#there’s more comics and books but those go on a proper book shelf that right there is a classic reprint of mirage from the 90s

[bulbabutt]

Finally setting up my room after moving in (uh only 4 months ago) and putting things together nicely

[thenavysealkie]

Panic Station || Marcus & Sam

Timing: Current-ish

Location: Escape Your Fate Comics

Parties: @thenavysealkie & @uncannysam

Triggers: Panic attack, mentions of grief

Summary: Marcus decides to check out Sam's comic shop

The new stock that was sitting in the back may have looked like a daunting task to many, but to Sam it was relaxing. It had always been fun seeing all the new books that had come in. Some requested by customers, others being the next part in a series that may carry on for years. Whatever the case, it was one of Sam’s favorite parts about running the comic book store. And as she carried boxes out to the front one by one, she let the music blasting over her bluetooth speaker keep her company, aside from Scout who had decided to lay in the back office today.

Singing along to “Panic Station” by Muse, the twenty-eight year old was caught up in covering the shelves with merchandise missing the sound of the bell ringing over the door. As she placed the latest issue of Harley Quinn on the shelf in front of her, she spun around dancing to the music, before noticing the person in the shop, “Shit. Uh…” Sam could feel her cheeks turning a red hue as she sat down the rest of the books she had in her hands, “Can I help you?” Smooth, Sam. Real fucking smooth.

It was a reasonably nice day for the winter time, so Marcus decided to take one of his usual strolls around town. He’d been taking them less and less as the weather got colder, so he figured now would be a good day to get back out there, for nothing else but some decent sun exposure. 

As he turned down a side street he didn’t normally go down, he noticed a sign for what appeared to be a comic book shop. “Escape Your Fate Comics” it read, and this prospect excited Marcus. When he was in the navy, he would read some old comic books he had snuck over from home to help pass the time whenever they were on a long voyage. Those nights in his cabin reading old Spiderman comics helped get him through some of his more grueling tours. And now he can relive those nights while maybe picking up some new comics while he was there! 

As he walked in, the place seemed to be empty. However, he then heard a flustered voice asking if he needed help with anything. 

He faced the woman and said “Just browsing for right now, honestly I’m not sure what I’m looking for yet. Just waiting to see if anything jumps out at me, you know?”

The shop had been, dare she say…quiet…most of the day. (She had hoped she didn’t just jinx herself), which had been nice. It had allowed her to get some other work done, but having a customer pop in, even if she had just made a fool out of herself, was always better. It meant being possibly one step closer to paying bills for the month, “That’s fair. Well if you need help with anything, I’ll be here, not dancing and singing to Muse, by the way. I’m more professional than that.” Sam cleared her throat, before looking down at the stock she had sat down.

Leaning forward, she picked the books back up and began sticking them in their proper place on the shelf. Though Sam wanted to allow him the chance to browse, she was curious to what he liked to read, “So, are you more Marvel or DC?” Seeing another Harley Quinn comic, she stuck it in its proper spot, before moving towards the speaker to turn it down, so they could maybe have a conversation, if he had wanted to.

While Marcus had thought he heard the woman singing when he came in, he just didn’t know it was Muse in particular. It wasn’t really the kind of music he usually listened to. 

“Well, when I was a kid, I read a lot of Spiderman” Marcus said, already feeling uncertain about her first question. “So that would be…DC, right? Really I’m open for anything though, I guess you can say I’m relatively inexperienced when it comes to comic books.” 

He looked along the rows and rows of brightly colored comic book covers and noted that a lot of them seemed very inviting.  He grabbed one edition of the Justice League, and noted what issue appeared. 74? How many of these were there? He realized this could become a pretty expensive hobby if he really wanted to get the complete story of whatever he wanted to read. He decided to go to some of the comics that didn’t seem to come from a huge mainstream series. By a bunch of other Marvel comics, he spotted more Spiderman comics, and decided to stick with what he knew.

“Morbius” he read aloud while picking up one of the issues. While Marcus had certainly missed quite a few issues of this series, from what he remembered you didn’t really need to read every single issue to know the story. This one showed Spiderman duking it out with some big vampire. Good for him he thought to himself, remembering his last two encounters with vampires in this town. 

Sam couldn’t help but smile when Marcus had mentioned Spider-Man being DC. It was a common mistake. If you weren’t an avid reader or were brand new to the world of comics or even just shopping for someone else, these things usually happened. Some places she had visited were snobs about that sort of thing and would get huffy, but to Sam, it was ridiculous. If someone was interested in comic books, let them be interested. They would learn along the way, “Actually, that’s Marvel, but a lot of people get them confused. Especially because the whole Sony/Disney thing and…yeah, I’m rambling and probably confusing you even more.” She had a tendency to do that, especially when she was excited about new members of the comic community.

Finishing off the stack, she picked up more and began putting them in their proper places on the shelf, “I do have plenty of Spider-Man, and I could help you find a starting point with that. Were there any particular superheroes or subjects that caught your eye coming in?” It was a simple place to start. However, hearing the word Moribus had caused Sam to nearly drop the stack of comics she had in her hand.

Scooping them up in the nick of time, she took a deep breath and sat them back down in the box, “If, uh…if you’ll excuse me…I just…” Why she still kept stock of vampire comics was beyond her. After everything that had happened with her best friend, Sam had tried to avoid any topics surrounding things that reminded her of his death, and though it sounded silly, hearing the word Moribus left her mind blanking and the need to step back into her office for a moment to regain herself. “It’s just a comic book, Sam. You’re fine.” Even Scout had found his way over to her and began nudging his snout and head into her side, “I’m okay, Scout. I just needed a minute.”

At hearing his mistake, Marcus gave himself an exaggerated smack on the forehead and a shrug in Sam’s direction. “Of course, the…Disney Playstation merger. How could I forget? I’ll have to remember that next time I go looking for these things.” 

A few other covers had caught his attention. Thor looked badass, Black Panther looked exciting. Captain America, while just as colorful and inviting as his cohorts, exerted a level of blind patriotism that felt nauseatingly familiar to Marcus. He figured he’d probably pass on him. 

His thoughts, however, were interrupted as he watched the woman hurriedly excuse herself to the back room. Had he said or done something wrong? He shrugged his shoulders. Probably not, he thought to himself. Probably just indigestion. Still, he couldn’t help but feel the tone in the room become very icy when he picked up the Morbius comic. The sudden shift felt too coincidental. 

“Everything okay?” He called out, but the door to the back room had already closed, and he was left holding the comic book. “Okay well…maybe not that one then,” he said, putting the comic book back on the shelf. His eyes narrowed on one cover on the shelf. It was a much more recent edition of Spider-man, and he had to pick it up and take a good long look at it before realizing he wasn’t holding some cheap knock off book with a different protagonist. “Miles Morales…wow. Pete, you know I love you buddy. But something about this one…I woulda loved to have this guy as my spiderman when I was a kid.”

As Marcus bantered with the imaginary men on the page, he couldn’t help but wonder back to the woman running the store, wondering if she was okay or if she was coming back. 

It had taken Sam a little bit of time to find her bearings again. Thoughts had run feverishly through her mind at the mention of vampires, and instead of spiraling into a full on panic attack, she had resorted to the methods that her therapist had given her. One of which was the full awareness of her hands surrounded by Scout’s soft orange fur. And as she took slower and slower breaths once again finding herself, she knew that if she were to go back out there, it would have to be with a smile. Never let ‘em see ya sweat. Even if you were just having flashbacks of watching your best friend literally be eaten by vampires. 

With one final breath and a forced smile, Sam found her way back out to the store. Luckily, no one else had come in while she was in the back. But she had no doubts that the man who was still, thankfully, perusing the aisles would have been kind enough to keep an eye on things. At least, she had hoped, “Sorry about that. Something…came up.” It was a weak and worn excuse, but it would do. He didn’t seem like the questioning and prodding type anyways.

Sam made her way back to her stack as Scout had already found his spot on the floor, but this time closer to her. Letting her eyes shift, she noticed the comic book in his hands, “Miles Morales. That would actually be a really solid place to start. Miles has been in the comics for a little over a decade now, but compared to starting with the original, I think you’re a lot better off and representation matters.” She smiled, before returning back to the tasks she had previously assigned herself, before her little mini-meltdown.

The woman had emerged from the back room and looked…shell shocked in a way. It was the only term Marcus could find to describe the look that the woman was desperately trying to will off of her face. He’d seen the look before. He was sure he’d even had the look on his own face before. There was something more than what the woman would let on. However, being relative strangers, he decided not to press the issue any further. 

“I get it. Things tend to come up when you run a business like this. Have you been here for long? I think this is my first time seeing this place.” 

Marcus took another glance down at the comic in his hands. 10 years? That was a long time, and probably tons of issues, yet Marcus was looking forward to reading all of them. 

“You’re right, probably less overwhelming to work through than the 40 years of spiderman that came before him. Plus, that’s still plenty of material to read through.” He paused at her comment about representation mattering. “It does. I didn’t really think it would, but…seeing him in a hero position does put a smile on my face.” 

He decided to try and work his way to the beginning of this iteration of spiderman, trying his best to pick up a few issues in chronological order. He’d get enough material to keep him occupied in his free time for a couple weeks and then go out for more if he decided he wanted to keep going. 

“I’m ready to check out.” He said as he brought his purchases up to the register. “I didn’t include any of the vampire ones in there. I can’t stand them either, even if they’re fake” He said with a shrug, hoping to find some common ground with the store owner. 

Sam’s nerves were starting to leave as the conversation resumed. Doing tasks seemed to help too, like putting away comics and arranging them on the shelves, but she knew after he left, she’d be locking up for a break and some decompressing time, “Especially when you run it all on your own.” She laughed softly. Sam didn’t mind running the store though. It was her child and not taking care of things herself just seemed odd, “A couple of years now. Finally save up enough money after college to commit. It’s always been a dream of mine. Well that and actually having my own comics.” Which she did via self-publishing, but it wasn’t something she flaunted and was only brought up if asked. “Have you been here long?”

She finished the stack she was working on and leaned over to pick up another one. New stock coming in was always something she enjoyed, because it gave her a chance to see what new issues she wanted to snag for herself to read. Pulling the first comic out of the stack, she looked for the corresponding issues and began to make space. “Not that Peter Parker isn’t great, but it’s like c’mon, man. You’re reaching grandpa status. Time to let someone else have a go at slinging webs. But I completely agree. The first time I read an Echo comic, I had tears in my eyes. I’ll never forget it. Which is a great series and great show, if you haven’t seen it yet.” (Not me plugging Devery’s new show…)

Seeing him go to the counter, Sam laid down the stack she was working on and walked over to meet him. His stack of comics made her smile. And though the vampire comment did strike a nerve, she was able to let it go when he mentioned not liking them either. But did he really believe they were fake? She was curious, but decided not to dig too deep into it, and instead started ringing up the books, “Looks like you got a good stack. I’ll be excited to hear what you have to say next time you’re in. And as for vampires, I totally agree. Leeching off of people to survive…” Sam thought for a moment, “But I guess you could say that about the world we live in, huh?”

She finished ringing up the books, “Your total is $42.83.” Grabbing a bag from a nearby box, she opened it up and began slipping in the comics a few at a time.

“I've been here…” Marcus thought for a moment. “Wow, almost a year now. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess.” If fun was what you could call it, he thought to himself. “You mean you’ve actually made your own comics? That’s impressive! The writing is one thing, but the art is something else completely. Always looked really hard and time consuming to do. Next time I’m in I’ll definitely have to give those a look too.”

“I agree, Peter will always have a special place as the OG spiderman. But handing the reigns…er, webs, over had to happen eventually,” Marcus said with a smile. “Can’t say I’ve heard of Echo, but it sounds like I should read her stuff too. I…should plan a bit of my budget out for comic books apparently”. 

“Leeching off people to survive…that can really be said for a lot of humans too. Except a lot don’t even do it for survival, they do it for another beach house or lambo or…ah, I’ll go on and on if you let me. I try not to get too riled up when meeting someone for the first time. Let’s just say, there are some people who I’d prefer seeing a monster over. Speaking of which…,” he trailed off, eyes narrowing and voice dropping to a hushed whisper. ”Ever notice any…strange things around town? I mean this town has plenty of rumors but…have you ever thought these rumors to be true?” Marcus wanted to make sure the woman he was talking to had a confirmed knowledge of the supernatural before he went on and on about vampires and made himself sound crazy in front of her. 

“Before you know it, it’ll be a decade.” It was hard to believe that Sam had been here as long as she had. Twenty years may not have seemed like a long time in the grander scheme of things, but on a day-to-day basis it seemed like an eternity. “Yeah, they’re not much, but I enjoy it. If you can find them, there’s a few on the shelves somewhere in the store.” It was easier to downplay her art than to up-sale it. Sam had always been modest about her work, wondering if it was good enough, but it seemed like more and more people were becoming interested in it, especially when they would find it hiding on the shelves.

“Right? No one lives forever.” A statement she once believed. Now, realizing she was in the presence of other types of creatures, she wasn’t so sure there weren’t eternal beings walking amongst her. “Yeah, if it’s something you’re interested in in the future, let me know, and I’ll pull the back issues for you.” Sam laughed, “I hear that a lot actually. People come in not knowing what to expect and leave having the exact same reaction.”

She continued to put the comics in the bag, and threw in a small flier with the hours of the shop and some other information, “You know, you make a very good point. And honestly, don’t get me riled up on politics either.” She laughed softly knowing she could have a long discussion when it came to government, money, and other issues wrong with the world they lived in. The change in topic, despite what the new topic was, was almost welcomed, and in that moment, Sam debated whether or not she wanted to reveal to him that the things that went bump in the night were, in fact, real, “If you’re referring to the goo mess and the ridiculously loud booming noise from the sky, then yes.” She wasn’t quite ready to delve into the reality of vampires, but she did offer him a warning as discreetly as she could, “I wouldn’t doubt that there were other things around here that could be dangerous too, especially at night…” She swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat from the thought of Zach and the monsters that took his life.

“Ah, gonna make me work for it, eh?” Marcus said in response to Sam telling him that her works were hidden away on random store shelves. “You know how to get someone invested, I’ll say that much.” Marcus was always down for a bit of a scavenger hunt, especially when there was something genuinely interesting at the end of it. 

“No…” Marcus trailed off, remembering his own brushes with death. He’d lost crewmates. He’d lost a cousin who felt more like a brother. And he had lost the love of his life. Through it all, Marcus was still standing. No, it wouldn’t last forever, but he could relish in every second he had left, for that was a gift in itself. “They don’t. But it’s what they do with their time that really matters, you know? Pete did a lot of good. So have a lot of other people.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to get divisive. Although it seems like we at least agree with each other on that front. But yeah, the goo and the sky screeching some god awful sound. Honestly, those two things barely cracks the top 10 of weirdest shit I’ve experienced here.” He paused before leaning in a little more closely, dropping his voice a bit. “And I’ve seen what goes bump in the night here.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” She grinned, “I think it’s more of being self-conscious, and not wanting to force it on anybody, you know?” Sam looked down at the bag of comic books. Sure, if people organically wanted to discover her art, that was great. She just didn’t like flaunting it. “Besides there’s plenty of other great up-and-coming artists, like this girl here…” Sam diverted her attention to Maggie’s comic book that was on display on the counter, “She’s actually a local artist. Her name’s Maggie.” She was going to support her friend any chance she got. The goal, get all of Wicked’s Rest to check out her art and stories.

Sam looked back to Marcus, “You’re right. So right.” What good had she done in the world? Would she go out being remembered like that? Her mind easily shifted to Zach. She knew without him in it, the world seemed a lot dimmer. His twisted sense of humor was no longer around to brighten her day or the little pep talks he would give her that made no sense. She missed him so much.

“No, you have every right to talk about what you want to. But I am intrigued now about what’s on your top 10 list…I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve noticed strange things, but I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it. Well, until recently…” She was absolutely referring to Zach, but maybe this guy would think she meant the goo and skyquakes. However, she did want to know more, and leaning in closely, despite them being the only two in the store, she spoke with a low voice, “And what exactly does go bump in the night here?”

Marcus’s interest was now fully piqued at her question. When he first got here, he wasn’t fully convinced of some of the terrors that were rumored to be out there in the world. He had known of sirens, various fae, vampires, and of course other selkies since he had run-ins with these groups back home. Since coming into town, however, he learned that there were plenty more terrifying creatures out there in the world.

“You seem like you have an open mind. I’ve seen…and encountered…some really scary shit. Giant spiders, vampires, vampire hunters, the works. Pretty much every monster from those old school scary movies is real, and for some reason they all like to poke around this town specifically”

Since she had said she had been in town for a while, Marcus knew this couldn’t be the first time she had heard something like this. It wouldn’t be the world shattering revelation that it was when he broke this news to Elias.

“I’m surprised you haven’t seen any of it for yourself. You’ve been here way longer than I have, after all.”

Sam couldn’t say she was surprised when he confessed to seeing scary shit. But it was the vampires that got her. The wound of Zach’s death, no matter how much she wanted to push it down, was still so fresh, and him bringing up vampires again made her breath hitch in her throat. She wanted to tell him to leave. Take his comics and get out. But she didn’t solely for the fact that he also mentioned vampire hunters. If that was the case though, where had they been the night Zach was killed?

Sam could feel anger welling up in her small form. But it wasn’t towards the man standing in front of her. It was for the aforementioned hunters that did nothing when she and her best friend needed them the most. But what he was saying had also contradicted what Cass had said about there being good vampires out there. Her head was spinning, and she wanted to be open and honest. It seemed like he was. Yes, they were standing in the middle of a comic book shop full of fictitious creatures and worlds, but why would he have just randomly brought them up, if he didn’t, too, believe they were real?

“I’ve…I’ve encountered vampires too. They killed my best friend…” She was quiet. And didn’t say much.

For a good long while, Marcus didn’t have anything to say. He just looked at the woman, who now seemed very upset and agitated as she told him what her encounter with vampires ended up like. “I’m…shit. I’m so sorry to hear that.” Grief and trauma really did seem to hang over the heads of everybody in Wicked’s Rest like a black cloud. “When did this happen? Do you have a description of them? I happen to know a couple people who might be able to get a little payback for you.” He, of course, knew it would offer her little solace, as her friend would still be gone. But he felt he needed to offer something to make things “right”, in a way. 

“I’ve uh…lost people myself. Also been attacked by them! Twice! Some people in town say that some of them are not bad but…well when a snake bites you, you learn to fear all snakes.” It was true, he knew he was an especially alluring target for vampires due to how oxygen-rich his blood was. “I think that death is so common in this town that we stop thinking about the victims behind the headlines. ‘Four men mauled by strange animal’ that, let’s be honest, is very obviously a werewolf or something, but I don’t think enough people really think about who the 4 men actually were, you know?” 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is,” Marcus said, realizing he should probably get to the point soon. “I’m sure your friend was a hell of a person. Sometimes, while everyone obsesses over how they died, the best thing you can do is remember how they lived.” He then paused for a moment before quickly writing something down on the back of his receipt and sliding it back to her. “That being said, if those fuckers ever come back and give you any kind of trouble, give me a call. Sorry again for your loss” 

Sam stood silently not having words. And for a moment a heaviness hung over the complete store. Too solemn for awkwardness. Finally, the young woman felt relief come over her body as he spoke again. Sure, it was still awkward. Death was always awkward, because most people felt bad if they said the wrong thing, and then proceeded to ramble just trying to fix it. All in good faith of course, but it was still strange.

“A couple of months ago. It was just a woman and her friends. A gang of them.” Sam tried to keep it as vague as possible. She had been over it countless times with the police, Zach’s parents, her parents, his other friends, and the worst place of all, her mind. She didn’t want to relive it yet again – that’d probably reluctantly come tonight when she was laying in bed trying to sleep. “And I’m so sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine being attacked by them. It’s a lingering fear now…And you’re right. Most people don’t think about the victims. I’ll admit, I became numb to all of it myself, until it happened personally.” Sam viewed the news and all its contents differently now, especially considering she was able to see more than most now.

“Zach…his name was Zach. And he was, hands down, the funniest and sweetest guy I ever knew. He made me feel welcome and wanted when my family moved here from Kahnawake.” Sam had been determined to keep his memory and spirit alive. “And for the time he was here, he lived a great life.” She looked down as she watched the man scribble his name and number on the back of the receipt. Taking it, she looked back up, “Thank you, Marcus. I’m Sam, by the way. I can’t offer you much in the way of protection, but I am a good listener if you ever need someone to talk to.”

Typical, Marcus thought to himself. It was one thing to be a lone wolf hunting down victims one on one. At least there was some degree of sport in those cases. But to ambush some defenseless human as a pack? Completely cowardly behavior. He was certain Zach wasn’t the only victim of this roaming band of bloodsuckers either. 

“Zach” Marcus mulled the name over a bit, making sure it stayed in his memory. While he never knew him, he always did his best to make sure the dead were given their due respects. It was a behavior that carried over from his time watching crewmates get buried. “Sounds like they robbed this world of a great dude. Hopefully they don’t show their faces around here again.”

He offered Sam a warm smile at her last comment. “After everything I’ve been through here, I think having a good listener is exactly what I’m in need of. Be safe, try not to venture out at night. If you do, bring company, and protection. As outdated and lame of a weapon as they may seem, a wooden stake is easily your best bet.” 

And with that advice, Marcus gathered his comics and headed out of the store, interested in coming back at a later date. He couldn’t shake the idea of a pack of vampires attacking civilians here in Wicked’s Rest. Wasn’t this something he swore to do when he joined the Navy? To protect civilians from dangers they can’t protect themselves from? He had a much better opportunity to do so now than he ever did on that damned ship.  Right, he thought to himself, remembering his only time having an honest fight with a vampire and things going…not so well. Guess I have some work to do.

[scintillasofbeomgyu]

things you do that make their hearts ache (txt)

pairing: txt x reader

word count: 997

genre(s): fluff, boyfriend au

warning: mentions of food!

disclaimer: these are all just for fun, and merely my opinion.

᠃ ⚘ choi yeonjun: when you laugh at his jokes !

you had been so focused on your work that you hadn’t even given him so much as a sideways glance

you kept telling him “just five more minutes” until it was an hour, shame on u u were supposed to go on a date 😔✋🏻

he’s upset

so he decides to bother you by sighing real loud and exaggerated like, slamming cupboard doors and dragging his feet and what-not

until he decides to tick you off with his jokes

he’ll probably say something stupid like “omg y/n, don’t you think elevators get tired? they work on so many levels” and would half expect you to break up with him bc he lowkey knows it’s ridiculous

so when you genuinely find it funny, he’d be so surprised 😭

but you’re laughing so hard, you look so pretty when you do and HE did that. HE made his baby that happy!

will pull you into an enormous hug, squeeze you so so tight and will pepper your face with kisses until you’re begging him to stop

“you wanna hear another one? i’ve got more! wanna go get some ice cream? let’s cuddle on the sofa, hmm?”

᠃ ⚘ choi soobin: when you remember little things about him !

he’ll pick you up at the bus stop when you come home from work and you’ll go grocery shopping bc you’re making dumplings together !!

soobin knows you like to eat them with spicey noodles, so he decided to pick a pack from the shelf

you stop him before he does, and he looks at you with that face he makes when he’s confused: raised eyebrow, scrunched nose, top lip pulled back in a pout

“you can’t handle spicey food, let’s get something we can eat together!”

he’ll try to convince you that he’s okay, but his heart is lowkey doing flips, and when you add his favourite ice cream to the cart as well, he’s vibrating

his arms are around you and his face is nuzzled in your neck before even he realizes it, and when he does remember you’re still in the store, his ears go so red 😭

is so shy he tries to laugh is off, but he’s so awkward, and that’s okay bc he’s cute :(

᠃ ⚘ choi beomgyu: when you dote on him !

has been trying to get the melodies of a song he’s writing right for the past few days with no success

spoiler alert! they’re actually really good, he’s just nitpicking >:(

he’s so frustrated with himself at this point, so when you walk into his studio and drag him out, he’s more amused than anything else

he’ll just silently watch you with this little grin playing on his lips as you drive him to your apartment, make him lunch, feed him and shove him into the bathroom (so he can take a shower–ALONE, YA NASTY) all the while scolding him bc you’re so mad he isn’t taking proper care of himself

when he comes out, you’ll sit him on your bed and dry his hair for him and he’ll literally still have that stupid giddy grin on his face

“what are you smiling at loser” “you smell like old cheese and it’s funny”

he’ll pull you into a hug before you can kick his ass, and will peck your belly before mumbling that he loves u <////3

᠃ ⚘ kang taehyun: when you find each other !

you were meant to meet up at the library that weekend to study, or atleast that’s what taehyun thought 😩

you just wanted to have one of those cute kdrama-esque library dates where you spend the afternoon passing one another little notes torn off the corner of your writing pad and whispering sweet nothings to one another until the librarian tells you to hush

but your boyfriend is a reliable, efficient planner and he came PREPARED to study his butt into next tuesday, and also for in the case you had anything you needed help with

so you eventually got bored and disappeared into the aisles of the library in search of the comic book section, taehyun far too engrossed to even notice you were gone

when he eventually does he panic just a little and decides to go and look for you

about half an hour had passed since you picked the shelves clean of tokyo ghoul volumes before you stretched and decided to head back to taehyun

when you step into the main aisle, taehyun is just about to start down it

the way your face lights up when you see him makes his heart race and his limbs tense

his smart little brain goes to absolute mush, and when you happily run toward him he spins you around bc he just has no idea how to cope with all this serotonin 😔

the librarian almost kicks you out like you wanted tho 😋

᠃ ⚘ huening kai: when he makes you shy !

kai may have alot of aegyo, but this boy is SHY and he doesn’t usually initiate things with you other than hugs

when he does though,,, oh boy 😳

you weren’t doing anything in particular, you weren’t even wearing anything fancy. you were just,, watching the popcorn through the microwave almost as if staring at it would make it go any faster

needless to say, he thought you were impossibly cute

he’ll run up behind you and startle you with a hug, “oh? and to what do i owe the pleasure?” “nothing, you’re just pretty”

those pesky little butterflies are pretty much already going beserk inside your tummy, but its really NOT his fault that tonight in particular he thinks you’re utterly ethereal

you’re about to back away bc the popcorns ready, but he tightens his arms around you and tilts your lips up to meet his

you stare at him wide-eyed with a face as red as a tomato and man, his heart really cannot deal with these attacks tonight

almost passes tf out :(

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[plainlo-inthemorning]

Shine a Light, part 6

A Loki series/Lokane fic. Rating T.

Previously: Part 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

He is already spinning around and bracing himself as his boots touch the concrete, half expecting to see the beast come tumbling towards him.

But the air is mercifully still where the door has snapped shut.

The evening sky above him is heavy with clouds, and a light mist of cool rain touches his face.

Cool.

He looks down at his hands. They are still shaking from the adrenaline, but no longer blue. Nor do his clothes feel rough against his skin.

Did he consciously change back to his Asgardian form as he went through the door? He is not sure. Whatever the shape or shade, his body feels oddly disconnected from his brain and Loki idly wonders if using the tempad so much within a short time span might be affecting him on a cellular level.

Then again, if that was the case would the Minute Men and analysts at the TVA not have been suffering from chronic time travel fatigue?

Who knows, perhaps they did. A number of them certainly looked worn out.

Tempad “jetlag” (an apt mortal word) or not, unwillingly running into variants upon variants of old enemies on this treacherous timeline coupled with the incessant longing for her has caused Loki’s grip on reality to slip ever more from one destination to the next.

What reality? a mocking voice in his head whispers, sounding maddingly similar to the little devil clock.

You have no idea where you are, who you are or where you’re going. You’re a man out of time, for all time, always.

He straightens and draws in a few deep breaths, surveying his new surroundings: A narrow brick terrasse. At the back wall, a glass sliding door reveals a room covered in darkness, but as nothing moves inside (his night vision remains far superior to that of mortals), Loki turns instead to take in the view of … London.

There is a taste of early spring in the air, and before him as far as the eye can see, the rooftops and spires of the city stretch out into the distance.

Millions of little lights flicker in the dark and the fumes of traffic and city grime mix with whiffs of different cuisines drifting out of air vents.

He has been here once or twice before, though not in decades, and there are whole clusters of towering structures of glass and steel that he does not recall from on his previous visit.

The house by the ocean in 2016, Budapest in 2015, New York in 2014 and now London in what he assumes must be 2013. As methodical as the backwards count has proven to be, as confusing are the destinations and varying seasons.

Only they cannot possibly be random.

Free will is an illusion.

The eerie feeling that even this, his ill-thought-out ‘quest’, is being guided by an invisible hand in charge of his destiny is so dispiriting it’s comical. He can’t quite decide whether to feel perversely honored that some higher being – a version of He Who Remains? – would take interest in toying with him, or furious that he has been singled out for this preposterous punishment of drifting through another Loki variant’s timeline.

It is no use dwelling on either emotion. He has no one to measure his pride against, no one’s expectations to live up to expect for his own, and, frankly, by now that bar is scraping the floor. There is no telling where the female variant of him went and Loki has no means of contacting the TVA or the analyst-interrogator even if he wanted to (he really does not anymore).

Loki unclenches his fists.

Seeing as each destination may have been an intentional set-up for whatever bizarre reason, the question is which character from his past he will encounter in this place. He vows to himself that no matter who he bumps into, he will attempt to reactivate that silver tongue of his and gather actual, useful information.

No more chaotic exits.

Provided no one tries to kill him on sight or squash him through a wall.

The terrace is furnished only with an old sun chair and a few plants, but the room beyond the glass door appears very lived in, with books stacked on the floor and several shelves, a large couch, a couple of armchairs, and what looks to be an adjacent kitchen area with a dining table.

Amazing how most mortals spend their years in such small, crowded dwellings.

Using only his magic, he slides open the door. It makes a low swooshing sound. Quiet as a cat, he steps over the threshold.

//

It hits him immediately, like walking into a wall: The scent of lavender.

And Thor.

The apartment is quiet, but they were here and recently.

He has been delivered right to them.

Loki is once again frozen in place.

His initial plan when knocking out that man in the canteen at the TVA and stealing his tempad was to find Thor and Jane at the scene of his own moral redemption (well…) on Svartalfheim. Where he supposedly saves their lives. Find them and use the momentum of their unfiltered gratitude to deliver the news that, most regrettably, the universe is likely coming to an end if they do not devise a plan together to prevent a multiversal war – preferably enlisting the help of Thor’s colleagues, too, and in the best of scenarios, Asgard.

Seek out Thor before saving Jane’s life, and Loki would have to first win his brother’s trust in the aftermath of the attack on New York. Find Thor after Svartalfheim, and there would be the small matter of explaining how the variant faked his own death and, after having thus broken Thor’s heart again, took the throne of the Realm Eternal.

Not an ideal conversation starter, even for them.

From the reel, he knows that there were other moments, much later, when he and Thor would become friendly again. After Ragnarok, before his end.

But Loki also knows that this need to get to Svartalfheim has as much to do with her as it has with Thor. Perhaps even more so.

Something important transpires between himself and the brown-eyed scientist on that brutal, barren planet and if it is the last thing he does, Loki will find out what it means.

It does not make any more sense now than it did when he sat in the kill me kind of room, transfixed by her face, but if he had had any initial doubts as to whether he was simply imagining the magnetic pull of her, those had been effectively shattered to atoms when she threw her arms around his neck outside the white house.

“Where did you go, handsome?”

Nothing on this timeline seems to be playing out as it should. Which of course also means that the events on Svartalfheim may never have occurred at all.

On this timeline, a variant has more or less befriended the Avengers in the years after New York when, according to the proper Loki fate, he should have been on Asgard. And, in a few years from now, the variant will somehow be with Jane.

Jane, who has stayed in this very apartment. With Thor.

Briefly, Loki is back to wondering if Thor dies and how, but then he remembers what Bruce said about their “family soap opera” and Loki’s “victory”.

Could it be that he and Thor actually fought over Jane?

As much as he wishes it otherwise, even Loki finds it hard to believe that his variant would have beat the God of Thunder in a fight. The might of Mjølner is formidable. And though his brother has not quite discovered it himself yet, Loki has always suspected that Thor has his own kind of magic.

Then there is Jane: Without having ever conversed with her, Loki would be surprised if Jane would appreciate being treated as a prize to be won.

He is getting a headache. A rare thing for a god, but there is no putting the puzzle together with so many pieces missing from the board. Since he has no hope of using the tempad to transport him off Midgard, maybe the best thing to do would be to just wait here and see if Jane and Thor come back. He has been specifically sent here, has he not?

Without really noticing, Loki has moved to the blue, puffy couch. He sits himself down and leans back into the soft cushions, letting out a sigh. When was the last time he slept or ate anything? There is a sense of fresh paranoia as he realizes that he cannot remember doing either at the TVA, expect for when he fell asleep during research.

“Time works differently at the TVA. You’ll see”.

He stretches his legs out in front of him and yawns. On the wall opposite from the couch is a paper calendar: 2013.

He takes in the rest of the apartment but does not magic any of the lights on. There is the open kitchen, a tiny hallway with a coat rack and a few pairs of shoes, and two more doors to the left of where he is sitting.

Getting up suddenly feels immensely tasking, but Loki nevertheless hauls himself to his feet and goes to inspect the other rooms. First, there is the washroom. The scent of lavender is stronger in there, even more inviting, and spotting a stack of fresh towels on a shelf, he considers taking a shower. It is not as if he cannot easily use magic to uphold appearances (wait, were there showers at the TVA?), but that is no substitute for the soothing feel of warm water running down his body, relaxing his tired muscles.

Yes, he will shower. And cast a spell on the apartment, so he will be alerted if anybody attempts to enter.

He takes a small comfort in his powers being restored.

Loki reckons the other door leads to the sleeping chambers but just to be sure, he magics it open with a flick of his wrist.

A window with closed blinds. A wooden bookcase to one side, volumes and magazines piled high. An old, white wardrobe with brass grips. A pile of clothes strewn haphazardly on the thick yellow rug on the floor near a large, unmade bed.

Unmade – and not empty.

//

Loki stands perfectly still, one hand still raised.

Why did he not sense that someone was here?!

Seeing as Clint (Bird-Eye?) managed to surprise him in Budapest, perhaps Loki’s “wolf’s ears” really are failing him.

Even so, his nose is working just fine. Unless …

Then he knows. Of course.

His tongue tastes bile.

Inching closer, he sees the black hair spilling over the madras. His own lean, sculpted body whose long limbs and handsome Asgardian features Loki has never felt less appreciation for than right this very moment.

The variant is deep asleep. And half-naked under the sheets.

Something twists in his stomach at the scene. Something small and pathetic and evil that wants out. A foul, winged creature batting against his ribcage with sharp claws.

He takes another step forward.

How has the variant not been alerted to his presence yet? He seemed strong – very strong – in 2016.

Loki studies his twin’s face. His own exact face. Same high cheek bones, same long, dark lashes against a pale complexion. Only this close, the man’s skin has a faint ashen sheen to it. A few tiny beads of sweat glisten on his temples and, yes, Loki hears it now, his breathing is slightly labored.

He is injured. Enough to dull his senses.

It is not the madman from the Void, as Loki had feared after their first encounter. His energy is quite different from any of the other variants, and Loki suspects he may be the closest to a perfect double that he’s encountered yet (and please, let this one be the last. No more variants or Loki will forget which life was his own).

Stepping so close he can lean over the bed, the reason for the variant’s sedated state becomes evident:

Tied around the man’s mid-section, just about visible over the sheets, is the upper edge of a large bandage. Loki sniffs. Yes, he can sense the wound and the ugly tinge of dark magic still surrounding it, like a poisonous signature: This was inflicted by a blade of the dark elves. The variant has come from Svartalfheim after all.

The cut must have been near fatal, but from the smell of it, it is healing well, aided by the variant’s own powers and what can only be human medicine, judging by the clinical odor.

Even so, why was he not taken to the healers on Asgard?

Because he is evading his punishment for the attack on New York, Loki guesses.

Thor and Jane must have brought him to London instead of delivering him back to Odin. Although thanks to Heimdall’s watchful gaze, the All-Father will be aware of what has transpired. In his condition, the chances of the variant being able to use his magic to shield himself from Heimdall are next to none.

Still, he is here. No one has come for him yet.

Loki does not know which is stranger: That the variant is legitimately, badly injured and not currently in the process of dispatching Odin off to some home for the elderly in New York, or that Odin has allowed the variant to be taken to Midgard instead of the dungeons.

Presumably neither the All-Father nor Thor are aware of the variant’s role in Frigga’s death.

Though he tries to shake them off, the images remain crystal clear: The queen mother, killed by one of Malekeith’s monster.

A shiver suddenly runs through the variant’s body on the bed and Loki holds his breath. The man shifts under the sheets but does not wake.

So, dear ‘brother’, your Nexus event was that you nearly died for the people who care for you instead of following up your heroism with deceit, as I would have done.

What sentiment.

The winged creature growls.

Loki could kill him right now.

Kill him and take his place.

It would be easy, so easy to slit his throat. It is not as if he has not committed murder before.

“I don’t enjoy hurting people. I don’t enjoy it …” But this is not ‘people’.

This man is a murderer as well.

The variant has already veered spectacularly off course from his fate, and yet there are no Minute Men next to his bed, holding him accountable for his “crimes against the sacred timeline”, nor will he be apprehended in the following years.

This man got “the Time Keepers’ stamp of approval”, just like the Avengers.

It is so monumentally unfair it is enough to make Loki’s fingers grasp for an invisible dagger. The variant’s existence makes a mockery of the life that was cruelly stolen from Loki by the TVA and for that he loathes him with every fiber of his identical body.

Why should the variant have any more right to live?

Because he will make her happy.

Loki forces himself to rein in the rage. The man will play a part in Jane’s life.

He stares at his sleeping double.

The variant is worthy.

Or just simply unbearably, ridiculously lucky.

No matter what, he must live, but if Loki stays here much longer, he fears the variant’s chances of making it past 2013 will rapidly decrease by the minute.

Loki cannot stand to look at him, nor will he contemplate the fact that the variant is comfortable enough in the apartment to discard his clothes.

If he does, he will stab him to death. And relish in it.

Loki is about to magic himself away to find somewhere nearby to wait for Thor and Jane’s return, when a noise reaches him from the hall outside the apartment.

Someone is coming towards the front door, keys in hand.

Jane.

//

He should leave immediately. Disappear before she can turn the key in the door.

But he does not.

Still looking at the sleeping, half-covered form in front of him, something finally snaps instead. The winged creature shrieks in delight.

A quick spell ensures that no sounds from outside the sleeping chamber can reach the variant, no matter how light his sleep becomes.

Another one renders all the light switches in the apartment useless.

Then Loki swiftly picks up the clothes from the floor, looks it over, and changes his own black outfit into what he is holding: A dark green, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of soft, well-known black leather pants that makes him feel both a bit homesick and a lot stronger.

Don’t do this, don’t do this.

A voice, not the clock this time but his own. He ignores it.

He does not know what Jane’s relationship with the variant is of this time or what state of mind she expects to find him in, but she has let him stay here – and right now, she is alone.

Her fingers weaving through his hair while the sun beat down on his back.

His conscience will not allow him to kill the variant, yet Loki cannot resist the temptation to be him.

Again.

But just for a heartbeat or two.

This last part he promises to himself and to her, though it does nothing to bury the shame.

Perhaps he did not change at all during his time at the TVA. Perhaps his true, villainous self just lay dormant, biding his time, while various oppressors walked all over him.

Is a stolen moment with her worth more than his honor? Is it worth jeopardizing his one chance of enlisting Thor’s help?

Yes.

Yes, it is.

This is lowest you have ever sunk.

Shut up.

He steps out of the bedroom and closes the door behind him, but not before catching a glimpse of himself in a mirror on the wall. His hair. The variant’s hair is noticeably longer. He cocks his head to the side once and the difference is levelled out.

In the hall, Jane is fiddling with the keys. When the lock clicks, Loki is sitting on the blue couch again, trying to appear casual while his pulse is racing as fast as when Bruce turned green before him.

And there she is.

Hair windswept, cheeks flushed from the cool evening air, wearing a dark green parka, jeans and boots.

Her eyes find his in the low light and a warm smile spreads on her face. His heart leaps into his throat.

“You’re back”. She does not stop to take off her jacket or attempt to turn on the lights before coming towards him and, unsure of what to say, he stands up. She stops in front of him, apparently a little unsure of the situation herself. She bites her lip.

“So how did it go?”

Her voice sounds at once both concerned and hopeful and her eyes are wide with expectation.

She is searching for some sort of positive affirmation and so Loki smiles down at her and says the only thing that seems fitting:

“It went well”.

Jane exhales loudly and her smile returns. “It did?!”

“Yes”, Loki replies, grinning at her (her smile is too infectious) and hoping she will not ask him to elaborate on whatever the subject is.

“Of course it did! I mean, you’re still here, aren’t you? Oh Loki, I’m so insanely relieved!” Jane laughs and looks like she is about to throw herself into his arms (automatically he reaches for her) when she stops herself mid-motion. “Sorry! I nearly forgot. Again!”

She takes one of his hands in both of hers, and Loki swallows hard as her fingers softly caress his with unmistakable intimacy.

“But seriously, you two didn’t fight, like fight-fight, did you …? I hope Thor didn’t …”. She trails off and looks at him questioningly.

“No. No, we didn’t fight. Don’t worry. We both … behaved”. Loki tries to catch up while keeping his replies as vague as he hopes he can afford.

The variant and Thor have had words, and Jane has worried about the outcome. Could it have been a discussion of whether to return Loki to Asgard? But then why has Thor not come back to the apartment?

In fact, why go anywhere else to talk at all, with the variant being as beat up as he is?

Because he and Thor both expected a row not suited for the indoors.

“Okay, you sit, you’ve moved around enough for one day. I’ll fix us something to eat and you’re going to tell me everything”. Jane gently lets go of his hand, then shoots him a teasing smile. “Unless you’ve emptied the fridge. Again”.

“Um”, is Loki’s inspired contribution to the conversation.

“Uh oh, pasta it is then”, Jane laughs, and goes to shrug off her jacket and boots in the hallway, revealing an open flannel shirt with a white T-shirt underneath.

Was she wearing the same thing that day in the desert town? It looks familiar.

Jane flips a light switch next to the coat rack and makes a “huh”-sound as nothing happens. She tries a lamp next to the dining table with the same result.

“Has the electricity gone again? Was it out when you got back?”

“Ah, yes. It was”.

“The landlord seriously needs to fix this, that’s the third time this week…good old London”. Jane scoffs but does not sound all that bothered.

“Can you work a little magic for us?”

When Loki does not move, Jane walks up to him (now even shorter without her footwear) and lightly places a hand on his arm, nudging him back on the couch. “Sit. And shine a light, please”.

He lets her push him down, and her hand moves up to rest on his shoulder. Now he is the one looking up at her. She is standing between his legs and there it is, the affection in her eyes that almost makes him forget that he is not the man it is meant for.

He wonders for how long he can get away with not saying anything remotely coherent before she suspects something’s amiss.

Obeying her wish, he holds out his palm and a small, orange flame appears, casting a warm glow on both their faces. Motioning with his fingers, he makes the flame float elegantly over the low coffee table in front of the couch where it stills in the air.

“I was thinking more along the lines of just making the electricity come back on, like last time, but okay, that is very pretty too”. Jane looks at the little light with wonder and Loki thinks he sees the stars in her eyes again.

Then her attention is back on him. Her fingers brush against his hair. They linger by the curls at the nape of his neck.

“I don’t know if it’s relief, but it’s almost like you look a bit … different”. Jane’s eyes roam his face, his hair. “Do you even still have a fever?”

Before Loki can answer her hand is touching his forehead.

Jane shakes her head in surprise. “It’s much better than this morning. Maybe it was good for you to get some real air after all. It has been almost three weeks …”

How easily she touches him. How sad that he's not used to being touched anymore.

He has only to lay his hand on her forehead in return and he could use his powers to reveal glimpses of her past (yes, he kept many of his gifts from the female on Lamentis).

More specifically, what has happened between her and the variant.

But not without revealing himself in the process.

Her left hand is still on his shoulder while the other now travels down the side of his cheek. He leans into her touch and closes his eyes, just breathing in the scent of her skin when he feels her bending down and locks of her auburn hair tickle his face.

He opens his eyes and looks right into hers, inches from his.

You have not earned this.

You are deliberately, selfishly, monstrously taking advantage of her.

I am a monster.

And then her mouth is on his and he does not say no.

To hell with his soul.

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

For a second, she thinks she feels him tense up.

But as soon as her lips melt onto his and he immediately, hungrily reciprocates the kiss, everything is right again.

Crazy, sure, but also oh so right.

Jane literally never wants to stop kissing him.

She actually told him exactly that the other night. Or, accidentally blurted it out as they were coming up for air, since she is falling for him so fast her brain apparently cannot keep up with her mouth.

Immediately she had felt embarrassed, but it did not last longer than it took for him to raise a teasing eyebrow at her and pull her close again. “Why, Doctor Foster”, he had purred in that low voice that he absolutely knows makes her go weak, “by all means, please…(and he’d kissed her) don’t…(another kiss) stop … (kiss) Ever”.

Then he had leaned back a little, still gently cupping her face between his large hands, and flashed her the most gorgeous, happy, wickedly lascivious smile she had seen on him so far.

Not many people radiate smoldering sex appeal while simultaneously suffering from the agonizing pain of a wound inflicted by an alien sword, but of course Loki pulls it off with flying colors.

From there on, there had been no returning to ‘movie night’.

Now, trying not to break the kiss, Jane carefully moves to sit herself down on the couch as well, making sure not to press against him. For two weeks, they have been making out like teenagers whenever they are alone. Somewhat hindered by his injuries, obviously, which prohibits him from moving much – it is both very, very hot and insanely frustrating.

The first time she had kissed him, he had been too stunned to move a muscle anyway.

The second time, he had nearly ripped the wound open again.

Since then, they have tried to take it slow, although on more than one occasion, Loki has been all but begging to throw caution to the wind – “I’ll heal!", “It doesn't hurt!” (said as he looked like he was going to pass out), and, Jane’s favorite, “It might make me heal faster”.

His impatience would be quite funny if it was not because Jane was feeling just as dizzy with want.

She has been going for a lot of runs in Hyde Park lately.

“Do you have a death wish?!”, she had asked him teasingly at one point when he had spontaneously grabbed her hand as she passed him the kitchen and pulled her tight against him, only to groan loudly in pain when her body collided with his bandage.

Then he had looked suddenly very serious and let her go, and she had instantly regretted the comment.

She knows enough about his past not to joke about things like that.

“Oh. Oh, no”.

That was all her mind had been capable of thinking when she and Loki had locked eyes in the palace on Asgard, right after she had slapped him (surprising both herself and everyone around her).

He had looked down at her with his trademark arrogant smirk, except as soon as Thor and Sif had turned away, his gaze had turned infinitely softer, and Jane had felt something monumental start to shift inside of her.

Something that had nothing to do with the Aether coursing through her veins.

Not long after that, on that awful, doomsday-looking planet, he had saved her life. Twice in quick succession. And for a horrifying second, it had looked like he would die right in front of her.

The memory makes her involuntarily shudder a bit and, drawing her legs up on the couch so she can twist to face him more directly, she runs her fingers through his long, silken hair, and nips at his lower lip… and is startled when his head jerks. For real this time.

Jane draws back.

“Are you okay?”. Perhaps things did not go as smoothly with Thor as she had hoped.

It was a big ask after all.

Once more she feels a sharp pang of guilt. It is not just her and Loki’s worlds that have been turned resoundingly upside down in a matter of one turbulent month.

Loki seems lost for words, and the sadness flooding his face shocks her.

He is far from okay.

In fact, he looks close to tears. Were it not because she had just felt his cool forehead, she would have assumed it was the fever flaring up.

Jane feels her stomach tie itself into a knot. They are taking him away from her before they have even had a chance be together.

Or, even worse still, he has regretted everything about their unlikely union.

“Jane, I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry…”

Here it comes, Jane thinks as nausea builds. Erik is about to be proved right about him.

She lets go of him. He is clearly wrestling with himself.

And he does look different. Is this what him dropping the mask looks like?

It is more than just his facial expression, it is his entire posture. Even wounded and half delirious with fever, Loki usually carries himself with no small amount of pride.

His eyes are so lost.

What the hell is going on?

“Just tell me, Loki”. Jane tries to disguise how alarmed she suddenly feels. His touch is the same, and yet it is like a stranger is taking over the man in front of her.

He inhales deeply and runs both his hands through his hair. Entirely without wincing as he lifts his elbows above his chest, she notices.

“Okay”, he begins. “Jane…” (the way he says her name, like he is tasting the word) “…you have every right to hate me for what I’m about to tell you. I truly deserve nothing less.”

She feels the tears welling up.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe you’re doing this.” Her voice breaks and Loki has the audacity to look taken aback.

“Are you being dragged back to Asgard, or are you dumping me? After trying so hard to get into my pants?!”

It comes out way too harshly, and Loki appears genuinely flummoxed.

Also, his face has gone red.

“Oh, Jane, no, he’s not going to… He won’t leave. I mean- ”

“What?” A chill runs down her spine.

“’He’? ‘He’ who? Thor?”

Before he can answer, they both jump a little as her phone suddenly goes off in her bag by the door.

That inane ringtone.

She still has not changed it.

Erik. She promised she’d let him know as soon as …

Jane wants to ignore it, but then her mentor will most likely keep calling and she cannot put it on silent from the couch. Loki probably could though, but she is not about to ask.

“Wait”. She holds up a hand and gets up.

While rummaging in the bag, a single tear runs down her cheek. No. She will keep her composure and listen to what he has to say like the commonsensical grown-up woman that she is.

Was.

She’s only just begun to get to know him properly, so why does it feel like she won’t be able to live without him?

She pulls out the damn phone and presses the button on the side.

The she straightens up again and turns. “Okay, Loki …”

Jane gasps.

The room is dark. And empty.

No, he didn’t!

“Loki!”

No answer.

She stalks over to the couch and frantically looks around. Nothing.

“Loki, don’t you dare!”

The phone vibrates in her hand. Shaking all over, Jane answers the call. “Erik?”. Her voice is very small. “Yes, hi, Jane, it’s me. Listen, has Loki gotten back yet?”

She starts crying. “Erik, he left. He was here when I came home and just now, he disappeared! He didn’t even say goodbye.”

She can hear how desperate she sounds.

“What do you mean ‘disappeared’?” Erik sounds confused.

“He is gone! I turned my back on him for one second and he vanished!” Jane’s voice breaks.

“Look, Jane, I really can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe you misunderstood him? He came to see me not two hours ago after that thing with Thor and, well, let’s just say he went out of his way to make a case for himself. And you…”

“What? What did he- ”

“Jane?” Darcy’s voice cuts through. She must have taken the phone from Erik. “The lunatic is absolutely batshit crazy about you, okay? Stop blubbering. He’s probably just bored and fucking with you since you’re not actually f- ”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Muffled sounds, as Erik wrestles the phone back.

“Come on over, Jane, okay? We’re all still at the lab. Ian’s made tortillas if you can believe it”.

“But…” Jane wavers. Is Loki really playing a joke on her?

Erik is not taking no for answer: “Jane, don’t indulge these little games of his, okay? Come have dinner with us, and I’ll tell you what he told me before. And if he isn’t back later tonight, it’ll be my pleasure to enlist Thor to beat the crap out of him. It’s long overdue”.

Despite herself, Jane cannot help but smile.

“Okay. I’m coming over”. She exhales. The feeling of unease is subsiding a bit.

“Good girl”, Erik says. “Tell her to bring beer!” Darcy shouts from somewhere in background.

Jane hangs up and puts on her boots again. Loki and Erik had an actual conversation with no casualties?

She grabs her jacket and slams the front door behind her.

He really is infuriating, that prince of hers.

If he turns up later, she will make him pay dearly for scaring her.

No making out for a week.

(Yeah, right.)

To be continued in part 7 ....

This was supposed to have been the final chapter. Only 'someone' needed extra time star gazing. Please forgive me him!

[vampcubus]

Quiet (Midoriya/Reader | Angst)

| A/n: You know there are some days I question how psychotic I have to be to find pleasure in the suffering that comes when writing angst. *le sad*  |

| See part 2 ... here |

✧❀ Warnings: Angst, unresolved feelings, big sad mood. ❀✧

✧❀ Words: 2800+ ❀✧

| Summary: As Izuku continues to chase his dreams you find yourself being pushed to the side until it seems you’ve been forgotten, and yet you keep quiet. But it seems today that the very person who forgot about you wants nothing more than to talk to you. |

.   .   .

You bit your lip. Buried your teeth into your tongue. Puffed out your cheeks and bit the insides of them. You kept your mouth shut for a long time, perhaps too long you supposed as you watched a familiar head of wild green hair walk past you along with Iida and Ochako.

You held your breath, closed your eyes, clenched your teeth. You wondered if things would have been different had you swallowed your damn fears and said something. Your eyes followed him as far as they could before he was just too far away.

You took in a deep breath and started walking. You had no real idea where; you kept moving until you were stepping inside of a cafe just off-campus. Your ears perked up at the sound of Midoriya’s voice and Ochako’s laughter, followed by a brief lecture from Iida. You turned to see the trio seated in one of the booths.

Midoriya’s face turns to the entrance of the cafe, but you’re already gone.

You close your eyes, knaw at your nails, and roll your tongue against the roof of your mouth. You wait for the pedestrian walk light to show before crossing the street, walking away from the cafe. As you walk, you don’t notice Midoriya looking out the entrance of the cafe. He deflates when he spots you walking away.

Iida and Ochako come up behind Deku to ask him why he’d gotten up so fast.

“I don’t get it, I was certain she went here every day.” Midoriya sighs and Uraraka places a hand on his shoulder. “I even asked Ashido to be sure.”

“Maybe we’ll see her later, don’t give up yet, Deku.” She reassures him, and he puts on a determined face, nodding in agreement.

.   .   .

You strolled into a familiar shop, smiling at the clerk who recognized you straight away, corralling you into an aisle of books with their newest releases. You skim the covers with your eyes, reaching out to pull a book out and flip through the pages every now and then. A book with skeletal cats and a red and black color scheme caught your eye and you picked it up, opening it up to look through it.

In your distracted state, smiling down at the pictures of cats above each page of text, you almost don’t catch three familiar voices as they wander into the shop. Midoriya approaches the front desk and the clerk greets all three of the students, asking what they were looking for. As they are distracted, you shut the book and place it back on the shelf, holding your breath as you discreetly slipped out of the shop, making eye contact with the clerk on your way out who seems to realize what’s going on.

“Actually we’re looking for a friend, we were told she comes through here often,” Midoriya admits sheepishly, hands wringing anxiously as the woman places a hand to her chin as if to think. “Y-you wouldn’t happen to have seen her today have you?”

“Is she the quiet one? Er… L/N, I think it was?” She wonders, and Midoriya perks up at the sound of your name.

“Yes, that’s her!” Deku smiles, eyes bright and hopeful, and the clerk can’t help but smile.

“Well, I’m afraid you just missed her, sorry kid.” She sighs.

“Oh…” Midoriya shrinks a little, clearly dejected by the news. And once again, Ochako comforts him, a hand on his back as he wracks his brain for another solution. “Well, she couldn’t have gone far, right?”

The three exit the store in search of the ghost of you.

.   .   .

You arrive at your final routinely spot of the day, smiling at the blissfully unoccupied picnic table tucked away at the edge of the park just by the forest, separated by a leaning chain-link fence. You look up at the dimming sky, the slight smell of rain and wood calming your nerves. You slide onto the rotting-wooden bench of the picnic table, pulling your knees to your chest in a comfortable balled-up position.

You pull down your hood and pull out your phone, putting in your earbuds and looking up at the sky, watching the sun draw ever closer to setting; waiting for the stars to come out.

Just as the green-haired boy starts to worry that he’s already missed you, he spots your small form at a picnic table at the edge of the park. He lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of you sitting still and not walking away. He gets Iida and Ochako’s attention and points to you, and they look equally relieved to have finally caught up to you after a whole day of hunting.

“Well, I’m afraid this is where we part, Midoriya I hope all goes well with L/N.” Iida salutes and the other two chuckle at their friend’s eccentric behavior.

“Thank you, Iida, I appreciate your help today.” Midoriya thanks him, bowing his head in gratitude and waving at him as he leaves the park to walk back on campus.

Ochako turns to face him and gestures for him to take a deep breath with her, knowing how nervous he must be.

“You’ve got this, Deku, I believe in you!” Uraraka whisper-shouts, raising her hand to offer a fist-pump which he gratefully accepts.

Once Uraraka is out of sight, Midoriya turns around and starts to make his way towards the relaxed shape of you.

“Okay, big breaths…” He mutters to himself as he approaches you, one big ball of anxiety. He stops a few feet away, just to admire you as you watched the sky without a care in the world, a small smile on your lips as your eyes traveled from star to star. “You can do this, Deku.” He tries to pep himself up, though the moment you shift he freezes and almost dashes off.

You uncurl from your ball and stretch your limbs out, turning your head away from the sky to change the song on your phone when you notice a shadow looming over you. You knit your brows together in confusion and turn around, heart leaping into your throat and forcing a gasp from it as you spot Deku a few feet away who stiffens as well when he meets your wide eyes.

You remove your earbuds and pull your knees back up to your chest, mouth opening several times to ask what he was doing here, but each time you clamped it back shut.

“U-Uh h-hey, Y/N-chan! fancy seeing you here I was just looking—p-passing through.” Midoriya babbles with a nervous smile, trying to formulate a proper sentence. Though finally talking to you face-to-face suddenly became more difficult than he remembered. “What are you doing out here all by yourself?”

You bite your tongue, hold your breath, clench your teeth. Anything to keep the words from spilling. Words you’ve kept down for months.

You can’t just say nothing though.

“Hey, Midoriya.” Is all you can manage before biting down on your tongue again, avoiding his eyes. You know it’s not enough to weasel out of the conversation so you add, “Don’t worry about me, I should be going now anyway.”

Deku’s eyes widened when you got up from the picnic table, shoving your phone in your pocket, ready to leave. He panics, wracking his brain for the right words to say to stop you. Instead, his hand shoots out before he can stop it and grabs your hand.

“No, please don’t go yet!” He blurts out, sounding desperate as you halt all movement and look back at him with wide eyes. Your gaze drifts between his face and his hands as it grasps yours, lips parted in surprise. “I… can we talk for a minute?”

Why? Why does he want to talk now? What could you possibly have that he wants to talk to you about after months of distance, almost a year of growing apart until you had no part in his life?

“Um.” You gesture at his grip on your fingers and he turns bright red, flushing from his neck to his ears. He jerks his hand away from yours and squeezes out a ‘sorry!’

Despite your conscience, the voice telling you to just leave, you sit back down on the rotting bench looking expectantly at him as he stands there.

“Are you going to sit down?” You ask flatly, and the boy jumps with a ‘right’, scrambling to sit down beside you.

It’s quiet.

“Y/N?” Midoriya starts out, and you grimace at the sound, not liking the way each syllable fell from his lips in that nervous voice of his.

“Don’t act like we’re familiar.” You hiss, letting the annoyance slip out into your tone.

He stares for a moment, and you don’t miss the hurt that flashes behind those big green eyes of his. He looks like he wants to say something but can’t quite find the words. Why did it make you feel bad that you had plenty of things to say and he had none?

“We’re… not?” Midoriya asks, the sound small in his throat.

What were you talking about? ‘don’t act like we’re familiar?’ The green-haired boy vividly remembers a time when you were very close, and he was the only one that was allowed to use your first name, the only one that could talk to you longer than five minutes without you closing off. You used to come over for playdates at his house and build blanket forts so you could read All Might comics and share dumb secrets. He can’t think of a time he wasn’t familiar with you, even if you had grown apart since you started high school.

You still kept in touch over text and he invited you over to study every now and then.

But now that he thinks of it, he can’t remember the last time he texted you. He can’t recall the last time you had a meaningful conversation outside or inside of school. But even if you didn’t see each other as much, he still considered you his friend. And he’s been crushing on you since middle school. Have you really become unfamiliar with one another? 

You haven’t been close lately, sure, but hearing you say that hurt his feelings.

“Don’t act surprised.” You groan, looking up at the sky. Did he really expect things to just be okay between you after basically ghosting you for almost a year? “This is the first time you’ve talked to me in months.”

Your words hit him hard, and he can feel the guilt crawling on his skin. He feels sick. He realizes just how true your words are when he tries to remember a time you talked in the past few months but couldn’t. It really has been that long.

“I-I’m sorry about that, I guess I was just… busy trying to become the number one h-hero you know?” He chuckles nervously, offering you a smile, hoping that maybe it would lift your spirits, or at least make you look at him.

“You never seem too busy for Ochako or Iida.” You deadpanned, resting your chin on your hand as you leaned over the picnic table. Midoriya’s eyes widened, and he tried to think of what to say, though he should have picked his words a bit more carefully because the next sentence even makes him wince as soon as it comes out.

“B-But that’s different.” Midoriya stutters, squinting his eyes shut and mentally kicking himself. What kind of excuse was that?

“How is it different?” You asked.

“I…” He couldn’t even answer you. What was he supposed to say? It wasn’t different, you were all in the same class, he had countless opportunities to talk to you and he just didn’t. “I’m sorry, that’s no excuse...”

 He hangs his head low, owning up to it.

“Sorry for what? Not talking to me for months or thinking that you could just walk up to me and be all buddy-buddy again?” You had to admit that it sounded harsh, and perhaps you were being petty, but could he really blame you? You spent most of your childhood only sharing his attention with Kacchan, and suddenly there was no room in his life for you.

“Well, you could’ve talked to me too… you haven’t necessarily been the most sociable either.” He mumbles, twiddling his thumbs together.

“Oh, so now it’s my fault.”

He sits up straight raising his hands defensively as you scowl at him from over your shoulder, the bitterness of your tone sending him into panic mode. He hadn’t meant it that way, he would never blame you for this.

“N-no! That’s not what I meant at all!” Midoriya sputtered. “Y/N please hear me out—”

“L/N.” You corrected and Midoriya felt himself choke on the lump in his throat and the tears start to well up in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry in front of you, he’d done that all the time when he was younger, and not once did you hesitate to comfort him no matter what he was crying about. Crying would solve nothing now.

“Y/N please, I-I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be. But please don’t do this, you-you’ve always been an amazing f-friend to me, please don’t shut me out now.” He whimpered, the tears starting to drip down his freckled cheeks.

“You’re the one who shut me out. Don’t twist things to fit into whatever narrative your imagination has written up.” You hissed.

“I didn’t! You keep saying that like I’m not trying to f-fix this, I care about you, and j-just because you stopped believing it doesn’t make it untrue.” Midoriya insisted.

“Fix what? Our friendship that you forgot about?” You scoffed, putting some distance between you on the bench. The resentment in your eyes as you say it shakes him to the core, terrifying him. The thought of you hating him makes him actually want to throw up, he feels nauseous just thinking about it.

“Please—” He chokes on a sob. “P-please don’t h-hate me, please don’t hate me.”

You stared down at the wooden patterns of the picnic table, trying to ignore the pathetic sobs and sniffles to your right. You hated seeing Izuku cry. You can remember a time you would’ve thrown hands for anyone who made him cry. It bugged you even now that you were the cause of his tears, but you were hurt too and no amount of tears can fix that. You didn’t hate him, you hated that this is what your long-term friendship had come to.

“I haven’t been a part of your life since we started high school, Izuku. Do you have any idea how I felt when we stopped talking? I thought that you were getting bored of me, that somehow I just wasn’t worth your time anymore.” You confessed, feeling the tears start to form in your own eyes. You hastily wiped them with the sleeve of your hoodie.

Midoriya sniffled, ears perking at the sound of his first name tumbling so unexpectedly from your lips. He missed being called Izuku, and he’d always admired the fact that you never stopped using it. He felt more and more terrible with every word that left your lips, letting him in on your perspective, how you had been feeling because of him. 

Bored with you? Never! You were always so important, so unique to him. You were the only one who believed in him before he got a quirk.

“I figured that hey, maybe you were just busy and so I didn’t bother you. I thought that hey, once you’re not so busy you’d call me, or text me, or something. But… you didn’t and I… before I knew it, you had new friends, a new life,” You sniffled, unable to muffle the sound behind your sleeve this time and Izuku’s eyes widened in horror when he realized that you were crying. “Without me.”

Izuku sobbed into his hands, the tears rolling freely as he cried. You looked over at his trembling form, letting your own silent tears dampen your hoodie sleeve. One thing about Izuku that you had always admired was that he was never afraid to express himself. There wasn’t a moment in the world that he was insincere with his emotions, whenever he cried he cried for real. So unlike you and many others, bottling up their emotions and hiding their faces from others.

You couldn’t watch this anymore.

“I-I need to go.” You got up to leave again and Midoriya’s head shot up the moment you moved, teary eyes watching as you stood up. “Goodnight, Midoriya.”

And with that, you walked away. Izuku let his head fall into his hands, he pulled at his hair in frustration, clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles started to bruise. He cried harder than he had in a long time, muttering a million sorries into the night in hopes that if he said it enough you’d hear him, and forgive him. 

But just like he did when you waited for him to call, to text, to say something… you stayed quiet.

[daleisgreat]

The Avengers: Endgame

Over the last couple months I finally upgraded to somewhat modern TV and gaming rigs in the form of a 55” Samsung 4KTV and Xbox Series X. I own three 4K UHD discs, but one I already covered a couple years back with my entry of the BluRay version that came bundled with the 4K disc of Die Hard. The other is a two pack of the first two John Wick films, and rest assured those will get their day in the sun here eventually. From my research, the Xbox Series X is not a top shelf 4K BluRay player, at least not at the system’s launch before presumable system software updates, but also sounds like a fairly better quality version of the drive that came in the Xbox One X|S, and also supports upscaling of regular BluRays to 4K. Coincidentally, on top of my movie backlog pile was a movie I absolutely wanted to take advantage of that 4K upscaling and thus here we are with today’s write-up for 2019’s The Avengers: Endgame (trailer). WARNING: Unlike nearly most of my other movie recaps I will be diving into serious spoiler territory ahead. The amount of hype leading up to Endgame was insurmountable. Anthony and Joseph Russo did an astounding job directing the first part in 2018’s Infinity War (read my entry for it here). Both that and Endgame top the three hour mark to squeeze in as many characters, references, periphery side plots and so much more from the previous 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe films that lead up to this finale. By accomplishing just that, both movies are the breeziest three hour viewings I have experienced because the Russo brothers do a commendable job at keeping the scenes flowing and doing their best to give everyone their proper time to shine. The ending of Infinity War saw Thanos (Josh Brolin) deliver the snap heard around the world that vanished half of all life in the entire universe. It was a soul-crushing downer of a cliffhanger to end on, but the post-credits tag hinting at the cry of help for Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) left crowds with a glimmer of hope. This being based around comic books there is the unwritten rule where no one truly stays dead either, so part of the experience going into Endgame was to see how the remaining Avengers plan to bring everybody back. Endgame kicks off with the fresh effects of ‘the snap’ when it starts with Hawkeye’s family all getting dusted from him in the middle of a picnic.

The film transitions to the remaining un-dusted Avengers squad of Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Iron Man (Robert Downer Jr.) floating aimlessly in space until the convenient deus ex machina that is Captain Marvel miraculously tracks them down and hauls them back to Earth. A few weeks Avengers HQ tracks down Thanos on an isolated planet and with Captain Marvel’s power, they anticlimactically kill him off in a brief scene. This was one of the parts of the film that did not sit well with me after building up Thanos as this unrivaled threat in all the previous films, and to have the Avengers cold-bloodedly put him down in quick order seems so……unlike them, but he did off half the universe so I understand how the Russo’s felt justified for filming it that way, but I cannot help that it did not come across right, and could have been handled better. Of course, a more proper Thanos battle would be coming later in the final act thanks to my pet peeve plot device that is…. …TIME TRAVEL!!!! This and alternate dimension traveling I despise and have turned me off to many shows over the years like Lost and CW’s DC shows. The worst of it is indeed present here because meaningful character deaths that happened in Infinity War to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Gamura (Karen Gillan) become undone and their sacrifices proved for naught. All that griping aside however, I will give the Russo brothers credit because even with those qualms I feel they pull off time travel and have it appear as more than a convenient storytelling method. Again, major props because that is a hell of a hurdle to overcome. The filmmakers go out of their way in a couple scenes to directly call out Back to the Future’s style of time travel bullshit, and have a couple characters ever-so-carefully explain in detail and for the laymen how “real” time travel works.

This is all thanks to a rambunctious rat who inadvertently zaps Ant Man (Paul Rudd) out of the Quantum Realm…after being trapped there five years due to his team being on the end of a dusting before bringing him back. Ant Man deduces upon his return that he is able to undo the dusting through his van-quantum-realm-contraption, and convinces the Avengers to conjure up a plan they cleverly dub the “Time Heist” to travel back to capture all the Infinity Gems Stones before Thanos does. I loved how these scenes played out, and there is a plethora of fan service throughout it as the three squads of Avengers jump to different periods like the final battle of the original Avengers film, and a 1970 military base where Howard Stark (John Slattery) unknowingly meets his son. Plans do not proceed swimmingly to say the least, and past timeline Thanos becomes clued in to their plan and thwarts the Avengers attempt at trying to undo the past in a CG showpiece for the ages with his assault on Avengers HQ. The CG fireworks continue to dazzle for the bulk of the final hour of the film with a climatic showdown between Thanos and his forces against The Avengers and the returning of the dusted Marvel characters. I have seen too many comic book films fail at translating over-the-top comic book action on the silver screen, but the Russo brothers always manage to pull it off. I fondly remember the theater crowd going gaga when Captain America (Chris Evans) summons Mjolnir and wallops Thanos with it. The women of Marvel have another moment to shine together where they collectively team up to kick ass. Moments of levity are brilliantly peppered in throughout the chaos for a much-needed chuckle from the nonstop adrenaline-boosting action. That final battle masterfully builds up to the dramatic sacrifice of Iron Man in the standout emotional scene of the film.

The resulting aftermath was heartwarmingly done here with a pre-recorded farewell from Iron Man, and a collage of nearly all the major and minor MCU characters at Iron Man’s funeral. I believe this is the first MCU film without a post-credits tag, and that is 100% fine by me, because the beginning of the credits is a lovingly crafted tribute to the original Avengers cast done in the fashion of the Original Series cast of Star Trek VI that resonated with me feeling the end of a pivotal era of the MCU that I have been largely enjoying since the original 2008 Iron Man. I usually do not dive into this much detail and spoilers when recapping the movies here, but due to this being the final chapter of this era of the MCU films I could not help myself, and believe me there is so much more I wanted to dive in here on because like I said, the Russo brothers crammed in an incredible amount of narrative into three hours. There is so much ground in here it is impossible for me to recap it all, and that it will in all likelihood be the fastest three hour movie you will ever endure. I did not get a chance to even touch on over-the-hill Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the hybrid Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo (spoiler: they both killed it!)). Endgame unsurprisingly did major bank at the box office, so I feel safe knowing most of you reading this already watched it by now which is another reason I went all out on the spoilers.

I re-watched the film for this entry a second time with commentary from the Russo brothers, and writers Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, and that greatly helped explain some little tidbits that were easy to miss and/or not fully comprehend in the midst of the three hours. I know this is a little detail, but I want to give props to Marvel for being one of the few companies out there for shelling out resources to caption the commentary track! I exponentially appreciate it more than you know! The commentary helped with understanding why they did not do a lot for Black Widow’s (Scarlett Johansson) aftermath of her death because she has her prequel film set to release. Other notable takeaways from the commentary was how Stark’s “I am Iron Man” line was a last minute addition to the film, giving credit to Star Trek VI as inspiration for their credits sequence, being hopeful for Marvel capitalizing on Falcon donning Cap’s shield and lots of understandable love for the visual effects team for their hard work. Aside from the commentary track, the BluRay has a second disc with just under an hour of bonus material. There is the requisite short, but top-of-the-line gag reel that is standard in most Marvel Studios home videos. There are five minutes of deleted scenes worth a look, with some of them lightheartedly covering up plot holes. Remembering Stan Lee is a touching tribute to Stan, filled with archived interviews from him on his experiences in the cameos, and showing plenty of delightful off-camera interactions with the cast and crew. There are well done character profile pieces for Thor, Black Widow, Captain America and Iron Man, with each one having countless cast and crew state proper kudos to what the actors have done for those characters over the years. If you only have time for one then I recommend Man Out of Time: Creating Captain America, because it goes into a little more detail than the others and Chris Evans has some intriguing introspection from his years with the character. Finally, there are short, but worthwhile pieces on the Russo brothers and the women of the MCU that should not be skipped out on either.

As I mentioned above, the hype building up to Endgame was insurmountable, but Joseph and Anthony Russo overcame the odds and delivered a gratifying conclusion to this era of the MCU. Watching the BluRay upscaled in 4K on a TV about a third bigger than my previous set made it a grander experience too for those showpiece moments. Sure I had quibbles and nitpicks I mentioned above, but by and large those are easily overcome by how much the Russo brothers got it right with this film. I am kicking myself for waiting a year and a half to re-watch it, but picked up on a lot of little things that went right over mine and Drax’s heads the first time out. If you have yet to give The Avengers: Endgame another viewing, then do not hesitate because you will not regret once again taking in this landmark epic that delivered against all odds! Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve The Clapper Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Last Action Hero Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Nintendo Quest Not for Resale Payback (Director’s Cut) Pulp Fiction The Punisher (1989) The Ref The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Pilgrim vs the World The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild The Wizard Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[milknette]

day 18 - bookstore

cause lately i don't even know, what page you're on.

tumblr month: @auyeahaugust

links: ao3 | ff.net

THE first thing Marinette thinks as she pulls out the notebook is, that doesn't belong there.

And she's right— she knows Fu's Bookstore in and out; it's been her favorite place starting from when she discovered it in high school, and Marinette's practically lived there ever since.

(It's come to a point that some customers have assumed she's worked there, asking her questions as if she were an employee. Marinette still answers them even if she's not, just for the simple reason that she can.

Mister Fu doesn't mind either, assuring her that he loves the company and spirit she brings to the business.)

So Marinette always makes it a point to help whenever she can; her own personal way of saying thank you for providing her with a second home.

Today, she's organizing the books and placing them on their proper shelves.

It only takes a moment for her to notice the out-of-place and bright red notebook peeking out from the selection for Books About Superheroes.

"Weird," she quietly mutters to herself, wondering if someone had left it behind by mistake.

(But in case it was, then why would they shelf it, of all things?)

Curiously, Marinette opens the notebook.

On the first page, written in almost perfect handwriting:

'Up for making a new friend?

If yes, turn the page and write something!

I think that together, we'll be meowvelous.'

On the bottom is a drawing of an all-too-familiar catlike superhero, but was depicted so poorly that she almost couldn't identify it at all.

Marinette sighs.

Okay then. Guess she'll be writing something after all.

.

.

Adrien almost trips as he runs to the bookstore.

Maybe today. Maybe today someone actually replied!

He sneakily makes his way to the shelf, carefully watching to ensure that nobody's looking behind him. Adrien wraps the black jacket closer to his body in an attempt to hide himself.

Then, he opens the notebook.

First, he thinks with complete joy that, someone read it! This actually worked! He'll have a new best friend like in those coming-of-age movies and—

He flips to the next page.

'Please don't use the bookstore for your antics and jokes. I'll leave the notebook here for you to take back.

And Chat Noir, really? We all know the superior hero, and it's not him.'

Drawn below is an extremely intricate drawing of Ladybug, the superheroine of the Miraculous comic, arms out and holding her token yo-yo.

The sketch is so perfect that Adrien's tempted to rip the paper off and keep it for himself.

Instead, however, he decides to write back.

.

.

'Hey, it's not like I hate Ladybug, but we have to give Chat Noir some credit too! His puns are purrfect; absolute comedy gold.

But I love your drawing! Are you an art major?'

'His puns aren't all that clever. And you're not that great either, come to think of it. Maybe you could learn from Ladybug and start speaking more seriously?

And not an art major, but I'm in fashion design. I just like sketching in my free time. You, on the other hand? You could do with some practice. :-)'

'Then, teach me maybe?'

'Believe me, we're going to need a lot more notebooks if you want that to happen.'

.

.

Marinette doesn't know what makes her keep replying.

Maybe she doesn't want to lose a possible customer. Maybe the boredom of summer was finally getting to her. Maybe it's the fact that she pitied him because of his poor drawing skills and pure lack of taste in choosing superheroes.

Or maybe— maybe it's because she wants to know more about the strangely-optimistic and overly-friendly mysterious boy hiding behind the notebook's cover.

They continue their writing exchange for months.

(And have consequently gone through their fifth notebook to date. She figures that if they didn't doodle as much, they'd probably end up wasting much less paper.

But then again, Marinette does like seeing his awkward drawings decorate the pages.)

.

.

Their first argument over paper starts when Bookstore Stranger uses two whole pages to draw Ladybug and Chat Noir— sharing a kiss.

She doesn't even compliment him on the drawing.

'WHY ARE THEY KISSING?'

'Why not? I think they're in love! :'

'No, they're just partners by profession. A romantic relationship ruins their whole dynamic!'

'Well, I don't think that's true… if anything, that'd make their relationship that much stronger.'

'They don't even know each other beyond their masks! They can't possibly love each other without knowing their true identities.'

'So what? We don't know each other's real names.'

'Yeah, and we're not dating. Your point?'

The message doesn't come in the next day like it always does.

In fact, it doesn't come at all.

.

.

Marinette stops by the bookstore every morning.

Then every afternoon.

And even when it's closing time.

She arrives with a hopeful smile, then leaves feeling dejected and upset.

Maybe even angry.

Mister Fu asks her what's wrong.

"I found a stray kitty, and I think he ran away."

.

.

It's two weeks when she finally decides to get over it.

Marinette takes the notebook, a poorly-written #5 on its cover, and decides to throw it away.

She's two steps away from the trash can when she realizes that she can't get rid of it at all.

.

.

A month later, Marinette's taken a job at Fu's Bookstore.

It's a lazy Sunday, and she leans her head on the desk in front of her— eyes almost closing from how quiet it is.

Until the jingle of the door opening effectively wakes her up from her nap.

She rubs her eyes as the stranger walks up to her.

"Hi, I'm looking for this specific book and I just can't find it where I used to, so…"

"Okay, let me help you out," Marinette remarks, before turning to the desktop. "What's the title?"

"I actually don't know…"

She raises an eyebrow, then nods along. (Sure, she's gotten customers like this before.) "Can you describe what the contents are like, then? Or the design of the cover?"

"It's filled with sketches and some nonsense…"

"Nonsense?" Marinette wrinkles her nose. What a cruel way to describe a book someone's worked so hard on.

"I mean—! It's nonsense to everyone else, but not to me. And hopefully not to her either…"

Now, this is dragging on longer than it should.

"Then just describe the cover, please."

He brightens up. "Yeah! It's this bright red book; notebook, really, with the #5 on it? I know it should be around here somewhere, and I need to find it, I need to find a way to connect with her again…"

"..."

"See, I know it's not a real book, and I'm sorry I just snuck it here, but it's so important to me and…"

Marinette mutters unintelligibly.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear…"

She says it again.

"Can you repeat that?"

A third attempt.

"Please, just one more time—"

Visibly irritated, Marinette grabs a book from under her desk and places it in front of him. The number almost gleams as it's exposed to the light.

"That's exactly it! Thank you—"

"You can't have this."

"What?"

"It's my property."

"Look, I know I kept it in your library but…"

"No. We worked on it together, and you got to keep the last four so it's my turn."

"But—

Wait."

He looks up at her, eyes widening in surprise.

"Ladybug?"

She points at her name tag. "Marinette, actually. But hello, Chat. It's been awhile."

[sinful-imagines]

3 times Koichi was the mom friend and one time he was just a mom

aka The dumb Duwang Gang fic I spent far too long on 

AO3 link

Word count: 5442

1:

 It was a late Sunday afternoon, and Koichi was enjoying some much needed relaxation time. He wasn’t really doing anything in particular, just laying in bed and listening to the same handful of songs on repeat. Everything was calm and peaceful, just like Koichi wanted.

 So of course that’s when he gets a call from one of the most chaotic people in his life, Josuke.

 When they first met, Josuke seemed similar to Koichi in the sense that he was relaxed and levelheaded, but as their friendship developed he realized that this was not the case. Koichi didn’t mind all that much though, it was nice to have a bit of spice in his life. Sometimes it was a bit too much, though.

 He picked up the call after a few rings, a bit sad that his relaxation had been interrupted. But he tried to push that thought aside and let a smile grace his face. “Hey, what’s up?” He asked, sitting up and unplugging his headphones.

 “Oh, not much. But could I ask you for a favor?” Koichi was intrigued by this, seeing as Josuke rarely ever asked for favors, causing his mind to run with possible circumstances.

 “Sure! What do you need?” Koichi responded a bit too quickly, wanting to be a nice and reliable friend.

 “Oh thank god, I was so worried that you’d say no. I want to order something online but we’re moving soon so I don’t want it to arrive at our old address, so could I ship it to your place? I’ll pay you a few hundred yen for the trouble,” Koichi’s face lit up at that. He could be a good friend and get paid at the same time? It sounded perfect, and Koichi couldn’t wait to help out.

 “Absolutely! Just wondering though, what are you get-” Koichi started, but was cut off as Josuke hung up the call. He thought it was odd, but didn’t put too much thought into it. He sighed, laying back down and smiling.

 A few weeks later, a package arrived at Koichi’s door. Despite the fact that it was addressed to ‘Koochie Horse’ he immediately assumed it was Josuke’s package. He still had no idea about the contents of it, having completely forgotten about it until a few moments ago. Although he knew that it was probably nosy to snoop through whatever Josuke had bought, curiosity got the best of him and he decided to open up the package. After all, it was probably just a new textbook or that new racing game he’d been talking about for a while.

 Right?

 Wrong.

 The first thing innocent little Koichi saw upon opening the package was a small round container with the label ‘Gamer Girl Bath Water.’ He was confused to say the least and decided to take it out of the package, gasping quietly at the realization that it was in fact someone’s bathwater. Disgusted and disappointed at the same time, Koichi ran upstairs to give Josuke a call. He clicked on the contact as quickly as he could and eagerly waited for a response.

 “Yo, what’s u-”

 “The package came.”

 “Wait I can explain-” Josuke pleaded, very obviously holding back a laugh. “I did it ironically, I don’t actually want someone’s bathwater. Well, unless it’s Okuyasu’s. But he’s not selling it anyway so it doesn’t really matter.”

 “Josuke.. I..” Koichi paused for a minute to contemplate his life decisions that lead up to this moment, then continued. “I’m so disappointed in you. And I’m not even going to mention the last you wanting to buy Okuyasu’s bath water because that’s disgusting.” Koichi sighed, setting the accursed bath water on his nightstand.

 “I don’t blame you. Even Oku was disappointed in me, and I’m pretty sure he subscribed to her Onlyfans.”

 “That one wasn’t ironic, was it?” Koichi replied, his disappointment growing significantly as he realized that Okuyasu had paid for porn of a gamer girl.

 “Nope.”

 “I thought so.”

 2:

 After the whole bath water incident, Koichi became much more wary of Josuke’s antics. So when he asked if he wanted to have a sleepover for the first time, he was pretty nervous. Not to say that he wasn’t excited, he was just anxious that he was going to somehow be pressured into buying someone’s bath water.

 Luckily for Koichi, the night went completely normally at first. Well, as close to normally as you could ever get in Morioh. The three of them played a few different video games and talked about the serial killer running around the town, typical teenage stuff. It was only when Okuyasu started complaining that he was hungry did the mom friend in Koichi come out. The group walked to Josuke’s refrigerator after getting tired of Okuyasu’s complaining and collectively sighed as they saw the contents of it. There was a whole watermelon, a few eggs, and a singular slice of cheese. Just as Okuyasu suggested eating the watermelon whole, the group noticed something else on a lower shelf of the refrigerator. It was a small container of cookie dough from Kame Yu. It caused the three of them to gasp in excitement, but for different reasons. Josuke and Okuyasu, like most people, were planning to eat the cookie dough raw and then regret that decision when their stomachs were screaming in pain. Koichi, however, was planning to actually make the cookies. There should be enough dough to make at least one cookie for everyone, so that was the obvious way to go about things in his mind. He grabbed the container and took a quick glance at the back of it, which earned a confused look from the two idiots.

 “Oi Koichi, you’re not going to actually bake those, right?” Josuke asked, bewildered at the idea that anyone would waste perfectly good cookie dough by cooking it.

 “Of course I’m going to bake it.. that’s what you do with cookie dough?” Koichi replied, incredibly confused. Unless they were going to shove it up their asses (which he wouldn’t put past them) he couldn’t think of a reason why they wouldn’t want him to bake the cookies. And then it hit him. “Wait, were you guys planning to eat it raw?” Koichi asked, the disappointment he was feeling evident in his voice.

 “Well duh. Besides, that shit is too complicated anyway,” Okuyasu muttered, looking at Josuke for a split second to make sure that he wasn’t the only insane one.

 “Okuyasu you literally just put it in the oven. It’s not that complicated. Also it says DO NOT EAT RAW in massive lettering,” Koichi said, gesturing towards the comic sans warning on the front of the container.

 “Koichi you’re not even tall enough to reach the pan you need to put the cookies in. Plus they’ll take like 20 minutes to bake and if I have to listen to Okuyasu complain about how hungry he is one more time then I’m going to explode.” Josuke replied, stealing the container from Koichi and opening it up. “Oh wow, there’s more in here than I thought. There’s probably enough for you to make a few cookies and for us to have some of it if you still want to make them.”

 Koichi shook his head at first, but began to think about it more and more. He was getting hungry as well and didn’t feel like eating an entire watermelon so this was really his only option. Besides, he would have the opportunity to prove that he wasn’t insane and that cookie dough was better when made into actual cookies. Koichi took the container back from Josuke’s hand and carefully scooped out 5 balls of dough with a spoon that was laying on the counter. In retrospect he probably should have washed the spoon first, but he didn’t dwell on it for long. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you both end up with stomach aches.” Koichi warned as he handed the now halfway empty container of cookie dough back to the idiots. They ran back to Josuke’s room quickly and left Koichi to bake his cookies in peace. The first thing he needed to do was find a pan to cook them in, which proved difficult. He searched through almost every cabinet and drawer in his kitchen, only to find nothing but old cook books and cookie sheets. (which he also needed but not as much as the actual pan) Just as he was about to admit defeat, he noticed two more cabinets far above the oven that he was nowhere near tall enough to reach.

 Shit.

 Getting Josuke or Okuyasu to help wasn’t an option because he was NOT going to deal with the months of teasing that would result from it, so he had to improvise. He felt bad snooping around Josuke’s house, but he didn’t really have any other option. Koichi started by looking in his living room, and while he didn’t find any stools he did find a half asleep Tomoko next to an empty bottle of wine and a porno magazine. While that was interesting it wasn’t what he needed, so he kept looking. Eventually he found a sturdy looking chair and figured that would work as a stool. Luckily it did, and he was able to actually start making the cookies. He’s familiar with the Kame Yu brand of cookie dough, so it didn’t take him long at all to get them in the proper shape and size. Double checking the time and temperature, he put the tray into Josuke’s oven and waited. He considered going back to talk the two idiots but decided against it after hearing one of them scream “JUST BECAUSE I PUT SOMETHING IN MY ASS      ONCE     DOESN’T MEAN I’M GAY!” It caused Tomoko to stir a little bit, and that worried Koichi too much to leave the kitchen.

 After about 10 minutes of staring at the oven it finally beeped, signaling that the cookies were done. As Koichi opened the oven he smiled widely. They turned out perfectly; they were just the right size and they were the perfect shade of golden brown. They still needed to cool off though, but Koichi didn’t feel like waiting any longer. Besides, he could just wait for them to cool off while he was rubbing them in Josuke and Okuyasu’s faces. Carefully using an oven mitt to move them onto a plate, Koichi took a whiff of the cookies and smiled. This was certainly better than raw cookie dough. Once they were all onto a plate Koichi excitedly walked back to Josuke’s room. The heat from the still warm cookies burned his palms a bit, but he didn’t mind all that much. After all, he’d been through a lot worse than a bit of a burn. “See guys! I told you that they’re better this w-” Koichi cut himself off as he noticed that Okuyasu and Josuke were laying on the floor, cuddled up next to each other and moaning. To Koichi’s immediate relief they were in fact not fucking each other, but they’d eaten so much cookie dough that it was too painful to move.

 “Hhhhhhhgggg…. this was a bad idea…” Josuke whined, looking up at Koichi’s cookies with puppy dog eyes. “Can I have one? Please?” He said as Koichi looked away as quickly as possible. Josuke was hard to say no to normally, let alone with puppy dog eyes. He couldn’t help but look back after a few seconds, and by then he was making desperate grabby hands.

 “Sure, just take one though. But if you would’ve listened to me from the start then we’d have a lot more cookies and you both wouldn’t be in so much pain right now.” Koichi smiled as he realized that he’d won their little feud. He sat down next to Josuke and set the plate down next to him, sighing quietly in relief at the fact that his hands weren’t burning anymore.

 “Yeah whatever.. thanks though, these look delicious,” Josuke mumbled as both he and Okuyasu reached for a cookie. It was only then that Koichi remembered something he probably should have mentioned a while ago.

 “WAIT DON’T TOUCH THEM YET THEY’RE STILL BUR-”

 “OW KOICHI WHAT THE FUCK???”

 “..ning”

 3:

 Koichi is a good child. He never snuck out, never skipped school, never cheated on tests, and never even considered doing things that Josuke and Okuyasu did on a daily basis.

 He’s also very compassionate and worries for other people more than himself a lot of the time.

 Coupling these two things together, to say that Koichi was concerned that Josuke had been gone from school for the past week was a massive understatement. He kept saying that it was ‘just a cold’ and that he ‘felt mostly fine,’ but Koichi didn’t believe his words. He was incredibly worried about Josuke’s health, especially with all of the Stand users that were roaming around the town. The possibility that Josuke was attacked by a disease giving Stand was incredibly low, but it still worried Koichi a ton. Okuyasu didn’t seem to be anywhere near as worried, which confused him completely. He’d been gone for an entire school week, obviously something was wrong. He made sure to call Josuke every night and make sure he was okay, but those phone calls didn’t seem to alleviate his concerns in the slightest. He always seemed so sick and in pain during them that it made Koichi’s own throat start to hurt. So after the 5th day in a row of him being gone, Koichi made a decision. He decided that he would go to Kame Yu after school to buy a few things and then visit Josuke in hopes to make him feel a bit better.

 The school day went by normally like usual except for the fact that Josuke was absent once again. Rumors were starting to spread like wildfire about his absence, something that made Koichi even more worried for his friend.

 He went to Kame Yu immediately after school, texting his mom a short message explaining that he’d be gone for a little while. He didn’t have an exact list of things he wanted to buy, he only had a handful of general ideas in mind. He started by grabbing some donuts  and a slice of cheesecake from the bakery section of the store, two things he’d recently learned were some of Josuke’s favorites. After that he looked for some medicine to at the very least help with his pain. Koichi didn’t know what type of illness Josuke had, so he picked out a few general cough medicines like Tylenol and DayQuil. Lastly he went over to the junk food area of the store and grabbed a few miscellaneous things like chips and chocolate bars. The total only came to about two thousand yen, which Koichi didn’t mind paying in the slightest. Besides, Josuke had given him a cut of his lottery winnings a week prior so this was a good way to repay him somewhat.

 As he walked down the street to visit the ‘sick’ boy, Koichi contemplated calling Josuke to let him know about his arrival. He decided against it after a while though, remembering the few times he’d come over without a notice. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for a response. It took a lot longer than he expected, sparking worry in Koichi that he’d interrupted Tomoko while she was busy. He sighed in relief as someone opened the door, but looked up in a bit of confusion as Josuke opened the door instead. “Oh hi Koichi, what are you doing here? I’m glad you showed up though, I was getting pretty bored. Come on in, my room’s a bit messy though,” he chuckled as he motioned for Koichi to come inside. Koichi was thoroughly confused. He didn’t sound sick at all, and he didn’t even mention his illness. And why was he holding his Switch, he always said it was ‘the reason he was having homosexual thoughts’ for some reason? All of these concerns seemed to be answered immediately as Josuke started to speak once again. “Shit, you still think that I was sick right? Oops.” Josuke laughed nervously as he looked down.

 “Wait you’re not? Then why have you been missing school for so long? Is everything okay?” He asked as he followed Josuke upstairs and to his room. He set the bags of medicine and junk food down next to his bed and gave Josuke another confused look.

 “Okay Koichi you’re going to think that I’m insane and I don’t really blame you but I’ve started a business. And I faked an illness so that I can stay home for a couple days and keep on top of all of my customers and orders. Also what’s in the bags?” Not once did Josuke look up from his Switch during this interaction, as he was too busy trying to farm for popular villagers. “Okay so here’s the idea. I get Nook Miles tickets from playing the game. I use the tickets to farm for rare villagers. I search for Raymond specifically. I get Raymond. I sell Raymond on EBay for 6,000¥. I use a portion of that to buy more Nook Miles Tickets and then the cycle continues until I’m rich.”

 Koichi burst out with laughter at both the ridiculous idea and the completely serious look on Josuke’s face while telling him about it. He couldn’t help himself. Buying Animal Crossing villagers? Who would do that? His ‘business’ venture didn’t change the fact that he skipped school to work on it though, and Koichi’s laughter quickly turned into disappointed silence as he remembered. “Yeah but you still skipped an entire week of school to do this though.. I was really worried about you.. That’s why I came over here, I brought you medicine and some food to help you feel better,” Koichi muttered, feeling a bit dumb for not even considering the possibility that he’d just been skipping school.

 “Oh my god that’s why you came over? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worried! I’ll give you a cut of the Animal Crossing money for making you panic and for going out of your way to get all of this stuff for me. I really appreciate it,” Josuke said, still not looking up from his Switch. “I thought I was only going to be gone for a day so I just said I was sick and then my business exploded and I just had to keep going along with it an- GODDAMNIT LEOPOLD NOBODY LIKES YOU YOU DUMB SHIT!”

 “Oh it’s fine, I’m just glad you’re okay. How’d you manage to convince your mom that you were sick for an entire week though? And thanks but it’s alright, you can keep the 2¥ you’re going to make from your ‘business.’ Koichi looked over at Josuke’s Switch to find what he was so angry about only to be greeted by an adorable looking lion with green hair and glasses. Why was he so angry?

 “Oh you laugh Koichi but I’ve already made over 200,000¥. These people are so desperate for these fake animals it’s insane. Also my mom’s away on some sort of business trip thing. I’m definitely gonna get my ass beat when she gets home but-Oh thank god it’s someone I can actually sell for once.” Josuke smiled softly as Koichi looked over once again to see a cat that looked like an orange. Adorable! Though he didn’t know what made it different from the lion that made Josuke so angry. “Anyways, you can have some of the animal crossing money for all the trouble you went through. Is 10,000¥ fair? I really don’t know what to do with all of this money to be honest.”

 That was the first time that Koichi realized that Josuke wasn’t joking or lying and that he’d actually made a huge profit by selling animal crossing villagers. And he’d be getting a cut from it too? Not just a few hundred yen either, 10,000.

 “10,000¥? That’s a lot, are you sure? I mean it really wasn’t that much trouble and I..”

 “Shut up and take the money Koichi. You can have it as long as I can still have the food you brought me.” Josuke finally looked up from his Switch to look into the bags of stuff Koichi had brought and happily gasped. “Woah is that cheesecake? You’re the best!”

 Suddenly the week Koichi spent worrying about his friend didn’t seem to matter as much.

 1:

 Nothing ever stays calm in Morioh.

 That’s something that Koichi had learned over the summer.

 So when he was having a relaxing and chill day, he really should have expected something to go wrong. That ‘something’ was a frantic call from Josuke some time in the evening. Of course that itself wouldn’t be an issue, but the subject matter certainly was. Excited to take a call from his best friend, Koichi set down the book he was reading and eagerly picked it up. “Hi Josuke, what’s u-”

 “HE FORGOT THE BABY!” Josuke yelled into the microphone, causing Koichi to panic a bit.

 “WHAT?” Koichi yelled back, holding the phone further away from his ear because of how loud Josuke was being.

 “HE FORGOT THE BABY!!”

 “Josuke you're going to need to explain,” Koichi said, hoping that it was a joke of some sort.

 “Okay so you know how my dad left yesterday?”

 “Ye-”

 “WELL HE FORGOT THE BABY!!” Josuke yelled once again, the distress he was feeling very evident in his voice. Koichi knew this must’ve been somewhat legitimate considering Josuke was a terrible actor.

 “Josuke I….. what baby? There’s a baby?” Koichi asked with just as much confusion in his voice as distress in Josuke’s.

 “Oh my god I never told you about the baby!! So like two months ago when my old man first got here we found an invisible baby and we named her Shizuka and he was supposed to take her with him but he didn’t and now I have a baby to take care of and I don’t know what to do and I-” Josuke rambled frantically, holding Shizuka in one arm and his phone in the other.

 “Okay calm down, I’m sure everything will be fine. Maybe just tell your mother that he left the baby and she can call him up? I’m sure he wouldn't mind buying another boat ticket.” Koichi replied calmly before realizing something. “Wait, she’s invisible? How did you find her then? Is she a Stand user?”

 “I mean, probably? All I know is that there is a crying baby in my arms and if it keeps crying it’s going to turn my arms invisible and I kind of need to see those. And my mother definitely won’t believe that my dad left an invisible baby here. Besides I’m pretty sure she’ll start breaking down if I even mention him.” Josuke sighed, gently rocking Shizuka back and forth. Or at least what he thought was gently.

 “Wait, she turns things around her invisible too? Oh god that can’t be good. Try and figure out why she’s crying and then take care of it. I can probably come over and help you if you want, I have a little bit of experience babysitting. But you should probably find a way to contact your dad so that we don’t have to deal with an invisible baby forever.” Koichi’s motherly instincts were becoming more and more apparent now that there was an actual baby involved, especially considering he didn’t trust Josuke to handle a baby all by himself.

 “I think she’s tired but she won’t go to sleep. I have her some NyQuil but I think that just made it wor-”

 “You gave the BABY NyQuil??? Okay I’m coming over to your house because I do NOT trust you with this baby.” Koichi was so incredibly worried for the well being of the poor baby at this point.

 “I mean yeah.. now that I think about it that was probably a bad idea. And please do, it’s been crying for like 20 minutes,” Josuke pleaded, causing Koichi to hang up the call and get ready to leave the house as soon as possible. It also didn’t help his worries that Josuke referred to the baby as ‘it.’ After somehow convincing his mother that he was going over to Josuke’s house to study, he practically ran out the door to make sure Josuke hadn’t murdered the baby already. He knocked on the door frantically and was created by a confused yet excited Tomoko who had no idea about the situation unfolding upstairs. Tomoko started to have a conversation with Koichi, which although he appreciated it, was the opposite of what he wanted to do right now. He tried to rush it as much as possible without seeming rude, and practically ran upstairs once it was over with. He opened the door a bit too quickly, causing Shizuka to stir a bit and start crying louder. That wasn’t his biggest concern though; his biggest concern was the fact that Josuke had given the baby to Crazy Diamond and Crazy Diamond was rocking the baby with way more force than necessary. “Oh thank god you’re here, it’s crying and I don’t know what to do.”

 “Just.. just give me the baby. Also you better be paying me for this,” Koichi mumbled as he took the baby out of Crazy Diamond’s arms. He tensed up for a second before remembering how he used to rock the babies he had to babysit. All of his attention was on carefully rocking Shizuka back and forth, and it seemed to calm her down a lot. Although the makeup on her face had heavily faded Koichi could still make out her expression, and she seemed to be a bit happy. She was still crying though, and Koichi could tell she needed something. “Have you fed her today? That might be why she’s crying,” Koichi asked, looking up at Josuke with a slight frown. This night was going to be fun.

 “I fed her a little bit earlier but then she vomited all over me and started screaming again. But that’s a good idea, I’ll go get some food for her.” Koichi was very worried about whatever Josuke was about to bring as food for Shizuka, but he didn’t feel like asking. After all he couldn’t be that stupid, right? Well he did try to give her NyQuil so I guess he could be that stupid. He continued gently rocking Shizuka, making sure to maintain a gentle yet steady rhythm. The smile on her face led to a smile on Koichi’s face, which was only helped when she gently grabbed onto Koichi’s sweater. He had no idea why he was so good with kids considering he only babysat a handful of times, all he knew is that he was thankful for it. As he heard the door open Koichi prepared for disappointment but was pleasantly surprised when Josuke brought up actual baby food, a few napkins, and a bottle full of a red liquid of some sort. “We don’t have milk but I read somewhere that you can give babies fruit juice as long as they’re over a month old. Hopefully it’s fruit juice anyway, it didn’t have a label on it. Oh and I brought some napkins in case she throws up again,” Josuke said as he sat down on the bed next to Koichi.

 Koichi was more than willing to take the small risk that he was feeding her blood to make sure that Shizuka had something to drink. Everything was going well… too well. But he tried not to think about that. “Oh wow, thank you so much! I was half expecting you to bring me like wine or something,” Koichi replied, wishing that he was joking. He took the bottle from Josuke’s hands and shifted the way he held Shizuka slightly so that he could feed her more easily. Koichi slowly handed her the bottle, which caused her eyes to light up and for her to immediately start drinking. Thinking he did something right, Koichi smiled and looked up at Josuke before hearing sounds of vomiting and seeing bits of red splattered all over his sweatshirt. Goddamnit. As he reached up to grab some of the napkins that Josuke had brought, Koichi realized that he was laughing way, way harder than he should’ve been. “Hey shut up, at least I’m actually taking care of      your     baby,” Koichi mumbled as he took the napkins and cleaned the spit up off of his hoodie. After that was taken care of he grabbed the container of baby food and opened it up, relieved to see that it had a small spoon on the side of it so he didn’t have to make Josuke run more errands for him. He opened up the container way more carefully then he needed to and grabbed a spoonful of the yellow mush. To Koichi’s relief Shizuka eagerly ate every spoonful she was given and didn’t throw it up this time. She got through the entire container of baby food relatively quickly and it made Koichi feel incredibly accomplished. She also wasn’t crying anymore and had a huge adorable smile stretched out across her face, so it was clear that her hunger was the reason she was upset. Shizuka once again clung to Koichi’s (now stained with red) sweatshirt and mumbled something incoherent. He figured this meant that she was tired so he glanced around Josuke’s room for a blanket, but what happened next was certainly not what he was expecting.

 “Mama!!” She said between small fits of giggles, her grip on Koichi tightening slightly. He gasped with both excitement and confusion as Josuke started going hysterical. “Mmaama!” She cooed once again, making as close to eye contact as someone invisible could make with Koichi.

 “W- I- has she ever spoken before this??” Koichi asked frantically as he realized that he was now the mother of an invisible baby that he met 15 minutes ago. Though thinking about it more he didn’t really mind it for the time being.

 “No she hasn’t! She’s never even called me that and I’ve had that thing for way longer. Bitch.” Josuke clearly looked angry about this and it made Koichi laugh a bit.

 “Well I didn’t give her NyQuil and actually fed her. Maybe if you take her for a bit she’ll warm up to you.” He attempted to pry Shizuka’s hands off of his sweatshirt which proved to be way more difficult than he thought. Once he did though, she seemed to go into Josuke’s arms with ease. Josuke’s eyes lit up as the baby was shifted into his hands, panicking a bit before remembering the rhythm that Koichi had kept while rocking her. He did that for quite some time until Shizuka seemed just as comfortable and happy as she was in her ‘mom’s’ arms. After a while, her eyes closed and she started to drift off to sleep. “M..ama..” she mumbled softly as she snuggled closer into Josuke’s arms. He tried his very best to hold back a laugh so he wouldn’t wake her up, but he couldn’t help it. Luckily Shizuka seemed to be a heavy sleeper and it didn’t bother her too much.

 “Ha, we’re both her moms! That’s gay,” Josuke said with far too much laughter following it. Koichi sighed once again, something he’d been accustomed to during his friendship with Josuke.

 “Yeah shut up, let’s find a place to keep while she sleeps.” Koichi’s eyes darted around Josuke’s room to find somewhere to keep her, eventually landing on a small basket in the corner. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing, but they didn’t have many other options. He put one of Josuke’s pillows into the basket along with a towel for a blanket and motioned for him to put Shizuka in it. He did, (actually being gentle for once) and she subconsciously snuggled up against the pillow. As they shared a relieved and happy glance with each other, they started to think about what else they should do considering it was only about 6pm.

 “Wanna play F-Mega? I just unlocked some secret tracks?”

 “Sure!”

 Being a lesbian mother to an invisible baby was certainly not the way Koichi expected the summer to end, but he should have known that nothing is expected in Morioh.

[puttingfingerstokeys]

stork and starshine

in which New Kang (her first appearance is in Storm Over Function) asks where babies come from and I once again refuse to fuck with spaces or italics because--say it with me--I’m fucking lazy! I had intended this to be sillier than it is, but as always the muse takes me where it wants me and it wants me to be a fucking hallmark channel tearjerker bullshit screenwriter so here, have some ancient queens being dads (okay Shang Tsung isn’t ancient--this will be like, idk twentyish? years before the... third MK tournament?? I dunno man I’m making this up as I go along. I have no kontrol. Any writer who says they do also likely has a bridge to sell you). 

Warring Exes 

restored timeline

A light tug on the arm of his luxuriant vermilion robe drew Shang Tsung’s attention up from the swooping strokes of his quill upon parchment. He regarded the room in an almost comically oblivious way, even going so far as to shade his eyes from some bright light, as if it was difficult to see. The tug came again and once more, he scanned the room.

 “Baba, here, I’m here,” said a voice which was more like birdsong than speech. Shang Tsung laid his quill aside then and turned to face his daughter, a girl of six with hair as dark as the depths of night before dawn and vivid, hazel eyes. She reached out toward him with small hands and he sat back, a stern look upon his face.

 “Liu Kang,” he purred, “we have spoken of this many times; when you desire something, what do you do?”

 “I take it!” She was very proud of her answer and he smiled, gesturing that she should go on. Her face screwed up, lips puckering in thought before she continued, finishing strong. “Or find someone who can give it to me!”

 “Indeed, and how do you communicate this desire?” The greed sparkling in his obsidian eyes was lost upon her, a child who had just learned self from other, but the pride was not. It sparked a fire in her the likes of which he had never seen and which he appreciated greatly. She would grow to be a wolf, not a snake.

 “I say it!” Everything from a child, it seemed, had to be delivered upon the wings of boundless enthusiasm. The girl had adjusted her posture, straightening and standing erect, a pose which showed nicely the fine clothes she wore, perfectly tailored to her tiny body and mimicking that of her opulent “Baba”. Her dark hair was glossy under the lamplight of Shang Tsung’s study and the gold and baubles in it caught and reflected that warmth. She was a stunning child and he could see even now that she would grow into a beautiful woman. He had no intention of allowing her to traverse the realms without knowing who she was. That would be her most powerful weapon of all, to say nothing of the sorcery he fully planned on teaching her.

 “So, tell me, what would you like?” He leaned upon one arm of his chair and watched her, luxuriating in parental bliss. He watched her eyes dart about, watched her cheeks go red, watched her little eyebrows pulling together at the center of her sweet, smooth forehead, one he had kissed more times than he could count.

 “I um… I want to know how people come into this world.” Liu Kang spoke each syllable with meticulous care, knowing how much was expected of her and wanting only to please. Shang Tsung’s face softened and her posture slackened with it. She was not a child in want, but she was not spoiled—per se. Her lessons were difficult and Shang Tsung would bear nothing less than perfection from his darling girl. But he was a good teacher and surprisingly patient. It pleased her to please him and he was pleased when she strove for this. They were well-matched.

 “You desire knowledge, my daughter,” he offered, opening a hand and conjuring a few shapes for her amusement—and his own, if he was being honest—before straightening and standing, pushing his chair away from the grand mahogany desk with the backs of his knees. He offered her one of his gilded hands, rings adorning his fingers, instead of golden claw gauntlets, his bracelets jingling as he moved. She took that hand and held it tightly, and together, they moved toward his library. “I will never deny you knowledge.”

 Shang Tsung’s study was a warmly furnished, dark room, lined with books and lit by braziers and enchanted objects wherever he desired them to be. Those books were his favorites—special editions, old manuscripts, things which were unattainable to others… But nothing could escape his grasp once he had set his mind upon it. The tomes he sought, however, would not be in that collection. 

 They stepped out into the library proper, a stone room cut into the very mountain of his keep and equipped with protective ventilation, enchanted barriers to ward against moisture and rot, and sconces every few feet, illuminating the vastness of it. She had come careening through here—there was no doubt in his mind that careening had been her method of travel—a few minutes before, just to come find him. He wondered if she had known he would be here, or if she had been sent.

 “I know you have said I was a gift, but I know the gifts people bring you,” she said, her voice grave with the knowledge of six accumulated years. “Did someone bring me like that?”

 Shang Tsung considered a moment, his hand upon the spine of an Earthrealm biology book, bemoaning the absence of an Edenian scroll or volume of the same subject. One finger ran down the title and publisher absently as he considered how he would answer this. He had never hidden anything purposefully from her, and the story of her arrival was a good one, a fascinating one, in fact. Still, he was unsure if the timing was appropriate. After a moment’s thought, he withdrew from the shelf and, still holding her hand in his, dropped to one knee before her, the light catching the gold in his hair as it caught in hers.

 “I will tell you the story of your arrival, Starshine, but not yet.” He touched her nose, a sweet little button of a thing. “We must find your father first.”

 She brightened at this and reached out to touch Shang Tsung’s nose in the same way. “Follow me,” she bade, tugging on his hand. He stood and she pulled, his heart swelling with pride. She was intelligent, perceptive, beautiful, thoughtful—everything a parent could want in a child. For a brief moment, he considered how little he deserved her. As she pulled him relentlessly through the winding halls of his castle—their home—he considered what, precisely, he had done in his entire life to deserve such an immense gift, something which could sate his greed once and for all. He had not known in his younger days that such a thing could be possible. He had thought the well of his desires endless. The thoughts banished themselves as she, with her tiny hand, and a bit of his sorcery, pushed her way—their way—through the last door to his throne room.

 “Father!” Her shrill, bird-like voice called out toward the balcony behind Shang Tsung’s opulent throne. On the balcony, a figure stood, facing the misty sea beyond the island. The fog had cleared this night and one might see for miles, study the stars, see many moons and skies of different realms. “Father!” She called louder this time and the figure turned. 

 The shoulders were broad, the stature gargantuan, at least seven feet tall, perhaps more, and, though light-colored robes and white hair were tossed about ceaselessly by the wind, a hat, in the simple style of a rice farmer—though far more lavishly adorned than a rice farmer’s had any right to be—stayed perched on top of the tall man’s head. Gentle, dark blue eyes caught the light of some moon or other as he moved forward to receive his daughter’s affection, dropping to one knee and opening his arms to catch her as she leapt into them.

 “Liu Kang,” rumbled Raiden, his voice the distant murmur of thunder, “you have found him for me. I am so proud.”

 “She is an adept sorceress,” Shang Tsung said, stepping out onto the balcony. “I have taught her well and will teach her more.”

 A shadow passed briefly over Raiden’s face as he remained on one knee, the girl in his arms, but it disappeared as suddenly as it had emerged. He was no fool. Liu Kang could not enter the world—any world—without defense. He could teach her no sorcery, could not even gift her with divinity which he no longer possessed. It was a wise path, if a dangerous, serpentine one. His consolation was that Shang Tsung would allow no harm to come to his precious girl—their girl—while under his tutelage. This was his greatest gift, this all-consuming, nearly-obsessive adoration. The way Shang Tsung’s face lit up when he observed their daughter was a balm for Raiden’s scarred, mortal soul.

 The sorcerer approached and, joining his family near the fine stone of the balcony railing, bent forth and grasped Raiden’s chin, delighting in the fine bones of his face, the set of his lips, the nobility of his nose. With his free hand, Shang Tsung removed the hat so that the moonlight could lay its silvery elegance over the former god’s features, illuminating them, highlighting each perfect imperfection, each part of him that had likened him to humanity, even when he had been divine. With Liu Kang caught between them, he brought their lips together, long and slow, the child wrapped in Raiden’s arms—he was helpless to resist, but it had been much time and more since he had wanted to do so.

 Only her muffled shouts stopped them and they pulled apart to her flailing protests. “Baba promised a story!” Her declaration was loud, almost thunderous. Shang Tsung’s serpentine smile at her demand mirrored Raiden’s soft grunt of incredulity, though this too was followed by a smile.

 “A story,” he echoed, “of what, I wonder?”

 Their eyes met over Liu Kang’s head and wordless knowledge passed between them. It was time she knew whence she came. Raiden’s nod was minute as he stood, Liu Kang in his arms, Shang Tsung before him, the strangest family in any realm, every realm… but happy, for all that.

[carriagelamp]

April 2020 Book Review - Quarantine Brain Fry Edition

This month of quarantine was much more challenging for me that last March... I suppose because we’re really in the throws of it, and the “extended spring break” feel has worn off. Between general World Anxieties and the incredible challenges of trying to adapt my work into an online setting, my brain has been absolute mush -- and I have a feeling I’m not the only one. Most of my books this month are either very easy reads (comics and children’s novels) or rereads or both! Honestly, I’ve been playing a lot more Animal Crossing than I have been reading...

So the theme for this month of reading? Treat your brain to a rest, and go reread that favourite comic or picture book or graphic novel from when you were a kid. We don’t have libraries or book stores at the moment, so dig deep into your shelf for something you love that you haven’t touched in a while. Here’s what I read:

Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Mystery of the Grande Chateau

I’m going to start with best and most unexpected book that I read this month (although this is actually a New Book and not a reread, so maybe it’s a bad start). It’s a Hardy Boys parody novel, and yes it’s by the Game Grumps. The only reason I even found out it existed was because my brother heard about it and we decided that this would be our next Sibling Read Aloud. It made a great read aloud. I was rather skeptical at first, but it was genuinely very clever and very, very funny. There characters were fucking delightful, as they bumbled their way through the mystery, and we ended up accidentally reading almost half the book in one sitting because we couldn’t put it down once we got to endgame. If you like satire and Classic Youth Mystery then do yourself a favour and give this a go. I am desperate for a sequel.

ISHI: Simple Tips from a Solid Friend

A picture book that was recommended to some of the local elementary children who are dealing with isolation from school and their friends. Its beauty is in its simplicity. It shows Ishi, a very simple white stone, experience challenges that it must then find ways to cope with. Things like loneliness, feeling empty or scared, being sad... all things children (and adults, I very much appreciated this little story) may be experiencing. This is definitely a picture book, not a self-help book, but it’s still very encouraging and makes me want to go and create my own Ishi. There’s a reading of it is online, and if you’re feeling like having a solid stone friend reassure you, I would recommend going to listen to it!

Bone 1-5

So, the first in my long list of books that I reread: I’ve started rereading the Bone series for the first time in years. Hands down one of my all time favourite graphic novel series. If you haven’t read Bone, it’s a classic and one of the best example of American graphic novels imho. It’s about Fone Bone and his cousins who, after being driven out of Boneville by Phoney Bone’s money-grubbling stunts, have found themselves across a desert and in a strange, fantastical valley where nothing makes sense. The three of them get drawn into the strange mysteries and adventures of Thorn, her grandmother, and the village of Barrelhaven. Such a perfect blend of beautiful art, comedy and off-the-wall cartoon-level hijinks, as well as really intense, dark adventure and tension as the story unfolds.

Also created this sequence, which may be the funniest two panels ever drawn in a comic

Here Is Greenwood v1

A charming ‘90s manga from my stash that I decided to reread. Honestly one of my favourite feel-good mangas, because it’s such a simple, pure, good-hearted slice of life without some of the gimmicks that other manga use. It’s about Kazuya starting at an all-boys school partway into the year, and moving into the school’s dorms. The entire book is just about him being constantly pestered by the well-meaning characters that share the dorm with him. It’s just goofy and fun, and has the fantastic aesthetic of a good ‘90s manga. Also, it was one of those books that, while technically not ~queer~ was also ~queer enough~ for my deprived teenage soul.

Blood Of Elves

The fourth book of the Witcher series that I’ve finished. I’ll be honest, not my favourite. I really enjoyed the beginning, the whole espionage thing with Dandelion, and then Ciri with Geralt, the Kaer Morhen witchers, and Triss. That was all really fun. It felt like it dragged a lot more though after Ciri joined Yennefer... And yet I love Yennefer as a character, she is hilariously snide and clever and really sweet with Ciri. But it felt like a scene that could have been done in a couple chapters took up half the book. Maybe that’s just because, as I said, my brain was mush and I couldn’t deal with it. I have the next book and as soon as my brain doesn’t look like chicken noodle soup anymore I will be starting it!

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

You know I love a good animal adventure story, and this is one that I adored as a child. The story of Ralph, a young mouse living with his family in a rundown motel, and how he and a young human boy discover that they can understand each other through a shared passion for vehicles... in particular a red toy motorcycle. There’s just something heartwarming about Ralph racing around a motel on a tiny toy motorcycle that runs when he makes motorcycles noises. I’ll have to find the second one as soon as libraries are open again.

Kit: The Adventures of a Raccoon

Another animal adventure story from my childhood, although this one is more of a chapter book than a true novel. This is a book that I’ve been lowkey hunting for years and finally came across in a school library. It’s a more realistic look at what a raccoon’s life is like, from birth to adulthood. Rereading it, it’s not a particularly exciting book and wouldn’t have otherwise stood out to me, but there’s still something that calls to me. It’s very gentle and makes this raccoon’s growing and learning feel very soft and compassionate, even if there are tragedies and death.

A quick edit because it was only just now that I realized that this is a Canadian lit book! Always exciting to discover that a favourite is Canadian!

Calvin and Hobbes: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat

Calvin and Hobbes, yet one more bullet to add to the list of Comfort Comics that I’ve pulled out to keep my mind entertained while I can’t quite process Proper Novels. I doubt there’s anything I can say about Calvin and Hobbes that hasn’t already been said. You’ve either read these books already, and are nodding along with  me, or you haven’t and therefore are not a human being I can relate to.

Spy vs Spy

I dug out some of the old Spy vs Spy comics we had as kids. They’re basically falling to pieces, but it was fun -- like so many other books on this list -- to revisit something so familiar but which I haven’t looked at in years. These were a very odd experience to reread, because on one hand Spy vs Spy comics have such a simple, goofy premise it’s hard not to just grin and laugh while you read them, but also like... yup they sure are old and kinda ~problematique~ eh? Whatcha gonna do.

The Twisted Ones

The read aloud my brother and I did before Ghost Hunters, although we technically finished reading it at the very end of March, but too late for it to make that book roundup post. Look, I’m not going to defend myself here. Yes, I’ve read an obscene number of Five Nights at Freddy’s books. The first one of this series The Silver Eyes was honestly better than I would have expected. This sequel was not as good, unsurprisingly, but the main character is still so fucking bizarre, so different than the sort of protagonist I would normally expect from a series like this, that I can’t quite bring myself to stop reading them. And when I had a moment of Realization, about what might be in store for the third book, I genuinely screamed at my brother who was reading at the time. So yes. Somehow this youth horror is better than it has any right to be -- not good but better than it should be -- and yes I will be reading the third the second the libraries open again.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Another reread! This was a book I got as a birthday present when I was in... probably preschool? It’s a cross between a large picture book and a chapter book. It’s essentially a “novelization” of the original Disney movie, and it has such cute art to go along with it. Winnie the Pooh has always been a favourite of mine, and reading this old book was like a warm hug. Makes me want to see if I can get my VCR set up so I can watch that old movie again...

Frog and Toad Together

A friend found someone reading this book in a very asmr-style on youtube and recommended I listen because they found it super chill. And they were right! It is ridiculously chill. I’ve never read a Frog and Toad story before, but it’s really just a very cute old book that immediately launches you right back into grade one.

The BFG

This is my first time reading the BFG and it has all of Dahl’s usual charm and quirkiness. A young girl gets plucked out of an abusive orphanage by the Big Friendly Giant, who brings her to the terrifying Land Of Giants... all of which are bigger and crueller than the BFG, and who have an appetite for human flesh. It was quick and fun, and it’s always hard not to fall in love with Dahl’s sweet characters, especially this big eared, dream-catching giant.

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff's Best of 2019

WARNING: Just wanted to say cheers to you for making it through another year. I send you best wishes for next year to be fruitful. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy. (Best of 2017) (Best of 2018)

Dedicated to Russi Taylor, John Witherspoon, Rip Torn, Tartar Sauce, Caroll Spinney, Peter Matthews, and the many of KyoAni lost in the arson incident. You all did wonderful; rest in peace.

Welp, I figured the last year of this decade would be the most chaotic one by far, then again everything peak after 2012. As for now, I am counting down the best cartoons/animations/comics I’ve seen and loved this year in no particular order other than #1. Same rules apply: No sneak previews of future projects, no repeats, and this time anything goes.

Runner Ups: Superman Smashes the Klan, Marvel’s Aero, Infinity Train, Enter the Florpus, Amphibia, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, Helluva Boss, Meta Runner, Lego Movie 2, Forky Asks a Question

Anyways, Badda boom bang whiz, let’s do this shizz...

10. Super Mario Bros GT

Nostalgia can be quite a mystery, especially one that can come out of nowhere. Super Mario Bros Z kicked so much ass as a kid that now, it still frustrates me to this that it got a cease & desist from Nintendo, even the reboot from the same person couldn’t last long. But the gods have offered a slight miracle in the form of this new spiritual successor that has heart and soul put into every pixelated frame. There is much to celebrate with Youtube animation, where many say it’s dying due to the algorithm and all of the site’s corporate bullshit, but it’s stuff like this which helps me understand why we should celebrate. Against all odds, channels like Smasher Block willfully put their works out their for the people and continues to because on top of getting a little dough, it’s what they want to do.

9. DC SUPER HERO GIRLS (2019)

Awwwwww yeah, this is She-Ra and the Princesses of Power done right. Diverse female squad, each given a quality screen time to truly shine (Beecher especially) on their which makes the episodes where they’re all together feel earned and joyous to watch. Certainly reminds me of Friendship is Magic, which is coincidental since they were created by the same woman. I’d like to think this and MLP G4 were the answers to Faust’s cancelled project Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls where multiple personalities collide to one extraordinary superhero team of girls capable great feats that are lifted from their insecurities or drawbacks. And on top of this being a fun series to kick back to all around, it’s a comforting, somewhat aspiring thought to consider.

8. JOKER

I am somebody that rarely goes to the theaters to watch a film; you have to hook my tight just for me to even think of buying a ticket, no less plan to. But honestly, Joker was worth the hype, the ticket, and the fact that it wasn’t the incel uprising that buttfuck normies tried to make it out as. It’s lower on the list because in thought, there definitely could’ve been some tweaks to the dialogue and a couple scenes that I felt didn’t work in the long run. But really, this movie to me worked because of the escalation that leads to a cathartic climax and ending that left me in actual tears. I don’t give a shit if it “doesn’t fit”, having Frank Sinatra sing the film's credits put me in shambles. Joaquin Phoenix was phenomenal as Arthur, and this movie felt authentic in its many details. This is definitely up there with my favorite comic book films of all time. Good thing, too, Spider-Man was taking up most of that shelf.

7. TUCA & BERTIE

This series being what I can’t help but say is a spin-off to Bojack Horseman, a show I respect, was enough to pull me into watching it. But it being like Bojack where it’s tight-roping between a bouncy comedy and a grounded drama was what kept me around for more. It is a damn shame this was cancelled after one season (while 13 Reasons Why gets FOUR seasons like what the fuck), because while this did feel enough like a complete series, I was certainly interested for more because I really enjoyed it all. I have my issue with a couple choices in the show, but I am sure this series would’ve addressed them later down the line. I can see why some women would find this personally endearing, it felt like the personal stories of actual people, and it deserved better. Either way, I enjoyed this series and I recommend it just as much as Bojack.

6. PRIMAL

Genndy Tartakovsky is that kind of cartoon creator where you feel he’ll go beyond if you give him the right amount of space. He’s not a perfectionist like John “Dirty Diddler” Kricfalusi, but with things like Hotel Transylvania and Samurai Jack, he certainly has proven to have the range in animation where you know how he plays. Primal showcasing his noted skill in dialogue-less storytelling and dynamic action scenes, able to convey everything clear with its ruthless yet careful protagonist and his dinosaur friend, all on top of the most luscious backgrounds. This is a series that definitely feels like Genndy’s taken what he’s used from his previous works and putting it together for a brutal yet passionate look at the prehistoric life. He truly brought us an adult series to enjoy and to look forward to more in the coming year.

5. SPINEL

Bet you didn’t expect a character to be on this list, eh? Spinel is the best thing to come out of Steven Universe in general; makes me wish she was in a better movie. The crew certainly did their darndest to make her not only an enjoyable and connectable character through and through, but a very versatile character that the fandom could take in any which way. Call it corny, but Spinel perfectly represents SU as a whole: a lovable goof that can certainly mean business but deep down is deserved of a hug because of what she’s gone through. Wish she had a more satisfying resolution in her respective debut, but really it’s the balance between those three elements mentioned that makes Spinel almost eternally wonderful.

4. MOB PSYCHO 100 II

As someone that doesn’t like reading, I’m a firm believer that the best animations or visual medias elevate the writing to a memorable degree; the visuals hook to the point where you want to think about what you saw and how it was conveyed. Mob Psycho 100, for two seasons now, does this in spades where Studio Bones throw them bones in animating one of the most dynamic animes of the modern era, providing the writing and characters a proper chance to flex its muscles. The characters are especially what makes this and MP100 as a whole work so well, the story being about a boy learning to be more sociable as well as emotionally stronger all while helping others understand maturity and empathy. For more on this, I recommend Hiding in Public’s video(s) on Mob. But with the animation, Bones was able to provide a sense of impact and immersion to the moments that matter, not making it an overstimulating mess, and putting some respect on ONE’s webcomic art style. 

3. KLAUS

Hands down, this is a great Christmas movie. Take away the animation and you have a charming, wanna say ground and authentic, story about the makings of Santa Claus. With memorable and likable characters, a nice escalation in terms of the plot, and moments that are/can be so satisfying, they can bring you to tears. A couple overdone tropes in the road that doesn’t make this the most perfected story, but those sincerely minor compared to everything else that makes this story the best. Now. Add in the animation, and you have a gold, nay a platinum animated story of the year where the visuals definitely enhance the story to a degree where they’re undoubtedly inseparable. The visuals alone is enough to check this movie out and it’s eye-opening when you learn of how it’s all done. Klaus is a film that did it’s job and then some, and I hope this will be well remembered as a classic holiday film for it deserves that status.

2. BEASTARS

I’ll be fair, I’m mostly referring to the manga and not the anime but since the anime premiered this fall, it counts. Because be it the anime or the series overall, Beastars has such well intricate world building all while offering a little something for everyone (violence, romance, slice of life). The story is well paced and even when we aren’t focusing on the main characters momentarily, Itagaki is surprisingly able to make every supporting/side character we come across memorable in their own way; like I said before, the city is much a character in this story. Oh yeah, and the mangaka is the daughter of Keisuke “Grappler Baki” Itagaki, that in itself is a treasuring bit of trivia for this. Everything about Beastars is enticing and Studio Orange certainly helped in giving this series more of a following.

1. GREEN EGGS & HAM

Well, well, well. Guess Netflix is three for three in terms of bringing its best foot forward among its few steps back each year. The best term to describe this series is surprising. Surprising that this is a Dr. Seuss story that got expanded a 13 episode series, that has fleshed out characters, fun hijinks, an easy story, lovely emotional, more quieter moments... on top of being 2D hand drawn animated. I mean, what else is there to say? Green Eggs and Ham is to Dr. Seuss what Seven was for Final Fantasy, what Friendship is Magic was for MLP, what watermelon was before a nice menthol cigarette. This definitely took the top spot because to me, it was able to bring many good elements from the previous entries and knot it all together into a well kept bow that I never knew I wanted until now. I’m genuinely glad this show got to exist the way it is and I am hoping, praying, that the second season keeps that momentum up.

That leads us to the actual number one which is

1. STEVEN UNIVERSE FUT-

Total Dramarama is now the two time World Heavyweight Champion, babey. Will 2020 give us a quality contender? Will the streak last another year?

Stay tuned, and always seek out the Good Stuff.

[tessatechaitea]

The Ray #1

In 1994, I had no idea who Christopher Priest and Howard Porter were so I have no idea why I purchased this comic book.

Although (continuing the thought from the caption which is just me saying, "Fuck the format! I can do what I want!") I was in my early 20s in 1994 so I was probably into that edgy fascination with freaks and body deformity. I hadn't seen Tod Browning's Freaks yet but I'm sure I would have jumped at the chance if I'd known about it. It's the only reason I can figure why I bought a comic book about a character I knew nothing about. Because it looks like he's a hero with a deformed baby leg. I probably picked it up off the shelf and yelled, "Fuckin' A, dude! Look at this ganky bastich!" It was 1994 so obviously I was emulating Lobo in my every day life. Some of you might be thinking, "Ugh! You're so gross and problematic!" But I'm just being honest! I was a young man, masking like crazy in order to hide my vulnerabilities so I wouldn't be crushed by social interactions and existential threats to my psyche. I had to act tough to survive the crazy streets of Santa Clara, California! Back then, Silicon Valley wasn't like it is now! In 1994, hulking techno-nerds were roaming the streets with razor sharp circuit boards looking to cut the genitals off of anybody who criticized the Neo-Geo CD home gaming console. If you looked at them funny, they'd challenge you to a game of Cyberball and you'd better hope you won because they were also obsessed with Mortal Combat and if you lost, the last thing you'd hear would be a bunch of techno-nerds screaming "Finish him!" before you found yourself upside down gagging on the filthy water of an unflushed public toilet. The early nineties were some rough years! Especially when you were into heavy metal! People think grunge and rap killed metal but think about what people thought was "rock and roll" during the early 90s: Warrant's "Cherry Pie" and Extreme's "More Than Words." I mean, Feetal's Gizz! Metal was dead long before grunge and rap came by to fill its grave. Anyway, you could totally be into freaks in the early 90s because the Internet didn't exist so your opinions weren't reaching anybody outside your small circle of friends. All the other people of the world who didn't know you at all didn't have a way to tell you you were a piece of shit because of one single thing that comprised the myriad facts of who you were. Fuck you, Internet! No, no! I'm sorry! Don't be mad at me, Internet! I can't live without you! Also, maybe I just bought this comic book because the cover was shiny and embossed and growing up in Santa Clara was so boring that it made this comic book looked exciting. The issue begins with The Ray battling Brimstone. Remember him from Legends?

Brimstone is as big as Godzilla and he's already killed hundreds of people, judging by the apartment buildings he's smashed.

I don't know who The Ray is or where he's from. What part of the United States of America uses slang like "gaffle," "put my serve on," "zoom this buster," "bone out," "feebs," and "rot." Is this just Christopher Priest trying to mimic youth speak? I would expect this kind of thing from an aging comic book writer like current Neal Adams but Priest was in his early thirties when he wrote this. Maybe The Ray is from another Earth and Priest's theory was that slang words would obviously differ between Earths. But not so much that you couldn't get the gist of what he's saying. Except for "gaffle." I don't know what the fuck he wants to do to Brimstone when he says he's going to gaffle him. I know what I would mean by it but that doesn't seem appropriate in this situation.

Oh wait. The Ray was just writing fan-fiction about himself.

So the Brimstone fight didn't really happen. Or it did happen but The Ray is using it as fodder to write comic books about himself. So he's like Clark Kent writing articles about Superman? At least writing comic book stories about your own adventures isn't unethical. Fucking Clark Kent. What kind of a journalist uses his soap box to simply promote himself? No wait. Journalists fucking suck. I despise journalists for the same reason I despise police officers. If you're just letting your profession go to shit because a bunch of people are abusing their positions of power and not actually doing the public service they're supposed to be doing, you're just as bad as the worst apple in the barrel. There's a reason that whole apple/barrel thing is still a saying even though nobody really associates apples with barrels anymore. Maybe The Ray isn't writing comic books although it seems like the super edgy postmodern take a writer in the 90s would think was fucking mind blowing. We got Kyle Rayner, comic book artist, as the new Green Lantern. Why shouldn't we also get a comic book writer in there as well? Or The Ray might just be writing stories for his college paper which would mean he's just as unethical and terrible as Clark Kent, I suppose. But in an amateurish way. The Ray (whose name is Ray Terrill so it was lucky he got light-based powers) stops trying to write and decides to tell the readers about the last few days. He's a young guy who works at a fast food chicken joint and has just leased his first apartment. It's a piece of shit with some garbage and/or artistic sculpture in the middle of the room but he doesn't have any credit or money so he's stuck with it. I bet there are corpses under the floor boards as well as other things too boring to mention (but which I'll mention anyway) like rats and cockroaches and dried semen stains.

This is Ray's narration of the place which I read after I wrote the previous paragraph. Was I writing comics and named Christopher Priest in 1994?

The Ray spends all day handing out flyers to Clucky Chicken while standing right outside Clucky Chicken. Is that what flyers are for? To remind people about the thing they can totally see right in front of them? I guess they could be coupons. While he's handing out flyers, his super cool cousin Hank stops by to gaffle some swang all up in through him.

This must be Earth-15 where they say things like "Yo trip dat frum, golderboots!" and "Swank on into my PQs, Flub Daddy!"

The Ray is disappointed that he's a man now because responsibility sucks. Kids can't stand curfews and rules but man is it sweet to be able to come and go as you please (within curfew, of course!) while doing whatever the fuck you want and not worrying about money for food or rent. The Ray can't even fuck his girlfriend because she saw him in the chicken suit and is all, "Oh, um, I just came by to say I can't come by! Bye!" The Ray can travel at the speed of light anywhere he wants while carrying other people. That makes sense because comic books. He takes his cousin Hank Fonzerelli to see a volcano shaped like a hand in Hawaii only to discover that it's another Brimstone. It's activated by a henchman of Darkseid while The Ray and Hank are checking out a surf competition or a luau. It's at this point when The Ray gets back to the beginning of the story where he was failing to stop Brimstone from destroying a city. As he picks the story back up, Superboy arrives to save the day. Not the boring Superboy who used to be Superman and learned a terrible secret about himself on his sixteenth birthday about an extra candle. The new Superboy who arrived on the scene after Superman died. He might also be boring but I wouldn't know having never read any comic books about him. The new Superboy is an arrogant dick and The Ray hates him. That's probably why The Ray winds up killing him. Or he thinks he killed him. Everybody reading the comic book probably thought The Ray killed him too (because we were all dumb-dumbs who actually believed DC Comics had killed Superman off for good. Why wouldn't they?! He was a big boring boy scout whose powers kept fluctuating because editors and writers thought the problem with writing Superman stories was that he was too powerful. But the real problem with writing Superman stories was that those same writers and editors were unimaginative assholes who didn't actually understand Superman. Why else would Superman have died from a fist fight?! Seriously, Dan Jurgens. What were you thinking?! Superman should never have been killed because he encountered something more powerful that could just beat the shit out of him. Superman should have been killed because of a philosophical or ethical dilemma where he realized the only way to save the world was to allow himself to die. He should have been Jesus but instead he was just Apollo Creed. Who I think was a metaphor for John the Baptist? The issue ends with the narrator letting the readers know that Superboy isn't actually dead and why would the idiots think he'd be killed in The Ray when he was currently starring in his own popular monthly comic book? Stupid dumb comic book readers! But the narrator also mentions that The Ray is out of power (I didn't know he had to recharge) and Brimstone is kind of mad. Then he's all, "If we were you," (I don't think a proper editor in 1994 would have allowed a writer to use the plural pronoun "we" as a non-specific gender singular pronoun so now I'm picturing the narrator as a small group of old people), "We'd be back here in 30 days!" And I guess 22 year old me agreed with them because I purchased Issue #2. The Ray #1 Rating: C. C is average, right? I didn't find anything I particularly loved about this issue but I also didn't find anything I absolutely hated. Except for Superboy but I think I was supposed to hate him so that's a positive critique. I probably purchased the next issue because I wanted to find out what happens to Hank Fonzerelli. What a cool dude! The letters pages don't have any letters but it does have a story by Brian Augustyn about how Christopher Priest changed his name from Jim Owsley. It also explains that Priest's idea for The Ray was to have a teenager suddenly have to deal with god-like powers while still being a teenager. I think before this that was called "Spider-man". Except for the god-like powers! Those were more spider-like powers.

[gemthecolorist]

Question of the week # 1

Hello and welcome to my first ever q and a on tumblr! Thank you all for tuning in for this week’s question and answer. You are all beautiful! :)

Well, let’s get on with it!

This week’s question is brought to us by a user named with-muffled-drum! Their question, or questions rather, are this...

with-muffled-drum: When thinking of a new project, which comes easier to you, character or plot? And how do you suggest strengthening your skills in your weaker areas of story telling?

Damn, those are good questions. Like, really good. Give yourself a pat on the back. :)

Hmm...let's see. First question.

When thinking of a new project, which comes easier to you, character or plot?

I find that with the past couple of babies (plots) that I have come up with, I think the correct answer to that is character. You can come up with a plot without thinking of your character, but you cannot have progress in the plot without one. For me, it is quite simple. For the past couple of tries, I have found that it all depends on the ideas that you come up with. Sometimes the ideas are character based, other times, plot based.

But 9 times of of 10, you will find me making up characters and coming up with plot lines that surround those characters. Even though there is at least one of my babies where I did come up with a plot for a character first. So really, the character was always there, I just did not know what to name that character until later. So to simply answer the question, character over plot. Plain and simple. At least for me.

Even when I have characters that sit on my shelf for years on end (mainly due to how big of an epic one of my stories is), they are always there for later when I can dust them off once I put a proper story line in place to fit their needs. There is just something satisfying of creating not just a character, but for me, it is more than that...

Initially, when writers create characters, what they are really doing is creating people. There has always been this air and almost magical feeling I get when I bring someone I know that is believable to life. Birthing somebody to life with the tip of a pen or key on a keyboard is something that, for me at least, changes you. It does not matter the plot I come with for them later. For just like if you were raising a child, you do not ever really know how their life is going to pane out for sure. It is very much like watching a child grow up when you finally find just the right plotline for that one character. And even when you do find the right plotline, just like with life in general, it can take so many unexpected turns, your plot and character both.

Which is exactly why that most of the time you will find me coming up with character over a story for that character, personally.

Now, second question.

And how do you suggest strengthening your skills in your weaker areas of story telling?

Again, good question. A question that I would not have thought to ask myself, but I will do what I can to answer to the best of my ability.

You tackle the points that you are weakest at simply by doing them.

It sounds simple, but for many, it can still be complicated. So let me break it down for you.

You can't possibly expect to get to point b without having gone through point a. The only way I can think of to strengthen what you feel is not your strong suit is to keep practicing that of which you tend to find a little harder for you to achieve.

A perfect example of this is when I was trying to learn shape and form when it came to my drawing. Personally, I was not one to want to go through the process of making the stick figure models before going in to do the detail work later. I wanted the details and I wanted them here and now. You want to know what happened to my drawings? For what I could do, most people thought they were good. Decent. I was always getting the compliment of,

"Oh, it looks good." or "That looks cool."

But do you know what was really going on for those who know anything about drawing? Yup. They sucked. They sucked because they lacked the shape and form that I was trying to go for. Because I did not want to do the necessary steps to get to a more 3-D looking figure and take shortcuts to get to the final product, they were lacking. Big time. Doing the first proper steps needed to make my drawings greater, to this day, is not one of my strong suits. But I try. Why?

Because when you take the time to do the thing properly, you actually get somewhere.

When you just do yourself a favor and just put in the work, the practice that goes into making your weak points strong ones, it is not only going to be satisfying, but you will also find that, in the end, it is just more worth your while. Just keep doing the thing that you know you have a hard time with and, eventually, what may be something you are not good at can turn into something that is.

So please, for your benefit, just work on what you think may not be a niche to you just yet. Because, eventually, if you work at it hard enough it will be a breeze. You only strengthen that of which you put effort in.Not just in writing, but in all aspects of life. Some things take time and effort. Plain and simple.

Another example that I can think of off the bat is the fact that I have been practicing my coloring skills by getting some adult coloring books. For some, it may sound silly, but it is actually pretty effective. For years, I have been meaning to be serious about my hobby that I actually wanted to have as a career, which is comics. Except, there are some parts to it that I simply just have not taken the time to consider and work on. For the longest time, it was a matter of I thought that I did not have enough resources to be able to pull off the dream (which was in actuality a lie, but I did not think of it that way at the time). No matter how many things I had to focus and perfect the craft of comic making, I felt I just couldn’t for the longest time. Then, one day back in December, I came across this gorgeous coloring book that I absolutely fell in love with so much that I bought two copies. One for me and one for a friend. I loved the coloring so much that it took me only a couple of weeks to finish it. Every day, I was at my dinner table, taking hours at a time to color in four to five pictures a day. My creativity came through in the colors that I was putting down. Sometimes I found that I would color out of the lines, other times I got it just right. Very soon, I was coming up with color themes and everything for each piece that I wanted to fill in. Maybe someday I will even post up a video showing off what I did, I haven’t decided yet. All I know for certain is that, at first, I did not necessarily suck at the coloring, but it was basically new ground for me, because I just did not take the time it deserved before. But the more I fooled with it, slowly but surely, the better I was able to get.

Once you just take the time and understand just how much of a privilege it is to give your craft, no matter what it is, the time and effort it deserves, you get somewhere. guaranteed. It’s all in the matter of how much it is important to you to get the job done. So long as you put in the effort, that’s all you can do. For when you do that, it only shows that you are doing it to the best of your knowledge.

Thank you for this week's questions. To get picked for questions, leave a note down below and I will see about answering more questions by you guys next week. Until next time!

[samesongxox]

Savior: Chapter 7 (Its Been, One Week)

Summary: (Hellboy 2019) AKA Turning a New Leaf AKA Good Samaritans Need Love Too. The B.P.R.D is tasked to infiltrate a black market creature trafficking ring led by a powerful warlock. Hellboy rescues Phyrra who is found being held hostage, a slave for her magic. He must protect her as she is hunted by her master and his gang of monsters. (AU where Broom isn’t dead/Abe wasn’t found)

It will be rated M, it will include violence, swearing, smuttiness, all the good things in life.

Disclaimer: Hellboy belongs to Dark Horse Comics/Mike Mignola, I don’t own anything except the AU and my OC’s.

Hellboy walked into the library, following the sound of Phyrra laughing. Now don't get him wrong, it was quickly becoming one of his favourite sounds. Top three in front of the sound of a beer opening and a nice clean shot from a new gun. It wasn't just the sound of her laughter though, joining it was the sound of his father talking animatedly about a topic Hellboy wasn't quite sure he was hearing it.

"He was a handful alright! I remember many Christmases all Hellboy wanted was a Howdy Doody doll of his own. He was beyond ecstatic this particular morning."

He watched as Phyrra cooed over the photo in her hands. He felt the cold wash of shame. Oh on. No, no.

"Dad, Phyrra. What's going on?"

Phyrra's eyes shot up and she blinded him with her smile. This wasn't good at all.

"Oh Hellboy! You were such a cute baby! Look at your little tail!" Hellboy felt very conflicted as he found himself pleased at Phyrra's bright smile, her utter delight. He supposed he could live with some severe embarrassment if she looked at him like that.

"Thanks, dad." Trevor just shrugged, flipping the page of the photobook. Hellboy took the chance and sat down beside her, figuring she was distracted enough by the mortifying pictures.

It had been a week since Phyrra's arrival to the B.P.R.D.

Seven excellent days of being in her presence, holding her attention, being able to talk to her. Seven days of watching the elf girl graceful moves around him. Seven days where he couldn't bring himself to ask her out.

Since the trio returned to HQ, something had changed between them and they had managed to become less nervous around each other. Everyone had taken to spending alternating shifts in the library and the warehouse a day, the majority of the creatures were harmless, able to be liberated to find their homes again. Trevor had phoned up some old friends running the sanctuaries for the harpies, a basilisk. Elias had seemed to even come into the possession of a dragon, a majestic beast that was currently on its way to Northern Ireland to stay with a Mr. Li-Yang, a most generous benefactor for those types of creatures.

Last night in the library, he thought he might have found something. Some ancient elven tombs he couldn't read, he had found on the highest shelf, even he had to stretch to reach it. He had voiced his interest to her so Phyrra had come over and leaned over him to look at the book, casually putting her hand on his shoulder to steady herself. She seemed to understand some of the languages and was able to decipher. He turned his head and gasped at how close their faces were. Phyrra was busy with the text in his hands, he stared openly at her in this new perspective.

Her skin seemed so soft, so pale and supple. Her tattoos fixated him in the graceful swirls that ran down her nose and cheeks. He couldn't stop imagining himself following the trails they made down her elegant, swan neck into the blouse she was currently wearing. He had become so enraptured he continued his inspection until she fixed her gaze on him.

"This is interesting. Nórë-o i taurë…" Her brow furrowed as she seemed to contemplate something. "May I have it for a moment?"

"Y-yeah." Hellboy snapped out of his daze as Phyrra had stood there for a moment, the book cradled in her arms as she scanned the page, face still puzzled. "May I continue reading this?"

Hellboy barely nodded before she was turning back to the armchair she had often claimed in the days, placing her slight form into the mass of cushion. She was enraptured by the book all afternoon until she seemed to reach her limit. No one voiced anything as they had parted ways for the night, but something was on Phyrra's mind.

Cut him some slack here, it wasn't like he was some pro at this.

Alice was right about Phyrra being proper. She was a serene girl, amiable and respectful to a tee. She was often silent and only smiled pleasantly at Alice and his antics.

The most passion he ever saw from her was when she was in the kitchen. Dad had tried so hard to not allow her to make their meals, stating that the B.P.R.D did have the main cafeteria. Chefs from all over the world were brought in to make fantastic meals for the many staff members of the organization, but Phyrra was strangely insistent.

So he saw glimpses of it, her being carefree.

And at this particular moment. Hellboy looked from her joyful face to the horrible pictures in her hands. Moments from his past that while not necessarily bad memories, but something he didn't want the girl he was crushing on to see.

"I'm sorry not that this isn't great." Hellboy leaned over to close the album containing his childhood.

"But shouldn't we get back to the books?" Phyrra and Trevor grew silent, they had already been discussing the recent turn of events a few moments ago before Phyrra's eyes had caught the album, her curiosity a welcomed change in the subject for her, Trevor had been more than happy to show her some pictures he collected over the years.

"That one you found yesterday Hellboy," She licked at her suddenly dry lips, "It holds the answers. I believe we should focus our attention on this. It's a language I know.. Or knew."

"Oh…That's awesome, isn't it?"

Phyrra felt her lips pulling, Hellboy was right. She was becoming quite perturbed at her continuing lack of memories, but she had found the answer, it just needed to be uncovered. She should be kinder to herself.

"Yes, it is." She giggled peacefully at Hellboy's open, jubilant expression. She placed her hand on his stone hand, Hellboy was daring enough to cover it with his hand. Their eyes were locked in a sudden trance.

They didn't know who reached first, but they ended up in a hug.

Phyrra had slowly begun to seek his contact more often, she couldn't stop herself from drifting towards him when he was near, placing her hand on his arm or against his shoulder as they conversed. Hellboy was funny like Alice but much more reserved. Phyrra had soon found out sitting around just reading wasn't fun for Hellboy, she was touched that him, that every one of them, had helped out considerably with the library's extensive collections.

Hellboy was always a source of warmth, a kind that Phyrra enjoyed immensely. She didn't voice it, but the hallways of B.P.R.D were rather chilled and damp to her. She would be lying if she said she didn't seek out the feeling of Hellboy's hot skin, finding it quite delightful.

He would feel better helping her in her bed, warming. Lulling her into a dreamless sleep...

Phyrra broke the hold first, pulling back with her head down to attempt to hide her flushed face.

"I will go get it. I stayed up most of the night continuing to try and understand " The elf girl scampered away on slight feet.

Father and son were left alone.

Trevor would have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not see Phyrra and Hellboy's fledgling relationship. On one hand, he wasn't against the idea of his boy finding companionship with this elf girl, Phyrra was a lovely girl.

She had only been here a short time, but her influence was already being seen in the team, Alice was ecstatic. The Professor had never realized she might be missing female companionship, Alice was always so confident.

Ben was even starting to come around to her presence, he had voiced his concerns to the Professor the night after Phyrra agreed to join the B.P.R.D.

Ben had come to Trevor asking him if this was the best idea, they were being put in a delicate situation, the warlock would no doubt be coming for her. Trevor had laid the Major's worries to rest, was it really about the possibility of a break-in, they were more than prepared for such a possibility. If it was simply the new addition, Trevor vouched for the young elf. Now, the Major had begun to relax around the girl, letting loose a few quips that showed his easing attitude.

No one had to guess to know how Hellboy felt about it, he was infatuated with the elf girl. The feeling was mutual if Phyrra's easy smiles and glances were any indication. It was a sweet kind of naive courting that Trevor didn't expect out of his son.

On the other, it was happening rather fast, call him old fashioned.

"Hellboy I would be remiss if I didn't voice my concern,"

".." Hellboy said all the displeasure he felt with no words, he knew exactly where this conversation was heading.

"I just want you to be careful, son. Phyrra is a very special girl, but I would be bereaved if I ever saw you heartbroken."

"Come on, dad!" Hellboy stood up and started pacing agitatedly. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Besides, you're the one who asked her to be on the team,"

"That's not the point, Hellboy. She's very unstable right now."

Hellboy gave his father a deadpan look.

"Okay, I get it, dad. I'm trying to take it slow," Hellboy did get it. Other than his cowardice, another reason Hellboy was holding back was her amnesia. Somehow it didn't feel right to be so attracted to this broken, lost girl. Not that Phyrra showed it. As far as the week went, she had been a bright light shining in the tunnels of HQ. If she was just putting on a happy face, she did not indicate cracking yet.

"I know we never actually had.. 'The talk',"

Hellboy groaned harshly, he wished he could wake up from this nightmare.

"And we never do! Please, dad, I'm begging you. Just stop." Hellboy covered his ears in a desperate attempt to quiet his father. He even went as far as to turn completely away from Trevor, in a spectacular sight of childishness.

He couldn't do this right now, it was bad enough he was starting to have dreams about Phyrra, his father discussing the possibility of them having sex was enough to make his skin turn white.

"Alright Hellboy, just... You know to be safe.." Trevor was thankfully interrupted by the alarm signalling, unfortunately, that only meant danger.

"What's happening?" Hellboy followed Trevor to the monitor connected to the security feeds, watching as the intruders walked through the hole blasted in the solid steel wall of the B.P.R.D.

"There seems to have been a break-in."

The visuals were blurry from the blast but Hellboy already knew who it was.

"Phyrra!"

-

Going into town had been an adventure. Due to the current lapse she had of her past, Phyrra had no clue if she had ever been amongst humans before. Sure the odd ones would come around to make a business from time to time, but they were certainly not treated with the best of hospitality.

It was cold here. A colder environment than she had ever been. Trevor had given her a thick woollen jacket to put on and these things called 'mittens' to place over her hands. Showing her a card before slipping it in her pocket, he told her it was a card containing her initial salary, and to use it where they were going to pay for what she wanted.

It all looked so busy, were her thoughts as she watched the scenery pass her by as they were driven to their destination. Busy as the people at the B.P.R.D. Humans always seemed to be running to and from something, Phyrra deduced. Before too long they left the car. Walking passed the mortals, she unconsciously pulled the hat down, attempting to cover her ears as much as she could. The hat was chafing them, but it was the safer option.

"There's no need for that, my dear. We are quite safe here," It had been a short walk to their destination from the car dropping them off, soon Phyrra was walking into a much warmer, filled with some of the loveliest garments Phyrra had ever seen.

"Binx may come out if she'd please." Phyrra had voiced the Professor's request to the pixie in her pocket, she with much enthusiasm, escaped her temporary confines.

"Here, I will take your coat and hat," Phyrra thanked Trevor as he assisted her in removing the now unnecessary things. There was something else about this store, it was obvious, Phyrra could practically taste the magic in the air.

Walking down the aisle that caught her eye, Phyrra found she liked pants.

He would never allow her to wear them. Her clothing was provided for her at all times, she never had a say in what she could wear. Trevor had only looked to her expectantly when they entered the shop. Phyrra was flabbergasted.

"I don't know where to start."

"Well, to be honest, Phyrra. I don't know if I'm the best person to come to for 'fashion' advice, would you be willing to have one of the workers here help?"

"Oh, maybe not," Phyrra bit her lip, her old ways of shyness welling up in her. Life was much easier to live in the B.P.R.D. Out here in this unknown world was quite frightening.

"Hey, Trevor! Long-time no see!" Phyrra was the audience to an enthusiastic woman run up and hug Trevor with no pretense.

Her pupils were too large to be human. Her skin was also slightly hued in blues. Some halfling perhaps, she looked almost mortal.

"Wow! What a beauty! " Binx watched with wary eyes as this unknown creature came up to Phyrra with seemingly no idea of manners or boundaries, hugging the small girl with enthusiasm.

"Definitely not human," the pixie acknowledged, Phyrra shushed her in the quietest way possible, whispering to the stubborn creature.

"You're being rude, Binxy."

"It's fine, she's right," Phyrra and Binx looked at the creature with comical matching expressions of surprise.

"I'm Ava. I picked up some Fae growing up, my parents ran a potions booth at the market downtown," The girl bounced from Phyrra to Binx, bowing slightly. "Nice to see some pixies still around,"

Binx bloomed like a peacock, it was her weakness. The vainness of most pixies sadly did not miss her friend.

"Please, let us get her out of these dreadful clothes,"

Phyrra was slightly miffed at her friend's sudden burning opinion, she happened to like the clothes provided for her by Sorah. She admired the B.P.R.D logo. A hand gripping a weapon, poised and ready to fight evil. Save creatures and humans alike. She looked to Trevor who smiled kindly.

"I'll let you ladies get to it, I'll be right here Phyrra." With the help of hyperactive Ava, Phyrra chose the clothes she wanted. It was very daunting, but in the end, she loved what she picked out, more-so for her ability to have been able to choose more than anything else.

Trevor had also shown what was her room now, to decorate as she pleased. Phyrra knew she was on the same floor as Hellboy and Alice's rooms.

She knew because she had been to Hellboy's, and later that same night, Alice had invited her into her room for 'girl's night'. It had consisted of them watching some human film that was about a couple in a passionate love that caused Phyrra to flush. Alice had also shown her how to 'paint her nails'. Phyrra had seen women with coloured nails but had never given it much thought.

When Alice had asked what her favourite colour was, Phyrra didn't have an answer.

"What do you think I should colour them?"

"I don't know, maybe blue like your eyes….I only have a few colours.." She muttered digging around in the drawer, placing all the vials on her vanity for Phyrra to pick, "I think pink or red would be a lovely colour on you." Phyrra had gone with the red, it was a lovely colour and contrasted with her skin nicely.

Alice had invited her to her room three more times in the week. It had been more than nice, Alice had the great talent of being very easy to talk to. Alice had told her the story of being stolen by fairies as a baby, how Hellboy had saved her, her ability to see and communicate with the dead, how she had often felt quite lonely. Phyrra had likewise confessed to her mundane, awful existence with Elias. The constant fear of punishment and instability with her surroundings.

"Thank you for sharing that with me Phyrra. But you know what? You're here with us now, you never have to worry like that ever again,"

Phyrra thanked Alice, to know this human girl was willing to protect her gave the elf girl great happiness.

The medium had expressed after the colouring nails lesson that Phyrra should remember her favourite things, it might help with her mind recovering.

She felt her memories on the tips of her fingers.

Something she wasn't telling anyone was she had been having odd dreams. Running through trees. Sitting at fires, alone and numb. It felt so real, lucid like it was her past but it wasn't making the gap to her remembrance. She was so close.

That book. It smelled of pine and gave Phyrra a pang in her heart.

Nórë-o i taurë. People of the forest.

It hadn't popped the memories in her mind as hearing Elias's name had been, but she knew that was the answer. She couldn't read all of it, but it was her language. On the borders of the pages were golden swirls, too close to the ones on her skin to be a mere consequence.

In her room, snuggled deep into the pillow, Phyrra snickered at the sight that was one very lazy pixie.

"Good morning Binxy, nice of you to wake up,"

"Hmm... I wouldn't be so tired all the time if you would get the proper sleep,"

Phyrra reached for the book laying on her new nightstand, before being startled, involuntarily throwing the book to the ground.

Alarms were sounded in the hallway, shrill clangs that caused Phyrra's sensitive ears to twinge. The elf girl wrenched her door open. Ignoring her friend's protest, she locked eyes with a frantic agent before he was blasted away from her sightline. Feeling as if she was in slow-motion, Phyrra turned her head. Her heart stuttered against her breastbone.

She stood face to face with Elias.

[preyed-llama]

Sander Sides Literature Club

Prompt:

Authors note: why am I starting with the last prompt they sent me? Because I can and because this was just the best idea. Also I highly recommend watching/playing DDLC although pay attentions to the warnings. 

Ship: No ship

Genre: uhhhh... Angst? 

Warnings: Blood, death, major character death, implied suicide (tell me if I’ve missed anything)

Thomas looked around the room that Patton had led him into. It was designed like a class room. Logan waltzed through, his nose buried in his book as he sat down in the chair closest to the board. Patton just smiled wider when Thomas sent him a questioning look. The two sat down on the table adjacent to Logan. Virgil stumbled through, he was clutching multiple graphic novels with his headphones slung around his neck. 

Questions filled Thomas’ head, like why hadn’t he seen this side of his mind yet? and what was this side of his mind? They all seemed to be wearing their normal clothes, so maybe it wasn’t that weird. 

Roman walked through the door closing swiftly behind him. He looked as confident as ever as he sat down at the head of the table. “Why is Thomas joining us today?” 

“I invited him, Kiddo! I thought that it might be fun to bring in someone new!” Patton said quickly as he pulled a book from his bag. A picture book with bright colors covering it. 

The other three shared a look before Roman spoke again. “Well a little advanced warning would’ve been greatly appreciated.” He paused and looked at Thomas before throwing his hands into the air. “I gather you didn’t even tell him what this was.”

A look of realization crossed Patton’s face as he frowned. “Well it’s not that bad. Look I’ll fix some tea while you explain it and then we can get on with the fun.” Logan scoffed and rolled his eyes as Virgil glared at the table. Thomas shifted uncomfortably as Patton rushed to the back to grab food. 

“Well Thomas, Roman and I thought it would be a-”

“Fantastic idea if we made a club to celebrate fantasy and books. So we created Sanders Sides Literacy Club. Well I created it, Logan tagged along.” Logan rolled his eyes as Roman continued, leaning slightly over the table. “Of course Patton was quick to accept the bonding exercise and Virgil followed along. And it turned into a proper club with the four of us. And now I guess you.”

Virgil glared at Roman. “Well it’s not like Thomas has agreed to stay anyway.”  Roman stilled for a second before he glared at Virgil right back. “Besides, it’s not like he needs this and the last time he was in highschool was 10 years ago. Just look at him, he clearly doesn’t want to be here.” 

The tension rose, and it seemed Logan could feel the storm brewing as well. “Well I’ll give it a go. I mean I like you... and I like books... So, this could be fun. It’ll help me know myself better.” 

Patton sat down in that instant. A tray littered with cups and teapots was set down to the table. He quickly mixed the drinks and set them in front of everyone. “Now, Kiddos! Time to read!” 

The attention shifted, and with it the anger. “Like you can call what you do reading. They’re children’s books. That’s not even literature.” Roman spat. 

Logan set his book down and nodded. “It’s an insult to literature. Children grow out of them, so why can’t you?” Logan added on. Patton tensed slightly before he smiled more. 

Thomas stared at the scene. Before he could talk though, Patton cut in. “Awww, Kiddos, your dad just needs some breaks occasionally. They’re always so sweet, it’s just sweet and simple.” 

That only seemed to piss Roman and Logan off even more. “Ludicrous.” Logan spat, “You hardly do anything. In fac-”

“Cut it out.” Virgil hissed. “You two don’t get to decide what literature is. Just because Patton likes something else doesn’t mean you get any right to-” 

“Oh, shut it, Professor Darkness. You can’t speak when you read those comic books.” Roman said his posture straight. Virgil seemed to shrink slightly as he continued to glare at him. “Your books hardly contain words and you don’t even need to think about it.” 

Logan nodded slowly. “Graphic novels aren’t even stories, they are merely pictures. It’s disappointing that that’s what you got interested in.” 

“Enough!” Thomas shouted. “Let’s just read the literature and not bicker who is the most intelligent for what they like. I thought you two knew better.” Thomas said as he stared at Logan and Roman. Roman flinched back, a look of shock on his face. Logan face slipped back into his emotionless expression. “Now can I borrow a book?”

 Virgil nodded and walked towards the cupboard that Patton had grabbed the cups from and gestured for Thomas to follow. He swung open the doors as Thomas carefully approached. He could see the anger and hurt on Virgil’s face. “We have my graphic novels down there.” He gestured to the floor. “Logan keeps his ‘proper literature’ right there.” He gestured to the second bottom shelf. “Then you’ve got Pat’s books, then finally Roman’s fairytales. Take whatever you’d like.” He leant against the door as Thomas looked over the options.

 He chewed the inside of his cheek and looked over the graphic novels, he figured he wouldn’t get to read much, no point choosing something he had to focus on. “Are they always like that?”

 The anxious side hesitated before he nodded slowly. “Pat tries to calm them down. They’re adamant that books with pictures don’t count ‘unless it’s the opening picture of a fairy tale or diagram’. They constantly tell me that my comics aren’t real literature.” Thomas looked up at Virgil to see him gazing out of the window to the court yard.

 The books were all different things, he ended up grabbing a random graphic novel, it didn’t really matter as long as it was the first in the series. “Well if it helps, I think graphic novels are real literature.” Virgil smiled slightly and shrugged mumbling ‘whatever’.

 The two walked back to the table where everyone was reading. It would almost be peaceful if it wasn’t for the tension Thomas could practically taste. He awkwardly sat down, Virgil taking his seat a couple of spots away. He started to read as Thomas’ eyes bounced around to the others, it felt like they were in the middle of one of their scripted debates, but so much more real, and so much more terrifying.

 The only sound was the turning of a page and the clinking of cups. Thomas flinched every time the cups tapped the table as he tried to focus on the book. He glanced over the table at Virgil who seemed to be shrinking into himself, his earphones on. They stayed for that for a while, Thomas wondered if it would be possible to suffocate due to tension.

 Roman was the first to snap. “Well. How about a little homework since we’re almost out of time?” Thomas looked up at the clock, how had two hours passed? “Each of us will write an emotional and dedicated poem to display next meeting. Okay?”

 “Alright, Kiddo! Sounds like fun!” Patton said as he quickly closed his book and gathered up the cups. Virgil nodded and slid off his earphones, quiet and peaceful music drifted from the speakers, almost inaudible. Logan slid the bookmark into his book and stood up. He nodded at Thomas and started to walk out. “Well Thomas, will you join u-“

 “It appears we have space for a prince like yourself, even if your choice in book is a little… disappointing. But no fear! No doubt it was Virgil who pushed you to such a poor choice. So will you be joining us next time?” Roman asked, he had managed to shift in front of Patton. The moral side sunk back slightly and pushed in the chair as Roman kept smiling at him with a smile that could only be described as flirty.

 He glanced at Patton who was smiling hopefully with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sure…” Patton smiled slightly more and looked away as Roman clapped his hands together and looked at him happily. Patton waited for him as the door as he quickly finished his conversation with Roman.

 “Splendid, maybe I could show you some literature worth your time.” Roman said as he turned and waltzed out of the room. Thomas walked over to Patton and smiled down at him. Patton was smiling happily as he pulled Thomas out of the room. The door locked swiftly behind them as the hallway seemed to go on forever behind them. The door was still open, the moment you stepped through it you appeared in the Mindpalace common rooms. He and Patton made their way out of the silent school. The school grounds and school building looked incredible and highly maintained, he hadn’t seen even the slightest scratch or discolouration anywhere, which was vaguely off-putting.

 They exited to the Mindpalace common rooms before Patton waved goodbye and sunk to his room and Thomas entered the real world. He blinked away the wave of dizziness and sat on the couch. He spent the afternoon writing a cute poem before binge watching the office until five in the morning again.

 The next week he showed up to the meetings again. Patton raced in a few minutes after he did and briefly apologised for being late before he raced to the cupboard to grab a book. Roman sat at the head of the table again. Grimm fairy tales sat in front of him. Thomas took his seat next to Logan and on the other end of the table from Roman. He felt eyes stare into him the moment he started to sit down. He glanced around to see everyone interested in other things. Roman was staring at his book, Virgil was at the back of the room grabbing a book, Patton was gathering the tea and Logan was rereading his poem.

 He tried to force himself to relax as Virgil walked over and looked at the two remaining seats. Patton seemed hesitant to sit near Roman. Virgil quickly sat down and slammed his books onto the table, his poem sitting messily on top. Patton smiled at him and sat down next to him. He looked at Thomas with an apologetic smile and pulled out his poem. They all quickly passed it to the person next to them.

 ‘The ice raced through the narrow streets like a pulse,

Electricity followed, almost painful,

Everything, an act of impulse,

I see it, who he is, disdainful.

 A blank book, no words etched into the page,

A world only thought of as bleak,

A focused bird trapped in a steel cage,

Trapped, endless, forgotten, weak.’

 Thomas reread it, stunned by the contents, he hadn’t gotten that dark since he was in middle school. He had expected that from Virgil. He looked up to see Logan looking at him expectantly. “Uh, it’s really good, the metaphors are interesting.”

 “Thank you, Thomas. I can’t say the same for yours.” Logan said. Thomas looked at his poem in Logan’s hand. “It was childish, not the sort of note that could be called poetry, although I guess it is your first time in a while, maybe we should stick to Joan writing the rhymes.”

 “It was a haiku…” Thomas pointed out, confusion clear in his voice.

 Logan scoffed, “hardly, it was meaningless. There was no point to it.” Logan pointed out. Thomas frowned and took his poem back from Logan. Logan handed his poem to Roman as Patton swapped with Thomas.

 They both read over each other’s, a smile spread over Thomas’ face, the poem seemed like Patton. He looked up to see the father aspect reading his with a small smile.

 ‘The mouse should befriend the cat,

And that would be that,

People should be happy together,

And feel as light as a feather.’

There were a few lines crossed out before it ended with:

Life should be enjoyable and good,

Although some call that a falsehood

And we would be as cheerful as we could.’

 Patton looked at him happily. “This is incredible, Patton! The simplicity is just… wow. I love it.” Thomas said with a large smile. Patton brightened more and sighed out an ‘awwww’. “This is really good.” He could feel someone watching him.

 He glanced over to see Roman and Logan chatting as Virgil stared at his poem. “Yours is so good, Kiddo! The haiku was so sweet and nice! You called us your family.” Patton said cheerfully as he handed the poem back. Thomas smiled and nodded as he handed Patton the poem again. Roman swapped with Patton as Thomas swapped with Virgil.

 He looked at the poem he was handed, the paper was crinkled and dented like someone had tried to flatten it out, and the writing was rushed and scribbled. There were lines through most of the work.

 ‘The birds squawk.

The cat attacks.

The lion roars.

The world moves on.

The tree sways.

The people hurt.

The sun disappears.’

 He blinked several times. “I didn’t expect this from you, Virgil.” He said as he set the poem down.

 “Well I’m sorry it’s not perfect like Logan’s, just give it back.” Virgil said as he glared at Thomas. The glare used to make Thomas want to vanish, but now it just made him feel guilty.

 Thomas smiled at him. “I didn’t expect this from you, but I like it. It’s interesting. And don’t worry, Logan’s wasn’t perfect either. I actually enjoyed all the poems. Besides, mine isn’t that deep either.” Virgil read it and shrugged mumbling ‘yeah, I guess’. “Don’t worry, I like your poems, thank you for sharing with me, Virgil.”

 The anxious side nodded and took his poem back as Thomas looked over at Roman. The fanciful side was staring at him with a grin and holds out his poem. Thomas hesitantly took the poem, his own poem slipping out of his grip. Roman watched him until he dropped his gaze to Roman’s writing.

 ‘The first battle ends, calling the arrival of the next goal,

It’s all so close, it’s within my grasp and I can be whole,

It’s in fairy tales and dreams, it was there all from the start,

It will always be there, until the last beat of my heart,

 No one thinks to mention the cost of it all.

The weight and cost and pressure of it is so tall.

But there is nowhere else except on the stage.

It is over, someone needs to engage.’

 It seemed far too odd, panic seemed to set in. He looked up to see Virgil staring at him from the corner of his eye. He turned to face Roman, ignoring Virgil’s influence. “This is very interesting, Roman. It’s so creative!”

 Roman nodded quickly and smiled. “Now, my dear, Thomas. This poem is exquisite, although maybe you should focus more on symbolism. Don’t worry, I’m very aware that I had been absent when you wrote this, so do not fret. I shall not vanish next time.” Thomas nodded. He looked around to hear the others already reading their books.

 Thomas frowned and looked over Logan’s shoulder to the book he was reading. It was a chemistry book filled with diagrams. Logan shifted to Thomas could see the book too. The two sat there silently reading the book. He felt the occasional glare, although he couldn’t work out who was glaring. The other three were reading their books, and every time he looked up Logan was staring at the book, totally immersed by the science.

 The next few club meetings went the same way, Patton seemed to get later and later as the atmosphere got more uncomfortable. He tried to ignore it when Patton didn’t show up. He had asked the others but only gotten blank stares.

 Virgil frowned. “I’ll check on him.” Virgil mumbled. He stepped out of the club room and vanished. Roman excused himself to find a book he wished to read and left the room. Thomas looked over at Logan who was staring blankly across the room.

 He cleared his throat and frowned when Logan didn’t react. “Hey, Logan?” The logical side snapped out of it and flinched. He stared at Thomas blankly for several moments before he looked down at the book in front of him. The room was painfully quiet as Thomas waited patiently for the others too arrive again. Ticking from the clock echoed around the pristine room. Panic flooded his system causing him to flinch and jump away from the table, Logan looked over at him with a strange expression that Thomas couldn’t place. The panic subsided a few moments later.

 Virgil and Roman walked into the room completely casually. Roman was talking loudly as Virgil gazed at the ground, a confused expression on his face. “How’s Patton?” Thomas asked, interrupting their one-sided conversation.

 Virgil opened his mouth only to blink several times and shrug. “He’s fine, just a little distracted currently. He can’t keep joining us in the literature club though.” Roman nodded and sat down as Virgil took his seat and looked down at his book.

 The group split up to read where they wanted and instantly Virgil rushed over to talk to Thomas. Logan and Roman both seemed to glare at him from across the room, although they innocently started to read when they noticed Thomas looking.

 “Hey, I need to talk to you.” Virgil said as he pulled Thomas into the chair next to him and raised the graphic novel to cover their faces. “Something isn’t right. Logan’s been acting weird, please be careful around him. And… And my memory is all blurry. But I remember rope… Patton wasn’t… he isn’t around anym-.”

 Logan pushed Virgil’s book to the table and pulled Thomas away. Virgil tried to grab his hand only to be dragged away by Roman talking about needing to clear out the books. Virgil followed without any argument despite trying to stop him only seconds prior.

 The moment they left the room, Logan started to talk. “Thomas. Thomas, this isn’t good enough anymore. We need more. I need to be the main side. We don’t have enough knowledge. It’s not good enough. Give me your attention, let us gain more knowledge of the world.” A knife materialised into his hands as he pushed it against Thomas’ chest. “I could use your body without you being a function. I can take over. If you leave the other sides disappear. I can take control.”

 Thomas tried to escape, but he was trapped between the chair and the knife. Roman walked in with Virgil silently following him. Logan turned his knife around and stabbed it into his own stomach. Thomas flinched back and tried to supress a scream as Logan raised the knife and plunged it through his chest.  Virgil’s voice broke through Thomas’ panic as Logan dropped to the ground. “Thomas!”

 He fell silent, his body stiffened completely. Thomas reached out only for his neck to shift ninety degrees. A loud crack echoed around as Virgil’s neck snapped and his body dropped to the ground. Thomas opened his mouth to talk only for Roman to look at the clock and frown. “We’ve run out of time. Have a stunning week end, Thomas.” Roman said with a smile as he walked out of the room. The door slammed closed behind him followed by the ‘click’ of the lock.

 The air was suffocating. Thomas raced for the door and tried to open it. The door shifted under the force, creaking as it strained against the lock. He sank to the ground tears in his eyes as nausea rocked his body. He could see Logan’s blood seeping out from the body. He could see Virgil’s limp body through the desks. Patton… Patton was gone. They were all gone.

 His hands covered his eyes as tears slipped out. He squeezed his legs to his chest and prayed that Roman would arrive soon. The windows caught his attention. He darted over, carefully racing around the bodies, and tried to pry one open. The world outside seemed like fractured space. He backed away slowly and looked at the clock, the hands had stopped ticking. He looked through the boxes in the cupboard, maybe there was something he could use. There was the tea set and some sandwiches all prepared, Patton had never arrived to bring out the food. Their boxes of books remained filled with novels and stories. They were different from the first time he’d looked at it. Virgil’s were all isolated characters and gory scenes, Logan’s were science books, Patton’s were photo albums, and Roman’s were Brothers Grimm fairy tales.

 Thomas stumbled away and bumped into the desk. He had to be dreaming. Roman wouldn’t have killed the others. He pinched his arm and winced at the pain. He tried to call out, to summon Deceit. Nothing worked. He slumped at his desk and looked over at the folder with the other’s poems. He should’ve mentioned it earlier.

 Patton’s last poem should’ve been warning enough. He should’ve worked it out. Why didn’t he work it out earlier!?

 ‘One swing to freedom.

It is always peaceful.

No ground to stand upon.

Just the air around you.’

 He blinked back tears and looked for Logan’s and Virgil’s, maybe they had clues too. He found Logan’s first, neatly tucked away and stored.

 ‘Sharp and quick, it forces the air out of me.

Can’t you see this? It was meant to be.

I am the one you require.

I am the one who aspires.

This game is not enjoyable when you break all the rules,

How could this be logical? He played us like fools.’

 He scanned through the folder again. All the poems seemed to have changed from the start. The only poems left untouched were his and Romans. He managed to find Virgil’s last poem tucked at the back, messily folded and hidden away by someone.

 ‘Who am I to be the guardian angel?

Who are they to ignore me?

Who says I mean nothing?

I’ve warned them.

I’ve warned them.

I’ve warned them.

No one listened.

No one listened.

No one listened.

I cannot save them.

It’s too late.

Goodbye.’

 He didn’t recall being shown that one. The one Virgil had given him to read was about ducks. He blinked and hugged the note close to his chest. The room felt too big, but the bodies felt too close. Who knew how long it would take for Roman to return? When he returned what would happen? Would anyone save him? Or would he end up dead like the others?

 The pen shook in his hand as he started writing. He scribbled on any page he could find. Some were poems that twisted and distorted once he was finished. Some were notes to those he loved. There were so many to write. He didn’t stop until everything was done. Until there was nothing left to say. And then he forced himself to write haikus, like he had the first club meeting, his rhyming poems turned into illegible scribbles. Some sheets read nothing more then ‘I’m sorry’. Nothing was there to stop his hurricane of thoughts, and in the end, there was nothing left to think about.

 There were a few scripts floating around. Some of Sanders Sides. Those had Virgil, Patton, Logan and Roman greeting him with a smile. They were back to normal. They were alive. Everything stayed perfect. He wrote about his memories with everyone. Every small detail he could remember. Every word spoken, and every emotion provoked. He had started writing in the books. His black scribbles covered the neatly printed stories. Some were about Princes who saved the day. He couldn’t bring himself to destroy Logan, Virgil or Patton’s books. If he was destined to stay here until he died, then he would keep those. Keep those as a token of his sides. His friends.

 The door opened after god knows how many hours, luckily the bodies hadn’t of started to smell, unluckily it meant they were still fresh. Thomas glanced over to see Roman standing in the doorway. He snapped his fingers and soon they were in an office like space. “Greetings, Thomas.” Roman said with a bow before he took his seat. Thomas didn’t move from where he was standing, not even when Roman gestured for him to sit down. “I suppose you would like to know what happened.”

 “Yeah! Of course! You kill the others and then disappear! What were you doing for all those days!? Why did you…?” Thomas barely held together his strong appearance.

 Roman scoffed and relaxed in the chair. “Tommy Cat. We had had a battle about what you should do, afterwards deceit whispered into our ears, I was such a fool for believing it. Nonetheless, we started a literacy club to bridge the club, or at least the others did. You never appreciated me i-.”

 “I did!” Thomas’ argument was cut short by his mouth sealing shut. His hand flew to it in a matter of seconds. The thoughts swam through his head.

 “Very rude to interrupt, Thomas.” Deceit hissed into the quiet room. Roman pushed his hair up again and looked over at Thomas.

 They stared at each other for several moments before Roman continued. “You never appreciated me. I was overlooked, worthless compared to my counterparts. So, I kept trying to outshine them. But no matter what I did, you and the fans kept choosing them. It was always them! I took my revenge out here, in a land I control, my kingdom. Then when Patton brought you in it was game over. They kept getting your attention. This is my creation! All of it! Those books were thought up be me! I did all of it, but you never complimented me on it. You kept complimenting the others though.”

 He let out a long sigh and dragged his hand over his face. “I tried to talk to Logan, but he didn’t get it. He knew he was necessary, so he couldn’t relate to feeling useless. Then I gave Patton a nudge, it was only meant to get him to stop showing up to the meetings. He reacted badly. Then Virgil, stupid Virgil stumbled across him and I had to rewrite his memories. My power had affected further than I expected, and Logan started to be desperate for knowledge. He tried to kill you for it! So I made him reverse it. I needed to kill Virgil, he had known, he had warned you. I knew he had that poem in his pocket. Ha, poem. That was hardly a poem, it didn’t even rhyme! It had nothing! Ugh, regardless. He had that poem, so I made sure it was changed.”

 Thomas tried to shift as Roman started pacing the room. “And you know what?” He said as he turned to look at Thomas, “You know the worst part? I had left, guided away by Deceit, because saw his chance to get more power and he took it. We all want to me the main side. We all have different goals! And to be shoved away for other sides hurts!” He groaned loudly as tears glazed over his eyes. “I didn’t want them gone, but they were obstacles that needed to be taken out. I didn’t want you to leave us. I needed the compliments. I needed you to recognise my work. But it wasn’t enough, Virgil kept interfering. He had to have known what was happening, you don’t know how many times I had to rewrite his memories and what he was thinking. He should’ve given up.”

 The room was too small as space danced out of the window. Thomas tried to keep himself distracted with anything, he couldn’t let himself give up, he needed to remain himself. “As for what I did.” He continued. “I auditioned for multiple plays and pretended to be you the entire time. Don’t worry, no one suspects a thing.”

 Thomas paused, he was in his mind. In the mass of panic and confusion he had forgotten that he controlled everything. He could just delete Roman. The had drowned out Roman’s mutterings and tried to think of another option, he couldn’t bring the others back, he couldn’t just escape, he couldn’t fix things with Roman, the look in the Prince’s eyes was nothing short of madness.

The seal on his mouth dissolved as he forced his hand to his side. Roman paused and looked at him, nervousness clear on his face. “Roman… I-… Goodbye.” Thomas said as he scrunched up his eyes and rewrote the story. Roman doubled over, gasping for air as his body dissolved into flecks of gold. Thomas let the tears escape.

  When he opened his eyes, he was lying in a familiar room, on his own bed. He let out a sigh and curled up, shoving his face into the pillow, he wheezed out angry and miserable sobs as he tried to get the images out of his head. He felt emptier, less human, less real. He grabbed the picture of all the sides and set it face down onto his end table as he wiped away the tears that continued to flow. 

@paradoxicalpatton I hope I did your prompt justice. 

[zrtranscripts]

Home Front, Mission 7: Open 24 Hours

Romero would be proud

~

[rotten wood cracks]

SAM YAO: All right, Five, just a few more goes at those rotten boards with your crowbar and you'll be inside. Nicely done. Now turn your head cam so I can get a better look. Uh, yeah. Yeah, there's the door handle. Just give it a twist and... yeah. Sorry, Five. I know you know how to open a door. I'm just kind of excited, that's all. [door creaks open] It's so good getting to be your radio operator again. Feels like it's been ages! And here you are at the Spectrum Shopping Center.

This place is huge! So you're going to be moving around a fair bit. Uh, so why don't you warm up a bit while I check the notes Janine left me? It's been a while since you've been out on a mission and I don't want you to strain anything. Hey! Hey, you could do some warm-ups from those exercise routines the runners have been broadcasting while we've all been hiding from the giant horde. You could do star jumps or jogging on the spot or getting your funky dance moves on.

Man, do you remember this place? Spectrum was really famous in its day, the biggest shopping center in the UK. Had its own cinema, its own climbing wall, an indoor ski slope. It was supposed to be this mall of the future, sustainably powered by solar panels on the roof. Just before Z-Day, the whole place was shut for refurbishment, boarded up really securely. That's why Janine was so keen to send you inside for supplies when we got any kind of break in the horde.

Okay, let me get this list. Uh, she says your priority one acquisition is tinned food. Now that'll be the mega market on the first floor. [alarm blares] Oh, you've set off an alarm. Uh, the solar panels must still be sending power to the security systems. Um, okay, not to worry. I expect I can find a way to access it and shut it down. Oh. Yeah, that's not good. The noise has attracted some stragglers from the big zombie horde, the ones that are more rotted than normal. They don't move as quickly. I can see them on cams trying to get through the boarded-up windows. Okay, okay, I think I can see how to shut off the alarm. [alarm stops] Ah, yes! What a relief.

[glass shatters, zombies growl] Crap, the zoms are in! Five, you've got to be quick. Head up that massive spiral escalator to the food court on the first floor. Wow, that's a lot of stairs. I hope you've been doing your stair stepping here while you've been stuck inside, because you're absolutely gonna need it. I'll try and get the storm shutters down to stop more zoms coming in, and you get climbing, Five, as far and as fast as you can. Go!

~

SAM YAO: Okay, Five, that's really good. You're on the first floor now. You've got a good head start. Take time to catch your breath, but keep your body moving at a gentle pace if you can. I don't want you to cool down too much. Uh, you could use the time to pick up any supplies you see lying around. Wow, there's a donut place, and two ice cream parlors, and a noodle bar! This place must have been amazing! Amazing before zombies moved in, that is.

So the good news is the storm shutters I dropped will stop any more zoms getting in. The bad news is that a frankly quite alarming number have already made it inside and they've definitely picked up your scent. You need to find the door marked Staff Only. It should be between two shops. Um, yeah, Glazed and Confused and Tales from the Scoop. [laughs] Brilliant. Go through there. [door opens and shuts, zombie sounds fade] Right, I'm gonna guide you back through the storerooms to another staircase down.

See the door on your right? Yeah, I know, it's locked, but there's a lot of water damage and the wood looks pretty rotten. All right, Five, I'm gonna need you to break through the door. If you prop up that long sofa cushion against the door, it'll protect your hands. That's it. And remember those air punches we were practicing? Use the same movement, one hand protecting your face, the other jabbing out at eye height, and make sure not to lock the elbow of your punching arm, okay? When you're ready, go for it, Five. [rotten wood creaks] Yes! That's great, Five, keep throwing those punches. Go on, Five! You're doing really well, Five. Keep going. Five, Five! You gotta - you gotta float like a letterbox and sting like a doorknob. Fantastic! A few more punches and that door's history.

[door collapses] That's it, Five. Right, go through the doorway. Head for the door marked Boiler Room. Yeah, the wood looks pretty rotten here, as well. Okay, same again, Five. Time for more air punches. Yeah, well, I suppose technically they're door punches now, aren't they? Ready, steady, go.  [rotten wood creaks] Yes, nice one. Yes. Take that, door! You're looking great, Five. I wish I could play you the Rocky theme music right now. Oh, you're so close, just a few more seconds. [door collapses] You're done, Five.

Oh wow, the boiler room's huge! Well, I suppose a shopping center this massive needs a lot of hot water. Now you can go forward. [wood cracks] Careful, that floor looks like it's half rotten. [audio distorts and fades] Ah, no, the signal's not good, Five. I think the walls must be thicker here than outside. Make your way across the boiler room floor. You're gonna need all your fancy dancing footwork to stay clear of those rotten floorboards. And I'll reestablish contact with you on the other side. Keep moving, Five. I'll speak to you soon, okay?

~

SAM YAO: Five. Five, can you hear me? Ah, that's great. The signal's better here. Okay, you're not far away from the maintenance stairway at the back of the building. The zoms aren't far behind, but if you open the door in front of you and head straight down the stairs, you should have a clear exit/ [door opens, zombies growl] Zoms in the stairwell! Shut the door, Five! See if you can jam it shut with that mop. You're gonna have to head back the way you came. No, no, there are zoms that way, too. Five, you're surrounded!

Right. Sam, think. Okay! Five, I've got a plan! Climb up the shelves next to you. Brilliant. [door bursts open, zombies growl] Okay, don't look down. The zombies are all around you. They won't be able to reach you if you're on the very top of the shelves. They're a bit wobbly, but they should hold you. Oh no, the zoms are trying to shake you down off your shelf, like you're an apple in a tree and they're... they're zombies that really want a crunchy apple right now.

You need to wedge yourself tightly between the top shelf and the ceiling. Get into your plank position with your weight on your forearms and toes. Brace your back straight against the ceiling. Engage your core muscles and hold yourself like that for as long as you can, okay? Yes, yes, that's great. Just hold that pose and I'll think of something. Oh, there's got to be something. Oh no... Oh, oh, you can throw books at their head! No. Um, maybe if you... Oh! Oh, no, keep yourself braced, Five. I'm gonna set off a smoke alarm. [alarm blares] Yes! Yes, it worked! No crunchy apple for you, zoms!

[clears throat] Right, it's safe to relax for a moment, I think. I've got to be honest, Five, I can't see the zoms as well as you can. Just hold that position again until you're sure they're gone, okay? Then when you're ready, get moving down the corridor and I'll find you a safe route out.

~

SAM YAO: Five, there should be a door in front of you marked Fire Escape. Go through it onto the outdoor landing. [door opens] Oh wow, that's a lot of zoms and that's a long way down. Uh, I don't think they've noticed you, Five. You're a long way above them and the wind should stop them from picking up your scent, but there's no way you're going down into that lot. You need to head up the fire escape. Yeah, more stairs. I know, I know. All that stair stepping finally paying off. Four flights up. Okay? Right, go for it.

Okay. Keep going, Five. Steady pace. They're just sort of shambling around down there. Keep it up. Okay, one flight done, Five. Keep going. The mob outside haven't noticed you, but I think some of the ones inside are getting closer. They're definitely getting closer, I can hear them. Okay. Halfway, Five. When this is done, you've earned yourself a proper rest. Okay, Five, keep it up. Keep it up. Just one more flight to go, Five. I know your legs are burning, but they're right behind you!

Oh, they're getting closer now. I can see their faces. Oh, one of them, their eyeball’s just hanging out on their cheek. It's horrible. That's it, almost there. You made it! Now get through the door and shut it behind you. [door creaks shut] Oh, that was a close one. Head down the corridor into the main shopping area. There should be another couple of flights of stairs ahead of you. Take them in your own time up to the top floor. I'm gonna go through the list of shops up there and try and work out which one will be best for you to hole up in for a while. Keep moving for now, Five. You're nearly there.

~

SAM YAO: Okay Five, you've made it to the top floor. Now we need to pick out the best place for you to make your home for a while. Oh, there's a games and comics shop over there. Maybe you could pop in and see if they've got any Demons and Darkness supplements. I've been looking for Xandrin's Miscellany for ages. It's got tons of good spells in it, and... Yeah, okay. Maybe that can wait. Uh, it looks like your best bet is an outdoor shop. Look for one with a sign saying Climbs of Passion. They really liked their puns here, didn't they? They'll have tinned food, gas canisters, sleeping bags, everything you need to keep you comfy. Oh yeah, there it is. That's great, Five. Head inside and press the button to roll down the shutters.

[button zaps] That was not meant to happen. Something must have shorted out in the wires. Oh crap, the escalators have started working again and there are zombies on them. That's not good. Five. You're gonna need to bring that shutter down manually. Uh, yeah, there should be a crank handle to the right of the door. Get a good grip on it. You're gonna have to move it up and down, like those bicep curls you were doing, remember? The ones that used tins as weights?

Those zombies are getting closer. There's no time to waste. Get that handle moving now. [shutters rattle and creak] Yeah, that's it, Five. Keep it up. Nice, smooth movements. The door's about a quarter of the way down, keep going. If the zombies get to you before the door's down, there's nowhere to run. Keep it up, Five. The door's halfway down. You're doing great, Five! I'm so proud of you. That's it, Five, keep it going. A nice steady pace. You're almost there. Just a bit more to go! You're so close. Get that lever up and down a few more times and you'll be safe! They're getting close too, Five, keep it up! So close. Yes, you've done it!

The shutter's in place and it looks like a good, strong, heavy-duty one. Why don't you take a few minutes to cool down? Just move gently around the shop, tidy the place up a bit, and see what you can find there. I reckon you've earned yourself a nice warm sleeping bag and a pair of thermal socks, at least.

~

SAM YAO: Okay, Five, you're safe now. It's time to relax. I've managed to get access to the shopping center’s cams and the zoms have stopped trying to get you. They're just sort of milling around a bit, waiting. Which is good, right? I mean, obviously you're stuck in the shop, but at least you're safe.

Hey, when this is over, we should use some of that camping gear and go for a proper campout behind the farmhouse. I mean, Janine will come up with all these reasons why it's terrible idea, but we can talk her around, can't we, me and you? We can pitch a little tent, get our sleeping bags out under the stars, light a campfire, toast a few marshmallows. We can even get Runner Eighteen to bring out her guitar. We can tell each other scary stories, like that time you got stranded in a zombie-infested shopping center.

You've done brilliantly today, Five. You've definitely earned a packet of self-heating curry and a sponge pudding. Then you should try and get some rest. Once you've recovered, tune your radio back in and keep going with those Ministry exercise broadcasts like everyone else, and I'll figure out how to get you out of there soon.

~