#but yeah i think stuff like her reaction to the armor sets annoys me and also stuff in the spin offs but thats more like

[princekirijo]

2 and 3 for Mitzi!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Oh god where to begin. This is really hard but I think my favorite thing about her is how she keeps going. The burdens that she carries around every day: being the heir to such a cursed legacy, being the student council president AND the leader of SEES would be enough to cause anyone to break but despite all that she keeps going. Sure its not exactly healthy for her to keep going the way she does but that's what makes her so interesting to me I think. How she believes that because of her family's mistakes and her own guilt she has to take on everything herself and she refuses to ask for help until she absolutely has to. Honestly there's so much about Mitsuru that I love but this is what comes to mind right now.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Honestly its been a bit too long since I've played P3 (although I've recently started up a new P3P playthrough recently so maybe I'll have a better answer soon lol) so I'm not sure what to say for this one. Can I say its the fact that she's a romance option lmao. OK but in all seriousness I think some of her writing at times is a little.... off but that might be a little out of her control I guess.

[kyberphilosopher]

Cerise

Those are people who died, died Those are people who died, died They were all my friends and just died.

Word Count: 5736 Warnings: Crime, Weapons, Mentioned Murder of a R/pist, Crude humor.

Jason’s friend and roommate, another Gotham villain, is ordered to return to Task Force X.

ce·rise/səˈrēs,səˈrēz/ [noun] a bright or deep red color.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Let’s open up our story on a colorful note: Fuck Amanda Waller. 

Nobody likes her. You don’t like her. Jason doesn’t like her. None of the characters in this story like her. Arguably, none of the characters in your present universe like her, either. There’s a reason why people call her “The Wall”. It’s because that’s what it’s like talking to her. And that’s what it would be like trying to deny the request she’d passed on to you in her letter. 

It weighed on your mind briefly as you walk up the stairs of your apartment building. By the third flight, the weight’s pretty much disappeared. Sure, there’s anger at Waller for violating your agreement, but it’s so useless being annoyed with her that it washes away fast. So by the fourth flight, the whole thing is settled in your head to completion. You’ll go back to your Suicide Squad- or a Suicide Squad, considering most people Waller selects are idiots. Then you’ll do the job, and walk away bing, bang, boom. 

You tip your head politely as if in salute to the older woman, Mallorca, who occupies the apartment across from you. She returns a warm smile that raises her prominent and wrinkled jowls, igniting the fire in her warm brown eyes. “You need me to do your laundry again?” 

Of course an angel such as Mallorca would make such an offer. It’s not a bad offer, either. Your dark, silver lined chest plate is splattered with blood all over the front. It’s nobodies blood that doesn’t deserve it, as per your agreement with Waller. Just some perverted little prick who thought with his dick instead of his brain with the wrong girl. She looked frightened, and you saved her, and since the prick had just hit 18 (a fact you learned after rummaging around his wallet after), you had permission to bash his brain in. Hence the blood splattered vigilante armor. 

The first time Mallorca had seen such a sight, she had no reaction whatsoever. You weren’t sure what else you were expecting from an old woman living in a back alley apartment building, but it certainly wasn’t that. She offered no shock to your red masked, blood stained roommate either. Mallorca is simply an otherworldly being. And is that cocaine you see on the collar of her shirt?

“I got it,” you throw in return, rounding the corner so she’s at your back, and nearing the climb up the next and last flight of stairs. “Hey, is Jason home?” But when you turn around fully, Mallorca shows no intention of responding and has disappeared down your previous staircase. You clasp your hands against the sides of your thighs, “Oh, okay.”

You make your way up the final steps and stick a hand in a secret back pocket to fish around for your keys. You wince when you begin the rigorous task of tugging the lanyard free from the depths, which unfortunately fell near to your back hole. Then you slip the key into the lock and twist. 

Inside your apartment is near emptiness. There’s a couch, a rug, some windows, a TV, and to your immediate right is a small kitchen beside a hallway that leads to a bathroom and two bedrooms. You see the large plant you’d stuck in the corner is wilted and tinged brown, and the TV is playing some movie with the sound muted. No sign of your roommate, however. 

You toss your helmet and keys onto the couch. Then you make your way to the kitchen to search the fridge for a snack (that you know is not there) or perhaps some water. You bend down to peek an eye in, only to stand back up and close the thing. Then you pass over to the counter, and reach up to now peek an eye in the overhead cabinet. 

“You’re home early.”

You let out a short-but cathartic- scream, jumping as you turn around. You relax quickly. It’s only Jason, and your face changes from shocked and panicked to simply annoyed. 

The man at the other side of the room pulls his infamous red helmet from atop his face. Underneath is a classically masculine, handsome face with eyes that blend between green and blue. Black hair falls free in messy strands, accented by the one white tuft that you’ve claimed reminds you of a skunk. You tilt your head lazily in defeat. “How many times have I told you not to do that?”

Jason shrugs in his red hoodie and jeans, walking across the room to set the helmet on the coffee table. “Four. Any particular reason you’re home so early?” he flops himself onto the couch and kicks his feet up, crossing them tastefully next to the Red Hood helmet. 

You turn back around to continue the task of grabbing a cup from the top cabinet. “It’s been five, and I apologize for assuming I could do what I wanted in my own home.”

“If you have to ask me to stop sneaking up on you five times, you’re probably a really bad vigilante.”

“Fuck,” you mutter as you fill the cup with tap water. “That’s true.”

You turn around to face Jason. His eyes are already on you, illuminated by the blue glow from the television. They linger purely on your form for a moment, then they dip down to narrow at your armor. “Were you the one who killed that guy on the back of main?”

You furrow your brows and look up with pursed lips in thought. “Are you talking about the main diner or the main records shop?”

“Main diner on main street.”

“No, that was Azrael. This was by the records shop.” You raise the glass to your lips.

Jason snaps his fingers. “Oh, that guy. The kid?”

You nod and take another sip of the water. “He just turned eighteen, so you know. Free game. So, what do you want for dinner? Pick something good. I’m going back to the squad so I won’t be here for a few weeks.”

Jason’s brows furrow for a split second, then he perks up attentively. “You’re going back to the task force?” he repeats, though it sounds defeated and disbelieving. Distraught- is that the word you’re looking for?

“Yeah,” you shrug. “I got the letter-” you set the cup of water down and reach a hand into your pocket. Then you pull the crumpled envelope free of its confines and toss it onto the counter, “-today.”

Jason’s eyebrows furrow again. This time the movement is quick and curved and almost offended. “So, that’s it then?”

“What’s wrong, Jason?” you smirk. “Did you finally fall in love with your roommate turned friend? I always knew this day would come.”

“Uh, no?”

“Suit yourself.”

You turn back around and begin rinsing the cup out. Jason watches your back, something in his chest sinking. You weren’t his best friend. Besides living together, you weren’t really all that close. You were living a life a lot like his, running around at night as some antihero vigilante. The only difference was that you’d crossed paths with Waller and had managed to make it out of her system alive. Most antihero vigilante’s weren’t so lucky. Most of them died. But now you’re telling Jason right to his face that you’re going back. That you think you’ll only be gone a few weeks when it could just be forever. Sprayed with dark blood all over... what if it was yours?

“Actually,” Jason leans forward. His legs drop from the table and spread open, elbows resting against his knees with a hunched back. “Why don’t you pick dinner tonight?”

The glass clinks against the metal of the sink as you set it inside. Jason almost always picks dinner. Most of the time he chooses burgers or Chinese. Your apartments stove isn’t working, so eating from home really just means a BLT sandwich for the both of you. 

“Are you offering because you’re hoping I’ll choose that new steakhouse?” you smile.

“I’ll get you anything you want,” the man replies. “It’s on me.”

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Jason meets you on the roof of the building about an hour and a half later. You wanted to go with him, since you’d say his behavior is different from usual, but he was very adamant about you staying in. Jason even encouraged you to go ahead and pick your favorite movie to watch while he’s gone. 

When you told him you’d decided on the steakhouse option, you meant it ironically. Between the two of you, money could be described as ‘tight’. Going to a new place like that would mean saving for a while. Furthermore, you hadn’t even given him your order before Red Hood was gone. 

To his credit, looking at him now, you wouldn’t change a thing. The first bite of the food is phenomenal. The second bite is just perfect. Jason must have mind reading powers to be so aware of your taste in food- you’d thought he never noticed. 

He gets a steak, as predicted. Jason loves steak. 

Gotham looks most like itself at night, a view shared between the two of you. Two sets of legs dangle over the side of your building, both of which are clad in heavy boots and armored knees. Jason had decided to go out as his alter ego- a fact he thought he could keep from you by putting his hoodie under his leather jacket. 

“I saw you put your helmet by the door,” you tell him. “I know what’s under that sweatshirt.”

“No you didn’t,” is all he says back. 

The wind tickles the back of your neck. It ripples through the air in lazy waves, making Jason’s hair ruffle. The white skunk streak disappears and reappears between the darker-than-midnight-sky strands. Behind Jason, the moon is full and lonely. Its only company is the two of you. 

“Oh my god,” you stuff your mouth. “This is so good.”

“Hm,” Jason hums in agreement, stabbing his steak once again with a fork in his black to-go box. It’s the next movement of his shoulder that catches your eye. 

“Jason, is that cocaine, or powder donut dust?” 

Jason glances over at you. 

Your eyes linger on the white splotch of something in the wrinkles of red fabric. “Because I asked you not to eat them since there’s only two left.”

Your face slowly falls to one of horror as Jason stays still. With a face of steel, he finally says, “It’s cocaine then.”

“Then?”

“Look what I got you.”

Jason sets his box to the ledge beside him and leans down. 

“Worst subject change ever.” You take an angry bite of your meal in an attempt to both silence yourself and to make you feel better. Unfortunately as you pull away from the bite, crumbs attach themselves to your chest plate and stick to your fingers. “Crap. Jason, your dumb food is getting shit all over my stuff!”

When you look over, Jason’s orbs are already on you. His eyes pierce yours, almost unintentionally daring them to look away. The skunk strands glow this close. He holds two things in his hands. The first is a small, brown pot you could balance in the palm of your hand, filled with miniature yellow and red flowers. Scarlet tulips, golden sunflowers, and blonde alstroemerias. In the other hand is a Blu-ray copy of your favorite film. 

“Oh,” is all you can muster out. 

When was the last time the two of you had actually exchanged gifts? You weren’t lovers, or best friends. You were just friends. It had to have been last Christmas, when you had gotten him a TV subscription for South Park and a pair of socks. Jason had gifted you a new bedframe that he later helped you put together. 

A big smile reaches your eyes and makes your cheeks sore. “I haven’t been able to find this anywhere,” you say, taking the movie from his fingers. Your voice comes out pure and genuine. “Thank you.” Your smile grows even larger when you cup the pot of flowers with both hands. 

“All of the flower shops were closed,” Jason explains. “Those are plastic. They won’t die anytime soon.”

At that moment, you swear you could’ve kissed him. He’s looking at you like this is all nothing, like he didn’t just drop big money on dinner and flowers for you. Jason knew what food you wanted before you did. He knew your favorite movie when you can’t even remember saying a thing about it. When had any other man or woman been so thoughtful? So romantic? So caring?

You glance down to the film in your lap. “I didn’t think you payed attention this well.”

Jason’s brow quirks upwards. Something flashes in his eyes as he adjusts his position, seven stories up from the ground. “What kind of roomie would I be if I didn’t?” he asks. Something tells you there’s a shyness blooming in that broad chest of his. Jason’s eyes flit downward to the blood on you, before his head dips back upwards to lock a stare with you once more. “You smell nice,” he states.

You look up at him simply. You know your eyes are filled with pure adoration, and that it’s showing all over your face, but you don’t care. Your red hooded, drug pedaling, bat wrangling, gun toting equal roommate is your favorite person in all of Gotham at this exact moment. 

Behind Jason, a small bird flits overhead with a flash of crimson. “Hey, look,” you pat Jason’s shoulder. His eyes follow yours until they land on the floor of the roof behind you. “I think it’s a robin.”

“I know that bird,” Jason scowls. “That’s the son of the bitch that keeps waking me up in the morning.”

“Hm?”

You watch as Jason swings his legs over the side and pushes himself from the ledge. One hand reaches into the back of his pants while the other searches his leather jacket pocket for something. After a few seconds, he produces both a clip of ammo and a gun, which connect with a click. 

“Ah!” you yelp, placing both the flowers and movie on the brick before copying your friends actions and standing on the roof. Jason hasn’t shot yet, but the gun in his hand is aimed right at the little birdie. He’s got a clean shot. His face remains neutral and unmoving as you take your place beside him. 

It’s a full minute, and the robin is still alive and intact. He nibbles on a little crumb of bread. “He looks happy,” you think out loud. The air of Gotham goes quiet up on that roof, despite the distant sirens, music, and people throughout the city. “Are you gonna shoot?”

Jason’s finger lingers over the trigger. Even the slightest of a squeeze would set the weapon off at this point. The balls of your feet move to and froe, anticipating the bang you’re so familiar with. But then Jason lowers the gun completely, and the robin flies away at the movement. “Nah. He’ll feel the pain I dish out in the morning.”

“Don’t be sad,” you nudge Jason. “He’ll be back at six AM tomorrow to wake you up.” You turn to return to your beckoning food on the ledge. “Thanks for all this, anyway.”

“You’re welcome,” you hear Jason respond. “Hey Y/N?”

Jason watches you spin until you’re completely facing him. He can see the blood again. How it’s completely standing out against the darkness of your outfit. You look powerful, yeah. And you look like the antihero you’re labeled as. But all Jason sees is a corpse of a... of a friend. “Yeah?”

“You’re sure about this Waller thing?”

“Yeah?” you reply, as if it were obvious. The stain on you is so haunting it’s easy to think otherwise. “It’s not like I have much of a choice. It’ll only be a few weeks. I’ll be back before you know it. Then I can show you this sick ass movie.”

Then you go back to walking towards the ledge to retake your seat. But Jason remains standing. He watches as you, the person he thinks of naked so often, get comfortable, your back facing him. And, despite your word, Jason has the sinking feeling that some Suicide Squad mission isn’t the only place Amanda Waller will send you to. 

This time, Amanda Waller will send you to your grave.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

This was supposed to be out on August 16th, for Jason’s birthday. But the concept came to me too late and I spent too long on it. Anyway, here’s some symbolism for ya.

Tulips symbolize unconditional love. Sunflowers symbolize adoration. Alstroemeria’s symbolize devotion. The reader describes the plant in their apartment as turning brown, suggesting it may share a similar fate as the reader as plants go brown when about to die. Robin’s symbolize optimism, a trait the reader displays towards the idea of returning to the Suicide Squad. Robin was also a former identity of Red Hood. Both of which could be why Jason decides to spare the bird. 

I’ll go back and proof read this in the morning.

[exosmutfactory]

Six Phases 002

Who knew it nearly took 6 months to win your heart, and 6 phases for Baekhyun to lose his mind.

A/N:  Part 2! Yes, this part is long as well. It’s like 9.3k (baekhyun’s fault again smh) 😅 hope you like it, let me know what you think in my ask box  🌹 🌹 Enjoy ♡ ♡

[ contains: romance, fluff, angst & smut (later on) ]

Part 1 | Part 2 ✓ | Part 3 P(1) | P(2) | Part 4 P(1) P(2) | Part 5 P(1) P(2) | Part 6

  •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •

Track 4

You'd think that after a month of constantly denying, avoiding and downright ignoring that Byun Baekhyun would give up trying to talk to me.

Either he is just always this persistent or his head is shoved far up his own cocky ass.

"Ri-"

"I swear to god." I grumble, coffee mug forgotten as I straighten up in my chair. "Baekhyun for the last damn time, No."

"Wow," A familiar yet different voice chimes; full of amusement.

Gasping I turn around in my seat; ignoring the annoyingly loud squeak of the furniture, "Sehun."

The man chuckles and opens his arms as I stand to go in for a hug. "Hey there, shorty."

"Hey~" I pull back to look at him. "How's it going? How'd you know to find me here?"

"Your roommate is pretty chatty and bright." He takes my spot and I glare at him until he snorts, sliding closer to the window so I can sit beside him.

"Yeah, that's totally her," I mutter resting my chin on my palm.

"So," He takes my cup and tilts his head to taste some of my drink. "Ready to talk about that party?"

I nearly choke going to take my own sip; eyeing him as he brushes invisible dirt off of his black t-shirt. "Um," Carefully setting the mug down I turn more towards him. "I thought we agreed to never speak of this-"

"I only meant that promise for the moment because you were already crying in my arms-" He quickly interjects.

"AND that too." I grumble.

"Riley." He gives me a pointed look, not even shaking away the long strands of hair dangling in his eyes.

I tap my fingers on the edge of the cup, running my hand through my hair with a sigh. "W-Well.."

//

His outfit looks even better up close. Silk black shirt and collarbones glistening with sweat. Tight leather pants leaving little to the imagination; mouthwatering with how he moves his hips. Heavy gaze with his eyeliner rimmed eyes full of pure mischief and sin. Silver buttons occasionally colliding and forming goosebumps on my skin as he smirks—

//

"Well?"

Snapping out of it I meet Sehun's curious yet scrutinizing stare. That look alone makes me wish I never went out—or at least told him about that night. A flash of silver hair and pouty lips fill my mind. I down the rest of my mocha without a second thought.

I really need to stop thinking about it.

"Well." Clearing my throat as I fiddle with the empty container, I choose my words carefully. "I... Went to a party with Jenny."

"Which I know already-"

"Are you gonna shut up and let me talk?" I blink firmly, lips pressed into a line.

Sehun takes one look at my face and quietly leans back into the booth.

I relax back as well with a sigh. "The minute we got there and started heading towards the house, she stopped and gestured to a group of men."

He nods, quickly silencing his phone with a swipe of his finger when a notification pops up.

"She told me to stay away from them," I mumble interlocking my hands over my stomach. "And seeing the genuine concern on her face, I agreed-"

"Hesitantly I bet-"

"Oh!"

He yelps as I move to slap his arm, pouting when he doesn't move away fast enough.

"Fast forward, I ended up tipsy and dancing with one of them." Sighing I lean forward to cross my arms on the table; ignoring the impatient glare from the waitress standing across the room. She has been doing that for the past few minutes. I don't know if it's because of the fact that I have been sitting here for about an hour or that I'm with my handsome friend.

Sehun—ever the attentive one—raises his hand and orders something; bringing on the charm to make her relax. Once she scribbles it down and heads for the counter he turns to me again, rubbing a hand over my back. "What happened next?"

I release another sigh; my shoulders moving in exaggeration. "After I nearly froze like a deer in headlights on the floor, Jenny came to the rescue as soon as the song ended."

"Your knight in shining armor."

I hum lightly in reply; playing with my cup and growing shy as I utter my next words. "Turns out the guy was Byun Baekhyun-"

"Wait." Eyeing him irritably, I blink at the serious expression on his face. "Hold the fuck up, you danced with the Byun Baekhyun? At a party?"

Well, his party. "Uh yes...?" I hesitate, taking in the growing panicked look in his eyes.

He suddenly smirks, eyes full of mischief. "So," He starts, leaning in close whispering a, "How good was he?"

My reaction is instant; the scarlet coloring of my cheeks growing deeper as I weakly slap his arm. "Shut up!" He's doubled over in his own unique laughter; holding onto the table for support. "We only danced!"

"I know." He chuckles with his arm over his stomach; leaning his head back on the booth. "You're too prude to end up in his bed, innocent girl." He grins, playfully nudging my side before wiping a tear from his eye. I nearly choked trying to respond and he's quick to pick up on it; his eyes widening before they narrow. Slowly he sits back up, "Riley. Parker."

"L-Look," I stutter; cowering back at his 'you fucking didn't' glare. "I can explain!" I squeak.

He crosses his arms with gritted teeth. "Start. Talking."

"Okay okay." Gulping I tell him everything from the encounter with the drunken idiot to storming out of the mansion. The waitress interrupting the middle of it with the two muffins Sehun ordered.

Sehun sits there with his fingers laced together on the table for a second; seeming to run it all over in his mind. "So no sex?"

"SEHUN!" I cry.

"Hey," Dodging my attacks he holds my hands gently in his own. "I'm just making sure, okay?"

Pausing to take in the sincere expression on his face, I nod looking down at our hands. "I know..." My gaze goes back to him when he suddenly straightens up.

"Earlier you thought I was Baekhyun." He mumbles slowly, meeting my eye. "Is he bothering you?"

Biting my lip anxiously I try not to break the eye contact, "..No."

He sighs deeply; nodding, "He is. Okay." He releases my hands, making a gesture for me to move. My heart jumps into my throat; I know where this is going. "No-Sehun, wait," I whine refusing to get up. He shoots me an annoyed look, "What."

"H-He hasn't been bothering me, it's just..." I sigh playing with my fingers. "His presence is...overwhelming." I bite the inside of my cheek. "Every time I look up, he always seems to be around. In the dorms. On the way to physics. Back from the cafeteria... It's annoying."

He rests his arm on the table; holding one muffin with the elegance of a model while thinking it over. "Has he been trying to?..."

Noticing the look on his face I quickly shake my head, "No!" Feeling curious eyes on me I shrink, whispering a, "He just asks how I am and about the weather and s-stuff..."

"He-" Sehun chokes going into another laughing fit. "H-He asks about the weather? Really?" He sighs breaking off a piece of his treat. "Are we talking about the same Byun Baekhyun?" He wipes another tear from his eye still chuckling.

I nod, "Unbelievable right? He even complimented my ugly neon green sweater..."

"That crop top that chases all the boys away?" Sehun's brows raise. He scoffs when I nod again; crossing his arms, "He's totally set on getting you in his bed...Again." He gives me a disapproving look that I quickly look away from. An action I regret when my eyes meet those of a certain silver-haired man.

"Shit! Sehun." I whisper/shout; ducking down to hide behind the booth.

"Wha-" He flinches at my nails digging into his bicep; obviously sore from his daily visit to the gym. "What? What!?" He whisper/shouts back.

"He's here..." I mumble.

"..Huh?"

Slapping his arm I snap my fingers, pointing beyond the back of our seat, "There!"

He tilts his head to awkwardly meet my gaze with wide eyes, "You're shitting me."

I roll my eyes, "Take a look yourself."

Like the bad actor he is, he immediately looks over the booth in the most obvious manner. "Oh..." He turns back to me. "Shit."

"Exactly." I hiss. "And he fucking saw me. How the hell will I get out of here?"

He makes a displeased noise. "Maybe he'll order and leav-" Taking another glance Sehun stops short.

"What?" His frozen expression isn't lessening my anxiety. "...Sehun?"

"He's..." He squints, "With someone."

I raise my brows, "One of the other douches or..." He shakes his head, running a hand through his obsidian black hair, "No. Jenny."

My eyes widen, "Jen?-"

As if on cue, that unmistakable laughter fills the peaceful atmosphere. Sehun and I share a look.

Gripping the seat and peeking back over the booth, I see the side-profile of the duo ordering up at the counter, chatting like old friends. Their height difference nearly comical with how tiny my roommate is.

"Just what kind of fuckery is this?" I mumble.

"I know how to get you out of here," Sehun mumbles back, popping the rest of his muffin into his mouth and grabbing the other. He throws a few dollar bills on the table before gesturing for me to move. "Follow my lead."

Getting up to let him out I make sure my back faces the distracted duo. Sehun reaches for my arm once he stands, gently pulling me behind him. Following him without a question, we calmly make our way to the front of the cafe. I switch to walking beside him as we pass the two people seemingly chatting up happily to the cashier.

Just as we reach the door, I feel that familiar stare, my body tensing up. Sehun lightly squeezes my arm when I slow down; ushering me out the door before I can look back at the man burning his eyes into the back of my head.

"Geez, that was intense." He sighs, leading us to a cute flower shop a few doors down. He shoves his hand in his pocket before spinning around to face me. "And you! Why did you slow down? You almost blew our cover."

Feeling a blush coming on I sigh shaking my head. "I'm sorry, I just..." My shoulders sag in defeat. "He saw me anyway."

"Huh?" He stops fiddling with his phone; his jaw dropping, "How!?"

I scoff growing more flustered. "What do you-Sehun he was staring at me!"

His eyes widen with an incredulous expression on his face pointing at me. "How? We were careful!"

"I felt his stare," I whisper.

He blinks now looking at me in disbelief, his arm lowering back to his side, "Now you know how his stare feels like."

"I-I..." I kick a stray rock on the ground, "Yeah. It always feels like he's trying to look deep into my soul or something.."

"On your back?" He continues in a monotone. "He's trying to look for your soul through your back?"

"His stare is very piercing okay!" I huff, speed walking away. Sehun with his longer legs catches up easily.

"I guess it's just meant to be that he follows you around then." He mumbles, "Good luck explaining our meeting to him."

"There's nothing to explain." Shaking my head at him, I speed up even more; glad that I decided to wear my comfortable jeans today.

"You might want to." He calmly meets my strides, holding out his muffin in my direction. "Byun Baekhyun is a very jealous man."

I snort. "As if I give a shit." Eyeing his offering I gently take it from his hand, "The man's a stranger."

"A stranger with his sights set on you." He points out.

Leaving him without comment on that, we shift back to catching up on each other's lives and our bickering dynamic. The thoughts of Byun Baekhyun pushed to the back of my mind as I listen while enjoying the fresh taste of strawberry muffin.

/////

"Hey." A familiar voice husks behind me. Turning around I'm met with warm brown eyes covered slightly by long silver hair. Byun Baekhyun dressed in a black jacket that emphases the broadity of his shoulders. A thin black v neck underneath with beige khaki pants that are loose yet stylish. And matching colored platinum shoes that would look ugly on the average person; hell even I wouldn't attempt rocking those. How does he look so good and why is he behind me in line?

Suddenly remembering he spoke when his brows raise, I jerk back into focus. "Uh.. Hi."

A warm smile spreads on his face, "How are you? How's your day going?"

"Um..." Looking at the textbooks clutched in my arms, I try to avoid his beaming smile. "Alright." The conversation ends there like it always does in these coincidental situations.

"I believe I saw you this morning." He hums suddenly as we move up. "With a guy."

I choke; stopping in my tracks as goosebumps rise on my skin. His tone was cherry but anyone with ears could hear the emphasis on the word guy. "Well-"

"He was tall. Your boyfriend?" He lifts a brow.

I inwardly sigh at that, choosing my words carefully. "He's someone I've known and trusted for years." I decide to say, avoiding his question and narrowing eyes.

"Can we talk?" He mumbles, gesturing ahead as a large gap appears between me and the person in front of the line. Facing forward as I quickly close the space, the feeling of his eyes glued to the back of my flower shirt has an unwanted flush covering my cheeks. He lightly tugs at the strap of my backpack; brown eyes questioning me slightly.

Nodding firmly before turning away to roll my eyes I sigh. What is up with this guy, really?

"Hi, may I take your order?"

Focusing back at the task at hand, I let my eyes quickly skim over the menu behind the counter before meeting eyes with the cashier. "Yes, I would like the..." They nod as I list off what I want, telling me my total at the end. Starting to reach for my wallet I jump at how bad the weight of my books shift in my arms. Oh shit. Looking between the cashier, spotless counter, my dusty books, and the floor; I inwardly panic. How to not make a fool out of myself in public question mark.

"Here." A familiar hand holds out a credit card, the scent of fresh laundry and citrus filling my space as Byun Baekhyun steps forward. "I'm paying. Let me order as well."

Left shocked and evermore speechless, I say nothing as the cashier nods taking his order as well before accepting the card.

"I-" I try as we walk towards the tables, "You didn't have to-"

He spins around nearly causing me to crash into him. "Shh." His eyes run over me before settling on my own with a tilt of his head. "Follow me?"

Already feeling indebted (the worst feeling) I follow him quietly; shifting the weight of my books between my arms.

Of course, he walks us over to a booth, gesturing for me to sit. "Here." He reaches out for my books as I eye him incredulously. "Let me help you with that."

Sending him one more judging look I let him take the books out of my tired arms, sliding into the booth with a heavy sigh. He sits across from me neatly setting them beside him on the seat. Feeling indebted again I call out to him, "Hey..."

His eyes search for mine in an instant as I look beyond him to the bright advertisement of food in the back of the room; slightly shaking my hand sanitizer bottle at him.

Recognizing what I'm trying to do, he smiles, opening his palms to receive a good amount of it. "Thank you."

"No, thank you." I mumble. "You didn't have to do that. I'll pay you back."

"After we eat." He keeps his gaze on me as I avoid it in every way possible. "And talk."

Oh. Cursing Sehun inwardly for being the ever smart person he is, I sag in my chair. Right.

Fortunately or not, he doesn't start up this "talk" until after our food has arrived. The hot steam coming from the fries mouthwatering to my late afternoon starving stomach. I could eat a hippo at this point and it'd taste good.

Immediately digging into my burger I pause mid-second bite when he chuckles. Freezing in horror for a moment I remind myself of what happened last month and continue enjoying my meal. "If you want to talk-"

"Can I be honest for a minute?" He asks softly. His eyes blinking innocently at me.

Closing my eyes to curse myself this time, I sigh nodding.

"Ever since that afternoon we bumped into each other, I..."

Cringing outwardly at the memory I cover my face. "I'm sorry for being clumsy, okay? It's a fault and I'm working hard to fix it-"

"No-Riley."

My eyes widen. That's the only response I have to Byun Baekhyun. With his pleading puppy eyes and pretty hand softly resting on mine.

He licks his lips taking in my silent yet attentive state. "I want to get to know you."

I raise a brow turning my head a little to the side, "In what way?"

He starts to say something and then seems to reconsider. "In any way you'll let me."

My eyebrows shoot up at that. Byun Baekhyun. Playboy Byun Baekhyun wants to get to know me? In any way I allow?

What the actual fuck.

A laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it; looking away and trying to control my amusement. "Is this how you do it?"

"Hmm?" He hums, hand still on top of mine.

I move away, clutching onto the bottom of my shirt instead. "Is this how you get girls? You tempt them by yielding to their will then bend them to yours?"

He blinks a look of confusion on his face, "What?"

I chuckle at his act, smirking bitterly at him, "What do you really want out of this? Another girl in your bed?"

Confusion continues to play on his features, and then it clicks. Something in him seems to snap; his whole posture shifting as his eyes darken. "Is that what you really think of me?"

I use every last of my strength to not waver under his heated stare, meeting his gaze head-on with my nonchalant one.

He scoffs, sitting back with a chuckle of disbelief. "I'm genuinely trying to get to know you and you assume I only want you for sex." He shakes his head.

I shrug even as my cheeks flush at that last word, "It's what you're known for, isn't it?"

The look he shoots my way has my mouth snapping shut. "So you believe in rumors." He nods to himself, fingers touching his lips before he lets his hands fall back to the table; regarding me with a piercing stare. "Tell me, did I try coming onto you at the party?"

I start to remind him that he was the one who never denied said rumors until he hits me with another one of those looks. "I'd like to think you are decent enough to not come onto a drunk girl," I mumble.

He nods not looking away from me for a second. "So you trust me with that, but not with wanting to date you?"

Date!? I blink, "Date?"

He laughs a little genuinely this time. "You're cute." He hums, eyes returning to their usual brown and warmth. "Yes, I want to date you."

My cheeks have no hope of cooling down at this point as I open my mouth to reply.

He lifts a hand, "I can tell by how you're being that dating is far fetched." He smiles, interlocking his hands under his chin while leaning forward. "So let's go at your pace, hmm? See where it takes us?"

Looking into his cutely blinking, sparkly brown eyes I sigh inwardly in defeat. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes at the turn of events I lean forward as well, his own orbs brighten even more at my action. "Friends," I mumble holding out my pinky finger.

He looks down at the digit a smile playing at his lips. My brows lift in challenge until he wraps his finger around mine, seeming to pause before letting out a, "Don't we have to seal it with a kiss?"

My eye twitches at that, and the smirk on his face. Never one to easily let someone else win, I nod smirking as well. "Of course~" The closer I lean in the more his eyes widen significantly. I ignore my own racing heart when our noses brush. His eyes flutter closed with a shiver; pretty eyelashes lightly touching the top of his cheeks. God how is he so nice to look at all over it's insane.

Smirking even more, I lift my hidden fistful of napkins pressing them to his lips; quick to peck the other side just as his eyes snap open in shock. Before he can hold me in place I've already leaned back, laughing loudly. "T-The look on your face!" I wheeze out of breath with a grin.

"S-Shut up," Baekhyun mumbles with rosy cheeks; adorably stirring his straw in his drink.

"Awww is baby baek sulking?" I tease chuckling when he shoots me a weak glare. Even with me laughing at his little moment of misery, he manages to have a cute smile on his face.

Maybe this wasn't a bad idea.

/////

Alright, befriending him? Decent idea. Giving him my number? The worse idea known to man.

"Fucking hell." I groan rolling over onto my back, throwing an arm over my face. Maybe if I pretend I'm a deep sleeper, he'll go away.

Alas, the ringtone designated for him, (that I—regrettably—let him choose himself,) blares for the 3rd time from my phone.

Fed up I launch myself out of bed, standing up with irritation in my veins while answering the damn thing.

"Hell—"

"7am on a Saturday, Byun?" I grit out. It takes everything in me not to speak louder in fear of waking up Jenny.

"I-I'm sorry." He's quick to reply in a sleepy mumble. At least he sounds apologetic.

And hot, my mind can't help but to point out.

I squeeze my eyes shut as memories of the party come to mind again. Not now brain.

I'm brought back to the present when he clears his throat. "I wanted to ask yesterday if you had plans for today, but by the time class ended and I got back from the office it was the early morning.."

Office? I wonder, biting the tip of my thumb. "It's fine." I sigh after awhile. "Just...text me next time?"

"But I like calling you." He mumbles even sleepier than before; voice muffled as if his face is in his pillow. "Your voice is pretty."

"And I sleep in on Saturdays." I'm quick to reply, tightening my grip on the phone as my cheeks flush. It's way too damn early for these kinds of compliments.

He chuckles in that 'I know you're getting shy' way I'm starting to be familiar with; asking softly, "When can I see you today?"

"Hold on," I mumble growing more flustered as I shuffle through the nightstand next to my bed. It took the past 2 weeks entirely to get the damn thing assembled on my own. Grabbing my hot pink decorated planner, (gotta love duct tape,) I flip to September, the bolded words Hair Appointment staring me dead in the face.

I gasp loudly, moving to gather my things to hop in the shower. "I will be busy from 9 to 11 so... Meet you at the cafe around 12?" My voice shifting to a panicked squeak at the end.

Baekhyun chuckles through the phone and I find myself pausing; a sort of calmness washing over me. His voice sounds so deep, husky, and undoubtedly sweet in the mornings-

"Okay," He chirps making me chuckle as well. "See you soon, Riley."

"Riley?"

I flinch, turning to gape at a half-asleep Jenny. She rubs her eye as I hear a distant, "Riley?" Through the phone.

Standing there nervously eyeing a confused looking Jenny, I bring the phone to my mouth; whispering a quiet, "See you, Byun." He hums a goodbye soothingly in reply.

"Byun?..." Jenny mumbles sleepily as I cut the line. "Byun, Byun-" Her eyes snap open. She sits up in bed; freshly dyed purple hair in disarray. "Byun Baekhyun!?"

I go back to nonchalantly gathering my shower things but avoiding her scrutinizing stare is impossible. "Yes," I mumble in defeat.

Taking a peek at her she has a bewildered look on her face. She reaches under her pillow to retrieve her phone; squinting, "Why the hell is he calling you at 7 in the morning?"

I shrug nonchalantly ignoring the heavy pounding of my heart, "He wanted to meet up."

Her brows rise, "Right now?" She exclaims.

"No!" I squeak cowering under her glare. "We are going to meet up at the cafe around the block, like always. That's all."

"Like always!?" She near screeches. The people next door rap on the wall and yell out a complaint as I resist the urge to cover my ears; eyeing her carefully. If she were in a cartoon, steam would be coming out of her ears by now. "How many times have you been meeting him behind my back!?"

I blink at that; managing to comfortably cross my arms and tsk, "What? He's not your boyfriend is he?" He better not, I'll kill him; I think. Alarming myself by such an aggressive thought.

"Pfft! Nooo" She shakes her head, laughing loudly. "Hell no."

"Alright then," I mumble blankly; going back to my bag of things to throw it over my shoulder. The doorknob is just in my grasp when her soft voice calls me back.

"Riley? Just...be careful, okay?"

Pausing I look back at her; lips twitching, "I saw you with him last Wednesday. What's the difference?"

She sighs wordlessly patting the space next to her. Reluctantly leaving my stuff by the door I make my way over, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Baekhyun doesn't have the best past when it comes to relationships, Riley." She begins, looking off into space. "I will admit that I was there. And I saw you as soon as we walked through the door." She turns to me then, blue eyes honest as can be. "I tried my best to distract him with the pretty lady behind the counter, but like fate, he caught his eye on the familiar brunette wearing a flower shirt." She smiles softly as my cheeks flush; her gaze focusing on her hands. "He saw you with a tall man of all people." She laughs as I try hard not to snort, "You really know how to make him go crazy without even knowing."

Yeah, tell me about; I nearly say. Remembering just how bothered he seemed by the encounter the week before.

Jenny sighs resting her hands on her knees. "I warned him to stay away from you, but anyone from miles away can see how smitten he is with you." She smiles a little sadly. "I once had a roommate who got her heart crushed by him." A flash of annoyance covers her face. "I gave him hell for months until we came to an agreement: if I'm rooming with someone, they are off-limits." She dramatically rolls her neck to the side; smiling teasingly at me. "Looks like you're the exception."

I can't help chuckling as she wiggles her eyebrows; my gaze settling up on the ceiling. "Thank you for telling me.." Looking back at her I raise a brow, "I'm not here looking for any relationship though."

Her own brows raise at that, "He said the same thing," A smirk grows on her face. "Before meeting you~"

"Ugh." I groan, playfully pushing her laughing form away.

"Go shower and get to your appointment before you're late." She softly chastises, shooing me off the bed.

"Thanks, mom," I grumble a little, laughing at the dramatic upset look on her face. "I'm on it."

"Have fun on your date!" She calls just as I'm walking out the door. Noticing the other people curiously looking my way, I quickly walk down the hall; fanning my flushing cheeks.

/////

At 11:30 sharp, I'm weaving my way through the Saturday traffic from hell; flinching every time someone bumps into me or I'm spotted by a creepy classmate. Freshly straight and shiny long hair tied back loosely with a hair-tie. The GPS on my phone claims that the cafe is a mere 15 minutes away, but me being me—always punctual—I made sure I left early to give myself double the time.

"Doll."

Near squeaking at the sudden appearance of...what was this tall guy's name again? Squinting at him I take in his height and beautiful skin tone... Ah, flirty Jongin. Internally rolling my eyes I shake my head in his direction; continuing to push through the crowd.

"It's not polite to brush someone off like that, Doll." A teasing voice chuckles in my ear.

I grit my teeth, "Go away."

"Going somewhere huh?" He observes, annoyingly keeping up with my fast pace. He continues when I don't give a single acknowledgment, "Mind if I accompany you?"

"You'll just do what you want anyway," I mumble carefully eyeing a familiar flower shop.

Jongin chuckles deciding to be quiet for a long 30 seconds as we wait for the crosswalk light to turn green. "Are you meeting someone?" He wonders as I cross the street with a purpose. His gaze doesn't seem to leave the side of my face until we are right in front of the cafe. "Study date?"

He holds the door open for me after someone exits. Quietly thanking him I scan the room for a head of silver hair. Baekhyun is not hard to find. Jongin and I seem to spot him at the same time, "Byun Baekhyun?..."

"Outing with a friend," I mumble; cheeks flushing when said friend waves my way. Looking up to flash Jongin a quick smile, I tug my hair loose and step into the cafe.

Funnily enough, as I make my way to Baekhyun it turns out he chose the booth that Sehun and I regularly sit in.

"Riley~" He greets as soon as I sit across from him. My back ends up towards the door; typical. He has his hair down in that boyish style again; dressed in a thin grey sweater that does a poor job in hiding his firm chest and well-built arms (not like I remember how they look and feel or anything—)

Shooting the man a small smile to distract myself, his own seems to become even more bright and blinding in response. "Hi Baekhyun." Quickly checking the time I blink at the 11:51am staring back at me. Guess we are both extremely punctual people.

Good; that unrealistic part of my mind gushes.

Focusing back on the task at hand, I rack my brain for a conversation starter before things can turn awkward.

Ah. My eyes widen. Got it.

"So," leaning forward with my hands clasped under my chin, I regard him with what I hope to be a curious expression. "You said something about an office this morning?"

Baekhyun's eyes widen a little a look of surprise on his handsome features, "Yeah." He licks his lips; biting them in a near shy manner, "Let's talk over coffee?"

Sighing even though this is the exact reason I suggested we meet here, I nod. He gives me his full attention as I recite my favorite preparation of mocha; a blush steadily forming on my face at the unbreakable eye contact. With a nod of his own and another of his killer smiles, he goes to order our drinks.

Resisting the urge to put my hand over my heart, I lean back fully with a shaky sigh; sneaking a quick text to Sehun.

*

Me: Dude tell me why I actually agreed to meet Baek today. I'm losing my shit. 11:55am

Sehun: What? Wait. Why? 11:56am

*

I readjust my glasses; smoothing out my sparkly teal t-shirt before sending a reply.

*

Me: We're trying to be "friends" 11:58am

*

All I get is a smirking emoji followed by even more inappropriate text gestures in reply.

Sensing a presence I put my phone back in my pocket, gazing up at Baekhyun. A smile tugs at my lips at the adorably concentrated look on his face as he tries to balance two drinks and muffins in his hands.

Succeeding in not dropping anything, he beams my way; sliding back into his seat.

I nod with a smile of my own, blowing tentatively on my steaming drink, "Good job."

He hums leaning back comfortably in his seat; regarding me with brown eyes full of awe and mischief. "So, you remember this morning, hmm?"

"Uh yeah.." I nod, crinkling my nose in confusion. What is he getting at? Going to take my first sip I choke on my spit, blinking with wide eyes.

//

"I like calling you."

"Your voice is pretty."

//

I point a finger at his smug smilling ass. "Shut the fuck up."

He laughs that contagious, "hahaha," of his as I sigh for the hundredth time; burning my tongue with no regrets.

/////

"Sooo you're taking over your family's company?" Briefly glancing over at Baekhyun, he keeps his eyes focused on the sidewalk.

He chuckles stepping over a left-open pothole in the ground; gently grabbing my elbow as I stumble. "No," He mumbles tucking his hand back into his pocket. "I have my own."

I do a double-take, "You what?"

He looks up at that. "What? You don't believe me?" He repeats stopping to turn towards me with a raised brow. "Think I can't handle it?"

"It's not that," I snort shaking my head as I stop as well. Ignoring the irritated people having to go around us. "I don't know you well enough to judge. But... You really run your own?" I ask blinking curiously. "Being CEO and all?"

He gives me a near blank stare. "Would I lie to you?"

"I don't know!" My voice cracks as I squeak, quickly avoiding his judging eyes. The timer on the green pedestrian light up ahead catches my attention. "H-Hurry up we're about to miss the light."

Just as I take another step someone shoves past me. I bite hard on my tongue to not yell after them when I lose my footing.

Once again hands are holding me by the elbow with practiced grace, "Careful." Baekhyun mumbles helping me regain my balance.

Huffing loudly I patiently wait for him to let go before moving on ahead, "Let's go. I hate crowds." Mumbling irritably my eyes stay focused on the tightly packed amount of people crossing the street.

Standing at the edge of the sidewalk a warm hand slips into my cold one. I stop dead in my tracks even as Baekhyun carries on ahead our hands tugging against each other. He looks back at me, softly squeezing my hand, "So you don't fall." He's got that beaming smile of his again, tilting his head cutely, "Is this okay?"

I nod quietly a weird feeling budding in my chest as he smiles even brighter, turning forward to lead our way through the annoying sea of people. Funny how easy it is to forget every annoying jab in the ribs and assholes stepping on the back of my shoes with how secure his warm hand feels in mine.

What is... Going on?

Clearing my throat I slip my hand out of his the second we reach the other side. "So you are a CEO." Pointedly avoiding his questioning stare I continue on forward, "What of exactly?"

"Privé alliance."

I choke. "I-" My heart nearly jumps out of my throat. Tripping over a crack in the sidewalk I have to grab onto the nearest thing to keep from face planting-which happens to be Baekhyun. "Privé-What!?"

Baekhyun is quick to hush me, wincing while pulling me away from the endless stream of people. "You sure are loud today," He mumbles.

I look up at him in shock, squinting at the sunlight reflecting off of the expensive shades covering his eyes. Where even the fuck did those come from? "You... You're the CEO of Privé, I..."

He holds up a hand. "I'm still the Baekhyun you kno-erm-are getting to know," He says.

My brows raise at his quick save, "Really?" They narrow in suspicion, "The CEO of arguably the biggest designer brand out there wants to associate with me. What makes me so special, huh?"

He looks me over; scanning my body from head to toe with a neutral expression on his face that leaves me flustered all the same. "If only you knew," He mumbles.

My eye twitches, "What is that supposed to mean?"

He shrugs carelessly and I have half the mind to tear into him until a thought occurs to me. "Baekhyun... How old are you?"

He quirks a brow, "Rude of you to ask a man his age."

"Not to be a smart ass but I'm damn sure that's a woman thing." I point out crossing my arms. "Now answer the question."

His other brow raises as he licks his lips, a smirk growing, "You're cute when you're bossy-Okay okay!" He exclaims dodging my fist. "Twenty three. I'm twenty three."

"Oh." I blink slowly lowering my fist, "Good."

"Why?" He turns his brown eyes onto me, asking the same question without directly saying so. Very smart of him.

"Only a 4 year difference," I mumble.

He blinks, "Wait you aren't 18?.." He trails off at my glare.

"Why? Are you into youngthings you perv?" I snap. His hands go up in defense, "No! I mean I don't mind-Wait! I-I mean, you are a freshman aren't you?" He says weakly.

Slowly letting go of my panicked murder intent I sigh, "Yeah."

"Rough high school experience?" He guesses.

"You have no idea," I mumble puffing my cheeks and blowing loose strands of hair out my face.

He gives me a sympathetic look that fills me with that feeling in my chest again.

"Anyway!" Turning to take in our surroundings I squint at him, "Are you CEO or a mafia lord?"

Baekhyun sighs in exaggeration. "Way to ruin a moment, Riley." He gives me an almost tired look, "Let's go."

Before I can take a step out the relatively bright alleyway, he braces his hand against the wall. "Um.."

Looking up at a flustered Baekyun I raise a brow.

"Can I hold your hand?..." He mumbles holding eye contact for a second before looking off into the distance.

Again? I almost squeak, stopping after taking in how he fidgets on his feet. Feeling a—dare I say—softness fill my heart at the sight of him, I cave. "Alright alright, here." Promptly reaching for his hand I swiftly march out the alley, ignoring the little gasp he makes. "The day is fading away and we're here looking at each other like a bunch of idiots."

"I could spend forever looking at you," He mumbles.

Sending him what I hope to be a threatening glare he only smiles sweetly in return. Groaning loud without a care I lead us down the street with a purpose.

Damn you smooth Byun Baekhyun.

****

I'm almost afraid to admit a few things.

I'm running from it I'm downright denying it, but... Baekhyun is a sweetheart. He knows how to make someone feel special either by daily texts checking up on me during his obviously busy schedule or paying attention to every detail when we go out.

Like he freaking noticed me eyeing the fluffiest stuffed corgi puppy I've ever seen in my life and bought it without batting an eye.

"You obviously like it." He said handing it over to me with a grin. "Plus you look even more adorable with it."

Stopping my complaints the second the ball of fluff is in my arms, I huff, quietly thanking him before quickly making my way back out the store.

He's very playful.

///

"Baekhyun, we can meet up at the park this weekend-"

"Missing me already? We just had coffee the other day~" The smirk is clear as day in his voice. "Let's have a picnic. I'll bring water and fruit."

I hum, "That sounds great-"

"But a man needs a kiss for his hard work." He cheekily singsongs.

I take it back, he is a little shit. A very very annoying little shit.

But surprisingly, (or not really,) he also has a serious, caring side.

///

"Riley~" His unmistakable voice sings into the phone.

I clear my scratchy throat before putting it back to my ear, "Hi Baek-"

"Are you sick?" Confusion is in his voice, and then realization sets in. "That fruit punch had artificial sugar in it.. didn't it?"

Choking a bit I whisper a, "M-Maybe-"

"How much did you drink?"

I wince, clutching my aching stomach and mumbling a quiet, "Too much," like a guilty child.

He sighs loud over the line. "I'm coming over."

Thankfully he cuts the call just as I'm weakly grabbing for my trashcan again.

Jenny opens the door after the first knock, "Hey."

"Hi," Baekhyun's voice carries over the quiet room. Our eyes meet for a second before I'm retching back into the trashcan. He sighs loudly.

"I-I'll be out for a while," She mumbles guilty.

"Don't worry, I'm staying overnight." He smoothly replies. "I let Jongdae know you are coming."

After a few more exchanges and the door clicking closed; the loud rustle of bags fills the air.

"Heat pack, peppermints, blanket, water, ginger ale, and the Little Mermaid series." He lists off, carefully sitting on the edge of the bed.

"T-Thank you-" I croak choking when I get sick again.

Baekhyun sighs gently brushing my hair back. My eyes flutter at the contact, embarrassment budding in my chest. He must notice the change of mood as I shy away from him. "It's alright. You're sick," He says softly, rubbing my back in a way that relaxes me completely. "Even while sweating a mile a minute you're beautiful-"

"And not to be that guy," He starts not even flinching when I'm at it again, "But if this isn't motivation to stay away from things that make you ill, I don't know what is."

"It tasted so good." I cry my eyes getting blurry with tears. Baekhyun falters a little, rubbing my back more thoroughly, "You didn't read the label."

"I usually do. I thought that it was made of all-natural ingredients." I sigh muttering to myself, "Stupid."

"Hey." Baekhyun sends me a look of disapproval, gently tapping my cheek. "You are not stupid, just a little clueless baby." Before I can retaliate with a, "You're 4 years older!" He tilts my chin up, "Be sure to check the labels from now on, hmm?"

I want to answer—and mayhaps admire him in circle rimmed glasses and a soft-looking grey sweater for a bit longer—but my stomach has other plans.

Sighing Baekhyun goes back to rubbing my back, staying up with me throughout the tortuous night and into the early morning.

Okay, there's no denying he makes a really great friend, but... Something doesn't feel right.

We're past the whole "successful playboy trying to get into my pants" point... There's just something with labeling him by the word friend and it is annoying the shit out of me.

///

"It's simple." Sehun utters leaning to the side as he steers his game controller.

"Really?" Eyeing the messages on my phone I bite my lip.

*

Baekhyun: Hey you want to meet up for dinner at the new burger place in town tonight?

Baekhyun: My treat 4:00pm

Me: Ah... I'm sorry I would but I'm hanging over at Sehun's tonight 4:04pm

Baekhyun: Sehun???? 4:05pm

Me: My bff. I really want to check that place out tho

Me: Can we call a raincheck? 4:08pm

Baekhyun: Sure 4:12pm

Me: Thank you Baekhyun~ you're the best ^^ 4:14pm

**

Baekhyun: Yeah 8:40pm

*

He hums, "You like him."

I choke on my water hastily setting the bottle back on the coffee table. Straining a bewildered, "Sehun, what the fuck?"

"Don't even try to deny it." He barely spares me a glance, but still tosses a box of tissues my way. "You should see how you two look together."

"And how would you know-" Stopping a little too late he's already turning to grin evilly at me. "I have my sources," He smirks breaking another high score on his game. In the midst of celebration, he singsongs a sly, "Anyone from miles away can see you're into him too."

///

So now here I find myself 2 weeks later; waiting in an uncomfortably crowded lobby for Baekhyun to finish up things in his office. There are familiar pictures of stunning, (and not so my taste,) Privé alliance clothing on the walls. (The ones with Baekhyun showcasing his own work while sporting curly brown hair easily being my favorite). For a moment I regret not seeing him with that hair for longer.

"And what has Miss Parker pouting?"

Jumping back I clutch tightly onto my purse, blinking up at a smiling Baekhyun. My breath catching in my throat. Now just anyone can casually wear black dress pants and a white button-down shirt, but Byun fucking Baekhyun? He makes it look outworldly with his sleeves rolled up past his elbows and his hair once again sleeked to the side to showcase his forehead.

Just like at the party; my conscious can't help but supply.

I'm...going out on the town with that tonight?

Fuck.

"You okay?" His voice breaks me out of my stupor; smile fading into a worried frown of his own.

"Yeah," Nodding quickly I ignore the urge to stare down at his expensive shoes, knowing how he is about keeping constant eye contact. (I can never lie to him like this either. I swear he could have been a detective in another life).

He throws his black blazer on and holds out his hand to help me stand; looking me over carefully, "Are you sure? I'm really sorry about the wait."

"It's nothing, Baekhyun," I mumble ignoring how nice his hand feels in mine.

"Alright." He hums waving over to the previously seething secretary before resting his hand on my back. "To the burger restaurant?"

"I mean, yeah." Discretely looking him over once again I frown, "Aren't you a bit too dressed up for it, though?"

His chuckle warms me up against the late autumn air just as much as his burning touch on my lower back, "You look a bit fancy too, don't you think?"

Blinking I look down at my attire; black one-inch heels, snug dress pants and a white turtle neck, which to my horror is a fucking PRIVÉ turtle neck.

Oh. My cheeks are the hottest shade of red. I turn to Baekhyun I stutter, "I...It's..Uh-"

"Suits you." He smiles jokingly adding a, "At least it's not one of my selca shirts."

Snorting on instant I quickly cover my mouth and gasp in horror only to end laughing even harder. Wearing a shirt that has the face of my hot CEO friend in an unironic manner. In his presence no less. Imagine that.

"Yeah," I stand up from my kneeling over position; wiping a tear from my eye; still chuckling. "I'd never live that down."

The silence I'm met with is unnerving. I carefully peek over at Baekhyun who's seemingly in some type of daze. His bright sparkly eyes focused in my direction.

Feeling a blush coming on, I do the most rational—irrational, most definitely irrational—thing.

"Baekhyun."

His eyes immediately shoot down at the contact, burning his gaze into my hand resting on his like it will give him the explanation he wouldn't dare ask for and I won't know how to answer.

"Are we," I try not to falter, "going to the restaurant or not? They aren't open 24/7."

His lips curl up even more. He looks at me with the sweetest eye smile, "You're right." Slipping his hand into my own he continues walking down the quiet street.

Ignoring the quickening pace of my heart is harder this time.

"So you're telling me," I mumble pointing my chopsticks at him, "That in the 3 months of our friendship, you never mentioned a dislike for cucumbers."

"You never asked," He mumbles with pink ears; painstakingly picking every tiny piece of said fruit out of his salad.

Watching him continue for a few minutes I sigh, pulling the piled up napkin towards me, "Gimme that."

"What-"

Biting off a piece of the already small fruit I hum, chewing it thoroughly.

Baekhyun looks at me with wide eyes, nose scrunched a bit.

"I don't see why-" I pause pushing the food around in my mouth, quickly making a face. Plucking a napkin from his side of the table I spit out the vile thing. "UGH!"

Hearing loud laughter I look up at Baekhyun; clutching his stomach. I threateningly pointing my chopsticks at him, "Don't laugh! Why didn't you tell me it had vinegar?"

"Y-You didn't ask," He wheezes wiping his eye; trying to reel himself in.

I scoff wiping my tongue. "I hate this shit, it's fucking disgusting."

"You don't like it, huh?" He smiles.

Nodding I take a long sip of my sprite, "It looks wrong. Tastes wrong. The fucking SMELL? Atrocious. A disgrace."

He chuckles handing me a stack of napkins, "You'll need this then."

After that we both engage in conversation about anything and nothing; clearing our salads of the awful cucumbers and gushing over our tender hamburgers. There's just something so genuine and simple about conversing with Baekhyun. It's never boring, or overwhelming, (although my dumb heart skips a beat at his smile). It's...Well, the type of comfortable and engaging atmosphere that's hard to come by.

"Do you want dessert?-" Barely finished with his sentence Baekhyun breaks into warm laugther.

I blink cluelessly, "What?"

"Got a sweet tooth, hmm?" He teases tapping his fingers on the table. "Your eyes got so sparkly when I mentioned dessert."

I redden at that gripping at the hem of my shirt, "I haven't had ice cream in 3 weeks okay!?" I snap. It only seems to make him laugh harder.

After a few minutes, Baekhyun raises his hand, ordering 3 servings of strawberry ice cream before grinning over at me. "Extra whip cream for the princess."

I raise my fist in warning; turning redder, "Watch it, Byun-"

"Alright Ice queen," His warm hand wraps around my own; holding it gently yet firmly as he lowers it back down. His other hand cups my cheek; his sincere brown eyes looking me over. "Relax, hmm?"

I nod—meekly at that—fearful of what will come out my mouth otherwise.

He smiles rubbing his thumb over my cheek; eyes lowered on what I will tell myself is the Privé label on my shirt. Thankfully the waiter comes back at that moment. Beautiful looking ice cream gleaming in the dim restaurant light.

I don't even try to contain the grin on my face, cheerfully thanking the waiter before they walk away. The first spoonful of deliciously creamy strawberry on my tongue has an appreciative hum rising in my throat. "Oh my god. The aftertaste is even better than the first!" I gasp too blissed out to react to a giggling Baekhyun. Try as I might, I finish the dessert at lightening speed, frowning down at my empty bowl.

Hearing the sliding of glass across the tabletop I look back at Baekhyun. His hand pushing the third bowl of ice cream my way. "Don't worry," He smiles pointing at his own unfinished treat. "I'm getting stuffed already. So enjoy the rest for us both, hmm?"

Not even waiting for him to finish talking, I swoop down for a spoonful of the slightly melted dessert, plopping it into my mouth.

Baekhyun's warm laughter fills the air around us as I quickly shuffle the rest of it in; flinching every now and then when my sensitive teeth get triggered.

"You really love strawberry ice cream, hmm?" He mumbles.

I lick the spoon and my lips; neatly setting the dish on top of the other, "I love everything strawberry. Thank you by the way." Smiling I turn to him with probably sparkly eyes, "You're the b—" I can't even finish my sentence.

Baekhyun is leaning on the other side of the table; chin resting on his palm with his eyes focused on me. A look I can only describe as affectionate written all over his face.

My heart is seriously about to hammer out my ribcage. "Um, Baek-"

"Beautiful," He mumbles smiling warmly with a twinkle in his eye. He straightens up still directing that smile at me. "Let's get going, hmm? I'll walk you back."

I can't do anything but nod and gulp as he moves to rest his hands on mine. My heart still set on a damn mission tp leap out at him.

Ever the gentleman, (I can't help but cringe at that description. God what am I thinking,) he picks up the bill and leaves the correct amount behind. I pick a few dollars from my own purse to leave a tip.

"Come." Baekhyun stands up holding his hand out to me.

I look down at the appendage trying to conceal my nerves. With my mind screaming no and my heart screaming yes, I place mine in his; flushing at the secure way he holds onto it.

Walking back onto the street I shiver involuntarily; cursing the weather report claiming the temperature would be in the mid 60s after the sun went down.

Baekhyun softly squeezes my hand looking over at me with an even gentler look, "Cold?"

"I.." Shaking my head I pull my turtleneck higher up on my neck, "No I'm fine."

"Your teeth are chattering." He points out.

Before I can huff out a reply he's already shrugging his blazer off. "Here." He sets it on my shoulders; his warm hands somehow doing a better job of warming me up than the thick fabric. Thankfully I can blame my flushing cheeks on the chilly air. "Thanks." I squeak more than mumble.

Humming in reply he slips his hand back into mine, leading the way to the dorms.

With every step, I can't help but glance over at him. Studying his soft yet handsome side profile. I swear loudly when I trip over a crack in the sidewalk, glaring down at the offending concrete. Baekhyun steadies me with a pacifying smile; tightening his grip on my hand as we continue.

Keeping my eyes focused on the ground I subtly return the gesture. My heart never ceasing in its fast pace.

Maybe... Maybe I'm warming up to this dating idea.

•⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •

Part 1 | Part 2  ✓ | Part 3 P(1) | P(2) | Part 4 P(1) P(2) | Part 5 P(1) P(2) | Part 6

Little Late Disclaimer: Broadity is totally not a word but I liked it too much to change the sentence so yolo B)

That’s it for part 2.....Part 3 is going to be even longer (and split into 2 parts) 😅 till next time🌹🌹

[llama-milk-for-the-egg-nog]

Thoughts on Mulan (2020)

Ok so I had heard some stuff beforehand about this movie, but I didn’t wanna let that tint my experience too much, though it kind of did in the form of noticing western influence on certain things. Here’s a list of thoughts more or less in chronological order.  First I wrote these in a notebook, and now I’m putting them here.

The beginning sequence reminds me so much of Kung Fu Huslte

though honestly it might just be that stephen chow’s movies are pretty much the extent of chinese-made media that I watch

Rosalind Chao is here, I’m a Keiko O’Brien stan so she reminded me of DS9

Fa Zhou saying something about “emissary” also reminded me of DS9

The music where the rourans first attack is cool I guess

idk if the brass made the music of the imperial city sound kinda western or what, but it certainly did sound militaristic (which I guess it’s supposed to)

Why does mulan have a little sister instead of a little brother? to add more female characters to the story? she doesn’t really do much though

After mulan’s whole childhood sequence, it cuts to a shot of the witch in the desert, which if you didn’t already know the story, might make it seem like mulan grew up to be the witch

although this makes some sense too bc the movie likes to compare them

the witch twists into a hawk (?), neat!

I saw people earlier comment about both men and women in china (and other parts of the world) keeping their hair long, so when mulan’s hair fell out of place in the matchmaker scene it made me notice that both the men and women also wear their hair up, which in turn causes the part of the movie later when mulan emerges after the avalanche to make way less sense since how would they know she’s a woman?

ok this is the thing I’m upset about, its a small thing but still, Why don’t we get to see the sword form?? If you remember in the animated version, her father does this straight sword form. (It’s a real form, not just made up for the animated movie). So I was like “ok maybe mulan will do it later” and then it NEVER HAPPENED. (possibly she did it during the “make a man out of you” training sequence, but the odd camera angels and quick cutaways make it impossible to tell)

I also had heard earlier that the script was not subtle at all,,,y’all were right

oh look, a phoenix

mulan: “the phoenix”

yes, we know

Commander Donnie Yen Tung’s entrance is iconic

BAHAHFHDSK mulan’s reaction to seeing naked men skjfdk

uh oh,,only 40 minutes in and the forced romance is already upon us

although, in retrospect, the way they resolved it at the end didn’t make me cringe that much

I’m a slut for butterfly kicks

the scene where mulan bathes in the lake has a much more predatory undertone now, especially now that Ling, Chien Po, and Yao are missing

the trio made the scene funny in the animated movie

can the not-Li-Shang-love-interest Honghui please leave Jun/Mulan alone?? ffs

speaking of no Li Shang, I liked the Donnie Yen mentor character half better than the Honghui half

Honghui kind of comes off as a simp ngl

what’s with the witch’s makeup/outfit? are they based on something?

speaking of outfits, awhile ago, I saw a really cool doll alteration video for mulan 2020

Commander Tung’s monologue/ mulan’s and the army’s training sequence about Chi where the words “Tranquil as a forest, but on fire within” are spoken is actually my favorite part of the whole movie. As much as I would have liked a musical remake, I think they translated the visual elements and the words together well in a way that was different enough from the animated version, but still satisfying to watch (at least for me).

They also integrate the music of Reflection here really well imho.  In the animated version, there’s a point where mulan modulates to a higher key, but the live action version doesn’t do that, which further pushes it away from sounding like disney’s classic musical theatre style.  They also changed a few of the notes, and I think the overall changes to Reflection in this part of the movie really improve this montage.

Compared to the Spiderman where they changed the notes from harmonic minor to (normal) minor (idk if that’s the real term I’m not actually a music major) in the MCU opening sequence, the note changes in Reflection don’t actually upset me.

my brain: oh look!! flowers!! cool! whooshhhh (honestly I couldn’t even tell if she was doing flowers right in the first part of the movie until here)

Mulan/Jun is gonna marry Commander Tung’s daughter? Yeah girl!! Get it!

oh look at me I’m a rouran and I gotta turn around on my moving horse to shoot arrows let me just swoOP

1:01:56 WHY ARE YOUR FINGERS IN FRONT OF THE HILT oh ok they fixed in the next shot but its still annoying

Unsubtle phoenix imagery not subtle

I guess I was warned about it :/

oh look its my fav interval a major 7th, I wonder if that’s supposed to be like “the last step before rebirth/the octave” bc of how Jun “dies” after the witch throws a weapon that gets stuck in her chest binding

at least she’s not using ace bandages or smth but idk much about binding

WHY ARE YOU THROWING OFF ALL YOUR ARMOR WHEN YOU’RE GOING INTO BATTLE? ACCEPTING AND PRESENTING YOURSELF AS WHO YOU REALLY ARE DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO TAKE OFF YOUR ARMOR

ok I know it was so she would be visually distinguishable from the other imperial soldiers, but still

the soldiers doing the turtle thing with their shields reminds me of the “we irritating 😂😂😂” meme

brass to signify that mulan is going to have a heroic moment (causing the avelanche) seems western to me. Idk much about traditional chinese instruments but it seems like they could use more of those.

Guys,,,I’m so fucking stupid I- .... it took me an hour and ten minutes to register the Lucky Cricket stand-in character,,,excuse me,,,,

the scene where mulan saves hongui and puts her hand over his heart gives me r*ylo vibes and I hate it

the witch, 1:14:40: “🎵yes I~ am a girl like you~🎵”

damn the music even reminds of the barbie movie a bit

The emperor’s voice reminds me of the mentor character from Kung Pow Enter the Fist which in itself was a western guy making fun of old cheesy martial arts movies (and how movies sometimes have a white male protagonist when they’re deadass set in asia and everyone else is asian)

the mentor characters voice was dubbed into english (and you can tell) but to me the emperor’s voice also kinda sounds like that

I’m disappointed that we didn’t get some kind of scene like the part in the animated verison where Mulan leads Ling, Chien Po, and Yao to cross dress to help save the emperor.

to me, that scene in the animated ver. is a reminder that it isn’t shameful for men to act/dress feminine

in general the animated version, to me, sends the message that it is ok to have both feminine and masculine traits, and that they don’t undermine each other or your identity, so they should all be embraced as a part of one’s personality (which tbh really helped me as a young kid)

the 2020 ver,, just doesn’t really send that message, instead its more broad like “be true to yourself”

I’m a slut for butterfly kicks

the witch taking an arrow for mulan really didn’t do it for me tbh, it made her seem a little wishy washy

like, I get that she wanted acceptance/validation, and that a part of her was glad that mulan found that for herself, but what about the rest of her motivation? Isn’t a desire for power or something what separates her from mulan?

Unsubtle phoenix imagery and dialogue is unsubtle

The music playing during the Mulan v. Khan duel reminds me of Duel of the Fates

actually the setting of the duel and other things really remind of of the Maul v. Ahsoka duel from Clone Wars s7

damn I really wanna watch the Maul v. Ahsoka duel cause the fight choreo is just,, so much more interesting

aww! Cricket is alive!

Around 1:34:39 , the music does not feel like it should be building up to Reflection here.  At this point, I think the melody had been reprised too many times and was getting to be overused (I still like it in the training sequence though).

I was happy to see Ming Na Wen!

Mulan is going home and ugh! Honghui! Don’t you know she’s betrothed to Commander Tung’s daughter? smh. homewrecker simp.

the matchmaker reminds me of Baron Harkonnen (Dune)

cheezy credits song is cheezy, even cheezier because they reprised reflection again

[facethroughthemirror]

A Little Chest Wound Never Hurt Anyone

After the mission to capture CT's armor, a concerned Wash intrudes on Florida and Wyoming having a moment.

Characters: Agent Washington, Agent Florida, Agent Wyoming Relationships: Agent Florida/Agent Wyoming

AO3 Link

"There we are. Just need to keep the pressure on..."

Washington looks up, away from Maine, who'd either passed out or fallen asleep almost immediately after strapping in. He takes off his helmet and sets it aside, to get a better look around the pelican at his fellow freelancers. They're all tired, a few of them are injured. He's pretty sure that at least one of them is more upset than she's letting on because of the nature of the mission they just completed.

His eyes touch over South, with her head tilted back against the wall, and North and York, talking quietly with their helmets off. North's AI's little projection is sitting on his shoulder, kicking its little feet and apparently listening in on what North and York are saying. Carolina's up front with 479er, and no one's sure where Texas is. Maybe she had her own craft. She's not in theirs. But there's still two people missing from the number, at least among the seats, and he's... actually a little concerned about the one.

Florida had been on the ground with a hatchet in his shoulder when Wash, York, and Carolina had caught up to them. And he'd stayed down for a long time. He'd gotten up like nothing was wrong, eventually, and the entire time he'd been lying there, Wyoming hadn't seemed that concerned about him, so Wash hadn't thought to be. It hadn't been until they'd eliminated the gunners that Wash had found out that not only had Florida been axed, but he'd been knocked off of a high platform at the same time. He'd even cheerfully pointed out where he'd fallen from. It wasn't exactly close to the ground.

So, yeah, Wash is a little concerned about that teammate in particular.

Finally, he finds Florida, sitting on the floor with his back against the bay door while Wyoming kneels in front of him, pulling the dark blue plate armor off and setting it aside. Wash can still hear Wyoming talking, but with his helmet off and it having fallen over between himself and Maine, he can't really hear his radio picking up what the older agent is saying, just that he's talking. Wyoming pauses after removing Florida's helmet and breastplate, and pulls his gloves off, presumably to make it easier to handle medical supplies and work on Florida's injuries. As he sets them down, a pair of unarmored hands snake around to settle on his helmet, weakly tugging on it in an attempt to pull it off. Apparently, Wyoming finds this amusing, as he laughs before reaching up to take it off himself. He sets it down beside Florida's, the visors facing each other almost as if they're talking to one another. Wash doesn't think that's intentional: it's too cute for Wyoming of all people to have meant to do it.

Wyoming moves to Florida's side, starting to peel the bodysuit down to his waist, and allowing Washington a rare look at the wounded man's face.

Florida is a creepy motherfucker, to be sure, but the most eerie thing about him is that he always sounds like he's smiling. And every time Wash has seen him, he has been. Even now, he's got a serene little grin on his face. He looks unsettlingly calm for a man with a yawning gash in his shoulder, one that Wash flinches upon seeing as Wyoming gingerly frees Florida's wounded side from his bodysuit. The smile could be explained, probably, by blood loss or becoming a little delirious from possibly going into shock. Or... Wash doesn't know Florida very well, but honestly, what little he does know tells him that Florida might just be Like That. He always seems so unbothered by everything.

"Right, we'll get you some painkillers," Wyoming says, quieter than Wash has ever heard him, as he reaches up to brush some stray hair off of Florida's forehead. "Then we'll see about this bleeding."

But Florida, still smiling, shakes his head. "Mm, it's not bad enough for morphine."

Wyoming's shoulders very visibly raise and lower in a sigh, but he nods, mumbles something that sounds like "of course," and opens the medkit. He sets to work, cleaning up the injury quickly and carefully, digging in the kit for gauze after he's apparently done making sure that there's no debris left in the gash. All through it, Florida just watches him work, the unworried smile never flickering or fading. In fact, Wash swears that it just gets sweeter as Wyoming's hands get bloodier. Like he's enjoying the sight of his blood on Wyoming's hands.

Wash shudders a little when it occurs to him that, honestly, Florida might be enjoying it. He's creepy, that's a creepy thing to like.

"Come on now," he finally hears Wyoming say out loud as he presses a gauze pad to the wound and tapes it into place. He shifts, moving an arm behind Florida to help him sit up. "Up you get."

Florida actually hisses when he finally moves, and the smile cracks out of existence for a brief moment, but it's back before Wyoming can see that it had gone. But even that fleeting second of visible pain breaks the unsettling illusion of "fine" that Florida seemed to have cast, and it lets Wash see just how pale Florida actually looks. Probably from the blood loss. His eyes aren't serene and unbothered, they're vacant, far-away, and kind of unfocused. It actually looks like Florida might be about to pass out.

"H-Hey...hey, man..." Finally, Wash gets up from his seat and crosses the rear bay to sit down on Florida's other side. "... you uh... you okay?"

It's been a running joke for a long time that nothing can kill Florida. Wash had thought he and Maine were indestructible, but damn if Florida isn't at least six times worse. Well, maybe only four times worse than Maine. At least Wash has the good sense to stay down when he's hurt, and nothing seems to really damage Maine. But after Maine had gotten so hurt, it's actually kind of nice to be able to look to the one remaining pillar of indestructibility.

"Worry about yourself, lad," Wyoming snaps. The English agent’s tone is clipped, annoyed. He even looks angry, moreso than usual. He's got an angry kind of face, but at least he occasionally doesn't sound like you're irritating him by breathing in a three-foot radius of him. Sometimes he even laughs. "We're fine."

Despite his partner's annoyed tone, Florida reaches across with his left hand, and rests it against Wyoming’s jaw. When he finally speaks, he sounds way stronger, far more alert, than he looks right now. "Now, Reginald, don’t be so harsh. He's only trying to help. I'm just dandy, Agent Washington."

"Dandy," huh? That's not new, Florida says that kind of stuff all the time, but Wash can't help but feel like he might not exactly be telling the truth. "Uh... we um... it just looks like you're passing out on us..."

"Oh, a little blood loss never hurt anyone!" God, Florida sounds way too chipper. And that grin is downright eldritch. Lovecraftian, even. It's horrifying up close, especially with the crimson stain of blood so very visible just beyond it from Wash's angle. It becomes even more disorienting as his eyes darken when Wyoming reaches up and takes his hand off of his jaw, placing it into his lap. Florida continues speaking, however, addressing Wash casually, conversationally, as Wyoming continues to bandage him up. "How's Agent Maine? It's a little soon for him to be back in the field, isn't it?"

"H-huh? Oh... Maine's... yeah, he's okay. He's just... he's really tired right now. He wrecked a lot of shop out there today, I think it was just... a lot for him. Like you said, it's really soon for him to be back in the fight. But once we get him back in his bunk for the night, he'll be good to go in the morning. He just needs to rest up."

"That's great. He's very lucky to have such an attentive partner."

"... you'd know about that, huh?" Wash asks after a moment, finally noting how focused Wyoming is on wrapping gauze around Florida's chest and shoulder. It's not the hurry of a man in a rush to get things done, it's slow. He's being gentle. Making sure he's doing a good job. The carefulness is sweet, almost tender, and it actually tugs at Wash's heartstrings a little.

Florida laughs, then exhales a little harshly through his nose when Wyoming helps him sit back against the door. "... I suppose I do. Reggie is very good to me. Fusses over me like no tomorrow, but I just can't be annoyed with him when he's being so sweet."

Florida? Annoyed? At Wyoming? That's rich. Wash would laugh if it wasn't so ridiculous, honestly.

Wyoming makes a noise that Wash can't even begin to read, which prompts Florida to reach for his jaw again. The attempt is denied, with Wyoming pushing Florida's hand down and away, and Florida's smile fades out entirely. Wash clears his throat, going for the medkit to help. "Uh... do you want, like... painkillers or something? I heard you say you didn't want morphine, but there might be like some aspirin in–"

"He can't take it," Wyoming snaps again. "Even if he could, aspirin's a blood thinner, that'd be the worst idea."

"Oh now, you don't need to be so harsh, he's only trying to help." Florida's smile is back, but Wash can see it straining at the corners now. He's forcing it. "No, thank you, Agent Washington."

Wyoming either ignores Florida, or doesn't hear him, and continues speaking. "He's allergic anyway."

"... huh?"

Florida lifts his left hand, waving the fingers to draw Wash's attention to it, before pointing his middle one down to a tattoo on his wrist. It looks kind of like the medical alert bracelet that Wash's own youngest sister wears; it's supposed to let people know about her penicillin allergy, and that she was diabetic. He squints to read the ink on Florida's wrist, and nods when he reads "aspirin." It's in much larger lettering than "tree nuts" and whatever "octisalate" is.

"... oh."

"Mmhm. I can sometimes have reactions to ibuprofen as well, unfortunately. So, most over-the-counter pain relievers, and even some of the good medical grade ones, are off the table. Acetaminophen is alright, and morphine works just fine, but this is a little too extensive for acetaminophen and not nearly bad enough for morphine."

"Not that you're an authority on that," Wyoming grumbles.

Florida's eyes seem to flash, and his smile drops away abruptly as he honest to God glares at Wyoming. Wash can't imagine what it's like to not be able to pop an aspirin for a headache, or take painkillers at all unless it's morphine, or whatever the hell "acetaminophen" is, but he can imagine that it leads to a much shorter temper when someone is in that much pain. And he can't believe that Florida isn't in pain. It's just... scary to see Florida looking so angry.

"... why don't you go back to Agent Maine, Agent Washington." Florida's voice is low and dangerous. It doesn't really sound like he's asking a question at all. Wash can still hear that note of near-playfulness in it, but it sounds more now like Florida's current idea of "playful" involves some degree of evisceration. It's chilling. "We should be landing soon. You should wake him up."

"I mean, nah, he'll be--"

"I really think you should."

Wash swallows. Message received. Loud and clear. He just nods this time, and scrambles back to his place beside Maine. He keeps an eye on Florida and Wyoming, though. He watches Wyoming reach for Florida's face, looking apologetic, but Florida pushes his hand away and speaks too quietly for Wash to hear. Wyoming ignores the physical, and possibly verbal, reprimand, and catches Florida by the chin. Wash can't hear Wyoming speaking, but he sees Florida's face soften, sees Wyoming rests both bloody hands along either side of Florida's jaw, and then the whole sight is obscured when Wyoming leans in closer to his partner.

They stay like that for awhile, for most of the rest of the trip back, and when the Mother of Invention comes back into sight, Wash finally sees Wyoming move again. He pulls his discarded armor back on, leaving Florida's, and bundles his partner into his lap before apparently piling the smaller agent's armor on top of his own torso. When they finally touch down, Wash sees Wyoming stand, lifting Florida up, before the rear door opens. Florida's head lolls to one side, and Wash can see that his eyes are closed: either Wyoming convinced him to sleep it off, or he finally passed out.

Almost as soon as the door opens, Wyoming is down the ramp and nearly out of sight, moving quickly toward the medical bay. Not running, it stands to reason that running would probably jostle Florida too much and agitate his injury. More like a fast walk.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, Wash is pretty sure he's only ever seen Wyoming run in drills, when there's someone standing nearby and telling him to. Usually, even in training, he pretty much just jogs anyway. But maybe that's just a perk of being the sniper, Wash guesses. No one's really expecting you to charge into the fray at top speed. As he understands it, you're kind of supposed to get in position and stay there. But then again, you're supposed to book it out of there once you've taken your shot or whatever, so maybe Wyoming does run sometimes. Though he might not need to if he's got someone covering him...

By the time Wash finishes contemplating whether Wyoming ever runs, or if he's even capable of moving faster than a light jog or brisk walk, Wyoming and Florida are completely out of sight, and York and the twins are almost gone too. It's actually Carolina shoving past him, knocking him into Maine, that actually makes him realize he's spaced out.

Rather than sound annoyed at being hit by a carelessly flung body, Maine huffs quietly down at his partner as he snags his helmet, tilting his head toward the open bay door as if asking why Wash hasn't gotten out yet.

"Huh? Sorry, we're going, big guy, it's just..." Wash spies an abandoned piece of plate armor on the floor, and wanders over to scoop it up, frowning when he identifies it as being off of one of Florida's shoulders. "... well, fuck. Better get this back to him. Wanna come with me?"

Maine just snorts, tossing Wash's helmet to him and chuckling when it hits him in the chest.

"... you dick. You're really gonna make me deal with Florida and Wyoming by myself?"

"Agent Maine would prefer not to have to speak with Agent Florida, Agent Washington," Sigma says, projection crackling into existence just over Maine's right shoulder. "Agent Florida... unsettles him."

Maine growls, turning his head sharply in Sigma's direction, and Sigma's projection disappears as quickly as it came. Wash just laughs a bit, reaching up to pat Maine's shoulder. "I get it, buddy, Florida scares the shit out of me too. But he's fucked up right now and I wanna be nice to him so that when he snaps and murders everyone, I'm safe. You go ahead, save me a spot in the mess hall."

[sailor-cresselia]

13: Watching the sub this time! Ghost is fed up, and CURSE YOU DECADE

Woz: My lord has screwed up, so now I have to start all over. (sarcasm) Great. (end sarcasm)

See, tsukuyomi does have some combat skills, if her catching that chair so easily is any clue. She’s just not allowed to show them Because Toei.

“ENOUGH! You’ll break something.” I love you, Tsukuyomi. You’re the best. Please don’t die.

“there’s no good reason to be stealing from anyone. Well, unless it’s a girls heart, then it’s romantic.” SIR STOP IT. I HAVE SEEN THIS IN RAW FORM AND I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE GETTING AT. STOP IT.

sir you keep removing any chances for me to trust you ever. i think we’re at negative two. cut it out.

Wait, hang on… what was Sougo even doing at the bike-track underpass?

I really like that Narita just. Lassos Sougo. That’s the best way to catch a noodle-limbed rider, clearly. That way, you don’t let him get at his belt! … of course, we’ve seen that Sougo can get his belt activated by other people, but he still needs to put it on first, so…

I was wrong before. It’s less of a hit-list and more of a “pull a Masamune Dan and upload everyone before the bad things happen” list.

The guy in the car was driving in the dark and the rain. The kid at the underpass was on a bike… and I thought something was up, but forgot to mention it last time. Once they showed what happened to Another Ghost, I though he might be going after safety violations, which was helped by the guys at the factory being absolutely terrible at their jobs. But I forgot to say anything… drat.

So, I can’t tell what Woz’s goal is for getting the Time Jackers involved with Decade. He’s playing them in one way, Decade’s probably doing the same, and they’re all playing both of them… (This, too, is Toei’s fault.)

THEY’VE BEEN TRACKING ANOTHER GHOST FOR THREE YEARS. help them.

Takeru: Geiz. You just killed a man. You must pay.

Uhr: Sorry, wrong, he’s already a goner.

So Uhr is talking to Mika and Geiz. Well, presumably including Geiz, since Uhr knows full well that the other time travelers are at least resistant to the time freezing. But I don’t think Uhr knew TAKERU was listening.

*sobbing* oh nooo Another Ghost did The Thing to ‘release’ the souls he collected.

oh. So that’s what Uhr was saying to get him to go after Zi-O. He told Another Ghost about the whole evil overlord thing, and since Another Ghost’s whole thing is punishing people who hurt others… whoops.

(“Whoops” is the most applicable phrase ever for anything related to Ghost, I swear.)

And yeah, the Suika Sprite is still adorable.

Hey, come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve seen anyone go straight from one Armor set into another, isn’t it? The Ghost armor gets summoned as the Gaim armor removes itself. And that is basically by re-winding its own sequence. Zi-O reverts to his base form, and on goes the Ghost armor.

And thankfully the Ghost armor does not include the Parka Ghosts for Zi-O like it did for Geiz. THANK YOU.

See, is that a “oh, so he’s the guy who gave me the thing!” reaction on Takeru’s face, or a “who’s this imposter?” reaction? Or a “Oh, so this is the guy they warned us about!” reaction.

(I just really really want to keep my fake amnesia theory going, guys. Thanks, ‘OOO & Genm.’ Thanks.)

Decade: So, you’re my successor? Let’s see what you’ve got, kiddo.

Wait… wait. Have. Have we seen Sougo get knocked out of his transformation before? We’ve only seen two really bad beatings before this… First was Sougo vs Geiz in ‘OOO & Genm,’ then Agito!Decade vs Geiz earlier in this episode, and now Hibiki!Decade vs Sougo.

Takeru: Oh, good, I didn’t knock you too far away. I’m really sorry about this. I know, it sucks, but at least I’m going to be honest with you about your odds.

Unlike a certain sketchy old guy who apparently has a habit of taking recently deceased 18 year olds and giving them 99 days.

(sorry to folks in the zi-o tag, I finally got around to watching 100 Eyecons the other day and I’m even more annoyed with Edith now than I had been from his actions in just the season on it’s own.)

Preview!Makoto: Takeru, why aren’t you transforming?!

Preview!Takeru: Because these are the guys who’ve been screwing everything up with everyone else, and I was trying to keep them from finding me out, which you have just ruined.

13.5: Oh dear lord

I live for the interludes. I just live for these.

I’m so sorry Takeru. She had to bring up Officer Tomari. He’s incredibly relevant. I know you have some hero worship going on there. But he’s busy being a different detective right now.

And here’s some stuff.

Ryoma Takeuchi, formerly playing Shinnosuke Tomari, is soon to be the Japanese voice for the Human lead in the Detective Pikachu movie.

The most recent Pokémon games gave a dedicated voice for Eevee, who is now played by Aoi Yuki.

Aoi Yuki, while more known for playing Madoka Kaname (internationally, at least) was also the actress for Yurusen.

Who is a cat. Similar to Eevee. (Really, Yurusen being a cat explained so much in hindsight.)

And finally, a one Hiroshi Fujioka played the lead villain in the 9th Pokémon movie… and a certain Kamen Rider.

(also also, I was looking into the fact that Ryoma is the third Rider to have a part with Pokémon. Apparently Shu Watanabe (Eiji) did a series of shorts for the release of the Gen VI games. And, along with Ryoma, is in the right age bracket to have grown up playing Pokémon. Shu was born in 91, and Ryoma in ‘93. Just the right time frame. Starting with Gen II, maybe, but just the right ages nonetheless)

(this part is, admittedly, completely irrelevant to the topic of Zi-O, but really. You brought this on yourself, 13.5. You brought this on yourself.)

[mairzymarzipan]

Night of the Full Moon Character Reviews- Classes

It’s about time I finally get on this.  I’ve been wanting to start these reviews for a while, but personal stuff came up, and then worries about the future of my blog.  But things are finally sussing out so- why the fuck not now?

And naturally I’ll be talking about the characters.  Other folks are talking about gameplay itself and strategy, but I kind of love these characters.  Some of them have really fucked up stories.  There seems to be some translation weirdness(this is actually a Chinese game), but I feel like there was a love when crafting these stories.  I’ll just talk about mechanics when I feel it’s important for the plot.

And who better to start with the heroine herself?

Night of the Full Moon is sort of a cross between a TCG and a roguelike.  The cards you stumble on, the events that happen and the people you meet are randomized each time.  It takes place in a magical forest on the edge of a village.  Said forest is cursed and everybody knows it.  It always snows, and those affected by the curse in it can never leave.  On a full moon night, cursed people lose their minds, apparently, and attack you even if they might not usually.  The more times you play through, the more about the story is revealed.

You play as Little Red Riding Hood, an orphan(???) raised by her grandmother.  When your grandmother disappears, it’s your job to march into this forest on a full moon night to find her.  

There are currently six classes to choose for your little cloaked heroine: Lady Knight, Ranger, Nun, Little Witch, Magician and Apothecary.

“Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother relied on each other for a living, and was often bullied by boys.  As a result, she did not have many happy memories of her childhood. However, she had to learn to use her brain and her fists to survive.”

Spoilers, but the knight class is the only one you can play for free.  Yeah, sorry, this game has some DLC so, your mileage may vary.  The knight class is fun to play, though.  It involves using your weapons and armor and combining your armor with cards that hit for a lot of damage.  You may feel a little annoyed when the witch pharmacist keeps offering you useless mana potions, though.

I just don’t really have much to say on the story of this timeline itself.  I do like the idea of a person learning self defense specifically bc of bullies, but something about this wording bums me out.  Her being defined as being a victim is kind of a downer.

Knight Red does not(afaik, feel free to correct me) have any class-specific interactions with any of the enemies.  Yeah- some of these classes will get an extra choice when they defeat a certain enemy, if their dialog is triggered.  It’s by chance, though.

And yeah.  Most of the art depicts Red with anime white hair.  I like to imagine the art of her on the cards is her as a little kid and then she dyed her hair as a teen.

🛡️🛡️ Two shields.  Serves it’s purpose but kind of the most bare.  Considered this is the only non-dlc class, that seems a little lame.  Why not just make Knight, Ranger and Witch free and make the others dlc?

“Little Red Riding Hood has long been the only girl who dared to go into the forest with hunters.  Over time, she became more agile and earned more gold from her prey. Perhaps one day she will achieve her dream of building her grandmother a house, no longer cold and hungry.”

Now this appeals to me a bit more.  And- don’t worry.  It’s clearly in the intro that her and Grandma have a place to live- but it’s probably a shitty apartment with a shitty landlord or something.

But this is a Red who has more agency.  She’s defined by her hobbies instead of how other people treat her.  Not that her life is any piece of cake.  I do like that mention about trying to make money, bc this is one of the classes where you can attain the ‘steal’ card, where can get a little extra money when you fight people.  

Ranger Red gets a class-specific interaction with the a hunter who has a particularly harsh backstory.  I’ll get to him tomorrow.  I like to imagine this guy took Red under his wing a lot when she was younger, too.

The ranger class involves a lot of chain reactions, finagling things so your turn is longer and then potentially hitting for a lot at the end if made your turn long enough.  It’s in my top three favorites.

🏹🏹🏹 Three bow and arrows.  Some cool characterization and legit a fun class to play.

“The king Little Red Riding Hood does not like to use violence to solve problems.  “Injuries of the body are far easier to treat than those of the heart and spirit.” This is Little Red Riding Hood’s motto.  Perhaps this is the reason why she is more understanding than others.”

Nun Red was initially interesting to me because...well, spoilers, but it doesn’t take many playthroughs to realize that the people involved with the church are kind of like the biggest bad.  There are other big bads, but they’re kind of the shittiest people?  And a person kind of has to be involved with a church to be a nun.

But that might not be the case.  She really kind of plays more like a cleric.  Her moved involve healing herself and praying.  Her special interaction is also not with a member of the church but rather somebody who may be described as a pagan.  Also, your Grandmother fucking hates the church, so I really doubt she’d let her grandmother become an actual nun.  Nah, ‘Nun’ Red seems to represent an old faith that the villains have been trying to eradicate.

That being said, despite avoiding violence, I don’t have a lot to go on with this Red’s personality.  Ok so, she’s really nice?  I assume she’s poor like all the other Reds, but doesn’t seem to care about that.  Like the Knight, she just kind of comes off as too passive.

Gameplay wise, she’s my least favorite.  A healer makes sense if other people are in your party who can hit, but Red is alone.  It’s very difficult to get her to wield damage and fights go on for a long time.  It’s just, boring and frustrating.  For that reason, I’ve giving her just 🙏🏻 one set of pray hands.  Petty, I know, but that’s how I play.

“Even though the study of black magic is strictly prohibited in town, Little Red Riding Hood’s curiosity cannot be suppressed.  What’s more surprising is that the witch has great patience in her guidance of the girl.”

Oh, yes, here we go!  Probably the most interesting Red story wise.  Spoilers again, but remembers those multiple Big Bads I mentioned?  Well the Witch is one of the biggest of the bads...that is, unless you think that Pharmacy Witch and Apple Witch are different people.  Then who knows which one in her tutor.  My headcanon is that they’re the same person using a shapeshifting, so...

But yeah, to have a character who was trained by one of the main villains then go back and take on the evil in the forest makes for a pretty fun story.  Yes, yes, it’s every video game twist, but give me this.  Also this Red is driven, not by her shitty living situation, but simply by curiosity.  She thinks magic is weird and cool and wants to know everything about it, and she’ll break the town laws and go into the woods to just to learn.  That’s pretty neat!

This description, along with some facts about said Witch also lead to some pretty important headcanons about the ur-story but...I’m going to wait to talk about those when I talk about the Apple Witch.  

Witch Red is kind of just, a wizard.  You can be an elemental generalist, or you can focus one of the three elements, or you can stock up your mana up just to hammer people with it later.  The difficulty is often picking a strategy early enough and finding the cards you need to make it work.  The class specific encounter is with a mage who has a similar deck so- it fits.

She gets 🔥🔥🔥🔥 four fireballs.  Great for story and headcanons, but her class isn’t one of my favorites to play.  As I said: petty.

“As a descendant of the Hope family, Little Red Riding Hood discovered a strange bond between her body and cards when she was very young. She sought to cover up this supernatural phenomenon and magic became her best excuse.”

There is a lot of unpack here.

“A descendant of the Hope family” is another thing I’ll talk about when we get to the Witch.  This class is...kind of meta?  I had assumed up until seeing that that everyone wasn’t really carrying around physical cards but rather they represented attacks.  What does it mean if Magician Red has power over cards themselves?  Does she warp reality to mess with people’s attacks?  Spoilers but no, unless you have a card that wipes out mana/attack pts.

Also, it’s wild to me that Red was born with this super power, but it was soooo scary that she told everyone that it was magic.  Yanno, the thing that’s been established as illegal.  What exactly is it that Red is capable of doing, and why is it so frightening?  The description doesn’t reveal much.

You can either use a lot of traps with her or you can bank mana to make combos with your poker dart card.  Both are pretty fun.  Her special encounter is with a robotic stage magician who is actually pretty awesome.  Also he probably didn’t train her, because he’s kind of new to the area.

She gets 🃏🃏🃏 three playing cards.  Fun class to play, and he beginnings of an interesting character, but too confusing for me to latch onto.

“Little Red Riding Hood has been filled with curiosity for the natural world ever since childhood, and enjoys performing strange experiments. To care for her aging Grandma, she secretly learned how to concoct cheap potions from the crazy apothecary.”

Personality wise, Apothecary Red seems to have a lot in common with Witch Red, with the natural curiosity.  The nature of the ‘strange experiments’ is a little dubious, though.  Are you talking ‘let’s see what happens when I mix these two chemicals’ or ‘let’s see what happens to this frog if i stick it in a blender’ strange?  Apothecary Red may or may not be some kind of sadist.

The fact that she willingly hangs out with the other Apothecary does not help her case in that respect.  Dude is kind of a jerk but more on that later.  Worth noting, though, is that she only works for the guy for money, but does her ‘strange experiments’ on her own time.  She seems to be self taught and feels like she’s lowering herself working for this guy.

Her playstyle supports the notion of this Red being a jerk.  You can set people on fire and they’ll burn for a little while, or you can slowly drain their life force, or you can blow up your own stuff in their face, causing damage.  It’s...actually really fun!  Especially you have the right weapons to set up chain reactions.

The apothecary is who you have a special interaction with, and even then she seems to be unimpressed by him.

Anyhoo, I’m go ahead and give this girl 💥💥💥💥💥 five explosions.  She’s definitely a sadistic heroine, but that’s what makes her fun!

WEREWOLF RED WEREWOLF RED WEREWOLF RED???

So, this is the teaser image for the ‘coming soon’ class.  I’m hoping it’s indicative of what’s to come and not just a generic plate.  It looks like a girl with an axe with a werewolf growing out of her back which...is actually a concept that’s already canon, so yeah. Anyhoo I am so pumped about this.  You interact with so many monsters in the story, it’s about time you get to be one.

🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺 five potential werewolves!

Ok, so there you go.  This post is going to be a little different as we’re talking about one character in different timelines and also we didn’t touch on voice acting.  Hopefully that gives you an idea of the game without skipping ahead too much.  Next we’ll talk about some of the people mentioned here, as well as a few others.  

[depitydoda]

Keepers of the Crypt pt 3

“So, tell me why we’re at an abandoned warehouse again.”

Jericho leaned against the most stable wall he could find as he watched Marcus etch a double layered circle in middle of the room with a piece of chalk. As he worked Jericho took his time to inspect his surroundings. He had always seen the whole he was on the outskirts of town, it was a ways off, in middle of a golden field of tall grass. Unfinished rails were littered outside, rusting over the year of being ignored. But despite the outwardly appearance of being run down and ruined, inside was a different story. It was surprisingly clean and well kept. Most of the equipment was removed, which left the large warehouse eerily empty. Only the catwalks really remained from it’s previous life.

“We’re getting someone’s attention.” He finished the circle, adding runes in between the circles, when the last one was drawn, the circle started to pulsate a dark violet color. Jericho wished he could record what was happening but he learned the hard way that magic tends to mess with technology. That was the main reason why he tended to capture recordings of monsters and cryptids. Besides, he was pretty sure his phone was still in that alleyway.

“You still haven’t explained who. And what your plan is.”

Marcus went over to Jericho and took a seat beside him and etched more runes into the ground. “We are contacting an organization called Keepers. They handle magical situations and keep the human populous from learning too much about the magical world.”

Jericho let that sink in as he stared at Marcus, “So... they practically work against what I’m trying to do... Revealing to the world what’s actually out there.” Not only did people not actually believe in him but now he realized that there’s a magical men in black who are to make sure they don’t. “That’s... unsettling, have they been working against me this entire time?”

“No, though I was fully prepared for them to do so. It’s rare for someone to have so many encounters with the supernatural like you and still be alive. They either die or the Keepers get to them, which isn’t any better.”

A cold wave washed through Jericho’s body, “So, what is the circle for?”

Finishing the runes with the last of his chalk Marcus stood beside Jericho, “The Keepers have a giant network of magical landlines that reach throughout the world, this circle just plucks a few.”

Jericho didn’t like this. He felt like a fly trapped in a spiderweb. He had the urge to bolt, he didn’t want to learn what they did to those who know the truth.

“You have the cloak on right?”

“Uhh, yea..” He almost forgot that Marcus had given him new gear, he remembered Marcus saying that he’ll need better equipment than a home made flame thrower to take her out of this situation in one piece. The cloak was scarlet red and had emerald ovals on both sides of the hood, which made the cloak look as if it had eyes.

“As I said before, the cloak would Keepers you from dieing, but don’t do anything stupid.” Marcus emphasized the last part due to the other’s reckless behavior and Jericho couldn’t blame him.

“As for the daggers... don’t use them unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Marcus had both sheathed behind him, though he could barely call them daggers. They were naked blades that resembled kitchen knives, but it was curved at the bottom to make a hook. The most spectacular part of them was that it was it damascened. He couldn’t help but stare as he first saw them. The liquid like texture of the metal made them beautiful to a point where he hoped he wouldn’t have to dirty them by stabbing something.

The morning glow soon turned to afternoon light, and the time relaxed Jericho’s nerves. Marcus explained that the runes at their feet was a ward of sorts. It kept those who had ill intent away. Basic but effective. Kept away muggers, rowdy teenagers, wendigos, etcetera and etcetera. He couldn’t help but wonder where Marcus learned this stuff from.

He knew he wasn’t human but that didn’t mean he knew what he was, not only that but he had a rather large arsenal of magical equipment, he was pretty sure he owned an entire storage warehouse full of that kind of stuff. He remembered asking him where he got this stuff from but Marcus just said that, ‘They are just a couple of trinkets he collected over the years.’ Which made him believe Marcus was older than he looked.

He flinched as he felt a gentle tap on his side. It was Marcus, pointing towards the pulsating circle, in middle of the room. It started to flash faster with each pulse. Something was happening, and It didn’t take a genius to know that. Soon, the circle stopped, all life that was in it gone, and after a blinding white flash. A door stood where the circle once was.

The door was wooden, solid and looked as if it belonged in a german castle, while the doorknob was completely silver. It looked almost ordinary if it wasn’t standing in middle of an abandoned warehouse.

If what was on the other side what Jericho expected, then things might get messy.

~~~~~~

Instinctively, Jericho stood in front of Marcus blades drawn and ready for anything to jump out and attack them.

“Dude, I’m not a damsel in distress. I can take care of myself.”

Looking down at him, Jericho knew he was probably right, but he refused to let anything happen to him. He was terrified at what was behind that door, but he couldn’t let his fears overcome him now. Especially if Marcus was involved.

Rolling his eyes, Marcus walked past Jericho and put his hand on the silver knob of the door. “I know you must be scared, but we need their-“

Marcus was cut off as the door burst open, smacking him aside by the force of it. And out of the door rushed a blur heading towards Jericho.

He barely had time to react. Lifting the daggers up he blocked the oncoming attack, he heard the sound of blades crashing against each, thinking quickly, he rolled backwards, locking his blades with the figures he took the other with him and once the other was above him, he kicked the figure away.

Once recovering he saw his opponent. There standing in front of him was a guy, no older than himself. He looked almost human, red hair, blue eyes, light brown complexion, but there was one extraordinary feature. His ears were those of a fox.

“Kitsune.” He mumbled.

Almost surprised by the encounter. The fox person glared at Jericho, as he raised his cutlasses. Jericho didn’t like the match up of weapons, the swords had more reach than his own blades. Seeing the man about to swipe at him, he ducked down and slashed the kitsune. Much to his surprise the blades went through and the image of the man faded, before he could question what was going on he felt a blunt object ram into his solar plexus. He fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and ribs. Feeling the warm touch of his blood, he knew his stitches were now open. The man now stood above him, his swords were set to deliver the killing blow. Wincing, he readied for the blade. A second passed and nothing happened. Then another. Opening his eyes he looked up and was dumbfounded to see the kitsunes arms tied together by the cloak. He struggled to move them but the cloak didn’t budge, instead it lifted him off the ground and tossed him across the room. Completely surprised and in pain he slowly rose off his knees, clutching his now open wound. He readied himself for another pounce when he heard a booming voice echoed through the room, “Zoran Chavez!”

Both Jericho and the kitsune flinched and watched as two more figures exited out of the doorway. They wore red leather armor, over their cotton shirts and jeans. One was as young as the other, she had olive colored skin and wore a hair band too keep her black curly hair down. Her warm almond eyes looked between us and the woman standing beside her.

The oldest one looked like the young girls older sister. But her hair was straightened out and fell to her shoulders. She glared at us then glanced at Marcus, holding his bloodied nose.

Then she did something I didn’t expect. She sighed and relaxed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, she stated, “Stand down Zoran, it isn’t an ambush. It really was a distress signal.”

“No shit Diana.” Marcus groaned.

Diana avoided looking towards Marcus, “I’m sorry... it’s, been a while.”

Zoran looked between Marcus and Diana, with an idiotic expression. “You know that nobody?”

“Watch who you call a nobody ya damn furry.” Jericho snapped. It did bother him that Marcus knew a Keeper. Has Marcus been telling them about him? Was he working against him?

Zoran growled again, he lunged once again only to hit an invisible wall.

“That’s enough Zoran!” Diana barked. She went over to Marcus and helped him off the floor, “I’m sorry, but we’ve been getting ambushes disguised as distress calls as of late. Lost two teams.”

“My condolences.” Marcus groaned.

“Yeah, bleeding out here, but no worries, take you time.” Jericho let out.

Marcus dropped his hand and rushed to Jericho with Diana and her sister. Zoran stood a distance away, clearly annoyed. Jericho instinctively inched back once Marcus approached.

Marcus stood still as he noticed Jericho inch away. Jericho wasn’t sure if he was surprised or hurt with the reaction, but he asked, “Your stitches?”

“Yea..”

“What happened?” Diana demanded. Jericho couldn’t help but flinch. She was very intimidating.

“Wendigo marked him.” Marcus replied immediately. Looking around he cursed, “I left my supplies outside. I’ll be right back.”

After he left, Diana’s sister spoke up, “That... doesn’t make sense. A wendigo in a city? You sure it wasn’t something else that attacked you?”

“Angela is right, wendigos may be territorial but they stay in the areas where they are turned, open forests, mountain ranges, canyons. Not in overpopulated cities.” Zoran spoke up.

Jericho gritted his teeth, “I know what attacked me. Yellow sunken eyes, starved frame, unhinged jaw, turned into a pile of ash after I killed it.”

“What?”

“You killed it!?”

“Dumbass.”

Jericho made a mental note to kick the foxes ass once he was better. “Yes, I know, Marcus already explained how vindictive they are.”

Angela and Diana exchanged worries glances with Zoran, who didn’t really care.

“If I may ask, aren’t you guys supposed to keep this from happening.”

“Yeah, along with making sure nosey humans mind their own business Jericho Jameson.” Zoran retorted.

“Of course the jackass had to bring it up.”

Angela elbowed Zoran while he earned a glare from Diana, “It’s true. We have been keeping tabs on you, but not through Marcus. He’s just a friend of mine. I didn’t even know he moved to the city.” She looked towards the exit where Marcus left and stated, “I’m going to check on him. Make sure he has everything.”

Jericho isn’t dumb, she could be lying, and Marcus could be feeding Keepers information on him. But it was Marcus, he’s done too much for him to be an enemy. He finally decided to just talk to Marcus about it.

He was fine waiting in silence for them, it left him in to his thoughts, but like everything else, Zoran had to ruin it. “Aren’t you a little young to be looking for monsters. Why are you doing this?”

“I’m nineteen. I can do what I want.”

“We know, but why is what I asked. You spent four years of your life looking for what others call a myth.”

“They still wouldn’t be calling it a myth if it wasn’t for you mind you.”

“That’s right. Now you know you have an entire organization of people working against you. Making sure no one believes you. What will you do now?”

“That’s enough.”

[reactingtosomething]

Reacting to Justice League

You Never Come Back Right

This official concept art first appeared here

Two Guest Reactors join Kris to talk about DC’s indisputably awkward but intermittently promising attempt to out-Marvel Marvel: Andrew, whom some of you may know from our Baby Driver reaction, and another of our film school buddies, Zack Snyder loyalist Justin.

KRIS: Unfortunately this is just a text post and we haven’t graduated to multimedia presentations, so we can’t properly reproduce JL’s cameraphone video opening, but let me ask you guys: What’s the best thing about Earth?

ANDREW: *Thinks for a minute*

It's-

JUSTIN: The best thing about Earth...

ANDREW: And my phone dies.

Did we ever get an answer??

I don't remember.

KRIS: Someone asked Henry Cavill about this in an interview and he said something about Superman believing in humankind’s capacity to be good even when everything is awful

But I’m 99.9% sure the real answer is Lois Lane

Which, fair

ANDREW: If you asked Batman, he would say Superman is the best thing about earth.

JUSTIN: LOL, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, I’ll agree

If actually answering for myself, I’d say the best thing is the uncertainty.

ANDREW: Of Life?

Of death?

Of coming back to life from death?

JUSTIN: Of life.

ANDREW: Spoiler?

JUSTIN: No no. You never come back right.

KRIS: I feel like if Whedon had made JL from the ground up there might have been a more coherent thread for that, but as it is I think the best parts of this were Snyder

Which I probably would not have said if you’d asked me a year ago

JUSTIN: I couldn’t agree more.

KRIS: I mean I’m glad that we’re probably not going to get the version of the story that they had in mind when they made the “Knightmare” sequence in BvS, because it felt like they were going to do an Injustice thing and kill off Lois

ANDREW: I'm actually not sure whose version I would prefer. But it is very obvious who did what scenes, and there is a bit of whiplash.

Why do you guys say Snyder?

JUSTIN: Well I’m a Snyder fan in general but if Whedon was on board from that start we’d have a good but much different film.

ANDREW: Out of curiosity.

We would have had Avengers 3z

KRIS: I think part of the reason Whedon’s stuff felt half-assed to me wasn’t really anyone’s fault, it was just the horrible luck and the tight timeline

But there’s also stuff like the sight gag of Barry falling into Diana’s cleavage, which a lot of critics have already called out as a repeated joke from Age of Ultron

JUSTIN: Exactly. This film release should have been delayed.

KRIS: It did sound like Snyder’s original version was going to be eight hours long with way too many supporting characters

ANDREW: Directors cut.

JUSTIN: Yeah those moments just had such a different tone from what we knew.

ANDREW: Oh, I forgot about that gag... sigh...

KRIS: Yeah, tonal consistency is a big part of it for me too

JUSTIN: I was wondering the same thing. The things I hear that were cut sounds like a lot of pages

Well the first act is just so rough for me, so rushed. But I’ll be the first to acknowledge BvS has the slowest, longest first act.

KRIS: I think I’m in between you guys in terms of how much I like Snyder’s DC movies, but I was invested enough in them, and especially in the characterization of Superman, that the course corrections in JL in terms of “more fun” and “less brooding” just feel too big

JUSTIN: Snyder’s cut sounds like a two parter.

ANDREW: But Kris, it's okay. Cause he was revived as a different character.

KRIS: I was honestly glad they abandoned the original plan for a two-part Justice League, but the ways in which the studio has reacted to both critical and audience feedback have been kind of nuts

JUSTIN: Yeah it’s more of 90 degree turn and needed maybe 45, if that makes sense.

ANDREW: I concur Justin.

KRIS: Like the Suicide Squad recut by the folks who made that really well received trailer

I think if Bruce hadn’t felt like such a totally different dude, Superman feeling pretty different might have landed better

What I did really like in Cavill’s performance was that even as an oddly happy dude, his Superman is still pretty restrained and quiet

ANDREW: There problem is that they're too reactive to what everyone says, instead of going with a vision anymore.

D.C. I mean.

KRIS: For sure

JUSTIN: My issue with Bruce was his sudden brotherhood with Supes and really odd when he mentions Clark. He didn’t know Clark Kent!

ANDREW: He looked it up.

With the... bat... Wikipedia

JUSTIN: Found him on Facebook.

KRIS: Even Diana suddenly knowing a bunch about Krypton felt a little weird

ANDREW: Yeah!!

KRIS: I do wonder why if Bruce felt so bad he didn’t reach out to Martha and/or Lois sooner

JUSTIN: Kal-El

ANDREW: I wonder why the first thing he thinks of when getting the magic box is team

JUSTIN: Martha lost her house! How did Bruce not go in and clear all her debts after he paid for the funeral?!

ANDREW: Reanimate the dead*

Thanks autocorrect

JUSTIN: Do you think the black suit was used and then cut?

KRIS: What’s kind of funny is that Bruce has (probably accidentally) been established at someone who doesn’t pay much attention to his finances -- no one ever realized those checks to the Scoot McNairy character in BvS were “returned”

ANDREW: Black suit?

KRIS: For Superman

It wouldn’t surprise me

It feels like a Snyder-y aesthetic choice

JUSTIN: True, he’s a one track mind

ANDREW: I wouldn't pay attention to my finances either if I were him.

JUSTIN: Cavill teases it too

KRIS: I did have to appreciate the “I bought the bank” line

JUSTIN: Yeah. And that was Snyder

KRIS: Which weirdly reminded me of Ken Watanabe buying the airline in Inception

ANDREW: It's a reflex!!

KRIS: I don’t know how much of it is deliberate but I kind of dug Bruce’s consistency in continuing to say things like “If there’s even a fraction of a possibility...”

JUSTIN: I surprisingly wasn’t bothered too much by how he was brought back.

KRIS: The idea and the process I thought were pretty cool

It didn’t actually feel like a big enough moment when Bruce presented that idea

I don’t know if that’s because it needed more setup, or it was just kind of boringly shot, or what

JUSTIN: I could see that. I really enjoyed the moments of friction in the group

ANDREW: It wasn't really how he was brought back. It was more of it coming up out of nowhere.

JUSTIN: Flash finishing Bruce’s thought was kinda like, “where did that idea come from?”

ANDREW: In think I did a literal double take on the theatre.

JUSTIN: For me I mean, I wondered

KRIS: They maybe needed to let Bruce, if not everyone, see the Mother Boxes in action

JUSTIN: That would have helped.

ANDREW: That probably would have worked.

Something!

Anything that could lead  this train of thought.

KRIS: They also hadn’t really established this Bruce as the polymath genius of some other incarnations

ANDREW: Not really, no. He's not dumb, but he's not a super genius.

JUSTIN: Yeah. He comes across as a brute

ANDREW: And tired of everything

KRIS: And I missed that -- maybe not how INTENSE AND ANGRY he was in BvS, but actually showing us a late 40s/early 50s Batman

ANDREW: Grisly! Has arthritis

I would dig it

KRIS: There’s some lip service dialogue about it, but Bruce being tired and worn out could have also fed into the arc of building a team and a legacy

JUSTIN: That’s what I liked in DKR.

ANDREW: Awww that's so good, Kris!

Especially if Robin is dead in this universe, which he is... right?

JUSTIN: And just preparing for the future

KRIS: Yeah, we see Robin’s armor in BvS briefly

JUSTIN: Well Nightwing is out there

KRIS: With the Joker’s graffiti

Caroline Siede, the culture critic, tweeted that with actually pretty light editing, the first act could have set this up as a Diana POV movie instead of a Bruce POV movie, which would have both been an actually appropriate response to outside feedback and also made more sense for the characters

JUSTIN: Jason Todd’s Robin?

KRIS: I assume Jason, yeah

ANDREW: Ahhh yes. Oh, so nightwing is out there. Probably?

KRIS: It’s around the time Bruce gets the invitation to the Friends of the Metropolis Library event

ANDREW: Ooooh Diana pov.

That would be sick.

Hey remember that brief fight scene where she blocked all the bullets!

That was one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

JUSTIN: Well Jessica pointed out Bruce should have asked Diana to talk to [Arthur Curry] since they’re both, you know, special.

KRIS: I’ll link to it properly in the post, but Caroline’s proposed edit was to start with the present-day Amazon sequence, then go to Diana[’s action scene then to] the museum seeing the beacon, then have her go to Bruce

Oh man, yeah

ANDREW: Sounds more straight forward to me, actually.

KRIS: Right?

JUSTIN: Ooh I like that.

KRIS: And that Amazon sequence had some really cool stuff in it, action-wise

ANDREW: I was actually really nervous, cause I was afraid they were all gonna die.

JUSTIN: I was just typing that. One of the best action. Just shows off how well they work together.

KRIS: The CGI for Steppenwolf was surprisingly awful, and the newly hypersexualized costume designs were pretty annoying, but the whole keep-away tactic for the box was great

ANDREW: Yeah... Magic Carpet Ride looked really really bad.

Like really bad

Like awful

KRIS: It was at the point where they should’ve just given him a full face helmet

JUSTIN: Not to start comparisons to Avengers but I like when the opposition is more intellectual in Loki than physical, like Steppenwolf

ANDREW: Is it sad if I keep wanting to make music jokes with Steppenwolf?

It's the name!

JUSTIN: It’s only natural

KRIS: You should give him a new name every time you mention him

ANDREW: On it!!!

JUSTIN: I think his mother’s name is also Martha

KRIS: WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME

ANDREW: That's how they should have stopped him.

KRIS: Oh there was this one Bruce-Barry character beat that I was really surprised they never actually concluded

JUSTIN: That brings up one of my Snyder complaints. He’s great visually but I don’t know that he directs the actor’s performance

ANDREW: That's not his strongest suit.

What's the beat, Kris?

KRIS: Yeah, Miri and I have talked about that -- he has pretty terrific casting instincts, but either he’s really hands off with the directing or just kind of bad with actors

It was the “Save one” thing in the sewer

JUSTIN: Yeah except for Lex I love his casting choices

KRIS: When Bruce gave him the pep talk I was totally invested in whatever mini-arc that was going to be

And Barry has like two seconds where he seems to realize whatever Bruce meant when he said “Then you’ll know”, but there’s not a third scene where Barry and Bruce talk about it again

JUSTIN: Oh yeah, I can see that. It was a great little speech.

ANDREW: I... forgot... all about that.

KRIS: I loved it because they didn’t do the first-choice thing of having Bruce just get annoyed and tell Barry to Man Up or whatever, and it was such a great Elder Statesman thing, and even on-brand for the animated Batman

JUSTIN: A line with Bruce joking, “you caught on fast.”

KRIS: But they didn’t pay it off

ANDREW: Dang it!!

KRIS: I wonder if it was a cut Snyder scene, or an unfinished Whedon rewrite

It feels more Whedon-y but I could see it being either

JUSTIN: We probably won’t find out for another 5 years.

ANDREW: I could see it being either too.

Speaking of whedon-y, my favorite part was the moment after they resurrected superman.

KRIS: That big Flash moment with the slow motion and the sword was pretty great and almost definitely all Snyder

JUSTIN: Oh god that was awesome!

KRIS: Not quite as amazing as “Time in a Bottle” in Days of Future Past, but way cooler than anything Whedon did with Quicksilver

ANDREW: I also liked when the flash and superman fought, and Flash realized that he could see him

Yeah, he did like nothing with quicksilver!

KRIS: YES. I tend to think Barry should be definitively faster than Superman (if not necessarily WAY faster), but the eye contact in that post-resurrection fight was great

Ezra Miller was really great in general

ANDREW: Ezra Miller was fantastic.

JUSTIN: It was great with Barry still being able to dodge him but his shock on how fast Supes was.

The characters and interaction are what really made this movie enjoyable for me.

ANDREW: Same, actually.

KRIS: I think individually most of the performances were a lot of fun, although as a team the cast doesn’t yet have the same chemistry as the MCU Avengers

Cyborg seems to have been a victim of the rewrites

ANDREW: And exposition

KRIS: I don’t know if we saw enough to even judge whether Ray Stone is a good actor

ANDREW: Not really.

JUSTIN: And that’s a product of not having individual films leading up to this.

KRIS: Right

Does either of you guys know much about Aquaman?

ANDREW: I'm in the same page with Aquaman. I think he did well, but I don't  he had enough to do? Or say?

I don't know much about him from the comics.

JUSTIN: Not a ton. And now I really want to read some more.

KRIS: For me Aquaman definitely felt like everyone just sort of dusted their hands off after casting Momoa, like “Our work here is done”

ANDREW: Pretty much.

JUSTIN: I think his performance definitely drew my interest for the movie next year.

ANDREW: But sadly, it wasn't enough

At least for me

KRIS: I feel like this Aquaman is just as different from comics Aquaman as Snyder/Cavill’s Superman is different from more classical versions, so it kind of annoys me that the general consensus seems to be loving one and hating the other

I mean I get that part of it is about tone and theme and not just about fidelity to the comics, but still

And I did like Arthur a lot

JUSTIN: I read some comments from Momoa about how he and Zack worked on this outsider on land and sea who is just a loner. That annoys me knowing there was more to his story.

ANDREW: I think people just really like him from Game of Thrones, and they aren't thinking about tone or theme.

Ya! Khal Drogo is playing the character that people make fun of!

Etc

JUSTIN: I haven’t seen GOT so I only know him a few other things.

KRIS: He was Conan in that 2011 remake that was not great, although he was good in it

JUSTIN: But I appreciated his enthusiasm for the character

KRIS: And I LOVE the casting choice of a Pacific Islander

ANDREW: Me too!!

JUSTIN: Oh yeah, I get that and The Rock’s Hercules confused.

KRIS: Hahahaha

Not unfair

JUSTIN: Both roles Arnold played back in the day.

KRIS: A few years after that movie he was pretty candid in a spotlight thing at C2E2 in Chicago, about most of the top leadership on Conan just not really knowing what they were doing

That’s another character he actually seems to know really well and care about, so it was a bummer

I do have high hopes for Aquaman

JUSTIN: Just trying to cash in on the IP

KRIS: Though I wonder what the financial situation is at Warner now, in terms of going beyond Aquaman and the Wonder Woman sequel

ANDREW: I do too. I want it to be good.

JUSTIN: And with James Wan directing

ANDREW: Oh yeah; JL didn't do as well as they wanted, right?

JUSTIN: Did the air bubble bother you guys?

KRIS: The air bubble surprised me but I didn’t hate it

JL didn’t break 100 mil domestically for opening weekend

JUSTIN: Me either. Wan said his movie wouldn’t have bubble conversations

ANDREW: Why do they need that though? They live under water!!

Is that bad for them? Box office wise?

JUSTIN: I like to think that’s how they have a private conversation

KRIS: Everyone seems to think it was pretty bad, yeah, although I think it had a decently strong Chinese opening

ANDREW: They can whisper! Under water!

JUSTIN: Yeah Box office was projected at 110-120

ANDREW: Ouchie

KRIS: Budget was supposedly 300 mil before adding marketing costs

ANDREW: Oh my god!

JUSTIN: Yeah international will be the thing that saves it

ANDREW: Including re shoots?

KRIS: I assume/hope so

ANDREW: Oooooh boy

Reboot

JUSTIN: I think reshoots brought it to 300 mil. Marketing 150-200 million

KRIS: It’s wild, considering how mediocre most of the VFX were

ANDREW: Yeah man! Born to be wild looked awful!

KRIS: Another thing Snyder does really well, or at least did before BvS, is the sheer scale of superhuman action sequences, and you really miss that in the Superman scenes

(He had a different DP on BvS than on MoS)

ANDREW: I know we talked about it. I just wanted to make another joke.

JUSTIN: And a different one for JL too right?

KRIS: Yeah

Looks like a lot of TV credits, including some major GoT episodes

JUSTIN: MOS is still my number one.

KRIS: Same

JUSTIN: Yeah

KRIS: I mean Wonder Woman is objectively better crafted, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much I still like MoS on rewatches

ANDREW: Yeah, but in the supermen scenes he just... dominates. In fact, you didn't really need anyone else in the climax. He saves people faster than Flash. He easily subdues Who Needs Ya, more than Wonder Woman or Aquaman. And he helps cycborg with the unboxing.

It makes me mad...

KRIS: The thing with the Russian family was I guess a Whedon add-in, which makes sense, and I did like the punchline of Superman carrying an entire apartment building

ANDREW: I liked the punchline, but it undermines everything about them working together

KRIS: Yeah, it’s interesting and frustrating at the same time -- there’s a way they could have actually played Superman DRASTICALLY altering the balance of power as this huge, amazing thing

But they ended up in this awkward middle space

JUSTIN: I feel you Andrew. It’s like, “we need Superman back so the rest of us can go back to our regular lives.”

KRIS: On paper Superman changes everything but it’s not directed in such a way that you really feel it

ANDREW: Well, he does change everything. Everyone else can go home.

KRIS: I don’t for a second believe this will happen, but I think what would make the most sense is for Diana to remain the leader of the team and Clark to be basically the Thor-esque muscle

I did like Bruce explicitly acknowledging that he wasn’t cut out for leadership, but it also draws attention to the point that the movie would make more sense from Diana’s POV as she takes up the responsibility

A detail that I’m irrationally annoyed about in the climax is the use of Superman’s freezing breath

Which I’ve always thought is kind of a dumb power, but they also hadn’t established it in MoS

ANDREW:  What you're saying is, it should be Wonder Woman 2: Wonder Woman and Friends. Which I support.

He had some winter fresh gum in his pocket.

It's in a deleted scene.

JUSTIN: Wonder Woman should be the leader, at least for now. I like that in MOS he doesn’t know to take his fight out of a huge city and Batman knows that in BvS. And now they both can guide Clark to be better at what he does.

KRIS: Something that wasn’t set up well in the previous movies is Bruce’s idea of Superman as a beacon of hope

ANDREW: Yes! That was... odd.

KRIS: You can sort of connect the dots from the world’s uncertainty about Superman to feeling bad after he dies, but JL doesn’t do the work for you

JUSTIN: Yes!!! The whole hope thing bothered me from the first trailers

KRIS: I do kind of like the idea of Bruce being guilty

ANDREW: But there is a line between grief and total admiration.

KRIS: Right

It’s also weird that Bruce understands that Diana is an inspiration

It’s not like Steve Trevor had a journal we know about

To be fair there’s no way that was going to feel anything other than transparently reshoot-y

JUSTIN: I feel like it would have been better if Bruce had said that after Superman’s death he’d become a sign of hope, or something

ANDREW: Why is batman putting these things on other people? He can be a symbol of hope!

He can be the hero we deserve! And need!

JUSTIN: He’s a symbol to fear

KRIS: I would have bought and maybe even preferred a more personal angle that emphasized Bruce trying to fix his mistakes, which is sort of hinted at

ANDREW: Like Stark post- age of Ultron?

KRIS: I guess, yeah

ANDREW: But hopefully not as catastrophic.

Or civil war-y

KRIS: Bruce as Tony, Diana as Steve, Clark as Thor -- it’s a little too convenient but it’s all there and it would work!

Bruce wallowing in his guilt might have also been an interesting counterpoint to Diana (and I guess to some extent Arthur) taking on the big-picture concerns

JUSTIN: If this were from Diana’s POV definitely

KRIS: I think ultimately the idea to get Bruce on a healthier track of mind was right but it could have used an actual arc

ANDREW: Right.

Through friendship

And justice

JUSTIN: Of course

KRIS: Oh my god, Clark having the title-drop line was so corny

ANDREW: Title drops are my biggest pet peeves in films and shows.

No lie

KRIS: “I’m also a fan of justice” doesn’t even make sense in that context

ANDREW: Or for him to say in context!

JUSTIN: Makes no sense except if kind of fit in with some other cheesy dialogue. You just knew it was coming.

KRIS: So much Whedon dialogue

“Yeah, something’s definitely bleeding”

JUSTIN: I did get a chuckle out of  Arthur sitting on the lasso

KRIS: “I know you didn’t bring me back because you like me.” “I don’t... not.”

ANDREW: That was also very out of character.

He had to be sitting on the lasso for any of that to make sense.

And he hit on Diana, which was weird.

JUSTIN: Yup

KRIS: I did like the lasso gag (which had an actual setup! when Diana helpfully explains it in the bank scene), although I also was not of fan of the hitting on Diana

JUSTIN: I do like Supes asking Batman if he bleeds.

KRIS: Even if it wasn’t creepy it’s just such a too-easy joke to go for

And I did love Gadot’s delivery of “Well I thought that was beautiful.”

JUSTIN: She makes it work.

ANDREW: Cause Gadot is awesome

KRIS: Let’s talk a little about Lois

ANDREW: Sure?

KRIS: She’s very... un-Lois in this

Explicitly, which is interesting

JUSTIN: The scene at the planet was odd.

KRIS: So odd

ANDREW: Soooo odd

KRIS: “You’re the thirstiest young woman he’d ever met”

ANDREW: Oh god! I forgot about that joke.

JUSTIN: I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to be laughing

KRIS: Amy Adams can do no wrong and she sold the reaction shot about as well as she could but geez

So, I think it would have been more in character for Lois to grieve, or more accurately sidestep grieving, by throwing herself into her work

But for the sake of argument, is there something to the idea that even a Lois Lane should be able to just sit with her grief for awhile?

JUSTIN: Sidestep grieving with Work and that’s why she hasn’t been in touch with Martha

KRIS: God, yeah

I feel like there’s an abstract idea about #feminism, and in general the idea that a person can be more than one thing, that the movie gestures toward there, but like so much about this it’s never actually developed

Lois Lane as Grieving Sort-of-Wife would also obviously play better if the gender ratio in the cast was different

JUSTIN: I feel that Amy Adams portrayal of Lois has had strong feminine presence.

*always has a strong feminine presence

KRIS: She’s a strong presence by virtue of being Amy Adams, and her characterization in MoS is mostly pretty good, but here the character suffers for having to just be a stereotypically feminine archetype

JUSTIN: The ratio does lead well into the comment Diana makes about working with children.

True.

KRIS: I mean in a literal sense Diana would still be working with children if there were more women

ANDREW: Her presence is negated by lack of screen time as well. Though I don't know if it would have helped shake the archetype she was stuck in.

JUSTIN: Yeah but I guess I’m just referring to her as mother figure.

ANDREW: Amy Adams, I mean.

JUSTIN: I agree. She is one of my favorites in BvS and in this we just don’t get enough.

KRIS: The specific nature of Lois’s relationship with Clark has been a little bit of a problem for the universe of these movies from the beginning, actually

I mean to be clear, I love her in Man of Steel

And I even kind of like the idea that she’s the first person outside the Kent family to show Clark the best of humanity

ANDREW: But then she's only there to show that to Clark.

KRIS: I think where it becomes a problem is the second half or so of BvS, with the “You are my world” thing

I do think Lois has a fair amount of agency in MoS, in addition to being a lens to the wider world for Clark

JUSTIN: I wasn’t a big fan of them already living together in BvS. I wanted to see them develop in a sequel

KRIS: The problem is that we never see Clark develop a relationship with other people, or with humanity in general

So if nothing else the idea that only Lois can pull him back from the brink post-resurrection is consistent, but this is where the “What’s the best thing about Earth?” thing doesn’t work -- it’s just Lois, again

JUSTIN: That’s a good point.

ANDREW: You just brought this full circle.

You son of a bitch!

JUSTIN: Haha

KRIS: I have my moments

The other thing that will annoy me about the Lois and Kansas scenes until I die is that they don’t use the “This Is Clark Kent” music

JUSTIN: And that’s why he runs the show.

KRIS: I get, on a really abstract nostalgic level, why Danny Elfman would want to bring back John Williams’s Superman theme

(and his own Batman theme)

ANDREW: I liked that touch. It was nice, albeit distracting.

JUSTIN: I found the score brought me out of the moment sometimes. The bank robbery scene was one.

KRIS: Me too

JUSTIN: I liked John Williams’s when Clark first came back

KRIS: It was a weird score -- when it wasn’t distracting because of those callbacks, it was mostly forgettable

I also don’t like Wonder Woman’s electric cello theme, which seems to be a minority opinion on the internet

JUSTIN: But to be honest Danny Elfman’s comments about his score for Batman being the only one annoyed me.

KRIS: I loved Zimmer’s MoS soundtrack, and the parts of the BvS soundtrack that use his Superman themes, and I really wish more of those had been brought back

Oh I didn’t even see those. Will Google.

ANDREW: I don't like the cello thing either for Wonder Woman. I never did.

Kris! I'm glad you said that.

KRIS: Lois’s VO at the end is kind of lame and nonsensical, but the TV writer/producer Kevin Biegel tweeted that the “What Are You Going to Do When You’re Not Saving the World?” cue from the end of MoS would have been a great fit for that ending montage, thematically

JUSTIN: Oh I have to disagree. I loved WW’s theme from the start

ANDREW: Ooooh yeah... there was lame voice over.

KRIS: I think I’d like it better if its first appearance in BvS wasn’t SUPER weird -- it just blares out of nowhere when he finds the World War I photo

ANDREW: Fuck

JUSTIN: It does just come out suddenly.

KRIS: I also really love the orchestral music in Wonder Woman

JUSTIN: Yes, it fit the feel of the movie.

KRIS: It’s a little less memorable, melodically, than some other superhero scores but it’s so well composed for the images it accompanies

ANDREW: The score I Wonder Woman i like. Her theme, not so much. Your right, it does kind come on at the loudest volume.

KRIS: Man I just really love that little piano theme for Clark Kent and it seems like such an obvious thing to do in the Kansas scenes

It must have been there before Elfman replaced Junkie XL, whom I admittedly wish I didn’t have to refer to as Junkie XL

JUSTIN: Isn’t it in the last trailer?

Haha

KRIS: Side note: I love the less-than-a-minute-long “Four or Five Moments” cue he did for the Deadpool soundtrack

(I think the reason undercutting Colossus’s traditional hero speech works so well is that it’s actually a pretty good hero speech)

Any other lingering annoyances or unmentioned high points?

JUSTIN: That opening Batman scene, with the robber

KRIS: Holt McCallany!

ANDREW: Not that I haven't mentioned... I think.

JUSTIN: I like him but the whole thing was too on the nose.

KRIS: “FEAR”

ANDREW: FEAR

KRIS: It’s a weirdly unnecessary scene

JUSTIN: “It’s because he’s gone isn’t it?”

KRIS: Especially now that we can’t shake the Diana POV idea

THANKS A LOT CAROLINE

It was fun to see a Green Lantern

Although I also appreciated the “isn’t this just the Lord of the Rings prologue?” jokes that went around

ANDREW: You think they would make Superman a black lantern?

K: I first misread this as Andrew asking if DC/Warner would go for a black Green Lantern, i.e. John Stewart

KRIS: I think Geoff Johns is personally too much a fan of Hal Jordan

for them to do that, I mean, not just in an abstract sense; it’s fine to love Hal Jordan

ANDREW: Awwww but then they could do a blackest night thing.

KRIS: I vaguely remember an announcement that the GL movie would be a Corps movie rather than a solo thing but who knows now, if the financial hit is too big

ANDREW: Who knows!

KRIS: Ohhh sorry I just misread that

ANDREW: Just don't do cgi suits!

Oh god!

JUSTIN: I believe I keep hearing Lethal Weapon in space with John Stewart

ANDREW: Oh my god do it!

Now

KRIS: That would be great

JUSTIN: Get Shane Black to write it

KRIS: I’m fine with flying in Shane Black to fix any superhero franchises

JUSTIN: Well it depends on how you feel about IronMan 3

ANDREW: I'm on board.

I like iron man 3!

KRIS: I LOVE Iron Man 3

JUSTIN: Me too.

KRIS: I guess to end this, just for fun do you guys have quick pitches for what you would have done post-MoS if you were in charge of the DC movies?

ANDREW: Booster gold and blue beetle buddy cop movie.

KRIS: I would’ve made the Man of Steel sequel promised by that great ending at the Daily Planet, partly because I want more of Lois and Perry arguing with each other

I also would’ve just not immediately introduced a new Batman

ANDREW: Same.

Or perhaps... Nightwing.

Instead of Batman?

Or GASP

A Batman... Beyond.

KRIS: Now that you mention it I’m kind of surprised they haven’t revisited Batman Beyond in any of the animated movies

JUSTIN: MOS sequel and WW.

KRIS: I have to admit that I’ve never really liked Lex Luthor

So I’m not sure who my MoS 2 villain would be

JUSTIN: Eisenberg as Lex?

ANDREW: I don't think it has big enough of a fan base to be honest. Batman Beyond; I mean.

KRIS: Lex in general

I also would’ve been fine with never introducing kryptonite

ANDREW: How so?

JUSTIN: I once wrote a Superman origin and used Metallo

I actually like how they introduced kryptonite.

KRIS: I guess I’ve rarely felt that kryptonite outgrew its origins as a convenient way to depower Superman (I believe in the old radio plays?)

If they had to intro kryptonite I did like how they did it

ANDREW: I also like the song.

Oh my god! He went crazy... and they still called him superman!

KRIS: MALOY

ANDREW: Damn it!

KRIS: That might be hard to beat as an exit line

JUSTIN: No no no stop it right there Andrew

Coming soon: One of our epistolary Reactions, on Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Bad Moon Rising (Part 1)

Summary: Jensen and the reader are doing some filming out in the Canadian wilderness when they decide to take a short hike during a break. The only problem is they don’t show up for their scene later that day...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x reader

Word Count: 3,000ish

Warnings: language, mild injury

A/N: Enjoy!...

“Alright, that’s lunch,” said the director after you’d finished filming for the morning. You weren’t scheduled for another scene for a few hours and were glad for the break after having to argue with Dean Winchester for the past four.

“Hey, Y/N,” you heard Jensen say when you grabbed your bag to go get some food. “That was really good, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” you said. “Still not the biggest fan of yelling at you, even if it’s pretend.”

“Remember the beginning of the season? You’ve gotten a lot better at letting it go,” he said, walking with you over to the food trailer. You’d spent all day filming out in the woods, fighting rain showers and that classic Canadian drizzle that never seemed to disappear. “You don’t bring it home with you anymore.”

“True but I’ll still be all blah. Turn on something mindless and pass out on the couch probably,” you said. Jensen shrugged and bumped his shoulder into yours.

“Want to come over after work? Be blah together?” he asked. You smiled and bumped him back. It was always pretty easy hanging out with him after work, especially since you were on the same floor of your complex. Not to mention he had a habit of dropping by most nights to see how you were.

“You got it. I hope they got something warm to eat today. It’s all..ugh out,” you said, feeling the hood on your rain coat be thrown up before you could do it yourself. “Jay.”

“What? We got to stand in line. It might rain,” he said. You threw it down, knowing it was supposed to start clearing up the later half of the day but soon felt a hand ruffling the top your head.

“Jensen! Hair is going to kill you if you keep doing that,” you said, trying to skip away from him, the smile on your face giving away that you really didn’t mind.

“Nah, they don’t stand a chance against you,” he said. “You’d defend me wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe,” you said, spotting the back of the line as you headed over. 

“Maybe? I got to find a new best friend if that’s how it’s gonna be,” he said, resting his elbow on top of your head. You glanced up and he was biting back a laugh. 

“Shut up loser,” you said, reaching under his exposed arm to tickle him. He squirmed away from you but you kept it up until he was laughing and holding up his hands in surrender.

“Oh my God would you two just get together already!” you heard Jared shout from farther up the line. You stopped and knew there was a slight blush on your face, a light one on Jensen’s as well as you contained yourselves. The entire cast and crew teased the two of you about it all the time. You fell into a fast friendship and spent most of your time together over the course of the season. Your character and Dean’s were supposed to finally get together in the season finale when you started filming it in the next few days. They wondered, and a few like Jared hoped, that you’d actually become a real life thing.

“Y/N? You can move up,” said Jensen, putting his hand on the small of your back as you saw the gap in the line, your thoughts distracting you. You grabbed lunch and joined Jensen in his trailer to eat it, neither one of you having to go back for a while. “Hey, since the rain moved through and everything, want to go for a quick hike? We got the time to kill and there’s no reception out here to do anything else.”

“Uh,” you said glancing down at your feet. It wasn’t like your character was a Winchester and was always in a pair of boots. You were pretty much barefoot if it was the bunker, sneakers or heels on occasion, boots the rest. “I should grab my hiking boots.”

“You got sneakers on. We won’t go that far, promise,” said Jensen, itching to go already it seemed like. 

“Alright, let’s go then,” you said, hopping up and heading out of his trailer. 

“Hey, Y/N, Gen said she left her sweatshirt in your trailer. Mind if I pop in and grab it?” asked Jared, catching you as you and Jensen started heading off towards a short trail.

“Go ahead. We’ll be back soon,” you said, waving him off. 

“Going to go make out like a couple of teenagers?” teased Jared, looking between the two of you with a smirk.

“Hiking doofus. We’d invite you but some of us don’t have scenes right now,” said Jensen. Jared couldn’t even retort before someone was calling for him.

“Don’t get lost,” said Jared, walking away and dashing over to your trailer fast. 

Jensen took the lead, walking the two of you away from set until it was quiet and you could really hear the forest. It was nice and you knew where you were actually, remembering they mentioned there was a trail nearby in case someone wandered off. 

“You ever...get annoyed with all of them? The teasing,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

“A little. It’s like, we’re really good friends and everyone assumes-”

“That we want to bang or make out or shit like that. It’s gotta be because of the characters and everyone knew that’s why you came on this year,” he said.

“I thought I came on to be some sort of badass, not Dean Winchester’s girlfriend,” you said. “Which I won’t even be until next season.”

“Sorry that came out kind of bad. I mean, I really like what you’ve done with the character. Fans love her more than Dean,” he said. You couldn’t help but laugh. Sure you knew you had a positive reaction which was an amazing feeling. But you knew perfectly well that Sam and Dean would always be on top.

“Let’s just hope so after the two of them...” you said. “It’s going to be different. Doing kissing scenes, sex scenes, stuff like that next year.”

“It’s sure to be wonderfully awkward all around. We’ll get through it. I mean, you get forehead kisses all the time from me,” he said. You rolled your eyes. Yeah, those were nice and made you feel good but there was a big difference between a friend kiss and actual lips touching. “You’re not...worried or-”

“No, no. Just it’s different than what we’ve done the past year. It’ll be fun to play that,” you said. You were quiet as you walked, knowing you were getting farther away from other people now.

“You going to come visit me on summer break?” he asked after a few minutes. 

“Of course. Now that’s really going to be weird, not seeing your face everyday,” you said. You’d gone some time without being around him or Jared during the holidays but even then, it was only two weeks before you went down to spend New Years with them.

“I know I’ve only offered like a gajillion times but if you want to come stay with me for the summer, you’re more than welcome. My house is kind of lonely,” he said. He wasn’t as good at the puppy dog thing as Jared but that didn’t mean it wasn’t effective.

“I’m not going to crash at your house for three months dude. What if you bring a girl home?” you said. “I’m not ruining your game.”

“You really want to stay up here all by yourself while Jared and Gen and me are hanging out and having all kinds of fun?” he said, tilting his head.

“Ah, don’t put it like that,” you said. He smiled, finally landing a chip in your armor. 

“Please? I’ve got a pool. You can go swimming. We can have barbeques and campfires and do all the stuff we do up here with no work in the way. You know you want to,” he said, slowing down his pace to throw his arms over your shoulders.

“Jensen...” you groaned, his arms squeezing around you tightly and twisting you around.

“Don’t make me beg,” he said, resting his head on top of yours. You sighed and he chuckled. “Is that a yes?”

“If there are any bugs in my room, you’re killing them. You better keep your hands off my ice cream too,” you said, feeling his hug get a little tighter for a second before he released you. He was happy, really happy and you were too in a way. You’d love to spend the summer with your friends but you were always afraid of overstepping your bounds. Jensen was always good at helping you get out of your comfort zone.

“Awesome,” he said. “Maybe you can come down with me this weekend and setup some stuff, figure out what you need.”

“Yeah, we can try to get me on the same flight tonight,” you said. 

“Perfect.”

Three Hours Later

“Anyone seen oblivious and more oblivious? They’re late and those two are never late,” said the director. Jared looked up from his phone from where he was waiting for them to set up for the next scene. 

“They said they were going on a short hike. Looked like they were on that trail around here,” said Jared, slightly concerned at the sight of the empty chairs beside him.

“That’s a twenty minute hike max. How long ago was that?” someone asked.

“Three, three and half hours ago maybe,” said Jared. “I’m sure they’re just in their trailers or-”

“We’ve looked fucking everywhere for them. Trailers included. Their bags were in Jensen’s. You’re sure they were on the trail?” the director asked again.

“Yes I’m sure. It’s...maybe they skipped work or had to leave and didn’t tell anyone-”

“Jared. Both of them have been sicker than dogs and showed up to film. There’s no way out of here without one of the driver’s knowing about it. You’re saying we don’t have any clue where two of our actors are?” the director asked. Jared nodded, wishing he had a better answer. “Someone go check that trail. Now.”

A few different people did, going in both directions, meeting back up at set fifteen minutes later.

“Well?” asked Jared, seeing worried looks on their faces.

“We found...we found this,” said one of the PA’s, fishing a piece of navy raincoat out of her pocket. “It was on a branch near the edge of the trail, like it got torn.”

“That’s Y/N’s. She must have gone off the path for some reason,” said Jared, knowing that a certain tall, blonde friend would be the only reason she would go out somewhere she didn’t know. “There was nothing else?”

“Well where we found it, it was near a hill, like a big slope down. Down to the river. You can’t really tell from all the leaves and crap but...” she said, Jared shutting his eyes.

“If one of them fell, the other would have gone after them,” said Jared.

“Somebody call for search and rescue. We’ve got two people who don’t have a clue how to survive in the wilderness that just vanished into a river with class five rapids. They both know how to swim right?” asked the director, someone already pulling out a radio.

“Yeah. You don’t think...” said Jared, unable to say the rest of his thought.

“They’re both strong and smart. Let’s just think on the positive side, alright?”

If you ever caught sight of that stupid fucking wolf you were going to murder it. It’d appeared on the trail off to the side, making both you and Jensen jump. Only Jensen jumped a little farther than you, pushing the both of you straight off the trail and down the steep incline, rocks and branches bruising everything they could find. You tried to stop but you were going too fast and you hit the cold water hard, knocking the wind out of you. 

You were vaguely aware of another shift in the water, Jensen pulling you up and above the water. The river was too fast and two violent for the two of you to stay together, the current ripping you apart. You kicked and managed to just barely avoid a boulder, ramming back into him. For what seemed like forever you both did your best to avoid slamming into things, getting caught in powerful pools, anything to just keep your heads above water.

Finally, finally it slowed, almost all of your energy gone when the river dropped out, a small waterfall appearing and making you hit your back on something hard. When you were throughly frozen, the water calmed for a short stretch, Jensen grabbing you and pulling you with him over to the side with everything he had left, getting the two of you out just before the next batch of awfulness occurred. 

He got the two of you to just inside the tree line where it’d be warmer, shivering and breathing hard. You’d never been more exhausted in your life but you were aware of the hands on you trying to take your shirt off.

“W-What the f-fuck are you d-d-doing?” you asked, a shaking hand resting over his.

“W-We’re going to freeze t-to death if-f-f we don’t warm up. T-Take off your w-wet clothes,” he said. You pushed his hand back, trying to get him to take care of himself first before you. You’d done plenty of scenes with him, even one in a bathing suit but for some reason you felt self-conscious stripping down to your bra and underwear, even if you absolutely had to. When you glanced up his back was to you. “I w-won’t look.”

“T-Thanks,” you said, feeling a little better without the damp items on. He was shivering as he sat there in nothing more than his boxers, his arms wrapping around himself. Screw it, this was serious and you didn’t have time for thinking you weren’t skinny enough today. “T-turn around.”

He spun around so fast, unwrapping his arms as you slid over his lap, pressing yourself up against him, feeling him do the same. That felt better, a sliver of actual warmth penetrating the cold now. 

“N-not how I imagined seeing you in your underwear,” joked Jensen. You laughed until your mind started working. He’d imagined seeing you in your underwear. 

“Me either,” you said, hoping he’d interpret that in a work type of way and not the way you’d sometimes found yourself thinking about him like that and knew you really shouldn’t. He was your best friend. A best friend who happened to look ridiculously hot.

“You’re hurt,” he said, moving his hand away, pulling back a bloody palm. You winced and groaned at the loss of his heat when he moved away. Quickly he came back and you sighed into him. “Looks like a cut on your lower back-k.”

“I’ll s-survive,” you said, moving your arms up and down his own, trying to warm him up. You felt something wet and pulled your hand away. Quickly you sat up and peered over his shoulder. “I think that same rock got you too.”

“Great. Who needs friendship bracelets when you got matching scars?” he joked again. As the heat and warmth returned to your body, you slowly felt the warm trickle down your back stop, your wound finally clotting. But now you were exhausted and wanted to fall asleep more than anything.

“Jensen,” you said, resting your head on his shoulder. “We’re...”

“We’re on the wrong side of the river. I know,” he said, resting his cheek against your head. “God knows where we even are.”

“Supposed to stay near a river when you find one,” you said. “Follow them.”

“Well we certainly can’t go the way we came,” he said, shifting you off his lap so you could turn and see. It was a sheer cliff as far as you could see. That little waterfall hadn’t been so little after all.

“That way sucks too,” you said, pointing farther down the river where it went to a valley and some kind of underwater system. “Can’t go across if we don’t want to drown.”

“We stay right here then,” he said, both of you glancing the only way you could go and the one way you definitely didn’t want to. The complete opposite one. You nodded in agreement, but looked across the river. It was a small spot, a really small spot that could easily be overlooked by someone looking for you.

Jensen sighed and you knew he saw the same exact thing. You’d stay there until you were forced to go.

When it was dark and you were back in damp clothes, sitting silently against a tree, no one saying a word in hours and too nervous to sleep, you heard it. Not the sound of people or a helicopter.

A snarl. Then another one before something cried out and you heard the water being kicked around, way too close for comfort. Jensen was pulling you to your feet and walking the two of you quietly back and away from the river, a roar breaking the night air that made you both freeze. 

Oh great, there was a bear in addition to whatever was attacking each other out there. You realized how stupid you were to stay there. It was the one easy water source for any animals around, a perfect hunting ground. You stayed close by Jensen’s side until he pulled a little harder, telling you to start jogging. You moved for what seemed like forever, until the sound of critters faded away and you thought you were somewhere safe again. 

Only now you really had no clue where you were, or even how to get back to the river. When you finally stopped, you made out a tree in the darkness, tucking yourself into the crook of it, dragging him down next to you. You both caught your breath back, still too nervous to actually speak.

If you weren’t lost before, you definitely were now.

A/N: Read Part 2 here!

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[dzamie]

Fuckton of OC questions: HM

Questions from @liaraliara‘s post here. Doing these for HM, will do more for other characters eventually, whether y’all want me to or not.

anyway so the prompt is clearly intended for, like, normal human OCs rather than murderous dragons, but let’s see where this goes

1. What’s their full name? Why was that chosen? Does it mean anything? H.M. Deshulian. The initials stand for [DATA REMOVED], although he’s rather sensitive about anyone he doesn’t fully trust knowing that. And by “sensitive” I mean “vicious and lethal.”

2. Do they have any titles? How did they get them? At least one town calls him the Green Reaper, which he’s rather proud of, but often times, much of his antics are attributed to Dzamie, a fact that annoys both of them.

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory?  Rather average for a dragon, actually. Instead of sparring with clutchmates or playfighting with his parents, he and Dzamie would hone their skills against each other - particularly useful, as it gave Dzamie experience against a real dragon, and HM experience against a dragonslayer’s style of fighting. Regardless, he certainly didn’t go hungry, and keeping the warm-blooded and soft-furred Dzamie around kept him comfy at night (the Katul eventually got used to being used like a mattress).

4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents?  Has no clue who his father is or was. His mother is definitely dead; there is no need to go looking for her, especially if you’re a dragonslayer tracking a large bounty. He will eat anyone who claims to the contrary.

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults? Dzamie’s his half-brother. They’re very close, despite what seem like occasional attempts to kill the other. The two have gotten closer since childhood, owing in part to spending most of their lives around each other and also a mental link that they often forget about.

6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate? HM associates “school” with dragonslayers, and thus doesn’t think too highly of it. He’s great at mechanical and electrical engineering, though. Not sure where he learned it.

7. Did they have lots of friends as a child? Did they keep any of their childhood friends into adulthood?  He had approximately one friend, who happened to have spotted fur and a full set of dragonslaying gear. Other friends generally didn’t stay long or died. Being around either Deshulian is pretty dangerous, since one is a danger magnet and the other seems to seek out violence.

8. Did they have pets as a child? Do they have pets as an adult? Do they like animals? Occasionally jokes that he has a rambunctious cheetah as a pet. He likes animals! They’re usually very tasty!

9. Do animals like them? Do they get on well with animals?  He tends to terrify animals. This means their instincts are functioning well.

10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect? Can’t stand ‘em. Generally asks permission to maim and/or eat them after about 10 minutes of being around them, grants himself permission anyway after another 10.

11. Do they have any special diet requirements? Are they a vegetarian? Vegan? Have any allergies? 100% carnivore, ideally live, sapient food. Vegetables and grains are mildly poisonous, though a built-up resistance means they just taste bad and don’t do anything for him.

12. What is their favourite food?  Dzamie.

13. What is their least favourite food? Porcupines. Far too much effort and risk for such a little reward.

14. Do they have any specific memories of food/a restaurant/meal? Nothing in particular.

15. Are they good at cooking? Do they enjoy it? What do others think of their cooking? He can stop meat from being raw, but he’s not good at making it appetizing for non-dragons.

16. Do they collect anything? What do they do with it? Where do they keep it?  A nice hoard of shiny stuff - gold, gems, armor, stolen won weapons, and a few trophies with the nameplates removed that he refuses to tell anyone where he got them.

17. Do they like to take photos? What do they like to take photos of? Selfies? What do they do with their photos? Nah. Cameras are hard to work with his paws.

18. What’s their favourite genre of: books, music, tv shows, films, video games and anything else He likes racing games and Smash Bros, is a fan of what he nebulously describes as “flying music,” and most any movie or book with a dragon protagonist (at least, the ones where it’s not “yeah he’s a dragon but he spends 99% of the time looking human because reasons”).

19. What’s their least favourite genres? Death metal for music, rhythm games, and soap operas. For books, it’s a tie between romance novels and historical fiction and nonfiction.

20. Do they like musicals? Music in general? What do they do when they’re favourite song comes? Theaters rarely allow dragons, especially dragons with his body count track record. Music’s definitely more Dzamie’s thing, but he’s got a few songs he likes. When a song he enjoys comes on, he’ll usually at least move his head to the beat, fall in step with it, or time his flaps to the music.

21. Do they have a temper? Are they patient? What are they like when they do lose their temper? It’s pretty hard to make him truly lose his temper, but that rarely matters because “kill and possibly eat non-dragons in the immediate area” isn’t too high up on his reactions scale. When he does get truly angry, the best course of action is to either return the important hoard thing to him and pray for mercy, or to vacate the surrounding twenty miles or so immediately.

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back? He doesn’t usually see a reason to insult people. He knows where he is on the food chain.

23. Do they have a good memory? Short term or long term? Are they good with names? Or faces? He can recall every bit of treasure in his hoard, and has also memorized pretty much all of the pseudo-laws he has to follow as per the agreement with the dragonslayers’ guild. Knows it better than most actual dragonslayers, really.

24. What is their sleeping pattern like? Do they snore? What do they like to sleep on? A soft or hard mattress? Generally diurnal. Does not snore, prefers to sleep on Dzamie, part of his hoard, or a firm mattress, in that order.

25. What do they find funny? Do they have a good sense of humour? Are they funny themselves? He finds dramatic irony to be the absolute best, particularly when it involves someone underestimating him or Dzamie.

26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions?  He tends to hold his head higher, and his tail swishes back and forth, or taps whatever it’s resting on if he’s lying down - though he’s careful to make sure it lands with the flat of the blade, so as not to accidentally ruin whatever he’s sitting happily on.

27. What makes them sad? Do they cry regularly? Do they cry openly or hide it? What are they like they are sad? I don’t think he’s ever actually been sad, at least for long.

28. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared? Death, so generally only an angry Dzamie or Kenneth can actually scare him. Or a literal deity, or the few dragons who are significantly stronger than he is. When scared, he pretty much throws up all the defensive spells he knows and tries to escape the situation. Also scary: seeing Dzamie running very quickly away from, not towards, something. “Tactical retreat” means the cheetah annoyed someone strong; “flat out booking it” means everything in its path is is in peril.

29. What do they do when they find out someone else’s fear? Do they tease them? Or get very over protective?  Tease or exploit, depending on if he likes that person.

30. Do they exercise? Regularly? Or only when forced? What do they act like pre-work out and post-work out? HM likes to fly and fight rampage/slaughter, but he’s not much for structured exercise. If someone does get him to work out, he’s generally grumpy going into it and ready to set several things and/or people on fire afterwards.

31. Do they drink? What are they like drunk? What are they like hungover? How do they act when other people are drunk or hungover? Kind or teasing? Nope. Drunk firebreathers are a bad idea.

32. What do they dress like? What sorta shops do they buy clothes from? Do they wear the fashion that they like? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear makeup? What’s their hair like? He sometimes wears his wingblades, but for the most part he’s completely naked. Scales are handy.

33. What underwear do they wear? Boxers or briefs? Lacey? Comfy granny panties? Once more, quadrupedal dragons tend not to wear clothes.

34. What is their body type? How tall are they? Do they like their body? At his usual size, HM’s about 3′6″ at the shoulder, carrying his head just under 6′. If he undoes his size transformation (or it’s forcibly undone), he’s roughly two stories high. He’s very fond of every part of his body, especially his jaws (he has a very strong bite, and has paralytic saliva if he so chooses).

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?  His guilty pleasure is letting Dzamie rub or scratch him in just the right places. He purrs for very few people. His unguilty pleasure is probably wanton destruction. Or eating Dzamie, though that involves significantly less fire.

36. What are they good at? What hobbies do they like? Can they sing? To quote TF2′s Spy, “your deadly skill is jogging? Mine is murdering people!” Though, to HM’s credit, he really just hunts a lot; most of his kills vanish down his throat. He’s definitely fond of the whole violence thing. He can sing, to an extent. He doesn’t have the best range, and he doesn’t really compare to a human or Katul singer, but he’s better than the average dragon.

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction? He’ll read short things if Dzamie suggests them, but is otherwise uninterested.

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had? Strength and fighting ability (and taste, but he doesn’t envy that). He does wish he had the quick spellcrafting of Kenneth or Dzamie’s impressive range of abilities.

39. Do they like letters? Or prefer emails/messaging?  Emails. He’s accidentally incinerated too many would-be important letters to be fond of them.

40. Do they like energy drinks? Coffee? Sugary food? Or can they naturally stay awake and alert? He sees energy drinks and stuff like that to be human things. Sweet things are nice, especially when his prey is covered in it, but a fine-tuned survival instinct keeps him as awake as he generally needs to be.

41. What’s their sexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do they like/need in a relationship? Physically, 100% into dragonesses. Human women are a nice substitute, but he tends not to think highly of them (though, considering his baseline for humans is “food”...). He generally isn’t much for long-term relationships, though Dream is an exception - primarily by way of being more a friend-with-benefits than a romantic partner.

42. What are their goals? What would they sacrifice anything for? What is their secret ambition? His goal is to have a very big hoard, and possibly see if he can’t start a cult that ends up occasionally sacrificing a member to him or something. He’d sacrifice anything but Dzamie’s life to preserve his own, and anything but his own life to save Dzamie’s. His secret ambition is to be able to solidly beat Dzamie in a fight - they’ve always been pretty even.

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people? HM is not religious at all. He acknowledges the existence of some deities, generally because either he or HM has met several of them (again, some of the few times one can actually see them actively prepare many layers of backup escape plans), but isn’t interested in worshipping anyone. He’s generally neutral about most religious and nonreligious people, and hasn’t quite made up his mind about the religious ones who think he’s a demon to exorcise - on one hand, they’re annoying, on the other, they’re generally unprepared enough that they make an easy snack.

44. What is their favourite season? Type of weather? Are they good in the cold or the heat? What weather do they complain in the most?  Summer. Dragon likes heat. He complains about the snow a lot, and generally doesn’t leave his fuzzy heat source Dzamie’s side during the wintertime.

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves?  As a violent psychopath who’d probably eat the world if it was feasible and tasty enough. He’d agree.

46. Do they make a good first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? How do they introduce themselves? He can make a good first impression - he’s not completely tactless, and can even hold a small Facade for a while. It’s pretty quick to tell his personality, though. HM prefers to introduce himself a couple seconds after his most recent victim dies, but, to his distaste, he far more often introduces himself in a more normal manner.

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event? He can act all proper and stuff, especially if Dzamie’s nearby to give him pointers, but not for an extended period of time. He prefers to wear as little as necessary, but will put on a few things to keep up appearances when needed. He enjoys chit chat to the extent that it can lure unsuspecting prey towards a secluded area.

48. Do they enjoy any parties? If so what kind? Do they organise the party or just turn up? How do they act? What if they didn’t want to go but were dragged along by a friend?  He does actually host more casual parties somewhat often. Generally, his guests are dragons, though occasionally a Serperior or a sphinx has shown up. He’s actually a pretty good host. Though, remarkably often, he and a bunch of guests end up in a scaly pile on or around Dzamie when they awake.

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them? Well, there’s Dzamie.

50. If they could only take one bag of stuff somewhere with them: what would they pack? What do they consider their essentials? A water bottle and as much of his favorite non-Dzamie things from his hoard as will fit. Everything else necessary can be found pretty easily, especially as a flying, magical dragon.

[zacknano17]

Day 7 & 8 : words 12,501 - 15,038

In which, Merle fails to save against his own spell.

Trigger warning for talk of suicidal ideation.

“So you trust me with your life, then,” Magnus says.  He's just being a jerk now.

“Gods, that sounds even worse,” Taako groans.

“But it's true.  I've saved your ass plenty of times.”

“Oooh, what a big fuckin' surprise!  The wizard is squishy!  Maybe you outta do a better job of not letting me get hit in the first place.”

It really isn't a fair thing to say, and he regrets it just as soon as the words are out of his mouth.  But he isn't going to apologize.  He isn't, because he only half regrets it, and he doesn't apologize often for things that he does regret, so Magnus will have to suck it.

“Yeah,” Magnus says, and there's defeat in his voice.  “Maybe I should.”

Taako sets his jaw, the response just serving to annoy him even more.  He steamrolls right ahead.  “Well, whatever.  I'm here so we can get our stories straight for when we meet up with the Reebster,” he declares.

“Yeah, fine.”

“I don't see why our introduction story would need to change.  We met on a job, and we work together now.  Easy enough stuff there.”

“Sure.”

“Merle is gonna be our officiator, I guess, so that he has a reason to be there too,” Taako continues.  “We should decide we're doing something small, maybe, to cut back on complications.  I don't know where, though.  My hometown is...”  Well, he had no inclination of going back there. “...shitty.  What about yours?  You're a small town boy, right? All that rustic hospitality and shit.”

“Oh, uh, nah.  Not my hometown.”

“Okay. We can have her help find a venue then, I suppose.  I think we're supposed to pick colors?  She had me look at flowers today, and I sorta honed in on purple ones.  Is purple okay with you?”

“Yeah.”

“I think we need another color though, right?  Is that how it works?”

“I guess so.”

“You're the one who's been married before, dumbass.  I'm just the idiot groping around in the dark tryin' to find his own ass, here.  Help a dude out.”

Magnus has switched from looking apathetic to looking uncomfortable.  “I didn't...we didn't hire a wedding planner, man.  It was just a small time thing.  She picked out the flowers and shit,” he says.  “I don't think we had special colors?  I don't remember.  Look. Taako.  Why don't you just pick out whatever you want and tell me, and that will be the story, okay?  I don't...want to do this.”

“What the fuck do you think I'm doing right now?” Taako asks.  “We gotta keep our stories straight, my dude.”

“Then the story is that you're picking all the stuff because I don't care.” Magnus is beginning to sound annoyed instead of just put out.

“God, just make shit up!  That's literally all I'm doing!  None of this is going to matter, so just roll with it, homie.  It's not real.  None of this is real.”

“I know it's not fucking real,” Magnus snaps.  “And I know you did it so I'd have a way in with you and Merle.  I get it, okay!?  That's the only reason I'm going with it.  But just -- I'll do it, but don't ask me to be happy about it.”

Taako has been pushing buttons for a few minutes now, waiting for this reaction.  He doesn't need Magnus' input for stupid shit like wedding colors and choice of venue.  He knows whatever he says, Magnus will just go along with it, because it's not important details.

He wants Magnus to be angry and to lash out.  He wants it because he's angry, and he needs a reason to be.  It's far easier to blame Magnus for something than to figure out what's actually bothering him and fixing that.  Magnus isn't cooperating.  Magnus won't help him piece together a likely story to tell the wedding planner.  Magnus is making his job harder.

Magnus is revolted by the idea of marrying Taako.

Whoops, no, not that last one.  That's a little too close to the root of the problem, maybe.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Taako snaps.  “You can't fucking leave the past behind you, you won't move forward, and it's my fault because I won't leave it alone.

Magnus stands up.  His expression is a mix of fury and shock and pain, and Taako knows he has gone too far.  He does not give a fuck.

“No, Taako, I can't leave the past behind me,” he says, quietly.  “You know why?  Because without her, I don't have a future.  I'm not here for the money or the glory or even -- even to do the right thing.  I'm here because it's dangerous and we're all probably gonna fucking die, but hey, at least I'll have gone out doing something good.”

That is not what Taako expects, and that is not something he knows how to deal with.  He sits in silence, unable to quite think of something to say, particularly around the knot of anxiety that has suddenly tightened in his chest.  Magus is talking about dying.  Magnus is talking about leaving him behind, and he...he can't let another person leave.  He can't.

He can't.

He takes too long to answer, because Magnus gets a hold of himself first.  “Fuck, no, I didn't mean it like that,” he says quickly, but it's too late to take it back now.  “I don't mean -- I'm not gonna do something stupid!  Don't look at me like that.  I'm not a quitter, Taako.  It's just that, I don't know, I'm gonna do good recklessly, until I can't anymore.  That's what -- I mean, isn't that what she would have wanted?”

“To get yourself killed by your own twisted sense of heroics?” Taako spits.  “If so, then you were too good for her anyway.”

“That's...not...I guess that is what I said, but I didn't mean it like that.  She would want me to do as much good as I could -- ”

“She'd want you to have some fucking self-preservation.  Fuck, do you not even realize you're surrounded by people who give a damn about you, and that you'd be doing the same thing to them that she did to you by dying?  You're an absolute fucking dick, and I hate you right now.”

Without another word, Taako stands up from his chair and stalks out of the room, slamming the door behind him.  He carries his head high, because he is actually fighting tears now and he hates himself for it.

He runs into Merle in the hallway.  “Taako -- ”

“Can it, old man.  If you're gonna spew wisdom on anybody, make it that douchebag in there,” Taako snaps, jerking his thumb back toward Magnus' room.

Then he turns on his heel and stalks into his own room, closing and securely locking the door behind him.

That hadn't gone how he had wanted it to, not at all.  He feels raw and full, like his scaly coat of barbs he holds close to him like armor has been pushed aside.  He knows he is lonely, and he has been lonely since he can remember.  But why had he let anyone close?  What the fuck had he been thinking?  Nobody can be trusted, and that's all there is to it.

He kicks off his shoes and climbs onto the bed, nabbing one of the pillows and hugging it to his chest.  Stupid, selfish Magnus, who can't see past his own pain enough to see that his reckless behavior is just going to hurt everyone else.

Taako is beginning to realize what part of the problem is here.  It's not that Magnus is making him out to be an unlovable, unmarriable jackass, although that certainly isn't helping.  He is self-aware enough to know it's probably true anyway.  But the thing of it is that Magnus has made it clear that it's not Taako that's the problem,  and that he's not interested in a relationship of any kind.

It's that Taako is.

But, of course he doesn't stand a chance!  Of course he never did! Because how can he expect to beat out the dead fucking wife!?

The slope of the mattress from where Taako is sitting causes the umbra staff to roll down off its perch at the end of the bed.  It thumps against his thigh gently.  He glances at it and takes a deep breath.

“Fuck. Guess I ought to take care of my shit, huh?” he mutters to himself.  He stands up and picks up the umbrella, carrying it over to the closet and leaning it against the door.  It's not late enough for bed, but maybe he'll curl up anyway.  He isn't leaving this room until tomorrow, either way.

As he's changing, there is a thunking sound behind him.  He turns around and sees that the umbra staff has tipped over onto the floor.

This time, he picks it up and hooks the handle over the door knob on the closet.  He goes back to it.

Thunk.

The staff is on the floor again, rolling slightly in his direction.  It gets stuck on the hooked part of the handle and stills.

He knows this is no ordinary staff, and he knows that it has a mind of its own.  He knows it likes him and wants to help him -- no other mystical staff has ever wormed its way over to him at a time of need, after all.

Can the damn thing be trying to comfort him?

God, that was the dumbest thing he has ever thought.

“It's pretty fucking shitty when your best friend of the night is a goddamn umbrella,” he grumbles, picking up the staff again.  It's slightly warm to the touch.

Taako knows he is being petty.  He knows, because he's usually being petty. It's kind of his default state, most of the time.  This particular time, his pettiness is the fact that he knows he picked the fight that left him in this state, and he knows why this whole situation is bothering him so much, and he's annoyed by it.  He comes out of his room at the inn early, eats his breakfast quickly, and returns to the room before Magnus can come down for his breakfast.  Then he spends the day out window shopping.  Waterdeep has a fantastic market district, although their fashion sense leaves a little to be desired.

He does run into Merle once, who plants himself firmly between Taako and the door to his room.  “What the hell is goin' on between the two of you?” he demands.  “He's been moping around since we got back, and you're even more squirrely than normal.”

“You know what?  You should talk to him.  I think he could use some spiritual guidance,” Taako mutters, folding his arms over his chest.

“Uh huh.  That clears things up,” Merle retorts.

“Look, homie, just let me through, okay?  I'm not interested in a chat.”

“Well, that's too bad.  Because I'm not movin', and I'm gonna cast Zone...of...”

“Don't you fuckin' dare.”

“...Truth!”

Taako feels the tingle of magic wash over him, and either because he is on edge or because he did not see it coming (somehow), but he definitely does not save on that roll.  He feels the magic tickle his mind, and he clamps his jaw shut.  Fine.  Merle can compel him not to lie, but he can't compel him to actually speak.

Of course, as he thinks that, he really gets a good look at the expression of consternation on Merle's face.

“My dude, did you fail to resist your own Zone of Truth?” he asks, breaking his one and only rule here.

“...yeah,” Merle says.  “So why don't you tell me what you and Magnus talked about that's got everyone in a tizzy.”

Taako opens his mouth to say, “Why don't I not,” but instead, he says, “Mags said he's in the adventuring business 'cause he doesn't care about living anymore, and I don't want to be friends with a shit lord who's trying to get himself killed.”

Merle is quiet a moment, fidgeting with a leaf growing off his soul wood arm, as he considers.  “And I s'pose you told him as much?” he asks.

“I told him that maybe he should give a damn because people care about him, and then I slammed the door in his face and I...”  I never want to see him again refused to come out of his mouth.

“Well, that's a tough thing,” Merle finally says.  “I felt that way for a while, back when I started this gig up.  Like, it didn't really matter if something happened to ol' Merle here, so why the hell not?  But I've come around.  I'm sortin' through some things, and now I just wanna make sure nothing happens to you boys.”

Taako thinks back to his first job he had taken where he lent his wizarding skills out for money.  He had been scared out of his mind the entire time.  He had taken the job because there was nothing else for someone like him to do...but is that really true?  He thinks it might be equal parts, This will probably pay better than flipping flapjacks on a caravan full of rowdy assholes, and, I've got nothing to lose so why the hell not.

“This conversation is way too deep and personal to be having in a fucking tavern hallway where literally anyone can listen in; you know that, right?” he says, instead of saying anything useful.

Merle pats his arm, and he allows it to happen.  “Look, all I'm sayin' is that things change and intentions change.  All we gotta do is keep him going for a while longer, give him some time to sort out his own shit, and maybe then things will work out.  I'll have a talk with him, but sometimes we get blind to the fact that other people give a damn, yeah?”

Taako knows he is the kind of person who makes a point of not letting other people know when he gives a damn.  This is intentional.  He has been, up to this point, thinking entirely of himself in this matter.  For the first time that he can remember, he wishes he hadn't been so selfish.

“Hey, uh, Merle?” he says, studying intently a spot on the wall to his right so that he isn't looking anywhere near the dwarf.  “When you go talk to him, let him know that I give a damn, all right?”

“Sure thing, kid,” Merle replies.  “But, I wouldn't worry.  I think he already knows.”

And with that, Merle finally allows Taako access into his room.

He flops down on the bed, the exchange having worn him out on a spiritual level.  Goddamn.  He isn't supposed to be the one getting the sermon.  He's supposed to meet with Rebekah in a few hours, and he doesn't feel really up to playing that charade again.  He should probably take Magnus and Merle with him, but interacting with other living beings seems like too much of a chore.  He'll see who's around when he's about to leave, he supposes.