#so i imagine all this extra crap is the combined forces

[libraryspectre]

Do NOT let this discourage you from getting vaccinated for anything, but if you are the type of person who's body reacts strongly to vaccination you might want to space out your covid booster and flu shot by a few days rather than getting them at the same time

Like I'll probably do it again next year cause its so much more convenient but I am not having a great time atm

[jae-canikeepyou]

| odd hour | j.jh

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

genre: fluff again cuz why not

a/n: written without proof reading because i had other writings to deal with :p hehehe! anyway i hope you enjoy reading, my dears! ~j.  

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your chest tightened at the loud sound blasting from your phone. eventually your hands pulled the remains of your blanket to muffle out the ringtone. that’s great! it stopped ringing for a moment before the vibration went ahead of the tone. heck, it rang again. you kicked the covers in frustration, little whimpers escaping your lips that it was another night you couldn’t have a peaceful trip to your slumber.

the bright light kept blinking in the dark and forcing you to open your eyes. anger was written all over your sleepy body as you turned lazily to the table beside the bed. who could be calling you at this hour when you already started to enjoy the dream projected in your brain? screw whoever cut it short. as if you had the screen memorised, your fingers slid across to answer the call.

“hello?” you greeted groggily with a long, and somewhat disrespectful yawn. no harm in letting them know how irritated you were, right?

“y/n! i called you twice and you answer at the second call? you usually pick up after the first ‘prrrring’!” mingyu, your best friend slightly yelled a bit louder in attempt to overpower the booming sound system in the background. probably in the club again, you thought.

“mingyu?” you sat up just so you wouldn’t fall asleep. “tsk. ever thought of that i might be sleeping at this hour? it’s 3 a.m for crying out loud!”

by the sound of his voice in the other line, it was obvious his phone was taken away. you could hear him scolding someone, actually, when did he never scold anyone, that included you as well. “yah! jaehyun!”

you quickly stood up in your disheveled pj’s; heart hammering non-stop at the mention of this handsome, human being that have always caught you off guard whenever mingyu would hang with you. he’d tag along too and each time that happened, you tried not to smile or blush in front of the dimpled heartthrob.

and most of the time you end up failing when the rest of the boys shoot you with teasing daggers of grins.

the call was still on hold, and it appeared that mingyu tried to snap the boy back to reality. he kept on raising his tone and uneven breaths were heard, trying to chase jaehyun. you were walking back and forth— feeling nervous, in which by the way, was unnecessary. but what were you supposed to feel?

it was jeong jaehyun.

the guy you fell hard for, literally; when you tripped over due to the desktop chair’s legs that you didn’t see. embarrassing as it was, he was indeed a gentleman to have helped you stand up on your toes. your eyes never left his until he bowed to take his leave.

“y/n! do you have time?” mingyu finally went back to giving the attention you waited for. “i got hold of jaehyun.”

“and?” you asked, eyebrows furrowed in question and held in your breath, the useless excitement of yours started growing— so were your eyes when he said the next words,

and also that had you blushing hard.

“pick your man up!” mingyu laughed with a husky and hiccupy kind.

you became flustered and panicked and your lips couldn’t utter a response. he started to burst out laughing, only to stop when jaehyun took the phone from him. “ʸ/ⁿ! ⁱˢ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʸᵒᵘ? ʰᵉˡˡᵒ!” he sounded drunk and totally different from what you had imagined. he was already cute, but the jaehyun now was cuter.

“y/n, please come here and get him?” mingyu begged. poor guy, his 97-line friends partied the night away and if there was anyone who would drive, that’d be him. “i can’t fit an extra person in my seven-seater van.” he whined and you could already picture out his pouty lips. “i’ve got chan, seokmin, jungkook, bam, minghao and eunwoo. jae’s a big guy so-”

grabbing your jacket and slipped on some comfy sweatpants, you headed for the door but stopped mid-way when you realised what you were doing. crap i got carried away. “wait hold up.” you sighed, putting down your car keys. “an extra person wouldn’t be a problem right? put someone at the compartment area or on the floor or something.”

mingyu faked a laugh. “i’ve never seen jae drunk before. i don’t want him puking.” he claimed.

“so you’d rather want him to throw up in my car-”

“ah consider this a favor, my sweet sis.” cutting you off and leaving you stunned in your tracks. “we, your brothers know your crush towards him. so if you don’t want us to tell him about your jeelings when he’s sober, better get here soon~”

j-jeelings??

you tried to enter his blabbermouth reasons even if you knew you didn’t stand a chance against this giant puppy. “wait, ‘gyu! i don’t know his apartme-” and he ended the call.

great, what were you going to do now?

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the road was identical with those seen in an apocalyptic world described in movies. there were less people, flickering lampposts and garbage/debris spinning in circles with the wind’s currents. you flinched at the touch from jaehyun’s arms, which were attached to yours. he mumbled words in ways you couldn’t understand. it appeared more of a gibberish language; if not, then he was a total baby.

with combined smell of his perfume and alcohol, you thought you were about to pass out. he was too close and wondered how he was able to cling onto you in the most uncomfortable way possible. you sighed as you finally pulled over at his apartment block.

“jaehyun. we’re home.” you said, unbuckling the seatbelt and you had to do it for him since he was busy giggling at the buzzing fly trying to escape the window.

“we’re homeee?” he turned to you, face flushed than ever where you blinked non-stop at his stupid, adorable smile. “is it possible that you’re my wife? *hiccup* hahahaaa! wait i’m not even married yet!”

w-wife?..

you got off the car and went to his side, opening the door then found him struggling to stand up. “are you my wife?” he giggled.

“jaehyun you’re not married and i’m not your w-wife.” you said sternly, biting back from saying your actual, honest thoughts aloud.

he slung his arms around you thinking that you would support his weight. once you arrived at his doorstep, he pulled and led you into his apartment. apparently with the little furnitures he owned and no roommates found, it was clear that he lived alone. “stay here. i’ll give you water.” he offered and headed to the kitchen with wobbly steps. funny how he could make out his way there.

the place he calls home had pretty basic things; a keyboard, a complete set of tech-stuff you had no knowledge of and a vinyl turntable with several records. you snapped out of admiration when he handed you a glass of water and gummy smile glued to his face. getting up, you decided it was best for the both of you to get some rest. “thanks jae. now that you’re here, i’m gonna head back ho-”

a light thump on the wooden floor had you turning to him, but you covered your eyes at his action.

“tsk, it’s hot.” he removed his hoodie and underneath it revealed his tank top and toned arms. he was about to remove his top when you stopped him just in time.

“w-what’re you doing?!” you squealed and hopped, panicky and unsure what to do next. one palm covered your eyes and the other brought forth to reach him.

“taking my clothes off- hey! that tickles!” he whined, then laughing at the tugs you pulled at the ends of this hoodie, preventing him from further actions.

you fanned yourself at the exerted strength you’ve given, resting your arm by your waist. “gosh you’re such a handful!” you sighed. it was alright to blush since he wasn’t sober to see your expressions. thank heavens.

jaehyun crossed his arms and looked at you from head to toe. feeling the sleep signals hitting your body, you yawned at the odd hour you were suddenly dragged into. you thought bringing him home was hard, but getting him to stay at one place was harder.

his smiley face and waving body headed to the kitchen again, you slowly followed him around the apartment. “are you really not my wife?” his sudden turn to face you, causing flinch at his touch on your arm.

“jaehyun, for the last time, i’m not.” heh i wish. you rubbed his fluffy hair and grabbed your keys to get home. “wash up now and good night jae.”

he lightly slammed the wall behind you, not letting you leave. his eyes stared into yours, luring you into his world, an imperfect perfection. the weight of his forehead suddenly leaned on your shoulder, as if he was towering over you and yet he lowered himself to pull you close to him. “i won’t let you.”

the stillness of your body followed his words, like obeying a general’s command and no matter how sleepy you were, that went away once you returned his hug, not wanting to let go and take in the moment. this was rare, although it seemed like you took advantage of his drunkenness, even on normal days it was difficult to hold a conversation with jaehyun because he seemed so far-fetched.

a soft air of whispers tickled your ears, sending goosebumps at the touch of them. “did i surprise you?” he asked, followed by again a drunken giggle.

was he serious? “and if i said no?” you lied, trying to appear unaffected when you actually were. what’s wrong with you y/n?

“‘no?’ then if i do this, will you be surprised?” he asked with a challenging tone and had to leaned in closer than before where you both of your knees were touching.

“what exactly are you going to do nghf-” your fingers curled and eyes flutter when a sudden warmth met your lips. you knew you were going to faint right then and there,

but in fact it was the opposite.

jaehyun’s weight lifted off of you, collapsing afterwards when darkness consumed his sight to meet his sleep. he mumbled words that you didn’t notice, still utterly shocked with what he did. you managed to catch him and supported him to his bed.

your fingers touched the slightly swollen lips he planted upon as you were out of his door. then it immediately got you thinking that there was no way you would be able to look at him in the eye the next time you both meet.

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the drumming of your heart continued for the next days since that night. yugyeom noticed how fidgety you were whenever jaehyun would sit with the group at the library or at the caféteria. you’d immediately leave and think of lame excuses so you wouldn’t see jaehyun. at first they didn’t mind, you were a busy person after all. however this time, yugyeom managed to grab your wrists and plop you back to the chair. you mentally cursed at him and he didn’t seem to care like smiling it off would let him off the hook.

you annoyingly and purposely tilted your body so you wouldn’t face jaehyun entirely. “i don’t know what’s up with you but you gotta spill why you’re behaving this way.” yugyeom whispered and you rolled your eyes because yeah, you were busted.

“am i too obvious?” your surrendering voice softened his eyes, more so when you covered your face.

he raised his eyebrows and little did you know mingyu witnessed this as well. “obvious when you’re trying to hide your feelings for jaehyun or obvious that you’re trying ditch us again because of jaehyun?”

“both.” you sighed.

“did something happen that night?” mingyu cupped his lips, soon joining the so called ‘secret and quiet’ conversation you and yugyeom were having.

he didn’t get any verbal responses from you because you gave them a smile of uncertainty where your palms brushed your lips briefly. he covered his mouth as if he was really shocked, more of he really was. “something did, yeah?” he whispered and was convinced from your actions.

your phone alarmed, reminding you of your next class. quickly you packed your stuff and shoved them inside the bag, not caring whether they were neat or not. the rushed actions made jaehyun and the others look your way, and you tried your best to not meet his eye. “i gotta go.”

the faint smell of your perfume stayed in jaehyun’s nostrils whilst you didn’t bother to say goodbye. he turned his torso around, following your figure until it was getting further off the horizon of the caféteria. his friends became awkwardly silent, and he expected them to at least say something if there was a reason of your unusual behavior. instead, he got nothing, that they continued to eat even if they knew he had questions.

“is y/n okay?” he tilted his head in confusion, and saw how his buds bend theirs.

no one dared to speak because in this table, jaehyun was the oblivious one. he wasn’t aware of your feelings for him and the others have kept silent knowing the consequences if they told him; you were quite an angry bear, ‘a cute kind’, they said. “why are you all suddenly quiet?” he asked, the sips and slurps of the cups soon to be emptied.

“oh well y’know..” mingyu chuckled with his fangs peeking out. “just tired?”

“‘cause we’re eating?” jungkook pointed his food.

“uh we have a choice to be?” chan giggled with seokmin who was unable to keep silent.

jaehyun raised a brow, totally not convinced at the excuses and sat back with arms crossed. “you know i could tell if something’s up. who answers with a question anyway?” his straightforwardness wasn’t doing enough to keep them talking. “i’m gonna follow y/n.”

yugyeom stood to stop jaehyun from doing his thing without thinking straight. “wait!” he called out to him and the boy turned around.

the rest of the circle had given daggers to youngest who kept telling him to keep his words to himself. they really didn’t want to make you angry, but what yugyeom was doing would risk their friendship with you. to be exact, risk your friendship with jaehyun’s because of term called ‘crush’. their eyes pleaded and begging him to not spill anything.

“what?” jaehyun flattened his lips that the corners curved inwards, a more confused look seen on him. yugyeom cupped his mouth to whisper, the dimpled man’s eyes grew and scurried off the campus.

chan propped his elbows as the man sat back on his seat. “‘gyeom, what did you tell him?”

“y/n gave a hint before she left, i doubted it first. but it made so much sense as to why she kept ditching our meet-ups-”

“get to the point!” the rest of them pressured him.

the blond haired boy only sighed. “i told jae that he might've drunk-kissed y/n.”

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the sun met its sleep and the night began with patches of rain sprinkling your window. cool rushes of wind entered the thin gaps which sent shivers down to your spine, you wrapped yourself more into the cardigan. you hated it when the weather changes. 

pacing back and forth of your apartment, you’ve had battles in your head that maybe it was best to tell jaehyun or maybe it was better to keep things this way before you had the confidence to do so. you yelled into the pillow to let all of your feelings out. it was too much for your heart to carry or continue. even if you did decide to tell him, how would you approach him? how would you begin the conversation?

you held your phone much tighter than before yugyeom sent a message that gotten your brows raising in millions of questions.

[19:03] yuggie: the boys and i will treat you lunch or any of your cravings! we promise! 🙏🏼

“cool. i won’t be touching my savings for a while!” you cheered, knuckles and fists closed at the good news. unbeknownst to you, the reason for their actions probably would be revealed at a later time.

whilst you waited for dinner to be delivered, you turned on netflix to binge some series you haven’t watched before. however, you paused the means of leisure because you felt lonely. your roommate was out of town, leaving you to care for the apartment for a couple of weeks. and you couldn’t call the rest of the boys because some had work while others were busy with gaming. you could join them, but the motion picture of the game just doesn’t work together with your sight. the weather was already making you sick and nauseous. might feel worse if you played. 

so you uninterestedly switched on the tv again, spent nth minutes into choosing but never really decided on one. 

the memory and experience from that night came flashing in your head. you remembered the touch of his plump lips, the mixed smell of perfume and alcohol, his large hands wrapping your arm and the universe in his twinkling eyes. indeed you liked him a lot, and were thankful that your friends kept it a secret. if the truth came out, you wouldn’t know what else to do.

ding dong!

you stood fumbling with your purse, assured that maybe the pizza guy could wait a little, except it wasn’t who you thought it’d be. the door revealed jaehyun, soaked with an embarrassed smile. “hi?” he greeted, the rain drenched his clothes to the skin and his hair laid flat on his porcelain forehead. “i was about to call but-”

he was pulled in immediately, your hands on his wrists as the water bead droplets wet the wooden floor. “what are you doing in rain?!” you hissed, grabbing new towels for him to dry.

“i didn’t bring an umbrella and the sky just-”

“i thought i was reckless to leave the window open but you’re actually more reckless-”

“i have something to tell you.” he let the towel hung around his neck. there was something in his eyes that you somehow.. knew what he meant by that, so you decided to deal with yugyeom later. “i-”

“pizza delivery!” the guy said, making you and jaehyun turn to the still opened door.

you sighed heavily, why is there always one interrupting the other?

once everything was settled, he walked further into your home and removed his shirt that revealed a rather toned and refined abs. he took a new tee from a laundry basket fresh out from the wash that was exclusive for the boys in case of emergencies. you took care of actual babies.

you were now with him seated around the coffee table, unpacking the side dishes and drinks. “join me for dinner. i don’t think i can finish all this in one go.” you took extra ketchup from the cupboard. 

“wasn’t why i came here for but thanks y/n.” he smiled widely at the food laid out in front of him. 

that statement alone made you stop what you were doing. “why did you come here?” your eyes looked everywhere but him. unconsciously you bit your lip not because the guy you like was here, but because the kiss flashed in your mind again. 

jaehyun saw your action and scooted closer, the centimeters between you both lessening. “it can’t be a mistake, can it?” his voice was soft, with a hint of regret and worry at every uttered word. he eyed you from yours to your now wavering lips. “did i.. perhaps steal your first kiss?”

no words were needed to be said as to jaehyun, your actions and silence already said enough. you wanted to scream as the awkward air and your speechlessness was very unintentional. you wanted to talk, yet you couldn’t for who knew the reasons why. 

“i’ll take that as a yes.” he chuckled, stopping quickly afterwards at your fidgety state. “did i look that drunk?”

now it was you who let out an awkward chuckle. “so you don’t remember what happened that night?”

a warm tone of his hums prolonged the more the thought deeper. “not that i know of.. all i remember was being in the club with the dudes.” 

the rain poured heavier and it was uncertain when it would stop. thunderstorms were heard along with the patters of the droplets. jaehyun felt lucky enough that he came right before the weather turn worse. he let out a sigh of relief, but the relief of doing something unimaginable to you hasn’t lifted off of his chest. in fact, he didn’t know exactly why he felt more nervous than before when he shouldn’t be because it was just you.

yet, it was nervous because it was you.

the girl who managed to make his heart flutter at random times with your big laughs you weren’t ashamed of; the girl who rather hangs out with guys since you said there just too much drama with the ladies. but has a handful gems in her circle. and most of all, you were the girl he somehow wanted a girlfriend to be.

“stay tonight.” your words jolted him out from his thoughts while you moved the curtain aside to observe the rain. “it’s not gonna stop.”

“oh.” he muttered, internally cursing himself for interpreting you wrongly. “sorry for the bother.”

you handed him a slice of pizza, already devouring yours. “that was my first kiss.” he heard you began the topic he thought was long forgotten. “but i’m somehow glad it was you.”

“why?” he munched on his slice, anticipation was leading him on the more he waited for an answer. stupid stupid heart, he told himself.

should i say it or should i not? you thought. the thing was, he was here. the opportunity was already given and if you chose to confess later, it would be more awkward. screw it, i’m confessing. 

with uncertainty and slight fear, you exhaled. “because i like you a lot.” you said, now turning away due to heat spreading your cheeks. “a lot more than i like captain america- i mean chris evans.”

he dropped his food onto his plate, lips forming a pressed smile but he remained his composure knowing that he would probably lose control any second. jaehyun tapped on your shoulders, making you turn to him. “is that so? then i’m glad i didn’t remember the kiss.” his voice low and lovely. 

you tilted your head without seeing his red ears. “what do you mean?”

jaehyun, without hesitations, leaned forward and cupped your jaw. the warmth of his lips onto yours was warmer than the food in your hand. he let go of you, planting boop on your nose.

“‘cause i wanna remember kissing you when i’m sober. i like you a lot too.”

[emma-nation]

Unfinished Business - F! Sam Dalton x MC Fanfiction (Chapter 3)

Summary: When Sam Dalton is caught in a scandal, Anna Schuyler is the only one who can help her. But will her former nanny be able to leave the past behind?

“Samantha Dalton was like one of good dreams you don’t want to wake up from. You close your eyes, you force your brain to remember every minor detail, you begin to imagine what comes next… hoping to be in control. You want to fall asleep again. You want it to continue, but it’s too late now. You’re wide awake.”

Genre: Angst, Romance

Tag List: @save-me-the-last-dance, @nydeiri (If you wish to be tagged for future chapters/fics of this pairing, let me know)

Being back to that motel room brought a turmoil of feelings inside Anna's chest. Deep down, she knew the real reason why she was standing in the same room as Sam Dalton again. Yet, she felt the constant need of reminding it to her brain, and especially her heart.

"I'm doing this for Jack," she repeated mentally. "I must get the money to pay for his treatment."

"I'm glad you accepted my offer, Anna," Sam said. "But it's late now, you should probably get some rest. Tomorrow we can start to work."

"Right, I'll get a room."

She knew what Sam was about to offer, so she anticipated herself and left through the door, giving her no chance to speak. There was absolutely no possibility she'd spend the night in the same room as that woman. By the morning, she could grab Sam's gadgets and work by herself. They didn't have to speak, or even see each other. That was a professional deal and nothing more.

"My apologies, Ms. Schuyler," the receptionist spoke as she typed on her computer. "We're crowded."

"Uhhh... I... I only need a bed for a few hours," Anna handed her some extra cash. "Anything is fine."

Even the janitor's room would be better than sharing the bed with her ex lover. It was almost scientifically proven that any physical contact between them could not end well. Or it could end too well, considering how great she was in bed. Anna shook her head dismissing those thoughts.

"Ms. Schuyler, you don't understand. We don't have any rooms."

"Fine! I'll sleep right here."

She stomped to a small couch in the reception room, trying to curl her body enough to make herself a little bit comfortable. She closed her eyes for a minute, when a voice brought her back from her failed attempt of falling asleep.

"Really, Anna?" Sam sighed. "You can take my bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"I don't want it, thank you," she quickly closed her eyes again. "I don't want to be so near to you in such a small space."

"You can take my room then. I'll... I'll stay up, walking around. I haven't been able to sleep since it all started anyways."

Anna opened her eyes again. Sam seemed to be exhausted. Her face gave it away. The scandal was truly affecting her. After dedicating her whole life to that company, she was about to lose everything. Including her children if she went to jail. And that was when their eyes met.

"I can't believe I'm here," she rolled her eyes on the bed. She was trying hard to not move, or make any sounds that indicated she was still awake. Sam kept her promise, she was sleeping on the floor, very far away from the bed. "Those damn puppy dog eyes. They make her seem so innocent!"

"Good night, Anna," what was it? Was she reading thoughts now?

"Good night, Sam," she rolled to the side, facing the wall until she fell asleep.

When she woke up in the morning, Sam was already awake. Outside the room she seemed to be busy on the phone with her lawyers. Anna took a shower and changed her clothes before she returned.

"Anna, good morning," Sam met her after some time. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"I didn't want to disturb your phone call," Anna told. "Any important news?"

"They've set the trials to start three weeks from now. We'll need to work fast. But I told them I may have found a manner to prove my innocence, they're optimistic."

"Okay then, let's get to work."

Anna turned on Sam's computer. Password protected. The first step to narrow the suspect's list was to discover how safe Sam's password could be. Anna tried a few guesses.

"What are you doing?" The CEO asked.

"Trying to guess your password," Anna answered. "Through this, we can find out how close to you our suspect can be."

"This is smart. Though I can't think of anyone who would be able to guess it."

"Not even Sofia?"

"No, she wouldn't know."

After lots of combinations, Anna threw her hands in the air. Without an expert cracking method, it was impossible. Sam approached, typing a combination of numbers and letters: 'M9S16N2M00CK7Y'.

"Hmmm it's long and safe," she asked curiously. "What is it by the way?"

"A mix of the boys' names and the date I met their mom," Sam told.

"Your first wife, huh? You never talk much about her, so I guess no one would find out so easily."

Sam's expression suddenly became distant and somber. Her current situation was probably making all those old feelings resurface.

"The truth is I still feel guilty for her death. We had a fight that day, she thought I was spending too much time at work. I realized she was right, I came home with a surprise and... I received the news of her accident."

"I'm sorry. This wasn't your fault, Sam. It was a tragedy."

Not wanting to get involved, Anna turned her attention back to the computer screen. She didn't know where to start searching first. She wasn't sure she wanted to have all the pictures, videos and evidence of the last two happy years Sam spent with Sofia thrown in her face all at once. She wasn't ready for this.

"Okay..." she took a deep breath. "Remember, you're here for the money."

As she started scanning the folders for any suspicious files or activity, she was surprised. Most of the pictures were of Mason and Mickey, a few of Sam's parents and only a couple where she was accompanied by her wife. Her marriage seemed boring and unhappy, different from what the tabloids would often paint.

"So, did you find anything?" Sam asked after a few minutes.

"Not yet. Whoever is doing this to you was smart enough to not leave any tracks or..."

"Or what?"

"They didn't hack you. They had direct access to your computer."

"Are you suggesting..."

"You should trust no one. Not even Sofia, or Robin."

Sam's cell phone was now their only hope to find proof. Anna plugged it on the laptop and using some advanced software, she started analyzing its activity. It didn't take long for her to come across some evidence.

"Crap!" She shouted.

"What's going on?" Sam want to know.

"Not only somebody has hacked your phone, Sam. But they've bugged you too."

"Damn, they listened to all my conversation with the lawyers. They know what I'm trying to do!"

"Well, on a brighter side you need to take this to the police as soon as possible. It'll be more than enough to prove you didn't send that email."

Anna collected her stuff, Sam did the same. Now all she had to do was wait for her paycheck and leave. Easy as that. But before, she was going to grab some breakfast. All the adrenaline of the last few hours had her starving.

"Uh, what are you doing?" She asked, noticing Sam had followed her to the motel's cafeteria. "Aren't you going home?"

"I haven't had breakfast yet and..." And. Followed by the puppy dog eyes. Anna knew there was something else. "I was hoping you could come with me to the police station."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I don't wanna get any more involved, I've already have a ton to deal with right now. "

"I understand. Can you at least take me back to New York? Carter is with the boys in my parents' house."

Anna sighed in frustration. Everytime she thought she'd free herself from any contact with Sam, something new would come up. Again, she needed money and the CEO had more than enough to pay extra for a rid back to New York. She agreed. All for Jack... and a little revenge too. Samantha Dalton would be literally paying for every tear she made her cry.

"What's going on?" As they walked back to the room, Sam attempted to break the awkward silence that was always present between them. "In your life, I mean. You said you're dealing with a lot right now."

"It's... personal," Anna didn't want to give her details about her stepfather's health. "Family issues."

"Is this why you accepted my offer, Anna? Are you having money issues?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does, because I still ca-" Sam's sentence was cut short by the surprise of seeing the door was open. "Did I forget to lock it when we left?"

"No, I'm pretty sure you did," Anna said. "I remember seeing you lock it."

As they entered, the room had been completely trashed. All of their clothes and belongings were scattered on the floor.

"No..." Sam rushed inside, knowing exactly what could be missing. She started searching everywhere for her cell phone and laptop. "No... it can't be."

Anna decided to help her. There wasn't any signs of the devices until she opened the bathroom's door and found they had been destroyed in a million pieces. Sam stood by her side, her mouth opened in shock and her eyes full of tears.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Anna placed a hand on her shoulder. "Someone is really determined to destroy you."

"What am I going to do now?" The woman sat on the edge of the bed. It was the second time Anna was actually seeing her cry. The only thing that had affected Samantha so badly in the past was her accident in Italy, days before her wedding with Sofia.

"I don't know..." Anna walked to the window. As she contemplated the world outside, she noticed as a black car was watching them. Its windows were heavily tinted, but she could distinguish the figure of a man behind the wheel. As soon as he noticed her staring, he drove away. "Damn it, we're being followed."

Sam was fast enough to approach in time to see the car leaving.

"We're not safe here, Anna."

"Right, you should go to your parents' house with the boys. I'm coming back to my small hometown, where I know no one will even bother following me there."

"I can't risk putting their lives in danger," Sam said, placing her clothes back into the bags. "I'm coming with you."

"What?!" Anna tried to protest, she tried to think of reasonable excuse to voice and prevent that madness from happening. It was too late, paralyzed with shock, she was already back to her car with Samantha, headed to Rhode Island.

"I hate myself," she thought, glancing discreetly at the passenger's seat. "It can't get any worse than this. Can it?"

As they parked in front of Anna's childhood home, she began to wonder what she'd be telling her parents about Sam. It was a small town. Even if the scandal had made to the national news, no one would ever imagine the CEO would be hiding there. They probably wouldn't even recognize her.

Her phone started ringing. It was Jenny. Now it would be the right time for some friendly advice. She left the car for privacy, standing under a tree.

"Hey Jenny."

"Hey. You promised me daily news, don't you remember?"

"I do, but not even in your wildest dreams you could imagine what happened..."

She told her everything, from Jack's illness to the fact Sam Dalton was inside her car, minutes away from being introduced to her family.

"Anna, you should have dropped her in the middle of the road!" Jenny yelled. "She's not your problem. She's her wife's problem. And it's not like she can't afford the best lawyers in the country, people like her will never go to jail."

"You're right," Anna agreed. "I should. Yet, I had no strength to do so. Even after everything she did to me, I couldn't stand seeing her suffer. God, I'm so stupid..."

"No, Anna. You have this great heart that will always help people, no matter who they are. This is part of you, and one of the reasons why I love you so much."

"Thank you, I... I learned it from Jack."

"Then go save him, you're doing the right thing. Even if it's crazy and absolutely stupid."

She turned off her phone and returned to the car. It was time to enter the house and face her parents.

"Ready?" She went back to the car.

"Anna, would you mind borrowing me your phone for a minute?" Sam asked. "I'm gonna call the lawyers to inform the incident."

Anna handed her the phone. But instead of dialing, Sam stared at the screen for minutes. She nervously ran a hand through her hair.

"What's going on? Something wrong?"

"Yes. Helena Hawthorne, the woman I'm being accused to sleep with, she released the pictures to the media. And Sofia is already filing for the divorce."

----------

Notes: (Oh Anna, you have no idea how worse it can get.)

Thank you so much for the feedback. It means a lot to me!

[kainablue]

LECTURE ME - Don’t Ask (part 1)

[Chain Reaction]  [Distracted]  [A Quick Smoke]  [Into the Wild]  [Heavy Rain (part 1)]  [Heavy Rain (part 2)] [Moonstruck (part 1)] [Moonstruck (part 2)] [On the House]

-

Okay, wow, I have a small collection here! Yay! 

Here’s the next chapter (finally!) In case you’ve forgotten - this is a dirty little bundle of stories about a professor and his student (and some other peeps). You can read them in any order that you like (except for the ones with ‘part 1′ and ‘part 2′ on them - these chapters were too long and that’s why I separated them like this)

The first part is pretty safe. Only some profanities and a bit of thirst! Enjoy! 🍷

Don’t Ask (part 1)

Oliver

What a shitty day. And not just because of rain.

As if getting scolded by the department's secretary for losing the keys to my office - again! - wasn’t bad enough, a couple of students at my last lecture were particularly annoying. Two wiseasses trying to convince me that morality is completely unnecessary in modern times. I wanted to crack their shit-filled skulls with an iron bar. But I kept my cool, I did. Barely, though. And I wonder was it really worth it because now I have a fucking headache as if someone smacked me with an iron bar.

A familiar smell of petrol tickles my nose. My eyes dart to my dashboard - I’m almost out of juice. Fuck. I rub my throbbing forehead and wonder what the helI did I do for karma to punish me like this. 

Well - I can feel a smirk tugging my mouth - I haven’t been an innocent lamb jumping around the meadow, have I?

As I turn around the corner, two streets away from my home, a slight silhouette darkens my peripheral view. I would have missed Filipa if she wasn’t always on my mind. I do believe my brain is overstimulated and now I am hypersensitive to anything related to her.

I memorized the sound of her shoes walking over different types of floors. From the way utensils are positioned on a plate, I can recognize her leftovers in the dining hall. And I can sense her arousal by breathing in her sweat enriched with musk and floral perfume. Aaah, just the memory of that sex aroma, that perfect combination of refined and vulgar, is making me dizzy.

I pull over next to a willow tree bending over the gates like Juliet over her balcony. A shower started recently, a light drizzle, but strong enough to be annoying. Filipa is pacing, her head bowed down, carrying a box in her hands. Several rectangular stamps are one it. Oh, so she’s been to the post office. But why aren’t her packages delivered to the Academy's department office, like everyone else's?

I open the window. “Need a ride, pretty lady?”

Filipa lifts her head and stops, swaying a bit. There’s something odd. Was she— A tight knot of pain stabs me in the throat. Was she… crying? There are no telltale signs on her face, just… the feeling. Like when you see a famous actor on the street for the first time. They look the same but it’s not the character you know. Like another person. Like someone without a mask.

Filipa doesn’t avert her eyes (she’s never the first to buckle - never!) and approaches my car. A lovely, almost innocent smile curves her lips and the whole costume is back on - the mask, the robe, the hood – the girl I saw just a second ago has vanished.

She places one her elbow on the window edge and the other hand holding the mysterious box on the car roof, bending her back. There isn’t much happening at the front of her clothes: her flat chest covered by her school uniform with buttoned up shirt. But her skirt… I imagine it is now way up. As she lowers her upper body, adjusting herself to my height, the skirt is going up and up, slowly sliding above her knees and her thighs. Maybe even her ass. 

A passer-by checks her out from behind, looking under her skirt like a fucking pervert! 

That ass is mine! 

“We are going in opposite directions, professor.”

Her voice is creamy like always, with some light notes of mirth attached to the word professor. 

“How about a detour?” Really, why not? “Hop on. I have something to show you.”

Her eyebrow jumps in surprise and then joins the other one in vexation. A very different sounding words shoot me.  

“Seriously? Of all the cheesy lines you have, you are offering me 'I have something to show you' one? I know how your dick looks, Oliver.”

“But it’s a very fine dick, wouldn't you agree?”  The rolling of her eyes was expected but always entertaining. “No, something else, but not as big, I’m afraid. Come.”

“Where to?”

“My apartment.”

She tilts her head, amused. “Wouldn’t it be suspicious, professor: a young naive student and her mentor heading to his unholy den?”

“To earn her some extra credit.” 

I crack myself up sometimes. The absurdity of my statement even draws a low chuckle from Filipa.

“All right,” she sighs and pushes herself away from my car. I forgot about the box. Such a dull looking thing, wrapped in a brown paper, and yet she holds it like a treasure… The familiar static fills my brain clouding my every thought. Oliver, don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do —

“What’s in there?”

You. Fucking. Did. It.

If eyes could make a sound, hers would be hissing at me.

“I should head back, professor.” And with that statement, heavy as a concrete block, she proceeds to march towards the Academy.

I fucked up.

I put my Ford in reverse and start to follow her.

“Fine. I’m sorry. Don’t tell me what’s in your damn box. Let’s go.”

She doesn’t stop. There is no other person who can blank you like Filipa can. I turn off the engine and take a deep breath. She won’t like this. Not at all.

I get out, leaving the car door open. In several big steps I catch up with her and immediately block her way. Because she was walking with her head down, probably protecting her eyes from the rain, Filipa headbutts my chest. I touch her upper arms but she springs backwards. She clenches her package and snarls like a monkey holding stolen goods. The ire in her eyes is so forceful I freeze. 

We stand like that for a few moments. Rain is dripping down my face and dampening my shirt. It's cold. I swallow a lump. Filipa is all wet and beyond pissed now. Why do I get horny when she looks like she wants to massacre me.

“Come on, doll. I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

She hardly blinks. Rain is getting heavier by the minute and she… isn’t bothered even the slightest? Blinking is for the weak, and Filipa is everything but weak, I laugh inwardly.

A much lighter expression takes over Filipa’s features. Not necessarily a good thing. She shifts into a more relaxed pose. 

“Beg.”

Not what I expected. “Okay, please.”

“No. I mean… beg.”

Oh. 

Someone could fucking see us! I turn around: luckily, the street is empty, but that can change in a second. And far more importantly - my clothes! Crap! I stare down at her. I could literally scoop her up and carry her to my car, but… She wouldn’t just kill me then, though; she would literally crush me into a lump the size of a marshmallow and eat me.

The resting bitch face in front of me is unforgiving. I know she doesn’t care. She will just leave if I refuse. And… I don’t want that. Just like I wouldn't want any of my nails pulled out with rusty pincers. 

I take a deep breath in… and kneel. A humiliating wet cold enters my clothes and spreads over my knees and calves. Fuck! 

“Please.” I stare at Filipa’s ugly, dirty shoes, gritting my teeth. Someone will see us! And then I’m screwed! “Please, please, please.”

Filipa is silent. She is enjoying this so much, I just know it. Murky water around my knees is restless from the raindrops hitting it. But I can somehow make out two faces: one pathetic, with eyes wide open in apprehension; the other, upside-down – and victorious.

Her foot moves up, water dripping from the shoe sole. The dirty, worn-out tip has a shallow scratch - just above her big toe. 

"Kiss."

I swallow. I was expecting this.

Let's get this over with.

I close my eyes and press my lips on a dry patch, just above the scuff. The smell of mud and old leather tickles my nostrils.  

“Are you satisfied?” I croak. My head is flying from one side to the other, checking if someone’s approaching. This is so dumb and risky and… exciting. I suck on my lower lip. Fuck me and my sick, twisted brain! I want to bend even more, shove my elbows in this disgusting sewage water and lick her legs. I want her to place her hand in my hair and pull while —

A finger brushes along my jaw and lifts my head up. Filipa’s lips are curved into a poisonous smirk. Her smile is like a drug – a deadly line that boils my blood and ruins my life. And I need it all the time. 

All the fucking time.

“Very,” she whispers, a slight tremble in her voice. She really is. “Let’s go.”

***

Filipa

I expected Oliver’s room to be a bit more… chaotic. More bachelor like. More I’m-overwhelmingly-anxious-to-keep-my-job-but-also-uncontrollably-hedonistic-like. But it isn’t. 

His shoes are neatly aligned next to a hallway wall. The wooden floor is old but clean, not even a pebble stuck between the boards. No weird stains, no underwear on the kettle, no porn hastily hidden bellow a carpet. He has a separate bedroom, but I bet he even made the bed before leaving his apartment this morning. Smell of cigarettes is glued to every piece of furniture and I soon spot a full ashtray. But aside from that dirty metal container and a bunch of papers and books scattered all over the floor and any horizontal surface, this apartment is… quite neat.

“I don’t think you came here before?” Oliver moves the curtains and more grey light colours the room. 

“I haven’t.”

There are no pictures on the walls. I think they used to be white,long time ago when this house was built; but they are more creamy brown now. Years of tobacco using tenants did that, I guess. Except for one spot where colour is still unsoiled and almost completely clean. In the perfect center, opposite from the windows, there used to be a cross. Not a large one, nor particularly prominent judging by the shape. But it bothered Oliver enough to remove it.

“Have a seat,” he points to an armchair in childish excitement, “and get ready to be amazed.”

I humor him and take a seat. Right in front of me, taking up quite a large portion of the living room, is a… table? A desk? Huge tablecloth covering it falls down some unexpected curves. Not to mention the tabletop is set too low for any standard chair. And yet it’s also too high for a coffee table.

Oliver removes piles of books that were covering the top and, with a wiggle of his eyebrows, he asks: “Are you ready?”

This can only be something incredibly stupid when he’s so excited. I brace myself expecting to see a rocking horse or an overly complicated sex toy. I nod.

He takes the tabletop and lifts the whole thing in one swift move. Table cloth flies with it and for a moment Oliver resembles a magician uncovering a rabbit underneath a mystery box.

But there is no rabbit. Only a - bathtub.

Although,  I have to admit, a beautiful one. It is wooden and shaped as those old baths that you can see in period dramas. But this one is brand new and shining like a freshly licked candy. I stand up to get a closer look. It really is gorgeous. 

“You made it?”

“Yup.” This big man’s ego just got a bit bigger. “Touch it.”

I glide tips of my fingers along the rim. It’s like ice.

"I used seven layers of finish so it could be as smooth as glass," he trails off and zones out. For a few seconds I was almost able to observe his tiny thought monkey with cymbals taking a break from wanking himself and actually using his brain for a change. And then he spoke in enlightenment: "...for your lovely, precious, little ass."

I don't know what I expected.

"Lord Byron, step aside, you've been outshined."

Oliver chuckles. “I would be honored if your ass would be the first one to sit in it.”

I look at the bathtub again. Is there a trick? Will something happen? I hardly believe Oliver would do something to openly anger me, but to simply push my buttons for shits and giggles – yes. And I’m not in the mood for it.

“Come on, sweetie. You know you want to soak that wet and cold flesh of yours in a hot bath.” He shifts behind me, a towering presence of muscles and heat. Oliver kisses the top of my head. “I will wash you, my mistress.”

A purr escapes my lips in response to this deep, rich and velvety voice whispering in my hair. It would be quite nice to replace the moldy odor of this sad room to a floral scent of soap. Bliss overcomes me as I imagine warm water clinging to my body and the brisk air biting my flesh when I expose myself. Oliver moves closer to me. A slow shiver shoots up along the back of my thighs, where his legs are touching mine. And, of course, the idea of his hands gliding up and down my skin, feeling me, caressing me, teasing me in all the right ways - does sound divine.

“Fine, my beast. You can have your wish.”

~~~

[to be continued…]

[natasha-cole]

#1 Crush: Part 17

Chapter Summary: Nothing is getting better. In fact, it just seems to be getting worse even after someone had found her house. The situation begins to wear on Reader, even more-so on her relationship with Rob.

Word Count: 4580

Warnings: creepy fan, angst, arguing

Notes: Sorry guys. I had to do it to them.

Series Masterlist

Liam had gone far and above his duties; making sure that your locks and security system were changed as soon as possible. You had met him at your place a couple of days following the break-in, still anxious and a bit terrified to even be there.

He had walked you through everything, making sure that you understood how everything worked and emphasizing the fact that you needed to be certain you took any extra step necessary to protect yourself even in your own home. That was all well and good, and you felt a bit of security when you saw how all of the new stuff worked; but that didn’t stop you from feeling vulnerable. Not yet anyway.

Throughout the next few days, you chose to stay with Rob. it was comforting for you that he almost demanded that you stay for a while, even with your new security system at home. It was the one thing to come out of all of this that you would never complain about. You loved being with him. You loved seeing him every day and waking up next to him. It made you almost forget about everything, and he definitely made you feel safe.

While you were still on break from work, Rob never seemed to stop working though. He was always busy, and for now, he didn’t dare let you out of his sight. So, a lot of your time was spent trailing along and following him everywhere he went. It wasn’t your choice. You would much rather be at his place, sitting on the couch all day and taking full advantage of your break. But, no matter how much crap you gave him for being so protective, you honestly really didn’t want to have him out of your sight either.

For a while, Rob seemed to have forgotten about the necklace. He had been upset about you possibly losing it, and even though you had desperately searched for it again when you met Liam at your place, you came up empty handed again.

You were sick about it. Mostly because a part of you really thought that whoever had been in your house had taken it. At the same time, it didn’t really make a lot of sense that out of everything of monetary value that they could have stolen, that was the only thing missing.

You didn’t bring it up, and you had hoped that he wouldn’t either. But, it was only a matter of time before he noticed your bare neck again and wanted to know if you had found it.

The two of you were having dinner at his place one evening when he curiously asked about it again.

“Did you find your necklace yet?” He asked.

You reached up and touched your neck, still not used to not having it there even after a few days.

“Oh,” you muttered. “I didn’t.”

“Did you remember to look when you went back to your place?”

“I did look,” you answered honestly. “I looked everywhere. It wasn’t there.”

“So, you lost it?” He asked.

You could hear the disappointment in his voice and it killed you. The necklace had meant a lot to him, and it had meant a lot to you as well. The combination of it being missing and how hurt he was over it made you feel worse.

“It was there,” you replied. “I remember that I put it on my dresser before I got in the shower. I I don’t know how it isn’t there.”

“Are you sure you just don’t remember putting it back on? Maybe you lost it when you went out.”

You considered this, knowing that it couldn’t be. You distinctly remembered where you had put it and you had no explanation of where it could be now.

“I’m sorry, Rob,” you sighed. “I just- really don’t know what happened to it.”

You would have rather avoided it completely. You had been thinking about it for days, kicking yourself over having lost it in the first place. But, you had purposely not brought it up in hopes that he’d forget about it. Obviously, that wasn’t working in your favor, and now you just felt awful.

“That’s unfortunate,” he breathed out as he leaned back against the couch and a bit further away from you.

You felt hurt now. It hadn’t been your fault, but you did understand his disappointment.

“I’ll keep looking,” you said. “It has to be somewhere. I’m sure it’ll find me when I least expect it.”

“I hope so,” he said with a forced smile as he turned to look at you. “It meant a lot to me to be able to give you that.”

“I know,” you said softly. “And it really means so much to me. I’m honestly destroyed that I don’t know where it is.”

“You said that whoever was in your house went through your things,” he added. “Do you think they took it?”

You had considered that. In fact, you told the police officer that it was the only thing that was missing from your place. You neglected to actually put it in the police report though. It seemed stupid. Why would someone come into your house and take only that? You knew you had lost it. This was your fault.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would take it,” you responded. “Or even how anyone would have noticed it. Whoever it was just went through things in my closet and nightstand.”

“Yeah, I guess it doesn’t make much sense.”

“I’m sorry,” you reiterated, giving him your best puppy dog eyes in hopes that he would forgive you.

“I know,” he smiled. “It’s okay. Like you said, it’ll probably show up.”

***

At the end of your week, you said goodbye to Rob and headed back to set.

You were excited over the fact that, not only would you be away from L.A., now that even home didn’t feel as safe; but you were also set to work with Briana on an episode. You loved having any of the ladies around on set, and you couldn’t wait to just have a stress-free week of work with one of your best friends.

When you strolled onto set your first morning back, you were more chipper than usual. You greeted everyone and glanced around the space for Briana, who happened to spot you first.

She called out your name from the other side of the room, waving to you as she approached you.

“It’s good to see you,” you said as you gave her a big hug. “You have no idea how much I need you here this week.

“What the hell happened last week?” Briana asked, not even acknowledging your words or the fact that you were thrilled to see her.

Your smile faded when you saw the look of concern on her face.

“What do you mean? Nothing happened.”

“Yes. Something happened. Rob’s always a bit neurotic and protective of you, but this is the worst I’ve seen him. He called and asked me to make sure we’re looking out for you. I hate hearing him like this. He’s really worried. He also said that you’ve been staying with him since whoever this guy is crossed a serious line. Or course he didn’t give details, so you better.”

You let out an exasperated sigh, dropping your shoulders as you did so. You plopped down in your chair and tried to breathe as you felt that familiar anxiety start to take over. You hated that everyone worried. You hated that this was happening.

“It doesn’t matter. It happened, it’s over, and I’m fine.”

“Y/N,” she said softly as she sat next to you. “You don’t seem fine at all. Rob isn’t okay either. I didn’t see him, but I could tell by the way he spoke that nothing is fine.”

“Someone was in my house,” you answered finally. “I was out, but I came home and someone else had been there.”

“What the hell?” She breathed out.

You glanced up at her and noted the look of fear on her face. You really hated that everyone around you was so worried about you. You hated that this man had not only been making your life hell, but was also affecting your friends.

“It was him?” She asked.

“Yes. He left a rose and a note. Otherwise, I would have just convinced myself that it had been some random. I wanted it to have been just a run-of-the-mill break-in where someone just robbed me,” you chuckled uncomfortably.

“And you’ve gone to the police, right?”

“Yes. I called them and eventually filed a real report. They have all of the evidence I could give them. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know who is doing this.”

“Fuck,” she muttered. “This is bad.”

“It can only get better from here on out, right? I mean, the police are now involved.”

“Now I’m reconsidering the thing I wanted to tell you.”

“What thing,” you asked.

“How has your presence on social media been lately?”

“Nonexistent,” you chuckled. “It’s actually kinda nice. I’d recommend getting a stalker if you ever feel the need to just take a break from it.”

“That’s not funny,” she frowned.

“Gotta laugh about something,” you shrugged in return.

“The social media stuff has exploded recently,” she explained. “Honestly, I can’t keep up. But it seems like the fans have been busy reporting the posts and accounts.”

“What’s it all about now?”

“Weirdly, he seems calmer?” She said, knowing that none of this was calm no matter what he was saying. “I mean, I know we don’t know for sure that these accounts are one person, but I think can assume at this point.”

“Yeah. It’s gotta be the same guy. It makes sense.”

“He just- thinks he’s in love with you, Y/N. He seems to think you’re in love with him too.”

“I don’t even know who this is,” you replied in frustration.

“I know.”

“How can someone be this sick? Why me? Why am I the target of this?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered.

“How can someone think that I love them? I’m with Rob. I love Rob. I’m not even on a first name basis with any of my fans.”

“I know,” she said again. “I don’t want to upset you more, but I think this is stuff you should at least know about.”

“No, I know,” you shook your head. “Thank you for making sure I’m caught up with what’s going on. I don’t want to know this stuff, but I know I need to be aware.”

“Anyway,” she said as she leaned over to put her arm around you. “I’m here. The guys are here. Everyone knows what’s been going on. We’re just gonna do our best to make sure you're safe.”

“Thanks,” you responded. “I’m sorry that anyone has to do that though.”

“That’s why we’re all friends,” she smiled. “We look out for each other. Take care of each other.”

“Well, I mean, I do have Liam,” you chuckled as you glanced around again, this time trying to see if you could spot him.

You found him easily; hanging out near catering and just watching you from a distance. You frowned at the fact that he never stopped watching you. It wasn’t that you didn’t like him; it was just that you disliked the fact that you needed him.

***

Later that night, you were taking a break in between scenes when Rob called. You smiled to yourself and quickly answered

“Perfect timing,” you cooed. “I’m on break.”

“Good,” he replied. “I was just calling to tell you that I love you.”

“I love you too,” you giggle in response, still blushing every time he said those words to you. “So very much.”

“Also, I’m heading to the airport.”

“Where are you off to now?” You asked.

You couldn’t recall him mentioning that he had work or a show any time soon, and there had been no discussion of him leaving the city until the next convention this coming weekend.

“I’m going to Vancouver,” he replied.

You could almost hear him smile. He seem rather giddy about the fact, even if you didn’t know why.

“Why are you coming to Vancouver?”

“To see you.”

“We literally just saw each other a couple of days ago,” you giggled. “You couldn’t wait until this weekend?”

“Nope,” he replied. “I’m not doing anything anyway. And I just- really kinda like you, so I can’t see the harm in spending time with you when I can.”

“I’ll be working like, twelve hour days.”

“Then I’ll get to see you the other twelve hours of the day.”

“You’re impossible,” you laughed.

“Do you not want me to come?” He asked seriously.

“I didn’t say that. I’m just saying, you don’t have to just because you’re worried. I do have security here.”

“I know,” he replied. “I just feel better when I’m close to you.”

“You know,” you said softly. “I feel better when you’re close to me too. I feel even better when you touch me or kiss me. I really can’t wait for you to get here.”

“You’re teasing me.”

“I would do no such thing,” you grinned.

“I’ll call you when I land,” he replied. “I know we just spent all that time together, but I really do miss you.”

***

You had been thrilled to see Rob when he got to Vancouver, even if you had to wait a few hours before you actually made it to your apartment as you were shooting a scene that night. When you arrived home, he was already there, greeting you with a deep kiss when you walked in through the door.

You couldn’t even tell him hi or ask him how his flight had been; he closed the door behind you, pushing you against the wall as his lips eagerly worked at yours. You had dropped your bag to the floor in his haste and moaned against his mouth as he pressed up against you.

Neither of you even spoke that night. You just let your want for each other take over. Maybe even a couple of days apart was too difficult at this point.

***

It was sort of nice to have Rob hanging around while you worked. He didn’t bother you while you were on set, but when you returned home each night, it was a relief to have him there. He would always have dinner and wine waiting for you, sometimes a hot bath drawn already, and the lovemaking was just a bonus. Normally, you were pretty lonely while you worked, so it was a nice change to have someone waiting for you at the end of each day.

Your joy over his presence had waned by the end of the week though. Something in him changed as the days went on.

Every time you spoke about the things going on, especially during phone conversations with Briana, who always made a point to call you when something new came up; he wasn’t his usual happy self.

You were lying in bed, scrolling through some things that Briana had pointed out to you. You hadn’t meant to be complaining about it out loud, but you were scared at the way this man was talking online.

“Can you believe that he has it in his mind that I’m in love with him or something?” You asked out loud as your eyes stayed focused on the tweets in front of you.

Rob didn’t respond really, just huffed out a reply as he changed into pajamas.

“It’s the things that he keeps saying about you that really piss me off though…”

You were working on reporting yet another account, not really paying attention to Rob as you spoke. You still didn’t get the point. Why create numerous accounts and tag you and Rob and your friends in this crap when he knew by now that he’d be reported?

“I’m not too worried about that,” Rob said softly, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“He’s insane,” you added. “He’s posting pictures of me and just saying the creepiest shit.”

“Will you stop reading that crap!”

You looked up at Rob as he shouted, surprised that he had raised his voice at all and that the irritation in his voice and annoyance in his stare was aimed at you.

“I’m sorry,” you said quietly as you set your phone down. “It's- it’s just getting worse and I guess I got caught up in it...”

“Quit obsessing over it,” he replied, still seemingly angry.

He took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair in frustration as he closed his eyes; seemingly trying to calm himself.

“The more attention you give him, the less likely that he stops.”

“He’s saying such horrible things about us… about you.”

You couldn’t even stop yourself as you spoke. He obviously didn’t want this to be tonight’s topic of discussion, but you couldn’t help it. You were freaked out even more than usual, and even though he was right, you couldn’t stop yourself from reading these things at this point. Sure, reading these comments made you feel sick and terrified, mostly for Rob at this point. But, it was like a car crash. No matter how badly you knew you should look away, just ignore it, you couldn’t help but stare out of simple curiosity.

“Put the phone away, Y/N,” he demanded.

You looked up at him in surprise, still thrown off by the volume of his voice now. He looked angry as he sat himself in a chair near the bed. He plopped down, removing his glasses and placing them on the table as he sighed out loud, running his hands across his face as he kept his eyes closed. He was very frustrated and you could tell.

“Are you okay?” You asked as you did as you were told and placed your phone face down on the night stand.

“No.” He said harshly. “I’m not okay.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” You asked, a grin pulling up on your lips as you attempted to ease the tension and maybe flirt a little. Mostly, you wanted to just forget about this. You didn’t want him to be mad and you wanted to deflect from the moment.

He couldn’t resist you when you were flirty, and you figured that maybe all he needed was something from you to ease his tension. You were about to offer him a makeout session or even a quick blow job, but whatever he was feeling right now blinded him to even noticing that you were attempting to flirt.

“Yeah,” he replied as he looked at you finally. “You can stop reading the bullshit this guy is saying about you.”

“I know I shouldn’t…” you said. “But I can’t help it. It’s just- everywhere. How do you avoid it?”

“I don’t,” he chuckled.

His laugh was not the usual adorable Rob laugh that you loved so much; this was laced with sadness and anger, and you didn’t like it.

“I’m just as guilty as you are,” he continued. “Sometimes I can’t look away. I know everything that he’s saying about us. About you. I’m pissed. I’m pissed that he’s delusional and that he’s talking about our relationship as if he knows anything. I’m pissed that I can’t do anything to stop it.”

“It’s hard to stop something when we don’t know the source,” you explained.

“I know,” he nearly shouted. “But, maybe it would help if you didn’t egg it on so much.”

You pulled back at his words, caught completely off-guard by the fact that he was basically accusing you of leading this guy on. As if all of this was somehow your fault as well. It wasn’t like you were ever replying to the things you were reading. It wasn’t like you had known that the guy knew where you lived and had basically invited him into your house. The only time you had even had any type of communication with him was when you had gotten upset over the photo that was sent to you. Even that exchange had been short.

Now, you were angry. You were angry that Rob could dare to blame you to any extent. You were angry that this was happening at all.

“Are you saying this is my fault?” You asked.

“No, of course not,” he said softly, now choosing his words carefully. “Look, I’m just having a hard time dealing with this.”

There it was. The verbal confirmation that this was weighing on him even more than you had thought it was. It wasn’t fair to him. He had been so patient, so caring with you during everything; but even he could only handle so much of this. Knowing that he really hadn't meant it, or least hadn’t meant for it to sound as if he were blaming you, it didn’t change the fact that you were now upset.

“You’re having a hard time?” You asked in surprise, wondering if he had completely forgotten what you had been going through.

“I just can’t stand to see you so paranoid all the time.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to inconvenience you.”

“Stop it, that’s not what I mean…”

“Let me talk to the guy,” you said sarcastically. “Maybe he’ll stop threatening me and breaking into my place if I just have a sit down with him.”

“Y/N…”

“Oh, nevermind, I can’t do that because I have no idea who my stalker even is!” You shouted as you stood up from the bed now. You could feel yourself getting heated, angrier than usual. “Forgive me if I’m ‘paranoid’ all the time. I’ll try to be less paranoid about the fact that someone is stalking me if it makes things easier for you.”

“Stop it…” he muttered.

“You know, this would probably be so much easier on everyone if I just dealt with it alone.”

“What?”

“You obviously can’t handle it. Our friends can’t handle it. I can barely handle it. I don’t blame you for not being able to, but maybe I just need to be alone.”

“What are you trying to say?”

His words were soft, quieter than they had been all night. It was as if he were asking the question, but hoping that you wouldn’t give him the answer. He seemed almost afraid of what that answer was.

“I need a break,” you said flatly, hating yourself for even saying it. The words themselves hurt and you didn’t want to say them at all. You didn’t want a break and you didn’t want to lose him, but your need to keep him safe outweighed your need to be with him at this point.

He stayed quiet for a moment, staring at you in disbelief. You remained calm and collected, knowing that this needed to be done at this point. You didn’t blame him for not being able to handle this, and maybe it would just be easier if you didn’t put him through it as well.

“Are you breaking up with me?” He asked finally, words choked as they came out.

“Yes,” you replied hesitantly. “I thought that we were doing the right thing. I thought we were it for each other. We’re clearly not though. All we’ve done through this relationship is argue and worry about each other.”

“It’s just the situation, Y/N-”

“A situation that isn’t changing. I don’t want to go on like this. I don’t want to resent you and I certainly don’t want you to resent me any more than you already do.”

“Y/N-” he started, looking confused now.

“I’m just- done,” you sighed. “I never meant to drag you into this in the first place, and I refuse to keep you in this situation.”

“I-I didn’t mean what I said,” he stuttered. “I was just frustrated and I’m sorry I took it out on you.”

You saw the tears well up in his eyes and you looked away from him, knowing that you would break if you had to see him upset.

“Then let’s just stop taking our frustrations out on each other,” you responded. “I’m walking away before I ruin us completely.”

“We’re not ruined…”

He stood up and made a move toward you, but you took a step back, letting him know that he shouldn’t approach you. It felt like an awful thing to do, and you felt sick even having this conversation with him. But you were convinced that it needed to be done.

“Aren’t we? When was the last time we actually went out together? When was the last time we had a conversation that didn’t revolve around the fact that I have a stalker? We’ve been ruined, Rob. I’m tired of being in a relationship where I’m just a burden.”

“I don’t think of you like that,” he said desperately. “Please don’t think that I ever think of you as a burden.”

“I am though. And I’m not happy anymore, Rob. I know you’re not either.”

He glanced down, no longer arguing with what you knew was a fact. All of this had gotten in the way of your happiness together, and it had finally taken its toll on your relationship. You knew that the two of you could get through this eventually. You really truly loved him and you never doubted his love for you for a second. At this point though, maybe it was better to just walk away if only to release him from the situation. He of all people didn’t deserve any of this.

“It’s just the situation,” he reiterated as he looked back up at you.

Those blue eyes stared into your own, almost pleading with you as he realized what you were doing right now.

“I don’t know,” you said as you let out a forced laugh. “If we can’t even deal with this together, maybe we just weren’t meant to be together.”

“We are dealing with it together,” he said, his voice raising as he attempted another step toward you. “I’m trying.”

You stepped back again, stopping him in his tracks.

“You shouldn’t have to,” you replied. “You know, you were right… this is a lot for me to deal with, I shouldn’t expect you to have to deal with it as well. It would really just be better for everyone if I was just alone.”

“Y/N…” he breathed out, taking another step toward you.

He looked almost desperate, tears finally falling down his cheek as his eyes pleaded with you.

You wanted to take it all back. You really didn't mean any of it. Just before you could though, you reminded yourself of all the horrible things this guy ad been saying about Rob, all of the vague threats, and mostly; the message that Rob had received during the last convention. The message that freaked him out enough to force you to stay with someone other than him at night. The message that he flat out refused to even tell you what it said.

You had come to terms with the fact that you were definitely probably not safe. But you couldn’t continue to have Rob be a part of something that could be unsafe for him as well.

This was best for everyone, even if your heart told you otherwise.

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[estrangedaframian]

Ninety-Nine Percent Better

Pairing: Castiel x Reader

Word Count: 1,589

Summary: While hunting for a Whisper (aka were-pire) with Castiel, Reader must contend with their social anxiety. Fluff and mixed-feelings ensue.

Prompt/Request: Castel x Reader with Social Anxiety by @fandomsthatkandiceloves

Rated: PG. Mild language, mentions of violence.

A/N: This marks my first-ever ‘reader x’ story, so please let me hear your thoughts. I tried to keep the reader as inclusive as I could, while still providing a bit of a lovey edge to her/him. That said, the love can be perceived as either romantic, or non-romantic. Whichever you like best, or feel... Great for boils and ghouls of all ages! (The use of Y/N has been replaced with a double-underscore.)

~ Enjoy!

(gif credit on watermark)

You were a hunter who preferred staying indoors, and that made you a walking, stalking— shooting— paradox.

Castiel, as it happened, was a paradox of biblical proportions. And so naturally, you two got along swimmingly. You liked the Winchesters well enough, but they were also bleak in that very human way— though if it hadn’t been for their flanneled hospitality, you wouldn’t be here, after all— maybe alive, maybe dead— but certainly not in a bunker in Lebanon, Kansas, sitting comfortably as an honourary person of letters in the vein of Henry Winchester and Josie Sands…

Your buddy Cas, on the other hand— despite his Neo-Noir good looks and according hint of aftershave— was never truly apart from his Precious Moments milieu. The Angel was at once the essence of everything you felt was missing in humanity; as well as the too few parts you loved about it.

As the harvest sun settled, a cornucopia of cumulus hanging low, the muddy earth gripping the soles of your boots— the supply store came into view. The storefront was brick, capped off by a bright red awning, an inexpensive vinyl-like material printed with bold black lettering: WE SELL AMMO.

Your partner for this particular hunting trip was none other than Castiel. He wore one of the same number of coat-and-tie combinations he always did, but something about the sky and him on this evening… You couldn’t describe it, but it appealed to you. He appealed to you. Much so. That kindness, that raw power. The manner in which the wind tousled his humble haircut, teasing his put-on-backwards tie to the point where it flapped like a lame-winged bird, and how he almost seemed to be the causal force of such wacky yet refined weather.

His proximity to you was meticulous, one step behind you—two or three, if you got excitable— and his feet made no more disturbance over the crisp forest floor than a squirrel’s paws might have. Less perhaps, for Castiel wasn’t the least bit squirrelly.

“There,” he spoke, his voice hushed, almost hallow, and he placed a hand on your shoulder, pointing you in the direction of the store.

“… That place? What about it, Cas?” The present and ongoing pursuit of a ‘Whisper’ wanted you to be tense, but you couldn’t be; not while God’s grace disguised as a private dick was THIS close to you.

Generally, Castiel’s expression remained unchanged from that of saccharine and matter of fact, but as his ocular oceans sank down to his shotgun’s empty barrel, you knew he was feeling heavy-hearted about something or other.

“I’m out… and I know you are, too.” Intense light poured from a sliver in the Angel’s wounded cheek— slashed early on in the hunt by the elusive ‘were-pire’ which was your prey of the hour, as it were. Watching your back, he simply had not the time nor strength enough to fix it. “Speak not of your condition, __.” Cas raised his hand from your shoulder (you were amazed at how long he let it linger there), and began rummaging in his coat’s inner pockets. “I saw it in your heart— ”

Your breath hitched in your chest as he spoke— interrupting his serene, severe thought process— your aforementioned organ thumping inside you to the beat of an ill-tuned drum. For his sake, you mostly kept your composure.

“Wait. What do you mean? You lost me, buddy,” you said, your attention torn between Castiel and the ominous dead-end surplus in the foreground of where you and Cas both stood by quietly.

“Social anxiety.” He blinked, completely non-judgmental, his face awash with all the caring and stone of a Churchyard. This face— Castiel’s face— would be the death of you, you thought, struck again with the duality of the earth Angel you cherished above all others— Angel, and non.

You wanted to speak, wanted to explain yourself.

“You thought I was going to ask you to go into there… I was,” he confessed plainly. “With my vessel as it is, I thought our ‘luck’ at getting what we need approximately ninety-nine percent better at your behest.”

Forever befuddled, you allowed yourself to slump to the ground in an exhausted, marginally comfortable, sitting position. Castiel followed suit, assuming a gargoyle crouch at your side.

“I can’t lie to you, Cas— Yeah, the place rubs me the wrong way. Same as every public place does, except this one has the element of cobwebs and surprise! Has anyone even been inside there in the last…  decade? Doctor Doom could be our cashier, for Christ’s sake!” Sorry, Lord’s name in vain. You grimaced out your apology, but Cas made no acknowledgement of either your slur or your sorrow.

In a manner he was as perplexed by your nature as you by his; he was hung up on your reference to comic villainy and improbable passages of time. You were a fool in the grand scheme of things, but you were his fool to protect.

Cas was now sitting alongside you, his transfigured legs stretched out in a sequence similar to your own. When did this happen? It seemed, as usual, his segueing was too fast for your human eye to conceive, and you cursed yourself for always missing out on strange little moments like these.

“If… Doom were the cashier,” Cas started slowly, way too deep into postulation, “that would be fortunate, wouldn’t it? The man wears much silver… We could fell him where he counts the change, and melt down his armour, and fashion it into new silver bullets.” He stared at you, his steely gaze fishing for a battle plan, his pink mouth not bent to any one emotion. It reminded you how helpless he was, all things considered.

Leaning, you pressed a tragic-hero type kiss to his brilliant wound, half imagining that your true love would seal it up ‘magically’. Alas, the blinding grace continued to shine from within Castiel’s cheek, and you still felt like shit thinking of how you would approach the employee lurking behind the blazing OPEN sign beyond.

“No matter,” Cas resumed, “I’ve thought of something. My angel blade— we shall pawn it for ammunition. Silver blades, in any case.” Belatedly, he raised an eyebrow in response to your PDA, but said nothing of it.

You sprang to your feet in protest. “No way!” Crap. Looking around, you lowered your voice. “I can’t let you do that over my stupid anx… What, Angel blades don’t work on Whispers?” You groaned, prompting Castiel to rise and subsequently embrace you. It was, in reality, his idiosyncratically tight grip on your arm, a silent ‘Get yourself together, man’. But you would gladly accept it as a hug.

“—They don’t. And it’s like you said, no one comes here. We can return for the Angel blade later,” Cas assured you. “I wouldn’t dream of letting it lie around for long. In the wrong hands… it’s suicide.”

“You’re really insisting, aren’t you? Well, at least let me put something over your grace… ” With several layers to spare, you reached for your thinnest shirt, and with a healthy tug— you tore off a portion of cloth. In a jiff, you fixed the makeshift bandage around Castiel’s head, taking advantage (inconspicuously if not innocently) of the chance to feel up his stubble and jawline. When you were through, the Angel looked passably pathetic— a regular ol’ guy after a regular ol’ hunting accident.

“There. Good as old!” Beaming, you admired your work. You didn’t even mind that Castiel forgot to laugh at your funny.

“Thank you… I won’t be long.” He handed you his everyday knife, hoping it would give you at least a little extra protection while he left you unattended. “We should continue down that way,” Castiel flagged the southwest of the store’s exterior, proceeding towards the entrance. “Wish me luck?”

“I love you, Cas.”

That’s when the door chimed. A moment later, you thought you could hear a peaceable back-and-forth between Castiel and the mystery worker, but perhaps that was the former’s powers putting your mind at rest. You wouldn’t know until he emerged— an arm through a thanks for shopping plastic bag heavy with goods, and the other arm wielding his angel blade.

“The cashier wasn’t Doctor Doom… ” Castiel informed you, as the both of you (now a kosher distance from the eerie place of business), continued walking. “He was a Whisper. THE Whisper.”

“WHAT? Why didn’t you shout, or send Angel... signals… or something?!” It was concern forming your words. That, and being bummed out at losing another shot at proving you could defend your star-crossed constant companion (that’s what you wished he was, anyways— your constant companion). “How did you… know?” He’d told you all the details before, but you’d never seen one in person. And though you got the gist of hybrids, the specs. were still very much above your understanding.

“He asked me when’s the solar eclipse,” Cas explained.

“And you killed him? Jesus!” Whoops. “Lots of people are interested in eclipses, and it doesn’t mean they’re a were-pire!” Dammit, Dean had all but drilled that title into your skull. “It’s probably the only thing someone like him— being someone from around nowhere— has going for him.”

“I told him it was today, and then he attacked me… ”

“Oh… Guess I owe you an apology. Sorry, Cas.”

“It’s tomorrow.”

*** END ***

[k-llama-llama]

Get It Down Perfect

Stray Kids AU: 10th member

Tori x Stray Kids

Combining two requests: Tori and Jisung bonding and boys reactions to Tori being hit by a choreographer. Thanks to the anons who requested!

Requests are OPEN :Send in your requests for reactions and scenarios and imagines involving Tori and the boys from Stray Kids!

And let me know what you thought of this one!

MASTERLIST

Tori was exhausted.

They’d been at the studio since 8am that morning, practicing with the new choreographer that JYP had hired. He (she’d forgotten his name very quickly) was trying to teach them choreography to an instrumental piece, to allow them to focus on generating more power in their performances.

Tori was beyond exhausted.

She was a contemporary dancer. She’d struggled enough with the dances for I Am Not, because they were all so forceful, but this was beyond difficult. Despite all the progress she’d made since she started at JYP, she was nowhere near the level she needed to be for this dance. All of the boys were getting it, and considering the sun was starting to set, she was beginning to wonder if she ever would.

“Five...six....seven...eight!” The choreographer clapped along as they danced. Tori knew the moves. She just wasn’t doing them right.

“Tori!” The choreographer shouted, bringing the music to a halt. She braced her hands on her knees and looked up as he walked over. “Why are you not getting this?” He demanded.

She stood up, though he still seemed to tower over her. “I’m trying. I just need a bit more practice.

He groaned, but it sounded like a growl to her ears. “You need to push yourself from move to move, not flow. It’s like you don’t know how to dance with purpose.”

She nodded. “I know, I’m working on it.”

He seemed to clench his jaw. “The rest of you can go home. We’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow.”

The boys headed over to their bags, most of them shooting concerned looks at Tori. She shook her head and waved them off. She needed the extra practice time.

“Want me to wait for you, Tori? Walk you home?” Hyunjin offered.

“I’m staying.” Jisung said, tossing his water bottle back down and heading back to position. “I feel like I want to run it through a bit more.”

“Okay, great.” The boys headed out the door, waving goodbye as it closed behind them.

Tori took her place in front of the choreographer. He was some big shot who had worked with huge groups in the past, and he was practically dripping in money. His sweatpants were definitely designer, and he was wearing a multitude of gold rings and chains. Jisung was a few steps behind her, standing where he would if Felix was still there. It was good to practice their formations as well as the basic choreo.

“Ready?” The choreographer asked. “Get this right. We’ve been here all day, I want to get out of here.”

Tori looked guiltily at the ground, before quickly taking her position for the start of the music.

The second it started, she knew it wasn’t going to go well. She could feel that the way she moved was too fluid, not robotic enough. She could actually hear him groan as she danced, but she kept going. The very least she could do was show that she knew the moves. She couldn’t really see Jisung from their position, but every once in a while she caught him out of the corner of her eye, doing the moves perfectly of course.

When the music stopped, she pretended to take her ending position, where she’d normally be standing with one arm thrown over Seungmin’s shoulder. Jisung ended a few feet from her, crouched down with arms crossed in front of him.

The choreographer kicked the stereo to shut off the music, and Tori flinched, but held her position. He’d snapped at them earlier for breaking before he’d called it, so she knew to stay still.

“What was that?” He demanded.

She lowered her arms down to her side. “I know, it wasn’t perfect. But I know all the moves now, I just need to work on my style.” She insisted. She absolutely couldn’t disappoint JYP or any of his choreographers.

Her face whipped to the side as he smacked her. It took her a second to realize what had just happened as she shakily raised a hand to her mouth.

“I’m done.” He snapped. “And when I’m back tomorrow, you better get yourself together.” He stormed out of the room, leaving Tori there holding her face.

“Oh my god, what just happened!” Tori barely even registered as Jisung stood in front of her. “Why the hell did he do that?”

“I...I messed up the choreo.” She winced. Her mouth really hurt.

Jisung’s hands hovered around her face. “Yeah, but that doesn’t give him an excuse to hit you. What a....crap you’re bleeding.” Tori looked at her hand, to see it covered in blood.

“From where?” She asked, still slightly dazed.

“From your lip...here.” He grabbed a kleenex from his bag and held it up to her lip. It hurt like a bitch. “Jeez, there’s literally a handprint on your face.”

At that Tori looked up. “Don’t tell anyone.”

He took a step back. “What? That pyscho just smacked you. He’s getting fired.”

Jisung wasn’t normally this attentive to anything regarding Tori, and while she did wish that she could bask in it a bit, she still shook her head. “He’s an important choreographer. I don’t want to ruin this for anyone. No one needs to know.” She insisted.

He gestured to her face. “You have his handprint on your cheek and one of this rings cut your lip. I think the boys are going to notice.”

She shook her head frantically, ignoring how it caused her face to ache. “If I hide it until tomorrow, it might settle into bruises, and then I can just say that I fell. Please, Jisung, help me.”

Maybe it was how desperate she sounded, or maybe it was the face that he couldn’t say no to the girl with the bleeding face, but he relented. “Fine. But if they find out, I’m not backing you up.”

“That’s okay!” An victory was a victory, no matter how small.

They grabbed their bags and headed out of the studio. By the time they’d reached their apartment, her face had stopped bleeding and she tossed the bloody kleenex in the garbage. They headed up, unlocking the door and slipping inside.

“You distract them,” She whispered. “I’m going to my room.”

He looked reluctant, but nodded and leaned into the living room. “Hey guys, what are you watching?”

“Walking Dead.” Chan said. “Is Tori with you?”

She paused in her sneaking, looking back to hear Jisung say. “Yeah, I think she was going to shower.” She shot him a thumbs up and tiptoed to her room.

She closed the door behind her and sat carefully on her bed. Her face really hurt, and now the shock was starting to hit her. She’d been hit by someone. Someone had actually hit her in the face.

She supposed it was partially her fault. If she could’ve just got the choreo down perfect, he wouldn’t have been so tired and angry.

“Hey Tori, have you seen my....” Jeongin walked into their room, stopping dead when he saw her sitting on the bed. His gaze was trained on her face. “What happened?” He gasped.

She shook her head. “Jeongin...don’t...please don’t.” But it was too late.

“Tori’s bleeding!” He shouted.

“What!” She heard Hyunjin shout from the living room.

“Crap.” She muttered as their footsteps approached. 

Tell me your thoughts and if you want to see a Part 2!!!

[xiobomb]

Okitay folks, here it is! This may or may not be the final design but here's my hero oc/herosona(?). A while back, I decided that I needed to make my character more original where he was previously basically Spider-Man. Although I personally would have no problem being Spider-Man, I felt that it was time to make him more of a legitimately original character. There are still a few things about him that have yet to be finalized like his name and backstory but otherwise, he's basically finished. I did however, come to a final decision on his new powers. I'm kinda big on flying, telekinesis, and super strength so I tried to find a power that would be a sort of culmination of those three. I believe I found that in the form of Aura Manipulation. I did some tweaking to the power to make it work so there is the link if you're interested in learning about the original power but for my character, this is what the power is. Power: Aura Manipulation Abilities: - Aura Projection and Manipulation - This ability allows the user to create or project a visible aura and manipulate its shape, form, density, and strength. It allows the user to grab any amount or type of mass with their aura and manipulate its location, crush it, or tear it apart depending on the strength of the user. It can be used to grant the user limited flight, create a barrier, or be used like telekinesis. - Aura Absorption - This ability allows the user to absorb someone or somethings aura in order to either read or take away their emotions. This ability is more empathetic than it is telepathic where it can be used to help determine an individual's next intended course of action or current state of mind based on their emotions in most situations. - Aura Infusion - This ability allows the user to infuse ones aura into someone or something in order to influence their emotions. This ability can only be used on those vulnerable to emotional influence like mentally weak individuals or animals. This ability enables the user to influence an individual or being to feel a certain way and possibly take a desired course of action. It directly ties into the users mental state and is only as powerful as the users will and emotions. - Self Enhancement - This ability allows the user to enhance their physical form, fitness, and abilities with their aura. It allows the user to enhance their body to peak human condition or higher thus giving them the upperhand in combat and other situations. This ability can increase the users strength, durability, toughness, stamina, and endurance but is not limited to these things. - Aura Mimicry - This ability allows the user to mimic someone or something elses aura and abilities. It allows the user to mimic someone's personality, physical condition, and abilities. However, this power does not allow the user to mimic another individuals superhuman abilities like invisibility or acid spit for example. - Bleeding Aura - This ability allows the user to continue using their powers even though their body and mind is already over taxed and weak. This ability embodies the concept of powers working like a muscle where they can only be used for so long before the user runs out of energy and strength. This ability would be used only when the user absolutely has to because it can damage the users mind and body if used for an extended period of time. So long story short, he can use this power like telekinesis, influence and read emotions, and he can pull a Taskmaster. I'm actually really happy with this because it really gives him room to be a bamf on his own terms. As for his gear, his helmet is capable of having a digital display linked with his powers for a very special reason. So you know spider-sense in the recent Spider-Man games and how when you use it, you can see where things are through walls and crap like that? Yeah, that. Shaboi Red can send out a sort of pulse that will scan the environment and allow him to know what's going on and where everything is. With the gear in his helmet, he has a digital display of that and can actually see where everything is. Additionally, his escrima sticks there are both collapsible for storage in the holsters on his back and capable of connecting at the hilts to form a makeshift bow staff. And no I totally did not get that idea from DareDevil's billy clubs. Absolutely not. Ok, yeah I did. And one more thing his suit has is a hidden harness within his suit. This gives him a smaller surface area to grab hold of on his person to allow him to fly with minimal power usage. Finally, we have his combat style. In real life, I'm currently part of a boxing club, I was part of a wrestling team during my high school years, and I occasionally dabble in parkour tricks whenever I'm bored and have nothing to do for an extended period of time. It's not like I'm capable of a crazy amount of things but I do try. Anyways, with all that combined, I imagine that my fighting style would rely on brute force, quick blows, and takedowns. The reason I say "imagine" is because I've only ever been in one actual fight in my entire life (not including sports) and that was before boxing and wrestling so there's not a whole lot I can take from that. Regardless, I've also found that I tend to take blows and work through it, typically ignoring my pain therefore, for my character that translates to him doing the same. He might often risk his physical condition or allow himself to take some blows or hits because he 1) knows he can take it and 2) is about to land a good blow on his opponent. Additionally, some knowledge/experience that I can pull from wrestling is that I tend to fall back on muscle memory and what I know I know how to do if that makes sense. I'm not too adventurous with my actions in combat situations so I imagine my character would probably train hard with his technique, skills, and abilities to be absolutely sure he can function in the field. As for his escrima sticks, That is something he just sorta picked up. He's not amazing with them at first but he'll learn himself some martial arts to make it work for him. The reason he has the escrima sticks is a sort of preventionary thing where he doesn't want to solely rely on his powers in combat so he uses the escrima sticks instead of his powers. He can uses them as a range weapon as well. Think Captain America's shield except there's an actual explanation for how the escrima sticks always return to Red (because he pulls them back to him with his powers). One more thing, his utility belt. I really doubt I'd often find a reason to have a utility belt just because I don't like toting around a bunch of extra stuff I may or may not end up using in the field. I honestly just have it their for design sake and so that mah bro will have the option to carry something if a mission requires it. He's not Batman but he's also not going in unprepared. Alternate mask ideas: Mask and Cowl I think that about sums it up for what I have now. I hope you guys like it! Thanks for looking!

[razieltwelve]

Clash of the Titans (Final Nexus)

Pilot Diana glanced into the monitor displaying the auxiliary life support unit. “Are you guys all buckled in? Because if you’re not, you’ve got about ten seconds before this ride gets really bumpy.”

Marshal Lightning nodded as she pulled a communications console/monitor over to her harness. “Can you pass on some information about your weapons systems? I’d like to help.”

On the other side of the chamber, Killer Lightning smiled. “I would also like to -”

“No.” Final Averia’s eyes narrowed. “Do not give her anything.”

Killer Lightning sighed melodramatically. “Such little trust. I understand that in another universe, you would be my daughter.”

“And I understand that in your universe, you are a criminal.” Final Averia glared. “Don’t think I missed the marks on your wrists. You’ve spent a lot of time in handcuffs or other restraints.”

The killer smiled. “Oh, I like you. Not many people notice things like that.”

“Anyway,” Pilot Diana said. “Brace yourselves. We’re about to go into battle.”

X     X     X

Guardian Alpha was the greatest Eidolon ever built. It feature far more powerful and more advanced weapons that any other Eidolon, and it had the highest power:weight ration in history. It weighed two and a half thousand tonnes, but that extra weight wasn’t just there for show. It could tear a Category VII fal’Cie apart with its bare hands, and its weapons array was enough to engage multiple Category VII’s and win before they could even close in for melee combat.

It was, without a doubt, the pinnacle of its world’s engineering, the world’s instrument of vengeance against the monsters that had plagued them for so long.

But today, it was up against something far larger than itself.

“Diana,” Pilot Averia said. “Can we get any scans on that thing?”

“Give me a second…” Diana’s eyes widened. “Estimated weight is one hundred thousand tonnes. There’s no way it’s actually using its wings to fly. I’m picking up a host of energy anomalies and massive gravitational distortions to boot.”

Claire smirked. “Light it up?”

Averia nodded. “Diana… light it up.”

Guardian Alpha’s shoulder plates unfolded to release its two gigantic shoulder-mounted plasma cannons. Each of them had output that dwarfed the plasma cannons once wielded by the Mark IIIs of the original Odin’s generation more than a hundred fold. At the same time, Guardian Alpha’s fists transformed, revealing an additional pair of electromagnetic discharge cannons - essentially, lightning guns.

“Fire when ready,” Averia said.

“Commencing fire!” Diana cried. “Let’s see how it likes this.”

What followed was an ear splitting roar as both lightning cannons fired, the thunder created so loud that the sheer force of it actually shoved the massive Eidolon back half a step. On its shoulders, its plasma cannons unleashed bolts of brilliant plasma, each strong enough to completely immolate the chest cavity of a Category VII fal’Cie.

The attacks struck the monstrous shape in the sky with terrible force. The clouds tore, and the sky was suddenly too bright to look at. Yet when the light faded, the creature was barely damaged at all. The wounds it had suffered already beginning to heal as its twisted, amorphous shape began to extrude tentacles, claws, and teeth.

“Well, damn.” Diana’s eyes narrowed. “That thing sure can take a beating and it looks like it’s -”

Her words were cut off as Claire and Averia moved together, hurling the Eidolon out of the path of a dozen tentacles that lanced out of the creature’s body and dug deep into the desert sand. The tentacles lashed out to the side, barbs, blades, and other additions forming as the creature turned dozens of eyes toward them.

“Keep firing!” Claire shouted. “Aim for the eyes!”

“I know!” Diana shouted back. “I know!”

Averia split her attention between the tentacles and the rest of the creature’s body. It was why she had the time to yell a warning. “Watch out! Incoming!”

The creature suddenly fired a volley of shadowy spores. The Eidolon tumbled out of the way. The spores struck the desert and immediately began to eat away at the sand, dissolving it into pure nothingness.

“Okay… we can’t get hit by those,” Diana said. She was firing as quickly as the Eidolon’s position would allow, but none of their shots seemed to be doing sufficient damage. “How about we try cutting those off?”

“Right.” Averia clenched her fist. “Engage Dragon Claws.” The machine’s right fist transformed back into its fist form, and a long blade extended from its wrist. As the next tentacle rushed toward them, they pivoted away from it and swung their right arm out. The tentacle came lose, black blood spewing everywhere, and they turned to fire another bolt of lightning at the closest eye.

“I think it felt that,” Claire said as the creature hissed and wailed. “Keep cutting those off!”

X     X     X

Divine Diana and Gary watched the battle with a growing sense of admiration.

“That giant automaton isn’t half bad,” Diana said. “But we can’t let them have all the fun.” She raised her sword. “Aim for the tentacles, Gary. I’ll aim for the main body.”

The raccoon rushed through the air, his trumpet playing a wild, discordant rhythm of cutting winds and tearing gales. Diana, meanwhile, gathered her divine energy. She’d seen firsthand that the attacks of the machine, while powerful, weren’t enough to truly injure the beast. It simply regenerated too fast. What she needed was something big… so big it couldn’t just shrug off the blow.

As the winds around her sword intensified, she crafted the image of her attack in her mind. She imagined a hurricane condensed into a single blade as thin as a hair and sharper than anything in Creation. This thing might be regenerating, but how would it handle being cut in half.

With a grunt of exertion, Diana swung her sword. The Sword of Cutting Winds didn’t have as grandiose a name as some of the other weapons she could summon, but it was very, very good at what it did. And what it did was cut things. Combined with the way she’d shaped her divine power, well, she couldn’t let those mortals outdo her, now could she?

“Take this!” she shouted. “You might be tough, but I could cut the moon in half with this attack!”

X     X     X

“Massive energy spike!” Pilot Diana shouted.

“What?” Averia cried. “Where?”

“It’s… oh crap! Move!”

Averia looked up. Whatever the ‘goddess’ version of Diana had done, it had cut the creature in half. Unbelievable. That thing weighed a hundred thousand tonnes, and she’d just cut it in half. It was already trying to heal, but it didn’t look like it could fly and put itself back together at the same time.

“Go!” Marshal Lightning’s voice came over the speaker. “Run due west now! That’s the quickest way out from under it. Move!”

That was all the incentive they needed. The massive Eidolon broke into a sprint, and the trio pushed themselves to the limit as the titanic creature thundered into the ground, an earthquake shaking the whole area as it landed. They just barely managed to get clear, throwing themselves into a dive at the last moment.

“There’s a spot on its back,” Marshal Lightning continued. “Can you see it? I saw it through one of the rear-facing cameras when you dove. There appears to be a distortion there.”

“That’s its centre,” Divine Diana shouted, her voice somehow audible through the communication system. “I’ve seen something similar in the enemies the gods in my world fight. It’s like… think of it as a pocket dimension. Most of its mass is hidden there, which is why it can heal so easily. If we rupture that, it will die… and probably explode.”

“Well, damn,” Pilot Diana said. “Let’s get to work.”

The Eidolon leapt onto the creature’s back, hacking and firing with mad abandon as it tried to reach the creature’s core. At the same time Divine Diana and Gary swooped through the air in a bid to strike at the creature’s core with the same attacks they’d used so effectively before. However, the creature was not about to make it easy. Thousands of tentacles ripped out of its back. They lashed out in a frenzy, knocking the Eidolon back and forcing Divine Diana and Gary to retreat.

“This is stupid.” Final Averia spoke over the communication system. “Can you open the emergency door? I’m going out there to help.”

“What are you going to do?” Pilot Averia shot back. “Transform into a god or something? This isn’t a battle a normal person can fight.”

Final Averia smirked. It was Fang’s smirk. “Or something. Just open the door.”

X     X     X

Final Averia waited until she’d climbed onto the exterior of the giant robot before she activated her Semblance. She skipped straight to the second level of Saviour. Anything less wouldn’t cut. Immediately, information flooded into her mind. Even at this level a version of flight was available, but there was a faster way to reach her target.

[Calculating optimal path… tentacle motion accounted for… optimal path projection…]

Averia leapt, crossing more than a hundred yards in a heartbeat. In a single fluid motion, she summoned a crystal blade, sliced a tentacle in half and then rode the motion it made in its agony to throw herself further forward.

“Damn…” Pilot Diana muttered. “Apparently, you’re a magical girl in another dimension, sis.”

“What?” Pilot Averia squawked. “She is obviously not a magical girl. Magical girls don’t wear armour and swing swords around.”

“She’s totally a magical girl,” Pilot Claire agreed. “But look at her go.”

Slicing through tentacle after tentacle and using their flailing to catapult herself forward, Final Averia was advancing toward the core at incredible speed. Seeing her on the move, both Divine Diana and Gary swooped in to help clear a path.

[Accounting for allies…] Saviour had already begun to develop detailed analyses of the others. [Projected path now 25% shorter]

Final Averia leapt one last time. The core was there ahead of her, a large sphere of distorted flesh that was roughly fifty yards in diameter. Saviour’s senses were screaming at her to be careful.

[Massive dimensional anomaly detected]

[Apparent size and mass inaccurate]

[True mass estimated at ten million tonnes]

[True size estimated as sphere with radius one hundred kilometres]

Averia frowned. Was cutting it even possible. 

[Current power insufficient to breach outer shell.]

[Physical force unlikely to breach outer shell]

[Weapon capable of moderate reality manipulation required]

[Recommend escalating to third level]

Averia grimaced. The third level? She could use it, but she couldn’t afford to rely on it too heavily, not when she didn’t know how many more of these things she would have to face. 

Her crystal and metal armour darkened and then shattered to reveal the ominous red and black tones of the third level of Saviour. Power flooded through her veins, and her perception of the world sharpened even further. With her heightened perception, she could now detect the smallest of flaws along the top of the core.

She gestured, and she soared upward, a series of gravity manipulations pushing and pulling her along until she was over the flaw.

“Cover me!” she shouted.

“Got it!” Divine Diana shouted back as she and Gary flanked Final Averia. Tentacles closed in from all sides, but the pair fought with iron determination to hold them back. As for the Eidolon, the gigantic robot had caught on to what was happening, and the trio piloting were doing their best to keep as many tentacles occupied as possible. 

Final Averia twisted in midair and then dove. Her blade clattered into the edge of the sphere, and she gave a cry of disbelief as the structure actually held for an instant. Unbelievable. This blade could cut through any normal material substance with ease. Even spatial and temporal distortions would be badly damaged by it. Finally, the surface of the core began to crack.

“Need a bit more…” Final Averia’s jaw clenched as she called on more of Saviour’s power. The crack widened, and she was suddenly tumbling backward, hurled away by an outpouring of energy. “The core is breached!” she yelled. “You need to tear it all the way open.”

“Understood!” Pilot Averia barked back. “Move!”

The Eidolon thundered forward, its massive bulk stomping over the creature’s body as it drove its hands into the crack in the core. Countless servos and gears creaked as the titanic machine strained itself to the limits of its ability. Slowly, bit by bit, the crack began to widen as they tore the core open.

“Gary!” Divine Diana shouted. “Come on, let’s help!”

The two added their attacks to the mix, hacking and slashing at the edges of the rip to widen it until, at last, with a sickening squelch, the Eidolon managed to force its arms as far apart as it could. Energy poured out of the gaping hole along with a vile, black deluge.

“Get clear!” Pilot Diana shouted. “I’m getting elevated energy readings! It’s going to explode!”

Divine Diana grabbed Gary and then dove to grab Final Averia. “I’ll get us out of here. Hold on!” She leapt flew onto the Eidolon’s shoulder and called on her power again. “All those times I practices transporting Bahamut are going to come in handy now. He’s even bigger than you guys!”

“Just get us out of here!” Marshal Lightning ordered.

X     X     X

“Well, isn’t that a pretty picture?” Killer Lightning drawled as she watched the massive column of inky darkness roar up toward the sky. The goddess had brought them more than two hundred miles in the blink of an eye, and the explosion still dominated the horizon. She walked over to Final Averia. “And that was a most admirable performance. Your power is… fascinating. Mind explaining it?”

Final Averia forced herself to straighten despite the tiredness she felt. “Not a chance.”

“Oh, how touchy.” Killer Lightning smiled sunnily. “Well, we’re all alive and our enemy is dead, but we still don’t know where we are. Anybody have any ideas?”

Divine Diana pointed. “We head that way. I think I can feel my mother’s power coming from that direction.”

Killer Lightning raised one eyebrow. “How strong is your mother?”

“Hmmm…” Divine Diana rubbed her chin. “Have you ever seen a piñata fight a dragon?”

They all stared at her. They’d seen what she could do.

“I’m the piñata. My mother is the dragon.”

“Well…” Killer Lightning said. “The more the merrier. I don’t plan on dying, so… let’s go meet your mother… who is, I suppose, another version of me.”

“Pretty much.” Divine Diana shrugged. “I could take us there, but that might not be a good idea.”

“What’s going on?” Marshal Lightning asked.

“I don’t know if you guys can sense it, but that thing was drawn to us by the power I was using. Based on how fast that machine of yours can walk, we should reach my mother in a couple of hours. It might be safer to just do that.”

“Right.” Pilot Averia nodded. “Hop aboard then. You should conserve your strength for battle. We can give all of you a lift.”

X     X     X

Final Averia = Final Rose Averia

Pilot Averia, Diana, and Claire = Eidolon Pilot Averia, Diana, and Claire

Marshal Lightning = The Vestige Lightning

Killer Lightning = Sound of Thudner (serial killer) Lightning

Divine Diana = Divine!AU Diana

Gary =  Divine Diana’s Herald (and favourite raccoon since she is, amongst other things, the goddess of raccoons)

[douchebagbrainwaves]

EVERY FOUNDER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WORK

Notice we started out talking about things, and that means that investor starts to lose deals. But the lawyers don't have to do is talk in this artificial way, and eventually you'll start a chain reaction. If you have any kind of creative work. Not the length in distinct syntactic elements—basically, the size of your investment till it's an amount you wouldn't care too much about losing. No one except the other founders gets to see the rehearsals. Why not? All your initial ideas get sucked out immediately, and you don't have to force yourself to do it for free, in their spare time, and the valuation of the company away from all the existing shareholders just as you did.

It's a general historical trend. We may be able to design the core language semantics. In fact, if you did a really good job, you could make a language that makes programmers do needless work. And through a combination of wishful thinking and short-term greed, the labels and studios could buy laws making the definition of property that doesn't work. They just try to notice quickly when something already is winning. So don't spend your precious few minutes talking about crap when you could be working on, you're not working on everything else. Not the length in distinct syntactic elements—basically, the size of the market you're in. There will be a tendency to push it back to their IPO in August 2004, but they did have to go to school to study A, drop out and get a sandwich without losing the code in his head. But it probably wouldn't start to work properly till about age 22, because most people were stupid.

There's an almost physical pain in facing them. And I admit that it is, if you took a random person off the street and somehow got them to work as hard as they possibly could at drawing for the next twenty years, they'd get surprisingly far. That's kind of hard to imagine. That's the absent-minded professor, who forgets to shave, or eat, or even still in it, and that I should be more careful about drawing conclusions based on what a few people think in our insular little Web 2. When you hear people talking about a successful angel investor, they're not saying He got a 4x liquidation preference. It was not always this way. Why is it so hard to discover what we like to work on dull stuff, it might be a good angel investor, they're not saying He got a 4x liquidation preference. You have to do is write checks.

Who cares, really, if it's 500 million or 5 billion a year? Honestly, no. What a recipe for generating a contemptuous initial reaction. Microsoft's anyway. So the smaller the number of imitations, a lot of the same things about Arc that they said at first about Viaweb and Y Combinator published online. My extra year of experience was rounding error compared to our ability to empathize with founders. Bottom-up programming means writing a program as a series of patches.

The startup world became more transparent and more unpredictable. Olin Shivers has grumbled eloquently about this. But there are things you can do all-encompassing redesigns. Work in long stretches. It causes you to work not on what you do enough that the concept of spare time seems mistaken. Or to put it more dramatically, ordinary programmers working in typical office conditions never enter this mode. Delivering solutions in an informal way means that instead of judging something by the way.

[imagine-loki]

fear and other related emotions

TITLE: Fear and Other Related Emotions

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter-20

AUTHOR: latent-thoughts ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine meeting Loki to interrogate him while he is incarcerated in the Helicarrier glass enclosure. He initially tries to scare you away but then becomes interested in you as you keep talking to him. RATING: NC-17/ MA NOTES/WARNINGS: Warning for explicit sexual situations and violence (combat/fighting/interrogations).

A/N: A lot of plot happening, along with a helping of feels. It’s not too bad, though. (Is it?)

________________________________________

Reva was sitting up in the bed, with her back resting against the extra fluffy pillows the medical staff had provided her with upon Stark’s insistence. There was a big high table right next to her, with essentials like water and medicines placed on it for her benefit. Beyond that, there were all kinds of monitoring machines, which were humming and beeping every now and then, keep a watch on her vitals, all through a non-invasive wireless device attached to her wrist.

From the looks of it all, it seemed that she still had Tony Stark’s favour, though he hadn’t said a word to her himself. With anyone else, she’d not have given it a second thought, but Stark not speaking to her at all… that had her on edge.

Of course, she knew that from his perspective, she was a traitor. She wondered just how many people shared that perspective with Stark, though. She knew, for certain, that Agent Barton did.

Well, from what she had heard of the Avengers’ conversation while they were in her room, at least Thor was on her and Loki’s side somehow.

Her and Loki… there was so much that she didn’t know, but she knew that her and Loki were still on the same side. Earlier, she hadn’t been so sure about it, but after the things she saw in Hel’s mind, she stood on a firmer ground regarding Loki. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still angry with him…

She sighed and tried to stretch her arms a bit, taking in a deep breath. It scared her to do so, considering how severe she knew her injury had been. Though, nothing really happened as she stretched herself a bit and took deep gulps of air into her lungs. The expected pain didn’t manifest at all. In fact, post waking up, she hadn’t felt any pain at all; not in her chest, not anywhere else. The only thing she felt was weakness.

All in all, she was faring much better than she knew she ought to, especially for someone who had been stabbed through her chest.

She had also gotten a look at her medical reports. Her vitals were… not what she’d call normal, and she was sure she knew why. Also, there was no mention of a pregnancy in the reports. She wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or just merely confused at that bit of information.

The door to her room opened, prompting her to cut her arm stretching midway.

Thor came rushing in, almost scaring her with the intense look on his face. He approached her straight up and took her hand in his massive one.

She could only gape and watch as he brought it to his lips and bestowed a light kiss on her knuckles. He clapped his other hand over it and squeezed hers, though not enough to crush it.

“I’m thrilled to have you as part of my family, Reva Anderson. Not just that, I’m very intrigued and fascinated as well, given how difficult my brother can be at times.”

Reva sputtered, trying to make sense of his words. He was acting as though she had gotten married to Loki. Honestly, the thought hadn’t crossed her mind at all until this very moment. And she wasn’t yet sure how she felt about it.

“I’m… glad, I guess?”

A muted snort caught her attention then, and she finally focused behind Thor’s mountainous form.

Loki stood at the foot of her bed, sans his armour, wearing a simple dark t-shirt and track pants. He looked paler than usual, with prominent dark circles below his eyes. Even his hair looked unkempt, draped around his shoulders in wild waves.

He wasn’t looking at her, keeping his eyes downcast. His clenched fists were the only sign of how utterly anxious he was.

She took in a slow breath, attempting to calm herself. Seeing him, especially after the crap she had been through, was, simply put, overwhelming.

Thor noticed her shift in focus, for he let go of her hand and moved away immediately, making way for Loki, she assumed.

“You look like shit,” she blurted out, as it suddenly dawned on her that she hadn’t seen him in this worse a condition, ever.

Loki looked up at her then, as Thor chuckled but remained silent.

As their gazes met, Reva felt an intense urge to leap towards him.

His eyes looked so haunted, so weary, that she nearly forgot how angry she had been with him.

“Well, he did resort to using his life force to revive you,” Thor said at last, as if he couldn’t help himself from speaking up, ignoring Loki as he fixed a glare at him. “And he fainted afterwards, much like certain overcome maidens in your Midgardian romances of the old.”

“What?” Reva wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry or to just scream… though, least of all at Thor’s interest in historical romance novels.

“He exaggerates,” Loki said through gritted teeth, never once unclenching his fists. Even his voice sounded tired as hell, making Reva wonder just how much it cost him to revive her.

“Oh, I do not exaggerate at all. After all, it was I who carried you all the way here.” Thor turned to Reva then, and his jovial expression sobered a bit. “I’ll be outside.”

Reva nodded, appreciating that he understood her unspoken need to speak to Loki alone.

“I’m not sure where to begin,” she said after Thor had left the room, shifting her gaze back on Loki, who was now trying to look everywhere but at her, “but you’re in a mess.”

His jaw flexed, and he seemed to struggle in finding the right words. “Oh, you don’t know half of it.”

“I may, in fact, know more than you do, you overbearing, arrogant asshole! I’ve had enough of your deceptions.” She was seething now. Her concern over his physical condition only added to her anger with him.

“Well, I am known for deceit,” he muttered, trying his typical tactic of sarcasm to counter whatever he was feeling. “But how do you know more than me, pray tell?”

“Because I had a tête-à-tête with your so-called daughter, and it wasn’t a pleasant one at all.” She wondered how much she could say about that conversation, since she was sure as hell that Stark and co. were listening.

Loki’s eyes immediately found hers, and he looked decidedly shaken. “What?”

“When were you planning to tell me about your own little encounter with her?”

Loki paled, and finally those fists unclenched. Though, now his hands were trembling. Looking up from his hands, she found him glaring at her. She couldn’t believe he had the audacity to be angry with her now.

“I’m so done with you, with all of this sneaky bullshit of yours! For once, Loki, just fucking tell me what the hell is goin—” She stopped midway through her rant as she saw his eyes losing focus. Then, his body hunched forward. “Loki? Loki!”

She threw the bedcovers off and tried to reach him quickly. Though, due to her weakness, it felt like her limbs were made of jelly.

Meanwhile, Loki had managed to not crumple to the floor by grabbing on to her bed.

“Loki, what the fuck,” she exclaimed, taken by surprise and dread as she tried to pull him up by his shoulders. He was really heavy, and she was still in recovery. It made for a bad combination in trying to do so.

It took a bit of shoving his ass sideways, with him helping along by lifting himself up for a bit, but at long last, she got him on the bed.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Thor told you,” he murmured, lying on his back, panting with the effort it took him to haul his body over. “I occasionally have bouts of weakness.”

Reva felt completely out of her depth here, as she watched the man she considered extremely resilient reduced to a mess of weak and trembling limbs on her bed.

“Loki, we need to talk… but first, freaking get yourself together.”

“I missed you too…” He managed a faint smile, but even that looked like an effort on his part.

“Shut up!” she growled, knocking his slippers off as she tried to get him to shift his tall frame fully on to the mattress. “Why do I feel like you’re in this condition for more reasons than merely saving me from certain death?”

“You’re welcome. It’s becoming our pattern, isn’t it?” He looked up at the ceiling, the haunted expression returning.

She shook her head. “Don’t try to change the topic.”

“I have told Thor, in a very summarized manner, and I’m willing to tell you.”

“Well, I’m pleased to know that.” She lay down as well, though she wondered if it was fine to just fall back into the easy familiarity she had come to share with Loki. After all that had happened, cuddling up with him felt… strange. So, she made sure to keep a bit of distance between her and him.

“It’s those stones. They’re leeching my seidr because I’m holding them in my interdimensional storage.”

“Pull them out then.”

He shook his head, letting out a derisive snort. “It’s not that easy, Reva. Your realm is already in much trouble, and if Ultron gets his hands on them, it’d be even worse off.”

“But how will you recover, then?”

“I don’t plan to keep them for long, but I need to keep them safe.”

She shifted on the bed, trying to dispel the urge to reach out and hold him. “I understand… but why is this depletion happening now? You always had them with you.”

He sighed, rubbing his face with his palms. “I’ve acquired another one. I wasn’t planning to, but it just… happened.”

“Hmm.” He wasn’t telling her the whole truth of it, but she couldn’t really blame him either. She was sure that with his magic depleted, he was unable to use it to block the spying devices in the room.

Pulling his hands away from his face, he met her eyes and gave her a rueful smile. “I am being honest, as you asked me to be.”

Now she sighed, feeling exhausted, both emotionally and physically. “It’s almost too late, you know. I almost died.”

“I saved you.”

“Thank you, honestly… but that’s not the point.”

He turned on his side slowly, facing her, his expression curious and something else… something she couldn’t put her finger on as yet.

“Did she threaten you?“

He meant Hel, that much she could decipher.

“She tried to.”

“Tell me.” He put his hand upon hers on the pillow, his fingers entwining with hers.

Her eyes narrowed, and she pulled her hand away. “Not until you tell me everything, Loki. I’m tired of the lies and hiding.”

His brows furrowed for a moment, as if he was trying to interpret her words for a deeper meaning, but then, his expression cleared and turned blank. “You weren’t so adamant when everything was going in your favour. When no one knew of your association with me.”

His tone was accusative and mistrusting, and she felt like smacking him for it. “Are you accusing me of being selfish now? Are you truly thinking that I’m this pissed off because of my reputation? Well yes, it does bother me that now many people here think that I’m a traitor, but that isn’t my priority right now!”

He bit his lip and looked away. It seemed like a million things were going through his head. All bad.

She was about to say that he was her priority right now, when the door opened with a bang, distracting her.

Thor rushed into the room, looking extremely harried and close to a meltdown. That put Reva on high alert, because Thor was hardly ever this affected by any stressful situation.

“Loki!”

“I’m fine.”

“I can clearly see that. But I didn’t barge into the room for that. There is another pressing matter.”

“What?”

Before Thor could utter anything else, Tony Stark’s voice boomed from the invisible speakers in the ceiling, replacing the usual monotone of Friday.

“Uh, guys, this is some next level shit right here.”

“What is going on?” Reva asked, looking at the brothers in confusion, who weren’t really looking well stocked with answers.

“There is a distinctly alien ship on my helipad but it’s blasting seventies’ songs and asking for permission to land. We haven’t a clue as to who this is, but one of them just mentioned Loki’s name.”

“What?”

“She calls herself Idunn of Asgard.”

Now, Loki’s expression changed from blank and glassy to panicked, while Thor’s eyebrows went up in obvious surprise.

“Did you say Idunn?” he asked, pronouncing the name slowly and clearly, for Stark’s benefit.

“Did I stutter?” replied Stark, sounding offended.

From the corner of her eye, Reva saw Loki cover his face with his hand, shaking his head.

———————————————

The room was crowded… crowded with an assortment of people. It was a diverse lot, to say the least.

There was a talking racoon, a moving tree (who only spoke three words), a knife wielding guy who looked hulk levels of angry all the time, a pair of blue and green sisters… not to mention the duo who had brought them all here—Loki’s Aesir friend and the ultra-tall blue guy with crimson eyes… who also happened to be her husband. They brought their six children with them too, who were still sleeping in their ship.

Oh, and there was a human among them as well, who smugly introduced himself as Star Lord, though his real name, as revealed by others, was Peter Quill.

The calm within the common room felt artificial, considering the weird circumstances. Well, at least the introductions had gone smoothly enough. Though, Reva did catch how Thor was watching Loki’s friend, Idunn, and her husband, Thjazi, with narrowed eyes, as if he wasn’t sure what to make of them. It wasn’t a hostile gaze, just cautious and confused.

Through it all, Loki was looking the prickliest of them all. Somehow, that didn’t surprise Reva at all.

She was sitting in a wheelchair, and so was he. While she had graciously accepted it, he had to be threatened into sitting in one by Thor, who was now hovering right behind them, Mjolnir in hand.

Tony Stark spoke up first, clapping his hands together. “Well, this is not strange at all. I mean, I’m a good host and all, but aliens showing up at my door is not a very thrilling prospect for me. Speaking from past experience—” He gestured at Loki, without looking his way “—no offence to you guys.”

“Are you referring to the time he was sent to conquer Terra and retrieve the Tesseract?” the green sister—Gamora—asked, her sharp eyes moving from Stark to Loki.

The blue sister—Nebula—was already staring at Loki with her pitch-black eyes. “A mission he failed so spectacularly that we had to wonder whether he did so deliberately.”

Honestly, these two struck Reva as the creepiest of the lot that had just arrived on Earth. There was something off about them, but she knew too little of them to understand what exactly it was.

“And what if I did fail deliberately?” Loki spat out, his voice filled with venom as he glared right back at her. “Are you two going to run to your most loving father for it?”

“He doubted our integrity because of you!” Nebula growled, taking a step in his direction, only to be pulled back by Gamora.

“I wasn’t the one visiting you, was I? Your sister came to my cell, offering help and camaraderie.” Loki left the wheelchair in a flash, looking poised to face off with Nebula. Much like Gamora, Thor grabbed him and kept him from moving in her direction.

“Are you telling me that rock of ages was not rocking on because of his diva tendencies?” Stark’s eyebrows rose up so high that there was a good chance of them disappearing into his hairline. “I’m… so lost.”

Thor gave him a nod of affirmation, though Reva wasn’t sure that Stark was paying full attention to it.

Loki fumed as Thor held him by his arm. “You would know more about diva tendencies than anyone here, I suppose.”

“Touché.” Stark shrugged. “By the way, I liked you better as Luke. He had less of a stick up his ass.”

“Really Tony.” Natasha Romanoff rolled her eyes at him. “Get over it.”

“Are you sure we’re at the right place?” Peter asked Idunn, cutting through the arguments. She nodded, though she appeared to be debating that very thing herself.

“Uh, this is all intense and shit, but we have a reason to be here. Freaking focus, guys.” It was Rocket, the racoon, who spoke up, walking to the middle of the room and climbing up on a sofa. He stood atop it and faced everyone, hands resting on his waist. “Here’s the deal, people. We’re here because there’s a crazy dude called Thanos out there who’s wrecking everything in his path… who also happens to be their so-called dad.” He pointed at Gamora and Nebula, who bristled and glared at him.

“He’s not our father!” they both muttered in unison.

Interesting…

“Okay fine.” Rocket waved at them dismissively. “Like I said, he’s crazy, he needs to be stopped. He just blew up a planet and we could barely rescue a few people.”

A string of gasps and ‘what?’ followed, which obviously irked Rocket because his speech wasn’t done yet.

“So these guys were in Xandar for some sort of inter-planetary conference.” He pointed at Idunn and Thjazi, who both nodded solemnly. “We were there too, though no one asked for our opinion on anything, really. Anyway, everything blew up. We rescued them and went through some shitty times trying to relocate the survivors. We’re here because, well, Thanos is after some specific things, called the Infinity Stones. And he may come here because Loki is here, and he has them.”

Now it was Reva’s turn to gasp aloud, watching, as everyone turned their focus on Loki, most of them furious. Except Stark. Yeah, he was listening in…

Loki opened his mouth to speak but Thor beat him to it. “Yes, he has them, so that no one else will get ahold of them.”

“You knew about this?” Steve Rogers asked, speaking up for the first time, looking straight at Thor, a hint of mistrust in his tone.

“Ah yes, just the way I knew my brother was alive,” Thor replied sarcastically, though equal measures of annoyed as well. “Of course not. He just told me after he woke up.”

“Right, blondie, I wasn’t accusing him. Just stating facts.” Rocket thumped his palm against his forehead. “This is exhausting.”

“I didn’t even know there was a planet called Xandar,” Tony mused, looking down at the floor. “And now it’s gone.”

“There are many such planets,” Gamora revealed, finally letting go of Nebula, now that she appeared to be less murderous. “They’ll be destroyed as well if we don’t act.”

“We have our own problem here, though.” Natasha Romanoff twirled a metallic stick in her hand, which looked to be some sort of compact weapon. “We need to deal with that first, I think.”

“What sort of problem?” asked Idunn, stepping around everyone to reach Loki. “Are you behind it?”

Loki rolled his eyes, then sat back into the wheelchair, appearing drained again. “Why do you think that I did something, Duna?”

“It’s not him at fault… I am,” Stark replied, his voice hollow. He pulled out his phone out and launched a holographic image of Ultron. “That’s the monster I created, and he’s trying to take the world down.”

Gamora and Nebula both snorted at that, snapping Stark out of his funk, who looked a bit offended now.

“Is that… C-3PO?” Peter pointed at the hologram, looking extremely delighted.

Stark sighed, looking both amused and miserable. “Well, it was supposed to be closer to C-3PO and R2-D2, but it ended up becoming HAL 9000.”

———————————————

Back in Thor’s chambers for now, Loki watched Duna, Thjazi and Thor as they conversed in hushed voices, cautious and awkward in a way that made it a bit amusing for him.

He wasn’t smiling, though. He was anxious. A great many things were happening, out of his control and certainly not according to his plans.

Reva sat beside him on the bed, her posture stiff and her visage pensive. Though they were within touching distance, Loki knew that she was far away from him.

He lifted his hand to touch her arm, but stopped midway as he saw Duna turn her attention upon him.

“So, what happened to you to make you so weak?” she asked gently, approaching him.

Reva made to leave the bed, but he grasped her arm to keep her there. Thankfully, she didn’t resist.

“My seidr is depleted,” he answered succinctly.

Duna glanced at Reva, who wasn’t meeting anyone’s eyes and instead, staring away into emptiness.

“Well,” Duna said, scrutinizing her from head to toe. “I suppose my apples can help with that.”

That remark roused Reva from her inert state. She looked at Duna in confusion. “Apples? You gave him those apples?”

Suddenly, Loki felt the urge to leave the room. Alas, he was going through another bout of weakness and hence, restricted to the bed.

“You didn’t tell her?” Duna asked him, her tone sharp and reproving.

“Norns help me…” He closed his eyes and lowered his face into his hand.

“I should’ve known, given how secretive he was about you,” Duna responded. “Yes, those were my apples, and they grant strength and vitality.”

“He fed lots of them to me.”

“Because you needed them. And it seems now he, too, is in need of them.”

“Might you also have anything to do with a very painful procedure, involving some sort of injection… which he administered to me?”

Suddenly filled with dread, Loki lifted his head to look at Reva. She was staring at him with narrowed eyes. Before he could speak up, Duna answered.

“Yes… that which made you strong and resilient, like an Aesir.”

Reva didn’t look away from him, though her face grew contemplative rather than reproachful, as he had expected. “I see.”

———————————————

Wanda stood facing the four Avengers, including Tony Stark. Pietro was right alongside her, his posture stiff. He was ready to bolt… and to take her along.

He was nervous; she wasn’t.

Even if it appeared as if they were outnumbered and surrounded, they weren’t overpowered. Not by any chance. The only being who could do that was not here in this room.

That gave Wanda a surge of confidence. They were both here of their own volition, not by coercion.

“You’re telling us that you no longer hold allegiance to Ultron?” Clint Barton asked, twisting one of his arrows between his fingers.

“No, we don’t. Not after what he did.”

“You know that he has killed and injured other people? Innocent people, that is.” This time was great Captain America levelling the accusation.

Wanda looked away, knowing that she had been gullible enough to believe Ultron’s lies about wanting the same thing as she and Pietro did. Killing hadn’t been part of it, only sabotage.

Pietro snorted. “Why do you think we are here? We didn’t know about the killing of innocents. Our job was mostly about spreading confusion and scattering people. And then Loki took us captive.”

Barton twitched upon the mention of Loki. Wanda took note of that.

“Speaking of him… she survived?” she asked, watching all of them closely.

The Captain answered, giving her a short nod. “We were told that your intervention helped in saving her, and that you wanted to surrender.”

“I wouldn’t call it surrender.” She focused only on Tony Stark as she said that. “Especially not to Stark.”

They all looked confused by her remark.

Stark stepped up then, his head tilted as he stared at her and Pietro. “Is there a reason for this hostility towards me? I mean, you’re both still kids, and I can’t see how I have any history with you two.”

“You killed our parents,” Pietro replied, his body coiling further as the bottled-up anger bubbled to the surface. She touched his hand to calm him down.

Stark reared back, his face a mask of shock.

“It was your weapon that killed them. We were having dinner together, when suddenly, a mortar shell with your name on it struck our house. Our parents died on the spot. The second shell hit, but didn’t go off. We kept waiting under the rubble for days, wondering when death would take us too.” Wanda took a deep breath, feeling her power sparking in her fingertips. “So yes, it was you who killed them. And we have wanted revenge for a very long time.”

“Is that why you got yourself drafted for Strucker’s experiments?” Natasha Romanoff stood the furthest from them, her arms crossed casually. “Because a weapon with Tony’s name on it struck you? How about going after the ones who actually fired it?”

“Nat, if I hadn’t made it and sold it, none of this would’ve happened.”

Wanda’s eyes narrowed. Did Stark just agree with her?

He sighed, stepping towards her, and for the first time she noticed that he looked completely exhausted. “I know I cannot bring your parents back, and I know that I’m a mess when it comes to doing the right thing. But I’m trying. Your problem is with me, so why cause so much harm and chaos to others? Why help Ultron?”

She hesitated, knowing that she herself had fucked up when she had decided to help Ultron. “He told us that he wanted revenge as well, against you. And that he wanted to build a better world, as he sympathized with our cause.”

“He obviously lied and used you to get what he wanted. You kids caused a whole lot of trouble to everyone just to get back at Tony.” Barton glared at her. “You even messed with the minds of people. Do you know how damaging that can be? I know. Been there. It wasn’t fun, and it took me a great deal of time to recover from it. Now, I’m not sure what your game plan is here, but I’ll tell you this much, you’re misguided. Tony has been trying to help save the world, not damage it.”

While Barton lectured her, she approached Stark and stood right in front of him. “Then let me see it.”

“See what?” he asked, pushing Barton away as he tried to intervene.

“Your mind.”

“I think that’s enough.” The Captain tried to interrupt, but Wanda didn’t pay him any mind. Her focus was on Stark.

“You think you can hold us here?” She snorted, waving her hand at them collectively. “I can so easily take each and every one of you out, but I’m choosing not to. All I’m asking is a glimpse into your mind, to see if you’re even half the hero everyone here is claiming that you are.”

“I don’t claim to be a hero, but go ahead…” Stark stared down at her with a resigned look on his tired face. He didn’t move his gaze away from her as she reached into his mind, even as others in the room began protesting.

[italicwatches]

Animal Sentai Zyuohger vs Ninninger - Part 2

Okay, let’s finish this beast and get it behind me. It’s People In Animal Masks vs Some Ninjas Who Are Bad At Their Job, part 2! Here we GO!

-So right when we last left off, everyone’s dead! Oh no! Twice in a row we’ve started with everyone dead, that’s not a good pattern for the Super Sentai. And Yoshiharu is in despair.

-While Runrun is having a pretty great time now that his job is…done…?

-Those were ALL training dummies, as the shinobi reappear with the crew in tow! A mass illusion and hiding, to trick Runrun into revealing his true nature! But how? Well, it helps that Yakumo and Kasumi suspected something wasn’t entirely adding up with Runrun from the start, so they’d been watching him.

-And back when they were interrogating Misao, he managed to charades his way into showing them that the mask was a trick…So as soon as they got it off and he told them how it had been talking on top of him, they left an illusion behind and went to meet with the Zyuohgers…Who had totally already taken a hostage.

-But they were willing to talk, to form a plan…A plan to catch Runrun out! And now with his trickery revealed, they can stand together! Also Takaharu thinks his comrades are cool as hell, while Yamato is just frustrated that his crew didn’t tell him a single thing. So Runrun is mad.

-And off comes the Teletubby-ass facade, to reveal that Runrun really looks like…

-Well mostly like Swampfire from Ben 10 with some extra flare.

-Also his real name is Girumaada. So the shinobi swiftly pull a smoke-bomb escape, and the team is able to stand together on the roof!

-To nobody’s surprise, out come phantoms of foes the Sentai teams have faced before. Some Ninninger guys, and Bunglay and the first-episode shitty general for Zyuohger.

-But fine. Instincts Awakened! THE CHANGE! NIN NIN NIN! NIN NI NIN NIN! Shuriekn Change! RED! BLUE! YELLOW! WHITE! PINK! STAR! NINJAS! WOW! And also animal sounds.

-Champion of the soaring skies! ZYUOH EAGLE! Champion of the surging waves! ZYUOH SHARK! Champion of the savannah! ZYUOH LION! Champion of the forest! ZYUOH ELEPHANT! Champion of the snowy drifts! ZYUOH TIGER! Champion of the world! ZYUOH THE WORLD! Animal Sentai, ZYUOHGER!

-A splendid rampage! AKA NINJA! The roaring clouds! AO NINJA! The shimmering calm! KI NINJA! A petal blowing in the wind! SHIRO NINJA! The wavering mist! MOMO NINJA! The colorful star! STAR NINJA! We may be shinobi, but we do not hide! We may be shinobi, but we party all night! Shuriken Sentai, NINNINGER!

-Instead of hiding, we awaken our instincts!

-And so it’s a big movie fight, with the matching pairs fighting these villain costumes gotten back out of storage! Of course, they’re tough…But the first one falls to Ao’s magic and Elephant’s raw strength! As Lion and Ki double-team their foe, Lion’s ferocious fighting spirit pushing him on as Ki brings out tricks from shinobi of old!

-And the girls all team up to take on this phantom of Bunglay, who gets run the fuck over with mechanical transformations, and eats a whole set of finishers! Even as a phantom, he’s tough.

-The World and Star have their hands pretty full, but still find time to take a selfie. The World made a new friend! Good for him. Now duck! ALL BEASTS UNLEASHED! The World kicks through their foe’s armor, and then flips him into the air, where Star’s got some Lightning Rock Star waiting to zap him! Now that’s a party.

-Oh and Aka and Eagle got firebombed. So they’re not having a great time. But Yoshiharu leaps in with his ninpou, trying to rescue them…He’s not letting his father fall, not here! And that’s when they’re joined, by…A sealing shuriken? It slashes against their greatest foe a few times, giving Eagle room to pull out a Gorilla’s strength, before the little shuriken falls into Yoshiharu’s hands…

-Forming into a new Aka Ninja Shuriken! The strength of his legacy…! You changed the script, kiddo! The power of the Super Sentai, and of shinobi, holds strong! This is what you’ve earned, come to aid you!

-And that’s when Aka’s father arrives, because the sealing shuriken leapt out from inside the house and he chased it all the way here and yeah that’s Kibaoni, their greatest foe, being fought by a gorilla. And this is your grandson from the future. He’s taking this surprisingly well. But, one stand together?

-One stand together! Three generations! AKA NINJA SHURIKEN! THE CHANGE! NIN NIN NIN! NIN NI NI NIN! Shuriken Change! RED! NINJAS!

-The slashing whirlwind! A splendid rampage! Fair weather today! AKA NINJAS! Past, present and future, forged into a crimson force! This is their fight now, Zyuohger! Get Girumaada! And as Gorilla bails out, they unleash wind, fire and lightning upon this phantom, and a triplet slash that cuts deep into his armor…

-Now, the triple finish! RED! RED! RED! NINJA! And the fight is won.

-While Gorilla corners Girumaada! When Naria arrived with Azald and Kubar to help…And Bard finds them.

-But SEIZA CHANGE! He’s met…By another red. A very lucky man. The luckiest man in the galaxy, Lucky! Also known as, Super Star! SHISHIRED!

-SEIZA CHANGE! Four more join him!Another Sentai team, huh—

-SEIZA CHANGE! They’re not five strong…They’re nine strong! Azald is confused, and Naria brings on the mooks. As you can imagine, it’s a big display of the next Super Sentai team and their grand skills. As you can also imagine, seeing how little I know of them, describing it in any detail is a bit difficult, especially with a nine man team. And honestly, all you need to know is they kill mooks real good and beat up the named villains because they’re the New Hotness.

-Oh and their finisher involves a star formation! GALAXY! They all bring their power into the center, and then blast it forward, as Azald eats it full force! Because you can kill a man who can reform. They are, the ultimate saviors! UCHUU SENTAI! KYUURANGER! Naria is mad, but has to call for a retreat…And hey, kids, remember to watch them when their season starts!

-And Bard implies that this team was actively manifested by the changing of history, born out of a twisting of time.

-But back to the actual movie, as everyone brings up overlapping finishers to destroy the phantoms! I, am not, trying to unpack all those narrator cries. And Gorilla is fighting Girumaada all on his own…But he is never truly alone. For he has his friends and loved ones at his back, the hopes of a future burning in his soul!

-And also?

-He’s got a fucking Whale.

-With arm cannon and blade both blazing with power, Whale delivers shots and slashes to Girumaada, before slamming that cannon into his gut and racking up a ZYUOH FINAL shot, up close and personal!

-Holy crap this guy’s still standing.

-…Fine. The others arrive, and everyone back him up! Full flow! ZYUOH NINNIN FINAL BAKURETSUHOU! FIRE! Can I just say how much it frustrates me that TV-Nihon still doesn’t translate attack names?

-Anyways Girumaada gets blown up and gobbles up some Continues that Naria gave him just in case and now he’s big. Are you surprised? Don’t be surprised.

-So what do you do with a giant villain? What do you do with a giant villain? Make a big mech and punch him down, early in the morning! Complete Animal Combination! King Shuriken Combination! WILD TOUSAI DODEKA KING! KING SHURIKENJIN!

-The problem is he’s really big even compared to them. So this is not an ideal situation to be in. Bug they’ll just have to go all in! KING HATENKOU GIRI! ZYUOH DODEKA SHOT! The finishers go out…Aaaand accomplish nothing. Because of course.

-So how’re they going to get out of this one, as Girumaada’s vines ensnare them and start banging them together like a rowdy child’s action figures? Their mechs shatter, all twelve are sent to the ground, full of despair…Oh no! What can be done?!

-And that’s when Yoshiharu’s shrunken dives in, and with 40 years of legacy, the shuriken forms a shield…And for a split moment? A vision.

-The teams are met…By the 38 Reds who have stood at the precipice of disaster before them. You are not alone, heroes. You have never been alone. The Earth and all its smiles are not in your hands alone to protect…You ave guided by a legacy, by the past to protect the future! Take their strength, their honor, and fight for the justice they forged!

-The vision is done, as Girumaada’s attack is repelled…And now? To bring it all together! And forge Wild Tousai SHURIKEN KING! Twelve strong! It might be small, but with the power of ninpou fueling it, this mech can punch and take punches well above its weight class! But they can’t hold this for long…They’ve got to finish it fast! Drive the spear home, and…!

-As one, as a singular force! With the strength of all their predecessors at their back, and all of their descendants waiting for them still! They are joined by the strength of countless mechs, as it all comes out in a single glorious beam to cut Girumaada down! It is DONE!

-And then, as soon as it came, that power is gone…To await the next time they are needed, when one or even two teams aren’t enough…

-In the aftermath, Yoshiharu has to return to his own time, to see the man his father becomes with time to live…And after a big farewell, he’s gone in a flash of ninpou, to return to his own time.

-Which is when Tusk realizes…How could Yoshiharu exist if Takaharu’s supposed to have been dead by now?

-…So…Here’s the thing…

-You WHAT?! And not even his own family knew! His sister and his father didn’t get to be at the wedding?! Yamato, after being stepped on, quietly despairs at the absurd handful that is this pack of shinobi. His own crew is so much easier to deal with than this. Also it seems Misao and Kinji are gonna start hanging out more off-camera, which is really, really good. I’m super happy for him, legitimately.

-And Takaharu immediately latches onto the idea of hanging out and going camping again because that stops the argument and Yamato just has to run after this gaggle of heroes before they get into even more trouble.

-Credits!

Well, it had its problems, but that managed to be a good bit more fun than I was expecting. Really, the only problem with it is how shoe-horned in the legacy stuff was, especially for the higher budget and runtime that a movie should get. They kind of did the legacy stuff better in the 2000th episode special, and those were just, like, TV episodes.

Also I can already tell the Kyuurangers are gonna frustrate me real bad if/when I do that season. They were a little much in the two minutes we got with them here.

But hey, movie’s done, so we can get back to the story arc next time, in episode THIRTY NINE of Animal Sentai Zyuohger! Wait for it!

[dunamanticarchivist]

The Munchkin Nein - Condor Widogast Part 2

Welcome back everyone, to tonight’s episode of how to murder hobo, by our resident hobo wizard, Caleb Widogast. We last left off having reviewed his FIREpower and now, onto the greater subtleties of magic that showcase the versatility of the wizard, and how well it can sync up with the rest of the Mighty Nein.

And off we go again, my labels for each spell in square brackets [buff, debuff etc]

Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp (level 2, concentration 1 minute) 

[Crowd control]

Target must make a STR save or suffer 2d6 bludgeoning DMG and is restrained.

A crowd favourite that came in clutch against the gelatinous cube in ep15.

It is the only source of non-magical damage in Caleb’s arsenal, aside from physically fighting. Restrained is a powerful condition, reducing speed to absolute zero regardless of modifiers. It also gives DISAV (disadvantage) to the target’s attack rolls, as well as ADV (advantage) to ALL attack rolls on the target. Finally, the target has DISAD on DEX saves. While Caleb can use an action to force a separate STR save on subsequent turns to deal 2d6 bludgeoning DMG, it’s probably not very efficient. The firebolt cantrip does 2d10, with advantage due to restrained (so roll that nat 20). Burning hands does 3d6 or more, and the target’s DEX save gets DISAD

On the downsides, it only has 30 feet of range, takes an action and requires concentration. The target can use its action to have another go at the STR save, which frees it if passed. However, even if the target breaks free, at the cost of Caleb’s action, that cat’s paw can still try to restrain the target again if they remain within 5 feet of it. Alternatively, it can re-position itself within a 30 foot radius of Caleb. 

Enlarge (level 2, concentration, 1 minute)

[Buff]

Another crowd favourite, especially given the targets Caleb has not very subtly chosen (Caleb is most definitely a Beauyasha shipper). Mechanically, the doubling in size gives ADV on STR checks and saves. If the target is holding weapons, they deal d4 extra DMG.

So, a straight up damage boost, especially helpful for characters with multiple attacks (Beau can go up to 5 attacks, with Sentinel reaction and flurry of blows, Molly and Yasha tie at 3 for 2nd place). And the improvement on the STR checks help with things like grappling or shoving which Beau has shown to be rather fond of (0 STR mod, but proficiency in athletics), and the STR save is good for getting out of said situations. 

Once again, its a spell that needs concentration, reinforcing the need for Caleb to hang back, which he has been doing so far. Of note is that the target and everything it bears multiplies by 8 in weight, which might cause some floors to give way. I recommend watching out for potential environmental hazards.

Reduce (level 2 transmutation, concentration, 1 minute)

[Debuff]

The flip side of the coin with Enlarge, its actually in the same spell entry, which is an advantage since Caleb can prepare both without being 2 spells (which will be increasingly important as Caleb can only prep 10 spells a day + 1 for every new level, but learns at least 2 more every new level aside from copying spells). If used on an unwilling creature, it must make a CON save, or else it gets DISAD on STR checks and saves, and gets a 1d4 DMG penalty to its weapon attacks, though it cannot reduce the DMG below 1.

So pretty much the flipped application of enlarge, making foes vulnerable  and weaker. In this case the reduction in weight might be helpful in setting off less traps, not that anyone seems particularly weighty in the Nein atm.

Haste (level 3, concentration, 30 feet, 1 minute)

[Buff]

Gotta go fast! Double speed, +2 AC, ADV on DEX saves, and an additional option: one weapon attack, dash, disengage, hide, or use an object.

Highly versatile spell for positioning, defense and offence. Double speed benefits characters with high base speed (Beau, Yasha at 40 ft) more so than others. +2 AC and ADV to DEX saves makes the target a slick dodgy fellow in combat, as well as the additional movement options. And finally, the extra attack is a simple boost while the additional interaction is up to roleplay ingenuity. 

Slow (level 3, concentration, 120 feet, 1 minute)

[Debuff]

The sister spell to Haste, but mechanically somewhat different. AoE 40 foot cube, affects up to 6 creatures. The target must make a WIS save or suffer the following effects: half speed, -2 AC, DISAD on DEX saves, cannot take reactions. Only action OR bonus action. Limited to one attack. Also, if casting a spell that costs 1 action, it has a 50% chance of being unable to complete the spell this turn and must use its action the following turn to do so. If unable to, the spell is wasted. 

As we can see, its a pretty nasty debuff to the capacity of the poor targets to achieve much on its turns. Also makes it less dodgy and more sitting ducky. 

Mage Armor (level 1, 1 action, 8 hours)

[Buff]

Rather straight forward AC buff on unarmored targets: 13 + DEX mod.

This gives Caleb AC 14, which is a +3 compare to his default AC 11. Alternatively, it can give Nott AC 17 which is a +1. Or Yasha AC 15, which is also +1. The other characters at the moment will not benefit or are worse off.

Arguably it is a viable buff for Yasha who is more likely to use that AC in melee, but we have definitely seen that the encounters have a tendency to target the fire spitting wizard. Also, that 8 hour duration allows it to be cast before combat is all but certain. 

Shield (reaction, until start of character’s next turn)

[Buff]

A temporary increase to Caleb’s AC by 5. Can come in very clutch as we saw in the Victory Pit. Negates magic missile as mentioned in the previous post. Arguably, mage armor isn’t as necessary with this around, but having AC 19 as a squishy wizard feels delicious. 

Blur (level 2 illusion, concentration, 1 minute)

[Debuff technically]

We actually haven’t seen this, but it’s listed on critrolestats. Gives any attack rolls on Caleb DISAD, unless the attacker doesn’t rely on sight or sees through illusions. 

Another spell for Caleb to evasion tank, but I don’t really foresee Caleb liking to be the center of focus fire, unless for RP reasons, in which case, yep its totally going to be effective. 

Sleep (level 1 enchantment, 1 minute, 90 feet range, 20 feet radius from point)

[Crowd Control]

This entry is missing from critrole stats as of posting, but we definitely saw this in the Victory Pit. Complicated spell, which is why i saved it for nearly the last. 

To begin, roll 5d8 and addtional 2d8 for each spell level above 1. (So 22.5 is the mean, +7 each additional spell level). In the affected 20 foot radius sphere, rank the creatures from lowest HP to highest. Starting from the lowest, if their current HP is less than the rolled number, they fall asleep. Subtract the HP of the affected creature and move to the next lowest HP. If a creature’s HP is greater than the remaining pool of HP rolled, it is unaffected and the spell stops propagating. 

Once again, we’ve seen this spell do some work. Although its mechanics seem to favour putting multiple weaker creatures to sleep to avoid being overwhelmed. Also, Caleb has been mindful that it doesn’t discriminate between friendly and hostiles, which also means he could actually replicate Modern Literature without overt friendly fire. 

Finally I’ll list some non-combat spells for completion, since these do not have direct damage, unikely to have straightforward effects on hostile creatures or are too unwieldy to cast in combat. They do of course open up a whole vista of opportunity for creative roleplay and ingenuity with sufficient planning. 

Dancing Lights

Simple light sources could be crucial in setting ambushes on dark vision incapable foes, sadly, Caleb himself would be one of them. Also, it can be debated if Matt allows the combination of the light to blind foes (most likely Drow?)

Find Familiar

Good old Frumpkin everyone’s favourite therapy animal. Sick of getting kicked. Or eaten by cubes. Or poofed. Also can’t see in the dark. However, can serve as a conduit for touch based spells, extending them by a range of up to 100 feet. Can also interact with objects (as much as a cat is able to). Matt has allowed Frumpkin to make an attack, but that’s really more for roleplay. Has lots of fun potential. 

Unseen servant

Schimdt has proven pretty useful as a scroll case opener. In combat, he acts as an extra interaction with objects, at the cost of a bonus action. So theoretically, he could trigger traps that the Mighty Nein set for their enemies that require remote activation (up to 60 feet)

Friends

Generally used to avoid combat, but one could easily disguise as your enemy and then use the spell, possibly gaining an ally. Idk, once again, imagination is the limit. 

And there my friends, is Caleb Widogast in combat. Pasting my work onto Word, holy crap 3 pages worth of text? Where was this loquaciousness when I was rushing my assignment on the deadline? Thank you all for reading this far if you’ve made it. Short summary and wrapping thoughts below. 

A solid roster of spells, with a lovely amount of variation. Let it never be said that the Mighty Nein cannot work together; this wizard is able to support his newfound friends, lay on the pain to those who would hurt them and prevent that from happening to begin with. To do so to the utmost, they just need to have a bird brain or two *hrroo hrroo sneak attack*

If I had to nitpick, all these spells take up an action (aside from Shield being reaction). So only one, of all the above effects in this part and the previous, will be available for casting each turn. Spells with persistence ameliorate this to a certain extent, but in most such cases, there are opportunities for foes to counter the spell. Which of course, adds to the fun and challenge. If I had to make a recommendation, I would suggest something that makes use of only a bonus action (like Unseen Servant), to expand the capabilities of this dirty wizard. For the sake of demonstration, Melf’s Minute Meteor’s allows you to throw 2x 2d6 fire DMG meteors, subject to DEX saves (which a target has been restrained by Earthen Grasp has disadvantage on). But this is purely an indulgence on my part for theorycrafting possibilities that do not exist. 

I will be looking into the combinations with other characters shy of straight buffs. Because we need good RP reasons to get the characters to use them, cos this is Critical Role. Send me your headcannons on what scenarios could utilize the capabilities of Caleb in conjunction with the others, which I will be writing at length on in the coming days. 

“I was so sure, until I wasn’t” 

                                                  - Caleb Widogast

Also me trying to find good RP reasons for Caleb to act optimally To be fair, Caleb isn’t my character so I wouldn’t know the slightest thing about his internal thoughts, nor should I pretend to, since that’s Liam O’Brien’s job, and he does it so fucking well (except when he almost killed Beau with Caleb by accident in ep 21) But that’s a whole other can of worms that I am so not opening. Yet.

It’s almost Tuesday, FAN ARTISTS AND GIF MAKERS remember to SUBMIT!

[codename-bewareofthefangirl]

Can I request a scenario - or headcanon if you don't want to do a scenario - of Todoroki's s/o and Momo ( one of Todoroki's closest friends ) who hate each other? It can be about Todoroki finding out that they can't stand each other, how he deal with it.. Anything, I leave the story to you :^) I just thought it would be funny since Momo is one of my faves and Todoroki my fave lol

Hi dear! Omg, I laughed so much when I read it the first time because, really, poor Todoroki. We girls can be hella scary when mad! I choose to do headcanons because I had too many ideas and didn’t know how to combine them together I hope it’s fine! It was so funny to write, thank you! (In case you want more, let me know what!)

Have a nice day!

Todoroki x ReaderWhoHatesMomo Headcanons

-Okay, let’s be honest. Todoroki doesn’t get it immediately that you and Momo hate each other. It’s true that you tried to hide it a bit, but he’s just dense. He also can’t quite understand why. I mean, Momo is such a nice girl?

When he says that to you, you usually growl and he backs off because he can still recognize when an animal is angry and dangerous.

-Imagine all the little moments when is totally confused because he doesn’t know of your rivalry.

“SO…is that Bakugou’s extra-spicy tabasco sauce?”

“Uhm…yes?”

“And isn’t that Momo’s glass?”

“Uh! How stupid of me! I made a mistake.”

“There’s her name written on it.”

“Then I just made a big mistake.”

“Wait- What was that?”

“What, Shouto?”

“The expression Momo just made, for half of a second.”

“A glare, Shouto. It was a glare.”

“Momo doesn’t glare. She doesn’t know how to glare.”

“How naïve. Trust me, she glares and she’s good at it.”

 “I didn’t know Momo knew that kind of words…”

“Yeah, she came up with new creative insults recently.”

“What? You have heard her swearing before?”

“I’m her principal inspiration, of course, I’ve heard her swearing before.”

“During training, we shouldn’t send our adversary to the infirmary SO!”

“Tell Momo.”

“I would, but she’s lying unconscious in a bed in the infirmary!”

“Aren’t you proud of how strong your girlfriend is?”

“I’m more concerned about your smirk now.”

“Which smirk?”

“The one that you’re making now, the same Bakugou shows when he looks at Midoriya.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

-The moment you two finally tell him the truth he’s dumbfounded. He doesn’t know how to react, just stays there in silence as you two start quarreling about something trivial.

It dawns on him like a cold shower: this is going to be hell.

-He gives you The Talk where he explains that it’s not a problem for him until things don’t escalate and he won’t force the two of you to be friends. He also asks you to be honest but not exaggerated. The last part went unheard, the only thing you promise is to try and fight when he’s not present.

-He usually tries to divide his time wisely. He spends an afternoon or have lunch/coffee with Momo at least once or twice a week to not lose her friendship, but spend the rest of the time with you.

-However, during group hang-outs or parties he suffers. A lot. Sometimes he freezes the two of you when things escalate or picks you up and drags you away, while Mina or Jirou keep Moko down and try to calm her.

Unfortunately, he can’t freeze your tongues. He never knew that coldness and sharp witness could be that devastating without using a single curse, he’s partially impressed.

-It’s going to remain impressed in everyone’s memory the day Bakugou clapped during a particularly heated verbal fight between you and Momo and whistled an “I’m fucking impressed.” Todoroki slammed his head against the table.

-The only times he takes action seriously, it’s when you start feeling insecure or doubting his love for you. Saying that maybe he’d be better off with Momo. He accepts none of that crap. He makes you sit down, cups your cheeks and speaks in a calm, but firm voice.

“I’ve chosen you, not Momo. She’s a dear friend, yet you’re my only girlfriend and the only person I love with all my heart. This is something you should never doubt.”

His kisses afterward are very convincing.

-Everyone is surprised that in the end, he gets used to it. Freezing you both, dragging you away, placing a hand on your mouth, wrapping an arm around your waist to keep you calm…he’s unfazed, face blank as usual.

-He also gets resigned to the fact he’s going to be an accidental, innocent victim of the pranks you to make to each other. He’s going to never forget the day he drank the tea Momo had salted thinking it was yours.

He’s also very wary of doors and strange objects in the bed. Or unknown food/drinks. Or wrapped gifts. Or…well, practically everything unknown.

-The only days you establish a truce are Christmas and Todoroki’s birthday. They’re the most important occasions of the year and you have to join forces to make him happy. First thing is forcing him to celebrate with everyone and not getting stuck at home with Endeavour. Second, you accompany him to his mother (She’s known about the rivalry from the moment she met you and finds it incredibly funny). Third, you give him the hugs and warmth he deserves.

-You’ve learnt that when Todoroki clicks his tongue and frowns, he’s going to freeze you. So, suddenly you and Momo are all quiet and calm again, seated and enjoying the company.

-Bakugou cheers for you and Todoroki smacks his head every time he yells aloud to “beat her ass”. Obviously, this enrages the blond and in ten seconds you and Momo have to put your rivalry aside and avoid Bakugou and Todoroki destroy something.

-Rumors say that Todoroki has once asked Shinsou to use his Quirk to keep the two of you calm and peaceful for a day. Rumors also say actually Shinsou refused because he finds your arguments amusing. Someone dared to say he and Bakugou have bets going on.

-Aizawa once put the two of you training together so that you could vent and sort it all out. His mistake. He had to deactivate your quirks. Todoroki was slightly traumatized: he didn’t expect to feel such a blood-thirst coming from his favorite, petite girls.

-All the girls find this situation amusing and the force the two of you to behave during all-girls outings. You’ve soon discovered that an angry Uraraka is scarier than everybody else, even than Aizawa.

-Todoroki’s worst nightmare? The “Who’s right?” Question. Different people testify they have seen him fleeing from the window once.

[thegrandtortoise]

How to completely obliterate your jetlag:

Allright, story time. I’m going to tell you how I totally avoided what should have been a 12 hour time difference jetlag.

So, the thing is, I live in the Pacific NW (GO Seahawks!). Me and my parents were taking a trip to India to see all my relatives, and there aren’t many direct flights from here to India. As a result, we always do a little layover- sometimes in Europe, once in Korea, once in Singapore. This year, we took Emirates, so the layover was in Dubai (beautiful city, hot as an oven. Would 100% recommend). 

Since our layover was in Dubai, we decided to stay for a couple days, as a little mini vacation. 

Now I know some of you little weaklings are all like “OMG, an EIGHT HOUR flight? How am I going to survive? I’ll die!!”

Bitch, this was a 14 hour flight.

FOURTEEN FUCKTASTIC HOURS.

So yeah. Our flight from Seattle was at 2:00 pm, so naturally, I woke up at eight am, while my parents were going absolutely hysterical doing last minute packing and cleaning and shit. (Not to mention, the three of us had stayed up until like 12 am packing.) 

After my parents were done yelling at each other and trying to make sure I didn’t look like a total mess, the shuttle guy arrived and we all hauled our asses into the van and collapsed.

We got to the airport, we checked in, got to our gate, I had a delicious cinnamon roll, blah blah blah.

And then we got on the plane. Now mind you, it had been about two years since I had been on a plane, and I really love flying, so I was super pumped. I was doing what all teens do on an airplane- checking out the magazines and the movies, figuring out how the weird headphones worked (mine didn’t, so I stole my dad’s pair), and getting all snuggly with the blanket and pillows they provided. I was ready to go.

A lot of people hate long flights, but I like them. Idk why.

Anyway, we were on the runway in no time, and in the air. Everyone around me was settling in- picking a nice movie to watch, maybe getting in a nap before they served dinner, whatever. I’m not sure exactly what I decided to do, but I think I was probably screwing around with a little tv/computer thing on the seat in front of me.

Fast forward a couple hours. I’d watched half of Boss Baby, and gotten bored just as the villain was introduced. I’d picked at the gross airplane food (I always only eat the fruits and the dessert. The main course usually sucks.)

(oh ew ew ew ew I’m super sick right now, and I just turned to sneeze and a huge glob of snot landed on the arm of my chair)

Anyway, the flight attendants had turned the lights down, and a lot of people were getting pretty sleepy, including my parents. Me? Not so much. Feeling unsatisfied with Boss Baby, I put on Beauty and the Beast, hoping that some Emma Watson would satiate my need for a good airplane movie.

I didn’t work. I became bored pretty quickly, and the most horrible thing was that the dryness of the airplane air was getting to my skin. It was the first time that I really had a problem with the airplane air, and it was really uncomfortable. 

At some point, my mom woke up and told me to go to sleep, and I tried, really I tried, but I couldn’t get over the air. I put in my headphones and tried listening to some nice, lullaby type music, but even that didn’t work. Eventually, I just gave up and started watching The Princess and the Frog.

Bet you can’t guess how long that lasted.

Fifteen minutes. Yep.

Disney was failing me that day.

I spent the rest of the ‘dark/sleepy/or whatever” time just people watching. It’s actually pretty fun to see what other people are watching, especially if they’ve got subtitles on. 

Fast forward again. I made it to the last maybe three hours of the flight, and still no sleep. I’d picked through two more crappy meals (again with the fruit and the dessert). Determined to get at least one good movie into this hell of a flight, I turned to my good friend J.K Rowling, and put on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to watch for the second time (the first time was in the theater, if you were wondering. I actually just watched it for the third time yesterday on DVD). I was not failed.

I got through the whole movie, and my dad was rolling his eyes the whole time (he doesn’t understand!!). Then it was time for landing. Now, usually, I have no problem with the altitude drop/increases. My wonderful mom had always said, when you’re taking off or landing, during the whole time the altitude is changing, swallow your spit. Suck on a hard candy to get the saliva going, but basically swallowing your spit helps your ears adjust to the altitude. It’s sorta hard to explain, but I’m sure there’s science behind it.

For some reason, I decided to NOT follow this advice that day, and I deeply regretted it.

I spent the whole landing time with my head in my mom’s lap, my hands clamped over my ears, whimpering like a five year old.

So we landed, and it was getting pretty late in Dubai when we landed. The combined effort of getting out of the airport and getting to our hotel was one hour, and I was ready to collapse when we got to our room.

But no. One of my dad’s college friends who had settled in Dubai had graciously showed up and offered to take us to dinner. I really had wanted to just go to sleep, but my parents forced me out of the hotel and made me eat something.

(TBH, what I had was really good. Like, heavenly good. We had gone out for Indian food, because my mom was craving some authentic Indian food after the airplane crap, and I had a humongous ghee dosa, and if you don’t know what that is then you haven’t lived yet. Just look it up. I was basically delirious now, and I’m pretty sure my dad’s friend thought I was crazy, because I basically inhaled the whole thing, which was probably about two feet long. Just look at the picture and imagine.)

We finished dinner, and went back to the hotel, where I collapsed on the bed and immediately fell asleep.

Alright. Time for some math, children.

8 am to 2 pm= 6 hours.

A 14 hour flight

 About 2 hours in Dubai before I was allowed to go to sleep.

Add it all together: a grand total of 22 HOURS.

I did not sleep for almost a full day and night. My body was dead by the time we got to Dubai, and this was the key- I was actually sleepy when I was supposed to be sleepy. 

I had no problem with jet lag for the four days we were in Dubai, and the extra two hour time difference in India was a simple adjustment.

AND THAT IS HOW, BOYS AND GIRLS, I COMPLETELY OBLITERATED MY JET LAG.

I hope that was entertaining. I will stop rambling now. I hope you understand how you can get rid of your jet lag, and if you don’t then ask someone to explain, because my immune system has gone AWOL and I need to find it before I die of snot and chicken soup.

K bye.

[vermillionworks]

Applying Horror To Webcomics

Hello, I'm SarahN, author/artist of the vampire webcomic, DANIEL.

I also wrote the post on Writing Vampires quite a while ago. Honestly, I'm not sure if this one will be as good as that one for a couple of reasons... One is because I tend to have a hard time putting my thoughts on writing horror into words for some reason. That and I think because horror is such a broad genre, it's hard to suggest guidelines for it.

A few of my suggestions are based on opinion. So if you don't agree with me on some things, that's fine, I expect that, so there's no reason to message me with a rant about why I'm wrong about so and so. XD If you REALLY don't agree with something, then just ignore it and continue with your own plans.

Secondly, I also feel like I had a lot more "trial and error" experience with writing vampires than I have with horror in general. So yeah, I believe I have a BIT of knowledge on the subject but by no means consider myself an expert.

Nonetheless, trying this out anyway since people showed an interest in me doing this.

Sooo, click "Keep Reading" to see my rambles on the subject! (There’s some horror gifs in here and please excuse any typos.)

First, A Word About Jump Scares

For the most part, forget about trying to make your readers jump out of their seats and run away with a webcomic, that's near impossible to do unless your reader is VERY sensitive (and if they are that sensitive, they probably won't be sticking around anyway). Besides, there is more than one way to 'scare' people.

Your aim instead is to plant an idea in the readers' heads that leaves them unnerved and maybe, just maybe, make them lose a little sleep (not a guarantee, but nothing wrong with a momentary creep-out either XD).

If you're REALLY looking to use jump scares in a comic, then you might want to consider making a comic VIDEO instead, or going the Bongcheon-Dong Ghost route (IF YOU LOOK UP THIS COMIC, YOU WILL BE JUMP-SCARED) and learn to make some clever coding to 'possess' the reader's mouse to shoot downwards (thus 'animating' the comic) and have sound effects play in the background at the same time.

Otherwise most webcomic pages are static images that people see right when the page loads, so throwing people off with an unexpected sight is hard to do. However, if you don't have a need to publish your comic and you want to catch readers off guard with imagery a little, consider the vertical "webtoon" look that's big these days. It works well for horror, I think, though even that is not essential to apply good horror to webcomics.

Frankly, I find jump scares overrated in general anyway. Anyone can catch someone off guard; startle them. They're sometimes a good, momentary thrill, but don't usually have a long lasting impact like good atmosphere, slow building tension, and terrifying ideas can, and I find that is really what horror is about.

The Power Of Disturbing Imagery & Actions

These are kind of no-brainer suggestions, but here it is anyway.

There are LOTS of options with disturbing imagery and there is no better medium for it than webcomics. A person's body twisting unnaturally, monsters, possession, a walking sin against nature, mind fuckery, world distortion and any other horrible concepts your mind can come up with. The sky's the limit, especially if you go the supernatural route.

And then there’s the disturbing behavior and actions of characters, which can be scary enough at times and feel closer to home. Remember that this DOESN'T just mean a knife-happy psycho jumping right into the comic and causing havoc. It can mean behavior just off-kilter enough to leave the reader tense and uncomfortable that slowly gets worse and worse until the inevitable conclusion. Play on the fact that something is very obviously...off.

The same thing can work for dialogue; people really underestimate the power of words in horror. Dialogue can leave a knot in your gut, leave you nervous of a character's intent, or force you to use your imagination of what they're describing, which can often be even worse than seeing it.

Which brings me to the next subject....

Subtlety and Ambiguity Can Be Your Best Buds

To me, horror is often what you CAN'T see. Horror is not knowing exactly what's happening. Horror is not having a clear solution.

Giving the gist of it and dropping lots of hints is fine for the most part, but sometimes if you give a clear explanation that leaves no doubt in the reader's mind about what's happening, why it's happening, and what the protagonists need to do to escape/win/whatever, there is a lot less tension and uncertainty to be felt by the reader. These things are ideal for horror comics since that mystery can keep the reader invested and continually disturbed.

Horror doesn’t have to “explode in your face” either, consider more subtle creepiness to amp up the dread. Someone twitching and staring in the background might leave more impact than a brutal murder scene.

Even In Webcomics, Silence Is Golden

Consider more 'silent' moments with little or no dialogue or sound effects. Your comic may naturally have no sound, but you may be surprised how unnerving it can be to a reader when there's only images and nothing to read.

A silent monster can often be more scary than a gabby one, too.

Psychological Horror

....is IDEAL for webcomics. XD

Use Violence & Gore Wisely

First off, if all you want to do is a make a comic with an endless supply of blood & guts, that's fine, nothing wrong with that. It can work well in a more campy story or just for those who are entertained by constant, mindless violence...just don't expect it to REALLY scare people. Oh, they might get a kick out of it or at least be plenty grossed out, but that's it.

You see, gore fest comics/movies/whatever really are just for a certain audience. Some love it, others are repulsed by it and won't touch it with a ten foot pole, and some are only fine with it at select times.

If you want your violence to actually leave more impact and not make portion of your audience decide they're no longer interested because pointless, brutal violence is all that's happening, then you're going to have to think about how you use violence a little more deeply.

I do truly believe violence CAN be scary, but it must be used at the right time, and in the right way. You must really consider at what point would be the most disturbing for graphic violence to suddenly occur, and then sure, make that crap as brutal as possible. XD

Violence that shows everything in detail at a relatively slow pace can be particularly cringe-worthy at the right moment, or at least I personally find that more unnerving than just seeing someone fly apart in pieces out of nowhere or something, that can actually come off as unintentionally funny, or at least too abrupt to leave the reader traumatized.

Though even though I suggest not holding back with violence, also consider that way over the top, silly ways to kill people may be too unrealistic to cause fright (think being killed by over-elaborate traps, ridiculous weapons, or...death by hairdryer). This...MIGHT work on some people and definitely works for more campy horror, but if you're really trying to scare people, you might instead get, "Seriously?"

And as for anything in horror, use the imagery and angles to your advantage. Make the viewer feel what the poor victim is feeling - terror, pain and all. ;) I'll be going into this more with the next subject...

Unnerving 'Camera' Angles

Obviously there's no cameras involved in the process of a webcomic, but there should be an imaginary one in your mind's eye as you consider the scenes you make.

Dramatic shots and angles are just as important in comics as they are in film. In fact, to push the impact of a horrific scene, they're almost essential. Panels full of talking heads won't cut it if you're trying to give people goosebumps. If this is something you're not used to doing, then it's time to start experimenting!

Good use of perspective can really push your horror comic's atmosphere over the edge. Look at movies by Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King-based movies, or any of your own personal favorite horror flicks (I could make more obscure suggestions but I won't here XP), comics, ect. Really consider the shots and angles and what moods they establish. You CAN use the same methods that are in film in webcomics while also taking advantage of the medium you're using by doing clever things with the panels and art.

Atmosphere

I think scary atmosphere can go beyond "very shadowy places". Sometimes the above mentioned use of perspective, and creepy characters that chew up the scenery, can create a disturbing atmosphere even in a bland or brightly colored world.

Not to say using darkness doesn't work VERY well, too. Definitely experiment with lighting and coloring for cool, spooky effects.

Beware Of Using 'Cartoony' Art Styles

OKAY, just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. If your greatest desire is to make a brutal comic with kawaii anime characters, then do it, but if you're aiming to make things really scary, I STRONGLY believe that by combining an adorable or extra cartoony style with graphic horror, the contrast makes them more hilarious than horrific, like unintentional dark comedy. Or even if it isn't funny it may still "soften the blow" considerably.

That's not to say manga-inspired or more unrealistic art can't work with horror (my art style certainly isn't realistic, I draw VERY over-exaggerated expressions), but I believe there needs to be at least a certain level of realism so the style doesn't clash with the feel you're trying to go for.

Is This Scaring YOU?

An important thing to remember is that if you're not creeping yourself with your story, then chances are your readers won't be creeped out either, don't assume your readers are more sensitive than you are. Plus it's just more boring to work on something that doesn't really bother you. XD Take those common horror formulas out of your mind for a minute and think about what truly disturbs you. Then again...

Don't Be Afraid of Cliches

As I also kind of said in my "Writing Vampires" article, tropes can be a good thing. Take the ones you love and brainstorm different ways to approach them.

Webcomics Burn Slowly

Remember that you're working with a webcomic that usually update a page at a time. Don't let readers make you feel pressured to jump to the point sooner, it could ruin the tension and destroy your original plans.

Take Inspiration But Don't Try To Be Another Horror Creator

It seems like, with horror in particular, people think they have to take one creator and do things exactly their way rather than taking inspiration from several sources and using what works for them.

You know who's great and is brought up a lot? Junji Ito. He's a manga artist who has made some very surreal, very creepy horror comics with great visuals...and tons of body horror. I have checked out a couple of his comics, but I have never attempted to create as he does. It's just not me. Oh, I've learned a couple of things from him, certainly, but trying to do things exactly as he does would bore me, and I wouldn't be able to match his style anyway.

Find many inspirations and work the way that’s best for you.

I will end on that note. GO GIVE THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES, WEBCOMICKERS!