#I got pretty damn close to all of them though some were impossible to actually find

[undeadhousewife]

Sometimes I'll mention there's an early Jackie Chan movie that has one of my favorite scenes, where he does a car derby battle against a group of nazis and everyone looks at me like I'm crazy.

[missshirophantom]

From the author : hello everyone! A few days later, but I'm done with this part. It took me a while... And I wrote twice as much as I originally planned. But since the part itself was thought out in terms of what was going to happen, I did not dare to divide it into two parts. This work was written based on my yandere Seb post. Have a nice read.

English is not my native language, I apologize for the mistakes.

Warnings : g/n reader, description of violence, description of injury, hint of harassment (but that's in the past), mention of strangulation, possessive behavior, paranoia, kidnapping.

Number of words : 6 593

There you are

So much has happened in the last months of your life that you're almost sure you're in some kind of B-movie of whatever genre.

Being accused of a violent crime that you didn't commit, disappointing your family and loved ones, being sent to prison, and then strange people coming promising release for a "small favor." All you have to do is get a certain crystal for them, avoiding unknown threats and return back with an undamaged object.

It sounds pretty easy and the reward is pretty tempting, right?

Even though you knew that your family was disappointed in you and rejected you right in the courtroom, you still wanted to return to them. To prove to them that this crime was committed not by you, but by someone else. Although it did not occur to you that there is no evidence of your innocence anymore, and your family has been inspired with blatant lies about you. So much so that it is impossible to convince them, despite all the warm relations in the past.

But you are young. Naive and just enrolled in a prestigious college, how do you know how bad and terrible things can be in the world? Only from those romanticized series.

But now... This is your reality. Your life, which you absolutely did not want. You would be glad to forget this beginning horror, but you can't. Every time you opened your eyes and saw the wall of your cell, reality crashed down on you like cold water in the middle of a dream.

So... Yes, you had good reasons to accept a strange offer from the same strange people.

All in order to get back to the family. Or at least to your usual, normal life.

You exhaled softly and shifted a little on the hard, spring-loaded mattress before closing your eyes and taking a little nap before going on a mission with the other prisoners.

* * *

You are very sorry that you agreed to this.

Your thoughts were spinning wildly in your head as you struggled to breathe, cowering in the closet and holding the doors tightly so that the creature could not open them and pull you out.

You squeezed your eyes shut when the ugly and distorted face of the fish continued to scream at you when it sees you through the small cracks in the door.

Time seemed to freeze under this terrible scream in your ears, and your hands began to hurt when you used all your strength to hold the doors in place. But after a while, that scream died down, as did the attack on the closet where you hid on pure instincts.

You didn't immediately understand when it was finally over, and even if you did, you would have sat there for some time, trembling all over and gasping for air. Tears of fear threatened to spill from your eyes, but you held them back, biting your lip and suppressing a quiet sob.

You weren't exactly sure which room you were in, which door you went through, hell, even how much time had passed when you got out of that damn submarine. About the threats, you thought that these were ordinary security systems in the face of the same turrets... Although they were controlled by some kind of reasonable AI.

But damn it, these people weren't talking about real monsters!

At first, some people are statues pretending to be walls and sneaking after a person to eat them later. Then there are a bunch of strange creatures making loud noises, breaking the lamps in the room, which are rushing like crazy. And one of them is actually trying to get you out of the locker. Or a creature with tentacles that hides in the closet itself, waiting for an inattentive prisoner.

Although the worst monsters you met were: a creature behind a fake door, a giant fish with a bunch of eyes and a creature trying to get you out of the closet.

If it weren't for the "kind" prisoners you met along the way and not trying to kill you, steal your collected research and food, or do something much worse, then you wouldn't know anything about these monsters at all.

However, you still had to give away some of the precious food, even if it was granola bars. And the collected research, although you didn't fully understand why they were needed. But the information was more valuable than the food and the data that can be found before you die unknowingly.

The statue people were Wall Drawers and would sneak up on the man from behind to then eat him. All I had to do was turn around and listen often.

And the bunch of creatures that fly like mad across the room were Angler, Blitz. There were also three, but you did not encounter them. The creature that's trying to get you out of the locker is Pandemonium. Good People is that monster from the fake door. Eyefestation is that giant fish with a bunch of eyes.

One of the prisoners who was in a small group kindly told you about them and how to deal with them. It was quite useful, even if you mourned a little for the loss of food and some research, even if they were useless.

However, it was a pity about the latter after you learned from the words of other prisoners that you were not here for the first time (which is surprising for you) and that somewhere here there is a small store where you can buy a first-aid kit with batteries and other things, and the payment is just for these studies.

You didn't even have to sacrifice anything, because there was a newcomer among those prisoners and they told him about a certain intelligent being who runs this store and calls himself Sebastian. Of course, you didn't really understand anything, but you took note of this useful information.

Although you are still worried about the further words of the prisoners about how scary and rude this seller is. The saboteur, as they also call him. There was also a rumor that he was the one who organized the pogrom on this huge base under water.

Although you thought more that this was just a typical way of bullying the elders over the younger ones, exaggerating or inventing what is not there. Although... Considering the whole situation, perhaps the prisoners were not exaggerating.

After that, quite a lot of events happened, so you forgot about a certain store and a mysterious seller in time.

Especially when you have just experienced the 5th meeting with Pandemonium.

After that, you still wonder how you miraculously survived. Especially when Pandemonium was quite persistent, chasing you through every room.

You carefully opened the closet door, finally getting out of it when you started to feel a little claustrophobic. Your legs could barely hold you up, so you just sat on the floor, catching your breath and trying to somehow regain your strength.

You couldn't help but look around for a threat every couple of minutes and hold your breath, listening. It was pretty quiet, which should have been relaxing somehow, but it's completely wrong. It feels like there will be an even stronger storm after such a strong lull.

You are not exactly sure that there will be something much scarier than Pandemonium and a fish with a bunch of eyes.

I have no other way out. You exhaled softly, took off your helmet for a short time to quickly eat a small granola bar that you found next to the gnawed body of one of the prisoners when you avoided meeting with Wall Drawers the day before. You refused to admit the idea that you might end up in this prisoner's place if you weren't vigilant enough.

A skeleton in a uniform and diving equipment lying in the middle of the room.

You barely swallowed a piece of a hard and dry bar, ignoring the nausea caused by hunger and the horror of memories, and struggled to stand on trembling legs. You held on to the locker, feeling a little dizzy, and after standing there for a while, you started walking again. Even if it's not as fast as at the beginning, but with the maximum vigilance that you have, despite the lack of at least some sleep over these days (and maybe weeks... Your sense of time is blunted, and the clock is almost not there), hunger and a generally exhausted state.

You looked through every desk and staff lockers in search of data and useful items, by type of flashlight and flash. Maybe you will be lucky and there will be something to eat, except for granola bars, which are not so healthy. Or a bottle of water that didn't have time to spoil.

However, you have been very unlucky lately. Either because other prisoners who took everything managed to walk here before you, or there is simply nothing here... Or here it is in a slightly different case. Who knows.

In any case, it upset you, especially when your condition worsened every day, that at any moment you simply would not be able to walk. Or worse, but you preferred not to think about it.

You were almost absently examining tables, cabinets and shelves, passing through each door, trying to save energy for running.

It must have all played a role that you almost missed another couple of steps behind you. If it weren't for your instincts flaring up, you wouldn't have noticed Wall Drawers literally a meter away from you. You instantly turned around, looking at the creature with barely concealed alarm and hurriedly walking backwards, groping for the door to the next room.

However, the day could have been even worse, because you got on a fake door, too focused on Wall Drawers to hear breathing outside the door.

In the next second, a scream was heard and you fell to the floor, clutching your injured hand, while Good People mistakenly grabbed Wall Drawers instead of you. Although before that, I managed to cripple your leading hand. Not much, but being in the current situation, it causes great inconvenience.

You didn't fully realize what happened in just a second, but Wall Drawers must have managed to grab your hand and take a bite before you jumped back and Good People managed to accidentally grab them instead of you.

What a stroke of luck.

You couldn't hold back a quiet sob and whimper, clutching the wound on your arm. You saw a dark red, almost viscous liquid flowing out between your fingers, staining your uniform and dripping onto the floor. Pursing your lips and holding your breath, you carefully removed your palm and restrained yourself from crying out how terrible the wound was.

You hastily returned the gaze, trying not to look at the wound a second time and rummaged in your bag, trying to find at least something that will help you to bandage the wound for the first time.

There was nothing useful, because you couldn't find a first-aid kit the whole way, so you had to tear off the rest of the sleeve and bandage the wound. It turned out to be a very clumsy bandage made with one hand. In theory, you should have made another small bandage over your head so that the arm would remain motionless and not get in the way too much, but there just wasn't enough fabric for that.

You barely ignored the terrible pain in your arm, which seemed to pierce to the very bones (which is not entirely far from the truth), and barely got up from the floor, trying to come up with a plan of action.

You definitely really need a first aid kit. And to have a needle and thread in it, because the wound looked like something that needed to be sewn up. And even if you didn't go to the doctor and didn't touch on such medical topics in any way, but something had to be done. Even if you end up relying on the movie. What can't be done, but there is no other choice.

Hissing softly through your teeth, you continued walking, holding your hand and trying to be more attentive when you were injured and bleeding. You weren't exactly sure, but you had an idea that the smell of blood might attract someone from these many creatures. You prayed very much that if you were noticed, you would have had a first-aid kit by that time. I don't care about a safe place, the main thing is to take care of the wound, through which some infection can get.

After about a few doors behind, you suddenly heard a voice from which you yourself stopped for no reason. You hurriedly looked around, pressing your back against the nearest closet, thinking that either this was a hallucination, or a group of prisoners whom you needed to avoid more than anything, because not all of them are kind. Especially when you are injured and clearly in a pretty deplorable state.

There was a short silence in which you listened intently, then the voice sounded again. You may not have been able to make out the words completely, but judging by the tone of the threat, there was no threat.

Involuntarily, I flashed memories of those prisoners who talked among themselves about the store here, where you could buy from simple batteries for a flashlight to a first-aid kit. This involuntarily filled your heart with a little hope, although your instincts literally screamed over and over again that it was better not to go anywhere, because danger was possible.

But you didn't pay much attention to it, especially when everything hurt and the blood continued to flow. You needed this first-aid kit, if you have to go through danger for it, then it was worth it. At least you won't die so soon because of this.

Despite the fact that due to blood loss, you barely understood the words, but walked towards the voice, which led you to a small vent. Frowning weakly, you sat on your knees and tried to figure out how to crawl through it carefully so as to disturb your hand as little as possible. After sitting there for a few seconds, you were startled when the lamps blinked several times, which foreshadowed the appearance of one of the fish creatures flying across the room. This caused your sluggish body to move and you hurriedly crawled into the ventilation. The voice trailed off, which scared you a little, but you're sure you heard it here.

You were breathing heavily when you crawled through the vent and stopped briefly when you got out of it.

— Welcome! Welcome, newcomer, — the voice sounded literally above you. It was a little unexpected for you, which made you start and raise your head.

It was... The creature is humanoid. More precisely, you somehow don't want to name another being, especially when he spoke. Despite what he was about... More than 10 meters? It is quite difficult to determine when his long sea snake tail curled up a little in this almost small room, which made it seem smaller than it was.

His skin (or is it already scales?) She was light blue, had short black hair that was tousled. The facial features were sharp, with fins instead of ears... A fish mouth? Although, considering that he has an anglerfish esque, a third arm and a third eye, this is a much less strange sight, especially in a place like this.

The man was wearing a dark brown jacket, a white shirt with a frill. Your gaze involuntarily caught on the holster with a shotgun on his belt and a small bag. You also noticed that there was some kind of strange bulky device on his back, but don't know what it is. Your gaze turns away again and gets stuck on the medicine cabinet in one of the many bags on his long tail.

Ah.

This must be the same store with a certain saboteur.

You flinched when the other intentionally coughed loudly into your hand, and then you were embarrassed by his words:

— Have you enjoyed the view enough?

— Uh, excuse me... Hello, — you squirm a little, involuntarily squeezing your injured hand harder, remembering politeness.

Although what kind of simple politeness is worth talking about in a place like this? But you're a good person.

— Well... Ahem, welcome to my store. You may have already heard about me, but don't believe these stupid rumors, my friend. You can call me Sebastian. You can buy items here for the research that you managed to collect before coming here. They are useless to you, but they will be much more useful to me, — the salesman says matter—of-factly and even a little sarcastically, putting two hands together, clearly not caring that you were literally dying of blood loss in front of his eyes.

Strangely, you don't feel anything from this realization. Indifference is somehow better than those who take advantage of such a position in the terrible sense of the word. You shuddered a little from the memories and gathering your thoughts in a bunch, you asked:

— How much do you have a first aid kit for?..

— 200 studies, — the other immediately replied, somehow cunningly twisting the edges of his mouth.

You look down, groping for your bag and open it to get the right amount. In your opinion, the price was not very high, but within reasonable limits. It's better than buying a first aid kit from other prisoners for their heavenly prices. After transferring the required amount of research into Sebastian's clawed hand, you waited a little while for him to nod, count, and silently take the first-aid kit from his bag.

You carefully opened it, checking the contents and relax a little, seeing what you needed. After closing the first-aid kit and putting away her bag, you nod to the other, muttering softly "thank you" and go back to the ventilation.

— If it makes you feel better, there is a small office space nearby where you can close. The lock is intact there, so you'll know right away.

You were startled by the suddenness and involuntarily looked back at the seller, whose voice sounded... Strange. It was also mocking and indifferent, but something was wrong that made your instincts alert. But the fish-man looked quite normal, mockingly narrowing his inhuman blue eyes and grinning from the corners of his mouth.

— How much?..

— What? — you can see how he obviously feigned incomprehension tilted his head to the side, blinking slowly.

— For the information.

— Ah. Consider it free, — he almost growled the last word through razor—sharp teeth, frowning.

You look at him doubtfully for a few seconds and reopened the bag, taking out 100 studies and putting them on the nearest iron box and this time hurriedly leaving through the ventilation, muttering "thank you" out of habit. There was only stunned silence in response, but you didn't care. You didn't want to get into trouble, especially with a newfound acquaintance for a "free" thing.

Sebastian wasn't lying, and literally across the hall was the very office space that you recognized due to the whole lock, thanks to which you could close the door.

It was... It's such a relief that you could finally just close the door behind you and relax a little. As long as you don't make any noise, no one will try to break in.

Maybe after you took care of the wound, you could get some sleep.

Under the office desk in the corner and in the shade, so that in case of anything you would not be noticed.

* * *

You barely opened your eyes and did not immediately realize where you were, but then the memories reached you, from which you exhaled and squeezed your eyes shut, throwing your head back.

You successfully sewed up the wound, even though it was terribly hard and you lost consciousness several times due to the hellish pain and blood loss. But fortunately you coped in the end and hardly remembered how you bandaged your arm.

Although...

When you open your eyes and turn your head to the side, you see how your helmet was lying next to you on the floor. Even with a small crack in the glass, which definitely wasn't there. But you must have missed it when you were attacked by Good People.

You can't remember when you managed to take off your helmet before you fell asleep under the table. But you were too tired, so you didn't think much about it. Moreover, things were more important now.

With such a wound, you definitely couldn't keep moving. At least until the pain is less and signs of healing are visible. So you will definitely have to stay in this area for a few days.

Which leads to another task.

You frown weakly, carefully sitting down and pulling your bag towards you, rummaging through numerous secret pockets, pulling out all the food and water supplies to calculate how much is left and how much more is needed.

It is quite poor, without taking into account the fact that there used to be more and you gave this part to the prisoners for information about this place.

A few dry and hard granola bars, a liter bottle of water, and by some miracle a canned food with sprats was found. Which you hate. And you also don't have a can opener.

There will be no problem with water. There was a half-filled cooler in this office room, which is enough for these days and you won't die of dehydration, but here's the food... Considering your current condition, you definitely needed something better than muesli and canned sprats. Moreover, this will be enough for two days at most.

So you definitely need to go out and explore this part of the territory in search of food.

You frown a little at this thought, upset, because the risk of bumping into someone is high. And especially when there was a store nearby, the risk of meeting prisoners is higher than usual.

— Damn, what a disgusting day, — you involuntarily swear under your breath, putting things back into the hidden pockets of the bag and clumsily get up.

Which you immediately regretted, because you almost fell back to the floor, barely managing to grab an office chair.

Okay, you definitely need to just sit for one day to start at least thinking about going somewhere.

You swore under your breath, sitting down in an office chair with irritation and leaning back, staring at the ceiling.

You sat there for an unknown amount of time before falling asleep, which was not very good for your back. Although when you woke up, you felt better and could finally stand. After quickly eating a granola bar and drinking water, you put your helmet back on and carefully opened the door, listening.

It was quiet, which disturbed you, but you couldn't do anything about it and quietly left the room, closing the door behind you. Looking around and listening all the time, you came across a door, behind which there was something like a dining room and a kitchen.

This cheered you up a little and you began to inspect the room, collecting research on the machine. When you reached the kitchen and examined the drawers, you found a slightly bent can opener and another tin can. But thank God not with sprats, but with corn. Pretty good, if a little unhealthy.

In addition, you found already moldy bread and already rotten fruits on the table, the smell of which made your stomach shrink a little and you hurriedly moved away from them.

In general, you were able to find some food in the face of canned corn and some miraculously preserved sausage in the refrigerator. You considered this a victory.

You hummed softly to yourself when you put the food in your bag, deciding to eat the sausage first, which spoiled faster, and also so as not to get soaked in its smell and not run into trouble with people with excellent nose. You definitely don't intend to fight giant prisoners over sausage in your current state.

* * *

You are not sure exactly how many hours have passed since you stopped in the office room. It was a bit of a blur for you, because all you had time to do was explore the nearest rooms, come to eat and fall asleep. And you also looked into the store again to buy a Flash Beacon from Sebastian, a couple of batteries and again a first-aid kit. You spent all your accumulated research, but you didn't regret it.

After all, you still managed to get an infection.

And instead of staying and getting cured like a normal person, you decided that this was the perfect time to continue on your way. And you had your reasons. First, here, next to Sebastian's store, there is a high risk of running into a crazy prisoner or even a group. Which is very bad in your position. Secondly, there is a risk that you will not be able to cure the infection and eventually you will die. Third, you had some kind of unpleasant feeling in the back of your head that you were being watched and something in you said that you should leave as soon as possible.

It was a little sad, because the store clerk was a bit of an interesting conversationalist. When he's not trying to humiliate you at every opportunity, of course. And when this dialogue lasted at least a minute during your next two visits. One because of the strange sound of a gunshot, and the other because of shopping. But for you, it was a little breath of fresh air, after a long conversation with criminals in prison, as well as small skirmishes with them here. And monsters...

You involuntarily recalled your conversation with Sebastian when you bought a first-aid kit and other items. And it ended up being pretty... An unpleasant note.

— Ah, do you intend to go further? With such a wound? — He asked casually, bowing his head and propping it up with one of his hands, looking at you.

You shrugged a little, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, almost studying. Mentally, you reminded yourself that you were wearing a helmet, so he could not know about your appearance, which was well preserved under all the disgusting conditions. To your confusion.

— Yes... Uh, I feel much better. So I won't dare linger here, — you lied a little, grateful in secret that your face was not visible, and your voice was indifferent enough to betray the truth.

You looked up, catching the man's skeptical look before he rolled his eyes.

— Then don't you dare let Wall Drawers bite your hand off again, — he almost growled softly, strangely squeezing his hands tighter.

— What? — you blinked, thinking you misheard.

— I say, come into my store again, you idiot, — he said with a grin and louder, narrowing his eyes maliciously, — or are you deaf?

You pressed your lips together in silence, looking away from Sebastian, saying nothing.

It was at this moment that you heard a noise in the ventilation that made you freeze. The next second, a prisoner who was clearly passing by got out of the ventilation.

You pressed yourself imperceptibly against the wall, silently praying that you would not be noticed immediately and that you would have time to leave before you ran into trouble. And before anyone thought you were a coward, you had strong justifications for behaving that way, especially with other people.

You barely noticed the faint curiosity in Sebastian's gaze before he spoke in his usual sarcastic voice:

— Welcome, friend.

You heard a contemptuous snort from the prisoner before he came over to get the batteries, casually throwing the research. Before you had time to realize that you need to leave unnoticed through the ventilation, you suddenly recognized this person.

Oh shit, the universe really "loves" you, right?

— Who do I see? Is that really our rat, huh?

You flinched when you stopped near the vent.

— Are you completely deaf? You weren't taught to greet your friends, were you? — There was a little anger in the gruff voice.

You curled your lips, but remained silent, turning your head towards the other person. The tall man looked down at you with disgusting amusement.

— What do you want, Chris? — You answered with difficulty in an indifferent voice.

— Why such coldness, huh? Did you really forget your cellmate, huh? — the criminal giggled, smiling broadly and showing his crooked teeth.

— We weren't cellmates, — you corrected coldly.

The other person's face twisted at your tone, clearly not expecting this.

— What, the eggs of the industry during your stay here? Decided to show your teeth, rat?! Have you forgotten who's in charge here? — The prisoner growled through his teeth, clearly restraining himself from running into you with his fists.

You frowned a little, but it was not visible because of the helmet.

How did he even recognize you with the helmet and uniform? Maybe he saw you putting on a helmet at the beginning of the journey? Or how was it given to you along with the uniform?

Although it doesn't really have to do with when to leave. You didn't really want to piss Sebastian off because of that arrogant jerk, even if it wasn't your fault.

It is strange that now you did not feel fear of this prisoner, who spoiled your life, as you were put in prison. So much so that the prison authorities had to put you and him in different cells after his attempt to strangle you in the dining room.

Although it is strange that you two were resettled and you received a solitary cell, because other prisoners, despite all the conflicts, were not resettled... But somehow you didn't think much about it.

You probably didn't think he was particularly scary right now after encountering monsters here. Or you were just tired under the influence of a found painkiller and an increasing infection, despite the fact that the wound was intact and there were no signs of rotting.

Whatever it was, you knew for sure that you had to leave.

— If you want to start a fight, it's not right in the store, — you said indifferently.

Well, you didn't want to inconvenience Sebastian yet, even if he didn't care about what was going on in front of him. But you knew Chris, and you knew what he could do when he was angry. If he accidentally destroyed something here, you didn't know how the seller would react.

But with the condition that during the last meeting you heard a shot here...

It's better not to think about it.

— Ha! Do you still dare to tell me what to do? Have you already made friends with this monster? — the prisoner replied with a laugh, putting his hand on the handle of the Flash Beacon, — you haven't changed at all, you always take care of others. That's why they put you in jail, you stupid rat.

The unpleasant feeling in the back of your head has intensified, which is why your hair has lifted a little there. The developed sense of self-preservation during his stay in prison confirmed that something very unpleasant was about to happen.

And let nothing happen to you, thanks to the dark glass on the helmet that protects you from bright light, but here is Sebastian with his unusual anatomy...

And even if you don't know him, but as a good person, you didn't want him to be hurt and others too. Just like that, even if you didn't feel anything special about him.

You just opened your mouth to stop him, but you didn't have time because at the same second he pulled out a Flash Beacon and pulled the trigger.

In those few seconds, several things happened and a loud sound sounded.

When the lights went out, you saw that the Flash Beacon was lying on the floor, literally broken into splinters, and the prisoner was coughing, clutching at his throat.

— Don't do that again.

You flinched at the absolute fury in Sebastian's voice and raised your head. His mouth was folded as if he was growling and ready to bite at any second, and his eyes were heavily squinted, betraying the degree of rage and slight blindness due to the bright flash.

You swallowed nervously and hurriedly crawled into the ventilation, muttering quiet apologies.

After that, you spent another day locked in the office room, as you waited for your "good friend" to leave either forward or backward. And you didn't know yet how Sebastian would react if he saw or heard you. You may not have cared about it, but you didn't want a bad relationship with the seller of important items.

Stupid people who make him angry. It's going to go sideways for them.

You squirm a little in place and then get up when you put everything in a bag and hung the weapon on your belt to grab it faster. Although Flash Beacon is not really a weapon, but it can blind anyone for a few seconds.

You stood in place for a while to let the dizziness go away and finally left the room with a quiet but fast step. It was a little hard, because there were no pills in the medicine cabinet, and a slight fever had been holding for the second day. But it was bearable enough to continue on the way.

Although you had some very unpleasant feeling in your heart.

* * *

You've. Made. A. Mistake.

Not only did you start to feel much worse, barely thinking because of the rising temperature, but you also stumbled upon Chris.

And even if there was no direct meeting, because you quickly hid so that you would not be noticed, it was still dangerous.

You could hardly restrain yourself from cursing as you crawled behind the tables to get to the open but broken door, hearing curses from that prisoner and those people who were with him. You tried to ignore his words, because they were very unpleasant, especially when they referred specifically to you. More accurately... They are vulgar and in a rather unpleasant way that makes you frankly sick, and the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

You stopped for a moment when your head started spinning again, and black dots appeared in front of your eyes for a moment.

It was at this moment that the universe decided that your situation was quite deplorable, so everything went fine.

You were able to crawl out that door and get up as quietly as possible and also quietly hurried away. As you passed through each door and room, you quickened your pace. At the same time, your breathing accelerated, and your lungs ached quite a bit. However, you tried not to pay attention to it, continuing to walk and hastily looking through tables, drawers and cabinets, almost casually stuffing what you found into a bag.

You went through the next door at number 89 and got stuck a little bit, because you had to find the key card. You did not intend to use a code cracker, believing that it would be useful in a critical situation.

You were weakly looking through tables and drawers, wondering how many more doors and rooms you have to go through before you finally get to the crystal. The optimistic part said there wasn't much left, while the realistic part said there wasn't yet. It's not enough to get the crystal, you still need to go back... In such a weak state.

You made a little face thinking about it when you got up from your knees to look through the cabinets. At the same moment, you felt the floor move away from under your feet, and a gust of wind hit your face.

You blinked dazedly, not immediately realizing with your sick brain what had happened before a damp cloth was pressed to your nose and mouth. This caused your body to twitch instantly, which is why whoever grabbed you and held you at a height had to make efforts so that you would not slip out of their grasp.

You barely heard the grumbling above your head, too panicked to understand the words.

The sweet smell of the liquid on the cloth penetrated your airways as you twitched, writhing in the hands of the invader. It didn't do much and you weren't sure what kind of liquid it was, but you weren't intending to let it have any effect on you. You gripped the invader's hand tightly, which pressed a rag to your mouth, and with the other clumsily hit the obviously large body behind you until your hand weakened and fell on the object on your belt. You immediately grabbed and pulled it out, pointing it back and pulled the trigger.

At the same moment, there was a scream and you fell to the floor. You didn't have time to look around and rushed forward, coughing and gasping for air, clutching the handle of the Flash Beacon tightly.

— You little shit!!..

The voice was very loud and full of anger, but you didn't dare stop, even when it seemed familiar to your brain.

You heard a crash behind you as you ran across the room, skirting tables and deliberately knocking over chairs to slow down the attacker, which was a bit effective, judging by the wave of curses and curses, as well as the subsequent cracking sound. Your heart was pounding wildly, which hardly made you hear anything while you were running in a panic.

When the door, the exit, literally appeared in front of you and almost instantly took out a code cracker, pressing it against the panel with a trembling hand. You were breathing hoarsely, barely holding back a startled sob due to the noise and growling from behind, while the panel was making beeping sounds.

A second later, a small squeak was heard, indicating a hacking error.

From this sound, everything inside you froze, as well as all the noise around.

As if in a fog, you raised your head uncomprehendingly, almost desperately looking at the screen with the number of the next room. But instead of numbers, you saw a sad smiley face, as if sympathizing with your situation.

The last thing you saw after that was how a big shadow covered you, a sweet smell mixed with a strong smell of tobacco penetrated your nose before you lost consciousness.

[feyhunter78]

Trust Fund Baby Series + Meg's Kinktober #21 Almost Caught AKA Late Night, a Few Drinks

Description: Carmy invites you to try the new drinks for The Bear's opening. (This fic is actually sfw sorry to disappoint)

Trust Fund Baby (nsfw)

“Saint Anthony, huh? Didn’t know you were Catholic.” You say, hooking one finger under the gold chain around his neck, leaning forward with a drunken giggle as you inspect it.

“I’m not, just Italian.” Carmy says, his lips mere inches from yours, when you look up and realize how close you two are. He’s so pretty like this, and his eyes are so, so, blue you swear you could drown in them.

You’re practically in his lap, one hand balancing yourself on his knee, the other holding his chain, his gaze holding yours, looking as if he wants to devour you.

“Ah, yes, makes perfect sense.” You nod, smiling, smiling, smiling, smiling, it’s all you can do around Carmy, especially when you’re drinking.

“Yeah?” Camry asks, leaning back on his hands, half lidded eyes, slightly glazed from alcohol, watching as you toy with the small pendant.

“Yeah.” You echo, eyes flickering down to his lips.

“Real nice of you to come help out with the tastings.” Carmy says, pink tongue darting out, wetting his lips.

You swallow hard, the rational part of your brain telling you to pull back. “Can’t say no to free drinks with my favorite chef now, can I?”

His eyebrows lift and he cocks his head slightly to the side. “I’m your favorite chef, sweetheart?”

“Of course.” You say it so simply, like it’s a fact, because to you, it is. “Well, you and Syd, she makes a killer breakfast.”

He laughs, his head rolling back, the sound infectious.

You lean back, letting Carmy’s chain drop and settle gently on his chest.

“That all it takes to win you over? A good breakfast?” Carmy asks, smiling that half smile that makes your stomach do flips.

“I guess so.” Your face is warm, from the alcohol, embarrassment, desire? You’re not sure.

“I’m pretty good at making breakfast too.” He says, the low lighting in The Bear makes his eyes impossibly dark, like the ocean during a storm, and you’re one drink away from diving in.

You gather your courage, hoping you still look as good as you did when you left your apartment. “Oh yeah? Maybe I’ll have to come over and try it some time then.”

Carmy’s eyes widen, just a fraction, but it’s enough to knock down every bit of confidence you built up.

“Shit, sorry, that was such a weird thing to say.” You look at your glass, though you know it’s empty. “I think the drinks are getting to me.”

He shakes his head. “Nah, nah, wasn’t weird at all, love to make you breakfast sometime.”

You bite your lip to hide your smile. “Yeah?”

He tucks a lock of hair behind your ear, fingers lingering for a moment too long, his eyes darting to your bottom lip, still trapped between your teeth. “Yeah, anytime, love cooking for you, it’s cute when you get all excited, and you got that pretty smile on your face.”

And there go the butterflies. “Oh, so you think I’m pretty?” You tease, dragging out the “y” sound, and laughing when he rolls his eyes.

“Fuckin’ know I think that. Everybody thinks that, prettiest damn girl in the whole world.” He says, voice low, but earnest.

“No way, prettiest girl in the world is Jessica Chastain.” You laugh, cheeks burning as you try to wave off his compliment, your heart doing double time jumping jacks in your chest.

He lets out a low whistle. “Almost forgot about her.”

Ouch.

You try not to let that hurt you considering you brought it up, but it still stings, and you look away, feeling the sting settle in your skin.

Carmy sits up, his hand cradling your cheek, bringing your eyes to his. “Hey, hey, what’s up with you, what happened?”

You smile at him, but you know he can see it’s a bit forced. “Nothing, nothing, just got lost in thought.”

“Don’t get all sad on me, I don’t like when my pretty girl’s sad.” He says, thumb caressing your cheek slowly.

My pretty girl. Has he ever called you that before? Ever staked a claim, expressed any real desire to have you as his? You don’t think so, and now the moment has weight. Weight you’re not ready to think about.

“Just got a bit insecure, don’t know why. I literally love her, and don’t have any ideas that I’d actually look as pretty as a celebrity, that would be crazy.”

Carmy lets out a huff and his thumb brushes against your lips, the touch sending shockwaves through you, and Carmy as well. “Don’t be fuckin’ dumb, of course you’re as pretty as a celebrity, fuckin’ prettier than all the celebrities.”

“Hey…” You warn, scrunching up your nose. “Don’t call me dumb.”

His face falls. “No, no, sweetheart, I’d never, I just meant—”

You stop him with a hand on his chest, right over the gold pendant. “I’m kidding, I know what you meant, and I appreciate it.”

Carmy visibly relaxes. “Got me scared for a second.”

“I’m sorry.” You giggle, going to move your hand.

He catches it and brings it to his lips. “I’m serious, you’re so fuckin’ pretty y/n, like it makes no fuckin’ sense.”  His lips warm, a bit chapped, but still soft, and your skin tingles, butterflies erupting in your stomach all over again.

“Oh.” You breathe, heart fluttering, your eyes locked on your joined hands. “Well, um, genetics I guess?”

“Genetics.” He echoes, relinquishing your hand and leaning back on his own, his eyes drifting to the window, leaving you to try and fight the lovesick smile threatening to appear.

“Yeah, my mom is gorgeous.” You say, wishing his gaze would drift back to you.

It does, and you beam at him.

“I bet.” Carmy says, his eyes darting down to your lips, to the way you’re still half leaning on him, the way your shirt clings to you, like a second skin, his free hand settling on your hip.

“I really do appreciate you asking me to come try the drinks with you.” You tell him, voice quiet, unwilling to break the sudden tension that’s appeared.

“Of course, I always have fun with you, wouldn’t want anyone else here with me.” His hand burns on your hip, and you want to pull it either lower or higher, just want something to happen.

“You’re so sweet to me.” You smile, eyes dropping to his lips, then flickering up to his eyes.

He’s so close, and you can practically taste the alcohol on his lips, the bitters, the orange, the burned sugar.

“Easy to be sweet to you.” Carmy says, it’s more of an exhale against your lips, his hand coming up to cup your cheek once more, your noses brushing against each other, the sound of your blood rushing in your ear and—

“Yo cousin, where you at?” Richie’s voice booms through The Bear, and you jolt backwards, pushing away from Carmy as if he burned you.

He looks dazed, lips still parted, eyes soft and focused on you. Then he blinks, and it’s all gone, he’s back to normal. “In the front, by the bar.”

Kinktober masterlist

[desperate-daydream]

Hey uhh could you do a five hargreeves x male reader, where the reader is the like,, top in the relationship? Like the big spoon and the one to hold him and shit?? maybe they meet a few days before the apocalypse in the first season and go on a date to griddys or somethin for coffee, and five realizes that he has to save him, but when running in to hazel and cha cha the reader protects him?? idk somethin like that, or just five x top reader headcanons. please? sorry he is my hyperfixation LMAO

☂️ Umbrella Academy

❀ Five Hargreeves x male reader ⚣︎

A/N: yes, of course. Thank you for the request! I'll do my best, hope you like it XD And sorry that it took so damn long.

tags/warnings: plays in season 1, I changed it a bit what happened etc., top/protective reader, bc five deserves to be cared for and protected too, seriously that poor guy needs a break, TW gun

Together, we will save the world

Five Hargreeves had a mission. Save the world (or at least his siblings) and kill everyone who wants to stop him from doing so.

Well, life had slightly different plans for him first.

He was, yet again, running around the city, trying to get away from the so very charming people the Handler had sent after him. And then he crushed into you.

Like, literally. You were standing in a side alley next to the shop you worked in and had just gotten ready to leave, when a boy your age stumbled around the corner. His glance was directed at something behind him and so he just didn't notice you at all.

Five was exhausted from his jumps and his very hard tries of saving this world somehow while his siblings acted like literal children. He was actually the one being a teenager again, but he didn't throw tantrums - ok, maybe a bit but only to finally get some sense into them so he didn't have to do it all alone.

So it was only logical that at some point he wouldn't be as aware as usuall. He crashed into you and almost fell down but you catched him in time thanks to your reflexes.

When you looked down you could only admire the boy you had just catched. Dark brown hair in a cute "polite good boy"-hair cut, sharp features and beautiful hazel eyes. However there were dark circles under those and he seemed pretty tired as he laid almost limpless in your arms.

Five looked up at you and - even though he didn't like to admit it - felt thankful that you catched him. You were good looking and seemed to have no problem with almost carrying him.

"Watch out where you're going, pretty boy." You smirked and Five couldn't believe it but he almost blushed as his eyes widened.

You slowly got him back on his feet steadily but your arms hadn't left his waist yet. Your picture of him became even cuter when you noticed the silly school uniform with those adorable shorts he was wearing.

After what felt way too long Five finally regained some brain cells and was able to hastily move out of your grip. He would've gotten away by now usually but something that he couldn't make out held him in place as he kept staring at you.

He was about to say something when his eyes went wide again as he made out the fast steps of his past-colllegues. His gaze hushed around and then he pushed you into a small niche of the building you were standing next to.

It was narrow and had hardly space for two teenage boys. That's why you stood impossibly close to each other but you couldn't complain. If the universe decided to shove you into a compromised space together with a cute boy then it'd be like that. You smirked again.

"Shouldn't you invi-", you couldn't continue your sentence because of the boy’s hand covering your mouth. You weren't completely dense so you understood the message to shut up.

It seemed like this boy in front of you really was in severe stress. He was acting like he was on the run from something - or someone - and when you heard the voices of two people complaining that they lost "him" again you made the conclusion they must mean the boy whose hand was still drapped above your mouth.

Luckily the people left quickly and the boy visibly relaxed. His hand left your mouth - leaving behind a tingle on your skin - and his shoulders slumped as his body leaned against the brickwall.

"You seem tired and like you really need a break, you know?"

A sharp glance was the only response. And then the boy moved getting out the niche. He was about to walk away but you couldn't have this meeting end so soon. You grabbed his arm and he swiveled around to look at you again.

"I think you need some coffee", you said, "And maybe sugar will be good too. Why don't we go get donuts?"

Five really didn't know how it happened - he had a mission to complete or else everyone would die - but he was so tired of everything and everyone. So he agreed and soon you were sitting in front of each other at a table at Griddy's.

You ordered and while you waited you had a hard time getting a conversation started. You didn't fail to notice how his eyes looked around all the time just waiting for something to happen.

"So.. who were those guys earlier?", you asked. You had quickly come to the conclusion that this guy wouldn't be catched with small talk. And you wanted to help. Everybody just paying close attention to him for more than a minute could see the stress.

The boy looked at you for a seemingly long time. You almost saw him doing a pro-con-list in his head. "Let's just say, I want to do something that they don't appreciate."

"I guess you're not planning on telling me what that is."

"I guess you wouldn't believe me", he remarked and took a sip from his black coffee.

You raised your eyebrows. "Try me."

His eyes looked at you over the edge of his mug before he put it down. His staring proceeded for another minute till he leaned back.

"Alright", another pause, "I'm trying to save the world from the apocalypse."

You were glad that you hadn't drank something that moment because you were sure you would've choked on your drink. Instead your eyebrows raised again and you huffed out a small laugh.

And just as you were about to make a funny comment you looked into his eyes. The words died when you saw the seriousness. He actually believed that. But was it real?

"Okayyy..", while you tried to figure out what to say two people came in. First you didn't really aknowledge it but then you noticed the boy in front of you tensing up.

And before you could say something else the two people suddenly turned in your direction. The man grapped the brunette's arm and the next moment your date (could you call it that? was it a date? you certainly had an interest in this boy. B-but that's not to discuss right now!) was on the other side of the room.

You couldn't believe your eyes at first and just stared. That changed pretty quickly when you saw one of them pointing a gun at your date (still in question) and the other approaching him again. You stood up while trying to stay silent and grabbed the knife next to your plate.

The boy saw you but gladly the other two didn't. It was clear that he didn't want you to get into this too but even you could see that he didn't have any more strength to defend himself. Just as the man went to grab the brunette again you stabbed the knife into the women's shoulder who held the gun.

She let it fall and a string of curse words came out of her mouth as she stummbled to the side. You quickly picked up the gun and pointed it at the man. "Let him go", you threatened while still having an eye on the woman who had fallen into the window next to the door.

"Let him go and go away", you repeated. You were glad that you could handle guns quite efficiently. The man slowly let go and stepped back with raised hands. Unfortunately you didn't pay attention the woman anymore for a split second who sprinted towards you and took the gun out of your hand.

That same moment your date (or whatever he was now) came running towards you too and shortly before the woman pulled the trigger he reached you. A weird feeling overcame you and the next thing you saw was the exterior wall of a building.

For several seconds you stood still starring in the air before you lost balance and stumbled backwards.

“What. The. Fuck.“

The boy sighed.

“Alright. Come on. You saw too much.“

He grabbed your hand to drag you behind him.

“Wait. Don‘t I get an explanation? What did just happen?!“ You‘d be lying if you said that you weren‘t panicking.

He turned to you with a frown.

Five was confused. First he had crushed into you, then you basically asked him out on a date and asked him what he had run from. Something about you made him answer and then the incident with Hazel and Cha-Cha happened.

He decided that he had to take you with him. You had whitnessed enough. And maybe, just maybe, he felt some kind of sympathy for you. He had to admit, you were fairly handsome.

“I‘ll- I‘ll explain on the way.“ He grabbed your hand again to pull you with him. “But we‘ll have to keep moving for now.“ You basically stumbled behind him but you couldn‘t surpress the sheepish grin growing on your face.

Damn, that boy was something different. But you were definitely here for it.

(And if you looked close enough you could see the tiniest smile and blush on his cute face too. After all, he didn‘t let go of your hand for the rest of the walk.

Later that day he became sure about it: Together, you would save the world.)

[blossom-works]

Ow Ow

A cute lil story of Hades’ princess and how he began to love you more than he ever thought he could.

Part of my Hades series

The only thing that can hurt a God is a divine weapon. Normal, human weapons are mere toys. While this is true, Gods are not that invincible as they or others think they are. Gods can die if a fatal blow from a divine weapon lands on them. When a God does die, their bodies are turned into particles. Meant to dance in the realm of Niflhel for eternity. A realm where reincarnation or a re-birth is impossible. 

When you became the queen of Helheim, you gained an ability to regenerate yourself. Before, you could heal minor injuries but let us say, if you got your arm ripped off - Tough luck. Now though, you can heal a lost arm given some time. Not in the “growing a new limb like a lizard” heal, but the “regenerate the lost tissue like closing a wound” heal.

Neither you or Hades knew this would happen, but it did. So, why in the name of the Heavens does childbirth hurt so damn much! Even with the painkiller the nurses have injected you with have eased the pain!

“Three more centimeters to go, your majesty.”

You throw your head back in annoyance and frustration. Your left hand is being cradled by your doting husband who is sort of getting on your nerves too. A nurse to your right is patting your forehead with a cold, damp cloth. 

When you and Hades broke the news of a baby, it became bigger news than when Hades, the King of the Netherworld, was getting married. Sure, pregnancies and childbirth are common in the world of the Gods, but not when a major God is expecting. The last time something like that happened were with your nephews, and it has been centuries since then. For a week straight, all the Gods and Goddesses threw a party to celebrate the heir of the Netherworld. 

Some, like you, thought that your husband would became protective of you since his child is in your womb, but to your surprise, Hades was pretty okay. He did check up on you more often that he normally did, but he did not breath on you the entire time. Hades did though, get more affectionate. At least twice a day he would kiss your growing abdomen and when he could, cradle your bump. 

Your baby was not planned. Sure, you and Hades would talk about it, but never had the intentions of trying. Your lives were just too busy to have a child or two. Hades oversees all that happens in Helheim, while most importantly, keeping an eye on Tartarus. You share the same responsibility while upholding your duty as the Goddess of Life and Death. A baby was just not part of your agendas. Of course, fate has a funny way of working even for a divine being. 

“And you can’t up my dosage?” You beg. 

“I’m afraid not m’lady. Even though this baby is a divine being, we cannot risk their health by giving you more medicine.”

The nurse bow to you and your husband before exiting the room. When you told Hades about your frequent cramps (which were actually contractions), he sent for the best doctor and nurses in Helheim. The doctor suggested on breaking your water, but if you have learned anything about modern, human medicine, having your water be popped manually is a no go. Apparently, it makes actual labor harder and the contractions stronger since the body is not ready to deliver the baby. When you pondered over that, it was an automatic “no” that you are starting to regret. 

Your husband whispers encouraging words in your ear. He also does what the maids did and wipes the sweat before it can trickle down your face. As always, Hades is keeping his usual, calm composure. He is not named the “God Whom Other Gods Rely on the Most” for no reason. Hades did take off his eye patch though, so you are pretty sure some part of him is a little weary.

While Hades is a busybody, he halted all his kingly duties. He said, “I will not miss the birth of my own child. I vowed to stay by your side, beloved. My duties as king as trivial compared to our child you are about to bear.”

As another wave of contractions hits you, your body tenses up. The hand hold Hades’ squeezes his hand, almost like you are squeezing its life force away. Hades swiftly switches his hands so he can hold you behind your shoulders.

To you, it feels like days before the doctor instructs you to start pushing. While it hurts like hell, having a watermelon come out of your most sacred area, you are thankful you did not allow the practitioners to pop your water. In four pushes, the baby - the proof of yours and Hades’s shared love, has arrived.

Its cries fill the room while Hades is astonished at the blood and fluid covered child. He never left your side even when the nurses and doctors were coaxing him to wait out the room. To you, it feels like your husband helped you deliver your child more than the medical professionals. Relief washes over you when you push out the placenta and whatever it is that needs to leave your body. The nurses are carefully inspecting your child before wrapping it up and handing it to you

“Congratulations, your majesties. You have a girl - a princess.”

Still drenched in sweat and tears, you hold your child, your daughter, close to your chest. Your legs are still propped up as the doctor inspects your nether region. The nurses had cleaned the princess off so she is no longer covered in bodily fluids. For some reason, she somehow does not smell all that terrible.

The doctor informs you that your body should start healing itself shortly. Then, he and the nurses gathered their things and left the palace.

Your daughter still cries but her cries are not as loud as when she came out. With your index finger you gently caress her cheek. You start to memorize her soft facial features, wandering how they will change as she grows up. Feeling your touch, the babies calms down. Her cries have turned into whimpers. You caress her white head of hair. You wander how it is so soft already. Her lashes are thick and long, it practically makes you jealous. But how can you be? This child - your child - your daughter - is perfect after all.

Seeing a bigger hand hold the baby’s head from behind bring you back from your moments bliss. Remembering that you are not alone, you look at your husband. He, just like you, has fallen in love at first sight. His little princess is here. Helheim’a crown princes has arrived. Snuggling up to him for a brief moment, you hand your child to her father. You make sure Hades knows how to hold her and which way is most comfort table to him.

Your body has begun to heal itself, but you cannot bring yourself to care right now. I’m your husband’s arms is your shared child. Her whimpers have stopped and she now coos here and there. Subconsciously, Hades starts to rock her. His purple eyes scan her entire being. It seems that with every glance, Hades falls more and more in love with her. Not caring about how she just came out of you, Hades brings his baby up to his face, and plants a feather like kiss on her head.

Who knew having a child with the one you love most can be this serene and euphoric?

Carefully, Hades releases on arm from under his daughter and brings you close. Your first family hug. Family. You and Hades and your baby, are a family. Kissing you on the lips, he thanks you for your blessing. Fate is on your side today because as soon as you and Hades pull away, your daughter opens her eyes - Purple. Just like her father. You are sure Hades could not love his child more than he does right now.

You both question what her personality will look like the more she develops. Would she be social like you or reserved like her father? Would she prefer reading over physical activities? These are the questions you two talk about. You child falls asleep in Hades’ arms. By now, you are fully healed. Hades gives his daughter one more kiss before putting her in her bassinet.

Hades scoops you in his arms and lays on the bed, placing you on top of him. Unlike with your baby, his hold on you is firm. He presses multiple kisses on your lips and face. When you look at him, his eyes are a tad bit brighter and wider.

“Sleep. I know you are healed but I’m sure it took a lot of you - to birth our daughter and to heal yourself.”

Just like how he did the baby, Hades rocks you to sleep. He watches as you follow your daughter’s footsteps. Just before you get lost in dream land though, he tells you, “I did not think I could love you more than I already do. But when you gave birth to our child, my love for you has bloomed a million times over.”

When you woke up the next morning, you find your husband holding the awake princess. Playing with her with a white owl in hand. In two years, it will become known as “Ow Ow”.

[loosesodamarble]

Omni luci est umbra Chapter 2: The Doe

Summary: Josele does a bit of work. It gets pretty messy but Josele doesn't mind. So long as Morgen doesn't find out about it. Genre: general, romance Word count: ~3000 Content warnings: usage of guns and knives, somewhat graphic depiction of violence Previous chapter | Next chapter (tbp)

..........

It was yet another normal day for Josele. One of going into work and helping those who needed help, correcting the mistakes people made, and generally doing her best with the skills she had. That morning hadn’t gone smoothly, what with Morgen leaving in a rush and thus skipping out on breakfast and the pot of coffee he left behind being worthless without sugar to add in. But Josele easily shrugged it off knowing that she and Morgen would likely be free to have lunch together and dinner at home was guaranteed.

Gravel crunched under sturdy boots as her brisk, confident footsteps carried Josele to her destination. Once Josele was inside, she could do what she did best.

The entrance of the building was a set of metal double doors, each with a small, rectangular window near where the two doors meant. They reminded Josele of the doors used for the buildings across her old high school’s campus. As she got closer, she noticed the windows had diagonal lines forming diamond shapes in the glass. Though, she couldn’t see into the windows as they were covered by paper.

What was that style of window called? Mutton? Josele shook her head. I think it was called muntin, actually.

Josele reached the doors, grabbed both by the handle, and turned the handles.

Interesting. One would think they’d lock the doors to this place, Josele mused as she swung the doors open.

A dingy yellow glow emanated from the lightbulbs in the entryway’s ceiling. At a glance, Josele knew some of the lightbulbs were dead, not that having all of them working would do much for the atmosphere. The walls of the room were completely bare and the paint job, white paint on concrete walls, was either left half done or it was peeling away. The flooring, too, was in a sorry state; it was impossible to tell if any given gray spot was a natural part of the tile’s pattern or if it was a scuff mark. The furniture around the room consisted of janky folded chairs, wood crates, oil drums, and old HVAC units. An open doorway in the back wall led to a stairwell.

The only thing giving the room any life were the people in the room.

Men. Six of them. Slacks with poorly fitted button-up shirts, tank tops paired with sweats, or just everyday streetwear were the outfits of choice for the men. One was in the middle of smoking a cigarette. Two were chatting over beer bottles. Another stood in a back corner and was on the phone. And the last two were looking at a magazine that Josele was certain she didn’t want to know the contents of.

In the second it took for Josele to take in the whole room, the men took notice of her.

“The hell?”

“Alright, who didn’t lock the damn door?!”

“Ya’ get lost in the area, lady? I don’t think ya’ belong in a place like this.”

Josele cocked her head to the side, grinned, and said, “I’m not lost. I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

Her answer finally made the men wary. Their looks of confusion hardened into glares.

“Gonna fight us all al—?”

Shrlk!

“Akh…”

Thmp.

Before the man—the one who had been smoking close to the double doors—could finish his sentence, a knife had been lodged into his throat courtesy of Josele.

“Holy shit!”

“Evander!”

“Damn you!”

The remaining men reached for guns they kept on their bodies. Meanwhile, Josele was already running towards the next two closest to her, the ones who’d been reading the seedy magazine. She targeted one with an upward kick to his hand.

Crack!

His hand flopped limply at the wrist, not broken beyond repair but definitely left useless for the time being. His firearm clattered to the floor.

At the same time, Josele grabbed the second man by the wrist, the same hand which held his gun, and forced him to point his gun at his ally.

Bang!

Josele grabbed the man’s other wrist while he was still reeling from his unintended kill. She twisted both of his arms behind his back until she heard the shoulders pop out of place and the man scream from the pain. With him incapacitated, Josele swung his body around, just in time to absorb the fire from the other three men. She dropped the man as he let out his last groans. Her attention turned to the rest of her targets.

Another cacophony of bangs rang out. None of the bullets made contact though. Josele, though, easily pivoted around the gunfire before rushing in close.

“She dodged them? H-how?!” one of the still living men said in a state of growing panic. “That’s not even—”

“Just keep shooting, dammit!”

The gunfire continued. Josele, too, kept going.

Josele closed in on the two men who’d been drinking together. She pulled a knife from the lining of each boot she wore and threw them. The blades struck the men in the hands they used to wield their firearms, making them drop the weapons. Then when she was close enough, Josele jumped into the air, as though she were aiming to leap over the two. That wasn’t her goal though. Rather, she pulled her knees up to her chest at the same time as she reached for the men’s outer shoulders. She grabbed the men and guided herself into kneeing both squarely in their noses.

The momentum sent the men stumbling toward the wall behind them. Before the men and she herself hit the wall, Josele swung her body forward so instead of her face, her feet made contact with the wall. She kicked off the surface and toward the final man. He was already running for the stairwell.

Josele rolled into her landing then sprinted after the man. As she ran, she pulled out a new knife, this time from a sheath attached to the back of her belt. She scaled up the steps and caught sight of her fleeing target as he seemed to be catching himself after ramming in a wall in his haste. That second was all she needed to throw her knife into his achilles tendon.

His scream only had a second to be heard before Josele had her hand over his mouth. Her fingers pressed into the sides of his face as she jerked the man’s neck simultaneously to swiping a blade— the same knife she’d thrown at his ankle was already removed to use again—through his flesh. Crimson blood flew, following after the motion of Josele’s arm, and splattered on the floor and wall. A low gurgling sound came from the man as Josele let him fall to the ground. The last embers of life left him like the blood that oozed from his neck.

No one else has come to confront me, Josele realized as she took the gun from the corpse. She’d traveled light for this mission but it wasn’t like she was going to not make use of everything at her disposal. Meaning that these goons were the only one’s here. Or maybe whoever else is upstairs didn’t hear.

Josele climbed the stairs. She stopped at the building’s second floor and swept it for any more enemies. Aside from a room storing weapons though, there wasn’t any danger present. Which left the third floor. On the third floor, there was a bathroom, a clean-looking sitting room where business deals would likely be discussed, and a third room that Josele still had to check.

She paused outside the door. A shadow briefly crossed the bottom gap of the door, moving to the side of the entrance where the door would swing towards once opened. Even if she hadn’t seen the shadow, Josele also heard the tap of footsteps and the rush of air being breathed by whoever was on the other side of the door.

They’re hoping the door will block my line of sight and make me susceptible to a sneak attack. How quaint. Josele eyed the frame of the door. I should have at least a centimeter of space between the door and the frame when I open it…

One moment to take a deep breath. Another moment to prep the “borrowed” gun for fire. And then, Josele turned the doorknob and pushed it open.

Bang!

“Gahk!”

Josele rushed into the room. She rounded the open door and came face-to-face with a woman, likely the same age as herself, with dirty blond hair pulled into a bun on the back of her hair. Her clothes were much nicer than that of the men who’d been there when Josele entered the building. Seems she got paid a bit more than the men Josele had already killed. The woman had a gun in one hand while her other was preoccupied with holding a wound in her side.

“How the hell did you—?”

“It doesn’t matter how I knew. What matters is that I was the one to get the drop on you,” Josele responded flatly. “Now—”

She stopped upon seeing the blonde raise her gun.

Bang!

Bang!

The bullet intended for Josele was intercepted by one fired by Josele, and both clinked on the floor. For good measure, Josele shot the woman’s hand holding her firearm. The woman let out a scream which drowned out the sound of her gun hitting the floor. The momentum of the gun being thrown from the blonde’s hand caused it to slide further behind the woman. If the blonde wanted her gun, she’d need to turn her back to Josele to make a lunge for it. And if she did that, she was as good as dead and she knew it.

Josele watched as her opponent’s eyes went wide, from shock and fear. That was always a good sign.

“You’re Artemis, a high ranking member of the Cortrell Family, aren’t you?” Josele asked, as if the shoot off never occurred.

The blonde. said nothing and grit her teeth.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Josele stepped forward and “Artemis” stepped back. The slow, quiet chase was put to an end when “Artemis’s” back finally hit the wall behind her. Josele grinned at the sight of her prey cornered.

“Now let me introduce myself.” Josele touched her hand to her chest. “You may call me Diana. Ironic, isn’t it? The Roman and Greek names of the same deity facing off. But the difference between us made this a rather unfair match.”

The space between the women shrunk until “Artemis” was in arm’s reach of Josele.

“I’m actually disappointed by how boring this whole mission was,” Josele stated with a sigh and tired smile. “A three story building and several rooms but all I got to face were some unskilled grunts and an equally unskilled higher associate. You seem less like a mafia family and more like some ragtag thugs posing as mafia.”

“Artemis” let out an indignant growl then spat at Josele, “Quit it with the speech. Just kill me if that’s your job.”

For a moment, Josele said nothing but let out another sigh.

“It’s true that I’m here to kill you. But I was told to at least attempt interrogating you first. So!” Josele shot her open hand forward and grabbed “Artemis” by her throat. “Why don’t you answer some questions for me?”

“Artemis” wheezed as she clawed at Josele’s arm with her bloody hands. Josele, however, gave no reaction to her desperation.

“Tell me, “Artemis,” do any of these names sound familiar? Nash. Shirley. Kariya. Nadia. Marie.” With each name Josele whispered, the wider “Artemis’s” eyes grew. “So you are familiar with them! Wonderful! Now can you tell me where your organization of scumbags has taken them?”

“I don’t know,” “Artemis” choked out. “My crew just collec—Ack!”

Josele’s grip grew tighter. In response, “Artemis” squirmed, very weakly but the effort alone was commendable.

“Try again. Tell me where—”

The sound of a piano suddenly playing cut Josele off. It was her phone. And the particular ringtone playing belonged to her husband.

“Hold on just a moment,” Josele told “Artemis” before releasing her grip on the other woman. However, she didn’t give “Artemis” long to breathe easy and quickly raised her leg and pinned her to the wall with a foot to her neck. She brought her phone out, hit the button to answer, and put the phone to her ear.

[“Morning, my dearest sweetheart!”]

“Hiya honey!” Josele practically chirped her reply, feeling her heart flutter from the sound of Morgen’s angelic voice. But then she remembered where she was and panic spiked in her. “What’s with the sudden call? Are you picking me up to go out for lunch today?”

[“Unfortunately not. I’ll be staying at the workplace for the rest of the day,”] answered Morgen; he laughed but it was hollow. [“And don’t you think about guilt tripping me about not taking you for lunch after skipping breakfast, I feel guilty enough as it is.”]

Josele’s shoulders relaxed and she giggled. Morgen was so cute the way he worried about disappointing her.

“Morgen, I wasn’t going to guilt trip you,” Josele reassured him. “I’m actually relieved you aren’t coming to pick me up.”

[“Oh?”]

“I’m out running errands,” Josele quickly said. It wasn’t a total lie but it wasn’t entirely the truth either. “And I don’t want you coming home to me not be—”

“Urk!” “Artemis let out a weak sound as she continued to choke but Josele knew instinctively that it would’ve been loud enough for Morgen to hear “Koff!” The cough was even louder.

[“Josie, is everything okay over there?”]

I’m fine but this situation isn’t great, Josele thought as she resisted the urge to groan. “Not entirely?” Josele glared at “Artemis.” She should’ve been more clear and told the woman to keep quiet. “Seems like someone’s struggling to breathe. They might pass out by the looks of it.”

[“You better grab help then!”] Ever the kind soul, Morgen was worried about a total stranger without knowing how much the person didn’t deserve his sympathy. [“Actually, hang up and call medical services!”]

“Y-yeah, I should,” Josele replied as she pressed her foot more firmly on “Artemis’s” throat. “Artemis” began to pale as she lost more air. “At least I know how to resuscitate if need be…”

[“My heart…”] Morgen’s concerned voice came through after a second. [“I beg of you, don’t volunteer to resuscitate the person if they need it. Remember, last time you did it for me, you broke one of my ribs…”]

Josele cringed at the memory. She really hadn’t meant to be so rough with Morgen but she was desperate to save her husband.

“But Morgen,” Josele started, doing her best to keep her voice steady. “It’s not uncommon for ribs to break when performing chest compressions on someone.”

[“Mmm… Still… Better not to risk it. I’ll hang up and let you call help now.”]

Josele had no plans to call for help. But Morgen hanging up was ideal at the moment.

“Right then. Goodbye, my love.”

[“Goodbye, my precious heart…”]

The second the call ended, Josele removed her foot from “Artemis’s” throat and spun on her leg to kick the side of the woman’s head. “Artemis” cried out in pain as she was thrown to the floor. She was bleeding from the head, but still alive.

“You should’ve kept quiet and not ruined the moment I had with my husband,” Josele hissed. “But I’ll forgive that mistake if you tell me what I want to know.” Josele locked her gaze on her victim and cocked her head to the side. “So? What’ll it be?”

After that, “Artemis” spilled everything she knew. The names of her associates, the addresses of their hideouts, and where the kidnapped children were being taken. Josele made sure every detail of “Artemis’s” confession was recorded on the second, work-related phone she carried on her person.

It only took a chop to the throat to knock out “Artemis.” Josele was then free to call her boss.

“Hello, Dis— I mean, Miss Vampire. It’s me.” As Josele talked, she combed her fingers through her mussed hair. She’d need to clean herself up properly when she got home.

[“I assume that my favorite assassin is calling because the mission is already done.”]

“Yeah.” Josele set her phone to speaker and put it on the floor. “I got the info we were looking for. I already sent the voice recording.” She peeled off her plain, long-sleeved shirt to reveal a floral-patterned blouse being worn underneath. “I’ve still got ‘Artmetis’ alive if you want a more thorough interrogation though.” She wiggled her boots off and pulled down her pants.

[“I’ll send the clean up crew to collect her and tidy up your mess.”]

Josele pouted. “Hey! It’s not my fault that killing is naturally very dirty!” She kicked off her blood-stained cargo pants to be left in skinny jeans. “Oh, by the way, I’m leaving a bit of laundry behind.”

[“You can do your own laundry, I know you can!”] The voice on the other side of the call laughed before taking on a serious tone again. [“But I suppose stains like those would arouse suspicion. And someone as innocent as your husband could never know the truth, huh?”]

Josele’s chest felt tight at the mention of Morgen. Josele took pride in her work, removing filth and protecting the innocents of the city. But she still felt guilty on some level because she was something she could never share with Morgen.

Morgen, her bright-as-the-sun husband. Her shining beacon. Her tender, loving other half. The one part of her life that was normal.

Morgen worked at a hospital and saved lives as a doctor. He helped the vulnerable and suffering as a natural instinct of his. He did it all from giving medical advice to performing in-depth surgeries. His patients adored him and his gentle manner of approaching topics as scary as disease and he was called a hero by the people whose lives he’d saved in the past. His colleagues also praised his earnest work ethic. And that kindness of his was needed in a world as troubled as the one he and Josele lived in.

As for Josele, she would commit whatever violence was needed of her. Death was left in her wake as she reaped evil while Morgen nurtured life and goodness. Josele vowed that her dark path was for the sake of Morgen’s light.

[katyawriteswhump]

WIP ask game: You've built it up and now I HAVE to know more about your Power of Love fic. I love long fics too much not to ask!

I am so very sorry! I thought I answered this Tuesday, but actually saved it as a draft. Whoops!

Also, thank you soooo much for asking :) Not sure about building up, I was being pretty honest with the 'deeply unbeloved' but I guess I still kinda love it. I really hope to finish it soon in a satisfying way for those who stuck with me, as I've had it planned out for ages.

It's basically s4 fix-it fic. Steve saves Eddie and they go on the run from the police etc. together with Robin. Meanwhile Steve develops mysterious powers, though ones that come with a price...

If anybody is interested, the full fic so far is on tumblr here and on AO3 here.

Excerpt:

“You sure about this, Stevie?”

“What part of ‘let’s do this’ do you not get?” 

Steve unwinds himself from Eddie. He peels his sweater over his head then glances down at the bandages… Screw it, can’t worry about scars now.

“Damn,” breathes Eddie, apparently drooling too hard to care. “I totally dreamed about this, when I luuuuurved to hate you. Okay, hate is kinda overkill but—”

“Yeah, I was a douche. Blah, blah, blah.” Steve shivers lightly, pitches the sweater at Eddie, who totally fails to catch it. “If this is some freak show revenge kink—”

“Wasn’t like that—seriously, you have no idea. It was, uh…” Eddie ventures closer. Under the rays of the flashlight, his dark eyes seem impossibly large and liquid. “I used to watch you in the pool—you were so disgustingly squeaky clean. I wanted to drag you into the deepest, darkest recesses of my dungeon-master mind and, ahem…”

“I needed bringing down a peg?” Steve gets right in Eddie’s face.

“Not even that.” Eddie’s deadly serious. “Just wanted you aaaaall for myself.”

Steve smirks—best way to disguise the candy-ass swirl of butterflies in his belly—then steps back and spreads his arms. “I’m all yours. Knock yourself out.”

Eddie gets some rope, hooks it over a high beam, and climbs on a crate to fasten it in place. He then plants a palm on Steve’s bare chest, backing him up against a wooden post. Steve smirks harder than ever, if only to distract himself—and Eddie—from the heart hammering insanely beneath Eddie’s hand. Jesus Christ, don’t think! Focus on the hotness.

Eddie reaches up to grab an end of the rope and loops it around one of Steve’s wrists. Steve tugs himself free: “You do know what you’re doing here, right?”

“Believe me, my uncle is worse than any overgrown boy-scout leader. Not sure he taught me knots and shit for exactly these purposes, but… anyhoo.”

“Okay. Got one condition. You get shirtless too.”

Eddie’s grin makes Steve ache in all sorts of fun places. “Guess I can indulge you, Babe.”

“Babe? I was a brat five minutes ago. Make yer mind up.”

Eddie flips the bird, turns away and strips. Steve lolls against the post, longing to drag his tongue over every salty inch of Eddie’s torso. Jesus, he never knew he had a shoulder and back kink, because… Gnnng! And those tats, stark against Eddie’s pale skin? As Eddie turns back, Steve drinks them all in. Even the goddamn bats, which should be scary as hell these days, are beyond intoxicating, and seem to dance and spin and…

“Ready now?” Eddie grabs the rope.

Steve fakes a yawn. “Getting old waiting, Munson.” 

“You really are a brat, you know that? C’mon, gimme your hand.”

Eddie ties Steve’s right wrist with a loopy, hitchy knot. He tugs another part of the rope, suspending Steve’s wrist in the air above him.

“How ya doing, big boy?” Eddie grazes his fingers, feather-light, down the light stubble on Steve’s cheek.

“Never better.” 

Steve swallows hard, offers Eddie his other hand. The exquisite concentration on Eddie’s face, the tip of pink tongue at the corner of his mouth, is hilarious. Eddie’s half-naked body is totally smokin’, and yet…

Steve’s eyes drift closed. Those butterflies in his stomach are fast transforming into a horde of angry wasps. He’s had his hands tied before, by the Soviets and… Dammit, is this really distracting him from anything? I DIED IN 1978. I DIED! His breaths come faster, shallower. Nevertheless, he bites his lip against asking Eddie to stop, to slow down even. Don’t spoil this, Harrington.

“Steve, you sure you’re okay?”

As soon as his gaze meets Eddie’s, Steve’s anxiety fades a little, and he nods. He tugs lightly at Eddie’s handiwork, now complete, and a snigger he genuinely feels tugs the corner of his lips. While the ropes don’t dig in, he doesn’t think he could easily yank himself free.

Okay, this is definitely kinda hot. Like the channel of air between their bare chests, which honestly, steams like a sauna. He’s always been in control in sexual relationships, always taking the lead. Lately, yeah, it’s felt kinda dull almost, as if he’s been going through the motions. Now, his nerves still jangle, but simply losing himself again in Eddie’s soulful eyes, he’s getting a goddamn semi. He peeps down, and the strain at Eddie’s fly suggests he’s suffering the same.

“What you gonna do next, Munson?” he husks.

“Stevie, I… I…” Eddie steps back, plows all eight fingers deep into that lush hair. “Seriously, now I got you like this, I have no clue, other than I want to kiss you so bad.”

“I want that so bad too.” 

Eddie kisses his own knuckles, dusts them across Steve’s lips, setting Steve squirming, keening even. His heart and his every goddamn fibre strain madly toward Eddie. Then an unexpected rumbling noise clamps those same fibres super-tight.

“Shit!” Eddie’s half-lidded eyes stretch wide. “More choppers?” 

“No… No. Sounds like a truck or something.”

...

(so, this is one of my favourite bits, among the heavy, heavy angst... maybe not representative of the whole thing, but perhaps there'll be more like this to wind things up... it doesn't not fit with my story plan ;))

AO3 link

[onecinder]

Genos's Hero Guide by Saitama

DISCLAIMER: Caped Baldy was requested by the H.A. to write what he knew of his.... disciple/roommate/best friend (as insisted upon by Demon Cyborg) into the format of the Hero Guidebook. Therefore, information might be biased, or a lack of knowledge may be found as it is nigh impossible for them to be that close...

Demon Cyborg Genos

Full Name: Genos

Hero rank: S Class, Rank 14 (Yknow, as much as it is unfair, I’m kinda proud of the kid. Maybe following me around all this time did do something after all, heh.

Age: angsty, emo, brooding teen 19

Gender: Male (There are some rude ppl who keep speculating about what’s down there, and I wish I could shut them all up. It doesn’t matter what’s down there, so long as he feels like a male. Having a blank metal sheet for a crotch doesn’t make him any less of a guy, damnit!)

Race: Human/cyborg (He’s is so adamant about calling himself nonhuman but he IS, he’s just a stubborn brat.)

Height: 178 cm (Why is a literal teenager physically superior to me in every way?!)

Weight: Heavy. Really heavy. I should know, cause I carry his broken body around a lot.

Residence: …Always near me. By near, I mean five feet away or a well-drilled hole in the wall away. Somehow he always finds his way back to me despite me kicking him out? I don’t get it??

Overview

Um, I don’t really know what to write here. I guess he’s a cyborg looking to avenge his family or something. He used to be really angry, but not so much anymore. I’m glad. The kid doesn’t deserve all the bad stuff that’s happened to him.

I’ve had a pretty gross glimpse inside his head after hanging around to see his repairs with Kuseno (I wasn’t THAT worried, okay, I was JUST CURIOUS) – but hey, no biggie, I’ve been splattered with monster guts more times than I can count. Anyway, I’m preeetty sure the only non-metal thing he’s got is his brain.

I asked him once, why he gave up so much. (And of course, he took it way too seriously, heh.) He said Kuseno could actually save him without turning him into a cyborg, but he chose to, to have a chance at defeating the Mad Cyborg.

I couldn’t break it to him that he should have believed in himself and trained till his hair fell out in order to defeat it. I couldn’t break it to him after seeing him spend most of his days following me around like a damn puppy that… he probably won’t ever get as strong as me in a modified body like that.

Personal Life

Personality: Yknow, he’s pretty clingy for a killing machine. But I’ve seen him fight and while he kinda loses all the time, it’s still pretty cool. He’s very aggressive and never gives up on his opponent. I’m proud of him.

I’m also proud of him for not immediately obliterating monsters who can’t fight back. He’s brutal, but not merciless. Even though he’s made of metal and wire, he’s probably more human than me…

Still, he should really chill sometimes. He’s very… passionate. Sometimes I gotta hold him back before he incinerates someone for calling me a baldy. (I should punch him for calling me sensei. But he’s my best friend just a harmless, cute kid, so I’ll allow it.)

Background

Yeah, Genos doesn’t really like talking about it. I should’ve listened more the first time. All I know is that he had a family, they were poor, and they got killed by some monster called the Mad Cyborg. 

I asked him a couple times what he planned to do after he defeated it, but he says he doesn’t have any plans. Honestly, this kind of worries me, because if you dreamed about killing your arch-nemesis wouldn’t you dream about how nice your life would be after it was dead? 

Anyway, it’s great to have a dream for someone as young as him. I guess I’ll stick around, just long enough to make sure the kid doesn’t get himself killed.

Hero Activity

He kind of just disappears for a lot of the day, I dunno what he’s really up to. Fighting monsters and saving people, I guess. Attending big shot S-Class meetings. All that jazz. Without me. (Cue eye roll.)

He’s probably one of the only heroes who actually cares about the stuff that’s being destroyed during fights. He has a good heart. A little creepy though. Do you know he camped outside my apartment, stole my french fry and stalked me before turning up at my doorstep???

Anyway, when he gets home he usually does chores (I know what it looks like but I’m not using him as a slave, okay? I tried to get him to lay off so I could do something useful, but he’s too fucking nice. He needs to learn to set boundaries and learn that people aren’t gonna be as cool as me.) but sometimes if he’s feeling tired he’ll just sit at the desk immediately and stare like a zombie into our laptop. It’s like he’s glued for the next couple hours. What the heck is he doing on there?

Typical teenager.

Fighting style: He’s fast and aggressive, I guess? He’s also pretty feisty but I gotta say, he’s an overthinker. He should stop overanalysing everything and just punch. He’s obsessed with ‘collecting data’, whatever that means.

Dr. Kuseno gives him cool new functions he gets every other week. Like, razor blades in his arms, a flashing core, jets from his hands and feet, lightning cannons, explosives… he’s just. Really cool. And hot. I’m jealous. Why is he so hot?! It’s pretty decent.

He acts like a total teenager, though. He treats his arm sets like a wallet-breaking wardrobe. He has one of those too…

Abilities: Um, Genos doesn’t want me to reveal much. He says that… uh, just let me quote this… “Disclosing such information publicly on a hero’s strengths and weaknesses could potentially sabotage and endanger lives if ending up in the wrong hands.”

Well, you know what I call? BULLSHIT. He’s fucking testing me. I’m his mentor, I should KNOW STUFF. BUT I DON’T. FUCK, that's embarrassing! I have to recall my student memorisation days, cmon, Saitama, think!

• Incineration Cannon

He fires off shots from his hands that burn things! He also uses them to dry our dishes!

• Machine Gun Blows

Oh this one I remember because he named it after one of my moves – Consecutive Normal Punches – so I take full credit. Basically, it’s just a bunch of rapid punches, but cyborg-ified.

(I totally didn’t base Consecutive Normal Punches off a fighting game. But just so you know, it’s a combo move that doesn’t let enemies regen their health.)

• Core

I fucking hate this mechanic and the Doctor should never have built him with this. The kid can use it to self-destruct. How fucked up is that?!!Genos told me it’s his heart. That’s why when we fight together I always protect his chest first.

***

Here's Saitama's version on ao3 if you want to check out an incredibly biased Genos perspective: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56358436/chapters/143194537

[sallow-tales]

Strong and Sweet – Garreth Weasley x GN!Reader

Summary: Modern coffee shop AU; The ever lovely Garreth Weasley catches your eye from behind the counter of your local cafe. Pure fluff.

A/n: Once I got this idea into my head, it would not leave, so here we are. It's been edited, but only lightly. This is genuinely the longest fic I've ever written, I'm usually a sucker for short and sweet, but not in this case. I'm pretty sure this is gender neutral, but once again let me know if you catch a mistake. Also, the topic of the paper is incredibly self indulgent. With love, your friendly neighborhood anthro major <3

Word Count: 2897

You let out a sigh, fingers pressing almost painfully to your temples as you stared at the screen in front of you. You’d been trying to write this damned essay for hours, but the words didn’t seem to want to get out of your brain and onto the page. Not to mention that nearly every potential source you found was useless to you for one reason or another. 

The article currently open on your computer began to swim in front of your eyes, words blurring together as you tried to read them. As much as you wished you could take a break, you’d procrastinated this paper for far longer than you should have, and you were now to the point of questioning if you’d even be able to get it done before the due date. The due date, you realized, that was now only six hours away. Why’d your professor have to be special and make things due at 10pm on a Tuesday, instead of midnight on a Sunday like a normal person?

Dragging yourself out of your train of thought took more effort than you’d have liked as you once again tried to read through someone else’s science. You were slightly more successful this time, but once you’d gotten through the next three paragraphs, you let out a frustrated groan. There was no sense to this study–it ignored nearly all precedent and was trying to test a theory that anyone with common sense would know to be impossible. 

You slammed your computer shut in mild frustration and closed your eyes, taking a breath to calm yourself down, only for your meditation attempt to be interrupted by a familiar voice. 

“Careful now, doll. If you get much more frustrated you might start throwing things, and as much as I love having you here, I’d hate having to clean that up.” Your eyes open and you glance up to look at the redheaded boy standing over you

Your face relaxes as your gaze lands on him. You couldn’t be stressed when he was smiling at you like that.

The two of you had first met in this very coffee shop at the beginning of the term–him behind the register and you desperately needing some caffeine to get through your first week of classes.

“Give me something strong,” you’d said when you walked up, and he’d given you a playful salute in response.

“Yes ma’am, one americano coming right up.” 

His playful demeanor and charming smile had you grinning right back at him despite your exhaustion. When he’d handed you your drink, though, you couldn’t hide the grimace that crossed your face. You needed the caffeine, but boy did you hate the bitter taste that it left on your tongue.

“You should have told me you didn’t like it straight when I took your order.” You weren’t expecting to hear his voice and you looked back at him.

“I’m sorry?”

“You asked for something strong, but you didn’t have to take my first suggestion if you knew it wasn’t something you’d enjoy. Tell me what sorts of flavors you like and I can make you something you’ll actually drink.” You could tell he was eager to make you something new, though you weren’t sure if he actually wanted you to like it or if he just wanted to show off; either way, you rattled off your usual order, and some likes and dislikes, answering his questions when he asked and before you knew it you had a brand new cup in front of you.

This time when you took a sip, you practically moaned. It was spectacular. “How the hell did you do that? I don’t think I’ve ever had something this good in my life.”

His cheeky grin widened. “What can I say, I’m great at what I do. Though if you’d told me from the get-go that you like it strong and sweet, I could have just given you my number and been done with it.” His wink that followed sent flames through your cheeks and you’d turned your head to try and hide them.

Despite his flirtatious remark upon your initial meeting, nothing more had ever happened. Well, except for you developing one of the biggest crushes you think you’ve ever had in your entire life.

Against your better judgment (and to the chagrin of your wallet), you found yourself back in that cafe nearly every single day, always hoping to see his green eyes glittering at you from across the room. You knew the crush was stupid, but you didn’t blame yourself for it. How could you? It wasn’t your fault he was so ridiculously charming, and handsome, and kind. Nor was it your fault that he somehow always seemed to know exactly the drink you needed for your current mood–after that first day, you’d never had him hand you something unsavory again… well, at least that was intended to be enjoyable.

Every once in a while you’d come in during a particularly slow spell, when there was no one else around and Garreth–alongside his coworkers–were clearly extremely bored. It was days like these when you’d get to try his little experiments.

You’d see him furrow his brow, deep in thought, and then wander from place to place in the store, tossing various syrups, powders, and milks together in incredibly interesting combinations. Yes, interesting was definitely the word to describe them; sometimes they were spectacular, but other times… not so much.

“Oh my god, Gar, this is absolutely disgusting.” 

He had called you over a few moments prior, insisting you try his most recent mixture. You didn’t know what was in it, but it wasn’t good. It was almost slimy in texture, and the flavor certainly left something to be desired. Through your wince, you saw the twinkle in his eye. The bastard knew it wasn’t going to be good but he had you try it anyway.

Attempting to hide the grin that threatened to poke through, his face had twisted into a look of mock betrayal. “How could you say such a thing? I poured my heart and soul into this. You wound me, love.”

Your heart had nearly stopped at the nickname but you did your best to play it off, grinning at him. “Well, perhaps you should pour a little less of it next time, that might help with the texture issue.” He’d scoffed at you playfully, and the memory of his playful expression is still one of your favorites.

His expression was eerily similar as he stood beside your little table, eying the books you had spread about from your research. 

“Garreth! I didn’t realize you were here, I never saw you walk in.”

He chuckled. “I’ve been here for hours. I would’ve said hello earlier, but you looked focused and I didn’t want to bother you. However,” he paused, “it was about time for my break and I noticed you looked only inches away from violence, so I figured I should come intervene. Distract you with my relentless charm and all that.” His grin was contagious, and you found yourself smiling fondly at him.

“You should well know by now that I’m a pacifist,” you quipped back. “Violence would never be my first reaction. You wouldn’t have anything to worry about until after I’ve wallowed in self despair for at least 30 minutes.” He sat down in the chair opposite you and it’s not until he placed the cup and plate on the surface in front of you that you realized he’d been holding them. “What’s this?”

“A refill, and some sustenance. Figured you could use them, based on the fact that I haven’t seen you move in the entire time I’ve been here.” Your heart gives a little squeeze at the gesture as you take in the items. He had, in fact, brought you another coffee and the pastry that he by now knew to be your favorite.

“I can’t accept this, Garreth. I didn’t pay for them.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on the house. Don’t bother resisting, you know I won’t stop pestering you until you’ve eaten.” 

You relented with a sigh, taking a bite. “Happy now?” you mumbled.

He smirked at you. “Happier. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s frustrating you so much. Maybe clearing your mind of it will help you make some progress.”

You proceeded to rant to the ginger about the articles you’d been reading, the roadblocks you’d been encountering, and the various other issues you’d been having.

“I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to have some common sense, y’know? It’s not so hard to realize ‘Hey, perhaps if you can’t sex an individual via this bone without population specific numbers, perhaps we shouldn’t try to sex an individual of an entirely different species.’ You’d think that’d be easy!” Garreth nodded along, a small smile playing at his lips. “And this one!” you gestured to an article on your computer, which you’d reopened part-way through your rant to show him evidence of your problems, “in this one, they try and argue that grave goods can be used to accurately sex an individual, which might be fine in some populations, but it’s a know fact that gender and sex variance is a common occurrence in this population.”

You finally paused to take a breath, and you realized that you didn’t really have much more to say. “And… and yeah that’s about it actually. There you have it.” You glanced up at his face, mildly surprised by the expression he harbored. It seemed to be a combination of amusement and… fondness?

“I do hope you know I don’t know what any of that means. Do you feel better though?” He rested his chin on his hand, hair falling just slightly in front of his face.

You immediately nodded in response. “Yeah, actually. Loads. Thanks.”

“My pleasure, love. Now, I do believe my break is over, so I should get back to it, but good luck on your paper. I believe in you.” A wink was sent in your direction before he turned and walked back behind the counter, deftly tying his apron behind his back.

With that, you dove back into writing. You were almost surprised at how much easier the words came to you now that you’d gotten all the swirling irritations out of your brain–before you knew it, you’d surpassed the page minimum, wrapped up all your thoughts, and read through it a few times to make sure there weren’t any errors. Thoroughly pleased with your work, you grinned and threw your hands up. “I’m done!” You turned your head around, searching for the smile Garreth was surely throwing in your direction. You weren’t surprised to find you were correct. “And with…” you turned back to check the time, “45 minutes to spare!”

Wait a second…

45 minutes to spare… that meant that it was 9:15. You turned to glare accusingly at Garreth.

“Don’t you guys close at 9?”

He shrugged noncommittally. “Technically, yeah. I was supposed to kick you out 15 minutes ago. But you looked so focused and I could tell you were close to done. I didn’t wanna be the reason you lost your stride. Besides,” his usual cocky grin came back to his face. “I’m not sure you could rob this place if you tried.”

The boy turned back to mopping the floor, ignoring your huffed “hey” in response. You began packing up your belongings in a hurry, trying to get out of his hair as quickly as possible. Despite your efforts, though, he had still managed to finish closing before you were completely ready to go. 

“I’m so sorry Gar, I really should have been paying closer attention to the time. I didn’t mean to be an imposition.” You rushed the words out as you exited the building in front of him. His only response at first was a small huff of amusement.

His words came a minute later as he turned back to lock the door to the building behind him. “As if you could ever be an imposition. Any time spent in your presence is time well spent.” You couldn’t even begin to process what those words meant as you took in the parking lot, empty except for one single car. A string of curses swiftly left your lips. If you’d thought yourself stupid earlier when you struggled to write your paper, it was nothing compared to how stupid you’d felt in that moment.

You’d completely forgotten that you’d taken the bus today. And in your time-blindness, you’d also forgotten that the bus stopped running at 8.

You glanced over at Garreth beside you, and let out a frustrated sigh at his barely concealed laughter. He knew that you sometimes took the bus, and by the lack of car in the parking lot belonging to you, it hadn’t taken him more than a moment to figure out what was going on.

“Don’t look so down, it’s not like I’d let you walk. Get in the car.” You immediately began protesting, not wanting to burden him any more than you already had this evening. “It wasn’t a question, get in the car. It’s too far back to campus for you to walk during the day, let alone at night. I’d be the world’s biggest asshole if I let a pretty individual walk home alone after dark. Get in.”

You conceded with a sigh, walking around to the passenger side door. “You think I’m pretty?” you grinned, trying to joke away the nerves you felt at getting in his car.

Sure, you’d become pretty close throughout the term, but your interactions had always, always been limited to that building. And now here you were, getting into a car with the guy you’d been crushing on for months. 

“If you’re just now noticing, then maybe you’re dumber than I gave you credit for,” came his snarky reply. He got in the car and grinned at you over the console. You hoped he couldn’t see your cheeks turn red in the dark. His gaze held yours for a beat too long and you looked away nervously. He cleared his throat before starting the car. “Where to?”

You directed him to your place, basking comfortably in the silence of the car in between instructions. Against your better efforts, though, you also found yourself staring at him. It was such an odd thing to find attractive, you thought, but the sight of him driving made your heart do a flip. 

You were admiring how his gentle features looked under the red of a stoplight when he turned to glance at you and caught you. “See something you like?” 

“And what if I do?” You replied, lips quirking into a smile. You had no idea where this bold streak came from, but you weren’t complaining. He didn’t reply immediately, focused on turning into the parking lot of your building. He parked, and then turned to you. 

“I’m less concerned about the ‘what if you do’s and more concerned about the ‘what if you don’t’s if I’m being honest.” Your face twisted slightly in confusion as you tried to decipher his meaning.

“I- what? I don’t understand.” Stumbling over your words, it took you far longer than it should have to realize how much closer he’d gotten to you. 

“What I mean,” he said lowly, his voice barely above a whisper, “is that if you don’t, you need to tell me now because otherwise I’m about to do something really really stupid.”

Oh. Oh.

“Oh,” you said in reply. “I see.” You wet your lips nervously but didn’t move away from him, your gaze flickering between his eyes and his lips. “Well, there’s not really a good way to know if it’s stupid or not until you’ve done it.”

Apparently that was all the approval he needed, because the next thing you knew his lips were on yours and his hand was cupping the back of your neck and a low whine sounded in the back of your throat. This was happening. Oh my god this was happening.

He pulled back after a moment, panting just slightly. He was nervous, you realized. You’d almost never seen him nervous before, but right now, in this moment, you were sure that’s what the expression on his face was. 

You let out a soft giggle that apparently eased his nerves, causing him to break out into a wide smile and tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “Well, was it as stupid as I thought it was?”

“Verdict is still out,” you said with a grin. “I’ll have to let you know tomorrow. You work?” 

“Same time as usual, yeah.” He chuckled at the smile on your face as you unbuckled yourself from the car. 

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to let you know then. And maybe after you’re out, we could go get dinner or something. If the jury rules in your favor, that is.” You grin at him over your shoulder as you get out of the car.

The last thing Garreth sees as he pulls out of your lot is you pressing your fingers softly against your own lips, grinning like an idiot. And though he’d never admit it, in his head he was doing the same.

[enha-hype]

maeumi & me - ch 21 : something love

a/n : this chapter alternates between written parts and tweets/texts so be sure to read them in order!

w.c. : around 1.5k

Even though Jungwon brushed off Jake's concerns, the truth is that the pain is starting to really bother him now. But he doesn't want to trouble anyone and besides, it isn't so bad that it's unbearable, so he decides to just put up with it until the morning when he could go buy himself some pain relievers. The late nights and work stress must be getting to him. He presses his fingers to his temples, massaging himself, which helps a little. He puts on some light music and leans back against the couch, closing his eyes and hoping to maybe fall asleep, but to no avail. It's partly because of the pain and partly because his mind is still buzzing with the image of you from earlier in the evening – the way your eyes lit up upon seeing him, your wide grin that made his heart skip a beat, the way you complained that you had missed him in an almost accusatory tone like you somehow knew he'd been avoiding you on purpose...

His thoughts are interrupted by Maeumi licking his ankle. Smiling, he bends down to scratch his ears. “Oh hi Maeumi, what's this you've got here?”

You don't know why, but you find it hard to not smile every time your phone pings with a text message from Jungwon. Especially since they've been a rare occurrence these past few days.

Won : Why is Maeumi suddenly so determined on bringing me every sock he can find?

You chuckle, thinking about all the times Maeumi's done that with you as well, ever so diligently. And then you remember why he does it and frown.

You : He used to do it with me whenever I was sick or upset about something.... Are you okay, Won?

Won : Ahhh

A couple of minutes pass and there's no other reply.

You : Won???

Won : Hi sorry. Um, would you believe me if I told you that I'm completely fine and he just started doing it out of nowhere?

Nonetheless, that is so freaking sweet 😩 I feel all warm knowing he cares about me enough to want me to feel better (even though I'm fine, really). I thought I was just some dude he liked hanging out with but he's truly accepted me 🥹

You : 1) Nope I don't believe you one bit

2) I think he accepted you long back when he marked his territory by peeing on your carpet

He chuckles, absentmindedly massaging his throbbing forehead. The light from the phone screen makes it worse but he wants to talk to you.

Won : Damn Y/n, you didn't even hesitate 💀 So it's his bark word over mine huh? 😔

And lmao yayy me

You : In certain matters I trust Maeumi more and it's not surprising as to why – you were lying, weren't you?

Won : Okay yeah but it's just a little headache so I was practically right

Ugh, how did it not strike you earlier? You were so happy to see him that you didn't even pause to question why he was home on a weekday. Or how tired he had looked.

You : Is it bad? Did you try taking any painkillers?

Won : Nahh, it's nothing really. And no, I ran out of Ibuprofen like a month ago and forgot to restock lol. But it's fine like I said, I can hardly feel it.

You : You want me to believe that you took a day off over nothing? Really Won?? Fine have you had your dinner at least?

Won : Umm I'm not really hungry rn

You : It's pretty late, you should still eat something

Won : I'll feel nauseous if I eat

You : Alright that's it

When you didn't say anything else after that last message, Jungwon just assumed you had gotten tired of trying to be helpful while he dismissed all your questions, and had gone on to do other work that was actually important. The last thing he expected was for you to show up at his door.

And yet here you are, less than 10 minutes later. Jungwon stands in the doorway gaping at you. You wait for a while, and when it doesn't seem like he's going to unfreeze anytime soon you decide to just let yourself in.

It's impossible not to smile when you hear the tap tap tap of Maeumi's paws hitting the floor as he comes running to greet you, wagging his fluffy little tail excitedly. “Hi babieee!” You crouch down to pet him and let him lick you to his heart's content, because God knows he's not gonna calm down until you give him the attention he needs.

You sneak a glance at Jungwon and gosh, there's that confused bunny face again. It's so insanely cute you want to walk over to him and squish his cheeks. Your cheeks turn red at the thought, and you immediately brush it away. Straightening up, you head to the kitchen. You fill a glass with water and walk back to Jungwon, handing it to him along with the Ibuprofen you'd brought with you.

“I've ordered Jjajangmyeon for the both of us, it'll be here in ten,” you announce as you turn towards the kitchen again, with both Jungwon and Maeumi trailing behind this time.

“Wha– what are you doing?”

You fill the kettle with water halfway through. “Making chamomile tea. It helps with headaches,”

“You came all the way here at 10.30 pm for this when you have an assignment due tomorrow???” His eyes are wide with incredulity.

Seriously? He's not well and your stupid assignment is what he's worried about? “The assignment can wait. You clearly don't know how to take care of yourself because at this rate you'll only end up making the pain much worse,”

“I can take care of myself just fine! I am fine!!” he protests, trying to take the kettle from you.

“Sure, you look it Won. Those dark circles and your ghastly pale complexion are truly the epitome of pink health,” you retort and he sulks. You have to resist the urge to smile because God, why is he so adorable? “Now come here,” you grab him by his arm and drag him back to the living room. The contact makes his skin tingle, and he tries not to give it too much thought. “No moving from here until I say so,” you sit him down on the couch and head back to get the tea ready, ignoring his whines of protest.

After dinner, he assures you that he’s feeling better already. He tells you he’ll be fine if you leave, and he's so convincing you almost believe him. That is, until he goes to fetch your bag and stumbles and almost falls flat on his face. Needless to say there was no getting you to leave after that. Jungwon wasn't too happy about it but he sure wasn't upset either.

Fortunately, you had brought your laptop with you, predicting that you might end up staying over. You look at the time – it's just a little over 11, which is not too late, at least not by your standards. If you stay up for an hour or two, you should be able to finish the assignment. You honestly don't mind - you're just happy you were able to help Jungwon in some way. And selfishly, you kind of like that you get to spend time with him at least this way, especially after not seeing him for so long. Well, it felt long anyway.

* * *

“No offense, but I’m really more of a coffee person,” Jungwon says, scrutinizing the beverage in the cup he’s holding.

You sit on the opposite end of the table, your gaze stern. “I don’t care. You’re drinking it.”

He sighs and takes a tentative sip. Scrunches up his face. “Nope, definitely not my cup of tea,” he confirms, and then laughs at his own unintended pun.

You have to suppress a laugh of your own but don't let it show. “Plug your nose if you have to. Finish it.”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re no fun,” he mumbles but does as he’s told.

* * *

After a lot of fussing and arguing, Jungwon finally concedes to letting you sleep on the couch. There's no way you would have him sleep anywhere but on his own bed, where he would be most comfortable, especially when he's not feeling his best. Besides, you remind him, you need to stay up late to finish your work, and the couch would be more practical. He starts apologising again for inconveniencing you, and you threaten to make him drink more chamomile tea which effectively shuts him up.

So it's no wonder that when he's all settled in bed and turned off the lights, he's a little surprised to see your silhouette walk in. He watches curiously as you pull up a chair next to his bed and take a seat.

“Where exactly does it hurt?” you ask.

He frowns, touching his forehead. “What are you– holy crap that feels good...”

You chuckle, relieved that he can't see or feel the way you hands are slightly trembling from nervousness. The side of your palm brushes against his warm forehead as you gently press the ice pack onto it – you had brought that along with the tea packet and the pills. You hadn't thought much of it before, but now that you're actually here doing it, it suddenly feels so intimate. But weirdly, it feels natural too. You brush some of his hair out of the way so you can cover all the spots - temple, forehead, temple. You alternate between the three, a comfortable silence settling over the two of you.

“I can do it myself you know,” he says quietly.

“I know. I also know that it feels better when someone else does it for you.” You're glad you waited until he turned the lights off to do this, because you get the feeling you would've been a blushing mess otherwise.

Jungwon is glad too, not just because the darkness helps alleviate the pain, but also because for some reason his eyes have gotten a little misty now, and he's glad you can't see it.

“Thank you,” he sighs, his pain and consciousness drifting away soon after.

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[rottenbrainstuff]

IWTV: I rewatched the old movie! which gave me more thoughts about ep 4.

I popped on the old movie on the weekend (the first one, not Queen of the Damned, I never actually saw that one ever)

Me and my friends were obsessed with this movie and the books when they first came out, but my interest cooled a bit as I got into my 20s, Anne Rice went a bit crazy, and I started to get bored with the books as I read more of them. I haven't watched this movie in probably almost 20 years.

Ehm. Look I don't want to offend anyone cause I know I have mutuals who like this movie, look I just said, I used to too, but wow I was kind of shocked by how not good it is. (which doesn't mean there's nothing interesting there, because there is) Like, just, guys objectively speaking, the plot of the movie is so incredibly truncated that a lot of the decisions and reactions and things don’t even make any sense, really. I found myself getting annoyed by the music cues. There would be a scene where the actors are failing to show any kind of emotional buildup, but the music would start to swell to indicate I'm supposed to be feeling a thing, and I started to get really really annoyed by it. Brad Pitt in particular is barely showing any kind of emotion at all beyond "vaguely sad". You could say maybe it's a directorial choice, but I mean, in the scene where he sets his plantation house on fire and addresses his slaves, he still can't seem to muster up any emotional depth. I found myself thinking about the show and how passionate and angry Jacob's Louis is at times. Maybe the issue is the movie is rushing SO QUICKLY through everything that there's no time to allow the actors some space to actually act. I don't know.

Once Claudia showed up, I started to legitimately enjoy the movie. I really do love her character a lot. I think Kirtsen Dunst does a pretty good job with such a challenging role for an actress her age. I think the little domestic scenes are the most appealing part of the entire movie, this little snapshot of a vampire family doing vampire family things. Watching this gave me a few more thoughts about the last ep, which I'll get into at the end here. I think this may be one single spot where I actually prefer the movie to the new show.

Don't worry though! We quickly get back into odd choices. I continue to be puzzled by the casting of Antonio Banderas. For almost every single other thing in this movie, they stay very close to the book. Aging Claudia up was done because it's simply impossible to have a 5 year old actress who could actually act in that role, so that change makes sense. Armand is in some ways similar to Claudia. He looks very young, in his late teens, and is beautiful, and it makes an interesting contrast when you find out this boy is actually the leader of the Paris coven, and the oldest living vampire that the audience is aware of, and is very very dangerous. Therefore, turning Armand into a large guy in his mid 30s when everything else is so close to the book is a very puzzling choice that I have never heard an explanation for. (I looked up the age of Assad Zaman and was SHOCKED to learn he's actually in his 30s too so like, that's some really good casting there, and just goes to show again the actors who can pull it off are out there, I just don't understand why they apparently didn't bother to look) Star power I guess? But was there really no popular, younger-looking actor that they could have got instead? (and you guys have to understand, I say this as a gigantic fan of Antonio Banderas)

Man I am SO not a fan of Tom Cruise in this. I can't tell if it's because he is legitimately doing a poor job, or if it's because I really really dislike him and his acting in general. There are a handful of spots where he actually made me laugh a little and the rest of the time I just want him to go away. Compared to this, Sam Reid is perfection.

Now look. As much as I can find faults with the movie now, the fact remains that I loved it when I was younger, and like I said there's still parts that I like. These characters were so compelling that we remembered them, that people were motivated to retell this story once again into a brand new show that takes it very seriously and is doing a good job, and I am even noticing little nods to the movie here and there in the show.

Watching the movie made me think more about that fourth ep, and Claudia. I think the actress is doing a great job, but I remain a little lukewarm. I know the practical and narrative reasons for why they aged Claudia up even more, but that doesn't stop me from wishing for a younger Claudia, because that's the aspect of her character I found the most interesting.

Maybe though, all I needed was to see a bit more of them all living together and having fun. I really enjoyed the brief little glimpses of her bouncing around their house, being naughty, not listening - I think I needed a little more of that. This is the very first time in the series so far, which is generally really taking its time and fleshing things out in an amazing way, where I felt like it should have slowed down a little. I ADORED the little bits we saw, the family movie, the birthday party, the coffin shopping... I loved it so much! I wanted just a little bit more! Just a little! And the sweeter it is, the more it will hurt later when things go all wrong!

Lestat's much cooler and more complicated relationship with Claudia in the show makes me quite sad, but here I think the change is interesting and I am ok with it. Lestat is the best when he's equal parts appealing and off-putting, so maybe it's good to get a reminder of the ways he is not great, plus maybe it sets up his daddy/mommy/other issues? Hey what the heck was up with his over-reaction and punishment when Claudia brought home Charlie? That felt personal. Did that have something to do with Nicholas, do you think? I assume?... I wonder if/how they're going to change around the details of all of that. It's so much fun the different layers here, how new fans are enjoying the story on its own, and how old fans can enjoy how things are being retold, and how it is still making surprises even when we generally know the main story beats.

Anyways. I was legit fun to rewatch that old movie and remember how I used to watch it all the time. I actually watched this movie quite a lot in French! When I was fresh out of highschool, I used to put the few DVDs I owned on with the French audio to try and keep my French skills up. (It didn’t work.) I still think of it quite fondly, even as I can recognize its serious flaws. And those flaws are mostly just the plot being so truncated the emotional parts don’t feel built up and fall flat, and I don’t enjoy the casting for most of the characters.

It’s so neat this new show is making me dig out old interests I had forgot about.

[likeabxrdinflight]

I don't quite know what to do with the changes happening at my old church.

For context I still have connections within this community- for better or worse I was raised in a small town with one catholic church and one catholic school, so I knew all the regulars reasonably well. And if I didn't know them personally, I at least knew of them. So it's been impossible to totally cut myself off from that orbit. My best friend's parents are still involved, a lot of my old classmates that I'm Facebook friends with are still involved, one of my parents neighbors are still involved, and I'm still good friends with one of my former teachers, so it's like. Even though I've cut off most of the family I haven't cut off all of them, if that makes any sense. This isn't like being an ex jehovah's witness or ex fundamentalist evangelical where leaving the religion means leaving behind the entire community.

Anyways. This church was always problematic. This church was always political. I grew up under the thumb of catholic dogma. One of my teachers was a bit of an extremist. Like...this place had problems. It caused harm to me and there's a reason I left it. I want to make that clear.

But my god it's getting so much worse lately. The diocese brought in this new young guy to be the parish priest when the old one left and he is just...I mean I haven't met him myself and frankly I hope I never do, but from what I hear he's just...terrible. and even from my distanced position I can see the impact he's had on the place.

For example, the social media pages are much more active now with a younger person heading them, but not in a good way. It's being used to spread further propaganda- and much of it is political. There is an obvious conservatism to it now that wasn't the case before. The church I remember was much more politically neutral. Yes it had certain moral positions, typically around abortion, but it certainly never told parishioners how to vote. None of the priests I grew up with would have dared. Now though? The damn Facebook page outright says what way to vote. This new priest wrote an article in the local newspaper explaining why he was voting the way he was in a recent special election- presumably knowing that was going to influence people.

This kind of thing never happened when I was a kid.

That's not even getting into the way he's fucking up the school itself- implementing some gross catechesis of the good shepherd program and removing all aspects of secular education. Again, this is a school that objectively hurt me. Religion was baked into it, indoctrination was already happening and it was quite robust. But the education itself was, broadly, a good one. But that wasn't good enough for this guy, I guess. So now they're dialing the religious side of it up to an 11 and killing the actual academic experience in the process by removing secular educational standards.

It's like....this new priest is taking something that was already pretty bad and making it so much worse. And sure, I'm on record as saying I hoped the school got what was coming to it...but not like this. Not by ripping apart the aspects that were decent and sinking further into right wing christofacism. Not by sacrificing kids' education on the alter of indoctrinating them even further. I wanted the school to eventually close because not enough people were willing to subject their kids to a religious education. I didn't want this.

...and I haven't gotten into the weird split in the community now between the people who are offended by this new priests implication that they weren't already doing catholicism right vs the people who are on board with his bullshit. I'm not really on either side there but if it means ousting this dude from the parish I will gladly support the people who are against him. If it means restoring the school and the church to the previous status quo rather than let it deteriote into...this...I'd set aside all my scruples with the church as it was. If it means that kids only have to deal with the shit I dealt with and not something fundamentally worse...I mean, lesser of two evils right?

I dunno...I'm feeling a lot of things about it and about the way this priest is behaving.

[seedling-lotus]

okay, I saw map things and it reminded me of my own mapping project that i've poured waaaaaay too much time into so now you get to see me rant about it...

or not because imma hide it under a read more... But i'm still gonna tag it!

Anyway, so!

because the fic I was reading for a completely different fandom just wasn't providing the dopamine, my lovely brain decided that I needed to go find all of the locations for everything in DGM, or as closely as I possibly could, because Hoshino-sensei exists to drive me insane... And so does the fandom wiki...

So yeah. So trying to locate things. Some places were easier than others. Some places I still have to add. 😭

New Order HQ? Took me a while, but I fuckin' found it... Or, well, found an island that looks like it could match.

of course, the Wiki says both that it's in "Southern Europe" and also somewhere mentions that it's in Britain, which is just... Nope, that island in particular is part of France. Close though. Of course, I don't have access to the source material that the wiki seems to be referencing, so what do I know...

The wiki also says that old HQ is in generic "Northern Europe" and also "Unknown location in Scandinavia" which, again, the source appears to be the fanbook that I do not have and cannot reference for myself. Not going to lie, old HQ is virtually impossible to place. There is not a single place on this planet that I could find within Northern Europe or more specifically Scandinavia that would be a good geographic fit. I mean, I know there are rock formations sort of similar, but nothing or that size. I gave up finding a perfect match after two days of beating my head against it and just went for somewhere most likely to have that kind of geographic feature. After my few successes with finding "exact" locations for some of the places in DGM, it really really bothers me that I can't place that one definitively.

and then there's freaking Barcelona. Barcelona bothers me. It bothers me a lot. I cannot find anywhere in the Manga that actually mentions what city they were in at the time. But I remember that it was Barcelona. (Was it in the anime??? I cannot remember) The problem with Barcelona being... the map doesn't match... We've got at least one clear overhead shot of the city in the manga, and it doesn't really look like Barcelona. It does, however, look a lot like Prague. (and the fact that I knew that off the top of my head before confirming it makes me question my life choices more than a little.)

So this is from Chapter 43.

(I am weeping, I had so much typed and I just accidentally "undo"ed it and now I can't get it back... gods damn it)

ANYWAYS

So what I had said was that we can see that the image of Barcelona is a lot more gridlike of a city structure and more organized and yes I acknowledge that DGM is a "Fictional end to the 19th century" and city structure can change over time, It usually doesn't change that much. Below is a screenshot of the map of Prague from Google maps for comparison.

My second point of evidence is this Cathedral-like structure from the page prior:

The only cathedral I can find in Barcelona has 4 spires where the drawing only has 2. "But simplifying for ease of drawing" Yeah, no, I get that, but look at them and tell me that the cathedral in Prague doesn't look more like the drawing?

But my biggest issue with Barcelona? The river. Yes, there's a river in Barcelona. It's tiny though, and none of the bridges spanning it are more than two spans across.

and here's Barcelona's river vs Prague's river:

Barcelona:

(also, if Barcelona ever had pretty old bridges like the one drawn, they all appear to have been replaced by ugly modern ones)

And here's Prague:

(and yes, I know, the Prague bridge doesn't match either, but it matches better)

So yeah, Barcelona bothers me. It's not impossible that it's Barcelona, but it bothers me.

The American Branch though? That one I'm proud of.

So, again, it's not 100% perfectly correct, but I think that the American branch might be one of the closest to a spot on location that I actually managed. (The literal only way I could get a more accurate location would be to actually drive my ass to Arizona, and that's just not in the cards.)

Also, may I just say that this particular line, which I have confirmed is the way this place is described in the Manga... This exists to infuriate the British and the Scottish...

That was pulled from the wiki. THIS is pulled from chapter 230 of the manga:

Now I know someone in the fandom and on tumblr has already pointed this one out, but

Edinstown does not exist. In England or otherwise.

THIS particular landmark is in Scotland. EdinBURG Scotland.

And before someone yells at me, Eddingston isn't right either. Eddington (without the S) is a place in England, but it does not have that landmark.

The landmark in question being the Dugald Stewart Monmuent on Calton Hill in Edinburg, Scotland.

So that one caused a dew LOLs once I went back and found the post I reblogged with that information. source

Oh! so yeah, so Guangzhou... Guangzhou also bothers me a smidge...

So according to the Wiki (which seems to get most of it's info from the Fanbook that I don't have)... You know what, I might have it, but it's in Japanese, and I can only speak and read English so really, that's on me... Anyway...

So Guangzhou. China. The port city that theoretically is where they set sail from. And is also where Anita's brothel is.

And once again acknowledging that landscapes have been changed over time by humans. I get that. HOWEVER.

So Timcampy gives us a lovely view of the city and the harbor in question.

And 1 chapter later we get this view of them leaving:

Now I know, I KNOW, this is set in, at the very latest, 1899. I know that the harbor will have changed since then and Google maps is only going to show me the most modern version.

However...

This is Modern Guangzhou:

Note how it's set a little more inland? How they'd be able to see land across the harbor? and it's more in a river delta, flatter.

However, there is a port city relatively close to Guangzhou that does look a lot more like the port drawn in the manga:

And yes, yes, I know "but there's no land masses in the Manga and that's why you said Guangzhou was out." True, but most of these landmasses are over 3 miles away, and the horizon is only 3 miles away due to the curvature of the earth, so it does make a little more sense.

Now I know that the Manga doesn't show an Island and yeah, it's not exactly the same, but it's definitely way closer visually. (Also, Hoshino-sensei, I love you dearly, but please... Guangzhou is not the largest/main port city in China....)

Am I doing everything Wildly out of order? Absolutely. I'd say sue me but please don't. I am so broke.

Next up! The Izu Peninsula! (and another iteration of Hoshino-sensei making me want to cry... For map making purposes. Plot related purposes don't count. That's her job)

So in chapter 76, Chomesuke says this:

And then, in Chapter 77 we see this:

And ignoring all plot related crying from this point of the story, the Izu Peninsula was a difficult one to place. Not finding it on the map, but finding torii gates that are set up like this...

And you may be going "But it's Japan, how hard can it be to find torii gates set up like that?"

HARD

Gods damn it all. You wanna know why? because the fuckload of torii gates going straight up a damn mountain is something that exists. Famous enough that even I know what it looks like and I'm a stupid little white girl from America who has never left the western hemisphere. The problem with that particular set of torii gates that this panel and all related panels are based off of? yeah, that particular land mark is in the middle of Tokyo and nowhere near water...

And they are definitely still in the boat and still in water here...

here's my evidence for the Torii gates in Tokyo:

yes I am going to make you go google that yourselves if you really want to fact check me because this post is already a monster and I am too lazy to put in a hyperlink.

Anyways

So the only even remotely similar feature on the Izu peninsula that I could find is on an even smaller peninsula

1

and they look a little more like this in real life:

2

But hey, creative license and all that jazz. And while the Izu peninsula is close to Tokyo (which would have been called Edo back in the time period of canon), it's not that close, so it's probably a good day's walk if not longer for them to get there... which i think we may have skipped due to the magic of "anime physics" but you know what, fuck it. at this point I've stopped asking questions

(this is absolutely a lie, but shhhhhh)

And I have gone over my picture limit so I'll include the pictures on a reblog (if it lets me... I think it will... I'll get back to you on that... ish, maybe)

[rex101111]

I'd love to see some commentary on Swipes of Sword and Fan, I'm curious when it comes to more variety-type fics where the inspiration for different chapters comes from and the like. And here's a ⭐ for anything you'd like to talk about in general about whatever!

Thank you!! Looking back im actually pretty proud of this little collection im slowly building up, though to be honest I didn't give it too much thought when I started.

It started out as a bit of a joke, the first chapter was basically just me posting one of the drabbles I sometimes write when somebody sends me a quick description. I just rolled with the premise while staying as close to those two crazy criminals as I could. I posted it as the first chapter of a "collection" half jokingly as an affectionate jab at a trend in fanfiction that is kinda dead these days but was damn near impossible to avoid just a few years back.

People taking an entire prompts list, anywhere from thirty to a hundred, and using that to make a chronologically loose collection of stories based entirely around one ship or group. A select few went the distance and did the whole bunch, but most of them stopped at around the 15 mark. Which is plenty impressive, sure, but it always struck me as evidence that fanfic writers have an awful little habit of biting off more than they can chew.

A habit I'm sure long time readers of my work will no doubt know that I share. The amount of times I said "IM GONNA MAKE A LONG FIC OUTTA THIS ONE JUST YOU WATCH" to myself only to get distracted later on by scheduling issues or just getting attached to another idea... Ah well.

So, yeah, I posted that first chapter as a bit of a jab at myself "oh yeah sure im going to make a collection out of this, the whole nine yards!...probably gonna make it an even 30, be surprised if it hits 15", and the first few chapters came to me like lightning. Since I established the setting in the summary, I pretty much gave myself the freedom to make any story I wanted so long as it was in that very vaguely defined period of time.

Any story. Any at all. Whatever weird idea came to my head with these two that I could fit on two-three pages. I kinda went nuts. Most chapters were born from a quick idea I had like "hey so what if anji got jealous?" or "how do they deal with bounties anyway?" and others I had to really sit with like "...what were Baiken's parents like?" or "tying shoes must be a pain in the ass" or "oh hey what if Anji actually did feel guilty and afraid of his actions hurting the one person he cared about" and so on.

It's gotten to the point where I'm actually fairly certain I will hit that 30 chapter mark at some point. I'm not putting myself on any time line, I just post whenever I have a suitably dense and short story I wanna add. And boom.

and im gonna use the star as a chance to rant a little about how petty I personally can be about comments. First off, I love getting any kinda comment at all, if its a simple "OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS" or something along those lines, I will gobble it up like its delicious because it is.

But! Personally speaking if you really wanna make me happy as a writer, I really REALLY like those comments that pick a sentence or a segment and go "OH I REALLY LIKE THIS PART HERE'S A QUICK RANT WHY". Been this way since I wrote weird OC shit on DeviantArt back in the day, craving that very specific "you did good" validation.

Seriously tho, if a reader doesn't have it in them to write a Formal Review of my fanfic I'm not gonna hold it against them. I probably won't answer because I'm honestly genuinely awkward like that. But the dopamine shot of "Comment on AO3" lasts longer if the comment is also longer, you know? I've read comments that made me dance in place and pump my fists like I won a marathon. that shit rocks and readers who take the time to indulge my need for overly specific praise are a treasure.

[claitea]

some thoughts about pokemon violet. spoilers ahead!

there are. quite a few graphical glitches and messes whbejrvhr. sometimes trainers and pokemons eyes get stuck closed for a while, camera clips into the floor during battle, a sunflora i was in battle with and therefore Very Close To moved at a lower frame rate like other faraway entities. hough the homeroom scene..... almost everyone in that room looked so janky.

but tbh? i've been having too much fun to care too much about that specifically. the rest of the game is pretty :)

wish i could stop the minimap from spinning. i can lock the map app to north but not the minimap????

THE FOOD ILLUSTRATIONS ARE SO GOOD I WANT TO EAT THE ICECREAM SO BAD

rip pixel pokemon and item icons though </3 i find them more charming. also the icon for persim berries is too red and its bothering me, persim berries are PINK this is BRIGHT SCARLET

idk how pokemon icons on the minimap work either i'll be running all over the place it indicates and not find the pokemon its showing. i want a charcadet :(

i chose sprigatito but was THIS close to choosing fuecoco because of the first cutscenes. quaxly having to tell fuecoco not to eat the burnt orange whjegjevdj

miraidon my beloved asshole lizard who eats all my sandwiches. i gotta rewatch any and all miraidon scenes with koraidon when i'm done with the game, the first cutscene with the houndoom was SO COOL

PEOPLE WERE RIGHT ARVEN IS THE PROFESSOR'S KID

there were a couple nods to older games! a book in the library talks about someone seeing the stow-on-side mural get broken by a copperajah, another book talks about pewter crunchies, and the meditative seat art installation in artazon are items you could buy in oras as decoration for your secret base. i know every game has callbacks to previous ones but the stow-on-side one caught me offguard because thats a spoiler isnt it?? the other one surprised me too but more becaue Why do i remember this one specific base item. i havent touched oras in years

a library book also said Hydreigon and Volcarona got alt forms like donphan did and i need to see them IMMEDIATELY

as far as i've seen in the library, the pokemon that get those forms are donphan, tyranitar, volcarona, hydreigon. and Delibird. which i find hilarious bc its all these threatening scary pokemon and then. DELIBIRD.

WHY DID MY BELOVED LECHONK EVOLVE INTO AN EMO BOY

so far out of the new pokemon. the only design i dont like is spidops. spiops. i forgot how to spell it. where did my cute little yarn ball go :( maybe its just New Pokemon Doesnt Look Like A Pokemon Yet Syndrome but there is just SOMETHING about spiops's design that doesnt sit right with me

miraidon jumping is a little janky sometimes idk??? also i got stuck in a pond once and it could NOT climb out no matter where i tried. i had to fly out

i already like tera raids a lot more :') i HATED how max pokemon could shield and move multiple times and all that. i dont have online so max raids are damn near IMPOSSIBLE for me to do because the ai sucks That bad. i feel like with the time limit thing and infinite revives i could stand a chance doing it solo. this is just me talking about the early 1-2 star raids though idk how it'll go later on

i did get one odd glitch where my first attack didnt appear to deplete the hp bar, but then a few attacks later it looked like it had hp left but it fainted? my damage just. Didnt Show for some reason while still registering as damage

i think they fixed the overlevelling problem bc i was even getting my ass kicked by wild pokemon sometimes HKWBDJBF. i was cruising through fast like i'd gotten used to in xy to swsh, so i was actually underlevelled a lot. mela almost curbstomped me

THE CAR IS A POKEMON THEY WERE RIGHT ITS AN ACTUAL POKEMON

mela walks like manga emmet lmao

clodsire. thats it thats the bullet point <3

in conclusion i am having a BLAST. i absolutely adore this game so far!! i'm honestly able to overlook anything that bothers me just because i enjoy it a Lot. like of Course i still wish the subpar graphics werent subpar but Who Care look at my clodsire his name is Mousse and i love him

[finsterhund]

a bigger post more about the Boogeyman movie I guess.

Continuation from this: here

When the Boogeyman destroyed the spherical nightlight it made me so sad. The poor nightlight. It was like one of the moon ones yeah? Kinda. FUck him.

Interesting that they're playing into the Boogeyman being capable of voice copying as well as the shape shifting. So this feels like a simpler IT.

I always like to think about if these supernatural things actually evolved naturally and the fact that a creature with seemingly impossible mimicry abilities would evolve to fit the "preys on humans" niche that our houses and cities have caused to have been left vacant for so long. It uses familiarity to get close and blend in, and then it eats children who are unattended in "the safety of their own homes" because we're so comfortable in how our dens are safe have been for so long, and when natural survival instinct is filed away under "neurosis that must be cured" hmmm. An opportunist that evolved to permeate the safety of our nests, relying on us having gone soft. Something that adapted to the specifications of our own protective measures we're so confident works on everything in nature. Now I'm just thinking about the speculative evolution brainstorming I've been doing for my Underbed project again. How I'm torn between just how much the creatures of Underbed are naturally evolved and how much they're supernatural. I'm leaning more into "they were animals… at one point… perhaps evolved originally on Earth… but that's not where they live now… as in maybe they've completely adapted to being forced to live in this other dimension and only capable of coming into the now hostile alien world known as Earth from humanity's empty liminal spaces. Hahaha. Wish I could actually write the damn story though.

The visuals are pretty great in my opinion. The sketch of the entity is pretty cool while not being over the top. Spectre-esque, and the infecting tendril roots it puts down in places it's taking up residence are very good looking. I hate to come back to Skinamarink all the time but something like that, some more obvious more unnatural fucking with the house's appearance beyond removing exits and slightly fucking up stuff would have been cool to see just in the corner of a shot for like, less than a minute at a time to really add to it. More stuff like the hand I thought was so well done. But budget restraints of a tiny micro indie title I suppose. But then again if Kyle had a friend who was into textile arts and special effects on the project a whole lot could have been done practical. Idk. I hope for his next project he stays super indie but gets like, a gang of friends who each has like, a different visual medium special interest. I'd love to see those big goopy practical effect slime blood monster puppetry smoke and mirrors of old again.

This part: "it needs the dark to stay hidden… fire was the first thing man used to see at night" "it's really been around that long?" "I think it's been around forever" fucking sick as hell. So cool. Loved that.

The home movie lullaby scene got me crying a bit. Props to the dad not pushing his own way of grieving too much on the kids. When the older sibling gets after him for wanting to get rid of the mom's art supplies he actually APOLOGIZED and allowed her to keep them. Even if she had to put them in creepy basement.

I'm really hoping the mom becomes some sort of Spot Power not-exactly-an-entity that can fight the boogeyman. Also older sibling has an almost "Andy mullet bowl cut" hairstyle and I didn't notice until she had the house party.

Our first substantial look at the monster and the design is pretty good too. Has a partially mummified humanoid face with milky white eyes that have just enough luster to them that they glow in lower light in that way that has the potential to fuck with me but coincidentally it would seem the total absence of pupils nullifies how scary I find "human eye white glowing in the dark" so huh.

The bullying is also pretty realistic in this movie. You know this fucker was just trying to push the boundary as much as she could on how much abuse could she "accidentally" direct at the girl with the dead mom she wanted an excuse to demonize. She fully deserved that fucking slap. But then she immediately played the victim waaaahhhh wahhhhhh you hit me. And she gets to be in the right because she's the "calm one who never resorted to violence" oh no, just secretly instigated the entirety of the thing… 😒 God.

FUCK. THE SCENE WITH THR YOUNGER SISTER FIRING A WEAPON IN THE VIDEO GAME BECAUSE IT LIT UP MORE OF THR SCREEN BRIGHTER AND SHE WAS TOO SCARED TO GO AND GET A BETTER LIGHT SOURCE SO SHE TRIED TO IMPROVISE AND ADAPT WITH THE TV AS A LIGHT SOURCE SHE DID HAVE ACCESS TO UNLOCKED SOME PRIMAL REPRESSED MEMORIES OF SIMILAR. OH MY GOD.

Of course then I had to think about how I still intuitively on instinct do that shit with phone and computer all the time 😬😬😬😬 great. Just. Nyctophobia moments. I guess.

The shot of the bogeyman perched on top of the TV was so good. I got fucking chills. Then it cut to the scene of it actually jumping into the glow of the TV and moving and bruh… actually seeing its anatomy and how it moves. It's just like, quadrupedal Slenderman/the rake and the effects don't look "there" enough. Like it doesn't feel like it actually takes up space. It's a 3D model. Such a great shot but then immediately I'm broken out of it. For some reason I thought her getting thrown into the TV looked funny. I blame that gangly fuck.

Using a child as bait. Lmaoo oh my god that got serious fast. "I finally figured out how to kill this thing. I'll need … … YOU." DJGJDHDJFJS the fact that the floor candles were a thing that was established was cool on its own but then how it showed them getting systematically blowing out which signified the encroaching entity in the space. God. That's good. The architecture in this movie is really nice too. The way the house is built really pairs well with the shadowy spiderweb roots on the walls and ceiling.

Again, low light and from in front the creature design looks incredible. Really fucking good. But then you see it's full body fully in frame and illuminated and it's just an awkward thing. If they would have made it more anatomically hominin or more alien and unnatural in either direction it'd work better but it's right on the middle of "ehhhh it just looks a bit wrong but like in a design way not a body horror way" man. I wonder if making it black and muddling the visibility would improve this.

Love the use of heavy drums in the soundtrack.

Also how it still fucks with adults. Not as lazy as IT lol.

The scene where there's a fakeout death with it just lying on the ground was surreal to me. Don't see that all too often anymore. Just have the whole ass monster out there meme death posed degrading itself for the hopeful jumpscare payoff. Also the shots of its body stationary look creepier and more visually believable than the shots of it in motion. Huh.

Older girl's logic of "I saw it bleed" (like predator lol) doesn't really stand up considering she also saw it get shot like 20 times including four or so with a shotgun at point blank range. Like yeah you saw it bleed. Does that matter though?

The younger kid going around wearing the blinking Christmas lights is iconic to me. I did that sorta shit. That's Cayden armed to the teeth to pet some spectres type shit.

Literally fire kills it. Fire is literally the answer. (As a worldbuilding design that is fucking cool as hell. Early man figured it out. How to keep this thing away. But then we forgot) but also it did end up having like a sorta (same vein as Spot Power tbh) the mom's lifeforce being what stopped it. As symbolized by the fire. I liked that. I like how it's ambiguous as to the full extent of the mom's spirit. Would fire have worked otherwise or is it special magic dead mom Spot Power fire. Sad to see the house and mementos go though. Always sad. I will try not to think of love being consumed by flames I think about that enough.

I stand by the monster design being good but just doesn't end up meshing well and how obscuring it more would have helped. Maybe other people find weird almost spider human fucked up anatomy thing more scary than me but idk.

Pediatric psychiatrist: hey older kid now that this is all over just one more thing can you come back into my office alone haha no reason haha

Me: oh fuck oh shit the original story ending!! (But no. Lmao)

Was good. Loved the scenes of it hissing back away from the fire/light and when it skittered across lit spaces just enough. So much of the light and darkness effects are just really good.

I really lived the two houses but that's a given because knowing Stephen King this movie was set in the state with both an excess of cool houses and fucked up demons in it.