#also I swear I don’t hate mera

[ormymarius]

3 & 21!

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you’ve seen on tumblr

well I’ve seen a lot of bad takes on this hellsite it’s hard to find the worst one but aquafandom worst take wise it’s gotta be the time people tried to fight me in my inbox about incest shipping like I genuinely don’t care if people do or not — not my thing so stop harassing me over it just bc I said it’s a problem people are more likely to ship orm with his brother than other characters like manta 😭 sorry to bring that up like twice now anyway

21. Part of canon you think is overhyped

Idk any canon that is considered overhyped aquafandom wise?? but I suppose I’ll go with Mera: Queen of Atlantis as an overhyped canon story since I see it everywhere even today. could’ve been better. Mera deserved her own story where Orm wasn’t the co-star and there just to get beaten up in the end. Tula should’ve been the co-star.

choose violence ask game

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 03.04.21 lb

aryan is literalllllllly the fuckin dumbest. zero peripheral vision or gut feels.

lmaoooooooooooo yeah right, i’d like to see you shoot at vansh bhai, aryan. i really wanna see this lololololol.

lo aa bhi gaya vansh. (fuck he looks good in this shirt!!!!!! damn my stupid hormones making me horny for the absolute baaaaaaaaare minimum.)

ANGREEEEEEEEEEEE ZINDA HAIIIIIIIIII BHAGWAAN KA LAAKH LAAKH SHUKAR, MAIN MAHA MRITYUNJAYA JAAP KARWAUNGIIIII ISKE NAAM PAR

vansh [seeing an obviously shot angre]: angre, kya hua???

samosa khaate waqt ketchup kandhe pe gira diya........... DIKH NAHI RAHA HAI KI GOLI LAGI HAI TERE CHUTIYE BHAI KI WAJAAH SE?!?!!?! ANGRE DESERVES SO MUCH MORE THAN A FUCKING RAISE, MY GOD.

plan ke hisaaaaaaaaaab se. god i hate all the men in this show so much. angre honestly, why are you suchhhhhh a chaaatu for vansh’s ootpataaang plans?!?!

anyway long story short, vansh saw aryan spying, went and replaced all of aryan’s bullets with blanks, and sent the sms about riddhima being alive. LMAO DOES THAT MEAN HE ALSO CONNED A COOL 2 CR. OUTTA ARYAN?!?!!?! ASDKSADJLASKDJLKASDJKAS GOOD JOB, VANSHHHHHHHH.

angre like why i had to die for this tho???? oh angre, you sweet summer child. do you know NOTHING about your bhaiyya/bhaabi’s amaaaaaaazing relationship????? you think he’d give up a chance to emotionally manipulate her like this????

how’d the dumbass finalllllllllllllllly figure this is real riddhima tho??? also he has fully made his peace with treating his PREGNANT WIFE this way huh????

ishani/siya having a girly convo about siya’s “date”. ishani’s like “was it sizzling, burning, sensational?”

uhhhhhhhhh siya, if you’re feeling all these things, you should go see a gynaec. sounds like an STI to me.

this is a very creepy convo ishani is leading, about how far siya got with vyom. who wants such specific sexual details from their sister????????

asalkdjlaskjdlaskjdlaskljk ishani is like “men are like goats [....] they’re dumb. and women are powerful.” can’t say i disagree.

anyway this convo is really dumb and cringey and i can’t take it anymore. inke bhaiyya ka chutiyaapa dikhao, instead of this nonsense. 

angre is over the moon ki this is riddhima bhaabi itself, unaware that boss is fuming ki uska chutiya kat raha hai.

6 ghante 6 ghante 6 ghante blah blah blah FUCKING OUT WITH IT ALREADY

the only time i like vansh as a person is when he’s smirky over buddhu banaao-ing aryan. 

idhar aryan ne aake chugli kar di sabke saamne.

yeh anupriya ka kya hi chakkar hai, idgi. is she fr on vansh’s side now??????

riddhima khud entry maaar rahi, to prove aryan right.

everyone except siya’s reactions are like ugh, this bitch again 😒😒😒

LMAO VANSH/ANGREEEEE LOST RIDDHIMA AND SHE REACHED HOME BY THEN

ouff 10 min of dadi’s mafia queen reactions nonsense now.

lo vansh bhi aa gaya.

ASALKJDLASJDLSKAJDLKSAJDLKSAJDLKSALDKJLAS DADI STANDING ON THE STAIRS PULLING THAT KHAANDANI RIFLE ON HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM LEGIT LOSING IT LMAO.

ALSO ISHAANI IS STANDING BEHIND DADI, FULLY FOR IT. BAGAAAWATTTT KII PYAARI BEHENAA NE!

riddhima trying to interfere to save vansh (why???), and dadi’s like STFU B.

lol vansh playing stone cold stupid, like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

he’s spinning yarn after yarn ki “YEH riddhima hai, WOH jisko maara woh humshakal thi. MERA PYAAAAAAAR WOULD NEVER GIVE ANY OF US DHOKAAAAAAAAAAAA.” pftttttttt.

vansh breaking it down for the truuuuuuuuuuuuuly stupid, ki he shot a girl who had riddhima’s face, she was dead, aryan confirmed it. now there’s a riddhima standing in front of all of them. thus............???????

bechaara aryan. bachpan mein thode aur badaam khaata toh shaayad itna bewakoof nahi hota.

lollipop girl is nodding appreciatively at all this drama; she’s honestly the most relatable character here. if i was a houseguest here, main bhi roz roz mazze looot rahi hoti in chutiyon ka.

le aryan ne phir bandook taan di riddhima par, to get her to uglofy the truth. ab toh isko pakka maar padne waali hai. remains to be seen by whom. hoping it’s vansh as per usual, but i shall take dadi also.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA RIDDHIMA’S LIKE ARYAN HAD KIDNAPPED ME. OMFG LOLLIPOP LADKI’S EXPRESSION AT THAT. SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE WANTS TO BE ADOPTED BY VANSH/RIDDHIMA’S DEVIOUS ASSES.

anyway riddhima flipped the whole damn game and is like dadi, aryan wanted to make you distrust vansh and that’s why he did all this and lmaoooooooo even vansh is a little stunned for a second or two and then jumps in and starts haan mein haan milaao-ing with wifey’s story.

ARYAN LIKE HEIN HEIN HEIN HO KYA RAHA HAI YEH SAB?!!?!?!? HAAAYE BECHAARA. SO SO STUPID HE IS. 

riddhima rubbing it in reallllllllll good in front of dadi ki aryan tried to killllllllll meeeeeeeee!!!!! and now aryan’s like bitch imma kill you both istg and got the gun on them.

LOLLIPOP LADKI’S AMAZING FACES LIKE GO ONNNNNNNNN, DOOOOOO ITTTTTTT, I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU DO IT, SIR. LMAO MAN I LOVE HER.

ASLKADJLAKSJDLASKJDLKSAJLDKJSLAKDJLAS DADI’S GOT HER GUN SET ON ARYAN NOW!!!!!!!!!!! honestly, this whole family is just so fucking dysfunctional, there needs to be a wholeass team of mental health specialists monitoring them and writing case reports about them at all times.

vansh trying to talk aryan down and got shot in the arm for it. pehli baar aryan ne zindagi mein kuch sahi kiya hai.

LOLLIPOP GIRL IS HORNY AT THAT ALSO. MAN SHE’S SUCH A WHORE FOR DRAMAAAAAAAAA AND I FULLY RELATE TO IT.

oh goddamnit. he didn’t get shot. coz aryan sucks at aiming, just like he does at everything else.

ASLKJFDSLKJFLSDKJFLDSKJFLKDSJ VANSH STALKED UP TO HIM AND WAS LIKE “TUMHARA NISHAANA HAMESHA SE HI KHARAAB THA” AND GAVE HIM ONE SOLID SOCK TO THE JAW FOR THAT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

someone make rrahul trim his damn beard, that thing is like a foot off his face. there must be whole ass beehives and civilizations inhabiting it.

aryan passing by dadi and is like you’re making a big mistake believing vansh/riddhima and their lying asses. and what did he get for that? one jhaapad from dadi also. lol. just not his dayyyyyyyyyyy, man.

LOLLIPOP GIRL’S SMIRKING AND HAS HER ARMS CROSSED AND I LEGIT ONLY CARE FOR HER REACTION SHOTS IN THIS SHOW NOW, LITERALLY NO ONE ELSE.

oh shit dadi is throwing aryan out the house. does he have anyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy skills to fend for himself outside this place? he’s gonna die in like 15 minutes.

dadi warning vansh ki if aryan’s baat sahi nikli, she gonna murder his and riddhima’s asses too. hey vansh??? now would be a good time to take your 5000 cr. and fuck off outta this crazy house rn.

riddhima can’t stop reliving angre’s death.

vansh’s here and just sooooooooooo cool about it. shouldn’t that tip her off?!?!?!?!

she’s like BITCH WHY ARE YOU SUCH A PSYCHOPATH, YOUR BEST FRIEND IS DEAD AND YOU’RE LIKE MEH????? HE DIED FOR YOU.

ohohohohohohoho ofc, he’s like he didn’t die for ME, he died for YOU. you and your dhoka are why he’s dead. today angre’s dead, tomorrow it’ll be me. waaaaaaaaaaah bhai. amazingggggggggg manipulation only. you should write papers and give TED talks about it, that’s how much of an expert you are at this.

do not tellllllllllllllllllllllllllll me she falls for this shit. pls god do not.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HER BRAIN FINALLY WORKED!!!!!!!!!!! SHE’S LIKE IF ARYAN’S SUCHHHHHHHHHHH A POOR SHOT THAT HE COULDN’T HIT YOU WHEN YOU WERE LIKE 5 FEET AWAY FROM HIM, HOW TF DID HE GET ANGRE RIGHT IN THE FUCKING HEART FROM SO FAR AWAY?????????? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SIS, THIS THE KINDA SHIT I’VE BEEN WANTING TO SEE FROM YOU FOR AGES NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

lol vansh is really pushing on the 6 ghante thing and she’s like ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, i get it now.

toh ofc he has to resort to sexy fuckery and pulls her under the shower to seduce it outta her.

riddhima don’t think with her pussy no more. she’s like you want the truth????/ i gotta confirm some shit first. took the gun (which he’d taken from aryan earlier) and left.

yup she went outside and found a blood ka packet. lolllllllllllllllllll vansh ki khairrrrrrrrrrrr nahi ab.

sopping wet saiyyaan is like what youuuuuuuu doing??? and she pulled the gun on him. bwahahahahaha. sis not so much of an idiot anymore.

LMAO SHE SHOT AT HIMMMMMM AND HE CAN’T BELIEVE IT. I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

she’s like bitch you and your lies and your dhokasssssssssss.

oh dang she fully called out his game, from sending aryan to manipulating her into being guilty for angre’s death. MANNNNNNNN, WHY DIDN’T WE HAVE THIS RIDDHIMA FROM THE FUCKING START????????????

oh now he’s gaslighting her about the dhoka. he’s got some nerve. i swear to god he’s asking to be shot for reals.

she’s like you know what, i woulda told you, but now, after all this fuckery, imma take it to the grave. bwahahahahahhahaha, i love it. exactly what my petty ass would do.

challenge challenge challenge and tashan waala walk-off. lol, what’s the point, tum dono ko jaana toh ek hi kamre mein hai.

ishani’s freaking the fuck out at angre’s haalat. oh damn. she really does love him!!!!

angre’s all mehhh, it’s part of the job, and OMG YES ISHANI IS LOSING HER SHIT AT VANSH BHAI’S CONSTANT CONTROL OF THEIR LIVES!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“tum pehle mere husband ho, phir unke bodyguard!!!!!!!! HE HAS TO UNDERSTAND HIS LIMITS!!!!!!” OMGGG  YESSSSSSSSSSS QUEEEEEEEENNNNNN BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND. LEAVE THIS HOUSE WITH YOUR BOY AND NEVER LOOK BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

idhar riddhima and vansh seem to have made up???? she’s waking him up cheekily, and he’s all “good morning to youuuuu too, my love. 😏😏😏” they fucked in the night, for sho.

he’s like is this love or repentence for yest? and she’s like bitch tf i got to repent for????

lmao the way she’s staring at him as he drinks his coffee makes me think she’s poisoned it. or spat in it, at the very least.

standard pulling and falling and sexy stuff. lol these two are so dysfunctional. constantly trying to sex the other into submission. at least it’s more equal now, than just him making all the moves.

yeah, she’s doing all this shit to protect him from some shit FOR SURE. ugh yaaaaar. oh well, at least she got some chracter development outta it.

lol he got mad at her for not melting at his do takke ka seduction. son, you thought a bloody forehead kiss was enough? we’re not saying SHIT for less than 3 orgasms.

riddhima cooolyyyy regarding jeeta-jaata chalta-phirta angre, who thankfully has some sharam for his actions.

she’s like don’t worry, i’m not mad at you, i know vansh put you up to it; and he’s like yeah you know i have zero self respect when it comes to vansh bhai. he says jump, i ask how high.

and she’s like you’re your own person dude. and i hope you’ll one day realize that and do what you think is right, not just what vansh tells you to. DUDE I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY DIDN’T GIVE US THIS RIDDHIMA TILL NOW. 

asdkljlaskjdlaskjdlaskjdlaksjdlkasj vansh speaking chinese was really not necessary but....... lol ok.

wtf even is this black box, dude?????? like.............. you know what, idec anymore. nothing in this show is worth wasting brain cells over.

snort, vansh assures his shady business friends that the black box is in safe hands, and instantly riddhima comes and picks it up from the table.

some sultry talk about love and war as they keep taking the box from each other. lol man you’re both so fucking lame.

anyway he put it in the safe and is being patronizing to her, and she’s like be careful at how you play this........ “kahin meri dukhti ragg pe haath na lag jaaye....” OH DAMN. DUDE. I THINK SHE’S LOST THE BABY OR SOMETHING. IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING THAT’S HURT HER MASSIVELY TO BRING ABOUT SUCH A DRASTIC CHANGE (OTHER THAN THE SHOW MOVING FROM TV TO ONLINE)

asldkjsaldjlskadjlksadjlksajd she’s threatening to tell dadi that he played this whole farce in front of her and he’s like U WOT MATEEEE

anyway both of them smilingly fucking each other up about 6 ghante ka raaz and how the other one will lose. man, y’all need SO MUCH THERAPY.

riddhima’s here talking to stupid shunya fucker; and he’s just laughing and talking about his stupid saxophone.

he’s all only the two of us know about this deal we have, no one else in the worldddddddddd knows......

and she’s like actually................................. there’s a third person.

cut to: MY DIL JAAN JIGAR KA TUDKA KABIR, STILL IN CHAINS, SCREAMING RIDDHIMA’S NAME, AND GROWLING ABOUT HOW VANSH WILL KILL HER WHEN HE FINDS OUT HER SECRET.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy. why did she have to tell vyom that kabir knows? now vyom’s gonna try and kill kabir for sure and i want the reverse to happen!!!!!!!! please god gimme some #kava love where vansh saves kabir from vyom to make up for that one time kabir saved his life from chang!!!!!! i just want my two boys together!!!!!!!!!

precap: same old chutiyapa. vansh got her fingerprints off a glass to open her phone; she tries to steal the black box from his secret room and he catches her. abbe yaaaaaaaaaaaaar. 

[imagine-docx]

colour spectrum.

Summary: You can only see in black and white, but the moment you meet your soulmate you can see colour. What happens when you’ve been able to see colour all your life and can’t recall who’s your soulmate? [bestfriend!soulmate!au]

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: i’m back with yet another fic, hope everyone is doing well! I also hope everyone is doing their share by signing petitions and contributing to the black lives matters movement - Amanda 💛

»»————-　➴　————-««

The concept of soulmates has existed since the dawn of time. You only see black and white until you meet your soulmate. After your 16th birthday, you could see the entire colour spectrum once you met your soulmate, but if you didn’t keep in contact with your soulmate, you would lose your ability to see colour until you met again. 

Your problem was that you could see the entire colour spectrum, since the moment you turned 16. Your parents explained the colour spectrum the night before your 16th birthday, and when you woke up the next day, your life was filled with vivid colours. 

Anytime anyone would ask if you could see colours, you passed it off as you couldn’t and were waiting until you met the right person. But in reality, you were now 25, and you were trying to figure out who your soulmate could possibly be.

“Are you sure you can’t see colour?” Arthur poked at your side.

“I swear to god, the amount of times you’ve asked me this question is astronomical. The answer will remain the same, which is no,” you lied. Over the years you’ve perfected the acting and no one could tell you were lying.

Arthur laid down on the couch behind you, as you sat on the floor overlooking a file for work. “I came to spend time with my best friend, yet you’re paying more attention to that stupid file,” he whined.

Best friend. How you hated that word to describe your relationship with Arthur Curry. You two had been friends since you met in a playground when you were five, and here you were twenty years later, but with the fattest crush you could ever have on someone. Someone who has a soulmate, might you add. 

“Are you paying the bills?” You asked, adding notes to the margin.

“No-”

“Then you aren’t allowed to talk,” you said, underlining something in the document.

You pulled your hair up into a bun to get it out of your face, and got back to work. You suddenly felt a shiver down your spine as Arthur’s fingertips trace the back of your neck. “That’s a nice shade of red,” he murmured, tracing the petals of the rose that was tattooed on the back of your neck.

Your face was laced with confusion, until you finally understood what he said, “Wait,” you spun around, “You can see colour? Arthur since when?”

“God knows how long. Wait, did you not know this?” He asked.

“No, Art, what the fuck?” You looked him dead in the eye, “Why did you not tell me?”

“I thought it was common knowledge,” he rebuttal.

You turned back around, “How did you survive this long?”

“Alcohol. Do you know how pretty this rose is with all its colour? How did you pick it out?” He asked.

You bit your lip, I went to an artist who had met his soulmate and we worked out the colours together because we can both agree and disagree what would look good, is what you wanted to say, but ultimately a, “I went to an artist who met his soulmate and he worked with the colours and I trusted him,” slipped out of your mouth.

“You got a man to tattoo on you?” He asked.

“Yeah, not a big deal you know.” You responded.

“Anything could have happened, he could have-” 

You cut him off before he went even further, “Art, I was in a shop with like ten different people, I had a shirt and pants on. I was fine. Plus I asked someone to come, but they were busy.”

“But-”

“Nope, we’re done,” you stated, ending the conversation as you made notes on the file in front of you.

»»————-　➴　————-««

“He got mad that you got tattooed by a man?” Harley asked.

It was a usual Friday night you spent surrounded by your friends Harley, Dinah, Diana and Pamela. Usually these nights consisted of getting wasted on someone’s floor in their living room, these weeks happened to be in Dinah’s living room.

“Yeah, for fucking what? I asked him if he wanted to come, he was busy with Mera.” You spat, looking at the cup of Smirnoff that was in your hands. 

“And he still thinks you can’t see colour?” Dinah asked.

“Yeah,” you said, “It’s whatever.”

Pamela reached over and smacked your back, “You dumbass, what if he’s your soulmate?”

“He can’t be. He sees colour with Mera. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but, I am not Mera.”

“She might have a point, if he sees colour with Mera, they can’t be soulmates,” Diana stated.

“Finally someone with a brain cell,” you joked.

“Din, I need paper and a ton of markers,” Harley said.

And that’s how you were dragged into a life chart of people you’ve met and possible soulmate suspects.

“If you could see it the moment you turned sixteen, that means you knew them before. Which means you would have had literally anyone from elementary school.” Harley started, “The moment you turned sixteen, you would have been around literally anyone in high school.” Harley crossed off high school, “Post high school, you kept in contact with Arthur, Hal, Thom, Kalel, and Bruce. Kalel has Diana, which means Kalel is off.” Harley crossed off Kalel, “Hal is not even in Gotham, meaning you can’t be able to see without constant contact from him,” Hal joined the crossed out group. “Bruce is with Talia, so off the list. “Thom is in San Fran doing god knows what, so you wouldn’t be able to see,” Thom joined the crossed off list. Only Arthur was left. Harley scratched her head looking at it. “He’s soulmates with Mera?”

“Yeah,” you said, you’ve come to the same conclusion several thousand times.

“Stranger?” Pamela proposed.

“The chances of seeing the same fucking person every once in a while just for you to see colours doesn’t make fuckin’ sense.” Harley stated.

You stretched out and laid back onto the floor. “It’s fine, I’ll die alone.”

»»————-　➴　————-««

Before you left work you swung Arthur a text asking him if he wanted to have a movie night once he got off work.

You were pulling down your sweater dress with one hand and phone in the other and were making your way to the doors until you heard your name. 

Spinning on your heel, you looked in the direction you heard your name called from. Lucas Trent. 

You two were close during history classes during your years in university, mostly because the two of you sat at the back of the lecture hall with snacks and were self educating because the prof was actual trash. 

“Lucas? Hi,” you said, engulfing him in a hug.

He wrapped his arms around you, “God it’s been so long.”

“How’d you know I’m here?” You asked, releasing him.

“I saw Dinah this morning, and she told me. I was hoping we can catch up?” He asked.

You checked your phone and saw that Arthur still didn’t message you back. “Yeah, I’m game.”

»»————-　➴　————-««

“No. Fucking. Way.” You said, in absolute shock.

“I. Fucking. Know.” Lucas responded.

The two of you were sitting at a coffee shop near your work place, and you were still anticipating Arthur’s text, but to no avail he didn’t answer.

“I never would have thought your soulmate was a dude,” you said.

Lucas found his soulmate while he was swimming at the beach. He showed you pictures of him and Apollo on vacation, and other cute Instagram worthy couple pictures.

“I fucking know man, it’s such a strange turn of events.” He took a sip of his coffee, “How’s Arthur by the way? You still attached by the hip?” 

“Same old pain in the ass,” you chuckled.

“Did you meet your soulmate yet?” Lucas asked.

“I’ve met them. I can see colour. They’re a constant force in my life, but I don’t know who the fuck it is,” you stated nonchalantly.

“I bet it’s Arthur,” he said, in a matter of fact tone.

“Yeah? Join the party. It’s not.” You said, leaning back into your chair.

“What do you mean he’s not your soulmate?” Lucas asked.

“Mera.”

“You mean the redhead girl that was all over him and Selina almost fought the both of them because she thought the two of you were dating and he was cheating?”

“Bingo,” you said, sipping your coffee.

»»————-　➴　————-««

You were unlocking your door and checking yet again if Arthur ever texted you back. You pulled the key out of the hole and paused. No response yet.

You were about to push your door in until you felt a familiar grasp push your door open and pull you in. 

Tossing the keys into your bowl, you pulled off the knee high heeled boots you were wearing and followed him into the living room. You leaned against the bar, watching Arthur pace in front of you.

“So when were you gonna tell me you found your soulmate?” He spat.

“What?”

“I saw you and pretty boy getting coffee earlier, when were you gonna tell me that you met your soulmate?” Anger evident in his voice.

“Why the fuck are you mad? You have Mera.” You retaliated.

“I have the right to be mad,” he said, crossing his arms against his chest.

“Why? Why the fuck could you possibly be mad? Just because I see colour you’re pissed?” You spat back at him.

“So you can see colour now,” he grumbled, pissed off to the max. 

You didn’t retaliate, you watched him pace around even more. He eventually sat down on the couch, looking at the ground, he ran his hands through his hair. 

“Mera wasn’t my soulmate.”

Your demeanor softened, “Art, what?”

“She lied. Her soulmate was Orm fucking Marius,” he said, on the brink of tears. Orm Marius, the man that Arthur hated since the dawn of time. The two of them had ongoing beef since elementary school, you really anticipated them to stop talking, but here they were, still at each other’s throat.

You walked over to him and kneeled in front of him stroking hairs out of his face. 

“Mera met Orm while we were together, and she suddenly saw colour. I thought we were soulmates, but apparently not. I’ve known her for so long, when I turned 16, I saw colours and she was constantly around. I thought she was it. Then I thought about you, but you could see colour after going out with what’s his face.”

You gently stroked his cheek, “Art, I could always see colour.”

“What?” He looked up at you.

“Since I was 16-” He cut you off by pulling you forward and into a kiss. You broke apart when you needed air, he rested his forehead against yours before peppering your face with kisses, which resulted in giggles erupting from you.

“So-”

“He found his soulmate,” you reassured him, “Plus he’s gay.”

His face lit up like a Christmas tree. While getting up, he pulled your body to him. Once fully up he tossed you over his shoulder, “More for me then,” he said, before making his way to your bedroom.

[thegreatestofheck]

The Girl with No Heartbeat Pt.7 ⊰JJ Maybank⊱

(gif not mine! all credit to to kitaplarinicindeyasayankiz!)

find the first 6 parts here on my masterlist! 

word count - 6.0k  warnings - some swearing, mentions of a fight and the aftermath, mentions of death and typical siren stuff (eating people and what not)  synopsis - The hunt for the truth behind Big John’s disappearance is on. An impromptu dinner goes exactly how Mera thought it would.  a/n - What is this??? Real plot?? In my mermaid!au?? Impossible. Well, here we are, bridging into canon material. It’s gonna be super different than actual canon, but it will have a good portion of the same stuff that happens. Also, my difference of opinions on Big John really comes out from fic to fic. Sometimes I hate him, sometimes I love him. It’s very interesting. 

~~~

“What’s in that room?” Mera asked as she passed through the hallway, following closely behind John B. He had wanted to show her something, but when they passed by the locked door that she had seen so many times before, she let her curiosity get the best of her. 

John B froze. The light and airy demeanor he usually carried around hardened and she watched him go stiff. Mera thought about taking her question back, but before she could, John B turned, looking at the door. There was a distance in his eyes, a deep pain. 

“This is my dad’s office,” he said and set a hand against the chipped wood. Mera remembered that he said something about losing his dad when they first met. Her heart sunk. Reaching out, she put a hand on his arm, making him flick his eyes toward hers. “They said he was lost at sea. Do you think….”

His painful pause and the shaking of his eyes as he looked at her told Mera exactly what the rest of his question was. 

“Show me a picture of him,” Mera said. If John B wanted to know if she had eaten his father, she would do anything to settle his mind. It would also make her feel better to know she hadn’t killed her new friend’s dad. John B walked back down the hallway a little more toward some pictures that were hung on the wall. He looked at one, a smile starting to pull on his lips. 

“Here,” he said, tapping on the glass. “That’s my dad.” 

Mera peered around John B’s shoulder and into the picture. Staring back at her was a kindly looking man with a soft smile on his lips. His hair was long and a scruffy, peppered beard grew from his face. A pair of round glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. Looking at him made Mera smile. 

“Hello,” she whispered the the man behind the glass. “My name is Mera. I’m your niece.” 

John B looked down at her, an eyebrow raised. Mera wasn’t sure why staring at this man’s face made her feel so welcome and yet so sad at the same time. His was a face she felt like she should know, but she didn’t. 

She didn’t recognize him. That was good. There wasn’t a single soul she had dragged the depths that she didn’t remember. Looking over at John B, who was staring down at her expectantly, she shook her head. 

“It wasn’t us,” Mera said and looked back at the picture. “If your father is dead, it wasn’t one of us who killed him.” 

John B let out an exasperated growl, turning away from her and running his hands through his hair. 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” She asked. “He still might be alive.”

“I don’t really care if he’s alive or if he’s dead, Mera,” he said. When he turned back to look at her, tears in his beautiful eyes. “I’m just sick of not knowing. I wake up every morning half expecting him to be passed out on the couch or working in the backyard and every morning it hits me again that he’s not here and I don’t know why.” 

Mera let out a slow sigh through her nose and nodded her head. 

“Then let’s find out,” she said firmly. 

“What?”

“You and me. And the others if they want to help. We’re all smart enough together to figure this out.” Mera crossed her arms, determination set. 

“What can we do that the cops haven’t already done?” 

Mera scoffed. 

“What are enforcers good for? All they’ve ever done in my line of business is terrorize people,” Mera said. John B almost cracked a smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets. 

“To be fair, your line of business was theft, murder, and general swashbuckling.” 

Mera nodded her head and pursed her lips. 

“Fair.” Mera took a step closer to John B, putting a hand on his arm once again. “Cos, you want answers and I want to help you get them, anyway that I can.” 

“What could we do? Where would we even start?” 

“Well,” Mera turned to look at the closed office door. “What was your dad working on before he went missing?” 

John B sighed, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. 

“He was looking for the Royal Merchant,” he said. Mera remembered him mentioning that too. She nodded. “I can help with that. I knew the survivor, Denmark Tanny. We worked together,” Mera said. John B’s eyes widened. 

“There was a survivor?” He gawked. Mera looked at him and nodded. 

“One. A slave. He lived and supposedly took the gold and-” 

John B was pulling the keys from his pocket before she could say anything else, walking toward the lock. 

Once the lock was free, John B paused with his hand on the doorknob and let out a calming breath. 

“We could call the others and wait for them,” Mera told him. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

John B looked back at her with a soft smile. 

“I’m not alone,” he said. “I have you.” 

An unfamiliar feeling bloomed throughout Mera as John B turned back toward the door and pushed it open. A smile pulled gently at her lips and there was a sting of tears in her eyes. She’d only known John B and the others for a few days. How was it that they trusted her so much? And how was it possible that she had grown to trust them? 

Mera followed after John B as he stepped into the dark and cluttered room. For a few moments, there was absolute silence as the two looked around. It was only broken by John B’s sharp intake of breath. He reached out and took Mera’s hand in his. She looked down, shocked at the sudden movement. When he squeezed her hand, she realized he was just looking for an inkling of comfort in a place that was so full of monsters and memories. 

“This looks like my father’s quarters,” Mera said to break the second silence. “His thoughts were always all over the place. No one could really ever understand his methods, except my mother.” 

John B let out a little laugh. 

“Yeah.” He walked forward, letting his hand slide out of Mera’s as he stepped up to the desk. He ran his hand over a stack of dusty papers. “He never made sense to anyone else but me.” 

“So, let’s figure out what he was working on just before he went out on that boat, who was he working with, everything.” 

“My dad didn’t work with anyone,” John B said, sliding into a chair and scooping a pile of papers into his hands. 

“Maybe something changed,” Mera replied settling herself in a chair across from him. “You never know. We need to go through every possible option.” 

“Then we’re going to need more hands.” 

“I’ll call the others.” 

An hour later, JJ, Pope, and Kie were all standing in the office, looking around in awe. 

“I’ve slept over a million times,” Pope said as he spun in slow circles, taking in everything. “And I’ve never once seen that door opened.” 

“Me neither,” said JJ, who was poking at a board of old pictures. 

“What can we do?” Kie asked, putting her hands on the back of Mera’s chair and leaning over her shoulder to read the papers she was holding. 

“We’re just trying to find out what he was doing before he left,” John B said. “Just read anything you can get your hands on. Whatever seems important put in this pile over here.” 

Kie nodded her head. 

“Will do, Boss.” She picked up a stack of papers, hopped up onto a counter and started reading. Pope followed suit, but JJ kept wandering. 

“Aren’t you going to help?” Mera asked, peering up at him. JJ shrugged, picking some paint off of the wall. 

“My attention span doesn’t like sitting and reading for extended periods of time,” he said with a playful smile. Mera raised an eyebrow. 

“Well, here. Look through these pictures then. See if anything stands out to you,” she said, shuffling through some of her papers and handing them to him. He smiled at her. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said in a southern drawl. 

“Thank you, darling,” she mocked before returning to her papers. Once again, she missed the red tint of JJ’s ears as she looked away. What she didn’t miss was the way John B cocked a brow at her when she glanced up at him. 

“What?” she said. John B shook his head and let out a little laugh. 

“Nothing, cos.” 

They spent the next few hours doing nothing more than this. Except JJ, who had to go outside and kick a tree for a few minutes to take out his pent up energy. Eventually, John B set down his papers and let out a heavy breath. 

“Anyone else starving?” he asked. 

“God, I thought you’d never ask,” Pope groaned, putting his papers down. 

“I call shotgun!” JJ pulled himself all the way into the house (having been sitting in an open windowsill, one leg outside and one in) and ran for the front door. Kie rolled her eyes as Pope raced after him. 

“The Wreck?” Kie asked, sliding off of the counter where she’d been perched. 

“Sure,” John B said. Kie nodded her head as she lifted her arms, stretching out her back. Mera pushed herself out of the seat and dropped a hand on John B’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. 

“Thank you,” he said to her, staring down at a picture of him and his dad. Mera just gave him a smile before falling in step with Kie. 

~~~

It wouldn’t be a day on Kildare Island if everything went perfectly to plan. 

As soon as the bus pulled up to the Wreck, JJ let out an over-exaggerated groan from the front seat. He stopped flicking his lighter lid. 

“Looks like we’ve got company,” he said. Mera turned and peered out the front window. Her stomach dropped when she saw Rafe standing out by his motorcycle with Topper, Sarah, and another boy that Mera hadn’t yet met. 

“We’ll just ignore them and they’ll ignore us,” Pope said confidently. 

“Because that always works so well,” grumbled John B as he put the bus in park. 

“As long as JJ doesn’t say anything stupid and Mera doesn’t punch anybody, we’ll be fine,” Pope said, his tone no less confident than before. Mera and JJ locked gazes and both rolled their eyes. 

Kie was the first to open the side door, uncharacteristically silent. Of course she was. Sarah was there. Mera fully intended on getting to the bottom of their fued, hoping that she could somehow help to mend it, but now was definitely not the time, especially not when Rafe was standing right there. 

Their secret friendship had to stay secret, for her sake and for his. All Mera could do was pray that he wouldn’t call attention to her as she clambered after Kie, who spared no time in strolling up to the Wreck as if the other group of teens weren’t there. 

��Oh, hey, John B,” Topper said, smiling as the boys got out of the car. 

“Ignore him,” Pope whispered. Mera slowed to a stop, turning just enough to indicate she was waiting for her friends. Her gaze passed over Rafe’s briefly and she stiffened. They both looked away. 

“Hi, Mera,” Sarah said with a smile. “How are you?” 

“I’m going well,” Mera replied with a smile. Topper snaked an arm around Sarah’s waist. Mera heard Kie suck in an irritated breath from behind. “Just hungry.” 

“Aren’t we all,” Rafe said, putting his hands up in the air. “What if we all ate together? My treat.” 

There was a series of eyerolls from everyone present. The only one who seemed to like the idea was Rafe, who was smiling. He met Mera’s gaze again and she pressed her lips together, doing her best to communicate how badly she did not want to be doing this. 

“Come on.” Rafe elbowed Topper, who knocked into Sarah, who sent her brother a death glare as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. “It’ll be fun.” 

Everyone was frozen solid, rooted where they stood. Mera glanced over at JJ, whose jaw was clenched tight, his gaze fixed on Rafe in a glare. 

“I don’t care what we do,” Pope said tentatively, speaking as if he was walking on glass. “I just wanna eat.” 

“So it’s settled.” Rafe walked forward and clapped JJ on the shoulder with one of his large hands. Mera flinched. Rafe turned toward her, walking up the ramp right past her. “This will be fun, yeah?” 

Mera gave him her best glare as he walked by. Topper, Sarah, and the other boy followed after him quickly, but it took the others a little bit longer.

“So much for ignoring them,” John B grumbled to Pope who sighed and dipped his head. 

“Why can’t we just have one normal meal?” He whined as the two of them walked toward the glass door. 

“Are we really doing this?” Kie asked, arms crossed as she watched Sarah and Topper slid into the booth that her father had led them to. 

“Do we have a choice?” Mera replied, her eyes fixed on Rafe who wore the biggest innocent smile she had ever seen. Her hands clenched into fists and she heavily considered punching him in the face again. 

“I vote we make a break for it,” said JJ, standing on the other side of Mera. 

“You’re really gonna run away from free food?” Mera asked him. He sighed and his stomach rumbled in response to her question. “Right. In we go.” 

“Hey, Dad,” Kie said as she pushed the door open. 

“You want to explain to me what exactly is happening here?” Mike Carrera said, leaning over the counter. 

“If I could, I would tell you,” Kie said and rolled her eyes, making her dad chuckle. 

“Mera,” Mike said, turning to look at her. “How are you doing?” 

“Better, thank you,” Mera told him. She had come up with an easy lie that she ate too many Swedish Fish and they gave her strange dreams and that nightmares weren’t usual occurrences for her. Still, he seemed to worry. 

“You ever need anything, you let me know,” he told her before nodding over at JJ. “JJ.”

“Hey,” was the boy’s response. 

Mera followed Kie and JJ to the table. Kie sat as far away from Sarah as she possible could, sitting in between John B and the edge of the table across from Pope. JJ sat between Sarah and John B, leaving only one spot for Mera. Right across from him, in between Rafe and the other boy. She gave JJ a quick glare, but he didn’t see it. 

Mera slid into her seat as quietly as she could, not wanting to draw attention to herself. 

“I’m Kelce,” the boy said, extending a hand for her. Mera shook it amicably and gave him a strained smile. She turned her back almost completely on Rafe to give Kelce her full attention (and to pretend that Rafe was not there). 

“Mera.” 

“Rafe says you’re new around here.” 

“Yeah, I just moved from California.” 

“Really? Why would you trade California for this?” Kelcce laughed. 

“Oh, you know, family or something like that,” Mera glanced over to John B with a smile, who pretended to be way too interested in the menu. 

“You have family in the OBX?” Kelce asked as he took a drink of water.

“John over there is my cousin,” Mera said, pointing at him. Kelce choked on the water he was drinking, forced to cover his mouth with his hand. 

“No fucking way.” 

Mera laughed as she watched John B roll his eyes and mutter something under his breath. 

“Yes fucking way.” 

“Well, damn.” Kelce and Mera both laughed for a moment. “I’m glad to finally meet you. Rafe talks about you all the time.” 

Mera felt ice run through her veins and she felt her cheeks heat up. Rafe spluttered through his own drink from the other side of her. Across the table, JJ tightened his grip around his knife. 

“All good things, I’m sure.” Mera tried to keep the sneer out of her voice, but she wasn’t sure she succeeded. 

Mike came over to take orders just after that. JJ asked for the most expensive thing on the menu, sending Rafe a cocky smirk which made Mera huff angrily. Rafe seemed completely unphased and ordered the exact same thing. 

Rafe ignored Mera most of the night, so she was caught in pleasant small talk with Kelce, which wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. Considering who his friends were, he wasn’t the worst person to have a conversation with. She felt JJ tap her shin from underneath the table, making her look at him. She had to stifle a bout of laughter when she saw two straws sticking out of his nose. 

“Watch this,” he said, leaning the straws into his almost completely full water cup. 

“JJ, no,” Kie pleaded, dropping her chin into her propped up hands. Mera just watched on with an amused smile on her face. He sent her a wink just before blowing as much air out of his nose and through the straws as possible. Mera nearly shrieked with laughter as the water started to bubble as if it was boiling, spilling over the rim and onto the table. 

“Classy,” Rafe said, his voice tight. 

A waiter brought out their food. It was a mad scramble to get all the right things, but when everyone finally had their meal, the tension started to build up once again. 

“So, Mera,” Sarah said, twisting her fork around the shrimp pasta. “There’s a party at my house this weekend and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go.” 

“Oh, um-” 

Kie slammed her water cup down on the wood table. 

“You’re just going to invite her and not everyone else here?” Kie asked, gripping the glass in her hand so tight that Mera was afraid she was going to shatter it. Pope and John B ate slowly, their eyes flicking between Sarah and Kie. Kelce seemed completely unbothered, minding his own business as he ate. JJ and Rafe were caught in an eating-slash-glaring contest. 

“It’s Top’s birthday,” Sarah said, placing a hand over Topper’s that made Kie glare even harder. “I didn’t think you would come if I asked.” 

“You could have asked anyway.”

“Kiara, do you want to come to Topper’s birthday this weekend?” Sarah asked, her voice tight and rising steadily. 

“No, I fucking wouldn’t,” Kie hissed, shoving her chair backward and storming off. Mera cringed, standing to follow her. For the first time since sitting down, Rafe acknowledged her presence by grabbing onto her elbow.

“Don’t touch her,” JJ said. 

“I can speak for myself, JJ,” Mera snapped. She snatched her arm from Rafe’s grip. “Don’t touch me.” 

“My sister asked you a question, Mera,” he said, looking up at her. Mera sighed. 

“Sarah, thank you for the offer. I’ll have to think about it,” Mera said, trying to give Sarah an honest smile. Sarah just nodded, pulling her hand from Topper’s and leaning back in her chair, looking defeated. “Happy early birthday, Topper.” 

“Thank you, Mera.” The smile the boy gave her felt fake, but she wasn’t sure why. 

Pope stood up from his chair, obviously still thinking about Kie, and went to find her. 

“This fish is really good,” John B said, looking at his plate as he tried to fill the awkward silence that followed Pope’s departure. 

“Yeah,” Kelce agreed. Mera had barely even touched her food, but her stomach was rolling with discomfort. 

“You wanna take this outside?” Rafe growled, suddenly standing up. 

“Let’s fucking go, dude,” JJ snapped in return. 

“What-” 

Mera didn’t even have time to ask a question before both boys booked it for the front door. 

John B and Topper glanced at each other for a moment before following after their friends. 

“Topper!” Sarah cried. Soon, she too was gone. Mera let out a sigh, slouching in her chair while Kelce continued to eat his food in peace. 

“They’re fighting, aren’t they?” Mera huffed, looking at her food. Kelce nodded slowly. 

“They’re definitely fighting.” 

“How’s the fish?” She asked, picking up her spoon again to start eating. Somewhere outside, there was a scream and a loud crashing sound. 

“It’s amazing. Mr. Carrera always makes the best food.” 

“Could I try a bit?” 

“Sure, as long as I can try some of that soup.” 

Kelce and Mera swapped dishes as the sounds of shouting grew louder. 

“Man, that is some good soup,” Kelce said. 

“Right?” They swapped plates again. “And that fish is cooked to perfection.” 

“It always is.” 

“Do you think Sarah would mind if I…?” Mera nodded toward Sarah’s nearly full plate. Kelce shook his head. 

“She’s not likely to come back for it.” 

“Great. You want some?”

“Hell yeah.” 

The two picked food off of the left over plates, chatting back and forth and moaning over how good all the food was until the front door burst open once again. 

“Mera,” a sweaty and bloody faced John B said. “We’re leaving.” 

Mera stood up quickly, grabbing one last roll of bread. 

“It was wonderful to meet you, Kelce,” she said as she shimmied around him. 

“And you too,” he replied. “We should do this again sometime.” 

Mera looked outside and grimaced. 

“Maybe not.” 

“Nah, probably not.” 

“See you around?” 

“Yup.” 

With that, Mera rushed outside to join her friends in the bus. 

“Fat load of help you were,” JJ huffed at Mera as she held an ice pack to his eye. She narrowed her eyes at him. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t want to the food to go to waste,” she said. 

“You sat there and ate with Kelce while we got beat up?”

“Yes, because I try not to act like a child,” she snapped at him. JJ grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. Kie drove and Pope was in the passenger seat, leaving Mera in the back with the bloodied up boys. It wasn’t anything too serious, just a few bruises and a busted lip or two, but they still looked miserable. 

“Well, that was delightful,” Pope mused in a mocking tone. “And I didn’t even get to finish my dinner.” 

“Trust me, it was really good,” Mera told him. He turned around and stuck his tongue out at her, making her laugh quietly. “On the bright side, Rafe still had to pay for everything.” 

That didn’t really make anyone else feel any better. 

“What’s going on with you and Rafe anyway?” JJ asked. Mera scowled down at him, her heart starting to pound. 

“Nothing. I work at his house, that’s all,” she told him as she moved over to John B to help him clean the blood off of his nose. 

“I work at his house and there’s nothing weird between us,” John B said. 

“Hate to break it to you, buddy,” Pope said, “but you’re not a smoking hot girl.” 

Mera’s face flushed as Kie scolded Pope, who didn’t really seem to understand what exactly he had said wrong until it was too late. 

When Mera looked back at JJ, he was still watching her carefully. He wasn’t glaring like he was before, but he definitely wasn’t happy. He was getting suspicious. She did her best to smile at him before finally settling down. They were mostly silent all the way back to the Chateau. The only sound to be heard was the rumbling of Pope’s stomach. 

~~~

Pope and John B raided the fridge when they got back, nearly fighting over the only non-expired can of yogurt. Kie went straight home. JJ flopped on the couch, pulling a magazine out from under his pillow. He refused to look up at Mera as she leaned against the wall, laughing quietly as Pope and John B bickered. 

She had a feeling that JJ was mad at her. Part of her wanted him to just come out and say it so that she could just explain everything without feeling like an idiot. Another part of her wanted to ignore him right back. She went with the latter choice. The rest of the night, Mera and JJ didn’t speak to each other, talking instead through Pope and John B, who were far too hungry to notice. 

By the time everyone was ready for bed, Mera could barely keep her eyes open. 

“Night,” she called sleepily to the boys, who had all elected to sleep on the pullout together, leaving her the spare room. 

“Night,” Pope and John B chorused, already half asleep. 

“Night, princess.” 

Mera was almost too sleepy to hear JJ. Almost. 

~~~

Going to work the next day was probably one of the most nerve wracking things she had done in a long while. Even if Rafe blamed her for how last night ended, Mera didn’t care. He had started it. She was more than prepared to take him on in a duel if that was what he wanted. She was mostly afraid that word would get back to Ward and he would fire her or that Sarah wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore. Neither of which sounded fun to her. 

Luckily, Sarah greeted her with the same smile she did every morning and Ward was nowhere to be found. 

“Did you think about coming to Topper’s birthday tomorrow night?” Sarah asked, helping Mera move a large fridge out of the way so she could dust off a wooden nightstand. 

“Not yet,” Mera said. “Last night was a little bit crazy.” 

Sarah rolled her eyes. 

“If my brother wasn’t such a dick all the time, I think I could actually make friends with you guys. I just wish his reputation hadn’t tarnished mine.” There was a real sadness in her voice as she spoke. 

“I don’t think it’s your brother,” Mera told her truthfully. Sarah froze. 

“What?” 

“It’s Kiara. Whatever happened between you two, that has to be fixed before there’s any hope at all of you being friends with the others.” 

Sarah seemed to deflate.

“Kiara will never forgive me,” she said. 

“I don’t believe that.” 

When Sarah looked up at Mera, there were large tears in her eyes. 

“I fucked up, Mera,” she whispered, her words shaking and full of grief. “Real bad. And it’s been so long and I let the bad blood between us go on for too long and I don’t think I can ever make things right with her again.” 

Mera sighed and put a hand on Sarah’s shuddering shoulder. 

“Do you want to make things right?” Sarah nodded vehemently. “Then don’t give up. Kie will come around eventually.” 

Sarah nodded again, slower this time, and swallowed. 

“Do you want me to find you some stain or something for that?” Sarah asked, pointing at the nightstand. “It’ll make it look better.” 

“I would really appreciate that, Sarah,” Mera said with a smile. 

“Be right back.” 

Rafe didn’t come to see Mera at all that day, or the next day for that matter. Mera was disappointed only because she wanted to fight at him so badly. JJ was warming up to her again, but still really only spoke to her on the rare occasion. Mera was also ready to fight him too. Hell, she was prepared to fight them both if it came down to it. All she would need was a sword….

“So, Mera,” John B said from across the table, pulling her from her thoughts. “You decided if you’re going over to Sarah’s tonight?” 

“Um, yeah, actually,” Mera said, shaking her head. “I was going to head over in a bit. Sarah is going to lend me something to wear.” 

John B nodded his head slowly, but JJ just crunched on his burnt toast. 

“You’ll be careful, right?” John B said. Mera watched him carefully for a few seconds. 

“You’re not seriously going to father me right now.” “What?” 

“My own father has said those exact same words to me before a party,” Mera said, now trying to hide a smile. John B scowled, flustered. 

“I’m not...I just wanna make sure...I mean, you’re kinda my responsibility and I want you to be safe,” John B said, crossing his arms. Mera couldn’t help but laugh as she stood and stood next to him.

“Sure, Dad.” Her comment made John B roll his eyes. 

“Be sure to bring protection,” JJ said almost bitterly. The light atmosphere dampened as Mera and John B both turned to look at him. 

“I don’t have a sword,” Mera told him. JJ’s eyelids fluttered shut and she could tell that he was trying not to laugh at her, which made her mood turn sour. 

“That’s not the kind of protection he means,” John B said with a slight upturn of a smile. She scowled down at him, not really wanting to ask for an explanation but hoping he would give one anyway. “He’s talking about condoms, dear cousin.” 

“I’m unfamiliar with the term.” 

“You’re telling me you went out tapping without condoms?” JJ asked, leaning forward on the table, crossing his hands in front of him. “Yeesh.” 

“Will one of you please act like a grownup and explain to me what you’re talking about?” Her tone was harsher than she had meant it, but it seemed to snap John B into order. 

“They’re for sex, Mera. You...wrap your willy with it to protect from diseases and to keep the girl from getting pregnant,” John B said, refusing to look at her. 

“Oh. Hmm. That sounds rather useful. I’ll be sure to bring one of those then,” she said. “Thank you, JJ.” 

He blanched at her statement. 

“No, you weren’t-” He froze and scowled. “Fine. Whatever. Do what you want.” 

With that, he pushed him out of his seat and walked out the front door. 

“I’m extremely confused,” Mera said. “Do you mind explaining to me what just happened?” 

“I may be thinking that JJ doesn’t want you sleeping with anyone at that party,” John B explained, his eyes fixed on the door, a small smirk on his face. He looked up at Mera, who continued to scowl. 

“I don’t see the problem,” she said. John B heaved out a sigh and pushed himself out of his chair. He dropped a hand on her shoulder and pressed his lips into a fine line. 

“I don’t either. I mean, JJ goes after any one who has a heartbeat. I can’t imagine why he’d be upset with you for doing the same thing.” 

With that, John B walked toward the back of the house, leaving Mera alone in the silence, painfully aware of the dead heart that refused to beat in her chest. 

~~~

Mera stood scowling in front of the mirror. Sarah stood off to the side, trying to hide an excited grin behind her hands. 

“Do you like it?” 

Mera hummed quietly to herself. She didn’t quite know yet if she liked the outfit. Sarah had put her in a loose white top with long, flowing sleeves, almost similar to the kinds of blouses that Mera was used to wearing. But the sleeves came off the shoulders and the collar dipped a little lower than Mera may have been comfortable with. Sarah paired the shirt with a brown skirt that twirled beautifully, but was rather short. It was the color and the fabric type that Mera might have worn as pants, but never this cut. There were sandals on her feet, but she was sure she was going to take them off. Her hair was braided and Sarah had even put makeup on her. It was completely different from what she remembered makeup being like. 

Somehow, the person staring at her looked like her, but didn’t look like her at the same time. 

“Wait, I have an idea,” Sarah said, running toward one of her dressers. “It’ll just tie the entire thing together.” 

She returned with a thick, dark brown belt. It was less of a belt and more of a corset. Mera’s eyes widened at the sight of it. She had always wanted a corset, but her mother had never let her get one. 

“Turn around.” 

Mera did as she was told and Sarah wrapped the thing around her, clipping it behind her back. Mera expected there to be some tightness or discomfort, but she felt perfectly fine. Turning back toward the mirror, Mera nodded her head. It did really pull the entire outfit together. The large buckle in the front reminded her of a belt that she used to wear almost daily. The smile on Mera’s face became real as she smoothed out the skirt. 

“I love it,” she said, looking at Sarah. “Thank you.” 

“No problem,” Sarah said with a wave of her hand. “Anything for you. Come on now, the boys will be waiting for us.” 

Sarah hooked her arm through Mera’s and started to pull her toward the door. 

“The...the boys? Why?” 

“They’re our protection for the night.” Mera scowled. That was the second time she had heard that word and this time, she didn’t think it meant a sword or a condom. 

“I’m confused.” 

“Listen, two beautiful girls like us can’t go to a party alone, not even in our own house. You need someone to always hold your drink while you’re in the bathroom. You need someone watching your back while you’re dancing or playing games. Topper is looking out for me, obviously, and Kelce said he’d look out for you. Naturally, that means they are our dates.” 

“Wait, what? Drinks? Dates? Kelce?”

“I asked Rafe to watch out for you, but he said he wasn’t coming, so I had to ask Kelce. Haven’t you gone to a party before? Always make sure someone is watching your drink so you don’t get drugged. It’s rule number one.” 

“God,” Mera breathed as Sarah pulled her down the stairs. 

“Yeah, crazy world, right? Girls can’t go to a simple birthday party without being afraid of getting attacked.” It was a serious subject to Mera, something she had seen happen so many times that she was almost shocked to hear how casually Sarah was talking about it. But then she realized that Sarah spoke so plainly because it was so rampant. Sarah had desensitized herself to the reality of the world so she could still enjoy a night with her friends without the crippling fear of being assaulted. 

“I’ll protect you,” Mera said seriously, pulling Sarah to a stop. “No one will hurt you.” 

Sarah gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hand. 

“Thank you. I will always have your back, too.” 

Even though Sarah looked calm, Mera could feel her heart pounding through her hands. 

“Come on, the boys are waiting,” Mera said, a smile spreading across her face. 

“Damn right they are.” Walking up the stairs was Topper and Kelce, both dressed spiffily. 

“Baby!” Sarah cried, running forward to embrace her boyfriend. “Happy birthday!” 

“Thanks, babe,” he said, putting his arms around Sarah’s shoulders and giving her a kiss. 

“Happy birthday,” Mera told him as Kelce walked forward to stand beside her. Topper barely heard her, too occupied with Sarah’s lips. “They’re not going to talk to us for the rest of the night, are they?”

Kelce sighed and shook his head. 

“It’s unlikely.” 

“Great.” 

“You wanna head down? Everything’s in full swing.” 

Mera sucked in a deep breath, calming her nerves the best she could before nodding. 

“Why the hell not?” 

Kelce walked beside Mera as they made their way down the steps. Mera’s eyes scanned the crowd of people waiting at the bottom and she felt her breath hitch. 

“You good?” Kelce asked. Mera nodded, but her teeth were sinking into her lower lip until she tasted blood. 

“I just haven’t been around this many people in a long time,” she told him honestly. “It’s a bit overwhelming.” 

“I take it you weren’t a party girl in California.” 

“No, I definitely was. I’ve just been...away…from the lifestyle for a while.” 

“Well,” Kelce said with a heavy sigh. “Why don’t we just walk through these people to that bar over there and drink until we’re drunk. How about that?” 

Mera felt herself smile and she nodded. 

“I would love that.” 

~~~

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[epitheterasedgen]

self-indulgent aro HCs because I can (tw: romance talk + salt below the cut)

ok I know on my rp blog Percy is romance-repulsed but tbh that’s just self-projection; realistically she’s in The Oblivious Gang (TM) who wouldn’t recognize romance if it slapped her across the face. one of the reasons Eros loves her so much is because he finds it endlessly funny to flirt with her, as she takes everything literally and has no idea what he means, ever

speaking of The Oblivious Gang (TM) JELLO GAVE ME OBLIVIOUS ARO GIO RIGHTS AND NOBODY CAN TAKE THOSE AWAY FROM ME. tbh I have had oblivious aro Gio vibes from him since day 1 but I never said anything bc of his original player’s statement but now nobody can say anything because Jello agrees with me

Howie is the hates romance gang. #&^! romance. all his worker bees hate romance. this post made by the SHUT UP AND DO YOUR #&$*!ING JOB GANG

(if I see one more person self-ship with Howie I will destroy a building. I know Howie would not want me destroying buildings but I swear if one more person erases the only canon aro rep we have—)

Molly is the only normal aro in the family and it takes her forever to realize she even is aro, she just isn’t all that interested in romance and kinda just.... never dates anyone? ofc she’s just baby rn so like it’s not even relevant yet, but once she’s in high school a few ppl ask her out and she’s just like no thanks, and then she continues to turn down every offer she gets until she’s late into her 20s and realizes “hm I don’t think I ever want to get married actually” and then doesn't.

(highkey, I literally only realized I had this HC after SO many people were asking for HCs about how the EAM fam would react to Molly dating/getting married and once I got past my initial “I wanna strangle you for even asking that” I was like.... actually I can’t even imagine her in that situation??? I just Do Not see Molly ever having an interest in romance.)

bonus:

I don’t wanna label Indus as fully “aromantic” because I don’t think it fits him; I mean ((vaguely motions to Mera)) but I think he's gotta fall somewhere on the spectrum (the aro spectrum; I mean he’s also autistic but that’s beside the point) because I don’t think he fully.... understands romance? like Mera’s 100% alloromantic, has all the daydreams/normal crush type stuff/loves romance-coded activities, but I don’t think Indus experiences his attraction in the same way. if Mera asked him to buy her flowers he’d be like “yes of course! :D” but he wouldn’t like, know WHY if that makes sense

[lanthimo]

(We see that Orm’s lawyer warns him about the death penalty and Murk is desparate to save Orm before surface dwellers can kill him.)

(Rath takes over the throne and ‘kills’ Aquaman... except he doesn’t. As Murk states here. After not being able to free Orm, their true king in his opinion, Murk tries to understand Arthur better and swears his loyal to the throne, no matter who is sitting on it.)

I like Murk.  It’s easy to think Atlanteans like Murk are judgmental jerks but in reality, they aren’t. Like many other Atlanteans, Murk thinks Arthur favors surface against his own nation. He asks Arthur to explain his orders and decisions to his people like Orm did. They don’t see him as one of theirs because he didn’t even want to be the king, he only takes the throne after Orm is captured and sent to Belle Reve because Atlantis needs a king and he fears Atlanteans will go to surface to free Orm (which they do as you can see in the first frames). Especially now that the surface is aware of their existence, they want Arthur to defend them against the surface. And to be honest, Arthur seems like he favors the surface at some point (lol both DC and Marvel do that) but the thing about Arthur is, his entire story revolves around identity crisis. He hates how surface world treats him, especially after his father’s death. He doesn’t feel like he belongs with them. And for a while, he feels at home in Atlantis when Orm welcomes him with open arms. But Atlanteans want Orm back as their king, treating Arthur like a stranger (he’s the random surface dude they have never seen before and now he’s their king? I mean yeah they are assholes but give them time boooy) Despite having both Atlantis and the surface, he feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere. He only feels at home with Mera at the lighthouse.

That’s why Arthur’s story is so fun to read (especially in New 52). At first, he’s lost, lonely. He finds his home but they don’t want him, he finds his family but his mother is dead and despite how welcoming and loving Orm was, it turns out to be a tragedy where he has to put his own brother in jail. 

But he finds love with a person who was meant to kill him, Mera. He makes a home with her. He is not hiding or running away from who he is anymore. He earns his title as the king. He puts his anger, betrayal and hurt away and tries to understand his people. He always tries to do the best for everyone, including the Trench. 

And at the end, Murk starts to understand Arthur better as Arthur connects better with his nation and he swears his loyalty to the new king, standing by his side (also he helps Arthur to take back the throne).

[weirdlydarkthots]

I still can't believe I once told my friends about the ghost incident trauma bol k side kr diya tha and the very friends are now into speaking with spirits through cards?

I swear if I had told this to myself in college I would have laughed at my own face.

2020 did something. Like it did something and opened people to things many always said were superstitions. I still can't believe I was just watching them to steal stories for future and plots... How did I end up in this rabbit hole?

Even with astrology? O_o The fact now I am seeing tarot cards on every page ever it's spooky what Tik-Tok did but yeahhhhhhh... Vedic astrology mai I will ever enter was a plot twist even for me xD

Because I have always been an agnostic. It exists. That's it. I am not pro it or against but the shit it said in my fucking chart made my stomach drop. It did because all your life you are roaming around trying to distract people with bullshit so people don't see right through you and bam

Apparently it's written in your kundali? Even the vaugest mention of it made me feel so pukish because abhi taak I was just playing dumb and using my own interpretations of life experiences ki these things are common just fucking say it people will be dumb enough to believe it but then tropical astrology happened and vedic and mera sir ghum rha hai as to how and why and what and when and where.

I still can't believe the things I did in 2020 just to test tarot and astrology. I took advantage of a dude who I knew was trying to mess around with me?

I am a little fucked in the head for sure xD Because holy smokes I want to cry because past merko heart attack aaja ta seeing what I did. I swear 2020 was my wrecking ball moment. Identity crisis + Self worth ki m ki + Existential crisis + thinking I am going to die anyway maybe so fuck it.

I did something I shouldn't have just to measure or check someone's reaction because I knew the other person is taking me for an idiot while he just trying to manipulate me while not realising how obvious he is xD

I am sorry but aggar nahi bhi hai bhagwaan khud create kr dai gai because the way I stooped just to get out reactions. Man I am a fucking lunatic I swear...

For all I know things can be leaked but somehow the whole I do not know if I will make it out alive stole all my fucks to give and made me want to mess around just to learn the truth of tarot and astrology xD

HOW FUCKED IS THAT? I hate that I did that? Ew.

I swear I don't even care if I am getting stalked or not just had to get this off my chest. Lol.

Because I do not know if I lost something or did I gain. Did I play or did I get played?

Anyway mai ek din marre gi jaisi harkaatai krti hun mai. Fassun gi. Mai mazzak nahi kr rhi because who told me to get emotionally involved? Because I swear to god that's one thing I relied on. The fact I have never been able to get emotionally involved because everyone creeps me out and I creep everyone out.

There is a healthy distance between me and people because prideful fuckers will always think that they are better than the rest. I am the same not going to lie lol but it's so much easier to mess around with people when they think you are an idiot.

Which I am no doubt in that. I love how people only think that spewing facts here and there is the only thing that can make people intelligent. I will never understand why knowledge is equated to intelligence? I mean until you have experience what use is that knowledge of? That knowledge also is only authentic when it comes from experience. Warnaa aisse toh tottey should have been ruling over everyone? Which they are not?

I swear people are just limited by their way of thinking and that's why most of us die as average joes just trying to build ourselves for others to get satisfaction of fulfilment when half the fuckers don't even have the right kind of thinking? I hate humans. I do. Not in a hitler kind of way just the fact that their world somehow now revolves around pride, ego, wanting something and what not?

I mean yes it makes life a better life to live it gives you goals but what about family? What about compassion? What about emotions? They have somehow vanished and you are deemed stupid for having them.

Brain is now suddenly meant for emotions. Money yeh money woh and the fact your survival itself is based upon the fact you have how much money. What kind of a world are we living in? Anyway just having mental breakdown because each and every person is the same sometimes feel like I am trying to fit in with robots who run in the same direction unknowingly and it's pathetic to see but somewhere I am also a part of that crowd stuck when I desperately want to make it out of that heard but can't because that path is too lonely and you will sadly get nothing out of it.

I want to fit in. I want to be at home. I want to understand. Maybe I am too dumb maybe I am missing out on some information that everyone knows but I don't? Anyway people are still dumb.

[nehilistuniverse]

I guess this is what spirits mean when they say stay away from the person he is a mess right now. I am stupid but also curiosity got the best of me 🤷 I mean I did enable by mistake because I did not know the extent back then but now I have sheer hatred and feel disgusted by the human being and I am finding it very funny his outrage xD I should stop stalking but how more low can someone stoop? Like you hoe. Aur kittna girre ga? Lmao the fact he didn't even understand and probably didn't even read what I had said about not trusting anyone for a whole ass year is dumbo ko khud ajeeb nahi lagga? Man sheer dumbness of the person captain haggu it's. Aur haggo tees maar khan. Toxic fucker. Chiii yaar. I genuinely haven't felt hate for someone in such a long time and nahi disgust + I am my mother's daughter she still hasn't let go what her brother did years ago ;-; what makes anyone think I will. Creeeeeeppppppppppppppppppppppppp. I still can't believe somebody would disrespect their own position that they had earned after so much mehnaat. Why? Because of insecurity? Really? That's it? Also isn't like tinder a thing use that for hook up if that's what you are into why are you messing around with people on the bird app? That's creepy not being chaant yaan chutiya kaat na. Chiiii yaar. Genuinely chiiii. Can't believe I actually befriended such a person 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 I swear I just end up befriending every dude with mommy issues because that's the only other explanation. Somebody either got neglected as fuck or over pampered. Either insecurity or them mommy issues. Man I still can't digest the fact that someone would still try to manipulate you emotionally xD like okay do it mera kya jaa rha? What's done is done you are a creep tum ne khud ki bezaati kr wayi hai and player toh nahi chaapri zarur laag rhe.

No class whatsoever. I don't care if somebody even hates me for such opinions. I genuinely don't care the truth won't change.

[ultrakeystotheheartblog]

The Trees Have Eyes: Prologue

Chapter 1

A/N: Alright, alright. So, here’s the first part of the very long Teen Wolf fanfic I’ll be working on for a large chunk of the foreseeable future :D I’m up to like 54 outlined chapters  at this point, that I hope to post on a 1-2 week basis. There are a few minor characters that appear in this part, the start of many that will be returning. And features one of the new characters that I’ve created for this fic. 

You can see a glimpse of what I imagined them to kind of look like here. Also, a quick translation for a few words:

Mera dost = my friend

Aaraam = relax

Kutsit narak = bloody hell

The reader’s story starts around the time Season 3a begins, and then after the events of this part, they ‘wake up’ (it’ll make sense just go with me) around the events that take place during Season 6b (where Scott and the others have graduated, and the ‘puppy pack’ as they’ve been adorably deemed by most of the fandom, are all in their Junior year). The next part will pick up 3 months after 6b ends, with Liam and his friends starting their Senior year.

I hope you all enjoy! Let me know how you’re liking it :)

Warning: Violence, blood, slight gore, and a bit of swearing.

******************************************************************

It's not that you hated cats.

You just hated this particular cat.

You don't know exactly why your friend thought it'd be a great idea for you babysit his pride and joy, when on more than one occasion you'd complained about how much the two of you detested each other. The cat wouldn't even do the polite thing and at least pretend like you could both play nice. Instead, she couldn't muster any effort to stay in the same room for any longer than two minutes most times you visited--you had timed it to make a point--but he hadn't listened in the slightest. And now his child has slipped out into the night, darting past you and through the open door when you went to take out the garbage. You figured she saw her chance to escape you once and for all. 

You were also rapidly regretting the fact that you'd dared him to live on the edge of the city, next to creepiest area of forest you had ever seen in your young life. He always took things too seriously in your opinion. Which is why, in the dead of night, you were now searching with your phone's flashlight through the those god awful woods, trying to catch sight of a flash of white against the darkness. You clamber up a small hill and pull your sweater tighter around you, stumbling through the mulch and roots in the ground.  

"Come on, Snowball, here kitty. Thomas is going to kill me, but you'd like that wouldn't you, you little asshole."

You bend over to shine the light into the recess of a rotting log, muttering to yourself when there's nothing but the scuttle of little spiders. A few make the jump to your phone and you shake it frantically to knock them off. You lean back, straining to hear a meow in the distance, but there's only the sound of howling that cuts through the silence. It drags a creeping shiver down your spine when other sounds become more prominent; branches cracking around you, a woman's throaty laugh that echoes from far too close. 

You jump to your feet and turn with the circling sounds in a panic, heartbeat so loud you could hear it thumping in your own ears, phone flashlight dancing across the dark shapes of creaking trees and low hanging branches. You gulp around the fear closing your throat and demand rather loudly.

"Hey, cut it out! This isn't funny! Whoever the hell you are."

Out of the darkness her face is suddenly very close, dark hair hanging loose and wild around her face, nose crinkled as her mouth twists in a ferocious snarl. Her lips pull back over gleaming fangs, red glowing eyes  hypnotic, terrifying, as they stare so deep and intense you feel as though those eyes would be forever burned into your vision. 

Your first thought very briefly touches on the fact that her eyes are  the colour of blood, something your fear muddled mind hopes will not be leaving your body tonight. You find you can't move from the paralyzing shock of it all, limbs and eyes locked in this nightmarish staring contest. The woman's voice has strange underlying sub vocals to it, deep and almost predatory as she growls, lips drawing up slowly into a warped, perverse looking smile around her sharp teeth.

"Hell is right." She purrs.

"Shi--" You react, jerking your head back, and dropping your phone as you back up too fast and too clumsily, falling backwards into the dirt.

She laughs, stalking towards you with sure and measured steps, as though she were getting ready to go for the kill now that she's cornered a defenceless animal. Which seemed exactly right at this moment. The woman watches you crawl backwards, staring up at her with wide, panicked eyes. She leans down to your level, eyes flickering over your features for a moment before practically cooing. "Well, aren't you a cutie?"

She's smiling again, carefully running the tip of a clawed finger over the vulnerable skin of your neck, a simple, calculated line grazing downwards from under your chin. The hairline cut stings in the open air, and then she's putting more pressure over your pulse point, pricking the skin so a large drop of blood wells to the surface. She inhales shamelessly, nostrils flaring. "Weak though...scared. Just like a human." She adds, just as the palm of your hand brushes against a heavy rock within reach behind you. Your fingers close around it.

She dips her head instantly, before you can really do anything, and sinks her fangs into the flesh between your neck and shoulder. The sudden sharp pain rips a fearful scream from you and then the burning sets in within seconds, lines of fire ricocheting through your muscles. There's a lot of blood, you can smell the metallic tinge of it as it permeates the air as warm volleys of liquid seeps out from the around the woman's mouth. She pulls back with red smeared lips, and with as much strength as you can muster you wind up and crack the rock down on the side of her head. 

The force is enough to snap her head to the side and she laughs, seeming surprised as she turns back to look at you. You watch the open gash across the side of her forehead close on its own, the skin sewing together quickly until there's nothing left but a smudge of blood. The woman's clawed fingers tangle in the front of your sweater as she drags you up to your feet easily, your body sore from the burning sensation still racking your body and weak from the blood loss. She regards you more thoughtfully now. Your eye lids feel heavy.

"Maybe there's some fire in you after all."

"Kali." The new voice has an accent, deep and commanding and obviously male, he says the woman's name harshly, as if he were reprimanding her for her behaviour. The echo swirls around you until you feel dizzy. You weakly lift your head and look around you in earnest, hoping that this was your saviour--a thought that gives you an immediate burst of adrenaline--but you can't seem to find where the voice is exactly coming from. The woman--Kali--freezes and tilts her head to the left, eyes darting from your face to the side, listening raptly to your surroundings but refuses to let her grip on you relax. The strong voice carries through the trees again and drawls, "That's enough. You can have your fun when we reach our destination."

Kali rolls her glowing eyes, and finally--unceremoniously--drops you in a heap at her feet. She faces away from you with a huff and stares somewhere out into the darkness, seeing things that your human eyes couldn't ever make out.

"Beacon Hills will get just as much enthusiasm, don't you worry." She assures her mysterious companion. You take her distraction as an opportunity and scramble to your feet in agony, wincing as you clamp a hand to the wound on your neck. You slip away down the hill into the narrow paths of crowded trees below. By the time you'd ducked out of sight, you very clearly hear Kali growl, her tone sounding excited, "Oh, now it's a game!"

But the voice returns more forceful than before, the reverberation following you into the dense foliage that surrounds an empty, muddy river bed.  

"Leave it."

You sludge across it, not daring to slow down in case she doesn't listen to the voice. It takes longer than you would like, and you eventually make it a far ways farther, but feel lost and lightheaded from the continued blood loss. Your body is wobbly as you gasp air into your aching lungs. Your legs give out within the next few minutes and you drop heavy to your knees in the slick muck, the impact on your kneecaps sending shooting pains up into your legs. 

You flinch at the sound of footsteps approaching you from the front. You see boots enter your vision as you stare at the ground, woman's boots you think, and your gaze trails slowly up to her face. She was very pretty and tall, her dark hair primly styled and curled. There was a sweet, concerned expression dawning on her face as she takes in your appearance, gaze flitting to the mix of new and dried blood dripping down your shoulder.

"Are you alright?" She asks softly as if she's talking to a child, stepping closer as she offers you her hand. You can't help but react, slapping away her hand as a flash of panic surges through you and you struggle to get back to your feet. She furrows her eyebrows in concentration and steps back again, holding up her hands to show she meant no harm before continuing calmly, "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid."

"Who are you?" You ask quietly, shaking body drained of any strength as you drop back to the dirt, shifting back to a sitting position. You stare up at her.

"Jennifer." She responds. Her eyes seem to glitter in the dark. "Let me help you."

She reaches down to grip your arms and help you stagger to your feet. You stumble against her and she steadies you, turning carefully to veer you in a certain direction. She helps you to sit on a sturdy fallen tree trunk. It rests in the midst of a grove of old looking trees, growing in a way that creates a misshapen circle. Their branches are twisted and gnarled, like hands and long fingers that seemed to reach out for you. 

Jennifer is on her knees in front of you, face swimming in and out of your vision as you blink rapidly to stay awake. She deftly peels down the fabric of your sweater to peer at the bite Kali had given you. Some of the blood has crusted over by now but there is still new blood welling at the puncture points. She doesn't look at you as she hums in thought.

"Hmm that's a deep bite. What happened?"

"There was a woman--"

"Red eyes? Fangs? Claws extending from her feet?" She questions in a rush. Your jumbled mind is still able to notice the sudden edge to her voice, the trace of kindness you heard before hardening into something almost bitter. You wince as she presses down around the wound a little too hard and her fingers quickly disappear from your neck.

"How did you know?"

Jennifer rocks back, glancing around at the trees around you. "She's a werewolf--an Alpha. And part of a very dangerous pack. You're lucky to have gotten away alive."

"How do you--"

"I've been tracking them."

"Why?"

Jennifer is looking directly at you now--a scary intensity that makes you anxious--and leans forward, hands squeezing your knees tightly. The pressure hurts the already sore skin there and you yelp. She loosens her hold slightly, voice low and just the slightest bit hostile. You're unsure if it has anything to do with you or not.

"It's a long story." She says, taking a deep breath to compose herself. She smiles at you in a way that you think might resemble something like reassurance, but it looks wrong, all tight-lipped, chilling and greedy. You swallow hard and find yourself sitting very still.

"It doesn't sound like it would be a good one."

"It's not."

You glance down at the fingers still resting on your knees and take in the wet smudges of blood across the tips. You poise a hand near your bite but don't make contact with any of the surrounding skin, afraid of making the flaring pain worse somehow by merely brushing against it. Jennifer follows your movement with her piercing eyes.

"I'm..am I going to--" You start, clearly sounding on the verge of hysteria. Jennifer's hand shoots out to grip your hanging wrist, and her next reaction is to laugh as though she's the one about to have a breakdown instead. It’s cruel and insensitive, sounding sharp in your ears. You gape at her, feeling a chaotic mess of hurt and bewilderment.

"Usually when you're bitten by an Alpha, yes. But you won't." She lowers your hand back to your lap, sighing as she releases your wrist. "It's nothing personal."

You can't help but retort, "It sounds pretty personal."

"Regarding them. You, on the other hand, are just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Jennifer stands and walks towards one of the largest trees in the grove, eyes elated as she hungrily stares up at its highest branches. She runs her fingers reverently across the bark. An awful feeling smolders in the pit of your stomach as you watch her, and the realization of her intent is a slap to the face. Your back straightens, mind clearing as a rush of fear slices through the haze. Everything about her seems horrifyingly dangerous now and tears begin to prick at the inner corners of your eyes.

"What are you gonna do to me?"

She presses the flat of her palm harder against the tree, "I'm a Druid. And this tree is one of many. A sacred place where we practice, draw our energy from. But I'm weak. The spark that kept me alive only lasts so long. And if I'm ever going to get.." She pauses, trying to find the right word, "...closure...I need more power." She moves fast once the words leave her mouth. Suddenly your ripped to your feet and slammed against the tree she had just been standing by. Her hand closes around your throat and squeezes until colourful spots flash in your vision like shimmering eyes, ones reminiscent of the Alpha. Your lifted up, feet kicking uselessly in the air as she leans in too close, her breath--the scent of decay, something rotten--washing over you.

"And you're going to give it to me." She tells you evenly, no hint of physical strain or regret for what she was about to do.  The corneas and pupils of her eyes have been consumed by a bright white glow, looking eerily dead.  

"I...please..I don't...understand." You manage to gasp out.

The beauty of her face is molting away in clumps of flesh, the skin beneath wrinkled and marred with red gashes like claws. It's ghostly pale looking and her eyes seem sunken, a chunk of flesh gone from one side of her mouth, leaving her teeth and gums exposed in a permanent grin. You gag, hands scrambling for purchase at the ones around your throat. Jennifer's voice is rough and sounds gurgled when she whispers, as if she's choking on something herself.

"You're my sacrifice."

"No...no..please--don't!"

She presses closer against you, the remnants of what was once her nose brushing yours. "I'll make it fast." She promises.

There's a painful drag of something cold across your throat, a burst of white light filling your vision, and then darkness.

******************************************************************

When you wake again you're on your back surrounded by nothing but dirt. It's dark, a constant pressure against your limbs and chest, clumps of moist soil lodging in your nose and mouth as you panic. You struggle to push through the packed dirt towards the surface. Your hands burst through the ground first and you force your body to follow, fingers clutching at the soil to drag yourself out into the open air. 

You crawl out onto browning grass and roll over onto your back, staring up at the pieces of sky you can see through the forest canopy. It's clear and the moon is out, a crescent of light turned up like a smile against the blue-black of the night sky. You take gasping breaths, blinking away dirt from your eyes as you try to calm your shaking body.

You feel disoriented and....different. Off. Like you're floating in water, having trouble remembering exactly why you just had to crawl out of a hole in the ground. You felt as though you knew, but it was just out of reach, like when you have words on the tip of your tongue. And it was so hard to focus with that buzzing in your ears and there was an awful squeak--You feel the urge to tip your head back slightly, to look up at the tree you were buried beneath. The groaning knotted branches were hypnotic as you closed your eyes to listen. It isn't so bad actually, you think, a strangely peaceful moment blanketing over everything and you revealed in it, feeling as though you could stay here forever. And there it was again...a tugging to look back at the tree.

It was a pull at the back of your consciousness that felt hesitant, almost kind. You tentively push back against it, prodding it gently as it continues to tug at you in return, trying to draw you deeper into that constant buzzing that hadn't left your head yet, seeming as if it was examining you. It gives you harsh mental jab after a few minutes and then there's a rush of...everything. A confusing range of emotion that slam the breath from your lungs. 

There's a flash of searing yellow light, warmth and this tingling pure energy that hums through your nerve endings like liquid fire. It's a good burn, like that rush of affection you sometimes get in your chest for your family and friends. There's the image of ghostly white eyes that flicker like embers on the back of your eye lids, and then there's a burst of sounds from all around you.

You bolt upright wincing at the volume, and urgently begin turning your head from left to right as you clamber to your knees. Your eyes dart around the trees, ears still burning as the sounds taper off just a bit and mingle with a gale of strong smells. Wings...a bird? No an owl. Something earthy, musty, like after a rainstorm or stepping into a really old room. A heavy, smokier scent of wood, like it was being burned for a campfire. The rush of a stream--hadn't that been drained? The sweetness of grass. Engines. Cars. The sickening stench of rotten eggs....car exhaust. The squeak of a bus' brakes and--

Voices.

So many voices.

A mosaic of pitches and tones--laughing, angry, desperate. They flared in volume and you slapped hands over your ears, willing them to quiet. They taper off again and you think that you should follow them. The sounds.

You focus more on the cars in the distance and eventually come across a road, which you follow back into a more suburban part of the city. There's barely anyone on the dim lighted streets, or on the road itself, and you see an old man sitting in a bus shelter. His legs are crossed, newspaper spread open across his lap as his eyes fly over sentence after sentence, large horn rimmed glasses sliding down his nose. 

You walk towards him and clear your throat as you get closer, hoping he might have a phone on him as you can't seem to remember why you can't find yours. When the man catches sight of you he makes a surprised sound, eyes widening comically behind his glasses before he shoves the newspaper aside and, faster than you've ever seen an old man move, he makes a beeline out of the tiny shelter. A tangy smell reaches your nose as he whips around the side farthest away from you, and is fast walking down the street without looking back. You step forward and call out to him.

"Oh, wait! Don't go--shit."

You look down at the newspaper he had left behind and pick up the wrinkled spread, folding it up to find the date. The pungent smell of newsprint makes your nose crinkle. When you find it in the top corner you feel your stomach drop, the date wildly different than you last remember.

"I don't know whether to comment on the dirt or the blood first." The lilting tone is muddled with a light British accent, and you squeak, spinning in the direction of the voice.

It's a girl on the outside the bus shelter, leaning against one of its windows as she peers in at you. You're surprised that you hadn't noticed her until now. She's about your age, tall and lanky, dressed in biker boots, lace and jeans, and has a bob of colourful turquoise hair. Her brown leather jacket is hanging open, a leather choker looped around her neck, and a nose ring glints in the street lights. Her eyes are dark and deep, framed with thin wire glasses, and filled with a playfulness that you not seen in a long while. Her grin is lopsided but wide, tiny crinkles forming in the corners of her eyes. 

Your surprised you can her so well in the dark, details looking just as clear as they would in daylight. You glance down at your tattered sweater, catching your reflection in a window of the bus shelter, as a passing car's headlights dances briefly across the glass. The image of splattered, crusted blood gives you an itch of something familiar in the back of your mind and it all rushes back. Your fingers immediately shoot up to touch the smooth skin of your neck, and you furrow your eyebrows, wondering where the perforated fang marks had gone. You look back at the beautiful, smiling girl, at a loss for a response.

"I, uh..."

"Bad day?"

Your eyes trail down to the newspaper in your hand, "I think it's been longer than that." You mutter, but she seems to hear you, raising an eyebrow. You lightly rustle the paper in her direction, voice sounding strained even to you as you try to make a joking observation. "Did you know people still read newspapers?"

The girl goes to say something but stops herself, electing to ignore your last remark. Instead, she shakes her head and steps into the shelter with you, arms crossed over her chest as she gives you a pointed look. She gently takes the newspaper from your hands, flipping it around so can easily find the date and she purses her lips, expression questioning when her eyes return to your face.   "How long do you think it's been?" She asks curiously. You helplessly shrug, but answer her in a small voice. "Months."

The girl snickers at you, dropping the newspaper back onto the bus shelter's bench. It flutters down as she runs a hand through her hair.  'The people in this city sure know how to have fun."

You catch the double meaning laced in her words when she winks at you, and your mind flicks through what she could possibly be referring too. The only thing you can come up with makes your face heat up with embarrassment. You'd heard of people going on 'fender-benders' before, long stretches of time filled with drugs, alcohol, and sex. But she seriously wasn't suggesting--NO.

"What? No!" You sputter in protest, eyes darting anywhere but her face. "It wasn't--I..."

"You..." She counters.

"I woke up in the ground, underneath some tree. I...I think I...died."

The girl goes quiet, grin drooping a little, her eyebrows raised as she waits for you to elaborate. When you don't and just stare at her in utter terror, shocked that you actually just blurted that out to a total stranger, she regards you with a more interested look. "Well, that's unpleasant." She finally says to break the awkward silence. You laugh nervously.

"Very."

She seems to decide something then and throws an arm over your shoulder. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." You tense, but she smiles at you gently, steering you out of the bus shelter and up the street. Her arms slides away from your body as you both turn a corner and onto another street, and she glances at you sideways. "I'm Noori by the way, Noori Singh." She adds. You peek at her, feeling as if you should reciprocate.

"(Y/N)."  

"You're very trusting, (Y/N)."

"Are you giving me a reason not to be?"

Noori chuckles at the defensive tone, "No, it's just rare nowadays. Don't let go of that quite yet."

"It's been more like a curse lately." You tell her quietly. There's a young couple crossing your path and they stare at you, expressions at least seeming concerned, as you pass them. You flinch and self-consciously pull at the hem of your rather disgusting sweater.  

"Hmmm it can be." Noori agrees. You look at her again, staring at the side of her face as she hums and keeps her gaze trained on the end of the street.

"That doesn't make me feel any better." You deadpan.

"It wasn't meant too."

You huff at her simple answer, glancing around you to find that things on this side of the city seemed different--changed. It had evidently been a while since you'd been here. The tea place had shut down, replaced by a thrifty clothing store. The construction had all but cleared up around the parkette, shiny new metal slides and pits of woodchips making it look more friendly than you remembered. There was a line of newly constructed houses. You had a fleeting thought of your family, and gripped Noori's arm. She stopped walking and turned to you without a word. You gestured in your current, general direction.

"Where are we going?"

Noori started to walk again, waiting for you to catch up before speaking. "Be patient." She says, like it's the simplest thing in the world. You sigh.

"What?"

"You'll see."

Noori leads you down a few more twisting streets until you come across a newly constructed recreation centre, which you can see backs a smaller neighbourhood court, through tiny slits between the houses. The centre itself is pretty small, a dome like building splashed with colours of blue and yellow, the brightness of them clear to you even in the dark. The darkened windows tell you it's completely empty. She hops the metal fence separating the court and the centre, between two houses with enough room to maneuver her body with little effort, pushing off the brick to give her enough momentum to flip over the top. 

You follow her,  curling your fingers through the metal chain links and hoisting yourself up and over in a fluid motion that surprises you. You land on your feet on the other side, and look up to see that Noori is already strutting up to a side entrance facing away from the houses. When you meet her at the double door, she stares at you expectantly. You raise an eyebrow and she motions to the looping chain lock keeping the doors closed. You realize that she wants you to break it, and you turn to her with a puzzled expression.

"This feels very illegal." You inform her. She scoffs.

"It might be....but there's running water and vending machines. You like food right?"

"Okay, I get it."

Noori takes your hands, her skin cold against yours, and draws them slowly to the hanging lock. You shoot her a sceptical look, trying to silently communicate that you wouldn't be able to get the door open with just your bare hands, but she just watches you and waits patiently. You take a deep breath and try to do what she wants, giving the lock a harsh tug. The metal creaks and the lock breaks off into your hands. You stare down at it as the chain looped around the double door's handles rattles and clinks to the pavement below your feet. Noori whoops in delight and playfully pushes your shoulder to get your attention, waving a hand at the door as if she were welcoming you into her home.

"After you, mera dost"

******************************************************************

The shower is warm and calming, and you allow yourself a few moments to just let the water cascade over you, hands bracing your body as you lean forward against one of the shower walls. You dip your head low under the steady stream, letting the rush of water drown out all the elevated sounds. Then with a sigh, you lean back to scrub at your skin vigorously, watching with satisfaction as the water runs a disgusting brownish-red before its drained beneath your feet. 

You let your fingers drift up to graze the wet, unbroken skin where the bite should still be, and you press harder against the skin there in frustration. When you feel you're clean enough, you switch off the shower and snatch the folded towel you had left on a bench in the changing room. You run the fluffy material over your arms and legs before reaching for the clothes Noori had helped you pluck from the 'Lost and Found' bin by the front desk. The t-shirt is white and simple, and is at least three sizes too big for you, but its soft and doesn't smell too bad, just a bit musty. The black and red stripped track pants fit you a little better, and as you pull them up around your hips you notice with amusement that Noori had made sure they matched with a pair of red sneakers. 

Once you were fully dressed, you sling the towel up over the shower wall and walk back towards the large pair of mirrors to the left of the showers stalls, amazed at the difference the shower had made. You looked a little less dead than before.

"Looking good."

You whirl around at her voice and place a hand on your hammering heart. You've come to find that she's very light on her feet, as you didn't even hear her come in. She smiles at you in the darkness of the room, as you had both elected to keep the lights off so no one would come to investigate, and you regard her with surprise.

"Oh--you're still here."

Noori rolls her  eyes, "You told me you crawled out of the ground after dying, there is no way I'm missing this story." She leans up against the side of a locker and looks positively giddy, curiosity evident in her voice. "So, what happened?"

"It's going to sound crazy."

"I'm sure I've heard crazier."

You take a deep breath and decide to just tell her the truth, as she had yet to run away screaming when you so bluntly told her you'd actually, well, died. You choose to stare at a spot on the wall behind her, a laminated poster by the changing room entrance. It has blocky printed lines of text outlining the 'Do's' and 'Don'ts' of a public swimming pool, and you will your voice to stop shaking as you think back to what you last remember. "There was a...werewolf. An Alpha. She bit me and then...This woman found me in some sacred tree place? She...called herself a Druid and then killed me and--I don't know." Noori doesn't say anything and you brave a fleeting look at her face. She's nodding as if she completely understands, and you find your fingers once again drawn back to touch the space between your neck and shoulder. 

You dare to utter the few words you'd been relentlessly shoving to the back of your mind, too horrified to know the answer. Your chest constricts in fear and you feel a bit light headed,  the tiniest prickles of panic creeping up your spine.  

"Am I..."

Noori cocks her head to the side and speaks softly, "I think you know. Though you seem to be a little different."

"What?"

"Your eyes."

You press your fingers against the skin underneath your eyes and turn quickly to face the mirror, breath catching in your throat as you take in the haunting purple glow. They're bright and luminous, like you were wearing little neon violet contacts, and the small prickle of panic you had just felt earlier spreads into a swirling wildfire of terror. You feel like you're about to have a heart attack; there's a tingling sensation rushing into your fingers, the pulsing of blood in your ears, heartbeat in your throat, breaths coming in short, pained gasps.

Noori is there, turning you gently. Her cold hands raise goosebumps along your skin as she cups your face and speaks clearly, calmly, and you close your eyes as you listen to her through the alarm. "It's okay, just breathe. Slowly....slower. With me. Aaraam--You're going be okay, just breathe." She sounds maternal and composed, as if she's done this a hundreds of times, and it's infinitely soothing as you regulate your breaths with her guidance. 

Her hands slowly drop from your face and drag lightly in feather light touches down your arms, before pulling away totally after a few moments. You blink at her, not completely calm but more in control of your body now. You turn to look in the mirror again and are relieved to see the purple glow is gone for now. You look up at Noori through the mirror.

"My eyes just looked like glow sticks. To be honest, I don't feel very calm."

"It's normal." She tells you. When you look at her in disbelief she softly laughs, hands on her hips as she explains. "There are different colours that mean a different status. Red is Alpha, yellow...well, normal, like for a Beta or an Omega. Blue means you've killed an innocent."

"And purple?"

"That's...something to figure out."

You furrow your eyebrows at her hesitation, feeling lost at the strange glint of indecision in her eyes. "You'd tell me if you knew right?" You ask warily. Noori immediately nods, smiling at you again, and the glint is gone.

"Of course."

You break the following silence, stepping away from the mirror. "How do you know so much about werewolves? Are you..." She seems to understand your unspoken question well enough, raising her eyebrows.

"What? Oh...no. I don't think I could handle all that pack business. I am like you though." She adds coolly, motioning to herself and then you. "A supernatural being."

"Which is?" You prompt her.

"Shepashiphtar. A Shapeshifter. I can change my shape however I want." Noori blinks at you and suddenly her eyes are glowing pink, a rosy colour that reminds you of cotton candy . You stare in awe as she lifts her hands and runs them through her hair, the turquoise strands turning purple in their wake. She then raises a hand in front of her, turning it from side to side so you can get a good look at it as tiny grey feathers prick through her skin, covering the back of her hand up to the tips of her fingers as she flexes them. They sink back after a few seconds, her eyes fading back to their normal colour, and she grins excitedly at you, looking proud of her little demonstration. You reach out to take her hand, peering closely at the newly featherless skin.

"That's really cool. Does it hurt?"

"No, just feels...it itches mostly."

You let go of her hand, remembering the changes you'd most likely be going through soon. "Is it going to be painful?" You ask her. She follows the new direction of thought easily.

"The change? The first few times it can, but once you get the hang of everything it's not so bad. Or so I've been told."

"Told?"

"I've been around--all over the world. I've had the opportunity to meet some werewolves here and there. I was even friends with some once upon a time." Noori gets a faraway look in her eyes, adoration clear in her expression as she continues. "There's was this one...had trouble with her emotions a lot of the time. Anger, mostly. I taught her some tricks I picked up in my travels, to balance herself. Meditation, mantras."  

Noori's gaze finds yours.

"And I can teach you." She promises. You take a moment to think about it, but are already sure about your answer.

"Alright, I don't really have much else to go on. What's lesson one?"  

"Question often. Pay attention to your surroundings." She smiles, "Sometimes we forget to look beyond what we see."

******************************************************************

It had been a little less than six months since you'd been back.

Within the first week, you discovered that after months of painstaking searches, your family had moved away from the city with broken hearts and lost hope, believing you to be truly gone--dead. You had to admit to yourself--somewhat bitterly--that they hadn't been wrong. You also hadn't had the heart or the energy to track them down yet. You were afraid of their reactions, or hurting them in some way with your new life. Terrified that they had just simply moved on. 

You decided to stay with Noori, the both of you moving out to another Californian city an hour away, hoping to leave everything in the past for now. Among the traveling and the settling, she tells you that you're still part werewolf, because you definitely smell like one. She laughs when you get defensive, clarifying that it wasn't meant to be an insult. She reasons that you need to learn to control yourself and teaches you a Buddhist mantra you can use in to manage your primal urges and more violent nature, your heightened senses and intense emotions, to learn to hide yourself away from the general public and their curious eyes. 

And on each full moon that passes, she takes you to an abandoned bomb shelter she'd found on the edge of the woods, making sure you've locked yourself inside for the night, and stays to speak to you through the door. But the mantra only works for so long before the change becomes too much.

All things considered, it doesn't necessarily go well.  

You see other things now too, though at first you thought you were just loosing your mind. But you learned quickly that they were very real. They wandered, dipped in and out of reality, and didn't talk much, and almost always they'd watch you from a far. Some with bruised under eyes and inquisitive expressions. Others with grotesque injuries on display, if that's how they died. It's like they knew you could see them, but you pretended not to. 

The braver spirits even followed you sometimes, looking as though they expected you to say or do something. And when you didn't--or couldn't--they'd seem desperate and infinitely sad. They made you anxious and jittery, and your mind heavy with static until there were nights when you couldn't fall asleep. You tried talking to one once. He was angry and irrational, one of ones that actually did a fair bit of talking--yelling, really--to people who couldn't even hear him out on the streets. He was obviously in great emotional pain even in death, and you could feel it like smoke, tangible in between your fingers and against your skin, the taste and smell something so terribly spicy it burned the back of your throat. So you wanted to help. And he made it apparent that he didn't want you too. 

The commotion drew others nearby and they crowded you in excitement. Their voices churned about you, flashes of images ringing in your head , until you blacked out from the pressure of them and woke up in the back of an ambulance an hour later.

You tried to block them all out after that.

You spent a lot of time looking for work during the day and slept in a city shelter at night, but it was hard to appear normal when you're crowded into small spaces with little room, where people give you strange looks and seem to sense you're different from them. Noori disappeared during the day sometimes, but always returned at night. You didn't really want to question her, afraid you wouldn't like what you find. You spend a few months like this, until one day you come across a boy your age, in the parking lot of the local music hall. He's struggling with loading cases of musical equipment into the back of a moving van, and he's impressed with your strength when you help him with the large amps.

You find you like him when you start talking to get to know each other because he's very friendly, and he explains how he'd graduated early from a high school in a different city and moved when things got too crazy in his life. He was now taking some time off to decide what he wanted to do at college. You tell him about your job dilemma, and the next day he helps you get hired as a clerical assistant for the hospital that he volunteers at. When you thank him profusely he waves you off and jokes that  he's a natural born charmer, so it wasn't really a big deal. And although you agree with the first part, you find out from a few co-workers that he had insistently put in a good word for you with the staff,  and you think that you could never fully express how much you appreciated his kindness. 

He becomes your friend from then on, and you hang out every day if there's a chance. Soon, you get monthly pay checks and spend what little money you make on food and clothes, a rented car and gas for it, bathroom essentials and blankets, but don't make enough to rent a place in the city. Both you and Noori sleep in the car, until one night things change for the better.

You're woken out of a dream. It's filled with that blinding yellow light that's haunted you constantly and chattering voices, the pull to that strange old tree feeling weaker than it had in months. And then with a snap, a throbbing just in behind your eyes, the constant buzzing since waking back up all goes away. You're jolted awake at the sudden quiet, at the same time a knock sounds at the car window. The figure outside raps on the window again and then opens the back door to look in, his expression hard as he shines the light of his cell phone into the car.

"This doesn't seem comfortable." He points out.

You squint up at him drowsily, kicking the blanket down your legs and pulling back the hood of your hoodie as you sit up, voice thick with sleep.

"Danny?"

Noori groans from her place curled up in the front seat, lifting her head to better see what was going on, before rolling her eyes and turning over to face away from the open door. "Kutsit narak." She mutters under her breath. Her tone is sour and you sigh, dropping your head into the palm of your hands.

Danny slips his phone back into the deep pocket of his jacket, leaning against the open door as he takes in the mess of the backseat: sprawled blankets and clothes, plastic bags full of cheap convince store food and bottles of shampoo and liquid soap, a small backpack at your feet. The bag is open and he draws it towards him before you can protest, nudging it open a little farther to see what was inside--a few weathered books, your own cell phone, and a new pair of white running shoes for work. He looks up to glare around the interior of the car, his eyes softening when they return to you.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I...I didn't think..."

"This isn't your car is it?" Danny asks, though he sounds as if he already knows the answer. You slide towards him across the backseat until your legs can dangle outside the open door, and he steps back. You feel your face heat up, picking at the end of your fraying sleeve to avoid the intensity of his concern.

"It's rented." You offer lamely.

Danny glances at the obvious dents along the front bumper, smaller ones lining the door trim under the driver's side. He cocks an eyebrow.

"I can see that."

Noori flops around again, brushing hair out of her eyes as she reaches for her glasses on the dashboard, and sits up with a dejected sigh. "Is this conversation going to go anywhere?" She inquires. Her attitude is sharp and unfriendly, and Danny ducks further into the car, shifting to peek into the front seat when you cut Noori a warning look. He narrows his eyes to see through the dark, before finally staring back down at you . His voice is more gentle when he speaks now.

"Come on, let's get out of here. Up. Get up, come on."

"What? Where are we going?"

He helps to pull you to your feet, ducking back into the car to hand you your backpack. You take it from him, clutching it to your chest as you stare. He drapes an arm around your shoulders and smiles, gesturing to his car which you realized was parked just down the street.  

"Your my friend, I'm helping." He says simply. "I have a spare room in my apartment and you're going to take it. Grab anything else you want to take with you."

You can already hear Noori muttering in Hindi as she stretches and rustles around in the front seat. You feel overcome with adoration, warmth flourishing in your chest, and  you surge forward to loop your arms around Danny's neck, squeezing him in a delighted hug.

"Thank you."

[seriousfic]

Justice League

Spoilers.

To paraphrase the old adage, you can buy a lot of things—movie stars, CGI, the director of your biggest competitor’s corresponding movie—but you can’t buy taste. I was going to split this post up into a few different parts, but I really don’t have that much to say about it. Yeah, I hated Ragnarok more because of how it wasted its plot and took a shit on its canon—it had far more tools in its toolbox and far more momentum going and even a better playbook, as Geoff Johns is no Walt Simonson. JL isn’t much more of a movie, but it’s mostly just workmanlike and borderline competent. It’s a course correction in a movie series that seems to be nothing but course corrections.

One of the few interesting things about this movie is Wonder Woman’s introductory action scene, or at least the sociopolitical/metafictional aspects of it. Terrorists—led by a dead ringer for Frank Miller—attack a museum in Britain, making you wonder what the escapist fantasy is here exactly. That England too suffers from armed gunmen attempting mass shootings (fuck your gun control laws, libcucks!) or that the terrorists are white and apparently Christian, advocating for a return to the Dark Ages and planning suicide bombings… but not, ya know, in a racially uncomfortable Muslim way. And, in either case, beat up by Wonder Woman moving at superspeed, which weirdly never comes up again considering that another main character’s shtick is superspeed.

 That, and there’s the strange optics of Jason Momoa playing an Atlantean from Greek myth, who now is a representative of Polynesian culture, but who hangs out in Iceland. Maybe Batman Vs. Superman did poorly only in the Pacific Island, Iceland, and Greece, and they decided to hit all those boxes at once.

After an opening action scene where he’s clean-shaven, Bruce grows a beard to meet with Aquaman, then immediately shaves it off—indicating, what, a month-long break in the action at the very start of the film? Or maybe this Batman is so masculine that he grows a full beard every three days.

We’re told that the villain—having been defeated thousands of years ago—is returning now because Superman is dead. Superman, who was only on Earth for two years. Yeah, I’m not sure anyone gets how time works in this movie.

It strikes me as downright sick and wrong—not kidding here—that a lengthy subplot in this movie involves Frankensteining Superman back from the dead. Not only that, but afterwards he’s not just confused, but comes to his senses and is actively homicidal towards Batman. It’s good to see Superman get a W as small as being able to clean the rest of the team’s clocks, but downright weird to have that moment be in a big “we need to team up!” movie (apparently, no, you just need Superman) and sordidly unpleasant to have Superman act so cruelly, even temporarily, in a film that’s trying to position him as a figure of hope.

Jason Momoa basically plays himself. Gal Gadot reads cue cards. Ezra Miller plays the neurotic nerd from every Joss Whedon show ever, only at least Topher didn’t shamelessly mug every five seconds (if I have to see Ezra Miller’s bug-eyed ‘ain’t I a stinker?’ face one more time…). Cyborg’s guy is alright, but—

Why do the Parademons/Steppenwulf/Cyborg all need to be CGI? The Parademons are basically Orcs. Can’t they just be guys in make-up? Since Cyborg spends a lot of scenes in a hoodie with just his face showing, why not at least make those facial prosthetics into actual make-up? He looks worse than Robocop did 30 years ago, by a lot. Why does Steppenwolf need to be CGI, or played by Ciaran Hinds for that matter? Just find a big guy, put some make-up on him, there… you’ve got a villain.

Cyborg is basically the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle in this, being infected with alien technology belonging to invaders that can occasionally take control of him and makes him untrustworthy. It makes you wonder why they didn’t just use Jaime, since he’s still a minority, not as strongly associated with the Teen Titans, and probably would even look better on screen.

For some reason, one of the few jokes/moments of actual levity in the movie, where Superman and Cyborg share a laugh after accomplishing a difficult and painful feat, is immediately followed by Wonder Woman calling them children. I guess she’s not into people bonding and being happy now that she’s discovered ‘being a total bitch’.

A lot of the plot is just reheated samples from the two Avengers movies. The team gets brought together. They fight among themselves. They argue about creating the Vision/resurrecting Superman. They might as well say “We have a Superman.” I know these elements are pretty archetypal for the superhero genre, but it’s clear Whedon doesn’t have much unique to bring to the table for these characters and this adventure. It comes off like a reunion tour playing old hits for the umpteenth time.

It’s painful the familiarity this movie assumes with its own unexplained, unexamined mythos. The Atlanteans and Mera just show up and start talking about their backstory with Aquaman like oh, yeah, Aquaman’s mom was the Queen of Atlantis and she abandoned him as a child and I guess… somehow he ended up in Iceland! Also, Atlanteans are a thing. And so are Parademons and the Speed Force. I swear, half the team doesn’t have origins or any explanation for their powers. You can say the same of Avengers expecting the audience to have seen the solo movies, but at least there were movies to see there.

They really should’ve picked a different, less complicated villain to spotlight, since this is a horrible introduction to the Fourth World (so much for the amazing sounding Anti-Life Equation, now we’re all about “Unity”. Watch out, that villain is going to come out with his own brand of bottled water!) and nothing about his generic plan really requires him to be literally the least interesting FW character imaginable. Just get Mongul or Starro, anything but cut-rate Loki (he even has the horned helmet!).

Okay, I did like that Whedon flipped the bird to all the fangirls het up over Age of Ultron and recreated the ‘Bruce Banner falls on Black Widow’s boobs’ scene. That was punk rock. Probably the only genuinely bold creative decision in the movie...

The stinger teases us with more of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, which seems less like a tease and more like the surgeon general’s warning on a pack of cigarettes.

Ezra Miller runs like Lamar in Revenge of the Nerds.

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 27+28.11.20 lbs

27.11.20

lmao i was gonna get suuuuuuper mad at kabir for being in her room but then he’s like:

“hi.”

....................... and i instantly snorted happily. vishal is realllllllllly just so likable that i just can’t with him anymore. i love when adorable marshmallows like him and shrenu play evil. you just cannot fucking hate them!

blah blah humaara kamra, mera kamra nonsense.

shaadi ka joda gift. with that tackyyyyyyyyyyyyassss KABIR KI RIDDHIMA written on it. main marr jaooon par kabhi bhi aisa kuch na pehnoon, no matter how much i love the guy.

“kuch hi derr mein tum VANSH ki riddhima se, KABIR ki riddhima ho jaogi.” coz even in 2020, women are nothing but chattel to be passed on from one man to another.

riddhima is thinking fat chance, bitch.

telling him she’ll never wear red for him, coz “laal pyaar ka rang hota hai, aur main sirf ek insaan se pyaar karti hoon, aur woh hai vansh.”

“toh yeh bhi vansh ke paise se hi liya hai.” lmaooooooooo

ghani beizzati by saying she’s already bought a joda for herself, a white one. which honestly looks muchhhhhhhhhh nicer than the red one acc. to me but ok.

vansh checking his account balance and seeing that there’s charges for two wholeass designer jodas bought for a shaadi that’s not even gonna happen:

anyway kabir’s like ok who cares, colour doesn’t matter, shaadi toh tumhari honi hai mujhse blah blah.

kabir doesn’t like mandap setup. coz all white. and apparently aryan was in charge of it? coz he’s getting dragged by the collar for it.

good. i don’t feel any sympathy.

ishani is like dekh liya nateeeja iss loserrrrrrrr ki khushaamad karne ka? when has vansh ever treated you like this no matter how mad he’s gotten at you? he always protected you.

behen kyun bhains ke aage been bajaa rahi ho? yeh manhoos baaz nahi aana.

ishani flounced away and aryan’s now vowing revenge against kabir. abbe yaar, tera list toh kabhi khata hi nahi hota.

why the fuck are these ppl soooooooooo dressed up for a wedding they don’t even want to participate in? itna toh main apni genuine shaadi ke liye naa sajjjjjjoon.

suddenly ishani is allllll about bado ka sammaaan and parampara, pratishthaaaaa, anushaasan and all. lmao ok?????

tod di choodi uski kalaayi par. jaisa bhai, waisiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii hi behen.

shaadi mubarak indeed. lol.

riddhima’s calling vihaan and freakingout ki woh paise leke bhaag gaya. you are so fucking stupid sis, why would you give him that much fucking money BEFORE HE EVEN SHOWED THE FUCK UP??????????

“tum thodi weird nahi ho????” bhai obvious sawaal naa pooch.

anyway he’s like calm yo tits, untwist your panties, i’ll get there on time.

kabir instead of fixing his maatam waala mandap is back skulking around vihaan’s container box house. ladki ko shaadi karni bhi nahi hai and she’s sitting there ready from 3 hours before, aur yeh, jissko shaadi ki utaavli chadhi thi, is out doing randomassssss jasoosi, coz that’s the priority rn. sounds legit. 

VIHAAN THE DUMBASS TOOK OFF THE CCTV CAMERA AND PACKED IT. GOD YOU’RE ALLLLLLLLLLL FUCKING AQAL KE DUSHMAN IN THIS SHOW.

kabir sneaking in with gunnnnnnn.

how the fuck am i supposed to take him seriously with these bachchon waale sports shoes?!!?!?!? GIVE THE MAN HIS COMBAT BOOTS BACK SO HELP ME GODDDDDD

he’s peeking in the door and making some threatening statements about oh ho yeh hai tumhara plan, main sab khatammmmm kar doonga and all, but we never see wtf he’s looking at and this show is fulllllllllllll of red herrings, so........ idc.

riddhima putting on previous mangalsutra for this wedding and..... guts toh hai bandi main. badiii dheent hai.

mummy coming and saying blah blah usse utaar do this is your new mangalsutra and lmaoooooooooooooo

this is the tackiest fucking shit i’ve ever seen in my life. what’s with their obsession of putting their name on everything!?!!!?!!? what are you, an eight grader?!?!!?!?

anyway, bored with this ainvayi ki dhamki waala scene, fwding.

blah blah 2 ghante mein kaunsa chamatkaar hona hai and all......... WHY ARE YOU PPL SO DAMN OVERCONFIDENT????

meanwhile kabir is back and now harassing dadi. KISI KO TOH AKELA CHOD DE.  

actually, lmao, i’d love to see him go try this shit on ishani and angre. it would be fucking glooooooooooorious lololololol.

anyway, he wants dadi’s aashirwaad in the form of vansh’s saafa (pagdi/turban). ABBE YAAAAAAAAAAR. USKE UNDERWEAR DRAWER SE JAAKE USKI CHADDI BHI LEKE PEHEN. ITNAAAAAAAAA WANNABE VILLAIN MAINE AAJ TAK NAHI DEKHA. HADHHHHHHH HAI.

chikni chupdi baatein ki i’m just trying to be the son vansh was to this house. if i wear his saafa, it’s like uski aashirwaad aur duaein meri saath hongi.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PICTURE VANSH’S FACE IS LITERALLY LIKE

anyway dadi is like really really fucking hurt by this and my god i wanna fucking murder kabir.

she’s literally telling him to pick anything else, it’s vansh’s nishaani and he’s like aap sab ke paas koi na koi nishaani hai, mere paas apne bhai ki koiiiiiiiii nishaani nahi hai blah blah and oh my god, this is truly the most villainous thing kabir has done, being thisssssss fucking emotionally manipulative. the absolute fuckkkkkkkk.

ugh anyway long story short. baandh diya dadi ne ukso saafa. bloody nonsense.

poor dadi phoot phoot ki ro rahi hai ki she’s losing vansh bit by bit. awwwww man it’s genuinely heartbreaking.

riddhima has witnessed this and is about to fuckkkkkk shit up lolll. 

lmaoooooooooooo dayum.

wtf is your problem, i’m marrying you, why are you torturing the fam like this blah blah. kabir like physical, emotional, moral sabbbbbbbbbbb tarah se tod ke rakh doonga inn sabko and ugh god i just really fucking hate him.

but damn he just looks really good in this sherwani and hair all mussed up.

anyway he’s doing some real messed-up, genocidal dictator kinda talk and phew. is just askinggggggggg to be murdered.

and then lmao he abruptly switched to “bohut khoobsurat lag rahi ho tum; time kya ho raha hai???? ooooooh ek ghanta baaki hai.” and i legittttttt lol’d at the way he delivered it. I HATE VISHAL FOR NOT LETTING ME HATE KABIR IN PEACEEEEEEEEE.

riddhima panic-calling vihaan, wants to go check on him. mummy ne pakad liya, room mein badh kar diya coz K told her to handle riddhima’s bhagodi dulhan ways.

great. riddhima’s having a breakdown.

motivational call from the choti sarrdaarni. she kinda just looks like a tall baby shivangi joshi had with aditi dev sharma????

le, doosre show waale heroine ko bhi pata hai kabir kameena hai, iss show mein 3 episode pehle pata chala issko.

ok is the choti sarrdaarni delusional and having a make-believe phone call with the protagonist of her favt tv show IMMJ, coz she knows waaaaay more details than even the people in this house know about the plot and what went down. she’s talking about how vansh aakhri pal tak ladta raha and riddhima’s like huh, news to me, i just got there in time to see him spout some ghatiya shayari and then throw himself off a cliff.

anyway riddhima seems to have gotten strength from this deranged phone call, so............. good for her, i guess.

———————————————————————

28.11.20

next ep just abruptly started with kabir and mummy in riddhima’s room threatening her and i just.......... dude, whatever. i’m just gonna skim through this ep coz i know it’s just filler shit till literally the last 1 minute. 

OK HE’S MANHANDLING HER AGAIN AND FUCKKKKKKKKKKK

dang helly looked evennnnnnnn younger in the first eps. legit baby face. at least now they’ve aged her up a lil with the makeup and styling.

he’s saying don’t bother waiting, no one is gonna come. OH BOY. VIHAAN ARE YOU OK????? ARE YOU OK??????? ARE YOU OK VIHAAN?!?!?!?!?

cue riddhima’s panic attack.

lmao kabir telling mummy ki iss shaadi mein ab koi speedbreaker nahi hai lol. heavy foreshadowing that ab se everything that can go wrong is definitely gonna go wrong.

suddenly at the speed of light kabir is back at the container home in his sherwani and saafa and holding vihaan at gunpoint????

oh. sapna tha riddhima ka. ouff. this stupid show has tooooo fucking many dream sequences.

someone give this bitch a klonopin coz watching her is making my anxiety shoot up.

mummy comes into room 2 min later and sees riddhima sleeping ghoongattttt and all. SURE. NOT SUS AT ALL THAT A BRIDE DYING OF ANXIETY WOULD TAKE A NAP 30 MIN BEFORE THE CEREMONY IN FULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL OUTFIT. TOTALLY A THING THAT HAPPENS.

DUDE SHE PULLED A NURSE WAALI HARKAT AGAIN. LMAOOOOOOOOO. KISKO SULAAAAAKE AAYI HAI TU, AAFAT?!?!?!!?

askdjasldkjlsakdjlaskjdlaskjdlaskjdlkas. ALSO THE FACT THAT MUMMY RECOGNIZED HER FROM HER PRESS ON NAILS. LMAOOOOOOOOOO I CAN’T EVEN WITH THIS SHOW.

LMAO RIDDHIMA YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

lol mummy has to call and give bad news to kabir. and i am sad we didn’t get to see his volcanic reaction, which no doubt would have been epicccccccccccc.

10 MINUTES TO THE CEREMONY. VR MANSION IS 20 MIN AWAY FROM THE CONTAINER HOUSE (AS STATED BY V BEFORE) AND THIS SIS IS...........

RE DEVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

she finally got in and the whole place is empty. he practically lives in a storage unit, you telling me he went and moved his stuff to a whole different storage unit?????

new freakout within the pre-existing panic attack: kabir ne vihaan ko saaf kar diya ya vihaan paise leke bhaag gaya??

cut to fb: riddhima asking V all earnestly ki tum dhoka toh nahi doge na????

HIS ASS ACTUALLY SAID, LEMME TELL YOU A FACT ABOUT ME: I LOVE MY MOM. I SWEAR ON HER I WON’T BETRAY YOU. 

AND SHE STILL DIDN’T GET THAT HE’S VANSH. MY GODDDDDDDD.

she’s like nope vihaan gave mummy promise so he won’t give dhoka. ah yes, the most sacred and inviolable of promises.

toh bacha alternative ki kabir has vihaan. 4th simultaneous panic attack in a panic attack. someone sedate this bitch.

aaaaaaaaaand kabir has sent a video of a bomb in VR mansion below the mandap. great.

and now he’s calling to say ki get your ass back home or imma scramble these eggheads called the raisinghanias.

lmao the bomb is counting forwards instead of backwards????

mummy saying MY BETA SMAAAAAARTEST. haan, tha..... kisi zamaane mein. ab nihaayati bewakoof ho gaya hai.

lmao kabir accosted a passing by angre and is like you need to be loyal to me as you were to vansh and lol angre’s like saaf saaf shabdon mein, fuckkkkkkk off.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO KABIR WENT TO HURL THE NAARIYAL AT ANGRE’S RETREATING HEAD HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA MAN HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO HATE HIM HE’S SO FUCKING HILARIOUS

lmao he goes to phodofy naariyal and:

abhi bappa ko huullllllllll de raha hai. overconfidence ki hadh toh dekho.

riddhima is back and hunting for the bomb and kabir comes bouncing the fake bomb around and she’s legit like TUMNE MUJHSE JHOOOOOT BOLA?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!? lol bitch, seriously???? because he’s been the paragon of truth and virtue up until this moment??????

“apna hulia sudhaar ke aao. 5 min mein mrs. kabir banne waali ho. thoda standard toh match karo.” lmaooooo the sasss and disdaaaaaain he said that withhhhhh. boy knows he’s looking damn good today.

anyway blah blah shaadi has started. dadi is sad af. to the point where ishani is looking really concerned. i really love this soft ishani.

“kaash samay ka paiyya ulta ghoom jaaye aur mera vansh wapis aa jaaye mere paas.”

dadi, shoulda asked for world peace instead. just the one wish you had and you wasted it on getting your hellion pota back. 

some more in-room threatening of riddhima by mummy. while riddhima is throwing out last minute prayers to bappa and vihaan ki bas just do something and stop this whole shitshow.

vihaan ka toh pata nahi, the shady fuck, but bappa like:

i gotchu girl.

bhaari bhaari flashback waali walk down the stairs.

HE EVEN SAID THE MAA LINE AS VIHAAN IN THE VANSH VOICE. SHE GOTTA BE SOOOOO FUCKING STUPID MY GODDDDDDD.

ouffffff so much time wasteeeeeeeeeee.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand....................

watch that he was wearing while falling off the cliff? ✅✅✅

wedding ring that was not found on the dead body????? ✅✅✅

“YEH SHAADI NAHI HO SAKTI” booooooooming across the whole damn neighbourhood in the fakest deep voice everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr???? ✅✅✅

———————————————————————

precap:

haan yeh sab toh theek hai.............. 😕😕😕

par asli sexxxxxxxxx waali chemistry idhar hai!!!!!!!! UNFFFFFF. 🤩🤩🤩

[dawnofspeed]

so i went and saw ‘justice league’ with my li’l bro and bestie tonight.

spoilers ahead.

i want to preface my entire thing with saying that lately i’ve felt conflicted about joss wheedon’s work (and even unrelated with the deadpool 2 movie) because of joss’ whole ‘i’m a feminist but the reason i’ve been horrible to women is the patriarchy’ (and with deadpool 2 the whole... forcing a stunt person to do a stunt they weren’t ready for and got them killed).  But also as a filmmaker i know that there are tons of people who work on these films that have nothing to do with those things, so i’ve decided to keep them at the back of my mind and just focus on these slightly problematic films on their own merit. (no i won’t talk about dp2 in this. it’s just been on my mind bc i saw the new trailer and spoke to my bestie, another film graduate, about the issues with stuff tonight and yeah. soz.) ALSO PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING ARE OPINIONS. if you like something i don’t, that’s great. all the power to you. i am literally just writing thoughts and opinions and i only just finished a film degree so... y’know. not an expert.

moving on.

i loved a lot of this movie. as a whole it was a great ensemble piece. the cast was solid, the acting was solid, the script was solid. the plot worked well. i think it accomplished setting up the justice league, introducing us to characters and their backstories while driving the story forward. i also liked that it really seemed to know its source material and kept to the actual point- superhero movies shouldn’t be completely dark. they can be fun, they can be funny, they can be hopeful. whatever problems i have with joss wheedon as a person and the things he’s said and done, i think he can write and direct well. and he knows what he’s doing. the few women in the film he also balanced well. i didn’t feel like he was ‘buffy’ing any of them (something he sorta did with kitty pryde in his astonishing x-men, as much as i loved it. although that could also be because buffy was sorta based off kitty, joss’ fave x-men character). 

i enjoyed all most of the characters. the whole justice league was great (alfred included, c’mon, he’s totally a team member at this point). i do think that diana was different in this film than her wonder woman one, there was just a different tone but you can also kinda just explain that away as this is post-steve trevor, it’s been a while since the events of ww, and that’s just what it is now. towards the end of the movie it felt more tonally in sync with her in ww, so that may be it. also bats pushing diana to lead the team? i loved that.  i’ve never known much about victor but i found his story intriguing in this, he was fun, and my reservations about him being in the flash film are totally squashed now. i maintain that batfleck is my favourite of all batmen. this movie sealed it for me and i definitely enjoy his performance more than any that came before him. i mean. i enjoyed michael keaton but he was just never totally batman for me. clark was SO much better in this movie. he was light, and funny, and 100% the superman i actually love. i didn’t want him brought back to life and then afterwards?? i was like?? nah, you’re right, clark IS a good guy. how have i never seen this before? i just hated dceu superman before this film. arthur curry is cool. i have never been a massive aquaman fan. i didn’t hate atlantis. but i just... didn’t really care? then. they made him cool, and fun, and so much potential. i’m intrigued about his backstory. i wanna know more. i wanna unpack his personality. just. wow.  but the standout? barry all the way. i was a bit anxious about how they were going to do it. i love ezra, but we’ve seen so many iterations of barry at this point that i was just really worried about what aspects they’d keep and how they’d navigate his background and his powers. but they did an amazing job. they kept his sense of humour while also maintaining his kindness, his intelligence, his zest for life and i love how even when he’s terrified he goes out of his way to do the right thing. added to his ‘i assume he’s an attractive jewish guy’ when he’s talking about his security footage. i just. love him. i do think some of his qualities are wally west?? like??? but my brother kept insisting that in the early comics barry was very playful and jokey, not just puns and dad jokes, so i’m inclined to believe him.  also alfred was a+++ i love him. alfred forever. so that clears up most of the mains. plot? well i’m gonna be honest. i know... very little about darkseid and any of that stuff in the comics. i did think it was a great way to bring in both atlantians and amazons. and that cheeky green lantern reference at the beginning. and my brother swears he saw hercules but i only know marvel’s hercules so?? i??? dunno???? i also think it had high stakes, a ticking time frame, gave them the ability to bring superman back AND create a justice league. all while never trying to cram more than one actual plotline into a film. (like. a LOT of other dc movies.) i was happy with it. i never felt like it ran too long or i got bored or any of that so i’m. yeah. great.  also loved that no one was forced into a freakin’ love interest or hampered from saving the world or anything by romance. did think that clark waited way too long to meet up with them for the end battle. like. did he spend all that time making a new goddamn suit? what? got a hair cut? like. why did it take you so long? you’re SUPERMAN. lois told you ages ago to get moving and help out. did you spend all that time like chatting with your mum? also, sidenote: thank you trailers for not spoiling this film. i didn’t expect the superman rebirth. i went in just knowing the jl was gonna kick butt somewhere and we were gonna get introduced to them all. the marketing on this film was spot on, and i loved that surprise and being pulled through the whole movie trying to guess what the hell was gonna happen. double thumbs up. ok. i will go over the things i didn’t like. which were very few. but first i kinda wanna talk about a few other cast/character things. i’m gonna be honest. not a massive fan of amy adams as lois lane. besides the fact that to me she doesn’t look like lois lane, and doesn’t embody (TO ME) anything that lois does... she also (TO ME) doesn’t have any chemistry with henry cavill. i don’t feel a thing. sometimes i might be like awwwww, cute. but that’s more of the situation rather than any emotions i get off of them. but that’s kinda nitpicky here as she was already cast as that character and no one was going to change that for the justice league. i will admit i felt more for her in this film than any of the others, and i enjoyed her more than in the others. but she was still... not lois.  now... amber heard as mera. i will admit that amber looks like mera. and i enjoyed her limited performance and i’m sure she’ll do a great job in the aquaman film and i hold nothing against her. but. if arthur curry doesn’t need to look like comic arthur curry than. why does mera? we only had three women in the whole movie, really. two had limited parts. mera could have been a woc. she could have been not supermodel gorgeous as amber is. (i love amber i do but... who looks that goddamn gorgeous?) already the entire film felt like impossible standards of women. the amazons are varied in body shapes yes, but those costumes. then mera is AMBER. and gal is. gal. i just. there are so many races on earth. asian and hispanic women (and people) exist. not that the movie... shows that... at all.  in fact, between the dceu and the mcu there’s one hispanic character on the movie screen. and he isn’t even a superhero (yeah, the friend of antman’s. and no i’m not counting netflix. that’s not a movie screen. yes rosario dawson is awesome.) heck the cw only added a hispanic woman in the last year. before that cisco was pretty much on his lonesome. wait. that might not be right. i’m sure arrow had a guest star that moved to lot... meh. i don’t keep up anymore.  all i’m saying is... if mera had been cast woc then that would have continued right on through to aquaman too.  but i have nothing against both amber and amy. they’re doing their jobs and i wish them all the best and i will try and enjoy it as much as possible.  my few criticisms:

- ... not a big fan of the costume design. i was so confused about wonder woman’s until i remembered it was probably the one from bvs which i hated. i have no idea what was happening with superman’s. batman’s was fine. flash was fine. cyborg’s was fine. loved aquaman’s (and mera’s). the amazonians? what? why???? you could tell it was a male designer. every vital organ was pretty much on show and it was all sexy, just like how wonder woman’s skirt was shortened and the front was like almost a loincloth. just. no. 

- production design was ok? like there were very few standouts to me. batcave was pretty good, the flash cave, and anything with aquaman’s fishing village. pretty sure that was filmed in new zealand tho and those guys are on point with their pd. studying their stuff over there, man. pd orgasm tbh. ever since lord of the rings those guys are just amazing.

- camera work was great at times and then just weird in others. i think that had a lot to do with cgi demands, which i’ll get to in a minute. 

- the lighting? i mean yes, each scene requires different lighting depending on the place, time of day, people and props... but. there’s this one scene in the field with clark and lois and i was like. confused because it felt like they got first year film students to light it. it was off. and if they were trying to reproduce a field at sunset in a studio with green screen that might make sense but to me it didn’t feel like a gs scene. 

- which brings me to my next point. cgi and green screen. there felt like a lot of it in the movie. pretty sure the fight after clark is revived is green screen. the entire last battle has so much cgi that i felt like it was avengers on steroids. also kinda felt like i was watching a video game with like real people pasted in. and while i get WHY it was like that i also felt like. there could have been ways to do it differently. when i watch stranger things i know there’s cgi. but i never get that feeling, that i’m watching a video game. which is important. because i want to stay sunk into the film. not be thrown out and feel like a different medium has taken over. my challenge for jl2? keep me in the film. find a way to make the sfx stay real. possibly a nitpick but like i said, this is my opinion. so that’s it. that’s my long ass dissection and feels and thoughts. i am so looking forward to every solo movie and also being introduced to iris west and atlantis more. im me or d/cord if you wanna chat about anything or if we’re not pals you can send me a q via askbox.

[larsonbrie]

Why do you think marvel hates women so much they have some cool female characters? I’m just curious sorry if the is rude

Oh boy… I just don’t even know how to begin to answer this.Since I assume you saw my tags on that natasha gifset, I’ll start with her.

For the longest time, natasha/black widow was the only female hero in the avengers. In the 6 (?) films in phase one, she appeared twice, and only once as a main character. Then phase two and three came along, and I was expecting a black widow standalone. I thought it would be a given. But nothing, still nothing.

Black Widow movie should have been in phase two of the marvel movies at the latest. Personally, I think there should have been a movie after CA:TWS which explored her background and how she came to shield, as well as exploring her story with Bucky. That movie would have been incredible. Her story in the comics is one of my absolute favourites. But instead, she was ignored. Forced into a relationship that made no sense (seriously why would mcu not want buckynat? that shit is just as iconic as clark/lois or peter/mj). I swear that since avengers 2 they pretended like she wasn’t even important anymore. 

MCU has been around since 2008!! 2008!! and there has been ZERO female standalone films. The first one isn’t happening until 2019- that’s absolute crap. They pushed Captain Marvel’s film back and back for other sequels of male superheroes that are not needed. And other than that, are there any other female standalone in the works? Nope. It’s almost as if they are like “okay if we give you this will you shut up??” Carol Danvers is my favourite comic character, but I am scared to trust her in MCU’s hands.

Not to compare, but to compare, DCEU has been around since 2013 and we already have a wonder woman film, a second one in the works, a gotham city sirens films, batgirl film, and that’s just the beginning. Yes DC has done about 120 batman and superman renditions and minimal female work, but DCEU is really trying to change that and it’s looking lit. Also characters like Lois Lane (and I’m betting Mera) who aren’t necessarily the leads, at least have their own storyline to themselves.

My other main hatred towards marvel is how they treated Peggy Carter. She was the most badass babe and they just did her so dirty. Firstly, cancelling her show before we even got to see her created shield??? They spent the entire second season on a love triangle??? Also, in the train wreck of civil war, they just sent a quick text and a speech by her niece who we never saw her with and that was it. That whole scene was used to prop up steve and sharon and i personally have never been more disappointed in my life. Peggy Carter did not go around punching nazis for this.

Also don’t even get me started on MCU and woc because that shit is ridiculous. Black Panther seems to be the only saving grace marvel has. There is legit more diversity in that trailer than has been seen in the entire 9 years of MCU.

Anyways to sum up, I like marvel. But I hate the way they treat there female characters. Even if they aren’t directly “superheroes” like Nat or Wanda, they still just aren’t used to their full ability and it makes me sad. I am over seeing the same movie with the same character like 4 times and nothing fresh or new. Black Panther, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel hopefully open the mcu up to new ideas. But seriously, at his rate I am just bored. Wonder Woman kinda ruined my ability to handle white boy crap.

[bcwrites]

The Forgotten Summer

Chapter 1: The Last Day of School

ff.net 

ao3.org 

Melanie Bennett entered her science class. It was her last class of the day and of the school year. She went to sit at her assigned table. Her science partner, Bill Denbrough, was already sitting down with their bridge.

The science teacher, Mr. Nell, had decided to allow the students a fun activity for the last month of class. They were supposed to build bridges out of popsicle sticks. One the last day of class, they were going to test which bridge was the strongest by putting weights on them. 

“Hey, M-m-m-Melanie,” Bill greeted, smiling at her.

Melanie’s heart fluttered. “Hi, Bill,” she greeted back.

“H-h-how’s your da-day been,” asked Bill.

“Fine,” Melanie replied. “Well, except for that class I had with Greta Keene.”

Greta Keene was the daughter of the town pharmacist. She was also the meanest girl in school. She bullied anyone she considered beneath her. However, Greta seemed to have special contempt for Melanie and her best friend Beverly Marsh. She hated Bev because of her “reputation” and Melanie for choosing to be friends with her.

Melanie had English class with Greta earlier today. Their teacher, Mrs. Douglas, decided it would be fun to have everyone in class to share their summer plans. She clearly has a different definition of fun, Melanie remembered thinking.

When it had been Melanie’s turn, she hadn’t been able to even utter a word when Greta cute. “Are you going to visit the other gorillas at the zoo,” she sneered at Melanie.

The entire class (except her cousin Mike Hanlon and Stan Uris) had laughed. Melanie had looked down at her desk in embarrassment and anger. Sure, it hadn’t been the first time Greta had called her a gorilla or gorilla girl, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t upset her any less. 

“Gr-Gr-Greta sucks,” said Bill sympathetically.

“That’s an understatement,” Melanie commented. They both chuckled. “Do you think our bridge will do okay?”

Bill shrugged. “I-I hope suh-suh-suh-so.”

“Alright, lads and lasses,” announced Mr. Nell. “Class has begun. Ye need to be quiet.”

Mr Nell was an Irishman that moved to America in his teens. Many students found it amusing to mock his accent. 

“Ye heard the good sir,” Richie Tozier mimicked. “Quiet down now.”

Richie was one of them. He probably did it more often than anyone else in the class. He was called Trashmouth for a reason.

“Master Tozier, I believe yer accent has gotten worse,” quipped Mr. Nell.

Everyone in class laughed. “I say, Master Nell popped off a good one,” Richie continued in his terrible accent.

Mr. Nell rolled his eyes. “If you’re quite done Master Tozier, I would like to continue with class,” he sternly said. 

“Well, go on then, lad.” Richie really wasn’t letting up.

Mr. Nell sighed and then continued, “Alright, I hope ye have yer bridges ready. It’s time to test them.”

Bill and Melanie’s bridge ended up doing okay. It had broken after having 50 pounds on it. Had it been a contest, they would’ve won fourth place.

After all their bridges had been tested, Mr Nell had given them free time. Melanie had planned to read a book she bought, but that plan quickly changed.

“H-H-Hey, Melanie. D-D-Do yuh-you want to c-c-c-come ha-hang out with m-m-m-me and my fr-fr-friends u-u-u-until school ends,” Bill offered.

Melanie was stunned for a moment. Sure, she liked Bill and got along with him, but they didn’t talk much outside of class. 

“Oh, well, I don’t want to bother you guys,” Melanie nervously said.

“Yuh-yuh-ou won’t,” assured Bill.

“Okay, then,” she agreed.

Melanie grabbed her chair and followed Bill to the table Richie and Eddie Kaspbrak sat at. When they approached the table, Richie and Eddie were arguing.

“There’s no way you can make a better loogie than me,” Richie said.

“Fuck you, Trashmouth,” argued Eddie. “Yes, I can.”

“H-Hey, guys,” Bill interrupted. He and Melanie put their chairs across the table from  Eddie and Richie. They sat down.

“Hey, Big Bill,” greeted Richie. He looked at Melanie. “And who is this lovely lady?”

Melanie smiled, pleasantly surprised by Richie’s statement.

Eddie gave Richie an annoyed look. “You know who she is,” he complained.

“Quiet, Eds! I’m trying to be charming,” Richie claimed.

“Don’t call me Eds,” shouted Eddie.

“Are they always like this,” Melanie whispered to Bill.

“Yuh-yuh-yeah,” responded Bill. “Yuh-You get u-u-used tuh-tuh-o it.”

“What are you two whispering about,” Eddie questioned, turning his attention to Bill and Melanie.

“Obviously, they’re flirting, Eds,” said Richie, smirking at them.

“No, we weren’t,” Melanie immediately denied. 

“Aw, don’t break Bill’s heart like that, Mellie.”

“B-b-beep beep, R-R-R-Richie,” Bill said. 

Melanie furrowed her eyebrows. “Mellie?”  No one called her that.

“Yeah, it’s a nickname.”

“Most people just call me Melanie or Mel.”

“That’s boring. Mellie sounds better. Oh, or Mellie Jelly!”

“Please, don’t call me that,” begged Melanie.

“He won’t listen to you,” Eddie informed. “Once he gives you a nickname, you’re stuck with it.”

Richie wrapped an arm around Eddie’s shoulder. “You know me so well, Eddie spaghetti,” he playfully said.

Eddie shoved him away. “Fuck you.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Eds.”

“I swear to god…”

“So, M-m-m-Melanie,” interrupted Bill before another argument could break out, “wuh-wuh-what’s that b-b-book you h-have a-a-a-bout?”

“Photography,” Melanie responded. Mike had given it to her for her birthday to go with the camera her aunt and uncle had bought her. She hadn’t gotten around to reading it until recently.

“Do yuh-yuh-ou ha-have a ca-ca-mera?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, if you have a camera, how come we’ve never seen you with it,” interjected Richie, joining the conversation.

“I mostly leave it at home because of Bowers,” Melanie explained. 

“Oh. Well, that makes sense.”

Greta Keene was bad, but Melanie would much rather deal with her than the Bowers Gang, especially Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter. Those two were the worst of the bunch. While their other friends, Belch Huggins and Victor Cirss, weren’t saints, they seemed to have limits. The same could not be said about Henry and Patrick.

Bringing up Bowers had led to a conversation about the worse thing he and his friends had done to them. It wasn’t a nice conversation, but it was something they could talk about. Eddie talked about Henry giving him a bloody nose;Bill mentioned Victor and Belch throwing paint on him during art class; and Richie described how Patrick took a shit in his backpack.

“It still can’t believe he did that,” commented Eddie after Richie finished his story.

Melanie wrinkled her nose. “You don’t still have the same back up, right.”

“Of course not. What do you take me for,” Richie said, feigning offense. They all chuckled. “What about you?”

“Huh,”said Zoe.

“What’s the worst thing Bowers or one of his friends has done to you?”

That question wiped the smile off Melanie’s face. She felt stupid for not considering the fact that the boys would want to hear from her. Why wouldn’t they? She brought up Bowers in the first place, and they all told her their experiences.

“Um, I guess it was that time  Bowers knocked me off my bike back, and I ended up scrapping my knee ,” she lied. It wasn’t a complete lie; it had happened.

Bill nodded. “I remember that,” he said. He had helped patch her up after if happened. It was the first time they had ever talked.

“Why are they all assholes to everyone,” complained Eddie.

“I don’t know about the others, but my uncle says Henry acts the way he does because of his father,” Melanie responded. “He called him a turd, too.”

Bill, Richie, and Eddie all had a good laugh at that last part. They continued to talk about several other things. One of them included their friend Stan Uris and his Bar Mitzvah. 

“There’s a church full of Jews, and Stan has to take the super Jewy test,” Eddie claimed, when she and Bill asked what was supposed to happen during it.

“B-but how d-d-does it wuh-work,” inquired Bill, still not understanding.

“They slice the tip of his dick off.”

“No way,” Melanie said in disbelief.

“But then Stan will have nothing left,” exclaimed Richie.

“It’s true,” Eddie said.

Before the discussion could continue, the bell rang. School was out; summer had begun. Everyone was hurrying to grab their things and leave.

Mr Nell spoke over the commotion, “ I hope ye have a great summer, and remember to be careful.”

Melanie and Bill took their chairs back to their table. “Later, Bill,” Melanie said.

As she went to leave the classroom, Bill called out her, “M-M-Melanie.”

She turned back to him. “Yeah.”

“Uh-uh-uh… n-n-nothing. I j-j-just h-h-hope to s-s-see you a-a-around this su-su-summer,” nervously said Bill.

Melanie smiled at him. “I hope so, too. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Melanie left the classroom slightly disappointed. She had hoped maybe Bill would invite her to hang out. Sure, she could have done the same, but she feared rejection too much.

If her mother had been there, she would have said, Sometimes doing something you’re afraid can be worth the fear. 

It was good advice. Maybe, she would follow it… one day. Today was not it.

[jcmorrigan]

Cringe be damned

It’s F/O Friday over on @selfshipimagines and mod said we could tag stuff with that tag and so being that it’s F/O Friday AND ALSO the day I get new content of my F/O released to the public, I’m just gonna go bananas here for a little bit

Anyway, E4 is now YT-available and here’s my take (also, I did just appreciate all the backstory stuff with Mera [cry forever] and the Sylvie-Molly broTP and Indus being Indus re: the dinosaur but this is F/O Friday so down to the brass tacks)

-Almost just sat up and cheered when he was the Big Damn Hero of the hour. Also THAT LITTLE TWIRL OF THE AMULET CHAIN BEFORE HE POCKETS IT

-I would have to start carrying apples or granola bars on my person because literally EVERY time he deploys Fog of Lost Souls, I’mma get stupid hungry.

-I can’t believe the trope set itself up perfectly for “Gio deploys fog, JC gets actually lost in it, Gio has to actually take her hand and lead her physically out of the fog” COME ONNNNN IT’S WRITING ITSELF

-I’m so glad that I was proven wrong on thinking that he Legally Cannot Swear because now we can swear at each other while playing Mario Kart (he mains Bowser; I main Rosalina). Oh PLEASE tell me that swear license goes all the way up to Can Say Fuck because we need to have an Angry Cursing Duet at our toughest foes

-Headcanon now that the reason all the pics of him are so bad is because THEY ALWAYS ARE; HE CAN’T TAKE A GOOD PICTURE - EVEN IF THE LIGHTING IS PERFECT HE’LL BLINK OR SNEEZE OR SOMETHING and I would have, like, ten million of these pictures stored in a drawer to look at when I’m sad

-(Which also means when we take couples shots, I’m always the best-looking one in them. Sorry not sorry)

-Crusher is going to hate me. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle this. At all.

-I’m not a parental type. I don’t want kids. However, I am willing to make two exceptions. Molly Blyndeff is adorable and I’m gonna adopt her because Gio has already done that and she needs AT LEAST TWO good parents. However, I go in on this with the stipulation that we also have to adopt Sylvie and Gio puts up a hissy for about two hours before I wear him down BUT YOU CAN’T SEPARATE THE SIBS!!!

-I haven’t even met Zora. And I already have a mighty need to kick her ass. (Though I will probably end up loving her in the end because I’m a sucker for suave mercenaries...but my s/i won’t be happy)

[tellytantra]

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Episode starts with everyone meeting on the occasion of Eid. Kainat comes there. She asks Saltanat to come to her. She makes Saltanat gift Zaroon. He says I respect you more now Kainat. She thinks I want your love. Zaroon wears the cap and signs to Saltanat. Kainat gifts Hamza. They smile. Zaroon sees Saltanat. Everyone offers prayers in the mosque. Everyone hugs and wishes happy Eid. Rubina wishes everyone and also Zaroon. She blesses him. He asks for his Eidi. Zainab says Eidi comes once a year, ask me anything in Eidi. Nilam says think again. Zainab says Eidi is your right, you can ask anything. Nilam says then permit me to tell everyone that you have made Saltanat swear. Zaroon says we will have a musical game, I will take permission from Miyajaan. Rubina and Ghazala agree. Zainab says its Saltanat and my matter. Nilam says you are doing wrong with Saltanat. Zainab asks her to take permission from Saltanat. Miyajaan says I m going in Eid party. Jaan says even our family has kept a party. Miyajaan says I m going there. Jaan says you don’t know about it. Miyajaan says I know the children want to play some game and want me to judge them, get ready and come. Zaroon explains the game of passing the parcel and its rules. He says the winner will say the condition and the one who loses have to accept the condition. They play songs and play the game. Rubina gets the cushion. Everyone smiles. Kainat sees Zaroon. Ishq sufiyana…plays… Saltanat and Zaroon play until end. Zaroon wins. Miyajaan says Zaroon has won. Rubina asks Zaroon to take Eidi from Saltanat. Zaroon says I want to know the person who forced Saltanat to reject my love. Zainab gets worried. Everyone looks on. Saltanat says we are playing a game for everyone’s happiness, why do you want to spoil everyone’s evening. Zaroon says its about our life, which is getting spoiled, please don’t be quiet today, tell me, who is it, who did a thing like outsiders. She sees Zainab. He says don’t worry, take the name. Saltanat says you want to hear the name right, its me Saltanat. Zaroon says don’t mislead me. She says don’t stop me, my parents have raised me like your parents raised you, no one can make me tag the right as wrong. Miyajaan says whatever you told, is that by your wish. She says yes, I told that by my wish. Kainat smiles. Miyajaan sees Zaroon. Zaroon gets angry and goes. Miyajaan asks Mamoon to explain Zaroon, love can’t be won by force. Kainat thinks my plan is working, Zaroon will hate Saltanat, just I have a right on his love. Precap:Kainat talks to her dad’s pic. She laughs. She gets a call. She gets shocked. Update Credit to: Amena

http://cattybilli.blogspot.com/2019/06/sufiyana-pyaar-mera-11th-june-2019.html