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luimagines · 3 years

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Hi! First of all, I wanted to let you know that your writing makes my heart melt! All of your works are as funny as they are incredible, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with your blog!

If it’s okay to request, could you write something about the boys having to dance with the reader? And when they do, they start to catch feelings for the reader but don’t realize it? If it’s okay, of course ♡ have a good day!! And please, take all the time you need if you write it!

Masterlist

If I had a nickel for every time some one requested a detailed scenario where you can dance with Link, I'd have two nickels.

Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

I should have known there were those who yearn. (And I listened to the song you referenced anon, and it's nice but I personally like Sam Smith's version better.)

But yes, I'll see what I can do.

Part 1 will include Warrior, Sky and Four

Content under the cut!

Warrior

Warrior wasn’t sure why the princess thought that throwing a party for the hero was considered a good thing.

Or at least not without warning them about it first.

He supposed she was just excited to invite heroes of the ears into her home and wanted them to feel that at least their efforts were appreciated.

But he hated this.

And Link knew he wasn’t the only one to think so if the looks of his companions were anything to go by.

But even as he makes his rounds amongst the elite, the fake and the genuine, he tried to make sure that his friends were at least have a comfortable time. He wanted them to know that they didn’t have to keep a face like he did amongst this group so if they wanted to have fun and dance and eat then they could.

They were guests in his home as well.

But no matter where he looked and no matter how many rounds he made, he noticed that were nowhere to be found.

Confused, he ventured outside the venue.

And as he looking for you, he just sees a silhouette against the moon light on top of one of the decorative rocks out in the middle of the rose bush maze.

There was no one else around and then again the guards and people were too drunk and joyful to notice someone breaking the ground rules of conduct or if they noticed, they simply did not care.

He makes his way toward the shadow and stalls for a moment when you look his way.

The way the light hit your frame seemed delicate and ethereal with an otherworldly glow to your hair and skin. The royal purple garb they gave you as a gift for not having anything suitable to wear to the party hugged your curves and angles in all the right ways. Someone must have offered you some jewelry to go with it because he doesn’t remember you having the gold necklace and matching head piece that pulls your hair back into a crown of curls tat frame your face in a divine manner.

Link found himself unable to breath for a second.

You smile and say, “I’m just taking in some air.”

“Not enjoying the party?” He blurts, worried for a moment that you’ve been uncomfortable this entire time... by yourself.... away from everyone.... just sitting in the darkness with the sounds of music and laughter in the background.

“It felt weird to be at a heroes party when I myself- am not a hero.” You shrug and lean back casually on the rock. “Here to drag me back Capitan?”

Warrior blinks and registers the change of pace in the music and will deny to the end of his life where he found the nerve to do what he does next.

He smoothly places the his cup of lightly bubbled alcohol on one of the lower rocks and holds out his hand to you. “Dance with me. Just once.”

You blink and also tune into the music behind the two of you.

It’s a slow dance.

You gradually smile and reach out to him, pulling yourself from the rocks surface and into his arms. “Just one dance.”

Warrior tries to hide the gulp that threatens to noticeably bob his Adam’s apple and places his hands on your waist and holds your hand respectfully. “Have you danced before?”

“Technically.” You answer and place your own hands in his and on his shoulder, pulling yourself closer to him. “I while I know how to dance with the elite, it’s just never been my scene.”

“I know how you feel.” Warrior takes the leads and guides you through the steps of the song. He’s been through countless hours of training for battle- and not those that end in bloodshed- but those that take place in the ball room with the nobles and high end society that would have one looked at him scorn and distaste.

He doesn’t blame you for wanting to get away.

But he does want you to enjoy yourself... if only a little bit.

The steps come naturally to him and he takes a moment to spin you around before you trip over your own feet.

A small giggle escapes your lips as you twirl and send the fabric billowing around you.

Warrior is struck stupid by the sight and almost steps off beat with the music. He’s quick to correct himself but he seemed to have your laughter on his mind on repeat.

“I’d stay out here with you if I could.” He admits as he repositions himself against you, trying to lead you away from the rose thorns and the maze itself so neither of you get caught up in it. “But unfortunately my disappearance won’t go unnoticed for long.”

“Oh...” You blink and look up into his eyes. “I suppose you really only have time for one dance, huh?”

He’s unprepared by how disappointed you sound and it would appear so are you with how quick you try to cover it up.

“It’s fine! You’re an important figure here, I guess it’s only natural that every one would want your attention. I hope you enjoy the party though. Unlike me, you deserve the recognition.” You smile genuinely but your eyes look like they’re trying to get some unknown message across.

“If I can somehow get away again-” Warrior rushes to keep your smile there and to include you in the collective joy the party was supposed to bring. “-Will you save another dance for me?”

You hum and tap you finger to you chin in thought. “It hasn’t been that bad being out here by myself...”

Warrior really hopes that you let him dance with you again even when you pull apart to the end of the music.

But you grin and reach up to boop his nose with the same finger. “Alright soldier boy, since you asked so nicely I’ll save the last dance just for you.”

Warrior laughs a little breathlessly and has to force himself to step away from you. He hopes to any and all who can hear them that’s he’s not actually blushing right now. “Ok. I’ll be back then.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Sky

Sky was sure that every one was having a great time.

The music was loud and energetic and his friends were all off doing their own thing while the festival was in full motion.

It was a celebration for the people’s loftwings since it was usually the time of the year that they left their rider’s side- presumably to go lay their eggs for the next generation of riders.

But it was all fun and games for everyone involved.

Wind and Four seemed to be in a highly competitive match of toss the sack with Twilight being the point keeper on the other end. Wild and Hyrule were busy enjoying the food and no doubt collecting the recipes (Sky was hoping that Wild would make the food so he was no way inclined to stop him). Time and Warrior were off in a corner, talking to each other with a cup in each of their hands. Legend stood next to them without a cup but he seemed to be more interested in the décor and loftwings themselves.

But you...

Sky stopped walking along the ribbon perimeter and looked over to you.

You were by yourself... You didn’t particularly happy..

And that just won’t stand.

With subtle determination, he marches over to you and taps your shoulder.

You seem to blink back into the present and raise an eyebrow to him in return.

He can see the question on your lips just as you’re about to say it so he juts his head into he direction of the dance area with a simple hand out in your direction.

He hopes his intentions are clear.

You eye his hand and snap your mouth shut with a soft click. Sky gulps suddenly, a strange bout of nervousness attempting to choke his system as you take your time to think about his offer.

Sky would never force you to do something that you don’t want to do but really (and he has no idea where this urge comes from) wants to dance with you.

Just once.

Just once to see you smile and enjoy yourself.

To see you happy.

You place your hand in his, soft and small and so much different than his own. “Lead the way, Boy Wonder.”

You smile and he returns your gesture, gently pulling you toward the open area as the next song starts. It’s light and airy and it’s enough to keep you moving even if you both stall for a minute to just sway side to side in each others arms.

Sky didn’t know that he’d feel so whole and accomplished by just holding you.

Emboldened by the tune of the events, Sky takes a step back and twirls you around as the music flows up and down again just in time to bring you back into his arms.

You laugh. “Perfect timing.”

“I do try.” Sky winks.

You giggle to yourself with a small shake of your head but you keep swaying with Sky across the dance floor.

The music comes to an end and Sky does his best gentleman’s bow as he lets go of you completely- even if he finds that he doesn’t want to. “An absolute honor to dance with you.”

The music starts up again in a similar tune but all he would have to settle for is just one dance. It’s all he’s comfortable with asking from you.

“Sky wait.” You blurt.

He turns around to see that... well you seemed to have startled yourself as well.

“I um..” You bite your lip and vaguely gesture to the musicians in the distance. “They’re not done.”

Sky smirks a little. “But the song is.”

“I uh... Just one more dance?” You hold your hand out to him this time and he stares in shock.

Not for long though.

He’s quick to place his hand in your and pull himself back to you. “I’d love to.”

Four

Four was excited to show everyone around the Festival of Fools. It was his favorite time of the year where everyone got to be silly and destress and play and eat and dance.

Four had always run around trying to do what he could never get away with on a typical day but right now he had to make sure his traveling companion didn’t actually burn the town down.

He loved them but he’d lying if he said that he wasn’t just the tiniest concerned over their facial expressions when he said that anything goes really- no laws but those of the people apply today.

Which made him the temporary babysitter for some of the more rowdy ones.

But he had lost sight of you a while ago.

Not that he was concerned or anything but... He did want to spend time with you.

The festival doesn’t happen everyday and he knew that there would only be so many days left that he’d be able to spend with the group and even less so that they’d be given a chance to relax and unwind.

That thought urged him forward to find you.

If only to make sure that you were having a good time.

He had found you by the food court where you munched on a meat stick and watched as the people came and go.

You looked bored.

Now Four knew that parties weren’t entirely your scene and you weren’t the kind of person to go and throw yourself into the middle of it all.

That being said it still rubbed him the wrong way when you looked like you would rather be anywhere but there.

He oughta do something about it.

Just across the street a band had begun playing music for the people to dance to, now that they’ve usually had their fill for lunch.

Four saw you look over and smile, basking in the edges of their amplified joy and amusement.

He grinned and ran over to you, tugging your hand into his own and pulling you close to him. “Dance with me!”

“Wha- Four? Where’d you come from?” You dropped the finished stick in shock and followed him as he dragged you to the open space just beyond the food cart.

“I live here.” He laughed and spun you around. “Just one dance!”

“I- but- Four!” You dug your heels into the dirt and stopped the both of you from reach the destination. “I can’t dance! I- I’ve never danced.”

Four turns to look at you and smiles encouragingly. “Just let loose, it’s easy. There’s no right way to move, you just do. Just feel the music and my lead.”

You bite your lip and Four takes the moment of hesitation to pull you forward again. you let him and soon find yourself on a dirt arena with lively music and people all around you.

“Don’t let go of my hand ok?” Four grins.

You find yourself grinning as well and soon you’re both spinning and jumping and leaping and twirling around each other to the beat of music.

It’s fast and fun and within moments on simply holding onto Four you find yourself laughing uncontrollably as he throws you around like a rag doll in which ever way he likes.

He’s stronger than you imagined him to be but then again... He’s a blacksmith.

It shouldn’t be all that surprising.

Somehow in the midst of it, he throws you in the air and over his head, catching you in a spin and letting you catch your breath and the music dies down and another begins.

“You ok?” Four asks, a little breathless himself. He doesn’t think he’s heard you laugh so hard or for so long.

It’s nice.

“That was fun!” You managed to say in between your giggles.

Four’s grin widened and even if he knows it’s not your style.... and he only asked for one, he holds his hand out again just in time for the next crescendo to begin.

You look up and look at him and his hand...

You don’t hesitate to put your hand in his and he pulls you close to him again.

You spin and laugh and jump and twirl well into the night, completely forgetting about the others until you have to turn in for the night.

Four’s feet hurt by the end of it and he’s exhausted but to see and hear you smile and laugh and enjoy yourself in what is arguably his favorite time of year was completely worth it.

He hopes that he can spend more time with you... He hopes for just one more dance before it all ends.

Part 2

#linkeduniverse #linked universe x reader #SKYY!!#WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO WRITE FOR?!#I'm sorry his is short compared to the others #I tried guys #linked universe

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davids-cartoon-corkboard · 3 years

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Here’s the final part of the “Raph is a system” theory compilation post! It’s the last of what I can scrape up from canon; while I still have ideas on how it might loop back into character interactions and plot and so on, they’re much more speculative in nature. (Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here) (You’re reading Part 3)

---

"Red” is the alter with the least screen time, so it took a while for me to connect the dots on when and why he formed.

His shadowed face, the dramatic background music when he speaks, and his seriousness are reminiscent of the “brooding on rooftops in the rain while gloomily staring off into the distance” thing that Raphs throughout the franchise will do sometimes. That’s easy to poke fun at on a superficial level because most of us look back on our edgy phases with self-deprecation, but it’s a lot less funny in the context of the life he lives. Being a normal human teenager in normal human society is a fucking nightmare; being a mutant teenager who has no idea what to expect in terms of development or lifespan, only five people he can safely interact with ever, and a very limited future hiding from everyone else for as long as he lives has got to be just awful.

RR’s few lines in “Pizza Puffs” tell us a lot. “It’s the only way they’ll learn” and “this is for their own good” suggest that he formed when the turtles started exploring more of the sewers and going aboveground, and Being The Leader became more of a responsibility. A thousand new ways for them to get in trouble meant a thousand new ways Raph would have to bail them out, and that got old fast- especially since they didn’t have April’s knowledge to help them in the beginning. I doubt they met her the very first time they left the sewers. The wiki says April knew the boys for five years as of “Mystic Mayhem”, so they would have been nearly eight at the time, perhaps the mental equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human.

A while back I sifted through all the eps with Raph in them in the vague hopes that “Pizza Puffs” wasn’t the only episode featuring RR... and lo and behold, I found something! The shadowed face and dramatic background music are also present in “Minotaur Maze”!

“I can’t do it. I got no mystic mojo. I’m useless.”

“Hey, that’s not true, brother. You just gotta believe in yourself, and know this: If I die in this maze, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

(I know that’s only two data points, but y’all canonically cannot scoff at me.) RR shows up when HR is no longer able to tolerate the bullshit at hand. “I’m not going to baby you Leo, get your shit together before your ego kills us all” was a reasonable response to nearly being shish-kebab’d.

“Pizza Puffs”, on the other hand... LDM pulled through in the end, but that RR got HR to stay behind added an unnecessary level of risk. Getting his brothers to learn a lesson should have waited until after the giant mutant cannibal had been dealt with and they were no longer poisoned.

This hands-off “figure it out on your own” approach probably came from Splinter. I swear to Pizza Supreme In The Sky I’m not trying to shit-talk him, but his lack of involvement with his sons was a major flaw. Before all that character development he was terrible at things like “emotional support” and “life lessons”, leaving Raph without the blueprints to deal with a lot of problems. HR would respond by rushing in and figuring things out as he went, but sometimes RR would have to say “No, we’re maxed out and can’t deal with this, we’ve gotta step back”. As we’ve seen in other iterations, when Raph is maxed out and doesn’t step back...

...he goes too far. Plenty of folks have commented on how rarely the Rise turtles smack each other around compared to other versions; it’s telling that RR spoke up just a moment after HR smacked Mikey in “Pizza Puffs”.

Raph is much bigger and stronger than his brothers this time around, meaning such an outburst would have a much higher risk of Genuine Grievous Injury. And while his size and strength also mean a measure of gentleness has been baked into him since day one, there would still be times HR would feel himself boiling over and RR would head off somewhere quiet for fear of the above situation; which was potentially alluded to in “Hot Soup: The Game”.

“You went out on your own when you were his age.”

The context of “Man vs. Sewer” suggests Raph isn’t going to go off on his own without very good reason- such as cooling down before he does something he regrets. That this detail shows up in Casey’s debut episode suggests it is how they will properly meet and bond, since befriending Casey and doing vigilante shit with him is what usually gives Raph a way to blow off steam while having someone nearby to keep him in check. But that probably won’t happen until partway through season 3, since I doubt we can cram the rest of Casey’s redemption arc into the movie alongside the invasion and time travel trauma shenanigans and leader drama. So in the meantime RR will continue to brood on rooftops in bad weather and listen to Ephemerality songs and monologue to himself because he knows nobody’s going to hear him over the incessant background noise that makes up the cities above and below.

I was a bit stumped about how that meeting would take place- the events of the finale (and possibly also the movie) would no doubt have both the human and yokai populations on high alert, making it dangerous for RR to slip away for some peace and quiet. But the events of the finale also gave us some insight on Raph’s powers; he has a way to leave without actually leaving!

Hardlight Clone Jutsu, baby!

So whenever HR finds himself in a particularly sour mood, a wisp of power winds its way up through the open-air portion of the lair and forms into a clone aboveground. HR doesn’t have to leave for a while to cool down before coming back and dealing with the situation calmly, because RR is already on a rooftop somewhere dissipating those bad feelings by listening to the rain and/or yeeting trash cans.

But mutants can’t freely walk the streets of New York, and the Hidden City Police probably still have it out for Raph. And someone, hero or villain, will eventually realize that Raph has a gloomy stray clone running around and ask questions that can’t be answered without cracking open the can of worms that is This Whole Situation. RR needs to get creative. That we’ve seen clones have both full color and the basic red/white palette suggests their color could be altered in other ways; and that the holo-form grew extra arms in the lair fight vs. the Shredder suggests their shape could also be changed further.

So what will he choose to look like, if not his body?

Obviously he’ll use a red and black color palette because it slaps, leaning more towards black since I compared him to Batman back in Part 1. A low-detail design makes it hard to identify him, giving onlookers the impression that they just couldn't see him well in the dark. Mentally filing down his spikes and decreasing the curve of his shell are easy enough, but it takes him a while to figure out five fingers instead of three, and there’s not much he can do about his voice other than lowering the pitch so he just opts to not talk much within earshot of others. A cape further disguises his silhouette and again, it slaps. The impression of a mask means he doesn’t need a face and it lets peoples’ assumptions work for him. Humans are more likely to think he’s human than a Very Human-Shaped Mutant, and yokai come in so many shapes as is that he could be anything from a witch to a dehydrated googlyschmootz.

(You know how it is with franchises. Old patterns repeating in new ways.)

New York City never sleeps, and I doubt the Hidden City does either. He’ll run into Casey eventually, but in the interim he stumbles across and intervenes in some attempted purse-snatchings and kidnappings and the like. Most of the would-be victims use his arrival as their chance to escape, but one of them is too frozen with fear to move until their attackers are chased off into the dark. He escorts them home, and it’s only once they’re at their doorstep that they work up the courage to ask him who he is.

It’s... a difficult question, in more ways than one. “Raph” is out of the question. “Red” isn’t quite right, and neither is “Angel”- they’re a tad too identifying still, and the R.A.P.H. thing was HR’s idea anyway. So he shrugs, and melts away into the shadows.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m Nobody.”

#rottmnt #rottmnt raph #red raph #rottmnt nobody #the 'raph is a system' theory #this will never be canon in a million years but it's canon compliant and that's what's important to me lol #ephemerality is a synonym for evanescence #i had to use a thesaurus for that one #anyway i am have always been and will always be an 03 hoe #long post #i have an inkling about how his meeting with casey would go so i might put that here sooner or later

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sirtadcooper · 3 years

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🎨 (ah i just saw this! if it’s not too late!!!)

Nik, thank you so much for sending this! It’s probably escaped everyone’s notice by now but this ask game actually expects me to pick one of your latest ten edits. I just thought that was worth pointing out because that is not happening with anyone else and it’s certainly not happening with you. I also usually try to put them vaguely in order of preference but not this time because they are all my preference.

SUN and MOON - Only the first edit I am going to review and already a Masterpiece. The gif layering! The animation! The use of colour! It’s all so pretty and well thought out. The first gif is probably my favourite of the four, it’s just so neat. The falling snow with the yellow filter over it almost looks like sparks, it adds to the pretty.

DIN DJARIN + Troubled Birds Memes / GROGU + Troubled Birds Memes - There are memes and then there are Memes and both of these posts definitely fall into the latter category. When I saw that gifset of Din and the troubled birds for the first time I was laughing so much, I was so tickled by the idea and how well chosen the quotes were. You have managed to have gifs with impeccable comic timing! The way that on some of them the whole quote doesn’t appear until just the right frame... ugh, it’s perfect.

I want more... and I know I shouldn’t. - I love the text effects in first and last gifs, the unexpected use of pastels in association with Darth Vader of all people! It works! The big letters in the boxes are really neat. The layering of scenes is perfectly done. They both bookend that glorious middle gif with the rippling water. I... I don’t know how you did that but it’s incredible.

KELLY MARIE TRAN - Oh how I love this! The way that you’ve picked a colour palette and stuck with it is fantastic. The second panel with the TVs is great and probably my favourite part, just such a clever idea and it’s coloured so well. The first and last panels with the torn paper to tie them together are really pleasing and how could I not mention her gorgeous angel wings and halo in panel three? This is just wonderful. It’s what she deserves.

Day 7: Free Choice - The way these panels are all so different in style and yet they go so perfectly together... I’m in awe. You just have a great instinct for positioning things within a space and using colour to its full potential. You’re amazing.

“Beopero? That’s how they say Pedro… on Mars?” - As usual I don’t know how you did this but I love how it’s animated. Just takes this post to a whole other level! The little “like” heart that pops up, the incredibly realistic swiping animations, and the cute videos! Excellent choice of posts as well and I love how you have coloured them.

Escalating degrees of laughter/wheezing - Gosh this gifset makes me smile so much! I love that I have something in common with Pedro, and that’s the wheezing and rocking back and forth when I am really laughing. I love that you have told the story of Pedro’s laughter, it’s not just a random collection of moments of him laughing, it’s in order of his self control. You’ve really thought about this. That’s very galaxy brain of you.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Agent Whiskey) - Sometimes on Tumblr.com an edit is so good, you remember the first time you saw it no matter how many more times you come across it. This is one of those times. This was my first time seeing rotating text like that and it blew me away. You know the best part? It’s seamless. These boots are made for walkin’ just goes around and around and Whiskey in the background just goes around and around and you don’t know where the gif actually begins. That’s brilliant. The text animation on all of these gifs is inspired but it’s the first gif that lives in my mind rent free.

“How would you like to ride home on a real cowboy?” - You... *through tears* made this. I love that you have used a more muted colour palette this time around - I associate a bright blue with Whiskey so strongly, it’s refreshing to see other colours with him. The ye olde Western style just works so well here. Each of these posters has clearly taken a lot of time and effort. I think my favourite is the first, it was just so unexpected but wonderful!

“They all hate you, Mando, because you’re a legend.” - This colour palette! The little animations! The glitching helmet! Wee Grogu and Din with shadows that overlap... oh the Symbolism. This is just perfection.

“Sometimes you gotta do bad things to catch bad people.” - Your poster series is beautiful! This is another favourite of mine. I love that the colour palette is the colours of the Columbian flag. His own words on his skin on the fourth one as he struggles to carry the weight of them... really powerful. The colourful silhouettes on the third, the way they move! And the relatively simple first one with that bright red. The use of black and white and shades of grey throughout, like Javi’s morality... Yes. This is the good stuff.

Purple Rain - Fun fact! This was the first edit of yours that I ever saw (on 11th March, please write down our anniversary for future reference) and I loved it! It was so creative, I thought. Using the photo of him in the water was very clever. I naturally have a soft spot for this one. :)

If you don’t accept me for who I am with my frog then… go away. - This post baffles me. Where are the notes!? I thought this was funny! Din loves him despite the warning signs frog. The frog in Tom Holland’s mouth has mysteriously disappeared recently... Grogu has declined to comment.

trust me, i went to college - Just a big “YEAH!!!” for this post. You have captured my thoughts completely. Why he so broaaaaaad? I love his floof. His happy crinkles. This!!! Yeah, this is a Good Post.

So, Nik, I have made it to the end of your creations tag. I have written this very long essay for you. Your creations here, what you can do with Photoshop, is just incredible. I barely mentioned how perfect your colouring always is but that’s because it constantly gets overshadowed by the creativity you pour into each of your posts. You’re always experimenting, trying something new, surprising us. You have just got a talent for this. You’re an inspiration to me and, I’m sure, many others. I wish you and your Photoshop program a very good day. :)

creators send me 🎨 and i’ll tell you my favourite of your last ten creations and why

#sith-maul #ask #i'm sure there are a million typos in this haha #it's the Gushing it messes with my brain #but i wrote every word of this for the love of nik!#🎨 reviews

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scarletwillowtree · 4 years

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The Soldier and The Artist ch4 (soulmate AU)

Pairing: Bucky x artist!reader

Warning: slight angst

Word count: 2,146

Summary: In a world where your soulmates first words show up on your skin once you meet, it’s not entirely common to actually meet the one you’re destined to be with. Though you’ve always held out hope, you never believed you would meet them, especially after you got your words but haven’t seen the man since. Now, working closely with The Avengers for a project Tony Stark himself requested you for, you’re closer to your soulmate than you ever expected.

A/N: Yes, hello! I am aliiiiive! My apologies to my readers, it’s been rough going for me for a while, but I have returned. Originally this chapter was VERY different, and the way I wrote it honestly made me hate the direction the story went, so I scrapped it and now I’m much happier. Chapter five is being rewritten as it’s the epilogue I had planned, but we’re almost there! I hope you enjoy my lovelies.

masterlist

As I watched Bucky walk off the jet, I could feel my heart speeding up. My face flushed as I felt my lips part and a harsh inhale past my teeth must have been heard by Steve still standing next to me as I could see his head turn to me from my peripheral vision. But none of that mattered. Not Steve, not the fact that I was standing on the roof of the compound still, not even that I was still dressed in my paint stained clothing.

All that mattered was Bucky, the man from the coffee shop, my soulmate. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from his steely blue ones as he made a beeline for me, never looking away from me. Once he finally reached us, I expected him to move for Steve, his life long best friend.

Surprising everyone in the area, Bucky reached out and pulled me into his arms where I immediately melted into his embrace, feeling him press his face into my hair with his mouth near my ear.

“I’ve been waiting so long for you, doll.” He whispered gently, his arms squeezing me slightly tighter as he did. We stood there for what could’ve been minutes or years, before a throat clearing to the side of us caused me to pull back enough to see who it was, Bucky’s grip loosening enough for that to happen but not letting me ago entirely.

“So uh, you two know each other?” Steve shifted awkwardly as he looked between me and his best friend, still wrapped in each other’s arms. Beyond Steve I could see who I guessed to be Sam and Thor standing there, both wearing teasing smiles while looking at the group that had gathered.

Looking back up at Bucky, I felt a warmth blossoming in my chest as my next words spilled from behind my lips with no fight or filter.

“We’re soulmates.”

***

After a lengthy talk in the communal kitchen, several cups of coffee, and a very awkward walk from the hangar, Steve sat across the bar from Bucky and myself. Everyone else had cleared out already after the initial announcement, too tired to unpack the full story yet.

“Gotta say, I’m happy you two found each other. Bucky here wouldn’t shut up about what you’d be like when we were younger (Y/N).”

“Alright punk, that’s enough about that. Why don’t you get lost for a while?”

Steve raised his hands in mock surrender as he stood and moved to leave the kitchen. At the last moment, he turned to face us at the bar, a genuine and soft smile on his face.

“Hey, (Y/N), treat him right okay?”

I smiled and gave him a nod in response before he finally left the room. I turned back to Bucky to see him shaking his head as he grumbles under his breath too low for me to understand.

“What was that, Buck?”

His face flushed as he looked up at me, his words only coming out barely above a whisper as his eyes darkened from their brilliant ocean blue.

“It’s not you he should be worried about.”

“What do you mean by that Bucky?” The worry in my chest began spreading quickly, hoping this wouldn’t be one of those instances where a soulmate rejects the bond.

“I’ve...I’ve done a lot of bad (Y/N). I could understand if you choose to leave, I’m damaged and I’ve hurt so many people...it wouldn’t be fair to you to be stuck with someone like me...with a monster.”

I felt my heart crack at his words, a few tears building on my lashes as I took a shaky breath before softly saying his name. When he didn’t look up, I placed my hand gently on his chin and raised his eyes to finally meet mine, the pain in his shining bright as fear mixed with it.

“James Buchanan Barnes, what you did as another person was beyond your control. Being damaged is part of being human, you just got a really bad lot in life. But look at what you’ve done to turn it around! You save lives and prevent wars now. From what Steve has told me of you, you are an incredible person with an amazing heart and you’d give anything for those you love. You. Are. Not. A. Monster. Okay?”

By now a few tears had fallen from your eyes, and his as well. He grabbed your hand from his chin, placing a kiss to your palm before letting out a shaky sigh.

“So...you’re not leaving? You’re not scared?”

“Bucky, the only thing that scares me is that I won’t be good enough for you. I’m just a normal person who loves to paint. I’m not skilled or super in any way.”

He laughed lightly at you, shaking his head as he stands and hugs you where you still sit, placing a gentle kiss to the top of your head.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, doll.”

***

As the weeks flew by, I continued the portraits and spent every spare minute with Bucky I could. I had been saving his portrait for last, even though I’d already had it mapped in my head from the first conversation we had that day in the kitchen. He’d tried to sneak peeks of the other paintings, but hadn’t been successful as I wanted them to be a surprise for everyone.

Now that I’d finally come to his portrait, my time at the compound was almost at an end. I had spoken with Tony and was welcome at any time, and I planned to stay an extra two weeks at the compound before flying back to DC. Back to my life.

As my mind became lost in the strokes of greys, steely blue, and streaks of gold I thought back on my time here. I had come to view these people as good friends, maybe even a second family. Thinking about having to leave them caused a weight in my chest that made it hard to breath.

Finally finished with the final painting of the collection, I set my brushes aside to be cleaned, knowing they wouldn’t dry too soon with the oils smeared across the canvas and my hands. With a heavy sigh I moved to a nearby table and grabbed my phone, knowing it was time for my weekly update with Hannah.

She’d been so excited for me when I told her about Bucky, nearly exploding at my over the phone in typical her fashion. For someone so small, she sure was one hell of a force of nature all her own.

“You better be calling to tell me you’ve finally slept with that fiiiiine hunk of man you get to call your soulmate, lady.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but we are actually taking it slow and he’s been a perfect gentleman, Hannah.”

She snorted into the phone before I heard the telltale sound of the bay doors in the workshop we shared back home. Didn’t feel like home anymore, not with Bucky being here.

“So, judging by the timeframe I guess you’re done and coming home soon, huh?”

“I’m planning on staying an extra two weeks actually...not ready to say goodbye just yet.”

“I can understand that boo. Good thing we run our own company then, right? No need to ask for the vacation time!”

“That’s true. I miss you Han. I hope things go well while I’m still gone.”

“Well, as it happens it’s vacation time for me too lady, so no need to worry about the company! Just relax, and in to weeks we can both come back refreshed, okay?”

“Alrighty. Thank you! I gotta go, but I’ll call soon okay?”

“Love ya, ya weirdo!”

With her final affections given in her typical fashion, Hannah hung up. I gave a sigh before heading out of the studio and to my designated room, which had been moved to the one next to Bucky’s once he came back. I hopped in the shower, letting the nearly scalding water pour over me and wash away the paint and stress of the day.

Soon enough I had to face the music and get out, wrapping myself in a large and fluffy towel before padding my way into my room. Over my weeks here, the room had really become personalized to me, I even had an easel in here near the window overlooking the city. I quickly dressed in some leggings and a longer tshirt, aiming for comfort more than appearance.

I headed back to the studio, cleaning my brushes first in the sink in the corner, laying them next to it to air dry before making my way back to the easel with the latest painting. I smiled softly, this was truly a masterpiece in my eyes, whether it was because of the subject of because I poured every ounce of emotion I had into it I wasn’t sure.

I began moving the paintings into the common area where Tony intended to hang them, moving fast to get them all up. I managed to somehow get all 10 hung before anyone came out, no small feat in this place since they were all back from missions for the moment.

“FRIDAY, could you ask everyone to come here please? Non-emergency though.”

“You got it, (Y/N).”

***

Not long after they’d been called, I watched as all 10 of my friends stared into their portraits. The emotions written on their faces were enough of a response for me, I didn’t need them to voice how they felt.

Tony’s was in brilliant and bold colors, reminiscent of a peacock. With vague white lines indicating the iron man mask overlaying his face and the arc reactor in his chest glowing with leds embedded in the canvas from behind.

Wanda’s painting was a black and white portrait of her smiling wide, a red stream flowing through the background as a ghostly transparent silhouette of her brother Pietro framed her position on the canvas.

Steve’s painting was a mix of charcoals and paints, his pose of him mid laugh at some silly story he’d been telling me of him and Bucky as kids. He looked carefree and relaxed, years younger than his guarded self.

Vision had a black and white painting as well, with silver and gold foiling filling the background and a few lines in front of him creating an intricate circuit board that seemed to stem from the resin crystal emulating the stone in his head.

Clint’s painting had been done in various darknesses of coffee, as nothing could fit him better. He was pictured mid sign, his hands blurred to capture his swift and erratic speech as best I could in a slice of time.

Nat was the only one with a full body, necessary for the ballet pose her body was held in. Reds and black dominated the painting, a peaceful smile on her lips as her body contorted in a graceful way. The tulle attached to the canvas gave depth to her painting more so than I had expected.

Bruce had another black and white portrait, his shy smile painted on his face and his glasses sliding down his nose. Behind him stood a whiteboard with equations I could never make sense of filling the space, though the shadow he cast on the board was undoubtedly that of the Hulk.

Thor had a greyscale painting too, with a pale blue and lavenders accenting it as the edges of the lightning surrounding him and flaring away from his eyes. He was dressed in his royal armor as always, but he wore a cocky smirk on his face, the same he usually sported.

Sam’s painting was made of varying metallic materials in the colors I needed, the textures letting lights shine off it in various ways depending on which angle you viewed it from, making it look like he was composed of fireworks. Like Steve, he was also laughing in his picture, that mischievous twinkle to his eye you’d seen plenty after he played one of his many pranks during your week together.

Finally was Bucky’s painting. His eyes were full of warmth and love, the unending depths of that steely blue leaping from the mostly grey painting. His face was framed by his long hair, and from behind that extended a halo of glittering gold. In that same gold paint a golden heart rested on the sleeve of the Henley he wore stretched tight across his muscles.

There were no words they could find to truly express how the paintings made them feel, but the tight hugs and repeated thanks I received were more than enough to tell me.

Now to enjoy my time before I have to go home. Before I have to leave Bucky.

************

next chapter >

tag list: @aireka-frnc @katgirl05 @beep-beep-quarterfool @ladifreakingda @huffleasfluff @thequirkypeach @courtmr @doublephoeenix @38leticia @gennyld @londelle @loving-life-my-way @lostnnot2befound @catsandbooksinafarawayplace @just-a-little-bit-of-everything @aurorawitchcraft @buttercup337 @theseulehurricane @thejourneyneverendsx @tommyhoe @milady-mira @lyricalstella @cutiepiemimi13 @unknownuserhasjoined @rinthehufflepuff

Strike through means the tag doesn’t work

#bucky barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes #bucky x reader #bucky imagines #bucky #soulmate au avengers #bucky x soulmate!reader #soulmate au

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deepwoundsandfadedscars · 3 years

Note

May I please request an info dump about an OC of your choice? Ngl I’m super intrigued by the things I see you posting and I’m the nosy gay who wants to know moooooore 😁

Look what you’ve done, you’ve made me ramble 😂😂 were you aware when you sent this that you’d set off a 1,200 word monster of a post?? The only thing I considered but decided to leave out was gathering the links to the stories involving these characters that I have already posted (though if anyone is interested in that, I will absolutely do it, I don’t have a proper master post for these guys 👀)

But oh my god, I’ve never had someone request an info dump before, I don’t even know where to start! Well, I will fully admit it’s not a super developed world that these characters are in, I haven’t determined any specific overarching story that they all fit together in, I basically just made a little family who have made it good in not completely legal means who occasionally get caught up in fights with their antagonist duo who just won’t leave them alone.

(The rest is going under a read more cause it’s a lot haha)

Tyr is my first character, as in like. He was one of the first characters I wrote with when I was like ten, but he has changed a lot since then, his name, his appearance, even his background, basically everything about him except for his ability has changed. Maybe I should have just made Tyr a new character and kept the original one as is, but he just evolved so gradually and even if he’s nothing like he was almost (god, fml) 20 years ago, I still know it’s the same guy, so it doesn’t feel right to try to have both iterations as two separate characters coexisting in the same world. Maybe I’ll recycle bits of his past that aren’t relevant anymore and tack them onto another character, but I haven’t done any of that yet.

As he is now, Tyr is a black man with his long hair done in box braids that fall past his shoulders, 5’6”, and about 28 years old, with a heavy British accent. He’s protective of his friends and isn’t afraid to fight for any of them, no matter how short of time he’s known them, as long as they’ve given him reason to trust them. His ability is the power to manifest and control flames, which he doesn’t do often but is very adept at controlling it.

Brennan is another character in the group, I came up with him about five or so years ago and he hasn’t gone through nearly as many changes as Tyr, but his name did change a couple years ago and I pinned down a couple other details around that time. Brennan is a pretty big human being at 6’5”, he towers almost a foot taller than Tyr with broad shoulders. In every way he throws a very intimidating silhouette, built like a rock and hard to knock over, but if one were to somehow pick him off the ground they would find him to be strangely lightweight.

And that is do to his ability, two huge black wings that he’s had since he was very young. Though he is a large person, his bones did not develop the same way an average humans would so that his wings can lift him. They are strong enough to carry him, he is a very skilled flyer with them, but they’re not strong enough to carry another person for very long, though he has managed to catch someone to slow their fall and at least get a little further away from danger. (I think I wrote this incident out but not sure if I ever finished it enough to post, but maybe I shall)

Brennan is white but tanned, short light brown hair and light blue eyes, 30, and uses he/him and they/them pronouns, which I do incorporate both of their pronoun options into my writing, it feels natural to me now when I'm writing and I hope it comes across clearly who is being referred to each time. Another important fact about Brennan is that they are non-verbal, they used to speak as a child but due to circumstances in their childhood that they haven’t divulged to the group just yet, they just eventually stopped speaking. Whether or not he is physically capable of saying anything, even he’s not sure, but he and everyone else in the group have grown comfortable enough with ASL that they can all communicate without speaking as well.

And then there’s Kaipo! Or Kai for short, she is black/Polynesian, 26, 5’8” with thick curly afro hair. She has a bubbly personality and is really good with computers. She is unfortunately not the most detailed character I’ve ever made, I regret that I haven’t written as much with her, but in the fluffy musings I have about this little family, she is the one that drags everyone out of their bad moods and gets them to laugh through jokes and pranks. She is very much a meme master. Tyr and Brennan can both be heard groaning often at her terrible puns.

Trevor is a relatively new addition (I just went to look at the first thing I posted with him, it was two years ago already what the heck! It doesn’t feel like that long ago) Trevor is lean, 6’1”, white skinned with black hair and brown eyes. On his own, he is a normal human being, nothing unique about him to speak of aside from the fact that he will very much die early. I have not disclosed why, but he is terminal and would die within a matter of weeks. The only thing keeping him from an early demise is the mutual partnership he has forged with Algamoth, a lesser demon that Trevor unwittingly freed from captivity while saving himself.

Trevor is around 28 years old, while Algamoth is not entirely sure how old he would be considered, but he has been on Earth for upwards of 1,200 years. He is able to exist without Trevor, though not in a very tangible way. Without being in a humans body he is not much more than a cloud or puddle that can fit in the palm of a hand. He is able to heal Trevor’s body, which makes their partnership beneficial to both; Algamoth is protected within Trevor’s body and Trevor gets to keep on living.

I started writing a blurb that would tie them in with the rest of the group, but have not finished it, I need to add it to my to-do list and post it haha

And then finally we have Michael. Everyone seemed to love Michael when I posted the first story that featured him, which that story was the result of a prompt from a Discord server I was on a few years ago. At the time I had no intention to mix him in with everyone else, but I think he would fit in pretty well. As you could probably tell from my ramblings last night, I’m not entirely sure which direction I want to take him, but I do have some thoughts on how to get him from where he is to where I want him to be and it does involve whump, but still pondering if I want that whump to reveal an ability he till now was not aware of. I have a vague idea of what he looks like but it’s not set in stone at all yet.

Other characters that have appeared in my writing are Malichi (Tyr’s boyfriend), Allison (the main antagonist), and Remy (Allison’s right hand). Another character that exists but has only appeared on page once is Promise, who is Kai’s girlfriend. That single story-ish thing with Promise only got one note lmao but tbf it wasn’t a full story, just a song inspired AU.

As of yet I don’t think I have any characters who are definitely straight, they’re all pretty queer in some way. Tyr and Brennan are both ace and panromantic, Kaipo is bisexual, Malichi and Promise are both gay, Algamoth is pansexual. I have not discovered yet what Michael and Trevor’s sexual or romantic orientations are nor pinned down what Allison and Remy are since they in general aren’t super fleshed out, though I have leaned towards them being girlfriends as well, but I’m not 100% convinced on that yet.

AAHHH Wow, ok I didn’t expect for this to get so long, but I hope this was of interest! Typing this out and regathering info of these characters reminded me of a few WiPs that have never seen the light of day that I would like to finish some day, so hopefully this has given me the spark to do that.

#Thanks for the ask~!#my OCs #ocs #original characters #also fun fact! Tyr is based on a character from the game that made me realize I like they/them pronouns for myself #he's inspired by the main character from that game though I felt like he was a he/him user rather than keeping with the main characters in-#simplygrimly #the main characters in-game pronouns #(stupid tag character limits)

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unproduciblesmackdown · 4 years

Note

let's get those Multiples Of Four for the lihn asks

Thank Yoy here i gooo

4) Favorite exchange(s)?

i like the conversation when sheila stays behind with susannah while the latter gets changed into the uniform skirt or whichever costume piece lol and susannah is clearly like trying to Fit In as she would with the girls as a whole group re: just sheila but that's not really what sheila herself is about so it's not going anywhere at first. it was very funny when judith just smacks susannah's lunch tray straight down onto the floor rip. and of course i love kitty Addressing susannah leading into masochist

8) Favorite costume(s)?

hmm not great at noticing these details (especially the first time around and in non-hq footage lol) but i Did notice (and appreciate) how all the characters were costumed quite differently in a very Personal Style sort of way, v helpful to characterize them each and help distinguish them earlier on. i did like susannah's costumes a lot with the yellow / purple and patterns and vests and carefully styled hair and her post-timeskip look was fantastic as well

12) Favorite background moment(s)?

again i was pretty focused on the foreground stuff really lol and i don't really remember anything where i was noticing something happening only in the background. but a more Literal background moment, i too really enjoyed the silhouettes of the girls striking poses being projected onto the bg behind susannah at the beginning of the show, very effective and Dramatic

16) Underrated moment(s) in the show?

i don't think i have a real answer re: what's Underrated mostly b/c i've already seen so much good analysis & appreciation from people about pretty much everything........so a vaguely tangential answer is about wishing it was just a Little more evident that Kitty And Dorothy Have Their Own Thing Going On, which like, yeah maybe it's easier to tell in person watching the show, but......and i Do like that kitty's connection to susannah is so clearly more general than their Relationships (or potential ones / wanting one) b/c of course susannah's dilemma around goes beyond Just the particular forbidden romance with this particular person

i also found judith's character like, nonzero engaging, which is just like i hadn't heard much about her prior i don't think. not as though she's at all Likeable in the sense of like if you were in the show you would not like this character who is both a bully and a narc but it's still like, good for her eventually realizing the error of her ways even if it'd've been good to realize it Before miss asp made it clear she was only ever intending to use judith, and like, maybe if your snitching on a girl had indirectly led to her death you'd stop narcing on everyone instead of just setting up the same situation again. but at least she comes around and threatens francis and even her awfulness can be funnier than the awfulness of other characters who are being awful

20) Headcanon(s) for what happens before the show?

oof that's tricky since so much stuff in the show is unveiling ppl's Backstory / what's happened prior.....idk i was gonna say i wonder how kitty got makeup kits into nation but maybe they're allowed / it's allowed for her b/c her parents are paying so much. not very exciting

24) The Other One or Oh Well?

did have to confirm which one The Other One is but i guess that one lmfao i just have a great time with sheila going off on those verses and it's fun how it's this playful song about them bonding over being rejected.....the "and i guess i don't know how to feel about it" delivery is v funny. much respect and appreciation for Oh Well though of course

28) Something you like/have noticed about the show that you haven’t seen anyone else mention yet?

i'm not sure there Was much that i noticed that i hadn't heard about prior......tbh i think there were just a few Plot Points i hadn't already heard discussed but they weren't exactly Fun ones so i was like hm yeah i can see why ppl wouldn't necessarily specifically address this for kicks

32) If only one could happen, would you prefer a cast recording or an Off-Broadway run?

i agree w/ p much everyone, gotta love the increased availability of a cast recording.....will be around for more than a few weeks, will cost less to obtain the experience, and around here Who Knows what cast recordings will spark. love how plausible it is that lihn Will get a cast recording, here's hoping

36) Favorite song(s) off the Hits of Nation/character playlists?

seeing as i forgot these playlists exist, f, and i have never heard music i just checked for which songs i know i know off the top of my head lol. s/o to each of the girls having iko iko by the dixie cups on their playlists, guess that's some required listening

[susannah: l.e.s. artistes by santigold], [rat: one way or another by blondie, i got a rocket in my pocket by jimmie lloyd (which i've only partially heard b/c it plays in the bg of a The Iron Giant scene lmao so this only counts like 1/3 of the way)] [kitty: diamonds are a girl's best friend by marilyn monroe, la vie en rose by edith piaf, anthems for a seventeen year old girl by broken social scene] [ya-ya: sugar sugar by the archies] [miss asp: i THINK i've heard "straighten up and fly right" and "if i knew you were comin i'd've baked a cake" but i don't especially wanna look them up and confirm lmao. know "i'm proud to be an american" and "god bless the usa" lol ew. "comfortably numb" by pink floyd and "whatever will be will be" by doris day et al and "my heart will go on" by celine dion] [first of all interesting that francis and buzz share a playlist but i guess really all of the roles by The Guy are pretty functionally similar lol. accentuate the positive by perry cuomo, blowin in the wind by bob dylan, i Think i've heard hang on to your ego by the beach boys but i think i forget how it goes]

40) What does LIHN mean to you?

hmm well classic iconis content around here with the shows celebrating misfit weirdos and him always trying to write a show about people who usually wouldn't get a show written about them and creating this material for an all-girl show with only one token The Guy and the Lead specifically being a black girl and there being a specifically trans role as well.....love how much people have been enjoying it even as it took me ages to get around to Consuming it myself, and it's been v cool for it to be so like, here's Totally New Material. even prior to me having actually seen it, it was also definitely nice to have This in the wake of august to interrupt the [lying facedown], and again it was fun to even secondhand have ppl having a great time w/ the show and getting to appreciate the Content and Analysis happening hell yea

44) Favorite non show/cabaret performance of a song?

oop i might've only seen the non-show video for "oh well" so guess it wins! fine by me

48) Favorite time Francis was wrong?

it's pretty classic / all-encompassing when he very strongly implies that susannah has no choice but to marry him / no Hope for her Future otherwise

#lihn #nothingunrealistic1

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enchantedbride · 4 years

Text

A Ballad of Brimstone.02 (1/2)

<02. But Let Me Go Back to the Start> (1/2)

Tagging: @curiousobsession101, @goldenworldsabound, @foreveryours-mouse, @juliannos

Warning(s): Brief Profanity, Discussions of Being Kidnapped

A/N: If you like me to tag you in my Obey Me or other Self-ship writings, let me know!

As mentioned in the previous installment, this series of ficlets will be jumping around timeline wise. While the first one offers a glimpse into the future, we now go back to the day Joey was summoned to the Devildom to take part in the exchange program.

Due to how long this wound up being I wound up splitting this into two parts, this is part one of two!

She had slipped into a dark slumber that night. Her mind was held by dreams she wouldn’t remember when she awoke in the morning. But, she would remember the sound of soft, beckoning whispers. In the midst of her dreams, they didn’t seem out of place, almost blending into the surreal sensations he mind conjured.

“Come,” they said. “Come this way. Come to us, into the dark below.”

It was like a round, but the words were spoken rather than sung.

Joey felt a sudden, sharp feeling of hesitation that broke through the murkiness of her dreams. But, in response the whispers became more insistent, and she felt the vague sensation of being pulled away. But to where, she didn’t have the awareness to question.

“You must come. Your fate has been decreed.”

Weakly, she tried to pull back against what was pulling her. At first she stopped, but then a more forceful tug overpowered her.

“Come this way,” the whispers insisted once more. “Come... come...”

It started to feel almost like she was falling. Or perhaps she was floating? It was hard for her to tell the difference. She felt the sensation of cloth and hair fluttering, and then-

A high-pitched voice severed the hold of sleep on her.

“She’s waking up. Everyone stand back and let Mister Barbatos through!”

The next thing she sensed was the feeling of pain and throbbing in her temples. Then, she felt the surface underneath her was harder than she remembered her bed being. Joey let out a groan as she slowly opened her eyes.

“Ow...”

The soft light of what appeared to be distant lamps came into view, only to briefly be obscured by a round, inky silhouette. But, as her brows knit and she attempted to understand what she was seeing, she made out the shape of a pair of small, dark blue eyes looking at her before they disappeared. A moment later, the silhouette was gone.

“It looks like she had a rough ride, sir.”

“So it seems,” a voice lower in tone replied to the high-pitched one she heard first. “Lord Diavolo’s suspicions and mine were correct, it appears. Truly extraordinary for a human who appears to have no magic potential.”

Joey turned her head towards the voices, putting her hands to her temples as she attempted to soothe her headache with gentle circular motions. She saw what appeared to be a man in a suit kneeling down in front of her.

“Please try not to move just yet.”

“O-okay.” Joey didn’t move from where she was or change her position, but she kept her fingers to her head. “Sorry, my head really hurts.” What’s going on here? Am I still dreaming?

“No need to apologize,” he assured her. “Here, take your hands away for a moment.”

She complied, resting her hands on either side of her. She felt...was it stone underneath her? It was also at that moment Joey recognized an array of other noises in the background. She could hear the flow of water, the soft pattering of feet, and the distant caw of crows.

“I’m going to touch your forehead,” he explained. “Is that alright?”

“Yeah.” Is he going to check me for a fever?

Joey felt him gently press the tips of his fingers to her forehead, and whisper something she couldn’t quite make out. No, I don’t think this is a dream. This feels too stable to not be real. But then, why am I not in my bed? Where am I? ...Ah! Suddenly, she felt the throbbing pain begin to subside.

“There. Does that feel better?”

“Yes, I’m starting to feel better!” Joey replied. But then she blinked in surprise. “Did you do that? If so, thank you!”

“Indeed,” he confirmed. “I used a minor incantation to ease your pain. It was no trouble.”

“Incantation?” Joey asked. “As in...? You used magic? Real magic?” Or maybe I am dreaming after all?

“Yes,” the man answered her without hesitation. “I take it you’re not the sort of person who believes in magic?”

“Well...” Joey however, did hesitate. “I’ve always wanted to believe there was magic. But I’ve never really seen it. Or... recognized it, I guess.”

“I see. I’m afraid you may have a hard time accepting your current set of circumstances then.”

“You mean, where I am and what’s going on?”

“Precisely.” The man withdrew his hand from her slightly, moving to offer it to her. “Do you think you can stand? If so, try to get up slowly. You can use my hand for support if you’d like.”

“I think so.” Joey pressed her hands to the ground for a moment to help herself sit up. She then took him up on his offer, taking the offered hand to use as leverage to carefully bring herself to her feet. She took a breath for a moment, closing her eyes and opening them again to better take in her surroundings.

“Who are you?” It appeared to be nighttime. The sky was dark with distant stars offering little in the way of light. But there were lamps close by more clearly illuminating stone walkways. They went every which way around a fountain and a bed of flowers that wrapped around it. Though the flowers were nothing like anything Joey recognized.

The air also carried with it smells she didn’t recognize either.

“Ah, of course. I should introduce myself. My name is Barbatos,” said the man. “I believe I already know who you are, however. Your name is Joey Andews, correct?”

“Yes, my name is Joey. But, how do you already know my name?” As if things weren’t already weird enough, she thought.

Barbatos simply smiled. “I’m afraid that will require me first to answer your original questions about what’s happening and where you are. Allow me to start with the latter.” He paused for a moment, looking away from her. Joey followed it and realized that eventually the walkways all went into a large building that surrounded them on all sides.

A courtyard of some kind? Joey wondered. She turned her attention back to him and nodded.

“You’re in a place called the Devildom,” explained Barbatos. “It is the realm of Demonkind, ruled by the Demon King in name. Although my master, his son and heir Prince Diavolo has been governing the realm for some time.” He paused, looking back at her. “It was his wish and his will that brought you here.”

Bewilderment spread across Joey’s face. There was also a knot of fear beginning to form in the pit of her stomach. “The land of Demonkind? Where I come from the name for where demons live is...”

“Hell?” Barbatos cut in to predict the end of her thought. “The realm that sinful and evil human’s souls are banished to in death? Oh, that’s certainly part of it, but there’s more to our realm than most humans speak of to one another.”

Joey felt the instinctive need to take a step back, but she restrained herself. “Okay, so I’m in the realm of Demons. And Prince Diavolo brought me here. Have I got the story straight so far?”

“Indeed you do,” Barbatos confirmed. “Unfortunately there was a bit of a mishap in trying to get you here. You have quite the strong will it seems, Miss Andrews.” At this he laughed. “You resisted my master’s call to the point that you went off course and wound up a bit further away then where you were supposed to appear. But, I was sent to fetch you and guide you to where Lord Diavolo is at present.”

My dream... “I-I see.” But what would a prince of demons want with me? What’s going to happen to me!?

“Your willpower will serve you well here. You may not have magic to protect you, but you have that, at least.” He remarked. “But, I digress. Lord Diavolo has summoned you here to assist him with an undertaking of his- an exchange program between the realms of demons, humans, and angels.”

“An exchange program...?” Joey questioned him. “You make it sound like he intends me to be a student in a school down here.” She of course was joking. Surely he meant something else.

Barbatos laughed once more. “Actually, that’s precisely what he intends.” He turned away again. “We are currently in the courtyard of the Royal Diavolo Academy, or RAD for short as it’s often called. I would say it most closely resembles a university or other similar institutions you may find in the human world,” he explained. “My master founded the school long ago, but he is also enrolled here as a student and serves as President of the Student Council. He is forever trying to improve himself and the Devildom, and thus is forever on a quest to learn, and encourage others to do the same.”

“That’s... quite an admirable thing.” Joey found herself struggling to word what she wanted to say. “So, I’m to be a student at this Royal Diavolo Academy?”

“Exactly.” Barbatos nodded. “You will be joined by two other humans like yourself and three Angels who hail from the Celestial Realm. We’ve sent three of our own to the Celestial Realm, and another three to the Human world to attend schools there for the duration of the exchange, which will be a year on Earth.

“My master’s hope is to foster understanding and respect among angels, humans, and demons, and bring a peace between the realms not seen before. It truly is an ambitious project, I must admit.”

“No kidding!” Joey blinked, face shifting between expressions as she attempted to process everything she was being told. “If what little I know of demons and angels has taught me anything, is peace between them and humans is not an easy thing to achieve. Most people believe it’s impossible.”

“Many angels and demons believe that as well,” Barbatos noted. “But my lord believes otherwise. And, I am certain it lies within the realm of possibility.”

“So then...” Certain pieces began to fall together in her mind. “Was I specifically chosen for this? It wasn’t random or anything? Is that why you know my name?”

“Well... there was an element of randomness to the selection. You were chosen from among many other humans we had information on. But you were specifically chosen from among them, and it is indeed why I know your name.”

Joey thought for a moment. “I think I get the gist of what you're telling me so far,” she said. “But, I’m also wary. And I want to know if I’m allowed to turn this down and ask to be sent home.”

At this Barbatos sighed. “Your wariness is not unwarranted. As to whether you can refuse... you may certainly voice it, but I’m not sure it will be granted. When Lord Diavolo has his mind set on something, it is hard to get him to change course, even if he already has doubts about what he’s doing.That and well... he’s very much used to getting his way, being the Prince of Demons.”

After a moment, Joey raised an eyebrow. One thing was now abundantly clear, and she felt it needed to be said.

“So basically what you’re telling me is I’ve been kidnapped.”

Barbatos fell silent, his brow furrowing as he put his hand to his chin. Joey wasn’t an excellent judge when it came to reading the expressions of others. But were she to take a guess, he was considering what he said next carefully.

This can’t be happening! She screamed internally. You’re telling me demons, angels, and magic are all real. You’re telling me I’ve been snatched by demons to attend what’s basically demon college for... a year he said? This is just... unbelievable! You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!

“I won’t pretend it is otherwise,” Barbatos finally spoke. “I imagine this is a lot for you to take in. And further still, it must be frightening to be here without prior knowledge and against your will. I doubt you can persuade my master to let you leave and choose another to replace you. You can try if you so like, but I suspect it will prove futile. I can offer you little assurance but this: Diavolo is a demon of honesty. He can tell if anyone is lying, but more importantly to you at this moment, he also never lies. He has made it clear he only intends for the exchange students to attend for a year, and when that year is over, you will be free to go. He will honor his word.”

Joey raised an eyebrow, causing Barbatos to sigh. “I’m sorry I just... I’d certainly like to believe that’s the case. But, it’s kind of hard to be trusting right now given that I was brought here without my consent. And I don’t know you or your master,” said Joey. “But... I do appreciate your attempt to reassure me nonetheless.”

“I’m afraid it’s all I can offer you, Miss Andrews.” Barbatos replied regretfully. “Well... that and perhaps fetching you a change of clothes. I don’t think it would be best to have your first audience with the Prince of Demons in your nightgown.”

“I...” Joey looked down at herself a moment. “Yeah, I suppose that might not be such a bad idea.”

Barbatos smiled, chuckling softly before he became serious once more. “All things considered, I think you’re being rather restrained in your anger about this. And at least somewhat willing to give the benefit of the doubt in spite of your anger.”

“Yeah well...” I’ve just been conditioned to lose my shit internally instead of externally, thanks for noticing. “I’ve always been pretty good at rolling with the punches so to speak.”

“I see.” Barbatos offered a hand. “Well, why don’t we get you changed? I’ll escort you to the assembly hall after.” Joey nodded and took his hand following him down one of the walkways. She noticed Barbatos turn his head and nod to a small shadow with eyes before it faded into the darkness a moment later. She then remembered the silhouette she saw when she first awoke. Another demon? Perhaps a helper to Barbatos, maybe?

This is insane! How do I know I can even trust any of this? How do I know they aren’t just going to… I don’t know, eat me or trap my soul in eternal torment? It seemed all she could really do for now was follow Barbatos and have her audience with his master. Part of her hoped this really was a dream of sorts and that soon she would wake up.

Barbatos took Joey to another part of the building, bringing her into an empty room. A few moments passed in silence between the two before the door opened. A round little creature came scurrying in, and Joey recognized from their eyes that it was the little demon she’d seen before. The demon carried a neatly folded pile of clothing and a hair brush above their head, kneeling down as they presented the pile to Barbatos.

She was then handed the pile and left to herself in the empty room in order to get changed and tidied up. But, as she did so, Joey stayed close to the door, faintly hearing the sound of a phone ringing from just outside. She tried her best to listen in, while also navigating the garments she had been given.

“Apologies, my lord. We will be a little later than expected. It seems she was in nightclothes when she arrived. She’s been given a change of clothes and once she’s dressed and given a chance to tidy up we’ll head down to the assembly hall.”

He’s talking to Prince Diavolo. There was a brief pause, presumably in which there was a reply given.

“I deeply appreciate your patience and good humor in this matter. I promise we’ll be there soon,” said Barbatos. “Miss Andrews is understandably wary and skeptical. But, she’s… surprisingly more composed than I would have expected.” Another pause, but briefer this time. “Has the meeting with the other exchange student already concluded then? … I see. So Mammon is already on his way with her back to the House of Lamentation.”

Joey didn’t take too long to finish dressing herself, smoothing out the wrinkles in the simple dress she was given and tapping the heels of the shoes that came with it. She then quickly brushed her hair and tidied herself up a bit, taking a deep breath before turning the knob of the door to let Barbatos know she was changed and ready. The little demon was outside as well, and took the brush from her before scurrying off into the shadows again.

Barbatos nodded and began to guide her again down the halls of the academy. The interior had an antique, stately feeling to it in terms of aesthetics. But things seemed too spacious for Joey’s personal liking. And shadows seemed to stretch far across the floor.

Eventually they came down a long hallway that seemed to go for some distance. As they walked, Joey could swear she heard the soft sound of sniffling up ahead. Was someone crying? There was also the patter of footsteps that didn’t belong to her or Barbatos.

From behind the corner she saw what appeared to be a man and a woman passing the opposite way. The man seemed to wear a black uniform with his shirt and tie askew, while the woman was dressed in a pair of blue jeans with a baggy t-shirt and tennis shoes.

Once they got closer, it became clear where the source of the sniffling Joey heard before came from. The woman was attempting to rub tears from her eyes and compose herself. Wait… could this be the other exchange student and Mammon that Barbatos spoke of over the phone? I guess they haven’t actually left just yet.

God, she must be so scared.

Joey stopped and attempted to cross to where they were. “Hold on just a sec,” She requested of Barbatos before quickly switching her attention. She couldn’t do much about her situation, but maybe she could at least comfort her fellow captive.

“Excuse me!” Joey called out, returning to a normal tone of voice when she was close enough. “Ma’am, are you alright?”

“Huh?” The man whom she presumed was Mammon noticed her approach and turned around to face her. But, only a moment later he also noticed Barbatos waiting for Joey not too far away. “Barbatos!” He then briefly turned his attention back to Joey. “I guess that means you must be the other human.” He looked back at the woman accompanying him, his brow furrowing. “As if it wasn’t already bad enough I got saddled with babysitting duty.”

Joey registered him addressing her, but continued to approach the other woman. When she didn’t seem to respond to him, the man blocked her path, a clearly annoyed expression on his face.

“Hey! I was talking to you. Show some proper respect for the Great Mammon, human!”

Joey stopped, briefly looking apologetic. So she was right. “Sorry about that. Yeah, I’m the other human exchange student.… I saw my fellow exchange student in distress and I wanted to help them.” She took a split second to think more on what he said and had an idea. I need to convince him to be more favorable so he’ll let me talk. “Again though, you have my apologies, oh great one.”

“Now that’s more like it!” Mammon smiled approvingly. But it was quickly replaced by a frown. “Look, I’m under orders from my older brother Lucifer to take your fellow human back to where the two of you will be staying. If I dawdle for too long he might think I’m slacking off.” He shook his head. “Not that I’m scared of him or anything! Just don’t want anymore trouble than I’m already dealing with. I can’t let you two stay and chat, we need to keep moving.”

“You can’t even spare a minute?” Joey tried to fumble for an excuse he might buy. “I mean, if you’ve got a lot on your plate, having a sniffling human must be grating on your nerves right? Well, if you give me a couple of minutes to talk to her and she calms a bit it’ll be one less thing, right?”

A moment passed. Mammon shook his head, looking back and forth between the two humans. The other woman looked to Joey hopefully.

“You’ve got two minutes,” Mammon finally decided. “But I’m not giving you any more. Make it quick, human.”

Joey nodded. “Thank you so much! I appreciate this.” She walked passed up to the woman, not noticing Mammon’s awkward body language or hearing his muttered ‘yeah yeah whatever’ under his breath.

The other woman pulled her hand away from her face and looked over to Joey. “H-Hi….”

“Hi,” Joey greeted her, a sympathetic expression forming on her face. “My name is Joey. What’s yours?”

“I’m… I’m Katherine, but I usually go by Kat,” she replied. “Are… are you okay? I heard them say you ended up somewhere you weren’t supposed to.”

“Me? Oh, nothing too major. I’m not hurt or anything. Just a bit, well, out of sorts to put it mildly.” Joey huffed. “I’ll be fine. I wanted to see how YOU were doing.”

“I’m terrified!” Kat explained without reservation. “I’ve been taken away from my home! And they won’t let me go back no matter how much I plead. It’s not fair!”

Joey shook her head. “You’re right, it’s not. It sounds like you were taken here against your will too. I’m really sorry. It’s not right. But, unfortunately it doesn’t seem we can do much about that right now. It sucks, but that’s the truth of it.” Joey tried to think quickly before Mammon would insist on her and Kat parting ways. “Hey, is there anything you like to do when you’re stressed out? Or maybe a favorite drink or food you like that’s calming for you?”

“Well…” She thought for a moment. “Mostly I like to go for a run by myself or practice playing my cello. I don’t have my cello though and I don’t think they’d let me go for a run by myself.”

“I see,” Joey replied. “Anything else?”

“I also… sometimes take hot baths. Especially when it’s been cold out.”

“That might work! If it’s possible, when you get to where you’re going to be staying, maybe you can try and take a hot bath as soon as you can? It’s not much but maybe it might help, even just a little.”

“I don’t know,” Kat hesitated. “It just feels like everything is just crazy.”

“Completely understandable,” Joey answered sympathetically. “But maybe giving yourself a little comfort and a chance to destress a bit might help you to think and come down from a state of panic. Maybe there’s not a lot you can do right now, but you can do that, right?”

Kat paused briefly. “I guess so,” she said with a sigh. “Alright. I’ll feel worse if I don’t do anything at all, so I might as well.” She turned her gaze away and then back. “Thank you. For trying to help, I mean.”

I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing, thought Joey.

Kat turned to Mammon. “Sorry for holding things up. I’m ready to go now.” Mammon nodded and started walking, Kat following after him.

“Alright, let’s go!” He answered. “Don’t fall too far behind me, human. It’s my job to keep an eye on you and I don’t want to get blamed if something happens to you.”

Joey was unsure of her true impact on things. But at least now her mind would be at ease knowing she at least tried. But, thanks to the conversation, something else was also on her mind. Kat pleaded to be sent home and she was refused. I guess if she couldn’t convince them my luck might not be so good either. I guess I really should be prepared to be stuck here for a year.

“That was a very brave thing you did,” Barbatos remarked. “Especially considering who you were talking to.”

“You mean Kat? Or Mammon?” Joey asked, confused for a moment. She walked back to Barbatos, waiting for him to start their trek to the assembly hall again.

“I was referring to Mammon in this case,” Barbatos clarified. “He may not look like it as he is now. But, he is a very powerful demon. Among the most powerful in fact.”

Joey blinked looking back in surprise. “Wow, seriously?”

“All members of the Student Council are high ranking demons. Currently, the council includes Prince Diavolo, his right hand, Lucifer, and Lucifer’s six brothers.” Barbatos began to walk, Joey following in step alongside him this time. “Lucifer and his brothers are the avatars of the seven deadly sins, not demons any human should approach too casually under most circumstances. Mammon is the eldest brother after Lucifer and the Avatar of Greed.”

Joey’s eyes widened. “So Mammon’s got some serious weight to throw around.” I guess I really lucked out in managing to flatter my way into trying to help Kat.

“Yes.”

“I’m not so sure that makes me brave,” she replied to Barbatos.

“Would you have ignored your instinct to try and help your fellow human if you knew who it was you were dealing with?”

“Well,” Joey barely paused to give her answer. “No, not really. I might have been more nervous and pessimistic about my chances of persuading him. But, I still would have tried for her sake.”

“Then your actions are no less brave, Miss Andrews,” Barbatos said with a smile. “Now, if you’ll come with me this way, we are nearly at the assembly hall.”

Joey nodded, and attempted to keep pace with Barbatos down a winding and even more spacious hallway. Eventually they came upon a large set of metal doors, with ornate decorations embossed into them. If Joey were to take a guess, this was it. The assembly hall. She followed right up to the doors. And then, Barbartos reached out, pulling on the handle.

“Wait one moment. I need to speak with my lord for a moment. But then, you may enter the assembly hall.”

Indeed he went inside and was gone for maybe a minute or two. She could hear voices but they were muffled from this side of the door. Eventually, Barbatos came back out, pulling the door open and stepping aside for Joey to walk through.

“Right this way.”

Joey began to make her way inside, but not before turning to Barbartos.

“Thanks for helping me get here, and for explaining everything you did Barbatos. I’d be pretty terrified and lost right now otherwise.” I’m still pretty terrified to be honest. But at least I know what I’m dealing with.

“It was no trouble, and it was my express duty to assist you as per my lord’s orders. But, your thanks is appreciated. I wish you the best of luck, whatever your fate may be.”

With that, Joey stepped inside and Barbatos closed the door behind her.

#tales of a magus (fanfiction)#verse (into the dark and back: obey me)#modern persephone (obey me!joey)

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nighting-gale17 · 4 years

Text

im dyin’ (oh santa fe...)

TW: (very) vague suicidal references

Also read Here on AO3!!!!

Painting was the only thing he could do right now.

His eyes stayed fastened on the swirling colors gently brushed across the canvas, losing himself in the art. It calmed his racing mind and pounding heart better than anything or anyone else would have been able to even try (that was a lie—soft pink lips, firm hands, lean body… but he couldn’t). If he stopped, if he let his brain think too much, then all he would think about was how helpless we was and how there wasn’t anything he could do to help Crutchie, or the rest of the newsies, and those kids—

Like he said. If he painted, he didn’t think.

Jack let out a frustrated huff and stepped back from the canvas, eyeing his work critically. It was coming along alright, he supposed, though he might’ve been a little too generous with the purple. If he added some pink, though, it would set it off nicely with the sunset in the background…

Hours were lost to him as he painted in the back of Miss Medda’s theatre. The splatters of paint on his skin distracted from the still aching bruises from the fight. Each careful stroke of the brush across the canvas silenced any thought that tried to form in his mind. It was therapeutic, in a way, he supposed. It gave him control over something when he had never felt more helpless in his life and he enjoyed the way his body began to relax as he lost himself in his work.

“Jack? Postage for Jack Kelly?”

Jack momentarily zoned back in to the rest of the world, glancing over his shoulder at the young postage boy that had walked into the back of the theatre. “Yeah, that’d be me.” he said, putting his paint brush back in the paint cup and reaching out to the boy. “Thanks.”

The boy nodded and waved as he handed him the letter and then took off.

Jack frowned down at the letter, feeling dread start to build up in the pit of his stomach as he looked at it. His name was scrawled across the top is messy, shaky handwriting—chicken-scratch, he had used to tease Crutchie—but it was the smeared bloodstain on the edge that caught his attention.

Dear Jack,

Greetings from the Refuge. How are you? I’m okay. Guess I wasn’t much help yesterday. Snyder soaked me real good with my crutch. Oh, yeah, Jack, this is Crutchie, by the way. These here guards, they is rude. They say jump, boy, you jump or you’re screwed. But the food ain’t so bad, least so far, ‘cause so far they ain’t brung us no food. Ha. Ha.

I miss the rooftop. Sleepin’ right out in the open, in your penthouse in the sky. There’s a cool breeze blowin’ even in July. Anyway, so, guess what? There’s a secret escape plan I got. Tie a sheet to the bed, toss the end out the window, climb down, then take off like a shot! Maybe though, not tonight. I ain’t slept and my leg still ain’t right. Hey, but Pulitzer, he’s goin’ down! And then, Jack, I was thinking we might just go like you was saying. Where it’s clean, and green and pretty, with no buildings in your way, and you’re ridin’ palominos every day. Once that train makes—

Damn this place. I’ll be fine, Jack, good as new. But there’s one thing I need you to do. On the rooftop, you said, that a family looks out for each other. So you tell all the fellas for me to protect one another.

The end.

Your friend,

Your best friend.

Your brother,

Crutchie

God damnit.

Jack took a deep breath as he carefully folded up Crutchie’s letter with shaky hands. Somehow, the letter hit his heart almost as hard as it did when he tried to go see him last night. The bloody and bruised up silhouette of him in the dark, curled up on the top bunk just trying to breath through the pain—

He couldn’t even make it to the window.

And it was all Jack’s fault. He never should have tried to kid himself that he could do something that would help the people he loved—it always backfired on him. Apparently, his parents and siblings hadn't been enough proof of that. Tears burned in his eyes and he sniffed, blinking them away and wiping at his cheeks with his hand. Crutchie might die in that—that awful place, and Jack couldn’t do a single damned thing about it.

“Jack?”

Jack quickly shoved the letter into his apron pocket, quickly brushing the back of his hand over his cheeks to get rid of any tears. He glanced up slightly from the corner of his eye as Miss Medda approached him, keeping most of his attention to the ground.

“Here’s everything I owe you for the first backdrop.” She told him, holding out a pink envelope with a gentle smile on her face. She turned and gestured toward the backdrop he was currently working on, a soft look of awe on her face that he never was able to understand. “Plus this one. And even a little something extra,” Miss Medda continued, turning back to him with that same smile. “Just account’a because I’m gonna miss you so.”

“Miss Medda,” Jack protested. “I—”

“Jack.” Miss Medda cut him off, a vaguely disappointed look on her face, as if he was doing something wrong by refusing to take her payment. She held out the pink envelope to him again expectantly.

He took it from her slowly, unable to meet her eyes as his fingers slid over the fine, pink parchment. “You’re a gem.” he said when he was finally able to speak past the lump of emotion in his throat, giving her a strained smile.

“Just tell me you’re goin’ somewhere,” Miss Medda sighed softly as Jack dropped the envelope in his apron pocket. “not running away.”

Jack lifted his eyes up to glance at her and then scoffed. “Does it matter?” He brushed past her, his eyes lingering on his almost finished painting. He told everyone it was of Santa Fe—of somewhere nicer, far, far away from the claustrophobic presence of New York. And it wasn’t a lie. But the way he planned on getting there—well, money wasn’t going to help him get there. He just wished he had the courage to finally take the dive and leave this dump behind.

“When you go somewhere and it turns out not to be the right place, you can always go somewhere else.” Miss Medda was continuing, pulling Jack out of his thoughts. “But if you’re running away, nowhere is ever the right place.” She walked up toward him, putting her hand on his shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly.

Jack dropped his gaze and averted his eyes, trying not to show just how much of Miss Medda’s words struck. He knew she was right. He knew he was running away, like a coward, but it was all he wanted to do, as selfish as it is. Wanted to run away to Santa Fe, where he could be free of hunger, pain, the misery of everything in this awful—

“Jack! How ‘bout lettin’ a pal know you’re alive?”

Jack’s head jerked up so fast his neck protested the action, making him wince as the ache from his injuries made themselves known again. Davey was there (of course he was, he never should have shown him this place) on the catwalk, staring down at him with that infatuating grin before bolting away.

“Why don’t I leave you with your friend?” Miss Medda said, a knowing look on her face as she patted his cheek gently and walked away.

“Where did you go?” Davey asked as he rounded the corner, almost out of breath. “We couldn’t find ya!”

“You ever think I didn’t wanna be found?” Jack retorted, bitterness coating his words as he walked forward and grabbed one of his paint brushes out of the cup, intent on finishing what he started. And maybe if he ignored him, Davey would get the hint and leave him alone. Though, a tiny part of him hoped he might stay.

“Hey, is that a real place?” Davey asked suddenly, gesturing with the newspaper he was holding in his hand to the backdrop Jack was currently painting. “That Santa Fe?”

Jack ignored him, trying ti hide the way his heart race ticked up at the thought by bending his head and dipping his paint brush in the soft pink paint. He knew Davey was just talking about the actual Santa Fe, way down there in Mexico where the skies were clear and the stars shone at night. But Jack had stopped thinking about Santa Fe as an actual, physical place a long, long time ago.

“Hey, did you see the papes?” Davey tried again when Jack continued to work on his painting, appearing in the corner of Jack’s eye and waving the paper in his hand around. “We are front page news, above the fold!” He unfolded the paper, practically shoving it under Jack’s nose. “Oh, yes. Above. The fold.”

Davey grinned at him as Jack looked up, barely giving the paper a glance as he forced Davey backward so he could reach the other side of his painting. “Good for you.” he muttered before ducking his head down to focus on the strokes of the brush across the canvas.

“Everyone wants to meet the famous Jack Kelly!” Davey went on, brushing his hand across Jack’s shoulder and leaving goosebumps in his wake. He paced across the floor behind Jack, his footsteps an annoying distraction from his painting. “Even Spot Conlon sent over a kid just to say, ‘Next event, you can count on Brooklyn.’ How about that?”

Jack let out a frustrated breath, glancing over at Davey before he returned to swap out his paint brush. “We got stomped into the ground.”

“Yeah, they got us this time. I’ll grant you that.” Davey acknowledged, though there was a tone of confusion in his voice. “But we took round one, and with press like this, our fight is far from over.”

“Every newsie who could walk was out there this morning, selling papes like the strike never even happened.” Jack shot back, finally turning in his squatted position to level Davey with a frustrated look. He rose back to his feet, intent on getting back to his painting and just wishing Davey would get the hint and go away.

“And I was right out there with them.” Davey said hurriedly, putting his hand out and forcing Jack to stay in place. “If I don't sell papes, my folks don’t eat.”

“Save your breath.” Jack snapped, his irritation finally getting the best of him. “I get it. It’s hopeless.”

“But then I saw this look on Wiesel’s face!” Davey continued, spinning on his heel as Jack brushed past him to return to his painting. “He was actually nervous and I realized this isn’t over. We got ‘em worried. Really worried.” Davey’s finger gently pressed on the underside of Jack’s jaw and forced his head up to look at him and his way too earnest expression. “And I walked away. Lots of other kids did too. And that is what you call a beginning.”

Jack held his gaze, forgetting for a second how to breathe as he looked into those wide brown eyes. He didn't realize it before, but there was an underlying concern in his eyes for him as well, mostly hidden by his excitement and hope over the strike. But it was still there. And damn, if Jack couldn't ever remember the last time someone other than Miss Medda or Crutchie looked at him with worry like that.

The finger under his jaw brushed up his cheek bone, brushing lightly against the skin and drawing a shuddering breath out of Jack. The soft fingers, those of a well learned man, a contrast to the abused, rough callouses Jack had, slowly stroked over the skin. Davey’s eyes were soft and bright as he opened his mouth to say something, but then the moment was broken by the too loud, high pitched sound of a child.

“There he is, just like I said!”

Jack looked over his shoulder and scowled, glaring up at the catwalk where Davey’s little brother was pointing at him with Katherine at his side. “For cryin’ out loud,” He growled, standing on his feet and clutching his paint brush tighter in his hand as he stormed over to where the rest of his paints were. “Where’s a fella gotta go to get away from you people?”

“There’s no escapin’ us, pal.” Davey followed him, voice slightly teasing, their moment forgotten. “We’re inevitable.”

Jack thinks of Santa Fe a little more wistfully. He ignored the three of them as they chattered off to the side, trying his hardest to escape back into that numbing, silent place painting always gave him refuge in. But, of course, this was practically impossible considering the tension in his shoulders from the presence of the others. He just wanted to be alone. Why wouldn’t they just go away?

He turned back to his paints as he ran out of the blues, once again wishing for one of those nice, small palettes to keep his paints on. He spotted Katherine slowly walking towards him and gave her a glance as he headed towards his paints. “Word is, you wrote a great story.”

“Hey, you look like hell.” Katherine said, a deep frown on her face as she walked toward him. Jack saw her raise her hand from the corner of his eye as he bent forward to get his paints, felt himself tensing slightly at the thought of her touch, but thankfully, she seemed to think twice about it and dropped her hand.

“Hey, Jack, where’s that supposed to be?” Les piped up, bouncing on top of a box of his painting supplies and making Jack grimace.

“It’s Santa Fe,” Davey answered for him when Jack refused to speak, busying himself with the paints by his feet.

“Oh, I gotta tell you, Jack. This, ‘Go West, young man!’ routine is getting tired.” Katherine told him, eyeing his painting critically when he sat up and glared at her.

“Tired?” Jack echoed, standing back on to his feet with a sour taste in his mouth. “Tired? Ya know, for a blacklisted reporter, you sure got a lot of nerve sayin’ stuff you don’t kno’ nothin’ about.”

“How did you know I got blacklisted?” Katherine frowned, further irritating Jack with just how unfazed she seemed to be by his comments.

“I ain’t an idiot.” he snapped. “Despite what you might think.”

“Can we table the palaver and get back to business?” Les interrupted, exasperation in his voice in a way only a child as young as Les could achieve. “Will Medda let us have the theater?”

“It’s what I been tryin’ to tell ya!” Davey left his brother’s side, walking up to Jack with that all-too earnest look on his face again. “We wanna hold a rally, a citywide meeting where every newsie gets a say and a vote. And we do it after working hours so no one loses a day’s pay. Smart?”

Jack looked up at that earnest face and had to look away. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Smart enough to get you committed to a padded room.”

“The guy who paints places he’s never seen is calling us crazy?” Katherine scoffed, gesturing towards his unfinished backdrop.

Jack froze at her words, anger boiling through his veins so violently he had to take a deep breath before he started to speak. “You wanna see a place I seen, huh?” he asked, glaring at her as he brushed past Davey and threw his paintbrushes onto the ground. The violent clatter caused Katherine to flinch, startled, but Jack couldn’t bring himself to care, couldn’t think past the anger and hate and guilt mixing together in his chest. “How about this?” He marched towards the backdrop and shoved it around, turning it so the sketch he’d drawn on the other side was visible.

It was nothing but harsh black strokes, drawn when he first got here and he needed an outlet for the anger and fear writhing through his veins, demanding to be released. The faceless newsies—just children, they were only kids—being stomped on, crushed, by the Pulitzer giant.

“Newsie Square, thanks to my big mouth, filled to overflowing with failure.” he spat the words out like they were poison, that familiar anger swirling in his chest every time he looked at the cartoon. “Kids hurt! Others arrested!”

“Lighten up. No one died.” Davey snapped at him.

Jack turned to face him, shocked, unable to believe what he had just said. “Oh, is that what you’re aimin’ for?” As he spoke, he could already tell that Davey was regretting his words but Jack was past the point of caring. “No, no, go on!” he shouted, waving his hand in the air. “Call me a coward! You call me a quitter. Ain’t no way I’m puttin’ them kids back in danger.”

“We’re doing something that's never been done before!” Davey shot back desperately. “How could that not be dangerous?”

Jack wanted to scream. Why didn’t Davey and Katherine understand that there were real consequences to what they were doing? That there were things worse than death that could be forced on them. He worked his jaw, taking a deep breath before he spoke, his voice quieter now. “Specs brung me a note from Crutchie at the Refuge. I tried to go see him last night. I went up the fire escape. They busted him up so bad, he couldn’t even come to the window.” He squeezed his eyes shut as the vision of Crutchie’s bloodied silhouette on that bed flashed in his head. “Now what if he don’t make it, huh?” he asked tearfully, opening his eyes back up, uncaring of the shine he knew they had. He pointed accusingly with a shaking hand at Davey as the other boy looked away. “Are you—Are you willin’ to shoulder that? For what, half a penny a pape?”

“It’s not about pennies, Jack!” Davey yelled, his face starting to turn red from a mixture of frustration and something else in his eyes. “You said it yourself.” he lowered his voice as he walked closer to Jack, who only turned away and wiped at his face with his hand. “My family wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in if my father had a union. This is a fight we have to win!”

“If I wanted a sermon, I would show up to church.” Jack snarled, stepping forward and getting into Davey’s face until they were only a breath apart. “None of you get it! The consequences of continuing this fight are greater than any reward that could come out of it.”

“Jack, you’re being ridiculous.” Katherine tried to start, but Jack cut her off with a glare.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about.” He scowled, the anger still simmering in his veins. “None of you do! You all came from nice, stable families—still got a mam and pops you can go runnin’ home to. Well not all of us got somethin’ that nice! Some of us learned about the real world a lot sooner!” he shouted.

Silence met his words and Jack forced himself to take a step back, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. “Yeah, those kids might not have died. But they were taken to the Refuge. And I doubt there’s a hell worse than that place.”

“Jack, please—” Davey tried again.

“No!” Jack snapped, lifting his gaze to glare at the other man, ignoring the hurt shining in those eyes. “Those kids are in there because of me. Crutchie, is in there because’a me, and he might be dying. Yous can do whatever ya want. But leave me outta’ it.”

He walked past Davey, intent on finishing his painting for Miss Medda like he had promised and then getting the hell out of there to figure out how to save Crutchie. But Davey grabbed a hold of his arm before he could walk past, his grip tight on his bicep. “Jack.” he said quietly, but Jack refused to look up. “What happened at the Refuge to you?”

Jack felt his entire body stiffen at the question. Flashes of pain and beatings and crying brothers and sisters flipped through his mind. He bit the inside of his cheek long enough until he tasted blood before he spoke. “That ain’t got nothin’ to do with you.” He ripped his arm from Davey’s grip, ignoring the way he immediately longed for the touch after it was gone.

Davey was still yelling his name, desperately, lost in the cacophony of voices as Katherine and Les’ joined in with him. But Jack ignored them, taking off away from the theatre. He didn’t know where he was going. All he knew was he needed out. He needed a plan, he needed to rescue Crutchie.

Santa Fe… One day…

#newsies #newsies the musical #jack kelly #david jacobs #les jacobs #katherine plumber #this is long #whoops #first fic #new to the fandom #be nice please :)))#we stan jack kelly #i have *feelings* about this scene #and others concerning jack #i love him sm #cait works

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kirathehyrulian · 5 years

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♥• Obsession: Dark Desires Art Master Post•♥

Please do not repost or alter. At the very least, please give me credit.

Spn Eldritch Bang | Author | Illustrator | Fic- Ao3 | LJ

Title: Rating: Explicit Wordcount: 17,321 Pairings: unrelated Dean/Sam, Fic Warnings: Gore/Violence, dark!Dean, bottom!Sam, top!Dean

Summary: Sam and Dean have always been close. Their fathers had gone on many hunts together, so the boys had grown up around each other. When Sam goes to Stanford, Dean stays behind to hunt on his own. But when Dean can't stand being away from Sam any longer, he goes to see Sam at Stanford. And what he finds sends him into a downward spiral no one could have been prepared for.

Art Warnings!!!: (The Rest of the art below this cut are depictions of major fic spoilers and some gore. Please, only click the “Keep Reading” link if you are mentally prepared and have already read the fic.)

Artist Commentary: (scroll down some more if you just want the art)

I struggled a lot with coming up with what I wanted to do for this fic. My author gave me a free rein to do whatever scenes and styles inspired me. They only asked for obsessed!Dean, innocent!Sam, and concerned fathers Bobby and John.

I chose not to focus on John or Bobby. I threw the idea around for a bit, but I’m not really adept at drawing them so I didn’t want to obsess, hah, about how it doesn’t look like them enough. So, all the art is mostly about Sam and Dean.

Again, I wanted this story’s art to be creepy. I wanted most of it to come off unsettling. So I looked at horror games. “Dreaming Mary” was the first one I looked at. It was a cutesy, very disturbing and triggering game. It had two-faced characters, warped reality, chibis, and some silhouettes. I figured it was a good direction to go in.

But, then when I started sketching out silhouette ideas, my friend ended up saying it reminded her of “Fran Bow”’s cut scenes. I’m not really a fan of Fran Bow. It was too random for me, but I probably did subconsciously draw inspiration from that game too. And, I decided to visit that game some more. So I combined the thoughts that I got from both games.

At first, I was thinking about black and white silhouettes with a black and white film feel. But, I already did black and white in suffocation. I wanted these illustrations and style to be different because it’s an entirely different story. So, red is the new white.

I did the title card first. I drew inspiration from old turner classic movie intros before you see the main feature film with the spotlight and text font and placement. I made a bunch of hearts that stare at you to convey obsession. I drew skulls to showcase death and to be creepy. The patterns I made were supposed to be unsettling. I completed the rest of the illustrations in this order, scene: 1, 4, 2, 5, 6, 3. And, all the scenes are supposed to be the world through Dean’s twisted lens.

Scene 1: they’re in an alleyway with Sam yelling. I tried to make him look young here, to convey innocence. Light is coming from the back of Sam to show that the alleyway is vaguely dark.

Scene 2: Lol. I tried. It ended up looking goofy and oddly enduring to me. I love my drooling boy. He’s not drooling, he’s bleeding. Lee here has lost his hands, has a broken jaw, and is getting his eyes poked in with Dean’s thumbs.

Scene 3: Dean is happy to finally get close and personal with Sam. I tried to make Sam look innocently at Dean in shock, and Dean more sultry, whatever. There is a wall behind Sam. The arm that is caressing Sam’s hair is a different shade of red to make it stand out so it doesn’t get lost in their combined silhouette and that it looks like it’s further in the background. The light here is so you don’t get to distracted by all the empty space to the left. And, it's because of my sleep-deprived mind, but when I stare at the area around their noses for long enough they look like they are moving towards each other.

Scene 4: I was really excited about drawing this idea. So, this is Dean’s reality finally breaking down. To him in the roadhouse, these are all the monsters trying to take Sam away from Dean. John, Bobby, and Victor from left to right. The monster designs were me trying to connect the title heart faces to how Dean sees everyone that’s not Sam. In everyone else’s reality, Sam’s pissed at Dean. It is the Sam that jabbed Dean in the side, watched his fiance get killed, got kidnapped, know about Lee getting killed, probably had dubious sex with unrelated Dean, and so on. So, while the silhouette Sam is gasping, or yelling in innocent concern, reality Sam is less innocent and more pissed. Lol, Real-Sam's frown might be too exaggerated to be taken seriously....sigh.

Scene 5: I was actually very proud of how real-Dean turned out here, I doubt I’ll ever get it that good again in this style. I tried to make Real-Dean rougher and more disturbed looking, and like he will gut everyone not-Sam. The shiny glass looking thing behind Dean is a swot member arresting Dean. The arms are Dean’s view of the swot members. They don’t get real bodies because they are not important in Dean’s view here andIgotlazy.

Scene 6: Remember when I said earlier when I don’t think I’d get it that good again. Well, I didn’t. It’s not bad, but this Dean didn’t come out as good, which really bummed me out. It’s good enough, but not what I wished it could be. Dean the stalker is stalking Sam here. I’m happy with my car (even though I can’t draw a steering wheel to save my life) and fuzzy background though, and I normally hate cars and backgrounds. Bad Dean for not wearing his seat belt though. Do not emulate, kids.

Overall, I’m happy or okay with what I did here depending on what we’re pointing out.

Enjoy, if you can!♥♥♥

Musical Inspiration (Things that I listened to this time to get in the mood to draw, but not meant as an accompaniment to the fic):

I listened to a lot of the same stuff for this project as I did for “Suffocation” but here are some ones that I didn’t list before | Dark Piano - Waiting for Sunrise | Little Nightmares OST "A Feeling for Meat" | Dark Piano - Witch | HANNIBAL OST MEDLEY | Emotional Music - A Nostalgic Dream |

#spneldritchbang #wincest #dean/sam #sam/dean #sam winchester/dean winchester #unrelated wincest #sam winchester appreciation #dean winchester appreciation #myart #spn event #2019 #tagging for the squeamish #cw: gore #eldritch moods #spn art #spn fic #fic spoilers

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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212. Sonic the Hedgehog #144

Mobius 25 Years Later: The Die is Cast

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

We've finally made it to the final installment of this damned arc! Man, that doesn't seem to leave us a lot of time to solve the main conflict of the world ending, does it…? Well, I suppose we have to read the issue first. Knuckles arrives back home after his visitation to Locke's grave, and tells a delighted Lara-Su that he's rethought his stance on training her as a Guardian and plans to start straightaway - after, of course, his current mission with Sonic. When he makes a vague allusion to asking her mother for help on her instruction if he doesn't come back, Lara-Su tries to insist she come along to help, and Julie-Su, who was listening in, becomes indignant.

Aww, that's actually sweet. I think that's the first time we've seen actual, real affection between any of this arc's married couples. Julie-Su sees Knuckles off to his shuttle, driven by - who else - an elderly Harry, and Sally makes him promise he'll bring her husband back to her. He tries to find Lara-Su for a final goodbye before his mission, but is somewhat baffled to not find her anywhere, assuming she was too angry at not being taken along to stick around. The shuttle flies them out through the worsening storms to the "badlands," a horrifically-polluted section of the planet that's so toxic the group has to wear sealed suits as they traverse the terrain and make their way to Robotnik's old hidden base.

Sonic immediately volunteers himself to go back in time despite the dangers Rotor warns him of, and we cut away to the shuttle for a little surprise - Lara-Su has stowed away in a cargo box, determined to come along and help despite what her father thinks. However, before she can even take a step outside the shuttle, she begins to vanish from reality like that scene from Back to the Future. What could be causing this? Well, back in the base, we might find our answer:

And… that's it! No, seriously, that's literally the end of the arc. No context is given for what we just saw happen. It's not explained if this time travel venture indeed caused the world to end, or if Sonic going back in time erased this timeline in favor of another, or what. This is such an abrupt and unsatisfactory ending that I have to wonder if Kenders was forced to end the story early on short notice, because absolutely nothing is explained here. We spent over a dozen issues building up to something, enduring trite teen drama and old stuffy adults arguing at each other while locked into loveless marriages, and got the most vague and useless ending possible, after all of that. I mean, what was even the point of all this then? Some chapters in this arc had literally no plot or character progression whatsoever! The aversion of the end of time and space was literally the most interesting potential plot hook in this entire arc, and it's basically swept aside in the last few pages with no explanation. This almost makes the actually good writing of last issue seem useless, if this is what came directly afterwards. *sigh* Ah well, we're finally free of this nightmare. And as it turns out, we're very close to the end of Penders as a whole! Those of you who have read the comics before might have noticed that we're rapidly approaching the 160th issue, which is when a certain fan-favorite writer took the reins and started to fix a lot of the messes that the previous writers left him with. So if you're one of the ones who despises everything Penders ever wrote, you don't have much longer to suffer - just a few more issues and we're in the clear!

Love and Loss

Writer: Romy Chacon Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Josh Ray

This story is a bit of a bizarre one, being very unlike any others we've read so far. There's very little action and a whole lot of solid blocks of text to read, but in a way, I do feel it's interesting and contributes to several characters' arcs in a positive manner. A poor bear is doing his best to sell some newspapers to the denizens of Knothole one Wednesday evening when he suddenly finds himself mobbed by a horde of rabid women all grabbing for a copy.

Now that is quite interesting. No, I don't mean the love advice column - I mean the little signpost in the second panel, the one listing the prices for products at the stand! Now, Jon has a habit of making up things to put on posters and the like in the background of his art, many of which are clearly just meant to be humorous and not to be taken seriously, but this is literally (as far as I can tell) the very first instance we've ever seen of an actual unique currency in this world! "Mobiums", huh? They seem to be kind of equivalent to Japanese yen, in that a single one is barely worth a penny - I mean, I'm pretty sure they're not meant to be like dollars anyway, as $75 for a single comic seems incredibly steep. For now, I suppose we'll have to add "Mobiums" to our list of potentially-canon bits of worldbuilding info about Mobius.

Anyway, as you might expect, several of our favorite girls in this comic have gotten themselves a copy today, and as it turns out, they've all written in their own letters and are eager to see the advice this "Aly" will give them. First up is Bunnie, who writes in under the pseudonym "Feeling Terribly Alone." Obviously, her main problem is with Antoine. She details how they've grown apart and how she feels like she doesn't even know him anymore - and yet, despite all their recent difficulties, she's still in love with him and wishes things could go back to the way they used to be.

Poor Bunnie. One of the things that seems to crop up for her now and again is her well-hidden insecurities about her cyborg nature. From her recurring nightmares, to her concern over the idea of Antoine still being able to be attracted to her despite her robotic parts, it's clear that she struggles a lot more with her nature than she lets on, and her relationship with Antoine boosted her confidence immensely. They were clearly happy together, and just as they were getting past the honeymoon phase and settling into a more steady relationship, he became cold towards her without a clear explanation as to why. It's clearly broken her heart at a time when she desperately needs to be able to hold it together, and the idea of her sitting in her house at night, alone and sobbing to herself uncontrollably, is really sad.

Next up is Mina, AKA "Singing the Blues." Her letter discusses how lately she's feeling torn between old crushes and new relationships. Her new boyfriend, Ash, was briefly shown in StH#134, but apparently they've grown quite close in the year that Sonic was gone. However, with Sonic back, Mina has been feeling the old familiar butterflies around him, and questions whether she truly loves Ash in the same way she cares for Sonic. (Obviously, however, in the usual vein of these kinds of ask columns, everything she says is vague, not mentioning any names.) Aly's letter advises her to not give up on a current happy relationship to chase someone else who may not even be interested, and Mina appears to genuinely take this to heart, deciding to give her boyfriend a call despite the late hour.

Well, good for her! Mina's a sweetheart, and it does seem like she and Ash genuinely care for each other. The third letter comes from Amy, or "Wishing for Love," who lays out her crush on Sonic and how she's tried to get his attention here and there, including going so far as to "look and dress older" (bit of an understatement there, Ames) to catch his eye. However, she's frustrated that she can't seem to gain his affections, and wants Aly's opinion on whether she really is putting too much effort into a silly crush, or whether she actually has a chance. Aly begins by tactfully pointing out that it sounds like she's still young, and it's not a good idea to rush into love too quickly when there's so much more life ahead.

…yeah, that's about what I'd expect from Amy. After all, remember that despite her physical age, she still mentally skipped half her childhood up to this moment, and she's also the hopeless romantic type, so it's not surprising she'd be unimpressed by advice telling her to look away from her crush. The article appears to be winding down, but everyone reading is struck by what they see in the last entry, from someone called "Royally Scared." The writer dives into her story, about her deepest love and how they made a commitment to each other only for her love to be "lost," which broke her heart. When he came back, she tried to get him to walk away from his "job" for a better job in her family's "business," but he refused and they had an ugly break-up as a result. She still loves him, but she's too scared of losing him again, especially because he's so brash and throws himself into danger without a care.

Everyone immediately realizes that this is Sally's letter, and are riveted to the page for Aly's response. Aly admits that she doesn't have a solid answer for this one, but says that it seems like they both have valid points. She points out that Sally's "dramatic confrontation" might not have been very fair to her lover, and urges them to both talk it out like adults after they take some time apart to reevaluate their own priorities, before wishing her luck and concluding the article. I just want to point out that the entire section where she lays it out and Aly responds is masterfully put together, with the heart-filled background slowly transitioning to a deep, tangled mass of purple and black as the letter goes on, interspersed with silhouettes of Sally crying and looking very alone in a dark void. I've pointed it out before, but Sally was very clearly traumatized - badly - by everything she's been through, with Sonic's supposed death being a breaking point for her, and the backgrounds of this issue symbolize this struggle very effectively. But here comes the real twist. After all, "Aly" is clearly a pseudonym, and no one knows who's really running this column. So who do you suppose it is?

God damn. Even in the middle of dealing with severe PTSD, Sally's still got a damn good head on her shoulders. It seems that people were starting to suspect her as the writer, so she deliberately wrote in a letter that was obviously her, and then answered it herself to throw readers off the scent. And her answer to herself was well thought out and reasonable - it's clear that she wrote her entry letter first, then forced herself to take a step back and evaluate her situation as though she were a third party who didn't know any of the finer details. The result is a response that doesn't betray her true identity, and isn't obviously colored by her own biases, where she gets a chance to look at her situation with a clearer head (probably helped out substantially by Nicole as an outside perspective). She flat-out acknowledges that her own actions on the stage the night of Sonic's welcome home party were unreasonable and unfair to him, and calls herself out on it in a public newsletter (even if most people aren't aware of the circumstances behind this entry). I feel like this only supports what I said about The Slap several issues ago, that she wasn't acting rationally that night and needs to be cut some slack on account of her (now-canonically-acknowledged) trauma. And in the end, her Aly persona is right. While she and Sonic still love each other, their differences have made a stable relationship between the two currently impossible, meaning it's best for them to take that time apart to figure out what each of them want before they think about getting back together. I think this is a really good follow-up to what happened in that issue, and gives a lot more insight into just why Sally did what she did, and how she's handling it after the fact.

This issue ends with a single page reminiscent of the Sega Data Files of issues past, this time covering the entire Acorn Royal Family. There's not much info here that we don't already know, but we do find out that Elias and his wife Megan's child has been born by now, a daughter named Alexis. Hope we get to see them all again soon!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 144 #writer: ken penders #writer: romy chacon #pencils: steven butler #pencils: jon gray #colors: jason jensen #colors: joshua d ray

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davids-cartoon-corkboard · 4 years

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The speculation on Recruit’s identity has ramped up after the latest episodes, here are the ideas I’ve seen so far:

1. Recruit is Casey.

2. Recruit is Angel.

3. Recruit is (or will be) Casey’s daughter, sister, etc.

Personally, I think a combination of 1 and 2 is what’s going on- Casey’s full name is usually “Arnold Casey Jones”, but that wouldn’t make sense for a girl character... and we just so happen to have a girl’s name that starts with “A” lying around, making Recruit’s name “Angel Casey Jones”.

Recruit has Casey’s personality- she’s loud, hotheaded, impulsive, obsessive, kind of a dumbass, serious to the point of comedy, and we love her for it.

She also has a fragment of Angel’s story- the whole “ruining her life by becoming part of a dangerous criminal organization” thing.

As for the idea that Recruit isn’t Casey... I just don’t see any evidence for it? If I’m missing something then by all means let me know, but so far the only argument I’ve seen for it is that “Casey wouldn’t be a villain”, which doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

Consider who Casey usually is when we first meet him in Mirage, in the 1990 movie, in 2k3, in 2k12- the kind of person who would kill or bludgeon someone into unconsciousness to punish purse-snatching. Is that “heroic”? Is that what a “good person” would do? Raph always intervenes before Casey can do anything too permanent, but without that lucky moment of coincidence, Casey definitely would have killed someone sooner or later- and it’s entirely possible that wouldn’t deter him from his crusade.

So yeah, Caseys have teetered on the edge of villainy before. And there’s a very clear reason why Recruit!Casey would be a villain, a reason that’s at the core of the TMNT franchise and is especially clear in Rise: family.

Recruit joined the Foot Clan when she was seven. Her line about how she was “accepted into every clan [she] applied to” in “How To Make Enemies” suggested that she spent a while before that looking for any group to join, to belong to. She devoted herself entirely to the Foot, and later to the Brownie Scouts, with such a terrifying intensity because she has nothing else. Recruit is a villain because the only people she had growing up who were even vaguely like family were members of a demon-worshiping cult. She’s made no mention of family, friends, school, other mentors... she has no other connections whatsoever. Just look at her room!

It doesn’t look like she’s recently moved in, so she didn’t live with the Foot Clan before leaving them. The room has electricity and isn’t bare or rundown, so someone’s got to be paying her bills. But there are no footsteps in the hall, no family photos, no cards from relatives, no handwritten notes. Nobody’s there. Nobody at all.

Recruit doesn’t even have anyone to hate! (Anyone we haven’t already seen, that is.) When Recruit has some grievance, she makes sure everyone within earshot knows it. Why haven’t we heard anything like “I hate that my dad is never around” or “Ugh, my brother is so obnoxious”? At the very least, I’d expect a punching bag or dartboard with someone’s face on it.

Since Recruit is the kind of person who’s never had a middling opinion in her life, she would either love Casey or hate him. But she clearly has nobody to love or hate; therefore, she doesn’t know Casey.

It doesn’t make sense to say that she will meet Casey, either. There’s just no foreshadowing for it. No rumors of some mask-wearing vigilante prowling the streets and brutalizing crooks, no familiar silhouettes interrupting the background skyline, no graffiti of his name or symbols.

So if we have evidence that Recruit is Casey, and no evidence that Recruit isn’t Casey... what other conclusion could we possibly draw?

(I’m genuinely asking! Is there any evidence I’ve overlooked? Any interpretation I haven’t considered?)

#rottmnt #rottmnt spoilers #foot recruit #rottmnt casey #i want to make it clear that im not trying to dunk on anyone who disagrees #but please let me into your brain i am curious

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writeanapocalae · 5 years

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Inktober Day 2: Explosion

Gavin jumped out of the car, barely putting it in park, not caring that he was too far away from the curb. Other officers, usually his friends but currently just background noise, shouted at him, tried to stop him, but there was no stopping him. He pushed his way past them, past the androids that came out of the building, wide eyed and flashing red.

Everything was blue.

Somehow, he got inside. He was coughing, wheezing. There was so much smoke. He could see shapes through it but the lights were the most use. He pulled up his shirt, covering his nose and mouth before calling out for one android in particular.

He called and called but those that were scrambling past him, those that grabbed at him, too broken to carry themselves out, were staring at him with as much confusion as he was showing worry.

One of them, a woman who was missing her right arm, thirium pouring down her side and staining her slightly melted face, put a hand on his shoulder.

“Who are you looking for? Who’s Nines?” she asked, her voice so calm she must not have been a deviant.

Of course, no wonder none of them had tried to help him. They didn’t know Nines, not by name.

“My partner. He’s a, uh, an RK900.” He hoped that was enough. He’d never memorized the serial number.

She tilted her head and thought for a moment as more androids shoved past, trickling instead of flooding now. There weren’t many left in the building that had survived the explosion or the collapse after, he assumed.

“It is upstairs, apartment 206. Damages are minimal to the unit.” she stated.

Gavin almost felt cold, even though he knew that the building was burning. He hated it when people, android or not, referred to Nines as an it. He rushed off, not bothering to thank her. She wouldn’t feel any way about it either way. The entrance had been mostly cleared out by those moving through it but there was more rubble, more broken walls and cracked floors the closer he got to the stairs. He’d never been to the android apartments before, but he found the stairs easily enough, he just had to find the long lines of blue.

The railing was a curled twisting thing, the steps broken and sagging, even though they were cement and rebar. A gardener android pushed past him in his urge to get out of there, the upper half of a Traci, bleeding and sobbing wrapped around his chest, clinging to his neck.

The 3rd floor ceiling had collapsed. There were chunks of it everywhere but, in between 205 and 209 was the largest piece of it. That didn’t mean it was too big though, only about seven feet, and Gavin had a sudden, horrible turn in his gut as he realized that the apartments for androids, at least, those on this floor, were slightly larger than lockers. A place to go into stasis and nothing more.

He pushed through the dust and the smoke closer, to where he could see flashing flickering red in a synchronized pair.

Nines was on his knees, one hand hoisting up the massive chunk of concrete. Even though his muscles were synthetic Gavin could see the strain as he held it up. Beneath the slab was another android, one that Gavin didn’t know the designation of but had dark hair and a strong jaw and were pretty much everywhere. This one though was pressed flat from the waist down and was trying to drag himself out from under the collapsed roof. He wasn’t doing well.

“Phck!” Gavin growled and reached under the slab, grabbing the android by the armpits. He cried out as he grasped at Gavin back, the pain apparent in his face as Gavin dragged him out. Nines dropped the floor as soon as the android was free and panting.

“Get him out of here,” Nines ordered, “and yourself while you’re at it.”

“What the phck?” Gavin shot him a look but he was already helping the whimpering and shuddering android into his arms, so that he could carry him out of there. “I just phcking found you, you piece of shit!”

“You should not have.” Nines stood and stared at the ceiling, eyes scanning through the floor into the apartments. “This place is far too dangerous for a human.”

“It’s too dangerous for you too, dumbass! Or did you not realize that a bomb went off?”

“There’s another explosive in the building.” Nines pointed with that one arm. Gavin noted that the other was hanging limp and dead at his side. The white of his sleeve was a deep blue starting at the elbow. “You have to get out of here before it goes off.”

“I’m not leaving without you!” Gavin argued.

“I have a job to do.” Nines started to walk towards the part of the 3rd floor that hadn’t fallen but sloped. Gavin knew he was planning on climbing it, going up further. “If you remain here when the explosive detonates you will have a 3% chance of surviving.”

“What about you?”

Nines didn’t even look at him. “I have to get everyone still alive out of here.”

“You know what I mean, tin can! You gonna live or what?”

“If I am here when the explosive detonates I will have a 1.2% chance of surviving. I recommend you do not tarry me further.”

Gavin swore under his breath. There were fingers digging into his shoulder, a red LED pressed against his chest, wires and thirium dripping down his thighs from where he was holding the half crushed android. Nines was right though, he always was.

Getting down and out of the building was easier than getting inside and to Nines. There were techs everywhere, firefighters preparing to take care of the fire that was spreading, and the bomb squad, as well as the seemingly endless sea of androids and police.

“Everyone away from the building!” Gavin bellowed, walking as quickly as he could towards one of the tech vans. “There’s another bomb in the building! I repeat! Get away from the building!”

Someone must have heard him because the message was repeated over intercom and people started to move, getting further from the building than their initial training had told them to. Gavin set the android down with one of the techs, though his fingers were now half embedded in Gavin’s jacket and he didn’t seem willing to let him go. Guy must have been in shock. Gavin hated to leave him there but he also couldn’t leave Nines alone inside. He just had to hope that Nines would get everyone else out. He would never take care of himself first. Selfless to the end.

He knew it was coming. He knew that Nines was right about it. That didn’t help him brace for it when it did come, when the building shattered and glass flew out in all directions. The sound was like a single bullet being fired multiplied by a thousand and followed by a terrible rolling thunder that never seemed to end. Even though he was far enough away not to get hit by debris he could feel the wind hit him like little shards and a high pitched ringing took over his hearing.

He was rushing back. He wasn’t his own. His legs moved on instinct. 1.2% was a blaring red sign in his head. Nines was in there. He was probably dead or dying but Gavin knew he was in there. He couldn’t be in there alone. He couldn’t die alone. The others were better at slowing him down this time. Fowler even stepped in, put his hand on Gavin’s chest, threatened to fire him. He didn’t care. That didn’t matter. His job was all that he had, all that he was, but that didn’t matter. Nines had come into his life. He couldn’t let him leave it again, not like this.

He shoved past, ignored the continued yelling. He made it to the door, jumping over the bomb squad’s perimeter and their own little robot, and shoved through the buckled wood. It was now completely dark. There was no red to see by. There was just smoke and debris.

“NINES?” he screeched, pushing himself through it, feeling hands creeping up to him, trying to grab at him, trying to pull him back. They tightened in his jacket and he let them pull it off of him so he could dart further, climb the piles of cement, look for his partner. Look for his friend. “NINES YOU BETTER NOT BE DEAD YOU SACK OF SHIT!”

You pushed through and forward, trying to get to the stairs. Nines had been working his way up. He didn’t even get halfway there when he felt a thick smattering of water splash onto him. If it weren’t for that terribly familiar chemical smell he would have thought it was just water, anyway. It wasn’t.

With the flashlight on his phone he could see the blue that had landed on him. He was practically covered in blue by now but this large drop had landed on his heart, where his jacket had kept him clean before.

He brought his phone up, the light illuminating the floors above him, all exposed now. There was a hand, hanging over the side of part of the whole, dripping blue blood. The sleeve on it was also blue but he could tell it was once white.

“Shit! NINES! I’M HEADING UP THERE! DON’T MOVE!” He screamed as loud as he could hearing the building groan in response, as if it wanted to keep him away itself.

He pushed through harder, moved faster, some semblance of hope that Nines may have survived growing in his chest. His muscles ached, his lungs burned, and he could feel the heat grow as the fire started to eat at the walls, invisible to him but very much present.

He made it to the stairs but, that was it. He couldn’t go any further. They had completely collapsed. He felt the air leave him, his hopes also collapse. He couldn’t get there. He couldn’t find Nines. If he was still alive he was going to die alone.

The building shuddered and he heard a few thuds, more collapsing and falling. He didn’t have much time. He knew there were others in the building. They were coming for him.

A door crashed to the floor and smoke billowed out into the main space. Gavin couldn’t see at first, the flames within the room blinding him to what was coming. All he could tell from the silhouette was that it was vaguely human in shape. Then the smoke overtook the flames, and he could see.

Nines.

He was pulling himself through the doorway, walking on a leg that looked like it was ready to collapse beneath him with each step. There was a hole going through his thigh. His jaw was clenched, his eyes on Gavin and there was a look on his face, pure determination, intimidating and even more so because a large chunk of his skin had broken off. His teeth were visible, though they were stained blue as was most of that side of his face, even the sclera of his eye had pooled with it. And his arm. Of course, it was missing. What was left were tubes and mechanical parts, hanging from him. Blue was pouring out of him.

“You came back,” he stated. His voice was more machine than it had ever been before, not an echo but a tinny quality to it, as if he was actually speaking through a tin can.

“Of course,” Gavin showed his own teeth, not sure what he was supposed to do. A large part of him wanted to rush forward and grab Nines, hold him close like he had the half flat android. There was another part of him though that knew to stay away because Nines was strong and scary as hell and would never accept his help.

The fire fighters were shouting after them. They were almost there. They were going to be alright.

“Thirium levels at 27% and dropping,” Nines admitted, eyes flickering down. “Shutdown imminent.”

They weren’t going to be fine. Nines took another step and, without the door frame to keep himself upright he staggered, half falling. He didn’t catch himself. He didn’t need to. Gavin was there, hands calloused and rough on Nines’ waist. The android lay his head on Gavin’s shoulder, face half buried in his neck.

“It’s okay, plenty of thirium just a few yards away. You’re going to be okay.” Gavin promised.

Nines wasn’t a deviant, but he was certain he could feel him shaking as he stained Gavin’s skin with his blue.

#jotober #detroit become human #gavin reed #rk900 #my writing #fanfiction #whumptober2019 #no. 2

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dcarevu · 5 years

Text

The Batman the Animated Series Theme Song

Animated tv shows that went on throughout the 80’s and early 90’s were known for having a really great theme song and animated intro to go with it, but rarely did this quality remain once the song ended. Look up “crazy stupid pranks h3” on Youtube sometime to get what could be considered a hilarious parody of this, even though he was actually parodying something completely different in this video. But back then, budgets were tight, and more money was spent on the theme song to get people hooked in. A lot of the time with theme songs, it wasn’t only the animation quality taking a dip once the episode started. Sometimes the tone would change as well. One example of this (although from later in the 90’s) is Pokémon, at least when it comes to the English dub. This is a masterpiece of an intro, but when the show starts, the tone is vastly different, focusing more on comedy a lot of the time (old Pokémon has more of a comedic focus than I feel a lot of people actually remember). Batman was one of the shows that changed the game in this aspect (and in many other aspects as well), at least when it came to action shows. This was no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The show was every bit as dark, brooding, and menacing as the intro was, and there was no deception when it came to advertising what you were about to watch. Now, the intro did obviously have a pretty damn good budget. It looks beautiful, and TMS were the ones that animated it, a top-notch studio known for some great work on this show and others. So to get around a major quality/tone shift, the intro was heavily stylized, as was the show. It was a representation of what you were about to watch as opposed to a supposed sneak preview. I think anyone could see the opening sequence and automatically assume that the episode following wouldn’t have as much ambiguity. It was almost like a super stylized movie poster, doing its job of getting you excited, but never letting you down. I am very overdue on talking about all of this, so I figured it would be better late than never to go through this sequence and analyze it a little bit, just for fun. I probably should have done this before the first episode!

Right away we start by actually integrating the Warner Brothers logo. This could have been really cheesy, but that chilling score mixed with seeing it immediately makes me feel like I’m watching a Batman film rather than a TV show aimed at children. The logo shifts to a police blimp, something made up for the show, and we immediately get a sense of the Batman TAS world which we are about to dive into.

Some really nice background work that we get to pan through. This serves as our establishing shot, showing us as much as it can in the time provided of where our Batman resides and looms. It’s like a gargoyle’s playground, and already we can tell that this isn’t your average Saturday morning cheeseball.

Two sinister figures step into the shot. Notice the lack of any real texture or line work. This leaves so much up to the imagination and further sets up the tone. The production company behind the show has stated that when the intro was initially animated, it was done in full detail, but it was sent back and redone because they wanted this vague, mysterious aesthetic. I’d absolutely love to see the initial version, but I am more than happy with what actually became the sequence.

The music creates some tension, and then it is relieved by an explosion that cuts through the darkness. It almost makes you jump right out of your seat. Imagine seeing this in a movie theater. This scene also confirms your suspicions about the two figures. Their intentions cannot be good.

Wow, the music chugs right along here, almost taking your heartbeat for a ride along with it. Then we get a shot from behind the Batmobile. It blasts to life, and we see one red section amongst all the black colors. It’s almost like Batman’s version of the bank-explosion, and equally as threatening to the men he’s about to hunt down.

There it is. I’d love to know what show people thought this was if they happened to flip to Fox right as this show appeared. Would they have known it was Batman immediately? The Tim Burton movie had been out for a bit at this point, so I would assume that many did.

And here we see the villain’s parallel situation, rushing to the same spot that Batman is, little do they know. We barely see any background details, leaving all of the focus to the darting feet and gaining police car.

Boy, they sure do make it up that building quickly. Everyone loves to point this out, and I’ll admit that it’s something I’ve always noticed. But it’s also something that you don’t dwell on because, well, who cares. We see a dead end, and know there’s only so much further they can run until they become prey to the knight. We also see a really cool red skyline, which honestly wasn’t common to see in Batman the Animated Series until much later after the resurgence (TNBA). I’ve been kinda unsure of why people treat the red sky thing as if it’s an issue. I always loved how it looked, personally.

The look on their eyes says it all. At this point our fists are clenched. “C’mon. Show us what show this is!”

The menacing silhouette drops down. I loved this stylized look they they often do in the show, where all you see is the shape of a giant bat and some white, glowing eyes.

And there he is. Everyone watching immediately knows what they’re watching now. Here is the best-looking Batman that anyone had seen on tv thus far, giving that intimidating glare. We do see three dots of cell dirt, and it’s too bad that the crew never got around to editing these out before the first episode. Imperfections on an otherwise perfect looking shot.

The baddies were spooked, but now it’s clear that they’re aggressive and have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. We also see that they’re holding firearms, something that was not as common at the time (and definitely not as common now).

Batman, as always, a perfect shot with the batarang. This really has to be seen in motion to be appreciated. It looks so clean, and here you realize that there is no escaping for the thugs.

Batman leaps up, looking like a supernatural being. This is possibly my second favorite shot in the whole sequence, just because of how demonic Batman looks. If you saw this coming at you, you’d probably assume that you’d be sleeping in your death bed that night. I like to imagine that because of fear and the darkness, this is genuinely how criminals remember Batman looking.

Out cold. You don’t necessarily see what batman actually did to him. Before watching the show and knowing Batman’s philosophies, you’re not even sure if the guy is alive. You just know that Batman seems fascinating, and that you cannot wait to learn more about him, and possibly feel the same sense of mystery that you would feel if you were actually on that rooftop.

The way Batman bends here is again how I picture thugs remembering him. He moves way faster and a lot different than people usually picture humans being able to. And with the adrenaline rush, your mind can play tricks on you, man. Try staring at your reflection in a dark room sometime. Our minds aren’t always as straight forward as we assume.

Batman took care of them before the police could even get up to the top of the building. You know how effortless this fight was. For the dark knight, it’s just another workday. For everyone else, it’s something unforgettable and unworldly. Everything is relative.

Here we see that the two men are fine, when Batman easily could have ended their lives. We know now that Batman isn’t a cold-blooded killer, but a protector of the night. A twisted guardian angel.

Here we scale up, and the shot melts into another section of the city. We get a taste of the heights of Gotham City here.

This couldn’t get anymore awes-

Whoa. Um. I was saying. A section of the music that played before repeats (my favorite section, with my favorite shot), and we get that flash of lightning. No need for a title sequence. This speaks for itself. Text would have cheapened it.

And that is the intro to Batman the Animated Series. I’ll likely be going over every intro we come across throughout the DCAU, so hopefully look forward to that! I’ve also decided to mix things up sometimes with posts like this and not just stick to episode blogs. As long as I have something to talk about, anyway! I’m hoping that more people find the blog this way. If you liked what you read, check out more! I’m not necessarily the fastest at posting, I am a busy, busy college student who sets schoolwork as priority. But I do posts for every single episode of the DC Animated Universe! I also take submitted questions, and would love to start discussions!

Also, check this out:

youtube

#batman tas #batman #batman the animated series #dc animated universe #dcau

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carmenlire · 6 years

Text

Higher than the Big Trees Ch. 12

read on ao3

Magnus’s Friday goes as usual: he wakes up at an ungodly hour but his scowl soon transforms into a smile as he looks through his phone’s notifications. There’s a text message from Alec timestamped just before midnight.

I had a really good time tonight, Magnus. I can’t wait for lunch next week.

Magnus relaxes against his mountain of pillows, using the hand not holding his phone to rub the sleep from his eyes.

He takes a few minutes to respond, finally typing I had a lovely time too, darling. Wednesday can’t get here fast enough.

Unfortunately, he has a roomful of no doubt eager students waiting on him, so Magnus climbs out of bed and goes through his morning routine. After checking today’s weather, he dashes to his closet and pulls his Alexander McQueen raincoat from its hanger.

He leaves the house with ten minutes to spare and decides that’s enough time to swing by Starbucks. Thankfully, the line isn’t too horrendously long and it only takes a few minutes to order and grab his coffee. Magnus is just taking a sip of his venti iced americano when the passing newspaper stand stops him in his tracks.

He comes to a halt and inches closer, looking furtively in both directions. Thankfully, everyone else out this early has places to be and no one pays him any mind as he reaches out and picks up the magazine whose cover had caught his attention.

It’s a tabloid, one of the sleazy ones who make their money using morally questionable methods with photographers willing to do anything to hit pay-dirt. In bold letters the headline screams America’s Favorite Superstar Out on the Town with Mystery Man.

Magnus fold the magazine in half and hurriedly pays for it, walking just a little faster to campus, especially as rain starts peppering down. He’s very aware of his surroundings but thankfully doesn’t notice any paps in the bushes or anyone looking at him with more than casual interest.

He makes it to his office twenty minutes before his class is due to start and tosses his briefcase on the chair by the door before placing his coffee and magazine on his desk. He doesn’t even take the time to pull off his coat before he’s unfolding the paper and taking in the cover in more detail than he’d been able to on the street.

Underneath the huge headline is a picture of him and Alec from the previous night. It’s blurry as fuck, grainy to the point of being almost unrecognizable. It helps that this particular picture was taken just a little too far from a streetlamp, the darkness helping to disguise him. He’s walking away, head turned towards the ice cream shop and Alec is standing in the middle of the sidewalk watching him leave. Alec is far clearer, standing just under the light. Magnus can’t help but smile a little as he sees that Alec had lingered, just a minute, watching him walk away.

The smile drops from his face in the next minute as he thinks through the ramifications of this photo. Magnus isn’t an idiot. He knows that being a celebrity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and the paparazzi are one of the biggest disadvantages to fame. He’s been a fan of Alec’s long enough to realize that Alec plays his celebrity up quite well- he knows how to give an interesting soundbite and keep everyone wanting more. However, he also guards his privacy intently and needs time to be mundane-- last night was evidence of that. For God’s sake, the man had gone to one of the busiest libraries in the country and had done a remarkable job of fading into the background. He’s not a novice at this shit.

But Magnus is. Magnus has never had to worry that a date or the day-to-day minutiae of his life would fall under a microscope that the whole world loved to peer through.

It’s a little unsettling.

Magnus doesn’t hide but he also likes his personal life to be kept just that. Personal. There are one or two skeletons rattling around in his closet and he doesn’t want anyone to find them.

He’s spent quite a lot of energy laying them to rest, thank you very much.

Magnus simply can’t be flippant about this. He likes Alec and he hadn’t been lying when he’d said he had a good time.

The question is, how much is he willing to deal with for the sake of possibility? He’s barely friends with Alec-- is he willing to put himself out there, deal with the pressure and scrutiny that an association with America’s musical darling would bring?

It’s a lot to potentially handle.

If he's being honest with himself though, Magnus had already made up his mind when he'd first given his number to Alec at Uptown Java. It's just that this is a visceral reminder than he and Alec and whatever this thing is between them doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a warning that things can-- and most likely will one day-- get very messy.

Magnus glances briefly at the clock and sees that he only has ten minutes before he needs to leave for class.

He spends that time reading the two page article, noting in relief that the press really doesn’t have anything on him except a blurry photograph of his back. Everything is supposition and innuendo. He’s just mentioned as Lightwood's flavor du jour-- Magnus scoffs. As if he’s anyone’s boytoy.

Grabbing his coffee, he’s just about to leave his office, leaving the trashy tabloid on his desk, when his phone rings. As he looks down at the display, he’s both surprised and not when Alexander pops up on the screen.

Lightwood must be a pro at damage control by now.

He debates on just not answering-- he has class in six minutes and his career always comes first-- but something tugs at him and before he knows it, he’s swiping right and accepting the call.

“Alexander,” he says warmly.

“Magnus, hey. How are you this morning?”

Magnus raises a brow but can’t help but smile. Alec is trying to be blithe and breezy but he can detect the tense undertone in his voice. This definitely isn’t a social call.

“Oh, I’m fine darling. I’m actually just leaving my office now to head towards class. Can’t keep those eager minds waiting. On today’s syllabus, we’re discussing Napoleon. There’s so much written about him but I prefer a little mystery in a man, don’t you?” Magnus can’t resist teasing Alec, just a little. It’s a serious topic, but if he can laugh about it to anyone, it should be the person who got him into this mess.

He hears Alec’s sharp intake of breath, can only imagine his wince.

“So you’ve seen that magazine article this morning?”

Magnus hums, holding his phone between cheek and shoulder as he opens the building’s door and starts walking up the stairs to the second floor.

“Yes, Alexander, I did see a little article about your latest conquest. It was rather vague, though.”

Alec blows out a breath. “I am so sorry, Magnus. I know that we’ve just become friends and that this is a lot to put on your shoulders for someone you barely know. So far, they only have your silhouette. If you wanted to put a stop to things, if this isn’t okay with you, I completely understand--”

“Alec.”

Alec’s voice comes to a halt and the silence on the line is a little jarring. Magnus has a split second to reconsider, but he’s already made up his mind. Really, it wasn't even a question. Magnus stands just outside of the door to his class and sees that most of his students are already in their seats. He nods to someone as they duck into the room, taking the last empty chair.

He turns away from his students and instead looks at the blank wall in front of him while he answers.

“While I appreciate your consideration,” he starts, “I’ll have to stop you there. I’ll admit that those very thoughts were rolling around this morning as I read that article. I don’t like it, Alec. I’ll be honest about that. And, it’s true that we’ve really just started this friendship of ours. But I like you and I really want to see where this leads.

“I want to stay friends. We’ll just need to be a little more discreet, darling, because while I like being with you I also like my anonymity. I don’t need paps harassing me at work or those I love. I’ll be a little more honest with you and admit that there are things I’ve done, things in my past, that I don’t need coming to light.”

He can hear Alec on the other end like he’s about to interrupt.

“But,” he says. “I’m willing to continue things with the understanding that we don’t advertise to the world. We can still go out to lunch and whatever else strikes our fancy, but let’s use common sense, okay?”

Alec sighs and Magnus smiles a little, also relieved.

“I’m really happy that you said that, Magnus. I know that not everyone is willing to put up with the media, and I appreciate that you’re not cutting me out. This is new, but I really like talking with you and hanging out. I am more than fine with using a little more discretion in the future.”

Magnus is just opening his mouth to respond, but Alec isn’t quite finished.

“About what you said-- about your past. I want you to know, obviously, that you don’t have to tell me anything and I’ll do my damnedest to keep your name out of the press until you’re ready. There’s no pressure here, Magnus.”

Magnus swallows hard. Nothing that Alec said was revolutionary but it’s been a long time since someone sought to reassure him. It’s nice to know that Alec respects his decision and is just as keen to continue their acquaintance.

“Thank you, darling. Don’t worry, I’m not quite done with you yet.”

Alec laughs and Magnus echoes it, feeling warmth flood his chest.

“So we’re good,” Alec asks tentatively.

“We’re good,” Magnus confirms.

Alec huffs out a breath. “Thank Christ,” he says fervently. “I was worried that you’d see that headline and those photos this morning and run as far away from me as you could get.” He laughs, bitterly. “It wouldn’t be the first time, after all.”

Magnus leans against the wall as he replies. “I’ll admit that I thought about it. I’m risking a lot, after all, if anyone finds out anymore details. But you know Alexander, I think you might just be worth the risk.”

“Thanks, Magnus. I only hope that you don’t regret those words.”

Magnus grins. “If you know one thing about me, darling, it should be that I like to play with fire. Now, I’ve got to go. My class should have started four minutes ago and I can feel my students getting antsy. I’ll see you next week Alec-- don’t be a stranger.”

“Alright Magnus, enjoy your class and teach them everything they need to know about Napoleon. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Oh and Alexander,” Magnus calls out before either one has the chance to end the call.

“Yes?”

“I like it when you call,” Magnus says and hangs up, pocketing his phone and pushing off of the wall.

There’s a smile on his face and some pep in his step as he turns on his heel and enters the classroom. He’s no fool. He knows that this decision has the potential to blow up in his face. But, he just can’t deny that magnetic pull he feels.

He wants to ride out this wave and sees where it takes him-- where it takes them.

Magnus pretends that he doesn’t see the curious stares of his students-- Dr. Bane never starts class late. He might crack jokes and bemoan early mornings, but he’s the consummate professional. It’s unheard of for him to cancel class or start any later than right on time. His students must be dying to know what’s going on.

Magnus smirks and unbuttons his raincoat, hanging it on the back of the chair in the front of the room. He rolls up his shirtsleeves as he starts his lecture, not needing notes or an outline as he begins speaking, picking up where they'd left off Wednesday seamlessly.

Magnus keeps a steady pace for the next seventy-five minutes, his voice and the scratch of pens against notebooks the only sounds heard in the room.

In the back of his mind, Magnus revels in the everyday academia and prays it all doesn't come crashing down on him.

#httbt #my writing #update monday #lol #malec fic

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