#angela just has blue hair instead of black

[scp-168]

Whenever I see the transmasc Angela hc I can't help but imagine him coming out and one of the sephirot (maybe Hokma) going "oh you're even more like your father" in a very loving way since you know, he hates being compared to Carmen, but then Angela just realizes he is making himself look like Ayin and like, comedically blue screens from the realization

[landboundstar-writing]

Lady Gotham

This is not a description of the statue, but of the genus loci of Gotham from John Constantine's point of view from a section of Of Ghoulies And Ghosties I am working on right now. Imagery pulled from some vintage dress images but trying to get a sense of Gotham as a personification of the city - so the corruption and wealth and the just general vibe of Gotham - which apparently gave me this. This is just a first description, from when John first sees Lady Gotham - so there might be other details that come in as I continue to write. I was heavily inspired by his interactions with Angela in City Of Demons, for anyone who has seen that - just with Gotham instead of Los Angeles. There are times like this that I wish I could sketch to get a more visual description. Unfortunately, my art skills are at stick figure level. Let me know what you think! The blue writing is the description - since Of Ghoulies and Ghosties is from John Constantine's POV - that is who the narrator is.

None of the genus loci I had met had anything on Lady Gotham though.

She was a looker - there was no doubt about that. She’d have to be to actually draw some mad souls in. Pale, with dark hair styled in tight finger waves, she was dressed in a long black dress that must have been the height of fashion in 1920 or so. But it still looked right, not out of date, but the type of look that prats in fashion magazines rattled on about being ‘timeless’ . It was simple and dark, and only sparkled with a single band of silver fringe that was positioned right beneath her rather ample bosom, which the dress did nothing to conceal. Otherwise, her only visible accessories were her black stiletto heels and an interesting necklace. It looked like a rope of diamonds, twisted and draped, so that it formed the loose but unmistakable shape of a noose.

Quite a statement that made there.

[genjispeace]

Price of Love - Chapter Two

You’re finally able to open your eyes, and find yourself staring at a white ceiling. A bright fluorescent light hangs and you squint against the strong light. You blink, trying to clear your vision of the blur from sleep. Voices chatter around you and you try to focus on them. One of them sounds familiar, but the feminine voice is not one that you recognize. Your vision is still slightly fuzzy, but you realize that you’re on some sort of bed with a soft pillow tucked under your head. Your body still aches, but the pain in your neck isn’t as bad as it was. You bring your fingers to your neck and feel a soft bandage covering the wounds. 

“...awake,” the feminine voice calls, and the people talking move closer to the bed you’re in. You try to sit up, but a metal hand gently pushes you back down. 

“Don’t sit up too fast,” the voice you know says. He’s the one from the car. You try to remember his name. Moira said it as he held you…

“Genji?” You whisper. You feel his touch tense against your skin and your vision finally clears enough to see how he freezes. He’s still wearing a mask that covers the lower part of his face, but you can see enough in his eyes to know he seems stunned. He furrows his breath and whispers something to himself, but you can’t pick it up. He’s not still in a suit, instead wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

“How are you feeling?” The woman asks you from your other side. She adjusts the hospital bed to slowly pull you upright, her blonde hair falling in her face as she moves. She pushes black-rimmed glasses up her nose and smiles at you as she waits for a response. 

“I-” you look to Genji, then back to her. How are you supposed to respond to a question like that after everything that has happened? You clench your jaw as everything flows back. How can you have just been sold like that, and what does it say about the people that bought you. 

“Physically, how are you feeling?” The doctor asks again. Her blue eyes shine with what looks like genuine concern, but maybe she’s just a damn good liar. 

“Tired.” You opt to only give a half-answer.

“I’m not surprised. You’ve been through a lot,” she smiles at you, then holds out a hand. “I’m Dr. Ziegler, but you can call me Angela.”

You take her hand and shake it, introducing yourself to her. You can feel Genji’s eyes on you the whole time that you talk. People watch others intently to look for weaknesses, right? So why don’t you feel threatened that his eyes are on you?

“I managed to get the fever you were starting to go away, but it will take time for your neck to heal,” Angela says. 

“I still can’t believe they put a dog collar on you,” Genji mutters, his voice sounding like he’s talking through his teeth. 

“Talon is not known to be kind, Genji,” Angela says. She reaches out and pushes the back of her hand against your forehead, and you find yourself leaning into the touch. She’s so warm. “We should get you some real clothes. Not a hospital gown or something soaked in water. That’ll help you recover.” 

“I’ll go get some of the extras,” Genji says, following what was almost an order from Angela, and leaves the room quietly. 

“Where am I?” You ask as soon as Genji leaves the room. If anybody is going to give you more answers, you think it would be Angela. She smiles, but it looks more forced than anything. 

“You’re in Overwatch’s Headquarters. The infirmary, more specifically,” she explains as she picks up a clipboard and takes notes on it. 

“Overwatch?” The name sounds foreign on your lips.

“Mhm. Blackwatch, our more…covert operations team, bought you at a Talon auction. At least that’s what my understanding is,” she clicks the pen a few times. You should ask so many questions. LIke why they bought you, what you are doing here, when you can leave, but only one question finds its way past your lips.

“And…Genji?” A smile spreads across Angela’s face at your words. She drops her clipboard and leans against a counter. 

“He’s a member of Blackwatch,” she watches you as she responds. You blink hard, trying to make sense of all of this. 

“Are you going to…hurt me?” You ask. Angela shakes her head hard enough that her earrings jingle. 

“No, and Genji made Moira promise not to dig into your head,” Angela says, and you start to ask her what she means by that, but the door opens and cuts off your conversation. Genji walks in, holding a handful of clothes in one of his hands. He brings them over to you, sitting them on the bed. You grab the pile immediately, suddenly hyper-aware of the itchy hospital gown against your skin. As you sort through the clothes, you pull out what looks most comfortable. A pair of grey sweatpants and a black hoodie are what you decide on. 

“Can you stand?” Genji asks. You nod, sliding your feet off the bed and onto the tile flooring. You stand up too fast, though, and your vision goes blurry again. You try to catch yourself from falling, but somebody catches you first. 

Genji wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you upright again, steadying you against his own body. The smell of vanilla soap and pine trees fills your senses, and you fight the urge to sink into him. His warmth radiates through the flimsy hospital gown currently covering your figure, and your skin burns in every place the two of you are touching. What is going on with you? 

“I’m okay,” you say, and you really hope you don’t sound as breathless as you feel. Your cheeks burn, but it’s probably just the remnants of the fever Angela was talking about, right? Genji releases you slowly, his hands still ghosting over your skin. It’s like he’s trying to stay as close as possible in case he needs to catch you again. 

“I’m okay,” you repeat, but you aren’t sure if you’re trying to convince him or yourself. You steady yourself, and quickly recover. You’re able to stand upright easily and even move around a bit without getting dizzy. Sure, your body aches with too much movement, but you’re able to walk. That’s something. “I’ve got it.”

Angela wraps her hand around Genji’s wrist and pulls him away from you, closing a curtain as she moves. It leaves you alone on one side and the two of them on the other side. You breathe out a soft sigh of relief. Genji was standing so close it was making your cheeks heat up and you were starting to struggle with focusing. God, what is wrong with you? 

“We’ll be right here, okay? Yell if you need us,” Angela calls from the other side of the thick curtain. You can see their shadows through the curtain, and she walks away, but Genji stays there. You pull yourself away from his shadow and focus your energy on getting changed. 

“This is insane,” you whisper to yourself. How did you even get in this position? You know the general events that led to it, but this is ridiculous. You were put up for sale, and somebody bought you. You feel a pang in your chest as you think about your life. What will happen now? Will they just let you leave? Do they have plans for you? 

You force the thoughts out as tears start to sting your eyes. You can’t do anything about it right now. One thing at a time. 

You shrug the hospital gown off of your shoulders and let it drop to the floor. You quickly pull the pants up and push your head through the hoodie. You have to adjust the collar to keep it from rubbing against the bandage, but the clothes are comfortable. They’re warm too, which makes you want to go right back to sleep. 

You push the curtain to the side, and come face to face with Genji once again. 

“Do they fit okay?” He asks, motioning to the hoodie now on your body. You nod. 

“Thank you,” you say, offering him a slight smile. You want to trust him, you really do, but you have no idea who is actually on your side here. You have to remember how all of this happened. 

“Of course,” Genji says. His eyes flick around your face, and then his hand shoots out. It’s his human hand, his skin soft as it ghosts against your collarbone. He pulls one of the hoodie strings loose and lets it fall back into its proper place. Your breath catches in your throat as his touch lingers against your skin. 

No. Snap out of it. You start to back away, but the door opening ends the moment. 

Another man you recognize stands in the doorway. Tanned skin, dark facial hair, a beanie over a dark head of hair. Reyes. His dark eyes search the room and eventually land on you. A shudder runs down your spine as he watches you. He’s intimidating, and now that you know he’s part of a covert ops group, it’s even more so. He’s deadly. As is Genji. You need to remember that. 

“Angela,” Reyes says. His gaze snaps to her, and she shakes her head. 

“Not now,” Angela says quietly. A muscle in Reyes’s jaw ticks, but he accepts her answer. Genji moves in front of you, standing in between you and Reyes. 

“Not ever.” Genji’s voice is stern enough to make you shiver. Reyes stares back at him, but the two of them don’t say another word. Angela sighs, taking a step toward you. 

“I had somebody get a room ready for you. I’ll walk you there,” Angela says, stepping in between you and Reyes. She takes your wrist and pulls you out the room, but her pace is slow enough that you are able to easily keep up. 

“What was that?” You say, but she shakes her head. 

“Genji and Reyes are not exactly on the same page right now,” Angela says. She’s giving you a half-answer, avoiding really answering the question, but you know that’s as much as you are going to get. She shuts the conversation down quickly and opens a door. The room she had set up for you is large, with painted white walls and a plain bed against one of them. A window on another wall shows a view of water with a sunset reflecting off of the waves. You take in a deep breath and fight the urge to jump face first into the bed. The blankets look thick and soft.

“Get some more rest, okay? I’ll check back in later,” she says, then leaves quickly and closes the door behind herself. 

You fall into the bed, curling up under the white blankets. One of them is weighted, you think, and it’s even more comfortable than your own bed. You rest against the pillow and feel sleep start to slowly creep in. Your body and your mind are both exhausted. You need answers, you need a way out of here. But, for now, you are going to rest.

[americangirlstar]

Debated whether or not to make this a full post because it really doesn’t fucking matter and I’m happy we got illustrations at all but at the same time I wanted to do an analysis on my fav minor characters so why not.

So like. I definitely think Maryellen, Melody and Nanea’s illustrations were rushed out. It’s probably obvious with how fast AG went from “no illustrations” to “ok fine you can have them but they have to be abridged” but like. there’s minor details that are like. obviously inconsistent. Like for example, Maryellen’s friends.

In the portrait vignettes, we see Karen, Karen and Angela– we can assume that the Karen in yellow is Karen Stohlman, who is described as having long hair, and the Karen in blue is Karen King, who was described as having a “round, freckly face.” The one with slightly darker skin and black hair is Angela definitely, as she has the braids Angela is described with.

However like. You can clearly see the little differences. Karen’s hair is a bit shorter in the vignettes, and she has a part on the left side of her head as opposed to the center in the full illustration. Angela is given bangs and braid loops rather than twintails (and her hair is a bit more brown than black in the second pic), and Karen King is given a completely different hairstyle. In the first, she has short bangs and her hair is slightly lifted and wavy. In the full illustration, she has very curly hair cut short and a center part with no bangs.

(Personally, I like the second pic better. Maryellen wanted bangs in order to stand out, and having two of her three gfs already with bangs would kinda negate that)

There's also a few lil inconsistencies in Melody's books– she probably has the most accurate translation but for instance, in the second book they accidentally give Val bangs in a vignette when she doesn't have any.

Also this one is very minor but Yvonne is illustrated with straight hair in the vignettes even in the second book, when just a chapter or so into the first book she makes a statement out of letting her hair go natural. She is drawn with natural hair in the painted illustrations and it's quite likely that they intended her sibling picture to be a photo taken before the events of the book but like. idk

Then there's Lily and Dixie in Nanea's books, who are consistent in the illustrations but not in the text.

Lily is illustrated with short hair, a center part and no bangs. However, on page 74 of Legend of the Shark Goddess (chapter 7), it says "Only Lily stood beside her now, staring shyly at the sailor from beneath her shiny black bangs." Lily was illustrated without bangs, then, despite it being pretty common in the 40s. This really could have been an oversight of the illustrator not reading the mystery, which is likely, but Dixie's is... strange. She was described specifically in her first appearance as having a pageboy haircut, which is basically an overgrown bowlcut, so she should have very short hair and bangs. Instead, they give her more of a medium-length and no bangs. Does this illustrator have smth against bangs??? It's cute, but it's not Dixie.

[legendreign-archived]

I Want No Traces of Gabriele

Note: This drabble was inspired by scenes of the manhwa, Black Winter. Gabriela is my interpretation of Saya and Diva’s aunt who has silver hair and red eyes while Gabriele is my interpretation of Saya and Diva’s mother who is the Blue Chiropteran Queen. Angela and Angelina are Saya and Diva’s cousins. Lunar Bat Immortal is the archaic term for Chiropterans. Personal blogs do not reblog!

Gabriela could see her sister’s body falling into an avalanche of ice and she recalled that those infants within Gabriele’s belly would never come into fruition. Good. She needed no reminders of the existence of the woman who had once been her best friend and ultimately betrayed her into turning into a mermaid forever. Just as she thought so, she could see an image of children who resembled her and Gabriele, who resembled her daughters, Angela and Angelina, but the child who possessed the red eyes had reddish-brown eyes instead. And instead of possessing metallic hair colors like she and her other self and her children, they had hair as black as the night like her mother and aunt.

Gabriela gasped which released air bubbles into the sea. She sweated as she panted. Why did she have such a strange dream now? She had made peace with her life as a mermaid. She had settled down with the sea king of the North Atlantic and twin daughters with him. She swam to the room where her daughters slept peacefully. They would not betray one another like Gabriele did with her. They would be happy together like their grandmother and great aunt were.

Because her mother disowned her a long time ago, they only had each other, which was good enough. So why did her strange dream disturb her so much? She decided to visit a sea witch to consult with her about the strange dream. She had learned long ago that her silver hair would protect her from any wicked magic sea witches possessed. She gathered a small sack and filled it with some treasures since sea witches wouldn’t grant her wish for free.

After she entered the cave where a sea witch dwelled, she explained that she had a strange dream about her nieces and said “I know it’s foolish, there’s no way those girls would survive without any blood. They must’ve perished a long time along with their mother, but I can’t get that dream out of my mind.” She shook her head.

The sea witch held out her hand for the sack in her hand. “What you hold in your hand should be enough for my services, Your Majesty.”

Gabriela frowned as she handed over the sack.

The sea witch commented as she began gazing into her crystal ball and a vision of Gabriela when she first visited a different sea witch many years ago emerged. She laughed. “I can see this is not the first time you’ve consulted with one of my kind. …What would his Majesty think if he knew you left his bedside to meet with me?”

Gabriela jutted out her chin. “He knows of my past. I would simply tell him this is an extremely important matter to me that forced me into this position. I hope after tonight, I will never have to consult with you sea witches again.”

The sea witch let out an annoying cackle. “So candid, Your Majesty. In fact…” The image in the crystal ball changed into that of a Lunar Bat Immortal female. She had short black hair and resembled those who possessed red eyes, but she had reddish-brown eyes, just like in her dream and the silver-haired woman could feel her heart sink.

“Your niece is just as candid as you are. Just as most ladies who bear eyes of red in your kind do.”

The image changed once more to reveal the former’s girl double but instead of having short hair, her hair reached her buttocks, her skin was pale instead of sun kissed, and her eyes were blue like those of her mother… Whereas Gabriela had slightly clenched her teeth at the sight of her first niece, her mouth pouted even more at the sight of her late sister’s double.

“History is repeating. The fate of your nieces resembles that of you and your former twin. Would you like to hear about it?”

Gabriela smirked. “Is that so?”

~Later~

Apparently, a human man named Joel and his cousin discovered her sister’s remains and their meddling led to her nieces’ existence. Much like how Gabriele had betrayed her out of envy for her freedom, Diva had betrayed Saya and Saya was the twin chosen by Joel to live a free life. Saya wanted her revenge on her blue twin and had to kill Diva for the sake of mankind. Had it not been for the fact Saya was her niece, she would’ve empathized with her more. Gabriele’s eldest daughter was also being used by the humans as their war weapon against her youngest daughter. A tragic yet ironically suitable fate for those girls. 

She was the one who had killed Gabriele and it was up to her to kill Gabriele’s daughters and put them out of their misery. The sea witch asked her to get her husband’s trident so she could regain her legs for this task. Gabriela went a step further and requested that the sea witch make her a trinket that could allow her to regain her legs when needed. That way, she would never have to stoop as low as to visit a sea witch again. The sea witch complied and made her a ruby necklace that could enable her to regain her legs when she wished using the magic of her husband’s trident.

As most witches, including the one who condemned Gabriela into her current fate of being a mermaid, were infamous for, they thrived on the thought of the misery of others and so, the sea witch the silver-haired queen consulted gave her a knife to kill her nieces. But it wasn’t just any knife, but an extremely poisonous one that even fellow Lunar Bat Immortals would have trouble resisting the poison.

How ironic indeed. Many years ago, a consultation with a sea witch led her to wield a knife against her beloved prince. But at the time, she couldn’t bare herself to use it. This time, she would. She wanted no traces of Gabriele and according to the sea witch, there was a curse in her bloodline from many decades ago. From the moment a Lunar Bat Immortal and her sister were treated differently, the curse in their blood would spark, causing them to be pitted against one another, and putting themselves above the other and could no longer live in peace. Her daughters would not benefit from knowing their tainted cousins.

~Somewhere Else~

Her granddaughters were before her, fighting with their swords crossed on an opera stage. Báixuě could hear herself call out with a hand outstretched. “Stop!”

No, not again. The fate that had fallen upon her daughters could not repeat onto her granddaughters. Aside from her sister, her nieces, and Jolie, they were the only next of kin left to her.

Soon after her granddaughters froze to look at her, the light from Saya’s glowing ruby eyes and Diva’s flashing sapphire eyes simultaneously extinguished and their bodies collapsed as blood spilled from where they had been mysteriously impaled.

Báixuě sucked in a breath. Who could’ve done this?! Then the perpetrator stood before her… Silver hair and eyes as ruby red as that of her other self. Her eldest daughter….

She smirked at her as she held up a knife stained with blood.

Báixuě could feel incensed as she witnessed her disowned daughter commit another sin. How dare she have the gall to appear before her again!

She yelled “Gabriela!”

Báixuě jolted up from her hotel bed, sweating and panting.

Méi gui hóng groaned in her sleep but soon sat up to put a comforting hand on her elder twin’s shoulder. “What’s the matter Jiějiě? Did you have a nightmare?”

Báixuě exhaled as Méi gui hóng began stroking her back. “…Yes… But I fear that this is more than an ordinary nightmare…”

After they turned on the lights in the room, Báixuě held up a hand mirror and said “Mirror, mirror in my hand… Please answer my demand…”

Many nights later, after the sea witch directed Gabriela to Saya’s location, the silver-haired woman’s head emerged upon the waves as she recognized the cruise ship that was Red Shield’s headquarters.

The silver-haired woman could see Saya walk by.

She smirked as she thought. “Should I give her a greeting? From one with red eyes to another?”

 The elder Red Chiropteran Queen splashed her red tail very hard, loud enough to get her niece’s attention. Saya looked down at the waves. …Was that a mermaid with red eyes and silver-hair? And for some strange reason, the girl’s aura felt like that of other Chiropterans… The mermaid dived underneath the waves.

Saya’s reddish-brown eyes widened the moment the mermaid went underwater. She turned to her chevalier who was walking behind her. “Hagi. Did you see anyone in the water?”

Hagi shook his head. “I wasn’t looking at the sea.”

“Oh.” Saya somberly replied. Was she seeing things?

It would take many nights afterward for the Red Shield cruise ship to be docked into a harbor. Gabriela jumped from the sea, transforming from a mermaid into a regular Lunar Bat Immortal in mid-air, then landed on the ship. Her nude form was partially obscured by her long silver hair. A female Red Shield staff member crossed paths with her and Gabriela’s eyes dangerously glinted red. 

~Later~

Saya went out to stare at the sea again by herself as she needed some alone time. She noticed that the floor was strangely wet as if it had been sprayed by the sea but how could that be?

She sensed the presence of the girl she had seen in the sea before but before she could react, a knife was placed close to her neck.

The alto-soprano voice told her in French. “Be a good girl and follow me otherwise I’ll kill your imperial guard and the other humans on the ship if I have to.”

Saya harshly replied in the same language. “I’ll follow you on my own so you can get rid of the knife.”

Gabriela giggled. Was this child not aware of how much she overpowered her? Within their kind, the longer they lived, the stronger they were. This girl surely must not be a fool. Perhaps it was simply the fire that flowed within the temperament of those who possessed red eyes like they did.

Gabriela covered Saya’s mouth while bridal carrying her and doing a high jump off the ship. She then took her niece to the harbor.

Saya took the opportunity to confront the silver-haired girl. “…Who are you? And what do you want with me?”

The silver-haired girl laughed. “Foolish child. Do you not even recognize your own flesh and blood?”

Saya’s reddish-brown eyes widened as she allowed herself to sniff the scent of the girl before her although since the female referred to her as a “child”, perhaps the right term would be “woman” although she didn’t look any older than her physical age.

“I am your aunt, Gabriela.”

“…My aunt? That’s impossible, my mother is…”

“Dead? Nothing more than a dried-up corpse? Well, that’s because I killed her. You and Diva are not the last of your kind. I’m sure most of them are far away from the two of you, blissfully uninvolved in the madness of Diva’s faction to turn mankind into mindless inferiors of Lunar Bat Immortals and blissfully uninvolved to get involved in your massacre of our kind.”

Saya hissed “…You! If it wasn’t for you, Diva and I would be living different lives by now.”

Gabriela gave a mocking laugh. “Why, don’t blame me Saya. In fact, you wish you never existed in the first place.”

Saya was stunned. How could this woman who had never been present in her life know her and her deepest, darkest thoughts?

“If it were up to me, you and your sister would’ve stayed dead along with your mother. If you wish to blame someone so badly. Blame it on the human man who raised you and his assistant. Foolish men who should’ve never meddled with your fates in the first place.”

“How… How do you know about all of this?”

Gabriela smirked. “I have my ways, dear child. It wouldn’t be surprising to me if my tale sounded familiar to you. Once upon a time…”

~Later~

Saya gripped the metal bars behind her to keep her from falling from the weight of all she had learned from Gabriela and lowered her head. “My… My mother deceived you into becoming a mermaid?”

The elder Red Chiropteran somberly frowned. “Quite like Diva, isn’t she? We thought our other selves were our friends but when they envied our freedoms, they sent us to our doom. I was condemned to a life in the sea, and you lost your home and everything you ever knew. Tell me Saya, do you still blame me for what I did?”

She smiled as she approached her niece who glared at her. “After all, you are walking the same path I did.”

“That’s not true!” Saya defensively retorted.

“It may have started out as a quest to get revenge but it’s more than that. Chiropterans don’t deserve to exist in this world. We feed on blood while wearing the faces of humans. Diva is trying to destroy the world by turning humans into mindless Chiropterans.”

The silver-haired woman frowned. “I almost feel pity for Gabriele seeing how much you’ve deluded yourself into a state of self-hatred towards yourself and your own kind. Diva is just as delusional as you are. Lumping all humans with her contempt for them and condemning her own kind as well for we cannot survive without humans.” She touched Saya’s cheek, and the gentle touch made Saya bristle from her distrust.

Gabriela had a somber expression. “It’s quite a shame. If my relationship with your mother wasn’t so ill-fated, I’m sure we would’ve been good family to one another for you and I are alike in many ways.”

Saya gritted her teeth. “I am nothing like you.”

Gabriela returned a similar glare at her niece and spoke in a similar bitter tone. “As I said, you’ve deluded yourself to the point that you refuse to acknowledge the truth. If you hadn’t met me Saya, you would have killed Diva just as I killed your mother many years ago. But worry not. I shall grant your wish to end your existence and I will end your sister as well. I shall allow no traces of Gabriele to remain.”

Soon after, a glowing portal shone and while Diva still held resentment for her sister for wanting to kill her, she was more enraged at the idea of someone else trying to kill her sister.

Diva cried. “Saya!”

She aimed a dagger at her aunt’s throat. However, the silver-haired woman simply grabbed Saya towards her and aimed the knife near Saya’s throat.

Diva once again called out Saya’s name.

“Oh? So, you still care for your sister? How surprising. Or is it that you don’t like the idea of your prey being taken from you?”

She turned her head as her face contorted in anger and her ruby eyes glowed. “It’ll be all over if I kill the two of you right here!...”

She froze at the sound of two roars piercing the air. Icy blue eyes burned and fiery eyes flared. She hadn’t seen those two faces in so long… Her mother and her aunt…

Her aunt used her telekinetic abilities to grab her nieces!

Báixuě’s monstrous voice asked “What are you doing here Gabriela? I thought I told you to never show your face before me again. How dare you try to harm Gabriele’s children.”

Gabriela sweated as she gave a bitter smile. “So, I see that Gabriele’s children are more important than me. Your only living daughter.”

“You are no daughter of mine. You’re a murderer and you killed your only sister.” Báixuě choked her eldest daughter as a threat. “If you show your face before me again and try to harm these children, I swear…”

Her daughter rasped “T-that you’ll kill me?... I have…Daugh…ters… Too… Mother…”

Méi gui hóng’s eyes dimmed back to its former crimson as she spoke in a pleading tone “Jiějiě.”

Báixuě released her hold on Gabriela which sent her into a coughing fit. “Leave. You’re outnumbered here.”

“As… You wish.” Gabriela rasped out before jumping into the air, transforming back into a mermaid, and her head floated above the waves before submerging underwater.

The End

[that-wildwolf]

Carole & Tuesday is so ridiculous when you think about it for more than 2 seconds because they could have just written your regular coming of age shojo anime about two girls who write music together BUT INSTEAD they chose to have it set in a half dystopian future where humanity has colonized Mars and most jobs are done by AI, and have it focus on immigrant rights and racism and motherhood and how living on Mars transes your gender it's so hilarious

For real though. There's obviously a lot of issues with C&T because it's an anime and let's face it there's a lot of issues with the medium as a whole, but for an anime it's outstandingly good.

For starters, there are tons of actual canonically openly confirmed LGBTQ+ characters, which is amazing. Most notably, that includes a disabled intersex character who uses he/him pronouns — the fact that he uses a wheelchair is never addressed and none of the characters seem uncomfortable about it, which is a huge deal for an anime.

The ex wife of one of the main characters is getting married to a woman and although it's never said directly that she is a lesbian and not, say, bi or pan, it's implied that her sexuality is the reason they split up. And guess what? There is no animosity, no spite, even no doubt. They are actually friends in fact. More of this in anime please!

And the thing that really got me was there are people of colour in this anime! Two of the main three are people of colour actually — one of them, Carole, is a Black girl and seeing her with her hair down or tied up was a shocking experience for me because the only way I've seen Black people portrayed in anime before was identical as the white characters except with a darker skin hue, which almost always looked... off. At least to me. But there are multiple Black characters in this anime and while there are some issues with it, their character models are actually very natural looking. They all have naturally Black hairstyles, including our main girl Carole with her gorgeous dreadlocks. It was like a breath of fresh air to see this.

The first season is good, but rather average in my opinion. It's a lot of the coming-of-age stuff and generally just the girls working on their music together. The songs are incredible for the most part, and Angela's subplot at least is interesting, even if Carole and Tuesday's storyline gets stale every now and again. The second season, however, is a far cry from the softness of the first. I don't think the team behind C&T had planned this show would go this way, because the sudden turn for the political does seem a bit out of the blue.

The second season is... hoo. Where do I start. First of all there's this whole subplot of the presidential election (because it stands to reason that Mars, an entire planet, would obviously have a single president governing it). One of the candidates is planning to deport all illegal immigrants (who coincidentally are mostly people of colour, at least to the extent it's shown in the anime) and send them back to Earth. And of course Carole is an illegal immigrant and of course the presidential candidate is Tuesday's mother. As tensions rise, Black musicians are arrested because of the message of their songs (especially visible in the subplot of the rapper Ezekiel who's released a very in-your-face fuck-the-government music video) and I guess this was... okay? I mean I see what they were trying to do here, but if you're watching the whole anime in one sitting it does feel like all of this came out of nowhere. It was handled kind of okay? I don't know. It wasn't great.

Angela's storyline is where the second season shines. We get to deal with alienation, losing a parent first metaphorically then literally, questioning your entire world and existence, substance abuse which eventually leads to hospitalisation from overdosing? All of it is absolutely perfect. You can feel Angela's despair when she realises she has no support net and the tension when she reaches out to the one person she can trust is palpable. Oh. Uh spoiler alert I guess? Anyway. This season also tries to deal with what fame does to you and shows a person who's very broken after losing everything including her ability to sing, which I guess was supposed to be about trauma and/or PTSD, but it was very rushed.

The main theme of the second season remains motherhood and what it means to be a mother. All three of the main characters have Issues™ on this front. Angela's mother acts more like an agent than a loving parent and when Angela finds out she was actually adopted, her downward spiral starts. Tuesday's mother is shown to be distant to both of her children and more focused on her political campaign than on parenting them. Carole is an orphan who never met her mother, but she thinks of her home and where she comes from as the things that shaped her into the person she is and therefore are her actual "mother". Which. Yeah I guess I can tell what they were going for? It's phrased in a weird way.

Yeah. I think the best way to sum up the second season is that it tried. It tried to do a lot of things — some of which admittedly worked very well, some of which... not so much. All in all, it's still very enjoyable, more so than the first, and the soundtrack is still absolutely amazing.

Honestly the biggest issue with this anime I had are the moments of fatphobia popping up every now and then. It's not as bad as in most anime, don't get me wrong, but I still winced a bit when the girls were shown a photo of a younger Gus which revealed he used to be thin and immediately remark that he used to be so good looking. Angela's mother is also a fat person and seeing how she's portrayed as something of a minor antagonist, that's also kind of... not great. All in all though, there is variety in the body shapes of these characters, which once again is a wonder in the world of anime.

And for last I've left the thing that I can't tell for sure if it's a good thing or not. The relationship between Carole and Tuesday is left completely ambiguous. On the one hand, as an aroace person, great! None of the main three characters get a love interest during this story, or even at the very end, and that's awesome! They have their own little found family and no one is dating anyone! On the other hand, as a queer person, let the girls kiss already! As much as I love to interpret their relationship as a platonic or maybe queerplatonic one, there are also moments that have no heterosexual explanation. I don't think they were baiting us because there's already tons of LGBT characters in this show, but the exact nature of the relationship between Carole and Tuesday is never actually specified. Good or not, that's how it is. 

And here it is. My little tumblr post turned review because why would I ever plan a thing like this. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that for all its faults, Carole & Tuesday is really a good show, and one of my go-to choices for a feel-good binge for one weekend.

[doctor-disc0]

What is up with Odin's kids. They all have different hair colors, but all have the same color of eyes: blue (except for Loki, who is adopted, and Angela, who has pure white eyes for some reason)

Also the physical differences are astounding. Like, I know most of them have different mothers, but still.

And the two who look the most alike (Thor and Laussa) have different mothers. Like???

Here's a physical description of each of them. Tell me if you would think they are siblings just by looking at them.

Angela, Red hair, white eyes

Tyr, black hair, blue eyes

Thor, blond hair, blue eyes

Balder, brown/white hair (it changed after he died the first time) and blue eyes

Hermod, brown hair, blue eyes

Laussa, blonde hair, blue eyes

Also Vidar, who's 10 feet tall and has blond hair and blue eyes (no I don't have a picture of him. Look him up if you really want to. He's also dead, so...)

Not including Loki since he's adopted.

Like, they all have blue eyes (again, except Angela), but extremely different hair colors (how did Tyr end up with black hair??? I have a theory that he's actually Cul's son instead of Odin's, but that's a whole other story).

Conclusion: Asgardian genes are weird

[yunkiwii]

—potions gone wrong—

☆ hogwarts au ☆

pairing: bsf!hyunjin x gn!reader | ft. jeongin and mentions of minho

supportive oc: angela, female

genre: sfw. comedic and chaotic, may be considered fluff by some people

wc: 2.4k

warnings: hints of jealousy, mentions of illegal (magical world wise) actions, potion-induced obsession

a/n: i'm pretty sure that in the harry potter series amortentia doesn't work the way i described here, but let's just ignore that shall we? ♡

summary: two boys decide to make a love potion to conquer the crush of one of them. unfortunately, something seems to have gone wrong and y/n needs to step in..

shout out to: ficscafe prompt dialogue event ♡

↳ "I'll give you 20 bucks if you kiss me."

↳ "I don't think that's legal, but we can work around it."

↳ "Shut up, this isn't a wattpad fanfic"

Completely imersed in the pile of books you gathered in the library in order to try and understand more about potions, you get startled when a boy throws himself into the chair next to you, a yellow stripped tie hitting your head in the process.

"I'll give you 20 bucks if you kiss me."

"What? No!", you give him a disgusted and confused look before digging your head into the old dusty pages again.

"Come on!! Angela keeps coming to me trying to snuggle and kiss me and-", as dramatic as he is, Hyunjin pretends he is going to be sick, exaggerating on the nasty sounds way too close to your ear.

"What? Why?", your bestfriend finally caught your full attention as you turn to face him, "Wait, Angela as in like, Angela your major crush perfect-Angela? Weren't you supposed to like, I don't know, enjoy the attention?" But then the face he makes, his cheeks turning shades of pink as his gaze drifts away from you and he sinks down in his chair in embarrassment, realization hits you, "No! No you did not! Are you like what, dumb?", you flick is head inducing a loud squeal to come out his mouth.

"It was Jeongin's idea!", his voice three pitches higher than before, "And I can't be that dumb if I managed to make that stupid love potion work. But that's beside the point, will you do it or not?"

"Do what? Kiss you? And how will that help you dimwit?", you went to flick his head again because, to be fair, he deserved it, but Hyunjin knew you too well and held your hand in time to stop you from hurting his pretty face, as he likes to state.

"To break the curse! Make her give up on me by making her think we're together or something!"

"What curse? There is no curse! And she isn't even thinking right now, she might just kill me out of jealousy!", at this point you're pratically yelling at each other and are forced to leave the library, resuming this odd conversation on your way to Ravenclaw's common room.

"I still can't believe you let yourself go with what Jeongin tells you. He's evil you know?"

"Should've guessed by the green scarf huh?", you slap his arm lightly, not very fond of the jokes made regarding the fact your other best friend is a Slytherin.

"So, how do I solve this?", he basically pleas at you as you sit down on the desk next to the fireplace, as far away as possible from your housemates. Every two in three students has made, or attempted to make, some sort of potion or spell to have something in their advantage. However, amortentia wasn't just "some potion", and if some were to find out that Hwang - head in space - Hyunjin succeded at his attempt they would never leave his poor ass alone, so for now your plan was to keep this subject as low-key as possible.

"Marry her." you say nonchalantly while, without his knowledge, already looking up all about amortentia, its possible side effects and how long it would take to wear off - if ever-, receiving a whine in return.

"It was really fun at first, you know? The flirting was cute, the smooches were great," and boy he put some emphasis on that adjective,"but now it's like she's obsessed with me! She's clingy and talks with that annoying voice and I can't seem to get rid of her!" Hyunjin throws himself face down into the old couch and whines again, words muffled by the pillow where he burried his face. "She's probably standing right outside the door just now!"

"Wait, what do you mean it was fun at first? How long has this been going on Hwang Hyunjin? And why am I only knowing of this now?", you turn around in your chair way too fast, hitting with your knee on the other chair next to you before facing the mop of brown hair all spread around the blue pillow.

"Well, I barely ever saw you all week!", the boy turns his head just the minimum amount to look at you, "You're either with your nose buried in those old books, or with your hands all over Lee Minho! Not my fault you no longer have time for your friends..."

"First of all," you pull out the pillow he's laying on, his face falling on the black cushion as a few curses leave his lips, "lower your tone! I did not spend the week with my hands all over Minho, I am tutoring him in potions!"

"Which you're not that good at, that's why you walk everywhere with those fat books..." Hyunjin rolls his eyes at you as he recovers the pillow from your hands again, "Don't deny it (y/n), you've got the hots for him!"

"Oh sweetie, I sense jealousy in your tone... is that why you gave Angela a poorly made potion?", you show him the page you've been reading between the backs and forths of your not so relevent argument, only for him to realize the potion should've worn off two days ago. Instead, it only got worse. "Perhaps you could use some reading too huh?"

The boy rips the book from your hands, grunting between his teeth sounds you doubted to be words as he makes his way out, only to shut the door as soon as he opens it, squealing loudly when his eyes meet the ones from the Gryffindor's brunette standing right in the middle of the hallway.

"I'm telling you (y/n), she won't leave me alone! It's like she's obsessed!", Hyunjin keeps his back against the door, afraid the girl could open it by some miracle driven by her potion induced feelings, hence she doesn't have the password.

"Well, you see Hyunjin... that's because she is! And it's your fault, you should simply face it..."

"Oh I'm going the kill Jeongin...", the boy grunts ignoring your words completely as the whines coming from the other side of the door overlapped them, "Can you go get him? Or get rid of her?"

You make your way to the door Hyunjin refuses to unblock and, when words and pushes didn't make the tall boy move, you had to resort to your wand, although the simple threat was more than enough for him to make way for you. He stayed hidden in the corner as you parted the door slightly to tell the girl her beloved had disapparated from there, and she should probably look at the quidditch court. The fact she believed you only proved how strongly she was affected by the potion, since everyone knew Hyunjin would never go to a sports court by his free will and disapparating into and out Hogwarts wasn't possible at all.

As soon as the path got clear you both made your way to the shrieking shack through the whomping willow everyone was so afraid of, but that was exactly why the three of you claimed it as your secret meeting place.

Jeongin was already waiting as you sent him a message through your magic notepad when you got rid of Angela, and you had to secure Hyunjin to not throw the book at the Slytherin boy who only laughed in return. The laughter didn't last long though, because you only stopped Hyunjin so you would be the one scolding the younger one, flicking his head the same way you did to the lover boy earlier.

"Hey! What did you do that for?", the boy frowned at you rubbing his forehead.

"To bring you back to reality, so you can both fix the mess you made!"

"But what's the problem?" Jeongin looked at you with honest confusion on his face, "Is this about the potion? You know that thing wears off in like a week or so right?"

"Exactly... do the math now genius..." Hyunjin rolls his eyes before leaning his back against the spiderweb covered walls.

The three of you spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out what went wrong in the first place, you analyzing every single detail of the procedure, and the boys trying to recreate every step they took to reach the final product. But, after hours of research and theories nothing seemed to have gone wrong, well except for the exaggerated and long-lasting effect of the potion.

"We should just obliviate the poor girl..." suggested Jeongin at one point, head in his hands as a sing of withdrawal.

“I don’t think that’s legal, but we can work around it...” You agree with him closing the book you were now reading for the fifth time.

"Are you guys serious? Because that sounds great! Can we get away with it?" Hyunjin's eyes were sparkling in hope as he shifted in his seat to a more straight up position, ready to do whatever it took to get to walk in peace around the school, without being unexpectedly smooched in the cheek and squezeed into a hug every time the girl spotted him.

"No, it's a joke!" You both sigh at your friend's desperation before calling it a day, deciding to resume your research first thing in the morning.

As per usual, you met with the boys for breakfast at the dining hall, though this time they weren't alone and you couldn't help out a giggle when Angela, as glued to Hyunjin as possible while feeding him something funny looking with a spoon, winked at you as soon as you sat in front of her and next to Jeongin. The latter looked almost as horrified as the pampered boy, and you had to focus to try and keep yourself from bursting into laughter before the scene that was unfolding in front of you.

Hyunjin looked like an annoyed pouty baby slumped in his chair - as an attempt to go unnoticed -, while the smiley girl, - one that seemed to have way too much energy in the morning -, pulled some strands of the boy's hair behind his ear before kissing his cheek, "You're so pretty Hyunnie-jin, and I hate to leave you," the girl pouts as she pinches his cheeks rather aggressively, "but don't worry sugarplum, I'll be waiting for you in the astronomy tower when you leave class." This time the kiss is aimed at his lips, but Hyunjin antecipates her intentions and dodges his head with a slick move, just not fast enough to be fully free of her, ending up with her lips awkwardly attached half to his jaw, half to the corner of his lip.

"So you decided to give in?" You couldn't help the grin that was forming on your face, finding it hilarious how the universe always had a way to keep things balanced.

"Shut up. I had to if I didn't want to starve myself, it was one sacrafice I was willing to take." Hyunjin furiously rubs his face with a napkin, as if it would erase the memory of the previous demonstration of affection.

"I say it's the karma, you were basically playing and manipulating her the moment you gave her the potion, now you face the consequences."

"It's like she's taking revenge..." Jeongin mumbles more to himself than to his friends, but he was still heard, and had now two pairs of eyes locked on him waiting for a further explanation to what seemed to be a pretty plausable theory. "We already concluded we didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"Yes, it's still hard to believe though..." you take a sip of your pumpking juice with a raise eybrow, honestly still impressed at how they pulled that off.

"So what if she got aware that Hyunjin gave-"

"We, Jeongin, we!! This wasn't just me okay? I just got the, uh, benefits?"

"Ok, sure, whatever... What if she became aware that we," emphasis on the pronoun as he glanced at Hyunjin, "gave her a potion and now that it wore off she is pulling this act as a pay back? Because, according to our lover boy, if it was nice at first then why would she suddenly start acting all obsessively?"

Both you and Hyunjin took a moment to reflect on this new theory, one Jeongin was really proud of as showed by his smug grin when he crossed his arms and relaxed back in his chair.

"I hate to admit it, but that makes a lot of sense... and explains why she winked at me when I got here..."

"Okay yes, she is faking it... why else would she wink at (y/n) when I'm the one she's supposed to be focused on?", the boy threw his arms up with a questionting - and slightly offended - look.

"Time for confrontation!" you were already standing up with Hyunjin following the lead, but you held yourselves back when you realized Jeongin wasn't moving, looking between the both of you still grinning.

"I've got a better idea..."

It was a terrible idea, you thought, and wanted no part in it at all so you let the boys discuss the details while you just sat there judging their poor life decisions.

The plan was for Hyunjin, instead of confronting her and get it over with as you suggested, to play along as if he too was deeply in love with her, and see who would break out of character first. As much as you tried to explain how childish and stupid the plan was, the boys simply wouldn't listen to you, convinced this was the best idea they've ever had.

Hyunjin got oddly excited about this and ran to astronomy class, already antecipating the act he would pull off when he'd see the girl waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs when he'd get out, leaving you and Jeongin alone in the dining all. The contrast of your opinions on this was pretty clear in your faces, Jeongin laughing loudly, you furrowing your brows and shaking your head in disapproval.

Then, all of a sudden, the boy stops laughing and looks at you, "What if they actually end up falling in love after all this?"

He sounded seriously concerned yet amused at the same time, while you only rolled your eyes at him before collecting your books and leaving for class as well.

"Shut up, this isn't a wattpad fanfic."

networks: @ficscafe @k-library @k-dinernet @districtninewriters

taglist: @dreamwrld @su-lix @bobateastay @leihey @serialee @hyunsluvv

⇢ let me know if you want to be added to the taglist ♡

[spcncershybrid]

She will kill us all- Fred Weasley Imagine

GIF IS NOT MINE

(Summary: Your two best friends rope you into their recent prank little did you know you would be hurt too.)

Fred Weasley X Reader

So basically I’ve seen a lot of people being like ‘oh just imagine Fred’s death being a prank and at the funeral George stays behind and Fred just wakes up saying what a good prank.’ so uh here is something similar. There will be a second part!

April 29th , 1998

“Hey Y/N.” The twins say in unison as I enter their shop.

“Hey why is the closed sign up?” I say pointing to the door.

“We have a plan-“ George starts.

“-a brilliant, heart wrenching, sad idea.” Fred finishes.

“The both of you and plans is never a good thing.” I say sighing.

“Also if it’s just the both of you doing it why did you guys call me?” I ask confused.

“Well our mother won’t kill you for the idea we have planned.” Fred says nodding over to his brother who agrees.

“Just spill your brilliant, heart wrenching, sad idea” I say looking at them suspiciously.

“Well so you know how the whole situation with the Dark Lord is happening.” George says.

“Yes?” I question looking at them.

“Well one of us is planning on fake dying-” Fred says.

“I already hate the sound of this.” I cut him off.

“So I can fake die then at the funeral you guys can hide my body then we can all go home.” Fred finishes raising his eyebrows at me.

I dryly laugh. They can’t be serious. That idea is insane.

“We know what you're thinking-” Fred starts.

“Yeah that you’re insane!” I exclaim looking at them.

“She will literally kill us when she finds out!” I say rubbing my eyes in disbelief.

They really want me to be a part of this!

“She won’t hurt a hair on your head.” George says as Fred nods agreeingly.

“You know what. The thing I get in return better be amazing for helping you gits.” I groan.

“Yes, she’s on board!” George and Fred cheer circling around me.

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

May 2nd, 1998

Today’s the day. 

Instead of you-know-who killing us Molly Weasley definitely will.

I can’t believe I agreed to this.

“You ready guys?” George asks looking over to Fred and I.

“Ready to die at the hands of your mother.” I say sarcastically as I twirl my wand along my fingers.

They both laughed at my words and George headed inside.

Fred and I stare at the chaos engulfing around the school.

“After this we should go on a date.” Fred says swaying back and forth.

“Oh Fred Weasley you’ll be the death of me.” I groan softly looking up at him.

“Not if my mum kills you for helping us.” He says laughing as he stares back at me.

I roll my eyes at him and punch his arm.

“So will you?” He asked a playful smirk resting on his lips.

“Sure.” I say giving him a side hug as I notice Percy come upstairs.

“You go with Perce. I'll help fight inside. I promise I’ll be safe.” I say letting him go kissing his cheek.

“I promise I’ll stay alive for our date.” He says kissing the top of my head before going with Percy.

I run inside the building dodging the falling rocks and have my wand held high prepared for the fight of my life.

Little did I know it’ll be the one thing to fight for.

Later in the Great Hall

I walk beside George slightly limping as we enter the Great Hall. Immediately being met with sadness seeing our fallen friends whose lives have ended.

“Why is my mum crying?” George says as he stops abruptly.

“George who’s that on the floor?” I ask stopping next to him as my body grows cold.

Molly looks over at us, tears falling down her face.

We run over to her, dropping to our knees next to Fred’s body.

“There was an explosion that sent him flying into a wall. There was nothing I could do.” Percy said stunned as he watched the pair cry.

“No. You arse you promised!” I whisper angrily as I clutch his clothing tears already making its way down my face.

“Fred! Oh my gosh Fred!” I sob as I shake his body vigorously hoping his eyes would open.

”Come on brother please this was supposed to be a prank.” George whispered for only us to hear.

“He’s dead. My precious boy is dead.” We hear Molly say as we stand.

I look over to George and hug him. We both sob in each other’s arms, parts of us dying with the boy that lie on the floor.

One Week Later

I look into the mirror as I smooth out my black dress.

Today is the funeral. Fred’s funeral.

I take a deep breath and head down the stairs meeting the Weasley family.

We stand together mourning the loss of Fred, each of us nearly tearing ourselves apart as we look at his body lying peacefully in the casket.

“I wish this was a stupid prank.” I whisper to myself.

George walks up to me and stands beside me.

“So much for the plan.” George said sadly as we watched Arthur and Molly cry as they held one another.

“We’ll lay him down tomorrow morning. Morning was his favorite.” Molly said as she headed inside.

Soon enough the Weasleys head inside leaving George and I with the casket.

“You know he promised me he’ll stay safe. He even asked me out before the whole mess.” I say breaking the silence between us.

“Before the war he wanted to ask you out. He fancied you a lot. Ron and I bet each other a galleon if you two got together. I guess I owe him one.” George says laughing quietly recalling the memory.

________________

“They surely will get together.” Ron said as he stared at Y/N and Fred laughing and scheming together.

“They won't, they're both scared.” George said watching the pair.

“They would look cute together. Have you seen him when she’s near.” Ron said, staring at his brother sitting in front of him.

“You should’ve heard him yesterday talking about her. She walked in and he turned as red as our hair.” George says laughing.

“We should set a bet. One single galleon.” Ron said, smirking as he watched as Y/N slapped Fred’s arm playfully.

“You’re on brother. I bet that they won’t get together. This will be easy; they are both too scared to ask each other out. The Yule ball was pure luck for them. It’s been this way since second year.” George says confidently holding out his hand.

“I bet that they will get together.” Ron says matching his brother's confidence and gladly shakes his hand.

“Remember when he stepped on my foot during the ball.” I say laughing with him.

“I thought you would never walk again after. I was surprised he asked you seeing as you burnt the paper ball he threw at you to ask you in the first place.” George says laughing as we both reminisce on the events of the Triwizarding Tournament era of our lives.

________________

“He won’t ask me Angela, it's pure knowledge. Fred Weasley doesn’t like me.” I say sadly looking ahead at a Hufflepuff pair of students walking hand and hand after being asked to the infamous Yule Ball.

“He surely will. Just give him time.” Angela says comforting me.

“I sure hope so.” I say looking at her and get back to writing in my book.

Later on…

We all sat in the Great Hall as Snape walked past us, book nestled in front of his face. 

Fred has non stop been flinging paper balls my way nearly getting me in trouble.

Out of my peripheral vision I notice him ball up another piece of paper.

I pull out my wand concealing it under the table as Snape walks past up stopping right behind Angela, who might I add is sitting right next to me.

Fred chucks the paper towards me but I react quickly.

“Incendio.” I say pointing my wand to the paper watching it burn and the charred pieces fall onto the table.

“Fred Weasley if you throw another paper ball my way I will use that spell on you.” I say glaring at him as I naturally get fed up.

“Open it next time.” He hissed looking at me.

Angela and George snicker watching the two of us bicker at each other.

A few moments pass and I silently pray that he won’t throw another.

I look around the room and hear a small thud in front of me.

I look down noticing a scrunched up piece of paper in front of me resting on top of my book.

I look over to Fred who’s motioning for me to open the paper.

I uncurl the ball and read it.

‘Georgie told me you were complaining about not having anyone to go with to the ball. So Y/N Y/L/N I invite you a one night Weasley special. Will you go to the ball with me? As friends.’ 

I smile at the scribbled writing and look up at him. He’s mimicking a ball like dance and nods to me. I roll my eyes and nod back as he cheers silently.

Although it was only as friends I was overjoyed. 

“Told you.” Angela whispered to me as the twins get back to work.

Day of the Yule Ball 

“Does this color seem tacky?” I ask Angela as I twirl in the mirror.

“It’s simple and cute. Fred will lose his mind looking at you in that.” Angela says as she smooths out her dress.

The dress wasn’t too elegant but it wasn’t plain either. It was a simple blue dress with glitter cascading the bottom half reminding me of the night sky.

I link arms with Angela as we head down the grand staircase making our way to the twins.

George and Angela grab each other’s hand and walk away leaving Fred and I standing alone.

We stare at each other not sure of what to say.

“You look beautiful.” Fred said looking at me.

“Thank you. You don't look too bad either.” I say laughing as we head inside where the students gather waiting for the champions to arrive.

After a while everyone dances with each other. I on the other hand stay sitting down watching the night unfold before my eyes.

“Come on you said you’ll dance.” Fred said walking over to me holding out his hand.

I grab his hand reluctantly and he pulls me to him as we sway back and forth to the beat of the song. 

That was until we twisted too quick and his foot stepped harshly on mine causing me to wince in pain.

“I am so so sorry.” Fred apologizes profusely as he guides me to a table.

“It’s alright just remind me to never dance with you ever again.” I say jokingly as I slip off my heels noticing a large bruise slowly appear on it.

“Noted.” He said sheepishly as he helped me stand and led me to Madam Pomfrey.

________________

“You alright.” George says snapping me out of my memory.

“I will be.” I say sadly before turning on my feet and enter the Weasley home, leaving George outside.

I head upstairs not even bothering to stay down knowing I’ll break down at the sight of everyone upset.

Meanwhile...

George paces around outside staring at the open casket blankly.

What if the potion went wrong when he got hurt? He thought.

Yes he was scared that his brother was truely dead, the thought horrified him. The day their mum pronounced Fred dead he was scared believing he died.

But what if that wasn’t the case? He thought as he stopped.

He entered the house and looked around seeing if anyone was up. He quietly entered the different rooms noticing everyone asleep from the long day.

He quietly exited the home and went up to the casket staring at his brother's pale face.

Remember George just pinch him and he’ll wake up. We made this up ourselves. George thought to himself as he stood over the body.

His hand waved over his brother’s and pinched the back of Fred’s palm.

George stepped back and stared at him silently praying the potion worked. It had been a week at most since Fred ingested the potion. 

Slight movement was beginning to be noticeable and suddenly Fred’s eyes were wide open taking in the night sky. He coughed slightly as George silently cheered.

“Welcome back to the land of the living brother.” George said, helping his brother out of the casket.

“How long was I out from that awful potion?” Fred said his legs buckled as he stood up for the first time in a week.

“A week.” George said, stabilizing his brother.

“Oh man how mad do you reckon they’ll be?” Fred asked, getting excited to see his family's reaction to the whole ordeal.

“Very. Y/N and I cried a lot. Mum and dad cried enough to fill an ocean.” George said laughing.

“You and Y/N cried? You saw me take the potion and I told you to tell her.” Fred said, slightly confused remembering the moment like it was yesterday.

“Beware drinking this might taste like what cat litter smells like.” George said, handing a special blended potion to knock Fred out.

“We don’t even own a cat. How do you know what it smells like?” Fred asked, causing George to roll his eyes.

”I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Fred said as he stared at the bottle.

“Me neither.” George says smiling widely.

“So after I drink this what will you do to wake me up.” Fred said mixing around the liquid watching it swish together.

“All I have to do is pinch you and you’ll wake up.” George said.

“Okay so it’ll affect me later during the war and make sure you tell Y/N so she doesn’t think I died for real.” Fred said as he held the bottle to his lips.

“Of course brother.” George said as he watched Fred drink the potion.

Fred gagged as he drank the potion as the different flavors coated his throat.

“Of course we cried. Percy said you were hit by an explosion that sent you into a wall. I thought you died for real. But later on in the night I remembered the potion would have protected you from anything.” George said as his brother regained mobility.

“So why did Y/N cry?” Fred asked, crossing his arms.

“I never told her about the potion Freddie. She was worked up about the war and it slipped my mind.” George confessed causing his brother.

“She cried over my dead body because you forgot to tell her I wasn’t actually dead! George, that was one thing that wasn’t supposed to happen.” Fred silently exclaimed.

Fred never wanted Y/N to cry over the prank. They already dragged her into the idea he didn’t want her to be heartbroken over the fact that he wasn’t really dead.

“We both thought you were dead Fred. There was no way of telling if you were alive or not.” George argued back.

“Please tell me that she didn’t cry for the whole week.” Fred said, staring at his brother.

George stood silently.

“She will be furious you know. Oh gosh she’ll probably hate me after this.” Fred said, running a hand through his hair.

“She wouldn’t hate you Fred. If anything she’ll hate me.” George says laughing slightly.

“We’ll worry about that tomorrow for the big reveal.” George says shrugging as he guides his brother to a shed on the property.

________________ 

“Where’s my boy? He’s gone!” Molly Weasley’s shocked voice pierces through the quiet home.

I quickly get up and head downstairs.

What does she mean he’s gone?

“He should be in the casket Mrs. Weasley. I don’t think we have grave robbers.” I say rubbing my eyes as everyone comes down the steps.

“He’s not here!” She yelled, sounding shocked.

Ron and Harry ran into the living room in confusion as they heard the commotion.

“Who’s not here?” Ginny asked as she walked in.

“Fred.” Molly said as she clasped her hand over her mouth.

I furrow my eyebrows and look around the room noticing one person of the Weasley clan isn’t here. George.

I huff and stomped upstairs. I walk along the hallway and knocked on his door furiously.

“Come in.” I heard him say.

I open the door angrily.

“You better have one hell of an explanation Weasley.” I hiss.

“On?” He asked confused as he sat up from his bed.

“Where is he?” I say crossing me arms.

“Who are you talking about?” He asked as he stood up from his bed.

“The bloody grindylow’s. You know exactly what I’m talking about George Weasley. Where is he?” I ask my voice raising slightly as I tap my foot on the floor.

“Y/N I wanted to tell you.” George started.

“Tell me where he is or you're both dead for real.”  I say staring at him sternly.

“He’s at the shop. He’s in the flat.” George said as he stared down at his feet.

“This isn’t over.” I say as I walk out of his room.

I walk over to the room I’m staying in and grab my wand. I grab my old quidditch jumper and apparate to Diagon Alley.

I walked down over to the joke shop. I placed my hand on the handle and opened the door. I made my way towards the flat and opened it. Low and behold what do I see, Fred Weasley.

“Why are you here?” He asked startled.

“You’re lucky I don't have your head on a pike and because I know how to apparate properly.” I spat.

“Look, I know you’re mad.” Fred said as he put down a book.

“That’s not even the beginning Weasley. You had me worried sick you were dead for crying out loud. I cried for you, Fred and you’re here alive. Was the prank worth it? Was it worth the tears and the heartbreak? So help me on Gryffindor’s name was this whole thing worth it.” I yell at him as I bite back tears. Some cascaded down my face and I quickly wiped them.

“Y/N I’m sorry. I told George to tell you.” Fred said, his voice cracking.

“You’re sorry is all you have to say for yourself! You can forget about that damned date! Don’t even contact me!” I spat angrily as I ran out the room and down the steps.

I wiped away my tears and apparated back to my room at the Burrow.

“Stupid Weasley’s.” I muttered as I grabbed my rucksack off the bed. I began to fill it with my things.

After a few minutes most of my things were packed. I grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and sat down at the desk.

‘Dear Molly Weasley,

Sorry I won’t be here for the funeral. My condolences but I’m leaving. I wish you all the best. I'll be with my parent’s. Thank you for giving me a place to stay for the week I appreciate it.

                                                                                                                       Love,

                                                                                                               Y/N Y/L/N’

I sealed the letter with tape and placed it onto my desk. I grab at my broom and open the window. I hop onto the broom and clutch the top. I pushed my feet off the window sill and flew off. The trip won’t be too long but it’ll probably take a while.

I soared through the air and sighed. I am going to miss them.

[pumpkinsy0]

purly hcs. NOW.

jamie pls calm down😟😟

•”you cant control the beast inside me thats caged inside of me clawing to get out” “yea ok bro, now do u want the cotton candy or not”- a real convo they’ve had

•okok curly has musical talent (its canon now stfu) and hes rlly good in band class and sometimes him and pony stay behind after school to “practice w the piano” w curly bc hes good at it but no lol they just wanna b close to each other, get a load of these fuckers

•sometimes when they get high together, they make this pile of pillows and just lay on it and for the next 30 mins they r laughing about how they r on clouds

•curly is a rlly hard person to ignore, so instead when ponys mad at him or whatever, he just looks at him so unimpressed 😭

•tim and angela have pics of toddler curly at church, suit n all, and he just looks so done with everything and curly HATES it when they show it to pony or anyone for that matter

•EVERYTIME pony gets a mouthful of curlys hair for whatever reason, it takes so long to get the strands of his hair off his face, he literally screaming in frustration

•these fucking idiots ate edibles by accident and had to spend the rest of the day trying to keep each other in check but it was a MESS

•sometimes their pet names arent even pet names, its just like “well hey there my lil, Redragon K552 60% Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Compact 87 Key Mechanical Computer Keyboard KUMARA USB Wired Cherry MX Blue Equivalent Switches for Windows PC Gamers (Black RED LED Backlit)😼”

•every has stopped asking them wtf is wrong with them atp cause they are past the point of helping

•sometimes curly will take the blame for ponys mistakes and pony would do the same but ppl don’t believe him as much

[jacqcrisis]

more lumberyard monster stuff including characters and monster anatomy. putting under read more cause LONG

characters: 

Sixer: monster man. no idea what he is or where he came from, only that he doesn’t want to go back. is generally playful, lazy, incredibly quick to learn, curious, and a trouble maker when he’s bored. loves his tv, the dog, eating, annoying Dale, sleeping, and Alvin. 

Alvin: lover boy. Tony’s nephew. Started working at the lumberyard not long before they found Sixer. is kind of quiet, gentle, relatively down to earth, clearly beat down already even in his mid-twenties, not helped by his verbally abusive and manipulative girlfriend who eventually becomes his fiancee as he doesn’t know how to get out of the relationship. loves working with him hands, modding/fixing things, old cars, all kinds of music, and chilling with Sixer.

Tony: the dad guy. first generation American. mom immigrated to U.S. from Mexico. loves motorcycles, making people smile, and his wife. is second pony to the owner, runs the saws, and is basically the lumberyard’s HR department. has four kids and is all-around a nice guy. see’s the yard crew as a second family. Named Sixer for his six limbs and is very proud of that fact. Thinks of him as his ‘buddy’.

Charlie: bull dyke owner. Took over the yard from her father. is happily married to a law professor. loves bourbon, her motorcycle, and her dog. used to smoke, has the smoker’s voice and laugh, and chews nicotine gum like her life may depend on it. is tough but fair. pretty no nonsense with most of her workers, but Tony who is both a family friend and her second in command and Sixer, who she dotes on in her own way.

Dale: Shitty guy. Hates paying child support. Just the worst. An HR nightmare before Sixer came along to keep him in place.

Brian: Alvin’s friend who also works at the yard. Likes to drag race, pick up chicks, and kind of instigates Dale even if he doesn’t mean to. Is kind of ambivalent to Sixer but likes the novelty of having this weird monster at the yard

McKenzie: cashier girl/secretary. Doesn’t work in the yard itself, but spends all day inside answering the phone and cashing out orders. Single-mother in her early twenties and Charlie allows her to bring her kid to work when she can’t get a babysitter especially with Sixer around cause he likes watching the kid. Kind of stuck up, kind of a party girl, but is fun to be around.

Scruff: Is a dog. Some kind of large shepherd mix. Loves to follow Sixer and is the one who initially found him on a rainy afternoon, injured and hiding behind the saw mill.

Angela: Charlie’s wife. visits the yard from time to time. Tony calls her the big boss because everyone watches themselves when she’s around. Is beloved by all save for Dale. Sixer has some kind of crush on her.

Monster anatomy bits: 

- Sixer is a strange mixture of ape, panthera, and reptile in body shape, while gait swaps between felid and simian depending on the situation. is capable of sitting on his haunches to get a better look around and capable of walking for a limited time on two legs, though very awkwardly. hips generally sit lower to the ground than shoulders while walking on all fours as forelimbs are slightly longer than backlegs. is capable of reaching speeds of 35mph for an extremely limited time and can leap up to 30ft horizontally though is capable of walking for days on end if needed.

- is covered in large golden brown plated scales that are smooth to the touch. from the shoulder to just before the hips are large thick black spines ranging in length that can be raised and lowered at will to be flush against the back or stand straight up. spines are used to sense vibrations and temperature changes in the air to make up for piss poor hearing. also has some very vibrant neon blue markings that show up after his winter shed during the springtime along his back and sides and that fade by mid-summer. 

- skull and face shape is vaguely human in that it is forward facing and very flat though with noticeable differences. face is covered in smaller thinner scales. eyes are larger, green-yellow in color with round pupils and has two sets of eyelids, one for blocking out light, the other for blocking out dust, debris, and water while still maintaining sight. nostrils are almost flush to the face and also large, covered by sensitive receptors that are activated by a chemical in his saliva, excellent at smelling. brow has bumpy ridges that stick out instead of eyebrows. jawbone is bisected and each side is capable of limited independent movement. has no lips. tongue is long and teeth are more ape like. has no external ear and is genuinely not great at hearing unless someone it talking directly at him. has a crop of black hair/fur on top of head that never grows longer than inch along with a few more psuedo-horns around the crown that are dull.

- six limbed. two hind legs and four arms, each ending in a foot/hand with four digits. one set of arms is slightly larger than the other and has larger claws and are used primarily for locomotion, climbing, and fighting/hunting. other set used for more delicate work. scales on the palms of smaller hands are notably thinner and more sensitive to touch for tool work, affection, and object manipulation. Tony jokingly calls the larger arms his ‘fightin’ arms’ and the smaller ones his ‘doin’ arms’

- from head to tip of tail, Sixer is about 12 feet long and from shoulder to ground when on ‘all fours’ stands at about 4 feet tall. tail makes up 30% of body length, is neither stiff nor prehensile, and is capable of a limited amount of wagging closer to the tip, generally used to signal mood though can be used to whip antagonizers.

-he sheds twice a year, the process taking about two weeks from start to finish and these have been dubbed as ‘hell weeks’ by the crew because they have a massive grumpy snappy itchy monster who rubs himself on every rough surface up to and including the buildings, forklifts, the lumber, any unfortunate cars, the fence, and Alvin for 12-16 days. the best way to deal with it is to hose him down twice a day or provide a small pool for him to soak in and give up on trying to get the garage broom from him which he uses to brush himself.

- opportunistic omnivore that can eat almost anything. to lead a healthy diet, requires 70% meat/organ/bone and 30% veg. while svelte, he actually gains a little extra belly cause of the access to a local deer/rabbit overpopulation and the crew just giving him food all the time. 

- has a range of vocalizations and i still haven’t decided if he’s capable of speech or if it’s severely limited and the crew teach him to use asl cause it would make sense if he couldn’t form most words given mouth anatomy and I like it better than unexplained telepathy. i’ll probably go with that.

- genitalia are internal and male in nature. 

monster man and the lumberyard extra bits i thought of:

- Tony gives Sixer a T.V. but it’s only hooked up to local channels so at night he watches a lot of bad television and soap operas.

- Sixer starts crushing on Alvin very quickly, but does not understand how to romance Anyone, so he tries to do a mixture of whats instinctual for him and what he sees on bad T.V. Alvin brushes it off for years, thinking Sixer is Just Like That. it takes him a bit to realize he’s catching feelings because while he is book smart, he also is, regrettably, a himbo

- some sneaky government thing is looking for him. so is a local cryptid hunting group. They get alerted cause some hunters find the remains of deer who’s wounds look nothing like something a local predator could do. no one suspects to look in the dusty lumberyard, of course.

- for holiday parties and get togethers, either Charlie or Tony always hand off a bunch of food to Alvin, telling him to go give it to the ‘old man next door’ so he can get away from his fiancee for a bit and so Sixer doesn’t miss out on the festivities

[palakvalecha]

Oscars 2021 Red Carpet Review

(Part 2/2)

Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett wore a red Alberta Feretti dress. I love the neckline and sleeves. The sleeves look gorgeous and very dramatic. The back is beautiful, with a panel of fabric coming out of the bow forming the train of the dress. Not to mention, the red is perfect. What I don't like is the bottom of the dress. The dress didn't need a slit. The slit ruins it. They should have allowed the sleeves to shine. There are the dramatic sleeves, there's a train, and there's a slit. There's too much going on. The slit was not required at all. Without the slit, this look would have been fire. The lip-shaped clutch makes no difference.

Reese Witherspoon

Red seems to be a lot of people's choice for the Oscars this year. Reese Witherspoon wore a red Dior gown. There's a bright red, and a darker shade of red, and there's also maroon at the right side of the dress. I like the asymmetrical shoulders. What I don't like is the belt. Even without the belt, the look would have been too simple for the Oscars, but the belt completely ruins it. Sorry Reese, you deserve better.

Halle Berry

Speaking of bad looks, Halle Berry wore a Dolce and Gabbana gown. The color seems to be the only bearable thing about this look. The thing about having a huge bow on a gown, whether at the front or at the back is that it can't be flowy. It can be a ball gown, it can be a sleek column gown but it has to be a clean silhouette, not flowy. It's not a rule, its just what usually looks good. For example-

These bow gowns have one thing in common- clean silhouette. Halle Berry's look is flowy despite the bow, which makes it ugly. Also, the bow is not well constructed. Maybe it's because of the choice of fabric that the bow looks so bad. And don't even get me started on her hideous haircut. This is the worst look in my opinion.

Vanessa Kirby

Kirby wore a pink, off shoulder, backless, pristine Gucci column gown with a train and cutwork detail. The pink is lovely. The maroon lips really brighten the otherwise subdued look. Everything about this look including her hair, makeup and jewelry is on point. She looks immaculate.

Viola Davis

Viola Davis wore a white Alexander McQueen gown with an intricately detailed bodice. (Fun fact: It may seem like there's cut work on the bodice, through which you can see Viola's skin, but it’s actually a corset dyed to match her skin tone. This was achieved by trying multiple swatches, with the help of her make-up artist, who gave the atelier the base colours she uses on Viola.) The intricate bodice is put against flowy chiffon skirt. While I admire the craftsmanship that went into making this garment, I feel this bodice would have looked better with well tailored pants instead of the skirt. The bodice is structured and the skirt is flowy. A structured bodice and structured pants would have looked more cohesive. Nevertheless, this is still not a bad look.

Celeste

Celeste wore a Gucci gown. I like the sheer fabric detail at the neckline, I like the fringes forming the red and black print on the bodice. I like the little blue detail at the centre of the neckline that goes with the blue of the clutch. Speaking of the clutch, that's the anatomical heart clutch from the Gucci×Balenciaga Fall 2021 runway. I like this look, it's simple yet quirky.

Cara Delevingne

This isn't a look from the Oscars Red Carpet, but from the Oscars after party. But I included this look in the review anyway because it deserves a mention. Cara Delevingne wore Ronald Van Der Kemp. I love Cara Delevingne. I absolutely love how effortlessly stylish she is. I love her fierce sense of style. She never disappoints. While everyone else wears their most elegant gowns for the Oscars red carpet and after parties, Cara Delevingne shows up in an outfit as fierce as this. The well tailored pants paired with the pleated bodice looks powerful. By now I am convinced that no girl can pull off menswear and menswear inspired outfits better than Cara.

All in all, it was quite an eventful evening for fashion lovers. The red carpet was dominated by red, and quirky clutches. While some celebrities disappointed, there were some cool looks as well on the red carpet this year, that more than made up for the bad looks.

[virtual-toast]

Scream Queens VH1 recap - Season 1 Episode 2

Michelle, Sarah, Kylah, and Jessica come back from the grand ballroom and the rest of the girls are shocked and/or pissed that Jo-Anne went home instead of Kylah. Lindsay says “This house will mourn the loss of Jo-Anne” and Sarah, in tears, calls her “such a sensational actress”, which are both super melodramatic reactions, you knew Jo-Anne for three days, but okay. Meanwhile Kylah has no idea why everyone is upset that she’s still there haha.

The following day sees Kylah declaring the house has been divided into the “queen bitches” (herself, Michelle, Lina, and Angela) and the “more homely girls” (Marissa, Lindsay, and Sarah). I’m assuming she’s put Tanedra and Jessica in the latter category too but she doesn’t mention them specifically. The bitchy girls talk shit about the other girls behind their backs, specifically about how they think Sarah didn’t deserve to win the previous episode, that she’s ugly and annoying, etc.

The girls meet up with Shawnee who tells them they have 15 minutes to dress themselves up and impress a casting director (Kelly Wagner, who seems pretty cool tbh) with the winner getting a guaranteed callback. While getting ready, Michelle and Angela mention that if the winner is not one of the bitchy girls, the competition must be rigged. An awful lot of confidence for week 2, lol.

The girls go back into the room with Shawnee and meet Kelly. They take turns doing a sort of one on one interview / audition, which I’m gonna summarise in dot points because they each get a small amount of screen time:

Lindsay talks about being a child actor and Kelly says that means she probably actually has a harder job than someone just starting out. Lindsay is wearing a weird sort of frilly top and skirt with polka dots but it somehow doesn’t really work for her shape, and Kelly mentions it as well as Shawnee straight up calling her frumpy. True, but also, rude.

Lina goes up and immediately shakes Kelly’s hand. She doesn’t even get a word out before Kelly is like “yeah no, don’t shake casting directors’ hands, personal space / germs” etc.

Kylah talks about playing Price is Right with her brother which Kelly says is a bad choice because she’s automatically associating herself with being a model rather than an actress. Kylah proceeds to mention that she wants to “get ugly, get dirty, like Halle Berry did in Monster.” cringe

Marissa gets up and starts off on this huge spiel about how horror films are like modern Greek tragedies and everyone is just staring at her like GIRL WHAT.

Michelle introduces herself and Kelly asks if she primarily does theatre because of her big personality. Michelle proceeds to brag about being Miss Teen Texas.

Jessica is wearing a smart-casual outfit of jeans and a simple white top with her trademark giant hoop earrings. Kelly comments on her look being unique. Jessica is kinda speaking like a cute little girl who doesn’t want to let the evil out??

Angela mentions how she thinks she has the stereotypical horror “look”. Her outfit isn’t relevant but I have to mention it anyway - it honestly looks like she cut the top off a blue evening gown to wear as a shirt?? and then just jeans. Like idk.

Sarah introduces herself and Kelly immediately comments on her unique nasally voice.

Tanedra tells Kelly that she has no formal training. Kelly says “And you think you can beat out all these girls?” and Tanedra’s like YES. Fuck yeah get it girl.

So Kelly goes ahead and gives her overall impressions - Kylah has no personality, Angela has the best horror look, Lindsay looks like the best friend rather than the leading lady, Marissa is the one she didn’t remember, and she liked Jessica’s personal style. Ultimately she gives Jessica the guaranteed callback, and also sends Lindsay and Marissa for makeovers which Michelle finds hilarious.

The girls go back into the house and Kylah proceeds to have a tantrum about not winning, stating that if the casting director was a man the results would have been different. But get this, she DOES NOT CHANGE EXPRESSION THE ENTIRE TIME. Even when she’s yelling “I’M ABOUT TO CRY” she literally just has this blank look on her face like is she actually made of wax?? Meanwhile Lindsay and Marissa have their makeovers, Lindsay gets a cool short reverse A-line bob cut and looks really badass, while Marissa gets her hair dyed jet black and cut in choppy layers. It looks fine but you can tell by her face Marissa is not happy.

The girls go to Homa’s class and since the week is all about first impressions, they have to do freeze frame shots of particular expressions, I guess so they can see what they actually look like vs. what they think they look like or something. Most of the girls do pretty well, Tanedra kills it again, Marissa bombs, and Kylah once again LITERALLY DOES NOT CHANGE EXPRESSION. What the fuck.

Back at the house the girls are all gushing over Lindsay and Marissa’s makeovers, Michelle voices her jealousy despite earlier thinking it was hilarious, and Angela is mad that she’s no longer the only one with her “look”, even though she and Marissa don’t look the same at all, the only similarity is the colour of their hair?? Marissa goes and has a cry about her hair because she’s now lost all her confidence and honestly it’s actually kinda sad / hard to watch.

The next day they find one of the rooms in the house has been filled with creepy dolls and of course one of them is actually a person that jumps out and scares them because omg what a funny prank haha. The “doll” tells them their director’s challenge is a photoshoot which many of the girls are stoked about. They’re basically given generic horror themes and have to shoot the poster. Dot points again!

Lina gets “Tie Die” and her costume is literally a length of rope that’s wrapped around her. She immediately cracks the shits and goes into full blown diva mode, complaining about her costume, how apparently difficult her theme is compared to other girls, telling the makeup and hair people how to do their jobs, etc. Whaaaaat, Lina is a bitch?? This is brand new information!! Unfortunately she still does a really good job with the photoshoot.

Lindsay gets “Blinded By the Fright” and her costume is a hospital gown and white contact lenses, which she has difficulty putting in but is EXTREMELY polite about it with the makeup lady (a nice juxtaposition to Lina’s bitch fest). Lindsay also does really well in the photoshoot.

Kylah gets “Thin Skin” which she comments sounds like a porno, lmao. Her costume is literally just black liquid latex painted all over her body and the other girls are fucking FROTHING with jealously. Kylah proceeds to completely bomb the challenge, giving absolutely no emotion and James literally has no idea how to direct her.

Michelle gets “Don’t Go in the Water” and is basically just wearing a bikini, but then James dumps a bottle of cold water all over her. She does really well in the photoshoot.

Sarah gets “Blood Skate”, her costume is just a bloody ice skating outfit, and she does okay.

Tanedra gets “Prom Scream”, she is wearing a bloody prom dress, and she does really well.

Jessica gets “The Butcher’s Girl” and she’s literally wearing a hat, gloves, no shirt, just an apron and shorts? And there’s blood? This one confuses me. She does okay.

Angela gets “Monster’s Wedding” which some of the other girls (correctly) complain is SUPER easy - she’s literally in a wedding dress posing with a bloody hand prop. She does fine but I mean all she has to do is stand there and smile??

Marissa gets “Mummy Maker” and she’s wrapped in what I assume are bandages but it looks like toilet paper? She’s pretty covered, including the bottom half of her face, and she’s supposed to be seductive but honestly it kinda just feels like an awkward interpretive dance??

The next day back at the house, Marissa vents to the other girls about her insecurity with her new hair. Like I know it’s just hair but it’s kinda sad, they completely changed her look which obviously fucks with her confidence. The girls get their photoshoot posters and everyone is stoked except Marissa (rightfully) and Lindsay, who basically has an anxiety attack and hates hers even though everyone is telling her how great it is. Whoo boy I relate to Lindsay so hard. Jessica reads the list which summons Marissa, Kylah, Lindsay, and Lina to the grand ballroom. They all think they’re at the bottom except Lina, who of course thinks she’s top shit.

In the grand ballroom, Lina gets pulled forward and despite doing well in the challenge, the judges straight up read her for being a bitch, which is hella satisfying let me tell you. Lindsay gets pulled forward and the judges tell her that she did an awesome job and that she needs to go easier on herself, before awarding her the week’s leading lady. Marissa and Kylah are predictably the bottom two, Marissa gets told she’s overthinking everything and Kylah just that she’s completely emotionless. Kylah gets the axe and Marissa lives another week.

Stay tuned for Season 1 Episode 3!

[soprano193]

Not a Couple

Chapter 4

Constance:

"Maura, no!" Her cry made her seven-year-old jump, her hand rapidly retreating from the still hot curling iron that rested on the bathroom counter. "What are you thinking? Do you want to hurt yourself?"

Maura's eyes welled up, her hands knotted in front of her stomach. "I wanted my hair to look like yours." Her head fell, her eyes looking at the floor. It made Constance's heart break.

Walking forward, she attempted to soften her tone, plugging in the curling iron and tapping her child on the shoulder. "Next time, just ask for help." It was more blunt than she meant, but in the long run, was a lesson Maura needed to learn. "I would be happy to help you curl your hair like mine." The iron on a low heat setting, she wrapped a section of honey blonde hair around the barrel. Maura's hair curled easier than hers, so it didn't take long for her to have loose ringlets bouncing on her shoulders. Maura was quiet the entire time Constance fiddled with her hair, her hands tapping a rhythm on the sides of her legs. When Constance was satisfied, she turned Maura towards her, twirling the last ringlet around her finger. "All done. Now go pick out a dress."

Maura's hands came up to touch the navy blue strap of her mother's dress. "Is this what you're wearing?"

"Yes. Now go pick out your dress, we don't have much time." This spurred the young girl into action, and she dashed from the bathroom, her feet hitting the floor with a heavy thud as she ran down the hall.

As Maura frantically dressed, Constance switched over her purse and spoke on the phone with the gallery director, apologizing for the need to bring her daughter. "She is very well behaved, you won't even notice she is there." The woman on the other end seemed annoyed, but consented to the added person. As if Constance had any control over the nanny falling ill, or her husband's busy schedule. She yelled down the hall for her daughter one last time. "Maura! We need to leave, now!"

"Coming, Mother!" After a few moments, the young girl appeared in a navy blue dress of her own, and little pink heels. Her dress had short sleeves, and buttons down the front, but the color matched Constance's almost exactly.

"Maura, dear, what happened to your black shoes?"

The you girl's shoulders dropped and she shuffled her feet. "They don't fit. I know I don't match." It was futile to ask her to put on a pink dress instead. She wanted to match her mother, not her shoes, and they were running late.

Constance let out a sigh, but beckoned her daughter to come closer. "Regardless, we don't have time for you to change. Come along." Her daughter grinned, and clomped along behind her, reaching a hand out to walk with her mother.

Art installations always put Constance out of her mind. There was a lot going on, many people to talk to, pieces to sell, and she always seemed to lose track of time. Thankfully, Maura managed to stay close, always within reach, yet silent for the most part. She had always been a shy child, and large groups of strangers could make her anxious. So she stayed close to the one person she knew, and focused on the art pieces she could see.

When the event started to die down, Constance placed her hands on Maura's shoulders and looked up at the piece she was admiring. It almost reached the ceiling, with splatters of red, green, and orange prominently featured. "What do you think of this one, dear?"

The girl leaned back into her mother. "I like it."

"Why?"

There was a moment of silence before she answered. "The colors. They make me happy."

Before Constance could answer, someone walked behind them and tapped her on the shoulder. "Can I get a photo for the newspaper?"

Both of them turned, Constance nodding in the affirmative before walking towards better lighting. "Of course. Maura, stand right there for a moment, dear."

The photographer flashed a soft smile and addressed the girl, who tried her best to put on a brave face as she stood alone. "Hi, sweetie. Do you want to be in the picture with your Mom?" Maura nodded, but waited for her mother to hold out her hands. Constance knelt down and put her arm around Maura's back, careful not to crush her curls. "Beautiful!" The photographer gushed as she sapped a few photos. "Beautiful like your Mama."

"You think I look like her?" The seven year old beamed, turning to face her mother with excitement.

"Absolutely. You even dressed alike." The photographer grinned as she lowered her camera. "I used to dress like my Mom, too." She turned her attention to Constance. "I can get one of just you, if you'd like."

"I think what you have will do. Thank you." She rubbed her hand in circles on Maura's back, who was still beaming from the photographer's compliment.

"She said I look like you, Mom." Her body thrummed with energy. She didn't hear it too often. Most often they guessed that Maura must take after her father, when in reality, she didn't look like him either.

Constance twirled a loosening ringlet around her fingers, meeting Maura's eyes with pride. "She did." She took her daughter's hand in hers. "It's time to head home."

"You aren't usually the type for nostalgia, Connie." Her husband's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, the newspaper clipping of her and a young Maura dropping back into the box. He sat at the table next to her, picking up a picture at random. "I don't remember this one." He passed it over to her, looking for an explanation. Here, Maura was around four, a handful of weeds in her hands, the strap of her yellow dress falling off her shoulder.

"I don't remember this one, either." It pained her to admit it, but she didn't remember a lot of the photos that were currently spread on their dining room table. "I think that the Nanny might have taken this." She moved the photo to the left and picked up another. Maura with bulky safety glasses on, her Halloween costume when she was nine. She laughed as she passed it to Arthur, making a note to put it aside.

"I don't remember this either." His voice was quiet as he sat it down.

"You aren't the only one that missed her life, Arthur." She picked up another unrecognizable picture, with a two-year-old Maura dancing toward the camera. "But we can be there for her now." She reached for that picture with the safety goggles, placing it in a small pile with similar photos.

"So what brought all this on?" Arthur had started gathering piles of photos, leaning back in the dining room chair as he looked at each one.

"Maura's friend, Jane, sent me an email. She needs pictures of Maura as a child, with a preference for 'especially geeky and sciency pictures, please'. I think she said something about a slideshow for a party." Jane was a frequent subject as she worked on reconnecting with her daughter. Maura was always describing some new joke Jane told, or filling her in on the latest Jane gossip. It was clear the woman was a big part of their daughter's life. "You would like Jane, I think. She's very direct, a straight shooter, but very protective and understanding of Maura. They're a good fit." She grabbed her husband's hand, shot him a knowing glance, and pulled the photo of Maura with a ribbon from the science fair off the top of his pile.

It seemed to take a moment for Arthur to get it, but when he did, his eyes widened and he lowered his pile of pictures. "Wait. You don't think…"

"I do."

His brows furrowed as he processed the information. "But she never showed any indication that she might be interested in females."

Constance let out a breath as she picked up her own pile. "I'm not sure that's true." At his puzzled expression, she continued. "Do you remember when Maura came home for her first Thanksgiving break? We were all sitting for dinner, and Maura was going on and on about Biology." She could picture it perfectly, Arthur at the head of the table with a journal open as they ate, while she tried to dab at a cranberry stain on the front of her shirt. Maura was looking in Arthur's direction as she spoke. "She was rattling off facts about all the species they had seen homosexual relationships in. Mammals, birds, fish, she had an example for just about everything. And I made a mistake." Arthur raised his eyebrows, his pile lowering completely as he gave her his full attention. "I asked her what she was trying to tell us. And it came out so harsh, I think she thought we wouldn't approve." Maura protected herself the only way she knew how. She shut down the topic, moving to something else, refusing to be swayed. "I have found out from a source that Maura experimented in college, and she may not have hated it."

"Is that source Jane?"

This made Constance chuckle. "No, Jane doesn't tell me anything Maura doesn't want me to know. Jane's mother told me."

"Wait, how does Jane's mother fit into all of this?"

Constance put her pile of photos down, focusing on her husband. "Angela lives with Maura. They have a good relationship." A relationship she was envious of. But she was trying to do better. "Every time I see her, I try to drop hints about how open-minded I can be, but she isn't picking up on them."

This had Arthur laughing, his baritone bouncing off the walls. "You can't drop hints with Maura, Connie. You have to ask her directly."

"Well how do you suggest I do that? 'Angela told me about your ex-girlfriend, Sam, and now I want to talk with you about her?'"

"Sam?" He stopped laughing, eyes wide, and grabbed her hand. "She talked about Sam, I remember that."

"She talked about Sam in very gender neutral terms. And then stopped, probably whenever they broke up."

They both took some time to take it all in. Constance started putting the photos she wasn't sending Jane back into the box. Arthur's voice made her pause. "Has she dated other women since then? I feel like I've heard about a few guys."

"I don't know."

Arthur started adding photos to the box, looking at a few of them along the way. "What makes you think she is interested in Jane that way?"

She took her time to answer, thinking about what she had noticed as they worked toward rebuilding their relationship. "Well, she trusts Jane completely. And they understand each other. Both drop everything for each other, Maura even cancelled a night out with me because Jane needed her. And you know what I learned from that Thanksgiving night all those years ago?"

"I think you'll tell me."

"I learned how to listen to Maura. Really listen. To watch her face when she talks, to figure out the meaning behind her words. And I'm telling you, she has deep feelings for Jane."

Her husband was silent, holding onto the last picture, his eyes fixated on the young woman speaking at her high school graduation. "So what's the next step?"

"Keep up with her, regain her trust. I hope one day she can talk to me the same way she can talk to Angela, or Jane." Arthur regarded her answer with a nod of his head. He rose from the table and walked toward the front door. "Where are you going?"

He returned a half minute later with his briefcase, and pulled his phone out of the side pocket. "I'm going to reach out. I want to be around when she tells you."

Maura didn't answer. She hadn't spoken to Arthur in years, and never wanted to talk to Constance about it. But he was making an effort, as was she. It gave her some hope that their relationship would mend along the way.

[wftc141]

Blackwatch Chapter 9: The Everlasting Spark

8:20 AM, Local Time

Rome, Italy

Embassy of the United States

November, 2018

Whenever he had free time, Genji would use that chance to meditate. Find a spare room in the Embassy and sit on the carpet floor to immerse himself away from the noise. He needed to pinpoint the very spot to be in the full state of calm. Silence was also vital and he was glad the rooms were also soundproof and privacy screens were provided.

During the previous months, Blackwatch had been dormant for some time and no missions were assigned. NATO had been managing their duties using their alternative and they've been making progress so far. So far, no new attacks were reported since the Null Sector siege in Rome.

Genji had been meditating for a long time as a way to cope in hopes of ensuring his past doesn't catch up to him. It was hard for him back then as a SAT officer after that defining moment years ago. Genji's eyes were shut, shrouded by the shadow of his hood. His breathing movement eased to follow the rhythm of his heartbeat. Genji tried to clear his mind of negative thoughts and painful memories pierced into his brain. Everything around him was dark and silence surrounded him, leaving him immersed in his own void. He felt alone. Shunned. Isolated to the point where the concept of humanity doesn't exist.

Suddenly, Genji heard a rumble from beside him and his eyes opened in a flash. He turned around and noticed his phone on the floor vibrating towards him. Lowering his breathing rate, Genji reached over to his phone and tapped the dial without checking the ID.

"Hello?" He answered

"Hey, Genji. It's me."

Genji's head perked up and he straightened up. He recognized that voice.

"Angela?" He said. Suddenly, his words were stuck in his throat. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks for asking. Just wanted to let you know that I've just landed in Italy."

Genji cocked his head.

"You're in Rome?" He said.

"Yep," Angela replied. Genji could hear her smile through her voice. "Me and my team are getting stationed here with Fareeha's unit for a couple of weeks and since I'm not booked as of right now, I was wondering if we could have lunch together? I've found a nice place where we could grab some Italian cuisine."

Usually, Angela doesn't ask anybody out for lunch while on her days off, instead retreating to her office to have some overdue coffee and a paid meal to keep her up. Genji was one of the few people to witness it, apart from her other friends.

"Where's this coming from?" Genji asked.

"Oh it's just that we haven't seen each other in person for a while and I thought maybe we could do some catching up while we're at it."

Was it normal for good friends of the opposite sex to invite each other to have a meal together, Genji thought. Even as a former Yakuza, he never had any experience with dating women of his type and most were merely escorts for his fellow Yakuza. Friends were never in his dictionary and Angela happened to be the only female friend he had in his life thanks to her intervention and he owed her for it. Her sudden lunch proposal was definitely odd but it wasn't a bad thing.

"If you're busy, then we can try tomo-"

"I would be more than glad to join you today." Genji said.

"Excellent! How's 12 at noon?"

"I'll be there."

"Great! I'll send you the address later. Looking forward to seeing you, Genji!"

The call ended and left Genji back to his own silence. Genji simply sighed and as he got up, he wondered what to wear on his day out.

________________________________________

9:00 AM, Local Time

Rome, Italy

Via Margutta

Another day has passed during Ray's time off and it has been tedious for most of the occasion. Ray stared at the ceiling of his bedroom with the pale light blocked off by the curtains. It has been two months since their last Blackwatch operation and there has been nothing new for them for quite some time. Everybody else was either out throwing a vacation or visiting friends. He wasn't the type to relax elsewhere since he was more set on working on the battlefield.

Ray missed the taste of beer after drinking with Marvel a few days before he left to see a friend of his in London. His mouth was dry and he had just woken up a few hours later than he usually does. Ray let out a grunt as he heaved himself out of the sheets and stepped onto the wooden floorboards, aiming for the bathroom.

Once inside, Ray turned his sink on and began brushing his teeth. After finishing up with his mouth, Ray splashed the cold water onto his face and rubbed his nose. The ice cold sensation felt nostalgic. Finishing up, Ray leaned onto the basin and glanced up at the mirror, facing his reflection. His reflection's eyes were dead straight into Ray's. Some drops of water streamed down the mirror, one sliding past his right eye.

Then the visions flashed before him. The sounds of gunfire and the looming closing of mortars and rockets. Sand and blood coating him as the screams of his teammates from afar and nearby filled his ears.

By the time the visions blinked away, Ray found himself breathing heavily and alone with the tap still running down the sink and the drops fading away.

________________________________________

11:40 AM, Local Time

Rome, Italy

Before stepping towards the door, Genji took one last look at himself in the mirror. The scars that practically cover his face were in full view. The particular ones running across the bridge of his nose and his left eye were also exposed now that he ditched the hoodie in favor of a grey coat over his dress shirt. He checked his watch poking from his sleeve: 11:40. Should be enough time for Genji to find the address of the restaurant Angela sent him. Genji slipped on his shoes and left the apartment.

Now on the streets, Genji made his way through the walkway past the shops and cafes nearby. The leaves on the road slid and swept off as the cold breeze blew past him. As he reached the main road, Genji found himself getting looks from others. Most were either disgusted or intimidated by him because of his scars. He couldn't say he blamed them. Anyone would reel back from seeing Genji's scars in public and it wasn't a first for him. Genji paid no attention to the glares and continued his walk.

Shortly, he arrived at the restaurant near the river where the crowds flowed from left to right as well as the sight of the river in front. The restaurant itself felt like it was revisiting the past while also showing its own twist in the modern time. Genji went inside and looked around the crowded tables before noticing the distinct platinum blonde hair on the other side.

Genji approached the table where Angela was. She was still just as pretty as the last time they met in person. Angela's lean arms were laid crossed on the table near the menu which she hasn't opened yet. Her coat was draped behind her over the chair. The blue shirt she was wearing tucked into her skinny jeans goes well with her, if not, makes her look professional.

Once Genji closed in on her table, Angela's corner of her eye caught him and her smile grew as she stood up from her chair to approach him. Genji couldn't help but smile too after noticing hers.

"Genji! So glad to see you!" Angela said as she pulled Genji into a hug.

"You too, Angela," he replied, returning her hug. The scent of perfume filled his nostrils. "Thanks for inviting me."

The two broke off the hug and both looked up at each other. Genji noticed something different about Angela's hair.

"I see you've cut your hair." He said.

"Yes, I did," Angela replied, touching the ends of her shortened hair. Her side bangs swept to her right eye were kept. "Figured I wanted to go for something fresh and practical. You like it?"

"It fits you."

Her smile remained as she fiddled with the locks. "Thanks."

Genji wasn't aware he was staring at her for quite some time before the two realized they were still standing and took their seats hastily. To be precise, Genji wasn't the only one staring.

"Anyways," Angela said as she sat down. Genji removed his coat and hung it behind his chair. "I haven't ordered anything yet apart from some coffee since I haven't had my morning caffeine today and I wanted to wait for you before we figure out what we wanna eat."

"That's really considerate of you. I appreciate that." Genji replied.

"You're welcome. Speaking of consideration," Angela handed him a second menu, similar to the one she was reading from. "I hear this place has some really delicious food."

Genji opened the leather folder and inside were the list of foods with photos beside it and quite a list. There was also an English translation next to the Italian words. Glancing up from the menu, Genji looked at Angela as she continued on about Italian cuisine before chuckling mid-sentence over a bad joke she made.

There was something sweet about the way Angela laughed, especially whenever she made jokes that normal people wouldn't laugh except for Genji. Her angelic-like presence and the way she expressed herself would turn Genji into a different person. A normal person.

Maybe it was because he owed her for saving him from his death that day.

________________________________________

11:52 AM, Local Time

Paris, France

The sound of leaves rustling from above to the wind and the fountain splashing into the river fill the uninterrupted silence.

Amélie Lacroix watched over the river floating to the side as streams of water from the fountain tap clashed with the quintess river pelted with dry leaves. The air was cold so she opted for a wool cashmere coat over her black turtleneck with a skirt and boots accompanied by tights and sunglasses and leather gloves as final touches.

She watched as a handful of couples from a distance passed her eyes, holding hands and talking among each other. She missed the feeling of a warm hand and the steps they took in every walk. Amélie couldn't forget her memories with Gérard Lacroix, her late husband.

He was killed here two years ago in a bombing attack at the facility that used to be Blackwatch's headquarters where he was stationed while Amélie was on a mission. Every year, she would come to Paris to see his burial grave and visit this very park where she found her purpose. The place where she and Gérard met as an assassin.

"I knew I would find you here."

Amélie turned to her left where the voice came from and noticed Gabriel approaching her before stopping a few feet away from her. Like her, he was in winter clothes with a puffer coat over his sport fleece zipped up to his neck and a beanie to brace the cold. Amélie didn't react and looked away from Gabriel.

"You're here because we have a job?" Amélie asked.

Gabriel shook his head. "Just checking in to see how you were doing because of what today is. Mind if I sit with you?"

"I don't see why I should."

Gabriel reached the bench and sat beside Amélie. He let out an exhale and icy air puffed out from his mouth.

"And here I thought you would be in LA to talk things out with your family." Amélie guessed.

Gabriel scoffed. "No, it's a waste of energy."

"How are the others?"

Gabriel slumped back onto the bench, sighing. Another cloud of air streamed out of his lips. "Far as I know, they're doing alright. Genji, Moira and Ray are still in Rome with Jack, Marvel just left for London to see a pilot friend of his, Fio's in the Bahamas, Sombra and McCree… I have no idea where those two are."

Amélie said nothing and looked ahead. Gabriel glanced at her before looking away. Even when her sunglasses conceal her emotion, Gabriel could tell that she was still in mourning.

"Still thinking about Gérard?" He said without looking at her.

Amélie's silence and her frown answered Gabriel's question.

"I miss him too," Gabriel's eyes fell onto the ground. "He was a good friend of mine. And a damn good leader too."

Amélie's willingful commitment to staying silent was telling Gabriel everything she couldn't tell him with her words.

"You know what happened to Gérard wasn't your fault, right?" He said. "I don't understand why you keep carrying that weight around."

A pause filled their gap. Shortly, Amélie lifted her hand to remove her sunglasses. Gabriel took one look at her eyes and he recognized it immediately. It was the eyes of sorrow and guilt.

"I brought him into my life and he died because of what I was," Amélie said, softly. "I could've said that I was a ballet dancer or just… never met him. Gérard would've still been alive if it wasn't for me."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Gabriel said firmly as he faced Amélie. His eyes were showing anger but not at her. "You didn't kill Gérard; Antonio Bartalotti did. We lost our staff to the bombing thanks to that bastard and he's out there as an innocent man, running his business while smuggling weapons and terrorists across Europe under our noses. And because of his connections with the government, we can't go after him."

"You know I find the idea of revenge pointless."

"I don't see why when he's the one who killed your husband."

"And I know killing him won't bring him back," Amélie fired back. "The second I kill Antonio, my husband is still dead. The only person who saw me as a human being rather than a killing machine is gone. Nothing will change that."

Gabriel went silent. Amélie was right and he knew it. She never felt the desire of remorse when she learned of who killed her husband. She only felt guilt and thought this was her past catching up to her, refusing to let her go. The concept of someone going after the person who killed their loved ones felt unsatisfying, let alone useless. Gabriel sighed in defeat and leaned forward.

"Amélie, I'm just asking you to stop beating yourself up," Gabriel said. "You gotta stop carrying that burden of yours, otherwise it's gonna manifest into something you can't control and the effect isn't gonna be pretty. I've seen it before and it's been haunting me ever since."

Amélie didn't respond but Gabriel could see her understanding his point silently. Gabriel looked away from her and faced forward. The two didn't speak for a while and watched over the park as people continued to pass by their sight.

"I can see why you like this park." Gabriel said.

Amélie nodded without glancing back at him. Silence. Gabriel took his beanie off to scratch his scalp. The cold wind blew at his head as the warmth from the beanie dissolved.

"Gabe?"

Gabriel heard Amélie call his name as he put his beanie on and glanced at her. Although she was still staring forward, a faint smile grew from her face.

"Thanks. For that pep talk." She said.

Gabriel simply smiled and looked away.

"You're welcome." Gabriel replied.

The two stayed seated and basked in the cold yet bright sunlight, overlooking the breeze over the winter trees below.

________________________________________

12:15 PM, Local Time

Rome, Italy

It has been a while since they received the food they've ordered and so far, Genji's lunch with Angela has been eventful and enjoyable. The two have been talking for a while and it was clear they get each other. Angela would talk about work and often add in some personal moments outside of work, such as her strange encounter at a cafe while on a coffee run with her Chinese nurse friend.

Genji would sometimes laugh at the unfortunate moments and feel bad at the same time but those were the moments where he would get the chance to smile and act like a normal person, especially with someone he felt comfortable with.

Then, Angela would get into the serious and sensitive parts about her job as a field doctor handling heavily wounded patients and balancing some sense of levity, especially about the air strikes the US keeps sending in. Angela herself wasn't into the nature of war as much as any normal person was, considering she was a pacifist and most of the time, she could get critical about how President Trump and his office handled the war.

She would often apologise for going too much in depth about her job and Genji would assure her he was fine. He always appreciated how concerned she felt whenever she believed she stepped out of the line when talking about her job.

"Anyways," Angela said, after finishing her story about a patient hit by an air strike. She rested her crossed arms on the table after twirling the locks of her hair, leaning in front of the table. "We're getting shipped off in a few weeks. Don't know where but it's probably gonna be in another war-torn country. On the bright side, Dr. Winston Hayward is joining the team."

Genji's head perked up after hearing a familiar name.

"Winston Hayward? You mean the scientist who used to work for DARPA? I never thought he would get involved in humanitarian work."

Angela nodded. "It was a surprise for me too. He served as a medic in the army before DARPA picked him up. He was interested in my work for a while and offered the team a helping hand."

Genji nodded as he took a sip from his glass of water.

"How about you, Genji?" Angela asked. "How's work going for you?"

Genji's smile faltered. He wasn't sure how to answer that. He told her he was working for NATO but he didn't tell her he was working as a covert operative taking part in possibly illegal missions. Genji wasn't sure how she would feel if he told her he maimed a crime lord with his own karambit. He set his glass on the table and sighed, looking away from her.

"I'm alright," Genji said. "There were good days and bad days."

Angela didn't prod him any further about his work. Part of Genji was thankful but the other half lamented that he couldn't confide in her about what he really does. Angela then noticed a few people staring at Genji, with some whispering to each other. She was quick to pick up on the fact that they were staring at him because of the scars on his face. Genji was also trying his best to ignore the judging looks. Angela couldn't help but feel pity for him.

"I-I'm sorry, Genji. I should have picked a more private place." She said softly, feeling guilty.

"It's okay," he assured. "I feel more comfortable showing my face like this when I'm with you because...you don't see me as a monster like others do."

"That's because you're not. I know it's difficult but the scars you have does not define who you are."

"I know. But what happened still haunts me to this day. I can't outrun it."

Angela looked at him, recognizing that look and the voice. The same as the one he had when he was in the middle of recovery.

"Are the nightmares coming back?" She asked.

Genji looked up at Angela, who gave him an assuring look. He took a deep sigh as he held his hands.

"Every time I look in the mirror," Genji said. "I see my brother instead of myself. Every time I try to sleep, I see the Shimada elders order my brother to kill me. Every night, I would wake up, drenched in cold sweat and I would sit on the floor in the dark making sure the clan doesn't go after me because of what I've become."

"Are you still meditating?" Angela asked.

A weak nod came from Genji. "Always, but it's not enough to push those nightmares back. I couldn't remember how long I fought but I remember every cut my brother gave all over me and every hit I made until my limbs gave up. I still remember how it felt too."

Genji wasn't aware his hands were balled into trembling fists. This wasn't the first time he told Angela about his condition but any time he talked about, it would trigger the trauma in his mental state. Then, Genji felt contact with one of his fists. He glanced up and noticed Angela's hand holding his right fist and the shaking stopped.

"I know how painful it is to carry that trauma for a long time, Genji," she said. "I understand how you feel. I carried a lot of pain when I was a kid and it was agonizing for me to face the reality. But I made it through and I want to help people like me. That's why I became a doctor for a reason."

Genji's fists began to unroll and laid flat on the table as Angela's hands held his.

"I know you'll make it through this, Genji. I've been with you for a long time to know that you're strong. But if you ever need help and you can't find someone you feel comfortable with, I'm here for you and I'll help you in any way possible."

Genji looked up at her. Her soothing voice bordered on the lines of angelic. Genji felt a sense of relief and calm being able to talk out his deep issues with his first and close friend. He smiled in return of her assuring words.

"I'll keep that in mind," Genji softly said, looking back at his hands. "Thanks."

"You're more than welcome." Angela replied, smiling back.

The two didn't move for a brief moment as the idle chatter around them drowned out their thoughts. Genji then looked down to his plate and noticed something.

"You know," he said. "We've been talking for quite a while and not once have we touched our food."

Angela blinked before looking down and realizing what he meant.

"Oh my, you're right about that." She said.

Genji couldn't help but chuckle. "Didn't expect that we would talk more than we've eaten."

They both laughed, easing any sense of tension between one another before they got back to eating their meal. They still talked as much as they ate but they drifted towards a more lighthearted path. Angela still had more tales to tell and Genji's smile never faltered since then.

________________________________________

12:46 PM, Local Time

Rome, Italy

Embassy of the United States

Jack Morrison took a sip of his coffee as he read over the mission reports from Blackwatch as well as the dossiers of their operatives. He had just finished reading Genji's dossier and moved on to Ray's. Some of the operatives' backgrounds involved their former lives as career criminals before getting hired by NATO. Others were former military and conducted significant operations early on. Jack didn't expect Gabriel to even consider hiring criminals to work under his hand. Not that he ever played by the rules.

A sudden knock from his office door cut through his thoughts.

"Come in." Jack said.

He heard the door open and footsteps follow through. Jack looked up from the dossiers and noticed it was the team leader of the Valorant Protocol, Brimstone. His Valorant tag hung in front of his sky blue shirt hugging his shoulders. His right hand was also holding a Manila folder.

Jack set the files aside and drank his coffee. "I take it Chechnya was a success?"

Brimstone placed the folder next to Jack's among the pile. "Like a walk in the park. No one suspected we were there, no bodies were dropped and the CIA have the American terrorist in their custody."

Jack grunted in approval as he placed his mug on the desk. "Good job as always, Brimstone. Get you and your team some rest. You all deserve it."

With that said, Jack went back to continuing his reading on Ray's dossier. As he read the file, the footsteps in front of him stopped.

"I got something to ask, Jack," Brimstone said. "Do you trust Blackwatch?"

Jack stopped reading. He knew there was going to be a time where Brimstone would inquire about Blackwatch. Brimstone was not just the team leader - he co-founded this unit with Jack and he was well aware of Blackwatch's existence for a while. Sighing, the commander set his hands on the desk, interlocking his fingers.

"Yes. I do. But the thing is… I believe Blackwatch should not be operational anymore."

"Why's that?" Brimstone asked.

"The world is changing and trustworthy allies are the key to stabilizing a nation. We're making significant progress for NATO and the UN with the Valorant Protocol and we've managed to earn trust from other countries. Blackwatch however… could be a compromise to our goal."

"So we're their replacement?"

"Precisely. The higher ups may need Blackwatch but I want to prove to them that it should be shut down. We've been solving most of NATO and the UN's problems diplomatically and I don't want a black ops kill unit ruining our chances in bringing peace to all nations if they can't trust us."

Brimstone had nothing else to say about Blackwatch and turned away for the door. As he heard the door close, Jack looked back down to the files before going for another sip of his black coffee. Truth be, as much as he believed in Blackwatch's cause, Jack found their methods risky and the risks they make would only drive other countries apart should they ever find out about what they've been doing. He could only hope for Gabriel to understand that but it would take a miracle to convince him.

________________________________________ 

11:00 PM, Local Time

Zambia

The convoy of trucks drove through the terrain over the tracks engraved between the trees. The headlights shone down the road as the only light source in the desolate forest of Zambia. A Talon strike team was deployed into the country to meet a potential partner for their organization. For air support, an Mi-24 Hind was sent in to accompany them as their eyes in the skies.

Inside the trucks stamped with the signature 'T' insignia on the side, Talon soldiers glued to the seats bobbed up and down as the truck went through uneven terrain. They were all sporting Talon-issued uniforms under their plate carriers and pads covering most of their vital areas, as well as M50 gas masks fitted under their helmets with NODs attached.

Everybody else wore the same masks except for Captain Cuerva, the strike team's commanding officer in the leading truck. Apart from his uniform and gear, he had a red beret bearing the 'T' flash and a jet black neck gaiter. He was as merciless as people say and a force to be reckoned with whenever he led his team during his missions, especially with Mauga, the squad's titan. This was also a rare occasion for Cuerva to get in the field to personally oversee the operation whenever there were complications.

Shortly, the trucks arrived at the riverside village where the gate was guarded by AK47-wielding militants. Because they were expecting them, the militants opened the gate and silently let the trucks in while the Hind hovered above them. As the trucks drove down the path, they were met with glares from several militants from outposts and on the sidewalk. Most of the locals were nowhere to be seen with empty markets and shops.

Once the trucks reached the plaza next to the main hut, the trucks came to a complete stop and shortly, Talon soldiers hopped out one by one and landed on the pale mud. There, the soldiers gathered into their positions and faced the militants while several turned to the hut where their partner would be in. Mauga stood in front of his men, knowing his size and weapon would ensure support and maximum damage. Cuerva was the last to get out and without a word, he headed up the stairs leading to the hut and signaled for both Mazzei and Doubleday to escort him.

As he ignored the condescending glares from the militants, Cuerva and his men went inside and found the office of the militant's leader. Inside the office accompanied by a straw backdrop, the successor of the Macaba militia Kwame Macaba glared at the Captain, knowing who he was. His guards watched with caution running in their eyes as Cuerva stood by the doorway with his escorts. Their begrudging glares reflected onto the unnerving visors of their gas masks. Cuerva paid no attention to them and sat down on the couch across Kwame's before pulling down his neck gaiter.

"Sorry for the sudden visit, Mr. Macaba," Cuerva said. "I understand that you're still dealing with the loss of your brothers but we have a proposal that you may find beneficial to your operations."

Cuerva stared at the man of Talon's interest. Youngest brother of the family, forced to take control of the militia after the death of his brothers a few months back. Knowing him, his family would be hiding upstairs.

"Our leader received a call from you saying that you do not wish to be part of our cause or accept our money that we offered you." Cuerva continued.

"We will not be accepting your blood money or an alliance with you." Kwame growled.

Cuerva chuckled. "Seems like we haven't convinced you well enough. First off, we're not here to negotiate money. We're more than that. Consider us partners looking to help spread your influence across Africa and strengthen your army because you will need it."

"You best leave now if you know what's good for you."

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen. And you might as well watch what you say or there will be consequences for you and your family. Wouldn't want to end up like your brothers, yes?"

Tensions were raised. Kwame's hand clenched into a fist as he glared at Cuerva, clearly taking offence to what he said. Mazzei and Doubleday remained cautious as they eyed the militants, knowing they could open fire at any minute. A smirk curved from the corner of his lip.

"I've read that your brothers were killed trying to take control of Africa and the first thing they did was going after the people running the country," Cuerva said. "That was a bold and ambitious move - a naive one if you get my gist."

Kwame was itching to lunge at him at any moment but he would've done so by now if it weren't for the Talon soldiers watching him.

"And I also found it funny about how your brothers died. Dede Macaba went out of his way to use a child as a bargaining chip before the military shot him dead. I mean, talk about being a 'warrior' who'd rather die a coward than fight as a man. And Arno? Let's just say he failed before he even started."

Kwame gritted his teeth as his fists shook and Cuerva was more than glad to see his face contort into hate.

"You dare speak ill of my family's sacrifices?!" Kwame hissed.

"Oh I dare because I'm the one holding you and your people's lives in my hands," Cuerva said smugly. "I'm just trying to negotiate peacefully here and you're making this very difficult. All Talon wants is an alliance with you and your militia. You see, we believe humanity can only evolve through everlasting conflict. We're gathering organisations who are willing to contribute in making sure the human race grows stronger through war and terror."

Kwame's expression doesn't change, still glaring at the Captain.

"Talon can make you the most powerful man in Africa," Cuerva continued. "We'll provide your militia with better weapons, gear, training and materials for your operations. We can give you all of that with just a flick of a pen and with all the funding from us, you could achieve everything your brothers had been longing for. All you have to do is shake my hand and we can cut you a deal."

Cuerva then outstretched his hand to Kwame. Without a second thought, Kwame smacked it away as if it was a fly. Cuerva was unfazed by his rude gesture.

"The reason why I refused in the first place was because you and Talon are not soldiers, not warriors… you are terrorists who kill for money and sport. My people will never be part of that."

Cuerva stared at him for a moment before sighing and leaning back.

"Very well then," He then reached for his comms. "Negotiations failed. Prepare to clean house."

Shortly, gunfire erupted from outside surprising Kwame and his guards. Talon soldiers posted outside were under orders from HQ to kill the militia whenever the negotiation didn't work out. Kwame was quick to realize what Cuerva ordered and attempted to reach for his holster. Cuerva beat him to it and he shot the leader in the head before he could even touch the gun. Blood sprayed onto the floor and as soon as Kwame went limp, Mazzei and Doubleday took out the guards with ease and smooth synchronization.

Glancing at the stream of smoke oozing from the suppressor, Cuervo got up from the couch and approached Kwame's body. He stared at the dead leader with eyes of disappointment.

"Such a shame, Mr. Macaba," Cuerva said. "We would've had potential working together. Oh well, only fools would go for someone who's useless."

Cuerva then turned away to the doorway.

"Take care of the family." He ordered as he walked off.

"Yes, sir." Both Mazzei and Doubleday complied.

The two went past Cuerva and headed the opposite direction of him to find the rest of Kwame's family, checking their mags as they moved out. As the heavy footsteps faded out, Cuerva walked down the corridor and for the front entrance.

"Akuma 1, you are cleared hot," Cuerva said. "Send those bastards a message."

The sounds of the MG outside raining down from above accompanied the melody of the gunfire below. Walking out of the hut, Cuerva watched as his men moved from several spots in the dark hunting down the militants.

He already noticed several bodies of the militants in front of him as well as several buildings and markets left on fire. The rockets from the chopper then hit the village with immense velocity and obliterated almost everything in sight to ensure no survivors while also avoiding Cuerva's smell of burnt wood and straws filled his nostrils as he watched the flames light up the dark sky and burning wood melt into the river. Screams from afar filled the air of silence, drowned by the gunfire slowly catching up to them.

The Captain simply pulled out a cigar from his pocket, lit it with a match and watched the village burn to the ground. The embers before him sparked brighter like fireworks, making Talon's mark on their steps to the glory of never-ending conflict.

[fishgoose]

2:54 AM

name: 2:54 AM rating: T + relationship: Genji/Mercy ( gency ) type: fluff, hurt/comfort warnings: loss of limbs, body horror, medical procedures, not beta read, my first fanfiction in like, 10 years. 

summary: They bring her Genji Shimada at 2:54 AM on a Wednesday. Or, how one minute in the morning became significant to Angela Ziegler and Genji Shimada.

AO3 Link

He’s brought to her at 2:54 AM on a Wednesday. 

She awoke from a light sleep in her quarters at a hurried knock on her door - a rapt pulsing of fist and a call of her name. Angela springs to full wakefulness on reflex, years of time spent in hospital on-call rooms keeping her trained to the art of ‘no sleep necessary.’ She answers with all the appearance of a woman having just rolled out of bed… but none of the grace. Baleful blues behold Captain Amari with no small hint of surprise. It’s not unusual for her to receive late night calls from her superiors - especially in the event of an emergency. But Ana Amari was, without a doubt, the firmest advocate for Angela Ziegler receiving a healthy amount of sleep. So for her to be here, disturbing the doctor from a much needed rest-

“We have an emergency.”

A nod is all Captain Amari receives, before she spins into action. She and the sniper rush towards the medbay - Angela half undressing/dressing on the walk there. It’s not an unfamiliar rhythm. Ana taking bits of her clothing while she shrugs on scrubs, a lab coat, even offers her a hair tie and speaks to her in rapid, hushed tones so as not to wake the quiet halls. She’s not sure why. Everybody in Overwatch is an insomniac anyway. Regardless it’s clear Ana had been braced for this… and that fills her with more dread than necessary. 

“Agent McCree and Commander Reyes have just returned from Hanamura. They have brought an individual back with them. Genji Shimada-” A holopad is passed to her fingers, and Angela does not think to ask why Jesse and Gabriel were in Hanamura, Japan - or why there is already a file on ‘Genji Shimada.’ That part of her brain shuts off - the suspicious, distrusting part - and instead, the doctor takes over. “He sustained multiple traumatic injuries after an altercation with his elder brother. Angela, it’s-”

                “Angie!”

Her gaze shoots up on reflex at the familiar nickname, the punctuation of a hurried drawl at the edge. Ana’s words die out as she catches sight of McCree - catches sight of the amount of blood saturating the black of his clothing, on his face, in his hair, his gloves… His spurs click as he covers the distance between them, not quite halting her but enough to slow her pace. She sees Reyes over his shoulder, bickering in front of a bed with Morrison. They’re like two snakes locked in a tangle, their gazes furious, McCree’s gaze filled with trepidation, and Ana is trying to say something but-             “Move.”

She speaks it to all of them, and surprisingly they obey - each conversation dying simultaneously, as if the music had been stopped. She moves through the medbay doors to the surrounded table, where a few of her specialists already fluttered about - speaking in even quieter tones, placing I.V.s, hooking up various beeping machines, and trying so damned hard to stop the continuous rain of blood that seemed to fall from the young man upon her operating table. 

Angela Ziegler is not unused to carnage. She is the best of the best. She has seen what violence and war does to other living beings, human and omnic and animal alike. As the best of the best, the most brutal of cases find her, and yet this… what had happened to the man before her… There is a squeezing in her chest, and she steps in closer… personnel parting like waves in a deep blue sea. 

               “Talk.” She commands, and it’s Reyes that fills her in. 

Hanzo Shimada, heir to the Shimada clan (a name she knew in passing, though she wished she did not) had cut down his younger brother at the behest of clan elders. Cut down was a bit of an understatement, in her opinion. Such brutality was not lost on her. This was not a systematic killing… It was violent and passionate. Blades and dragons, they’d told her - and while she had to question the last bit, the brutal cut to his chest, his legs, arms… everything was butchered in some way or another, and it’s only through years of schooling and training that she is able to shut off the bleeding heart part of her, and become the doctor. 

Angela does not question, again, why the hell Blackwatch was hanging around at this precisely fortuitous moment. She does not question, again, why it seemed everyone had been prepared for this except for her (and obviously, her patient). He finishes his words in under thirty seconds, and it takes ten more for her to banish everyone short of her and the necessary personnel from her lab and begin doing what is necessary to save a life… no matter the reason, and no matter the cost. 

She is in the process of setting up localized biotic fields while her assistants put a closer view of Genji’s injuries up upon the holo-vid. She is a professional, a woman of finesse. There are no moments of hesitation when she works - no pausing to make sure. This is her domain and there is a life to be saved, and so she would save it. By all conclusions, Genji Shimada should have long since been sedated - especially considering she was about to begin the most major surgeries of her life upon him. 

A shaky hand (his left, not his right) finds her gloved wrist, and Angela jolts with surprise. It leaves a trail of blood upon her - but her gaze instantly meets his own and what she sees makes her heart break. Fear and sadness, so prevalent in eyes that were once as warm as tilled earth - a handsome face, beneath his oxygen mask, and bloodied lips narrowed in agony. His grip is light, so terribly weak, but that does not stop her from covering his hand with her own, letting her hues lock with his, and saying low enough that only he could hear her…                       “I’ve got you.”

----------

It’s 8:32 PM when she thinks he’ll make it through the night.

Angela comes out of that operating room a different woman, and Genji will wake up a different man. 

It’s McCree that’s waiting for her, a cup of coffee in hand and a hot towel in the other. She wants to question if he’s been here the whole damn time, but judging by the fact he’s no longer covered in Genji’s blood, she assumes it’s safe to say no, he has not. Now it’s her turn, of course… to be covered in his blood, even if she’d stripped out of those scrubs and coat and mask, she still feels it on here, the weight of it, the weight of his life and how despite saving him, despite giving him a chance to live-

Perhaps he didn’t want to live this way. 

Jesse is smart enough to not say anything when she sits down on the sofa in her own office. He’s smart enough to not turn those amber eyes on her either, for fear of awakening the angry, questioning beast that roils beneath her skin. Instead, he lets her lean on him and rest her gaze. Her brief dreams are filled with visions of Genji - the horror in those darkened hues, and the sprays of blood from a blade as a faceless man cuts him down. 

------

It’s 11:27 PM when she rips Morrison and Reyes both new assholes. 

They’d been expecting it, of course - the way Angela (politely) demands to know what the fuck is going on, and then listening to them tell her - just exactly why - they had brought her Genji Shimada in the first place. An asset, they say, to Overwatch and Blackwatch - especially coming from a criminal family. They were lucky, in a way, that Angela had been so exhausted - otherwise, perhaps, she might have gone completely nuclear in Jack’s office, and subsequently destroyed two of S.E.Ps pride and joy. That does not stop her, however, from (again, politely) telling them how she felt about the situation, telling them both to seek her permission before seeing him (ranked be damned) and then to have a lovely evening, thank you very much.

She wished the doors weren’t sliding so she could slam them behind her. 

--------

It’s 2:54 AM on Thursday when he wakes up for a short time. 

Angela is there when he does - holopad in hand, documenting something. Genji sees her through a blurry lens… his gaze unfocused, not blind but just… lacking something. The dimmed lighting causes her hair to appear luminous around her pretty features, soft and serene and utterly angelic. Perhaps were he able to speak, and perhaps were he the Genji from not even a week ago… he would have made a comment on it, made a pass at her. Instead, he lets his fingers flex against the bed sheets… and she notices, because of course she does. 

Her face splits in surprise… so open, so lovely, and he finds it curious almost. She smiles at him in a way that is painfully tender (why? Does he deserve that?) and leans down to adjust a bit of wiring near the half of his body that he struggles to find any sensation on. His mind is addled by drugs, by the dull throb of pain manipulated by said drugs… and when she speaks, it sounds like it’s through a tube but… he wants to hear her say more.

“Hello, Mr. Shimada.” Warm. She was so warm in a sea of cold numbness. “You’re safe now.”

He knows he’s not, but the last thing he sees before falling asleep is her… and he finds it difficult to argue with that. 

-------- 

It’s 2:54 AM five months from the day he woke up that he’s able to stand on his own two feet again. 

Five months, five long and grueling months that they had been through those surgeries. Amputations, synthetic manipulations, rerouting of organs, cybernetic enhancements… With each one that he would awaken from, Genji would thank her, but with each one - his gaze would grow more and more dull. Now, however, he looks brighter than she’s seen him in months… able to move, to take shaky, quiet steps about his room, Angela at his side but Genji still wholly... freely independent. It’s not lost on her that he refuses to demonstrate much of his progress in the presence of others, but that’d be their secret for awhile longer. This was his recovery, after all. 

They’d worked on his legs last, having started from top down, essentially. Countless sleepless nights spent awake, either by his side or in her quarters, puzzling out ways to make him more comfortable, more happy. It was not about brutal efficiency for her, not about the weaponry. But Genji wanted to be fast - wanted to be as fearsome as he had been… and so she obliged, with the assistance of others, and limb by limb, bit by bit, he was rebuilt. 

But she knew he hated it, when he thought she wasn’t looking. She knew it in the way he spoke as little as possible, how he refused to see himself in the mirror… She just knew. 

-------

It’s 7:00 AM, a year, 3 months, and 2 days from the day he was brought to her that he goes on his first mission with Blackwatch. 

Angela had never railed more loudly against something in her life. Was his body healed? Yes. Were his cybernetics perfect? Yes. But his mind? She saw the fracture of that psyche - saw the way it was still in pieces and breaking steadily. She had gone after both Morrison and Reyes like a woman possessed, quiet anger and determination that put the fear of god in most… but it was actually Genji that had told her to stand down. 

The conversation is like a fresh wound on her heart. 

“Leave it be, Dr. Ziegler. I will make myself useful.”

Humiliating and painful. Lovely. 

-------

It’s 6:31 PM 18 days after the departure for their mission that they return. 

Everything had gone smoothly. Genji had the highest kill count among them all, and had sustained only minor damage. 

Angela fixes him up without saying a word. 

-------

It’s 2:54 AM three months after that first mission that he shows up at her office with a cup of coffee. 

She stares at him like he’s grown three heads (or she’s hallucinating, perhaps) but takes the beverage anyway. Genji is not much of a conversationalist by nature but he goads her into speaking anyway much to her surprise - asking about her current research, what she was continuing to develop… and they fall back into an easy rhythm and a familiar pattern. He does not laugh, and he does not smile - but she does not need him to. Angela can see everything in those crimson eyes, computerized or not, that she needs to know. 

They flicker when she makes a particularly jovial comment about McCree. It’s his version of a laugh. 

They fall into a pattern after that… 2:54 AM, Genji was always there - either with coffee or to drink hers. On nights he was away on missions, she woke up at that time anyway, wondering why. 

------

It’s 1:17 AM in King’s Row, London a few years later that he catches her as she falls.

The swift response Valkyrie suit was not without its issues, but she was keen to assist in the field when necessary. Her own enhancements at her spine kept her maneuvering easily, light as a bird and quick in the air. It’s her own fault, really, sloppiness in her attempt to get to priority targets as quickly as possible. The pulse shot connects with her left wing and sends not only a lance of agony down her spine - but a burst of pressure and air as she begins plummeting towards earth. 

All she can hear is the rush of the wind by her ears, vision filled with city lights and stars and a strange sense of peace fills her… deliberate and quiet… 

Until crimson and black is in her gaze, and strong arms… one real, one cybernetic, embrace her frame. In her ear, a prayer:

                    “I’ve got you, Angela.”

Four hours later, back on the dropship, she’s staring at him with her mouth agape. 

                  “You called me Angela.”

------

It’s 2:52 AM three weeks later that he tries to kiss her for the first time. 

It comes as such a surprise that she nearly lets him - as she’s in the midst of adjusting his faceplate, bending out a bit of metal and reshaping to more snuggly fit. It would have happened - were she not quick on her feet. She’s leaned inwards, plating clutched in her hands and ready to click into place when he dips in - going for the plump swell of her peach tiers but… 

Two fingers meet him instead, and he is scowling.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, Genji?”

“...”

She realizes her mistake the second silence befalls them. Realizes the amount of courage it must have taken for him to even try at all. Their chemistry was undeniable… everyone could see it, and their attachment ran deep. But here was a man discomforted by his own existence, his appearance, and Angela had just rejected some amount of physical affection and-- she finishes snapping the bolt into place, and he looks ready to run. Angela does not respond with trepidation, but instead offers him a sweet sweet smile as she leans inwards, breath ghosting over his scarred lips.

“It’s not 2:54 AM.”

The emotions that cycle through Genji’s hues at her statement are almost tangible to her: questioning, confusion, awareness, understanding, irritation, then mirth. She wants to laugh but she doesn’t… instead her gaze dances with her delight, at 2:53 AM, and he thinks she’s the most beautiful thing in the world. They use that minute… just that minute, to drink one another in… 

At 2:54 AM they kiss for the first time.