#EVERYBODY WAKE UP REAPER POSTED

[fluentmoviequoter]

Speed Limit 2525

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!reader

Summary: When Tim Bradford goes head-to-head with a bomber, he finds himself on a bus carrying a bomb and you.

Warnings: spoilers for Speed (1994) (I think this qualifies as an AU/rewrite), angst, bombings, nightmares, death and fear of dying, teasing, fluff, a little make out scene at the end? basically every warning that applies to the movie and The Rookie. I also made up a story about "Reaper"

Word Count: 11.7k+ words

A/N: This isn't completely proofread, but I'll be back soon to check it. I hope you enjoy!🤍

Masterlist Directory | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

Shoot him.

Tim doesn’t feel the trigger depress, only the hot desert air beating against his face. Though the trigger doesn’t move, a bullet rips through the barrel and into Tim’s only surviving squad member. He yells to warn his teammate, but no sound comes out. The wind is loud in the desert, yet the sound of Tim’s friend falling against the sand seems to echo for miles.

“Bradford,” the injured soldier coughs. “Wrong target, Reaper.”

Tim’s chest is tight with guilt and anxiety when he wakes. The sheets are wrapped tightly around his legs, and his shallow breaths distract him from freeing himself. Before he has time to orient himself, Tim’s phone rings and snaps him out of his post-nightmare, adrenaline-fueled state as he reaches across the empty pillow to answer it.

“Bradford,” he says.

“Get to the station as soon as you can,” Sergeant Grey demands. “Your Metro captain has me calling everybody in. We’re sending patrol units out, too. It’s gonna be a long day, Tim.”

Tim forgets about the nightmare and the memory within as he rushes to get ready. Tim’s tunnel vision focuses on work, and everything else fades away. Middle-of-the-night calls aren’t unusual, especially for a Metro Sergeant like himself, but this many officers getting a wake-up call is. Whatever is happening is big, and it doesn’t sound to Tim like it will be over any time soon. He makes it to the station in record time, and his commander is directing the other Metro officers when he enters.

“We don’t have time,” she says suddenly. “I’m running this force from here. Sergeant Grey will fill you in on the way. Get to the target location and stick together. Bradford, you’re with Temple!”

Tim nods as Harry Temple walks to his side. Harry was one of Angela Lopez’s first patrol partners, but he decided Metro was a better fit when the time to move forward in his career came along. Like Tim, he was in the Army before becoming a police officer, and he and Tim have some shared experiences. Neither of them is overly eager to bond over them, however.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Tim asks Harry as he turns on the lights and sirens in the shop.

“All I heard was ‘elevator,’” Harry answers. “I’m assuming they’re more to this than that.”

“Listen up,” Sergeant Grey says over the radio. “This is your official brief. When we roll up to the scene, we go straight in. No time for questions after we exit these cars. Fifteen people are trapped on an express elevator. The owner of the building is also inside. A bomb took out the cables, and our bomber is demanding three million dollars, or he blows the emergency brake, too. Cell phone service is spotty in the building, so we can’t rely on that to track anyone or anything.”

“Cell phone service is nonexistent in the elevator. A defensive move against trade secrets,” someone adds.

“What’s our clock, Sergeant?” Harry radios.

“He gave one hour when he called, which leaves us with twenty-eight minutes.”

“The only thing that’ll stop the elevator is the basement, right?” Tim adds.

“The city plans to avoid that. They’re working to release the money.”

Tim stops the shop beside the curb at the front of the building. He leaves the lights on as he and Harry remove their weapons from the back and meet the rest of their tactical team in the lobby.

“We can’t just unload them,” an officer says.

“The bomber wired the elevator doors and the hatch to trigger the bomb. So, he’s crazy, but he ain’t stupid,” Wade explains as he enters.

“Harry volunteers to examine the device,” Tim interjects. “He was on the bomb squad in the Army.”

Harry turns to glare at Tim as he says, “Right. And since Bradford also has Army experience, he’d like to provide a second opinion.”

“Fine,” Wade says. “You two check it out. Hey! Where’s the nearest access panel?”

“32nd floor,” a nearby employee answers on his way out. “It’s in the hall by the storage closet.”

“Report only. We’re in a holding pattern until we get word from your Commander back at the station. Confirm building evac and keep your radios active.”

“What about the other elevators?” Harry asks the employee.

“In an emergency, all passenger cars go to the nearest floor and shut down,” he says.

Tim frowns and moves his gun to his side. “Looks like we’re walking up the stairs.”

Harry nods before sprinting up the stairs behind Tim. Tim outpaces him but waits at the access panel for Harry to arrive with his small tool kit. He begins removing the nuts from the metal cover while Tim watches the hallway. Harry gives Tim a signal and Tim lifts the metal sheet. Light filters into the elevator shaft as Tim crawls through the opening and moves to the top of the elevator, where the bomb rests.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the L.A.P.D.,” Tim announces loudly. “There has been an elevator malfunction. Just relax and we’ll have you out of there as soon as possible.”

Harry looks up from the bomb and raises his hands in question.

“I didn’t lie,” Tim defends.

“I don’t recognize this work, Tim. Whoever our bomber is… he’s a pro and the work is solid,” Harry says.

“Bradford, Temple, hold position,” Wade radios. “We’re waiting to hear back from the bomber.”

Tim looks at his watch and muffles a curse. Their time is nearly out, and Tim continues to look at his watch rather than think about the lives in the metal death trap below his feet.

Harry sees the look in Tim’s eyes and decides to distract him. “Terrorist in a crowded room, five pounds of dynamite. He’s got a deadman’s stick. What do you do?”

“How close am I?” Tim asks, looking away from the elevator.

“Twenty feet.”

“Taser. He can’t let go with enough volts surging through him.”

“Alright, hot shot. Fifty feet?”

“Nice try.”

“Airport, then. Gunman with one hostage, using her for cover. He’s almost on a plane, you’re a hundred feet away.”

“Why is the hostage always a woman in these scenarios? Watch too many romcoms in the academy?”

“What do you do?” Harry repeats.

Tim kneels to examine the bomb once more and remembers his nightmare. Shoot him. He shakes his head before answering, “Shoot the hostage. Take her out of the equation, he can’t get to the plane, and I have a clear shot.”

“You are out of your mind, Bradford.”

“This is wrong,” Tim says suddenly. “He’s gonna blow it. How much do you think this elevator weighs?”

“Why? You wanna try to bench it?”

Tim doesn’t acknowledge the teasing as he adds, “We can do something about the hostages.”

“No shoot them, right?”

“Roof,” Tim reads as he points to a roof access sign. There’s a heavy-duty winch secured to the corner of the roof, and Tim runs to it as he says, “We don’t shoot them. Just take them out of the equation.”

Tim pulls the cable from the winch toward the elevator housing on the roof. He drops it in and watches it fall several feet before it catches.

“It’ll hold,” Tim tells Harry. “It’ll hold,” he repeats, quieter.

“Six minutes,” Harry alerts.

Tim throws his legs over the edge of the housing and lowers carefully onto the elevator cable. He hooks the winch hook to his tactical vest before moving down in the elevator shaft. Wade and the Metro team argue with the city council about releasing the money in the lobby, and no one has a clue that the shooter is listening to their radio frequencies. Without cell phones, they’re completely reliant on their radios to stay in touch with one another. Tim ignores his radio as he flips so he’s headfirst as he nears the trapped elevator.

“One more pop quiz,” Harry begins. “Psycho Sergeant Tim Bradford rigs an elevator to drop thirty stories. What do you do?”

Tim rolls his eyes before gesturing for Harry to hold the winch cable steady. A small pile of C4 waits beside his feet, but Tim ignores it as he secures the cable hook to the frame of the elevator.

“Why did I take this job?” Tim murmurs.

“Hey, a few more decades and you get a tiny pension and a free watch,” Harry answers.

“Hit the switch, Temple.”

Harry runs to the winch, hoping that the cables used to wash windows are strong enough to catch a free-falling elevator. He flips the switch, and the winch begins pulling in the cable. As the extra cable Tim pulled into the shaft begins unspooling, he moves up to the open access panel.

In the basement, a man missing a thumb presses a button on his handheld device. Instantaneously, a red light illuminates on the bomb. Tim sees it and throws himself through the access panel just before the bomb goes off. The passengers begin screaming, but the winch catches the falling elevator before it reaches the bottom of the shaft.

“What is happening, Bradford?” Wade asks, his concern evident over the radio.

“He’s early!” Harry yells as he returns from the roof.

“We have to get them out of the elevator. They can’t be lower than 28,” Tim exclaims.

When he and Harry meet the rest of their team on the 28th floor, they see that the elevator is stranded between floors. Only the floor is accessible from their current position, but there is no time to run up and down the stairs and look for the perfect access point. The elevator passengers lower to the floor and Tim and Harry pull people out one at a time. Tim pulls the last woman to safety seconds before the winch fails and the elevator plummets to the bottom of the shaft. After the sound of impact, Tim and Harry lean back against a wall and pant from the effort they exerted.

“Is your watch slow?” Tim asks.

“Nah. He jumped the gun,” Harry says with a shake of his head. “We had three minutes.”

“He blew more than the elevator. He blew his three million dollars. Why would he do that?”

“Maybe he decided it wasn’t worth it.”

Tim sits up as he declares, “He’s here.”

“He could have blown that thing from anywhere, Tim.”

“He knew we were doing something, that’s why he acted early. That means he’s close.”

“He’s not gonna corner himself in the building. The building we evacuated.” Harry leans his head back against the wall and thinks for a moment before he adds, “He’d want to be here, yes, but stay mobile… The elevators.”

“All of the passenger cars stopped, and we checked them.”

“Did we check the freight elevators?”

Tim’s eyes widen in realization as he and Harry push themselves to stand and run to the freight elevator doors. Once Tim pries the door open, he slides down the cable and lands on top of a car. Harry reluctantly follows and freezes when a noise echoes inside. Tim doesn’t notice Harry behind him as he prepares to enter the elevator. Before he can, a shotgun is fired between them, and Harry falls into the elevator. The man inside knocks him out with the butt of the shotgun, and Tim waits until the elevator moves up to drop in through the roof panel. As he lands, he looks up and sees a shotgun barrel in his face.

“I don’t suppose anybody would pay me three million dollars just for you,” the nine-fingered bomber muses.

He pulls the trigger, but the gun is empty. Tim removes his Glock from his side and demands the bomber lower the shotgun. He does so but opens his coat to reveal dynamite strapped to his chest and a deadman switch detonator in his hand.

“Hotshot,” the man begins. Tim’s jaw clenches as he realizes the man listened to their conversations over the radio, but he can’t say anything before the bomber says, “Terrorist holding a police hostage. He’s got enough dynamite to blow the building in half. What do you do?”

“Fifty cops are waiting for us in the basement,” Tim states.

“Standard flanking, I’m aware.” He presses a button on a device wired into the elevator controls. “So, maybe we’ll get off early.”

The elevator stops at a parking level, and Tim watches as the bomber pulls Harry toward the door. His eyes open slowly, and Tim keeps his eyes on Harry rather than the man pulling him.

“Well, end of the line, Bradford. This day has been a real disappointment, I don’t mind saying.”

“Why? Because you couldn’t kill everyone?” Tim asks.

“There will come a time, hotshot, when you will wish you’d never met me.”

“I’m already there.”

“Look! I have your partner, I’m in charge! I drop this stick and they clean us up with a sponge!”

“Go ahead!” Harry yells. “Drop the stick!” “Shut up!” Tim demands.

Harry looks at Tim and mouths, “Shoot the hostage.”

Shoot him. Wrong target, Reaper. Tim takes a deep breath and shifts his arms to shoot Harry in the leg. He collapses onto the floor, and the bomber steps back in shock before running into the garage. Tim steps over Harry to shoot behind the feeling suspect. As the man reaches the door, he looks over his shoulder to smile at Tim before he disappears. Tim can’t check on Harry as the garage explodes and the force pushes him back against the wall. As Tim collides with the concrete behind him, everything goes dark. And everything changes.

After Harry’s unplanned and involuntary retirement party, Tim nearly oversleeps. His alarm pulls him from a dreamless sleep, and he winces at the sound before turning it off. Before he showers, he decides to go for a quick run to clear his head. Once he’s dressed and ready for the day, he drives to his favorite café. It’s one of the only places in Los Angeles where you can get a decent cup of coffee and breakfast without being surrounded by millennials working on their screenplays. Tim nods at another regular, Vince, as he enters.

“Hey, Tim. You look awful,” Bob, the owner of the café, says.

“Thanks, Bob,” Tim grumbles.

“Pretty boy party too hard?” Vince asks Tim.

“I- I don’t remember that well.”

“Wake up alone?”

“Always do.”

“Must be nice,” Bob interjects. “The last time I partied like that I worked up married.”

Tim shakes his head as he accepts his order and walks out behind Vince. He sets his coffee on top of his truck as he retrieves his keys from his pocket. Vince’s bus starts behind Tim and pulls away from the curb. Tim turns to wave at Vince before unlocking his door.

After it crosses the first intersection, the bus explodes. Tim stumbles as he looks toward the source of the noise. He runs to the bus as it rolls to a stop and fights against the flames to help Vince, but it’s too late. As Tim lays his hands on his knees in shock, he notices an abandoned cell phone lying on the sidewalk behind him. It rings continuously, and Tim doesn’t hesitate before he answers the phone.

“What do you think, Bradford?” the bomber from last month asks. “You think if you and Harry find all the driver’s teeth they’ll give you another medal?”

“Where are you?” Tim demands.

“Twenty-second delay. I’m in the air duct when the garage blows. Did you think I wouldn’t come prepared? I spent two years on the elevator job. Two years. I invested myself in it. You couldn’t understand the commitment I have. A child, Tim, you’re a child. You ruin a man’s life’s work and then think you can walk away. You’ve got blinders on, but I got your attention now. Didn’t I, Tim?”

“Why didn’t you just come after me?”

“This is about money – 3.7 million. Not you and your ego. None of it had to happen, Tim, and I hope you realize that. How long do you think the driver’s wife and kids will wait before they get worried tonight?”

“When I find you, I will kill you,” Tim threatens.

“There’s a bomb on a bus, hotshot. Once the bus hits fifty miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If the bus drops below fifty, it blows up. What do you do?”

Tim doesn’t answer but looks around for any sign of the suspect.

“What do you do?” he repeats.

“I’d want to know what bus it was,” Tim answers. He’s accepted the challenge and knows that it has to end with a death: either his or the bomber’s.

“You think I’m going to tell you that, Tim?”

“Yes.”

“Very good.” The man sounds happy, and Tim presses a hand against a nearby wall to control his anger. “Now there are rules, Tim; we have to do this right. No one gets off the bus. One passenger leaves, I will detonate it. Now, if I don’t get my money by 11 a.m., there’s also a timer.”

Tim looks at his watch: 8:05 a.m. “I can’t pull that money in time-“

“Focus, Tim! Your concern is the bus. Don’t call, the radios are jammed. Number 2525, running downtown from Venice. At the corner of Lincoln and Pico…”

Tim drops the cell phone and runs to his car to follow the bus. The lives on that bus are in his hands, and he doesn’t plan to shoot any hostages today.

“Please stop! Sam!” you yell as you chase your bus.

You don’t want to ride the bus, but since your most recent speeding ticket, it is your only mode of transportation. In the few weeks since your license was suspended, you’ve gotten to know the driver, Sam, and some of the regular passengers. You hope that camaraderie is enough to convince Sam to stop for you. The brakes on the bus squeal as it stops, and the door opens.

“This look like a stop to you?” Sam asks.

“You are an amazing man, Sam,” you say as you walk onto the bus. “The men in books and songs have nothing on you.”

You swipe your bus card and take a seat before saying hello to Ortiz, a regular passenger. Comfortable in your seat, and glad that none of the passengers are in a talkative mood this early on a weekday, you relax and hope to get your car back soon.

Tim drives his truck in and out of traffic, onto the shoulder, and into the emergency lane as he tries to catch up with bus 2525. Other drivers honk their horns, flip him off, and yell insults through open windows, but Tim doesn’t notice or care. If he can stop the driver before it reaches 50, then the bomb will never activate. The only danger would be the man with the detonator.

You look up as Sam slows for a traffic jam.

“Can’t you just drive over them?” you ask with a smile.

“Is it always like this?” a man asks from the back of the bus. “It’s my first time here, and it took me three hours just to get out of the airport.”

“Yep,” you answer. “It’s usually worse.”

“That’s why I never drive,” the woman behind you interjects. “I’d never have a car in this city.”

“I have a car. I miss my car,” you lament.

“In the shop?” the tourist asks.

“Something like that. Sam, seriously, the bus is huge, just run them over,” you say again.

When Tim sees the bus has stopped because of a stalled car ahead, he sighs before he pulls onto the shoulder. He exits his truck and runs toward the bus, but the accident clears faster than he expected, and begins moving before he reaches the door. Hitting his fist against the side, Tim yells for the driver to stop.

“Can’t blame him for wanting to get on the bus,” you mutter as you watch him slap an open palm against the door.

“Get off the doors, man! Wait for the next one,” Sam yells before he speeds up.

Tim removes his badge from his pocket a moment too late. He continues chasing the bus, and you look down at your phone as the other passengers watch the unknown man run down the freeway.

Nearly half a mile from his truck and with no other option, Tim stops and waits at the edge of the road. He sees a speeding sports car approaching, and he moves into the middle of its lane and raises his badge.

“Stop!” Tim yells over the traffic.

The young man driving the car slams on his brakes to avoid hitting Tim. Several cars behind him blow their horns, and he raises to yell over the convertible’s windshield.

“What the-“

“L.A.P.D.,” Tim interrupts. “Get out of the car.”

“This is my car! It ain’t stolen and you have no right!” the driver argues.

Tim pulls his gun from its holster and says, “It’s stolen now. Move over.”

The man nods quickly before he jumps over the console and settles into the passenger seat. Tim sits behind the wheel and swerves into another lane as he ignores the owner’s pleas not to scratch the car. Tim drives the expensive, sporty convertible exactly as he had driven his truck, and the man in the passenger seat covers his eyes in fear for his car more than his life. As Tim steers the car beside the bus, he lays on the horn. Sam looks over and immediately recognizes him, and his eyes widen to prove it.

“I’m a cop!” Tim yells.

Sam lowers the window and raises his voice to ask, “What?”

“L-A-P-D!” Tim spells slowly. “There’s a bomb on your bus.”

“There’s a what?” Tim’s passenger exclaims.

“I can’t hear you,” Sam says.

“There’s a bomb on the bus!” Tim repeats.

Sam shakes his head, and Tim looks at the convertible’s speedometer. He’s over 50, so the bus must be, too.

“Drive!” Tim yells as he gestures for the bus to keep moving. “FIFTY! STAY ABOVE FIFTY!”

Sam nods rapidly and trembles a bit as he holds the speed steady. The commotion draws your attention, and you turn in your seat to watch the man who desperately needs a ride or is crazy.

“Call the Mid-Wilshire division station,” Tim says as he hands his phone to the man beside him. “Ask for Detective Angela Lopez.”

“Okay, okay.” The man speaks into the phone briefly before passing it back to Tim.

“Angela,” Tim says.

“Why are you calling me on your day off?” she asks. “Harry’s here, if you’re looking for him.”

“He’s alive.”

“Who?”

“The bomber! He’s back.”

“Harry!” Angela calls.

“Tim, did he hit the bus in Venice?” Harry asks as he approaches Angela’s desk.

“Temple,” Wade interrupts. “We just got a ransom demand from your dead terrorist. Says he rigged a city bus. Where’s Tim?”

“Where do you think?” Harry replies.

Tim ends the call and navigates around the back of the bus to drive alongside the door. Traffic is increasing with the morning rush, and he doesn’t want to risk getting stuck in another slowdown. He honks to get Sam’s attention, and gestures for him to open the door.

“Drive straight,” Tim directs him. “Stay in this lane.”

Sam agrees before Tim speeds up to get ahead of the bus. He opens the driver-side door and hits the brakes, so the bus rips the door off the car. Tim presses the accelerator again to catch up with the bus as he is yelled at by the owner of the car.

“Take the wheel!” Tim says.

Tim waits until the car’s owner moves back into the driver’s seat to jump into the open bus door and pull himself up the stairs.

When the bus rips the door off a convertible, you finally look up. The man driving the car beside the bus is attractive, but you’re a little concerned for his mental well-being. Sam seems willing to help him, and you don’t understand why. When he jumps from the car and onto the bus, you stand and grip the bar above your head. He locks eyes with you before holding up a police badge.

“Everyone, I’m Sergeant Tim Bradford, L.A.P.D. We’ve got a slight… situation on the bus,” he explains.

“Are you crazy?” you ask.

“Ma'am, if you’ll please sit down, we can deal with this in an orderly-“

“But what are you-“

“Ma’am.”

His tone and the look in his eyes convinces you, so you sit down as Tim walks toward the back of the bus and looks at the other passengers. You watch him move and wonder if he’s truly a cop or just insane.

“Just stay in your seats and remain quiet,” Tim says. “Then we’ll be able to defuse the, uh, the problem.”

A passenger you’ve spoken to before, Jay, leaps from his seat and points a gun at Tim.

“Jay!” you yell worriedly.

“Get away from me!” Jay demands.

Tim pulls his gun and matches Jay’s stance. Two women at the back of the bus scream, and you look between Tim and Jay from your seat.

“I don’t know you, I’m not here for you. Let’s not do this,” Tim says calmly.

“Stop the bus, Sam,” Jay calls.

“He can’t. Look, I’m going to put my gun away.” Tim holsters it slowly and raises his hands to show they’re empty. “I don’t care about what you did. It’s over. I’m not a cop right now. See? We’re just two guys on the bus.”

Tim tosses his badge to the floor beside your feet, and you look at it before raising your eyes to Jay again. You understand why he calmed down so quickly; Tim Bradford has a soothing voice, and his presence is assertive but caring. More importantly, you can relax now, because his badge looks real. Jay’s hands begin to lower, but your fellow passenger Ortiz jumps onto his back before Jay puts it away.

Tim rushes forward as Ortiz tries to pull the gun from Jay. A shot goes off, and everyone ducks before a second shot fires.

“Sam!” someone screams.

You turn toward the front of the bus before moving to help Sam. Tim disarms Jay with minimal effort while another woman joins your side.

“Move him,” you say.

“He’s bleeding,” the woman argues.

“We have to stop the bus!”

At your words, Tim spins quickly to face you.

“No!” he yells. “Stay above fifty.”

“Sam is wounded,” you begin.

“You slow down, and this bus will explode!”

Tim holds your eyes and nods slowly. He’s not kidding, you realize. Turning quickly, you look at the speedometer, which falls to 51. While Sam is still in the seat, you push your foot onto the gas pedal and watch the line rise above fifty.

Tim handcuffs Jay to one of the poles before he explains, “There is a bomb on this bus. If we slow down, it will blow. If anyone tries to get off, it will blow.”

The women on the bus surround Sam and help him get comfortable as they try to slow the bleeding. As they pull Sam from the driver’s seat, you slide into position and steer into another lane to keep the speed over 50.

“We’re only gonna make it through this if everyone stays calm, sits down, and listens to me,” Tim adds.

You don’t hear everything he says, with your complete focus on the road ahead and the speedometer on the dash. Your knuckles are white because of your grip on the wheel, and you don’t hear Tim approach behind you. He lays a hand on the headrest behind you and leans down.

“This is great. A bomb on wheels,” you muse sarcastically.

“Can you handle this bus, ma’am?” Tim asks.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s just like driving a big Toyota, right?”

“Can you handle it?”

“I’m fine. What’s the plan? Is there a plan?”

Tim nods and stands to his full height. He watches you take a deep breath before turning to the rest of the passengers.

“Everyone, I need your cell phones,” Tim announces.

“No way, man!” the tourist yells.

“There is a terrorist out there with a bomb, and I don’t need any of you live streaming or interfering with the radio signal he could be using to detonate a bomb. So, I will only say this one more time. Phones - and anything else with a cellular connection – now.”

The passengers nod and offer all of their cellular devices. Tim accepts an empty bag from a woman beside Sam and places everyone’s belongings inside. He returns to your side and removes his phone from his pocket.

“Do you have anyone you need to call?” Tim asks softly.

“No. I- I don’t want to think like that,” you answer.

“We don’t have to. Everything’s going to be okay. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

You nod and Tim lays a kind hand on your shoulder to add, “But I need your phone.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s- uh- it’s in my back pocket. Right side.”

Tim’s hand brushes your lower back as he pulls the phone from your pocket. He apologizes, though you can’t imagine why. You’ve only known Tim Bradford for a few minutes, but his words mean something, and you can only hope he keeps the promises he’s making.

“You’re a cop, right?” you ask.

“That’s right. Metro Sergeant,” Tim says. “But you can call me Tim if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Uh, no. Thanks, and you can stop calling me ‘ma’am’ while we’re at it. I just- I should probably tell you that I’m taking the bus because my driver’s license was suspended.”

“What for?”

“Speeding.”

Tim shakes his head and hides his smile before calling the station again. He leans forward, but keeps his hand beside you, to look at the news chopper circling above the bus.

“Lopez, it’s me. I took phones from all the passengers. Where do we start?” Tim asks.

“Alright. Harry and Wade are with me,” Angela replies.

“Check the speedometer, Bradford,” Harry says. “Has it been messed with? Any wires or anything that don’t belong?”

“Sorry,” Tim whispers as he leans in front of you to check the dash area. “No, it’s clean.”

“Then it’s gotta be under the bus. Probably rigged to one of the axles.”

“I can’t get under the bus to check right now. The whole you stop, you die thing. Remember?”

Tim doesn’t sound like he’s kidding; in fact, he sounds grumpier than when he first boarded, but his comment makes you laugh. He pats the back of your seat before turning.

“Sergeant Bradford,” Sam calls weakly. Tim kneels beside him to listen, and Sam stutters, “There’s a- an access panel… in the fl-floor.”

“Hold on, Angela,” Tim says into the phone.

He unscrews the panel and pulls it aside. The asphalt moves quickly under the bus, and Tim looks around before handing his phone to a passenger. You look up in the mirror above you to watch Tim briefly before returning your attention to the road.

“What’s your name?” he asks.

“Stephen. I’m a tourist,” Stephen introduces.

“Welcome to the City of Angels. Hold my phone, please. Tell my partner what I see.”

Stephen nods and raises the phone to his ear as Tim moves so he can see under the bus. He takes a deep breath; Tim knows a bit about bombs from his time in the Army, but it’s Harry’s expertise.

“Okay, there’s a bundle here,” Tim yells over the wind. “Pretty big.”

“There’s a pretty big bundle,” Stephen relays.

“Brass fittings. I think I can reach the circuit wire.”

“He can reach the circuit wire- No, don’t do that, Sergeant Bradford. It can be a decoy, he says. What else?”

“Hold on,” Tim murmurs before moving further underneath the bus. He sees the extent of the bomb and pulls himself back up to take the phone. “Angela, Harry, there’s enough C4 on this bus to take out everyone on the highway. There’s a wristwatch: gold band, cheap.”

You look back at Tim quickly before inhaling sharply. “Sergeant,” you call.

“What do you think, Harry?” Tim asks.

“Bradford!” you yell into the bus speaker.

Tim moves to your side and places a hand on the dash to lean forward. His face is right beside yours, and you wish you were nervous because of him and not the bomb underneath you.

“Everybody’s stopping,” you point out. “What do I do?”

“Get on the shoulder.”

“This is an exit!”

Tim flinches as you sideswipe several cars.

“Tim!”

“Off. Get off!” Tim yells.

You nearly miss the ramp and pull the wheel to the right to merge onto another road. Honking the horn and yelling for people to get out of the way, you take a deep breath. At least you’re off the freeway. Tim tells you to keep driving as he answers his phone again.

“Where?” he asks. “Got it.”

“Do I stay here?” you inquire.

“Yes. Just straight on this, they’re trying to clear the roads for us.”

“I’m never getting my license back, am I?” you grumble.

“The police commissioner will buy you a car if you ask,” Tim says quietly. “You’re doing well, okay? Don’t worry about anything else.”

You nod and return both hands to the wheel. Tim removes the flannel shirt he’s been wearing, leaving him in a white t-shirt, and drapes it over the back of your seat. Your eyes catch on his biceps before you chide yourself for getting distracted.

One of the phones in the bag rings, and Tim yells, “Who didn’t turn their phone off?”

No one is willing to admit their fault or doesn’t want to risk dealing with Tim’s wrath and ending up like Jay where he sits on the floor. Tim digs through the bag and pulls the ringing phone out. The number is one he recognizes, but he hesitates before answering.

“Taking their phones was smart,” the bomber says as the line connects. “2525… nice passengers, aren’t they? See, that’s the beauty of being in this day and age. I know everything about everyone on that bus. So, if you or your little girlfriend, or even the tourist from Kalamazoo try to double-cross me…”

“The bus explodes,” Tim interjects. “I’m aware.”

“What’s with the attitude, Tim? You’re seeing one of the prettiest places in the world, riding a bus for free… Oh, no, I know. Can’t shoot a hostage that makes that cold heart beat again, huh?”

“What do you want?”

“You know what I want! 3.7 million dollars. I get the money, and then we can both get what we want.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

“I know what you don’t want. Tell your girlfriend to keep her eyes on the road.”

The call ends and Tim raises the cell phone in his hands. “He knows who is on this bus.”

“How?” Ortiz asks.

“Your bus passes, your phones, both, maybe. Look, one of the conditions of our survival is that no one gets off the bus. If he knows who you are, then we are even more obligated to keep that promise.”

“You didn’t even try to get us off the bus!” Jay accuses.

“Because he would have blown it. I understand what you are feeling, but I need you to trust me, trust the L.A.P.D., and work with me on this.”

“Tim is this your team?” you ask over your shoulder.

A police car pulls into the lane in front of you as several more flank the sides of the bus. The road clears around them, but more news choppers are joining the airspace above you.

Tim nods and looks at you. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. What happens now, though?”

“My teammates are working on it. We’ve got gas and open road, so keep driving.”

“Is it- can I be okay and really nervous at the same time?”

“I’d be more concerned if you weren’t nervous.”

“You don’t look nervous.”

“My friend Angela says I never look anything; thinks I can’t show emotion because I can’t feel them.”

“Is it true?”

Tim looks at you and lowers to squat beside you. “No, it’s not.”

“How’s Sam?”

“The driver? He’s gonna be alright. Thanks to you.”

Someone calls for Tim, and he squeezes your shoulder reassuringly as he stands. You glance at him in the mirror as he returns to the access panel. A police helicopter drops to fly above you, and you wonder what the news stations and police officers know or think about the situation. The bus begins losing speed as you steer around a curve, and when you try to speed up again, you realize something is wrong.

Back at the station, Harry and Angela work with Wade and a bomb expert to search for a way to disarm the bomb and for their suspect. Harry has a description of the bomber, but there’s only so much they can learn about the bomb without seeing it.

“Sergeant Bradford!” you cry as you press the gas again.

“What?” Tim asks with wide eyes. You were calling him Tim, and your sudden change of formality and tone concern him.

“The gas pedal’s stuck.”

“What else can go wrong?” Tim asks under his breath. “Move your foot.”

You pull your foot from the pedal and steer as Tim presses his leg against yours to slam his foot down against the pedal. It doesn’t move, and the speedometer dips closer to fifty. Tim moves his hands to cover yours on the steering wheel and moves his leg between yours to try a new angle. You’re close to him, but the fear of dying keeps you from enjoying it in any way. He pushes the pedal again and his shoulders drop.

“There,” he announces as he steps back.

You take the wheel back and press the accelerator down again. The bus gains speed and you catch up to the police car before you.

“Lopez, talk to me,” Tim greets as he answers his phone again.

“You’ve got a hard left coming up,” Angela says. “Really hard.”

“Hard left up ahead,” Tim tells you.

“We’ll tip!” you argue.

“Who is that? Your driver?” Angela inquires.

“We’re not going to tip,” Tim says.

“Yes, we are!”

The curve in the road comes into view, and Tim suddenly agrees, “We’re going to tip.”

He leaves your side to move everyone onto the right side of the bus. The weight distribution keeps the bus from tipping, but as Tim helps you pull the wheel as hard as possible to make the turn, you forget why you were concerned. His presence is the only thing keeping you calm, and you wish he could just sit beside you the whole time.

“Angela, get those news crews off our tail!” he yells over the cheers of the passengers.

You look in the mirror beside you. The news crews must have arrived recently because you didn’t notice them before.

“On it. Harry’s working with the bomb squad. Keep it fifty,” Angela responds.

“Don’t try to make that a thing, Lopez,” Tim says before he ends the call.

“Hey, who’s doing this?” you ask Tim.

“The bomber? He’s just a guy who’s angry with me for foiling his last bombing attempt,” Tim explains.

“So, he’s trying again? Using you to get whatever it is he wants?”

“More or less.”

“What if you stop him again?”

“We do this again tomorrow. Until one of us dies trying.”

“That won’t work.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m not available to drive tomorrow.”

Tim nods but doesn’t reply before a flatbed truck merges into the lane beside the door. His Metro captain and two officers are on the back, and the driver blows the horn to get his attention. Tim opens the door and moves out of the door to talk to them. You can’t hear much but suspect that they want to get the hostages off the bus, which Tim already said was impossible. Your sudden and unbending trust in him should probably concern you, but you will do anything and everything he tells you, even if that means staying on a bus with a bomb on it.

“He called the station looking for you,” an officer announces.

“Why? He has my cell,” Tim says.

“Maybe it died.”

“Just give him my number again! And keep looking; find this guy so we can move these people.”

Tim steps onto the main platform again and closes the door.

“Are they going to help us?” the woman holding Sam’s head up asks.

“Sure, they will. They’re the police,” someone jokes.

Another phone rings in the bag, and Tim pulls your phone out this time. He hadn’t thought to turn yours off because he was concerned about you and wanted to make sure you could drive like the bus needed to be driven.

“Hello?” he answers.

“Tim, you know I trust you. But it looks to me like you’re trying to move passengers off the bus,” the bomber says.

“I need one as an act of faith,” Tim argues. “The driver has been shot.”

“You shot another hostage?”

“He’s dying! If you want your money, show a little charity.”

The line is quiet for a moment before the bomber says, “Fine. You can try to get the driver off. I have more people to kill. Tell your girlfriend behind the wheel not to slow down or he won’t get a chance to bleed out.”

“We’re getting the driver off,” Tim announces after returning your phone to the bag. “Just him for now.”

Ortiz moves out of the seat to help Tim move Sam to the door and onto the truck.

“Get as close as you can,” Tim says. “A little closer.”

The side of the bus hits the truck and swerves, and you rush to apologize.

“It’s okay.” Tim says your name, and you know that he means what he says. “Perfect! Hold it steady!”

You sigh as Tim walks past you again after getting Sam to safety, but then you see a woman walking toward the door. The officers on the truck reach out to help her, unaware of what will happen if she steps off the bus.

“No!” you yell.

“I have to,” she responds.

“No! Don’t get off! Stop!”

An explosion echoes through the bus as the steps fall out and go underneath the bus. The female passenger disappears after she falls with the debris, and you look away quickly as Tim falls forward trying to catch her.

“You’ve got to get those choppers out of here!” Tim yells to his captain. “He’s watching!”

The bus is silent as Tim stands up and waits beside you. With your eyes on the road, he doesn’t see the tear that leaks out. When the passengers start arguing behind you, your grip on the wheel tightens.

“Hey!” Tim calls as he turns to face them. They silence, and he moves his attention to you. “How are you doing?”

Tim steps forward, sees the tears covering your face, and squats with an arm behind you. “What can I do?”

His voice is softer than when he yelled at the men behind you, and you can’t lie to him.

“I thought that was the bomb. When I heard it… I thought everything was over. But then I saw her fall under the bus, and-“

“You’re glad you’re still alive,” Tim finishes.

“I’m so sorry. Does that make me a terrible person?”

“No. It doesn’t mean you don’t care. We’re still alive, and we’re all allowed to be thankful for that. The guy who put us here? He’s a terrible person. Don’t think that you’re a bad person. You’re not.”

“Tim,” you say before pointing to his Captain, who is waving for his attention.

“There’s a gap in the freeway. It’s big. We have to get these people off, Tim,” he says.

“You know I can’t, Captain.”

“Tim?” you ask as he walks past you. “What’d he say?”

“There’s a gap in the road,” Tim tells everyone.

“How big is a gap?” Ortiz asks.

“50 feet, a couple of miles ahead,” Tim says.

“Tim?” you repeat. “What if I shift down and just keep the engine revving?”

“He thought of that… Floor it.”

“What?”

“There’s an interchange, maybe there’s an incline. Just floor it.”

“Okay.”

“Everyone keep your heads down.”

The police car leading you falls off the side, but you continue driving toward the unfinished overpass. The needle on the speedometer nears 70, and Tim waits beside you. As you approach the end, Tim yells for everyone to hold on. He puts his arms around you and pulls your head down with his. You feel weightless for a moment, grounded only by his arms around you before the bus collides with the other side of the interchange. Looking up over Tim’s arm, you see more road ahead and press the gas again, so you don’t slow down.

Your forehead begins to burn and hurt, and you press your palm against your temple as the people behind you cheer. Tim checks on everyone before returning to your side, and he immediately realizes that you’re in pain. He moves your hand and presses the bottom of his shirt to your head. It’s stained with blood when he pulls his hand away, and you grimace at the idea of a wound on your head.

“Get off here!” Tim calls suddenly.

“Yes! Get off!”

You obey and soon enter the Los Angeles International Airport. Tim gives you directions to an emergency runway and explains that you can simply drive here. Without traffic or road closures, the only concern is staying above fifty.

Being in restricted air space is also a bonus, and you notice that the news helicopters are hovering at a distance. Tim seemed concerned about the presence of news cameras, so maybe the location will also keep the bomber from knowing exactly what is happening.

“Yeah?” Tim asks as he answers his phone.

“The airport. Well done. You had some close calls, but you did well, Tim,” the bomber says.

“What do you want?”

“My money. Help me get it before it’s too late, will you? The negotiators think I’m doing this for fun?”

“Are you not?”

“Oh, now you think you know me too?”

“I know you want money you didn’t earn. More than you deserve.”

“I did earn it! I got a medal, too, you know.”

“Let me off. If you want my help, I need to explain that you’re not bluffing. Just me.”

“Alright. But you have to come back. I can see everything; remember that.”

Tim ends the call and slides his phone back in his pocket.

“There’s a plan now?” you ask.

“Maybe. He’s letting me off,” Tim says.

“Hey, don’t forget about us,” you call as he steps off the bus and onto an SUV. “He’ll be back,” you promise the others.

While you circle the airport runways, Tim works with the other officers he told you about to find a way to disarm the bomb. Ortiz walks to your side and looks out at the airport.

“Ortiz?” you ask.

“He’s not coming back, I’m telling you,” he says.

“He didn’t have to get on in the first place. Hey, get behind the yellow line.”

Ortiz looks down and takes on short step back. “You let the cop up here.”

“What is that?” Stephen asks as he joins Ortiz.

“I have no idea,” you answer as you look at Tim standing on the back of a truck covered in machinery. It pulls over in front of you, and Tim lowers onto a cart attached to a winch, and you mutter, “I was right. He is insane.”

“How’d they get that so fast?” Stephen asks under his breath.

You focus more on driving in a straight line as Tim disappears under the front of the bus. He looks up at you just before he disappears, and you nod once. Knowing that he’s under the bus makes you more nervous to drive than you have been at any other point today. Driving in a straight line at the airport is more stressful because Tim is underneath a moving vehicle and touching a bomb. You know he has friends and colleagues who are helping him, but you feel more than a need to survive when you look at Sergeant Tim Bradford.

The winch on the truck releases suddenly, and the cable unfurls.

“Check and see if he came out the back!” you demand. “Can you see him?”

“He’s not back here!” Ortiz calls.

“Look under the bus! Back by the tires!”

“I don’t see him.”

The winch cable snaps and the back tire bounces over something. You press a hand over your mouth in shock, and Ortiz runs to the back access panel.

“Please tell me he’s alright!” you yell. “Do you see him?”

“I see him!” Ortiz responds. “He’s alright!”

You look back and forth between the empty runway and the back of the bus. Ortiz and Stephen pull Tim up onto the bus, and you can’t decide whether to be angry or relieved with him. Tim thanks Ortiz before walking to your side.

“How are you?” he asks.

“You scared me!” you accuse. You slap his vest to express your displeasure before hissing in pain. “What’s that smell?”

“Gas. We have a new leak.” “You caused a leak?”

“It was that or get run over. You can see the difficulty I had choosing.”

“Don’t try to be funny right now. I thought I killed you.”

“I’ll ask my captain to get a fuel truck.”

“Will it work?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re not exactly comforting, you know that?”

“You just hit me and now you want comfort?”

You sigh and look at him again before saying, “Thank you, Tim.”

“Just doing my job… ma’am.”

Tim stays beside you while Harry and a S.W.A.T. team infiltrate the house listed on the bomber’s records. He was surprised by how quickly they found his identification, but now that they have the element of surprise, he hopes that this game is almost over.

 When he gets another call, you can only see the anger in his eyes as he listens to the person on the other end. The bomber tells Tim that Harry and the S.W.A.T. team walked right into his trap. You watch him and can only wonder what is making him so mad. His life is in danger, but something is capable of pushing him even further, it seems.

“I’m going to rip your spine out. If you know as much as you think you do, you know I can,” Tim threatens lowly.

“Oh, I do, Reaper. That’s why you should do what you’re told. You and I both know you can’t do it without Harry and his ability to follow a cheap watch, anyway. Get me my money and it’s over. Otherwise, you, lumberjack-ie, and the others are dead. Got that?”

“Yeah,” Tim says after a moment. “Howie.”

The bomber hesitates at the mention of his real name but doesn’t let it stop him. Tim listens to Howard Payne’s demands before ending the call. Tim turns around and kicks where the stairs used to be before pulling against the handrail in his anger. You try to get his attention over his yelling, but it falls on deaf ears.

“Tim! Please!” you try again. “I can’t do this without you. Please.”

Tim slows his movements before gripping the rail beside you. His jaw is clenched as he looks at you, but your pleas soften his eyes.

“Please stay with me,” you whisper.

“We’re going to die,” he says.

“No. You got us this far, right?”

Tim leans against the dash beside you and looks at you. His shirt is still behind you. Lumberjack-ie. Your little girlfriend.

“Lumberjacks wear flannel, right?” Tim asks.

“Uh, yeah. As far as I know,” you answer. “Why?”

“He can see you.”

“What?”

“Keep looking straight ahead.”

You turn your face to the windshield and watch the runway as Tim examines the top of the bus. He sees the camera at the top of the windshield and shakes his head.

“He said, ‘your girlfriend behind the wheel’ and ‘lumberjack-ie’. I didn’t even realize. There’s a camera in your face. He can see the whole bus.”

“He can see me, but can he hear me?” you ask.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Bus cameras can’t be very high-tech, Tim. Can’t your people get it on a loop or something?”

“You’re brilliant,” Tim murmurs before pushing himself off the dash and to his feet. “Guys, there’s a camera over my left shoulder. I need everyone to sit still. No big movements, no talking, just look concerned and sit still.”

He calls his captain and asks for someone to approach the news trucks at the fence to end the live broadcasts and use their equipment to make a video loop. His captain agrees and texts Tim with an update that the reporters are cooperating.

“Remember, stay relatively still. Just look scared,” Tim reminds everyone.

“That won’t be hard,” Ortiz grumbles.

Tim leans beside you while the video is being recorded. You drive in silence for a minute before noticing the blinking red light on the dash.

“Tim,” you whisper. “Look.”

“Cap, roll the tape. We need fuel,” Tim says into his phone.

“We only have a minute recorded. That won’t convince him, we need more footage” Wade argues.

“No time. Get these people off before this bus runs out of gas.”

“Fuel tanker is running behind. Driver said big rigs need radio signals, and they’re still jammed. Crazy not stupid, right?”

“Right.”

“Now what?” you ask Tim. “Are you tired of that question yet?”

“I’d like an answer to it,” he replies. “Get alongside this bus, okay?”

You nod and drive steadily alongside an LAX passenger bus. Tim’s team lays a wooden board between the bus doors and helps people cross to safety. You listen to Tim encourage the passengers across and are glad he was the cop who got on the bus today. The rear tire blows out suddenly, and you pull the steering wheel back to the middle and yell for Tim to come help.

Tim falls on his way back to the front of the bus, but when he reaches you, he moves his arms across you to pull the wheel.

“Use this to hold down the gas pedal,” he says.

You take the device from his hand and lower it into place. Tim steps back to tie the steering wheel to the floor of the bus, and you steer to keep the bus straight while he works. The moment it’s secure, he pulls you to your feet and tells you to get on the metal access panel.

“I can’t do this,” you argue.

Tim raises his hands to either side of your neck and brushes his thumbs along your skin as he promises, “Yes, you can. I’m right here with you.”

You swallow nervously and nod before sitting on your escape route, a thin piece of metal that Tim moved with no problem. Tim moves to lay over you, and he wraps an arm around your waist as you hide your face against his shoulder.

“I got you,” he promises once more.

The bus turns and the access panel cover falls out of the bottom. You clutch Tim tightly as the metal door slides across the runway and into a nearby patch of dirt. He sits up and watches the bus slow as it nears a plane but doesn’t let go of you. Just before the bomb detonates, Tim pulls you down again and lays over you to protect you from any debris. Sirens echo in the distance, and you wrap your arms around Tim’s back.

“Are you alright?” he asks again.

“No,” you answer, your first honest answer of the day. “Oh, I hate the airport.”

Tim moves to your side but keeps an arm around your shoulder as he looks into your eyes.

“You can’t get mushy on me. You can’t show emotion, remember?” you tease.

“I think I might be able to after all.”

“Relationships that start like this never last. It’s just the high-stress, adrenaline pumping, all that.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, maybe we can change that.”

“Uh, I think your friends are here.”

Tim looks up but doesn’t move as Angela and Wade exit a police car and run toward him.

“I was worried about you,” Angela says. “And here you are.”

“I’m sorry about Harry,” Tim offers. “I wish we could have changed it.”

“You good?” Wade asks. “’Cause I might be a nice guy and let you take the rest of the day off.”

“And stop worrying about what we could have done differently. You saved a lot of lives today, Timothy,” Angela adds.

“A day off sounds like a good deal,” you murmur.

Tim shakes his head before introducing you to Detective Angela Lopez and Sergeant Wade Grey. When he finally stands and sees the scrapes and gashes littering your skin, he forces you to let a paramedic treat you. Tim follows you to the ambulance but hangs back to talk to Angela. He’s lost a partner before, too, and knows what it’s like.

“I’m sorry for bringing everyone into this. Howard could have just come for me,” Tim concludes.

“I appreciate everything,” Angela responds. “But, you’re going to the hospital, too. Is that Chen?”

Tim turns quickly and sees Lucy running toward the police cruiser parked behind the ambulance.

“Sergeant Grey!” she yells. “We’ve got Payne on the line, and he wants to know when he’s getting his money. Whoa, Tim, are you alright?”

“He doesn’t know,” Tim says. “He doesn’t know the bus exploded.”

“Tell him thirty minutes,” Wade alerts all the nearby officers.

“Stay in the ambulance,” Tim tells you.

“But I-“

“Ma’am, stay in the ambulance.”

You nod and climb into the ambulance after refusing help from the paramedics. They continue bandaging a cut on your leg as Tim climbs in.

“I need to make a quick stop on the way to the hospital,” he tells the driver.

“Where?” she asks.

“The drop spot. Pershing Square.”

The driver reluctantly agrees, and you watch Tim as she drives. He demands you stay in the ambulance until he returns, and you agree but don’t mean it. You’ve been beside Tim for most of the morning, and you neither remember how to be away from him nor do you want to. You stand on the sidewalk beside the ambulance and watch people move around you. It’s another normal day for them, but your life will never be the same after today.

“Miss, you can’t stand here, you need to move back,” an older officer says as he grabs your shoulders.

“Oh, I’m waiting for Tim-“

“Tim Bradford, yes. He asked that I move you out of harm’s way.”

“But he told me to stay here.”

His hold on your shoulders tightens as he says, “And I’m telling you to move.”

“Payne is late,” Angela complains.

“He’s not late,” Tim says. “He’s never late.”

“Two hundred cops are watching that sculpture, plus a tracker in the bag. He hasn’t been here,” Wade explains.

“Turn on the tracker,” Tim requests.

“What for?”

“Just do it!”

Wade presses a button on the laptop before him, and the blinking light of the tracker travels across the screen.

“He’s got the money,” Angela says.

Tim runs out of their hiding spot and to the drop spot. He pushes the art installation over and kicks it when he sees the opening in the sidewalk beneath it. As he drops into the defunct subway system, he sees someone walking farther into the tunnel and pulls his gun.

“L.A.P.D. Freeze!” he yells.

The person stops, and he aims at their head before saying, “Pop quiz. Someone has a clear shot at your head. What do you do?... Turn around.”

“If you don’t do it, I’ll kill Tim Bradford,” Howard Payne threatens as he secures a vest covered in dynamite around your chest. “What are you going to do?”

“Wait- wait for him to come in and walk away. Then I listen to you,” you answer shakily.

“Perfect. Maybe you two can have your happily ever after all. You say one word that I don’t like and you’re both dead.”

Howard disappears down the subway, and you bite your bottom lip to refrain from crying or screaming for help. Tim may shoot you, no questions asked, but at least he will be safe. When you hear something crash above you and sunlight infiltrates the dark staircase before you, you take a deep breath and begin walking away.

Tim’s voice doesn’t carry the same comforting words or soothing lilt as in the bus, but you still recognize it and want to hear it as he yells at you.

“Turn around!” he demands.

You turn slowly and can see the moment Tim realizes he’s pointing his gun at you.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper.

The apology echoes off the concrete walls as Tim lowers his weapon. You don’t see or hear him, but you can feel the change when Howard appears behind you.

“Be prepared!” Howard says as he walks up the stairs behind you and raises the detonator, a deadman’s switch. “What are you gonna do, Tim? I don’t think you can shoot this hostage.”

“Let her go,” Tim demands as he points his gun at Howard.

“I don’t think I’m going to do that. Move the money,” he tells you.

You transfer the money from the L.A.P.D. bags and into Howard’s duffel bag as Tim yells at him to let you go.

“You don’t need her!” Tim adds.

“I will let go,” Howard threatens as he moves the detonator switch. “You don’t get it, Tim. Do you know what a bomb that doesn’t explode is? It’s the cheap, gold watch they gave me after I lost a finger and a life to my country.”

“You’re crazy.”

You push yourself against the wall as you listen to their exchange, but you keep your eyes on Tim rather than the bomb just below your chin. Howard demands you take his money and enter another part of the tunnel system and you know that you’re going to obey because he’ll kill Tim if you don’t. You tear your eyes from Tim and walk exactly where Howard leads you.

As you enter a crowded stop, Howard fires several shots into the concrete ceiling as you drop your head and cover your ears. The subway passengers waiting for the next train flee in terror as you try to get away from Howard. Tim can’t be far behind, but when you’re pushed into a subway car, you’re tempted to think that no help is coming. Howard handcuffs your hands around a pole before the subway lurches into motion.

At the back of the subway, Tim struggles to pry a set of doors open before he falls into the car. He moves strategically through the empty rows of seats with his mind on you and ending this game with Howard Payne once and for all.

The subway conductor reaches for his radio, and Howard forces the deadman switch into your hands and tells you to hold it. He turns his back on you and kills the conductor as you struggle to move away.

“Look, you won. You beat Tim, you beat everybody, you can just throw me off the train. I don’t care,” you plead.

“You see this stick? When you explode, the police will come there. But that’s not where I’ll be, so I get more time. I promise it won’t hurt,” Howard replies as he pulls the detonator away from you.

A series of dull thuds echoes, and Howard looks up quickly. He smiles, and it makes your stomach flip.

“Hey, Tim. Is that you?” he asks. “He’s so persistent. Wouldn’t be able to interest you in a bribe, would I, hotshot?”

Howard kneels and opens the duffel bag full of cash. You watch as a dye pack explodes in his face and paints his money purple. In his anger, he fires bullets into the roof, and you drop to the floor as Tim rolls out of the line of fire. Howard runs through a door, and you can only listen as he climbs onto the roof and begins struggling against Tim.

Howard has the deadman stick in his hand and can kill you by moving a centimeter to the left or right, but you’re more worried about Tim with every noise against the roof. You stay low on the pole you’re cuffed to, twisting your wrists and manipulating your fingers as you try to slip free. The struggle above you silences suddenly, and you watch the door nervously.

“Tim!” you call when he rushes in. “Tim. Where’s Payne?”

“Uh, he lost his head. Turn around,” Tim says.

You circle the pole, and Tim rips a wire free before loosening the straps of the vest.

“Let’s take this off,” he says before pulling the vest away from your chest.

“Tim, can you hear me?” someone asks through the driver’s radio. “This is Wade. Listen, the track isn’t finished.”

“What else can go wrong?” you murmur.

“Wade, I copy,” Tim radios.

“Do you copy? Try the emergency brake.”

“I copy!” Tim tries again before throwing the radio down.

He steps to the right and hits the emergency brake. After the train doesn’t even slow, he begins hitting other buttons, but nothing happens.

“None of this works!” he exclaims as he hits the control board.

He turns away from the useless machinery and returns to you. When he notices the handcuffs holding you in place, he slows.

“You can uncuff me and we can get off,” you say with an exaggerated nod.

“I don’t have a key,” Tim replies.

“You don’t have…”

You trail off and look at the handcuffs. If only you could slip your hands through them, you think. Tim begins pulling and kicking the pole as you try again to pull your hands through the metal cuffs. He pauses and lays a hand against your arm to look at how tight the cuffs are.

“Help me pull,” you grunt as you lean your weight back against the restraints.

“No, no,” Tim says quickly as he pulls you forward. “You’re just hurting yourself.”

You stand still and see a bead of blood running down your fingers. As you stare at it, Tim walks to a map on the wall. He remembers the nightmare again; a series of bad memories that end with him, “the Reaper,” standing alone in the desert before being rescued and awarded a medal. As he searches for a way to save you, Tim decides that he will never shoot the hostage again, and he won’t leave you behind, even if that means dying with you.

“Tim, please just go,” you beg.

“There’s a curve ahead. I can make it jump the track.”

“Tim! Sergeant Bradford!” Tim turns to you, and you repeat, “Get off this train. You can still jump. Tim, please. Please.”

Tim ignores you as he returns to the controls and increases the train’s speed. You slide your hands down the pole as you sit on the floor, and Tim walks silently to your side. He leans in beside you, and you raise your arms to wrap around his neck as you lean your head against his. He moves his arms around the pole to circle you and holds you tight as the train picks up speed.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper just before the lights go out.

The train car hits something and spins, but Tim tightens his arms around you. With every bump and move of the subway, you become more convinced that you’ll never get out of this position. Light enters the windows as you crash through something, and the car flips onto its side as it lands on asphalt. The impact loosens the pole, and you fall onto Tim, whose grip on you doesn’t waver for a second. As the car slides to a stop, you squeeze Tim and take a deep breath.

“You didn’t leave me,” you say before forcing yourself to open your eyes.

Tim cradles the back of your head before moving his hands to your back. You lean up gently and look into his eyes again.

“I told you to leave me!”

“I didn’t have anywhere to be just then. Rest of the day off and all,” Tim responds before pulling you down against him.

He kisses you, and you’re surprised that it is more than adrenaline. The kiss is more than a relief to be alive, and you want to feel Tim Bradford at your side every day for the rest of your life (which would have ended today if not for him). You move your hands to Tim’s short hair as you return his kiss. It’s relief, joy, love, and passion in a single touch. When Tim begins breathing heavily against you, you move up.

“I’ve heard relationships that start during intense situations like this never work,” Tim says.

“Oh,” you sigh. “Then I guess we’ll be the first.”

“Whatever you say, ma’am.”

Glass rains down on you as you kiss Tim again, and though your day went nothing like you thought it would, it’s now the best day of your life. Tim helps you stand as his team approaches the scene, and you stop him before you exit the car.

“You know if this was a movie, they’d make another one where the same thing happens again, right?” you say softly.

“We’re never taking public transportation again,” Tim states.

“Yeah. Hey, where is the truck you were driving this morning?”

Tim hesitates and tightens his arm around your waist before turning away to yell, “Chen! I need you to do something for me.”

[notoriousbeb]

Lighthouse Keeper Tweets

Part Two: November 2023 - January 2024

Back to Part One

Nov. 3, 2023 8:30 a.m. GMT

“And everything I love about you I shelve and store in my museum of the home.”

This is sweet. Same day, H is pictured in Vancouver with TR.

Nov. 9, 2023 4:40 p.m. GMT

“We will be reborn.”

TS plays TVFN and Labyrinth and wears Satellite stompers. Harry and TR in Vegas at Sphere for U2.

Nov. 14, 2023 4:15 p.m. BST

“Saint Venerius guide me true from heaven above to tidal blue”

Nov. 20, 2023 12:30 a.m.

“Seasons don't fear the reaper, nor do the wind, the sun or the rain”

These are lyrics from “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult. Now, I know the lyrics to this one are about joint suicide and they’re depressing as hell, but I dig it because this song is my jam. Baby, I’m your maaaaannnn. La, la la la la. Anyways…suffice it to say. LK is up late and not doing great. On this date, Tay played “So It Goes…” And someone leaked “I’m Not Happy” (gee, whoever could it have been?!) on 11/21, “Pop Tart” on 11/22 and “Super Pretty” on 11/26.

Nov. 25, 2023 9 p.m. BST

“Singing if it’s meant to be then it’ll be I forgive it all as it comes back to me”

These are lyrics from Ethel Cain’s “Sun Bleached Flies.” In his replies, LK also makes it known that he loves “A House in Nebraska” by Ethel Cain, which has similar vibes. I love the line “I’ll forgive it all.” I hope that’s true for both of them. Another key lyric, the last in the song, is “it’s all I know and it’s all I want now.” Also, someone asked LK what he dreamed about and he said, “I was front row at a very empty concert, and then was running around the back of an empty stadium! Was very bizarre.” Not that I can make heads or tails of this, I just thought it was interesting and something a pop star would dream about versus a normie.

Nov. 28, 2023 12:45 a.m. BST

“To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.”

I've already posted about this one. Also, this is a Pride and Prejudice quote. Do I think H has read it? Maybe probably. Do I think he’s seen the Keira Knightly movie adaptation? 100%.

Dec. 3, 2023 6:15 p.m. BST

“What a sight for sore eyes”

Home for the holidays early? Maybe in Italy already?

Dec. 13, 2023 9:30 p.m. BST

“You can arm yourself with stolen lines, pretty chains and fancy wines, you can flick through magazines, and get your hair cut from the movie scenes, happy so it seems, but we both know.”

These are lyrics from “Juice” by Mount Zooka a band from Bristol. Obviously, this was Taylor’s birthday. Imma go out on a limb here and say mans was feeling some kind of way. Also, on this day, “Jesus Christ, Happy New Year” leaks. So.

Dec. 19, 2023 2 a.m. BST

“I’ve bitten my tongue until I’ve learned to like the taste of my own blood.”

This is after rumors were roiling post 12/13 that Taylor was engaged because of the ring from Keleigh Teller (before Keleigh shut them down on 12/21). Dude. Stop biting your tongue then and just say something.

Jan. 1, 2024 3 p.m. BST

“Let me lay dormant in the haze…”

That’s one way to ring in the new year.

Jan. 9, 2023 5:30 p.m. BST

“I'm not afraid of being the one with the ace card 'cause I'm just like everybody else. I leave my door closed shut in case you come trying to kick it down.”

These are lyrics from “Freight Yard” by The Garden This is either the day or the day before he leaves for the Caribbean with TR and others (Jeff, I believe). This is an angry-ass song. Interestingly, there are zero loved-up pics captured on this trip. And there are a whopping 17 HS leaks this day. Then more leaks on 1/6. Are the leaks the ace card? Did he not want to go on this trip? Afterwards, Harry is in LA from 1/6-16.

Jan. 14, 2023 7:45 p.m. BST

“I met you in my dream and I didn’t say a word, but we know who we were, and that was enough.”

This is so bittersweet. Also, it reminds of that line from "Sad, Beautiful, Tragic:" "In dreams, I meet you in warm conversation. We both wake in lonely beds, different cities."

Jan. 19, 2023 - 11:45 p.m. BST

"Red crosses on wooden doors. And if you float you burn. Loose talk around tables. Abandon all reason."

These are lyrics from Radiohead’s “Burn the Witches.” On this day, a photo of TR with Jeff Azoff at HS’s 6/13 Wembley show surfaced.

Jan. 23, 2023 11:45 p.m. BST

“Oh you’ve got some stitches and babe I need some fixing.”

At this time, both TS and HS were dealing with their respective stalkers.

Jan. 29, 2023 11:15 p.m. BST

“But she can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool. And she can't be convicted, she's earned her degree. And the most she will do is throw shadows at you. But she's always a woman to me.”

These are lyrics from Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman.” On this day, deepfake images of a nude Taylor Swift went viral on Twitter.

Ahead to Part Three

[effectingsomedragons]

List of My Current Fics

So I saw some folks doing this and never got around to doing it myself. At any rate, I've got another fic in the works I'll hopefully be able to update by the end of the month!

My Ao3: CinnamonnyBunny

THE LIVES WE SAVE (complete)

Shakarian, feelings realization, denial of feelings

She had only just gotten him back. How was it possible that she could be on the brink of losing him all over again? With Garrus's life hanging in the balance, Shepard must grapple with the complexities of her own feelings.

AT THE END OF ALL THINGS (complete)

Shakarian, Kal x Tali (implied), post-canon, canon defiant, just this once everybody lives, mehem/jhem/ahem compliant

As the Reaper forces fall to the mysterious force of the Crucible, everyone struggles to pick up the pieces in the chaotic aftermath. In the wake of catastrophe and in the shadow of a narrowly averted apocalypse, it's up to each person to find their own anchor in the storm.

"For the quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things."

CATS IN THE CRADLE (complete)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Zaal'Koris, quarian headcanons, post-canon, canon defiant, just this once everybody lives, mehem/jhem/ahem compliant, Kal x Tali

As the galaxy struggles to get back on its feet after the devastating Reaper War, Tali'Zorah is tasked with returning the surviving quarian marines back to her people. But as the dust settles, it's Zaal'Koris who must grapple with the consequences, facing the loss of his only son and a decade of regret...

[nissakii]

The World ends with you - The Animation Full Review

As the popular DS game “The world ends with you” got its own animation this year, it’s just about time to write another Anime review about the famous game that was firstly released on April 18th 2008 in Europe and April 22nd in the US and Canada.

Despite that the game got many remakes, it was announced that the animation would air in 2021 by both Domerica and Shin-Ei-Animation while Square Enix provided character design and still operated as the publisher.

A total of 12 Episodes with the japanese title “Subarashiki kono Sekai”adapted from the game were released from April 2021 forwards.

Now the anime has ended and it’s just time to see how well the adapted version of the videogame did and if the meaningful message of the game was properly conveyed.

Here it comes, the full review on The world ends with you, if you dive any deeper into this blogpost then be aware that it contains major spoilers and also discusses the end of both the game and anime.

Setting

The anime takes place in a fictional version of Shibuya in Tokyo as there are actually two versions in the game: the Realground and the Underground. The latter is where most of the story takes place for our main cast and serves as a playground for the so-called Reapers’ game in which the players have to complete daily missions without getting erased. If a player gets erased it leads to death. People from the Realground and Underground cannot interact with each other, yet the players can scan the thoughts of the Realground inhabitants only and also imprint thoughts on them to direct them for their missions.

This Shibuya is close to the traditional one, having the same streets and spots such as Hachiko, it is also mentioned that it was remodeled after the real Shibuya in Tokyo with some of the streets renamed.

Despite the serious setting in which the players fight for their lives there are many fashion and food shops in which the characters are seen to buy food or clothes as some spots are connected to the Realground and allows some areas to see the players which is usually not the case, besides Reapers are both able to interact in the Realground and Underground, while they do not have their wings in the Realground and also are restrained in some ways.

In the anime Neku’s first “starting point” in week one (or game one) is the Scramble Crossing, while in his other runs of the Reapers’ game for example game two he awake at the statue of Hachiko.

Plot

With no memories, Neku Sakuraba wakes up lying on the street of the scramble crossing. When he suddenly realizes that he cannot touch anyone nor talk to them, a timer is set on his hand and a message that welcomes him to the so-called Reapers’ game. While he cannot even remember his own name he soon encounters Shiki, a young girl with a cat plush who in a dire situation asks him to become his partner in order for him and her to use their psychic powers and destroy the monsters called “Noises”. A player with no partner cannot use powers and that concludes not being able to participate in the game.

The story sticks close to the game, yet the game has many little extra side stories that could not fit in a 12 Episode- anime.

We can see that Shiki and Neku, the latter who is firstly very distant and antisocial towards everybody, not wanting to interact with anybody, play through the first week and encounter other players. On the second day Neku gets tricked by one of the Reapers and almost chokes Shiki to death if not for Mr.Hanekoma who helps them, later on the Reaper who made a deal with him actually tells him that she lied and he would have been erased anyways. Neku who thought Shiki would not forgive him is taken aback when she tells him she understands why he did that and trusts him.Everything seems to go neatly. Shiki’s backstory, which we will discuss later in the post, also plays a crucial role as a guide and intel for Neku who has no recollection of his past. He played the game because he was forced to yet through Shiki towards the end of the week Neku gets to know the shocking truth: Everyone who is invited to the Reapers’ game is already dead and pays an entry fee in order to get a chance to be revived again.

With Shiki having lost her appearance as her entry fee, taking the one of her friend Eri which she is jealous of, Neku helps her to overcome her jealousy and see her friend Eri getting to know her true thoughts about Shiki. Also there are Beat and Rhyme to players they have met and befriended over the course of the first week, yet Neku sees how troublesome the emotions are that come with interactions, as Rhyme’s erasure on day 4.

This new motivation to make up with Eri and give their best for those who left made Neku and Shiki hopeful as they also were able to clear the first game in which Higashizawa was the first Game master.

An interesting lore point which pointed out that it was not a single-event of players being gathered but a cycle in which game after game must have been conducted from that point on. As the anime depicted the nice atmosphere of the game which we could not always imagine through the heavy dialogue based game with some cutscenes, the anime filled all the little holes but also rushed many things, such a Neku turning suspicious from time to time and his feelings changing as he meets more people which seems at the beginning very troublesome. But in the anime it is depicted as if he is constantly making only positive changes, on week one in the game he was more inclined to get pessimistic over small inconveniences and stayed much more in his anti-social manners until week one was completed.

The story progresses a tad rushed yet with amazing transitions from one arc to the other, as when Shiki and Neku cleared the game and met Kitanji the Conductor of the game. Yet there is a little twist that destroys the happiness in a second: Only one is allowed to return to the Realground and it was chosen that Shiki is that one person.

Neku happily accepts and tells Shiki she should go ahead while he is allowed to enter another game which costs him another entry fee.

Unexpectedly Shiki who was supposed to enter the Realground becomes Neku’s new entry fee and is collected in front of his eyes, vanishing as the thing that is currently the most important treasure of his.

Here it shows an interesting twist in the story: firstly Neku connecting deeply to a person to an extent that that very person becomes his next entry fee and secondly the occurrence of another game right away which Neku starts with a whole different cause and attitude.

We again see Neku awakening but with most of his memories being returned as his new entry fee was Shiki and his old one being returned. Yet his death stays a mystery until he meets his new partner Joshua, a mysterious boy with an overly clever and sly attitude. Forced to become his partner without knowing him Neku’s second week starts a whole lot different than the one before as his new partner seems to know eerily much about the Game, the Underground, the Realground and much more.

Mr.Hanekoma who has acted as an guide up until now also seems to be acquainted very well with Joshua and while in anime Neku is suspicious of Joshua up until the end of week two, in the game it seemed much more hostile and mistrusting towards Joshua, even calling him rude nicknames unlike in the anime. Still the Neku in the second game seems a lot more willing to interact with people and give even more effort as he has Shiki on his mind. Meanwhile his friend Beat became a Reaper which also was a shocking revelation.

As a player can choose to become a Reaper, it gave off a certain feeling of betrayal and instability due to Rhyme’s death which had impacted him a lot. Not only that but Joshua’s personality which also sticks close to the game is a lot more pushy here and things almost go a bit too fast compared to the game.

Due to Joshua’s intellect which makes him stand out next to his peers, they are able to not only finish the daily missions but get a little bit of free time to research, as Joshua tells Neku that he has been looking for the Composer. Later on it is revealed when Joshua uses odd abilities that are seemingly too strong and unique for a player that he is actually still alive yet playing the Reapers’ game, finding a loophole to enter the Underground from the Realground. An illegal act and the reason why Neku was able to scan him despite being a player, revealing the memory of Neku’s death caused by Joshua.

After holding that grudge against Joshua and not trusting him unlike his partner before, the new game master Minamoto Sho causes chaos in his reign in the Reapers’ game filling it with Taboo noises who cannot be beat the normal way, the main reason why Joshua was forced to use his odd abilities in the first place. After they arrive at the end of week two and facing Minamoto Sho head on, Neku regrets his suspicious behaviour when Joshua saves him from a lethal attack while sacrificing himself, later on revealing that Minamoto Sho was the one who apparently shot Neku causing his death and not Joshua.

In front of Kitaniji again, Neku is full of sorrow. He made it to the end of his second game yet the face of Joshua who sacrificed himself and he did not want to trust hurt him very much. On top of that, Shiki was not given back to him and due to Joshua being his partner and entering the game through illegal means, Neku has to shoulder the penalty by entering his last game, and therefore last chance.

The entry fee: All players, including Shiki,

Here is another wonderful point that was emphasized and showed Neku’s immense growth, After he realized that Joshua, which by all means he had a reason to be suspicious of, he didn’t leave him behind yet that he did not trust him caused him guilt which shows a big contrast to Neku from day one week one.

Also the other players he met and helped out because he taught of Shiki while helping them showed that he didn’t keep his view and values to himself anymore but sincerely cared for those around him step by step.

As again the game gives more time to get to know each character more and more, Neku’s reactions are a bit dull and simple in the anime, as his thought process and suspicion was far bigger in the game but also the regret and disappointment of himself after Joshua’s sacrifice, as Neku blames himself for not trusting him much more.

With his last game starting, Shibuya already looks quite different and becomes a homogen mass, scanning the people has no use anymore since everyone thinks the same. Something the conductor wanted in order to make a “perfect” Shibuya.

Mitsuki Konishi who acts as the third game master also plays by unfair means and uses the Reapers to target Neku who wakes up alone with no other player around him to partner up with. Until Beat finds him he chooses to give up his role as Reaper and become Neku’s final partner, also noticing Neku’s growth in comparison to week one.

Beat who secretly helped Neku while being a Reaper pretending he would challenge him every time, becomes Neku’s drive to go on and as they both reach the last stage overcoming the taboo Minamoto who came back due to Mr.Hanekoma finishing the taboo refinery that Minamoto made on week two. Yet Minamoto in the anime died by light spears while in the game he was crushed by a soda machine.

After defeating Konishi and advancing forwards the true battle begins between Kitaniji who conducted the game from the very start and also reveals that he and the composer made a bet about Shibuya.

Kitaniji unlike in the game, brainwashes Shiki and makes her fight Neku and Beat. He also doesn’t absorb his partners unlike in the game but immediately turns into a monster, after Neku stops the brainwashing on her.

Defeating Kitaniji with the help of Mr.Hanekoma’s pin he left for him before he vanished, Neku puts an end to the game with Beat’s and Shiki’s help.

Kitaniji realizes that Neku was the chosen one, the proxy of the composer who would be his rival in the bet he made.

And here comes the biggest twist in the story, that Joshua is the composer and actually killed Neku in order to make him his proxy in the bet between him and Kitaniji. His main agenda was to destroy and eradicate Shibuya due to negativity and bad things that kept happening in it.

Joshua constrains both Beat and Shiki, handing Neku a gun and making him play one last game that both of them would shoot at the same time in order to determine a winner.

Neku, who doesn’t want Shibuya to disappear and finally learned how to connect with others, expanding his world by letting their values and opinions in as well, takes the gun.

Yet when Joshua counts, Neku tells him by the end that he would trust him, his final regret of never having trusted Joshua being left behind and lowering his gun. Joshua, who stares at him, simply shoots him and causes an end to Shibuya.

In the end all the effort and growth Neku put in went into the final decision of trusting Joshua and accepting him, to end up shot by the one person he trusted.

Joshua as well saw that growth and was surprised, he was Neku’s second partner and therefore tried to get him back to his old ways which didn’t work, and the most surprising outcome was that Neku’s killer and the composer who wanted to destroy Shibuya earned the trust of the one who was only by himself and secluded in the beginning.

The end shows that Shibuya was restored to a new and better place, with all the players who had died being back in the Realground. Neku is seen with Rhyme and Beat waiting for someone. Shiki in her true appearance only known due to Mr.Mew in her hands joins the group and Neku is seen to put down his headphones he always kept on in order to avoid people.

A meaningful end and metaphor to show the change that those characters went through.

Relationships

Neku-Shiki

While in the anime we don’t see the truthful dynamic of those two, it’s actually a very meaningful relationship that gives Neku the important first push into his character development.

Shiki who is a total stranger and quite annoying for Neku in the beginning becomes source of trust and hope as he sees how much Shiki cares about those around her.

She doesn’t abandon people in need even though she is not obligated to help and while it was something that Neku found bothering at first, it was the side he came to like about Shiki.

Despite that he doesn’t know Shiki’s true appearance due to Neku’s bold and straight-forward behaviour he tells her she is fine the way she is and that the Shiki he got to know is someone he admires and finds interesting.

With that Neku was able to make Shiki overcome her jealousy for her friend Eri and also made Neku more aware about the people around him which was the first step to connect to people. Even though Shiki was one of the few he trusted, she was as well the main source that kept letting Neku play the game and saw it through to the end.

Acceptance and awareness is something that this dynamic taught, a start into a more vast world for Neku and a much more comfortable one in which Shiki could be herself once again.

Neku-Joshua

Joshua was his second partner and kept Neku on his toes with suspicion and trust. As Joshua proved to be more on the intellectual side and did things that went beyond the usual daily missions, Neku still tried his best to trust but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Especially after seeing himself getting killed by Joshua, which was refuted later on by a memory that showed Minamoto killing him, Neku felt extreme remorse and regret for not trusting him.

He played the game in order to free Shiki and after Joshua’s sacrifice he came to understand that there is much more that he needed to understand and value about people.

Joshua acted as the one who tried to bring Neku back to his old ways as he kept telling him to simply care about himself or that him helping the other players is not like Neku at all, a little trial that showed despite Neku’s suspicion towards him didn’t cause him to forget which impact Shiki had on him.

Next to his bold and straight-forward but serious attitude, Joshua as his partner showed a more flamboyant and carefree side quite the opposite of Neku which also irritated and confused him. It also showed that Neku took his responsibility to bring Shiki back seriously and after having seen Rhyme’s erasure he didn’t want to let that happen again.

In the end we get to see Joshua’s true face and intentions, as he was the true killer of Neku in order to make him his proxy in his bet. For Joshua’s cause he needed someone who was the worst, who wouldn’t mingle with people and keep to himself and Neku was just that.

The composer Joshua is much more strict and not as lenient as the one who was his partner. Wanting to destroy Shibuya and not shying away from killing Neku twice, but it’s seen that he was relieved and impressed by Neku’s growth, showing him that people can change for the better.

Neku was Joshua’s proxy and played his role so well that Joshua himself didn’t see his change coming, proving that with enough effort and the right people one can become a whole new self like the Shibuya that was shown at the end

Neku-Beat

Beat as his last partner was also an interesting contrast between the Neku from the first week to the Neku towards the end. Beat himself stated that he was surprised by Neku reaching out to him and also willingly partnered up.

Not only that but Beat who is much more simple-minded and hot-headed, as well as driven by an immense willpower proved to be very helpful as Neku stated that he found him annoying in the beginning with his loud attitude but that Beat’s idiocy is something he admired as it was the last fuel when they were about to give up.

From someone he found unbearable to a well-appreciated friend that cheered him up, Neku learned to take his fearless and reckless behaviour in order to save his friends while leaving behind hopelessness and negative thoughts that obstructed his main goal to rescue both Shiki and Rhyme with Beat.

This dynamic that was unpairable at the beginning was a refreshing change of pace as Neku was the one who took more of a lead, unlike his other two partners who were dragging him along at the beginning.

Beat-Rhyme

The bond of siblings.

Beat who is eager to save his sister since she was the most important to him in the Realground and Rhyme who didn’t even remember Beat being her brother yet sacrificed herself reversing what happened in the Realground.

After being erased because she saved Beat in the Underground, Beat blames himself even more for not being able to protect his sister another time. The car accident that caused them to enter the Reapers’ game felt like his responsibility. Despite the fact that he tried to save his sister because of his own selfishness, they still ended up dying.

Rhyme and Beat are complete opposites, she who dreamed of having a dream and him who wanted to become the best skater, the brother who was selfish and caused trouble for his parents and sister, and the sister who selflessly cared about her brother and tried to calm him down when things heated up.

Their relationship shows how genuinely they cared for each other and that at times one appreciates the other when it is already too late.

Despite that Rhyme didn’t remember Beat being her brother she still went all the way to save him and risked her own life for it, as well as Beat wanting to take on the composer no matter what in order to get Rhyme back.

Because a life without his sibling would have been the same as being dead...

Eri-Shiki

Why did I take this relationship in this post?

Eri and Shiki are both best friends who share one dream together, yet they had obvious communication problems and also jealousy played a big role.

Shiki who was jealous of Eri even took her appearance in the Underground while later on we get to know that Eri played down Shiki’s talent because she feared that Shiki would be well off without her. In the first place Eri felt like she could only design while Shiki could both design and make the designs become real clothes.

Yet Shiki never knew that until Eri talked about Shiki’s death in the Realground, regretting the things she said to her and wanting to give up the dream because it was one they had to do together.

Shiki, surprised by her friend’s thoughts which she was afraid to hear, wants to return and reconcile with her, as Shiki always thought that she was a nobody next to Eri and admired her friend who seemed to be well-liked by everyone.

This dynamic is important since it shows that thoughts if not spoken out can never be perceived by another person and that sometimes matters seem much more different than one’s own perception.

Voices

Another set of amazing voice actors in this anime as well starting off with our protagonist Neku Sakuaraba whose matching aloof and cold attitude was voiced by none other than Uchiyama Koki known for his roles Shigaraki Tomura(BNHA), Tsukishima Kei(Haikyuu) and Toge Inumaki(Jujutsu Kaisen).

Surprisingly Anna Hachimine who voiced Shiki Misaki, voiced only Shiki in both the games and the anime, as it was her first and only role, up until this day. Her voice may not sound professional compared to her fellow voice actors, yet it is perfectly fitting for Shiki who seems a little bit clumsy but also lovable despite her lack of self-confidence.

Next up is none other than Ryohei Kimura being known for his eccentric characters which he voiced this time he lent his voice to Yoshiya “Joshua” Kiryu, a sly and clever young man with a twisted personality yet prince-like looks. He voiced Childe(Genshin Impact), Bokuto Koutarou(Haikyuu) and Jo Jojima(Re:Main).

Daisukenojo “Beat” Bito was voiced by Subaru Kimura, the deep and strong voice that matched Beat’s up-beat and strong personality. He is known for his roles Satori Tendou(Haikyuu) and Aoi Todo(Jujutsu Kaisen).

His sister Raimu “Rhyme” Bito (in the game) and the game master of the last game Mitsuki Konishi are both voiced by the same voice actress which is Hitomi Nabatame, showing us both a calculating and cunning as well as an adorable and selfless character. Rhyme in the animation is voiced by Ayana Taketatsu mainly known for her roles Leafa (SAO) and Kotori Itsuka( Date a live).

Animation

The animation stuck close to the game’s design, there was a slight thing that bothered me personally but I got a bit used to it later on: the switch from the weird CG (3D animation) when fights occur to 2D when the characters were interacting normally or the normal course of events went on.

The colors matched the slight urban-city vibe of the anime which were highlighted by the soundtrack as well.

Also the switch from the colour-pallete of Shibuya in week one and two to the one in week three in which Shibuya had a more reddish and black tone, emphasizing the ominous change and unified thoughts that made Shibuya a simple and homogen mass of people. The contrast of the change was clear and the atmosphere which was interesting as I really felt the change not only through the story but also the colours making them “two separate” Shibuyas who have nothing to so with each other as the one we knew from the beginning was full of individual and unique thoughts.

Also the colour of red emitted the danger both players as well as the people from the Realground were in, making the viewer alerted through visuals alone.

Conclusion

While the animation was almost akin to the game there were still little changes visible to the people who prior played it.

Still it was enjoyable seeing everything being animated instead of only dialogue and some cutscenes, as everything transited well from one scene and arc to the other.

With the voices being constantly hearable and design of the characters being exactly like in the games it felt like the game itself was animated which made it nostalgic, additionally the soundtracks from the game were also mostly included as remixes or remastered versions, for example Twister which was used as the opening.

But there was a slight problem: With only 12 Episodes it is hard to follow what is exactly happening as you get a lot of input about the world, lore and characters at once. The latter is even held short with Shiki only covering three episodes which I personally thought didn’t cover their whole relationship and the depth of her character, same goes with the others.

Extra events and some side stories which also were slightly important to the already heavy plot also were missing and towards the end there were a lot more changes for example with Minamoto’s death and Kitaniji’s fight.

Despite that like the Persona 5 animation, especially people who played the game would be delighted to see the game animated as they know most of the story yet they can fill the little visual and auditory holes though the animation.

It’s also interesting how close the style of both fights, characters and color palettes stayed to the game and I hope that despite the CG also people who are new to the franchise enjoyed the animation just as much.

Especially the meaning of the title was again conveyed in this anime: the world ends with you, if you choose to shut people out of your life your view and world becomes restricted. Your world becomes small, but if you try to understand each other, trust people and make the best effort to see their values your world will also expand, so it is for you to decide where your world ends, because it ends with you.

Since NEO, the sequel of the game came out recently on July 27th 2021 let’s hope for more content and maybe also a sequel for the animation.

Until then let me try this new pin for my tea cup,

Makii

[irikahkrios]

I posted 4,340 times in 2021

1750 posts created (40%)

2590 posts reblogged (60%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.5 posts.

I added 360 tags in 2021

#thane/irikah tag - 86 posts

#thane - 83 posts

#emmett shepard tag - 34 posts

#irikah - 30 posts

#yeah - 30 posts

#me - 27 posts

#😔 - 19 posts

#irithemmus - 17 posts

#irikah krios - 17 posts

#thane krios - 17 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#and i see people act like the only way he can be happy and have a life worth living is if he's 'cured' and that....doesn't sit right with me

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Irikah Krios Week 2021

Hi, everybody! Irikah Krios Week is going to be August 30 through September 5.

All content is welcome, whether it's art, fic, edits, playlists, headcanon posts, meta posts, or any other form of creative content that focuses on Irikah. I've put together a list of optional prompts to help with ideas, but don't feel pressured to follow them!

Daily Prompts:

Day 1: Background - What was Irikah's life like before staring Thane down through his scope? What experiences shaped her and made her the person she is?

Day 2: Family - Content about Irikah and her family! This could mean Thane and Kolyat, or content involving any headcanons you have about Irikah's parents/siblings/etc!

Day 3: Down Time - Let her relax! What would she get up to on a much-needed break? What makes her happy and helps her unwind?

Day 4: Squadmate!Irikah - What would Irikah have been like as a potential squadmate? What would her combat abilities, loyalty mission, and relationships with the rest of the Normandy crew look like? How do you envision her relationship with your Shepard?

Day 5: Friendships - Who would she get along with, whether canon characters or OCs, and what would those friendships look like?

Day 6: Romance - Ships involving Irikah! Whether it's her and Thane, her and Shepard, the three of them together, or her paired with any other character(s)!

Day 7: Postcanon - In a kinder version of canon where she got to live, how would she be spending her time after the Reaper War?

Again, all daily prompts are completely optional and just there for inspiration! If one of them doesn't catch your interest (or if none of them do), you can ignore it and do your own thing!

Event Rules:

- No character hate or ship hate.

- No bigoted content in any shape or form.

- All headcanons for her appearance are welcome, whether it's her comic design or a redesign! There is no obligation to stick to her "canon" appearance from the comic. All Irikah designs are wonderful!

- This isn't really a "rule" so much as a guideline/recommendation, but if we could try to stick to content that doesn't focus on her death, that would be really appreciated. The purpose of this event is to celebrate Irikah and her potential as a character beyond the effect her death had on others.

All content created for the event should go into the #irikahweek tag so it can be seen and reblogged! I hope everybody else is as excited for this as I am, we've finally got enough people invested in her as a character to be able to do an event like this. Let's have fun and spread some appreciation!

65 notes • Posted 2021-07-28 19:15:47 GMT

#4

i got this FANTASTIC irikah commission from @necroneol and i'm unbelievably happy with it!!! look at her omg

if you wanna see more of his art check out his instagram, i highly recommend following him!

88 notes • Posted 2021-01-16 03:45:35 GMT

#3

every day i wake up and thane loves men

92 notes • Posted 2021-02-15 06:01:22 GMT

#2

commissioned @necroneol to draw irikah and thane in their fancy casino infiltration outfits! aka the citadel dlc content we deserved.

i highly recommend commissioning him, this is the fourth commission i've gotten so far and all four have turned out amazing! his instagram is here and i definitely recommend following

129 notes • Posted 2021-07-24 19:08:32 GMT

#1

diversity win! the assassin dropping down from the vents to kill you is bisexual!

230 notes • Posted 2021-05-11 03:06:59 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[mhaccunoval]

bnt playlist official post 2: electric boogaloo

last night i wanted to put some rush on here but then i couldn’t think of any to add until. literally 20 minutes ago so you all just have to deal with the revisions and new instrumentals <3 although subdivisions isn’t an instrumental <3 the newly added songs are bolded btw

———

[ spotify // youtube ]

———

1. wouldn’t it be nice — the beach boys

2. light my fire — the doors

3. (don’t fear) the reaper — blue öyster cult 

4. dust in the wind — kansas

5. eruption — van halen

6. you make my dreams (come true) — hall & oates

7. kiss on my list — hall & oates

8. juke box hero — foreigner

9. yyz — rush

10. cum on feel the noize — quiet riot

11. subdivisions — rush

12. dance hall days — wang chung

13. wake me up before you go-go — wham!

14. freedom — wham!

15. panama — van halen

16. head over heels — tears for fears

17. i’m your man — wham!

18. surfing with alien — joe satriani 

19. why can’t this be love — van halen

20. got my mind set on you — george harrison

21. something about you — level 42

22.  two heads are better than one — nelson (power tool on the yt link)

23. god gave rock ‘n’ roll to you — kiss

24. el scorcho — weezer

25. falling for you — weezer

26. father of mine — everclear

27. you wouldn’t believe — 311

28. my best friend — weezer

29. i was made for you — rivers cuomo

30. troublemaker — weezer

31. dreamin’ — weezer

32. everybody get dangerous — weezer

33. the main monkey business — rush

34. hope — rush

35. malignant narcissism — rush

36. (if you’re wondering if i want you to) i want you to — weezer

37. lover of the light — mumford & sons

38. back to the shack — weezer

39. king of the world — weezer

40. beginning of the end — weezer

[cywscross]

-0-

There May Be Some Collateral Damage by metisket (HP Crossover)

Ichigo’s been ordered to go undercover at a magic school to bodyguard a kid named Harry Potter, and this would be fine, except that he’s about as good at bodyguarding as he is at magic. And he considers it a good day, magic-wise, if he hasn’t set anything on fire.

Hogyoku ex Machina my Mac Calleach

In the final battle with Aizen a different choice is made, and now Ichigo and his greatest enemy have gone back to the beginning. His best friends are powerless, his allies don't know him, and everything he loves is in danger. No non-canon pairings. Complete, with the sequel now posted.

Chloroform by Lady Adain (pocketTherapist)

“Geta-boushi. I know you’re probably busy with important things, but… If I wanted some chloroform, where would I get it? Hypothetically.”

The Path towards Unwilling Godhood by Sky_King

Ichigo has never had the most normal life, and this latest chapter of it is no different.

"I'm not a god!"

the crown of it was fire by blackkat

Lilynette’s fingers tighten on his uniform, and her breath trembles out of her.

Starrk can sense it, too. The captain burns in their mind, a bonfire, a falling star. Like a shadow that’s also a blaze, and Starrk wants to warm his hands in that hot darkness, to touch it, to wrap himself in it. Enemy, he thinks, but—

Sentinel, beneath it, and that’s a thousand times more meaningful.

Kitten Attack by Akaluan

An accident leads to the teens being transformed into kittens, and now Kisuke needs to figure out how to undo whatever it is that's been done to them.

Scales by Straight_Outta_Hobbiton

In which Ichigo is a dragon who hoards people.

Reaping Justice by Blazonix

He winds up in an afterlife different from his expectations, in a body that's oddly familiar. When he's shoved into an office filled to the brim with paperwork, he naturally assumes he's in hell, and the crazy voice in his head backs up that assumption. Good thing he's good at adapting.

Protégé by blackkat

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni is a wise and terrifying warrior, the titan who has ruled the Gotei 13 for over a thousand years. But, at heart, he’s an old man who likes his tea prepared a certain way and has a soft spot for talented youngsters. It started with Ukitake and Kyoraku, and his latest fledgling seems to be one Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute soul reaper.

(Alternatively, a story in which Yamamoto is a crafty old man, Ichigo grows up to be utterly terrifying, and Aizen doesn’t stand a chance.)

The Shiba's Heart by FeelingFredly

The battles are over for now, but there are still some things that Ichigo knows must be protected. The Shiba's Heart is one of them.

Now to convince Kisuke...

singing a rushlight, pyre light by blackkat

Starrk wakes to find a man sitting in the sand beside them.

Blindsided by Hiruma Musouka

Because even geniuses can miss the blatantly obvious. UraIchi. "Urahara Kisuke knew that he had… issues."

Inner Peace, Utter Chaos by glacis

In which Soul Reapers watch, Espada share, and Ichigo finds his own form of diplomacy. This is very AU and canon events are not followed, because everybody’s too busy gettin’ busy with Ichigo.

Second Chances by glacis

Ichigo trains in his soul and keeps his secrets, because the Hōgyoku is just a baby, Muramasa is the most loyal being he has ever met, Shiro is a troublemaker, Zangetsu’s a truth-teller, Ichigo isn’t as trusting as he used to be, and they all deserved a second chance.

Not exactly pushing daisies by tetsurashian

Kurosaki Ichigo can see spirits. And bring the dead back to life for a day at a time. It doesn't and does change things. (Slightly crack-y AU, but with a dash of seriousness.)

Dust in the Light by AzarDarkstar

He's not dead. Just slightly misplaced.

Seven, Eight, Lay Them Straight by Branch

Yamamoto wants some captains back. Hirako doesn't trust him a bit. But there are other people who have a stake in the argument, and he has a harder time saying no to them. Alternate storyline, because if KT really intends to break them up, well I'm just not having with that.

The Smile by Kachanski

There are, surprisingly, many things that strike fear into the hearts of eleventh squad. But nothing, not even the disaster known as Yachiru terrifies them quite as much as a smile from Yumichika.

I'm a Certified Genius, I Swear by Chaos_Greymistchild

Kisuke’s not quite sure why he keeps getting gifts from the Shiba Clan Head, Shiba Ichigo, but— Hiyori please stop laughing please

With Honor by wynnebat

Upon Yamamoto's last words, Kisuke opened his eyes and faced a room full of ghosts, and he smiled at them.

"I'm honored to be here," Kisuke said to each of the captains who congratulated him on his promotion.

[prince-everhard]

Prince’s Whumptober 2020 masterpost

Gonna have links, titles, summaries, and all that jazz under a readmore because i decided to really push myself and do all 31 prompts separately. Thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged my work; your support means the world to me and makes me want to keep writing! 

multiparters here have been listed in chronological order rather than posting order for ease of reading. 

FAHC

No 1. LET’S HANG OUT SOMETIME Waking Up Restrained | Shackled | Hanging

Title: another duck joins the flock Fandom: FAHC Character(s): Geoff, Michael Rating: T Warning(s): blood, handcuffs Wordcount: 728 Summary: Or how the Fakes gained their most famous muscle. [tidied up/expanded this never-to-be-posted fahc wip for whumptober]

Naruto

No 2. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY “Pick Who Dies” | Collars | Kidnapped

Title: and the worst part of waiting is the anticipation Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Team 7 Rating: T Warning(s): blood, vomit Wordcount: 951 Summary: Team Seven gets captured. [part of the whumptober au]

No 3. MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY Manhandled | Forced to their Knees | Held at Gunpoint

Title: A Teaching Moment Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Sakura, Kabuto Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 498 Summary: Kabuto makes her an offer she can’t refuse. [part of the whumptober au]

No 29. I THINK I NEED A DOCTOR Intubation | Emergency Room | Reluctant Bedrest

Title: Graduation Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Sakura, Kabuto, Rating: T+? Warning(s): blood Wordcount: 835 Summary: Kabuto has one more test before Sakura can be considered a true medic-nin. [part of the whumptober au]

No 15. INTO THE UNKNOWN Possession | Magical Healing | Science Gone Wrong

Title: Arboreal Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Sakura Rating: T Warning(s): needles Wordcount: 803 Summary: It was only a matter of time before Sakura found something that could help her escape. [part of the whumptober au]

No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD “Take Me Instead” | “Run!” | Ritual Sacrifice

Title: no good deed goes unpunished Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Naruto, Teuchi, Kyuubi Rating: T Warning(s): violence against children Wordcount: 972 Summary: Something goes wrong on his seventh birthday. Naruto might never be the same again.

No 26. IF YOU THOUGHT THE HEAD TRAUMA WAS BAD… Migraine | Concussion | Blindness

Title: Degradation Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto Rating: T Warning(s): dismemberment ment Wordcount: 187 Summary: Kakashi knows that power comes with a price.

Dragon Age

No 6. PLEASE…. “Get it Out” | No More | “Stop, please”

Title: Like Dogs Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Tabris, Shianni, Soris, Nelaros Rating: M Warning(s): implied/offscreen rape, violence against women, blood Wordcount: 1640 Summary: It was supposed to be a good thing, getting married. It wasn’t. [this is really just a love letter to the origin that fucking shooketh me]

No 19. BROKEN HEARTS Grief | Mourning Loved One | Survivor’s Guilt

Title: all’s fair but war is not without casualties Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s)/Pairing(s): Female Cousland, Alistair; ex-Alistair/Warden Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 695 Summary: Ten years after the Blight ends, Elissa Cousland runs into someone she never thought she’d see again. It, uh, doesn’t go quite as planned. [mostly canon compliant; Loghain is spared and becomes a warden]

No 11. PSYCH 101 Defiance | Struggling | Crying

Title: Duty Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Cousland, Eleanor, Bryce Rating: T Warning(s): blood, betrayal, last stand Wordcount: 633 Summary: Even without interference, history marches on. A what-if scenario if Duncan wasn’t there to recruit the Cousland. [part of iron & ash]

No 23. WHAT’S A WHUMPEE GOTTA DO TO GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE? Exhaustion | Narcolepsy | Sleep Deprivation

Title: To Ostagar Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Cousland Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 545 Summary: Jasmine is determined to get vengeance for her family. [part of iron & ash]

No 14. IS SOMETHING BURNING? Branding | Heat Exhaustion | Fire

Title: Consequences Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Surana Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 368 Summary: Surana helps her best friend escape the Circle, and the consequences are more than she bargained for.

No 21. I DON’T FEEL SO WELL Chronic Pain | Hypothermia | Infection

Title: Corrupted Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Mahariel, Duncan Rating: Gen Warning(s): none Wordcount: 192 Summary: It’s a long journey from the Brecilian Forest to Ostagar for someone with blight sickness.

No 31. TODAY’S SPECIAL: TORTURE Experiment | Whipped | Left for Dead

Title: Big Sister Instinct Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Hawke, Unnamed Templars Rating: T Warning(s): torture, violence against women Wordcount: 325 Summary: Marian Hawke would rather die than betray her family. She might even just get the chance to do it.

Mass Effect

No 4. RUNNING OUT OF TIME Caged | Buried Alive | Collapsed Building

Title: never forget to bury your regret (before it buries you) Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Male Shepard, Human OC Rating: T Warning(s): cave-in, blood, character death Wordcount: 450 Summary: Survival training goes south in the ICT.

No 7. I’VE GOT YOU Support | Carrying | Enemy to Caretaker

Title: First Contact Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Turian OC, Human OC Rating: T Warning(s): injuries, broken bones, vomit, vehicular crash Wordcount: 1150 Summary: Decimus isn’t ready to die, but he’s especially not ready to die on a stupid scouting mission to a stupid alien colony. [set during the First Contact War; probably not canon-compliant but idgaf]

No 18. PANIC! AT THE DISCO Panic Attacks | Phobias | Paranoia

Title: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (and what does makes you scarred forever) Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Edi, Tali’Zorah, Garrus Vakarian Rating: T Warning(s): panic attack, open space Wordcount: 662 Summary: Shepard isn’t afraid of getting spaced. No, really. [a closer look at the geth dreadnought mission]

No 28. SUCH WOW. MANY NORMAL. VERY OOPS. Accidents | Hunting Season | Mugged

Title: Torfan Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Major Kyle Rating: T Warning(s): blood, guns, drugging Wordcount: 589 Summary: How the Butcher came to be.

No 25. I THINK I’LL JUST COLLAPSE RIGHT HERE, THANKS Disorientation | Blurred Vision | Ringing Ears

Title: Rest Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s)/Pairing(s): Female Shepard, Anderson; referenced Shepard/Vega Rating: T Warning(s): blood, character death Wordcount: 1018 Summary: A father-daughter moment after they open the arms of the Citadel. [part of Alder]

No 5. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING? On the Run | Failed Escape | Rescue

Title: they found you on the floor Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard Rating: T Warning(s): alcohol, vomit, underage drinking Wordcount: 348 Summary: Like mother like daughter; Shepard deals with her trauma after Mindoir. [part of Gloria Shepard]

No 22. DO THESE TACOS TASTE FUNNY TO YOU? Poisoned | Drugged | Withdrawal

Title: there’s easier ways to die Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Ashley Williams Rating: T Warning(s): DTs, vomit mention Wordcount: 368 Summary: Shepard takes a stand against her own demons. [part of Gloria Shepard]

No 17. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING Blackmail | Dirty Secret | Wrongfully Accused

Title: you crawled up on your cross Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Jacob Taylor Rating: T Warning(s): alcohol Wordcount: 645 Summary: Shepard gets a morale boost from a crewmate. [part of Gloria Shepard]

No 16. A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY Forced to Beg | Hallucinations | Shoot the Hostage

Title: Cornered Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Garrus, Female Shepard Rating: T Warning(s): broken bones Wordcount: 1281 Summary: Garrus gets into some trouble. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

No 20. TOTO, I HAVE A FEELING WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE Lost | Field Medicine | Medieval

Title: Ancient History Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Garrus Rating: T Warning(s): injuries, death, self-destructive/suicidal actions Wordcount: 1223 Summary: Jane is an enigma and Garrus just wants to figure her out. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

No 8. WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO? “Don’t Say Goodbye” | Abandoned | Isolation

Title: After Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Garrus, Female Shepard Rating: T Warning(s): injuries, death Wordcount: 440 Summary: Jane comes for Garrus after the gangs’ assault. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

No 30. NOW WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? Wound Reveal | Ignoring an Injury | Internal Organ Injury

Title: Debt Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s)/Pairing(s): Garrus, Female Shepard, Mordin; mutual pining Shakarian Rating: T Warning(s): painkillers Wordcount: 590 Summary: After the gangs’ assault, Garrus overhears something. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

Undertale

No 13. BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT Delayed Drowning | Chemical Pneumonia | Oxygen Mask

Title: Drowning Fandom: Undertale Character(s): Toriel, Asgore Rating: T Warning(s): character death, child death Wordcount: 156 Summary: Asriel brought Chara home one last time.

[replacing no. 27] Alt 7. Found Family

Title: The Door Fandom: Undertale Character(s): Frisk, Papyrus, Sans Rating: Gen Warning(s): none Wordcount: 357 Summary: Just a little look at what could be a meeting with Gaster

Red vs Blue

No 12. I THINK I’VE BROKEN SOMETHING Broken Down | Broken Bones | Broken Trust

Title: Being a twin is a Hard Thing Fandom: Red vs Blue Character(s): South Dakota Rating: T Warning(s): psychological trauma Wordcount: 281 Summary: In the days before Wash finds them, South gets… introspective. [canon compliant? taken from a wip I was never going to finish so I fleshed it out for whumptober instead]

Original Fiction

No 10. THEY LOOK SO PRETTY WHEN THEY BLEED Blood Loss | Internal Bleeding | Trail of Blood

Title: please leave a message Rating: T Warning(s): blood Wordcount: 537 Summary: A detective’s work is never done. Antonia deals with the news that her most famous case’s subject is on the run again. [original fiction]

No 24. YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE Forced Mutism | Blindfolded | Sensory Deprivation

Title: Secondary Location Rating: Gen? Warning(s): kidnapping Wordcount: 143 Summary: Antonia wakes up on the wrong side of the city. [original fiction]

[sunyoonandstars]

BLACK AS INK || BTS MAFIA! AU series || chapter 1: lachesism

lachesism n. the desire to be struck by disaster

Families

Onyx Snake Clan 🖤  |  Blue Reapers 💙

Pairings

You 🖤 x Taehyung 💙 polyamorous relationship

You 🖤 x Yoongi 🖤 polyamorous relationship 

You 🖤 x Hoseok 🖤 one-sided

Jimin 🖤 x Jungkook 💙

➜ BLACK AS INK Masterlist with further information on characters & relations, prompts/quotes, and related moodboards 

angst, smut, fluff 

! Warnings ! mention/use of weapons, (mentions of) blood & injury, mentions of drinking/alcohol abuse 

Word count  3.399

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

❝ Taehyung took one look at you, and he knew. That he had come across a kindred spirit. That he had found his soulmate. 

And now all he had to do was make you his. To brand you. To let the whole world see you belonged to each other. 

Those were the thoughts racing through his mind as Taehyung surrendered to his animal instincts, his hungry lips making their way down your neck towards your collarbone, leaving a handful of deep red marks, the sight of them, blossoming on your pale skin in the blue neon light, exhilarating. Even your scent was entrancing, working its black magic on his senses, and you were all he could see, all he could feel, as the dark electronic beats kept drumming to the rhythm of his pounding heart ...❞

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Synopsis 

People can’t choose what kind of life they are born into. What kind of family. Neither could you.

You had always known of your father’s ties to the Mafia. In fact, he was the leader of one of the most powerful families this city had ever seen. They call themselves the Onyx Snake Clan and are known for their sharp minds and calculating mercilessness when it comes to doing business. They aren’t the most powerful clan roaming the streets of Seoul for no reason, after all.

Their only rivals are the Blue Reapers, a clan run by a family of ruthless killers who stop at nothing to get what they want.

You, however, had led an insignificant, peaceful existence, living your days in a world of banality, far away from any kind of trouble, not wanting to have anything to do with your family’s business. At your own father’s discretion, for the sake of your health and sanity, you had remained hidden in the shadows, always on the move, forced into solitude. A ghost. Untouchable.

All of that changes, though, when an unfortunate incident shakes both families to their very foundations and endangers the status quo that had kept the streets from being bathed in blood up until now.

Suddenly, you come into play, being thrown right into the middle of it all, required to play a role you aren’t quite willing to take on …

And then, of course, to further complicate matters, there’s the mysterious Yoongi to whom you lost your heart at first sight but who hasn’t been entirely honest with you …

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A/N: This is Chapter 1 of a series. I previously posted the Prologue to it and would strongly advise you to read it and have a look at the related material (moodboards, quotes etc.) before reading this chapter, in case you’re new to the series. 

Also: This is the playlist I created and listen to while working on this story. It has a kind of dark, surreal ‘80s Arcade Game’ vibe to it which really fits the story, in my opinion, especially this chapter. 

CHAPTER 1 | LACHESISM 

lachesism n. the desire to be struck by disaster

Eight months earlier …

Tonight was one of those nights that called for a decent hangover. There wasn’t even a particular reason for you to get drunk, or rather too many to list them all. You just knew you needed alcohol in your bloodstream. And lots of it at that. 

Already slightly tipsy – a condition owed to your consumption of half a dozen cans of cheap, strawberry-flavored convenience store Prosecco  – you stumbled into the 'Balthazar', currently one of Seoul’s most popular nightclubs. You had expected to be left standing in the cold, vainly waiting to be let into the venue for hours. Once again, however, and to your never-ceasing surprise, you were let in for free, no questions asked, by the hunk of a man acting as tonight’s bouncer. 

„Thanks,“ you winked at him in passing, hoping his leniency was owed to your more or less decent looks and not the fact that he might know of your blood ties to the Onyx Snakes. 

How could he, though? No one knew. You were a nobody. And that’s precisely what you were supposed to be. 

The lovechild of a doomed relationship. Your existence a crime in itself in the eyes of a dangerously high number of people. Deserving of everything that had been done to you even though you had no choice in being born into this world in the first place. 

No. Not tonight, you shook your head, trying to rid yourself of the bloody images already haunting your every night’s sleep since the incident more than twenty years ago. No need to surrender your waking thoughts to them as well. Not tonight, you swore yourself. Tonight, you were not the daughter of Kim Jongsu. 

Tonight, you're free, Y/n. Tonight is yours and yours alone. And you're gonna make the best of it, spend it as if it's your last. 

Shortly after entering the gloomy cave of lust and sin that the 'Balthazar' was, you were encompassed by the deep, humming beats of electronic music sounding from the club’s main floor and the familiar odor of sweat, booze and the fumes created by multiple fog machines doing a hell of a job in creating an almost ridiculously theatrical, dark and mysterious atmosphere. 

Drawn in by the crowd’s energy, you let the heaving sea of anonymous bodies carry yours away, giving in to the imponderable force of wantonness and drunken ecstasy. 

Quickly, the concepts of time and space became foreign to you. The booming music and its intoxicating sensuality clouded your senses, sending every fiber of your being vibrating with the rhythm of the night. And you didn't fight it off, the daze, the enchantment, but instead relished your drunken carelessness, readily surrendering all remains of control. Sweating, laughing, eyes closed, completely oblivious of your surroundings, you kept on swaying your body to the cadence of the beats buzzing through the air and, slowly but surely, taking over your limbs entirely.

Men, as well as women, kept on handing you free drinks, asking you to dance with them, touching you and being touched by you. In the flickering lights of this dark underworld, nothing was taboo and anything seemed possible. 

For the first time in months, you felt you could breathe freely. In this distorted version of reality that was no more tangible than a blurry dream, you finally felt real again. Here, where not only you were a nameless stranger, but everybody was and everybody craved to be. Here, you felt sheltered. 

Before you knew it, your arms were wrapped around a stunningly beautiful stranger’s neck, your lips kissing his, hungrily, desperately, as if there was no tomorrow. Only briefly and reluctantly did you break the kiss to take another look into his bottomlessly deep, dark, cat-like eyes that had initially drawn you in. They were partly hidden by long, ash blonde bangs. Nonetheless, their fiery fierceness rendered you powerless, pulled you right down into their simmering wells, his inky orbs never once relinquishing the hold they had on you. 

But not only his eyes were intriguing. This entire man was an enigma to you. Everything about him was vague and contradictory, the walls surrounding his true core seemingly impenetrable. Usually, you were quite quick on the uptake when it came to deciphering people. But with him, you were at a loss. He was much different from the men you had encountered so far and only allowed you to see what he consciously let on. 

Despite his obvious cunning, his feline eyes and flowing movements reminiscent of that of a wily fox, he had an almost disturbingly innocent air about him. At the same time, though, his soul seemed utterly tainted, broken somehow, in a few places at least. There was undoubtedly a dark spot on his aura. Someone or something had stained him. And the darkness was eating away at his heart. So much you could tell by only having one look into the fathomless pools of his ravishing eyes. 

And, as if he wasn't already enough of a puzzle to you, Fox Guy changed gears so quickly, you could barely keep up with him. One minute, he was this sensual, entrancing Prince of Darkness, swaying his slender hips in ways that caused you dizzy spells. And the next minute, he handled himself with downright childish insouciance, flailing about boisterously, sporting that endearingly boxy smile of his and paying no mind to his surroundings, apparently not caring what other people might think of him as long as he could just get you to laugh, a broad smile curving his rosy lips in between sloppy kisses whenever he succeeded. 

“What’s your name?“ you eventually asked, short of breath, after what must have been about an hour of exchanging fervent kisses.

“Sorry, but I don’t think I can tell you,” Fox Guy shouted back at you without wavering, laughing as if all of this was just one big joke to him. 

“Wow. I should’ve known,” you muttered, more to yourself, avoiding the pretty stranger’s soul-piercing gaze as you now detached yourself from his body to turn on your heel and leave. 

A sudden surge of disappointment had taken a sharp grip on your heart. With just a few words, this strange man had burst your bubble and allowed reality to seep back into your mind in merciless, ice-cold waves, rapidly washing away the remnants of tonight's rapture. 

You should have known. You really should have known by now. 

“Hey! Hey!” you heard Fox Guy call after you but kept on heading straight for the exit, not even considering to take another look as burning tears started blurring your vision. 

Of course not. Of course, he wouldn’t tell you his name. Just like you wouldn’t tell him yours. Couldn’t tell him yours. Because you were condemned to lead an anonymous existence. A prisoner of solitude for the rest of your pathetic life. Not even another meaningless one-night stand would be able to fill the void that had made itself at home in your chest over the years. A fact you were, once more, made painfully aware of by this beautiful man who you were, in all likelihood, never going to see again. Maybe you should have thanked him before you left. For ridding you of the illusion of a normal life with the possibility of something resembling happiness before you had a chance to become too taken with it. 

You had almost reached the 'Balthazar's' front door when a strong hand suddenly got a hold of your wrist and yanked you backward, whirling you around. Gasping for air, you found yourself back where you had come from, in Fox Guy's arms which wrapped themselves tightly around your waist, pulling you so close they barely left enough room for you to breathe, let alone free yourself from his grasp. If you had wanted to. 

"Took you long enough," you grinned, biting his lip before you kissed it once more.

“Where did you think you were going?” he growled close by your ear, his low, rich voice sending shivers down your spine. "Did you really think I would just let you leave?" 

Only shortly did he bring about an arm’s length’s distance between your sweaty bodies to lock eyes with you, the expression in his an entirely different one than mere seconds ago, much more tenebrous, lascivious, before he lowered his heart-shaped lips onto your neck, covering your skin with wet kisses and burning marks. 

And this was when you knew. 

You were lost. 

Never before had Taehyung encountered a woman more captivating. Usually, his heart and mind were somewhat fickle, not easily touched and much less captured by any woman or any thing or person for that matter. And then you came along and made it seem so easy, seizing his soul ever so effortlessly, probably unaware of the power you already had over it. 

Taehyung's unsuspecting eyes had first lit on you less than an hour ago, spotted your figure on the dance floor, your penetrating gaze, revealing wisdom far beyond your age, searching the crowded room for something or someone it couldn’t seem to find. Your presence magnetized him instantly. From that moment onward, there was no use in even trying to resist the pull you had on him. 

You hadn’t even told him your name yet. Still, Taehyung couldn’t help but feel like he knew you. Like he had known you all his life. Like you were the last missing piece needed to fix his shattered heart. 

Something about you just felt oddly familiar. As if this wasn't the first time your paths had crossed. 

Taehyung had watched you from afar for a while, had observed your interactions with his potential competitors, both male and female and equally enamored with you. He didn't feel threatened, though, by their feeble attempts at winning you over, well aware that none of them were actually worthy of you. The language your knowing glances spoke seemed to be foreign to these people. They just didn’t get you. They had a diamond on their hands but treated you like an ordinary rock, blind to your true value, to the treasures your soul held. But he saw. He saw right through you. 

Taehyung took one look at you, and he knew. That he had come across a kindred spirit. That he had found his soulmate. 

And now all he had to do was make you his. To brand you. To let the whole world see you belonged to each other. 

Those were the thoughts racing through his mind as Taehyung surrendered to his animal instincts, his hungry lips making their way down your neck towards your collarbone, leaving a handful of deep red marks, the sight of them, blossoming on your pale skin in the blue neon light, exhilarating. Even your scent was entrancing, working its black magic on his senses, and you were all he could see, all he could feel, as the dark electronic beats kept drumming to the rhythm of his pounding heart. 

Soon, Taehyung could sense your body respond, your reaction only encouraging him to push further. 

Arching your back, pressing your core against his, you buried your hands in his hair, pulling at it to get him to face you again so you could find his lips in another long, urgent kiss that quickly grew deeper, becoming sloppy, more fervent by the second.

In this sinister den of lust and dance, there were no laws, no limitations. It was as if the two of you had been plunged into an alternative reality in which you were the only souls left alive. Invincible and untouchable. With you by his side, the worldly troubles eating away at Taehyung’s peace of mind seemed to have vanished. Suddenly, they were meaningless. His father. The raging gang war. His sister’s blood on his hands. All of it didn’t matter anymore. As long as he could only feel you. As long as you were by his side. 

You were like a drug to him. Each of your touches and movements, your mere presence, clouding his senses, distorting his perception of the world around him. And he couldn't get enough of it. 

Taehyung could hear your soft moans even across the music as you now  opened your lips for his tongue to enter, a sound that could only mean you were finally ready to yield and drop the walls surrounding your heart and mind –– a realization filling him with pride and leaving him longing for more, for your affirmation. You didn’t exactly seem like the kind of woman that would lower her guard and give herself to just anyone. So, the very instant he heard you moan for him for the first time, Taehyung swore to himself, he would do anything to witness it just once more. And to protect you from whatever it was that forced you to keep up your barricades. 

It didn't take long for your bodies to be perfectly in sync with each other and the rhythm of the psychedelic music. Excitement and arousal sent blazing waves of adrenaline and endorphins rushing through your boiling blood, clouding your minds with the yearning for each other and the satisfaction only the other one’s touch seemed to be able to provide. Each gesture, each kiss, each thrust of the hip only fueled the flames quickly burning through every cell of your beings, setting Taehyung’s skin on fire and yours as well, he was sure. Your thirsty kisses and salacious dance moves left no doubt in his mind that you wanted him just as much as he wanted you.

“Let’s get out of here," he breathlessly whispered into your ear, using the chance to plant a gentle kiss on your neck. 

You nodded in approval without any trace of hesitation, clinging to his almost entirely unbuttoned silk shirt as Taehyung eagerly made his way through the crowd towards the rear exit, repeatedly looking back at you over his shoulder to make sure you were still with him. Every time your eyes met, your reddened lips, slightly swollen from the countless kisses you had shared, curved into a dreamy smile that sent his heart racing. 

This was more than just lust, Taehyung then realized, awestruck. This was different from what he had felt for other women. This was … more. You were exceptional. And, tightening his grip on your hand, Taehyung swore to himself that he would never let you go again. Not ever, come what may. 

To your own horror and surprise, you followed this perfect stranger who wouldn’t even give you his name without wavering. It was not like you had much of a choice, though. You were entirely under his spell. Powerless. Charmed by the aura that surrounded him and the ageless profundity that seeped out of his pitch-black, feline eyes. Holding onto his hand like a lost child, you stayed by his side as Fox Guy cleared a pathway through the dancing crowd, headed for a quiet side corridor where the two of you were greeted by three serious-looking men in identical black suits. 

“They’re okay. They’re with me," Fox Guy explained as he took note of your worried glances towards the clearly visible bulges in their jackets, most likely caused by holstered guns. 

“Don’t think too much of it. The guards are only a precaution," he went on, interlacing his fingers with yours for reassurance, giving you a small smile. 

What kind of man is this guy that he needs to be protected by armed bodyguards?, you couldn’t help but wonder. Given your history, however, nothing really surprised you anymore at this point. You had seen it all. Rape, robbery, murder. Grown men sobbing on their knees, pleading for their lives in vain, and women slaughtering each other in front of innocent children. This was nothing compared to your previous experiences with gunmen. Fox Guy was probably just some rich kid whose father had meddled in the affairs of the wrong sort of people. And those guards looked rather harmless compared to the ones you used to be surrounded by back in the day. By the looks of it, they were nothing more but a bunch of mindless thugs. Henchmen, hired guns, only concerned with their next paycheck. Having come to that conclusion, you were almost ready to abandon all your concerns and give in to the temptation, leaving your common sense behind and trusting this stranger blindly for the sake of a pleasurable night. 

That was until another man stepped out of the shadows, his features soft, feigning innocence, yet speaking of a grim doggedness that sent a cold shiver down your back. A scar, almost invisible, stretched across his left cheekbone, telling of battles won, and a gelled lock of black hair fell deep down into his boyishly handsome face, covering a set of furrowed brows.

His presence was much different from that of the remaining guards, intimidating, even though his frame was smaller than that of the others and he must have been of the same age as you, maybe even younger. Still, there was something dangerous about him. A fire burning behind his chocolate orbs. Rage. Pure anger that made him unpredictable. A loose cannon. 

His gently rounded doe eyes narrowed into piercing slits at the sight of you, and you could tell his muscles grew tense. This man was ready to fight. 

"Who's she?" he spat out the words, not taking his gaze off of you.  

"She's with me, Jungkook. Don't scare her off, please."

“Thought you should know you have a tail, though,“ Jungkook hissed at Fox Guy through clenched teeth, not backing down just yet, his glance remaining fierce, fiery almost, and still fixed on you. “One of those Onyx rats has been lurking over there in a corner the whole time, watching you. Now he’s on the move, headed our way.” 

Onyx rat. 

Your heart skipped a beat at his remark that could only be referring to your 'family'. Well, your father’s family anyway. 

Petrified, overwhelmed by the sudden rush of memories and feelings this mere mention of the Onyx Snake Clan let well up within you, you tried your best not to be too obvious. 

“No! Don’t look back. He can not, under any circumstances, see your face," Fox Guy called out when you were about to take a peek at your pursuer. His wide-eyed expression speaking of genuine fear, he squeezed your hand so tightly it hurt, his gaze pleading.

“Okay, okay. I'm not gonna look, promise," you were barely capable of mumbling in response. 

“Good. Because being seen with me by people like him will put you in grave danger," he said, now avoiding your gaze, sadness casting a shadow over his beautiful features. A pain so grave it stung your heart. 

“Well, maybe it’s her he’s after," you now heard Jungkook growl close to your ear, so unexpectedly you froze in shock instead of fighting off the arm he now put across your chest, trapping you in his viselike grasp. "Maybe they're working together, Taehyung. You ever thought of that, huh?" 

Trying to stay calm, you cursed yourself for having been so inattentive and allowing yourself to be put in such a compromising position. You should have noticed Jungkook move, should have sensed him coming up right behind you – before he had pressed what appeared to be a knife to your bare throat. You were better than that. Allowing Fox Guy to distract you –– Your father would have been so disappointed. A thought that made it so much harder for you to keep your instincts in check and not end this scar-faced Bunny Boy right then and there, or at least make a decent attempt at it. 

Fox Guy, whose name appeared to be Taehyung, let go of your hand as soon as he realized the gravity of the situation. Mouth agape, he slowly stepped back, staring at his armed companion in disgust. 

“Kookie, what the hell? What do you think you’re doing? Let her go! Right now.” 

Doing your best to take deep, steady breaths and pacify your heavily pounding heart, you remained motionless in Jungkook’s chokehold, feeling the cold, sharp edge of his weapon nick your skin when you swallowed a little too hard. 

It’s okay. I’m okay, you attempted to let Taehyung know with your glances, your eyes staying locked with his while he took a cautious step towards you and his rogue guard, all of a sudden suspiciously calm. 

“Jungkook. I'm only gonna say this one more time. Let. Her. Go”, he slowly spoke, his voice confident and imploring, as if he was talking to a wild animal. “She didn’t do anything. She wasn't even the one to approach me. It was me. I was the one who asked her to dance, not the other way around. And if she really wanted to harm me, she could have done so right then and there, in the middle of the dance floor. This place is packed. Nobody would have even noticed. Seriously, Jungkook. Drop it. She’s just a girl.”

Even though you only reluctantly admitted it to yourself, his last words stung you, leaving you with the bitter aftertaste of disappointment. Your reaction didn’t seem to go unnoticed by Taehyung. 

“Well, that came out wrong," he made an awkward attempt at an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. But … you get what I mean, right?”

You nodded. An act that was proven to be a mistake by Jungkook’s blade now cutting even further into your flesh. You could feel a hot fluid run down the side of your neck towards your décolleté. Blood, you assumed. The cut must have been deeper than you thought. 

“Jeon Jungkook, you’re going too far. Stop it at once. It’s enough. Put. The knife. Down.”

The second he had seen the blood stain the collar of your shirt, a fervid fury had taken over Taehyung's angelic features, blazing behind his piercing eyes with power so raw, it sent a shiver down your spine. In all his beauty there seemed to be no place for anger. It didn't suit him. Or at least it shouldn't have. But, somehow, you couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the tip of the iceberg and that there was a lot more where this was coming from. That you had merely gotten a first, fleeting glimpse at the darkness hiding behind that flawless façade of his. This Taehyung was no man to play games with. 

"Besides," he continued, his tone shockingly placid. "You are wasting valuable time here, Jungkook. While you are harassing this innocent woman, that Onyx Snake is gaining on us. So you better let her go so we can get the hell out of here."

A few more seconds passed until Taehyung apparently won the staring contest with his militant sidekick, the blade was being removed from your throat, and Jungkook stepped back, setting you free. Exhaling the breath you had held in for what felt like an eternity, you stumbled away to bring a safe distance between yourself and your captor. Taehyung was by your side almost immediately, hesitant to touch you.

“I’m so sorry this happened. Jungkook is not usually not like this, I swear”, he said, darting a knifelike glare across your shoulder at his belligerent companion. “Are you okay? Here, let me see that.” 

Carefully he brushed aside your hair to get a better look at the damage done by his associate's unusually sharp-edged weapon. 

“Shit. I’m so sorry," Taehyung slowly shook his head, wincing when he pulled back his hand as if he had just burned his fingertips on your skin. 

“I would offer to take you to my place if you still wanted to," he continued, gnawing at his lower lip that you still wanted to kiss so desperately. “There, I could fix you up with a bandage. And we could be alone. Without all … this.” 

Without even looking, he pointed at his guards who were still standing by, apparently ready to shoot and kill just about anyone who dared to as much as lift a finger against Taehyung. Slowly, you began to question your earlier assessment of his background. Maybe this man wasn't as innocent as you had first assumed. 

“You’d probably be safer there since we can't be sure if that guy saw your face or not. But after what just happened, I’d understand if all you wanted was to get the fuck away from me. If I were you, I’d probably run for my life. You must think I’m — Hell, even I don’t know what to think of myself anymore”, he scoffed, laughing a brief, awfully hollow laugh. “I’m sorry. I'm sorry I put you in danger. You’re free to go.” 

With a wave of his long-fingered hand, the guards stepped aside, clearing a path for you to leave as Taehyung already turned away, averting his face.

“What are you waiting for? Toddle off," you could hear Jungkook grunt from behind you. 

But you weren’t just going to take the easy way out. What you were about to do was probably foolish and most likely highly dangerous. Because, if this guy was indeed being tailed by the Onyx Snake Clan, there was no way in hell he was good news. Still, there was just something about him that made you throw caution to the wind and forget about the risks. Somehow, you were convinced that this Taehyung was not a bad person, and for reasons not yet known to you, he was in just as much pain as you were. A prisoner of a destiny he had not chosen for himself. Alone, drowning, very much like you. 

Tonight, the two of you needed each other, and that was a fact. 

So, instead of turning your back on this gorgeous stranger with his infinitely sad eyes, you took a step closer, gently placing your palms on each side of his face as you stood before him.

“But what if I don’t want to go?” 

Your words led his eyes to shoot up in surprise, and even you were astounded by the solemn steadiness of your voice as you continued to speak with utmost conviction. 

“Take me with you. I don’t care where. I’m not gonna leave you tonight.” 

END OF CHAPTER 1 || TO BE CONTINUED 

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Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it so far. 😌 More is soon to come.

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[overwatch-does-stuff]

Overwatch Teaches Highschool

(In order of the current selection screen; all future posts will be in the new selection screen order, with Tanks first, Damage/DPS in the middle, and Supports at the end.)    Offense: Doomfist: The football coach, but he won't let you on the team unless you have 3.0 GPA (Grade Point Average) or above. He cannot stand having unintelligent players. He gets really into the plays and strategies, and pushes his players to the absolute limit during practice. The team have been champions of the region for three years straight since he's started coaching. He secretly blackmails the other teachers to get his players out of assignments if it would distract from football. Genji: Teaches foreign language classes. All the weeaboos in the school take his classes just to fangirl/fanboy over him, because, being honest, he's a teacher straight from an anime. There's an anonymous blog run by a student composed of pictures of his butt. Unfortunately for him, he knows about all of this. He used to lose his temper a lot over this, but over the years he's learned to keep his cool. McCree: The teacher that everyone loves because he lets them goof off work at their own pace after he hands out the assignment for the week. Super chill. Lets you retake tests whenever, as long as you have semidecent grades. Teaches english class, and at the end of the year he'll brings in a bunch of old cowboy movies and marathon them with the class. Pharah: Strict; if she sees your phone out she'll take it. She wants your utmost attention. Probably teaches math. She's one of the newer teachers, and rumor has it that she used to be in the military. No wonder she's so strict. Weirdly enough, if she sees you outside of school (probably getting coffee,) she's pretty friendly, even if you're one of the troublemakers. Reaper: Straight up scary. He's the most intimidating teacher in the school, and extremely strict. No one dares to mess around in his class. He grades super harsh, and don't expect to negotiate any score you get, unfair or otherwise- some rumors say that he might actually murder you. This is hyperbole, of course, but still. It's easy to get that sort of vibe from him. Drinks coffee as dark as his soul. Teaches math. Soldier 76: The Ag science teacher and assistant football coach. Not a whole lot of science gets done in his class: he really teaches more about being a good leader and having integrity. Gets pretty preachy at times. A staunch 2nd amendment advocate. Believes in arming teachers. Also drinks super dark coffee, and he and Reaper have been sighted fighting at the coffee machine. Speaking of, you get extra credit for bringing him expensive coffee. Sombra: The computer applications teacher. She teaches lightning fast, as if she expects you to know this stuff already. She thinks it's easy, so therefore, it has to be easy for you, right? Those that learn at her fast pace get special treatment from her; those that don't, suffer. Oh well. She can be bribed with good coffee. Everyone lowkey knows that she's into illegal stuff, and she can be seen on wikileaks during class. Tracer: The true english teacher. She loves giving creative and cool assignments. Quotes memes often, and if they're not current, she apologizes. However, she's very bad at keeping track of your assignments, so you might want to photocopy anything you give to her beforehand. Drinks tea and wears a bow tie every day. Teaches fairly fast, so some of the slower students can feel left behind at times, though she always allows makeups.    Defense: Bastion: The art teacher. Super quiet, so it's hard to hear them if you're sitting in the back of the class. They're pretty self-conscious, and would rather show slides. One-on-one, however, they're an excellent teacher and very patient. Their art is incredible; they love to draw nature and birds and several students are pretty sure they've seen some of their work in an art museum. Drinks tea always. In their office, there's a military flag. Don't ask about it. Hanzo: The business and marketing teacher. Not a lot of students take his class, which makes him mad. He's very close with the group of kids that do attend. He tells them about the other teachers' antics whenever he gets bored. Assigns way too much homework though. If he's mad at you, he'll show it with worksheets. Drinks some sort of liquid out of a flask. People are pretty sure it's sake. Junkrat: A science? teacher. He thinks the curriculum is way to boring. Back when he was in school, they were allowed to blow things up! He lazily teaches whatever the curriculum says, but he tells the most ridiculous stories. No one's sure if they're entirely true. There's a rumor going around that he vapes. Never gives detention, like, ever, even to kids who deserve it. No one's sure if he even has a teaching diploma. Hmm. Mei: A science teacher. Probably the nicest teacher in the entire school. She moved up form the elementary school last year, and treats everyone like elementary students unintentionally because of it. Drinks hot cocoa and you get extra credit if you bring her flowers or an apple. She's actually a really good scientist when she gets into it, and everyone wonders why she's here instead of out changing the world, but teaching is her passion. However, it's easy to get away with things in her class because she's rather lenient. Torbjorn: The metal shop teacher. Super grumpy 24/7. He's gruff with nearly everybody, even parents and authority figures and such. Picks favorites though, and is obvious about it. However, nobody can deny that his welding skills are out of this world, and that the student welding team has been to nationals yearly. He knows people in the welding industry and helps his favorite students get jobs. Widowmaker: The substitute teacher for the foreign language classes. She's universally feared because she expects nothing less than perfection. She speaks 15 languages fluently and works as a diplomatic translate most of the time. She hates children. She shouldn't be anywhere near this school, but money is money. Can be bribed with dark coffee and french chocolate.    Tank: D.va: The substitute teacher for computer applications, for when Sombra is out doing (illegal) things. She doesn't really care what you do during the class period as long as you don't disturb her. She plays Starcraft the entire day and chugs mountain dew like no tomorrow. If she sees you playing a similar game she'll actually come over and start giving you tips. Rumor has it that she's trying to go pro and took the teaching job for the money. Orisa: The new english teacher. She just got her teaching certificate last summer and moved to this town about a week ago after she was hired over the phone. She's super excited to work, but she has no idea what children are like. She tries to make a bunch of references to be "hip" but they're super cringy. Has a really cool accent though and tells entertaining stories about where she's from. Reinhardt: The history teacher. Gets super into it, practically acting out the history in the front of the room. He's very loud and eccentric and startles people in the hallway but means well. He often calls on people who don't have their hand up and brings them to the front of the class to act with him. Participation is not optional. Assigns a lot of creative projects and keeps the best ones on the walls of his classroom. He's super old and the other teachers wonder when he's going to retire, but the students know that he'll probably die teaching. Roadhog: The substitute PE teacher. He's old, fat, and probably snorts coke in the bathroom in between periods. He sits on a chair in the corner and makes everyone run laps around the gym until they pass out. When they pass out, he leaves them their until they wake up. He hasn't been fired yet because no other teacher wants to sub for PE. However, he isn't around much because Zarya hardly ever takes days off. Winston: A science teacher. Super nerdy and goes off on tangents of science that don't have anything to do with the current lesson. He's friends with all the other teachers and often arranges meetings to talk about the school's problems and to resolve fights. Used to be a college professor but found it too impersonal. As a result he's very awkward talking one-on-one with students but is great at presenting in front of the entire class. He knows people in the science industry and helps his most passionate students find jobs. Zarya: The PE teacher. Was going to be an Olympian but got busted taking steroids. She's the ultimate drill sergeant and hands out detentions like there's no tomorrow if she doesn't think you're giving it your all. She instantly knows if you're chewing gum no matter how discreet you try to be. She's ruthless, especially with the members of the school's sports teams. She's made several students cry before and isn't afraid of doing it again. She and Doomfist have a great working relationship.    Support: Ana: The lunch lady. Used to be a teacher but quit for unspecified reasons. She makes the best meals, though they're never within the nutritional limits as specified by the state, but nobody would dare report that because it's so tasty. She bakes fresh cookies for all of her lunch helpers and often leaves those leftover in the break room for the other teachers to enjoy. Everyone loves her, and if any student is mean to her or tries to steal from the lunch line, their grades plummet. Brigitte: The student teacher for PE. She's from a nearby college and is one of the few people in the world who actually wants to teach PE as her future career. She's apprenticing under Zarya but she isn't allowed to do very much other than the paperwork, much to her dismay. She used to play games with the students on game day, but she won every dodge ball game so she wasn't allowed to play anymore. She's actually pretty lonely so if you show her some respect you'll be her favorite. Lucio: The music teacher. Who else? He was originally just the choir teacher, but took over band and orchestra after the other teachers quit. He's everyone's favorite teacher. Super casual but upbeat, and the concerts that he organizes always have the best mixing. He mixes original music in what little free time he has and if the students behave well he'll drop a couple beats for them. He also announces for the school's sports events. Mercy: Teaches anatomy and is a part-time nurse for the school. She's very busy all the time. She looks nice but everyone knows that she's one coffee away completely losing it. She has her own personal coffee machine in her classroom, and if you're her favorite student she'll let you use it. She cares a lot about her students and feels bad for assigning so much homework. If you're ever feeling sick you can go lay down in her office. She gives painkiller to students who need it, even though it's against the rules. Moira: The psychology teacher. Uses her knowledge to manipulate students, an activity that she finds enjoyable. Mercy hates her for doing this. Calls freshman "freshbabies". She drinks tea and has a dark sense of humor; if you laugh at her jokes, you're her favorite student. She makes everyone give presentations way to much. Some people wonder if she's really here as a scientist to study the behavior of highschool students. Symmetra: Teaches architecture 1 or philosophy, depending on the year, because they're both really obscure classes that no one signs up for. At most she has five students. She gives way to much homework and expects you to study on your own for a couple hours a day. She doesn't understand why students need a summer break and wants school to be year-round. Lectures way too long. She should probably be teaching college instead. Zenyatta: The civics teacher. He's great at keeping the classroom under control and pacifying heated debates, which often come up in civics. He tends to lecture, but with slides to keep it interesting, and encourages participation. He loves it and gives extra credit when a student presents an educated opinion on a subject. At the end of the year he assigns students civil service projects, like running a charity or volunteering for the community. He keeps crisis hotlines written on the whiteboard, and don't be afraid to come to him if you need someone to talk too.

[lethalneuroses]

femslash february day 21

For an anon: Moicy, post-recall, angst

The room is too loud, and it’s reminiscent of all the parties Gabriel used to throw. Surely the other recalled agents must feel the same way. Surely the absence of all the agents they have lost weighs down on everybody else. Jesse’s certainly downing whiskey like he has something to forget, but that could just be enthusiastic participation in the drinking game Genji’s supervising. Angela could join in late, but she doesn’t have any particular desire to do so. Hanzo is sitting with all of them, his cheeks red and some of his hair escaping its fastidious bun. Angela viscerally dislikes the sight of him. A murderer. He sits there and looks content as though his hands aren’t stained for them all to see.

Satya excused herself from the party an hour ago. Undoubtedly she found it as overwhelming as Angela now does. A few minutes later Fareeha got up to follow her. Angela’s eyes tracked the both of them.

She can’t identify whether the jealousy is because it’s Fareeha, Ana’s daughter, or simply because they are happy and together while she is miserable and alone.

Mei-Ling and Zenyatta return from the kitchen bearing a tray of tangyuan, and Angela decides this is the perfect moment to make her escape. She swipes a shot from the table acting as a makeshift bar, downs it, and heads for the hallway.

She passes Jamison, returning from the bathroom, and for a moment she’s afraid he’ll stop her. But he just offers a jovial “Hey, Doc!” and lopes into the common room.

Nobody else notices her. Nobody else cares she’s gone.

She walks slower once she’s out of sight. The music and laughter of the party slowly fades behind her. She’s too drunk to head back to the medical bay, too awake to head to bed. She heads for the back stairs that lead up to the communications tower and its adjoining catwalk. The night air will be nice, if nothing else. She can feel sorry for herself outside in the chill as the new year comes.

Gibraltar doesn’t ever get too frigid, but the sea breeze is bracing. Angela listens to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks and wonders, if she stayed out here, how long would it take anyone to miss her? Would they only notice when they needed someone to sew them up and she was nowhere to be found?

Over the wind and the sea and her own brooding, she doesn’t hear the sound of footsteps on the tile. She doesn’t see the woman who materializes behind her as if manifesting from the darkness itself.

But she hears the voice.

“Sláinte, Angela.”

She spins around, loses her footing, and grapples at the railing for her balance. She’s in no real danger of falling, but her stomach plummets all the same. Suddenly there are hands bracketing in her own; suddenly there is someone else pressed against her.

She really shouldn’t have had that last shot, she thinks, as her head spins and she tries to take in the woman before her. She looks Moira O’Deorain up and down and tries to make sense of exactly what is happening here. But it’s difficult with her mind as foggy as it is. Thoughts are slow and words slower.

“You’d attack tonight, of all nights?” she manages. Gabriel—Reaper—surely he knew how they would be occupied. Did he orchestrate this? She can’t believe that of him, she can’t—

“Just reconnaissance, angel. And while it is not my preference to see to matters personally, how could I pass up the chance of seeing you?”

A long-nailed finger taps her hand. Moira’s enhanced arm. Her skin is unnaturally cold. Angela thinks of how those fingers would feel creeping under her shirt, stroking her, abusing her nipples.

“You’re drunk,” Moira says. The amusement is clear in her voice.

Angela should cry out for her comrades. Surely Athena would hear her if she screamed loudly enough, even if the raucous party in the common room didn’t. There are Talon members infiltrating Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Moira almost certainly didn’t come alone. Sombra? Widowmaker? Perhaps even now there are glowing arachnid eyes watching her. Watching them.

But this all feels like a dream. She will wake up and suffer no consequences. She is drunk and aroused and lonely, and for all of these reasons she grabs Moira’s wrists and pulls her down onto her until the metal catwalk is digging into her spine. Her hands tug at the infuriating mass of robes swathing her. Their lips meet; Moira allows the kiss for a few moments before she breaks off to bite down Angela’s neck.

“Happy New Year, Angela.”

Her knee grinds between Angela’s thighs, and she can’t stop from crying out. Perhaps Athena will hear that. Perhaps her fellow agents will come running after all and will see her for what she is. Not a good doctor. Less than a good doctor. Just desperate and devoid of anything but the sensation of Moira on top of her. It does not drown the isolation. It does not come close. But she digs her hands into Moira’s back and revels in the fact that in this sole instant, she is not alone.

[carolinabronova]

Songs.

30 Seconds To Mars The Kill (Burry Me)

99 Souls The Girl Is Mine (ft. Destiny’s Child)

ABBA Lay All Your Love On Me

Adam Lambert Fever If I Had You

Adele Chasing Pavements Rolling In The Deep Send My Love Someone Like You When We Were Young

A-ha Take On Me

Akon Don’t Matter I Wanna Love You (ft. Snoop Dogg)

Alicia Keys If I Ain’t Got You No One

All Angels The Scientist

Ana Carolina É Isso Aí (ft. Seu Jorge)

Angus & Julia Stone A Heartbreak Big Jet Plane Big Jet Plane (Acoustic) Draw Your Swords Just A Boy Paper Aeroplane Yellow Brick Road

A Perfect Circle Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums

Arctic Monkeys 505 Brianstorm Do I Wanna Know? Fluorescent Adolescent I Wanna Be Yours One For The Road R U Mine? Stop The World Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?

Aretha Franklin Say A Little Prayer

Ariana & The Rose In Your Bed (Kevin Drew Remix)

Ariana Grande Almost Is Never Enough Bad Decisions Be Alright Be My Baby Best Mistake Dangerous Woman Everyday (ft. Future) Greedy Into You Jason’s Song (Gave It Away) One Last Time Right There (ft. Big Sean) Side To Side Sometimes

Athlete Rubik’s Cube

Austin Manuel I Just Want You To Love Me

Backstreet Boys If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy) I Want It That Way

Banks Drowning

Bee Gees How Deep Is Your Love More Than A Woman Too Much Heaven Tragedy

Ben E. King Stand By Me

Beyoncé 7/11 Baby Boy (ft. Sean Paul) Best Thing I Never Had Blow Countdown Drunk In Love Ego Formation Hold Up Love On Top Partition Sandcastles Sorry

Biel Demorô

Black Keys Howlin’ For You

Blue Öyster Cult Burnin’ For You (Don’t Fear) The Reaper

BoA Eat You Up

B.o.B So Good

Bon Iver Creature Fear Perth

Bonnie Raitt Can’t Make You Love Me

Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Breaking Benjamin I Will Not Bow

Bright Eyes First Day Of My Life

Britney Spears 3

Bruce Springsteen Dancing In The Dark

Bruno Mars 24k Magic Calling All My Lovelies Chunky Gorilla (ft. Pharell Williams and R.Kelly) Locked Out Of Heaven Talking To The Moon That’s What I Like Treasure When I Was Your Man

Bryan Adams Heaven

Calvin Harris Feels (ft. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean) This Is What You Came For (ft. Rihanna)

Camila Cabello Havana (ft. Young Thug)

Captain & Tennille Love Will Keep Us Together

Carly Rae Jepsen Run Away With Me Your Type

Cary Brothers Loneliest Girl In The World

Cash Cash Overtime

Charlie Brown Jr. Me Encontra

Charlie Puth Attention How Long Marvin Gaye (ft. Meghan Trainor)

Charli XCX Boys

Cheat Codes Let Me Hold You

Chet Baker My Funny Valentine

Chris Brown Liquor Show Me (ft. Kid Ink) Strip Take You Down

Christina Grimmie Must Be Love

Christina Perri distance

Chromeo Come Alive (ft. Toro Y Moi)

Ciara Body Party

City And Colour The Girl

Claudinho & Bochecha Fico Assim Sem Você Quero Te Encontrar

Clean Bandit Tears (ft. Louisa Johnson)

Coldplay Charlie Brown Hymn For The Weekend (ft. Beyoncé) Swallowed In The Sea Violet Hills Viva La Vida

Colbie Caillat Bubbly

Counting Crows Accidentally In Love

Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Time After Time

Daft Punk Around The World Digital Love Harder Better Faster Stronger Lose Yourself To Dance One More Time Something About Us Technologic

Damien Rice 9 Crimes Delicate Rootless Tree The Blower’s Daughter

Danni Carlos Coisas Que Eu Sei

Daughter Landfill Medicine Run Touch

David Guetta Bad (ft. Vassy)

Dawin Dessert (ft. Silento)

Demi Lovato Sorry Not Sorry Stone Cold

Destiny’s Child Bills, Bills, Bills Bootylicious Independent Women Say My Name

Disclosure Latch (ft. Sam Smith)

DJ Snake Leon On (ft. MØ and Major Lazer) Middle

DNCE Cake By The Ocean

Drake Fake Love Hold On We’re Going Home How About Now Marvin’s Room One Dance Passionfruit Too Good (ft. Rihanna)

Dua Lipa New Rules

Duke Dumont Ocean Drive

Earth, Wind & Fire After The Love Has Gone Boogie Wonderland Fantasy Let’s Groove September

Eden Project drowning.

Ed Sheeran Cold Coffee Drunk Give Me Love Grade 8 I’m A Mess Kiss Me Little Bird One Night She Small Bump U.N.I The Man Wake Me Up

Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do On My Mind

Elvis Presley Can’t Help Falling In Love Suspicious Minds (You’re The) Devil In Disguise

Erasure A Little Respect

Escape The Fate Zombie Dance

Etha Franklin At Last

Evanescence My Immortal

Fetty Wap 679 (ft. Remy Boyz) Again My Way (ft. Monty) Trap Queen

Fifth Harmony All In My Head (Flex) (ft. Fetty Wap)

Flight Facilities Crave You Crave You (Adventure Club Remix)

Florence + The Machine Cosmic Love Caught Drumming Song Never Let Me Go Seven Devils

Flo Rida I Cry

Francoise Hardy Voila

Frank Sinatra Fly Me To The Moon If I Had You Moon River

Gabrielle Aplin Home Please Don’t Say You Love Me Start Of Time

G-Eazy F**k With U (ft. Pia Mia) Lady Killers (ft. Hoodie Allen)

George Martin Pepperland - Remastered

Gilberto Girl Vamos Fugir (Gimme Your Love)

Glen Hansard All The Way Down Falling Slowly Lies Say It To Me Now

Grayscale Palette

Gym Class Heroes Cupid’s Chokehold

Halsey Gasoline

Hozier Someone New Take Me To Church

Hudson Thames How I Want Ya

Hurts Illuminated Somebody To Die For Stay Unspoken

Ingrid Michaelson Can’t Help Falling In Love You And I

Iron & Wine Flightless Bird, American Mouth

Israel Novaes Vem Ni Mim Dodge Ram

Ivete Sangalo Quando A Chuva Passar Se Eu Não Te Amasse Tanto Assim

James Blunt You’re Beautiful

Jammil Praieiro

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah

Jeremih oui

João Bosco E Vinícius Chora Me Liga

Joe Walsh Turn To Stone

John Mayer Free Fallin’ Gravity Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

Johnny Cash Hurt

JoJo Beautiful Girls

Jon Secada If I Never Knew You (ft. Shanice)

Jordan Fisher All About Us

Jorge Vercilo Que Nem Maré

Jota Quest Blecaute (ft. Anitta and Nite Rodgers)

Justin Timberlake My Love (ft. T.I) Summer Love

Kanye West Bound 2 Power

Kate Nash Nicest Thing

Katy Perry Birthday

Kendrick Lamar DNA King Kunta Loyalty (ft. Rihanna) Poetic Justice (ft. Drake)

Kid Abelha Como Eu Quero

Kina Grannis Valentine

Kings Of Leon Pyro Sex On Fire

Kodaline All I Want

Kyle Edwards Starboy (Harder Better Faster Stronger Jersey Club)

Labrinth Jealous

Lady Gaga Bad Romance Do What U Want (ft. R.Kelly) Edge Of Glory G.U.Y Just Dance Marry The Night Million Reasons Monster Perfect Illusion Speechless The Cure You & I

Lana Del Rey Born To Die Dark Paradise Freak High By The Beach Love Religion Ridin’ (ft. A$AP Rocky) Sad Girl Serial Killer Video Games West Coast Young And Beautiful

Lauren Aquilina Wonder

Leonard Cohen Hallelujah

Leona Lewis Bleeding Love

Lil Dicky Lemme Freak

Lil Wayne 6 Foot 7 Foot

Linda Ronstadt I Will Always Love You

Lionel Richie Just Go (ft. Akon)

Lissie Everywhere I Go

Little Big Town Girl Crush

Los Hermanos Anna Julia

LS Jack Ô Carla

Lulu Santos Como Uma Onda Sereia

Lykke Li I Follow Rivers Until We Bleed

M83 My Tears Are Becoming A Sea

Madonna Material Girl

Maiara & Maraisa Medo Bobo

Mariah Carey #Beautiful (ft. Miguel) Emotions Obsessed Touch My Body We Belong Together

Marianas Trench Haven’t Had Enough

Marina & The Diamonds How To Be A Heartbreaker Oh No! Primadonna Teen Idle

Marisa Monte Depois

Maroon 5 Feelings Makes Me Wonder Stutter What Lovers Do

Marvin Gaye Sexual Healing

Maskavo Um Anjo Do Céu

Matthew Perryman Jones Only You

MC G15 Deu Onda

MC Leozinho Se Ela Dança, Eu Danço

MC Marcinho Glamurosa

Michael Sembello Maniac

Miguel Adorn coffee Simple Things Sure Thing

Mike Posner Cooler Than Me I Took A Pill In Ibiza Looks Like Sex

Miley Cyrus 23 (ft. Mike Will Made It, Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J) Wrecking Ball

MKTO Classic

MØ Fire Rides - Night Version

Mumford And Sons Little Lion Man Sigh No More White Blank Page

Muse Neutron Star Collision Plug In Baby Resistance Starlight Supermassive Black Hole Undisclosed Desires

My Chemical Romance Helena (So Long & Goodnight) I Don’t Love You The Light Behind Your Eyes

Natalie La Rose Somebody (ft. Jeremih)

Natiruts Me Namora

Nelly Dilemma (ft. Kelly Rowland)

Neon Trees Animal Everybody Talks Mad Love

Ne-yo Closer

NF Got You On My Mind

Niall Horan Slow Hands

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds O Children

Nick Jonas Jealous Teacher Wilderness

Nigahiga Bromance (ft. Chester See) Nice Guys (ft. Chester See and KevJumba)

Ninja Sex Party FYI I Wanna F Your A Peppermint Creams Sex Training The Decision

Oasis Wonderwall

Olivver The Kid Attica ‘71

Olly Murs Dance With Me Tonight Kiss Me

Omarion Post To Be (ft. Chris Brown and Jhené Aiko)

One Direction Fireproof Happily Night Changes No Control Perfect Stockholm Sydrome Strong You & I

Outkast Hey Ya!

Panic! At The Disco Death Of A Bachelor Nine In The Afternoon

Papas Da Língua Eu Sei

Paramore Ain’t It Fun Misery Business Still Into You

Passanger Let Her Go

Paula Fernandes Não Precisa (ft. Victor e Leo)

P.Diddy Last Night (ft. Keyshia Cole)

Pentatonix Can’t Sleep Love Fantasy I Need Your Love La La Latch Love Again Natural Disaster

Pink F*cking Perfect Please Don’t Leave Me Sober So What Who Knew

Player Baby Come Back

Post Malone Rockstar

Psirico Lepo Lepo

R5 Dark Side

Rae Sremmurd Black Beatles

Raleigh Ritchie Bloodsport

Redfoo New Thang

Rich Homie Quan Flex (Ooh, ooh, ooh)

Richie Campbell Do You No Wrong

Rihanna Can’t Remember To Forget You (ft. Shakira) Don’t Stop The Music FourFiveSeconds (ft. Kanye West and Paul McCartney) Love On The Brain Needed Me Russian Roulette Te Amo Unfaithful Where Have You Been Wild Thoughts (ft. DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller)

Rise Against Savior

Roberta Campos Minha Felicidade

Robin Thicke Get Her Back

Robot Koch Nitesky (ft. John Lamonica)

Ryan Adams Wonderwall

Sam Smith Nirvana Palace

Sarah Jaffe Clementine

Scorpions Rock You Like A Hurricane

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox Stacy’s Mom

Scouting For Girls Heartbeat

Seal Kiss From A Rose

Selena Gomez Bad Liar Fetish (ft. Gucci Mane) Good For You Hands To Myself Perfect Wolves (ft. Marshmellow)

Seu Jorge Carolina Mina Do Condomínio

Shania Twain From This Moment On Man! I Feel Like A Woman You’re Still The One

Shawn Mendes There’s Nothing Holding Me Back

Shura Touch (Canvas Remix)

Sia Cheap Thrills Elastic Heart

Simon & Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water

Skank Ainda Gosto Dela Tão Seu Vamos Fugir Vou Deixar

Sleeping At Last As Long As You Love Me Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Venus

Snoop Dogg Sensual Seduction

Stevie Nicks Edge Of Seventeen

Stevie Wonder Isn’t She Lovely

Story Of The Year Until The Day I Die

Talking Heads Psycho Killers

Taylor Swift Blank Space Love Story Safe And Sound (ft. The Civil Wars) Style Wildest Dreams

Tears For Fears Everybody Wants To Rule The World

The 1975 Chocolate FallingForYou Somebody Else UGH! The Sound

The Archies Sugar, Sugar

The Barr Brothers May 4th

The Bird And The Bee How Deep Is Your Love

The Black Eyed Peas Meet Me Halfway

The Black Keys Howlin’ For You

The Beach Boys Good Vibrations Wouldn’t It Be Nice

The Beatles Hey Jude Yesterday

The Black Eyed Peas Meet Me Halfway

The Cataracs Ready 4 The Weekend (ft. Icona Pop)

The Civil Wars Poison And Wine

The Cure Boys Don’t Cry

The Glitch Mob Between Two Points (ft. Swan)

The Irrepressibles In This Shirt

The Jackson 5 I Want You Back

The Killers Human Somebody Told Me When You Were Young

The Last Shadow Puppets Miracle Aligner

The Lonely Island 3-Way (The Golden Rule) I’m So Humble (ft. Adam Levine) Jizz In My Pants Spring Break Anthem

The Maine I Must Be Dreaming Into Your Arms

The Middle East Blood

The Neighbourhood Daddy Issues #icanteven (ft. French Montana)

The Platters Only You (And You Alone)

The Police Every Breath You Take Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Roxanne

The Pretty Reckless You Zombie

The Script Breakeven

The Turtles Happy Together

The Weeknd Acquainted A Lonely Night Earned It I Feel It Coming Often Or Nah (Stwo Remix) Starboy The Hills Wicked Games

The White Strips Seven Nation Army

The Zombies Time Of The Season

T.I Whatever You Like

Tim Maia Descobridor Dos Sete Mares Gostava Tanto De Você Não Quero Dinheiro (Só Quero Amar)

Tinashe Superlove Quit You (ft. Lost Kings)

Tom Odell Can’t Pretend

Toni Braxton Un-Break My Heart

Toto Africa

Tove Lo Cool Girl

Tribalistas Aliança Já Sei Namorar Velha Infância

Troye Sivan Fools for him. Wild (ft. Alessia Cara)

U2 One (ft. Mary J Blidge)

Usher DJ Got Us Fallin In Love Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home) U Remind Me

Van Halen Why Can’t This Be Love

Vinicius Cantuária Só Você

Wesley Safadão Aquele 1% (ft. Marcos & Belutti) Camarote

What So Not Jaguar

Whitney Houston I Have Nothing I Wanna Dance With Somebody I Will Always Love You

xxyyxx About You

War Why Can’t We Be Friends

Yvonne Elliman If I Can’t Have You

Zara Larsson Ain’t My Fault I Would Like So Good

Zella Day Hypnotic (Vanic Remix)

[meggannn]

more for lydia (of course): 21, 24, 45, 49

i am the worst person for taking like a day to respond to this omg

21)   Best Friend(s)?

it’s hard to categorize her best “friends” because for a while she doesn’t really consider them friends, she considers them “acquaintances she has varying degrees of closeness and unique relationships with” while not realizing that like… that is the definition of a friend? lmao (like for example, she only really let herself think of garrus and tali as ‘friends’ instead of ‘crewmembers i’m fond and protective of’ until the shore leave after the battle of the citadel. though while she was close with her me1 crew, i do think me2 is the first time she realizes she’s allowed to think of her team as friends too.

me1: kaidan and ashley at least in the beginning. by the end of the game i think she’s closer to tali as well

me2: at first, garrus and kasumi, and later when they join, tali and samara. i say this with like, knowing she has fondness for all of her crew

me3: garrus and, after renewing their relationship, ashley

24)   Do they have a love/hate relationship with any of them?

not with any of those mentioned above, though i think her relationships with miranda and jack in 2 are a little… not adversarial, but shepard is wary of them as much as she likes them. miranda for obvious reasons, and jack because she genuinely likes her after a while but being around her for so long is a bit of a drain on her energy, since she kind of reminds her of the kids from her old gangs. zaeed she definitely has a love/hate relationship with in 2, in that she appreciates his talks and advice but doesn’t appreciate his attitude and volatile unpredictability.

45)   Do they use social media?

lmfao I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS ABOUT SHEPARD ON SOCIAL MEDIA OKAY YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE ASKED ME THIS, it’s not that she’s very tech savvy (though there’s some proficiency with hacking) just growing up as a teenager on earth who stole/resold a lot of omnitools and translators and laptops, she had very few other pasttimes when cash wasn’t coming in. i think she was really into social media during ict training with other candidates, as a way of bonding and non-physical de-stressing. and she obviously knows a lot of online slang and shitty corners of the internet from her teenage days. in the alliance she goes through periods of activity followed by periods of forgetting about the internet at all, like when she’s on missions.

by me1, she’s established enough that i think she’s convinced herself a commander shouldn’t post on social media, that’s not appropriate, blah blah. so for a while she’s mostly quiet with only occasional funny but nonoffensive comments on things like pop culture or whatever. then after the battle of the citadel she gets a huuuuge influx of followers, and she’s like ??? cause she doesn’t use her space twitter much, so she kinda posts once like "hey thanks for the support, look out for my album coming out next spring” and everybody loves it, until she starts talking about the reapers publicly and preparing for war, then everybody’s like “god shut up i thought you were cool” so she gets angry when it becomes apparent that most people just want a figurehead, not her to actually say anything, but she can’t go back to making jokes and pretending things are normal, so she stops posting altogether. maybe like, once or twice more about something irrelevant, and then three weeks later she’s dead. (and then her crew like garrus and tali in particular waste so much time on the internet looking at her online profiles, rereading her last posts, hunting through years worth of her feed far back enough to see she was a different person once, both of them in mourning but garrus denying it)

and then me2 happens, and she’s obviously not thinking about social media for a while. when she does, it’s like maybe midway through the game, like maybe on illium kasumi drags her out to dinner cause she found authentic thai in the markets, and shepard’s just content enough to think “this is the kind of meal you post a picture about and share on social media” and she considers it before remembering oh yeah i was dead……. is my account even still there? how weird would it be to suddenly post out of nowhere again? i know the rumor is i was just under cover, but would it help or hurt the war to treat this like normal? and she basically overanalyzes and decides not to say anything at all. (in reality i think after she died her account was given the space equivalent of a twitter verification, like Yes This Was The Real Shepard’s Account, Tweets Might Be Recorded, which she only discovers after she logs in on a whim back on the ship). i don’t think she breaks this social media fast until she either uses it one day because she 1) completely forgets she was avoiding it, like she just wakes up randomly and types “i had the weirdest fuckin dream let me tell yall about it” because she’s still half asleep and convinces herself it’s a good idea, then goes back to sleep and wakes up to a million notifications like “i KNEW YOU WERE BACK!!” and “SOMEONE HACKED SHEPARD’S ACCOUNT THAT’S DISGRACEFUL” and she’s like oh boy. OR 2) she gets so heated over something stupid (that is definitely about human pop culture) that she completely forgets/doesnt give a rat’s ass anymore about maintaining silence online. like “I JUST HEARD SPACE BEYONCE WASN’T NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY LAST YEAR. WHAT THE FUCK?” after the collector base, she feels a little more freedom to be funny and has the time to engage and post about pop culture again, so she gains some attention back for that

by me3, coming out of alliance-imposed isolation, i think she takes back to the internet whenever she can, for better or worse, but because most of the news she swallows is so awful, she tries to be positive and reach out to people who @ her, like she doesn’t want to lie to them, but she tries to signal boost official evacuation and relocation efforts and stuff. when the alliance starts gaining allies, there’s a little bit of expectation for her to use her accounts as a political “so honored the turian hierarchy is joining us” blah blah kind of tweet, so she’s kind of like…. well people deserve to know we’ve made an accord, but i’m gonna do it my way, and she essentially starts sharing all the stuff that’s happening on the citadel that might get easily lost in translation, like

“i can confirm councilor udina was just killed by spectre williams after a standoff on the presidum, after he threatened the life of another councilor. we have confirmed that he was compromised by cerberus after his participation in a failed coup. please see the official statement for more details. the death of a high profile politician is always a shock, but to those feeling betrayed, i want every human and alien to be reminded that spectres are chosen to protect the galaxy from both foreign and internal threats. ashley williams takes her role seriously, as do i, and her actions saved lives yesterday. in light of the recent citadel attack, the alliance would also like me to encourage people to remain vigilant against cerberus cyberwarfare and contact with reaper tech. stay safe, everyone.”

just like, very honest, frank statements or clarifications that might not otherwise get out there, with an emphasis on trying to keep morale as high as reasonably possible. it’s not classified info, but she wants people to stay informed, like she wants people across the galaxy being bombarded who think they’ve been abandoned to know that she’s still fighting for them everywhere she can. even though she’s feeling really dejected and pessimistic sometimes i think she’s determined to make other people believe they can win even when she isn’t sure herself.

post-war (AHHA YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE AFTER ME3, DIDNT YOU) as soon as she can travel, she kind of shoves her way into politics via reconstruction efforts despite her unstable health because she’s terrified everything will just go back to normal and the underprivileged people in slums and terminus colonies will be ignored. i think she keeps up the informative trend of letting people know what’s going on, like explaining what this or that emergency bill that was just passed by the council means, ‘cause she’s still new to politics and honesty all this dense language would’ve definitely confused her too. eventually as things start getting more settled she feels less guilty posting about how her day’s going. and then at one point, there is definitely a collective internet freakout when shepard acknowledges/makes a joke about one of the memes about her, and she’s like “what, you guys think i never go online or something?? i was a teenager once, i know how the internet works!” (she actually doesn’t spend that much time in forums or the like, she just learned about the meme from garrus and vega.)

(and then at some point post-war garrus, who used to have a dumbass video game let’s play account that gained a ton of popularity after me1 when shepard found out about it and asked to play turian call of duty with him on it (the vid was entitled “i play turian call of duty with commander shepard (my co)” and was mostly just them horsing around and then it went viral, but he took it down after she died and then purged the whole account/his entire online presence when he went to omega. but anyway a while post-war garrus comes to her like “hey you remember that video we made” “i remember the jokes about it” “well uh, i just managed to fix this old console i found at a flea market, do you want to do it again? yknow just kill time and lift people’s spirits?” so he makes a new account and introduces her to a lot of other games, she’s good at space overwatch but then when she gets cocky he makes her play like turian dark souls or some shit, and they record and post it online for kicks too)

fuck, i still have one more question left to answer???? i spent a fucking lifetime writing up this, I TOLD YOU ASKING ME QUESTIONS ABOUT LYDIA WAS A MISTAKE

49)   Would they consider themselves as a good person, bad person, or morally grey?

mostly i dont think she lets herself think about whether she’s a “good” person because emotionally, and morally, she doesn’t feel much different than she was when she was committing crimes for a living (though she knows logically she’s grown a lot, she convinced herself back then that she was justified in doing bad things by just trying to survive, which is… not entirely too different from now). anyway she still feels like she’s trying to make up for who she used to be, like she wants to put more good into the world than the harm she once contributed to, or failing that, she can at least remove as much of the evil in the galaxy as she can. (i keep forgetting to clarify, she didn’t just do petty theft and break-ins and lookouts and illegal reselling, she was occasionally a debt collector and beat people near to the point of death with biotics, and she hated it but it was mostly out of sympathy that she insisted on going instead of another gangster because if it were anyone else she knows they might’ve dismembered or tortured the person too.)

god i still haven’t answered your question. ive been writing for a full hour, keely. the long and short of it is that i think she’s morally gray. i call her paragade for a reason. she tries really hard to be a good person to make up for who she was (who she “had” to be), so she fights to save every life she can, but against enemies that show no remorse or whatnot, some of her old habits of ruthlessness and reluctance to forgive die hard. 

ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT MY OCS IF YOU FEEL LIKE SCROLLING PAST MORE LONG PARAGRAPHS ON YOUR DASH, YO

[thunderheadfred]

okay but what if Albacus and Hannah lived happily ever after together and nobody died GIVE ME THAT AU SNIPPET PLS

I wrote up a really long bullet-point head-canon response to this and exhausted my own brain coming up with AUs of my AU wondering what it would be like if they had lived… 

if Jane hadn’t been emotionally marooned and forced to become a one-woman crusade to publicly absolve her parents… 

if she hadn’t broken off parts of herself looking for revenge, how much Jane might worry about the Reapers attacking a Mindoir that had never been ransacked by batarians… 

and what would it be like to see Jane accompany Albacus to Palaven for a pardon from Primarch Victus, ending his decades-long exile even though there’s nothing of his old life to come back to, not really, but none of that matters anymore…

or getting a phone call from Hannah in the middle of the war: “Did you and that cop start banging before or after he blew off half his face? Oh shut up Jane, everybody knows, even your father figured it out…”

or Jane the post-war amputee, waking up in a hospital to the sight of her father’s face: quiet and intense from days without sleep, but the familiar weight of his old blackened prosthetic on her shoulder is reassuring enough…

y’know… in the end I think it’s just more effective to say: oh god my heart

[shima-draws]

I'd love to hear you sing! And can we hear about the MBAV au? And you're right about Benny's hair, I've been sitting here for an hour attempting to do it and aaaaaaaaa

PPFPFT I’ve gotten a lot of positive response so I guess I. Will post that tomorrow hhGHH

Omg yeah seriously;; Benny’s hair is impossible I don’t know how it DEFIES LOGIC??

Anyway

NSKDBBJDDB SURE I would love to talk about it!!So uhh it’s called the Grim Reaper AU? It’s pretty obvious where this is going but allow me to further enlighten youBut yeah get ready for one helluva ride this is SUPER SUPER LONG I’M SORRY it’s like 3k words (the length of a good oneshot holy shit SHIMA WHY) but hey I have been developing this AU for three years now sOOkay here we goIt all starts out when Benny and Ethan are on their way to school and Benny notices they’re being followed by this strange girl dressed in black—but for some reason nobody else is able to see her except for Benny. After school he corners her alone and starts questioning her (he also kinda threatens her a little bit;; tells her to stay away from Ethan since he’s an overprotective cupcake). She reveals that she’s a Grim Reaper and her job is to, well. Bring lives to an end as they’re written down in her book. Basically everyone is fated to die at a certain time in their lives, and Grim Reapers are the ones to carry their souls over to the other side. And after a bit more goading she admits that yes, Ethan is fated to die in two days’ time and she’s been assigned to carry his soul over.Rest is under the cut to save yourselves from endless scrolling whoops

Anyway understandably Benny FLIPS OUT and starts begging her to maybe not kill his best friend? Please? But she says that it must absolutely be done, it’s fate that’s already been written and if she isn’t there when he dies to take care of him his soul might get snatched up by a demon or a witch instead (so yes, Grim Reapers are seen as GOOD in this AU). She apologizes and says that he just needs to come to terms with it (hint: he’s not going to do that ever no thanks). The next day Ethan definitely notices something’s off with Benny, but he can’t get him to spill about what’s going on. Ethan becomes super worried about him and goes to Sarah for advice, while Benny goes to confront the GR again. And he asks something extremely…risky.Benny offers to trade his life for Ethan’s, if it’s possible. The Grim Reaper is shocked and tells him the only way that would work was if Benny signed a contract to become a Grim Reaper himself, but that would mean cutting off all ties to the human world and his friends, and that his mortal body would die and it would basically mean he’s actually dead to everyone. Benny signs the contract and takes the deal, and bam. He becomes a Grim Reaper ;w; (Also one of his eyes turns red so that’s cool. Usually when one becomes a GR both eyes turn red but since Benny also has magic that part of him is shown in his green eyes)Meanwhile Ethan suddenly has a massive panic attack, almost like he can TELL that something’s very wrong with Benny (since they’re connected in that way :3c)  He runs home to find that Benny isn’t there, and that, well—Benny isn’t anywhere. Benny’s grandma is out of town at the mo, so he decides to search himself with the help of Rory and Sarah. They look all night and they’re about to call the police when Benny’s grandma shows up and tells them the news. Ethan passes out from shock, and the next day he wakes up and tries to deny the fact that his best friend is gone forever. Eventually the truth hits him hard and he shuts everybody out, even Sarah. He goes into a major depressive slump and doesn’t speak or even leave his room for days. It’s really bad;;Benny, on the other hand, is learning the basics of how to be a Grim Reaper, and is mortified to know that sometimes fate doesn’t take care of things the way it should and that for some of the deaths he has to take the person out himself (and he gets a wicked scythe he uses to end lives. Ooooh) He refuses at first, saying he doesn’t want to kill anybody, but that’s part of the job description and he signed a contract so he absolutely has to. Benny runs off from the mission, enraging Grim Reaper Girl, who sort of acts as his superior and tutor (I’m going to call her GRG for short). Benny decides he’s going to check on Ethan, which is a HUGE no no in the Grim Reaper world—any ties to old friends and family must be forgotten and it’s super forbidden to try and peer into your past life, all that jazz. Normally when one becomes a GR they forget about their past life but!! Our boy is special so he remembers everything. And yeah Benny doesn’t give a shit about getting in trouble and comes back to White Chapel to see his boyf and make sure he’s doing okay.Unfortunately Ethan is NOT doing okay, and after sneaking in through his window Benny starts rambling on worriedly, thinking that Ethan can’t see or hear him since GR’s are invisible to most people. Buuuut he kinda forgot that Ethan’s a seer so in most cases he can see things other people can’t, and Ethan FREAKS the fuck out when he sees Benny standing in his bedroom with this badass cloak and GR clothing. He immediately bursts into tears and like TACKLES Benny to the ground in a hug and doesn’t let him go for twenty minutes while Benny explains what’s been going on.They talk for a while and Ethan is so fucking relieved that Benny’s okay and he’s also really pissed that Benny didn’t warn him or try to figure out some other way to avoid the consequences but?? It’s too late now so. Ethan begs Benny to come back and visit sometimes even though it could get him into BIG TROUBLE and after a moment of hesitation Benny’s like “yeah okay” and then he spends the night and they cuddle in Ethan’s bed and Ethan has a nightmare and cries on Benny and it’s a sad but fluffy timeThe next day GRG comes to Ethan’s window and chews Benny out for both running out on the mission AND for visiting old friends when he knows he’s not supposed to. Benny, being the adorable muffin he is, is able to convince her to let him visit White Chapel every once in a while, or at least get more jobs near there so he can keep an eye on his squad. Ethan wakes up during their little spat and Benny tells him he has to leave. Of course Ethan protests and begs him to stay longer but he can’t because he has to work so!! Ethan tells him to come back soon and that he’ll be waiting and Benny makes him promise to go to school and try to act normal and ABOVE ALL smile when things get hard. Ethan gives him one last hug that becomes super intimate oops and now they’re sort of realizing that they might have a thing for each other??Ethan goes back to school to the amazement of his friends and apologizes for acting like such a dick to them. They can tell that he seems happier for some reason and they’re still bummed about Benny. Ethan wants to tell them that B’s fine but he doesn’t want to risk Benny getting in trouble so he decides to keep his GR status a secret (though he’s pretty sure Benny’s grandma knows, since she’s been acting normal, if a little bit saddened).Benny returns to work and completes his very first mission, having getting past his fears of “killing” others. And it’s amazing when he ends lives (I know that sounds awful bear with me) because he can see all of the memories the person has had—their most joyful and sad and everything else. Benny meets the soul and ushers them on to the afterlife, being able to do so easily after seeing their life story, and something that will happen every time somebody dies. He talks with GRG about a lot of things and they have a Moment™ as she shares her past and how she wishes she could remember who she was as a human. At this point she’s sort of become like a sisterly figure to Benny—she cherishes him and wants to protect him from the bad things but she also wants him to be careful and avoid getting caught sneaking off. So she’s like, unsure of what to do, torn between covering Benny’s tracks and her job as a GR overseer…Things continue on as normally as possible after this point? Ethan’s suddenly more popular at school now since his bff is “dead” and everyone feels bad for him. Benny is completing mission after mission and is hailed as a GR pro and sort of graduates from his underling status and starts going on REAL missions—these are more dangerous since they involve battles with other supernatural beings after the souls of humans, demons especially. He’s officially partnered with GRG and she covers him whenever he sneaks off to see Ethan.It isn’t often that Benny comes to visit but when he does Ethan becomes just a ball of sunshine. They go do things together which is sort of awkward since nobody else can see Benny so we see Ethan talking to himself at dinner or the movies or wherever lol. Both of them are like “Are these dates we’re going on? Like? I’m really enjoying this and you wow” and it’s VERY GAY. It hits Benny first that he’s in love with Ethan and after the realization he visits more and more, skipping out on important meetings and other vital GR stuff in his contract. Yikes! As this is going on Ethan is starting to realize that he may like Benny as more than a friend and that’s a problem since he’s also been hanging with Sarah more lately and he gets the notion that she might like him back so he is. Torn over who he wants to be with since they’re both dead (?) but he can be in an actual relationship with Sarah while with Benny it’s way more complicated but he’s sure he loves Benny more and always will ;w;Benny suddenly vanishes for a few weeks which leaves Ethan on edge and the others notice but he’s still a loyal boy so he refuses to indulge them about what’s going on, which frustrates Sarah and they kinda get into a fight about it. During this time, surprise!! A giant battle happens in the GR world between them and the demons, a fight over souls, and Benny is caught right in the midst of it. He’s torn over his love for Ethan and his duty to serve the GR’s and fight with them—he’s become pretty famous amongst the ranks since he still has his magic so he’s a lot stronger than the average GR and the higher ups are like “THIS BOY IS HELLA STRONG WE NEED HIM FOR ALL OUR BATTLES YA FEEL” Finally when the battle ends after days and days of hiding out and striking whenever possible, Benny flees to see Ethan once again. He’s totally exhausted and covered head to toe in demon blood and also a little out of it? So something weird happens with his magic to make him visible to other people aaaaand. He shows up at the high school looking for Ethan and everyone is like “What the FUCK is that Benny Weir I thought he was dead???” Ethan freaks out of course but that’s after he runs right into Benny’s arms and hugs the CRAP outta him. Rory, Sarah and Erica start screaming in confusion and they’re like “ETHAN what the hell is going on why is Benny here and dressed like that and is that blood? WTF” Ethan sort of spills to them what’s going on while Benny’s chilling out in his arms, too tired to speak, and the rest of the students watch on in shock like?? Yeah. And one of those people is Della and she’s crying because she never thought she’d miss Benny’s stupid flirting so much and she was sad to hear about what happened to him and she’s happy to see him but also really confused just like everyone else!! It’s a crazy timeEventually when it all calms down Benny knocks everyone out with a sleeping spell and they wake up thinking it’s a dream (except for Rory, Sarah and Erica of course, who he trusts to keep his secret). They all hang out for a little while and they’re like “It’s really good to see you Benny” (YES, EVEN ERICA). Then Ethan and Benny go back to Benny’s house so he can say hi to his grandma, who lectures him for like twenty minutes “I cannot believe you Benjamin Weir what on earth were you thinking? You couldn’t have waited for me to come back so we could figure out a better solution and blah blah blah blah” Benny starts crying because he didn’t realize how much he’d missed his grandma’s lectures. She sends them both up to bed. Benny strips out of his bloody clothes and takes a shower and then he and Ethan cuddle in his bed for a long while, not saying anything. Benny knows that this can’t continue on forever no matter how much he wants it to so he decides he’s going to confess to Ethan about how he feels before it’s too late to do so. Of course he has second thoughts like the most obvious, “What if he doesn’t like me back” and then getting deeper into things like “I don’t want to burden Ethan with the truth about how I feel about him he deserves somebody better, somebody that can actually be around to take care of him and provide and I can’t do that anymore” but Ethan starts asking him to say what’s been bothering him so Benny, fed up with everything, spills.“So um hey dude I think I might be in love with you?”And Ethan is ecstatic like “Hey I think I might be in love with you too” and then it’s happy happy time and they kiss and it’s very cute and gay againThe next morning Benny knows he has to go back to work but not before he kisses the living daylights out of Ethan and Benny ends up almost getting caught since he loses track of time and makes out with Ethan for like ten minutes OOPSEthan goes back to school to see that everyone is still confused about the “dream” they all collectively had about Benny Weir miraculously coming back from the dead. Sarah corners him and starts asking more questions and he accidentally lets slip that they may or may not be dating it’s complicated? Understandably she gets upset, more because she’s worried about them getting into trouble and less because she’s jealous (she just wants Ethan to be happy after all he’s been through and if that’s with Benny she’ll give him up she is a GOOD GIRL). She starts admonishing Ethan for his own good, telling him how dangerous it is and how it probably won’t work out and she just wants to let him know now before he gets his heart broken later. Ethan bitterly agrees but he’s not going to stop dating (?) Benny since he’s in love with him and she’s like “Whatever okay just be careful”Benny shows up to work and GRG is REALLY pissed. She tells him that she’s been covering for him for so long that others are starting to get suspicious and suggests that Benny stop seeing Ethan altogether, but Benny tells her he absolutely cannot do that. Then they get into a big fight and she yells at him a lot before she finally spills that the higher ups found out about his memories and plan to have them erased permanently—they just haven’t done anything up til now since they thought he was keeping to the contract and not visiting people from his past life. But lately they’ve been catching on to the fact that he has so they’re gonna wipe him clean and erase all of his ties so he can actually focus on his duty to them. Benny freaks out and starts crying because?? He doesn’t want to lose his memories of his friends and of Ethan that’s always been his worst fear. GRG becomes sympathetic and tells him he has twenty four hours to say goodbye before they cleanse him for good. Benny immediately goes to Ethan and tells him what happens, breaking down and sobbing about how he doesn’t want to forget and he doesn’t want Ethan to forget him after he’s gone. Ethan tells him of COURSE he’ll never forget Benny, he’s the person he loves most in the whole world! They cry together for a while before going out and having the BEST last day ever (like my Life Ticket AU OOPS) and Ethan says a sappy line like “You might forget this day but I’ll remember it forever” AWWWW EThat night Ethan sleeps over at Benny’s house and they talk about a lot of different things. Eventually tho they stop talking and start kissing and things get really;; heated wooEthan tells Benny he wants Benny to leave on him proof that he existed so yeaaah I’ll leave whatever they did up to your imagination wonk ;) This may or may not be an MM reference //shotThe next morning Benny has to leave and it’s a SUPER SAD moment and they’re both crying and Ethan kisses him goodbye and promises Benny he’ll always ALWAYS remember him for the rest of his life (or eternity if he somehow gets changed into some immortal being) and then Ethan. Smiles for him keeping the promise that they made and FUCK BENNY UP he is so fucking wrecked and distraught that he almost just collapses on the floor and refuses to leave but he is a strong boy so!! He takes off and after he’s gone Ethan breaks down and cries and calls Sarah over to comfort him and it’s so…heartbreaking ;m;Benny hands himself over to the higher ups and GRG sees how fucking DEPRESSED he is and how he looks like he’s lost all hope and she feels super bad but there isn’t anything she can do. And then they wipe his memories clean;; She immediately notices that Benny isn’t the same as he was before, without those memories of Ethan and the others to anchor him he’s not the same person.Ethan starts missing school again and he knows he promised Benny he’d try to stay happy but it’s really hard and he misses him so so so much and Sarah tries everything she can to cheer him up but? Yeah it’s just a difficult time for everybody; Ethan is in a slump, Sarah is out of her wits trying to make him feel better, Erica is avoiding everyone, and Rory has lost his normal cheer. And Benny doesn’t even remember them. RIP.Things in the GR world are progressively getting worse, the demon attacks come more frequently now and they’re having a hard time fighting them off. They’ve lost a lot of souls to the demons in the process, and the higher ups are trying to come up with a strategy to get rid of them for good. Unfortunately for them the demons are plotting big time and they’re ready to form a fucking army to take down the GR’s and claim all of the souls for themselves. Benny and GRG overhear them planning this and they freak out, and then the higher ups freak out and it’s a horrible time! But suddenly GRG is struck with a BRILLIANT idea that she knows the higher ups wouldn’t approve of so she does it in secret. Guess where she goes for help? White Chapel!Ethan is surprised to see GRG asking for help, and he’s like “Is this going to help Benny?” And she’s like yeah dude so Ethan says “I’m in” and gets Sarah, Rory and Erica to join the fight as well. They round up a couple of other vamps and supernatural beings and devise this huge strategy to defeat the demons with Ethan’s wicked smarts. AND THEN THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS!!The higher ups are furious with GRG for bringing outsiders into their conflict but they change their minds as soon as they see Ethan’s plan working. As they’re battling Ethan bumps into Benny and almost cries when he realizes Benny doesn’t remember him (but he is like “You seem familiar, do I know you from somewhere?”) They team up and kill tons of demons together and Benny’s like wow me and this cute guy have awesome chemistry I wonder who he is?Then surprise surprise Ethan gets taken hostage by the main demon king and everyone is like “ETHAN NO” and right before he gets taken out Benny miraculously recovers his memories and takes the hit for Ethan, getting “killed” in the process (which is kinda impossible since he’s already dead but whatever). Totally distraught at seeing his boyfriend die AGAIN Ethan’s psychic powers amp up to the max and he fucking wrecks the demon by using mind games to corrode at its will and he wins the battle!! Woo hooThe higher ups, upon seeing their victory, decide to give Ethan and Benny one wish. Ethan obviously wishes for him to come back to life (once a GR dies their soul is sent to the afterlife, GRs sort of live in an in between world of life and death. Like, purgatory). And Benny? At first he considers using his wish to grant GRG her memories back but she says if he wastes his wish on her she’ll kill him again. Lol. So Benny wishes to be human again instead. To live, basically. The higher ups are like “Usually we wouldn’t allow that but uh yeah you saved our asses so sure” but then they’re like “but we will call on you whenever we need you and your friends for something important otherwise it’s a no go son” and Benny’s like “SURE now please revive me so I can make out with my boyfriend”And so, Benny is brought back to life and stripped of his GR powers (he still has his magic tho, no worries). He bids a tearful goodbye with GRG, who confesses her (VERY PLATONIC) love for him. She promises to visit when she can. Benny’s grandma casts a spell on the town so they think Benny had been in a coma for half a year instead of dead. Erica and Sarah start dating, Rory gets a cute girlfriend (possibly GRG?) and Ethan and Benny live HAPPILY EVER AFTER THE END //throws confettiWow sorry that was so fucking long but well I have been developing this AU for three years so it would make sense that I have the entire plot written out right? //waggles eyebrowsANYWAY I hope you enjoyed KUDOS for reading all the way through you’re AMAZING and god jesus ASK ME QUESTIONS about this AU it’s one of my all time faves and I’m so glad I finally got to share it after so loNG

[dylanowenmusic]

A Quarter Century Official music video directed by Brian Petchers A Quarter Century appears my new album 'Holes In Our Stories.' Out now. Listen on Spotify, Apple, and vinyl: https://ffm.to/holesinourstories Follow me elsewhere: https://instagram.com/dylanowenmusic https://youtube.com/dylanowenmusic https://twitter.com/dylanowenmusic https://facebook.com/dylanowenmusic https://dylanowenmusic.com A QUARTER CENTURY One-take recording done by me Inspired by my twenty-fifth birthday I’m glad I made it here so I could write this song. LYRICS Tomorrow I turn 25 All my friends are getting high I’m joking that the speed of life is catching up to me With all the weaker ways we pass the time Blow our smoke and act surprised When someone sees a message in the chemicals we breathe I know I’m tired now from that alone Wearing someone’s tattered clothes To sneak out of the house And walk on eggshells through the leaves So I panic like a parent would Kick my habits out for good I’ll see you at the wake When our captains Rest in peace And in the miracles we buried beneath Our living room couches Someday they’ll come back to me If I leave home without them I don’t know the meaning of life, or what life means to me But until that great adventure arrives This is how we’ll always be Remember turning seventeen With emptiness ahead of me Then a girl named Anne gave me a rainbow I could keep To color in my happiness In sanctuary mattress beds That weren’t as black and white as all my airport poetry And every stupid song I sent to you In post office confessionals Most of the words we write are someday Torn up into sheets Maybe this is goodbye for good Someday I might write our book We’d make a great story But that one’s escaping me And I hope your new boyfriend has posture Like the Colorado mountains I hope he’s tall and wise just like them Cuz if not how’s he helping? Annie I can draw you a sun, I can draw you a sea But until our great adventure revives This is where we’ll always be I hope my grandpa made some friends Just Wandering Around again Telling everybody stories of his favorite teams And all the trophies they hang on the walls Of championship basketball How my momma had the strongest shot in the whole league This town will hold a mass for you And name all the streets after you And all the people that you loved will get up there to read Remember racing in your van In and out of traffic jams I can’t believe I made that flight to Colorado Springs I hope that there’s somewhere we can go If paradise is crowded I know you’ll find your place in the sun Because I see you in my shadow I don’t know the meaning of death, or what death means to me But until that great adventure arrives This is who I’ll always be Tomorrow I turn 25 I don’t wanna laugh or cry I’m joking that the grim reaper is catching up with me And all the parables I tell myself Like someday this’ll all unveil For now the footnotes still have bandages that wrap their feet And this hand-me-down emotion you’ve left Out for me barely fits It’s just a quarter century kid You can’t be sick of it yetI don’t know the meaning of life, or what life means to be But until that great adventure arrives Until that great adventure arrives...