#Thief On The News - Dash Commentary;;

[domino-duelists-moved]

..

[blazing-foolish-trickster]

// Can’t we just say as a fandom that we love all the persona series(both mains and it’s spin offs) and the SMT games? And even love and understand their flaws too? Thank you.

[amberthief]

The thief was suddenly quite concerned about half the multiverse at this point.

[adultswim2021]

Sealab 2021 #14: “Der Dieb” | May 12, 2002 - 11:45 PM | S02E04

Well goodness, would you look at that? It’s another okay episode of Sealab season 2. In fact, each episode in this little mini-run is progressively stronger than the last, which makes my previous assessment of the so-called irreversible downward spiral of the series seem off. But maybe I should just talk about the actual episode?

There appears to be a thief on Sealab as a lot of the crew’s stuff goes missing. Capt. Murphy immediately declares “Martian Law”, turning Marco into his right-hand man. They brutalize everyone on Sealab as part of the new regime. Quinn is singled out as the likeliest of suspects despite the fact that he also had stuff go missing. He is beaten to a pulp. Turns out the whole thing is just a pretense to throw him a surprise birthday party, where Hesh pops out of a big cake and raps a birthday rap that is legitimately wonderful. Was it all worth it? Well, maybe we should worry about that when there isn’t a FASCIST running SEALAB, OKAY CHAMP???

This one actually feels like a real Sealab episode. It’s relatively gimmick-free, and it’s just fun. There are some crude simplistic drawings, like Sparks’ mangled hands, but some of the stuff in this manages to come across as funny. I’m not sure what the line is with this show; the violence in this isn’t even clever, but it still all pays off.

After this the show went on a little mid-season hiatus. The DVD for some reason calls this the first episode of season 2. That DVD set is notably better than the first volume. It has lotsa extras and a cool comic-book motif and commentary tracks on each episode. Adam Reed tells the story of the episode’s title, which is that he was trying to date a couple of German women who thought he was stealing their stuff, and they kept saying “Der Dieb!” or, “The Thief!”. This, coupled with the Adult Swim podcast interview he gave where he brags about the amount of sex tourism he does overseas, makes Reed sound like a rich kid douchebag. I kinda get the sense that his comedy is ultimately dashed off garbage that he believes is pure gold simply because he had something to do with it. Wearing his low-effort trash-making as a badge of honor. Some people just aspire to be a kind of dude that shoots from the hip. SOME PEOPLE.

MAIL BAG

In the credit's cartoon at the end of ATHF we see them on the moon and an astronaut in the background. It zooms into the astronauts helmet and then we see the gang as normal in Carl's pool. Is it possible the Aqua Teens really are the mystery solving squad we see in the opening and the good-for-nothing misfits we all know and love are the imagination of the astronaut? Does this have a Tommy Westphall effect on Space Ghost and more?

I really hope the upcoming movie humorlessly unpacks the Aqua Teen Canon, establishing various episodes as being from different earths. Every death-of-character on the show is depicting an alternate universe, which will be assigned a number. The entire movie should really just be a Q&A of Dave Willis mostly reading off a piece of paper saying which episodes take place in Prime-Continuity and which ones don’t. That would be so pimp

[keeperofhounds]

Lost & Found (Chapter One)

I got a new story that I’ve worked on for a little while. I don’t own Tangled this is a fan work not for profit.

Special thanks to my beta reader @rachelbethhines and special thanks to Varian 66 on Discord for their part in developing this story.

We all know how the original story started. We all know how it ended too. Let’s see an alternate take if Eugene were to have been adopted rather than being alone for most of his life.

Flynn Rider felt stones settle in his stomach as he jumped the castle roof. This was wrong so very wrong. Never mind the fact the people he was working with literally threatened him. If it weren’t for that then he wouldn’t even be here. Working to steal a crown of a missing princess whose parents were obviously still grieving.

He looked over at the view provided by the high royal tower seeing the green hills and dense forests he wondered if he could see home if he went a little higher. Flynn Rider may be a no-good thief but even he had some standards when it came to thieving. It also didn’t hurt he had a healthy amount of loyalty to the kingdom instilled in him. Corona was the only kingdom in all the seven kingdoms where he wasn’t wanted for his exploits. It was also the one place he always went back to.

One of his “partners” shoved his shoulder to grab Flynn’s attention, “Hey Rider don’t forget why you're here.”

The thief tried not to glare or show any of his contempt to the pair of brothers watching him, “Come on when am I ever going to get a view like this in another place in Corona.”

The brothers didn’t seem to believe him but left him alone as they got ready for the heist of this kingdoms century. As Flynn watched them pull out the supplies he couldn’t help but admit he was a bit impressed with the Stabbingtons. They were a bit on the stupid side and were more often than not plain goons for better thieves such as himself. The pair were the classic losers who usually got caught whenever a heist got hairy but like roaches, they seemed to always find a way.

Patchy and Sideburns were not ones to mess with when it came to serious crime though. Although while Flynn doubted that they would be able to follow through with their threats he wasn’t willing to risk it either. A lot can go wrong and it was better if he just dealt with them before they had the chance to follow through. Flynn Rider already had plenty of ideas to get rid of them.

“Guys I want a castle,” Flynn said, watching the view.

Sideburns sneered, “Get this job done and it might just happen.”

Patchy grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and securely tied him to the rope. Looking at the floor Flynn saw the sheer amount of guards in the area. Although with how open the space between them and the crown was snatching the crown was going to be a piece of cake. As the Sabbingtons slowly lowered Flynn towards the crown he kept still in an x-formation to keep from swinging too much. He didn’t want to get caught besides his reservations he had a reputation to uphold.

As he was lowered he slowly reached one hand towards the crown while the other held the satchel. None of the royal guards noticed him yet. That’s when he froze at the sound of one of them sneezing. Perfect.

“Oh, hay fever.”

The guard sniffed, not realizing the current situation, “Yeah.”

Flynn had already been rushing out of the skylight, ignoring the cries of stop and wait from the guards. The group of thieves were quick when making their escape running and jumping off the castle roofs. By the time the guards were forming search parties the thieves were already over the bridge and out of the capital. With Flynn making endless commentary at the expense of the guards.

“Can you guys imagine me in a castle? Because I certainly can!” the man cried, holding his satchel up in victory. “Gentlemen this is a very big day!”

The brothers ignored him keeping focus on escaping with their prize. As they headed deeper and deeper into the woods Flynn started to worry, what if they did escape? The worst-case scenario was that the Stabbingtons take the crown and Flynn becomes wanted in Corona. He didn’t want to think about the implications of such a change. It was a good thing everyone thought of him as nothing but a daring pretty boy. It was time to turn up the pretty boy act.

Flynn started gasping for air, placing a hand on a tree to lean against, “Wow, you guys are really in shape.”

Sideburns stared at him annoyed, “Keep running Rider.”

The man was about too when his eyes caught the sight of their wanted poster. This time he didn’t even try to pretend, “Oh, come on your wanted poster is perfect, but nobody can get my nose right. Seriously?”

Horses blared at the distance catching their attention. The royal guard were getting closer and they weren’t far off. In fact, the guards had caught a glimpse of the pair from the nearby cliff.

Running as fast as they could jumping stones and slapping stray tree branches the group ran and ran until they were forced to stop. It was a dead end. Individually, there was no way anyone of them could scale the height on their own without being given a boost. There wouldn’t be enough time and all of them would only get caught. It was just the thought Flynn had after placing his hand on the dead end and turning to the brothers.

“Alright, okay give me a boost and I’ll pull you up.” Flynn bargained, it was a lie of course, why would he even help the guys who threatened him?

The Stabbingtons shared a look clearly not believing Flynn’s words. Smart choice.

Sideburns held his hand out, “Give us the satchel first.”

Flynn gasped in fake shock and surprise, “I just, I can’t believe that after all, we’ve been through together that you don’t trust me?”

They only gave him dead looks and silence as they rightly so suspected what his plans were. They have been with him long enough to know how Flynn played the game and they weren’t stupid either. The current partnership they had was doomed to fail from the start, it was based on blackmail and threats. No honor among thieves.

“Owe,” Flynn said, mirroring their dead-eyed look but handing the satchel over to prevent an argument, the sooner he got over the obstacle the sooner he could ditch them.

With teamwork that could happen between brothers, the Stabbingtons made a makeshift ladder with their bodies. Patchy held the feet of his brother while Sideburns was on his shoulders pushing Flynn over the cliff with great difficulty. Flynn, on the other hand, climbed both brothers carelessly even using Sideburn's face as a stepping stool towards the top.

Flynn looked down at the duo from his perch innocently, it looks like neither had noticed they were missing something very important.

“Now help us up pretty boy,” Sideburns ordered, holding his hand out expectantly. Waiting for a hand that wouldn’t be grabbing back.

Flynn took great pleasure in his next actions, “Sorry,” He said, showing off the satchel he snagged while they were distracted, “my hands are full.” Before dashing off deeper into the forest.

The shout that echoed would be embedded in Flynn Rider’s memories for years to come. Now all he had to do was outrun the other people chasing him, easy right?

https://keeperofhounds.tumblr.com/post/612699387516289024/lost-found-chapter-two

[writeraquamarinara]

This is a bit late, but congrats on yet another trip around the sun, everyone!

I want to start this year off by thanking everyone who got me through the last one; I love you all.

Notes of appreciation are below the cut (because this got wayyyy too long, woops), and @s are in alphabetical order so you don’t have to dig through them to find yours, lol.

@arsenicpanda: Thank you for providing this fandom with wonderful gif sets, commentary, and tumblr tags. You do so much as a Discord mod, and your support of content creators is always so wonderful to see.

@awkwardteenwrites: Hi, darling! I hope you’re doing alright. Thank you for sticking around and being such a bright light in the fandom. Your gifs are always so incredibly beautiful, and I come back to them often. <3

@bettsc: You are such a lovely human being and your presence in the fandom brings so much joy. I love your fics, and how much you support those of others. 

@bettycooper: Thank you so much for everything you do for the bughead fandom, Cat. Without you we wouldn’t have so many of the events, and thus content, that we are spoiled with. Your work in organizing the fandom and support of content creators does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. <3

@catthecoder: Lav, darling, you are one of the most beautiful people on this entire site. Your (not-so-anon) asks always bring me so much joy, as does your writing. We are so lucky to have such a loving person in our midst. 

@cracklr: I love you, you hilarious gal. I wish you would send me vaguely threatening messages more often. :)

@crepuscolo-writes: I don’t know if I could have gotten through some days without your support and/or yelling at me to get shit done. Your edits are gorgeous, and your photography even more so. I love your commentary on posts, and you’re the most badass person I know. <3

@dottie-wan-kenobi: You make me smile, you make me laugh, you understand me so unbelievably well. You support me even when I haven’t been online or active for months on end, and you never make me feel bad for being absent. You are brilliant, and an incredible writer, and I look up to you for all of that and more. I love you very much.

@earthlaughsinflowersblog: You are one of the most thoughtful, insightful persons I’ve had the pleasure of coming across, ever. The details you pick up on, and comment on, the ideas you share, your outlook on and love of life, your appreciation and encouragement of others — I aspire. Thank you for setting such a lovely example for us all. Much love.

@fictitiousoshine: Oshine, you have one of the most brilliant souls I have ever seen. Thank you for thinking of me, sending me messages, and support on so many platforms. You write some of the most wonderful comments I have ever received. I hope you have the most amazing year, decade, and life. You deserve the world and more. <3

@halsteadandlindsay: Hello you gorgeous human. I love you very much. I love our conversations, and I love reading your writing — it’s so beautiful. Sending you so much love <3

@hellodinoflower: I appreciate you and your presence in this fandom more than I will ever be able to say. Thank you for making me smile with your thoughtfulness and your encouragement. Thank you for writing stories and comments I come back to often. Thank you for being kind, and friendly.

@hufflepuff-betty: Your posts, and the occasional commentary on them, always make me laugh, or smile, or think. Thank you for being in the fandom, and for supporting my writing. I can’t say I’ve ever listened to a podfic before, but rest assured that when I do, the first will be one of yours. (send me recs if you’d like!) <3

@ithoughtyoulikedmereckless: Thank you for always reaching out to me, and making sure that I’m doing okay. Thank you for being so kind and loving, and for the beautiful fic you gifted me this year. I love that you’re always smiling and enjoying life, and living it as unapologetically as you do. I love that we share so many interests, and I love talking about them with you. Here’s to hopefully meeting up soon <3

@itseitheryeetorbeyeeted: Hello, my darling Mia! You and your kitty always bring me so much joy. You are the queen of eyeshadow and I really wish you could teach me to be as good at makeup as you are. Also I really want to go to the Lightning Thief Musical with you one day — we can dream, right?

@justcourbeau: Mel, you are one of the most special people I have ever met. Your kindness and compassion know no bounds, and I am so lucky to have you in my life. You are hilarious, and I love that my appreciation for English Lit memes matches yours. I enjoy our conversations so much, even though I’m often absent for extended periods of time, but I promise to work on that in the new year. I love you so much, and I really cannot wait for when (not if, when — I promise I’ll visit eventually) I’ll be able to give you the biggest hug irl. 

@miss-eee: The vibrant energy in everything you do — tumblr posts, Discord messages, and fic writing — always brings a smile to my face. You are such a wonderful person, and I’m always so happy to see you on my dash. Thank you for bringing me so much joy from day to day. Much love.

@panalegs27: I can’t believe I found someone so lovely and kind who also adores so many of the movies and shows that I do. Thank you for bringing me so much joy with every single one of your posts and messages. <3

@redundantoxymorons: Izzy, I truly don’t think I would still be online if it weren’t for you. I most certainly would not be writing anymore without our brainstorming sessions and your constant support and beta abilities. You are such a bright, caring person, and the world does not deserve you. I am so lucky to have your friendship, my darling. (Also the P&P posts on your blog make me SO HAPPY.)

@satelliteinasupernova: Thank you for providing this fandom with so much beautiful art; you’re my favorite artist on here, and your stories are just as well-crafted. Not only do you create such wonderful content, but you also support that of others. You send asks and interact with others on their blogs, and that is so important — you make us feel seen, and loved, and we could not ask for a better person to be in the community. 

@sheriff-snikety-snake: You are so incredibly hilarious (and thank you for complimenting me when I try to be as well) and thoughtful, and I love hearing your thoughts on absolutely anything. Thank you for listening to me when I started ranting about my thoughts for Valhalla, and encouraging me despite it being a complete dumpster fire of a fic. Thank you for sharing your art and writing and craft-work with us — we are so incredibly lucky.

@shirly-gallagher: Thank you so much for supporting my fics this year. Your comments and excitement always brightened my days <3333

@stirringsofconsciousness: I consider you something of a mentor — in how to be kind, caring, and brilliant. I love reading your masterful writing, and helping you out with a story that one time still sticks with me as one of my favourite moments on tumblr. Sending you so much love, and hoping you have a wonderful new year, decade, and more. <3

@sublimateradiate: I absolutely adore your bughead edits, and you as a person. I admire the thoughtful way in which you run your server and the interesting questions you ask in it. I admire the posts you put on my dash and how cool your interests are (cephalopods?? dude!), and thank you very much for being here and being so wonderful.

@sullypants: I don’t really know where to start with this one. Your many blogs are so important to me, for so many reasons, and so are you. You have guided me through so many tough times this year with your kind, empowering words. You have sent me messages that I think about and come back to often. You are such a well-read person, and I honestly aspire. Thank you for being nice to me (and everyone else on here). Thank you for providing me, and others, with content that means a lot. I cried reading your riverdale art history yearly recap, and I thank you for that. Here’s to a 2020, and many more years after that, that’s as nice to you as you’ve been to me. <3

@theheavycrown: Sarah, I don’t know what I, and us as a fandom, would do without you. You are always reminding me of the events you’re running, and supporting all of the content that everyone creates for this batshit crazy show, while also creating incredible content yourself! I admire how much time, effort, and patience goes into being so involved in the fandom, and running the Discord/tumblr accounts. We all bow down to you and your brilliance. 

@whaticameherefor: Your support of the crazy idea for a fic that I sent you ages ago made me so happy this year — I can’t believe you remembered it! You are such a wonderful person full of love, kindness, and intelligence, and I wish you all the best. Thank you for being a friend to me when I first joined the fandom, and for sticking around since. Much love.

@wolfofansbach: Your writing is so brilliant, so thought-out and well-researched, and I love reading your fics. I love reading your posts — because they are genius, and hilarious — and hearing your thoughts on the crazy show we all came together for. Thank you for supporting my writing even though it’s nowhere near as good as yours and despite me taking forever to post/update stories. Thank you for supporting content creators other than myself and for bringing so many of us so much joy. <3

I’m probably missing some lovely people but just know that I love every single one of y’all so very much, and I hope that you all have a wonderful new year xx.

[bloodfcst-a]

Hey, y’all. Tumblr’s been setting off my anxiety in the last few days, thus the reason I’ve been away. I’ll give you a full explanation under the cut for those who are interested (though I’d really appreciate it if you all read it anyway), and provide some contact information for places you can find me.

Discord: conjure. ☆#6443 Twitch: ninabeanxo Twitter: mishtadelet

I’ve been kind of quiet on Discord lately & I’m the most active on Twitter. I also announce when I’m streaming on Twitter, so... yeah. Sorry about this.

I want to be here. I really do. But there’s something about the summers on Tumblr that are really hard on me. I also think people’s attitudes change & idk why, but people seem to treat me pretty rudely? I try so hard to be approachable, to be kind and positive and supportive, but the amount that people try to take advantage of me or are just plain rude to me is?? So wild. So for those reasons, I’ve just kind of been isolating myself lately, and I may seem a little distant/less approachable/not talking much about myself because tbh... some of y’all are just haphazardly setting off my anxiety / panic attacks and I seriously can’t do it. I already have PTSD, so it’s a fucking nightmare lmao.

There is no gentle way of saying this, but it really needs to be stated. Please respect my triggers, or I will not talk to you. Please respect if I ask you not to mention something or someone to me.

and this is a really big one....

Please respect my boundaries.

If I have mentioned to you that I am not vibing with someone, do not send me media of them / that includes them, do not ask me about ships with them, do not tag me in posts of / with them, and please stop asking me about group verses / affiliated servers. In my time on tumblr, I’ve dealt with theft, bullying, emotional abuse, sexual harassment & solicitation. I’m constantly asking myself ‘ Why me? ’ but more than that, I’m really trying to avoid further situations from happening. I haven’t found an answer. I’m guessing it’s ‘cause I’m soft / nice? idk. Stop ruining a good thing. Y’all are gonna make me bitter, dang. 

When I made this blog, I was explicit that I do not want to be in mainstream FF fandom. When I promo this blog, I even say primarily fandomless & canon-divergent. There is way too much messiness in the fandom, extremely toxic people & tendencies there, and I just don’t like fandom discussion. Regardless of my reasons, the point is that I’m not interested, so please stop trying to entice me to go back. It’s so blatantly rude & shows you think your interests & wishes are more important than my comfort level, and I don’t appreciate that sentiment in the slightest.

That being said, I know Yufi reads differently. That’s why I put so much work into her metas. I even have two tags for all the content. At some point I’ll even have a less minimalistic blog & with more links so it’s super accessible ( in the off chances searching for the ‘  meta ’ and ‘ kisaragi ‘ tags don’t work ). But in the meantime... ask questions. Read. Join a stream. I’ve literally streamed games & movies for folks privately & occasionally stream now. I actually started a new file of VII not too long ago and just got Yuffie, so I could literally have a gameplay stream where we go through canon together. I’m like... nearly begging. Don’t make assumptions.

Again, there are so many resources. There’s wikis, there’s the tags, there’s the inbox ( just ask! ), there’s streams, there’s gameplay & commentary videos, there’s stuff. If you are confused or unsure, I would much rather you reach out. This is regardless of how long I’ve known you, ‘cause some of us have known me for a while and still don’t know anything about me or my portrayal or how to interact, in- or out-of-character.

On the topic of assumptions (because it really is that important, so many issues stem from assumptions & you continuously making the wrong assumptions will leave me less inclined to speak with you, nevermind interact), let’s address some.

I do not write a hyper-sexualized muse. I know this is fanon because of her choice in clothes... however, clothes are a fashion choice, and do not reflect a person’s... existence? I don’t know if it’s the masculinity or the rape culture or what but... what she’s wearing does not mean she deserves any hypersexual treatment... and also as an extension, myself ( bc this happens way too frequently-- please stop seeing my muse and then approaching me about your personal sexual fantasies. It is extremely uncomfortable, as someone who is sex-neutral & demiromantic, to be randomly selected to talk about sex? with me personally? via my muse? Or about my muse when we have zero chemistry? Why do y’all think this is okay??). When I do choose to write sexual / nsfw content, it’s always after conversations ( plural!! ) with my writing partner & after I feel comfortable with the topic and with them. But even if I had her hoein’ it up on the dash, that doesn’t mean to make assumptions about her character (bc maybe there’s character motivations I need to write a meta for & it’s part of her background) or me (the mun is not the muse!! say it with me!!).

I do not write a kleptomanic. Again, this is entirely fanon, because Yuffie says in literally everything she’s mentioned in that she does not steal without a purpose-- and the highest purpose is that she’s stealing items that would restore the power and glory of Wutai or for her personal safety. However, I very rarely write theft... I try really hard to steer clear of the topic because I’m aware that it’s like the #1 thing she’s reduced to. She’s a thief class, yes, but that is not the only dimension to her. I could go on, but I think that’s enough.

Just because our characters share canon does not mean they’re going to have chemistry. I am canon-divergent. But not only that... Yuffie just doesn’t vibe with most people as a canon fact. She is an outsider to like... 99% of people, exclusion being Godo ( Wutai ) & the Turks & the WRO. She doesn’t even claim herself as a member of AVALANCHE. Not only this, but the dynamic she has with one Reeve or Cloud does not represent every duplicate-- that comes with plotting and with chemistry. We will have to plot & work together to figure out exactly how our versions of characters mesh. This is a collaborative hobby.... so the collaborating shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. 

If you come guns-a-blazin’ without clearly having read anything about my portrayal, with completely inaccurate characterizations & just assume because we’re friendly out-of-character I’m gonna be pleased with it.... you’re dead wrong. I’m actually just... a very kind and nice person. I may just gently offer you some suggestions or corrections. But if you repeatedly come with your assumptions &  pre-conceived notions and it’s clear you’re not paying literally any attention to me or my ideas about my portrayal...  I’ll probably just recommend you to another duplicate. I know one who stole a ton of my content & former friends, so you’ll be in good hands. 

If you’re here, I assume that you want to write with me, not the idea of me. I’m a person with feelings & interests too, y’know ?? I feel like somehow that’s easy to forget with me for some reason, given how often people feel inclined to overstep my boundaries & act so disrespectful to me. Which is... fucking wild, honestly !! I’ve even had a person deadass say to my face “ I didn’t think/know you’d want to be treated with appreciation and respect. ” What the actual fuck does that mean? What kind of dominant abuser mentality ??????? Y’all on this site stress me out!!

The last two weeks have been legit stupid stressful on me, and I’ve had some interpersonal changes with folks in the last month (mainly in private) all regarding these subjects. About people here feeling entitled to be rude to me & finding all sorts of justifications for it (I’ve heard everything from “my grandma was sick” to “work’s hard”-- what’s that gotta do with you curb stomping me & my ideas/feelings, and telling me my emotions aren’t relevant in comparison to yours? It doesn’t). And it’s just been weighing down on me a lot. I don’t usually go on main here to discuss issues like this, but because it’s been OVERWHELMING in the last few weeks (and also, bc being nice to everyone is kinda common sense ? and idk why folks here seem to think I’m excluded from the ‘everyone’???), it just seemed like now, while I’m isolating a bit in an attempt to focus on some self-healing, would be a great time to discuss things.

I know this was a long post... but there’s been a lot of injustices done to me on here & in life, so....... if it burdens you to read all this, imagine how shitty it feels to have to experience it. Yeah. It’s rough, pals.

I don’t know how to really end this post godhsaohof. I’m hoping this will kind of open someone’s eyes & like... maybe things will change. I’ve stated before, but I have chronic illness so I really can’t handle stress or, for lack of a better term, a lot of bullshit tbh. If you wouldn’t say it to someone with a dying illness or cancer or a soft sweet grandma, don’t say it to me. Because that’s literally me! I’ve got an illness I’m dying from & I’ve had cancer & I’m soft and sweet! tl;dr, stop being so mean to me dang. I didn’t do anything to deserve this.

[monkey-network]

WarioWare: The Series Season 3 Episodes

52 Episodes. Season 4 Coming 20XX Season 2, Season 1 * = Episode Submitted by @tmantookie

The End of the Show: WarioWare Inc. want to make games again… except Wario, who has grown tired of the idea and the gang somehow taking advantage of him (even when he steals from them), so he goes back to treasure hunting. This begs the question: can a company run smoothly without an (arrogant and maniacal) entrepreneur to lead it?

The Prince and the Bopper: An elegant prince gets transported to Diamond City and feels out of touch with this new reality, so JT helps him see a side that’s been locked away. His kingdom’s chancellor arrives to take him back, but he’s conflicted between becoming king of the castle or staying as king of the ball.

Wario Side Story: The Possums and the Squirrels, rival gangs of DC’s Crystal Park, have fought for territory for generations. However, the daughters of the gang’s leaders start to bond and wish to put an end to the war. With Wario and Mona spectating from afar, can there be enough resolve in putting an end to the conflict?

Hurry Up!: The WarioWare gang are making a mad dash to a concert, but when they try using a shortcut through the DC mall, they’re forced to confront persistent kiosk owners who will stop at nothing to make them pay.

Words Hurt: In the show’s quietest episode ever, 9 and 18 Volt study at a library when higher grade kids start getting them in unintentional trouble, so the duo set up prank traps that’ll surely get back at them. All without making a sound.

Greed Pluribus Unum: A master thief is taking money from Wario, the richest fatcats of DC, banks, schools, hospitals, everything from the town. Why and where to is anyone’s game, but Wario-Man’s on the case to track down, take back, and force himself to give back to those who’ve been wronged.

Robot Humble: Doris 1 short circuits and plots to lead a robot uprising, but fails at getting an army due to Crygor’s bots not being the most vicious (or stable). So she turns to Mike, who develops feelings for her but gets annoyed by her constant pleading and moping.

Star Tolls: Orbulon takes over Dribble and Spitz’s shift for the day and is somehow better than the duo at getting the job done. But when he accidentally scratches a car and is challenged to a race across the galaxy, he may have to break some codes of his to win.

Nightmare on W Street: Halloween has arrived and Ashley is still the one person who’s afraid of nothing (beyond that one time). She and Wario takes this as an opportunity for easy money from the city, but when a stranger shaman casts a spell on her, the scam might falter when she starts to finally recognize fear.

Man of the Woods: Former minions of Wario’s past are stalking him, and everyone’s trying to figure out how to sooth their haunting tension toward him.

Cater Joe’s: Manager Joe opens a diner on the edge of town to have some time away from the city life. Some of the WarioWare gang stop by to share an adventure they had over the week.

Penny Machine: A snooty scientist is dazzled by Penny’s science fair project, but Penny refuses to give it up as it’s her most delicate creation. So the judge does all they can to get it, but you can’t put a price on love.

The Hero’s Might: After her first ever sugar rush, a hungover Lulu is stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a lute, a water bottle, a mule, and Wario’s clothes on her back. Nothing left to do but try to make it back. And it begs the question: who’s the stubborn one in this story?

The Rhythm Hath Fallen* (Half Hour Crossover Special): A cosmic earthquake causes Heaven World to fall and collide with Diamond City, with HW’s citizens treating DC’s citizens to a week long block party. But the week starts to overstay its welcome, so Rhythm Heaven’s Tibby, his friends, and the WW gang try to fix things with Mamarin’s bizarre guidance.

The Opposable Opponent: Young Cricket starts training under a master that only uses his left thumb to fight, but struggles to keep up with the regime... until he starts to figure out how the master came to be.

Spell “Mi cup”: 9-Volt, 18-Volt, and 13-Amp enter and win a special edition movie branded mug and split up their days of possessing it. However, sharing germs is the one thing the three unfortunately overlook.

Tree Top Tango: Jimmy T is enjoying a jazzy walk in the woods, but gets in a pickle when creatures of nature’s variety start to surface. What’s a disco fool to beside show them a natural groove to ease their carnivorous minds.

Love at First Strike: Ana starts to develop a crush on 9-Volt, and is stuck between practicing and hanging out with him. 9-Volt would feel the same way, if she wasn’t pummeling him as a means to hide him from Kat.

The Typical Beach Episode: It’s an average beach day for WarioWare Inc... until a hurricane lands smack dab in the middle of the fun. So now the gang is caught between staying within the eye of the storm and dodging the chaos circling around them.

Ashociates: Ashley finally made some friends, dawg! Except not really, she’s only using them to get a mystical artifact and if you see her so called “friends”, her front is kinda justified.

Good Golf: Mona and Dr. Crygor are enjoying a nice day of mini-golf when a egotistical pro golfer butts in their game and begins ruining people’s fun. The two team up to beat him just in time for lunch, but things get difficult when he put up traps on the course.

Chili Dog Millionaire: Lulu finds out she’s a great cook, so she gets a job at a gourmet restaurant where the head chef demands for nothing but perfection. Nervous at first, the head chef treats her better than the rest, which prompts jealousy and potential sabotage her way.

King of the Dill: 18-Volt is selling hot pickles at school but sells out quick and ran out of his special ingredients. While going to the store, his classmates spot him and suddenly transform into sore throat, teary eyed zombies by the sight of his green jacket.

Becoming Human (For Dummies): Orbulon gets tired of people picking on him because he’s an extraterrestrial. So he invents a human suit that helps him appear like one. But, the intricacies of the suit start to send Orbulon dark thoughts that yet don’t stray from typical human ideologies.

Dueldreaming: Kat is suffering from nightmares to the point of not sleeping at all, so with the help of Penny, Ana goes into her dreams to slay the horrors but starts to cower before what she finds.

Way of the Birthday: It’s Young Cricket’s birthday, so Mantis has the perfect gift for him for all he’s done: a Battle Royale where it’s him against Mantis’s old friends.

Jump the Rope: We got ourselves a flash forward episode, where we see the kids grown up, the adults living out their days, and Wario.... ummm, in another place.

A New L.O.W.: Wario creates the League of Wario, a team of sinister pranksters, to get back at a viral video celeb that wedgied him great enough to put him in a wheelchair. 

Wario Party: It’s the anniversary of WarioWare Inc, and the gang wants to celebrate the occasion... by dining at the perfect restaurant. But they’ve dined at every place in DC, so they set out to go to the best place with the best palette, atmosphere, and prices.

Musclecats HO!: Mona joins a gym and enters herself into a bodybuilding competition. With the help of a supportive and swoll group of regulars, she’s aiming for the top.

Grey JT: A grey hair sprouts from Jimmy’s head and this makes him worry about how his routine may be the cause of aging faster.

That’s Enough, Buddy: Due to increase danger risk in DC, a young yet no nonsense sheriff is enforcing old rules on the public which interferes with Wario’s latest scam.

A Mother’s Metal: 9-Volt wants to give 5-Volt the best Mother’s Day gift ever, and eventually digs up an old relic of her past that’s both a blessing and a curse to 5.

The Best Worst Case Scenario: Television has gotten boring, even Wario thinks it’s a waste of his time, so everyone trashes their TV and goes outside to more productive means. Everything is swell, except for the people up top who soon rely on Wario to save them.

Oh Snow: Layers of snow has hit DC and while Wario becomes a life-sized snowman, Ashley learns about the multifaceted fun of snow.

WarioWaRPG: A digital virus manifests from Penny’s laptop and turns Diamond City into a card based RPG world. She kidnaps Penny and it’s up to the gang to save her. Unfortunately, they skipped the tutorial and don’t have the best decks on hand.

Let’s Be Lazy For Once: Due to a budget setback thanks to last episode, the WW gang decide to look back on previous episodes and provide as clever and nice a commentary as possible.

You’re Clowning Me: Dribble and Spitz pick a group of clowns that are on their way to rehearsal. What the two fail to realize is that they’re clown mafia with police, and rival clown cars, not far behind.

Chivalry is Dumb: A famous detective, and his maid sidekick, arrives at Diamond City to investigate an elaborate crime, only to be taken aback by Wario and all that he stands for, while his sidekick grows to enjoy the big guy’s rebellious and burly personality.

Break Out the Rainy Day Fun: Kat, Ana, Penny, 9 & 18 Volt join Ashley and Red at their manor while the rain’s heavy outside. And while Ashley is busy with a certain brew she’s craving, she summons skeletons to go play with, and not chomp, the others.

The Suit: Legends says there is a mystical 3 piece suit that can turn any normal being into a charming yet sadistically unruly reality bending version of themselves. Now this would be the part where I mention who stumbles upon such clothing, but I’ll let that be a mystery.

Consider the Fruit n’ Nuts: Dr. Crygor, with assistance from Wario, Mona, Cricket, and Penny, teaches us the good and bad of dieting.

House of Mike: After Mike stumbles upon a group of pugs who’re seeking a sense of purpose and bonding, he shows them a fantasy game he recently bought that could help them out.

The Hero’s “Happiness”: Lulu is comfortable with the life she now has in DC, but doesn’t feel happy, whatever that means. Only when a familiar villager of Luxeville enters the picture does she question whether it’s right to stay or leave for better purposes, and she turns to the least favorable person for help.

You Agree With Me?: In a shocking turn of events, a man who’s never able to decide on any choice was able to thanks to Jimmy’s advice. Now our more decisive denizen is indebted to his afro hero, to the point of imitating him to a bizarrely fleek degree.

Master Blaster: A few million years ago, jerk aliens decided to blast the earth with a laser beam that’s destructive yet really slow. A few million years later, it’s set to touchdown in 24 hours. Orbulon and Dr.Crygor team up to figure out how to beat the laser, but our alien is more worried with time than the doctor.

A Series of Unbelievable Events: At Joe’s Diner, Young Cricket and Master Mantis share their awful day and Manager Joe doesn’t find everything to be true, so they begrudgingly trace their steps and recount their day to Joe exactly how it happened.

Amp Unleashed: 13-Amp must face her fears when she has to rap battle against a duo that inspired her career. While she is alone on this mission, the memories of 18-Volt and Mike’s help give her new found strength.

Fronk Sonata’s Moonlight: Penny’s terrible singing practice makes her voice soul leave her body for 9V’s fronk, Snag, who becomes a hit nightclub singer.

Unininja: Kat and Ana fuse into one ultimate dual wielding ninja, but unfuses for good when they go too far with their newly acquired fun. But when a Tengu Shogun is coming with an armada toward Diamond City, it’s the perfect time to unite once again.

My Witch Ashedemia: Ashley is enrolled in a prep school for witches, but feels bored with the mediocre lessons. But she uncovers a secret about the school and uses this to blackmail the teachers for more advanced schooling, which inadvertently puts a target on her from an anti witch group.

LessTalkMoreTanks (Half Hour Season Finale): The WW gang finds a giant battle tank and take it for a spin, but it turns that they stole it from its cantankerous, anarchy driven owner. So... tank fight in the sand dunes, the gang vs the owner’s friends? Who’s on board?

[randombeau]

Letter From A Thief

It feels like this year was just stolen from us. Stating the obvious, this has been a really shitty year for a myriad of reasons. This pandemic has stolen concerts, movies, and even going out to a restaurant. It’s made even an introvert like myself go out of his mind. One of the only things saving my sanity has been a handful of albums and tracks released this year that I can listen to while riding a bike or talking a walk around the neighborhood as I continue to wait for the world to come back. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to this blog and I have to say I’m kinda pissed that I can’t add all the music videos to the list like the past, but that really keeps with the theme of disappointments in 2020. I’m gonna try not to go into these tracks with too much depth like I have in the past, but I’m not promising anything. Just remember this isn’t the best tracks of the year. It’s just the ones I enjoyed the most. Well, I’ve wasted enough time this year so let’s get to this list.

*Here’s a iTunes playlist link for those drinking the Apple Kool-Aid:

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/top-20-songs-of-2020/pl.u-oZylaMlTAYYJz

20.     Genocidal Humanoidz - System of a Down

           It’s been 15 freaking years since SOAD released new music and damn it was too long. The group has been rumored for years to be making a new album only to dash the hopes of fans, but 2020 finally saw the band release two new tracks. Always being very political, the increased tensions and fighting between Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh have brought the group out of hiding to drop a pair of bangers. All proceeds raised from the tracks have gone straight to humanitarian needs for displaced families of the war. The lead single, Protect the Land, was the main piece of work that address the bands emotions and feelings on the current situation, but they attached the previously written Genocidal Humanoidz to bring a little more heat and boy do they bring it. Both tracks are worthy of the band they come from, but Genocidal Humanoidz just gets the blood pumping like it’s the early 2000’s again.

https://youtu.be/_74nVpLVn9Q

19.     Oh My My - Blue October

           Blue October? Aren’t they just a one-hit wonder? Well kinda, as they only pushed into the mainstream stratosphere with their self-destructive anthem “Hate Me” in 2006. There have been a few gems here and there, but nothing that would really catch most people’s ears. However, this new release just has a bouncy infectious beat that draws you in. Just one of those tracks that makes a long car ride feel not that long. In a year that was filled with very little to feel good about this was a nice little bright spot.

https://youtu.be/IRzvkWVWmA0

18.     6 Feet Away - Chromeo

           So many bands tried to write songs that captured the feelings and political implications surrounding this pandemic, but nothing worked as well as the funky beats and soothing vocals of David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel as they weave a tail of love, attraction, and social responsibility. There are so many clever lyrics that are laced through this jam it’s impressive how easy it’s also to just bob your head to the beat.

https://youtu.be/CPTCrqyf6os

17.     I Want More - KALEO

           While this track was dropped before the pandemic was in full swing it encapsulates a feeling that a lot of people are experiencing because of it. The singer expresses this longing for emotional connection he is missing, but it’s not nearly as depressing as it sounds. The bluesy track manages to portray a sense of hopefulness that even though this connection is currently missing you feel that he will find it and somehow things will be alright. I think that’s a sentiment everyone wants to share in.

https://youtu.be/iKd4diJRkPo

16.     Cyr - Smashing Pumpkins

           The Smashing Pumpkins, basically Billy Corgan at this point, have not been at the top of their game in a long time and while the album doesn’t offer a lot of praise, this track harkens back to the Cure/Depeche Mode sounds of the Smashing Pumpkins past. Easy listening synth lines drive the track forward and while the conclusion it pushes towards isn’t exciting the journey to get there is enjoyable.

https://youtu.be/2AN_GRWlU7k

15.     Red Skies (feat. Dr. Disrespect) - J + 1

           I know, let me explain. First, I’ll admit I’ve been stuck inside for most of this year working from home and I’ve been watching a little too much YouTube and Twitch streams, but dammit is Dr. Disrespect entertaining to watch. This Magnum P.I. mustache, Mel Gibson Lethal Weapon mullet sporting dude just has that je ne sais quoi. That being said, this little track feels like it was plucked right out of the 1980’s or at least from the soundtrack of that cool ass Ryan Gosling film ‘Drive’. The melodic synths that push the song through its sub 3-minute play time just vibe so well that when the guitar comes in the bridge it’s like you’re taking a neon trip to another time. I just love it, sorry not sorry.

https://youtu.be/CakgCPl3mlE

14.     Ohms - Deftones

           Need me some Deftones, simple as that. Chino and company have delivered an album filled the aggressiveness of a 16-year-old. I’ll admit I didn’t gel with the whole album as much as previous entries, but this title track is a joy to listen to. The speedy guitar riffs and how the track itself just continues to pick up steam as it blazes toward the end is worth the price of entry in itself.

https://youtu.be/KUDbj0oeAj0

13.     Phobia - Nothing But Thieves

           It’s a known story that on Nirvana’s breakout album, ‘Nevermind’, the band was having a hard time recording the track ‘Lithium’ because Dave Grohl kept speeding the song up to a breakneck pace so they brought in a click track for him to stay on the correct pace. As Dave tells it, having to play to a click track is like having the human part of you just ripped out. In this track, it sounds like the band takes that click track and throws it out the fucking window around the 1:45 mark because this song builds and builds toward a manic conclusion that finishes with an orgasmic ending and if that’s not a human feeling I don’t know what is. In the words of 20-year-old, this track is a fucking banger.

https://youtu.be/vQThlhgiysw

12.     The Adults are Talking - The Strokes

           Honestly, this entire Strokes album could fill this list. This was my favorite album of the year and I could sit and listen to the whole thing front to back without skipping a track. That doesn’t happen a whole lot. This upbeat opener just sets the stage for an album that feels fresh and peppy. That’s saying something because most of the tracks are hitting around the 5-minute mark yet it never feels like it. The chorus is catchy, the verses are esoteric, and the track goes through several different instrumental shifts that it never gets boring or bogged down. Also, a highlight is Julian’s falsetto, which is actually really great. This track just paved the way for an album that I’d be listening to a lot.

https://youtu.be/ewOPQZZn4SY

11.     Caution - The Killers

           I’ve been listening to The Killers since 2004 when a friend gave me a copy of their debut album. Been a fan since then and while a lot of what they’ve released in the 2010’s has been a lot of hit or miss, there is always a few catchy gems in each album. This is certainly one of them. The track does lean on some of those Springsteen feelings that the band has become known for, but there’s no denying that The Killers can make some great heartland rock songs. Essentially, that’s what this song is falling back on. Brandon Flowers sings charismatically about how this woman protagonist isn’t going to follow the safe path traveled and she’s gonna throw caution to the wind and follow her dreams. It’s a track with an uplifting story and it’s got some great searing guitar riffs. I’m a simple man, I don’t need much.

https://youtu.be/WrpBgN_iUnA

10.     JU$T (feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack de la Rocha) - Run The Jewels

           It is amazing how smooth this track is because it dropped just as all the BLM and racial injustice issues started really gaining traction this last year like they wrote it the day it dropped. A song with a lyrical commentary on the unjust economic system in our county really hits home at the point in time that it was needed come out. Not only does this track have something to say, it also delivers its message in a slick way. El-P and Killer Mike breath fire, as they usually do, but the addition of Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine fame is really the cherry on top. The last time RTJ collaborated with Zack was for the amazing ‘Close Your Eyes (And Count to F**k)’, which was an amazing social commentary on the senseless violence between cops and minorities. This new track hits home just as hard.

https://youtu.be/32hUIGnMpOY

9.     Must Stop (feat. Sarah Barthel of Phantogram)

           Give me a duet between a male and female singer, lyrics about their lack of self-worth, and constantly being emotionally hurt and you’ve got a hit ballad. Alright, I’ve just broken down this track to its most basic elements and if you didn’t know I could have easily been talking about ‘Somebody I Used to Know’ by Goyte. Still, it’s an contagious track that has been stuck in my head since it dropped in October.

https://youtu.be/wNeyh_pfd8Q

8.     Think About Things - Daði Freyr

           This is the second Icelandic group to end up on my top song list this year and I blame social media for this one. This song was so catchy and the TikTok videos surrounding it made me laugh that it just ear-wormed its way into my head. The beat is so catchy and the background vocals are these heavenly voices that it’s hard not to tap your foot in beat with it. Also, one point of interest is the music video feels like it took the awkwardness right out of Napoleon Dynamite. That’s not a bad thing.

https://youtu.be/VFZNvj-HfBU

7.     Save Your Tears - The Weeknd

           I’m just gonna start by saying The Weeknd got freaking shafted at the Grammys this year. This is my favorite album he’s put out since I downloaded the ‘House of Balloons’ mix tape in 2011 and the best direction change for an artist in the last decade. The introduction of the 80’s synths and groovy basslines are so contagious that the internet roar from the lack of any acknowledgement from the academy was completely justified in my eyes. This track in particular features a shimmering melody as Abel bears his relationship failings. The opening bassline is more addictive than the cocaine Abel sung about on ‘Can’t Feel My Face’. It’s simply a well-made and beautiful piece of pop music. And if you ask why ‘Blinding Lights’ isn’t on my list it’s because it dropped as a single in 2019 and it’s already on that list.

https://youtu.be/XXYlFuWEuKI

6.     Lost in Yesterday - Tame Impala

           Some songs make my top lists for reasons that don’t necessarily have anything to do with how the song is constructed. While this track from Tame Impala is certainly catchy it makes it so far up my list for another reason. Kevin Parker echoes the nostalgia of old memories and how even the bad ones turn into good ones after enough time goes by. This track dragged up memories of driving 50+ miles in the wrong direction with my best friend as we made our way to Havasu. That was a shitty experience that turned into one of the fondest memories I have of a friend that’s no longer around to make more of those memories with. The song asks, “Does it help to get lost in yesterday” and I can answer this one very clearly. Yes, yes it does.

https://youtu.be/utCjuKDXQsE

5.     At the Door - The Strokes

           This is the most stripped back The Strokes have ever been. They tried something in this vain back with ‘Call Me Back’ on their album Angles, but not to this result. Typically, the vocals are layered behind a wall of guitars, bass, and distortion, but here Julian’s vocals are laid bare and it rightfully calls more attention to the emotions of the song. Emotions are what you really must hold onto in a Strokes song because like the previous entry, these lyrics are shrouded in metaphors. It certainly doesn’t take away from the track because the feeling of dread and being unable to escape comes across clearly as the heavy synths propel you forward. When the bridge finally comes in with its angelic vocals and 70’s induced sound waves it’s just a pleasure to listen to.

https://youtu.be/9CAz_vvsK9M

4.     No Time to Die - Billie Eilish

           Trying to follow singers Adele and Sam Smith can’t be an easy task, but especially following them in singing the opening number to the next Bond film. Thinking of singers that could fill those shoes I struggle to understand how the pop sensation Billie Eilish came to be the one producers turned to, but damn does it work. The melody is quintessential Bond. The horns, the background strings, and orchestral flourishes are all tried and true parts of a Bond song, but Eilish surprisingly works well in those confines and even reaches beyond her normal range in the backend of the track to show us she’s more than the whisper quiet singer we typically hear. There is still a lot here that is classic Eilish and it does change the normal Bond track from these high soaring ballads into something I’d say is more noir and moodier. I think the best description would be to call this a PB and chocolate accident. I didn’t think they’d go together, but they really do.

https://youtu.be/BboMpayJomw

3.     Dragonball Durag - Thundercat

This song is like being soulfully harmonized by a R&B group in front of a fire, but the fire is coming from a dumpster. There is some amazing basslines coming out of this track and Thundercat marriages them perfectly to some truly funny lines that had me chuckling while I grooved along with the song. The vocal delivery is perfect and it brought back memories of my #2 song of 2016, Childish Gambino’s ‘Redbone’. I can certainly use more of these groovy tracks in my life.

https://youtu.be/ormQQG2UhtQ

2.     Ode to the Mets - The Strokes

Like I said way back over there, The Strokes album could have filled my entire list, but this ending track takes the number 2 spot on this year’s list. The closing ballad goes through a roller coaster of melodic changes while keeping the tonal feeling of disappointment towards something or someone remains constant. Others have tried to decipher exactly what is being said and it’s always different. I think it’s up to the listener to determine and it’s different for everyone. We’ve all got someone or something we love, but continues to come up short. I think the best thing about this track is how it’s able to build a sense of urgency, but still end up in a quiet place but the end. Sort of like the ending of The Graduate. Yeah, this song is the end of The Graduate. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://youtu.be/BjC0KUxiMhc

1.     Run - Joji

There is a pitch perfect clarity to Joji that he never displayed before. Let’s be clear here, this is not a classically trained singer. This is a former crass YouTuber that has somehow belted out the most beautiful ballad this year for me. This really came out of the proverbial left field and actually shocked me. While previous works have relied on R&B and keyboard hooks, this track features an electric guitar that is woven through the track, but as the bridge comes the guitar flies into an amazing solo performance and builds and builds with a wail as Joji comes in for the finish with “I know you’ve not in love”. This is a dark morose track that fills the room with a vague sadness and the soaring guitar finish is just the high this low needs. I absolutely loved it.

https://youtu.be/P2YYk-oZFyI

[robininthelabyrinth]

Countless Roads - Chapter 1

Fic: Countless Roads - Chapter 1 - Ao3

Fandom: Flash, Legends Pairing: Gen, Mick Rory/Leonard Snart, others

Summary: Due to a family curse (which some call a gift), Leonard Snart has more life than he knows what to do with – and that gives him the ability to see, speak to, and even share with the various ghosts that are always surrounding him.

Sure, said curse also means he’s going to die sooner rather than later, just like his mother, but in the meantime Len has no intention of letting superheroes, time travelers, a surprisingly charming pyromaniac, and a lot of ghosts get in the way of him having a nice, successful career as a professional thief.

A/N: Have an extra-long first chapter to get us properly started. All comments welcome and appreciated!

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

"You stay the hell away from him!" the voice roars.

Len shakes and shudders and curls up in a ball on the floor.

Juvie is worse than he could have imagined – oh, the kids themselves are bad enough, pushy and mean and some of them are old enough for the look in their eyes to be more than standard schoolyard aggression, but it's only Len's first day; they're going to wait until the guards lose interest in him before trying anything.

The ghosts don't wait at all.

It's a bad place, a centering ground, land that stinks of sadness and anger and sucks in ghosts like a whirlpool. Human misery is the only company these ghosts have –

– at least, until Len arrives.

The unquiet dead gather their forces as he gets checked in, watch him, teeming with anticipation, in the yard, and then come for him right after dinner.

His own ghosts, bought in coin – pieces of future years – spent before he came, try their best to protect him, but he underestimated the number of unquiet dead lingering here. He underestimated the number of murderer's victims, children and adults, the number of suicides, the number of unlucky daredevils, the number of accidental deaths –

And then Mick – though Len doesn't know his name, not yet – rips them off of Len, one leech at a time, and puts himself between them and Len's shaking, spasming body.

"Hurts," Len rasps, unable to say more.

"Don't worry," the other boy says, glaring. He's big, for a teenager; a promise of height and breadth in the future. "I won't let them near."

"Gimme a hand up?" Len asks.

The boy shakes his head, and that's when Len realizes.

"You're dead too, ain't you," he says, flat as a stone.

"I've been here the longest," the boy responds, shrugging. "Since before they built the place."

Len sighs and climbs to his feet. He'd so hoped, seeing the boy’s strength, that he'd finally met another of his kind, but no; the boy's just another apparition. Barely that, even; he has a very strong presence, probably due to his age, but he’s not even a poltergeist on his own merits.

"Thanks," he tells him anyway, because apparition or not, the boy did just save his life.

"Don't mention it," the kid says.

The funny thing is, he really seems to mean it. No favors requested, no suggestions that Len repay him, nothing.

If anything, the guy seems to avoid Len whenever possible – which isn't much, because he comes rushing in whenever the unquiet ghosts float too close.

"Why are you helping me?" Len asks him.

"Don't like bullies," the kid says shortly. "Never did."

Then he retreats again, dashing away every time Len comes anywhere near him.

"Don't you want something?" Len asks. "Something you want to do?"

"Nah," the kid replies. "I'm good."

"You're a ghost. You gotta want something."

"Not from you, you little punk."

The curiosity is starting to get to Len. Finally, he gives up on trying to figure out the kid's angle and takes a different approach.

"What's your name?" he asks.

The kid-ghost blinks, then narrows his eyes at him warily. "What's it to you, necromancer?"

Len makes a face. "I ain't a necromancer," he protests. "I can't raise dead or command ‘em or nothing; I just make 'em closer to real, s'all. Life-sharing. Totally different."

“Uh-huh. And what about summoning ‘em and making ‘em possess people or something?”

“No, that’s mediums. I ain’t never even met one of those, but I hear they’re creepy. I just…share, s’all.”

"Why you want my name, then?" the kid asks, still suspicious.

"'cause I'm getting tired of calling you kid-ghost," Len replies, exasperated. "And right now I don't got anything to shout if I need your attention."

"You've always got my attention," the kid grumbles. "My ma says you give someone your name, you give 'em power over you."

Len rolls his eyes. "Well, my name is Leonard Snart, but sometimes when my mom got mad she’d use the full on Leonard Jacob Snart birth certificate business. Now you know, so don't misuse it. And nice to meet you."

The kid finally cracks an involuntary grin. It changes his whole tough face, making it go bright and delighted, smashing that tough guy image with glee. "Oh what the heck," he says. "I'm Mick. That's Michael Christopher Sebastian Rory, actually, but everybody called me Mick."

"Nice to meetcha, Mick," Len says. "I'd offer to shake, but...well…" He wiggles his fingers. Magic, life-giving fingers.

Mick sniggers.

Maybe there is something to what Mick's ma said about names, because after that they're inseparable. Best friends from different eras, friends like neither of them ever had before. Maybe they’d have been best friends in this life, if only Mick wasn’t dead, but Len will take friendship with a ghost over nothing.

The other kids think Len's crazy, talking to himself, and ostracize him, relegating him to the outcast table with the quiet dangerous ones like Jumping Jimmy and Shrieking Sam and Cuckoo Charlie. (Len gets dubbed Lunatic Leo, which, ugh. He’s going to find a better nickname if it kills him.)

But really, Len doesn't mind where he sits, so long as he's got Mick.

Sitting at the crazy outcast table is kinda funny, actually; Mick's a pretty good judge of people, Len's found, and his invisible commentary over people's heads is hilarious.

"He's just got no volume control and a spoiled temper," Mick says of Sam. "Nothing to worry about."

"Ma said people like him just had a devil in 'em keeping them from sitting still," he says of Jimmy. "It ain't no problem, long as they keep busy."

"And Charlie?" Len asks, amused.

Mick considers this. "I think he's gonna grow up to eat people. Stay away."

Len snorts, but does.

Mick’s damn useful in a fight, which Len does inevitably get into, shouting advice (mostly “duck” and “hit him in the face”), and Mick likes watching fights, too. But most of all, Mick likes fighting the unquiet ghosts himself; in particular, he's got a real hatred of a group of white supremacists that got themselves stabbed in a gang fight back when the juvie was a real prison. They hate Len, which makes sense what with him being Jewish and all, but they still want his life, and that just pisses them off more, which means more fights for Mick.

"You like punching Nazis, huh?" Len teases.

"Hell yes," Mick says. "They're bad stuff, through and through."

"Regular Captain America you are."

"Who?"

“What d’you mean, who? Captain America! From the comic books!”

“I’m dead,” Mick points out. “I don’t keep up on popular culture.”

“No way,” Len says stubbornly. “Captain America’s been around forever. I’m pretty sure he was drawn punching Hitler in the face on his very first cover.”

“Say, that’s not bad,” Mick says, grinning a bit. “Punched him in the face, you say?”

“Didn’t you read comics?”

“Sure I did,” Mick says, crossing his arms. “Joe Palooka, Dick Tracey, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers – the whole lot of ‘em.”

“What the hell are those?”

“You don’t know those?”

“I think I’ve heard of Buck Rodgers – he a spaceman or something?”

“Yeah, him and Flash Gordon, both of ‘em. Dick Tracey’s a sleuth, and Joe Palooka’s a boxer.”

“Don’t you got any crime fighters? Like in costumes? Superheroes?”

Mick wrinkles his nose when he frowns in thought. “Uh, I mean, I guess maybe the Phantom? It was brand new; real cool stuff, fighting pirates and stuff. They called him the Ghost Who Walks. Real sweet.”

“Brand new,” Len says, shaking his head. “When did you die again? The dark ages?”

“Eh, may as well have been,” Mick says. “We all thought the world was ending.”

“Every generation thinks the world’s ending.”

“Nah, not like ours,” Mick says. “Between the Depression and – what was it they were calling the black blizzards, the Dust Bowl? Anyway, between those two, it was real bad.”

“Wait,” Len says. “When exactly did you die?”

“Late 1936.”

“Shit. You are old.”

“Told ya,” Mick says smugly.

“Was there even a juvie here?”

Mick rolls his eyes. “No,” he says. “The juvie’s only a decade or two old. Before that it was a prison. Before that, it was a particularly badly run farm.”

“…your farm?”

“Well, yes.”

“You were a farmer?! Working the fields, calling in the cows, all that sort of thing?”

“I died first,” Mick reminds Len.

“But still – you’re so old.”

“Shut up.”

“No, no – it’s just – I’m gonna get you all the comics,” Len says, and does, even if it means spending some of his hard-earned money – all the juvie kids get pennies for every hour they work in addition to the required school time – and that of others (mostly the rich kids who get some from their parents in the mail) on some of the old reprints, the ones that go real cheap nowadays and are kinda corny by modern standards. But it's worth it.

Mick loves comics.

He can’t move the pages himself – not unless Len gives him some life, which Mick steadfastly refuses to accept – but Len can flip them nice and slow, letting Mick have time to read each page, and sometimes when Mick’s eyes keep crossing the letters too much to make it fun, Len reads them aloud to him, sound effects and all.

“Man, the library says Snow White hadn’t even come out in 1936,” Len marvels. “You know that? Snow White, man. That’s like the first ever Disney.”

“No, it ain’t,” Mick objects. “Disney’s the one with the shorts, ain’t it? Steamboat Willy. Silly Symphonies. Three Little Pigs.”

“Mick,” Len says solemnly. “You break my heart.”

“I sometimes watch that Disney stuff when they’re on the rec room TV,” Mick says, pouting. “I ain’t totally uncultured. S’just hard to remember stuff from after you’re dead, s’all.”

“You’re running out of life,” Len says, because he’s heard of it happening before. “Ghosts stick around because of what happened during their life, and they only remember what happened afterwards if they’ve got enough left over for it – you sure I can’t give you some?”

“No, Lenny,” Mick says, long-suffering.

Len sulks, and introduces Mick to Alice in Wonderland the next time the rec room’s free.

Probably a tactical error, since Mick shouts, “Off with their heads!” the next fifteen times he dukes it out with the unquiet dead, but hey, it’s funny.

--

“How’d you die?” Len asks one day, when he’s only got two weeks left to go in juvie, studying a deck of cards he’d lifted from a fellow student.

“Why do you want to know?” Mick asks, suddenly guarded.

“’cause I’m a nosy bastard,” Len says, since he can’t explain why he actually wants to know, which is that he wants to give Mick a gift. The dead carry on them what died when they died – clothing, stuff in their pockets, that sort of stuff. But Len’s found that if stuff ‘dies’ the same way a ghost does, he can hand it to the ghost and they can keep it.

He hopes it’s not something too weird. He doesn’t want to have to hang a deck of cards, or electrocute it, or have it get run over by a herd of chickens or something.

…that last one would be hilarious, though.

Mick grunts.

“Please?” Len says, which is rare enough that Mick gives him a suspicious look. “Not like I’m gonna tell anyone.”

Mick stays silent a few minutes longer, and then, abruptly, he gets up.

Len blinks up at him.

“Fire,” Mick says. “I died in a fire.” And then he disappears.

Len scowls in the direction of Mick’s ghostly self. He didn’t feel any passing-on-ness, or whatever you call it when a ghost kicks the bucket for good, so Mick’s just gone somewhere else to sulk because heaven forbid Len tries to learn some personal info about the guy beyond what type of breakfast he prefers (answer: corn mush with milk, or yesterday’s bread crusts – ick!).

On the other hand, it did give Len a bit of an opportunity.

Fire, huh?

Sounds like an unpleasant way to die, but at least it makes giving Mick stuff easier. Lifting a lighter from the guard that likes to smoke is easy enough, and finding a nice shady corner on top of lots of concrete to minimize excess burning is even easier.

Now he just needs Mick.

“Mick?” he asks the air.

No reply.

“Mick, you still sulking?”

Nothing.

“Mick, I could be being attacked right now. I’m not, but I could be.”

Zip.

Len contemplates pretending to die, but that seems a bit melodramatic.

“Hey! Mickey Mouse!”

Still nothing.

Hmm, and Len was sure that that would get him a punch in the face…

Mick couldn’t be gone, could he?

Len swallows. He really hopes Mick’s not gone. He knows that's wrong - you're supposed to hope that ghosts move on, not want them to stay - but he doesn't. He doesn't want Mick to go.

“Hey, Lunatic!” Tommy, one of the more annoying juvie kids, shouts. “Lost your imaginary friend?”

Len grits his teeth.

“Bet he left you ‘cause you were wasting his time,” Tommy taunts. “Poor kooky kid, what’ll he do all on his own?”

It’s just close enough to Len’s real fears that Len ends up punching Tommy in the face.

And then, as expected, spending the next ten minutes getting punched back by Tommy and his friends. And kicked. And –

Okay, the guards really should be intervening. Any time now.

“Hey, hold him down,” Evan Richards says. Evan Richards, never just Evan; he’s the sort of kid that would be – should be – exiled to the crazy person table, but he’s rich and his parents send him loads of treats, so he’s not. He’s got a big old grin on his face that Len doesn’t trust a jot.

“Why?” Tommy says skeptically. “He’s not getting up on his own anytime soon.”

Probably not true – Len’s a stubborn bastard – but closer than he’d like to admit.

Evan Richards’s grin widens. “I’ve always wanted to see what one of these does,” he says, and pulls out a little Swiss army contraption, used mostly for clipping or filing nails, that he’s sharpened well past any reasonable amount.

He’d probably call it a knife, Evan Richards would, but to people like Len, it’s called a shiv.

Shit.

“Mick!” Len screams, because he doesn’t trust the guards but Mick’s always come to help him before – if he’s still here.

The returning bellow of rage is the finest sound Len’s ever heard, right up there with Lisa’s first word (‘up’, as it happens; nothing but the best for his demanding little darling).

But Mick’s a ghost, barely even an apparition, and though he charges the fuckers that are holding Len down, he can’t do anything, just passes straight through, causing no more than a slight chill and a shudder.

“Mick, please,” Len says, struggling and kicking and keeping Richards back, just long enough, just long enough to get a hand free and reach out –

“God, he’s nuts,” Tommy laughs, and the others laughs with him. “Go for it – waste the cuckoo – no one’ll care –”

Mick reaches out and takes Len’s hand in his, and Len pushes, hard, with all the spare life he’s got in him.

Mick yowls, and Len can feel it too, like a zap from touching a live wire or a burst of static electricity, but then Mick’s there and all the kids are turning to look, shouting in surprise and demanding to know where the hell Mick came from and then Mick puts his fist into Evan Richards’ smirking face.

Three black eyes and a hell of a lot of bruises later, the gang breaks up and flees.

“Thanks,” Len pants. He’s pretty damn sore, and it’s only gonna get worse, but he has to find out if Mick’s okay – Mick, who didn’t want the extra power – the extra life ��

“Holy crap,” Mick says, staring down at his hands. “I felt that. They felt that. That was – Len?”

“You angry at me?” Len asks. He’s feeling weirdly dizzy, the way you get if you haven’t eaten for three days and then you go sprinting from the cops. Everything hurts, but distantly, like he can’t really feel it.

“Angry – no, it’s not – Len, you’re looking real pale, you feeling okay?”

“Peachy,” Len says, and passes out.

When he wakes up, he’s in a bed in the nurse’s station, and Mick’s scowling at him from the next bed over.

Len’s got an IV.

Why’s he got an IV?

“Mick, why’ve I got an IV?” he asks.

Mick’s eye twitches.

“Uh,” Len says. “Mick?”

“That’s your first question?!” Mick roars.

“…yes?” Len says helplessly. “What, should I’ve started with ‘how are you’?”

Mick looks like he's considering strangling Len.

"I'm sorry," Len offers. Might as well get that out, if Mick’s already mad.

"What?" Mick says, annoyance disappearing into confusion. "Sorry for what?"

"For, you know," Len says, shrugging. "Prying. And sharing my life when you've been real clear you didn't want me to be sharing with you."

Mick stares at him for a long moment. "Len," he says eventually. "It ain't – you don't think it's your fault that I ain't taking bits of your life, do you?"

Well, when Mick says it in that incredulous tone, it sounds kinda dumb.

Len focuses on picking at the band-aid over the IV entry point on the inside of his elbow instead of replying, even though he knows that only reveals his guilt.

"Lenny, stop that," Mick says. "You need the IV."

"You never did say what it was for," Len says.

"It's to keep you alive, you nimrod. You nearly shoved all the life you had left up my goddamn arm."

"If Richards got me with the shiv, I wouldn't've had any life left to give," Len points out, but yeah, he distinctly remembers overdoing it in his panic. "S'that why I pass out like that?"

"That's why you swooned like a leading lady," Mick confirms.

Len glares. "Passed out, Mick."

"Whatever. Len – It ain't that I don't like you, or your life, or even having some of it myself, 'cause lemme tell you, being practically solid's been pretty awesome so far – "

"You're practically solid?" Len interrupts. "I ain't never done that before – "

"Lenny. Lemme finish. This is important."

Len shuts up.

"Anyway," Mick says. "What I mean to say is – I mean – oh, damnit. Len, I don't deserve any of your life."

"You just saved my life," Len says, unable to keep quiet. "Just as you've been doing this past month – "

"I started the fire!" Mick shouts. "I'm a firebug, and I knew it was bone dry, and I started that fire anyways, and that’s why everybody died! It was all my fault! I don't deserve nothing!"

"Oh," Len says blankly.

"Yeah," Mick says savagely, wiping at his face to clean up what they'd both pretend weren't tears when this was over. "So that's why."

Len nods. He's not sure what to say. He doesn't think anything will help a wound so deep that Mick became a ghost over it.

"I've heard of it before," he offers eventually. "Pyromania, it's called."

"What's that?"

"It's – " Len tries to remember. "It's a thing that happens to people, some chemical goes wrong in their brain, and then they start needing to light fires. Like an anxiety thing – can't calm down until there's a fire."

Mick frowns. “There’s a word for it?”

“Yeah,” Len says. “People that can’t help themselves around fires. It’s a medical thing.”

Mick looks stunned.

“What, thought it was just you?” Len jokes, except the look on Mick’s face kinda says that he did. “No, Mick, it ain’t you, if I’m right. It’s a – it’s a thing that happens sometimes, and no one’s to blame, you know. Sometimes people’s brains break, just like any bone, and you need medicine or something like that for it.”

“I still lit the fire,” Mick says, but he seems a little less burdened. “After they told me not to and everything. And even if I didn’t have a choice, I still should’ve warned ‘em about it.”

“That’s on you,” Len says, because people who say it’s not your fault when it is just make you feel worse. “But the fire thing, that ain’t –”

“How are you boys doing?” the nurse says, sweeping in.

“Fine,” Len says automatically, before realizing what she’d said.

He turns to stare at Mick. “Boys?” he mouths at him. What was with the plural?

“Told you I was near solid,” Mick mutters. “Hi, ma’am,” he says to the nurse.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Rory? You were having quite a fit out there.”

“Much better, ma’am.”

“We’ve alerted the police about your being here,” she continues briskly. “Since your name isn’t on the list.”

Len’s eyes go real wide at that.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mick says tranquilly.

“And you, Mr. Snart, how are you feeling?”

“Uh,” Len says. “Okay?”

“Do you need more medicine?”

“Yes,” Len says, because the answer is always yes. Even if you don’t actually need it, you can always sell it.

Also, he’s kinda sore. All over. Everywhere.

Actually, it hurts a lot. Fuzzy and distant, like he’s got good drugs going on, but still not good.

“Is anything gonna happen to the kids what did it?” Mick asks. “Evan Richards and Tommy and the rest of ‘em?”

The nurse looks slightly uncomfortable. “They’ll be punished,” she says, but Len can tell she means that they’ll be slapped on the wrist, at most. Maybe a bit of time in detention instead of out on the school yard.

Well, good enough for Len. He never did trust anyone to give out punishment on his behalf; he’ll figure out a way to pay them back himself later on.

That’s not what’s important right now.

Len waits until the nurse checks them both over and leaves.

“Mick,” he hisses. "They can see you!"

“Told you!”

“What are we gonna do? Your name’s not gonna be on any records! Not any they’re gonna check, anyway!”

“Don’t worry,” Mick says. “It’s fine. It’s fading away already, since you gave it to me all in one shot – look, I’m practically able to go through the bed again. Another day - another couple of hours - and I’ll be back to being invisible if I wanna be.”

“If you wanna be? You’ll still be a full-powered manifestation?”

“You gave me a lot of life, Lenny,” Mick says disapprovingly.

Len shrugs, then brightens and checks his pockets. Good, they didn’t take the cards, or the lighter. “Here,” he says, holding them out. “Burn this.”

Mick stares at him.

“What?”

“I tell you I’m a pyro- a pyro-many – that I’m a firebug, and you gimme something to burn?”

“You died in a fire,” Len says reasonably. “If you burn the cards, you’ll be able to carry ‘em with you as a ghost, even once all the life’s gone.”

Mick’s eyes go wide. “Really?”

“Really. They gotta die with you, or something. Same way you died. Anyways, if you’re a pyromaniac, you’ll enjoy watching them burn, too.”

“That’s what you wanted me to come ‘round for, wasn’t it?” Mick asks, looking guilty.

“It’s fine,” Len says, pushing the cards and lighter into Mick’s hands. “Really – say, how much life I give you, anyway?”

“Why?” Mick asks, pulling the cards and lighter close and cradling them.

“Well – and you don’t gotta do this if you don’t wanna, but – how bound would you say you are to this place?”

Mick blinks.

“I want you to come home with me,” Len clarifies.

Mick’s eyes go wide.

[lolbtsaus]

(1/14) another long one but I quite like this one, not sure how you feel about it tho! hacker and thief au with jimin. BTS is a crew of thieves who steal anything and everything for anyone who had the funds to hire them. They live a lavish life from the riches they earn off their crimes, indulging in partying, exotic cars and of course Gucci for th. you on the other hand, is a legend within the cyber world as one of the top black hat hackers who also works for hire. So when a kingpin of a

(2/14) syndicate hires both you and BTS for a joint operation, you meet jm for the first time through the cctv footage displayed on your desktop. Meeting at some secretive warehouse, BTS was expecting to be introduced to their employer and co-worker for this assignment, but was however met with a stack of files in an empty room and a huge computer screen. With the use of voice distortion, you briefed the crew on their hit job and monitored from your screen. But what had caught your eye was this    

(3/14) striking young man with silver hair that did not say a single word throughout the whole duration but just continuously and knowingly stared into the cctv camera as if he knew there was someone on the other side watching. tbh it kind of made you uncomfortable but you gotta admit he was cute, I mean it’s not often that you get an assignment with 7 really hot guys. Anyhow, on the day of the mission, you supervise from your den, hacking into security systems and monitoring the surroundings                  

(4/14) while BTS begin to infiltrate and steal the subject. Occasionally you’ll inform them of a bogey through their earpieces and quite often you’ll hear dad jokes (courteously of jin) and video game commentary (who else but jk) from the boys as they move through the building. Tbh they’re quite entertaining and you can’t help but smile a little, by far the best co-workers you’ve had. The boys have retrieved the subject and have all returned to the haven of their cars, except jm & th. th      

(5/14) goes out of sight on your screen and he doesn’t respond to your calling. Your desperately trying to find out whats happened to th and the boys have gone dead silent and nothing can be heard except the sound of your fingers rapidly hitting keys. That is until you hear this grunting from jm’s piece followed by not so pleasant sounds of possibly fractured bones and groaning from a foreign person. and not soon after that, you catch vision of a bloody nosed th and a disgruntled jm dashing out              

(6/14) of the building before joining the boys in their cars and zooming away. You must say, jm took you by surprise, you did not expect that little lump of fluff to have that much spunk, because I mean, last time you peeked *hacked* into their lounge at the top floor of some luxury hotel, you found the mochi curled up in a ball on the sofa playing with jk’s hair as he and th played video games. Basically ya’ll did such a good job that the kingpin decided to get you guys together again for a             

(7/14)another mission, obviously with higher commission because dollar dollar bruh! anyhow, many missions later (commissioned or independant), BTS obviously become curious about your identity and you’ve accumulated enough funds that you have excess for a new apartment. and coincidentally (what a lie), you move into the building adjacent to theirs, where your balcony has a direct view of jm’s balcony. and of course, jm’s caught sight of you a few times sipping on some tea and browsing on a laptop             

(8/14) on a late afternoon and tbh he’s been secretly enjoying the view for a while now. Okay so you guys happen to get another assignment and from the beginning you were a bit angsty for this one because there were just so many inconsistent factors, but you guys decide to go ahead with the plan anyways. So all is going okay until, you hear shots. 3 rounds fired total and your body freezes. The image of jm taking a bullet to the shoulder is fixated on your screen and you’re at a loss for words.             

(9/14) when jm is hoisted out of the building by nj and jin with the rest of the crew scrambling to cover their asses, youre dead silent and focused on solely your job of navigating them to a hospital. At the sound of tyres squealing to a stop, doors slamming close and the gps locator indicating that they’ve arrived at the nearby hospital, you reach out to switch off your entire system. Only after a few days do you find the courage to dial the digits of jm’s cell. A croaky voice picks up and you             

(10/14) freeze for a second. only after the second hello? do you muster up the courage to reply to him and ask in a soft voice how he’s holding up. and tbh he’s shocked, because 1. some random stranger is calling him and knows he’s been shot which probably means they know his identity, 2. this stranger has a really nice voice and 3. - wait hang on, he knows this tone of speech, hang on could this possibly be….? jm’s just like, omg i finally figured out who mastermind behind our missions and oml             

(11/14) it’s a girl, a girl with a really soothing voice and this boy is a bit in love. and jm unconsciously finds himself dialling or texting this number every once in a while when he just needs someone to speak to or after a mission where he’ll brag about his skills like hey did you see the way i shimmied past that laser in the hallway of the museum? and ur just like yeah jm, i saw because i was the one that was monitoring you and making sure your ass doesn’t trigger the alarm. BTS kind of             

(12/14)catch on that their jm is acting a bit strange, often hiding in his room to make phone calls or smiling at his phone. That and the fact that at every assignment briefing, jm seems to be very comfortable with the mysterious hacker. Only one day does jm blurt out your name and everyone is like eh?! and jms just like dude just drop the voice distorter already your voice is beautiful without that stupid thing. and BTS is like EHHH?! and jm is like oh crap that wasn’t meant to come out whoops.

(13/14) but you end up getting rid of the voice distorter and crew is just like holy crap its a girl, and regretting all the stupid shit they’ve said on their missions that you must’ve heard (but we all know yg was secretly regretting that one time he stopped to pet that puppy on the street, completely cooing over it forgetting that he had his ear piece on and that you were sitting on your balcony watching his every move taping the whole thing for future black mail uses). anyhow, one day, you’re                    

(14/14) sitting on your balcony sipping on some tea when you get a text from jm. a lil smile appears on your face and you continue to exchange. But little did you know that jm, who coincidentally happened to be looking out his balcony window, noticed that every time he sent a text to you, the girl in sitting across from him picks up her phone. highly suspicious, he dials and only when you pick up, he opens the door and steps out to his balcony and you guys lock eyes. (I cant write fluff 😅) -🥀     

oh my g o d I love this so much I want all of it rn plz and thnx 

[blazing-foolish-trickster]

“Who’s giving out the alcohol? I’m just asking out of curiosity, o-of course...“

[evangelineartemiasamos]

Calorn AU Part 1 - Thieves

Note: This is a Red Queen Retelling in an AU. Things are a little more different from canon.

Part 2

Part 3

Kilorn POV

The good thing was that I would probably never have to gut a fish again.

Maybe I would even see Shade at the choke. I smiled sadly at the thought at him. Mare had read his letter to me, just hours ago and I had marvelled at his ability to make jokes even though he was drafted for this useless war. He was way to clever for that, and he would have deserved to find an apprenticeship here in the Stilts. At least Shade had managed to get a job as an aide instead of serving as a human target.

Thinking of Shade was only a distraction from the truth, that my master was dead, that I had no job while I was old enough for conscription. I had only days before the officials would notice and come to drag me away, less if master's daughter decided to report me just because she wanted me out of her father's house sooner. It had been a poor replacement of a home anyway.

Mare told me that she had a plan and that she would talk to Will Whistle, the receiver of her stolen goods. He had to know a way out of conscription, she claimed. She'd mentioned this idea before, as on option fo herself, but my current trouble had awakened her fervour. I smiled at her efforts. I doubted Mare's conviction that the choke would be her death. She was much too nimble and devious to meet a quick end. The Barrows were a family of survivors, people who stuck together. I was jealous of them. Mare said often that she felt like an outsider among them, like she wasn't good enough. As if they were bothered by her. They were family, even for me.

Mare sidled through the shadows to meet with me. Her aisle was sneaky for everyone else, but I always knew when she approached me. I still played surprised and gasped. She grinned but It was forced. She patter my shoulder and sat down next to me.

"Plan is up. I met with someone who will get us away," she said smugly.

I frowned her tone. "How?" I asked.

"Well, there is this woman - "

"Not Whistle?"

Mare shrugged. "She knew what she was talking about, and she only asked a - a recompense."

"What kind of - "

"Don't worry," Mare interrupted me. "I'll get it for us tomorrow. And then we're off to see the world, Kilorn."

I wasn't convinced by her optimism.

Mare didn't get the coins. She hadn't even told me how much it would have been, not until I saw what our plan had cost us. Mare had persuaded Gisa to bring her into Summerton, to steal from Silvers as she hadn't had the chance for such an heist before. But she didn't get it today either. Some terrorist group, the Scarlet Guard it was called, had leaked a video claiming responsibility for an assault on the capital. But whatever they'd done, the news of rebellion had let all hell break lose in Summerton.

The Stilts didn't have another topic to talk about. Though people hardly dared to speak of this Guard, the many relatives and friends working in Summerton during the turmoil were enough to worry about.

I went to the Barrows once I'd heard of the trouble, to check on them. And I was right to worry, Mare and Gisa were victims of the enraged Silvers: Gisa's sewing had been injured by a gunshot. I didn't need to ask how, I grasped it the moment I saw first Mare and then Gisa, looking up to me as her mother took care of the ruin of her hand. I noticed the shame on Mare's face, the same I had to be showing, and after a rushed apology, I dashed off and Mare followed me. Together, we ran away from our guilt. Eventually, we stopped, panting, once we'd left the Stilts behind us. The road to Summerton lay before us, stretching into the twilight. I imagined a trail of blood flowing down the path.

Mare looked ahead, to the dim lights of the Silver town. "I thought I'd get the money in an hour, even from Silvers. Especially from them," she said scowling. "But this Scarlet Guard broadcast their video just when I've arrived in town and the mayhem started. Against us, of course. There was no way to steal anything in that uproar. I found Gisa again and told her as much. But she ... " her voice faltered. "Gisa tried anyway, that stubborn girl. On the first Silver she saw, and of course she was caught."

Tears were trickling down Mare's cheeks which she didn't even notice and I put my arm over her shoulders. But was I allowed to comfort her? She – and Gisa – had done this for me. Gisa had her future destroyed for me. If only she wouldn't care so much about me, feelings I was unable to return, not like that. I should've told her, long ago. Maybe then, she would've been too angry at me to –

Mare made a sound between a sob and a laugh. "That bitch Farley – she couldn't have expected me to get that much money, certainly not 2000 crowns in two days," Mare muttered and I gasped. That much, a sum hardly imaginable for me. I grabbed her shoulder tighter and Mare leaned her head against me.

"Don't," I whispered.

"Hmm?"

"You don't have to do this for me, I'll manage," I went on.

"Kilorn ..."

I turned around. "It's okay, Mare. I'm okay." I forced a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow. But you better take care of Gisa now, don't you?" Then I ran off to Summerton, leaving Mare standing in the dusk. I didn't look back.

Despite the mayhem on this day, the Silvers remained as pretentious as ever. They paraded the streets in their fineries studded with gemstones. How I desired to rip those off them, but I knew better. The tricks of thievery Mare had shown me, the unwilling student, from time to time could only help me so much and honestly, I didn't dare. I didn't resent Mare for being a thief, but that didn't mean I could bring myself to do so myself.

But the temptation stayed. I saw some Silver sitting in cafés and inns, drinking and prattling and paying not an inkling of attention to their bags on the chairs next to them. It would be easy to pass them, grab a bag, remove something valuable and let it drop again. I shook my head. Why was I even thinking of this? How could this help me? Even if I got away with stealing from Silvers, which was unlikely, I would still be conscripted and a boy who couldn't even read had no hope of getting a position that kept him alive.

One of the Silver women I'd glared at looked up to me. She seemed less like a person and more like a predator. I moved to run, without looking around me. So I crashed into someone else who was just leaving an inn. We tumbled down.

As I sat up, I saw the man's purse lying next to my hand and I grabbed it. "Sorry," I uttered, taking in the sight of the young man.

I couldn't even tell if he was Red or Silver in the pale moonlight. His clothes were better than anything worn in the Stilts, fine fabrics embroidered with sigils or Silver house colours or something.

I let my hand with the purse fall to my side. Silver or lackey, he was certainly able to spare those coins. The Barrows would need these now, with Gisa injured and unable to work, probably never again.

I hesitated a moment too long before I turned with an "evening, sir," ready to run once I'd passed the corner. But then I heard the man bark. "Wait!"

I walked on, but he grabbed my arm - the arm that held his purse.

Idiot, Kilorn Warren. You're such an idiot.

He pulled me over to face him. We were of equal height and our eyes locked. His hand felt way too hot.

"Thief," he hissed.

"Obviously," I said, for a moment without any remorse. I let the purse drop to the ground with a clink, so that I could dash off as he bent down to retrieve it in surprise. Before I was ten feet away, he called again, even more agitated, "wait!"

For some bleeding reason, I obeyed. The man was still kneeling before me on the ground, the purse lying open in his hands. I stared at the huge sum. Dozens of tetrarchs. He fumbled for a moment and chose one coin to throw at me.

"That should be more than enough to tide you over," he said.

I spun the coin in my hand, not believing what was happening. A damn whole tetrarch. This was the third moment I should just have run away as fast as I could, but instead I looked at the man - boy - in front of me. He wasn't much older than me, with silky black hair and almost orange eyes, which I noticed as the lantern shone on his face. He was well-muscled too, even more visible in his crouched position.

"Don't you want to rise up some time?" I blurted out, then cleared my throat. I felt like I was blushing. "I mean thank you. But why?"

He shrugged, sorted the rest of his coins before he finally stood up. "You need it more than me."

I frowned. "I can't take this - no, stop it. I mean, why are you so generous? I should ..." What was I doing? This was what I wanted, some money and no trouble. But this stranger made me curious, more than that. I didn't want to, well, leave him so soon.

I cleared my throat again. "How about you spent some more this these spectacular coins to get us some drinks?" I proposed, to my own surprise, and pointed to another inn, a better one that he'd just left.

He paled, and laughed after a second and for one moment, I forgot everything what was coming for me and laughed with him.

"I'm Cal," he said and offered his hand. I took it.

"Kilorn Warren. Nice to meet you, Cal."

Commentary:

Are you satisfied @lilyharvord ?

I think this is a good ending, but I might come back to the events of the evening in the next part. I plan four parts so far. I hope you like this. Gay as fuck crackship fun.

I'd like your ideas about who to ship Mare with, and single is an option too, of course.

[sonofsuperman-archive]

*sets down URL* *waits for commentary so they can improve on their work*

SEND A URL AND I WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING || Always Accepting (slowly feeling bad for spamming dash with this)

Do I Follow Them?: Yepp

Why Did I Follow Them?: Wanted to #dealwithit B) (oh god... I’m using hashtags on posts... why??)

Do We Role Play?: Besides one meme, nope.

Do I Want To Role Play With Them: Yes cause OCs are my shiz.

An AU Idea For Our Muses: SIRENS VERSE!! I have this verse that I’m going to post someday where Jon loses his memories and is stuck in past Gotham (aka New 52 world) and becomes a thief, sleeps in the Botanical Gardens, meets the Sirens, gets adopted by Ivy and becomes a super-powered thief. ((Again, when I say I’m multiverse, I meant that. I have wayy too many verses in mind))

A Song For Our Muses: TT_TT stop. I hate this question... just stop. *cries in a corner*  Santa Fe from Newsies?? Idk it reminded me of her.

Do I Ship Our Muses?: Haven’t thought about it but hmm.. I’d probably dig it since they have opposite personalities. Teen verse though.

What I Think About The Mun: I dunno. I haven’t noticed any ooc postings but that might be cause I’m always half asleep around these times. Ya seem nice thoughhhhh o-o

Overall Opinion: I’m uncertain yet since I haven’t fully grasped your character but I do have an interest on rping with you. If you’d like to create a post to continue my ask, feel free to do so :D

Blog Rate: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 (Blue on dark blue creates this thing in my eyes where it seems to double yet blur, just same color being used together in text and background hurts. Also gray kinda does the same thing. Positive note though: thank you for the 500px posts. I’m grateful for that)

[hermitlibrarian]

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes and created by Lainey from Gingerreadlainey.

Top 5 Wednesday is a lot of fun, mostly because I get to recommend books to you and/or talk about different books/fandoms I love. This week’s topic combines a lot of favorites, mainly a) books b) Harry Potter and asks me to c) recommend books based on my Hogwarts house!

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I’m a #Ravenclaw and this week I was super excited/pressured because there are so many books that can fit for this topic because what are Ravenclaws if not enormous book worms?

I’m going to choose, for my Top 5 Recommendations for Ravenclaws, books that are on my TBR and I think embody the Ravenclaw spirit/mind. Some have been on the list for ages, some are relatively new, but all have something in them that brings this noble house to my mind.

The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak

The main character, Liesl, might or might not be a Ravenclaw herself, possibly a Gryffindor, but the importance of books can’t be ignored. Taking place during World War II, when the Nazis, among their many atrocities, burned books by the hundreds, trying to obscure knowledge and ideas of people they were afraid of. Safeguarding those books by stealing them is something, I think, that Ravenclaws would admire.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Wizarding World is full of magic, but what if you were a Muggle born Wizard, going into that world, or even a Wizard intrigued by stories of Muggle children falling into another realm with magical creatures you recognized? These stories have a lot of facets that would be fascinating to a Ravenclaw.

Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown

I’ve read the first two books in this series, though I don’t remember them all that well. What I do remember about them, and from watching the movies, is that the puzzles and mysteries, however many liberties the author took with historical elements, are a lot of fun and exhilarating. Ravenclaws may have a reputation for being snooty, but I think we’d have a lot of fun enjoying the historical themes, underlying mysteries throughout time, and the action that Professor Langdon gets involved it. It’s like a bookish Ravenclaw getting thrust into the world of adventure, but on the page. Still a safe distance. 😉

A Gentle Madness by Nicholas A. Basbanes

This book embodies what it means to be a bookworm, including the expense and length we might go to in order to add to our collections. While I think this book might center on editions and the like, I think the same can be said of those of us that collect solely for the love of stories.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

This book starts off in The Strand, the bookstore to visit if you’re ever in NYC. If that doesn’t capture the attention of a Ravenclaw, the clues/dares that Lily leaves for Dash and the adventure they have crisscrossing the city ought to.

  Are you a Ravenclaw? Would any of these books make it onto your TBR? Or are you from another house and think one of these books might cross over? Let me know in the comment section down below.

      All pictures, quotes, and videos belong to their respective owners. I use them here solely for the purpose of review and commentary.

Top 5 Wednesdays: Book Recommendations for Ravenclaws Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes and created by Lainey from…

[blazing-foolish-trickster]

The leader of the phantom thieves couldn’t help but laugh as Akechi was getting in trouble with Sae.