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ghoularaki · 10 months ago

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baby's breath | 4

↠ summary: Merely by coincidence, Erwin, your father's former friend had crossed paths with you again after nearly a decade. He offered solace once finding out you were struggling with not just school, but your home life as well. His home he shared with another one of your father's friends, Levi, became a sanctuary. Though, the more you came over for study sessions, the more they wiggled themselves into your private life. And like baby's breath, they weeded themselves in so deep you couldn't uproot them.

↠ word count: 3,068

↠ pairing: levi ackerman x reader x erwin smith

↠ genre/warnings: angst, smut, modern au, DARK CONTENT, yandere, noncon/dubcon, daddy kink, forced infantilism, pet play, age gap, death threats, human trafficking, bdsm

The twinkling fairy lights were your only source of illumination in the otherwise dark room. After Erwin shut off the lights and left you to your own devices, you sat in the silence for who knows how long. Anxiety had your muscles twitching, antsy to do anything.

Blowing air out your nose, saliva dripped down the corners of your mouth from the gag. You didn’t care if it added more to whatever pain Levi promised, you reached behind you and fiddled with the belt. Your fingers caught on the tongue and pushed it forward until the gag loosened. Clutching onto the leather you ripped it away from your mouth. Stretching your jaw side to side, you tried to alleviate the soreness. Wiping the spit from your lips, you surveyed the crate.

Both men weren’t stupid and the crate was given a different lock so you couldn’t easily slide it open. Even then, only your fingers could make it through the wiring. Forgoing the order the stuffed animals were arranged in, you rifled through them to find something, anything, to pick the lock with. Your attempts were futile.

Desperation crawled at your throat. Twisting your body so you were leaning on your forearms, you used your heel to kick at the door. The door rattled, but besides that, did not budge. Erwin was sure to hear the noise, but chose to ignore you. It could have been hours since Levi left and Erwin quite literally kept you in the dark, so the need to escape grew. Levi’s threat still rang in your ears.

You weren’t going to go with your belly up.

Frustrated, you used both feet to kick the door. Grunts left your throat from the strain. You were quickly becoming exhausted. The toxin hadn’t completely left you and it has been days since you ate something. Your energy was depleting.

Tears pricked your eyes again. Anger at yourself consumed you as you screamed and kicked the door one last time. Fragile flesh was nothing against metal. Bruises started to form at the bottom of your feet. The room was quiet besides your stuttered breathing.

Giving up on escaping the crate, you looked around the rest of the room. A soft, yellowish glow spread through the space. Shadows that crept from the corners offered you little insight to what all the room had to offer. Squinting, you tried to make out if there were any vents you could possibly climb through. You found nothing.

There were the windows, but who knows if they could even unlock and the strength of the glass. If all the windows were bulletproof, you were screwed. The crate was placed too far from the window for you to even try to get to the locks.

Sitting on your knees, you look up at the canopy placed above the cage. The pink netted cloth was attached to the ceiling by a screwed in hook.

Bingo.

Just as you were about the slip your finger back through the wiring to tug on the canopy, you heard the front door open and slam shut followed by two hushed voices. Levi’s back home.

That anxiety came back tenfold. You were basically served to Levi on a silver platter. A part of you wanted to go back to your plan with the canopy, but time was limited and you rather not be caught trying to escape. Who knows what Levi was going to do right now, let alone with an escape attempt on top of it.

So you laid in wait. Waiting for the man to burst through the frame and get his revenge. God did you wish there was a clock in the room. The anticipation was getting to you and maybe that is exactly what he wanted. For you to torture yourself with hypotheticals.

You knew both men were still inside the house, their footsteps giving it away. From what you assumed, they were sticking to the kitchen, possibly making dinner. At the thought, your stomach rumbled.

As if he heard you, Erwin came into the room and flicked on the lights. Your pupils constricted. His form permeated through the space and suffocated you. Forced into a small cage only furthered his large stature. He walked further in. His face became more apparent the closer he got and that expression of disappointment was long gone.

Cold. The best word to describe Erwin would be cold. Not in the literal sense, but all the warmth had been drained from him like coffee left out for too long. You could still drink it, but any pleasantness evaporated. A blank slate stuck on his face.

His socked feet thundered towards you. No matter how much he tried, Erwin was not a man who could soften his steps. But he didn’t care: you weren’t a frail, feral animal to him. More likened to a misbehaving child.

Crouching down at the crate door, he still had a height advantage. The glare didn’t leave your face. Erwin wasn’t swayed.

“I see you took off the gag.”

You didn’t respond. You refused to give him what he wanted.

Erwin merely sighed. “The more you resist, the harder it will be for you.”

Of course he didn’t have an ounce of regret in him. In his eyes, he did what he had to protect you for the sake of his own ego. Knowing his attempts to reach a hand out for you would be disregarded, he unlocked the crate with a key. This one was smaller compared to the ones to the doors.

You forced yourself further into the crate. As much as you despised being in the small space, the knowledge Levi was waiting for you was worse. Having none of your stubborn behavior, Erwin gripped your wrist and tugged.

A grunt left you as you collapsed in front of him. With one hand on the floor and kneeling in front of him, you scowled from under your brows. He tugged you closer until you were nose to nose.

“For your own sake, behave.”

A part of you was tempted to bite him as well, but you knew you would surely be found in a landfill if you did. Keeping your teeth and words to yourself, you gave him a small nod.

Pulling himself up, Erwin didn’t let you go. His hand moved from your wrist to your nape. Softly, he massaged the tight area, but it offered no solace. You knew full well his hand was a temporary leash. A warning.

Your whole being shook. The want to beg and plead crawled up your esophagus. Maybe to tug on his heart strings and his need to protect you, convince him to shield you from the big bad wolf that is Levi, but it’s futile. You knew that well as whatever relationship those two had trumped Erwin’s rationality.

So like a lamb to the slaughter, you were dragged into the dining room. Sat at the right side of the table was Levi in all his glory. His face gave nothing away. On the table was an array of food, the plates and cutlery set picture perfectly.

“Where’s her gag?” Levi said. You looked down to see his hand was neatly wrapped.

“How do you expect her to eat with a gag on?” Erwin teased Levi, but the man found no amusement in the statement.

He clicked his tongue at that. Erwin was right, even though the darker part of Levi wanted you to starve.

Coming closer to the table, you noticed there were only two plates. Your brows furrowed in confusion. How were you expected to eat? Though your question was quickly answered when Erwin pulled the chair to the side. The metal plate on the floor, there was already a pair of handcuffs linked in the semi-circle welded into the steel.

Erwin’s hand drifted to your shoulder and pushed you onto the floor. Your knees cracked against the hardwood.

“What are you doing?” Panic caused your voice to pitch and crack.

Levi answered instead of Erwin, “Since you wanted to act like a shitty mutt, you will be treated as such until you can prove otherwise.”

The large man bent down with you under the table to lock you into the restraints. You attempted to pull your wrist from his grasp, but it did little. The cuffs were luckily padded and didn’t bite into your skin. With your still free hand you pushed against Erwin, but he easily grabbed it and threaded the leather until you were immobile.

“What the fuck!”

At both men’s feet, you were forced into a kneeling position. Your wrists were chained to the floor with about three inches of leeway. So no matter how much you tried to sit up straight, you could only hunch over. The plate faced the head of the table, but you could twist your body slightly away.

Testing the constraints, you tugged and tugged. Metal scraping together filled the room along with your labored breaths. Erwin hauled himself from the table. Back on his feet, you heard him rummaging through something and a wet slop of food being plopped on a dish. Water filling a container could also be heard.

Erwin popped back into view but this time with two metal bowls. One of them had rice with steamed vegetables, and the other had water. He placed them in front of you. He must be joking.

Your jaw ticked as you grinded your teeth together, “What the fuck is this.”

“Your food. Eat.”

The way the food was placed, you couldn’t kick it away from you like you wanted. “I’m not fucking eating like this!”

A whimper filled the room as Levi kicked you in the ribs. From your place, you couldn’t see his face. “Quit your yapping. Either eat or don’t, but if you starve it’s not our problem.”

Erwin offered nothing to Levi’s harsh words. Stewing in your own humiliation and anger, you heard both men pick up their forks and start eating. From your place you could smell their food which had an array of seasoning. Staring down at your own bowl, you glowered bitterly at your plain dinner.

Your stomach rumbled again reminding you of the neglected organ. Nausea wanted to creep up so with quivering lips you bent over to eat out of the bowl. Breathing shakingly out your nose, you ignored how your eyes stung. You were so sick of crying. Luckily, both men couldn’t see you make a fool of yourself.

Moving your head over, you stuck your tongue out to lap up the water. It would be more efficient to pucker your lips and suck it up, but the thought of them hearing the slurping noises was too much to handle. So in your own head, it took you a little too long to realize the socked foot brushing against your thigh.

Jumping, you departed from your food to watch Levi’s foot creep closer up your leg. You attempted to squirm away but he quickly used his other foot to press into your hip, immobilizing you completely. Watching in horror, he kept up with the movements.

“How’s the project going?” Levi asked, Erwin none the wiser to what was going on under the table. Of course they were going to talk about school now. Possibly to mock you.

There was silence, before the other man answered. “Not as smoothly as we would like. Some of the girls aren’t taking too kindly to the change.”

Huh?

“Reminds me of someone.”

Erwin chortled before covering it with a cough. You would have said something if it weren’t for Levi growing more bold. To dig in his words, the heel of his foot found your crotch. You smothered your groaned when he rubbed against your clothed slit.

Your food was long forgotten, barely half eaten. Dragging further up, his heel caught your clit and you weren’t able to bite back the whimper this time.

“Hush,” Levi commanded.

“As I was saying, our cargo hasn’t been as big as last month. Eld has been able to wrangle some girls into place, but who knows how long that will last.”

Levi clicked his tongue, “I will visit this weekend.”

Rubbing further, Levi didn’t slow down his strokes as you strangled to keep your noises in. Helplessness filled you. Any time you attempted to squirm away, he followed. There was only so much you could move in the constraints.

Wetness started to soak your panties and thin pajamas. Levi could surely feel it through his own sock. Unwillingly you bucked at his leisure pace. He didn’t want you to cum that’s for sure. This was to purely torment you.

Erwin spoke after another bite, “Let’s hope there won’t be a repeat of last time.”

“I agree. I fucking hate cleaning blood out of clothes. Shit always stains.”

You shivered at the words. He must have felt it as he pressed harder into your clit. You were completely pinned down. Despite the little stimulation, the want to cum washed over you. Another whine stuck in your throat. All you needed was a little bit more.

Right when you almost fell into him, Levi pulled away. Your hips spasmed at the lack of stimulation. Clenching your eyes closed, you slumped over and your forehead hit the cold floor. What the fuck was wrong with you?

“I can clean it up.” Levi spoke, a little more far away. He must have stood up.

“Are you sure?” Erwin asked, the floorboards creaked as he went to Levi. Mostly to take the plate from his grasp.

“Yes. Take her back to the crate.”

Plates clacked together above you and Erwin came back in view. Embarrassed, you clenched your thighs closed in fear a wet patch could be shown.

“You barely ate.”

“Not hungry,” You mumbled.

His thick brows pinched together, but he didn’t respond as he released you from the leather restraints. Grasping your upper arm, he tugged you from your kneeling position. Shuffling from under the table, you faced Erwin. That antsy feeling hasn’t left you. Levi half-hazardly stroking you under the table couldn’t be what he had in store.

Turning your head, you gazed at Levi who stood at the sink, flipping the faucet to run the plates under the water. The man locked eyes with you and your shoulders scrunched up at the intense glare. A promise deep in his grey irises.

Erwin directed you away from the man. Down the hall, you looked into the window in the corridor. Twilight swallowed the sky. Between the foliage, you saw how the neighbors flicked on their own lights. The home was a speck in the distance, but their lights radiated. If you saw them, they could see you.

A plan forming in your head, you go almost limp as you let Erwin drag you back to your prison. The man didn’t think much of your sluggish behavior as he shoved you in the crate. A tiny, gold key—the same as before—taken from his pocket, he locked you inside.

“I hate putting you in here.” He had the audacity to look worn.

“Then let me out.”

His forehead hit against the crate as his blue eyes engulfed your form. “We both know I can’t do that.” He lingered for a moment, before standing back up. “Goodnight, Princess.”

Just as earlier today, he flicked off the lights and left you alone. Back to square one. At least you weren’t wearing the damn gag. Glancing down, the offending item was gone. You were perplexed. When did they grab it?

Heaviness weighed down your bones. Yawning, you curled up into the stuffed animals. As a strange sleepiness took over your tendons, you gazed up at the canopy. The golden hook taunted you, but you needed to be patient. Eyelids drooping, you promised yourself to escape as soon as possible.

A door creaking awoke you from your slumber. Discombobulated, you blearily glanced around. You were still in the crate. Blinking heavily, the whole room was shrouded with black. But that’s not what caught your attention.

Oh so sluggish, your eyes dragged to the door. The hallway light must have been turned on. Standing in the doorway was a figure blanketed in shadow. You sucked in harshly.

Your heart quivered and thumped at the innate reaction of being watched. From the stature alone it had to be Levi. Though, you couldn’t see his features at all. Somehow in the night, the fairy lights had turned off.

Levi didn’t move, not even when you noticed his presence. Weakly, you moved further into the crate, but it did little. Your body was at war with itself. That same heaviness still clung to your bones, but your heart rattled.

You struggled against yourself, terrified of what will happen if you fall back asleep. Dragging your hand to your face, you rubbed your eyes in hopes to alleviate your tiredness. Levi only stood there. As you crumpled in on yourself, he leaned against the frame, as if to take you all in.

He did love seeing you squirm.

The edges of your consciousness whittled away until the whole room swirled. Fighting against the sleepiness made you dizzy. Your vision swimmed. Sinking down, Levi stayed stagnant.

Whimpering, you sagged back into the stuffed animals. Their suffocating arms consumed you. Cotton and fluff choked you as you were dragged back to sleep. As the world caved in on itself, Levi didn’t leave the doorway. Watching.

Gasping, you sputtered as freezing cold water entered your lungs. Your body spasmed as you scrambled to find your footing. You went to wipe the water from your eyes, but you couldn’t move your arms.

You tugged upwards, but your arms were tied tight behind your back. Your legs were also bound at the ankle with leather cuffs similar to the ones in the kitchen. From under you was concrete painted a darker shade of grey from the water. Blinking, the sun blared down at your confused eyes.

Frantically you looked around to see Levi standing above your form. On your side, you tugged yourself to kneel to be less vulnerable. In his hand was a hose. Droplets dripped onto the grass. You eyed the hose and then him. Adrenaline had overtaken your system, shaking from terror and the cold.

“You really think I was done with you, Pet?”

#yandere x reader #yandere levi #yandere erwin #yandere levi x reader #levi x reader #erwin x reader #yandere #yandere aot #aot smut #yandere male

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thewitcheslibrary · 8 months ago

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Herb Correspondences and spell work ingredients!!

tip me!

A-B

Acacia: Protection, mental and spiritual development, money, platonic love, and friendship. Used to anoint candles and censers, as well as to consecrate chests or boxes containing ritual implements. Use incense to induce a contemplative mood. Aconite: Use aconite as a magical wash for ritual equipment and spaces. Wear as an amulet to protect against vampires and werewolves. Poisonous; do not ingest. Acorn: Best wishes, protection, knowledge, and personal strength. A dried acorn makes a great natural amulet for maintaining a young appearance. Adam and Eve Root: The Eve Root is mostly utilised by lovers, with one partner carrying it and the other carrying the Adam root. This keeps your sweetheart loyal to you and discourages rivals. Carry both roots in a tiny purse at all times to attract love or make a marriage proposal. Adder’s Tongue: Stops gossip and slander, promoting healing. Sacred to snake goddesses. Used for divination, healing magick, moon magick, and dream magic.

African Violet: Spirituality, protection, and healing. Wear an amulet for protection. Keep in the house to boost spirituality. Frequently used as incense during the Spring Equinox Sabbat. Agar Agar: Encourage joy and prosperity, and draw opportunities and benefits into the home. Mix with Fast Luck powder and apply to hands before playing bingo or other games of chance. Agrimony: Overcoming fear and inner obstacles; releasing negative emotions. Also used to reverse spells. For the greatest benefits, sew into a dream cushion using Mugwort. Use as a wash or oil to boost the effectiveness of any type of healing ritual. Protects against bad creatures and toxins. Ague: Protection and Hex Breaking. Used in amulets to ward off evil. Mix with incense and burn to break a hex put on you. Also known as: ague root, ague weed.

Alder: Linked to divination, music, poetry, wind magick, weather magick, teaching, and decision-making. Also used in rites of death and dying to protect the deceased. Alfalfa: Money, wealth, and anti-hunger. Keep a tiny jar in the cabinet or pantry to guard off poverty and hunger. Burn in a cauldron and use the ashes as amulets to guard against hunger and poverty. Also called Lucerne, Buffalo Herb, Purple Medic.

Alkanet: Purification and prosperity. Protects against snake bites and reduces fear of snakes. Burned as incense to replace negativity with positive energy. Also called: Anchusa, Dyer's Bugloss, Orchanet, and Spanish Bugloss.

Allspice: Money, luck, healing, and acquiring treasure. Adds resolve and vigour to any spell or charm. Burn crushed allspice to bring good fortune and money. Use in herbal baths to promote healing. Also called: Jamaica Pepper.

Almond: Wisdom, money, abundance, and success. Invokes the healing energies of the gods. Offers magical assistance for overcoming dependencies and addictions. Associated with Candlemas and Beltane. Carry, wear, or burn as incense to attract abundance. Also called Greek Nuts, Shakad.

Aloe: Protection and luck. Place on a loved one's grave to bring peace. Thought to alleviate loneliness and promote achievement. Hang in the home to bring luck and protection to the people who dwell there. Grow in the home to prevent against domestic mishaps. Burn during the night of a full moon to attract a new lover on the new moon.

Althea Root: Burn or throw in a sachet to provide protection, soothe an angry person, and boost psychic abilities. Keep on the altar or light candles to invite good spirits. Alyssum: Protection and moderation of rage. Amaranth: Healing, calling spirits, mending broken hearts, bulletproofing, and becoming invisible.

Amber: Protection from damage, outside forces, and psychic attacks. Mental clarity and focus. Transforming negative energy into positive energy. Ambergris: Improving dreams and psychic enterprises, attracting men. Anemone: Healing and Protection

Angelica: Very potent protection herb - repels negative energy while attracting positive energy; forms a barrier to bad energy. Use in healing and exorcism incenses, or scatter for cleansing, protection, and uncrossing. Add to incense to aid healing, or use in the bath to erase curses, hexes, and spells. Also supposed to encourage temperance. Sprinkle ground herb in your shoes to avoid fatigue and weakness. Sprinkle around the exterior border of the house to guard and exorcise. Burn to reunite with a long-lost sweetheart. Also known as: Masterwort, Archangel, Garden Angel, Angelica Root.

Anise: Used to fend off the evil eye, provide happiness, and boost psychic abilities. To avoid unsettling nightmares, fill a sleep pillow with anise seeds. Use to invoke Mercury and Apollo. Perfect for aromatherapy. Use in purifying baths alongside bay leaves. A branch of Anise placed on the bedpost can restore lost youth. Use for protection and meditation incenses. Also called: Aniseed, Anneys, and Anise Seed.

Apple: Love, Garden Magic, Immortality, Friendship, and Healing. Put seven apple seeds in a bag with Orris Root to entice sexual love. Used in ceremonies to honour fertility gods and goddesses. Samhain is known as the 'Feast of Apples' because apples are believed to be the nourishment of the dead. Symbolises the soul and is burnt on Samhain to honour individuals who will be reborn in the spring. When performing a house blessing, cut an apple in half and consume half while leaving the other half outside the residence as an offering. Also known as: Fruit of the Underworld, Fruit of the Gods, Silver Branch, Tree of Love.

Apricot: Love. To attract love, use love sachets with leaves and flowers or carry apricot pits. Arabic Gum: Protection, psychic and spiritual development, money, platonic love, and friendship. Used to anoint candles and censers, as well as to consecrate chests or boxes containing ritual implements. Use incense to induce a contemplative mood. Also called: Acacia, Gum. Arabic Arnica Flowers Increases psychic abilities. Arrow Root: purifies and heals; it may be used instead of cemetery dust.

Ash: Sea spells/magick/rituals, image magick, invincibility, drowning prevention, general protection, and luck. Burning an ash log during Yule promotes wealth. The leaf of this plant is utilised to ensure trip safety. Place one spoonful of ash leaves in a basin of water in the bedroom overnight and discard in the morning; doing so everyday is supposed to prevent disease. Asofoetida: Protection and eradication of negative. Burned to make someone leave you alone. Be careful that while this plant is potent, it has an unpleasant odour when burned. Also known as: Devil's Dung, Food of the Gods.

Asparagus: Male Sex Magic Aspen's: abilities include eloquence, clairvoyance, healing, and anti-theft. Plant in your garden to deter robbers. Aster Love

Also known as: China Aster, Michaelmas Daisy, Starwort. Astragalus Root: Protection and Energy. Avocado: Love, passion, and beauty. Also used for sex magic. Also called Ahuacotl, Alligator Pear, and Persea. Azalea: Happiness, gaiety, and a light spirit, first love. Poisonous; do not ingest.

Bachelor Buttons: Love Also called Devil's Flower and Red Campion.

Bakuli pods: It is difficult to discover magic items that are also utilised in sachets and potpourri. Balm of Gilead Tears: promotes love, manifestation, protection, healing, stress reduction, and aids in the grieving process after a loved one's death. Use in love sachets to heal, protect, and restore a damaged heart. Use to dress candles for any type of magical healing. Burn to attract ghosts. Also known as: Poplar Buds, Balsam Poplar, Balm of Gilead, Mecca. Balsam, Balesan, and Bechan

BalmonyA figwort plant that is powdered and used for hexing. Perseverance, patience, and steadfastness. Associated with tortoises or turtles. Also known as: Hummingbird Tree, Bitter Herb, Snake Head, Turtle Head, Turtle Bloom.

Balsam Fir: promotes strength, insight, goal achievement, and positive transformation. Balsam fir needles may be used as incense on charcoal and are also an excellent addition in sachet bags, dream pillows, and potpourri blends. Bamboo: is associated with breaking hexagrams, wishing luck, and providing protection. Carve a desire into bamboo and bury it in a remote location to make your wish come true. Carry a piece of bamboo for good fortune.

Banana: symbolises fertility, potency, and fortune. Banyan: symbolises happiness and luck. Barberry: Cleansing, sorcery, atonement, and breaking free from another person's power or control.

Also called: Witches Sweets. Barley: Love, healing, and protection. Harvests. Spread on the ground to keep evil at bay. To relieve pain, tie barley straw around a boulder and hurl it into a river or lake while visualising whatever discomfort you are experiencing. Basil: Love, exorcism, riches, compassion, and protection. Removes uncertainties, worries, and weaknesses. Drives away harmful spirits. Associated with Candlemas. Continue to go forward in a positive manner despite the threat. Strewn on floors to guard against evil. Sprinkle an infusion of basil outside the building where you intend to work for good luck at a job interview (but don't be seen!) or throughout your business to attract money and prosperity. Wear or carry to help attract money and wealth. Also known as: Common Basil, Sweet Basil, St. Josephwort, St. Joseph's Wort, Tulsi, Tulasi, Krishnamul, Kala Tulasi, Witches' Herb, Alabahaca, American Dittany. Bat's Head Root: Use in spellwork, rituals, gris gris bags, and other ways to get wishes. Bay Laurel: Purification, blessing of homes and businesses, and clearing out uncertainty. It attracts romanticism. Keep a potted plant to protect your home from lightning. Place in a dream pillow to improve sleep and generate prophetic dreams. Also called: Bay, Sweet Laurel, Sweet Bay, True Laurel, Lorbeer, Noble Laurel, Baie, and Daphne. Bay Leaf: protection, good fortune, success, purification, strength, healing, and psychic abilities. Write your wishes on the leaves, then burn them to make them come true. Place beneath the pillow (or in a dream pillow) to generate prophetic dreams. Place in the corner of each room in the house to protect everyone who live there. Carry bay leaf to defend oneself from dark magic. Bayberry: Good luck, healing, and stress alleviation. Burn a white candle with bayberry bark for good luck and money. Also Known As: American Vegetable Tallow Tree, Myrtle, Wax Myrtle, Candleberry, Candleberry Myrtle, Tallow Shrub, American Vegetable Wax, Waxberry, Pepperidge Bush, Berbery

Bedstraw (Fragrant): Love and Lust. Bee Pollen: promotes friendship, attraction, love, strength, happiness, and helps overcome sadness.

Beech: symbolises wishes, pleasure, and divination. Improves literary talents. To promote inspiration, place a beech leaf between the pages of the Book of Shadows. Beeswax: Traditionally used in the production of candles, ornamental seals, natural polish, protective finishes, and as a foundation for herbal salves. Beetroot: Love. Beetroot juice can be utilised as ink in love magick or to replace blood in spells and rituals.

Belladonna: Healing and forgetting previous loves. When installed in a concealed location within the home, it provides protection. Place on a ceremonial altar to honour the deities and provide energy for ceremonies.

Do not consume this deadly toxin. Also known as: Banewort, Deadly Nightshade, Sorcerer's Berry, Witch's Berry, Death's Herb, Devil's Cherries, Divale, Dwale, Dwaleberry, Dwayberry, Fair Lady, Great Morel, Naughty Man's Cherries

Benzoin: Purification, prosperity, easing tension, removing anger, reducing irritability, relieving stress and anxiety, and conquering depression. Encourages generosity and attention. Good to burn while utilising the Tarot or to achieve intellectual achievement. Smoulder for cleansing. It is thought that incense containing benzoin, cinnamon, and basil will attract consumers to your company. Also Known As: Snowbells, Storax, Gum Benzoin, Siam Benzoin, Siamese Benzoin, Benzoin Gum, Ben, Benjamen.

Bergamot: Money, wealth, protection from evil and disease, memory enhancement, interference prevention, and comfortable sleep. Carry a sachet when gambling to bring luck and money. Very effective at attracting success. Burn during any ritual to boost its power. Also called: Orange Mint. Betel Nut: Protection and Banishment.

Bilberry Bark: is used for protection. Also known as Whortleberry, Black Whortles, Whinberry, Huckleberry, Bleaberry, Blueberry. Airelle Bindweed: Used for curses/hexing. Birch: symbolises protection, exorcism, and cleansing. A birch tree planted near the residence is thought to guard against lightning, infertility, and the evil eye. Also known as: White Birch, Canoe Birch, Paper Birch, Tree of Life, Lady of the Woods.

Bird's Eye chilies: Cursing, heating spells, and making Hoodoo powders like hot foot powder and goofer dust are all done with plants from the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. Bistort: Fertility, divination, clairvoyance, and psychic abilities. Carry a sachet for fertility and conception. Add to any herbal concoction to enhance divination. Burn frankincense during divination or to increase psychic abilities. Carry a yellow flannel bag to attract prosperity and good fortune. Sprinkle bistort about the house to repel poltergeists. Also known as: Bistort root, dragonwort. Black Cohosh: symbolises love, courage, protection, and power. Use as a love sachet or in the bath to avoid impotence. Carry in your pocket or as an amulet to boost your confidence and strength. Sprinkle throughout a room to ward against evil. To guarantee a long and happy life, make a herbal infusion and add it to bath water. Burn as a romantic incense. Put in a purple flannel bag to protect yourself against accidents and untimely death, as well as to prevent people from doing you wrong. Also known as Black Snake Root, Bugbane, Squawroot, Bugwort, Rattleroot, Rattleweed, Rattlesnake Root, and Richweed. Black Haw: means protection, gambling, luck, power, and employment. Carry in your pocket while looking for job, if you are experiencing troubles at work, or if you are requesting a rise. Also called: Devil's Shoestring, Stagbush, and American Sloe. Black pepper: is used to banish negativity, perform exorcisms, and defend against evil. Black Walnut: is believed to provide access to spiritual energy, granting blessings and wishes. Blackberry :symbolises health, protection, and money. Sacred to Brighid. Leaves and berries are supposed to bring riches and healing.

Blackthorn Thorns: Thorns have historically been used to curse and protect. The thorns of the Blackthorn tree have traditionally been employed in witchcraft to puncture wax or linen poppets, cursing the intended victim.

Bladderwrack: Protection, sea and wind spells, money, psychic abilities, and attracting clients. Wear a charm for protection while travelling, especially on water. Also called: Kelp, Seawrack, Kelpware, Black-tang, Cutweed, Sea Oak, and Sea Spirit. Blessed Thistle: Purification, protection from negativity and evil, hex breaking. Carry for strength and protection. Place a bowl of holy thistle in a room to boost the vigour and spirit of its people. Men who carry thistle improve their romantic relationships. Also known as: Holy thistle, Saint Benedict thistle, Spotted thistle, Cardin.

Bloodroot: symbolises love, protection, and cleansing. Steep in red wine for the full moon cycle to serve as a "blood offering" for rituals that require it; DO NOT DRINK THE WINE. Place in windows and entrances to keep curses and evil spirits away. A popular root for usage in voodoo to counteract hexes and spells cast against you. Also known as: Red Root, Red Indian Paint, Tetterwort, Blood Root, Indian Paint, Pauson, Red Paint Root, Red Puccoon, Sanguinariat. Blowball: Love and wishes. Carry a crimson bag to grant desires. When looking for love, blow in all four directions. Blue Cohosh: Empowerment, cleansing, attracting money, ending the cycle of love, and pushing away evil.

Blue Violet: Love, inspiration, good fortune, and protection from all evil. Carried to protect, enhance fortune, and shift luck. Mixed with lavender to arouse passion and affection. Worn to soothe tempers and promote sleep. Also called: Sweet Scented Violet.

Bluebell: Luck, honesty, and friendship. Incorporate into funeral and dying traditions to soothe and relieve the pain of those left behind. Also known as: Jacinth, Culverkeys, Auld Man's Bell, Ring o' Bells, Wood Bells. Blueberry: Protection. Though not encouraged, blueberries are thought to induce confusion and turmoil when thrown in an enemy's doorway or path.

Boneset: is used to protect, exorcise, and fend off bad spirits. Sprinkle boneset throughout the house to ward off evil and negativity. Burn a black candle etched with the enemy's name as incense to curse them (not recommended due to karma). Also known as Feverwort, Agueweed, Crosswort, Eupatorium, Indian Sage, Sweating Plant, Teasel, Thoroughwort, Vegetable Antimony.

Borage: symbolises courage and psychic abilities. Float the flowers in a ceremonial bath to lift one's mood. Carry or burn as incense to boost confidence and character. To fight off bad spirits, sprinkle Borage infusion about the house. Also called: Bee Bread, Starflower, Herb of Gladness, Bugloss, Burrage, and Cool Tankard. Brazil Nut: Good luck in love affairs. Brewer's yeast: is used to make face mask remedies. Brimstone: Removes or prevents a hex on you; eliminates an enemy's power over you. Burn at midnight by your back door to keep off evil. Also called: Sulphur Powder.

Broom Tops: For purification, wind spells, divination, and protection. Sprinkle broom tops about the house to ward against evil. Also Known As: Irish Broom, Scotch Broom, Besom, Broom. Buchu :represents divination, wind magic, psychic abilities, and prophetic dreams. Add buchu leaves to the bath to help you predict the future. Also known as Bucco, Agathosma Betulina, Bookoo, Bucku, Buku, and Bucco.

Buckeye: Divination, good luck, and the attraction of money and fortune. Carried whole, anointed with money oil, and/or wrapped in a dollar bill, for a consistent increase in money flow. A famous hoodoo charm among gamblers. Carry in your pocket to prevent against arthritis. Also called: Horse Chestnut.

Buckthorn: Sorcery, elven magic, and dispelling enchantments. It is used as a luck generator in legal problems and to win in court. Place Buckthorn branches near doors or windows to ward off evil and negative vibes. To create a wish, stand in an open place facing east and concentrate on your request; then turn to your left until you are facing east again, sprinkling buckthorn bark powder (or an infusion including buckthorn bark) as you go. Also called: Arrowwood, Black Dogwood, Black Alder Dogwood, Black Alder Tree, and Persian Berries.

Buckwheat: Money, protection, and fasting. Use charms and rituals to get treasure, riches, and fortune. BurdockUsed for cleaning magick when feeling really bad about oneself or others. Use in protective incenses and spells. Rinse with a burdock decoction to relieve negative sentiments about yourself or others. Also known as: Bardana, Burr Seed, Clotbur, Cocklebur, Hardock, Hareburr, Hurrburr, Turkey Burrseed, Fox's Clote, Happy Major, Lappa, Love Leaves, Personata, Beggar's Buttons

Burnet: Used for protection, ritual instrument consecration, and counter magick, as well as to heal despair and despondency. Also called: Italian Pimpernel, Salad Burnet, and Greater Burnet.

Butchers' Broom: Wind spells, divinations, protection, and psychic abilities. Butterbur: is used for love divination and to boost spirits via optimism and trust. Also called: Bog rhubarb, butterdock, umbrella plant, lagwort, and sweet coltsfoot.

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#pagan witch #witch #witchblr #witchcore #witchcraft #beginner witch friendly #plants and herbs #herbs #spell ingredients

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x-heesy · 1 year ago

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𝗣𝗛𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗬𝗘𝝠𝗛: 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗨𝝠𝗟𝗭

In short, we came this far today.

Years around our necks, arms in hand, journal

It's hard not to go crazy

At least give it a break, life.

No one will get out of you alive anyway.

Viruses on one side, croupiers on the other

If you pull the plug on yourself, the price will be paid to those left behind.

Captain, I'll get off at the nearest trash can.

Don't shake me too much, I'll spill

My mental balance is jelly-like

Everyone is happy with their situation except us all

Homeland nation chaos

Hang flags around your neck

Wedding venue or murder scene?

Let's go bingo

Bombard the mountains I trust with paranoia

Holes appeared vest bulletproof jacket

Zaiyat means essential life, waiting for death

Like a ballpoint pen, we will never run out

Breathe at the wheel

destination center

I'm in prison

I dug a solution, I'm in the tunnel

My home is ruined, my dreams are ruined

If a thief enters, he will run away

I'm out of depression, I'm in emptiness

No matter how far I go, I'm always at the beginning

One moment in the sky, the next moment in the ground

I don't have any taste even when it exists

@frenchpsychiatrymuderedmycnut 🫶🏽

Depresyondan Çiktim Boşluktayim (I'm Out of Depression, I'm In Emptiness) by Lalalar ❤️‍🔥

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bugtransport · 2 years ago

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Kamen Rider X Finished February 14th, 2023

Here's your warning now: this one also got away from me. I BROKE 4k...

Kamen Rider X is… a show!

Look. I don’t know how to start this. I don’t know how many of you have seen this show. I don’t know how many of you saw me lose my fucking mind when I watched the first two episodes of this one. I had to kick myself out of the house and go get a breath of fresh air and went to H Mart and bought a shitton of side dishes. Just to cope, you know? Sometimes you need some fish cakes, for the soul. I ate great that whole week but that’s besides the point. X does have what I myself would describe as “a beginning” so let’s just recap that first, I guess, because it sure kicks the show off.

Pictured: welcome to Wet Boy Wonderland.

PART ONE: SETUP!

Before we begin fully: I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there are… a couple issues with and themes in this show that I appreciated having a heads up on before I got to them. I think that what I might have to say might come off as far too complimentary without this disclaimer and to spoil my final conclusion, my actual feelings are a little mixed. We’ll be touching on this later with how it ties into what my thesis ends up being, but there’s a switch in the theme of the monsters part way through the show from Greek Mythology to Various Bad Guys In History and the thing about various bad guys in history and also shows that are made in, let I remind you, the 70s, is that sometimes things can be… well, I’ll be blunt. There’s a pretty racist caricature in there and some of the picks can be a little off color and also there’s Starfish Hitler which does feature swastikas and was a decision that the boys and I dubbed “sure a choice.” I mean yeah, he gets killed like all the other bad guys do, but still. Do you know the experience of watching Aristocats for the first time as an adult and being like “Hmm, I really do not remember this weird racist scene in the middle of this film, what the fuck? I mean I guess it was a different time, but still…” That’s kind of what this feels like in spots. Jin Keisuke also has maybe the world’s worst dad. This is a guy who seems to have decided that a “signs of parental abuse” checklist is a game of bingo and that somehow it can be won. This is most apparent during the first couple episodes for reasons you’ll see in like, a minute or so if you read at the same speed I do or faster, but it flavors the entire show in a way I’ll hopefully convince you of by the end. Trust me on this one. Those are the two big disclaimers I have out of the way; if either of those are non-negotiable issues for you, I recommend not finishing this and watching something that isn’t Kamen Rider X. For the rest of you? Buckle up.

Here’s (roughly) what happens in the first two episodes of X. Jin Keisuke comes back home for a visit. He gets jumped by some goons at the boat docks who want to kidnap him because of his dad and gets shot at and falls into the water. He gets out of the water and reconnects with his… fiancee? I think? Keisuke goes to visit his father at his lab in a seaside cave, says that again, dad, he has no interest in going into science, and gets promptly judo thrown in response. His dad then tells him to put on a vest, which he does. Keisuke and his fiancee (?) go out to eat dinner and she tries to guilt him into sticking around because his dad is lonely. Keisuke gets a message saying that GOD is coming to fuck his shit up. Oh, right, GOD is the name of the bad guy organization in this one. Just roll with it... Neptune and the goons (great band name, the more that I think about it) overthrow a ship. Keisuke’s fiancee comes to visit them at the cave-lab; Keisuke’s dad shoots his son. This is okay because it turns out that the vest was bulletproof. Everyone laughs at this. Keisuke presumably goes to sleep at some point after this but gets woken up in the middle of the night and attacked by some goons and oh look, one of them happens to be his fiancee! What a surprise! Keisuke rushes to his dad’s side to find the guy bleeding out on the rocks in front of his cave-lab. Goons pop up and shoot him too, killing him. Keisuke’s dad has enough fight left in him to drag his son into his cave-lab and borg him and somehow get him onto a boat, where Keisuke wakes up after an indeterminate amount of time, surprised to be alive. Keisuke’s dad left a message for him telling that he built a supercomputer that is also an island (the Jin Station) to house his consciousness on a computer now that he’s dead. He gives Keisuke a bike and a quick rundown on how to become the X Rider and then asks Keisuke to explode his corpse for him. He does this. There’s a flashback of Keisuke as a kid running to his dad and his dad grabbing him and just fucking slamming the kid down. Keisuke goes off and defeats Neptune and the goons and gets helped by a woman who looks exactly like his fiancee but isn’t actually her, who gives no explanation as to why this is the case.

…So that’s episode one.

Pictured: father-son bonding at its finest!

I’ll make episode two shorter: Keisuke has another run in with his fiancee and her doppelganger which doesn’t explain anything either. Our monster of the week plotline is about a kid whose dad was just killed in a car accident a couple weeks ago and who apparently fought with his dad a lot and doesn’t know how to deal with the guilt that comes from that. Keisuke tries to protect this kid from misinformed townspeople who think that he’s hypnotizing people and the fact that he’s a borg starts to sink in. Keisuke goes back to the Jin Station to experience his first bout of borg angst with some support from his computer-father, whose response to his son wanting comfort is to call him a weak bitch and tell him that he can’t rely on anyone, he has to fight alone, and insist that Keisuke blow up the Jin Station, killing him again. This happens. Keisuke manages to convince the public that the boy was being slandered by GOD and that he wasn’t actually hypnotizing people. He then beats up the guy actually responsible. Keisuke comforts the kid by straightening out his flute, which got bent in the fight, and contemplates that maybe there are some good things about being a borg after all.

Pictured: I might have understated exactly how the stages of grief impacted him on this one here.

If you think I'm exaggerating anything here you're more than welcome to fact check me. These first two episodes are available for free on the Toei Youtube channel, go ham! Good luck.

In any case, you might be seeing a theme emerging here. Don’t worry, we’ll get to that in just a minute. There’s a little bit of contrasting that I want to do first with the previous riders. Jin Keisuke is pretty different than the guys that we’ve had before and is especially jarring coming off of a dude like Kazami Shiro. Keisuke’s wet. He doesn’t have a support network like even Hongo did with at least knowing Tachibana from the start. Hell, it’s debatable that the guy even knows Kamen Riders are like, a thing, and not just some random shit his dad made up. He certainly doesn’t know them personally like Hongo was able to make sure both Hayato and Kazami did from the start. There’s a vague kind of uncertainty undercutting everything that Jin Keisuke does as a borg because he wasn’t borged in the same way that the other previous riders were. It was by someone who he ostensibly should be able to trust (unlike Hongo and Hayato) and for a fight that wasn’t at all his (unlike Kazami) and in a way that, because of these facts, comes off as more malicious and personal than Shocker’s sterile, random cruelty and while yes, his dad was technically saving his life, it doesn’t really seem to come from a place of kindness. It really comes off like his dad wanted to have just another way to control him after he was gone and when he realized that his son was still something that he viewed as “weak,” died to save himself the embarrassment. He explicitly requested that Keisuke not lean on anyone and instead take on the fight himself, despite doing exactly the opposite of that in giving the fight over to his son in the first place. What a hypocritical ass.

It’s not just that – there’s the way that he fights with a weapon, kind of like Riderman, but essentially fences, which is so unlike any of the boys previously. He just kind of coincidentally falls into fighting GODborgs for the first part of the show with no real rhyme or reason, not with any plan, not necessarily being targeted by them even, really not seeming like he has any stake in the fight at all. He kind of doesn’t. Everyone else had some kind of personal vendetta and sure, GOD killed his dad the first time around, but Keisuke also got asked by his computer-dad to kill him, and he did. So. I mean, he could have just kept his dad alive that way. This is explicitly not his fight. He just kind of ended up here. Once the show gets going and Jin Keisuke gets into the swing of things and we start getting back into something that feels… a bit more like the previous Rider seasons, there’s still this odd disbelief in his abilities that all the characters, including Tachibana and the rest of his allies, approach Keisuke with. With Kazami, he’d do completely off the wall shit and everyone would be like “haha, that’s our guy!” Keisuke will play dead to try and throw someone off his tracks and go a little overboard with the fake blood or something and it’ll work, but in the same breath Tachibana will just look at him all confused and question why on earth he decided to go that way in the first place. I feel like I’m going full Pepe Syliva; is this not meant to mirror his father’s disbelief in his son’s abilities/path in life and the subsequent control that he tried to push onto him? In fact, there’s really only one character who I can think of who doesn’t underestimate him near constantly: Apollo Geist, baby.

Pictured: the creature in question

PART TWO: Fuck it, call me a Jin Keisuke apollogeist

Sorry, I had to fit that joke in here somewhere. I’ve been trying for weeks to make it work. Apollo Geist is the leader of GOD’s secret police, a position that is basically analogous to any of the other commanders that we’ve seen before. Weekly monster gets sent out, he’s the one above them in the ranks so he oversees their progress, critiques them, ends up 1v1ing the rider at some point, gets their shit kicked in. We’ve seen this before, we’ve loved this before, it works so well and I think it’s definitely something that the beginning episodes were lacking. We have to get some structure in these evil organizations in order to be able to even start to think about tearing them down. Though – because of the aforementioned constant and relentless underestimating of Jin Keisuke, when Apollo Geist appears and becomes obsessed with taking him down and claims that he’s the only one who can actually defeat the rider and stands on cliffsides watching him fight it really comes off as way more personal than anyone else we’ve had before. He can transform, not really into a monster, but into something way closer to X or any of the riders than we’ve had with anyone else previously. Apollo Geist feels like he’s set up to be Jin Keisuke’s equal, and it’s mad yaoi.

Oh yeah, and totally forgot about this until I was looking back through my caps to write this, but Keisuke’s fiancee? Yeah, she was trying to do like whole double agent thing with her twin (who was the other one who looked like her) and it didn’t work out and she exploded mere minutes before Apollo Geist was introduced for the first time. She never really gets mentioned again. But that does leave the spot for a romantic interest open…

Pictured: special friends...

So. What the hell else am I supposed to think. Like, sorry, the man butts into pretty much every fight because he doesn’t trust his lackeys with this man. He wants to take X down in a way that’s satisfying to him. He checks in with Tachibana when Jin Keisuke fakes his death without telling him that he’s with GOD, leading Tachibana to think he must be one of Keisuke’s friends. He does the same thing when visiting the coffee shop later. He’s fucking obsessed with this guy. The two of them bike joust. Apollo Geist will jump onto his bike from 20 floors up, tenderizing his nuts into oblivion when he hits the saddle, just to show off. He’s obsessive and wild and wears a suit that’s all one color and man, I cannot imagine who else this might be reminding me of right now, but my word… and, both times he dies, he does so trying to take X down with him.

“Both times he dies?” Both times he dies. The man fails to hold down X the first time around when he tried to explode him with his arm bomb and following that gets rebuilt and upgraded in the process. Long story short, after donning his little cowboy fit and realizing that he has shit aim suddenly during his daily shooting practice to kill Jin Keisuke, he learns that he only has a day or two left to live and that the literal only way to reverse this is to take a piece of the X suit and have it attached to his heart.

Pictured: heterosexual behavior

Yes, you heard me correctly there: the only way for Apollo Geist to live here is for him to quite literally accept Jin Keisuke into his heart. Fucking incredible, isn’t it? He doesn’t do this, obviously, because he did die a second time, but look. The metaphor. It’s right there!! Maybe if Apollo Geist and Jin Keisuke had met under different circumstances, or maybe if they had a common enemy, or maybe if Apollo Geist wanted to admit his newfound weakness to Jin Keisuke or accept Jin Keisuke’s weaknesses as well (like the part where Keisuke didn’t want to transform because he was hurt, right, and Apollo Geist wanted to force him into changing so they could fight) and get into something that isn’t just this back and forth will they won’t they tension, the “what if we were two boys?” complex, the fucking starcrossed lovers of it all.

Pictured: he likes to be tall

Sorry, wait a fucking second, wasn’t there someone else who died a horrible explosive death because they didn’t want to accept Keisuke into his heart? Who also saw Jin Keisuke as someone who should be able to put up a good, satisfying fight, regardless of what his wishes might be? Does Apollo Geist… also tie back to the whole dad thing?

PART 3: The whole dad thing.

Pictured: not a compliment

So. The whole dad thing. There are so, so many examples I could pull from, but lemme just run through what I specifically took notes on while watching the show as being repeated quite a distracting amount:

Human experimentation. My fucking god, X has a lot of it randomly peppered in throughout the show. Not even really things that GOD is doing – the one that comes to mind is in one episode when the GODborg was influencing a bunch of kids to commit suicide and the tie between all of them was that they were all taking an experimental drug because they’re all honors students or something and they wanted to boost their brains even further. Honestly sounds like some shit that would happen in the suburb I used to live in, which is why I remember this one so well. The person who developed this thing gets nervous because like, I believe that the last kid alive on this drug is their kid. Jin Keisuke does save them, but you know who fucking else experimented on their kid? Jin Keisuke’s dad.

Vampires. What the fuck, this show has I think at least 5 separate instances of vampires in it. In a 35 episode show. There are so many vampires. You know, the monster that’s notorious for infecting other people and sucking their life from them and changing them irreversibly in the process, making them stronger physically but also condemning them to living a hellish life. Wow, you know what that sounds like to me? Kind of like turning your son into a cyborg to save him and forcing him into a fight with a bunch of guys that were trying to kill you.

The switch in monster themes in the middle of the show. There’s a point post Apollo Geist where the monsters swap over from being themed after figures in Greek mythology to historical figures. Yes, like I stated in the warning at the beginning of this post. Almost as if Jin Keisuke spent the time up to Apollo Geist fighting the mythos of his father, his ideals and the impact that left on him, and then when Apollo Geist died because he refused to let Keisuke into his heart, swapped over to fighting the actual sins of his father’s past. As if Apollo Geist dying for a similar reason that his father did when he asked Keisuke to blow him up so that he could “build character” or whatever, make Keisuke then realize that his father’s beliefs were… kinda fucked. That maybe the way he treated him wasn’t right. That maybe after that realization, he can move on slightly and begin the actual work of taking GOD down.

[[Important to note but not a section in the dad saga – after Apollo Geist and the monster switch happens, the new guy leading the GODborgs is one big robolad named King Dark. Yeah, this thing has already gone on for too long and I didn’t want to recap even more of the show so I’m just giving you the context. Couldn’t figure out how else to do it and make it coherent and again, don’t know how many of you have actually watched this show. Okay back to the essay:]]

Kazami Shiro shows up and upgrades Jin Keisuke towards the end. After this point, Keisuke gets a perm (irrelevant) and his fighting style completely changes (very relevant) to be much more traditional Rider. The Ridol stick that his father gave him that he used to fight all the time with? Not used anymore. He has a new henshin pose and a new finisher. It’s just like, oh, I don’t know, being able to meet people he relates to and find a new family with the other riders is maybe helping him find his identity separate from his dad? While he is still obviously impacted by the trauma his father imposed upon him (in being a rider in the first place) he’s taking it and changing it into something his own? Quite literally, textually, physically changed by the people he’s met? Who would have thought!

The GOD leader? The one who we’ve been working towards fighting all this time? The person controlling King Dark? Yeah. That’s Keisuke’s dad’s friend, who was the one behind getting him dragged into GOD business, which of course is then in turn the reason that Keisuke got dragged into this mess in the first place. Remember above when I mentioned how the monsterswap lead to Keisuke fighting the actual sins of his father and his past actions? Yeah. That’s the final boss. Just to cement and drive home really how much of this could have been avoided. How much the entire thing was his dad’s fault. Keisuke gets stabbed all the way through his chest while in King Dark but still manages to come out on top. Yeah, it hurt him, but the man was finally cut off.

The ending scene of the show, where Keisuke rides off into the distance and Tachibana reads the note that he left for him explaining his plans going forward, is so much different than the end of V3. V3 ends with Kazami Shiro experiencing loss once more and going to go off to deal with that. X, on the other hand, ends on one of the most hopeful notes I’ve seen yet. Keisuke seems… really happy. He’s excited to head out on his own, like the other riders before him. He’s excited to experience what they’ve experienced. He’s finally shed the weight of his father and his expectations for him and he can figure out what being a Kamen Rider means to him, specifically. It’s really, really sweet. It’s the ending I want in a story about parental abuse. It didn’t make me cry, because I was too happy for him, but it really stuck with me something vicious.

Do I sound like I’m going off the rails? I feel like I am!

The thing is… most if not all of these things can totally be explained away in ways that don’t have a damn thing to do with Jin Keisuke’s dad. The change of the monster themes from mythology to reality? I know that one’s because the person who handled the monster designs for the first part of the show left and they had to bring someone new in. The vampires? I’m convinced they got a great deal on the fangs and just wanted to use them where they could. The human experimentation themes? Sure, that’s always been a theme in Rider, not really to this degree of lethality, but maybe they’re just trying to bring in a somewhat older audience or something. V3 upgrading him? Kazami Shiro fucking rules, of course they’d want to bring him back into the show, and why not have him give Keisuke something cool so they’d have an excuse to do just that. The contrast between the endings of V3 and X are super apparent to me because I’m watching them as an adult less than a month apart, but so many other characters also ride off into the sunset, it could just as easily mean nothing.

I don’t care, I guess; I can’t see it any other way. It’s about defeating his dad and learning to deal with the trauma that your shit parents gave you. It’s Saturn Devouring His Son. Jin Keisuke is battling GOD but really, he’s just fighting all the demons that his father passed down to him. He’s fighting his ideals and his past and his old friend. He was fighting his father’s fight, and he’s done now. He’s found people that are like him, who have similar ideals and can support him in a way that his father couldn’t, and so when he rides off into the sunset at the end of the show, it’s maybe the lightest that I think the show has ever felt. He’ll have to deal with the consequences of his father’s actions for the rest of his life, there’s no question about that, but at least now he’s shed most of the baggage he was saddled with and is all the stronger for it. And I really, really don’t think that their intentions going into the show matter, because I think being able to read it that way can be enough for me. It feels like the story itself wanted to be told. It might have been messy, but hell, what weird relationships with your parents aren’t, right?

Pictured: sure that was probably just a throwaway line but damn, I get why you would associate those things...

TL;DR:

Kamen Rider X is a show where I think that the curtains were blue because that’s what was on sale at the store; maybe yellow curtains were more in season so they got a good deal on the blue ones, and that’s why they used them. Still, whether or not they meant anything by them or not and again, let’s be real, I don’t really think that they did, sometimes they can blow in the breeze and catch the wind just right and ripple like the surface of the ocean, and maybe if you squint your eyes and think about it in just the right way, you can see the debris from the Jin Station floating by.

Would I recommend Kamen Rider X?

FUCKING UHHHHHHHHHHH look okay. Yes if you’re nuts like me and think that this sounds like at least an interesting ride to watch. I can’t say that it really ever got boring and the fact that it’s only 35 episodes? It goes by fast. I was entertained throughout… that entertainment however did range a little bit from feeling like I was watching a fun little toku show to sometimes maybe watching a car wreck. I might have been rubbernecking down the freeway. I wouldn’t recommend that you start with X. Please, for the love of god, start with something that isn’t X. Heed the warning I wrote at the start. Maybe skip this one if you aren’t interested in thinking about some dude’s dad issues for a few weeks! But… it’s still compelling. I still keep thinking about it. It did a lot accidentally and I like it for that. Jin Keisuke, I wish you all the best!

ONE MORE THING! I COULDN’T FIND A PLACE TO MENTION THIS BECAUSE THIS IS LIKE THE ONLY THING THAT DOESN’T TIE INTO KEISUKE’S DAD ISSUES BUT ALSO I STILL WANTED TO MENTION IT: THERE ARE LESBIANS!

LET’S GOOOOO CHIKO AND MAKO YEAAAAAHHH!!!

One last Apollo Geist for the road:

#official bugtransport 2023 media recap #again excuse any typos or whatever i can't be assed to read this over #please don't reply directly to this post i will not be reading it #I HIT IMAGE LIMIT ON HERE EVERYONE PLEASE CLAP #rider roundup #kamen rider x

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somesortofitalianroast · 1 year ago

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In Metropolis, even the mild-mannered reporters are bulletproof

Title: In Metropolis, even the mild-mannered reporters are bulletproof Link: AO3 Series: The Adventures of (Darcy) Lewis and Clark (Kent) Participant: SomeSortofItalianRoast Square filled: -Bucky Barnes Bingo: K5: Guns (card B023) Archive warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Rating: Teen Pairing: Darcy Lewis/Clark Kent Tags: Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, DC Comics References, Assassins & Hitmen, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, much funnier than tags implied, Assassination Attempt(s) Word Count: 1,147 Summary: After finally convincing Clark to join her at Avengers Tower in New York, Darcy learns about one of Bucky’s oddest assassination attempts when he was the Winter Soldier.

Or, Clark Kent has a tendency to eat bullets.

@buckybarnesbingo

#my writing #bucky barnes bingo #bucky barnes #darcy lewis #clark kent #superman

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jamietarttsnorthernattitude · 1 year ago

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You have accomplished so much and written so many words and put out such a variety of fics for the fandom this year that YOU should do an end of year wrap up!

How many stories did you post?

Which ones were your favorites?

Which one was the most satisfying to write?

The most difficult?

Rec something that you're proud of.

Wow us with whatever big thing you might want to work on next!

Show us that word count stat!

You should be very, very proud of you. I certainly am <3

Ahhhhh FRIEND you are so nice to me! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Any excuse to talk about my fics :)))))))))))))

1. How many stories did you post? I posted 38 stories!

2. Which ones were your favorites? That's like picking a favorite child! But if I haddddddd to: no thing's so sure that i can't learn to doubt it (aka Jamie is hurt during the Zava period and hides it. It does not go well), in the morning i'm bulletproof (Rupert has Jamie taken out BEFORE the final match of the season) and The Inevitability of James Tartt (Man City introspective).

3. Which one was the most satisfying to write? I don't know if it's one specific story. It was extremely satisfying to write some of the conversations between Jamie and the coaching staff in no thing's so sure that i can't learn to doubt it. And I have a few different post Mom City convos between Jamie and Ted that were satisfying. Mostly I love writing anything where people tell Jamie he's a good lad (after I put him through the ringer).

4. The most difficult? when i told you i was fine you were lied to. Someone requested some Roy whump, so I tried to give him an appendicitis. I had a longer version, but then I was driving home from another state on Friday the 13th, and my brain latched onto the idea of writing something spooky, so I kind of combined that and the comfort at the end got changed. The final product is kind of all over the place. I'm not happy with the ultimate story, but I got caught up with posting each day with whumptober, and it being Friday the 13th. I just ran out of time. I also blame the fact that I was on day 2 of one of my top 5 worst hangovers, stressed about finishing whumptober and knew I had plans or work literally every day the rest of the month. Maybe someday I’ll rewrite it when I can give it my full attention.

5. Rec something that you're proud of. I'm proud of all the fics I managed for whumptober (24!). Even though I'm still working on the final two days, I'll have done at least a chapter for each prompt once I’m finished.

6. Wow us with whatever big thing you might want to work on next! I do have a bad things happen bingo board that I want to work on, plus all the WIPs I have filling my Google Docs folder.

7. Show us that word count stat! My word count is 275,415 (I delayed answering these until I posted two new chapters of not to me, not if it's you haha)! BUT, my third fic is an extended, canon-compliant version of my first fic. The first one was 22K words, so a lot of those were adjusted slightly for the third fic, so really, it's more like 253K.

AND because this was so fun! I think it should be a tag game. So I'm tagging you @jamiesfootball to answer the same questions, as well as @sighonaraa and @fanficfanattic and anyone else that wants to play but as usual zero pressure <3

#ask box is always open #2023 #2023 ao3 asks #writing things #writing stuff #thank you thank you thank you my friend #this really made my day #seriously #thank you love you <3 #ted lasso fanfic

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bourbon-ontherocks · 2 years ago

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And it’s a wrap for tonight! Time to see how many boxes we checked with tonight’s episode!!!!

One case involves someone Morgane knows. duh, her boss got killed!

Morgane cries and/or gets wasted. Both. Both is good. Barely fifteen minutes in. No comment. 😭

Pet-involving shenanigans. Dogs. Way too many dogs this ep

Ludo does something utterly adorable. What’s more adorable than humoring your ex by indulging in family spies activity on your work hours? This man is a GEM 😘

A new character joins the team. Bleugh

Gilles x Daphné awkward flirting. Who thought that a bullet on a bulletproof jacket could do so much, huh? 😏

Something about oral hygiene. The background case that clearly nobody cared about was literally DENTISTS getting serial-killed, hello! 🪥

Also, Half the cases are blatantly implausible, you’re on thin ice, tonight’s cases were WILD (did you know that local newspaper casually published pictures of suicide victim’s family members on a vacation without the said victim? Cause I didn’t. Also, you’d think the police would have at least checked that the husband’s alibi added up? Contacted the airline? No? Okay. Leave it to Morgane then. The dentists killer case was bananas, and also Morgane’s arrest made close to zero sense)

See you next week for the update! My personal bet is that we’ll get a bingo by the first half of the season lol 😂

#hpi bingo #hpi season 3 #tf1 hpi #hpi #hpi tf1

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ghoste-catte · 1 year ago

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1,2,6

Thanks for asking <3

Do you have a word count goal for the upcoming year? Historically, I've written 200-300k words per year, but in 2023 for a variety of reasons, I fell way short of that. I felt (still feel tbh) a little bummed about that, but this year I'm hoping to focus less on raw word count and more on finishing things! I'd love for this to be the year that I get all or most of my WIPs complete - there's like 4 or 5 of them hanging out there, and I don't love that feeling.

2. Will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc? For sure! I love fandom events, both participating and running. I've already signed up for a couple of bingos: Sweet and Spicy Bingo: Winter Edition, Winter Wonderland Bingo, and Sweetheart Bingo. And I've signed up for the Bulletproof exchange and Candy Hearts. I'll also definitely keep doing the monthly "picture's worth 1k words" and 60-minute sprint challenges from @ficwip, because I feel like those have really helped me write things that are short and fun.

As for GaaLee events, I do have a couple of ideas knocking around in the back of my mind. The one I most want to run is a Non-Traditional Transformative Works fest, where people would create anything except for drawn/painted/digital art or fic. So the idea would be for folks to do things like podfic, playlists, icon sets, moodboards, filk, papercuts, crochet, poetry - you name it! I like the idea of spotlighting the many talents that our fandom has outside of the traditional!

6. Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list?

Oh, god, I have so many of these. In terms of things that I've genuinely written 0% of, there's a time loop fic that @arecu21 and I have kicked around ideas for, doing another collab. I'd like to actually crack on writing it, though I'm nervous because I've never written time loops (or any kind of time travel) before! I've done some reading and research, but I feel like I need to get a better sense for the genre before I jump right in.

Fanfic asks for the new year!

#answered #Anonymous #ask meme

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amostdelectablescribbler · 1 year ago

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WIP Intro: Steel Horses and Hot Irons

As requested by @tea-and-mercury, i am writing up a wip intro for the big ‘un. 32k words deep as of writing this. Sooo:

Genre: Action

Setting: South USA, Arizona-Texas-Nevada area. The Mojave, pretty much.

Tropes: Bigass guns, physics that doesn’t really get addressed, a whole bunch of mental illness (poor Becca), romantic sideplot, big plot twist, secondary antagonist scarier than the primary.

Tag (so i can see it): #STHI (it’s gonna work a bit like a signature for me)

Imma just put the prologue and the character work i did in because it’s just that much easier.

Prologue

5 years ago, 2035, the atom bombs were dropped. First at the USA, then Afghanistan, Russia, China, most of the EU, France shone like a strobe light before the nuclear power stations finished exploding. They all fell in the face of nuclear armageddon. All that was left were craters, rubble and uranium. A few survived and began reclaiming the barren, toxic wasteland. In Utah, there was a lot of this. The Krugers, based in Arizona, were dangerous and silent assassins that disappeared into the night when they left. The Mob, the surviving criminals from the surviving prisons. The lowest of the low and barely organised. The Survivors, who can walk off just about anything and were mostly left alone by everyone else. Wandering bands of close friends also formed, finding work as hired guns.

The Motliest Crew were renowned the best. A group of 5; 3 men, 2 women, all balls-to-the-wall insane. They had no known names, only specialties. The Marksman, Rebecca Johansson “Pew.” A sniper who allegedly never missed a shot, but was very shy, anxious and probably depressed. This is to be confirmed as there are no therapists left in Arizona, or in Alberta, Canada. The Scout, aka, Sorren Clark. “Keep up, $#§/stain.” A speedster with a mouth and a shotgun, one get’s him into trouble, the other get’s him out. Not the most useful combo in Australia, but out in the wastes, invaluable. The Brawler, aka, Claudia Vander. “I’m gonna punch him.” A large frame packed with muscle and grit hailing from South Korea and California. Her fighting skills are near unmatched.

The Demolitionist, aka, Callum Henderson. “I had a dog and his name was… Bingo!” A drunk, black, tartan-clad Scotsman with a grenade launcher and a rocket launcher. And a claymore, he has a sword too. The Gunman, aka, Rasputin Romanov. “Shoot first, ask question while reloading. Spetsnaz 101.” A man of few words and a Spetsnaz soldier from Russia, with a really heavy accent and a really heavy gun.

Each of these wandering guns-for-hire wore a face mask or helmet to both obscure their identities and filter the noxious cocktail of chemicals in the air in some places. They were all armoured to various degrees with assorted run-down military kit that had been scavenged. The Gunman was clad in hulking Juggernaut military gear, the Demolitionist in assorted pads and plates, the Scout in Moto leathers and a bulletproof vest, the Brawler wore similar kit to the Scout and the Marksman was in ill-fitting, minimalist spec-ops kit. Minimalist because only a third of what they found came close to fitting her. Each suit was tailor-made (except the Marksman) by it’s wearer, each adding their own personal flourishes and decorative elements, like sketchily-woven tartan, tally marks, oil crayon, the works.

Now, the character work i did (and added):

Rasputin and Becca:

Callum, Sorren and Claudia split up to go and have fun, leaving Becca with Rasputin. They sat in the hotel room, looking at each other quizzically. Becca had curled herself up in a blanket nest across the room from Rasputin’s massive frame that was posted on a bed, leaning into the wall, staring blankly into the space between air molecules. He looked around, registered Becca’s comfort ball, cracked his back and shifted his posture to something more relaxed.

“So.”

“Mm?” Becca mumbled from her nest, poking an anxious head out into the dim light.

“Why are you hiding?”

Becca paused in thought, eyes darting from Rasputin to the floor, to the roof before finally talking, her own indecision caving to his patience.

“I’m worried.” She whispered into her blankets, “I’m worried about them.”

“Hmm. In Spetsnaz, we had a good cure for worries. We would sit and talk about worry. You want to try?”

“Mhm” she slowly heaved her miniature frame out of the blanket nest and towards Rasputin, who lay down on the bed fully, shuffling along to make space, further dwarfing Becca. She curled up next to him, heart rate going from cardio to moving. Listening to his huge heart slowed down hers, his relaxed body position relaxing hers. There was a security in being so close to something so large, like swimming with a whale.

“So. Why are you worrying, Becca?”

“I- I’m worried for Callum and Sorren and Claudia. I don’t know what might happen to them. Even if I was there with them, I would just slow them down, but I like knowing where they are so that I know they can protect me if they have to.” Rasputin’s huge bald head turned around

“I will tell you this, Becca: I have protected all of them before. I can protect you.”

“There are monsters out there than can hurt them?”

“But none them can hurt me. I am Russian. I am Spetsnaz. Nothing hurt me.” Rasputin’s gravelly, broken English was somehow comforting.

“Really?”

“Da.”

Callum:

Another cold, dark night came as the red sun plummeted below the horizon. In the town, there was a bar. A man sat alone, at the end of the bar, drinking from a flagon of foamy beer and people-watching and checking his watch, waiting. For something or someone to spur him into action. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

An hour passed and he finished his beer, ordering another from the barkeep. The night crept on fruitlessly for the man. The stream of people coming in and out slowed to a trickle as he waited in the dark bar, wooden flagon in hand, beer getting colder, patience wearing thinner. Finally, one man entered who caught his attention. A tall, burly figure with a tartan kilt and sash over his impressive armour and helmet. The man held himself proud and tall, confident in himself and his abilities, but not arrogant. He walked with a muted swagger as he progressed to the bar and made his order, shifting the claymore on his back to avoid the seat. Some whiskey or other on the rocks. He had an enormously Scottish accent and as he removed his helmet to drink, it was revealed that he wore an eyepatch and had a nasty burn scar plastered on the left side of his face, sprawling under the eyepatch and barely visible in the shadow.

The man stalked forwards silently, sitting beside the Scotsman without making a single quiet sound.

“So, is it really you?” The hooded man had a smooth, melodious voice, with a noticeable Mexican accent.

“Who’s really who?” Callum replied, unflapped by a stranger randomly appearing beside him. In the better light, the man saw belts of grenades wrapped around the scot’s waist and bulges from beneath his sash.

“You. Are you really the famous Callum Henderson? Legendary demolition man for the Motliest Crew?” The stranger’s voice somewhere between admiration and mockery.

“So tha’s what they’re callin’ us. ‘The Motliest Crew.’ ‘Bit demeaning, no?”

“Not at all. I’m a huge fan of yours. I’ve been watching your antics for a while now and i was wondering if I could get an autograph?” The strange man spoke from beneath a hood, eyes glinting red in the gloom, a crocodile grin on his face as he reached i to his poncho and coat,

“Aye, sure. Tell me where tae sign.” Callum turned to get a pen from his pocket and when he turned back around, a tattered, sun-bleached “wanted: dead or alive” poster of him was placed on the dark wooden bar. The wind whistled as the man tapped the ‘dead’ part, “Just here, please.”

“Yer a bounty hunter, eh?”

“I am. One of the best, too. The Wolf of District 13.”

“So, wolf, is this the best yeh have? Vague, indiscernible threats and uncanny looks?” Callum replied, showing no fear of the man beside him, as he downed his scotch, putting a 5€$ bill beneath the glass. The Wolf chuckled for a second, before going dangerously calm, retreating into the dimly lit bar and drawing himself up to his full, enormous height.

Cybernetics whirred to life from beneath the wolf’s poncho and hood, as his eyes glowed red and a hiss of steam whistled from his elbows. Callum stood, grabbing his sword, “So this is how yeh wannae do this?”

“Yes.” Hissed the wolf, as his mechanical legs grew a third joint, making them look like the legs of a wolf, lean and strong and good for chasing. Callum stood, taking the poster to inspect it. He looked for a while, put it on the bar, signed it, pocketed his pen and walked out of the bar. The Wolf lowered his guard in disbelief, hunching back over to examine the wanted poster. He had circled “Dead” and signed it at the bottom. The wolf finished his beer and sulked off into the night, after paying his tab.

Claudia:

The Wolf of District Seven stalked down the back alleys of the Last City, following the cheering to a dingy looking warehouse with lights and shouts coming from within. Loud, aggressive music blasted from huge speakers, the bass shaking the walls. The Wolf entered the building by walking through the front door guarded by bouncers without being noticed at all. In the centre of the building, a ring had been made, inside of which, there were two fighters. One was a large man with massive arms and cybernetic reinforcements on his elbows and shoulders and he wore brass knuckles on his ham-fists and a metal plate on his jaw. The other fighter -the Brawler- was a smaller woman with broad shoulders and strong, lean arms. Claudia was still tall, but this other fighter was massive, yet her confident stance, and side-guard indicated extreme proficiency in her trade. The large man wore brass knuckles, she wore steel boxing gloves haphazardly manufactured from scrap sheet-metal and cast-iron.

The man brought a standard boxing guard up and his opponent steadied herself before bouncing on her toes. The large man angled himself to his opponent and swung a huge haymaker which was caught by the woman, pinned to her side and she started slamming him with crushing blows to the liver and ribs. Each blow made a cracking and a clanging as steel smashed bone. With one final powerful uppercut, she released the mans arm and slammed him in the chin, knocking him unconscious before he hit the cold stone floor.

The Wolf came through the crowd without detection or suspicion of a tall, hunched figure in a black poncho and hood hiding the figure’s face. She called into the crowd, “Who’s next? C’mon, dude! It said fight ring on the poster, not warm-up gym!” The Wolf took his chance and approached Claudia, weaving through the crowd, “I will fight you, if nobody else wants to, that is.” The Brawler looked at her new opponent, weighing up the fighting skills of this strange hooded figure, “Bring it, big dude!” she tapped her chin with her glove, taunting the Wolf. “You know, I’m a big fan of you and your crew, Brawler. Before we start, can I please get an autograph?” The Wolf asked, crocodile grin spreading beneath his hood, red eyes catching the light as he withdrew a pen and wanted poster from the folds of his poncho. His metal limbs glinted in the spotlight, clawed steel fingers on full display. He handed her the pen, “Just here please.” He tapped under ‘DEAD’ in ‘Dead or alive.’

Claudia signed the poster in pen before she realised what it was, stepping back as she realised, “Trying to bring in the reward money?”

“Have to make a living somehow. It’s not personal.” The Wolf removed his black poncho to reveal a body made mostly of metal and machine parts. Steam hissed in the shining pistons operating the Wolf’s arms and legs. Guards were raised and it began.

The Wolf dropped low, correctly anticipating a jab to the face, claws grating on the cold stone floor. “Slow.” He cackled with glee, swerving past a knee aimed to the gut and sweeping the supporting leg from below her. “Sloppy.” He taunted from behind Claudia as she got up and readied herself to fight properly. He took the next punch that came for him, a misdirect left hook into an elbow to the chin and a slam to the ribs. Both massive blows made a sickening clunk as metal was slammed together violently. “Weak.” Growled the Wolf, as steam hissed. Before she could process it, the Wolf’s metal fist was an inch before her face, and promptly slamming hard into said face, pushing her backwards. The next blow came before she was done staggering. A monstrously powerful ridgehand to the lower back, snapping the Brawler back up, only to take a huge uppercut to the liver and a sweeping kick to the back of the knee, bringing her down into a spinning back kick. She was out before she hit the floor. The Wolf drew his clawed hand into a stabbing blade, winding up to deliver the killing blow, before the referee stepped in, stopping the fight. “That’s enough. You’ve beaten her, prize ‘s in the pot.”

“Fine. I’ll take your bribe, but that doesn’t pull her bounty off the board.” The Wolf growled, cursing under his breath as he left the dingy arena.

and finally, Sorren:

The Wolf of District 13 sat at the end of another bar with another mug of beer. The MotoGP was on the TV, engines roaring through the abused speakers. One man sat watching, he had a beer in his gloved hand and a confidence in his demeanour. “I know you’re there, mate. I’ll get to you when Ducati finish this lap in first.” The Scout waved a hand in the Wolf’s direction, before retreating it and sipping on a gin. The Wolf stared in awe and bitterness at the scout’s arrogance, he had never been dismissed by a target before. Ignored once or twice, acknowledged every time, but never dismissed. This was not going to fly. The Wolf advanced silently towards his quarry, making no sound, red eyes glowing with malice. The Scout waved his hand again, tutting. “No, I said I’ll get to you in a bit. I keep my word. Sit back down, finish your drink, and put the knife away.”

“And if I don’t?” The Wolf muttered under his breath.

“Them you’ll go down in history as the most boring assassin ever. If you want to kill me, you’ll do it on my schedule.”

“Idiot.”

“No, you idiot, I’m reckless. The difference being one is being thick as bricks and the other is having no regard for your own safety.”

The Wolf was a very patient killer, he would wait for days for his quarry to show themself, but after 5 minutes with this intolerable little man he had very much lost it. He went in with his knife and went straight for Sorren’s spine. He missed the spinal cord because of the Scout’s impossible reaction speed, but instead his blade was buried in his lumbar.

“Ouch. Welp, I’m off to die somewhere pretty. See you in hell.” Sorren groaned as he got up from his stool, blade still stuck in his back, and walked out of the bar bleeding everywhere, hopped on his motorbike, and caned it back to the Hotel California deep within the sprawling city.

-end-

Btw i got more wips to do more intros on, since you’re so desicated and insist on reading to the end of these :3

#wip intro #STHI #writblr #creative writing

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ravagedarkness · 2 years ago

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Spider-Man: Home Rebuilt, Chapter 43: Rescue

Frictor audibly sighed. “I know you’re freaking lyin’,” he deadpanned.

“I’m really not,” Ned assured. “Look, if I was, don’t you think MJ would be slugging me right now, given the situation?

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I need to know because I don’t have ‘Facing Dragons’ on my bingo card today. Come to think of it, I’ve never had that on my bingo card ever”

“Dude, you fought with and against aliens from different galaxies, on both Earth and another planet. You rubbed shoulders with Norse gods. You fought Captain America, a supersoldier from the 1940’s. You fought the most powerful sorcerer on Earth – and won using geometry. And right now, you’re standing with a seven feet tall former Marine who is bulletproof, a former Air Force Special Forces officer who can shoot powerful beams out of his eyes, a ninja who can phase through walls, and a vigilante that robs drug dealers and mentally controls friction. But dragons are where you draw the line at?”

“He has a point there,” Shadowcat pointed out. I opened my mouth, trying to argue. But I closed my mouth. It wasn’t the time to argue. We needed to figure out a solution. At least that’s what I told myself – I really didn’t feel like conceding that Ned had a point. Was it a petty? Perhaps… okay, it was. Shadowcat continued. “That would explain why the security response was rather small. Twenty guards for us? I hate to toot our horns, but I expected at least a hundred.”

“So how do we override the console, Bob?” Cyclops demanded as he turned towards the captive guard.

“I don’t know, really!” Bob exclaimed, putting his hands up defensively. “All I know is that only personnel from that floor can override it! I don’t know any-”

Bob wasn’t able to complete his sentence before he was blasted in the head by Cyclops. Cyclops looked down at the guard, who was out cold. He then took in a breath.

“Let’s see what these dragons are about,” Cyclops stated. He looked down at the console and tapped the screen, hitting the option for the fourth floor.

“I always said I’d do anything to get Carmilla back,” Frictor muttered. “I guess it’s time to put my money where my mouth is.”

As the doors closed and the elevator descended, we all faced forward towards the door. Frenzy readied her shotgun. Shadowcat pulled out two sai from her holsters and palmed them. Cyclops had his fingers on the side of the visor. Frictor adjusted his jersey as he bounced on his feet. I myself deployed the Pincers. Within seconds, the four burgundy spider-like limbs materialized from the back of my suit. I didn’t even have to ask Edith to do it. The Neural-Reactive Interface allowed me to do it with a mere thought. After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator reached the fourth floor. The doors then opened slowly. The first thing that hit me was the swirling red lights that bathed the floor and the sirens that sounded through the PA Sytem on that floor. However, my attention was taken away from those things when I took in the sight ahead of me.

As Ned said, there were two dragons on this floor. Both of them were rather large. If I had to take a guess, they were each the size of horses that are featured on Budweiser commercials. They looked like what one would expect a dragon to look like. They each had four legs with clawed feet and two leathery wings not unlike a bat or pterosaur. They both had long tails and scaly skin along with yellow eyes with no irises from what I can tell. One of them was purple and the other one was green. The purple dragon had two horns that pointed towards the rear, a long narrow snout, and two long fangs that protruded out of its lower jaw and towards the sky. The green dragon had a rounder snout with a horn on its nose. Spines ran down from the top of its head to just after where its backside ended and its tail began. The green dragon was on the floor, laying on its stomach. Somehow, I had a feeling it wasn’t doing so hot. My feeling was reinforced as the purple dragon gently nudged it with its muzzle. All around them lay several security guards – way more than 20, perhaps even more than 50. Some of them looked burnt. Others, from what I could see, sported some really gnarly slash marks.

“…Is Ned right?” I asked in awe as I shook my head. “Are we seriously looking at dragons right now?”

“We’re looking at dragons, bruh,” Frictor replied, his voice betraying how dumbfounded he was. “We’re looking at two whole behind dragons.”

“Where did they even come from?” Shadowcat inquired.

“Maybe they’re from Camelot,” Ned suggested over the communicators.

“Does Camelot even exist?” Betty asked.

“If Asgard exists, then I don’t think Camelot would be out of the question,” MJ pointed out. “I have to say, the dragons are kind of cute.”

At that, Frictor scoffed. “Easy for you to say from the outside, I’d say.”

“So how are we going to handle this?” Frenzy asked as she looked towards Cyclops. Cyclops glanced at her before he looked back at the dragons in front of us.

“Hey, Guy In The Chair, would you kindly tell me where there’s a console nearby?” he asked.

“Let me check the security system,” Ned replied. After some seconds, Ned spoke again. “So, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is, there’s a console on this floor, and there seems to be a scientist slumped next to it. He just might have a keycard we can use.”

“The bad news?” I asked.

“Well, the console is on the wall right across from you… which means…”

“We have to deal with these dragons,” Frictor finished with a sigh. “Welp, guess we have to play Monster Hunter.”

“Maybe we don’t,” Shadowcat said as she put away her sai. “Let me handle this. I can phase through them.”

“Are you sure?” Cyclops asked in concern. “You don’t know what they’re capable of.”

At that, Shadowcat scoffed and smirked. “What? You think they’re going to be the first things that can harm me while I’m phased?”

“That’s always a possibility.”

Shadowcat’s smirk faded. She paused before she looked towards the ground. “It never crossed my mind.”

“Let me go with you,” Frictor stated. “If worse comes to worse, I can be a distraction so you can do your thing.”

“Then in that case, we should all go,” Frenzy pointed out. “Especially since me and Spidey can take a lot more punishment than Frictor and Cyclops.” She looked at the aforementioned two. “Respectfully.”

“No offense taken,” Frictor replied.

“You have a point,” Cyclops agreed. “Okay, let’s approach slowly. We won’t attack them unless we’re forced to. Understood?”

“You got it,” I replied.

With Shadowcat taking the lead, we slowly moved out of the elevator. We walked forward at a very deliberate pace. We made it all of five steps before we got the purple dragon’s attention. Maybe it heard our footsteps. Maybe it saw us out of its peripheral vision. Whatever the reason, it quickly moved in front of its companion and let loose a roar. On instinct we all stopped. The dragon bared its teeth at us as it growled.

“Whoa, easy there big fella!” Frictor called out with a chuckle. “I don’t know what happened before we got here, but I promise we’re not with these guys.”

“We’re just your Friendly Neighborhood X-Men,” I added. Everyone else looked at me. I looked back at them and shrugged.

“Another modifier to the list,” Shadowcat muttered.

During this, the dragon stopped growling. We all looked at the dragon as it no longer bared its teeth at us. Slowly, it started to walk towards us. Cyclops had his right hand lowered. But his fingers twitched, which told me he was ready to blast the creatures if he needed to. Frenzy grabbed hold of her shotgun. I reached over with one of my Pincers and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked over at me. I shook my head. She glared at me, but reluctantly let go her rifle, leaving it hanging. I nodded before I looked back at the dragon.

The dragon finally closed the gap. It started sniffing at Shadowcat’s stomach. It sniffed for some seconds before it rose up on its hind legs and started sniffing at her face. Shadowcat chuckled sheepishly as she held her hands up.

“See, we’re not the bad guys,” she said. After some seconds, the dragon lowered itself back down to all fours. It then made a bit of a whining as it turned its head towards its companion. We all looked at the green dragon.

“I don’t think it’s doing too hot,” I said. “Maybe we should check on it.”

“Are you serious?” Frenzy interjected. “We’re here to rescue Carmilla, and you’re worried about a dragon?”

“Carmilla would want it this way,” Frictor refuted, albeit with a voice that carried a hint of reluctance. “Come on. Let’s see what’s going on with them.” We walked up to the green dragon, with Frenzy letting loose a groan of annoyance. I walked around the creature, stopping briefly when it lifted its head up and gently nudged me in the stomach. I finally stopped at its side, noticing the six bullet holes in its flank.

“Guys,” I called out as I kneeled down. The rest of the group moved to me, with Frictor taking a knee to the right of me.

“Yikes, they lit them up something nasty,” Frictor commented as he shook his head. “Shadowcat, think you can phase out the bullets?”

“You got it,” she replied. She stepped up and kneeled down to my left. She then brought her right forward before it phasing it right into the dragon’s side. She went almost elbow deep before she slowly moved the arm around. After a couple of minutes, she pulled her hand out before she opened it, showing us the bloodied bullets that lay in her part.

“Well, that was the hard part,” Frictor stated. “So how are we going to patch these wounds?”

“I have some tampons with me,” Frenzy offered as she opened up one of her pouches.

“Wait, you can use tampons for wounds?” Ned asked.

“Yes you can,” MJ replied. “That is what they were originally made for.”

Frenzy passed off the tampons to Frictor. After taking them, he tore open the paper wrappings of each one. One by one, he’d grab a tampon before he stuffed it into a bullet hole as gently as he could. The green dragon let loose a noise of discomfort.

“I know, I know,” Frictor whispered gently. “I’ll be done soon enough, I promise you.” After a few minutes, he had every bullet hole plugged. After that, he stood up and backed away. “There, all done.” Slowly, the dragon stood up. It turned its head and nudged its nose at the wounds for a moment. It then turned its head toward Frictor before it blew a small puff of smoke in his face. Frictor coughed as he fanned the smoke away from his face with his right hand. “I’m just going to assume that’s your way of saying thanks. So, you’re welcome.”

“I’ll take care of the override,” I declared. I jumped up, shot a web towards the ceiling, and swung towards the opposite wall. I broke my line and landed on all fours. As Ned said, there was a scientist slumped against the wall next to the console. I took a knee and started searching through the scientist’s lab coat. “I feel like I’m looting a corpse on Fallout.”

“Why don’t you check to see if he has some Sunset Sarsaparilla,” Ned jokingly suggested. I felt around until I felt a can. I pulled it out. I smirked as I recognized the drink.

It was a can of Cocaine.

“Hey, MJ, thirsty?” I joked.

“Spidey, if you so much as even bring that can back with you, I’m shoving it up your ass,” MJ threatened. I chuckled. I knew she didn’t mean it. It just happened to be a coincidence that I decided to put the can back into the pocket I found it in before I continued searching. A second later, I found the keycard. I stood up and stepped to my left so I was in front of the console. I swiped the keycard. After that went, I went through the options before I ended the alert. The lights turned to normal and the sirens stopped. I didn’t realize how much of a nuisance they were until I felt the relief in my ears. With the alert ended, I took the keycard with me as I swung back towards the others, cut the line, and landed on my feet.

“Okay, we should be able to get to the fifth floor,” I announced.

“Finally,” Frictor said. We all turned and walked towards the elevator. Once on the lift, I stepped up to the console. I swiped the card and saw that the fifth floor was finally able to be accessed. I was about to select the floor when Frictor spoke up. “Whoa, where are you two going?” I looked up to see the dragons walking towards us. “Guys, I understand we just helped you, but…” They ignored him and stepped onto the lift. “…Oh, okay. This is what we’re doing, huh?” The green dragon nudged its snout into his side. Meanwhile, the purple dragon rubbed its head against Shadowcat’s stomach, prompting her to chuckle heartily.

“Looks like we gained two allies,” Cyclops noted with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Seems like it,” I replied. “Going down.” I selected the option for the bottom floor. As the lift descended, I looked over at Frictor. He fidgeted a bit, shifting his weight from one foot to another as he grabbed his facemask and moved his helmet around a bit. I knew he was nervous, to say the least. I figured a little small talk could help. So, I spoke. “So… think our new friends have names?”

“Somehow, I doubt it,” Frenzy stated as she looked at the dragons. “…I hate to admit it, but they’re kind of cute.”

I nodded in agreement. “Maybe Shadowcat and Frictor should name them, since the dragons seem to have taken a particular liking to them.”

Shadowcat looked up towards the ceiling in thought. She then looked down at the purple dragon and smiled. “How do you like the name Lockheed?” she asked. The dragon let loose a rumbling sound from its throat. Something told me that it approved the name. Something also told me that these dragons are more intelligent than I was giving them credit for.

Frictor looked down at his apparent dragon companion. He then tilted his head briefly. “I’ll just call you Puff.” In response, the dragon raised its head and let loose a puff of smoke. Frictor chuckled. “Well, there you go.”

I smiled at the sight. Unfortunately, the moment of levity came to an end when the lift reached the floor. We all looked forward as the door opened. What we saw ahead of was a row of cells. From what I could tell, each cell door was completely solid, save for a barred window for viewing and hatches that I assumed was for giving those held captive their food.

“We’re finally here,” Cyclops stated. He then reached over and placed a hand on Frictor’s shoulder. “Are you ready for this?”

“I am… no matter what the outcome is,” Frictor declared. He took in a deep breath before he nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

We all walked out of the elevator. As we walked, I looked around, trying to see if I could get a clue as to how we can find Carmilla. As we passed a cell door, I noticed that there were a series of numbers and letters on it. I came to a stop when I felt my senses buzz slightly. I looked to my right, looking at three cell doors. One was labeled WOSM119. Another was labeled USM98. The third was labeled ASM149.

“Everything okay, Spidey?” Shadowcat asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “…I just got a weird feeling, that’s all. Nothing major.” I tilted my head. “Hey, Edith, we could use a little help. Is there a database we can access so we can find Carmilla Black?”

“I’m searching through the systems now,” Edith informed. After a couple of minutes, she spoke again. “I found the database. I’m accessing it now… Access complete, searching database for Carmilla Black… I have found a match. She is currently in cell AFV2 dash 7. I’m uploading a map to both your HUD and Frictor’s HUD. This map is based on the ground plan of this floor. You all should be able to navigate this floor a lot easier.”

I clapped my hands together as relief washed over me. “Thanks a lot, Edith. If you had a flesh and blood body, I’d buy you dinner.”

At that, Edith chuckled heartily. “I’m happy to be of help.”

I looked at Frictor, who lifted his head slightly. No doubt the map appeared on his HUD. I saw the map in my vision. There were three dots on the map. Two of them were very close together – I figured that was me and Frictor. The third dot was quite a bit a ways from our current location. That had to be our destination.

“I’ll lead the way,” Frictor declared. “Follow me.”

He began to walk, and the others followed. I tried to ignore the eerie feeling I was getting. That proved to be a challenge, when, every now again, there would be voices from the cells we passed by. It became a bigger challenge when I realized that some of the voices weren’t human. I really wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. I kept quiet as we made our way through what was basically a prison. After several moments, we finally found the cell. We came to a stop. I stepped up to the cell and read the label.

“AFV2-7,” I stated. “This is it.” I then looked over my shoulder at the others. “Okay, guys, I need you all to get out of the way of the door. I’m taking this door down.” Without a word, the group parted. I did a backflip, putting some distance between myself and the cell door. I shot two strands webbing. They sailed through the air before they stuck to the top two corners of the door. I cut the lines, but held on to them, gripping them hard with my hand. I then took a step back and pulled as hard as I could. The door wouldn’t budge at first. Eventually, however, the sound of metal creaking and concrete cracking could be heard. I took another step back. Seconds later, the door was pulled off its hinges. I let go of the webbing and jumped to the side, just dodging the door as it fell to the ground with a huge thud. We all gathered on top of the door and in front of the now open cell.

Inside was a woman who didn’t look much older than me, if at all. She had dark green hair. She had a set of intense green eyes. Her skin was pale – something told me she hasn’t seen actual daylight for a very long time. She was shorter than me, but not by much. She was dressed in a rather ugly tan jumpsuit with the letters and numbers “AFV2-7” over the left side of her chest. On her feet were simple white sneakers that looked rather worn. One thing that stuck out to me was this metal cylinder that was over left forearm and hand.

Odd, I thought to myself.

She was in a fighting stance when we saw her. She had her eyes locked onto us and her teeth were bared. However, after some seconds, her expression softened as recognition came over her face.

“…Spider-Man?” she said.

“Not just me,” I replied. “I got friends with me.”

She looked around at all of us as she slowly walked forward. Her mouth went ajar as she took everyone in.

“…Shadowcat?” Carmilla asked as her eyes landed on Kitty.

“The very same,” Shadowcat replied.

She looked at Scott. “Cyclops?”

“I am,” Cyclops confirmed.

She looked up at Frenzy and tilted her head. “…You… I don’t think I know you.”

“You don’t,” Frenzy replied. “I’m Frenzy. I’m helping the X-Men.”

Carmilla’s eyes narrowed. “X-Men?” She looked at Cyclops. “I thought the X-Men are defunct.”

“They were defunct,” Frictor spoke up, stepping forward slowly. “We just revived the name some weeks ago and have Spider-Man in the fold.”

Carmilla tilted her head. Her eyes then went wide. “…Frictor?”

Frictor replied quietly. “Yeah, Carm’, it’s me.”

Carmilla stepped up to him. The rest of us backed away, giving them room – except for Puff, who remained at Frictor’s side. She reached over and grabbed one of Frictor’s sleeves. “…What is this? What did I tell you about walking around in flashy costumes?”

“‘Flashy gear gets you shot’, I know. But it’s functional, you know? It can handle bullets, especially when I use my powers with it.” He took in a breath as he bowed his head. “I… Um… I also… It’s just… You used to call me All-American. I figured I’d have Spidey and his girl make a suit so I can look like one when we find you.”

Carmilla let go of his sleeve and grabbed his facemask. She moved it, forcing him to make eye contact with her. “I thought I was dead to you.”

“You were,” Frictor replied with a tone of regret. “But… I didn’t know the full story and I didn’t even give you a fair shake.”

“No you didn’t,” Carmilla deadpanned with a glare. She then sighed. “But, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have acted the way you did if the roles were reversed.” She smiled slightly. “…I figured texting you three would be a longshot. But I didn’t expect for you to care enough to come.”

“You’d be surprised,” Cyclops spoke. “He wanted to come straight here guns blazing. He even yelled at me when I said we needed to do our due diligence.”

“He’s been missing you for a long time,” I added. “He thought that, when you disappeared, you no longer wanted anything to do with him.”

“He didn’t even leave the house outside of work and patrols until very recently,” Shadowcat stated.

Carmilla looked at Cyclops, Shadowcat, and I for a few moments. She then looked back at Frictor.

“Is this true?” she asked.

“I literally went to therapy over you,” Frictor replied. He sighed. “…I got a lot to apologize for and a lot I need to tell you. And if you want to be mad at me for a while, I get it and I’m okay with it, just as long as you’re okay.” Carmilla closed her eyes and bowed her head.

“…You fool… you sap… you mensch.” She took in a breath before she raised her head, stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around Frictor’s neck as she embraced him. Without hesitation, Frictor wrapped her arms around abdomen and lifted her up off of her feet as he hugged her back. “We got a lot to talk about Frictor… but I’m happy you’re here.”

“Am I still your All-American?”

“That depends. Am I your Chicken Carmesan again?”

“You already know you are.”

“Then that’s your answer.”

Frictor chuckled as he lowered Carmilla to her feet. He pulled away from her a bit, but gently placed his helmeted head against her forehead.

As I watched them, I couldn’t help but feel relieved. I was able to do my part in this whole mission. And what made it all better was that we got the best possible outcome. I was happy for myself. And, obviously, I was happy for my fellow X-Men, Frictor especially. But, a little selfishly, I was internally happy over my little victory.

“So, I hate to interrupt this feel good moment,” Ned stated. “But you guys need to get out of there quick. I just intercepted some chatter – reinforcements have been called in and they’ll be arriving in about ten minutes.”

“Of course,” Cyclops muttered out. “Okay, everyone, we need to head out right now.”

“Okay, we’re rollin’,” Frictor said. “Can you run okay?”

“I can,” Carmilla assured. She then looked over at Lockheed and Puff, who looked at her curiously. “…Okay, I’m not the only one who can see these dragons, am I?”

Frictor shook his head. “Nope.”

“Okay, good… let’s go.”

With that, we all ran for the elevator.

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renownedagent · 2 months ago

Note

a kiss after treating a wound ( okay but first time kissing?? )

the life of an agent was definitely full of its ups and downs. this time, marcus had returned from a mission, taking minor gunshot wounds. whilst his suit was designed to withstand some, it wasn't completely bulletproof. he went to see @clochanam, a friend he knew that would probably help if he looked worse for wear which he did.

marcus was impressed, she was pretty handy when it came to stitches and patching up gunshot wounds. his brown hues would lock onto her eyes as he spoke to her. " aisling, this wasn't definitely on my bingo card to visit you spilling blood all over your apartment floor, so i deeply apologise on that front. "

after a moment, he leaned in close to thank her with a soft and gentle kiss. " here's something to thank you for the trouble & helping me.. in my time of need. " his lips gently pressed against hers, giving a soft tender kiss as he thanked her for saving his life.

#✧ ・ / threads #✧ ・ / answered #clochanam #✧ ・ / queue.

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markanddebbie-protectionprogram · 1 year ago

Text

LET'S GOOOOOO

excited thoughts under cut agsjagshaga

i never knew i needed the rae-rex friendship but now i'm glad it's here!!

MISS MA'AM DEBBIE DROP THE NAME OF YOUR BOOK CLUB LEMME JOIN YOU PLSSSS

WILLIAM AND AMBER FRIENDSHIP LET'S GOOOOO (they didn't have much of a chance at the college campus tour ep BUT they had potential at the end of s1 and i'm glad there's a big chance it'll be explored!! look how close and casually they are talking to each other!! they're best friends now!!)

[clutching my knees and rocking myself in fear] pls don't make it weird pls don't make it weird pls don't make it weird-

TWO BOXES CROSSED FROM MY BINGO BULLETPROOF AND SHAPESMITH ARE HERE BAYBEHHHHH

S2 POSTER

AAAAHHHH

#ngl the almost there reminded me of tiana's song i highkey wish that's what's playing in the bus that song is great!!#NOW WE WAIT FOR THE TRAILER AHHHHHH

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x-heesy · 2 years ago

Text

Intomysoul

Wonderful I could cry 😭

In short, we came here on the rim

Years are on our neck, arms are in hand, journal

It's impossible not to go crazy

At least you just relax a bit, life

No one will ever get out of you alive anyway.

Viruses on one side, croupiers on the other

The price for the rest if you pull your own plug

Captain, I'll get off at the nearest trash can

Don't shake too much, I'll spill

My jelly-like mental balance

Everyone is happy except all of us

The homeland is in turmoil

Ace flags around your neck

Wedding place or murder scene?

Let's see bingo

Bomb the mountains I trust with paranoia

hole output vest bulletproof felek

Casualty means essential life, waiting for death

Like a ballpoint pen, you will always run out

Breathe at the wheel

destination center

I'm in prison

I dug a cure, I'm in the tunnel

My home is my broken dreams

If the thief enters, he will run away.

I'm out of depression

No matter how far I go, I'm always at the beginning

One moment in the sky, one moment in the ground

I don't even have a taste

Depresyondan Çiktim Boşluktayim (I'm Out of Depression)by Lalalar 🇹🇷

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thisbrokenmask · 4 years ago

Text

A Little Medical Magic

Title: A Little Medical Magic

Pairing: Seokjin x reader

Genre: Meet-cute?, fluff, hospital au

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 5.1k

Song inspiration: Dope (music video)

A/N: So I’m very aware that I’m nowhere close to finishing my bingo card before the end of the challenge (the end of this month), but I’m going to try and write them all anyway, no matter how long it takes. My next submission for ficswithluv’s Bulletproof Bingo Event is my Dope inspired drabble, and this one takes inspo from the video rather than the song itself. Gotta love some Dr Seokjin <3

“Just a little longer, darling, I promise,” you speak softly into the hair of the boy in your arms, holding him close to your chest and rocking him gently. He whimpers, exhausted from the hours of sobbing and screaming he’d already endured throughout the night. You kiss his temple, pleased to feel his skin has cooled slightly despite the warmth that still radiates from him and sheen of sweat that still lingers.

You’ve been sitting in the A&E waiting room for just under half an hour, but it feels like much longer when your son has cried through most of his waking hours over the last two days. You’ve done everything you can, tried every medicine and home remedy you’ve had access to, but Iseul’s condition hasn’t improved. It started with a high temperature and gradually grew into a fever that you have been unable to break and you know better than to leave him suffering any longer. You’re trying to keep calm for his sake, knowing that he’s intuitive and perceptive enough to pick up on your fear even if he is only three years old.

“Mrs Y/l/n?” A nurse holding a clipboard calls your name across the room, although the prefix catches you off guard at first. You blink a few times before realising she means you, gathering Iseul in your arms before grabbing your purse to follow her. Iseul wraps his arms around your neck, snuggling into your chest and whining at the movement.

“It’s Miss Y/l/n,” you say as politely as you can, offering a smile before she can even begin to form an apology. “Don’t worry, most people assume. It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

You briefly remember now how you used to meekly allow people to assume you were married just because you had a son despite the absence of a ring of your finger. It didn’t take long for you to start correcting people, however, taking pride in everything you were achieving as a single mother rather than submitting to society’s attempts to shame you for not being with the father, let alone not being married. But when you’d found out you were pregnant just a few months into your last relationship, your still-new boyfriend had panicked and scarpered, so you felt no remorse at not being with him considering how easily he’d left you on your own.

The very second Iseul was put into your arms at his birth, you were besotted, and you’d known then, as long as you had your son by your side, you could face anything the world had to throw at you. The last three years haven't been easy by any means, juggling motherhood and your career, but you couldn’t even imagine now what your life would be like now without your son.

The nurse shows you into a consultation room, telling you the doctor will be with you in a moment before she leaves. You lay Iseul down on the examination bed and unwrap his hands from your neck despite his complaints, taking them in one of yours instead as you sit beside him. You stroke his hair softly, pushing it away from his forehead as you do so, and hum the sweetest melody you know. Your mother used to sing it to you when you were a child and the tune immediately came back to your memory when Iseul was born, as if it were a secret song only mothers knew. It has always settled him and you take comfort in the fact that you can at least give him that when your medicines haven’t worked.

As he gazes up at you, his face red and watery eyes shining under the fluorescent lights, you feel a sharp tug at the ever-present pull on your heart. It’s like a thread immediately unravelled in your heart when you gave birth to him, the other end attached to your son, pulling you towards him no matter where either of you were. You wish you could help him, that you didn’t have to bring him into the hospital environment that you hate so much at three in the morning, but you know this is what’s best for him.

The door suddenly opens behind you, making you jump slightly, and you turn to see the doctor walk in. You’re not sure if he looks so tall because you’re sitting down or if he really is that tall, but you immediately notice how you’re surprised that the small smile on his face actually reaches his eyes as he walks over to the desk on the other side of the room, white coat billowing out behind him.

Your last experience with a hospital doctor was when Iseul was born and, despite it being one of the greatest moments of your life, you can’t help the ghost of shame that creeps up your spine when you remember the way your doctor spoke to and about you. Yes, you’d been young, single and with your mother instead of the baby’s father, but you’d never expected such an emotionally detached reaction from the doctor. The nurses had looked after you incredibly, always making sure you were comfortable before and after Iseul’s arrival, but you’d never forget overhearing the doctor as he left, his assertion that he had another baby to deliver - this time to a “proper family”. Ever since, you’d had a wary disposition against doctors, constantly on alert that they would tell you that you were doing things wrong by being a single mother and not granting Iseul a male presence in his life, as if that were the most valuable thing in the world.

But this doctor seems a lot younger and, while you try not to let any prejudice shape your opinion, you can’t help but think he looks much more welcoming than any doctor you’ve met before. Maybe it’s because he’s a paediatrician, or maybe it’s the way his dark eyes seem to be permanently shining with a smile, but you instantly feel your own wariness beginning to ease.

It’s possibly also because he’s really quite attractive. He really does seem to be that tall and you note that the broadness of his shoulders is also not a trick of perspective. His dark hair sits just over his eyebrows, bringing your attention down to his large, dark brown eyes as they read the file that was left on the desk for him. Under his white coat is a simple white shirt, but it’s the tie that catches your attention: it’s bright red, not dissimilar to the red fire truck toy Iseul has at home, but it’s covered in little white hearts. You catch yourself smiling before he looks up at you, turning away and hoping he doesn’t notice any dusting on your cheeks.

“Who do we have here then?” he asks as he comes over to the bed holding the file, eyes already searching for every visual clue he can find to help him diagnose your son.

“Iseul,” you say with a brief flash of a small smile to the doctor before turning to your son, repeating his name and trying to coax Iseul out from hiding his eyes under his arms. He’d immediately crossed them over his face when you’d let go at the entrance of the doctor, shielding his eyes from the bright lights above him.

The doctor, however, seems unperturbed by your son’s reluctance to look at him.

“Ah, hello Iseul,” he says, carrying on as normal as he pulls over the chair by the desk and takes a seat, tucking his coat underneath him out of habit. “My name is Dr Kim, but you can call me Seokjin, if you like.” When Iseul still doesn’t look at him, Seokjin smiles sympathetically and turns to you. “So, Mum, what seems to be the problem?”

You’re ashamed that being on the end of his direct gaze makes you a different kind of nervous than you expected when you came to the hospital, especially when your son is lying on the bed beside you. Shaking your head slightly, you miss the smirk on the doctor’s face as you turn to your child.

“Uh, he’s had a high temperature for the last few days,” you say, placing a protective hand on his tummy, “ He keeps saying his head hurts, but paracetamol doesn’t seem to help much and I worry about giving him too much. He’s been off his food, too, even when I make his favourites, and he’s been sick a few times.”

Seokjin nods as he takes a few notes, adding to what’s already written in the file in his hand. You can’t figure out if his blank expression is solemn or just concentration and it makes your heart beat a little faster for the little boy under your hand.

“Iseul, buddy, is it alright if I take your temperature?”

Your son shakes his head under his arms before whimpering at the movement.

“Shh, baby, it’s okay,” you coo. “Doctor Kim’s gonna make you feel better, okay?”

“I sure am,” Seokjin’s voice is confident but warm and almost playful and you feel a flutter of relief when you see Iseul’s eyes peek out from under his arms and flicker towards him. “Do you think you can sit up for me?” Iseul’s not had much experience with doctors, not any that he would remember, anyway, and you don’t want to pass on your hesitancy, so you smile and nod encouragingly when he finally looks to you for reassurance.

Iseul thinks for a few seconds before he reaches out for you and you help him to sit up, wrapping your arm around him so that he can shuffle up to your side. You see his eyes widen as he takes in Seokjin’s full appearance for the first time, his attention immediately drawn to the shiny stethoscope around the doctor’s neck.

“You gonna let Doctor check your temperature?” you squeeze his shoulder lightly and stroke his hair again as he watches Seokjin curiously, his eyes constantly drifting down to the instrument around the doctor’s neck.

“All you gotta do is hold this under your tongue for me for a few seconds, okay?” Seokjin tells him, showing him a small thermometer, and your son nods shyly, still sniffling slightly. “Fabulous,” Seokjin praises his cooperation and you grin at the little smile that creeps onto your son’s face. “Now, let’s see how wide you can open your mouth, shall we?” Iseul makes a large ‘O’ with his lips, making both you and the doctor chuckle. “Oh, I know a grown boy like you can do better than that!” Seokjin teases and Iseul proves him right, allowing the doctor to slip the thermometer under his tongue. “Now, see if you can hold that perfectly still for me - without biting it,” he quickly adds, knowing most children are immediately tempted to do just that. “Pretend it’s a straw, okay?” Iseul does as he’s told, looking up at you before crossing his eyes to look down his nose at the thermometer.

“Good job, baby,” you encourage him as he keeps flicking his eyes between you and the instrument. You press a kiss to the top of his dark brown hair and are relieved to feel that his temperature has lessened slightly, even if only temporarily.

“Let me see?” Doctor Kim leans over and you watch him take note of the temperature before taking the thermometer from Iseul’s mouth and laying it gently on a tray beside the bed. “Excellent, I knew you could do it!” He offers Iseul a high five, which your son eagerly grants him with more enthusiasm than you’ve seen in him lately and it makes your heart swell just that little bit more. Seokjin carefully takes his stethoscope from around his neck and holds it in his lap before leaning forward conspiratorially. “Now, as you were such a good boy, I’m allowed to show you a little bit of magic… would you like to see it?”

Iseul nods but then frowns, glancing at you before looking back to Dr Kim.

“Mummy can’t watch, though.” A cry of indignation escapes you at your son’s words, but Seokjin simply laughs.

“No?” Iseul shakes his head with a solemn expression, as if it pains him to speak the truth, and Seokjin continues to humour him, despite the splutters of objection you’re trying to swallow. “And why’s that?”

“Mummy hasn’t been a good girl,” your son states this like it’s obvious, much to Seokjin’s amusement.

“Excuse me?” you can feel the heat rise in your cheeks, a million thoughts flying through your head and a slight stab of betrayal in your heart, although you weren’t even sure what he’d be talking about. Sure, you enjoyed a glass of wine or two on a Friday night, but you always made sure to tidy everything away before your son awoke for breakfast the next morning. You didn’t swear in front of him. You hadn’t had anyone other than your closest friends over to your house since Iseul was born, and the three dates you’d tried had ended at the front step.

“Oh dear,” Seokjin sighs, although a playful smirk tugs at his lips as he looks at you, dark eyes shining like jet as he quickly looks you from head to toe. “Mummy’s been a bad girl, huh?”

An aggressive blush fills your cheeks and you suddenly feel like the little room is overheating, too stuffy to breathe properly as the devilishly handsome doctor in front of you simply quirks an eyebrow. ‘Stop flirting with the doctor!’ you berate yourself. ‘You’re here for your son!’ Your eyes involuntarily drop down to Seokjin’s hands, but his left hand is tucked neatly under his right over the top of his stethoscope, so you can’t see if a ring sits on his finger or not. You presume he is married, though, or at least dating someone, given how absolutely perfect he seems to be.

“...no,” Iseul says, looking up to the ceiling as if deep in thought and you recognise it as the way he tries to avoid looking at you when you’ve caught him trying to lie, and Seokjin looks back to him as soon as he speaks. “But she hasn’t done nothing good, neither! I had the ‘mometer in my mouth, she didn’t.”

“Ahh, I see,” Seokjin nods sagely, his hand pressed to his chin and the other folded across his chest, pouting slightly as he considers Iseul’s argument. “You make a good point,” he says, “how about this, then - I show you the magic, and then you can show Mummy?”

“You’ll teach me?” Iseul’s eyes light up, not even illness getting in the way of his love for magic tricks - especially magic tricks he can perform for you.

“Of course!” Seokjin grins, “although I’m sure you’ll do it first try no problem.” He looks to you and winks quickly, lifting the stethoscope slightly to signal to you what he was planning, and you return the slightest nod you can manage without drawing your son’s attention. “You ready?” he asks your son, who immediately turns to you and pushes at your arm.

“Don’t look, Mummy! Not allowed!”

Happy to see your son with more energy, you play along for his benefit, dramatically sighing and turning your body slightly so that he thinks you aren’t watching. You can, however, see his reflection in the glass-lined cabinet on the other side of the room, and watch as Seokjin presents the stethoscope to your son.

“Now this,” he says, and you smile at the way he softens his voice to make it sound much more fantastical for Iseul, “is a very special thing. It lets you hear a person’s heart.”

“Wow! Really?” Reflection-Iseul leans forward slightly and puts his hand out, reaching out to touch the stethoscope before retracting his hand, as if he might break the magic if he does. His eyes are wide and awestruck despite the traces of illness still lingering in his reddened cheeks and dampened hairline.

“Really. How about I show you how it’s done, and then you can try it on Mummy?” Your son’s reflection nods as avidly as he can without hurting himself, although you still see the traces of a frown pull at his brow when he does so. Seokjin puts the earpieces in before taking hold of the other end, showing it to Iseul and explaining that this is the magic piece that lets him hear people’s hearts. He explains that the heart can only be heard by good, kind people who care about others, which is why they all become doctors and nurses, before pointing to the part of Iseul’s chest he’s going to listen to and telling him he has to sit still for it to work.

And it works without a hitch, Iseul watching, amazed, as Seokjin listens to his heartbeat. After a few seconds, Seokjin starts nodding to himself and then pulls away.

“Yep, seems like we’ve got a good heart in there,” he says, putting the stethoscope back in his lap as he takes some notes. “You should be able to do this magic no problem.”

A tugging at your sleeve encourages you to turn around, fistfuls of your jacket sleeve in your son’s hands, and you smile down at your son.

“Did you see the magic?” you ask him, and he is all but bouncing on the bed.

“I did! Dr Seokjin says I’ve got a good heart and I can do the magic, too!”

You look at the doctor in question, catching him watching your interaction with your son with a warmth in his eyes before he notices you looking at him and looks back down at his papers, clearing his throat. You refrain from smirking at the blush on his cheeks and turn back to your son.

“Wow, really? You can do magic? Can you show me?”

Without any further prompting needed, Seokjin lends forward as he removes the stethoscope once again, this time scooting his chair closer to the bed. He offers the chest piece to Iseul, telling him to hold onto it while he moves to put the earpieces in place. He plans to hold them rather than letting them press on Iseul’s young ears, but as soon as even the slightest pressure touches his ears, Iseul shrieks and drops his end of the stethoscope. He pushes Seokjin’s hands away and covers his ears with his own, burying his face into your side.

You’re immediately panicking, but Seokjin quickly retracts the stethoscope and drops it to the bed, nothing more than a brief frown furrowing his brow before he reaches into his pocket to pull out a small instrument.

“Do your ears hurt, Iseul?” Your son nods against you, your arms already wrapped around him. “Can I have a look?” You expect your son to scream in refusal given the fact that Seokjin’s last instrument caused the pain in the first place, but you’re surprised when your son simply nods again, rubbing his eyes as he sits up again. Seokjin seems to have gained his trust incredibly quickly, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t thrilled that he wasn’t holding his experience against the doctor.

With the utmost care, Seokjin uses the tool in his hand to check Iseul’s ears before pulling away with a soft, yet somewhat relieved, sigh.

“It appears that Iseul has an infection in his left ear, which explains everything you’ve said he’s been going through,” he says, turning to you briefly before rolling back over to the desk. “I’ll get some antibiotics sorted for him, and he’ll be as right as rain in no time.”

The smile he gives you is reassuring, but you can’t bring yourself to smile back. You hold your son close as you curse yourself for not even thinking about the possibility of an ear infection, especially as it was now so obvious as you recalled Iseul’s increased habit of touching his ears over the last few days. He’d told you his head had been hurting, but you hadn’t realised he’d actually meant his ears. You feel a sinking in your chest at the idea that you’ve failed your own son, whose cries have now settled back down to hiccups, but Seokjin quickly catches on.

“Hey,” his voice is soft, calling you out of your reverie. He doesn’t want to assume what you’re thinking, but he’s seen the same look on plenty of parents’ faces over the last few years and he can take a good guess. “He’ll be okay.”

You nod quietly, still frowning but somehow reassured by the simple statement.

“Thank you, Doctor,” you say, rising to put your purse over your shoulder properly this time before lifting your son onto your hip. You take the signed prescription slip he offers you, ready to go off in search of someone to fill it for you, but he places a gentle hand on your arm to stop you.

“You’re doing a good job, Miss Y/l/n,” he says softly, and it takes you a few seconds to realise he hasn’t immediately assumed you’re married. “Don’t pressure yourself, okay?”

It’s been a long time since someone has outwardly praised you like this, especially a stranger, and it catches you off guard, your breath catching in your throat. Seokjin’s gaze flickers between your eyes for a few seconds, waiting until he’s sure you’ve taken him seriously, before he offers a gentle smile and removes his hand from your arm.

As you leave the examination room, Seokjin directs you to the hospital’s pharmacy and assures you that you should be able to pick up the antibiotics from them without an issue. He seems to hesitate, opening his mouth and closing it again before wishing you a good night and walking away, and you try not to think too much about the lingering flutter in your chest as you set off in your own direction.

You sink back into your chair as you place your mug back on the table, directing your gaze out of the large floor-to-ceiling window to the high street just beyond it. You idly watch as the Saturday morning shoppers hurry back and forth, some families and couples lingering at shop windows as others push on to their next destination. The summer sun casts everything in a brightness that you can’t help but feel joy in, even as the sun’s rays are amplified through the glass and make your legs feel like they’re burning up.

You turn back to look around the coffee shop you’re sat in, reminding yourself that you don’t have any reason to rush right now. The rare, stolen moment of unhurried peace that you haven’t felt in a long time is something you know you need to cherish, because in just over twenty-four hours your son will be coming home from his grandparents’ house, but it does feel strange to not have your son joyfully chattering across the table from you.

Your mother had offered to let Iseul stay over at their for the weekend, half out of her love of spending time with her grandson and half out of concern for the way you were constantly rushed off of your feet, either from being a mother or from your job as a curator for the National History Museum. It was a small treat for you to be able to get a weekend to yourself and go shopping on your own, not having to worry about your son running in and out of changing rooms while you tried on new clothes, and you’ve decided to also indulge in a slightly overpriced coffee without having to rush while you have the chance.

As your eyes skim down the line of patrons waiting to order, you think you recognise one of them but can’t quite place where you know him from. He’s tall, clearly several inches above the other people in the line, with dark hair sitting on top of a pair of dark-rimmed glasses. The light of his phone reflects in his lenses as he gazes down at it, avidly watching or reading whatever it is that’s caught his attention, and his lips are pushed out in a small pout in the midst of his concentration.

Despite the weather, he’s in black skinny jeans that look sinfully tight above the knees and bring further attention to his height, but you suppose the loose white t-shirt hanging off his broad shoulders must be helping him to stay rather cool-

Wait... incredibly tall, broad shoulders… it couldn’t be?

So lost is he in his phone, the man at the end of your gaze doesn’t notice the gap forming in front of him until the slightly elderly patron behind him clears his throat gently. You hear him apologise several times to the man behind him (who just smiles softly and tells him not to worry) and lets the man go up the counter first by way of an apology, and it’s only when you hear his voice that you realise who he is.

You’re pretty certain the jump in your heartbeat is cause for concern when you finally recognise him without the white coat. You start slightly, almost choking on nothing and quickly hide your reddening face by looking down at your drink, then out of the window again, then down to your phone. You bring up the home screen even though you know no one has texted you, desperate for something to do to put off looking up again, instead trying to figure out what had caused your reaction in the first place.

Of course, he was attractive - in fact he was ridiculously so - and he had been kind to you and your son, but that was his job as a paediatrician. Maybe it was the way he’d reassured you, been one of the first strangers in a while to assuage your underlying fears that you weren’t adequate as a single mother, or perhaps it was that last lingering look that had stayed with you as he’d said goodbye in A&E-

“Miss Y/l/n?” Your thoughts are cut short by a voice beside you. Looking up, you see the broad-shouldered doctor standing beside your table, holding his own drink in a takeaway cup. He smiles when you look up at him, apparently happy to have recognised you.

“Dr Kim?” You immediately blush at the squeaky voice that tumbles out of your mouth, a hand flying to cover your mouth.

“Call me Seokjin, please,” he smiles, a gentle blush on his cheeks when he can’t quite meet your eyes, seemingly less confident outside of his hospital halls. “Sorry for interrupting, I just thought I’d come over and say hello.”

In actual fact, he has no idea what made him come over to you. He sees his patients and their parents outside of the hospital all the time and never bats an eyelid, knowing it comes with the territory of working at the main hospital in the city, but when he’d seen you staring out of the window, a serene look on your face as you watched the people passing you by, he’d felt compelled to go over to you. So when the barista had handed him his drink, he’d followed his feet to stand beside your table.

“How’s your son doing?”

“Iseul? He’s fine, thank you.” You think back to what he’d said to you before you’d made to leave. “He was right as rain in no time, just like you said.” God, why did that sound better in your head than it did out loud?

“I’m glad,” Seokjin’s eyes briefly disappear behind his glasses when he nods happily, the reflection of the light above him making the lens white until he looks down to you again. “I told you he would be.” He tries not to wince as he groans internally, cursing himself for being so awkward when it comes to small talk. It’s never been his strong point, which is why he likes working with children as they don’t do small talk either. He’d rather field all of their weird and wonderful thoughts and questions than talk to their parents about the weather or sports he doesn’t watch.

You both fall into silence, still awkwardly smiling at each other without quite making eye contact. Your pulse is racing in your ears and you know it’s not the coffee.

“Would you like to join me?” You’re not quite sure where the offer comes from but you gesture to the chair on the other side of your table before you can help yourself. Seokjin’s eyes widen behind his lenses at your question and he looks at the chair with an expression that could be either pained or offended - you’re not quite sure.

It takes a few seconds for you to remember that he’d ordered his drink to go, the takeaway cup taunting you from his hand as he shifts his weight from foot to foot and now you’re not sure whether to hastily backtrack or just wait for him to reject you.

“Never mind-”

“I’d love to-”

You blink at each other when you speak at the same time, but luckily Seokjin blesses you with a chuckle rather and breaks the tension holding your heart hostage.

“I wouldn’t be disturbing you?” he asks, and when you shake your head with a smile he takes the seat.

“You don’t have to, if you’re busy?” You point to his cup, wondering where he’d been planning on going with it, wondering if there was maybe a partner waiting for him somewhere on the street outside.

“Oh, no, I’m not busy,” he fiddles with the lid on his cup, suddenly shy as he admits, “I don’t really like sitting in cafes alone, so I tend to just get it to go instead.” He hesitates and then looks up at you, his gaze steady despite the blush of pink creeping down the side of his neck. “But I guess I’m not alone this time, though, am I?”

“You’re not,” you agree, delighting in the way his lips transform into the most adorable smile you’ve ever seen on a grown man. You decide then and there that, even if it’s only for today, you’re going to try and keep that smile on his face for as long as possible. Clearing your throat, you lean your arms against the table and meet his gaze when he looks over at you. “So, Seokjin-”

“Jin.”

“I’m sorry?”

“My friends call me Jin,” he clarifies and you feel another little skip in your chest, then he motions for you to continue speaking as he lifts his drink to take a sip and hide his own blushing cheeks.

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