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qianoir · 3 years

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After Midnight 3 - Stars

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: college dropout!Ten (WayV) x fem!reader

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: non-idol au, angst with fluff on top

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 13+

𝐖𝐚��𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: cursing (censored), lying, family problems, mentions death of reader's father, romance

♡ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1.9K

𝐓𝐚𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭: @staysstrays

Preview < 1 < 2 < 3

Your head was pounding from your ears drinking in the tantrum of a 3 year old boy, the cries diving straight into your ringing eardrums. A young couple showed up with their child who started offing himself about your café not having some made up hybrid cake he wanted for the last 10 minutes.

The boy started flailing around and knocked his mother's iced Americano out of her hand in the process, landing the freezing and pungent liquid all over you.

The LED clock above you flickered with a new hour, freeing you from the café’s dark roasted chains. You ripped the soaked apron over your head and stuffed it into the back room’s washing machine before taking hold of your belongings and rushing out of the building after saying a quick “good-bye” to your mother- who was not about to deal with the coddled boy and you leaving all at once, so she kicked the spoiled family out, them following your irritated trail on the way through the doors.

You were walking fast to have a little costume change before meeting up with Ten and his friends, 5 o’clock coming within the next 20 minutes.

Y/N

Heyyo I had a little accident at work so I'm going to stop by my place to clean up before heading over to yours.

Once you were in your own space, you peeled the rest of the coffee soaked clothing off of your body, sticking the wet collection into the washer to cold soak after dressing up nicely.

TEN

d.amn it y/n you are too old to be soiling yourself

???

Y/N

That’s not what I meant!

TEN

Whatever ;p

Stepping out into the bright evening air, you realized you don't even know where the hell to go. The napkin with the address was in the pocket of your apron washing back at the café.

You recognized the street that leads to Décalcomanie, the street that leads to Myeongdong, and one leading to a duck shop.

Admitting defeat, you texted Ten.

Y/N

hey so I left the napkin with your address in my apron.. which I don't have would you mind sending it to me?

TEN

such a handful~

You followed the GPS to his address. His apartment building was on the other side of your school you usually metro to, so it was a pretty tiring walk. Arriving fashionably late, you knocked on door number 117.

There was a lot of commotion and screaming, as you were previously informed. Finally, Ten opened the door and waved for you to come in.

Taking your shoes off at the entrance, you saw three guys tackling each other, two others playing video games, and one really fine looking man behind an island in the kitchen.

"Hello!!" One of the guys being tackled shouted and waved at you which got him punched in the back by the guy orchestrating the tackling. You hesitantly waved back "Hi Y/N!!" The boy in the kitchen said with a charming smile.

"Lovely place." You said to Ten with a giggle as he closed the door with an annoyed look on his face. "Y/N, these are my friends,"

He took you over to the couch where the two players were. "This is Sicheng and Xuxi," The two boys playing Mario Kart threw a glance your way and waved with a smile. "these fools are Hendery, Xiaojun, and Yangyang.."

Hendery strained to wave again under the two boys with a big smile on his face, as did the two others. Ten swayed you into the kitchen and introduced you to the last man. This guy was so handsome, like the Asian bachelor. "I'm Kun." The man greeted, kindly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Our Ten always talks about you." Yangyang says walking towards you two. Ten sent him a glare. "Is that so?"

"At least I'm not blind from having my head up my ass all day, Yangyang shut up!" His voice cracked, making you and Yangyang erupt in laughter.

"Anyways, if you'll excuse us- I invited Y/N here for us to be alone." He took your wrist in his grasp and led you to a room.

Ten pet a space on the bed for you to sit down while he leaned over his desk, searching on his laptop. A slow beat filled the room. You recognized this song- the song your dad would play for your mom in the car on long road trips: Something by The Beatles.

Something in the way she moves

attracts me like no other lover

Something in her style that shows me

I don’t want to leave her now

you know I believe and how.

Your parents were so in love. When your father first heard this song, he had made it their special theme to portray their love. They had both become big fans of The Beatles and always had this song pop up at least once in every holiday or event playlist or could be caught quoting it occasionally when the timing was right. Your heart sank in your chest at the memory.

You hadn't realized that the song had ended or that Ten was at your side watching you intently. You looked up at him and he offered a small smile.

"My parents used to listen to this song all the time."

"Really? Are you guys close?"

Your mouth felt sour hearing the inevitable question. “My dad died from pneumonia when I was younger. My mom tries to be present for me, but I know she misses him.” Tears puddled at your waterline as you forced yourself not to cry. “Sometimes I think she only keeps trying because she thinks I’m studying premed when I really hide pointe shoes in my closet. I don’t have the heart to tell her what I’m really majoring in.. because I’m terrified of us losing each other completely and frankly, she would never forgive me of my dishonesty if she would stay.”

"It's not wrong.. following your passion" Ten announced after a whole note of silence, "I'm sorry for making you bring up such a past, but I’m happy I can at least sympathize with you..” He looked away from you to recall his memories clearly.

“My parents didn't agree with me wanting to study dance either. And they certainly did not agree with me leaving my hometown in Thailand and dropping out of college to come here for the best art opportunities. Mine and the rest of the guys outside; all of us are a little more distant from our family than usual just because we are passionate." Ten confessed.

"I'm sorry." You weakly rasped.

"I'm not." Ten smiled at you.

"My friends and I are doing what we love without anyone holding us back and one day it's going to all pay off.. I know it will.. If it wouldn't I would have never dropped out."

You could understand where he was coming from. He is really passionate and faithful to his dreams, it is a little inspiring.

"And you seem to be doing good on your own, too. You're studying dance, which I'm sure you're amazing at, and working at the café to help your mom, letting people make a mess of you that you always undoubtedly pick yourself up from." You laughed, the sad tears rolling down your cheeks and turning to bittersweet tears of joy.

"Thank you, Ten."

"Anytime, Y/N." He handed you a napkin for your eyes.

A cough was heard outside the closed door, along with faint whispers.

"Lucas, shut the HELL up!"

Ten got up and opened the door, making four boys come tumbling inside the room.

All rushing to get up, Lucas stayed laying on the floor, "Uh, hi guys." he offered a charming smile. "We were just coming to tell you that dinner is ready?" Yangyang shrugged obviously.

Ten snickered.

"Nice try, guys-"

"Dinner is ready!" Kun yelled from the kitchen.

"What did I tell you?" Yangyang stuck out his tongue, cockily. Ten rolled his eyes and looked over at you,

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Uhm-"

"She is staying, I already made her a plate!" Kun yelled once again from the kitchen. The other boys ran out of the doorway to the kitchen.

"I guess it's settled then..." Ten sighed and reached his hand out to you, which you took. You were led into the dining room where the other boys sat. Ten placed you in a chair next to his and Kun’s.

Kun had made zhajiangmian, a Chinese traditional celebration/comfort food aka Chinese spaghetti. It tasted so much better than the bread pastries and milk teas you had been living off of in the past year.

Everyone was very talkative during dinner, you even found out that Ten choreographs his own dances for himself and the others to perform and learned that Kun has a degree in music from a prestigious university in Beijing. The boys you had dinner with were really fun to be around and gave you lots of energy after the intricate start to the new semester.

You didn't realize how lonely your little apartment was until now, even when sharing it with your mother most nights. They made you feel so comfortable and content after lacking companionship since your high school days. Also the food was really good, thanks to Kun.

Everybody finished their food but still continued the little chat at the dinner table "And this one time, Ten ate butter thinking it was ice cream! Who does that!?" Yangyang finished off his story punching the table with laughter.

You glanced at the time on your phone. It was almost 10 o'clock and you had to get to sleep early for your new 8 AM class.

Ten turned to you when he felt short tugs at his hoodie. "Cinderella has to get home?"

The room got quiet with Ten’s words, but quickly exploded in a swarm of whines and begs for you to stay. You gave them an apologetic smile.

Ten stood up, pulling me with him, "I'll walk you home." He was already at the door, kicking on his shoes. Everyone bid you good-bye as you waved to all of them before you and Ten were out the door.

"It's this way." You motioned in the direction of your apartments. Ten nodded and followed your path. It was silent the whole way, but it was a nice silence. It was peaceful with just you two. Arriving soon, you stopped in front of the entrance and turned around to look at Ten.

"Thank you for having me over, I really enjoyed it. Your friends are really nice."

"Of course. I’m really glad you came. I like spending time with you and I think my friends do as well."

Smiles were exchanged and hearts skipped, both of your breathing patterns were evident in each other’s dialogue. "Do you have any last lyrics before we end the night?"

Your building never shines like the others in its distance. The only light around you is the one that blooms in space and allows the stars to twinkle down to where you stand. Ten took your chin is his hand and created perfect eye contact:

"Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you. And all the things that you do.”

He tossed your chin up before walking off into the night.

To Be Continued…

Something by The Beatles

Yellow by Coldplay

𝘲𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘳

#wayv x reader #nct x reader #ten x reader #wayv imagines #wayv fluff #wayv angst #nct imagines #nct fluff #nct angst #ten imagines #ten fluff #ten angst #qianoir

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tonya-the-chicken · 4 years

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I promised to tell my new Todoroki Enji backstory yesterday to some people so um hello

CW for abuse and alcoholism. Nothing inteense - it’s a recap

His grandparents were supporters of Destro and Meta Liberation army. Though they might have went a little bit too much into extremes, believing in inherent privilege of those who is strong aka has a strong quirk. They were very centered on that but also wanted their family to be prestigious. They believed that some familiies are better than the others. They also dreamed of having a proper heir who will continue to represent their strong family

Enji’s father was not on good terms with his parents. He was convinced that their parenting style and ideas only damaged him (obviously, they did; I am convinced those people saw nothing wrong with quirk training from young years and physical punishment). When he was younger he ran away, tried to live on his own, even got married but eventually he failed to survive in the world on his own and returned to his parents’ house

They desired to have a proper heir to the throne. So fisrt thing first they either arranged marriage for him or let him find a woman who had a fire quirk as the rest of his family (yeah they all kind of had quirk marriages but weren’t really open about it). Then they had a kid

Enji’s mother wasn’t from very prestiogious family so his grandparents kind of disrespected her but overall she believed she is in the very best place in her life. She lived a rich comfortable life and all because she had a child - it seemed like a dream and so she didn’t question anything her parents-in-law were doing... Endeavor’s father was the only one to dislike the state of affairs in this family

But his opinion didn’t really mattered - he had already failed in life and knew he could do shit without his parents’ money and influence. Nevertheless, he really tried to somehow keep Enji away from his parents’ ideas... His methods didn’t work - all he could was say “Don’t listen to them”, scream or even hit him but none of that made Enji care less about his grandparents - despite being strict, they loved him and convinced him he got to be ambitious and work hard to be the greatest

What didn’t make his father more credible was that he wasn’t really succeful himself and so everyone looked down on him (which made Enji look down on him too). He felt like a failure in his own house so he tried to spent as little time there as he could, probably even cheating on his wife

In short, Enji’s grandparents were corrupted with absolutely disgusting ideas, his father was a loser cheating on his wife and having no say in his house and his mother was going along with everything, wanting her son to be great and somehow fulfill herself through that. I would say Endeavor’s grandfather was kind of a role model for him - strong, confident and a strict head of the family - everything his father could never be. His grandfather promised him a perfect life as an heir to their prestigious household, saying that eventually they will arrange a marriage for him too and so as long as he trains hard evverything would be made for him

but

BUT

They also kind of planned to overthrow the government or something like that with the rest of Destro’s crew... Enji’s parents never knew about that, only grandparents... But their plans were revealed and they were executed on a spot or were killed while resisting their arrest. No one told Enji what exactly happened

His parents were spared and allowed to live as normal family as long as they never follow their footsteps. But that’s were difference between his Mom and Dad became obvious - she hoped that Enji will be succesful regardless of everything that happened when his father wished for... he didn’t know I guess. He had no plan for life and when his parentts died it was clear he had no idea what to do with his own child. All he knew was that his grandparents, whom Enji loved dearly, were awful people

Nor Enji, nor his mother had trust or confidence in his father and so, the man really let his self-esteem issues get into his head. He was unable to be “proper head of the family” and so he ended up lashing out on his wife and son to make them listen to him. It seemed like he hated both of them and sincerely regretted being married. Over time he spent less and less time home and when he was home he would only yell and beat them. Enji’s mother beared with all of that because she sincerely believed her role of a woman is to keep this family together. His father wasn’t that much on “keeping family together” part. Before Enji turned 10, they divorced and Enji too ack his mother’s name - Todoroki

Enji’s mother had no college degree and because of [insert reasons here] couldn’t go back to her parents. So she found a job as a waitress and rented a very small appartment in very poor neighbourhood. It was tough for her to suddenly lose everything. Enji, who previously was a “good kid”, began to act up, skipped school and was pretty shitty in general. That only added to her struggles, she picked up drinking and *drum rolls* lashed out on Enji too, though more often she would just physically punish him or verbally berate him, blaming him for her problems, saying he is “no good” and will grow up to be like his failure of a father

Most of the time she was either at work, drunk or with some man, so Enji tried to avoid being home as much as possible. He didn’t really fit in with the rest of the kid, he felt very awkward outside of “prestigious families” group, not knowing how to behave around more simple-minded people. He also might have despised them or himself. Overall, he lived the same fate any kid from that neighborhoud was living - eventually, many of them became villains, addicts or workers of low-prestige jobs. Such perspectives made Enji only more depressed

Being very prideful and very on his limit, one day he couldn’t stand his mother belitteling him and so he ran away... Actually I like making him bordeline suicidal at this point. Since his Mom was drunk all the time and used to him not being home, she took her time before starting to worry about his disappearance. When she did began to worry she didn’t knew what to do and so, she probably just was full on binge drinking

Meanwhile Enji wondered around cities, probably going to his father’s house and starring blankly into the door. Then he got wasted and was found by some dude whose job is searching for lost kids. He refused to say his name or anything about himself and since his Mom did not file a report no one knew he was missing. Maybe his school was worried though?...

All that stuff happened in April, by the way, the same month the UA Sport Festival was held. And the man who found him took him there (he had two spare tickets from his work or something). I think Enji thought about being a hero before because he was taught to admire strength but seeing them out there in living flesh really inspired him. I also think it would be hilarious if he met young All Might there

The man tried to convince Enji that he can do great stuff and running away from home is no good. He also tried to find out i he was abused at home but Enji was quiet as a fish - admitting to being hurt weak was worse than death to him

So ummm

Enji’s father came to pick him up. It turns out he saw him near the house so he got all worked up and contected da police

While they were driving to his mother’s place, Enji told his Dad about wanting to become a hero and study in UA. As true garbage parent, the latter laughed...

He also told about that idea to his mother and she was furious. Enji went away saying he will take a walk so they can have no worries. When he was back in the evening his parents were mmmhmmm [”oops, sweetheart, you usually go back from your “walks” in the morning, son”] so he decided to return in the morning lol

His Mom went to work, so he roasted his Dad... Figuratively. He reminded how he cheated with their maid and was awful in general. Hid Dad tried to have a talk with him, complimenting how mature he was for his age (never a good thing). Enji said “Well, someone has to be a head of this family” while looking down at him

His Dad also asked him why he want to be a hero

“Well... I have always admired strong people and wanted to be strong myself... And heroes, they are strong, right? They are strong and they save other people. That is noble. Wasn’t that what grandpa meant saying how we should freely use our quirks to do more good in this world?”

“Yeah, that exactly what he meant. You should... Defnitely use your quirk to do good”

Enji - shocked that his father is being supportive; Enji’s father - relieved that his son didn’t understand his grandfather’s ideas

And like that Enji began his road to being a Number One Hero of Japan... That was bumpy. He moved away from his mother, working as much as he could

His father die in some suicide car accident and so Enji inherited his house... His mother either refused to live with him there or had died already

Anyway, it was pretty lonely in such a huge house... He would wonder around aimlessly on his days off... which usually were the days he couldn’t work because he was recovering from injuries.

On one of such days he went to his granfather’s cabinet... Looking through the books, he found the one called “The genetis of quirks”. It seemed interesting

There were a lot of case studies for some reason. One described how individuals might inherit both their parents’ quirk if they had the “opposite” ones

Most intriguing

Looking around the cabinet more, he also found some weird photoalbum with lots of different people Enji had never met. One of photos was signed “Himura - family of ice quirks”

“Well, that must be fate”

I know that was a lot but believe me it could have been longer. I have maladaptive daydreaming problems

#bnha #endeavor #todoroki enji #enji todoroki #boku no hero academia #long post #bnha headcanons #cw abuse mention

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angelaiswriting · 4 years

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The Assistant (14 of ?) | Vladimir Ranskahov x fem!reader

[original picture found on: pinterest]

✏️ Pairings:

(almost official) Vladimir Ranskahov x fem!reader

Anatoly Ranskahov x OC (Paulina)

✏️ Requested by @kellydixon01 : Y/N–hacker, big mouth, even bigger attitude–is the new addition to Fisk’s team. Sent to help the Ranskahovs, she immediately gets on Vladimir’s nerves. But as time passes, they start to take a liking to each other, even if none of them is willing to admit their feelings. Yet.

✏️ Previously on The Assistant (aka I’m shit at updating): Y/N returns home after having spent some painful days in Wesley’s hands and finds Vladimir waiting for her. He unexpectedly takes care of her, gives her a safe place to stay (’just so that he can keep an eye on her’), and as a consequence, they find themselves slowly growing fonder of and closer to each other.

✏️ A/N: sorry it took me one year to update :) many thanks to Alice for the great ideas that helped inspire me again! 💛 more weird things are coming, I don’t even know what this story is aymore lmao we going from serious to crack in the matter of one chapter my homies

✏️ Warnings: nothing, just some stubbornness on Vlad’s part, mentions of terrible singing, fluff with hand holding !!! and a surreal situation with an old friend.

✏️ Word-count: 4,577

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ULYANA

Days turned into weeks much quicker than he would have ever thought but the truth was, Vladimir enjoyed Y/N’s presence in his apartment. He had even caught himself calling it ‘home’ once or twice – never out loud, of course, always in his mind, but it was in there that it bore more meaning.

She had unofficially moved in with him – just so that I can keep an eye on her, he had told his brother, but both Vlad and Toly knew that the former would never manage to close his eyes long enough to have a good night’s sleep if he had to add her to his list of worries and responsibilities. She had moved in with him and suddenly the walls of his apartment had stopped closing in on him, and the shadows had turned a tad bit lighter, his demons a bit paler.

He had only ever lived with his brother – even before America, when their life had still been in Moscow and he had a girlfriend to call the love of his life. It had been him and Toly; it had always been the two of them ever since their mother had died and they had been left alone in this world. So now he wasn’t used to it – wasn’t used to sharing living spaces and taking turns for his morning shower; wasn’t used to helping someone prepare breakfast in the silence of the kitchen, and he was still learning how to use Netflix. But it had taken him less than he thought it would take, to get used to someone else’s rhythms.

It will only be for few weeks, he had told her at the beginning, on that Monday morning of almost two months ago. After that, he’d send her away to his enemy-friend in Russia, where she’d hopefully be safe, but Vladimir had yet to take that step forward. He hadn’t picked up the phone, nor had he sent an email to one of the men he still had back home to see if Sokolovsky still had an eye on the former kings of the Capital. He simply hadn’t reached out and the plan he should have given shape to still remained confused and untouched, its silhouette still vague in his mind.

The reason behind that was probably the fact that living with her felt easy. Easy and comfortable, almost homely in a way, and he found himself allowing her that very benefit of the doubt he had never truly graced her with before she had gone missing for three days straight.

He never told her these things, of course. He kept them locked inside his mind and his heart, and part of him foolishly hoped that she would pick up on them on her own. That she would look at him one morning, looked right into his eyes, and see something that would light up a lightbulb inside her head. Almost like a cartoonish a-ha! moment, that’s what he hoped for, and he was ashamed of it every single time his thoughts stopped on that. That would be the easier way, and he wouldn’t have to open up to let her in, for she would see and crawl her way to the center of his soul without him being able to stop her.

But then they had started going back to work, back to the garage, and he had found himself opening up a lot more easily than anticipated. There was no more screaming nor fighting coming from his office, and he had even given her permission to use his desk when he wasn’t there.

Little by little, he had let that whatever-this-is feeling he harbored for her consume the weld joints of his armor. A joke thrown his way just before she left with Petya to go to lunch; a cheesy punchline chuckled in the silence of his office when he least expected for her to open her mouth; and then all those Friday nights out at some bar that had somehow become a tradition.

“This job is starting to get boring.”

She dropped down into the chair in front of his desk, laptop abandoned on the new leather couch he had bought a few days after she had shown up again – it was time I threw old one away, that had been his excuse, but deep down he knew he had done all that for her. He had even gone that one step forward and bought her a nice coffee table – and then one of those fancy trays with legs he still didn’t know the name of, just so that she could keep her laptop in her lap without actually burning her thighs. A new desk would have probably been the best solution, but in his mind that meant admitting to everyone that he was doing something for someone else, someone that wasn’t family nor business, and… Well, he just wasn’t ready. What he really wasn’t ready for, though, was for her to understand. And that truly went against all the silly hopes he had, but he was scared, and while Tanya wasn’t on his mind that often anymore, he didn’t want to fuck up –or to get fucked up by yet another person.

“What do you want me to do?” His groan was just a bluff, a way to pretend like he was still the same Vladimir that had welcomed her – if so one could say – on her very first day at the garage. “Give you time off?”

She picked up a pen from his pencil holder and twisted it between her fingers. “I don’t like doing taxes, that’s not part of my job.”

He chuckled for a moment before he covered it with a cough. “Aslan is helping Sergei prepare for the trip, and others barely know any math.”

When all his words were met with was a huff, he dared a quick peek above the frame of his laptop and found her already staring at him. She had taken her glasses off, but still had the indentations of the bridge on the sides of her nose.

“It’s almost time to go clock out,” she pointed out, tapping the pencil on the top of his computer. “Everyone’s already gone home… You’re the boss, we could be leaving whenever you want.”

His right eyebrow rose in an amused expression, and he had to swallow down that chuckle that was threatening to come up again. What was it about her that had this effect on him? And why was he only now embracing it? Inside, he was burning with the desire to cave in and let her win, go home – home – and watch TV, maybe order pizza or Chinese. But a new meeting with Fisk’s man was coming up and soon both Aslan and Sergei would leave for a business trip to Florida, and he was behind on his schedule.

“I can’t.” He offered her a weak shoulder shrug before hinting at the couch with his chin. “But you can call it a day if you want. I have to-”

But she pushed the lid of his laptop down until it closed. “You have to do nothing. I saw what you’re doing and what you have already done. You’re good, Vlad, you can finish early today. When was the last time you took it easy?”

They stared at each other, and he truly did his best to not look away. The truth was, he didn’t know when that was. Sure, he had taken some time off when she had come back beaten and battered, and when she had moved in with him, on the other side of the corridor from her own apartment, and he had stayed home with her. But he had still been busy – busy with her and with his anger, and then the drinking and the kissing… It hadn’t been pure rest; he wasn’t even sure he knew what that was.

“We can’t afford mistakes if we want to fool weasel,” he frowned, a hand moving over his computer to open it again, but hers was still pressing it down.

She chuckled – both at his choice of that word and at the despise in his voice. “One day off won’t kill you, come on.”

He never pushed her as much as he had used to before the accident, but she still looked drained that day, even despite that playful façade she had put up. So, he ended up caving in. It was weird, to feel allowed to do something, take it easy – and for himself, not someone else. He didn’t need anybody’s permission to do anything – or to not do something – but it was almost as though part of the weight he carried on his shoulders had been lifted off of him.

“It’s Friday anyway,” she reminded him as she put her things in his car, a few minutes later, and he found himself grinning behind her, safe in the knowledge that she couldn’t see him.

Friday meant booze and bars, and it was thanks to them that he had gotten to know her better and she… well, he did try opening up a bit more, and alcohol surely helped. But it was one thing to spend all week thinking about spending time with her, doing something normal, civilized people did, and it was another to realize that she was looking forward to those nights probably just as much as he.

“Maybe we could reach the others,” he proposed in the spur of the moment, before he had the time to truly think his proposal over, his brother’s invitation still fresh in his mind. “Just for this once,” he quickly added, but she was already turning toward him with a bright smile on her face.

Vladimir had vague memories about the night before. Sergei and the guys had gotten him absolutely hammered, but he was fairly sure he remembered Piotr howling something vaguely similar to We didn’t think you two lovebirds would make it when he and Y/N had shown up at Anatoly’s place. The only thing he was sure of, when he woke up above his blankets and still dressed in his now-crumpled suit, was that there was no way in both heaven and hell that he had driven himself and his girl back home.

“Are you still alive?” came a drowsy voice from the corridor.

When he twisted his head to the side, she was standing there, just like that night of many weeks ago, leaning against the frame of the door. She had just gotten out of the shower, he noticed when he managed to take in her wet hair still dripping droplets of water onto her shirt.

He heaved a sigh, a noisy one, straight out of his nose, but he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth and give her an actual answer. Too laced with sleep and grogginess, he just laid there, and somehow, whatever that entailed, in his mind he felt like a fish.

“I’ll take that groan as a yes. Coffee will be ready in a few if this headache doesn’t take me out before I reach the kitchen and the pills.”

It was ten minutes later, when he was finishing getting dressed, that his brother knocked on his bedroom door and almost scared the crap out of him. For the first time in forever, his heart jumped up in his throat and as he whipped around, he almost tripped in his own feet.

“What the fuck, Tolik?” he groaned, Russian scorching and angry in his mouth as he tied the drawstrings of his sweatpants.

Good morning to you as well was the answer he got as he stared as his brother walked forward and sat on his bed. “The living room is messy,” Anatoly pointed out matter-of-factly as he looked around in the room and put the keys to his brother’s apartment back into the pocket of his jacket. “I didn’t even know you had books somewhere.”

Vlad’s brows furrowed. “Did you come to criticize my apartment?”

The other shrugged. “So, did you tell her?” he grinned – a big ass grin that went from ear to ear and that threw uneasiness on Vladimir like a bucket of cold water on the head. “Y/N,” he added when his brother grimaced in annoyance and confusion.

“Tell her what?” He feigned ignorance, and not because he was trying to play coy, but more because he wanted to avoid talking about feelings with his brother. It didn’t matter that he found himself calling him in the dead of night, with a closed-up throat and confusion thrashing his mind as he tried to figure out what, exactly, was making him feel the way he felt.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Vova. Even the guys are starting to notice.”

So maybe his memory of Piotr yelling lovebirds in his brother’s living room wasn’t a faulty memory. The possibility that that had actually happened stopped his mind from working for a moment. “Notice what?”

Really? was saying the look on Anatoly’s face. He stared at him, chuckled to himself, and then he stood up to close the distance between them. With his brother’s hands cupping his face, he felt like a child again. “You took two weeks off of work, that never happened, not even back in Moscow. And they all know you spent them in here with her. Then,” he went on, hands now leaving his face, “you made her workstation a bit more comfortable: new couch, new coffee table, even a new tray table for her laptop. That’s all new, and I have to agree with them in saying so.”

“You didn’t tell them…”

“About you calling me after midnight, trying not to cry because you had been kissing her and you were scared because you enjoyed it?” Anatoly scoffed, and then he scoffed once more at Vladimir’s annoyed expression. “Why would I? I’m your brother, and you’re your own person. You’re old enough to take care of yourself.”

A faint okay was Vladimir’s answer, heart beating wildly inside his chest. His gaze wandered back to the hallway, hoping and praying that she wasn’t there, whether it was accidentally or not.

“You dueted Can’t Help Falling In Love yesterday.”

His head turned back to Toly so fast that he got whiplash and for a moment, a brief second, he risked losing his balance. “What?”

“It was terrible, Paulina was still laughing when I left this morning. Drunk karaoke is not for you – for neither of you. And if you didn’t end up going at it on my living room floor, someone up there truly is looking down on us,” he chuckled. “Everybody was probably too drunk to remember about that this morning, so don’t worry. What you should worry about, though, is telling her.”

It wasn’t like his brother was wrong and he was right when it came to swallowing down anything that got thrown his way – both the blessings and the curses. It was more of a matter of pride, it didn’t matter that he did call Anatoly in almost-tears more than once when he should have been fast asleep. It was also his business, and it wasn’t like it interfered with his job: he still slaved off, he still put his ass on that chair and did what he had to do. The only thing he hadn’t done was pick up the phone and call Sokolovsky, but that was because he didn’t really need him, because he was more than capable of taking care of her, of keeping her safe.

Most of the time, that was.

“Did you come to talk about my feelings?” He wasn’t on the verge of losing his cool, but he did want his brother and his accusations out of his bedroom.

“No,” was the reply. “Your feelings are your own, but it sure does hurt me to see my brother choosing pain over happiness over and over again.”

“I am happy.”

“Yes, for now. But then what? When pretending like you don’t feel anything won’t be enough anymore, what then? You’ll close up again, kick her out?” One of Anatoly’s hands covered his cheek and again, it was like being back home, and it was his mother’s hand the one on his face, warm and homely and safe, distracting his thoughts from whatever his father had been throwing at them that day. “I love you, brother. I always will, even if we have our own lives outside of the garage. And the last thing I want,” he sighed, “is going back to my woman and have her rant about the both of you being too stupid and blind to hold each other’s hand in public.”

Vlad frowned, his head tilting back a bit as he stared at his brother in disbelief.

“I’m kidding. But I do love you and I do want you happy. I don’t know what goes on in that thick skull of yours anymore, but I know what you’re doing to yourself. She won’t eat you alive, she won’t laugh in your face. If anything, after the terrible singing you both did last night, I think she might cry happy tears.”

He removed his brother’s hand from his face and took a step back. “I’ll ask again: Did you come to talk about my feelings for Y/N?”

Instead of saying So you do have feelings for her – because that was what he could read on his face – Tolik sighed in surrender before lifting his gaze to the ceiling for a moment. “No,” he eventually groaned. “Ulyana called. The sink in her bathroom keeps on leaking and she needs help.”

“So? Do you need my permission to go?”

“Fuck off, mudak.” He read disbelief in his brother’s eyes – disbelief more than annoyance at his petty ass. “She hasn’t seen you in months, she’s worried. After all she did for us, you up and leave? She asked explicitly for you, Vova. Just go, fix what needs to be fixed and spend some time with her – she hasn’t gone to bingo afternoons in forever.”

Ulyana had been like a mother and a grandmother all in one, back when he and Anatoly had first arrived in New York with barely anything in their suitcases. They had left everything behind, but had found a friend and ally in her. She had helped them – probably more than she should have – and they had reached their current position also thanks to the goodness of her heart. Ulyana’s tiny apartment felt and smelled like home, like a Russia they’ll probably never live again. Like home and hopes and all kinds of promises, shining under the sun.

It did make him feel bad, facing the accusations of abandoning Lina to her fate just because he had relapsed into something he didn’t want to give a name to. It was like a stab wound to the heart, and his heart didn’t ache just for anybody. She had become more of his responsibility when Tolya and Paulina had gotten together and he had been happy, for a while. But then his demons had got strong again, drawn the curtains of his mind, and even Ulyana’s place had turned dark and cold, and he had felt like there was no more space for him there.

“I’m serious, Vlad: you have to go. Take Y/N with you if you have to, but if I get a call from her, saying that you didn’t show up…”

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, and those three seconds felt longer than three hours as he stood there, under his brother’s accusatory gaze. “Fine, yes, I’ll go.”

The drive to Ulyana’s housing block was long and silent, stretched out even more by the crazy Saturday afternoon traffic. Y/N had yet to ask her usual bunch of questions about what they were going to do and where, exactly, they were going to do it. It was a blessing because he was sure that Ulya was his best-kept secret – after what she had done for him and his brother, without ever expecting anything in return, keeping her out of any kind of trouble was the least he could do.

But he hadn’t visited her in forever, so, whether his actions had managed to get the FBI to knock on her door or not, she was still going to be pissed. In her own way, that is – without violence nor harsh words, and that was truly something he had never been used to.

When they eventually arrived at their destination and he stopped the car in Ulyana’s unused parking lot, for her husband had died twenty years or so ago, he turned in his seat to look at Y/N, suddenly nervous about what he was about to do. It felt almost like a leap of faith, opening up about such a secret to someone like her. That was where that stupid ‘benefit of the doubt’ kicked in, even though, deep down, he had already started to trust her long before that day.

“What’s up?” she asked as she unlocked her seat belt and looked out of the windshield to try and understand why he was still in the car.

He couldn’t read her expression with those shades she was wearing, her sight still sore and sensitive, for her headache was still there, even if a lot lighter compared to what had almost cracked her head open just that morning. It was probably for the best, that he couldn’t look at her in the eye; it was like he wasn’t facing her at all, and it gave him the illusion that he wasn’t exactly spilling some beans, somehow.

“We’re going to meet someone,” he started, hands still gripping the steering wheel. “She is… my friend. I’m sure you know nothing about her.”

Y/N lifted her sunglasses up, looked at him through squinted eyes, before turning towards him with her whole body on the seat. “I know nothing about… who?”

“You will see,” he replied after a moment of indecision, torn as he was between telling her now or introducing her to the old woman when she would welcome them into her home. “It has to remain this way, though. A secret. It won’t end up in one of your files,” he added, hinting back at the files she had put together about him and his brother and Tatyana and everyone back at the garage, and had then shown him a few weeks back.

“Do you want me to pinky promise that?” she chuckled, but he knew that she was serious, only trying to downplay and lighten the atmosphere in the car to put him at ease.

He scoffed at that and simply opened his car door. “Let’s go.”

Inside, the building was a bit more run-down than he remembered it to be from the last time he stepped foot in it. The ceiling lamp in the entrance, a closed space with only the glass door as a source of light, wasn’t working when they walked in, and the staircase had a gloomy look to it when they walked up the steps.

Behind him, he could feel Y/N’s gaze drilling holes in the back of his head, but there was nothing he could do. There was also no need to do anything right now, when she’d see who this whole thing was about in a matter of minutes and judge the whole situation by herself.

“Ulyana Filimonova,” she read the oval plaque right above the peephole when he rang the bell. “Who’s this? I didn’t know you-”

But the door opened and an old lady, shorter than her by a whole head, stared Vladimir down to the ground with an accusatory gaze and a wooden spoon in her hand that, judging by the look in her eyes, she wasn’t scared to use as a weapon.

“Vladimir Borisovich! Where have you been?” Her voice was high and indignant as she spat angry English like it were bullets. But then her gaze landed on Y/N, standing half-shocked, half-amused on Vladimir’s left, and she stared at her with parted lips for a moment before she grinned, the look in her eyes melting away and fading into unexpected happiness. “Ah, finally a girlfriend!” she exclaimed, making Vladimir choke on his spit. “I was getting worried, my boy! But that’s good. I always said you need a softer touch in your life, da?”

Sputtering, Vladimir was about to protest when ‘the girlfriend’ tugged harshly on his hand and gave him a look.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Miss!” she smiled, stretching her hand out to introduce herself.

Ulyana was still talking when she moved to the side to let them in – first Vlad and then Y/N, whose arm she took in hers right after closing the door. “No ‘Miss’ around here,” she joked. “I’ve been happily married for almost forty years and even though my Shura is long gone, I still carry rings around my neck,” and she pulled out the chain from underneath her flowery blouse. “But please, get comfortable, I’ll go put on some tea!” she smiled, accompanying them into a tiny but tidy living room and showing them the two-seat couch. “Vlad never brought anyone home, it’s nice to be finally meeting his love!” And with those words, she left in a hurry.

“Who the hell is this woman?” Y/N whispered when she turned to look at Vladimir, sitting as stiff as a pole next to her. “This is the most surreal situation I’ve ever lived so far.”

“She…” He cleared his throat, still confused as to why Lina thought Y/N was his girlfriend of sorts. Maybe girl friend, with that tiny space in its middle, could be considered correct, but there was definitely no relationship between them – not yet, at least. “She helped me and Toly when we arrived. We used to live two doors down the corridor. She taught us better English.”

She nodded. “I’m surprised you managed to keep her off the records. I’m surely not the best at my job, but I consider myself good enough, and I never got a whiff of her.” She paused for a moment and Vladimir did his best not to look at her, but only spied her expressions from the corner of his eye. “Why does she think I’m your girlfriend?” she asked then, voice soft and almost shy, as she threw a glance in the direction the old woman had disappeared into.

Vladimir sighed, eyes rolling of their own accord as he relaxed against the back of the couch, his shoulder pressing right against hers. “She’s always thought I needed woman in my life. She says that ‘I’m too rough around edges,’ that I need someone to show me the good side of things.” He turned his head, then, and instead of meeting a look that mirrored his, he found her smiling softly at him, almost too lost in her thoughts to pay any attention to him.

“It would be a pity if she found out that we’re not… Y’know, a thing,” she reasoned out loud, taking his hand in hers just a few seconds before Ulyana came back with a box of Danish biscuits.

God bless Ulyana I guess! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Feedback always appreciated, suggestions always welcome as well :)

TAGS (to be added to or removed from any list, shoot me an ask)

Everything: @idhrenniel @saibh29 @fuckthatfeeling @aya-fay @pebblesz892 @mblaqgi @becs-bunker @gruffle1

The Assistant: @flowers-in-your-hayr

People that might be interested: @kind-wolf @sweetvengeancee @brobachev

#angelaiswriting #the assistant #vladimir ranskahov #vladimir ranskahov imagine #vladimir ranskahov fanfic #vladimir ranskahov x reader #vladimir daredevil #vladimir daredevil imagine #vladimir daredevil x reader

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softsweetsuffering · 3 years

Text

OC LIST (New)

Trey:

Has an ability to mimic or amplify abilities/powers of others, as well as telekinesis

Was previously part of a group of people who also had abilities, however after mistreatment and other issues within the group, he left.

He's got a good wealth behind him.

Extremely gentle

Handsome ;)

Loves photography

Has lavender hair

Respects all

'Secretly' Plays violin

Lowkey a sugardaddy

Hamrish Benat:

Has four eyes!

Pink and blonde hair

He loves parkour (as in climbing buildings and leaping around in gyms)

Has PTSD (There are two AUS of which I default as to how he obtained it)

Ready to deck a bitch

Trained nurse

Loves teddy bears and fuzzy pink socks.

Also goes by Hami/Hayden

Andy peters:

Strong, kind.

The quiet Big Type, doesn't always talk, but his heart is in good places.

Wishes he could do more

Buff + Tall

Wears a pair of dogtags.

Has red streaks in his hair for the fun of it

Is extremely brotherly to Adrian

is friends with Hami

Adrian Géarán:

Nervous Malnutritioned anxiety filled tired mess

Has emotionally linked fire abilities (does not like having them)

likes to make little robots!

Easily bullied

Missing an arm

Struggles with normal life

Blames himself for Andys death

Looks unintentionally vaguely like Fry from Futurama

Chris:

Leader of a summer camp for kiddos

Huge fan of the outdoors

Loves to garden

Red head with freckles

Healthy!

Good build, a little on the below-average male height

Likes to hike

Loves kids

Strong but pacifistic

Great smile

Surprisingly a little shy around other adults

Bisexual

Himbo energy

Douglas Connelly:

Just a regular chubby guy

His chub is only important because this man gives some of the best hugs, he's like a marshmallow

He is outwardly confident about his size, even if it sometimes worries him internally

He loves music, loves to groove in the kitchen while making snacks

Always open for roommates and new friends (one of his roommates is a hot bartender called Donovan)

A bit awkward but he tries his best.

Tucker:

Badass

Bunny hybrid (ears :3)

White hair

Likes to wear denim jackets

Fast runner

Has had experience working in the force

Izekiel Iris:

Bruised and abused in a facility

Was turned from human into A being of made of Paint (Useful? no. Fun? yes. Rainbow blood anyone?)

Loves painting

Wallflower

Easily anxious

Loves to draw on his own arms

Matthew Libelle:

Aka Matty Very delayed development wise as well as Autistic

Very much a texture lad, soft blankets are his thing.

Doesn't like loud sounds ( who does honestly).

Tries his hardest to function normally but it's hard.

Watermelon colours are his fav. Green hoodie is his fav.

Has watermelon pink hair.

Gale:

Eldritch bab

Was cursed by a group of guys who were messing with magics they didn't understand

Did in fact murder said group of guys and is traumatised by the idea he has become a monster

hears voices

Has Tendrils that have burst out of his back

Has the ability to move from this realm to the Eldritch planes and back. (is terrified of said planes)

Doesn't have a home

Black curly hair- frizzy- shimmers like Slick oil

Shy type kinda, tall Pale. cold.

Kinda wishes he could just go back to normal.

Would really like to eat some fresh warm bread.

Rowan maverick

Was abandoned as a teen

Also known as Rogue/Red.

Lost some of their tongues making them mute

Trained Assassin.

Previously part of a cult

Addict to painkillers (Caused by the mental issues from the cult and the loss of tongue.)

Bad with Physical affection

Could use a friend

Jace

Cop/Ex Cop.

Laid off after an incident

Has a pubby called Otis

Likes the occasional beer

Dad energy

Issac Merewen

Was previously a Teacher - grade 11/12s

Kidnapped and kept Drugged the hell up.

Was given the new name: Jess/Jack. AKA The Jester

Now has Amnesia problems .(Anomic aphasia)

Was stored Cramped in box.

Needs glasses. (Long sighted. Cant see Infront of him for shit without glasses. He specifically likes round ones :3)

Natrually Blonde

He was very inspired by the Chitty Chitty bang bang scene, “Doll on a music box”.

- He naturally has two different coloured eyes :D

-He likes podcast n occasionally audiobooks. Its good for learning/remembering words, and way easier than straining his eyes. Although it is upsetting occasionally when he can remember more of a book/podcast he’s into more than real words or real-life things.

Tyrone Li

Incubus.

Wise, Patient, caring.

Brown tattoos wind up his hips and torso, curling around his chest around his heart, and around his back, flaring at his neck.

Glasses.

Loves plants and flora

Sex lost meaning when he was younger. He wants true intimacy again but he wants to find the right person..

Glamors hide the following features:

Tail, brown that gradients into Green, Leaf like tip.

Horns, curled. (green tipped :0)

Glamors break usually after a certain period of time regardless of feeding, however, during bad situations/fight the body may unglamour to reserve the last of its energy.

Caspian:

Basically immortal but can die (Reincarnations)

Not a pacifist, but not instantly into violence

He was blessed by the Heart of the Ocean (Shes wonderful <3)

Can control water, can do minor healing with water

Can make water bubble/ boil when angry

Glowy veins when powers are active

He has had many many lives

Soft..caring..Doesnt remember alot of his past..

Doesn't know how many times hes died

Doesn't have alot of family or friends

Goes on many adventures

Elio Solren.

Nickname: Sunshine

Good lad.

Is a shapeshifter Dealt with being told he was happy and always upbeat. People leaving or ignoring him whenever he wasn't started building this sense of need to be happy all the time for others.

Lots of struggles with self image. Being perfect. Appeasing everyone. Poor self body love/self body image.

Is scared about The hate from humans about shifters. The jealousy and fear about them being able to hide behind other faces.

Smiles to hide the pain

Punk/hipster vibes

Intricate golden tattoos

Doesn't open up easily

Doesn't like to admit to being in pain

Kotori

AKA Corey

Owl lad!

Bright yellow piercing eyes. But is totally blind. (Face scars)

Loves music.

Plays the uke.. hums..sings sometimes.

Big wings- like barn owl.

Likes to perch in trees

Jeremey Caulfield

Winter baby

Was left bleeding in the snow at some point

Father Lovely old man (John)

Mother died (Ellie)

Birthday December 23h

Blue eyes

Black hair

Russel

Box boy

Glasses

Red hair

Real sweetheart

Really needs more dev ; ;

Jules

Loves tofu n chicken

Touchstarved

Stubborn af

Kicks ass!

Has Sass

Wears binders/sports bras for Lotsa running n such

Black hair big messy pigtails

Dark brown eyes.

Has a navy bear sleeps with it ‘doesn't care’ about it but does

Gymnast/kickboxing. Bandages around hands

Loved swinging bars since being a kiddo

Trampolines!!

Participates in Underground fight ring to make easy money

Sleeps on just a mattress

Has a laptop for study work but she's slowly giving up on bothering.

(She's not one originally but Werewolf Jules is one of my fav things)

Miles

Part mole, part orphan

Lives underground

Very light-sensitive

Is colourblind

Absolute nerd

loves tinkering with things

is scared of humans

very foggy memories of his parents.

Leilah/ Lei

Can make/control shadows.

Owns a Magic skull(Speaks to it)

Lives in the woods

Wears a skull to spook off people from her woods

Has Tattoos that are shadow/absorb shadows

Kinda bad at maintaining friendships

Emotionally Distant

Wears a cloak.

Bao Ketsuyki

Blood magic bab

Short

East Asian.

Pink/red medium length hair

Big pretty red flower scar from blood magic use on her shoulder/ back.

Little bit foolish, little bit reckless.

Has almost died a few times from her magic use.

Oran Audun

Pale

Punk

Irish

Plays Guitar

Writes in journal, occasionally song lyrics, occasionally little messy ink drawings.

Easy to aggravate (On edge) however is trying to learn how to meditate and be calmer

Covered head to toe in scars but still tries to find confidence in himself. He doesn't find it unattractive, but he feels like others have no need to witness his scars.

loves wearing leather/fabric wrist bracelets

Unwelcome hands have used his body as a research object

Very very against physical contact, needs to break into it.

Ray

Social worker works mainly with kids.

Has a Shy guy tattoo.

His family consists of a Good ma, younger sister, and super baby brother

Dad died but dad was good.

Dirty blonde hair, kinda messy

Short, 5’

Socks the pupper is his helpful lil buddy (hes so round and white and fluffy)

Super dad vibes.

Owen

a hockey player n gymnast.

His mother died when he was about 9.

has an older brother who is a bit of a big jock type

quite protective and caring of his two much younger siblings.

ended up in a nasty scuffle though at some point during his more competitive years in Hockey

This leads to following his passion for Gym

Pole vault, the rings, trampoline.

Still plays hockey among mates or strangers on the weekends in the cold months tho

Ends up taking a position as a gym teacher for kids after taking a childhood course since he was so good at it.

actually a really sweet guy

Soft but likes his sport and jokes.

He can hold his own somewhat more than he appears.

has blue tips/stripes in his blonde hair.

He often wears varsity jackets or baseball tees. As well as a couple other sport wear shirts. (A. Good few are from his bro ofc. Free merch)

He's short but he's got a fairly decent build on him.

He's got a surprisingly good tackle if you aren't careful. And a good grip strength.

Nohea

but everyone calls him Noah.

Works at a Boba tea cafe..

likes to surf.

has an Epic board.

Back and shoulders all littered with lines and tic tac toe-like scars.

he's the type to brush off any questions and change topic while smiling. But not super bubbly. Just. Go lucky.

has a few friends who like to hang out at the cafe

Was in a surfing accident that involved a lot of rocks.

Ila

4’8 Soft. Short.

Ready to protect.

Loves to bake!!!

Smells like a vanilla cupcake most of the time

Isn't afraid to fight although isn't trained

likes Yoga ( and yoga pants)

Needs glasses but doesn't wear them (tsk tsk, unless tryign to read recipes)

Dyes hair silver/white

Jake

Homeless

Snake hybrid can transform his lower half from human legs to tail

Also has fangs, and therefore venom

He's got a lot of sass

Can be a bit of an asshole but soft around the right people

Isn't used to kindness

doesn't cry easily

Steals food

Mac Hiato

Also known as Caf

5’6

Very Grumpy.

Very often has bags under his eyes.

Hoodie is life

Insomnia has serious trouble sleeping.

Has nightmares of strangulation

Occasionally sufferers sleep paralysis

Scared of dark- night lights

Owns a mouse called Bean

Does freelancing webdesgisn/coding as job.

Sits like a gay.

Lives on coffee

Minorly Lactose intolerant

Has One bad eye

Neema

Egyptian

Mechanic

Her dad's a mechanic and used to bring her to work all the time

dead mum: which affected her ability to emote.

Works part time at the garage

Dad likes to bring gifts on their small catch-ups that happen every once in a while.

Sheeee. Suffers a bit of resting bitch face.

she's kinda stunted emotionally because she was raised by her dad, who, isn't great with emotions himself being a man's man and all.

She's very much a tomboy gal. Doesn't exactly get dressed up. because she finds it tiresome and not "her".

Also if she did/does have friends the nickname Nemo 100% crops up because it's sadly alll too fitting but also kinda sweet.

She's actually really into cars and mechanics. Which is one of the few good reasons her dad and her are close.

She's hard to get to know, very quiet. And if you're someone who dominates the conversation she won't speak up much, but you'll be surprised to how much she's listened.

Just because she looks tired and done doesn't actually mean she feels that way.

Samson (Lemonade boi)

His name is Samson, but he prefers Sun/Sunny. (Other more affectionate nicknames include Lemondrop and Sunflower.)

He really likes going out to markets and stuff like that, little stalls or knick knack shops to find the odd kinda items.

He also really likes wandering big forests. (Hes got some o that fae energy) He collects various cool stones/rocks/plants from some of them. He also has some small vials from waterfalls and ponds he’s encountered)

He wants to practice magic to become a witch! He loves the candles and rocks and other cool things that come with the craft. (He inherited things from his father)

He really likes loose fitting shirts too, like flowy things, ones with sleeves that drape past your fingers, or has extra fabric on the bottom that dangle down past hips. (Sometimes they come from the ladies section just because they’re softer and have more variety. Others from op shops and other niche little stores.)

He bought a cologne from a witch that looks cursed but the only curse is that it makes the one who puts it on smell like citrus..so not much of curse. (The bottle looks fuckin neato tho)

He looves fizzy drinks. Doesn’t mind his alcohol either, however it takes a surprising amount to get him on his ass despite looking like a serious lightweight.

He’s pretty average in build, bit of muscle in his arms, some fat on his thighs. Slight pouch of a tum (cause no ones flat and thats unrealistic :<)

He’s about 5′4. So not tall, but not the shortest of the short.

He kinda likes to backpack about. Not staying in places long if they get boring. Which means he is kinda jack of all trades when it comes to work, offering to fix things for pay, lots of casual work doing various things.(One of his favorites was helping a little old lady run a paint shop.)

He occasionally snorts when he laughs and tries not to.

He has his ears pierced, and he has a little yellow gemed stud in his nose.

The ring around his neck he found in the middle of a patch of mushrooms.

He has a couple other tattoos. One of them is of bubbles up his wrist :3 He also has some stars on his ankle, and a sunflower on one of his fingers on his left hand.

He’s not super in to gardening but he does have his lemon tree. He also wants to grow some mandarins

His eyes look silver in a lot of lights, but occasionally there’s some strange hints of yellow, and other times blue.

He has freckles!!!! that look alot like bubbles ;)

He has a twin brother called Fraser.

Scrunches his nose

Hides his laughter behind his hand

#OC List #ocs #god this took forever #B's Ocs #my list #oc list new #fuck me ; ;#im not gonna tag all of them.. its not worth it..#thanks for the reminder anon

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jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets · 6 years

Text

Lost in Translation

Title: Lost in Translation

Fandom: Star Trek

Pairing: Mckirk

Rating: Explicit

Tags: minor character death, hurt, little bit of self destruction, stranded, possible smut down the line

Summary:

“Attention citizens. This is the crew of the Enterprise asking for your aid. On Stardate 2264.78 a shuttle manned by our captain and fourteen cadets was ambushed by an unknown source and chased out of sight of our ship and into open space. Those cadets as well as our captain, James Tiberius Kirk, are still missing. We are asking anyone with any information on their whereabouts, or regarding the attack, to please contact the Enterprise immediately. Our family would appreciate any assistance you can give.”

AO3 Link

Masterlist

Special Thanks: wanted to give a huge shout out to my girl Katie, AKA @goingknowherewastaken for being a huge inspiration for this fic as well as for being a huge help (especially when it comes to putting up with my frantic ramblings lol) you're awesome boo <3

A/N: So this is a work in progress but it’s basically finished and I’ve been making great headway with this recently, so this will be the first fic I’ve ever finished! Woohoo!! And I'm thinking that I’ll probably stick to a Sunday post schedule.

Also a little note for y’all to keep in mind while reading. I have tagged this fic “possible eventual smut” and that’s because right now I don’t have any planned buuuuut… I'm going to leave that option up to you guys! Between the readers here and AO3, if you're still with me by the end of this fic, leave a comment and let me know if you would be interested in an epilogue or end scene with smut. I’ll post a reminder at the end, but keep it in mind while reading.

And if anyone is interested in being tagged for future posts for this fic or any others I may post, please let me know and I’ll add you to the list! Thanks for reading <3

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Chapter 1:

“Jim, no!”

Two words Jim had become most accustomed to hearing in their now almost four years in space. Also, the two words Jim had gotten very good at weaselling his way around.

As their fellow crew mates piled into the loading bay around them, Jim laid a gentle hand on his best friends shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before saying, “Bones, I don’t know what you're so worried about. We’re going from the ship to the planet’s surface, nothing is going to happen.”

“I already hate these flying metal death traps as it is, Jim, I don’t need the added headache of you on one of them alone.” Bones was near tomato red at the distress he felt in this argument, but Jim insisted it had to be this way. Didn’t mean bones had to like it.

“I won’t be alone, Bones,” he smiled at his friend, “I’ll have fourteen other cadets on board with me.”

Bones scoffed, turning away from Jim for a second before rounding on him again, “You mean fourteen fresh out of the academy cadets, who have no idea what they are doing, let alone what protocol is if something should happen! And I don’t see any of them in medical blues, so what good’ll that do ya?!”

“Bones!” Jim exclaimed, chuckling a little, “I don’t know what you're so worried about? What could possibly happen in the short distance from here to there?”

“Anything, Jim!” he threw his arms up, slapping them hard against his thighs, “Anything could happen in this god forsaken black nightmare! And if I'm not there to help you, who will?!”

Jim couldn’t help but laugh, “Bones, why did you ever apply for Starfleet?”

The doctor shook his head, he knew why, but it was the “who” that mattered in that equation. The “who” that kept him in line, that kept him focused, and who forced him to remain in the academy rather them turning tail and running for the hills like he had wanted to after his first flight simulation training. It was Jim, he was the reason why Leonard had made it this far. “Kid, I think you know exactly why I dragged my sorry ass all the way up here. Had a lot to do with an over adventurous and dangerously impulsive, sandy blond.”

“Awe, Bones, you're making me blush.”

He ignored Jim's comment as he continued, “Not to mention cocky, clumsy, accident prone-”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” he shook the doctors shoulder lightly, bringing his eyes back to look at his own, “even though nothing is going to happen, I promise to be careful. Now, you just get on the smaller ship with Spock, Ny, Sulu, and Chekov, and I’ll take the new cadets and meet you down there, okay?”

Bones furrowed his brows, still not happy with the outcome, but Jim was giving him no other option. “I don’t like this, Jim. I should be with you on that shuttle, just in case.” Jim only huffed a small sigh in response, “And why do you always have to be Mr. Fantastic? Let someone else take the kids alone, or at least let me come with you.”

Jim turned his best friend, then pulled him into his side with an arm around his shoulder, “Because it would be nice to have some words of wisdom and guidance coming from their captain. Going on your first ground mission is scary, Bones, I want to make sure that they know they can trust me and come to me for help if they are scared. And I can’t bring you along anyways. There’s a rumour going around amongst the younger cadets about a certain grumpy doctor with an arm full of hypos ready to attack. They’re afraid of you, Bones, having you there staring them down wont help their nerves.”

“My hypos are only for you.” Jim smiled at that. “But I guess you have a point.”

Jim walked Bones to the door of the smaller shuttle, waiting outside for Bones to step in before he turned back to look him in the eyes once again, “Don’t worry, Bones, we’ll be right beside you, it’ll be fine.”

“It better be,” he grumbled in typical Bones fashion, before clasping Jim on the shoulder, allowing his hand to linger for just a moment, then letting go as the door to the shuttle closed between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the door to Bones’s shuttle were fully closed and sealed, Jim turned and made way for the larger shuttle to his left. The shuttle that held fourteen fresh and nervous cadets, probably not ready for their first ever ground mission.

Jim entered the shuttle, it was dead quiet, and every single cadet sat wide eyed and slightly pale in their seats. He knew it would be like this. Though the original crew of the enterprise was not given the luxury of a small and harmless field test, and were instead thrown into the crisis on Vulcan head first, he still expected nothing more then this.

“Cadet Velnium,” he announced as he made his way to the front of the shuttle.

“Aye, Captain!” A sharp looking young man stood quickly from his seat in a stiff salute to Jim, who smiled and shook him off.

“Take us down to the surface, Cadet, follow behind Commander Spock's shuttle to our right.”

“Aye, Captain!” the dark haired young man bounced past Jim and towards the helm, powering up the shuttle and waiting for the others to lead the way before following them out.

As the shuttle cruised out of the belly of the Enterprise, Jim stood before the rest of the cadets, they needed something to get them through and ease their minds.

“Cadets,” he began, all eyes instantly whipped up to meet his, “this is your first away mission, and I know you're all very nervous, but I have chosen one of the easiest missions the Enterprise has ever been sent on. So there is no need to be nervous. This planet has been previously visited by other federation ships in the past. If you’ve all read your mission statements, which I hope you have, you will have noted that the planets surface is non-hostile, with breathable oxygen, and no noted threats in the other ships logs. We are landing on the surface for approximately one hour to retrieve a handful of flora requested by the academy’s research department. Once we have acquired what we need, we will be returning to the Enterprise, mission completed. Any questions?”

The shuttle remained silent, all eyes still fixed on him at the front of the group.

He let go his most charming smile, making sure to give the cadets a second to take a breath and soak it all in before continuing, “Now, I know I'm your captain, but I don’t want that to intimidate you. Should you come into any trouble or have any questions at any time, I want you to feel comfortable enough to come to me with your concerns or suggestions. Here on the Enterprise we work as a team, as a family, and you are now a part of that. So, before we land, I would like you all to-”

Before he could finish the shuttle was violently jerked to the left and Jim was sent flying into the opposite wall. Alarms started going off all around them, the shuttle suddenly being covered in a glow of red, and the screams of the cadets filling his ears.

Jim instantly sprang into action, launching himself off the ground and planting himself in the seat beside his young pilot. He strapped himself in and commed the Enterprise, connecting Spock's shuttle to the call, “Kirk to Enterprise, we’re under attack, repeat, we are under attack and require immediate assistance. Do you copy?!”

Scotty’s voice rang clear through the shuttle, “Aye, Captain! We see ya!”

Spock's voice was the next to hit Jim's ears, before it was abruptly cut off by Bones screaming into the comm, “Jim, what the hell is going on?! Are you alright?!”

“I'm fine, Bones… for now.”

Jim's shuttle was hit again, this time hard enough to jostle them off path and away from the planets surface, “Shit!” he muttered as they took a third hit.

“Jim!” Bones was still screaming into the comm, Spock clearly having given up, “You're way off course, we’re coming around for you!”

“No!” Jim shouted this time, “You're close enough to the surface now and their ships are backing off your shuttle. Land on the surface and keep the crew safe, that’s an order.”

Jim rarely pulled the captain card with Bones, he hated to do it, but he knew if he didn’t Bones would make sure that shuttle was turned around and the entire crew would be in danger. It was bad enough that Jim's shuttle was taking fire, he didn’t need two shuttles caught in the middle.

“Jim-”

“Bones, listen to me, please,” the channel went silent, the cadets behind him went silent, but he didn’t care and continued pleading his case to his CMO, to his best friend, “Please keep the crew safe. Get them to the surface and when the Enterprise tells you its safe then head back to the ship. After that, when it’s all clear and you’re safe on the Enterprise, then you can come get me, Bones, but not until you’re safe.”

Jim felt like he was only talking to Bones now, not the rest of the crew, but Bones. Of course he cared about every single member of his crew, but he needed Bones to be safe, he needed him to be alive and well inside the walls of the ship. If he didn’t have at least that peace of mind, he wouldn’t make it through whatever he was about to face.

“Jim, I…”

“Spock!” If anyone would listen, it would be him.

“Aye, Captain,” came the oddly comforting monotone of the Vulcan, “I will assure that the Doctor is returned to the ship safely, you have my word, Jim.”

“Thank-you, Spock,” Jim’s shuttle was hit for a fourth time, sending them even further away from their ship, and with no where else to turn, they had no choice but to keep travelling in that exact direction, “Bones…”

“I'm here, Jim!” The two of them sounded almost hysterical now, but Jim knew he had to hold it together as best he could for the cadets behind him.

“Bones-”

“Jim!”

That was the last Jim heard from Bones or the Enterprise as their last hit knocked out all their comms. The only thing they could do was continue tying to outrun their attackers and hopefully find a safe planet to land on between here and there. The Enterprise was too far gone to help them now, and Jim had already made it clear that the shuttle containing the bridge crew and Bones was to be brought back on board before anything else was attempted.

Jim took a subtle, but calming breath, and plastered on a brave face for the young pilot beside him as he continued to try and get comms back up, “Cadet Velnium.”

“Aye, C-Captain,” came the shaky response.

“We’re going to try to out run them, or at least stay in front of them until I can find us a safe planet to land on. You can do this, you were top of your class in flight training, so if anyone can get us to safety it’s you. Just stay calm and focus on your task.”

The cadet gave Jim a brief nod, the shake in his hands becoming less visible as Jim's words of encouragement sunk in. Jim returned the nod and continued to work on the ships comms. Hopefully he could get something back up and running or else, if worse came to worse, the Enterprise would never find them, and Bones… he would never know what happened to him, and Jim wasn’t sure he could live with that guilt, even in death.

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A/N: So that's chapter one! Let me know what you guys think and if you’d like to be tagged in the future :)

And I’m gunna tag...

Mckirk: @goingknowherewastaken @bi-e-ne

And I’m sure I’m mising people but with tumblr being a bitch recently I’ve lost a bunch of stuff, so if I’ve forgetten you I’m sorry and please let me know <3

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professional-anti · 7 years

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Unwind, Chapter 1

Okay, I am excite!!!!! I know I asked before if ppl wanted Infernal Devices, and I know it seemed like ppl did, but ever since I read Unwind a few years ago, I’ve been dying to snark it. I’m actually floored at how many people like this book. I’ve even met ppl who hate SJM but love Neal Shusterman! And it’s confusing! For anyone who doesn’t know, Unwind takes place in a world where you can’t abort fetuses, but you can have your children “unwound” (aka organ-harvested) from ages 13 to 18.

I know. And we’re supposed to take this seriously!

The book starts with “The Bill of Life”, which lays out the rule of this new world. Basically, a second civil between pro-lifers and pro-choicers splits America, until a new bill “satisfied both the Pro-life and Pro-choice armies.” Basically, parents can “retroactively ‘abort’” their teenagers by sending them away to be dismantled for parts. A finger here, a brain stem there, etc.

This is just so mind-bogglingly stupid. Like, the stupid is SO MUCH. Imagine, right now, someone proposes this to you. It doesn’t matter whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice—you’d be horrified. If your pro-life, there’s no way you’d be okay with a child being murdered. And pro-choice people are not “child murderers” the way the right would have us believe. Soooo…this is stupid AF. And abortion isn’t about the teenage years! It’s about not being able to feed a child, not being able to take care of a child, not being able psychologically to go through pregnancy, not being able physically to go through pregnancy, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on. No one who wants an abortion is gonna be like, “Fine, I’ll give birth or whatever, but just wait until they turn 13!” Jesus.

Let’s dive in.

Part One: Triplicate Chapter one: Connor The book starts for real with this kid, Connor, and his girlfriend, Arina, hanging out on an overpass. They’re totes upset bc Connor’s supposed to be Unwound in one week. They decide to “kick-AWOL” together, which basically means run away. Then there’s this snippet of dialogue, which always makes me laugh (and is but a harbinger of things to come):

“AWOL…” [Ariana] says. “What does that mean, anyway?” “It’s an old military term or something,” Connor says. “It means ‘absent without leave.’”

Ooooohhhhh mmmyyyy goddd we get it, they’re in the future, look at how funny it is that they don’t know the term “AWOL”!!!! Spare me.

Connor goes home, and we learn that his parents don’t know that he knows that they signed an Unwind order. Apparently he was a bit of a misbehavor, and instead of, like, not sending their child off to die, Connor’s parents have decided the totally reasonable thing to do is Unwind him. Because of course. And these aren’t, like previously abusive parents or anything. These are just parents. Shusterman is trying to show us how commonplace Unwinding is, and instead he’s showing that he can’t write well-written characters to save his life.

We also learn that Unwind orders are irreversible, which is one of the dumbest pieces of shit in this book. What if an abusive parent signs an Unwind order, and it comes out that they’re abusive? What if a parent has a mental break and signs an Unwind order? What if a parent forges the other parent’s signature? Can anyone Uwnind their kids? And wouldn’t that be a form of abuse, to hang an Unwinding over a child’s head? This is too dumb.

Also, Neal Shusterman is sadistic. Not in a good way, in a way that inspires interesting conflict and pain. But in this needless, “look at how fucking awful like just soo fucking awful this is soo awful do you see how EDGY AND SAD AND AWFUL THIS IS look at this fucking lOOK!” is ridiculous. Basically, ever since Connor found the Unwind order, he’s been acting extra good, bringing home good grades and buying his mom flowers and talking about his future. His parents are clearly in enormous pain. Not that this is an unreasonable choice for Connor to make, but Neal has set up this situation so it has to be like this. This is one of the points I’d be willing to concede as maybe a little to Extra, but we’ll see.

Connor runs away in the middle of the night and goes to Ariana’s house. Surprise, surprise, she’s not going with him. Color me shocked. I know ppl in the Unwind fandom hate Ariana for her cold-hearted betrayel, but, um, she could quite literally be given the death penalty for running away. I’m not saying it’s not noble to run away, but come on. Anyway, Connor’s having trouble finding out how to get out of town because “Juvey-cops” are always out searching for the runaway Unwinds. Apparently there are a lot of these runaways, which begs the question, IF UNWINDING IS SO UNPOPULAR, WHY. IS. IT. LEGAL. Like, I’ve already read this book, and in it, it’s only the counterculture that’s against Unwinding. It should be, like, ninety-nine percent of the country! This is isn’t subtle “misuisng the death penalty” or “mistreating prisoners of war”. This is “we are murdering children!”

Also. Juvey Cops. I CANNOT IT’S TOO FUNNY.

Apparently, all Connor has to do is hide until he’s 18 because they won’t unwind someone that old because he’s, like, a person now. Okay. Sounds legit. Gotcha. I’m sure the whole country’s perfectly all right with teenagers being seen as subhuman. Also, I know Neal is pro-choice, and this book sure is an odd way to get that message across. Fetuses! Are! Not! Teenagers! But! You! Are! Making! It! Seem! Like! That’s! Your! Message!!!!!! Ahem.

Connor finds a rest stop but oh no! Police! Excuse me, Juvey-Cops! He hides in the back of a truck, and, luckily, the trucker is sympathetic. Like literally everyone should be, but okay. So the trucker got into an accident and had to have his arm replaced with an Unwinder’s arm, and now he’s like “my arm has muscle memory from its previous owner and I’m sad and now don’t like the Unwind policy.” He’s also like, “You’re lucky it’s me you found and not anyone else” because apparently you have to be in a traumatic accident and have your arm replaced before you can be sympathetic to a teenager who’s running from being killed.

Before they can get on the road, though, the Juice Cops surround another car and force a kid that Connor knows out of it. Andy Jameson is being Unwound too! And then there’s this moment:

Well, the [Juice Coupons] didn’t see him. But Andy does, He catches sight of Connor, holds his gaze, only for a moment . . . . . . and in that moment something remarkable happens. The look of despair on Andy’s face is suddenly replaced by a steely resolve bordering on triumph. He quickly looks away from Connor and takes a few steps before the police grab him—steps away from Connor, so that the police still have their backs to [Connor]. Andy had seen him and had not given him away! If Andy has nothing else after this day, at least he’ll have this small victory.

First of all, third-person present tense is fucking off-putting and makes it sound like Elmo is narrating. Secondly, why tf would Andy give Connor away? Thirdly, can you say Gary Stue? Andy’s whole “victory” has to do with not giving away Connor, which, btw, is not such a big victory!! Because why in the world would Andy give away Connor??? It makes no sense!!!! This whole sentence is basically Connor trying to tamp down his guilt. “I’m not really doing anything to help Andy, but at least I could help him by letting him not give me away! I’m basically saving his life, here!” Whatever, we’ll let Andy have this. I guess.

Connor and the trucker (who still has no name) finally get on the road. Connor has a stupid Symbolic dream and then his phone rings which means…Connor…didn’t turn off…his phone… I’m done. I’m actually Done. Connor, do you want to be safe??? Or no?????

It had been stupid of Connor to leave his old cell phone on—that’s how they tracked him, and he wonders how many other kids are caught by their own blind trust of technology.

Omg, is Neal trying to say something about “kids these days”?? Hate to break it to ya, Neal, but most kids aren’t so blindly trusting that they’ll leave their phones on while RUNNING AWAY. We all know that shit is trackable!

The police catch them, Connor runs across a busy highway and carjacks a Cadillac. The End.

Ugh, that was exhausting. Cathartic AF, but exhausting. I think I’ll leave it at one chapter for today.

#anti Neal shusterman #anti unwind #unwind chapter one #snarking unwind

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 3 Review: People of Earth

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This Star Trek: Discovery review contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 3

If you were expecting the Discovery’s return to Earth to become a major plot point in Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery, then keep guessing. The show makes a clever and unexpected narrative decision by, upon reuniting our wayward travelers with Michael, almost immediately bringing the crew of the Discovery to Starfleet’s (former) home planet, only for them to find very few answers or comforts there. It’s a bold move, one that tells the crew and the viewers that, while Earth may have been at the occasionally-visited anchor of many a Star Trek story before now, it has never been what this show is really about—which is to say: looking outward, towards unknown and unfamiliar stars—and it’s not about to start. In this way and many more, Season 3 of Discovery continues to live up to its ambitious title.

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While the plot of “People of Earth” is about the crew’s return to the birthplace of Starfleet, the heart of this story really lies in the reunion of Michael and the rest of the crew. We begin more or less where last week’s cliffhanger left off, as Michael beams aboard after dropping the bomb that she arrived to the 32nd century a full year before her ship. It’s an emotional reunion and, at first, that joy is simple. It doesn’t matter that the crew hasn’t seen Michael in days while its been a whole year for her. For a little while, all that matters is that they’re together.

Last week, I mildly lamented the fact that Discovery was reuniting Michael with the Discovery so early in the season, but, after seeing how it is playing out, I am totally on board. While Michael may be back with her family, there is also a tension between Michael and the rest of the crew that is fascinating to see play out. It’s not malicious or even volatile in nature, but it is there, complicating that simple joy into something a bit more uncertain. Michael has spent a year having to make choices in this strange place without her crew as support, and even us viewers don’t know quite what that means. But Michael does, and she knows it’s changed her. She knows that, at a certain point, she had to let go of the hope that the Discovery would come in her lifetime just so she could keep on living.

When the Discovery accidentally pores fuel on the fire that is a dispute between Earth and a band of attacking Titan raiders led by someone named Wen, Michael goes rogue (well, with Book) to solve the problem, expecting that Saru will follow her lead and trust her even though she has kept him in the dark about her plans. He does, and it’s another inspiring example of faith in his crew from Captain Saru, but it’s not not a problem. Michael may have spent the last year looking for clues about the fate of the Federation, but she’s been living without the institution of Starfleet around her, without the rules and regulations of a ship and its crew. As she tells Saru, it’s going to take some time before she can remember what it’s like to be part of something like the Discovery again. It’s really moving to see both Tilly and Saru, the two people that Michael is closest to on the Discovery, recognize the changes in their friend and to offer their acknowledgment and patience as she reacclimatizes to life aboard a Starfleet ship.

It’s an especially big ask of Saru who, as the captain of the ship, needs to know he can count on his number one. He already has Emperor Georgiou—who, to her credit, makes no secret of the fact that she will do exactly what she wants to do, regardless of whether it goes against Saru’s plans—to worry about. He can’t afford to also have Michael as a loose cannon. It’s even more impressive that Saru can find it in himself to trust Michael through this, as she has demonstrated herself capable of making the wrong decision before, as she did in the Discovery pilot. But Michael isn’t the same person she was then, and neither is Saru. He has settled into his role as a leader, and it has been inspiring to see him represent a kind of leadership that is similar to Pike’s, but also a brand of captainship all his own. We’ve never had a Star Trek captain quite like him, and I continue to be impressed by Saru’s combination of even-keeled confidence and boundless empathy.

Saru’s choice to trust Michael, both in the heat of a skirmish and in the quiet debrief afterwards, allows the Discovery to play diplomat between Earth and the people of Titan, aka Saturn’s moon. The “B” plot is similar to many we’ve seen before in on Trek television, but it’s none the less powerful for it. Turns out, Wen and his attacking radars are also human, people who were stationed on a research colony on Titan. When there was an accident that took out much of their capability to take care of themselves, they returned to Earth looking for help, only to be fired upon. Since then, they have been raiding Earth as a way to survive, further escalating the war of humanity that Earth ignorantly began.

The Discovery’s involvement allows the people of Titan and the people of Earth to begin peace talks proving that, one ship can do the work of the Federation even when they’re all alone. It’s the kind of institutional functionality we didn’t always see from Discovery even when they were surrounded by Federation support in their home time, and it’s just one more example of how this series has seemingly finally figured out what kind of story it wants to tell: one of hope in the absence of comfort, and bold kindness in the face of nihilism.

In all the hubbub, it can be easy to forget just how much the crew of the Discovery has been through, how much they have lost, but the episode takes the time to give us a scene between Tilly and Michael in which Tilly grieves the loss of her family and friends and everything she has ever known. Tilly doesn’t wish for her life back so much as hopes for some kind of tangible connection to it, proof that it was ever there at all, and she finds it in a tree on the former grounds of Starfleet Academy. The Federation may be gone from Earth, but the tree is still there: a reminder that the Federation was once a beacon of light in the potential darkness of space and time, and that it could be again.

Additional thoughts.

The main subplot in this episode was the introduction of a new character: Adira! They’re very, very smart and, as we learn in the episode’s final moments, also happens to be carrying the Trill symbiont of Admiral Tal, the Discovery’s best lead when it comes to the mystery of the Federation, inside of them. Given the episode-ending reveal, no doubt next week’s episode will dive further into the story of Adira.

Saru is officially captain. <3

Adira was previously announced as Star Trek‘s first non-binary character. Right now, this is character context you will have only if you have read supplementary coverage outside of the text of the show. It is potentially problematic that Adira’s non-binary identity will be conflated with their identity as a Trill, but it has yet to be addressed in the show itself. For now, I reserve judgment.

Still smiling about that reunion hug scene.

As we learn from Michael’s opening montage monologue, 700 years after Discovery jumped through a wormhole, dilithium dried up. The Federation tried alternative warp drive designs, but none of them worked out. The Burn was what followed, and is still an unsolved mystery: in an instant, all dilithium went inert and any ship with an active warp core detonated. It’s hard to imagine the scope of this tragedy, though Michael does tell the crew that millions died.

“Cake is eternal.”

Directed by Jonathan Frakes! Good job, sir. This season continues to be beautiful.

Book and Michael? Yeah, I ship it.

Continuing to side-eye Grudge. (But don’t tell Book.)

Playing fast and loose with the spore drive. Allows Discovery to move across the quadrant much faster than anyone else, which makes them both a target and uniquely situated to solve the mystery of the missing Federation.

I would wear Saru’s sweater tunic.

No sign of Burnham’s mom so far in the 32nd century.

“We didn’t give everything for this version of the future, and I’ll be damned if I let it stand.”

The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 3 Review: People of Earth appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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bunny-wan-kenobi · 7 years

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Bunny Fic Recs: The Top Ten Strikes Back!

My friends think my fanfic-reading habits are hilarious and bizarre--and I tend to agree. I read stories in very distinct and obsessive phases, like if I’m in a Star Trek phase I literally cannot bring myself to read a story from a different fandom. Can’t do it--that’s just how it is. My fic-craving phases (there’s no way to put this that won’t make it sound like a drug habit) can be as short as 2 weeks (sorry @ginny-of-course) and as long as 5 months (aka my last Star Wars phase).

This means any fic rec summary will reflect my fandom phases of that year, which is kind of a fun way to see all the twists and turns my journey took me and the characters I discovered (and rediscovered). So, in no particular order, here’s the top ten fanfics I read this year!

1. Bargaining by proantagonist (Thor): Faced with an eternity without his brother, Loki strikes a bargain to change the past. Post TDW. (Complete)

This story is AMAZING. Not only does it contain some of the best characterizations of Thor, Loki, and Odin that I’ve read, it deftly examines their relationships in all their complexity and contradictions. The relationship between Thor and Loki is captured beautifully and simultaneously heartwarming and tragic. The way Loki grows over time and learns trial by trial is especially rewarding so that every big choice he makes had me fist-pumping in pride because the story builds up these twists so well. Every single detail matters, and this story gave me so many things I never knew I wanted from a Thor story. I thought I had the fic figured out, and then the ending completely shocked me in the best possible way. I cried so many times reading this story, and its insight into Loki’s headspace and the dysfunction of family relationships is remarkable.

2. too wise to peaceable woo by theMightyPen (LOTR): Most marriages in Gondor are matters of convenience, especially among the nobility. But Dol Amroth is a different sort of place, with a different sort of royal family. Sometimes, Lothiriel is not convinced this is a good thing.(or, how in Middle Earth the too southern, too dark, too outspoken daughter of Imrahil ended up married to Éomer, son of Éomund) (WIP)

I could write an essay about everything I love about this story. Not only does it make a compelling, lovable heroine out of a character I had not given much to previously (Lothiriel), but it tackles race, class, and inter-cultural issues in Middle Earth with incredible nuance and emotional depth. The slow-burn love story at its center is developed organically and complements the exploration of family and friend relationships and world-building for Rohan culture. I appreciate so many intentional elements--like the friendship between Eowyn and Lothiriel, the complex politics of countries still recovering from war, and a woman of color coming into her own as a leader. The Rohan the author paints is a breathing place vivid in detail, and even the OCs are easy to love and root for. A truly wonderful love story woven into an intricate cultural landscape, this fic puts me on the edge of my seat waiting for updates.

3. The Gentlest Schism by SanwichesYumYum (GOT): Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth. The war is over. Some of them hadn’t thought that they would outlive it. And yet... (WIP but ends at a satisfactory point)

This is a rare story that goes against your expectations and makes you linger in the disappointments and losses along with the characters. The premise is heartbreaking, and becomes even more tragic as you keep reading, but at the same time, it’s a beautiful testament to the resilience of love and the importance of family. I love the community the author cultivates on Tarth, the unexpected characters they weave in, and how this little island becomes an entire functional and complex world of its own. The second half of the fic gets a little repetitive occasionally and there is some explicit content, but it’s a really compelling read and one of my favorite Jaime/Brienne stories.

4. The Days and Steps series by CatKing_Catkin (Thor): Even after everything, Thor holds out hope that his brother can be redeemed. Now that he's away from the Chitauri, his mind is fully his own again. Not that he's home, even as a prisoner, maybe he can start to remember what it's like to have a family and a place to belong. Maybe he can even come to truly understand the other worlds as something other than a conqueror. (Complete)

After reading the last story in this series, I wept like a baby. These stories trace Loki’s excruciatingly slow healing process in such a realistic and moving way that the ending feels so, so earned. Again, it’s the family dynamics that shine here, in particular, a family actually processing and dealing with the ways they’ve hurt each other and the mistakes they’ve made. The realizations strike deep and the characterizations are rich so you become fully invested in this family’s journey.

5. Captains and Pawns by sian22 (LOTR): "The board is set and the pieces are moving." So Gandalf said, but what unseen hand made them move? How far back did the game start and with what unexpected results? The Lords of Gondor and Rohan find Saruman will use them for his own end and both the Steward's sons and Rohan's Prince and Lady must find their way. A tale from Faramir's birth until the fateful kiss. (Complete)

If you’re a Faramir fan, this story is for you. It’s a fascinating character-driven story that fleshes out a lot of the subtext in the events before and during the War of the Ring. It moves the narrative from Gondor to Rohan and we follow Faramir, Eowyn, and Eomer from childhood to adulthood, reminding us of the cost of war and also deepening your love for these characters.

6. Ad Infinitum by Stormontheocean (Dragon Age): After a bus accident, Liz wakes up in Haven, stuck in the fictional world of Dragon Age. How does a modern girl get by when she can't speak the language, and her expansive knowledge of the Blight and Kirkwall, but limited knowledge of Inquisition would only make her look more suspicious? Fake being deaf and mute, and hope not to get caught before she can find proof of her origin. But the best laid plans never work out as expected... (WIP)

Okay, I’m usually wary of self-insert fics, but this one put ALL my doubts to rest. It works. It really does, and it manages to make the OC main character (the stumbling block of many a writer) a completely three-dimensional and lovable addition to an existing universe. The first big plot turn of the story made me so unbelievably gleeful and excited that I won’t spoil it here but let me say--the story does not turn out in the way you expect. Even the slow-burn romance is believably developed, and this story cemented my love for Bull’s Chargers. A stand-out AU fic that is just plain enjoyable to read.

7. Jacob and Esau Say Their Goodbyes by LadyCharity (Thor): After Svartalfheim, Loki is still alive. In the end, it changes nothing.In which Thor hurts, Loki loves, and Jane learns how to lie. (Complete)

Let me emphasize that this was a near-impossible choice to make. I love every single one of LadyCharity’s Thor fics, but I decided to go with the one I think excels at every level. It’s emotionally devastating, poignant, and with brilliant characterization. I appreciate how succinct, poetic, and introspective the author’s prose is, and she just gets these characters and their relationships. Shout-out for her great development for Jane as well, who all too often gets overlooked in fanfic.

8. A Wreath of Thorns by LadyNormaOfTheWesterlands (GOT): In the aftermath of the Battle of the Bastards and the destruction of the Great Sept in King's Landing, new allegiances are forged and family ties will be tested, as two Queens dance around a blood-dripping throne and a new King rises in the North. The day of reckoning is getting closer, for princes and commoners, for friend and foe, while cold winds bring the longest of winters, and, with it, an enemy who doesn't respond to honour, nor love. Post-Season 6. (WIP)

There’s a lot to love in this understated story, which captures the POV of multiple GOT characters as events hurtle towards an inevitable culmination. It’s an introspective story, almost meditative in nature, and everyone is perfectly IC. It’s tragic, inspiring, and ultimately a great tribute to these characters.

9. The Native by StarTrekFanWriter (Star Trek): The relationship that started it all - Sarek/Amanda. How a logical guy like Sarek fell for a human, and why he would defy his people to marry her. Sybock & Spock will be featured. (Complete)

The beginning of 2017 was my introduction to Sarek/Amanda fic, and this was one of the standouts. I’m a sucker for stories that navigate the cultural differences, tensions, and development of interracial relationships, and this one does a great job immersing you in Vulcan culture. Amanda is also a really wonderful character, strong, empathetic, intelligent and you can definitely see why she and Sarek are so well-matched.

10. The Abduction of Eomer, King of Rohan and House of Sun by Lialathuveri (LOTR) (Complete)

Okay I kinda cheated here but I honestly could not choose between these. I like them for completely different reasons: The first fic is a hilarious series of misadventures that bring Lothiriel and Eomer together and the second is a much more serious development of a love story after an arranged marriage. The world-building in both stories is well-realized, and Lothiriel is simply a delightful character that I will read in ANY iteration.

More Bunny Fic Recs:

My Top 10

The Next Top 10

Game of Thrones

Merlin

Makorra

LOTR/The Hobbit

Captain Swan

Star Wars: Romance One-shots

Star Wars: Gen One-shots

Star Wars: PT Multi-Chapter Fics

Star Wars: OT Multi-Chapter Fics

#fic recs #thor #loki #got #lord of the rings #dragon age #jaime x brienne #star trek #bunny posts

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papermoonloveslucy · 7 years

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THE CARTERS MEET FRANKIE AVALON

S6;E11 ~ November 19, 1973

Directed by Coby Ruskin ~ Story by Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs, Teleplay by Bob O'Brien

Synopsis

Lucy, Harry and Kim go to see Frankie Avalon perform and Kim is chosen from the audience to sing with him on stage. This leads to her performing in the nightclub's talent competition as Cher, with Avalon as her Sonny.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter)

Guest Cast

Frankie Avalon (Himself) was born in Philadelphia in 1939 as Francis Thomas Avallone. A recording star and musician, Avalon’s movie career took off when paired with Annette Funicello in Beach Party (1963) and its string of sequels. He played Teen Angel in Grease (1978) and considers “Beauty School Dropout” to be his most popular song. He previously played Tommy Cheever (Bank president Mr. Cheever's son) in “Lucy and the Starmaker” (TLS S6;E4) on “The Lucy Show” in 1967.

Vic Glazer (Vic, Conductor / Pianist) enjoyed a long career as an accomplished arranger, composer, pianist and Music Director for many well-known entertainers, which included long stints as Musical Director for Debbie Reynolds and Frankie Avalon. He traveled the world for his work, and made two appearances at The White House during the 1960s.

Sid Gould (Maitre D') made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. This is one of his nearly 50 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

Jerry Fogel (Mr. Collins, Wilshire Room Entertainment Director and Emcee) is perhaps best remembered as Jerry Buell on “The Mothers-in-Law” (1967-69), produced by Desi Arnaz. He was also a semi-regular on “The White Shadow” (1977-78) as Bill Donahue. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Lucy says his name aloud in the dialogue, although he is listed simply as “M.C.” in the final credits.

Robert Hogan (Jack Lucas) played the Reverend Tom Winter on TV's “Peyton Place” (1968-69) and was the inspiration for the naming of the title character on “Hogan’s Heroes” (1965-71). His screen career began in 1961 and he previously appeared as Captain Perry in “Lucy and the Astronauts” (S4;E5).

Jack is Avalon's agent. Although his surname is never spoken in the dialogue, it is listed in the final credits.

Bob Whitney (Call Boy) appeared with Lucille Ball in The Facts of Life (1960). This is the fourth of his five appearances on the series.

In this context, a “Call Boy” is a person who gives the star his “calls” (“10 minutes,” “5 minutes,” “You're On.”) while they are in their dressing room.

Bill Lee (Talent Competition Singer) frequently dubbed the singing voices of non-singing film actors such as John Kerr in South Pacific (1958), Matt Mattox in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music (1964). This is his last screen credit and one of his few on-camera roles.

Marl Young (Talent Competition Conductor / Pianist, uncredited, above left) was the “Here's Lucy” musical director and often appeared on camera when episodes included music.

Avalon brings his own musical director, Vic Glazer, for the first part of the show, his nightclub act, but “Here’s Lucy” musical director Marl Young takes over for the Talent Competition at the end.

Shirley Anthony (Audience Member, uncredited) makes the eighth of her 13 appearances of “Here’s Lucy.”

As the episodes opens (and the blue curtain in the title parts) Anthony is the very first person on camera, sitting in profile.

George Holmes (Audience Member, uncredited) was previously glimpsed in the studio audience in “Lucy and Art Linkletter” (TLS S6;E4). He also did three films with Lucille Ball: The Facts of Life (1960), Critic's Choice (1963) and Mame (1974).

Other audience members and the onstage musicians are played by uncredited background performers.

This is one of a very few episodes to have both a “story by” and “written by” credit for the writers.

The episode opens at the Wilshire Room nightclub where Avalon starts his show with “It's Good to be Here” written by Harold Karr and Matt Dubey for the 1956 Broadway musical Happy Hunting starring Ethel Merman.

Bringing Kim on stage, they sing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" to each other, a 1967 song by Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons. The song earned a gold record and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. It is now part of the juke box musical Jersey Boys (2005).

Avalon says he has seven children (with another on the way) and is married. He later says his wife's name is Kay. Mrs. Avalon was born Kathryn ‘Kay’ Diebel. A former beauty contest winner, they were married in 1963.

The band plays a brief fanfare based on “Hooray for Hollywood,” a song by Richard A. Whiting first featured in the 1937 film Hollywood Hotel. It launches the portion of Avalon's show where he does impressions of famous actors auditioning for the role of George M. Cohan in the film Yankee Doodle Dandy. Naturally, the audition song is “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” from Cohan's hit Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones (1904).

Avalon first does an impression of John Wayne (1907-79), who was a guest star on both “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.”

He then does his impression of Bela Lugosi (1882-1956) in which his idea of dancing is flapping his arms like bat wings. Lugosi's iconic character, Dracula, was humorously presented on “The Lucy Show.” Finally, Avalon imitates James Cagney (1899-1986), who actually played the role and earned an Academy Award for the film. Kim did her own quick impression of Cagney during “The Hollywood Unemployment Follies” (S3;E22).

When Lucy says she has a son, Avalon wonders why he can't play Sonny to Kim's Cher. Lucy explains that he is too tall. Ironically, Harry called Kim and Craig ‘Sonny and Cher’ in “Lucy Stops a Marriage” (S3;E16) three years earlier. Lucy never uses Craig's name, however, or mentions where he is.

Before Avalon and Kim take the stage as Sonny and Cher in the talent competition, an unnamed singer (Bill Lee) finishes up the last few bars of “The Impossible Dream,” a song written by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion for the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha, which was filmed in 1972. The singer makes the applause meter hit 89.

Sonny and Cher were a pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. They also had two top ten TV shows, “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” (1971-74) and The Sonny & Cher Show (1976-77). The couple's career as a duo ended in 1975 following their divorce. In the decade they spent together, Sonny and Cher sold over 40 million records worldwide. They had one child together, Chaz Bono, who was born Chastity Sun Bono in 1969. Sonny Bono left show business for politics and died after a skiing accident in 1989. Cher, who has won an Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy, has continued her career as a superstar solo act.

Cher and Lucille Ball appeared on an Emmy-nominated special together in 1979.

Frankie Avalon and Lucie Arnaz actually went to see a taping of “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” the week before they shot this episode in order to get some pointers. Cher loaned Lucie the wig, the earrings, and a pair of her eyelashes for the episode.

Frankie and Kim sing “I've Got You Babe” written by Sonny Bono in July 1965. The song became their signature song as a duo. The original version spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 selling more than 1 million copies and certified Gold. Avalon and Arnaz sang to a prerecorded track.

Mid-song, ‘Sonny and Cher’ (aka Avalon and Arnaz) break into comic banter just as they often did on their TV show. One joke references “Gunsmoke,” a TV western that aired just before “Here's Lucy” on CBS. The show was on television for two decades (1955-75), after two years on radio. After two years on radio, Lucille Ball also moved to television for a career that spanned from 1951 to 1986.

When Kim and Avalon win the talent competition with a record-high score of 97, Avalon launches into a chorus of “Beach Blanket Bingo” by Guy Hemrik and Jerry Styner, written for the 1967 film of the same name. Coincidentally, the film was written and directed by William Asher, who also directed 102 episodes of “I Love Lucy.”

Frankie Avalon played a young man who was torn between banking and singing in “Lucy and the Starmaker” (TLS S6;E4) until Lucy Carmichael comes to his rescue.

Cher's mother, model and actress Georgia Holt, was one of the two models wearing the Jacques Marcel “potato sack” dresses in “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (ILL S5;E20, inset). Ten years later, she modeled fur coats for Lucy Carmichael in “Lucy and Pat Collins” (TLS S5;E11).

Distraction Action! Lucy keeps absentmindedly fiddling with the table card in the Wilshire Room. She even starts gesturing with it in her hand.

Eye Catching! Not exactly a goof or a blooper, but sometimes production design can upstage the action, which is the case with this woman’s HUGE grey wig and this equally HUGE ceramic cat!

The crazy cat was first glimpsed in Flip Wilson’s office in “Lucy and Flip Go Legit” (HL S4;E1) and also (bottom photo) in Shirley MacLaine’s apartment in the Universal film Sweet Charity (1969).

“The Carters Meet Frankie Avalon” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

Who knew that Frankie Avalon was such a talented impressionist? This episode showcases his talents well. Avalon and Lucie Arnaz do a spot-on impression of Sonny and Cher, the main attraction of this episode where Lucy is more background than star.

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katie-dub · 7 years

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The Masks We Wear (8/?)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

AO3

Thanks, as always to @coffeewithcaptainswan for beta’ing - and in record time. She’s the real superhero here, folks!

Sorry for making you all wait forever for this. Real life is hard.

Also, in case you couldn’t guess from the last chapter there's some whump and anxiety attacks ahead - so proceed with caution if that upsets you.

Previously on The Masks We Wear…

Emma Swan AKA The Saviour and Killian Jones AKA Hook AKA The Survivor are in love. They just don’t know it yet. Killian has rejected Emma as both her superhero ally and her best friend leaving her lost and confused. But she won’t have long to dwell on that. Regina has been unknowingly under The Dark One’s control and she has just led The Survivor into a trap …

“Emma wondered if somehow she had actually pricked him with her magic, so extreme was his reaction. But then it sunk in: he just didn’t want her.”

“First he had to defeat The Dark One, then he could find a way to fix his broken heart.”

“You and I are going to have so much fun. Well, I will at least.”

Killian was startled from sleep by soft lips against his own. After Gods knows how long of being experimented on by Gold, he was constantly on edge. Even this sweet gesture felt like a wicked game. His eyes flew open and he looked up into the eyes of The Saviour.

He gasped in shock, overcome by the emotion of the moment. She waved a hand to release the bonds pinning him to the table and pulled him into a tight hug. “You saved me.” He managed to choke out.

She pulled back to look straight at him. “Aye, that's why they call me The Saviour.” She grinned.

“And you're bloody marvellous.” He leaned forward and kissed her gently, overjoyed that she accepted his lips happily after the last time he tried to kiss her. “Might I - might I take off your mask, love? You’re getting to see my devilishly handsome face properly for the first time, shouldn’t I get to do the same with you?”

“It's not the time nor the place for that, Killian, we have The bloody Dark One to defeat.” She started to pull him to his feet, but he stopped her, confused by what she’d said. He knew how true her words were and he was more than anxious to escape from their perilous position. But how did she know his name?

“Do I know you, love?”

She looked at him as though he had lost his mind, answering him slowly. “Yeah, Hook, you know me. What has Gold done to you?” Her eyes swept over his face, checking for some kind of injury.

“No,” He shook his head, trying to make sense of the situation. “You called me Killian, do you know the real me? Not just Hook?”

She cocked her head to one side. “Haven’t you worked it out yet, love?”

There was a nasty edge to her reply that his sleep-deprived brain couldn’t make sense of. “Are you - are you mocking me?”

“Perish the thought.”

“Why are you doing this to me, love? Haven’t I been through enough?” He was gripping her tightly, he needed an answer.

“Don't you know, Killian? I'm not really here.” Her words turned his heart to ice. The taunting lilt of the words echoing in his mind. This was all a fantasy: a wonderful, horrible fantasy. He wasn’t going to survive going up against Gold. The Saviour would never come for him. And he would be tortured until Gold finally got bored and took off his cuff to kill him. She grabbed his face, forcing him to look up at her. “Hey, hey, don’t lose hope, TS. I will find you, I will always find you.”

He woke up for real this time to excruciating pain. Gold never let him sleep for long, preferring to keep him on edge and confused at all times. “Well, dearie, what kind of scientist would I be if I didn't test the effect of sleep deprivation on your powers?”

It was all bullshit. This was just about hurting him, tormenting the man who had his wife, and they both knew it.

“Today you’re in for a real treat, dearie!” Gold announced triumphantly, Killian instinctively shuddered in response. “I have a new experiment that you’ll be dying to try.” The monster chuckled to himself, apparently highly amused by his own jokes.

Killian stared up at him defiantly, Gold's meaning abundantly clear to him. “Well, what are you waiting for? If you meant to kill me, just get it over with, spare us both the indignity of spending any longer in each other’s presence.”

“Oh I’m not going to kill you,” Gold trilled in glee, “we’re going to find out just how effective my Dagger is!” Gold produced the Dagger with a flourish.

Killian knew he was meant to reply, to ask whatever Gold could mean. But he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. His tormenter wouldn’t even get so much as a quirked eyebrow from him.

“I know you know what it is, dearie. You and your Nevenger friends think you’re so clever, but it doesn’t concern me that you know about the Dagger. It’s not like you can stop me.” Gold giggled at the thought, Killian just stared at him blankly. “I’ll tell you, even if you won’t ask, Jones. My Dagger can control anyone’s actions. I want to see how far I can go.” Gold stroked the Dagger against his throat. “Can I force someone to override their self-preservation instinct and kill themselves, for example?”

Bile rose in Killian’s throat and a wave of revulsion washed over him. But he still had his pride. Though the thought of dying before he could reveal his secrets to Emma and The Saviour was heartbreaking, he refused to let the emotion show. “Wonderful. I have to kill myself. Shall we get on with it?”

The cackle that came from The Dark One was ungodly. “So eager! I like it!”

Gold surprised him by turning around and reaching for his hook. His jaw clenched slightly at the sight of his foe clicking his prosthetic into place. Why was Gold returning his hook to him, unless -

Bloody Hell.

Gold grasped the Dagger tightly in one hand and released the strap on Killian’s left arm. This would be the perfect moment to sink his hook into the demon who took so much from him.

And yet.

Killian was frozen in place by the force of the Dagger. His mind screamed at him to move, to finish the monster, to protect himself and those he loved. He couldn’t so much as flinch.

“Killian Jones, end yourself.”

No, no, NO! His internal protests did little but make his arm shake as he moved his own hook against his throat. He pressed down hard and -

Emma was there, her blonde hair shining and her green eyes flashing with anger. His saviour. He couldn’t see where Gold had gone. He didn’t care. She was here. His Emma. His love.

He didn’t even realise he was crying until she wiped away his tears. “Shhhhh,” she soothed, “it’s OK, Killian, I’m here to save you.”

Emma must have released him from his bonds, because the next thing he knew he was sitting up in her arms while she rocked him slowly. He felt safe at last. He could feel himself filling with warmth, surrounded by her love.

“You - you found me, you -” he choked out.

“I will always find you, Killian,” she murmured soothingly. Her words sounded familiar. He pulled away to look at her, noting with curiosity that there were sparks flying from her fingertips. Everywhere she touched he felt -

Blinding agony.

The Dark One sent tiny electric shocks across his skin. They hurt, but worse was the feeling of being dragged away from Emma. From a very important realisation that drew further and further away with every jolt of pain. He needed to understand.

It was so much harder to play Gold's minds games after what had just happened. He wanted to curl up and get lost in his fantasies. But he needed to stay strong, to give away nothing so he could be reunited with Emma and The Saviour.

He locked up his tender heart full of emotions and packed it away for safe keeping, readying himself to face his tormenter.

“Wakey wakey, Lieutenant Jones! Tell me, what would your brother think of you still being in bed at this hour? And with your superior on hand ordering you to wake up?”

Killian opened his eyes, regarding Gold coolly. “I wouldn't consider scum such as yourself superior to me.” He raked his eyes over the man with a sneer. “Quite the opposite, in fact.”

Gold pressed his hand against Killian's chest, right above his heart and sent a massive electric shock through him.

It was like fire spreading throughout his limbs, every organ, every nerve, every sinew was on fire. It was so much pain - then it stopped.

“Careful, lieutenant, people who are close to you tend to pay for your actions. Milah, Liam -”

“So you admit to killing Liam?”

“Oh no, no, I didn't kill your brother. There was an unfortunate accident, surely you know that?” Gold's face was full of wide-eyed concern, but his tone was patronising. “And if I were to have sent him on a mission I knew he wouldn't make it out of alive? Well, sometimes a ruler has to make hard decisions. It's just a regrettable and unfortunate reality of leadership.”

Killian took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as he struggled against giving into the rage that Gold inspired.

“It would be a shame if any more of your loved ones were to fall victim to your curse. I hear there's an Emma Swan who is particularly special to you. Perhaps she could help to keep you compliant.”

“You keep her out of this!”

He shouldn't have taken the bait, but he had denied himself for so long to keep her safe.

He could see the confusion and hurt on her face as he had jumped away from her - rejecting her kiss for her own good.

That couldn't all be for nothing. Unless it wasn't enough? Did he have to stay away entirely, not even allow himself the comfort of her friendship?

If I ever make it out of here alive.

The thought lodged itself in his brain - what sense was there in worrying about would happen once he got out when that seemed unlikely? If he were dead, she would be safe from such threats. It was little comfort, but beyond that, his only real hope was that he could somehow find a way to fight this long enough to take Gold with him. He could rest in peace knowing that his final act had been to protect her.

“Oh I see, has Miss Swan replaced my Milah in your heart? Found yourself a new twoo luv?”

The accusation hit Killian hard. Milah. He’d started all of this for her. Had he somehow forgotten her along the way? Replaced her affections with not one, but two unattainable visions?

No, came the resounding answer from his heart, she’s not forgotten. She’ll always be a part of you and she would want you to be happy.

But was he?

“I wonder how you’d feel if I were to take your Swan the way you took my Milah.”

Killian saw red at his words. The thought of this beast with his hands on Emma was too much - and that’s before he considered the vile misogyny dripping from Gold’s words.

“Well, it’s lovely to see that your understanding of women’s rights has reached the Middle Ages, Gold, but I prefer my women willing.” His snark was all he had to attack the monster before him and he would bloody well use it.

“But she will be willing, she will want me so much.”

“One of these days, Gold, you and I are going to need to have a good, long chat about consent. But then, considering what you did to Belle, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you think that would be acceptable behaviour.”

Gold’s eyes filled with rage and his face changed into something monstrous. “How dare you say her name to me? What could you possibly know of Belle?”

“Oh mate, I know everything.”

Killian was working out in headquarters went he felt eyes on him. He turned with a smirk, expecting to see The Saviour offering to kick his ass. He was surprised to see The Librarian hovering near the door to their gym instead.

He had been working with The Nevengers for a few months now, and while The Librarian seemed to be softening towards him, she hadn’t lost that air of distrust that she had when The Saviour first brought him to HQ. (Although he supposed as the first time they met he had made an attempt on her life, he could hardly blame her.)

He smoothed his smirk into a friendly smile. “Are you rallying the troops, lass?”

She hesitated, “er - can we talk, Hook?”

He was puzzled but walked over to the bench where his towel lay and shrugged it over his shoulders, before dropping down. Working out in his mask was bloody uncomfortable, and he longed to wipe the sweat off his face. Still, it was good preparation for when he was really out there fighting he supposed.

“What’s bothering you, bookworm?”

“I want to tell you a story. I think it may be one that you’re familiar with.”

“That’s very cryptic, but ok.” He patted at the bench beside him. “Let’s enjoy story time with The Librarian.” She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed with his reply, but gingerly sat down, nonetheless.

“Once upon a time there was a young man whose mother died young and whose father sold him to a villain at a young age.”

“So, your standard tragic back story then?” Killian interrupted, already uncomfortable with where he was sure this was heading.

“It worries me that you think there is anything ‘standard’ about selling your own flesh and blood.” He shrugged, trying not to show how much her story was already affecting him.

“There was one bright spark in his life - the older brother he adored, his fellow slave. The boys were strong and feisty and soon they were put into the villain’s fighting pits. And there they might have stayed, forced to battle men sometimes twice their age and usually twice their size, if an eminent philanthropist hadn’t rescued them and given them places in his own private army.

“They were still fighting, and doing dangerous work, but they were happy knowing that this time they were fighting the good fight. That they were making the world a better place. And, above all, that they weren’t disposable.

“Of course, they weren’t to know that it was all a lie. The philanthropist hadn’t appeared in the pits on a rescue mission, he was checking up on his investment.”

Killian’s face turned grim, he didn't need to hear more to know that somehow this superhero knew his true identity. He panicked a little, wondering who else might know the truth.

“But these two brothers were brave and talented. They soon rose through the ranks, with the young man earning the commission of lieutenant, fighting under his brother’s command as captain.

“Their employer was delighted with them, and trusted them above all others. And that is why he placed the younger brother in charge of his wife’s safety - he was to be her bodyguard and protect her with his life.

“Unfortunately for the young man he fell desperately in love with his charge - and she with him. Soon he discovered the veneer of respectability on his employer was nothing but a mask, hiding the monster within. The man was cruel and abusive towards his wife - she needed protecting from him more than anyone else.

“The pair may have run away together and lived happily ever after, if they hadn’t been caught in the act by the monster. He relieved the lieutenant of a hand, murdered his wife, and set fire to her bedroom, leaving his formerly favoured lieutenant in there to die.

“But something happened that the villain couldn’t have known: his lieutenant had a dormant superpower. He was invulnerable. The fire sparked it to life, and he walked out of the flames.

“His employer thought that he had died and he used that ignorance in his favour. He turned to a life of villainy to get his revenge on the beast who killed his love… Until a few months ago when he met a superhero who offered him a chance at redemption.

“And now, Lieutenant Killian Jones, Hook, The Survivor … whatever you want to be called. You’ve turned your life around: you’re a real hero. How does it feel?”

Killian let out a slow breath through his teeth, and rubbed the back of his neck. He felt uncomfortably hot and exposed. “You really are a clever lass, aren’t you?”

“It’s about time someone noticed.” Belle said dryly. “You know that your secret’s safe with me, don’t you?”

Killian’s was deeply touched by her words and nodded slightly. “Thank you,” his voice came out as a whisper and he cleared his throat. “How - how did you figure it all out?”

One corner of Belle’s mouth twisted up in a sad half smile. “I have another story to tell. There once was a young girl who was always thought peculiar for her love of books and learning. She was far smarter than most of her peers - so much so that she left for college at a young age. Her looks ensured that she had attention, but no one seemed to see the real her.

“They had no idea that she had a special power - she could enter the world of her books and learn from the characters in them, could absorb their knowledge. Perhaps if they had known they would have understood. Perhaps it would have confirmed to them that she truly was a freak.

“They all wanted her to cast aside the books she loved. The girls couldn’t relate to her and the guys just wanted to fuck her.

“She longed to meet someone who did not care for her looks, but for her brains, and one day, she did. She was at a fundraiser when she met the older man - he was a respected lawyer who had earned enough money that he devoted most of his time to philanthropic deeds. She challenged him over his opinions and they argued fiercely all night.

“The man was delighted with her wit and her fire and impressed that she would argue with him where most blindly agreed. He offered her the chance to work for him.

“She would never admit it - even to herself - but she found herself a little in love with him that first night. She knew he would never look at her in that way, he was so much more experienced and he had a beautiful wife. But she knew she would get to work alongside him and that was enough.

“As they worked together she got to know him better, and soon discovered that he did not care for his wife. The woman was cruel and distant; she had no respect for the work he did and he felt unloved. The girl believed his every word and so she endeavoured to take care of him; to make him feel cherished.

“In time their relationship grew from close colleagues into a full-blown affair. The girl knew it was wrong, but she desperately believed that he was a good man who deserved love in his life. And she was rewarded for her devotion with love, with gifts, with a home.

“She didn’t see the beast behind the man until it was too late.

“At first it started out small. He could be tyrannical in his views about doing what was best for the greater good, even at the expense of individual lives. The girl would challenge him and he would always back down. But then he began to experiment, searching for ways to gather superpowers to help him do good.

“And those powers changed him.

“He became possessive and cruel and more often than not the girl found herself retreating into her books, becoming lost in their worlds for longer than was healthy.

“Then one day he came to her and announced that he finally had divorced his wife and that they could marry. He seemed half-crazed and she should have known better than to leave that night and marry him. The next day she learned the truth: his wife was dead and her lover apparently along with her.

“The girl was horrified and tried to leave but he discovered her and trapped her within her favourite story: Beauty and the Beast. She doesn’t know how long she stayed there, believing their love to be good and pure. It was so long that she almost lost herself.

“But one day a young man found her - he made her believe in herself again and rewrote the book so that she could escape. Once she was free of her beast’s claws she vowed never again to be enslaved to him: she refused to use her powers and used the money he had thrown at her in a desperate attempt to win her back to set up a team that would defeat him.”

Belle went silent and Killian sat in stunned silence for a moment. “So the boy who rescued you, was that -?”

“The Author.” Belle cut in with a nod. “He’s very persuasive.”

Killian chuckled. “Aye. Look, lass -”

“Belle - my name’s Belle -” Killian smiled at this display of trust.

“Belle, thank you for telling me this story. I know that can’t have been easy for you. If it helps, it makes me more determined than ever to defeat Gold.” He took her hand and looked her straight in the eye. “I will keep your secrets as you keep mine.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, looking away, “he was a good man, once. He just… he lost himself. With the things that you have said and what he told me at the time I was able to realise you must have been the ‘dead’ lover.” Belle squeezed his hand before pulling it away.

“So, are you ready to help me defeat The Dark One?”

Gold rained down abuse on his body in retaliation over Killian’s accusations about Belle. He never did like hearing the truth spelled out for him, time had done nothing to change the beast’s nasty habit. The torment went on and on and Killian lost consciousness again and again and again. He didn’t care - in those blackouts he was always with Emma or The Saviour - they lifted his spirits and gave him strength. More importantly, Gold’s ire had deflected his attention away from hurting Emma.

Keeping her safe was always Killian’s top priority. Always.

“Hello Killian.” Emma was smiling at him. “Gold’s really doing a number on you, isn’t he?”

“Aye, love, but at least in these moments I get to be with you.”

***

Emma Swan always knew she was a champion when it came to running from awkward situations and avoiding her problems. But by the time it came to Friday and she realised that she hadn't seen Killian since Wednesday, she had to concede that the gold medal for this Olympic sport belonged to him. She hadn't even caught a glimpse of him.

She'd be impressed, if she weren't so hurt. Because honestly, what was she supposed to think? He'd been full of unwarranted and incomprehensible concern for her. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he'd told her then reacted like her kiss had electrocuted him. And the next day he had the nerve to make that goddamn speech, which felt so much like a declaration of love that she cried herself to sleep at night in confusion. Then he'd successfully ignored her for two days solid. Being around him just felt so good and so right that her magic would swell when he was around, so why was he intent on giving her emotional whiplash?

She was frustrated as hell just thinking about it and she refused to let him get away with it any longer. She stormed over to his desk, ready to drag him out of the room and shout at him. But he wasn't there. His computer wasn't even on.

She took a moment to compose herself. “Where's Killian?” she asked the girl who sat next to him, hoping to sound casual and breezy.

She frowned up at Emma in confusion. “Er - he's on vacation?”

“What?” the startled word was out of her mouth before she could help herself.

The girl - Aurora, maybe? God, she wished she remembered her name, she'd never really paid much attention to her when Killian was around - looked sympathetic. “Trouble in paradise? I admit, I'm surprised to see you here, I assumed he'd whisked you away to propose.”

“Huh? Oh!” Emma bit her lip and shook her head, this was all too much for her to process right now. “Killian and I aren't together.”

“Oh, so the poor man is nursing a broken heart? I'd suggest you go talk to him, work out whatever has come between you. If anyone were to look at me the way he looks at you? Well, I'd never let him go -” Aurora (a quick glance at her email signature on screen had confirmed it, Emma felt a little thrill of victory for not having total tunnel vision when Killian was around) sighed at the thought.

Emma looked at Aurora curiously. Sure, she knew how she wanted him to look at her, and she had actually deluded herself into imaging that's how he really did look at her. What on earth did Aurora see there? “How does he look at me?”

“Like you are every wish he'd ever made and his every dirty fantasy come to life in one perfect package? Are you seriously telling me you don't know that man is truly, madly, deeply, head over heels in love with you?”

Emma gaped at Aurora briefly, before the memory of the way he'd sprinted away from her on Tuesday sprang to mind. “He has a funny way of showing it.” Emma huffed.

Aurora looked suspiciously like she was about to make another comment about working things out so Emma quickly made an excuse and ran away.

He was on vacation. The more she thought about it, the more furious she became. He hadn't told her he was going, he just left. He fucking abandoned her.

She pulled out her phone and typed out a message to him, seething all the while. “Thanks for telling me about your last minute vacation. I hope that you’re enjoying yourself.” She thought for a minute, she wasn’t sure if the sarcasm that dripped from every word in her mind really came across when written down. But then, she couldn’t quite bring herself to be any nastier about it.

She brooded over this state of affairs for most of the rest of the afternoon. How she managed to complete the report she was working on for Regina, she’d never know. In the back of her mind there was a constant commentary, lurching wildly between “how fucking dare he?!”, “I don’t care, it’s not like he’s my boyfriend or anything” and, worst of all, “why am I never enough?”

Still, somehow she made it through and placed the report on Regina’s desk with 10 minutes to spare.

“Thank you, Miss Swan,” Regina dismissed her, barely looking up from her desk.

Emma went to leave, then hesitated. Regina seemed to be the one with all the information about Killian’s mysterious vacation, perhaps she could provide some more details. “Er - Ms. Mills?”

Regina looked up with her eyebrows raised in displeased expectation. “Yes?”

Emma knew from experience that she needed to talk fast - Regina’s exasperation was palpable. “I just wondered - Killian Jones talked to you about this last minute vacation, right?” Regina nodded. “So… did he tell you where he was going? Or when he might be coming back”

Emma squirmed under her boss’ penetrating gaze. She felt like a naughty schoolchild waiting to be punished. To her surprise, the woman laughed, albeit mirthlessly.

“You don’t know where your own boyfriend is? Really? Hmm.” She considered this. “He told me he had a family emergency and he couldn’t say when he’d return, but is the truth that you broke up with him? No wonder he sounded so devastated!” Regina shook her head to herself. “I must say, I’m surprised, did you tell him about you and Hook?”

Emma gaped dumbly, her mind didn’t know which piece of bizarre information to cling on to. There was just so much misinformation in everything the woman had said she couldn’t think how to answer her. Finally she spat out the first thing that came to mind, an incredulous, “Me and Hook? There is no me and Hook?”

“Oh, of course not, darling. I happen to know the man a little -” so do I, Emma replied in her head, bewildered “- and I know that he ran out of a club to chase after you. That certainly sounds like something, wouldn’t you agree?”

Regina smiled at her - Emma could see that she was really enjoying torturing her. “Well - yeah - but it wasn’t - there isn’t -”

“Perhaps Killian came to hear of it and disagreed.”

“I - I -” Emma was completely flabbergasted. This whole situation was ridiculous. It went beyond ridiculous to completely and utterly insane.

“As fascinating as your love life is, Miss Swan, I do have work to do. So, if there’s nothing else, you may go.” Regina dismissed Emma with a wave of her hand and Emma was too confused to do anything but stumble awkwardly out of the door.

Killian had taken a last minute vacation, citing a “family emergency”, which Emma knew was total bullshit, since he had no family. So where had he gone, why had he gone last minute, and why had he “sounded devastated” when he talked to Regina?

If Emma didn’t know detecting lies was a superpower of hers she might assume that Regina had lied to her. Whatever else was going on, her boss certainly seemed to think she was telling the truth, so surely it had to be Killian that was lying. But why would he do that? Why did he need to suddenly leave town presumably without any notice as to when he might return?

As if all of that weren’t vexing enough, there was the little matter of Regina thinking that Killian was her boyfriend - and that possibly The Survivor had come between them. Why on earth would she think all of this?

When she got back to her desk, she was relieved to see it was time to leave, she had never been more ready for the weekend to begin. She had too many questions and conflicting feelings buzzing through her and it was setting her on edge. She could feel her anxiety levels rising and she desperately needed to escape from all the noise and retreat into herself.

She exited the building and looked about cautiously. Seeing no immediate danger, she ducked into an alley nearby so she could poof back to her apartment. It was a risky move, but allowing herself to use public transportation in her current state of agitation was riskier.

She needed answers - she needed to talk to Killian.

Her hands shaking, she pulled her phone from her pocket and clicked on his contact. The phone rang and rang and rang in her ear and with each moment that passed she felt her chest tighten, her nerves tingle and her magic sparking.

“Hello, you’ve reached Killian Jones, I’m sorry I can’t take your call -” Killian’s silky voice was cut off by a surge of magic that caused her phone to explode. Emma stared at it on the floor shocked by the power of her own feelings. She needed to get out of her apartment before she did something stupid.

She waved a hand to fix her Saviour uniform in place then poofed to the only place she could think of - HQ.

“Hey Saviour!” Belle greeted her warmly, although the smile on her face quickly turned to a frown as she took in Emma’s anxious expression. “Is everything ok?”

“Um - I - I don’t know?” Emma’s voice was shaking, Belle stepped closer to her with concern in her eyes. Emma’s hands flew up to indicate that The Librarian should stay back, and they shimmered as she moved. “I just … I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I think I’m losing control of my powers.”

“Ok,” Belle replied simply, “we can deal with that. When did this start? Do you know what might have caused it? Can -”

Belle broke off, her eyes widening in alarm. Emma didn’t reply. She couldn’t; she had started glowing with the force of her powers spreading across her skin.

“Right. Why don’t you just take yourself to the gym and see if you can work off some of that excess energy? I can make you a nice cup of tea when you’re done and maybe we can have a chat?”

Emma blinked at Belle. She didn’t know what she expected, but it wasn’t this supportive and serene response.

“You aren’t scared I’ll break your gym?”

Belle shrugged. “I have the money. And besides - you know everything in their is triple reinforced, right? I’d be forever replacing all the gear if all it took was a little superpowered accident to break it.”

Emma beamed at Belle - she wondered why she’d never spent that much time with her before. The Survivor and her were certainly very close, they seemed to have an understanding. Maybe Emma could trust her to help her through her problems? Later though, once she’d got her powers under control.

It was two hours later when Emma finally emerged from the gym, exhausted and shaky as she started to crash from the massive high her power surge had brought.

Snow had showed up, as had Tina and the three superheroes all looked up at Emma with bright smiles. “Are you ready for that cup of tea now?” Belle asked cheerfully.

Emma eyed them all suspiciously. “This feels like an ambush.”

Tina rolled her eyes. “It’s just tea, Saviour. If you want to talk, that’s cool. If not, that’s fine too.”

Emma settled down at the table. “What would we talk about?”

“We could talk about whatever you want!” Snow replied eagerly, “it doesn’t have to be your problem -”

“I don’t have a problem.” Emma cut her off quickly, leaning back in her chair. Her elbow slipped as she went to lean on the arm casually and she internally cursed how unconvincing she sounded. She looked up to see the three all exchanging knowing looks.

“Sure you don’t.” Tina responded dryly, giving Emma a pointed look.

“What we’re all here to say,” Belle spoke up now, placing a cup of tea in front of Emma, “is that we’re here for you. If you want to talk?”

To Emma’s surprise she found, she did. It was unlike her to spill her feelings, but suddenly everything that had been going on with The Survivor and Killian came spilling out of her. How she was in love with two men; how she’d kissed them both; how she’d been rejected by both.

“And now my best friend’s just left me for some kind of spur of the minute vacation and I don’t know what to think.”

She looked up to see three identical looks of sympathy before her.

“That sounds rough,” said Snow. “I can see how confusing all of this must be for you. You just need to listen to your heart, that will steer you to the right man.”

“But neither of them want me!” Tina scoffed at Emma’s words. “What? You disagree?”

“Oh, Hook wants you honey,” Tina stated empathically, “he might have his reasons for not being with you. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want you.”

The other girls both nodded. “This isn’t helping,” Emma said flatly, “I just need to forget about all of this for a while.”

Snow grinned wickedly. “Girl’s night out! Let’s go to Supers! and get drunk!”

Emma appreciated the thought, but really couldn’t stand the thought of going to a bar and getting hit on by sleazy guys. “I’d rather just go punch some bad guys and get to bed. Any news on the bad guy front, Belle?”

Belle frowned. “No, actually. The mission to infiltrate Gold’s was a bust - somehow he caught wind of it and Regina had to call it off.”

Emma felt deflated. “I’ll just go home. Maybe walk through a dodgy neighbourhood, see if anyone there needs a pummeling.” Emma stood up to leave. “Thank you all - it helped to talk about it - bye!”

There was a chorus of “no problems”, “anytimes”, and “goodbyes”. As she got up to go, but just before she made it through the door, Belle caught her elbow.

“This friend of yours - is it like him to just leave without telling you?”

Emma thought long and hard. Since she’d known Killian, she honestly couldn’t think of another occasion where he’d let her down. Although she also had never kissed him and sent him running before.

“No. But it’s also not like me to kiss him.” Emma shrugged like it was no big deal, despite how hurt she felt.

“Maybe he hasn’t left then, Saviour? Perhaps someone has taken him?”

Emma considered Belle’s words. “Wouldn’t I have had some kind of ransom note by now?”

“You would think so… But, I don’t know, you can’t be too careful. I can look into this for you, if you want?”

“I’ll think about it.” Emma answered. She was a little concerned that giving the girl Killian’s name would let her in on too much information about her secret identity. But still… She had given her something to think about. If Killian didn’t appear soon, she’d have to.

And Emma did think about it as she punched a mugger in the nose on her way home. As she tossed and turned all night wondering if there could be anything to Belle’s suggestion. As she went to buy a new phone after accepting that her own magic wasn’t up to fixing the damn thing.

Eventually the niggling doubt and worry that Belle had planted had grown such that she had to do something. Still unsure about revealing Killian’s identity to her fellow superhero, she decided to do her own investigating, which is how she found herself using her spare key to enter Killian’s apartment in the search for clues.

She couldn’t say what she was looking for. A sign that he had left of his own accord perhaps - or something to show he hadn’t. After poking around a little bit she gave up. She didn’t know what she was looking for. Perhaps if she asked Henry to help her hack his computer she’d find something - but she wasn’t quite that desperate yet.

Instead she found herself curling up in his bed desperately wondering what to do and how to feel. She pretended it was his arms instead of his blanket wrapped around her and fell asleep to turbulent dreams of Killian being tortured.

She woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of him screaming in pain. She startled awake and felt an instant terror that he wasn’t in bed with her. It took a moment before she remembered that everything she had seen and heard had been nothing but a nightmare.

But it felt so real. He was nearly naked and strapped to a table while Gold loomed over him, poking and prodding at him, torturing his flesh. She shook her head to rid herself of the vision, when she noticed his closet stood ajar.

Suddenly the obvious thing came to her: was his suitcase gone? He wouldn’t have left town without any clothes. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it before.

She switched on the light and walked over to the closet and began rummaging around inside. She had never realised how big the damn thing was and made a mental note to tease him for how many copies of the exact same clothing he had.

She pushed aside his ridiculously neat row of shirts organised by both category (smart or casual) and colour, and noticed a strange panel in the wall behind. She didn’t think twice but to use her magic to open it. It swung open to reveal his prosthetic hand. Emma’s head tilted as she looked at it in confusion.

Why does he keep his hand in a secret container? Wait, why isn’t he wearing his hand?

The thought troubled her when she noticed something else that was strange: some kind of pieces of leather were neatly lined up. She picked one up and pulled it towards her. She gasped as she realised what she was holding in her hands.

It was a mask.

It was The Survivor’s mask.

And that surely could mean only one thing: Killian Jones was The Survivor.

The image of Killian being tortured that she had seen in her dreams flashed before her eyes. And somehow she just knew that it was real - and that, wherever he was, he was in terrible danger.

Chapter 9

And here come the tags

@artandteaandstuff @bleebug @wishbonekarou @nfbagelperson @timeless-love-story @suqarysweet@sammyjo16 @krystalsficpage @the-woman-in-12b @the-fandom-avenger @lenfaz @natascha-remi-ronin @hookaddict @buckle-some-swash @cat-sophia @lepidochelys-kempii @vannawecht @wickedcarrieann @captainswansettingsail @xfalseadvertisingknucleheadsx @oncedreamerhere @a-fictional-life

#cs ff #cs fanfics #cs ff au #cs au #the masks we wear #chapter 8 #katie dub writes

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pinkanchorlovestuff-blog · 5 years

Text

I keep in mind when Instagram was yay high. Once we have been just youngsters importing filtered pictures of road graffiti

That each one modified once I signed in to YOGABODY's personal word processor.

The company's Fb recreation was in place, but we needed to give it higher access, and we also promote our products on Instagram.

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No extra.

Oh, they develop so quick.

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Instagram users spend a mean of $ 65 on a purchase (greater than Facebook), and "gram has increased engagement by 115% since 2012.

What does this imply for your ecommerce business?

Instagram Captions Do Better when they use conversion copy methods.

A replica is the distinction between a follower (who holds pictures) and a customer (who buys products).

Footage can catch the reader's consideration as they endlessly browse, however in accordance to Instagram's algorithm, likes, feedback, shares, and tags), are thought-about priceless and are subsequently promoted off the feed.

Instagram caption – AKA copy (we use these phrases interchangeably in this article) – brings new followers to your brand, main to conversions and sales. [19659002] Take Glossier for example Vogue staffer Emily Weiss took a life-style and magnificence blog and developed it right into a highly regarded Instagram account, the place she launched her magnificence line Glossier. The account now has over 2 million followers and an e-commerce company value $ 1 billion.

On this in-depth take a look at Sked Social, Glossier's Instagram advertising strategy exhibits that its posts typically hit a 10% turnout common of 3%. "They knock it out of the park," writes Kat Boogard. He says:

“They weren't part of the trap shared by so many companies where social media was a afterthought – they were proactive ever since. In fact, Glossier's account had attracted 13,000 Instagram followers before all products were even opened on the brand's e-commerce site. ”

Sked Socialin Kat Boogard

You possibly can proceed to develop your Instagram with a very good copy even for those who don't have Emily Weiss's cultural culture

Let's take a look at sensible captions that make you snug.

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That's so much. This is sort of a retail page!

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In contrast to Kanye, Instagram does this with interest. They do that to forestall it from supporting the feed. The next might show the maximum (in purple):

Dermstore, which sells skilled magnificence products online, makes use of these bite-sized moments to highlight its ordering supply. This can be a good example of readers getting their heads eagerly requested "yes" to your question. It's all the time a superb copy… even on Instagram.

Gold Commonplace: Enter 125 vital characters before "More …" seems.

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Point out sales.

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Hi… if Joann Shops (previously often known as Joann Fabrics) – you already know, those you associate with your older neighbor who knit a scarf each Christmas – could be fashionable, then you’ll be able to.

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But how do I do every little thing and not using a huge finances?

Nicely you asked…

Upload user-created content material.

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For novices, you possibly can repeat what others have stated about you (hey, Voice of Buyer Knowledge!) – or – this might imply that authors and clients can send details about your products instantly.

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You’ll be able to see their message.

You submit your message. #repost

It leads to belief in your followers. And the viewers will get to see what the product appears like in a real sitch.

Right here is an instance of @yogabode. We shared a native message from Yoga Trapeze (YOGABODY product).

I’ve all the time spent a sure period of time to expel the native messaging are on the lookout for something that I might use – primarily in gold mining.

If the unique title accommodates a constructive remark about our product … YOINK!

This can be a golden alternative to submit a buyer evaluate instantly to your feed, giving the audience a quick, actual insight that also feels very real.

If your product has not been talked about (yet), you’ll be able to #regram someone in the dialog.

Dermstore uses the original caption to present their voice and then shortly mentions the consumer's image (for actual credit).

Upward it is potential to get to this particular somebody's radar. The draw back: it might appear to be you're unable to create your own content material. Use this tactic very sparingly.

The next is an example of #regram:

For pictures, you can do this manually.

Take a screenshot of the picture you want to edit

Use the photograph editor on your telephone to crop all the things besides the image.

Share to Instagram.

Add a singular title and @ mark the unique consumer in the submit.

You want a resubmit app for videos. I like to recommend SkedSocial.

Emoji is that this emoji emoji?

I don't await you…

The reply is…

YES! They are a fast method to look human. That you’re an clever individual. That you’re a fashionable, sensible individual behind a caption. No aaaal copywriter / business individual sweats which emoji makes use of and where. And what is this eggplant and why is it so common? And oh my God, how can I emoji ?! ????

I gotchu. The following is an app where you’ll be able to say the city dictionary instantly from these small hieroglyphs in advance, so you gained't by accident miss it. Or just take a look at which emojis are trending so you will get an up-to-date copy.

To be trustworthy, emojis are additionally good at breaking up text by copying your copy visually and saying things less phrases. Here, Glossier uses the down arrow to mean "post your reply to comments."

. As an alternative of saying "click here," you’ll be able to as an alternative ship the pointer with your finger. Listed here are some concepts for a shared Instagram copy of emoji:

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🙏 We are grateful / we love it!

🔥 Scorching Sale

🚨 New Gross sales / Essential

💣 / ⚠️ Time delicate Gross sales

💯 Greatest Supply / We Accept

📷 This picture was taken by: / Photograph cred:

💬 ⬇️ This asks the viewers to depart a comment

this Use this to separate new factors

But more than that, they really stimulate the texture of an excellent response from readers who say it with me, creating engagement.

Pastime audience reads the complete caption (300 words)

Because individuals spend much less time studying their desk and a mean of 53 minutes a day on Instagram, this implies it is attainable to give them info on their

is sensible for your business:

Present product benefits.

An trustworthy company, based and run by none aside from Jessica Alba, specializes in protected baby products created from renewable components. They emphasize their organic stomach balm in this submit with textual content and pictures.

Tell a narrative from case research or other stories.

You’ll be able to attempt it in the third individual because @trustworthy is doing it right here:

Or interviewing clients and sending their story to the primary individual:

Such real human stories are 22 occasions more memorable than details.

Ship replace to company (or other really priceless info).

By now, you could be considering … yeah, yeah, yeah I'll take your clients with these nice ideas, Kaleena, but how can I get more of these Instagrammers-shop to comply with my account?

Use hashtags to assist clients discover you easily.

Instagram permits up to 30 hashtags, more than sufficient for the typical ecommerce enterprise. These tags will not be only a fashionable method to play Instagram, however relatively a enterprise device to assist individuals find a brand.

Consider it as Instagram web optimization.

With out them, clients won’t ever see your content. You don't have to embrace them in your posts. There are three levels of decentralization that you simply intend to assume and use.

ONE: Geotags

They get 79% extra dedication and solely 5% extra posts are!

Geotags mean that you are situated on the geotag page for that city / place. And the better your mail is, the extra possible it’s that Instagram will push it to the top of that web page.

These tags are great when you also have a brick and mortar retailer or pop-up, like the Glossier instance

At YOGABODY we saw a 10% peak in consumer engagement once we went from easy #yoga to adding #yogainbarcelona and #yogalosangeles geo .

TWO: Branded hashtagit.

These characters have to be associated with products, brand, and brand.

For instance, in case you are a zodiac inspired jewelry company referred to as Gemini Jewellery and sell necklaces on Instagram, your branded products could be #geminijewelry and #whatsyoursign.

Quest Vitamin, which sells protein-rich delicacies akin to This White Chocolate Under the Raspberry Quest Bar, sprinkled #OnaQuest and #Questify on virtually each message.

THREE: Niche hashtagit.

At YOGABODY, we shortly realized that #yoga is just too broad a term – there are about 70 million (!!) posts for that word in the Instagram part at any time. Content material is buried for a moment when only the most important and worst corporations are proven.

Michael Aynsley describes this further in his 2019 hashtag guide:

“Suppose you are a social media manager for a travel company. There are a selection of hashtags which might be fashionable with jet seters: #welltravelled, #justbackfrom, #whatsinmybag and # passportexpress – to identify a number of. Tag your message with any of these numbers and you'll in all probability get a couple of additional Likes. "

But don't make any guesswork right here.

Want to play with totally different Instagram keyword tools First, take a look at Instagram analytics for some time to see what works and what doesn't.

However like running a blog search engine optimisation keywords, many Instagrammers see too many hashtags as spam.

To keep away from this, merge the brand-related characters into captions, as they present a very good reply and add audio to the copy.

Depart geographical marks and keywords in the first comment of the keyword.

They discovered you, adopted you, interacted with you and saw your products … Now what?

Let Instagrammers know what they should do next with Simple Actions (CTA). You’ll be able to ask them to buy a product, buy at your retailer, or share with a pal.

You’ll be able to choose your CTA ad by considering what your business objective is. in building a group? Brand consciousness? Product Consciousness

On different platforms, CTAs often embrace a link to make the subsequent step as straightforward as a pie. Nevertheless, Instagram eliminates click-throughs in headlines to enhance the consumer expertise (and let's be real, hold you on the platform for as long as potential).

That's why the most typical CTA on Instagram is "Click the link bio!"

Reformation, a sustainable trend firm, makes use of this tactic superbly. Maintain in thoughts that they have written a mere bio-link because it is so 2018.

As above, CTAs are on the end of the title when you might have already warmed up on "grammar", why they should care and what's in it for them.

Subsequent:

Individuals love to speak about themselves.

Not solely does it start a dialog, it could possibly additionally offer you a clean voice about buyer info.

(BTW – you’ll be able to create graphics in less than 5 minutes with Canva.)

Listed here are some other CTA information you need to use:

Determine on Stories for Purchasing!

Be a part of Our Affiliate Network

Obtain Complete Information

Inform Us Your Favorite

Mark Somebody Who Seems to be Good Right here (emoji)

Share (add brand identify) down

Contact Gary Vee -hopping, jab, jab, proper hook, asking for some straightforward questions like "enjoy!" "Comment!" "Check out the link! "Before the bigger one asks," shop, "" stock, "or" buy. "

Music: Instagram Elevator Peak

You could have ~ 10 words to promote yourself.

What do you might have to say? It will make or break you!

Simply kidding. It's truly utterly interchangeable at any time.

As Allie Decker writes in this advantageous article from the Instagram copy:

“Brainstorm some of the key terms that people may be looking for in relation to a brand, product or industry. Add these to your bio if necessary. As an example of using Foundr, you see words like epic, not awesome and word-kicking, knowing our audience responds positively to such terms. ”

Allie Decker

If and when you’ve got branded products that you really want to encourage followers to use, it's an excellent apply to listing it on your Instagram bio for straightforward reference – identical to Joann does.

The track continues to be the only place the place you possibly can submit a reside hyperlink. But you don't have to maintain it static.

Actually, I like to recommend that you simply continuously change. Perhaps as typically as you modify sheets. I know it's a problem, nevertheless it must be achieved weekly.

Why? This link is an opportunity to improve visitors to the advertised content material.

Play your whole Instagram track based mostly on the product or sales you need to spotlight or drive visitors to affiliate accounts similar to a blog, podcast, ecommerce, or different enterprise.

Since most Instagram users are on cellular units, you either want your link to drive visitors to your touchdown page or use a bit to link to a store.

If in case you have so many issues individuals need to see, and you're not speaking about ever-changing bio-life, attempt an software like Hyperlink.tree or tap.bio that accommodates all of the hyperlinks you want to drive followers. Here's what it seems like:

How to write an Instagram copy that isn’t overshadowed by a nasty Insta-photo

Be unbeatable inside the first 125 characters (first seen by the audience)

Function clients and your brand helped them by storytelling

and brand-related emoji; use emojis to disperse textual content and point readers in the correct course

Submit user-created content material to interact and really feel like rockstars

Let readers find you thru the following hashtags:

Geotags like # yogalosangeles.

Brand-like #geminijewelry #whatsyoursign

Niche phrases like #yogaeverydamnday

Cut up a couple of brands in the event you like, everybody else belongs in the primary remark remark

Use the CTA information on the end of your submit like examine, comment, buy, go, tag, verify, buy or tell

Picture not value a thousand words – select rigorously and #shineon.

The post How to participate in Instagram followers so they love your brand and buy products appeared first on Android Illustrated.

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