#Fence countdown challenge

[phantomwritezstuff077]

The Runt - Billy the Kid

Warnings for this chapter: physical abuse

THIS IS ALSO CROSS-POSTED ONTO MY WATTPAD: PhantomWritez2

Chapter Two

Watching obnoxious outlaws shoot their guns at the firewood being stored by the well wasn’t something that Laurie particularly enjoyed, but it was better than doing yard work all day. Laurie sat on a nearby hay bale, picking her nails as she watched the older men laugh and cheer as gunshots rang out every few seconds, smoke floating into the air like a lost feather. 

Billy shot a couple of rounds himself, showing off a few tricks as the rest of the gang watched in amusement, some even cheering for him. Laurie couldn’t help but smile a little bit as she watched it, she was actually impressed with how good this gunslinger actually was. Maybe she had even started looking up to him a little bit. 

Laurie’s horse, Artax, a pretty bay stallion stuck his head over the fence with a nicker. Resting his chin on Laurie’s shoulder. The teenager smiled, kissing the side of her horse’s muzzle with a soft giggle, stroking his face and sneaking him a few sugar cubes she had stolen from Bob earlier that morning. 

“How fast are you, kid?,” Jesse suddenly asked as he turned to Billy with a challenging look on his face. Laurie felt her face fall, she immediately recognized that tone in her estranged father figure’s voice. And she didn’t like it. 

“Hey, runt. Countdown from 3, won’t you?,” Jesse called, looking at Laurie as he and Billy took their places for the little competition Jesse had just challenged Billy to. Billy felt his face contort into a look of contempt as he heard Jesse call Laurie ‘runt.’ He barely knew the kid, sure, but even he could see how much it hurt Laurie whenever somebody called her that. 

Laurie sighed, getting up and walking closer, standing a few feet away. “On the count of three.” Her tone was blank, maybe a hint of defeat in it as well. “3, 2, 1.” The second she said the last number both men drew their guns, pulling back the hammer as they both held eye contact with each other. 

Laurie’s heart was in her throat as she watched the scene, knowing that whatever was to happen was completely out of her control. Billy inhaled deeply and slowly holstered his gun, his gaze remaining on Jesse, who still had his gun aimed at Billy. Laurie’s heart raced as her thoughts clouded her mind, and before she could stop herself she spoke up.

“Jesse, he put his gun down, you have no grounds or need to shoot him,” Laurie intervened, her voice shaking slightly as Jesse’s gaze snapped to the young teenager before it went back to Billy.

“You gotta be quicker on that draw, Billy, or you're a dead man,” Jesse said as he put his gun away, turning to look at Laurie. “Go get him a horse.” Laurie saw the look on Jesse’s face and she knew she would be in for a long screaming session from him when Billy left the ranch. She sighed and nodded, gesturing for Billy to follow her. Billy looked at Jesse once more before following the young girl to the paddock.

“Why do you let him talk to you like that?,” Billy inquired as Laurie opened and closed the gate to the pasture, holding a halter in her hand as she approached a bay mare.

“Because, I’m the runt,” Laurie replied simply, gently putting halter over the mare’s face and clipping on the lead rope, walking over to Billy who stood behind the fence. “And the runt’s have to accept that they’re always gonna be the smallest and the weakest out of everyone else in the litter. If they want something they’re gonna have to fight for it.”

“That ain’t right, kid,” Billy sighed, feeling sorry for the kid as she handed him his new horse. “You shouldn’t be getting verbally assaulted simply because you’re small.”

Laurie shrugged. “That’s just the way of the world, Kid Antrim. The people with all the advantages they could ever need always come out on top. Always.”

“Why don’t you come with me?,” Billy suggested as the two began to walk back to the barn so that Billy could prepare his supplies to leave. Laurie hesitated for a moment before she sighed heavily.

“I can’t, I would if I could because I fucking hate it here,” Laurie explained, “Jesse has always told me that I should be grateful that he didn’t shoot me dead on the spot when he caught me stealing from him. Now I’m stuck running with them until I get shot and become another body that needs to be buried.”

Billy wanted to say something but he wasn’t sure exactly what to say so he kept his mouth shut. It was both concerning and heartbreaking hearing a literal child talking and thinking the way that Laurie was. He glanced over at the little red-head as they entered the barn, Laurie went into the tack room, bringing out a saddle and bridle for Billy.

“Safe passages, Kid Antrim,” she told him as she put the saddle and bridle on the rack, “Maybe in another universe I can actually leave this place with you, maybe even find my ma.” 

Billy nodded, watching the girl leave the barn. Maybe she was right, maybe in another universe she didn’t let people mistreat her like this. Hopefully, in that universe, she wasn’t mistreated at all.

After about 10 minutes Laurie walked into Jesse’s house, catching sight of the man sitting in the kitchen and chugging a bottle of whiskey as he watched Billy say his goodbye’s to Barbara. Laurie knew better than to say anything to Jesse when he was in a bad mood, especially if that bad mood was mixed with the whiskey he was chugging like it was water. She tried to sneak past the kitchen, but before she could Jesse saw her.

“Not so fast, runt,” he spat, “Get over here.” Laurie gulped as she hesitantly walked over to him, she kept her gaze on the ground as she prepared for the yelling. However, when Jesse opened his mouth to give Laurie a lecture he saw Billy and Barbara kiss and he finally lost his patience. He roughly shoved the kid in front of him to the side, causing her to fall down before grabbing his shotgun and walking out into the front porch and taking aim at Billy. 

“Jesse, don’t,” Barbara warned as she grabbed his arm. Laurie stood up and ran outside, standing next to Barbara with wide eyes.

“Why not?,” Jesse taunted, keeping the shotgun trained on Billy as he rode off. 

“You have no grounds,” Barbara said to him. Laurie wasn’t really close with Barbara, but that didn’t mean she hated her. The two just barely spoke, but right now that didn’t matter. Because she knew that this woman was right.

Jesse had no right to shoot him.

“She’s right,” Laurie jumped in. She already knew how much trouble she was in already and that jumping into this conversation was only making her grave deeper but she didn’t care. She couldn’t let another innocent man die for nothing. “He’s never done anything wrong, and you know it. And you can’t shoot him, you won’t be able to bring yourself to pull the trigger.”

“And why is that, runt?,” Jesse asked through gritted teeth, not lowering his gun. Laurie inhaled shakily. She knew there was no going back now, and she would have to deal with the consequences later.

“Because you love him,” Laurie whispered. Jesse kept his gun up for a few moments before sighing in frustration, lowering his gun and grabbing Laurie’s wrist, dragging her into the house.

“You had no right to intervene back then, runt,” he snapped, roughly throwing her wrist out of his hand as Laurie simply stared at the ground. She knew the drill, got screamed at for 5-10 minutes, probably more backbreaking yard work assigned to her as well. 

“I’m sorry,” Laurie said. She hated being yelled at like this but she knew that she deserved it. Her gaze was on the floor, but she could still feel the chilling look of anger and hatred from Jesse boring into her.

“Are you?,” Jesse snapped, “You’re lucky I’m kind enough to let you live under my roof instead of shooting you on the spot when I first saw you. I could’ve sent you to some shitty orphanage here in Lincoln County but I didn’t. And this is my thanks?”

Laurie looked up, opening her mouth to say something in her defense, but before she could say or process anything, she felt her head snap to the side and a stinging feeling on her face as the familiar metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Laurie froze as she finally understood what had just happened. 

Jesse had just struck her.

The tension in the air was thick, no one said a word. The only thing that you could hear was Jesse’s heavy and angered breathing. Sure, Jesse wasn’t really the nicest guy to Lauri, and he definitely was a shit father figure. But Laurie had never thought for a minute that things would ever get physical when he yelled at her. She never thought that he would go that far. But he did.

Laurie was stuck there for a moment, frozen like a spooked deer as tears stung her eyes before she inhaled shakily and quickly walked away, walking into her room before she closed and locked her door. Once the door was locked she broke down, quietly sobbing as she slumped against the wall, burying her head into her knees as she hugged them to her chest. 

She hated it here.

She needed to leave, tonight.

A/N:

Here is chapter two :)

Again: any constructive criticism is appreciated, I am always looking to improve what I am doing!

Laurie is essentially my child, I love her so much

Tag:

@slutforsnow

[onehungryhumorist]

Thirty Seconds to Mars: Artist Spotlight Lollapalooza 2023

It began with a 30 second countdown. As the clock ticked down, I rushed to find Jake who had secured us a spot near the equipment fence before Thirty Seconds to Mars began. See, we had previously split up so that I could catch Sabrina Carpenter and he could catch the 502’s and Foals. Anyone who has been to a festival before can attest to how much of a challenge it can be to link up with your…

[youremymiracleelliot]

FENCE Countdown Challenge by @laurentschiton, @seijikatayamas and @verelaurent

Day 13: ship headcanons

Ugh, I guess, I already told bits of them in my character headcanons. But here I'll work out those which are based on interactions between my ships.

Dante falls for Jesse on first sight but doesn't know, he's a fencer and then feels troubled when he finds out. Jesse in contrast needs some time to let Dante get closer and falls in love with him, when he notices how soothing and comforting it is, to be with someone who doesn't care for his success in fencing because always having to win can feel like a burden.

Harvard and Aiden are the we-love-each-other-so-much-but-neither-of-us-dares-to-tell-the-other ship which seems to never leave shore and this seriously will drive the fans of 'Fence' crazy. But as soon as the ship sails, it'll be a hardcore ship because Aiden will court Harvard in the most romantic ways anyone could think of, while Harvard will always wear that HE IS MINE grin.

Seiji and Nicholas might end up killing each other. Not literally, though. But I feel like they'll argue and fight whenever they are alone in their dorm, during training, actually anytime when no higher-up, e.g. their coaches, is around and Seiji would force himself to behave. Nicholas wouldn't, of course. He's too straight-forward to hide what he's thinking and if he ends up in detention once again, who cares? Not him! He'll tell that "Mr. Oh-I'm-so-perfect-and-you-are-below-my-standards" how fucking wrong he is, every time he has to, as often as it takes that pig-head to get it into his actual head which, by the way, seems to be filled with nothing but air and falsely balanced self-esteem! (Written from Nicholas' POV)

Uff, writing my idea on Seiji and Nicholas down was a relief, to be honest. I ship them, even though, because there's nothing wrong in shipping sworn enemies~

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*┣¨ｷ(〃ﾟ3ﾟ〃)┣¨ｷ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*┣¨ｷ(〃ﾟ3ﾟ〃)┣¨ｷ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

[malethirsty]

MASTERLIST

Because there can sometimes be confusion in the Male Reader tag, all these stories are for Male Readers.

Californication:

Californication: Reloaded {Letters & Cinemas (or Countdown} (Hank Moody)

Californication: Reloaded {Hell-In-One} (Hank Moody)

Californication: Reloaded {Whore} (Hank Moody)

Euphoria:

Tangle: I’m Your Baby Tonight (Cal Jacobs)

Tangle: The Others (Cal Jacobs)

Girls:

Polar Saviour (Sandy)

My Nightingale/My Fae: My Nightingale (Desi Harperin)

My Nightingale/My Fae: My Fae (Desi Harperin)

Grey’s Anatomy:

Explosive Tension: Broken Fences Need Mending (Owen Hunt)

Explosive Tension: The Day After The Night Before (Owen Hunt)

Impact Wrestling:

Fetish (Karl Anderson)

Ink Master:

Magnetic: Cleen’s Garage (Clean Rock One)

Insecure:

The Black King (Daniel King)

Lost:

Southern Hospitality (Sawyer)

Midsomer Murders:

Dipped In Chocolate (Perry Stevens)

Penny Dreadful:

A Hard Days Night (Ethan Chandler)

Rabid:

Beats, Alleys & Seats (Billy) [Kinktober]

RPF:

De-Stresser (Kim Coates)

Method Acting (Eric Dane)

American Horny Story (Matthew Morrison)

Revenge Is A Dish Best Served With Raw Cock (Michael C. Hall)

Hack (Offset)

Fairy Shift (Joe Manganiello)

Boss’s Bussy (Ben Mendelsohn)

Suspence (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)

Show Off (Norman Reedus)

Stimulus Therapy (Matthew Newton)

Feat. Up & Cumming (Drake)

RuPaul’s Drag Race:

What Went Down In The Supply Closet (Jason Carter)

Sex Island:

Joe Manganiello

Joseph Morgan

Mark Pellegrino

Sons Of Anarchy:

Male Crow Eater (Jax Teller)

Male Crow Eater (Opie Winston)

Male Crow Eater (Tig Trager)

Male Crow Eater (Clay Morrow)

Male Crow Eater (Chibs Telford)

Survivor:

Sexual Alliance: A New Villain’s Proposition (Russell Hantz)

The Challenge:

Top Marks (Fessy Shafatt) 

True Blood:

The Packmaster’s Bond (Marcus Bozeman)

Shifting Relationships (Sam Merlotte)

TVD/TO:

Loyalty (Klaus Mikaelson)

Loyalty (Tyler Lockwood)

Loyalty (Klaus Mikaelson & Stefan Salvatore)

Loyalty (Klaus!Tyler)

Loyalty (Marcel Gerard)

Loyalty (Alaric Saltzman)

WWE:

The Master & The Prince (Finn Balor & Seth Rollins)

Victory Starts With V & Ends In Sex (Roman Reigns)

Heaven (Finn Balor)

Fade To Black (Aleister Black)

Is It? Can It Be? It Is! (AJ Styles)

Daddy Lover (AJ Styles)

The King’s Consort (King Corbin)

One & Only (Ricochet)

Follow The Buzzards (Bray Wyatt)

Enemy (?sp) (Brock Lesnar)

And The Beat Goes On (Tomasso Ciampa)

Wank With Elias (Elias)

The Greatest Affair Ever (Randy Orton)

Villainy Washes Over (Paul Heyman & Roman Reigns)

Beach Body Ready (Kevin Owens) [Kinktober]

The Master Of The Claymore (Drew McIntyre)

[imaginesforjohnnydepp]

Little Mermaid (Captain Jack Sparrow x fem reader)

for anon @kittenlittle24  @evelynrosestuff​

You charged at your elder sister with the skull of a swordfish while she blocked your jabs with the blade of her own; one of the defensive blocks knocked the fish skull out of your hand. Alana smiled in triumph as your blade landed on the sea floor. “Ha! Beat you again Y/N. Though I must admit, you put up a good fight, and you are getting a lot better,” she gloated. You only narrowed your eyes; typical Alana, so competitive, always has to be the best at everything, you thought. “One of these days I will beat you,” you warned.

You would make it your mission to beat Alana at fencing, which is going to be tough since she’s the best fencer in the family behind your father, but not impossible. Just then, an idea popped into your head; Alana might be the best fencer but you are the most daring, always taking risks, no matter how dangerous. “Wanna race to the surface? First one to break above the surface gets the best looking pirate,” you challenged, and your sister’s eyes grew wide in fear before she corrected herself. Father had absolutely forbidden the two of you going up to the human world after what happened to your mother years ago, but that never stopped you. The human world fascinated you, and you kept a secret collection of treasure from sunken ships.

Alana never knew you kept human keepsakes nor knew that you often traveled to the surface. She’d never go against Father’s wishes but now you could see the wheels turning over in her head considering it. She never turned down a chance at being the best at anything, but behind that tough exterior, you could see how much it scared her to go against Father’s orders. “Unless you’re too scared,” you teased. “Fine, you’re on.”

As you started the countdown, you braced yourself; this would be easy for you, you’d break through the water without thinking about it. Alana yelled go, and you took off, your tail beating behind you as if it had a mind of its own. You ducked and weaved in between rocks and plants and other sea creatures, the surface coming up fast. Pushing through, your head broke through the water, the sun beaming on your face.

It felt good to feel the sun on your face after what felt like a long time. There was a splash behind you, Alana at lasting catching up to you. “Alana look at this. Isn’t this the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” you asked, the awe evident in your voice. “Okay, Y/N, we’ve seen the surface world, let’s go before someone notices us.” She yanked hard on your arm, trying to pull you back in the ocean.

“Not just yet, I want to see the pirates... look, over there, on the horizon!” There was a large ship in the distance, with white sails and flags with skulls on them. “Y/N, let’s go, let’s not push our luck---” Alana didn’t get a chance to finish because you took off toward the ship, your tail propelling water behind you and the sunlight glinting on your scales. “Y/N, get back here now!”

But it was no use, you were already half way to the ship. Meanwhile Captain Jack Sparrow head the splashes a few feet away; right on time, he thought. When your head popped out of the water, you couldn’t help but smile. “Jack! There’s someone I want you to meet. My sister, Alana.” You gestured broadly to your sister; yes there were similarities, he thought.

The same hair color, face shape, but different eye color. Jack still thought you to be the prettiest. “Y/N! How do you know this... this heathen?! Have you lost your bloody mind?! Why, when Father hears about this---” You slapped a hand over her mouth, instantly quieting. “Alana please! I will tell Father in my own time, but there’s something I have to tell you. Jack and I are to be married in a month’s time.” She said nothing for a long time, and you didn’t know what quite to make of her reaction.

When she didn’t say anything more, you explained to her how you met Jack and that you became infatuated with him. The pirate would bring you gifts from the human world, it was why you spent so much time away from the palace. “How... how is this union supposed to work?” she questioned in a small voice. “I made a deal with Aunt Ursula.” Aunt Ursula was Father’s sister who ruled the other part of the ocean.

Father never trusted her when he became king and urged you to stay away from her at all costs. But when have you ever been good at following orders? In exchange for a mortal life with Jack, you gave her grandmother’s diadem. Alana looked as if her head were about to explode, not that it didn’t seem like a possibility. “No, absolutely not, I forbid this union from happening. I will not be a part of this!”

With that, she turned around and dove back in the water leaving you with Jack. “She seemed as every bit as lovely as you promised,” added Jack. “This is all my fault. I should’ve prepared her, I shouldn’t have waited to tell. Alana is probably on her way to tell Father right this second.” You could picture her now on her way to Father’s throne room to tell him of the pending nuptials, the rage that would cross his face. A mermaid, a princess at that, marrying a human, a pirate.

The news would be enough to send him to an early grave. “My love, I promise this will work, all I have to do is explain to Father.” You gave Jack a quick kiss on the cheek; maybe if you left now, you would be able to catch up with Alana and explain the truth before she could. You had to try.

[losttimewcrp]

Lost Time Applications will be opening in less than 24 hours!

Weekly Character Highlight, Week 5: A New Face

Every week up to our April Applications, we will be looking at a randomly selected character in Lost Time! Their personality, history, and anything notable they have done or said along with commentary.

~History~ In the cycles since the clans fled from their territories, great change has transpired since their absence. As the ashes settled and twoleg dens were rebuilt, the house cats and loners of the lake have developed a new way of living.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTQvFBB8_AA

~Overview~ As the clans journey through the mountains to return from whence they came, their presence will be challenged by the cats that have survived the fire. Their leader is known as The Many-Eyed Peacock Feathers. There is little known about this kittypet and what changes he has brought to the territories.. but you can find out by applying before the countdown strikes zero. How will the clans adjust to seeing their home irreversibly changed? What challenges will they face? And what lurks behind the white picket fences? "I hope you are all as excited as I am for Arc 3! Especially since Peacock is not what you'd expect from a run of the mill house cat. The tom is a cunning narcissist to the core, rotted by his upbringing. No cat is truly born evil after all." - Cilantro, Peacock's creator. https://countingdownto.com/?c=4134870

[chwrpg]

THE THIRD CHALLENGE ;

Historically speaking Panic has been a summer game, something to pass the time in the empty months between school years. Change is as good as a holiday though, so the judges have stretched the waiting game to its limit. Months have passed and seasons have changed since the last round, to the point people have started writing the game off altogether. Perhaps the judges are from out of town, one rumour says, and they’ve gone back to school elsewhere. Maybe they were caught, or couldn’t come up with the prize money and bailed, or-- whatever, everyone knows how the rumour mill works overtime in Rosewood.

Alas, none of those things are the truth as our remaining competitors discover. Lured from the New Year’s Eve party right after the midnight countdown with a text message from an unknown number, they find themselves sandwiched into two vans driven by Penn and Chanel who spend the trip getting everyone to strap into body cams while explaining the task ahead without giving away exactly where they’re going. As it isn’t the type of challenge to allow spectators the body cams will be live streaming everyone’s every move for their peers. New Year parties are likely turn into Panic watch parties, and it’s a given that some high rollers will be counting on their favourites to bag them a win.

The group ends up on the outskirts of the South Side. The challenge is not only to get in and out of the infamous junkyard before dawn in one piece, but to find one of the medallions etched with the symbol the Panic judges had earlier sent everyone. These won’t be easy to find so don’t expect them to be hanging in plain sight, you’ll have to get creative. Sorry everyone, your pretty party clothes will likely become casualties to the game.

Between the competitors and success includes, but is not limited to: a roaming pack of notoriously savage guard dogs, a trigger happy owner with one hell of a shotgun, an eight foot tall barbed wire topped fence, a labyrinth of precarious mountains of junk, the elements (snow, ice, etc.), and whatever level of inebriation one was at before midnight. South Siders are familiar with the place, and the greasers consider it a rite of passage to run the gauntlet through the property from one end to the other without getting caught, shot, or having a chunk bitten out of your ass by one of the Cujos.

Once a medallion has been secured, competitors must then escape the junkyard and send a selfie with their spoils as proof to the number they were texted from earlier. An instagram account sent out not only to the competitors but onlookers alike will post these selfies as they’re received so everyone can see who will be moving forward in the game.

Lastly, Penn and Chanel won’t be sticking around to give rides home, so everyone must make their own way in the aftermath.

At the end of this round only ten competitors will be moving forward. Next round will whittle down to three, who will then compete in the joust to determine the winner. Remaining characters taking part in this challenge are as follows: Malcolm Holland, Tallulah Turnblad, Camden Claymore, Pete Verona, Serena Stein, Willow Balcoin, Bryson Lahey, Greg LaChance, Miles Walsh, Austin Rapp, Chase McCarthy, Cohen James, Leland Palmer, Marina Lisbon, Ainsley Rice, Birdie Stratford, Javier Castillo, Suede Dunn, Cecily Lisbon, Haven Curriere, Kit Cruz, Nadine Dahl, Trevor DuChamp, Jamie Geary, Arden Atkins, Nova Lisbon, Perrie Cruz.

MORE INFORMATION ;

This event counts as both the NYE event and the next Panic challenge and will run from 8PM on the 28th, through to 11:59PM on the 4th.

During the event period paras from both the party and the challenge itself with other characters are allowed-- competitors will still need to post a self para before the end of the event though! Onlookers watching the livestreams are in a unique position where they can see everything happening at the junkyard so you can most certainly choose competitors’ paras to follow and have two other characters giving commentary.

As always, you cannot decide if your character succeeds in being one of the ten moving to the next round. With this round involving interactions during the challenge itself I’m hoping it opens up options for everyone to make more active decisions in the heat of the moment. Your character could get hurt, or hurt someone, or sabotage the game, or help their friends. The possibilities are endless! You guys know I’m always looking for drama and action and suspense!!

If you have any questions about the intricacies of the challenge, or if you’re not sure a plot you want to write might get your character disqualified, please ask me to clarify!

The competitors will be judged via the assistance of a group wide poll this time, so everyone please take time to read not only the self paras but also any on dash interactions. More information regarding the voting will be released closer to the end of the event.

Being a NYE party and all, feel free to post outfits under the #chwstyle tag! (lbr this one’s mostly for myself)

[nad-zeta]

Pancake Wars

Fandom: Ikemen Vampire

Pairings: Theo van Gogh x reader 

Genre: Slice o life 

Warnings: Mild swearing plus shenanigans 

Words: 1650

Comments: So obviously I'm new to these prompts so forgive me if it sucks(˶◕‿◕˶✿) Also sorry to all the Dutch people for butchering the language! 🥺😳Lol also just had to throw in some Afrikaans!😏😏😏 Also props to Nemo for the cute endearment❤❤, hehe it's legit my fav, much much better than hondjie if you ask me🙌😳! Hehe so I am hella excited for Theo’s route, and I just had to participate in this Theo route countdown! Thanks, @delicateikemenmemes for setting up this fun lil party hehe so it goes without saying I am posting this as part of the #Theo Route Countdown Party! Whoop whoop so without further ado....... my interpretation of the prompt Theo and Pancakes  

｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’･ﾟ｡.*:・’ﾟ: ｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ

The pitter-patter of tiny feet could be heard running through the hallways early on one summer's morning. The large front door of the mansion swung open to reveal an angelic little girl with long blond golden locks and ocean blue eyes. 

The determined little girl went running through the mansion’s garden barefooted as she jumped over the wooden fence, making her way through a familiar forest with an excited golden retriever in tow.

Her eyes lit up in delight when she had spotted two familiar silhouettes in the distance. She ran towards the two men as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, hoping to make it to the top of the hill in time. The sun had yet to make its way over the horizon to mark the new day, and the little girl was determined to watch the sunrise with her favourite uncle. 

She wore a broad smile as she finally neared the two tall figures. 

“Daddy!” the girl exclaimed as she launched herself straight into Theo’s arms, sending him tumbling backwards. Theo had no time to even recover from the blow as soon a fully grown golden retriever jumped up to greet his beloved master, sending the father-daughter pair tumbling backwards onto the soft patch of flowers beneath. “Oi popje, wat doe je hier buiten?” although his tone was stern he was wearing one of his rare smiles. 

The little girl pouted and crossed her arms with a huff, “You promised we could make pancakes for mommy today.” Theo’s smile turned into an amused smirk as he ruffled his daughter's hair and draped his coat over her tiny shoulders, “Did I now.” 

Sending her father a disgruntled look, she put her hands on her hips as she sent him a challenging gaze, “Ja, jy het belowe.” 

Theo rolled his eyes at his daughter, as she spoke Afrikaans to him. His daughter had a talent for picking up languages rather quickly, being able to speak at least six different languages, thanks to all the residents. He also knew that she would only speak Afrikaans to him, just as a way to get under his skin, something she had picked up from his beloved wife.

The sun finally came peeking up from the horizon, and with a satisfied smile, the older van Gogh brother put down his paintbrush and stretched his arms above his head. That is when he spotted his favourite little niece. He crouched down and opened his arms as he sent the little girl a smile that could only be described as brighter than the sun itself. 

The little girl wasted no time in flinging herself into Vincent's arms, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck. “Goedemorgen, Kleine zonnebloem! Shouldn't you still be in bed this early,” 

Vincent's eyes were laced with concern as he looked at the little girl questioningly. 

She shot her dad a threatening glare before turning her attention back to Vincent, wearing a soft smile, “Daddy promised to make pancakes with me this morning before mommy wakes up.”

Vincent's eyes lit up in excitement as he tickled her sides, sending her into a fit of giggles, “Oh that's wonderful I'm sure your mother will be so happy to receive such a thoughtful surprise.” 

She beamed up at the older van Gogh and tightened her arms around his neck, “Plus I wanted to watch the sunrise with you.”

Angelic smile never faltering, Vincent held the girl in his arms as he turned to watch the sun coming up, "Well then let's not waste another moment.” 

Once the sun had fully risen above the mountain top, he gently put the little girl back down onto the soft grass, and clasped her small little hands in his, “That was fun, shall we do it again tomorrow. That way, you can be the first to see my painting when it's done.” 

Not even thinking twice about the offer she excitingly jumped up and down wearing a big grin, “Yes please!”

Vincent and Theo quickly packed up the art supplies as the little girl played in the field with King. “Hey popje, we are leaving! You better hurry up, unless you want to be left behind.” Upon hearing her father’s voice bellowing in the distance, she quickly hiked up her nightgown and excitedly ran to Theo’s side. 

Smiling she carefully took hold of her father’s hand as they leisurely walked back to the mansion. 

Once back, Vincent had disappeared to his room to continue painting while Theo, and his tiny daughter made their way to the kitchens to start on the meal. 

The little girl put on an oversized apron and stepped up onto the step ladder beside her dad, to start on the batter. Having inherited Theo’s love for sweets, the child already knew the pancake recipe by heart. 

Despite her angelic appearance, she had also inherited her dad's sharp tongue and stubborn attitude. She bossed her dad around the kitchen, instructing him to collect the various ingredients needed to make the sugary treat. With a satisfied nod at the different ingredients and equipment placed before her, she began to make the batter. 

She dumped out the flour into the large bowl in front of her with a big puff. Theo burst into laughter as the little one was now covered from head to toe in the white dust. She wore a displeased scowl as her father laughed and teased her dubbing her the ‘spookje’ of the kitchen. 

But soon girls scowl morphed into a mischievous smirk as she decided to enact her revenge. She picked up a small handful of flour and launched it straight into Theo’s face as he continued to chuckle. 

The second the flour puffed into his face, the little girl let out a triumphant giggle as Theo was left staring after her, flabbergasted. “Why you little,” he picked up his own hand full of flour and playfully threw it in his daughter's direction. 

It was now an all-out war. Flour was flying across the kitchen, covering everything in sight as the pair laughed and teased the other. Once the bag of flour was empty, Theo ran over to his daughter and picked her up, tickling her as he threw her up into the air. 

She squealed and laughed, refusing to give her dad the satisfaction of winning the playful battle, as she tried her hardest to tickle him back. 

Soon the laughter died down as both of them caught their breath, remembering the reason they were in the kitchen in the first place. 

“Geez, daddy! Can you stop distracting me, I'm trying to make pancakes here,” her tone was dripping with sarcasm as she sent her dad a wide smirk. Theo shook his head and smiled as he moved to heat up the pan. 

The little girl carefully broke a few eggs into the bowl followed by a splash of milk, and finally the secret ingredient….. 2 full bags of chocolate chips. She then summoned her dad to mix the batter for her, as she prepared herself for the next phase of the pancake making operation. 

She moved her ladder over to the stove and fished out a spatula from the drawer. She was overjoyed when she spotted two pans warming up on the stovetop. Once the batter was mixed, Theo looked over at his daughter wearing a devilish smirk, “I bet you I can flip these pancakes without a spatula.” 

The girl met Theo’s challenging gaze with one of her own, as she followed suit by placing a small amount of batter into the hot pan, “Game on, old man.”

Soon a whole second round of giggles had filled the kitchen as the two of them had started a new playful battle. The pancake wars continued as each of them were determined to out flip the other. 

Theo shot his daughter a smug grin as he stood back and threw two pancakes high into the air, only to catch them in the pan mere seconds before they would hit the ground. He started getting a little cocky, showing off his skills by throwing the fluffy cakes into the air, turning around twice and then successfully catching them. 

The little girl glared at her father, determined to wipe that cocky smile off his smug face. She now brimmed with confidence holding the pan securely between her tiny hands in an attempt to throw the pancake up high into the air to catch it. 

She earned an impressed scoff from Theo at the height she managed to get, however, that scoff soon turned into full-blown laughter as the last pancake she threw up into the air hit the roof. 

The little girl crossed her arms in disappointment as Theo chuckled and ruffled her hair, “That’s what you get for getting too arrogant, spookje.”  

Her disappointment soon turned into excitement at the sight of the massive stack of pancakes the two of them had managed to make. 

The stuck pancake was long forgotten as the little girl grabbed hold of a plate stacked to the high heavens with pancakes. She excitedly skipped her way to her mother's room with Theo following closely behind. She kicked the door open and bounded up to her mother's side, “Happy Pancake day!” 

You smiled down at your daughter and husband who was covered head to toe with flour and pancake batter. “Wow, is this all for me!” you pulled your daughter into your arms and started tickling her while leaving playful kisses all over her face as a thank you for the wonderful surprise. 

The three of you ate you maple soaked cakes in bed as your daughter excitingly recounted the events of the morning. She beamed with pride as she even pointed out, that she had added extra sugar to yours, knowing that you had a sweet tooth that not even your husband could match. 

While the three of you enjoyed your drowned syrupy delights, the sound of Sabastian's shrieking could be heard in the distance upon the discovery of the gigantic mess made in the kitchen. 

Theo and the little girl simply snickered at the sound of Sabastian angrily cursing in Japanese, as it had seemed that the pancake that had gotten stuck on the roof had landed straight onto the butler's head when he entered into the kitchen. 

｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’･ﾟ｡.*:・’ﾟ: ｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ

Hehe, I hope yall enjoyed! 🌈🌻☺

[subukunojess]

Courage

AO3 Link

Bad Things Happen Bingo @badthingshappenbingo​ Trope/Prompt: Touch Starved Fandom: Courage the Cowardly Dog Main Character: Courage Triggers: Slight mentions of Animal Abuse/mistreatment Word Count: 1,487

My next entry for the angst bingo I signed up for years ago. Hopefully it'll help me with my writing and get me to practice more. When I searched for Touch Starved, it took me a while until I realized that the only character I could think of that could fit that category would be a character from my childhood, Courage the Cowardly Dog. I remembered how the episode "Remembrance of Courage Past" moved me and I wanted to write a short but sweet one shot of that memory in Courage's point of view. I have not written for Courage before and I found it challenging to keep with the prompt while also keeping in character. Hopefully this is okay. Story under the cut:

What did he do?

What did he do?!

The little pink dog scrambled out of the dumpster he was dropped into, his mind and heart racing as he tried to calm down. He found himself in a city alleyway surrounded by brick walls and trash cans. As he stood up in worry, he suddenly froze as he heard a countdown  blaring in his mind and the sound of something big opening nearby. He turned his head to the direction of the sound, only to gasp as the roof of a building opened up and a rocket started blasting off into the sky. 

Now the puppy remembered. 

He was at the Vet's office with his parents after getting his head stuck in a metal fence while playing catch. Everything was normal at first; the veterinarian got his head unstuck and gave him a lollipop, then went to talk to his parents. The puppy, although scared, assumed that the man was going to ask questions about him and give advice before he and his family left for home. That seemed like a normal thing to do when talking to a doctor. 

Until he heard his parents scream. 

The world came to a complete stop when the little dog turned and stared as his parents dangled inside a large net with the vet carrying them behind his back to another room. What was happening? This was supposed to be a veterinarian. A doctor. Someone you trust with your health. How could a person like that kidnap his parents?

He had no time to think. He ran after the human, determined to save his parents no matter what. He went through several doors until he snuck into an office where the veterinarian was taking his family to an actual giant rocket on the other side of a window. The puppy remembered watching rockets on television screens. He had seen scary films about aliens and news reports about people flying to the moon. This man was sending his parents to outer space? Not if the puppy could do anything about it. 

He saw the man throw the two dogs into the rocket, shut the door, then walked back to a control panel when the countdown began. 60. 59. 58...

Quickly, the pink canine rushed towards the rocket and jumped towards the door where he could see his parents through a little window, scared as they were calling for help and looking for a way out. He saw their big worried eyes making contact with his and his heart broke. He tried opening the door. He really did. But there was nor knob or key. 

"Hey, what are you doing there?!" The veterinarian boomed as he entered the room and loomed over the pup. The puppy screamed in terror and ran away in circles, trying desperately to avoid the large intimidating from catching him and throwing him into the rocket as well or something worse. He noticed red arrows pointing to a metal drawer, so he ran and clambered into it, sliding down a chute just as ten gangling fingers almost grabbed him by the waist. 

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

That was how the pink puppy found himself surrounded by trash as he waved goodbye to his family from beyond the clouds with tears welling up in his eyelids until they trickled out to the rough pavement. 

This wasn't a bad dream he could wake up from. This was a living nightmare. 

This was his punishment for getting into trouble. For not being brave enough. For choosing to survive rather than help his parents or join them so they could still be a family. For not knowing what to do at a time like this. Before, his parents always forgiven him whenever he had made a mistake or got too scared. They would kiss him if he hurt himself and give him big hugs. They would encourage him to do tasks by himself, congratulating him when he did them and reassuring him when he didn't. His father would scratch him behind his ears. His mother would curl up around him with her body when he had a nightmare. His parents always knew what to do. And now they were gone.

The pink dog didn't know how long he was in the alleyway. Minutes? Hours? Days? 

He wanted someone to scoop him up in their arms, hold him close, and tell him that everything was going to be okay. But who could he trust? Anyone could be a monster willing to hurt him. To turn on him and do who knew what. He sat huddled by trash cans as he trembled, squirming around and hugging himself to quell his craving for contact. No family. No home. Cold. Hungry. Guilty.

The puppy wailed at the top of his lungs, almost hoping that his sobs would be loud enough to travel to outer space so that his parents would hear him. For anyone to hear him. 

And someone did. 

"Oh my! What are you doing out here all alone?" A mature feminine voice called out, dripping with concern and an accent. The young dog glanced to see a large woman walking towards him. She had long brown hair and circular glasses on as well as dark boots and a large dark green coat that reached her ankles. He whimpered, trembling as the woman got closer to him. A part of him didn't want to stay. For all he knew, the human would lead him to a secret lair or something. He couldn't trust strangers. And yet, a part of him sensed that the woman was not evil or scary. A part of him wanted comfort no matter the danger. So when the woman loomed over him, he simply stared at her and raised his paws to be scooped up.

Warm plush hands soft as wool held his sides and lifted him into the air. If he weren't so weak and wary, he would have snuggled into her arms or lean closer to her touch. But he couldn't. Any moment now, she would see how pathetic he was and drop him. He stared at her and waited with trembling wide eyes and dried tears.

Instead of a scowl, a tight grip to make his bones pop, or his face smacked against a brick wall, he was met with a soft grin as the woman gasped, "What courage you have!"

Courage? This woman must be mistaken. There was nothing courageous about him. Period. He ran away when his family needed him most. He cried and ran away from anything nearly everyday of his life. 'Coward' was the more appropriate word to describe him. 

And yet, she seemed like an honest woman. Her face looked round and gentle like the fluffiest pillow in the world. Her hair seemed like a mix of chocolate and cotton candy you'd find at a county fair. She smelled of home cooking and blankets sewn by hand with care. Most of all, the eyes that hid behind the protection of her glasses glimmered in truth and positivity. He didn't consider himself a special creature, but at that moment, he knew that his keen senses were telling him to trust her. 

"My name is Muriel." The woman introduced herself, "Would you like to come home with me?"

It was because of her touch and gaze that made the puppy smile as he hugged the closest arm to him. Muriel's smile grew as her arms wrapped around his waist in a firm embrace. 

"I'll call you 'Courage'. We'll have a grand time!" She promised him before heading off to take him home in a green pick-up truck across the street.

Courage let himself get lost at the touch of Muriel's arms, sinking into the warmth even when she got into the truck and gently placed him to her side. He never stopped touching her lap for anything. Although no one could replace his family, this woman was a welcoming close second. He thought about the days he'd spend with his new owner. Perhaps she'll feed him good meals and they do chores or crafts together. Maybe they'll spend their quiet days rocking back and forth with him curled up on her lap. They would grow old together and he'll help her around the house. He'll protect her. If there were monsters out there in the world, he was determined to protect one of the good humans in the world even if it meant his life. But he didn't think too much of it for now.

Courage lifted his head up after a while and watched as acres of sand and dirt zipped right by before his eyes. It was just miles of nothing. He glanced to the front to see a little house and a windmill coming over the horizon. A house in the middle of nowhere away from people? Yes. This was home to Courage. 

[ridiasfangirlings]

So a quick rundown of two other K Fan Clan stories featuring Scepter 4. Again keep in mind that my Japanese is not great and this is a mix of google translate and what I could figure out on my own.

First, the Scepter 4 health check story. This is a short one. Basically it starts talking about Scepter 4's importance and how they're the only organization with the ability to track down Strains and that the other government ministries recognize that, however there is a mention of 'budget harassment.' Cue alphabet boys E-H, looking at a schedule indicating that the members will be undergoing a health check that appears to involve staying a couple nights at a luxury hotel. As civil servants it makes sense that they would have a regular check up but usually it's just a one hour checkup with chest X-rays, blood tests, urinalysis and a doctor's interview. The scheduled check up in front of them has hundreds of steps, MRIs and PETICT as well as gastric and colon cameras, etc. Gotou then notes that's not the worst of it, everyone has to get a mammogram as well. The boys have a moment of 'Men can get that as well?' and Enomoto notes that men's chance of getting breast cancer isn't zero after all. Hidaka wonders how much this costs, Gotou looks it up on his PDA and says that a premium executive check at the hospital is close to this and the cheapest is about 300,000. Everyone's like 'wait our dorm hasn't stopped leaking since last month, the shower hasn't stopped switching between hot and cold water,' Fuse says he thinks his and Enomoto's room has a mouse...but they have enough budget for this premium health check course. Eventually they all conclude this unbalanced budget is because the other related government ministries hate Munakata. (Everyone then gossips a bit about Fushimi seeming unhealthy and will Awashima's boobs fit in the X-ray, eventually all members were found to be healthy.)

Next, my favorite of these two: Wind and Clouds! Reisi Castle!

An Idol K Scepter 4 story! There is a heavy silence on the location bus as the members of Scepter 4's 'Shitsubou-tai' (Rapid Dream Unit? Something like that...it's the alphabet boys, basically) are preparing to go to their doom. Scepter 4's 'Promotion! Scepter 4' Idol variety show has become nationally popular among all people regardless of gender. Apparently due to this popularity, it isn't unheard of for the idols to be shipped to South America, or the North Pole, or to skydive from 2000 meters in the air. So naturally the poor members are more afraid than anything of 'The Countdown' to their next recording, which is never announced in advance – they are only suddenly packed into a bus and sent on to the recording site. Kamo notes that at least it's in Japan this time and someone mentions that didn't he go to the Amazon last time (where he was apparently surrounded by toxic poisons and nearly sucked into the river, luckily he came back alive. Ganbatte, Kamo-san ;^;).

Everyone ponders survival on a deserted island, or perhaps crossing the desert (these poor poor boys..), knowing that Munakata's ideas always exceed expectation. Finally they arrive, getting off the bus at a place where there's a large tunnel. That's when a voice comes over the loudspeaker welcoming them, it's the president of Scepter 4 and one of the 'Idol Kings,' Munakata Reisi. Munakata tells them it is time for the challenge as the walls below the speakers descend and they can all see what's on the other side of the tunnel wall: a Japanese-style castle with a small but perfect castle tower is there, surrounded by moats, walls and fences. Munakata proudly explains that this is Reisi Castle, which he undertook from design to construction supervision (have I mentioned I love Munakata? I love Munakata). What he intends is that the squad will have to break through each layer of castle defenses in order to defeat Munakata, the master of the castle. In order to give them time to formulate strategy and complete this Munakata has set up a challenge period of ten weeks.

Everyone notes that up until now they've faced many challenges overseas but this project seems of a different level, having to defeat Munakata. Fuse wonders if they can challenge it now and Munakata says of course, everyone figures that capturing the castle quickly will be easiest and so they charge – and Fuse promptly yells for help as the bridge splits in two and overflows with slippery oil. Akiyama and Benzai manage to reach the top of the drawbridge and try to pull the others up, sadly Fuse dies (well okay no he doesn't he falls into the moat). On the other side of the bridge a tank (? This part was difficult ;;) appears, everyone prepares to die.

Elsewhere, someone is swiftly controlling all the traps, focusing on Akiyama. Yes, the operator of the traps is none other than Scepter 4's most popular member, Fushimi. RIP Alphabet Squad. Fushimi devised and is controlling most of the traps, he notes that Akiyama and Benzai have dropped out as he continues to deploy the traps. Vice Castle Lord Awashima sits at Munakata's side and they all watch as the poor alphabet boys fail miserably.

It takes until the 10th week for the castle to fall. The remaining members who break through the defenses reach the top of the tower where Munakata himself waits with a wooden sword. Cue 'Munakata, battou!' and the last three members are struck down in an instant, burying their small hope in utter despair. On the bright side, ratings went up 57%.

[kez2402]

50 Days of Lockdown

Bird.

Definition: warm-blooded, egg-laying, vertebrate animal distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, a beak, and typically by being able to fly.

Flying.

Definition: floating, fluttering, waving, hanging, or moving freely in the air.

Freely.

Definition: Not under the control of another; as one wishes.

Example: "I roamed freely".

Life.

Definition: the year 2020.

Example: "I cannot roam freely".

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

Dear Diary,

Its day 50 of lockdown.

Weeks seem like days, days seem like hours and hours seem like minutes. The time continuum seems to have stopped. The Earth is standing still. Although time moves on it feels like we are stuck in a loop where everything has simply stopped moving. Nature is finally flourishing, the Earth is healing and people are experiencing the Great Realisation.

I write to you from the deep, green heart of the forest. The green leaves of the trees blanketing me from the sun as it begins it's journey to disappearing upon the horizon. The world has been silenced, but nature is signing louder than ever. The sound of songbirds echo through the grassland, a small bird with a distinctive bright blue crown and a tail with a yellow underside landed in front of me, cocking it's head at me before flying off.

I watch as the yellow of it's wings soar freely from tree to tree and I thought about the times where I, too, was free. As of today, May 4th 2020, I am not free. I am a bird in a cage, unable to roam freely, live freely. Unable to leave your house unless necessary, no social interaction, stress and uncertainty, life is tough.

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm. Something that seemed so far away, is now on our doorsteps. Some closer than others.

This morning, I discovered my Nan was admitted to hospital for what they thought was pneumonia......it wasn't.

Covid-19 now threatened the life of someone I love.

While I am aware she is doing well I can't help but find myself preparing for the worst. This pandemic has now hit home and it made me realise how important family is. We often take it for granted and show more care for materialistic things, but the greatest gift of all isn't something you can buy; it's the love of family.

I have abandoned all school work and exam preparation, landing me up here; on a tree trunk in the middle of the forest. The world has become chaotic, stressed and anxious. We often forget about the nature of our planet and the beauty it holds, but we also forget how it harmonises. There are so many different species, predator and prey, but yet there is balance, harmony.

When I enter the avenue of trees the outside world disappeares; its just me and nature. I describe it as a sanctuary of peace. I find the same tree trunk every day and sit there; it was my tree, my space, my safe haven. When I'm here thoughts of the Leaving Cert, death and chaos all disappear and the only thing I have to focus on is the song of the birds, the shades of green.

If only it were real.

For now, it is only a pigment of my imagination and memory. I sit here, the glass of the window standing between me and the outside. The restrictions standing between me and my tree. There is nothing I want to do more than hop the fence of my back garden and run for the trees, standing tall, creating a wall of nature. I envy the birds as they fly free over the emerald kingdom, while we are caged inside.

If anything positive is to come out of this challenging time is the lessons it has, so far, taught us.

Lesson number 1: Be there for each other.

Lesson number 2: Its okay to not feel okay.

Lesson number 3: Nothing lasts forever.

These lessons have also been realisations.

Realisation number 1: We need to be there for each other.

Realisation number 2: Not everyone feels okay all the time and that's okay.

Realisation number 3: Nothing ever last forever.

Not only has our lives changed, I feel we as the Human race have changed too. We had lost sight of who we really are and now, now we have become grounded, realising the things we had prioritised in our lives were, in fact, only temporary. I suppose you could say we only realise what we had when its gone. Things have been put into perspective. This whole situation and how it affects you is all based on your perspective. One might look at this and think of how bad it is, how it has disturbed the flow and routine of our lives, while another might look at this and see it as a way of nature telling us to heal, to find the harmony that it has.

The Leaving Cert is slowly creeping up on me as the motivation to work has completely disappeared. Classes and workloads have continued and will continue into the time frame that I have labelled 'summer'. That summer before college has been cancelled for the 61,053 students who are expected to sit exams, that determine their future, in the middle of a global pandemic. At the moment, for some of us, there are more important things than the Leaving Cert, such as family. By July, some of us will be grieving, we will be scared and we will be expected to preform our best performance when their are people dying all around us. We are risking our health, both physically and mentally, because tradition is more important than us.

There is no point in complaining now, I suppose, it is what it is. The future will be what it will be. The biggest achievement in a time like this, is surviving and coming out the other end of it. In a time like now where everything is uncertain, there is one thing that is certain:

We will get through this.

Not I will or you will.

We will.

Its been 50 days since it started.

Its been 50 days since I've seen my family, friends.

Its been 50 days since life as we knew it, would change.

We can count the days that have passed since we were first caged by the virus, but we cannot countdown the days until it ends.

Until we fly free again,

-K.

[besavedbyaperfectkiss]

@myborrowedblueheart‘s Countdown to Lover edit challenge: favorite album theory -> 5 Holes in the Fence

“I really just was trying to change up my Instagram aesthetic to get ready for the new album. I was just like posting pastel pictures to try to go from a dark to a light and show them what the color scheme would be for the next album.”

We were so far off...

[youremymiracleelliot]

FENCE Countdown Challenge by @laurentschiton, @seijikatayamas and @verelaurent

Day 4: fav cover / official art

The moment I saw this sketch, I had to save it, to be able to fangirl about Jesse's looks whenever I feel like it. (I have a thing for blonde hotties with pale blue eyes.) What I like about this image is Jesse's expression and pose. He seems kind of snobbish and hot at the same time. Plus, his hair flip really is admirable. @JohannaTheMad truly is a great artist!

[fullmetalscullyy]

Back again Emma for the sentence starters. Fluff 3. Modern AU obviously. I'm so excited to see what you make of it

ahhh i loved this one and it’s a continuation from the “stalker au” which i’ve been itching to do for a wee while, so thanks for that aoife ;)

(also if this looks odd i’m so sorry the ask format is so weird rn)

part 1 | part 2

“Haveyou seen my hoodie?” “Nooo.” “You’re wearing it, aren’t you?”

“Riza,why is there so much stuff in here?”Roy asked, looking around his living room. All of sudden, there were piles ofboxes cluttering up the space that used to be his own. Apparently, now hisgirlfriend had taken over and moved half of her belongings into his apartment whilehe’d been at work.

He’dbeen joking this morning when he said she would be better just moving in withhim completely rather than returning home to her apartment to sleep only to letherself in either through the night or around six in the morning anyway to waitfor him to wake up. Most of the time, it was by climbing into his bed. Wakingup holding Riza when he had gone to sleep in an empty bed was always a nicesurprise. And while it was incredibly adorable, it wasn’t practical in theslightest and they both knew it.

Notthat Roy never wanted the move to happen, he just didn’t expect to come homeafter work on a Friday night to see all her stuff sitting there. It had been along day at the office, and he had been looking forward to just relaxing on hiscouch, Riza lying against him, as they watched a movie.

Thatdidn’t look like it was going to happen.

Hedumped his briefcase by the door, hitting the floor with an exhausted thud as he loosened his tie around hisneck. He shrugged out of his suit jacket when Riza appeared in the room,looking slightly sheepish.

“Sorry,I’d hoped to have it all out of the way before you came home.”

“It’sfine,” he replied, but he cringed internally at how it sounded. Exhausted, likeit really wasn’t fine, but he was only saying that to placate her.

Rizalooked slightly disappointed and she nodded. “Sorry. Just ignore me, I won’t belong.”

“No,”he interjected. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound so disappointed. It’s been avery long day,” he elaborated, closing the distance between them. He graspedher hands with a smile, pulling her body gently towards her for a kiss. “I wasjoking this morning when I suggested it,” he chuckled. “However, it would be amassive improvement to my current living situation.”

Rizalooked up at him uncertainly, gauging the truth in his words through theexpression on his face, the look in his eyes. He loved it when she studied himlike this, completely sussing him out, and there was no one on this earth whocould do it better.

“Seriously.Now that it’s here I…” he trailed off, blushing slightly, unused to speakingabout such serious things with someone else. He had never had a relationshiplike this. Most ran the course of a few months before the two drifted apart,each losing interest in the other. There had been one-night stands, but boththose types of relationships combined were not nearly as satisfying as what henow shared with Riza. “I’m excited.”

Themost commitment he’d ever shown was to a goldfish he’d owned three years agoand that was only because Hughes had stated Roy was so afraid of committinghimself to another person, he couldn’t even keep a pet.

Itwas three years later, and that goldfish was still alive, thank you very much,Hughes, but the thought of commitment had still scared the hell out of him.

Nowthough, with Riza in front of him, her belongings littered around hisapartment, he didn’t feel scared at all.

Hefelt excited.

Roywas eager for this next step because it involved her. They’d only been together for about six months, but he knew hewanted to spend the rest of his life with her. When he thought of the future hecould picture the house in the suburbs, the white picket fence, the childrenand dogs running riot in the front garden while they either ran around withthem or sat on the front porch, simply observing and thinking about how luckythey had become in life.

Plus,it only made sense Riza would move in. After Dickhead Dan left his mark on herapartment, she still didn’t feel comfortable in there. She returned to herapartment each night – purely because she was to stubborn to admit defeat(something Roy admired her for because if he was in that situation, he would beoutta there) – but Roy could see it affecting her. She was still afraid,that’s why she crept into his bedroom in the middle of the night half the time,too afraid to sleep in her own room, alone, just in case someone was stillwatching.

Ofcourse, Roy readily accepted her company. After spending so much time with heralready he ached when they were apart. It was dramatic, but it was true. Hemissed her so much when she went on holiday with Catalina a month ago to Aerugo.The day after she arrived home they didn’t venture far from his bedroom.

“Maybe we could take a trip there someday?”she had asked, hopeful. Roy had wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pullingher body against his as he kissed the top of her head.

“Your wish is my command, my lady.”

Theywere going there in forty-six days, twelve hours, and fourteen minutes. Notthat he had a countdown app on his phone or anything.

“Areyou really?” Riza asked, biting her lip as she looked around the room. Roy drewher even closer, giving her forehead a quick kiss.

“Ofcourse, I am. Do you think I would lie?” he chuckled, teasing her.

“No,but I know not everyone would appreciate someone moving into their apartment withoutasking –”

“Youbasically live here already,” he interrupted. “It makes sense.” He gave heranother peck, this time on the cheek. “Ever since you stole my first hoodie, I knewyou would be moving in sometime soon.” A smile broke across her face. “Sorry I haven’tbrought it up more. I know how uncomfortable your apartment makes you now, and Irealise I probably should have mentioned it sooner.”

Ahand was placed on his cheek and he leaned into her touch. “You’ve been busy, Iget it. I kind of dropped in at an inconvenient time.”

Heturned his head and kissed her palm. “You are never an inconvenience to me… Well, only when you steal myfavourite hoodie,” he grinned.

Rizashoved him playfully and they laughed together.

“Comeon, let’s get started with all this stuff,” Roy announced.

“No,it’s fine, you get washed up, I’ll –”

“I’mnot leaving you to unpack all by yourself. The more hands, the less time itwill take,” he reasoned with a cheery grin, picking up a box and beginning tolook through the contents. Excitement bubbled in his stomach because Riza was moving in with him.

Hewas ecstatic.

Acouple of hours later they finally moved the majority of Riza’s things. Therewas one box left but it was nearing eight o’clock and they were too exhausted todo anymore.

“Futureproblem?” Roy had asked tiredly, jerking his head towards the box.

“Futureproblem,” Riza agreed, pushing herself up from the floor. She extended a handto him, hauling Roy to his feet.

“I’llget wash up. Do you want to order a takeaway? I really can’t be botheredcooking tonight.”

“I’mglad we’re on the same page,” she smiled, kissing him.

Hepaused at before his bedroom door, turning to his right to begin rifling throughthe neatly folded pile of laundry.

Speakingof stealing his clothes…

“Haveyou seen my hoodie?” Roy asked, pretending to look through the clothes for it. “Theblack one with the raid logo in the middle?” It was his favourite lounge hoodiefrom his favourite console game he played with Havoc and Hughes. And, he knewexactly where it was without having to ask. Riza was wearing it right now

Hewas only an inch or two taller than her, but he always knew when she waswearing his. This one was slightly larger than his usual size – it was big evenon him – so the cuffs were bunched around her wrists. She always favoured theslightly larger clothing, especially his. Roy loved watching her curl her legsunderneath her body and burrow down inside the fabric, just her eyes peeking overthe neckline. It made his heart swell with love to see her so comfortable withhim that she wore his clothes.

“Nooo…”

Roysmirked but hid it when he turned around to face Riza. “You’re wearing it,aren’t you?” This time he couldn’t hide the smirk.

“So,what if I am?” she challenged haughtily, but there was amusement on her face,her eyes dancing with the challenge.

“Well,”he considered, taking slow steps towards her, mindful of her boxes. “I’ll justhave to take back what’s mine,” he threatened, a wolfish smile on his face.

Rizafluttered her eyelashes. “Come and get it then, Roy,” she purred.

He pouncedon her as Riza laughed.

[thesevenseraphs]

Update 1.2.3

Solstice of Heroes

Moments of Triumph

Moments of Triumph bounties will become available in-game for the Solstice of Heroes event starting July 31, 2018.

Players may access a set number of Triumphs on Bungie.net prior to the event beginning.

Players can complete Triumphs to earn points that they can trade for rewards such as emblems, a Sparrow, and a code to purchase a special T-shirt.

When the summer event becomes available on July 31, 2018, players can receive these Triumph bounties from the special summer event vendor and will have the entirety of the event to complete them.

Triumphs are based on account-specific data; once a Triumph has been claimed and redeemed for points, it cannot be claimed for points on another character.

All Triumphs can be tracked via bungie.net; the highest values of a character on that account will be displayed.

In-game rewards will become available on July 31, 2018. Stay tuned to @Bungie for announcements of availability.

NOTE: All information concerning Solstice of Heroes: Moments of Triumph may be found at help.Bungie.net.

Investment

Bounties

5 Crucible bounties a day will now be available from Shaxx.

5 Vanguard bounties a day will now be available from Zavala.

These bounties rotate on a daily cadence.

Bounties can expire after you obtain them. Expiration of individual bounties is shown in the tooltip.

Exotic Masterworks

Catalysts for Legend of Acrius, Telesto, and Sleeper Simulant are now available as rewards from Prestige “Leviathan,” Prestige “Leviathan, Eater of Worlds,” and Prestige “Leviathan, Spire of Stars,” respectively.

Exotic catalysts from Heroic strikes now have slightly higher drop chances.

The Skyburner’s Oath Exotic catalyst from the “Leviathan” raid now has slightly higher drop chances.

The catalyst for Sturm can now be found by defeating enemies on Nessus.

Miscellaneous Quality-of-Life Changes

Adjusted Escalation Protocol weapon reward chances to be more deterministic

Players improve their chances each time they defeat the boss.

Once all Mercury Forge weapons have been obtained, they become available for direct purchase from Brother Vance in the Lighthouse (second vendor page).

Momentum has been removed from Heroic adventures.

The “Pursuits” inventory bucket has been moved to the top of Inventory categories.

Fixed an issue where unequippable emotes could be selected.

Fixed an issue where no sound would play on increasing and decreasing the handicap on Challenge Cards.

Commas have been added to large numbers as separators on the IGCR and PGCR.

Fixed an issue which prevented the Season 3 Dead Orbit Gauntlet Ornament from receiving progress from Arcstriders using the Way of the Warrior subclass tree.

Armor may now be purchased from Iron Banner and Faction Rallies vendors.

Strikes

Strike Modifiers

Blackout: Now increases enemy melee damage significantly but is no longer a guaranteed one-shot kill for all players.

Glass: Slightly reduced the health and shield penalty.

Grounded: Significantly reduced incoming damage when you are airborne, to account for odd geometry that Guardians may not have any control over.

Developer Insight: The goal is to ensure these modifiers are noticeable, but when Guardians advance their Power and stats, they can notice themselves overcoming the debuffs.

Nightfall

The Nightfall tutorial experience for new players has been updated to no longer call out pre-1.1.3 Nightfall mechanics.

Destinations

Mars

Fixed an issue that was preventing some players from accessing Mars adventures.

Fixed an issue that caused some open world chests on Mars to not drop Glimmer or Mars tokens.

Fixed an issue which prevented prophecy materials for Brother Vance from dropping from chests found on Mars.

Sandbox

Exotic Armor Updates

Hunter

Lucky Raspberry

Increased the chance to fully recharge Arcbolt Grenade on Arcbolt Grenade hits.

Now guarantees a full recharge when Arcbolt Grenade hits four targets.

St0mp-EE5

Increased benefits when using Strafe Jump and Triple Jump.

Young Ahamkara’s Spine

Now also improves Tripmine Grenade’s blast radius and throw speed, and makes your Tripmine Grenades harder to destroy.

Solar ability hits now grant some Tripmine Grenade energy (33%).

Added new FX treatment to the improved Tripmine Grenades to differentiate them from normal Tripmine Grenades.

Removed target-marking functionality.

Titan

ACD/0 Feedback Fence

Now grants Fury Conductor stacks on melee hits instead of kills.

Now reduces melee damage received while you have stacks of Fury Conductor.

More stacks of Fury Conductor further reduce melee damage received.

Doom Fang Pauldrons

Void melee kills now grant more Super energy.

Shield Throw hits now grant Super energy.

Dunemarchers

Reduced the time to activate Linear Actuators while you’re sprinting to 1.5 seconds (down from 5 seconds).

Increased the damage of the chain lightning effect (+70% in PvP, 440% in PvE).

Warlock

Crown of Tempests

Collapsed the total number of stacks of Conduction Tines to 3 (with the same total effect).

Conduction Tines now also reduces the speed that Super energy depletes while Stormtrance is active.

Karnstein Armlets

Melee kills now instantly heal you, then grant continuous healing for 8 seconds.

Removed bonus resilience, mobility, and enemy highlights on melee kills.

Starfire Protocol

Empowered weapon damage hits now grant some Fusion Grenade energy (20%).

Armor

Plasteel Reinforcement Mod now includes “Trait” in its tooltip, to have conformity with Restorative and Mobility Enhancement Mods.

Corrected stowed Hand Cannon position on the Haakon’s Iron Strides ornament.

Dragon’s Shadow now has an audio cue when it reloads your weapons.

Updated tooltip presentation of some Warmind Exotic armor item intrinsic perks.

Updated the perk description for Sanguine Alchemy to better reflect its functionality.

Fixed an issue that was causing targets marked by Sanguine Alchemy to produce orbs when defeated.

Fixed an issue that caused Wraithmetal Mail’s active perk to appear in the UI without an icon.

Fixed an issue that caused Starfire Protocol not to work with the Dawnblade Attunement of Sky ability path.

Fixed an issue that prevented Warlock melee attack damage when players were using the Ophidian Aspect Exotic and Hive Swords or orb carry objects.

Abilities

Fixed an issue for high framerates on PC that caused players to suddenly lose momentum after activating Supers and aerial dodge abilities.

Exotic Weapons

Increased the number of rounds granted to Crimson on respawn.

Weapons

Fixed an issue that allowed empty swords to drop heavy ammo bricks on death in the Crucible.

Fixed the Rapid-Fire Frame intrinsic perk on Basilisk (Dead Orbit Shotgun).

Fixed an issue that impacted the recoil of West of Sunfall 7 and the Trials of the Nine Hand Cannon, A Cold Sweat.

Fixed an issue causing the Iron Banner Hand Cannon, Finite Impactor, to not properly track Masterwork statistics.

Raid

Prestige Raid Lairs

Each week, there is a curated weapon suite and a global activity modifier for Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds Prestige. The weapon set and modifier will be the same across both activities.

Prestige Eater of Worlds will become available at 11 a.m. PDT on July 17, 2018.

Prestige Spire of Stars will become available at 10 a.m. PDT on July 18, 2018.

Prestige raid lairs will drop weapons at 400 Power and Exotic catalysts.  

Raid armor ornaments will become unlockable.

NOTE: More details concerning the Prestige Raid Lairs can be found at: https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/46981

Misc

Fixed an issue which prevented Hunters from receiving some loot chest rewards in the Spire of Stars raid lair.

PC

Clan Chat

Adds a new in-game text chat channel that allows online Destiny 2 clan members to communicate (in real time). This chat channel is separate from the companion clan chat channel.  

Director Map PC (Mouse) User Experience

Scrolling area reduced to the edges of the game window.

Cursor is now restricted to game window when a map is active (mouse capture).

Edge scrolling now freezes when game window loses focus.

Misc

Fixed an issue which caused bluetooth headphones to not play sound properly on some PC configurations. For more info, please see the Vital Information section of our Destiny Audio Guide.

Crucible

Iron Banner Updates

The Iron Banner game mode now uses Iron Temple fire pits as capture zones instead of standard Control flags.

Added new Power Play rules unique to Iron Banner:

Upon capturing a third zone, all three zones lock for 20 seconds.

After 20 seconds, all three zones reset to neutral and must be recaptured.

Added new audio for fire pits and Power Play alerts.

Updated score and time limits to match standard Control now that Quickplay is also 6v6.

Private Match Bug Fixes

Private Match is no longer available to trial users.

Crucible Lab Update

Added "BETA" to the activity tooltip.

Added support for more Labs in the future.

Added end-of-match rewards.

Crucible Playlist Update

Quickplay

Increased player configuration to 6v6 and updated playlist description.

Removed Supremacy.

Updated Clash win score to 100.

Updated Control win score to 150.

Control Zones are initially neutral.

Competitive

Updated playlist description.

Countdown: Bomb Fuse timer lowered from 40 seconds to 35 seconds.

Rumble is now available full-time.

Supremacy is now a rotating 6v6 playlist with a score to win of 150.

Crucible Ranks Update

Players can now earn Valor Rank from the following playlists:

Competitive

Crucible Labs

Iron Banner

Joining a game in progress now protects your Valor Win Streak for that game.

If you lose: No penalties incurred to your Valor Win Streak.

If you win: Valor Win Streak increases.

Players will now be matched using their Glory Rank.

This means your opponents will be of similar rank to you.

The higher you climb, the tougher the opponent!

Glory Loss Streaks have been re-tuned to be less punishing over time.

Consecutive losses now decrease the Rank Points lost instead of increasing.

Streaks still cap out at five.

All Rank Streaks no longer reset once they hit their cap.

Fixed a bug where Rank Up toasts were not firing once a player hit orbit.

Fixed a bug where players who logged into a character for the first time after a weekly reset would incur the Glory Rank weekly award/penalty.

Fixed a bug where players were incorrectly hearing the rank points increase/decrease sounds where there was no rank attached to the activity.

Audio

Miscellaneous adjustments to increase the readability of enemy audio cues across all modes.

Eververse

Summer Event Engram

For the duration of Solstice of Heroes, players will earn a bonus Solstice Engram with each Prototype Engram earned through Prestige level-up.

When decrypting Solstice Engrams, players will receive new items until they’ve unlocked all items in the box. Once all items have been acquired, additional Solstice Engrams will award duplicate items. Players may track what items they’ve earned from the Solstice Engram through the engram’s preview.

New item type: armor glows. Players who earn the Solstice of Heroes armor sets may use armor glows obtained from Eververse or the Solstice Engram.

Armor glows illuminate portions of the Solstice of Heroes armor and shine brightest when the element of the armor glow and the Guardian’s subclass align.

Once obtained, armor glows may be used and re-used on any Solstice of Heroes armor piece, regardless of class.

During Solstice of Heroes, players may purchase event-exclusive items from Eververse for Bright Dust.

Prismatic Matrix

The Prismatic Matrix has been temporarily removed. It will return in Season 4.

Prismatic facets have been deprecated. Dismantling deprecated Prismatic facets will grant Bright Dust.

Other

HDR Calibration

Adds a calibration screen for HDR on all platforms. It can be accessed through the Brightness video setting when HDR is turned on.

GDPR Compliance

Updated LSLA screen in bootflow, including link to GDPR resources.

Item Preview Updates

Players can preview spawn effects and Sparrow contrails in their inventory.

[beitzel-fence-blog]

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