#pretty sure i used the floor is lava pose for that first one

[ghostoffuturespast]

Grandpa's turn to kiss the top of River's head and cheer him up.

[not-alien-girl-v]

New Girl au (The 1975)

warning: drinking people being drunk they play true american (i pretend i know how true american works)

note: mr healy you are being a little fucking freak. george could hit it anyday he’s so hot especially in this. someone find a shawty for ross bro is lonely. also where the fuck is adam

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Violet," she speaks firmly, a ghost of a scold somewhere hidden under her tone.

Violet stands to the right of Y/N, fresh out of a photoshoot and it's evident by the lengthy false lashes glued to her lids and the heavy contour of her face. She just got off of work as a model, and came straight to her friend's loft once she heard that tonight would finally be the night she would become acquainted with the 2ish hot guys she lives with. (Y/N described two as the hottest giants on the west coast and one as a greasy rat man who bites ankles, so Violet wasn't sure what to think)

The three men sit posed on the couch in their usual spots, beers in hand, and Ross is the first to stand and greet her. "Pleasure to meet you, Violet," he gives her a firm handshake like a father greeting his daughter's date to prom, "I'm Ross."

Meanwhile, Matty has already slithered over to her, snaking an arm around her shoulders like she's an old friend or a new beau, "you staying for the game tonight, love? We get the drinks going, gets pretty crazy around here," he speaks closely to her face, speaking directly into her ear like a microphone.

"Eugh, you're being weird, Matt, jar!" Y/N calls from the kitchen where she's grabbing Violet a drink.

Matty surrenders, hands raised in the air as he digs through his pockets for a $5 bill that he reluctantly shoves forcefully into a jar already full with cash labeled 'Douchebag Jar.' Violet huffs a laugh at the sight.

"I apologize, I'm on my 5th beer already," Matty takes a seat back on the couch but ultimately just flops down on his back, nearly smushing George in the process.

"Hey, watch yourself, mate!" George shoves Matty's legs off of his own, then stands up.

"I'm George, nice to meet you, Violet. Are you staying for the game?"

Violet turns to find Y/N with their eyes who's now entering the room with 2 six packs in hand. "What game?" Violet asks.

Y/N stands up on the couch to make an announcement. "The game is True American! It's like 50% a drinking game, 50% life sized Candy Land."

Matty interjects, "actually, it's more 75% drinking, 25% Candy Land."

Ross puts them in their place, "it's 90% drinking game with a loose Candy Land like structure. And everything you hear during True American is a lie, knock on wood," he knocks on the wooden table he stands next to.

George initiates the game suddenly, "alright, pick your teams! Numbers on your foreheads, people!"

"Violet! Pick 3! Hold up a 3!" Y/N demands.

"Pick 2 or else you'll lose!" Matty adds in, confusing Violet further, and when the time comes to hold up a number, Violet holds up a 2, and she is immediately yanked over to one team's side next to Ross and George, while Matty and Y/N turn to look at each other, a 4 on her head and a 3 on his, "damn it!"

"Wait, wouldn't that mean that one of you switches over here?" Violet tries to make sense of the situation.

"No, that's not the rules." Matty speaks through a half drunken pout.

"What are the rules, anyway?"

"Well, the floor is lava, and when the game starts you have to finish the quote, and then the iron curtain- wait, are we playing Clinton rules?" Ross lists them out.

"Co-ed game, fuck yeah we're playing Clinton rules!" Matty adds, leaning in to high five George over his decision, who just looks at him odd as Matty slowly lowers his hand and returns to Y/N's side.

"Really? Last time we played Clinton rules, my entire ass was out for 2 whole rounds," Y/N complains.

"That's just how Clinton plays, baby," Matty slurs.

"And we begin with a shotgun tip off, as the guest of honor, would you like to start us off?" George asks her kindly, ignoring all the madness coming from his friends.

"I'll give it a try," Violet skillfully shotguns and chugs down a can of beer handed to her by George, and once she's done, he begins to yell.

"1, 2, 3, 4, JFK!"

"FDR!" The rest of the group screams, save for Violet, who is getting tugged up onto the couch by the arm by Ross and joined by George while Matty and Y/N move to the coffee table and with that, the game begins.

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

1 hour later

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” The three of them chant in regards to Y/N and Matty, who have both been shoved behind the iron curtain for the next round.

“Guys please!” Y/N bangs on the wall, hoping to change her fate.

“It’s the rules, bitch!” Exclaims Violet, who thankfully came to understand the game now.

“Send us a picture of it, then you guys can come out!” Calls Ross, abandoning the group to fawn over his fish sitting tastelessly by the sink.

Meanwhile, Matty and Y/N, who have done a complete clothes swap by this point, stress over their currently situation. Well, mostly Y/N stresses.

“Look, it’s not the end of the world, let’s just suck it up and french a little,” Matty tries to reason, playing with the straps of the lacy bra he has strapped around his bare torso. His girl jeans (which surprisingly fit him perfectly) are uncuffed at the bottom, a change from the typical way Y/N wears them, cuffed a few times to make up for her short legs, but Matty’s longer one’s fit well into them.

Y/N, in an oversized Slayer shirt and black skinny jeans, “‘suck it up and french a little?’ What are you, 12?”

“I just don’t see why it’s such a big deal to kiss me. You know how many people I kiss on a daily basis? You’re not even my first kiss today. Not even my third!” He throws his hands in the air wildly in exasperation.

“Wow, that’s good to know,” she’s dry and and sarcastic in her response. “Wait, you want to know what I’m curious about? Why do you want to kiss me so bad, huh? We had a choice between going behind the iron curtain or moving three steps back into the crazy zone, which you know our team would have survived, yet you still chose this. Why?”

“Nothing- I- I just didn’t want to get stuck in the crazy zone again.”

“No, it’s more than that, because you and me, for some crazy reason, we make a great team together, and you know as a god damn fact that we would have still won the game either way, so why did you choose this?”

Her stare is shattering his soul by the minute and she’s backed him into a metaphorical corner of the room.

“I just… it’s because…”

“Literally just tell me. If somethings bothering you, tell me. I can get shitfaced enough after this I won’t remember it, if you want.”

He nods and swallows harshly.

“I… you know… and you’re… just…”

“I’m on the edge of my seat, dude, don’t let me fall off.”

“Is that a real saying or did you just make it up?” He counters.

“Don’t change the subject, Matty.”

He sighs. “You’re very pretty, I’ve told you that before.”

“So that’s it? I’m pretty so you want to kiss me? Is that it?” She’s unsure how to feel about the whole situation if that is the conclusion he’s coming to currently. Sure, he’s not made for her but she would love a little drama in her life if he did have something wild to confess.

“No, there’s more, it’s just… you’re very pretty and I’ve started to feel… ways about you. That I don’t know if I should be feeling. So I figured, if we kissed, maybe I’d know for sure about you. Or, how I feel.”

“So you want closure? I’ll give you closure, then.” She lunges for him and attempts to tipsily press her lips to his but out of nowhere, he dodges her.

“No, no, I can’t, I don’t-“

“What now?”

“I don’t want it to be this way. Like this. If I’m going to kiss you, I’m going to do it right. And this isn’t right.”

She goes silent, starting to realize the true depth of his so called ‘feelings’ he has for her. As far as she’s concerned, Matty Healy doesn’t have those types of feelings for regular old girls like her, and it’s just one of his moves to get into her pants. She’s become familiar with his ways in the month she’s lived with him.

“Rain check then?” She’s hopeful he’ll agree to put this aside and hopefully never speak of it again, if he truly would go so far to say he’s falling in love with her. He hasn’t said it out loud yet but she can smell the bullshit brewing in his mouth.

“Yeah. Back to the crazy zone.”

He slides open the door for her, and just as she’s about to leave the room, he calls for her.

“Wait. Do me a favor? Get shitfaced? Please. I didn’t mean to say anything tonight, if it’s an option, I’d like for you to forget about it.”

“Of course, that’s what friends are for,” she responds with a wry smile and leaves him in the room.

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

While Matty and Y/N are talking about god knows what behind the iron curtain, Violet took to scrolling through her phone while sprawled out on the couch. She’s almost completely zoned out of reality when a heavy body is roughly dropping itself into the seat next to her, making her entire form recoil on the plush sofa. She sits up.

It’s George, the hot one, as she’s decided for herself. Ross, who’s currently sweet talking his goldfish next to the sink, was just a little too eccentric for someone like Violet, and by that, she means he seems like he’d play for a different team. If you catch her drift.

“So, you enjoying yourself? Liking True American?”

“It’s intriguing. You’re all very…”

“Fun? Handsome? Dashing? Sexy?” George tries out some words for size on her.

“Honest? And individual. You all have your things.”

“Things?” He leans forward in interest. “What things?”

It was Pandora’s box he opened. “Like, there’s just something about you all. A thing you all have. It’s individual and it’s different but you all have something. Matty? He had to Shazam Bohemian Rhapsody. He was so secret about it too, tried to make sure no one saw it, but I did. Ross, well, he’s got that goldfish thing.”

“God, that’s so weird. It’s weird, right?” George confesses, hunching his long torso over in order to keep his words hushed. His breath nearly fans over her neck, but he keeps a gentlemanly distance, even when intoxicated. It sends a message to Violet. Not an entire narrative, but she notes it as something to remember when she’s sober.

“Yeah, it’s just… it’s a fish. An open fish bowl, one fish and it’s next to the sink.”

George bursts out into slurred, heavy laughter, emanating deep from his chest, and he lays back onto the back of the couch, letting his head fall back over the top of it. Violet gets the urge to follow him.

She does the same, they’re shoulder to shoulder, staring up at the ceiling.

“Well?” He begins. He twists his head to look at her, realizing he’s incredibly close to her face, if he were to exhale too harshly, he’d be sure to see her eyelashes flutter.

“Well what?” She giggles.

“Well what’s my thing?”

She exchanges glances in his direction, feeling electric every time she looks at him for too long so she looks up again. Her heart picks up.

“You know, it’s that thing with your jaw.”

He shoots up and looks at her incredulously, “what!”

“Hey, I mean, no offense, but like, it’s just kind of old looking. Looks like you wouldn’t have any teeth. In an old man kind of way. And I don’t mean it in an offensive anti-British way, like it’s not because you’re British, I love British people, Ross, Matty, your elusive friend Adam, it just seems like you’re like way more British. Like the Britness runs really far back into your bloodline. You know?”

His face is hidden in his hands now, he’s utterly flabbergasted. He picks his head up for a moment to come face to face with her, “so you think I’m ugly? Here I was thinking you thought I was a bit fit.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that!”

Ross butts into the conversation, showing he’s been easily eavesdropping this entire time, “no, you definitely sort of did!”

“Stay out of this!” George calls, as if he’s not being backed up by Ross, but Ross takes the hint anyway.

“I didn’t mean it, at least. I don’t think you’re ugly, it’s kind of the opposite, really.”

His ears metaphorically perk up like a dog hearing one of its favorite words. “Oh really?”

She rolls her eyes, “don’t let it get to your head, handsome.”

He falls back onto the couch, head lolling to the side to be close to her once more, something about the proximity made him feel some sort of way.

“I won’t. Promise,” he speaks lowly, voice gravely from a night long of yelling. His head barely inches closer to her, she almost didn’t notice had she not had all of her focus on him in this very moment.

He’s looking down her face, then back up again, while she holds solid eye contact with him. He halts his movements forward, feeling as though her lack of glances at his waiting lips are a sign she’s not as interested as he is, but she takes him by surprise when she moves her own head just an inch further, her soft breath prickling his lips.

She’s millimeters away, and his lips just barely touch her own before the iron curtain is being ripped open, Y/N coming out.

“Crazy zone! We pick crazy zone!” She exclaims.

Violet springs apart from George. He remains there, closing his eyes and sighing. He purses his lips, then comes to a stand, deciding he’ll have to find a better time to finish this. But he knew for sure: he would be finishing this.

Meanwhile, Ross sighs to his own fish. “Everybody gets action around this house except for me, as of late, Mr. Fishy. Well, you too. Must be hard for you, living alone in your fish bowl, no hot girl fishes to hook up with. I’ll drink to that. Cheers, Mr. Fishy.” He brings his beer up, gulping down the rest of it for the night.

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

taglist: @itssimpleanditgoeslikethis @indierockgirrl @milkluvr8 @americanangel

[dmsden]

Exploring the Options - Making D&D’s other pillar more robust

Hullo, Gentle Readers. This week’s Question from a Denizen comes to us from ididitforthedogs, who asks, “The three pillars of DnD are combat, socializing, and exploring. Do you have any tips on how to build a good exploring section? My group does theater of the mind so it's not like we have a grid to use.”

In my experience, this can be an area where a lot of DM’s fall down a bit. Combat is pretty straightforward, and social interaction is baked into the whole “Role-Playing Game” thing. But what about Exploration? How do we make it interesting and exciting, to bring it online with the other pillars?

My first piece of advice is to avoid uninteresting terrain. If there’s a journey happening, and there’s nothing particular of interest for your PCs to encounter, simply state, “You travel for three days through the dense forest and emerge from the other side, no worse the wear for your experience.” I like to roll for random encounters before the journey even begins and to move things along to the interesting bits. If there’s nothing particularly exciting for the PCs to find in the forest, don’t belabor the point. Get to the good stuff!

The flip side to this is to make sure there’s interesting terrain for your players to encounter. Even in our own world, it’s hard to drive for more than a few miles without finding a natural feature of interest, a roadside attraction, or a store worth browsing. D&D is a fantasy world, potentially brimming with rivers made of lava, waterfalls that go up, forests of giant mushrooms, yawning caves, fairy glens, ancient ruins, and the like. But I have two rules when it comes to this kind of thing:

1. If the PCs are already on their way someplace interesting, don’t offer them too many distractions. The players may be wanting to get on to the Goblin Lair; they don’t necessarily need you to dangle an entrance into the Underdark. While that may be of potential interest, it threatens to derail the narrative, especially if it divides the players in their desire to continue towards their original goal. Instead, save the Underdark lair for when they’re returning to town to pick up their reward. Then they’ll have a potential new goal.

2. If you add something interesting to a journey for the PCs to explore, make their be some reward for taking the time to explore. I’m not saying put treasure into every curious corner of your world; a reward doesn’t have to be treasure. Perhaps eating the giant mushrooms gives the PCs a vision of an enemy they wish to confront. Maybe they can harvest glowing moss from near the lava river that they can use as a light source temporarily. Maybe they meet a merchant who’s also fascinated by the ancient ruin, giving them a chance to pick up some healing potions at a decent rate. In my campaign, information is often a reward. Stopping to examine some curious aspect of the landscape might yield a historical tale from a local, or advice on where to look for healing herbs, or the like.

When the PCs get where they’re going, Exploration should be just as important. One strong caveat I give in building dungeons is to make Exploration have significant choices. Let’s say they arrive at the Goblin Lair. Upon entering, they find three tunnels. If that’s all the information the PCs get, they don’t really have any significant decision to make, as all three tunnels are the same to them. Instead, you might tell them that one tunnel seems clean and well-used, with the stone looking well-worn by many years of foot traffic. The second tunnel might be eerily clean, with all dust and debris curiously absent. A third tunnel could be slowly descending, dusty and seemingly not used in many years, with a smell of decay wafting up from it. Now the PCs have choices to make that offer significant differences. The first tunnel sounds like it’s used by the goblins regularly. The second tunnel might be clean because of oozes that the goblins feed regularly to keep in check. The third tunnel might be a lair for undead that the goblins have learned to shun. Whatever the answers to the riddles posed by the information you’ve given them, the PCs can develop their own thoughts, and the choice they make will have some meaning.

Not every room needs to be significant, but there should be something of interest in any given area the PCs explore. Even a disused and empty room might have some kind of debris that helps tell a story. Is the dungeon the site of an ancient massacre? The PCs might find rusted and broken armor and weapons in otherwise empty rooms. Is it a cult’s temple? Empty rooms might be storehouses for robes, hanging on pegs, or storage chambers with food for the cultists. You can add broken potion bottles, alchemical burns on stone, walls, ceiling, or floors covered in ancient murals, rooms made of odd materials, rooms with odd magical properties, and the like, before you even think of adding traps, puzzles, tricks, and oddities.

Even if your party doesn’t have a rogue, you should occasionally add locks, secret doors, and traps into your games where they make sense. One thing I always say is not to put anything of crucial value behind a lock, trap, or secret door (or riddle or puzzle for that matter). If your dungeon can’t be finished without overcoming one of these, then there’s a chance your players won’t be able to finish it, and they’ll be disappointed. Instead, use these things to hide side bits, extra treasures, and maybe an encounter or two. Never allow your adventure to dead end.

I can strongly recommend adding oddities in to spice up the Exploration portion of your adventure. Once upon a time, they were super commonplace in the so-called “funhouse dungeons” of yesteryear. Rooms full of large vats of different colored liquids, old wizard labs with strange reagents, fountains with random magical effects, and enchanted stones that slowly scintillate different colors are all possible in dungeons. Dungeons can have, to use our beloved phrase from Starlord, “some weird shit!” And examining these, experimenting with them, and learning about them, all fall squarely under the Exploration heading.

I hope this article helped inspire you, friends. Until next week, may all your 20s be natural.

[milasartblog]

Video call

Couple of days passed since that demon incident, which made our heroes more concern and anxious. Nazeel got even more PTSD, unfortunately and girls do their best to make days go by smooth and calm. Anoli had to talk to school's teachers and psychologist in order to help Nazeel, hiding the demon fact at the same time. Meanwhile Liya tried to cheer up Nazeel. Pizza, video games and walks with Sona gave its results, even if it was step by step. Today the crew spent time on walking. Couple of hours later, they came back home.

Anoli: What a nice walk we had.

Nazeel: Yeah.

Liya: And weather was pleasant for it.

Nazeel: Sona was so energetic.

Anoli: He is. How are you feeling, Nazeel?

Nazeel: Better than yesterday at least.

Liya: Good to hear. Shall we have something to eat then?

Nazeel: I'm not that hungry, thank you, mommy. I still need to do homeworks for tomorrow.

He looked down sadly as girls understood that despite talking with teacher about what happened, nobody canceled homeworks. Girls looked at each other, then at Nazeel.

Anoli: If you want, we can skip homeworks for today.

Nazeel: But won't teacher be mad?

Liya: We will talk with her about it. Plus, when you feel like not doing something, better not force yourself.

Nazeel: Hmm, okay. I will be in my room then.

Anoli: Okay, I will make a tea then.

Nazeel: May I ask for apple juice, please?

Liya: Sure, sweetie. I will bring it to your room.

Nazeel: Okay.

And the crew went to different rooms: girls to the kitchen while Nazeel and Sona to bedroom. Girls had a chat about if maybe making a nice snack could be better than just a drink, and so they decided to cook something. Meanwhile Nazeel heavily fell on his bed, facing it. Sona jumped on the bed, sniffing his owner and licking his head, making small sounds. Nazeel sighed.

Nazeel: I'm fine, buddy. I will be fine. It's just another day.

He looked at his pet, who looked with sad eyes at his owner, nuzzling his face. Nazeel giggled as patted his dog. Suddenly, he got a message on phone. When he checked it, he saw the message from Archie. Since that day when they met each other, they kept in touch for some time till one day they decided to be friends. Kinda unusual friends, don't you think? On the message Archie was asking if Nazeel didn't mind a video call, and Nazeel said that he was okay with it as turned on his computer and they started the call.

Archie: Hey, Nazeel, how are you?

Nazeel: Hey, Archie. Fine and alive. And you?

Archie: As you can see I'm still alive too, haha. How is your day going?

Nazeel: Pretty calm. And yours?

Archie: Well, with Xel every day seems like an adventure. How are you feeling?

Nazeel: Feeling okay at least.

Archie: Still have these nightmares?

Nazeel: No, today was better. At least I could sleep peacefully.

Archie: And yet you still sound upset.

Nazeel: Yeah...It's just....I'm not sure if I'm able to see things like before.

Silence covered the room as both boys were in a thought. Suddenly Archie got an idea.

Archie: You said you have a pet, right? How about we show our pets to each other?

Nazeel: You have a pet? I didn't know. Sure.

He called Sona as puppy ran to his owner and Nazeel picked him up, hugging and making it so that Sona look at the screen too. Meanwhile Archie called the cat, who was lying on the floor lazyly. He went to pick his cat and then showed her to Nazeel.

Archie: Well, meet our cat Tigris. This cat, well, let's say she "adopted" us.

Nazeel: Hehe, that's cute. She has unusual furr.

Archie: Well, that's because of Xel's demonic energy. I think she liked us.

Nazeel: I guess it's hard to take care of the cat.

He smiled as giggled a bit, thinking about possible situations with cat while Sona barked happily, seeing a new friend. Tigris meanwhile only showed her little tongue, not minding dog's bark.

Archie: Well, if you know the basis, then it's not that difficult. However, Xel had difficult time at first. Want to hear funny stories with her, me and Tigris?

Nazeel: Sure.

He sat comfy and carefully while Archie let Tigris go and began to tell funny stories about him and Xel and their times of taking care of the cat and other kinds of adventure. Nazeel couldn't help, but smile, even giggled a bit.

Archie: So, I was doing some homeworks and house stuff, until I heard strange noise coming from the kitchen. When I went there and picked up, I saw Xel and she was singing. I have never seen her singing that way. It was so cool, so I quitely went to my room and came back with my guitar. While she was singing, I posed with my guitar. And then when Xel finally turned around to see what I was doing behind her, well, she opened a portal to Hell.

Nazeel: Oh my. Did you survive?

Archie: I landed on a weird place and there was a lava river. Fortunately, I landed near it. The rest was fine despite it being hot there.

For couple of hours they were talking like this, having fun and just enjoying the call. The day soon was coming to its end as boys said goodbye to each other, wishing to have a good evening and they finished the call. Sona kept barking for couple of minutes, then calmed down. Nazeel patted his dog.

Nazeel: Want to see Tigris in person?

Sona barked happily as Nazeel smiled. Then a knock could be heard. It was Anoli and Liya.

Anoli: Nazeel, sweetie, are you free? May we come in?

Nazeel: Yes, momma!

And girls opened the door, holding a plate with small homemade pizza and a glass of apple juice. Nazeel was amazed.

Nazeel: It's...for me? But I thought that we didn't have enough money for today.

Liya: And yet nobody canceled cooking. Plus, we thought to surprise you and made it by ourselves. Anoli did great tho.

Anoli: Well, it's all thanks to Chris. He taught me how to do it right. Plus, we added your favourite ingredients in this pizza.

Nazeel: I....thank you so much, momma and mommy.

He smiled as girls did the same and the crew gave a big hug to each other, carefully not throwing the glass and plate on the floor. Sona also joined, but the only thing he could is jump and lick each one's cheeks, making the crew giggle.

Liya: Well, shall we go to kitchen then? To not make a mess here.

Nazeel: Oh, right. But what about you?

Anoli: We will have drinks.

Nazeel: Oh, okay. I will feed Sona then.

And the crew headed towards the kitchen, with Sona, following them, waving tail happily.

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

And that's another story for our universe^^ Things are getting better for our heroes, but a bit more time is still needed X) Hope you will like the story^^

Nazeel, Sona and Archie belong to @captainthane

Anoli and Liya belong to @wildstarfan and @milasartblog (both me)

Okaria et Feria belongs to @wildstarfan and @captainthane

[coeurdastronaute]

Essays in Existentialism: Atlantis 4

Previously on Atlantis

The morning came, steady and through flickering lights against the window, unstill and blinding like a disco ball and lava lamp worked together to form a hybrid. Even behind her eyelids, the patient could see the light dancing through the waters and window before trying to make her join the land of the living yet again. 

The oil she was given to rub on her bruises smelled like sweet mint, and it stiffened slightly in the night on her rib, while the kelp compress left nothing more than a pale cut on her forehead and bruising around her eyes. With a small grunt, Clarke gave up to the whims of the underwater world, and opened her eyes as she pressed a hand against the soreness that slept still, sound and happy, in her muscles and bones. 

Slowly, still fuzzy around the edges from the concussion, the world came into focus again, and Clarke found herself staring at the ceiling of the ornate room that had become her own during her stay. Rich blues and whites mingled in the most pristine and perfect marble she’d ever seen, while the rich tapestry that covered one wall burst forth in colors and a story, artfully done and purposeful. 

Two days ago, she’d been on a research vessel in the middle of the ocean working with her mentor to discover a way to stunt evolutionary tendencies in viruses. Two days ago, she was a girl who didn’t fully believe in the myth of Atlantis, or that Aquaman was a king who ruled more people who could breathe under water. 

But she woke up again in a bed that smelled like oranges and sunlight, wrapped in a blanket that was soft and stiff, like clothes dried on a clothesline. She’d eaten a dinner that consisted of her third grade favorite lunchbox lunch, with a reigning monarch in said potentially imaginary underwater country. And nothing made sense. 

With no small showing of effort, Clarke propped herself up and sat on the edge of the bed, testing her body all over again, learning how it worked today, and being slightly amazed by how well it felt. The lingering soreness felt like she’d worked out too hard for a whole week straight, but was by no means as terrible as she’d felt less than ten hours ago. She sat there for a few moments and caught her breath, afraid to test her body, but knowing that she must. Clarke pushed herself from the bed and stood, balancing like a baby deer on its new legs. 

Everything seemed to work well enough, and she was afraid of the potential pain, but true to the words she couldn't understand, the body began to heal and she found herself wincing for nothing at all. 

“I guess I just put more on,” Clarke wondered aloud as she looked at the table across the room that held the ointments and bottles. “But what… how did she combine them?” 

Making it across the room, she picked up an intricate bottle and tugged at the stopped, sniffing the inside as a black liquid sloshed about, seen through the pure blue of the bottle. The door cracked and began to open, and the new sound made Clarke drop the bottle so it shattered on the ground, covering the pristine floor with a rather stale smelling liquid. 

“I’m sorry-- I didn’t-- I wasn’t sure anyone would come in, and I wanted to--”

“Ti káneis na-eme?” the same old woman asked, hurrying as much as her old bones and bent back would allow. “Tha dilitiriásete ton eaftó sas.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean--”

“Kínisi!”

The nurse pushed Clarke slightly as she began cleaning up the dropped liquid, careful to avoid touching it as best she could. Somewhere between shooting her a look and muttering something Clarke was certain was a curse, the nurse humphed and began cleaning up the shattered glass, her displeasure clearly apparent. 

A knock  tapped softly for a moment as Clarke proceeded to apologize again and get pushed away from trying to help. And if she couldn’t get more mortified of her current predicament, the embodiment of earthly perfection entered the room with a worried furrow. 

“I just came to see if you would like breakfast,” Lexa offered, staring at the mess and offering her forearm to Clarke to help move her away from the clean up. “But it looks like you might be busy. Eínai óla kalá?”

“Peismatáris kai adéxia. Léte óti eínai meletitís?”

The princess chuckled and tried to swallow it when Clarke gave her a pointed look. 

“That’s a very concentrated combination of venoms and plants, used as a slight numbing agent in the healing process,” she explained, translating very loosely. “More than a few drops would paralyze or potentially kill you.” 

“How was I supposed to know?” 

“You weren’t. She just finds it very difficult to believe you are someone who studies medicine.” 

In an instant, Clarke snapped her eyes away from Lexa’s pretty green ones, and turned them on the old woman who put the discarded vial in her basket before setting up for another treatment. 

“She should teach me instead of letting me nearly kill myself.”

“Althea is our best healer. She helped deliver me, and my mother, and my mother’s mother and father. Her knowledge would take you years to even start to understand.” 

“Are you calling me dumb, too?” 

“No, no,” Lexa hurried as Clarke crossed her arms. “Just that she knows enough to fill an entire library. She wrote the books on our modern methods. Books is plural.” 

“I’m pretty sure she’s called me dumb a few times,” Clarke sighed as those elderly hands tugged on her shirt once again. 

“She has,” the princess smiled and nodded. “I was--”

In an instant, her shirt was tugged up again, and Clarke realized that she was now showing off her stomach and ribs and much too much underboob to the future ruler of a futuristic underwater country that no one was ever allowed to visit. But she was stuck, and the princess was staring. Clarke knew that because she tried to maintain eye contact to pretend nothing bad was happening to her. 

“Um, I was…,” Lexa furrowed again before quickly turning around when she met Clarke’s eyes. “I’m sorry. She’s much more intent on getting you better than we might have previously realized.” 

“Whatever she’s doing is working. I feel better than I could have imagined.” 

“Léei óti aisthánetai kalýtera,” Lexa explained. 

Clarke watched as the old woman moved with her eyes nearly shut, the wrinkles covering every part of her face, wearing deep the long lines of living into her very fabric. All she did was hum slightly and press another compress to Clarke’s ribs. 

“How do I… I want to thank her, for everything.” 

The nurse tugged on Clarke’s jaw, pulling at her shoulders so that she could get a good reach on the wound on her head, repeating her process, though slightly more gently than the ribs. 

“Efcharistó,” Lexa explained, peaking over her shoulder, thankful to find the stranger more clothed than before. 

“Ef--ef--,” Clarke tasted the word, attempting her best to get over the hump of saying it. “Efcharistó?” 

For a second, the woman paused and nodded slightly. Clarke smiled and looked down at her side before holding her hand against the fresh press while Lexa spoke with the healer, bowing deeply to her before earning a kiss on her forehead and a tap of a hand against her cheek. 

Freshly ready to heal, Clarke felt full in the room with Lexa, and wasn’t sure what else there was to say or do. It took Lexa a moment to find the protocol. 

“I came to see if you would like to eat, and… I can’t show you much, but you’ll be here for a few days while we prepare the Spindrift, and I could show you some things.” 

“You don’t have to supervise. I’m sure you have other… princess things to do?” 

“My mother is busy with her embassy, and my father is busy saving the planet. I currently have nothing planned,” Lexa explained, clasping her hands and letting them hang in front of her. 

The crest on her shoulder was proud and ancient. The soft fall of her braids against the deep green and cream color of her frock was picture perfect, and all before breakfast was even served. The princess held an entire world together, and she was going to be the link between words, born of both. 

And she was gracious enough to save Clarke’s life in her spare time. 

“And I had a few questions about Land… if that’s okay?” 

“Breakfast first,” Clarke decided, her smile warming as Lexa returned it at the offer. 

“I can do that.” 

XXXXXXXXX

“So this is just one of your gardens?” Clarke asked as she walked out onto the balcony that was so large she forgot it was suspended partly above the city. 

Stacked, the buildings seemed dripping in greenery and elaborately inlaid, as if every story was intricately planned and prepared. There were bits that reminded Clarke of old textbooks or picture books from when she was a child and went through Egyptian and Greek Gods phases of learning. Giant statues, with limited features but strong poses, warriors and thinkers alike, stood guard throughout the city from the view. Towering figures held up buildings, while greenery and trees filled every inch, weaving together a lattice roof over the shops and buildings below. Sleek lines dictated the skyline. 

Standing on the private balcony garden, Clarke surveyed much of the city she’d missed from her window view of the palaces back patios and gates. Now, she saw the dome that sat around the city, saw the architecture, felt the breathing, pulsating thrum of the entire place. 

“It is. We have a few royal gardens. Some of the most prized and ancient plants are here, and are often open to the public.” 

“But not today?” 

“Only during the high holidays.” 

It was lush and alive, the entire city was a steady noise and hum, but the gardens were quietly removed from it, shadowed in giant trees and overgrown shrubs she couldn’t quite place. Every way Clarke looked, she found something mesmerizing, something that brought up more questions, something she knew she’d never see again. 

“How do you… How did you get all of this here?” 

“Atlantis has always existed, even before the shift,” Lexa explained, her hands careful linked behind her back. 

She walked perfectly straight, her gait natural and fixed, her body fluid. Clarke caught herself watching the princess as much as she watched the entire world around her that no other person who walked on land had ever seen. Chestnut hair in intricate braids, her strong brow, the green of her eyes, the soft slope of her chin and smile-- it was distracting, even in a palace. 

“And you can breathe… underwater?” 

The princess ducked her head and chuckled. 

“Yes, all Atlanteans can breathe both. Evolution was as kind to us as the gods were.” 

“I have so many questions, I can’t decide where to start.” 

The pair wandered along the path as Clarke  wracked her brain and overheated with the information. Lexa saw to it that they were left alone and undisturbed, the palace gates shut tightly and all entrances to the garden monitored by the guards she trusted the most. For just a few moments, she allowed herself to enjoy the company of the girl she saved, who had a peculiar way of looking at things, who blushed sometimes, right on the edge of cheeks. 

“Maybe don’t ask any questions,” Lexa offered after a moment of quiet as they came to the edge. She took a seat on a planter wall under a flowering tree with big blue and purple petals. “Just live this moment.” 

“Is that what you do here?” 

“I do tend to enjoy my time in my home, yes.” 

Clarke took a seat beside the princess, careful to hold her ribs as she readjusted. 

“I want to know everything. It’s a curse, I’m afraid.” 

“I suppose I’d be the same way on land,” Lexa acquiesced. “I wouldn’t know where to even begin, but something about sitting here, feeling, touching, tasting, hearing-- it’ll help you understand Atlantis more than any question.” 

“I would actually imagine that the few questions I have about the field surrounding the city, or the evolutionary tactic of breathing underwater might be illuminating.” 

Again, Lexa caught herself smiling, but she swallowed it and looked up at the light filtering through the branches and petals. She closed her eye and took a deep breath, willing the visitor to do the same. 

Neither spoke, but rather took the time to enjoy each other’s company and the quiet moment that neither world would ever know about. Clarke listened, catching a far away laugh of a child playing something. She heard a hum and a rushing of water, she heard the long, drawn out caws of some kind of bird that existed within the microcosm. After a few minutes, she reached up and plucked a petal from the tree, careful not to disturb the rest of the large flower on the branch. It took up her entire hand, and she rubbed her fingers along it, feeling the thick, velvet touch it had, smelling the sweet, musky hint it hid. 

Lexa watched as the stranger felt her world, and she wasn’t sure what she expected from Clarke, but she hadn’t expected her words to be taken quite to heart. For an instant, she almost believed she could see when Clarke began to understand and feel it, the ease and peace that came in the gardens. 

“When I was young, maybe only five or six, my father took me on land,” Lexa explained. “He introduced me to his father. We went to a building, shaped like a long tube that had a light on top. He said it was where he grew up, and he showed me all of his things, and my grandfather showed me his world. I remember the taste of the salt in the air and the smell of the fishermen coming home. I remember the feeling of the net in my hand as I played with it. I remember my father sitting on top of this light with me, and he pointed to the entire world. I could see for miles and miles. He told me it was my job to protect my people from those on land, and it was my job to protect the land from all else. That was how we united the two. But I didn’t listen, not fully. I had an ice cream cone.” 

Clarke watched as Lexa spoke, as she confessed and said more words than she imagined the princess ever normally said. It was not the story of a princess though, but rather that of a stranger, offering something innate, something of themselves. 

“Are you not allowed on land?” 

“No,” she shook her head curtly. 

“You should come. See what you’re destine to defend.” 

“I’m destined to complete much more training here,” Lexa sighed. “Once the world turned its back on my father, once they condemned Atlantis, he was forced to choose. He chose us.” 

“But he still helps?” 

“He’s not a heartless man.” 

“It just seems incredibly selfless.” 

“Being a good ruler is about seeing what others don’t, doing what others won’t, and being what others can’t,” Lexa recited. 

 “You’re a good person.” 

“I try very hard.” 

Clarke smiled at the honestly and looked at her own hands as her fingers knot themselves together. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her shoulder felt warm as Lexa somehow moved close enough so that they were now touching. 

“If you ever change your mind, you could come on land. I’d show you around.” 

“You would?” 

“Fair is fair. I’m not sure we have anything this beautiful though,” Clarke confessed. 

There was a grin. She saw it as Lexa’s eyes went dreamy. Clarke found herself leaning closer, her body moving on its own. Lexa searched Clarke’s face and shook her head. 

“I don’t know. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” 

For a second, Clarke was swept up in green eyes and the lips that disappeared for an instant behind the peak of a tongue. It was entirely unfair that someone like Lexa, who saved her life, who cared, who gawked and awkwardly wasn’t sure how to move when her shirt slipped up a little, was also so entirely too delicious looking. 

Instead of doing it, instead of leaning forward, Clarke looked toward the city below the palace, and she smiled slightly as a blush snuck up her neck. 

“Are all Atlanteans so charming?”

“No, not too many.” 

“Good to know.” 

“Should I take you back so you can rest?” 

“Don’t trust me to make it back alone?” Clarke teased. 

“I do, but the rest of the guards might have a bit of doubt.”

Lexa stood up and held out her hand for the stranger to take. With no hesitation at all, Clarke took it and let herself be lead back into the palace. 

XXXXXXXXX

Word reached the control room quickly that the King was on his way back, the crisis from outside officially dealt with, his aid offered and accepted for another victory. No news covered if there had been losses on the side of the Justice League, and the Queen wasn’t sure what mood he would return in, but was grateful he was at all. 

Quietly, she surveyed the reports on her screen and grew more and more excited to see him, finally allowing herself the moment to reflect on the past few days and how hectic they’d been coupled with the constant nagging about his return. 

But her husband was stubborn, and would always come home. 

“I’m going to my chambers for the evening,” Meera announced as she stood, the rest of her entourage doing the same. “Monitor the fleets to the south and the shifting and quake potential off the coast of South America.” 

“Yes ma’am,” the commander nodded. 

“If my husband makes it home, please let the morning rotation know to push the meetings until the afternoon.” 

“Of course.” 

“I’ll take an update about the Spindrift as soon as possible.” 

“I”ll get in touch now, your highness.” 

“Goodnight, friends,” the queen paused at the door. “Today was a success.” 

With her notes tucked under her arm, the queen made her way out into the hallway, her guard trailing slightly behind her, as she was known to prefer. It took a lot to run a nation, and it took a lot to unify two who didn’t want it. But she knew it was for the best, and she believed in it so much, she obsessed. 

Slowly, the queen made her way down the hall, eager for things to return to normal. 

As if on time, she heard an unfamiliar sound of what she thought to be her daughter laughing, though it died away quickly. Her pace slowed considerably as she approached the corner of the hall and she waved her guard to slow, taking their time before reaching sight of the two girls. 

Looking decidedly much healthier, the girl from the land stood, her arm wrapped around Lexa’s for support though she walked much better, and looked to have more color in her cheeks than the last time Meera saw her. She was pretty, beautiful even. Shorter than her daughter, though not by much. Her hair was much lighter than she originally thought, and her eyes a bit lighter as well. She watched Lexa when she spoke, hanging on every word, her smile constant, while the princess spoke passionately before catching her earnestness and pulling back slightly. 

The queen was barely moving as they paused at Clarke’s door. Lexa moved and dropped something in her hand, quick to try to pick it up, a blush on her cheeks as she opened Clarke’s door for her. The queen smiled to herself at her daughter’s antics, at how she struggled to say goodbye, at the fact that as soon as Clarke’s door closed, the princess leaned against the wall and sighed, collapsing under her own head. 

It was only then that the queen picked up her pace, as if she hadn’t seen anything at all. 

“Are you ready to take our guest back to land?” 

“Yes, of course,” Lexa answered as she stood up straighter, losing the human in her movements. She was rigid with responsibilities. 

“Your father is returning.” 

“Good news,” she smiled, perking up slightly. 

The mother and daughter gave each other a look, a knowing look, a certain look that they deciphered and danced around. 

“We should walk and discuss a few things,” Meera decided. 

As much as Lexa wanted to protest, to go back to her room, to sleep and forget, she knew that the suggestion wasn’t optional, and with a heavy head, she nodded. 

next

[blairlocke]

Anywhere-But-Here:  Amahlia & Johnny, Chapter Two

Camping alone was a bad idea.  She held onto her Kapotasana pose, the backbend giving her a wide, but traumatizing view of the road that led to her driveway.  Even at one o’clock in the afternoon, everything definitely looked more menacing when it was flipped upside down.  And though she had seen no source of movement, she continued to scan her field of vision from her current position, as a pretzel.  And there it was again.  This time, she was able to discern the general direction of the indistinctive noise she had heard before, and more demonstrative.  A slight scuffling? In the brush to the left?

It was hard to be sure.  One thing was for certain.  Camping alone had been a very bad idea.  There was a healthy loneliness to camping that had appealed to her.  She had camped every summer with her family, practically from birth until graduation, and had gone on camping sabbaticals with friends in college, and then with Matthew a half a dozen times, though he preferred staying in a cabin, which. to her mind, didn’t really count.  So, when she had been pondering her upcoming weekend with her officemates, whom all seemed to be going to one affair or another, the thought had just popped into her head.  Camping?  And that’s when she realized to her astonishment that she had never gone camping by herself.  Hiking, yes.  But camping?  The thought had seemed to nag at her, filling her with the first sense of urgent excitement she had felt in what could have been months, maybe even years.  Being the true crime buff that she was, the idea of going by herself gave her the sort of momentary pause one gets before climbing into a roller coaster car.  Sure, a fair amount of girls whom had gone off to run or shop or bike or walk or gone off to bed, on their own, had by some terrible stroke of bad luck, never come back, or come back in very separate pieces, and her luck was proving to be questionable right now...wait, how had she thought this would be a good idea?  Oh, that’s right.  She had then gone on to convince herself that she could take care of herself.  Wow...the relief...the logic...the foolishness.

Her stomach had gone sour.

Well, this is the wilderness.  Perhaps it’s just wildlife.  It sounded too small to be a bear...or a mountain lion.  But maybe squirrels?  Raccoons?  Birds??  A girl could hope.

She unwound herself, immediately bounding to her feet and across the small space to her little two-man dome tent.  Just inside the zipper door, without looking she reached in to grasp for the bat, which she had tucked there for peace of mind on her first solo excursion.  She felt its rubber grip, feeling up its neck to the warm aluminum, and pulled it free.  She really hoped that it was a squirrel.  A really big, fat adorable squirrel.

*****

The day was a gorgeous one.  It was the kind of day that The Temptations had sung about.  The kind of pretty that if it were a girl, her measurements would be 36-24-36 and she would be dressed in nothing but a bikini, cherry red lipstick, and a luscious-lipped smile.  

Still, his face remained firmly as placid as an iced over lake.  The glance he gave the bushes, which seemed to be moving, was an innocuous one.  Not curious, merely accessing.

“What the fuck?”  he said it to himself, but the words garnered him some attention from the man that squatted behind some bushes at a campsite that Johnny was passing.  His blond hair glinted in the sunlight, as he paused in mid step and pivoted, all of a sudden every bit interested--a snake sensing a lizard.  But, in the space of a millisecond, there was no man, only brush playing in the wind.  The campsites afforded a modicum of privacy with rough foliage allowed to creep in from every side, but the one meeting the road, and especially this one by the look of it.  He heard rather than saw that someone had picked up on its peeping Tom because they called out, “Hello?”  A woman’s voice.  Johnny continued his path towards the showers.  He reeked of fish bait and sweat.  The day was cooler than the day before, but only barely.  Why had he decided on a fishing weekend in August?

Excellent and reasonable question, but he was not feeling very reasonable just now.  He had bigger fish to fry than sparring it out with logic.  Oh, yeah.  No fish for his trouble did not help sweeten his disposition.  And after ten minutes in a frigid and highly pressurized shower, his mood had gone from icy to thunderous, though he did smell better.  

“Oomph!”

“Fuck!”  He had suddenly collided with someone coming into the doorway of the men’s room in a rush, and just as he was heading out.

“Oh, sorry.”  It was a woman.  That much he knew before they had shoved away from each other, and before her voice gave her away.  “Oh good, I won’t have to sneak in. I was wondering if you could grab a roll of toilet paper for the ladies room.  It’s completely empty.”  And then, there was a beat as they took each other in.

“Oh.”  She sounded startled, even though her response to him was barely above a whisper.  “Hi.”  It was her.  The woman whom had used his phone to call a tow truck.  It had been a few weeks, and she looked somehow more glowing, which suddenly had him thinking that she had likely been ill before, because while she had been pretty to him, now, she looked like Helen of Troy come to slay him.

He so did not need this.  Let it be some other siren, and the man some other numbnuts.  He was all out of fucks to give when the only price left to pay was his sanity, and sometimes that didn’t seem so far off.  So he fixed her with a noncommittal, and unyielding stare, and then brushed past her.

“It’s all yours,” he threw back coldly.

He wished that the wind would pull itself together, for not even a huff stirred to dry off the dampness of his skin, a combination of cool sweat and a flush that seemed to make his cheeks hum like a furnace.

If only her lips weren’t burning holes in his brain with their rosey advertisement of a bedroom’s true purpose, like a gavel banging a verdict of guilt and lasciviousness.

If only her voice were higher pitched, like some Minnie Mouse, instead of the trill of some film noir detective’s old flame, her pitch that of midnight, both dark and chocolatey.  Where she might be sweet, but likely tasted of rich molten lava.  

If only only her form hadn’t now been briefly memorized by his hands, accidentally in their crashing into one another, but it was enough to make out her curviness, however slight that she might appear.

He was so hard that he could beat the birds away.

“Fuck.”  For the fourth time in some 20 minutes, he cursed to himself.  “Fuck this.”

*****

The moonlight seemed only a small orb like a distant lamplight glowing through fog.  The clouds parted, unmasking the stars which glared fiercely down at her, glinting like tiger’s eyes.  The air could scarcely spare a chill, the steamy smell of coming rain mixed with too much warmth, and it seemed an effort to breathe in the thick and dogged swelter.

She threw her ancient mystery novel towards her equally worn backpack, which was also servicing as a nightstand of sorts.  She had taken the rain fly off of the tent in order to get more airflow, and to admire the stars, but, she thought that she had better put it back on before the sky let itself go.  A flash of lightning hurried her action.

It was just beginning to sprinkle when she was climbing back inside her small shelter.  She had a small inflatable mattress that would keep her up off the tent floor, which was bound to be a good thing if this was the size of summer’s end storm that sometimes crept up in the night.

It was strange that she had seen the bartender.  Especially so soon after she had heard those noises from the bushes, but could it just be a coincidence?  She supposed so.  And certainly, it was not the last person that she had wanted to see.  As a matter of fact, if she was being completely honest with herself, she had not minded seeing him again.  She found their interactions odd, but charged somehow.  

Yes, that was the right word.  Her head tilted itself contemplatively.  Her lips pursed.  Awareness.  That’s what there was between them.  A natural awareness...of what, she was not so sure.  No, he wasn’t responsible for the noises from earlier.  Somehow she just knew that he was not a threat.  To her peace of mind, and sense of comfort, maybe.  But he wasn’t creepy.  He was, however, annoyed.  She wasn’t even sure if that had as much to do with her, or just that he was a morose person.  He begged all sorts of questions to her mind, and she was hard pressed further to figure out why he should seem so interesting to her.  But he was.  It did not hurt that, even though he was clearly older than her by maybe 10 years, maybe even more, he had beautiful and chiseled features.  He had obviously been a pretty boy in his youth, made more interesting by a long aquiline nose, and as a man now likely in his forties, the small lines on his face around his eyes gave away that, at one time, he must have laughed.  Maybe a lot.  The sweep of his cheekbones and curve of his jaw was like a sculptor would trace for an immortal, portraying the kind of beauty that usually did not come to life.

Okay, so he was very attractive.  That was not her question.  Her question was, what the hell was wrong with him that he stared her down as if she were a pesky stray dog, and yet, the air around them seemed to melt her flesh off and her very blood was suddenly made of acid.  She wondered if he was a good kisser.  He certainly had the lips for it.  His lower lip was so full that he looked perpetually pouty.

The question that kept running circles in her mind was, what had made him have that forlorn look in his eyes, as if the world had finally done his spirit in, and he was barely able to keep in motion.  All pretense was dropped where he was concerned.  As the saying went, he had no fucks left to give.  She read a coldness in his eyes, but it had the look of being put there by some unspeakable amount of pain, rather than it being innate.  She wondered what gave her that idea.  She was no psychic, and he certainly hadn’t divulged one detail about himself, not even his name, come to think of it.  But she just felt it.  She knew that the feeling could be no more backed up by evidence than one given a poison apple.  How to prove it without taking a bite?  And, in return, risk having the bite taken out of you.

She drifted off to sleep with the foggy thought of perhaps becoming a more frequent patron of his bar.  It was no surprise when that night she dreamed of snakes, the bar’s neon sign pledging the words The Pit and featuring a Cobra curling around the P, its mascot slithering through her uneasy brain.

[weeping-petals]

Couldn’t See the Trees

Word Count - 2,855

A change occurred over the next week.

 Someone was in the house when he came home or left, or when he went to bed or got up in the morning. That wasn’t incredibly different from any other day, except never at one point was the house empty. Usually, Garnet, Amethyst, or Pearl would stow away in their respective rooms collectively, when they were ‘off duty’ as Steven sometimes thought of it. While before, Steven had the house all to himself, and sometimes it was lonely; the days following the encounter with the strange forest gem, someone was always present. Company was abundant, and still, Steven felt alone despite this.

 “Have you read the books I assigned you?” Pearl asked, as she tidied. She wasn’t the most common present but she hid her attendance well at first, by over cleaning the house.

 “Yep.” Steven was writing out some notes. It was easier to get through gemglyph if he did some note taking, otherwise, he’d go nuts with all the repetition revolving with the intricate symbols. He still wasn’t much good at it.

 Another day, Garnet was sitting on the couch. Not doing anything, not watching television, just sitting there. That’s when Steven began putting the pieces together. Garnet wasn’t subtle, or didn’t care that he could tell she was watching the warp pad.

 “Pearl and Amethyst are scouting for Spinel’s whereabouts,” she spoke, while Steven stood on the stairs observing. He nearly fell. “She’s too dangerous to confront directly, without the full team.”

 “Are you waiting for them?” Steven stepped down to the couch, and climbed up to join Garnet.

 “No. I’m just waiting.” A pause followed. “I have a feeling she’ll stay in the forest.”

 “Why do you think that?”

 Garnet hummed. “She feels safe there. Her abilities and skill are optimized, and she knows the area well.”

 “She’s scared too,” Steven presumed.

 “That’s obvious.”

 “Maybe more of you, than you are of her,” he suggested, with a mild smile. Garnet remained silent and stoic. “We could just leave her a—”

 “No.”

 The warp pad gleamed, and off stepped Pearl and Amethyst. Promptly, Amethyst dropped to her face, while Pearl staggered away. Garnet remained seated on the couch, but Steven sprang off and ran to the smaller gem.

 “Amethyst! Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?” He grabbed Amethyst by the shoulder and shook.

 “Naawwwww,” Amethyst groaned, muffled. “So boring! I hate that forest! Even if we find her, we can’t have our rematch!”

 “There’s so much terrain to cover,” Pearl carried on. She still held a spear, and leaned on it. “We can only go so far, the trees are towering, and we don’t have an efficient means of scouring the distance.”

 It was a shame they couldn’t use Spinel to look for Spinel. That would make it so much easier. But if they had Spinel as a friend, then they wouldn’t need to search for her. None of this was said aloud.

 “Take a break, then.” Garnet stood and crossed to the group. “Perhaps some quiet will bring her guard down.”

 “Yay.” Amethyst stood and relocated to the kitchen, where she began poking through cabinets. “Seriously, how can we be out of condiments?”

 “There’s some blue cheese ranch in the fridge,” Steven called. Pearl grimaced.

 “Awesome!”

 “What if we… forgot about her? Forever?” Steven posed. “There are other places to explore, and what about my training?”

 “We’re working on where our next task should be,” Pearl admitted. The spear blipped out, and she adjusted her ribbon. “We’ll take you for another session at the arena, and decide where to go from there. I do agree, this delays your progress.”

 “You understand now why we can’t let her alone,” Garnet expanded on. “It’s not likely, but there exists a probability that we may encounter her at some other gemsite. She knows every location we’ve have access to, and surprising her would jeopardize future missions.”

 “Which is why someone is always guarding this warp pad.”

 Deadpanned, Garnet muttered, “Don’t scare him.” Pearl stuttered, trying to recover and cover up simultaneously. Steven frowned, it was pretty obvious, though they assumed they were being crafty.

 Amethyst hooted. “Nice going. You really know how to keep a secret!”

 Pearl blushed. “Oh, don’t worry Steven. I’m sure she wouldn’t recognize the place if she came through.”

 “Was it that big of a secret?” Steven inquired, a little mystified. Amethyst choked on the blue cheese ranch.

 The days carried on, someone stayed in the house while the others retired to their individual rooms. Steven didn’t mind the refreshed exercises and new locations, likely inspired by his abduction. Using the shield was still iffy, if ever the darn thing would cooperate. It was likewise irritating going off and having to leave someone behind, the team was always incomplete and imbalanced. As of yet, no news about the forest or Spinel’s whereabouts; at least, nothing Steven was made aware of.

 One evening, Amethyst’s dry snores kept Steven awake. The days activities him Steven out and thus he retired early, but didn’t doze long before Amethyst followed his example and dove into dreamland. Now he was awake and couldn’t conclude his night. On the couch, the only gem that appreciated sleeping, fell asleep while stationed to watch.

 Steven turned on his night table lamp, and peered down. His eyes roved from Amethyst, to the inactive warp pad glittering under the moons envious stare. Garnet’s words stayed with him, as did the forest and all its beauty. That place was massive, and he hardly saw any of it.

 After some debate, he came to a decision. Steven got out of bed and went to his drawers. The hamburger backpack came out, and he stuffed it with some supplies. Just in case. He crept down the steps, and went to the kitchen, carefully going through cabinets. Once he couldn’t cram anything more into his pack, he tiptoed across the floor, edging up to the warp pad. He shifted his eyes from the couch and Amethyst, then to the door of the Crystal Temple. This was the most suspenseful moment in his life, and with every breath he took, he expected someone to come through the doorway. Though, no one – except maybe Pearl – came out following his bedtime hours. He was still on edge.

 Steven hesitated, thumbing the flashlight in his hand. At once, the light engulfed him and he zipped through the beam..

 In a cascade of light, the Chalcedony Forest sprouted around the crooked warp pad. Steven hopped off, clicked on his flashlight and began walking. This time, he was dressed warmly and snug in his hoodie. Above, the sky was rose swept colors and deep purples, but the forest lay in dense shadows. As before, the region was bizarre and unknown. Intimidating in its endless expanse, which promised unending wandering to those who became mislid within.  

 It would work best to walk in a straight line, in no way could he get lost. No matter what, he wouldn’t avert his direction. With that in mind, he set off.

 And walked for the next thirty minutes. “Spinel!” he called, hand cupped beside his mouth. “Hello! Spinel? Are you there?” He slipped the flashlight beam across the trees and through the deep weaves among the shrubbery. Crystal spires glistened as he aimed the light at them, fallen chunks of chalcedony blazed like ice sculptures as the light dazzled through their surface. Yet, nothing came of the search. No wonder Amethyst was going bonkers.

 Above, in a clump of leaves he thought there was a set of eyes. The light revealed—

 A glittering moth. It flew away, its wings flashing as it swept through the stream of light. “Cool. Oh, sorry! I was looking for someone else.” He continued, still calling, and receiving no answer.

 Every shadow or flicker that shifted in the gloom, startled Steven. Why was he afraid? There was nothing to be frightened of, no monsters or eerie beast. He was only nervous, but he didn’t need to feel that way.

 “Did ya leave?” he hollered. If he kept on, he might stumble across the temple. Did the Crystal Gems search the temple, or was that too obvious? “If you’re there, you can give me a sign! I won’t tell the others! It can be a secret sign.”

 Low to the ground in a murky patch of shrubs, a slit eye creaked open and peered after Steven. The spooky sensation ran up Steven’s neck, but when he looked back, nothing was visible. He shrugged and continued.

 “I’m here on my own! They don’t know,” Steven tried. “I snuck out. I shouldn’t have done that, but I wanted to see if you were still here. It looks like you—”

 “AREN’T—!”

 A set of arms extended from above and gripped Steven by the shoulders. Steven eeped, as he was drawn upward several feet.

 “Shh!” Spinel stretched down by her legs, her torso twisting over as she faced the youth. “You should watch where you’re going.”

 Steven stifled the scream in his throat. “Put me down! This is too high!”

 “Nah-uh. The floors lava.” One hand gripped Steven by the collar, while the other stole the flashlight. Steven protested, until he spied where the beam cast down. A steep slope, hidden by glittering roots. “Or a bottomless void. Your pick.”

 Steven was on the verge of a thank you, when an arm looped around his middle. The gem recalled her body into its usual shape, and she slinked down to the ground. In the pool of shadows, Steven’s feet connected with stable soil, and he promptly lost his footing and dropped backwards. Spinel towered over him, arching her limbs and peered onto the lad with an accusatory eye. The flashlight held beneath her chin, accented the hard lines bent under her constricted pupils.

 “Didnit I tell you to stay out of my forest?”

 “Uh, you might’ve mentioned that?” he stammered, a smidgen intimidated. “But I might’ve forgotten.”

 “Where are they?” Spinel recoiled and snapped her head around, scanning the perimeter. “You couldn’t have snuck out that easily.”

 “You’d be surprised.” He winced when the light was aimed at him. It was very bright. Spinel took interest in it, turning the device over in her hands, the light sputtered and flashed. Before it cut off entirely. A loud crack emitted, and Steve presumed his flashlight would shine no longer. This was a bad idea. He should’ve listened.

 “I’m sorry. I wanted to see you, I didn’t think it’d hurt anything!” Silence. He could make out the silhouette, the pigtails, and her eyes narrowing.

 “You wanted… to see. Me?”

 “Yeah—”

 “Why!”

 Steven scooted back. “Why… not?” A long and painful stall followed. He wished the light was still on, or the sun would rise.

 “That’s not good enough! Why would you come here? I want a reason! You have something to gain if you decided to come out here! What do you want?!”

 Steven retreated further, until his back hit a rock or root, or something. “Don’t be upset! I didn’t know you were against visitors! I thought— I thought, you,” Steven continued to fumble with words and get a sentence put together, “You were lonely!” Spinel bristled. Wrong thing to say.

 “I DON’T get—” She cut off, and a giggle trilled through. The shadow manifest slacked and unwound, by a margin.   “I see, that makes sense. You don’t know.”

 Steven shivered. “I—”

 “If your other friends see you gone, they’ll make a connection,” Spinel murmured. “It doesn’t matter why you came here. I’m the bad guy. See how that works? It’s funny, when you think about it.” The laugh didn’t sound amused.

 Uh…. Oh. Oh!

 “But, what if we talked to them?” Steven raised a hand to his eyes, when Spinel lit up her gem. “You can come back to the temple with me, and we’ll show them you’re okay.” Spinel raised a brow. It was neat the way her hairline was a part of her brow, or whatever. “What about that? You wanna see what they’ve done… I mean, what my dad did to the temple?”

 Spinel crouched down, and gave a crooked grin. “What did Greg do to the temple, now?”

 There was a house now, where Steven lived. Greg built it. So now, the Crystal Temple was a big home for everyone.

 “Do you have a room there?”

 “The coolest room,” Spinel boasted.

 The sun came out enough and made the trail clear. Despite that, she carried Steven atop her shoulders.

 “Who started the fight? At the Chaldony Temple?”

 “Chalcedony,” Spinel corrected. “That’s not the actual name, but I like it.”

 “What was the name supposed to be?” Steven leaned between the pigtails, trying in vain to see Spinel’s face.

 “Dunno. Unnamed Temple. Big Tree Crystal Temple? Who came up with Chalcedony? That’s the terraforming sub-stuff used ‘round here.”

 “Pearl.”

 Spinel cackled. “She likes to name things. If she doesn’t know what something is, she’s gotta name it! Good thing she didn’t name you.”

 “Hmm? Who named me?”

 Spinel shrugged. “Greg? Rose was… not great with names. Either.”

 “You didn’t answer my question. Who started the fight?”

 “Oh look!” Spinel took three long steps, and cleared the remaining few feet to the warp pad. “You can get off now and leave me to my exile.”

 “No! Not until you answer me!” Steven tightened his grip. Even when Spinel reached up and tugged at his sides, he held tight.

 “Leggo.”

 “Nope.”

 “I’ll go up into the trees,” she threatened, extending her arms.

 “More reason to batten down the hatches,” Steven grumbled. He tightened his eyes shut and reinforced his hold on Spinel’s pigtails. He would not be intimidated this time, and prepared fully for the worst.

 “By chance ol’sport, are ye still ticklish?”

 Steven didn’t get a chance to reply, Spinel jabbed at his sides and got him where he was most vulnerable. “No! NO! Unfair!” he squealed, unable to hold on any longer. “Foul! That’s a foul!”

 Spinel pried him loose with no effort and set Steven down. “You need to go back to the temple.” Steven wouldn’t release her hand.

 “C’mon. You didn’t stop being friends, did you?” Spinel gave him a look, and turned her eyes away. “Did you start the fight? Just tell me, I won’t be mad.”

 “I didn’t… end it, either.” Spinel slung her free arm behind her back. For a long time she was quiet, staring off into the thicket. Something more was on her mind. “I don’t want to see them, yet. I want nothin’ to do with them. This is best.”

 “If I’m there, I won’t let them hurt you, or bubble you!” he proclaimed. “Sometimes my shield doesn’t work like I want it to, but when I really-really need it, it does. Er, usually when I don’t expect it.”

 “How practical,” Spinel sighed. “That’s sweet. You really are just the cootest.”

 “I promise,” Steven insisted, tugging her arm. “I’m sure we can make them list—”

 “It doesn’t matter what you do or say,” Spinel grated, but softly. “It changes nothing. Nothing… changes. I don’t… it’s hard to explain. I don’t want to be around them.” She put her other hand on Steven, and pried him off her arm. She staggered back, glaring at the warp pad. “I don’t want to be around that.”

 “What’s wrong?” Steven followed her line of sight, at a loss. “What if we went somewhere else? We can go any—”

 “NO!” Spinel regained her composure, somewhat. “No. I’m staying here.” She backed away. “I like this place.”

 Steven stepped after her. “But, you’re all alone. There’s no—”

 “It’s fine. This is what I want!” Spinel grimaced and clenched her fists. “Just… go. If you come back, I won’t help you out of my forest.” With that last declaration, she tossed her arm into the trees and swung off.

 “Wait! Spinel!” Steven tried to follow, weaving among the shrubs and trying with all his might to catch up. Within moments, however, the lanky gem vanished entirely and he was again alone. For a bit longer Steven tried in vain to give chase, but he also didn’t want to get lost. Reluctantly, he returned to the warp pad, mood down and one less flashlight. The glossy pad remained inactive, no one came searching for him, or, if they were looking for him, they thought he ventured elsewhere.

 The whole endeavor came to nothing, and despite getting the chance to talk with Spinel for a bit, Steven felt like a failure. If only he could get the Crystal Gems and her to interact, without the fighting, the bitter feelings might slip away. Staying in the forest all alone wasn’t good for her, even if it was an upgrade from a bubble or whatever. It was apparent more of the picture lay scattered about, but if he located a few key pieces it might be enough to give him the insight he needed.

 But first, he was going home and finished up the night.

[bts-svt-mx]

Maid For You (Part 8) - Taehyung x Reader (M)

Author: bts-svt-mx

Taehyung x Reader

Rating: Fluff, angst, Smut

Tags: Enemies to Lovers AU, smut (future chapters), Idol! Taehyung, Taehyung x Reader, Jungkook x Reader, Hoseok, mentions of other members, sexual tension, mentions of alcohol abuse, mentions of partying

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (M), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (m), 11, 12, 13 (m)

Word Count: 5,700

Description: Wanting to get out of your parents house and experience what the world had to offer is way more expensive than people tell you it will be. So when your glamorous “manager to the stars” cousin Hoseok hooks you up with a job as the live-in maid for a hillside, massive mansion, you feel as though life might actually be looking up. That is until the mansion’s absentee, high profile celebrity owner surprises you by moving back in. Leaving you to wonder if this mansion is big enough for both you and his huge ego.

Chapter 8: 

The look of bewilderment on Taehyung’s face as the elevator doors to the first level of the mansion opened was honestly somewhat laughable. His apprehension was still quite apparent, but you sensed that he wasn’t going to try to run away. 

And if he tried to, you were fully prepared to grab onto the sleeve of his hoodie and yank him back.

Walking out of the elevator with Taehyung in tow, you head in the direction of the impressive laundry room to put both of your baskets in before giving him the rest of the tour.

Down here, each room is more detailed than the last, as the first floor of the house was mostly for entertainment purposes and resembled more of an adult Boomers than an actual house. 

Ok maybe you were exaggerating on the amusement park thing, but the first level of the house did come equipped with an indoor basketball court, a movie theater, an indoor and outdoor pool, a small bowling alley and game room, a garage housing Taehyung’s 5 cars, and of course his own personal recording studio among many other huge pieces of art, sitting areas, televisions, and more. The house seemed to have no end.

Surprisingly, you didn’t get to show Taehyung much of the recording studio. When you both walked towards the sleek glass doors, he would barely even look in its direction while you went inside and searched the room for any mess. Why would he, a famous pop star known to help produce his own music, brush off a state of the art recording studio in his own home?

You were about to ask him how he’s never come down here to use it, but advised yourself against it when he didn’t give it so much as a fleeting glance or make any comment about it like he had been doing in amazement of some of the other rooms.

Though he was definitely opening up to you, some of Taehyung’s true feelings would just have to stay a mystery. At least until he deemed it the right time to tell you.

Speaking of...

“But that still doesn’t explain why you went looking for it in the middle of a party.” You say, walking now a little bit closer to Taehyung than you were before into one of the smaller hallways that branched off of the garage towards an extension of the house. You had somehow gotten to the topic of Taehyung’s Grandmother’s rooster that you had saved last night in the midst of your easy going conversation you’ve had since you first started giving him the tour.

Honestly, you hadn’t expected him to bring it up willingly so soon, but here you were, listening to him provide you with some sort of sober explanation for the events of last night.

“I got bored of the people I was with so I decided to drink. And then drink more. And then more after that too.” He sighs and winces in pain like his head hurt just from thinking about alcohol. “I had danced for a while but then.. Where does this door lead to?” Taehyung says as he yanks the glass door open in front of him before you can get a word in to tell him it’s the indoor pool room and sauna. 

Well, it was actually more like a full on spa if you were being honest. Complete with a large stone fish sculpture and everything.

His words echo as he walks into the through the spacious room, exploring the beautiful rock and tile work around the jacuzzi and pool. The walls were covered in a pebbled cement to keep the steam to a minimum and cool the room that easily would have gotten way too hot with the heated water.

Taehyung drops down to lay his long body out on one of the many lounge chairs and settles in a comfortable pose while you opted to just, well, stand there. You two really didn’t need to take another break when you were so close to being done looking through the house. 

Instead of asking him to get up again, you were actually kind of speechless at his pose. Were his legs always that long or did he just have a growth spurt? Damn, imagine what he would look like shirtless with just his swim trunks on… Wow, was it just you or was it heating up in here?

“Ahhh,” He sighs, stretching his arms above his head, definitely not helping you with your imagination at all. “Now this is my kind of place. Why didn’t you tell me this was here earlier Y/N? Trying to keep it all to yourself?” He raises his eyebrows suggestively and laughs. If you could slap yourself to bring you out of your daze, you would, but that would definitely give you away to the man looking at you through his lashes in his lounging position.

You shrug your shoulders and give a tip lipped smile in reply trying to hide the fact that had just been imagining him with his shirt off. “Um- Let’s move onto the next room, it’s getting a little stuffy in here,” Turning on your heel, you don’t even wait for him to get up before heading towards the door.

Taehyung sighs in disappointment of having to get up so soon, but makes a mental note that he’s going to have to spend way more time here. After exploring all the room has to offer and making sure there’s no mess from party goers, he follows you back out of the room. Taehyung closes the door behind him and gestures for you to lead the way once again.

“You were saying, Taehyung?” You implore, hopefully getting his mind back on track to his point of view from last night. There were so many things you wanted to know about what was going on in his mind before he had found you on the dance floor.

“What?” He questions from beside you, expression slightly puzzled.

Unfortunately, you can’t control your eye roll at his forgetfulness. “The rooster, Tae,”

“Oh! Yeah.. Something made me not want to dance anymore so I went to the kitchen to get some water and that’s when I noticed it wasn’t in its place,” He continues on with his story as you both round the corner to the big glass wall of the first floor much like the big glass wall on the second story with the balcony, but this one opened up to the massive backyard.

Pulling open the door, you both pop out on the ground level of the backyard of the mansion, the glistening outdoor pool in front of you reflecting the late afternoon sun. “I was in a panic. I looked around the room and realized I didn’t know anyone. Everywhere I looked was an unfamiliar face. Ew, god what is that?” Taehyung leans over the side of the pool to fish out what looks like a pair of men’s underwear from the water. His face twists in disgust as he tries to find a place to dispose of it. You point to where the trash can is underneath the outdoor bar, Taehyung understanding and quickly running over to throw it in there.

He makes his way back over to you where you are cleaning up some red solo cups from around the fire pit. “The worst part is, at that moment I knew that every single one of these people were at that party just because they wanted something from me. A job, a hookup, connections, money, power, you name it..”

As you pick up the last cup, Taehyung takes a seat on one of the lounge couches situated around the elaborate stone fire pit. You follow suit, opting to sit on your own chair instead of next to Taehyung on the large couch.

“I.. I didn’t know who else to go to.  Didn’t recognize or trust a single face until I saw you dancing with… dancing with him in the crowd.” His face contorts in a weird way at the mention of Jungkook. Even though Taehyung didn’t mention Jungkook’s name, his voice was still laced with clear anger. His calloused fingers pick up one of the lava rocks from the fire pit and fidgets with it. You hadn’t heard this tone of voice from him since before the party last night when he was still treating you terribly.

You think back to how he had separated your dancing partner away from you after barging through the crowd. He had barely even glanced at him.

“What’s wrong with Jungkook?” You question, trying to decipher why Taehyung’s demeanor changed to clear unhappiness with the mention of your latest hookup.  

“Well according to my label, nothing could ever be wrong with the ‘golden maknae’...” Taehyung pauses his fidgeting with the rock for a minute, looking up at you in your position across from him. The sudden eye contact startles you a bit but his next words come out softer. “Just know you could do better, Y/N,”

Was it just you or did Taehyung seem to be jealous of Jungkook? Was it because of you or for some other work related reason at his company? It was hard to tell, but from what you have seen of Jungkook yourself, he seemed like a pretty decent guy, and the rest of Hoseok’s friends seemed to like him too.

So what had happened between Taehyung and Jungkook to make Taehyung think so lowly of him?

Taehyung throws the lava rock back into the pit, signifying his thoughts of Jungkook were over and he finishes his story from last night, telling you that while he may have been slightly tipsy, he was thankful for your presence and help in his time of need. Well, not in so many words but that was the gist of what he was trying to tell you, you assumed. Conveniently though, he leaves out any type of mention to the almost kiss you both shared, and truthfully, you were relieved he didn’t try to bring it up again.

So you both sit there, conversation dying down for the first time since you started the tour. Enjoying the afternoon sun and the great view of the city below the hill Taehyung’s mansion sat perched upon.

Normally you would have been self conscious about not speaking while sitting across from Taehyung, but the silence was comfortable after talking almost nonstop with him all day. The only noise you could hear between the two of you was the distant sound of the waterfall coming from the pool and the sweet twittering of some birds in the bird bath that sat in the garden.

For a late September afternoon, the weather was actually quite nice. With the cool breeze bearable because of the warm sun rays shining above you. Not to mention the breathtaking view in front of you. The house behind you truly was a masterpiece, but this view of the city might just be better. So many people just living their normal everyday lives. So many strangers with their own stories, most you would never get the chance to be a part of.

Looking out as the sun finally sank to the horizon, you realized just how big this world was and just how many opportunities waited for you. A nice reminder of why you had left your parent’s home in the first place.

The boy next to you stared out into the world just like you, but did he view it the same way you did? When Taehyung looked out into the twilight, did he too see the freedom you saw? Or did he feel trapped, confined to his pedestal at the top of the hill, so close to the nameless people in the city below him, yet so far away?

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of what you’ve created here,” Your thoughts manifest into a confession of your own. The boy in question’s head turns to you at your words. So riddled with an unknown emotion that it almost stops you from continuing.

“Sure, majority of this house is filled with frivolous things that no normal person would actually need, but you’ve earned it Taehyung... All of it,” Your memory flashes with the many achievements you’ve seen him reach throughout your time being his fan. Though you hadn’t known him personally back then, you had always known his talents in singing and performing were worthy of the praise in which he was given by the public. 

Now that you were actually getting to see the inner workings of his beautiful, complicated mind, you could see that this boy, though maybe a little bit lost, was deserving of a life equally as beautiful as he was inside.

“You are talented, driven, self-made, and an inspiration to so many people,” You force yourself to continue even though Taehyung’s gaze is still intimidating to you, especially now that you are expressing your view of him to his face. “You deserve to enjoy yourself. You deserve a way to celebrate all you have accomplished through your own hard work,”  

His face was now gradually being lit up by the outdoor lighting system triggered by the sun’s decent. The last light next to him turning on causing a twinkle to appear in the dark irises of his eyes. The only sound was the crickets beginning to chirp into the night air.

His attention was fully on you and yours on him, just like you wanted. Because for some reason you needed him to know. And you needed him to understand. “You deserve a home, Taehyung,”

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

The rest of the tour of the house is successful, and throughout the house there isn’t really any more messes except for a few more red cups here and there. Leading you to believe that only maybe 20 or so people had found their way downstairs and outside during the party. Which is pretty good considering the fiasco of last weekend’s party.

Ew. The memory of what you had to clean up after that mess sends a shiver down your spine.

“So I guess we’re all done down here! Let’s use the main staircase to get back up this time, I don’t feel like standing in a death trap with you trying to break it again,” You suggest to the boy next to you to avoid having to ride in the elevator again.

Taehyung laughs at your suggestion but follows you in the direction of the stairs anyway. It takes you a minute to get there but eventually you arrive at the focal point of the house, the giant marble staircase, and start your ascent to the main floor.

“After cleaning up today, I don’t think I could stand to have another party at my house for at least a year. Maybe even longer.” Taehyung chuckles to himself.

Wait- Are your ears failing you? Did he actually just say that?

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from today,” He continues. “It’s that it’s much more fun to trash someone else’s place than to have others trash yours,”

Suddenly you hold your arm out in front of Taehyung, stopping him from going any further up the marble staircase, almost making him trip, as you scrunch your face in a display of overwhelming emotion, making weeping noises and covering your eyes with your palms.

Taehyung’s hands are immediately on your forearm, offering you steady support so you don’t fall on your face on the stairs.  “Y/N? Are you ok?” His expression dropping from amusement to worry at your random outburst, eyes darting across your covered face trying to figure out what’s wrong with you. Did you stub your toe? Did he say something wrong? His eyes were on you the whole entire time, what could have happened to you?

“I’m just-” You start, words coming out like a weird cough. Taehyung gently takes your hands away from your face to reveal you with no tears and a smile fighting its way onto your features.

You took in Taehyung’s worried and quite confused expression in front of you. Oh his face was so cute right now! He looked like a little lost puppy! You couldn’t take it anymore, giggles bursting out of you. “So happy to hear you say I won’t have to clean up anymore of these huge messes! So happy I could cry!” 

“Oh my god,” Taehyung groans immediately, dropping your arms from his light hold but you can tell he’s trying not to laugh until he decides fuck it and laughs with you. “Ah so now you’ve got jokes. I didn’t know you were this funny, Y/n,”

Your grin doesn’t fade as the two of you continue your trek up the large staircase. “Well that’s because you never took the chance to get to know me,”

It’s true. Throughout the many useless conversations you had with Taehyung prior to last night, the only exchanges you two partook in were strictly boss to employee. Snarkily ordering you to do this or that, never thanking you or really ever even acknowledging you as a real person.

You were glad you were past that now. But Taehyung would still have to redeem himself from initially being a giant douchebag to you. Maybe you could convince him to buy you a new car to make up for his actions. Ooh! Or maybe that really expensive perfume you’ve been wanting!

That would have to wait though. Ultimately you decided to keep your mouth shut on those requests and save that ammo for a later date if he starts acting up again.

“Yeah I apologize for that. I just assumed you were…” His words trail off as if he didn’t want you to know what he was thinking.

“Assumed I was what?” You implore, trying to skip some steps in front of you to catch up to him. You couldn’t see his face, just his shoulders and the back of his head. Since his legs were longer, he was already getting to the top of the staircase. Meanwhile, you were out of breath and still a couple of steps away.

He shakes his head, mentally erasing the misguided, old image he had of you in his brain and turns to watch you take the last few steps up. “It’s not important. I was wrong to judge you so quickly and I- I’m sorry,”

Finally, you reach the top step, coming up to stand right in front of Taehyung.

“So is this officially a truce then?” You question. Your words hang in the air for a moment as Taehyung smirks down at you, a glint in his eyes.

“A truce? I didn’t even know we were at war,” His voice is low and teasing once more. The side eye that you had perfected in the past few months of working for him sneaks it’s way onto your face.

Hah. At war was the perfect label for what your relationship had started out as. Each little interaction with each other was a battle, both of you keeping tabs on who won each one. At who could get the last word out, stumping the other before one of you eventually gave up and stalked away in anger or distaste.

But that feeling was completely gone now. It had truly felt like you two broke new ground in the past day. And though you could sense Taehyung feels the same way, you needed reassurance that he was on the same page as you as well. “Oh shut up, you know what I mean,”

At your words, Taehyung smiles a true smile. One that reaches his eyes. One that you can feel the sincerity of. So you smile back too.

“Yes,” He says matter of factly and holds his slender hand out between the two of you. “Truce,”

His hand was once again in yours after maybe only an hour or two since the last time it had found its way there in the kitchen before you had started your house warming tour. There was a noticeable difference in size as his massive hand basically enveloped yours entirely but it didn’t feel out of place there. His hand was warm and his mahogany eyes that were trained on you were even warmer.

‘There’s a great guy underneath that front he puts on for everyone’ Hoseok had claimed to you over the phone the day you first met Taehyung. At the time you couldn’t imagine him to be any more than an entitled, self-absorbed, dick but now the affection your cousin had for the boy in front of you had finally made sense. Guess that means you could finally trust Hobi on his friend choices again.

You couldn’t get Hobi’s words out of your head as you admired the man in front of you. His hair was that stupid lemonade pink and yellow color combo complete with that big headband, and he was dressed in those dumb Gucci sweats with no makeup on. Absolutely no trace of an award winning mega huge pop star to be found, just Taehyung being fully himself.  

Not just without makeup. No, it was more than that. 

He just seemed open. And... Free. Today he had shown himself as he truthfully was to you, and you wondered just how many people got to see this side of him. And how did you get so lucky to be one of those people?  

“Ahem,” A low voice erupts from the foyer in front of you, the sudden voice sends a shock of fear through you as you whip your head in the direction of the unknown presence. At the sight of the tall, handsome man stood at the front door, you turn back to Taehyung who’s eyes were still on you, almost bumping his nose with yours due to the proximity of his face.

When did you get so close to him? You were practically on top of him! 

Immediately you drop his hand and back up to a safe, platonic distance away. You didn’t realize how close the two of you had been standing at the top of the stairs. Had you subconsciously been pulled towards him? Because you definitely don’t remember stepping towards him voluntarily. Taehyung hadn’t seemed to mind, but to the producer it might have seemed like he was interrupting something… more than what it actually was.

Namjoon stood authoritatively, his demeanor much different than to how he was last night. You could still picture him upside down on the keg stand, a crowd around him cheering him on. Actually, you didn’t have to imagine it since you were pretty sure you had an actual physical picture of it on your phone.

If it weren’t for the stern look on his face, you would have laughed at the image in your brain, but there was nothing but tension in the air as the three of you stood silent in the large foyer.

“Taehyung,” He straightened his coat, eyes trained on the boy who was still only looking at you. “We need to talk,”

<-- Previous Chapter | Next Chapter -->

[clubcreative]

Writing in Comic+Illustration

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” I have to admit that’s a pretty cliche starter, but it does help define what writing means in the art community. 

One way to define “writing” is to call it a genre. 

Genre 101

Before I continue, I want to make sure that you understand what I mean by genre. When I talk about genre I am simply referring to various forms something comes in. For music its different sounds like the genre of jazz or pop. In writing, a genre is a book or a shopping list. Hopefully that clears things up!

When I first began researching various writing genres in the art community I was confused because I thought I was looking for actual written texts like a research paper. Yes, there are the conventional forms of written genre within the art community like a blog, but turns out a genre in the art community simply refers to the art we create!

“I thought art didn’t have writing?”

Comics, manga, anime, ads, posters- those are all forms of genre in the art world. If you are still confused then just think about the different forms that you often see art as. 

In our community, the purpose of these different genres vary between the mediums. 

Some are for insiders (people who are artists themselves) some genres cater towards outsiders (people who are not artists, but consume and enjoy art).

As an artist, our main focus is to entertain others with the works of art we create. Because the nature of our job focuses on pleasing others, most genres of art are created to be consumed by outsiders.

To illustrate that let’s compare two different kinds of art projects. 

Genre 1: Comic Book

SnotGirl by Bryan Lee O’Mallley/Leslie Hung

Who is it for?

Comic books come in various styles and not just what people typically think like the Marvel comics.

 A comic book is written in order to entertain an outsider of the art community. That is not to say that artists do not enjoy comics as well, in fact I’ve included one of my favorites as the example!

Sometimes comics are a single page with multiple panels, and they can span multiple pages and volumes. Snot girl, for example, is currently on its 14th issue! 

A comic is a very commonly produced genre. Typically, someone who writes a comic has multiple reasons to do so. Most of the artists have their own story to tell. They have created their own characters, their own world, and have a vision or lesson they want others to see as well. 

What’s so special about it?

What’s great about a comic is that there is no right way to do it. Comic artists are tasked with balancing multiple parts of their project. They have to consider: 

- the organization of the dialogue 

-how they are going to lay out the images/ what geometric shapes the panels will be

-inclusion of sound effects

Don’t forget the art itself! The creator has to make sure they are:

- cohesive

 -complete and dynamic illustrations

 - they do not clash with the already established panel placement

-establish the tone and mood through colors and lighting

When Less = More

Comic books have the daunting task of developing their writing through narration and dialogue. Write too much and the reading becomes heavy and write too little and the author risks confusion. 

Imagine condensing an entire essay into dialogue between characters with limited narration. Writing in comics is an art in-and-of itself.  

While the writer of a comic and also be the artist, this isn’t a set rule. Sometimes the author and the illustrator are two separate people or teams!

SnotGirl as a comic book case study:

Volume 1, SnotGirl 

Analyzing structure

The left page is split into three rectangles and the right page is broken down into multiple squares beside a near full body illustration of the main character, Lottie. 

Lottie lives her life as an Instagram model and fashion influencer. The left page introduces us to the real Lottie, a side of her that is disgusting and unkept, snot drizzling out of her nose constantly. The right page shows her in public maintaining an idealized and aesthetic persona. 

if you break a page into three sections that means more art needs to go into a single panel. In the middle rectangle her whole body is shown and the bottom panel is largely zoomed into her face. It’s nearly claustrophobic, showing Lottie’s overwhelming insecurities and having the reader up-close to a side of Lottie she wishes to ignore.

On the left page, the dialogue reads as frantic, narcissistic, Lottie is trying to convince herself that she doesn’t feel ugly and that she’s more superior than others. 

On the right the multiple squares include more dialogue, space around Lottie, and more zoomed-out compositions (For example, you can see Lottie all the way down to her chest at least four times).

The squares reflect Lottie’s insecurities but they are the problems of her perfect persona: boy troubles, getting coffee, and Instagram profiles. There’s more writing on this page to reflect her more superficial ravings. 

Analyzing illustration

Art wise, on the left the colors are grey, dark green or blue, and more cool-toned. In color theory cool tones portray sadder, more serious moods. 

The right page which is vibrant and warm-toned, which is supposed to be energetic. If I were to ask you, you might be more attracted to the right side and its happier atmosphere. 

These two pages illustrate how color, composition, and organization differ widely to emphasize how the artist wants the reader to feel and understand about the story. 

Sounds complicated doesn’t it? The genre of comic books may be common, but it takes a lot of working, planning, and dedication.

Genre #2: Video Game Illustration

Illustration in game

illustration in full

Art by ZAVIR

Aren’t games 3D though?

I know that when most people think about video games the models and backgrounds are in 3-D. Think of Red Dead Redemption 2. While most mainstream games are produced that way, there are still many games who use illustrations like PC click-and-point games, mobile games, and other games use illustration for character sprites. The example I’ve included is from my favorite mobile rhythm game, Cytus II. 

For those who don’t play Cytus II, the game revolves around different in-universe musicians who have different songs which the player taps the beat to. For each playable song there is an illustration. (Here’s a link to the hardest song in the game! “Floor is Lava”)

What’s the point of the art?

Most video game illustrators work in backgrounds or character sprites. The illustrations can be single items as well, clarifying items that a character may have picked up in game. 

However, to stay relevant to my example I will mainly focus on the aspects of this particular video game illustration.

Cytus II as a case study:

The illustrations in Cytus 2 are meant to: 

create further diversity between the different songs

provide the song with a visual outside of the beatmap

By providing the song Extinguisher by Lixound with artwork, it’s not only visually pleasing but adds memorability to the song. People who are fans of the game can now draw fanart of the song. 

Differences from comics

there is very little text. 

The story or context has to be told by the artist in composition, character pose, and other artistic choices like lighting or colors. 

Particularly in Cytus 2, the story the artist tries to tell is set by the sound and “vibe” of the song. 

“Extinguisher”, an EDM song, has fast beats and dubstep like qualities as well as a robotic vocal track. It’s chaotic and fast, which could explain why the artist interpreted explosions and a figure that looks like an anarchist. 

Why Different Genres Exist: Comics vs Video Game Art

Imagine if a comic was told through dialogue-less illustrations and imagine if video games had backgrounds and illustrations that were formatted like comics. 

Visual chaos would ensue. Clashing dialogue, images, colors, and a lack of clarity for what the viewer should be focusing on. 

Thank goodness for the different genres of illustration, huh?

[michaelmyersmalewife]

LEVIATHAN | 11. Apotheosis | MASTERLIST

words: 6k+

A/N: you can probably guess why this chapter hurt my feelings

you can also support this fic on wattpad & ao3

After what felt like forever, lights flickered back on and air began to blow through the sub's vents again.

Jodie's heart was hammering, and she was pretty sure she had hit her side against something, the space just below her ribs throbbing with pain. Gill was standing up from previously being in a crumpled pile on the floor. Serizawa helped Graham up to her feet.

"Damage report." the commander said as everyone got back on their feet.

"Fire in the torpedo room is out." one of the men said. "Atmosphere is stable. We're pretty banged up but we'll make it."

"Make it where?" Mark asked.

"Can't fix our position," one of the control techs said. "But inertial says we're six hundred miles from departure."

Running the numbers in her head, Jodie's brows scrunched together in confusion. No way this sub could make six hundred miles in little over an hour. And the lights had only been out for about 30 minutes since the vortex. Despite everyone else's confusion, Stanton was beaming.

"That's impossible, unless.." Graham thought out loud, grasping her chin.

"I knew it, man!" Stanton exclaimed. "That vortex was a tunnel into the hollow earth!"

Everyone shot him a pointed look. He waved them off.

"Y'know, subterranean tunnel system that connects the entire planet - doesn't matter, I knew I was right - I told you, Chen!" he rambled.

"Shut up, Rick." she said, putting a hand to her throbbing temple.

The Hollow Earth was an old theory, up there with the likes of the Flat Earth theory and whatnot. It had been entertained by scientists back in the 1600s thanks to a one Edmund Halley, but in a few centuries it faded to nothing but science fiction. That is, until Dr. Houston Brooks proposed an updated version of the theory back in the 70s. He had tried to test his theory on the Monarch expedition to Skull Island, but at this point everyone knew how that went. While he had managed to gather evidence of cave systems deeper than usual, it just wasn't enough to prove the larger theory.

Until now, if Stanton was right.

Had Mothra known about the vortex? Was it encoded in the minds of all titans? That debate would have to wait, however, as they still had a mission to get on with.

"One-second emergency blow forward." the commander said.

The sub lurched ahead, dipping down into a crevasse.

"Doctor?"

"Launch probes." Serizawa said.

Ahead of them, a trio of probes flitted through the water, their floodlights illuminating the pitch black abyss around them. In the control room, the feeds from the drones appeared. As the sub followed their lead, they approached strange, twisting shapes that were still too vague to make out through the murk. But even then, it was obvious they weren't natural.

"Lights on, cameras good, range one thousand yards." Stanton said as he pushed the drones farther along.

As the sub and its guides continued through the darkness, Jodie could see the occasional flicker of life dart away from the lights. But one shape loomed, the shape of a woman's face - pale and ghostly - suddenly appearing on the feed. Jodie flinched.

"Jesus," Stanton said in mild shock.

As the probe pulled back, widening the frame, they found it wasn't some waterlogged corpse or a mermaid. It was the figurehead of what looked like a centuries old galleon. And it wasn't alone.

Dozens of wrecks were visible in the searchlights, many piled on top of each other. What looked like an authentic Viking ship raised its dragon-shaped figurehead from the remains of galleys, cogs, and frigates. The rusted cylinder of a submarine, covered in barnacles, lay near the broken remnants of a warship that had probably last seen the surface during the first world war. And they had all been drawn here by the vortex, thrown into the mouth of the abyss. And they could very well be next, just another addition to this graveyard.

But as they pushed forward, Jodie found that analogy had taken an all too literal turn.

Among the wrecks were immense bones - ribs, arms, legs, skulls, bony plates with spikes and spines and anything in between. And beyond that was something else.

"Pan right." Serizawa said.

There was a light in the abyss, but not the artificial blueish green light from the sub and its probes, it was almost a soft orange glow that emitted a reddish fog. It wasn't coming from the surface, but boiling up from a trench. It was lava, pouring out of fissures in the earth and creating a sort of underwater stream, flowing across the seafloor through giant structures that were definitely not natural. Gill leaned closer to the feed, eyes shining with fascination.

Through the muck were dozens of crumbling statues the size of skyscrapers, and alongside them were temples and other smaller buildings - the ruins of a cyclopean city. Breathtaking colonnades reminded Jodie of Roman architecture, but in some places the structure seemed more Egyptian. And in others they were more ornate, like Southeast Asian temples. And illuminating it all was the stream of lava.

"Amazing.." Gill said with a grin on her face.

Passing countless monuments, Jodie could barely make out what might be hieroglyphics, bas-reliefs, and murals of strange creatures and much smaller humans.

"Looks Egyptian, Roman maybe?" Jodie said, coming up from behind Gill to observe the feeds.

Chen shook her head. "No, this is something else, this is much older." She looked closer through the dim lighting. "Can't say what exactly, but it almost looks Mesopotamian at least."

Much larger murals came into view, and now Jodie could recognize what she was talking about. The strange creatures on the earlier hieroglyphics were much clearer now, and they all depicted the same four figures - Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and Kong. And beneath them, smaller figures were arranged in various forms of respect, service, or worship.

"You were right." Gill breathed, looking over at Chen. "The legends, the stories..all of it. They're all true." She began taking stills of the ancient carvings.

"They really were the first gods." Graham whispered.

This changes everything, she thought. Emma, Chen, Serizawa, they had all been right. Although Emma had royally screwed up and gotten unknowable amounts of people killed needlessly, the link between humans and titans was inescapable.

What caught her attention the most was that there was nothing in the human figures' poses that suggested fear or intimidation. Piety, maybe. But also cooperation. This was the coexistence they had always spoken of. This was the connection.

"After all this time," Gill said, looking at a particularly large mural, depicting Godzilla - in all his glory - defending a city from what looked like MUTOs. "He never forgot."

"But we did." Serizawa responded.

As they passed through the sunken city, the ruins began to tell another story. It was slowly becoming clear that the city hadn't been peacefully abandoned. Nearly everything around them had been scarred, scorched, or blasted to pieces. The sea bottom itself bore the scars of some ancient cataclysm that had undoubtedly sent the city asunder. The last mural was of a familiar three-headed dragon, the wall cracked beyond repair. Seeing Ghidorah depicted on something so ancient sent a chill down Jodie's spine.

And with the wreckage, the murals of man and monster ended - but not because the artists had finished their story, but because their work had been wrecked beyond recognition. Whatever harmony had once existed in this place had been drowned in a single day of misfortune much like the mythical Atlantis. Had this even existed above, Jodie thought. Or was this all one big cave, once filled with air? Either way, who - or what - brought about its downfall was beyond her understanding. It very well could have been a war between titans fought with the aid of humans. If so, given the amount of giant bones, the end result didn't seem to have gone very well for either side.

Except, perhaps, Godzilla's.

"If the stones could only speak, the stories they could tell us." Stanton mused.

"Amen to that." Gill said, continuing to take photos.

"Dr. Stanton, any sign of Gojira?" Serizawa asked.

"Yeah, the probes are picking up a radioactive blob just past past that ridge." he said, pointing to the thermal screen.

"Set a course."

_____

Elena and the others pushed through the woods as fast as they could.

She kept imagining the Controller behind her, gun in hand, that same shock the Regulator had shot her with that first day surging through her whole body. Or maybe this time she wouldn't be stunned. Would she even feel it? Would everything just stop? She was determined not to find out, and she was determined even more so not to let Madison find out either.

After nearly an hour, they finally came across a winding two-lane road with hundreds of cars packed bumper to bumper. Through the windows, she could see people staring at them as they walked in the opposite direction, puzzled but not making any attempt to stop them. She couldn't blame them.

It wasn't long before the road passed into a suburban area where they could no longer see the skyline. The Regulator slowed.

"I suppose I should let you take the reins."

Madison nodded.

She knew Boston like the back of her hand, but it was more than a little eerie seeing all the empty houses. Every now and then they would see a family still packing up. At one point some people in an SUV stopped and offered them a ride, but once they learned they were going into the city, they shook their heads and moved on.

Then the road joined a bigger one, all bodegas, malls, office complexes, and finally an interstate that was just as bad - if not worse - than the road outside the city. It was practically at a standstill, and the drivers were definitely not happy about it. Elena could feel a headache coming on from the constant stream of honking and screaming, but what bothered her most were the people too frustrated to wait, weaving through cars and abandoning theirs altogether. It was like swimming upstream, and the ORCA was heavy. She could only imagine how much the backpack must weigh for Madison. She was already more than tired, and they still had a long way to go until they reached the ballpark.

Every now and then they would take turns carrying the loads, stopping to rest or eat or drink. But never for more than a few minutes.

At least Elena felt a little safer now that they entered the downtown area. The evacuation had already kicked into high gear, sirens wailing near and far. Jets tore through the skies, helicopters and Ospreys filled with military and civilians alike taking off in the distance. The odds of the Controller and his men finding them were significantly lower now, and she could only hope that Emma had kept her word.

By the time they got within sight of Fenway, the crowd had turned, no longer flowing out of the city but within the park. It was one of the evacuation hubs, complete with aircraft lifting hoards of people lifted off every other ten minutes or so. It seemed to be going well. A little too well, perhaps, but a small part of Elena thought maybe there was a chance they could survive.

No. They would. She would see to that. And with the ORCA in their hands, those chances were looking just a little higher.

But with all of the people pouring into Fenway, it was going to be a little trickier than they anticipated. Finding no other way in, they merged into one of the lines where people were being herded into the stadium by cops and soldiers like a bunch of sheep. Every few minutes the loudspeakers above reminded them all to remain calm, that the ships would be departing every fifteen minutes or so. A few places ahead of the line, a little girl was clinging her to her father. She looked terrified, tears streaming down her face as she saw the bustling stadium around her. Madison made a funny face, and the girl cheered a little and turned away. A small, hardly noticeable smile appeared on Elena's face.

Just a moment later, Elena saw their chance. No one official was looking, and the line had gotten as far into the stadium as they could go without reaching the helicopter waiting ahead. The trio sprinted across the field until they reached a door that lead to the broadcasting booth at the top of the stadium. But after jiggling it, she found it locked. She slammed a fist against the door.

"Damn it," she cursed.

Wordlessly, the Regulator nudged her back. Lifting her leg farther than she thought a human could reach, she kicked down like a hammer. Almost as soon as her heel connected with the lock, the door splintered from the impact, swinging open.

"After you."

Madison raised her eyebrows, trying to hide an impressed grin. As they slipped inside, there were stairs that lead to the booth. They had reached the easy part. Despite the massive crowds outside, in there, it was deserted. Madison looked down at her hand as it slid up the railing.

She wondered what her dad was doing, if he was still okay. She remembered coming here a few times with him, just the two of them. Neither her mom or Andrew were big baseball fans. And she had never cared that much about it herself, but she liked the atmosphere, sharing it with someone she cared about.

Please be okay, she thought.

He will be fine, young Speaker, the warm voice echoed. Just worry about yourself

That was going to be hard to do. There was so much to worry about that she could barely begin to comprehend it. And above it all, she hoped her mom was okay too, that the Controller didn't take out their escape on her. She knew there was a good chance he might. She shook her head, not wanting to think about it.

It took them a little longer to find the booth than she would've liked, but eventually they came to the door. This time, it was unlocked. Inside was a large table surrounded by dozens of tv screens and other broadcasting equipment. From there, they had a bird's eye view of the evacuation through the giant glass windows ahead of them. For a moment, she hung there, watching the events unfold. Behind her, Elena and the Regulator placed the ORCA on one of the tables, and they got to work.

Opening up the ORCA, they began hooking up cables to the stadium's speaker system, turning up the volume as high as it could go.

Looking away from the window, she found that whoever was here had left a screen on. Madison listened as the anchor droned on.

"Massive storms and other disasters triggered by the titans have forced millions to flee major cities. And with D.C. hit hard by a category six hurricane that has left the capitol completely flooded, this is the single greatest disaster in human history."

The news footage showed pure pandemonium. Dozens of tornadoes and waterspouts churned through the air and sea, sucking in everything they touched up into a sickly yellow sky. Madison could make out buildings in the distance, but it soon became obvious that only the tops of those buildings were visible, while others were completely submerged altogether. The summit of the Washington monument and the dome of the capitol building looked like they had been dropped in the middle of a lake. And all the while, lightning struck all around the area in thin golden bolts.

"It looks like the sky's alive.." Madison thought out loud.

Looking up at the screen, Elena shivered. "That's because it is."

Another chain of lightning flashed in the bruised clouds, and for an instant she swore she could see Ghidorah's demonic shadow.

"The grim search continues as people around the world sift through the debris of leveled homes in the hope of finding missing loved ones. And though this sight is heartbreaking, it is in no way unique. Cities around the globe have fallen under the wake of what many are calling 'The Rise of the Titans'."

The Regulator cleared her throat as the ORCA beeped to life, its screens flipping open.

"Should be ready for broadcasting. You know how to work it, yes?"

Madison nodded. She scrolled through a handful of signatures until she finally found one that looked familiar. Pulling up the bioacoustic waveform on the ORCA's main screen, the words 'Alpha Frequency Found' appeared beneath it.

Without hesitation, she hit the button.

Turning to Elena, the Regulator hooked up the headset to the ORCA, handing it to her in the same motion. She took it in her hands, turning it over with a contemplative look on her face before steeling herself and placing it on her head.

"Are you sure about this?" the Regulator asked.

Slowly, Elena nodded, closing her eyes as she entered the headspace.

_____

The sub continued to drift through the ghostly city at a steady pace. They were headed toward something large, far larger than any of the other buildings. At first Jodie thought it was a dead end, but as they drew nearer, she saw that it was a massive sculpture carved into a natural stone face. It was a doorway of sorts, but not on a human scale. A titanic one. Carved on either side of the structure's base were two huge three-clawed feet.

Through the chthonic doorway, lava cascaded along a tunnel that rose in a series of large steps, eventually forming a larger fall that poured into the river beneath them. At the far end of the tunnel, a faint but familiar blue glow lined the entrance into..somewhere.

"I think we should stop." Stanton said.

"Why?" Serizawa asked.

"Because I still wanna have kids one day." he said, tapping the top right corner of his screen. The geiger counter built into the drones flashed a dangerous red warning. "Preferably without flippers."

"Full stop. Hover the ship." the commander said.

The drones continued on without them, disappearing down into the tunnel as they all continued to watch their feed.

"Things are getting steamy." Stanton said. "Probes aren't gonna last long, but I'm picking up the big guy's radioactive signature up ahead. It's weak, but it's there."

He had barely gotten the words out of his mouth when the feed from one of the probes ceased, quickly followed by another. The third pushed forward, and a moment later it finally entered the vast cavern.

"Okay, we got O2, CO2, and methane - looks like some sort of air pocket in there." Stanton said.

As the probe rose to the surface of the cavity, the red-orange glow became more intense. Illuminated by the falling lava, a vast temple complex was laid out before them. And although the video feed was already beginning to lose resolution from the radiation, they could see him clear as day. Godzilla, splayed out on the temple floor like a fallen deity in the heart of his own temple, lava breaching up from beneath him like ichor.

"Oh my god -" Mark breathed.

"- zilla." Stanton finished.

And with that the video cut out into nothing but static. "Aaand goodnight, Grace." Stanton let go of the probe's controls, leaning back into his chair.

"Pull up the last frame." Serizawa said.

He zoomed into the volcanic vents surrounding Godzilla. It stung Jodie's heart to see the still of the titanic lizard in such a state, a powerful being so beaten like that. Helpless.

"There," he said, pointing to the glow behind his scutes. "It's the source of the radiation."

"He's feeding. Regenerating." Graham mused.

"This is his home." Serizawa said.

The two shared a look of satisfaction. Serizawa turned away, taking his notebook out of his pocket and flipping through the pages while Graham continued to stare at the frame.

"That must be how he's been able to survive so long." Mark said. "Always adapting, evolving, it's incredible."

"Welp," Stanton said. "He doesn't really need our help, dude's got it covered, right? He just needs a nap."

"No," Chen interjected. "After San Francisco he was gone for nearly five years. After the Oxygen Destroyer, this process could take decades."

"We have to proceed as planned." Serizawa said firmly.

"Hang on," Stanton objected. "We're gonna launch a nuclear torpedo in order to revive a giant monster. That's not exactly like jump-starting a car."

"We have one more complication," the commander said. "Our weapons systems were damaged during the crash. We can't launch."

Jodie's heart sank. "Shouldn't you have mentioned this a little earlier?" she said.

The commander was at a loss for words.

"Can it be repaired?" Mark asked.

"I'm afraid not." he replied.

They had come all this way, followed Mothra, journeyed into the hollow earth and found Godzilla - all for nothing. But Graham wasn't discouraged.

"Could we attach one of the warheads to a probe? Set a timer so that it gives us enough time to clear the area before it detonates?" Graham said.

Stanton shook his head. "They wouldn't handle the weight. Besides, they'll barely make it past the cave entrance before the radiation eats it."

"Okay," Chen said, pacing. "So what if we go inside, set a timer, and detonate one of the warheads manually?"

"No way," Stanton said. "If the heat doesn't fry you the radiation will. It might be good for titans but walking in there would be like walking into Chernobyl."

The sub was silent. There were no other options, none that ended in either the death of Godzilla or the deaths of themselves. Jodie bit at a nail.

"I'll go." Serizawa said, breaking the silence.

Jodie almost thought she'd heard wrong.

"What the hell does that mean?" Mark asked incredulously.

"No, I'll go - Serizawa, you're too im -" Gill started before being quickly interrupted.

"What? No, what are you -?!" Jodie was silenced as Serizawa raised a hand.

He didn't speak, but his face said it all. He had skipped to the obvious conclusion: a life for a life. And he would be the one to take that leap. Once he made up his mind, there was almost no convincing him.

"There must be another way." Graham insisted.

"There's no time for a debate," he said. "I'll go."

_____

It's cute -

             - That you think whatever trick you pulled can stop us.

                                                                                 We'd applaud your efforts, -

- But we're busy

Elena's jaw tightened, trying to push through the voices in her mind.

Don't feel so down, Speaker.

                    When we're finished, we'll leave you alive last

                                                   So that you may see our wonders in full swing.

It's going to be beautiful.

"He still talking to you?" Madison asked, startling her out of her daze.

She nodded. "He doesn't know about the ORCA. Yet. But even then he's suspicious...he thinks whatever we're doing won't work." she bristled, rubbing her arms of the sudden chill. "Let's hope we can prove him wrong."

"Look." the Regulator said after a beat, pointing to the screen.

For the past ten or so minutes they had been anxiously watching the new stream in from around the world for any sign of change. Now, it seemed, that the tables were finally turning. Madison smiled.

"It does appear as if the attacks have ceased for the time being, with the creatures going from destructive to docile within minutes. Now, no one is sure how or why but this seems to be happening simultaneously around the world."

The titans in the news footage didn't seem docile so much as they did completely dazed, if not confused. Like they had just been dropped in the middle of a city with no prior knowledge of waking up to begin with. The two conflicting alpha frequencies were scrambling their massive brains, and unable to decide who to follow, they couldn't act out at all.

Take that, you bastard, she thought with a satisfied grin.

Somewhere at the front of her mind, Ghidorah laughed. Elena would've rolled her eyes if only his signature cackle wasn't so unsettling.

This is only a minor setback.

                      They are dull, weak. This was to be expected.

                                                                               But we will manage.

You just keep thinking that, asshole, she responded.

It's funny, really.

                Seeing you try so hard.

                                            It's amusing.

But also sad.

             You can't stop a storm, -

                                                  - how could you stop us?

Nearly growling from frustration, Elena's eyes screwed shut. Why? What could you possibly gain from all this? A dead kingdom with no subjects?

There was a long, weighty pause after that. It frightened her, but she would rather die than admit that to him.

If you're so confident, Speaker, -

                                                  - Then maybe we should pay you a visit.

                                                                                            It's only polite.

Shit, Elena buried a sneer, throwing the headset onto the table in frustration.

Those self-absorbed bastards couldn't be reasoned with, that much she was sure of. But even with the titans incapacitated, it still didn't seem to sway them. She knew it was all far from over, but if the ORCA confused the titans long enough, Monarch would have a chance to do their thing. That is, if they even had a plan to begin with. Madison seemed faithful in their endeavors, and that faith was becoming increasingly infectious.

Meanwhile, on the field below, the crowd had thinned out to almost nothing. Another handful of airlifts and the evacuation would be complete. If anyone noticed the odd pulses coming from the stadium speakers, no one had come to check it out. But they weren't going anywhere. They couldn't keep the ORCA out of their sight, not now.

And even if they could leave, they didn't have anywhere to go.

_____

Captain Ford Brody helped Serizawa into the dive suit.

He had already prepped the bomb beforehand, laughing dismally at the irony of the situation. But now, as he helped prepare the doctor for what was assuredly a suicide mission, there was no sign of humor in him.

It was all happening too fast, Jodie felt like she was slipping down a slope that was now nearly vertical. There had to be some another way, it was just no one could think of anything during such a time crunch. That had to be it.

"We've removed the warhead's lead shielding and inserted a mechanical timer, so it can function in the radiation." Brody explained.

"On first contact you'll start losing your long-range vision." he said, quietly. "After you surface your motor skills will start to fade, but I added a heliox mixture to your tank. It should help keep you stable longer."

Serizawa nodded with an unreadable expression as he took in the specifics of his impending demise. The captain was trying to be precise, clinical. Jodie could see the sadness in his eyes just below the surface of professionalism.

"Once you get inside, you'll have about six minutes," he said. "Before the radiation -" he stopped himself, taking in an unsteady breath.

Jodie could feel her eyes well up with tears. Nearly losing Godzilla was one thing, but losing Serizawa? It was too much. Everyone could feel it. He was part of the very foundations of Monarch, and most of their lives. He was their heart.

Brody sent him off with a quick hug.

"It was an honor, man." Stanton said, reaching out and shaking Serizawa's hand.

Chen grabbed Serizawa in a hug, gripping him like she didn't want to let go. But she did, her arms pulling back slowly. Gill and Jodie both went in for a hug, and as they pulled away with soft pats on their backs, she could hear Gill sniffle just a bit. Mark shook his hand.

"Thank you," Serizawa said. "All of you."

He walked over to Graham, who was standing near the back of the crowd. She was trying not to let it all spill out, Jodie could tell. But as Serizawa pulled his notebook from his pocket, handing it to her, she sucked in a sharp sob.

"I couldn't." she said.

A wistful smile appeared along his face. Insisting, she grasped his notes with trembling hands.

"He fought for us. Almost died for us. He's not only proof that coexistence is possible, he is the key to it." his smile started to fade, but his eyes still held that solemn determination. "Take care of them, Vivienne."

She was fully sobbing as she hugged him, wrapping her arms around him like he was the last person on earth. He reciprocated the embrace, closing his eyes.

"Sensei, aishiteimasu." she whispered.

With that, he turned the airlock, climbing into the small sub. Giving a nod, the doors sealed and the water began to rise. Jodie and the others could do nothing but watch as he entered the fiery tunnel.

_____

Serizawa tried to control his breathing as he entered the tunnel, trying to steady the heart that wanted to jump out of his chest.

It was getting hot. The bottom of the sea had been cold, even through the walls of the sub he came from, but the river of lava flowing down from above was warming the tunnel and sub he was in now. If it got any hotter, he might not even survive long enough for the radiation to kill him.

He had to keep a calm mind.

He thought of the others - his colleagues, his friends, Vivienne - leaving them behind hurt him more than they would ever realize. But if he didn't do this, in due time there wouldn't be any of them at all.

If he turned back now they could easily turn tail and find a shelter, survive until they could come up with some other plan. But he couldn't let Godzilla die. Once Ghidorah destroyed every other threat to him in the world above, he would surely turn his attention elsewhere. With Godzilla weak, it wouldn't take much effort to finish him off. Then it wouldn't matter how well hidden the remnants of humanity were. The dragon would root them out, use his subjects to raise even more destruction. And when he was finished, even the ones that managed to escape his hunts wouldn't survive. And then, perhaps, he would then turn on the titans that followed him as well.

Godzilla was their only chance.

As he entered the tunnel, he found himself becoming distracted by its sheer magnificence. It was hard to imagine how it might have been built, but given its size, it had clearly been made for Godzilla. He wondered how many people had entered this temple. Had Godzilla even been present to see them? Did he even care? At its threshold and up its steps, the architects had carved enclosures that each held statues within them. Each represented strange creatures. Although the style was a little different, he recognized them as Sumerian in origin. The figures were spirits of protection and guidance. Some said they represented the natural order. Whoever built this place seemed to have hoped it would provide the titan solitude, a place safe from the fighting and bloodshed on the surface.

Serizawa found them comforting, encouraging even. Although they couldn't protect him, he could use all the guidance they could offer.

Sweat was pouring from him now, the interior of the sub was unbearable but it wasn't enough to kill him. Not yet.

As he passed the last of the stone guardians, he knew he was past the point of no return. He could already feel his skin buzzing from the radiation, and he knew if he turned back now he would only spend the rest of his shortened life in pain. He had seen people succumb to radiation poisoning. It was no way to die.

As he approached the foot of the long stretch of steps in the temple, the light ahead grew brighter, almost like a sunrise. He was doing the right thing, he could feel it. But he was still human, and that part of him was terrified.

The sub broke the surface of the water at last, and as he surfaced it sparked and sputtered, dying at the shore of the cavern. As he climbed out, bones aching, he found himself surrounded by majesty. The drone's video had not done this place - the palace of a god - justice. Never in his life had he seen something quite like this, and he knew that not many people would. He allowed himself a moment, paralyzed with wonder, letting his eyes drink it all in before his sight would start to fail him. Looking at all of it surrounding him, Serizawa felt small. But in that single moment - the disorientation, the nausea, the pain - all of it disappeared, and his head was right.

He continued on, and as he walked he found that part of the cavern seemed to be natural, but the handprint of humanity was everywhere. Sacred carvings, glyph-covered monoliths, temples, statues - the prototype of civilization all laid out before him. It was fitting, this amalgamation of man and nature, as fitting as the relationship it signified between man and...

Godzilla lay upon a stone platform in the heart of the temple, at the top of a very long, very broad staircase. Rivers of molten lava sprayed up around him, some falling behind him in massive flows. The glow almost gave him an ethereal look.

Taking the first step on that staircase, Serizawa felt the presence of hallowed ground, that sense of being a part of something far bigger than you could comprehend. So many years of his life had been spent searching for him, from carrying on his father's work to finding his own place in the world. And over the years, he had come to understand more and more about Godzilla's irreplaceable purpose, and his own. A purpose he was fulfilling now. Looking up at the staircase, at the pulsing light that shrouded it in a ghostly veil, it felt like ascending to the afterlife.

And Serizawa found that he was no longer afraid to die.

Carrying the bomb in its case, he started up the stairs. He had only managed to take a handful of steps and already he was beginning to feel his limbs tremble, his vision blurring. Putting one foot in front of the other had become a herculean task. Feeling the darkness closing around his sight, the bomb feeling heavier in his arms, he took a deep breath. He had to keep a calm mind, and in the back of his mind, he remembered an old Babylonian poem.

Goodbye old friend. Your peaceful breath slows, Your eyes gaze upon your world. I offer to you My strength.

The lava splashed to the bottom of the cave, and in the encroaching distance Godzilla's scutes broke the flow of the light below.

Goodbye old friend. My hand reaches forth, Striving for divinity. I offer to you My love.

His breathing was getting heavier as the radiation permeated the suit. He stumbled for a moment, tripping over his own feet before getting back up.

Goodbye old friend. At the steps of your kingdom, We become one. I offer to you My life.

When he reached the summit, he did not realize it at first. But then his eyes focused, and he saw Godzilla only a few steps ahead of him. His lungs were burning, and the steam that wafted from the lava was suffocating. With a puff of air from the titan's nostrils, the steam cleared.

Serizawa knelt down, setting the case on the platform and opening the timer. With shaking fingers, he started it. Twenty seconds was all the time he needed.

Feeling around one of the suit's pockets, he took out his pocket watch, looking at it one last time, remembering his father. Suddenly, a vast groan of pain shook the chamber. Serizawa could hardly stand again, but he fought against the ache that covered his body. Using the last of his strength, he removed his helmet.

The air was thick and harsh with burnt stone and water vapor, it was nearly too much, but that was okay.

Up close, Godzilla's wounds were terrible, spanning almost his entire body. His dorsal spines were barely flickering with his signature blue light, but he would heal. And he would fight once again, bringing balance.

Serizawa could barely breathe now, as the slightest movement he took was agony. But looking at Godzilla, he felt some of that strength return. And the titan looked back. He couldn't feel himself move, but Godzilla's form was coming closer to him. Call it a hallucination, call it projecting - call it whatever you like - but as Serizawa came within inches of the titan, there was something intelligent in those eyes. Something so startlingly human. Recognition. Empathy. Heartache.

He stripped off one of his gloves, skin stinging from the contact, and laid a hand on Godzilla's scales.

"Saraba, tomo yo." Serizawa closed his eyes.

And then there was light.

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #357

“The Lonely Clown”

[Lie] Is out working in her garden after having tended to her animals-

[Ever] Comes by at a quick lope- Oh hey Lie! You doing okay?

[Lie] - For the most part, my back is getting sore though

[Ever] his little cat ears perk up- oh! That sucks! Here I'll help you. - he hops over the fence- I've got so much energy. This place is amazing. I've been working since dawn and I'm not even tired.  

[Lie] Laughs a little- That's good, and I'm betting Karla's taken advantage of some of that energy too?

[Ever] strokes his tail tip a little and blushes- oh yes. I'm enjoying the new additions too, but it still feels a bit weird to have my tail grabbed.

[Lie] - It may just be a more sensitive part of your body

[Ever] Oh yes! I uh... I came over to get the horses. We should be out of your hair pretty soon- he's harvesting and replanting as they talk-

[Lie] - I don't mind having you guys here at all.  And although he will never admit it, currently it does give CP a little ease of mind having Karla around.  He understands that, not only a man but as a digital entity as well, he has no fucking clue what I'm going through and will go through

[Ever] Just between you me and the garden, Karla is rather fond of Cp. Theres definitely some respect from one professional griefer to another there.

[Lie] - You forgot murderer in there

[Ever] Well.... Yeah. These days i think it's a  more or less a revenge thing rather then a random habit... She gets so frustrated when people treat her poorly right off the bat. Her temper gets the best of her....

[Lie] - For CP it's just a habit

[Ever] She still hasn't been in town, I think she might be af-

[Gk] Hops over the greenhouse with Cp on his back- Husband delivery! Sorry he's still a bit drunk. Hah!

[Ever] Poofy tail-

[CP] - I'm not drunk you idiot!

[Lie] - Thanks GK, I figured he could use a break

[Gk] Just laughs- We had a good time anyway.

[Ever] Is staring at the dragon-

[Lie] - Oh, Ever, I don't think you've been introduced.  This is GK.  GK?  THis is Ever

[Gk] Hey it's a... little cat guy?

[Ever] Gk? That is a big dragon... And so metal! I love the horns.

[Gk] So... hows the bun?

[Lie] - Growing, but my back does start to hurt every once in awhile...

[CP] - Why didn't you tell me?

[Lie] - Because sleeping with my back against you helps it go away

[Gk] Aww, do you just need warm Lie? I could hang around more often. - He minces into the yard and flops down on the cobbles-

[Ever] Sets about finishing Lie's yard work while she's distracted.

[Lie] Laughs a little- Sometimes, but I can't just sit about neglecting my work either

[Gk] Nonsense! I'm here to help. I want to play with the little bundle when they're big enough. - his gaze is slightly abstracted and a thought floats on his mind high enough for Cp and maybe Lie to pick up on. It's a twinge of longing for the little sister he hasn't seen in forever.

[CP] - A sister?

[Gk] Hmm, what?

[Lie] - You have a sister GK?

[Gk] ducks his head - Yeah.... she helped me a lot when I was in my reincarnation cycle...

[Lie] - What was her name?

[Gk] Says it very quietly- Brina...

[CP] - Is she still on your old seed?

[Gk] Scuffs his hooves a little. - No... she had some drug problems... Steffan and Bro actually helped her get clean...

[Lie] - Do you know where she is now?

[Gk] She intervened on my behalf to have me released from the End and then she went to the aethers to live with my stupid asshole of a NOTCH....

[CP] Growls-

[Lie] - Are you sure she's still there?  Maybe she returned to try and look for you?

[Gk] I don't know. But he's basically a god. If she knows where I am, he'll shortly know too. And that could be bad.

[Lie] - Well, I'm sure no matter what, she misses you

[Gk] Puts his chin on the ground - She probably thinks I'm dead.

[CP] - Nah, I think she knows you're still around

[Gk] Why do you say that? Since Jean vanished?

[CP] - Uh, because I have a sibling?  And even before I became glitched I just...  Knew if Stevie was in peril or if he were safe

[Gk] Maybe. I still care about her.

[Lie] - You two are lucky.  My brother was never anything but an ass to me

[Gk] Nobody can fuck you up like family...

[Lie] - I didn't understand for the longest time.  He was jealous...  Jealous that I had a healthy body and he didn't

[Gk] What happened to him Lie?

[Lie] - He was born with very fragile bones, left him confined to a wheelchair.  I never realized how much he hated me until I accidentally broke some of his bones just from trying to hug him

[Ever] Pauses in pulling carrots- Ironic that you're the one who gained a night-indestructible form. Too bad he wasn't nice to you. You could have brought him along.

[Gk] Grumbles, having long ago grudgingly realized the value of being nice to people.

[Lie] - I don't even know if he's still alive

[CP] - Do you even care if he's alive or not?

[Gk] Yeah, he kinda sounds like an ass.

[Ever] Same.

[Lie] - I...  Don't know

[Gk] It's okay to not know.

[Ever] Yeah, I don't care if my asshole dad is alive or dead either. I'm done being told what a dissapointment I am.

[Lie] - I suppose it would just bring back all of the worst memories if I were to find out

[Gk] Then just let it go. You have a family here.

[Lie] - Yeah- She glances down at her belly- And it's just gonna get bigger

[Gk] Yeah. One more Herobrine, and a native with a double dose of genetic derived power. This should be interesting.

[CP] - Jeb probably wakes up terrified of it every night!

[Gk] Eh, she'll likely have her moms nice disposition just to shock everyone.

[Lie] - I wouldn't be so sure, she's already started griefing.  Scared TLOT just by moving

[Gk] Barks out a little gout of fire with a belly laugh- Just didn't want to get my hopes up. That's funny as fuck.

[CP] Grumbles-

[Lie] - Yes, well he was a little more focused on the fact that she currently only has one heart

[Ever] But humans do only have one..?

[Gk] Here humans have ten. But small animals have fewer. The others will likely grow in in time.

[Lie] - Yeah- She winces a little as a twinge goes through her back

[CP] - Lie...

[Gk] Pats the ground with a hoof - Come over here kiddo.

[Lie] Laughs a bit as she gets closer- Technically you could say I'm older than you GK, if we're going by how long the game has been in existance

[Gk] I can call you that if I want. I've lived hundreds of lifetimes. Also. You're small. - He grabs her gently with the tentacles of one wing and sets her down on one of his back legs so she's leaning against his chubby side. He's just as hot as Cp and his scales are small and smooth.

[Lie] Hums happily at the heat-

[Deer] Is enjoying the late afternoon sun out by the koi pond-

[Buff] Comes jogging up looking slightly annoyed- Hey! Are you busy?

[Deer] - Hm?  No, what it?  Is everything alright?

[Buff] Oh good! Here! - He reached behind him and dislodges Lj from the spot where he was clinging to Buff's shirt and plunks him on the ground in front of Deerheart before running away very fast.

[Lj] Gives her a sad look, he's got his box under one arm- I guess he doesn't want to play anymore....

[Deer] - LJ?  What's wrong?  Are you hurt?

[Lj] No just... empty... I didn't want to be by myself. - He's holding the box close like a security blanket- Home is too quiet right now.

[Deer] - Oh LJ, well you know you're always welcome in the castle

[Lj] I was going to ask... Can I do something with you today? Anything is fine.

[Deer] - Well I was planning on making some pies for Yaunfen

[Lj] That would be nice. - He goes quiet and then suddenly gets a rather haunted look- Tell me something. Anything. I need noise!

[Deer] - Uh...  Ummm...  Why?  What's wrong?

[LJ]  I don't want to talk about it. Tell me a story. Please.

[Deer] - What type of story would you like?

[LJ] I don't know! - He looks distressed. - I need to do something.

[Deer] - Alright then, follow me, we can walk and talk- She begins recalling her first memories of being on the server

[LJ] Follows her a bit too closely, listening intently-

[Basil] Is swimming out around the lava fountains and makes a loud bellow-

[Deer] Jumps a little as the noise before shaking her head a little at her own response- Where was I?

[LJ] You were talking about Yaunfen....

[Deer] - Right, when they were born...  I'd never seen Doc so happy- She opens the door to the castle and holds it for LJ

[LJ] Goes inside, his fingers drumming a light tattoo on the box. His question is barely a whisper - how do you stand it...?

[Deer] - How do I stand what?

[LJ] Being alone in your mind?

[Deer] - I wouldn't necessarily say I am.  The first time I truly had my mind to itself, well, it was when Flux had to take over the seed so I wouldn't be reclaimed by it.  My mind is always being filled and churned by everything happening on the seed

[LJ] I'm almost jealous.... This feeling is so... I'd say I was going mad but I've been there done that- he breaks into an uneasy and too- loud laugh that trails off into silence and frightens most of the horses into the back corner of the pen.

[Deer] - It's alright LJ, I've had Aven mention to me that BEN still has panic attacks when he realizes just how quiet his mind has become

[LJ] Extends his arms to give himself a twice over hug- you said something about baking?

[Yaunfen] Comes up from downstairs, worried by the laugh- Um?

[LJ] Can't meet their eyes- Yaunfen...

[Yaunfen] Gives LJ a bit of a hard look. - Mada says you couldn't help yourself. And I got in trouble with Big Fire for not listening. But if you hurt mada again; I'll stomp on you. - They notice Deerheart standing behind him and blink a little before ducking with a guilty look. - Sorry mama...

[LJ] I... I understand...

[Waffles] brushes past Yaunfen and sits next to them on the floor in a regal pose before washing a paw.

[LJ] That's uh... a really unusual cat...

[Yaunfen] Smiles proudly- I did science with mada and we brought them back from a fossil!  

[LJ] Shoots a weirded out look at Deerheart. - A fossil from where? Prehistoric Candyland???

[Deer] - They're been a bit of bleeding between seeds

[Deer] - And Yaunfen, you should know better than to be threatening people

[Yaunfen] But mom... I've seen mada threaten people if they thought they might hurt us.

[LJ] What's wrong with being defensive of your family anyway?

[Deer] - There's a time and a place Yaunfen.  Mada only threatens other when they are currently a threat, note, they never threatened LJ because they knew it was a moment that would pass, because they knew they were talking to a friend who had momentarily lost control

[Yaunfen] Yes mom...

[LJ] there's something to be said for anyone who will defend their kin with all their might. I've seen Slender rescue the other members of our household lots of times. And if it's the SCP... there is no mercy, and generally no survivors.

[Deer] - Exactly, but for now, we have some pies to make

[Yaunfen] What's a SCP?

[Deer] - A very bad group of people who like to capture entities like us and the pasta's

[Yaunfen] Hugs themselves uncertainly- why??? That's terrible!

[Deer] - Because that's how some human's are about things they don't understand.  That's why we have to be careful when we go irl

[LJ] Well... Its not just that... Creepypastas do kill humans... It's a compulsion. The Slenders have no choice. They are apex predators and humans are their prey.

[Yaunfen] But mada goes out all the time! Does that mean they're always in danger of the bad people catching them?

[Deer] - Yes it does, that's one reason why when they're going someplace new they ask Big Fire to go with them

[LJ] Even taking Herobrine it's still risky...

[Deer] - But still safer than if they were alone

[LJ] True. - he takes out a bit of hard candy and instantly has Waffles full attention.

[Waffles] Mow???

[Deer] - Careful, Waffles loves candy

[LJ] heh. Kitty kitty?

[Waffles] Pupils a bit dialted-

[LJ] Waves the candy around as the cats eyes follow it and then flicks it into the horse pen- [Waffles] sails high over the fence and the horses scatter as the huge cat jumps among them, batting the tiny round ball around and then flinging it in the air-

[Deer] - LJ!

[LJ] Snorts and then laughs, just a little, and more genuine and less desperate then before-

[Deer] - That's better sounding

[Yaunfen] Silly cat!

[Waffles] Tosses the candy into their jaws and crunches it up-

[Gir] Stand over the cat and snorts a full snoot of graveyard dust out of its nostrils in annoyance

[Waffles] cat sneeze-

[LJ] Still laughing-

[Deer] - Come on, kitchen is downstairs

[Yaunfen] Whistles for the cat and they follow the others down-

[LJ] snickering quietly -

[Deer] Heads over to the lemon tree and starts harvesting- Yaunfen, why don't you find a record to put in the jukebox

[Yaunfen] Okay. They dig around and puts in one of the ambient C14 tracks- nice and soothing

[LJ] kinda sleepy, you guys really are all about lulling your players into a trance

[Deer] - It helps

[Yaunfen] it's nice, it feels safe. [LJ] meh. I still can't believe this is Herobrines game

[Deer] - If you feel like you need to sleep, then go ahead LJ

[LJ] No! I mean... That's too quiet... I need noise...

[Deer] - We can keep the record playing

[Yaunfen] Oh! I have something noisy! - without thinking they pull out the curly shell and blow into it. There's a moment of pregnant silence and then the room goes entirely black as Basil lays down on the glass above them with a loud aggravated bellow and a baleful eye on them below-

[Deer] - Oh dear...

[Yaunfen] Basil is noisy!

[Basil] Sound like a whale with flatulance.

[LJ] Is just smiling, just a little bit-

[Deer] - He comes whenever Yaunfen blows on the shell

[Yaunfen] Proud smile.

[LJ] Something else prehisoric I presume?

[Deer] - No actually, from the real world

[LJ] How strange.

[iphoenixrising]

I said I was kind of going on a hiatus. Too many things in my brain pan, but I connected with such a wonderful person, @careamorran, and had to write a thing based on a spectacular piece of art :D The post is here, and I really just wanted a little fun and maybe a little angst ;)

**

The blast of sunlight in his eyes is the conscious train rolling down the track. You know, right at his face.

After his syrupy thoughts evaluated the stabbing to his eyes as something non-lethal, the need to throw something sharp and vaguely bat-shaped at the defenseless windows fades enough that he can squint at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

Dammit.

He and Jay have plans for the day. Partially because it’s been two years today, and since Jason Todd is actually a sentimental cinnamon roll underneath the intense murder you vibe, Tim had managed to wrangle his reluctant significant other into finally getting the new ident set-up. It’s been a long time coming, and they’ve been arguing on and off about seeing to the details for weeks.

(“Things like a driver’s license, Jay.”)

(A careless shrug with a mouth full of meatball sub, “I drive, Timmers. I drive all the time.”)

(“Legally. The key here is legally.”)

His boyfriend had finally caved for their anniversary, and Tim would be damned if they missed the opportunity because of a long night in Gotham’s seedy underworld.

(Black Mask? Totally an ass hat, and no, he gives no shits about ruining the guy’s night. Seriously, fuck him. Mask literally hit on the Red Hood, right in front of him.)

With a soft groan of the newly conscious, Tim sits up, still wavery, and in desperate need of caffeine.

Desperate. Need.

The yawn is jaw-cracking, and he’s already reaching over for the lump of still-snoozing, just a tuft of dark hair peeking out from under their fluffy comforter in Jay’s room at the Manor.

If he grins a little, thinking someone as bad ass as the Red Hood is incredibly cute, well, no one else would ever have to know.

“Jay,” his voice still husky is bordering on fond, “we should get up, it’s late.”

He’s expected the inevitable, “where’s m’ good morning kiss, Timmy?” and to be pulled back down because Jay is really just as bad as Dick when it comes to pre-consciousness cuddling.

The hand moving fast to grab his wrist, to stop him from making contact isn’t necessarily unexpected because of reasons like ingrained instincts and Robin training. The occasional accidental injuries aren’t anything new. At times, it might be things like terrible nightmares or remnants of the Lazarus Pit. On the flip side, it might be residual panic because instead of Kon or Bart or Steph or Bruce, it’s Jason spitting out a mouth full of blood and gripping his harness with wide eyes and stuttering heart.

“Hey, calm down, it’s just--”

And whatever he’d been about to say in the usual soothing way dies in his throat when Jay turns, still in the t-shirt he’d thrown in before they’d fallen into bed last night, and--

Tim’s eyes go wide in shock and surprise.

Who the fuck is in bed with me!?

The set of jawline and ensuing frown is so painfully familiar--

From that time when Tim was a kid with a camera and Robin dove in out of the night to save him from a thug.

A Robin in his prime.

A Robin that’s fifteen instead of twenty-five.

Holy shit, Batman.

“Oh…” is about all his half-wired brain can muster.

Those eyes, the same ones from the painting in the main hall that used to be one of his safe places, the eyes without the green flecks, take stock, roving over Tim’s sleep-mussed hair, his face, his bare throat and chest, his too-big boxers.

And something seems to click.

“WHAAT THE FUUUCK?!!”

Is about as horrified as you can imagine.

The ensuing fight is really anticlimactic. Jason has aged-down equivalently, so while he can still duck, dodge, and fight better than any average person, he doesn’t have memories further than now meanwhile Tim hasn’t lost an ounce of his edge.

“You need to calm it down, Robin,” he tries while blocking a punch that is decidedly lower than what he’s used to. Yeah, throwing out that little bombshell is really a 50/50, but nothing else he can possibly say would help either:

*I’m your boyfriend, and you will be seriously pissed at yourself if you hurt me.

*I was the Robin after you, promise.  I only got pants because those green panties were a hard ‘no.’

*You haven’t tried killing me in a whole year. Can we stop trying to break the record?

As it turns out, maybe he should have because those eyes go wide and the fight takes on a more desperate turn.

Well, fuck.

He catches the knee before it takes out his jaw, his suddenly longer reach catching the much smaller fist in the palm of his hand. “That’s enough, Jay. You’re going to--” get yourself hurt.

But the younger is panting and red-face, gritting his teeth with narrowed eyes, and an obvious plan in the works when he realizes he’s not going to beat Tim.

“Who,” and the tone isn’t as low and growling as the Red Hood, but it still jars Tim right in all the places where he’s still mesmerized by the second Robin, “the fuck are you and how didja find out?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, so I’m going to let Bruce and Dick fill you in,” he replies, easing back slowly.

The teenager’s eyes narrow in suspicion.

“How about this then: you hide books all over the Manor. Alfred found A Separate Peace, The Outsiders, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Once and Future King just to name a few.” He leaves the ones he’s found off the list just because the memories of his post-Robin life are apparently gone, and Tim is in no hurry to fill him in on the horrific events starting with the trip to Ethiopia.

Jason’s mouth falls open in a little ‘o’ of shock.

“One more just so you feel better about this: the first time B got hurt, seriously hurt, defending you, you called Dick at Titan’s Tower in New York.” His hands up in that not dangerous pose, he eases just slightly closer, tilting his head to actually look down. “It was that time with Killer Croc and you were freaked out.”

“How--” the teenager struggles, blinking at him with those blue, blue eyes, all of it without the Pit’s influence riding him.

With that realization, a horrible kind of plan hits Tim right in the brain pan.

“I know you’re Robin, so there’s some evidence, Mister Junior Detective.”

Jay gives him a huffing sneer, “real wise ass, ain’t cha?”

“Learned from the best,” he deadpans with a sad half-smile and fond eyes, “So, I vote we go downstairs, find Alfred so I can have some coffee, and then Bruce so he can have a holy shit moment of his own.”

Still staring at him, still calculating the risks and possible nefarious plots afoot, Jason only follows because he’s planning the best way to take this guy he’d woken up with down (and maybe staring down at his ass) while they went down the grand staircase.

Luckily, as it happens to go in Wayne Manor, at least someone has the patience to deal with things like utter fuckery.

That person will always be Alfred Pennyworth.

“Good morning Master--”

If Tim wasn’t as light and fast on his feet, there would be a whole lot of smashed ceramic all over the floor.

“My-my word, Master...Master Jason?”

“Mornin’ Alf,” the teenager waves a little, grinning sheepishly. “Found Slick here runnin’ the halls, so’s I thought maybe ya know who he is.”

(Slick? Tim arches a brow at that because really)

Alfred blatantly looks over, immediately getting back his usual calm, cool, and collected. “I do hope the scuffle I heard upstairs did not result in any bloodshed on the Turkish carpets, Master Tim.”

“I’m hurt at your complete lack of faith in my kick-ass skills, Alfred,” he waves a hand on his way to the sideboard where wonderful things (like coffee, please, please, please give him coffee to be able to deal with this and what he should very much not tell Jason) waited. He pauses to get his thoughts together, makes a mental Venn Diagram of the potential backlash of both scenarios, and adds cream with a little sugar so he doesn’t down the first mug liked boiling lava.

“I’m Tim Drake. Nice to meet you, by the way. It’s much nicer when we’re not trying to kill each other,” and yeah, that’s Alfred clearing his throat just a little. “I’m also a vigilante, so of course I’ve heard of Robin,” luckily, the way to trip up Jason’s radar is to tell the lie with just enough truth mixed in, “and I do work with Batman sometimes on out-of-town cases. I also do data collection and reconnaissance for the Titans, who I’m sure you’ve at least met at this juncture.” First few desperate sips accomplished, he moves to take a spot at the table and wait until Jason warily joins him, scrappy and scrawny, eyes that take in everything.

And he moves lighter on his feet, without a hell of a lot of burdens and probably a mass of missing scars from things like crowbars and insane psychopaths that deal in megalomaniacal delusions of grandeur. It’s a Jason Tim’s only known with a mask, and it’s a rough moment to stop himself from reaching out across the table to grip those twitchy fingers, but all he can do is swallow his heart back down in the vicinity of his chest, glance at Alfred with a little Batanese using just his eyebrows.

Without giving the his younger boyfriend an opportunity to ask, he cuts in with, “occasionally, B lets me stay over when a case gets...rough. It was last night anyway. I’m sorry I surprised you, but I’d been awake for about seventy-odd hours by then, so I was pretty compromised.”

Pretty much all true.

During the distraction, Alfred turns to busy himself at the sideboard. A glow in Tim’s peripheral is probably the butler texting the fam. B, Come downstairs immediately; Damian, please do not yet come downstairs. I shall bring breakfast up straight away. Dick, your presence would be appreciated at the Manor. It seems we have a situation. To make it a little more obvious he’s being serious, Alfred completely takes advantage of a displaced Jason, too busy staring Tim down from across the table, to snap a discreet picture to follow-up all those texts.

A fresh glass of juice and a side cup of coffee makes some of the tension ease from Jay’s shoulders, “sounds pretty stupid, you feel me? First rule of being a cape: take care a’ yerself. What we got against these crazy assholes? At the end of the day, it’s yer fists and yer brains, so ya gotta make sure ya got enough in ya ta take the beating.”

And it’s a fifteen-year-old Jason pointing a finger at him around his juice and all mock-serious, which it totally why he starts laughing without snorting coffee up his nose. Points for him.

“You are terrible at mocking B in lecture-mode. Terrible,” he shakes his head a little once he’s sure he isn’t going to choke, “more practice, okay? You’ll totally get there, but don’t think you’re ever beating out Dick. He is the official runner-up in the Best Dad Lecture category.”

A heartbeat and Jason starts to crack a grin, laughing out loud in that younger voice, the blue of his eyes without the Pit lingering, without the grim realizations of the day he’s going to die (again). He’s so heartbreakingly innocent of it all (and Tim just wonders how Bruce is going to take this because things like tears and BatDad are going to go down soon--he can feel it).

So by the time Alfred emerges from the kitchen with warm eggs and fluffy waffles, the tension has eased down between the former Robins by the way they throw stories back and forth.

“Yer kiddin’ me,” Jason deadpans back.

“All true, I swear. Freeze and Ivy watched him bust his bat ass--”

“Y’know, there was one time he fell through a crappy roof right inta a ladies’ shower, right?”

“I’m sorry what now?”

“That ain’t what she was thinking, Timmy. Just takin’ a shower and boom, there’s the Bat admiring the decor an’ shit.”

The mental image is enough to get him started all over again, laughing while huddled over his precious, beautiful coffee and lost staring at the fucking beautiful sight of his younger, unburdened significant other. Even better, more evidence in favor of the formulating plan clicks into place with Jason’s easy laugh and wild gestures. But it all comes down to basic facts: fifteen or twenty-five, this is the crazy idiot he loves. And if this is a golden opportunity to give the guy a second chance, one without the Joker and ticking bombs, without being buried alive, and thrown in the Lazarus Pit, it might well be worth the effort.

[junkcrs]

GIMMIE ALL THE ANSWERS MY DUDE

Oh fuck off LMAO

1. Who is your defense main?Mei?? Junkrat??? I definitely have more hours on Junkrat lmao, but if we’re playing comp y’know I’m all about that gold gun Mei

2. Who is your support main?Imma go with Lucio, even though I play every healers at least decently, he’s my top played boy at what... 110 hours? from a flex players that’s a lot yknow

3. Who is your offense main?No thanks, I don’t have that much fun with DPS man, Pharah or Soldier are my best ones bc ez tbh LMAO

4. Who is your tank main?Trick question, all of them. I have the gold hammer but who doesn’t. Playing a shit ton of Winston too, have an impressive amount of hours on DVA and I am (was?? lmao) a solid hog. I play Zarya out of necessity in comp sometimes. Only one I don’t play is Orisa

5. Who is you MAIN main?Uh. IDK. Depends on if it’s QP or Comp. Like... Junkrat is in my top 3 most played and yet I never touched him in comp, etc. I just call myself a tank main ngl.... who has the most hours on Lucio I guess LMAO

6. Which character have you played the least?Orisa, then I think it’s Bastion, both under an hour

7. Which character do you want to learn how to play?Idk I’m pretty satisfied with my character pool, I GUESS a real decent dps but that’s lame

8. Which character do you dislike the most?Tracer whenever she talks tbh... Or Zarya but that’s just because I really don’t give a shit about Zarya

9. Which character’s background story do you like the most?Everyone knows it’s Hog lmfao, it’s so good dude like very little is said about it but at the same time there’s just so much and then so much more when you decide to really stop and think about it. Honorable mention @ winston too

10. Which character’s background story do you like the least?Hmmm there are quite a lot I just straight up find not interesting, Zarya, once again. Or like Pharah I’m so just...  lukewarm about it lmfao. I know literally 96% of the fandom disagrees but idc

11. Which map is your favorite?King’s Row, Numbani, Eichenwalde... Hybrids maps my dude. Lijiang except control point. Also in QP, Anubis defense is the stupidest shit

12. Which map is your least favorite?Oasis & Route 66

13. What Arcade game type is your favorite?Mystery heroes lmaaaao

14. What Arcade game type is your least favorite?Total Mayhem is.... not fun

15. Do you prefer quick play, competitive, arcade mode, or custom games?QP is my go to, but I love comp, especially since I stopped caring

16. Which map type is your favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?Hybrids, ez. Then KOTH, 

17. Which map type is your least favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?2CP tends to be pretty stale sometimes

18. Which event map was your favorite?Uprising is such an easy win. Fun PvE without getting repetitive  like Halloween

19. Which event map reskin was your favorite?Christmas King’s Row, it was so pretty man. I also really really liked spooky Hollywoods. Holiday themed maps are just fun

20. Which event was your favorite?I think Halloween was the one I had the most fun honestly, not so much the event but the winposes matching and it was the first time a map got reskinned and I remember just going through the map with my friends while we were all freaking out about it

21. Which event legendary skin was your favorite?Cruiser D.Va, Bajie Hog, Ironclad Torb, Witch Mercy.

22. Which event was your least favorite?Summer Games was pretty.... ok? Idk the lucioball was fun but beside that it was aight at best. Or maybe the anniversary event but then again nah... cuz the emotes and skins were on point.

23. Which event legendary skin was your least favorite?I GUESS Null Sector Orisa because it takes away her face and expressions like... pls.... give the ^ ^ back

24. Which event non-legendary skin was your favorite?Mako Hog, Junker DVa, Sunyatta Zen, Deadlock Torb, Daredevil 76 :^)

25. Which event non-legendary skin was your least favorite?Goth Zarya probably LMAO even though I sometimes use them just because theyre so laughably bad. Young shimada bros ain’t great either IMO, but I use young Hanzo because I only play Hanzo as a joke and I like getting the potg with the highlight intro where his hair is just blocking his entire face

26. Which event item do you most regret not getting?Junkrat’s intro 8( and all the voicelines i forgot to buy. 

27. Did you beat the Uprising event on Normal, Hard, Expert, and Legendary?Hard definitely, maybe expert? IDK I didnt especially try to get the achievements so idk

28. Do you have Sombra’s “Power Outage” achievement?Doubt it I don’t really play her

29. Do you have Widowmaker’s “Smooth as Silk” achievement?Yeah I remember I jumped off a roof while being chased by a reaper and just headshot him on the way down

30. Do you have Lucio’s “The Floor is Lava” achievement?Yeah, got it in comp on LiJiang it was great

31. Do you have Zenyatta’s “Rapid Discord” achievement?Yeah, Overtime Gibraltar is pretty fun

32. What was the first achievement you got? how the fuck do u expect me to remember this. The only achievement I clearly remember getting in the beta was junkrat one with the mine into trap thing but I know thats not the first

33. Did you get the “Not A Scratch,” achievement on Junkenstein’s Revenge?I dont think so

34. What has been the hardest achievement to get for you?Reaper solo kills lmfao

35. What’s your current SR score in Competitive Mode?Uuuh something around 2600? Idk I’ve been pretty bad LMAO especially since I get disconnects a lot :/ and also dont grind comp

36. What the highest you’ve been in Competitive?Diamond something like 3150 or so

37. What’s the most amount of placement matches you’ve won?7? Maybe?

38. How many gold guns do you have?Two, Rein and Mei

39. Which was the first gold gun you got?Big Hammer, bc it’s so obvious and I like smacking people with it

40. Whose gold gun do you currently want?I kind of always wanted the gold hook(tm) but now I’m not too sure with the nerfs :/ Maybe Winston LMAO

41. What role do you usually play in Competitive?Tank, or heals especially if its a KOTH map because of all these boops potentials

42. If you don’t play Competitive, why not?I do tho

43. What kind of theme event would you like to see in the future?Horrible beach party where no one has an actual revealing swimsuit save for roadhog

44. What type of character would you like to see in the future?More healers tbh, I’ve seen a lot of people ask for an evil healer and yea that sounds great

45. Who needs more (or better) skins in the future?See the logical answer would be widow or zarya yknow but no i mostly just want more junkrat even skins

46. What country would you like a new character to come from?Give us a french canadian hero

47. Favorite voice line?Junkrat’s multikills voicelines are what fuels me, Come out and play is a fave, and the ouverture singing. And Road and Rein just laughing at multikills too man

48. Favorite player icon?Have fish masterrace

49. Favorite emote?Lucio’s dance, Roadhog’s sit, Junkrat’s sit, Roadhog’s headbanging, Winston’s PB, Ana’s Candy

50. Favorite spray?PUNCH KID MASTERRACE

51.Favorite victory pose?I like when everyone is just squatting

52. Favorite highlight intro?I like all the ones where they shove their guns in your face so you can see how gold it is

53. Characters you ship the most?No I, don’t care............ I only ship Winston and happiness y’know it. I’m ok with some ships but I truly do not actively ship anything nor care about it

54. Characters you ship the least?Junkrat x anything makes me uncomfortable as all hell, I’ve never been so attached to another character not being interested in romance before, it just rubs me the wrong way. a lot

55. Characters you wish had more in-game interactions?Roadhog and anyone, don’t get me wrong, I love how he just doesn’t talk to anyone except junkrat (and mccree once to threaten him) and just talks to himself, but pls lmao. Also more torb and rein pls, their interactions are so fucking good lmao

56. Character you wish had a comic about?Lucio

57. Favorite comic released?Going Legit or the Bastion one

58. Favorite short released?Last Bastion

59. Favorite new character released?Grandma’s pretty tight

60. Overwatch, Blackwatch, or Talon?Uh Talon, I guess? Probs overwatch tho because at least we know what’s their goal beside ‘lmao we’re bad guys’

61. Pro-Omnic or anti-Omnic?I’m pro omnic yall know it

62. Favorite character that isn’t a playable one? (Ex: Emily, Brigitte, Gerard, Efi, etc.)Athena

63. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) that you liked the most?No more Junkrat self damage is fucking hilarious, and the whole Lucio changes are fucking incredibly fun

64. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) you liked the least?Roadhog 8( FeelsBadMan

65. Best ultimate?Rein is easily my fave one. It can be absolutely useless or you can get a team wipe with it if you use it well. It’s so satisfying

66. Worst ultimate?I would’ve said McCree but now it’s actually pretty good. Gotta say Hanzo’s pretty fucking horrid lmao

67. Most kills in game?shit lemme go see... In QP it’s 41 with Hog, in comp it’s 58 with D.Va ( I once got 50 with Lucio?? lmao )

68. Most heals in game?In QP, 16.8K with Lucio and in comp 37K with... also Lucio

69. What character do you think needs a nerf? D.Va’s DM probably...... lmao or a slight rework at least

70. What character do you think needs a buff?I’d really like if the hook cooldown for hog went back to 6 seconds, or listen... I’d love for torb to be actually decent, could you imagine... 

71. Have you ever rage quit in the middle of a game?Nope lmao

72. What’s the fastest you’ve won a game?Like a minute and a half on Volkskaya or something

73. What’s the fastest you’ve lost a game?Probably the same thing

74. Your best Overwatch-related story?I met some of my best friends through it, yes yes im looking at you, rayan :^)

75. Weirdest thing that happened to you on Overwatch?One night I got matched against all of my irl friends it was great and completely random

76. Platform you play on?PC, I own it on ps4 as a joke but it’s awful, I’m awful. lmao

77. Do you stream?If people asks 

78. Do you normally play solo or with friends?Friends usually, I don’t mind playing alone tho

79. Have you made any friends because of Overwatch?So many

80. Have you cosplayed a character from Overwatch?Nope, I’d make a nice mei tho i have the same glasses and i also happen to be evil

81. Have you ever wrote fan fiction about Overwatch?I never wrote fanfiction lmao but my blog... lmao

82. What’s the lowest you’ve been in Competitive?2400? 2300? we don’t talk about the end of season 4

83. In “All Brawls,” if you get “Charge!” do you play Reinhardt or do you pick the Lucio role?I don’t think I’ve ever played that, but I’d play lucio just for the boops

84. In “All Brawls,” if you get “One Shot, One ,” do you play Ana, Hanzo, or Widowmaker?Havent played either, id be fine with anyone tho 

85. In “All Brawls,” if you get “This is Ilios,” do you pick Lucio or Roadhog?i dont play brawls idk.......... lucio bc i can just jump on roadhogs heads and be safe

86. Team Genji or Team Hanzo?Team idc about shimada bros im so sorry

87. Be honest! Do you usually get on the payload?Im top 1% objective time lucio baby

88. Does your team?yeah cuz i dont play with morons lmao, even randoms im usually pretty lucky

89. What’s the longest session of Overwatch you’ve played?I dont think I want to know

90. No Limits, Mystery Heroes, or Total Mayhem?Mystery Heroes, ez

91.Most cosmetics you have for one character?I have most of cosmetics for everyone

92. Least cosmetics you have for one character?Orisa, she’s new

93. Have you ever made your own custom game?Nope

94. Best D.Va skin?Bruiser

95. Best Mercy skin?Witch? I think

96. Best Tracer skin?How about.... none........ jk the latest one was decent

97. Zarya’s Industrial and Cybergoth skins: yes, no, or HELL NO?all day everyday

98. Do you want more animal character, robot characters, or human characters?JET PACK CAT. id be down for... one more animal character, otherwise thatd be too much. another robot eventually, though we just got one. im fine with humans

99. Is there are character you’d get rid of completely?widow tbh, i dont care for her much lorewise, she’s french and also either 1. they’re mostly useless in a match or 2. good and simply unfun to play against

100. What do you think Sombra’s real name is?idk lmao ive never really bothered to think about that

[somedaywellfindit]

do the entire overwatch questionnaire

There;s a lot so I’ve put it under the cut.

1. Who is your defence main?

Bastion and (recently) if I can, Junkrat!

2. Who is your support main?

Symmetrya or Lucio

3. Who is your offence main?

Tracer and Sombra

4. Who is your tank main?

D.Va!!

5. Who is you MAIN main?

D.Va but I’m starting to play more Symmetra

6. Which character have you played the least?

Doomfist

7. Which character do you want to learn how to play?

Ana. I’m not good at aiming so it’s hard for me to play as a sniper but Ana seems really heckin neat!

8. Which character do you dislike the most?

Roadhog. He’s so annoying to play against

9. Which character’s background story do you like the most?

Sombra’s!

10. Which character’s background story do you like the least?

Soldier’s. It’s a bit generic… It’s also basically Captian America js

11. Which map is your favorite?

Horizon!

12. Which map is your least favorite?

Probably Volskaya or Antartica

13. What Arcade game type is your favorite?

Mystery Heroes

14. What Arcade game type is your least favorite?

FFA

15. Do you prefer quick play, competitive, arcade mode, or custom games?

Arcade mode but I do like QP

16. Which map type is your favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?

Assult and escort (seperatley and together)

17. Which map type is your least favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?

Arena

18. Which event map was your favorite?

The Lucio Ball maps

19. Which event map reskin was your favorite?

Aldersbrunn!

20. Which event was your favorite?

So far, the Halloween event

21. Which event legendary skin was your favorite?

Cruiser :’)

22. Which event was your least favorite?

Probably, compared to all of the other ones I’ve been a part of, the anniversary event

23. Which event legendary skin was your least favorite?

Cyborg:76. It’s ugly as frick omg

24. Which event non-legendary skin was your favorite?

Skullyatta!

25. Which event non-legendary skin was your least favorite?

Symmetra’s vampire skin. Don’t want to go into why but I think it’s pretty obvious…

26. Which event item do you most regret not getting?

Oasis omg. It’s such a nice skin and I want it so bad

27. Did you beat the Uprising event on Normal, Hard, Expert, and Legendary?

I wasn’t there for that, sorry (but if I had been there, I probably would’ve only done normal)

28. Do you have Sombra’s “Power Outage” achievement?

Nope. I’m going to try and get it though

29. Do you have Widowmaker’s “Smooth as Silk” achievement?

I don’t have the aim to get that one, sadly

30. Do you have Lucio’s “The Floor is Lava” achievement?

Nope. I want to though

31. Do you have Zenyatta’s “Rapid Discord” achievement?

I don’t play enough Zen to get that but I’m going to Try

32. What was the first achievement you got?

Level 10

33. Did you get the “Not A Scratch,” achievement on Junkenstein’s Revenge?

Nope. I haven’t played hard mode yet, so I’ll have to try and get that one

34. What has been the hardest achievement to get for you?

I don’t really try and get certain achievements but probably Group Health Plan? It’s hard for me to not die as Mercy because usually (unless it’s my friends), my team doesn’t do much to help me

35. What’s your current SR score in Competitive Mode?

I’ve only played one comp match this season and I don’t really plan on playing anymore. My sr from last season was 1454 though

36. What the highest you’ve been in Competitive?

1624

37. What’s the most amount of placement matches you’ve won?

5 :P

38. How many gold guns do you have?

None :(

39. Which was the first gold gun you got?

No one’s yet

40. Whose gold gun do you currently want?

Symmetra’s or D.Va’s

41. What role do you usually play in Competitive?

Support

42. If you don’t play Competitive, why not?

It’s scary ok. The pressure is not fun

43. What kind of theme event would you like to see in the future?

Probably something like Uprising? Or like a winter games one???? I’m not sure tbh

44. What type of character would you like to see in the future?

Another fuckin healer or defence character!!! Like there’s other classes Jeff Overwatch. hop fuckin to it

45. Who needs more (or better) skins in the future?

Doomfist h ol y shi t. Zarya and Bastion need better skins too lmao. Their recolours are their best ones

46. What country would you like a new character to come from?

The Philippines!!

47. Favorite voice line?

“I’m your huckleberry.” hsfjaofkl

48. Favorite player icon?

Doom Dab! Doom Dab! (the Doomfist shotput one)

49. Favorite emote?

All of the dances

50. Favorite spray?

Tuxedo. I hope we can get that as a Doomfist skin. He looks dapper as fuck and I love it

51.Favorite victory pose?

Zenyatta’s Peace one omg

52. Favorite highlight intro?

The Sombra hacked one

53. Characters you ship the most?

Genji and Zenyatta for mlmSombra and Symmetra for wlwD.Va and Lucio for a het couple

54. Characters you ship the least?

Genji and Mercy, Soldier and Reaper, anything with Tracer unless it’s Emily, Genji and Hanzo (wtf is wrong with you people), anything with the father figures and their kids (D.Va and Soldier, Reaper and McCree or Genji, Soldier and Mercy, etc)

55. Characters you wish had more in-game interactions?

Lucio and D.Va or anyone with Winston probably

56. Character you wish had a comic about?

Zenyatta!!

57. Favorite comic released?

I don’t read the comics so I don’t have a favourite

58. Favorite short released?

Infiltration. It was the first short I ever saw and I love it

59. Favorite new character released?

Orisa. She’s so pure….

60. Overwatch, Blackwatch, or Talon?

Overwatch or Talon tbh

61. Pro-Omnic or anti-Omnic?

Pro-Omnic omg

62. Favorite character that isn’t a playable one? (Ex: Emily, Brigitte, Gerard, Efi, etc.)

Efi or Emily

63. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) that you liked the most?

The Doomfist nerf.. He could kill you in one charge, which would work for a tank hero but for an offence hero, it was too op

64. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) you liked the least?

The Zarya ult change where you couldn’t shoot

65. Best ultimate?

Soldier’s or Mercy’s

66. Worst ultimate?

Winston’s and Reinhardt’s

67. Most kills in game?

Altogether, 2817

68. Most heals in game?

290, 983

69. What character do you think needs a nerf?

Probably Junkrat? If he has an extra mine, there should be a way to escape his trap imo (like how you can not get frozen if you’re D.va when you use her boosters)

70. What character do you think needs a buff?

I’m not sure, honestly.

71. Have you ever rage quit in the middle of a game?

Kinda. Usually, when I leave in the middle of a game, it’s because I have to do something or I go afk

72. What’s the fastest you’ve won a game?

Probably 3 minutes? I remember I was in an arcade game or something and we were on defence and we just decimated the other team. They couldn’t even get out of spawn for half the game

73. What’s the fastest you’ve lost a game?

Does joining a game and immediately losing count? Because that happens a lot

74. Your best Overwatch-related story?

I don’t really have one yet

75. Weirdest thing that happened to you on Overwatch?

Finding the weird names. I saw someone called RespectWemen and I wish I added them as a friend omg

76. Platform you play on?

PC master race bitches

77. Do you stream?

Nope. My friends do though. It would be neat to be a part of the stream but that means I would have to talk :P

78. Do you normally play solo or with friends?

Solo but if my friends are online, I’ll play with them

79. Have you made any friends because of Overwatch?

Kinda? There’s someone from a group chat but I don’t want to call them a friend since they’ve said some shit that I don’t agree with (it was racist and gross)

80. Have you cosplayed a character from Overwatch?

Nope. I wanted to dress up as Tracer for Halloween but I don’t have the money to do that right now, sadly

81. Have you ever wrote fan fiction about Overwatch?

Nah

82. What’s the lowest you’ve been in Competitive?

In terms of SR? 1456

83. In “All Brawls,” if you get “Charge!” do you play Reinhardt or do you pick the Lucio role?

I haven’t played it but I would pick Lucio

84. In “All Brawls,” if you get “One Shot, One Kill,” do you play Ana, Hanzo, or Widowmaker?

Widow or Ana

85. In “All Brawls,” if you get “This is Ilios,” do you pick Lucio or Roadhog?

Lucio

86. Team Genji or Team Hanzo?

Genji!! He’s a cyborg ninja. He’s cool as fuck. Hanzo is edgy and kind of annoying

87. Be honest! Do you usually get on the payload?

Yeah, I try to

88. Does your team?

Most of the time, yeah

89. What’s the longest session of Overwatch you’ve played?

Idk if this means a match or time playing it in general so I’m gonna go for the latter. I’ve probably spent at least a couple hours playing Overwatch, if not more

90. No Limits, Mystery Heroes, or Total Mayhem?

Mystery Heroes

91.Most cosmetics you have for one character?

16 (D.Va)

92. Least cosmetics you have for one character?

9 (Winston)

93. Have you ever made your own custom game?

Yeah, but it was just to look at the maps

94. Best D.Va skin?

Cruiser

95. Best Mercy skin?

Literally all of her event legendaries. They’re beautiful

96. Best Tracer skin?

Graffiti but I also love Posh and Sporty (also that Spice Girls reference? love it)

97. Zarya’s Industrial and Cybergoth skins: yes, no, or HELL NO?

Hell no. THey’re Not Nice

98. Do you want more animal character, robot characters, or human characters?

Robot, I think. An animal character would be cool though! Like how everyone was theorising about the ape from the moon being a new hero

99. Is there a character you’d get rid of completely?

Nah. There’s some who suck (*cough* Hanzo * cough cough*) but not to the point where I would want them removed

100. What do you think Sombra’s real name is?

This was before her real name was revealed so I already know her name but probably Sofia. It’s a pretty name for a pretty girl

[jessemccry]

blah blah blah this blog is new so i’m gonna do this ok? ok

1. Who is your defense main?- hanzo

2. Who is your support main?- i can play lucio and ana but they both suck now

3. Who is your offense main?- im a 250 hour mccree main but i turned into a tracer main because of dive

4. Who is your tank main?- dva/zarya

5. Who is you MAIN main?- mccree

6. Which character have you played the least?- moira or doomfist

7. Which character do you want to learn how to play?- i can play him but i want to get better at genji

8. Which character do you dislike the most?- junkrat

9. Which character’s background story do you like the most?- gabe or mccree i guess

10. Which character’s background story do you like the least?- give zen lore

11. Which map is your favorite?- dorado

12. Which map is your least favorite?- i hate numbani horizon junkertown and blizzworld equally

13. What Arcade game type is your favorite?- no limits i guess

14. What Arcade game type is your least favorite?- team death match

15. Do you prefer quick play, competitive, arcade mode, or custom games?- comp

16. Which map type is your favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?- i like everything but 2cp

17. Which map type is your least favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?- 2cp

18. Which event map was your favorite?- i like the halloween/christmas reskins

19. Which event map reskin was your favorite?- oh

20. Which event was your favorite?- theyre all pretty good except anniversary

21. Which event legendary skin was your favorite?- it was van helsing mccree but i think its baihu genji now

22. Which event was your least favorite?- anniversary was a let down

23. Which event legendary skin was your least favorite?- there’s a ton, but recently the new widow skin was pointless

24. Which event non-legendary skin was your favorite?- amercian mccree or nihon genji? idr its been so long

25. Which event non-legendary skin was your least favorite?- the widow summer games one is not memorable

26. Which event item do you most regret not getting?- i have every event item in the game except achievements

27. Did you beat the Uprising event on Normal, Hard, Expert, and Legendary?- i only beat it on hard but i was still new at the game then

28. Do you have Sombra’s “Power Outage” achievement?- yeah

29. Do you have Widowmaker’s “Smooth as Silk” achievement?- yeah

30. Do you have Lucio’s “The Floor is Lava” achievement?- i got it with pre rework lucio and nowadays its so easy

31. Do you have Zenyatta’s “Rapid Discord” achievement?- one of my first

32. What was the first achievement you got?- of the character specific ones i think it was woah there!

33. Did you get the “Not A Scratch,” achievement on Junkenstein’s Revenge?- no i got so sick of grinding for the pumpkin reaper spray that after i got it i didn’t want to play it anymore

34. What has been the hardest achievement to get for you?- i dont have one of orisas and neither of doomfists

35. What’s your current SR score in Competitive Mode?- on my main 3000-3200 idk i let it decay last season

36. What the highest you’ve been in Competitive?- 3207 i think? or 3217 idr

37. What’s the most amount of placement matches you’ve won?- ive won 9 twice

38. How many gold guns do you have?- 8 (mccree x2 hanzo x2 tracer genji ana bastion)

39. Which was the first gold gun you got?- mccree

40. Whose gold gun do you currently want?- not sure, might get mei next

41. What role do you usually play in Competitive?- hitscan/flex dps but i can play mostly anything

42. If you don’t play Competitive, why not?- i do

43. What kind of theme event would you like to see in the future?- anything is fine

44. What type of character would you like to see in the future?- more mid to higher skill characters

45. Who needs more (or better) skins in the future?- orisa

46. What country would you like a new character to come from?- idc

47. Favorite voice line?- ive always loved the zen line when he discords a genji “i know the doubts that plague you”

48. Favorite player icon?- i have a couple that i use: have fish, the snowman, gamf, the la gladiatiors one, a few of the summer games ones, and like 2 others idk

49. Favorite emote?- the new genji one is cool

50. Favorite spray?- the sorry spray

51.Favorite victory pose?- victory poses are pointless

52. Favorite highlight intro?- the new mccree one is cool

53. Characters you ship the most?- mchanzo

54. Characters you ship the least?- im not gonna say

55. Characters you wish had more in-game interactions?- mccree and anyone, anyone from original overwatch and each other

56. Character you wish had a comic about?- hanzo or genji

57. Favorite comic released?- reflections i guess

58. Favorite short released?- dragons

59. Favorite new character released?- ana

60. Overwatch, Blackwatch, or Talon?- blackwatch

61. Pro-Omnic or anti-Omnic?- pro

62. Favorite character that isn’t a playable one? (Ex: Emily, Brigitte, Gerard, Efi, etc.)- well it was brigitte but now idk mabye lynx

63. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) that you liked the most?- the mercy nerf

64. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) you liked the least?- im scared for the hanzo changes

65. Best ultimate?- objectively (and unfortunately) its riptire but other than that grav?

66. Worst ultimate?- deadeye or doomfist ult

67. Most kills in game?- i cant remember if it was 84 or 74 on a very long gibraltar game

68. Most heals in game?- idr like 25k probably

69. What character do you think needs a nerf?- junkrat ult  dva or sombra

70. What character do you think needs a buff?- other than the obvious rein lucio mccree (but im biased)

71. Have you ever rage quit in the middle of a game?- not a comp game

72. What’s the fastest you’ve won a game?- you can cap a 2cp map in like a minute

73. What’s the fastest you’ve lost a game?- you can get steamrolled on a 2cp map in like a minute

74. Your best Overwatch-related story?- idk

75. Weirdest thing that happened to you on Overwatch?- idk

76. Platform you play on?- ps4

77. Do you stream?- occasionally for one of my fiends

78. Do you normally play solo or with friends?- usually solo

79. Have you made any friends because of Overwatch?- a couple

80. Have you cosplayed a character from Overwatch?- not really into cosplay

81. Have you ever wrote fan fiction about Overwatch?- no

82. What’s the lowest you’ve been in Competitive?- when i did my first placements over a year ago i placed 1337

83. In “All Brawls,” if you get “Charge!” do you play Reinhardt or do you pick the Lucio role?- tbt but lucio

84. In “All Brawls,” if you get “One Shot, One Kill,” do you play Ana, Hanzo, or Widowmaker?- depends on the lobby but hanzo usually unless they have all widows

85. In “All Brawls,” if you get “This is Ilios,” do you pick Lucio or Roadhog?- lucio

86. Team Genji or Team Hanzo?- hanzooooo

87. Be honest! Do you usually get on the payload?- depends on whats going on in the game

88. Does your team?- hm

89. What’s the longest session of Overwatch you’ve played?- uhhhhhh (17 hours once i think....)

90. No Limits, Mystery Heroes, or Total Mayhem?- no limits

91.Most cosmetics you have for one character?- 97/97 on mccree

92. Least cosmetics you have for one character?- idk its probably moira by default but i have almost all of them

93. Have you ever made your own custom game?- all the time

94. Best D.Va skin?- cruiser

95. Best Mercy skin?- witch

96. Best Tracer skin?- honestly? she doesnt have many good ones but i guess graffiti

97. Zarya’s Industrial and Cybergoth skins: yes, no, or HELL NO?- the only good zarya skin is frosted

98. Do you want more animal character, robot characters, or human characters?- any

99. Is there are character you’d get rid of completely?- junk