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en-hale-archives · 3 years

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Me with You ~~

pairing ⑅ bestfriend!Jake x fem!reader

genre ⑅ friends to lovers, fluff, slow dancing, suggestive/smut

words/read time ⑅ 3.9k/12-19 mins

warnings ⑅ 18+ content, light cussing

synopsis ⑅ Jake is back in his hometown to spend time with his closest friend. During some fun and frivolous dancing, things start to heat up...

author's note ⑅ I’m really proud of how this story turned out. I'm not a huge fan of second person, so I wrote in first, but if anyone asks, I can copy and post again in second person. It's more fluff than anything, but it does get a bit steamier towards the end, so I’m just going to go ahead and put a warning.

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When the back door finally slammed shut and the cacophony of barks faded down the street, I could finally let out my sigh of relief that I had been holding in since this morning. I tapped on my phone. How many days had we been watching Mrs. Chen’s pets? And just how was I able to put up with hours of barking, the smell of fresh turd lying across the lawn, and dog walks till dark? Including their rigorous feeding times and bathroom breaks -- I’m surprised I haven’t exploded yet.

I had so much planned the minute they left my house, but instead, the sudden silence felt all too relaxing and I laid my head against the cold countertop. I could finally stop stressing, stop thinking, and stop worrying about reprimanding for chewing on my shoes or peeing in the house or the continued barking that never ended. I was free. I felt like I could’ve stayed laid on the countertop forever, drowning in the evening sun. Who knew watching five dogs would take such a burden out of a person. Jake and I had taken on the job of dog sitting for Mrs. Chen while she visited some family in Tokyo. We both switched off every other day; some of the dogs at my house and the others at his; until we realized it would be easier if he just spent the few days at my house as we co-doggy sat. He got up bright and early to take them on their walks while I prepared their highly detailed and specific meals. Then from there, we spent the rest of the day making sure they didn’t run off somewhere or cause too much destruction in the house. But alas, Mrs. Chen came back early from her getaway and picked up Toby, Caleb, Khao, Sofia, and Pickle on her way home. Although I was exhausted from watching 3-foot dogs all day, the pay was amazing for me, and it would help tremendously for all the online classes I was going to be taking next semester.

The warmth of the sun cast a comforting trance over my heavy eyelids, and soon enough I was fast asleep, standing in the middle of the kitchen with the soft sound of nothing surrounding me.

By the time I had fluttered my eyes open, I had realized I was now seated in my dining chair and a large black jacket was placed over my shoulders. I sat up and let out a yawn, wincing at the bright light coming from the tv and shaking my now numb arm awake. I must have been sleeping for a while because the evening sun had turned to pitch of black. The moonlight beamed through the window and danced along with the sways of the large oak tree out front. I stood up and walked over to the refrigerator in which I grabbed two water bottles and some leftover pasta.

I was sure that Jake hadn’t eaten since lunch, seeing as he only ate if someone sat food in front of his face. I dragged my feet up the stairs until I heard the slamming of a book and the fast typing of a keyboard come from the living room. I turned and looked behind me. Jake had settled his things on the coffee table and floor, large books, folders, and several amounts of crumpled up pieces of paper found their way around Jake, himself slouched up against the edge of the couch. He had changed clothes since the last time I had seen him, he now wore a plain blue shirt with grey sweats, his eyebrows furrowed as he worked hard on whatever he was getting at.

“Oh yes, I was starving!” Propping himself up on the couch, he took the plate of pasta. I placed the waters on the coffee table and settled comfortably on the couch beside him.

“I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anybody sleep standing up before. Look,” Jake took his phone off the charger. “I got a picture.” He pushed the screen in my face, and of course, there was my unconscious body laying on the counter, mouth open and all. I playfully pushed it back his way as his face lit up with a smile I was all too familiar with.

“What are you doing down here so late, it’s almost 12 in the morning,” I asked. Jake’s smile disappeared when he was reminded of the work he had been doing seconds before.

He let out a large huff of air. “Trying to get some words on paper but instead it turned into a paper massacre,” he jokingly replied, “sorry for the mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied, taking a swig of water. I was going to ask if he wanted to watch a late-night movie, or pull an all-nighter and talk endlessly until the sun rose, but I could tell by each passing second that Jake was worried about this, and he wanted the time he had now over the summer to work on his music. I wished I was motivated to work on my own music, but unlike Jake, I wasn’t in a globally popular boy band. My complicated best friend for over 10 years had been working his butt off since middle school. It was his annual time to sit back and relax while he had the time to, but instead, he chose to use that time to help watch a bunch of dogs with his hometown bestie. God, I loved him.

Jake pulled himself off the couch and right back onto the floor, leaving the rest of the pasta to me. He picked up his pen again and started scribbling down words as quickly as he could, trying hard not to forget the lyrics that had floated into his head. Until he stopped, closing his eyes for just a split second, and let out a powerful sigh. Crumpling up the sheet, he stacks it on top of the others in frustration and started frantically tapping his pencil against the table.

“Maybe it’s best to just try again in the morning,” I advised, taking a small bite of the pasta that was left by my side.

“How come I’m having such a hard time with this?” He gazed up at me frantically for a clue, as if I had the answer to fix a problem as big and as important as his was. I looked at his doleful eyes and the bags that were starting to grow underneath them. I couldn’t help but think, because I made you sit up and watch a bunch of dogs with me.

“Do you want me to see if I could come up with something?”

“If you want. But, hold on, I think my thoughts are coming back up.” He quickly grabbed another piece of paper, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

I tried my best to keep occupied by watching videos on my phone, but I found myself suddenly bored out of my mind. I laid out on my back and picked up one of Jake’s folders. Briefly looking through it, I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous at the amount of fan art and letters, praising him and the other members. Followed with that were just more and more engene stuff, full of nothing but kind words and heartfelt messages. Part of me wished that I was able to travel with Jake and see the world like he was. How fun would it be to meet people that praised you? And how cool would it be to see that you had fans? I couldn’t help but plaster on a huge smile as I skimmed through some of the notes until I finally came to one with familiar handwriting.

Remember Me were the words written on the top of the paper in bold and bright colors. But the message written underneath is what caught my attention:

To the person that makes me the luckiest guy in the world, this song is for you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but please just remember me -- it was Jake’s handwriting.

I didn’t feel like I was breaking any crime reading his stuff until this moment, but curiosity killed the cat, and right now I didn’t mind being a feline. I checked to make sure Jake was still busy, and he was, almost like he had teleported into his own world. I quietly turned back to the sheet and started reading. It was about a girl, presumably his crush I’m sure. She was someone important to him, someone who made him love so much that it hurt. But this was far from a happy song, in fact, it was terribly heartbreaking. She didn’t understand his love, she wasn’t able to interpret it like he wanted her to. But he confesses that he was scared of what telling her would do, worried that she wouldn’t feel the same. So instead, it was like he was apologizing, and asking that she forgive him for not being brave enough to tell her, and if he did ever get the courage to, for her to remember him even if she wasn’t able to love him like he wanted her to.

The song ends like how the title began, and I find myself flabbergasted at the beautiful mixes of rhymes and metaphors that read like a poem. This was the first of Jake’s songs that made me feel this way, like I had just finished watching a tragedy movie with Ryan Renolds starring. I blink back the tears that I didn’t realize were forming. How come he never told me this? We never kept secrets from each other, like ever. It never mattered the subject or the severity, we had always promised that we would be open and honest with each other. I wish I would’ve known this sooner, maybe I could’ve saved him from feeling this way. And what girl could it possibly be? I knew for sure I was the only girl he was presumably close to; but was there someone else?

I glanced down at Jake, who was still in a focused state of mind with the pencil in his mouth and mumbling lyrics softly under his breath. I tried picturing my bubbly Jake writing these agonizing words and miserably failed.

Jake looked up at me as if he could feel my gaze on the back of his head. “I think I’ve found the chorus, but it’s the rest of the song I’m not able to get, and how come it’s so hard to find another word that rhymes with severe? Beer? Sphere? Revere? Appear? Gosh, rhyming sucks some serious ass!”

“This song is beautiful.”

Jake furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Huh?”

“This song I found in your folder.” I glanced back at it in my hand. “Remember Me.”

Jake’s gaze leaped from my eyes to the sheet, and I felt his body tense. “Where’d you get that from?”

“I was just going through one of your folders. Did you accidentally get it mixed up in your fan folder? Cause this is -”

“Did you read it?” He interrupted.

“Yeah, and it’s perfect.”

Jake glanced at me for a split second before turning back around, obviously uncomfortable. “I was watching one of those Kdramas you love so much and it inspired me. Could you help me rhyme with severe now?”

I knew Jake like the back of my hand, so I knew continuing on with this conversation would get him upset if he’s clearly avoiding it. But, I wasn’t going to just let him off that quickly. “Jake, come on, you can tell me anything. Who is this about?”

Jake looked back at me with a hint of something in his eyes, something I’ve never seen before, and something I wasn't able to decipher. “Nobody, I was just feeling really inspired, that's it.” His tone had switched from calm to agitated.

I give him my I’m-not-stupid look and he comes back with his own you’re-being-delusional stare. “It’s seriously nobody, truthfully and honestly.”

“Okay, okay I’ll back off.” I could tell he was starting to get defensive, and when he got like that, it took him at least a few hours before returning to normal. I watched Jake's Adam's apple move up and down, a way in which I could tell he knew I was not convinced in the slightest. “Well, sometimes we go through things that can remind us of situations like that, but not necessarily in that same exact context, you know? It has to be amplified for that audience appeal.”

“Okay...but have you ever felt this way before? Not exactly like how it’s written, but maybe somewhere along these lines?”

I thought I was going to get another vague answer, or worse, an aggravated one. But instead Jake looked down at his pencil as he tapped it along his wrist. “...maybe, but I think everyone can connect to the words in some way. I mean, everyone feels some kind of heartbreak in their life, right?” Jake's answer was still pretty vague, but at least I was able to get something out of him.

“Okay, but you know you can tell me anything, like, anything ever because you know that you’ll never actually have to feel this way, right?” I said, maybe too much in a hurry.

“Of course I know that.” He replied, giving one of his awkward grins.

“And if anyone has made you feel this way, then you know you can tell me that too cause there a sucker to lose out on a perfect person like you.” I teased in a sing-song way, poking his shoulder hard. Jake chuckled and poked me back.

A weird silence grew in the room, and Jake went back to trying to find rhyming words. I tried getting back on my phone, but I knew I needed to say something to let go of the tenseness in the air.

“Hey, crystal clear rhymes!”

He leaned his head back and looked up at me. “Nevermind, I give up for tonight.”

I could see the stress that played on his face. “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, but by the time I do, it’ll be too late.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake pulled his knees up to his chest and spoke. “This was going to go on our album comeback that needs to be finished in the next four months. By the time I think of something, it'll be too late and I’ll have to wait until the next four months. But by then, I'll have forgotten. This always happens and I have no idea how the hell to fix it.” I couldn’t tell if he wanted my help or just a bit of comfort.

“Did you try asking the other guys to see if they had any ideas?”

“Yeah, but they’re working on their own parts, I can’t ask them to do this too.”

“I’m sure they’d be willing to help if you asked,” I assured him.

“I know they would, but I just don’t want to. I always ask them for help, I thought being away from the studio and being back home would help my brainstorming abilities.” He gave a weary chuckle that almost sounded like a groan.

“Well, maybe tomorrow will come with better results.” I did my best to give him some motivation, but I could tell I was failing miserably at that too.

Jake watched as a car zoomed past the window, a low bass sounding off as it zoomed away. “I bet it’s easier to just listen to music than to try and come up with it. I remember when I would just blare NCT all day long and jam out in my room. It seemed so much easier back then to come up with stuff than it does now. I miss it.” He took a slight pause before continuing. “ Did you know that song you read was the easiest thing I have written in my life? I remember writing too. I just had this super weird feeling in my chest one day so I basically locked myself in my room and took maybe two hours and just wrote a bunch of words down and connected them to sound like a song. For once my mind had just gone blank and I couldn’t stop thinking and feeling that song, like I knew what it was supposed to sound like, I knew what the lyrics were supposed to mean. I just knew everything. And I miss that feeling, that feeling of like- '' He broke off his sentence when he looked back up to my eyes. It seemed like he was talking more to himself than to me. He swallowed hard and looked back at the pencil still in hand.

“Well, I'm sorry you don’t feel free anymore. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel like that again-”

“No, please don’t feel like that. It’s just something that had just recently started happening, something I really just can’t fix…” His voice gets softer and softer the more he spoke.

“Have you spoken to your manager about it?” I asked. “He’s super nice from what I understand. And he’ll probably have better answers than your friend who can barely play the piano, let alone produce an entire song.”

Jake laughed before I had the chance to. “ See, now you're underestimating yourself. Remember that song from freshman year? The one about-- what was his name, Josh?” Jake teased. I grabbed a pillow and slammed it into the back of his head. “Oh my gosh, I thought we promised we’d never bring it up again!”

Jake chuckled and laid his arm on the couch completely turning towards me. “How about we sneak out and go get ice cream and try to not wake up your mom in the process?”

I suddenly jumped to my feet when I have the perfect idea on how to cheer up the gloomy Mr. Shim. “Or, we could do something even better!”

“Urgh!” Jake groaned.

I grabbed my phone and hooked it up to the speaker. I was going to turn on his hit song Drunk-Dazed as a joke, but Jake needed this break from his career, so instead, I crunk up Beyonce as loud as it could go without disturbing my mom who slept upstairs. I turn back to Jake and reach out for his hands, already moving my hips to the music.

He shook his head and threw it back onto the couch as if throwing a temper tantrum. “I literally dance for a living.”

“Okay but this will be different, I promise.” I grabbed the piles of papers on the ground and threw them in the trash, I then pushed the coffee table near the wall and piled his folders and books neatly on top.

“Come on, cowboy!” I grabbed his hands and helped him up. He was reluctant to get up, but he threw one last groan before standing on his feet.

“This will get the brain juices flowing again!” I told him. I go back to my phone and switch it to one of my favorite Beyonce songs that she covered, At Last.

I sang dramatically to get Jake to smile, and luckily, it worked. I placed both my hands over his shoulders and swayed us back and forth, still miming the song as overly exaggerated as I could. Jake still couldn’t help but smile, and it didn’t take him long to join me in the rhythm and sway naturally with me. I learned at our middle school dance that Jake had perfect rhythm. He was able to impress the rest of the crowd when he busted out moves from BTS. Everyone was impressed, including me.

Now we were on a steady roll. I accidentally stepped on his feet a few times, but it was fine seeing as I was wearing foam flip-flops and he was barefooted. After a while, the song switched and played another of my favorites that didn’t match our style of dance, but we still moved slowly to the beat. Jake tried twirling me, but since I have two left feet, I almost ended up hitting the wall each time and Jake laughed loud at my clumsiness. The moonlight from the kitchen had now switched to the window in the living room. It gleamed through and glistened on Jake like a spotlight, just like the ones on the stage did for him. In a split second, I was reminded that he wouldn’t be here forever, just like he wasn’t here for the past year. I tried to not let it settle on my face that I was scared to see him go again, so I played up on the fun we were having now. Jake looked like he was at ease; finally, since he’d been here, he looked genuinely happy and I wasn’t going to ruin that.

After another handful of songs full of laughs and giggles, we were soon sweating and taking deeper breaths than normal. Each song was different from the one before, but it didn’t stop us from sticking to our style of dance. Even with the simplicity of the moves and the slowness of the steps, I had to take a minute to relax. I hooked my arms around his neck and rested my entire body on his. I could feel Jake’s own sweat seeping through his shirt, But I didn’t mind the wetness that was now attached to my cheek. I thought he would act awkward and ask for me to pull away, but instead, he gripped tighter on my hips and started slowly moving me side to side. I let out a long overdue sigh, trying my best to match the steady breathing of Jake’s with my own. It was actually therapeutic: hearing his heartbeat in one ear and the softness of the music in the other.

I tried to continue our steady breathing together, but his had picked up a bit, almost out of nowhere. I felt the heat of his breath on the nape of my neck, and it made my entire body tingle in a way it never had before. After this sudden feeling, I realized just how close we really were. His leg hair tickled my legs, I could feel the bone of his foot connecting to mine, I could feel his thin waist against mine as well. I felt like I needed to back up, but instead, I couldn’t and continued to sway softly against him. A few seconds later, Jake’s hands rose a little higher, planting themselves on my waist and tightening their grip as if they were trying to pull me closer than we already were.

The sensation hadn’t stopped though, it clung to my body like my damp shorts did on my thighs. Sooner or later I felt pressure on the lower part of my stomach and thought for sure that Jake was messing around and wasn’t feeling what I was, which indicated that I needed to pull back before this feeling became too much.

This is so embarrassing. I thought. How could I let myself feel like this? How was this in any way okay? I finally pulled back, the sensation becoming too unbearable, and glanced up at his face. His pupils were large in a way I hadn’t seen before. His mouth was slightly open and a drop of sweat slowly traced down his forehead, onto his nose. That pressure I was feeling on my stomach had now doubled in force, and Jake's face had switched from calm and subtle, to alarmed and panicked...

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(part 2 possibly...?)

Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please, leave any constructive criticism you have on helping improve my writing!

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None of the images are mine, They all belong to their rightful owners :)

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courtlyharlequin · 3 years

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Breathing Room

Warnings: fluff, no plot just brainrot, lowkey horn knee, feral and angry Taku coming from nine o’clock because I squeezed too much of her favorite tropes into this

Summary: Humans are strange. Their hobbies and customs are bewildering, but nothing Jade couldn’t handle as he was quick to adapt. Sometimes, he might even partake in said activities. Case in point with hiking. And you, knowing Jade for a decent amount of time as his significant other, came to terms with the fact that he would decline a request to participate in something that didn’t pique his interest. So when you proposed that he play the pocky game with you, you were certain that he would decline. But he didn’t.

A/N: Happy birthday to the Jade simp, @takuyakistall~! I’m so sorry that this was posted late but you’re already wary of that and thank you for supporting me through such a tough time. Ahhh life just doesn’t want me to simp for my hair wife! I tell you this a lot but I’ll say it again: I’m quite attached to you since you were my first tumblr friend. I didn’t have any in real life or online friends who like twst before meeting you so you mean a lot to me as my first. You always make me laugh whether it be bullying you or rotting over our mains together. Even when we get serious, I still love talking to you. You’re that amazing. I hope you have an amazing day, one just as amazing as you are. Eat lots of cake and pocky. I love you ♡

“Jade,” you said, tugging at his sleeves.

He sighed through his strained smile as he set down a glass he was polishing. He tucked his hair behind his ear and dusted off his slacks as if he was brushing away invisible crumbs off the garment. It was an ungodly hour. He was working overtime for Mostro Lounge. Today was unusually busy. As vice prefect, Jade took it upon himself to bite off more than he could chew. And he could chew a lot actually. He was a moray eel with two sets of jaws and an immense appetite. In his human form, he only had one set of jaws yet the appetite remained.

The lounge was deserted. Students shuffled to the mirror chambers and headed to their respective dorms to retire for the night. Jade, on the other hand, was sitting on a barstool with an array of glasses and creased brows. You sat by his side, doing your assignments and engaging him in idle chatter here and there. He had promised to help you with your alchemy homework, but alas his duties called for him. In a way. You didn’t mind per se since he helped you understand the material within minutes during his short-lived breaks.

They were about three minutes long and Jade only took two breaks ever since his shift started. You weren’t an expert at reading people like he was, but even you could tell he could use some rest or a pick-me-up at least. Perhaps the latter. Jade was stubborn. He wasn’t going to head to his bedroom until he was done.

“Yes, (y/n)?”

You reached into your book bag and pulled out a small box of biscuits– pocky to be exact. You held it in front of his gaze. He cocked his head.

“Let’s play the pocky game.”

“Maybe later. We can play after I finish. Or tomorrow. It’s late so you should return to your living quarters and get some rest,” Jade said as he turned his attention to his task.

“Please? Think of it as a break. Your last one was about three hours ago.”

“Well, if you put it like that then I shall indulge you, my dear.”

Heat rose to your cheeks as he spun the barstool to make direct eye contact with you. You avoided his gaze as you opened the box, selecting a random stick of pocky and holding it in front of him. He took it and examined it with a perplexed expression.

“What is this?”

“Pocky.”

“Which is?”

“It’s like a cookie biscuit thing with a chocolate covering,” you said, getting yourself your own stick.

“I see. So this ‘pocky’ edible.”

“Yes,” you nodded, biting the pocky.

He mirrored your actions. You watched him chew it thoroughly. His eyes wandered around the ceiling of the lounge. You held your breath as he closed his eyes and exhaled.

“It’s delectable.”

Your shoulders relaxed and he chuckled under his breath. It would have been disappointing if Jade didn’t like pocky. That would mean you couldn’t persuade him to play the pocky game. You looked into his eyes lovingly while he nibbled on the remainder of the stick.

“And what is ‘the pocky game’?” Jade mused.

You took out another biscuit. His brows arched as you waited for him to swallow the last bit of his current pocky stick.

“The objective of the game is to be the last to hold onto the stick as we each take a bite and move closer to the center. Whoever is the last to pull away wins. You take one end and I’ll take the other. I’ll let you have the chocolate end because it’s your first time playing.”

“My, my how kind of you. I almost thought you were the headmaster. All you needed was to comment on your kindness.”

“Ha ha,” you deadpanned.

He brought his hand to chin. He feigned curiosity.

“Though… if you wanted to kiss me you could have just said, (y/n),” Jade gave you a toothy grin, ones he shot at the poor unfortunate freshmen souls that tried to escape the conditions of Octavinelle’s yearly exam contracts before chasing them down the hallways with his brother.

“I-I.. It would be more fun?”

“I jest, my pearl. There’s no shame in wanting to engage in intimacy. I shall indulge you. Though, I have a feeling that I will win every round– seeing as you get flustered even when I embrace you without warning fufu~”

There was not a shred of innocence in his voice. Jade knew where this was going. He was going to do everything in his power to win. He was good at that sort of thing, small ministrations that drove you wild.

When he found out that you were sensitive to neck kisses, chaste or not, he greeted you every morning outside of your first period threshold with a peck on the side of your neck. The first time he did that, you were reduced to a puddle of empty thoughts, a spasm of spiraling emotions and heated cheeks. The following incidents featured your hand instinctively shooting to the spot he kissed, cheeks still hot and bothered. When you had adapted to his rhythm, he kissed your neck in the halls, during lunch, and when he walked you back to your dorm. They were spontaneous and sporadic. They ceased when winter began and you wore a scarf around your neck all day, every day. Of course, that was months ago. The routine faded as your relationship developed. Jade had his share of teasing and came to understand that setting your nerves on fire on a daily basis despite your protests wasn’t exactly healthy. He also came to understand how people might get the wrong idea from neck kisses. He teased you for hours on end for being so lewd, but digressed when you were on the verge of tears due to embarrassment. That didn’t stop his other methods of teasing, but at least you were free from public surprise neck kisses.

Jade loved to tease. He was good at it too. He knew you and your ticks like the back of his hand. You were certainly going to lose this game, but it was better not to let your true feelings show and give him the upper hand.

You inserted the biscuit between Jade’s lips and took a deep breath before taking your end. It was more so a hybrid of a deep breath and a yawn. It was late after all.

Jade’s eyes widened and the stick broke in half. Your eyes widened as well.

“You’re supposed to hold onto the stick for a long as you can, silly.”

He closed his eyes: “Yes, my bad. Shall we try again?”

“One to zero,” you said as you slipped a biscuit into his lips.

“Did that count?”

“Of course it does.”

He pouted as you inhaled and exhaled deeply before taking your end of the pocky. It snapped immediately.

“Jade,” you whined, drawing out the last syllable of his name.

“Apologies, my dear. It seems to be instinctive for me to bite the stick.”

“You can bite. It’s just that the pocky keeps breaking in half whenever you bite it. Maybe try to be more gentle?”

“Two to zero.”

“You’re so cruel, (y/n).”

You giggled as you handed him the stick. He pursed his lips and held the stick out for you to take a bite from your end. You closed our eyes and opened your mouth to take a deep breath once more and the stick snapped before you knew it.

You looked up at Jade to see the pocky awkwardly sticking out of his hand which was covering his face. Mostro Lounge’s dim lights made it difficult to make out many details, but you were positive that Jade Leech was profusely blushing.

“Jade?”

“C-Could you not do that*?”

“Do what?”

What could have possibly reduced him to such an adorable state? He’s usually so composed. He was never this flustered. Out of all the times you tried to get him to break, he was resilient. And here you were, not having any idea as to what you did to make him blush.

“O-Open your mouth.”

“Pardon?”

A yawn escaped from your lips. Jade spun the bar stool around and stared at the glasses with sudden interest.

“Could you not do that?”

“Yawn?”

He nodded.

“Why?”

He mumbled something under his breath.

“Jade?”

“(y/n), you should have just asked for a kiss.”

The eel stood up curtly from his seat. He towered over you and his eyes glowed in the dark lighting. He pulled out a pocky stick from the box in your petite hands and slipped it in between your lips. There was a small pause before he came crashing down. If he hadn’t been holding your shoulders so firmly, you might’ve fell over from the force that he exerted. He came barreling towards your lips. You weren’t sure if he had even bit the pocky. You felt it snap, but when you parted your mouth to allow his tongue to entangle with yours, you could not find a single trace of the biscuit. The flavor lingered in his mouth, but the pocky itself was nonexistent. Did he swallow it whole?

He did not leave your mind to wander too far from him. He kissed you hungrily and nipped at your lips. His sharp teeth grazed your flesh and you mewled into the kiss. You could hear him growl faintly as he held onto your waist. You wrapped your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. He tiled your head for a better angle. You pushed him away. You needed to catch your breath. A string of saliva fell from your lips.

“Jade,” you gasped as he nuzzled his head in the crook of your neck.

“It would be in your best interest if you don’t do that again, especially during mating season. I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself next time. I might break you in half, dearest.”

Your cheeks flushed as you nodded absentmindedly. Mating season?

He bit your neck.You yelped and wriggled out of his embrace.

“Jade!” you hissed, clutching your neck.

“Consider that a small price to pay,” he chuckled.

You huffed.

“I win this time,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah…”

He packed the glasses onto a shelf.

“You’re free to go now. I’ve finished here so you don’t have to keep me company anymore. Would you like me to escort you?”

“No, it’s fine,” you said, trying to stifle a yawn.

“Goodnight, (y/n).”

“Goodnight, Jade. See you tomorrow.”

Though you had agreed not to yawn, it escaped your lips. Luckily, your back was facing Jade as you exited the lounge so he didn’t see you yawn, but rather heard you yawn. You heard a distant bang on the counter as well as a faint “dammit” from a voice you knew all too well.

It took every fiber in your body to restrain yourself from turning around. You knew all too well that if you turned around, he would’ve rushed towards you and snapped you in half just like a pocky stick. It was best to give him a little breathing room even if you were hot and bothered yourself.

*Note: To initiate the mating process, moray eels open their mouths very wide at each other to signal the start of it. This trait carries over to when (y/n) yawns as Jade took it as a sign for his eel-y instincts.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland imagines #twst imagines #twisted wonderland oneshot #twst oneshot #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #jade leech #jade leech x reader

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reciprocityfic · 3 years

Text

passing afternoons

title: passing afternoons fandom: little women pairing: theodore laurence x amy march rating: m summary: “did you have any dalliances after me?” she asks.

he blinks hard as his brain reels for a moment, as he struggles to comprehend what she’s saying. after her? there is no after her. there never will be.

then, he stops. thinks. she means...oh. oh.

she means after that time in the garden, in paris. when he’d first revealed his feelings for her, and she’d rejected him. left him standing there alone and feeling like an utter, hopeless idiot.

oh.

(laurie and amy spend a late summer afternoon talking about the past.)

author’s note: i've literally shipped laurie and amy since like fourth grade. so when i saw little women (2019) and found out it did my bbs justice, i basically cried. i've been meaning to write fic ever since, but alas, here we are almost a year later. i hope you enjoy it anyways.

i have another fic in the works that's longer and definitely more angsty, which i hope to post relatively soon. i also hope to write more fluff (also maybe smut???) for them in the coming months bc GOD i just love imagining these two together. in the meantime, i hope you enjoyed this!

xoxo, rebekah

passing afternoons

They enjoy being lazy after sex.

They’re not always afforded the opportunity, of course. At night, they tend to fall asleep rather quickly afterwards, exhausted and sated and tangled together. And the occasional forbidden interlude - when they’re some party or gathering wholly bland or pretentious and the two of them (sometimes tipsy, sometimes bored, always and perpetually desperate for each other) run off to some dark corner or isolated room where he lifts the skirt of her dress and the too-many layers underneath and uses his body to press hers against the wall as he sinks into her from behind and they pray their moans and the sounds of their bodies together won’t be heard - must be short and altogether swift, no time to dwell in the aura of the sensations and feelings between them.

But then, there are days when Grandfather is occupied with the business and the Marches are busy and they dismiss the servants. It’s just the two of them in their grand house with time that seems to stretch on and on. Sometimes they’ll make it a game of sorts, shamelessly flirt and tempt each other to see who will break first, but oftentimes they’ll share a look and a smile and then they’re off in a race to their horizontal surface of choice.

Today is one of those days, when they’ve nowhere to be, nothing to do, and are all alone. It’s an unusually hot day in late September, and when Amy had complained about the warmth, he’d suggested she take her blouse off. She’d raised an eyebrow and told him to go first, and then one thing led to another and now they’re naked and sore and satisfied, laying on their bed as the early afternoon sun shines in through their open windows.

He lays on top of the sheets on his back, head at the foot of the bed and hands on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling and trying to find imaginary patterns in swirling paint. She lays parallel to him, but leans against the headboard, her long blonde hair falling around her face as she sketches him. He hadn’t seen her take out the pad and pencil she keeps in the dresser near their bed, but he can hear the sound of graphite moving against paper as she draws. He grins as he imagines her face, lips pursed and brow furrowed, wide green eyes focused and the movement of her hand knowing nothing but purpose even with the most casual of sketches.

They do not touch and do not talk. Still, the intimacy of the situation - of being together and completely safe and comfortable with the person you love most in the world - is overwhelming. Its warmth cocoons him, and he feels his eyes getting heavy as he lies there, a breeze blowing in from the open window and caressing his skin.

“You had your many dalliances after Jo, yes?”

His eyes snap open when he hears her question, his stomach lurching slightly and his mood dampening.

He ran away to Europe and drowned himself in alcohol, drugs, and women after Jo broke his heart, and he admits this. Amy knows it, too. And it’s not that he’s ashamed of that period of time, exactly - while he wishes he had, indeed, bore it better, he finds himself sympathetic to the plight of people scorned by love, however misguided that love might be.

He just doesn’t often talk about it. Doesn’t like to. In his mind and in his heart, it is only Amy. Has always been, and always will be.

Amy doesn’t really like to talk about it, either. He finds her inquiry curious, but answers anyway.

“Yes,” he tells her, although the word comes out sounding more like a question than an answer.

He waits for her to explain her line of thought, but she simply hums to herself. He stares at the ceiling a moment longer, then leans up, resting his weight on his elbows.

She’s staring down at her drawing, her face just as he pictured it, pencil grasped between her lips as she swipes her thumb against the paper. He watches as she takes the pencil out of her mouth and starts at it again, and he watches her for nearly a minute before opening his mouth to speak.

She beats him to it, though.

“Did you have any dalliances after me?” she asks.

He blinks hard as his brain reels for a moment, as he struggles to comprehend what she’s saying. After her? There is no after her. There never will be.

Then, he stops. Thinks. She means...oh. Oh.

She means after that time in the garden, in Paris. When he’d first revealed his feelings for her, and she’d rejected him. Left him standing there alone and feeling like an utter, hopeless idiot.

Oh.

He shifts on the bed, drops his eyes from her face. He can feel his skin begin to flush from embarrassment.

They’ve never talked about this before.

Not that there’s much to talk about, he supposes. He still hesitates to tell her - not because he fears she’ll be angry with him, but because he doesn’t like to talk about it. If it were up to him, he would erase from his mind the memory of every woman he’d ever been with until only his wife remained.

But she’s asked, and he’ll be honest with her.

“One, I suppose,” he murmurs.

“You suppose?” she questions. She’s still staring down at her artwork, but her pencil doesn’t move.

“Sort of, yes,” he confirms.

She finally looks at him, her eyebrows pulled together and a frown on her face.

“How do you sort of have a dalliance?”

She looks genuinely confused, and he laughs lightly at the crease between her brows, sits up fully and reaches out to her. He cups her face and uses his thumb to rub at the wrinkle of skin.

“Shall I explain?” he asks her.

She nods.

“I...tried to be angry after you left. Just think - to be turned down by not just one, but two March girls!” he gasps playfully, and she snickers, pushing against his shoulder playfully before dropping her hand to run over the sparse hair on his chest.

“But?” she prompts.

"But I couldn’t make myself angry. Not at you. But I also knew I couldn’t just stay there in France and watch you and Fred Vaughn…”

He makes a noise in the back of his throat, and she rolls her eyes playfully.

“We’re speaking of all your affairs, and you want to tease about Fred?”

“It’s part of my story!” he insists with a wink, and she rolls her eyes again.

“Well, keep telling it.”

He smiles, and continues.

“I couldn’t stay, so I did what you told me to. I went to London, as you know. And when I first got there, there was a woman staying at the same hotel as I was. We got to talking one evening at dinner, and one thing…”

He trails off, feeling himself flush again.

“...led to another,” Amy finishes. “I understand. I don’t need the details.”

She’s frowning now, even though her fingers still run over his chest, and he despises it. He has half a mind to drop the subject, to kiss her lips and make her happy and forget life before, but he can’t.

“Wait, I’m not done.”

“Laurie, I don’t need to hear any more. You had your dalliance, I’m not upset, and we can stop - “

“I couldn’t do it,” he interrupts. “It didn’t work.”

She pulls back from him slightly, her eyes wide and curious. She looks down his body.

“You mean you couldn’t...?”

He follows her gaze, and then snorts.

“Not like that. It - it didn’t even get to that. Amy, my dear.”

He lifts her chin, and she gazes at him. He can tell she’s still confused.

“Every time I closed my eyes,” he explains, “I saw you - the face you made in the garden before you turned away and left. It broke my heart. It still breaks my heart. And when my eyes were open, all I could think about was how her skin wasn’t as soft and her hair wasn’t as fair and her eyes were brown instead of green and she just...wasn’t you.”

“But with Jo...”

“It was different with Jo. I could make Jo into anyone. I could always pick out the tiniest thing that reminded me of her, in any woman, and then pretend that woman was her. I couldn’t...do that with you. Or maybe I didn’t want to. In any case, being with that woman didn’t make me forget. She made me remember all the more. And I only kissed her for about a minute before I realized it was worthless.”

He stops and grabs one of her hands, brings it to his mouth so he can kiss her fingertips, before holding it over his heart.

“And that’s when I knew that this was different. You weren’t Jo, and I wasn’t going to be able to just...drink and fuck you away.”

She’d normally gasp and swat him playfully for his use of the coarse word, but now she stays silent and presses her hand more firmly against his chest.

“I was in love with you. Hopelessly and completely. And I realized that all I could do was stay in London and toil away and... pray that somehow you would change your mind.”

Then, everything had changed. Beth died, and then he knew he had to be with her. It didn’t matter if she despised him, or if Fred was there. He needed to be with her. But before that, he had been rather resigned to his fate - to work for his grandfather and forever pine after Amy March.

God had smiled upon him, though. And now, here he sits with his wife, Amy Laurence. Married, in love, and happy.

“So does that explain how one can have a single, sort-of dalliance?” he asks her.

But she stares at him, eyes shining, almost with tears.

“You were going to wait your whole life for me?” she whispers.

He smirks slightly, turning away from her and shrugging, somehow embarrassed. But she grabs his face, turns it back to her, and locks their gazes.

“What else would you have me do, my lady?”

“Oh, my lord,” she breathes, and kisses him deeply, until his toes curl and he can feel himself begin to harden once again. When she pulls away, they’re both panting. He wants to grab her, to gather her up in his arms again, but her pad and pencil remains between them.

He motions to the picture.

“Still working on that, Raphaella?”

“Maybe later,” she remarks, taking the paper and all but throwing it on the floor beside the bed. She pushes him back so he’s laying once again, and climbs on top of him, straddling his waist. “I have another idea how we can pass time this afternoon.”

She leans down and kisses his smiling mouth.

Yes, God had smiled upon him. Had given him back his love. And he’s married, in love, and happy.

Achingly happy.

#amy x laurie #laurie x amy #little women #little women 2019 #amy march #theodore laurence

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thanksjro · 3 years

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More Than Meets the Eye #28- I Sure Hope Y’all Like Megatron

“Dark Cybertron” is finally over! Woohoo!

Who’s ready for a return to hijinks and mild peril?

I know this guy is!

Hold on a second-

We start our foray into Season 2 of MTMTE with a little meta-humor-

-and then it’s right into the swing of things, as Brainstorm uses the thin, fragile wine glass of faction-based morality to hold his personal need to make instruments of violence. Nautica disapproves, but then why wouldn’t she? She’s not been steeped in the militant ideologies of the Autobots for millions of years.

It’s six months after the convoluted events of “Dark Cybertron”, and our beloved ship, the Lost Light, is back on track for the Knight Quest. Nautica’s joined the crew, which is neat, but there are far more interesting things going on.

Like Rung actually doing his fucking job for once.

Wow, look at that little creamsicle man go.

It would seem that in the last half-year (by Earth standards) Megatron’s somehow gotten himself into the esteemed position of Captain of the Lost Light. This likely means that Rodimus has been defeated in battle, or perhaps fucked off on yet another space yacht to run away from his responsibilities. I suppose the narrative will have to fill us in on just what exactly happened.

Or, at least, I hope it does. Wouldn’t be a terribly good story if I had to guess on how exactly this dude’s in charge of a whole-ass Autobot crew.

Yes, yes, I know he switched sides, but goddammit, it takes a little more than saying sorry and changing your wardrobe to excuse the murder of half of NYC.

I mean, we can do both. Both is an option. I’ll break out The Communist Manifesto right now, let’s fuckin’ gooooooooo-

Six months prior to Megatron’s therapy appointment, Rodimus is ready to high-tail it off of Cybertron yet again. This is because, as established in previous posts, Cybertron kinda sucks butt. He bursts into the meeting Optimus Prime called- even though he’s really not leader of anything anymore, Starscream is- bids everyone farewell, and is about to run back out of the room when he’s stopped.

Turns out that the populace of Cybertron want Megatron to stand trial. That makes sense, given what all he’s done. Of course, the Autobot pals we’ve got in the room want to skip due process and go straight to the part where Megatron pays through the nose for the last four million years.

Which doesn’t feel terribly heroic or good guy-ish, but I think by this point you’ve probably caught on to the fact that everyone in IDW Transformers is morally gray at BEST.

Because Megatron’s had a rough time the last few years, in relation to his bodily integrity, spark extraction- that thing that High Command lied about in relation to Overlord- isn’t an option. It would just kill him dead.

Uh, excuse me? Optimus Prime, sir? Monsieur Premier?

Guess Optimus hasn’t been keeping up with exRiD.

Anyway, yeah, since Tyrest fucked off in “The Sound of Breaking Glass” and also tried to commit a genocide, we’re gonna need someone to cast judgement.

Course, a military trial isn’t exactly ideal, but as long as it’s open to the public, it should be fine.

Probably.

Anyway, Prowl’s also going to help. Ultra Magnus has been assigned the task of representing Megatron in court, a job which he’s positively delighted to have, if his face is any indication.

The gang breaks for lunch, and Rodimus and Optimus touch base on how the Knight Quest is going.

Because Rodimus’ half of the Matrix had the map for finding the Knights of Cybertron in it, they’re gonna have to go with Plan B.

Oh fuck yes, I love Plan B!

Unfortunately, finding the ideal romantic partner for all Cybertronians is going to have to wait until after the trial, because Optimus really wants Rodimus here for this. Though perhaps there’s a way to make things move a little faster…

Back in the present, Megatron’s had just about enough of Rung being a psychiatry joke, and is about to walk out of his appointment. Ravage is here, which is neat. Rung asks Megatron about the three most important people in his life, and how he met them. One of these people is, funnily enough, Rung.

Rung, if you’ll recall, was thrown into Megatron and Impactor’s table at Maccadams waaaaaay back in The Transformers #22, the first issue of the IDW run that Roberts wrote solo. It would seem that getting arrested and subjected to police brutality ruined his once-idealistic worldview. This is just a lightning-round recap of the events of the “Chaos Theory” storyline.

Being reminded of how hard he got dunked on makes Rung break out his copy of Megatron’s autobiography, Towards Peace. Of course, Megatron has to be “that guy”, and makes it out to be far more than it actually is. My dude, you used your writing to tell all your proto-Decepticon buddies to go beat up Whirl in prison. Let’s not make things sound more grandiose than they are.

Anyway, it turns out that Rung is actually just as much a nerd as he looks, as he reveals that he’s in possession of one of the only few copies of the original version of Towards Peace. And then he takes off his glasses and the fans go bonkers, even though he’s just got that Milne Same-Face going on, just like everyone else.

There you are, you animals.

Rung discusses Revisionism, I’m reminded that the first publication of Eugenesis had a dedication to Roberts’ son of all people, and we get the question of who Terminus is to Megatron.

But alas! The X-ray vision’s been turned on, and it’s time to see… nude robots? An in-depth anatomy lesson?

Robots are confusing sometimes. Anyways, major props to Milne for drawing all that detail. Dude does the technical stuff with a ferocity that must be awe-inspiring to behold.

Megatron’s decided that it’s time for lunch, and then he’s going to do captain stuff.

Because he’s captain of the Lost Light.

I’m convinced Rodimus is dead. That’s the only way this is happening.

Six months ago, Swerve was being awful Swerve-like, with his new buddy Crosscut- guess he finally learned the guy’s name- and Riptide, who we’ll get to a little later on. These three wonderful lads are holding a sort of “crew try-outs”, and it looks like the requirements needed for entry on Megatron’s Lost Light are stiff.

Still, maybe our new friend Nautica will make the cut.

Oh, you are simply delightful!

Despite Nautica having interest in nearly every topic in the universe, on top of having impeccable taste in booze, she just misses the cut. It’s at this point that Nightbeat bursts into the room to stop this farce from going any further. The fact that nobody mentioned anything prior to this is surprising, given that portmanteaus don’t really seem the type of thing Ultra Magnus would approve of.

Back six months ago, we see what Optimus Prime’s super great idea was to expedite the judicial process- Chromedome. It’s always Chromedome. He’s gonna do that thing he promised his late husband he’d stop doing. I suppose it’s a good thing- for Rewind, anyway- that Megatron is wholly against the idea of having his memories torn out of his head. Guess we’re gonna have to do the trial the normal, non brain-pokey way.

Optimus leaves the cell, because I suppose he’s remembered that there’s a conflict of interests here, but Rodimus stays behind to let Megatron know he deserves everything that’s coming his way.

Then Megatron breaks out the puzzle-box from Hellraiser.

In the present, Chromedome isn’t so much spiraling in his depression as he is circling the drain. Nightbeat doesn’t give a shit about that though- he’s more concerned with the fact that one of the numbers on the door to Chromedome’s room is missing. But I’m sure it’s fine.

It’s fiiiiiiiiiiine.

While Nightbeat’s busy being insensitive to his fellow man’s distress, Megatron’s arrived to his room to find his door’s been vandalized by a bunch of idiots who must have just discovered what a thesaurus is. Then he gets shot in the fucking hand with an arrow.

As you do.

Whirl’s gotten ahold of a bow, and he fully intends to use it for Megatron-directed violence. And also his fists. His very pointy fists. He punches Megatron through the fucking floor into the fuel furnace, and they fall what’s probably a good 200 feet to the ground below. Whirl yells about evening the score between the two of them, and then knees Megatron in the dick.

Turns out, Megatron remembers Whirl even better than originally thought, having gone so far as to order his forces to not kill Whirl, because, in a way, he was grateful for the lesson he learned back before the war in Rodion.

Oh man, I hope Rung’s somehow listening in on this. Like, eavesdropping is obviously bad medicine, but we’ve already established that he sucks as a professional, and he needs what few advantages he can get.

Whirl, enraged by the implication that he’s been fighting fixed battles for the last four million years, punches Megatron in the gut… and his arm gets swallowed up by an errant portal leftover from all of Shockwave’s tampering. Since you can’t really fight with only one arm, Megatron wanders off to do captainy things.

Walking back the timeline slightly, we revisit Megatron leaving Rung’s office, and the idea of personal revisionism, the conversation becoming parallel with the strange happenings going on within the ship, as Rewind’s final message is altered so as not to end with “I love you” but instead a blood-curdling scream. Chromedome is, understandably, upset by this turn of events.

Over with Whirl, it’s revealed that the little fight we saw was intentionally set up. For what purpose, or by whom, is left a mystery.

Please see a doctor.

One last flashback to the trial, as Prowl lists off everything that’s standing in the way of our Sympathetic Megatron Redemption Arc.

Good fuckin’ luck, James.

Back in the present, Megatron’s slapped a bandaid on the hole in his torso, as he checks to see what’s happening on the bridge. It would appear there’s a coffin floating around in space.

Pretty fucked up.

#transformers #jro #MTMTE #world shut your mouth #issue 28 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #overthinking about robots #comic script writing

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the-hilda-librarians-wife · 3 years

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Theorizing about Frida’s character arc in season 2

Okay, the making of this post was triggered by me overthinking that promo picture. My mind had a lot of Thoughts and I figured I might share some of them with you. Let’s go in stages

1- The Marra, magic, and incomplete character arc

In the first season, we see Frida’s development, the one she was due to since her introduction (and I say this as a fan of her character, not a hater) centered around her joining and being used by the Marra, followed by the realization that she’d screwed up. However, it’s very common for us fans to think that her redemption was done in a rushed way, something which I actually talk more about here. That being said, the writing in Hilda is something I appreciate a lot, and I find it hard to believe that the subject of Frida’s redemption, especially after she went through such a rocky road to get it, will be dropped in season two.

Now, we know very little about the Marra, but judging by what we do know, I’m willing to bet there’s a lot of magic involved in the whole nightmare spirit thing. Add that to the traumatizing business that fighting a ghost was, I don’t think Frida is very fond of magic, at this point. In fact, I think she’ll do her best to stay away from it, but not because (or at least not only because) she is scared, but because she feels like she needs to prove a point. She needs to prove it to herself, and most importantly, to her friends, that she is no longer the person who would go every length to be in control, and letting go of magic, a powerful tool in controlling the world around you, is a powerful symbol of her dedication to that. I do think she had some interest in magic even before the Marra situation (mostly because of the crystal ball in her room), but even if she didn’t, this still sort of makes sense in my head.

So, according to this theory of mine, her not using magic in a time of need would be a part of her grownth, right? If that was the case, seeing her resist the Marra again would be a good way to show how she’s changed. However, we have no signs that the Marra will even be there in season two, which kind of leaves me thinking... what if her grownth will be shown by her *using* magic? If she didn’t want to, either because she is scared or because of her trying to let go of this need to be in control, using magic to save her friends would count as development and allow for a pretty emotional episode, wouldn’t it? Well, aside from Frida’s redemption arc, there was another arc that did not get completed in season 1...

2- The Tide Mice and the promo picture

After the events of The Tide Mice, we see the mice at least twice more (that I noticed, in Hilda’s room and in the cemetery), so it’s clear to me that this case hasn’t been closed. With all the magic theme that seems to wait for us on season 2, it sounds very logical that some focus will be given to the tide mice. What does that have to do with Frida? I may be imagining things, but come with me still

Take a look at this cut from the promo picture. I already talked a little about this, but at first the object that Frida is holding looked like a wand to me, but the more I tried to figure out what it was, the more it seemed to be, in fact, a flute.

Aannnd here is the part in which I begin speaking about 100% theories, no canon backing me up whatsoever. So, we know that the Tide Mice problem has to be dealt with, and we have Frida holding a flute here. This combination reminded me of one specific thing: the Pied Piper tale.

For people who are unfamiliar with it, there’s this guy with a magical flute who uses it to rid a town of its rat infestation by “hypnotizing” them with his music and making them all drown. The tale takes a much darker turn after this, but that’s the part that matters for this theory.

(Also, I want you to remember that Luke Pearson said it himself that he takes a lot of inspiration from legends and folk tales. Granted, the Pied Piper is a German tale and not a Scandinavic one, but eh who knows)

Let’s imagine that, somehow and somewhy, the mice become a problem again. Maybe they’re back with Johanna and David, or maybe they found objects belonging to someone else and morphed into lucky charms for those people. The Hilda trio finds out and does the reasonable thing, which is going to the sketchy, mysterious library lady for help. Now, I don’t know if she’d simply give it to them, if she’d help them find it, or if she’d want them to stay out of this particular mess only for them to get it themselves, but eventually they’d come across the information on this magical flute that *gasps* controls the mice! (Maybe it’s in the footnote of the asterisk of the footnote of the asterisk idk that book is confusing)

Speaking of the book in which the enchantment was, look at this little screenshot which I shamelessly stole from the wiki, and most importantly, at the picture in the bottom right corner. We can see a lute player and a few more people in Middle Ages European garnments (date I stretch it and say they look a lot like German Middle Ages clothes...?). Because of the little shadow of a tide mouse in his lute, the most logical conclusion is that he’s using a mouse to become better/luckier at his job. However, this image is right in the part that talks about how to break the enchantment. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is telling us the way to defeat the tide mice once and for all is through an instrument, but I do think it could be a clue.

So a series of events happen and they get the flute. Cool! Now they can get rid of the mice once and for all! Considering that the tide mice came from, you guessed it, a tide pool, this would tie in really nicely with the detail that the pied piper made the rats drown. Maybe the mice would come back to their pool and stay there because of the music.

But then why would Frida be the one holding the flute in the promo? If that’s anything like what will happen, wouldn’t it make more sense for Hilda to want to help? Welp let’s go to another round of purely theory nonsense

3- Final theory and conclusion

Considering that we don’t know what the mice will be acting like, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen when they become a problem again. But since it fits in this theory and in canon both, I’ll be considering that Hilda is, once more, suffering the effects of the powerful magic she cast. Not only that, but also David and Johanna would be facing similar issues, and there’s only one more human in her close circle.

You already understood where I’m going at this point, BUT we’re also going to imagine another path to get to the same place. Something I really want more of in season 2 because we barely had it before is more information on how magic works in the Hilda verse. Alas, since we don’t, I’m going be using my instinct here: doesn’t it make sense that a person that has at some point been affected by a spell would not be able to break it? Like, if this sort of magic has touched you, it is immune to you? Likewise, if a witch has tried at some point to break a spell and not managed, wouldn’t it be reasonable to think that this spell would have grown a resistance to their magic? I like this theory because it allows my conclusion to make sense even if Johanna and David aren’t the ones being affected by the tide mice this time, and it still has Frida being the one to save the day because she’s the only one in Hilda’s close circle that hasn’t been touched in any way by the tide mice’s magic.

I’ve probably already talked for too long, but here’s what I’m trying to say: an arc in which Frida sacrifices something to save her friends from the Tide Mice would tie in the two lose strings season 1 has left us. And if it was established that she was refraining from getting involved in magic for her friends, and the sacrificed this resolution by using magic to help them, that would deepen her characterization and satisfyingly redempt her.

That’s what I had for today, hope you enjoyed it!

#watch me get every single aspect of this wrong fjnfjfjfj #this is such a dumpster fire of a theory but it was so fun #i just love brainstorming ok?#this has a lot more pictures than necessary but it makes the post more ~dynamic~ and I didnt want you to get bored fjfjnfjf #hilda the series #frida hilda #hilda season 2 #hilda theory

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makeste · 4 years

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so, Heroes Rising.

I saw it. it was exactly as good as I expected it to be. which is to say, very, very good.

this post is going to be chock full of spoilers guys. all the spoilers. and I’m not just talking those “ho hum All Might and Deku work together to beat the villain who could have seen that coming” first movie-type spoilers either. if you don’t yet know what happens in this movie, let me assure you that it is big. like we’re talking some momentous fucking shit. so if you don’t want to know then don’t click on this! but do go see the movie if it’s playing in your area because holy shit! it’s so good! (and so worth seeing on a big screen, too -- it was awesome.)

also there are some manga spoilers here too, because this movie does take place during the later manga arcs, and I did discuss some of those little manga-only easter eggs below. so I’ve tagged this with “bnha spoilers” accordingly, but just wanted to mention that here as well.

so I’m gonna break this down into sections, I guess. first I’ll do a quick-ish summary of the movie just because that’s important for context (and if you’re looking for a real in-depth summary, I recommend aitaikimochi’s very detailed summary here).

a quick-ish summary of the movie

so the kids all get sent to some tropical island in the middle of nowhere because the hero who used to be assigned to that island retired. and so the HPSC thought it would be a good idea to send a bunch of kids to serve as interim heroes until they find another professional who can take over. that’s right, this whole thing is the HPSC’s fault. because they just love their child soldiers. before you can ask, not a single grown-up actually accompanied them there either. it’s just the kids. and just 1-A for that matter, so I guess 1-B all got assigned to their own tropical island and had their own adventures which will never be turned into a movie much to Monoma’s dismay. alas.

anyway this island has a population of like 1k and nothing ever happens there, so at least the decision seems kind of reasonable in that light! like they basically figure that the kids will spend a few weeks helping the island’s population track down all their missing pets (which, this island has like a dozen pets go missing every hour, I’m not even joking. like 90% of the calls the kids get are “HELP ME I LOST MY FUCKING PET AGAIN.” maybe if you all closed your fucking front doors every now and then!! one person lost their parrot. honestly Kouda should just immediately move here once he graduates and they’ll keep him busy 24/7 and he’ll get rich enough to live like a king). it never occurs to anyone to wonder if maybe these particular kids, who are certified villain magnets and literally aren’t allowed to go anywhere without a professional armed guard these days because villains always try to kidnap them, might not need at least one adult to go with them. everyone is just like “no they’ll be fine.” spoiler alert: they were not fine.

the two little kids in the movie are Katsuma and Mahoro. I was worried Mahoro might be annoying, but my fears were unfounded and they are both adorable. but Katsuma is like five and Mahoro can’t possibly be older than seven. and they basically live on the island all alone, because their mom is a Dead Anime Mom and their dad works on the mainland. so these two preschoolers are alone and unsupervised all the fucking time, and so I for one was not at all surprised that they get up to shit like prank-calling the 1-A Hero Squad about fake villain attacks, because that’s exactly the sort of shit you would expect unsupervised five and seven-year-olds to get up to!! geez!! their neighbors supposedly check in on them, but how much attention can they really be giving them if they haven’t even noticed that Katsuma’s been wearing the exact same clothes for a fucking week now.

anyway so the villain is named Nine and he’s the same old standard villain guy who wants to create a new world order with his pals and all their strong quirks. but his base quirk (which I think is the weather-related one, but it’s hard to tell since spoiler alert dude is rocking multiple quirks) makes him get all fainty and weak after a short amount of time, so he goes to the League of Villains to get stronger and Ujiko is all “sure thing bud I’ll make it so you can hold multiple quirks.” and so he’s called Nine because he can hold up to nine quirks. and he can do the AFO thing where he steals quirks from people! which is like a BIG FUCKING DEAL!? guys but whatever it’s a movie!

anyway so long story short he wants a quirk that can fix his whole here-I-go-fainting-again deal, and through a series of events I won’t bother to elaborate on, he figures out that one of the cute kids (spoiler alert it’s Katsuma) has a quirk that can do that, so he goes to the island to steal Katsuma’s quirk. and he and his buddies arrive and they fight class 1-A, and Deku and Bakugou protect the cute kids from Nine, and everyone else fights the other bad guys, and there’s a ton of sweet studio bones action and the kids are all fucking bosses and it’s fucking sick and I fucking love it.

and then in the end, Deku and Bakugou fight Nine but he’s too strong, so Deku has to give Bakugou OFA so that they can double team him with a OFA combo (with Deku using the embers) to beat him. and afterwards they pass out, and OFA is all “back I go into Deku because guess what I can do that!” and it does, and then Bakugou doesn’t remember anything when he wakes up. and then they all leave the island and move on with their lives and none of these events are ever spoken of again. and basically everything in this last paragraph is why some people were a bit “WHAT THE FUCK, MOVIE” about this movie (though that seems to have died down now that people are actually seeing it and not just judging it by the summary). but let me tell you guys I have THOUGHTS about all of this, but I will get to those in a bit.

so that’s the summary. now this next section is going to be some general thoughts and observations which aren’t particularly organized, but which I would like to now share. and then afterwards I will share my thoughts on each of the 1-A characters in this movie since they all got their chance to shine and it was great. but anyway.

general thoughts and observations

first of all this movie reminded me that BnHA appeals to a very wide demographic. there were a ton of kids at the theater (and I know they were there to see BnHA because they were all talking about it), but strangely enough the auditorium I was in was mostly older kids and adults! but what I figure is that since both the dub and sub versions were playing, the majority of younger kids (and/or their parents) opted for the dub. at any rate it was fun to see so many fans there and be reminded that my nerdy hyperfixation anime is actually super popular lol.

for anyone who’s been disappointed with the overall lackluster animation quality of the latter half of season 4, it’s because all of the good animators were working on this. “well whoop de do for them but was it really worth it?” you ask. and honestly... yes. yes it was. holy fucking shit. from the very first fucking scene, that answer is an emphatic, wholehearted “yes.” incidentally if you, like me, failed to do the requisite soul-searching to realize that you needed even more League of Villains car chases in your life, let me assure you that you do, and this movie has got your fucking back.

Hawks is here and of course, duh, he’s amazing. he’s just as sassy and smart as you could hope, and at one point he actually makes an out-of-nowhere deduction that was honestly a HUGE LEAP, but of course it was exactly on the fucking money because it’s fucking Hawks you guys, AND HE’S JUST LIKE THAT.

Endeavor has the scar, but he’s only shown with his Flame Face activated, so it’s hard to see unless you’re actually looking for it. I honestly think a lot of anime-onlies might not even catch it. well-played. same thing with the glove covering the fingers on Tomura’s left hand.

honestly, probably the biggest spoiler in the movie is this one scene where Nine realizes that Deku “is capable of holding multiple quirks.” like, the movie doesn’t actually confirm SIXQUIRKS!!, but it’s pretty damn close IMO. gettin’ cute with it. oh, movie.

also there’s one scene that briefly shows all of the vestiges/predecessors, who IIRC haven’t yet been revealed in the anime other than in that one Shinsou fight where they were all shapeless blobs. so that’s another spoiler I guess. but this is another scene which was only very briefly shown. still when you’re showing it on a 30-foot-tall movie screen you kind of can’t be subtle no matter how hard you try so. hm.

at one point Bakugou is lying unconscious on a futon getting medical treatment, and he’s still wearing his hero costume but his shoes are off, and he is wearing socks. this confirms the answer to the question that probably no one else other than me had, of whether or not he actually does wear socks with his hero costume. because sometimes he has this tendency to not wear socks. anyway so that’s an important fact that I took note of and stored away in my brain so I could write it down and inform you all of it. socks.

the 1-A kids are actually really fucking professional and they have this little call center-type setup with phones and computers where they can take citizens’ calls and coordinate their response teams. it’s legit. unfortunately for them all the islanders ever call in about are lost pets, as previously mentioned. they don’t deserve these kids tbh.

at one point Kaminari calls Bakugou “Kacchan” AGAIN and THEY CAN’T KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT. except they absolutely can and indeed, should.

Katsuma is an Edgeshot fan and wears this little pin of him on one of the straps of his overalls lol. it’s fucking adorable. unfortunately Edgeshot is not in the movie so we don’t get to hear his sexy hero ASMR voice. I think this is my biggest regret about the movie.

speaking of Katsuma, he has the bravest moment in the entire film when he charges right toward Nine to stop him from hurting his sister. willing to sacrifice his quirk and his dream to save her and everyone else. and it’s actually the second time he volunteers to do this. he is so brave. I would die for him you guys.

so many people get bodyslammed into cliff walls in this movie but they’re all fine. the fuck are these kids even made of.

at one point a villager asks Shouto to make some ice for him so Shouto is all “okay” and goes and makes a GIANT MOUNTAIN OF ICE THE SIZE OF A FULL DOUBLE FRIDGE. because CLEARLY that’s what this man meant when he asked for “more ice.” this has left a lasting impression on me.

for the most part the movie actually makes a surprising amount of sense! there are actually very few plot holes, and I say this as someone who is very much alert for plot holes! that being said, every so often a scene still comes along that makes you go “really??” while holding both of your hands outstretched all “are you serious” (and I was very gratified to see that I was not the only person doing this at times! MY PEOPLE). but it was mostly just your typical stuff that you would tend to find in the manga as well. for instance, “holy fucking shit Shouto did you really just fucking murder that guy.” (spoiler alert, I don’t actually recall them clarifying whether he did or didn’t, so I’m just going to assume that he DID. Shouto is very sweet but every now and then he just stops giving a fuck and that’s when you have to back off.)

anyway that’s all the random stuff I can think of so now I’m gonna summarize my thoughts on each of the 1-A kids and their roles in the film!

class 1-A

Satou doesn’t really do much, but his face scares a small child at one point and everyone in the theater laughed. I feel bad about it now. poor Satou. and even though I said he doesn’t do much, I should note before I get any further that every last 1-A kid does get at least a little screentime and some villain-fighting action, and he is no exception. but it’s mostly limited to punches, and of course, being bodyslammed into a cliff wall.

Hagakure doesn’t really do anything except help lead the citizen evacuation. and actually I lied in the previous paragraph because come to think of it, I don’t think Hagakure got any action scenes, so so much for that assertion. she didn’t even get to do her flashy lightbulb move. ah well one day she’ll be revealed as the traitor and then it’ll be her moment to shine.

Tsuyu has some good rescue moments, and this one cool bit where she grabs a villain with her tongue and yanks him into a river and Todoroki proceeds to freeze the entire fucking river (along with like half a dozen waterfalls), villain and all. it was a cool combo and I was all about that. also the kids use her disgusting poison frog snot to paralyze a dude so that was also dope.

Mineta doesn’t do anything egregious and actually has some really cool moments. his best is a combo attack with Sero and Ochako, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Kouda is helping to save all of those lost pets!! all these cats and dogs and fucking parrots and shit. there’s also this one scene where a lot of birds come flying over suddenly and obstruct the vision of one of the bad guys, but I can’t remember if that was Kouda or not. but if it was then that was pretty damn sick, Kouda.

Kirishima does not get a lot of non-combat screentime, but he is there for those fights!! his big moment is also a combo (this movie could have seriously been called Combos Rising) with Todoroki where the two of them slide on a rail of ice similar to what they did in Kamino, and Kiri’s in front and activates Unbreakable to act as a shield for Todo. it’s super cool. also he does a lot of smiling at Bakugou like “oh, Bakugou!” in this way that’s just like. oh that wacky Bakugou, what are we going to do with him. chuckle chuckle. it’s cute and it’s nice to see someone else who is also way too tolerant of Bakugou’s shenanigans and just lets him get away with fucking everything because he adores him. I relate to Kiri a fucking lot is what I’m saying.

Ojiro’s tail is not made out of any substance known to man as far as I can tell. it just bends any fucking way it wants and can do whatever the fuck it wants and withstand all kinds of crazy shit. Ojiro actually has some really cool action scenes in this movie (we’ll get to the big one shortly) so props to him! but the fuck is up with that tail bro.

Shouji doesn’t do much, but he plays a key role in the final battle protecting the kiddos and he deserves your respect! also at one point one of the villains starts taunting him and is all “what’s up with your face I bet people were scared of you as a child”, which was fucking savage and completely uncalled for, and made the guy sitting next to me burst out laughing so hard I swear to god he started crying. smh.

Aoyama has not one but two fights in which he plays a key role! somehow he always seems to be at the vanguard. like his thing is firing off all his lasers until he’s exhausted and seemingly at death’s door, at which point the rest of the kids will show up to take over. he is very brave, and sparkly, and at one point he collapses holding his stomach and moaning “I think a little bit actually came out” which made me say “jesus christ” out loud while the entire theater lost their collective fucking shit.

Jirou does not do much, action-wise, until the very end when she and Ojiro (this is the big Ojiro scene I mentioned earlier) briefly take on Nine while the beaten-up Bakugou and Deku catch their breath and get their shit back together. let me tell you it was a RUSH watching Jirou take on a super powerful villain and I was HERE FOR IT. she blew up a bridge and then was almost immediately bodyslammed into a cliff but boy it was a ride while it lasted. also there is a scene where Momo is lying on a couch exhausted from overuse of her quirk, and Jirou is the one sitting there beside her watching over her, because they are gay, just a friendly reminder.

Iida is the glue holding all of this shit together. when the villains first arrive on the island and all the shit hits the fan, Iida is the one who stays calm and collected and dispatches 1-A to the various besieged parts of the island in teams as though he was Horifuckingkoshi himself. like how the fuck did he just know who to group together?? there isn’t any system to it, the teams are of varying numbers and degrees of skill and getting-along-with-each-other. but somehow it all worked out perfectly and I didn’t even question it. anyway so he also sees plenty of action and zooms around in his hyped-up new and improved recripro mode, and it’s great. I can’t remember if he gets bodyslammed into a cliff but let’s just assume yes.

Momo is right there with Iida calling the shots, and she also teams up with Aoyama in the final battle and makes not one, but two bigass cannons and shoots the fucking bad guys with them and it is everything. she also overuses her quirk in between the two big attacks by making a bunch of emergency supplies for the citizens, because she is too good and pure for this earth and we don’t deserve her.

Kaminari is mostly just used as a walking talking battery who tells jokes. there’s this guy on the island whose fucking tractor keeps dying and he keeps calling the 1-A hero agency to get a jump from them, so they send poor Kami over yet again and he puts up with it with a smile because he’s an angel. he does have one epic moment where Nine uses his lightning attack (he has a lightning attack, in case I forgot to mention that earlier) on Bakugou & Deku and then absconds, only for the two of them to catch up to him a couple minutes later all “JOKE’S ON YOU ASSHOLE WE’RE FINE!!” and he’s all “HOW!!” and it’s revealed that they anticipated the attack and made Kaminari serve as their personal lightning rod. and we cut to poor Kami sitting there in a field all crispy and doing his “whey” thing which got the most riotous fucking laugh in the entire movie because my theater was fucking shameless. Kaminari you poor brave boy I am sorry. god it was fucking funny though.

Mina had a ton of cute Mina moments which I can’t specifically think of now because it’s getting late (ETA: I wrote this up in two parts on Friday and Saturday night which might explain why it is so freaking long omg), but she was so great and I love her. but the moment that made me (and the rest of the audience) gasp out loud was when she was fighting one of the villains in a cave, and running around shooting her acid at stalactites to make them fall off and hit the villain, and being generally badass and such, but then all of a sudden the villain landed a good shot that hit her right in the leg and she gave this little cry of pain. and I swear to god it took everything in me not to leap to my feet and shout “NO, MINA!!!” because no!!!, but in the end it was all good because this moment led to...

Tokoyami losing his fucking shit, as Tokoyamis in dark caves whose friends are injured by villains are wont to do. so then he basically goes ape on the villain and it’s so great. Tokoyami is like genuinely tied with Todoroki as the third strongest guy in this movie, it’s insane. dude is so fucking strong?! also he does the flying thing from the manga too. so that’s another spoiler there for ya. these poor anime kids.

Todoroki exists in this awkward tier where he’s like at the very top of the very next character/plot tier underneath Bakugou and Deku, but he very clearly wants to be in the Bakugou and Deku tier, so he does things like inserting himself in between where they’re standing importantly, and saying both of their names while he is passing out. but in spite of his efforts the movie is all “no silly you’re in this tier” and puts him with Iida and Kiri and Tsuyu, and he accepts it with good grace in the end, but I’m pretty sure this is the real reason why he invited Deku and Bakugou to come intern with him immediately after this. just try and continue keeping him out of the main plot now, you two. anyway while I do understand why some Shouto fans were disappointed with him not having a big starring role in this movie, I think it’s akin to being disappointed that he didn’t have a starring role in Deku VS Kacchan Part 2. this was Bakugou and Deku’s movie from start to finish and that’s just how it is. but Shouto will most assuredly have his moment to shine sooner rather than later. also I seriously am pretty sure he just straight up kills a man in this film. fucking jams his entire arm down the dude’s throat and freezes him from the inside out?! this kid is still zero to sixty in the span of an eyeblink I swear to god.

Sero is ridiculously fucking cool in this movie you guys. like straight up balling out the entire time. holy shit. this kid is going to be a top ten hero and it’s time we were all done sleeping on him. also Bakugou calls him by his name for the first time ever because he straight up saves Bakugou’s life at one point and gets hurt doing so, so that made my fucking weekend, just putting that out there. and he and Ochako honest to god put up a real fight for the title of “sickest combo in the entire fucking movie” and I’m not even kidding, and I’m including Bakugou and Deku in that. but speaking of Ochako,

Ochako in this movie was almost too much for me to handle after reading the Miruko chapter earlier that afternoon lol. so you know that meteor shower move that she did back during the sports festival? she, along with Sero and YES, MINETA, pull off an upgraded version of that same attack in this film, and it is MISSION STATUS: FUCKING SICK. and in between that she’s just constantly floating people so Sero can then grab them with his tape and whip them around so they can do attack stuff mid-air, and it’s all just hype as fuck. and there were some good character moments with her too, but I’ve forgotten them all because it’s getting late now and my stupid brain is starting to prioritize sleep over writing this post. ah well.

so that’s 18 out of 20 kids! I left two out! you know which two! because they get their own fucking section because that’s just how it is.

Bakugou and Deku

well I actually wrote out all of my feelings about the whole OFA transfer, but they turned out to be essay-length, so I’m going to go ahead and put those into their own post. but here are all of my other random thoughts about Bakugou and Deku and their dynamic in this movie, which was fucking amazing.

I really need to get my hands on the fucking script for this thing, because I want to get a list of all of Bakugou’s lines, because I have a very strong suspicion that the percentage of Bakugou’s lines that are addressed to Deku and only Deku like they’re the only two people in the room (even though I assure you they are not) is significantly high.

and the looks. oh my god. he is constantly just watching him and making intense eye contact and listening in on conversations that have nothing to do with him WHATSOEVER because HE JUST LIKES LISTENING TO DEKU TALK ABOUT BEING A HERO AND STUFF, I GUESS.

there’s a scene where he’s holding a popsicle (rip to any headcanons that Bakugou won’t eat anything sweet btw) and sucking on it but then spaces out because he’s too busy listening to Deku talk to Katsuma, and at first his body language is all “la la la pretending I’m not interested” but gradually he straight up abandons the whole pretense and is basically turned fully around watching them for so long that the popsicle melts right off the stick and onto the ground and he turns around and just stares at it like it betrayed him. like, I’m not gonna go so far as to say that this popsicle is the proof of their friendship but it’s LIKE THAT.

Deku meanwhile has not one but two moments where they’re in the middle of a fight and he’s down after taking a particularly hard hit, and then something happens to Bakugou and he’s all “KACCHAN” and gets this fire in his eyes just like that because as usual you do not fuck with Kacchan when you’re around him. you just do not. YOU DON’T. meanwhile Kacchan is perfectly capable of taking care of himself but that’s never going to fucking stop Deku because Deku is ridiculous! ahhh Deku.

they are both good parents to their adopted island children and Bakugou protects them multiple times, and there’s even one scene where he saves them while letting Deku attack the villain, which is both teamwork with Deku AND saving someone, which is basically THE PINNACLE OF BAKUGOU’S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. thank you movie.

Deku has a scene with Katsuma where Katsuma reveals that he wants to be a hero but doesn’t have a very good quirk for hero-ing, and Deku tells him he can definitely be a hero. this is the scene that Bakugou listens in on while his popsicle melts away incidentally. anyway, to see Deku telling a small child the one thing that no one ever told him when he was growing up and that he wanted to hear so desperately almost made me tear up, quite frankly, and it was one of my favorite moments in the entire film.

the guy next to me kept laughing every time Bakugou brought up the whole “I’M GONNA BE NUMBER ONE JUST WAIT AND SEE I’M THE GUY WHO’S GONNA SURPASS NUMBER ONE THAT’S ME THAT’S THE GUY” thing, and I honest to god couldn’t tell if this person was a fan of Bakugou or hated Bakugou or what. but he just laughed. every single time. and I can’t stop thinking about it you guys.

Deku totally uses 100% OFA on his bad arm and that’s probably the biggest plot hole in this movie. BOY YOU DUMB. somehow he’s fine in the end though.

Bakugou breaks both of his arms too because OFA gonna OFA. I was actually really impressed/wincing because he kept fighting anyway, and we KNOW how hard his quirk is on his arms even normally. but he kept using it, and long story short I’m not sure how he didn’t manage to Deku his arms even worse than Deku. between this and chapter 262 it has not been a good weekend for arms.

at one point Bakugou decides he’s had enough of being bodyslammed into cliff walls and holds his arms up to the side of the crater(?) he’s in, and just... melts all the earth away until the crater is no longer a crater. or something. it’s hard to describe but it was the most insane thing I’ve ever seen.

Bakugou takes to OFA as naturally as he takes to everything. there was no processing time at all. just instantaneous. this isn’t even a plot hole to me, this is just Bakugou being Bakugou.

even before the OFA combo, there’s another sick BKDK combo where Bakugou grabs Deku’s hand and rotates him in the air using his quirk (it’s similar to what he did at the end of their second fight in Ground Beta) and launches him like a projectile. this fucking movie.

last but not least, the final fight scene with them all powered up is so vivid and colorful and movement everywhere and light and blurs and just ahhhhh. also, Might U at one point is just playing with no background noise. I don’t think a lot of other posts have mentioned that part; that not only is this music playing, but it’s the only thing you hear, no grunts or explosions or any other sound effects. just the music. while you watch these two work together like it’s the only thing they were ever born to do. it is everything.

conclusion

so that’s everything I can think of as far as my thoughts on the movie go, aside from the gigantic essay about Deku giving Bakugou OFA, which I will post immediately following this. so yeah. in conclusion I thought it was amazing, which is only to be expected I guess since it was relevant to virtually all of my interests. 10/10 would recommend, and please consider donating to find a solution to the ever-growing problem of children being bodyslammed into cliff walls.

#heroes rising #heroes rising spoilers #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #bakudeku #class 1-a #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #makeste watches bnha #bnha meta

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theastrophilearchitect · 3 years

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Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Writing journey #4.

15/05/2021 07.22 My break has officially been over for five days, and i have done some writing, but it’s been incredibly inconsistent, so I decided to start this blog post over. Bay Tree has been archived, and though FSB isn’t done, I’ve realised I need to take a step back. It’s why writers leave weeks at a time between drafts--so when they return, they’re in a different mindset, and can improve their work.

For this same reason, I need to take a step back before I finish my outline. My thought process is becoming monotonous, which means I’m losing my excitement. When you start a project, you have the idea in your head as perfect, and when those ‘vibes’ become tangible, it is less exciting. That’s unavoidable. But I just need to take a step back, so when I return, I have fresh ideas, and the plot becomes more exciting to me.

So today, I’m going to start brainstorming a new idea I had, which I don’t have an alias for yet, and I have an idea to essentially bind every project I have together, but not in Grishaverse- or Shadowhunters-style where you need to read ten books just to read the one you want. Just a nod to anyone who does read multiple, like when Aelin falls through worlds and sees Rhys and Feyre for a split second.

So. Let’s brainstorm.

My plan, I think, is to alternate weekly. This week, I’ll work on the new one, next week I’ll do FSB. I could just take this new idea and apply it to FSB, except I just don’t see how that would work. I have different worlds in mind, and this new one is a fantasy where FSB is sci-fi(/fantasy. It’s kinda both).

16/05/2021 07.07 I really wish I was a pantser. Even though I haven’t got to the editing stage, my favourite part of writing is implementing new ideas and making changes, but I’m just not a pantser. I need to know where each part is going. Instead, I have to sit here, brainstorming, for days, to figure everything out.

18/05/2021 07.06 I did a lot of work on the 16th, but I was busy yesterday, and didn’t get any writing done, because, when I was free, I was just reading. So, I’ve decided I’m going to at least write before I leave the house, which gives me about 45 minutes this morning.

23/05/2021 18.30 Based on the fact it has been five days, I think you can tell how good I’ve been about keeping writing. The problem is that I don’t actually have much past a concept for my new project, so I’m trying to figure out how, precisely, I could merge the two projects. FSB is interesting, but doesn’t have a huge amount of depth, which adding the characters from the new project would absolutely do, while the new project is lacking plot, which FSB (at least the first book I’ve planned) does. So, I’m going to start a new Scrivener project, and consider how I can merge the two concepts while implementing both plots.

Is it too much? I have only two main characters in FSB, but five in the newer one, which gives me seven main characters, divided into three groups. And do I want to write a book with so many separate storylines? I know readers (myself included) always end up favouring one storyline over another, getting annoyed when certain POVs come up. I don’t know what to do.

I could keep the new project, but implement FSB? Hold up. New Project (NP) has two protagonists who could undergo a similar development to the protagonists of FSB... I had a plan for the male protagonist of FSB, his arc, which wouldn’t work for NP’s male protagonist, but would work perfectly for its female protagonist...

Tumblr’s glitching. It wouldn’t let me reblog a post earlier, and now it won’t let me save this draft. Please, no.

Okay, so I had to copy what I’d written for today, disconnect and reconnect to the Wi-Fi, then wait for my drafts to load to paste it. Going great!

21.00 So I didn’t get a huge amount done, because I caught up doing ~evening things~, but I at least have a plan going forward, which is an accomplishment

30/05/2021 09.29 I’ve spent the last couple weeks doing everything I can to avoid writing, but i now have an insane amount of free time, so I have no excuse. I want to use this time in a productive way, and, for me, that means writing.

03/06/2021 10.31 I swear to god, I’ve had ‘writing’ on my to-do list every single day, except not doing it is probably my own fault, because it’s been so far down on the list. Also, I’m doing a buddy read, but am also unfortunately descending into a reading slump, so even reading 50 pages takes me about 90 minutes--they’re not even long pages.

I actually went back onto my old Wattpad account earlier, where I found a load of old, unfinished stuff, but none of it was as bad as I thought it would be, and the ideas weren’t bad. I just really have no idea what it is I’m writing right now, and I hate trying to figure it out.

11.30 There are so many Ss in the word ‘assassin’ this is not okay.

This is actually going so well. I have two storylines in my head, a complex cast of characters, and I’m so looking forward to plotting this.

04/06/2021 08.04 Look at me, two days in a row. Anyways, I’m thinking I ought to name these characters ASAP, because it’ll be easier to shape them to their names than it will be to find a name which fits them once they’ve been shaped.

14.41 Here’s what I’m realising: I like to pants plots, but I can’t do that while I’m actually drafting, so I think my plan is actually to bullet point everything that happens, then revise that, then start drafting, so the story is basically set in the first draft.

I’ve actually gone through a lot of stuff--I have workable plot material!

17.16 So, me being me, I’ve semi-outlined (I say semi-, it’s more like a tenth) a trilogy, meaning I have ideas for three books following this storyline, and it... makes sense. It’s the kind of story where I can follow multiple arcs, a few at a time, instead of several overarching ones, or maybe it’s just that I’m letting myself.

07/06/2021 16.44 I don’t have a damn clue what I’ve spent the day doing. I haven’t done anything in a couple days because it was the weekend and I was busy, but I’m back now. The thing is, I haven’t spent the day reading, watching, drawing, or doing anything, really--it’s escaped me. But, at the very least, I’ve relaxed, so who cares?

I’m not applying story structure to the ideas I’m having quite yet--rather, I’m just developing them to see how they bloom on their own, then I’ll fit it in; it just seems like a more natural and effective way to develop.

Yeah, no. It’s too late in the day for this. I have zero motivation.

08/06/2021 09.49 Maybe I’ll accomplish something today; who knows? Certainly not me.

I’m now applying the 3-act structure, but I’m realising I have way too many details worked out for this--switching to more acts.

22.20 Why am I doing this to myself? I wish I could say I’m not entirely sure, but it’s because I can’t sleep, because this project, and my character Lihan, are the only things I can think about, so here I am. I don’t want to be a night writer, but que sera sera (I wish I could type accents on an English keyboard).

23.22 I accomplished more in the last hour on this project than I have in the last four days.

09/06/2021 - 1,115 words 09.29 I really hope I don’t prove today that night-writing is my sweet spot--I don’t want it to be. Can the world just let me have a functional sleep schedule??

Anyways, so, as I’ve mentioned before, I use Scrivener, which enables me to sort which documents are part of the manuscript from the ones that aren’t. I’ve been working outside of the manuscript, but I think I’m going to move them into it--I have a plan I believe will be more effective for my own drafting. I think I very much need the events to be set in stone before I begin writing in actual prose, so how can I do that? Especially when I also enjoy pantsing, but not in prose?

Here’s the plan: I plot out the main events, then bullet point everything in very high detail, similar to what many people call a zero draft, in which they draft a book in short form. I’ll sort the bullet points into chapters (but not scenes, because as I discovered with Bay Tree, I find scene-blocking makes the narrative less natural), leave it alone a while, then revise, so I can have my plot more-or-less set in stone before I work on prose.

As a result, I’m going to shift my plotting into the manuscript section, because it is, essentially, an early draft, and also I want a word count as a progress metre.

13/06/2021 - 1,611 words 8.18 Alas, I have been busy the last few days, but I’m here now.

9.20 The amount of secrets and who-knows-what in this story is genuinely absurd, but I’m sure I’ll clean it up eventually.

14.01 A few days ago, I came across a post about balancing large casts, which is exactly what I have, and the first thing it mentioned was the two-trait rule, in which every character has two traits completely unique to them, to help both reader and writer differentiate. Which I’m now going to implement.

14.42 I have these two characters, and I know exactly what I want their dynamic to be, except I can’t decide who should be which part of it.

I have made my decision. It probably works better now, but it does alter their roles, so I need to fix that.

I literally swapped them round solely because I decided one was taller than the other and thought it would be more interesting if the short one was the sadist. Why do I make my own life so difficult?

14/06/2021 - 1,574 words 11.08 I didn’t make an enormous amount of progress yesterday, but I did make some, and made notes of ideas for relationship arcs last night, so I count that a victory (forced optimism--surprisingly effective). I’m currently just working through bullet-pointing book one, while making notes of events I want in the rest of the series (I’m projecting three books, and telling myself I will finish them). I’m currently fiddling with one of my storylines to see how I can mould it to FSB’s and OH MY GOODNESS I JUST HAD A GREAT IDEA must take notes, one moment pleaseeee.

Okay, so I have four bullet points for relationship arcs and an idea to adjust one of the storylines--I’d say I have six main characters, two of whom are really the protagonists, two of which are my favourites, and the other two are fun, but in need of development. They’re split into a group of four and a pair, and I’m definitely more into the storyline of the four, mostly because the four contains my two favourites, and it’s more developed than that of the pair.

I’ve been keeping a list of things to add: motivations, loose plot threads, plot points I want to include--I really need to re-organise it.

On another note, I am so glad I named the characters as early as I did. I’m debating having two of the characters swap names, but I don’t think I will, because I will absolutely mix them up, and one of them is part of the perfect ship name.

My mouse isn’t working. I changed the batteries, but it’s not working, so now I get the joy of trying to figure out if the batteries I put in are just old or if the mouse no longer works, which would suck.

Yes, I’m going to describe this. Mostly because when I changed the batteries the first time, it took a minute to stop working, and this will waste a minute. So, first set of batteries, which we’ll call set 1, don’t work. I don’t know if it’s both or just one, but if it’s one, I don’t want to throw away both. I take out set 1, I put in set 2. Set 2 works perfectly. So it’s not the mouse. Now I take out battery 2B, and replace it with 1A, so I have 1A and 2A in here. I know 2A works, but I’m not sure about 1A, but the mouse works, so 1A is fine. Let’s replace 1A with 1B.

Yep. 1B is the problem child. 1A works fine, but 1B doesn’t. Lovely. Crisis averted. It would’ve really sucked it I had to get a new mouse. And back to writing!

12.13 I’m bouncing between documents as I organise, which means my word count is actually decreasing, so I feel like I’m making significantly less progress than I am.

I just realised my two protagonists are cousins. I’ve had it in my head that one’s father was the brother of the other’s father, but somehow I didn’t realise that makes them cousins.

I’m about to delete a list because I’ve reformatted it--my word count is currently at 1,958, but is really about to drop.

AND NOW WE’RE AT 1,572. My session word count is -32. Minus thirty-two. I hate it here, but it’s fine, because we’re ~developing~.

15/06/2021 - 2,113 words 09.39 It’s not even technically summer yet, but it’s too hot, and I hate it here. All the windows are open, so everything’s cool, there’s a nice breeze, and lots of light, but the birds are so loud, and I have to keep all the doors closed because the open windows send them swaying and slamming. You know when you close a door when all the windows are open and it slams? Yep. Not into it.

I feel like every day I try a new way to organise my plotting. I’m unsure as to whether that’s helping me or holding me back, because it forces me to review what I have, which usually sparks new ideas, but I’m not convinced I’ll ever get to the end as long as I keep doing this.

21/06/2021 13.40 I spent the latter half of last week with zero motivation, then I was busy at the weekend, but I’m here now. I’ve been trying to make myself write basically all day--I have a plan, and a list of things I’ve come up with the last few days, but I just couldn’t make myself do it. I’m not in a good mood, but maybe this will help.

I have, however, just reminded myself that I need to prepare this week’s post, because I sincerely doubt either this or my ongoing Recent reads will be ready for Friday. Actually, if I do quite a bit of writing this week, this post might be, but I’m not willing to bet on it.

And oh, crap, now I just want to write a blog post.

No. No I don’t. I started looking at the list of ideas I had, and now I’m just not feeling it. I’m pretty sure when I open my document for this project I’ll lose all motivation too, but it’s worth a shot.

There’s a specific relationship in an anime I recently watched that I want to pull apart--there’s this ship, and the author of the manga has called the two characters ‘soulmates’. There’s just this huge amount of tension between the two, and I want to re-watch the show because I love it, but also so I can take notes to figure out what was so effective about it.

13.53 I’ve been doing this for 13 minutes, but I do think I need to leave this project/outline alone for a bit, give it an opportunity to ruminate, to evolve. In truth, I may not even come back to it until I’ve re-watched the anime I was talking about so I can tear that ship to pieces.

17.33 So I just learned brainstorming is apparently significantly easier on paper. Hm. I’ve just worked out so damn much, stuff I’ve been struggling with.

18.00 I have successfully tied up so many plot threads, simply by working with pen and paper. This is revolutionary. (I know, not really, but it is for me, someone adamant about working with a keyboard and monitor)

22/06/2021 09.42 Seriously, why did I never try actually working on paper before? Something about holding a pen to paper and scribbling and drawing a mindmap--it just works. I’ve been obstinate about avoiding working on paper because I hate physically writing, yet here we are.

25/06/2021 11.09 I’m really not managing much reading at the moment--since I started reading manga, my attention span has just gone down the drain. I’m currently reading Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater, and I don’t think it helped that I had to stop less than a third of the way in to do a buddy read, but I just don’t have much motivation to read it, though I do so want to. I haven’t been listening much to audiobooks lately either, because when I’d usually listen--when I’m getting dressed, waking up, going to bed etc.--I just want to listen to music, because I also recently fell down the well of k-pop, and the group whose discography I’m getting to know at the moment is BTS. Basic, but they’re the fifth group I’m doing, and they have so many songs. Which would happen after eight years, but still.

I want to read so, so badly, but I just don’t feel like reading Mister Impossible. But I do want to finish it before reading anything else. I think I’ll finish my current audiobook, then if I’m still feeling stagnated in Mister Impossible, I’ll switch to the audiobook of that, then just take a break from reading until I’m ready to actually read.

But this post is for writing, not reading. I did write on the 23rd, but I just didn’t update this post. The 24th I was busy, but my wall is now covered in post-it notes of world-building, characters, gods, plot points, and a whole load of other stuff.

Also, I had an idea for a book title this morning--not for this one, just in general--and when I went to add it to my list, I found a title that would so suit this project. I don’t want to say it, but let’s just say this project will be called ItLotG--or not. That’s a hideous combination of letters. I promise it is actually a good title.

11.52 I’m having another crisis over these two characters. I’m thinking it would make more sense to have L’s betrayal ‘arc’ initiated before the catalyst, or rather have it be the catalyst, except the problem there is that they’re not in the city they need to be in to receive that offer.

UNLESS,,,, what if this point happens just while they’re in the capital.... I’ve got it.

17.16 I’ve been taking notes this whole time of everything I want to happen in books 2 and 3, and I have so much now i think they’ll be so much easier to plot than this one.

The downside of working mostly on paper is that my plans on Scrivener have been refined to one document, which is now only 878 words.

Right now, there’s a glaring hole between the midpoint and the ending, but my climax is one of those where the climax itself is a very small part of a bigger event, so if I figure out what I want to happen in this big event which is essentially the whole of the third act, I should be able to fill in the rest of Act Two with the setup for that.

So I’m leaving it there for both today and this post. In the last month or so, I decided to start over and mash two projects together, which created a whole new storyline I love, and now I’m mostly done with the first outline. I want to treat outlines as more than just preparation for drafts, because I find notes so much easier to edit than actual prose, and I hate writing without a clear idea of where I’m going.

I think I’m going to call these ‘runs’--an outline is a run through, a draft a run through, so I’m nearly done with my first run, and I’m very proud of that, so go, go write the idea you have, drink some water, take a nap if you need one, eat if you haven’t eaten in a few hours, and I’ll be back with another writing update innnnnnn probably august, honestly.

Go write that idea!

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plaidbooks · 4 years

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Everyone Deserves Love chapter 3

A/N: This is the last prequel! Which means Barba will be making his entrance next chapter (and then never leaving). I’m excited for y’all to get to the main story, but I do really like how this chapter turned out. I also forgot to mention, but will say now; all names, characters, streets, or buildings that are not specified in the show have been completely made up by me, and are not based on real people. This chapter takes place during season 12.

I’m posting this a couple days early because I’m really wanting to get to Barba/chapter 4 this week, so here’s 3!

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Tags: hostage situations, domestic abuse mention, minor character death, PTSD, dissociation, anxiety, talks about death and the mentality about a profession involved with it

Words: 7k+

Apartment of Devon Motely

Monday, April 7th

It had been too long since Devon had a day off; so long, in fact, that she didn’t quite know how to take a day off. She got up at her normal, early time. She went for her normal, early morning jog, then did her normal, early gym routine before jogging home. She made herself breakfast—a simple omelet—and sat down to watch the news, something she didn’t particularly enjoy. It was more for background noise, but also to stay kind of up-to-date on local goings-on. She even decided to take a longshot; she sent a text to Detectives Stabler and Benson, asking for a lunch date. Alas, it was not in the cards for the day, to no one’s surprise.

By 11am, Devon was already bored out of her mind. I really, really, need a hobby, she thought. But nothing sprang to mind. After debating it for about five minutes, she decided to just go into her office, get a jump on some paperwork that she was behind on. She also thought that there was some filing that she could do…maybe even rearrange her office. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

Devon practically snuck into her office, but she met no opposition. Not that she would anyways; she was allowed to come in whenever she felt like, work when and if she needed to. There was no such thing as overtime in her line of work; the only time she wasn’t allowed in was when ordered so by her boss, like after a rough case or a stint in undercover. All she had to worry about today was a long side-eye from a coworker. The building was bustling with people going about their work, but no one gave her a second look.

She was there for only two hours, elbow deep in paperwork, before she got a call from Olivia. Knowing that Liv was busy that day, and desperate for some work out in the field, Devon answered quickly, “Motely.”

“Hey Dev. I know you mentioned having a day off, but can you please escort a key-witness to the courthouse? Her name is Madelyn Rosco, and it’s—it’s really important that she testifies for this case,” Olivia had pleaded over the phone.

Devon deflated a little bit. A simple escort? At least it was something to do, Devon thought. She replied, “of course. Text me the address, I’ll head over as soon as possible.” Olivia thanked her before hanging up and sending the details via text. Besides just an address, Liv also supplied Devon with some basic info on the case.

Madelyn was the victim of severe domestic abuse for months, culminating into her boyfriend viciously raping her, almost killing her in the process. She was only saved by a concerned neighbor, who had called the police when he heard Madelyn screaming. This wasn’t the first girlfriend that he had attacked, but he was escalating; his last two girlfriends had him removed because of DVs, but Madelyn was the first he had raped. The boyfriend—Nathan Woods—had been in police custody but posted bail early this morning, hence why Olivia wanted a protection detail on Madelyn; she was afraid that Nathan may try to intimidate Madelyn…or worse. Devon checked the glock on her hip, her badge clipped next to it. She had left her knife at home, but figured it wouldn’t help her in any case. Satisfied, she left her office, catching a cab to the address Liv had sent.

Residence of Madelyn Rosco

Monday, April 7th. 2:30pm

Devon walked up the steps to Madelyn’s brownstone home. She had a weird feeling in her gut, but she ignored it; just nerves before a case, nothing new. She knocked on the door and waited. She could hear footsteps coming towards the door, but they sounded off somehow…were there more than one set?

“Yes?” a woman asked after answering the door, cracking it so that only half her face was showing. She had thick, blonde, wavy hair. She was petite; Devon stood about a foot taller than her. She looked as though she had been crying recently, eyes puffy and red. She had a split lip that was scabbed over, probably from the assault Olivia mentioned.

“Madelyn Rosco? My name is Devon; Detective Benson asked me to escort you to court,” Devon explained. She looked past the small woman into the apartment, trying to see if anyone else was there, but the door was blocking most of her view. Maybe she hadn’t heard two sets of footsteps. Maybe she just needed some coffee.

“Oh, I, uh, I’ve decided not to testify,” Madelyn sniffled. “Thanks anyway,” she said as she tried to close the door. Devon acted on instinct, shoving her foot into the doorframe, not allowing it to shut. It took a moment for her brain to catch up, something’s not right here.

“Mind if I come in?” Devon asked as she pushed open the door, not waiting for an answer. She had caught Madelyn by surprise, easily pushing her backwards. As soon as she crossed the threshold, Devon realized her mistake. She felt the cold steel of a gun against the back of her head.

“Don’t move,” a gravelly voice ordered from behind her. The bastard had been pushed against the doorframe, gun probably to Madelyn’s head throughout the whole interaction. Devon put her hands up in surrender, silently chiding herself for walking into this so easily. She looked to Madelyn, trying to convey that everything was alright with her eyes. Madelyn started crying anew, sobs burbling out of her. Devon’s heart began to race with adrenaline, but there was nothing Devon could do here. Not yet. The front door shut quietly behind her, and she heard the lock slide into place.

“Who are you?” the man asked. He pushed the gun into the back of Devon’s head, forcing her to walk further into the home. They were in a living room, couch set up with a coffee table in front of it. Devon kept her hands up in front of her, kept her breathing even.

As the man led Devon towards the couch, she repeated, “my name is Devon. I’m here to escort Madelyn to the courthouse.” Once in front of the couch, the man removed the gun from the back of her head, moving to stand in front of Devon, motioning for her to sit down. She released a breath she didn’t know she was holding as the pressure left her head, though she could still feel where the cool metal had bit into her skin. As she sat, the man’s eyes widened. The jacket she was wearing had opened upon sitting, her gun and badge on display for everyone to see.

“You’re a cop? Hand over your weapons, now!” he ordered, shoving the gun closer into Devon’s face. She fought the urge to sigh, instead just exhaling through her nostrils as she moved one hand, keeping the other still in the air, and took off her gun holster, placing it on the coffee table in front of her. “Got a drop gun?”

“No,” she replied truthfully, shaking her head. “And I’m not so much a cop as a Federal agent.”

The guy looked panicked then. “FBI? Are you kidding me? For what, this bitch?” he said, pointing with the gun at Madelyn, who was still standing at the end of the couch, trying to stifle her sobs. Devon instantly stood, putting herself between the gun and Madelyn. The sudden movement startled him, making him aim at Devon once more.

“Nathan, don’t,” Madelyn said meekly, confirming the man’s identity to Devon. So, the boyfriend bailed out of jail and came straight here. Devon was suddenly glad that Olivia had sent her, even though she was now being held hostage. Better me than another detective, Devon thought. Every nerve in her body, though, screamed to get the hell out of there. Devon shoved the impulse down; she wasn’t leaving, not without Madelyn. Plus, she had experience with hostage situations.

“Shut up,” Nathan spat. He returned his attention back to Devon. “How long until cops show up here?”

As if on cue, Devon’s phone chimed in her pocket, signaling a text. The group fell silent for a beat, before Devon spoke. “You may want to let me answer that, or they will be here quicker than you’d like.”

“Fine, answer it,” he said. Devon slowly moved her hand to her pocket in an attempt to not scare Nathan. She grabbed her phone and pulled it out, but Nathan snatched it out of her hand.

“It’s from Benson, asking ‘did you make it Madelyn’s yet?’” Nathan read aloud. “Who’s Benson?”

No point in lying. “She’s a detective at NYPD; she’s the one that sent me here.”

Nathan texted back with one hand, keeping the gun trained on Devon as he sent back something. Hopefully, it was a weird enough answer that Liv would figure out that something was wrong. Come on, Liv. You know me, Devon thought. Almost instantly, Devon’s phone rang, Benson’s name and number on the screen.

“Answer it. But if you tip her off, you and Mads are dead,” Nathan warned, handing Devon the phone.

Devon hit the answer button, holding the phone to her ear. “Devon, is everything okay? What was the text you sent?” Olivia was speaking rapidly.

“Everything’s fine. Madelyn said she didn’t want to testify anymore, so I’m trying to convince her otherwise,” Devon explained, thinking fast. She realized that Nathan neglected to have her put Liv on speaker, so he’d only hear Devon’s side of the conversation. This must be his first time taking a hostage. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, but Nathan’s attention was outside, apparently looking to see if police cars would start pulling up. Though, he still had his gun aiming at Devon.

“Didn’t want to testify? Last time I talked to her, she was gung-ho on putting that bastard Nathan behind bars. What changed? Did he get to her?”

“Haha, yeah, I know, witnesses are fickle. It’s fine though, I think I can change her mind,” Devon replied.

“What does that mean? Wait…” Olivia went quiet for a moment. “Is he there now?”

Devon nodded, even though Liv couldn’t see her. “Yeah, yeah. Sometimes, that’s how it goes. It’s fine though, really,” she paused as if Liv said something, then added, “No, I don’t need the whole squad over here for one witness. It might make her nervous. I’ll deliver Madelyn to the courthouse by tomorrow morning.”

Olivia took a moment to think before asking, “do you need backup?”

“Yes,” Devon said clearly. Nathan finally pulled his eyes away from the window, giving her a look, and she added, “really, it’s fine. I’ll meet up with you later. Thanks for checking in, though. Talk to you soon, Benson,” and then she hung up. If Olivia didn’t get the message the first time, Devon’s use of her last name would be sure to kick her into motion.

“Did you throw her off?” Nathan asked, motioning for Devon to give him the phone once more.

Yeah, she’s definitely thrown off, Devon thought. “Yes…I also gave you until tomorrow to leave, to never show your face here again. You should take that,” Devon replied.

Nathan shook his head. “No, I should do what I came here to do.” He changed his focus, aiming for Madelyn once again. “I’m here to keep this bitch from testifying, permanently.”

Devon moved in front of the gun and Madelyn cowered behind her. “Do you really think that if you kill her, or me for that matter, that the cops won’t know it was you? Find you? All that killing Madelyn will do is turn your assault charge into a murder charge. Do you want to spend your life in prison?”

Before he could answer, sirens started to blare in the distance. Damn, that was quick, Devon thought. Never cross Olivia, or one of her friends.

“Did you fucking tip them off?” Nathan yelled, shoving the gun under Devon’s chin, the cold steel digging into her skin painfully. Devon’s heart stopped; was this the end for her?

“You heard me talk to Liv. She must have sensed something was off,” Devon explained. She could feel her hands starting to shake, and she fought to control her body. Stay calm, you can get out of this, she thought.

Nathan huffed and pulled the gun away, walking towards the window to draw the blinds. Once down, he, pulled two apart, glancing out of them. No one there, yet. But the sirens were getting louder. Devon guessed that they had a couple minutes before they arrived.

“Why not leave now? Before they get here?” Devon asked quietly, calmly. She was hoping that if she said it gently enough, it may seem like it was his idea rather than hers.

Nathan was glued to the spot, watching the world outside. Devon thought that maybe he was stuck there, frozen. This may be her only chance. She took a step towards Nathan, but he saw the movement and whipped around, gun pointing directly at her chest. Devon froze.

“No no no, I’m not going anywhere. Not until she”—he nodded to Madelyn—“is dead at my feet.”

Jesus, what does this guy have against Madelyn? Devon thought. For him to be so fixated on wanting her dead, it just didn’t make sense to her. But she made it a point to stay between the two of them, to be a human shield. He turned back to look outside; the sirens were so loud now. Devon was able to see a little of the outside world through the blinds; cop cars were lining the street. She could vaguely see shapes moving across the street; officers going to the other buildings. The evacuations have started.

“Look, Nathan, there’s only one way you get out of this alive, now. Let Madelyn go and keep me as a hostage. They won’t shoot you if you use me as a human shield,” Devon said. She wasn’t wrong per se, but she was also confident in ESU’s ability to take him out even if she was being held hostage.

“No no no, this wasn’t how this was supposed to go,” Nathan whispered more to himself than anyone else. Devon’s phone, still in Nathan’s hand, started to ring once more. Nathan jumped, startled at the sudden noise. She was shocked he didn’t drop it.

“It’s probably the negotiator,” Devon explained. “You should answer it.”

Nathan looked at it, then held it out to Devon. “No, you answer it. On speaker phone this time.”

Devon took the phone; Benson’s name was displayed again. “Olivia, you’re on speaker phone,” Devon answered, putting it on speaker phone as requested.

“Hey Dev. What’s going on in there? Is everyone alright?” she asked, voice shaky, but calm.

Devon gave Nathan a look before answering, “everything’s fine, Liv, we’re all fine. It’s just me, Madelyn, and Nathan inside. We can all hear you.” She wanted to add more, tell her about Nathan’s position, the gun he had. But she knew that Nathan would get pissed, so she refrained.

Olivia took a moment before switching to her professional tone. “Hey Nathan,” she started. “Is there anything we can do for you that will allow you to release Madelyn and Devon?”

Devon could see the gears turning in his head. If all he truly wanted was to kill Madelyn, then would he really accept anything that the NYPD had to offer? Devon wasn’t sure, nor was she sure what his next move would be.

“I—I want a car, and, uh, $500,000 in cash, uh, unmarked bills. And I want free, uh, passage to Canada. And I want no one to follow me,” Nathan replied. It sounded like he had no idea what he was asking for, as if he was copying things he’d seen in a movie. To be fair, though, Devon didn’t think he was prepared for this situation; he probably showed up to Madelyn’s with the intention of killing her, then disappearing. Her very presence really threw a wrench into that plan.

“Yeah, okay, we can do that, Nathan. It will take a little bit to get the car and money ready, though. As a show of good faith, why don’t you send out Madelyn, okay?” Olivia asked.

“No! Mads stays with me. I’ll send out your FBI buddy instead,” Nathan said.

“I’m not leaving, Nathan. Let Madelyn go; like I said, keeping me hostage is your best bet at survival here,” Devon responded gently. Like hell was she going to leave a civilian in a hostage situation.

Nathan seemed to think this through, sorting through his options. Olivia finally asked, “so what’s it going to be, Nathan?”

“Yeah, okay, fine. You,”—he pointed the gun at Madelyn, making her cringe in response—“get out of here. Go!” he yelled.

Madelyn gave one last look at Devon, who nodded, before bolting out the front door. “Hold your fire!” could be heard, the order yelled over the din of all the officers, placed around the apartment and aiming at the front. The noise was cut off as the front door swung shut. It was a relief having Madelyn out of the house; now Devon could focus solely on Nathan and diffusing the situation…or stalling long enough for ESU to storm in.

“Thank you, Nathan,” Olivia said through the phone. Nathan seemed anything but comforted, though. He reached for the phone, angrily hanging up on Liv.

“She’s just going to call back,” Devon said, watching him closely. Only thing worse than a hostage taker was a pissed off hostage taker. But she had to bide her time, wait for a moment to disarm him.

Nathan glared at the door that Madelyn had disappeared out of. “No more talk. We’re going to just sit here and wait until my demands are met.”

The last piece finally clicked for Devon; Nathan had a control problem. He felt the need to be in control at all times, and Devon, along with Liv, had just fucked up the remaining control he had in this situation. Which meant he was now very pissed, mostly at Devon, seeing as she was the only thing still there that he could even focus that anger on.

Devon stayed standing, rooted to the spot. “What’s your plan here, Nathan? Taking me and fleeing to Canada? You know they extradite back to the US, right?” she asked. No point in sugar coating the facts; Devon was going to try and scare him into surrendering. If he gets angry enough, he may make mistakes. Or he may just take out his rage on Devon, but that was something she would just have to deal with if it came to that. She sized the man up; he stood head and shoulders above her and had maybe 70 pounds on her. But, he didn’t seem like a fighter; from what Devon knew about most domestic abusers, he probably had a rage that fueled his attacks, but they usually had any sort of form.

Nathan paced a couple of steps, nervously running his free hand through his hair. Then, he got a peculiar look in his eyes, stopping in his tracks and staring directly at Devon. Devon had seen that look before many times, the look someone made when they made up their mind, and she only had a brief moment to brace herself before Nathan violently grabbed her by the hair, ripping her head back, dragging her further into the house, away from the front windows. Tears instantly sprung up in the corners of her eyes and she let out a gasp, but the pain was soon forgotten as he jammed the gun into her face. Devon’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of the barrel inches from her face.

“Maybe I’ll just get rid of you, then. By the time they find your dead body, I’ll be on a flight to Switzerland. They don’t extradite there,” Nathan spat into her face, fingers pulling her hair so hard that her head began to tingle.

Devon fought through the fog and adrenaline in her mind, trying to think of a way out of this. “Whether they extradite or not, I’m still a Federal agent. You kill me and my boss is going to track you down, no matter what rock you scuttle under.” It wasn’t an empty threat; her boss would definitely track this scumbag down.

Nathan’s chest started to rise and fall rapidly as he panicked. “Either I go to jail for life, or I die…those are my choices.” He was quiet for what seemed like forever. Finally, he spoke, “So, what if I do neither? What if I just start shooting, take as many of you bastards out before they take me out?”

Devon’s heart stopped; this was a man who no longer cared, a man with nothing to lose. And that was the most dangerous man of all. He released Devon, set his feet, took aim. The motion took a couple of seconds, but time seemed to have slowed to a standstill for Devon. There was one thought that kept creeping its way back into her brain; is this it? Is this how my life ends? In this line of work, there was always the expectation of dying in the line of duty. It always stuck around in the back of Devon’s mind, hardly acknowledged, but always there, like a dull pain that’s ignored when working. But to be faced with death, to have a madman aiming a gun at her, it was completely different. Devon heard him cock the gun and her heart fluttered in panic. So, this is really how it’s going to happen, Devon thought. She wasn’t a religious person, so she had no one to pray to. Instead, she thought about how her life has played out so far. She had regrets, sure; everyone did. Though her more than most. She had made peace with most of her demons, but her only real regret now was that her life would end this early. That she would no longer be able to help others, save other people. She thought about all the faceless people that she would not be able to protect and her heart sunk. She should have done more, been more. She thought about Olivia, about Stabler, about all her friends at SVU. Would they mourn her, lay her body to rest? She suddenly wondered if there would be a funeral for herself. The thought was so absurd, it was almost enough to make her chuckle.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, along with another sound that Devon couldn’t identify right away. Sound filled her ears, her blood rushing through her veins, as she watched Nathan’s body drop lifelessly to the ground. She slowly turned her head, seeing the bullet hole through the back window, her brain recognizing vaguely that the other sound she heard was breaking glass. She felt her mind slowly turning off, leaving her body as both the front and back doors flew open, armored officers rushing in. She didn’t hear what they were saying, didn’t feel them as someone grabbed her arms, didn’t see them as someone was in her face talking to her.

Olivia recognized the blank stare Devon had, eyes staring right through her, no recognition on her face; Devon was in shock and was dissociating. Liv knew how to bring victims back, but she needed to get Devon out of there first, talk to her before the medics came for her.

“Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” Liv said, holding her hand out to Devon. The agent didn’t take much coercion to follow the detective, her hand limp in the latter’s grip. Olivia led Devon out the backdoor, pushing through the ESU personnel, and had her lean against the house. She’d have to be checked out by the paramedics at some point, but it was better to let Devon breathe for a moment, instead of having people flitting all around her. Besides, she wasn’t injured, so a few extra minutes to talk wouldn’t hurt.

“Just breathe, Dev,” Olivia said calmly. She remembered an old conversation she had with Devon about anxiety, remembered the verbiage she used. “Just stay here with me, feel your feet on the ground.” She took Devon’s hands in her own, rubbing her thumbs over the backs of them, trying to return some feeling. Olivia waited until Devon’s eyes weren’t as glassy, whispering encouraging words to her the whole time, until she made eye contact with the detective before continuing, “tell me five things you see right now.”

It took Devon a couple more moments of deep breathing before she answered. “I see…a white, picket fence….I see two clouds in the sky, a tree in the next yard, a brown, tiled roof next door, and I see that you’re wearing new eyeshadow.”

“Good, that’s good,” Liv replied, smiling. Devon was calming down quicker than most, but then again, she wasn’t a civilian. “Now, what’s four things you can hear?”

They continued like this until Devon was standing up straight, breathing normally, and with most of the color back in her face.

“Thank you,” Devon said, trying to put as much emotion into those two words as she could. Devon had only been in such extreme shock a few times, but not like this. I almost died, she thought, a heaviness sinking in her stomach. “This job is really going to be the death of me, isn’t it” She meant it as a joke, but her smile faltered, and she ran a hand through her hair, trying to fight back the tears stinging her eyes. Olivia gave her a small smile before pulling her in for a hug, but before she could say anything, Captain Cragen came through the backdoor from inside the house.

“Are you alright?” he asked Devon as Liv released her. She nodded meekly, not trusting her voice quite yet. “Good. The paramedics need to check you out and we need to get your statement.”

Devon nodded, composing herself. She turned to follow him through the house. Olivia stuck by her side, taking one of Devon’s hands in hers, giving her silent support the whole way. It was like walking through a dream; Devon could feel her mind wandering. It was hard to stay focused, to think through all the events that had transpired. You’re alive. You survived, she thought. But she still felt numb, the words not meaning anything. She kept her eyes forward, refusing to look at the body bag in the middle of the floor. Making it through the home and out the front door, Devon was guided towards a paramedic. While being checked for injuries, a thought struck Devon.

“Madelyn! Is she--?” She started before Olivia cut her off.

“She’s safe. She was taken to Mercy Hospital. Fin and Munch are getting her statement now.”

Devon let out a sigh of relief. “Good…that’s—that’s good.”

Olivia studied her face closely before asking softly, “would you rather give me your statement here or back at the precinct?”

“Precinct,” Devon answered almost immediately. She didn’t want to be here anymore, out in the open like this. She’d rather be somewhere she knew, somewhere safe and away from all these geared-up officers.

“Okay,” Liv said. She looked to the paramedic, who was just finishing up. Devon, having no injuries, was cleared to go, and Liv led her to the squad car, Stabler waiting by the driver’s door.

“You alright?” he asked when the women were close enough. Devon nodded before Liv opened the backdoor for her, and she climbed in. The ride to the station was silent as Devon closed her eyes, trying to calm her still racing heart, the barrel of the gun aiming at her still fresh in her mind.

SVU Department

Monday April 7th. 5:37pm

It took a full 45 minutes to go through the whole story with Olivia and Stabler. Devon felt more awake, more alive as she recounted everything, but that could also be the coffee that Stabler had given her. She glazed over her near-death experience, brushing it off as just another occupational hazard. Even so, she saw the looks on their faces, the pity in their eyes. Devon hated it; she didn’t need pity. She was an FBI field agent, and a damn good one. Just because she had a brush with death meant nothing; she was alive, wasn’t she? She was fine, she was going to just continue working, dammit.

“Well, at least Madelyn doesn’t have to testify, or deal with her ex anymore,” Stabler commented, shrugging. Devon knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but she wasn’t in the mood to entertain him.

“She didn’t want this; no one would. She’s going to need counselling. I’ve got a good shrink if she needs one,” she replied flatly, standing up from the interrogation table. “Is she still at Mercy?”

Liv stood up with her, still looking concerned. “She is. But maybe you should go home for the night, get some good sleep…. Maybe get some counselling for yourself.”

Devon scoffed. “I’m fine, Liv. Really, I’m just great,” she thought about it, though, felt the exhaustion wash over her. “Maybe I’ll swing by the hospital tomorrow, though. Just…just give Madelyn my card, okay?” She took her business card out of her back pocket, handing it to Olivia.

“Of course. Need a ride?”

“No, I—no. I’m fine. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Devon replied, making her way towards the elevators. She stood in the back of the elevator as the doors closed, leaning against the cool, metal wall. She rested her head back, eyes closed. She was fine, she had to be. There was no other way she could be.

Office of Devon Motely

FBI Headquarters

Tuesday April 8th. 9:05am

Devon stared at her computer screen, eyes unfocused. The FBI database was open, and she had files spread out over her desk. She had been researching a drug ring, looking up information on some lowlife front man, when her mind had wandered. She was acutely aware of her breathing; inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

She shook herself, hands back on the keys, trying to focus on work. She typed in some key words, started reading the information that popped up. The man was in his 40s, balding, white. His rap sheet wasn’t extensive; petty burglary here, minor assaults there. He seemed to normally roll with a partner, one that seemed a little more aggressive. While the first man had a penchant for using a switchblade, his partner was fond of his .42 caliber pistol.

Instantly, Devon was back in Madelyn’s brownstone, staring down Nathan as he pointed a gun at her, taking aim. Devon jumped, blinking, and she was back in her office, gasping for air, heart hammering in her chest.

“You alright, Motely?” a voice asked from the doorway, making Devon jump again, knocking over her half-full cup of coffee onto the ground.

“Ah! Yes, sorry, sir!” she replied, recognizing her boss’s, Jenkins’, voice. She scrambled to grab paper towels out of her desk, dropping to her knees to clean up her coffee.

Jenkins watched as Devon cleaned the mess, the latter letting her hair fall in front of her face so that she didn’t have to see her boss’s face. “You know, for someone who is generally my best undercover agent, you’re not a very good liar.”

Devon’s hands stuttered as she threw away the wet paper towels, still not making eye contact. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sit,” he ordered, closing the door to the office behind him. Devon did as she was told, knowing where this was going. She wasn’t going down without a fight, though.

“I’m fine,” she said. She hated how her words sounded weaker than her mind wanted them to be. But she wasn’t going to lose this job; she loved it too much.

Jenkins came to stand in front of Devon’s desk. He stood in silence, waiting; he had the most patience in the world. Finally, Devon raised her head, looking him in the eye. Unlike with the SVU detectives, she didn’t find pity there; Jenkins learned a long time ago that people like Devon didn’t want pity. Instead she found resolve, strength, and just the tiniest bit of concern.

“Devon, you were almost killed yesterday. You stared down the barrel of a gun with no out, no plan. It’s okay to not be fine; in fact, it would honestly worry me if you were fine,” he said gently.

The sincerity, the rawness, of his words hit Devon more than she’d like to admit. But she couldn’t show weakness, especially not to Jenkins; he had given her everything, how could she show him that she wasn’t worth it?

“I’m serious; it’s fine. It’s not the first time I’ve been in a losing situation, I can still work, I can—”

“Stop, Dev. Just, stop,” he cut her off, placing his hands heavily on her shoulders. “It’s true that you’ve been in many life or death situations, but not like this. Something’s changed, and I want you to take some time off, go to the team’s psychiatrist.”

Devon felt a heaviness in her gut. Jenkins has ordered time off and a visit to the company’s shrink before, but this time was different. Like he said, something had changed, and that scared Devon more than anything. So, she fell back on her instinct; the instinct to not change, to stick with the familiar.

“How much time off?” she whispered meekly, eyes dropping to her desk.

Jenkins sighed heavily, pulling his hands back. “That depends on Dr. Tomlinson. She’s already expecting you.” Jenkins turned towards the door, slowly making his way out of her office. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob, saying without looking back, “emotions…fear is not a weakness, Motely. It’s an instinct; it’s what keeps us alive.” A pause. “Come and see me if you need someone to talk to.” And then he was gone.

Devon fought against the tears in her eyes, blinking them away before they could fall. He was right; of course, he was, he always was. But that didn’t mean that Devon was happy about it. It still felt like a weakness, how could it not be? Daydreaming, jumping at the slightest noise? Being unable to focus? How could that be anything be weakness? Letting out a huff, Devon gathered herself and left her office, stomping towards Dr. Tomlinson’s office, not mad that she had to go but angry with herself for needing the help.

Apartment of Devon Motely

Sunday, April 13th. 11:36am

Devon felt better already; she had the past week off, and was off for the foreseeable future, until Dr. Tomlinson said otherwise. But her daydreams, and her nightmares, were already starting to go away. She felt less shaky, more in control of herself. She still felt her heart race when she recounted Nathan aiming a gun at her—she actually stopped carrying her glock altogether during this week, as per requested from her shrink—but it was getting better. She had visited Dr. Tomlinson every day this past week, and she was confident that she’d be back to work in another week. Now, there was only one more thing to do today. Devon pulled out her phone, opening her group chat with Olivia and Stabler.

Hey, are you guys free for lunch today? It’s on me, she texted. It was the weekend, which didn’t always guarantee a day off, especially because Stabler was normally with his family when he wasn’t at work, but it was worth a shot.

Sure, but only if it’s that new sandwich shop, Olivia texted back almost immediately. Before Devon even finished reading her text, Stabler responded:

Can’t. My turn to watch Eli while Kathy shops

Have fun, daddy, Devon wrote back while smirking. She knew Stabler hated the nickname, which only made it funnier to Olivia and Devon. He reacted with a thumbs down while Olivia put a laughing emoji. Switching over to a one-on-one conversation, Devon and Liv arranged to meet in 20 minutes.

Riley’s Sandwiches

Sunday, April 13th. 12:15pm

“Thanks for meeting me,” Devon said by way of greeting, giving Olivia a hug. Liv pulled her in, squeezing gently, rubbing her back for a moment before pulling away.

“Of course. We hardly see each other as it is. How’re you holding up after last week?” she asked. Always straight to the point with her.

“Ah, better. I’m doing better.”

They both ordered, got their food, and sat down at a table. They talked about nothing for a little, just being comfortable around each other, like how they always were. But there was a tension there; the unspoken questions building up like a wall between them. It wasn’t until they had finished their sandwiches that Devon spoke up.

“There was a reason I asked you out to lunch…well, besides the fact that I like your company,” Devon started, smiling. “I, uh, I wanted to thank you…you know, after the whole Madelyn thing. I didn’t really get the chance to sincerely tell you how much I appreciated you helping me.”

Olivia waved her off. “That’s what friends are for. I know you’d do the same thing for me.”

“In a heartbeat. But still, it means a lot. I’ve been…off since. I’ve never been through…that. My therapist has been helping me a lot, but I still have a ways to go before I’m back to myself.” It was hard for Devon to admit, but she knew out of everyone she could talk to, Olivia understood; people react to trauma differently.

“What’s changed?” Liv asked, giving her a hard, yet concerned look.

Devon took her time thinking the question over. She thought through her emotions, her thoughts from the past week, the conversations with Dr. Tomlinson. “I’m still not entirely sure myself,” she admitted. “I think I just…it really hit me, ya know? That I could die right then, that that was it. That I wouldn’t go on to help anyone else.” She looked down at her hands. “Plus, I just…I wasn’t ready to die. I know that’s selfish and stupid and doesn’t really make sense, but—”

“It’s none of those things, Dev. I don’t think there’s many people who are ready to die,” Olivia reminded her.

“But I should be…shouldn’t I? I know that there’s a very high chance that I’ll die on the job, that I probably won’t retire. And that never really bothered me before. And I can’t figure out why it does now.”

Olivia sat in silence for so long that Devon eventually looked up, eyes watery. She looked like she was deep in thought, but as Devon watched, a realization formed, brightening her eyes. “Because you’ve finally found something worth living for.”

She said it so simply that Devon just sat there, blinking at her. The words wormed their way into her brain, taking a hold in her mind. She remembered being held at gunpoint, remembered her last thoughts. They were of Olivia. Stabler. Fin. Munch. Cragen. All the wonderful friends she had made at SVU. It really is that simple, isn’t it?

“How do you continue doing this job, then? Knowing that every time you walk out your door could be your last? That you’re letting your friends, your squad down?” Devon asked in a small voice. It was exhilarating—both relieving and horrifying—asking something so personal, something that told so much about herself as much as it did about Olivia.

“I don’t really think about it, to be honest,” Liv answered. “Besides, I know I wouldn’t be letting you guys down; I’d like to think you’d be proud of the person I was. Would you honestly be let down if you heard that I had died while on shift?”

“No, of course not!” Devon blurted out. Then she realized why Olivia had asked; she already knew the answer, but now, so did Devon. “I see. Thank you, Liv.”

She shot her a smile. “Anytime, Dev. You can always come to me if you need to talk.”

Just then, Devon got a text. She glanced down. “Ah, duty calls. Jenkins wants to see me.”

“Need a ride?”

“That would be lovely, thank you.”

FBI Headquarters

Sunday, April 13th. 2:58pm

Devon was seated in a chair in front of Jenkins’s desk, Dr. Tomlinson in the chair to her right. Jenkins was behind the desk, hands steepled on the hard wood. His gaze flicked between the two of them before dropping to the file in front of him. Devon waited, knowing that he’d start at his own pace; there was no point trying to speed it up.

“Is Motely cleared to work?” Jenkins finally asked, dragging the question out, eyes pinning Dr. Tomlinson to her seat. But she was used to be under his hard gaze. She was undisturbed when she answered.

“Technically speaking, yes. But I’d wait. Give me another week with her.”

Devon hated that they talked about her like she wasn’t sitting right there, as if they were the adults and she was a child. But she held her tongue, keeping her face neutral. She thought about it; was she ready to go back to work? The talk with Olivia early had left her feeling lighter than she had all week. And she knew that she wanted to go back to work eventually. But was now the right time? Or was she trying to hide in an office?

As if sensing her indecision, Jenkins turned to her. “Are you ready to return to work?”

The question hung in the air between them. Their eyes locked, his steely grey eyes boring into her molten brown ones. He was searching for any kind of trepidation, of hesitancy. Of fear.

“Yes sir,” she replied, voice unwavering. How could she say no? It would be like quitting the Bureau right then. Eyes still locked with her boss, she felt Dr. Tomlinson shift uncomfortably next to her. Jenkins looked to the psychologist, dismissing her with a nod. Once the door closed behind her, Jenkins started in with the file on his desk.

“This is going to be a long UC op, Motely. But it will get you out of town for a little, maybe clear your head out of the city. A nice…change of scenery,” he started. Devon waited, saying nothing. He’d get to the main points soon enough. “You’re going to be a college student, attending the University of San Francisco. And you will also be a Madam, buying and exchanging young girls, working your way through pimps until you’re so well known, we round up the biggest players in the Golden State.”

The alias hit her like a punch to the gut; the city, the impending time that will be sunk into this, the shady shit she was going to have to do. A million questions swirled in her mind, making her dizzy. But she opened her mouth, asking the most obvious question she could.

“When do I start?”

#everyone deserves love #edl #edl ch 3 #everyone deserves love ch 3 #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfic #fanfic #barba x oc #my writing #I swear that barbs will be in the next chapter #this is the end of the prologue

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years

Text

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 14: SCOURGE

............

......Huh?

Oh, hello there! My name's Lutrudis, pleased to meet you. Judging from that look of surprise on your face however, it's evident that you weren't looking for ME per say... What's that? You want to know what this is? Right, of course, my apologies.

Well, this is a mini-series belonging to... ahem, my creator, in which he goes into slightly more detail about his thoughts on the villains in Sonic's history, and why he thinks they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). Usually he gives his stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. He also stresses that these are just his own personal thoughts, and that whether you agree or disagree, you're free to share your own thoughts and opinions.

Unfortunately, as you may have gathered, it seems he's a bit occupied for today, and is thus unable to do a review... is what I WOULD be saying if he didn't let me cover for him! That's right boys and girls, I'll be filling in for him today, by doing a little review of my own! Please forgive me if I prattle on for extended periods, but I sincerely hope my efforts in assessing the Wrong'un of the Week are of the utmost quality. Truth be told, it's kind of nerve-wracking, but I'm happy to give it my all for you guys. ❤️

So then, let's carry on with the show, shall we? Welcome to a new edition of Sweet or... Sour. Welcome to Sweet or Sour. Yes indeed, heh heh... (Is the creator's language normally this gratuitous? I hope Cream hasn't seen his posts...)

Anyhow, for today's review... well, this is quite interesting. Normally the creator prefers to keep his reviews focused on game-centric villains, but I guess he made an exception with this one. Today, we'll be directing our attention to a notorious copycat of our blue hero in the Archie continuity, and legendary connoisseur of 70's fashion: Scourge the Hedgehog.

The Gist: Once upon a time, in the land of comics, there was a world known by all as Mobius. But there was also a parallel dimension called Anti-Mobius, or as it would later become known as, Moebius... one E makes all the difference, apparently. Anyway, in this dimension, everyone and everything that existed in Mobius had an identical equivalent in Anti-Mobius, but things operated a bit differently, in the sense that they were largely the opposite of what we were familiar with.

Putting aside the rather disturbing implication that this world might not have had any real will or independence if it existed purely to do the opposite of what Mobius did, this meant that it had a Sonic the Hedgehog of its very own, as well as a father to that Sonic. Sadly though, this Sonic's father was not that kind to him. In fact, he was said to be a rather poor excuse for a father, as evidenced by how he didn't give his son enough attention, and... oh, that's it.

How awful.

I'd say his choice of attire is the real crime presented here.

Anti-Mobius in its original form experienced a period of Great Peace, but alas, it was not to last. It soon became a shadow of its former glory, which seemed prophetic in hindsight, as it was by this time that this world's Sonic the Hedgehog - Evil Sonic - murdered his own father in cold blood, and then threw his world's incarnation of King Maximilian Acorn into the Zone of Silence. He quickly became a dictator to the people of Anti-Mobius, with his only immediate opposition coming in the form of the kindhearted counterpart to Dr. Ivo Robotnik... or should that be Dr. Julian Robotnik, in this continuity...? Hmm, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore...

Naturally, the laws of the universe saw fit to correct this wrong. Just as water is wet, and fire is hot, Sonic gives evildoers a right kicking. And lo and behold, our magnificent hero did eventually meet his evil duplicate. The two were evenly matched in speed, but the good-natured Sonic triumphed regardless, possibly because he had more wittiness on his person.

Pictured: Quality banter.

Evil Sonic later brought along the rest of his gang to aid him, who predictably mirrored Sonic's own band of Freedom Fighters. They were just as much of a match for our heroes, which is a polite way of saying they weren't. You really shouldn't expect anything exquisite when they looked like this.

Maybe you should call your group something else then...

These parlor games went on for a while, with the status quo never truly changing. But then, after one final showdown with Sonic, the evil Robotnik of Mobius kicked the bucket, which among other things, inspired ANOTHER Robotnik to fill the void. This Robo-Robotnik took Evil Sonic along with him to commit many acts of dastardly intent, an act of generosity that proved to be tragically undermined by Evil Sonic getting caught and trapped by different people time and time again, to the point where even his old gang had long replaced him with a new leader. He did go on to escape the grasp of one Zonic the Zone Cop... only to later get arrested again by the same guy. So far, so adorably incompetent, right?

Still, he did bust out once more, and he proceeded to turn the overall universe into a glorified soap drama by pulling the moves on numerous ladies in Mobius, which in true Evil Sonic style, achieved precisely nothing of merit. Even after he briefly teamed up with Rouge the Bat, his luck persisted in not manifesting. But things were about to get even worse... for us. On a meta level, if you know what I mean.

After one final botched attempt at pointless thievery, with the Master Emerald being the prime target in this particular case, Evil Sonic's attempt to gain himself a super form was halted midway with great force by none other than Locke, the notorious father and attempted microwave murderer of Knuckles the Echidna. Rather than kill him however, all this did was change his fur to green, and leave him with some hardcore scars.

He promptly renamed himself Scourge. Because he's a real SCOURGE to good ideas, har har.

New kid in town, do not steal.

With his first act of villainy as a new man tattering to pieces due to foolishly invoking the wrath of Shadow the Hedgehog, he soon crossed paths with Dr. Finitevus, an albino echidna who otherwise looked exactly like Knuckles (good heavens, how many of these can one muster?), and spent some time on his side by aiding a new gang of lovely gentlemen called the Destructix. Together, these functioning psychopaths committed more mindless evil.

He also managed to swoon over Fiona Fox to his side, a miraculous modicum of success considering you need some sort of charm to be able to do that, of which Scourge has shown nil. I'm hardly an expert on dishing out romantic advice, but I'm willing to bet there's plenty of superior fish in the sea, Fiona...

How about “Oh my god, did I seriously die to THESE losers?”

Eventually, Scourge and Fiona broke away from Finitevus' allegiance after the deadly and boring Enerjak was unleashed on Mobius. He returned to Anti-Mobius, and it turned out that any repairs made since the last time he was king didn't amount to anything substantial, because he went and conquered the entire land all over again. Rechristening his old gang as the Suppression Squad, he continued Being Evil™ some more, until the aforementioned Suppression Squad betrayed him for constantly being abhorrent to them, which led to him being stuck with Rosy the Rascal for a while, yet another shameful derivative of a close friend.

In his last days, at long last, he finally achieved a super form with the power of an Anarchy Beryl... only to get soundly thrashed once again, get thrown in prison, and then just when it seemed he'd be back in business, he got wiped out by the Genesis Wave. Tch, Mondays, am I right?

As you can tell from my words alone, let alone in an extremely abridged format, he did a fair amount over the years... and yet at the same time, when you really think about it, he ultimately did so very little.

Oh, and there was also a Metal Scourge at one point. I'm aware that the man who made him has never been all there in the head, but I still find myself questioning why he saw fit to go through with this nonsense.

I shouldn't need to say this, but that's a disgrace to the hostile Eggman robot that I know and detest.

The Design: Well, he started off as a Sonic, so it's to be expected that he'd look exactly like the lovable goof. Since this was ~Evil~ Sonic though, he was determined to remind us at all times that Grease was in fact the word.

~You're the one I don't want, you're not the one for, no-ho-ho, honey~

Then he turned green, and... yeah, he turned green. All I can say, really.

Please excuse me, I'm utterly beside myself with amazement.

It doesn't quite strike the imaginative chords, needless to say. And neither does his super state, which... I'm sorry, it's not normally my cup of tea to chide others for their appearance, but just look at this tripe for a moment.

No, I don't think I will.

When you combine his already ridiculous self with black eyes and a tiara... what exactly is the intent here? Am I supposed to be intimidated by this display?

Keep this between us if you can, but personally, I'm more intimidated by staircases than I am by this fiend.

The Personality: You would think that since a Sonic is a Sonic, Scourge would share a lot of his personality with our Sonic. And that is true... in the most superficial sense possible.

Sure, he's jovial, cocky, and prone to moments of overconfidence, which is enough to sound very familiar to us on paper. Beyond that however, that's all they really have in common beside their appearance. In every other category, you could argue that Scourge is the exact opposite of Sonic.

For instance, whereas Sonic is supremely loyal to his friends (trust me, I’m grateful to know!), Scourge treats his gang like fetid garbage, and that's when he's not outright abandoning them, neglecting them, and putting them in danger. Likewise, whereas Sonic is a blue bundle of bravery no matter the odds, Scourge is a poor little chicken when the going gets tough, despite all his ramblings about being Sonic's full potential.

This means that for all the acclaim he receives as Sonic's evil doppelganger... he shares very few similarities with who he's replicating. He's barely any different from all the other ruffians that Sonic faces, so what point is there to him being a Sonic at all? If he had a different name and design entirely, what would honestly be lost in translation?

But then, maybe he would just become Mephiles the Dark instead.

Or Mimic the Octopus instead.

Or Eggman Nega instead.

Or Ken Penders instead.

Or... sheesh, they all kind of blend together after a while, don’t they?

The Execution: If my general tone has thus far not been enough of an obvious indication, I do not rank Scourge with any particular favouritism when it comes to Sonic's rogue gallery.

Mind you, ANYONE who threatens our world and tries to kill my friends is nothing but rancid at their core, and as long as they remain unrepentant, I would never support any of them. Asking me which dangerous maniac is “the best” is like asking me which sewage stinks the least, after all. But even I can understand that there's a right way to do bad, and a wrong way to do bad. Scourge, Evil Sonic, whatever you wish to call him, falls squarely into the latter category.

How I'd love to shove an arrow up His Majesty's rear end.

First of all, his motivations were poorly structured, and that's putting it tactfully. Most of the time, we're led to assume that he does evil for no other reason than because it's evil, so we're already not looking at masterpiece material. But as it turns out, as I mentioned way earlier on, he grew resentful of his father for not giving him as much attention as he felt he deserved.

So when he killed his dear old dad, and went on to do everything else to bitterly stick it to his dad's memory, we're supposed to... sympathise...? Understand his point of view, perhaps...?

Well, I dare say I'll be sticking my nose up to THAT presumption, because there is no pathos to be had here. None at all. It's just a selfish brat becoming a violent and murderous selfish brat, and nothing more. By doing everything for evil's sake, intertwined with this sorry excuse of a tragic backstory, it's as if he's trying to have the best of both villainous worlds, without understanding what makes either of them work.

Secondly, for what little success that Scourge actually had to his name, few of them were by his own hand so to speak. As much as it pains me to give Dr. Eggman even a veneer of kudos, it does require mentioning that for all of the doctor's contemptible attributes, he truly is single-handedly responsible for a great majority of his own... achievements, if you wish to call them such. By contrast, this stinker rarely worked for his moments, instead often relying solely on others to get anything done efficiently, whether it be Fiona, Finitevus, his gangs, or the Anarchy Beryl. Without them, Scourge was always nothing.

Thirdly, as mentioned, he failed to fulfill even the basic concept of what Sonic would be like if he became evil, since he has virtually nothing in common with the hero he's trying so desperately to present himself as the corrupted counterpart to. While I'd obviously prefer not to entertain the mere notion of an evil Sonic anyways, since I know deep in my heart that he would never go down that path, I know him well enough to reasonably assume that even if he did lose his way, he would still be recognisable in some capacity, since there are countless aspects to his personality that remain so... inherent to how his mind operates.

I guess what I'm saying is that if an evil Sonic came to be, he would exist as a darker mirror of how Sonic actually is, and not... something that is not at all like Sonic beyond the physical.

What's the matter? Not used to a horse seeing you for what you really are?

Finally, remember when I said he was considerably more cowardly than Sonic? I wasn't simply referring to life or death battles and similar heat of the moment situations. Even when the scenario is of lower intensity, when the odds are completely in his favor at that, Scourge proves himself to be what Sonic isn't. Remember when he broke into the house of Sonic's father, with the intent to intimidate and kill said father... only to be scolded into submission by him? We're expected to believe this guy is a big baddie who ranks high in threat level, yet getting a telling off is sufficient enough to shoo him away?

If only Eggman was this easy to deal with...

Now granted, it's to my understanding that all of Scourge's failings are occasionally explained as him being a parody character. But, and correct me if I'm wrong here... aren't parodies supposed to be, you know, parodic, even if done subtly? As opposed to being played completely straight with no trace of irony, which is exactly how Scourge was portrayed throughout the entire duration of the comic's run, with no exceptions whatsoever?

Despite how often the comic insisted otherwise, and despite how often he received it, Scourge was not a villain who warranted importance. He was not a master planner, or a legendary conquerer, or a malevolent force of nature. He was bottom of the barrel, a wannabe at best, who thought he was made for bigger stripes, but remained little more than a walking pile of fresh manure, with nothing to show for it till the very end. His credibility was often alluded to, and handed to him, but never in any stretch was it properly earned. A punk who occasionally got lucky is hardly worth the rank of arch-fiend, in my humble opinion. He was a disgrace who simply had the luxury of wearing Sonic's skin to mask his shortcomings, and I can’t say I’m crestfallen to see him go.

And quite frankly, anyone who impersonates Sonic in the first place reeks to high heaven anyway. To think this trash heap thought he could ever compare in the slightest to my darling... Oh goodness, did I say that out loud?

Lutrudis Gives Scourge a: Thumbs Down!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Lutrudis Hadeer #Scourge the Hedgehog #Archie Sonic

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watchtheblog · 4 years

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petty cache

thank you for coming to read my diary which masquerades as a blog but is actually just a vessel for disseminating my birthday wishlists. it’s like an event you show up to where the host tries to sell you a timeshare 25 minutes after some requisite, mindless song and dance.

welcome! if you’d like purchase a timeshare, scroll to the bottom. for the song and dance, look no further:

the other day i zoned out on zoom therapy and when my therapist asked where i “went” i had to lie because i had gone to the part of my brain that holds all the things i need to think about forever for no reason (i call it the petty cache — this is an umbrella term for the space that also houses my attitude cabinet) and dusted off a memory of a comment i saw on a stranger’s facebook three weeks ago that said “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”.

i don’t know either person, and that’s what i was thinking about. i spend $[redacted] a month on therapy and instead of focusing on one of my numerous unsolved mysteries, i was thinking about the nuances of this comment - like why they wouldn’t just share the news or message the person directly? or what losing their password had to do with anything? or why they would comment on facebook instead of texting or calling the person. did they not have their number? imagine not knowing someone well enough to have their phone number, but still wanting to share your good news with them!

all i want (for my birthday) is to know what the news is that this stranger has to share, and i’ll never know so i have to put that comment in my minutiae repository with all the other things that will plague me until i die from texting and driving, smoke inhalation as a result of purposely leaving a candle lit in my home overnight almost every night, consuming half a dozen hot dogs a week, or a now unnamed disease that will posthumously be attributed to my chronic inability to mind my own business.

i’m constantly concerning myself with things that are none of my concern - no matter how insignificant - because my brain is a commune of sentient pepperoni running instagram polls among themselves to discern if something is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about. and guess what? it turns out absolutely everything that has ever offended, confused, bothered, intrigued, slightly inconvenienced, or merely happened to me is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about.

because i devote so much energy to nonsense, i can often be found persecuting strangers for insulting me on the internet (and for other miscellaneous bad behavior). the information superhighway is my home so i have to protect myself (and my friends) here, and if that means spending 45 minutes to 48 hours trying to find every misstep you’ve made in your life until i have enough ammunition to spray a dozen simulated retaliatory bullets at your virtual head because you called me a “stupid bitch” on instagram, well… so be it!

i am relentless in my pursuit of wasting time, so if that doesn’t work, i will find the cold stone creamery you frequent, seek employment there, be hired on the spot, learn the craft, be promoted to manager, poison you on your birthday, gain access to your funeral, and tarnish your reputation by reading your shitty DM in front of the few family and friends whom i haven’t already made aware of the abhorrent way you conducted yourself online!

there are so many different ways strangers will try to hurt your feelings — an interesting genre of which come from men who (like me) have definitely never had sex before, and mistakenly think i care about the ways in which my body does not make them horny.

“no tits” one will say. and i’m like, how do you want me to respond to that? my boobs are indeed small, yes. did you come here to shoot facts back and forth all day? ok: you’re going to start balding way sooner than you’re prepared for, i bet your childhood dog is dead, your time on the internet should be supervised, your closet is full of vests, and you wait on line at nightclubs… good day?!

while i will obviously engage with anyone if they want to fight, i prefer when the unsolicited criticism is personalized, and not just thoughtless, lazily devised tripe.

a year and a half ago, a man who looked like he exhales smog DMed me to let me know - among other things in a paragraph long rant - he’d “lost brain cells” watching my story. knowing he had likely never had an adequate amount to begin with, it seemed like an emergency, so i started a group DM with his wife. because his message had come just three days after a “fuckkk [heart eye emoji]” response to a photo of my ass, i included a screenshot as evidence of his devolving mental state.

being - presumably - gainfully employed, neither of them responded.

luckily, the consolation prize for insulting me is that you gain residency in my brain and stay in my thoughts and prayers for all eternity, so i checked in on them a few days ago. they’d unfollowed and wiped their feeds clean of each other!!

because i’ve never “moved on” in my entire life, i fired up our long dormant group chat, and sent my condolences: “aw. sorry your trip to positano - where you were going to attempt to repair your ramshackle marriage - got cancelled because of covid and so you just got divorced instead :(” i wrote before being blocked by both of them.

then i headed right over to my therapist’s facebook and commented “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”

i spent an entire therapy session detailing this monomania before my therapist thoughtfully suggested i “pick [my] battles”.

to which i thoughtfully responded: yeah, babe. i pick every single one.

***

timeshare time! it’s the same list as this post, with a few additions (at top) (and edits based on availability).

places to donate food education fund pretty brown girl the okra project

some furniture stuff a side table a pointless, laughably tiny little thing this website is calling a “drink table” a lamp one of these benches i do not want this but it’s important to me that at least 2 other people know it exists

this plant that obviously does not need to cost $165 but idk how to shop economically

air pods

gifts from the previous post - all still v much in play!

a pair of shoes (size 8 or 38) one pair, another pair, yet another, these are on sale, these are not, and a final pair

a specific clutch with three color choices they allege this color is called sand but it looks white to me, pink, green for those who do not know what malachite means (it couldn’t be me. i learned it 3 hours ago when i began compiling this cursed list)

something everyone with money to waste needs this

dresses i’ll never be able to wear until there’s a vaccine because unlike someone tacky who knows me, i won’t be having a birthday party in the middle of a global pandemic (hi, you fool) white polka dot, not white polka dot, also not polka dot, a red dress, a skirt (aka half a dress), a black dress

this sweatsuit xs in this, small in this

is sephora cancelled? i want this hair dryer which i’m sure you can buy elsewhere if sephora is cancelled, which it v well may be

this item which you may think is cheap but actually it’s not soooo a hairpin

earrings one pair, another pair, and another

this dress which i’ll never wear anywhere even when there is a vaccine because… what?! but maybe. you never know. size 34. lol when i get this far into the list i’m always blown away by how insane it is that i do this every year to no audience. so i’m just laughing alone at that. :) i am v funny to myself. another dress i’ll never wear ;)

the nicest weighted blanket you know of i’m depressed!!!!! if you can’t tell!!!!!!!

every year i have asked for a weekend bag and every year i have not received one, so alas, we try again this is not a weekend bag actually but it will do. this is!

a peloton but just venmo me the cash (@merce212) because i have a hookup

an assortment of ridiculous things a $500 body scarf a $580 beach towel with an octopus on it for no reason besides “art” i cannot tell analog time but it’s never too late to start!! how mad would you be if someone bought you a roulette table for your wrist? be honest. (THIS WATCH IS FOUR YEARS RENT!!!!!!) they won’t say how much this costs :( i’m losing my mind and must be gifted a chanel watch or else i will perish. to put my salami on when i am eating salami in my bed “24k gold crocodile [?!!) teddy bear”. the website says there’s only one left, which begs the question “why did someone buy one of these rather than buying me a chanel watch?!!” *real ‘billionaires shouldn’t exist [unless they’re buying me a watch]’ energy* to put my new watch in this is ugly but it’s on sale :) idk wtf “secret box pendant” means but i wish this necklace was also a USB with every season and spinoff of 90 day fiancé on it hi yes i’m stupid but i draw the line at $1500 connect four…

#things i want #things I want for my birthday #lists of things #lists of things i want #my birthday #birthday lists #9/26; never forget #invidious consumption

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artnerd1123 · 4 years

Text

A Familiar World

Letters To Nettles (Part 2) ——————————————

Recent events leave Journal unsure of himself, so he decides to get a second opinion. Nettles is all too happy to oblige.

The masterpost for AFW can be found here. The chapter post for AFW can be found here.

——————————————

I really enjoy writing these little interludes. They’re meant to be casual, so it’s more like writing dialogue for fun than anything super serious. Plus, I get to play around with these two- especially nettles! Always a good day when she shows up.

hope y’all enjoy~

Nettles, I have an unexpected update on my roommate situation. I say unexpected for reasons that will be obvious in a moment, but I hope you’ve been doing well since I last wrote. Is the forest alright? How about town? And how’ve you been? I miss our magic lessons. But, anyways, all this is beside the point. Let me tell you what I’m actually writing you for. Something weird happened earlier today. I’d been running low on coffee for awhile now, and I haven’t had the chance to go out shopping. As you know, I’ve been very busy trying to recreate the spellbooks that were taken from me at home. It’s been going alright. But it hasn’t exactly left me ample time for going out and exploring a new town. Anyways, I was down to maybe one more cup of coffee, and I was trying to save it for this morning. Then the strangest thing happened. Apparently my roommate and his cat went out before I got up. They ran some errands. That’s not unusual, but what is is the fact that they bought me more coffee. It was the right brand, type... everything. And they got me a whole new bag of the stuff without any prompting. I’m honestly not sure what to make of it. I thought my roommate was trying too hard to warm up to me, but he’s been giving me space and only gentle nudges here and there? And now this? Maybe he isn’t so bad? What do I do??? I need your advice again.

Signed, Journal Drapht

————

Journal, Hey there, its nice to hear from you again. The forest is doing fine. It’s a little dry out right now, but it’s nothing a rain shower won’t fix. Town’s a little antsy about the lack of rain, too, but otherwise they’re fine. And I’ve been alright, thanks. Plodding along as per usual. Might swing by and give you another lesson- they’re fun, and I’m kinda bored out here. I miss you, knucklehead. As for the rest of that, it’s certainly a step up. Seeing as the dude’s been letting you take things at your own pace, I’d say it’s a good sign. He and his familiar took note of something important to you. They invested in it, and made sure to get it right. Seems like they’re trying to make you feel more at home, and let you know they’re open if you wanna hang out or whatever. I’d try and take a bit of initiative there. I told you he seemed nice before, and I also said you should give him a chance. The ships are in your harbor now. You oughta try sailing one. Be careful, mind you, but give it a try. What’s the worst that could happen?

Sincerely, Nettles

————

Nettles, I’m glad everything’s been ok, aside from lack of rain. Summer’s really bad about casual showers though. Hopefully it won’t end up storming on you guys. You’re really sure I should try and get out of my shell? I don’t know these people, and it’s not like they offered to protect me for life or anything. They just gave me some new coffee. Granted, it was new coffee that I needed, and their attention to detail was really touching, but I’m just not sure I’m ready for that sort of thing. Can’t I just stay in my room and work? That’s been going well so far. And I’ll see them at mealtimes, when I remember them. That’s enough, right?

Signed, Journal Drapht

————

Journal, Kid, if living in your room earned gold, you’d be richer than dragon. You really gotta get out more. Believe me. For Revaew’s sake, you’ve got a whole apartment you’ve barely lived in. That’s your house, mate. You gotta get used to your roomies sometime. I’d say with their latest gesture that it’s more than enough reason to start. After all, coffee is practically your lifeblood. They handed more to you on a silver platter. Sure, it’s not a life protection promise, but they helped keep your head intact from migraines, eh? But for real. I understand your concern. However, you can’t let it trap you. You’re not gonna get anywhere if you just stay in your comfort zone and never try reaching out. You and I both know that. Again, you’ve said it’s only been smaller gestures and giving you space beforehand. Which is a really good sign. It really looks like the guy and his familiar are trying to respect your boundaries. You just gotta let em know you’re ready to reach out. You’ll be alright, Journ. And again, if this fellow turns out to be an asshole, just write me another letter. I’ll take care of em. Could teach you a lesson while I’m at it.

Sincerely, Nettles

P.S. If it storms now, I’m legally obligated to send the clouds your way when they’re finished here. Don’t jinx it.

————

Nettles, Y’know, I should’ve expected the ‘coffee is your lifeblood’ jab from the beginning. Alas, I did not, and I’m here now snickering at it. You’re right, of course. You usually are. Maybe I’ll try and reach out a bit. I’m not about to jump right in, mind you. But I could probably do some of my reading in the living room. That’s a good enough start. It’ll give me an opportunity to watch my roommate a bit, in any case. And I’m pretty sure his cat likes to hang around in there too. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. I’ll have to update you on what happens. Hopefully hanging around Aiden (roommate) and Roo (cat) won’t be… too bad. Thanks again for the advice.

Signed, Journal Drapht

P.S. Nettles, the only thing I’ve consistently jinxed is myself. Don’t worry too much.

————

Journal, It’s never a problem. Thanks for the update. I’m always happy to hear from you. Give the Roo a pat for me, will ya? And make sure to thank Aiden for the coffee! Also, maybe put down the book if you’re fucking a jinx up. Those are high energy spells, y’know? Don’t wanna go using up all your energy in one go. That’s never fun.

Love, Nettles

————

Nettles, I’m rolling my eyes, but you can’t see it. You’re such a mom. No guarantees on pats, but I’ve already said thank you. And thanks for the heads up on keeping tabs on my magic- will do. I’ll write you again soon. Hope you have a good rest of your day.

Love, Journal Drapht

#afw chapter #afw #a familiar world #my story #arty writes #journal sherman drapht #nettles willoweep #it's always fun to make up banter with these two...#nettles be like 'im ur mom now' and journ's like 'sure jan' but they care each other anyway;;;#goode;;;#lskjdfsf and now i have a proper transition into the next chapter i wanna write!!!#nice :D #we makin our way through it y'all!!!#gettin there!

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gra-sonas · 4 years

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This hiatus has been hell and we still have 26 days to go I think the very lack of cast content during filming didn't help as someone who also followed them during season 1 they were very much active not even with on set stuff just them hanging out together I was surprised they went the total opposite for season 2 with the Hiatus so long and there actually being a fandom now I dont hold much hope in CW promotion but I would love some on set pics or a q&a for us not going to Atlanta

The good news is: we’ve made it do day 303 (THREE-HUNDRED-THREE) of this hiatus. Which is utterly ridiculous, but also pretty awesome. GO US!

I don’t know why the cast shared so much less compared to S1, I would’ve loved to get more random silly stories to tide us over. Alas, I’m sure they were all super busy filming S2, and didn’t have much time to update their social media. 💚

Looking at the S2 ‘key art’ (YAY for reusing all those awkward S1 promo pics btw, with that sparkly pink-lavender-orange-yellow-starry-night filter slapped on, the next-to-no effort put into that poster was barely noticeable. 👏) they released recently, the next 26 days will be a firework of… days and days without any promo activity.

On the 28th it’s time for aTVfest in Atlanta, which will hopefully give us an idea (i.e. TONS OF SPOILERS) about ep 2x01, and some more details about S2 in general.

Then it’s probably another couple of days without any promo (wouldn’t want to risk alarming potential casual viewers to the fact that the show’ll return March 16 🙊🤐), before they’ll maybe (MAYBE?????) release a trailer? With actual new footage of S2??? In a somewhat decent quality? Goodness, we won’t know what hit us watching all that shiny new content!

Not sure whether to hold my breath for a S2 press day or other random cast interviews closer to the premiere? 🧐 I mean, the CW pr team will undoubtedly do everything in their power to sweep us off our feet with great promo content (like their particularly enticing pre-scheduled posts letting us know that the show’ll be available on the CW app, or - another highlight - they’ll helpfully promote other CW shows that are not Roswell New Mexico, yay 🤨), so cast interviews are probably not in our future. 🙃

Looks like we’ll be having a BLAST the next 26 days

(I’M KIDDING, in case that wasn’t obvious. I hope we will get some more promo stuff, I’m excited for aTVfest, I can’t wait to watch the trailer a million times, and I also still hope for a press day/cast interviews. Preferably with Vlamburn paired up, please and thank you 🙏)

#nonnie asks #rnm crack #this hiatus has been going on forever #look at me trying to be funny at 11pm #please pretend you chuckled at least once #roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico s2 #rnm trailer

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yeonchi · 4 years

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Kisekae Insights #5: Kai Hirasawa and the Keions

Let’s divert to what this series is really about; there’ll be more time for story overviews later.

K-On has been a pretty big influence in my project, even though I’m not sure how I exactly introduced it in the first place. If the Keions were simply characters in the series, then explaining their involvement in the first year would be a breeze, but there’s one thing I did back then that I’ll explain in this.

As I stated in #3, Ritsu Tainaka replaced Amy Pond in Series 1, 2 and 6. Her story as the Doctor’s companion is the same as Amy’s, so there’s no need to go into detail about that. All you need to know in that regard is that the Ritsu I’ll be talking about is the original HTT counterpart and not the Amy counterpart; I’ll explain her later.

Kai Hirasawa: The Adopted Husband

This “adopted husband” business is going to happen for a few other OC’s, so take note of that. Some of them were also known by other names in the past, but for this, they will be addressed by their current names.

This is Kai Hirasawa, the K-On OC I made for the project.

Kai Hirasawa was originally born as the older sibling of Tomoko and Tomoki Kuroki, but his parents put him up for adoption since they didn’t feel ready to bring a child up at the time. He was adopted by a Chinese family and moved to Hong Kong until the age of five. In a plotline inspired from the movie McDull, Kung Fu Kindergarten, his adoptive parents sent him to the Wudang Mountains in Hubei, China after his kindergarten teacher discovered his gift for kung fu.

At the age of twelve, Kai graduated and his parents sent him to Japan to attend middle school and high school. The high school Kai attended was a sister school to Sakuragaoka High, where the HTT girls attended, so he became good friends with them at some point, eventually becoming a couple with Yui.

Some time after he graduated, Kai’s life was merged with the Doctor’s by Yuki Nagato just before the events of The End of Time, because she believed that it would help him in his final battle. When he was separated again following the Doctor’s regeneration, he and Yui (because she had ties with him) became amnesiac for a short period of time. During that time, they got married and it wasn’t until right at the wedding ceremony that the Doctor passes by, during his final reward, and recovers their memories, returning them to their true identities.

From that point on, Kai lived with the Hirasawa family. Like Yui’s parents before them, Kai and Yui became a lovey-dovey couple, perhaps even more than Yui’s parents were. He became a part of the Zhuge family, or rather, one of its founding members, when he met the protagonist and one of his prototypes, Kyōko Izumi, and helped them fight off the Karn Army.

In an alternate timeline, where Yui became famous before she Michael Jackson’d herself ala Takotsuboya’s That Is It, Kai became depressed and committed suicide by gaining the power to open the Time Vortex and throw himself in it. Of course, the Doctor immediately destroys that timeline so it never really happened. This is one of the fanfiction stories I published online years ago.

Character highlights in the series

In the 50th Anniversary Series, I did a little character arc with Nodoka. In Block 6, she would be revealed to be one of the protagonist’s echoes that got created when he scattered himself throughout his own timeline (or a baby made out of dust and clay by the echo, which is what I wrote in the episode). In Block 9, we have her and Azusa saying that Yui doesn’t love them anymore (as friends) because she became so close with Kai. At the final climax, when the Master activates a nuclear device to destroy Koshi Castle, Nodoka prepares to sacrifice herself to deactivate it, but the Fourth and Fifth Doctors along with Momoka stop her from doing so, convincing her and Azusa that they, at the very least, still have other friends. In the end, the Doctor had them talk it out with Yui, Kai and Ui and they got back on good terms, not that they were ever on bad terms in the first place.

In one of the 2014 CNY Specials, the HTT girls are featured in a cameo as they have a naked pool party (it was topless in the version I did, but it might as well be, plus those scenes were removed in the family-friendly version of the episode).

The Keions have never fought as an army because K-On was adapted after the period Three Kingdoms was set in. However, in the Series 9 finale, Kai and the Keions are part of an army fighting on Hiroki’s side against Girl Power and the Kurayami Alliance in Ōsaka.

HTT becomes Boukenger

By 2018, things had changed for the Light Music Club girls. Ho-kago Tea Time and Wakaba Girls joined forces and became an indie music collective called the Light Music Studio (Japanese here, K-On Studio?), but we wouldn’t see that until Soulbound Series 3 the year after.

By that time, the other members of the Light Music Club got boyfriends as well. Banding together under Kai, the group called themselves Home-Away Support Boys Time, but the year after, they joined the Light Music Studio and renamed themselves Midnight Boys. Here are the members of that group:

Kai Hirasawa (leader, Yui’s husband)

Yūto Tamaki (Ritsu’s boyfriend)

Nozomu Setana (Mio’s boyfriend)

Makoto Kunemiya (Tsumugi’s boyfriend)

Satoshi Tainaka (Ritsu’s brother and Azusa’s fuck buddy boyfriend)

Hirosuke Masaki (Ui’s boyfriend)

Yōta Kiyono (Jun’s boyfriend)

As a bonus, here’s a little design of Hirosuke I did for Yui’s birthday spam in 2015.

Fun fact: Back in 2017, I posted a commissioned fanart of Mio with “Nozomu” on the K-On page and triggered a lot of fans, but I only did it because another admin was doing it as well. Also, with the exception of Kai, Satoshi and Hirosuke, the other boyfriends didn’t have last names in Gokaiger until I added them in Soulbound Series 3. Am I homophobic for denying yuri headcanon ships? Maybe, but it’s just how my story goes.

So the K-On girls joined the Superhero Project, gaining the powers of the Boukengers as follows:

Ritsu Tainaka (BoukenRed)

Azusa Nakano (BoukenBlack)

Tsumugi Kotobuki (BoukenBlue)

Ui Hirasawa (BoukenYellow)

Mio Akiyama (BoukenPink)

Jun Suzuki (BoukenSilver)

There were two other members of the Boukengers who got promoted and joined the Gokaigers by the start of the series:

Yui Hirasawa (GokaiYellow, formerly BoukenYellow) Yui was selected to be a Gokaiger in the series prelude because of her swordsmanship and her determination to overcome her airheadedness.

Kai Hirasawa (GokaiSilver, formerly BoukenSilver) When Yui became a Gokaiger, Kai was determined to be with her for fear of her dying like she did in That is It. In the first episode, he picks up the Gokai Cellular and GokaiSilver key that the Doctor (GokaiRed) dropped in a battle. He then abandons his role as BoukenSilver and disappears as he fights as GokaiSilver in secret. After revealing himself and explaining to everyone what happened, the Doctor takes back Kai’s morpher and key, asking him to think of what he can do to impress them. Soon after, he finds his courage to protect the world from the Zangyack Armada, which leads to the Doctor giving Kai back his morpher and key, as well as giving him the Q-Rex Megazord.

How Ritsu became “Amy”

This was a question that was buried in the back of my head for years until I finally decided to answer it in the Space Squad trilogy. Truth be told, I probably would have forgotten otherwise.

In the third Space Squad movie, Rassilon, who made his way to the 21st century after his exile from Gallifrey in Hell Bent, lured the Doctor to Trenzalore (which in my canon is just an area on Earth) in the Makū Dimension and used the TARDIS to power up an Axis Converter, which kills it and causes the dimension to expand throughout the universe. Rassilon fast-forwards time around him and the Doctor so that it becomes the Trenzalore as seen in The Name of the Doctor (this implies that said episode and the Block 6 adaptation took place in the Makū Dimension).

The Doctor goes to his size-leaking TARDIS and merges himself with the exposed heart of the TARDIS, causing the column to become an entrance to the Doctor’s timestream. As he uses his regenerative energy to repair his TARDIS and his timestream, the events of The Name of the Doctor (and its adaptation) take place, meaning that the Doctor can’t get out for the time being, even though he knows that being inside of the heart for too long is no better than looking into the Time Vortex. Clara Oswald fixes the damage to the Doctor’s timeline caused by the Great Intelligence (and Hiroki’s past self does the same to his as well), but there is still some damage left, specifically towards the beginning of the Fifth Doctor’s life.

Meanwhile, Ritsu and the Boukengers encounter Ritsu’s older self in 1968 New York (after the Weeping Angels sent her back in The Angels Take Manhattan). 1968 Ritsu tells 2018 Ritsu what happened, which leads her to go into the Doctor’s timeline when everyone regroups at the TARDIS. She sends an echo of herself to fix the remaining damage, creating the Ritsu Tainaka who became the first companion to travel with the Fifth Doctor following his regeneration. With his timeline now fixed, the Doctor repairs his TARDIS, allowing everyone to leave the Makū Dimension. Of course, the Doctor and Ritsu survive as well.

In a special feature included with the final episode of Doctor Who, the 2018 Christmas Special, HTT perform three songs at the UNIT Christmas Formal, namely Fuwa Fuwa Time, Pure Pure Heart and Tenshi ni Fureta yo! Kai and Azusa join in with the last song as well. You can argue that it would have been a good ending song for the series, but I felt that it was originally more a song for Azusa compared to Anna Tsuchiya’s Voyagers, which I used as the ending song because it signified farewells in general.

#kisekae insights #k-on #doctor who

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bonsaiiiiiii · 4 years

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FabFiveFeb 2020 - Virgil

Prompt 1, 2, 3, 4 - Hard, Yesterday, "I'm trying!" and Shimmer

THIS FIC IS DIVIDED IN 2 PARTS. PART 2 IS BEING POSTED JUST AFTER THIS. TUMBLR WON'T LET ME POST THE ENTIRE FIC

(I took this part from my original story, Dust, which should be published in a few weeks more or less {too busy with exams}. rereading this chapter I thought it would be a fabulous fic to display, also because it has many of the prompts inside. I know, major spoiler for when the fic will be out, but this chapter will be out so far in time that you will forget about it! [Lol I hope] I hope you like it! Prompts given by the amazing @gumnut-logic ♡)

"Where am I?" and "Who am I?" are the two questions that have been ringing most frequently in my head since I arrived here. Here, though, where? Where exactly is 'Here'?

I don’t know how I got here, and the weirdest thing is, I don’t even remember my name anymore. The man who took me always refers to me as Alice.

Alice. What a beautiful name! But I don’t remember it being mine..

Of course, the man never told me his name; he keeps telling me that I would have remembered it and that I would have recognized him if my memory had gone back, if it ever happened. For some strange reason, he was pretty sure I’d never get my memory back.

So all I did was spend eight months in this dark cell, trying to remember every detail of my life.

Yeah, I’ve been here eight months. The only thing that’s changed with my body is a concussion to my head, a scar on my forehead, and my belly was growing out of all proportion every month that went by; yeah, I’m pregnant with a baby, but I have no idea what sex it has and if it's still okay. The man who kidnapped me refuses to let me do a medical check-up.

The only thing I know for sure is that the man told me that I was already 1 month pregnant before he kidnapped me and carried me into the bowels of the earth.

If I think about it, it makes sense. It’s true that I woke up in the cell, but I don’t remember being passed out that long. I don’t know how I know this, but I’ve been unconscious, alas asleep, for a short period of time, like the time of a surgery.

The man doesn’t seem to want to hurt me, or at least that’s what I think. I’ve been stuck here for 8 months and I’ve only seen him twice. The first time was when I arrived here; I remember just waking up, remembering nothing of my past in the cell. I remember looking up and seeing him right in front of my eyes. We just looked at each other, also because I was very confused and he didn’t speak, his mouth was reduced to a very thin line. If I had the gift to go back in time, I would have cried.

The second time he came down was five months later, after me complaining all the time.

He came down to my cell, simply explaining the reason for my kidnapping: he practically locked me here because he simply wanted to take me away from the family I was with, as a sign of revenge against them.

When I asked him why he was so mad at them, he turned around and just said, "They took something of mine."

I said outraged, "So if they took something of yours, you have to do something as bad as kidnapping a pregnant woman? Can’t you get over it? I’m sure this family isn’t even looking for me!"

Only when my anger vanished I realized that I told him that I was pregnant. I shut my mouth with a hand in horror.

To my answer he smiled at me, but it seemed more like a melancholy smile rather than the evil one he wanted to let out.

"Believe me, they’re looking for you. And I won’t let them find you."

With that phrase, he went up those stone stairs that I’ve been seeing for eight months, blocking my cell again. He hasn’t been around since.

So now I just lay on the little bed in my cell, holding my belly and stroking it with my hands, with the comfort of the silence and the ticking of a clock in the distance, which marked 13 o'clock in the afternoon. Lunch time, Yee.

Ever since I told the man I was pregnant, he’s had a bed brought down, and he brings me more food than he gave me before. I’m almost treated like a queen, and it’s a little ironic considering the situation I’m in right now. Even if I’m treated like this, he insists on not letting me out, not even for trivial things like taking a bath. I mean, Ugh! I’ve been washing myself with sink water for 8 months straight, do me a favor! But for some reason, I never had the courage to ask him.

But, as I was saying before, he brings me more and more food as time goes on. He also brings a lot of water to drink. Maybe he doesn’t want me to starve to death or die from malaria? Maybe he needs me alive, or at least he needs me just until the baby’s born. Will he kill me when the baby is born? Or..

As if it had intercepted my thoughts, the little one began to kick into my belly.

"Hey, calm down, baby, I swear I won’t think about that anymore. As long as I’m here, no one will hurt you, I promise."

But the little guy wasn’t of my idea, maybe he doesn’t have the calm genes in his DNA.

It was when I heard contractions that I opened my eyes wide.

"No, hey, listen, you can’t be born now. Please, wait. Wait till Mom gets out of here, which I hope is soon."

I started breathing small and fast because of the pain, puffing like a locomotive.

Then I was filled with fear. The primitive fear that they would take my baby away from me, or that they would kill me, so that he would be left without parents. The little guy never met his father, he never had the pleasure of feeling the caress of a different hand from me and the warmth that that hand conveyed, and the words of comfort of his father. I may have known him, but I can’t remember him anymore; if I’m killed, he’ll be alone. It didn’t even occur to me that they could kill my baby. If that had happened, I don’t know what I would have done.

At that moment I heard the sound of the blinded door above opening, making a female figure appear from the darkness wrapped in a sort of purple armor. I remember her. She was one of the people I met with the man who kidnapped me and another man, maybe her brother.

I don’t know much about her, only that she calls herself Havoc, and that her brother is called Fuse; they both always turn to the kidnapping man with the term Boss, so they work for him.

Since I was kidnapped they have been charged with bringing me food and drink, more often after the 5th°month. And in fact, she had come down with a chicken sandwich in her hand and a bottle of water, but she suddenly widened her eyes when she saw the puddle of amniotic fluid that had formed on the ground.

Shit, my water just broke! No, baby, I told you to wait! Not now!

Havoc gave me a look that I could clearly not decipher, something halfway between the concerned and the softened. Strange, it was the first time I saw her so...vulnerable.

After a second she went out, coming back upstairs. A second later she came back with the man.

"So, you’re going to give birth, huh? Congratulations!"

I was shaking from the pain, the breath coming out of my lungs, leaving me breathless. "Please." I sincerely watched him whispering, ".. Please don’t take him away from me. Don’t kill him. I’ll do whatever you want."

"This is very interesting. I could get you to do a lot of things, but of all the bad things I do, I’m actually very loyal to the family, so you can go."

I widened my eyes. "What..?" then I thought about it. If he wants me to leave so easily..

Like he was reading my mind, he just looked at me.

"Now I’m sure no one’s looking for you anymore, you can leave, and they won’t even know if you died anywhere. Well, they don’t know that on principle. I’m gonna leave your cell bars wide open, and I’m gonna open the blinded door upstairs, so you can leave whenever you feel more comfortable to do so. Remember that I can always find you anytime if I want to."

And with those words he made a gesture with his hand to call out Havoc and went out with her. Like he said, he left the bars and the blinded door wide open.

I was about to get up, when he turned to the first step, stopping on the stairs.

"Ah, I forgot. Try to wear something heavy, it’s snowing outside."

I looked at my clothes. I was wearing the same skinny jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt I was wearing since the first time in this cell.

He also looked at my outfit, and then threw me a long-sleeved dress and a wool sweater. Then he disappeared upstairs again. I didn’t waste any time and tried to get dressed, barely putting on the dress. Fortunately the sweater was very wide and, even with my belly, it reached my knees. That was very easy to put on.

As I was slowly climbing the large stone stairs leading to the armored door, I did some calculations in my mind. I distinctly remember that when I was kidnapped eight months ago, the man wished me a Merry Christmas, so it was December when I was taken away from the world. If 8 months have passed now, we should be in the middle of August, if not towards the end. So why is it snowing? Has it been much longer than I’ve counted?

I finally got to the big door that I could only see from my cell until recently, wide open to a big hallway. The pain of labor made my head spin uncontrollably, but I tried to bear it as I headed into a very long hallway.

I also managed to pass the very long corridor, finding myself in front of a little door like those that are at the entrance of every house. Considering that the door was wet to the touch, and being able to feel the cold permeating from outside, I felt that was the famous exit door that I had been dreaming about for 8 months. I shrugged myself, taking courage, and opened the door to the outside world.

I managed to get out, and I have to admit it’s too comforting to breathe the air from the outside, even though it's too cold. The man was right, it had just finished snowing, the inch of snow that had formed a white curtain on the ground was still fresh.

I could look around, as much as the pain would allow me, and I realized I was in the middle of a little city. I could hear the chatter of people passing by me, the sound of the horns of the various cars passing on the street, the lights of the signs near me flashing; the wind, which made my blonde hair dance slightly, I could feel it on my face, it almost tickled me. For a moment I forgot the pain I felt in that moment, watching everything around me.

I looked at the store signs, written in a language I couldn’t quite understand, and a billboard, alone between the little stores. The poster drew my attention: it represented 5 figures, 5 guys, all in a blue suit.

"Thunderbirds...meet and greet here in Iceland on August 30th." Fortunately this poster was written in English. So I am in Iceland.

Strangely enough, even that name, those Thunderbirds, they rang a bell inside my head, causing a distant memory, a voice, inside my head. A voice that whispered 'I love you'...

Suddenly the pain that I forgot came back to bother me and take my breath away. I tried to stop a few people for help, to get them to take me to a hospital, but none of the people I stopped could understand English, not even I could understand their language.

So I walked alone to some building that could even remotely represent a hospital or a medical practice, but I involuntarily left the city, finding myself on a desolate path, lined only by a road.

The pain was too intense, so I retreated behind a bush, kneeling.

And giving birth in the snow.

#fabfivefeb2020 #fabfivefeb #virgil tracy #alice kim

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