#Selena just steals an entire child

[petralynnluna]

Selena stalking the bats because well... Batcat reasons

Spots another stalker, much smaller with camera

Is interrupted by a rouge deciding to recreate Godzilla but in Gotham and without the monster.

Ends up scooping the small child up and bunkering down while the city goes to shit.

The smaller stalker is... A strange child. Very well mannered, very aware of how much of her space how much of her time he is taking up. Very apologetic about everything.

It takes longer than it should for her to remember that children typically have parents. And that while the kid was fine with her assuming he was a street kid he had a very expensive photography kit. And not nearly enough meat on his bones.

It takes just a little and then he's opening up, but not really he thinks he's trying to convince her to let him walk home alone. My parents think I'm very self sufficient, no of course I don't have a nanny I'm not a child he very much is a child, their in Egypt they don't keep up with the news, well I guess you would be interested in the jade cat l.

So he agrees to let her drive him home.

She makes a detour, tells him to play along. Introduces him as her son, to batman... Not that he's supposed to know Mr. Wayne is batman.

He doesn't break character, neither of his "parents" are blood type O... And doing a field blood transfusion... Is going to raise some questions.

[scrcamingcolcr]

welcome to london, MABEL MORA! did anyone ever tell you that you look just like SELENA GOMEZ? well, no matter, we hear that you are 29 and working as an ARTIST. we also hear that you currently DON’T HAVE your memories from ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING and have a tendency to be LOYAL as well as MOODY.

basics:

full name:  mabel mora

gender:  cis female

pronouns:  she/her

sexuality:  bisexual

age:  twenty-nine

date of birth:  february 13th

zodiac sign:  aquarius

occupation:  artist

species:  human

universe:  only murders in the building

memories old life: nonexistent

appearance:

faceclaim:  selena gomez

eyes:  brown

hair:  brown 

piercings:  none

tattoos: a whale on her back (left shoulder)

other facts:

TW: anxiety

in an attempt to adjust to the situation and the weird feeling of having no clue what her life had looked like the first 29 years of her life, mabel instantly found her escape in the form of art when she woke up in london a couple of weeks ago

she's been mostly keeping to herself, trying to deal with a bout of anxiety due to the stress of adjusting to something unfamiliar

she's currently in the process of accepting that those memories may never come back and trying to build a new life/a first life in the city she found herself in

canon background on only murders in the building:

TW: cancer, death, stealing

When Mabel was a child, her parents told her her father had to move out for work. She visited him at his new place, where they did puzzles together, using tricks to make them more of a challenge. Mabel became frustrated when her father began breaking promises to her. Unbeknownst to Mabel, her father had stomach cancer. When he ended up in the hospital, Mabel visited him and lay in his bed with him.

Mabel grew up in Bayport, Long Island, where she lived with her mother Silvia Mora, who was a single mother after the death of Mabel's father. She would spend every school break at the Arconia with her wealthy aunt Salma Ramirez, who lived in apartment 12E.

In 2002 or 2003, while spending time at the Arconia, Mabel met Tim Kono in the building's inner courtyard when she was drawing at the fountain, interrupting Tim's game. Tim became interested in a book Mabel was reading, The Missing Chums from The Hardy Boys series. The two eventually became good friends, and would reunite every school break when Mabel visited the Arconia to read The Hardy Boys book series and pretend they were the Hardy Boys, solving mysteries they would make up around Tim's apartment for years. At some point, Mabel and Tim met Oscar Torres and Zoe Cassidy. Oscar, whose dad is the Arconia's superintendent, copied his dad's key so the Hardy Boys could break into any apartment while the owners were out of town. Although Zoe and her family lived on the entire 11th floor of the Arconia, she would steal things of value whenever the Hardy Boys broke into an apartment.

After her friend Tim Kono was murdered she teamed up with her neighbors Charles Haden-Savage (a once famous actor) and Oliver Putnam (a struggling theater director) to do a podcast on the murder in their building.

(more info here)

[the-incapable-hero]

Yo I saw this done by someone (sorry, I forgot who, but I think I reblogged the post) and my dreams are insane, so here

Dream SMP members as characters from my dreams!

Side note: characters of the same color name are from the same dream.

Dream (lol): The leader of a huge corporation that had an entire civilization under its thumb. Known as the Overlord, he would take control of mindless superheroes created to defend the people and use their powers to threaten the city.

Awesamdude: A general in charge of a secret group of high ranking and specialized agents that work to protect people from semi-concious pockets of energy that possess inanimate objects. He's high ranking but plays by his own very strict rules and uses his authority to help those who need his help.

Karl Jacobs: A boy who I've seen in several dreams and who's helped me escape several situations and moved the plot of the dream forward. Once, upon asking him how I was supposed to escape some people after me, he simply responded with "just wake up." When I fell back asleep, the dream resumed and he asked me why I came back

Tommy: A rambunctious friend named Sam who, despite his powers being very limited, he was somehow able to weasel his way into the main plot of the dream and not even use his powers to do so

Tubbo: The best friend of Sam and in a similar position with her powers, but she was the more stable of the two. When confronted with how to deal with a big issue, her immediate response was still similar to Sam's "it's fine! You can just steal the documents!" The documents in question were about catastrophic weapons of mass destruction.

Ranboo: A man named Clark who was disguised as a person with weaker powers but was actually of a rarer variety. Serious main character vibes and he was best friends with Sam and the nameless second friend. He eventually joined the general's (Sam's character) special unit.

Jshlatt: A woman named Selena who was a high rank in an organization and dubbed herself the top of the hierarchy. She also decided to manipulate whole countries into war for money.

Quackity: A man known as the "Green Rebel" but had given up his duties as a rebellion leader as soon as he got captured and instead tried to suck up to his captors and slowly went mad in prison.

Philza: A father who led his kids and their friends so that they could overthrow the government and escape horrible living conditions and save them from child labor. He had no powers, but was able to survive several attacks from supervillains

Tachnoblade: A friend that lived with me and the father character if only because she hung around us more than her own family. She helped us take down the government and was the reason that mindless superheroes stopped being made after she yelled at the people making them for being idiots and giving the Overlord power. Side note: she really had some Tachnoblade vibes when I talked to her.

Wilbur: A pleasant girl I met on a trip and spent the whole day with. She was funny and knew the area well. Later, the teacher asked me why I spent the whole day alone and I discovered that the girl was actually a ghost that the teacher had accidentally killed in a hit and run and I had been talking to her ghost.

Yeah. I can't think of any more that fit, but if any come to mind, then I might add to it. Hope you like it!

[rivalsofnycupdates]

“Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath.”

■ ABOUT. ■

name: Angelina Como age: twenty-seven occupation: drug dealer gender: cis-female pronouns: she/her sexuality: utp

■ HISTORY. ■

Growing up with the evident affiliation with the Quantum of Devils wasn’t something most kids experienced. Angelina didn’t personally see a difference, she didn’t care that people looked at her strangely, or some people at school weren’t allowed to hang out with her after school hours. Angelina never took it personally, she saw their rejections as their weakness, not hers. Being one of two daughters to the president, a lot of people underestimated her at first. They weren’t sure what she’d amount to. As she got older and became more socially aware, it became a goal to prove them all wrong. Angelina has always loved putting people in positions where they owed her something. Whether it was something tangible or simply a favour in the future, that sense of high made her feel powerful. Just like her father, she was power-hungry. She pictured herself being president of the Quantum of Devils for her entire life. It’s what was told and sometimes expected of her. Angelina soon became obsessed with that very feeling and of course, did what she could to never let that feeling inside diminish. She was lucky to find a best friend who was the exact same. Since the day they met in the first grade she and her best friend became two of the scariest kids on the playground. The two of them always played pranks and enjoyed the game of blackmail way too much.

One of her best pranks she ever executed was when she lead a group of second-generation Devils to burn down the private school that was about to celebrate its grand opening. Her plan was effortless until all those rich kids who were supposed to attend the private school, suddenly enrolled in her public high school. She hadn’t expected that outcome and by far wasn’t pleased in the slightest. She hated the idea of outsiders coming into her school and taking over, though she decided to change her point of view and look at the positive side. She and her close friends saw this as an opportunity. They used the assimilation of schools to their advantage. It was safe to say that in high school Angelina would often lead the group of second-generation royals through various plans to keep their control of the school. It was in her nature to lead and she played the part effortlessly. She set out so most of the second generation devils members would start selling drugs for double to the rich kids knowing they could easily afford it. Her group became the biggest drug dealers amongst theirs and many high schools in their area.

Angelina and the rest of the teenage Devils ruled the school and almost every party that was hosted in the four years of high school. After graduation, she did what all her friends did and put her name in the hat for the prospect. During that time, most of her friends were older than her, her two close friends Wren and Selena were both older so when she became a prospect, they were already full members. Somehow the group of prospects she’d worked with, didn’t know who she was at first and they gave her hell. Being one of the only female prospects at the time, she used her wit and mental ability to tear someone down as her weapon to scare them off. After becoming a full member, she went back to her roots and began selling drugs for the club. Angelina made a small name for herself in the drug business in Texas, she often held the cards and was owed many favours. Her favourite position to be in.

When a new member joined the Devils she didn’t think much of it at first, especially since this member was the same age as her dad. She didn’t make them work for her trust like she would if someone her own age joined. She watched his Garrett character climb the ladder and get close to her father. The closeness of their relationship worried her because she wondered if he was trying to steal the seat she rightly wanted and deserved. Her father had started giving Garrett attention than his own daughter. Angelina wanted the be the president, everyone knew it and believed it could have been a smart move when the time was right. Angelina knew at that time she wasn’t ready for the presidency, she still had so much to learn, though it was a goal she didn’t want to push aside for. Garrett’s friendship started to frustrate her on a personal level, she chose to do her own spying and gain as much information as she could. She needed to know who this random man was.

■ WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON? ■

Angelina Como was born into the original Devils, her father was one of the original members who built the club from the ground, and for that, she will always have a personal commitment to the quantum of devils. Her father was incredibly committed and had become president when she was six years old. When Garrett started to weasel his way into her father’s life, she had a feeling he wasn’t trustworthy. The more she tried to talk to her father about it the more he pushed her off and treated her like a child. Which for one, furiously aggravated her. It’s for that reason, she took matters into her own hands and tried her best to find something against Tubbs.

■ KEEP THIS AWAY FROM YOUR ENEMIES ■

When the second charter moved to New York Angelina continued to collect dirt on Tubbs, most of the club already trusted and respected him though she wasn’t buying it. While in New York, she kept a close eye on him. She followed him everywhere he went, she watched him pay off a local to purposely planted drugs into the bar. At first, she thought it might be a safe house he’d pre-planned, though when the news reported that the very same bar was raided and two well-known club members were incarcerated. Angelina felt the events must have been connected. While this wasn’t proof, she wanted to bring this up to her father. When she saw him and Tubbs together, she obviously followed them. She waited for the Tubbs would leave her father alone. Although, her waiting would be the biggest regret of her life. Within minutes, she witnessed Tubbs kill her father right in front of her eyes. Without thinking, she crept away knowing she’d be next if she were caught. She was a wreck when she made her way back to the new clubhouse that she confided in the first person who found her. For months she tried her best to find an angle where the club would believe her, now that they were in New York, she needed to know Tubbs connection with the gang bar he’d planted the drugs in. That was her only lead to finding out why they were in New York and what connection he had to that gang.

■ RELATIONSHIPS. ■

■ Ivanna Martinez: While Angelina works to bring down Tubbs she’s still doing her best at staying under the radar, which is why she’s started working with Ivanna at the new club.

■ Kevin Walsh: Kevin is someone she often sees at the club, she thinks of him as a go-to invite when she plans on drifting into a state of serious alcohol.

■ Maverick Ambrose: When she arrived back at the new clubhouse after witnessing her father get shot. She felt like the whole world had been on her shoulders. She was falling apart when Maveric found her and took her into the city for drinks. She’d known Maverick since birth and trusted him to share her doubts and information about Tubbs, including what she’d just witnessed.

■ CONNECTIONS. ■

■  Margaret Brooks > Manager

■  Miguel Fuentes > Friend

■  Anastasia Jones > Has helped her Spy on Garrett

Angelina Como is an OPEN character and is portrayed by Jeanine Mason who’s FC IS SEMI NEGOTIABLE.

[userlarri]

stealing @jakeperalta‘s idea of putting all of the tag games friends have shared into one post - ella, you’re a genius!! if anyone feels like doing any of these, pretend i tagged you 💕 

tagged by @cheddarholt  💖

honey and lemon or milk and sugar // musicals or plays // lemonade or iced tea // strawberries or raspberries // winter or summer // beaches or forests // diners or cafés // unicorns or dragons // gemstones or crystals // hummingbirds or owls // fireworks or sparklers // brunch or happy hour // sweet or sour // Rome or Amsterdam // classic or modern art // sushi or ramen // sun or moon // polka dots or stripes // macarons or croissants // glitter or matte // degas or seurat // aquariums or planetariums // road trip or camping trip // colouring books or water color // fairy lights or candles

---

tagged by @charmainediyoza  💖

Rules: put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up, then tag 10 others to do the same! (disclosure - i shuffled my liked songs on spotify)

let me get me / selena gomez

tequila makes her clothes fall off / joe nichols

time after time / quietdrive

don’t let me be the last to know / britney spears

home / sundy best

it’s nice to have a friend / taylor swift

freak / little mix

this kiss / faith hill

a.d.i.d.a.s. / little mix

you don’t do it for me any more / demi lovato

let me just say, this list is not a very good representation of my taste lol

---

tagged by @smilecapsules  💖 

top seven comfort movies

grease

miss congeniality

any disney tbh... but if i can only have one, mary poppins

anastasia

now and then

the princess diaries

10 things i hate about you

---

tagged by @jacobperaltaz  💖

RULES ⇥ TURN YOUR URL INTO SONG TITLES (because we all need a little more music in our lives) 🎵🎧

enchanted / taylor swift

i do / cardi b ft. sza

gravity / john mayer

have i told you lately / van morrison

temproary fix / one direction

your love / the outfield

no judgement / niall horan (stream this album!! my mans doesn’t miss!!)

island in the sun / weezer

new year’s day / taylor swift

everywhere / michelle branch

somebody to love / queen

really enjoyed this one, too!! THIS is better view of my music taste, but still there’s so much more

---

tagged by @smilecapsules💖

Rules: name 10 favorite characters from 10 different things and then tag 10 people

remus lupin, harry potter

amy santiago, brooklyn 99

ben wyatt, parks and rec

erin hannon, the office

mindy lahiri, the mindy project

titus andromedon, unbreakable kimmy schmidt

peter parker/spiderman, marvel

james aubrey, bones

janet, the good place

chandler bing, friends

what can i say - your girl loves some sitcoms

---

tagged by @greatbigstorm 💖

🌿 favourite comfort food: chicken and dumplings

🌼 favourite alcohol (or hot drink!): margaritas! but also hot chocolate

🌷 favourite relaxing activity: giffing

🌸 favourite fluffy/feel-good fic: none come to mind. haven’t read fic in a minute

🌻 favourite calming scent: anything vanilla tbh

🌺 favourite relaxing (or uplifting) song: have i told you lately by van morrison

🌵 favourite white noise: thunderstormss

🍄 favourite book to get lost in: the outsiders by s.e. hinton

💐 favourite chill out tv show: parks and rec or friends

🌹 the best advice you’ve ever had: don’t let the bastards get you down

---

tagged by @smilecapsules  💖

top 3 ships? ugh..... ben x leslie, jake x amy, ron x hermione

last song? no judgment / niall horan

last movie? the princess diaries

food i’m craving? oh man, i’d kill for some warm cheesecake brownies right now....i gotta make some this weekend

---

tagged by @greatbigstorm 💖 

Bold what applies to you

♡ appearance ♡ i am over 5’5 // i wear glasses/contacts // i have blonde hair // i prefer loose clothing over tight clothing // i have one or more piercings// i have at least one tattoo // i have blue eyes // i have dyed or highlighted my hair // i have gotten plastic surgery // i have or had braces // i sunburn easily // i have freckles // i paint my nails // i typically wear makeup // i don’t often smile // i am pleased with how i look // i prefer nike to adidas // i wear baseball caps backwards

♡ hobbies and interests ♡ i play a sport // i can play an instrument // i am artistic // i know more than one language // i have won a trophy in some sort of competition // i can cook or bake without a recipe // i know how to swim // i enjoy writing // i can do origami // i prefer movies to tv shows // i can execute a perfect somersault // i enjoy singing // i could survive in the wild on my own // i have read a new book series this year // i enjoy spending time with my friends // i travel during school or work breaks // i can do a handstand (in the pool? lol)

♡ relationships ♡ i am in a relationship // i have been single for over a year // i have a crush // i have a best friend i have known for ten years // my parents are together // i have hooked up with my best friend // i am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // i have had a long-distance relationship // i am an only child // i give advice to my friends // i have made an online friend // i met up with someone i have met online

♡ aesthetics ♡ i have heard the ocean in a conch shell // i have watched the sunrise // i enjoy rainy days // i have slept under the stars // i meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // i enjoy the smell of the beach // i know what snow tastes like // i listen to music to fall asleep // i enjoy thunderstorms //i enjoy cloud watching // i have attended a bonfire // i pay close attention to colors // i find mystery in the ocean // i enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favorite season

♡ miscellaneous ♡ i can fall asleep in moving vehicles // i am the mom friend // i live by a certain quote(s) // i like the smell of sharpies // i am involved in extracurricular activities // i enjoy mexican food // i can drive a stick-shift // i believe in true love // i make up scenarios to fall asleep // i sing in the shower // i wish i lived in a superhero movie // i have a canopy above my bed // i am multiracial // i am a redhead // i own at least 3 dogs

[duskgathers]

what're dick's thoughts on some of the more morally grey characters like catwoman/selena or harley quinn/harleen

honestly, despite what some of the fandom and the family might think, dick is friends and respects a lot of morally grey characters, even those on the villains’ side. he’s by far more comfortable with selena than with harley (selena does have an on-and-off relationship with bruce that dick doesn’t necessarily hate but doesn’t necessarily love either; although, dick definitely prefers selena to talia, who he’s hated ever since he was a little kid), of course, but that’s mainly because he still really hates the joker for jason’s death, so when harley is with the joker, dick tends to be “////:” at her (when she’s alone, depending on what she’s doing, he doesn’t really mind her as much). 

i mean, he has a friendly enough disposition that he seemed just slightly annoyed by deathstroke of all people ( until, ofc, deathstroke helped a bunch of people bomb bludhaven and kill, probably, 90% of the population, where dick therefore jumped straight into I’LL RUIN YOUR LIFE DEATHSTROKE YOU WANNA FUCKING BET and then proceeded to “take” his only child left away from him ).

i mean, it’s not like he LIKES the actions that the others take all of the time ( if selena steals from a rich person and gives some of the money back to the homeless, well, dick’s not going to be too upset about that. if she uses all of the money to ONLY pay herself, however, dick’s going to be like “really?” ). 

to briefly mention jason, his discomfort with jason’s killing of others stems more of dick’s desire for bruce and jason to come back together as a family and the fact that he doesn’t want jason to turn into a killer/serial killer, not the fact he disagrees that those people shouldn’t have died, necessarily ( although, it does depend on the person and whether or not they have a family ).

this is the man who beat the joker to death with his bare hands. rage reaction, mental breakdown or not, there is just something deeply personal about beating someone with their bare hands that might be entirely possible once he’s snapped but not unless he had the potential for it, y’know? 

dick holds himself to a higher standard, ofc, because a lot of his beliefs in the “no-killing” rule ties in very heavily to how he feels about bruce – or, rather, what he perceives bruce might feel about him. which is why he has his breakdown after he kills the joker and after he let tarantula kill blockbuster, he thinks about how bruce would react. 

but, like, either way, as i said just a paragraph before, dick will always hold himself to a higher standard than the rest of humanity. that’s just what he does – he demands perfection of himself, but he knows that the world isn’t as black-and-white as he tries to portray himself as. 

[odogaronfang]

okay here it is!!! the long-awaited (not really) masterpost of hc’s about the background characters!!!

@105ttt and i have been working on this stuff for a couple weeks now and i’ve finally got around to making it into something shareable!! and i’m excited because now this means i get to use them in fics without people being completely lost!!!!

anyway this post is long so i’m gonna put it under a readmore-

Leonel

-link’s father

-captain of the guard & keeper of the wind key

-close friends with artura and valensuela since childhood

-because of the circumstances, he’s very well-read on the various legends/stories of the past heroes

-is a stand-in father for zelda sometimes because of how close she and his son(s) are

-constantly worried about his kids (sometimes because of the trouble they’ve been in, sometimes because of the trouble they cause)

-definitely the ‘cool manager’ type of captain- does what he needs to in order to run an efficient guard, but he’s also good friends with all of them

-there are days where he wants to take his kids out to town for a family day and there are days where he wants to throw them all out a window

Artura

-the captain’s top knight

-friends with leonel since childhood; they weren’t in the same battalion until they became full knights but leonel would cut sessions to go train with his group

-specialized in heavy armored combat, proficient in several kinds of weaponry but mostly uses bludgeoning weapons

-the backup dad for vio when leonel is busy because hylia knows vio needs constant supervision

-the embodiment of the gentle giant trope- does a lot of favors for people and the castle town kids ADORE him

-always busy + always tired. give artura his vacation days please

-he has a special room in the castle he goes to when he needs alone time and doesn’t want to be bothered. vio is allowed in but only grudgingly and only if he’s maintained at least one (1) week of decent behavior

-works a lot with younger trainees (mostly around link’s age); has a lot of instructional tasks on top of his regular patrol duties

-he doesn’t take off his armor in public a lot, so most people haven’t seen him out of it. there’s a joke among the younger groups that artura isn’t actually a person but rather a darknut or one of the phantom knights animated by the royal family’s magic. (actually it’s just because he’s secretly a twink and he doesn’t want people knowing that Mr. Top Knight/Mr. Living Darknut couldn’t hit 160lbs if he was soaking wet.)

Valensuela

-keeper of the water key

-close friends with leonel since childhood; was in the same trainee battalion as him

-trained for armored combat but dislikes wearing heavy plate- if he wears a lot of armor, it’s usually maille

-can dual-wield, but usually opts for one larger sword instead of two smaller ones

-basically adopts green after the pyramid incident. just steals him from leonel. green is his son now. green accidentally calls valensuela ‘dad’ once and leonel’s parentship of green ends right there.

-appears very dignified and serious but actually has a flair for the theatrical. most people are not aware of this but his friends know.

-leonel’s second-in-command, but he’s far more task-oriented and doesn’t deal with people as well as leonel does. he can come across as a little brusque with people he isn’t familiar with so he tries not to take that role if he doesn’t have to.

-not a personality headcanon but he has a scar on his forehead from when green shattered his helmet in the pyramid. and after he’s overcome the trauma that came with that whole ordeal, he definitely brags about it. someone asks what happened to him for him to have a scar like that and he’s like “oh my son did that isn’t he talented?”

Lucien

-keeper of the fire key

-so chill. extremely laid-back guy. the kind of guy you go to hang out with when you want to do something social but you don’t want to leave your house (or even your couch).

-kinda lazy when it comes to little mundane tasks, which he caught a lot of flak for while he was still in training, but wholeheartedly dedicated to his job when it comes down to it.

-basically adopts red. they’re like best buds. red makes lucien carry him around on his shoulders so he doesn’t have to walk but lucien doesn’t mind.

-absolutely the kind of person to disappear for an entire day and when you find him again and ask him where he went he says he was in the living room the whole time

-very good at cooking, but only the really time-consuming, complicated recipes, which goes directly against his low-effort nature. he rarely cooks, but everyone looks forward to the days that he does.

-also the kind of person to “work out” by doing one push up every five minutes. the second he hears someone approaching he’ll stay in mid-push-up position and when they walk in he’ll say “one thousand”. (he only actually made it to nine.)

-if he isn’t in armor he’s in sweats. “dress more professionally” the captain says to him one day. he shows up to breakfast the next morning wearing sweats again, but this time he also has a tie on.

-the tallest of the group, which artura makes fun of (it’s all in good fun. he just makes fun of artura for being so small.)

Wes

-keeper of the earth key

-the high-energy go-getter of the group. his energy alone balances out the chronically low-key natures of artura and lucien. basically an eternal child at heart.

-ALWAYS ready to throw down. it isn’t even that he has anger issues, he just needs a way to get rid of his restless energy while also triumphing in his various conflicts, and to him, fighting (within the controlled setting of a spar) is the easiest way to do that.

-one of those people that has to be physically restrained from doing dumb things. “hey i bet i could land in the hot spring if i jumped from the third story balcony” “wes you will break all of the bones in your lower body” “and??”

-also the guy in the group that’s constantly making bets and daring people to do things. he violates the sanctity of the triple dog dare by using it literally every time. he is also eerily good at predicting the correct outcome of bets.

-learns little things like sleight-of-hand tricks just to fudge them at the end; he’ll keep a group of little kids enamored with the “magic” before asking if they want to see the finale where he makes the cards disappear. the kids say yes and he just hurls the entire deck into a nearby bush. “there,” he says with pride as he walks away, “they’re gone.” (he would never actually upset the kids. if they look too disappointed he’ll sigh and go get the cards and do an actual disappearing trick just to make them better.)

-definitely takes blue under his wing. they spar like every morning. the other links might try to go on kitchen raids without their parents’/mentors’ knowing but blue goes WITH wes to go steal the best-looking cookies fresh off the baking sheet. arcy always gives wes grief for enabling that behavior but wes knows she won’t actually do anything about it

Selenas

-another of the captain’s high-ranking knights

-the exasperated lawful good of the group. he tries so hard to get the rest of them to follow the rules but it never works. he knows there’s no point to the efforts anymore but he still tries.

-the constant sigh-er of the group. you’d think he had respiratory issues if you didn’t know him.

-is tasked with helping to keep shadow in line because of his lawful good status. he’s the strict parent who insists upon balanced meals with a lot of vegetables and who believes in a strict 8pm bedtime. he will not hesitate to confiscate shadow’s laptop if he’s misbehaving. shadow despises him but he’s doing all of hyrule a great favor.

-doesn’t safeguard a royal jewel so he’s kind of an outlier but it’s fine, everything’s fine, he doesn’t need a jewel to prove that he’s a good knight and no, he isn’t envious, no not even a tiny bit, why would anyone ask that,

-prefers long-reach weapons like pikes and halberds over swords/daggers

[all of the above-mentioned knights are collectively referred to as the cape squad by the links]

Arcy

-one of the castle chefs

-an ex-knight; had barely made it into full knighthood before receiving a career-ending injury

-decided to continue work at the castle as a chef so she could still be around friends + to provide for her daughter

-was in the same trainee battalion as artura for armored combat, so they’re old friends

-her daughter is adopted; keina is the biological daughter of a late friend of arcy’s who died from birth complications

-is actually still technically in reserve for the guard; in a state of emergency she’s tasked with aiding evacuation efforts

-she’s the most popular chef among the knights because she takes requests. there’s a weekly competition among battalions and the winning one gets to choose the weekend meals that she makes. it’s a good motivator, especially for the ones in training, and it also gets her friends in high places (:

Keina

(see above images)

-arcy’s adopted daughter

-she’s very sickly; she’s never gone beyond the gates of castle town and barely even leaves the castle grounds. the only time she’s been beyond castle town was when she fled the castle with arcy, and she was in extremely poor health the entire time.

-she’s friends with the links + erune; they’ll often visit her and bring her things from other towns (or in erune’s case, her hometown) so she can still experience new things

-has a lot of pen pals all over hyrule since she can’t leave her home to go see people- she gets like two dozen letters a week and it helps keep her busy

-very knowledgeable on a lot of different subjects! because she’s often home- and sometimes even bed-bound, she spends a lot of time reading and writing and will sometimes illustrate as well. she’d like to be some kind of professional scholar so she can still contribute even when her health prevents her from travel.

[oc-review-shop]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica OC: Luna Yuzuki

Submitted by: daniluni

Reviewed by: Mod Charle

Whe My first PMMM oc

Name: Luna Yuzuki Age at magical girl contract: 10 Time as a magical girl in main timeline: around 2 years Wish: To be a classical witch, with hexes, magic and curses. (She can only cause minor inconveniences though) Reasoning behind this wish: Because she wanted take revenge on her  elder sister Selene’s bullies, who shunned,belittled and beat her up.

I feel like you need more reasoning behind her wish to become a classical witch. In this scenario with Luna’s sister being bullied, I would assume Luna would simply tell Kyubey “give me the power to protect my sister”. I don’t think her wish would be to “become a classical witch”. However, you can still incorporate the classical witch appearance into Luna’s magical girl form, if she read many fairy tale books as a child and such.

Weapon: a cat shaped broom, which can float and support her weight, shoot beams of light (which are more like distractions) and be used as a staff (her method of fighting).

I’m not gonna lie, I really dig this weapon. She was 10 years old at the time of her contract which would explain the cuteness of her weapon. It’s also really useful and reliable at the same time.

Appareance and uniform: She is a short magical girl, with freckles gray eyes and long bushy hair, she wears a lavender poofy shirt with poofy sleeves, a dark purple vest with a big pink ribbon located at the heart position with her red soul gem there , a dark purple bubble skirt (with frills!), pink and lavender  stockings, dark purple shoes with ribbons, and  a pointy dark purple hat with a ribbon

First of all, I don’t think you mentioned her hair color. Second of all, I feel like her outfit might need some tweaking. She does give off a Selena Grace vibe (I assume a lot of your OC was influenced by her) yet it doesn’t fit your idea of a witch. I think it would be better if her colors were a little more on the darker side. The ribbons are a good touch since they add to her innocence and young age, but her outfit in general should look more like a witch (pointed shoes, spiky-ish sleeves) but I do LOVE the bubble skirt.

Personality: Frank, Stubborn,Supportive, Efusive,Sees things in black and white, Friendly, Energetic

She may be a little contradicting in herself, but it could work out.

Pre Contract and encounter with Kyubey: Luna and her sister Selene lived in England with their mother Chandra who often told them fairy tale stories  

I hope these are stories about witches and fairy tales

and their father Kosuke, their lives where quiet and happy since Luna and Selene lived basically all their lives there, but, alas, good things had to end, after Chandra died of heart failure and there was no way of contacting Chandra’s parent’s, they had to move to Japan and start anew, while Luna adapted rather quickly, making some friends and becoming mildly popular, Selene had a lot of trouble due to being a slow learner, having a stutter, and a more withdrawn personality, being a clumsy pushover  which annoyed a certain group of girls (3 girls) who decided to pick up on her which hurt Selene’s already low self steem, and she started to develop a strong depression, starting to not care about anything.

Although the point of moving to Japan was to give Luna a chance to see Selene’s bullying, they didn’t necessarily have to move to Japan specifically. Japan doesn’t have any significant purpose in Luna’s story unless there is specific development in her character with one of the other present magical girls (although I do like it when OC’s keep their interactions and developments to themselves, especially in the PMMM world). There are magical girls all over the world, so London could have sufficed for the setting.

When Luna was taking care of Selene she spotted a catlike figure stealing something from her desk, and she ran to catch the thief , throwing things at them, and yelling angrily and through tears “You can’t have that! It’s from my sister and it makes her happy” the figure revealed itself to be Kyubey, who apologized and asked her for a contract… and she accepted.

Kyubey is a goddamn hoe

However, like I said, a more realistic wish for Luna would be for the ability to protect her older sister or something around that.

Despair: While things seemed to go better for Selene, her Bullies weren’t quite happy with that, because they  had inconveniences over inconveniences, that often got them suspended  (They tripped on their faces on P.E, broke their pens, got their uniforms splashed, arriving very late) they decided Selene was a jinx/bad luck bringer and decided to put the entire classroom against her, and Selene couldn’t take it anymore, when Luna went to the restroom, she found the dead body of her sister, with vomit stains and an emptied out bottle of floor cleaner on her hand, that scene broke poor Luna’s heart who just yelled “Why, Why?! ” Kyubey appeared just to answer it was her wish to be a witch, to attack Selene’s bullies and thats just what she did,Luna just started throwing things at kyubey, attacking furiously while her soul gem became darker and darker.

Man these bullies are MEAN. I really do wonder how Luna found Selene first before anyone else since she did commit suicide in a school bathroom. Kyubey is also a little bitch.

Witch name and description: Margaret The BullyHunter Witch: She has a protective nature, she cares for the powerless, the weak and the helpless, she cannot stand abusers and bullies, powerful on hot sun days, best time to fight her is in a cold and rainy night

You could probably change BullyHunter to something like the Chivalry Witch. It sounds a little more sophisticated. The witch’s personality and purpose do fit her very well, I have to admit.

Madoka’s reset: In Madoka’s reset she has a less black and white look of the world, and started to introduce Selene to her friends, being less vengeful and more supportive, and when time took its toll on her, Madoka took her away

I agree that this is a very good Madoka reset for Luna. However, I would like to know more about when exactly Luna was taken away by Madoka and how this happened.

Homura’s reset (yes im doing that too, lol) : While nothing much has changed and she still had to move to Japan, her father remarried, and Selene started to go to other school, with much nicer classmates, and Luna began practicing stage magic to surprise her friends, even though she wondered what would happen if Selene’s classmates weren’t nice

Stage magic is a good addition to Luna’s extracurriculars since it hints at her witch-like form as a magical girl. She seems VERY protective over Selene, and I would like to get more into the personalities and dynamics the two share.

Trivia: *Margaret (her witch name) is in reference of Margaret Hamilton, who was the iconic Wicked Witch of The West

NICE CONNECTION

*Her sister is 4 years older than her

If the age gap was 4 years, they wouldn’t be at the same school, which makes me wonder how Luna knew so much about Selene’s activities with the bullies. I would suggest making the age gap slightly closer. Also take into consideration grade levels. Luna would be in elementary school while Selene would be in middle school.

*She met Kyoko and Mami and fought alongside them, she thinks fondly of Mami, but doesn’t think highly of Kyoko, because she finds her rude, because of her black and white thinking

I don’t know if this has much of an effect on Luna’s story overall. I feel as if this is unnecessary and the plot would be fine if there wasn’t any interaction with the PMMM magical girls.

*She has a vivid imagination *Her mother was of  mixed race (Punjabi-White) *her life in Homura’s reset is what would have happened if she met and interacted with Homura *Her witch form looks like a combination of common witch familiars (Crows, owls, cats, bats,frogs)  while her familiars are cauldrons with broom legs.

I love her familiars.

Overall, Luna was a very good OC. I thought she was well written and well elaborated on. There are a few things you need to fix about her, but I think she is one of the better PMMM OCs I’ve seen (She’s not a Mary Sue!)

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps! (^▽^)

*All OC credit goes to daniluni

~Mod Charle

[thethrillof]

TB + Royalty AU?

this is not too great and super late but /flings out anyway 

predictably: the waynes were royalty, with king thomas and queen martha assassinated when bruce was young.

as a literal child with a lot of power (more than if he was “just” rich) he orders the entire kingdom to search for the murderer. which was going to happen anyway naturally but he was incredibly intense and offered an insane amount of money to whoever caught or killed the assassin

and this turns out badly! lots of fakes both captured and killed and it took time to…work through a tiny bit of the grief enough to realize oh fuck that’s actually incredibly awful and a lot of people are being hurt because of him, call it off to keep the damages from getting even worse.

bruce is far less well-traveled than canon. he generally has to stay in his kingdom to keep things working–or he could leave but he is far too paranoid concerned about leaving the kingdom alone, even if alfred or lucius are definitely capable of running it for a while.

ellen yin is a ~princess~ from a neighboring kingdom and shows up to see if the king is worth shit if she needs to marry eventually.

he’s more openly mature than in canon, but he does have a few moments of not seeming too competent/letting his shittier advisers “manipulate” him and he’s just...only a last resort if political bullshit happens.

not that anyone knows she was there properly (probably, bruce and alfred may have suspected) b/c she showed up under the guise of a knight. 

ethan is an actual knight of bruce’s but is def treated better than one. still bruce’s buddy and a p good adviser. there is resentment about that but everyone else can Fuck Right Off.

ozzie comes from royal blood, but...old royal blood. like rly old. it’s been like at least a couple centuries generations since thee cobblepots were ruling the roost, and where that kingdom used to be is now a chopped-up bit of other kingdoms’ borders. 

penguin bounces between all of ‘em. he is very annoying and amazing at evasion.

catwoman is basically just herself. loves cats, lives somewhere near that one particular mess of borders and steals from all the kingdoms she can slip into as well.

the difference between her and penguin is that while penguin has a Thing against royalty, he does steal from anywhere he can; in contrast, selena doesn’t give a shit about royalty personally, but tends to focus on them in her thievery b/c they tend to have the best stuff.

[lorelaisgilmoresarchive-blog]

- ̗̀ ❝ where they at now !!

a list from royalty - 1 x 1 ( because i’m bored and instead of doing my homework... i want to do this. ) anyway @ me hoooes LETS PLOT

royalty:

victor gabriel bartolome ( douglas booth ) — king of spain, doting father of a perfect little girl, who’s going to be queen someday. focusing on the new world, bc LAND TO CONQUER he wants to live up to his momma tbh. currently sharing his wife with his best friend because he died that one time it’s #complicated.

elizabeth penelope adair * nee of kent * ( adelaide kane ) — princess of england, duchess of kent & many more, eternally pregnant will probably die pregnant. married and stupid in love... literally making heart eyes at her husband from across the hall her family thinks it’s disgusting. if you can’t find her she’s having sex. mother of many children and cats. currently crying about donna, being fat and yellow lemons. 

sofia fatima adair * nee de andrade * ( selena gomez ) — princess of england, duchess of whatever her husband owns lmao, eloped because she and her husband have a sense of adventure.  working on the marriage thing and dealing with the fact that hubs has *wiggles eyebrows* past. ignoring her best friend bc she married french. thinks the king of england is god, prays to him daily and she steals all the flan in order to make elizabeth cry

maximiliano de andrade ( chace crawford ) — royal duke of burgundy, right hand of the spanish king, little brother who acts like the eldest. constantly worried about his sisters and brother. he married vg’s wife once because he died. currently figuring out how the sex works #lovetriangles

gabriel de andrade ( gregg sulkin ) — royal duke of ( what duchy was anne’s? lmfao ), married to the eternal bane of his existence he calls her hades for short. some people call her a princess but he thinks that’s a lie. they fight 24/7 but they are also in love 24/7. he built her a castle because they are little dicks that want to be alone, don’t try to find them they are always on vacation. annoyed at his family, and currently making friends in france, ( only one who went to annie’s wedding tbh. ) while working on the having kids thing.

beatriz de andrade ( maia mitchell ) — royal duchess of burgundy, no one knows she exists tbh. in fact she’s a myth because she’s always inside and her face is always hiding behind a book. does she talk? does she eat? nobody knows. 

dimitri fontaine iv ( bradley james ) — the vegan king of france, grew up a bastard until his father married his mom and legitimized him. not prepared to be king, noblest heart and he’s trying his best. loves his sisters more than life, ( he’s the face, they the brains tbh. ) newly wed and he still can’t believe it. completely devoted to his wife, it’s why france only eats meat when guest come to court. working on his country’s image and trying to open doors in other countries. also it’s france, let them eat cake!

gabrielle fontaine ( sophie turner ) — princess of france & duchess of bourbon, cooky inventor and military genius all she aspires in life is to lead an army. proficient in weaponry and other things v. educated, will stare down generals just about every day of the week. extremely proud of france and her siblings ( they are her life ) not entirely happy with the idea of outsiders even if she knows it’s necessary. currently refusing to accept any marriage proposals because she’s an independent princess who needs no man. ( rich can call her tho ) 

fairwood:

alexandra sophia ford ( dove cameron ) — jason ford’s favorite little sister ( she the only one, but she uses the title anyway ) literally pulled out of a disney fairy-tale with a prince to match. she’s v. in love ( first loves and all that ) experiencing the magic of sex before marriage for the first time while trying that whole long distance thing because she attends college at yale. her niece and nephew are the most important, she has bought out every toy store on the east coast.  currently ignoring her parents and student responsibilities bc english dick.

riley daphne moore ( katie stevens ) — crazy cupcake lady and momma bear. she’s all about protecting the kiddos, and will more often than not attempt to feed them cupcakes. owner of queen of tarts and in love with the grumpy diner owner... who’s heart she broke because she’s leaving. bakery in the works of becoming a franchise, but she’s currently v. sad. so it’s been closed and people think she died. 

gemma allegra ford * nee rhodes * ( amber heard ) — boss lady. ready to rule the world, a queen of an empire and a wife. she fell in love with her husband without wanting to so she’s in a constant state of discovering emotions. ( tbh she wants a refund, she hella lost lmao. ) don’t breathe near her kit, she’ll eat you. that girl is the other half of the heart she didn’t even know she had. dealing with the school teacher’s ever annoying presence and coming to terms with the fact that she might have to share her husband for the rest of her life. oh + she’s plotting to kill the village idiot on a now regular basis... &. yes she means finn. 

finnley gray ( richard madden ) — resident village idiot, ex trust fund brat who gave it up bc he has a passion for literature and teaching. a best selling author he’s still rich but like not at his family’s level ya feel? the best best friend you’ll ever have, just ask his. neurotic, don’t look at the mini me’s bc he’ll eat you. currently sexing it up with his ex fiance... the lady at the bar while in love with a brunette at least he thinks he is. man whore who won’t ever change or will he? dunno don’t ask me... he should be in jail he’s mr. fitz

athena margaret pearce ( carlson young ) — ex wild child who is now in a committed relationship with her best friend. thea’s had a dramatic year, you know going from slutting it up with everything that moves to falling in love with the one person she’s known her entire life. people can’t believe that it’s her tbh. basically she’s v. gay for her bff... + don’t breathe in cassie’s direction because she’ll STILL eat you.

james cunningham ( grant gustin ) — still summer’s life partner, ubber nerd. he got into all the ivy leagues but he decided on MIT. he’s best friends with satan, and he still does her homework so he’s basically double majoring. never got his bike back from fish and he’s still mad about it lmao. oh and he still don’t know what flirting is. 

tree hill:

natalie evans ( virginia gardner ) — jailbait, sixteen... and completely and totally her father’s twin. that’s the reason clay won’t forget her. pain in the ass to her eldest brother, secretly into music. trying to be a touch bitch but she really just want to sign the toaster strudel song. she shares everything with sawyer, from food to boys.. they’ll share the clap one day and call it boding. currently still crushing on chris k jr... but he refuses to take her seriously. he still her boing thoo.

james lucas scott ( luke mitchell ) — golden boy, future NBA star like his daddy. momma’s boy, going to school and shooting hoops that’s his life. he does what he’s supposed to when he’s supposed to because that’s what’s expected of him. he’s gotta learn to live a little and he really needs to put on his big boy pants and ask madison out again. fighting his little sister 24/7 because she drives him insane and a man can only take so much.

andrew chase adams ( matthew daddario ) — hates everyone and everything... broods 24/7. only reason he ever goes anywhere is to keep an eye on his little sister. 

davis baker ( daniel sharman ) — the smart baker, total nerd... collects action figures and is totally into the superhero thing. loves his cousin sawyer like a sister... and has a crush on laney but he’s afraid to talk to her so he hides from her. she thinks he hates her, but he just don’t know how to talk to a girl.

dionne taylor ( candice patton ) — girl genius, 1000% woke, she’s cultured bc she has a mixed family she knows how white people live too. no one ever knows what she’s talking about except her brother bc they are basically both jimmy neutron. 

ayto: 

bailey anderson ( adelaide kane ) — resident southern nut job, a man eater at least that’s her label but tbh it’s more like a people eater bc she’s gonna steal someone’s girl. fun and adventurous, basically an alcoholic with loads and loads of intimacy issues. she wants to win the million dollars

fitzgerald ‘ fitz ‘ matthews ( matthew daddario ) — friendzoned, doesn’t know how to tell a girl he likes, that he likes her so it’s just so ???? needs someone to set him straight and he needs to find love.. he don’t cur about the 1 mil.

suburbs:

lena harris ( zoey deutch ) — her ex came to pick up their daughter... they had mind blowing sex and tbh that’s STILL what they are doing. she lives and breathes for her daughter tho... basically everyone knows that she and aaron are still in love with each other except thai lmao.

william preston collier ii ( joshua bowman ) — ceo, is cleaning up his dad’s mess of a company. christian vasquez’s business partner... and in love with lissa. did he leave lily yet? is he going to? idK where we at here. 

holly rose fisher ( danielle campbell ) — still throwing phones at christian’s head. the ER knows them by first name by now.

oliver paige ( aaron taylor johnson ) — marrying and divorcing bobbi... if he married he’s the happiest in the world and totally in love. if he divorced he’ll be telling ‘ how i found out my wife was satan stories ‘ to anyone who is willing to listen. rich af, spending his trust fund and hasn’t worked a day in his life bc #lazy

charlotte vasquez * nee moore * ( ashley benson ) — married mr. vasquez, she is christian’s step mom. a lady of leisure.. spending her millions and looking fab while doing it.

forties:

alexandra frederick * nee garroway * ( danielle campbell ) — 1/2 of the bitter squirt squad. was married to a fat head and they had a daughter who is three years old. her name is alison vivianne frederick ( sabrina carpenter fc. ) bobby died a year ago, she’s still angry about it and tbh avoids talking about hubs because she’s pissed as f at him for dying. his hero flag? it’s rotting away in her closet and she might burn it at some point bc she’s insane. still has 10 dogs, lives with ruby now... and rubes is the only person she talks to... you know outside of her brother ( cause she can’t make nathan scared of her... she tried tho )

theodore ‘ teddy ‘ gallagher ( nathaniel buzolic ) — went back to the air-force after you know that whole we blew up a house  fiasco... so he got his wings back... did more things for his country and he’s had enough of war to last him a life time so when he was given the chance to leave he did. he got real involved with helping soldiers with ptsd and he runs a center for it now. idiot is in love with juliette, told her on new years she said thank you and now he’s just like ???? still sticks around tho bc like that’s his crazy ya feel?

roxanne luz * nee wade * ( amber heard ) — cougar, met the love of her life at a bar... went on a few dates and then married her man in a foreign country... not even sure it’s legal but whatvs. they had a kid... his name is bacon. bat shit crazy, while being a hippie is a new concept and she’s working on it. always traveling the world and seeing exotic places. sends everyone post cards. only comes back to see her spice... aka juliette bc crazy bitches gotta tough it out together. 

panthers: 

lyra hahaway ( lily collins ) — at yale, no longer the virgin mary... because she and the bf did the sex. she had a blast, doesn’t remember what purity means. still the blakes #1 fan. visits texas to see them all the time, and is the best god mother anyone will ever meet. oh and she stalked jeremy from a bush once she’s not allowed to hang out with tizi because of it.

samuel calhoun ( grant gustin ) — moved to california, is at UCLA...still getting knives and anything that’s dangerous thrown his way. dating laura bc he has a death wish, and he’s working while getting his degree and taking care of his younger siblings bc their mom is in a psychiatric wing 

ophelia ferro ( nina dobrev ) — FBI, she and cj haven’t seen each other in years bc he’s now wanted ( idk that was the plot. ) still hates dillon... matty still mad at her about the drake joke. she��s in a committed relationship with her gun. 

southern: 

amelia nichols ( lily james ) — gave a cowboy a lap dance, then had sex in his car... gave him another lap dance on new years eve and almost killed him bc of it. her dad wants her to go back to the city so she can keep working on her brilliant medical career, but her crush on said cowboy won’t let her.

gale hawthorne ( richard madden ) — modern southern hero who needs no princess, except he does in love with shawn but won’t tell her bc she has her real prince charming. ( can’t even hate him bc he’s too good ) had a chicken named gabent and it died.. he and bentley had a funeral for it and the entire town came.

edward nichols ( max irons ) — still has no idea that his wife? is it wife? wife to be? point is he still don’t know that she was married once before or who gale is. loves his twin sister mia and is basically in town bc shawn is there. also he’s that annoyingly nice guy in all the movies that you just can’t hate bc he’s too good.

1 x 1: aka the jess verse basically

dr. josephine blake ( karen gillan ) || v.crime — forensic anthropologist, woman genius... digging up bones and eternally taking out her sexual frustration by fighting her partner 24/7. she owns a v. big gun

dr. riley scott ( nina dobrev ) || v. hospital — emotional mess, doesn’t know how to do relationships but she wanted to... and then she kissed the love of her life on new years and his wife showed up. she’s currently bitter and mad at the world. oh and she pretends not to care about her kid sister but she’ll eat you if you look at her.

caitlin sullivan ( adelaide kane ) || v. pride and prejudice — grad student with a youtube channel dedicated to hating carter. 

daniela echavarria ( selena gomez ) || v. hollywood — married to the love of her life, is v. happy for now.

name to be decided ( matthew daddario ) || v. star wars — basically gonna be male leia... i will pick a name someday LMFAO.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020: 17/01

I don’t really have an intro for this one so: REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020. Let’s get into it.

Top 10

At number-one, for the third week in a row, is “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran, and honestly I don’t really see a foreseeable threat to this song’s throne, but much like all songs in January, it’s a pretty weak stance and could easily fall to an unexpected climber.

Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go” is once again stalling at the runner-up spot.

At number-three, we have a surprise debut from an artist I didn’t think would ever peak this high in the UK, Future, who has partnered with Drake for “Life is Good”, a collaboration that is clenching the top spots on a bunch of charts, I’d imagine, mostly because of Drake. God knows how many top 10 or top 40 singles he has at this point, I’m not going to even bother counting them. Future, on the other hand, has had his highest ever charting song on the UK Singles Chart this week, and his third UK Top 40 single (His first hit in the top 10 ever). Congratulations, I suppose, but we’ll talk about the song a bit later.

Due to the sudden debut, most of the top 10 is falling this week. First of all, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa is down a spot to number-four.

“The Box” by Roddy Ricch seems to immediately abolish that trend as it has rocketed up 11 spaces in the chart to number-five, perhaps highlighting a possible #1 candidate in the coming weeks. It’s Roddy’s first top 10 hit in the UK.

“ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas is down two spaces to number-six.

Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” is stable at number-seven for some God forsaken reason.

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is up two spots to number-eight and with the video release, I could see this peaking even higher.

Justin Bieber’s “Yummy” falls hard off of the debut, being nearly pushed out of the top 10, losing four spaces to number-nine.

Finally, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I is down four spots to #10. Sure.

Climbers

We have a rare week where there are no notable climbers at all outside of the top 10, which is emblematic of a certain period on the chart.

Fallers

In January, popular music repeats itself and the chart regurgitates the biggest hits of the year for a brief month where nothing can seemingly actually make a spin for the top spot or become a smash hit, and everything somehow collapses, and every debut goes nowhere, only to be gone by March. It should be the month where the smash hit songs appear on the charts for the first time, and it usually is, but it definitely never seems like that, as the chart is so dry and after the influx of 2019’s greatest hits, we seem to have reached a new equilibrium, so we can start waving goodbye to our fallers and drop-outs; I doubt we’ll see many of them again. “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean is down six spots to #16, “South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B is down seven spaces to #24, as is “Gangsta” by Darkoo and One Acen at #26, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott and remixed by ROSALIA and Lil Baby is down five to #30, “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello is down five to #35, and finally, “Lights Up” by Harry Styles is down eight positions to #40.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

There aren’t any returning entries, after all, we seldom have too many re-entries to the chart, but there is a handful of dropouts from the chart. First of all, we have the three-songs-per-artist rule coming into effect for the first notable time in a while, as since there’s a new Stormzy song, “Audacity” featuring Headie One is out from #26 and I’m going to predict it’s definitely back next week. Also out is the promising new arrival “Savage” by MIST out off of the debut at #35, non-starter, “Into the Unknown” by Idina Menzel and AURORA from the Frozen II soundtrack, out from #37, and “Heartless” by the Weeknd, out from #38.

Before we get into the new arrivals, here are some songs in the top 75 that have a trajectory seemingly aiming for the top 40, that I’d like to see get there. Not all of these songs are good but they are all healthy predictions. We have “Good News” by the late Mac Miller at #49, “Power Over Me” by Dermot Kennedy at #60, “Say So” by Doja Cat at #65, “SUGAR” by BROCKHAMPTON at #66, “Eleven” by Khalid at #70, and “Roses” by Saint Jhn at #72. I’d bet money on most of these eventually making the top 40. Anyway, here’s the main attraction:

NEW ARRIVALS

#37 – “You should be sad” – Halsey

Produced by Greg Kurstin

It should be no surprise that I’m not the biggest fan of Halsey. Part of her alternative-pop-girl image was really pretentious and turned me off initially but once she fully embraced she was a pop singer, whilst I respect her more, I still found her lacking, arguably more so, as a singer and songwriter. This song, however, is pretty unique, and it comes from her album Manic, which I’ve yet to listen to. It’s a country song, funnily enough right next to the only other country song that made a big splash in the UK last year, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, which is at #36. It’s not a common occurrence for country songs to appear on the UK Singles Chart, for obvious reasons, but I’ll take a Shania Twain-influenced country pop song dependent on more neo-traditional 90s pedal-steel—Listen, I know little to nothing about country, and I’m throwing all these random key terms around... I’m not necessarily the best person to speak on this, and I know that, but I guess I’ll see if I myself prefer Halsey’s ninth UK top 40 hit. For what it’s worth, the guitar line here is really sweet, but Halsey’s voice with an additional country twang and drowned in reverb, just sounds kind of gross and ugly? I guess that’s the best way to say it, and even though sometimes it works, she seems way too downbeat and subtle for a vengeful kiss-off... until the entire flow of the verse obstructs for the chorus, which is introduced by a really dodgy, awkward wave of distorted strings that just sound awful. Whatever tone, genre, style or mood this song attempts to build up is immediately broken by that, and whilst some of these lyrics are really specific and genuinely pretty good, I’m tuned out until that killer electric guitar riff comes in and steals the show... before it just goes again. It’s not like there’s build-up to the riff either, or that it’s a break from the momentum because everything just keeps happening in the background. It’s not a drop because there’s no climax or catharsis to it, it’s just a cool riff that’s... there. Yeah, this is wasted potential, and that’s not even including the questionable at best mixing and whatever the hell that bridge is. This song might actually be broken, like what happened in the mediating process, guys? Who leant on seven wrong buttons at the same time? God, what a hot mess of a song.

#28 – “Rare” – Selena Gomez

Produced by Sir Nolan and Simon Says

Selena Gomez has a new album. It’s where “Lose You to Love Me” comes from. It’s probably pretty mediocre. I do not care for Selena Gomez. She makes robot pop music. It is about as standard and droning as these sentences. This is her 16th solo UK top 40 hit, or without “the Scene” if you prefer—that clause alone gives me more character than a Selena Gomez album. Sometimes with good songwriters, she can get something decent out of her limited range and bland production, and with Madison Love as a songwriter and Charli XCX involved as the person originally handed the song, I actually have somewhat high expectations for this, and you know what? It’s promising. The lo-fi bass groove and steady funk/soul groove in the intro is pretty sweet, but then the whole 2019 pop schtick comes in, and some of the soul is lost, but it has a pretty quirky, fun string instrumental with nice, bubbly synths and seemingly randomly-placed hi-hats. Here, Gomez actually works pretty well as she stays calm until the chorus, and she doesn’t sound too bad there, even if she’s desperately filling up the meter with nonsense, because it does sound like a child’s nursery rhyme. Hence, she fits in perfectly with the petty lyrics and cute instrumental. The guitar in the post-chorus/bridge sounds really great too. Perhaps it is over-long though, as three minutes and 40 seconds does make the chorus wear off, although it really could not have been as good as a song without that bridge, as the slow sense of dread is keeping up in the pre-chorus, with that intense bass groove and what seem to be airplane crash sound effects, only to propel itself back into a really cute chorus, with kind of an 80s sound I’m just noticing. Yeah, this is pretty good, and it has Charli XCX kind of written all over it. I’d like to hear a remix if that’s fine with you, Selena. You’ve impressed me with this one.

#21 – “STILL DISAPPOINTED” – Stormzy

Produced by Mikey J

This is Stormzy’s 22nd UK Top 40 hit and Christ, there’s a lot to unpack with this one. Okay, so this is the 2019-2020 Grime War, or at least that’s what r/grime is calling it. There have been 32 rappers or MCs involved in the war so far, including Ed Sheeran, but most are just mentioned in diss tracks, or “dubs” as the grime scene calls them, without responding. Basically, JAY1, who has been on this show before, didn’t pay Dot Rotten for producing the song “Million Bucks”, which was credited to Steel Banglez (It’s actually a great beat, by the way, I’d want credit too), so Dot Rotten released three dubs, one of which was copyright-claimed by JAY1, thus in response Dot released another song called “Copyright Claim This, P***y”. Classy. Then two of the most desperate-for-attention people in the grime scene find themselves dissing each other: Dot Rotten and Wiley. Within four days, Dot Rotten releases eight dubs. There’s this whole mess with Wiley, Dot and Jaykae, but then finally, a fan asks if he will be dissing Jaykae. Wiley says, “Never, he’s with Ed and Stormzy now”. Hence, Wiley and Stormzy go back and forth for a while on Twitter, and the beef escalates, with Wiley posting a Stormzy dub called “Eeydiat Skengman”, which is just okay, but has a pretty killer beat. Stormzy responds with “DISAPPOINTED”, but the reception is lukewarm. Sure, the Brexit joke was funny, but he had mostly weak bars and he also called himself the King of Grime over a drill beat. In fact, might as well cover all the Wiley tracks: they all sound the same. The beef has mostly stopped for now, but it’s still going on in the lower echelon. I would argue it probably stopped because of Stormzy’s final dub, “STILL DISAPPOINTED”, which is hilarious, and actually on a grime beat, in fact it’s on an iconic beat from the first Lord of the Mics in 2004, “Mic Check 1-2” by Kano. It starts out pretty okay, Stormzy just saying that he’s a real G and all... but then:

So why you love to talk about mums so much?

The entire diss track is about Wiley’s mother, and that when Wiley’s house was threatened by bricks and guns during gang violence, he (supposedly) sent her to Cyprus instead of trying to rescue her and improving her quality of life. He then says that his mother is pregnant because Wiley is fraud (Huh?), that Stormzy will have sex with his mother, and that she is a whore, but it’s not her fault that she had to move to Cyprus, but he will still have sex with his mother and become the man of the house. He takes only a few bars to relax and stop going on this tangent detailing Wiley’s mother’s move to Cyprus, but then comes back to the topic again, and whilst some of the bars make seemingly no sense at least to me, the dub is cruel and so oddly specific that I’d be incredibly offended. I’d probably want to fight Stormzy after this, honestly, and the song isn’t even that great. It’s a diss track, so I can’t really critique it as a song and not a personal attack, but Stormzy’s flow and charisma is definitely there and this was a funny listen.

Also, this line had me cackling:

I never wanna hear you say, "Free the mandem" (Yeah) / Let's go Cyprus and go free your mumzy

#3 – “Life is Good” – Future and Drake

Produced by OZ and D. Hill

It is so weird to see Future here. Drake not so much obviously, but this song peaked at #2 in the US, nearly giving Future his first #1, all thanks to Drake. Without Drake, the song would still be entirely coherent but it wouldn’t chart at all. That’s because this is not a collaboration in any sense of the word. It wouldn’t even fit under the guise of their little collaborative effort, What a Time to be Alive. It’s a Drake song, and then a Future song. Hold on, let me change this.

#3 – “Life is Good” – Drake, then Future

Produced by OZ and D. Hill

I don’t mind guest artists having solo sections of songs, hell, Drake had one on Travis Scott’s “SICKO MODE” a year back, but there’s a beat switch in the middle that completely separates both performances. Drake has a chorus, as does Future. Drake has a verse, Future has two—under two completely separate beats. At least on “SICKO MODE”, Travis joined in with Drake and Tay Keith for a verse and a couple ad-libs under the same beat. Sigh, I guess it doesn’t matter in the end, even though Future cheated a chart placement; it’s not as obviously fraudulent as Ellie Goulding’s efforts, or John Legend’s. I’m surprised that a plain and simple trap-rap song charted this high in the first place, even if it was just Drake (And for most people who skip after the first two minutes, it might as well be). I don’t know why I’m complaining honestly, because the song is honestly pretty good. I would have usually dismissed this as dark trap-rap nonsense with no redeemable qualities, but this is one of those songs with such a lack of energy it’s almost eerie, and those creepy synths in Drake’s part are fantastic in making it sound like that. Repeating inflections from “Mob Ties” aside, Drake’s performance is pretty good, with a couple funny lines, although I’m not sure how intentionally funny they were.

Haven’t done my taxes, I’m too turnt up

[Gnarly dude]s caught me slippin’ once, okay, so what?

I think Pusha T’s diss track about you hiding a child was a bit more than being caught slipping once, Aubrey. Anyway, after a voice memo interlude from Future, we have a pretty great beat, with an admittedly stiff but still impressive trap groove, and while Future is less on beat than Drake and arguably less interesting, he rides the beat well enough, and the synths are really quiet, for whatever reason. Regardless, this is a pretty cool song with great flows from both rappers and an eerie, cool beat from OZ. 

I’m trying to avoid nonsense, get Osama spray in this b****, woo!

HUH

Conclusion

This was actually a pretty great week, with the obvious Worst of the Week going to Halsey’s “You should be sad”, and a surprising Best of the Week for “Rare” by Selena Gomez. In fact, I’m going to give a tied Honourable Mention instead of any Dishonourable Mentions, so it’s going to Stormzy’s “STILL DISAPPOINTED” and Drake’s, then Future’s, “Life is Good”. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank, I’ll see you next week.

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

[xbrain130]

The Nature Queen

An alternate, and hopefully slightly more interesting, version of the final blow to Zarc in episode 140.

Zarc smiled widely with his fanged mouth.

«At the end, I will nail your coffin with my own hand.»

His eyes widened as he thrust his human form's right hand forward.

«I attack "DD Magical Savant Schrodinger"!» he yelled as his dragon form's left fist lunged forward, inbound for a powerful landing on the devastated balcony where Reiji was laying on the ground, still not recovered from the beatdown his "High King Executives" took from the "Supreme King Servant Dragons".

Then a twister full of leaves covered him and a high-pitched voice screamed.

«BROTHER!»

A monotone "Intrusion Penality: 2000 points" echoed as Reira's Duel Disk flared up.

And a loud crash signed the impact of the fist of "Supreme King Dragon Zarc".

Everyone gasped as a Reiji's scarf disintegrated among the debris... along with the log it was tied to.

From the leafy winds, the blue ninja emerged holding Reiji and Leo.

REIJI LP 200 → 0 [0] × 0

«Tsukikage!» said Shingo happily. «He came back!» added Crow.

«That's...!» gasped Tatsuya.

Everyone looked at the weird portal screen thing. Reira was standing before Zarc, Duel Disk active and hand drawn. «Reira!»

«Reira! What are you doing?» yelled Reiji concerned.

From the Leo Corporation's HQ, Himika also said the kid's name.

Reira hid the eyes under his cap. «I... I'm not Reira.»

The kid then threw away the cap and the jacket, and long lavender hair fell down.

«I'm Ray!» the kid declared as an image of the older woman flickered next to them.

«Ray?» asked Reiji confused.

«What?!» cried Leo.

«Ray?» parroted Zarc, his eyes twitching.

«If you come back, I will come back.» affirmed Reira. «If you try to destroy the world, I will protect it!» Ray voice gradually overlapped, until she flickered next to the child again at the last words.

The glowing golden spirit form of Ray then appeared over Reira, before her Original Dimension's Duel Disk materializing on her left arm, and her head gained its true colors.

«My turn!» yelled both as Ray drew a card from her Deck.

The two Akaba siblings held up their right arms, Ray having two yellow-colored cards between her fingers, Normal Monsters. Zarc had an heart attack when he squinted and noticed... the lower half was Magic-colored!

«With the Scale 0, "Nature Queen Hikari", and the Scale 13, "Nature Queen Yami", we set the Pendulum Scale!» Ray slapped the cards over her Duel Disk, but the iridescent word "PENDULUM" appered over Reira's as well.

Two young girls ascended to the sky inside blue columns of light. The Scale 0 wore a pretty white dress and had long brown and red hair, looking like Ray, while the Scale 13 resembled a female Zarc with short, upward-spiked white hair, and wore a tattered black dress.

«W-what? How!?» stuttered the demonic man.

«With this, we can Summon any monsters with Levels between 1 and 12!» explained the siblings. «Swing, Pendulum of cosmos! Bring eternal peace to the unnatural world!» chanted both. «Pendulum Summon! Appear, our harbinger of salvation!» A portal opened between the two Scales, and a single pink stream came out.

The light split into four, of which three changed color: green, indigo, and yellow. A pillar of light shoot up to the sky, piercing the clouds.

«Envoy of Mother Earth, the all-knowing disciple with the mission to protect the universe with the powers of nature!»

The pillar died down, and a figure appeared between the four colored light: a heavenly being wearing a rainbow vest, with long flowing hair colored white, and feathery wings folded behind the back. «"Biograph Angel"!»

Biograph Angel ATK 2400 LV 7

«Bio... graph... angel...?» growled Zarc. «No... no! You can't!»

Ray and Reira just glared back at him. «The effect of "Biograph Angel". We can Release this card, and banish the Four Envoys of Nature from our Deck and Extra Deck!»

«NO!» screamed the demon, slamming his hands down. Meanwhile, the angelic monster clasped her hands and appeared to start praying.

The siblings threw their right arms up. «"Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale"! "Wind Witch - Winter Bell"! "Moonlight Cat Dancer"! "Melodious Maestra - Prodigy Mozart"!»

The four monsters appeared over them as thet were named, all glaring with intense hate at the dark lord of dragons. The angry faces of the bracelet girls briefly fickered over their respective ace.

«Become the force that purifies the evil out of hearts!»

Pillars of colored light enveloped the four monsters, before they moved towards each other and merged. Then, Ray spread her arms and detached from Reira, who fell on their knees. As she floated towards the pillar, she closed her eyes and kept chanting.

«The sovereign of the natural world, the fighter for the freedom from jet-black darkness' clutches for all dimensions! Please take my form, and save us all from sin!»

Ray's body touched the light, before being abrutly swallowed. Immediately the pillar expanded with a deep rumble, and a second, horizontal pillar burst out the sides of the other, making it look like a cross.

Two words echoed in the astonished silence: «INTEGRATION SUMMON!»

Slowly, the horizontal light widened, taking shape of wings. Enormous, yellow, feathery wings. A pink circle formed around the main pillar, and the light finally died down.

A enormous woman was towering before Zarc. Besides the yellow wings and the pink halo, the monster wore a long green dress with indigo fur. Ray's glowing body merged with the monster's at the neck crook of the latter, just like with Zarc.

«Zarc!» a voice called out. «Here I am! Your ultimate opponent: an equivalent!»

Queen of All Nature - Ray ATK 3900 LV 12

Zarc was trembling in fury. «YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU USE THE SAME WEAPON I MADE TO FIGHT YOU?! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY OWN EXCLUSIVE, INTEGRATION SUMMON?!»

Ray didn't bat an eye from her place. «I will stop you, no what what I have to do.»

Zarc pointed a claw to her. «Stop me? In your worthless dreams! You even have less ATK than myself, proof that no one can surpass me!»

Ray's expression softened for some reason. «ATK isn't everything. Don't worry, your pain is finally coming to an end.»

Zarc scowled in confusion. «What are you saying?»

Ray held up her hand towards the dragon as a window popped up in front of her, showing four Magic Cards in the Graveyard. «The Natural Energy Cards... they did stop you... but the price was too high. They shattered the entire world like this, and they caused immense pain and suffering... so I will undo their damage. I'll sacrifice them to find another way!»

«Sacrifice them?!» cried Leo shocked.

Her held hand closed in a fist. «That's right. This new form of mine isn't just the embodiment of my desire to stop you. It is also the combination of my fragments' will to save your fragments!»

«Our fragments?» murmured Zarc.

«My effect activates! By banishing a nature card from the Graveyard, I can apply its effect!» «WHAT?!»

«Go, Ruri!» yelled Ray as the Xyz fragment flickered next to her. «We banish "En Birds"!» the two girls said, «By its effect, all Xyz Monsters on the field, in the Graveyard, and that are banished are treated as Normal Monsters, and their effects are negated!»

"En Birds", floating in the purple void, exploded into yellow particles, which erupted out from a portal that opened before Ray, quickly turning into bird shapes and enveloping "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" and "Supreme King Servant Dragon Dark Rebellion". At the same time, the same two cards flashed on Zarc's Duel Disk; as the former turned into a yellow card and lost its effect and the "Xyz / Effect" part of the type line, and the latter was stripped of the black fraction of the background and the "Xyz" subtype.

«Xyz Monsters are...» whispered Kaito. «...turned into Normal Monster?» finished Shun.

«Yuto!» cried Ruri's spirit clasping her hand. «I'm begging you, awake yourself! Just like you fought Academia, you can fight Zarc! I know you can, because you are a valiant dark knight just like the "Phantom Knights"! Please! Do it for our home, for my brother!» A tear fell from her eye. «Do it for me...»

Suddenly Zarc clutched his head and screamed as Yuto's spirit struggled to reach out. «NO! You stay doooooowwwwn!» slurred the demon as Yuto emerged. «Ruri...!» he sobbed as he was immediately pulled back.

Ray tched as Ruri vanished. «This is only the beginning. Rin!» The Synchro fragment appeared next to Ray and both raised their arms. «We banish "En Winds"!» The card exploded into green particle that erupted out the portal as a tornado, which went to ravage "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" and "Supreme King Servant Dragon Clear Wing". «All Synchro Monsters become Normal Monster, and their effects are negated!» Inside the winds, "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" roared as its card's white background and "Synchro" subtype vanished, along with the one of "Clear Wing" becoming yellow and losing its effects and "Synchro / Effect".

«The "Supreme King Dragon" that made us suffer...» said Crow. «...is becoming powerless!» murmured Jack, still down.

Zarc screamed in pain again as Rin started speaking. «Yugo, you gigantic goof! How could you let youself be taken over like that! Open your eyes and fight Zarc! We two still... have a... dream, right? We still have to win the Friendship Cup... I won't ever let you use... your possession as an excuse... got it?!» yelled the girl, her voice gradually breaking down.

Yugo tried desperately to reach out as well. «Riiin! Riiiiiiin! I'm here, I'm he...» he barely managed to get ot before he was absorbed again. «Stop it!» growled Zarc.

«Never!» growled back Ray. «Get on it, Selena!» The ponytailed Fusionist took Rin's place. «We banish "En Moon"!» The Magic in question burst into violet particles, which formed a beam that went to pierce the last clouds and reveal the full moon hanging over the teared remains of Earth. «All Fusion Monsters become Normal Monsters, and their effects are negated!» The girls added as "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" and "Supreme King Servant Dragon Starve Venom" howled in the blueish-gray lighting. The card of "Starve Venom" became yellow and lost "Fusion / Effect", and the one of "Zarc" finally was taken away the violet background and the "Fusion" subtype, making it looking like a common Effect Pendulum Monster for a second before the monster effect also vanished and the upper part of the background faded from orange to yellow too.

«With this, the Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz aspects of the "Supreme King Dragon" are removed!» exclaimed Edo, smiling along with Sora.

Selena's spirit cupped her hands around her mouth. «Hey Yuri, you little shit! I know you're in there! Just because we never became friend don't you think I'm not gonna come and kick your ass out of that thing! What the hell do you think you gain not fighting Zarc?! You just insult your own honor! A true elite Academia student would never allow themselves to be used as a pet like that!»

Zarc screamed even louder as Yuri's spirit came out, his face shadowed. «Selena, eh?» he smiled creepily. «Fine then. You asked for it, now I'll gonna make you eat those words!» he looked up at her, tears in his eyes. «You'll better make up for your missed responsibilities, my friend...» he whispered before being dragged back inside Zarc's body. «You bastard!» he ranted as he clutched his body, feeling it burn due to the souls raging inside.

«This is the end for you!» As she said that, Ray's voice overlapped with Yuzu's, who appeared next to her too. «We banish "En Flowers"!» The last Magic Card exploded into a pink wave that washed over the entire zone, making flowers blossom on every patch of green.

«I'm getting shivers!» sang Futoshi as he, Ayu, Tatsuya, and Shuzo looked on awed.

«"En Flowers" negates again the effects of all monsters on the field, and destroys them!» explained Ray and Yuzu as Zarc's monsters were enveloped by iridescent lights, «Then, for each of those cards sent to the GY, you take 600 points of damage!»

«With this...!» murmured Reiji with a smile. «Beautiful.» simply said Gongenzaka, at loss of other words.

Ray held up her right arm, and the four bracelets appeared on her forearm. The four girls then flickered arond her, also wearing their own bracelets. After a few seconds however, the bracelets shattered into faint whisps of light. The "Supreme King Servant Dragons" roared as they quickly suffered the same fate.

«DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUU!»

Everyone shielded their faces of "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" melted into a whirlwind of darkness. Quickly, the vortex died down, deposing Zarc on the ground.

ZARC LP 2800 → 1000 [0] × 1

«Yuya!» cried Reira, getting up under the feet of "Queen of All Nature - Ray". «I... AM NOT... YUYA!» he snarled, still holding onto his own body in pain.

«No, you are Yuya!» said Reiji, and Zarc turned to glare at him. «And you are Zarc, but also Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri. Your heart was constantly swinging. Yes, just like a pendulum!» he added, holding up Yuya's pendant for emphasis.

«Pendulum...» wheezed Zarc, scowling.

«The four cards my dad made were cards that naturally returned all power into a pure existence.» talked the five girls in unison. «That's how Pendulum was born! Pendulum cannot be swung in the presence of only malice. It should be inside of you, the existence of Sakaki Yuya, who purely pursued smiles!»

«Wrong! This is my will...» growled Zarc.

Suddenly, Yuzu floated down in front of him. «I believe in Yuya!» The words made Zarc recoil.

Yuya was holding his head in pain, surrouded by his counterparts in a dark void. «Yuzu!»

«You're not a demon!» urged the Standard girl. «You're a person who gives happinessand smiles to people around the world!»

«Shut up! What I give is fear!» «Stop it! What am I saying?»

«My wish is, for the people who forced me to fight and pretended to be a spectator to taste real fear!» yelled Zarc. «Wrong! That's not true!» murmured Yuya inside.

«Screw smiles! I...» «You came to save me!» began again Yuzu. «No matter how many times we were separated, you chased me!» Zarc gasped. «Because you were there, I got stronger!» Shu hung her head down. «I could never forget to smile.»

«Yuya, respond! To everyone's thoughts!» she cried, and then her expression softened. «And then let's go home together. Tou our homedown.»

Suddenly Zarc's yellow eyes stopped glowing and faded into red.

«Yes, last turn, Yuya!» yelled Reiji, chucking the pendant. Time seemed to slow down for Yuya as he stared at the tricket flying towards him.

He saw the Pendulum swinging. He was his dad. «I can't do anything if I'm scared and frustared.» chanted Yusho as he held two halves of a torn card. «If you want to win do it with courage.» he added as he pulled together the pieces of "Smile World".

«I'm back!» said Yuya, grabbing the pendulum. However, his face started warping, and the eyes went back to yellow. «Pendulum Monsters are immortal! Even if destroyed, they will revive again and again! Just like me!» slurred Zarc with a distorted voice, trying to reach for his Deck. «We won't let it! We will put an end to what we've done!» cried together Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri; their spirits materializing around Zarc and holding him in place with all their forces. «You bastards, you're just myselves!» snarled Zarc, trying in vain to push them away. His eyes started to roll widly. «W-what are you doing? Stop it!»

«We've decided. We will not become a demon anymore!» chanted the four boys as one. «Now! Do it, Yuzu/Ruri/Rin/Selena!» the all cried, each boy finishing with the name of their corresponding girl. Ray nodded. «I attack Zarc directly!»

The goddess spread her arms and started chanting, and the four energies gathered again to envelop Zarc and his fragments, who all started screaming.

«Damn you!» wheezed Zarc, soffucated by the four grips. «I will... absolutely...»

ZARC LP 1000 → 0 [0] × 1

The shape of "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" appeared over him, eternally frozen in a silent roar as the shapes of the four "Supreme King Servant Dragons" were pulled out, and gradually lost their green bands as everything started shaking.

«Without the natural cards, the world is about to be reset to its former state!» murmured Leo. «Then Zarc will reincarnate in the united dimension!» whispered Reiji.

«I won't let it happen!» cried suddenly Reira getting up. «I will seal Zarc!»

As the kid clasped his hands, Zarc screamed and a black spirit flew out his mouth and rammed Reira, who also started screaming.

Meanwhile, the four boys were sucked inside the empty body, and Ray's Integration monster disintegrated as her fragments were also forced back into her.

Then...

white

also Yuya's voice, screaming.

«REIRAAAAAAA!»

. . .

Yuzu smiled as Yuya went off to answer his father's challenge. However, feeling something in her pocket where she put her Deck, she went to check her cands, and was surprised to see on the top a monster she had never seen before.

Melodious Maestra - Talented Beethoven [ Fairy / Pendulum / Effect ]

Yuzu smiled even wider as she shifted through and saw a lot of other Pendulum Monsters in there. «I guess now I'm officialy the Pendulum counterpart as well.» she whispered, the three girls appearing around her and pulling a group hug.

Meanwhile, in Yuzu's mind, Ray also gave off a slight smile and closed her eyes as she drifted down, deciding to give her fragments some time alone.

[anavoliselenu]

complete me chapter 13

“What kind of terms?”

“She turned over all right, title, and interest in her galleries to me. She’s relocating to Florida. And good fucking riddance.”

I press my palm against the glass, as if the coolness will ease the bite of my temper. “You don’t have to fight my battles, Justin.”

“I love you, Selena. I will always fight for you.”

His words are heavy with meaning and ripe with passion. They knock me backward and steal my breath. “You love me,” I say stupidly.

The corner of his mouth curves up. “Desperately.”

I swallow back the knot of tears that has formed in my throat. “You haven’t said it,” I say. “Not for weeks now.”

He closes his eyes as if my words have hurt him, but when he opens them again, it’s not pain that I see, but love. He reaches for me and pulls me close. I lean against him, breathing in the scent of soap mixed with sex. It’s heady, and I want to get lost in it. Lost in this moment.

“I love you, Selena,” he repeats. “I say it with every touch, with every look, with every breath that I take. I love you. I love you so much it hurts.”

“Me, too.” I brush a kiss across his lips, then meet his smile. “But you can’t protect me from everything, Justin. And you sure as hell can’t protect me by keeping things from me. You should have told me about Giselle. Hell, who knows what else is out there you’re keeping from me. So just stop it, okay? It doesn’t protect me, it just pisses me off.”

“All right,” he says evenly. I think that’s the end of it, but then he continues. “Sofia sent the photos.”

I have to rewind his words in my head, because what he is saying makes no sense whatsoever. “The photos in Germany. Sofia is the one who sent them to the court? I don’t understand. Why? How do you know? Did you talk to her?”

He moves away from the glass wall to the center of the room. He paces, not like a man trying to solve a problem, but like a man who already knows the answer and doesn’t much like it.

“I discovered a discrepancy in one of my father’s accounts. Small amounts siphoned off to an account that I don’t have access to. In excess of a hundred thousand dollars, and yesterday I learned that money was filtered to Sofia.”

I don’t ask him how he knows all of this if he doesn’t have access to the account. I do not doubt that Justin Stark has access to pretty much any information that he’s willing to pay for. “Why would your father send Sofia that much money?”

“Payment for her testimony,” he says. “He wanted her to testify about the abuse—same reason you wanted me to testify. But he didn’t know about the photos. She must have found them in Richter’s things. She took those, sent them to the court, waited around just long enough to make sure it worked, and then used the money to skip out of Europe.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“After I learned about the skimmed money, I had another talk with dear old dad. He told me.”

“And you believe him?”

“I do.”

I nod slowly, trying to process all of this. “Does he know where she is now?”

“He says no, and before you ask, I believe him about that, too. Sofia was never fond of my father. I can see her taking his money. I can’t see her staying in touch.”

“All right,” I say slowly. “I understand that you’re still worried about her, but this means that you can stop worrying that the pictures will turn up in the tabloids. Sofia won’t release them, right?”

“No,” he says with more intensity than I would expect. “I’m certain that she won’t ever let anyone get their hands on those images.”

“So this is good news,” I say. “You’ll find her eventually—doesn’t she always show up?”

“She does, and I may have a lead on her already. I tracked down David and his band. They just arrived in Chicago from Shanghai. I spoke to David on the phone. He tells me he hasn’t seen Sofia, but I don’t believe him. I think a face-to-face conference might help jog his memory.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning,” he says.

He has stopped pacing, and I go to him, then take his hands in mine. “How long will you be gone?”

“If I’m lucky? I’ll be back by dinner.”

“And if you’re not lucky?”

“Let’s hope I am.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Since Jamie wants to grab some things from our condo, she rides in with Edward and me. The plan is to drop me by my office, then swing Jamie by the condo. Then Edward will take her back to Malibu before returning to Sherman Oaks to wait for me. While he’s gone, I promise to stay inside my office, safe behind the protection of the building’s efficient receptionist.

Cumbersome, yes, but since we still don’t know who has been sending the stalker-like messages, Justin insisted I keep the security guys, and I agreed. Still, I’m so ready for this to be over that I think if Justin suggested we go live in Antarctica for a year, I would jump all over that plan.

We pop into Starbucks on the way, mostly to get coffee, but also because I want to introduce Jamie to Monica. She’s not there, however, and so we take our lattes and head to my office. I give Jamie the grand tour, which takes about twelve seconds, and then soak up her effusive hugs and cries of “I’m so proud of you!”

“If Justin’s not back from Chicago by tonight, do you want to rent a movie?” I ask as she’s about to head out.

“Sure,” she says. “And if he is back?”

I grin wickedly. “In that case, I have other plans.”

I settle behind my desk as Jamie rolls her eyes and leaves. It takes me about ten minutes to go through my emails and handle a bunch of administrative crap. I finish tweaking the code on one of my entertainment apps, then push the update through. Then I pull out the web-based app that I’ve been working on. A cross-platform, multi-user note-taking system that Justin has already told me he’ll license for Stark International once I’m out of beta testing.

First, I have to finish coding the damn thing and actually get it into beta testing.

I’m so lost in concentration that I jump when the intercom beeps. “Yes?” I snap.

“There’s a Monica Karts here to see you.”

“Oh.” I’m actually a bit irritated by the interruption. I’ve never seen Monica outside of the coffee shop, and it seems a little odd that she’s come unannounced. At the same time, I don’t know that many people here yet, and I do like her. And since Justin is out of town, I can always work late and make up for lost time. “Tell her to come on back.”

“I love it!” she says as she bursts through the door. “Your own office. That’s so cool.”

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Oh, man. I don’t mean to just barge in like you’ve got nothing better to do. Honest. But I got these head shots and I didn’t see you at Starbucks this morning, and I really wanted to show you today. Is that okay?”

I can’t help my smile. Her enthusiasm is effusive. “Of course.”

She plunks herself in the chair opposite my desk, then passes me the envelope. “Go ahead. Take a peek.”

I frown, because her voice sounds different. What I’d thought was a Northeastern prep school lilt now has much more of a British quality to it.

My thoughts about her voice, however, disappear entirely when I pull out the first photo. It is not a head shot, and as I hold it between two fingers, my body turns to ice and I have to stifle the urge to throw up.

“Gorgeous, isn’t he? But I suppose you know that. Go on, then. Pull them all out.”

My hands are shaking, and I realize I’m still holding the envelope and the photo. I flinch, then drop them as quickly as if they had burned me.

The picture falls image-side up, and though I try not to look, there is no erasing from my mind what I have already seen. Justin. Maybe eleven or twelve. And a girl, her face hidden, who I am guessing is younger. There is more, but I don’t want to think of it. It is bad enough to have the image of these children in my head, their bodies joined in some perversion of an adult act. I do not want to think of the other things I saw in the bed with them. Toys and leather and gadgets that no child needs to know exists, much less have experience using.

And I don’t want to think about the mirror that hung in place of a headboard, reflecting back the image of the man behind the camera—an adult man, naked and with a hard-on, one hand on his penis and the other holding the camera. Richter.

“I said pull them all out.” Her voice is cold and seems to come from a very long way away. Somehow, I realize I am in shock. But I don’t know what to do about that.

When I don’t move, she reaches for the envelope and dumps at least twelve photos out onto my desk. “There’s a tape, too. But we won’t worry about that now.”

I try not to look, but I can’t help but see that these photos are more of the same, though each one seems more depraved than the one before.

She leans across the desk and taps the pile of images. “He’s mine,” she says. “He has always been mine.”

“Yours,” I repeat stupidly as I fight my way out of the fog. “You’re Sofia.”

She leans back in her chair and nods approval. “Very good.”

“And this is you in these photos?”

She nods.

Everything seems to be happening in slow motion. I am hyperaware of the air, of my breathing. Of every tiny movement and every small sound. It is all deafening and foreign and I want out of this nightmare.

Justin said he never wanted me to see these, and though my heart breaks for the boy he was and the childhood that was stolen, I cannot help but agree. I do not want these images in my office, much less in my head. “Why are you showing me these?” I demand.

“Because you need to understand that he’s mine. You don’t exist to him at all. Not really. He sacrificed for me. He killed for me.”

I stare at her, confused. “Killed for you?”

She blinks her huge brown eyes. “My father,” she says evenly. “Justin killed him to protect me. Ask him if you don’t believe me. That’s not something you walk away from, Selena. You’re smart. You should know that.”

“How did you get the first note to me? The one before the trial with the Los Angeles postmark?”

Her smile starts slow, but grows wide. “See? I knew you were smart. I have friends all over the world. I sent something. Asked them to drop it in a mailbox. Easy.”

“That spiel you made about Jamie and The Rooftop bar. Was it true?”

“Other than that I’m one hell of an actress? No. You learn to be patient in the kind of places I’ve lived. I wait and I watch and I plan.” And then, in a what seems like a total shift, she blurts out, “He told me about you, you know.”

I just sit, watching her, trying to think. Trying to figure out how to get out of here before the fuse that has been burning down on this girl reaches the end, and we both get hurt in the explosion.

“Oh, yes he did,” she says without missing a beat. “He came to see me not long ago. All the way to London. He told me he met someone who got through the pain. Who cut and who battled it back. He didn’t tell me he was fucking her or that it was you, but it wasn’t hard to figure out.”

My mind is moving too slowly. There must be a way out of this, I think, but it’s as if the answer is hidden by some dark, impenetrable mist.

She picks at a hangnail, her mouth turned down into a frown. “I’d already seen you in the tabloids by then, of course, and I was so pissed at him. Another girl in his bed, I’d thought. Another girl, but the one he really wanted was me. Then he told me about the cutting, and that’s when I realized the truth. This time he had a reason for fucking some woman.” She looks straight at me, her eyes bright. “He was holding you up as an example for me. He thinks I’m all scarred because of what my daddy did, but he’s wrong. I know how to turn it around.” She shrugs. “But that’s all you are to him, you know. Just a stone on the path of my journey. An object lesson for me to follow so that I can get my shit together and be with him. He loves me. He has always loved me. And I was there first. So now you need to move out of the way.”

Move? Her words throw me, and I realize with a start that she isn’t here to hurt me. No, she’s playing a much different game.

“You want me to break up with Justin.” I say the words levelly, but inside I’m cheering. I can work with that. I can pretend to agree. I can get out of here. Away from her and to Stark Tower. He’ll be back from Chicago soon, and he’ll know what to do. How to handle her.

“No,” she says. “You want to break up with Justin. Because you know that if you don’t, what I’ll release to the press will destroy him. And isn’t that what love is all about, Selena? Isn’t it about protecting the ones you love? Just like the way Justin protected me from my father.”

The cold that had begun to recede presses against me again. “You wouldn’t release those photos.”

She shrugs. “Why not? It’s not like anyone can tell it’s me. Only Justin is identifiable.”

“Why not?” I repeat. “Because you’re sitting here telling me you love him. But that would absolutely destroy him.”

She shakes her head. “You’re destroying him. You’re keeping him from me. If you don’t let go, I don’t have a choice. How can you not see that?”

She takes a deep breath, then says brightly, “Well, I guess that about wraps things up here.” She stands, then nods at the desk and the photos scattered across it. “You can keep those. Like a souvenir. And, oh, I forgot about this.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a small leather case. “I get that this situation is hard on you, I really do. So I thought this might help.” She puts the case on the corner of my desk, then hikes the purse back up on her shoulder. “And don’t even think about calling your security guy. Those friends I mentioned? I told them to release the photos to the press if I didn’t show up or if I got arrested or any silly shit like that.” Once again, she flashes that smile. “Nothing personal. I just like to be thorough.”

And then she’s sweeping out the door, leaving me frozen behind my office desk staring down at an array of photographs that have the power to destroy the man that I love.

I am frozen, I think. That’s why I can’t move. Why I am so cold, so goddamn cold.

But I don’t want to move. I want to sit here forever. I don’t want to see the world outside my office door. It is destroyed. A wasteland. Harsh and desolate.

How could it be anything else now that the bubble has finally shattered and the nightmares have swooped in?

I do not want to see, and yet I cannot help but glance down at the photo on top of the pile. Justin. His beautiful face distorted by a grimace that could either be pain or pleasure. The girl, legs wide, head back, back arched in a mockery of passion. She is unidentifiable, but I do not doubt that she is Sofia.

He’s mine. He killed for me. He’s mine.

With a violence that surprises me, I lurch to my feet, at the same time sweeping my arm out wide, sending the photos, the papers, the pens on the desk flying across the room. All that remains is the small case in the corner, the leather gleaming in the rays of afternoon light seeping in from the window. Reflections from passing cars make the light shimmer so that it blinks out a pattern on the innocuous case. I stare, mesmerized, as if those flashes of light are a message. As if they are calling me, urging me close, trying to lock me inside this new hell into which I have tumbled.

I hear a strange noise as I snatch the case, then realize it is my own whimper. Part of me doesn’t want to know, but the other part is too curious to be contained. I unzip it—then stare in horror at the gleaming set of antique scalpels.

A wave of thankfulness so potent that it almost knocks me over sweeps over me. Yes, I think. Thank God, yes.

But then sanity returns and I back away as if in horror. Only when I reach the wall, do I realize that the case is still in my hand.

Do it.

I tighten my grip and stare down at the blades.

I need to do this. I need it.

Slowly, as if sleepwalking, I return to my chair. I sit. I spread my legs. I yank up my skirt.

And then I press the tip of one shining, beautiful blade to my thigh. Immediately, I draw in a sharp thread of air as a bead of blood oozes from beneath the point of the blade. I shiver, mesmerized. I had not yet meant to cut, but the blade is so sharp, so perfect, that just that simple contact was enough to draw blood. And what now? A quick flick of my wrist? A slow, deliberate cut? Both are so sweetly tempting. Both would ease the maelstrom of ice and fear burning inside me.

Do it.

Do it, do it, do it.

I press down harder, feel the sting of cold steel against warm flesh. I moan from the ecstasy—and then I hurl the scalpel across the room, my cry of “No” echoing in the small space. The scalpel slams against the far wall, then drops to the floor with an unsatisfying metallic ping. I snatch up the case and hurl it, too, then leap to my feet and kick the chair, rip out a drawer, and slam my fist into the wall. I want to destroy this place, me, everything. I want to get lost in chaos.

I want the pain.

I want a way out.

I want Justin. Oh, dear God, I want Justin.

And then I collapse onto the floor, curl up in a ball, and cry.

Because Edward is not back from Malibu when I emerge from my office, I call a taxi, then step out into the bright sunshine, surprised to find that the earth is still rotating and that people are still going about their daily lives. Don’t they understand that the wheels have stopped turning?

I feel as though I am sleepwalking, and when I arrive at Stark Tower, I come in through the street level doors and move in a haze through the ornate lobby toward the security desk. I drift past the guards, and hear Joe call after me, “Ms. Fairchild, are you okay? You look a little under the weather.”

I am very under the weather, but I don’t bother stopping to tell that to Joe.

I have my own card key now, and I use it to call Justin’s private elevator. I ride up with no plan other than crawling into Justin’s bed and going to sleep until he returns from Chicago. I want to feel close to him for just a little longer. To breathe in the scent of him.

I want to make a memory of him, because I am about to sacrifice him in order to save him.

I have spent the last few hours thinking this through, and I see no other way. I can’t tell him about Sofia’s threat. If I do, he might let her go through with it. Might actually let her release those photos thinking somehow that he is protecting me. But I was in Germany with him, and I watched him break. And now that I’ve seen the photos myself, I am even more certain that those pictures plastered across the tabloids would destroy him. And every time he looked at me, he would see the reason for that intrusion into his life. Even if he could dig himself out of the inevitable hole, it would become a wedge between us. And I would rather walk away now than see our relationship shatter under the weight of something as vile as those photos.

I could go to the police, but how would that help? Then there would be more people aware of the photos and more risk that they are made public.

Even if I could tell him, so what? Could he convince Sofia not to release the photos? Maybe. But then he would live with that threat hanging over him for the rest of his life, and I do not want that for him or for us.

And would he even try to convince her? Or would he simply take control, doing whatever he had to in order to eliminate a threat? If what Sofia says is true, he killed Richter to protect her. Would he eliminate Sofia in order to protect himself? Me? Our relationship?

I honestly don’t know. And, frankly, that scares me, too.

So I will do what I must. I will end it. And then, somehow, I will try to survive.

The elevator glides to a stop and I quickly wipe away the tears that have spilled, just in case one of the staff is in the apartment. The doors open and I enter. I drop my purse on the bench that surrounds the floral arrangement, then move on through to the living room.

I stop short the moment I enter the room. Justin is sitting on the floor carefully lifting a frame from a reinforced shipping box. “Well, hello,” he says with a wide, welcoming grin. “Apparently I’m getting two presents today.”

I suck in air, recognizing the image from just the tiniest corner that is peeking out. It is the black-and-white photograph of the mountains at sunset, and I watch, frozen, as he pulls it out, gazes approvingly at it, and then reads the inscription on the back, neatly printed above the artist’s signature: To Justin, the sun will never set on our love. Yours always, Selena.

I have to fight not to burst into tears.

“It’s beautiful,” he says to me. He rests it against the back of the couch and comes to me, his forehead creased. “Is something wrong?”

“How was Chicago?” I ask, postponing the inevitable.

“Productive.” He takes my hand and leads me around to the couch. “I was able to convince David to talk to me—he agrees that Sofia doesn’t need to be out on her own. She has too many issues, and without her meds . . . ” He trails off. I don’t bother telling him that I know. And that I agree one hundred percent.

“David let her crash at his apartment here in LA. She’s not there now—I checked—but I know what name she’s using, so it’s just a matter of time.”

“What’s the name?” I ask.

“Monica Karts. The last name is an anagram,” he says.

“I know. It took me a moment, but I figured that out.”

“A moment? I just told you.”

“No,” I say. “She told me. I’ve known her for a while now. Just casually. Someone to chat with at the Starbucks near my office.”

He bursts to his feet, but I take his hand and tug him back down. “Wait. I need to say something, and I need to do it fast. It’s why I came by, so please—please just let me get this out, okay?”

I can see the concern in his eyes, and it breaks my heart. But I tell myself there’s no other choice. I’ve been over all my options, and I simply don’t see a way clear that doesn’t lead straight to Justin being destroyed.

For so long, he’s been the one protecting me. This time, I’m doing whatever I can to protect him.

s1z�I

[remnantsofhopeanddespair]

“Can’t Show Weakness” ( Selena )

Triggers are tagged below. Contains: Abandonment, Rape, Pedophilia, and Homelessness. 

Bit of a jumble of thoughts but basically this is it. 

Selena went through a lot of things back when she was a child. After being abandoned by her mother, she lived on the streets while going to school. Being unconfident and blaming herself for her mother abandoning her...she was once an innocent girl who frequented the alleys. There were some people that showed her kindness, homeless people like herself. Some weren’t all there mentally but she didn’t mind. She found it amusing and was happy to help them. A few of them told her she didn’t deserve this but, she didn’t want any pity. They had their lives to worry about, to her: way more chaotic than hers. 

For food, she had to make use of her skills. Stealing or dumpster diving. Sometimes she’d get caught and just run away. Some would understand and just let her take it. But one person...was not too happy about it. Selena had wandered into his store before, and his eyes...never left hers. She didn’t know about it until one day, when she tried to steal but ended up getting caught. The man grabbed her and took her into his office. Selena looked up at him, apologized and said she wouldn’t do it again. The man gave her a kind smile and told her it was okay. Telling her that she could have the things she stole..only for a fee. 

Selena, being the innocent girl at the time, said that was fine and she’d pay for it immediately. The man only smirked and went up to her and had his way with her. At first...it was scary and unwanted. She didn’t understand her body yet and she tried backing away. But the man only showered her in compliments. Saying she was like an angel. A beautiful perfect angel. Her mind was only in fear as she felt tears fall down her face, telling him to stop. But the man only caressed her cheek and entered her. Leaving her in nothing but pain as he continued to endulge in her. When the actual sex happened, she screamed before he covered up her mouth. Trying to shush her as pain wracked her entire body. Continuing till he actually released his seed inside of her. When he was done, he cleaned up and told her “If you want food, just come and find me. You can repay me again.” She took the food she stole and walked back to her home. Crying her eyes out that night. 

It wasn’t the end though. Sadly, Selena felt that it was a better alternative. The man did invite other friends, everyone commenting on her being “like an angel”. It got to the point..that she no longer screamed when he used her. She just took it. Stuck in despair. Thinking to herself...”was this worth it? Food for my own sanity?” 

...No. 

She eventually fought back. Attacking the man with whatever she got her hands on. Doing whatever her young body could do. Enough to knock him out before she ran far away. Never going to that store again. Although she was done with him. Other people would look at her. A teacher at her school and things like that. Especially when puberty hit her. She fought back each time. The situation telling her “Dont’ show weakness. If you do, people will take advantage of you.” 

Now? The memory is still part of her head and part of her saying “Dont’ show weakness” as has been shown with multiple parts of her life. Especially with her job being the way it is. She’s not crippled by it, but the one thing she does wish...is that she can take that man down with her own hands. She never saw him again and honestly? She was glad she didn’t. If she did...nothing would stop her from killing him. Instantly. 

[anavoliselenu]

Beautiful lies chapter 8

I choke on a swig of bourbon and clear my throat. "No." My voice is gruff. It’s not that I haven’t thought about it. I have. Almost constantly. I imagine lifting her up with her ass in my hands until her legs hug my waist. Pressing my fingers to her warm center while biting the soft skin at her throat. The waiting and wanting is pure torture. Christ, I’m screwed. How did I not think this through when I brought her home?

"No shit?" Both he and Collins turn to face me, like this is breaking news.

"Please tell me you’re not still hung up on Stella," Collins asks, his sympathetic eyes locked on mine.

Fuck no. I’m not hung up on her. I’m just trying to do the right thing – without having one fucking clue what that means.

They watch me, cataloging my contemplative mood and Pace chews on his lower lip. "Seriously dude, Stella is ancient history, even if she refuses to get the fuck out of your life, there’s nothing wrong with moving on."

"I know that," I grumble. I’ve told myself the same thing, over and over, yet some unknown force holds me back. Of course they don’t know it’s been two fucking years since I’ve been intimate with a woman, and being in such close proximity to a beautiful girl like Selena is the worst kind of torture.

"So, what’s the hold up, man? I’d be tapping that sweet pussy every night." Pace gives me a goofy grin.

"She’s a virgin." As soon as I’ve said it, I want to take it back. It’s too intimate a piece of knowledge to share with them. It’s Selena’s personal business. I don’t tell them how I’ve come to possess this information, or that I’d bought the right to that particular privilege; I just sit there staring down into my now empty glass, wondering if and when I’ll do something about it.

"Wow." Collins says while Pace’s cocky grin widens. Asshole. "Not what I was expecting you to say," Collins continues, "I thought you’d feed us that line again about her being your buddy’s little sister."

Oh yeah. I’d almost forgotten the story I gave them. Just another testament to how messed up my head is right now.

"We all know things aren’t totally finished with Stella – so I’m not going to pretend like they are, but really, is that honestly what’s stopping you?" Pace asks, his eyes full of genuine confusion.

"I don’t know." It’s partly that – partly that I’m not sure if Selena wants me, or if I even deserve to take something so precious from her. Part of it is her innocence, the sweet way her eyes follow me around the room, her trusting nature, the selflessness she displayed to save her sister in the first place…she’s entirely too good for me to use for my own pleasure. I already feel guilty – but after, I know I’ll feel guilty as fuck. And even though I tell my brothers nearly everything – my participation at that auction is something I’ll take to the grave. Not for my own sake, but because I doubt Selena would want anyone knowing she’d sold herself that way.

"You need to figure it out, bro." Pace slaps me on the back before pouring another measure of liquor into my glass. "Otherwise I have a feeling you’re in for a massive case of blue balls."

He’s not kidding. I’m certain I have enough pent up semen to father three-quarters of the world’s population. My dick aches constantly and my brain swirls with thoughts I shouldn’t be having, but worst of all is the way my heart beats faster when she’s near and all my senses tune into her completely.

My life for the past two years has been a lesson in order and self-control. I worked hard, and logged long hours at the gym, but I haven’t been really living. Selena's brought out a different side to me. Just the act of her curling around me at night had softened me, made me remember life wasn’t only about coping. There were things worth living for. I wanted more of that mixed in.

Chapter Ten

Selena

The mid-morning sunshine and the fact that there’s still a warm male tucked against my side, remind me that it’s Saturday. I stretch leisurely in the bed, already daydreaming of the delicious frothy cappuccino I’m going to make myself. I feel quite proud that I’ve mastered that damn over-pretentious coffee machine. It only took me three weeks.

Justin surprises me by reaching out and tugging me back against him. I’m greeted by a rather impressive erection nudging my backside. Gah! It's warm and solid and my body clenches uselessly, responding automatically at the mere thought of him.

Aside from those first two nights, we’ve had no other sexual contact. I should feel relieved, but instead I find myself increasingly frustrated and confused. Almost a month has passed. I had figured he would take my virginity right away, but after several days and then weeks, I've become increasingly anxious and curious about it. Now I just want to get it over with, I'm tired of waiting and wondering when he’s going to do. I was purchased as a sex slave and I know I'm not living up to my end of the bargain.

In the evenings he stays up late, working in his office and all but ignores me. Does he not find me attractive? Is he gay? Were my blowjobs that bad? The wait is maddening. Is there something wrong with me that my master refuses to fuck me? The belly churning anticipation is worse than the actual event. I need to get this over with. I’d often suspected he took care of his needs during his morning shower, but I’ve never been brave enough to venture into the bathroom for confirmation.

At first I wondered if he was waiting for me to make a move, to climb into his lap, or kiss him…but I know that’s not it. He wasn’t shy about taking what he wanted from me the first two times. He’d ordered me to my knees, undone his pants and stroked himself while I’d watched. I knew he wasn’t timid, which made this all the more confusing.

You could cut the sexual tension between us with a knife – it’s a real and visceral need permeating the air around us. And each night I’m expected to cuddle up to a shirtless, buff, delicious smelling man, lay in his arms and be the perfect little obedient bedmate. The problem with all this? It’s fucking confusing. He’s spent a million dollars to bring me here, and I’m all too aware of the money – every time I call home, when I hear about Becca’s progress, every time I wander the various rooms of his mansion, or catch my reflection in the mirror and remember where my new designer wardrobe came from, it sends another wave of confusion rattling through me. I need to know what’s expected of me – where we stand – what this arrangement involves.

His cock is the only part of him I clearly understand. It’s less discreet in its desires. But his mind is like a fucking maze. One I have no hope of ever solving. I’ve thought about confronting him. But in this moment – feeling his hot arousal press against me, I want something else entirely.

A low rumble escapes his throat as he presses closer, his cock nestling in against my ass cheeks. Warm need dampens my panties, making them cling to my sensitive folds. He pushes his hips closer again, stealing my breath as I feel every hard ridge of him. His hand moves along my belly, inching its way upward and I hold my breath, wondering where it will land.

Wishful thinking takes hold and I angle my body toward his, wanting to feel his firm hand cup my breasts, rub against my sensitive nipples. His fingers splay open and brush the underside of my breast.

His breathing remains even and steady against the back of my neck and he’s making sleepy little noises, which only urge me on. As much as I wish I could see his face, I’m too afraid to move – too afraid it will break the spell. I consider pushing my t-shirt up out of the way to help him, craving the skin to skin contact against my breasts and nipples, but instead, I press my bottom back into his hard arousal and he releases a grunt. The sound makes all my inner muscles clench.

"Soph?" he asks, his voice sleepy and rough.

Oh god. He was still asleep, and now I’m mortified.

I roll toward him and look down between us to where his cock is straining against his boxers, trying to come out and greet me.

Just let me take care of it for goodness sake.

I place my hand over his heart and feel its steady thump.

"Sorry, it’s just morning wood," he says, noticing my fascination with what’s below his navel.

"It’s okay," I whisper. "Do you…Are you…" Spit it out, Soph. My lack of experience means I have no idea how to ask for what I want. I consider dipping my hand below his waistband, taking his firm cock in my fist and stroking him. I want him to kiss me, and pin me to the bed with his big body. Instead, he continues watching me with a little crease etched between his brows. He looks at me like I'm an amusing child that he has no idea what to do with.

"I’ll take care of it," he says, climbing from bed and leaving me wet and so turned on I could scream in frustration.

***

I’m bored as shit.

In the weeks since I moved in, I’ve developed a routine – one that bores me to tears –but at least it’s a routine. I wake mid-morning when Justin’s been gone to work for hours, have breakfast and coffee at the kitchen island while I talk to Beth – Justin’s personal chef - then I change and sit outside in the sun, curling up in one of the lounge chairs on the balcony while I read.

Later, I either go for a swim in the pool or jog on one of the treadmills in the gym. From there, my day unravels a bit. I wander the house, take a nap, text with Becca, and basically just wait around for Justin to get home. It’s a bland existence. I want to get a job – I need something to occupy my days other than thoughts of Justin and my strange new life.

The silver lining to all this is that Becca has been entered into the trial program and is receiving aggressive doses of medication that make her feel weak and sick but seem to be working. It’s much too early to tell if they’ll send her late stage cancer into remission, but we’re all hopeful. And while I don’t regret my decision, I have five more months to go, and I don’t think I can take another day of this complete mental and emotional boredom. I need more stimulation.

At six o’clock, all of the household staff is gone, and I’m showered and dressed and waiting for Justin to arrive home from work. Grabbing the little LED display remote, I tap the keypad, bringing the surround-sound speakers to life and change the music to something uplifting. A jazzy, upbeat band that I’ve never heard before fills the room. I crank it up loud, craving something different, some stimulation, then pad into the kitchen in my bare feet.

I open the door to the built-in wine cabinet that’s always a cool fifty-two degrees and pick out a bottle of white wine. The label proudly announces it’s called Naughty Girl Wine. Sounds perfect. After wrestling out the cork, I pour myself a large glass and sit down at the kitchen island to wait for my master’s arrival home.

As absent as our physical contact has been, he dominates my days and nights. My schedule revolves around his. I’m all too aware of when he wakes and prepares for his workday, showering and moving about the room in the dim light, dropping his towel and dressing in the closet so as not to wake me. When he returns at night is the happiest time of my day. To prepare for his arrival, I shower, style my hair and apply makeup and greet him like I’m seeing a long lost friend. It’s pathetic, but it’s my life.

I sit and sip my wine, hoping the combination of the alcohol and the jazz music spilling from the speakers will lift my mood. My stomach rumbles loudly. God, where is he? I glance at the clock. He’s later than usual. I pour myself another glass of wine and continue waiting. Dinner is ready and in the warming tray, as usual, and I can’t help peeking to see what Beth’s left us tonight. Its steamed fish garnished with fragrant orange slices, oven-roasted root vegetables and a side of creamy risotto. My mouth waters just looking at it and I steal a couple of vegetables off of each plate, being sure to keep the portions even, popping them into my mouth and chewing greedily like I’m breaking numerous international laws. The garlicky carrots and parsnips practically melt in my mouth and I steal another bite before replacing the covers on the two plates.

After two glasses of wine, I’m slightly buzzed and grab the remote for the sound system again. This cool jazz is giving me a headache. I flip absently through the music choices, not knowing what I’m searching for until I find it. Heart thumping, booty popping hip hop fills the room and my lips curl up in a lazy smile. I take another fortifying gulp of my wine and rise from the stool I’m slumped in, suddenly needing to move. I shimmy and shake across the kitchen, rolling my hips and lip-syncing along to the lyrics.

I dance while watching my reflection in the glass window across the room. Sticking my ass out, I give it a little shake. How could he not want this?

"What the hell are you doing?" Justin’s deep voice rumbles behind me.

Gah! My hand flies to my heart and I spin around, my spine instantly straightening. I meet his eyes, taking in his amused expression. My face flames fire-engine red and my mouth opens uselessly, then closes again, knowing I’ve been busted.

Justin’s dressed like he always is when he returns home from work. A custom tailored dark suit, light shirt and coordinating tie. Tonight the tie hangs loosely around his open shirt collar and his eyes are ringed with dark circles.

Making a split second decision, I saunter over to him, swaying to the beat of the still pumping music and grab his tie, tugging him closer. His body brushes against mine and the awareness of his broad muscular frame and captivating scent send endorphins skittering through my blood steam. Maybe it’s the wine, maybe it’s the music, or it could just be my lack of control in my new environment, but whatever the reason, I’m feeling bold. Alive for the first time in a long time. I drag a fingertip down the length of his tie, appreciating the feel of fine silk against my skin. Justin eyes my movements, but remains completely still as his breathing grows ragged.

Tired of being ignored, I grip his tie and work my hips back and forth in front of his lap, rolling my pelvis to the beat of the music, careful not to brush up against him, I’m just trying to show him there’s more to me than the kept little girl he treats me as.

His amused grin falls away and his face takes on a more serious expression. His eyes drop from mine and slide lower, traveling slowly down my body. His look is ravenous and my pulse riots in my neck. The way his eyes are glued to my body is too much. The healthy dose of courage, courtesy of the half bottle of wine I’d consumed, all but evaporates, and my dancing comes to a halt.

His hand circles my waist, his thumb grazing back and forth across my hip bone. "I never took you for a Rhianna fan," he murmurs.

I merely nod and his hand falls away. I immediately notice its absence. Grabbing the remote, I tap the screen several times to bring the volume down to a more reasonable level.

"Naughty Girl, huh?" Justin asks, plucking the wine bottle from the counter. "Are you drunk, Selena?" He sends me a questioning look and I lift one eyebrow. Why do I feel like a rebellious teenager who’s broken into daddy’s liquor cabinet?

He surprises me by bringing the bottle to his lips and taking a long swig. I watch the thick column of his throat as he swallows and little goosebumps break out across my belly. When he’s done, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "I’ve had a hell of a day." He grabs another bottle of wine and two fresh glasses. "Come on."

Dinner is all but forgotten – I have wine and Justin to keep me company and my boredom is temporarily at bay. Hallelujah!

I follow him through the house, into his darkened office and out onto the deck. As soon as he slides open the glass doors, the gentle whooshing sound of the ocean welcomes us. It instantly soothes me.

He strips off his suit jacket and removes the tie over his head, hanging both on the railing to the deck where they lightly flutter in the breeze. Justin sinks down into one of the lounge chairs and begins uncorking the bottle. I slide into the seat next to him and accept the glass of cool, crisp wine he passes me.

It’s not as sweet as the bottle I’d opened, but subtle buttery flavors greet my palate. Mmm. I let out a tiny moan and Justin’s eyes race over to mine.

"Care to tell me what tonight was all about?" he asks.

"What?" I play dumb.

"The club music – the wine, the dancing…" He lifts one dark eyebrow, his playful smirk is back.

"What was wrong with my dancing?"

Fighting off a smile, he clears his throat. "There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with it, sweetness. You just surprise me, is all."

"It’s boring here all day. I’m thinking about getting a job," I say, looking over at him to check his reaction.

"I’ve provided everything you could need. Why would you want to work?" He seems surprised.

After paying for my sister’s care, I still have several hundred thousand dollars in the bank. And I’m living expense-free. I should enjoy it, right? Only I can’t. That’s not me. I’ve never taken a hand-out in my life. "It’s not about the money, I just need something to do – I can’t lounge around all day with the only thing to do is go shopping with Marta using your credit cards. I want something for me. A purpose." Just saying it out loud renews my decision.

He takes another thoughtful sip of his wine, his full lips resting on the edge of the glass more distracting than it should be. "If that’s what you want. What kind of job?" he asks.

"I don’t know. Maybe at a coffee shop, or restocking books at the library. It doesn’t matter. Just something that gets me out of the house."

"You’re welcome to get a job, as long as you’re home in the evenings when I am."

I nod. That sounds good to me too. I’ve come to enjoy his company at night. My boredom is isolated to the daytime hours. I didn’t enjoy sitting alone in this too big house with too many thoughts running rampant through my head. It isn’t healthy. "Thank you."

"What did you do today?" he asks, like he usually does.

"I read, went for a swim." I shrug and focus on my wine. I don’t want to tell him that in the hours before he gets home, I shower and get myself ready, taking extra time to blow dry my hair and put on the dark colored lingerie that Marta insisted he’d like. It’s like even my bras and panties are mocking me, whispering against my skin that he’s not interested.

"Hey, what’s wrong?" He lifts my chin to meet his concerned gaze.

"Nothing." I straighten my shoulders, shaking the feelings away. There’s no reason to feel rejected. If anything, I should be relieved. But if the situation were different – if I wasn’t here under these pretenses, I’d still no doubt feel rejected by his lack of interest. He’s a beautiful, charming, wealthy man. I guess it was dumb to believe that a man like him would be interested in someone like me.

His eyes hesitantly leave mine and though I can sense he wants to press the issue further, he closes his mouth and refills my wine glass.

"What happened at work today?" I recall him saying he’d had a rough day.

His eyes harden and he looks out at the dark blue water, growing quiet. It occurs to me that I don’t really know what he does. He’s very private about his business. "Nothing with work, it was actually something…personal that popped up unexpectedly. I need to go to New York and take care of it."

"New York? When?" Of course what I really want to know is what personal matter he could have in New York, since I know virtually nothing of his past.