#I have the skills of an 8 year old starting out on DA

[stalkish-shellos]

I should not be this proud to be able to draw something this well in MS paint

[gojossocks]

Gossips and Convenience Stores

Pairing: Gojo x reader

Summary: just some jjk first years gossiping lmao. Implied that Geto didn��t turn batshit crazy and killed a lot of people.

a/n: this is probably an epilogue to a series I’ve been wanting to write for a while. lmk if you guys liked it ! <33

“I wonder when Gojo-sensei will ask Y/N-sensei out.” Nobara asks, before taking a bite of her onigiri.

Nobara, Yuuji, and Megumi were all sitting together in an empty parking lot outside a convenience store, something that has become a routine after a tiring mission.

It’s midnight. Most of the diners are closed and the only store open was the 7/11, just a few blocks away from Jujutsu High.

“It’s kinda annoying,” She continued. “Every time I see that damned teacher around her, he gets more annoying. That’s a given since he’s more annoying than when he’s with Geto-sensei. If that’s his way of flirting then I don’t think he could ever pull her.”

Megumi snorts at Nobara’s keen observation. “I’m surprised you noticed that.”

She rolls her eyes before glaring at Megumi, “How could I not? Even our principal notices it. Hell, even Yuuji knows it. Right?!” She turned to look at Yuuji, who shrugged mindlessly while eating his noodles.

“I don’t know, he does talk about her all the time. Whenever I ask what’s their history or whatever, he says they were long time friends.”

Megumi snorted at the statement, earning a look from his classmates.

“What’s that look you got, Fushiguro?” Nobara accuses him. He replies with a hum.

Nobara sighs before clicking her tongue. “Anyway, I know you know a lot about those two because Maki-san told me you basically grew up with having them around. Besides, he always asks you to bring pizza for Y/N-sensei. I think it was an unrequited thing, don’t you think? I mean she’s way out of his league if you ask me.” She says confidently.

Megumi knew that this was bound to happen but he never thought that he would have to explain the situation this early. He really hates it when people gossip about his life— and that extends to Y/N. He met Satoru and Y/N when he was 6 years old. Most of his childhood, he and Tsumiki stayed with the Gojos.

“They used to be together.” Megumi mumbles, looking down at his shoes. He then looks up at his friends when the both of them yell ‘HUH?!’ in unison. He couldn’t blame them though. Satoru and Y/N’s acting skills as if they were never together in the first place really fooled a lot of people, especially the people who don’t know anything about them.

“Yeah,” He says, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. Megumi takes a sip from his pepsi, in hopes to escape Nobara and Yuji’s interested gaze. “They’re marrie— could you both shut up for a bit?” He grumbles in annoyance.

Nobara scooches closer to Megumi. “Oh my god, tell me everything.”

He rolled his eyes but continued anyway. “They were in an arranged marriage as far as I know. They were together for 8 years. I think they’ve known each other for much longer, though.”

“Oh he definitely fumbled the bag.”

Yuji stares at him with his mouth agape. His eyes suddenly widened as he dramatically gasped, “Is that why you accidentally called Y/N sensei ‘mom’ ?!”

Megumi feels blood rising from his cheeks. He quickly looks down at his shoes once more to prevent Nobara and Yuji from seeing him embarrassed. Both of them started giggling.

“So that means you call Gojo-sensei ‘daddy’ huh?” Nobara smirked at the onyx haired boy. Megumi chokes on his drink before muttering a ‘shut up, I don’t.’

“So why did they break up?” Yuuji asks.

“I’m not really sure. They try to keep us out of their problems. Y/N just packed up one day and that was it. We kept in touch but she made me promise not to tell Gojo anything. Anyway, that’s it, stop questioning me.”

Nobara points a finger accusingly at the empty parking lot, “I bet he has commitment issues. Yeah, just by looking at him, he’s definitely the type to have one.”

“They have been together, for 8 years.” Megumi deadpans.

“Damn, adults are complicated.” Yuuji whines. “They’d look great together though.”

“He still fumbled! I bet my new perfume on that. To be honest, I don’t really see Y/N sensei with him. He seems chaotic enough as he is.”

“That’s a little harsh.”

“Well, she tolerates us,” Yuji adds, “Besides I don’t think Gojo-sensei will ask her out. Earlier, I saw Y/N-sensei on a date. I just forgot to tell you guys.”

Even Megumi doesn’t know that.

“What?!” Nobara exclaims, standing up. “C’mon, it’s 2 am. I need to get my beauty rest. I’ll get the Y/N and Gojo lore this week. I can’t wait to interview Geto-sensei!”

“That’s invading their privacy.” Megumi sighs.

Nobara and Yuuji kept asking Megumi questions, theorizing and pestering each other. The three of them talked (read: argue) on the way home, too engrossed in the mystery of Gojo and Y/N’s relationship.

Meanwhile they fail to notice their teacher casually leaning on the wall beside the convenience store, chuckling at his students’ curiosity.

Gojo shakes his head before heading off to god knows where.

gojo u naughty boi why are u out at 2 am wanna read more?

[ryttu3k]

This might be a stupid question but how does generation and age affect vtm kindred? like if a 3rd gen kindred were embraced yesterday would they automatically be more powerful the a 5th gen who'd been around for 100 years? I tried looking it up and I just got confused...

Well, a 3rd generation Kindred couldn't be Embraced yesterday because the 2nd generation are all dead XD THAT WE KNOW OF. Dum-da-da-dum. So let's make the comparison a newly-Embraced 4th gen, versus a century-old 6th gen.

So first, how are we defining power? Ability to survive a fight? Raw potential? Higher stats? The century-old 6th gen would likely have higher stats (up to level 7) and be better able to survive night by night because they'd have accumulated more exp to spend on stats, disciplines, etc, whereas the newly-embraced 4th gen would have much more powerful potential (up to level 9), but wouldn't have had the time to build up those skills. They wouldn't have been Embraced with the ability to whip out The Last Dracul, y'know? Discipline-wise, they're definitely starting at a lower level, although attributes are a bit fuzzier (the baby methuselah might be able to punch through a steel wall in a panic).

In-universe, the explanation is that vampires get stronger over time, with vitae becoming more potent. Mechanically, this is mostly down to accumulated experience points, which can be spent on disciplines, attributes, et cetera. There'll still always be an upper limit depending on generation; a gen 6 vampire can't learn a level 8 discipline no matter what.

Where the fledgling 4th gen would beat the ancilla 6th gen is in the raw potential and power of their blood. A fledgling 4th gen would actually be in a ridiculous amount of danger, because their blood would be incredibly potent. They'd be diablerie-bait for anyone looking for a quick power-up. Just to demonstrate how potent methuselah blood is, Monty Coven (originally 11th gen) diablerised 4th gen Mithras and rocketed all the way down to 6th gen (albeit with Mithras' spirit surviving and able to take over again, with Roger's ritual restoring him to 4th gen power). Dropping five generations in one go! And a fledgling, who's presumably still trying to work out how to navigate the night? Oh man, they'd be potential Forbidden Snackies for everyone, while also likely needing very potent blood of their own (both older vampires and lower-gen vampires need more powerful blood; many methuselah have to resort to regular diablerie because drinking human blood just doesn't cut it any more).

So, tl;dr, a newly-Embraced 4th gen would have far more raw power and potential than an older vampire of the 6th gen, but the 6th gen would have had more time to actually learn their disciplines and accumulate abilities and skills, and also would probably want to eat the 4th gen for their ridiculously potent blood.

[gorbalsvampire]

Essentials 2, 3 and 7 for Penelope, and Life 2, 3 and 8 for Sorcha? 😁

The Essential Penelope

What year were they born (or how old would they be in life), and what age do they appear? What age do they feel?

Penny was born in 1909, ghouled in 1948, and Embraced in 1959, just shy of her birthday. She looks late thirties - it's hard to imagine her not looking late thirties, in theory she must have been a child at some point, but she gives the impression that she plopped into the world at Cambridge aged twenty-two and nothing that came before particularly mattered.

She feels no age at all. Penelope is Penelope. Her sense of self is a bit ragged, underneath the iron confidence she projects, and she could be ninety or nine hundred: it wouldn't matter. She'd still be her. Whatever that means.

Which Clan do they belong to? How do they feel about their Clan?

Lasombra. Nominally, Lasombra antitribu, but which sense of the word is... up for debate. In the Sabbat, she was very much a "pack first, sect second, clan third" thinker - as far as she's concerned, all True Sabbat are antitribu and should be working on transcending the limitations of their bloodline, and the Panders who rise from mass Embraces are lucky to have a head start.

But... she still has a chip on her shoulder about it. She is of the bloodline of Montano, and she's been thoroughly taught what that means. An outcast's outcast, choosing the high and noble road, and she can't have that without being Lasombra, and she can't really dine out on it in the Sabbat either.

Which Disciplines do they possess, and which do they favor using?

Oblivion 3, Dominate 2, Celerity 1, and if I re-use her as an antagonist for another story, she'll have picked up some Potence and Animalism to go (and probably a bit more Oblivion). In her role as priestess and interrogator, she finds the applied theatricality of Oblivion suits her down to the ground, but in the field, she's more reliant on her Celerity and talent for stealth.

Getting a Life with Sorcha

Do they still have mortal family or friends, or descendants of those people? Who were they closest to during life, and is there anyone they’ve contacted after their Embrace?

Hell yes she does - she's a Dunsirn, she still lived with her folks for the first six months after she died. Besides her vampire da, Sorcha is still in touch with her mother in Venice, and most of the cousins she grew up with are at least on Instagram-commenting terms. Schoolfriends are fewer and further between - she's sold drugs to a lot of them but that doesn't mean they're friends. She has stayed in touch with Wee Tam, her tenant and bestie and Touchstone, and she rooms with a little gang of medical students who know her as their weird RA who lives in the cellar and can't go to lectures 'cause she's got Schere's Disease. On top of that, she has a lot of acquaintances - she's distinctive, she's out on the town at least three nights a week, and she's got the good molly.

What were their hobbies, skills, and interests?

Hmm, this is trickier - Sorcha tends to monetise anything she's good at - but she never figured out how to make money out of dance, or gymnastics. Her form's not great, but she's surprisingly bendy and she has a good time with it.

Her school reports indicated she had a prodigious knack for chemistry and design - the subjects she ended up taking to Bacc. level and walking out with a Distinction, thank you kindly.

She likes karaoke, but she has an awful singing voice, and has been gently dissuaded from participating.

When they were Embraced, what was the aftermath like? Did they fake their death, do their loved ones think they went missing, etc.?

Oh, Christ. Sorcha's Embrace was one of the events that kicked off a whole chronicle. She bled out on her junkie "boyfriend's" mattress, and was rescued by her dad, and she doesn't know which of them Embraced her or why she came out thinblood. All she knows is, Jimmy's very dead (he copped a hatchet to the back of the head two nights after she died), and to all intents and purposes she is Alistair's childe.

Her family knew, of course they knew - Hecata, remember? Most of her casual acquaintances have heard that she OD'd, and suspect that her dad had something to do with what happened to Jimmy, and that's another reason people from school don't stay too close to her - nobody wants to be next. She was back on the dancefloor by the end of the month though, bragging about her results and dancing her ass off... and then she really disappeared, leaving Glasgow for the best part of three years.

Her social media was deleted and remade a couple of times in there, she was posting from LA (except when she wasn't) and she went very #desertaesthetic for a while, then off the grid completely, but she seems to have come out swinging in the last eighteen months.

The thing is, people who know Sorcha know she's a freak, and a dealer, and that her dad's some sort of gangster. They're kinda used to weird shit happening around her. It's a big part of how she gets away with being like she is.

[myheartismadeofstars]

I posted 22,820 times in 2022

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I tagged 605 of my posts in 2022

#omori - 8 posts

#lmao - 6 posts

#pokemon - 6 posts

#omori sunny - 6 posts

#omori kel - 5 posts

#tgcf - 4 posts

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#xie lian - 4 posts

#svsss - 4 posts

#omori hero - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#(you know sam's girlfriend who called him a creep for working at a motel and fixing her drain and forced him to take a dog he had no abilit

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Headcanons for skills Nie Huaisang has that Da-ge actually approves of:

Math (while he tests very poorly, Huaisang is very good at practical math)

Astronomy (bless Fatal Journey for this)

Rites (Huaisang proves to be pretty good at remembering how ceremonies go, when he doesn’t adamantly refuse to participate, usually due to being too emptional to focus)

Archery (Huaisang is a Great archer! So long as the target isn’t moving... but he probably wouldn’t starve if he needed to hunt for himself)

Butchering (Huaisang butchered his first animal when he was seven, but he witnessed butchering since he was 3. He’s not actually afraid of blood or gore, he’s just very clean)

98 notes - Posted January 30, 2022

#4

I think people are sleeping on the idea of Damian taking Anya's surname when they get married. Damian eventually realizes how bad his family is, and Yor and Loid have always been kind and loving. So he associates Forger with a loving family, plus Anya is so attached to Forger. Also I just like the sound of "Damian Forger"

also something something "new blood old money"

207 notes - Posted July 14, 2022

#3

Okay I am still pretty knew to the hanfu community but I want to know: are Hanfu season specific like kimono are? Like would it look strange to wear hanfu with spring flowers on it in fall? I've looked for information on google but I don't find the right information. Obviously kimono is influenced by Hanfu but that seasonal thing could easily be something Japanese specific.

232 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

#2

Thinking about how Leon and Hop have at least 3 adults living in their house...but LEON (who has to be ~5-8 years older than Hop) raised Hop. Like??? That’s literally the biggest red flag for a neglectful family I’ve ever seen? I wonder if Hop was an accident and Leon was the only one who really was invested in his little brother (also Hop isn’t exactly a name I would normally see for a child...but if a little kid named them?). And Leon would have learned early that mistakes could mean Hop gets sick or hurt. No wonder he became so observant and while he gets lost most of the time...he can find Hop when he’s in danger (Slumbering Weald). This means that he became very guarded so people can’t find his weaknesses, and it did benefit his pokemon training. Then Hop started looking up to him, and he started getting praised for being “Unbeatable” so he parrots it. (Because if Leon was forced to care for Hop, he probably wasn’t getting his own needs met. At the very least not his mental/emotional needs, so he probably relies on praise for his self esteem). I think Leon being defeated by Eternatus was the first time he ever was forced to rely on someone else (and it was Hop!! And Victor/Gloria) and then being dethroned as champion...it made it possible for him to finally find something for himself. He doesn’t have to be the perfect champion. He doesn’t have to raise Hop anymore (but he still adores his little brother). He can LOSE! He can MAKE MISTAKES! And Galar and Hop won’t suffer for it! He doesn’t have to be perfect anymore!

246 notes - Posted March 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think Loid should become a father figure to Damian. Damian sees how good Loid is with Anya and Damian starts wanting his attention too. Like Loid comes to pick up Anya after a test and Damian "casually" points out that he got full marks! And Loid smiles and tells him he's impressed and that his father should be proud. Damian would still be tsundere about it, but he'd look up to Loid. Crush on Anya, looks up to Loid, lots of reason to hang out with them. Loid is thrilled that Damian talks to him all the time. And he really starts to hate Donovan after realizing how unhappy Damian is.

I just think Damian should have a good relationship with his future father-in-law! (especially if Loid picks up on his crush on Anya)

901 notes - Posted July 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[cortexreaver]

apparently i wrote this in november i assume i never posted it because 1. it was stupid 2. drafts temporarily ate it thus 3. i forgot. it's probably an unfinished list of half-formed thoughts i dont remember what most of it says anyway end preface start post:

in the approximate month since i first played it ive apparently spent around 218 hours blocking out the horrors with dragon age inquisition at the time of starting to write this post. so heres my review but not really these are just #thoughts about an 8-year-old video game. this got out of control i need it out of my drafts but at this point i dont want to just delete it. longest fucking post ive ever written anywhere under the cut

initial + overall thoughts: i had low expectations and when i started out and the character creator sliders were different and the combat was different and the skill trees were sideways and you couldnt manually distribute your attributes and everything was hd realistic shiny raytrace 4k particle physics like youve never seent hem before and so on and so forth my kneejerk reaction having just played dao: awakening was "this feels weird, i'm gonna hate this." and there were a lot of things i didn't like about it but there were things i thought i wouldn't like that i ended up enjoying. the former was mainly plot and lore stuff and some gameplay mechanics and the latter was individual writing of many characters and level design and, most surprisingly, crafting (i liked the masterwork material stuff)

THOUGHTS ON PLOT: as stated above i thought it was some silly shit but i'm gonna keep it vague because zeroing in on each point i had issues with or just thought was lame would make this post even longer than it's going to be. so like the thing is i thought the game before this one was also fucking stupid however da2 got a pass from me because, in addition to it being produced in a time frame far too narrow for what it was supposed to be, it's all SO melodramatic and half-baked and so many things go nightmarishly wrong for hawke and pals that it loops around to being fun. inquisition i assume is also supposed to be an emotional rollercoaster but nothing really hit for me like some parts of da2 did. obviously that in itself isn't a bad thing, and it could partly be a me problem. hold that thought and peruse two paragraphs of rambling that i don't want to cut out but would fit even worse if tacked them on the end of this section.

one big thing i noticed is that inquisition feels less concerned with your character's background and their personal journey over the course of the game. i realize i'm not alone in this sentiment but that's the consequence of playing a game 8 years late. at times it was hard to pin down exactly why my inquisitor felt so flat compared to to my wardens and hawkes, but—when it wasn't a majority of the voice lines being read in almost the exact same cadence—i think it had something to do with the fact that the game starts with its focus on introducing the first big universal threat rather than introducing you to your character. your background is a short paragraph on the character creation screen and it gets referenced a few times for light flavor and if/when people are being racist towards you (i played as an elf) (i have thoughts on how odd playing this game as a dalish elf felt but nothing that hasn't been said before by pretty much every other person who's played as an elf)

in contrast origins has its backgrounds that each set a distinct tone and serve as introductions to various aspects of the da universe as well as giving context for how your character became a grey warden while leaving enough blanks for you to feel in control of your character's personality; similarly, da2's entire first two acts detail how a guy with nothing but a magnetic personality and the power of These Hands* became so respected by the freak shits running the city he fled to from his plague-ridden homeland that they turned to him to resolve their nuclear slapfight. in inquisition you're a pariah for the first like five minutes and then everyone realizes your special hand makes you the only person capable of fixing everything and after passing out from the power of your own earthshattering swag you awake to find yourself effectively in charge of an organization devoted to being heroic. life hack i guess

*not to be confused with inquisition's The Hand

inquisition's main theme, i think, was the past; looking at the past and its inhabitants for what they really were, even when the truth challenges one's beliefs. it's a clash between the past and the present for control of the future. the inquisition unwaveringly pushes towards the future even if it means discarding the past; the main villain, literally one of the guys whose foolery and fuckery spawned the chantry's canticle about evil mages walking into god's house and trashing it, is a walking relic of the past and he clings to it even as he's losing, crying out for The Old Gods to save him as you strike the final blow. you wage war on his supporters, you find the cracks in his armor, you kill his lame ass dragon because that's the only way to ensure he's dead for real this time or some shit, you kill him, you kill the past. it's a fitting theme for a game that strays so far from its prequels in almost every aspect to have woven into it.

near the end i took a break to finally play origins' witch hunt dlc and realized that that was where the concepts of fade rifts and eluvians and morrigan having mysterious motives were first established which provided context for parts of inquisition that i previously thought had been pulled out of someone's ass. 99% my bad for assuming a dlc wouldn't contain seeds of main plot points given that inquisition's main villain is the jokester from da2's legacy dlc but arguably 1% not my bad because my assumption was based on the amount of shit from origins that either didn't matter later in the series or underwent changes so drastic they bordered on retcon.

i thought it was funny that the mage-templar conflict that was built up over the course of the first two games escalated off-screen to a war that you personally ended in main story mission 3 of 10 (11 counting the trespasser dlc) and then the chodester whose shit you kicked in in legacy shows up and yoinks the spotlight. sure legacy ends with the implication that you haven't seen the last of his funny ass but if i hadn't already spoiled his role in inquisition for myself i would've been like no way it's this guy again you are shitting me. there's another bigger villain after this one right? but no it's just him and his pet dragon and then your shiftiest companion who is definitely a mortal being steals morrigan's "i have...... plans. goodbye my friend" bit except with more of a lore dump because he physically can't shut the fuck up. also objectively funny that you can have your character become convinced that they have indeed been sent by god to build a paramilitary force so powerful it starts freaking people out. the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a cult is a good guy with a cult

OTHER WRITING THOUGHTS jesus fucking christ this post is long: i liked a lot of the writing on an individual character basis. i had warmed up to pretty much every companion i wasn't big on by the end of the game, i think because i took the time to chat with them when given the option to and did everyone's personal quests. they all have at least one moment where it becomes clear why they are the way they are, what experiences have shaped their values and worldview and personality. i did not like that the wardens were fully turned into another dumb asshole brigade which is another thing that started in legacy that i wouldn't have expected to continue in a main installment, in this case because iirc the wardens trying to summon a darkspawnimation whatever the fuck in legacy were just some fringe weirdos in the desert? maybe i'm remembering wrong. anyway yeah remember when the wardens were scapegoats in origins well this time they're bad for real* to fuckin uhhh make a point about how anyone can become corrupted or something idk you can still collect grey warden decorations for your nice guys inc. headquarters though and nobody gives a shit

*"what about the time those fereldan wardens tried to overthrow king arland in 7:5 storm" not my prablem

THOUGHTS ON LEVEL DESIGN AND VISUALS: uh i wasn't expecting this game to be so big for some reason and by the time i finished i was a little over it but initially i was pleasantly surprised that there was still more to see wherever i was and excited to explore it all. aside from one cave in the storm coast where my party would get stuck in a corner and some rare (completely optional) pure platforming that was placed in the game by devils to taunt completionist dickheads like me every area is laid out really well

[vivid4am]

Life Goes On (Chapter 1)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Bucky meets his neighbor who keeps playing the same song on repeat. 

Takes place before TFATWS

Warnings: Cursing, suicidal ideation(?), hella Beatles references

A/N: This is my first fanfic in like a long time, so sorry if my writing skills are a little week.

Whoever Bucky’s neighbor was, he loathed them. 

Life really hasn’t been kind to him lately. After being under control by HYDRA for so many years, breaking out and finding his best friend only to be turned into dust and coming back five years later with his then best friend abandoning him to go back in time to be with the love of his life. Yeah, not a good hand was dealt to him. 

The only good thing was being pardoned by the United States government and not being sent to jail for the rest of his goddamn miserable life. 

So here he was, sitting on his living room floor, staring at his T.V. and listening to that godforsaken song his neighbor was playing on repeat. 

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da

Life goes on, bra

La-la, how the life goes on

It was taunting almost. After all the shit Bucky’s went through, he wished his life didn’t go on. Wished he could be like Steve, go back in time and find someone who he could live the rest of his life with. Wished that the United States government did lock him up. Wished that they executed him. 

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da

Life goes on, bra

La-la, how the life goes on

Maybe he can complain to Dr. Raynor about this tomorrow. Tell her that the song almost makes him feel murderous again. Maybe she’ll report him and they will finally lock him up. It’s what he deserves anyway, after all the heinous crimes he’s committed. Bucky laid his head back against the wall and sighed. He then stopped and listened.

Solace and silence. The song was finally over. A smile stretched across Bucky’s unshaven face and he choked out a laugh. It didn’t last long though.

That stupid bass line along with that stupid piano started to fill his ears again.

“Are you kidding me?” Bucky said to himself. He knocked on the wall, trying to grab his neighbor’s attention to stop playing that stupid fucking song. 

The song suddenly stopped and a voice came through the wall. 

“Sorry, didn’t realize you weren’t a Beatles fan.” The voice said. 

Bucky didn’t give himself time to think, he just spoke. “I have no fucking clue who they are.” He replied. 

Bucky didn’t get a response. Silence filled his Brooklyn apartment. Then came a knock on his door. Bucky scrunched his face up. Who the hell would come visit him at this time at night? Mr. Nakajima? He pulled the blankets off his legs and stood up, his dog tags hanging off his neck. He peeked through the peephole and saw a girl standing in the hall with a white t-shirt, Cookie Monster pajama pants and her arms crossed over her chest. He sighed and opened the door. 

“Can I-”

“How do you not know who the fucking Beatles are?”

“Excuse me?” Well, maybe it’s because I’m a hundred and some year old man and have never been aware of my surroundings in the 60s before.

“The Beatles! Y’know, John, Paul, George, and Ringo? Abbey Road? Hey Jude? Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club? Here Comes The Sun? The fucking Beatles?” 

Bucky was shocked to be frank. Why was this girl screaming at him about The Beatles? He knew he should’ve listened to what Steve put down in that journal, dammit. 

All he could do was shake his head. “Sorry, no.”

“What were you, born yesterday?” The attitude on this girl was thick. She intimidated him almost, staring into his stone cold blue eyes. 

“No.” Yes.

“Don’t tell me you listen to that shitty Soundcloud rapper bullshit either.” The girl mumbled, pushing her way into Bucky’s apartment. Buck couldn’t help but panic. What if she saw his arm? What would he say to her? Then again, he didn’t really owe her any answers, she was the one who just waltzed into his apartment. 

Luckily Bucky had a grey sweatshirt laying on his kitchen counter. He pulled it over his head and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The girl stopped in front of his living room. “Nice pad you got here.” She said, admiring his single cushioned arm chair, TV stand and makeshift floor bed. 

“Uh- new furniture coming in, my old stuff fell apart.” He lied, looking down feeling almost embarrassed. “Eh, it’s okay. You’re better than the last tenets that were here.” She said, searching around his apartment. 

“I’m sorry, but- what are you looking for? Matter of fact, why are you in here?” He asked, following her around. Hopefully she didn’t find his knife stash. He wasn’t supposed to have any weapons, but he needed something in case someone tried to break in. He still gets paranoid sometimes. 

“Looking for the source in your shitty taste in music.” The girl deadpanned. 

“I-uh, I don’t listen to music.” 

The girl skidded to a halt. She turned around, shock riddled on her face. “Really? I mean, with that haircut and dog tags, you strike me as a guy who listens to Led Zeppelin religiously.” She then put her hand up. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who Led Zeppelin are either.” 

Bucky grimaced at the girl and she sighed. 

“Tomorrow,” She started, “meet me next door at 8, I get off work at 7:30.” She said before walking towards the door. Bucky gave her a confused look. “For what?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. The girl gave him a cheeky smile. “So I can show you music.” She replied, opening the door.

“I’m Y/N, by the way.” She said before she shut the door. 

“Bucky.” He whispered, but she was already gone.

| Next Part

[shinxeysartgallery]

Give me da loare on all your dinosaurs funny dinos go rawr

I think I made a post about Scar and Archie in particular last year, but I do have a few updates to make to that now that the other three have joined the squad, so this is the perfect excuse to do so. lmao Gonna put that under the cut here-

So I got the idea for the dinos to begin with a year or two ago when I had this dream where some of my OCs went on a mission in the arctic and found a dinosaur character preserved in the ice. They revived them and then went onto try introducing them to modern society. I thought it sounded like an interesting concept, so I decided to add that to my Sonic AU. Originally, it was just going to be Scar, and I chose him being a Utahraptor in particular because that's my favorite dinosaur. I had an idea and a design for him, so all that was left was to give him a name. Someone suggested Archie as a name, and while I didn't think that fit him, I thought it would be a really cute name for an archaeopteryx, so then Archie was born. Originally, I had their chronological ages based off the real life versions of the dinosaurs, but I later decided to make them both from the same year so it would make more sense. I went with 130 million as a good middle ground for all five of the dinos. For Scar, his physical age is 15, as that's how old he was when he was frozen. He is a very skilled spear user, but he also can use his claws to attack. He tends to be rather serious, but he does have a childish side to him as well.

Archie is only physically 10 and much more childish than Scar. He's a decent archer and he also tends to bite or peck. And he also loves to eat. lmao

Fairly recently, a friend of mine and I got into a conversation that gave me the idea of writing a bit about the dinosaur that gave Scar his scar, and that idea prompted me to make the other three dinos. Starting off with Tina Rex, a T-Rex. She's physically 17 and an embodiment of a spoiled rich kid. She takes the old saying about the T-Rex being the "king of the prehistoric era" seriously and demands to be treated as royalty as a result and will resort to fits or even violence to get her way. In fact, the necklace she wears is a tooth she took from beating up another tyrannosaur and wears like a trophy of sorts. She's also the one that gave Scar his scar, as they got into a fight. She will only listen to Peter, but that's mainly because he can do things for her and she understands that if she harasses him, he won't give her things.

Speaking of Peter, here he is! He is a pterodactyl (and it took all my willpower to not name him Terry) at the physical age of 16. He's a primative scientist of sorts and also serves as the peacekeeper of the dino group. He definitely is the most mature out of all five of them. There's also Rémy, an 8-year old rhamphorhynchus who was abandoned by his family when his home was attacked and he couldn't fly away due to his injuries. Peter found him while out collecting supplies and took him in, unofficially adopting him as his younger brother. Rémy very greatly respects his older bro and usually tags along with him and helps him out with his various experiments. Despite what happened to him, he's still very outgoing and loves making new friends.

All five of them are wearing clothes made from mammoth hide and sandals that are made from stone and primative leather, which were all made by each of them. Scar's and Archie's weapons were also made by their users out of stone, wood, and plant fibers. They all speak an ancient dinosaur language that I'm calling Ancient Mesozonian (as a reference to the Mesozoic era, in which the Cretaceous period in particular was 130 million years ago irl), so of course the revival process had quite the language barrier, though all five of them have been working very hard to learn English. Speaking of being revived, all five of them kinda freaked out over it, but in their position, who wouldn't? You wake up in a weird world with a ton of creatures you don't recognize that speak a language you can't understand. Scar and Archie were first, found together in the ice. Thanks to Tails making a somewhat decent translator for what he had to work with, the barrier was slightly breached and they were able to explain what happened to those two. They've adjusted somewhat to modern society, but it is difficult for them. Tina was next. Eggman got pissed off that Scar and Archie wrecked some of his robots and he learned that they used to have a bully of sorts, so he went to the arctic to try to track them down. He found Tina and revived her. Also using a translator that he developed, he was able to communicate with her and used expensive gifts to manipulate her into attacking the heroes and getting back at Scar and Archie in particular. She immediately fell in love with modern society and even ditched her self-made outfit for a silk dress. Scar and Archie kinda panicked over Tina being revived, but remembered about Peter and had the idea to go find him to hopefully talk her out of what she was doing and they begged their new friends to take them to the arctic to look for him, which they agreed to. They found Peter and Rémy together and revived them both. Scar and Archie explained the situation to them in their native language and sure enough, Peter was off to handle things. He was eventually able to talk her out of working for Eggman and she ditched him, much to his annoyance. Peter and Rémy also modernized themselves, dressing more like how you would expect a scientist to dress. Peter also realized that he's nearsighted and got glasses to help him. The two of them are working very hard to not only learn the language, but to become official chemists, Rémy being Peter's assistant. Scar and Archie never modernized their outfits though because they're too proud of the work they put into making them. Could that change in the future when it comes time for new clothes? Perhaps, but for now, no.

I'm still working on developing that a bit, and I'm hoping I'll have some time soon to work on it, but for now, that's what I got. Here's also Peter, Rémy, and Tina's modern outfits!

(Don't worry, he's fine! Nothing like a little chemical fire to put some spice in your life. :) )

[piraticalwit]

❥❥❥ !

THREE RANDOM PEOPLE?! okay. i'm trying to stay away from my obvious answer and spread the love so lets see...

@trickstercaptain / @immobiliter - lottie is brilliant. brilliant. i've been with this muse for 8 years and i think i've been writing with lottie for 7 of them. where would i be on this site with lottie? i truly don't know. i can't remember if our first interaction with killian and jack was like a meme reply or a starter or what but it was just this instant dislike and it was great. usually there's like a bit of build up but they were pissed off and at each other's throats in about one paragraph i think lmao - and it's continued into this sort of rivalry across all verses that honestly never gets old because theres a different depth to it every time. except for detective killian. i have high hopes for their temporary truce turning into an actual friendship. and then theres all of the muses across her multi and their interactions with killian and with my own multi and i just .. lottie is one of those rp partners who i don't stress about. things can take years on either end and it just doesn't matter. it's always fun and it's always gold. you're an amazing person, lottie. never doubt it.

@talesspin - katie is another person I've had on my various dashes for quite a bit, but I know for sure i originally found an older one of hers through killian and was just immediately like hello at the writing and character development because it was top fucking notch and she's only raised the bar even higher as the years go by. Did I reach out back then? I don't think so. Was it because I was stupid? definitely yes. But having her multi on my dash now is truly a fantastic thing. Beautiful graphics, fantastic headcanons and meta and just the BEST characters. I'm slower than slow but the things we have are some of my favorites. i truly cannot wait to see the various ways amelia kicks killian's ass. I can see it coming. It's right there on the horizon. I can't wait for it. Katie you are so easy to plot with and just a joy to have on the dash - you've got skill and I love being able to see it every day.

@thanflowers - another person i've known for literal years. since the og blog days when you wrote rufio. immediately i was just sucked in like your blog was a fucking whirlpool to neverland and then we talked too and just .. 100% will never look back in regret. You're so damn funny and you have such a grasp on every muse you've ever chosen to bring to life and it's crazy to think about where we started all those years ago and where we've both ended up. the journey and growth is incredible and i love being a part of it. You have this way of inspiring love and passion for whatever fandom you're currently in thats amazing. like obviously the DA lover in me will passionately yell with you on this current blog but theres some others i originally didn't know about where i'd see a post or two and just slam my fist down like i need to know more - and i discovered fantastic fandoms thanks to you. you're seriously a wonderful writer, a great person and a fantastic friend. you're stuck with me forever, thanks.

[tamuramachi]

Top 10 Manga Picks: the Origins of Manga-Loving Yumi Tamura!

Loosely translated from the Da Vinci Magazine August 2020 issue.

"Tamura has been creating works that span mystery, horror, fictional warfare, action, and fantasy genres. What kind of manga has she been reading up to now? We asked her to introduce the 10 works that inspired her to start drawing manga, as well as what she considers her heart's bible. Includes comments from Tamura herself!"

Yumi Tamura's Comments:

1. Cyborg 009 by Shotaro Ishinomori

"When I was little, I watched the anime first and loved it, and then I read the manga around the time I was entering junior high school. I wanted to be 003 and go into battle with friends in the same way. I feel like it was my emotional support during the period of my 2nd year in junior high when I was having a hard time and ran away from it all."

2. Lolly no Seishun by Kimiko Uehara

"When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade of elementary school, Uehara drew a lot of one-shots in Betsucomi ('Lolly' was a weekly comic), and they were so interesting and moving every time that I was constantly in a state of emotion. I think because of that, I began drawing manga in my notebook, splitting up the pages into panels. Dramatic & rich with emotion, the depicted characters by Uehara, whether men or women, are full of charm & utterly brilliant. The energy and willpower of the female characters is really wonderful."

3. Thomas no Shinzou by Moto Hagio

"Of course I love 'Poe no Ichizoku' & '11-nin Iru!' too. Needless to say, Hagio is the greatest treasure. When I was in the 1st year of junior high, my friend & I were crazy about 'Thomas'. I liked Juri and my friend liked Oskar... we talked about going to Germany someday. It links together my own happy memories. I'm sure I didn't understand everything Hagio was trying to draw, but in the end, even now I cry at the image of Juri smiling faintly in a small panel."

4. Hamidashikko by Jun Mihara

"To me, this work is like the bible. It relentlessly strikes the deepest part of the heart and brings forth a flood of pain and tears. It wraps you up in a warmth that's helplessly miserable, sorrowful. Sincere gazes and intense dialogues. The power of the dialogues is truly unbelievable. The way the dialogues are presented along with the drawings make the best use of that power. Mihara's careful thoughts are at the root of all this. Even though I'm already this grateful, I will never get used to it. It's just amazing."

5. Kyoufu Shinbun by Jirou Tsunoda

"This is the most terrifying manga I've ever read. It's so captivating, & even decades later, it's still ingrained in me. There are various scenes that I'll recall whenever something happens. My younger sister & I would look at each other & go like ‘it's that’ or ‘that one scene, right?!’ & it would send shivers down our spines. We're already at a level of trauma. It's uncommon for a main story line to be most interesting while introducing all sorts of horrors."

6. Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu by Kazuo Umezu

"If I was told to read a manga now that would make me cry right away, then I would choose this one. Particularly the last scene of the mother crying. This work is unbelievably fierce, grand, rich in ideas, & just too fascinating. And the themes are so broad & deep that it makes you think about many things. It's a rare transcendental masterpiece that will, in the end, leave you feeling comforted & positive, thinking ‘it was a good ending,’ even though the journey is extremely scary & painful. Also, my contempt for Sekiya is strong.”

7. Macaroni Hourensou by Tsubame Kamogawa

"This is explosively entertaining. Fun. Cute. Cool. I love it! 25-year old Toshi-chan is the best! He's so cool. I don't know how many times I've read this. I still say the lines out loud even now. This is a very popular work that I can only describe as fun. There are not many other gag manga that make me burst out laughing quite like this one. I love it!”

8. Akaaka Maru by Minako Uchida

"I just can't stop admiring this work in general. The drawings, the rhythm, the stunning midpoint [?], the ability to think in a scientific way. And the proficiency of observing people. I admired it so much that I tried drawing contours of people & handwriting with permanent markers & brushes, but my drawing skills were so different that I ended up with nothing but doodles. ‘BOOMTOWN’ & the short stories are also very interesting & fun!”

9. Genji by Yun Kouga

"Innovative, I thought. I could clearly understand it. Kouga seems to be the kind of person who has a lot of sense. I've always thought it was amazing how her work & she herself had leadership qualities of the time to pull others along. I would very much love to know what kind of ideas Kouga has in mind for the rest of this work, since it hasn't been completed yet.”

10. Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya

"There was a period when I was having a very tough time, & it got to the point where I was having unhealthy thoughts like, ‘Is manga even enjoyable?’ But then this work came along & I was like ‘Aah, manga is fun after all! Thank goodness, I'm okay!’ So, this is a super popular & famous work to which I owe a debt of gratitude for making me realize & genuinely feel this way. I think it would be the greatest if I could portray the world in a similar way with such thoroughness. I envy that power of Ninomiya's! It's magnificent!”

Additional side comment from Tamura (in the speech bubble):

“I wanted to include the Bijohime series (Hana no Bijohime) & PARTNER by Tomoko Naka too! (I think it's obvious that these have an influence on my characters.) Other works that also left a strong impact on me are Ryouko Yamagishi's Arabesque; Yuko Kishi's Tamasaburou series and short stories; Rising! (Saeko Himuro/Author, Kazuko Fujita/Artist); the Palm series (Yasei Kemonogi); Astro Kyuudan (Shirou Toozaki/Author, Norihiro Nakajima/Artist); & Dark Green by Junko Sasaki. Makoto Kobayashi's Judo-bu Monogatari & Nanae Haruno's PaPa told me are also excellent! There’re also many other works that I'll never forget, such as those by Shinji Wada & Udou Shinohara, which have all influenced me in some way. I've always loved TONO's Karubania Monogatari too.”

[robininthelabyrinth]

Three Gates - on ao3 (for content warnings check Ao3) - on tumblr: pt 1, pt 2, pt 3, pt 4, pt 5, pt 6, pt 7, pt 8, pt 9, pt 10, pt 11, pt 12

- Chapter 13 -

Meng Yao was extremely practiced in keeping his emotions under control.

He always had been, his mother’s inheritance to both him and Nie Huaisang. The brothel had taught him the basics of how to utilize his natural talent for it, while politics had refined the skill into an art. He could keep a smile on his face as he was being tortured, something he would have once said was theoretical but could now definitively attest to, though thankfully only briefly.

Even so, he had to briefly close his eyes when they dragged Nie Mingjue into the throne room and threw him to his knees at Wen Ruohan’s feet.

Wen Ruohan didn’t notice, of course – he only had eyes for his prize – and that gave Meng Yao the moment he needed to collect himself before stepping out to deal with matters, as was his right as the person whose scheming had achieved such a triumph.

The first one who saw him was Nie Mingjue. His eyes were hurt and confused, tender like a day-old bruise that was being pressed down on, but he said nothing, did nothing. He didn’t rage or spit or anything that might have reasonably been expected; he didn’t yell or try to lunge forward, even though he wouldn’t have been able to get very far even if he tried.

For the first time in his life, Meng Yao couldn’t tell what Nie Mingjue was thinking, whether he was cursing him or if he was simply mourning him, believing he had been betrayed in truth – he remained silent, remained on his knees, his arms bound tightly to his side; he was quietly terrified to the bone, the emotion just barely hidden behind his unbending pride, and Meng Yao’s chest hurt to look at him.

The other Nie cultivators looked hurt, too, when they saw him. After all, not long ago he’d been their second young master, their sect leader’s right hand ��

But that had been before.

Before, as far as they knew, he betrayed them all.

Meng Yao approached Nie Mingjue, saying nothing. After all, what needed to be said? There was no mockery greater than the mere fact of his presence there, clad in Wen sect robes.

He was even wearing a sword.

(Chiwen remained safe, hidden in his room, snarling and uncontrollable in his hatred for everything about their lives right now, but how would they know that? For all they knew he had discarded it like trash, the Nie sect’s life and livelihood, all nothing but trash…)

Or at least, there wasn’t any mockery greater than that, right up until Meng Yao opened the box he was holding in his arms and showed Nie Mingjue that Baxia had fallen into his hands.

No Nie saber will ever voluntarily be held in the hands of a Wen – Meng Yao had remembered Nie Mingjue’s words and seized Baxia the very first instant he could, but right now he was a Wen, and wasn’t that the worst insult of all?

Nie Mingjue flinched when he saw his saber lying there in Meng Yao’s arms, in a box of Wen sect colors, the threat not needing to be spoken for it to be clear – he flinched, flinched away from Meng Yao as if Meng Yao were Wen Ruohan.

That was the step too far for the Nie disciples that had been captured alongside him. One of them spoke up, saying something crude, an insult to Wen Ruohan, and for all that Meng Yao agreed wholeheartedly, such a thing could not be borne. 

He stepped forward and backhanded the man, knocking him to the ground, and ordered him to be taken to Fire Palace – ordered them all to be taken there, and told the guards to go fetch Wen Qing, saying with a vicious smile that her doctor’s services would undoubtedly be needed to prolong their experience.

They were dragged away. Some of them shouted curses at him, damning him in the filthiest of language; others only continued to look hurt, even shocked, as if they had still believed in him right up until that moment.

Wen Ruohan laughed. “Always so quick to defend my honor, my Meng Yao,” he said, his voice low and purring and overly intimate, and then he stood, coming down from his throne. “It feels good to have such loyal retainers…don’t you agree, Sect Leader Nie?”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Right verb,” Wen Ruohan said, and his smile was full of filth. “Wrong subject.”

He reached out and put his hands in Nie Mingjue’s hair, pulling out the few braids that remained intact and running his fingers against his scalp – it was something Nie Mingjue had always enjoyed when Meng Yao or Lan Xichen had done it for him, a little tidbit Meng Yao had unintentionally let slip during one of his storytelling sessions, and he could see Nie Mingjue shudder with disgust at the familiar action.

He probably wouldn’t like it again, in the future. Lan Xichen would undoubtedly mourn the loss.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” Wen Ruohan said.

“Do you want to take him upstairs?” Meng Yao interjected, but Wen Ruohan waved him away.

“Later,” he said, impatiently, already forgetting that Meng Yao was even there. “All of that can come later. I have a prize to claim, and in front of my throne is as good a place as any.”

Nie Mingjue tried to struggle then, to free his arms, to reach for Baxia still held so close and yet far away from him in Meng Yao’s arms, to do something, but all of his struggles did him no good. Wen Ruohan was not in the mood to play games of cat and mouse, not after so many years of being denied: he unleashed the full force of his cultivation, dominating and overwhelming, and pushed Nie Mingjue onto his back before he could recover from the effect, forcing his legs open and kneeling between them.

“Ah – stop!” Nie Mingjue cried out, pushed beyond his limits into something like begging. It didn’t help, of course. Wen Ruohan pulled open the front of Nie Mingjue’s robes, pressing him down. Their hips slotted together, Wen Ruohan rocking back and forth, his face ecstatic with the pleasure of domination, of victory, his obsession of so many years finally on the verge of being satisfied for the first of what would undoubtedly be many times. One of his hands pressed Nie Mingjue down, the other slid down between his thighs. “No! Stop it, don’t – stop – Meng Yao!”

Wen Ruohan laughed in delight. “How stupid do you have to be to call out to him?” he asked, eyes bright with amusement even as he pressed their bodies together even closer. “Do you really think –” A bestial grunt, and a cry of pain. “- that he’ll help you? He belongs to me –”

Meng Yao took Wen Ruohan’s head off with Baxia.

It was a better death than the bastard deserved, far too quick and easy, but it was the only opportunity he had: Wen Ruohan had dropped every single one of his shields and protections to pull together the spiritual force he was using to keep Nie Mingjue pinned down and helpless, keep him writhing on the floor in spite of all his power; Wen Ruohan had been showing off his superior cultivation like a preening peacock, safe and unguarded, all his attention on memorizing Nie Mingjue’s every reaction. It wasn’t that he didn’t know Meng Yao was there, of course, but he hadn’t thought twice about him, thought of him as nothing but a prop, a mindless object allowed to remain close at hand only because it would enable him to wring out the maximum amount of misery and despair from Nie Mingjue.

Meng Yao could come up close, even with Baxia still clutched in his hands, and Wen Ruohan wouldn’t register his little loyal pawn, the one he’d seduced since childhood, as anything resembling a threat.

He should have.

Meng Yao checked to make sure he’d gotten the head fully off – he had, so quickly and cleanly that Wen Ruohan’s expression was still fixed in a look of triumph – and then turned back to Nie Mingjue, tensing when he saw that he hadn’t moved: he was still lying on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling, Wen Ruohan’s bloody corpse on top of him.

Meng Yao swallowed.

Had he acted too late? Had something fundamental been broken inside of Nie Mingjue?

“Da-ge?” he said hesitantly, not sure if he was still allowed to say that. “Da-ge, I got him – he’s dead.”

Nie Mingjue was shaking when Meng Yao pulled the corpse off of him, casting it aside, and then suddenly he was moving, up and towards Meng Yao and Meng Yao started to scramble away, not wanting Nie Mingjue to do something he’d regret in a moment of fury, but Nie Mingjue was faster than he was.

He wrapped his arms around Meng Yao and he – did nothing.

“Meng Yao,” Nie Mingjue murmured into his neck, his voice broken. “Meng Yao, A-Yao…”

He wasn’t trying to hurt him.

He was hugging him. He was –

Meng Yao’s knees went weak, weak enough that he couldn’t stand, and he collapsed down onto his own knees, suddenly hugging Nie Mingjue back as hard as he could. “You forgive me?” he croaked. “I thought – you didn’t even look at me. You didn’t say anything!”

Not in the throne room – not for months.

“How could I say anything?” Nie Mingjue asked, and Meng Yao could feel his tears against the side of his face. “You’re always telling me that I’m a terrible liar. If I said anything, everyone would know – I couldn’t ruin things for you, not when you were in such danger.”

“You – you worried –”

“You told me to trust you,” Nie Mingjue said, as if the world were that simple. As if it was black and white, justice and righteousness, as if he knew, deep in that shining steel core of his, that Meng Yao loved him and trusted him and would do anything for him. “I trusted you.”

Meng Yao closed his eyes, feeling tears drip down his own cheeks now.

“Huaisang, too,” Nie Mingjue added, as if he knew exactly what balm Meng Yao needed to heal the wounds the Nightless City had left in his soul. “He told me that if I saw you, I was to tell you that he’s very mad at you for breaking your promise to let him help.”

“I let him fight the war,” Meng Yao automatically protested, because he had – he would never have committed to actually crossing sides like this if he hadn’t known Nie Huaisang would be able to do the critical strategic and tactical work on the other side. “How is that not helping?!”

“He says you should think the highest number your brain can calculate, and then translate that into fans you need to buy to make it up to him,” Nie Mingjue said. “I told him there weren’t that many fans in the entire cultivation world, but he said that he had faith in you.”

He had faith in you.

I trusted you.

Meng Yao pressed his lips together, rocking back and forth, unable to speak for a long few moments because the joy in his chest was so intense that he felt it as pain, a blazing light as hot as a firebrand pressing down in on him.

What good thing had he done, in a previous life, to give him such a family? How could Wen Ruohan have believed, even for a minute, that he would have betrayed them for something as stupid and paltry as ambition?

“…let’s get you dressed again,” he finally said, because he couldn’t express his emotions in words right now. “Xichen-xiong should be here any moment with an army.”

“Convenient.” Nie Mingjue’s voice was a bit wet when he chuckled, but he pulled away to start doing up his robes without taking a single glance down at them – he got a few ties done the wrong way round, but Meng Yao didn’t correct him. He suspected these particular robes would be burnt as soon as they were somewhere safe anyway. “Always a second plan, isn’t that right?”

There was never any plan where I let him have you, Meng Yao thought, and perhaps when things had calmed down a little more he would one day even find a way to say that out loud.

But for the moment, they were together, him and Nie Mingjue and even Baxia – Chiwen was on his way, entirely self-directed, Meng Yao could feel his overwhelming excitement about finally getting out of this den of misery as he whistled straight down the hallways as Wen sect disciples leapt shouting out of his way – and then Lan Xichen burst through the doors and exclaimed in relief to see them, rushing forward to take them both into his arms.

“The Nie sect retainers,” Meng Yao said a few moments later, when he could speak again through the tears. “The ones you came in with – Wen Qing is helping me, she’s the doctor I called for. She’s probably setting up to smuggle them to the border as we speak; we should tell her she doesn’t have to bother now that Xichen-xiong’s here…she’s Wen Ning’s older sister, Wen Ning’s the one I sent to you to keep safe. She has some crimes to her name, who doesn’t here, but she’s one of the good ones. Can something be done for her and her kin?”

“We’ll deal with the details later,” Lan Xichen sniffed, nuzzling his hair. “Oh, Meng Yao, I missed you..!”

“We really should deal with it now,” Meng Yao insisted.

“He’s right,” Nie Mingjue said, though he made no move to let either of them go. “This is neither the place nor the time. We can reunite properly later.”

For the first time since that horrible day at the Cloud Recesses, Meng Yao found himself looking forward to something.

[gaylien51]

So this is the first chapter of my story. I’m a beginner writer so if you have any advice feel free to share.

Baron Draxum watched all his precious work go down in flames. The heat overwhelmingly and the fire still roaring. CRASH! Another part of the roof collapsed bringing even more damage. He cursed his now forever enemy Hamato Yoshi. As he begun to walk away from the ruins of his previous lab he thinks of how his lab was destroyed.A prisoner of big mama that he had his loyal gargoyles bring to him for his highly anticipated experiment of creating the perfect soldiers to rain hell upon the vile humans that lived above. The experiment consisted of 4 turtles, a red eared slider turtle, a snapping turtle, a soft shell turtle, and a box turtle. He looked down in his hands to see a small box turtle, the last of his experiments. “ You shall become the perfect soldier, the perfect success, you will be the downfall of humans, the rein of pure terror as everyone kneels down to our almighty power!” Achoo! He looked down at the box turtle in disgust. Ugh germs- and from a mutant turtle no less. He felt pressure on his fingers as he looked down to see the experiment nuzzle into his hands happily cooing and smiling at him. “There is much much much work to be done little one” he expressed with tiredness in his voice.

“ Uhhhh sir, no offense but your mortal enemy who you called us to capture because of his awesome fighting skills, ninjutsu and all that, has destroyed your lab place, burned it down to the ground, escaped with the 3 other turtles, and is most likely mutated into a rat and will raise the 3 other turtles if they survived, and will most likely prep himself over the years to come and fight you, has completely and utterly destroyed your work, soooooooooo where we living?”. Baron looked at the gargoyle on his shoulder (which he solemnly forgot about) and wore a frustrated and pinched expression as he explained the obvious. The other gargoyle on his shoulder also looked at him waiting for an answer to their question. Frustrated, tired,angry, and annoyed Baron Draxum argued in his head if he should kill them for their very annoying existence. “ We will rebuild our laboratory starting from the ground up and prepare experiment 42005 for his long and successful journey of destroying the humans!” He answered with determination. “ As for now we will visit the yokai city and remain there for the time being” he added. Both gargoyle looked at him and shrugged satisfied with the answers. “ hey as long as me and Muninn have a place to stay we’re a-okay with your plan boss man!” replied the gargoyle on his left shoulder. “ what huginn said!” Munnin, the gargoyle on his right shoulder said.

So Baron Draxum, Munnin, Huginn, and the experiment 42005 began their trek to yokai city and onwards to their journey of the destruction of the humans.

CRASH! Baron hurried out of bed and into his kitchen to see his experiment trying to cook breakfast for himself. Tiredness dripped in his voice as he asked “ Little one when I said you must learn survival skills such as cooking, I did not mean to make a mess of the kitchen” his racing heart calmed seeing his son on the counter unharmed but dirty with flour all over his clothes. Which was also on the counters and tables- and how did pancake mix get on the ceiling? All over the kitchen causing quite a mess.

“ I’m sorry da- I mean sir, I was trying to create a acceptable meal for us today but it didn’t go over quite well” replied his son with disappointment and frustration. “ Just make sure to clean this up and meet me in the lab for your training... we will eat cereal so you may have your breakfast”. Internally experiment 42005 groaned at just the thought of eating bland boring old nutritional rations that his dad called cereal. As his dad continued to walk away from him he quickly and expertly cleaned up his mess frustrated at his failed attempt at cooking. Usually he was quite good at this and created the best meals with whatever was stocked in the pantry but his mind was distracted with thoughts of what he’ll do today and this resulted in the mess before him. But he decided to not think too hard about it and stored those thoughts away and quickly finished up. He ran to the lab through the dark and creepy decaying hallways all colored the same dull gray and rusted. He then saw his dad and the left out “cereal” for him and proceeded to make his way to the table with the laid out food and sit and eat it hurriedly. His father in the background working on many technologies to improve their home and for his patrols.

“42005 today is your 13th birthday” his father said suddenly. 42005 stood up from his chair standing tall and proud as he’s always done since he can remember. “As you know I have been preparing you since birth to destroy the vile humans that live up above, the disgusting creatures who forced us down here into yokai city, making us soft, and stealing the surface from us, and- yadda yadda yadda I know dad you’ve been saying this since my birth!” Interrupted his son. Looking at him with a disgruntled expression he stared into his sons eyes as his son stared back. “Ha you blinked! I win” his son said with smug. “ENOUGH!, experiment 42005 you will listen to me! You know I hate interruptions!”. His son cowered a bit internally but did not show it out of fear for punishment. “ Yes sir, I apologize “ he said solemnly. Satisfied with his answer he continued on his rant about vile human as his son mentally bored with the same discussion hes heard again and again and waited for him to finish. “And that is why human are disgusting and you will go on to destroy the- Are you listening to me?!l he yelled. Startling his son out of his short nap. He sighed with dissatisfaction and drag his hand over his face. “ Proceed to training with Munnin and Huginn and the foot bots, later today we shall proceed with your far more intense training and then patrol will happen is that understood?”. 42005 flinched very subtly at the mention of the clan but replied yes and proceeded to go train. The training room was a stimulation his father made that can produce whatever needed. 42005 chose footbots this time as some early practice while waiting for Munnin and Huginn. He tried desperately to bury himself in his training tearing foot bot after foot boy apart with his mystic kusari fundo the fire ball shrieking wildly as their enemies were torn apart. He had started to train with the foot clan when he was 4 and learned quickly how cruel they were. Every mistake he made he was punished for severely. His scars aches just thinking of it. Burning, drowning, poisoned , whipped, and many other methods of torture he had to induce upon people or else he would be punished instead. They told him this was the way of the clan and that it was effective for enemies.They silenced him quickly with threats to not tell his father unless he wanted even more punishments. At age 4 42005 learned what the word discipline truly meant and when to enforce silence. He grew to be one of the most notorious assassins out there a product of the foot clan and his father. He was a cold blooded thirsty terrifying killers known as the fire akuma, the devil, the bringer of death, and many other names. All at the cost of his innocence. At age 8 his father found out about the horrible punishments after hearing the excuse one too many times he was hurt from patrol and training. His father accepted it too busy with projects and destroying humans to pay attention to him. Once he learned of the horrors being done to his creation he rained hell upon the foot and promised 42005 that no one shall ever harm him again. He started paying more attention to his experiment from then on making sure nothing tainted his creation. As time went they grew closer and acted more as father and son although Baron would never admit it as he was too prideful. Baron always felt guilty for his trauma and did his best to help him with it. Although he still had plenty nightmares from the screams he heard and bones being crushed and throats be big split- he was getting far too much in his thoughts. Baron never did explain why he allied with the foot - he never explained many things but 42005 learned to not question it. His father was still very guarded hence why he was never named an actual name instead of numbers.

SWOOSH! Oh right he was training! 42005 lassoed the foot bot who threw kunai at him and threw him at the wall effectively making him short circuit with his neck being twisted at an awkward angle. He proceeded to the next foot bit and threw his fiery friend into the foot not making an effective burning hole. As he continued on with his training his father watched him through the screen at his work station satisfied and proud of his son with what he was seeing. A few hours later 42005 had created and effective pile of destroyed bots and was panting heavily. Baron called for his son over the intercom that connected to the speaker within the stimulation room. Once 42005 came he stood in front of his father waiting for instructions as his patrol would begin soon.

“42005, you have done remarkably well since I have raised you and have succeeded my expectations, you will be sure to wipe out the human race and bring hope for us Yokai and mutants alike to rule the surface, and I am... p-“. Baron coughed on trying to swallow his ego and pride. “ what was that pop?! We’re you going to say-YES LETME FINISH, I just need a second”. 42005 looked smudged and excited staring at Baron who somehow managed to swallow his ego and proceeded with his original saying. “ Yes 42005 I am p-proud of you and I know for certain I can call you my s-son. For your birthday I gift you this and give you your name... Michelangelo” baron heaved a sigh of relief as Mickey squealed and jumped all over. His father had promised him when he was 8 that when he exceeded his expectations of him he would finally give him a name and 42005 or we’ll Mickey hadn’t let him forget since. It was a true sign of parental love and trust. Baron had struggled to do this for so long because he didn’t want to get attached to an experiment that could still fail and he might need to replace even if he started from scratch again. In truth he chose the name Mickey because he read about a renaissance artist once who was named Michelangelo and was highly successful. As Mickey grew up he promised great strength and ambition as well as intelligence but not in the way you think.

You see Mickey has ADHD which caused him to have trouble paying attention during lessons his father was teaching more focused on what to draw and having multiple thoughts in his head. He also constantly had to be doing something wether it was tapping his feet or humming a tune he heard or other things. This quickly annoyed his father as he didn’t know why Mickey was like this and at first assumed it was because he had a lot of energy since he was a child but it continued to happen as he grew up and then mood swings started to appear a lot more. So Baron decided he should look into it more and see what was wrong and found mickeys symptoms to match most of the adhd symptoms. He asked Mickey later that day why he had trouble paying attention and why he was so impulsive and as his son explained he concluded that he had ADHD. He felt guilty for yelling at his son so many times over something he couldn’t control and never asked why he did what he did. He looked up herbal teas and created many medications similar to those used for humans but instead for a growing teenage mutant turtle boy. Of course this didn’t cure his adhd and he’ll always have it but over the years they’ve learned to manage it and what medicines did and didn’t work. But because Mickey had adhd he had to find other ways to do things other solutions. This caused him to memorize skills and cooking and other acedmic stuff in several ways for example most things were labeled around their home and Mikey used lists in order to keep track of things. Once he got a phone he also put reminders on there and his father would also him remind him of his tasks. Growing up Mikey also had special interests such as games, technology, reading but mostly comic books, cooking, and creating art. His father encouraged his behavior as it helped for him to gain confidence and he was able to use it to his advantage in training and fighting. But when Mikey was with the foot clan he was mocked for his habits and drawings. They would tear up his drawings in front of him and beat him when he couldn’t pay attention or he was stimming. This caused him to have low self esteem and ptsd. His father was a busy man selling his creations and do in g business deals among the yokai city so often times he neglected Mikey. Mikey was angry at him for this and this caused a rift between him and his dad he was afraid and scared and needed his dad but didn’t want his dad to find out about the abuse. This left him confused angry and frustrated as well as draxum as he was emotionally stunted. Wanting to know why his son was acting this way he visited the foot clan without telling them and saw Mikey being cut and beaten in a fight as they yelled horrible words at him. This sent him in a rage destroying everything in his path and getting his son out of there. Once in the safety of their home Mikey spilled about everything like an overflowing sink as he kept crying as well. Baron unsure of what to do simply held his son tighter and listened. Once this happened his father became more protective of him but also trained him more to fight back against harmful people and they continued to repair their relationship.

“-ickey, Mickey, MICKEY!” Yelled his father. He rose to attention still full of energy but stood straight waiting for instructions . His father looked at him with his classic I- love-you-so-much-but-your-gonna-be-the-death-of-me look . “It is time to start your patrol, your task today is to find the needed chemicals I sent to your phone to create more mutagen for my oozesquitoes, stay safe out there my son” Draxum patted mikeys head with slight fondness and Mikey beamed at him. He then hurriedly made his way out of his home and towards yokai city. He snuck into a nearby alleyway and drew the symbol for the portal going through quickly to the surface world. He checked his black utility belt for all his weapons. “ I have my kunai, my shuriken, my tento, my kusari fundo, my protein bars -ughhhhhh, my sketchbook, pencil, yup! I think I have everything!” Mikey exclaimed. He skated rooftop from rooftop heading towards the old abandoned factory filled with chemicals his dad usually made him get for his experiments. He was wearing a black hoodie and mask that showed a wide grin of sharp teeth and his skateboard full with stickers that consisted of smiley faces, graffiti words, neon signs, gaming brands, etc. Patrols weren’t necessarily patrols more of errand runs for the human world unless it was an assassination for a human who wronged a fellow yokai. As much as his dad hated humans he worked with the ones from the foot clan for yet untold reasons and had Mikey assassinate humans who were especially evil. The foot clan had also messed that up for him taking away his in once when they started executing innocent people who wronged them and made him watch and kill them. He shuddered at the reminder and of things that still haunt his nightmares and shook his head to be clear of the horrific thoughts. As he jumped from the next rooftop he hears chatter that gets louder and ducks down on a balcony to spy on whoever’s coming his way. There he sees WHAT!?!? 3 OTHER MUTANT TURTLES dad said I was the only one, the only mutant turtle who was trained to be an assassin. Are they even assassins?!? What’s going on? Mikey thought.

Mikey can get angry and sadistic . Can be downright cruel and unforgiving. Can kill someone quick and merciless. He’s a soldier, an assassin, a demon if you will. His names is feared within the Yokai community despite not being a yokai. But that’s to be expected of Baron Draxums son. He’s proud of it and it certainly helps that his dad praises him for it. He’s a turtle or we’ll a mutant turtle ,created to be the perfect experiment. The only mutant turtle in the world. So why the hell does he see 3 other mutant turtles on a rooftop during his patrol?! Unless... No! They couldn’t be! Dad said they had died in the fire! They are dead...right? Or maybe someone stole dads work and mutated 3 other turtles for their own benefit? Or something??? Ughhhhhhh!

Mikey then peered up from the balcony to spy again as he saw the 3 mutant turtles talking amongst themselves and a ...human!!! Aren’t all Yokai supposed to hate humans?! This night just keeps getting confusing! Mikey then decided to look up again and as he shifted around he forget about the skateboard next to him

CRACK!!

The skateboard had fallen of the balcony and broke in two over a dumpster. Mikey froze as his breath was taken away. Slowly he looked up, only to find the turtles gone?

“ Huh? Where’d they go” Mikey climbed onto the rooftop confused and a bit hesitant And then heard some shuffling behind him. He quickly grabbed a Kunai and held it up to one of the turtles neck

“Uhhhh hi? Nice dagger you got there” Mikey stared fiercely at the turtle ready to kill if necessary.

[ourimpavidheroine]

cupcake! (well, i do know that you love to cook, so i suppose i’d just like to hear more about it)

Are you a good cook?

I am now. I never cooked much before I moved to Finland - I learned how to make apple pie from my Daddy and I could do some very basic dishes but that's it. In fact, it was my first husband who did pretty much 90% of the cooking when we weren't doing take-out of one kind or another.

When I came here in 2000 I found that most of the things I liked to eat were simply unavailable, and so I started to teach myself. Baking, too, which is not actually the same thing as cooking. I turned out to be really good at it. I am basically completely self-taught. My maternal grandfather was a chef - like, a real chef, working in very prestigious restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area until he was in his 50's, when he got involved in the cook/restaurant workers union (eventually becoming the president of the Bay Area chapter) but I really didn't learn much from him, he died when I was only 8.

I read cookbooks, I watched shows on TV, etc. I will say that I am not a good decorator - I have dyspraxia and it makes me clumsy, and cake decorating, for example, takes a deft and steady hand - but I am a good cook and good baker.

About 9 years ago the school I teach at was like, we are trying to get some new ideas for how to teach languages. And my old boss had had some of my baking (I'd bring in new things I'd made to see how people liked them) and he introduced me to the home ec boss and I gave her some brownies and we agreed I'd try to teach a baking class in English and the first class I offered, Chocoholics Anonymous, filled completely within 15 minutes of registration opening and I ended up teaching it five times because there were so many people on the waiting list! And my cooking/baking classes went from there. They are very popular.

I am not great at decorating or knife skills thanks to the dyspraxia, but that's not something that I can help. I do use knives, but I have to be careful and I'll never be showy. (When I can, I use a food processor or a mandoline, for example.)

Now that Finland has opened itself up a lot more to immigrants there's been a huge upsurge in different kinds of food available, which I love. I have an Asian market just down the street from me and I love going there and getting fresh veggies and spices and such so I can make Asian dishes. The stores now carry Tex-Mex foods, for example. Sushi finally came to Finland! Indian food! That's right, Finland, curry is delicious! So I am now able to also teach a lot of regional American dishes (with the explanation that they are immigrant American versions of other nations' food) and then the baking classes, thanks to way more ingredients being available to me.

Next year, for example, I am going to teach a Disney for Adults class and have a Halloween Cocktail party and Dinner with Leonardo (my city museum is having an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's works and I was asked by the City to give a cooking course with Italian Renaissance inspired dishes) and a class where I will teach them various pumpkin recipes, etc.

Am I a professional? No. They'd laugh me right out of a professional kitchen. But I make food that people love to eat and love to learn to make and that's good enough for me!

[im-totally-not-an-alien]

Final Fantasy prompts # 31

1. Sephiroth uses Cloud as a therapist.

Sephiroth going on about his life while Cloud is tied to a chair and gagged is just hilarious to me.

2. AVALANCHE, Sephiroth and the Turks are all turned back into 10 year olds and booted, (by Aerith probably) to the Pokémon world and have to survive as Pokémon trainers. The problem? They were all separated and no one has any way to contact eachother.

(Inspired by Viincentsvalentines pokemon/ff7 post. I adore Cloud having a overprotective and murderous Shinx as a starter pokemon. I also love AC Cloud with a Luxray)

(I have a set of rules I use for the pokemon AUs if you're interested)

3. Cloud is ace/aro and is just working on Fenrir, blissfully oblivious to everyone fighting over him just inside the bar.

Those who aren't fighting are fueling the fire and making the situation worse.

In short, Reno starts a shipping war with an actual war.

There is no mercy.

Featuring: people trying to flirt with Cloud only to be full-body tacked away mid conversion, Cloud shrugging everything off, Rufus being a manipulate weasel, and Cloud choosing to "Date" his motorcycle just to get people off his back. No one is respecting Clouds boundaries or sexual orientation.

4. Cloud gets thrown back in time but loses his memory. He has no idea who he is or how he got to this snowfield, luckily this energetic, spikey haired man befriends him and is dead set on showing him off to Angeal.

Genesis had to do a double take, the blond wasn't just well armed. He was practically prepared for war. A massive overly intricate sword was the mans back, his gaze was unwavering, even when faced with the three most powerful men in the world. The redhead barely had to glance at him to tell that all the materia on him was at max level, even the supports.

"Well, my dear friend," he began, turning to Angeal, "it seems your puppy has brought home a wolf."

5. Sephiroth appears to Cloud in his apartment, intending to torment him again. Cloud doesn't seem to acknowledge him, no matter what he says or does. He even grabbed his puppet by the throat and pinned him against the wall.

Nothing. Cloud just closed his eyes and began counting backwards from thirty. The former general released him and Cloud went back to making his sandwich.

The silverette was thoroughly miffed at this point and stalked Cloud throughout his apartment as he sat down the plate of food down on his table next to a glass of water. The blond then darted into the bathroom for a moment and came back with a small orange pill bottle.

Intrigued, Sephiroth watched the blond down two pills before picking up the bottle.

He looked back at his blond, quietly assessing him as he ate his sandwich.

"So. You've been hallucinating."

6. Cloud bursts into a packed SOLDIER rec room disguised as a SOLDIER 2nd and yells, "Who knew about the cat?!" Then sprints across the room and breaks through the window, leading down to the streets below.

The room erupts into chaos.

Later Yuffie pays him 2000 gil

7. Sephiroth not understanding the symptoms of a crush while Genesis tries to teach him how to flirt.

Genesis is not having a good time.

8. Cloud and Sephiroth are trapped in a small enclosed space. So there they lay, pinned by debris, pressed against eachother, and making awkward conversation cause Cloud will be damned if he let's Sephiroth go on about the whole "Sailing the cosmos" thing again.

9. Vincent and Cloud secretly sing duets together when no one is around. Poor Barret winds up listening to them sing (and dance to) "Instruments of cyanide" (DA games version) and is thoroughly shook.

On the plus side, he now knows why Valentine always carries around those small Bluetooth speakers

10. Time traveling animal version of Cloud who reverts back into a human while being petted by Sephiroth.

"....I can explain."

11. Doll AU where Jenova creates an AC Cloud doll for Sephiroth, a CC Zack doll for Angeal, and a FF7 Aerith doll for Genesis. All of the dolls are life-sized and perfect copies of the originals. The three generals didn't know what to do with them at first. Sephiroth shoved his in a closet, Angeal sat his on the couch and poked fun at the real Zack, and Genesis layed his lovely maiden in a glass coffin filled with lillies, using her as a center piece in his home decor.

It starts with Sephiroth occasionally brushing his dolls blond hair, eventually coming to brush it every night. He became obsessed with caring for the doll, until one night, while he was laying in bed pretending to be asleep in an attempt to do the real thing, his doll came to brush his hair. He remained still while the doll lovingly groomed him. Even after the doll left, Sephiroth did not sleep.

The Zack doll...was another thing entirely. Angeals things would go missing on a regular basis. His laptop, his keys, his keycard. He couldn't tell you how many times he'd been locked out of his own apartment. The weirdest time, was just ofter he had comforted Zack, telling him that he cares about him more than any doll, no matter how lifelike it is.

Angeal had night terrors for a week strait and every pair of pants he owned disappeared on the day of a military presentation he was required to attend.

Genesis's doll has full on disappeared from her case, sometimes for days at a time. The redhead is always furious, convinced someone is stealing her. He sets up cameras, but they catch nothing. One moment the doll is there, then she's gone. He always felt like he was being laughed at when this happened, on the other hand, the flowers in the case mysteriously never wilted and new materia would appear around his house sporadically. Which was weird because he was always meticulously organized regarding his materia.

Aka Eldrich Doll au horror story slowburn.

12. Sephiroth realized his puppet was growing stronger at the same rate he was growing weaker

(Not related to no. 11 unless you want it to be)

13. Sephiroth shoving a ring onto Clouds finger and proudly declaring them married.

Cloud thinks he's gone completely off his rocker.

14. Sephiroth devolving into base animal instincts to court Cloud.

Example: giving him shiney rocks and materia, blankets, and basic food and hygene products, killing people the blond hates, complimenting him on both his looks and skills, and of course, preening himself to look the absolue best for his precious.

The best part is that it actually works

15. Vincent and Cloud cuddling in Vincents coffin. Cozy.

[sanababes]

Golden Child (I)

= fem!reader x twiceblackvelvet

《 A/n: so this is the bnha inspired thingy, I just got some ideas from it and just created stuff from my imagination lol. Please don't expect too much I just made this series for fun :>> feel free to express your opinions about this 》

--------------

On the prevailing modern generation, possessing a superpower or also know as a "quirk" is nothing uncommon. It was first witnessed a few centuries ago and it continued to cultivate with different combinations until it became normalized in the society. A person is also determined if he's light or dark (aura), this benefits the user whenever he uses his quirk. Acquiring a quirk comes around 5 to 8 years old of age. Fundamental hero courses were then introduced and applied in academic institutions. If a child is quirkless or so as called as a "vigilante", general studies are provided.

However, many individuals began to dwell in desire and selfishness due to the rivalry of being a powerful mortal. This made the villains emerge from their own shadows as they try to surpass the good and take over the federal civilization.

Noble families (pure-blood heroes) are assigned to ensure the safety of their municipality. This became a standard law, though it is required for them to pass from the hero course to use their quirks freely. Your father, Kang Haneul is one of the nobles too. He's an exceptional hero and always protected the people from the bad. His Ice whip (light) quirk allowed him to generate ice trendils from his arms and command it on his will.

He went on with his job until he encountered the "Mistress", her quirk was unknown but it was said to be so powerful. They both fell in love and kept their relationship secret because it was forbidden since the Mistress was a well-known evildoer.

They both got into a conflict when Haneul married another woman unbeknownst to the Mistress. He even had a daughter with his wife kept it from her too.

You were then conceived from an affair that was frowned upon by your father's household since they are nobles. After the Mistress gave birth to you, your father took you away immediately then raised you with his real wife and daughter. Even though it took time for them to accept your existence, they noticed your potential to become a hero when you attained your quirk at the age of 6.

About your quirk, it was incredibly potent, Half-cold Half-hot. As they predicted your aura was also half-light half-dark. You were a unique combination, rumors started to spread about the youngest Kang and then you earned the title of being a "Golden Child" due to your extraordinary power.

It was rare to get a dual quirk, this allowed you to generate ice and fire from your right and left body correspondingly. For your auras, you have light in your right then dark in your left.

(A/n: lol todoroki much 😂)

You were home-schooled at your father's mansion while simultaneously trained to control and use your power with accuracy. You hated unnecessary attention that's why you're contented at being isolated.

On the other hand, your (half) older sister Kang Seulgi is very enthusiastic and outgoing if she's compared to your composed and calm behavior. The two of you get along just fine, you appreciated her as a family but you couldn't withstand her persistent nagging. She would always tell you to go out and have some fun which you find it absurd. You're fine by yourself and you'll continue to mature like that.

At the age of 11, you got invited into a summer camp which is formulated to strengthen your skills in combat and to enhance your quirk as well. There were several pupils who you trained with at the time, but you got close to a particular blonde though.

"Hi! I'm Lisa, can we be friends?" You remembered her saying.

The other kids discreetly avoided you since your aura was pretty intense, but Lisa did the opposite.

"I-I'm Y/n..." You uttered merely.

"I see, so you're the shy type huh? Don't worry, I'll be your best friend from now on!" she told you, her voice filled with confidence.

Practically the two of you became close after that. She would come over every now and then since the mansion settles in the countryside neighborhood which is pretty far from Leiden (downtown area).

As time passed, you became stronger than before. Seulgi would even team up with Lisa as they challenge you into a match. Honestly, they don't work well together but they managed to win against you many times. Seulgi's quirk is permeation (light) while Lisa has whirlwind (dark).

The two of them studied at a school unlike you, sometimes you felt a little envious but it would go away eventually. Your father had told you numerous times that it was just to ensure your safety. You just understood that and concentrated on studying and increasing your ability.

----

It's been a few years now and you're currently stepping inside the most renowned Leidenschaft University in the land of Roswell. By your side, your sister Seulgi had a cocky smile on her face as you both walked along the hall. Bunch of students murmured endlessly when they recognized who you are, it was in the middle of the term so transferees are rarely accepted into this hero school. They guessed that you probably entered through recommendations since your father is a famous hero. Nonetheless, you didn't care and just continued to walk to wherever your sister is going.

"I think they're starting to like you, Y/n. You should've come with me during the first day," Seulgi chuckled while teasing you purposely.

"Whatever... Just send me to the principal's office or something."

You rolled your eyes out of annoyance, you wouldn't even be here if you didn't lose the deal that Seulgi made.

~ Flashback ~

You're just sitting peacefully behind your desk as you played with your ice, making random shapes on your hand while Seulgi sat across you. She suddenly banged the poor table and stood up with her eyes lit up playfully.

"Yah! Since you're starting high school this year, why don't you study at my university? I'll speak to dad about it," she said.

You just shrugged ignorantly, deciding to play her own game.

"And what will I get from it?"

"Hmm, okay let's settle this out. If you win against me in a fight then you don't have to go, but if you lose..." She smirked.

"Fine, let's go to the yard then," you wore your metal mask and followed your sister outside.

You're not really optimistic when it comes to fighting against Seulgi. Even though you're quite hard to beat, you know that she's a little tougher than you.

Seulgi positioned herself at the opposite of the open lawn as you went ahead and prepared your stance. You huffed through your mask while thinking about your strategy to gain a victory from the latter.

"Siwon-ah can you infer whoever falls to the ground first?" You asked your servant who's standing below a tree to get some shade.

"Will do, young master." he bowed politely.

"I'll strike first!"

Seulgi instantly went under the ground and suddenly appeared from behind. You dodged her kick then filled your right arm with glaciers as you tried to jab her abdomen. Unfortunately, your hand went through the girl, she took advantage of it and quickly punched your face which made you trip a bit.

"Fuck..." You cussed mentally.

She scoffed at your situation, Seulgi clearly wants you to wield your fire ability.

"Come on, use your left side. It's not really a big deal."

You blasted multiple ice balls towards her direction, whilst thinking about using your flames.

"You can't defeat me with ice Y/n, I'm sure you already know that," she added.

You activated your dark aura instead which made Seulgi feel the chills. It made her suffer from your dominant ambiance since she's a light, the girl went pass through you again when she aimed to make you slip. You were caught off guard from her speed as she swiftly locked your left ankle.

"Ouch!" She yelped.

You knew she was very naive to start on. You secretly activated your flames into its minimal energy, maybe a little surprised too that Seulgi didn't saw you emitting some fumes on your left body.

"Oops! My bad."

Your sister looked at you unbelievably, like she saw something scarcely credible. You chuckled at her reaction as you immediately attacked by shooting your flames to her direction. Seulgi hissed from the heat that you granted, she absolutely want to end the fight soon.

"You smart-ass! You're going to regret that Kang Y/n," she whacked your guts out harshly that made you groan and fall on your knees.

"Yah! You didn't have to overdo it so much!" You whined lowly.

Seulgi's pissed off face turned into a smile when she realized that she had beaten you.

"It's been decided. You're going to my school young lady."

You let out tons of complaints before deciding to remove your metal mask. The steam of vapor came out from your mouth as you breathed heavily. Your sister walked towards you and fixed your disheveled hair. (u can have da same hair like todoroki’s 😉)

“Aigoo, stop sulking already. I promise it's going to be fun studying there.”

On the other hand, Siwon just shook his head in disbelief as he knew you were alright. The three of you then entered the mansion once again as you dwell upon your loss.

"Tsk, be thankful that I didn't go all out this time..." You said.

Seulgi just laughed at your childishness while planning to discuss your application form with Mr. Kang.

~ flashback ends ~

So that happened which is why you are inside this massive academic establishment.

You and Seulgi were about to enter the principal's office when a familiar voice called for your attention.

"Y/n!"

Lisa jogged towards you as she left her group of friends confused.

"You didn't have to shout like that..." You utter awkwardly.

The blonde did not seem to care and hugged you instead.

"I'm sorry I just didn't expect to see you here, why did you keep this from me? I thought you're going to be home-schooled again," Lisa whined while tugging on the blazer of your uniform.

"I wanted to see your reaction, but I think it wasn't a good idea. Now all the students are looking at me because of you."

What you said was certainly true, your tall appearance is really eye-catching if your asking. (I also want you to know that your left eye is blue-)

"Fine, I hope we'll be classmates then. Now go get your schedule and see you later boy."

Lisa finally left as you both entered the office. A man in his 40s greeted you with excitement, you glanced down at his table and saw a name in the metal placard which said 'Mr. Park Jinyoung.'

"Good morning, Seulgi-ah. I see, so is this your sister?"

"Yes sir. She will be staying with us from now on," she answered.

"That's great! Hi Y/n, I'm JYP and this is your schedule. I'm happy to have you here in Leidenschaft University," he said.

"Thank you sir, I'll do my best."

You and Seulgi bowed politely and left the office. She showed you around the school then told you about some specific areas and such.

When you both arrived in front of your assigned homeroom, Seulgi knocked on the door which had 'Class 1-A' engraved on it.

The door opened as a teacher came out with a gentle smile on his face.

"Oh? Seulgi, what are you doing here?"

"Ahh Mr. Ok, I'm just here to drop off my sister. Please take care of her for me," Seulgi said.

You learned that your adviser's name is Ok Taecyeon which is presumably the man in front of you. Your sister gave you a warm pat on the back then went to her own class since she's a 2nd year.

Mr. Ok guided you inside the room that is filled with other students. Their eyes are also fixated on you which made you feel a little anxious.

'Is she really the golden child?'

'Damn, I didn't know she was that hot'

'I heard she's Seulgi sunbaenim's sister'

'Ugh she's pretty and handsome at the same time'

'I think I'm whipped'

You heard some chatters from your dear classmates, you just let them be and found yourself sighing at relief when you saw Lisa sitting at the back as she waved her hand discreetly.

"Uhh hi, I'm Kang Y/n. Please take care of me," they acknowledged your presence.

Mr. Ok then told you to sit beside someone named Sana, you glanced through the students when you saw an orange-haired girl raising her hand cutely. You assumed that it was her so you walked towards the girl and sat on the vacant seat by her side.

"Hi I'm-"

"Minatozaki Sana" you finished her statement.

The girl looked astonished but then realized that their uniforms had name tags on them.

"A-Ahh yes that's right, you're cute ya know that?" She flirted with ease.

You gave Sana a tiny smile and looked away from her intense stare. You felt someone looking from the side, then you sensed a familiar aura coming from that person.

"Dahyun unnie?"

-

-

-

~ to be continued ~

(a/n: just corrected some grammatical errors that bothered me after re-reading this story again 😂 i'll probably update this soon when i have time ;)

[howtohero]

#298 Taking Over the World

Hello? Is this thing on? Ah, perfect. Hello world, it’s me, Smuggles, the fiendish criminal who orchestrated the end of the Age of Superheroes and ushered in the Age of Villains, or the Age of Smuggles, my compatriots and I are still workshopping the name. Anyway, now that things are well and truly finished for your pathetic heroes and those who would try to guide them through life, I thought I might take a moment to explain to you all how all of this came to be, so that you might truly comprehend the absoluteness of our control and the futility of trying to stop us. And yes, I’m sure I know what you’re thinking, thanks to the mind reading flakes that Professor Brain-Scrambler mixed into every box of the aggressively marketed Cereal Flakes: Everyone’s Favorite Cereal and Favorite Flake in the world. You’re all thinking: Ooh is he really going to monologue now? That’s so passé, how gauche. But I feel as though I deserve this. You might have trouble believing this but this is actually my very first supervillain monologue. I don’t often succeed at my villainous plots, and even when I do, a successful smuggling kind of means there won’t be an audience for whom I can monologue. So excuse me if I feel like gloating for a bit.

Before I get into things though, I think it would be quite remiss of me not to thank those who helped me get to where I am now, starting with the real MVPs, the How To Hero team. The How To Hero team? Aren’t they good guys? Aren’t they victims in all of this? How could they have helped you? All good questions, to be sure, but they are indeed responsible for my meteoric rise to power. Of course they didn’t know it at the time. You see, three years ago I was nothing more than a petty thief with a costume and a codename. Barely a supervillain as some have called me. It was rare that I even saw superheroes, let alone did battle with them. Until June 8, 2017, when a certain blog told every two-bit would-be cape-fetishishist that I would be a good villain to test their crime-fighting chops on. Suddenly, I was being accosted nightly by every man, woman, child and giant badger with a hero-complex. It was humiliating, it was painful, and I vowed that I would get revenge on anybody who contributed to my nightly beatings, so, every superhero ever and also How To hero. I decided to start with the blog, as that seemed easier, and also they were the only ones on my revenge list who hadn’t already decisively proven that they could beat me up. So I began reading their guide, know thine enemy and all, and in time I discovered that while they may not be much of a superhero guide, they were, unwittingly, laying out everything one might need to be the ultimate supervillain. I reached out to an old accomplice of mine Perry the Pirate, who helped me hack into How To Hero’s database so I could access notes and drafts that they had yet to publish so I could glean even more information and tips from them. Apparently another lawyer in his firm worked closely with the guide and had a backdoor into their system on his computer. I pored over the information I found, sifting through thousands of unbearable puns and jokes to get what I needed, and thus, a plan began to form.

Historically speaking, the main obstacle in any villains way to world domination is the large contingent of heroes who love freedom and peace and living in a non-dominated world. They’re always spouting on and on about rights and justice and love, I know, they’re exhausting. But people tend to like them, and people tend to be inspired by them. Which often means that when a supervillain manages to take out one hero, somebody else will very quickly take up their mantle and continue their fight for them. So it is not enough to just pick off heroes one by one. In order to truly get rid of them, they, all of them, would need to be taken off the board all at once. And such an event would need to occur when a villain, or a group of villains, is ready to step in a take control, so that they may do so swiftly as soon as the heroes fall. This part, I realized, was crucial, no time at all could pass between the fall of the heroes and the rise of the villains. Any sort of grace period would allow for the rise of new heroes, and we would be right back where we started. So even though How To Hero had foolishly provided me with a roadmap to taking out the world’s heroes, I needed to put some pieces into play first. I needed to garner the support of my fellow villains.

Not an easy feat for the preeminent starter-villain. 

Honestly, it wouldn’t be an easy feat for anyone, had it not, once again, been for How To Hero. You see, most villain team-ups fail eventually. The villains will always end up betraying each other or falling out over some petty reason like “who gets to control which coast” or “what are we going to name the henchmen”. The rate of decline goes up the more villains you add to your team. So if I was going to form a villainous alliance capable of taking out the heroes and taking over the world, I would need to find a way to overcome the virulent backstabbing and counter-plotting that often plagued supervillain team-ups. So imagine my delight, when How To Hero published a guide on fights between supervillains and how to resolve them. Armed with the tools I would need to diffuse any fights that might arise I approached Al “Da Boss” Marconi, a big time supervillain and crime boss.

A few things you need to know about Marconi, he is quick to anger and only speaks to people whom he respects. So my first attempts at meeting with him ended with me being hurled out of a fortieth story window. Thankfully, on the advice of How To Hero, I was wearing a parachute and ended up being just fine. I realized I would need to find a way to impress Marconi. If I could get him onboard, most of the villain community would be similarly swayed. So I set my eyes towards bigger fish... Oh, not Charlie, that was actually something else. You know what, I might as well talk about that now, while we’re on the subject.

If I was going to take out every hero in the world I would need engineer large-scale threat, but as I’ve said, I didn’t not have large-scale threat connections. In fact, after Perry the Pirate left the villain game to become a lawyer, my only supervillain contact was another low-level villain named Charlie the Fish Whisperer. He mind controls fish by whispering to them, that’s not exactly large-scale, world-threatening stuff. It is, what you could charitably define, as a lame superpower. But that’s ok, How To Hero has a guide to using lame superpowers to your advantage. It was all about perception. All I needed to do was make others perceive Charlie the Fish Whisperer as a world-ending threat. But how to do that? Charlie was only a semi-formidable threat in the water so what were we to do? Mount on attack on Atlantis? How To Hero told us we’d be fools to try. Besides, if we allowed the idea that Charlie was only threatening in the water to stick, he’d never rise to world-ending threat. I realized we would need to speak to a specialist. 

Our world has nearly ended so many times, that there are several former heralds of the apocalypse just hanging around without much to do. I set up a meeting with a fellow called The Dark Harbinger who used to do some freelance heralding for folks like Karalaxus and The Living Ingestor. He taught Charlie and I what these big threat guys are actually like, and How To Hero taught us everything we needed to know about putting on a facade to trick others. But being able to talk the talk wouldn’t be enough. We needed a big dramatic action that would cement the new Charlie the Whisperer in the minds of heroes. Thankfully, How To Hero clued us in to another specialist we could speak to. A man named Ivan Karolov, aka Mister Immortal. Karolov agreed to meet with us, who can say why, I honestly think he was just bored. He had somehow found himself as the prime minister of Finland and I think he was itching to fake his death again and move on. Karolov used his skills and experience at faking his own death to help us make it look like Charlie the Fish Whisperer had killed him with a goldfish he had smuggled into Kesäranta. Charlie rebranded as Chuck and the heroes of the world became convinced that he was truly dangerous and locked him away in an alternate dimension. Obviously that’s not how I saw things playing out, but no matter. I had a world-ending threat that I could use as needed.

Now, to switch gears, I must explain how I finally gained the respect of Al Marconi and the rest of the supervillain community. To put it briefly, I went to Hell. Now, now, don’t give me that look, it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as it sounds. In fact, How To Hero made it easy. All I needed was some peanut butter, and get this, I already had some! Just lying around in my cupboard. All I needed to do was put some out in a pentagram to attract a demon and we were in business. I planned on recruiting some Underworld bigwig to my campaign. How could Marconi not respect me if I had the legions of Hell behind my cause. The rulers of Hell are actually easier to appeal to than mortal villains. All I would need to do is pledge my everlasting and eternal soul to whomever was sitting on the throne that day and I would be given an army of ghouls and undead spirits to command. What do I care about my soul? Whatever demon I dealt with would only get once I died, and How To Hero had very helpfully laid out exactly how I could achieve immortality. Luckily though, I didn’t even end up needing to pledge my soul, once again How To Hero came to my rescue. While reading one night I came across a shocking diatribe against a man named Greg Greginski. Greginski is a well known talk show host who frequently talks about superheroes and their ilk, and rarely in a positive light, which is why How To Hero takes issue with him. Greg Greginski is not well-liked in the superhero community, but those of us in the supervillain community are privy to the fact that Greg Greginski is not simply a television host. He’s so much more. He’s part-time ruler of Hell, Greg the Skeleton King, and after How To Hero’s disrespectful remarks towards him, he was willing to throw his weight behind my crusade against the blog, free of charge. 

Once I had Greg the Skeleton King on board, I went back to Marconi with an army of damned souls and he was very quick to endorse my movement as well, especially after being dangled out the window by a ghost who occasionally struggled to stay corporeal. Marconi agreed to spread the word amongst the rest of the villains and I moved on to the final phase of my plan. Taking out all the world’s superheroes in one fell swoop. As I alluded to at the beginning of my post, How To Hero handed me the perfect plan on a silver platter. All I needed to do was trigger a superhero/supervillain team-up. According to How To Hero, when a threat is large enough, superheroes will form temporary alliances with supervillains until the threat is dealt with. This makes sense, supervillains don’t want the world to be destroyed, who would they do crimes against if the world is gone. So heroes need no worry about supervillains pulling anything shady during such a team-up, unless of course, the villains knew that the threat was fake, and that there was no real risk to the world. Enter Chuck the Fish Whisperer, my very own personal world-ending threat. The only problem though, was that Chuck had already been defeated and locked away, earlier than I’d planned. Oh well, at least he was still alive, I just needed access to a interdimensional portal generator. How To Hero had already laid out to me how difficult it is to cross dimensions, the easiest way would be to use somebody else’s existing interdimensional portal generator. Luckily, I knew somebody who could help, Frederick Kaminsky aka Dr. Brainwave. 

Dr. Brainwave was perfect, he had already built a portal generator, and he lived in How To Hero headquarters. He could be my man on the inside. He could be my partner in all of this. Or, well, he could have been. If he hadn’t been a world-grade idiot. It seems that, in his work with How To Hero as their supervillain correspondent, Dr. Brainwave had actually grown to like the team behind the blog. He had begun to think of them as his friends. He wouldn’t allow me access to his machine he told me, but as a professional courtesy he wouldn’t tell anybody about my plan to free Chuck. I let him think that Chuck was the brains and that I was simply his henchman, his sidekick. Brainwave didn’t think I was a threat, and so he didn’t take any steps to report me to the authorities. This ended up being his undoing. If Dr. Brainwave wouldn’t help me, then I would need somebody else on the inside. Unsurprisingly, Brainwave’s beloved guide held the answers. Allow me to quote from the blog’s guide to joining a team that has not invited you to be apart of it: 

If you want to join one of these teams and there’s already somebody there with your powers you’re definitely going to have to sabotage them. We understand that sabotaging another hero to steal their spot on a superhero team isn’t a very superheroic thing to do but some things are just more important! [Don’t] Poison them! Depower them somehow (maybe with some type of ray and/or beam)! Humiliate them by beating them at Dance Dance Revolution at the next superhero dance festival and tractor rodeo which I’m nigh certain is a real thing.

If I wanted to join the How To Hero team, I would have to get rid of the person who already filled my niche. I wouldn’t do it with poison or Dance Dance Revolution though, I would do it with a bomb. A bomb that I had smuggled out of Brainwave’s own workshop when I had met with him. I mailed a bomb to How To Hero’s office. Best case I kill everybody in the building and then just waltz in and use Brainwave’s portal generator to unleash Chuck, trigger a superhero/supervillain team-up, and then have the villain betray the heroes once they’ve let their guard down. Worst case, I take out Brainwave and steal his job. I knew Brainwave always wore rocket boots, he was almost as much of an avid reader of this blog as I was, so I knew that if anybody was going to fly the bomb out of the office, it would have to be him. Afterwards it was just a matter of filling out an application and coasting on my reputation as a non-threat. Sure enough, those fools fell for it hook, line and, sinker. So here we are now, the superheroes are gone, and I and my allies rule the world. And it’s all thanks to this little blog. 

That’s all for now, stay tuned for my first slew of villainous decrees and demands soon. Welcome to the new world order.