#this started out as a dry guys bit and then the way ally reacted to the pin was . Too good to leave out

[5ftboy]

(in which all of these bits happen within the span of 30 seconds)

#dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #fantasy high spoilers #d20 #d20edit #siobhan thompson #emily axford #brennan lee mulligan #zac oyama #ally beardsley #mine ** #this started out as a dry guys bit and then the way ally reacted to the pin was . Too good to leave out

[arosesstorm]

Hello!!! may I please request a alec lightwood x gn!reader where he gets jealous when someone is flirting with the reader and he gets possessive?? thank you for this! ♥️

-ahhh I hope you enjoy this, I think I kinda diverted a bit, but jealous Alec is priceless so hopefully I'll write something more angsty next time; thanks for the request it was fun to write <;3

Jealousy Contest - Alec Lightwood

words count: a few

gender neutral reader! x Alec Lightwood

warning: jealous Alec

summary: as soon as Sebastian Verlac crossed the institute's doors Alec knew he brought nothing but trouble, but not for the reason everyone may be thinking...

English is not my first language loves, trying my best, enjoy :)

As a good writer would write, it all started when a Ravener demon decided to take a walk around New York. 

It was a normal evening, like any other at the institute when the news came and the Lightwood-Harondale trio was sent to solve the problem; their usual partners, y/n and Clary, were busy running after a Shax demon (something y/n hated as much as doing laundry) two blocks too far away to be involved.

"I just don’t feel good about this" Alec mumbled, slowly making his way towards an ally, bow raised in front of him as his steps were careful. 

"We follow orders, Alec" Jace sighed "he’s right big bro and-" a sudden turn to the left "it’s not like y/n and Clary are not capable of defending themselves" Izzy finished.

"I still don’t believe it’s a good-", but he didn't get to finish; the loud cry of a man interrupting him mid sentence. 

The three immediately felt the sudden urge to run as Alec’s feet guided him: he turned around the corner, to the right, to the left, to the right again, and there he stood, the blood in his veins dry: y/n was on the ground, a cut as long as Jace’s blade on her left side, but it didn’t belong to a blade, its darkish spots of venom visible as the Ravener stood in front of her, ready to go for another hit.

Someone was with her and it was not Clary. 

The figure stood forward, a blade as shining as the moon was in his hand as he cut the demon’s feet. 

The beast crying in agony as it fell forward, knocking the stranger to the ground. 

"Alright, now I am angry" he heard y/n mutter as their will helped them on their feet again, a tight hand pressed on their side, they were trying to show as little pain as possible. 

It took a second, he didn’t have the time to process, as he saw them took a couple of daggers from behind their back, their hands holding the weapons tightly as they threw themselves at the beast. 

As soon as the daggers sinked into the demon’s stomach, Alec’s harrow hit the creature in its head, its body falling still on the ground as he saw them turn towards him. 

The daggers falling to the ground as he heard them chuckle: "I can’t keep doing your work Lightwood" and he watched, horrified, their body falling to the ground, eyes shocked as they landed in the arms of the stranger. 

What Alec found out later was that the stranger in question, was a shadow hunter, worse, he was a man: Sebastian Verlac was his name and he was far from being discrete.

It was obvious the guy had a crush on y/n, he saw it from the way his eyes followed their figure every time they left a room, or how he would make sure to have breakfast at their table every morning, a stupid grin on his face when they laughed. 

It started to be very ridiculous and Alec himself for some strange reason was starting to get sick of it. 

When he entered the training room that afternoon, he felt himself roll his eyes. 

Y/n and Sebastian were training in a way it looked more like flirting. 

He touched them in ticklish spots, his words a continuous tease, his eyes a staring mess. 

Alec coughed, hard, which got their attention, eyes shooting his way. 

Sebastian was quick to react, his eyes kindly drifting back to y/n, "guess I’ll go, I’ve won enough for today", y/n’s quick remark "ah! You wish"as the blond made his way towards the door Alec felt the sudden urge to punch him. 

"I want a rematch then" Sebastian said, smiling, before disappearing into the institute’s many corridors. 

Y/n’s eyes were back on Alec as he came forward, "you look pissed" they stated as he took two training sticks from the weapon’s section. 

"How about we train?" He asked, his eyes sharp as he threw one in y/n’s direction. 

"Alright serious boy" they snorted grabbing the stick, legs in position. 

He was the first to come forward, his legs strong as he aimed for y/n’s stomach but they were quick to stop him halfway. 

Alec seemed determined as he came forward again, a shot for their shoulder, they dodged, a aim for their leg, they stopped him again as y/n pushed the stick back to Alec’s face. 

"More than pissed I guess", Alec chuckled darkly as he turned into position "this is called training" he spat, his gray shirt sticky on his torso. 

Y/n felt like giggling "what is going on with you?", "how about a hand to hand?" Alec replied, kicking the stick aside as you followed his moves, not failing to see his hands were trembling. 

"Something was in your latte this morning" y/n teased as Alec pushed himself forward, a hand flying in the air as they dodged his punch "actually, I go for black coffee" his body as stiff as a log. 

He tried to take y/n down again, legs following his moves swiftly, this time he got a open shot as he grabbed them by the shoulder, his arms wrapping around their throat as he held tight behind their back. 

"This is called winning" he slowly loosed the grip, as y/n’s eyes lightened with amusement "so you’re jealous". 

"What?" He asked, coming to the front again, his eyes everywhere but on them, "you really are jealous" y/n couldn’t help but laugh as the man was clearly uncomfortable. 

"As future head of the institute, it is my duty to show you how to properly train" Alec was quick to react, his eyes finally meeting y/n’s as they softly smiled. 

"Sure, future head of the institute, this is clearly what this is all about". 

"It is."

Y/n sighed: "How about a rematch?" They asked. 

"Can’t, gotta go" Alec replied quickly, his legs taking him as far away from y/n as possible. 

"Don’t go make a scene to Sebastian too!" Y/n laughed as Alec cursed under his breath, hurting to disappear, maybe, if he left quick enough, it would have been as if nothing happened. 

Y/n felt themselves softly smiling: "Head of the institute? More like lover boy".

mia

masterlist

© 2023 of Mia (arosesstorm). All Rights Reserved.

#imagine #fanfic #netflix #alec lightwood x reader #alec shadowhunters #alec lightwood imagine #alec ligthwood #alec lightwood bane #magnus x alec #alexander lightwood #shadowhunters rp #shadowhunters tv #shadowhunters fanfiction #shadowhunters edit #shadowhunters #shadow hunters #shadowhunters imagine

[hawksmagnolia]

Not My Name

Drunk Drabble prompt submitted to @HBC

Summary: Reader is tired of shitty sex and Clint’s constant teasing. Bucky decides to take matters into his own hands.

Who: Bucky/reader

Word count: 1,412

Warnings: It’s smut yo. And swearing. And more smut.

Authors Note: Thank you anon for the awesome prompt! I hope you enjoy it. -xo- Allie

“Hey little girl, you got eyes on them?”

“Call me little girl again and I’m going to kick your ass Barton.” I mumbled into the comm.

Clint scoffed. “As if.”

Rolling my eyes, I adjusted my binoculars. “Yeah, I got them. Does Steve know that he’s got a rip in his pants just south of his left ass cheek?”

There was a choked sound and I smirked. Clint was to my left and three stories higher because he wasn’t happy unless there was nothing between him and the sky. Barnes was a building over, a lurking shadow at the steps to a nearby building. Barnes never joined in with Clint and I as we passed time on jobs like this. We had to do something, sometimes we were stuck in position for hours and too much time alone means you start talking to pigeons. Steve had made us stay on our own channel although Barnes could override it if shit went sideways. 

“So, how’d your date go last night?”

“Can you not Clint?”

“Hey, I’m your friend. And friends are allowed to ask why your date left looking well and truly fucked and you were a cranky bitch at breakfast this morning. Did he fail too?”

Groaning, I smacked the heel of my hand on my forehead. “I should have never told you that. Ever.”

“I’m just saying, I am totally willing to take a chance at making your dreams come true.”

“You’re a pig.”

Clint laughed. “I am, but you love me anyways. But seriously, this is what- guy number 4 who can’t fuck you to climax with just his cock? Your taste in men sucks.”

“Thanks ever so much Clint for reminding me of that.”

There was a quiet click and a hiss. “Do you two ever shut the fuck up?”

“Nope. What’s wrong Barnes? Feeling left out?”

“Someone has to actually pay attention, especially since we’re clear. But you two can hang out in the trees if you want to. Or maybe you should get a room.”

“Fuck off Barnes.” Clint answered cheerfully. “Race you to the truck. Loser buys Thai food on the way back to the hotel.”

========

I was standing in the bathroom in my favorite pjs (a worn hoodie from the soccer team I played on in college and a pair of boxers left behind from two boyfriends ago) towel drying my hair when someone knocked. 

Puzzled, I set my towel down on the counter and padded barefoot to open the door. I was expecting to see Clint or even Steve when it swung out, but I was way off.

I was absolutely not expecting to see James Buchanan “Call me Bucky” Barnes standing there in a pair of perfectly broken in jeans and a blue henley.

I’d heard women swoon about the henleys. Now I knew why, I’d never seen anyone fill out the sleeves of one like he did. It should be illegal for a prosthetic arm to make me want to throw my underwear at him like he was a rock star.

“Barnes. Is everything okay?” I couldn’t even think of a time he’d ever graced my doorstep.

He raised and brow and smirked. “I heard you and Barton earlier.”

“Ok…you always hear us?”

He glanced down the hallway before slipping into my room and shutting the door behind him and throwing the bolt. 

“Uh, Barnes? Is this some secret squirrel spy shit?”

“That’s not my name.”

“What?”

He grinned at me causing my belly to do a flip as he pushed my damp hair out of my face. “I said, that’s not my name. I’ll be damned if you’re going to yell that when I make you cum your brains out.”

Now it was my turn to swallow hard as he continued. “I said, I heard you and Barton. About how no man can get you off so I’m here to volunteer.”

Finally having recovered my wits, I was able to smirk. “Oh, how sweet. Coming to my rescue?”

“Hell no. I’m going to ruin you for any other guy.”

“Bring it Barnes.”

“I told you..” He crowded me until my knees hit the edge of the bed and I stumbled back onto it. “That’s not my name.” He brushed his jaw against mine and I was almost embarrassed how my body reacted to just him being close. Almost.

It had been way too long since a guy had made my body feel alive and being around Bucky was like touching a live wire. He caged my head with his arms and licked down the side of my neck before burying his fingers in my hair and kissing me in a smack of teeth, tongue and lips. I moaned into his mouth as he released my hair long enough to yank off my hoodie. 

“Look at you, nothing but that between your skin and me.” He drew a lazy fingertip down from my collarbone and over my nipples making me cry out as they tightened. “So goddamn pretty.” 

I felt like I was on fire, that my skin was too tight on my bones and could burst into flames any moment. His hands were everywhere, his mouth biting and sucking at my lips, my jaw. I finally managed to grab hold of the bottom of his henley and my fingertips brushed over his cobbled abdomen. He yanked it off in one fast motion, not wanting to leave my mouth for too long. His thigh was pressed between my thighs and I groaned at the friction, twisting as I tried to press harder against the denim.

“Not yet doll. Not yet.” I whined as he moved away from me. Hooking his thumbs in the waistband of the boxers he drew them down over my legs and they joined the hoodie and henley on the floor. I stared up at him, half drowning in lust as he picked up my foot and pressed a kiss to the ankle. I whimpered as he knelt between my knees and, with no warning, buried his face into me. His nose bumped my clit as his tongue swirled over the delicate flesh. I felt him press a single finger deep into me, felt the delicious scrape of it as he curled it slightly. I was so lost in his actions that when he stopped, I immediately cried his name and he smiled.

“Oh baby, you’re going to thank me for stopping there.”

“No I won’t- dammit Bucky! Why would…oh!”

He cut me off by thrusting hard and bottoming out in me. There was nothing soft or sweet but he’d made sure I was more than ready for his cock. It burned but it was the best kind, that ache of finally having a tight muscle release and the sharp relief that comes from it. He snapped his hips, my body relishing every violent moment of it.

He shifted, propping himself up on a hand, the metal fingers of his left securing my hips in place when I tried to wiggle.

“Oh no doll. Just you and me.” 

I felt like every muscle in my body was straining as I climbed, higher than I ever had before. Bucky’s cock grazed over my clit with each stroke but not enough to give me any relief. He ground his hips into mine as I fisted my hands in the sheets, my body finally releasing, soaking both of us as I flooded out weeks of sexual frustration. He grinned but didn’t relent until he started to grow sloppy and he groaned, collapsing onto me as he splashed my walls.

We laid like that for a while. I’m not sure how long. Long enough my heart to stop pounding in my ears and for our breathing to even out. He was heavy but not enough to make it uncomfortable. His head was on my chest, his eyes closed and I gently swept my finger over the dark curve of his lashes. 

“You dead?”

“Mm, little bit. Need water and fifteen minutes and we can go for round two.”

“What?”

He peeked up at me and laughed. “Doll, I told you. I’m going to ruin you for anyone else. Besides, can’t have you being cranky in the mornings now can we?”

I carded my fingers through his dark hair. “Absolutely not. Also Clint’s room is next door and I don’t think he heard me this time.”

“Mmm, bet he will next time.”

@the-ss-horniest-book-club​

@nano--raptor @cchellacat @eurynome827 @jobean12-blog @book-dragon-13 @aesthetical-bucky @marvelgirl7 @sallycanwait68 @buckys-broody-muffin @softpeachbarnes @godofplumsandthunder @azurika-writes @ikaris-whore @this-kitten-is-smitten @randomfandompenguin @bucky-plums-barnes​ @bugsbucky​ @littleredstarfish​ @emilylyoness​ @hailmary-yramliah​ @daughterofsteven​ @ballyhoobarnes​

#hbc extended drabbles #HBC #bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky x reader smut #smut ahoy! #Bucky Barnes imagine

[paint-lady]

hey, if you don't mind, i want your advice: i'm going to be running a chronicle set in chicago (i am using the chicago by night 5e book) for players who are new to vampire for the most part in a few days and i can't For The Life of Me to come up with an interesting chronicle hook (yeah i have read the hooks in the book). any ideas/suggestions/general advice?

Hiya! I could talk your ears off on how I write my chronicles- so hopefully I have taken all my processes and reduced it down to a lovely World of Darkness jam. 

Here are two good hooks I just came up with- feel free to use them! The third is what I got for my first chronicle, and I just think its a narrative that works very well for new players.

>Option 1: Guilty Until Proven Innocent ”Chicago is a series of paradoxes and transitions, of ever changing paradigms and whimsy,” (CbN 47). Have your coterie be newbies to the city. Ask why they have come to Chicago. Power? A new start? Perhaps this is a political arrangement between the clan of one city with another. Whatever their reason, they have arrived right when a Primogen vanishes- and guess who is first on the suspect list? The fresh faces on the streets >:) The coterie, having barely settled, has to suddenly prove their innocence. And finding evidence lets them uncover something much more sinister....

This one is ideal for new players as it sets everyone on an equal footing. Even if they create a character that has been a vampire for 50+ years and has amassed several dots of influence, herd, status- whatever, they are still new to the city. And being new means you have to start all over again. (This may be frustrating to a player that invested all those points at character creation- but it is on you as the ST to make sure they have opportunities to use those dots and on them as a player to think cleverly.)

Starting the tale off with defending their innocence is actually a very engaging questline. It effectively sets the stage for the political powerhouses. It lets new players know there are rules- and those in power are watching. It also sets the consequences for failure. Understand that the Camarilla probably isnt going to outright kill the coterie if they fail- always make the punishment just harsh and grueling enough to make final death feel like a mercy. Failure isn’t the end of the story.

For new players- I would be lenient with the time it takes for them to find evidence. But within reason. Think like your Prince and Seneschal. Do you really want this coterie running around for a full week, unsupervised, making more messes? No. You don’t. (You might wanna send an npc with them to watch and keep em out of trouble. Your npc is also able to vouch for them.)

This story lends itself to be a Camarilla Chronicle very easily. You can go Anarch, but an Anarch leader suddenly vanishing and blaming the newbies is much more quickly going to end with blood spilled. Thank your local sweeper.

> Option 2: Containment Breach Blacksite 24 (Loresheet on page 264) was temporarily occupied by Operation Firstlight. It has now been transformed into a medical research facility. While most kindred of Chicago know of Blacksite 24, they have zero clue what happens inside other than bad news for them- the less they know the safer they are. The chronicle opens with a car crash. The captured soon-to-be coterie was in transit to this feared medical facility. The crash did kill the driver and the agent in charge of transporting them. The crash did not fully break their restraints, but it did enough damage that first responders are freaking out. They are all at hunger 3. The chronicle is a hunt. The coterie should have some knowledge of what had happened to them and how lucky they are to have escaped. Operatives are already on their way to recapture them. They must hide in this city- and do their best to survive and stay out of sight.

The point of this story is to invoke dread. I highly recommend one player either being a thin-blood (or an npc) with the Daydrinker merit, or a player to have a ghoul. If they decide to not have a daywatch, they increase their chance of being found.

This story also sets up a feeling of desperation. They would be willing to take shelter from anyone- anyone. Eventually the other kindred will catch on that these guys are on the run from something. Any sane kindred would toss them out to protect themselves. A compassionate kindred who takes them in will suffer the final death as a compassionate fool- or join them in captivity. 

This story lends itself to be an Anarch Chronicle much more easily. This is the time the Camarilla will likely be a bit more paranoid and bloody. While they might not outright kill the coterie- they will send them somewhere that is a death trap. They wont dirty their hands with this. After all, you do not want any evidence to fall into the hands of the SI if you hired the hit.

This story is ideal for newbies without background merits. No allies, no influence, no herd. Let them take more mythic merits such as bloodhound and unbondable (Consider finding some from V20 too! There are some really awesome supernatural merits!). These powers would certainly be more fascinating for a medical team to study- not how many instagram followers they have. This kind of story also lets your players feel more powerful- but out of the loop. It lends itself to them forging alliances and getting caught in one-sided favors a lot more quickly. 

The challenging aspect of this story is that is starts with a masquerade breach. New players may not know how to handle such a blatant breach and thats okay. I would let the crash slide- and the Camarilla in the background handles it. Breaches after the crash need to be handled with proper consequences. 

> Option 3: New Blood This is what my storyteller did to me and my first time players (and its also very close to the plot of CoNY). We were shovelheads. Embraced to make a huge mess for the Camarilla and die quick deaths. We were all thin-bloods. The last thing the pcs remember is the sweet rush of ecstasy washing over them, before clawing out of the earth and driven mad by an insatiable hunger. The thrill of the hunt, and the sweet, warm blood on their tongue, nothing was going to be better. All three will awake next to each other, surrounded by the corpses they drank dry in their frenzy. What a way to play the name game! The players have three nights were they figure out their new condition or coverup their tracks (if they think to do it). They contend with their hunger and hatred of sunlight, wrestle with accidentally drinking their family member dry. After three nights, the Scourge comes knocking. Rather than outright killed, they are dragged to Elysium. For some reason, they are adopted by an upstanding member of the Camarilla- or the Prince orders a political rival care for them (hoping they fail). The players are the errand childer of this kindred, and slowly they figure out what they have been gathering through all these errands....

This one lets the characters all have the moments where they discover their disciplines and powers- and bestial tendencies. It naturally flows to allow players to slowly discover the rules and mechanics as well. All players must play fledglings for this tale. 

This story is much more a personal tale than a political one. Eventually politics makes its way in...but it does not have to be a focus. 

This story has less of a hook and more of a “Figure it Out” survival mode until the errands begin. The story is how the character’s react to their condition. It very quickly lends itself to a narrative of finding your own path in the night, rather than mindlessly obeying.

So here are a few questions that I ask myself when crafting a chronicle story:

1. What kind of story do you want to tell? Not asking for a plot hook, I’m asking for a general concept. Is it a tale of good triumphing over evil? (Not necessarily a wrong answer, but if you wanna play good guys...vampire is not the best game for that). Is this a chase? Is this a race against time? 

2. How do you want your story to make your players feel? Do you want to tell a story that invokes as much dread as possible in your players? Do you want them to feel ultra powerful? Vampire is both a power fantasy and a dread inducing game- it can do both. 

3. If you don’t know what kind of story you want to tell, switch gears to worldbuilding. CbN has so many NPCs with the rumors already written for you. Its your setting, perhaps switch two rumors around with prominent NPCs. Decide which ones are true in your setting- Maybe Primogen Annabell did kill her predecessor. Perhaps the Lasombra are attempting to infiltrate the Camarilla as everyone fears- but no one is able to prove it or stop it. Deciding what is true, false, and undetermined usually blossoms into hooks and stories worth investigating.

4. What is a historical event of the city that the Vampires would have endured/ scars would have remained? For example, in my chronicle set in Richmond, the tale of the Richmond Vampire is true. Depending on who you ask, it is the Camarilla’s best or sloppiest cover up. Have the chronicle coincide with the events and the coterie live through them. No one said this must take place in 2021- you can do 2015, 2008, -hell go back the 1990s. Its actually super fun if you set your chronicle in the 90s and your Malkavian is using phrases from 2020.

5. One of my things I do when writing scenes and moments is play Dread by myself. Dread is a role playing game played with jenga. There are no dice rolls, if you want to attempt something, you have to pull pieces from the tower. If the tower falls, you die. If there is a moment where I really really really dont want to pull from the tower, though the reward for succeeding is so so sweet- I keep the moment. If its really easy to shrug and go eh, I can live without performing that action- go back and rewrite it. If you have no incentive to pull from the tower, why would they?

6. Examine your player’s desires and ambitions- and do not neglect them in your chronicle. The plot wont magically allow all of them to achieve their ambitions. However, provide opportunities for them through the plot. Its on them to strive for what their character wants- its on you to make them struggle but have the path to get there. For example, if a player wants to become a Baron, provide a political opening. Perhaps then by announcing their power, they have made a bigger name for themselves and it has become harder to hide. Perhaps by doing this, the kindred they owe a favor is suddenly much more vocal about it. 

Here are some suggestions for handling new players:

> You are going to have to handhold them through some things. New players to vtm won’t be able to see the cascading political web and how the consequences of their actions will ripple into waves. I like to use Wits+Insight and call it Common Sense. Common Sense was a merit in V20- and damn is it WONDERFUL. All they need is just 1 success (they can take half) to have you explain how whatever plan they just thought of is actually a TERRIBLE idea. 

> Do your RPG consent list. Know what is safe to discuss and what is off the table. I highly recommend utilizing something my Storyteller used for my first chronicle, and subsequently I use for all my ttrpgs now: Invoking the Veil. The metaphor is that you are slowly lessening the intensity of a scene- as if raising the opacity or looking through layers of fabric. Eventually, there is too much fabric and you can no longer see the scene. If something is too intense, the ST or the player may announce they are invoking the veil. Reduce the scene by lowering music, speaking in third person, or avoiding heavy descriptors. You can reduce it further to just dice rolls. Role play stops, and the consequences of the scene are solely dictated by the dice. Or fade to black. If a player is repeatedly fading to black on something- ask to talk to them about it. Clearly something is too intense and they are not having as much fun as they can. Debriefing after a session is also a good idea. Do something silly! Share and check all the memes in the discord chat. Its important to make sure you and your players know that at the end of the night- its all just a game.

> I find the sabbat and new players don’t tend to mix well. You may absolutely still use the sabbat in your chronicle! But the dogma and philosophical ideals of the sabbat can be offputting and downright upsetting to a first time player. You may absolutely build to it- that’s what I did to my players. And in the moment of the truth, they chose to cling to humanity. 

> The taking half mechanic is your friend! V5 says players may announce how many dice they are rolling- and if the dividend is greater than the DC- they auto succeed. This streamlines play. Of course, you as the Storyteller may say this is a roll they are not allowed to take half on. Usually these are contested rolls (combat).

> The three turns and out rule keeps combat intense but not too lengthy. It actually streamlines encounters super super well. 

> My ST used a phrase, “The quickest way to kill Cthulhu is to give it a healthbar.” If Methuselahs and Elders are involved in your game- avoid giving them stat blocks. This cultivates a conflict that new players must find a way to overcome without brute force combat. It makes them think critically and defy these super old antagonists through narrative means. This also gets the notion out of your and their heads, “if they die, its over.” Its never that easy. Never. 

#steph answers questions #thanks for asking! #vtm #vampire the masquerade #vamp tag #storyteller vibes #ghostravens

[nobodyfamousposts]

BURN THE WITCH! Part 4

It took more time than it should have to lose the akuma and her followers. Partly because of the shoes and the disguise as a whole doing more to slow her down than it did to protect her. Mostly because of just how many people were currently after her—and wow, was it a lot!

But she had managed to not only escape with life and hair intact (despite the attempts of the damn hairnet), but also find a place to hide until the akuma was dealt with.

From what she had observed, the akuma’s effects were carried by hearing her speak from that scroll of hers. Almost immediately after spouting off something else from the “list”, anyone within earshot would join the increasing number of minions, even if they had just been trying to run away moments prior. It was like the akuma could incite anger in anyone…self-righteous anger, and all of it specifically targeted at Lila.

She was going to have words with Hawk Moth about this. If he had an akuma able to enthrall people like this, why hadn’t he given it to her? She could have made much better use of it than Rose, of all people. Now he had an akuma solely focused on revenge instead of the masterpiece Lila could have been. Honestly, she would have Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated by now!

As it was, Lila had to survive. And to do so, she had to make do with her own skills.

Fortunately, the akuma’s reach—while growing—was only as far as people could hear her. Which made the boat at the Seine a perfect place to hide out.

Especially since the old woman and her son living there were easily drawn in.

“It’ll be all right, lass. You’re safe here.” The woman said, reassuringly. “We’ll man the gunnery if any of those fools try anything. They can’t get to you here.”

“Thank you! I just…I just don’t know why this would happen.” Lila gave another well timed but ultimately fake sob into her hands.

“Don’t worry.” The guy—a teenager, and not a bad looking one, either—rested a hand on her shoulder. “Ladybug and Chat Noir will fix this soon enough.”

Lila forced herself to smile. “I hope they do.”

If only because this was the one akuma she didn’t want to see win. Otherwise, she would fully be cheering for their demise. Possibly with popcorn.

Assuming she wasn’t the one doing it herself, of course.

“Luka, keep an eye out in case someone followed her here.” The woman ordered.

“On it.” Luka, apparently, guided Lila to the couch to rest before he moved to another part of the room. The woman took a pair of binoculars to one of the windows, trying to peer through them to see further into the distance.

Lila sighed and was preparing to finally relax.

“Why is the akuma after you, anyway?” He asked while grabbing something from the corner.

To her credit, Lila did acknowledge that Marinette had at least tried to help her. And surely the girl who helps everyone would want to continue to be of use. Even if she wouldn’t necessarily like what Lila was currently using her for.

But in Lila’s defense, Marinette DID shove her in a closet.

“I was helping with a friend’s charity work and some money went missing. There was a huge fight over it today and one of my classmates tried to blame me for the loss.”

“That’s horrible.”

“I know!” Lila continued, hiding a smile. “Rose is kind, but she is so forgetful that she could have lost the money anywhere. Then Marinette took advantage of the opportunity to claim I did it.”

Luka paused at that. “What?”

Lila nodded, mournfully. “She’s been against me from the first day I started school.”

Technically true.

“She’s been bullying me, calling me names, trying to convince everyone I’m a liar.”

Also technically true.

“I’m sure she was happy to paint me as the villain today, and everyone believed her.” Lila proclaimed with a little sob. “Nobody would even listen to me! Then Rose got mad and became an akuma, and Marinette left me to perish!”

“That doesn’t sound like Marinette.”

Immediately, all thoughts halted as she realized her mistake.

These two knew Marinette.

Okay, no big deal. She can just spin it.

“That was what I thought, too. But she showed her true colors when I tried to make friends with her! I even offered to help her with her crush on Adrien. But she’s just so jealous.” Lila insisted, laying on the charm and tears. “She’s been telling everyone such horrible things about me.”

Luka’s frown only increased though.

“She hasn’t mentioned you to me.”

She shook her head. “Then I’m sorry, but it seems you don’t know her that well.”

“What are you talking about?” The mother demanded, confused and annoyed. “That girl comes over here all the time. She’s a wonderful girl and a wonderful friend to our daughter.”

Wait…daughter?

The boy narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion.

“Where was Juleka in all this, if what you’re saying is true?”

“She wasn’t there.” Lila said, thinking quickly. Better not to implicate their daughter or try to throw her under the bus if they were getting suspicious already. “I know if she had been, things could have worked out. She’s such a good friend, and would never think badly of me.”

But Luka only looked angrier. He held up a remote.

“Then why is she with the mob?”

Lila spun in surprise at the sudden blast of sound. It turned out that the thing he had grabbed before was the remote to the television. Which was on—if muted during Lila’s story-telling.

On the screen, the akuma was standing in front of the Eiffel Tower reading from her list. The video showed Witch Hunter and her followers in full detail. Including Juleka.

Juleka, whom Lila was now realizing had to be the daughter and sister of the two in the room with her.

“She’s been influenced by the akuma! It’s her power.” Lila explained hastily.

But Luka chose to ignore her in favor of unmuting the television, which showed the akuma speaking and reading more of Lila’s crimes from the list. The scroll almost seemed to glow momentarily before she started to read.

“This just in! The Witch just tried to turn two innocents against Marinette and even their own family member. She lied about the cause of the fight! And this is after she already tried to sacrifice Marinette to save her own skin!”

Both mother and son froze at that.

“WHAT?!”

And as if it couldn’t get worse for her, the news proceeded to play a video from earlier. One that Lila had not realized was being recorded at the time.

It showed in full detail the inopportune moment where Lila shoved Marinette out from behind their shared hiding space and attempted to direct the mob’s anger onto the clumsy girl.

Slowly. Slowly…they both turned on her, furious.

“It’s not what it looks like!” She tried to claim. “She was already part of the mob and I was trying to get away from her. I was in danger!”

The two glared at her, clearly not buying it.

It seemed Lila had made a miscalculation as to the limits of the akuma’s range of influence.

Or perhaps it was just that she hadn’t counted on her would-be rescuers being family to one of her classmates.

The woman glowered at her. Without even looking, she grabbed a sword off of the mantle and pointed it at Lila with a ferocity she hadn’t seen before. In that moment, she appeared every bit the pirate she had previously been pretending to be.

“Make her walk the plank!” She yelled.

“We don’t have a plank, mom.” Luka growled, seeming downright disappointed by the fact.

“Then throw her overboard!”

It seemed her sanctuary was short-lived.

_____________________

“Kettle corn! Ready-to-cook over a fire kettle corn!”

Marinette sighed. “Master, not you, too.”

The man cheerfully sold a container to a customer, completely disregarding the problem as well as Marinette’s presence.

“Master Fu, please! The akuma is influencing everyone! Even Tikki is affected! And if I don’t do something soon, they’re going to burn Lila at the stake!”

The man gave her a blank stare.

“And what part of that is supposed to be the problem?” He asked.

“See? He gets it!” Tikki chirped.

“Sometimes, Marinette, an infected bud must be pruned for other flowers to grow.” Fu stated calmly as he imparted his wisdom.

“But flowers aren’t people!”

“It’s a metaphor.”

“Flowers don’t scream when you prune them!” Marinette shouted.

Tikki floated up to her chosen, trying to calm her. “Marinette, sometimes an akuma can actually be a good thing! Remember Bubbler?”

Marinette just gave her a dry look. “You mean when you lectured me for stopping Chloe from kissing Adrien, said it was an abuse of my powers, and emphasized doing the right thing? Remember that? The right thing? The moral choice that involves NOT letting people die just because you don’t like them?”

“This girl has been an obstacle to you and an ally to Hawk Moth.” Fu pointed out. “Would it not be better to simply let her be removed?”

She moaned. Honestly, it annoyed her when Tikki or Fu lectured her and had to be the voice of reason and morals she was pushed to adhere to rather than the support she needed in the moment. But this wasn’t support. It was just life throwing more temptation at her by having two of the people whose moral compasses she trusted pushing her to not care!

Give her a break, life! She’s having a hard enough time as it is!

"No!” She insisted. “I need the Dragon miraculous to stop this akuma! So please, help me!" 

"Another time perhaps, now is the time for popcorn!"

Marinette glared, put off at the way Fu ignored her to sell another container of popcorn to a customer.

Might as well try to take advantage of the situation though. While Fu was distracted, Marinette attempted to reach around him for the gramophone.

Fu slapped her hand.

She grabbed her hand in surprise before looking at him with a pout.

Master Fu didn’t even react.

She growled.

“Okay, that’s it!”

Later, Marinette decided as she picked up one of the pans, she would let herself feel bad for this.

Much later.

#ml fic #witch hunter #lila sucks #marinette dupain cheng #tikki #luka couffaine #anarka couffaine #master fu #poor marinette #marinette is done #rose lavillant #is there anyone sane left?

[ak47stylegirl]

Sick Days: Chapter 12

Sick days is back people! Poor Alan 😅😂 

This chapter was going to be longer but then I realised that it was probably getting too long, so I cut it short. But yeah, the following chapters are already sort of written but ain’t edited yet, but hopefully soon I can post those as well!😄

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! 

Rest of the chapters can be found here. 

---

Scott pov

His eyes widened as Alan burst into tears, starting to cry like he hadn’t seen him cry in a long time. “Alan!” He cried, launching forward, swooping Alan up into his arms.“What’s wrong?!” He questioned in alarm, sitting down on the bed. 

Alan didn’t answer him. Instead, the kid cried harder, wrapping his arms around his neck, sobbing hysterically. 

He grimaced, biting his bottom lip, feeling so overwhelmingly worried and scared for his baby brother. “Shhh, shhh, it’s alright, it’s alright…” He whispered, his voice shaking slightly as he started to rub Alan's back. “I’m here, shhh, I’m here…” 

Alan choked on a sob, and started to cough and sputter between each sob. Alan needed to calm down, or the poor kid was going to make himself sick, he thought worriedly, his blue eyes filled with concern. 

He gently made Alan look at him, his hand caressing Alan's cheek, “Baby, what’s the matter?” He asked softly, rubbing his thumb soothingly up and down Alan’s cheek, his hand getting soaked from tears. “Why are you so upset?”

Alan’s bottom lip trembled, his face all scrunched up and flushed pink, “I..I couldn’t s-” Alan sobbed, more tears falling down his face. “-S-Sleep! I...I've been up-up all night, everything is hurting!” Alan wailed loudly, burying his face back into the base of his neck. 

He felt himself gasp slightly, horror colouring his face as he looked down at his crying baby brother. “Oh baby…” He cradled the back of Alan’s head, hugging his baby brother close as he started to rock him gently. “Your medicine must have worn off…”  

He pressed his eyes shut, feeling like the worst guardian possible. “Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry…” He whispered, his voice filled with sorrow and guilt. 

He had just assumed that Alan would sleep through the night, partly because the last time he had checked on Alan, the kid had been sleeping soundly (or as soundly as you can get with a bad cold), but he should have known better.

He should have known better! He thought with a grimace, looking down at his sobbing baby brother. “Shhh, it’s alright, it’s alright...shhh..” He whispered softly, rubbing his hand up and down Alan’s back “I’m here baby, Shhh, it’s alright, I’m here...” 

He had been doing this parenting thing for years, and he was still messing it up, he thought with a sigh, feeling incredibly mad at himself. Alan was the child he had raised single-handedly (well almost single-handedly, he wasn’t deny his brothers did pitch in at times, which he was ever grateful for) since toddlerhood, and in turn, Alan had become the closest thing he had to a child of his own. 

And it hurt, oh it hurt, to see his baby like this, he thought as he lightly kissed Alan’s feverishly hot temple, his eyes stinging ever so slightly. It was true parental torture…

“Scott?”

He looked up, finding Virgil standing in the doorway, his eyes filled with concern as he regarded them. “What’s going on here? Is Allie okay?” Virgil asked, stepping into the bedroom. 

He shook his head. No, Allie wasn’t okay.

“He had a really bad night, Virg...” He explained sadly as he gently stroked Alan's hair, his baby brother’s cries starting to soften. “Poor thing didn’t even get a wink of sleep…” 

Virgil’s eyes filled with sorrow at the news, “The poor kid…” Virgil sighed softly, making his way over to them and sitting down on the bed next to him. “I’m guessing his medicine wore off sometime last night?” 

He nodded, closing his eyes briefly as the guilt and self-loathing washed over him again. Why hasn’t he checked on Alan? He has been doing this for long enough that he should know better-

“Scott…” Virgil was looking at him with that familiar look, knowing exactly what he was thinking and wasn’t liking it one bit. The look clearly said, ‘Do I have to have this conversation with you? Again?’

He shook his head, gesturing down at Alan, silently saying ‘Not now, Later...’  

Virgil’s eyes narrowed at him before softening as they looked at Alan, who had lifted his head slightly and was watching them with teary, feverish eyes. “Hey, Allie…” 

Alan only groaned and coughed weakly in response, tears cascading down his cheeks. The kid was truly unwell, he thought with a pained frown, starting to gently rock Alan in his arms again. 

“He looks worse than he did yesterday...” Virgil spoke softly to him, his voice coloured with horror as he laid the back of his hand against Alan’s cheek. “And his fever has definitely gone up…” 

“I know…” He whimpered sadly, his hand resting against the back of Alan’s head as he rocked him. “Speaking of that, would you be able to measure out his medicine for me?” 

Alan snuffled a sneeze into his shoulder, starting to cry harder, “It’s on the bedside table…” He finished with a grimace, pulling his sick brother closer, whispering sweet comforts into Alan's ear. “shhh, I’m here baby, shhh...”

“Sure, no problem...” Virgil stood up, brown eyes soft with worry for their littlest brother. “It’s normally 4.5 ml, isn’t it?” Virgil double-checked as he picked up the medicine bottle, looking over at him.

“Yeah, that's what I worked out...” He nodded, continuing to rock Alan in his arms. 

Alan was way too tiny to have the recommended dose that a seven-year-old would typically have, so they had to figure out the dosage using his weight instead. 

It was a lot tricker, but they had a doctor for a Grandma growing up, so they knew the basics…At least he, John and Virgil did, Gordon and Alan not so much, they were too young when she died.

He watched as Virgil meticulously measured the medicine out into the small cup, holding it up to the light to make sure he measured right. None of them wanted to accidentally give Alan too much…

Virgil handed him the small cup, filled with the pink syrup-like liquid. 

“Thanks..” He nodded as he took the cup, turning his attention to Alan, rubbing soothing circles into Alan’s back. “Sweetie, It’s time for your medicine, baby…” He gently shifted Alan, supporting his baby brother with his arm. 

Alan blinked up at him with a sniffle, his blue eyes bloodshot and teary. 

The lines around his eyes increased as he took a proper look at his baby brother, bringing the medicine cup up to Alan’s cracked lips. Alan’s nose was looking even more inflamed than it had yesterday, glistening with moisture; his lips starting to follow, becoming sore and dry. 

And to top it all off, Alan had deep shadows under his eyes, a true testament to what a horrible night he had endured. 

Virgil was right; Alan did look so much sicker now, he thought sadly as he gently tilted the cup up as Alan weakly drank his medicine, barely reacting to the foul taste. 

He shared a concerned look with Virgil. It wasn’t like Alan not to complain that his medicine tasted terrible, he thought as he lowered the cup and handed it back to Virgil, wrapping his other arm around his still upset baby brother. 

“You did good, sweetie…” He whispered, gently stroking Alan’s fringe to the side, letting his fingers linger for a moment. “I know your medicine doesn’t taste good, but I’m proud of you for drinking it like a champ..” He gave Alan’s forehead a little kiss, smiling softly down at his baby brother. 

Alan looked up at him with a wet sniffle, eyes glazed over with fever, his head resting lightly against his shoulder. Alan’s nose was a mess, snot dripping all the way down to Alan’s bottom lip. And it didn’t seem to want to stop, he thought with a slight grimace. 

“Hey Virgil, can you pass me a tissue?” He asked, his hand stretched out for said tissue, starting to rock Alan in his arms again, keeping his attention on Alan. “Allie’s nose is all gunky…” 

“Sure- ur… um, small problem with that, Scott,” Virgil replied, sounding unhappy and displeased, “Or well, more of an empty problem…” 

He turned his head around to see what Virgil was going on about, only to see Virgil holding an empty tissue box. “Oh...” He winced, realising the same thing Virgil had.

Alan had been out of clean tissue for who knows how long...

“I...I ran out of..of tissues a while ago…” A small spoke up weakly, drawing their attention. “I...I didn’t know where-” Alan hitched slightly, his red nose starting to flare. 

“-W-Where th-the other tissues were, and...and I was just so t-tired that I just been using the...the dirty tis-tis-” Alan sneezed, wet and messily. “-tissues, ugh...” Alan groaned weakly, shivering. “My n-nose hurts!”

“Oh, baby…” He pulled Alan close with a deep sigh, a pained expression on his face as he leaned his cheek lightly against Alan’s head. “Shhhh, I know...I know…” 

No wonder Alan’s nose was even more irritated this morning, using those dirty tissues must have been like using wet sandpaper. Not an experience he would ever wish on his brothers, let alone his baby brother. 

“I’ll get another tissue box...” Virgil sighed, making his way out of the room, calling softly behind him, “I’ll be right back!” 

He nodded as he cradled Alan in his arms, watching Virgil disappear into the hallway, out of sight. 

He looked down at his baby brother and sighed. “Allie, why didn’t you wake one of us up?” He asked, stroking Alan’s cheek with the back of his hand. “We wouldn’t have been mad, sweetie…”

Alan blinked up at him, skin horribly washed out, “I...I don’t know..” Alan sniffled, rubbing at his eyes weakly, “I...It didn’t cross my mind, I just felt so, s-sick..” Alan groaned, pressing deeper to his side. “I...I’m sorry?” 

The vice around his heart squeezed painfully at those two words. 

“Oh sweetheart, don’t be…” He ran his fingers through Alan’s hair; his voice soft and tender. “I should have checked on you, and I’m truly sorry that I didn't…” He whispered, nuzzling his nose against Alan's hair.  

Alan coughed, “It’s o-okay, S-Scotty..” 

He smiled bittersweetly, knowing it wasn’t okay but touched that his baby brother was so quick to forgive him, he didn’t deserve it…

Virgil chose that moment to return. 

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #Scott Tracy #alan tracy #Virgil Tracy #John Tracy #Gordon Tracy #thunderbirds fanfiction #normal au #sickfic #sickdays #thunderbirds 2004 #original thunderbirds

[ghoulsters]

Live reactions from MAG 187!!

Obviously spoilers underneath here, and a lot of jokes to cope with the anxiety I have over these fictional character’s well beings.

-Helen's back!! love my spiral wife

-helen saying touché...again, I love her

"might try to get his boyfriend to smite you?" whenever jon refers to himself as martin's boyfriend I gain ten years of life

-so jon actually got to choose whether or not to follow martin into his domain. I find this interesting especially considering jon has to apparently go through helen's domain alone. but, after last episode I respect that martin probably did need some alone time to think about himself and what might happen next.

"excuse me while I try to contain my joy" i know jon has changed a lot since the beginning but he has always kept his dry sarcasm and I love him for that

-"I am weird architecture" just took on a whole new level of meaning

-wow ok rude jon why would you rather hang out in a domain with a bunch of spiders than in the fun spiral dimension?

-honestly the happy kinda elevator music in the background makes this 10x more hilarious

-the tape recorder feels more awake?? hello??

-jon: *doing his knowing thing* 😐🥱

helen: 🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮😣🤧😷😷🤒

-ah yes, helen classic and the new and updated helen 2.0

-I may not know a lot about british politics but I do know that a lot of them don't like torys, or their equivalent of a republican. helen classic probably would've been the type of family member at the get together to start rambling about conspiracy theories and how the government is out to get her because she found out too much

-HELEN IS WORKING WITH ELIAS?? AJFDNDJKDH. SCREAMING.

-jon your fondness is showing :)))

-it's like asking to go to the restroom but instead it's going into the other room to talk into a tape recorder about horrors and the suffering of the innocent

-helen interrupting to just be like 😏 you guys could get a room here

-of all the times jonny could finally put alex's name in tma he makes him a small, lost child

-nemo's dad saying "WHERE IS MY SON??" popped into my head during the beginning bit of the statement

-interesting that the person in the statement actually finds jon while he's giving the statement

-Jon sounded so...scared. He’s been violated so much and attacked by monsters so I feel it’s pretty valid for him to react this way from being touched. And helen had to make it about him losing his humanity, when it was probably one of the most human responses he could have after all the trauma he went through. 

-OH NO IS HE REALLY ABOUT TO KILL HER??

-"I was hoping I was wrong about you" "you've always known what I am" CHILLS

-no fake friends here 😤

-jokes aside, this scene is amazing

-"it's not me I'm worried about" PROTECT YOUR BF YES KING

-OH MY GOD SHE'S TRYING TO STOP HIM

"im not scared of you" "is was that a...a lie?" IM JEJLFBFCDJKFNFHRIJDBDBHSNXFFSS

-”you’re no different--you are no different from me! you can’t save anyone!” I can’t tell if this is just her being desperate because she’s about to die or if it’s actually true. If it is true, then this has some bad connotations for jon and martin.

-... she's gone.

-but martin's back! and he immediately rushed to see if jon was okay 🥺

-"I didn't realise I was quite so... argumentative" listen martin you can be a sweetheart but also you're stubborn as hell, both jon and us knew already

-even if she was a traitor and a liar, I am still so sad that helen is gone. jon and martin have lost so many people throughout their time at the archives and during the eyepocalypse and at this point their main ally is basira, and who even knows what's happening to her right now. as the final episode approaches (which makes me even more sad and worried for the fate of these characters), we're getting less and less people, good or bad. if things get worse, the final showdown is likely going to just be jon and martin vs elias. plus, I am now a widow.

-im glad jon let martin mourn, even if he himself didn't hesitate to kill her in the end.

-aaaand we're at london now. buckle in guys.

-god, this episode was utterly fantastic. the soundscaping, the voice acting (especially jonny, woo!), and the overall story made me so excited to hear what would happen next. and the twists, they were twistin'! the elias part, helen only pretending to be their friend, jon reacting so inhumanly, and now we're at london (which isn't a twist necessary but im still surprised nonetheless)! it's really why I love this series so much. it's so well made and written. whatever happens in the next two episodes before the hiatus, im ready. not emotionally and mentally of course but ready for more gripping content that keeps me on the edge of my seat.

can't wait to have my emotions absolutely destroyed next week.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma spoilers #the magnus archives spoilers #187 spoilers #MAG 187 #johnathan sims #martin blackwood #long post #dinoz.txt

[kunstpause-archive]

5 Questions for Writers

I got tagged by @elveny and looking at this I don’t even know where to start ? Let’s see if we can make a coherent post out of this

Tagging @curiousthimble, @midnightprelude, @captainderyn, @cornfedcryptid,  @elfyourmother​, @defira85, @edencalder @anchanted-one @tishinada @illegiblewords and anyone else who wants to do it - I’d love to see people’s answers but no pressure to anyone.

1. Do you have a favorite character to write? Who and why?

2. Do you have a favorite trope to write? Or one you want to write?

3. Share your favorite description you’ve written?

4. Share your favorite dialogue you’ve written?

5. Scene you haven’t written, but want to?

1. Do you have a favorite character to write? Who and why?

Of the ones I've written more for probably Aren Surana. I love all my characters to pieces and I always enjoy writing for Cassia or Amara - but Aren is closest to my heart and the things I want to express through writing her are some of the most important to me. Aren is autistic and shares pretty much all of those traits with me and it is very important to me to share her story and her perspective on things with others - and hopefully make the one or other person understand some things in the process.

That said Cassia is probably a close second place - writing her struggle with depression and working through it with familial support was something quite liberating. 

And lately there is Althea, my FFXIV OC which I have not yet published anything about but I’ve been writing a few bits and pieces for her and she is rapidly growing into a character I really enjoy writing.

The rest got longish, so under the cut it goes.

2. Do you have a favorite trope to write? Or one you want to write?

I love lighthearted miscommunication and I absolutely love writing more humerous things. My DA2 coffee shop AU was just pure fun to write. 

I also really enjoy a lot of the classic tropes from “there is only one bed!” to “we need to make out to hide from the bad guys”.

Also I found out through my fictober project with @elveny that I am enjoying the occasional writing of horror-themed things. (Those are all intentionally bad endings, so skip this if that is something that’s not good for you please.)

I wrote a so far unpublished “magic made them do it” story for DA2 which was also quite fun and I am currently in the middle of an enemies-to-lovers-to-weird-allies thing for Althea.

3. Share your favorite description you’ve written?

from my so far not published enemies-to-lovers thing for FFXIV:

He was the living embodiment of all that she hated about herself. The cold distance, the numbness, the utter boredom at the mundane, the miserable existence without a challenge… but something more dangerous somehow. 

A mirror of her undesirable traits would have been something she could have ignored but at the same time he managed to be almost everything she so desperately yearned to be. Unbound by the expectations of those around him, the freedom and single mindedness to follow his heart’s desire and the wild abandon with which he carried himself… He was everything she loathed and all that she wanted for herself at the same time. 

And he had the audacity to laugh at her.

This bit from a Divinity Original Sin 2 ficlet Fractured:

Amadia was there through it all, holding and soothing. Speaking soft words of consolation and compassion. Her old heart slightly breaking as she did all she could to help him hold on. On nights like these she looked at him with heavy thoughts. He had lost so much, endured so much. And yet she thanked all the powers still around her that at least for the moment he was still unaware of just how much. His beautiful, fractured mind saving him, holding back the greatest pain, the sharpest memories. She had done her best to shield him from his own past. Every time she could feel him push at his memories, trying to regain the last puzzle pieces she had woven images around them, pulling them just out of reach. Even with all the strength he had gained, all the power he had learned to master so far, Amadia was determined. Determined to keep him whole and away from the what would surely tear him apart if she didn’t intervene. She needed him whole after all. At least for a little while longer. And so she kept holding him, comforting him the only way she could.

“Rest now, my child. Lay down your burden and let me keep watch over you, my dear, dear child." She could feel his mind relax and starting to drift. Away from the memories, the past, the truth. Lulled by her warmth and her words. One more night where he would be unaware, that those words had once been his own.

And I am very partial to this nsfw bit - Bull trying to distract Amara from the murder happening in Halamshiral

Cold stone against her skin as she was roughly turned around and pressed against it. More clothes carelessly pushed aside. A bruising grip on her hip pushing her into place. When the first sharp sting of pain on her thighs went through her she let out a relieved sob, pushing back against his hands, her whole body pleading for him to continue. This was what she had wanted. Needed. And he gave it to her. Again and again until she could think of nothing else but his hands on her flesh and his voice in her ear.

She had lost all sense of time when he turned her around again, lifting her up enough to enter her in one swift and fluid motion. No matter the amount of pain, she was dripping wet for him, her body reacting instinctively to his touch, rough and forceful as it was. His pace was ruthless. Unforgiving he pushed her into the wall again and again. She felt the pleasure building up, growing with every sharp thrust until it was almost bursting when her heart dropped. 

The music.

It had stopped.

For a second her eyes went searching in the direction of the lights. Head turning. Were those screams she heard or was it imagination?

Bull’s hands closed around her, covering her ears almost entirely as he turned her head back, forcing her to look at him instead. “Don’t listen!” His words were a low grumble but somehow sounded like both, an order and a plea at the same time. He pushed into her faster, his iron grip around her not letting her move even the smallest bit as he pushed her over the edge and she came with a soundless cry on her lips.

Amara’s eyes had fallen shut, the only sound she could hear being the noise of her own blood rushing through her ears. Again she lost track of time, feeling almost like she was floating in his arms. When she finally opened her eyes again Bull was looking at her with so much love and determination on his face she felt something warm in her chest. It was small. Just a spark. But something she was almost desperate to hold on to. She could also see the worry written all over his face and she sighed deeply, before kissing him softly. “Let’s get out of here. Leave for Skyhold right away,” she mumbled against his lips. She closed her eyes again, her forehead against his as she felt the relief running through both of them when he agreed without second thought.

4. Share your favorite dialogue you’ve written?

this bit from a Hands of Fate related one shot about DAI times:

“I can’t believe Varric wrote a book about me,” Cassia muttered under her breath. “I don’t even know if I should be flattered or extremely embarrassed.”

“I would go with flattered and avoid ever reading it,” Dorian suggested with a wink. 

“Oh definitely!” Josephine agreed. “Don’t read it.”

“Ever.” Cassandra’s dry voice added shortly. Bull still didn’t say anything but he was visibly amused by everything that happened.

“So you’ve all read it then?” Dread was on Cassia’s face. “How bad is it?” She eyed the book as if it was a particularly nasty dish she had to eat.

“Not that bad!” Josephine was quick to say. “Really, come to think of it, it is barely worth mentioning.” Cassandra and Dorian nodded eagerly. 

“Well, in my defence I actually haven’t read it, I just skipped through the highlights where Josephine had folded the pages.” Dorian was grinning madly at Josephine’s embarrassed squeak. “I must say Ambassador, I am impressed! I did not expect this from you.” 

Cassandra tried to save the situation with a last desperate attempt. “There seems to be a lot of... artistic freedom in the book,” she tried to assure Cassia. “Things so obviously outlandish that no one will ever think those actually happened.”

Somehow this had the opposite of a calming effect on Cassia. With a very sceptical look she stared the Seeker down. “Really? Like what?”

For the next few seconds Cassia got to experience something that most people believed was absolutely impossible and could never occur. But at a loss for words Cassandra seemed to actually squirm in her seat. “Like, uhm… like…” 

“Like the scene in the chantry!” Josephine helped her out and Cassandra nodded thankfully. 

“Yes, like that one! Something so ridiculous… No one in their right mind would actually believe that actually happened,” she explained eagerly, obviously hoping to put Cassia’s worries to rest.

“Chantry?” was all Cassia got out, feeling her throat closing up. 

“Page 225 onward,” Dorian supplied helpfully and quickly moved aside, barely escaping another kick from Cassandra.

Almost mechanical Cassia turned the book to the page he mentioned and glossed over it. The little voice that had told her ‘the scene in the chantry’ could mean all sorts of things died a tragically painful death as soon as she had started to read. She felt her cheeks flaming up. “Crap!” she whispered. “He is going to kill me.”

5. Scene you haven’t written, but want to?

The last scene of my enemies to lovers thingy - it’s what started the whole idea and I have it in my head but I am not going to write it until I wrote the bits before.

Also I have so many headcanons about Ascians I need to write some scenes at some point. Just to get it out there.

Certain scenes from the sequel to Hands of Fate are also high on my list of things I look forward to write. But I am forcing myself to write things chronologically bc otherwise I will never get done with the re-edits.

And there is a Heavensward friends-with-benefits ot3 scene I have had in mind for a while. Some day. 

#writing meme #Kunstpause writes stuff #this took way longer than I thought #and I feel always a bit overwhelmed when I ahve to pick favourites from my own stuff #they usually change all the time #so this is more of a -currently-

[stanskzseungmin]

Operation Miroh | Stray Kids Mafia! AU ~ Chapter 9

IMPORTANT NOTES AT THE END REGARDING VOTING

Chapters:  0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9

1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8

Masterlist

Not proofread, we die like men.

“What do you want to do? What are your end goals?“ Seungmin narrowed his eyes towards the man before him. 

“Surely you feel the same?” the blonde smiled.

“Whatever it is you’re trying to sweet talk me into, you can not fool me,” Seungmin seethed through clenched teeth.

The man before him was leaning on the desk in the center of the dark room, the only light was the swinging bulb between the two males. His leg was heavily casted and splinted as the blonde balanced his crutches against the table’s edge. Seungmin’s eyes narrowed at the top ranking student.

“It would be beneficial for the two of us to cooperate. You want to leave these walls and destroy them. I have seen what happens behind closed doors behind the squeaky clean facade the government puts up,” the blond gestured Seungmin’s gaze to his side tapping his fingers over the smooth surface of his laptop. “These walls need to come down. Our interests align.”

Seungmin’s eyes traveled to the side staring intently at the ground as he loses himself deep in thought.

“On one condition-” Seungmin started but interrupted himself with an audible gulp.

“Anything,” the blond’s voice was soft as he smiled genuinely in understanding and compassion.

“Why me?” Seungmin questioned whispering in a hushed voice.

“You’re absolutely fully capable,” the blond smiled. “Have you already forgotten who was the one who disabled all the cameras and looped the security footage? I’ve seen what you are capable o-”

“I refuse,” Seungmin snapped, effectively shutting up the blond. His mouth closed in mild shock in the sudden outburst.

“Not without my friend. I’m not leaving them alone in this bitch of a world. Without them, you won’t have me,” Seungmin finalized.

~

“Seungmin,” Chan called out walking into the room opening the door softly. 

The demolitionist had a leg propped up on a crate as he strapped a knife to the side of his calf. He looked up to the gaze of his leader. Seungmin had stern eyes as he looked him up and down. 

“Here,” Chan smiled softly delicately placing a metal tin on the crate before him. “It’s gas. Maybe you can use it. Gasoline is a rarity these day-”

“What do you want?” Seungmin got straight to the point.

Chan sighed. “I want you to reconsider. Maybe you can bring Fel-”

“No,” Seungmin snapped.

“I just don’t think they’re rea-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Bang,” Seungmin pointed his finger at the elder as if he was instigating a fight. 

“Just be careful, ok?” Chan sighed softly, turning to leave. Chan glanced back at Seungmin’s glaring face. “Fail the mission if you must, just get back safe.”

The door closed softly behind him.

~

In a typical Seungmin manner, Seungmin made a rather loud entrance by kicking open the warehouse door.

You jumped in surprise from the loud echoing sound. “Minnie, what the fuck?” you say scoldingly. “You scared me.”

You were settled on one of the couches in the center of the warehouse. The empty building acted as a lounge area of sorts for the members. At the center of the room was a large square fluffy rug that is pitch black in color. On that rug were several couches and bean bag chairs as well as a singular glass rectangular table.

In the corner of the large warehouse which was quite a bit away is their basic kitchen setup. On the upper levels of the warehouse are large balconies and walkways that lined the upper perimeter. The main ladder leading up to it was in complete disrepair due to age and frequent use. Seungmin was to fix it, but whenever the topic was brought up Seungmin would shrug and merely reply with a simple “climb.” Despite this, he himself can not access the upper walkways in this manner nor the other members with the exception of a select few. [A/N: Can you guess who? Lol].

“You should've been ready and alert, dummy,” Seungmin smirked.

“Yeah, yeah,” you mumbled. “Didn’t know I had to be alert waiting for you.”

“Yes, dummy. You would never know if I was a traitor and can back stab you at any given moment of time,” Seungmin chuckled, jabbing his index and middle finger firmly into your side. 

You let out a loud “AHH” in response to his sudden action and jumped away.

“You ready, dummy? Before I jab you again?” 

“Yeah, yeah, Shitmin.”

Seungmin jolted forward to jab you again as you shrieked jumping away from his attack.

~

“You do know what to do, right?” Seungmin’s voice buzzed through your in-ear comms.

“Yeah, yeah. Locate and eliminate the target, destroy any evidence of Stray Kid’s involvement” you confirmed responding to the small device fashioned and implemented by Bang Chan.

Your mission locale was a small rural town in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing but dry desert like lands and steep cliff sides in your immediate surroundings. The large cliff sides hid many dangers of their own. Who knows which one of the surrounding shrubbery was an enemy in a ghillie suit? 

Stealth was of the essence and you can not afford to fuck it up. Not only did you have to stay hidden from those you can see, but those you can not as well.

Within your hand, you wielded a standard 9mm handgun equipped with a hand made suppressor. Seungmin absolutely DESPISED how it looked with its old worn out yellowing rag held together with mere zipties and tape, but not even he can deny the effectiveness of it compared to a standard suppressor. You wouldn’t have it any other way when Seungmin offered to make you a just as efficient one with a much better visual, but you admired the fruits of your own labor despite how fucking ugly it looked. (Not that you would admit it out loud.)

“The man you’re looking for is hidden somewhere in this locale according to I.N during his recon mission. Be careful because the man has a protective detail, so don’t get spotted,” Seungmin informed.

You lay prone in one of the dry shrubbery as you tightened your suppressor on the threaded end of your barrel. Along the pathway you’re scouting one man currently patrolling up and down. You briefly checked your mags to ensure you had tranquilizers equipped. You were still uneasy about taking another life, but no one in Stray Kids were pressuring you in anyway and you were thankful for that. You lined up the headshot as you aimed down your sights and pulled the trigger. The man ragdolled as he went out like a light. You quickly ran to the man and lifted in unconscious body onto your shoulders. 

Using the night as your veil, you entered the small locale. The buildings were rather archaic. They were various shades of the dull colors of tan and gray with the building made majorly of hardened and tempered clay as well as a few concrete blocks. You settled behind a dumpster as your earpiece buzzed back to life.

“That dumpster. You can use that to dump your body or hide in it yourself,” Seungmin paused as the earpiece buzzed softly with static. “Just don’t come anywhere near me afterwards.”

You quickly disposed of the body by tossing it into the metal component and letting the lid drop down. You gave little to no regard to the amount of noise you’re making.

“What was that?” a voice in the background perked up.

“Wow [by 3RACHA], you get a D for effort, because you gave none,” Seungmin added.

You scoffed as you dolphin dive sliding under a table as a man came up to investigate.

“Careful,” Seungmin reminded. “We still don’t know the whereabouts of our guy, don’t cause more trouble, or attract unwanted attention” 

“Are you telling me how to be stealthy, Shitmin?” you chuckled into your mic.

“Hey, if I had the ability to be Han fucking Jisung, then I wouldn’t be the one setting up all the explosives, hmm?” Seungmin chided sarcastically before buzzing off.

The man that came to investigate leaned over the dumpster with his weapon up and ready. He lifted the lid to see the contents as you rushed over kneeing him straight center on his back. Your forward momentum sent him head first into the lid, colliding with the wall, immediately knocking the man unconscious as he fell forward atop of the man you hid earlier as the lid fell shut.

“Geez, can you make any more noise?” Seungmin buzzed in.

You scoffed. “And what are you doing? Where are you?”

“Portable toilet. 6 o’clock.”

You turned 180 degrees and lo and behold, a singular porta-potty. You shook your head lightly as you rested a hand on your hip. 

“Pay attention! Don’t gawk at me,” Seungmin scolded. “Look for our guy. Find a building with a more loaded defense. I’ll set up the explosives once you’re in.”

~

It didn’t take that long to find the point of interest. It was one of the signal towers scattered throughout the locale. There were men at every entrance, ledge and balcony all over the old worn out buildings as well as patrols around and on the rooftops.

“Think you can handle them, Minnie?” 

“Of course not,” Seungmin scoffed. “Loosen their ranks for me, yeah?”

After making quiet and brief rounds around the building traveling from shadow to shadow, you pinpointed a weak spot with lesser guards and within a blind spot from all the patrols. It was a simple back wall hidden inconspicuously behind a short brick fence. The three men more or less gave away the location of the door. Without them, you might’ve, emphasis on might, missed the door.

“Are these mafias or amateurs?” you chuckled to yourself.

“Don’t lower your guard just because you think these guys are idiots,” Seungmin scolded.

You headshotted the man in the middle, the man immediately fell slumped. The men on either side quickly reacted out of shock and reflex towards their fallen ally. In their moment of shock, you and Seungmin rushed forward, one for each of you. You both slung an arm around the men’s neck using it as leverage to swing around their bodies and tactically suffocated them into unconsciousness (Seungmin straight up killed the man by snapping his neck) as you gently hid him behind the protruding wall to hide the bodies from patrols.

Seungmin immediately went to work rigging his C4 to the base of the building as you quietly entered from the back door. Soon after you headed inside you spotted a man by the window smoking a cigarette. You smirked at the man who’s obviously slacking on the job. You quickly disposed of him as you donned his clothes over your own. Your current attire acted as a filler for the man’s larger outfit as you hid the body into one of the cupboards in the corner of the room.

Seungmin quickly ducked into the room deploying another explosive as you headed up the stairs quickly taking care of every unsuspecting guard. Seungmin followed moments after quickly hiding every body you left behind.

“Keep going, dummy. I’m right behind you,” Seungmin whispered. “Just remember what Felix and Woojin hyung taught you.”

As you head closer and closer to the top, you can hear the frustrated bellows of your target more and more clearly. 

“Cursed Bang Christopher Chan. He thinks he’s so good creating his own mafia,” the man stated. The floor above you shook slightly as dirt and dust displaced from the bricks due to the man’s frustrated pacing stomps. “Stray Kids aren’t even that good. They’re just kids who got lucky.”

You stopped before a ladder leading up to a wooden trap door above you. You assumed you reached the top due to the clarity of the man’s voice.

“The C4s are set,” Seungmin informed through the in-ear piece. “I’ve already headed out, I’ll see you at the rendezvous.”

You climbed up the wooden ladder. The old wood creaked and moaned under your weight.

“Bang Chan is playing a dangerous game. It’s time to show those kids that this business isn’t a game they want to be playing.”

You reached the top as you ever so slightly pushed open the trap door just enough to have a peek through. You see two sets of feet, one of your target and one of his goons.

“What do you intend to do, boss?”

“Going to send Bang Chan and Stray Kids a message,” the man gazed at you at the trapdoor unbeknownst to you due to your limited line of sight.

Your earpiece buzzed back to life. “GET OUT OF THERE!” Seungmin’s voice boomed with urgency. Over his exclamation you can make out his rapid footsteps and labored breathing as well as the loud crunching of dirt and gravel beneath his feet.

“We’re going to show Bang Chan what it means to play with fire. You play with fire, you’re going to get burned.”

The man grabbed his goon and tossed him over the trap door. The weight of his body slammed into the wood door against your head causing you to slip off the ladder falling to the floor below with a loud thud and groan.

“GET OUT!” Seungmin panicked. “I’VE LOST ALL CONTROL OVER THE C4. SOMEONE’S OVERRID-”

“Say goodbye to your precious member, Christopher,” the man seethed as he jumped off the tower landing on one of the rooftops below. He pulled the trigger on the ignition device he had in his hand.

One by one you heard explosions go off as you feel the building shake and crumble around you as each and every one of Seungmin’s C4 went off.

You felt no pain as the dark building lit up as you became engulfed in flames.

Somewhere in the distance, the demolitionist’s knees buckled at the sight of the building collapsing and burst into flames leaving nothing behind other than rubble, ashes and smoke.

Seungmin collapsed to his knees as he screamed in horror.

~

Seungmin barges into Hyunjin’s room, the door slamming against the wall loudly. The impact can be heard echoing down the hallway as the walls shook lightly. Hyunjin jumped in response. His mechanical wings expanded as he went into a fight or flight stance with a stern look on his face. His face didn’t lighten up at the sight of Seungmin, his posture, however, did straighten up.

“Get out, Hwang,” Seungmin snapped. Hyunjin didn’t respond. His mechanical wings flared a bit in response due to his nerves acting up towards Seungmin’s harsh tone.

But Hyunjin had a responsibility as the group’s medic. You had just been extracted from the hospital in the middle of nowhere and you were still fully bandaged and injured. Seungmin stomped forward towards Hyunjin as the medic quickly went into a defensive stance.

“Move”, Seungmin’s voice is dripping with venom.

Hyunjin let out a small tsk as he flashed two fingers indicating that Seungmin only had two minutes. Hyunjin side stepped Seungmin performing a series of hops to gain traction for his short glide towards the door closing the door silently behind him. Once the door closed, Seungmin felt his strong walls shattering and come tumbling down. Seungmin’s stern expression fell into one of weep and despair. Seungmin gasped out whimpering softly as tears well up in his eyes. As he trudged over to your unconscious body, he felt his knees buckling. Within a few feet of your cot, Seungmin collapsed to his knees, his hand grasping yours gently as he sobbed into your bandaged arm.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry,” Seungmin sobbed. “It’s all my fault.”

Seungmin sat upright a bit as he delicately rested his hand on your head taking extra precaution as if you were made of delicate glass.

“I should’ve listened to Chan hyung. I shouldn’t have brought you. It’s all my fault,” Seungmin sniffled.

“Dummy?” Seungmin whispered. “Dummy, can you hear me?”

The sound of the door knob wiggling and the slight creaking from the door opening slowly prompted Seungmin to shoot up to a standing position and to very quickly wiping away his tears with his sleeve as he faced the figure in the doorway.

“Time’s up, Seungmin,” Hyunjin stated.

“Whatever,” Seungmin’s voice cracked slightly as he put up a strong front. He walked passed Hyunjin purposefully bumping shoulders with the medic. Hyunjin looked onto Seungmin’s back profile with an unreadable expression as Seungmin closes the door behind him.

~

It had been the same, just like that day back then.

The destruction.

The flames.

The looming black smoke.

The smell of death, so much death.

Only this time, Seungmin was a bit more stubborn.

Seungmin had successfully extracted both you and Minho from the rubble that used to be “Paradise.” He had unceremoniously dumped Minho’s unconscious body in the hallway before Hyunjin’s door. 

Seungmin was no medic, but he knew his way around bullet extraction and gauzing up deep injuries. He kept you locked up in his room with your unconscious body wrapped securely in his arms under the sheets of his bed. Seungmin’s sniffles can be heard throughout the empty room. 

“I’m so sorry,” Seungmin sobbed. “I shouldn’t have gotten you involved. We could’ve found another way.”

“It’s all my fault,” Seungmin choked out.

“It’s all my fault,” Seungmin’s voice could not have sounded more broken.

!!!PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY!!!

~ \\\ ~ Bearing Update ~ /// ~

Kim Woojin : 53

Bang Chan | Bang Christopher Chan : 55

Lee Know | Lee Minho : 55

Seo Changbin : 50

Hwang Hyunjin : 50

Han | Han Jisung : 50

Lee Felix : 50

Kim Seungmin : 60

I.N | Yang Jeongin : 50

~

Back to the Present

Mission Briefing

Location: Walled Settlement

Weather: TBD

Date: 20XX 

Time of Day : TBD

Mission Objective: Follow the lead provided by Bang Chan

Mission Partner: 

Which Stray Kids Member do you want to bring with you for your next mission?

Kim Woojin (Light Injury)

Bang Chan | Bang Christopher Chan (Will not be available until 1 members have gone)

Lee Know | Lee Minho (Heavily injured// Will not be available until 2 members have gone)

Seo Changbin

Hwang Hyunjin

Han | Han Jisung 

Lee Felix 

Kim Seungmin (Will not be available until 3 members have gone)

I.N | Yang Jeongin

New Voting Opportunities

At this point on, you can now send SKZ members to side ops missions. A brief preview of this works can be seen with the underline quote “according to I.N during his recon mission.” It will be more fully understood later on when the time arises.

Note: The same mission constraints apply to these as well. The point of this is to have the reader to put more thought into who they send on a main mission. The main idea of this is to limit the pool of members so it’s not ALWAYS the best fit being sent on the mission (or this story will be a bajillion chapters long.) HOWEVER, the bearings will NOT be updated with those who are sent on these missions, and the amount of time they will have before they will be available for the next main mission or side op will be randomized between the numbers 1-5.

2nd Note: These side ops missions will have a 100% SUCCESS RATE despite whether or not the member you send is fit for the job.

3rd Note: ONLY the side ops missions will have the “None” option, meaning the missions won’t be taken and the member will remain on standby. The main idea for this is to create “opportunities” during the main story missions and when you choose “none,” you lose these opportunities.

So when opportunity knocks, do you open?

2) Side Ops 1: Gather resources to restock on supply.

Which Stray Kids Member do you want to send on this mission?

Kim Woojin (Light Injury)

Bang Chan | Bang Christopher Chan (Will not be available until 1 members have gone)

Lee Know | Lee Minho (Heavily injured// Will not be available until 2 members have gone)

Seo Changbin

Hwang Hyunjin

Han | Han Jisung 

Lee Felix 

Kim Seungmin (Will not be available until 3 members have gone)

I.N | Yang Jeongin

None

3) Side Ops 2: Recon mission to learn more info on the surroundings

Which Stray Kids Member do you want to send on this mission?

Kim Woojin (Light Injury)

Bang Chan | Bang Christopher Chan (Will not be available until 1 members have gone)

Lee Know | Lee Minho (Heavily injured// Will not be available until 2 members have gone)

Seo Changbin

Hwang Hyunjin

Han | Han Jisung 

Lee Felix 

Kim Seungmin (Will not be available until 3 members have gone)

I.N | Yang Jeongin

None

3 Voting Opportunities. Please Vote on All 3!!!

Main Mission

Side Ops 1

Side Ops 2

Overall Statistics

Voting Rules

#stray kids #stray kids mafia au #stray kids angst #stray kids imagines #stray kids x reader #skz #stray kids bang chan #skz bang chan #bang chan #stray kids woojin #skz woojin #kim woojin #stray kids lee know #skz lee know #lee know #lee minho #stray kids han #skz han #han jisung #han #stray kids changbin #skz changbin #seo changbin #stray kids hyunjin #skz hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #stray kids felix #skz felix #lee felix #stray kids seungmin

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Episode #100 Highlights!

That’s right: 100 EPISODES. That’s a lot of great questions, greater answers, questionable pronunciations of usernames, even more questionable uses of overlays, and a++++ excellent dogs. 

The entire cast is answering questions this week!

Max runs an (adorable) intro in the above puppet theater, and each cast member gets a title. Laura is The Heart, Sam is The “Funny Guy”, Travis is The Brawn, Liam is The Actor, Matt is The Brains, Marisha is The Face, Taliesin is The Pyramid, Brian is The Convict, and Ashley is The Favorite.

The cast’s entrance is majestic. There are balloons, sashes, tiaras, and champagne. Henry has a tiara too!

The Search for Grog will air this Friday, February 22 at 7 PM Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole. If you miss the stream, it’ll be available Saturday morning on CR’s YouTube channel!

Talks Machina and CR will air on CR’s official channels starting today! Starting next episode, TM will be available on CR’s YouTube channel on Thursday at 7 Pacific, and also in podcast form!

Stats: in 100 episodes of TM, there’s been 81 episodes of Brian’s glorious beard. There have been 9 Skype/FaceTime call-ins! There were 244 guest misnomers before that well ran dry. 93 episodes of pre-show hijinks (thanks to Max James!). 95 episodes of Arsequeef. 826 days of being on the internet!

Brian: "The concept of creating a talk show about a D&D campaign has always been absurd to me, so we wanted to embrace that terribleness.”

There’s now a Steve Cam (quietly reading, meal prepping, and ignoring the show), and a Zach Cam (staring at a monitor that’s all just Liam’s chest hair and the Fjord bust), and a Max Cam (dancing in a stripper cop outfit), Lockey Cam (practicing with a sword in front of a mirror and then charging at Daniel for filming it - Brian: “Hopefully Daniel’s non-union.”), Ed Cam (drinking scotch and counting down the days until football returns, and also lint rolling his new goatee), Chris Cam (rapping in the VO booth), Brittany Cam (dancing with a unicorn blanket, huffing compressed air - Brian: “You can’t show that on Twitch!”).

Matt is asked how his DMing style has evolved with campaign 2. “Well... I’ve been forced to embrace a little more of the tragedy in the characters’ backstories.” The internal and external conflict has been really interesting for him to watch and react to. “I’ve learned to be very proud of my players for mucking up my perception of where things are going to go.”

Coming to Xhorhas, Nott’s thrilled to no longer have to worry about the mask. Sam’s excited about the City of Beasts “to see what kind of fucked-up individuals we’re going to find and seeing how Nott will react to that.”

Yasha definitely sympathizes with Nott trying to save her spouse, but “there’s a lot going on with her going back to Xhorhas. It’s definitely triggering for her, but she understands the need to want to go back. I wish I could go to Xhorhas. We’ll see what happens.” Travis: “I’m pretty sure once we go to a place we can never go back.”

Favorite item on the Talks shelves? Taliesin mentions a magnetic Percy mini, Sam likes the tiny Sams (”It looks like my bedroom!”), Ashley and Brian are partial to the Sully painting, Laura loves the Pike painting, Marisha loves all the stuff the cast bought on a hungover voyage to the flea market when they were first building the set, Matt loves a very cool dice tower. Brian likes the Vecna with Marisha’s face. Matt: “I don’t know if I like that one.”

Laura doesn’t like the party using the derogatory term for the Krynn, because she wants people to be happy even if she doesn’t know them. Sam: “I haven’t been the best for that, but if Jester wants me to... I guess I’ll change.”

There are new wipe transitions featuring the Matt pillow and the Fjord bust. It’s glorious.

Gif of the week: Sam calling Travis “studly” for catching the candy. Laura: “...I like that I’ve been cut out of it completely.”

Arsequeef gets the Lifetime Achievement Award for Gif of the Week. He wins Max’s 2006 Honda Accord.

On Caleb taking off his bandages because there’s nothing to hide anymore: “Was that terrifying for him, or a relief?” Liam: “Yes!” He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it feels good. He’s got f...r...iends?” Marisha: “I love that sitcom. (weakly) F...r...iends?”

Caduceus being a source of comfort, insight, and advice was built into the character. Taliesin looked at low INT high WIS, and Matt immediately started laughing and told Taliesin he’d do well with that. Taliesin: “There’s plenty of things that will eventually flap that, but we haven’t hit them yet.”

As a player, Travis doesn’t like to weigh things carefully all the time, so a lot of Fjord’s leardership has been a bit about pressing fast-forward. Marisha: “So what you’re saying is that your Grog’s poking through.” Matt points out that if both characters have a trait, it’s probably just Travis. 

Liam: “I’ve got a little Travis poking me from behind.” Marisha, musing: “So many conflicting beards...”

Beau’s prayer to Ioun mostly came from a “couldn’t hurt” perspective. “I’ll try it out. Give it a spin.” When Travis asks, Marisha clarifies that it was Ioun specifically because of the Cobalt Soul. Travis: “Oh yeah, I totally knew the relationship there. I just wanted to make sure the audience did.”

Bugbear friend or bugbear foe? Sam: “He speaks goblin, he seems cool, his name’s Gluzo. He has a hard-to-pin-down accent, but it’s amazing.” Taliesin: “You have a hard-to-pin-down accent, too. It’s something you have in common.” Taliesin gets asked if his insight check revealed that the bugbear is secretly pretending to be someone else. “Yes, he’s just pretending to be a bugbear. He’s actually Matt Mercer.” Laura: “I like him. ‘Cause he’s cute and he let me give him a tattoo.”

Sam: “Nott trusts her friends to be as strong as they can be, and at this point, I don’t know if she’s as concerned with one of them dying as just getting to her husband in time before he dies. If we lose one along the way, Nott will probably cry a little, but will move on.” What if it were Fjord? “Fjord’s expjendable.”

Matt: “I’ve reached a point where Travis controls Yasha in combat, but I don’t consider any of his roleplay canon.” Ashley: “I trust Travis. Barbarian respect.” Laura: “Don’t give him that.” Ashley: “Travis himself is like a Deck of Many things. This is risky, but it’s kind of fun!”

Sam: “That dunamancy shit is lit.” Liam: “And it’s tied up in everything that Caleb wants, so if he can get on the entropy shit and the gravity shit, you know he’s going to go back in time, motherfucker.” Sam is so excited to have these mystery spells because they’re so new, and they’re inherently something they don’t know how to counter or prepare for. Travis: “It’s almost like every time we play D&D.”

Fanart of the Week: a spectacular group shot.

Everyone freaks out over how good Travis looks with glasses. He takes them off and puts them back on sexily for a while. I was too slow grabbing a screencap, but don’t worry, the gifs will be everywhere.

Laura: “Jester hasn’t experienced a lot of emotions. She hasn’t experienced a lot of anything, really. She’s definitely dealt with sadness in her life, but I don’t think it’s been so in-your-face constantly, just the trauma of it all.” Liam: “Yeah, she’s with some very terrible people.” Laura: “While it is traumatic, it’s also been a great adventure, and she’s enjoying being out and doing things. Even if it might hurt her, it’s so much better than reading about it, drawing it, just imagining how it would be.”

Caleb’s still feeling out the shift in his relationship with Nott, but there’s no question that everything they’ve gone through can’t be forgotten or overlooked. “He sees her as an absolute ally no matter what, and will do anything for her. In a weird way, he feels like they’re even more alike than he thought they were, and he loves her and wants her to succeed in what she’s doing, and hopes that the things that he wants don’t fuck it up entirely.” Sam: “Are you talking about Liam and Sam right now?”

Caduceus’ thoughts on Xhorhas? “A new environment, certainly, and a new aspect of nature that he’s unfamiliar with. This is just more terrain to him at this point. He’s also very unaware of the political realities. He’s vaguely aware there is war. He’s still not sure why we can’t just go up and ask for directions from everyone.”

Brian: “That tiara is the most blessed image.”

Travis on the Captain Tusktooth tattoo: “Brand recognition is huge in Xhorhas.” Taliesin: “Viral marketing.” Laura confirms that it’s not likely to change apart from some small differences from tattoo to tattoo. “Each person gets a special google.”

Laura on fans actually getting this tattoo: “I am ALL ABOUT IT.”

Marisha: “Guys! How about instead of M9 tattoos...” Sam: “We let Laura tattoo us? I would legitimately be down with that!” Ashley: “I’m kind of into it.” Liam: “This is what splits us apart.” Laura: “Everybody gets a dick.” Travis: “How would we explain that to our kid? ‘What’s that?’ ‘Your mom did that.’”

Beau is holding back a bit since her impulsiveness started having negative repercussions. “I think it’s about accountability. She’s started to learn--- especially when she first joined M9, she didn’t have friends, really. I think you had to learn, oh, my actions do affect others around me. I think that’s something you can learn and you can grow in, but yeah, she is trying to not be a total fuckwad anymore. Trying. But old habits...”

Favorite TM moments? Travis: “Do you remember that episode where Brian wasn’t the host?” Brian remembers Travis throwing the card that almost took him out. Ashley fondly remembers PullOutKing. Laura remembers Taliesin saying the phrase “I love teenage assholes” (referring to Percy acting immature), and Taliesin is super glad someone brought that up again just when the tweets were finally starting to die down. 

Ashley talks about how proud she is about how far Brian’s come, and how great he’s doing at this. Everyone has an uncharacteristically sincere moment of applause for Brian. Liam: “Everyone take 30 seconds to drop the bit that we think you’re a total fucking weirdo. You’re so good at this, and you’re such a good friend, and we’re so glad you’re part of this family.”

Marisha pitches the idea of trying to sell TM syndicated on LifeTime now that they have 100 episodes.

Brian remembers having food poisoning that led to him running off-screen, throwing up in the middle of the show, and then having to come back. Marisha remembers Travis texting everyone that night with “lol, did Brian just yarf on TV?”

Matt talks about how proud he is of Brian for going from zero tabletop experience to co-running his own game.

Talks Machina After Dog ft. Sleepy Boi Henry

“This is the best dog-petting show ever.”

Liam was skeptical about TM initially, because he was worried it would take away from what would be shared in-game. Marisha: “I was stoked for it, not gonna lie. I was very misunderstood and people hated my character, so I was kind of stoked to just get to explain it.” Travis was sold once they picked the name.

Marisha: “It also set the precedent for really dumb, punny names.” Brian points out that, as a channel, they now can’t stick with serious names as their final choice.

Laura’s sister has been watching the show, and she texted Laura after the show to ask what the whisper was, so Laura’s going to tell her and no one else. Liam: “You’re gonna tell your real sibling?”

There’s a horrified discussion about giraffe fighting. Some segues happened in there.

What’s something their characters have done that’s made them proud? Liam: Caleb using the Wall of Fire. Marisha: the Plank King execution episode as a whole (everyone agrees). Travis: “I was proud of hooking up with an NPC when my wife wasn’t here to threaten me with death.” (he immediately turns to Taliesin: “Help.” Taliesin: “No god can help you now.”) Taliesin: “I sunk a boat.” Laura: Proud of not getting caught with Nott in the Platinum Dragon sanctuary. Sam: Taking the blow for Jester so she could escape. Liam: “Molly showing his dick covered in eggs.”

Matt: “I’m proud of you guys not entirely descending into evil madness. I’m proud of the character arcs of being broken, terrible people, and finding out that it’s okay to be broken; you’re not necessarily terrible.” Liam: “The entire cast went, ‘He’s talking about everyone but me’.” Matt thought it was going to be very hard to keep the group together, but the party turned it into character growth moments. “I’m proud of you.” Laura: “Thanks, Dad.”

Yasha loved the arm wrestling. “Oh man, it’s so fun to be the tank.”

Laura: “I’m really proud of us for saving Kiri!”

Everyone has Liam’s chest hair:

Wishes for the next 100 episodes? More Ashley. 

Brian: “I hate this coffee table more than anything in the whole, entire world.”

What’s something that should never change about the show? How ridiculous it is, the barrel, Dani. Also always have a dog. They fundamentally do the show for themselves, still, and that’s made it a really good environment for them to open up about the show and their characters.

Liam: “There’s a lot of beauty to what we do, but it’s also inherently silly. And to deny that is silly.”

Matt likes that it’s unpolished and imperfect. “Things are going to go wrong regardless, and you can either get angry and frustrated about the lack of control, or you can embrace it.” Sam: “None of this is real anyway.” 

Brian points out that this is not an excuse to stop paying him.

And that’s a wrap! This is the last After Dark for a while, but there are some big ideas in the works for the coming weeks!

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

[likeshipsonthesea]

can i make a klave request for 76? i love your work, btw!

from this list 76. “You’re so weird.” “You have no idea.” I modified it a little for soldier talk, hope you don’t mind. enjoy!

“I need two,” Klaus tells Fitz when he gets to the front of the chow line.

Fitz raises his eyebrows, unamused. “You know the rules, Hargreeves. One ration per soldier.” Klaus flutters his eyelashes, which makes Fitz snort but doesn’t soften the hard set to his jaw. Klaus sighs. 

“Fitzy, baby, I’m gonna level with you. I need a second ration, and I’ll tell you why, I’ve done and got myself the shits. Real bad ones. Just, like, fuckin’ geyser shits, but I don’t need to tell you, I’m sure.” Klaus gives him a wink. “So you and I know both know that I gotta eat double to keep something in my body or who knows what could happen. What am I gonna do when I’m out there shitting my guts out and Charlie comes up outta no where to kill me? Now, I’m sure you don’t want me scrambling to get my pants up and gun out with the only the strength of a barren empty stomach to support me, now do you?”

Fitz blinks for a few moments before shaking his head with a sigh. “You’re are so fucking weird, Hargreeves,” he says, filling up a second plate.

Klaus grins, taking it. “You have no idea,” he says, turning and swinging his hips away.

Fitz chuckles. “Say hi to Katz for me.”

“If I had a free hand I’d flip you off!” Klaus yells over his shoulder but he doesn’t mean it. Fitz is of a good sort, as far as the platoon goes. Klaus doesn’t think he knows, but he doesn’t think Fitz would go out of his way to say anything if he did. That’s about the best they can hope for, out here.

“Hey baby,” Klaus purrs, pushing into the tent with the rations. Dave sits up from where he was napping, resting his ankle after hitting it funny on the trek here. “Got you some chow.”

“Aw, canned ham and crackers, my favorite.” Dave smiles, taking the plate. “You’re too good to me.”

“It’s only ‘cause you put out,” Klaus says around a mouthful of crackers and Dave shakes his head, still smiling.

They don’t talk much as they eat. It’s habit, even if they’re far from any enemy territory. Klaus munches on the stale crackers and thinks about Fitz, and the rest of the company along with it.

It’s weird to fight for the lives of people that might turn on him if they ever knew who he loved. Fitz is really an exception to the rule, and though it’s an open secret amongst the platoon that Klaus and Dave are close, implying anything beyond friendship is always meant as a jeer. Even Klaus, with his eyeliner and sashaying and calling everyone and their mother “baby,” still gets roped into the nights when they reminisce about girls back home. The guys still think– refuse not to think– that Klaus and Dave are straight as they shoot.

It makes Klaus think about back home. Not that the Academy was ever home. But he worked alongside his siblings and he still isn’t sure if all of them are okay with his inclinations. He assumes Allison must be, working in Hollywood and all, and Vanya is definitely repressing something under all those button-ups and undiagnosed neurosis.

He knows Ben doesn’t care, at least not more than he cares about not seeing what Klaus gets up to. “I don’t need to see this,” he’ll whine or, more lately, sigh, and drift off to wherever he goes when he isn’t haunting Klaus. He acts as if Klaus never gives a warning, like there isn’t build-up before the actual dicks come out. Though, to be fair, there’ve been many a drug deal that went down downtown, if you catch his drift, so possibly Ben had a point.

Klaus thinks Luther is too repressed to even know what a dick is and Diego might be the straightest person Klaus has ever met– come on, the knives are most definitely compensating for something only someone giving it would worry that much about. Neither of them screams “ally.”

There is Five, though. Klaus wonders. Anyone who hits a Diamond Anniversary with a damned piece of plastic is in no place to judge, but Klaus doesn’t know. He wonders what Five would think, though. Think of Dave.

A foot nudges Klaus’ knee and he looks up. Dave is smiling. He’s always smiling. Typically it would irritate Klaus, someone smiling all the time, but knowing what Dave goes through here, what he sacrifices just to be able to smile, it feels so much more than the empty victories Klaus is used to, in smiles.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Dave says, and Klaus is almost positive that the phrase is out of date, even for today’s date, but it’s so perfectly Dave, so sweet and genuine and– fuck, Klaus is so gone for him.

“Wondering what my family would think of you,” Klaus says, because he doesn’t know how to lie to Dave and doesn’t have any inclination to start. It’s weird, but in the good way. Like pedicures or wax figurines.

“Oh? And what seems to be the verdict?”

Klaus thinks about it. “Luther would be confused by you.” He glances at Dave’s body. “Intimidated, maybe. He doesn’t know what to do with people who aren’t more broken than him.” Dave frowns slightly, so Klaus adds a nice thing. “I think he’d make you laugh, and I think he’d like that.”

Smiling again. Score.

“Diego might pull the protective older brother thing because he likes that kind of stuff. He might threaten you with a knife, we don’t know.” Klaus shrugs and Dave shakes his head. “You’d be too earnest for it, though, and he’d give up and probably make you talk about sports. Ugh. Men things.”

“You’re a man,” Dave says, giggling a little the way he always does when Klaus is being ridiculous.

Klaus waves a hand. “Semantics. Moving on.” Dave chuckles and Klaus smothers his own smile by talking. “Allison would see how drop dead gorgeous you are and congratulate me on the spot.” Dave flushes but doesn’t comment. Klaus goes soft, looking at him. “She’d also like how kind you are, I think. She’s always liked that stuff. Vanya, too. She’d talk music with you I think. You’re both huge nerds for that.

“Ben would love you for much the same, he’s a huge nerd too.” Klaus curls his hand around Dave’s unhurt ankle. “He’d like how much you love me. And how much I love you.”

Dave presses his toes into Klaus hip, smile warm like the first rays of sun after days of rain. “My folks wouldn’t know what to do with you,” he says but it isn’t harsh. “I think they’d like you for how good you are for me. They always said I was too quiet and such, needed someone to balance me out.”

“Well I damn well tip the scales,” Klaus preens, fluttering his eyelashes at Dave, who laughs, again.

“Sometimes you’re almost too much to hold,” Dave says, so damn earnest and heart pounding and Klaus can’t help himself, daylight be damned, he leans in to press his mouth to Dave’s smile, and they keep at it, slow and too much, for minutes longer than they should, but Klaus doesn’t care one bit.

They settle into sleep a mere hour later, needing to be up bright and early to keep moving. It’s cold at nights, always is, so they huddle together for warm, Dave the little spoon because Klaus got to be it last time.

With his cheek pressed to Dave’s shoulderblade, Klaus thinks about Five, inexplicably. How would he react to Dave? Assuming he isn’t a bigot, assuming he cares at all, would he like Dave?

They had so little time together, but that’s not it because the rest of the house dispersed within years of Five’s disappearance. The only thing Klaus can base his other assumptions on is who his siblings became later. He never got to see that with Five.

He suddenly, achingly, wants to. He wants to see Five grow up, see who he is beyond the impending apocalypse. Is he funny? He was funny as a kid, Klaus remembers. The dry kind of wit. He’d say something and have Klaus in stitches while the rest of the group hadn’t caught on to the joke. He’d been a condescending asshole, yeah, but he shared some of his cooler facts with the rest of them.

Klaus remembers mentioning once, halfway into a panic attack or something, that he couldn’t tell if he was awake sometimes because the ghosts haunted his dreams. Within days, Five had read several books on the subject of nightmares and, offhandedly, unimportantly, dropped tips on telling the difference between dreams and reality when he was around Klaus. Klaus wouldn’t have known, but he’d been looking for his mask one day and found a whole stack of books, and Five shooed him out of his room yelling, but Klaus had known.

He’d found out Five’s biggest secret: he cared.

Klaus’ chest clenches thinking back to it. Five had spent decades trying to get back to them to fix the apocalypse. To save them. Klaus couldn’t figure out why, thinking on it, because they were all seven shades of fucked up, but maybe they weren’t, when Five left.

There’d been a time when they were as close to a family as Dad– Reginald had let them be. Sneaking out to play after dinner, sharing comics and inside jokes, fighting over the bathrooms and defending each other from the world. Five had left them a family and come back to find them fractured.

Klaus always thought they were strangers who grew up in a house together, but they hadn’t been strangers, really, until after they’d left. After they’d stopped trying. After there’d been something else to hold onto aside from each other.

Five never had that. Neither had Luther, come to think of it, and Ben only had it tangentially. None of them grew up, and the rest of them grew– wrong.

For a moment, clinging to Dave’s sleepless form and shivering despite the sleeping bags he’s cocooned in, Klaus wants desperately to go back. Go back to a time before they all gave up, before it got too hard. Grab on to each other instead of let go, help each other.

Maybe it’s being in the marines, having Dave and Fitz and all the other guys, but Klaus finally knows what being on a team can mean. What it can be.

“You okay?” Dave mumbles, mostly asleep. Klaus nods against his back. “Go to sleep, matok.”

Klaus squeezes closer. No use wondering over the past now– or the future, or whatever it is. Klaus is here, with Dave, and that’s what matters now. Klaus doesn’t have to wonder if Dave loves him or wants him or any of that. He knows the answer, and the comfort in that is worth more than anything his siblings could give him.

Klaus presses his lips against Dave’s shoulder and quickly falls asleep.

#klaus x dave #klave #klaus hargreeves #the umbrella academy #fic #the umbrella academy fic #my writing #sort of fic #ficlet #angst #fluff #all of the above #i love these two!!! #SEND IN MORE ASKS IF Y'ALL WANT #preferably other characters but klave is fine too #i am loving this!! #also i officially started my first real tua fic today #so that's exciting #telepathy anyone?

[outerspaceisbetterthannothing]

Blame [Surgeon!Calum AU] Ch.5

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

Summary: What do you do if the only person you feel the connection to is the person you blamed for your sibling’s death?

Warnings: none, just some long awaited fluff with a shade of angs

Feedback is highly appreciated. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Annabelle closed her book with a loud smack and dropped her head on the cover. A groan escaped her. She had been trying to read for class for the last two hours. But no matter how many times she reread the same sentence the meaning of words still escaped her. She couldn’t remember a single idea, her mind too agitated with everything and nothing at the same time to comprehend anything.

She lifted her head and looked at the book cover with a resentment in her eyes, as if it was book’s fault she couldn’t concentrate. Anna rolled on her back on the bed, where she was wallowing, and huffed. Then she closed her eyes and dived into her memory. His voice was so intense and still so soothing. How was it possible? They talked less than five hours ago. Five hours, but it seemed like a whole life had passed since that. Anna opened her eyes, groaning again. She should have texted him, or even called back. She should have said already that she wasn’t gonna go with him. Because what a nonsense it was to go to a house of people she didn’t even know. To a garden party of a three years old, for heaven's sake! Of course she wasn’t going there. So she should have picked up her phone and made him know. No need to keep his hopes up. ‘Like there were any hopes’, she huffed again. What hopes was she thinking about? Not like the guy asked her out. And something stabbed inside at that thought. Was she disappointed he didn’t ask her out?!

Anna stood up and rushed into the kitchen in a failed attempt to run away from this idea. But it was nonsense, pure nonsense. She didn't want him to ask her out, didn’t need it. It would be inappropriate, if not say more. Too much was there between them. Too much and not enough.

She opened her fridge and looked at its empty insides. She still hadn’t made herself go grocery shopping. Couldn’t force herself. Like she couldn’t force herself answer him right away.

Annabelle closed fridge and leaned on a kitchen counter. She wanted to see him, that’s why she hadn’t answered him yet. But she couldn’t go, and that’s why she should have answered him.

A knock at the door pulled her back to the reality. Anna could hear giggles behind her door. She sighed and came to let the visitors in.

“Do you know that you don’t have to check on me every day?” she asked helping girls with their bags. She could smell Chinese takeaways and got a glimpse of her favourite chocolate dessert in one of the bags.

“Who’s checking?” Jo frowned a little. “It’s Thursday! And Thursdays are for the girls!”

Allie giggled, shrugging out of her light coat.

“Yeah, right, how could I forget,” Anna rolled her eyes, taking food to her tiny kitchen.

“Can you believe this weather?” Allie whined, following her. “It’s been pouring the whole day! We thought we won’t be able to get to you through all this traffic and water.”

“I think I totally ruined my purple boots,” said Anna with a sad smile.

“With silver plaques?” Jo gasped. Anna only nodded. “No way, Belle!”

“I hope they will dry off. But they’ve never been in such rain,” Anna shrugged. “Hope they’ll be okay.”

“They totally would!” Allie reassured her, rubbing her back lightly. “So, what are we watching?”

Anna smiled knowingly. That phrase always led to at least half an hour of bickering about what film to watch. She never took part in this, being happy with any crap they settle on. The only thing she needed from Thursday nights was time with her girls.

Some time later they settled on her sofa, plates with Chinese all around mixed with snacks and desserts. Jo insisted on opening wine, and now they laughed at another stupid situation Bridget Jones got into, all well fed and slightly tipsy.

At some point Jo looked at Anna quizzically, like she wanted to ask something, but refrained. Anna decided she was too lazy to ask, knowing well enough that Jo could never keep anything to herself for long. And as a confirmation, couple minutes later Jo uttered, “Listen, Belle, we didn’t want to ask on Saturday, but,” she stopped in search for better words, “you never really said anything about that meeting with the doctor.”

Anna looked back on the TV screen, then shrugged. “It was okay,” she said, not really knowing, what she could say about it.

“What’s his name again?” Allie asked all of a sudden.

“Calum,” Anna said, feeling the same stab inside her chest at the sound of his name. “We had some coffee and walked around the city for couple of hours. Talked,” she sighed. “I had to get ready to leave to my parents so he walked me home. We hugged. That’s pretty much everything.”

She felt Allie looking at her in slight disbelief, saw Jo raising her left eyebrow. They didn’t say anything though. Anna knew they wanted, desperately needed to say it all out loud. But she wasn’t ready to hear it and she was so grateful they understood.

Though, couple minutes later Allie muttered, “So everything went fine, right? Do you feel better now?”

Anna smiled, moved closer to Allie and rested her head on her friend’s shoulder. “Yeah, much better,” she agreed. “I’m glad I had a chance to apologise.”

Allie hummed in conciliation and for some time the living room was silent except for the TV.

“Belle,” Jo broke the silence once again. “What's up with you and Bryan?”

Anna sighed heavily, but kept staring at the TV.

“Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the guy, you know,” said Jo, “but you haven't said a single word to a poor lad on Saturday.”

“He deserved that,” Anna stated unapologetically.

“What did he do?” Allie shifted next to her. Annabelle was always rather closed about her relationship with Bryan, mostly because of Jo’s reactions. But she's never been so hostile towards him as she was on Saturday. And Allie’s tone just showed that girls noticed it too.

“Nothing unusual, to be honest,” Annabelle sighed, as she lifted her head from Allies shoulder and started talking. “He called me on Friday, like, to check on me. And then started talking about us coming back to my apartment the day after the funeral, like it wasn’t a big deal and everything was exactly like it was before, and it’s just…” she sighed again, shook her head and continued, “Don’t even know why, but it pissed me off. Like, I was really angry. Guess I just overreacted. But I… You know, everytime I think about it, I get like even angrier than I was when we actually had that fight. And so I think, maybe I haven’t overreacted? Maybe, he really acted like a moron?”

“He did,” stated Jo, stretching her arm and patting Anna’s knee.

“Jo!” Allie, as usual, wasn’t ready to be so straightforward.

Joe shrugged and asked, her tone is just a bit more attacking than it should have been, “What? You’d say he was right?”

“The only thing I’m saying is everybody’s shook and beaten right now,” Allie tried to defend both her and Bryan. “Everyone’s emotions are heightened and nobody can think straight. He was wrong, but I still hope you can work that situation through, Anna,” she finished, looking at Annabelle.

Anna just shrugged, eyes on the TV screen. She had nothing to say to Allie. She didn’t know if they’d work it trough or not. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to work through it or just wanted to stop that train of fights and mutual disappointments. She felt such tiredness all of a sudden. She was tired of Bryan, her emotions, grief, everything.

“He called today, you know,” Anna blurted just to get rid of the awful feeling inside.

Jo looked up at her, “Bryan?”

“No,” Anna shook her head, only that moment realising, that she hadn’t heard from Bryan ever since last Saturday. “Calum, Dr. Hood. He called me today,” she explained.

She almost regretted telling girls about it, foreseeing their questions and not really wishing to give away much. But the looks on both their faces were definitely worth it.

“Why did he call you?” Allie asked, her voice significantly lower.

“Well, basically, to ask me to go with him to a three years old’s garden party,” Annabelle giggled, seeing them puzzled to the point of questioning her sanity.

“Er, I’m sorry, but what?” ushered Jo.

Anna giggled again, picking up her glass and sipping on her wine. Her tiredness was now nothing more that a memory.

“Well, long story short, while we were sitting in that park we met at, a little girl sneaked up on Calum. And she happened to be his patient. Well, she was a patient like years ago. But she has to visit hospital regularly, so she sees Calum often, as I understood, doesn’t really matter,” Anna shrugged, eager to finish. “And she asked him to come to her garden party. And he agreed. So he called today and asked me to go with him.”

Both Jo and Allie were looking at her with wide eyes. Both, probably, had no idea how to react.

“So, what did you answer?” Jo finally asked.

“Well, I wanted to politely reject, but he asked me to like think about it. So I promised to think,” Annabelle rolled her eyes a little. “Of course, I’m not going there.”

“And why the heck no?”

Anna almost choked on her wine. Not because the question was unexpected, she was ready to exactly that question. What she wasn’t ready for was that the question came not from Jo, but Allie.

Calming her breath down, Anna looked at her friend. She knew Allie since their first year in the nursery school. How come Allie still could surprise her?

“Come on, Allie! I don’t even know these people. How can I come to their house to their little daughter’s party?” Anna said with a rather awkward laugh. It was so obvious to her. And the fact that it wasn’t obvious to Allie made Anna uneasy.

“I don’t think you should worry about it,” Allie shrugged nonchalantly. “From what I’ve heard from you Dr. Hood seems to be thoughtful and sensible person. I don’t think he would ask you to come if he wasn’t completely sure it’s okay for you to go.”

Anna kept looking at her friend in disbelief, silence fall over them again. She felt Jo’s intense gaze moving from her to Allie and back.

“I just-” started Anna, shaking her head a little, not even sure what she wanted to say. “I don’t think I’m ready for parties, anyway, so-”

“Belle, you’ve said it’s a three years old’s garden party. Not like he asked you out to a rock show,” snorted Jo, obviously amused by Anna’s reasoning.

Allie nodded in agreement. “You’ve got really no reason to decline, Anna,” she hesitated, but then finished, “unless you don’t want to go.”

Anna spared her friends a bit exasperated look and turned her attention to the TV screen, sliding down on the sofa. But really. Did she want to go there?

***

Something was vibrating next to her. That was the first though her sleepy brain registered.

“Hello?” Anna answered her phone automatically, even before she realised it was her phone vibrating.

“Shit, did I wake you?” his voice was raspy and guilty.

“Yeah, you did,” she admitted, opened her eyes and tried to focus on the alarmclock on her bedside table.

“I’m sorry, Anna. Shit, I’m really sorry. Just go back to sleep,” he hastily said. “I’ll just call you back. Or you call me, when you’ll have time.”

Anna sighed. “Bryan, I’m already awake. No need for anybody to call back.”

Awkward silence followed her words.

“I’m sorry,” Bryan repeated after couple moments.

Anna sat up in bed, bright blue sky behind her window promising a perfect day.

“You’ve already said it. It’s okay, my alarm clock was…”

“No, I mean, I’m sorry for last Friday,” Bryan said with a hard sigh. “I’m sorry for not being able to truly understand what you’re going through. I’m sorry for neglecting your feelings and not thinking before I say some shit. And I’m sorry for not being there with you.”

“Bryan,” mumbled Anna, but couldn’t finish, taken aback by his words. “It’s not your fault you’re not here,” she breathed out finally. “I know you would be if you could. And I shouldn’t have snapped at you so harsh. I’m sorry too.”

She heard him breathing heavily. “You had all the right to be angry with me. I’m kinda surprised you haven’t broken up with me yet. Though, I’m also really happy you haven’t.”

“Bryan…” but she didn’t have any words. Only the feeling of tears coming closer to the surface.

“The last year was pretty tough for us, huh?”

She still didn’t have an answer. All Anna could do was just listen to him.

“I know you said you don’t want me to transfer…”

“You would lose your scholarship, Bryan, it’s not an option!”

“Yeah, but I want you to know,” he swallowed and Anna almost felt in her bones, how difficult for him was to have this talk, “you just say a word, just one word, Anna, and i’ll transfer the very day. Because, honestly, baby, you’re the most important in my life.”

“I know that, Bryan,” she said and wiped away a tear.

“Good. Cause I love you, Annabelle.”

And that was the moment. The perfect moment for her to say it back, but even before she got to think if she could say it back, he was already continuing, not waiting for her, not giving her a chance. He knew she wouldn’t say it back. He knew she didn’t feel it back. He knew everything. “I wish you have a good day. And I guess I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Of course, Bryan,” she forced a smile, not bothering to think that he wouldn’t see it anyway.

***

Taxi rushed through the Saturday afternoon traffic. Anna turned to look out of the window every now and then, tried to follow the route to remember to what part of the city they were going. But her eyes always went back to the man on her left. She couldn’t help it and she didn’t have much of control over it. She knew she was staring, not very obvious for she rarely looked at his face, but she still was staring. And frankly, she really enjoyed it.

He looked funnily ginormous being squeezed in the backseat of a taxi. She didn’t reckon other men looking so big for a taxi, but he did. And it made her hide her smile. He kept his hand on his lap, some parcel in a bright pink wrapping paper in them. He held it carefully, like it was not just important but fragile. Did he hold everything like that? Just because of how strong he was and how easily he could break things? Anna thought he should have been really strong with those arms of his. She threw another sneaky look at his tattoos being perfectly visible with his short-sleeved shirt. Did they mean anything? And if they did, then what did they mean? Could she ask?

She sighed heavily from all of questions rushing through her mind and lifted her head a little higher just to be met with his eyes. He smiled reassuringly, she smiled back, her cheeks heating up from the realisation she got caught staring at him. Anna turned to the window again and rolled her eyes. Did she really agree on this just to gawk at him like she’d never seen attractive guys before? What a moron she was!

She tried to concentrate on the buildings they were passing, but she could hardly recognize any of them at that point. Not more than a couple minutes later the taxi stopped in front of a fancy building, which was very interesting but could hardly be a family house. She looked at Calum with a question in his eyes, but he didn’t look at her anymore, busy with paying to a driver. She waited for him to gesture her to the door and got out of the car.

“They live couple blocks from here,” Calum explained, pointing further up the street. “I just thought we could walk a little before. If you don’t mind, of course.”

“No, it’s totally fine,” she smiled, yet a little frown still on her face.

“So,” Calum started a minute or so later, “I’m really glad you agreed to come.”

She smiled with a huff. Good manners required her to say she was glad too. But truth to be told, she didn’t know if she was glad. So she just smiled back at him in hopes he didn’t get it wrong.

“But I would lie if I say I wasn’t surprised when I got your text yesterday,” he smiled too. “You sounded pretty adamant with all that thank you,but when I first called you.”

She shrugged shyly. “I always sound adamant, it a habit of mine,” she stated jokingly.

Calum snorted. “What made you agree, though?”

Annabelle sighed, then looked at him, then shrugged. “Don’t even know really. Guess I just agreed.”

She saw him nod to that strange explanation.

“Though you were right,” she added, “I did have nothing better to do today, so…”

They walked for couple minutes in silence, when Anna felt the awkward need to say something.

“What’s in there?” she asked, pointing at the present in his left hand.

“Oh, it’s a book for Aubrie. I saw it in a shop the other day and thought she would like it.”

“Can she read?” Anna frowned. From what she knew about kids three was too early to be able to read.

Calum snorted. “Probably, no. But there are a lot of pictures in that book and she’ll definitely make Laura read it to her. It’s about human body and different organs, lots of colorful pictures. Nothing naturalistic but pretty accurate for a kid’s book. She’s gonna love it.”

Anna smiled, looking at his face brightening up while he was speaking about Abrie. Still she couldn’t help but think what an odd present it was for a girl he was calling princess. Sure, he was a surgeon, but still, this present was very strange.

“I didn’t want to ask in a taxi. How are you?”

She tilted her head a little, like she wanted to look at him, but changed her mind.

He sighed, “And, please, don’t say you’re fine, you’re obviously not. So… how are you really doing?”

Annabelle finally looked at him, eyes full of surprise. He looked back, his sight serious and soothing. He slowed down, still looking at her, she adjusted to his speed.

“How do you know I’m not fine?” she asked him back instead of actually answering.

Calum shrugged, “It’s natural, isn’t it? Not to be fine after what you’ve been through.”

He put his hand on a small of her back and motioned her towards the house on the right.

“Unless you’re a sociopath who tortures little kittens in her basement at night,” he continued, opening a fence for her and letting her walk up to the house. “Are you a sociopath, Anna?”

She laughed, surprising herself with such reaction. “No, I’m not,” she answered, looking back at him.

“Good,” Calum smirked and pressed a doorbell.

The door opened the very next moment, as if Aubrie’s mother waited right behind it.

“Hello, Calum!” Laura, if Anna remembered correctly, smiled brightly at her daughter’s ex-doctor. “I’m glad you’re both finally here, she’s been asking about you every two minutes for the last three hours,” with that she rolled her eyes and let Calum peck her on the cheek, before turning her full attention to Anna. “And it’s so wonderful to see you again, Anna. Please, come inside!”

She moved a little back to give them space. Anna followed Calum, a little shaken by the warm welcome. She expected Laura to be at least surprised with Anna accompanying Calum. But it looked like she knew Anna was to come.

They were walked into a big living room, photos of little Aubrie on practically every surface in the room. About five more adults sitting on the sofa or standing near the fireplace.Glass doors on the opposite side of the room showing rather big for New York backyard with a bunch of kids running and yelling, happiness all over their faces.

“And you must be, Anna! It’s really nice to meet you!” Anna was pulled out of her thoughts by a strong man’s hand shaking hers. She smiled at the man she heard Calum referred to as David and put on her best smile. “Thank you for letting me come,” she said letting go of his hand. Thick curls left no doubts about him being Aubrie’s father. He wanted to say something in return, but was interrupted by his little girl running towards them.

“Doctah Cawum!” she yelled, practically jumping into his arms. Calum chuckled and hugged her. “I thought you nevah come!” she added, pouting in his neck.

“How could I miss your party, princess? But sorry for making you wait,” he said and put her back down.

She immediately started pulling on his arm with all the strength her little body provided. “Let’s go to the garden! I have tea!”

Calum laughed at her eagerness. “Give me a minute, princess, I need to have a word with your Mum and Dad. But my friend Anna,” he looked at Annabelle, “will keep you company for me, okay?”

“Sweet!” squealed little girl, let go of Calum’s hand and grabbed on Anna’s instead. “Let’s go!”

Anna threw another look at Calum, but he just smirked and winked at her, so she let Aubrie pull her towards the glass doors. Other kids in the garden were too busy playing some kind of a chasing game, so nobody spared them another glance.

“Sit here,” Aubrie pointed to the little pink chair at the head of a pink table served for a tea party. “You’re a guest of honor,” she added, taking up a teapot, which looked pretty heavy for a three years old girl.

“Thank you,’ smiled Anna. “Maybe you need some help with that?”

But Aubrie was already pouring some beverage looking like an iced tea without ice in two cups. As soon as she finished with that and put a teapot back on its place, she moved one of the cups to Anna, sat on the closest to her chair and looked at her guest of honor with her big bright eyes.

Anna felt awkward again and decided to play along. She took a sip from her tiny cup (definitely an iced tea) and smiled. “That’s the best tea I’ve ever tried in my life!” she announced making Aubrie giggle. Though little girl didn’t even look at her own cup, eyes stuck on Anna.

“You’re so pretty! I like your hair!” she mumbled after a minute of mindless gawkin.

“And I like your curls,” Anna laughed but then pouted playfully, “My hair is wavy, but I can’t have curls.”

“They’re like sun!” Aubrie couldn’t hold back and grabbed carefully on several Anna’s locks. “We’re gonna be best friends with you!” she said, playing with Anna’s hair.

Anna felt her smile drop at such simple-minded act of child’s affection. “Really?” she muttered before she could stop herself.

Aubrie nodded, letting go of her hair. “You’re Cawum’s friend and Cawum is my bestest friend evah. You and I are friend now,” Aubrie nodded again and smiled at Anna, showing she lacked couple of teeth. “And you’re pretty.”

Anna laughed, “Not as pretty as you, princess Aubrie!”

At this Aubrie’s smile shone even brighter. “What’s your favourite color?” she asked, starting playing with her own curls.

“Er… light blue, I think,” Anna uttered, not sure she’d ever thought about her favourite color. “Like the sky in the morning,” she explained as Aubrie knitted her brows.

“That’s a pretty color,” little girl nodded seriously and stood up to pour Anna some more tea.

“How come you’re friends with Calum?” Annabelle asked, watching Aubrie’s manipulations. She knew the story from him, but she wanted this simple-minded little girl explain it.

“He fixed my heart when I was small. My Mama say my heart didn’t wanna work, but Cawum helped it and now it work,” Aubrie sat back on her place and started swinging her legs. “When I’m big I gonna help hearts too just like Cawum,” she shared in a quiet voice.

And all of a sudden Anna felt it again, the dam inside her crashing down and all the tears reaching to her eyes. She threw her head back and squeezed the bridge of her nose in an attempt to stop it.

“Are you okay?” Aubrie asked, looking at her new friend nervously.

“Yeah, princess, just got something in my eye,” Anna smiled again, sniffing. The present Calum had chosen for Aubrie now seemed the most natural thing in the world.

“I can ask Daddy look. Daddy always help me when I get something in my eye,” Aubrie uttered, ready to set in motion at Anna’s first word.

“You’re a very kind girl, princess Aubrie, but I’m alright now.”

“You are a doctah too?” Aubrie asked, changing topics with a mindblowing speed.

“No,” Anna shook her head, “I’m at college. I study history of art.”

“Art?” Aubrie frowned, obviously not really getting what was there to study.

“Yeah, beautiful pictures and sculptures people made in the past and we can now see in museums,” Anna tried to explain.

“Beautiful like you?” asked Aubrie, still struggling to understand, and made Anna laugh loudly.

“No, much more beautiful. Like you,” she said when she’d calmed down.

Aubrie’s eyes lit up at those words.

“What are y’all talking about?” sounded over their heads. Annabelle looked up and had to squint, Calum standing with the sun right behind his back, his skin glowing in the soft afternoon light.

“Anna is my friend now!” Aubrie exclaimed happily and giggled again.

“What a wonderful news!” Calum smiled, putting a plate with a slice of cake on a table in front of Anna and kneeling next to Aubrie. “But what about a present from your old friend?” he asked and handed her present out.

“For me?” she mumbled not really believing him.

“Of course, princess,” Calum chuckled.

Aubrie squiled, grabbed a parcel and started tearing the wrapping paper with her little hands. The moment she understood what was inside, she squiled again and hung around Calum’s neck. “This is the best present evah!” she told him.

“Read this book and we’ll start your surgeon training,” Calum promised her, which made her jump up to her feed and rush back to the house, yelling, “I need to tell Mama!”

Calum grinned, looking at over excited girl disappear inside the house. He then looked at the chair she was sitting it, considering the idea of sitting down on it, but then just pushed it aside and sat on the grass, his careful eyes now at Anna.

“So you’re friends now?” he mocked her.

“Apparently, I have pretty hair and decent choice of favourite color, so I guess, we’re friends now,” she said with a very serious expression, which made Calum chuckle again.

“Eat your cake,” he ushered her.

Anna smiled, looking down. “Right, the supposedly tastiest banana cake in the world!”

“One and only,” Calum nodded.

“So tell me,” Anna looked back at him with a mischievous smile on her lips, “what if I won’t be able to confirm its superiority?”

“Then, pray, keep it to yourself,” Calum rolled his eyes and looked at kids still running around.

Anna giggled, but picked up a fork and tried her cake. She chewed, swallowed and felt Calum’s expectant gaze on her.

“So?” he asked not ready to wait any longer.

“I guess, I’ll keep silence,” she teased him with an overdramatic sigh.

“Come on!” whined Calum, and Anna bursted out laughing.

“Olay, okay, fine! It is the tastiest banana cake in the world,” she admitted.

Calum smirked but didn’t say anything.

“Calum?” Anna asked halfway through her cake.

“Hm?” he looked at her.

“Why Laura and David weren’t surprised to see me with you?”

“Because I asked them beforehands if it was okay to bring you along,” Calum explained with a soft smile.

Anna nodded, looking at her cake.

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” she noted.

He smiled widely again, “I’m a thoughtful guy.”

Anna snorted, finishing her cake. “Well, thank you for bringing me here. And answering your earlier question, I’m nowhere near fine. But, you know, today I feel like I can be fine again one day. So, thank you for that.”

He looked at her seriously and Anna felt surprised again with the lack of pity in his eyes. He knew everything she’s been through, saw her at her worst, but still didn’t feel pity for her. And it felt so good.

He stood abruptly, dropped her, “Hold on a minute,” and ushered back inside the house. But before Anna could form her bewilderment into a coherent question, he was back again, another slice of cake in his hands.  

“I take it you just need another one,” he explained, settling back down next to her.

“Calum, no, I’m full,” Anna tried to protest, but got a glare from him.

“Doctor’s order,” he snapped with a hint of a smirk.

Anna sighed, “Only if you share with me,” she said giving him her fork.

“That I can do,” he smiled again and took a piece of her cake.

The wind blow came, lifting Anna’s hair all around her and making everything around a little bit golden. Kids’ laughter filled up the air and the sweet taste of banana cake lingered on her tongue. She felt the sun warmth on her shoulders, one on her most favourite feelings in the world. Annabelle smiled sincerely, feeling the hole in her chest growing an inch smaller.

“She was right, though,” murmured Calum, handing her a fork.

“Who?” Anna asked a little confused.

“Aubrie,” said Calum, lowering his head on his knees and looking at her studiously. “You do have pretty hair,” he stated, and suddenly Anna forgot all about the hole in her chest.

The only thing she could suddenly think about were his eyes. She just wanted to stay here forever, feeling the sun on her shoulders and staring into his deep dark eyes. Cause really, what a wonderful way to spend the rest of her life...

***

Taglist: @5saucewho @paqueretteash

#my writing #calumhood #calum5sos #calum hood fanfic #calum hood imagine #calum hood fanfiction #calum hood fic #calum hood blurb #calum smut #calum fluff #calum x oc #surgeon!cal #5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer fanfic #5 seconds of summer fic #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer blurb #luke5sos #lukehemmings #luke hemmings blurb #luke hemmings one shot #michaelclifford #michael5sos #michael clifford blurb #michael clifford one shot #ashtonirwin #ashton5sos #ashton irwin imagine #ashton irwin blurb #ashton irwin one shot

[thestoryof-officially]

Day 308 - Robotic

Day 308 - Robotic: Write about a robot.

This one immediately made me think about a particularly impactful dance performance I saw a few years ago. A lot of us probably know him, Merrick Hanna. His audition dance on America's Got Talent was about a robot, and we saw him dance to the story of the robot being built, played with, then forgotten and left behind. It was, in my opinion, very beautiful, and very sad, and definitely left a lot to be thought about. So that, of course is one idea. Write about the dance. Or write about the life of a robot. Maybe tell a story through a robot's eyes! Or write a poem about a robot, or about someone like a robot. Really, I think all my ideas usually boil down to short story or poem, but no one else's has to! This one opens a world that takes us back to childhood, I think, and there's so much to think about in that context.

Entry below!

~~~

Nine years ago, I was running from a guard and literally ran into him. It? Him. He, this robot, I mean, had more humanity than anyone I’d spoken to since I was 11. Without even questioning what was happening, he grabbed my hand, pulled me into the bushes, and got me out of trouble. The guard ran by cluelessly and never found us. We became best friends.

Six years ago, we got caught in the war. We were “the bad guys” because we were fighting the government, who was sapping power from anywhere it could be found. I got shot at. He took the hit and lost an arm. I was suddenly really glad he couldn’t feel things like we could.

Four years ago, he started becoming less human. I suppose that’s a poor choice of words considering he was never human to begin with, but the kindness I’d seen in him five years previously had simply disappeared. He became gruffer. The second glance he gave people ceased to exist. He almost completely stopped talking to me, and it was like all the things we’d been through as best friends stopped mattering.

Three years ago, the little lights that told me his systems were running started flickering. His joints became stiffer and he truly began to move like a robot. His replaced arm was the only thing that worked like new, and even then its movements became stiffer and more calculated, yet less careful. It was the last time he spoke a word to me or anyone.

Two years ago, he shot me in the leg. When I cried out, I saw a flicker of recognition in him. He looked guilty. He looked sad. And then it was gone. He turned his back on me, and was pulled in by the government’s system of robotic forces. He stood next to army bots and technology years ahead of him. He stood next to the bots that shot off his arm. He stood next to their Admiral, who just happened to be the guard I was running from so many years ago. And in that moment, ‘he’ truly became an ‘it’.

A year ago, I started to question the war. I used to think robots could be as good and as human as... As… Well, as other humans. I thought they could be kind! I thought they had heart! But I travelled the country side, with a limp, by myself. I became bitter. It was out of sheer will of mind that I didn’t shoot down every robot I saw. I don’t know why. They were unfeeling. Those that had been recruited by the government didn’t care, they killed without thought. They were ruthless and cruel, and I didn’t want anything to do with any of them. Not a single one.

Six months ago, it came back. This time he- it was running from the Admiral that he’d been oh-soooo-loyal to. The irony of him- IT- running into me and running from the very same person was almost laughable. I don’t know why I followed that stupid parallel. I don’t know why I pulled… it, aside, into the bushes, and kept us hidden until the Admiral was gone. I don’t know why… why it wanted to talk to me. Why it started talking again. Why the lights still flickered but looked alive again. But he- it betrayed me! It left! I don’t want anything to do with him- WITH IT! Ever! Again!

Four months ago, I gave up. This robot hasn’t stopped talking since it found me. It talks more than it did before it went silent years ago. It goes on and on and on about why it left me, about how it wished it had never shot me, about how the arm I made it after it got shot was the best thing it had, how it wanted another chance, how it knew what was going on within the governmental forces- and that’s when I gave up. That information was valuable, and I’d let it tag along this long.This was the only reason I was going to start listening. It was the ONLY reason.

Two months ago I gave him another chance. It was… He was once my friend, and he was respectful of me and my boundaries. He’s spent so much time trying to fix the things he messed up, how could I not- Anyway, with his help, we discovered a weakness at the center of the entire government’s power system. There was this massive building at the base of it all that provided some kind of wireless control and power generation to every single one of the government built army bots. As well as their biggest weaponry, their heaviest machinery, and their most dangerous tools. It’s safeguarded to everything we can think of, though. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but somehow having my… my friend, back, is- it opens up a side of me I forgot I had and I think we might have a chance at this.

One month ago the entire world was strapped to a time bomb. The government has been producing army bots at a rate faster than I can blink my eyes, and their weaponry has become so powerful we don’t have anything, anywhere, to rival it. Other world powers are too afraid to intervene. Anyone that doesn’t ally with this government is eradicated. Our small band of rebels grows smaller every day because people are afraid. There’s promise of protection and freedom should you join that side, but it’s a lie. I know it’s a lie. My best friend knows it’s a lie. He knows first hand that it’s a lie. And if they win, they will bleed every resource dry, they will kill anyone, man, woman, or child, that chooses not to stand with them, and they will have absolute control of everyone on their “team”. Factions and groups of lower ranked people within their control are already being separated out, and I can see that they are neither protected nor free. There’s so much discrimination. There’s so much control. The army bots create so much fear, and the coming generations are spending their childhoods in filth ridden villages with barely any food or shelter, much less education or freedom. And when I see my best friend reacting to these things so emotionally and passionately, it’s like he never left.

A week ago, we infiltrated the government system. We hid in one of their abandoned underground tunnels and set a plan in place. We don’t know if it will work, but given how little time we have left… this is our best shot.

Six days ago, he told me it wouldn’t work. He told me it couldn’t work, that something like it had already been tried. Words and fists were thrown his way, but he never hit me back and I ran away without looking where I was going.

Five days ago I sat in a cell and tried to understand why draining the power system wouldn’t shut down their Source. He found me and told me he was getting me out. When he couldn’t figure out the cell’s lock code, he jammed his hand into it, the one on the arm I made him so long ago, and sent in a pulse of energy that overwhelmed and shut down the systems. The cell door all but flew open and we made our escape. Suddenly I understood.

Four days ago, we put together a plan. We tried to contact our other known rebel forces and allies, but none responded. It was down to us. He knew what needed to get done, and I knew what needed to get done. As long as we were precise and timely about it, we could get in, shut it down, get out, and hopefully things would unravel to our benefit from there. All we had to do was get ahold of the relic, supposedly half of… something, whose other half powered the Source. If we could get it, we could overwhelm the Source and destroy it. It was almost too simple.

Three days ago, he managed to find the relic but couldn’t touch it. He said as soon as he touched it he felt his own power source spike. We had to replan a little bit, and close to midnight I went back to get it myself, after I taught him how to keep track of our hack into the security cameras. The guards were still looking for their ‘escaped prisoner’.

Two days ago the guards found their escaped prisoner. I managed to get the relic to him last night, but when I was wandering around in the early hours I was found. They shot me. In my bad leg. And I think they figured out that I have a ‘companion’ hiding somewhere underground. I hope he stays hidden. 

Yesterday he came to find me. The guards never even had to look. Since he could watch the security cameras, he figured out where I was. He wrapped up the relic and came to me. We were too close to being out of time for him not to, and then he got caught too. I can’t believe I let this happen! I think we’re in over our heads!

This morning we concocted a plan. The guards came to execute us and take back the relic. I’m surprised they didn’t take it back right off the bat. Anyway, as soon as they walked in, we attacked. Fighting alongside my best friend again, I was thrown back through memories and realized I knew this feeling. I knew it well. We’d done this sort of thing all the time. And I missed it.

Six hours ago we ran away from the holding cells, the relic tucked under my arm. We were too close to miss this, there was too much at stake!

Five hours ago we returned to our hiding spot underground for our things. It was crawling with guards. In the end we shrugged. We were returning to destroy my equipment. They’d done our work for us. Shame we’d be missing out on the last of those energy bars, though.

Four hours ago we tripped the alarms. At that point it was all or nothing. We ran at breakneck speed toward the center of the base, so out of breath I was afraid I’d pass out. Two turns from our destination a guard grabbed my leg and I felt my entire body come slamming down onto the ground. I dropped the relic and the sheet wrapped around it came off. It rolled away from me and hit my best friend’s foot as my head started to pound. He stopped and glanced back, realizing I wasn’t with him, and I yelled at him to take the relic and run. But he couldn’t do it. He tried to pick up the relic and his power source spiked again. The last thing I saw before my vision went black was guards coming in from all directions and grabbing him by the arms.

Two hours ago I woke up. Funnily enough, I lay right next to the Source. I heard an electronic humming, but it was- it was painful to listen to. Almost like nails scratching against a chalkboard, but somehow translated to the world of technology. I glance to my left. There are dozens of guards stationed around the entire room, at every doorway, against the walls, by every dip in the floor. I look to my right and gasp. He’s there, strapped to the floor. I realize belatedly that I am too. The relic is hanging by what looked like a thread over his chest, and little sparks of electricity and energy are fizzling and crackling around every bolt and wire in him. That’s the humming sound that’s making my head hurt so much, but it looks like it’s hurting him more. 

An hour ago, we met the man in charge. Rather, the robot in charge. Er, neither? He looked like he’d once been human, but more of him was robotic than organic. He tried to tell us that our relationship, a human and a robot being friends, was something as beautiful as he was. That we were meant to be fit together like one, and that what he was trying to do was make that more real, like him. When I tell you I took that as utter nonsense- As it is, I managed to pull one of my arms out of its restraints. The man laughed. He simply let me and my best friend out altogether, released the restraints. He invited us to try whatever it was that we were gonna try. I looked at my best friend and knew he wasn’t buying it either. Of course, I was right. I yanked the relic from its dangling position and ran at the Source. I touched the relic to it and… nothing happened. The relic glowed a little. It was rather pretty, but not particularly useful. Then the man laughed, something that sent a chill down my spine as it was neither human nor robot. The guards attacked us and he watched, amused. It was all a game to him.

30 minutes ago, I was shot. My head was bleeding. My leg was bleeding. My arm was bleeding. But I was alive. 

15 minutes ago, he got shot. We were running out of energy. I didn’t know how much longer we could hold them off.

Ten minutes ago the man took the relic and laughed as we were overwhelmed and backed into the Source.

Five minutes ago I got kicked away from my best friend and I couldn’t get back up. The guards were ordered to stillness and the man approached him menacingly.

Three minutes ago, my best friend got the relic back. His hands burned and sent up smoke as soon as he touched it. The man grew furious and ordered his men and the army bots to attack him and get the relic back. We made eye contact.

Two minutes ago he backed into the Source and held the relic to his chest. There was an explosion and all the lights when out.

A minute ago everyone went still except for me. The lights stayed out. The human guards became confused because their partners, the army bots, they all stopped working. The computers turned off, the Source went dark. But I couldn’t stop crying.

30 seconds ago I cradled my best friend in my arms. The glow of his power source was gone.

10 seconds ago I realized we won. He saved the world.

5 seconds ago I stopped being able to see through my tears.

Now I’m watching myself being pulled away from my best friend. We won. I lost.

~~~

This is most certainly among my longer entries for this daily prompt thing. And it's definitely not what I was planning to do. I meant it to be shorter for one, but the more I wrote, the more I got sucked into this story I was making as I went. About a quarter of the way through I knew I meant to have the robot die in the end. Rereading this I worry that differentiating characters is too difficult to do and that the progression of time doesn't make sense. I have it counting down the whole time, and the goal with this is to instill a sense of anxiousness. I want readers to see "five days ago" and start worrying because we're getting really close to right now, because we're getting really close to the presumed end. I want it to make you think about needing to know what happens next. I think the concept in and of itself could have been very successful in doing this. It's not necessarily unsuccessful now, but it's unrefined, and all of this came to me as I went so it may be a little more scattered and disorganized. In the end, I think I like it. I think I like the story it tells and I think it could be a lot of fun to play with another time in the future.

#365 #365 days #365 day challenge #365 day project #365 days of writing #365 writing prompts #365 writing challenge #365 writing prompts challenge #365 prompts #challenge #project #writing #writing prompts #writing challenge #writing prompts challenge #prompts #writer #author #poet #short story #day 308 #day three hundred eight #day three hundred and eight #308 #three hundred eight #three hundred and eight #the story of #the story of 2019 #the story of officially #thestoryof

[incorrect-vrains-quotes]

You should do something where Kusanagi reacts to how much Ghost Girl risked for Aqua.

prediction for next week’s episode (?)

   The final confrontation was brewing and, in his infinite wisdom, Kusanagi decided that he and the team needed all the ground level allies - swords - he could get. Especially since their last, grand sized confrontation, the Tower of Hanoi, probably could have gone a lot better. So, it was time to a pull some reasonable strings whilst the team stormed the castle. 

   He decided to start an audio-only, pinged through several discrete service providers call.

   “Howdy, howdy, remember me?” he asked when it when through.

  Ghost Girl laughed. “Yes, I remember you; Playmaker’s eye in the sky. So, to whom do I owe the pleasure?”

   “Doing some scouting, trying to fill in the gaps in the timeline, I take it you plan on tailing your protege, Blue Maiden?” Kusanagi asked.

   “Of course.”  Ghost Girl replied.

   “So, uh, you can trust me, right? Like Playmaker, Soulburner, and I’re bros, we can be tight as too. we’re all on the same side.”

   “Where are you going with this, hm, Daddy Long Legs?” Ghost Girl asked, her voice was not necessarily suspicious or scrutinising but it was still straightforward.

   “I was hoping for some catch-up. I need to know why Blood Shepherd was tailing Blue Girl. I’d go straight to the source but Blue Maiden is only, like, peripherally aware of my existence. Don’t wanna phone her and freak her out because, well, with the company she’s in, the boys’d just complicate things. They’re tactless.”

   “Teenage boys tend to be.” Ghost Girl mused, agreeing.

   “So, reckon you could give me the low down?” Kusanagi asked.

   “I tracked Blood Shepherd who was tracking Aqua. In the nick of time, we intercepted him. Don’t worry, I didn’t use my cute little protege as bait. That was my job. And I set up a few traps to help buy them time. Blue Maiden’s childhood friend, her first friend, was a victim of the Lost Incident. It’s to my knowledge, said friend is currently in a coma, something by the Light Ignis’ designs.” Ghost Girl explained.

   “You got a name for the friend?” Kusanagi asked.

   “Only a given name. Miyu.” Ghost Girl replied. 

   “Excellent, I’ll check hospital records for girls named Miyu who checked into a coma ward.” 

 “You’re not going to creep on her, are you, Daddy?” Ghost Girl teased.

   “Don’t ever change.” Kusanagi huffed. “So, anything else happened or is this where your intel runs dry?”

   Ghost Girl sighed. “There is a little bit more. And it’s a touch embarrassing, I ought to have you pay for this call.”

   “Please don’t.” Kusanagi murmured.

   “But, we’re friends. Friends can tell friends this sort of thing. Blood Shepherd challenges me to a PK Speed Duel-”

   “PK?!” screamed Kusanagi.

   “Ow, ouch, don’t yell!” Ghost Girl shouted back.

   “Sorry, sorry. But a Player Kill Duel? Does that mean you won? Blood Shepherd’s out of the game? Fuck yeah.” Kusanagi rambled.

   “Not exactly.” Ghost Girl murmured. “I lost. But, Blood Shepherd, deep down, he’s a sweetie when it comes to girls. His mother raised him right. Even though he detests my very existence, he knows better to raise too strong a hand against a girl.”

   “Wait, what? What did you do to cross a guy like Blood Shepherd? He’s the bastard who trapped Soulburner in a trap which was supposed to trigger his PTSD; thank God, he’s got coping skills...” Kusanagi said.

   “I’m his baby sister.” Ghost Girl replied, her voice sing-song. “His Dad walked out, no divorce, no nothing, on him and his mum and hm, about three years later - perhaps a bit less - my mother came into the picture instead and I was born. blood Shepherd didn’t take that well...”

   “Aw man, Ghost Girl, that’s awful.” Kusanagi said. “Also I’m sorry for saying dickish things about your brother...”

   “Nah, it’s fine. He is a dick. But he’s got a good heart... somewhere underneath all that.” Ghost Girl replied.

   “Well, thanks for the update. I reckon I could get you a quick pass to catch up to the rest of the group, if you like. Or, I could give you tit for tat. It’s a private line, you know. If there’s something you’d like to know, I’ll try to give it to ya. Only fair, just promise not to use it against us in the future.”

   Ghost Girl laughed. “I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep and I don’t want to pry. This isn’t as intimately my place as it is yours or Playmaker’s or hell, Blue Maiden’s either. But I’m good. I want to keep back. Just in case someone starts trailing our group.”

   “Good idea, alright. Well, I’m going to go rendezvous with the rest of the team. God, it’s like trying to herd cats.” Kusanagi complained.

   “You’re doing well though, Daddy Long Legs.” Ghost Girl said, her voice soothing.

   “But again, can’t stress this enough, it was really courageous of you to put yourself in harm’s way like that. Especially since the Link Vrains is your main cash cow.” Kusanagi said.

   Ghost Girl blushed. “I’m flattered.”

   “Well peace, I’ll keep you in the loop.” Kusanagi said.

   “Got it, over and out.” Ghost Girl replied and she kept pushing forth on her D-Board.

   The line then went quiet with a dramatic zipt first.

#vrains #vrains spoilers #mod stuff #not a quote #pathwayshipping #yugioh vrains #megareader93-aka-composcreator

[kanasmusings]

[Translation] Final SERVAMP Quest Vol. 2

Here’s the 2nd volume of Final SERVAMP Quest! Please go to the Servamp - French facebook account for the download link ^^ 

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission.

Under the cut, enjoy~

Final Servamp Quest Vol. 2 Translations

KURO: The world has been under the control of the dark Demon Lord Tsubaki.

KURO: The sky looks like it will always rain and it’s been impossible to air laundry out.

KURO: And all the convenience stores… All they sell are green tea-flavored stuff…

KURO: In order to correct this world, the housewife who hits his laundry to dry with wild abandon—ah, no, the chosen hero Mahiru decided to fight back.

(triumphant fanfare)

MAHIRU: WAIT A SECOND!!

KURO: What is it, Hero Mahiru?

MAHIRU:  Who the hell’s a hero?! Isn’t that supposed to be you?! Why are you suddenly avoiding it?

KURO: “Adventures of Hero Mahiru” is written on the title, you know?

KURO: Naturally, we have to stick with that.

MAHIRU: Then, don’t make fun of the hero from the beginning!

MAHIRU: Monthly Comic Gene, special drama CD: SERVAMP.

KURO: Final SERVAMP Quest: Adventures of Hero Mahiru – Vol. 2

(8-bit music)

MAHIRU: Pretending as if Vol. 1 never happened, me, Kuro, Licht-san, and Lawless went to defeat the Demon Lord Tsubaki but…

KURO: How troublesome… Can’t we just return to the first village we came from and laze about playing games?

MAHIRU: Shut it! Isn’t it better to get this over with fast?

MAHIRU: Um… First is… let’s check our roles…

MAHIRU: I’m the hero and Lawless is…?

HYDE: A swordsman~! A huge sword might be more helpful with attack points but, the super stylish Lawless-chan fights with a thin saber that matches with his outfit~!

MAHIRU: (in an uninterested tone) Ah, sure, sure. I’m expecting a lot from you.

HYDE: (dejected) I got passed over by Shirota Mahiru…

MAHIRU: Kuro is?

KURO: A healing cat-vampire.

MAHIRU: You’re gonna bring your role from the main show here?!

KURO: Ah, no, I just thought that it would be good to keep something the same. If we keep doing parodies like these, someone might forget [our real roles].

MAHIRU: Well, you have a point but… that’ll make things complicated here so it’s rejected!

KURO: Guess I have no choice… Then, I’ll be a gambler.

MAHIRU: I feel like you’re not really serious but… (grunts) Fine, that’s good enough.

MAHIRU: Then, Licht-san is…? Going with how you look… Are you a magician?

LICHT: I’m an angel.

MAHIRU: Eh?

LICHT: To be more accurate, I’m a saint sent down from Heaven above in order to purge earth from evil.

LICHT: An angel.

MAHIRU: That’s long…!

KURO: I haven’t heard of “angel” as an RPG class though…

LICHT: Naturally. An angel is a one-of-a-kind existence.

HYDE: Ah~! A saint sent from above! Does that mean you can purify evil or something~?

LICHT: A shitty rat like you should just die horribly with despair and regret deep in your heart.

HYDE: How rude! Is that what an angel would say?!

LICHT: You should be grateful that you can still talk to an angel like me, you stupid rat.

HYDE: Ah-ah~ Is it time to punish this angel who’s getting cocky?

LICHT: Bring it on. I’ll send you back to hell.

MAHIRU: WAIT! Licht-san, Lawless, please calm down. Hey, Kuro, help me stop—

KURO: Good luck, Hero Mahiru.

MAHIRU: At least help a little!!

(more 8-bit music and a monster growl)

MAHIRU: Ah! Something appeared while we were arguing! An enemy monster!!

(monster attacks and hits Hyde)

KURO: A direct attack…?!

HYDE: (groans) You’re pretty good for a lowlife monster.

MAHIRU: He got some damage…! Licht-san, please heal him with your magic!

LICHT: There’s no need.

MAHIRU: Pardon?!

LICHT: I will exorcise all evil.

LICHT: Take this! Dynamic Angel Kick!

(Licht hits the monster and victory fanfare plays)

HYDE: In the end, it’s no different from his usual attack patterns…

KURO: That’s got nothing to do with angels…

(triumphant 8-bit music)

MAHIRU: Oh, the monster dropped something.

MAHIRU: I wonder what this bottle’s for… It’s got something green in it. Green tea juice…? Or maybe not.

MAHIRU: Ah, it says “healing potion” on the label…

HYDE: Okie-dokie~ I’ll be taking that! (Hyde grabs the bottle)

MAHIRU: Eh?

HYDE: Since it looks like there’s no one here who can use healing magic, we’ll have to heal ourselves with items!

(Hyde opens the bottle)

HYDE: Thanks for the potion~ (Hyde starts drinking)

MAHIRU: You’re gonna drink it now?!

(Hyde spits the drink out)

KURO: How nasty…

HYDE: Disgusting…! What the heck’s this? It’s so bad!

HYDE: I was prepared for a bitter taste but this doesn’t taste like medicine at all!

HYDE: It totally tastes like grass, bwehh…! (coughing)

MAHIRU: Ugh…! That smells so bad…

LICHT: (pinching his nose) Don’t come any closer, you fugitive rat.

KURO: (pinching his nose) It’s true that just speaking lets a bad smell out.

KURO: Let’s stay away from him for a while.

HYDE: Uwah…! How absolutely mean of you! Is this how you treat a person who will help you defeat the Demon Lord?!

MAHIRU: (pinching his nose) No… You’re the one who took it first, you know…?

  ***

 (8-bit music accompanied by fighting sound effects)

(fighting and victory fanfare keeps repeating for a few times)

HYDE: Ah… geez, there’s no end to them…

LICHT: It’s one demon after another…!

MAHIRU: At this rate… We’ll all be defeated before we even reach the Demon Lord…! What should we…?

KURO: You leave me no choice… Now that it’s come to this…!

MAHIRU: Did you think of something, Kuro?

KURO: I didn’t really… want to use this technique…!

KURO: But, if it’s to protect you guys, I…!

HYDE: Don’t tell me…! Is it a technique where you sacrifice yourself so that your allies can get away?!

LICHT: What did you say?!

MAHIRU: No! I won’t let you sacrifice yourself, Kuro—

KURO: Don’t stop me, Mahiru! This is the only way I know to save you all…!

MAHIRU: Stop, Kuro!

HYDE: Nii-san!

KURO: Ultimate Technique!

KURO: Command: Choose escape!

MAHIRU: Eh?

HYDE: Eh? WHAT?!

KURO: (sighs) We escaped successfully.

MAHIRU: You were just gonna run away?! Give me back that serious conversation now!

LICHT: An angel like me running away…?! I got swayed by the demons…?!

KURO: In any case, we escaped a difficult situation.

KURO: Be grateful for my decision.

HYDE: Well, you have a point. In any case, if we keep fighting those hordes of enemies, we’ll never reach the Demon Lord’s Palace.

MAHIRU: That’s true but, we need to raise our levels, right?!

HYDE: Can’t we just raise our levels by cheating, though?

KURO: You know, like spinning a gacha for levels using money or something.

MAHIRU: This can’t be resolved with money!

MAHIRU: Look, Licht-san’s still brooding over running away. Take responsibility and do something!

KURO: Guess I have no choice… (Kuro transforms into a cat)

KURO: Be healed by my cute appearance~

LICHT: Mr. Cat…?! MR. CAT! Are you going to heal me? (Licht hugs cat Kuro)

HYDE: (quietly, to Mahiru) Ah… He’s recovered… As expected from a simple-minded angel.

LICHT: Mr. Cat~

MAHIRU: (quietly, to Hyde) He’ll get mad at you if he heard that.

HYDE: That’s why I’m saying it quietly so he can’t hear.

LICHT: (still quietly mumbling) Mr. Cat~

KURO: At this rate, we’re lacking man-power so let’s go with a shortcut!

KURO: Magical Kitty Cat Magic~!

KURO: Magic Portal!

MAHIRU: Huh? What the heck’s that?

(a looming sound effect comes closer)

MAHIRU: EH?! What—AHHHHH!!!

(ominous music plays as they land)

MAHIRU: Wha—this place is…?

HYDE: Looks like… We’re suddenly in front of the Demon Lord’s castle…

LICHT: As expected from Mr. Cat’s fancy kitty cat magic.

MAHIRU: What did you do?!

(Kuro transforms back into a human)

KURO: Simply put, it’s a ○○.1

MAHIRU: But, a ○○ is not an easy place to go to…

HYDE: Welp, never mind the complicated stuff~

HYDE: Now, let’s invade the Demon Lord’s castle!

(they slowly walk inside)

KURO: It’s here, isn’t it?

MAHIRU: How can you tell?

KURO: The circumstances declare so.

HYDE: You keep saying that, it’s getting annoying.

LICHT: Let’s attack.

(softly knocking on the door)

LICHT: Please excuse us.

HYDE: Oh? You’re actually doing it politely. Since it’s you, I thought you’d kick the door down or something.

TSUBAKI: (from the other side of the door) It’s open~

KURO: He’s not locking the door… What a careless guy.

MAHIRU: That’s not what you should react to!

(door opens and they walk in)

TSUBAKI: (laughing maniacally) Not interesting at all…

TSUBAKI: So, you’ve finally arrived, you peasants! This great Demon Lord Tsubaki will… give you some green-tea flavored snacks~

KURO/MAHIRU: Annoying!!

MAHIRU: The tension’s gone after seeing him laze about in a kotatsu!

TSUBAKI: I mean, it took so long for you guys to get here. I got tired of waiting.

HYDE: He’s pretty easy-going for a last boss, huh?

KURO: You’re completely right.

TSUBAKI: Come inside [the kotatsu], Brother Sloth~ You can relax all you want.

KURO: …! What’s this feeling…? I can’t avoid it… My heart’s being held captive…

TSUBAKI: Ah, we have oranges, too. Want some?

KURO: Oranges?!

MAHIRU: (scoffs) As if Kuro would be taken in by th—

HYDE: Nii-san already went, though.

MAHIRU: STUPID! STOP CAUSING TROUBLE!

KURO: No… When I heard the words “kotatsu” and “oranges”, my body suddenly…

KURO: (groans in pain and then transforms into a cat)

KURO: (sighs) It’s so warm~ This is the best~

MAHIRU: What’s gotten into you, Kuro?!

TSUBAKI: See~? They say that cats will always fall victims to kotatsu, right?

KURO: I’m gonna relax and live here~

TSUBAKI: We have melon, too~

LICHT: (slightly gasps) Melon…? (Licht runs to the kotatsu)

HYDE: Aw, crap! Lichtan!

LICHT: (eating) This melon’s good…

HYDE: Come back to us, Lichtan!

MAHIRU: Uwah…! This got a lot more troublesome!

TSUBAKI: (laughing maniacally)

LICHT: (to himself) This is so delicious… It has Heaven’s taste to it.

TSUBAKI: Looks like I got them hooked. This is actually my plan all along.

TSUBAKI: How does it feel having your friends taken hostage one by one~?

MAHIRU: (grunts) Honestly… I’m lost at how I should feel and react right now…!

HYDE: Damn you, Demon Lord Tsubaki. That’s foul play!

MAHIRU: Good going, Lawless!

TSUBAKI: A Demon Lord playing fair is similar to a rollercoaster going slow or sushi without wasabi, you know? It won’t be interesting at all.

HYDE: Ah, I don’t really get it.

MAHIRU: The analogy’s too difficult…

TSUBAKI: Grr… Shamrock and Belkia would totally get it, though…! If you don’t broaden your horizons, you’ll experience less, you know?!

MAHIRU: He’s sounding like a school teacher now…!

HYDE: I understand the logic but, hearing it from you is irritating.

TSUBAKI: Fine, then I’ll explain it so that simpletons like you can understand.

TSUBAKI: In other words, it’s meaningless if I don’t provoke you.

TSUBAKI: Take this! Demon Lord’s Ultimate Technique!

TSUBAKI: Kyun, kyun, Tsubakyun~ Tsubakyun Beam~ (sparkly sounds)

MAHIRU: That’s an ultimate technique!?

(explosion)

HYDE/MAHIRU: AAAAAAHHHHHH!

  ***

  (downtrodden 8-bit music)

KURO: The world was enveloped in darkness.

KURO: The Hero Mahiru disappeared right in front of my eyes.

KURO: Do you want to continue?

MAHIRU: No, I don’t!

  ==END==

Translator’s Notes:

1 What Kuro and Mahiru actually say here is bleeped out in the audio, presumably because it’s a copyrighted term.

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission.

#servamp #servamp translations #my translations #drama cd #i love this au so much #hero mahiru is the hero we all need #licht and melon is the only otp we all need'

[fangirl530]

A Camp Camp Oneshot

Funny OTP starters, #1: why the fuck is there a cat in my bed? 

Not with an OTP, though. It’s with everyone. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: only the aforementioned cat and other unrecognizable characters are mine. Everyone else belongs to roosterteeth.

...

Max glared down at the intruder, lazily lying on his sleeping bag. It stared right back, looking up at him with a tilt of its head.

“Mrow?” it said, blinking it’s big turquoise eyes. It got up, it’s tail flicked forward and curled around it’s paws as it sat down, and Max’s scowl deepened.

“Neil,” he called to his friend. The ameteur scientist was standing outside their tent, waiting for Max to tell him he’d finished changing.

“Yeah?”

“Why the fuck is there a cat on my bed?”

“There’s a cat on you- oh,” Neil trailed off as he poked his head inside, catching sight of the intruding feline for himself. “There is.”

“I know there is,” Max said irritably, rolling his eyes. “But why?”

“I don’t know,” Neil said, stepping all the way inside. He went to the cat, kneeling close by and holding his hand out cautiously. The cat sniffed at it before rubbing its head against him, making a quiet “mrrp” noise. (thanks edgebug) It closed its eyes in satisfaction as Neil petted it’s back, and he smiled.

“It’s pretty cute.”

“No,” Max interrupted. “No, no, no. Do not get attached to it.”

“Why not?” Neil asked him, scratching the cat behind the ears.

“There is no way David and Gwen will let us keep it, and I am not going on the cliche adventure of hiding a cat we’re not allowed to keep. It’s beneath us. And even if it wasn’t, we don’t have any food for it. We definitely can’t feed it the lousy excuse for food that we get,” he said, crossing his arms.

“We could figure something out! And I’ll bet the other campers would want to help too,” Neil argued. “Even if David and Gwen do find out, they can’t fight all of us- you know they can’t.”

“Okay, but should we really waste an attempt to take over the camp on a cat?” Max raised his eyebrows at the creature as it rolled onto its back. “I don’t thin-”

“Guys!” Nikki yelled, sliding into their tent. Max jumped, glaring at her as the flap slid shut.

“Jesus Nikki, a little warning next time?” he snapped angrily. Nikki ignored him as her eyes fell on the cat.

“I see you found our second camp mascot,” she said, beaming as she joined Neil and petted it’s ears.

“You mean you left this cat here?” Neil said at the same time Max yelled

“Our what?!”

“Our second camp mascot!” she repeated cheerfully. “Isn’t she cute?”

“Yes,” Neil said. “And I do want to keep her here- Max and I were just talking about that. But I don’t think we need a second camp mascot- we have the platypus, and she may not react well to having competition. She did eat her only living child.”

“Finally,” Max said with an eye roll. “You’re starting to see reason.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t keep her!”

“Spoke too soon. You guys, I’m always up for a chance to mess with Gwen and David, but over a cat? Really?”

“Yes, really.” Nikki picked the cat up and shoved her at Max. “Just hold her for a second, and you’ll see!”

Caught off guard, Max caught her in his arms and held her close. She put her paws on his shoulder and sniffed at his ear, then rested her chin on her paws and began to purr. Max’s eyes widened and he froze, unsure on what he should do.

When the cat didn’t move or scratch at him, he smiled a bit. “Alright,” he said, trying to keep his face nonchalant. “She’s pretty cute.”

Nikki and Neil smirked and slapped high five. “So you’ll help?” the former asked him excitedly.

“Yeah, I’ll help.”

“Woo hoo!”  

“But we’re going to need to make some allies. Nikki, you- okay, hang on.” Max handed the cat over to Neil. “I can’t look tough and commanding holding a purring cat. Nikki, you go around camp and tell everyone you think will help us. But keep it subtle, so we don’t alert Gwen and David. Neil, you and I will look around and see if we can find anything suitable for a cat to eat. We’ll zip up the tent to keep her inside while we’re gone.” he clapped his hands. “Let’s move, guys!”

Nikki rushed outside immediately, and Max waited impatiently for Neil to set the cat down before joining Max at the entrance. When he came out, Max zipped up the flap.

While Nikki rushed around camp and got recruits, Max and niel ran to the mess hall.

“Do you see Quartermaster?” Max whispered as they snuck in.

“No,” Neil whispered back. “I don’t think he’s here, but we should hurry- before he comes back.

They moved into the kitchen and made quick work of opening all the cupboards and the refrigerator. They found a bunch of potatoes, some slabs of meat, hot dogs, eggs, and cans of sham. But nothing suitable for a cat.

“No Max, we can’t ‘just give her sham!’” Neil said, closing the cupboard holding the meat.

“Why not? It’s close enough to tuna. They both come in a can.” Neil looked disgusted.

“Let's just keep looking.”

“We’ve looked everywhere,” Max said. “Looks like we’re going to have to buy cat food.”

“How will we do that? We can’t drive into town ourselves!”

“We don’t have to.” Max pulled out David’s phone and credit card and smirked. “Not when we have these. Keep watch- I’m going to see what there is to order.” he opened a tab and typed in best places to order cat food. He clicked on the first link that popped up- a website called chewy.com. 

A blue rectangle went across the top, with different options. The first said shop by pet. Max clicked it, bringing up a list of animals. When he tapped cat, several different lists of things for cats popped up. He clicked food, and the page switched to a bunch of different bags. He scrolled for a bit, scanning the different choices. He started to click on a bag called friskies, but a different one caught his eye. It said kitten chow, nurture dry food.

Max realized they didn’t actually know the cat’s age. She had been a little small, and she could always be a big kitten. He went with nurture, to be safe. He did a 6.3 pound bag, and added it to the cart. A notice popped up- free two to three day shipping with an order over $49.

We’d need it tomorrow, Max thought. Maybe they could get away with feeding her people food tonight, but it wouldn’t last three days without possible consequences. He went back to to the cats options, rapidly clicking through them and adding things to the cart. At the end, at $54.19, he had added a litter box, litter, a scoop, a cat bed, two bowls, treats, and a catnip ball. He created an account under David’s name, filled in the shipping information, put in the information on David’s credit card, and placed the order. That was it- everything would come, hopefully, tomorrow.

“Are you done?” Neil asked. Max nodded. “Good- come on, let's get back to the cat. I don’t want to leave her alone for too long. She might get unhappy and start to meow, and get us caught.”

“Calm down,” Max ordered him. “She’s fine. She was sleeping when we left, remember? Cats sleep a lot. I bet she didn’t even notice we were gone.” still, Neil ran through the camp until he got to their tent. He came skidding to a stop in front of it, freezing in shock.

“Max,” he said, panic filling his voice. “The door is unzipped!”

“What?!” Max broke into a jog, arriving at Neil’s side to stare at the tent flap. “That’s impossible! I know we zipped it- I did it myself!”

“You don’t think she unzipped it, do you?”

“No of course not, dumbass,” Max snapped. “She doesn’t have opposable thumbs, and it’s way too high for her to reach with her teeth.”

“Raccoons always get into things. What if one of them got into it? Oh my god, what if it ate her?!”

“Neil!” Max yelled. “First of all, raccoons are nocturnal- they’re all sleeping now. And second, why would they get into the tent when there is clearly no food? That’s their primary reason for getting into shit.”

“Right, right, I knew that,” Neil said, breathing in deeply. “Maybe Nikki?”

“She wouldn’t take her out of the tent and risk getting caught. She’s the one who hid her here.”

“Well maybe-”

“Shh.”

“But Max, we need to-”

“Shut the fuck up! Do you hear that?”

Neil fell silent, and both boys heard quiet cooing noises coming from inside the tent. Carefully, Max moved the flap aside and peered in. when he caught sight of the source of the noise, he began snickered to himself.

“Of course,” he whispered, shaking his head. “I should have figured that.”

“What?” Neil asked, confused. Max smirked.

“Follow my lead, I’ll show you.” he put one hand into his pocket and grabbed the tent flap, shoving aside as he strolled inside.

“Well hello there David,” he said to the counselor, who was currently lying on the floor with the cat on his chest, purring in his face.

“Max!” David yelled. “Neil!” his face split into a beaming smile. “Why didn’t you tell me you found a cat? She’s adorable!”

“Isn’t she?” Neil said, crouching at David’s side to stroke the cat’s head.

“We just love her,” Max said, making his voice syrupy sweet and prompting Neil to look at him in surprise. “Can we keep her David, please? We’ll take care of her, we promise!”

David bit his lip. He wanted to say yes, and he would have, if it wasn’t only up to him. “We should probably ask Gwen…” he started to say. Max put his hand up.

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” he said, dropping the act. “First, I already ordered everything she will need, and it’ll arrive tomorrow. By the way- here’s your phone and credit card.” he set them next to him and continued. “Second, Nikki is going around camp and telling everyone about this cat. We were going to get their help to take care of her and keep her a secret from you. Do you really think you and Gwen can take all of us?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

But David wasn’t listening. His eyes were shining, and he had a huge, ridiculous smile on his face.

“You guys worked together to hide this cat from us?” he asked. He looked like he might cry. “Oh, I’m so proud! Of course you can keep her! Gwen will be so happy to hear you all worked as a team.”

“Will she really?” Neil asked him. “I mean, she hates the platypus…”

“She doesn’t hate her,” David corrected. “She just… has mixed feelings.” Max rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, mixed between loathing and hate. But if you’re in, she can’t really argue.” he smirked. “I think this is the easiest we’ve ever won.”

David stood, cradling the cat in his arms. “Still, I better show her to Gwen. Better she finds out from me rather then finding out on her own.”

“Good point,” Neil said. “She might take it better.”

David smiled at them warmly. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Think of same names, okay?” he left the tent and marched off across the grass, entering the counselors cabin.

“Max! Neil!” Nikki yelled, dashing towards them with the other campers on her heels. “We just saw David with the cat! How did he find her? Do we need to take im’ down?” she cracked her knuckles. “I know a weak spot!”

“Nikki!” Neil looked horrified.

“What? I’m talking about his hands. I’ve already bitten them twice- I bet this time I can break the skin!”

“No,” Max interrupted. “David is on our side- he wants to keep her too. He’s going to tell Gwen now. Actually, he told us to come up with some names.”

“Oh,” Nikki said, sounding disturbingly disappointed. Then she brightened up. “What about cat? We have a platypus named platypus!”

“No, we just haven’t gotten around to naming the platypus yet,” Neil corrected.

“We should name her something cool,” Erid said, flipping her bangs.

“Like Xelanette!” Nerris said excitedly. “That’s a great wizard name!” Harrison rolled his eyes.

“Please. We should call her Misty- she was a famous magician. It’s a name both mysterious and magical!”

“Excuse me,” Nurf cut in. “I think the obvious choice here is Nurf Jr.”

“Junior is only for boys, Nurf!” Preston scoffed, eyes rolling as well. Nurf scowled, and got directly into the theatre kid’s face.

“Actually, Jr. is a term that can be used for both girls and boys, Preston!” Preston put his hands in the air.

“Okay, okay! Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Well now you do.” Nurf crossed his arms and backed away, still scowling.

“I think that could get confusing,” Harrison said. “Having two Nurfs running around.”

“Exactly!” Nerris said. “Which is why we should go with Xelanette! It’s unique, there’s no way any campers with that name will come here.”

“Yes, but that name is stupid,” Harrison said, smirking at her.

Nerris glared. “Well, you-”

“What about Lucky?” a voice asked. All the kids turned to stare at the source, Space Kid. he continued. “It’s lucky that Nikki found her in the first place. And lucky that David is letting us keep her.”

“Huh,” Max said, blinking. “That’s actually not a bad idea, Space Kid. Though maybe a little cliche.” He looked around. “All in favor?” most everyone nodded or gave a thumbs up.

“It’s settled then!” Neil beamed. “Lucky the cat!”

Meanwhile, when the kids were picking a name…

“Gwen!” David sang as he pushed open the door to the counselor’s cabin and marched inside. “I have a surprise for you!”

“What, did the kids suddenly decide to behave for the day?” she asked. She was facing away from him while reading a newspaper, so she didn’t see the cat in his arms. All the better, in David’s opinion.

“No, look! We have a second camp mascot!” Gwen turned, one eyebrow raised and her mouth open to ask a question.

“What do you-” she froze as she caught sight of the cat, her gaze flicking down to the paper and back up again.

“Isn’t she cute? Neil, Nikki, and Max found her and conspired with everyone to keep her a secret!”

“And… you’re happy about that?” Gwen asked warily as she studied the cat.

“Of course! They worked together as a team!” he said, beaming. “I found out when I heard her meowing, and then I told Neil and Max we could keep her. Max already used my credit card to order supplies anyway, so we’re all ready! The campers should be working on names right now!”

Gwen cringed slightly. This was going to be hard. “She is cute, David, but we can’t keep her.”

“Aw, why not? All the campers are already expecting her to stay, we can’t disappoint them! Come on Gwen, please? Do you really want to see all those unhappy faces?”

“No, it’s hard enough dealing with your’s,” she muttered under her breath before looking at him. “What I mean is… I’d love to keep her here, but we can’t. Look.” she held the newspaper up in front of him, revealing a flier for a missing cat. The picture looked exactly like the purring cat in David’s arms.

“Missing cat,” he read. “Answers to the name Firefly. Orange tabby with tur- turquoise eyes,” he choked out, his voice starting to wobble. “Oh, no. Gwen, what am I going to tell the kids? I promised we could keep them!” he looked her hopefully. “We could just not call them…”

“David,” Gwen said warningly. “What kind of example would we be setting for the kids if we didn’t?” David sighed,

“You’re right,” he said, handing Firefly over regretfully. “You better call now, before we get too attached.”

“We?” Gwen raised her eyebrows. “I think it’s more me. You’re already attached. Now go away. I can’t have you in here sobbing while I talk to them. You’d better tell the kids, anyway.”

“Yeah…” he went to the door, then glanced back at her. “Are you sure we can’t-”

“David!”

“Okay, okay, I’m going.” he stepped outside the door and spotted the kids as it closed behind him. He breathed in deeply and forced himself to walk toward him, his regular smile coming to his face, though maybe a bit forced. “Hey kiddos!” he said cheerfully. The looked back eagerly.

“Where’s Lucky?” Nerris asked. “We want to meet her!”

“Lucky?” David asked, confused.

“Space Kid suggested we call her Lucky,” Nurf explained. “On account that it was lucky Nikki found her, and lucky you let us keep her.”

David laughed nervously, and the campers narrowed their eyes. “Yeah, about that! You see, the thing is…”

“Mr. David,” Dolph said, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Max told us you said Lucky could stay. Were you lying to us?”

“No, of course not!” David said, frantically waving his hands back and forth. “I thought she could stay. But when I introduced her to Gwen, she showed me a flier for a missing cat. I’m afraid it’s for… Lucky.”

“What?” Nikki asked him, her voice cracking. “You mean, we have to give Lucky back?”

“Yeah,” David said, sighing. “Gwen is calling the family now.” the kids all looked disappointed, even Max. David bit his lip, feeling guilty. He didn’t want to upset them, but they would have found out eventually. Better they did now, before they could get too attached. But still… they looked so heartbroken.

He knelt and opened his arms wide. “Who needs a hug?” he asked, smiling at them gently. Max rolled his eyes.

“Please. Like anyone wants to hug you. Especially after you an-”

Nikki dashed into his arms and threw hers around his torso, holding on tightly. Space Kid joined her, and Dolph followed after. David held them close, watching in glee as Nurf grabbed Preston and held him tightly, squeezing his eyes closed. After a minute, Preston awkwardly put his arms around the bigger boy and patted his shoulder.

Nerris and Harrison scowled at each other, crossing their arms, before Erid came between them and put her arms around them both. Both magic kids smiled a little, and Nerris held her arm out. Harrison put his out as well, and the both put theirs around the other’s back.

Neil and Max stared at each other, nodded in mutual understanding, and patted each other on the shoulder. Close enough, David thought. After a minute, everyone pulled apart.

“Okay,” he said, clearing his throat. “It’s getting late, campers. Start getting ready to turn in, okay?” he looked around, surprisingly getting no arguments. It must have been the long day they’d had.

After all the kids were safely in their tents, David returned to the counselor’s cabin.

“Hey,” Gwen said, glancing up from her book. “The family is going to come tomorrow to pick up Firefly. Are the kids alright?”

“Yeah, they’re okay. I’m sure they’ll recover.”

“And what about you?”

“Me?” David laughed. “I’m fine! Why would I be-”

“David.”

“Ok,” he said, wilting. “I admit, I am a little disappointed. I really liked the idea of having a cat at camp.”

“Yeah, it would have been cool,” Gwen said shrugging. “Too bad we can’t adopt one.”

“Adopt…?” David stood up straight, beaming. “Gwen, your a genius!” he yelled, throwing his arms around her and spinning her around. He grabbed the keys and headed for the door. “I’ll be right back!”

“Hold it right there,” Gwen said, snatching his arm and causing him to jerk back. “You are not going to the animal shelter to adopt a cat.”

“Why not?” David pouted. “The kids would love a cat! And even if they don’t, you and I would take care of her! And I can take her home at the end of the summer. I’ll do some research, we can make this work!”

“David. Breathe.” Gwen sighed. “You can go to the animals shelter, but do not adopt anything without asking me first! And be back before the kids get up tomorrow. We don’t want to make them suspicious.”

“Of course,” David said, bouncing in his toes, a ridiculous smile on his face. “Thank you, Gwen!” he dashed off the moment she let go, full on sprinting to the car. Gwen watched him, smiling in amusement- just a little.

Maybe a cat wouldn’t be such a bad idea, if it made everyone so happy.

The next day…

“Rise and shine Gwen!” David’s voice said, full of cheeriness. “We’ve got to get the campers breakfast before the family gets here!”

“Fuck off, David,” Gwen grumbled. Still, she sat up and grabbed her clothes and hair brush before heading for the bathroom. When she’d gotten dressed, brushed and put up her hair, and splashed water into her face, she came back out and caught sight of David.

He was smiling wide with his hand behind his back, rocking back and forth on his heels. Gwen narrowed her eyes.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing!” David said. “I went to the shelter, looked at the cats, didn’t adopt anything, talked to the shelter employees, and came back to camp!”

“You didn’t adopt anything, huh? Then what is that rumbling noise?” Gwen crossed her arms and waited, smirking as David avoided her gaze.

“Uh, well, you see… I found the perfect cat at the shelter last night, and…”

“You adopted it.”

“No!” David shook his head. “I didn’t adopt her. I did the rent a cat program. They’ll let you keep the cat for about two months, to see how they fit in with your family. If things don’t work out, you can bring them back. I figured I’d take her back to camp, see how the rest of summer goes, then take her home and see how she adjusts. If everything goes well, then I’ll adopt her!”

Gwen sighed, exasperated, but smiled at him. “Figures you’d find a loophole. Fine, we’ll see how this goes.” she went to the door, then paused, glancing back. “... can I meet her?”

“Of course!” David knelt and brought a kennel out from under his bed, setting it on top. “Gwen, meet Snuggles. Though the shelter said we could change her name, if we don’t like it.”

A cat stepped out and curled up on the bed. It had mixes of orange and brown, and a little gray.

“The people said she likes most everyone, and she’s mostly an indoor cat. But she also likes to go outside occasionally- perfect for the camp.”

“She is cute,” Gwen said. “I guess it can’t hurt to try.” she looked up at him. “How do you want to tell the kids?”

David smiled. “I had an idea…”

…

Max stood with the other campers, watching the silver van drive away with Lucky. He steeled himself against any feelings of sadness, he’d barely had time to bond with Lucky, anyway. It wasn’t like they’d spent weeks together only to lose her.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned away and marched back to his tent. He spotted David running back to the counselor’s cabin. Normally he would have been suspicious- the counselor was head over heels for Lucky. It seemed strange that he would leave. But he just couldn’t muster the motivation to follow him.

He went to the tent and shoved aside the flap, stopping in the entrance. A smile twitched on his face.

A piece of paper was on the back.

A random cat has appeared! Unfortunately, it seems to have no home. Maybe it could stay with you heroes? You all seem like a good fit. But uh- you better ask for help, if you need it. In fact, I strongly suggest it.

“That idiot,” Max said aloud. But he crouched by the bed, stroking his hand over the head of the cat, smiling to himself. David may be an idiot, but he was a good camp counselor. Not that Max would ever tell him that.

...

so yeah, for most of that information, I did research to make sure it was accurate. But please don’t read this and tell someone this is how it works, because it is definitely not. I’m pretty sure the rent-a-cat program is a lot more complicated than this. oh, and snuggles is actually a cat up for adoption on the ARL website. It didn’t tell me any specification about her personality, so I was free to make it up! snuggles might be nothing like how I described her. 

#camp camp #fanfiction #David #Gwen #Max #Nikki #Neil #Erid #Dolph #Space Kid #Nurf #Preston #Harrison #Nerris #oc's