled to Doyoung, “You knew?” cheeks warm with embarrassment.

“Of course I knew, Mark would’ve acted the exact same way you did if he had a wet dream of me.” that didn’t make you feel better. “But, I also had one… of you.” he made sure to say.

“Was it good?”

“It was good, but not as good as this.” he smiled, pecking you softly on the lips.

[ladykissingfish]

Under The Mistletoe with the Akatsuki // Part Four // Deidara

Deidara

Ah, so it’s his turn under the fragrant green spotlight. He readies himself and stands underneath the plant, ready to endure (or perhaps enjoy) whatever is coming his way. It’s odd; when he was a young kid he always thought that kissing was gross. But now, as he waits for the first person to come to him, he finds himself almost ... excited.

Tobi

“Ooh! Lucky Tobi! Tobi is first for Senpai!” Oh, God, or Lord Jashin, or whoever it was that made things happen: Deidara does not want to kiss Tobi. Tobi is already a bit too hands-on for Deidara’s liking, a bit too attached to his Senpai. Also, it bothers him that at the moment, nobody else is in the room; the two of them are totally alone. Still, though, this should only last a few seconds, and everybody else is going to be having a turn, so why not? Tobi gets close to Deidara and, to the blonde’s shock, he pulls off his entire mask. Deidara’s brain is able to register small details about Tobi’s face, but only for a split second. After that, suddenly, everything went ... strange. He’s being kissed; he can feel ((surprisingly soft)) lips touching his own, but ... he barely notices this. Deidara is flooded with bizarre imagery, of vividly bright flowers and aggressively emerald fields, none of which are in the little room they’re standing in. Is this ... is this genjutsu?? After his first encounter with Itachi, Deidara has trained his eye to counter such illusionary tricks; he quickly snaps out of it and comes back to reality. But Tobi ... his mask is on, and he’s shaking Deidara’s shoulders. “Senpai?! Are you okay??” Tobi claims that Deidara fainted, and tells him to sit down while he gets him some water. Deidara does as suggested, confused. WAS that just a ... a dream? Had he fainted? Had he and Tobi kissed at all? He starts to write the entire thing off, but then he realizes that his mouth has the taste of dango in it. Wasn’t Tobi eating Dango earlier? Wasn’t — and then Tobi is back with the water, and Deidara drinks, his mind still jumbled. He hopes the rest of his encounters aren’t this bizarre.

Kakuzu

Deidara is an immature kid that reminds Kakuzu a lot of his own partner, Hidan. He can’t begin to count how many times in the last month he’s had to RE-reattach Deidara’s arms, because the guy kept doing reckless things with that damn “art” of his. Still, though; even Kakuzu has to admit that Deidara’s antics provide a steady stream of lighthearted entertainment, in an organization that could be very depressing most of the time. When it’s Kakuzu’s turn, he puts one hand on Deidara’s face and gives him a light kiss on the forehead. He smoothes back his bangs as he does, informing Deidara that there are many people who would pay good money for hair Deidara’s length, and if he’s ever interested in making a bit of money, to come see him (and his scissors).

Konan

Thinks of Deidara as being like a little brother, in a way. And a good friend; despite the loud and temperamental way he acts with the others, with Konan, he’s always been one of her biggest supporters and confidantes. There was even a time in the past when the entire group was traveling somewhere new, and Konan twisted her ankle in a concealed hole in a field. Deidara immediately lifted her off her feet and carried her the rest of the way to their destination. She approaches Deidara with a smile, leans in, and kisses the tip of his nose. Deidara responds by putting his hands on her cheeks, and giving her two smacking kisses with his hand-mouths. The two laugh and then Konan leaves to make room for the next participant.

Hidan

Surprisingly less objective than he was with many of the others he had to kiss. Even goes to the trouble of using a minty breath freshener beforehand. Makes absolutely NO comments beforehand about homosexuality or how “stupid” he feels this to be. “Ya ready for me, blondie?” He grabs Deidara around the waist, tilts him back, and gives him a brief (but impactful) smooch. Deidara blinks, surprised. This is ... oddly nice, but — why in the world does he suddenly taste blood on his lips?? Did Hidan just come back from a sacrifice? Did he do that completely unhygienic ritual of his where he licked the blood of his victims off his scythe? Hidan looks proud of himself, and, as he’s backing away, he tells Deidara that he reminds him of “a bitch in my old village that never let me kiss her. Now I feel like I have!”, to which Deidara gets angry and throws an explosive at Hidan’s face. “I’m a MAN, you stupid prick!” The two start fighting before Hidan is dragged away by Kakuzu, and Deidara goes to scrub down his mouth and lips before the next person comes up.

Pein

Ah, the youngest of his “children”. He’s happy that Deidara is so open with his feelings and being part of the group now; when he first came to the Akatsuki, he was a very secretive and somewhat shy young man, who had no trust in Pein or in any of them. Now he was so comfortable around his new “family” that it was like he was meant to be with them from the get-go. Pein goes to kiss Deidara’s forehead, stops, reconsiders, and kisses his cheek instead. Afterwards he smiles and gives him a friendly punch on the shoulder, before going back to his room.

Zetsu

Deidara may be the only member of the Akatsuki that Zetsu doesn’t really want to kiss. With everyone else, he likes to get close to them because they smell like delicious food. But the blonde guy ... he has a smell to him very much like clay, so much so that it masks the more desirable aroma of human blood. Zetsu is the only one who’s olfactory senses can detect this subtle difference, and it’s enough to deter him from ever trying to devour the kid. Nevertheless, he leans in, gives Deidara a quick smack on the cheek, and dashes away so fast that Deidara has doubts whether or not anything actually happened.

Itachi

Is very, very hesitant to approach Deidara; no matter what he says or how he acts, Deidara just radiates with hatred for him. He’s watched several of the others exchange kisses with him, but thinks of just skipping his turn and going to his room. However, Deidara spots him and, folding his arms in front of his chest, asks, “So now the mighty Uchiha is too good to kiss me, hm?” and Itachi sighs and steps over to him. “Where do you want it?” “Huh?? It’s a KISS, you idiot. Where the hell do you think I want —“ but Itachi interrupts him by yanking him close by the forearms (so hard that the stitching weakens just a little) and lays into him with his lips. He kisses him so intensely and so long that Deidara actually starts to feel light-headed. Right before he thinks he’s going to pass out, however, Itachi pulls back, and to Deidara’s surprise he’s SMILING at him. “How was that? That good enough?” Deidara is still so shocked that he can’t think of a smart ass answer back, all he can do is nod. Hidan, who had been watching, comments “Jeez ... after a kiss like that I think you have to marry him, Itachi.” Hearing this finally snaps Deidara back to normal, who scowls and snarls and barks out “As if I’d ever become a low-life Uchiha scum, hm!” Itachi, still smiling, walks away as Deidara shouts insults after him. Things are back to normal.

Kisame

Kisame truly enjoys being around the young artist. He finds Deidara’s sense of humor to be entirely refreshing, which was needed when working in an oft-depressing organization like the Akatsuki. He walks up and kisses Deidara on his chin, just beneath his lips. When Deidara asks why he picked such an odd spot, Kisame replies that everybody has already kissed the other places, and he prefers to not catch germs from the others (especially Hidan). Deidara laughs and agrees with him; after he goes, Deidara leaves and goes to brush his teeth and wash his face, to prepare for his final kiss of the night.

Sasori

Sasori approaches Deidara like he would approach a wild animal; slowly and cautiously. Deidara has been his partner for some time now, an Sasori is never quite sure what he’s going to get with him. Sometimes he’s loud and obnoxious, other times he’s quiet and thoughtful. Some times he acts like he can’t stand the puppet master, but sometimes ... “Hey, Danna.” “Good evening, brat. Looks like I’m last.” “Yeah, hm.” Sasori gets close to him. He cups Deidara’s face, stares into his eyes, and leans into his lips. Deidara’s eyes close but Sasori’s stay open, taking in every minute detail of this kid, no, this man in front of him. Unable to help it, he moves one hand and gently puts it in Deidara’s soft hair, fingering the silky golden locks. He’s again struck by how warm he is, how wonderfully human. After some time has passed, Sasori breaks the kiss and steps back, straightening out his robe. “Was that acceptable?” Deidara nods, although the expression on his face is somewhat unreadable to Sasori. Recalling what Hidan said earlier about Itachi, Deidara says, jokingly, “After kissing me like that, now you have to marry me, hm.” He’s kidding, but oftentimes humor goes straight over Sasori’s head. He replies, in his quiet, analytical way, “I’ve always found the concept of marriage to be a waste of time and resources. People in general fare much better, and accomplish much more as individuals, wouldn’t you agree?” Deidara nods, and Sasori turns to go. Halfway down the hall he stops, turns slightly, and says, softly, “Deidara?” “Yeah?” “If I ever was to take that step, if I ever was to marry somebody, to fully commit myself to another person; well, it could only be to —“ but suddenly Hidan bursts out of his room, loudly yelling and cursing at Kakuzu’s door about something. The mood broken, Sasori bids a quiet Goodnight to Deidara and continues on to his room. Deidara stays where he is for a long time, wondering what Sasori had almost said.

[five-rivers]

Secret saturdays prompt

The secret scientists and/or argost finding out Zaks s1 finale secret. The show did a 6 month time skip and never showed us /how/ they came to find out.

Zak got sick when they came back from Antarctica.  It wasn’t something particularly foreign to him.  Traveling all over the world meant that he picked up a lot of bugs.  It was an occupational hazard.  Or, well, not occupational, exactly, because Zak didn’t get paid for what he did, but...  

Yeah.

(Maybe he should get paid for this.  He did a lot of work, if he was being honest.)

Usually, though, nothing he got was this bad.  Mom theorized it was because he overused his powers.  Dad thought it was just the stress and the shock- Both things that could impact an immune system.  Doyle kept making jokes about bottled water, because, yeah, that was the problem.  

Not.  

A cold was something he could deal with, though.  A nice distraction, even, from having to figure out the implications of the Kur artifact lighting up when pointed at him.  

(Maybe, he hoped, Kur was an inherited title, and when he defeated Kur-controlled-by-Argost, it jumped to him.)

(Maybe it was just broken.  It wasn’t like Doyle was all that spiritual.)

(Maybe it lit up whenever it was near someone with Kur-like powers.)

(Maybe Kur was living in the back of Zak’s mind and any minute now-)

(Maybe...  Maybe Zak was Kur.)

Except, the universe had abruptly decided to hate Zak, because the illness was also screwing with his powers.  Every so often, they’d just turn on out of nowhere, not even doing anything, and it would hurt.  Like in the ice caves with Doyle, when he was flooded with more spiritual energy than his body could safely handle.  Like when he overused his powers in Antarctica.

It really wasn’t conducive to the whole ‘ignoring it’ thing he was going for.  

Mom opened the door to his room, and he groaned as the light hit his eyes.  “Hey,” she said, maneuvering around the door with a tray in her hands, “how are you feeling?”

“Bad,” said Zak.  

Mom put the tray on the table next to his bed and took his temperature.  “Still high,” she said.  “Do you feel up to eating?  I have soup.”

“Okay,” said Zak.  He sighed and rubbed his eyes and frowned at the gold reflecting off of them.  He squeezed his eyes shut, willing his powers off.  With another groan, he forced himself into a sitting position.  “I’ve been having weird dreams,” he said, taking the spoon.  It felt heavy.  

“Oh?  Like what?”

“Like...  There’s something moving around outside, in the woods, and I think it’s Fisk, but Fisk and Zon are with me.”  He poked the soup, breaking the thin skin that had formed on top of it.  “You’d think I’d be having dreams about that but...  I don’t know.  It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” said Mom, ruffling his hair. ��“You should probably take a shower next time you get up.  You’re all sweaty.”

“Okay,” said Zak.  

.

“I’m worried,” said Drew.  “I think there’s something supernatural about this illness.”

Doc looked up from the culture they’d taken of Zak’s throat swab.  “Really?” he said.  “You don’t think it was a pathogen he encountered when he went into the Antarctica cryptid to fight Argost?”  

Both parents shuddered.  They could still hardly believe they’d let Zak do that, even if the fate of the world was in the balance. 

“He’s dreaming about the prowler,” said Drew, before reciting what Zak told her.  

“That could be a coincidence,” protested Doc.  

“You know,” said Doyle, entering the room with a bag of chips and his hair plastered to his forehead with mud, “after all this, I’m not sure I believe in coincidences anymore.”

“No food in the lab!” shouted Doc, pointing an accusing finger at Doyle.  

“Jeez, dude, lighten up.  What’s the worse that could happen?”

“You could ingest a deadly chemical,” said Drew.  

“Oh,” said Doyle.  “Yeah, I guess that would be bad.”

“Did you find the prowler?” asked Drew.  

“Nope,” said Doyle.  “Not hide nor hair, even with Jurassic overhead.  But what I did find...”  He made a face.  “You know the river?”

“Yes, Doyle,” said Doc, “we are in fact aware of the river we live next to.”

“Yeah, cool.  All the fish are dead.”

“What?” asked Drew, raising her eyebrows.  

“Dead,” said Doyle.  “Belly-up.  A lot of the plants near the water aren’t doing so great, either.  I’d stock up on bottled water if I were you guys.”  He took a sip from his own bottle of water, as if to prove a point.  “Now, what were talking about when I came in?  Do you think this prowler has something to do with the little guy being sick?”

“Yes,” said Drew.  

“Maybe,” said Doc.  

They looked at each other.  

“I think we need more help,” said Drew.  “He’s not getting better.”

“Grimes and Lawhorn?”

“They do specialize in paramedicine.  They’re even working on a cure for everything.  Unless you think this is neurological, in which case we should call Dr. Bara again.”

Doc made a face.  “Not after what happened last time.”  More than half of the house was still in ruins.  

“Hm, I don’t think Grimes and Lawhorn will be that happy to see us, either,” said Drew.  

“They weren’t hurt that badly,” protested Doc.  “Arthur just likes to exaggerate.  They aren’t even O-positive!”

“Even so,” said Drew.  “But, yes, I think we should contact them.”

.

Zak stirred as Fisk picked him up.  “What’s goin’ on?” he asked, sleepily. 

“Hrry nn thhn yueeep.”

“It’s fine.”  Zak sat up a little so he could rest his head on Fisk’s collarbone.  “Where are we going?”

Fisk answered, and Zak nodded sagely.  

“I’m really sick, huh?”  He closed his eyes and let himself go to sleep again.  

.

“Miranda, Arthur, we didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Well,” said Arthur, “after that whole think with skunk-stripe’s mirror-world double, they’re kind of on edge when it comes to tall stuff, here.”  He nodded at Fisk.  “They asked us to monitor.”

“We also wanted to discuss what happened in Antarctica,” said Miranda.  “Your report felt... incomplete.”

“Right,” said Doc.  At least they’d ironed out a cover story before coming.  “We’d like to take care of our son, first, though.”

“Of course,” said Miranda.  “We’re in no hurry.”

.

“Hey, there, buddy, how are you feeling?”

“Dr. Grimes?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

Zak blinked slowly.  “Better.”

“Good!” said Grimes.  “We weren’t sure if that would do anything, but there we have it.  Seems like you picked something up from Kur after all.”  They spun in their chair and didn’t notice how Zak cringed at the name.  “Had to give you an Ancient Sumerian protective amulet.  Not easy to get those right!”

“Oh,” said Zak, who had been wondering about the thing tied around his wrist.  “Cool.  Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Talking to Miranda and Arthur.”

“Oh,” repeated Zak.  “Why’re they here?”

“They wanted to talk about Kur,” said Grimes.  “I heard you beat it and Argost both!  That’s impressive.”

“Thanks,” said Zak, fiddling with the amulet.  A spike of pain went through his head, and with it came a sense of movement, images of a forest, the outside of Lawhorn and Grimes’s home.  

... What?

“Hey, Zak, are you okay?” asked Grimes.  They said something else, but Zak didn’t hear him.  

“Something’s coming,” said Zak.  

Grimes rolled their chair to the door and pulled it open.  “Saturdays!  You kid is being ominous!”

.

Arthur frowned as he watched Doc and Drew leave the room.  He wasn’t good at reading people, but-

“They’re hiding something,” said Miranda.  

“I think you’re right, buns,” said Arthur.  

Miranda rolled her eyes.  “I can understand you not remembering my name, Arthur,” she said.  “But if you call me that again, I’m going to hit you.  With something heavy.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your circuit boards in a twist.  What do you think they’re hiding, though?  Why hide anything?  Like, they told us the parts they screwed up on, letting Argost getting away and all.  What could possibly be worse than that?”

Miranda frowned and rubbed her lower lip.  “They aren’t the type to lie to make themselves look good, Arthur.  There’s something else.  The timing of Zak’s illness...  They would lie to protect each other, to protect their children.”

“What, do you think short stuff was poisoned by Argost or something?  Not that it’d be out of character.”  

The idea that Argost got away with Kur, or at least that he had the Saturday’s under his control...  That was scary.  But it had to be the second one.  Argost was patient, but not that patient.  There would be wide-scale destruction.  

If he was threatening the Saturdays into working for him by holding the kid hostage, that was bad enough.  Even if it probably felt like a consolation prize from Argost’s perspective.  

“No, it wouldn’t,” said Miranda.  “We’ll have to look into it and hope Lawhorn and Grimes can find a solution.”

“We can do more than that!  We can go back to their house and see what they’re giving Argost!”

“Arthur, no.  We don’t even know if that’s what’s happening.  We can’t just break into their house.”

“We can,” Arthur argued, crossing his arms.  “You just don’t want to.”

“These are our friends,” said Miranda.  “I was only giving a possibility.  They might not be hiding anything at all.  They could just be worried about Zak.  I know I am.  Besides, Drew has her mercenary little brother guarding the place.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Arthur, waving his hand, “whatever.  I don’t want the kid hurt, either.  We’ll talk to them again when he’s better, maybe they’ll change their story.”

Arthur was about to elaborate on this when a rotund, three-legged, three-armed creature with far too many eyes tore through the walls.

.

Zak gasped and reached for the Claw.  Which he didn’t have because he was still in his pajamas.  His head pounded.  The talisman wrapped around his wrist burned.  Dad and Mom stepped between him and the monster, and Fisk pulled him away, to the side of the room, out of the line of fire.  

“Who dares to take my prey from me?” growled the creature.  “Who dares to come between me and Kur?”

“Azag,” breathed Zak.  He didn’t know how he knew this cryptid’s name.  He just did.  

“The Sumerian sickness demon?” asked his mother, brandishing her sword.  

“Kur,” said Azag, all of its eyes fixed on Zak, “the flesh you wear now is weak, and I will take great pleasure in watching it fail you, in watching it trap you, oh Kur, great king of the cryptids.”

“Stay away from him,” said Mom.

“Or else,” said Dad.

The monster started laughing.  Then it was hit from behind by one of Arthur’s energy discharge weapons.  It hissed and righted itself.  

“Do you think I fear his mortal servants?  Fools!”  It lunged for Dad.  

“No!” shouted Zak.  His powers flared and the talisman burst into a hundred tiny pieces as he forced himself into Azag’s mind.  

(Too familiar- Had he done this before?)

“Can’t,” he panted, “hold for long.  Hurry!” 

Grimes snatched a bottle from a cabinet, and a syringe from a drawer.  “Just hold it a minute longer, Zak.  If this is what I think it is-”  They didn’t finish the thought as they filled the syringe with the liquid from the bottle.  

Then he plunged the needle into the creature’s stony hide.  It screamed, the sound and pain echoing through the connection Zak had made with it.  His vision went white.  He felt his eyes roll back in his head and his knees go out.  

Nothing more.  

.

“What was that?” asked Miranda, staring at the melted remains of Azag.  

“Disease demon,” said Grimes, giddily.  “Lawhorn and I always theorized- I’m so glad I was able to test it!  The panacea!  I wonder what diseases it represented and how they’ll be affected...”

“Whatever,” said Arthur.  “I’m more interested in what that was.”  He pointed at Zak, who had collapsed and was currently being fussed over by his parents.  “You two have a lot of explaining to do.  And you’re going to start with why that thing was calling him Kur.”

[sage-nebula]

the pokemon company be like *thinly-veiled misogyny*

To be honest, the sexism isn’t even really thinly-veiled if you think about it. Like off the top of my head:

— Professor Juniper was our first female professor, and it took until Gen V to get her. But whereas all the other professors got to stand on their own without needing anyone else, Professor Juniper had to have her father come in to provide answers to various plot occurrences that she didn’t know. IIRC, she also inherited her practice from him, which was also something that the male professors before and after didn’t have to contend with. It’s a miracle that this was averted with Professors Magnolia and Sonia in Gen VIII, both of whom are women.

— Speaking of female professors being screwed over, in Gen VII we’re introduced to Professor Burnet, whose practice specifically focuses on ultra wormholes and disturbances in space-time (which makes sense since she was previously working on the Dream Radar). Given how much of the plot concerns ultra wormholes, you would think that she would be the main professor of the story, or at least play a big part. But you’re wrong! Instead she’s only in one mandatory scene, and then is basically never heard from again. Meanwhile, Kukui shows up all the goddamn time even though his goal (to create a League) is literally meaningless in the scope of the overall plot. (And even that could have been cool if it had delved into the socio-political ramifications of what overthrowing Alola’s current system of government for another one would mean, but now is not the time to get into the failings of Gen VII’s plot. I’ve gone through that enough times.)

— Back to Gen V for a second, we’re also given two rivals in the first of the Unova games: Bianca and Cheren. While Cheren, the male rival, is taken seriously and has it talked up over and over how great of a battler he is, Bianca has her Munna stolen from her halfway through the story and spends the rest of the game talking down on herself and ultimately deciding that her father was right and she really is not cut out to be a Pokémon Trainer. Keep in mind that Bianca was the first mandatory female rival in the games, because while May could be a rival in Gen III if you played as Brendan, if you chose to play as her, both rivals (Brendan and Wally) were male. So on that note, our rivals so far look like:

Gen I: Blue Oak (male)

Gen II: Silver (male)

Gen III: Wally (male), optional May (female), optional Brendan (male)

Gen IV: Barry (male) 

Gen V: Cheren (male), Bianca (female), Hugh (male)

Gen VI: Shauna (female), Tierno (male), Trevor (male), optional Serena (female), optional Calem (male)

Gen VII: Hau (male), Gladion (male)

Gen: Hop (male), Bede (male), Marnie (female)

So, let’s see. We only have two mandatory female rivals (Bianca and Marnie), as well as two optional female rivals (May and Serena). Meanwhile, we have twelve mandatory male rivals, as well as two optional male rivals (Brendan and Calem). To cap this off, while the mandatory male rivals (outside of the useless Kalos ones) are always treated as strong, competent battlers who have important roles in the story, our two mandatory female rivals, well . . .

Bianca: See above

Marnie: Gets battled a whole grand total of two times and has basically zero impact on the plot despite the fact that her brother is the only Gym Leader who didn’t give into Rose’s vision for how Galar should operate and use Dynamax evolution

And even when it comes to the optional ones, since Brendan is treated as the default MC by TPCi, that means May is the one who gives up training to go be a professor like her dad. (Which is the exact thing they basically did to Bianca in Gen V, except she studies under Juniper instead.) Serena at least keeps battling if she’s the rival, but jeez.

So to say there’s definite gender inequality where the rivals are concerned is a bit of an understatement.

— Moving away from the rivals, let’s talk about villains! We didn’t get a female villain until Gen VII with Lusamine, and even then she wasn’t allowed to stay a villain because I guess Game Freak doesn’t want to accept the fact that women can be evil, too. Moreover, all of Lusamine’s achievements come from the men in her life, and all of her motivations revolve around her husband. To spell it out:

- She inherited the Aether Foundation from her grandfather / father, without having founded it herself like we’re at first led to believe.

- Her husband Mohn was the one who discovered how the ultra wormholes work, not her. IIRC, he was also the primary researcher behind Type: Null’s creation.

- The reason why she does what she does is because she’s looking for her missing husband Mohn, with an added dash of “women just go crazy (and abuse their children) without their husbands!!1!!!” thrown in for flavor. 

Compare this to Giovanni, Maxie, Archie, Cyrus, Ghetsis, Colress, Lysandre, and now Chairman Rose, all of whom formed their own organizations (Giovanni inheriting his from his mother is anime only and does not pertain to the games at all) and had their own goals and desires, versus relying on someone else for those goals and desires. And as if Lusamine not being allowed to form her own organization and have her own goals for her own sake wasn’t bad enough, they then had to go and make it even worse in USUM by turning her into a damsel in distress in the Rainbow Rocket plot, depicting her as not only less capable as the male villains, but also less capable than her male subordinate. Gag me.

— On that note, Oleana is sorely underappreciated by basically everyone except the Twilight Wings writers considering she’s the only reason anything Rose did got done, yet got none of the credit for herself. Damn shame.

— Stepping away from the games for a moment, Generations was a hot mess in terms of sexism. First of all, they only ever used the male MCs, pretending that the female ones didn’t exist at all, even in cases where the female MCs are vastly more popular (e.g. May, Dawn, Hilda). Second, most of the episodes focused on male characters from the series, and the ones that didn’t were either there so they could disrespect the best character in the series by not giving her the episode she deserved (Zinnia), or were told from the point of view of a male character despite that it was supposed to be a female character’s story (Emma). And lastly, there was whatever the fuck that mess with Cheryl was. It was animated in a way that made it look like an anime not suitable for anyone under the age of eighteen. Like honestly, what the hell.

— Leaf has been consistently and constantly disrespected all over the franchise. Despite there allegedly being four trainers who left from Pallet Town (counting Ash) in the anime, Leaf has never been seen or mentioned even once throughout the two decades that anime has been running. They had an opportunity to show her in at least a cameo form in the 20th anniversary movie, but they chose not to do that either, adding yet another disappointment from that movie to the list. She had no appearances in Origins, no appearances in Generations, they didn’t do what they should have done in HGSS by making her the rival atop Mt Silver if you chose to play as Lyra, she wasn’t a skin for Pokémon Trainer in Super Smash Bros. until Ultimate, I’m pretty sure they never made an Amiibo for her either, they replaced her with her Special counterpart in LGPE and her characterization absolutely bonkers to boot, and back to Masters, SS Leaf doesn’t have the Main Character designation for the theme skills that SS Red has, and is also routinely left out of any story bits that feature Red or Blue. It’s a miracle she was even included in the Battling Legends event or whatever it was. As far as TPCi seems to be considered, Kanto only has one main character and that’s Red.

— Oh and speaking of Iris, they gave her the Gym Leader theme designation instead of the Champion designation, instead choosing to act like Alder is Unova’s only Champion when he, no offense, didn’t really fucking do anything in Gen V. :’) We hate to see it.

— In the current run of the anime, the two boys (Ash and Gou) have gotten to go around and have adventures for ~50 episodes while the girl (Koharu) has had to stay home and go to school. You can argue, “She wanted that!” all you want, but you have to remember that she only wants what the writers tell her to want, and the writers said the boys get to have adventures while the girls stay home. She finally has an Eevee and will presumably go on adventures now, but we’ll have to wait and see. And don’t get me wrong, I like Journeys and I love Gou as a character, but it is absolutely a Choice to not have a female lead present in the adventures at all and it’s one that the writers deliberately made for whatever reason.

— On that note, let’s look at Ash’s female companions, shall we? 

Misty: A Gym Leader who has a vague goal (water pokémon master) and is largely out of focus during her run as a primary companion. She had no rivals or in-series (as in, concrete ones she could accomplish before leaving the main cast) goals of her own.

May: A coordinator. Does have rivals and has a story, which is nice, but battling isn’t her focus.

Dawn: Another coordinator. Even more focus than May (she was written as a deuteragonist), but also not primarily focused on battling.

Iris: A battler (her Gym Leader / Champion Status is written out) who actually does get decent focus and a cool arc surrounding her connection to dragons. 

Serena: A performer, which is a girls-only career path that doesn’t have battling in it at all, unlike contests. Does have a goal, but much of her character is written around her crush for Ash and at the end of the series she says that he is her goal.

Lillie, Lana, Mallow: Honestly I didn’t watch enough of SM to have an opinion on how these three were handled outside of hating how Lusamine didn’t get to be a villain in the anime either.

Koharu: See above, she’s only just now getting to be involved with things.

Now, don’t get me wrong: There’s nothing wrong with being a coordinator (and we do see male coordinators too, such as Drew and Harley), and I think that both May and Dawn are wonderful characters. But it does make me feel some kind of way that the female characters were often given the “girly” sidequest while the male main character got to go for the Gym badges, especially since AG and DP went on for a good chunk of years. None of the ladies so far have been treated as badly as Serena was (that performer stuff is just nasty, I’m not sorry), but again, it’s a deliberate choice and something to think about, especially since I feel the only reason they didn’t go that route with Iris is because of her Gym Leader / Champion status in the games. 

I could probably think of more examples of the casual sexism in the series if I thought about it, but this is just from the top of my head. As you can see, there is a lot. All of this being said, and I’m putting major emphasis on this since I don’t want anyone to get it twisted—

I love Pokémon with my entire heart, flaws and all. It has been my hyperfixation for 22 years and that is not going to change any time soon. So DO NOT even dare suggest that I hate Pokémon, or shouldn’t play it, or anything like that. I will be playing Pokémon on my deathbed and nothing and no one will stop me.

But that being said, I criticize because I care. Because I wish it would do better. Pokémon is for everyone. It’s for boys, girls, nonbinary folks, and people all over the gender spectrum. But the treatment of its female characters and the abundance of favoritism shown toward the male characters leaves a lot to be desired (though at least girls are at the table, whereas trans folk are relegated to background NPCs and nonbinary folk are nowhere to be seen :/). I think Pokémon can get better—Magnolia and Sonia felt like a proper apology for how Juniper in particular was shafted, not to mention Burnet—but it’s got a long way to go.

(And also, yes, you’ve understood this right. Twilight Wings is the only anime series to not fuck up at all when it comes to sexism. You go, Twilight Wings. Four for you, Twilight Wings.)

[gwaciechang]

I Don't Wanna Go Home (1/15?)

So, this is probably going to be my most ambitious project ever. I'm going to do a fusion of the video gave Subnautica Below Zero, with the characters from Cloverfield Paradox. You don't have to have played Below Zero first, although it would certainly help. Also, as someone who has played the game, I tried my best to explain everything, which is why the first few chapters are going to be really slow, and why everyone talks so much. I also made a change to the canon of the first Subnautica: instead of Riley curing Kharaa, it was the precursors.

So, a few more things before we start this chapter. I hate "y/n l/n" stuff, so I just call the pov character Ling Tam. I don't think anybody actually uses that name in the story, but that might change, and in any case, you're free to replace her name with any name you like. Also, reader is in a relationship with Mundy at the start of the story, although that, obviously, won't last because it's endgame reader/Schmidt. Okay, that's everything, enjoy, and let me know if you want to be tagged.

@hope-to-hell @vicanth @feralrunaway @october505 @potentialproblem01

"Hey, Monk, you told me to come get you if that weird signal showed up ag-" you stop when you see the vehicle technician on the radio.

"When are you going to send me some more art? There's still a patch of bare wall here that could use some color and a touch of genius!" Monk says, probably to his kids, as he waves you away. You close the door as silently as you can, and not a second too soon, because Mundy opens the habitat door and stomps his way inside with a box. Behind him, you can see the prawn suit, with several other boxes still tied to its massive arms. There's an inquisitive face popping out of the water that you decide not to tell him about. Why shouldn't the creatures have a little fun?

"Another day, another slight by the winged furies," Mundy grumbles.

"Another interference alert?" you ask, trying to lay the sympathy on thick before you inevitably burst into laughter.

"As usual," the xenobiologist sighs theatrically. "Also as usual, I went out to see what the problem was. And, of course, it was-"

"Frozen stalagmites of feathered bird excrement," the two of you say together.

"I fear the career impact of saying this officially-"

"If you can even call what you have a career," you interrupt, getting yourself a faceful of dirty towel.

Besides throwing the thing you're really hoping he hadn't just used to wipe up bird shit in your face, your boyfriend continues as if you'd never spoken. "I could swear they're targeting me personally. The week I was out with a flu, I came back to find the tower spotless. Monk laughed at me when I asked him how he'd cleaned it. Silly me!"

"As if Monk would ever clean anything," you agree. "What are you going to do?"

"There's nothing left for me to try but quitting. But I know that's what the birds want me to do," he shakes his fist at the sky as he walks back outside to retrieve the final box.

You turn back to the screen and wonder about the signal again. It's been appearing on and off for days, ever since you got the radio tower up and running, and what would a repeat call be besides a distress signal?

"Ah jeez, these sea monkeys are going to get me in trouble," the box in Mundy's hands is scratched through in places. "This is the third shipment that those buggers have gotten their weird little hands into! Now we're running low on flares and I'm going to have to search nearby nests for stolen cargo," he sighs as he drops a mangled box on the top of his cluttered workstation. It makes a bang that would have disturbed Monk, if he weren't on the radio, or Schmidt, if he were a normal person who came back from work at normal hours. As it is, there's just you to look at him, a welcome break from potential distress signals and what they might mean.

"Just put some of your drawings on the tower, they'll be too scared to go near it!"

"Ha ha," Mundy says sarcastically, before going outside to park the prawn-

"Oh, for fuck's sake! It’s fucking gone!"

You and Monk, still on the radio, step outside, but sure enough, the prawn suit has disappeared without a trace, as far as you can tell.

"I'm still trying, quietly--I don't want any more trouble--to figure out where I went wrong. I was sure Tam had picked up a distress signal!" Monk bends down to peer at the tracks. "I was right on top of it. And then it just," he gets to the edge of the glacier, stands up, and shakes his head, "it just stopped. What if one of the precursors is still down there? And how could a hivemind alien race so advanced that they singlehandedly ended a galaxy wide pandemic leave someone behind? I'll probably be home before I ever get to find out, and it will fall to some future researcher to come and find out, I guess, I hope," he waves the two of you back into the habitat and closes the door. "But that means I'll get to be with you little rascals." His voice fades and disappears.

"So, game tonight?" you ask, hoping to erase the distress off Mundy’s face.

"That'd be nice," he says with a weak smile, just before Jensen slams her door open.

"Mundy, inside!" barks the overseer of operations.

Mundy sighs and drags his feet as he walks into Jensen's office. No sooner has she closed the door with a snap than you and Monk have your heads pressed against the door.

"Mundy, I'm not blaming you, but what do you mean, 'it's gone?' Where did it go? You had trouble retrieving the drop pod and decided to jettison the prawn suit?"

"I didn't jettison the prawn suit! I left it outside to put the supply drop away, went back for it, and it was just gone! Someone must have stolen it."

"Who? Who else do you think is on this planet besides the five of us?"

"It could be a creature ate it. I didn't lose it, that's for sure. I'm careful with my vehicles!"

You can practically hear Jensen’s eyeroll as she continues, "I'm sure you are, but you have to admit, there have been a lot of 'accidents' involving our very expensive vehicles."

"You want to follow me on a few runs tomorrow? See what it's like? Conditions are way harsher than anything I ever imagined. You can't really understand it from inside your office!"

Monk winces, and you know there's a matching pained expression on your face. Talking back to Jensen is a terrible idea, but Mundy's sealed his fate, and now all that's left is to wait for the other shoe to drop.

"That won't be necessary," Jensen says with syrupy calm. "Thank you for your time. I'll write it up as an accident."

"Thank you, ma'am," Mundy's voice is shaky. Jensen doesn't respond, so the vehicle technician’s deliberately loud footsteps approach the door, prompting you and the precursor researcher you're spying with to run like your asses are on fire back to your stations.

"I think it'd be best if Researcher Tam takes over your duties with the leviathan tomorrow," Jensen says, loudly enough for you to hear, even through the door.

Now it's your turn to wince. Mundy gives you a small smile as he walks past, and then Jensen's in your line of sight, hands on her hips.

"I believe I told you to go somewhere."

"Yes, ma'am," you drop everything to put your thermal suit on, and pour a final cup of sweet, sweet dirty bean water in your thermos. There's no cappuccino machine allowed in the cave, lest it somehow thaw out the entire frozen leviathan Mundy, and now you, are studying. Or maybe it was just Schmidt being anal about his robots, you wouldn't put it past the guy whose lips are basically permanently attached to Jensen's ass.

On the bright side, they're also attached to a guy who knows what he's doing, and is thorough in explaining what Mundy does when he's here. Still, it's barely five minutes in when the silence gets to you.

"I love and hate exploring these tunnels," you start to babble, not expecting Schmidt to respond. "Yeah, they're marvels to the power of the ice worms. I mean, the amount of ice they are able to cut through in seconds, it would take us at least a couple days. Their tunneling mechanism is ruthlessly efficient. Alterra could only dream of having this sort of mining capability, and yeah, the ice worms uncover mineral rich pockets as they tunnel. But going beneath the surface is so risky, I mean, we've lost so many already, and I don't understand why we have to stay in this particular area of the glacier. I can't wait to get off this hellhole, or ice hole? Whatever."

You can hardly believe it, but you hear a clear snort coming from Schmidt’s workstation. You fill your flasks with a wide smile on your face, which doesn’t fade even when you make your way back across the tunnel to see his with its usual pinched, sour expression.

"Hey, do you want some coffee?" you wave the thermos at him. "It might help you get the taste of Alterra boot leather out of your mouth," you say in a singsong voice.

"How much sugar and cream is in that?" Schmidt wrinkles his nose. "No thank you."

You decide to let that roll off your back and chuckle a little. "I guess my proclivities toward having coffee with my sugar is well known, huh? Just like how I should know better than to invite you to game night with me and the other researchers, again?"

Is snow blindness affecting your vision, or did Schmidt just smile?

"You should know better," he says in a soft voice, and then he takes out another set of small, sterile flasks, and hands them to you. "Get some samples from the skull, too, use the elevator."

"Thanks!" you grab the flasks, only to drop them the second you put your hand on the elevator lift button, because that's a fucking rotten peeper hanging off the edge.

Schmidt snaps his gloves off and cleans it up, which is nice of him, even if the things he says while he does it aren’t very nice. "Mundy," he practically spits, "always leaving food around. At least the nutrient blocks and the filtered water don't spoil."

"Well, the man likes to munch on things," you try to lighten the mood. "Are you telling me you don’t leave snacks around your workstation?" Schmidt opens his mouth, but you interrupt. "Don't tell me, you have a timer telling you when to go to the fabricator to make food and eat?"

He closes his mouth and turns a little red.

Holy shit, you were right? That's the saddest thing you've ever heard. "Okay, you know what, you are definitely playing Alien Intruders with us tonight, because I'm going to cook. Real food, too, none of that fabricated stuff."

"Oh, I am?" Schmidt raises an eyebrow.

"Yep! And I'm going to make my favorite dish, just for you, you'll love it! Roasted Chinese potato with shredded marblemelon and salt."

That was definitely a snort, maybe even a laugh, and it carries you through the rest of the day.

[hueningshaped]

★ count on me | l.c

▰ genre: humor(ish) + fluff

▰ word count: 1288

▰ synopsis: fem reader / you're on your period and chan comes to you as soon as he's done with his long day at practice since he hears you're in great pain by yourself and you get really really emotional with him + "you're the greatest boyfriend ever, you're the greatest specimen ever" "shhh, thank you sweetheart"

▰ notes: wrote this while i was still in high school so it’s WEAK but here u go!

▰ possible warnings :: blood(?), menstruation

Even as Chan sent you mini playlists to cheer up in the meantime of his absence, you felt even more... devastated, only at how considerate and wonderful he was. You did not deserve your boyfriend at all and you never would.

channie 애기 💗: hey babee ill be with you as soon as im done with practice pls hang on ok???

you: hhhhhhh pls take your time :( im srs!

channie 애기 💗: im sorry i can't come any sooner just listen to the playlists until i get there or watch some of our going seventeen episodes bcos our stupidity is sure to put a smile on ur face

you: i'll do that thank u ❤️❤️❤️

channie 애기 💗: by the way what flavor of ice cream would you want me getting aside from your favorite???

That was the last straw.

Your cramps were just half of the madness since it did indeed feel like two iron-like hands were twisting and wringing your uterus like a rag but it was the heightened hormones that were triggered by every little thing by a thousand. And the big things? Like your boyfriend's existence?

You were holding in your tears as if you'd just suffered an actual tragedy.

All of the boys on your small screen brought a tear stained smile to your face as every word they said was either really extra or dumb or heartfelt: your boyfriend and basically your elder brothers.

Before you had to endure ridiculous skits from the loud trio of the group, you switched to some music videos and other jacket filming videos.

To this day, he still whined about wanting to be taller and sometimes his voice cracked when he got really excited. He'd tell you about his dreams of making it big with his love for performance and he'd let you lay his head on his shoulder as he did so, brushing your cheek like he still did.

While streaming their latest music video for the past hour, you were interrupted by a small slam of the front door that was accompanied by a rustle of a plastic bag with firm footsteps. Your position on the bed was curled up in a ball, sideways with multiple blankets littered upon your body, not to mention the heating pads on your abdomen and back. The faded tear stains itched in your face and you clicked pause on all of the open tabs.

"Channie?" You called out hoarsely, hoping that it wasn't a robber that was going to kill you with a plastic bag.

But your boyfriend appeared at the door, in his sweatpants and large, comfy sweater, wearing that great smile on his cute face, with a bag of things you loved, besides the boy who carried it all.

"Baby..." he elongated his tone as he crinkled his eyes, making his way to you. Chan even opened his arms to you when he picked up speed before joining you in bed. Wordlessly, he moved you gently by the shoulders onto his chest so you could lay on him and he laid his chin on your head.

"It's hot with all these blankets," he commented with a quiet snicker. "Also, Y/N, did you change the sheets or is that just me?" His voice was so soft while he was running his hand against your back languidly.

"I did," you breathed, hoping the dots would connect in his head and you found your eyes watering as he moved the bag to his lap. This had been the second time you had stained something in his company, so his tiny, understanding nod told you everything.

(The first time had been when you were at the library, reading a book beside him, when Mother Nature surprised you. You had been brave, sheepishly telling him what had happened after having a mini breakdown in the restroom for a good 20 minutes, and he, in his good-heartedness, wrapped you up in his hoodie. Channie escorted you home and he would've stayed with you but had had to leave due to practice.)

"Look what I got for you," Chan sang and squeezed you. He started taking the items out one by one: the special kind of chocolate you like, a pint of your favorite ice cream, some fuzzy socks, your favorite foreign candies, extra napkins, and some ibuprofen. He then moved his eyes to your phone where their video was paused, the moment right after his own dance break of the song. "Aw, were you watching our videos? And our new song, too? Gosh, you're really the best, babe."

It was at that moment you suddenly heard sobbing of some sort before Chan sat you up then you realized that it was you who was crying.

"Hey, hey," his tone and touch became even more gentle as he thumbed your tears, cupping your face with his hand. "What's wrong? Is it the pain?"

You shook your head as your breaths shallowed, reducing to minor cries and sniffles.

"No, it's just..." you met his eyes and furthered into your mini breakdown again. "Y-you're just so...so amazing and wonderful and kind and hardworking and I'm so proud of you. So proud of you. You work so hard, so hard and you have to come home to this. Look at you... in the music videos and on stage and so adored and so talented and you're so far above everything and everyone else and you still care about me when you don't have to - Oh, I'm so sad and in love with you."

Chan's eyes endlessly searched your own as you finished crying into your hands but after a while, he smiled softly.

"Shhh..." he stroked your hair.

"No, you shh! I'm sick of you being so amazing! You're so amazing! Can you please stop being so amazing? I just love you so much and I'm sorry you have to deal with me on my period and why are you smiling?" You'd somehow slid down to be half sitting and half lying down on the bed as he continued giving you a twinkle in his eyes.

"I love you, too, Y/N," he sincerely enunciated. "I love you more than you could know, I swear it. Just rest. Okay?"

"Chan, know this. Know that you're the greatest boyfriend ever, okay? You're the greatest specimen ever. You're so..." you were cut off by your sudden, silent weeping. He chuckled again and merely kissed your forehead, keeping his thumb upon your cheek with his hand cupping your face.

"Shhh, thank you, sweetheart. Just take a nap," he continued eyeing your entire face with such a loving gaze you wanted to cry forever. "Goodness, you don't even know how much I could cry about you. You make me so happy. You make me feel perfect and you make me feel loved and just a million other things. Jeez, you really have no idea how much of an impact you have on me, you little punk?"

Your weeping had been reduced to a quieter blubbering, but you were relieved it wasn't from the pain.

"I'll be right here when you wake up. I'm also taking a nap with you, okay, baby?" He joined you in your position, squeezing your cheek affectionately with that showstopping smile of his. "Just do anything to get me up if you're in pain and I'm sleeping."

Through your swollen eyes, you simply nodded with a sniffle and a loving smile playing your chapped lips. You watched his ever so expressive face drift and relax into sleep. Lee Chan really could make your pain go away. At least, almost.

[starchildwannabe]

Landing in New York

Genre: fluff

Pairing: bang chan x reader; side minlix

Word count: 5.3k

Warnings: this fic is mostly just fluff but they also drink

Author’s notes: I wrote this based on a prompt generator to try to finish a full story. It’s unedited but I hope it’s not too bad! Also it’s short but I hope you like it :)

Summary: you meet Chan in New York on New Year’s Eve

2:58pm. I rub my eyes as the fatigue of 3 o’clock starts to slip in. How ironic (or cruel really) that New Years Eve was on a Thursday this year and that the deadline for this month’s project was today instead of next week. I let a slightly exhausted sigh escape from my lips as I finally look up from the computer screen.

“3 o’clock already,” a familiar voice on my left says prompting me to swivel my chair in their direction. A smile slips onto my face.

“You know what that means,” I say, holding out my hand to my lovely desk mate and exceptional best friend, Felix, who takes it without even slight hesitation.

It’d been a while since the honeymoon phase of working in a new place passed and both Felix and I started crashing around 3pm on workdays. It hadn’t been long, though, since we decided that the 3 o’clock fatigue meant stretching our legs and walking across the street to our favorite (by default) coffee shop to get a little pick me up. Today, however, I was more looking forward to the after work festivities rather than the assured line out the door of the Tom N Toms just for 3pm coffee. On December 31st in New York, everywhere was crowded no matter what time of day, and especially in Times Square from about rush hour on. So today was not a day you wanted to be stuck in the office after 5, let alone at all, but sacrifices had to be made for the dream of working and living so close to where the ball would drop at midnight.

When I step outside, already pulling my scarf tighter around my neck to escape the brisk wind and soft snow flurries, I’m surprised to see that the line hasn’t made it out the door yet and take that as a queue to get across the street as fast as possible.

“I’ll race you,” I say, giving Felix a mischievous look and a wiggly eyebrow.

“What are we, five?” He says giggling.

“No, six.” I say and take off across the crosswalk before the blinking green man changes to red. I glance over my shoulder when I get to the door of the Tom N Toms to make sure Felix actually made it across the street, and when I see him behind me, open it to reveal the warm air trapped inside the shop.

After waiting in the incredibly slow line for 10 minutes, we make it to the counter and give our order.

“You think Mr. Kim will be mad if we take a little longer than the usual 15?” I ask Felix and check my watch again as we walk toward the pick up counter to wait. Names are being called in the background, surely for other customers to get their orders, but I don’t really pay close attention because it’s too soon to be ours. I look up when Felix starts to reply, but I miss what he says because my attention is fully on a guy less than a few inches away from me holding an iced coffee in the hand closest to me and brace for impact because it’s too late to sidestep him. In less than a second I can feel coffee running down my shirt and thank God that it’s just cold and not scalding my chest instead.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” a panicked voice is saying as I awkwardly hold my shirt away from my body, “I didn’t even see you I don’t even know how that happened I’m really really sorry,” he says in a somehow even more panicked tone. I give an extremely awkward smile to try to lighten the situation and that’s when I actually take a second to look at the person frantically apologizing and all I can think is holy shit, is he beautiful.

“Ah, um, it’s okay,” is all I can manage to say because he’s shoving napkins at me. Then one of the staff with a mop is at the area where the coffee spilled and Felix is pulling me towards him and the boy is being pushed by the crowd the other way and the conversation ends before I can even ask him his name.

“Are you okay?” I hear Felix ask behind me and then the boy is gone because I turn my head to look at Felix instead.

“Yeah, I’m just a little uncomfortable, and coffee stained is all,” I make a mental note that I would probably be more upset if the person behind why I was covered in coffee was less attractive and then mentally kick myself for being shallow. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom to try to get this off, can you handle getting the drinks?”

“Yeah, dude, of course,” Felix says, and gives me a little push towards the bathrooms.

Fortunately, the rest of the hour and a half in the office passes without much problem. Unfortunately, I have to spend the rest of the afternoon and commute home with a horribly stained white button down. Fortunately, I have a coat to cover it when I go outside. Unfortunately, Felix hasn’t stopped talking about the boy that caused said stain since we made it back to the office, and as we’re walking out again at 5.

“But do you think you’ll see him again?” He’s saying for the 2nd time since I made it back from the bathroom in the Tom N Toms, “I think he was interested in you, and he was hot,” he adds and I sigh.

“I know,” I say in a pouty voice, “but like I said last time, I probably won’t. I’ve never seen him before today anyway, he could be a tourist for all we know. I mean, he did have an accent that was clearly Australian.” I look at Felix when I say the last part.

“Well I’m Australian and I live here,” he says, and adds, “I’m just saying,” when I give him a side eye.

“Well all I’m saying, is that it’s not likely.”

The conversation dwindles and then moves onto plans for that night and after about 10 minutes of walking and brainstorming the best way to get even remotely in Times Square without having to stand outside for the rest of the night the conversation somehow goes back to the coffee shop boy.

“You know, if he’s a tourist, he’s probably here for the ball drop,” Felix states. “And if he’s here for the ball drop, that means he’ll be somewhere in Times Square at midnight.”

“Who?” I ask even though I already know who he’s talking about.

“The boy.” He glances over at me and slits his eyes. “From Tom N Toms.” He deadpans.

“Felix, there’s going to be literally a million people in Times Square, maybe even more than that, we’re never going to run into him.” I sigh at the realization that we’ve been talking about someone, that I’m probably never going to see again, for the better half of the afternoon. “If we see him again, I’ll be convinced that he’s my soulmate.”

***

“I think if we leave now we’ll be able to be in the very very back,” Felix says from behind me. “And I’m sure if we squint, we’ll actually be able to see the ball drop.” I stop searching through my closet for a second to glance at Felix who’s casually sitting on my bed.

“Look it’s not my fault someone spilled coffee on my shirt.” I say and turn back to my clothes. From the other side of the wall, I could hear a slight pulsing from music that’s turned up too loud. “You’d think the owner would tell them to be careful about getting noise complaints.”

“Well it’s not like it’s illegal to rent out your place as an Airbnb anymore.”

“I mean I guess,” I glance down at my watch, “why are they even here still? If they don’t leave soon, they won’t be able to get anywhere near Times Square.”

“You’re telling me.” Felix says. I quickly grab a shirt and pull my coffee stained one over my head. Once I have the fresh one on, Felix stands and walks to the door.

“Wait,” I say and he turns his head in my direction. “Does this look okay together?”

“Yes, but I don’t see why it matters so much, your coat’s gonna be over it the whole time.” I turn my head towards my closet one last time. “Let’s just go.” Felix adds with a slight urgency in his voice.

“Okay, you’re right it doesn’t really matter.”

As I’m turning my key into the handle, I have a sudden urge to knock on the door next to mine and tell them to turn the music down, but I let it go because we’re leaving anyway and it’s their fault if they have to watch the ball drop from the very back of Times Square. I turn away from the door and give my watch one more glance as I head toward the stairs. 5:24pm. When I get the the stairs, Felix is already at the bottom of the first flight.

“We should get to the entry on 6th in less than 5 minutes, we don’t have to rush that much.” I say to his clearly urgent body language. He pauses for a second before replying and I lift my eyebrow.

“I, uh,” Felix hesitates, “kind of told someone we’d meet them at 6th at 5:30, but I didn’t think I’d mention it until we got there because I didn’t think it’d take this long to leave.” He lets the end drift off.

“Oh.” I say, “that’s fine, but like I wish you would’ve told me before. I would’ve spent less time changing.” An awkward laugh escapes, but I feel a genuine smile on my lips.

“Sorry,” he says and his hand comes up to rub the back of his head.

“Do I know them?” I ask to try to ease the tension.

“Oh, uh, yeah actually I think you’ve met one time.” Felix says and then adds, “but I don’t think you know his name.”

“And his name is—“ I say drawing out the last word.

“Minho,” I nod confirmation as he says it. “You were there, when we met.” I look at him with a confused expression. “It was a couple weeks ago at the bar,” when my expression doesn’t change he adds, “come on, you know, kinda tall, brown hair, cute nose, great laugh. I gave him my number?”

“And I was there?”

“Yes, you were there! You were literally sitting right next to me when this happened.”

“Wow, how drunk was I, jeez.” I shake my head a little and then say, “Well as long as he’s nice and doesn’t make things awkward for me, I don’t really care if I know him or not.” I chuckle and then look at Felix with pouty eyes, “but who am I supposed to kiss at midnight now?”

“Well it wouldn’t’ve been me anyway, so I guess that’s a personal problem,” he says and then gives a nice genuine laugh.

“I guess I’ll just have to go another year without a New Years kiss.” I feign despair and over exaggerate my sigh.

At exactly 5:32pm we make it to the entrance at 6th. We look around for a bit and then Felix jogs off toward someone that he recognizes. I stand awkwardly by myself as I witness their encounter, and confirm that Felix was right, he does have a cute nose. After maybe a minute, Felix turns around and walks back to me with Minho close behind.

“So this is Minho,” he says to me and I give a smile and wave to the boy standing behind him, and then he turns to Minho and adds, “she couldn’t remember you from the bar, can you believe that?” His laugh is light and fluttery, and I make a mental note to ask him about this later.

“You stole my midnight kiss,” I comment and wink at Minho and both boys’ cheeks flush pink.

“I, uh,” Minho’s voice is frantic and his eyes search Felix’s face for help.

“I’m just kidding,” I say and then laugh and pat Minho on the shoulder. I check my watch again. “I’d say we have like 20 minutes before they stop letting people in, so let’s make a quick bathroom stop and meet back here.” I say and then point toward a nearby building that I’m sure will let us in.

***

By the time the last hour of the year comes and is almost gone, and the sun has been gone for over 6 hours, the only thing that’s keeping me alive and not freezing to death in the brisk wind, is the sheer amount of people that are in Times Square (and also the alcohol that’s in my system from the very kind and very sneaky people standing next to us). Of course, Felix and I had forgotten to hide any booze in our coats before we left since we were rushed and now that I’m a little bit more than slightly intoxicated, I’m glad that we didn’t. I’m overly grateful for the people next to us, because they made the time pass while Felix was busy flirting with Minho next to him. Around 10 minutes before midnight, I could hear some commotion going on somewhere in the crowd in front of me, and then saw a small group of people making their way to the back of the crowd. As they passed by us, the people next to me said something like, “you know you can’t get out now, when it’s so close to midnight.” But they didn’t stop walking, just pointed vaguely behind us which seemed to be good enough for everyone. After that, the crowd shifted enough that Felix, Minho, and I got pushed away from the people next to us and into a new area of the crowd. I frown at the thought of not being by people I know anymore and push my coat back so I can look at my watch. 3 minutes to go. I look up at the ball on top of One Times Square and excitement floods my body. It’s almost to the bottom already.

I lean closer to Felix and Minho and ask, “Any last words before our lives change forever?”

Felix slightly rolls his eyes and then leans into Minho’s ear.

“She does this every year,” and then looks back at me and smiles and adds, “All I’m going to say is that I hope there isn’t an alien spaceship waiting for the last 3 seconds before midnight to blast us all off the earth.” Minho scrunches his eyebrows.

“He says that every year,” I say leaning toward Minho. Felix shrugs.

“It’s true though.”

“Minho?” I ask.

“Um,” he glances at Felix, “I hope that next year is at least as good as this year was.”

“Aw, wait that’s really nice, and a million times better than Felix’s” I say and clasp my hands by my chest. “I think for me, I hope that in—“ I glance at my watch again, “45 seconds I can get a New Years kiss.”

“Those are you last words of the year? Really?” Felix deadpans next to me.

“I don’t see the problem,” Minho says and shrugs.

I can hear someone around me yell “30 seconds,” and then the noise level of the crowd goes up from excitement and everyone’s eyes are glued to the ball ahead.

20 seconds. 15 seconds. 12 seconds.

At 10 seconds everyone starts to count.

9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4... 3... 2... 1...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Everyone in the crowd is shouting happy new year to the people around them and before I can even blink I’m being pulled closer to someone in front of me and they’re whispering in my ear with an extremely familiar accent, “can I kiss you,” and I’m whispering back “yes” and before I can comprehend what I’m doing, a kiss is being pressed to my lips. All I can think in the moment is what chapstick do they use? because their lips are so pillowy and smooth. When I finally open my eyes and reorient myself with my surroundings I see none other than the boy from the coffee shop standing in front of me.

“It’s you!” I blurt out before I can catch myself.

He laughs a honey sweet laugh and then says, “Chan or Chris, either is okay.” And then he smiles so wide his eyes almost disappear entirely.

“Okay, Chan or Chris, why? How? What? I’m so confused.” I say.

“Clearly,” the honey sweet laugh comes again. “Just call me Chan,” he says and glances at Felix and Minho giving them a little nod. I look at Felix when he does this and notice that his mouth is hanging open and let out a chuckle at the sight.

He grabs my arm and pulls me towards him and then says loud enough for only me to hear, “so you meet again, it must be fate.” I roll my eyes and then he lets my arm go and holds his hand out in front of Chan and says, “I’m Felix, we met earlier but you were in a bit of a rush, I’m assuming.”

“Ah, yeah sorry about that,” Chan says, he grabs Felix’s hand and lets his sunny smile cross his expression once more. “I’m glad we met again,” he turns to me when he says this, “it was really getting under my skin that I didn’t get to apologize to you properly.” An awkward chuckle escapes his lips.

“Oh, no, no it’s no big deal at all,” I say more rushed than I intend, “I’m sure you were busy, with it being New Year’s Eve and all,” I give him a little wink and his smile grows even bigger. “Plus I can kind of tell that you’re not from here,” he looks at me with a confused expression, “I mean your accent is obviously not American.” I say with a laugh.

“Looks like you caught me,” he laughs and puts his hands up by his shoulders. Before he can say anything else, though, one of his friends is leaning into his ear and whispering something to him. I try to catch what they’re saying but it’s too loud around me to hear. At this point the crowd has dispersed into a much less dense one and there’s enough room around to move freely. I glance over at Felix and at the same time feel a slight brush at my hand before it’s grasped by someone else’s. I look up and Chan’s attention has fully returned to me.

“We’re gonna head back to our Airbnb now, but I’m wondering if you want to come?” He asks with a smile plastered to his face.

I look back at Felix to see his reaction and then say, “I want to, but I would feel better if my friends could come too?” Felix is nodding behind me and Chan slips a quick glance to them before turning back to me and smiling again.

“Yeah, of course, the more the merrier!” He says. The friend that whispered into his ear before taps his arm and gives a little jerk of his head when Chan looks over. He starts to lead us through the still thinning crowd to the entrance, and I notice that Chan hasn’t let go of my hand since he first grabbed it. When he looks back at me when we make it back to the entrance, I can feel my cheeks heating up and hope that it’s too dark to see them change color.

“So,” he starts to say, “if it’s so obvious that I’m not from around here, what’s your guess?”

“My guess?”

“Yeah,” he says, “where do you think I’m from?”

“Oh,” I pause for a moment, “well your accent is pretty similar to Felix’s, so I’m guessing Australia?”

“You’re pretty clever,” he says in return, “I don’t think I could ever get used to it being cold in December though.”

“Really? Then why come to New York during the coldest time of the year?”

“Well, it’s on everyone’s bucket list isn’t it?” He says and then adds, “to come to New York for New Year’s Eve.”

“Yeah I guess so, but I don’t really see the big deal. You can’t even go to the bathroom once you’re in the barricades.”

“Yeah I know,” Chan says with a sort of defeated tone in his voice, “I wish someone would’ve told me that before we got inside.” He trails the end with a laugh.

As we round the next corner, snow starts to lightly fall from the sky. Chan’s friends in front of us start to murmur to each other like kids seeing snow for the first time and I let out a small giggle at that. After about a minute or so the road goes back to the calmer atmosphere it had before, and I realize that we’re walking directly toward my apartment. I give Felix a quick glance to see if he’s noticed it too, and when our eyes meet he lifts his eyebrow at me.  I shrug as if to say what’re the odds and then turn back to Chan who’s telling me that if he were in Australia today, he’d be wearing shorts and flip flops with a zero percent chance of snow in the forecast. Then he’s telling me about how he would probably be swimming too and I can’t help but wish I was somewhere warm while we’re walking down a freshly snow covered street.

“You know, I live really close to here,” I say at a break in the conversation.

“What? Really?” Surprise crosses Chan’s face.

“Yeah, actually it’s only like a minute away.” I say and then hear someone ahead of me say  “We’re almost there!” in a bright tone. I lift my eyebrows when we head toward my apartment building instead of turning down the street. I point ahead and then add, “that’s my apartment building.”

“No way,” Chan says as we inch closer and closer to it. “I think that’s where we’re staying.”

“Very funny,” I say.

“No, I’m serious,” I search his face to see if he’s lying, but we reach the stairs and it’s enough to know that he’s telling the truth. “What floor are you on?” He asks as we climb the first flight.

“3.” He’s silent for a moment too long so I add, “you guys aren’t on 3 also, are you?”

“Actually,” he pauses, “I think it’s 304.”

Then tension sits in the air for a moment before I say, “you should really think about playing music will less bass.” Chan gives me a confused look, “I’m in 305,” I let a smile fill my lips when I say so.

“Wow, what a coincidence.” He thinks for a second, “wait, that’s actually pretty convenient.”

“Why?”

“Because you can go home whenever you want.” We reach the 3rd floor then and the door to apartment 304 is already being opened by one of Chan’s friends. When we get into the main room, it looks the same as mine except the furniture has a vintage 70s vibe and the couch in the center of the room is an ugly green color. There are two more rooms splitting off from the main one, and after counting the number of Chan’s friends I’m assuming they’re bedrooms with more than one bed in each of them. The only light other than the dimmed overhead light is coming from different colored hexagon tiles that are hanging on the wall. Before long, there’s music bumping through the speakers on the entertainment center. Chan has to lean into my ear before saying, “pretty cool isn’t it?” because the volume is up pretty loud. After he leans away, he holds up a beer in front of me and tilts his head. I grab it from him and give a soft smile.

“Thanks,” I say and then add, “it looks nothing like mine, apart from the layout.” Chan leads me over to the couch, we sit, and cheers glasses before both taking big swings from our bottles.

2 and a half beers and 3 shots of soju in he asks, “Do you like living in New York?”

I think for a while and then say, “Yeah, I didn’t grow up here, but I always liked the idea of moving to a big city so I applied to college here and when I moved for my freshman year I just kind of never left.” I shrug and take another drink from the bottle I’m holding.

“Aw wow, it’s cool that you got to reach your goal.” I give him a slightly skeptical look.

“I wouldn’t say it was really a goal, more like an idea that I liked.”

“Yeah but it’s still cool,” he pauses, “I’m thinking about moving from Australia, but I’m not sure where I would go,” he pauses again, “just an idea I like, I guess.” He shrugs this time and I clink my almost empty bottle to his. “You know what else would be cool,” he eyes me and leans a little closer than he probably would if he was completely sober, “if you showed me your apartment.”

I let out a genuine belly laugh, “that’s what cool is to you?”

“You bet,” he pops up from the couch and throws his hand out to me.

“Alright, if you want.” I take his hand, finish the last of my beer, and place the empty bottle on the coffee table in front of me before standing up. As we walk across the room, I catch Felix’s gaze and throw up a peace sign with my free hand. He pushes himself off of the wall he’s leaning on and walks over to me.

“Heading out?” He says into my ear.

“We’re just going next door,” I chuckle, “So, yes and no.” He glances back at Minho, who gives him a bright smile when their eyes meet.

“Well if you’re gonna ditch, I think we’re gonna head out too.” Minho nods from behind him and then inches close enough to rest his head on Felix’s shoulder. I lift an eyebrow at him and he raises both of his back at me two times in quick succession.

“Text me when you get home,” I say and smile.

“Wouldn’t think not to.”

When I turn back to Chan, he’s talking to one of his friends. After 10 seconds or so he looks at me with a grin on his face and says, “ready to go?” I nod and we head to the entrance.

It takes less than a minute for us to get fully inside and situated in the apartment next door.  I flip on the lights and watch as Chan starts to wander into the living room.

“You’re right,” he says after a couple of moments of silence.

“I’m right?” I question from across the room.

“Yeah,” he turns to me, “that apartments nothing like yours.” He turns towards the doors the opposite wall. “But it feels like home.” I let out a muffled giggle and I can see his ears turning red before he whips around and adds in a rushed tone, “A home, a home, not my home, not my home at all, just a home,” my giggles escalates into a full laugh at his rambling. “Not that I don’t want it to be my home, just, uh, I’m trying to not be weird.”

“Aw really?” I say when I’ve composed myself, “I was hoping you’d move in.” I fake an exaggerated sigh and then continue laughing with Chan joining in. “You’re really cute when you’re flustered,” I say.

“Oh yeah, well,” he pauses for a moment and then says, “well, you’re just really cute.” He turns away from me and faces the doors again. “I’m gonna guess that the left one is yours.”

“Hmm, well, you would guess wrong.” I say and walk over to the door on the right side of the room. Chan gives a pouty expression and lets out a little “hmph”

“Does anyone live there?” He says pointing to the left.

“Yeah, but she’s out for the week on vacation for New Year’s Eve.” I glance over at her door and let out a little sigh. “Must be nice to have a job that lets you have the whole week off.” I push my door open and then lean on the door frame. “I do want to say, though,” Chan looks at me with a look of concern, “I don’t usually bring guys home with me the first day we meet, so—“ I let the end drop off.

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting— I didn’t think we’d— uh,” Chan gives a cheeky grin, “yeah no worries.”

I walk into my bedroom and lay my keys on my dresser before sitting on the bed. Chan follows suit but spends quite a lot more time making his way to the bed because he’s preoccupied with looking around the room. When he’s finally satisfied he stops in front of my nightstand and bends halfway over to inspect the tiny cactus and succulent trio that’s in a small pot.

“These are cute,” he glances over at me and then back at the plants, “do they have names?” He asks in a genuinely curious tone.

“Oh, actually,” I pause for a moment to think, “no they don’t.”

My face falls slightly and I only notice because Chan is saying “oh no don’t worry it’s okay,” and turning his attention fully onto me and away from the succulents. We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment and then he peels his eyes away and I can see his cheeks dusting pink. “How about we name them together?” He asks.

“Okay,” I say and smile. Chan plops down on the bed and then let’s out a low hmmm.

“How about, Chan,” he says.

“Oh my gosh, no.” I say laughing.

“Okay, okay, how about we name this one,” a second slips by, “Tom.”

“What? Why Tom?” I ask.

“Because that’s where we first met each other.” He says with a contagiously sunny smile.

“Oh that’s right,” I say, “it feels like that was 2 weeks ago, but it was literally,” I check my watch, 3am, “12 hours ago.”

“Wow can you believe that?” He kicks his feet up, resting his legs on my thighs, and lays down on the pillows with his arms crossed behind his head. “What if we didn’t meet again?” He lifts his head slightly to look at me.

“I don’t know,” I say and then lift Chan’s legs up and move onto the bed to lay next to him. He turns his body to face me.

“Well I’m really glad we did,” he says, his tone soft and sweet.

“Me too.” He inches a little closer to me and rests his forehead on mine.

“Can I kiss you?” I nod in response and lean into his pillowy lips for the second time that night. The kiss is soft and innocent and it feels like something out of a dream.

“I don’t want to leave,” Chan lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Then don’t,” I say and connect our lips again but this time the kiss is much more rushed and wanting, full of unspoken desire. I can feel my cheeks heating up and at the same time Chan is rolling us over so he’s embracing me. Our kiss deepens into something even more raw and I have to pull away before I can’t help myself. He peppers tiny kisses all over my face and I can’t help but giggle.

“This might be a weird question, but can I sleep here?” He asks.

“I would love that,” I say and place one more quick kiss onto his lips before pulling out of his embrace. “But if you’re going to stay I’m going to change into some pajamas.”

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 6: A New Partner?

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

“Psst, hey, Zero. Stand back!”

A tiny voice that sounded like Mark came out of nowhere, forcing you to open your eyes. It was the middle of the night, so it was pitch black in your cell.

Not for long.

A gigantic crash filled your ears as something impacted the wall. You shielded your eyes from the chunks of brick flying out, coughing as dust filled your mouth. A loud rumbling sound replaced the crash, and when you opened your eyes you were met by a huge red jeep, with none other than Mark, your partner in crime, in the driver’s seat.

You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. Mark was alive, and he came back for you.

Mark shouted to you over his shoulder. “C’mon, we gotta get outta here quickly!”

You vaulted into the open trunk, just managing to grab onto the side before you were tossed around as Mark skidded away from the prison. Alarm bells rang in the distance as you drove away from the place, getting more and more quiet until you were on the open road with only each other and a clear night sky as your company.

“Mark, you came back for me!”

“Of course I did! Why wouldn’t I?” He dared a glance away from the road to shoot you a killer smile.

You managed to climb into the front seat and fasten yourself in. “I dunno, I guess I just… thanks.” You reached out and placed one of your hands over his on the gearstick. He cast you another smile, this one softer but full of adoration.

“Don’t mention it. How’s the wound, by the way?” He asked, turning the car onto an uphill path.

You lifted up your shirt, gasping at what you saw. “It’s… gone.”

Mark whooped in delight. “All right, that must’ve healed real quick!”

After a few seconds Mark stopped the car, and you looked up at your destination.

You were parked up next to the cliffside at the Griffith Observatory. Even in the darkness, the pure white building seemed to shine like a beacon, overlooking the Hollywood hills and countless streetlights and car headlights that shone like pinpricks in the distance. You and Mark hopped out of the car and walked towards the building in silence, stopping at the edge of the balcony overlooking the city.

Mark broke the silence. “Nice view.”

“Yeah.”

“Thought you might say you prefer the one back home,” he laughed.

You turned to him, realising he was already looking at you.

“This feels like home now.” You took one of his hands, heartbeat erratic. “Thanks again, Mark.”

He shook his head modestly, stepping closer to you. “You don’t need to thank me, Zero. I wouldn’t leave you behind.”

“Still using my codename?” You quipped. “And here I thought this might be a date.”

“It can be, if you want it to be,” he shrugged, but his eyes were sparkling brighter than all of the stars above as he broke into an unstoppable grin.

You placed a hand on his cheek, and he looked like he stopped breathing. You leaned in even closer, until your faces were mere inches apart.

“I’d like that,” you whispered, your eyelids fluttering shut as you closed the distance between-

 A metallic clatter forced you to open your eyes and sit up. A guard was banging on the bars of your cell, making his way down the corridor.

“Wake up, sleeping beauties!”

You groaned as you sat up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You glanced at the wall next to you; it was intact.

It was just a dream. You were still in prison, alone, but hopefully not for much longer.

You couldn’t stomach breakfast so you made your way into the yard early, hunching yourself into as small a position as possible on a bench. The last few days felt more like five minutes, and your mind was finally catching up with all of the crazy things that had happened. Your eyes filled with tears and you couldn’t stop the sniffle that escaped as you thought about Mark. Neither of you had any idea that those sweet looks he was giving you over breakfast would soon be followed by complete and utter chaos. Even if Yancy did help break you out, what would you do if you couldn’t find Mark? You still had no idea if he even survived that sucker punch. How could you go back to HQ after this, empty-handed and one man down? Shark would surely eat you alive on the spot.

You covered your eyes with your hands, letting tears fill your palms. You heard footsteps approaching you, and felt the weight of another person sitting by your side. You were about to ask them to leave you alone when you heard that very distinct accent.

“Hey, there you are! Listen, the gang an’ I think we got a plan to get yous outta- hey, what’sa matter? What yous cryin’ for?”

You lifted your head up and wiped your eyes, turning to face Yancy. He was looking at you with great concern, one hand poised to reach out and give extra comfort.

“It’s just…” you swallowed the lump in your throat. “It’s been a lot. The past few days I mean.”

Yancy nodded, shuffling closer and rubbing your shoulder. He stayed silent, letting you continue your vent.

“I appreciate you helping me get out of here, but… I don’t even know what I’m gonna do after,” you sighed, biting your lip to stop it trembling. “The Warden has that stupid artefact we worked so hard for, and I don’t even know if Mark’s alive or dead.”

Yancy kept his hold on you, letting you know he was still there. He cleared his throat, hoping to say something to make you feel better.

“Look… you said yous got a family out there, right? Just… try an’ think about them. Figure the rest out along the way.”

You looked up at him again, seeing only sincerity in his eyes. You smiled a little, wiping your eyes once more. Maybe your mind was just projecting your grief, but you couldn’t help but notice that he looked an awful lot like Mark up this close. You also noticed the bruises still littering his face.

“Also… sorry for beating you up.”

Yancy blinked at you and scoffed, shaking his head. “You got nothin’ to be sorry for. I’m the one who should be sorry for misjudgin’ yous. So… I’m sorry.”

You smiled at him again. “Thanks.”

Yancy took his hand from your shoulder, holding it out for you to shake. You couldn’t help but laugh a little. “We already did this yesterday, Yancy.”

Yancy shrugged with a smile. “I’m old-fashioned.”

He nodded towards his hand, so you shook it firmly once more.

“So listen,” Yancy began again, reclining against the back of the bench. You tried not to stare as he flexed his arms behind his head. “The Warden’s not around today, so this plan of ours is gonna have to wait. Think you can stick around another night? Maybe we could… I dunno, get to know each other?”

He raised an eyebrow at you, catching you off guard and making you lose words for a moment. A smirk creeped onto the corner of his lips and you forced yourself to sit up straight.

“All right, sure.”

Yancy turned to face you again. “This artefact you mentioned… that what got yous in here?”

You nodded. “Mark and I... we…” You hesitated, struggling to admit your crimes even to a fellow criminal. “… we stole it. From a museum.”

Yancy burst into laughter, doubling over and eventually regaining his composure. “Jeez, is that it? They lock you up for anythin’ these days.”

You frowned at him. “What d’you mean?”

Yancy pointed to your left. You followed his gesture, seeing a man with floppy hair and silver wristbands walking towards the basketball court.

“See Sparkles McGee over there? Money launderer, credit card fraudster, anythin’ illegal to do with money, you name it, he’s done it.”

Yancy turned your attention to a dark-haired woman sat on her own. “And Tiny? Hoo boy, yous don’t even wanna know what she’s done.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better?” You asked flatly.

Yancy faltered. “Well… yous gettin’ outta here, ain’t ya? So don’t worry about it!” He laughed, clapping you on the shoulder. You rolled your eyes.

“All right all right, enough of the criminal talk. That guy yous came in with… Mark yous said he was called? He youses boyfriend?”

“No,” you replied a little too defensively. “We… we just work together. He’s the heist expert, I’m the tech monkey. This was my first heist.”

“Huh, so yous like… good with computers and stuff?”

You couldn’t help but smile at the effort he was making. “That’s a simple way of putting it, yeah.”

Yancy seemed intrigued by you, much to your surprise. You figured he’d rather get you gone from here sooner rather than later so he could get back to his gang, but he only grew more interested as you carried on talking, answering all manner of his questions about your work and personal life. You were taken aback, but it was nice to be treated so kindly. You grew very fond of the kind smiles he cast your way as you talked, his gaze never faltering. The only thing that pulled you two out of your shared little world was a guard’s whistle, indicating it was time to head indoors for lunch. You and Yancy stood up from the bench. He cast a glance at the floor, then back at you.

“Listen, I got an idea. It won’t get yous out early, but it might give you some answers. Tonight, meet me out here before the guards call us in for lights out.”

You eyed him, intrigued. “All right. I’ll bite. What’s the catch?”

Yancy looked mildly offended. “No catch. Just another favour… for a friend.”

He walked away and you followed him shortly after, head full of questions once more.

Next chapter

[mx-ishikawa]

Like a fire in My Blood

(so uhhh obligatory Lupin self-insert fic!! this is a li’l backstory of how my S/I got involved with the squad that I’ve been working on for the past couple weeks, lmao. warnings for guns, canon-typical violence, and lots of swearing- y’all know me by now XD” enjoy!)

Tied up to a chair in an abandoned warehouse surrounded by gun-toting mobsters was not planned for my Saturday night. Then again, normalcy wasn’t very present in my life anymore.

“Now you’re gonna tell me one more time, sweetheart, where is that treasure?” the squatty man who I assumed was the leader growled, pointing the gun at my face. What the fuck.

“First of all, I am not as sweet as you think I am,” I spat- how the hell was I so snarky staring straight into the barrel of death itself??- “and second of all, I really have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about so quit insisting I do and let me go!” Surprisingly, he lowered the gun.

“You’re a terrible liar, my dear,” he snarled, going over to where my jacket that had been forcibly removed from my person for some reason was hung.

“Buddy, I was raised by an overprotective controlling helicopter mother, I may as well be a professional liar,” I retorted.

“Well then how the hell do you explain this?!”

I gasped as he pulled out the bright, shimmering green stone from my jacket pocket. FUCK.

“Oh THAT! Jesus Christ, I completely forgot I had that, goddamn!”

“Yeah, sure you did.”

“No, I’m dead serious, I actually forgot about that! Literally, if I had remembered that I would’a told you straight-up because that shit is not worth my life!”

“Well then, care to explain now?”

“Yeah okay so it’s like- I went down State Street, past the Cultural Center, then I kinda went through Millenium Park until I got to the Art Institute, then I took a left and once I got past Lakeshore Drive I hopped over to the left again and- that cluster of trees at the park entrance? It’s literally right there in the middle of them, hidden practically in plain sight! I was just trying to find some worms for composting and I find a shit-ton of emeralds instead, how crazy is that?” I laughed breathlessly.

It wasn’t a joke, no, every word I spoke was true. I was so shocked upon finding the stash of emeralds right there in the middle of Chicago that I immediately covered it back up and ran off-- but not before nicking one, if only as proof that the whole thing hadn’t been a weird fever dream. And possibly for future bragging rights, but other than that, material things like rare precious jewels meant nothing to me. The fact that these happened to be in my favorite color was just a cool bonus. 

“Thank you for your cooperation,” the fat man sneered, huffing away at his fat cigar. “I’ll be taking this and the rest of the emeralds now.”

“Go ahead, I don’t need it or any of the others.” I would have waved my hand dismissively had it not been tied behind my back.

“I don’t understand though… what kind of woman would give up such riches so easily?”

  I tried not to gag. I don’t mind being called a woman, but not with that kind of sexist implication. “Not the kind of woman you’re thinking of, that’s for goddamn sure.”

“Ah well. None of that matters in the end.” He paused to snap his fingers, and two of his biggest men approached with their guns. “Finish her off.”

“Whoa wait WHAT?! Why do you wanna kill me, I fuckin’ TOLD you where the emeralds are-?!”

“And I appreciate that, it’s just that I can’t have any witnesses, you know? It’s only business.” he gave a wicked sneer. The men cocked their guns.

“Fuck you and your business, I won’t tell anyone, I swear! You saw how honest I was, come on, please, I-!”

I screamed and screwed my eyes shut as a shot rang out. I braced myself for the worst. But it never came. 

I finally opened my eyes when I heard a “what the hell?!” from among the mobsters. I gasped as I saw another, new person standing protectively in front of me. Someone who appeared to be wearing traditional Japanese attire, with long black hair and an even longer sword. Who was this person and what the hell happened?!

“FIRE!!” the leader yelled. In an instant, the stranger leaped up into the air and lifted their sword, twirling it around effortlessly as shots were fired at them. What were they do-

My thoughts were brought to a screeching halt as a bullet landed next to me. No, it was only half of a bullet. My eyes widened, looking back up at the stranger with the sword. No fucking way.

From that second, my eyes were transfixed on them. I watched them in shock as they sliced literal bullets clean in half with ease. When some of the men ran off, the stranger leapt forward with a low grunt and slashed their sword through the men’s guns. They gasped in shock and fright as their weapons broke clean in half seconds later. There seemed to be thousands of mobsters in this warehouse, but the sword-wielding stranger took everyone down with ease. Even when their sword was suddenly shot out of their hands, they nimbly avoided impact and took the mobsters down with what appeared to be heavily-practiced martial arts moves. 

Now I’d seen my fair share of bloody fights since mingling with the underground scene in Chicago. Hell, even back in my tiny hometown I’d seen some shit. But never had I seen someone fight so gracefully. Every move they made was so smooth and poised that if I didn’t know any better I’d have thought they were dancing. They caught sight of their sword from across the room and leapt out of the fight to snatch it back. Every move they made with that thing was quick and clean-cut, deliberate and precise, effortlessly slashing anything that came their way. When seemingly every gun was destroyed or emptied of bullets, only a few brave unarmed mobsters remained, but with a few fluid flicks of the swordfighter’s wrist, all of their clothes were slashed off save for their boxers and tighty whities. Not exactly a sight for sore eyes, but it was enough to make even the leader of the mob run away screaming for their lives. 

“Haha, take that ya old geezer!” someone yelled. I gasped and finally diverted my attention from the swordsman to find two more people were in the warehouse, someone with a red jacket and another with a black one. When the hell did they get here??

In that brief moment when I looked away, the graceful warrior had come behind where I was sitting, and before I could plead for them not to kill me, I was freed from the ropes that bound me. I pulled my arms forward and breathed heavily, trying to process what the FUCK just happened when a voice behind me spoke.

“Are you alright?”

Their voice was deep and strong, yet held no tone of aggression or danger. I turned to look at my savior and gasped. It was a handsome- no, beautiful- man. He was tall and slender, standing strong and proud. His pale skin glistened with a thin coating of sweat from all that movement, and I couldn’t help but notice that he wore his shirt in a way that exposed most of his chest. His hands were large and strong, but with long, nimble fingers. He had a narrow face and elegant features. High cheekbones, a defined jawline, a light rosy dusting on his cheeks, and intense, dark eyes. He looked to be stoic and serious, and if he hadn’t just saved my life I might have been intimidated by him. 

“I… wow~... I mean! I’m… safe, thanks to you.”

“And us, too!” a voice from earlier retorted. I whipped my head around, it was the man in the red jacket. “It was a team effort, wasn’t just him ya know.”

“Jeez Lupin, give her a break,” the man in black said, “you weren’t the first one to make sure she wasn’t dead!”

“Well I think I deserve some credit too, Jigen!” the man in red- Lupin- whined.

“I uhh… well thank you everyone but… I didn’t actually see what you two did.

“What?!” Lupin gasped.

“Sorryyy! I just...” I turned back to the handsome swordsman, “you were the first one I saw show up so I guess I just kinda… focused on ya.”

The man called Jigen chuckled. “Hey Goemon, looks like you got an admirer!”

“Hey!” I felt my face heat up. “I just-!” I bashfully looked again to the swordsman- Goemon.

“Goemon… thank you, and your friends, for sa-” I cut myself off as realization clicked in my brain. “Wait a second…” Lupin. Jigen. Goemon. I’ve heard those names together before. “Wait just a minute, I know who you guys are!” Lupin let out a monkey-ish giggle.

“Took ya long enough to recognize me! No surprise though, I am pretty infamous~”

“So it’s safe to assume you’re after the same treasure those mobsters were, right?”

“Bingo,” Jigen said, tipping his hat ever so slightly.

“So, if you guys wanted to get there first… why did you save me?”

“Because unlike them, we do not want harm to come to innocent people,” Goemon nobly spoke. God, something about his voice… clear as a bell, soothing, and undeniably sexy. But his words put me at ease. 

“Oh thank god… so, since you saved my life and all that, how ‘bout I make your lives easier by leading you to the emeralds?”

“Sounds good to me,” Jigen said, and the others agreed. They casually strolled out of the warehouse as if they hadn’t just fought off mobsters in that very space, off to their car parked in front. Lupin took the driver’s seat while Jigen got in the passenger side, leaving Goemon and me to sit in the back together. 

“So,” Goemon spoke once we got moving. Was it just me or did his cheeks get pinker? “What is your name?”

I froze. Shit.

“Uhh… I… I kinda have a beef with my real name, but uh, you can just call me Light.”

“Light, huh?” Lupin piped up from the front. “Where’d ya get that alias from?”

“It’s a long story,” I chuckled.

Goemon shifted in his seat. “I like it.” Cue me blushing again.

“Y-you do?? I mean, thanks…” I scratched the back of my neck. His only response was a nod as he crossed his arms in front of his broad chest.

He was quiet for the rest of the ride, Lupin and Jigen making most of the conversation as I pointed out where to go. But I couldn’t stop looking over at Goemon. He looked so calm, so picturesque. I admired the way the wind wafted through his long locks and how his thick lashes rested against his rosy cheeks. And sometimes, when I glanced over at him, I found him looking right back at me. Like he wanted to say something to me, but didn’t. Something in his eyes made him look so soft. When I first looked at him, those eyes stared right through my soul and meant business, but now there was something much more tender behind them. Almost like… puppy eyes. I felt myself swallow thickly.

My thoughts were brought to a halt when Lupin parked the car on the side of the street. All we had to do was cross Lakeshore Drive and we were on our way to the treasure. Thankfully it was dark out and we’d be less noticed.

“Thank god there’s a bridge here,” Jigen said, puffing at his cigarette. “Because I am not crossing that son of a bitch.”

“Yeah my mom and I made that mistake the first time I was here, we were standing there waiting to get across for ages.”

“Wait, I thought you lived here?” Lupin inquired as we made our way across.

“I do now,” I clarified. “Didn’t always though. For most of my life I lived in this shitty small town about an hour and a half away from here. I’d visited here about six times, so naturally this was my first choice when I finally got the chance to get the fuck outta there. Haven’t been here for very long though, only like what, a couple months maybe?”

“So you were a small-town gal, eh?” Jigen exhaled another breath of smoke. I grimaced.

“Yeah, and I hated it.”

Once we got across the drive and to the site of the emeralds, Lupin started asking more questions.

“So Light, if you were the first person to find this treasure, how come you only took one and not the whole stash? Was it a strategic thing or-”

“Well actually, I found this shit completely by accident, so leaving all but one here was mostly out of shock. That, and I never really cared much for material shit.” Jigen sighed from next to me as he dug.

“Finally, a woman who doesn’t.”

My brows furrowed together. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Hey, if you’re talking about Fujiko again, you’d better can it!”

“Wait, who’s Fujiko??”

“A female affiliate of Lupin’s,” Goemon answered.

“A very unfaithful one at that,” Jigen scowled, “she’s not above stabbing us in the backs to get the loot we earned for herself.”

“Oh come on guys, she doesn’t always betray us!” Lupin whined.

“Makin’ excuses for your girlfriend again,” Jigen grumbled. I dared not make any further comment on this Fujiko thing; seemed like a personal problem. Once we finally uncovered the jewels, I helped load them into a large sack.

“Even if you do not care for material items such as these, it is only fair that you are given a share of them,” Goemon spoke.

“Yeah, we’ll split ‘em up evenly between the four of us!” Lupin smiled.

“Awww~. You know…” I began, “for a group of rag-tag thieves, you guys are pretty nice. Nicer than half the law-abiding citizens I’ve met in my lifetime.”

“Well, you know, it’s all in a day’s work!” Lupin chirped, before his voice suddenly dipped a bit lower. “And you know, you and I could work well together in other areas~”

Goemon bopped Lupin’s head with the hilt of his sword before I could think of a response. Did Lupin just flirt with me??

“Jesus Christ, Lupin, get ahold’a yourself,” Jigen scolded.

I wasn’t sure how to respond so I kept quiet until we were finished with our work, and almost immediately someone caught us.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE LUPIN, YER UNDER ARREST!!” a loud, booming voice yelled. I looked over and saw a tall, stocky man who appeared to be dressed like a detective from the 1940s with a slew of police behind him.

“Oh shit, the feds!” I gasped as we took off.

“Sorry Pops, I got places to go!” Lupin snickered. We sprinted through the park- god I always hated running- until we got to a dock. The man known as “Pops” was hot on our trail, but the guys hopped into a boat and managed to start it up. I was the last to hop into the boat- but I tripped and dropped my bag of emeralds, which thankfully landed inside the boat with a clattering. I braced myself for an awkward landing but a pair of strong arms caught me. And just like that, the boat sped off so quickly that I had to brace myself against whoever was holding me. I heard “Pops” yelling in the distance, but my brain turned it into white noise when I looked up and saw that once again Goemon was my rescuer- and my hand was directly on his chest. My face flamed up like gasoline.

“Gwaaah!! Uhh-” I gasped as I embarrassedly scurried out of his grasp. “Thank you, sorry-!” I brushed my bangs out of my face, a nervous habit.

“Why are you apologizing?” Goemon asked. “There is nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yeah, you helped us get to the treasure!” Lupin said from the steering wheel.

“If anything, we should be the sorry ones because now you’re stuck with us and your home is back there,” Jigen chuckled.

“Eh, home is where the heart is,” I said. “And my heart always wants to travel but never gets to.”

“Ah, a free spirit, I see how it is,” Lupin giggled.

“Lord I was born a ramblin’ man~” Jigen softly sang, lighting a cigarette.

“Yeah… I hate staying in one place for too long. Unfortunately for me, I’ve only ever lived in two places my entire life, and we’re rowin’ this boat away from one of them. But hey, this was my first time being personally caught doing something illegal so I’ve been perfectly prepared to just abandon ship and take off at any time.”

“Wait, does this imply you were planning on this? I thought you said you found these gems by accident!” Lupin gasped. I had to laugh.

“Nono, I did! But that doesn’t mean I’m innocent~.”

“So what the hell is it you do?” Jigen asked.

“I’ve been involved in undercover transport of goods, it’s what I do for a living. And before you ask because I know you will, yes, some of those goods are drugs, but not all of it. Sometimes we assist in the trading of riches like these emeralds, and sometimes we get food and water or money for bills to those in need when their so-called government aid won’t. Yeah sure it’s illegal, but it ain’t a bad gig.”

“My ancestors would greatly honor the work you do,” Goemon calmly spoke. The compliment caught me off guard, but when I looked at him I could tell he was sincere.

“Aww shucks, it’s nothing,” I chuffed, scratching the mack of my neck.

“Please tell me your organization is named “The Robin Hood Project” or something like that,” Lupin laughed.

“Actually, we have no name to our services,” I clarified. “Gotta stay discreet.”

“A wise decision,” Goemon said.

“Sorry if we just got you out of a job,” Lupin apologized.

“Naw, this ain’t like no 9-5 gig, it pretty much runs on a ‘come whenever you’re available’ basis, they’ll understand if I’m away… might be surprised once they find out I got wrapped up with Lupin the Third, haha.”

“That’s my name, please wear it out!” the aforementioned thief giggled.

There was a brief moment of quiet before Goemon spoke once again, turning to me. “If you wish to go wherever the wind takes you, then it seems the wind is blowing in your favor tonight,” he nobly said.

“Sorry about him, he likes to get all prophetical and speak in metaphors and shit,” Jigen said.

“No I understand what he’s saying,” I said to Jigen, but I was looking more at Goemon. Was it just me or did he have a small smile on his face? I returned him a smile just in case. “Thanks again for, y’know saving me and everything. Thanks to everyone but… especially you.”

“Yep, she’s your admirer alright,” Lupin laughed.

“Shush up!!” Goemon and I somehow said in unison, before we exchanged shocked glances with each other.

“Jinx! You owe me a Coke!” I yelled excitedly.

“Uhhh…” Goemon averted his gaze and his eyes darted all over, looking confused. It was strange, seeing the man that took down an entire armed mob with nothing but a katana and his own fleetness look so innocent, but that only added to his charms. Oh no, he was way too cute.

“You don’t actually owe her a Coke man, it’s just a thing people say,” Jigen chuckled. Goemon sat forward and crossed his arms, looking slightly embarrassed.

“American expressions of speech remain a mystery to me,” he grumbled, cheeks flushing a deeper rosy pink. Yup, he’s way too adorable. My heart fluttered just looking at him. I was doomed. I was so doo-

“LUPIN YOU LITTLE WEASEL!! STOP THAT BOAT RIGHT NOW, YER UNDER ARREST!!!”

“That same guy again?!” I gasped as a blinding spotlight was cast on us from what I assumed was a police boat.

“Pops, you’re relentless!” Lupin yelled from the front of the boat.

“Sorry, we got places to go and shit to steal!” Jigen chuckled before promptly shooting out the spotlight. This time Goemon deliberately held me flush against him as we sped away from “Pops” for the second time and into the night.

[cinanamon]

question tag game !

tagged by @s4myj0 (tysm!)

tagging @jaesmintea, @dreamystuffers, @coshuangmos, @xingmis, @nakyngs, @henderbeans, @minsprings, & @4-sun.

rules: answer ten questions, write your own, and tag ten people

1. If you could only eat one dish for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

oh jeez,, ig like teriyaki chicken?? Bc there’s meat, vegetables, rice...overall healthy but still tasty? Hopefully I wouldn’t get tired of it?

2. Which dream, that you ever had, would you like to live in?

OH okay so. Either the one where I was kissing down a boy’s neck all lovesick, or the one where I was in a lax Victorian era and had two friends who I was teasing as we hurried to a garden tea party with our families (and we were late—kind of like the live action Alice in wonderland, now that I think about it??).

3. Which superpower would you like to have and why?

teleportation! It would come in handy on SO many occasions. Running late? Teleport. Want to travel? Teleport. Too expensive? Teleport. Don’t need a car, bike, train, boat, or airplane!! No more leaving ahead of time! Literally genius.

4. What would be the first thing you do, if you woke up in the opposite gender's body?

Have a breakdown, probably. If we were just genderbended, ig I’d look in the mirror for a while to see how I’d look as a guy, and then I’d quickly try to find a way to change back :,)

5. If you could kill ONE guilty person, without facing consequences, who would it be? (Totally not weird- but interesting question, isn't it?👀)

Hmm idk. Ig a murder or rapist who was let off free of something, even tho it was obv they were guilty and don’t feel remorseful? Idk actual people I wouldn’t do (because I also wouldn’t want to go back in time to kill anyone in case it messes up the future) but yeah. Esp people who don’t feel bad about what they did.

6. You have to live in the last series/movie you watched, how doomed/lucky are you?

Bungo stray dogs 😌 scary af if you run into the mafia but if I have an ability then watch out losers I’ll have a blast

7. Would you rather date your ultimate bias but not being able to meet any other idol, including the members of your bias' group, ever again or be able to attend every concert of every group for free but not your bias' group? (You also can't attend your bias' group if you pay)

Mm this is hard! I mean, unless the bias was like a soulmate situation, I feel like it’d be a major loss if you ever were to break up or not feel comfortable around them, you know? Ig the 2nd one, because concerts are GODTIER and some of them are so hard to get tickets/good seats to??? So god bless, honestly

8. What song would you listen to, if you could only listen to one?

From Eden by hozier!! Mellow enough that you won’t grow annoyed, and perfect for bg music or in your feels! Super inspirational.

9. Zombie apocalypse! Would you rather get bitten by one and join them or try to escape?

Try to escape for sure!!! Like yeah it’d be scary trying to outlive them when it’d be so much easier to just submit but?? I’ve always known that if it were to happen, I’d either kill myself/ask someone to kill me before being bitten. I’d rather be shot than bit.

10. You have one wish, what will you wish for? (No, you cannot wish more wishes)

Ah, ig to have a soulmate and find them? Like you know, no tricks or anything, just assurance that I will meet someone who I’ll feel comfortable with, in love with. I have too much anxiety about relationships to not have that reassurance of a deep bond :,)

MY QUESTIONS

1. Are you the type to actually do diys or do you just live vicariously through the people who do them on youtube?

2. cremation or burial? why?

3. what’s your favorite herb? why?

4. how would you describe your handwriting? what’s your ideal handwriting?

5. whats your dream pet? Animal, breed, color, personality, etc?

6. if your partner cheated, how would you react?

7. there’s a new matchmaker service in the future that helps you find a partner! Would you try it, or would you rather stick to traditional methods (online dating, bumping into them, etc)?

8. If you could join any kind of au, what would you actually wan to be a part of (minus the actual issues of the times such as sexism, racism, etc)?

9. Do you have a calendar or planner? Or do you just take each day one at a time?

10. What is one book, movie, or song that left an impact on you, like still inspires you or changed your mindset?

[cinnaminsvga]

🍑 | tlhc!yoongi

the sleep deprived series (n.): drabbles that i write when i’m sad and tired

→ tlhc!yoongi | 1K words → a/n: i miss tlhc yoongi and y/n. i had a dream about yoongi being anxious, maybe because i’m anxious as well. i hope he’s doing better than me.

the train leaves at 2pm today.

it never gets easier, despite the many months of being together. the ring on his index finger should’ve been comfort enough, and yoongi knows deep down that there isn’t any reason to be afraid, not when you’ve promised time and time again that you’ll come back. of course, you always do––but yoongi just can’t help but wonder...

what if this is the trip that will make you realize he’s not good enough for you?

the anxiety grips its claws around yoongi’s throat, but he tries his best to hide it from you. he knows that if he were to show any weakness at all, you’d drop your bags in an instant. it brings him a sick sense of joy knowing that you are always willing to do anything for him, the same way you’ve always had ever since you were younger. he knows that it’s not right to manipulate you like that, knows that he would never make you give up anything for him––which is why yoongi has to force himself to break out into a grin when you wake up to see him preparing breakfast.

despite the presence of pillow creases lining your cheeks and your bedhead defying the laws of gravity, yoongi still thinks you’re the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. for a moment, he forgets about his bubbling mental breakdown long enough to lose his breath over you. the gentle urge to tug you back to bed and have his way with you festers in the back of his mind, but he brushes it aside for now. you walk towards him, pressing a sweet kiss on his cheek as you look over his shoulder at the eggs quickly burning on the frying pan.

“gonna take those out of the pan, or are they just for decoration?” you tease, plucking the spatula out of his hand. he watches as you scoop the eggs off the heat, plating them on the china plates that he had stolen from seokjin. you bump him by the hip, grinning softly as you nudge him to grab the bacon to fry.

“what’s got you all spacey this morning? did you sleep at all?” you ask nonchalantly, opening the packet of bacon without turning to look at him. however, judging by the way your movements slow just the slightest bit, yoongi knows you’re only trying to see if he’s alright. it’s no secret that he has his bouts of insomnia, and even though it’s gotten better ever since you started sharing a bed with him, there are still some nights when the demons play much too loudly in his head.

last night had been one of those nights.

“a bit,” he answers instead, grabbing a few strips of bacon and placing them on the pan. it sizzles on impact, and you have to push his hand away from the stove before a stray droplet of oil can hit him. you eye him warily, and yoongi can feel the rising panic start to build its way to his head.

“doesn’t seem like it.” you lean across the counter as you observe him carefully, and yoongi hopes that his faux calm demeanor will fool you long enough for you to be able to leave for your trip later without worrying too much about him.

“i’m fine, really. just have a lot of projects due soon. you know how it is,” he says, watching the bacon crackle and pop. he can’t bring his gaze to meet yours, knowing that you’ll probably sense his fear the moment he lets his guard down for one second.

you stay quiet for a while, the sound and smell of bacon cooking being the only thing filling the apartment. after the two of you finish cooking, you bring the plates to your tiny kitchen table, seating yourselves across from each other. with his head bowed, yoongi can still feel the weight of your gaze on him, but he’s thankful that when you seem none the wiser to the battle raging on inside him. that is, until––

“i’m coming home on friday, by the way. the trip got shortened because my boss cancelled some of the meetings we were supposed to have,” you say, and when yoongi looks up from his plate, he finds that you're smiling. 

his hands fiddle with the handle of his spoon. “oh yeah?” he says, trying to keep the hope from filtering into his voice (and failing miserably.) “so you’ll only be gone for five days?”

“yup.” you pop a piece of bacon in your mouth, eyes twinkling with something that makes yoongi’s chest feel whole. “thank god, honestly. i don’t know if i can handle staying in my boss’ presence for longer than that. she’s a great boss, but terrible company. i’d rather be with you.”

yoongi doesn’t know how long he’s been holding his breath––maybe he hasn’t been breathing for a long time––but he lets out a big sigh of relief from your words. he straightens up imperceptibly, and shovels a large portion of egg into his mouth, uncaring of the yolk dripping down the side of his mouth. you laugh, shaking your head as you thumb away the mess off his face.

“jeez, you seem happier all of a sudden. and to think that i was the one who was whipped for you for so long,” you snicker, cooing as you pat his food-stuffed cheeks.

“i didn’t even say anything,” he pouts, but the clear flush in his cheeks says otherwise. the two of you eat the remainder of your meal in silence, sending each other loving looks in between bites of food. 

when yoongi drives you to the station later that day, he finds that his arms loosen away from your body quicker than he had expected. you give him one last squeeze on the shoulder, promising like always that you’ll be back quicker than he would like.

that’s impossible, he thinks, as he continues to wave even after the train becomes nothing more than a speck of black in the distance. he breathes the spring air deeply, closing his eyes and smiling softly. only five days to go.

––♡♡♡––

later that evening, before you head to bed in your lonely hotel room, you send a quick text to your boss, telling her that you’d be coming home sooner than expected. 

[ichigo777666]

FE3H Character Impressions

Just my thoughts as I’m playing through. I’m including 4 sections for each - first impressions, impression at end of WC, first PTS impression, ending impression. (BE route will have more than 4). Characters for the PTS are ONLY for their ending routes, since that’s where they main. Will updates as I progress. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

**These are listed in the order of paths I played them in with exception to CF (which was my 4th) which is added in under BE. I actually wrote this all down in a notebook and am slowly typing it in here when I have time, so INC for now**

Black Eagles (due to this being a branching path, this is going to have 5 sections)

Edelgard

FI: I like this sassy lady. Obviously the best choice. C1E: Okay, Edel...just wow. You became so much cooler! PTS: Um the hair is...no. But hey, you didn’t kill Byleth! END-SS: No, my Edels.....WHY IS THERE NO SPARE OPTION?! END-CF: My Edels :) I like her in CF - it’s power child Edel! This is the only route where your “leader” is actually a leader.

Hubert FI: Creepy, one half of a hidden face. Betting on this guy being EVIL! C1E: Well I did call it. I still like him tho. PTS: So, they decided to go with the whole “vampire” aesthetic I see. I can’t decide whether I love it or I hate it... END-SS: Uh, well he showed up what, twice? Not much to judge here... END-CF: Loyal Hubert. I grew to like him a bit....

Ferdinand FI: He’s kind of annoying. But hey, at least they picked a good color orange for his hair. C1E: Um...well...did he actually change? No, no. PTS: I’m not sure I like the long hair. His voice though...it seems to suit him better now. END-SS: I liked using him in combat but not as an actual character. END-CF: Doesn’t seem much different than in SS....

Lindhardt FI: Okay, so you’re the unmotivated lazy character, Got it. C1E: Well, there’s actually something interesting about him! Yay. PTS: No, the outfit. Just no. The hair, yes - the clothes, no! END-SS: You kinda removed his laziness and sleepiness...WHY?! END-CF: No real change from SS.

Caspar FI: Loud, short, obnoxious battle nerd.  C1E: Alright, I can kinda get him. I can sorta understand why he’s like this. PTS: Armor...no. And why didn’t you change his hair at all...feels lazy. END-SS: And he’s basically the same but older and a bit more mature. Okay. END-CF: No real change from SS.

Bernadetta FI: Aw, she’s a scaredy-cat. I’m intrigued. C1E: I get it. I wanna HURT whoever hurt her. PTS: Bernie’s gotten a glam up! The pouch is a good added detail. END-SS: I like that she grew a little and got some confidence. Good for you Bernie! END-CF: No real change from SS.

Dorothea FI: Okay, so she’s the pretty one? Got it. C1E: Okay, so she’s the pretty one who’s concerned about her future....okay, I can understand. PTS: The BEST PTS outfit from the BE crew (and possibly from all of FE3H). I want this... END-SS: She’s the only one who seems to have ANY regrets about turning on Edel....and for that, she’s got respect. END-CF: Aw, best friends with Edie forever!

Petra FI: The foreigner who can’t talk well. Okay, she’s adorable and tough. C1E: I really like Petra! My she-beast Amazon!  PTS: Okay, she went totally exotic - is this Brigid style? I like! END-SS: So, she’s leaving. uwu END-CF:  No real change from SS.

Jeritza (yeah, he’s going here...) FI: Quiet and mysterious guy who wears a mask. Yeah he’s not suspicious at all! Also adding to that is the fact he’s the only other character besides Jeralt who you cannot have support conversations with so...hmmmm..... C1E: Okay, serial killer vibes... PTS: They just removed his mask...in combat his outfit is great...but yeah... END-CF: Okay, I can kinda get it but...he’s so flat. I get that it’s his thing but....just no.

~~~~~~

Church of Seiros I (Basic grouping for all the faculty + knights. Endings will be for the ones they’re most impactful in)

Rhea FI: Okay, so we’re supposed to be suspicious of her, right? I kinda like her even though I know she’s not being honest with us... C1E: Okay, wow...yeah....cool! END-SS: Well, that went from 0 to 100 real fast. Anyone wanna explain WHY?! *END-CF:

Jeralt FI: Dad maybe? Is it odd I’m questioning this? C1E: Okay...so, yeah that happened. Wow. ...I didn’t know where to stick him, so...here ya go!

Catherine FI: Strong female knight character? We’re getting to play with a girl knight before a boy?! WTG FE! C1E: I really like her dedication. PTS: So, no change huh? *sighs* END-SS: Aw, I like how she got all emotional!

Shamir FI: Okay...cool girl. That one strand of hair tho... C1E: Alright, so she’s cold for a reason. I’m curious. PTS: And another no change huh. *sighs* END-SS: So, she’s a bit more friendly, eh....

Cyril FI: Is this kid really necessary for this game? Just no... C1E: Well his stats are okay but I don’t think so.... PTS: Okay, he grew up. He’s still annoying. END-SS: Yeah, just no.

Seteth FI: Sexy green-haired mysterious distrustful priest dude? AKA the only PERSON WITH LOGIC for the first few chapters. I like this :) C1E: What do you MEAN I can’t take you with me?! NO! PTS: No change...but I really loved your original design, so yay! END-SS: My dragon daddy! :) Best character EVER! And he feels so right as the one planning and leading everything.

Flayn FI: She’s small and green and kind of adorable! I sense an interesting dynamic at play! C1E: So...this explains her odd relationship with Seteth. But still, I must protect the bean! PTS: Well if Seteth didn’t change, I wouldn’t expect Flayn to either.  END-SS: Aw, cute! I really don’t get why people hate Flayn - she just wants everyone to get along!

Gilbert FI: Brooding...and bland C1E: alright, so regrets over abandonment and self flagellation... PTS: you couldn’t even add a few more gray strands? really? END-AS: Boring much?

Alois FI: Oh boy...hes going to be loud, huh? C1E: do I have to recruit him? how many more dumb jokes do you have?! PTS: yeah, same outfit....why do the older characters just get NO changes... END-AS: Well he’s still Alois..

Hannerman FI: a scholarly type huh? let's see if he's interesting. C1E: a word comes to mind: obsessed. yup, obsessed. PTS: a suit during war? really? really! END-?: So more crests basically....*sigh*

Manuela FI: I really hope her only quality isn't "i'm sexy" C1E: okay, so she's an ex diva struggling to find love who turns to alcohol...might be the most realistic character.... PTS: would she really be wearing this same outfit during a war? END-?: Is it wrong that I laughed here?

~~~~~~~~~~

Blue Lions

Dimitri FI: Pretty boy prince character. I don’t really like you. And the haircut with the long bangs over your eyes drives me INSANE! C1E: Okay, so he’s a psychopath. no wonder I didn’t like him. PTS: uh...just no. also are you going to remain in this brooding i’m-angsty-but-a-murderer mood for the rest of the game? END-AS: I cannot bring myself to like Dimitri...I cannot. Jeez, it honestly feels like someone tried to ft a whole bunch of tropes into one cohesive character and failed massively.

Dedue FI: Okay, so you’re a foreigner and people hate your people and you’re used to it. The obsession over Dimitri is weirdly off-putting. C1E: eh....you really don’t have much of a personality do you? PTS: ...so you added scars and gave him armor...wow...also, you tried to fool us with the whole ‘he’s dead’ thing and yet HE HAS AN A RANK SUPPORT with Byleth that you cannot unlock pre-skip and Dedue is non recruit-able...so yeah, no. END-AS: Let’s face it, Dedue’s going to be doing Dimitri’s work every time Dimitri goes all angsty....I feel sorry for him

Ashe FI: Ah, he’s cute and shy and innocent and helpful. Why do I feel like they’re going to exploit this? C1E: ...poor kid, really. PTS: okay, so he looks better. kinda nice actually. END-AS: Eh....I feel like he has little personality now...

Sylvain FI: I...actually like him! I was expecting to not like him but hey, this might be my favorite BL dude! C1E: Okay, calling it now - favorite BL character unless something major changes, PTS: Well they could have done more, but it’s not terrible. END-AS: Okay, so he’s cool. I was right - this is my favorite BL dude!

Felix FI: Grumbly weapon boy. He’s got to have so major character development...please? C1E: Okay, so he’s an ignored child who’s got a dead brother. I can get it. PTS: Did they make his hair wilder? END-AS: Oh Felix. He’s alone now and I honestly think that might be for the best with him...

Mercedes FI: Her voice doesn’t seem to fit her character as well as some of the others. I do not understand her shirt. C1E: Um...she’s not really a standout. PTS: Okay, I liked the outfit: the hat, the veil, the dress. I’m ehhh....on the short hair... END-AS: Mercedes with confidence?! Okay, yes!

Annette FI: I kinda hate her and love her. Squeaky high pitched mage who’s also a walking disaster - she’s toeing the line. C1E: please no more singing....please. That maybe from before is leaning drastically towards the ‘hate’ PTS: wtf is this outfit? what’s with that blue tab thing on her butt?! END-AS: Please no more. Please no more....just take her away

Ingrid FI: A much better written female knight character! She reminds me a bit of Ferdinand...but better! C1E: she’s cool really. please don’t ruin her... PTS: Okay, outfit is a +. way to give her a nice looking knight outfit but feminine! END-AS: I like Ingrid, I like Ingrid a lot. Best BL girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Golden Deer

Claude FI: Okay, so he’s the “schemer/rogue” character eh? Let’s see if they do this well.. C1E: Okay, so he’s got some depth. Good for you. PTS: Oh no - why is the outfit slightly metallic looking? That bothers me sooo much. END-VW: Alright so he’s got big dreams...also why is he in the ending picturegram if Byleth is going to be king/queen?

Lorenz FI: What is with the hair....oh no.... C1E: I actually kind of like you...huh... PTS: OKAY, HOTNESS. BEST GD PTS MAKEOVER! Yes, yes, yes - please give me! END-VW: I like Lorenz’s character development arc!

Raphael FI: Big burly guy with muscles....okay. Bet they make him kinda dumb too... Will there be any character at all? C1E: It’s as I suspected... PTS: Okay well...it’s a change...but not too much. The outfit is weird. END-VW: And Raphael is still basically the same...

Ignatz FI: Uh....okay, so this is the house of the weird haircuts. What’s with his eye color? Nerd? C1E: Alright so he’s indecisive and troubled about choosing his path vs the path his parents want for him...okay PTS: Oh TFG the hair is fixed! At least his outfit has personality! END-VW: Yo do you, boy!

Lysithia FI: Okay she’s kinda cute. She’s spunky too! Why do I have the feeling there’s something awful hiding here? C1E: I’m intriqued. I want to know more. PTS:  Okay, nice outfit! Good design there. END-VW: POOR BABY!!! Someone save the girl!

Hilda FI: So, her thing is that she’s a spoiled brat? And lazy. Gotcha. C1E: I don’t know whether I hate her or I like her.... PTS: Um....what’s with the sleeves? All I can see is weird clown outfit... END-VW: So is Hilda this route’s advisor? Why did they use her and not Judith?!

Marianne FI: Aw...she’s so cute and shy and her hair is messy. Please don’t ruin her.. C1E: Okay so there is a reason she’s like this...give me more! PTS: Yes, a good design! She looks so much better! END-VW: I’m glad to see she slowly evolved. Good character.

Leonie FI: Is every conversation going to involve Jeralt? It is, isn’t it? *sigh* I might have found my least favorite character.... C1E: Can I not take her back PTS? Can we just forget she exists? PTS: Okay...so she’s dressing like Jeralt...nope. END-VW: And I don’t care. You’re the winner of my worst FE3H character Leonie!

[marshmallowgoop]

Goop Plays Kill la Kill the Game: IF (Satsuki Episodes 5-8)

Oh my goodness.

Episode 5

So, this episode starts off with that haunting line featured in the recent Anime Expo story trailer:

Ragyo: All of this is because of you, Satsuki. Because of who you are.

I guess Ragyo’s saying that Shinra-Kouketsu came into fruition because Satsuki couldn’t prevent this outcome, no matter her efforts, but I gotta say that I was expecting something a lot more sinister. But that’s just trailer magic for you, I suppose, lol.

And I know I said in my last write-up that I really enjoyed interacting with the story, but okay, I get what some reviews were referring to now. Fighting the COVERS felt extremely tedious.

Satsuki: Ugh, this is endless!

Same, Satsuki, same.

Though, to be fair, I don’t know if it’s the Steam port or my computer or what, but part of the reason playing through this segment felt so bad is because it ran so badly. It was slow and glitchy and an utter pain.

Still, I will say that fighting the COVERS with the Elite Four was a bit of a better experience purely because of the cute introductions when each of them joined Satsuki in battle. I particularly loved Nonon and Satsuki’s exchange:

Nonon: Nonon here, at your service!

Satsuki: I’m counting on you, Nonon. Stay sharp out there.

I mean, aw??? Satsuki saying she’s counting on someone? My heart. And that’s not even mentioning that she uses Nonon’s first name.

It’s a real shame that there are no subtitles for these bits. Those playing in Japanese who don’t understand the language will totally miss all of these moments.

But then again, the achievement for the battle is “Unspoken Understanding,” so these words aren’t really necessary. 

They’re so cute, though!

Anyway, on the subject of the Elite Four, my question about their Goku Uniforms gets quickly answered here:

Satsuki: Your Goku uniforms!

Houka: Iori patched them up fast, m’Lady. Nothing compares to his skill with a needle and thread.

And LOL, okay, Shiro can just sew four complicated outfits in like five minutes. Life Fibers: ain’t gotta explain shit.

(To be real, though, I’m honestly not bugged. Details like this just amuse me. And I really like that Houka says this line.)

But what the heck is Shiro referring to here???

Shiro: There’s just one thing that bothers me...

Satsuki: What?

Shiro: It can wait. I’ll come talk to you after the fight’s over.

As of episode 8, I don’t think this talk has occurred? Or did I miss it or something?? What bothered Shiro??? I don’t really have an idea!

Episode 6

It kinda cracked me up that Shinra-Kouketsu didn’t seem to be that far from complete. Nui, what the heck were you doing in the anime? It seems you could have finished that thing in a way more timely manner.

Nui: Awww, Satsuki! You’re too late. I just finished!

But on a more serious note, seeing Satsuki lose control and become Mind Stitched is heartbreaking. I knew at about this point that I was getting close to the end of the story, but gosh, I want so much more. I want to know how Satsuki feels. I want to know more about her history and what she’s done up to this point. Seeing so much go unexplored leaves me aching.

Still, I know I’m lucky to get any Kill la Kill at all after all these years....

Poor Satsuki, though... She’s had to fight all these battles, and then this happens....

But I will say... one thing I actually don’t think I want to know is what Nui ended up doing....

Nui: Okay! I’ll just stay here and mess around then!

Episode 7

Now, episode 7 is the absolute cutest.

Ryuko: Finally. Thought you’d never wake up.

I want ten hours just of the characters being cute like this. They don’t even have to like, do anything. They can just sit around and talk. This is my jam.

Back when the show was first airing, I remember so many people wanting Ryuko to save Satsuki after the Festival. This episode is the perfect embodiment of that dream. And it’s honestly better than I even expected. They are precious.

Ryuko: Can you move?

Satsuki: No. That’s not good.

Goodness, Satsuki, you are such a dork I love you.

Buuuut. Uh. I have so many questions.

How much time has passed? Have the Elite Four been awake a while? Were they talking to Ryuko about Satsuki for a long time (and can I please, please see this in Ryuko’s story?)

And, most notably, how the heck is Senketsu back together again?! Maybe I misunderstood what happened before, but didn’t Ragyo take one of Senketsu’s pieces? How can Senketsu Synchronize with Ryuko without that piece?? What did Ragyo want to do with that piece, anyway? What is going on.

As cute as everything is, it’s also a bit soured for me when it’s revealed that Ryuko was convinced she’d killed Nui.

Ryuko: I thought I killed you!

Just recently, I actually got into a whole discussion on the subject. Apparently, in the Grand Summoners mobile game that had a crossover with Kill la Kill about a year ago, Ryuko states that she’s perfectly willing to kill others without remorse.

And, uh.

Okay, was anybody going to tell me that the Grand Summoners/Kill la Kill crossover had a story, or was I just supposed to read that in a discussion about whether Ryuko would like Shadow the Hedgehog or not myself?

But anyway, I figured that Ryuko would say something like that purely to sound tough. I’ve always viewed her as a sweet who wouldn’t truly want to kill anybody, even Nui (which is why she ultimately doesn’t kill Nui in the anime).

Perhaps I’ve just interpreted her character all wrong, and maybe it’s unfair of me to expect too much depth from a 3.5-hour story in a tie-in anime fighter game, but if Nui is the first person Ryuko’s “killed,” I just... expect more of a reaction. Even killing someone you hate must make you feel something if it’s the first time you’ve done such a thing. Ed killing Greed in the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime is a brilliantly powerful example of that, and Ryuko is a remarkably sensitive person when it comes to how she impacts others—her reaction after going berserk in episode 13 is a testament to that.

Of course, I haven’t seen Ryuko’s side of things. Maybe she does freak out after she’s done the deed. But I don’t know. From what I understand about Ryuko—going easy on Mataro’s gang, helping Maiko despite trying to be tough and saying that it’s everyone for themselves, hardly even being able to function after losing control and hurting the people she loves, putting all her doubts aside to “save” Nagita—it’s hard for me to believe that she’d be so unaffected by killing someone, especially in retrospect. 

I mean, heck, she doesn’t even kill Nui in this episode despite saying that she will and honestly having the opportunity to!

Ryuko: I don’t care how many-a-you there are! I’ll kill you all!

And it’s even weirder to me that Senketsu would be okay with this! He’s the one who says in the preview for episode 18 that “to kill as you please with a smile on your face is evil.” Why would he help Ryuko murder for revenge?

It’s Not That Deep, Goop, I know. But it irks me.

Still, I can (obviously) appreciate the charm of this short story. Nui’s little cloth dolls are adorable, for example.

Episode 8

And getting into episode 8, I love that Ryuko didn’t even understand what she was doing when she cut off Nui’s arms, but she acted so sure of herself anyway, like she totally knew that’d work out.

Shiro: But if you cut those Fibers from both sides simultaneously, they can can’t regenerate.

Ryuko: Ohhh, so that’s what happened with Nui’s arms.

And oh lordy, they are precious.

Nonon: Jeez, Satsuki. Don’t bow down to the new girl! What’ll people think?

But at the same time, we’re missing so much of the power of the anime here. When Satsuki bows down to Ryuko in the anime, it’s so meaningful because she understands that she messed up. She shouldn’t have used her own sister as a tool and a weapon. She went too far. This is cute, but it feels undeserved.

Carrie Keranen, Satsuki’s English voice actress, said in a recent ArcLive that the Satsuki’s apology on the Naked Sol was her favorite scene to voice. She talked about how Satsuki felt she was doing the right thing but realized that she didn’t have to go to the lengths she did. I was so hoping for the game to delve into that realization more, and there is still a tiny bit of time for it to do so, yes, but it was kinda sad to see the bow here before that.

I’m also kinda confused about what’s going on. What is Uzu talking about here?

Uzu: Yeah and besides, Matoi here was saved ‘cuz of you. She should be the one doin’ the thanking.

How exactly did Satsuki save Ryuko? She, uh, kinda tore up Senketsu.....

On a completely different note, I’ve noticed in the past that the localization is kinda wonky, and you definitely feel that in this episode. Ryuko says that she has the Rending Scissors, but then the subtitles call them “Snippity-Snips,” lol.

And more complaints about Ryuko, but I’m not sure I dig her being characterized kinda like a dimwit. “Primordial” isn’t that difficult a word, c’mon.

Ryuko: Wait... Prime-oatmeal?

Maybe it makes more sense in Japanese. Or Ryuko’s just really hungry.

I did appreciate this line, though:

Ryuko: I ain’t here to make friends with you all.

Oh, Ryuko.

But can’t say I appreciated this one:

Ryuko: I’m gonna kill that loli bitch!

Can we just... not with that word, please.

I loved the ending, though. Satsuki, you are such a sweet, oh my goodness.

Satsuki: That said, I’d like the four of you to go after her. Protect her, if necessary.

Awww! She really does care.

And the fact that she prioritizes her students?

Satsuki: I’ll make sure all students are freed from the COVERS and once I’ve arranged for their rescue, I will join you.

Satsuki a sweet, okay. Satsuki is good.

Gallery

Aight, I know this is really long already, but I gotta say that I really appreciate that Ryuko and Senketsu share a place in the Voice Library... even if their names don’t show up together there....

I’m also super curious about those bonus voice lines, but I feel like it’d be cheating to buy them now, and there are probably spoilers in them, too... and I’m broke in this game, lol.... But very excited for it!

And I’ve said it before, but can we just appreciate all the love put into this game some more? Look at all those voice lines! 146 for Ryuko and Senketsu alone. And all characters seem to have at least around 70 lines. I’m fearful about how this story will end, but goodness, the dedication put into this game will never stop being charming.

One more thing... when I started up the game again, Mako was narrating instead of Senketsu! I looked at these voice lines and realized that everyone can be the narrator, but I wasn’t sure how you trigger it to change. Learned today that it depends on the buttons you press during the introduction!

Again love all the effort put into this game.

In sum, I’m not sure how this thing’ll end, and I am nervous, but there’s a lot of charm here, even if I wish there was more. It’s hard to stop playing and write these posts, but I also feel like I gotta let this stuff sink in a bit! I don’t want to break my mind by going through way too much Kill la Kill content at once!

[fisherfurbearer]

It's almost 6 am. I've been awake for HOURS buzzing about apple trees and orchards and animals and genetic conservation and my chest hurts SO BAD from anxiety because my hands won't type fast enough.

I want to write paragraphs and paragraphs for you folks so you can be up to speed with what's happened while I've been Gone, it's been so much, I want to explain my series of Realizations and my plans for the future but I'm so worried I'll be ridiculed or it'll all go wrong and my hands won't type my thoughts fast enough anyway so it'll never be finished.

Bottom line? I realized my biggest passions in the past 7 years (reptiles, inverts, rodents, poultry, conservation, gardening, and art) all have a common theme (animal welfare, environmental welfare, caring for people, Growing and Raising and Making cool stuff that makes people/animals/myself happy) and one thing clicked after another and basically I'm tired and Fuck college it's just not for me, I don't need $35k in loans every year (after $20k in scholarships) to learn illustration and be guaranteed a job in something I don't even see myself doing.

Nah bruh I want to raise little geckos and make vivariums/inverts/reptiles my hobby and make needle felting and sheeps and tree crops my main gig, it all fits together,, I'm so tired and I feel like I'm going to pass out from the anxiety I've been awake for so long and rewrote this so many times,

But basically I was so horrifically depressed and couldn't leave bed or go to work for days, for many reasons but mainly because it hit me that I spent the past 6 years going to school/trying to be in school for Nothing and wasted so much of my life and was Sick of it all and feeling like I had nowhere to go, until it hit me. My life is Fucked and the world is Fucked and everyone is miserable and not ok and I'm not fine and I can't do anything about it.

Or can I?

In college, I had a class called Visual Thinking where I only did needle felting for my projects and told people, I do art because my goal with my work is to make someone else Feel. I want them to Feel how my inspirations and view of things makes me feel. I want them to laugh, smile, cry, feel enraged, invigorated, spark CARING of themselves, one another, and the world, just make people Feel and give a damn about other living things. That's why I care so deeply about animals and the enviroment and domestic/wild animal welfare and the state of everything. Why I dreamt for so many years of raising rare lizards and growing vegetables permaculture-style.

But then it hit me again, I like, no I love my geckos and I love my inverts but let's be honest, it won't pay the bills and I don't think I'd be happy making it my career, either. I still want to raise/breed Eurydactylodes and maybe japanese Goniurosaurus and have a nice amount of reptiles and spiders in the future, but maybe it won't be my Everything. And that's a GOOD THING. I've learned with experience now that it's better for them and myself to keep it compact and a hobby, not a profession. Then I realized. I want to do needle felting, I want to make animals and plants out of wool and make pets and wildlife and talk about welfare and conservation with my art, and both Make Cool Things and Send a Message with what I do. But I thought of sustainability and where my supplies come from and thought wait. I like small livestock too. I just never really wanted a farm 'cause it wasn't my deal, but I literally learned how to work with miniature donkeys as my graduation project in high school, my SO's mom literally owns and breeds them and has a little farmette, I'm not completely out of my league as I already have years of research into gardening and poultry care, dude what if I raised my own sheep for wool and made art with that and oh my god what a journey that thought started.

It would take HOURS AND HOURS to write let alone read the disorganized disaster of a story of how I got to where I am now, with my Goals/Dreams, but basically...yeah I know it's becoming mainstream I guess but I seriously want a farm and we're gonna make it happen, one day. We have a rough plan for building up savings (our tentative goal is to be ready for a property in 2025, which is 5 years after Jessie graduates and gives us time to build up finances and figure out where he's working) and starting small (I already have button quail, so coturnix quail is a great first step for 'livestock' and in the next year or two angora rabbits are looking to be a great option for our first fiber animal...) and I've really refined my "Niche."

It's uhh hard to explain, in the sense of I'm very tired and it's 6:07 am and I'm losing track and my chest hurts and it's a long winding story, but the end result is for Many Reasons is I've fallen in love with heritage/landrace breeds and specifically northern european short-tailed sheep (finnsheep, gotland, icelandic, shetland, soay, etc..) and diversified farming, and especially concepts like agroforestry and using native forages/pastures and rotational grazing, to not just benefit the livestock but also the environment! I have SO MUCH RESEARCH DONE and I've learned SO MUCH and the best part is my past knowledge/notes has already given me a FANTASTIC head start so these concepts aren't hard for me to grasp and I'm just so excited. I want to focus on perennial crops (fruit/nut trees and berries, mostly...heavy inspiration came from our local orchard, which also kickstarted this idea) and grazing livestock in orchards (IT'S ALL CO-DEPENDENT IT'S BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE IT ALL SO MUCH I COULD CRY,, WHY IS PIG WELFARE SO BAD WHEN THEY COULD BE OUT UNDER THE FRUIT/NUT TREES LIVIN' LIFE,, OTHER COUNTRIES DO IT AND ITS SUCH A GREAT IDEA [p.s. check out 'HogTree' for more awesome ideas on that! Not entirely unique but that lady has some awesome ideas]) and focusing on conserving heritage/landrace/localized livestock and crop varieties....for both conservation and practical reasons! It's...Ihave it all worked out mostly I swear I'm just very tired and anxious right now haha!! Oh jeez!!

But basically it's still in tne works and I have a good 5+ years to iron it out but instead of going to college I'm going to take workshops on orchard and livestock management and take felting/spinning classes (like yarn, I mean, I want to learn more fiber arts) and start small with quail and angora and we'll also go on trips to the local state parks and around campus here and learn more about our native environment and I'll maybe raise bees someday soon and I'll never ever stop loving inverts and reptiles ever but maybe instead of keeping 200+ Ts lots of reptiles one day I'll keep my home guys compact and give them lots of love and care and switch some of my attention to the NATIVE guys too...my biggest goal is for a more sustainable approach to agriculture (I KNOW IT CAN WORK, DAMMIT, OTHER PEOPLE HAVE PROVEN IT AND HOW ELSE DID FOLKS FEED THEMSELVES FOR SO LONG hshdbfjfush but that's an argument for another day) that balances human needs with animal welfare and environmental impact and hopefully turn the same land we use for agriculture (ex. grazing pastures, fruit/nut orchards) into land for native flora as small species as well, like birds and insects and such, and even bigger things if we did managed grazing in woodlands because...AHH THAT'S A WHOLE BIG DISCUSSION AND I'M TO EXCITED ABOUT IT ALL TO EXPLAIN AHH JEEZ

ANYWAY I'M GOING TO MAKE A DANG DIFFERENCE IN MY OWN DING DANG WAY AND I DON'T NEED NO COLLEGE EDUCATION TO DO IT, NOT THIS TIME AROUND

I'm going to combat my inner demons and also the Outside problems with the power of Sustainable Agriculture and Fiber Arts and prove that people and animals (domestic AND wild) and the environment can have a SYMBIOTIC relationship that CAN be profitable AND sustainable for ALL parties involved and it'll take a whole lot of doing but goDDAMMIT I'VE GOT MY SPARK BACK AND I'M GIVING IT MY ALL!!!!!

[naruwitch]

Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 6: Rise of Voltron Part 6

The six Lions stood assembled before the large hangar doors. The anticipation in the air was thick enough; someone could easily swim through it. Finally, after ten thousand years, the seven Lions of Voltron would be united once again.

Lelouch breathed as he stood on the steps leading to the door. He'd never admit it aloud, but he was nervous. Though Allura did say he would be the Black Paladin, what if that wasn't the case? What if the Black Lion didn't respond to him?

'No,' Lelouch thought, 'you can do this. If it doesn't accept you, the universe is doomed.'

One by one, the eyes of the Lions behind him lit up as the doors opened.

Back on the bridge, a screen in front of Allura and Coran showed images of the six active Lions on diamonds of their color. Three were on the right, three were on the left, and a large indigo diamond was placed at the top. She clapped her hands together in anticipation, praying that the Black Lion would awaken. She didn't mention this to Lelouch or the others, but the Black Lion could be picky with its pilot as well, primarily since it was the head of Voltron and would ultimately lead the team. If it didn't see it's paladin as competent enough, she could reject them.

Lelouch's heart pounded as the doors to the hanger glowed blue, and the doors rose to reveal the black beauty herself.

Lelouch's eyes widened, along with the other paladins that stood behind him by their Lions, gazing in astonishment. The Black Lion was undoubtedly the largest of the seven. Sleek black body, a gold chest, and 'crown' on its head and large red wings hanging on her back. Her eyes dark, indicating she was still asleep. Her eyes suddenly lit up before she lurched forward, producing a tremendous roar that seemed to echo throughout the entire castle. The six other Lions mimicked their leader, returning with bellows of great respect.

Allura sighed in relief as the indigo diamond lit up, and Coran leaped up with a cheer of victory. It was not to last, though, as alarms blazed throughout the Castle.

"Oh, quiznack!" Coran exclaimed as a video feed appeared on the castle's screen. The Galra battleship, along with hundreds of fighters, had entered Arus's atmosphere and was coming in fast.

Allura placed her hands on the control panels, multiple screens showing the castle's defenses lit up. "Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now!" her voice emerging from the intercoms to alert the Paladins.

One by one, the Paladins entered their Lions. Lelouch slid into his seat in the Black Lion's head and was brought up to the controls, gripping to the two control sticks firmly in his hands, the walls and screens lighting up in white light. The Black Lion's eyes flashed before roaring again and shooting up into the air and flying towards the opening at the very top of the castle, the six others following close behind. They landed firmly on the ground, their silver bodies gleaming in the sunlight, witnessing the Galra shooting at the castle's barriers. Each hit causing a small explosion, weakening the shield bit by bit.

o~o

"The ion cannon is back online," the Galra soldier informed Commander Sendak from the control deck.

"FIRE!"

o~o

The ion cannon, shot its powerful beam, hitting the castle head-on. The barrier was engulfed in a fiery inferno, powerful enough to shake the hill that the Castle was perched on. Coran, C.C., and Allura held onto the controls from inside. At the same time, the Paladins could only endure the impact from their Lions, their bodies practically vibrating with the hill.

"Man, those Galra guys repair things fast!" Rivalz exclaimed, astonished to see the cannon that Shirley had managed to partly destroy back to full operation.

"The barrier gets weaker with every blast," Coran said as he scanned the particle barrier, "Once that shield goes down, the Castle will be defenseless!"

Allura kept her composure as she contacted Lelouch and the other Paladins. "I can give you cover in the Castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now, or we'll all be destroyed!"

"Jeez, no pressure!" Shirley mumbled with frightened sarcasm.

Another blast from the Galra's cannon hit the barrier. Once again, it was engulfed in an inferno, causing earthquake levels of shaking once more. Lelouch grit his teeth as he and the others endured until the shaking ceased, the particle barrier already short-circuiting from the damage. His hands were white beneath his black gloves from gripping the controls so hard.

"Team Voltron, listen up! The only way we'll stop Sendak is to fight with everything that we've got! We can't let the Castle fall; otherwise, we're just handing victory over to Sendak and Zarkon! Are you with me?!"

Each of the Paladins nodded in response, even the mechanical Lions nodding with them. They had come this far, each protecting the other, it was far too late to turn back now.

"Very well!" Lelouch said, pulling on his controls and pushing his Lion forward out of the barrier, the other Lions following behind, "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" they shouted in unison.

"Okay, quick question, though. How?" Suzaku said, suddenly remembering a big problem.

"Good question," Kallen said while avoiding incoming blasts, "how do we form Voltron?"

"I don't see a 'combine into a giant robot' button anywhere on my dashboard!" Shirley said as the Lions leaped across the rocky landscape of the hill. Beams of the Galra ship forced them to remain moving. Otherwise, they would get shot.

Rai in the Green Lion barely dodged a flurry of lasers, "This is insane! Can't they just cease firing for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?!" Rai shouted right before turning around a leaping towards two gliders that closer to the ground. Jumping up, the Green Lion caught one of them in his mouth by the wing before throwing it into the other.

"I doubt these guys are the considerate type, Rai," Milly said as she nearly lost her balance from another laser landing right in front of her.

Kallen also turned around and used the Red Lion's laser tail to shoot down two more flyers. "We got to do something!"

"Combine!" Rivalz yelled as he suddenly rammed his Lion into Kallen's, which was flung backward and rolled across the ground before regaining balance.

"Hey!" Kallen exclaimed in annoyance.

"Okay, that didn't work," Rivalz said, slightly ashamed.

"Good try," Shirley said, trying to comfort the Blue Paladin, right before having to dodge shots again.

Lelouch grit his teeth in frustration. He hated having to be in a battle like this. Unlike on Earth back with the Black Knights, at least he had had information on the enemy. Not to mention he already knew what actions his siblings and the other Britannian soldiers would make, so he was quickly able to thwart them. Not to say his Geass helped much in that department as well, but this time he was on a completely blank slate. He only had his king and couple pawns remaining. Barely any moves available to make on the board. He had to figure out how to form Voltron with the others, FAST!

It didn't help when Allura's face appeared on the screen of the Lion, "Quickly paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!"

"Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll just combine," Lelouch suggested. It seemed to be the most logical solution right now. Seeing as the Lions needed to be a specific part of Voltron if they flew a particular way, they were bound to just come together, "Everyone, take off on my cue!" The seven Lions dashed towards the edge of the cliff as Lelouch began counting down, "One, two, three, Voltron!"

As one, the Lions leaped off the cliff and soared into the sky in perfect 'V' formation. The paladins grunted and strained themselves, trying desperately to try and merge, but nothing was happening.

"Nothing's happening!" Lelouch exclaimed in frustration.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait!" Rivalz said, "I think I feel something!"

"I do too!" Milly confirmed, "it's like we're being pulled in the same direction!"

"Uh, guys!" Kallen suddenly shouted, "I think I know why!"

"Yeah! Look up!" Suzaku said.

"What the cheese?!" Shirley exclaimed as they all saw that they had been caught in Sendak's tractor beam and were slowly being pulled in.

"Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!" Rai shouted in panic, pulling at controls, desperate to escape.

Sendak smirked evilly. "Send a report to Emperor Zarkon. The day is ours!"

The ship unleashed one final blast from the ions cannon. This time, it destroyed the particle barrier leaving the castle vulnerable, C.C., Coran, and Allura losing balance as it happened.

"No!" Lelouch gasped as an image of the defenseless castle appeared on his screen.

Shirley's screen appeared right next to it, she looked like she was having a panic attack, "Lulu! I don't care what you say, I'm panicking now!" followed by a shrill scream.

Everyone else and their Lions tried desperately to move, but no matter what they did, they were completely frozen, at the mercy of Sendak's crew.

"It can't end here!" Rai shouted.

"This is it!" Rivalz cried.

"It's been an honor flying with you," Suzaku said.

"It was good while it lasted everyone," Kallen agreed.

"At least we'll go down together," Milly said, trying to comfort everyone one last time.

From the Castle, Allura could only watch with tears in her eyes as the universe's last hope was pulled towards the enemy.

Lelouch was gripping the controls of the Black Lion so hard, his hands were turning white. Gritting his teeth, he looked up defiantly at the ship, sucking them in. No. He was Zero! He was the Man Who Works Miracles. He's already pulled off more impressive feats with the Black Knights than any other terrorist group could only dream of. He confronted his father, the freaking Emperor of Britannia. He demanded an explanation of his mother's murder, and what did he get in return?! Banishment to Japan with Nunnally blinded and crippled to add icing to the cake! Nunnally was the entire reason he was fighting. He promised Nunnally he would make the world a gentle place for her. If he gave up now, it would be like spitting upon that promise and the memory of his mother, Lady Marianne vi Britannia. He wouldn't give up.

He REFUSED!

"NO!" Lelouch proclaimed, "We can do this! But we can't do that unless we believe in ourselves!" the other paladins blinked at their leader's words, "If we give up now, we may as well be digging Earth's grave. Several other planets will follow close behind!"

Milly thought of her grandfather, all alone at Ashford Academy.

Rivalz saw his mother, sisters, and baby brother, praying and kneeling for him to found and safely returned.

Shirley saw her father and mother, worried sick and devastated over her disappearance.

Rai heard his sister and mother calling out to him, begging to see him again and rescue them.

Princess Euphemia, the sub-viceroy whom he had grown to respect and trust in the short time he knew her, flashed through Suzaku's mind. Sweet innocent Euphie… he could never let her be subjected to this.

A tear trailed down Kallen's face as the face of her now-deceased brother and her mother's soft smile. Watching her take the abuse of her stepmother and continuing to remain by her side. She never realized, but besides the Black Knights, her mother had always been there, even when she didn't want her. How could she have been so blind up to this point?

"The situation seems impossible, that's true! But if we work and listen to one another, we can pull off our own miracle! Failure to do so is not an option!"

The paladin's expressions hardened. Lelouch was right. They couldn't afford to lose now, not with so many lives at stake!

"If we work together… WE'LL WIN TOGETHER!"

"YEAH!" the others cheered next to him, the eyes of their Lions glowing a bright gold as they lifted their heads to roar in unison!

Then as one, at the very moment, the seven paladins felt something deep within them all snap into place, the Lions following not even a split second later. The joining of seven hearts, seven minds, seven souls.

They were one.

The Lions leaped into the sky, their colors sailing behind them in a stream as pieces took shape, merging as one. Each Lion dismantling itself, portions either retracting or extending to form and link together.

A bright flash of light followed as the resulting shock wave of a Lion's roar jostled the ion cannon. When the final shot fired, it missed the Castle of Lions by mere centimeters. Instead, it hit and destroyed the mountain behind it in a fiery inferno.

After regaining balance from the aftershock of the explosion, Allura, Coran, and even C.C. looked up and gasped in astonishment.

Bringing in a closer image, they saw the outline of a towering figure made entirely from metal. The face of the warrior could be seen within a dark helmet, shaped like the head of a Lion, sizeable red metal wings outstretched from the body. The upper torso looked black with outlines of blue energy. The left arm a green color, the right red. Its right leg blue and left leg orange with the faces of the Lions as the feet and two more Lion heads making up the knees in yellow and purple, respectively. Same with the arms as the Lion heads made up the hands. A neon blue 'V' symbol was presented proudly on its chest.

Sendak could only gasp in terror and took a step back, not believing what he was seeing, "Voltron!"

"We did it!" Suzaku exclaimed.

"I can't believe it!" Kallen agreed.

"We formed Voltron!" Rai cheered.

"And we look AMAZING!" Milly commented.

"I'm a leg!" Rivalz whooped.

"How are we doing this?!" Shirley could only ask in astonishment.

Lelouch was honestly just as astonished and amazed at what they accomplished. Not to mention, it felt incredible! Since the Lions were now one being, it was as if he could sense what everyone else was thinking as well. They were a team.

"I don't know, but let's get that cannon!" Lelouch ordered, thrusting the controls forward the winged giant gripped the cannon and snapped it off the ship like it was a mere twig. Voltron tossed it away and watched as it landed in a nearby field. With a swing of its right arm, the Red Lion's head punched through the ship's surface. A powerful beam of energy blasting through the battleship, the front of it exploding in an inferno, breaking the ship in two.

Sendak stumbled before catching himself, seeing the shadow of the Defender of the Universe soar to the other side of the ship, before stomping through the interior on the other side, a beam emitting from the Green Lion on Voltron's left arm. As Sendak watched from the control deck, his ship going up in flames, he and his second in command, Haxus, turned in terror and ran to the escape pods.

They had made it just in time as Voltron soared into the air and sped forward, ramming right into the ship, the seven paladins within the giant screaming in righteous fury. They slammed so hard into the ship, they smashed through one end and right out the other. The vessel caught fire before blowing up in a blaze as they landed on the ground, the glow of the destroyed ship lighting up the Arusian sky.

o~o

The sun was setting in the distance as the paladins, now in their disbanded Lions returned to the Castle of Lions, triumphant. They landed near the entrance where Allura, C.C., and Coran awaited them. All of them were sweaty and worn out, but otherwise happy they made it out of the battle alive.

"Good work, Paladins!" Allura praised, a look of joy in her smile.

"Thanks, pretty lady," Rivalz replied with a smile as he removed his helmet along with Lelouch, Suzaku, and Rai. Shirley had fallen on her behind; she was so tired, and Milly had her hands on her knees, panting. Kallen was only slightly hunched over. Both their helmets were still on. Milly was actually amazed Lelouch of all people was one of the ones still standing after that.

"Well, mission accomplished," Lelouch said, a tired smile on his face.

"Yeah," Suzaku agreed, looking at his childhood friend with a small grin, "we did it!"

"How did we do it?" asked Kallen, removing her helmet and looking at Lelouch questioningly.

"I was kind of just screaming the whole time," Shirley said with a shrug, taking off her helmet and untying her bun, her hair flowing behind her, "maybe that did it?"

Everyone chuckled at Shirley's attempt at a joke before Rai looked down with a grimace of regret. Milly and Lelouch, seeing this knew precisely why. The Yellow Paladin put a comforting hand on Rai's shoulder.

"Don't worry Rai, we're not going to stop searching until we find your mother and sister, that's a promise!"

"Just keep thinking about them," Lelouch said, adding his two cents, "no matter where they are right now, I'm sure they're proud of you." Rai gave the two a smile of appreciation. He hadn't realized how much he truly needed to hear that. He felt like for the time being that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"We won the battle," Allura addressed them after a moment, Coran standing next to her in classic military fashion, "but the war has only just begun… I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these Lions."

"Good thing you paladins know what you're doing," Coran said, "because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again."

"Totally... Wait, what?!" Shirley exclaimed, pretty voicing everyone's thoughts.

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time!" Rivalz added.

"Oh, and you only had to battle one ship," Coran said, "wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! Yeah, it's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe."

At this statement, all the paladins gained intrigued looks, replaying the words Coran just said. They turned and looked up at the Lions behind them as if they were heavenly beings, which in a way they kind of were.

Suzaku suddenly smirked, before addressing the Black Paladin, "I don't know Lelouch, what you think?"

Lelouch simply smirked his famous smirk. The one Rivalz often saw when Lelouch was playing a 'challenging' opponent when off gambling. A grin that stated that he knew exactly what he was doing and how he was going to win the game!

'And here I call check Charles zi Britannia,'

"'Defenders of the Universe,' huh? If you ask me Suzaku, I say it has a nice ring to it."

'This is going to be interesting." C.C. thought as the sun's rays seemed to make the Lions glow from atop the hill.