#agents of the four seasons dance of spring

[graphicpolicy]

Agents of the Four Seasons Vol. 1 is an interesting concept but a rough execution

Agents of the Four Seasons Vol. 1 is an interesting concept but a rough execution #comics #graphicnovel #manga

Once upon a time, there was Winter. Winter was once the only season in the world-but such an existence was too lonely to bear, and so it created Spring to love. Before long, the earth wished for more time to rest in the cycle, and Summer and Autumn were born. The ones who carry the cycle are called the Agents of the Four Seasons. Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, disappeared from this land ten years…

[lephamquynhnhu]

Panacea

Chapter 2: Storm before the Blushing Morn

Dan Feng x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS/ TAGS: The reader has a default name, OOC, mentioned of blood. (This is a work of fanfiction, events are not aligned or relevant to the original work)

Word count: ~2k

Summary: He met you on a drizzling day when hydrangea fully bloomed on its field. Amidst the sea of mild pastel petals, Dan Feng never thought the flowery domain that intertwined your fate was the precise thing withered with you. They said he was a dragon, a hero, a sinner, but never a person with love, hatred, sorrow, or joy like everyone else in this world. However, it was a demi-truth. He committed the cardinal sin because of you.

Note: Do you like...pain?

He revisited on a sprinkle day, his signature ambergris aroma mixed with the freshness of humid forest note. You did not know why, but the High Elder seemed to be into rainy days because every time he came, water definitely showered outside. It has been weeks since you met him for the first time, and thanks to the frequency of his visits, you learn that the nonchalant Imbibitor Lunae gradually displays the other side. Although Dan Feng never clearly shows his emotion, you can tell his mood through the draconic tail. When he feels happy, his tail swings side to side and stands still as its owner is interested in or concentrates on whatever your information. In addition to your surprise, he sometimes even punchlines on your venting stories.  

Under the Mulan's foliage, you slowly gaze at the kaleidoscope sky after rain. A mid-summer breeze that carries the scent of white flowers softly blows through, driving the ripples to gleam on the water's surface. 

Immersing in your haze, you forget what was going to do until the Long Scion gives out his curiousness about the bush of Datura Metel in a corner garden. 

"I have studied an organic pesticide which extracts from their active agents." - The elegant smell of lotus still glistens in the morning dew perfumes in your lungs when nudging into them. Suddenly, you shove the flower cart into his arms and tell him to wait for you at a nearby wooden bench. Dan Feng thinks eternal Spring never leaves this sunlit Shangri-La as he wipes the Mulan's petals out of the seat because the flora seems to blossom in four seasons. 

While idly watching Koi fish under silky leafages, the High Elder does not notice you snicker behind. A forgotten raindrop stagnates on the lotus leaf trail like a lost pearl, arousing the quiet pond like his emerald orbs rising in astonishment. Amid the multi-colored palette, Dan Feng finds your smile is the most gorgeous flower when you abruptly pop up with a posy of Emperical Peony. The beam you flashed him still lingering in his mind as Dan Feng reluctantly takes the gift. Your hands lightly brush together via the exchange, reminding him of the existence of those black gloves since he has not seen you take them off once. Nevertheless, he lets it pass and dances his slender finger around the ombre corolla instead.  

"Thank you, Yi Ting." - Imbibitor Lunae softly mutters under his breath, and as the lost ray shines through frost winter, a faint smile stretches on his usually glacial face. 

On that day in the summer season, Dan Feng realizes that he does not return to your place because of its spectacular. He wants to revisit the Shangri-La because he likes spending time with you.

On an Autumn afternoon painted in a burnt orange hue and wafting with a ripe persimmon scent, you are leisurely proceeding to the Dan Feng's residence while absentmindedly grazing a bunch of white chrysanthemums in hand. Looking at the High Elder Statue at the Dragonvista Rain Hall, your mind winds up reminiscing about the previous conversation.

"Yes?" - Transfering your focus toward his position, you represented the confusion as if hearing him wrong. The quiet Long Scion might befriend you and be your custom guest, but it was an extraordinary phenomenon since Dan Feng has not asked you to deliver flowers to his estate before. He patiently repeated the order while reading his scroll in one hand, and the other halfway was lifting the teacup with expressionless features. Looking at his relaxing manner, you unknowingly realize this house became Imbibitor Lunae's office. 

When immersing thought in the past, you are suddenly pulled back to the present by a low thud of a light collision with a follow-up painful cry. Tears are bubbling in the Vidyadhara child's doe eyes as she feels the pain. You swiftly support her to stand up and inspect the body while trying to comfort the child, which results in two news in this situation. A good one is a scratch, and the bad is her cry getting louder even though you used up all your tricks. 

"Pain, Pain goes away!" - You singsong to conjure an apple lollipop appearing in hand, and tears stop falling as she eyes your apologetic smile with compensation. When you clean the last drop of trail wet on her chubby cheekbones and apologize with head patting, other Vidyadhara children circle you to admire the little show. A defeated sigh escapes your breath as you look at their twinkle glims and secretly count the remaining candy's quantity. Unfortunately, in addition to your trouble, with an invitation from a brunette-haired boy, the group of children tugs your sleeves to play blind man's buff with their puppy eyes. 

"Alright, but I won't be lenient." - You confidently state when settling the bouquet on a stone bench. And you keep your line.

Once darkness invades the vision, you start to track down the children. By listening to their footsteps and sensing the airflow, you catch all of them except Ma Tian, the boy with sheen eyes who cleverly outclasses your skill. Finally, thanks to your florist's exceptional technique, you discreetly declare the endgame while detecting his fabric detergent in the wind's stream. 

"Catch ya, little brat!" - You happily exclaim your victory when circling your arms around Ma Tian's figure. However, you immediately realize something is wrong as a familiar ambergris cologne lingers on your nose, and you are hugging a lean body. Hurriedly removing the blindfold, you see Dan Feng mimic your shocked expression while Ma Tian lolls out his head behind the Long Scion. 

"How long do you intend to embrace me?" - The High Elder clears his throat with a light reprimand nuance laces in but does not seem annoyed. If there is anything you would admire about Imbibitor Lunae besides his glorious feats, the quick recovery from an embarrassing situation is one of them. As soon as you two detach, Dan Feng grabs the bouquet and leads you out of the Scalegorge Waterscape, leaving the cheerful goodbyes of those children behind. You do not understand why Dan Feng is rushing in his strides until you see a pink tint on his tip ears. 

When the sunset light turns golden on the greenery beneath, which gets everything basked in the look of burnished copper, you two arrive at the military memorial area where illustrious warriors rest in peace. Passing through hundreds of black marble graves glides their name, Dan Feng unravels your holding hands as he crunches down to place the chrysanthemum bouquet in front of a stone-carved Bai Heng. 

You know that name. She was once a High-Cloud quintet member and a gifted pilot who sacrificed in the third Denizen of Abundance. People say Imbibitor Lunae is never a person with love, hatred, sorrow, or joy like everyone else in this world, but now you can shout out they are all wrong because of the unfathomable somber besieges in his orbs.

"Life is so short when it comes to mortal organisms'' - He mouths in a calm and unwavering tone after a long silence - "No matter what you do, they definitely die." With his back turned to you, it is challenging to figure out its meaning, yet you can degust a longing taste entangled in that clause. Forgotten fragments of sunlight slowly die on your heels while trekking to the way out, and the crescent vaguely takes place in the saturated navy sky. Although the High Elder rarely shared his thoughts with someone else, you hardly agree with this viewpoint.

 "Even if it is short-lived, even if fate sometimes turns tragic, limited longevity creates the beauty of lives and valuableness because we learn to cherish life, and not all farewells are regretful. Sometimes, death is also an extrication, and I believe we will rendezvous on another horizon." 

Dan Feng follows your graze to the glitter crepuscule, causing the mellow ray to cradle his features. - "Someday, you also turn into ashes?" - A sliver of bitterness in the question soon morphed into those cyan irises as you confirmed with your bright smile. When the two of you pass through the gate, Imbibitor Lunae abruptly informs you of his next arrival with special requests that combine with osmanthus cake and jasmine tea. It is the first time he proactively reserves in advance because Dan Feng neither notices his attendance nor does he appear on sunny days.  

"Do I have to wait for the rain to meet you?" - Only one sentence, it has changed your relationship ever since. You guess that might be the way he expresses his feelings. 

In a dream, I see myself in my childhood state with a bouquet of blue hydrangeas. Strolling by the seashore, the shells confound in golden sand rustles underneath my bare feet as I search for someone. End then, an abnormal bloodred butterfly hovers around to lead me toward that person; we have passed zillions of landscapes and territories, from glacial rivers where white snow permanently coats mounts to the vast rug crafted by countless vivid blossoms. From the nameless barren deserts with magnificent starry nights crown aloft to the rich prairie possesses coast breezes. I keep going, going.

"Hydrangeas is the soulmate of rains." A distant voice echoes from those feeble wings in the entire journey. It feels like Amber Periods have flown until we reach a field with full-bloom hydrangeas that unfold our presence. Suddenly, my companion disappears into thin air, and I notice a nostalgic glimpse waving his hand from afar as if he has been waiting for me for an astronomical long time. 

"You got my wish fulfilled... Thank you, my comrade." - The boy says in a gentle demeanor. His blue eyes shine brighter than any stars I have ever known, and he also disappears like the bloodred butterfly. His silhouette dissipates into thousands of flower petals as he flashes a warm smile toward me. 

"Wait, H...H..." - A tsunami of impuissant waves brews into my heart when I try to call his name, but none of the syllables come out, and tears continuously cascade from my eyes while I witness the lost world fading.

You wake up from a soothing noise of hot steam oozing out of your old kettle and forget the dream cleanly. "You had a fever." - A low tone voice diagnoses as soon as Dan Feng senses your consciousness. Slightly lifting the heavy eyelids, you see him situating beside your headboard with a botanical book in hand. The glorious sun is far high hanging in the sky to pour its honeyed light through your window, which informs you to oversleep impliedly. You do not notice tears rolling down until the Long Scion points out in skimming your complexion and uses his thumb to caress the trail wetness. Sensing no engagement in conversation, Dan Feng shifts his hand to cover your eyesight and tenderly leans forward.

You only feel a pillowy touch on your forehead afterward. 

"Please do not leave the bed today, and take the medicine on time because this is a prescription from the High Elder." - He faux-orders when rendering your vision. Astoundedly grazing the lingering sensation, you did not know that Imbibitor Lunae has a bizarre way of assessing the temperature. 

Winter at Shangri-La never experiences snow, yet it takes some seasonal features such as the gloomy weather all day with northeast wind seething through every direction. Inspecting the murky clouded skyward, you tug the scarf closer when your breaths dimly turn into silver smoke. As soon as you attempt to lift the white lily cart, a hot stream of fluid smelling like rusty iron runs down your chin, which the soil absorbs its falling drops. When you bring your hand to clean the water, it takes a moment to process it is blood. Your irises squeeze as you dumbfoundedly stare at the ivory gloves tainted with the crimson hue. Just as you intend to step forward, the surrounding spins around as though Earth and Heaven are twitching position, and you kneel only to cough out blood that permeates the fabric. The pollen sparkles in the ether after the collapse, and the shivering lily's petals in chilly winds are the last things in your blurring vision.

[sinclairss]

[DONALD GLOVER, CISMALE, HE/HIM/HIS] When’s the last time anyone heard anything about [LUCAS SINCLAIR]? Old friends remember them as [LOYAL & ATHLETIC] but also [HEADSTRONG & SENSITIVE], no wonder they’re still known as [THE RANGER] around town. Today, in 2006, they are [35] and some people say they remind them of [COZY SWEATERS, BLACK COFFEE, EARLY MORNING RUNS, RED MARKS ON PAPER, THE SOUND OF A BASKETBALL BOUNCING ON A HARDWOOD FLOOR, SCUFFED BASKETBALL SHOES, HALF DRUNK BEER BOTTLES WITH PEELING LABELS, CAT FUR EVERYWHERE EVEN THOUGH HE’S NOT A CAT PERSON (ALLEGEDLY),]. [dani, 23, she/her/hers, est].

biography.

make new friends. step out of comfort zone and try new things. be yourself. that was lucas sinclair’s to-do list to surviving his freshman year of high school. 1986 had different plans for him. lucas did all of those things. he joined the basketball team over hellfire club, much to mike and dustin’s chagrin. he made a lifelong friend in jay demario. and, ultimately, he ran right back to the party when they needed him. he got his ass kicked by his team captain, watched helplessly as the first girl he loved cared for had her bones broken in half, and lost two of his best friends to the upside down. he failed. and that failure stuck with him for years. he was not going to fail anyone else like he’d failed to protect will and el. he was going to make sure his people were okay. and he was going to finish what he started in high school even if it killed him. so lucas sinclair went from benchwarmer to starting point guard, led the hawkins high tigers to back-to-back state championships, and earned himself a scholarship to notre dame so his parents wouldn’t have to worry about paying for his college just because he wasn’t as smart as erica, all while keeping tabs on dustin and mike and writing a bunch of letters he didn’t have an address to send to max that might still be shoved in the back of his closet.

he was an athlete and he played d&d with the hellfire club on the weekends. he dated a pretty girl who followed him to college. he was going to bring the fighting irish to the tournament, get noticed by scouts, and get a shoe deal. maybe he’d become an agent...or he’d play a few years professionally if he was lucky!

but lucas rode the bench his freshman year of college. he worked out all summer to earn his spot on the court and had a fantastic sophomore season...until a new year’s day tournament led to a torn acl. he had surgery, but the rehab was difficult. he fell into a pretty bad place, mis-using his pain pill prescriptions and eventually getting hooked. he made rash decisions including dropping out of school and heading home. he worked at family video while rehabbing his knee and saving up cash to...do what exactly? run off to california? very funny.

he spent two gap years in hawkins, going through the motions, occasionally hanging out with his old friends and and feeling trapped by the four walls of his childhood bedroom. a combination of reconnecting with mr. clarke while trespassing in the hawkins middle school gym and a good therapist that his mom definitely didn’t force him into seeing made things clearer to him. (marian tried, but it was honestly finding some of the old photos of the four of them in his classroom...and all of their old projects still taped up on the walls in mr. clarke’s classroom that gave him the nudge to return to school.)  he’d probably never play in the nba. not on a bum leg, anyway. and if he couldn’t do that, well, keeping the curiosity door open wasn’t a bad trade off.

he returned to notre dame two years and many lifetimes wiser, got a teaching degree, and walked back on to the basketball team. he helped the irish into the big dance and had a pretty successful athletic career while earning his degree. lucas even married his high school sweetheart while on a spring break trip to las vegas (which his mom is still pissed about, by the way!)

he and tracy probably would have moved to chicago if not for charles’ heart attack. lucas had to go home and, thankfully, his wife seemed content to follow him back to hawkins.

honestly? lucas got married because that’s what he thought he was supposed to be doing at twenty-three. some of his friends were married, most of them had kids, and his mom was dying to join the grandma train. lucas was (and is) still searching for something to fill the massive gap left when will and el died. he’s been trying for years: first with athletics, then his romantic relationships, then  with the pills and the weed and the booze he definitely didn’t get from jonathan or steve, but nothing ever makes him feel whole anymore.

the closest thing that does? seeing the spark a kid’s eyes when they finally figure out a difficult science concept. or the pure joy on every face when the girls’ basketball team he coaches finally wins a game. but as soon as he goes home to an empty apartment? he’s fucking lonely.

and he was lonely even before the divorce. he told tracy as much, and it...didn’t go over well. they fought, which was kind of...exhilarating, actually? they’d had a superficial spark that had burned hot and fast but died quickly and they both had just been going through the motions for years by the time lucas admitted that he just didn’t feel like it was worth it anymore.

his life is fine, if boring. he found some joy in coaching and substitute teaching at hawkins middle. when mr. clarke passed away, he stepped in automatically. if mr. clarke wasn’t there to guide the next generation, lucas sure would.

oh, and he’s also an uncle. which is pretty fun.

[fandompost]

Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring Vol. #01 Manga Review http://dlvr.it/TGQ8JT

[aceshadowstar]

Yen Press Licenses Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring, Brunhild the Dragonslayer, More Manga/Novels https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2024-06-14/yen-press-licenses-agents-of-the-four-seasons-dance-of-spring-brunhild-the-dragonslayer-more-manga-/.211958

[themculibrary]

Peggy/Angie Masterlist

a minor distraction (ao3) - brilligspoons peggy/natasha, peggy/angie T, 3k

Summary: Rumors about an organization experimenting with the super soldier serum bring Peggy Carter to Russia, where she meets a young factory worker named Natalia.

A Somebody I'm Longing To See (ao3) - Eliza49 peggy/angie, peggy/steve T, 32k

Summary: In the spring of 1947 Peggy Carter returned to New York, the birthplace of Steve Rogers…

Despite the distraction of a fascinating case and no small amount of peril, Peggy had missed her New York roommate, Angie Martinelli, during her time in L.A.. She had become accustomed to comforting conversation and happy chatter at the end of the working day, and whilst the Jarvises had helped fill the void, it had not been quite the same: after all, Ana and Edwin belonged to each other, but Angie, Peggy felt, was hers, somehow...

-

(This is a sequel to my story, “A Safe Community for Modern Female Professionals.” It takes place after season 2 of "Agent Carter," and depicts Peggy and Angie living together [and getting together] in Howard's penthouse in Manhattan. There is also an SSR investigation, which Peggy leads as Chief of the New York office.)

A Song That Will Not Die (ao3) - chilly_flame M, 15k

Summary: Peggy and Angie deal with a new crisis after moving in together, thanks to their good friend Howard Stark.

A Woman's Touch (ao3) - all_soul T, 59k

Summary: It’s been a week since Peggy saved New York from Dr. Fenhoff, and Dottie is loose in the big city. Regardless of Interim-Chief Jack keeping her off the Underwood case, her fraying relationship with Daniel, and the tightrope that she walks at home with Angie, she’ll find her. Peggy Carter always gets her girl.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Burning Bridges Sweeten the Air) (ao3) - DiNovia T, 26k

Summary: Before Peggy Carter can make good on her promise to train Angie Martinelli to protect herself better, an old foe makes a reappearance and a new plot comes to light. Will Peggy be able to figure it out before it's over and done?

Cat Got Your Tongue (ao3) - Meskeet T, 10k

Summary: There’s only two things Peggy’s currently certain about.

One, she’s in love with Angela Martinelli.

Two, she’s a cat.

(Or, the one where Howard Stark turns Peggy into a cat.)

Easy Living (ao3) - sagesiren T, 9k

Summary: Her day had started nearly forty hours before when North Korea had marched too far South for anyone's liking, and she'd been subsisting on coffee and frustration at the American government's incompetence since. 

While her fledgling organization wasn't large enough nor old enough to be regarded as a player on the national level quite yet, her agents were more capable than any others in the country by half, and she still suspected vital information was being withheld. 

Not to mention that the process of moving her base of operations to D.C. - and every agent along with it - was hard enough without a war complicating things.

Or a child.

(It's 1950 and Peggy decides she needs a live-in nanny after gaining custody of her niece, Sharon. Enter: Angie.)

i break wild roses (ao3) - halfmoonsevenstars peggy/natasha, peggy/angie M, 7k

Summary: It’s August 1950 and Peggy Carter, Director of SHIELD, is back in New York for the week, wrangling diplomats and soothing fractured bureaucratic egos by day. By night, Peggy goes out for drinks and dancing with Angie, but it’s a beautiful Russian girl she brings back to the hotel room.

Mapping the Spaces in Between (ao3) - warmspringrain G, 10k

Summary: Filling in the missing moments of Season One.

Morning Mix Ups (ao3) - tiredmoonlight G, 1k

Summary: Sometimes, in the rush of a busy morning, Peggy doesn’t always grab the right clothes.

or alternatively: two times Peggy stole Angie’s clothes by accident, and one time Angie stole Peggy’s on purpose.

Rule #1: Peggy Carter is sometimes wrong (ao3) - burninglights peggy/angie, ana/jarvis T, 25k

Summary: The four times Peggy apologises to Angie, and the one time she doesn't. With an extra few chapters of Angie being (always) right.

Or: Peggy falling in love with another scrappy Brooklyn kid, in a mostly-canon re-write of Agent Carter season 1 and a non-canon-re-write of season 2, because we all know how that went down. Domestic shenanigans from New York to L.A.

//

Peggy Carter pushes open the door and takes a corner seat, still feeling like she's somehow betraying her Queen by being publicly seen drinking coffee twice in a week (and /enjoying/ it, too). Angie spots her from across the Automat and comes hurrying over, a huge, shit-eating grin plastered to her face. “English!” She bends down and pulls the woman into a tight, brief hug.

When Angie finally pulls away, Peggy isn’t sure what she’s more concerned about – the fact that this waitress doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of personal space (of which she herself places great importance) or the fact that she actually finds herself enjoying the said invasion of personal space. She clears her throat. “I have a name, you know,” she says. “It’s Peggy. Peggy Carter.”

Scarlet Cross (ao3) - wreckofherheart M, 40k

Summary: [AU: Second World War]  

Angie and Peggy meet under the most inconvenient and harmful circumstances.

Yet, somehow, this only brings to light something they did not foresee.

[Peggy/Angie]

Someday (ao3) - all_soul T, 7k

Summary: "Well, I look forward to hearing what this is about someday"

"Someday"

In which a day after the events of the season one finale, Peggy climbs through the Griffith window.

Someone New (ao3) - TESPO G, 33k

Summary: Peggy Carter only opens her heart to those she can keep safe, and so for the most part it remains locked shut. Little does she know Angie Martinelli has a history of picking locks, defying odds, and breaking all the rules.

suffer what we must (ao3) - the eternal feminine (redpenninja) G, 6k

Summary: "They don’t really know how to talk to each other, he decides, but this is enough. She gives him a little glimpse at her real smile, a small ray of sunlight bursting through dark skies. He wonders how she looks when she smiles at Carter, wonders what she thinks about when she goes home to a large, empty house, wonders how Carter reacts to such a blinding, ethereal light."

//

In which Jack meets Angie, Angie gets desperate, and Jack has an ulterior motive for getting Peggy home from Los Angeles

The Lady is a Tramp (ao3) - maggiemerc M, 21k

Summary: Angie’s got suspicions on what Peggy does for a living and she’s determined to protect her at all costs…to other people. It’s not like she’s crazy and about to risk her life for a dame that’s more hot and cold than the plumbing on the third floor of the Griffith Hotel.

the mothering thing of us (ao3) - QuickYoke, ratherembarrassing E, 59k

Summary: The Black and White Ball was a masquerade ball held on November 28, 1966 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Hosted by author Truman Capote, the ball was in honor of The Washington Post publisher, Katharine Graham. -- Director Carter attends.

what they don't see (ao3) - acolonf6 peggy/angie, past peggy/steve T, 22k

Summary: Angie is convinced that her new next door neighbor is a spy, and is determined to find proof of such.

[brookston]

Holidays 1.6

Holidays

Apple Tree Day

Armed Forces Day (Iraq)

Blessing of the Waters (Greece, Turkey)

Carnaval Blancos Negros, Day 3: The Day of the Whites (Colombia)

Carnival season begins (until Shrove Tuesday)

Children’s Day (Uruguay)

Cuddle Up Day

Daruma Ichi (Takasaki City, Japan)

Dezome-shiki (Tokyo, Japan)

Flying V Day

Four Freedoms Day

Greek Cross Day

Haxey Hood (Traditional Old English race, pushing a leather tub to a local pub)

Hornschlittenrennen (Horn Runners Race; Germany)

I Am A Mentor Day

International Day of Astrology

International Jewish and Proud Day

Insurrection USA Day

Kayin New Year (Myanmar)

Maroon Festival (Jamaica)

Missionary Childhood Day

National Davis Day

National Samantha Day

National Share a DAG Day

National Smith Day

National Standard Poodle Day

National Take a Poet to Lunch Day

National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day

National Technology Day

Nurse Day (Mexico)

Parents and Parents-in-Law Day (India)

Pathet Lao Day (Laos)

Phi Day

Schoolhouse Rock Day

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Day (Abeldane Empire)

Sherlock Holmes Day [also 5.22]

Shorinzan Daruma-Ichi (Shorinzan, Japan)

Surb Tsnund (Armenian Christmas)

Swap Day

Take a Poet to Lunch Day

Wassailing the Apple Trees (UK)

Wheel of Fortune Day

World Day of War Orphans

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bean Day (New Orleans)

Dry Bean Day

King Cake Day

King of the Bean (a.k.a. National Bean Day)

National Shortbread Day

Walker’s Shortbread Day

1st Saturday in January

Great Fruitcake Toss (Manitou Springs, Colorado) [1st Saturday]

National Bacon Day [1st Saturday]

National Rib Day [1st Saturday]

National Play Outside Day [1st Saturday of Every Month]

Straw Bear Day [Saturday before Plough Monday]

Independence & Related Days

New Mexico Statehood Day (#47; 1912)

Feast Days

Aleksandra Ekster (Artology)

André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)

Baldassare Verazzi (Artology)

British Comedy Quotes Day (Pastafarian)

Charles E. Pont (Artology)

Charles of Sezze (Christian; Saint)

Christmas (Original Date) (a.k.a. ...

Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church, Amish)

Coptic Christmas (Egypt)

Día De Reyes (Kings Day; Mexico)

Heilige Drei Könige (Liechtenstein)

Kolmekuninga Päev (Belgium, Estonia)

Little Christmas (Ireland)

Old Christmas

Reyes Magos (Spain)

Sure Tsnund (Armenia)

Sveta Tri Kralja (Croatia)

Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine)

Day of Kore Underground (Pagan)

Epiphany (a.k.a. ...

Befana Day (Italy)

Nollaig na mBan (Ireland)

Þrettándinn (Iceland)

Race of the Three Kings (San Pablo, Peru)

Theophany (Eastern Christian Church)

Three King's Day (Florida, US Virgin Islands)

Three Wise Men Day

Trettondagen (Sweden)

Epiphic (The Season of Bad Noise, Devoted to the Indefinable; Church of the SubGenius)

Extra Cuddles Day (Pastafarian)

Gustave Doré (Artology)

Haley Hood (England)

José Campeche (Artology)

Nalujuk Night (Inuit)

Pinky (Muppetism)

Romulus (Positivist; Saint)

Taos Pueblo Deer or Buffalo Dance (Native American)

Tursi (Slavic pagan fertility rite of Jar-tur, the bull) 

Twelfth Day (a.k.a. Twelfthtide)

Twelve Holy Days #12 (Pisces, the feet; Esoteric Christianity)

William McGonagall Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [4 of 37]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Day (because Christmas decorations come down this day. It's a sad day for all.)

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [3 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [5 of 30]

Premieres

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (Animated Disney Film; 1950)

Agent Carter (TV Series; 2015)

The Body Machine (Science Rock Cartoon; 1979)

Casanova Cat (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1951)

Come Fly with Me, by Frank Sinatra (Album; 1958)

The Danny Kaye Show (Radio Series; 1945)

Don Quixote de la Mancha (Novel; 1605)

Frampton Comes Alive!, by Peter Frampton (Live Album; 1976)

Hare We Go (WB MM Cartoon; 1951)

Hell’s Fire (MGM Cartoon; 1934)

High School DXD (Anime TV Series; 2012)

Inspector Morse (UK TV Series; 1987)

County Fair (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

Land of the Lost Jewels Noveltoons Cartoon; 1950)

Little Earthquakes, by Tori Amos (Album; 1992)

Luvcast U.S.A. (Animated TV Film; 1973)

My Hero, Zero (Schoolhouse Rock! Cartoon; 1973)

Pill Peddlers (Heckle & Heckle Cartoon; 1953)

Pluto’s Heart Throb (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

Polly Wants a Doctor (Phantasies Cartoon; 1944)

The Revenant (Film; 2015)

Schoolhouse Rock (Animated TV Series; 1973)

Shape of You, by Ed Sheehan (Song; 2017)

SWAT Kats: A Special Report (Hanna-Barbera TV Cartoon Special; 1995)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Film; 2012)

Wheel of Fortune (TV Game Show; 1975)

Today’s Name Days

Erminold (Austria)

Bogdan, Bogdana, Bogomil, Bogomila, Iordan, Iordanka, Teodosii, Yordan, Yordanka (Bulgaria)

Baltazar, Gašpar, Melkior (Croatia)

Tri králové (Czech Republic)

Aabel, Aabi, Aabo, Aap, Aapo (Estonia)

Harri (Finland)

Balthazar, Gaspard, Mélaine, Melchior, Tiffany (France)

Raimund (Germany)

Fani, Fotika, Fotine, Fotini, Fotis, Jordan, Ourania, Peristera, Photini, Photis, Theofania, Theofanis, Theopoula (Greece)

Boldizsár (Hungary)

Baldassarre Gaspare, Melchiorre Raffaello, Rafaelo (Italy)

Arnita, Spulga (Latvia)

Arūnas, Arūnė, Baltazaras, Kasparas, Merkelis (Lithuania)

Åslaug, Aslaug (Norway)

Andrzej, Balcer, Baltazar, Bolemir, Epifania, Kacper, Kasper, Melchior (Poland)

Evgenia, Klavdia (Russia)

Antónia (Slovakia)

Baltasar, Epifanía, Gaspar, Melchor (Spain)

Baltsar, Kasper, Melker (Sweden)

Cheyanne, Cheyenne, Howell, Hoyle, Kahlil, Khalil, Melchior, Rowan, Talullah, Tiffani, Tiffanie, Tiffany (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 6 of 2024; 360 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 1 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 25 (Ji-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 25 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 24 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 6 White; Sixday [6 of 30]

Julian: 24 December 2023

Moon: 26%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 6 Moses (1st Month) [Romulus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 17 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 16 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 1.6

Holidays

Apple Tree Day

Armed Forces Day (Iraq)

Blessing of the Waters (Greece, Turkey)

Carnaval Blancos Negros, Day 3: The Day of the Whites (Colombia)

Carnival season begins (until Shrove Tuesday)

Children’s Day (Uruguay)

Cuddle Up Day

Daruma Ichi (Takasaki City, Japan)

Dezome-shiki (Tokyo, Japan)

Flying V Day

Four Freedoms Day

Greek Cross Day

Haxey Hood (Traditional Old English race, pushing a leather tub to a local pub)

Hornschlittenrennen (Horn Runners Race; Germany)

I Am A Mentor Day

International Day of Astrology

International Jewish and Proud Day

Insurrection USA Day

Kayin New Year (Myanmar)

Maroon Festival (Jamaica)

Missionary Childhood Day

National Davis Day

National Samantha Day

National Share a DAG Day

National Smith Day

National Standard Poodle Day

National Take a Poet to Lunch Day

National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day

National Technology Day

Nurse Day (Mexico)

Parents and Parents-in-Law Day (India)

Pathet Lao Day (Laos)

Phi Day

Schoolhouse Rock Day

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Day (Abeldane Empire)

Sherlock Holmes Day [also 5.22]

Shorinzan Daruma-Ichi (Shorinzan, Japan)

Surb Tsnund (Armenian Christmas)

Swap Day

Take a Poet to Lunch Day

Wassailing the Apple Trees (UK)

Wheel of Fortune Day

World Day of War Orphans

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bean Day (New Orleans)

Dry Bean Day

King Cake Day

King of the Bean (a.k.a. National Bean Day)

National Shortbread Day

Walker’s Shortbread Day

1st Saturday in January

Great Fruitcake Toss (Manitou Springs, Colorado) [1st Saturday]

National Bacon Day [1st Saturday]

National Rib Day [1st Saturday]

National Play Outside Day [1st Saturday of Every Month]

Straw Bear Day [Saturday before Plough Monday]

Independence & Related Days

New Mexico Statehood Day (#47; 1912)

Feast Days

Aleksandra Ekster (Artology)

André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)

Baldassare Verazzi (Artology)

British Comedy Quotes Day (Pastafarian)

Charles E. Pont (Artology)

Charles of Sezze (Christian; Saint)

Christmas (Original Date) (a.k.a. ...

Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church, Amish)

Coptic Christmas (Egypt)

Día De Reyes (Kings Day; Mexico)

Heilige Drei Könige (Liechtenstein)

Kolmekuninga Päev (Belgium, Estonia)

Little Christmas (Ireland)

Old Christmas

Reyes Magos (Spain)

Sure Tsnund (Armenia)

Sveta Tri Kralja (Croatia)

Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine)

Day of Kore Underground (Pagan)

Epiphany (a.k.a. ...

Befana Day (Italy)

Nollaig na mBan (Ireland)

Þrettándinn (Iceland)

Race of the Three Kings (San Pablo, Peru)

Theophany (Eastern Christian Church)

Three King's Day (Florida, US Virgin Islands)

Three Wise Men Day

Trettondagen (Sweden)

Epiphic (The Season of Bad Noise, Devoted to the Indefinable; Church of the SubGenius)

Extra Cuddles Day (Pastafarian)

Gustave Doré (Artology)

Haley Hood (England)

José Campeche (Artology)

Nalujuk Night (Inuit)

Pinky (Muppetism)

Romulus (Positivist; Saint)

Taos Pueblo Deer or Buffalo Dance (Native American)

Tursi (Slavic pagan fertility rite of Jar-tur, the bull) 

Twelfth Day (a.k.a. Twelfthtide)

Twelve Holy Days #12 (Pisces, the feet; Esoteric Christianity)

William McGonagall Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [4 of 37]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Day (because Christmas decorations come down this day. It's a sad day for all.)

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [3 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [5 of 30]

Premieres

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (Animated Disney Film; 1950)

Agent Carter (TV Series; 2015)

The Body Machine (Science Rock Cartoon; 1979)

Casanova Cat (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1951)

Come Fly with Me, by Frank Sinatra (Album; 1958)

The Danny Kaye Show (Radio Series; 1945)

Don Quixote de la Mancha (Novel; 1605)

Frampton Comes Alive!, by Peter Frampton (Live Album; 1976)

Hare We Go (WB MM Cartoon; 1951)

Hell’s Fire (MGM Cartoon; 1934)

High School DXD (Anime TV Series; 2012)

Inspector Morse (UK TV Series; 1987)

County Fair (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

Land of the Lost Jewels Noveltoons Cartoon; 1950)

Little Earthquakes, by Tori Amos (Album; 1992)

Luvcast U.S.A. (Animated TV Film; 1973)

My Hero, Zero (Schoolhouse Rock! Cartoon; 1973)

Pill Peddlers (Heckle & Heckle Cartoon; 1953)

Pluto’s Heart Throb (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

Polly Wants a Doctor (Phantasies Cartoon; 1944)

The Revenant (Film; 2015)

Schoolhouse Rock (Animated TV Series; 1973)

Shape of You, by Ed Sheehan (Song; 2017)

SWAT Kats: A Special Report (Hanna-Barbera TV Cartoon Special; 1995)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Film; 2012)

Wheel of Fortune (TV Game Show; 1975)

Today’s Name Days

Erminold (Austria)

Bogdan, Bogdana, Bogomil, Bogomila, Iordan, Iordanka, Teodosii, Yordan, Yordanka (Bulgaria)

Baltazar, Gašpar, Melkior (Croatia)

Tri králové (Czech Republic)

Aabel, Aabi, Aabo, Aap, Aapo (Estonia)

Harri (Finland)

Balthazar, Gaspard, Mélaine, Melchior, Tiffany (France)

Raimund (Germany)

Fani, Fotika, Fotine, Fotini, Fotis, Jordan, Ourania, Peristera, Photini, Photis, Theofania, Theofanis, Theopoula (Greece)

Boldizsár (Hungary)

Baldassarre Gaspare, Melchiorre Raffaello, Rafaelo (Italy)

Arnita, Spulga (Latvia)

Arūnas, Arūnė, Baltazaras, Kasparas, Merkelis (Lithuania)

Åslaug, Aslaug (Norway)

Andrzej, Balcer, Baltazar, Bolemir, Epifania, Kacper, Kasper, Melchior (Poland)

Evgenia, Klavdia (Russia)

Antónia (Slovakia)

Baltasar, Epifanía, Gaspar, Melchor (Spain)

Baltsar, Kasper, Melker (Sweden)

Cheyanne, Cheyenne, Howell, Hoyle, Kahlil, Khalil, Melchior, Rowan, Talullah, Tiffani, Tiffanie, Tiffany (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 6 of 2024; 360 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 1 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 25 (Ji-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 25 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 24 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 6 White; Sixday [6 of 30]

Julian: 24 December 2023

Moon: 26%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 6 Moses (1st Month) [Romulus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 17 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 16 of 31)

[cosmo-lexies]

Dylan Season 1 (2/7)

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

2: The speed legal limit is too slow, I propose to change it to 120 mph

We carried on to interstate 5. Wooden Town was near. I put on my wireless headphone;  classic country songs that Andrew always had in the car was driving me crazy. I bet he's from the South cause of his music taste and accent, but he never confirms or denies it. Secret agent things, I guess.

He picked up my left headphone. "What do you listen? ... Really, reggaetón."

I got back my headphone and said, "What's the problem? Do you prefer I heard a romantic ballad or something for the style?"

" It's not this. Although you can hear some romantic teen songs," he had changed the mood "and don't know, maybe they encouraged you to look for a girlfriend or boyfriend of your age."

I had a lifeless gaze, "I don't want a relationship, especially with someone of my age. These people want things that I don't want."

"For example? I know, they want to meet you, and you want to be alone. Casual sex with strangers doesn't need that you open up." I didn't think to respond to him. He thought he could get me to play his game, but I wasn't gonna fall this time. "Do you tell your family about your powers or parents?"

"I have a psychologist, don't need that you analyze me. And not; it's better this way." I looked away trying to avoid this conversation.

"The psychologist that sent me reports about you isn't progressing with the therapy."

" Do you hear about doctor-patient privilege?" I said sarcastically.

"This would apply if you go for yourself, not if the juvenile court force you."

"Man, I don't get into trouble, I get passable grades, I have a part-time job, and I go to the shrink session in Portland two times a week. What do you want to me?" I said frustrated.

"Dylan, I want to be well," he started with the good cop approach, "I know that you have had a hard life, but now you have a chance that you need. You are important to me."

"Not, I'm your job."

He took off his sunglasses and glanced at me with his blue eyes. "You're both," he glanced at the road again. "If this life doesn't like you, you have other options. The FAHEA is looking to recruit you; you could get emancipated this way."

"Never do you ask this of me again," Perfect, I was playing his game He knows that I hate this shit of HEA being 'patriotic heroes.'

"Okey, okay. We were already near your house."

"Yo; do you tell them about where you found me?"

"Ahh, not, I won't." He gave me a smirk.  "Remember that you can call me when you need me," he gave me one of his typical cards. There are thousands of theses over my room, but he wouldn't let me get out of the car until I got one.

"I know. Thank you. And I know that I'm important to you."

Andrew tried to help my mother, he rescued me from the street. He found my family and came to see me biweekly. I shouldn't be so moron with him, but he is the only that knows me. And this scare.

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

3: Dating apps have to be a constitutional right

My aunt's house is the same as every other one in the 'burbs, a standard detached joint. In the town, there is a dentist, some restaurants, one store, and for some reason four casinos. I don't know, don't ask me. Most people are high middle class and work in Portland. The American dream, even though the nearest hospital is thirty minutes by car; although, it isn't a problem for me.

Andrew parked in front of the house. My cousin Elena was with a friend, Victoria. They were making TikToks in the yard. When Victoria saw me, she let up dancing and came towards me.

"Hi, Dylan..." then saw Andrew with surprise "and sir."

"It's my social services worker, ignore him. Do you want anything?" I said friendly.

"Yes. I want to ask something." She touched her hair nervously "Do you have a date for the spring dance?"

"Not," her face lit up "I mean, I don't have because I won't go. I'm not into these things, sorry."

I span, and Andrew was judging me with a glance. I guess because he didn't take off the sunglasses. It was almost night could take the fucking glasses off.

I turn to Victoria and said "But, maybe we can hang up this week. If you want,"

Victoria tilted her head a bit and started playing with her brow hair. "Well, I have to check my schedule, I'll send a DM later."

"Perfect, bye."

Andrew and I continue towards the house. Victoria ran towards Elena and began to tell something.

Inside the house, my aunt and my uncle-in-law were in the kitchen. She was working on the laptop and he cooking dinner.

"Hola, tia. Como estas?" I said. My aunt Luisa loved when I speak Spanish with her because it reminded her of Spain. However, we don't usually speak it because my cousins and my uncle only speak Ingles.

"Hola Dylan," she saw Andrew, "and Mr.Miller. We don't expect you a Sunday," my aunt was tired of Andrew, it was clear.

I guess that a bureaucrat appears in your house about every two weeks without a call before isn't pleasant. Don't get me wrong, she is amazing with me. She tried that I felt at home since the first day; however, the deadpan worker that seems to come to judge you, is a lame extra.

"Dylan can leave us alone. I need to talk with them," he said.

I went up to my room and saw Tomas, Elena's twin, listening to music in his room; he was dancing like he was playing an invisible guitar. When he saw me, closed the door ashamed. He was a total nerd, and I liked this of him. Sometimes I wish I could be as real as him.

I didn't see Mary in her room, so I knew she was in mine. It's one of two problems that my room has. It was the playroom until my arrival; the tv, consoles, and computer are there. There wasn't another site where put a bed to me. For this reason, I had to share it with my cousins. The other big problem is the door, there isn't a door, and it's impossible to install one because of the stairs. Problems with the attics, doesn't have privacy but doesn't bother me, too.

I arrived when Mary was playing with the console dressed in a cape and a crown. I moved slowly to scare her, but she turn to me and stabbed me with a foam-rubber sword. I made like I was bleeding and dropping on my bed. She stood up on my bed and put the sword over my chest.

"The audacity of trying to attack the Queen will cost you a high price."

"I lament it, sorry my ... queen? Wait a sec, you were the Princess yesterday."

"But, the Queens are more powerful than Princesses. And less merciful. You deserve punishment," she sat next to me. "I wanted to play with you after church, but you weren't when we arrived," she said with some sadness

"Sorry, Mary. I was with a friend."

"Okey, but your punishment will be to play Mario Kart with me."

"Indeed, my Queen, although I need a minute to check one thing."

She began to prepare the console while I checked my Instagram. Mark didn't send me anything yet. I entered his profile, but he blocked me. This was weird. I tried to enter Grindr. 'This account has been suspended for policy violations.' Then check Tinder. 'This account has been suspended for policy violations.'

I tried to install other dating apps, but an error message appeared when they were half-downloaded. The dickhead had blocked me in all apps of picking up. I was furious; I wanted to kill him but couldn't, at least in front of my family.

I was waiting while playing with Mary. I shot off to talk to him when I hear the front door open. My aunt, who was still at the door, asked me worriedly, "Dylan, it's night. Where you go?"

"I need to talk about something with Andrew. I come back immediately." He was about to enter the car when he saw me and stopped. "What's wrong with you, man?" I asked.

"You needed less than an hour to realize it."

"You cannot hack my mobile; it's illegal."

"Yes, it is. The other way is to talk about this with your aunt and then she put parental control on your mobile. Do you want this?"

"This's shit. I know how to take care of myself. I don't need that you watch to me like a child."

"First," his fucking enumerations again, "I don't treat you like a child, but this isn't safe, although you're a HEA. Second, you aren't a child but also an adult, you need your rules and limits. Third, this attack of teen rage is absurd, especially in you. I considered you more mature," this last one hurt me. He got into the car and started it. Then he rolled down the window.

"You are punishing me unfairly."

"Dylan, I am not punishing you. You're not ready for this type of relationship and much less with adults. I tried you have a good life, and nothing good can come of these things," he looked into my eyes. "You go on a date with that cute girl from before, don't get in trouble, and maybe you must think about this dance. I'm sure that you would have a good time if you will go. I'll see you in a couple of weeks." He went.

I didn't know what to say after this conversation. He was probably right, or at least a big part of it, but I was super frustrated regardless. I want to yell and break things, also I want to cry.

I really wanna break things, but in my case, I knew that it wasn't an option if I didn't want to end up being arrested for of a bunch soldiers. I broke down and cried.

[graphicpolicy]

Yen Press Announces Thirteen New Titles for November 2024

Yen Press Announces Thirteen New Titles for November 2024 #manga

Yen Press has announced the upcoming release of thirteen new titles, including nine manga (Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring; Brunhild the Dragonslayer; Dracula’s on the Night Shift; I Picked Up This World’s Strategy Guide; The Teen Exorcist; The War of Greedy Witches; Praise Me When I’m a Good Boy; mono; April Showers Bring May Flowers), two novels (In a World of Lies, I Fell into an…

[ammg-old2]

“Every time I come here, I’m surprised,” says one of Peru’s best-known chefs, Virgilio Martinez, about the village of Maras. “There’s a huge mountain of shining white pools that produce this very beautiful and very pure pink salt.” Martinez makes a pilgrimage to the Andean town, roughly 11,000 feet above sea level, a few times a year to source the seasoning for his Central restaurant in Lima. The chef organizes his 17-course tasting menu by altitude and serves Maras salt coarse – “we like to really feel it.” Martinez has nabbed a Michelin star, but his real coup? Earning the respect of the locals who take him foraging.

A mineral as well as a metaphor, the crystalline substance signifies both authenticity (“salt of the earth”) and capability (“worth his salt”). In ancient Rome, legionnaires were sometimes paid with the stuff (hence the word salary). Despite meriting more than four pages in the Oxford English Dictionary, the world’s top flavor agent – and how it ends up on our plates – often escapes our notice.

Most salt production involves mining, but that’s not the case in Maras, where the Incas engineered an ingenious system for harvesting sodium chloride six centuries ago: The tiny Qoripujio spring unearths halite (the mineral name for salt) as it trickles through a labyrinth of man-made channels that feed some 3,000 shallow pools, terraced down a mountainside.

Today, men in dusty trousers and women in full skirts, all members of the town’s salt co-op, wait for the pools’ thin layers of water to evaporate. They rake the deposits into baskets and take them to the co-op’s warehouse to be bagged and sold. This slow dance continues throughout the dry season, roughly May to November. Family members have long passed pools down to their offspring, setting up the next generation.

In addition to attracting rock-star chefs and tourists, this marvel of ancient engineering drew photographer Juan Manuel Castro Prieto, who captured these images. “The people of Maras have preserved traditions that have been lost elsewhere,” Prieto says. “I’m always looking to reflect everyday life. Nothing extraordinary happens in my pictures.” Here, however, the ordinary is nothing short of astounding.

[jadienjaystoriesandart]

Green As The Leaves

Warning: Nothing, this is purely fluff.

POV: Second (You/Your)

Notes: This story will have a second part with Ingo, but this one is Emmet. Takes place in Pokemon Hybrid AU. - Back then, hybrids were seen as ‘gods’ to people. So Ingo being the Noble of Sneasler has the Pearl Clan feeling mighty smug about being ‘blessed’ just as the Diamond Clan was with one of theirs being a hybrid. - This is a short oneshot.

Summary: You always noticed Emmet pushed himself alot, keeping a smile on for the sake of a smile. It’s been 3 years since his brothers vanished. And though he’s given up looking, you know his wish is to find his brother. 

----------

You’ve been friends with the hybrid for a while. And though he continues the subway battles, the sadness in his eyes never left. Most now assumed Ingo was dead, it’s been 3 years after all. But when you met Emmet a few months, almost a year now, back, he never seemed to believe that. Stating twins always knew, even if it was through a weak laugh and weaker smile. You held him on the days he did finally let himself cry, letting him just beg for his brother back to whatever deity would listen. Your heart aches for him, trapped in all four arms as he sobs. He would apologize for shocking you during this times, you were human after all, no resistance.

But a soft shush from you and a firm hug would make them stop. “I’m not as fragile as you think Em.” you’d promise him, petting the Galvantula hybrid’s hair to sooth him. He just sniffled at that pressing closer to you. Slowly falling asleep as he ran out of energy. You hated this feeling... helpless, you wanted to help, but... that was easier said than done. You gazed up at the ceiling and scowl a bit. When?

You did find small ways to help out, you agreed to be Emmet’s partner in things. Given you were a former champion, you were a strong trainer and could keep up with the Multi Train. The Agents shockingly took a instant liking to you, but you figured they were just happy their boss was finally moving on, and things could open up again.  Also you forced Emmet to take breaks and vacation time so he didn’t over extend himself. Much to his protests or annoyance, but you weren’t as easily scared of his ‘threats’ to you. Pushing him to bed on nights he needed to rest more than anything.

Suppose that’s how you two fell in love, him showing you the underground system, and you noticing how cute he was when he got talkative and excited with his movements. Maybe it was in the way he insisted in holding you with all four of his arms some nights. Or perhaps it’s because you pretty much moved in with him and fell asleep holding him too.   A first date through an abandoned station, urban exploration as Emmet would chat away about the history of the place. Pulling him to dance in the lights of the stained glass, he was uncoordinated, but you worked with it. 

The way the flowers upturned when you both passed by them, blooming happily as you’d laugh at his antics. Enjoying the turn of the colder months as he made you a scarf from his own silk, purring when you wore it almost everyday.  Watching the leaves turn brown as you hummed happily to yourself. Emmet would walk beside you through the seasons coming and going. And slowly, things got better between you both. He started to smile for real more, and opened up more about things.

And you would open your heart more to him each day that passed. As the snow began to cover the ground, and things went dormant for a time. In a house that was always warm, with you both watching movies with the snows steady fall outside. 

 In that time, you came to know his desires as true as they were, his want for winning, his love for his pokemon, and still the hope his brother would return. “You really want him home, don’t you?” you one day asked as the snow was thawing outside, and the new flowers were springing up. 

“More than anything.” Emmet told you softly back, holding your hand as both of you sat outside on this fine spring day. Where the last of the thaw was coming, and the green would return in a few months time. A year had passed between you both, and in that time feelings only grew... and you were tired of lying to him. Tired of waiting for the right moment to give him the gift he so craved.

You tightened your fingers around his, “I want to give you a gift, my spider.” You tell him, your other hand detangling from his. Watching as the sun warmed the earth to bring in new life. Turning to him slowly, you gave a small smile, “But you must not tell anyone of how you got it.” you whispered to him.

Several eyes met yours, as he still held your hand, letting you lead him down the forest path and out of the town you two were visiting. Soon though, you lead him off the path, through some brush that had begun to turn green. “Come on.” You tell him with a giggle as he gave you a soft, and genuine smile following you with trust and love. The brush broke away soon, as Emmet could only gasp in awe at the sight of a clearing. The sun hit the area just right, it looked like spring had come early to here. “Woah...” Emmet breathed out softly, looking up at the tree that near shaded the area, allowing dappled rays of light to filter through. And down their trunks to a circle like area.

“This is... beautiful.” Emmet said as he watched some pokemon scurried around the area, and watching them. You sighed through your nose and nodded, “Very... this is a spot I found a year ago today.” you told him as he looked at you. “Then a few days after, I was lead to you.” 

Turning back to him, you lifted your hand to meet his, lacing your fingers with his. “Do you really want him home?” you asked him softly, “Is that your wish? For your brother to be returned?” you looked up at Emmet, soft, gentle, and longing.

Emmet stared at you, confusion in his eyes but he nodded all the same. “Yes... more than anything.” he told you back, his other hand holding your left one, and two arms around your waist. “Why do you ask?”

You gazed at him, his eyes searching yours, you look guilty for a moment, before speaking up. “Before today, I could not grant you your wish... it takes alot of power to do this... but today is peaceful, today is a good day...” you promise him as your eyes glow a soft blue, “Today, your brother will come home.” you near whispered to him.

The shock was there, and the small threads of hope he still held to. Your skin was different, everything was... you weren’t human. As you had curled antenna like grass, soft fairy like wings, and green grass for hair. Emmet could only gap as you were glowing were so softly.

And as the light faded, you turned behind you... there, between the trees that formed a opening stood someone Emmet never thought he’d see again. The tears started to fill his eyes, as you smiled softly to Ingo.

“See... just as I promised, a year to the day.” You told the ragged man with a guy who traveled with him. And you stood aside to let Emmet near tackle Ingo to the ground, loud cries shattering the silence of the forest. Both from anguish and happiness. 

------

Basically you are a Celebi Hybrid if you didn’t know. Which your kind, mythical and legendary hybrids, are super rare. You had to wait for your power to grow before you could help the brothers, but you were drawn to Emmet for his desire and wish to see Ingo again. 

[helenapsent]

I think I should tell you about my setting... Of course, it is in development now, but I probably just want to present it.

In general, this story takes place in a medieval fantasy. There are a lot of characters in it and there are, as it seems to me, several lines of plot development (I'm still working on this). Only four heroes stand out from the whole mass, the narration from which will go and promote the plot of the book (it will be a novel with illustrations): Oddmand Lofgren (priest of darkness), Werner Richter (minstrel), Leonid Amatanidis (a young guardsman, as well as Oddmand's assistant) and Helen Apsent (a young cook, Leonid's childhood friend).

I will tell you about them a little later, and now I will tell you one interesting feature of my fantasy world. Anyway, everything there is connected with religion, or rather in the belief about the existence of Heaven and Hell. But the catch is that it is taught through the prism of well-known drinks - tea and coffee. Coffee is hell, Tea is heaven, respectively.

The seasons and months are for the most part similar to the names of tea varieties (I also wanted to make them look harmonious, well, alternate in a checkerboard pattern, like, for example: summer - tea, autumn - coffee, winter - tea, spring - coffee, but this is too difficult, so I decided that everything would be connected with tea).

The inner energy of the being belongs to each grade of the tea month. It is shown through the fire of different colors (red, yellow, green and blue).

What am I leading all this to? To the fact that these months and energy will play an important role in the plot twist, as a "Ritual of Awakening". The ritual is associated with two Gods watching over the whole world - Paradise (tea) Dog and the Infernal (coffee) Snake - one of which (specifically the Dog) fell asleep for several years and without his intervention, an imbalance began to occur in the world (in other words, bad events began to happen more often than usual (murders, theft, illegal transportation of prohibited chemical and magical agents, etc.)).

The whole district suffers from this imbalance, and in order to get rid of it, you need to conduct a "Ritual of Awakening". For him, you need to collect five doubles (4 women and 1 man, or vice versa), each of which carries the energy of a certain type of tea. The last fifth double should be secret, it is a kind of "milk companion" (milk can be added to both tea and coffee, so that the alignment was chosen exactly like this). These five will have to dance around a large bonfire, and then jump into it so that their energy is released and forms a single image of a "righteous" who will have to wake up the Paradise Dog.

Hence my whole universe got the name "Awaken God" (simply and succinctly, and reliably, like a Swiss watch ha-ha)

Now perhaps I will return to my four heroes. As I said, they are the ones who will acquaint the reader with the whole plot (I will describe them as briefly as possible to keep the intrigue and make you at least a little interested (well, I hope so 👉👈)):

1) Oddmand Lofgren is a Priest of darkness or an "evil sorcerer", the only person who knows about the existence of the "Awakening Ritual" and how it should be carried out.

2) Werner Richter is a Minstrel, as well as the mentor of idi "Big Brother" (this is his nickname) Leonid and Helen. He is a professional in the field of all types of dancing. He belongs to an ancient genus of arachnids (perhaps he can even be considered the only representative of this race, since it was exterminated when he was very young).

3) Leonid Amatanidis is a young guardsman and Oddmand's assistant. He searches for treasures and magical artifacts on the instructions of Oddmand, and also practices the art of fencing. This boy is one of the "companions" for the "Awakening Ritual".

4) Helen Apsent is a young cook, as well as a "Fiery Executioner". She works in a restaurant with her father, has been friends with Leonid since an early age (and in general they look like two drops of water, even from different families) and Werner. In addition, she sells chickens. She is also one of the "companions" for the "Awakening Ritual".

In conclusion, I will only say that these four are a kind of family. They all know each other well and consider themselves to be related people to each other (you can argue with Oddmand, of course, but still it's no different, he joins the whole company of three guys)

Actually, that's all for now. :ь

I think when I'm more or less done, I'll introduce you to it better. I really hope that it will be interesting to you and you will not regret spending time on it...👉👈

[sodone-withlife]

many faces

here’s something that has been in the works for a few weeks that I finally got myself to finish today. I was watching some edits on YouTube (as one does) and since Aaron Hotchner lives in my head rent-free, a line about death really just hit me, so here you go: almost 4k words about Hotch and Death

All credit to the writers of GoT for the quotes (even though they seriously fucked up season 8), and the last few lines in the blurb are very inspired by Arya Stark’s storyline in GoT seasons 5 and 6. Hope you all enjoy!

warning: canonical character death

word count: 3.7k words

There is only one god, and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: not today.

- Syrio Forel (Game of Thrones s1e6)

He entered the world in the dead of night towards the start of winter, after the mother spent over twenty hours in labor. The father, passed out after too many drinks, was woken in time to hear the ear-splitting cry of the newborn. Faced with the dark eyes and dark hair that was so like his own, he could only turn away, hating the newborn’s innocence with a burning passion.

When the father gave closing statements only hours later that day, exhaustion overtook him. And so, the mother locked herself and the newborn in the nursery in fear of the vengeful phantom that alcohol made of the man who vowed to love and to cherish the woman.

Thus the next years were spent like this, the mother locking the door to the toddler’s room, reading story after story and waiting out the phantom. The innocence of youth was the only barrier protecting the toddler, one which dissipated the moment he turned four.

Their first dance was when he was eight and had collapsed in class after having spent hours struggling to breathe through the cracked ribs and move through the concussion that had been gifted to him by his father. When he woke up in the hospital, it was to the sight of both of his parents watching over him worriedly, but one’s expression was too vacant, and the other was hiding a familiar rage.

That wasn’t the last time his father put him in the hospital. It was easy to write off—who wouldn’t believe the only lawyer in town, who had done so much for his community?

Those that didn’t believe kept their mouth shut for fear of their reputation being sullied.

The little brother, young as he was, had no idea the power that he possessed. Ever since his birth, the mother’s skin remained unblemished and free from the bruising that was often there before, when she only had one child.

It was easy to play to the reputation the town had given the eldest. Silent and cold, stealing the joy out of everyone near him just as the dark of the Winter steals the light of the Summer, just as the father stole pieces of his being with every blow and every hospital visit.

He had already danced with Death many times before in his short life thus far, but now they were here to take his father away. He stood at the gravestone a few days later with a bottle of vodka he knew his father had hidden amongst his desk drawers. Now the eldest male in the household, the responsibility fell on his back and dragged him down into the depths of vodka and glass shards.

His Spring found him lying there, passed out with cuts on his arms as his mind was elsewhere, dancing with Death. She was relieved to see that they weren’t deep, and so she called her sister to help her bring him back to their house.

When he woke up with a pounding headache and throbbing arms, he saw the relief of his Spring. As she spent time with him in the days after Death took his father and reminded him of the light in the world with each dark secret he confessed, he fell in love all over again, just as the Spring coaxes the Winter into the light.

Later, he would think of the mottled red that had stained his father’s face and the unpleasantly warm, alcohol-tainted breath that washed over him as he stood in front of the wild, untamed man and took the abuse that was sent towards him as he was blamed for the man’s failures. He would think of the wide-eyed joy that his little brother explored the world with and his mother’s skin that had remained unblemished since his little brother came into the world.

He wouldn’t be touching vodka ever again.

He spent more time at her house, no matter how out of place he always felt amidst a family that was so close and open to each other, and slowly, his Spring taught him about the light of life.

They were lessons he strove to keep in the forefront of his mind in college and law school, even as he stared cheap alcohol and razor blades in the face with shaking hands. He went dancing with Death once, early in college, but he remembered her fear and worry despite the throbbing pain he felt.

He was dumping the alcohol down the drain as soon as he could and making it a habit to put his razors out of sight. He made sure she never found out about that one.

It was freeing to be in college and law school—Death did not reach him there. But soon he was graduating with a Juris Doctor degree and throwing himself into prosecuting crimes with a vengeance.

His father had once walked the same halls he was walking, and that was something he was reminded of each time he was addressed by his—his father’s—last name. Death walked in with each case, a silent spectator as he worked long hours to get offenders put away, to get justice for the victims who were sent into Death’s waiting arms far too early in life.

But it wasn’t always that easy. He knew that going in, but it didn’t take away that terrible feeling as he watched a jury buy into the misogynistic song and dance the defense put up in a rape case. As the defense uncovered some shady investigation on the police’s part and managed to get the whole case thrown out. As he watched a young man get sentenced for killing his abusive parents. As he watched an older brother get sentenced for assaulting a police officer that had assaulted his younger sister while that same police officer walked free with only his badge stripped and a year of house arrest.

Death walked the halls with him, with each case that he tried and with each new victim whose name and face he kept in the forefront of his mind. Young as he was, he was already one of the more jaded prosecutors in the office, His work ethic earned him numerous nicknames, and talk flew around about him potentially becoming the youngest district attorney in the county.

But the children…

The final straw came and went. Eight months after a serial pedophile walked free, with four years of prosecution under his belt and talk about him becoming DA, the youngest in county history—he threw it away and started over at the Academy.

A fresh start. He loved Virginia, but he fell in more love with the Pacific Northwest. The cool weather, the beauty of the temperate rainforests, and the scenic coastline were so different compared to the ghosts that haunted him back east. His and Haley’s first anniversary was a memory he would cherish forever; the picture never left his wallet

Two years of trying to solve cases before they got as bad as they were when they came across his desk in the prosecutor’s office and being part-time in the local field office SWAT unit hadn’t snuffed out the strange love he had for the region. Though he was more often calling Death to him to sweep the offenders he was hunting away, he did come close to dancing with Death a few more times—he was quite good at close quarters, but his true specialty was distance.

It was oddly comforting, though, to know that even as changes continued to happen, some things remained the same.

Only a week after his superior gave him a heads up about potential recruitment to the tactical team out in Quantico, he met David Rossi in San Francisco on a five-year-old cold case. He didn’t miss the look of surprise that appeared on the older agent’s face in reaction to his theory about the killer.

He had heard of the BAU and had listened to some of their lectures at the Academy about profiling—the confusion he felt at hearing about the years of training members of the team went through was reignited when Rossi started waxing poetic about an instinctual ability weeks later when they were at a bar after the case was declared cold.

That theory he had presented when he first met Rossi didn’t feel like an instinctual gift, and he said as much to the other agent.  Nevertheless, he and Haley were back in Virginia just months later—she was teaching at a local high school and he was the newest member of the BAU.

And so he danced, and he learned of the many faces Death had. He danced as Gideon started grooming him for leadership weeks after Rossi retired. He danced as Morgan brought his unending stubbornness and heart of gold. He danced as JJ and Garcia brought reminders of the light that was still in the world. He danced as Reid brought his own brand of uniqueness and painful reminders of his young age.

He danced with Death, who he could see peeking out from the eyes of the unsubs he and the team ended up facing off with. He danced more than he ever had, but his Spring kept him from falling into Death’s waiting arms. His Spring and the prospect of binging a child into the world together kept him going as Adrian Bale took out six agents with one bomb, sent him to the hospital for shrapnel wounds, and sent Gideon into a post-traumatic tailspin.

It was fine in the beginning; the expectation the Gideon would be returning made the long hours bearable. Six months passed, and he came back, but he didn’t return to leadership. Whispers that trickled down from up high made it clear that this designation was permanent.

They both thought they could make it work. Their child came into the world just days after he wove his web around Death and stared them down through a sniper rifle. He took a month off, and came back to face Death once more—only they were wearing the face of a man who killed multiple families.

He came close to another dance when Death wore a face that was nearly identical to his own—all that was different was their walks of life. He opened up more directly to Vincent Perotta than to anyone else that was currently on the team; Gideon could only profile, and he only explicitly told Rossi and his Spring about what his home life had been like.

Life went on, though with how often he danced with Death, it couldn’t really be considered living.

He danced, and he watched.

He watched as Elle danced with Death for the first time and was permanently changed because of his inaction.

He watched as Reid danced with Death for the first time and nearly fell into their arms because of his inaction.

He watched as Death taunted Gideon again and again until the man finally left to search for the fire that had been stolen from within him.

He watched, and he danced

He watched as his Winter darkness slowly crept towards Spring and their child, as his darkness became so oppressive that Haley finally left when he couldn’t stop himself from running to dance with Death. And when the light of Spring (not his, not anymore, she never was—) left, his darkness took over.

He watched as Death claimed Kate in an explosion of fire and debris and whirling him along in the quickest of dances, and he couldn’t help but envision his Spring in her position. He wasn’t blind, he knew how similar the two women looked, he knew what the team whispered behind his back, but it didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was the phone call he was going to have to make to Haley, who had gotten along so well with Kate but now had to face the reality of her death.

Colorado was a new hell for him, as he felt Death’s oppressive presence all over the compound that trapped two of his agents inside. When the buildings were engulfed in flames and debris, he could only sigh in relief that Death didn’t see fit to take his agents today.

When he met Death once more, they were speaking through Megan Kane. Hearing the confidence the young woman had in him, feeling the exhausted resignation she felt at her impending death…

The press got the tip just days after the SIM card was examined by the lab.

Death waits for nobody, however, and his ten-year-old demon woke up to shove onto him more responsibility and more guilt as ten people were found shot to death on the bus in Boston.

He had gotten the profile so right but still so wrong, and Death laughed in his face.

Death laughed as he was stabbed nine times and was in their clutches for thirty minutes before the doctors managed to shake him loose from their arms. They danced and they danced, and Death laughed as he found the bloody picture of Spring and the child.

And he found that he couldn’t wait to see the face Death chose to wear one more time if only to show him just how angry he was, how deeply he felt despite the mask that he put up. His team had no idea how close he was to the edge, and he didn’t let them see the depths of madness he had fallen into.

Even over twenty years out of college and he was still compulsively hiding his razors, but now he couldn’t be more glad but also more hateful for the habit.

But Death gives no respite, and nine months to the day Spring went into hiding with the child, he found himself unraveling quicker than he ever had as he was forced to listen as Spring was stolen from the world.

When the team finally got to the old house, they watched as the tenuous control he held over himself was ripped straight out of his grasp in a bloodthirsty, grief-stricken rage. His hands didn’t feel like his own, and he couldn’t place Jack into JJ’s care fast enough for fear that the hands of a killer would destroy the last precious light in his darkness.

Those same hands felt the unnatural cold that was already setting in on Spring, and his mind froze.

Should he have stopped dancing?

Could he have stopped dancing?

Would it have done anything?

Would it have saved her?

He lived only to make sure Spring lived on in their son. He couldn’t give up chasing Death, but he made sure to keep his son at the forefront of his mind, and if that meant staying behind and coordinating and the precinct, that was fine. It was a change that would have been asked of him when JJ was plucked from the team by the Pentagon, but with the whispered he’s been hearing in meetings, he couldn’t help but feel like she was walking straight into Death’s waiting arms.

There wasn’t any time to worry, however, nor was there time to marvel at the fact that he had made it this far after Spring was ripped from his weak grasp, as he soon had to send Emily away and pretend that she had been claimed by the being he was so familiar with. Barely over a year, and three women who had changed his life so drastically were all ripped from his desperate grip, and his team was barely keeping it together.

It was no longer a dance, but a chase. He chased Death, almost as if his efforts would somehow bring them back and fix everything. He closed himself off and kept chasing because otherwise he would crash and burn and take everything around him down with him.

He kept chasing, all the way to Pakistan and all the way back to face the wall of anger and betrayal that he knew was justified. He kept on going, as Beth came into his life and as Emily left to find her own equilibrium. He didn’t stop, not even when Maeve Donovan was murdered in a manner eerily similar to his own unraveling years ago, not even when he spoke to Sean for the first time in years only to lose him to the criminal justice system, but just weeks later he was given the option once more: he could fight the futile fight, or he could stop and protect his team from afar, standing guard just as he’s done for so many years now.

There was a brief moment that he wondered if he should have taken the section chief job, but just minutes later he was feeling the world tilt as his legs gave out from under him and he collapsed on the floor of the conference room, the pain in his abdomen that had been slowly burning for the past few days turning into a roaring fire that threatened to consume him from the inside out.

And how could he describe the tumultuous feelings of utter joy and desolate grief he felt when he saw Haley sitting in that dress she had worn on their first anniversary in the Pacific Northwest, the dress she wore in the picture that remained in his wallet for nearly twenty years? How could he describe the utter terror he felt when Foyet crashed their time together and shot her once again, or the renewed grief when he realized this would be the last vivid memory he would have of the Spring who had taught his Winter about the light?

But he woke up with the lingering feel of Haley’s lips on his own to see Garcia and her always brightly-colored clothing that matched her ever-optimistic outlook on life that was often a blessed reprieve from the evil that consumed their jobs, and he remembered why he stayed.

Not only to chase Death, but for the family he realized he had found along the way.

But just as life must go on, Death must as well.

Soon he was calling in favors while learning about the horror JJ had gone through during her stint with Pentagon. Soon his paranoia was reignited as he and the team tried to figure out just how deep the corruption went in that police force all the while Reid was hospitalized with a neck wound. Even as he was reminded of the dangers of the chase when he drove to his old mentor’s cabin in the middle of the night, he kept chasing, because, for all that he knew he had a family in the team, he knew it wouldn’t last.

It couldn’t last.

It was a truth he was all too intimately familiar with.

So he chased, and he chased, and he chased.

And Death laughed and taunted him, throwing him into a mental tailspin through Peter Lewis.

Perhaps that was the moment when he finally lost himself: sitting against the desk, paralyzed as his family was murdered in front of him.

Or maybe it was when he forced himself to play along to Lewis’s sick fantasy and pretend that he was going to shoot at his team.

Was it pretend, though?

Nothing felt real after that—one moment he was grounded in reality and the next he was hearing that awful growling noise right behind him and seeing that terrible Glasgow smile as the hairs on his neck stood up. But, as always, he never let the team know just how far he’s fallen, and he kept going and protecting and chasing with the whole of his being.

He threw himself into work with a vengeance when Garcia was being targeted by the darknet hit group and when Morgan and Savannah were being threatened by the vindictive Montolo Sr, knowing all too well what was at stake.

When Morgan told him about his intent to leave the bureau, he could only feel relief that Morgan wouldn’t fall down the path he himself chose to go down all those years ago, when he first realized he could never stop dancing with Death. He told him as such in that hospital room, and the two exchanged a look, one that was borne from years of respect and kinship that had formed between the two as a result of an understanding only two profoundly hurt yet fiercely protective beings could have.

But life goes on, the moment broke, and he went back to chasing, only to be stopped right in his tracks by Death once again when Metro SWAT stormed his apartment and arrested him at gunpoint right in front of his son. Now, Death wore the faces of all of those who swore revenge against him and tried to break his will.

They very early succeeded, too—it was the closest he felt to unraveling since that terrible day seven years ago, but he knew he couldn’t without taking the whole team down with him. He couldn’t let the seams burst open.

Not yet.

Not until he found out Peter Lewis escaped.

Not until he found out Peter Lewis was baiting his team while working to fulfill a vendetta against him.

Not until he found out the Peter Lewis had watched Jack at one of his soccer games, and not until he found out that Peter Lewis had stalked Jack to his school.

So he planned, he made calls, and he wrote letters to the team and his family.

One night, Aaron Hotchner left those letters on his office desk alongside his resignation letter and credentials, the one thing that truly defined him for nearly twenty years.

Without it, he was no one.

One night, after tucking his son into bed, no one slipped out of his apartment with both of his service weapons and a sparsely packed bag and disappeared into the night, one goal in mind.

Hunt.

I know death. He’s got many faces. I look forward to seeing this one.

- Arya Stark (Game of Thrones s8e2)

[anna-justice]

Lucky Stars - 1

Summary: Sylvie Brett is one of the most sought after actresses in the business, when her role in the new drama series “Firehouse 17″ sends her to Chicago, she finds herself working alongside the cities biggest heros, including real life firefighter Matt Casey. *BRETTSEY Celebrity AU

...

1 - Only the Beginning ...

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this…” Sylvie said, turning away from Harrison. 

“What do you mean?” Harrison Pleaded, “Whatever it is, we can fix it.” He took a step forward, reaching for her hand, but Sylvie turned away. 

Keep kept her eyes trained on the floor, knowing if she met his gaze she would fall apart. “I can’t keep living my life wondering if you are going to walk through that door every night.” She said quietly, a single tear running down her cheek.

“Baby--”

“No.” She said, regaining her strength. “You can be reckless with your own life, but if you insist on doing that then I can’t be in it anymore.” She took a step forward, placing her hand on his cheek. “I love you, so much, but I refuse to lose anyone else.” She let a few more tears fall before placing a chaste kiss to his cheek. “I’ll come get my things tomorrow.” She tore herself away from him and headed for the door--

“And scene!” The casting agent in front of her said, the panel of writers and producers clapping. “That was brilliant Sylvie.”

Sylvie gave them a gracious nod, sniffling. She had never been able to take a compliment and the fake tears in her eyes were not helping her reaction. “Thank you.” She turned to her scene partner, forcing a smile. “And Harrison, you were great as always.” 

Harrison returned the same facial expression, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. “Thank you, well done.” They held each others hostile gaze for a second before turning away. 

One of the producers spoke up, breaking the tension. “We are very glad you were able to come in to read, we will be in touch.” Sylvie took that as an invitation to remove herself from the room. She grabbed her bag and bid them farewell with a bright smile. 

She pulled on her coat and sunglasses, even though her driver was only parked a few feet from the building, New York in January was relentless. The clicking of her heeled boots sounded through the halls as she made her way to the elevator, earning kind looks as she passed the interns and busy bodies that crowded the studio. Sylvie had grown accustomed to the hectic energy, it was something you learned to deal with. 

Eventually she reached her car, using the back exit of the building to avoid the crowd. Sylvie loved her fans and always stopped to take pictures, but she didn’t need rumors starting about any casting before she even got the call herself. 

It had been a while since she had auditioned for anything and the experience was refreshing. And even though she had not planned to audition, she couldn’t help but feel anxious, after learning the premise of the show she couldn’t deny that she hoped she got the part. Despite Harrison already being the star. 

The character Kaitlyn Anders was intriguing to her, she was a paramedic with a heavy past. A characteristic of every person on a drama series. She was one of the leading ladies on the newest show being pitched, it was called Firehouse 17 and it followed the life of first responders, but with the added TV flare. Sylvie was already invested, Kaitlyn was unlike anyone else she had ever portrayed.

Her breakout role was when she was nineteen, she was cast in a coming of age rom-com and her type sort of stuck. She was the perfect fit: blonde hair, blue eyes, very girl next door. The trend followed her to her first role on the small screen. She played the best friend to the main character in a teen drama called Orange County, but her character Paige was killed in a tragic car accident in the season 2 finale. 

Sylvie had guess starred in several shows over the years, did a few movies here and there, but her biggest success was the show she had wrapped the spring before. She played Cassidy Bush in University Street, another drama, but this time focusing around college students and their struggles. The show ran for four seasons and now the popular actress was looking for her next project.

She closer to forty than 20 and Sylvie knew it was time to play a little bit of an older role, and this one was perfect. She didn’t know she wanted it so bad walking in. Her knee shook in the backseat, she glanced at her phone every few minutes, even know she knew that they were not going to call her with a decision anytime soon. 

Her driver pulled up to her building, and she jumped out, but not before saying thank you and telling him to wish his daughter goodluck on her dance recital. The elevator to her top floor penthouse seemed never ending, Sylvie always hated how slow time passed after an audition. It was the same every time. She shrugged her coat off as soon as she entered, heading to the fridge for a glass of water. She shot her mom a text about her cold read, something she had been doing since she was fourteen.

Sylvie: Just got home, I think it went well. They seemed to like me! Waiting on the call :) 

The text back was immediate.

Mom: That’s great! Of course they loved you, you’ll get it. I’m sure.

Sylvie smiled at her phone, her mom had always been so supportive. Both of her parents were, they had done everything they could to help her get to where she was. Which was a lot, granted that she grew up in the tiny town of Fowlerton, Indianna. 

She was adopted, her and her brother both were, but Sylvie was convinced that no one loved their children as much as Robert and Lisa Brett. She was about to text her mom back when her phone rang. She recognized the caller ID, it was one of the producers for Firehouse 17 that she had worked with before. 

“Hello?” She asked, shocked that they would call so quickly and worried that it meant it was an easy “no.”

“Hi Sylvie, I just wanted to let you know that we are offering you the role of Kaitlyn!”

Sylvie was beaming, her smile so big that it was hurting her cheeks. “That is so exciting! Thank you so much.” 

“We knew it was you as soon as we saw you.” He explained, “I’ll have someone drop off all the official paperwork in the morning. There is one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You were the last person to be cast, production is set to start on Monday...in Chicago.” Sylvie was about to respond but he cut her off, “I hope that won’t be a problem, we’ve decided that filming on location entirely is the best course of action.”

“No problem at all, I will see you Monday. Thank you again.”

“Congratulations Sylvie, see you monday.”

The line dropped and Sylvie squealed, she had gotten the role and she was beyond excited. It all came as a bit of a shock, but that would have to wait. She had five days to move herself to Chicago and she couldn’t be happier.