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hankjameswimbleton · 2 years ago

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~ Madness Combat Canon Call ~

Hey there (:

My name’s Hank J. Wimbleton, I use they/he. I’m a fictive and a cohost/protector of the Cataclysm system. I’m currently 27 and our body is 18, so our host would prefer no interactions if you’re bodily under 16.

I’m currently searching for several people from my canon, namely Sanford, Deimos, Doc, Jeb, and if possible my little sister. I’ve already found Tricky from my source, @clownkillsy0u.

Click for more information/source memories.

-I wasn’t actually a bloodthirsty maniac with no remorse or emotions, that was all AAHW propaganda. I sincerely loved all my friends and still do.

-Project Nexus didn't fall until only about two years before the Improbability Drives were activated by the Sheriff, and Nevada was actually quite normal for most of my life.

-Sanford was my childhood best friend who I met in middle school. We bonded over being the only openly queer kids in a pretty homophobic school, and always had each others' backs.

-I had a younger sister, whose name I believe started with a C or K (I've mentally been calling her Caroline for a while). She was five years younger than me, and loved to wear neon-colored coontail hair extensions.

-I had anger issues for my whole life, but could never afford therapy, especially after taking in my sister and losing my job. I had to start burning through savings, and the stress eventually culminated into a mental break after some asshole shoved me for asking him to turn down his music at the park.

-I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I met Doc sometime after this, while I was hiding out.

-I dated Dr Hoffnar for two years, from when I was 20 to when I committed the murders at the park and cut contact with him to protect him.

-The Sheriff put a massive bounty on my head when the search for me was about to die down, which is why I went after him in the first place.

-After the Drives were activated, I was blamed by the Auditor for the activation (even though the whole thing was the Sheriff's fault), so Doc and I formed the Status Quo as a rebel group to restore normality and oppose the AAHW, which was basically staffed by a combination of everyone who wanted me dead, clones created from Nexus technology, and leftover loyal members of Project Nexus. Sanford joined us around a month later.

-Deimos was a defective clone from the AAHW who dissented and joined with us about half a year after the drives activated.

-Jeb and I were enemies for a long time, until we both encountered Tricky around the time of the events of Madness 7. Until then I hadn't known that Tricky was Hoffnar, and when Jeb told me, we teamed up and disconnected the portable drive from her brain and brought back most of her sanity. After that, my relationship with Jeb was more of a loose almost-but-not-quite friendship.

-Everyone else was pissed and terrified when I brought her home because I refused to tell anyone what was going on until I had a nice reunification cuddle session done.

-Sanford and Deimos were dating, and like brothers to me. Doc was a bit more of a cranky father/uncle figure, but he really kept us all together and working efficiently.

-My metal jaw made talking difficult, I could talk but only if I forced the words out pretty loudly, so I usually stuck to writing.

-I had a special interest in weaponry and true crime.

-I was half-Russian from my dad's side.

-I had a perfectly normal head of chin-length black hair and brown eyes. Not as cool as fanart makes me seem, but at least I wasn't bald.

If the stuff I'm mentioning sounds familiar, feel free to message me. I miss you guys.

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allthingsdarkanddirty · 1 year ago

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✩✩✩ NEW RELEASE ✩✩✩

Wicked Vile King

A Dark Asylum Bully Romance

Godless Heathens - Chryseum Academy Book 2

By Jordan Grant

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125810156/

Hosted by DS Book Promotions

Amazon

#KindleUnlimited

Books in the Godless Heathens Series:

Bloody Savage God: Book 1

Read on Kindle Unlimited

Dirty Twisted Lord: Book 3 – #Preorder

Release Date: August 16

Book influencer Event Signup HERE: https://forms.gle/JFZFuQAa4Zatz5wE9

Blurb:

We are lords over a savage land.

— Gabriel —

It’s my senior year at the Asylum. After this, it’s either college or padded walls for life.

They say fake it until you make it, and I’ve gotten really good at faking it.

Well, I was really good, until she came along.

A blonde transfer student with a sharp tongue and a superiority complex makes me want to see her insides.

They call me a sociopath, a maniac, unbalanced.

But here, I am king.

Repent your sins and beg forgiveness, baby girl.

Prayers won’t save you from me.

— Avery —

I never expected my parents to deliver me to this hellscape.

They want this place to cure me, to make me into a good girl, to save me from starvation.

An arrogant creep with dead eyes made me his target instead.

He’s sick and twisted, and I’m tired of his games.

He says he’ll stop if I go with him to the basement, to the place forbidden and kept under lock and key.

Everyone knows, though, you don’t go down there and come out alive.

** Author's Note: Wicked Vile King is a 400+ page, dark academia gothic romance recommended for those 18+. It features mature themes including, but not limited to, an explosive heat level, bullying, and, like my other novels, struggles with mental illness. **

This book is the second of three standalone novels in the Godless Heathens universe, each of which takes place at Chryseum Reformatory Academy and features one of the three lords of the Academy (Saint, Gabriel, and Killian). Reading the other books in the series is not necessary to enjoy this book.

Please read the content/trigger warnings carefully before reading, available either through the Look-Inside feature or on my website linked on my Amazon author page.

About Jordan Grant:

Jordan Grant is a lost soul, who changed majors three times in college before deciding on English. Because she has about as much patience as her beautiful, wonderful (did she mention ah-mazing!) younglings, she graduated a year early and then went to law school because, well...

She mentioned she’s a lost soul, right?

The lawyer-turned-romance-author has a special place in her heart devoted to edgy alpha males and bad boys with naughty mouths. She loves to get lost in the blur between love and hate and is especially fond of prince charmings with dents in their crowns and strife in their souls.

Follow Jordan Here:

#NewRelease #wickedvileking #godlessheathens #availablenow #kindleunlimited #bullyromance #darkromance #damaged #abandoned #broken #gothicromance #darkasylum #jordangrant #dsbookpromotions

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badfvith · 4 years ago

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burning to the ground | draco malfoy

Request: love your draco work 😍so requesting something where you’re a Weasley and dating draco set in the half blood prince where the borrow sets on fire. where draco apparates to the burrow to tell you to get out because he knows Bellatrix is coming but your family don’t know that you’re dating. just imagining family angst but a really scared and afraid draco 💖💞 A/N: okay so i freaking LOVED this request. i seriously think this might be one of my favorite pieces i’ve written. the end makes me 🥺 (all of yall out there like me who have seen the movies 80 million times will hopefully understand) i hope you like this!!! 💓 warnings: a bit angsty but i promise it’s also fluffy too dw word count: 1786

Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year. Or so they say.

This Christmas was hosted at your house, “the burrow” as everyone called it. You didn’t have much being 1/8 Weasley children, but what you did have was an overwhelming sense of family and love. Your mom decided it was only fitting to invite Remus and Tonks, and of course Harry (who was basically another one of your brothers at this point) as he had been staying with all of you for the year.

This Christmas was different than all the others. Conversations were less about trying to guess what gifts everyone got each other and more about what they thought the Death Eaters’ next moves were. It was obvious that everyone was on edge.

You all walked your guests out at the end of the night. You were leading the pack, and stopped on the porch to hug Remus and Tonks goodbye.

“It was delicious Molly, really.” You heard Tonks say and turned around to see her hugging your mom. Your focus then turned from that sweet moment to a very distressed looking Remus staring out at the landscape ahead. You had to admit, the front of your house looked a bit intimidating in the darkness and the slow breeze swaying the weeds near the water, but nothing too horrifying that it would cause this sort of reaction from Remus.

“What is it sweetheart?” You heard Tonks say softly, putting a hand on his arm. He shook his head briefly but didn’t respond.

You took a few steps forward to get a better look at what Remus might’ve been eyeing, the floor boards creaking underneath your feet. You heard some shuffling around behind you and saw that Harry and Ron had now made their way outside as well, standing closely behind you.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Remus said, finally breaking the tense silence. “We should go.”

“Thank you again for everything.” Tonks said waving to us. I gave her a smile and the two of them took each other’s hands and started to walk away.

“Alright. Let’s all go inside then.” Your mom said hurriedly.

You heard everyone moving behind you, but you stood still where you were.

“(y/n)! Let’s go!” Ron yelled.

You turned around and waved him off. “I’ll be there in a second.”

“Whatever.” He replied.

After a few more minutes of staring out into the darkness, you convinced yourself that both you and Remus were crazy and that there was nothing there. You took one last good look before turning around to go back inside.

“(y/n)!” You froze. Nope. There is no way this is happening. All night long everyone has been freaked out over Death Eaters and the second you turn around an unknown voice calls your name? You took a deep breath, in which you prepared yourself for death. Why didn’t you go inside when Ron called you?

You slowly turned around, expecting to see Voldemort himself pointing his wand at you. Instead you were met with the all too familiar platinum blonde hair, all black suit, and worried expression of your boyfriend Draco.

You felt a rollercoaster of emotions swim through your brain and your body. A choked half laugh half cry left your throat as you stared at him, wide eyed.

“(y/n)...” He said quietly, for the second time that night.

“Draco.” You replied, before slowly walking towards him and practically falling into his embrace.

This year had been tough for Draco and for your relationship. The beginning of year was...an undertaking to say the least, with Draco keeping you completely in the dark about his father, his family, and his commitments to the Dark Lord. However finally one day he broke down and told you everything which ended in an entire night of cuddles, tears, “i’m so sorrys” and “it’s not your faults.” You have never loved anyone like you loved Draco, and you knew he felt the same. You both hadn’t meant to hide your relationship for this long, but this year everything had gotten so complicated. You decided it was best to keep it a secret from both of your families, obviously knowing the rather difficult history between them. So now that your secret boyfriend who was tasked with killing the most powerful wizard in the world, who would probably be killed by your father if his father didn’t reach him first, had randomly showed up on your lawn on Christmas night, you knew something must be wrong.

“I love you.” You said quickly as you pulled away to look up at him. “But why in the world are you here?”

“You have to get out of here. Now.” Was all he said. There were tears pricking his eyes so you reached up to cup his face, softly stroking his cheek with your thumb.

“What? Why?” You pressed.

“It’s not safe here anymore. I can’t lose you, I can’t–” He said before breaking into a cry.

“Shhh baby.” You said, letting his head fall against your shoulder. “One step at a time okay? Just tell me what’s happening.” Your voice was soft but you were feeling anything but calm right now. There were a million things running through your brain, number one being the fact that you were in plain sight with an entire family of hardcore anti-Malfoys sitting about 10 feet away.

After a few more seconds he lifted his head back up to look at you. “You have to get out of here. She’s coming. I heard their whole plan I know that they’re comi-”

“What in the bloody hell is HE doing here?!” You heard. Your jaw dropped open and you jumped away from Draco. You turned around to see Ron and Harry in the doorway with their wands pointed at him.

“I don’t know but I don’t think he’s here to say Merry Christmas.” Harry spat. He started fast walking towards the two of you.

“STOP!” You screamed, before you fully thought it through.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?” You closed your eyes as your dad’s voice boomed through your ears.

“Shit.” You whispered.

“Expelliarmus!” Harry fired at Draco. You didn’t even notice Draco pull out a wand; your head was spinning with how to handle this situation. Draco’s wand went flying out of his hand and he quickly ran to grab it.

“Stupefy!” Your dad yelled, causing Draco to groan as he was thrown farther backwards. You were frozen to the spot, not having any idea what to do. Your dad ran towards Draco, towering over him on the ground.

“Mr. Weasley I-” Draco started.

“What did you say to her?!” Your dad yelled again. “What do you want?” Draco tried to sit up but Ron came over and fired another spell at him.

“STOP IT!” You cried.

“Go inside (y/n)! You shouldn’t be here.” Your dad said, turning back to you. But you couldn’t. You couldn’t stand here and watch your family torture your boyfriend. All of the people you love most in the world were fighting right in front of your eyes and it was tearing you apart.

“I’ll ask you one more time Malfoy. What...are...you doing...here.”

“DAD!” You exclaimed and finally got the courage to march over there.

“I told you to go inside (y/n!)” He shot back.

“No!” You choked out. “I LOVE HIM.”

The four of them snapped their heads in your direction, and Ron’s wand fell to the ground out of his limp hand.

“WHAT?” Harry asked firmly.

A tear fell down your cheek as you ran over to Draco. You helped him off the ground before you replied to anybody.

“Look...I know this is... this is the worst time and it’s not how I wanted this to happen. This is my boyfriend.” You said, a dry laugh following your statement at the utter ridiculousness and horrid timing of the situation. “We didn’t get to finish our conversation before you all came out here like maniacs but I promise this is the last person in the world who is going to try and hurt me. Or any of us.” You pleaded.

“Have you gone mad?!” Ron yelled.

“Well this is a turn of events I wasn’t expecting.” You snapped your head to see Fred and George on the porch smirking and pretending to eat popcorn.

“Is it so hard to believe this? Crazier things have happened in our lives!” You exclaimed, exasperated. This entire night felt like it had taken at least 5 years off of your life.

Your dad nodded at you slowly. “We’ll deal with this later. But for now, I would still love to know what was so important to tell you that he needed to disrupt our Christmas.”

Draco swallowed hard. He looked over at you and you nodded, signaling that it was okay. “I...I came here to try and protect her. A-and all of you. The death eaters are all at my house. I heard them say they were coming here tonight.”

“Merlin’s beard.” Your dad said quietly.

“Draco...what?” Shocked was an understatement.

Before anyone could get any more questions in, a swirling black mist no one could mistake for one of the Death Eaters themselves came hurling out of the sky and landed in front of you.

“EVERYBODY GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” Harry screamed.

The high pitched laugh of Bellatrix Lestrange rang through the air. Harry immediately ran after her through the bushes as more came down from the sky. You recognized Fenrir Greyback, the unofficial Death Eater but very official aggressive werewolf, and a few others.

“SHIT.” You said as everyone around you started fighting. You grabbed your wand out of your pocket but before you could fire a spell felt Draco envelop you in a hug.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen...but don’t forget that I love you.” He said, his tears falling onto your face due to your close proximities.

“I love you too. I’m so sorry.” You said, and gripped onto him like your life depended on it.

Being a Weasley was complicated. Actually, no it wasn’t. You couldn’t dream of a more loving, caring, or hilarious family to be a part of. Obviously you had your petty sibling fights and teasing, but it was nothing you couldn’t handle.

Being a Weasley was complicated when the love of your life was a Malfoy. And as the screams of your family, black clouds, and fire engulfing your property occurred around you, you couldn’t help but miss the times when being a Weasley was easy. When you all sat in the living room in your matching pajamas, hearing your mom’s voice telling the stories of Babbity Rabbity, or The Three Brothers traveling at midnight.

tags:

@tinylumpiaa @kashishwrites @lateautumn @ask-sirius-queer-black @inkhearthes

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mmvalentine · 4 years ago

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Home is Where You Are pt 4 | Feysand

Girl next door AU. CW: domestic and family violence. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

Rhys pulled up outside Feyre's apartment block, and killed the engine. But for a moment, he didn't look at her. He wanted to draw out this moment, because spending the day with her was never enough time.

They had walked slowly around the house, Feyre wanting to touch every wall and surface to say goodbye. Most of the stuff they had just dropped off at the local op-shop, since it had been there for ten years and obviously wasn't needed now. A few times Feyre had packed into a box and taken with her, found treasures of their childhood. There was even a photo album, full of Feyre's family before they had fallen apart. Her father had always shied away from those early memories. In one particular photo, Rhys and Feyre stood in the garden with their arms around each other's shoulders, best-buddy style. Feyre had laughed at them, the same height and missing teeth and in ill-fitting hand-me-downs. It had been such a lovely time, and now Rhys had brought her back to her own apartment. To Tamlin.

He had to say something, didn't he? Rhys wrestled with the dilemma. He wanted to respect her life choices. He wanted her to know someone noticed. He wanted her to be safe.

"Thanks for driving," Feyre said. "I had a great time with you." She grinned. "And you do drive like a maniac." "I always have a great time with you," Rhys said. Feyre smiled, and went to get out of the car. Rhys put his hand on her arm, and she stopped.

"Just... take care of you, okay?" Feyre smiled again. "I always do," she said. "If you ever need.. anything. If you want some company, or some hot food, or a spare room. You're welcome to come to mine, okay?" Feyre tilted her head. "Why would I need a spare room, Rhys?" "No reason," Rhys said. "I'm thinking Tamlin snores, or something." Feyre rolled her eyes. "This again." "No!" Rhys said quickly. "I just... maybe everyone needs some place where no one can find them. Maybe your house used to be that for me and I'm feeling nostalgic because you've sold it."

Feyre looked at him for a long time. "Okay, Rhys," she said eventually. They sat for a moment longer.

"Well, I guess I've got fat cheques to write to my sisters," she said. "Goodnight, Feyre." "Goodnight Rhys."

And then she was gone.

Rhys didn't see Feyre for a while after that. He still texted her every now and again, but he figured if he talked to her too much it would be kind of weird. After all, she was engaged, and he was pretty sure the stupid, bubbly feeling he got when her name flashed up on his phone was not the response you were supposed to have to platonic texts.

So he gave himself boundaries- tried to wait for her to initiate most contact, tried hard not to flirt, and even tried to sound interested when she told him Tamlin's latest health craze.

The work project she was working on wrapped up and was a roaring success. The company hosted a small event to launch the campaign, but Feyre didn't end up being able to make it. She sent him an apology, saying she was too sick to come. He told her to feel better soon, and to let him know if she wanted anything brought over.

She wasn't missing out on much, actually. Rhys found these corporate events dreadfully boring, and they all blended into one after a while. He worked for a political magazine and he truly believed in its ideals- but every so often they had to peddle to people with money, and it made him feel dirty. He stayed as long as was polite, drinking white wine he did not enjoy, and then slipped away when he thought no one would notice.

Back in his apartment, Rhys hung his jacket on the back of a chair, and undid the first few buttons of his shirt. He poured himself a glass of brandy, and sat on the couch, trying to overwrite the taste of small talk and champagne. On his coffee table, early sketches Feyre had made were still scattered about. Although he despised the events, it had been a shame that Feyre had not been able to attend, if just to get the recognition for her work. He sat up, and picked up one of the drawings.

Feyre really was an incredible artist. There was something so soft, and tender in the strokes of her brush, even in these rudimentary impressions. If he stared long enough, he could almost imagine the way her fingers smudged the page, the crinkle in her brow as she concentrated on some of the finer details. The movement in the design somehow had him imagining the sound of her laugh...

Rhys put the drawing down, and rubbed his eyes with his palm. This line of thinking was entirely unproductive. He needed to go to bed.

And then there was a knock at his door.

Rhys looked up, then looked at his watch. It was a little past midnight, who was looking for him at this hour? He set his glass down, and padded to the door. And there stood Feyre.

"Don't say anything," she said, before Rhys could open his mouth. He leaned against the door frame, and took in the woman standing there. At her feet, was a stuffed duffel bag. Her eyes were red, and she was too thin. Across one cheek bone, an angry bruise had bloomed purple and red. Rhys' heart dropped into his feet, but as she asked, he didn't say anything.

"You still got that spare room?" she asked.

Rhys picked up her bag and moved it inside. Feyre stepped in, Rhys closed the door behind her, and then very gently, wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, as her arms came up to his back and she leaned into him. "I'm so sorry."

****

Th angst is reeeaallll but seriously my dudes we made it and I am about to get REAL fluffy on your asses. That's right, it's an angst-fluff-smut parade.

TAGLIST: @ghostlyrose2 @highladysith @stardelia @feysand-babies @tillyrubes10 @ratabrasileira @live-the-fangirl-life @maybekindasortaace @annejulianneh111 @asteria-of-mars@booksmusicandgoodvibes @burritowithfeels

#feysand #feysand fic #acotar #acosf #rhysand #mine #angst

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inkribbon796 · 3 years ago

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What a Beautiful Wedding Ch. 2: Captive Audience

Summary: Friday TV Listing Guide:

5:30 PM (PST) Making Waves (CC)—Comedy

Life in the Barnum household is usually chaotic. With nine kids and three dads, school life and work is always an adventure but they manage.

(2) (3) (6) (12)

Innit for Trouble (CC)—Comedy-Drama

Best friends, Tubbo and Tommy (Tuberculosis “Tubbo” Underscore and Theseus “Tommy” Innit), compete to be the best hotel managers along Brighton coastline. All while trying to balance a crazy home life and even crazier customers.

(5) (12) (24)

Sanders Sides (CC)—Comedy

Thomas (Thomas Sanders) projects the different aspects of his personality into characters called the Sanders Sides. With their help he tries to get through crazy adventures and fun situations.

(3) (6) (24)

A/N: Welcome to my personal hell that is sitcoms. I just decided to make them into funny angst.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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CHANNEL 2

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[Making Waves is filmed in front of a live (CAPTIVE) studio audience.]

Dark does eventually pull himself out of bed, which caused Chase to grumble and hold onto him a bit tighter, but he’s eventually able to pull himself downstairs for his first coffee of the day.

It’s Saturday and early but one or two of the kids are already up. Namely Host and King who were always early birds. The two teenagers looked like they were still in the process of waking up.

“Coffee’s already hot,” King grumbled as he stared at his phone, not as awake as he’d like to be, a black cat in his lap.

“Oh thanks,” Dark told him as reached for a coffee cup.

At that point Illinois raced into the room, a huge excited smile on his face, “Guys, I think I’m in love.”

[OOOOOOHHHHH.]

“The poor thing,” King rolled his eyes. “I’ll start the funeral.”

[LAUGHTER]

“Hey come on, he’s the one, I know it,” Illinois walked over as Chase slowly dragged himself into the kitchen. He set his chin on Dark’s shoulder and was trying to reach for the coffee pot. Dark gave him a little half smile and passed him an empty cup.

“You’d think you’d run out of people to date since your [BLEEP] has killed more people than a serial killer.” King rolled his eyes.

“Boys,” Chase grumbled. “If yer[1] gonna[2] argue, at least wait until I’ve had coffee. Or at least until I’ve had my fourth.”

[LAUGHTER]

Illinois paused to look around, confused, he’d thought he’d heard . . .

While Illinois was having his crisis and the adults were trying to fully wake up, two of the family’s preeten triplets were outside in the backyard.

Memento and Mori each had a lobster in one hand, a roll of tape and a BB gun in another. Chase spotted them through the blinds and raced outside.

[LAUGHTER]

Chase did a double take, “Boys, the hell are yeh[3] doin[4]?”

Dark lowered the tablet and gave the pre-teens a firm stare.

“Science project,” Memento smiled at him.

“What possible science project could you maniacs be doing?” King demanded from the window. “You two going to fight them?”

“No,” Mori told him. “We’re just filming something.”

[LAUGHTER]

“It’s too early fer[5] this,” Chase groaned and went right back inside.

[LAUGHTER]

[Musical jingle as scene transitions.]

Much later in the day Chase was with Memento and Mori, the two had wanted to go to the local park. And in a weird turn of events Illinois wanted to come with him.

Which was weird because on his days off school, when Illinois wasn’t going for runs or hikes, he was with Dark over at city hall just spending time with his dad.

But here he was.

“So, yeh got a reason ta be here or just wanted ta get outta the house?”[6] Chase smiled.

Illinois was looking off in a corner of the park where a couple duplexes sat. “Huh?”

[LAUGHTER]

“Yer[7] new crush here?” Chase kept a distant eye on two of his boys. Normally you could leave a pair of twelve-year-olds alone for an hour or two but that wasn’t the best idea with Memento and Mori.

Illinois was more than a bit red in the face.

[LAUGHTER]

“What?” Illinois stiffened.

“What’s their name?” Chase smiled.

“Eric,” Illinois smiled. “I just look at him and I just . . . I don’t know, I just feel something.”

“Well, just be careful,” Chase told him. “I don’t wanna see yeh get hurt again.”[8]

Illinois nodded solemnly before looking up and seeing the back door of one of the houses open up and the young man shot up and raced over to the chain link fence. Chase smiled as he watched him and followed after him a bit slower but kept his distance.

“Hey, Eric,” Illinois greeted as he got up to the fence and Eric jumped in surprise. “You wanna[9] hang out?”

“Ills,” Eric looked around in terror, his face a blush-red mess. “My dad’s home early.”

“Ohh, you want me to,” Illinois started before the back door flew open and Derek Derekson stormed out.

“Eric! Are you talking to that boy again‽” Derek shouted and he stormed over. Eric almost tripped over himself trying to get away from the fence.

At the yelling and the sight of Illinois flinching away, Chase raced in and pulled Illinois back so he could stand in front of him when Derek stormed to the door of the fence.

He stopped when he recognized Chase.

“You’re the Mayor’s boyfriend right?” Derek said, with the type of tone that would have been followed by an insult or a punch if he thought there was a fight he could win.

“One ‘a ‘em, yeah, why?”[10] Chase had his hands in his pockets, mostly so he wasn’t punching the man.

Derek looked at Chase, clearly deciding something.

“Yeh have somethin’ ta say, say it,”[11] Chase told him.

Glaring at him, Derek stepped back into his property, “Nah, have a nice day. Eric, gotta[12] tell you something about work, come on.”

Eric snapped to scurry inside, looking terrified. Illinois looked concerned as Chase pulled him away.

“Come on, Ills, gotta[12] get the boys,” Chase told the teen and decided to talk to Dark about this.”

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CHANNEL 12

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“Well it’s not my fault,” Tommy shouted as he stormed into the bed and breakfast’s lobby. He had a starfish still on his head and was covered in seaweed. Ghostbur trailing in after them. Tubbo and Ranboo behind him each equally drenched in seawater and kelp. The only people of their group still somewhat dry was Tubbo and Ranboo’s adopted son Michael, and Tommy’s little son: Shroud. The two little boys were in little towel hoodies. Michael in a little pig hoodie, and Shroud in a black spider hoodie. Both of them were only wet from splashing in the water.

“Ranboo dragged me right inta the ocean an’ tried ta drown me!”[13] Tommy shouted in an angry huff as Tubbo placed both the young toddlers into a little playpen behind the service desk.

“You dragged me in,” Ranboo reminded sharply.

[LAUGHTER]

“I smell like sea grass an’[14] [BLEEP][15]!” Tommy groaned.

[LAUGHTER]

“[BLEEP]!”[15] Shroud shouted happily.

[GASPS followed by LAUGHTER]

“That’s right,” Tommy stomped over to pick Shroud up who was babbling happily. “[BLEEP][16] you Ranboo!”

[GASPS followed by LAUGHTER]

“That’s—” Ranboo started. “Come on, I’m just trying to help.”

“[BLEEP][16] Ranboo!” Shroud copied him, flailing his arms out, Ranboo flinched in surprise. Tubbo laughed at them.

[LAUGHTER]

Tommy let out one of his cackles. “That’s my boy! Now I’m gonna[2] prove I can do it by myself.”

//////~~~~//////~~~~//////~~~~//////

CHANNEL 6

//////~~~~//////~~~~//////~~~~//////

Thomas walked through the park with his boyfriend Nico right next to him. “I don’t know, Virgil’s just been making me feel so keyed up all day.”

“Well what’s been going on recently,” Nico was trying to think up a way to help him after everything he’d confided to him.

“I don’t know,” Thomas said. “Virgil is actually working with Janus, and they never work together. And Logan says that we’re in some kind of fake—”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations:

1. you’re

2. going to

3. you

4. doing

5. for

6. So, you got a reason to be here or just wanted to get out of the house?

7. Your

8. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.

9. want to

10. One of them, yeah, why?

11. You have something to say, say it

12. have to

13. Ranboo dragged me right into the ocean and tried to drown me!

14. and

15. shit

16. Fuck!

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thinking-in-symbols · 4 years ago

Text

Quinquennial Life Assessment

So, it’s been a few years. When I was 19 I posted a sort of “roadmap” for the evolution of my life on this blog. Today I thought I’d revisit that. I want to take a look back and see what progress I’ve made, and then in a separate post I want to turn to the future, think about how my vision for it has changed, and consider how I can reincorporate these goals into that vision.

This is the list of things I wanted to get done in varying time frames. I’ve crossed off the things I’ve done to get a sense of my progress:

1 year:

At 19, my hopes were to accomplish the following things by age 20:

- Joined, and consistently participated in, at least 2 campus organizations that suit my interests, at least 1 of which should be competitive in nature - well, I joined the ISO and KVRX, my college radio station! Neither of those were competitive, but in retrospect I don’t really care about that :-)

- Made concrete plans to study abroad - Nope, unfortunately I never did this. I’m not quite sure I regret that, all things considered - I traded that experience for other things. I did make plans to spend a few months abroad of my own accord, and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling global pandemic. But as it stands I haven’t done this.

- Learned C++ and python to proficiency - Hm. “Proficient” is a relative term. But I think I have a tendency to downplay my skills, so in the interest of counteracting that I’m going to count myself as “proficient” in these languages. I think that’s fair.

- Gone on at least a several day road trip with at least 1 friend - I’ve gone on several trips with @meeshbug, my very lovely girlfriend and best friend in the world :-)

- Decided on a concentration beyond the extremely vague umbrella of “computer science” - Unfortunately as far as my education is concerned I never really did this. If anything my interests have *broadened* rather than becoming more focused. More on this later...

- Made meaningful, ongoing contributions to an open-source project - You know what? I’ve published the source of everything I’ve ever made, and I’ve gotten to the point where I can make stuff that’s not trivial. So I’m giving myself credit for this one.

- Learned to cook enough meals to eat in most days and not get sick of my own food - I wish. I’ve learned to cook a fair amount of stuff but I still get way too depressed and lethargic to apply that consistently. Whether I consider myself to have achieved this honestly depends on the month.

- Learned to keep my living area clean - I’m much better at this than I was at 19, but at 19 I could barely clear a path to walk across my room. So there’s more work to do. More on these last two later.

- Gotten a pet - Meesh and I have a dog named Courage (after the dog of cowardly fame) and a cat named Jax!

2 years:

- Independently written a piece of software to completion and deployed it publicly - I’ve always pretty bad at actually seeing projects through to completion, but I do have a few full, independent projects under my belt at this point. I’ve built a simple game engine, a pathtracer, plugins for games I like, and some other stuff.

- purchased and begun regularly using some basic amateur radio equipment - Ah man. I got my license but I still haven’t gotten any equipment. I guess I have to get on that...

- purchased and begun experimenting with some basic music recording equipment - This one I’ve done, but I haven’t done as much experimenting as I’d like.

- hosted a party - I did this for my 21st birthday and it’s one of my favorite memories! Honestly this was probably the last time I had all my really close friends in one place. I’m actually getting kind of emotional about that.

- done some kind of hallucinogen - I have now done this. I definitely did get something out of it, albeit not what I expected. This is something I actually only did pretty recently and it’s still having a pretty profound effect. Maybe I’ll write a separate post about this.

- Gone camping with friends - Despite my best efforts, this hasn’t happened yet. Pretty fucked up.

3 years:

- learned to play another instrument besides the piano (guitar?) - I don’t feel comfortable crossing this one off quite yet, but I went ahead and bought myself some guitar equipment and have been messing around with it lately :-) I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and pay for lessons if I’m serious about this, which I am.

- Written and recorded a song - Damn, I can’t believe it’s been 5 years and I haven’t even done this.

- Met a group of people I can play music with - nope

- Owned a leather jacket. I can’t believe I’ve still never even owned a leather jacket - I’ve done this and wore it frankly too much. Kinda cringe.

- Worked as a professional software developer - Yep! Worked as a software developer for a retail company for a couple years. I’m actually not working as a software developer right now, though; I’m working in a sort of adjacent position. More on this later.

- Participated in research related to my field - That’s pretty ambitious. Not sure I’ll ever do this, unfortunately. But we’ll see.

- Been to a film festival - Oh shit, I totally forgot about having written this. That’s a cool idea. I should do this, it’s not like it’s hard (well, at least in principle. I guess covid kind of changes the situation).

- Gotten a dog - Courage is one of those, I think, although he might also be part rat.

- collected 50 records - Lol, my dumb ass really thought I was going to buy $1,000 worth of records on college money. No, I haven’t done this, but I’m on my way there.

- Purchased a desktop computer - Well, my dad gave me his old desktop. That’s not really a purchase but I think it counts.

5 years:

- Begun accepting freelance development gigs - haven’t gotten here yet and I’m not totally sure this is a direction I want to go in my career. Freelancing has its own stressors as I’ve come to learn from others. No career path is sunshine and roses and I’m trying to internalize this fact.

- Participated in a student film - Nope. I don’t even know why I wrote this down to be honest.

- Gotten laid by solving a 5x5 Rubik’s Cube in front of a girl because surely that’s gonna have to work on someone eventually, otherwise I wasted a lot of time - These are getting weird. Surely I didn’t really expect this to happen, right? Well, either way I now have a long-term girlfriend, so I don’t - wait, Meesh has seen me solve a Rubik’s cube and she saw it before we started dating. So actually I’m going to give myself credit for it. I’m the one who makes the rules here.

- Fleshed out my political opinions - Yes, I now know everything about politics and can answer 100% of questions on political issues. Just kidding. But I know where I stand.

- Participated in a protest or some other kind of political event - Done! Went to a few protests as part of the ISO, participated in lots of their events, and attended some protests with friends as well.

- Studied abroad - Nope :-/

- Learned a language other than Spanish - I took a semester of French! But I don’t quite want to give myself credit for this one because I really would like to learn a different language to something resembling fluency.

- Run a marathon - Lmao. I am in much worse shape now than I was when I wrote this post, and even at that time I could probably do like 7 miles if I really pushed myself. How sad.

- Gone hiking outside of texas - This is weird because I’d literally already done this when I wrote this post. But I’ve done it more since then, so hey!

- Been out of the country with a friend - This I had also already done. I guess the point is to have done it without “adult supervision” or whatever. I haven’t done this since writing this list so I guess I have to leave it uncrossed.

10 years:

- Lived with a girl for an extended period of time - Meesh 🥰

- Spent at least 6 months living on the road in an RV, preferably with a dog and a girl - God, I am so close to being able to do this. I don’t want it to be an RV anymore - those things are expensive. But a van? Still pricey, but doable, especially if I’m willing to sacrifice some comfort. This has actually been front-of-mind for a while. I’ll let you know when I get the balls to pull the trigger.

- Started making Real Money - Well, yep, I have gotten to that point. I do have other thoughts on this, though. Money is weird, man.

- Lived in a long-term living space outside of Texas (i.e. not including RV time) - How long is long-term? Three months? If so, I’ve done this by living in Boston with Meesh for a few months after she went there for law school. However, I anticipate staying there much longer in the near future, so I’ll wait on this crossing this one off.

- Written a book about something, idk - Not yet. I’m halfway to the deadline on this one and I have some ideas, but ideas aren’t worth all that much, especially to me, who rarely sees them through. We’ll see where this goes. It’s not exactly a priority and historically I struggle to get even my priorities done. It might make more sense to replace this with recording a concept or narrative album, for which I also have ideas that I happen to take more seriously.

- Learned to solve a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Gotten laid by solving a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Lived in an apartment where I pay all the rent - Yes! :-))) We love independence

- Earned an advanced degree (this one’s iffy) - This hasn’t happened, and whether it will ever happen is something I’ve been thinking a lot about. I sort of decided half-way through college that I would be totally burned out on school by the time I graduated. But in retrospect it takes way less time to burn out on work than it does to burn out on school, and grad degrees are a different kind of thing. So it’s worth revisiting.’

- Given a best man speech (Sam, this means you have to get married within the next 10 years. Good luck out there.) - Holy shit, Sam, you maniac, you actually did it! Sam got married back in 2019 and I gave his best man speech! It’s another one of my favorite memories :-)

- Gone on a cruise with someone I’m dating - Hmm, not yet. I’ve gone on cool trips, but none on a boat. Maybe that’s something to aim for after the pandemic passes :-)

Retrospective:

1yr: Completed: 5/9

More than half isn’t bad! I’m not gonna worry too much about whether I got these things done within their assigned “time-frame”. I’m a procrastinator in my heart and I don’t see any reason to put that kind of pressure on myself. The point is, they got done. That’s enough for me.

The things I did best in in this category were academic things, and things to do with relationships. I’m proud of the academic achievements, I really feel like doing them has increased my belief in myself and my sense that I’m good at the thing I’ve spent the last four years studying. And of course, I am so happy to be in a loving, fulfilling relationship that brings so many good things into my life. I almost feel like the things I accomplished sort of fell into my lap - of course I’m gonna do programming stuff as a programming student, and getting pets / going on road trips are things I did as a result of my relationship with Meesh. I don’t say that to downplay the accomplishments, but I do think it’s worth noting.

The things I haven’t done are more to do with personal development, which is disappointing. I would like to be able to say, 5 years down the road, that I’ve done the personal development I expected to do in just a single year, but maybe that’s a lot to expect. These are problems I’ve dealt with my whole life. I think what this means is that I can’t expect everything to fall into my lap. Those things are going to take real concerted effort to change. I’m not quite sure how to go about that, though.

2yrs: Completed: 4/6

Two-thirds! Even better!

Lots of these are one-time accomplishments, not so much long-term commitments to personal development. The good news is, I did them, and I think those resulted in some development in their own right :-)

Again, though, the things I didn’t do so well are the things that require long-term, concerted effort. For instance, while I crossed off the one about experimenting with music, it’s really only the initial investment that I’ve really done at this point. It remains to be seen whether I’ll be able to follow through on the commitment to actually experiment and learn.

3yrs: Completed: 4/10

This category also follows the same pattern I’ve noticed with the last two. The other thing I’m noticing is that so, so much of my effort over the past few years has been going towards developing a very particular skill: programming / computer science. Music and art are so important to me, but I’ve done very little real development in those areas. I mean, I’ve done some. But not as much as I would have hoped for half a decade.

5yrs: Completed: 4/10

This is getting a little more fun because less of my goals have to do explicitly with my degree. I’m starting to think beyond college, which is good, because the stage of life I’m in right now requires me to start thinking about the kind of life I want to build now that I’m done with school. Also, I’m at the deadline for this one right now! So this is a particularly interesting category because it really shows where I thought I’d be by this time.

The goals I accomplished in this timeframe are, again, mostly things I’ve done through my relationship, but politics also feature pretty prominently on this part of the list. I spent a lot of time reading and researching political issues during college and really did look for ways to participate. I honestly made politics a pretty big part of my identity over the last 5 years, and I think it will stay that way forever, but I’ve gotten to the point where I think I need to devote less of my mental energy to knowing more. I know what I need to know. It’s time to think about other things.

10yrs: Completed: 4/11 (and counting!)

There’s some career stuff in this section that I’ve been able to do, which is good news. I’ve always been scared about entering the working world. All things told, it’s gone more smoothly than it could have. But I also have lots of lingering doubts about what I want to do in the long term. So one of the most pressing goals I should aim for is to resolve those doubts.

Ultimately, I have a lot of time left, and I’m not even done with this time frame, so I’m not gonna spend much time dissecting the things I haven’t done. What I’ll do instead is say that while I didn’t do everything on this list, I feel proud of the things I have accomplished. I said when I first wrote this list that it’s sometimes hard for me to feel that my life is moving in any particular direction, and I’m still feeling like that five years later, to be honest. But looking back on these things has helped me see that I actually am making progress in my life. Not in all the ways I want to, but that’s OK. There’s still time.

In the next couple days I want to come back to this and reorganize this list into an updated set of goals, for the same time frames. Maybe that will help me think through exactly what it is I want out of the next five-ten years, with the benefit of having analyzed the things that I did and didn’t do well over the previous five.

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jafreitag · 4 years ago

Text

Grateful Dead Monthly: Manhattan Center – New York, NY 4/4-6/71

On Sunday through Tuesday, April 4-6, 1971, the Grateful Dead played a three-show run at Manhattan Center in New York City.

The Manhattan Opera House opened in 1906, as Oscar Hammerstein’s cut-rate competitor for the hallowed Metropolitan Opera. The Met lost business, freaked out, and paid Hammerstein to stop for ten years. (I’m cribbing the Wiki.) The payout was $1.2M back then, which would be $31.8M now. Hammerstein pocketed the cash and sold the building to Scottish Freemasons, who held it until 1939 when it changed hands and names to the Manhattan Center.

The Center has since served as a multipurpose venue. Still from the Wiki, it has hosted “radio broadcasts, recordings, and performances by such acts as Bunny Berigan, Paul Robeson, Judy Garland, Harry Belafonte, Perry Como, Leonard Bernstein, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Evanescence, Tool, and Alison Moyet,” as well as WWF events and America’s Got Talent. Diverse bunch. Oh, and the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead visited for the first and only time in 1971 for a dance marathon in that ballroom.

Four songs (Big Railroad Blues, Playing in the Band, NFA > GDTRFB) from the three-night run appeared on live album Grateful Dead (a.k.a. “Skull & Roses” and “Skull Fuck”), which turns 50 this year.

Wiki explains the album’s title:

When the band submitted “Skull Fuck” (a contemporary euphemism for “blow your mind”) as the album title, it was rejected by the record label. Ultimately the agreement was made that the album would be published without the title appearing anywhere on the record labels or cover artwork. Though the band refers to the album by this title, and it has long been known to fans (through interviews with band members, the Deadhead network and other outlets), the alternate, descriptive title “Skull & Roses” developed among distributors, music buyers and reviewers as a graphic incipit from the cover artwork.

Drummer Bill Kreutzmann explained the lack of a title on the artwork and labels, “…the original name was going to be “Skull Fuck”. This was a time long before rap artists like Eminem numbed concerned citizens to the idea of offensive language in music. Warner Brothers [the band’s label] freaked out on us. They said stores would boycott it and we wouldn’t be able to get it on shelves.”

Inside the gatefold of the original LP, the band reached out directly to its burgeoning fan base, which had begun to attend multiple concerts in a row and collect live audio tapes of each concert, with a message reading:

DEAD FREAKS UNITE: Who are you? Where are you? How are you? Send us your name and address and we’ll keep you informed.

Dead Heads, P.O. Box 1065, San Rafael, California 94901.

The mailing address is no longer extant.

ECM loves an anniversary, so he suggested this album as our focus. Here are his brief listening notes…

4/4/71:

Final “Easy Wind” has a nice jam. Not sure why it was dropped from the repertoire. A rare, mid-first set Morning Dew is every bit as good as we would expect it to be. St. Stephen was starting to become rare in 1971 but the ending jam in this one packs a big punch. There is some squealing feedback at the end of NFA that leads into a lovely show-closing Uncle John’s Band. However, overall, the band sounds a little tentative. Maybe it’s a case of the first night jitters or maybe it’s just that the soundboard is too clean(?)

4/5/71:

Big Railroad Blues and GDTRFB. Both appear on the Skull & Roses album and are extremely hot. If you listen to the version on LMA you’ll notice some differences in the vocals compared with what we are familiar with on the album version which is due to overdubs. Also, I was always curious why the NFA reprise was left off the album. Well, the reason is because the band broke tradition and didn’t play it that evening. If you listen to the recording on LMA, the band teases the NFA reprise but just as they are about to play it they surprise us by charging into Lovelight. This is a monster version with wild, electric, unhinged jamming and a drunken-sounding Pig screaming and shouting at the audience like a maniac. A person who attended the show described it in a review he wrote on LMA: “Lovelight – it was only a red spotlight on Pig and I swear it was like Dante’s Inferno.” The jamming about halfway through the song is especially fierce as the boys land on a unique theme. Towards the end Phil brings the house down with some thunderous bass playing that is just unbelievable. An all time, 5-star version of this song, possibly the best of 1971. Other highlights include the debut of “Sing Me Back Home, China > Rider, a solid Truckin’ > Other One, Garcia’s solos in this early version of Deal and his yodeling in Bobby McGee (check it out!).

4/6/71:

The rare songs in the first set…Oh Boy (Debut. Played only one other time – 12/12/81), I’m a Hog For You, Baby (Bust-out; last played 3/25/66. Played only 4 times ever. This was the last) and Dire Wolf, which was only played 3 times in 1971. A mid-first set appearance of Midnight Hour was also a pretty rare occurrence. Playing In The Band is the version used on the album Skull & Roses. The second set is highlighted by a chunky Greatest Story > Johnny B. Goode (a pairing that occurred 14 times and only in 1971), a raucous Good Lovin’ where Pigpen tells the audience to turn to the person next to them and say “Howdy” and then to take off their clothes and have a good ol’ time. The show closes with a rocking NFA>GDTRFB sandwich (played every night of this run) and then the band pulls out a show-stopping version of Truckin’ that is more reminiscent of 1977 than 1971.

Transport to the Charlie Miller remaster of the 4/4 soundboard HERE.

Transport to the Charlie Miller remaster of the 4/5 soundboard HERE.

And transport to the Charlie Miller remaster of the 4/6 soundboard HERE.

And if you want to check out Skull & Roses before it gets the deluxe reissue treatment, here’s the widget…

The Playing in the Band is the 4/6 version with studio organ overdubs by Garcia pal Merl Saunders.

More soon.

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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shaymcsudonim · 4 years ago

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“My Six Months Training Didn’t Prepare Me For This.”

Really?

Six months of fighting spiders in caves and throwing birthday parties for nuns didn’t prepare you to fight a demon-possessed, power-hungry maniac? Who would have ever guessed...

...except for the fact that, on a meta level, you might be entirely wrong about that, Asta.

On the face of things, we’ve run into a textbook arc of good old-fashioned ludonarrative dissonance.

That is to say, in the Manga, things flowed smoothly over the timeskip. Declaration that they have six months to prepare for war was followed by the beginnings of said war.

In the Anime, however, events are unfolding like an accordion into six months of random antics and buffoonery. Incidentally, I don’t remember whether that’s six months of in-show time or six months of real-time but, either way, we are in for a ride.

Anyway, going back to my main point, Asta’s determination is one of his best qualities, but I’d argue that it’s eclipsed by his kindness, in terms of how he affects the world, if nothing else.

When he declares himself the future Wizard King, he boasts that he’s going to make a better life for everyone, including Sister Lily and all his adopted younger siblings, of course, but he also explicitly includes Yuno in this statement.

And, when Yuno decides that they’re rivals, he echoes this in saying that he’s going to make Asta’s life better once he’s Wizard King.

Kindness breeds kindness, and the circle of virtue spins ever wider.

For Yuno and Asta, kindness is as much a part of their rivalry as competition, and the examples are numerous: Asta saving Yuno’s necklace, Yuno scaring off Sekke, and so on.

But, even outside of rivalry, Asta’s shown himself to be a startlingly compassionate individual: he didn’t challenge any of the nobles at the banquet until they started making fun of Noelle, he visited Vetto’s human-reincarnate’s grave (one of the few permanent deaths in the series), and as soon as he finds out that the Witch Queen’s blood can heal his arms, he immediately shares it with Kiato and Kahono, and that doesn’t even touch on the kindness he shows the reincarnated elves, whenever possible.

And how might all this tie into Asta’s training, you ask?

Well, it might not. Everything is probably going to depend on the character and values of the devil inhabiting his grimoire.

If the Devil’s evil, then he’ll undoubtedly be the main antagonist of the series. He certainly thought it was hilarious when Zagred died. And he tried to take over Asta’s body in the Witches’ Forest, of course. It’s entirely possible that Asta’s Demon is completely evil and irredeemable.

But, still, I think that there might be more to him.

Granted, I also thought there might be more to Toffee from SVTFOE, and that obviously went nowhere, so my track record certainly isn’t the best.

But, anyway, moving on, what good qualities might Asta’s Demon possess?

Well, he’s anti-magic, and he somehow managed to get himself stuck inside a magic grimoire: Licht’s old Four Leaf grimoire, if I recall correctly, which was turned into a five-leaf grimoire after Licht was corrupted.

If Asta’s Demon has any control over who gets chosen by the grimoire, then it says a lot that he picked Asta. After all, if anyone with even the slightest bit of magic got the grimoire, either they wouldn’t be able to use it, or it would kill them outright.

Given that the grimoire appeared to Asta outside the tower, and after the ceremony, I’d assume that the demon had at least some power over who received the five-leaf grimoire.

The interesting thing to me is that Asta didn’t get the grimoire during the ceremony. Here was a human with no magic whatsoever, a perfect vessel for the demon’s antimagic. Instead, he left the tower without anything. The five-leaf didn’t appear to him until he publicly defended Yuno.

It’s possible that the Five Leaf Demon cared about the character of whoever it was that would use his power.

Which, there might be some precedent for. Vanica and Megicula seem to be on the same wavelength most of the time. Possibly, Devil and Devil Host must be somewhat compatible, personality-wise? If so, it says a lot about this particular devil, that he’d be compatible with Asta.

And, even if he is evil, I’d give even odds that the Five Leaf Demon will, eventually, get worn down by the sheer force of Asta’s personality, just like half of the other villains in Black Clover.

But, if the Demon is any sort of a decent person, then, compared to any other demon out there, he’s had a ridiculously long time to get to know his host, while having only the most indirect sharing of power.

And, not only does this demon understand Asta better than the other demons likely understand their hosts, he probably comprehends humanity better than any of them, as well.

His first attempt at bargaining, in the Witches’ Forest, seemed to be a straightforward exchange: the Five Leaf Demon would win Asta’s fight for him, but Asta would have to allow the Demon to possess him in return, and it wasn’t stated whether this was a temporary possession. Asta punched him in the face and took the power, anyway.

Whether this was allowed because Five Leaf didn’t want his host to die, because he was just too surprised by Asta’s actions, or for some other reason, wasn’t stated.

In this latest chapter, there’s no attempt at subtlety. The Demon waited for Asta to approach him, then proposed a straightforward bargain: a part of Asta’s body for power, in this case, his right arm. Again, not stating exactly what it meant for the arm to belong to the demon.

It remains to be seen what Five Leaf’s motivations are. But, now that one of his bargains has finally been accepted, we’re probably a lot closer to finding out.

Also, if the demon does somehow end up being good, then they’ve already got half the friendship-bonding aspect out of the way, since Five Leaf has spent, what, at least a year watching Asta do random crap? If being on the same wavelength as their host eventually allows for more power transfer between Demon and Human, then the next arc could very easily look like this:

[Image ID: A painting of a tall figure in spiky armor and a horned helmet chasing a visibly-frightened smaller figure, in silver armor, through the woods. The imposing figure is labeled, ‘Me not realizing there’s a main storyline and kept doing the side quests until I reached max level,’ and the smaller figure is labeled, ‘first mission boss.’ end image ID]

And, I’m not gonna lie, that’d be pretty funny.

#black clover #black clover spoilers #spoilers #rant #ludonarrative dissonance

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lucadansembourg · 4 years ago

Photo

HSHQTASK023.

luca & henri.

( LISTEN ALONG )

feat. @henridorleans

“please hurry leave me, i can't breathe, please don't say you love me.” - track 001. first love/late spring by mitski.

the actual first time they meet is irrelevant, an event neither remembers. surely, over the years they’ve had conversations, somewhere, sometime. but none of them truly matter, not when faced with what they become. there’s nothing of note between them, at least nothing before the cold november night in luxembourg that they actually meet for the first time.

the setting is a slightly seedy bar in a back alley in the heart of luxembourg, where luca d’ansembourg is chasing the bottom of a bottle yet again. he’s become something of a regular, a ruling monarch always sitting in the same booth in the back. none of the other regulars dare to bother him, they haven’t since nathalie died and luca became a shell of himself. but the color has started to return to his cheeks, word on the street is he’s begun to heal.

maybe that’s why he seems approachable.

henri d’orleans is traveling. he’s been north of paris, into belgium and finally he’s wound up with a few nights in luxembourg city. what draws him to the bar is unknown even to him, perhaps fate leads him through the doors. it’s nice enough, isn’t it? it takes almost an hour for him to notice the man in the booth in the back, pouring out his sorrows into a glass of whiskey yet again.

they meet and they don’t use any bullshit titles or last names that could give them away.

late that night, when they return to the little apartment luca keeps “just in case” they’re just people. and if luca is a little bit broken and henri is still searching for something he can’t quite grasp, they don’t mention it.

“ oh, but i was just a placeholder a lesson to be learned oh, i was just a placeholder a place you will return.” - track 002. placeholder by hand habits.

luca wakes the next morning to his phone ringing over and over again. it’s wilhelmina, frantic with worry after luca had disappeared into the night. she’s worried, because of course she is. they’re d’ansembourgs, all they seem to do is worry these days. he tries to stay quiet, to not wake henri.

“i’ll be back at the palace in a few hours, don’t worry, wilhelmina.”

maybe it’s the mention of the palace, maybe it’s the way luca says wilhelmina like an exasperated older brother.

but henri has heard the entire conversation and is beginning to fit the puzzle pieces together.

the way luca never asked for another drink, he was simply handed one by the bartender. the stares he’d gotten from the other regulars for daring to speak to the king. the expensive apartment that no one seemed to live in. it all added up to an image of the king of luxembourg henri hadn’t expected.

he makes his excuses and goes, practically sprinting out the door with a new perspective on french relations with luxembourg. he leaves the tiny country that afternoon, the bruises still fresh on his skin, a reminder that the night before had really happened.

luca takes a moment to put himself back together and then meets his twins and siblings for lunch, and tries to push the night out of his mind. he doesn’t frequent the bar like he used to, and when he does he even manages to give them a smile, a real one this time. maybe a night out was just what he needed. maybe he just needed to be normal for a moment.

they swear they don’t think about it, but they do.

“we try and connect the dots and the facts how do we have to be here? 'cause these hotels, i just can't relax the more i bend, the worse that i snap i feel like a goddamn maniac .” - track 003. ruins by jade bird.

it’s new year’s eve, and there’s far too much going on. it seems the whole world is here, every royal from every country in one ballroom in paris. for henri d’orleans, this is his element. he’s charming and easy to speak to, always able to talk his way into and out of conversations on a whim.

on the other hand, luca d’ansembourg is simply terrible at events like these. when it’s small groups, he can almost manage to seem normal, but with the movement of the crowd and the volume of the room, he’s barely said twenty words to those around him. he prefers to be a wallflower, usually, but his sisters have been pestering him about making new friends. it’s not going well.

luca spots him across the room and trails off mid-sentence. no one around him notices.

he looks almost the same, if not a just a little bit more dressed up.

that’s henri, from the bar. that’s henri, the prince of france. luca can feel the panic set in as their eyes meet across the ballroom, and he only holds henri’s gaze for a second before dashing towards an alcove he’d noticed earlier.

he doesn’t expect henri to make his excuses and follow him.

he’s plotting his escape and how easy it will be to become a recluse and never leave the grand palace again when henri appears in his line of vision. and even if they’re alone in the alcove, they might as well be alone at the world.

when they’re together, it’s like everything else seems to fall away. the responsibilities, the titles, the riches, none of it matters.

they’re counting down to the year 2019 in the ballroom, but the pair don’t seem to notice, too caught up in each other once again. it seems like the world stops as they gravitate towards each other.

the kiss may not happen exactly at midnight, but there’s no one around to police it.

“and it’s no one’s fault but yours at the foot of the house of cards. you thought you’d never get obsessed, you thought the wolves would be impressed. and you’re a sinking stone, but you know what it’s like.” - track 004. the jeweler’s hands by arctic monkeys.

henri leaves before the sun comes up, almost like a force of habit.

it’s easier that way, he always tells himself. it’s better if they just... don’t talk about it. especially because he’s not going to stick around, even if luca asked him to. it’s not personal, just... henri doesn’t need anything more, he never has. the life of royalty made things like falling in love out of question.

when luca wakes on the first morning of the year, he’s alone.

and he’s only able to feel bad about himself for a minute, before he decides that he’s kind of grateful that henri is gone. he wouldn’t know what to say, other than the obvious. and then he’s definitely glad he’s gone, when wilhelmina barges into his hotel room without warning. he’s dodged a bullet that morning, but he can’t help but feel like this is the start of something.

and it is.

“honey you are nothing to me but alcohol and dopamine. i’m dying on the sofa and i barely know the time like an old man, say i reckon, i love you for a millisecond, but i don’t wear a watch or rolex.” - track 005. presumably dead arm by sidney gish.

they meet again in mid-february at a coronation, and it’s the same song and dance.

even if argentina is an entirely different type of place than paris, it’s still just a bit too lively for luca’s preferences. the events hosted in buenos aires are filled with dancing and parties that are just too much, but luca still attends, even if he hangs out in the corner for the entire night, watching the crowd move around him. it’s not out of some sense of duty he’s terrible at having, but because his siblings are yet again badgering him into “making new friends” and “coming out of his shell” like he’s some sort of shy schoolgirl.

henri is having a marginally better time, if only because he’s got the ability to thrive in a social setting. light on his feet and giving with words he doesn’t actually mean make him a favorite for the people who want to dance, and he catches luca’s eye sometimes across the room and his chest will twist in a weird way that he can’t quite place. when he runs out of partners and people to talk to, he’ll check that same corner and find it empty, luca leaving the parties just before henri can go looking for him.

on the last night of their trip, luca shows up on henri’s doorstep with a half smile and they fall into bed together yet again, this time with the ease of practiced lovers. and maybe it’s just a little bit too close to something he can’t take back, but when henri wakes the next morning luca is gone, his side of the bed cold.

“but the light in the hallway and the silence in my room... said i don’t think i’ll get used to losing you.” - track 006. losing you by flyte.

luca goes back to luxembourg to an empty palace and he’s glad that his entire family is gone, his siblings taking his girls on a trip for that weekend. he lets himself wallow in pity for a day, asking all the questions that must be common for widowers who are trying to figure everything out alone.

he sleeps in his twins’ empty room, unable to stand his own, the room still standing untouched. it’s a monument to his late wife, he can’t bring himself to even more things off her bedside table yet. it’s too fresh, even if it’s been an entire year. for a place that once was a sanctuary built by a woman who luca would have burned down the world for, it’s become something of a tomb.

and then on sunday, he wakes and he finds that things are lighter, that he’s able to handle the grief. he can breathe in. he spends the afternoon in wilhelmina’s garden, away from the bustle of his siblings’ return. wren finds him there, hours later.

“do you think she’d want me to... move on?” he asks, as if his youngest sibling will have any idea. he gets a shrug in reply, but wren still sits with him until it gets dark. and somehow that’s the push luca needed, that he can let go a little bit. that he can live without the shadow of his late wife watching over his every move.

he thinks nathalie would be proud that he picked himself back up and did what he was meant to do. he knows that his sisters are. when his first valentine’s weekend alone is over, luca feels lighter than he has since the diagnosis, and it shows in his work, in the way he carries himself.

he doesn’t lock himself away in the palace, instead he returns to engagement parties and balls held in honor of the dumbest things, and he does it with a bit more confidence, a little bit of a spring in his step.

“and that’s the thing about illicit affairs and clandestine meetings and longing stares. they show their truth one single time, but they lie and they lie and they lie, a million little times.” - track 007. illicit affairs by taylor swift.

the first event back, they avoid each other for the first half of the weekend. but then henri can’t keep his eyes away, as luca carries a conversation instead of fading into the background. something’s different, something that henri can’t put his finger on but once he notices it’s terribly distracting. he can’t tear his eyes away. and when luca catches his stare across the room, and blushes just a little bit, it’s over. they’re right back to the start.

in the spring of 2019, it becomes a habit. it seems like every royal event, they both end up as their country’s representative. whether it’s coincidence, fate or some sort of subconscious desire to see the other, there’s no way to tell, but they’re meeting eyes across ballrooms in japan and having conversations over cigars in botswana.

in public, they simply read as two old friends.

in private, they’re something more altogether.

they meet in hotel rooms and rented apartments, in europe and asia and one memorable time in new york city.

after argentina, it’s always henri following luca to where he’s staying, and leaving before the morning comes. each time, though, luca starts to find that he wants more. he wants him to stay, but henri never does.

and that should be enough of a sign, that this isn’t the same sort of thing for henri that it is for luca.

but luca’s never been too good at reading the signs.

“one last kiss i love you like an alcoholic. one last kiss, i love you like a stauette. one last kiss, i need you like a need a gaping head wound.” - track 008. i love you like an alcoholic by the taxpayers.

it’s may and they’ve been dancing around each other like this for months. they make their excuses and leave before the party’s end more often than not, check over their shoulders thousands of times to make sure no one will catch a glimpse of them.

they keep it quiet because it’s the only option. luca isn’t looking for a scandal in a country still reeling from the death of it’s beloved queen, and henri isn’t looking to seem attached at all.

they both say they’re getting what they want out of their meetings, but they’re not, really. they’re both too busy lying to themselves to realize that there’s a way that they can just reach out and have what they want.

it all culminates in a few too many words said in the same apartment where it began, when luca’s drunken words become just a little bit too real. henri leaves and it feels different this time, like a nail in the coffin.

luca wakes alone, but he’d been expecting it.

he isn’t expecting his sisters to send guards to the apartment, to drag him back to the palace.

he doesn’t expect the invasion.

“hard feelings these are what they call hard feelings of love when the sweet words and fevers all leave us right here in the cold, oh oh.” - track 009. hard feelings/loveless by lorde.

it’s like a knife in his back, and he can’t even scream at him. henri disappears from his life into the night, just as easily as he’d entered it. luca rages when he’s alone, only allows himself to feel the loss of a lover, or even just a friend, when no one can see. he projects a strength he doesn’t have anymore, a mask that reminds him just a little bit too much of his father. he’s what his people need, for once.

henri didn’t know, but who would believe him? he’s the one who left under the cover of the night while his own brother’s soldiers marched into the place he was running from. if he acts a little bit out of line when discussing it, it can be dismissed as being upset he’s been left out of the loop. if he hides away in his rooms for a few days, no one seems to read into it.

when luca follows wilhelmina into the protection program, he only does so after figuring out that henri isn’t there. he’s not interested in seeing him ever again, to be honest. it’s easier that way, when he doesn’t have to worry about running into him randomly. he can prepare himself.

the first event they both attend, luca manages to not look towards henri the entire night. it’s a win, a victory that he cannot believe he managed. he radiates calm only after hours of convincing himself everything will be alright, and only stays as long as he has to, trying to charm people who can help them out of their situation.

henri can’t believe he misses catching luca’s gaze across a ballroom, but that little ache in his chest is something he refuses to feel again. he lets it go, tries his hardest to push everything out of his mind. it’s easier that way, he reminds himself. he couldn’t get attached, and even though he’s a little sad that the fun is over, it’s not the end of the world.

both of them are liars, but they’ve managed to believe it.

when henri arrives in phuket, it’s to no fanfare. when a shouting match that he doesn’t want ensues, they both feel like they’re playing the part: henri as the villain and luca as the jilted lover. but yet again, the magnetism that pulls them together continues on. there’s no way they can avoid this.

neither of them is going to make this easy.

“cause if i had loved you the way you loved me before, or if you hadn't left me with this doubt creeping up my spine, maybe we could help this ” - track 011. getting on in spite of you by remember sports.

#this is long as hell i am so sorry but i have a lot of thoughts n feelings.#hshqtask023 #long post #ok lmao yeah i wrote 2800 words and i cried a total of six times but this is also HALF ELIZA'S FAULT #i just had to get the whole thing out there so it wasn't in my brain anymore #hshqgraphix

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clumsyclifford · 5 years ago

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“i just lost the Celebrity X Lookalike Contest (I AM Celebrity X) and threw a tantrum about it, you’re the security guard who escorted me out and doesn’t believe me” au

thank u anon for this gift it’s precisely what i needed. literally just whacked this out instead of doign my lab final please forgive me if it sucks at least i finished something for once lmaoo (also me?? being brief?? nah)

Calum’s done security for plenty of these events, but he’s never seen a blowup quite like this one.

“Sir,” the host (Jeff) says, “please step off the stage.”

“This is bullshit,” the Michael Clifford lookalike says. He’s wearing a five around his neck and he looks positively enraged about it. “You’re telling me I lost a lookalike contest for my own face? Do you even know who this contest is for? I’m Michael Clifford! I can’t lose a lookalike contest against myself!”

Calum squints. He supposes Michael #5 looks roughly like the real Michael Clifford — not that Calum, like, knows what he looks like, not that he follows him on Instagram or likes all of his Tweets or anything like that, because Calum is a normal 24-year-old man — but some of the other Michaels onstage have him beat. And anyway, Calum’s pretty sure Michael isn’t even in Sydney today. His show isn’t until tomorrow. (Not that Calum would know. He’s not going.)

(Not on his measly security guard paycheck, anyway.)

“Sir, we appreciate your participation in the contest, but if you don’t calm down we’ll be forced to remove you from the premises,” Jeff says, belatedly realizing he’s speaking into the microphone. Michael #5 laughs wildly.

“This is insane! I literally have my driver’s license right here, I can prove it. I’m actual Michael Clifford and you’re going to let this —” he grabs the number plate of the winning Michael (Michael #12) — “this guy win “Best Michael Clifford lookalike”? This contest is not, by the way, Michael Clifford-approved!”

“Security,” Jeff calls, and that’s Calum’s cue. He heads for the stage as Michael #5 looks around and seems to realize he’s not going to win this battle. Calum watches that thought pass over him and sees him decide not to care.

“Brilliant,” Michael #5 says, “call security on me, the real Michael Clifford. Look, it’s not a fame thing, honestly, it’s just a pride thing. You can’t say you know what I look like and then let me lose in a lookalike contest for myself.”

This guy’s really lost it, Calum thinks. He really, properly thinks he’s Michael Clifford. But the brown in his roots has grown too long. It can’t be him.

“Sir,” Calum says, hoping he won’t have to use force. Michael #5 may not be the real Michael Clifford, but he’s just as pretty, and it would be a shame to hurt him. Calum’s not above it, but he’s largely opposed. “Please step off the stage and come with me. I won’t ask again.”

Michael #5 groans. He sounds frustrated. Calum thinks he’s a little bit crazy. “This is insane,” he says again, but at least he gets off the stage. “Congratulations, Michael #12. Are you Michael Clifford?” Michael #12 shakes his head. “Thought not,” Michael #5 mutters as Calum puts a hand on his shoulder and guides him to the exit. He’s almost embarrassed for Michael #5. Calum’s more of a fade-into-the-background kind of guy. He’d never have a meltdown like that, and certainly never over such a delusion.

Michael #5 turns to Calum as they leave the building. “You don’t have to hold on to me, I’m not going to make a break for it,” he says bluntly. Calum lets go. “I am Michael Clifford, you know. Those guys don’t believe me, for some fucking reason, but why would I lie?”

“If you were Michael Clifford,” Calum says, disbelieving, “why would you enter a Michael Clifford lookalike contest?”

Michael #5 throws his hands up and laughs incredulously. “For fun! To see what would happen! Look, some of those people really did look like me. But I swear up and down, I am Michael Clifford.”

Calum shakes his head. The inside silence had felt like everyone was holding their breath (which they all had been), but the quiet outside is peaceful, and the cool air of the night feels like a refreshing reboot on Calum’s brain. He’s been sitting in there, watching contest after contest, for what feels like forever. He needs water. Or a smoke.

“To be fair, you do look like him,” he says kindly. This seems to further upset Michael #5. “If I were in charge, you’d have won.” Michael groans and rubs his face, aggrieved. “Look, mate, I’m really not trying to step on your parade or — I mean rain on your parade, or whatever. If it’s, if it makes you feel better to, like, embody Michael Clifford, I’m not going to be the one to stop you.”

Michael #5 looks like he’s at war with himself, stuck somewhere between entertained and dismayed. “Jesus Christ, I’m losing it. What’s your name?”

“Calum,” Calum says, because whatever. Calum’s a common enough name that if Michael #5 turns out to be a maniac, he should still be safe. And he feels a little badly for this guy, to be honest.

“Calum,” Michael #5 says, “I swear on my life that I am really Michael Clifford. I can call Ashton — my manager, Ashton Irwin — right now and have him confirm it. I can literally call James Corden and have him tell you, if that’ll make you believe me.” He sounds desperate. A very, very small part of Calum thinks, what if it is him?

It’s not, the majority of Calum’s brain insists. It can’t be.

Yeah, but you’ll be really humiliated if it turns out to be him.

“Michael Clifford’s not due in Sydney until tomorrow,” Calum says, ignoring the voices. He’s almost embarrassed to know that, but it’s not like Michael #5 doesn’t know that. Anyone who’s willing to go to such lengths to pretend to be rockstar Michael Clifford is clearly acquainted with his schedule.

Michael smirks. “Oh, so you know my schedule to the minute, then? Coming to the show?”

If this were the real Michael Clifford, Calum wouldn’t engage. But it’s just some random person who’s had a bit too much to drink, maybe, or a few too many fantasies, so whatever. It’s better than sitting in there watching the next lookalike competition (Selena Gomez), even if that is technically his job.

“No, I wish,” he says. “Like I can afford concert tickets on my salary. Are you going?”

Michael #5 sighs heavily. “I’m performing, mate. It’s my show.”

“You’re awfully committed to the role,” Calum remarks. “I have to say, I admire your persistence. What’s your name?”

“My name is Michael Gordon Clifford, and I’m embarrassed for you,” Michael #5 tells him, which is funny, because Calum had been thinking the same thing about him. “God, this is literally the strangest day of my life. I thought it would just be a laugh, enter, see what happens. What can I do to prove it to you that I’m the real Michael? Can I show you my license? Will that do it?”

Calum thinks. He’s seen his fair share of fake IDs, but some people are willing to go to great lengths to pretend to be someone they’re not. And Michael #5 had been willing to use it as evidence against the host, so it’s probably a prop.

Michael #5 has already taken out his license, though, and is holding it in Calum’s face. “Please, please believe me,” he begs. “I’m starting to lose my sense of self, honestly.”

“What does it matter if I believe you?” Calum asks, looking bemusedly at the driver’s license in Michael #5’s hands. “I’m just security.”

“Well, for one, you’ve been nicer to me than anyone else here,” Michael #5 says. “And for another, I’ve never been flat-out told that I’m not the person I am. So that’s weird. Admittedly, I’m not used to anonymity on this level, and it probably won’t last very long. But moreover, I was going to invite you to my show. You know. The actual show that I actually have tomorrow, at Sydney Opera House, where I’ll be performing my own music.”

Calum takes the license and looks closely at it. He’s a very good security guard, he likes to believe. And he can tell when an ID is fake. He can.

This one is absolutely real. Michael Gordon Clifford, it says, and then a picture of this guy — of Michael —

Oh, holy shit.

Calum looks up, and Michael #5 — no, this is Michael, real Michael Clifford — is looking expectantly at him.

Somehow, all he can think to say is, “You were right. I’m extremely embarrassed.”

Rock star Michael fucking Clifford laughs at him, amiably. “Oh, that’s alright,” he says. “You seem like you’ve had a long day.”

“The longest,” Calum agrees, somewhat dazed. “You think that was boring? Imagine sitting through seven hours of that.”

“You should try my job,” Michael says.

“Oh, I did,” Calum says. “Didn’t really take off for me. Way to complain about fame and fortune, though. I really pity you.”

“Hey, you didn’t even think I was really me,” Michael shoots back. Which. Fair enough. “Wow, I must have sounded like an asshole, huh? That’s not me, I swear. I’m usually super chill. It’s just…imagine entering a contest for Calum lookalikes and losing. Wouldn’t that just throw you?”

“You weren’t so bad,” Calum says, and then amends, “Okay, you were a little bad, but only because nobody believed you. In retrospect, your anger is justifiable.”

Michael looks gratefully at Calum. “Thanks.”

Okay, Calum’s cool. Calum’s totally relaxed. He’s just having a chat with his favorite musician of all time. This is fine. Calum’s a security guard, for fuck’s sake. He’s practically known for being stoic. That’s his whole gig.

He tries a smile. Okay, he’s not cool at all. Michael is gorgeous and Calum is weak and he doesn’t even know how to talk. He can’t remember any words. Relevant topics. Calum sifts desperately through his brain. “Uh, you’re in Sydney early?”

Michael laughs again. It’s a wonderful sound that Calum’s heard many times in radio interviews and the like, but never in person. He wants to hear it again and again forever. “Yeah, well. It’s home, you know? And I didn’t have anything else going on. Plus, I heard about this,” he gestures vaguely behind them to the building which is housing the lookalike contests, “and thought it’d be a good time. You know. Funny prank, or something.”

“That went well,” Calum says, joking.

Michael shrugs. “Could’ve gone worse. Met you, didn’t I?”

Well, if Michael’s trying to stop his heart, he’s succeeded. “I’m not,” Calum says. His tongue fails him. He tries again, smiling feebly. “I’m not, uh, usually the one people are excited to meet, out of the two of us.”

“Well, I’ve already met me,” Michael says. “And honestly, I could take me or leave me. You’re nice, though. And very handsome, which helps.”

Calum hums. “I thought Michael #12 was a bit better-looking than you.” Oh, don’t mind me, just FLIRTING WITH MICHAEL CLIFFORD OVER HERE.

Michael fakes looking hurt, impressively well. “Unbelievably rude of you. Here I am, being charming and delightful, and you say that shit?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” Calum says. Michael eyes him suspiciously, but Calum can’t resist: “Michael #8 actually did it for me.”

“That’s it,” Michael says. “I take back the invite. You can sit at home and eat chips and feel sorry for yourself tomorrow night.”

“What invite?”

Michael raises his eyebrows. “The…the show, Calum. I was serious. Unless — if you were joking about wanting to come…” This time he really does look hurt, and does a bad job trying to hide it.

“No,” Calum says hastily. “No, no, I meant it, I just — I thought you were joking. Of course I’ll come, that’s — that would be amazing.”

Michael bites his lip. “If I asked you to get dinner tonight, is that too forward?”

“Too forward?” Calum echoes, because that’s the only part of that sentence he’s able to process without his brain melting.

Michael nods. “Yeah, like. We just met, and you’re a fan, which is cool, but you just, honestly, seem like a really good guy. And you’re cute. I’m not trying to leverage power or anything because you like my music. You can totally say no, I won’t, like, have another meltdown. Just, I don’t know. I guess I could stand a few more good guys in my corner.” He looks down at his shoes, scuffing the ground.

It makes Calum (the part of Calum that’s still chugging along and not frozen solid at being asked on a date by Michael Clifford) wonder if Michael is lonely, or something. He’s clearly nervous. He’s nervous. He’s Michael Clifford, and he’s played to sold-out stadiums hundreds of thousands of times, and he’s standing here, nervously asking Calum on a date.

“I’d love to,” Calum says sincerely. Michael’s face lights up. “But, uh, I work until midnight. So unless you want, like, midnight pizza…”

“Midnight pizza is exactly what I want,” Michael declares. He glances back at the building. “You should probably go back in, right? Without me, since you were supposed to escort me out and, like, discipline me.”

“Discipline you? What do you think my job is?”

Michael waves him off. “It’s fine. Here, let me give you my number. You can just call me when you’re done here.”

Calum tries to blink the stars out of his eyes as he unlocks his phone and hands it to Michael. Michael puts his number in and says, “How’s that?”

“Perfect,” Calum says. “I’m starving. Midnight pizza sounds fantastic.”

“If one of the other Michael lookalikes showed up in my place, you reckon you’d notice?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Calum says. “None of them are as pretty as you.”

Michael blushes, lips wide in a smile, and Calum had been kidding, but now he really means it; there’s no mistaking the sheer beauty of Michael Clifford. There never will be again.

(When he goes back in, the other security guard, Emily, gives him a sympathetic smile, and Calum almost breaks down laughing.

“Sorry you got stuck with the crazy one,” she says, grimacing.

“Oh, that’s alright, he turned out to be more misunderstood than anything,” Calum says cryptically. “But we worked it out.” Emily looks confused, and Calum grins. “You can take the next one.”)

#fic #malum #ur a goddamn hero for sending me a prompt #i needed to break out of my writing slump or whatever was going on with me #did i need to do it TONIGHT?? instead of MY LAB FINAL???#no #yall are gonna hear a lot about this lab final tonight and then never again #bc i believe it's due tomorrow #so if it's not done tomorrow....hmmmm #anyway #i love u for sending thissss #my fic #Anonymous #ask #answered #5sos

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hellyeahheroes · 5 years ago

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Sunday Spotlight: Andi Benton

Andrea “Andi” Benton was a student and neighbour of Flash Thompson during his time as Venom. She was featured in issues #31-42 of Venom’s 2011 series, culminating in a story where to save her life after supervillain killed her dad and wounded her, Flash gives her a part of his symbiote. Aaaand here is where I will quickly try to explain two things about Venom’s history. One: Back in early 00′s there was a series about a woman named Patricia Robertson, bonded with a clone of Venom symbiote, which ended with that symbiote absorbed by the original. Two: Prior to saving Andi Flash at one point made deal with Mephisto to defeat his son Blackheart, in exchange being branded with Hellmark, which both means that Satan may one day call in for a favor....and makes the wearer legible for the throne of Hell. Yeah, Andi got both of those and actually used Hellmark to learn dark magic.

Taking codename Mania she would become Flash’ sidekick...until he got kidnapped to space and she was left alone and her life kinda went downhill. She made a return in the final arc of Venom: Spaceknight, first making cameos in issues #9-10 and then confronting Flash for abandoning her in issues #12-13. Flash promises to never leave her...and then promptly gets hospitalized and has a symbiote stolen by an asshole named Lee Price, who has it for five minutes before it finds its way back to Eddie Brock. And Lee gets pissed and assaults Andi with sonic guns to steal her symbiote and take over the New York crime scene as Maniac (I’m not linking that story because it sucks). He gets beaten but Mania symbiote is destroyed, not so long after that Flash is killed by Red Goblin (Norman Osborn with Carnage symbiote).

So after all of THAT, you cannot blame Andi for deciding she is sick of symbiotes and come to live a normal life with her aunt, right? AND THAT’S WHEN FUCKING CARNAGE FINDS HER! Cletus (or his corpse piloted by an ancient symbiote, it’s unclear, that mess of a storyline was confusing) was hunting down everyone who ever had a symbiote to rip off their spines to summon some evil symbiote god. In Web of Venom: Funeral Pyre, Carnage kills Andi’s aunt and forces her to flee to New York to warn its heroes what he is plotting. She is too late and Carnage unleashes a massive assault on the city. In miniseries Absolute Carnage: Scream, Andi runs into Patricia Robertson, the original host of Mania symbiote, now bond with yellow symbiote named Scream and the two join forces to survive. in the end, Cletus kills Patricia and Andi survives by bonding with Scream. She has since then received her own series, Scream: Curse of Carnage.

Andi is a cool character whose underuse directly played into being screwed by writers and editors and especially messy big events done to make Venom a big deal again. Which is a shame, considering she has a pretty enthusiastic fanbase and could go far if given a chance.

- Admin

#Mania #Scream #Andrea Benton

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your-worst-knightmare · 5 years ago

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Red: Pt. 11

Masterlist here

Huge shoutout to @purefandomsalt for the amazing help with the article in this part.

When Jason awoke on the cold tile of the bathroom floor, he noticed two things. One: he was, for some reason, dressed in a ridiculously oversized dark green suit. It had to be bigger than Bruce’s even, Jason couldn’t deny it. And two, more alarmingly– he couldn’t remember the events of the entire night. Or the past week, for that matter. The noise from outside suggested that Bruce was hosting some sort of event though. Maybe Jason had snuck one too many drinks. Alfred would kill him if he found out about Jason’s underage drinking. No time to think about that now– bile was rising in Jason’s throat and he scarcely made it to the toilet before emptying his stomach.

As he cleaned himself up afterwards at the sink, he stopped to stare at himself in the mirror. He was aware of the massive suit (the sleeves which he had rolled up) on his lanky frame. But it was his hair that made him pause. Yes, it was gelled back– if not a bit messily for this early into the night, but there was white. More specifically, a white streak in his hair that seemed so… stark. Was this someone’s idea of a prank? Because he was sure he didn’t remember dying it.

Okay, just move on, Jason thought as he washed his face. It’s just hair anyway. It doesn’t look too bad. He just needed to sneak upstairs and wait this whole party out. He wasn’t feeling so great anyway. He stole one last look in the mirror, hiking up the sleeves of his jacket again when his eyes flashed green. Jason scrambled backwards. What the hell? They looked almost metahuman-ish and he was fairly sure he was not one.

With the green flash came an itchiness in his brain. It wanted something– havoc, carnage. Jason didn’t want any part of it. He steadied himself on the sink. Breathe. That’s what Bruce always said.

The prickling eventually subsided, along with the green in his eyes. Jason breathed a sigh of relief. What on Earth was that? He opened the bathroom door cautiously and checked the hall for any nosy socialites. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he dashed upstairs to his room. He noted the new “injuries” the walls seemed to have sustained as he walked. Scratches and dents, ones that seemed too random to be from a single fight. What happened?

His room had changed too. The walls– which were previously a dark blue were now a muted grey. Most of his stuff– useless stuff that he had collected–were gone. Framed posters hung around the room and Jason was baffled that he didn’t recognize most of the names on them. Had his double life as both Robin and Jason Todd really affected his knowledge of pop culture that much?

He opened his closet to find another surprise. All the clothes were at least four sizes too big for him. Whoever set up this prank must have put in a damn lot of time. After rummaging around to at least find some of his own stuff, he stopped. Hidden in a drawer was a small handgun. He picked it up gingerly. It was loaded. His eyes widened when he inspected the barrel of the gun. J.T. His initials.

What would Bruce say? Where had this even come from? Jason placed the gun back into its hiding place, closing the drawer. He would focus on the problem at hand. Clothes. He needed clothes that actually would fit him.

Jason stepped out into the hallway to look for wherever his real stuff was. The prankster had probably put them in the spare room next to Jason’s– it would require the least amount of effort. Nobody really went into it anyway. He was just about to push open the door when he heard someone inside. “Hello?” Jason asked, knocking lightly on the door. Upon hearing no response, he opened it.

No sooner had he cracked the door open when he was slammed against the wall. A girl, about his age, held a blade to his throat. She looked like she had ditched the party downstairs as well, apparently having traded in the dark green dress currently lying on the bed for a pair of sweats. Her red hair had been meticulously styled at some point, but had since been pushed back and out of her face.

“Where am I?”she asked.

“Wayne Manor, you probably came here for the party,” Jason replied, if not as smoothly as he would have liked.

“Wayne Manor…” she muttered, thinking. “Who are you?”

“Jason. Uh, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne’s ward…”

She thought for a moment before letting him go. Jason inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. “Why are you wearing an ill-fitting suit, Jason?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said, rubbing his neck. ”I woke up about half an hour ago in this thing.”

Her eyes widened. “Do you remember any recent events, of how you got to this party?”

“No… wait, you don’t either?”

She shook her head. “Last I remember, I was on the other side of the Atlantic. I certainly don’t remember coming to this party to have a matching outfit with you.”

Jason eyed the dress on the bed. There was no doubt that both his suit and the dress were intended to be a pair. How he’d managed to get this girl to coordinate with him, he had no idea. He didn’t even know her name. “What’s your name?”

“You may call me Artemis. But that is unimportant. We need to figure out what is going on here,” she said, marching into the hallway.

“Wait wait wait,” Jason hissed, grabbing her shoulder.

“Touch me again, Little one, and you will cease to have arms.”

He threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. Just– We can’t go downstairs. The press will have a field day if they find out anything is going on at Wayne Manor.”

Artemis stopped. “Fine. What do you propose we do?”

“First, let me find some clothes that actually fit me, and then we call Alfred. He’ll know what to do.”

The pair wandered through the rooms, most of which Jason didn’t even know were being lived in. Some of them had pictures of people who either seemed to age five years on camera or people he didn’t even recognize. Hell, he found some of someone who looked suspiciously like an older version of him, except way taller and more built. Something was definitely up.

Jason finally found a t-shirt and sweatpants his size in a room that was probably meant for a vampire. All precautions had been taken to block out the windows. And it seemed like a very paranoid vampire, at that. The amount of red string in the room was appalling. “This is an odd bedroom,” Artemis remarked.

“Yeah, don’t remember it. Like at all.”

They went back to Jason’s room to try and think through the situation. About five minutes into comparing notes, Jason’s phone buzzed. Funny, he didn’t recognize this model. There was a text from Dick.

‘Hey, u ok?’

‘The food wasn’t that bad, was it?’

‘Dude, where r u?’

‘It’s been an hour’

‘D U D E’

Jason quickly replied.

‘Come upstairs’

‘My room’

‘We have a situation’

No sooner than two minutes had passed when Dick arrived. “Hey, Jason what’s–” Dick stopped at the doorway dead in his tracks.

“What?”

“Jason?” he asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes, that’s my name Dick. Stop messing around and help us.”

“You’re a kid…”

“Your brother is quite slow,” Artemis remarked, twirling the knife in her hands.

“I’m almost sixteen, dammit. Snap out of it and help, will you?”

“Jason… you’re supposed to be twenty.” He ran his hands through his hair, still not fully understanding the scene.

“Then why don’t we remember anything of the past five years?” Jason asked, voice rising with every word.

“A spell, perhaps. One that sent us back to our adolescent selves,” mused Artemis.

“Who would do that?”

Dick thought for a minute. “Jason, did you get into trouble with anyone? Did you have any information that they don’t want you to know?”

“Well how am I supposed to know, Dick?” Jason burst out, throwing his hands into his lap. “Why don’t you ask my older self? I’m sure he has loads to tell you.”

“Okay, okay, calm down. We’ll figure this out, Jay. Just– agh,” Dick grunted, pacing the room like a madman. “Just stay here for now. We need to figure out how this happened.”

“Whoever did this is probably long gone. Unless Jason and I possessed something of importance, I can see no reason for anyone to do this other than amusement.” Artemis narrowed her eyes. “ And if it was for mere mockery, I will–”

Dick laughed nervously. “Yeah, we get it Artemis. You’re mad. We’ll figure this out guys.”

“Yeah? Then at least explain this.” He pointed to the white streak in his hair. “Or would you rather explain these,” Jason glowered, allowing the flood of green carnage to fill his eyes. “Or how about the damn gun in the closet, Golden Boy?”

“Look, Jason, when you got older, your… relationship with us wasn’t… the best. We barely saw you… and I can’t tell you what happened because of that.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Just stay here for now. I’ll get some help,” Dick ordered before stepping back out into the hallway.

“He’s lying to you,” Artemis said plainly.

“I know.” Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to reign the green back under control. “He’s bad at it. I just wanna know who I became, you know?”

“Likewise. I will be in my room. Knock if you need me.”

With Artemis leaving him alone, Jason slumped onto the bed. His bed. The room didn’t feel like his anymore. Then again, he wasn’t even sure who he was. Maybe he just needed to deal with all of this in the morning. Maybe he would be able to remember things better when his brain wasn’t as fried as it was right now. Maybe if he just closed his eyes...

He was met with laughter. He recognized it, but this time it only seemed more maniacal. The Clown Prince of Crime couldn’t let him be even in his resting moments. All he could see was red. Blood pooling on the floor around him, the red numbers of a clock counting down, the tatters of his uniform giving way to mutilated flesh. He gasped, for air, for life, both of which he felt was being forced out of him. And then it was forced back in. He didn’t want it. The acrid, stinging, burning life. He felt alive, and it hurt. He was drowning in it, sinking, sinking, sinking uselessly clawing upward at a heaven that rejected him. The crazed laugh mocked his misery, simply cackling until Jason could take it no more.

Jason awoke with a start. He was drenched in sweat and his hands shook so badly that he had to steady them on the blanket. The damn knock on his door didn’t help matters. “Give me a sec!” he called, in as steady of a voice as he could. The clock read early into the next morning. So he’d slept through the end of the gala then. That was a relief. He dried his face and composed himself before finally letting the guest in.

Artemis stood at the door with a laptop in hand. “I have found some information you may want to read,” she said, walking towards his desk.

He managed a dry laugh. “I thought you hated me. Why’d you come find me?”

“I thought through some things, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t have trusted you without reason. Now stop whining and come here.” The Amazon slid the computer onto the table and motioned for Jason to sit down. “This is from last night. It’s from the Gotham Enquirer.”

His curiosity got the better of him and Jason did as he was told. Under the title was a picture of his older self, a face he recognized only from pictures around the manor. He was standing with Artemis with an arm slung around her shoulder. He took a breath and started to skim through the article.

One Less Wayne Bachelor?

By Maylen. K. Bird

Gotham’s most awaited party has finally arrived, and it’s creating a buzz on the internet. With it’s large palace-like venue along with its impressive guests, (A-listers celebrities and high class rich folk– the entirety of the Wayne family included) it’s easy to see why. The Wayne charity gala was a stunning success for all parties involved- raising well over their aim for the night, donations exceeding half a trillion. The funds will be directed around the city to support soup kitchens, shelters and orphanages.

However, what has the public scrambling is the unknown face brought to the gala by the elder Wayne boy. Jason Wayne, not usually known for even attending public events, brought a mystery woman to the party last night, one confirmed to be an Amazon. Quite the partner to say the least.

Dubbed as the “lovable murderous recluse” by the youngest Wayne , it was quite a shock to both guests and reporters alike. If the piece of eye candy wasn’t enough, his plus one has us all drooling. Gothamites longing for his attention are certainly crestfallen, as finding an equal to his partner is no easy feat. The fiery-haired beauty wore a stunning outfit: A viridian halter-dress (which was worn too elegantly to be natural) matching Jason Wayne, which in itself was evidence enough of their closeness.

The two spent the entire night together, virtually ignoring the rest of the guests. Like a true gentleman, he invited his date to dance with a romantic flair. We didn’t expect anything less from a Wayne. Upon being asked about his relationship with the Amazon, the Wayne gave us this polished statement: “She prefers a more private life if you please. If you must have something, however, we met through work.”

It is already well-known that Jason Wayne has invested much time and resources into countless charity projects. On working with Wayne, the Amazon gave us this gem: “Jason truly wishes to help people at his core, and I only hope I am able to aid him in that. Through our work we have become very close, and I trust him with my life.”

Albeit both very scripted responses, we managed to gather a more candid testimony from Jason’s brother. Dick Grayson told us that the couple’s relationship has been recent news. “Jason’s never said anything about this before. He tends to be a private person, so consider yourselves lucky to even witness this. I’ve honestly never seen my little brother so happy.” Grayson goes on further, sharing a juicy timbit of information saying; “ They actually told us they were attending the gala a few days ago, we had no idea they were a thing, but Jason actually coming all dressed up for an event like this was shocking enough to stop me from connecting the dots. I’ll say it right here– I’m just waiting for the wedding ring.”

So could this be it? The Waynes' may be receiving a new family member, and to our surprise it's the wedding that nobody expected.

Stay tuned as we try to get details on the potential wedding and this budding romance.

Jason whistled through his teeth, his eyes widening in surprise.. “What the hell did I just read?”

“I cannot be sure how much of this article is true or how reliable our own words are.” Artemis leaned onto the back of Jason’s chair. “But what I can take from this is that we were certainly close. In what sense, we must find out.”

Jason nodded exhaling. “Do you have any more information about me?”

Artemis brought up a new file, something obviously stolen from Bruce’s records. “I assume we really worked together through this. The Outlaws, as we are known.”

He huffed. What mess was he throwing himself into now? Nevertheless, he dove into the file.

He had been one of the founding members of a team called the Outlaws. He was no longer Robin. The record didn’t say how or why he’d shed the mantle, but it said who he’d become. The Red Hood. Former Robin. Former crime boss. Current vigilante. One willing to cross lines.

His team– the Outlaws– were all willing to cross lines. To spite their mentors, maybe. The lineup consisted of dishonoured proteges: A disgraced Arrow. A fallen princess. A failed Superman. A would-be-Wonder Woman. And him. A former Robin turned monster. What had he become?

Jason rubbed his face. He was honestly scared to keep reading, on account of what he might find. He wasn’t let down. The kill count made his breath hitch. He had a kill count. The Red Hood was confirmed to have taken close to one hundred lives. One hundred. He had taken one hundred lives. Maybe more.

Part of him wanted for someone- anyone to tell him that it wasn’t true. That it was all a very elaborate joke. The other part of him knew it wasn’t going to happen. Just like how he knew deep down that his mom was really gone. And how he knew that she wasn't coming back no matter how much he begged her to.

Artemis sat on his bed, tight-lipped and serious. Jason was sure, at least from her files, that she had only redeemed herself from the self that she remembered now. The opposite was true for him. “Are you alright, Jason?”

He wiped his eyes as discreetly as he could. “I don’t know. I don’t want to– just… I don’t even know what to make of this.”

“Sometimes death is necessary, you know.”

“Yeah, coming from a mercenary turned vigilante. Or however the hell you see it.” His words dripped with venom and green began to edge his vision. Jason sighed, regretting his words. Artemis was going through the same thing as he was. He left the laptop on the desk and joined Artemis on the bed.

“Sorry, just so much going on.”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “We go through this together, okay?”

He gave her a small smile. “Yeah. Okay.”

#rhato 2016 #red hood #red hood and the outlaws #jason todd #artemis grace #artemis of bana mighdall #de-aging #dc #red: pt 11 #jaytemis

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soranihimawari · 4 years ago

Text

Hold me close:

Part 2 of the Kuroo x 1st person reader (1st/fem! point of view. Named her Nekomata, Kat or Shamu for calico cats)

Tag list: @vbcshenaningansnwritings & @kaidasen

Begin here :

My alarm on my phone began to chime at 5a.m. I stifled a yawn as I silenced it. I woke up to two texts on my screen both from Kuroo telling me to sleep well and another for the morning. To say I was amused was not the least bit a lie. I chuckled softly when I pulled my hoodie over my tank top. I remained in my workout leggings from the night before, however I opted to keep my hair down instead of tying it back in a top knot bun. Today was a different day, so perhaps after I sneak back in, Lev would be awake. After the events of yesterday, I think he’d appreciate the gesture of me trying to help him control his aim. I slipped on my sneakers close to the classroom door, careful to not disturb any of my sleeping neighbors.

I was greeted by the Nekoma captain leaning against the opposite side of the wall dressed as casually as I was. He was quick to take hold of my hand and lead me down the hallway of our campus. In a matter of minutes, we snuck past all of the rooms hosting the different teams during the training camp. We did not speak a word to each other until we were outside the campus gates. Kuroo let go of my hand asking me where we were headed.

“I just wanted to get some peanut m&ms and coffee,” my groggy voice seemed to have been filtered with gravel this morning. “I didn’t want to walk these streets alone.” Kuroo nodded, agreeing with me that these streets were safely lit, but I shouldn’t be walking in the dawn alone. We reached the local 7/11 by our campus where we went aisle by aisle browsing through different products.

I stopped in front of the coffee machines and hid my tired expression by rubbing the side of my eye.

“Here, lemme pour that. You seemed tired enough as it is,” Kuroo offered.

“O-okay. You know, I could do it myself,” I teased. However, he wasn’t having it, to which I laughed off later. He poured one for himself as well. Soon, we exited the store, splitting the bag of candy between us. He noticed I was only eating the the primary color ones first before moving on to the oranges and greens, finishing the bag with the browns.

“Why do you do that?” he asked. I suppose he was entertained by my color-coded pickiness.

“All m&ms are the same milk chocolate. Is there anything wrong with color coding my candy?” I inquired. I began to sip the remainder of my coffee little by little as Kuroo continued walking at my side. The streaks of the morning sun began to filter through the light gray clouds overhead.

“No. It’s just funny is all.”

“Of course it is. How’s the coffee?”

“It’s fine, Kat. Just like you.”

“Are you attempting to flirt with me right at the sunrise?”

“Maybe. Is that bad?”

I took another swig of my coffee. My cheeks were a bit flushed with color from the hot beverage, but there was an underlying redness to them and I knew it was from his compliment.

“No. Actually, coming from you, I think that was rather sweet.” My lips curled into a childlike smile. He arched his eyebrow at me before choking on his next sip of his coffee. This caused me to burst into maniacal fit of giggles.

“One compliment in for the day and I have already broken her.” Kuroo muttered when he was able to calm down. By 5:25, we were already back on campus grounds, awaiting the rest of the members of the teams to wake up. Morning practices typically included a jog, so everyone except for the secondary managers and myself stayed behind to begin preparing breakfast for the players.

In the kitchen, I heard the mixer for the scrambled eggs go off as well as the toaster ding every couple of seconds or so. Hitoka was in charge of the eggs while Yukie, the manager from Fukurodani, was in charge of the toast. I, on the other hand, was manning the gas lit stove. I rolled up my sleeves and put on my earbuds. I played jazz selections from the early 40s-late70s while making the rolled egg omelets. We did this for roughly an hour and a half, until the teachers and coaches walked in to see how efficient we were at making breakfast.

“Yukie, Hitoka, help me out by beginning to fry some of the bacon please on that stove over there,” I instructed, tossing my head back over my shoulder to point to the stove.

“Yes ma’am!” they said in unison.

“That granddaughter of yours is something else,” we heard Takeda-sensei compliment me. Nekomata clasped the young educator by his shoulder.

“Of course she is. Kat leads by example. After all, this isn’t her first training camp with me,” my grandfather stated.

Around 7:30 all teams had returned from their morning run and began to walk through the kitchen. I made sure Yukie and Hitoka ate before the boys came and wrecked havoc on the simple spread of breakfast items we had laid out for them. I paused my music for a moment before I disappeared back into the kitchen to make myself a plate of over easy eggs and buttered toast. I took my plate and wandered off to the back of the kitchen to sit on one of the steps. I placed my earphones back in once the volume of the chatter were echoing, just this once, I would like my peace to eat alone. A morning spent with John Coltrane’s Giant Steps was a morning well spent, in my opinion. I stifled another yawn as I raised my arms above my head in an attempt to stretch. I overheard the coaches instructing their players which drills they were going to be practicing with through the lowered volume of my headphones.

“Just enough time in between drills to start on lunch,” I said softly to myself. I checked the time of my phone and noticed I had about another thirty minutes or so before I had my one on one lessons with Lev. I pulled myself up off my make shift dining area and went back into the kitchen. I paused my music and disconnected my headphones in order to place them back in my shared room with the other managers. Those who went on the morning runs with their teams volunteered to do the dishes this time since the work was needed to be evenly balanced. I thanked the girls for their help while I walked back to our room to freshen up a bit more (i could tell I smelled like the meal I cooked for the boys, so a quick rinse was in order for me before I went to gym 3 sporting just my gray sports bra and magenta dry fit capris [with my sneakers on again]).

I had arrived at gym 3 a couple of minutes late to see Lev, Yaku, Bokuto, and Kuroo taking turns practicing spikes. Bokuto spotted me out of the corner of his eye and he nudged Kuroo with his elbow.

“What the hell Bo, that hu--Oh,” Kuroo said when he saw me standing there half clad ready to get work done. His blush was not very concealed when Lev and Yaku looked at their captain with knowing grins.

“Neko-senpai looks amazing,” Lev whispered into Kuroo’s ear. Yaku almost roundhouse kicked him, but he didn’t when Kuroo collected his thoughts into a solemn, “Yeah,” which Bokuto heard.

Bokuto wasn’t as dense or as thick headed as every one seemed to me

“Hey hey hey! Kat’s here!” Bokuto exclaimed jogging up to me. His gray and white hair bounced along as he ran, which caused me to chuckle. “You’re going to join us?”

“Hey yourself Bo,” I said walking in. He picked me up in a hug and twirled me around before placing me back down on the gym floor. This caused me to see Kuroo’s nostrils flare in a small fit of jealousy. Yes, I may have known Kuroo for a short period of school time, but Bokuto and I were close in elementary school before splitting up to different junior high and high schools. We remained in contact over the years especially since volleyball was the one thing that brought our friendship together (that and gramps had a close friendship with the Fukurodani coach).

“Morning guys. Bo, you had your fun, but I’m actually here for Lev,” I said bending down to pick up a few of the strewn volleyballs. I nodded toward where the tall string bean first year stood. “C’mon, let’s use the other court set up for spike practice. Have fun boys.”

Lev followed behind me with a few more volleyballs in his hands and he placed them on the floor behind one of the serving boundary lines. His other companions were starting up a receiving drill (usually comprised of one setter and spiker duo and a solo player on the othrer side, typically a libero).

“Alright Lev,” I began bouncing one of the royal blue and canary yellow spheres on the floor. “I’m going to have you stand on the opposite side of the net and I want you to watch me as I serve. I’m going to need you to try and either one, let it go out of bounds or two, receive it. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, senpai,” Lev said with a shrug. I smiled with glee. This child wouldn’t know what hit him. I thought. Maybe I should hold back? Nah, my inner voice snickered. This is for the benefit of the team if he’s going to learn today...

I gave the ball a solid bounce before I walked behind the server’s line and tossed the ball high in the air. The split second the ball reached the appropriate height for me I leaped into the air and with another loud crack sprouting from my left palm,the ball whirred past Lev’s tall stature. I landed on my feet with a proud smile when I saw where the ball landed, it was inside the lines of the court, meaning that in an official match, I had scored a service ace. Gramps always taught me to try to aim for the spot none of the other players were thinking the ball would go.

The others stopped for a moment in the middle of their own self practice long enough to witness the magic that just occurred. I guess I was able to shock them into a renowned silence. Honestly,because I had other interests than volleyball, maybe they thought I didn’t know how to play? However, there was no time to waste, so I bent down to pick up another ball to send over the net.

“Don’t tell me you three thought I couldn’t play volleyball? Me, the granddaughter of Nekoma’s formidable coach? Haha,” I teased, brushing my hair over my shoulder. Lev seemed petrified for a few seconds while his seniors shook their heads before chuckling along nervously at my strong serve. “It’s alright, I’m joking. So Lev, are you ready for another one?”

“N-no? How did you do that? I mean you almost hit me!” Lev said with an admiring sheen over his eyes.

“Practice? I mean, you could have returned it instead of letting it slip by, Lev. Clearly that was a service ace,” I replied with a shrug. “You want to serve to me this time?”

He agreed on the condition that he listened to my instruction for the next hour and a half. His serves did get better, in my honest opinion. Lev had improved his command on where the ball was heading. I was able to return a few of his serves, but I have a feeling his technique would improve over time.

“I think we ought to stop here before you over work your arm,” I mentioned, patting Lev’s shoulder when he crossed under the net. “Improvement is not going to come overnight, but your serving aim did gain some control.”

“You think so?” Lev asked me when he straightened up.

“Well, yeah. We’ve been at this for a little over an hour, but” I began. I had simply not paid attention to the time before Kiyoko and Yukie appeared to escort the boys to the main gym where their practice games were about to begin.

“You four clearly have practice matches to get to.” I walked toward the other three and ushered them out of the gym much to their protesting, but I was not budging on them missing out on team practice. Once the group had left, I began picking up the remainder of the volleyballs laying across both courts before wheeling the carts away to the side of the wall.

Kuroo came back a few minutes later before I was able to press song shuffle on my phone’s GooglePlay. I tucked my phone in my side pocket of the leggings I wore when he greeted me with a bashful look. How did this captain seem so competely competent on the court yet now look like a shy elementary school kid who saw their teacher on their midday attire?

“Oh, Kuroo? Did you forget something?” I asked, wiping the sweat drops off my forehead with the back of my hand. I approached him when I noticed he was fidgeting with his hands like he did when he had something on his mind. I glanced up at him, thinking of what I should help the girls prepare for lunch, but that was neither here nor there.

“Uh, yeah. I did,” he replied, bending down toward me. It happened so quickly; his lips brushed against mine gently. No one would have noticed unless I told them that his lips lightly pressed against my own. A kiss for luck? I though. Maybe this was not what I was expecting at all; there was this inkling of short-lived innocent wondering what his lips would feel like against mine that floated in my head. Light like cotton candy and sweet like caramel, I mused.

When he pulled away, I yearned for him to kiss me again, but I tucked thought back into my mind. Kuroo looked over my shoulder for a moment before mentioning he should head back before his team would play without him. I traced my lips with my index finger, still feeling the giddiness spread across my body like wildfire.

“Good luck in your match against Bokuto, Kuroo. Oh,” I said reaching out to stop him from leaving for a moment. “Don’t be too mad at our friend for hugging me the way he did earlier. You did look annoyed when you have jealousy written on your brow...”

***

Later on that evening, before I went to bed, I received a text from Kuroo asking me to meet him by the vending machines by his classroom turned dorm for the training camp. He claims it wasn’t his idea, but Bokuto was the one who actually sent me the message, seeing as they had a phone mix up earlier after their practice games had ceased.

“Are you trying to blame Bokuto for this meeting?” I quirked my eyebrow up at him. I leaned against the side of the vending machine with my arms lazily crossed over my old Nekoma dance team shirt; my denim pants glowed with the backlight of the soda machine. “I remembered you guys accidentally switched phones, but you sent me a message considering the time stamp, to meet you here. So, what did you want to talk abo--mmph!?”

Kuroo had this overtly confident look in his eyes before he leaned into my personal space for the second time that day, he kissed me. This time, I was a bit more prepared. Upon impact, I screwed my eyes shut. I didn’t think anyone would of came out of their rooms considering how late it was, so all I could do was wrap my arms around his broad shoulders and pull his body closer to me.

There was this feeling of being warmed up like a hot tea being served to you on a cold night when Kuroo placed a hand on my cheek; the pad of his calloused fingers traced the features of my face. This kiss had a meaning: there was a longing behind the way his lips melded onto mine. Apparently, Kuroo’s mouth seemed to be made of magnets, finding my own again like this afternoon. His kisses were curiously asking me questions like what do I see in him and why did he wait so long to kiss me like this? It was probably his dumb late realization of having a crush on me that drove him to kiss me this afternoon, the same logic behind now. I pulled away first this time, studying his facial features. His eyes slowly opened to reveal a slight dilation in his pupils. Kuroo was indeed falling for me every second we were in this position. I ran my hands through his now dampened hair, causing his once rooster like hair-do to be done again.

“Shut up and let me kiss you kitty-Kat,” Kuroo whispered to me when he rested his forehead against mine. The faint smell of bubblegum flavored toothpaste he used intoxicated my already quivering lips.

“Please.” One world was all I had to say right before a hand of mine gripped the collar of his ebony shirt downward. I had a small smile grace my lips before I let my lips smack against his first. This time it wasn’t a just a light peck; instead I mustered every ounce of what I thought was a one-sided crush emotion into every second I had with him alone against the vending machine. It seemed like whatever emotions we had toward each other was masked in our moment of a coup de tonnerre. Electricity was coursing through our veins, but we wanted to keep this intense moment going for as long as needed. I let held on to him for a few more seconds before his hand was lost in a fist full of my mane.

Then, I felt the heat of Kuroo’s hand leave my face to rest comfortably against my waist. That was until I released his shirt from my hold, only to grip his shoulders. In one efficient move, I twisted his body until his back was against the wall, pinning him there. I swallowed his laughter when I ran my tongue over his mouth begging for entry. He didn’t make me wait long because I don’t think he minded one bloody bit since he continued to keep extending this passion-fueled moment for as long as we could. We were too proud to let the other withdraw first considering whatever this was, we needed to keep being locked in a tight embrace. Funnily enough, when I felt him nip the corner of my mouth in jest, but I had to pull away from him before we got too carried away during “quiet hours.” I pressed a finger to his pursed lips before speaking in a hushed tone. Our breathing was a bit ragged, but considering the shit-eating grins on our faces strewn across our faces made the other feel a bit more confident.

“Your kisses are just as enigmatic as I thought,” I told him, resting my head against his chest. His hands remained wrapped around my waist gently. I patted his upper arms as a sign to let me go, even though I know he didn’t want to. Instead he pulled me closer.

“Yours leave me wanting more,” he whispered in my hair. He continued to press open mouth kisses against my neck, his nose brushing against the warmest part of my neck behind my ear. This sent shivers down my spine and he knew it. There was going to eventually be a lover’s bite there if I didn’t stop him by reminding him we have to wake up early again tomorrow.

“What if I don’t want you to go?” Kuroo’s voice had an inkling of a disappointed pout. I raised a hand to cup his cheek, explaining if he didn’t want me to leave his side after this training camp was over, he’d have to take me out a proper date to which he sighed before burying his head against the crook of the other side of my neck. I patted the back of his head when he asked what I was doing on a Saturday night two weeks from the end of camp.

“Apparently, I’m going on a date with you?” was my reply before I placed both of my hands on his face to make him look at me. I smiled softly when I kissed his cheek. I bid the raven haired cat captain good bye before we both began walking back to our respective dorms. When I looked over my shoulder, Kuroo bit his bottom lip at me; it was a cute emotion, but I knew he’d want more lf whatever this was going to be whether it was a relationship or a fling. The choice was up to him, and honestly, I am hoping for the first option. I’m sure his heart was telling him that too. I took my phone out once I had tucked myself cozily in my sleeping bag bed and sent a text:

(Incoming message below)

#haikyu!! fiction #kuroo x 1st person pov #kuroo & confessions

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rocksinmuffin · 5 years ago

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WILL I WON’T I MASTERLIST

Tired of having to browse through pages of posts just to figure out if I’ll write it? Me too. I just spent hours putting it all together so you don’t have to!

The list is in alphabetical order for convenience and under the read more due to length.

EDIT: 3/9/2023 I am updating the fandoms to include a hyperlink to take you directly to the fandom tag. If you see a hyperlink in the list of fandoms I don’t write for, that’s because I wrote something before I officially decided to not take requests for a fandom. If there is no hyperlink for fandoms I do write it’s because i haven’t filled a request for that fandom yet.

I Will:

Aggretsuko

Alien (movie series)

Animal Crossing (no nsfw)

Animorphs

Archer

Beastars (up to season 2 of the anime)

Bendy and the Ink Machine

Bleach

Bob’s Burgers (no nsfw)

Borderlands (1 + 2)

Castlevania (Netflix series)

Camp Camp

Codename Kids Next Door

Cuphead

Danganronpa (no nsfw)

DC Universe (Don’t know much but I have some general knowledge)

Death Note

Detroit: Become Human (But if y’all give me 50 Connor requests I will move it to the Won’t list)

Disenchantment

Disney Movies (too many to list but if I’m familiar with it I’ll do it)

Dragon Age

Dragon Ball (original, dbz, xenoverse, gt, super, fighterz)

Fable (2 + 3)

Far Cry (5 + New Dawn)

Fallout (fo3, new vegas, fo4)

Fern Gully

Five Nights at Freddy’s (no nsfw, shitposts only, though honestly at this point i probably won’t write it just because I don’t really want to give more attention to the creator in light of not so recent events)

Freakazoid

Friday the 13th

Full Metal Alchemist (2003 anime only)

Futurama

Gargoyles

Gravity Falls

Greggory Horror Show

Grim Adventures of Billy and Many

Hades (video game)

Halo (including the old original episodes of Red vs Blue)

Hatoful Boyfriend

Hellsing

Hellboy (1st 2 movies)

Homestuck (including Hiveswap + Friendsim)

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream

Inside Job

Inuyasha

Invader Zim

Jackie Chan Adventures

Johnny Bravo

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

Kill la Kill

Knives Out (both movies)

Labyrinth

Left 4 Dead

Legend of Zelda (ocarina of time, majora’s mask, breath of the wild)

Looney Tunes

Lost in Space (Netflix)

Mass Effect

Marvel (MCU universe, a little general knowledge here and there. Mostly Spider-Man and Venom)

Metroid

Mortal Kombat (only familiar with characters from Mortal Kombat 10)

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic (sfw only and probably mostly shitposts)

Mystic Messenger

Naruto

Night at the Museum

Nightmare Before Christmas

NiGHTS into Dreams

Nomad of Nowhere

Obey Me!

OFF

Okage Shadow King

OK KO

Original Scenarios (Example, reader insert x random monster/merman/orc, etc.)

Osmosis Jones

Ouran High School Host Club

Our Flag Means Death

Outlast

Overwatch

Panty and Stocking with Gaterbelt

Pirates of the Caribbean

Pokemon (games, first season of anime, pokemon mystery dungeon)

Portal

Powerpuff Girls

Predator (movie series)

Resident Evil Village (8 only. Maybe 7 if you guys don’t overload me with requests for Lucas Baker)

Rise of the Guardians

The Road to El Dorado

Saints Row (3 + 4)

Samurai Jack

Sgt. Frog

She Ra (Netflix version only)

Shovel Knight

Silent Hill (2+3)

Skyrim

Sonic the Hedgehog

Soul Eater

Spider-Man (including Venom, live action movies, into the spiderverse, cartoons/comics in general)

Stardew Valley

Star Wars

Superjail

Super Mario Series (no specific games, just in general)

Super Smash Bros

TAU

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (don’t know any particular series but in general)

Transformers (g1, beast wars, tfa, tfp, idw, bayverse movies, rid2015, rescue bots, bumblebee movie, cyberverse, earthspark)

Trollhunters

Trying Human

Twisted Wonderland (probably sfw only though will consider nsfw if you request characters who are over 18)

Undertale (Including some AUs and Deltarune)

The Venture Brothers

Villainous

Wander Over Yonder

Watchmen (movie only)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Xiaolin Showdown

Yu-Gi-Oh! (original series, no spin-offs)

Yu Yu Hauksho

I Won’t:

The Adventure Zone

The Amazing World of Gumball

American McGee’s Alice

Arcana (mobile game)

Archie Comics

Arthur and the Invisibles

Assassin’s Creed

Assassination Classroom

Attack on Titan

Avatar the Last Airbender

Axis Powers Hetalia

Battlestar Galactica

Ben 10

Berserk

Biker Mice from Mars

Bionicle

The Boys

The Boy and the Beast

Boyfriend to Death

Brave Police J-Decker

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Captain Hook (2003 live action film)

CATS (the musical)

Carmen Sandiego

Chainsaw Man

Chaotic (the show and the card game)

Cookie Run

CountryHumans

Cowboy Bebop

Craig of the Creek

Creepypasta (like, I might do Slenderman because I was very into Marble Hornets back in the day but he is the exception)

Danny Phantom

Darkest Dungeon

Darksiders

Darkwing Duck

Deadman Wonderland

Devilman Crybaby

Devil May Cry

Digimon

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K / Saiki Kusou no Sai Nan

The Dishwasher Dead Samurai

Doctor Who

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared

Dorohedoro

The Dragon Prince

Ducktales

Eddsworld

Encanto

The Evil Within

The Fate series (Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Grand Order etc.)

Final Fantasy Series

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

Future Card Buddyfight

Ghostbusters

Goblin Slayer

God of War

Godzilla

Golden Kamuy

Gorillaz

The Grinch

Gurren Lagann

Harry Potter (and all related spin-offs)

A Hat in Time

Hazbin Hotel

Helluva Boss

Holllow Knight (might change but haven’t played it yet)

Horizon: zero Dawn

Hyper Light Drifter

iZombie

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Kid Cosmic

Kingdom Hearts

Kingsman

League of Legends

Legos (as in, any Lego-based TV show)

Lobotomy Corporation

Lord of the Rings

Lost Boys

Madness Combat

Mega Man

Mob Psycho 100

Moomin

My Hero Academia

Neon Genesis Evangelion

One Piece

One Punch Man

Over the Garden Wall

Owl House

Persona

Phineas and Ferb

Phoenix Wright

Rainbow Six

REAL PEOPLE

Regular Show

Resident Evil (any game that isn’t Resident Evil Village)

Rick and Morty

Riverdale

RWBY

SCP Foundation

Seven Deadly Sins

Shrek (all movies and shorts including spin-offs like Puss and Boots)

Slasher Movies (in general. like, i don’t do domestic stuff or the general slashers uwu shit but if I am familiar enough with a specific franchise I might be willing to write about a specific character but only if i can make them a bastard)

Starlight Express

Star Trek

Star vs the Forces of Evil

Steven Universe

Sword Art Online

Team Fortress 2

Thundercats

Tokyo Ghoul

Toriko

Trigun

Voltron

Warframe

Word Girl

Zero Escape

#will i won’t i #will i won't i masterlist #long post #rantsinmuffin

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