#No animal really fits Kell's personality
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No I will not be eating Marsh for thanksgiving.
Everyone expects me to slaughter Marsh for the holiday when he's a royal palm! My beloved Marsh will never be eaten. He's too pretty and funny for that.
#ramblings#I have a turkey named Marsh#He's BIG#thick!#He's nothing like his name sake#Except he likes to be mean so he's obviously controlled by Ruin#And before you ask no I don't have a Kelsier#No animal really fits Kell's personality#I think the closest would be a goose but the geese we're planning on getting are gonna be named Vin and Elend#I cannot wait for Elend to honk at me aggressively
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Sharp Secrets and Bloody Blades
Not Natural ✨ The Devil's Trap ✨ Holy Water ✨ The Demon's Altar ✨ Midnight Meeting ✨ The Hunter's Trap
Dom x Colson (Yungblud x Machine Gun Kelly)
Warnings: Supernatural inspired, ABO (knots, slick, heats), demon Kells, hunter Dom, case talks, mentions of death, mentions of brutal murder, talks about their pasts, drug use, drinking, PTSD, one quick mention of animal abuse (Dom saw a frog killed as a boy), mentions of being drugged and attempted date rape, implications of being a prostitute, a small fight between them, teasing, emotions, feels, fingering, almost blowjob, interrupted sex, graphic descriptions of them getting attacked, monster fight, blood, magic, healing, thinking the other is dead, fear, almost love confessions, secrets ⚰️ rating: explicit
They didn't talk about the new lines they crossed in bed together and they definitely didn't talk about the way Dom was mostly healed by the time he woke up. The human wrote it off to the wounds not being as bad as he thought they would be and the demon told himself it was a magical fluke. Darkness didn't heal and that was all that he was made up of. He refused to think anything else. Maybe it was the blood he kept sharing with his lover- demon blood made a human strong and resilient. That's all it was, the Hunter kept drinking from him and complaining about it later. He'd lament he was being roofied but the moment he saw red on Kells he licked his lips.
The kid went right back to his job after he woke, researching into the early hours and only taking breaks for food or a few quick and dirty make out sessions. The room was thick with smoke from his cigarettes and the beast's pot by the time the sun rose. The scent of coffee, smoke, cheap booze, and old sex was stuck to their skin. Kells was exhausted just watching his lover but he wasn't the best at helping. He knew he could find out what and where the monster was in two seconds flat but he didn't want Dominic running off and facing someone that powerful with one of his many pig stickers.
"Tha's fucking it. I can't even see straight anymore." The boy grumbled as he shut his laptop and laid his head on the perpetually sticky table. "I can't find any'fin tha' fits. No 'ex bags, no sulphur, no nuffin." He whined. "A god maybe?"
Kells stood from his spot sprawled out on the bed and walked behind his boy. His long fingers found their way to Dom's tense shoulders and he tried to massage the decade old knots out. His lip rolled between his teeth, his mind tripping over itself to think of literally anything that might make him cut the trip short and move on but he knew better. He wouldn't leave when there were humans in danger. "Any link between the vics?" He tried to stall, his gaze flicking to the bed as he wondered if he could use sex to distract.
"Teen boys. Pretty. Not really any'fin else. 'Onestly I took it cause I fhought it might be…" He trailed off and shrugged, tapping his forehead against the table. Kells cringed but he tried not to control the kid out of bed. If he wanted to catch something from the furniture that was his choice.
"He doesn't normally kill them so bloody. He tries to make a deal." The demon sighed, rubbing his thumbs deeper into the rock hard muscles under his touch. The punk shuddered, whether from memory or the massage he wasn't sure but it made him ease up just in case.
"Exactly. So why… Fuck, it's disgusting Kells. I saw the last kill. I remember seeing a boy shove firecrackers into a frog once… it reminded me of tha'. No piece is distinguishable as a person."
The monster wished he could say that sounded like hell but he'd spent so much time there that he knew you could find so much worse. "Dude sounds like a psycho." He hummed instead and his bitch chuckled dryly.
"Yeah. He was in prison last I 'eard but tha's from another life." Dom sighed, pushing up and out of his seat and away from the demon's touch. He wandered off to pick through his clothes, his boxer's wet. Even the chair had freshly spilled slick and the scent almost brought Kells to his knees. He'd just mentally made fun of the boy for touching the furniture though, he would not bury his face against the cushion when he had Dom's pussy so close.
He took a deep breath and stepped closer to the omega. He knew Dom was just trying to escape the conversation and his past but Kells had found something to distract them from the hunt at hand and sometimes he could be like a hellhound with a femur. Persistent as fuck. "You don't really talk about England."
"God save the queen, keep calm, carry on, bangers and mash and all tha'. Better? I talked about it." Dom's accent got thicker as he mocked his homeland but it was all real and something about it drove the beast a little insane. "You wanna talk about your past? Yeah, didn't fink so."
Kells rolled his eyes and took a seat on the mattress. He was still naked, he didn't see a reason to dress unless they were going out and it kept the boy's eyes on him. Parts of him. "I've lost count of all the bad shit I've done. I've lived all over, done every drug imaginable and some I made up. Ya know, I discovered weed." He smirked and Dom scoffed. He honestly wasn't even sure if that was true, he'd lived too long but it was a damn good story either way. "I've killed more than I saved, I've never hurt an animal like that fucker though. I think animals were where the fucker up there went right. I don't- I don't know my mom. My dad's a fucking asshole. Was- I mean. I didn't back Lucifer which kind of got me blackballed. Uhhh… I might like a human a little too much for the first time ever."
"Tha's not your past dumbarse." Dom huffed, twisting the shirt he was holding between his fingers. His belly flipped, his nerves were a little too shot to play that game. The beast was teasing him. He had to be.
"Are you fucking kidding me dude?" He tried to keep his voice level but it dropped a little, he didn't want to fight. He wasn't supposed to care about the boy's life but he couldn't help it. He wanted to know him better than anyone else ever had.
"Me parents fought. I wanted out. A pretty boy seduced me and told me he'd take care of it for a price. I got 'ung up in the wrong bloody crowd and I ran Kells. He killed em all jus' to try and get me back. He said it was a gift. A gift. Me family is dead and I've got a fucking womb because I looked at the wrong boy. Cause I was… fuck if I know. I didn't say yes but he claimed me anyway! It's been ten years. Do you 'ave any idea 'ow-" His voice was going high and breathy and before he could finish his rant the demon was holding him, pressing his face into his inked chest to breathe his scent deep. "He wants me soul Kells. He-"
"No. You didn't make a deal. Astaroth is a psychopath but you didn't say yes. He has no right to your soul. Killing your family was the bastard's idea of flowers. He probably thought it was romantic. He doesn't want your soul baby. If he did he wouldn't have cursed you. Besides he's not a fucking crossroads demon." Keliphos tried to soothe as he pressed kisses to Dom's hair and rubbed up and down his back. He had wanted the kid to open up but he hadn't meant for it to open Pandora's box. His lover held the world's sorrows and it broke his heart. Well… it would if he thought he had one.
"Wha' you mean? Wha' does he want?" Dom whimpered, his voice as pitiful as any young pup.
Kells swallowed hard, his eyes closing as he swayed them gently. He wasn't exactly trying to rock his bitch but maybe. Anything to comfort him. "Astaroth… he's real fucking old. Like… one of the originals kind of old. Like… He was something else before he was a demon but no one knows exactly what. Not human. Some think he was an angel that followed Luce down. He doesn't care about much but he's spent his existence trying to make more of what he is. He can never get the pairing quite right. He must have thought you weren't just human." The beast sighed. He was terrified to say so much, demons didn't spill other demons secrets. If they did then everyone would fuck each other over but he didn't like Dom being so terrified. So confused.
"Well tha's bloody stupid. Course I'm 'uman. Wha' else would I be?" Dom sniffled but with every breath in he could scent the man holding him and it soothed the fear. Fuck he needed some distance from the demon before he got too close. Too reliant on him. That was dangerous for them both. Everyone Dom got close to died.
"Hey, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." The devil accidentally let slip but the boy was too worked up to notice. Thank fuck. "I don't know what you could be. Maybe you are just human but that's not what matters. What matters is that he's out there and obsessed with you. We'll kill him though. There isn't some ten year contract on your life coming up, he doesn't make those so please stop worrying. But he is out there."
Dom huffed, leaning back enough he could look up at his lover. Those blue eyes were surprisingly kind and he knew he could easily be fooled by them. Kells didn't want him like that, they were just having fun while they hunted. That was all. "I ain't seen 'im in years. I want revenge for me sisters but… I don't fink he cares about me anymore. Too old." The human shrugged and Kells had to bite his cheek not to let slip that he talked to the fucker the first night they made love. Fucked around. Damnit.
"He still wants you. Trust me. He doesn't let people escape so the fact that you did? Yeah… he wants you. Plus… he never got you right?" His voice dropped to almost a whisper. He was scared to ask but Dom was so obviously a virgin their first night. He just wanted to make sure the monster hadn't done something else.
"No. God Kells- never. He tried. He tried real 'ard. Even drugged me but I went 'ome. Woke up wiv a cunt and a dead family. Me friend got me out and got me 'ere. I guess it must've looked… bad for me. No…" He sighed and watched as he traced tattoos on the demon's chest. "You me first. Only. Messed around wiv a few people once I got 'ere. 'Ad to make money some'ow but no… no actual sex. Before you." He was almost annoyed at the way his stomach buzzed at the thought, at the way his thighs felt wet, and his lips tugged into a smile. He shouldn't let anyone effect him so much.
Kells stepped back, his gaze snapping away from the beautiful boy in front of him. Nerves got the better of him. He ran a hand through his hair and down his face. He didn't mean to stop soothing his- the omega but those words made him anxious. "We didn't have sex. We haven't had- I haven't fucked you yet. Believe me you'd know."
Jade eyes rolled and Dom almost laughed. Almost. "I fink me pussy would beg to differ Kells. Maybe we ain't gone at it like rabbits or nuffin yet but…" He trailed off, stepping closer to his demon lover because Kells was that. His lover.
"We've talked about this. Personal space Dom."
"You the one who crowded me. I'm jus' returning the favor." The boy purred as he wrapped his hand around the demon's and led his touch between his legs. His gentle grip directed Kells to slide his boxers over and bend his fingers before he pushed two between his surprisingly wet folds. "You the only one to ever be inside me. Don't you feel it? You put your cock right 'ere. Right inside me tight, wet, warm pussy. Few inches still counts luv, tha's all some men 'ave. But you been blessed ain't yas? Big boy."
The beast swallowed fast and hard, trying to push the lump in his throat down. He wasn't sure how he lost control of the situation so badly but had to bite his tongue not to stop it in a mean way. He almost asked if this was the whore side of him but he knew Dom was being genuine. That's why it was working on him. It felt innocent and seductive at the same time. "I haven't fucked you yet." He tried again but Dom just smiled.
"Tha's strange tha' cause I seem to remember your cum spilling outta me all night."
"Doesn't count. Was just trying to soothe your heat." He whimpered back, his knees threatening to buckle.
"Me 'eat?"
"Yeah. The way you felt. Feel- I guess. You're in heat. Happens with omegas. It's safe though cause I'm not really an alpha." Kells shrugged and Dom sighed, letting go of his hand but he couldn't stop touching. The kid was right, he was warm and tight and so fucking wet.
"Oh. Sweet of yas. Definitely weren't for you at all right? Like you ain't 'ard for me now? I shouldn't jus'-" The kid teased, pulling the demon's touch free and making him growl. He dropped to his knees and smirked up at him as he leaned forward and licked playfully over the tip of his cock. Shit. Kells hadn't realized how hard he was. He'd been so focused on his lover but now the strain was all he could feel.
"Fuck yes- please?" He rasped, his voice dropping to gravel as his pussy wet fingers tangled in Dom's messy hair.
Dom smirked and nodded, he wasn't ashamed to admit he'd been desperate to try this but the moment he pressed forward again and let his eyes close so he could savor the taste of his beast the devil disappeared.
"I felt a Hunter after me and I thought to explain myself but to find you fornicating with a demon? They're no better than the beasts of the land." A stern male voice sounded from behind him and his eyes flew open as he threw his body into a drop and roll, searching out the blade stashed under his bed.
Dom could take in a few things with his adrenaline kicked into overdrive. His senses were certainly stronger with his lover's blood pumping fast through his veins. There was a strange being in their room- a young man it seemed, dressed in a gray blue suit speckled with blood. The creature- whatever it was- had enough power to get passed their wards, go undetected by them both, and summon a strong demon to his hands. The wanker had his lover by the neck and Kells looked frozen. Hopefully not passed out or dead. Dom couldn't think like that.
His fingers closed around his blade and he jumped to his feet, keeping a good distance between them but obviously the fucker didn't need to move to hurt them. "Astaroth?" He asked, the form matched his normal meatsuit and the magic level seemed right but it seemed incredibly offended by the name.
"Do I look like a demon? Do you know where Astaroth is?" It hissed and Dom shrugged.
"Well, ya got blood on ya nice suit and you wearing a 'uman so… yeah a bit. Put Kells down and we can talk." He teased the beast, he couldn't help it. He always had a sharp tongue when hunting and it often got him in more trouble but he couldn't seem to help it. He tended to blame it on his ADHD but the truth was that he was a smart ass and loved it. Sometimes it threw them off kilter that he wasn't scared but this one didn't seem to care. When it gripped his lover tighter he did the same with his knife and wondered if he could throw it before the fucker killed Kells.
"No. I came to talk to you. I've heard you're a good boy. I wanted to explain that I was hunting the same thing as you. You shouldn't get mixed up with demons. Let me help." It's voice held a hint of madness that made Dom's insides cringe. Monster was one thing, crazy monster could prove almost impossible. He wouldn't let someone else he cared about be taken from him.
When he caught sight of it's nails digging into his demon's throat he jumped forward, his heart racing in his chest. The more blood that spilled the more nauseous he felt. He didn't mean to but he kept praying for Kells to wake up. Wake up and fight. Wake the fuck up! "Wait! Let's talk yeah? Fank you for caring but… let me 'elp you kill 'im. You right. He seduced me. Right monster he is. I should be the one to do it!" He tried to keep his voice level as he attempted to lie to the newcomer but he was sure he was filled with fear. "Please, you saved me. Tell me ya name?"
The wild eyes of the intruder locked on his as he stepped closer and it's head jerked as if it were trying to nod. "Raziel. I've been after Astaroth for centuries but he only surfaces long enough to steal a few boys before he takes them to hell. I followed his stench here but I find only this beast. I am happy to save you from the fate of my brother."
Dom took a deep shuddering breath. Raziel was an angel name. They didn't have many on earth since the new ruler stepped up but he wasn't surprised there were a few stragglers. A mad angel? Why was an angel mixed up in all that? "Oh? Your brother? Wha' 'appened?" His gaze flicked between the crazy winged wanker and his still unconscious lover. He was hoping it was a tactic but he knew better. Kells had a buzz about him like the air after a lightning strike and he couldn't feel it anymore.
"He… well… he. It's not my story to tell but he too was seduced by darkness. Astaroth. He used my brother and left him broken. Ramiel left heaven with the traitor and never returned. I believe him dead." There was true pain in the angel's blue eyes and Dom almost hurt for him. If the fucker had just come to him calmly he might have welcomed the help. As it was he was wondering if he could stab him but he didn't have an angel blade. Fuck. "Why does it feel like Astaroth?" He spat, his fingers digging deeper into the demon's throat. Before long he would rip part of it out whether he meant to or not and Dom couldn't allow that. Raziel shook Kells hard and the Hunter had to act. He had to do something to save him.
"I don't know! They're both demons. Strong! Please! Drop 'im? I want to kill it me'self."
Raziel seemed to think about that before he nodded and threw the limp devil on the bed. Dom's heart dropped. He was more terrified than he cared to admit. His lover already looked dead but he had to believe he wasn't. He had to. How had the angel knocked him out? Raziel grumbled at the blood on his hand and he seemed to be unnerved by it. The human picked up a towel from the floor and tossed it to him before he turned to the bed and prone beast, walking close and crawling on top of him.
"Here boy." The feathery fuck offered, throwing him a blade he hadn't seen before. He was tempted to turn and stab the stranger just to test if it would work on him but he knew the angel was mental and close to killing him anyway so instead he took it and tried to act grateful.
"'Ow bloody dare you come 'ere and seduce me. You tried to give me blood and- and you tried to fuck me. You jus' wanted me 'eart didn't you? 'Ow dare you!" Dom sniffled as he rambled off half true feelings. He wanted to buy a moment as he worked. He only knew one other thing that worked on Raziel's kind and he had to work fast, he was just terrified Kells would get hurt in the process. He sliced a cut in his arm where the angel couldn't see and he started drawing on his lover's chest. To keep the lie going with his other hand he held the blade over the demon's heart and he prayed it was still beating for him. The bastard had to live. He needed him.
"Fuck you and your blue eyes and monster cock and- and ya every'fin. You shouldn't 'ave come 'ere Kells! Look wha' 'appened! 'Ow dare you make me love you!" His voice broke when he accidentally let that slip out. He heard the angel mutter something and step closer but it didn't matter. The banishing symbol was complete and stood out on the beast's inked skin. Dom sliced his palm as Raziel came up behind him and he closed his eyes tight as he slammed his hand to the bloody mark.
Kells woke to a bright light and someone screaming and as he tried to gasp for air he realized half his throat was ripped out. It was healing fast but he couldn't figure out what was happening until something dropped heavy on his chest.
The room cleared of its brightness and he blinked his gaze to its true form. Not many creatures could stare into heaven's light and not have their eyes burned out but he was special he supposed. "Dom?" He tried to call out but his vocal cords were still healing and his brain was still catching up. He remembered his omega about to blow him before someone else appeared in the room and- the rest was blank. Shit.
A scent hit his nose and his mouth watered, Dom's blood was strong in the room but- "Oh fuck baby?" He moved too fast but he didn't care about himself. Dominic was limp on his chest and he crawled out from under him. There was an angel banishing symbol painted over the ink on his chest but that wasn't the only place the smell was coming from. His heart raced as he looked over the kid. There was an angel blade in his hands but a knife in his back. It looked like one of his own. Oh fuck.
"Dom?" His voice was broken and wet and not just from the bubbling blood. He could feel his eyes brimming with tears but he couldn't stop to question himself and his feelings. He rushed to straighten the human out before he pressed one palm around the wound and the other gripped the hilt tight. "Fucking told you. Less fucking knives. Get a gun damnit. They look cooler. Stupid bitch. You're such a stupid-" His voice caught on a sob as he pulled the knife free and let it fall. He made sure to slice his own hand so he bled straight into the wound but that was only back up.
His eyes closed and he focused inside himself for power he hadn't tried to touch in so long. He thought it was long gone but just hours before he'd healed the human. He had to do it again. "Get your ass back here. You can't fucking leave me. We have to kill dad together. Please baby? Wake the fuck up!" He begged. "Anyone up there, if you're listening… I know I have no right to ask but please? Just let me heal him? I get why you shut it off- I get I don't deserve to use that power but please? Domie hasn't done anything bad. He's a good Hunter. I love him. He makes me want to be better! Please? I love him-" His palms felt warm and from behind his eyelids he could see a bright light. A wet laugh escaped him but he tried to keep focused. "Thank you! Fuck me thank you!" He didn't know if it was heaven or himself but when he opened his eyes he could see the Hunter healing. He would be okay. He had to be.
Dom gasped for air like he hadn't had it in too long as his pulse thundered through him. One moment he was bathed in light and the next he was staring up at his demon lover. "Kells, you're alive?" He whimpered, trying to surge up to touch his throat but the monster met him halfway.
"Shut the fuck up, of course I am. Don't try and get yourself killed for me. Fuck you. Dom- shit…" Yeah... he was still crying and he couldn't stop. Their arms wrapped around each other and they shared desperate messy crimson kisses.
"I know. Fuck you." If Dom didn't know better he'd swear it sounded more like 'I love you' but he couldn't focus on anything besides the way Kells was staring at him and holding him. "Kells, I need you."
The demon knew it was more a demand than a question. They'd both almost just died and they obviously had a lot to talk about but at the moment all he could think about was that he'd mentally vowed before to make love to Dom in a puddle of blood. Why couldn't it be their own? "I need you too."
Author's Note/Tags: @iamnotanearthlingmotherfucker @hollywoodxwhore @jaxbreaker @fenoy7 @cole-way-iero28 🖤
Holy shit that was long 😅 I hope you enjoy it! I know it's a lot to take in but I'm sure they'll talk it through at some point. Probably a little porn first though. They deserve it after that. Did Kells say 'dad'? Who is Raziel and Ramiel? How does Kells have angel powers? Is Dom just human? Keep reading to find out! I hope you're loving this as much as I am! ⚰️🖤
#yungblud#dominic harrison#dom harrison#machine gun kelly#mgk#colson baker#dom and colson#dom and colson fic#dom x colson#dom x colson fic#yungblud and machine gun kelly#yungblud and machine gun kelly fic#yungblud x machine gun kelly#yungblud x machine gun kelly fic#my fics#jinx fics#abo#alpha beta omega#supernatural inspired#demon kells#hunter dom#momentary death#ptsd#fear#boys in love
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For the truth or dare game if it strikes your fancy: post a bit of lore you've never posted any Adsom verse you'd like.
For daemon au, stuff that will probably show up in the Kell chapter whenever I get back to You, Me, Us.
As one would expect, Red London and White London view daemons differently. Grey London is generally the same as in His Dark Materials.
In Red London:
Close bonds between human and daemon, like an animal best friend that is also you, a moral guide as you live. daemons are direct extensions of yourself and a measure of your character. For example, foxes and rats are clever but have a shifty reputation, so people with such daemons are going to be looked at with wariness. Especially common in the upper classes.
to speak to a daemon in place of the person is considered incredibly rude, though common enough among family or close friends. but to ignore a daemon's presence or input is equally bad.
daemons typically settle around 12-15, typically because of puberty. can happen earlier or later depending on trauma (Kell being set up as Rhy's protector would have caused him to settle earlier if he wasn't Antari). though it doesn't happen often, an adult's daemon can change form if they undergo a life-altering experience (similar thing in White London)
they're wary of Antari daemons because their forms don't settle but that wariness is softened by magic/theology. of course Antari don't settle, they're more powerful and more complex than regular humans, they're as fluid and unsettling as their magic!
when talking about/to someone, you usually refer to them as human and daemon (ex. "hello, Kell and Rona"). There are separate Arnesian pronouns for the self depending on who is speaking/spoken to: ex. Kell, Rona, or Kell-and-Rona.
In White London:
daemons are your soul but like the lesser chunk of yourself. Necessary but sometimes inconvenient, a living sign of your strength or weakness, the pieces of your consciousness that you can't ignore but can't always afford to listen to.
daemons tend to settle at an earlier age, especially if a child is left completely alone or needs to take responsibility for a younger child. the forms aren't necessarily what most fits their personality, so much as what they feel they need to be. Hence a lot of predators and scavengers, very few can afford to present as prey.
they're wary of Antari daemons because their forms don't settle. if a person doesn't settle then their form can't tell you anything about them. and if you can't understand something, then you can't trust it. it marks them as wrong and unnatural even as it marks their power, as something bordering on abomination
when introducing themselves/talking about others, it's human name-daemon name (ex. Holland-Inga); this is if the daemon's name is mentioned or known at all.
there are two Makhtan pronoun for the self. it can be used to refer to the human half or the human-daemon as a person; the daemon doesn't really have its own pronoun because their chunk of selfhood is too tied into being the human's extension.
#shades of magic#ask answered#daemon au#worldbuilding#the bit about pronouns might be confusing#i know what i'm going for but i haven't fully thought it out in practice#also not linguist#probably wont show up in fic itself except as a reference about cultural differences#making up neopronouns get more complicated when two or three different languages have to be taken into account
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The Target
The heists are held on full moon nights. A note is sent in advance to the target, and they are expected to prepare some kind of defence,. None have been effective to date, the thief seems to waltz through walls and security checks alike, as easily as breathing. I saw shaky footage filmed at a heist half a year ago wherein the thief appeared to walk in midair. The video was too low quality for me to be certain of my deduction, but I would submit hypotheses of tightropes, harnesses, or perhaps both, if asked.
I have not been asked.
The target this time is “The Gospel of Nicodemus”, displayed at the National Art Centre. An illuminated, ahistorical manuscript in the style of the Book of Kells. It has been dated several centuries later than that and the articles online make gruesome note that the vellum of the book may not be simple animal skin, though I have noticed a recent tendency for such claims to be made without adequate scientific research committed. A convenient mystery, that. What if this old, gruesome not quite gospel was in fact painted on human skin? How fitting it would be. Forgive my doubts, but it seems rather too convenient.
I have meandered off topic somehow. The book will be taken, but that is only one part of the heist. The other is the second, unnamed target. Usually a gem, but rarely a sculpture. The second target is never mentioned in the heist note, and experts (for given value of ‘expert’) have suggested that this second object is the real target of each heist.
Looking through them, I really can’t know. I have copied a list of all targets out in full in the Lists Journal, book 4 page 86.
Tomorrow I will be visiting a certain Art Centre. I look forward to seeing the book in person.
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fit by my side {Machine Gun Kelly}
@bitchylittleredhead said: Okay I hear your MGK x pastel!reader and I raise you MGK x Mother Nature!reader. Hella plants, strong love for animals, heckin soft, v kind, mom friend, sunshine child. (I just really really love soft paired with him, it’s so damn cute) also I love you I hope you are well 🧡
Also This Concept
A/N: 3177 words. Gender Neutral Reader (they/them) ! im worried kells is OOC. also there’s no smut but it does get M rated, but there’s no genitals specified. gets quite sappy at times. also @url-under-construction i hope u like it and i hope its good.
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When you meet Colson, he’s famous, but he’s not, you know, famous famous. You meet on the set of The Dirt; he’s one of the stars, you’re a production assistant and stand-in when they need it, and you don’t think for a second that he’ll even remember your name when this is all over.
But he does; in rehearsals, you’re the one reading the lines for the characters they haven’t cast yet, and the first time the four main cast members see you, in your floaty, floral top, and your gentle aura, and then to hear you say, with absolute sincerity, ‘your mom’s a cunt’, it has them bursting out laughing. You smile, sweet and kind, and you step gently through the blocking that has the character you’re currently standing in for, stabbing Tommy - Colson - with a pen.
Maybe the juxtaposition of you taking part in this whole production is what intrigues him.
When filming starts, you’re still around, and something about seeing you, amid this performance of debauchery, and yet you’re still sincere and gentle, your choice of attire making you stick out like a sore thumb amid the leather and grime. At first, he tries to play it off, that you look somewhat out of place and it’s eye-catching, but you bring the cast food and water and whatever they need, you go on coffee runs, and take a genuine interest in each of them, and by the time he realises that his mood lifts every time he walks on set and sees you there, he knows he can’t play it off as you catching his eye for completely platonic reasons.
He asks you out the week after Casie leaves from visiting set, having seen you interact with her, entertain her while Colson was in hair, treating her with just as much kindness and respect as you did everyone else on the production. It convinces him that your intentions are true, and he knows that he can’t finish this production without shooting his shot.
By the time the wrap party comes around, you’re calling him your boyfriend, at first tentative, looking to him for confirmation, but then you see the way he beams at how the words sound when you say them, and you grow more confident each time you say it.
It’s met with... confusion.
Really?
It seems no-one saw that coming - if anyone, I would have expected Douglas - you hear, and frown.
“What does that mean?” You ask; a frown is rare to see on your face, but you’re wearing it anyhow, and the woman your speaking to splutters her way around a sentence as she’s trying to backpeddle.
“I just- I mean, well, Kells - Colson - he’s so... Doulgas just seems more... refined? Not that Colson not, you know- you’re just -”
“I’m just what?” You ask, not accusing, more curious than anything else, and the woman’s voice dies in her throat as she looks you over; pale blue jeans and a pastel, patterned button-down that would have looked right at home in the eighties.
“I’m just concerned for you,” she eventually says, laying her hand on yours like she’s trying to do you a favour, “Colson’s intense, I’m just worried you’ll get hurt.” You see what she’s trying to say, but her tone is so painfully condescending.
“I’m an adult,” you tell her, tone understanding but firm, “and I appreciate your concern, but I promise I can take care of myself.”
The moment you can get out of the conversation, you find Colson, talking animatedly to one of the makeup artists, and you slot yourself into the space by his side. Automatically, without even stopping the conversation, he wraps his arm around you and pulls you close, and you gratefully take the moment to press your face against him, wrapping your arms around him without saying a word. It’s both strangely intimate and familiar, his thumb rubbing small circles against your side.
As he stops talking, there’s a lull, and you don’t have to look up to know the makeup artist is giving you both a strange look.
“Ignore me,” your voice is muffled against him, using one hand as if to waive off any last bits of hesitation.
“They’re fine,” Colson assured, tapping you on the hip. He’s still oozing casual confidence
You’ve been together for almost half of filming, which isn’t exactly a short amount of time, but usually you try and keep things professional on set, so it’s nice to be able to be close to him in public.
The rest of the cast know, of course, you’ve been out with them on several occasions, and they all have come to adore you just as much as you adore them. Something about hearing Daniel drunkenly assure you that if Colson ever hurts you, that there’d be a line of people ready to slap some sense into him. You try to brush him off, endeared by his drunken affection, but he turns suddenly to the rest of the cast.
“Hey, hey, hey - who’d throw down for Y/N?” He asks; without hesitation, Douglas, Iwan, and Colson raise their hands, eyes wide and alert, as if the offer needed to be acted upon immediately. The show of support has your heart swelling in your chest.
You find yourself fitting into his life back in LA easily; while beginning work as an assistant on a Netflix original series, you call into his house in the Hollywood Hills, delighted to be privy to demos and snippets from his next album.
And you meet his friends, shake their hands and smile and chatter with them. They’re not sure what to make of you at first, no-one really is when you present yourself in conjunction with Colson, but soon they start to see what he sees in you. It’s endearingly genuine and thoughtful and honest and enthusiastic and -
“They’re like sunshine,” it’s Rook’s Instagram live, almost six months into your relationship with Colson, that really cements it to the public. Rook is smoking in Colson’s living room in the middle of the afternoon between recording sessions, and someone asked what your deal was.
“I’m so sick of - and I know Kells is, and Y/N too, not that they’d ever say anything. ‘ve never heard them say a bad word ‘bout anyone, you know,” Rook hits the blunt again, his face scrunching up, “but everyone ‘round here’s so fuckin’ sick of people talkin’ shit ‘bout ‘em. For real, Y/N is sunshine, nicer than all of you motherfuckers put together,” and he laughs, but it’s clear he isn’t entirely joking, “- you know what?” He asked, eyes lighting up and standing abruptly, grabbing the phone.
“Baze, man, you seen Y/N?” He calls, and Baze responds from somewhere off-camera that you’re outside. The comments are going off, but he pays them no mind, heading out to the backyard, only to see you by the back fence, peering over into the trees, on your tip toes, one hand straining over the fence, in shorts and a singlet in sunshine yellow.
Rook calls your name.
You shush him loudly, and then, without looking at him, slowly wave him over.
As he approaches, he can hear the telltale sound of a bird chirping, and as soon as he gets close, he hears you whisper -
“I think they’re bluebirds,” you murmur, and finally look back at him, lowering yourself, surprised to see his phone held aloft. He tells you he’s live streaming, you wave awkwardly, which is when he sees the slice of banana you’re holding, “I’m not sure what they eat; do bluebirds eat banana?” You ask, a little helpless, looking at Rook, and then to his phone.
After a moment, you step aside, and gesture for Rook to take a look over the fence, and sure enough there’s a nest with a single, rather sad looking bluebird with it’s wing bent at a strange angle, calling out pathetically, obscuring a few eggs, just out of arm’s reach. While he’s looking over the fence, also trying to reach them, and also trying to get the phone close enough to see if anyone watching the livestream could identify the bird or offer any suggestion, he hears your footsteps retreating.
“Stay there, I’m going to get Kells,” you call out to him, voice bright, “he’s got long arms!” And Rook bursts out laughing; you weren’t wrong.
While waiting, he sits against the fence and answers a few more questions, until he looks up and sees you, expression concerned, and Colson uncharacteristically fond as he lets you lead him by the hand.
You show him the nest and ask for him to get it, worried the bird was hurt, and he obligingly reaches over the back fence to gently collect the bird nest, trying his best not to jostle the bird. The bird’s wing appeared to be broken, and Rook ends the live when you mention that you’re going to take the bird to the vet.
Already, the fandom is exploding from what had transpired.
People are making suggestions as to what the birds should be named, people are claiming your caring and sweet personality is completely fake, people in the live managed to screenshot Colson’s expression as you’d lead him to the birds, how smitten he was with his hand in yours, and have started posting ‘get u a man who looks at u like kells looks at y/n’ all over twitter and tumblr.
“Bird update!” Several hours later, Colson posts a series of videos to his instagram story, “for those of y’all who don’t know, Y/N found a bird with a broken wing in a tree out the back of my place, we rescued it and it’s eggs, and took it to the vet,” and with that he flips the camera around, from a close up on his face, to show a large, cardboard box in the corner of the room.
Peep Davidson was written in large, black letters on the side of the box.
The rest of the videos are outlining what the vet had told you all, and that the bird should only take about seven days to heal before you could put them all back into the wilderness.
At that, he pauses.
“You worried about putting the birds back when you saw that cat the other day?” And he angles the camera to reveal you, laying with your head in his lap.
“The orange one?” You ask, voice heavy, as if he’d disturbed you when you’d been right about to fall asleep. You yawn, and he confirms, you give a little, lazy shrug and smile, “not sure where that cat is.”
“Fuckin’ hell, babe,” Colson laughs, “you gotta stop finding random animals in my backyard.”
“They find me,” you counter, and shift so you can press your face against his belly, humming contentedly as his free hand begins stroking your back.
“Snow White-Cinderella-Pied Piper motherfucker,” how that is somehow the softest, most gentle words to ever leave his lips, is utterly baffling, but there’s so much love and adoration but you turn enough for the camera to catch your delighted little smile, “you’re-” he starts, “who’s that dude from that, that My Hero shit we were watching the other night?”
“Koji Koda, you weeb,” you tease him fondly, knowing exactly who he’s referring to, and that’s where the video ends.
That’s the day it’s confirmed for the rest of the world. There’s countless paparazzi photos, and hints, and speculation, but this is the first time he’d called you anything but your name, and they’d all seen you snuggling up to him, your head in his lap.
This also is the day the trend begins on his Instagram story of a photo of you, usually in his backyard, with whatever animal had decided to befriend you that day.
My partner. My backyard. No fucking idea who’s animal that is.
And he still goes out and gets fucked up, and sometimes you’re there, and sometimes you’re not. When you’re out together, it still doesn’t quite make sense; he’s hard partying and over the top, and it seems like it wouldn’t be your scene at all.
But then there’s photos of Colson and a few of his friends standing on the edge of a roof, announcing that they’re Kings, and you’re by his side, smiling and waving at the person taking the photograph. He manages to get himself injured pulling a stunt at a friend’s house party, but you’re in the back of some influencer’s vlog, straddling his lap with tissues in your hand, him holding you secure as you clean up the scrape on his forehead; it’s kind of sickening how in love he looks, as he watches the way you concentrate. When you notice his expression, your own softens, and you lean in to give him a kiss.
And so you start to make sense, but people still ask why.
So when asked, you tell people that you support each other, and challenge each other, and yeah, that’s absolutely why you’re together, but it’s not the whole reason as to why you make sense.
Because no-one sees the way you hook your finger into his belt loop at the back of his pants at the house party, and you press a kiss between his shoulder blades, and he knows exactly what that means. He’s quick to make some flimsy excuse to leave as you step into place by his side, which everyone he’s speaking to immediately sees through. You play at being flustered, tucking your embarrassed expression against him as he slings his arm around your shoulders, and calls an Uber.
The drive back to his place has you both on edge with anticipation, his hands all over you in the back of the car while you try to hold a civil conversation with the driver. It’s killing you not to give in, but you know it’s worth it.
“You’re such an idiot!” You announced, grinning from ear to ear the moment you get into the house, before the door’s even closed, and he slams it shut to press you against it. Kissing him feels like a cathartic release, but after a moment you shove him back, loudly admonishing him for taking part of a stunt that got him hurt.
“You could have been seriously hurt!” You keep poking him in the chest to punctuate your words, and he steps back each time, expression alight, pupils blown wide. He keeps reaching out, as if to touch you, to snag your clothes, like it’s a game when you smack his hand back every time.
“Got a gnarly cut though,” he pointed out, as his ass hits the kitchen island. His legs open, making space for you, and you step into it.
“Gnarly cut,” you murmur, tone surprisingly derisive, and you reach up to push his hair back from his forehead. His head tips back, leaning into your touch, the look on his face almost dreamy even as you’ve got a hand on his hips, pushing him back on the counter.
Then you’re in his lap on the counter, hand fisted in his hair, lips on his neck, leaving bruises and bite marks. He’s trying to get you naked, efficient and desperate, but the moment he gets your shirt off, you push the fruit bowl behind him onto the floor, and push him back against the granite countertop.
“You were worried about me,” he smirks up at you, admiring you with your hands planted either side of his head.
“Because you don’t worry about your damn self!”
“Ooh, breaking out damn tonight? Must be serious,” he teased, deliberately riling you up; he loved this side of you just as much as the sweetness. Instead of responding, you reach up under his shirt and rake your nails harshly down his chest and stomach, delighting in the way he arched up at the sudden sensation, eyes falling closed.
With one hand still flat against his belly, the other comes up to cup his jaw, gentle at first, before your fingers move to caress his throat, and you press yourself against him.
“If you get yourself killed, I’ll kick your ass,” you whisper, lips inches from his as you press firmer against his throat. He grins, and sighs, the sound content and syrupy and so fucking into it, leaning up, to meet your lips with his, to feel the pressure on his neck just a little more.
And you bite, and you scratch, and you ride him on the kitchen island. The location is new, but the situation isn’t; once he’d discovered the righteous, sexual fury you’d been bottling up, he’d been more than happy to let you unleash it on him. Not to say that he didn’t give as good as he got; there’s been several times he’s had you swearing a blue streak, seeing stars, desperate and blissed out in equal measure.
But then there’s your dominant moments, the mean streak, and the teasing, the sting of your nails and your teeth and the way you push him around, into the mattress, against the wall without hesitation, and that he covets. No-one else is allowed to see you like that. To be tied up or blindfolded or or punished or pushed around, at your mercy, it’s as close to Heaven as he’s ever felt on Earth, because he knows without a shadow of a doubt that your heart is kind, that you’d never really hurt him in a way he wouldn’t like.
You make him feel safe.
And it’s not just the sex, you’re never dismissive of ideas or suggestions, seemingly always ready to help if he ever needs it, rather than judgmental. It makes him want to be there for you too.
He wants to be better for you.
Which is kind of terrifying to consider.
“I love you,” he tells you in the shower, in the afterglow, soft, pausing where he had been washing your back where you couldn’t reach. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but he felt like he needed you to hear them.
“Love you too,” you say around a yawn, though the words are as genuine as they’d always been coming from you, and you lean back against him, leaning your head against his cheek in a moment of quiet intimacy. You try to kiss him like this, but turns your face directly into the shower, and end up spluttering and breaking the moment.
Colson chuckles softly, stepping back and pulling you with him, out of the stream of water and into his arms so he could kiss you properly. You’re still giggling as you’re wiping the water from your eyes, looking at him with fond adoration. When you settle your arms around him, you quiet down and bask in the moment, his forehead coming to rest against yours, warm and safe in his embrace, sensing that, in that moment, he felt the exact same way.
#mgk#machine gun kelly#mgk x reader#machine gun kelly x reader#machine gun kelly imagine#mgk imagine#colson baker#colson baker imagine#colson baker x reader#the dirt#the dirt cast#the dirt cast imagine#rook xx#douglas booth#daniel webber#iwan rheon#the angry lizard writes
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Ghost Quartet Animated Movie Concept
So I really fucking love Ghost Quartet and if I had even a scrap of artistic talent I would totally make animatics for it but for now, here are some concepts for a fully animated version of the live album.
In this hypothetical animation, each storylines has its own unique artstyle so that the viewer can distinguish the four storylines just a bit easier. Zero changes are made to the lyrics or song ordering, cuz the album is already perfection and altering it ruins the fun of it yknow
1. The Tale of Rose and Pearl
- This one’s easy. Give it a cool japanese-esque fairytale style, similar to Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya. The animation can start off super pretty and colorful and pastel in The Camera Shop, but it gradually gets more and more muted and dark as the album goes on.
- You know that scene in Princess Kaguya when the princess runs out of the palace and the animation style suddenly becomes all intense and unclean to represent her distress? Do that but when Rose goes on her “fuck your books” rant in Bad Men.
- Rose can have her sexy red cloak and a rose in her ear and Pearl can have a cool white dress and a pearly necklace. The Astronomer should have nerdy lil suspenders and The Bear is just a fuckin Bear
- The Telescope should just be the most psychedelic sequence ever, stars transforming into dancing characters and shit
- Not sure if Soldier and Rose would be in the same art style since it doesn’t fit in any other story, but the dancing would admittedly look beautifully somber and melancholy.
2. The House of Usher
- This one absolutely needs to be in black and white. Put in spooky lil glitch effects and a smaller, boxy aspect ratio to replicate being watched on an old television set tape. If not 2d animated, then maybe stop motion????? Corpse Bride or Coraline vibes could be awesome
- I’m thinking every time The Son is in the frame, a little wooden bear carving could be emphasized to visually represent his alternate self as The Bear.
- When Roxie rises from the dead, she flickers between her Roxie self and herself as Rose but in the Japanese fairy tale animation style. Crimson red blood streams down her robes and it’s the only color that ever appears in the Usher plotline.
- This shit needs to be terrifying
3. Arabian Nights
- I’m thinking this could have a geometric animation style like Song of the Sea or The Secret of Kells, but with the same vibe of what one may find in an ancient Islamic painting.
- In Monk, have young Scheherazade and Dunyazad’s dance be a visual parallel to the Soldier and Rose’s dance. Also show The Pianist playing the piano but not what’s behind the door ofc
- In Tango Dancer, when we meet ancient Scheherazade, she could be in a veil that stretches out infinitely and eventually wraps into the sky, with little cartoon stars inscribed into it that all glow when she describes her young and blissful self. Just go full surreal with it. Have the conversation between Rose and Scheherazade be an obvious visual parallel to the camera shop conversation.
- Have Shah Zaman’s room just be covered in bear stuff. Bear rug, bear paintings, bear statues, etc. I don’t know if it’s historically accurate but that’s the last thing Ghost Quartet cares about lmfao
4. The Subway
- This one’s definitely the least figured out for me. Maybe live action?!?!? I really hesitate to say that but basically this storyline needs to have a claustrophobic, indie feel to it that contrasts heavily with the other three. Perhaps a different, more modern cinematic aspect ratio?
- Not sure what The Pusher’s bear visual would be here. Maybe a bear tattoo or grafitti on the wall that appears whenever he’s on screen.
- The Victim’s monologue on the tracks needs to be intercut with Lady Usher’s final moments before Roxie bursts through the door. I have a very strong image in my mind: When she says “I let the train rip through me,” we get a split screen visual of Lady Usher kneeling on the floor in the left and The Victim kneeling on the tracks in the right and the camera zooms in on both until their faces match up.
- The Shop Owner’s outfit would be the outfit that Gelsey wears in the actual production. Maybe the same could go with the other three in this timeline.
- Hero could either be in this style or somehow in all the styles. Have visual train imagery be used constantly throughout so that it becomes all the more poignant when she gets metaphorically run over here.
- Have Midnight be in some random bar, and that’s the same bar where I Don’t Know, Any Kind of Dead Person, Four Friends, and Prayer take place in. These four are just drinking and having a blast, remembering the many lives they’ve gone through in this bittersweet song cycle.
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i forgot to add: how do design ????!?!??????
So I’m not expert but this is how I think of character design! (also sry if you were asking about clothing/outfit design thats a little different)
under the cut because this is long im so sorry
So in my opinion there are three really important aspects for character design!
AESTHETIC: obviously everybody’s aesthetic is different, but this is more about what vibe the character has, what makes them THEM design wise.
INTENTION: who is the character supposed to be? this can range from their personality, their back story, their occupation, or their role in the story, but the design need to fit that intention.
COHESION: does the design go well together? or do certain aspects clash too much? obviously you can have disjointed parts of a character design, and if those serve a purpose then thats fine, but if its so disjointed its distracting from the character as a whole you might need to tweak things.
AESTHETIC: the contrasting part of the design (white flowers in dark hair, dark trim on dress, and dark shoes) provide interest to the eye. The mixing of round and sharp shapes also keeps the design from feeling “boring” even though its relatively simple.
INTENTION: so what role would this little doodle character have? according to her design elements, shes cute and friendly with her round shapes (bouncy balls, babies, etc), but could have a sharp/fast/active or even dangerous edge to her with the triangles (arrows, knives etc). of course the design doesn’t limit her possible roles. She could be a bubbly younger sister who teases the older protagonist, or maybe she’s the villain hiding in plain sight. the shape this character design doesn’t really have is squares(think bricks and rocks), which communicates that she might not be really strong, steady, or reliable.
COHESION: repeating the curves across her whole design builds cohesion, it communicates that “yes, these are all part of the same character”, it also allows the eye to “rest” on a familiar shape or line.
NOW LETS LOOK AT SOME DESIGNS
(Boku no Hero Academia) so both of these characters are super heroes, but have vastly different design elements. so lets analyze them.
OCHAKO(the pink one) is all rounds, with a few pointed shapes in hair mostly, but a little on her costume as well. Her personality is cute, bubbly, and friendly which perfectly suits her soft and bouncy design. Howevre she also has a very slight edge to her, which is seen her determination and drive to improve herself over the course of the anime.
KIRISHIMA(the red one) at first glance, seems to be super pointy!! shapes that are usually seen on villains or really dangerous characters, but while he IS sharp(literally sometimes) and sometimes aggressive, he is also made of squares, which perfectly suits his loyal “i gotchu bro” attitude towards most of the other characters in the anime.
ISSUE AREAS: so the only problems i have with Ochako and Kirishima’s designs is that their costumes each have one area that clashes a little too much for my taste. With Ochako, the belt over the color blocking stripes down her crotch are......questionable taste wise. I think the design would be better if the pink chest ended above the belt in a shallow v. not only would this mirror the triangle aspects of her hair, it would fit the belt outline, and continue the trend her costume has of being “grounded” or “heavy”. Kirishima has those.... gears??? around his shoulders??? and while the gear teeth are technically squares, the gear shape itself is a circle, which is a shape that isn’t present anywhere else in his design. I think changing the gears to something similar to his boots or his mask/headgear would create a more cohesive design(also the gears just look hard to move in)
These two characters are presented as individuals so their costumes don’t have to match at all even though they are still seen as “connected” because of the art style for the face, hair, and body.
In a group giving the outfits cohesive motifs is an easy way to present a strong team image! In Yuki Yuna is a Hero, the girls all have colored lines(usually princess seam placement), armor or fabric hip accents, covered arms, and similar flower shapes in their hair. The Aesthetic of each girl is strong in a monochrome signature color, but not over whelming as the black+white connects them even in color so they aren’t out of place.
Speaking of color! if your characters are all similar looking (like same body for all of them) you can communicate their personality and aesthetic just with color! (only gonna talk about a few of the ponies) Pinkie Pie (the really pink one) is energetic and playful, so her color scheme is a variation of the primary colors(happy, child like), and have one of the more saturated colors(high energy, intense) of these characters in a large quantity. Apple Jack (the orange one) is a down to earth farm girl, and her color palette is accordingly, mostly earth tones, its also warm analogous colors, which makes her appear un-complicated and warm personality wise. the pop of red is a nice touch to add interest, but notice that its uses sparingly in her cutie mark and tail accessory. Rarity on the other hand is elegant and fussy, her high contrast scheme of white and dark blue/purples gives her more visual interest and is something that makes her appear more “complex” in addition to the gradient thats included in her hair. the colors are also all cool colors, bringing to mind cool glass or water which both have connotations of grace and beauty.
however all the characters here are unified by their colors being on the pastel side, which is also important for a cohesive cast.
another, short, note on color; making the color/line/shading of your figure different from the background can help them stand out, this is used ESPECIALLY in children’s media, but can be applied to any illustration or animation as needed.
Color can also help your characters “read” quickly on screen, the powerpuff girls are a prime example, of having a distinct color blocking and silhouette. even the color blobs at the top and my crappy hand silhouettes STILL read as the characters despite being broken down into abstract elements. I also really enjoy the thick outline in the powerpuff girls, it really makes the characters pop to the foreground even though they have pretty simple designs and are often in a colorful setting.
Also, for a lot of animation, silhouette is INCREDIBLY important for your characters, some designers sketch silhouettes and then design the particulars its so important to nail the shape. These examples from Coraline are some of my favorites (though Laika wins in my heart every time no matter what lmao) because the simple shapes are SO CLEAR and indicative of the character, you literally don’t need to have watched the movie to know these are each different characters with different personalities and roles.
silhouette can also help tell the story. In Kubo and the two strings (another Laika film) the above three characters are sisters. One has chosen to leave her home in the heavens to live on earth, and the other two stay in their roles as “heavenly” warriors. This is even shown through their designs, the two sisters are weighted on top and their cloaks don’t even touch the ground, while the first woman has trailing, heavy sleeves, hair, and robes all grounding her and emphasizing her connection with the earth.
another example of shape/silhouette reflecting the story, In The Croods, the family of cavemen are for the most part very top heavy, with large torsos and arms, usually in a more hunched over position, while the newcomer, Guy, is bottom heavy with thin arms and stands more upright. In the plot, the family represents the old ways, the strength and rules that have helped them survive, they look like very stereotypical “cavemen”, while Guy resembles the modern man, and appropriately is associated with new ideas and forward thinking.
MORE SHAPES, in DC super hero girls each girl has a distinct personality emulated by her shape language. Zatana is dramatic curves and edges, Super girl is hard, straight edges against curves, giving her a solid muscular shape. Wonder Woman, though also strong, is taller and leaner, lending to a confident leader type. Green Lantern is slim, her lines all flow into each other giving her a go with the flow look. Bumble Bee is, of course, tiny, but her boots and gauntlets add weight and strength to her otherwise small frame. Batgirl is lanky and has a lot of pointed style lines, reminding the viewer of a skinny cat (ironic what with cat woman i know) or weasel which mirrors her preferred “sneaky” crime fighting style. (also yes this was just an excuse for me to gush abt how much i love the dcshg designs shut up)
so in my opinion, Cartoon Saloon’s The Secret of Kells is PERFECT in aesthetic, intention, and cohesion. Kells focuses very strongly on creating silhouette WITHIN the larger figure shape via color and line, most of the characters pictured here have no neck, the one who does, Brendan, is the main character and the use of negative space that cuts into his shape is used to draw attention to him. Kells is also very strongly inspired by Medieval Illuminated manuscripts (namely, the book of kells lmao). The characters still manage to stand out against outrageously detailed backgrounds via their simple shapes and strong color blocking.
Aisling, a secondary but very important character, is not human, and has a totally different shape language from the rest of the characters. She is thin and pointy, while most of the others are round or square. Aisling also has the most negative space making up her silhouette, compare the triangles made by her arms and legs in the above picture to the figures in the first image where everybody’s body is self contained with no negative space. She is also very different color wise, very pale and cool colored, as opposed to the warm saturated colors of the human characters. (yes this was another excuse to gush abt one of my fave pieces of media deal with it)
hopefully that wasn’t too rambley and actually helps? if yall have more specific design questions lemma know lol
#askems#a-magical-human#design#art tutorial#tutorial#Character Design#boku no hero academia#yuki yuna is a hero#yuki yuna wa yusha de aru#my little pony friendship is magic#mlpfim#madeline#powerpuff girls#ppg#coraline#laika#kubo and the two strings#the croods#dc super hero girls#dcshg#the secret of kells#cartoon saloon
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best friend’s ex.
plot: he’s your best friend’s ex and you should stay away.
A/N: i wrote this in one sitting and it’s very long <3 took some creative liberty here so imagine 2020!kells but he hasn’t made it just quite yet in the industry. this is heavily based off the song release tonight with blackbear so enjoy (maybe while listening!)
masterlist!
The circles in New York are different than the ones in Los Angeles. There’s a hint of familiarity in the New York circles, everyone seems to know each other connected by one person or a distant story of that one night the whole crowd tripped on molly. It’s dizzying, intricately knowing every single person backstage or at some club without recognizing them exactly.
You haven’t gotten used to the life, not yet acclimated with the high-fives and looks thrown your way at a party, or the nameless phone numbers crowding your text messages. It’s all new, fun and exciting and you have no one to thank but your best friend.
She’s made for this life, for the late nights and the rushes, the sticky floors and glittery lipgloss. This is her environment, where she thrives, and sometimes when you look at her in the club, necklaces shining with the overhead lights, you find it hard to connect this Domi to the one who you’ve seen crying on your bedroom floor after watching a despairing animal shelter commercial. But then she throws you a grin, crowds close, drapes her arm over your shoulder, and it just makes sense.
It’s been years of friendship, ever since you two met at freshman orientation for college. Her roommate was terrible, and more often than not, she’d be camping out on your twin-sized bed, offering you bites of her snacks in exchange for a safe haven. You both hadn’t really been into the party scene at school, too busy scrambling for reports and fibbing results for the endless lab sessions.
Domi graduated a semester early, spent an entire summer taking accelerated classes so she could go fly off to New York right before the new year started. That’s when things seemed to change. You’d been upset with her, hints of jealousy tinging in when she’d send you pictures of fancy clothes and people she was hanging out with, the nicely decorated venues she’d find herself in. She invited you to come to the city a few weeks in, buzzing on Facetime about backstage passes.
Then you were graduating yourself, packing two suitcases and jetting halfway across the country to live in the shitty apartment Domi’d been renting out with a couple of strangers. It had been hard to settle down at first, the air was different in the city and you’d had to up your resting bitch face game when you sat on the subways late at night, but before you knew it, you were enjoying the city that never sleeps, best friend right by your side.
Colson had stumbled into your life a year ago, and then been ripped out six months after. He was a up and coming musician (self-proclaimed) and had taken a chance bet on the city, moved from Cleveland with his friends and a mixtape. He was beautiful in a rugged way, angled cheekbones and lanky limbs, but Domi had taken one look and called dibs, so you tampered any attraction down.
It hadn’t taken long for them to start dating, even if Domi claimed they were just fooling around, it was clear to see that there was some level of intimacy there, a relationship itching to be formed. You’d been happy for her truly and it was easier than you’d expected to fall into a camaraderie with the guys.
Colson’s friends were funny, quick on their toes and absolutely chaotic. They fit into New York better than you did, and almost every single night, you would find yourself at their apartment, playing shitty drinking games and jamming to loud music.
Domi kept the relationship as lowkey as she could, and at some point, you would hear less and less about Colson. It didn’t really hit you then, but it was the beginning of the end in a way, and then she was walking in, eyes red and wet before yelling out the fated words, “We broke up.”
Everything you had gotten used to was suddenly taken away. You spent weeks consoling her, reminding her that she was better than this guy, stronger and that time was the only way this would heal. She begrudgingly listened, and then took your phone from you, casually blocking Colson’s number along with all his friends.
At first, you’d been mildly upset. She was the one who’d fucked up, the one who’d decided to break up with him, so why was this effecting you? It didn’t make sense, they were still your friends and you liked them more than anyone else you’d met here.
But then she’d given you her patented puppy dog eyes, and you’d dismissed it, decided that if this was what she wanted, so be it. You could stand to lose the drunken nights, your liver would thank you.
Colson Baker and his friends disappeared from your life as fast as they had appeared into it. You spent your nights cooking at home instead of going out, focused on building back your sleep schedule instead of getting drunk off your mind, and the days went by.
-
Of course, nothing lasts forever and six months later, your coworkers’ are begging you for a night out, like the old times. Everyone’s antsy for your reply, know that you haven’t been to a social function with them in ages, and you take one look at their faces before sighing and agreeing.
The entire office claps, you flip them all off before catching sight of your boss, who simply smiles and shakes his head. There’s a faint flutter in your stomach, memories rising from months ago, parties and late nights, flashes of lights and thumping music. You shrug it off, tap your pen against the desk, bring your focus back to work.
Three hours later, you’re catching the train back home. It isn’t exactly rush hour yet, you’ve gotten out a little earlier than usual, Friday evenings usually being dull at work anyway and you’re glad because there’s less people mulling around in the sticky heat of the train station.
The station doesn’t smell great, there’s a tinge of stale pee filling up the air and you discreetly move to the other side of the station, trying to get as far away from the smell as you can. New York City man.
The train pulls in, and you automatically put in your headphones, music blasting in your ears as you sidle into the train car, passing the passengers coming out. It’s relatively empty, being near the front and you thank the train gods before sliding into an orange seat near the door.
There’s a couple of guys sitting at the other end, they’re loud and boisterous, shoving each other and you give them a once-over before settling into the seat. The train moves, and you pull your purse onto your lap, patting it once before letting your eyes fall close.
The next stop comes abruptly, jolting you out of the little dreamscape you’d created. There’s a shout as the doors open and you pause your music trying to tune into what’s going on. It’s still the group of guys, but now there’s more of them and you roll your eyes at the banter drifting across the car.
The music starts up again and you lean your head back, try to get comfortable again, but it doesn’t work. There’s a weird feeling in your gut, making you uneasy but you brush it off, raise the volume until all you can feel is the dirty bass.
A minute later, someone kicks at your shoes and you open your eyes, ready to angrily scold at them until they can feel the rage across the car.
The words die in your throat. Colson Baker’s standing there in all his glory, lanky arm leaning against the metal, blonde hair puffing around his head, grin lighting up his face.
His nose is pierced now and you take it in, the way it brings out his eyes and you pause the music mumbling out, “Nose ring looks good on you.”
You bite your tongue right after, embarrassed that after months of silence that’s the first thing that falls out of your mouth. He laughs, body shaking and you’re flashed back to nights in his apartment, watching him laugh on the other couch, head thrown back.
“Thanks,” he murmurs before going, “How’ve you been?”
“Good,” you answer honestly and there’s another shout from across the car, Colson turning to wave a hand.
“It’s the guys. They didn’t think it was you, but I could tell yanno,” he explains and you raise your eyebrows as he continues, “They’re all still kinda pissed you blocked us.”
The statement falls between you two, awkwardly as the train car rumbles on. You wince a little as he fake coughs to fill the empty space.
“Yeah, I’m sorry about all that man. You guys were like family,” you carefully mention, hands playing with the hair tie on your wrist.
“It’s cool. I get it, I mean we both know Domi,” he stammers out and his own hand goes to rub at his chin.
This conversation isn’t what either of you expected and you shift up in your seat, trying to change the topic at the mention of your best friend.
“So what’ve you been up to?” you ask and he smiles at the gateway question, eager to get rid of the uncomfortable energy.
“Got signed to a record label,” he murmurs and the smile that takes over your face is unreal. There’s pride blooming in your chest.
“No way!! Oh my god, congrats dude. That’s killer,” you gush out and his cheeks taint red at your words.
“Thanks,” he says, eyes meeting yours.
“I knew you’d do it. You’re immensely talented,” you continue on as the train comes to a stop.
It’s not yours but it seems to be his. The guys all shout over at him and he’s looking up and then gazing at you, caught between the two options before he makes up his mind.
He doesn’t choose you, you’re not surprised.
“I appreciate you!” he shouts out before running off the car, joining the rest of the guys on the station.
You turn in your seat and wave at them, catching a couple of glares and hesitant waves back before the car pulls away, to the next destination.
The music starts up again and you will your heart to slow down for reasons you can’t even comprehend.
-
Domi gives you a look as you rush into your room. Usually after work, you spend time in the kitchen, milling around grabbing little snacks as she cooks, but you actually have plans tonight.
It’s the first time you’re going out in months and you take a quick shower before pulling out all the old outfits you’d shoved into the back of your closet.
There’s a nice dress, black with faint traces of glitter and you eye it for a second before deciding against it. This is a fun night with the coworkers, not your insane best friend who’d always managed to get you to dress your very best.
There’s a pair of skinny jeans tossed into a dresser, and you eye the rips in it before pulling it on. It looks good, tight in all the right places and you root around for a shirt that can be just fancy enough.
There’s a nice purple one tossed in the closet, slipping off of a hanger and you grab it before pulling it on and tying it up in the front.
It’s pretty, makes you look just right and you play around with your hair before sitting down and committing to a makeup look.
Fifteen minutes later, you’re throwing your keys, a pack of gum, gloss and your phone into a small purse. It hangs off of your wrist and you take a look in the mirror before stepping out of your room.
“Where are you going?” Domi asks, her tone slightly cold.
“Night out. Coworkers invited me and I couldn’t say no,” you explain, running your hands down the jeans.
“Oh,” her face falls.
“Do I-look good?” you ask hesitantly.
“Yeah. You always do bitch,” she half-heartedly adds and you smile at her.
“I’ll see you tonight,” you say, grabbing a carrot from the countertop.
“I’ll wait up,” she smirks and you nod before heading out the door.
The club’s only a few stops away and when you swipe your metro card again, you groan at how low the funds are running. You haven’t filled it just yet, and the $1.25 flashes up at you, taunting.
“I’m poor,” you scoff at the machine and the girl swiping next to you laughs.
You get in somehow, sneakily using the swinging baby stroller door and by the time the train pulls up, you’re only running a few minutes late.
It only hits you when you sink into the familiar orange seat that you didn’t tell Domi about running into her ex. You know she doesn’t care as much about Colson now, scorchingly refers to him as that one rapper, but it’s an unspoken rule. You always tell if you run into the ex.
Your fingers tap against your phone screen, wondering if texting her is appropriate but you drop it quickly. It’s not a big deal. You’ll just let her know when you get home tonight.
The doors open, you leave and then you’re stalking towards the club doors, eyeing the long line. The bouncer is staring everyone down, and you wade up to the front. You’ve learned enough tricks in the short party lifestyle you’d had.
“I’m with the VIPs,” you flash your ID and then a $5 discreetly tucked under it. He looks you up and down, grumbles slightly before taking the money from you.
The rope opens and you smile before stepping through into the dark. It’s loud inside already, the lights contrasting the slight evening colors from outside. You look around before you spot the team and walk over to them.
“Hey!!!” they exclaim and then you’re being handed a glass, cheering the night as everyone drinks it down.
It’s tequila, stings in the back of your throat and you cough before wiping your mouth, “God, I haven’t had this in so long.”
“See that’s why we needed you out tonight,” one of them goes, checking your shoulder with theirs. You laugh before agreeing and order your drink of choice, chiming into the conversation.
It’s going so well, the night seems to be twinged with good vibes. You feel nice and loose, arm draped over your nearest friend as you two sway at the songs playing.
There’s a commotion at the door and you guys turn towards the bouncer only to see people scuffling around, pushing to get closer.
“Hey dude! I’m playing tonight. Musical guest here!!!” comes a loud voice, and it rings familiar in your head. It’s faint, digging somewhere into the back of your mind and you get on your tip-toes trying to see.
“Fuck you,” someone else spits and it echoes around the club.
The crowd splits open then, and you get a glimpse at old friends, adjusting their hats as they stalk across to the stage.
Rook’s fuming as he walks past you, and you spot the tell-tale crease on his face, the grit of his teeth. It scares you, the memory of it all after late night game losses, the way he would blow a gasket about cheating.
Slim and Baze wander behind him, they seem cooler, always are, but the anger is brimming under and you look away as they pass you.
AJ isn’t there and you guess he’s already in the club. He’s always been the sensible one, stable and ready to take control of the situation when it inevitably turns bad.
Colson’s following the rest but his eyes are on the crowd, hand going out to meet people, smiling at everyone. There’s a faint cut on his lip, blood trickling out and you want to scream at him. He comes up around to where you’re standing, and you step back, let your coworkers high five him as he passes.
He doesn’t see you, it’s better that way.
You order up another drink, ignore the whispers of the pesky rapper as they fill up the air around you. He’s well known here apparently, people aware of him in the scene. They mumble about the fights, the way he never seems to show up without a cut or bruise.
You take a shot, sip at the alcohol, smile fading as your coworker ravishes on about how good looking the musician is.
It takes about twenty minutes, and then the music shuts off. There’s a squeal of microphone feedback and everyone around you ducks, hands rushing up to cover their ears.
“Fuck,” a mumble comes across the sound system.
There’s another shuffle and your friend grabs your arm, pulling you closer to the stage. There’s already people there, milling around, clutching drinks and you try to stay on the sidelines, out of view.
“We should go closer,” he determines and then you’re being pulled forward again, swimming around in the second row.
Colson is standing front and center in all his glory. The shitty lighting makes him glow, and he looks big, energy filling him up. He pulls the mic off the stand and steps back before going, “Afternoon. We are Machine Gun Kelly.”
The name isn’t familiar. You don’t know it and quite frankly, it doesn’t place anywhere either but that’s all you get before the music starts up. It’s weird, a pace you don’t expect from him and then he’s off, singing with a grit in his voice, fingers flying across a guitar draped over his shoulder.
Everyone seems to bob along in the crowd and you do too, losing yourself in the way he sounds, the tone of his voice as he croons. The music is great, drums harsh and strong, guitar loud behind the vocals.
The set’s over quick and you’re slightly sweating by the end of it. He thanks the crowd before jumping off stage, and you immediately retreat back to the bar, anxious to steer clear of him.
Even in your drunken state of mind, it’s a bright red flashing light: Stay away from Colson. Stay away from the guys.
You switch to water for a while, try to stop your head from spinning with the lights. Everyone you came with is somewhere on the dance floor, so when an arm drapes on your shoulders, you freeze up, still facing the bar.
“Hey,” and then you’re looking up at Slim’s face, sweaty and eager.
“Slim,” you breathe out, vice in your chest loosening at the fact that it isn’t Colson. You don’t know why this is better, but it is.
“What’re you drinking?” he asks, hand going up to call over the bartender.
You don’t have the heart to say water, know that he’ll laugh and then get you a beer, so you murmur, “Get me a shot of vodka?”
His smile widens and he shouts the drink order over the counter before dropping his arm, “You sipping the hard stuff now?”
Shaking your head, you respond, “I’ve always drank the hard stuff.”
“Yeah, back when we hung out,” he slips into the banter, and your heart stops. You didn’t realize it had hurt them this bad, that months later, drunk and high off of a good show, Slim still manages to bring it up, voice tightening slightly.
“Look, I’m sorry about all that. I really am,” you start, but then he’s passing you the drink and locking arms.
“Cheers,” he says and you clink your shot glass against his, tipping it back.
“I’m sorry,” you mumble out but he throws you a look.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says and then he’s shouting out, “Yo Kells!”
It clicks into place then, the Machine Gun Kelly. It’s his nickname, has been for years apparently since he was rapping in middle school hallways, but he’d always introduced himself as Colson to new friends, let them decide whether the Kells fit him or not.
You hadn’t called him Kells once, in the months of knowing him, had laughed about it a couple of times with Domi, who loved to mock it any chance she could.
“You stalking me?” Kells sleazes out, there’s already a drink in his hand, someone following him around with bright eyes.
“No,” you state, moving away from the counter. The red lights are in full effect, this could end up terribly.
“Seems like it,” he sums up, coming in closer to lean against the bar. His lip is still cut, looks swollen as he approaches you.
“You fucked up your lip,” you state, mind cursing at the lack of filter you seem to have around your best friend’s ex.
“What?” he goes, and then his fingers are rubbing at the fat lip, eyes scrunching, “Guess I did.”
“Well it was nice to see you again,” you try.
“I just got here, you leaving already?” he murmurs, brushing off the person following him.
Slim’s moved to the other end of the bar, Rook’s throwing you a glare.
“Don’t think your friends want me around,” you nod over.
He turns his head and makes some kind of motion. Rook drops his eye contact, head going to duck at the bar. Slim smiles.
“They don’t know what’s good for them,” he mumbles, head turning back. His fingers tap at the bar, and there’s a beer appearing. He smiles at the bartender.
“I’m good for them?” you scoff, there’s a hint of bitterness at your tone, but it’s not directed exactly at them. It isn’t their fault.
“Always have been. The good influence when we would try and do stupid shit,” he says thoughtfully. He’s almost as drunk as you, eyes slightly red.
You laugh at that, “You’re always doing stupid shit. Great set by the way, impressed the fuck out of me.”
“You didn’t expect it?” he says as if you were supposed to have known all his songs by heart.
“I haven’t heard any of your music,” you honestly reply.
“Not even the mixtapes?” he seems shocked.
“No, Domi never sent them to me and you all just assumed so,” you stop yourself, falling into dangerous territory.
At the name drop of his ex, he winces a little, “God she was a fucking head-case.”
“Hey that’s my best friend you’re talking about,” you shout a little too loud. You catch Slim slamming a hand onto Rook’s shoulder. The air becomes stifled.
“Sorry,” Colson offers, taking a long, pointed sip.
You sigh, “Don’t be. She can be a little much sometimes. I’m sorry for how it all ended.”
“You should hang with us tonight,” he calmly says, switching the subject. Your breath catches in your throat.
“I don’t know-“ you start.
He cuts you off, “I get it. If you want, we’ll be here for a while. Find us.”
That’s all you get and then he’s walking towards the gang, slipping into the crowd. You drop your head onto the shell covered bar, groaning out.
-
The night dwindles down, your coworkers trickle out, slamming messy kisses on your face before walking out. You’re left by yourself soon enough and there’s a pulsing in your head, matching the music vibrating under your shoes.
It doesn’t take long to decide. You want to hang out with Colson and them, with Machine Gun Kelly. It’s a bad idea, you can tell before you’ve even fully determined it, but it’s as if fate’s lined everything up for you. It’s gonna happen.
You push away the nagging thoughts, wander around the club trying to find someone, coming up empty. Everyone seems to have left and you roll your eyes before stepping out yourself. Maybe fate doesn’t want this to happen.
As soon as the thought crosses your mind, you spot Rook across the street, blunt in hand. He hasn’t seen you, looking down at his shoes but you know him well and if he’s around it means the others are close by.
You brace yourself, work up some form of courage and walk over. He looks up at the sound and there’s immediate dislike flashing across his face.
Out of everyone, Rook’s been the most temperamental. You’d thought it was going to be Colson at first glance, but were quickly proven wrong by his friend, by the harshness of his demeanor at times. He doesn’t hide his feelings, and while you respect that, you’re also intimidated by his posturing.
“Hey Rook,” you mumble.
“Y/N,” he bluntly states.
“How have you been?” you try, but immediately know it’s the wrong thing to say.
“Cut the shit. What’d you want?” he bites out, eyes hard.
“Was wondering if I could catch a ride with you guys?” you question.
AJ usually drives them around, his black van large enough for the gang, and his self control strong enough to stay sober. You don’t know if it’s changed since the last time everyone hung out, but you’re hoping it hasn’t for the sake of your almost empty metrocard.
“Why’d you think we drove here?” he’s shrugs, giving you a hard time, and you shake your head wondering if your pride is worth this.
“Never mind dude,” you turn around but then he’s groaning behind you.
“Yeah we’ll take you back home. Kells’ kill me if I let you walk around here drunk. C’mon,” he says and you try to hide your smile as you follow him.
He takes a few more hits before tossing his blunt to the ground, and you’re glad he hasn’t offered you any. It would be too forgiving of him, too close to what you all used to be, and you wouldn’t know what to do if it came to that. Domi would kill you, hell she’d kill you if she knew you were getting into a car with them right now.
He stops in front of the familiar van, opens the door with force and everyone’s shouting inside, clambering over each other. You almost smile at the chaos, the familiarity of it all.
“Y/N!” Colson’s shouting and you do smile then. He slumps over long limbs and comes over to the door, reaching his hand out to you.
“You coming with us?” he asks and you nod before Rook mutters, “She needs a ride home.”
Colson purses his lips before looking back over at you, hand still outstretched, “Yeah, c’mon in. AJ got you.”
It’s late, later than you should be out and there’s a reminder that Domi’s waiting for you back home, wants to hear about your night. Your resolve flickers the minute his hand wraps around yours.
He tugs you in the van, and you follow, stepping in before they all scatter around, making enough space. There’s another girl with them, someone you don’t remember meeting or knowing but she smiles at you and curls into Rook’s side.
The music in the van is almost as loud as in the club, filling up the space. You wonder, not for the first time, how AJ drives like this, how he casually sings along, fist bumping the rest of the guys after a song.
Before you know it, there’s a blunt being passed around. Colson skips you on the first round, and you try not to let it hurt, remind yourself that you’ve stung them harder than this, hurt them worse.
He leans into your space after handing it off, whispers, “You still don’t smoke right?”
There’s a painful twist in your stomach at his question. When you all first met, you wouldn’t smoke blunts with them, hesitant about the strain and Domi’s eyes on you. She hated weed, despised the smell and would always remind you of that fact before you’d all spend the night out.
After the breakup, she’d loosened up on that, didn’t care if you smoked out on the fire escape, and sometimes even joined in, it was weird. Weirder than the fact that Colson somehow remembered all this months later.
“I do,” you whispered back, licking your lips, “smoke I mean.”
“Oh,” he softly says and then the blunt’s coming back around. He barely takes a hit before handing it off to you, pushing your hand slightly with his fist.
“Thanks,” you mumble, smoking it in. It’s strong, brings an immediate rush. You close your eyes.
When you open them, Colson’s too close to you. The red lights flash hard in your head and then the car’s stopping in front of their building.
You don’t even hesitate, “Is it wrong if I come up with you?”
His eyes look into yours, it’s quiet enough that you feel the weight of your statement sink in. This is bad, so bad.
He doesn’t say anything but everyone around you is moving, pulling off instruments and slamming doors. He carefully takes your hand, pulls the blunt out from your other one.
“AJ, we’re gonna chill for a while,” he says, towards the front seat, giving him the blunt. There’s a hum and then he’s opening the door, pulling you out just as he’d pulled you in.
For a second, you hesitate and then you’re falling into him. His arm wraps around your hips, pulls you back up on the sidewalk.
“You okay?” his voice is quiet, the world still moves around you both but it feels like you’re the only two people who matter.
“Yeah,” you nod.
“Wanna go home?” he says, and the words hit you for a second before you shake your head.
“No, this is cool,” you tongue out.
You’re both walking into the building then, satisfied with your answers. The manager gives you a once over at the front desk but that’s all before Colson’s thumbing the elevator button.
“What about everyone else?” you murmur.
He looks at them unloading the van and lets out a laugh, fingers tightening slightly against yours as he shakes, “They’re gonna be busy a while.”
You laugh back, try to tamper down the feeling of seeing him full-body laugh for the second time that day. The elevator dings and you step in, he follows.
It’s the same damn elevator as it was six months ago, but there’s something different in the air right now. It’s staticky, thrumming through you and it feels like you’re stumbling right on the edge of something.
The doors close, it’s just you and him. The feeling gets stronger, his fingers loosen against yours. You grip harder and he looks up straight into your eyes.
The door dings open again and he huffs a little, “Forgot to click the button.”
You smile but it feels thin. Your brain is flashing wrong, flashing red, screaming Domi’s name, but your heart is racing, pounding against your chest.
You screw your eyes shut.
He hits the button, the elevator starts going and you step closer to him. His back is against the elevator wall and there’s a calm look on his face, but you can tell he’s nervous, can feel it in the clamminess of his palm where it’s sticking to yours.
“I’m going to kiss you,” you blurt and you don’t even have time to regret the words before he’s pushing into you, lips finding yours within seconds.
They’re warm and softer than you expected. He lets out a groan as you kiss back, and you’re reminded of his cut, the swollen lip he’s sporting now. You move back, rest your forehead against his.
“Sorry, your lip,” you attempt to explain, but he shakes his head, forehead sliding across yours, twisting it.
“I like it,” he mumbles and you smile before kissing him again, feeling his arm wrap around you, pull you closer.
It’s the first time you’ve kissed him, he’s strictly off limits, a forbidden idea, but it feels like everything has suddenly fallen into place. The warning signs dissolve into bursts of serotonin as he makes little sounds, pressed up with your mouth.
The door dings open. You break apart and step out. Is kiss drunk a thing, or are you losing your mind? He grins at you, pulls your joined hands up for a soft kiss brushing on your knuckles.
Your heart flutters right then. If you’re losing your mind, you’re glad it’s with him. Dealing with the aftermath is something you’ll do later, so you push all thoughts of Domi and her complications aside and follow him straight into his apartment, consequences be damned.
-
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Life of the nomad folks / A nomád népek élete
In my last post about Ertugrul I mentioned that he was the bey of an Oghuz tribe, the Kayı tribe. But who were these people? Where they were from? How they lived their life? What did they wear in a regular day? The women really knew how to fight?
Origin of the Oghuz Türks
The original homeland of the Oghuz was east of the Altai Mountains of Central Asia, which had been the domain of Turkic peoples since prehistory. They migrated a lot, so for example in the 8th century, they made a new home in the area between the Caspian and Aral seas. They had moved westward from the Altay mountains passing through the Siberian steppes and settled in this region, and also penetrated into southern Russia and in west, China. Mahmud of Kashgar, in the 11th century, described the Karachuk Mountains which are located just east of the Aral Sea as the original homeland of the Oghuz Türks. The Karachuk mountains are now known the Tian Shan Mountains.
The extension from the Karachuk Mountains towards the Caspian Sea was called the "Oghuz Steppe Lands" from where the Oghuz Türks established trading, religious and cultural contacts with the Abbasid Arab caliphate who ruled to the south. This is around the same time that they first converted to Islam and renounced their Tengriism belief system. The Arab historians mentioned that the Oghuz Türks were ruled by a number of kings and chieftains.It was in this area that they later founded the Seljuk Empire, and it was from this area that they spread west into western Asia and eastern Europe during Turkic migrations from the 9th until the 12th century.
The Kayı tribe was among the 24 Oghuz turkish tribes, they were direct descendants of Oghuz-khan, who was the ancient progenitor of the Oghuz people, and the name of the tribe can be translated as “strong” or “powerful”.
There were a lot of nomad folks in Anatolia in the 13th century. The Kayı tribe appeare to have entered Anatolia either just before, with or immediately after the Mongol incursions of the 1240s and 1250s. Maybe they fled from the Mongols, and this is why they entered to Anatolia. Ottoman tradition says Ertugrul’s tribe arrived in the frontier zone between the weakened Seljuk polity and the weakening Byzantine Empire.
Summary about their daily life
In particular, the nomads and other followers lived in a tribally organised group and they enjoyed pastures and cultivable lands between Eskishehir and what is now Bilecik, at a place now called Sögut. Like any nomads, they lived from animal husbandry, so they basically pursued a nomadic lifestyle. Their tents/yurts were set up where they had found a suitable pasture for their animals. So this part is depicted in a completely fair way in the series as well. They traveled to the highlands in the summer and to the low lands during winter. But migration was a growing problem for these people as states began to form everywhere around them, so they could move only into a limited direction. So they felt compelled to settle down, but of course, this did not happen overnight.
Their daily lives were filled with grazing and caring for their animals, which was usually done by young children in many cases. It was common, and still is, for children in nomadic tribes to take care the animals. Among the men there were warriors, as we saw in the series, and there were those who were doing other work in the camp, like blacksmith. But it was the job of the men to sell some animals, sell their products to make money. The women usually spent their days with caring the children, cleaning the yurts, making food for their family and for the animals also, moreover they sew the clothes for the family. Since they had a close contact with their animals and, making cheese and yogurt from the milk of their livestock was a main job for these women. Some sources suggests that making rugs was also a main part of the life of these tribes. And of course it was the women who made the ingretdients erect for the rugs and it were these women, who made the rugs.
But there is some more about these women... There are more and more evidences that suggest that the Türk nomadic women also understood swordsmanship. It's logical, since they needed it. They lived under constant threat (of the other tribes and of course of the Mongols) and their husbands were often away from home with the animals. They had to be able to defend themselves. Archaeologists have found the remains of two ancient women warriors, whose skeletal remains indicate that they were well practiced in archery and horseback riding. True that these remains were found in Mongolia, but most probably all of these nomad folks lived the same way back then. One of the anthropologists "discovered the remains of the two women warriors and in particular, she (the anthropologist) looked at bone marks from muscle attachments, as larger marks indicate that the muscles were heavily used; for instance, during archery. Markers of repetitive movement on the thumb were also indicative of archery. She also looked for trauma patterns in the spine that are common in people who ride horses"[1]. So all in all, in my opinion, this lifestyle may have been similar with the nomadic Türks. I'm not saying there was female warriors in the battles, but I mean they really had to know how to save themselves and their family, their tribe, when their husbands were away. So they surely know how to fight at least in a basic level. Then, over time, as these nomads settled down, women no longer had to fight, so it changed forever.
What they wore?
In this early period when they barely enter to Anatolia the people most probably wore the same dresses as the ones in Central Asia. It is characteristic of the peoples of Central Asia that women dressed the same as men. The reason for this was the riding and wepon use, as I already mentioned. Even if they were muslims, the nomadic and semi-nomadic women weren’t veiled. The top-wear was a T-shaped kaftan like coat, which was buttoned in the middle and cut out on both sides and on the back at the waist, so they could easily rode a horse while wearing it. There was a difference in the female and male kaftans. The female ones were richly decorated, and not just the edges were decorated with furs or metal fittings as it was in the case of male kaftan, but there were some pearls sew on them, there were nice embroidery also on them. This kaftan-like coat also covered the knees and it was fastened with a belt at the waist. Again, there were some minor difference between the female and male belts. The female belts were richly decorated, with nice metal forms. The caftan was worn over a loose and tight-fitting pants. Both men and women wore low-legged boots and they thick stockings underneath. The boots were usually made of leather, but they also wore felt boots. Basically they used very colorful textiles but - again - the women chlothes were made by more vibrant and colorful textiles than the men chlothes. They used some herbs, plants and flowers to to produce different colors.
Basically the outerwear was the same whether it was worn by a noble person or by a simple one. The only difference was in the decoration. We cannot find luxurious materials in the poorer ones; they wore homemade clothes made of thicker linen, wool, or cloth.
Of course these people also wore some jewels, which was mostly for the women. They wore earrings, bracelets and rings, necklace wasn't that usual. Women put into their braids various ornaments, like beads or silver/gold patterns. Their necklaces and bracelets were made of twisted wires and were connected at their ends by a loop and a hook. Presumably they also used beads, but this was not worn as a pearl-necklace, but sewn one by one on their clothes. Some bracelets also have real gemstones in it, so do the rings. Their rings were simple, but the color and type of stones placed in them were different.
The horse tools were not jewels, but they were important part of these people's life. And there was a difference between the horse tools of men and women, because the ones belonged to women were more ornate. Saddles with hooves made of silver plates or decorated with bone carvings were also made for women.
Among the Türk men of Asia, it was fashionable to cut the hair at the forehead, but at the back they grew it and it was braided and fastened with hoops. Hairdressing also had a rank-marking role; the nobles less often cut their hair and wore it adorned with beads. The women wore their hair in long braids but also decorated similar to men.
Used sources: Colin Imber - The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650; Bichurin - Collection of information on peoples in Central Asia in ancient times; Faruk Sümer - Oğuzlar; Bosworth - The Ghaznavids; Hódmezei Őrzők page; Peirce - The imperial harem; [1]: https://www.livescience.com/mongolia-warrior-women-mulan.html
* * *
Legutóbbi, Ertugrulról szóló posztomban említettem, hogy valószínűleg a Kayı törzs bégje volt, a Kayık pedig az Oghuz törzsbe tartoztak. Na de mégis kik voltak ezek az emberek? Honnan származtak? Hogyan élték mindennapi életüket? Milyen öltözéket viseltek? A nők valóban tudták, hogyan kell harcolni?
Az Oghuz népek eredete
Az Oghuz népek őshazája az Altaj-hegységben lehetett, Közép-Ázsiában, ahol már a történelem előtti időkben is ezek a népek éltek. Nagyon sokat vándoroltak, így például a 8. század során az Altaj-hegységen túl nyomultak, át a Szibériai sztyeppéken és letelepedtek a Kaszpi-tenger és Aral-tó közötti vidéken. Emellett a mai Oroszország területére és Nyugat-Kínába is behatoltak. A 11. században Kashgar-i Mahmud a Karachuk-hegységet nevezte a Oghuz türkök földjének. Ez a hegység az Aral-tótól keletre van és napjainkban Tien Sanként ismert.
A Tien Santól a Kaszpi-tengerig tartó régió neve így "Oghuz sztyeppe földek" volt, hiszen ezen régióban éltek, kereskedtek az Oghuz türkök. Itt kerültek kapcsolatba a déli szomszédjukkal, az Abassid Arab kalifátussal, akiktől végül felvették az iszlám vallást, elhagyva korábbi hitüket. A déli szomszédok arab történészei úgy írják, hogy az Oghuz népeknél királyok és törzsfők uralkodnak a népek felett. Ezen a területen jött végül létre a Seljuk Birodalom is, és ugyanúgy az Oghuz sztyeppe földeken keresztül terjeszkedtek a türkök Nyugat-Ázsia és Kelet-Európa irányába a 9. és 12. század között.
A Kayı törzs egyike volt a 24 Oghuz törzsnek, és népüket egyenesen Oghuz kántól vezették le, aki minden Oghuzok ősatyja volt. A Kayı törzs nevének jelentése egyesek szerint "erős", mások szerint "hatalmas".
A 13. századra már Anatóliában is rengetek nomád, belső-ázsiai eredetű nép élt. A Kayık is feltehetőleg ekkor érkeztek Anatóliába, vagy közvetlen megelőzve az 1240-1250-es években zajló mongol támadásokat vagy közvetlenül utánuk érkezve. Lehetséges, hogy a mongolok elől menekülve jutottak Anatóliába ezek a népek. Az Oszmán legendák szerint Ertugrul és népe ekkor érkezett tehát a gyengülő Seljuk és Bizánci Birodalom határmenti övezetébe.
Összefoglalás mindennapi életükről
Összefoglalva ezek a nomádok és a velük érkező népcsoportok törzsi szerveződésben éltek és pásztorkodással foglalkoztak a Sögut környéki fantasztikus és élhető legelőkön. Ez a terület Bilecik (Eskisehir) közelében van. Mint bármely más nomádok, állattartásból éltek, így jurtáikat mindig éppen ott húzták fel, ahol megfelelő legelőt találtak állataik számára. Ezt a részt jól láthattuk a sorozatokban is. Nyaranta a magasföldekre húzódtak, télen pedig az alföldekre vándoroltak. Ez a migráció egyre növekvő problémát okozott számukra, hiszen körülöttük egyre több és egyre szilárdabb állam és város jött létre, jól körülhatárolt területtel, így csak korlátozott irányba tudtak vándorolni. Ilyen körülmények között kényszert éreztek a letelepedésre, ami azonban egy lassú folyamat eredményeként zajlott végül le.
Mindennapi életüknek legjelentősebb részét az állatokkal való foglalkozás tette ki, melyet nagyrészt a gyerekek végeztek. Ez nagyon gyakori volt, és mai napig az a nomád törzseknél, hogy a gyerekek vigyáznak az állatokra. A férfiak között voltak akik harcosként éltek - ahogy a sorozatban is láthattuk - mások a táborban dolgoztak például kovácsként. Azonban a férfiak feladata volt az is, hogy az állatokkal kereskedjenek, eladják a tábor termékeit, ezzel pénzt szerezve családjuknak. A nők napját a gyermeknevelés, a jurták tisztán és épen tartása, a főzés, az állatok ellátása tette ki, ám ezen felül már a család ruháit is ők készítették el. Mivel nagyon szoros kapcsolatban éltek állataikkal, a tejtermékek készítése, mint a sajt, joghurt, kifejezetten jelentős munkát adott ezeknek az asszonyoknak. Sőt! Emellett, néhány forrás arra is utal, hogy ezek a népek igen minősége szőnyegeket készítettek, ami természetesen megint csak a nők feladata volt, az alapanyag előállításától kezdve az elkészítésig.
Azonban van itt még más is... Egyre több bizonyíték mutat arra, hogy a türk nomád asszonyok értettek a fegyverforgatáshoz. Ez elég logikus, hiszen szükségük volt rá. Állandó fenyegetettségben éltek, hol a szomszédos törzsektől, hol pedig a mongoloktól kellett tartaniuk. Férjeik pedig gyakorta távol voltak az állatokkal, esetleg háborúztak, a törzset pedig az asszonyokra hagyták ilyenkor. Ezeknek a nőknek meg kellett tudni védeni magukat. Arheológusok néhány ősi harcos maradványainak vizsgálatával új felfedezést tettek. A sírokat a mai Mongólia területén tárták fel, és a női maradványokon olyan elváltozásokat találtak, amelyek egyértelműen utalnak a fegyverhasználatra és lovaglásra. Igaz, hogy ezek a maradványok korábbi időszakból származnak, és keletebbről kerültek elő, mint az Oghuz népek őshazája, ám alapvetően hasonló körülmények között élt minden Belső-ázsiai népcsoport. Az egyik kutató olyan elváltozást talált a csontok és izmok csatlakozási helyén, amely az izmok extrém használatáról tanúskodik, kiterjedve a hüvelykujjra is. Ez egyértelműen jelzi, hogy ezek a nők íjászkodtak és nem csak alkalmanként, hanem rendszeresen. Emellett a gerincen is találtak elváltozásokat, amelyek pedig a rendszeres lovagláshoz köthetőek. Össszességében tehát véleményem szerint mivel ezek a népek hasonló életmódot folytattak, hasonló környezetben, logikus, hogy a nőknek is érteni kellett a fegyverforgatáshoz. Természetesen nem azt mondom, hogy férfiak és nők vállt vállnak vetve harcoltak a csatákban, csupán azt, hogy a férfiak távollétében a nők feleltek a táborért, ehhez pedig legalább alapszinten érteniük kellett a fegyverforgatáshoz. Idővel természetesen ez a hagyomány kikopott, hiszen a letelepedett életmód már nem tette ezt szükségessé.
Mit viseltek ezek az emberek?
Ebben a korai periódusban, mikor a türkök még épphogy elérték Anatóliát, feltehetőleg hasonlóan ruhászkodtak, mint belső-ázsiai rokonaik. Erre az öltözködési stílusra különösen jellemző, hogy a férfi és női viseletek igen hasonlóak voltak. Ennek oka a hasonló életmódban volt keresendő, mint például a rendszeres lovaglás. Hiába voltak muszlimok, a nők nem éltek elfátyolozva. A legfelsőbb ruházat egy T-alakú kaftán szerű kabát volt, amely középen gombozott volt és fel volt vágva oldalt és hátul is, hogy könnyedén tudjanak benne lóra szállni. A férfi és női kaftánok közötti fő különbség a díszítettségben volt. A nők kaftánján nem csak a széleken jellemző prém vagy fémvered kapott helyet, amely a férfiakén is jellemző volt, hanem gyakran gyöngyökkel volt díszítve de hímzés is előfordult. Ez a kaft-n szerű kabát nagyjából a térdekig ért és a deréknál övvel volt összetartva. Az övcsatok a nők esetében valamivel finomabb, díszesebb munkák voltak. A kaftán alatt egy laza, bő nadrág volt, melyet a csizmába tűrve hordtak. A csizmák egyébként ugyanolyanok voltak a férfiak és nők esetében is, általában bőrből készültek de előfordult nemezből készített verzió is. A csizma alatt gyapjú zoknit hordtak. Alapvetően színes textileket használtak, azonban - megint csak - különbség volt a férfiak és nőké közt. A férfiaké egyszerűbb volt, míg a női ruhák esetében gyakoribbak voltak az élénk színek is. Ezek elkészítéséhez növényeket, virágokat használtak, hogy minél több féle színt tudjanak előállítani.
A felsőruházat alapvetően megegyezett akkor is, ha nemes ember hordta őket és akkor is, ha egy egyszerű közember. Az egyetlen különbség az anyagok minőségében és díszítettségében mutatkozott. A közemberek esetében nem voltak megfigyelhetőek luxus darabok, ők általában otthon készített vastagabb gyapjút és szövetet viseltek.
Természetesen ékszereket is viseltek, ami azonban inkább a nőkre volt jellemző. A leggyakoribb kiegészítők a fülbevalók, karperecek és gyűrűk voltak, a nyaklánc ritkábbnak számított. A nők emellett hajkorongokat is használtak, melye arany/ezüst vagy bronz korongok voltak a fonataikba fűzve. A karperecek és nyakláncok hasonló módon készültek mint napjainkban, csavart drótból álltak, mely a végén kapoccsal volt rögzíthető. Ezek mellett gyöngyöket is használtak, melyek azonban nem ékszerként voltak viselve, mint például egy gyöngy-nyakék, hanem egyesével voltak felvarrva a ruházatra. A karperecekben és gyűrűkben gyakorta jelentek meg drágakövek, melyek minősége a rangtól függött. A gyűrűk alapvetően egyszerűek voltak, azonban a kövek színe és formája széles körben változott.
Mint említettem a lovaglás szerves részét képezte életüknek, így a lószerszámok is nagyon jelentősek voltak. A nőké sokkal díszesebb volt, mint a férfiaké. Emellett előkerültek ezüst veretes nyergek, kantárok is, amelyekbe gyakran minták voltak vésve.
A türk férfiak között jellemző volt, hogy a hajat a homloknál rövidre vágták, hátul azonban hosszúra hagyták és fonatokban hordták. A fonatokat karikákkal és díszekkel rögzítették. A gazdagabbak még ritkábban vágták le hajukat és még részletesebben díszítették fonataikat. A nők, a férfiakhoz hasonlóan fonatban hordták hosszú hajukat, melyet gyakran, gazdagon díszítettek.
Felhasznált források: Colin Imber - The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650; Bichurin - Collection of information on peoples in Central Asia in ancient times; Faruk Sümer - Oğuzlar; Bosworth - The Ghaznavids; Hódmezei Őrzők page; Peirce - The imperial harem; https://www.livescience.com/mongolia-warrior-women-mulan.html
#ertugrul#kayi#oghuz#nomadlife#nomad#central-asia#tribe#seljuk#kayi tribe#oghuz tribe#womenswear#chlothes
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Getting to Know: Faolan Kells
Was tagged by @an-honest-waltz for most of these AGES ago, so just gonna make one big ol’ post!
<STRENGTHS & FLAWS>
Bold those that apply, italicize if occasional or situational.
╳ FLAWS
moody | short-tempered | emotionally unstable | whiny | controlling | conceited | possessive | paranoid | lies | impatient | cowardly | bitter | selfish | power - hungry | greedy | lazy | judgmental | forgetful | impulsive | spiteful | stubborn | sadistic | masochistic | petty | unlucky | absent-minded | abusive | addict | aggressive | childish | callous | clingy | delusional | cocky | competitive | corrupt | cynical | cruel | depressed | deranged | egotistical | envious | insecure | insensitive | lustful | delinquent | guilt complex | reclusive | reckless | nervous| oversensitive | rebellious | pessimistic | selfless
♔ STRENGTHS
honest | trustworthy | thoughtful | caring | brave | patient | selfless | ambitious | tolerant | lucky | intelligent | confident | focused | humble | generous | merciful | observant | wise | clever | charming | cheerful | optimistic | decisive | adaptive | calm | protective | proud | diligent | considerate | compassionate | good sportsmanship | friendly | empathetic | passionate | reliable | resourceful | sensible | sincere | witty | funny
🖌 SKILLS & HOBBIES
art | acting | astronomy | animals | archery | sports | beach combing | belly dancing | bird watching | blacksmithing | boating | calligraphy | camping | candle making | casino gambling | ceramics | racing | chess | music | cooking | crochet | weaving | exercise | swordplay | fishing | gardening | ghost hunting | ice skating | magic | engineering | building | inventing | leather-working | martial arts | meditation | origami | parkour | people watching | swimming | puppetry | pyrotechnics | quilting | reading | collecting | shopping | socializing | storytelling | writing | traveling | exotic dancing | minor potion brewing | tricks & trinkets | crow keeping | classical dancing
<BODY AESTHETIC>
[ BODY ]
Long legs. Short legs. Average legs. Slender thighs. Thick thighs. Toned thighs. Skinny arms. Soft arms. Toned arms. Muscular arms. Toned stomach. Flat stomach. Flabby Stomach. Soft stomach. Six-pack. Beer belly. Lean frame. Beefy/muscular frame. Voluptuous frame. Petite frame. Lanky frame. Short nails. Long nails. Manicured nails. Dirty nails. Flat ass. Toned ass. Bubble butt. Small waist. Average waist. Thick waist. Narrow hips. Average hips. Wide hips. Big feet. Average feet. Small feet. Soft feet. Slender feet. Calloused hands. Soft hands. Big hands. Average hands. Small hands. Long fingers. Short fingers. Average fingers. Narrow shoulders. Broad shoulders. Average shoulders. Underweight. Average weight. Overweight.
[ HEIGHT ]
Shorter than 140 cm. 141 cm to 150 cm. 151 cm to 160 cm. 161 cm to 170 cm. 171 cm to 180 cm. 181 cm to 190 cm. 191 cm to 2 m. Taller than 2 m.
[ SKIN ]
Pale. Rosy. Olive. Dark. Tanned. Blotchy. Smooth. Moles. Acne. Dry. Greasy. Freckled. Scars. Birthmarks.
[ EYES ]
Small. Large. Average. Grey. Brown. Blue. Turquoise. Violet. Pink. Green. Gold. Hazel. Crimson. Doe-eyed. Almond. Close-set. Wide-set. Deep-set. Squinty. Monolid. Heavy eyelids. Upturned. Downturned. Mismatched.
[ HAIR ]
Thin. Thick. Fine. Normal. Greasy. Dry. Soft. Shiny. Curly. Frizzy. Wild. Unruly. Straight. Smooth. Wavy. Floppy. Cropped. Pixie-cut. Afro. Pompadour. Shoulder length. Back length. Waist length. Past hip-length. Buzz cut. Bald. Weave. Hair extensions. Jaw length. Layered. Mohawk. Pony Tail. Braid. Locks. Box braids. Faux locks. White. Going Grey. Platinum blonde. Golden blonde. Dirty blonde. Blonde. Strawberry Blonde. Ombre. Ash brown. Mouse brown. Chestnut brown. Golden brown. Chocolate brown. Dark brown. Jet black. Orange. Ginger. Red. Auburn. Dyed. Thin eyebrows. Average eyebrows. Thick eyebrows. Plucked eyebrows.
[ TATTOOS / PIERCINGS ]
Full sleeve. Thigh tattoo. Neck tattoo. Chest tattoo. Back tattoo. Shoulder blade tattoo. One tattoo. Face tattoo. Hand tattoo. Henna tattoo. Wrist tattoo. Forearm tattoo. A few here and there. Multiple. No tattoos (for now). Monroe piercing. Nose piercing. Septum. Nipple piercing(s). Genital piercing(s). Industrial piercings. Earlobe piercings. Prince Albert piercing. Eyebrow piercing(s). Tongue piercing(s). Lip piercing(s). Top of the ear. Tragus piercing. Angel bites. Labret. Stretched out ears. Navel piercing. Inverse navel piercing. Cheek piercing(s). Smiley. Nape piercing(s). No piercings.
[ COSMETICS ]
Eyeliner. Light eyeliner. Heavy eyeliner. Cat eyes. Mascara. Fake eyelashes. Matte lipstick. Regular lipstick. Lipgloss. Red lips. Pink lips. Nude lips. Dark lips. Bronzer. Highlighter. Eyeshadow. Neutral eyeshadow. Smoky eyes. Colorful eyeshadow. Blush. Lipliner. Light contouring. Heavy contouring. Powder. Matte foundation. Shiny foundation. Concealer. Wears war paint from time to time. Wears make up regularly. Wears it from time to time. Never wears make-up.
[ SCENT ]
Floral. Herbal. Earthy. Fruity. Perfumes. Aftershave. Cocoa. Moisturizer. Shampoo. Cigarettes. Leather. Fur. Sweat. Food. Incense. Cologne. Whiskey. Wine. Fried food. Blood. Fire. Cold. Fresh. Metal. Rain. Chemicals. Baking!
[ CLOTHES ]
Jeans. Tight pants. Overknee socks. Tights. Leggings. Yoga pants. Pencil skirt. Tight skirt. Loose skirt. Tight/Form-fitting dress. Cardigans. Tunic. Blouse. Button up shirt. Band-T-shirt. Sports-T-shirt. Sweatpants. Tanktop. Cut off t-shirt. Designer. High street. Leather jacket. Thrift. Lingerie. Long skirt. Miniskirt. Maxidress. Sun dress. Tie. Tuxedo. Cocktail dress.High slit dress/skirt. T-shirt. Loose clothing. Tight clothing. Jean shorts. Sweater. Sweater vest. Waistcoat. Khaki pants. Suit. Hoodie. Basketball shorts. Boxers/Boxer-Briefs. Thong. Hotpants. Hipster panties. Bra. Sportsbra. Crop top. Corset. Ballerina skirt. Leotard. Polka dot. Stripes. Glitter. Cotton. Linen. Silk. Lace. Leather. Velvet. Patterns. Florals. Neon colors. Pastels. Light colors. White. Black. Dark colors. Fur/Fauxfur. Revealing clothing. Heavy armor. Medium armor. Light Armor.
[ SHOES ]
Sneakers. Slip-ons. Flats. Slippers. Sandals. High heels. Kitten heels. Ankle boots. Combat boots. Knee-high. Platforms. Bare feet. Loafers. Oxfords. Gladiator shoes. Leather boots.
~
<GETTING TO KNOW>
So I personally don’t like this prompt because it assumes the character answers IC, but how many characters would actually let someone come up and interview them with this barrage of questions, some very personal, out of nowhere, IC? So I think it works better to think of them as... filling it out as a form themselves?
► Name ➔ Which one? ► Are you single ➔ I think so. ► Are you happy ➔ I’d better be. ► Are you angry? ➔ Thankfully, no. ► Are your parents still married ➔ Who?
NINE FACTS ► Birth Place ➔ Somewhere where the trees are tall and green and overshadowing, I think. ► Hair Color ➔ Like the earth. ► Eye Color ➔ Like the leaves. ► Birthday ➔ I do not know. ► Mood ➔ Fluctuating. ► Gender ➔ Leaning towards male. ► Summer or winter ➔ Summer. ► Morning or afternoon ➔ Can I say evening instead?
EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE ► Are you in love ➔ With life itself~! Mostly. Usually. Sometimes. ► Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ It’s the stuff of faerytales. So of course I do! Would love to actually see it in action, though. It’s certainly elusive. ► Who ended your last relationship ➔ No relationships to end- so I have not suffered that terrible heartache so often written about! Ha! ► Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔ Probably. I hope so. ► Are you afraid of commitments ➔ I think the answer is yes, because I do not want them, if I can help it! Don’t like strings. ► Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ Of course! Who or what, though, I cannot recall. ► Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ I hope so! ► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ NO.
SIX CHOICES ► Love or lust ➔ Love! Incredibly useless, but really quite fun to mess with. ► Lemonade or iced tea ➔ Lemonade. ► Cats or Dogs ➔ Dogs are more reliable, cats are more fun. So... cats, then.. ► A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ Yes. ► Wild night out or romantic night in ➔ A wild night out leads to so many more interesting possible occurrences. The other option is boring on multiple levels. ► Day or night ➔ Oh, so this is where I can say night. Night, then.
FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS ► Been caught sneaking out ➔ Out of where? By whom? ► Fallen down/up the stairs ➔ I am far too graceful for THAT, but it is very humorous to see! ► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ No comment. ► Wanted to disappear ➔ Not if I’ve enough distractions to keep me occupied at the moment!
FOUR PREFERENCES ► Smile or eyes ➔ Eyes tell a lot more than a smile ever could. ► Shorter or Taller ➔ Shorter people are easier to poke fun at, in my experience. ► Intelligence or Attraction ➔ Attraction. ► Hook-up or Relationship ➔ I don’t want anything THAT close to me, thank you very much.
FAMILY ► Do you and your family get along ➔ We fight sometimes. ► Would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ It is certainly abnormal by your standards! If only you knew. ► Have you ever ran away from home ➔ When I was a child, I tried to multiple times, but I just ended up running right back home again. Not voluntarily, of course, for the forest paths never lead you where you want to go, only where you don’t. ► Have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ Not kicked out, necessarily, but... locked up? Hidden away? I feel that’s a better term.
FRIENDS ► Do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ No! That would be silly. ► Do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ No. ► Who is your best friend ➔ I adore friends, of course, but I would not trust anybody to THAT extent. ► Who knows everything about you ➔ Only the ones back home, and I intend to keep it that way.
Thanks again Killian!!!! Not gonna tag anybody ‘cause y’all have already done these I’m sure. But if you haven’t, consider yourself tagged!
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House of Mist [Ch.8]
Warning: Most of this chapter is combat with occasional depictions that some might not feel comfortable with. Evergreen Point, Pacific Northwest. House Mist Territory
+33 days
It had been a week since Nicole had covered all the holes in the walls and ceiling with the wooden sheets Rykis had helped her purchase. They worked wonderfully in conjunction with a heater Jasix had brought her not too long after Nicole had returned. Together, the weather sealed room and heater kept her warm even while it snowed outside. The heat that wafted through the hole in the floor that led to Rykis’ space told her that he had a similar setup. While meeting down there for her daily language lessons, she saw that he had blocked off his windows with a massive street sign. When she finally questioned him about how he got one all by himself, he showed off a small spherical machine, not too much larger than her Ghost. “We have storage devices, break down objects into information, like you Guardians’ Ghosts do.” “Couldn’t you have just used that on the wood for me?” She blabbed out in confusion. “Only works on non-living... inorganic stuff. Like metal, though nothing too complicated or volatile. Though they are quite rare in Eliksni society. I have one because I use to work at one of the markets regularly.”
Nicole nodded and followed along. They were conversing entirely in the Fallen language now. It seemed strange to her that she was learning so quickly; but she had been alive for just over a month now, and had been dead for God knows how long. Who was she to judge how long it took a space magic powered zombie to learn how to speak another language.
However, it had occurred to Nicole that her Ghost was not learning any of the language like she was. He was the only one Nicole had to speak English with but it put him at a disadvantage with the others. “Do you think I could get one?” “I do not think so, unless there is a broken one your Ghost could see about fixing.” Rykis rubbed the bottom of his facemask. “I could see about asking the Archon the next time I am at the Center...”
“Okay, we-” Nicole stopped talking when she heard something.
A voice called out from somewhere outside the room. From the sound of it, they were in the old buildings atrium a few floors below their rooms. “Hello?! Is there anyone here? Messenger service!” "I wonder what this is about?" Rykis asked aloud as he got up from his bed. Unlike Nicole, he had one of those beds she had seen at the old military base. She had asked about getting one, but Rykis said it would take some time to locate one for her. He opened the door to the atrium and stuck his head out. "What is it? I am on the fifth floor."
The messenger was of the House of Mist’s not-Dregs; the Fallen that were smaller than the Vandals, but had both pairs of arms still. The messenger walked up the stairs and came to Rykis’ door. “Vandal Rykis... Guardian. The Kell is calling a briefing of all ready fighters. The meeting is at noon, at Baron Acskis’ dwelling. Message understood?” Rykis nodded, “Yes... we will be there, thank you.” The not-Dreg messenger returned Rykis’ nod and headed back out. Rykis turned to Nicole and sighed. “...I fear that the time has come for our move on the Devils.” “Well if that's true, then it’s about time,” Nicole said. “How long has it been since you said Humans crossed the mountain pass?” “Years, not sure. Sometimes they routed around the pass on Ninety, but they’ve not come for a long time,” he replied. Rykis walked over to his window and pulled away one of the road signs to peer at the sky. “It is an hour and a half to noon... probably. We should get going.”
Nicole hopped off the bed and stretched her back. “Alright, I’ll get my armor-” She called to her Ghost in English. “Ghost? Armor me up, looks like the Kell is rallying the troops.” The Ghost flew down into Rykis’ room, through the hole in the ceiling. “What’s going on?” The armor still flashed across her body suit, fitting much better than her old set. “Messenger said that they’re calling a meeting. Rykis thinks that we’ll be going after that roadblock camp up in the mountains.” “It’s about time we do something Guardian like.” Her Ghost grumbled and vanished into her armor, anticipating her to start on her way.
She glanced over at Rykis, who had been strapping the individual armor plates back across his undersuit. He had left his painter’s sash and bag off against the wall, and had begun to check his rifle over. “I never asked this before, but are you a soldier?” “Well not exactly... I work at the market as a translator, and as the only real skilled artistic person... I paint signs. However that is beside the point, I am trained, as is every Eliksni in the House Mist, in the event that I am needed.” “So you're... a militia member?” Nicole asked as they walked down the stairs and out of the building. “I suppose that is a good way of saying it, but the only reason I’m in any fighting right now is because the Kell assigned me to follow you, and he definitely wants you at that meeting.” Rykis replied. Nicole frowned, she did not want to be responsible for him getting hurt. He had been really nice to her ever since she had met him; though he was also the only one could speak to her. But, he seemed to genuinely accept her. “You... don’t have to follow me into this, I can understand your language well enough now.”
“Oh?” Rykis’ eye ridge raised slightly in an inquisitive look. “What does this mean?” He then proceeded to speak something in the Fallen language, and Nicole had absolutely no clue what he was saying. Her silent confusion behind her faceplate caused Rykis to break out a laugh. “That settles it then, I am staying with you.”
Nicole sighed and conceded with a nod. “Fine... you’re right, I just don’t want you getting killed because of me.”
“I have been taking care of myself just fine,” Rykis said. “It will be fine, Nicole. Though I am glad to hear that you care about me.” The journey across the ruined occupied city was rough with snow. It came up to her knees in the middle of the road, and snow drifts were climbing the sides of long abandoned vehicles. None of the Eliksni children were out in the streets that day. Everyone seemed to be inside during the storm. Nicole walked warily away from the skyscrapers; thousands of broken windows held massive icicles that would most definitely cause impact damage without actually damaging her armor. The constant falling snow and wind made seeing the Baron’s dome nearly impossible until they were a few hundred meters away. The guards standing outside the main entrance were more ornate than the Baron’s usual guard complement; their armor was cleaner and had more decorative details across their armor surface. They wore layers of animal pelts over their armor to probably brace themselves against the cold.
The two glanced at her, their exhale plainly visible in the freezing air. Their rifles raised slightly as they inspected the pair approaching them. When they got closer, one of the guards opened the door and the other waved Nicole and Rykis through. “Quickly, in the back. They are going to begin shortly,” one said. “That was quite expedient...” Rykis led the way to the briefing space. The room was filled with quite a bit more Eliksni, they were mostly Captains with a handful of Vandals. Baron Acskis was not in his mini-throne, that seat was occupied by the largest Fallen Nicole had ever seen; it was the House of Mist’s Kell. She had seen the Kell only once before when she was only a few hours old; Nicole had been very intimidated back when she had no idea what was going on here. The Kell had moved the throne closer to the display table, and the tactical map that Nicole’s Ghost had made was being displayed.
As soon as Nicole and Rykis entered the room the Kell stood from the throne. “Good, the Guardian has arrived. Baron, let us begin.” Nicole began to translate what was said for her Ghost to understand. He was very thankful that she had remembered to do that for him. Baron Acskis glared at Nicole in the back of the room, and then stepped up to the projection. “We will be assaulting what we believe to be the main House of Devils camp tonight. Using the storm for cover, Captain Balkasis will take the armor divisions and Captain Verasis’ three Pike groups up the valley-” He made motions and the map transferred to the region, with lines dictating the directions people were to take. “-and attack the Devils roadblock headon and crush it. Meanwhile, Captain Takas will lead twelve Skiffs to flank around and set down on the frozen lakebed and the surrounding ridgeline.” The Kell took over briefly for the Baron and pointed back at Nicole while clearing his throat. “Guardian, that is what you’re going to be following. Senior Captain Takas and her forces will assault the main encampment. Skiff flyovers indicated that their main camp is directly north from the lakebed. I have utmost confidence in you all, and I expect you to utilize the assets at your disposal to their full potential.”
Nicole noted that the Kell seemed to glare down at the Baron during that last bit. Acskis gave a passing glance towards her again. A knot formed in her stomach; this was not going to be a quick one-and-done operation like the scouting run she had gone out. This was also going to be the first time she had gone into combat since then, and the third time since she had awakened. Nicole glanced over at Rykis, who was looking at the deployment map with some intense concentration.
He turned toward her slightly and noticed her look; he sighed and waved towards the projection. It was still difficult to gauge his facial expression, because the mask, and being a different species than whatever predispositions she woke up with often teamed up together. “I hope you really do have those advantages you mentioned back at your hearing. Your presence has encouraged us to be more aggressive than we have ever been in years.”
Nicole just nodded her head, she was wondering the same thing. Other than her Ghost being able to revive her, she did not seem to be any better than any of the Fallen here. In fact, they were probably better than her in all other aspects regarding combat. The briefing went on; explaining retreat and evacuation routes, where medical stations would be established, and the Kell emphasized that any House Mist fighters should stay out of both the Tanks and the Guardian's way when in the field of combat. Nicole wondered what the Kell thought she was able to do that made it a danger to be near her.
The Kell stood from their seat and waved to the groups of Fallen. “We will be moving out as soon as we are ready. Go to your groups and await the order.” She looked over at Rykis again. A Captain had walked over and was talking with him. The Captain was tall and slender, their armor on the other hand was bulky and covered in pouches. They nodded their head to Nicole and introduced themselves. “Guardian... I am Senior Captain Takas. I’ll be leading the Skiff deployment. You’ll be going in with us tonight.”
Nicole returned the nod, but honestly did not know how else to respond other than her name. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Guardian Nicole.”
“Mmm... Neh-cole, I see.” Captain Takas waved to the door. “Come, Rykis and Neh-cole. The Skiffs are waiting down in the staging area.” Takas walked them out of the Baron’s home and down the hillside towards the old freeway.
Nicole had seen the staging area before a few weeks ago, but now it was something completely different. There were about half a dozen of the old Human tanks huddled out of the snow beneath the overpass; as well as a few other old vehicles of Human make. They had Spider Tanks too, but they were folded up on trailers, like what Nicole had seen back on the train. The activity in the area was beginning to pick up now that the Captains had returned from the briefing.
Captain Takas lead them beyond the highway and over to an open field that may have been a parking lot at one point in the past. The twelve dropships the Baron had mentioned waited near the ground, gently rocking in the wind and snow. A few held Spider tanks latched into their cargo area, and Groups of Fallen were climbing aboard at the order of other lower Captains. Takas stopped beside the lead Skiff and gestured towards one of the access doors. “This is the one you’ll be riding in. As soon as we hit the ground, you’ll dismount from one of those drop bays.” She pointed over to one of the holes in the bottom of the ship. “When you’re out, clear the zone as quickly as possible. Vandal Rykis here will be right behind you.” “Got it, Captain.” Nicole said, grabbing hold of one of the hand grips beside the hatch.
“You’ll be the first out. Clear the way for my troops.” Captain Takas’ voice held a tone of seriousness that Nicole had not heard since the Baron had shot her through the head. Nicole gulped and hoisted herself in; which was not as easy since she lacked the additional two arms the Eliksni had. The inside of the Skiff was cramped with the others already inside the craft, though they moved out of the way for her as soon as she boarded. No one wanted to touch her apparently. Other than that... it was still a small claustrophobic space. Machinery and pipes lined the bulkheads with computer screens and gauges squeezed between them. The lack of space did not seem to bother the others though.
The drop bays were located in the tail of the Skiff and the only way to get there was down a low tube she would have to crouch down to get through; seeing as that was the only place where the others were not gathering, Nicole knelt down and crawled to the back of the bay. The bays were wide open and cold air mixed with a few loose snowflakes wisped up around her. Rykis crawled up beside her and sat across from the hole into the world beyond.
“The Kell has ordered the Tanks out, it will take them some time to reach the pass, so we will be waiting here until they are close enough...” Rykis paused. “Also, the storm is getting worse. The weather station near the mountains is reporting that it is even stronger there.”
“Do you think the Tanks will be fine in this weather?” Nicole asked.
“Yes, we’ve tested them in previous winters. They will just be slow.” Rykis shrugged and shifted his position in the bay. He pulled a bag off of the wall and stuffed it under his side for some cushion.
Nicole pulled one off and did the same, he had a good idea. “Ugh, why did they call us in now if it's going to take hours for the Tanks to get there?” “Wouldn’t you want to do only one briefing instead of two?” Rykis offered. “Besides, it is not like we can’t just continue what we were doing in the tower here... which was what?”
“Um, you were telling me about that storage ball you got, but that was pretty much over with.” Nicole pointed at the pouch that held it on his belt. “What other kinds of tech would I be able to get once I’m part of the House?” The alarms sounded in her helmet, she needed to switch out the Ether canister. She slipped a fresh one out of a thigh pouch and switched the two out. A cold crisp puff of air blew into her face, it smelled pleasant. Though she did not need to wear her helmet right at the moment, so she cut the air supply and took it off.
Rykis told her about the data-pads and weapons that would be available to her once the Kell had granted her official status in the House. Though there was not much beyond that. He said that she could request a Pike for personal use, or send a vehicle to Tansis to see if it could be repaired, but Nicole really liked the idea of having a Pike. She thought back to when she rode the Pike back down the mountain pass, how freeing it had felt. That would definitely be something she would look into later. When the call to take off finally came, Nicole had dozed off on top of the bag. She was quickly awakened by the sudden high pitched whine of the Skiff’s engines lifting the craft out of its low hover. More snow blew in through the hatch as the Skiff flew higher into the storm. It was dusk outside, the orange glow of the setting sun tinted the storm clouds more the higher they climbed. Nicole threw her helmet back on and it hissed back to pressurization. She summoned her Ghost to the palm of her hand. “Alright, quiet guy, did you get the attack plan for review?”
Her Ghost replied. “Finally, something I can understand. I must say, you learning a language I don’t know is very infuriating. But if you have to ask, yes I did.” His eye lit up and a small projection of the Kell’s plan was floating in the air between Nicole and Rykis’ sleeping form. She reviewed it, at least three times. The Skiffs were to drop them off in the lakebed, and then shoot up to the ridge line to deposit a few of the Spider tanks on top. Covering fire would be provided, but that was all she was able to understand from the map. She huffed and leaned back against the bulkhead.
Nicole glanced down through the hatch as the Skiff dropped down beneath the cloud later. They were very close to the mountain slopes, way too close. The pass road, old Interstate Ninety, was probably only fifty meters beneath them, and passing by fast. She could just barely see the tank column crawling through the snow just below. The trucks were nowhere to be seen, neither were the walkers.
The tanks were mere moments away from rounding the final corner before they were in sight of the Devil roadblock. The lights in the Skiffs snapped off, as they broke off from the others and flew over the ridge line.
“Here it begins... when the lights come back to full that is when we go.” Rykis sat up from the bag he was sleeping against. Behind them, the other Eliksni in the craft queued up for the drop bays.
An explosion echoed through the mountain valley, coming in over the sound of the Skiff engines. Then another, and another. Rapid gunfire followed. The Tank column had engaged the roadblock.
With the battle beginning, the Skiffs dropped like rocks and swept down low across a frozen lakebed. They flew meters off the ground for just a few moments before stopping suddenly. The lights inside the dropbay snapped back on, and an alarm chirped repeatedly.
Nicole dropped down into the snow. The downforce from the engines was kicking up all the snow from the ground and swirling it randomly across her face. She charged forward and scanned the area that she could see. It was not much in the heavy snowfall, but she had ran into a cluster of tents.
Fallen wearing House Devils colors were emerging from snow-covered tents to investigate the fighting that had begun at the ridge line. Either they were not paying attention, or the snow was too thick, but they seemed to head away from Nicole without seeing her. She squeezed the trigger and her rifle kicked against her shoulder.
Her bullets tore through the nearest group and the under armored Dregs crumpled to the ground. A quick glance around showed that was all she could see here were Dregs, the higher ranks must have another place in camp. Hearing the sound of gunfire from behind them, the other Devils spun around in Nicole’s direction. Electrically charged bolts sizzled passed her and she slid into cover behind a nearby crate. It’s not that she probably could not handle a few shots, it's just that there were a lot of Dregs out there.
An object sailed through the air and landed in the snow nearby Nicole’s leg. Arcs of electricity linked it to the ground and the crate’s surface, and it began to hiss loudly. “Move!” Her Ghost shouted into her ear.
Not to react slowly, Nicole immediately dove out and away from the crate just moments before the space behind her erupted in a thundering explosion and bolts of lightning. She shook her head and pushed out of the snow. The Dreg and a few of their allies that presumably threw the grenade were charging through the burning tents that littered the area around where the crate had been moments before. Nicole brought her rifle up to take them out first, but a volley of fire from her left got them first.
Rykis ran over to her and pulled her to her feet. He slapped her back. “You’re good. Keep moving, we’re clearing as a wave.”
Sure enough, the other squads from the Skiffs were just charging into the tents, and taking on any Dregs that were caught off guard. Most of them seemed to have fled further north, where the others were likely camped. She saw that some Mist Vandals had shoved Dregs into the snow and somehow restrained their arms to their backs. They were taking prisoners. Everything here was moving very quickly, as what Eliksni combat seemed to be.
Nicole moved with Rykis, taking the lead. Her weapon chattering away at the unfortunate Fallen that chose to stay in her way. The three Skiffs behind them took off and fired down into the tent city ahead of the advancing Mist forces before flying back to the relative safety of the ridgeline. The Explosions had ceased on the other side of the camp. Either the Tanks had broken through, or something had gone wrong; all she could hear was the sound of small arms fire from further ahead to the east.
Things were going well enough until Nicole encountered a House Devils Vandal wielding a Shrapnel Launcher. The weapon launched razor sharp projectiles smothered in a burning oily substance. They cut through her shields in one shot, but none impacted her armor with enough force to puncture. She had been in the middle of a reload, and she instinctively reached down to her belt for something. Her hand came back clutching the grip of a simple knife that had materialized out of thin air. Without putting much thought into it, she flipped the knife around to holding from the blade and threw it at the Vandal. As soon as the knife left her fingers it burst into flames, lit by some unknown source. When it struck the Dreg, the flames immediately spread across the creature almost as if they were liquid.
If it had not been killed by the blade sticking into its face, then the crackling fire did the trick.
A series of bright flashes went off up the ridge, followed by a tremendous explosion north of her position. The shockwave blew the snow out of the sky, and for a brief moment Nicole could see what was left of the small town to her north. Pieces belonging to what looked like Pikes and Spider tanks began to fall from the fireball. The leg of a House Devils walker slammed into the snow beside Nicole, still twitching.
Briefly, Nicole could see the ridge above the Devil camp and it was lined with the six Mist Spider tanks she had noticed were missing from the tank column earlier. They had flanked around the mountain and climbed up the backside. Judging by the debris that were raining down, they had just taken out the camp’s vehicle area.
The snow returned and brought the visibility back down to only a less than a few meters. A few ground based flashes streaked upwards towards the ridge. Not all of the Devils’ armor had been destroyed it seemed. Nicole rolled to the side and fired a burst into the chest of a Vandal. Higher ranks were starting to filter south to meet the invading attackers. She moved virtually on her own, however keeping an eye on Rykis who was always nearby. One of her bursts struck the Vandal’s unarmored face, and its head just exploded. A white gas sprayed from the neck, and took the rough form of the Vandal before blowing away in the wind.
She was just dumbfounded at that sight, and she looked back at Rykis for a brief moment. What the hell was that? It did not make any sense to her. That would be a question for after the fight.
To her left, the silhouette of a Devil Captain loomed over the shattered remains of a tent. Its shockblades crackled and hissed as it sliced through the protective armor of a Mist Vandal. The electricity arced from the blade to the Vandal, causing it to convulse rapidly as it fell into the snow.
Nicole turned her rife to the Captain and opened fire with a sustained burst. The bullets plinked off the Captain’s shields, the shield indicator on her HUD hardly moved. She had been right not to try and take on the Fallen earlier in the month when all she had was a pistol, this rife was barely getting the job done as it was. But now it seemed completely useless against the Captain.
“Uhh... any ideas, Ghost?” She asked, able to hear the panic in her own voice.
Her Ghost’s voice cracked from her helmet speakers and an indicator started to flash across her visor, highlighting various fallen weapons that had been dropped by the dead. “I’m working on it... give me a second.”
She continued to plink away at the shields, constantly moving to stay out of the Captain’s range.A highlight flashed across her HUD; it was displaying an overlay above a discarded Wire rifle sticking out of the snow.
“That should do the trick!” Her Ghost announced.
Nicole threw her rifle onto her back and slid through to snow to grab the weapon, dodging underneath a swing from the Captain’s shock blades. She had seen it used more than a few times on the only two engagements she had been on previously. Pulling the trigger, the weapon charged up and fired.
The energy bolt slammed into the Devil’s shields. They burst in a flash of blue crackling energy, and the Captain stumbled from the force of it.
Nicole’s shoulder hurt too, there was not that much padding on the rifle’s shoulder stock. However, it was in her interest to make it worse for the Captain; she fired again. This bolt had no shields to stop it, but the heavy armor over the Eliksni’s body provided ample protection. A good sized dent on the breastplate knocked the Captain back, but he stood back up and moved to charge for her chucking as he went, and then vanished.
She blinked the confusion. It took her less than a second to recall that Tansis had told her that the Eliksni could teleport; but it was a second too long. The Captain reappeared right in front of her and brought one of his electrified blades across her chest. It glanced off her armor, but sliced through her soft padded belly. She winced and lept back out of the Captain’s reach, then pulled the trigger once more.
The recoil kicked her shoulder, and the reverberations caused more pain to shoot from her stomach. The Captain would not be a problem anymore; it’s headless corpse sat half a meter away in the snow.
With one hand, Nicole pressed against her wound and it came back red. More pain pulsed from within. “Not... again...” she muttered. Cautiously, she peeled the bodysuit apart at the tear, unsure if this would be a wound would have to be healed right away.
Evidently the bodysuit had been keeping her insides.. inside. Bits of her internals fell down into the snow and blood turned it red. She dropped down to her knees as the pain tripled. That just caused more to flow from the gaping hole in her body.
With the Captain dead, there did not seem to be any other Devil’s around. Her Ghost appeared beside her and flew down to her belly. “Ooh that’s bad... let's fix that right up shall we?”
Nicole tried to tell him to shut it and just fix her, but she could not make herself say the words. She had never been really wounded. Except for when the Baron shot her when he was frustrated, she had just been instant killed every time and had been spared the pain. Her Ghost’s eye emitted a bright light and she felt it’s warmth pass over the pulsing spot. All at once, the pain ceased and was replaced in a warm sensation. Nicole watched as the bodysuit was stitched back together by her Ghost. It looked good as new, and she felt good as new.
“There you go, all patched-” The sound of crackling electricity sailed through the air and struck the snow not too far from Nicole. An Eliksni Grenade blinked once and detonated in a flurry of snow and arcing bolts of energy. Nicole rolled into her side and was thrown a few meters by the blast. Her Ghost, however, was propelled head on into a crumbling wall nearby.
The smoke rose from singed points on her armor where the bolts had arced between her and the grenade, she rolled over and crawled towards the crumbling wall. Her body tinged from the shock, but she pushed beyond it and jabbed her hand into the hole in the wall. Nicole pulled out her Ghost; he was intact, but was not responding to her. He blinked and his fins twitched, however her Ghost did not float off of her hand. “No no no... Ghost!” She brushed the soot from his shell and eye. “Wake up buddy...” The Ghost just blinked again with no other response. If he was out of commission, even temporarily, what would happen to her if she died? Would she just be down for a bit of time, or would she be dead for good; she had no clue.
The ground rumbled as another barrage from the Mist tanks on the ridge fell closer to where she sat in the snow. It brought her back into the moment at hand and the battle still going on around her. A House Devils Vandal lept over the other end of the shattered house and raised its shrapnel launcher. Nicole stuffed her Ghost into one of her belt pouches and dove for the Wire rifle nearby. Before she could shoulder it, the Vandal took a rapid fire burst to its side and dropped.
Rykis lowered his rifle and grabbed Nicole's shoulder. He lifted her to her feet and handed her a spare automatic rifle from his back. “Are you okay, Neh-cole?”
“My Ghost is stunned and out of commission. I think I'm mortal for now,” she replied with a cough, answering in the best Eliksni she could muster at that moment. “How are you holding up?”
Rykis’ face flashed with concern behind his mask, but he nodded. “I am... Doing fine. But you need to avoid getting into these situations. Use more cover.” “Yeah, okay.” Nicole shouldered the rifle and glanced around, “We need to move north.” The fight in their immediate vicinity had seemed to come to an end, with the sound of battle heating up further up the valley. She moved at a half couch through the snow. It was slow moving, but kept her form out of sight among all the impact craters across the field. The area beyond the first Devil camp was barren snowfields much like the lake bed where they had landed. The occasional tree gave the Mist fighters some cover besides the snowstorm. The radar on her visor blooped as a group of red contacts advanced toward them. She was not sure what the range was now that she was on her own for now. Dropping down on to her belly she groaned internally as her bruised ribs protested the strain. Rykis dropped behind her and crawled through the snow beside her. “What is it?” He asked. “Sensor is showing that there are some Devil’s up ahead, four of them coming towards us.” Nicole moved forward, slowly and continued to talk. “Going to stay low so they don't spot us first”
“Remember, stay safe.” Rykis still sounded concerned. Nicole sent back a look at the Vandal but kept pushing on. He remained just a few instances behind her.
She checked the sensor after a few meters to see that the four icons had stopped moving towards them. They were just beyond her field of view in the storm so she aimed the automatic rifle in their direction. However, before she fired, the indicators vanished from the readout. Confused, Nicole stood up on one knee.
Suddenly, a bucket full of snow belched from a small depression beside her and the rumble of machinery shook around her. The snow fell away as one of the Fallen Spider Tanks rose out from its snow covered pit and knocked Nicole effortlessly out of the way. Rolling back upright, Nicole brought her rifle around. It looked like a different model than the kind she had seen so far. Sitting on the back, right behind the main gun turret was a Devil captain seated on an auxiliary turret and a myriad of other weaponry hanging down right beneath the Walker’s head; Its two front legs were angled differently as it began to walk towards the ridge line.
She opened fire with the auto rifle and the energy charged shots pittered harmlessly against the hull. Lowering the gun slightly she sighed. “Okay I didn’t think that would really work.... Rykis, we have a problem!”
The Captain on the auxiliary turret spotted her and swung the weapon around to face her down. Kicking up snow, Nicole dashed in a roll as the spot where she had been exploded. She fired back, letting the bullets rake across the Captain’s shields. The indicator that appeared above him flashed down, this gun appearing to be more effective against shields than her old Assault rifle. She kept on him, moving behind the Walker to the other side. The Captain’s shield burst and he fell from the turret spasming. But unfortunately the Walker became aware of the fight going on behind it, and it turned in place; one of the legs stomping down on the dying Captain attempting to get back on his feet. “Rykis!?” Nicole shouted, looking around her. “Where the hell are you?”
The Walker spun around enough for its chin mounted machine gun spun up and began to lace the area around Nicole with fire. She dove out of the way, coming back up on her feet and moving around the back side of the machine to keep it turning.
Coming in behind her, Rykis tore something off of his belt and pulled the lid off. A brilliant red flame sprung from the flare as he dashed passed the Guardian. Nicole looked on in confusion as Rykis ran straight towards the spider walker and slapped the flare to the side, some unseen adhesive holding it to the hull. He sprinted back at her, and picked her up. “I have just called it into our tanks!” he shouted.
The machine gun on the tank spun up and spat bullets in their direction as the gravity of what Rykis had done dropped into her mind. On the ridge above the valley, the Mist Spider tanks honed in on the flash of light on their sensors, and fired. Nine high explosive shells were launched through the air and slammed into the Devil’s Walker. The first two shells detonated against the armor, doing little besides denting the armor plating, but seven more blasted against the vulnerable joints; ripping the machine and its crew apart. Rykis thankfully had put enough ground between them and the tank for them to be spared death from the concussive force alone. He had dropped them into a tree well to take cover when the tank ceased to be. The blast knocked the snow from the branches, partially burying them in the pit. Nicoled looked up at Rykis, sitting in the air pocket he had created when he dropped in above her. The only light at the moment was from his four glowing eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked as one of his arms knocked open a small hole for air, although neither of them needed it. The snow from the hold collapsed, landing on her helmet’s visor. She couldn’t move her arms under the snow, but she nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine...” She stifled a laugh. “Rykis that was the craziest thing I have ever seen... granted I only remember about a month... but still.”
Rykis shrugged, knocking more snow down onto her. “You are Ghostless, and I care...” With that, he stood and helped Nicole out from the snow. “Besides, neither of us were armed for such a fight.” “Well, thanks...” Nicole smiled behind her helmet. “Are you okay? That machine gun was getting pretty close to hitting you.”
He looked down and gave himself a patdown of his front and back, coming back clean. “All seems to be well.” Rykis looked like he was going to continue, but paused and listened to a voice speaking in his helmet. It then occurred to her that she had not been hearing any of Mist’s radio traffic since her Ghost had gone offline. She did not even know how to manually change her signal.
He looked down at her once he had heard enough and noted the way her helmet was tilted; he relayed whatever information he was given to her. “Baron Acskis has announced that the fight is winding down, and our tanks have rolled through the Devil leadership camp and secured a site for transport. It seems that they’re calling for those of us from the first wave to group with the tanks and let the fresh reinforcements finish clearing the camp for any pockets of Devils.”
Nicole glanced around where she stood in the snowstorm, the area was illuminated by the burning remains of the tank and the trees that remained around it; noticing almost at once that the fight had seemed to piddle into the occasional bursts of gunfire off in the distance. Her mind went back to the attack plan. This camp spanned nearly nine square kilometers according to her Ghost’s count, and the eastern part of the camp, across the old highway, had held the Devil’s air pads. Apparently during the fight they had found that their leadership was to the north, where the tanks now waited.
The two walked through the snow, on edge the entire way. Bodies and ruined equipment belonging to the House of Devils was scattered in groups, most not too far from what looked like the remains of cabins they had probably been using as shelter. They had managed to catch the Devils’ by surprise, and won out.
The tanks were sitting in snow up to their side panels, and a few had plows fastened to their front plates. Nicole spied more than a handful of fresh dents and ruined armor panels. All recent battle damage. There were only three of the tanks here too.
“Will we be getting Skiff pickups once we are out of the battle site?” One of the House Mist Not-Dregs asked, climbing aboard the back of one of the tank turrets. The Not-Dreg standing out of the tank’s cupola, a Tanker as Tansis had informed her, shook their head. “No, you will either march back, or ride on the turret. Skiffs are ferrying critically injured to where Baroness Kisakas has set up medical treatment.” The first Not-Dreg grumbled and threw a pack onto the back of the turret and sat down on it. leaving it at that. Rykis waved for Nicole to climb on first, and she obliged; taking a seat on the cold metal on the front of the turret, where she could lean against the main cannon for support. Ideally, they would not need to move the gun on their way back to the staging area. Rykis dropped heavily against the turret beside her. The fatigue that she began to feel in her body was probably hitting him just as hard. One of the tanks, fully loaded with House Mist fighters, lurched and began to pull out of formation. Dozens of others were walking beside it, having arrived too late to secure a spot on the first run out of there but opting not to wait for one of the other tanks to leave. Almost as soon as the tank had left the grouping point, a sheet of metal that had been up against a ruined building exploded outwards, bouncing off a nearby hulk of a truck.
Nicole found herself staring straight down the blowing barrel of a rocket launcher held by a House Devil Dreg. In the split-second before the Dreg launched the rocket, Nicole’s head raced. She just had to jump off the tank, but Rykis probably would not react as fast... and he was only there because of her and she cared for him too. She gave him a shove off of the turret, and only afterwards did she recall that her Ghost was still not working and in her pocket.
The rocket slammed into the turret’s armored plate where she had been leaning just moments before. Her shields managed to soak up the blast and kept her alive, but the wind had been thoroughly knocked from her lungs. She was launched sideways into a snowbank that had formed against a shipping container. Pain shot through her leg as it violently impacted something buried beneath the surface. She felt a snap in her leg as snow buried her underneath the container. Her head was spinning, but she was alive; however that pain in her leg was just growing worse by the second
Outside the snowbank, the Vandal atop the third tank swung the machine gun turret around and lit up the doorway, The armor-piercing tipped bullets punched fist sized holes in everything and the Vandal did not stop firing until he was sure no others were hiding inside the building.
Rykis stumbled up from where he landed and looked from the tank, where he had been sitting, and to the missing chunk of building that the rocket had been fired from. Where was Neh-Cole? He spun around and scanned the snow, all four of his eyes searching for the Guardian. They had been getting close, as friends at the very least. It was strange as well, being the one to teach her how to speak his language or being her purposed guardian... he was a guardian for Guardian. Rykis would have laughed if the situation was better. He spotted her arm swinging around in a snow pile trying to dig herself out.
Leaning down, he used the butt of his rifle to dig snow out from around her. As he got close, the snow began to turn red and it took a second for his mind to make the connection that Human blood was red. Moving with more haste, Rykis grabbed Neh-Cole’s arm and pulled her out. The blood was coming from a large gash in her leg, but it was impossible to tell how bad beneath the bodysuit; there was a jagged piece of metal visible in the melted red snow that looked to belong to the remains of a vehicle from long ago. She groaned when he rightened her. “Thanks...” she mumbled and attempted to take a step away from him now that she was free. Unfortunately when Nicole went to step on her injured leg, the pain overwhelmed her again and she dropped back to the ground. “Fuck.” Rykis quickly scooped her up and held her in his four arms. “It is alright, Neh-Cole. I do not mind.” He offered to carry her down the mountain.
She gasped as her injured leg swung down and bent at a weird angle, the pain flashing through her again. Rykis’ lower arms shifted in order to provide support and ease the pain. “Okay... Thanks... Be gentle I think its broken?”
Nicole took her Ghost out of her pocket to see if he would wake up and heal her, but he did not, Choosing to flash wildly like a strobe light instead. She placed him back into her pocket with a resigned sigh, hopefully they would be able to find a fix for him before too long.
What Rykis meant by carrying her down the mountain was actually just holding her in his arms and walking over to the tank. He climbed aboard and set her atop a pile of tarps with her leg stabilized. Nicole’s helmet was off and she was leaning against his side when the tank rolled off down the highway, making its way back to the Bellevue ruins four hours away.
Rolling though where the road block had been the day before, Nicole could see the remains of one of Mist’s Human tanks smoldering from its opened hatches. A neat hole was punched in the side of its turret. Directly across the highway from the old human vehicle was one of the strange Devil walkers, with its entire crew compartment blown open. It appeared that it had been the one responsible for the killing blow. Further down the road, another Mist tank sat disabled, its track was blown to bits, but otherwise completely intact. The night had been hard fought, but they had won.
A Vandal climbed over top the turret from the other side and looked across the handful passengers riding on the front. “Medic here. Is anyone hurt?” Nicole did not say anything since she was sure that the medic would not have anything for a Human. However, Rykis waved them over. “Here, the Guardian’s Ghost is damaged, and her leg is wounded.” “The Human?” the medic asked, crawling over to Nicole’s leg.
“Yes, I’m Human. Can you do anything to help?” Nicole spoke up now that the medic was here already.
The medic unlatched Nicole’s thigh armor and peeled open the body suit to examine the damage. “Mm, bone broken just above your knee... this will take a while to heal normally.” The Vandal must have read Nicole’s inquisitive expression for they continued. “Leg anatomy is very similar to us. Plus cross training was more useful years ago... I think I may still have some Human safe medicines in my kit...” The medic dug into their pack for a few moments and pulled out a cluster of faded glass vials the remains of english letters barely visible.
Nicole frowned and looked from the medic’s face to the vials, and then back at them. “Are those still viable?” “They were when I last worked on a Human... probably seven years ago. Old age creation, they say they never expire.” The Vandal pulled out what looked like an injection needle mixed with a gun. The words UMIC were embossed on the side in worn out chrome. She recognized the name from her ancient security badge. Maybe the medic got the device from where she had worked. After squinting at the faded text on the side of the vial, the medic loaded it into the needle gun and jabbed around the wound three times. The machine hissed with each injection and then the medic stowed the device in their bag. “This should be a pain reliever, I will wrap and brace the leg until you can get to better facilities.” Nicole nodded as they continued to do just what they said they would.
The pain began to fade until it was nice and dull. Still there, but much more manageable. She began to feel drowsy, either the exhaustion from battle was finally seeping into her system or it was the painkillers were doing it. “Can I see the bottle?” She asked.
“Sure,” The medic pulled the bottle from the injection gun and handed it to Nicole.
She brought the small vial up to her face and tried to read what little was legible on its wrapper. It was definitely a painkiller, and a small bit of surviving subtext said that it would cause extreme drowsiness if dosed properly. “Thanks, this’ll make me sleep.” Nicole handed it back to the Vandal and sighed, deciding not to fight against the medicine and get some rest.
Nicole repositioned her head onto a bundle of Rykis’ cloak, so that it was not his armor plates, and let the rumbling tank send her off to sleep.
xxx
Something was wrong. Nicole felt off, she could not see. Vertigo flashed across her mind and orange light with a thunderous bang erupted around her. Ice ran across her body and she managed to tear her eyes open. The tank was burning, and she had been thrown carelessly into the snow. Her armor was gone, instead she was her original bodysuit she had been resurrected in. She rolled onto her stomach and scrambled away from the wreck. Nothing was making sense and concentrating on anything was proving impossible. The ground around the tank splintered and broke away, falling into whatever lay below.
The ground beneath her shook, and she turned over to see a Kell sized Devil Captain walking in her direction. Nicole tried to scramble away, but seemed to be going nowhere no matter how hard she struggled. Rykis appeared just up the road, firing at the Captain with his rifle, a flare in one of his lower hands brightly flashing red. “Neh-cole, Hold on!” he shouted.
The Devil Captain waved, and instead of a barrage of fire coming to strike the Captain and save her, the glowing shots fell atop Rykis... obliterating her friend. A gaseous silhouette of him rose out from the fireball and dissipated in the air.
She rolled back onto her back and scrambled for the sidearm on her hip, but it was completely useless against the Captain. The bullets just pinged harmlessly off of the armor. There was nothing she could do.
He reached down and picked her Ghost from her pocket, not even flinching at each bullet impact. Nicole dropped her pistol in defeat. Her head spinning even faster. The Captain closed his fist over the Ghost, crushing the first thing she knew into a fine white powder and letting it blow away in the wind. The Devil Captain stood tall, seeming to grow even larger before her very eyes. He raised his foot, now the size of an old city bus, and brought it down on her. xxx
Nicole shot up from the bed, throwing the blanket off of her and tweaking her broken leg in the process. She was drenched in sweat, even with her bodysuit folded down to her waist. It was a dream... just a dream. Controlling her breathing, she glanced around the room she was in; she was back in her tower. This was Rykis’ bed. Had that medication really kept her asleep for the entire drive, and walk back home? It evidently had. Light flashed on through the hole that led up into her room, and Rykis climbed down to check up on her. “Neh-cole, are you okay?”
She nodded in the dim light, “Yes... now I am... That stuff really did a number on me didn’t it?” “I carried you back after the Kell dismissed us from the staging area. You slept through all of it,” Rykis said. “I see...” She was still tired, and still scared of going back to sleep. But having Rykis here with her was making her feel better. “I was having a rough nightmare just a few moments ago...” He nodded thoughtfully. “I am also having issues sleeping. That was a terrifying situation we went through tonight.” “I think it's trivial to be scared if I could just be revived later. But I feel really bad that you had to go through that because of me.” Nicole put forward her thoughts. “To be honest, I could have decided not to go, but like I mentioned before I left, I am here to help you...” Rykis looked down at her and twiddled his thumbs, “But I would be lying if I say that I am glad I did.” “I get that, I’d rather not go and fight either; but that's apparently what Guardians are supposed to do,” Nicole sighed. “I don’t want to think about it... just wanna go back to sleep.” Rykis nodded and started back towards the ladder that led up to her room, but Nicole called back to him. “Wait... Rykis.” She hesitated. “Do you think you could stay here with me?”
Rykis stopped, and turned back around. His head cocked at an angle. “Are...are you sure?”
Nicole moved over, so that there was more space in the bed, she separated the blankets in two so they would each have one. “Just be sure that you don’t hit my leg.” He nodded slowly and came over. The bed was big enough for them to use and not touch. But she felt that just having him nearby would help her sleep. “That is... doable,” Rykis replied, crawling in beside her. “We’ll look into getting your Ghost fixed in the morning,”
“Sounds.. like... a... plan...” Nicole yawned out loud. She was grateful for the other presence with her. Even if he carefully stayed clear of her leg. He was a welcomed friend, and maybe more. Though that would be something to look into later; some feelings were still new to her, and would need time to develop.
They slept well, even into the next morning.
#destiny#destiny the game#Fallen#Eliksni#Hunter#Human#Guardian#hom#Fanfic#Fanfiction#Fan fiction#Violence warning
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NOTES: Really, I am sorry about the long delay. Mostly a lot of personal business that doesn't matter in the slightest, haha, but I've also just been really distracted by leisure pursuits and other projects. I promise I haven't forgotten this fic and it will get posted.
It would take another full day of circuitous travel before they made it back to Wicca Falls. First, as per usual, they plotted to head East to confuse their trail, then this time South and West over Quadling Country until they could skirt the Outer Vinkus northward to their home. Though Fiyero's offer of lodging at an abandoned castle had been tempting, they both agreed that the safety of their little cave was what they needed that night.
However, they only made it as far as the Thousand Year Grasslands when the weather began to turn. At first, it only seemed to be a stronger headwind, but they were still leagues away from Neverdale when they were forced to land amongst the tall fields. As ungainly as their landing might have been, they were thankful it had not been any rougher or they might not have lived to tell the tale.
"Great Oz, what is this?" Glinda yelped as their cloaks were whipped around them.
"A storm — and a twigging good one!" Having to hold down her hat and broom, Elphaba felt herself being buffeted around, and in the open grassland there was nothing behind which they could take shelter. "Glinda! Don't let go of me!"
Lying as flat as they could, they were able to keep from being knocked down or otherwise inconvenienced. The broom was the worst of it; so much wind seemed to encourage it to take flight, and there were times both witches had to leap atop it to keep from losing it altogether. On one such occasion, Elphaba just scarcely managed to snatch her hat before it was carried off into the wild blue yonder.
"It's just a hat!" Glinda called out over the gale forces. "We could get you another one!"
"You gave this to me!" she cried as she stuffed it into her cloak, no longer trusting it to stay atop her head. "I could never let it be taken from me in such a… an unworthy fashion!"
Glinda had no answer to that. She felt one in her heart, thought of one, but the words sounded so silly that she couldn't quite force them out.
Once the worst of the winds had finally died down, they cautiously began to stand. Then the air stilled completely. It was so sudden that Glinda found herself half-crouched and blinking, completely at a loss for what she should do next.
"That was horrible," she finally breathed. "Just… just whipped up out of nowhere, and we almost crashed!"
Elphaba took her rumpled black hat out of her robes and plopped it on her head. Glinda often wondered if she had a spell on it that helped keep it secure during their usual flights. "No… not 'horrible' — Morrible. I don't know why, and I don't know how, but she's to blame for this wind."
Her companion clutched at her arm, and Elphaba embraced her back to afford her some comfort. "She knew we were flying. Maybe she thought we'd slam into the Kells!"
"Oh, Lurline knows what she thought! That devil woman, that, that… blowhard!"
"She did at that," Glinda quipped. Elphaba only glared. "Sorry. My mouth gets ahead of me when I'm scared."
At that, Elphaba ran a hand over her hair, sighing. "I'm sorry. This whole situation is so infuriating to me that sometimes I forget that you must have your own feelings about it. But we'll-"
When she suddenly cut off, looking upward, Glinda's eyes followed to see a flock of crows swirling into the sky. Whether they were crows or Crows was unclear. It was such a stark omen, like a black cloud rising from the far East, that she found herself holding her breath, as if waiting for the consequences to crash down on the pair of them immediately.
"I'm… I'm afraid again."
"What?"
"Nessa," Elphaba breathed. "I'm sorry, I know I've said this before, and things turned out so badly… but…"
She dropped her eyes, both frustrated and full of hot shame. But Glinda couldn't hold it against her. She didn't even wish to try. One hand passed up and down her friend's back as she leaned up to press a kiss into her cheek.
"Let's go check on Nessie. I know you won't be able to sleep if we don't."
"Sometimes, I think you know me a little too well." They both shared a bleak smile before mounting the broom and taking off at top speed.
~ o ~
As it happened, there was something to distract them from making it to Colwen Grounds. A very prominent, very strange something.
By the side of the Yellow Brick Road, very near Nest Hardings and the seat of the Munchkinland government, was an odd little house. This wasn't all that strange to Glinda on its own; why shouldn't someone live just to the side of such a well-travelled route? Would be easy enough for their friends and family to find them. However, she could tell by the look on Elphaba's face that this was a house that did not belong.
Upon getting closer, it was easy to see why. The house seemed to be a single large room, and was drably painted a greyish colour. It was the single most unimpressive building Glinda had ever seen in all her years — including some of the Quadling shacks. No polka dots on the doors, no stripes on the eaves… not even a little gargoyle by the chimney. Just plain, grey wood, slapped together into an ugly dwelling, which only looked yet uglier for having just appeared there. The state of disrepair seemed to suggest it had been dropped, but that was impossible… wasn't it?
"I don't know what to make of it," Elphaba breathed as they descended. "How could a house not be there a couple of days ago, and suddenly be here now?"
"Maybe it was already there, and it was just so boring nobody ever noticed," Glinda reasoned. "I mean, it's a teensy grey hut. Who cares?"
Apparently, that was not a popular opinion, as a crowd had already formed. Several members of Nessa's Pike Guild had come to regard it warily, polearms at the ready in case some beast or witch came charging out to have their heads. Many other citizens were also beginning to approach in a slow trickle from the city proper, slowing yet more the closer they got.
"We probably don't have much time, Elphie. What should we do? Stop here, or go on ahead to check on Nessa?"
"She's already here."
The nature of the scene before them began to seem different now that they could see Nessarose flanked by her guards, staring down the house as if it were already alive and ready to gobble them up. It would have been comical if the witches weren't equally frightened.
"Elphaba!" Nessa screamed the moment they came into view. "What have you done?!"
The green woman started. "What have I done? Come to see if you were alright, that's what I've done, and no more! What's happened?!"
Though the polearms raised to pierce them when they drew close, Nessa's raised hand forestalled them. They did not draw back, but remained at the ready, waiting for her signal. Unlike before, she was now dressed to the nines, black-and-white striped socks drawing attention downward to her glimmering shoes. Though her violet cape and silvery dress were no less impressive.
"She cleans up nice," Glinda muttered out of the side of her mouth. Elphaba only elbowed her as they drew within easy speaking distance.
"Elphaba, I need you to swear to me," she said in a tight voice, chest heaving with the force of her every breath. "You are the only powerful witch I know of in this entire kingdom. I know you did this, I know it! But… if you swear on our mother's grave that you did not, I may consider that something else happened."
"I swear on both Mother and Father's graves," she told her solemnly, handing the broom to Glinda so she could stride forward and take her sister's hands. But Nessa drew them away. Elphaba sighed and said, "Nessa… I'm sorry. I'm sorry about Father and about Boq, but I did not do those things myself. The latter was an accident — I was trying to help!"
"And what about Father? You drove him to an early grave! How could you betray Oz this way? I don't care about your reasons, about Animals or- or whatever! You turned your back on Munchkinland, and the Wizard!"
Her voice was hard as she hissed, "He gave me no choice. I tried to meet with him, to smooth things over and give him a second chance, and… and he has only proven to me that he is not fit to lead the Land of Oz. Too weak to stand up for what's right, too…" She shook her head. "I don't know what we should do, but I have to do something! If I just stood by and let him use the Animals' freedom to distract us from the real problems in his people's lives, then I wouldn't be able to live with myself!"
The more Elphaba went on, the more uncertain Nessarose seemed to be. But then she waved a hand to the side. "Enough! I… I don't believe you. There's no proof of any of what you say, and until there is, it's just… just noise!"
Elphaba wound up to speak again, clearly incensed, but Glinda cut across her, "But we really didn't cause that storm! In fact, it almost knocked us out of the sky, clear on the other side of Oz! Do… did you see anything? If it happened here, what did you see? Anything at all!"
"Nothing. Just the cyclone coming from the South. I… well, I've never seen anything like it! And there seemed to be something in the eye, but no one could tell what it was until it fell on…"
Something was too silent in the way Nessa cut herself off. Her lovely eyes were wide and fearful as she glanced between the two others, as if she knew to continue would be to bring doom upon herself.
"On what?" Elphaba whispered. "Or who?"
"Whom," Glinda corrected. Both Nessa and Elphaba slapped one of her arms apiece, and she stepped back, rubbing them with a pout on her lips.
"Come on, Nessa. Tell us."
After more hesitation, she glanced over at the house, then back at them again. "Do you… remember that boy, Fiyero? The one who was at the Ozdust Ballroom wi-"
Neither of them let her finish. Both witches raced toward the drab, dilapidated house with all the speed they could summon, cloaks billowing out behind them.
"Can you see anything?!" Glinda shouted a few minutes later when they had circuited the house.
"Only from here!" Elphaba announced from the front. Glinda circled around to join her, where they both crouched down. "Can you see? There, through this gap!"
"No! Move over!" Given the new perspective, Glinda squinted through the crack, raising the small wand she had once been given by Morrible and lighting the tip with one of the paltry few enchantments she had memorised. "Oh, look there, around the center! I see something!"
Sitting back a few seconds later, they exchanged a worried glance. The house was not flush with the ground everywhere, but there was little chance he had come through the ordeal unscathed. Most likely, he was already dead and cold.
"We can't be too late," Elphaba breathed, beginning to tremble. "I… I refuse to believe it!"
Laying a hand on her arm, even as her own eyes streamed, she whispered, "I… I don't want to turn him into Biq, but… but if there's anything we could do… shouldn't we try?"
They should. And they would.
"What are you doing?" Nessa demanded as they knelt a few paces away from the front of the structure, withdrawing the Grimmerie and leafing through it. "Not this again! You can't be serious!"
"You have no idea how serious," Elphaba snapped. "If there's even the slightest chance…"
"But it's madness! You know what happened to my Boq, so what- how could you ever consider doing such an awful thing to anyone else?!"
As Elphaba continued to flip pages, Glinda screamed up at her, "I love him! So if you don't mind, you can shut your twigging mouth, you… you dictatorly traitor!"
"This one!" Elphaba cried out, slapping her hand between the pages. Glinda leaned over her, a dubious expression in place. "What? What's the matter?"
"Isn't that the one you tried to use to make our straw-stuffed mattress softer?"
"No! No, I don't think so…" She peered down at the page, then glared up at Glinda. "This isn't the time to second-guess me! It's the best spell I have!"
"Then I'll cast another one," Glinda said as she leafed through the back of the book, ignoring the outraged cry from her companion. "If we both concentrate, and don't get distracted by the other person's spell, then it should be fine! We've both cast spells at once before!"
By this time, Nessa was flapping around near their shoulders, whispering, "Are you sure any of this is wise? Maybe we should just… let him be…" Hearing how that sounded, she added, "Because of what we did to Boq. I know, I've seen how important he was to both of you, so… do you really want to wish the same fate on him?"
Glinda felt a pinprick of curiosity at that line. They both loved Fiyero. She had suspected, given a few of the glances they exchanged, turns their conversations took over the years — but had told herself it was ridiculous. Fiyero had never expressed any true interest in Elphaba, other than his farewell the day they left for the Emerald City. And anytime she lamented losing him, being apart from him, Elphaba had said nothing. Only let her prattle onward like a child.
What would have happened if they did not have to run from the Wizard's armies? Would they have fought over Fiyero? Lost their friendship because they both desired him? She couldn't imagine it now. Yes, it was possible, but she simply did not think she had the stomach to fight with Elphaba about something that seemed so… petty.
And she couldn't focus on that. Stopping her thoughts in their tracks as she landed upon a page, she whispered, "I have mine; it's a protection spell, but I think if I modify it… say an 'ah' instead of an 'ey'?"
"Yes, we'll have to do what we can. There's no time." Holding the middle sheaf of pages exactly vertical, they both tilted their heads so they could read the script of their respective spells. "Nessa, do you mind?"
"Do I mind what? Oh." Stepping between them on her still-unsteady legs, Nessa grasped the middle pages, trying to hold her fingers out of the way of any words. "This is insane…"
"Good. Thank you." Clearing her throat, Elphaba began to chant, "Eleka nahmen nahmen, atum atum, eleka nahmen…"
But Glinda had to block that out, and fast. If she let herself get rattled or distracted by the other incantation, it would only muddle her own, so she set to work immediately, speaking the words and swirling her hands to help pull in the mystical energies of spellwork. Line after line flew from her lips as she read aloud, until she was completely lost to time.
Finally, she let her spell loose. An instant before, she had more sensed than actually saw Elphaba's hands fly forward to do the same; the light was so subtle that she was sure most non-witch residents of Oz would see nothing at all — only the results, which would not be visible due to flying under the house.
That was the intention.
Something obstructed Glinda's spell from reaching Fiyero where he lay. Two somethings: dusty brown shoes, adorned with a buckle but otherwise very plain. Her eyes screwed up, puzzled as she stared at the twinkling light of her magic befalling them. What were those doing in the middle of the road?
Then she realised the shoes had not been abandoned. So narrow had her focus been on casting her spell that she hadn't even looked further upward until the magic began to fade, settling into its new home. Up the dingy white socks, the rolled-up cuffs of blue material that seemed to be pants — except it stretched up over a middle and a chest, even hooking over two shoulders by way of straps. Only by the time she saw rosy cheeks, a gaping mouth, and brown braids did Glinda finally realise…
This was another person. Quite a tall person for the average Munchkin, and dressed in such strange garments! But there the stranger stood, all the same, open-mouthed and completely shocked by the sight of witches doing their witchly business.
"What…" Glinda cleared her throat, fingers finally beginning to curl away from the Grimmerie. "Who- I mean, where did you come from?"
Nessa dropped the pages as she drew back, as surprised as her former classmate. Elphaba, however, had scarcely taken her eyes off the eaves underneath the house; she was willing Fiyero to present himself, for anything to take place. Inwardly, so was Glinda, but she was also worried about what she might have done to an innocent bystander with her spell.
"G-Goodness me!" the person squeaked — a woman, if the voice were any indication. She hadn't been sure, what with how she looked. "Y-you talk! You queer little folk can talk!"
"Of course we can!" Nessa burst out, more startled into responding than meaning to have said anything. "Y-you… how did you do that?"
Still heavily distracted by her surroundings, the strange girl breathed, "Do what?"
"Make a house fly! I've… not even our great and terrible Wizard can do something like that!"
"A housefly? I- w-well, you don't 'make' houseflies, th-they come on their own! Of course, Uncle Henry's always sayin' that I don't help any, on account of I leave the butter dish out, a-and then they come 'round because they can't resist Aunt Em's butter, s-so… maybe I do make houseflies, after all, and if that's gonna be a problem, then I'm awful sorry! But the butter dish is closed up right now, so they shouldn't come, should they?"
No one responded. Not a single Munchkinlander did more than cough.
"Do… you mean to say that you can lift an entire building… with only the use of a butter dish?" Glinda finally asked dubiously, trying not to sound too disbelieving.
"What?!" she squeaked, a hand flying to her bowlike mouth. "Oh, no, no, no! I can't lift a whole house! Goodness, I'm only a little thing, aren't I? Ain't heard of anyone liftin' anything like a house all on their lonesome! Not without a pulley! A-and I haven't got a pulley! There's one in the barn, but the barn is…" Her hand swept to one side, but a second later it fell as she gaped at the rolling fields of blue maize, the swaying of the Fighting Trees. "Is… not here. Or I'm not there. Am I? M-maybe I'm not even in Kansas anymore…"
Nessa reached down to help Glinda up, and she gratefully took the hand. Privately, she worried about unbalancing the new-to-walking woman, but things turned out alright. Then she straightened her cloak and asked, "Dear thing, what's your name?"
"My name? Dorothy. Dorothy Gale, if you please." She reached out to the sides as if to curtsy, then seemed to start when she grasped only at the sides of pantlegs. Dipping her head shamefacedly, she announced, "I… I'm so underdressed, I… you all look so lovely, and I'd b-been out working with Uncle Henry before the storm! What a state to be in when I meet new people!"
"A pleasure to meet you," Glinda said, curtsying and managing it just fine. "My name is Glinda Upland, of the Upperuplands. This is Nessarose Thropp, the Eminent."
"How do you do?" Nessa greeted her with a wooden bow, as if not quite sure she ought to be bowing. Really, everyone was shocked; it was only Glinda's breeding that allowed her innate sense of decorum to override her complete surprise.
"I do well! Oh, it's nice to meet you both!" For the first time, the girl chanced a hesitant smile as she turned to where Elphaba still crouched over the book. "And… and who might you be?"
After a moment, Elphaba glanced up at her. Her expression was slacken, empty, and Glinda felt her heart seize to see her that way. "It didn't work."
"What?"
"The spell. It didn't work, he… he isn't…" Then everything about her changed. Boiling to her feet, she bellowed directly at the girl, "What have you DONE?!"
Dorothy shrank back from the shout, all of her budding good humour replaced with fright. "Done? Wh-why, I haven't done anything at all, I p-promise!"
"This is your house, isn't it?" No answer. She took a step forward, hands curling into fists as she bore down on the girl who was just scarcely shorter than herself. "Answer me, you fool!"
"Y-yes! It's my home, I- what is it, what's wrong?"
"You MURDERER!"
Elphaba's hands had just barely begun to swirl, to conjure a spell of some sort, when Glinda dashed forward and tugged the arms down. "Elphie, stop!"
"NO! Let me go, let me go this instant! She can't be allowed to get away with this, I won't-"
"I don't understand!" Dorothy was wailing, backpedaling toward her house and tripping over a crack in the bricks, so that she sat down hard in the grass between road and house. "AH! What- oww!"
At the same moment, a small black creature came pelting out of the house, as well. It yipped and barked at Elphaba, and Glinda didn't quite know what to make of it. It seemed like some sort of cross between a dog and a cat, but it was unlike any creature she had ever seen.
"She'll be shredded to pieces," Elphaba was growling, straining against Glinda's grip. Nessa merely stood nearby, indecisive but eyes wild at the scene playing out. "Crucified and whipped until — no, that isn't fitting at all. I'll just have to drop this godforsaken house on her!"
Gritting her teeth, Glinda tried to turn her around to face her, but it was slow going, and the barking from the odd little thing was distracting. Once she managed it, through a lot of grunting and straining, she snapped, "FABALA!" That got her focus, alright. "You can't do this to her! You are not a perpetrator of murderosity, and I won't let you act like you are!"
"It was Fiyero!" she snapped directly into her face. Glinda couldn't suppress a wince. "How can you not be upset? Don't you care? I thought you loved him!"
"I did!" Tears were on her cheeks already, and she hadn't the slightest clue when they got there. "And I do! But… but if he has gone… oh, Elphie, what's it going to change to take revenge on this poor young one?"
The words began to sink in. She knew they did; the way Elphaba's eyes turned down and to one side showed her as much. Given more opportunity, she could have talked some sense into her companion.
However, they never got a chance to sink in any further. At that moment, there came a great BOOM! that filled the area, startling the Pike Guild and all the Munchkinlanders further back.
"AHHH!" Dorothy screamed out, covering her head with both arms and pressing herself back against the steps as the small dog-cat ran to her, nosing at her arms.
Rising up from the billowing smoke in the middle of the road was a sight that sent chills down Glinda's spine. High, forbidding white hair, pinched, fishlike pale features, and a billowing dress that disguised an equally-billowing figure.
"You," Glinda breathed, a hand going to her mouth.
"How dare you attack this poor girl!" she announced, raising an arm to level a crooked finger and a pointed, painted nail at the two witches. "Haven't you evil witches caused enough harm to Oz?!"
"Here's someone I can drop a house on," Elphaba growled, eyes narrowing to slits. "Madame Morrible… I might have known. I might have known it was you!"
But the moment she took a step toward the vile press secretary, she snapped, "Guards!" And the guards fell into line between them. The armoured and polearm-wielding Munchkins, looking quite uncomfortable but resolute, aimed the weapons in their direction.
"Wait," Nessa said in disbelief, taking a step out from behind her sister. "What are you doing? I haven't given an order — and I order you to stand down!" Nothing happened. "I demand you step aside until I call upon you!"
"They aren't yours to push around anymore," Morrible chuckled darkly, with a wolfish look that only they three would ever see. Dorothy was cowering by the house, the guards facing the wrong way, and all the citizens of Nest Hardings too far away to see anything clearly. "Several months ago, I learned of the coup they were planning against the Wicked Witch of the East, and decided to bide my time. Why dirty my own hands when it's not strictly necessary?"
"Wicked… Witch of the- who is…" But it began to dawn on the poor paraplegic. Her eyes swept to Elphaba, then back to her traitorous troops, none of whom met her glance with even a hint of sympathy. She breathed, aghast, "Me? You think me a witch?"
All Morrible said in response to that was, "Blood will out." Then to Elphaba, she snapped, "I suggest you leave this place, before I am forced to attack you forthwithly! The Wizard is still most displeased you could not see his generosity for what it was, and you've caused enough trouble for too long!"
"Not half as much trouble as I-" But the tugging at Elphaba's arm told her Glinda did not agree, so she turned to hiss, "What?!"
"Let's go. They're all stacked against us, we… we can't stay." Her longing eyes flicked to the house again, but she only sighed before saying, "Please, Elphie? Let's just… fall back and figure out what to do without all these stabby things pointed at us!"
The green nostrils flared. Then she hissed, "No good deed goes unpunished. I spared the brat, and all of Munchkinland is still against me, are they?"
"No! They just… don't know what to believe right now! Please don't-"
"FINE." Picking up their broom, she mounted it immediately and glared across at their adversary, who looked like a cat with a mouthful of bird feathers. "This is not the last of me, you tyrant! May you and all who serve you meet the ghastliest of ends!"
"That's my line," Glinda hissed. "I'm the Ghastly one!"
As she swung on behind Elphaba, Morrible called out, "So be it! Retreat like the cowards you are!"
Glinda could tell this was as important to Morrible as the confrontation itself: building herself up as their saviour in the eyes of the Munchkins, even though she had scarcely done a thing other than exist. It was all showmanship. She and the Wizard really were a match made somewhere unpleasant. Still, she couldn't spare her the brainpower. Turning to Nessa, she asked, "Are you coming?"
"NO! What makes you think I'd ever-" The points of the spears raised toward her when she tried to take a step toward the Pike Guild, and she turned back to the two of them, face paling and eyes downcast. "Well… as long as you're offering…"
"Mark my words!" Morrible was calling out at their backs as the three so-called witches took off into the Western sky, leaving behind a potential new friend, and the remains of an old one. "You will come to rue the day you ever crossed wands with a real witch, you… you pretenders! You charlatanous charlatans! Stay gone, if you know what's good for you!"
To Be Continued…
#The Coven of Oz#wicked fanfiction#the wicked years#the wizard of oz#forkanna writes#forkanna the writer
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movies i like
so @beautifulramblingbrains tagged me in this thing saying ‘what are your 6 favorite films?’ and i love movies so i got carried away and made this list of a lot more than six films...
Cus I cant do shit halfway when it comes to moves, i took some time thinking abt this and ending up choosing my fave 6 genres/tropes and the choosing the best movie that it applies to, with honorable mentions. ***this list is NOT an exclusive list of my favorite films, i eventually cut myself off because i kept adding titles... there are hundreds more i’d mention if i had time, but this is what i wrote down*** (I have lots of very personal opinions about all the films i listed, both favorites and honorable mentions, if you want to know more about any of them please ask)
(all of the film titles link to a trailer of the film, if available. A few of these films can be watched in full for free, those links have been include as an ‘x’ after the title)
THIS IS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, IT’S MORE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
1. BOTTLE STORIES. Fuck, if i dont love sticking a bunch of characters in a room together, or a short window of time, and seeing what happens. Honorable mentions: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Key Largo, Green Room, 12 Angry Men, Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and The Man From Earth. Favorite choice: MURDER PARTY!! What happens when a guy responds to a Halloween invitation to a murder party? Well, mostly it’s a bunch of pretentious artist doing drugs and debating how to kill him. I dont know what I love more about the film, the subtle dialog and perfect build up of plot, or the fact that i actually know people like the stuck up artist in it. I just think this was deffo written by someone who went to art school
2. WHERE DOES REALITY STOP AND THE DREAM BEGINS? Come on, i mean, seriously how can you really know when it’s not a dream? Honorable mentions: Perfect Blue, Jakob’s Ladder1, Brazil1, Dark City, Waking Life, Science of Sleep, Alice, and La Jetee. Favorite choice: PAPRIKA!! Shatoshi Kon made so, SO many amazing films in his life and this is one of the best, imo. If you like Inception, know that it was directly influenced by Paprika. And Inception is like a boiled down version; it makes more sense and is less fantastic. Real facts though, i have watched Paprika over a dozen times, and still when i go back to watch it now i notice details i missed before that are subtle but pertain to the over-all ideas and story. Also the soundtrack is fuckin sick.
3. BLACK AND WHITE THRILLERS! Like yeah, self explanatory, and I could go on about The Third Man or M, but what i really love is stories that make you grip the edge of your seat when you weren’t expecting to. Honorable Mentions: Arsenic and Old Lace, The Virgin Spring x, All About Eve1, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari x, Metropolis x, The Bad Seed and Sunset Boulevard (i want to say Chinatown2 tho i know that was shot in color but to look like noir b&w). Favorite choice: EYES WITHOUT A FACE!! x I have a soft spot for french horror, but what makes this film stand out is the way they danced around taboo subjects like gore, animal abuse, and mad scientists to avoid censors and get a wide release in Europe, while still having those be major subjects in the film.
4. CRAZY SLOW PACED AND BASED IN CONVERSATION! Ok i worried for a moment that this was too similar to the first, but no it’s different. Like man, if the dialogs good, then i'm fucking dooownn, and these are more about the conversation than anything else. Also this is my list so i can do what i want. Honorable Mentions: Royal Tenenbaums, Stagecoach1x, Yojimbo, Fire, Coco and Igor, and Days of Heaven. Favorite choice: STALKER!! x Like hell yeah, i'm so here for a soviet film abt people debating what they’d wish for while hiking to the wishing well. Also i think this film used the b&w to color transition better than Wizard of Oz because you barely even notice the change, like they hypnotize you first then make the switch.
5. ANIMATION! I fuckin love animation. I’ve always prefered cartoons. If you didn't know this, then idk if you know me. Honorable Mentions: Secret of Kells, Triplets of Belleville, Spirited Away, Mind Game, World of Tomorrow, Belladonna of Sadness, Millennium Actress, My Life as a Zuccini, The Hedgehog in the Fog x, The Cat in Paris. Favorite choice: THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER!! (the recobbled cut, specifically) After the production hell this flick went through, it needs all the love it can get. Started in the late 70s, it wasn't released until 1993, and was quickly overshadowed by Aladdin (which is probably directly influenced by the Thief and the Cobbler, but Disney’s not gunna say that). After 30s years of bouncing between animation studios only to get this slap-dash finishing to push it out on VHS, which the final final scenes not only feels disjointed from the story, but the scenes have an fps (frames per second) rate that’s half of the original animation so you can literally see the images slow down in some scenes. The recobbled cut is the best because even though it has a few unfinished scenes (some of which are still just animatics) it is the closest we may ever get to the original, intended version of the film. It’s still trippy as fuck though, and it doesn't have the god awful internal monologue for the thief.
6. MOVIES I FIRST SAW WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND IMPRESSIONABLE AND ABSOLUTELY ADORE! So these are movies which i saw when i was young BUT would be happy to watch again and have lots of opinions about (so this rules out Requiem for a Dream and Risky Business, both i saw too young and i'm cool with only having ever seen them once) Honorable Mentions: Spirited Away, Muppet Treasure Island, Young Frankenstein, Nightmare Before Christmas, Monsoon Wedding,The Dreamers, Airplane! and Fight Club. Favorite choice: DUCK SOUP!! Omg, i dont know if i can adequately express how much i fucking love the Marx bros. I own most of their films and when I was little, i used to just watch them endlessly (and I will still do so while drunk if no one stops me) I know all the jokes and songs even tho i learned half of them before I was old enough to get the jokes.
7. *Bonus round* TRIPPY AF MOVIES!! Like flicks i walked out of thinking ‘the fuck did i just watch??’ Honorable mentions: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Enter the Void, Videodrome, Holy Mountain, Meshes of the Afternoon x. Favorite choice: DOG STAR MAN!! x Sometimes, you need to just lay back and watch undulating colors in silence for a few hours.
Like, i just want to say, that while editing this list i thought of like ten films I couldn't shoehorn into any of these categories, and was very upset i couldn't find a way to mention them, so if you like this and want me to make another movie list, PLEASE SAY SO!!
1 I have included the link to the trailer, but the trailer is shit. The movie is much better.
2 while this film is only brought up saying that it doesn't fit on the list, i do really love the film, but i feel like i should mention that both the director, Roman Polanski and main actor, Jack Nicholson have been directly accused of sexual assault/statutory rape/domestic assault. I, personally, have a cognitive dissonance with this film because I saw it before I learned about both of them and their actions. But as much as I enjoy the story and movie, i cannot in good faith, bring up the film without mentioning this.
#pucks picks#films i like#i really fucking love films#i took a lot of time writing this#maybe too much time#no i do not have a life#im gunna go watch a movie now#if you ever want a film recommendation hmu
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Néha a rossz út visz a megfelelő helyre - Sometimes the wrong way takes you to the right place
Mint tőlem megszokott, a bejegyzés két nyelven érhető el, minden bekezdést angol fordítás követ, jó szórakozást!
Just as usual, my article is bilingual, so you can find the English translation always right after the Hungarian paragraph. Enjoy!
Ez most egy kicsit rendhagyó bejegyzés lesz, annál is inkább, mert általában hagyom a képeket beszélni magam helyett. De mivel jelenleg túl sok időm van, meg két sérült térdem, ez arra kényszerít, hogy másképp közelítsek meg bizonyos dolgokat. Egyébként sem árt, ha az ember feszegeti néha a határait és kilép a komfortzónájából.
Mai témám a zarándoklás lesz. Biztos hallottatok már a spanyolországi Szent Jakab útról, vagy másképp CAMINO DE SANTIAGO-ról. Ez manapság a legfelkapottabb zarándokút Európában.
A CAMINO
Röviden egy kb 800 km-es út, ami St. Jean Pied de Port-ból indul és Spanyolország északi részén halad végig Santiago de Composteláig, ahol Szent Jakab földi maradványait őrzik. Az utazók tájékozódását sárga nyilak, felfestések és fésűkagyló szimbólumok jelzik végig, így szinte lehetetlen eltévedni. Az útikönyv nem is ezért kell, inkább a szintkülönbségek és a szálláslehetőségek miatt érdemes beszerezni egyet.
Jómagam, kb 10-11 évvel ezelőtt hallottam a Caminoról. Akkoriban Kecskeméten dolgoztam a színházban és a színész kollegák ültették a bogarat a fülembe. Megfogott az, ahogyan arról a felszabadultságról meséltek, amit az úton tapasztaltak. Ez és némi spirituális kíváncsiság motivált, hogy én is elinduljak egyszer. Teltek az évek, hol pénz, hol idő szűkében tolódott el a dolog, míg végül idén ősszel úgy alakult, hogy épp időben és elég pénzzel a zsebemben hagytam el Fuerteventurát ahhoz, hogy végre én is felkössem a batyut a hátamra. Így 1-2 hét alatt összeszedtem, ami az utazáshoz kellett és egy rövid barcelonai megálló után – amit egyébként imádtam és talán megérne egy külön bejegyzést - Pamplonánál tértem rá a „sárgaköves útra”.
Ennek azért nem kis lelki hatása volt. Egy olyan dologra készültem, aminek a képe ott csüngött a falamon 10 éven keresztül és most elérhető közelségbe került az, ami mindig is csak egy álomnak tűnt.
This is not gonna be an ordinary post from me, mostly because I usually let the pictures talk instead. But… because I have too much time at the moment and two wrong knees, it makes me approach some things differently. Anyway it is good sometimes to discover our boundaries and step out of our comfort zone.
My topic today is pilgrimage. Many of you surely heard about the way of St. James, or other way CAMINO DE SANTIAGO. It’s the most popular pilgrim way in Europe nowadays.
THE CAMINO
Just shortly; this ’bout 800km way leads through in the north of Spain from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela, where St. James apostle was buried. The way is well signed along with yellow arrows, color marks and shell symbols, which helps the pilgrims, so it’s kind of impossible to miss the direction. Still it’s better to have a good map which contains the high meters and the accomodations.
The first time I’ve heard about the Camino 10-11 yrs ago from my actor collegues, I was working in the Theater of Kecskemét. The way they’ve been talking about that liberation they experienced along the way completely compelled me. This and a dose of spiritual curiosity inspired me to take the road one day. The years passed and either I missed the money or time to plan my trip. Finally this fall I left Fuerteventura just in time and with enough money in my pocket to make it happen. I took one or two weeks to prepare all the necessary things and after a short stop in Barcelona – which was awesome and worth another post – I stepped on the „yellow brick road”.
Psychologically this was a blast. I’ve been doing a thing which I was just dreaming of for 10 years. I had a picture hangin’ on my wall and it all seemed unreachable till now.
Szóval Pamplona, némi kezdeti nehézség és eső. Nem mintha ezzel nem számoltam volna és tulajdonképpen örültem annak is, hogy nem St. Jeanból indultam és így nem kellett ilyen időben átkelnem a Pireneusokon. - Valószínű egyébként úgy még rövidebbre sikerült volna a kirándulásom. – De mindenképpen jelzés értékű volt, hogy ez az út nem lesz egyszerű. És valóban. Összesen 10 napot tudtam ott tölteni, viszont ennek a 10 napnak is meglettek a tanulságai, rövid és hosszú távú kihatásai az életemre.
De kezdjük az elején. Miért is megy az ember zarándokútra? Van, aki vallási indíttatásból, van, aki kalandvágyból, mert kihívásnak tekinti. Én elsősorban kíváncsiságból vágtam neki. Egyrészt persze, hogy képes vagyok-e rá, másrészt amiatt, hogy mit hoz ki belőlem az út, vagy éppen mit tartogat számomra. Fizikálisan felkészültnek gondoltam magam. Az időszakos diszkomfort sosem zavart, a mai napig szeretek például kempingezni is. Az animációban a napi aktív óráim száma 6-16 között mozgott, ami tartalmazott nem kevés fitnesst, táncpróbát, esti táncshowkat, így az erőnlétemmel sem volt gond. Lelkileg nem igazán éreztem szükségét, hogy tréningezzem magam. Inkább igyekeztem nem elvárásokkal nekiindulni. Szerettem volna jelen lenni, megélni az élményt, csak elfogadni azt, amit az út hoz számomra.
So Pamplona. Some difficulties and rain. Not like I wasn’t prepared to that. Moreover I was happy I chose Pamplona as a starting place, not St. Jean Pied de Port, so I didn’t have to climb the Pyrenees in this weather – I have the feeling that would have made my journey even shorter. – But it was a definite sign that this trip is not gonna be easy. Indeed. In the end I spent 10 days on the road in total, but even this short time left a significant mark in my life as a lesson.
Let’s start from the top. Why are people even going for pilgrimage? Some has religious reasons, others take that as an adventure. I was rather curious. Of course about being able to do it as well, but mainly curious about what does the way bring out of me psychically and spiritually, or what does it bring to me. I thought I was physically fit for the task. A short term discomfort never bothered me, I’ve always loved camping and my last 18 months in animation where my active hours been between 6 – 16 a day containing a lot of fitness, dance rehearsals and dance shows let me think I’d be just fine. Honestly I didn’t feel the necessity for psychical training or any spiritual preparation, but I’ve tried not to go with any expectation. I just wanted to be present and take all what came along.
az én hibám
Azt hiszem az elvárásokkal mégis elbuktam. Két dologgal ugyanis nem számoltam. Az egyik a hideg. Az időjárás ugyanis úgy döntött, hogy épp azon a héten döntögeti az elmúlt tíz év legalacsonyabb rekordjait, így napsütésben sem volt 14°C – nál többhöz szerencsém, ami azért kicsit ciki, ha azt nézzük, hogy 30 plusszal szoktak az év ezen szakában számolni. Rövidre fogva fáztam. Nagyon. A másik tényező a tömeg volt. Mint kiderült sikerült kifognom még egy rekordot, mégpedig a legtöbben zarándoklók idejét. A St. Jean-ból indulóktól tudom, valóban ez volt az év legforgalmasabb hete az úton. Ez először csak meghökkentett. Később viszont elkezdett zavarni. Nem csak azért mert így szabályos verseny folyt a férőhelyekért a zarándok szállásokon, hanem mert azon emberek közé tartozom, akik szeretnek néha egyedül lenni. Kifejezetten szeretek egyedül utazni és néha elveszni. És bár másoknak erőt és inspirációt adhat, hogy bármerre néz, előtte – mögötte legalább 30 embert lát, aki éppen ugyanoda tart ahova ő, nekem néha jól esett volna csak a pusztaságot látni. Csalódottsággal töltött el hogy ugyanazt a társas magányt tapasztalom egy zarándokúton, mint ami a nagyvárosok sajátja. Félreértés ne essék, elég nyitott vagyok, és könnyen barátkozom, akadtak is kellemes útitársaim, amiért hálás vagyok, ugyanakkor az, hogy valóban egyedül maradjak, lehetetlennek bizonyult.
epic fail
As it turned out I couldn’t leave all my expectations behind. My bad - I didn’t count on two things. Number one – the cold; the weather decided to break the lowest record of the last 10 years just that week. So it was around 14°C even with sunshine instead of the normal 30+ around this time. Shortly: I was cold…VERY COLD. Number two – the crowd. I caught another record… for that was the week of most registered people on the way. At first it was just surprising, but later it started to bother me. Not only because of the competition for the free places in the albergues. (That’s how they call the hostel kind of special accommodations for pilgrims.) I’m that kind of person who likes to be alone. I like to travel alone and get lost sometimes. Eventho I know for others it can be inspiring or helping to see 30 other people ahead and behind going just the exact same way with the same goal, for me it would have been more releasing to see only the way at some point. It made me disappointed to experience the big cities’ typical social solitude in pilgrimage. Don’t misunderstand me please, I’m an opened person and making friends easily and I got very nice company on the way which I am really grateful for. But to stay alone to take a minute only for myself was impossible.
“Az Isten itt állt a hátam mögött s én megkerültem érte a világot”
József Attila sorai nagyon jól érzékeltetik milyen vak tud lenni az ember miközben hajszol valamit, még akkor is ha ezt nem tudatosan teszi. Vagy főleg akkor. Elmaradt az utazás extázisa. Sokat gondolkoztam rajta, ez miért van így. Egy olyan ember számára, aki életét egy megszokott környezetben éli helyhez kötötten - nem sokat, vagy talán egyáltalán nem utazott, ez az út valóban világrengető lehet, és ennek így is kell lennie. Talán én vagyok elromolva, vagy fura mód kiégve. Pár év utazgatás és animáció után, ahol az emberek szórakoztatása, a kapcsolatteremtés volt a munkám, nekem az volt a furcsa, hogy nem volt furcsa ott lennem. Természetes dolog volt, hogy úton vagyok, hogy új embereket ismerek meg nap mint nap, hiszen évek óta ebben éltem, ráadásul összességében majdnem teljes 2 évet töltöttem már Spanyolországban. Higgyétek el, tudom, milyen szerencsés voltam, és hálás is vagyok érte. De hagy nevessem ki magam, azért hogy ilyen messzire kellett eljönnöm ahhoz, hogy egyrészt erre, másrészt arra rájöjjek, hogy már nyomokban sem hasonlítok huszonéves önmagamra.
“God was standing behind me and I went around the world to find him”
It’s a very good line from a Hungarian writer, Attila József. Express the best how blind we can be when we seek for something even if it’s not conscious. I’ve been thinking a lot, why I lost the euphoric feeling of discovery this time. For a person living an ordinary life – and take ordinary as a positive thing. Having a safe job with enough salary, a caring family, hobbies, weekly going out with friends, basically happy life – but not travelling too much or at all, well an adventure like this for sure rocks their world. And it should! But maybe I’m broken or burnt out in a different way. After some years of travelling and animation, where my job is to entertain people and talk to them… the strangest thing was: it was not strange at all to be there. It was just natural that I’m in a different country, that I meet new people day by day, because I lived this way already for years – and from that almost 2 in Spain. Trust me, I know how lucky I was and I can’t be thankful enough for that, but let me just laugh at myself how far did I have to come to realize this and also that I’m very far from my 20 years old self already.
csodák, bajok és egyéb állatfajok
Az első napokban a 20-30 kilométeres menetelés teljesen tarthatónak tűnt, még a túlpakolt hátizsákkal és a szintkülönbségekkel is. A kondícióm rendben volt, és egy-két vízhólyagnál nagyobb problémám nem akadt. A monotonitás tulajdonképpen egészen relaxáló, ha az ember ráérez a saját tempójára. Napjában ugyanazokkal az emberekkel kerülgettük egymást, néha egy-egy rövid beszélgetéssel vagy legalább elmormolva egy BUEN CAMINO-t. Voltak útitársaim hosszabb időre is, akiknek ezúton is köszönöm, hogy velem tartottak – Fernando, Ági, Bandi, Brenda, Christin és a kanadai társaság – de főként Bandinak, aki mellettem maradt mikor sikerült összeszednem egy ételmérgezést minden velejáró „kellemes” tünetével együtt.
miracles, problems and other creatures
In the first days the daily 20-30 kilometers march seemed absolutely fine even with overfilled backpack and quite big level differences. I was fit for the walks and didn’t have more problems than one or two blisters on my feet. Monotony can be quite relaxing if you find your own tempo. I met the same people regularly on the road, sometimes had small talks or just mumbling a BUEN CAMINO to each other. I had companions for longer time as well – Fernano, Ági, Bandi, Brenda, Christin and the Canadian group – I’d like to thank you for walk with me. Especially Bandi, who stayed with me when I ‘won’ a food poisoning with all the ‘pleasant’ symptoms.
Szerencsére ez egy extrém eset volt, az egész útra inkább a pozitív történések voltak a jellemzők. A látvány kárpótolt a hideg idő miatt - csak nézzétek végig a képeket – és valóban, tele volt a 10 nap kisebb – nagyobb csodákkal. Csak hogy párat említsek, Estellában egy kis albergué-ben szálltunk meg a magyar útitársaimmal és ad-hoc főztünk egy paprikáskrumpli vacsorát, ami elég lett ahhoz, hogy az összes zarándok társunkat megvendégeljük vele és egy kellemes családias legalább 6 különböző nemzetből álló asztaltársaságot hozzon össze. Talán nem megy csoda számba, de én szeretem, amikor egy ilyen végtelenül egyszerű dolog ennyire pozitív légkört teremt, főleg ha spontán történik. Egy másik alkalommal egy parkon haladtunk át, ahol a mókusok annyira hozzászoktak az emberek jelenlétéhez, hogy a kezemből tudtam etetni őket almával és mandulával, amit az úton szedtem.
Luckily that was an extreme case, I rather experienced positive things. The wonderful view along the way made me forget about the cold – just take a look at the pictures - and every day had its own little miracle. Just a few examples, one day we stayed in a small albergue in Estella with my Hungarian companions, just decided to cook a Hungarian meal, but we measured it wrong and made too much food, so we just invited everyone in the house for a dinner. It was the best night of the journey for me with at least 6 different nations at the table. Maybe it’s not a real miracle but I like simple things which can create such a good atmosphere and bring the people together so spontaneously. Another day we’ve been walking through a park where the squirrels got so much used to the people I could even feed them from my hands with apple and almond I found on the way.
A legnagyobb élményem viszont a Bikafuttatás marad Vianában. - Nem, nem viadal, futtatás! Nem esett baja egyetlen embernek és bikának sem! - A helyiek éppen ünnepet tartottak, mikor keresztül haladtunk a falun. Mindenki fehér – pirosba öltözve vonult a forgatagban. Utcafesztivál, báb előadás a gyerekeknek és a végén a fő attrakció volt a bikafuttatás. A főutca úgy volt kialakítva, hogy le lehessen zárni, így a bikákat a falu teljes hosszán oda-vissza tudták terelni, a templomtér melletti kerítés pedig a legjobb rálátást biztosította. A bátrak az utcán várták a vágtázó állatokat, futottak előttük, majd az utolsó pillanatban felugrottak a kerítésre. A legnagyobb elismerés ugye annak járt, aki legutoljára ugrott el a bika elől, vagy akár meg is érintette. Voltak páran a zarándokok között is, akik beszálltak a ringbe… például én is. Miután kibámészkodtam magam, úgy gondoltam egy ilyen alkalom csak egyszer adódik az életben, így átmásztam a kerítésen és futottam pár kört a bikákkal együtt. Az adrenalin löket nagy volt, de az élmény egy életre szól. Fun fact, hogy bika csillagjegyben születtem, amit eddig elég idegennek éreztem.
But my greatest experience was the bull run game in Viana. No, not a bullfight, no human or bull got hurt! There was a festival right when we passed through the village. The local people dressed all in red and white, street parade with music, puppet play for the kids, and in the end the main attraction, the bull run. The houses on the main street was equipped with fences, so they could close it and let the animals run up and down all along the village. The best place to watch was the church square also guarded with a long fence and gates. The brave ones were waiting for the bulls on the street. They were running in front of them for a while and then in the last second jumping on the fence. The closer you got to the bull, the bigger appreciation you got. Some of the pilgrims also joined the run… so did I. After taking some photos and videos I realized this might be a one and only opportunity in my life and I surely would regret if I didn’t take it. So I just jumped over the fence and ran some rounds with the bulls too. It was a huge adrenalin shot, but worthy and this memory stays with me for my entire life. Fun fact, my zodiac is Taurus which I never felt really mine. We can say I do now.
kalandból lecke
A gondok az 5. nap környékén kezdődtek. Ekkorra kezdtek el szinte elviselhetetlenül fájni a térdeim. Hiába a fájdalomcsillapító, a tapaszolás, hiába figyeltem arra is, hogy az izmaim le legyenek nyújtva és pihentetve nap végén. Bár sejtettem, hogy a megelőző másfél év hajtása még vissza fog rúgni, arra nem gondoltam, hogy ennyire gyorsan és ilyen mértékben. Az sem segített a helyzeten hogy rettenetesen makacs vagyok, és nem szeretem feladni azt, amit kitűztem célomul. Pihenő helyett tovább hajtottam magam. Az utolsó két napon már előre küldtem a csomagom - igen, már ilyen szolgáltatás is vagy a zarándokúton - hogy legalább a plusz tehertől mentesítsem az izületeimet, de Beloradoba érve így is képtelenné váltam arra, hogy a legkisebb lejtőn fel vagy lesétáljak. Hozzá kell tennem a fájdalomküszöböm elég magas, de amikor megláttam a szálláson az emeletre vezető lépcsőt, szó szerint elsírtam magam. Megsemmisülve éreztem magam. Be kellett látnom, hogy túlvállaltam magam, a térdeimre pedig táncosként még igen nagy szükségem van. A következő etap feléig szerencsémre nem volt számottevő szintkülönbség, így másnap a csomagomat előreküldtem és átsétáltam egy laza 12 kilométert pár fájdalomcsillapító társaságában. Ugyancsak a gondviselést áldom, hogy Villafrancában találkoztam azzal a kanadai társasággal, akik busszal indultak tovább Burgosba, így csatlakoztam hozzájuk. A következő két napot Burgosban töltöttem, leginkább pihenéssel, de még ekkor is azon gondolkodtam hogy tudnám folytatni az utat.
from adventure to lesson
The problems started around the 5th day when my knees began to hurt unbearably. No painkiller or tape could help anymore and it didn’t matter I took care of stretching and letting my muscles rest in the end of the day. Somehow I knew the overworking of the last 18 months will kick back at some point but I didn’t expect so soon and so hard. My stubbornness didn’t help the situation either. Instead of stopping immediately, I forced myself keep going till I could. I’m not a quitter, but this is what I had to learn. THERE IS A POINT WHERE YOU HAVE TO TAKE A STEP BACK! So you’ll be able to go forward, otherwise you break - and as a dancer I still need my knees pretty much. In the last two days I sent my backpack forward to the next town (yes, there is such a service for that on the Camino) so I could at least take some pressure off of my joints, but I still became unable to go up or downhill while I reached Belorado. For the record, my pain tolerance is quite high, but when I saw the staircase at the albergue, I literally started to cry. I felt completely defeated. I knew I have to do something and still I first thought about taking only one or two days rest. Luckily the next part of the way was flat, so I sent my backpack forward again and walked a loose 12 kilometers consorted by some painkillers. Someone really has to love me above cause in Villafranca I met that Canadian company who wanted to catch the bus to Burgos, so I joined them.
*Ez itt egyébként Steve, a Burgosi Katedrális legsármosabb vízköpője - BTW This is Steve, the most charming gargoyle of the Burgos Cathedral :D
Persze azt a lélegzetelállító katedrálist meg kellett néznem, kívül-belül és az egyik meglehetősen vallásos útitársamnak köszönhetően még egy misére is beültem, amire nem volt példa már vagy 20 éve (és szintén csoda számba megy), de leginkább arra fókuszáltam, hogy a térdeim regenerálódni tudjanak. Itt ért igazából a fordulat. Két nap után ugyan mutatkozott némi javulás, de rájöttem, hogy hosszú távon, a makacsságom nem lenne túl kifizetődő. Először csalódott voltam – bizony, szörnyű érzés, mikor az ember rájön, hogy nem mindenható :) - és jó nagy pofon volt az egómnak, hogy a 60 éves nénikék mosolyogva sétálnak tovább Santiago felé, míg én otthon fekszem az ágyban felpolcolt lábakkal, de ez nem a vég. Néha vissza kell lépnünk egyet, hogy aztán kettőt léphessünk előre. Óriási közhely, de mint általában a közhelyek, ez is igaz. Szóval 2 nap töltődés után vettem egy buszjegyet Madridba, ahol szintén tartottam egy délutáni városnézést – amihez egyébként először kedvem sem volt, de végül imádtam – majd másnap hazarepültem Budapestre.
I spent the next two day in Burgos mainly resting. Of course I had to take a look at that breathtaking Cathedral inside and outside – and thanks to a very religious roommate I even visited a mass which I didn’t do for like 20 years (also a small miracle). – But I was mainly focusing on my knees to regenerate. These two days brought the turn. Tho I felt a bit better but I had to admit this bite was too big now. I was disappointed first, of course. It’s horrible when we realize we aren’t almighty, isn’t it? :) It was a huge break for my ego that 60 years old ladies keep walking with a smile on their face while I’m lying in my bed with pillows under my legs, but it’s not the end. So I just tried to enjoy my time in Burgos and two days later I bought a bus ticket to Madrid, were I spent another half day – first I didn’t even want but in the end it was great fun. - And the next day I flew home to Budapest.
Az útvonalam így körülbelül 200 kilométerre rövidült. Pamplona - Puente la Reina – Estella – Los Arcos – Logrono – Nájera – Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Belorado – Villafranca de Montes de Oca – Burgos. Bár sokan csinálják azt, hogy részletekben mennek végig az úton és a lehetőség adott, én nem vagyok biztos benne, hogy visszatérek. Nem a térdeim miatt, és nem azért mert rossz érzéseket keltett volna bennem. Egyszerűen nem érzem szükségét. Talán ennyi volt az én Caminom. Egyáltalán nem bántam meg, hogy elindultam és mindenkinek ajánlom hogy egyszer legalább menjen el zarándokolni, nem a helyszín számít, hanem hogy úton légy! Engem ebben a 10 napban is rengeteg impulzus ért, jó, rossz egyaránt, és héé, egy 10 éves álom vált valóra, még ha nem is úgy, ahogy azt elsőre gondoltam volna.
So I ended up with only a 200km trip. Pamplona - Puente la Reina – Estella – Los Arcos – Logrono – Nájera – Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Belorado – Villafranca de Montes de Oca – Burgos. Many people make the journey in parts, leaving and then returning for another period but even if it is a possibility, I’m not sure if I will ever go back. Not because of my knees or because of any negative feelings. I simply don’t feel it necessary. Maybe that was my Camino. I didn’t regret at all that I started, and I would recommend to everyone, once in a lifetime to go pilgrimage. Doesn’t matter where, just go! Be on the way! Even in this 10 days I got so many impulses good and bad equal, and HEY, a 10 years old dream came true, maybe not the way I planned, but the way it had to.
Az orvos egyébként porclágyulást állapított meg. Az állapot határeset, de nem akart egyből kés alá küldeni, így gyógyszerekkel és gyógytornával kezdtem a rehabilitációt, ami egyébként egészen jól halad. (Már nem sírok, ha lépcsőt látok! :D ) A kényszerpihenő pedig úgy érzem abszolút az előnyömre vált. De ezt majd egy másik bejegyzésben fejtem ki bővebben.
Písz - Láv
u.i.: Azért vicces belegondolni, hogy 200 kilométer is mennyire képes megváltoztatni az ember életét.
By the way the doctor diagnosed chondromalatia. It was pretty bad but she didn’t want to send me directly to surgery, so we started the treatment with medicines and physiotherapy. I think it’s going well (I’m not crying anymore when I see a staircase :D ) And the forced rest made me do some positive changes but I’ll rather tell you about it in another post.
Peace - love
p.s. It’s funny how much can 200km change us.
#camino#caminodesantiago#zarándoklat#éniselindultammintmillióan#spanyolország#másodikotthon#kaland#köszi#szentjakabút#wayofsaintjames#pilgrimage#oneinamillion#adventure#challange#spain#secondhome#dancerlife
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Chapter 6
“The last time that I had these thoughts I just kept going on about it.”
—
“Hey.” I shut my locker and jumped with a start. I looked to where the open door had been to see Vic leaning against the locker next to mine.
“Uh, hey?” I said carefully.
“My house. After school. Three-thirty.” Without another word or giving me a chance to respond he left. I looked around the hall but no one had been paying attention to our little interaction. I tugged on my hair a screeched through clenched teeth.
“You okay there, Kell?” I sighed and turned around. Lynn was approaching me with Jenna and Savannah next to her.
“Just great,” I said sarcastically. Lynn picked up on my mood in an instant.
“What’s up, princess? Did Prince Charming make life confusing again? Could you not fit your foot in the slipper?”
“What?”
She shook her head. “Forget it. What’s wrong?”
“Yeah, like I’m gonna tell you.”
“So she was right?” Jenna laughed at Savannah’s comment. I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she’d guessed that Lynn was right. Unfortunately, you can’t hide things from girls.
“C’mon Kells, what did Vic do this time?” Jenna asked. I sighed and motioned for them to follow me. It was lunch time, and I was just putting my books away when Vic approached me, for whatever reason. I didn’t have any classes with him today so maybe that was why we came up to me, but why did he invite me over?
“Hello, Earth to Kellin. You in there, bud?” I blinked a couple times and noticed Savannah’s fingers in front of my face. I hadn’t realized that I walked into the lunch line, or that the girls had been trying to get my attention.
“Sorry,” I said. The four of us went to our usual table and sat down. Tyler, Trent, Ashley, and Tori were already there.
“Hello beautiful people,” Trent greeted us. The girls brushed it off while I sat there a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t that Trent made me uncomfortable; it was just that his comments caught me off guard. I hadn’t come out to anyone yet but I sure as hell knew who I was attracted to. Trent was certainly a cute guy, not really my type but he was attractive.
“How have you guys’ day been?” I asked to regain composure.
“Had a test in physics. So much more math than I was expecting,” Tori explained. Savannah patted her head.
“It’s okay,” she said, “you’ll get ‘em next time.”
“I never said I failed,” Tori shot back defensively. Savannah laughed.
“Anyway, Kellin was just about to tell us about what just happened with him and Vic in the hall.”
I shot Lynn a look and shook my head. It seemed like all I ever did was talk about Vic, not that any of them minded. I had to remember that I hung out with a bunch of girls and homosexual guys who loved to gossip about the school’s badass. Every little bit of information I gave them was cherished.
“I think I’m gonna pass on spreading rumors today. Maybe next time.” I didn’t say another word and ate my lunch instead. Jenna and Trent looked disappointed but I saw Lynn give them a look to drop it. Instead we proceeded to talking about how our weekend had been, aside from the group hangout on Saturday.
“What about you, Kell? How’s your day been?”
I mulled over Ashley’s question. In all actuality my day had been pretty boring; it was Monday after all. I went to class, went to more classes, then lunch. The most exciting part of the day was when Vic came up to me, although I guess that couldn’t count as exciting. Interesting to say the least, but not exciting.
“Kellin?” I blinked. I hadn’t noticed that Ashley was trying to get my attention.
“Oh, sorry. Um, my day was good. Ready to get it over with,” I responded quickly.
“I hear that,” Tyler said. “Actually, I’m ready to get this week over with.”
“It’s literally Monday,” Savannah pointed out.
“And?” She shook her head with a smile as she got up to throw away her trash.
“I’ll see you guys in a bit. I need to go be one with nature.”
“Is that her way of saying she needs to use the bathroom?” I asked. The girls laughed since they were the ones in earshot.
“No silly,” Tori answered, “she’s literally gonna go be with nature.” That confused me more.
Tori and Lynn explained that Savannah was a self-proclaimed hippie who loved spending all her free time around animals and the outdoors. Since she was trapped within the walls of the high school though, she found time and ways to get outside and be one with the trees or something like that.
Sav was back in ten minutes and then we were all off to class.
“So, are you gonna tell us what he did or no?” Sav asked as we neared the classroom.
“What who did?”
“Don’t play dumb, Quinn.” I rolled my eyes.
“No, I’m not.”
“But why not?”
“Because,” I said sternly. I let the conversation drop there as I walked ahead of her and Lynn into the classroom.
I slowly realized that I was becoming the center of attention in my little friend group, but for the wrong reasons. They seemed to only want to hang out with me to get dirt on Vic. I wanted friends but I didn’t want to be used for entertainment. That was what my friendship with these people was turning out to be.
“Kell?” I looked up from my notebook to see Lynn standing over me. “Sorry about Sav; she can get a little pushy.”
I nodded. I had noticed.
“It’s alright,” I said although it was a lie. We didn’t need to get into an argument right before class.
“No, it’s not and I’ll tell her. It’s just that we’re all used to it since we’ve known each other for years. I’ll tell her to back off with you until you get more comfortable with her.”
I wanted to tell her not to do that, but the simple fact that she was defending me took all the doubt about my friendship with her from my mind. Yes, Savannah was pushy, but Lynn was friends with her. Good-natured Lynn Gunn, who after my first day of class was my automatic friend, who thought of herself as my best friend, was friends with her and so many other great people. Maybe I was overreacting in the moment.
“Thanks Gunn, you’re good people.”
“Oh, I’m not,” she said, “but I can fake it can’t I?” She finished her sentence with a wink before taking her seat next to me. I couldn’t help but smile.
Savannah joined us and soon class started. Of course it dragged on but things were chill between the three of us. Once the hour was up the three of us walked out of school together.
“You don’t have anything to do tonight, do you?” Lynn asked me. I shook my head.
“Not that I know of.” Mom was going to be working but she told be she’d me off by ten since she wasn’t planning on taking on an extra shift. Rick would be home by dinner but things were kind of weird between us since the weekend. At least they were on my end. He didn’t actually seem to notice.
“Cool, let’s go to the mall. Have you been?”
“To a mall? Yeah, I think so.”
“Hey, I don’t appreciate being out-sassed,” Savannah said in a playful hurt tone.
“Sorry princess,” I apologized. She stuck her tongue out at me.
“Okay, but we should totally go!” Sav said excitedly. “The mall’s huge and there’s this fountain and pond with the cutest turtles and ducks that you can play with and there are some fish and-”
“Calm down, girly,” Lynn interrupted. She turned to me. “As you can see, the mall has a lot of fun things. So what do you say, you wanna hang?”
Before I could open my mouth to respond I felt an arm sling around my shoulders and the body heat of another person against me.
“Sorry ladies, but little Kellin here isn’t going to be going anywhere. We have other plans.”
The girls’ eyes nearly popped out of their heads as they looked between me and the guy whose arm was around me.
“Don’t fucking stare,” he said forcefully, “get gone!” Without a single word Lynn and Savannah went off into the parking lot. I stared in shock at the spot they were once in before turning to the person next to me.
“Who are you?”
I had never seen this person before in my life. Actually, that was a lie. I had seen him once, with Tony. He was sitting with him at the pizza parlor that night when Tony tried to talk me into accepting Vic. This person was tall with tattoos covering his arms, like Tony. He was thin like Tony too, but had stronger features. While Tony had a baby face, this person looked like he could kill you with a single stare.
“Now, now Kellin, that’s no way to talk to me,” he said. I gulped inwardly as he stared me down. “C’mon buddy, let’s go for a ride.”
With a tighter grip on my shoulder he led me to the parking lot. I had no idea where we were going. Was he kidnapping me? No, right? He wouldn’t do that. No one who goes to the same school as you would kidnap you, right? I didn’t know what to think.
“Which car is yours?” he asked. Without thinking I pointed down the row of cars that were still parked to my blue sedan. “Cool,” he said. He took his arm away from me and walked to my car. I stood there confused.
“Um, what’s happening?” I asked when I was finally able to form words.
“Just unlock the car.” I hesitated but did it when I saw the stern look he was giving me. I knew it was a dumb idea but it was better than getting beaten to a pulp.
The stranger, who still hadn’t told me his name, got in the passenger’s side and shut the door while I stood there wondering what the hell had just happened. Some guy I’d never been formally introduced to just got in my car without my consent. I could get him arrested for this, right? I was contemplating this as the familiar sound of my horn rang out. I sighed and rolled my eyes before making my way to my car.
“Glad you could join me,” he said when I sat in my seat and shut the door.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
He chuckled. “I guess I should explain that, huh?” I didn’t answer. “Okay, okay. The name’s Mike. Mike Fuentes. Also known as MikeyWhiskeyHands or Vic’s little brother, whichever you prefer.”
I looked at him questionably. MikeyWhiskeyHands? Vic’s brother? That still didn’t explain why he was in my car.
“You gonna say something?” he asked. I pursed my lips, thinking of a response that wouldn’t be too out of line. This guy was related to Vic so rubbing him the wrong way would be bad news for me.
“I know that look,” Mike said. “I’m nothing like Vic, let me clear that up now. Yes my brother is a jerk sometimes but he’s a good kid. No I don’t use fear tactics like he does. No I’m not gonna beat you up. Yes you’re perfectly safe with me, and yes, I’d like for us to be friends after this.”
“After what?” I asked.
“See, my brother likes to act on impulse a lot. He doesn’t think things out until after the thing happens. So when he asked you to come over today he forgot to give you an address or directions, basically any useful information. That’s why I’m here. I was kinda voluntold to accompany you to our home. Plus he kinda left without me so I wouldn’t have a choice in the matter. Can you believe that? He texted me twenty minutes before class ended to tell me to find you and bring you home. What a jerk.”
I sat there and tried to take in whatever it was that he had just said. He had a chill vibe but boy he could talk once you got him started.
“Anyway,” he said when he noticed that I wasn’t going to respond, “I think we should get going. I need to get home anyway and do chores and you and Vic have something to do. I don’t know, he doesn’t tell me anything. Or maybe he did and I wasn’t paying attention. That’s probably it.”
“So he didn’t tell you why he invited me?” That was something that still hadn’t been cleared since Mike introduced himself to me.
“Nope. Again, he doesn’t tell me shit sometimes. You’d think we’d be closer than that but no, he likes his secrets.”
“Right, so where?” I asked as I turned the key in the ignition and started the car.
It was a ten minute drive to Mike’s house. He would interrupt his direction-giving with random spurts of whatever thought popped in his head. It wasn’t frequent but I could tell that there was a lot going on up there. Soon I was parking the car on the curb in front of his house.
“Hey,” he said as we walked up to the house, “I’ve gotta let you in on something.”
“What’s up?”
“Well, before you go up there, I think you should know that Vic’s very-”
“Vic’s very what?” I looked at the now open door to see Vic standing there with his arms crossed across his chest.
“Pushy,” Mike said while still looking at me. “Vic’s very pushy.”
“Whatever,” Vic said. Mike shrugged at me, sort of an ‘I told you so’ shrug, before going inside.
“Alright,” Vic said. I looked in his direction as he walked back into the house. I stayed in my place on the porch, not knowing if I should follow him. “Well?” he asked when he turned around and saw me standing there. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and followed him inside.
“Let’s get this over with.”
#Waterparks - Dizzy#Vic Fuentes#Kellin Quinn#Pierce The Veil fanfiction#Pierce The Veil fanfic#Fanfiction#Fanfic#Playlist Love#Kellic#Kellic fanfiction#Kellic fanfic
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Oh look another tag
Tagged by @emimiketrash ♥ Rules: Answer the 20 questions and tag 20 amazing followers you would like to get to know better.
Name: online I’m just Renee
Nicknames: I don’t have one for my online alias ;)
Zodiac Sign: Leo
Height: 1,63m
Orientation: still figuring it out? or: I don’t like to label myself/haven’t found a fitting label/i don’t freaking know :’)
Ethnicity: Italian
Favorite fruit: every summery fruit
Favorite Season: I like all of them for different reasons, but maybe Spring is the nicest
Favorite Book: the Captive Prince trilogy by C.S. Pacat ♥
Favorite Flower: Roses, tulips, carnations
Favorite Color: pastels, blue/purple, orange
Favorite Animal: cats!!!!!!
Hot Chocolate, Tea, or Coffe? I love all of them but I can’t live without tea
Average Sleep Hours: 6-8 hours a night
Favorite Fictional Character: Laurent of Vere, Andrew Minyard, Renee Walker, Kaz Brekker, Nina Zenik, Wylan Van Eck, Manon Blackbeak, Adam Parrish, Alucard Emery, Kell Maresh, Rhy Maresh Lila Bard, Victor Nikiforov, Yuuri Katsuki, Yuri Plisetsky, Otabek Altin, Shell Overlord, the Darkling........
Cat or Dog Person? catscatscatscatscats
Ideal number of blankets you sleep with: three when it’s really cold
Ideal Trip: the big cities in Europe, Japan, Iceland
Blog Created: around one week ago lmao, I’d never had Tumblr before
I don’t have 20 mutuals lmao but I tag @severeminx, @chiarren, @ohmypreciousgirl, @nerily and whoever else wants to do this ♥
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