#made this at. approx 3am

[starscelly]

six-hundred horse, how you gon' catch the boss?

(tim nwachukwu)

[goldessia]

⋆⋆⋆ ┊ heavens blessing, levi ackerman . . .

warnings: rivals to lovers, bickering/arguments, sad love confession, close-death experience, levi is kind of mean in the beginning

type: flangst ( my fav <3 )

a/n: i made this at like, 3am, so please excuse how horrible it is :’)

MY life was one thing—a fight to the top. a fight to power.

levi ackerman ranked just above me in our cadet training. that second place title killed me.

i used to hate when people compared us. when they said, “she’s only second to levi.” if anything, i loathed it. i should be on top, i should be the captain—but of course, when the time came around, he had two more titan kills than me. now, we are tied.

levi never failed to make it known that he was ranked higher. if anything, he found it amusing that it was he who qualified and not me. and boy, did he abuse his power.

now, levi was walking past us, handing out shift assignments.

“eren, border control.” he moves on, “armin, go meet hanji for the security meeting.” and finally, he stops at me. instead of reading off his clipboard like he did for the others, he places it behind him, and stares straight at me.

“last and very least..” he slants his head, “y/n. stable duty.”

anger envelopes me. “what? you can’t do that! i’m the best soldier here, i’d be much more use out there!”

he clicks his tongue. “ooh, that’s where you’re wrong.” he leans closer, “you’re second-best. remember?”

i grumble. “just because you ranked above me—by, might i remind you, two kills—doesn’t mean you can just push me around. i’m still the best solider here, ranking or not.

“and i have a feeling you’re just putting me on stable duty so i don’t have a chance to pass you in kills.” i spit.

he takes a deep breath, and leans toward me. his eyes are almost frightening—cold, icey and direct. i want to shrink under his stare, his posture, his very aura.

“you’re right.” he says, “i do rank above you. and you know what that means?” his eyes narrow. “that means i can do whatever the fuck i want with you.”

i open my mouth to speak, but he doesn’t give me the chance.

“do you want another week of stable duty? because i can do that. talk back to me again, and you’ll face the consequences.”

my jaw clenches in anger. my eyes glare into his, but both him and i can tell i’m losing this battle.

“you got it?” he says. when i don’t respond, he repeats himself. “do you understand, soldier?”

i murmur a “yes, captain.”

“louder.”

“yes,” i inhale, before spitting out the word—“captain.”

“say it nicer.”

something inside me snaps, “no. you know what?” i push him back, “i’m done. give me stable duty, at-least it will keep me away from you, and your sadistic, weirdo self.”

with that, i storm away. a little childish, i agree, but i knew if i stayed any longer i’d argue with levi until the sun set. at-least i get a break, today.

behind me, i hear a few of the new soldiers defending me. they say things like, “don’t you think that was a bit far, levi?” or, “i kind of agree, her skills would be useful out there..” but they were instantly shut down by levi.

— - mid-night . . approx. six hours later.

i felt disgusting. after hours of working in the stables, a long, hot shower was just the thing i needed. i wrung the water out of my hair, and since it was around eleven pm i knew everyone would be asleep. so, i threw on my pyjama’s, and stepped out of the shower corridors.

i wanted to murder levi, consequences be damned. he never failed to make an absolute fool out of me. one day, i swore i’d get him back.

as i turned the corner, my heart stopper in my chest when i saw a figure in-front of me, but it was too late—i had already collided with them.

“huh—! watch it—“ levi cuts himself off when he realises it’s me. “oh. what are you doing here?”

“uh, crazy concept, but i also live here.” i spit. his eyes narrow, before travelling over me, head to toe and back to my face.

“lights out was an hour ago. you shouldn’t be out here.”

“that’s why i was trying to get back to my room, before you rudely got in my way.” i say. he blinks. “so.. move.”

the corner of his lip snags up. “say please.”

i scoff. “you’re such a prick,” i spit, pushing past him. before i can keep walking, he roughly grabs my arm, stopping me.

“remember who’s in control here, y/n.” he says coldly, “or, did you forget all of your training?” he tuts, “you have to be dismissed before you can walk away from your superiors.”

“eat shit, ackerman.”

“that’s captain levi to you.”

i rip my arm from his grasp. “you’re too cocky for your own good.” i turn to face him, “from now on, ranking or not, you need to learn to respect me. i can just as easily surpass you.

“you’ll need to get used to calling me captain l/n. just a matter of time, if you keep up with abusing your power just to mess with me.”

“tough chance.” he says with a slight chuckle, “goodnight, y/n.”

“off yourself.”

with that, i spin on my heel and stalk away from him.

— - the next day . . dawn

i was ready for another day of stable duty. if anything, i was kind of happy to spend another peaceful day with the horses. i was prepared for it.

“yeah, about that.” levi says. this time, he isn’t looking at me, but at the ground. “erwin..” he grits, “insisted you come on the mission today. said that.. your skills would be useful.”

my brows raise. a small smile finds my lips. “what was that? sorry, i couldn’t hear you. something about.. how i’m skilled?”

“i’m not repeating myself.” he snarls, “get your gear, and meet us by the gate. don’t be late.”

he stalls away like an angry child who didn’t get his favourite toy. i chuckle, and walk toward the supply room.

i meet the rest of them by the gate. the line consisted of a few of the rookies—eren, reiner, connie, and jean, and beside them, hanji, erwin and levi, who’s holding the reins to a horse beside him which i suspect is mine.

with a tall chest, i walk toward levi. “i believe that’s mine.”

he spares me one look, before making a tch sound with his lips, throwing the reins toward me.

hanji briefs us a look, before whispering in a not-so-subtle voice, “are you sure it’s a good idea to pair them together? i don’t think the rookies need to hear their bickering all day.”

levi’s head snaps toward them, “we don’t bicker.”

“yeah. he’s just a pain in my ass most the time, that’s all.” i say with a smirk.

he looks to me. “if anything, you’re the thorn in my side. always needing saving, always complaining-“

“uh—! name one time i’ve ever needed your saving. and i don’t complain!”

“uh, let’s see, two days ago?” he deadpans.

“that was not saving—“

“yeah. you definitely don’t bicker.” jean chuckles.

“shut up, rookie!” levi and i say simultaneously. we look to each-other, opening our mouths to speak before erwin cuts us both off.

“today, you two. are you forgetting we have responsibilities? your flirting can wait till later.” erwin says, pulling the reins so his horse turns.

my face heats up. “we’re not flirting!” we say together again.

“stop saying what i say.” levi narrows his eyes.

“you’re saying what i’m saying!”

“you were given an order.” erwin’s voice hardens. erwin wasn’t usually too hard on us, but his patience can only stretch so far before it snaps.

i look down, and mutter a, “sorry, sir.”

he nods, just once. “good. now, we have a mission to get to.”

“yes sir!”

— - approx. one hour later . .

titans were all around us, at every angle. a huge herd just appeared out of no-where while we were travelling to the next way-point, and thank god we happened to be passing through a city.

levi and i were together, like usual, and we had all split up into groups of two. and like usual.. we made it into a competition.

“i bet you two training days i’ll kill more than you.”

“hah—! you got yourself a deal.” levi says, before turning and zipping away from me.

ahead of me were two ten-meter titans—easy money. i press the blade, zipping toward them, manoeuvring away from their hands and slicing my blade across his nape. it falls to the ground with a loud thud, and i lock my line to the second ones nape.

THUD.

. . . five titans later, i had gotten a bit carried away. i didn’t realize i was using so much gas, and that my blades were on their last pair.

shit, shit, shit! is all i can think as i race faster away from the five-meter titan right on my tail. i was dead, so dead. i had run out of gas, and i realised before i could think i had reached a dead-end. my leg is slashed from when i fell, and my run is looking more like a desperate limp.

the titan was closing in on me. i turned, scanning the area for something i could do, but that was it. i was cornered. there was no running.

the titan crouches in-front of me, and for the first time in my life i was truly, rawly scared. the titans never scared me when i was a kid, or a cadet, but now..

the titan’s mouth was curled into a horrifying smile. it’s eyes were bulging, hands and chin covered in blood from a previous city’s massacre.

this was it. as i was lifted off the ground, i accepted my fate. my eyes moved toward the sun. i didn’t want the last thing i’d look at to be it’s face.

huh. i never noticed how warm the sun was. i guess i should’ve appreciated nature a bit more. i would have, if i knew this was the day i was going to die.

it’s mouth opened. i could smell it’s foul breath, smelling of human flesh.

i guess you win, levi. just this once.

SHING!

“GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER!”

SLASH.

i fell to the ground. my back slammed against the pavement, and i cried out in pain. my head was fuzzy, mostly from the fall.

i hear the wind in my ear as i am picked up, and the sound of metal whipping as i’m brought to the roof.

my vision focuses when i am placed down on a roof. oh. it’s levi. he is speaking, but i can’t really hear him that well.

“damnit, damnit!”

his hands are on my face. his eyes are scanning me for injuries. why is he doing that? why does he care..

“fuck, please be okay, REINER, OVER HERE!”

“SAY SOMETHING!”

oh. now i can hear him.

i wince, my eyes fluttering as they focused on levi’s face. no, that can’t be levi.. why is he crying? levi wouldn’t cry.

“what happened?” i register it to be reiner’s voice, and i turn to him. i push myself up, crying out from the pain in my back, my head. i touch my hand to the back of my head, looking at the blood on my fingers.

“it’s alright, it’s nothing, i’m fine—!”

two arms are wrapped around me. clutching me tight. daring to never let go.

levi.. is hugging me.

“god damnit.. you idiot! what were you thinking?!”

“you’re.. hugging me.” i mean to say in my head, but i say out-loud by accident.

he pulls away, grasping my face in his hands. his hands are shaking. “don’t you ever do that again. you hear me?! i’ll give you damn stable duties everyday if you don’t smarten up!”

“i- you— i can’t promise i won’t—“

“nearly killing yourself over a stupid bet, really?! i can’t believe you—“

“levi.”

“out of all the stupid, idiotic, irrational things you’ve done—“

“levi—“

“seriously! if i didn’t get here when i did, you’d have been dead, and over what? an unsettled—“

“LEVI!”

“what?!”

i pant, placing a hand on his shoulder. “stop. fucking. talking.”

he stares at me for a second. then, a smile cracks on his lips. then a laugh. “i love you so fucking much.”

copr. goldessia. do not steal, plagiarize, translate, share on other platforms without credit/permission.

[got-eggs]

pea sketch

comm links/info below⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

My DA:

Here's my comm info/pricing, Please read all the way through for important info;

Headshot(Approx time of completion: 3 days-1 week): Sketch- $8 Line art- $12 Flat- $15 Shaded- $20

Half-Body(Approx time of completion: 1-2 week[s]): Sketch- $12 Line Art - $15 Flat- $20 Shaded- $25

Full-Body(1.5 weeks to 3 weeks): Sketch- $15 Line Art - $20 Flat- $25 Shaded- $30

Ref sheets(approx time of completion: 1-1.5 month[s]): 2 sided(front/back)- $45 ---You receive: flat coloured Front/back view of your character, 2 headshots, 2-3 misc objects(ie character items, Front/back of paws, Tail view, etc), character notes(if applicable), custom lettered Name of Character/Characters pronouns, Colour bar.

3 sided(front/side/back)- $50 ---You receive: flat coloured Front/side/back view of your character, 3 headshots, 2-5 misc objects(ie character items, Front/back of paws, Tail view, etc), character notes(if applicable), custom lettered Name of Character/Characters pronouns, Colour bar.

-------------🔽🔽IMPORTANT INFORMATION🔽🔽-------------

I'll make/send out 3 initial sketches to choose/alter from(i.e. if you like one aspect of a sketch but you despise another, I can go back and change it to suit your tastes), Sketch comms also receive 3 sketches, but I don't make major*** changes to a sketch. Ref sheet comms DO NOT receive 3 whole initial sketches, they receive a single sketch that can be adjusted/changed/reviewed. (***I will make small adjustments/clean up the sketch if its not up to snuff)

Payment is only due AFTER the initial sketches(except for sketch comms and ref sheets***), from anytime after the initial stage and before you receive your 100% completed/unmarked comm is when I'll accept any payment. Any troubles involving payment is no issue, you wont just receive the comm until it'd resolved.

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I don't do anything NSFW, it's all purely SFW(If you're unsure if i can do something, let me know and I'll get back to you)

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On average, the smallest image size ill send is 1000x1500 px big at 300 dpi, If requested i can send it in a larger/smaller size to your choice on where you receive it(Here, Email, Discord, etc)

I'm typically available to question/ask from 11am-3:30pm to 10pm-3am Eastern Time. If your interested in a live update on your commission, I usually work on them from 10pm-3am Eastern time.

[thewholedamnboulangerie]

Hi hi 💕💕💕 trope combo! Kimchay + accidental eavesdropping + enemies to lovers

HIIII BELOVED 💕💕💕

I have used a VERY loose definition of "enemies" to lovers here, but the word "enemy" is in here, so like... it totally counts?

Also I was intending to write approx 500 words. This is 2.2k. Ty for the insane brainworms love u 💖💖💖💖💖

✨read on ao3✨

~

Kim had always thought that there were many advantages to being a bit of a night owl. For one thing, inspiration always seemed to flow more freely, with each new chord that might deign to drift through his mind resounding more clearly in the still and quiet; for another, it had always proven the best time to slip around the family compound unseen and unmolested, since all the most interfering busybodies had already whisked themselves off to bed; and, of most immediate concern, there was no one around to see him abandoning his dignity and rummaging haphazardly through the kitchen cupboards at this ungodly hour.

It wasn’t that Kim forgot to eat sometimes, per se - he just occasionally deferred the task, letting it slip a few notches further down his to-do list, if he was immersed in something far more interesting. Like, for example, this evening’s unsuccessful attempt to access the compound’s secure computer files.

Meaning that it was now 3am, and he hadn’t eaten anything since the early afternoon, and his frustration over his unsuccessful hacking attempt was being very thoroughly compounded by the increasingly insistent gurgles coming from his stomach. Having burned through all his reserves of patience for that day - and probably for the entire week, for that matter - he had made a beeline straight for the kitchens, hoping to find a quick snack to solve at least one of his problems.

He had just unwrapped a packet of pastries and made the possibly inadvisable decision to shove one of them into his mouth whole, to tide him over while he looked for something more substantial, when the gentle padding of footsteps in the hall had him freezing in place, cheeks bulging and fingers still sticky with crumbs, flooded with horror at the thought of being caught now.

Fortunately, the paralysis only lasted for a second. There was nothing to be done about the incriminating pile of treats that he’d left strewn across the counter, but he had just enough time to spin on his heel and dash into the tiny alcove beside the largest fridge - one of his favourite hiding places in the compound since he’d been old enough to toddle. That, at least, had never changed.

The sensible thing to do now was to remain perfectly still, quieten his breathing, and hope that the hastily swallowed pastry would be enough to silence the furious grumblings of his stomach.

But Kim’s curiosity got the better of him, as it had always been wont to do, and he peeked around the corner - only to be met with the sight of a shuffling, pyjama-clad Porchay Kittisawasd, stifling a yawn with one hand and ruffling his sleep-tousled hair with the other.

Kim refused to acknowledge the aching burst of affection that flared through his chest at the sight.

Chay wandered over to the counter where Kim had just been standing, and began picking through the assorted snacks that Kim had discarded.

There was a faint sound, barely audible beneath the rustling of the wrappers. Was Chay humming? What was the song? No matter how hard Kim strained his ears, he couldn’t quite make it out.

After a moment’s consideration, Chay carefully plucked a pastry out of the very same packet that Kim had just opened, and took a bite.

Kim made a mental note to buy more of that particular brand the next time he ordered his own groceries. It really had been quite a tasty little snack, now that he thought about it.

However, the next moment, his musings were interrupted by the sound of more footsteps echoing down the hallway. Kim bit back a curse - of all the times for half the compound to decide they were in the mood for a midnight snack, why did it have to be tonight?

Chay had clearly heard the footsteps as well. He let out a dismayed squeak, shoved the other half of his pastry in his mouth, spun on his heel - and dashed into the same alcove that Kim was currently lurking in.

Suddenly face to face with the boy he’d lost before he’d even realised he loved him, Kim found himself lost for words, too. What was there to say, after all, to someone you’d deliberately made an enemy of, and utterly failed to reconcile with, when you found yourself forced into an unexpected stealth operation with them by the whims of fate and chance?

Fortunately, the clatter of footsteps into the kitchen, accompanied by a burst of unreasonably raucous laughter, absolved him of the obligation to say anything at all. Bringing a finger urgently to his lips, Kim let himself seek refuge in the familiar, claustrophobic sanctuary of silence.

Chay’s eyes flashed indignantly, and for a moment Kim thought he was going to argue - but fortunately, Chay didn’t seem any keener than him to alert anyone else of their presence in the alcove, and he subsided with an irritated huff, features settling into a frown. Or at least, Kim thought it was probably a frown. It wasn’t an expression he’d often seen Chay make, but that particular crinkle of his brow probably wasn’t a happy one.

Kim let his eyes slide away, and focused his attention on the conversation the two bodyguards who’d just entered the kitchen were engaged in.

“-sure I’m not the only one it’s happened to,” one of them was saying. “I’d put money on it, honestly.”

“Yeah man, I’m not doubting you,” the other agreed emphatically. “Did I tell you about the time I had to cover for their usual driver last week and chauffeur them to that meeting with the Germans?”

Kim was focusing more intently, now - bodyguard gossip was often a wealth of unexpected clues and insight.

“Do I want to know?” laughed the first bodyguard.

“Probably not,” his friend replied. “So, I had Khun Kinn and Khun Porsche in my backseat, both of them - oh, do I even need to say more? You know where this story’s going.”

“Do I?” the other asked, in tones of exaggerated innocence. “No, I think you better spell it out for me.”

Kim was rapidly becoming very, very certain that he did not want this guy to spell anything whatsoever out for him, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, luck was decidedly not on his side that evening.

“Well, I had the partition up and the soundproofing turned on, obviously, so I can’t say for sure.” The bodyguard paused for dramatic effect, then continued, “But I could still hear them, in spite of all that, and if Khun Kinn wasn’t getting his dick sucked back there-”

Having thoroughly revised his opinion of the value of bodyguard gossip, Kim decided that he was going to voluntarily go deaf now, actually. Shifting his attention firmly away from this terrible, awful, no-good conversation, his gaze fell back on Chay - whose head was now buried in his hands.

For a few seconds, Kim furiously debated with himself whether he ought to risk checking if Chay was alright. Then, in the first stroke of good luck he’d had that entire night, the bodyguards’ footsteps began to trudge back down the hallway, their voices fading into the night and taking the remnants of their horrible conversation with them.

Chay lowered his hands and looked back up at Kim, eyes wide and definitely no longer clouded with the dregs of sleep. 

For a moment, Chay just stared at Kim, unblinking. Then, the faintest edge of hysteria lacing his voice, he mumbled, “That was the worst thing that’s ever happened.”

Kim had imagined this moment so many times, in so many ways, that he couldn’t have kept track of them all if he’d tried. He was pretty sure that he had, in fact, imagined the first words Chay would say to him the next time they spoke being along those lines on more than one occasion.

It still stung.

He swallowed, dropping his gaze to the floor, and shrank back a little. There was only so far he could go - it was a tiny alcove, and Chay was blocking the way out - but he could put a little bit more space between them, if it would lessen Chay’s discomfort.

He was jolted out of his self-pitying reverie by a gentle slap to his chest.

“Not - I didn’t mean you, P’Kim!” Chay protested. Kim’s head snapped up - impossibly, Chay was half-smiling at him, flapping one hand in the space between them. “I just meant - wow, that was too much information, you know? God, I did not need to know that.” Chay gave an over-exaggerated shudder, and Kim couldn’t help nodding in agreement - he, too, did not need to know that.

“Anyway, uh…” Chay had barely begun to speak before he was interrupted by a jaw-splitting yawn.

Kim felt the corner of his lips quirk up involuntarily. “Time for bed?” he murmured, even though the last thing he wanted was for Chay to slip away and through his fingers yet again. But, then again, it was inevitable. Maybe there was no sense in delaying it. After all, he’d always been good at denying himself the things he wasn’t meant to have, to lessen the sting when they drifted completely out of reach.

But then Chay giggled, raising an eyebrow, and suddenly he didn’t look tired at all. “Was that an innuendo, P’Kim?”

Kim’s mind came to a screeching halt, panic racing through him. “No, I didn’t - I know you don’t - Chay, I didn’t mean-” he stuttered, then gave up and covered his face with a groan.

Chay laughed again. Kim had never appreciated just how sweet that sound was, before.

Then, another pair of hands were gently prising his own from his face, and Chay was meeting his gaze with an unexpectedly serious expression.

At some point, he’d grown taller than Kim. He hadn’t realised that until now.

“You know I don’t what, P’Kim?” Chay asked, gentle but insistent.

Kim swallowed. “You don’t - I know you’re still angry with me.”

Chay hummed, scrunching his nose contemplatively. “And how do you know that, exactly?”

Kim felt the ground shifting beneath his feet. Words deserted him completely; he was powerless to do anything but blink back at Chay.

Chay took pity on him, and broke the silence again. “Maybe I’m still a little angry, phi. But mostly, I’m tired of being angry. And I think… I think I miss having you around.”

Kim took in a shaky breath. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the lack of food, or simply the muted glow from the fluorescent lights, barely illuminating their little hidden corner, but the entire conversation had taken on an air of unreality.

Or maybe it was simply because it felt too much like everything he’d barely let himself yearn for, made reality.

I’ve missed you too, he wanted to say.

Or perhaps that wasn’t enough. All I see now, no matter where I look, is the absence of you. That was closer to the truth of it.

But Kim had never been good with words. Not the sincere kind, not when the truth was at stake. Not when it mattered.

But Chay deserved an answer of some kind. Nothing he could dredge up would be adequate, but he had to try.

“I’ve missed you too,” Kim whispered.

The ripple of shock through his veins, in the aftermath of those words passing his lips, was a slow, sluggish thing. Even as the words echoed in his ears, he couldn’t quite believe he’d said them - the exact words he’d wanted to force out. It might have been a miracle.

And yet, it had been easy. Simple.

And Chay’s answering smile was brilliant. Dazzling.

At least, until it was interrupted by another enormous yawn.

The ensuing silence only lasted for a moment before both of them burst into helpless snorts of laughter, Chay pitching forward to bury his head in Kim’s shoulder.

“Maybe you were right, P’Kim,” came Chay’s muffled voice a second later, “it really might be time for bed.” He drew back to meet Kim’s eyes again, then continued, “But tomorrow… well, if we both miss each other, maybe we should do something to fix that. Would that - does that sound good to you?”

Kim could only nod helplessly, the force of his longing having stolen his words away completely. Chay beamed back at him. “Good.”

And then, a contemplative look passed over Chay’s features, a gleam appearing in his eyes.

Kim instinctively knew what he was about to do, and made no move to resist.

Chay’s lips met his; just the faintest brush of pressure. Kim’s eyes fluttered closed, and Chay pressed blessedly closer, a beacon of warmth against him.

The kiss couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds before Chay broke away, taking a piece of Kim’s heart with him.

That was more than fine by Kim. He hadn’t realised he still had anything left of his heart to give; whatever remained, he would happily offer up to Chay on a platter.

Chay let out another nervous giggle, seemingly overcome by a sudden bout of shyness. “Ah, well - goodnight then, P’Kim! I’ll see you - or, mm, we can talk tomorrow?” And before Kim even had the chance to reply, he’d turned and darted out of the alcove.

Kim leaned back against the wall, letting himself melt into the stone. He couldn’t quite feel any of his limbs; he couldn’t quite bring himself to care.

He’d always known this was the best hiding spot in the house.

[ikeromantic]

First Day

This is an Ikemen Sengoku coffee shop AU. Approx 1700 words. Nobunaga, the owner of Azuchi Cafe, hires a girl to work in his coffee shop alongside his other oddball employees.

Pastry Chef and little rain cloud: Ieyasu Tokugawa

Head Chef and irredeemable flirt: Masamune Date

Dining Room Manager and rule-master: Hideyoshi Toyotomi

Barista and most popular kid in your class: Ranmaru Mori

Barista and coffee disaster: Mitsunari Ishida

Accountant and walking bad-boy vibe: Mitsuhide Akechi

I have never written a coffee shop AU and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Nobunaga unlocked the back door at 3am. It was so early most people would still call it night, but he enjoyed the peace and quiet at this hour. As if he were the sole living human in a world of stray cats and blinking traffic lights.

He flipped on the lights and began morning prep. As the owner of Azuchi Cafe, he didn’t need to be the shop opener, but he was the kind of man who’d never ask his employees to do something he wouldn’t do himself. This meant he often worked from opening until close, cleaning the kitchen at 10pm. It was something he was proud of, even if it was exhausting some days.

Ieyasu arrived a few minutes later, along with the morning shipment. Fresh fruit, cream, some new coffee bean varieties, and other items he stocked daily. The blond was quiet as he helped unload. Not a morning person, not by a longshot.

Once the crates were inside, Ieyasu made a beeline for the espresso machine and had two cups on the counter before Nobunaga completed his inventory check.

The blond downed both cups and then got started in the kitchen. He was too smart for a cafe job - easily one of the best bakers Nobunaga had ever met. And this cafe was blessed with two, though the other man was a polar opposite of the silent, serious Ieyasu Tokugawa.

As if thinking of him summoned him, the back door swung open and in swaggered Masamune. “Good morning!” His voice was loud and vibrant, as always. He never needed caffeine to feel awake - Masamune was naturally caffeinated.

“D’you have to be so loud?” Ieyasu glared.

“Do you have to be such a grouch?” Masamune raised his one eyebrow. His other eye was covered with a pirate-style eyepatch. The look wasn’t just for effect. He’d lost his left eye to a childhood illness, but that hadn’t dampened his spirit or enthusiasm.

Ieyasu held up a dough covered middle finger in response and went back to making croissants.

Masamune put a hand to his heart. “Such cruelty.”

“Stop bickering and start cooking.” Nobunaga tried to sound stern but couldn’t help the little smile on his lips.

The two of them did, though the grumbling and sniping never really stopped.

While Ieyasu handled bakery items, Masamune was in charge of the grill. Hot sandwiches, soups, and whatever else he decided to put on the menu. Nobunaga had given up trying to restrain him. The man was a genius cook, and whatever he made sold, so it made sense to give him his head.

Akechi showed up next. Mitsuhide was an accountant by trade, with a law degree besides. He didn’t technically work at the shop, but he did the books and didn’t charge much for the work. Nobunaga wasn’t sure why he spent so much time at the cafe, but he’d become a fixture. Showing up before opening to do Azuchi’s books and then sitting in the dining area, working on his laptop for hours.

“Anything I should know about,” Nobunaga called, before Mitsuhide disappeared into the cafe office.

“If there was, I’d tell you. Probably.” Mitsuhide gave him his trademark smile, sly like a fox.

“It’s that probably that worries me.” Nobunaga frowned. He didn’t actually believe Mitsuhide would sabotage him. Not after so many years as a client. But with that man, you never quite knew where you stood.

Akechi shrugged. “I can’t think of a reason not to - but you never know.” He disappeared into the office, and soon the only sound from that room was the clacking of a keyboard.

The sky to the east was beginning to lighten, the stars fading from view. It would be time to open soon. As if on cue, Mitsunari showed up with Ranmaru in tow. They were the baristas, taking orders, making coffee, and serving the sit-down diners.

“Isn’t it a beautiful morning?” Mitsunari said this to Ieyasu’s back as he passed him.

The blond snorted. “It looks like every morning. Literally, exactly the same.”

“And every morning is beautiful.” Mitsunari Ishida smiled. “I am so lucky to work with such wonderful people. It will be a great day. I can feel it.”

Ranmaru laughed. “Absolutely. Just ignore old grumble-pants here. We are going to have an awesome day.”

“I am not old,” Ieyasu snapped.

“You are compared to me!” Ranmaru was the youngest in the crew, and he liked to remind the others about it.

“That’s enough. Get up to the front and prep the display. Both of you.” Nobunaga pointed toward the front counter.

Ranmaru gave him a pouty look, but did as he was told. Despite his penchant for causing trouble in the kitchen, he was great with customers, and pretty reliable.

Mitsunari didn’t seem to realize he’d been in the middle of the bickering. He just smiled and followed Ranmaru to the front.

That one, Nobunaga thought, was dangerous. At first impression, Mitsunari Ishida seemed like an airhead. Cheerful to the point of being vapid, and clumsy as well. But he could take orders faster than anyone else, remember which customer had which preference, and quote the menu without a glance at the board on the wall. He was great, so long as you didn’t ask him to pour the coffee.

At opening, Hideyoshi finally sidled in. He was the dining room manager, in charge of the servers, and everything on the front end. Nobunaga trusted him implicitly. Most cafe owners had to worry about theft and inattention from their cash-handling employees, but not him. Not with Hideyoshi Toyotomi at the counter. That man was a veritable saint, if sometimes a little melodramatic about his service.

“I know you told me I didn’t need to be here until 10, since you open. But I couldn’t let you handle everything alone.” Hideyoshi’s version of ‘good morning’ as he tied his apron on.

Nobunaga sighed. “You are my closing manager, Hideyoshi. You’re going to be stuck here until 10 or 11 tonight . . . and you realize, I do have employees here, helping, right?”

Toyotomi nodded. “Sure, sure. But extra hands always help with morning rush, right?”

“Right. And that’s why I have a new hire coming in at 8.” Nobunaga sighed.

“A new hire?” Mitsunari’s violet gaze lit up. “Will I get to train them?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Ieyasu grumbled. “We want them to make coffee, not learn how to dump the pot on the floor.”

“Stop being so mean,” Ranmaru sniped back, defending Mitsunari.

“Hey, hey! The new employee isn’t gonna get trained by any of you. Clearly, the boss is going to put them with me. To pass on my culinary genius.” Masamune’s one eye sparkled.

“No, no, and absolutely not,” Nobunaga said, raising his voice. “Hideyoshi and I are going to train them. If the lot of you don’t terrify them into quitting on their first day.”

And that was the end of that discussion. It was 5am and the door opened. The steady stream of customers kept everyone busy for the next few hours. Lattes and cappuccinos, americanos and macchiatos, and decaf for those in denial. The flow began to slack as 8am approached. Most people were at work now, coffee in hand.

Clean-up started in the kitchen, and Hideyoshi began on the dining room.

The glass front door opened at 8am sharp. The new hire walked in. This wasn’t Nobunaga’s first time meeting her, but he still felt a twang in his chest as she smiled brightly at no one in particular.

“I hope I’m not late!”

Hideyoshi eyed her up and down, nodding to himself. Flat shoes, cute but practical. Hair pulled back sensibly - stylish, but not overdone. Professional clothes, fitted and comfortable. He hadn’t been part of the interview but he was feeling pretty positive about this candidate. He gave Nobunaga a nod.

“No, you’re right on time,” Mitsunari replied, leaning on the counter. His angelic smile was fixed on her.

The impact was obvious. One did not face the pure, focused joy of Mitsunari and not feel it. She blinked for a moment, stunned, her cheeks flushing. “Oh. Well that’s good, right?”

“Sure is,” Ranmaru said, coming around the side of the bakery display. He wiped his hands on his apron and held one out to her. “Welcome to Azuchi!”

“Hey, that’s my line,” Nobunaga grumbled.

“Yeah, but I’m cuter when I say it.” Ranmaru’s cheek reply got a chuckle from Masamune.

The one-eyed chef came out from the kitchen to observe. He wasn’t looking for whatever qualities Hideyoshi had, but what he saw made him grin. “Well, lass, I’d say welcome again but that’d make me look like an idiot. How ‘bout I help you put on an apron and show you around the place?”

“Again, my line,” Nobunaga said tiredly.

Ieyasu poked his head out from the back and sighed heavily. “Great. Another fluff head to train. Look, when you get bored listening to these idiots, come find me in the kitchen. I’ll try to teach you to bake. I’m sure you can manage a simple recipe. Probably.”

The girl looked unsure how to respond. She finally shrugged. “Yeah, ok! I’m here to work, so whatever you want to teach me, I want to learn.”

“You’d be better off learning how to keep the books,” said an amused voice behind Ieyasu.

The girl’s eyes darted up as Mitsuhide came out from the back. “Not that I’m hiring. I don’t do internships either,” he continued. He stepped out from behind the counter and closed in on her like a stalking cat. His golden eyes slid down from her face, over her chest and hips, down her legs, and back up, slow as syrup. “Though I can think of some reasons to make an exception.” He handed her a business card. “For when you tire of this service job.”

“Ah, thanks?” She glanced at the card and by the time she looked up again he was gone.

“Everyone, get back to work. I’m handling the new hire. You’ll all get a chance to train with her. I want her to work swing, so she’ll need to know a little of everything.” Nobunaga clapped once.

The workers all got back to it, though not without plenty of backward glances.

Hideyoshi handed the girl an apron. “Good luck!”

[fictionalcharacters]

Where: nyc, somewhere in brooklyn

When: approx. 3am throwback timez

Who: anya serra x houston rhodes @knivesdrcwn​​

Trailing the NYC streets after a party was freeing, Anya knew her parents would lose it to know their darling daughter was trailing around Brooklyn when she should be propped up in her UES apartment, with the roomie they’d pre-scouted the second their only child had gotten accepted into the Ivy League. 

Something about that made the way she practically bounced down the street beside the extraordinarily tall male even more of a happy buzz for her, it wasn’t that she was in a rebellion stage (that wasn’t so much her forte, and she appreciated every opportunity her parents had presented to her), but she certainly appreciated the allowances that NY offered that LA never had. 

“I had fun tonight.” She announces, still buzzed from the beer pong game she’d somehow decided to take over and refuse a defeat, a laugh escapes parted lips as she lets the events of the night flicker through her thoughts, pure happiness radiating as she lets herself fall back into step with Houston.

Her head turns to smile up at him, Anya was pretty sure of herself on the daily, but moving across the country? That had brought on its own host of anxieties, and if there was one thing she was thankful for? It was definitely the piece of home that she saw in Houston. She’d found herself drawn into spending way more time with him than she had during her time in San Fernando, and part of her wondered if they’d ever have been this close had they both stayed in the same setting they’d been in before college had started. Happenstance was an interesting concept, but either way, she’d come to appreciate this, maybe a little too much recently. 

“You know you don’t have to walk me home right? I appreciate it—” (true, she appreciated it completely, the idea of walking through city streets by herself in the early hours was a little disconcerting and along with everything else she’d found out recently, Houston also offered her a relaxing feeling of safety.) “—but you don’t have to offer the to-door service.” It was true, he didn’t have to do anything, but she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d miss it if he suddenly stopped. 

“Maybe I should be walking you home for a change.” 

[buckyjustbelikethat]

Sleepless Nights Without You

Title: Sleepless Nights Without You

Characters: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Reader can’t sleep while Bucky is away on a mission

Warnings: Insomnia, besides that just a lot of fluff. 

Word Count: approx. 1100

A/N: This is my first fanfiction, and I am posting it with as little thought as I can before I can talk myself out of it. Life has been crazy and chaotic and I needed some Bucky fluff in my life.

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

You couldn’t sleep, you were alone in Bucky and your shared apartment while him and the rest of the team were gone on a mission. You had been lying in bed for hours. You had been ignoring checking the time on your phone, fearing how many wasted hours had passed. You knew you weren’t hot, but the sheets felt more like suffocation than comfort. After hours of lying there you decided it was no longer worth it. You couldn’t stop your mind from worrying about him, you were always worried about him, but when he wasn’t there the stresses of your own life and the worry you felt for him consumed you. He had been gone for three days, but it was three days too long, especially with so little contact from him. 

You finally decided to check the time and it was 2am. You had enough of the betrayal from your bed, or from your mind, you did not care which one you were blaming at this moment, to you they both seemed to be the enemy. So you got up and went to your living room, deciding you’d maybe try to sleep again after you watched a movie. You had to have a light on, despite how much Stark equipment you had in your apartment the darkness in your living room still made you feel scared and alone. You decided to turn on the movie you had always went to on your sleepless nights long before you had even met Bucky. You sometimes would close your eyes as your favorite Disney movie played on the screen, but you still recited your favorite lines and chuckled to yourself at the cheesy parts. You knew for someone that dates an Avenger you should have more of a mature taste than you do, but you sought comfort in movies not a challenge. It was around 3am and the movie was only half-way through, you still knew that your body had not given up the fight to stay awake. The blanket wrapped around you that smelled like Bucky, wasn’t close enough to the real thing this night.

When Bucky returned from his mission, he was eager to get home to you. When Bucky reached your shared apartment, he saw the light from under the door and immediately felt guilty. He knew you often had a hard time sleeping, especially when he wasn’t there, and he wished he could fix it for you, but if he knew how to fix it, he would have done it for himself years ago. Your tv was always played at a really low volume, but with his super soldier hearing he could tell you had been trying to sleep for hours based on the movie he heard playing from the tv. He hadn’t messaged you when he returned to the compound because he had hoped you would be asleep, and he didn’t want to wake you though he was sure you would disagree with the sentiment. He opened the door and walked in and he immediately heard you get up. “Bucky” your voiced cracked when your eyes met. He could hear the relief in your voice that he was home, and safe.

“Hey doll” he says softly. His lips formed in a lazy smirk. You run up to him wrapping your arms around him and burring your face in his t-shirt, he must have changed and freshened up at the compound.

“I missed you” he hears your muffled voice.

“I missed you too sweetheart,” he rests his face on top of your head, and similarly relishes in being able to hold you again “missed you so much.”

You stand for just a moment holding each other. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asks.

“No, but that doesn’t matter anymore.” You reply. You’d go through a thousand sleepless nights in return for just a moment of being with him. “You didn’t tell me you were on your way home.” You mumble, trying to put anger in your voice, but he wasn’t convinced.  

“I know,” he sighs pulling away slightly “we didn’t know when the mission would end. By the time we were on our way home it was already late and I didn’t want to wake you, but I can see that was for nothing, I’m sorry.” He says with his eyes cast down but fixed on your lips. You nod, to reassure him you weren’t really mad. He looks into your eyes again before finally leaning down to kiss you for the first time in what felt like too long. You savor the moment to try and make up for the hours of his absence.

He breaks the kiss but still keeps his arms wrapped around you, not willing to let go yet. “How was the mission?” You ask.

“It was fine, overall not too stressful, despite Steve not being able to stop himself from getting into a little trouble.” He was smiling towards the end of his statement, knowing he’ll never be able to stop worrying over his best friend, especially when his best friend is Captain America, with or without the serum.

“Sounds like him.” You smile in return. You lean against him again and suddenly the sleeplessness you had been feeling seems to dissipate.

“Do you want to finish your movie?” he asks, and you realize you had forgotten for a moment the movie was still playing in the background.

“No, let’s just go to bed. I’m confident I can remember how it ends.” You say with a laugh bubbling from your voice. He chuckles at your comment and moves to turn the tv off.

He leads you to the bedroom and you climb into bed as he throws on some sweatpants. Once he lays down in bed with you and wraps his arms around you, you began to fight your mind to stay awake. Your fingers begin tracing his face down to his collarbones. Transfixed, and reminding yourself that he is here.

He grabs your hands as your fingers trace across his cheekbone again. He interlaces your fingers and looks in your eyes “I’m not going anywhere, doll, you need to get some sleep.” He says and then leans down to press a kiss on your forehead.

He pulls your body impossibly close to him as he hears you sigh, relaxing your body into his touch. “M’kay” you say softly.

With only a moment of silence between you, you speak again, “I love you.”

“Love you too.” He replies.

Within moments he hears your breath become steady, and your heartbeat slow, and he couldn’t stop the subtle smile from reaching his lips. You had told him once in a tired haze that you’ve never fallen asleep so quickly until you had slept in his arms. He didn’t reply then, but the truth was, he felt the same.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Idc that it’s almost 3am, it’s time for the Thieves in Time rewrite: Episode 1; Turning Japanese

Prologue over here: X

So, Carmelita is with them from the beginning this time. And while she's still mad at Sly for trying to leave her out of the loop, she will work with them to settle this whole thing and then yell at him later. 

She's actually the one who recognizes El Jefe during recon, having studied his case file. She begins to put pieces together early. El Jefe couldn't do this on his own, as Time Travel tech isn't in his wheelhouse. However, there have been a handful of top-priority criminals that disappeared recently, like El Jefe. Perhaps they're all connected.

Breaking Rioichi out of his prison goes the same. But after getting him back, he leads them to another safe house to check up on some things. 

Here we run into two of the OCs I made to flesh out the story. A male wolf named Kaito(approx. Rioichi's age), and a four year old raccoon/wolf/fox Hybrid girl named Akira. 

Obviously Akira is Rioichi's daughter. But when it comes to introducing Kaito, Rioichi gets a little shifty and says he's "a friend".

Yes I'm making Rioichi gay fuck you. If y'all thought I was making anyone straight then recheck my blog title.

Anyway, the Gang low-key calls him out on that whole mess while assuring him that it's more chill in their Time. Again, if y’all thought I was making anyone straight, then recheck my blog title. 

There is some exposition of how "legally", Rioichi is "married" to Kaito's sister, Minako. Minako is also Akira's bio mom. She and her coworkers are the only ones who know about the situation, while the rest of the town is none the wiser. 

Speaking of Minako and her coworkers…

When planning out how to deal with El Jefe, the idea of "distract him with Geisha" comes up. At which point Rioichi and Kaito clarify that yeah… those aren't Geisha. It is not a Geisha house. Have you seen the art on those banners? Those ain’t Geisha. They’re strippers/possibly prostitutes. 

Carmelita's response is "I was already going to shoot down that idea when you suggested it but there is no way I'm doing that!". 

Bently's response is "Actually we were going to use Murray as the Madame is on vacation and he fits her physique better. Not to mention El Jefe might recognize you as an Interpol cop. But we might have to rethink the plan."

Rioichi assures them that the girls that are already there will be more than willing to help their plan. Guess where Minako works?

They still have to break into the building to talk to Minako and tell her about the plan. And since Murray helps with it, they still end up with him in disguise to get out of there. Rioichi is just watching in confusion over how well it works. 

The rest of the plan of reopening the sushi shop, drugging the guards while they're distracted, etc. Goes the same. Though the fight with El Jefe also includes Carmelita's shock pistol. 

It's enough to take him down, but the gas masked rats still get away with Rioichi's cane. 

Carmelita rounds up El Jefe and anyone else brought from the future with him to be taken back to the future and tossed in jail. She'll figure out how to explain the Time Travel stuff later. For now they're booked under the stuff they're already wanted for.

[molly2140]

Introducing Octavia Freeman 😎

Includes brief shit about my Half-Life universe.

Gordon has a twin sister, Octavia, she's approx. 4 hours younger than him if that matters haha. Their mother died during their birth (depressing as hell I know but I like the tragedy and dramatic shit), so their awesome father took it upon himself to raise his twin children the best he possibly can and give them a good life. Since Gordon can't speak, he, Octavia, and their father learned ASL in order for them all to communicate. Octavia acts as Gordon's voice and helps translate his signs for those who don't understand ASL. While growing up, Octavia becomes very defensive for Gordon, she hates when people make fun of him for not being able to speak. High school consisted of lots of fights and detentions for Octavia simply because she's defending her beloved twin. The two have a very unique bond, not only are they twins but they are best friends. Gordon has a really hard time opening up to other people, especially other girls, but he's always found it easy to confide in his sister, and Octavia is extremely supportive of him.

About a year after Gordon and Octavia graduate high school, their father falls ill and soon passes away, by then they are sharing an apartment on the university campus. Gordon is undoubtedly a genius, Octavia is quite intelligent as well, but she is studying for casual things such as photography and journalism, compared to Gordon who's clearly working for his PhD in science stuff. Soon after their father passes, Octavia finds herself taking the loss much worse than Gordon, and somewhere down the line she finds herself addicted to heroin. If Gordon wasn't home the night she finally overdosed, she would have died. During her rehabilitation and healing process, this brings the two of them closer and Gordon simply tells her that he cannot lose her, because she's the only family he has left. From that day forward, the two became even more inseparable.

Gordon and Octavia both end up at Black Mesa! Gordon obviously working in anomalous materials, whilst Octavia became the first female security guard, and she and Barney form a great friendship. Barney even tells her about his interest in Lauren, and she instantly hooks them up and everybody watches them fall in love. Octavia, like Barney, is a huge party animal, and enjoys grabbing some beers with Barney and Gordon after a long shift. Did I mention that Octavia and Barney are huge Queen fans? 😎 They will blast their music every day when they hit up the shooting range or while on lunch break. Also, Barney proposes to Lauren and Octavia was so happy when he announced it to her that she literally would not shut up about wedding plans for a whole week.

Black Mesa Incident time, yayyyy.

Octavia loses her shit when she can't find Gordon, she knew he was going in the test chamber that day, she wasn't supposed to know but he had told her anyways. She and Barney team up to fight the foreign alien creatures in order to escape Black Mesa alive. They are extremely pissed about the military simply executing any scientist or Black Mesa employee, however their highest priority is finding Gordon. Octavia and Barney get separated inside the Lambda facility, Octavia is trapped within and simply focuses on finding Gordon. She finds a portal to Zen, where she fights more of the alien creatures and soon realizes there's no way back to Earth. Suddenly the G-Man introduces himself to her, and offers her a job, she hesitates, but accepts when he tells her that he has Gordon. Together, the twins are put into stasis until their "hour has come again".

I'm not gonna get too much into the Half-Life 2 era stuff cause I'm planning on making a fan fic of it but here's some highlights and other facts about Octavia.

The land outside City 17 is fairly different, White Forest still exists, however everything is more inland and not next to the coast. The only large bodies of water are rivers and lakes. Technically City 17 is somewhere in Russia or in Soviet territory because I noticed a lot of the buildings and signs there are in Russian, but let's pretend City 17 is in the US because I want Octavia and Gordon to find their home as well as the ruins of Black Mesa. :3

City 17 has a wall around it that the Combine patrol heavily, the canals still exist but there is also underground tunnels that lie below City 17. The Combine are completely clueless of the underground tunnels, therefore Alyx uses them to help transport supplies and escort citizens to other outposts.

The Combine become aware of Gordon and Octavia's return a couple months after they arrive, unlike literally within the first day in the actual game.

Gordon and Alyx do fall in love of course. :)

Barney and Octavia fall in love too. :) Not gonna spoil shit about what happens to Lauren though I'm sure you can figure it out easily.

Eli's lab is far outside City 17, further west, so instead of it being called Black Mesa East, it's now Black Mesa West. It's actually a fairly large building that is partially submerged underground and is hidden in the trees so the Combine aren't aware of it. There's a nice open area to the south of the lab where Alyx and Dog have plenty of room to play fetch.

Since the lab is partially submerged underground, kinda like some houses where the back end is underground but the front isn't, that's literally this concept. So you can basically walk onto the roof, and that's Barney and Octavia's hang-out spot. This is also the spot where they confide in each other and talk about their tragedies, for Octavia, her heroin addiction and overdose, and for Barney, what happened to Lauren.

Oh yeah they also stole a Combine helicopter and fixed up Black Mesa style. 😎

Octavia helps Barney cope with his reoccurring nightmares over Lauren and the things he's seen working undercover, oh, and about that cat.

Barney managed to save some of the old mixtapes he and Octavia made back in the day, as well as the portable cassette player, which he rigged so it doesn't need batteries. So they constantly jam out to their favorite old tunes when hanging out or going on supply runs or hunting trips.

Octavia is definitely a night owl, Gordon is as well and they both have troubles sleeping sometimes. Gordon sometimes joins Octavia on the roof at 3am to talk some energy out in hopes of going back to sleep.

The classic desert eagle is Octavia's preferred weapon, the one she used while on security at Black Mesa. She is forever grateful that Barney managed to find and keep her prized gun after the Incident, as well as Gordon's infamous crowbar. The crowbar he still swears his life on by the way, ha.

Like Alyx, Octavia is quite fit and flexible, it's obvious they're experts at parkour. ;) If you haven't noticed, Alyx has a hoodie underneath her leather jacket with the Black Mesa logo, so I decided Octavia's shirt should have the Lambda logo with a similar color concept as seen on Gordon's HEV suit.

Octavia sometimes will go undercover with Barney to try and understand what he does every day, as well as gain more Combine information. She starts doing this soon before they confide in each other and confess their newfound love for each other. They definitely feel like they're working together again like in the old days but now forming secret crushes on each other.

Okay I'm not gonna spill too many more details without spoiling everything haha. But this is Octavia, as well as a brief explanation on my Half-Life universe. I showed my finished drawing of Octavia to my boyfriend and he swears she looks like me in real life but I don't see it other than the fact we both wear glasses and we both have our hair in ponytails all the time lol. The pose was based off of Kibbitzer's reference sheets, as mentioned before, you can find Kibbitzer's sheets on DeviantArt, their Patreon, or by simply searching it in Google. So yeah, this is my OC, Octavia Freeman, I hope you guys like her because I've put a lot of thought into her character and I've never done that with my other OCs haha. But I'm really proud of it. :)

[vera-invenire]

VnC Liveblog - Chapter 14

Previously: Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13

Those are, uh, some interesting eyes you got there, Murr. I know you’re a cat, but please don’t murder anyone, kay? Please, Murr.

We start with a recap of our latest mystery -- in one week three vampires have mysteriously disappeared and the suspected kidnappers are the Church’s anti-vampire unit, the chasseurs. (should that be capped? eh, I’ll leave it for now.)

I see Vanitas still hasn’t bounced back from whatever blow he was dealt when he recognized that button. Only now he looks...sad, too?

Mentioning the Vampire of the Blue Moon in a general way makes him almost defiantly manic and driven; mentioning his quest for revenge makes him look not only lost but like he lost something, like it’s still an open wound. Mentioning the chasseurs gets you a face similar to the lost look, but he’s maybe not quite as dazed? I think it’s the difference between still being gutted and raw and being resigned to the wound, maybe? Speculating off of two textless panels is so fun and productive, guys.

Anyway, the catacombs! The catacombs of Paris are famous, y’all. LOTS of skulls, so of course it’s perfect for VnC.

Memoire 14 Catacombs

Where the Dead Sleep

Well, I hope they’re not playing poker.

(I bet you ten bucks Noé got distracted looking at the streetcar and didn’t realize it was leaving. The things Vanitas has to put up with, honestly. Aw, and Murr caught the eye of a fancy lady! That’s the real love story, right there.)

So the catacombs are a vast ossuary built inside an old system of quarries, we’re told. Twenty meters underground and roughly two hundred kilometers in length, it is said to house the earthly remains of approx. six million people.

So many skulls, guys. (Vanitas picked a good name)

Riche: oh god oh god, i just touched him, i just touched the hot guy, what do i do, he l p

Murr, why you giving her the stink-eye, she’s nice.

Look at this smooth, mofo. He caught the girl AND the candle. Thank god he’s oblivious or else nothing would be able to stop him.

(the real plot twist of VnC: Noé knows EXACTLY what he’s doing when he gives people That Look. He just acts oblivious to stave off the incipient fanclubs. *le gasp*)

Guys, I think the dhams are my favorites. And Dante’s angling for the de Sades, eh?

Noé’s not interested in the comedy routine, though -- something else is distracting him.

I’m glad Noé’s noticed something is off about Vanitas. He’s been avoiding the ‘camera’ for a bit now, which isn’t like him. It’s almost as if he’s withdrawing to the background, an intriguing facet of Vanitas’ personality that we haven’t seen before. But Noé notices he’s gone and won’t let him slip away so easily.

(though now that I think about it, the retreat to quietness isn’t completely new -- it’s what he does when he goes up on the rooftops, after all. we just haven’t seen him get this introspective around others before.)

Hmm, vampires in the tunnels of Paris, fighting the chasseurs...this is reminding me of World War Z, ie. it sounds freaking terrifying, yikes. (er, the book, not movie version. don’t think that made it into the movie.)

“There could even be another war.”

And vampires going feral and attacking humans sounds like just the thing that could provoke another human-vampire war, don’t it. This could turn into one of our big stakes in the series. And with the introduction of Jeanne, who fought in the last war; the chasseurs, who also fought in the last war; Ruthven, who brokered the end of the war...well. It’s not hard to imagine that the board is being set up again.

(it occurs to me that if there’s a faction of vampires that actually WANTS war, a simple way of bringing it about would be to accuse the humans of causing the spread of Charlatan and the curse)

(...they...could blame a human...a particular human in possession of a Book that is made to alter vampires’ true names...)

(oh, crap)

(o_o)

Hey, Vanitas is laughing! First time that’s happened since last chapter when he left Orlok’s office. Good job, Dante.

Noé’s still watching, though.

Vanitas looks run-down. He’ll laugh at Dante getting busted by the guards, but his mood is still extremely -- flat? tired? -- right now.

I love how Johann has no compunctions at all to cozying up to Noé. He’s like, hot guy? Don’t mind if I do.

We already know Noé is a little oblivious when it comes to people, so I think it says a lot that he’s already so attuned to Vanitas.

He knew right away that Vanitas’ reaction on the chandelier was weird (and seems to have hit the bullseye as to why) and he knows when Vanitas’ actions are a veneer over something else. He’s already started differentiating between what’s real and what’s a front when it comes to Vanitas, even if he can’t always understand what he sees (see: their dance). And they’ve known each other for what, a few weeks?

Poor Vanitas. Noé was already disinclined to go along with the most egregious examples of Vanitas’ bullshit -- now that Noé’s Vanitas Radar is getting more refined, soon Vanitas won’t be able to get away with anything. For a loner like him, that might be hard to adjust to.

(Noé looks so comfy, I wish I could sleep like that. Vanitas, don’t you think you’d be more comfortable sleeping inside with Noé, he could use you like a pillow)

This button is a Symbol, and I think it used to be an important one.

Though -- is he looking at the back of it? Are we gonna get an FMA-style message on it?

And hey, speaking of FMA, check out that pocket-watch --

Vanitas waits on the roof until -- what is that, 3am? -- then gets up with a slightly alarming look of grim determination, dark bags under his eyes. (he didn’t sleep at all)

Someone’s trying to sneak out in the dead of night. What are you planning?

!!!!!!!!

:D :D :D

omg. I’m cackling. Look at Noé standing there. Fully dressed! Leaning on the wall with one hand in his pocket! Casually reading! Ahhh, this is the best. Reminder that Noé can be hellishly smooth when he feels like it and it’s awesome.

Not only did he outmaneuver Vanitas, but he scheduled his nap perfectly because he knew Vanitas and knew his next likely course of action, even though (because) Vanitas hardly said anything during the day. This pleases me so much, you have no idea.

(and not only is the nap thing galling on principle, but now Noé is well-rested while Vanitas is walking around with visible bags under his eyes. It’s beautiful.)

*epic flaily hands*

guys, guys, it’s a reversal of chapter 2! look, look!

This chapter is gold.

I LOVE parallels, especially when the shoe ends up on the other foot. Even Vanitas’ coat looks deflated this time around, ha.

I think my bottom lip is wobbling. Boys.

The best part -- the best part -- is we already know Noé likes Vanitas’ cranky face. He must be enjoying this as much as I am, lmao.

Also, please note that Vanitas can’t seem to say ‘no’ to Noé, to the point where it’s kind of turning into a pattern. A delightful pattern.

(Thanks to Assassin’s Creed: Unity, I, too, know where this side entrance to Notre Dame is located. Thanks, Assassin’s Creed.)

Hm, hold up.

Lock-picking seems like a very Vanitas-ish skill, so I’m not questioning that. (I do question what his upbringing was like, but that’s another conversation). No, the thing is, didn’t he use the Book to pick a lock in Orlok’s office before?

Yup. There are the formula marks. So why didn’t he use the Book this time?

...wait a minute. wait a goddamn minute.

holy shit. vanitas didn’t have the Book when they went to orlok’s office. that was the whole POINT of going to orlok, HE had the Book, so --

Vanitas can alter formulas without the Book?

UM.

Nothing like a little B&E (plus assault) to get one’s spirits back up.

Vanitas finds a hidden switch behind the candelabra that opens a secret passage. (this may also have been in Assassin’s Creed.)

“These aren’t like the place we visited this afternoon. There are entrances to the underground labyrinth all over Paris. ...but the catacombs we’re headed for are made so that only those in the know can reach them.”

...uh-huh. So how do YOU know about them? And if you knew, why’d you just follow the dhams to the tourist spot? Were you that thrown by that button?

The chasseurs live down here? Uh.

What’s that saying about those who hunt monsters...?

...

...Vanitas was a freaking chasseur, wasn’t he.

But he left them? Or they left him? How does the Vampire of the Blue Moon fit into that?

It would also mean that he lied to Noé in the beginning when Noé asked if he was a chasseur or a bourreau, but. That wouldn’t be much of a surprise. And not technically a lie if he wasn’t one anymore?

Sheltered he may be, but our boy Noé ain’t no dummy.

they’re his former comrades

*raises eyebrow* Chasseurs but not chasseurs? Renegade chasseurs, maybe?

And he knows exactly how they fight because of course he does.

This explains so much. The abilities of the vampires are on a whole ‘nother level, literally superhuman, so it’s easy to overlook sometimes that Vanitas is a really good fighter for a human.

Particularly against vampires.

He’s been doing this vampire-doctor thing for a little while now, right? Meaning, he’s been hunting down transformed and blood-mad vampires and fighting them with only one reluctant, mercenary dhampir as back-up. Sure, he latched onto Noé as a ‘shield’ immediately (probably because he had a few too many close calls and, unlike with Dante, he doesn’t have to pay for Noé), but he was still fighting -- and surviving -- the monsters long before Noé got on the scene.

So were could he have possibly gotten these vampire hunting skills? *insert thinking emoji*

(I don’t know how the Vampire of the Blue Moon fits into all this, but taken with the chasseurs, I can’t help but find Vanitas’ current vocation dryly amusing. Both these entities from his past who HATE VAMPIRES have done Vanitas wrong, so what’s he gonna do?

He’s gonna turn around and save the goddamn vampires out of spite. (...and probably for some other reason we don’t know about yet, because Vanitas, but you get the idea))

Oh look! More skeletons. (momento mori, yus)

Oh shit. It’s that guy from the end of chapter 13.

...oh god, this is a trophy room, isn’t it.

The boys are like “oh, f---!”

This guy’s design is weirdly -- cherubic?, and it’s freaking me out.

Hm. So lower-ranking (-powered?) vampires revert to a more human physiology after death? Why?

And damn, these skulls are in seriously bad shape. Must have been a hell of a fight to take each of them out. Shows the power of the chasseurs, for certain.

Is this guy taunting them?

Noé just seems shocked (as he should), but Vanitas almost looks struck dumb, like he doesn’t know what to do with Disturbingly Cheerful guy.

Hmm, a couple things.

I thought this guy’s name was Roland?? @vnckocurzyca, I think you said his name was Roland? It’s got all the marks of a translation error (swapped Ls and Rs), I just want to know the right name to call this guy, lol. (and if YP screwed up the translation so I can rag on them a bit)

Another thing that might only be amusing to me -- Vanitas has been carrying a sling on his back that I’ve been assuming carries the Book, his knives, etc. But when he stands next to Cheerful Guy who has his own his massive sling (that looks an awful like some sort of improbable weapon of the Kingdom Hearts variety), Vanitas looks like nothing so much as a Boy Scout standing next to an Eagle Scout and it’s kinda hilarious.

Just think about it. In another lifetime, this guy could have been Vanitas’ senpai.

Cheerful Guy is important, I see.

So, he got his high position sometime after Vanitas was no longer associated with the chasseurs? And he wasn’t even posted in the area until recently. Gives me reason to think he wasn’t involved in whatever happened to break Vanitas away from them.

Though it occurs to me the chasseurs might not recognize him anyway, depending on how long ago the association was (couldn’t have been that long, Vanitas is only 18 according to the omake) and when exactly he took on the name ‘Vanitas’. They might have known him under another name, maybe his REAL name, and isn’t THAT thought interesting.

“I’m Vincent and he’s Gilbert.”

“I’m Vincent and he’s Gilbert.”

“~I’M VINCENT AND HE’S  G I L B E R T.~”

ahhhhh, I love easter eggs.

(I prefer to read Vanitas’ bowing and babbling here as his version of a customer service voice. you know, that really fake, ‘sincerely apologetic’ one everyone who has ever worked in retail had to master.)

(is that not the face of every retail worker in the world, I mean, come on)

Vanitas has NO IDEA how to deal with this man, it’s amazing. But it looks like they haven’t been made (yet), so that’s good.

That armor on Mr Paladin’s arms is very reminiscent of Jeanne’s leg armor, no?

*tilts head* Is this a typical shounen-ish ‘he’s strong’ assessment, or can Noé analyze him on a different level because of his vampire eyes?

Either way, it says this guy is more dangerous than he seems. Guess you don’t rise to the rank of paladin by sitting on your butt.

(and what exactly is that weapon on his back???)

...y’all. I play a lot of video games. Suddenly walking into a large room with strategically placed cover spots is A VERY BAD SIGN.

I HOPE YOU SAVED BEFORE THIS CHECKPOINT, GUYS.

Ohhh, shit. There it is. Mr Paladin was playing them the entire time and they fell for it like a pair of shmucks.

Specifically, VANITAS fell for it. Dude, the sneaky tricks are supposed to be your area of expertise. Either this guy is better than you or you are seriously off your game. (possibly both)

(...random, but Mr Paladin is reminding me a bit of Might Guy. probably the gushing emotion and positivity.)

A flash bomb? And Vanitas knows exactly what it is, knows it’s meant to hurt Noé specifically. It also means that Mr Paladin knows Noé is a vampire, probably knew it when he was gushing about all those be-fanged skull trophies. Man, you can never trust the goofy ones.

When you think about it, a flash bomb would be the perfect weapon to use against vampires in an enclosed space like underground tunnels.

I’m paying attention to how MochiJun is depicting the affects of the flash on Noé ‘cause we still know precious little about how vampires eyes, and vampires in general, work.

So, we’ve got a shattering, as if the flash caused the world to break apart for Noé, and then a disorienting swirl where his vision is completely obscured. His eyes really are his weak point.

...ohhoho, wait. Wait, wait, wait, I just remembered something.

Vanitas used the flash bomb trick on Jeanne, way back in chapter 3 --

The canister looks about the same, too. I guess now we know why Vanitas keeps one of those in his pack.

It didn’t work as well on Jeanne, but, well, it’s Jeanne.

Mr Paladin is not only dangerous, but also creepy. And kind of dehumanizing, too, which I suppose is to be expected from this group. Not like Veronica de Sade is much better.

Alright, so. Does this mean Noé can usually see the two ‘worlds’ separately? And this is a thing all vampires can do because of their eyes, while some powerful vampires are then able to rewrite the formulas they see on a large scale? Though since Paracelsus was able to trigger Babel, that means having the innate ability to see formulas isn’t a requirement for rewriting them. And, you know, the existence of the Book.

...why would the Vampire of the Blue Moon, who could presumably also see and change formulas as other vampires do, need to write a Book that allows people to do the same thing? What the hell is in that Book, anyway? Does it just deal with True Names?

Give me answers, MochiJun! *shakes tiny fist*

oh geez, the disorientation was so bad it made Noé physically sick.

And Mr Paladin, the doll look is not an improvement, fyi.

So, if Vanitas can rewrite formulas without the Book, is that power also in his eyes, even though he doesn’t have the weird pupil-thing going on like the vampires, or does he work magic the way Paracelsus (presumably) did? Did the flash bang affect him, too? He’s not in the same kind of distress as Noé, but he had an instant’s more warning and DID cover his eyes. Hmm.

I do appreciate Vanitas’ panic over Noé’s plight, though! That’s always heartening to see.

That’s the frown of Bracing Yourself To Do Your Job. Because that’s what killing vampires is to this guy, his job. And he’s not nearly as gullible or naive as he looks.

Uh-oh.

Do we have a super-soldier serum on our hands here? That would explain how the chasseurs are able to take on vampires one-on-one.

Never trust the goofballs.

(i don’t think this fight is going to go well for our heroes, guys.)

Next up, CHAPTER 15!

[got-eggs]

Recent Sketch Commission for FreazyzSFM on DA

My comm Stuff below(Links and a Commission Price Outline)🔽🔽🔽

Here's my comm info/pricing, Please read all the way through for important info;

Headshot(Approx time of completion: 3 days-1 week): Sketch- $8 Line art- $12 Flat- $15 Shaded- $20

Half-Body(Approx time of completion: 1-2 week[s]): Sketch- $12 Line Art - $15 Flat- $20 Shaded- $25

Full-Body(1.5 weeks to 3 weeks): Sketch- $15 Line Art - $20 Flat- $25 Shaded- $30

Ref sheets(approx time of completion: 1-1.5 month[s]): 2 sided(front/back)- $45 ---You receive: flat coloured Front/back view of your character, 2 headshots, 2-3 misc objects(ie character items, Front/back of paws, Tail view, etc), character notes(if applicable), custom lettered Name of Character/Characters pronouns, Colour bar.

3 sided(front/side/back)- $50 ---You receive: flat coloured Front/side/back view of your character, 3 headshots, 2-5 misc objects(ie character items, Front/back of paws, Tail view, etc), character notes(if applicable), custom lettered Name of Character/Characters pronouns, Colour bar.

-------------🔽🔽IMPORTANT INFORMATION🔽🔽-------------

I'll make/send out 3 initial sketches to choose/alter from(i.e. if you like one aspect of a sketch but you despise another, I can go back and change it to suit your tastes), Sketch comms also receive 3 sketches, but I don't make major*** changes to a sketch. Ref sheet comms DO NOT receive 3 whole initial sketches, they receive a single sketch that can be adjusted/changed/reviewed. (***I will make small adjustments/clean up the sketch if its not up to snuff)

Payment is only due AFTER the initial sketches(except for sketch comms and ref sheets***), from anytime after the initial stage and before you receive your 100% completed/unmarked comm is when I'll accept any payment. Any troubles involving payment is no issue, you wont just receive the comm until it'd resolved.

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On average, the smallest image size ill send is 1000x1500 px big at 300 dpi, If requested i can send it in a larger/smaller size to your choice on where you receive it(Here, Email, Discord, etc)

I'm typically available to question/ask from 11am-3:30pm to 10pm-3am Eastern Time. If your interested in a live update on your commission, I usually work on them from 10pm-3am Eastern time.

[lilmissliss666]

Iceland - Day 2

We woke up to the parting of the rain clouds and the sun was out(not that it ever goes away during this time of year). Nothing but blue skys. We knew we were going to pack a lot into this beautiful day. But anything we had showers and ate some awesome omelettes brought to you by Kelly Currie. So good and Iceland cheese is just amazing!

We drove to the south of the country, to a town of Vik (an old viking town). As we drove through the vast landscape we saw some miraculous mountains and volcanoes, and another waterfall. We of course stopped off at the waterfall. It was called Seljalandsfoss. It was breathtaking, especially on a sunny day. There was a lot of tourist because it was about 130pm in the afternoon. We didn't stay long there. Then we took the F series road to... well.. we had no clue to where. But there was a river crossing the road so we turned back even though Kelly and pat said we should cross it, Tania and I disagreed (win for the women).

We turned back but we noticed someone parked close to the mountain so we thought we would see what was up. Thank goodness because we discover Valhalla! We began hiking through a crevasse in the mountain, there was a rope that allowed us to scale up 10 meter steep area. Then we just kept climbing to the very top. I was last the whole time (my 20 days of not smoking made it much better but I'm sure 13 years of smoking takes awhile to get back to my normal lungs). We finally made it to the top after an hour hike up. It was such a beautiful view from so high up! We took pics and began the much shorter descend down. I must add once we were at the top Kelly noticed he did not have his sunglasses. Feverishly looking through everything it was confirmed they were gone. But luck of the Irish (I guess) he slightly stepped on them on our way down the mountain, did not break them just enough to find them. It was so lucky! Yay Kelly!

Once at the bottom we began hiking inside the mountain to find the secret waterfall. We had to step stone all the way through the stream trying out our best footing so we wouldn't get wet. We had to scale the sides of the cave over the heavy watered areas (there were chains attached to the rock to help). It only took about 20 mins to reach the waterfall in the mountains crevasse. It was a beautiful lagoon with some light reaching down just enough to see the beauty. We also witnessed a viking wedding, they were getting their photos taking in original viking attire.

We continued on our drive to Vik to see the black sand beach. We stopped off at a gas station grabbed cold beers and peanut butter. We ate pb&j Sammy's on the beach took photos, it was approx 8:30/9pm and the sun was still high in the sky. We saw sea lions hunting fish in the water! Then we left back to Fluđir. (Note that Tania lost her lens cap, then proceeded to re-walk the beach and yes she found it, lucky of the.... Icelandic.. I guess)

We through on the huge pork shoulder that has been salting for 24 hrs and hoped into the hot tub. Basically ending the night with dinner at 3am and a copious amount of beer and whiskey. That ended our amazing 2nd day in Iceland.

[ofpsalms]

𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 #: 𝟒𝟗𝟑𝟓 - 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙲𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: 𝟸𝟾/𝟷𝟶/𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒: 𝙲𝙻𝙾𝚂𝙴𝙳

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: 

The October Incident, also known as The Richards Exorcism,The Carolina Disaster, and The October Exorcism, was a botched exorcism of a demonic entity that took place in ████, South Carolina on October 28th, 2013. involving a particularly violent spirit who had inhibited the body of a graduate student following the death of her fiancee and grandfather in a freak motor accident. Hunters of the Order were called to assess the situation and later to assist in the exorcism, due to the afflicted’s situation growing objectively worse and fears were raised that death or integration was imminent if immediate action was not taken. The events that followed resulted in one injury and at least ten deaths the greatest loss of human life directly caused by a single demonic entity in recent years. Near-complete destruction of property also occurred. The level violence the demon demonstrated during this exorcism has been compared with similar events that occurred in Washington DC in 1973 (see Case #2937) and Chicago, IL in 2016 (see Case #6499). These three events have been used as evidence in debates among the Order that the powers of hell may be coordinating. 

I. 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒

AFFLICTED: Sofia Hayden Richards (23) 

HEAD PRIEST: Fr. Nicholas Gallagher (63)  ASSISTANT PRIEST(S): Fr. Thomas Wilson (45) 

ASSISTING HUNTER(S): - Fausto Mancini (43)   - Danil Kottwitz (35)   - Caleb Dalton (27)  - Nicolette De Angelis (18)

FAMILY OF AFFLICTED: - Molly Richards née Hamilton (Mother, 46)  - Arthur Richards (Father, 52)  - Devon Richards (Brother, 20)  - ███ Richards (Sister, 16)  - ████ Richards (Brother, 11) - ███ Richards (Sister, 8)

OTHER INDIVIDUALS PRESENT AT TIME OF EXORCISM - Dr. Ethan Holland MD (On site physician, 58)  - Noah Richards (Uncle, 48) 

II. 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒

DECEASED: 10 INJURED: 1 MISSING: 0 

𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

The exorcism of Sofia Hayden Richards lasted from 19/08/13 - 28/10/13. Prior to this, the close-knit Richards family began experiencing violent poltergeist activity in the months following the deaths of Sofia’s fiancee Brian Hildegard and the family patriarch Wilson Richards. Both Hildegard and Richards were killed instantly in a freak car accident while en route to a family gathering. Sofia is reported as taking both deaths very badly, seeing a grief counselor and psychiatrist weekly. 

Poltergeist activity began a month after the funerals of Hildegard and Richards. This included objects going missing and being thrown around the house, unexplained voices and sounds, and at one point a set of muddy hoof prints entering the house. The three youngest children began reporting seeing shadows moving across their rooms at 3am and eldest son Devon Richards reported seeing an old crone crouching on the bannister. Molly and Arthur Richards both woke up with frequent bruises at night. Molly was at one point shoved down the main staircase, resulting in a broken wrist. 

As the months progressed, these attacks intensified, and the demonic entity specifically began targeting the bereaved Sofia. This included picking the girl up into the air and throwing her across the room, dealing her frequent bruises and scratches, and at times, partially possessing her. During this time, Sofia would be used by the spirit to speak in languages she had never studied. The spirit also used Sofia to make various statements in English in a voice that was not her own. This spirit claimed she was that of a woman buried in the nearby graveyard, who had made a deal with the devil long ago and tormented souls on his behalf. The spirit also stated Sofia was “the vessel she was waiting for.” She would often attack family members, displaying feats of supernatural strength. The family contacted their local priest, who immediately began investigation. Deeming Sofia too much of a danger to herself and others to continue the evaluation at the home, he and her parents agreed to have her hospitalized.

 The Vatican granted an emergency exorcism request after information reached Rome that Sofia had brutally attacked several hospital staff as well broken through her restraints and escaped out a four story window. This exorcism was assigned to seasoned Welsh exorcist Fr. Nicholas Gallagher and his associate Fr. Thomas Wilson. A standard exorcism took place for four weeks before Fr. Gallagher requested assistance from the Order.

 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐒

What exactly happened in the last three weeks of the Richards Exorcism has been recounted and corroborated by its sole survivor- Nicolette Rosaria De Angelis of the De Angelis family. During her recovery, she agreed to give her account of events to the Order’s knights whom were tasked with investigating the case. 

 De Angelis and her group arrived on 6/10/13 in relatively hopeful spirits. De Angelis expressed her belief that she’d been chosen for this assignment due to her capabilities. Easygoing in nature, she quickly developed a friendship with Sofia. De Angelis remained at the house for three weeks, offering comfort, distraction and advice to Sofia whenever she was lucid.

In addition to the four hunters, Sofia’s parents, younger brother, and the two priests remained at the house for the entirety of the exorcism, with Sofia’s uncle appearing intermittently to assist whenever he could- he was present on the day of the incident. Further investigation corroborated De Angelis’s testimony confirmed that the three youngest children, at Fr. Gallagher’s insistence, were not present at any time during the exorcism and are currently still living with their aunt in ████. An attending physician was also on site, and raised the alarm that Sofia’s vitals were beginning to fail after two weeks of hunter-assisted exorcism. 

 De Angelis marks the last week of the exorcism as having immense tension in the air, and that all parties were physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.  She claims that hunter Caleb Dalton grew more and more irritable as time went on, constantly berating Fathers Gallagher and Wilson as well as frequently clashing with senior hunter Fausto Mancini. Dalton began to insist the traditional method “wasn’t working” and that they needed to “force their way in” to save Sofia’s soul. Mancini would not hear it, saying an alternative method may kill Sofia. They continued with ritual and repetition, even as a tropical storm had also begun to rage outside during the weekend. 

On Monday morning, approximately 3am, the situation rapidly deteriorated. The group had arranged themselves in the main hallway -in a circle of approx. 3 meters in diameter- around Sofia, whom was tied to an oak chair, with Fathers Wilson and Gallagher directly in front of her, Mancini and Dalton to the priests’ right side, her parents and brother to their left. De Angelis was on Sofia’s right side, slightly behind her, with Danil Kottwiz, Noah Richards, and Dr. Holland. Standard exorcism rites were being performed, and it seemed at though the demon was losing its hold on Sofia- especially as it writhed and begged for mercy with the application of holy water. Sometime around this time, the demon began to turn its attention to and repeatedly antagonize Dalton. The demon continuously urged Dalton to “use his gift” to put her out of her misery and that the Fathers and Mancini were holding him back because “these old fools are afraid of you, afraid of what you’re capable of.”

After thirty minutes, and despite urgings from Mancini and the Fathers to leave, Dalton leapt forward with an angry cry, his arms outstretched. Mancini and Gallagher both tried to intervene but Dalton managed to throw off of him with such force, Mancini flew across the room and  Gallagher into one of the walls. De Angelis also reports she heard a “crack” consistent with “bones breaking” and that Gallagher did not rise again. (Addendum: this testimony is consistent with the findings of Father Gallagher’s autopsy, which lists fractures in the upper quarter of the thighbone, near the hip joint, and in several lower vertebrae as some of the injuries he sustained shorty before his death.) 

  It took De Angelis a moment to comprehend what was happening. Dalton had then ferociously clasped his hands on Sofia’s head, his teeth bared and eyes going a pitch black. After a time, blood began running from both his nose, mouth, and ears. She then describes feeling a faint rumbling under her feet and a “primal scream of agony” erupting from Dalton as objects from the house began to violently fly off their respective shelves and large furniture began to move across several the rooms. One of the couches in the living room turned directly upright and then fell on its side, shattering one of the windows. Molly Richards began to scream and Arthur Richards demanded to know what was going on before and his brother Noah attempted to pry Dalton off of his daughter. Dalton, however, “was like a statue” and could not be moved, nor could Sofia, even as activity in the house became more and more violent. 

 De Angelis says that she “has no idea what Dalton did” and that she “had never seen anything like it before.” 

 Mancini, who’d limped his way back to the group, grabbed her arm and told her and Kottwitz to run. The house shook violently back, throwing all objects and its occupants with it, to the point where De Angelis stated she was afraid that the entire frame of the house was going to fall on top of them. She briefly recalls seeing objects and bodies being thrown around and herself being suspended in air before everything went black.

De Angelis states that she woke up in the flooded basement of the home, due to several water pipes breaking with the force of the demon’s power. Among various lacerations, scratches and bruises, she had a large (8.89cm) laceration on the side of her head that was bleeding profusely. Badly beaten and displaying wounds consistent with being thrown down a flight of stairs and dragged, De Angelis could only sit in the water in shock, shaking violently. She described a body floating nearby that was “turning the water red”,  later identified as Father Wilson. She was then assisted by Kottwitz, himself in bad shape. Kottwitz, after taking a few minutes to calm the openly weeping De Angelis down, reportedly told her “the demons were communicating” and that this situation “had been a trap.” De Angelis and Kottwitz hurriedly made their ascent from the basement with the smell of smoke and gasoline permeating the air. Evidence was later found that a gas line at the other end of the house had also been broken, attesting to how violently the house shook.

Navigating through flaming debris, De Angelis and Kottwitz were assaulted in the main hall of the home by a fully integrated Sofia, as well as a possessed Dalton, and Dr. Holland. A possessed Holland remarked that they were “impressed we still have loose ends we need to tie up”- regarding the two’s survival. Sofia then followed that they could “make this easy and just say ‘yes’ to us.”  Kottwitz produced a knife from his boot and shielded the terrified De Angelis behind him as the three descended on them. He then said something she did not catch in response. De Angelis attests that the three separated and overwhelmed Kottwitz as she was thrown back against one of the walls, disorienting her for a moment. She then watched as the three then violently engaged with Kottwitz, trying to pin him down as he struggled to regain his footing, landing a punch on and breaking the nose of Dr. Holland. With no weapons on hand and seeing no other options, she abandoned Kottwitz and escaped, barricading the door from the outside with several lawn chairs. She surmises Kottwitz held them off for as long as possible, as no demons escaped or pursued her.

De Angelis was found an hour later in the front yard of the home as the storm broke by firemen and local law enforcement. She described herself as “in hysterics” and was promptly taken to ██████ Hospital. She was flown back to Rome to be treated a week later as other units were sent to investigate the site of the incident. She has since made a recovery from the events. 

When news of this reached Rome, preparations were made to deal with the immediate aftermath as well as what to do going forward in the future.

𝚂𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙻𝚄𝙳𝙴𝚂 𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙰𝙻 𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚂𝚄𝙱𝚂𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙸𝙽𝚅𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙶𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙳𝙴𝚃𝙰𝙸𝙻𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝙶𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙲𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃, 𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚂𝚄𝙻𝚃 𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙴 𝚃𝚆𝙾 

[leciell]

FAQs

For the rare times I log into tumblr. Here we go, I decided to put up a FAQs post incase the information is misinterpreted elsewhere. I will do my best to try and clarify. I do not log into tumblr consistently enough to answer stuff on my inbox and rather than flooding everyone on their dash. I will again collectively attempt to clarify this in a FAQs. Its currently 3am so bare with me. See cut!

1.) I SEE YOU POSTING CLIPS FROM SHINKEN RANBU SAI 2017? HOW?! The  DVD isnt out yet!

True that the DVD is not out yet.I bought a ‘ticket’ to see the stream finale. The DVD/BD is only available for pre-order at the venue. At the time I was at Budokan I passed up on preordering it since I didn’t have the available yen to drop at the moment to preorder it. I do plan on pre-ordering a copy!

2.) How do you stream / access DMM?

See link below: http://leciell.tumblr.com/post/166558597435/heres-is-a-visual-guy-to-those-who-dont-feel-like

tl;dr you need to create a DMM.com account, but you need to make sure its a JP account. So to do so, you may need a VPN to access. A free VPN is enough free GB to stream part of a show, I’m not sure if its enough to stream a full concert. I have a yearly subscription to a paid VPN. 

3.) Where can I buy/preorder the DVD if I’m not in Japan? Or dont have a JP address? Please help!

There are several websites you can use to pre-order your dvds or blurays. The popular few: AmazonJP, CDJAPAN and AmiAmi. 

All these vendors will ship internationally! Trust!  Also, AmazonJP WILL accept international debit and credit cards! And will more often ship items for free and priority shipping too! You cannot beat that! and just like Amiami and CDJAPAn you can collect points with them that you can use to redeem later for bigger purchases. You still get the perks of the pre-order bonuses too and they will not charge your account until the day of release.  This goes for CDs, photobooks and magazines!

4.) Do the DVDs play on my regular DVD player? Does it come with subtitles?

No they do not come with subtitles and unless your DVD player plays region2 DVDs, it may not. BUT you do NOT need to buy a region free dvd player if you do not want to! Your PC /CAN/ play region dvds. Use VLC player to play these DVDs! And You can also use VLC to load up fan sub files. sohmarikku on tumblr offers this kind service of providing sub files timed to DVD releases. (Meaning, the subtitles are encoded to match the times on the DVD and not the streams unless otherwise stated)

5.) How were you able to attend Shinken Ranbu Sai? Tl;DR I did not win the loittery on the tickets, I bought premium resale tickets off the resale market using a go-between since most resellers wont sell to you if your overseas. I will have a longer clarification on this later on but this is as simple as I can make it.  6.) How did you attend the Touken Ranbu cafe? is it international? Or was it in Tokyo when you were there? To clarify, I attended the TKRB 2.5D Cafe, not the anime or animate version one. And it was in Osaka. This is a ‘traveling’ pop-up cafe. I made my reservations online using their online website. (everything is in Japanese just fyi). When you book your reservation, each reservation comes with an option of which bento you wanted and it comes with 1 free drink. After making your appointment you need to go to 7-11 to pay for the reservation and print your tickets out. 

7.) Was it hard getting tickets to Toumyu shows? Was it expensive!? >w< Considering how big this franchise was, I’d say yes. I already knew that I was flying into for this show and I was dead set on attending Budokan and knew that it was not going to be easy so I was prepared to drop 3-5x the amount for  ticket since I wanted to be as close to the stage as possible and also to secure a spot to go to the concert. So in short, yes I paid a hefty amount but I was prepared for this. Regular tickets were going for $80 approx. But for you to purchase them, you needed to do it online and like the cafe tickets. Must be paid for through a conbini / pick up tickets.

8.) I saw you guys wearing kimonos to the show! Was cosplay allowed? Firstly, kimonos....arent...considered Cosplay???? And as far as cosplaying to the venue goes...I mean, I didn’t see any signs that says you couldnt? But people were definitely frowning our gaudyness lol while some were actually excited for it? so it was a mix bag of reactions tbh.

9.) Is it true that you can leave gifts for the actors? Yes! At the front of the venue there are designated tables with boxes labelled with the characters/actors name where you can leave a SMALL gift or fanletters. No, we didn’t get to see them after the show LOL.

10.) I cannot find the link to the Itsukushima audio rip! Do you still have it? Yes, I do.  and I will rip the other live audios at a later time as well.

11.) I missed the live stream of a concert/show. Can I still see it when its archived?  Unless you paid for the live stream ‘ticket’, you will not be able to access the ‘archived’ or reupload to rewatch. So, honestly if you know your not gonna be able to catch the live stream. buy the ticket anyway and come back 2-3 days later when they repost the finished show up. I honestly missed Tousite once and I freaked out cozI bought the ticket and was sad I couldn’t see it. But they ended up posting it back up a few days later. but if you did not buy a ticket to the live stream, unfortunately it cannot be repurchased on their website.

12.) Were you able to see the boys up close during the show? I read you were close to the stage! I went to the last Budokan show and unfortunately, the boys didn’t really come off stage.....most of them who did ended up going to the 2nd level! And not among the crowd below (like they did with the finale show as seen on DMM stream uwu unfortunately argh!!!!) 

[quarantineculture]

quarantine day 1

Honestly, it’s not even that bad. (I say now. It’s only day 1. Who knows if it’ll get worse.) I went to bed at like 3am last night because I spent hours reading articles about coronavirus (all of which furthered my conviction that I need to be quarantined to avoid potentially infecting people) so I ended up not fully waking up till nearly noon. Mom made nice ramen and left a bowl for me at the top of the stairs. I feel like a dog. I wait for the humans in whose home I must live (but am confined to a certain area) to give me the food they pick for me, in the container they pick for me, which they leave for me on the floor. I’m not complaining though. The ramen was REALLY good. I just think it’s hilarious that I have to wait for them to leave the food on the ground for me and then they all eat together and I bring my food down to my basement.  They usually FaceTime me when we all eat together anyway so it’s not a big deal.

Having so much free time and not being allowed to really go out or socialize means I spend a lot of time cleaning. Maybe not even that much time. More like, the fact that I’m the only one who lives down here and now I have all the time in the world to spend here means I clean more than I usually do (compared to at school, when I’m only really in my room to sleep so I kinda leave things wherever because I’d rather spend my time outside my room with my friends.) But I want to have a clean living space and it’s only myself I’m cleaning up after, so it’s fine. I like keeping things neat.

One of the articles I read yesterday talked about how to keep up with your mental health while you’re practicing social distancing/in quarantine. They said you should make a schedule, so today I made a schedule for myself. It’s been less than a day and I haven’t really stuck to it much, but I like the idea of it, and the flexibility I have while still setting certain goals and allocating time for different activities. For example, even though I don’t do everything exactly at the time I set (especially meals – that tends to depend on when my family eats), just having an order to my day helps me. I like setting a goal of getting at least some school work done in the morning and afternoon, and having lunch and a walk outside to take breaks. Walking was nice – I went to the park and took a TON of pictures of ducks and turtles and frogs – but I found that when I got back I was too hungry to go back to doing work, so I ended up spending a lot of time eating and prepping food, and then went back to finishing a lecture after dinner and video games. So it’s flexible. But I really like the feeling of having accomplished some work so I can relax in the evenings without guilt.

Speaking of productivity, my friend uses this app/site called Toggl. I signed up for it for free. It basically tracks the amount of time you spend actually working on a project. You can start and stop a timer when you’re being actively productive on something and see how it adds up. Today, I spent 1 hour and 26 minutes total actively studying endocrinology. I got through around 21 slides. Some of them were pretty long. I’m pretty proud of myself even though I wanted to do another 42 slides because those slides were a lot and at least I finished one lecture.

My parents said I can go outside and get fresh air as long as I stay 6 feet away from everyone, so I went for a walk after I did a bunch of my slides. There’s a big park a couple blocks away and I spent an hour or so walking around, looking at ducks and turtles and squirrels, taking pictures of everything. So many people wear masks, especially on the streets – probably like 80% of the pedestrians I passed had them. I do live in a densely populated area. In the parks less so because there’s so much space, but as I passed one middle-aged/older man on the street he put on a mask. I also passed by a discarded mask on the street.

I wonder if people can tell that I’m supposed to be in quarantine when they look at me walking around by myself, crossing to the other side when I see someone ahead, avoiding other humans in general. I’m really glad this park is still open. Even when it seems like everything’s shutting down, it’s a relief to have at least some spaces that still bear some semblance of normalcy, where people can do yoga and play tennis and ride bikes and watch animals. The squirrels here are FEARLESS. I love them. I’m kind of obsessed with squirrels. I always have been. I’m not sure why, but I just love how cute they are! So fluffy! So quick! Their little bushy furry tails! How they hold the nut, and dig for the nuts, and chase each other around – it’s adorable! Some of them even pose for the camera and let you come really close.

Look at this good boy!

Anyways. I also made dumplings today. My sisters dropped off the dumpling wraps and the meat/scallion filling (in a metal bowl… very good for my “I Feel Like A Dog” sentiments…) at the top of the stairs and watched me looking up at them from the bottom of the staircase. I tried to use the pressure cooker. Did you know that when you’re using a pressure cooker, you’re supposed to keep the lid off when using the sauté function? Also, the pressure cooker does not have an on button. You just plug it in and push a button for the setting you want in order to activate it. It’s kinda scary. It started screaming and letting the steam out but the manual said it was supposed to be very quiet so that’s when I freaked out. You know you done goofed when the machine is literally advertised as Lets Out Steam Very Quietly and you hear WEEEeEeEeEeEEeeEEEshHhhshhhhHhshhHHHh!!!!! – less than five minutes after you turn it on. For a minute I thought it was going to explode and I would have to clean up sad deconstructed dumplings all over my makeshift kitchen area.

This post is already too long so here’s my ending summary:

THINGS I AM GRATEFUL FOR:

Sleeping in till noon. Having ramen delivered to me. The internet. Legend of Zelda. My family. SQUIRRELS! That the park is still open. That life goes on even in times of crisis. The crazy old men who were playing shuffleboard (I think that’s the name of it?) at the park today – fearless! My friends. Ducks and turtles too. The care package full of crochet materials that I have not yet been able to make anything resembling anything out of. Youtube for trying to teach me how to make a magic circle in crochet for maybe the fifth time. Free patterns on the Internet. She-Ra season 5 has a release date! The sleep function on iPhones.

QUARANTINE BY THE NUMBERS:

Time spent outside basement: approximately 1 hour

Screen time on phone: 4 hours 45 minutes

Toggl-logged time spent studying: 1 hour 26 minutes

Breath of the Wild: approx.. 2 hours

Explosions: ZERO!

Working on blog stuff: approx. 1.5 hours

Failing miserably at amigurumi: approx. 1 hour

Times I felt like a dog: Probably at least 3

[wlwbnha]

Hero Killer Stain v Todoiideku Fight Timeline

So this is my messy timeline of how long the Stain vs Todoiideku fight lasted. The manga states that the fight lasted from 5-10 minutes, but you don’t fully realize how little time passed between each event in the fight until you work it out. I put this together when I realized I could approximate the time between each event using Stain’s quirk ‘Blood Clot’. The description of his quirk states that the maximum amount of time the quirk can be in effect is 8 minutes, starting with blood type B and getting shorter as you go through AB, A and O. This means that there is a difference of two minutes between each blood type. 

B = 8 minutes (maximum)

AB = 6 minutes

A = 4 minutes

O = 2 minutes (Minimum) 

START: 0:00 - Native is blood type B. We cannot start the timeline from when Native encounters Stain, as we do not know how long Native has been there. We can, however, start from when he is cut. This leaves us 8 minutes before he is released (which we do not see in battle, meaning it is less than 8 minutes long)

0:00 - Approx. 1:00 - Iida arrives

Iida v Stain

Approx. 1:00 - Iida is cut down by Stain. Iida is blood type A. There will be 4 minutes until he is released. 

1:00 - 2:00 - Midoriya arrives

Midoriya v Stain

Approx. 2:00 - Midoriya is cut down. Midoriya is blood type O. There will be 2 minutes before he is released. 

Approx. 2:30 - Todoroki arrives. Todoroki is also blood type O. He does not get cut down.

Todoroki v Stain

Approx 4:00 - Midoriya is freed

Tododeku v Stain

Approx 4:30?? - Midoriya is cut down (again)

Todoroki v Stain

Approx 5:00 - Iida is freed

Todoiida v Stain

Approx. 6:30 - Midoriya is freed (again)

Iideku v Stain

??? 7:00 - 8:00 - Stain is ‘defeated’ 

8:00 - Native is freed

Total times:

Native: ??? > 8:00

Iida: Approx. 8:00

Midoriya: Approx. 7:00

Todoroki: Approx. 6:30

(These are all approximations and nowhere near exact. I’m also not the greatest at math so there’s probably a mistake in here somwhere. It was also made at 3am)