#he's Humanity 5 I repeat to myself helplessly

[deathandthesoul]

Meme for Emmett again

Bold all the things your muse has done (will / would do is in italics, bolded italics means they’ve done it before and will probably do it again)

Murder / manslaughter / assault / robbery / breaking & entering / theft / embezzlement / kidnapping / torture / blackmail / arson / trespassing / treason / libel or slander / obstruction of justice / lying to law enforcement / creation of a weapon / espionage / riot / escape from lawful custody / contempt of court / public intoxication / conspiracy / accessory to a crime / harboring a fugitive / bribery / perjury under oath / resisting arrest / identity theft / corporate fraud / tax fraud / document forgery / destruction of evidence / assassination / counterfeiting / sale of a controlled substance / purchase of a controlled substance / failure to pay child support (it_is_a_mystery.mp3) / hacking crimes / threat / pick-pocketing / shoplifting

[procrastinatorimagines]

Our Little Secret (Part 3)

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries / The Originals

Series: Our Little Secret

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 //

Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Part 10 // Part 11 // Part 12 // Part 13 // Part 14 // Part 15 (Final)

Character/s: Reader x Klaus, Damon, Elena, Rebekah

Warning/s: none

Word Count: 1,355

Summary: Damon confronts Y/N about her relationship with Klaus

You were only a couple of minutes late as you pulled into the parking lot of the school, jumping out and walking quickly to where you could see a couple dozen people helping put up stalls and displays. You knew Elena was meant to be setting up inside so you quickly headed in, swirving past the vans and people milling about outside. In this town, being late might mean something a little more sinister than some bad traffic.

You were so focused on meeting Elena that you didn’t even notice Damon step out in front of you as you rounded the corner heading towards the gym until you basically collided into him, stumbling back a little. In your defense, he was supernaturally fast.

“Damon, christ you scared me, what are you doing here?” You asked, glancing back to the open gym door and catching a glimpse of Elena sorting out some streamers in one of the corners. She seemed to spot the two of you out the corner of her eye and finished off what she was doing

There was a look in Damon’s eyes that you couldn’t quite read, but it made you uneasy the longer it took him to reply. “You’re late,” he commented.

“Only by a few minutes, sorry, they’ve blocked off a couple of roads for this thing you know,” you explained, wishing Elena would head over quicker. It’s not that you didn’t like Damon persay, but he always made you a little uneasy.

“There you are,” Elena said and you relaxed a little, Damon’s eyes still on you as your sister finally reached you both, “what’s going on?”

“Y/N’s late,” Damon repeated, in a way that told you that he knew something more that he was saying, but he couldn’t know where you’d just been, could he?

“And as I was just saying, they’ve blocked off some roads so I had to go a longer way around, it’s like 10 past Damon and most people aren’t setting up for another half hour anyway,” you elaborated, looking to Elena as she glanced between the two of you.

“Okay...” She said, and you could tell you weren’t the only one a little confused by Damon’s behaviour. “Well I mean, she’s right, there isn’t many people here yet, so why don’t we just head inside-”

“She was with Klaus,” Damon stated, interuppting Elena, who’s head snapped back to you as you blinked in shock. Was he spying on you?

“What? Is that true?” Elena demanded, unable to believe you were about to have this conversation again.

“I can explain-” you began, but Elena shook her head, she’d heard it from you before, that night after she’d caught you both on the roof, and you knew she didn’t need to hear it again.

“Y/N, we talked about this!” She exclaimed, her voice getting louder as some people in the gym looked up to hear what was going on.

“No, you talked, you didn’t even consider listening to what I had to say,” you snapped back, careful to keep your voice down, “all you’ve done is tell me what I can and can’t do, you’re not mom Elena, you’re not even my big sister-”

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have to act like I was if you would just see that you aren’t making the right decisions, he’s dangerous Y/N, I’m trying to protect you,” Elena pleaded and you rolled your eyes. 

“I don’t need your protection, and I certainly don’t need your lap dog spying on me,” you said bitterly, casting a glance at Damon, who seemed to be barely containing his anger.

“Klaus is-” Elena attempted, but you’d heard it before too, she’d gone on and on about how dangerous he was. And the thing was... you knew that, it wasn’t like you didn’t know who he was, but they didn’t know that he was more than that too, and you were sick of Elena and Damon deciding they knew what was best for you.

“Forget it Elena, I’m not talking to you about this anymore,” you said finally, wanting nothing more than to get out of there. Turning on your heels to leave you were stopped by a strong grip on your upper arm.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Damon challenged, giving your arm a hard tug as you tried to walk away.

“Somewhere that isn’t here,” you said, trying to fight against his iron grip as Elena looked helplessly conflicted next to the two of you, unsure of what to say to make the situation better.

“I don’t think so, this ends, now. Am I making myself clear?” Damon put his foot down, as unwavering in his conviction as you were in yours. Some part of you knew he was only doing it for your own good, or, well, Elena’s own good anyway, but right now you were too angry and fed up to care.

“Damon-” Elena’s plea fell on deaf ears.

“Am I making myself clear?” Damon reiterated slowly, looking down on you like you were a child in need of telling off. You guessed to him you basically were, but it still angered you that he insisted on talking down at you, like you couldn’t make any of your own decisions. 

“You’re hurting me,” was all you said as your answer, but he didn’t budge. “Damon, you’re hurting me.” You repeated.

Damon was about to say something when you felt a rush of wind and the pressure from your arm disappear, blinking in shock as you looked on to where Damon had been stood a second before. Instead, what you saw was Klaus, pinning Damon against the lockers against the wall.

“She said, you were hurting her,” Klaus practically growled as Damon struggled against his grip, too shocked to react at his protectiveness as Elena came to her senses first.

“Klaus! Klaus let him go,” she demanded, worry clear in her voice. Klaus may have been an unkillable original, but Damon certainly wasn’t. You snapped out of it then too, no matter how mad at Damon you were, you didn’t want this.

“Klaus, hey please, it’s fine, please just let him go,” you put a gentle hand on Klaus’ shoulder and he looked to you, fire and protectiveness in his eyes. “Klaus;” your voice was barely a whisper when you repeated his name, but he heard you, and you saw his grip on Damon loosen enough for his feet to touch the floor again. 

Klaus turned to say something to you when his eyes were drawn to something behind you. Damon was rolling his eyes as you turned to see who they were looking at, noticing Rebekah leaning against a nearby wall.

“Well, this looks fun,” she commented, looking at the scene before her, eyes lingering on you a little too long for your liking.

“Playing with your food Nik?” She joked, watching the worry on Klaus’ face as he looked back from you to his sister, well aware that she had probably just seen everything.

“Leave Rebekah, this doesn’t concern you,” Elena told her but she was ignored, the blonde too focused on her brother to care.

“What do you want Rebekah?” Klaus asked, taking an instinctive step forwards and slightly in front of you.

“Oh there’s no need to get defensive Nik, I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about,” Rebekah replied, looking you up and down slowly, like predator sizing up it’s prey, “I have to say, I’m not sure I see the appeal, humans are so... breakable, what is it about her that has you so infatuated?”

“Rebekah-” Klaus warned but she waved him off with a little laugh.

“Come now Nik, it’s only a little fun, afterall, their breakableness is their best feature,” she smiled a sinister grin, showing fangs as she winked in your direction. It looked like she was about to step forward but in a second you were gone, in Klaus’ arms as he took you quickly away before Rebekah could do any damage. 

And although you were grateful, you knew it was only the beginning...

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Dawn in Your Eyes Part 5

Summary: Alfie has little to no idea why Caroline ever gave him the time of day. The blind woman seemed far too sensible to even speak to him. But soon he finds himself falling helplessly in love.

Part 5: Alfie pops the question

          “You’ve been quiet Alfie.” Caroline usually pointed out any lulls in the conversation. She relied on sound for context. If someone went silent, she couldn’t analyze any subtle expressions on their faces to make conclusions.    

           “Hm? Oh, sorry, love.” He cleared his throat and redirected his attention. It had been quite the day after speaking with Julia. They’d agreed on a dowry and she said she would start to make arrangements once Caroline agreed. So, all Alfie had to do now to become one step closer to marrying her, was to ask. Sounded simple enough, but it was indeed a tall order. Especially since he was afraid, she could do much better than him. “Been a bit occupied with me thoughts.” He admitted.

           “Why?” Pilot stopped her before they were to cross a street. Even though Alfie was there, the Newfoundland always took it upon himself to make sure he was in charge. He would protect Caroline, it didn’t matter who else was there.

           Alfie respectfully waited for Pilot to deem it safe for them to cross. He typically allowed the dog to work at will. It was, after all, what he’d been trained to do. And Alfie knew how much dogs aimed to please. Perhaps that was why he was so fond of them. He appreciated undying loyalty. Now he was by no means as loyal as a dog. His loyalty was selective. Caroline, for example, deserved nothing but staunch faithfulness. Tommy Shelby, on the other hand, could kindly fuck himself when it came to loyalty.

           “Alfie?” Caroline prompted again when he failed to respond.

           “Sorry, sorry.” He shook his head. “I-er-I probably should inform you of the conversation I had with your aunt.” The two walked through the entrance of Camden Gardens. Anticipating a longer conversation, Alfie found them a spot to sit. Pilot curled up by Caroline’s feet and waited patiently.

           “Oh dear, I hope she wasn’t harsh on you.” Caroline’s brow wrinkled. “I spoke with her and she said our relationship could continue. But if she was trying to deter you…”

           “No, no, weren’t nothing like that.” Of course, it had been like that. But Alfie wasn’t trying to drive a wedge between her and Julia. “In fact, we came to the same conclusion, wouldya believe it?” He smiled nervously.

           Caroline laughed softly. “No, you are both so stubborn.” She teased.

           Alfie rubbed the back of his neck. “You ain’t wrong.”

           “What conclusion did you reach?” The young woman was hopeful that after her positive conversation with her aunt, things would work out. Although there was always the worry that Julia had managed to sway Alfie’s judgment again and convince him to distance himself from Caroline.

           “We…um.” He looked down at his hands once he noticed they were trembling. Why on Earth was it so difficult to ask a simple question? He could storm into battle without a lick of fearful sweat or quivering knees. Yet this one woman had his tongue tied and palms clammy.

           Caroline became nervous at his inability to get the words out properly. “Alfie…please don’t tell me you don’t wish to see me anymore because of what my aunt said.” Her voice was soft with anguish.

           “No!” He burst out, trying to stop any doubt. “No, no, absolutely not. I wouldn’t allow that to happen. Not again, at least. Fuck, I’m sorry…” He groaned and tried to straighten out his thoughts. “I s’pose I oughta just say it out.” He gently took Caroline’s hand in his. “Your aunt and I spoke and…I’m just repeating meself. I’m sorry.”      

           “Alfie,” She squeezed his hand. “Just say it.”

           “Would you marry me?”

           The shock on Caroline’s face was clear once the five-letter word left his mouth. Marriage. Something they’d discussed but it appeared Alfie was keen on taking things slow. Now after a conversation with Julia, he was prepared to pitch a Chuppah with haste. “Do you-do you want to marry me or did my aunt force you into it?” It had always been a fear of hers. Julia attempted to have Caroline engaged many times but men simply weren’t willing to take on the responsibility of a blind wife. But with Julia’s wealth and influence, it stood to reason that she could twist a man’s arm. However lonely Caroline felt sometimes, the last thing she wanted was to be in a marriage where the man felt trapped.

           “She didn’t force me into anything, love. I s’pose…I were tryna prove myself. Prove that I would never abandon you like she thinks I will.” Alfie raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Now I may be rushing into things but I don’t want Julia or you to think that I’m gonna be skipping town one day. I intend to stay beside you, whether you’re me wife or not.”

           Caroline’s eyes filled with tears. His words were so genuine, so committed. She nodded. “I’ll marry you.” She whispered, hardly believing the events that just transpired. In just a few moments, with just a few words, their lives had changed so drastically.

           “Yeah?” Alfie perked up in surprise.

           “Yeah.” She laughed shakily and leaned in to kiss him. “Yes, of course, I will.” Her words crossed his lips with a warm breath.

           Alfie could exhale a sigh of relief. As he inhaled, he realized they would be preparing for a wedding. He would be entering a life of marriage very soon. No doubt Julia would hasten the preparations, trying to test Alfie’s loyalty.

           “Funny thing ‘bout your aunt. She insisted on a dowry.” Alfie informed his bride-to-be after they drew apart from the kiss.

           “A dowry?” She laughed. “Of course, she’s so traditional, I wouldn’t expect nothing less. What did you ask for then?” She asked teasingly.

           “Erm…a dog.” He admitted sheepishly. “A mastiff pup. So, I hope you won’t be bothered that we’ll have three large dogs in the house.”

           Caroline grinned. “I wouldn’t want it any other way, you silly man.” She murmured and pulled him close for another kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~

           “Heard Julia’s inviting practically all of Camden to the wedding,” Ollie remarked.

           It had been a few days since the announcement of the engagement. The community was stunned, to say the least. Despite the rumors about the seemingly odd pair, they didn’t think the relationship would persist. Now that Julia had announced the wedding, people were trying to figure out Alfie’s motives. The man had a reputation for being a clever businessman. And perhaps it was no mistake that he would target the young woman who stood to inherit her aunt’s great fortune. After all, what sort of Jewish bride could Caroline really be? And Alfie certainly wasn’t the sympathetic type so he wasn’t marrying her out of pity. Most in Camden Town didn’t consider Alfie to have normal human emotions. He was a myth, a larger-than-life figure. Rumors of his deeds led people to believe that he was void of compassion and of all things, love.

           “Yeah, ‘cause she wants to make sure I won’t fucking run away when the time comes,” Alfie muttered from his desk and handed a few signed documents to his assistant.

           Ollie frowned. “You wouldn’t do that though.”

           “Damn right I wouldn’t but she don’t know that. This whole fucking town’s been gossiping ‘bout me. Tell ya what Ollie, you can spread this ‘round.” Alfie took off his glasses to look pointedly at the young man. “I ain’t gonna take a single bit of Julia’s money once we’re married. All of it goes to Caroline and that’s that. See what people think once they hear that.” He grumbled and slid his glasses back onto his nose.

           “I’ll let them know,” Ollie promised. He knew the man much better than most people of Camden Town. Sure, he saw the worst of Alfie’s temper, but the two had long chats together that revealed the softer nature to the intimidating man. And if anyone spent a day with Alfie, they’d see how Caroline shone a bright light on his heart that everyone assumed was missing. Perhaps in time, they’d see Alfie’s true intentions. But Ollie was afraid that even after the wedding, people would still talk.

Tag list: @zazasblogxx​ @thinkingsofamadwoman​

Masterlist

[nitewrighter]

Of Blades and Broomsticks Pt. XVIII

Y’all didn’t think I would let all of Halloweekend pass without an OBAB update, right?

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Read it on AO3 here.

---

The maelstrom of crow calls filled the air, making it feel tense and buzzing. Mercy and Genji clambered to the front of the wagon and followed Junkenstein’s line of sight up to the sky, watching the crows sweep after their target.

“Mm?” the wagon creaked and shifted as the Monster woke from his slumber at the sound of the storm of crows and looked out the back. 

“A winged thing?” Mercy looked back at Junkenstein, she squinted and turned her eyes up at the creature flying away from the crows, “It’s a fledermaus.”

“More like a flederhund than a fledermaus, wouldn’t you say?” said Junkenstein.

“We have to help him!” said Mercy, a sphere of fire spinning into existence on her palm. Genji caught her wrist.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get involved,” said Genji, not taking his eyes off of the crows.

“Shouldn’t get--” Mercy blustered, “What are you talking about? Aren’t you always going on about being the demon of the north wind with a swift and mighty sword and probably 47 other epithets I’m forgetting?”

“Well yes but--” Genji stammered, “I mean, maybe the fleder-thing is in the wrong here.”

“He’s outnumbered hundreds to one!” said Mercy.

“And maybe whatever prompted those crows to go after him, we don’t want to mess with,” said Genji, watching as the massive bat swept a hard left to try and build more distance between himself and the murder of crows.

Mercy’s brow crinkled in confusion. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Me? Nothing--nothing, I just--you know, I’m bound by duty to protect you--and I mean he smells of death anyway so...”

“I know it feels like Adlersbrunn is well and far behind us, but we did just narrowly avoid you getting burned, Gramercy,” Junkenstein added.

Genji gestured at Junkenstein in a ‘see?’ gesture.

 “So shooting off fireballs into the sky might not be the best course of action. Only one of us can fly and conveniently it’s in forms no one can recognize,” said Junkenstein.

Both Mercy and Junkenstein looked at Genji.

“Really?” said Genji.

“Really,” said Mercy.

“But--” Genji started.

“Genji!” Mercy barked his name, exasperated, “He needs our help!” 

“It was hundreds to one on us back in Adlersbrunn, too,” said Junkenstein.

Genji huffed. “You know being nice only ends up biting you in the ass,” he muttered, turning into a sparrowhawk and taking off out of the wagon. He used the smaller form of the sparrowhawk to build up speed and upward momentum, before turning into a massive tan and silver eagle and beating his wings hard until he reached the same height as the massive bat. He tore through the swarm of crows with beak and talon, scattering a good number of them and even managing to slash and rip the necks and breasts of a few. But then the crows turned their attention on him and were bombarding him. He heard a higher pitched screech and with a few beats of leathery wings, suddenly the bat he had set out to rescue was biting into the crows himself, though more crows were lashing and pecking at his wings.

“Fly away! I’m rescuing you, you idiot!” snapped Genji, tearing a crow’s throat out while beating several off of the bat with his wings.

“You can talk?!” said the bat.

“You can talk?!” Genji answered back.

 A crow went for his eyes but was suddenly blasted back by a fireball from below.

“Witch!” Genji called down in frustration.

“You can’t expect me to do nothing!” Mercy called back up 

“Oh for--” Genji took the form of a man and slashed back at the crows with his sword to try and build some more distance between them, then found himself falling--only to have his free arm seized by the clawed feet of the bat. He slashed off a few more crows but soon found both of them were flanked on all sides by pecking beaks and claws and beating wings.

“We need to drop down!” Genji shouted up at the bat.

“And how am I supposed to trust you?!” returned the bat, ripping out another crow’s throat with his teeth.

“I don’t see many other options, do you?!” Genji shouted above the cawing crows.

The bat huffed and stopped beating his wings and both of them dropped like a stone, Genji sheathing his sword as they did so. The fall brought them only a brief respite from the crows, as Genji looked past the bat’s wide wings to see the crows were diving down toward them, spiraling into a roiling spearhead of claws and beaks.

Genji heard the clank of a chain, then glanced off to his right to see a sickle hurtling towards him. “Gah!” he shifted his shoulder and the sickle barely shot past him into the vortex of crows. 

“Grab it!” he could hear Mercy shouting below, “Grab the chain!”

One arm still gripping the bat’s clawed feet, Genji flailed out a hand and grabbed the chain as gravity made it slacken, then suddenly it pulled taut again and for a brief second Genji thought his arm would be ripped from his socket before he suddenly made impact on the soft, lumpy belly of Junkenstein’s monster with an “OOF.”

“Nice...catch,” said Genji, looking up into the dead-eyed pig face of the monster.

“Hrm,” the monster gave him a nod.

“It’s not over yet,” said the Junkenstein, as Genji looked up to see the crows still dive-bombing towards them. Genji drew his sword but Mercy stepped in front of them. 

“Witch--” Genji started.

“Stay low,” said Mercy, flexing her fingers and letting fire curl up in both of her palms.

“Madame?” the bat still seemed to be getting over his previous disorientation of being yanked from the sky.

The crows shot down toward them but with an angry grunt and an upward swing of her arms, Mercy blazed a curving wall of flames into existence, arcing over the 5 of them. The crows had built up too much speed to stop themselves from pummeling into the wall of flame and Genji covered up his nose and mouth as the stench of burning feathers filled the air. Mercy kept up the shield of flames as long as she could before it crackled and fell apart into embers drifting to the ground. Genji was up and at her side in an instant, sword still at the ready, but by then the crows were scattering away. Except one loud caw still sounded close.

“Hrm?” The monster lifted up his sickle to see one unfortunate crow beating its wings and quorking wetly despite having a sickle hooked through its torso.

“Oh you got one, creation! Good show!” said Junkenstein, slapping the monster on the back.

The crow just cawed and beat its wings before dissolving into purple fog and dissipating. The monster gave a concerned ‘Hrm’ as it watched the purple fog get blown off in the wind.

“...pretty sure I don’t like the looks of that,” said Junkenstein, putting his hands on his hips, “Well, at least we’ve driven them all off.”

“Or they’ve seen all they need to see,” said the bat, looking over the bleeding scratches on his wing.

“Oh--Your wing! Let me--..” Mercy started, reaching toward his wing.

“Easily remedied, madame,” said the bat, red mist enveloping his body as he grew up to his full height, the mist clearing away to reveal a handsome man dressed in black and scarlet with a cavalier hat--looking no less dashing despite the slashes the crows had made on his clothing. He removed his cavalier hat, gave her a sweeping bow and took her still-outstretched hand and kissed her knuckles before drawing himself back up to his full height again. Mercy flinched a little at the yellowness of his eyes. “Jean-Baptiste Augustin, at your service. Friends call me Baptiste. I thank you, devin-guérisseuse.” He set his hat back on hishead.

“Dev--what?” Mercy said a little helplessly, withdrawing her hand.

“Cunning woman,” said Baptiste, “Not very common for a mortal to know arts such as yours.”

“...I suppose it’s too late to try and pass myself off as an apothecary, isn’t it?” said Mercy, glancing off. 

“I could pretend, if you wish,” said Baptiste with a fanged smile, “And you could pretend I did not just turn from bat to man. It would be a very fun game, I’m sure.” 

Mercy let out a nervous chuckle, tucking her hair back, and Genji gave her a sidelong glance.

“Don’t think anyone has time for that, the way those crows were on you,” said Junkenstein, looking up at the sky.

“Why were you pursued?” said Genji, “How long do you think we have until more are sent after you?”

“I have an urgent message for my comtesse,” said Baptiste, “The queen whom she previously thought was an ally plots against her. That very queen seeks to turn the humans of this land on their comtesse.”

“And your comtesse,” said Genji, his sword lowered but not sheathed, “Is she a demon like you?”

“Demon? Non, we are not demons. Though humans may not make that distinction,” said Baptiste.

“You change shapes like a demon,” muttered Genji.

“Only a few shapes, I’m afraid. Man, bat, wolf, or smoke. Nothing else.”

“Vampir,” said Junkenstein, frowning. He folded his arms, “And just when I thought things couldn’t get any less scientific.”

“Your friend can spin fire from nothing and you doubt the existence of my kind?” said Baptiste.

“I thought ‘your kind’ was just rabies and dropsy,” said Junkenstein with a shrug, 

“We’re getting off-track,” said Mercy, speaking up, “What queen?”

“Máire des Fées, though these days I believe she calls herself ‘Moira.’” 

“Des fées--of the fairies?” Junkenstein repeated.

“Yes,” said Baptiste.

“Fairies--as in the little tinkly winged things who tie knots in little girls’ hair and turn milk sour? Those things? A vampire was being chased by fairies?!”

“They can do far worse than that,” said Baptiste, “And their Queen is the most powerful of their kind who still walks this earth. She came to my comtesse convinced that a war between man and magic is coming now that the...” Baptiste trailed off, his yellow eyes slowly shifting to Mercy.

“Now that the what, man? Now that the what?” said Junkenstein. 

“...Now that the Flame of Creation walks the earth,” said Baptiste.

Mercy knew Junkenstein and Genji didn’t mean to immediately look at her as soon as the words ‘Flame of Creation’ were uttered, but look at her they did, and that was all the confirmation Baptiste needed.

“Devin-guérisseuse--” He started.

“I’m not--” Mercy started.

“She’s not--” Genji started at the same time.

“We have no idea what that flame thingy you’re talking about is---” Junkenstein’s voice overlapped with theirs.

The monster just gave a weary sigh behind them and pinched the bridge of his pig nose with his massive thumb and forefinger. 

“...so you are the flame,” said Baptiste folding his arms. He scratched under the brim of his cavalier hat, “I must admit, when the spymaster sent me out, to gather information, I had not expected to find both a conspiracy and the flame in one night. Un malheur n'arrive jamais seul...”

“I really don’t want to cause any trouble,” said Mercy.

“You burned down a town,” said Baptiste flatly.

“They tried to burn me first!” said Mercy, “And then I just... sort of... pulled an ancient dragon goddess into this plane and that set everything on fire. I really was just trying to get out of there.” 

“Additional damages are also due to our um,” Junkenstein cleared his throat, “Rescue operation.”

“And it wasn’t completely burned,” said Genji, “Granted, large parts of it fell into the void as well but---I’m probably not helping, am I?” 

“Whatever war people think I want to start, I don’t,” said Mercy, “I do want to find out more about this power. Get more control of it so something like Adlersbrunn doesn’t happen again. But people hating magic and being afraid of it is what got me into all this to begin with. I don’t want to make that worse.”

Baptiste gauged her expression with those unnerving yellow eyes for a few moments before saying, “I believe you, devin-guérisseuse,” with a slight bob of his head.

“You do?” said Mercy.

“You did not have to save me from those crows, and yet you did,” said Baptiste, “Even if it meant bringing the eyes and wrath of Máire des Fées upon yourself.”

“I.... uh... didn’t know it would do the second part,” said Mercy.

“Then your actions are true to your words and character,” said Baptiste with that same sharp grin, “You’re not evil. You just have a habit of making messes.”

Genji snickered next to her and Mercy elbowed him.

“Furthermore, I believe my comtesse would be pleased to know that the flame of creation has no intention of setting off a war,” said Baptiste.

“But if this... evil... sparkly crow queen knows about Gramercy now...” said Junkenstein.

“Yes, it would not do for us to stay in one place for too long,” said Baptiste, “But my comtesse can protect you.”

“I can protect you,” muttered Genji, before putting a hand on Mercy’s shoulder.

We know nothing about this man, except that he turns into a bat, his voice spoke in Mercy’s mind. Mercy looked over at him.

And wolf, and smoke, Mercy responded, I know it seems foolish to accept a vampire’s invitation, but this is what Hanzo was talking about back when he attacked us outside Adlersbrunn--he kept saying we started something. Maybe this is a chance to stop it before it spins out of control. I think we could use more allies than enemies right now.

Genji’s eyes scanned her face, his thick eyebrows furrowed, before he gave the smallest conceding nod.  I trust your judgment, Witch.

Considering our track record, you should probably do so with one hand on your sword.

I always do.

Mercy smiled at this.

“You have both been very quiet and intensely staring at each other for a few seconds,” said Baptiste, looking between Mercy and Genji, “Is there something--”

“We would love to meet your comtesse,” said Mercy, “Junkenstein? What say you?”

“Well so long as they don’t suck our blood we should be all right,” said Junkenstein, “My arse is getting sore from riding, anyway.” The monster gave an assenting nod as well.

“I promise you, your trust is not misplaced,” said Baptiste, “I’m afraid I shall have to ride with you though, if I am to keep my word about not feeding, I do not have the strength for flight yet.” 

“More the merrier,” said Junkenstein, climbing back to his seat and taking up the horses’ reins, “You’re up front and navigating, though.”

“With pleasure, though once the sun rises, I’m afraid I’ll have to find some cover,” said Baptiste, climbing up alongside Junkenstein as Genji, Mercy, and the monster, took their places in the back of the wagon.

What was that Junkenstein said about sucking blood? Genji spoke in Mercy’s mind as Junkenstein urged the horses forward.

----

Reyes hated how used to all this he was getting. The world seemed to be falling into a dream logic. Jumping from the village back to Moira’s chambers seemed perfectly reasonable in light of everything that was happening. Just kill the witch and it should all be over, he thought.

“What do you think of them?” said Moira as Reyes turned one of the two blunderbusses over in his hand, “My folk aren’t usually ones for metal, but fire? Fire, we know.”

Reyes held one of the blunderbusses in both hands to brace for the kickback. 

“You won’t need to do that,” said Moira, putting a hand on his forearm, “One hand. They’ll be most effective with the arm extended.”

Reyes gave her a skeptical look, then held the blunderbuss at arm’s length. “Firing off a gun like this should shatter my whole forearm,” he muttered.

“Don’t you trust me?” said Moira.

“No,” he said flatly.

“It’s not like your human weapons,” said Moira, pacing around him, “You used human weapons against a demon, how well did that go?”

If Reyes could have rolled his eyes with his pumpkin head, he would have. “Fairly well, considering they were consecrated.”

Moira stepped close to him, and rapped her knuckles against the rind of his pumpkin head with each word she spoke next. “Not. Well. Enough. Hunter.”

Reyes scoffed and stepped away from her before holding the blunderbuss at arm’s length. “Fine,” he muttered, “Can’t be any worse than everything that’s been done to me.” He fired the blunderbuss and found it only shook his arm as much as a matchlock pistol, perhaps even less. It spackled the wall with smoking embers. “Huh...” he pulled the blunderbuss back and examined it, the barrel still cool to the touch, “How did you manage to--” he looked up at Moira but found her head was tilted toward the ceiling and she was shaking, slightly. “Moira--?” he started but Moira let out an unearthly wail, her hair going shock white as she clapped her hands over her eyes and collapsed to the ground in convulsions.

“MY EYES! MY EYES!” she wailed.

Reyes reached out a hand toward her to try and steady her in her fits, but she arched her spine up from the floor with another wail and the sheer volume of it made him flinch back. She continued rolling and moaning on the floor for a few seconds before forcing herself to regain her breath, deep and shuddering, with undertones of moans.

“Moira...?” Reyes said, taking a knee next to her.

She hoisted herself up to her hands and knees so fast Reyes flinched back again, and she practically stumbled over to the dark pool at the end of her cavernous hall. 

“Show me who took out my eyes,” she whispered, forming a ball of black and violet smoke in her hands, “Show me--”

She blew the smoke from her hands against the water, and the dark, glassy surface of the water shuddered and rippled before it showed the image of a woman with white-gold hair, glaring defiantly upward before she made a sweeping motion with her arms and the image was consumed by flame and rippled out of existence.

“...the witch,” said Reyes.

Moira made a flicking motion with her hand and the image in the pool rippled back to the witch, Moira scanned the faces surrounding her: the demon, the doctor, the monster and... “The comtesse’s spy,” said Moira, shaking her head, “No, this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.” She made another flicking motion and the image in the water shifted to show Sombra on horseback, racing through the woods.

“We likely won’t have time to let human nature take its course,” said Moira, watching as the lights of the distant village grew brighter for Sombra. She sighed, “It is not my preference to see to matters personally,” she said, stepping away from the pool and back toward her room with the mirrors, “But I will see them done.”

[twinkletoes-rp]

Wolf’s Rain: Bloodied Chances Ch. 5 - Battle Scars

(Can also read on FFN / AO3 / Previous / Next)

Kiba’s already headed out to take in the moonlight before he sleeps, and Hige’s supposed to follow, but he stops short. He’s frowning thoughtfully at Toboe. After several seconds, he speaks, voice quiet and unsure. “Hey, Tsume?” The silver wolf immediately snaps to look at him, chest tightening. He’s only ever sounded like that when talking about his lost memories and what he did for Jaguara… “I never really…heard what happened with the kid and the old man… I mean, I know he got shot, obviously, but…you know, the specifics.” He bites his lip, looks away. “Toboe told me how you saved him from the guy when you first met, but…” his expression twists in talking about this, but he has to get it out, “…hell, the kid basically stared down the barrels of two guns, the old man’s and Darcia’s, when he died last time… It’s not…” his voice drops even lower, and Tsume’s almost surprised there isn’t a scorch mark on the ground from the heat of Hige’s glare, “…i-it just…doesn’t make sense…”

Tsume watches him for a long moment before he hums on a sigh. “I’m sorry. We should have explained it to you.”

Hige settles cross-legged on Toboe’s other side and smiles gently, hands moving inside his hoodie pocket. “Hey, in your defense, there was a lot going on.” There’s the smallest laughing undercurrent to his voice.

He feels victorious when it actually gets Tsume to smile a little bit. “True…” His eyes drift back to Toboe, and his smile falls, the space between his eyes pinching. “To be honest, there are still some things I don’t really understand myself…but I can guess…”

He doesn’t exactly sound happy about that, but Hige supposes nobody would be in this situation, especially with Toboe being Tsume’s…well, for lack of a more fitting description, best friend. Regardless, color Hige intrigued. “Okay, so…what’re you thinkin’, big guy?”

A small smile coming at the new nickname, Tsume thinks back to the incident. He tells Hige everything he and Kiba saw in taking down Blue and the old man, what Toboe said to him, all of it. He knows Hige would want it, so he goes into as much detail as he can, never mind how the younger man winces at how Kiba quieted Blue. Hige has to know Kiba would do it as gently as he could, though, knowing what she means (meant?) to Hige.

By the time he’s done, Hige looks more than a little pale and horrified, glancing frantically between Tsume and the kid, and it takes a minute before he can get a word past the secondhand panic clogging his throat. “Holy shit…!” he breathes, voice trembling the slightest bit. Tsume can see him curling shaking fists in his hoodie pocket. His gaze travels back to Toboe, looking conflicted and confused. “But why would he…? He could have fought back, could have… I mean, I know he and the old man have a complicated history, but…” Reaching out, he gently brushes his fingers through Toboe’s bangs and long hair with a small sigh. “What the hell happened, kid…?”

Tsume silently studies the way he is with Toboe, then the boy himself. He remembers how reassuring and sure Toboe was with Hige when the older was having his identity crisis in Jaguara’s Keep. Toboe’s always paid attention to things the rest of them don’t, read things in people and their personalities and never been afraid to praise or call them out on them. Hell, the kid did the latter with Tsume when they’d known each other for twenty minutes at best. And back then, with Jaguara, Toboe and Kiba were the only ones really able to bring Hige back to himself after everything. Tsume wishes he could have done more himself, wanted to, but…he’d had his doubts. He wasn’t alone in that, Kiba did, too, but good reasons be damned, he’d pushed and made his concerns more known, and…that put a strain on his and Hige’s relationship toward the end. Luckily, they both did their best to patch it up before they died, and if he really thinks about it...it was only after Toboe’s death that they were truly able to reconcile.

Once again, like pretty much everything good in his life (lives, really), Tsume’s coming to realize…it’s all because of Toboe.

Sheesh… When they first met, he never thought he’d be so lost on the kid, but…well, here he is. But if he’s being honest? He wouldn’t change a single damn thing about it. Any of it.

“So…you said you had theories…” Hige’s slow, thoughtful voice snaps him out of his thoughts, and Tsume tunes back in to find Hige staring at Toboe as well. He must have been thinking, too. Good. Otherwise, well, it might have been awkward. Permission to keep going, even begging, is more than present in his packmate’s tone.

Tsume nods stiffly, still a little startled to be back in reality and not quite sure how he’ll take his ideas. “Y-yeah…” Gaze shifting back to their youngest, Tsume takes a breath. “Have you…ever heard of something the humans call PTSD?”

Hige raises an eyebrow at him, mouth scrunched up in thought. “I don’t…think so… Why? ‘s it some kinda food?”

Tsume can’t help but breathe a sudden laugh at that, caught off guard, but not surprised. “No, dumbass,” he says, cuffing the other wolf upside the head gentler than he normally might. Hige smirks a trifle despite their conversation. Sobering, Tsume’s fingers ghost over Toboe’s wounded leg. He’s never wished for healing magic before, but he’d take some of Cheza’s right now gladly. Hell, even that Cher woman’s medical advice would be appreciated. “According to some of my men, it stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. They said it’s like a kind of…sickness in the brain some people develop in response to severe trauma. It usually mostly affects those who’ve fought in or been victims of war or some other kind of mass tragedy, but it can get to other people, too. One of my underlings was mauled by a dog as a kid, scarred physically and mentally, and whenever we came across one, he’d royally freak out. He shot one once, tried to shoot us when he lost his head completely. We’d have to drag him out of there after we managed to calm him down, if we could. If not, we did it kicking and screaming, fighting us all the way. And that’s even if we could get close enough to touch him at all. It got pretty dangerous, even for me.”

Hige’s quiet, listening intently all the while. He doesn’t really know what this has to do with Toboe, but…maybe the old man? Or both? Either way, he trusts that Tsume’s getting there. This is about Toboe, after all.

“They said he definitely had it. But they also said it could manifest in different ways, too. It could be a silent, frozen kind of freak out, wide-eyed and trembling and possibly hurting themselves without realizing. They’ll be there physically, but mentally, they’re reliving the trauma. Breaking out of it is like…being able to breathe again when you’ve been drowning…”

Hige watches him carefully. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say Tsume talks from experience—or maybe he’s just reading too far into things. Whatever the case, his gaze zips back to Toboe, from his face to his leg and back. “So you think, the way he died, it might have— He might have— And the old man, too?”

Tsume hums in confirmation. He’s catching on quicker than he thought. “That’s my working theory, anyway.” He holds up two fingers, ticking them off as he goes. “The old man has the first kind, the violent one. Toboe…” he clenches a fist so hard that his knuckles pop, nails almost break skin, “…well, from what I saw…he has the second…”

There’s a kind of tense silence that settles here, both of them staring hard at Toboe with guilt and frustration and a particularly painful kind of devastation playing in their chests. Outside, having heard every word, Kiba feels it, too.

“Damn it…” Hige hisses, and Tsume glances over. He’s looking at Toboe with such sad, angry eyes. “I wish…I wish there was something we could do for ‘im… More, you know? I wish…” He gets that look in his eyes that tells Tsume he’s remembering his own trauma at the hands of Jaguara, and it curls something so startlingly painful in Tsume’s gut that he can’t help but want to stop it in its tracks.

Reaching out, he lays a firm hand on Hige’s shoulder. “Hey.” The younger wolf turns at the deceptively stern tone of voice, the gentleness underneath drawing his attention. He’s shocked and maybe a little helplessly awed to see the calm, confident smile on Tsume’s face. “Don’t look so defeated.” Gaze moving back to Toboe, he squeezes Hige’s shoulder. “If he was alone,” like he was when Tsume first found him, “maybe we should worry. But he has us,” has Tsume, “and he knows we won’t let anything happen to him.” Not again. A gentle thumb strokes a bead of sweat from Toboe’s cheek. “We can’t change what happened before, but we can make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. If he needs us, we’ll be there, and that’s what matters.”

Hige blinks, Kiba’s smiling proudly outside, and then the younger wolf breaks out into a bright, toothy grin that has the set of Tsume’s shoulders easing. Thank Paradise for that. “Yeah, for sure! Thanks, Tsume!” He laughs. “You know, you’re sounding more and more like Kiba when you get all wise like that!”

Tsume raises an eyebrow at that last part before he huffs a laugh, smirking. “Yeah, maybe. Just don’t tell him that. He’ll get a big head.”

Hige snorts, brushing himself off as he moves to stand. “Sure. Whatever you say.” Softening for a moment in meeting Tsume’s eyes again, voice following, he says, “Seriously…thanks for explaining everything. I think I understand things a lot better now.” He looks back toward Toboe, melting all the more. “Take care of the runt for us. We’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

Tsume nods. “No problem.” He smiles fondly. “Don’t worry, I’ve got him. I’ll wake you to change his bandage in a few hours. Thanks, Hige. Now go get some sleep before we’re both up all night.”

Yawning, the younger wolf heads out the door with a lazy wave. “G’night.”

As promised, Tsume does wake Hige to redress Toboe’s wound and change out his towel around midnight, and as he also promised, Tsume does do his best to get some sleep afterward. It’s a bit restless and light, under the circumstances, but it’s still a good sleep, and he’s grateful for that.

“No! Granny, wait!”

But somewhere before dawn, that shatters.

Toboe’s frantic, tearful shout startles Tsume awake instantly, gasping sharply and automatically reaching for his knife before he realizes what exactly woke him. The second he does, he’s focusing all his attention on Toboe. The boy’s tossing and turning, blankets halfway thrown off, and his breathing and heart rate are through the roof. He’s drenched in sweat, there are tears running down his face, and his twisted, grieving expression is like multiple punches to Tsume’s gut. “Toboe…”

Hesitating before reaching over to take his hand, Toboe’s fingers twitch at Tsume’s touch before recognizing and welcoming it, threading their fingers together. Tsume can’t help the light blush that covers his cheeks at that, softening, then squeezing. He wants to tell him it’ll be okay, but he doesn’t know if that would be the right thing to do. When Gehl was sick like this and had nightmares, the others always told him it was safer to let him ride it out. He didn’t really understand then, still doesn’t now if he’s honest, but those guys treated Gehl like a little brother, so he trusted their judgment. He still does. He’ll trust their advice now, too.

“G-Granny…” Tsume snaps back to the present at Toboe’s small, sad voice, wincing when it cracks. “I-I never meant… I-I just wanted to—to show you I loved you…t-that I was excited to see you and eat with you, but I… A-and Leara…your bird, I…I-I was just trying to…to impress you, I didn’t… B-both of you…I-I’m so sorry… S-so sorry…”

Tsume’s ears perk at that, finding himself leaning forward a little. He’s always had his suspicions, ever since Toboe first told him about his Granny. Then the incident with Leara’s bird pushed them along a little more, when he wanted to stay behind with those nomads in the desert even more, and finally…with how he died… Well, honestly…if he’s right about what he thinks this is, he can’t say he’s really surprised. Horrified and crushed for Toboe’s sake, but…God, he understands. Probably better than anyone else could.

“I never meant to kill anything…” It’s a broken, guilty whisper, so much that if Tsume weren’t a wolf, he’s not sure he would have heard it, let alone made it out. Part of him wishes he didn’t. “I-I’m so sorry…”

And there it is. That first line Tsume’s heard before, back in the old world after he rescued Toboe from Leara. Now that he has all this, too…it’s as good a confession as any. A lot of things are making a hell of a lot more sense now. Not that he’s happy about it. Of course not. He’s always known how Toboe struggles with hurting people when he doesn’t mean to. Hell, Tsume himself struggles with it, too—a few accidentally-violent exchanges with the boy in question in that once-warzone from the old world come to mind—and he’s almost sure, knowing how perceptive Toboe is, the kid has his own suspicions about that in relation to his past.

But having suspicions and knowing they’re correct…those are two very different things. Especially when they make the silver wolf upset for two colossally different reasons.

“B-Blue…” Tsume jumps in surprise at that name, narrowing his eyes in confusion, “…I-I couldn’t protect Pops…” He grimaces and curls his free hand into a tight fist, glaring at the ground with gritted teeth. Oh…that’s why… “Y-you asked me to look after him for you…I promised, a-and I tried, I swear…but I…I-I still let ‘im die—!” He flinches at that sobbing break at the end, swearing his heart can’t take much more. It’s shattered enough already as is. “P-Pops, I…y-you forgave me…l-let go of your hatred, in the end, but…I still can’t…” Forgive himself. Yeah… Tsume knows how that feels, too… “Y-you held me…in the snow and when we were dying…” Tsume bites back a whine, “…and we were so happy…” Toboe gives another hissing sob. “I-I’m so sorry I couldn’t—! I-I wanted to—!”

The tears are coming faster now, and Toboe has to take a few seconds to catch his breath. Tsume’s almost glad. He has to remember to breathe entirely. A part of him wonders why the other two aren’t here (he’s sure they’re hearing every word), but he knows it’s probably half that they don’t want to crowd the poor kid and half that Tsume will be the best at comforting Toboe. If he needs them, though, he knows they’ll come running.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness…any of you…” Toboe whispers, and Tsume swears his heart stops. “Pops and Blue…you don’t remember anything… Y-you tried to kill me… T-there was no Granny here…or Leara…her bird… I…I-I was so alone—!” The end snaps off with a devastated sob, and Tsume rests his forehead against Toboe’s hand he holds like a lifeline, squeezing his eyes shut as a violent shudder runs through him. He can’t bring himself to be surprised when a few tears slip down his face. Jesus, kid…! The quietest, most sacred part comes last. “Is this…i-is this my punishment…?”

Oh… Okay, that is it!

There’s a choked sob, desperate and pained, and the next thing Tsume knows, he’s hugging Toboe tightly, pressing his forehead into his chest. “Okay…” he growl-breathes, low and guttural, halfway sobs; he supposes even he has a breaking point, “…okay, kid… That’s enough…please…” He doesn’t think he can take any more, but more importantly, he doesn’t think Toboe himself can either. “I don’t know if you can hear me…but if you can, I need you to listen…you hear me…?”

Toboe, despite his still-flowing tears, is quiet, brow pinched. His head has stopped moving, is essentially facing him. Tsume takes that as cue enough to keep going. He just hopes he can get through to him.

“You’re wrong… You’re wrong, damn it…!” He shakes his head vehemently, not caring when the sweat soaking Toboe’s clothes wets his face and hair. He’s here and warm and alive. That’s the most important thing there is. “No one blames you for anything…! No one is punishing you for anything…!” How can Toboe even think these things?! Why wouldn’t he tell him?! The idea alone makes Tsume want to either be sick or tear something apart. “You can’t control fate… You can’t control what the universe brings you and what it takes away—!” All he can think of is Toboe being both for him, and it makes him choke on a sob. “The only thing you can control is what you do with your life, and none of what happened before was your fault! Not a damn thing! You did the best you could! That’s all anyone can ask, you hear me, runt?!” He and Toboe haven’t talked about their lives in this world before they all met up and regained their memories, but he will as soon as he thinks it’s appropriate because, damn it…he is having a word with fate if it fucking kills him! “I promise you, Toboe…you will never be alone again! You have us, you have me! You don’t ever have to question that!”

He almost jumps when Toboe’s free hand comes up to touch his apparently-trembling shoulder, frozen as it moves up and up and up until…he melts as it starts to stroke his hair. Oh… He felt violated when Cheza did it in the old world, asleep or otherwise, but…he’s entirely conscious here (though he realizes he’d gladly fall asleep like this) and feels like he’s in Heaven… Figures it’d be because of Toboe…

His voice melts in kind. “Granny loved you, Toboe… She loved you so much, and she knows you’d never hurt her on purpose… Leara knows you didn’t mean to hurt her bird by now, I’m sure… Blue and the old man… You did keep your promise to her, Toboe… You kept the old man as safe as you could, died to protect him, and you…you are the one who turned him around in the end… That was all you, kid…!” Toboe’s tears have slowed immensely by now, lower lip trembling in touched shock. “I know, if she were here with all her memories, she’d say the same thing. Probably a hell of a lot better than I am right now…”

He breathes a laugh, moving to rest his ear over Toboe’s heart. Wouldn’t you know…? Playing his favorite lullaby… Now he’s really a goner… “Even if this world is different and new, and people we knew before aren’t the same…we’re all together, we remember, and we will reach Paradise this time. I can feel it.” A heartbeat, two. “And until then, I’ll keep you safe from the nightmares, Toboe…” he whispers, swears, into the dark. “Just trust me… Trust me like you always have...”

Because he knows, even if Toboe doesn’t remember the story he told his body, how big of a deal trust is for both of them.

Toboe’s heartbeat is steadying more and more as the seconds pass, his breathing evening out, too, hand in silver hair slowing. Tsume would look up to see if he’s stopped crying for sure, but…well, looks like those hair and heartbeat tricks worked a little too well. He smiles in his almost-sleep, adjusting their positions so he’s lying beside Toboe and carefully curling the boy close to his chest. Toboe, apparently intent on holding his hand like his life depends on it, turns to nuzzle into his chest farther than he usually would and curl a light fist in his shirt. Tsume breathes a laugh and, after blindly fixing the towel on his forehead, tucks the boy’s head under his chin.

“Night, Toboe…”

[harjii]

2018 Music | My Faves

This is a bit delayed but @genjitsu-no-yume reminded me to create a list of my favourite music in 2018. I’ve split this list into 3 sections; favourite songs, favourite albums and throwback discoveries because I am constantly discovering music releases months (sometimes years) after they’ve been released OTL. 

By no means is this a list of what I think was the best. This is simply a list of the music I discovered which I loved and none of it is in any particular order. There’s constantly so much being released and all of it is so wonderful, how to possibly pick between it all?! 

Anyway, without further ado, here’s a list of my favourite music in 2018!

Favourite Songs Released in 2018

Tell Me - Infinite

Till Sunrise (feat JW of Nell) - Kim Sunggyu

The Chance of Love - DBSK (TVXQ)

Crossing A Line - Mike Shinoda

Caste of the Nine - A9

Who We Are - FAKY

Get It - PRISTIN V

Forever and a Day (Lean On Me) - WANNA ONE

Dear My Friend (Feat. Washio Reina from E-Girls / Flower) - MACO

Warrior (Feat. John Cooper) - Ledger

HELP ME - NU’EST W

Heroine - Sunmi

Sleeping Beauty - Epik High x Sekai no Owari

Shoot Met - DAY6

Sober (feat Ummet Ozcan) - HYO

F E E L S - Safetysuit

Almost Love - Sabrina Carpenter

Growing Pains - Alessia Cara

Fakeshow - Da-iCE

If It’s Okay With You - Nam Woohyun

La Fiesta - THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE

Woman - BoA

Fake Divine - HYDE

Love Bomb - fromis_9

Upside Down - BIGFLO

Black Heart - UNB

Tempo - EXO

Pretty Sin (Oh! My Mistake) - APRIL

Hope Torture - NELL

Spring Breeze - WANNA ONE

Favourite Albums Released in 2018

1. Post Traumatic - Mike Shinoda

Having been a Linkin Park fan since I was 13, Chester’s passing hit me really, really hard. Every Linkin Park fan can relate to the heart break felt but when Mike started releasing music, it became therapy for us all. The album dropped half way through 2018 and by then, he’d already released a fair number of the tracks as E.P.’s beforehand. Even though we’d heard many of the songs by this point, listening to the album as a whole was so much more emotional and so moving. Mike’s emotive lyrics, the strife he went through after losing someone so close to him is a pain we all felt we could connect to. Truly, I’m so thankful to him for releasing this album. I replayed it so much for weeks and weeks and the more I listened to it, the more I felt myself healing. The music is incredible; as always Mike has his own unique touch when it comes to creating music and the lyrics really tell a story of grief, sorrow, heartbreak, anger but most of all, hope. It’s this hope that we’re left hanging on to by the time the album ends and if that isn’t the perfect way to end an album, I don’t know what is.

Favourite tracks:  Over Again / About You (feat. blackbear) / Crossing A Line / Hold It Together / Make it Up As I Go (feat. K.Flay) / Running From My Shadow (feat. grandson)

2. DON’T MESS UP MY TEMPO - EXO 

Honestly, I was too immersed in NU’EST to give EXO a second thought as both groups debuted at the same time but I’d always known of EXO and always had a distant appreciation of their talents. However, when they started releasing teasers for their comeback my EXO-L friend started sharing her excitement with me. I went with it, intrigued to hear what they’d release. The moment I watched the MV for ‘Tempo’, I was instantly sold. I was so sold that I couldn’t stop re-watching the MV for days and days, to the point that I was trying to find signal in the Bermuda triangle that is the staff room at work just to stream it during lunch breaks! Safe to say, I fell pretty hard. Then I listened to the whole album and I was blown away. My only question was-why hadn’t I listened to them properly in the first place? Every song on this album is a mature progression for the group and their harmonies are just unyielding. I honestly can not praise this album enough. Mostly I’m just so thankful that it exists because it got me into EXO’s music properly, after long last!

Favourite tracks:  Tempo / Ooh La La La / With You / 24/7 / Bad Dream / Oasis

3. WHO, YOU - NU’EST W

Picking a favourite album by my boys was difficult because they released 2 stellar mini albums in 2018, however I had to go with ‘WHO, YOU’ in the end because my goodness was every track blindingly fantastic. In fact I’d go as far as to say that every song on this album could be released as a promo track and every song would chart well. NU’EST W did a brilliant job in the composition and tone of this album. It’s somewhat moody whilst also incorporating EDM which just blends so effortlessly. I really can’t fault any song on this album. And don’t even get me started on the title track; ‘Dejavu’ was a masterpiece! Prior to release NU’EST W had stated that the title track would include Latin tones since that was quite a big musical trend throughout 2018. As expected, they incorporated the Latin tones so subtly that it created such a infectious and trendy song. Also that bass in the chorus-bridge is so funky! Just amazing. NU’EST W’s musical development in 2018 was such a marvel and this album really proved that.

Favourite tracks:  Signal / Dejavu

4. WARNING - Sunmi

As a Wonderful, naturally I was excited every time Sunmi released anything. However seeing just how her popularity soared after ‘Gashina’ was released filled me with so much inexplicable joy because yes, this is what she deserved; RECOGNITION. This woman has only ever worked hard to challenge herself and grow as an artist and ‘WARNING’ is certainly proof of that growth. Comparing the musical tone of ‘WARNING’ to her first mini album ‘Full Moon’ you can really hear the stark difference in styling both musically and vocally. Sunmi has always had a unique set of vocals but in her ‘Full Moon’ mini album, they were masked greatly by the production I felt. But having more musical control after leaving JYPent, Sunmi has proved release after release what a capable song-writer she is and how she can work with the production team to create an album that not only appeals to the large majority but is true to her artistry. This entire album is testament to her talents and to know that she snatched so many music awards for it fills me with nothing but pride. Every award and achievement with this album was well deserved.

Favourite tracks: Siren / Curve / Gashina / Heroine 

5. The Pains of Growing - Alessia Cara

I’ve been a fan of Alessia’s music from the moment I heard ‘Scars to Your Beautiful’, introduced to me by my sister. That was one of the rare times where she had shared music I actually loved! Ever since then, I’ve patiently waited for Alessia to release some new music, so the moment ‘Growing Pains’ was released as a single, I was instantly hooked. I replayed the song so many times in one day I lost count. I just knew that her new album would be equally if not better than her first album. She certainly matured in her lyric writing and musicality because ‘The Pains of Growing’ is such a fantastic conceptual album. The trials and tribulations of transitioning into an adult can really be trying but Alessia took all those experiences we all go through and placed them in song. Listening to the songs on this album just makes me remember those difficult times yet at the same time, there’s a fondness in the crazy and ridiculous emotions and moments which took place. That is what this album does; it takes you back to those times if you’re already grown. But for those who are growing still, it’s something you can find comfort in and relate to.

Favourite tracks: Growing Pains / I Don’t Want To / Trust My Lonely / Nintendo Game

Throwback Discoveries

1. EVOLution - Sabrina Carpenter 

I didn’t mean to completely fall helplessly in love with Sabrina Carpenter’s music especially since I just looked her music up after binge watching ‘Girl Meets World’, but that’s exactly what happened. In fact I listened to her music non-stop for so long, my sister got fed up of constantly listening to Sabrina (she should’ve been thanking me really //rolls eyes). Her first album ‘Eyes Wide Open’ was such a sweet and soft album, I really enjoyed it a lot but her second album ‘EVOLution’ really was a level up in her styling both musically and physically. It’s very experimental and you can tell that Sabrina was still finding her feet and figuring out what kind of music she wanted to release, but I always love the journey. The albums which portray the journey, the experimenting, I always end up loving them the most and this album is exactly that. Lyrically, I really love what Sabrina did on ‘Thumbs’; singing about society and humanity the way she did was brave and I couldn’t help but love her even more after hearing this song. Every song on this album holds its own and is such a fantastic testament to Sabrina’s progression as an artist. 

Favourite tracks: On Purpose / Thumbs / Run and Hide / Mirage / Don’t Want It Back / Shadows

2. Holiday Night - Girls’ Generation

Work became quite stressful for me last Spring and for a whole week, I found that ‘Holiday’ by Girls’ Generation kept popping into my head. The odd thing about this was that I’d only heard the song a handful of times and I’d never listened to the album-so then why was it in my head? How? I put it down to the fact that I actually needed a holiday, ironically (I really did though //sobs). In the end, I decided to look the album up and give it a listen. So I did. And then I listened to it some more. And before I knew it, I was just listening to it on repeat for weeks. Honestly, I’d never gotten in Girls’ Generation properly (aside from absolutely loving their Japanese album ‘Girls and Peace’); I’d just casually listened to them over the years so I was quite taken aback by just how much I loved this album. It just made me feel so happy and made me feel so good, especially after long tiring days at work. This then propelled me to look into their discography a little more...that is until I got a little sidetracked...

Favourite tracks: Holiday / Only One / One Last Time / Sweet Talk / Love Is Bitter 

3. The Voice - Taeyeon

So whilst listening to more Girls’ Generation, I thought, “Oh yes, solo work!” And I don’t know why, I went with Taeyeon’s solo work first. That’s basically where I got completely sidetracked and completely forgot to check the other members because W O W! Taeyeon has some amazing pipes!! I had watched her MV for ‘I (feat. Verbal Jint)’ years ago but just not taken to it as much; after re-watching it, I then watched the MV for her song ‘Make Me Love You’ and that’s where I fell for her music. It’s such a simple song melodically but the way Taeyeon’s vocals build throughout the song from one octave to another, gaining more and more strength and confidence just fits the meaning of the song so perfectly. I was so blown away when I heard this song that I needed more. I downloaded her album in the end and gave it a proper listen. Every song had me hooked but the song which got me the most was ‘Time Lapse’. When I saw that Kim Jongwan from Nell had written the lyrics and helped with the composition I just knew I’d love this because I love Nell, and I did love this! SO MUCH! But it wasn’t just the song structure and melody, but Taeyeon’s voice is so vulnerable in this song. When she hits that high note towards the ends of the song, it gives me goosebumps every time. Honestly, it left me breathless. No wonder her first full album was entitled ‘The Voice’ because really, Taeyeon’s voice is exceptionally. To add to it, she covered Nell’s ‘Time Spent Walking Through Memories’ which was an additional bonus track on the physical album and what a cover it is-WHAT A COVER! I’ve nothing but so much love for Taeyeon’s talent, truly.

Favourite tracks: Make Me Love You / Fine / Cover Up / Time Lapse / When I Was Young / Live in Color / Fire / Time Spent Walking Through Memories (Nell Cover)

4. Tree - SEKAI NO OWARI

What I love doing at conventions is picking up random album, just to discover something new and exciting. Although in this case, I knew about SEKAI NO OWARI already and I absolutely loved their song ‘Death Disco’ and their collab with Epik High, however beyond that? I knew very little of their music. I came across the limited edition of this album at a convention and thought, “Wow, I know this is rare so I should just get it. Yup.” Plus it was a great opportunity to expose myself to more of their music, so why not? I do think music is about timing because if past me had heard this album, I don’t think I’d have appreciated it half as much as I appreciated listening to it in 2018. SEKAI NO OWARI’s musicality is just so unique; I’ve never heard anything else like it! The more I listened to this album, the more I found myself in a trance just repeating it. I’m a big fantasy lover so when listening to this album, I realised it was like listening to something from another world, something mythical and sometimes ethereal but mostly just-unusual, in a good way. It’s very difficult to explain the way SEKAI NO OWARI’s music sounds but if you know it, you know what I mean. If you don’t know it, you should go check them out.

Favourite tracks: Snow / Magic / Fantasy / Mermaid Rhapsody / Pierrot / Death Disco / Dragon Night 

5. The War - EXO

Having finally given into EXO, I basically spent all of November and December listening to their entire discography. ALL OF IT. The hilarious thing is that my first impression of ‘The War’ was, “I’m not entirely sure what I feel about this album”. Then I re-listened to it more and more...and more...and more, until i realised the entire album had grown on me at an alarming rate. In fact, the point at which i realised just how much I loved this album was when I was trying to create a playlist of my favourite EXO songs and I put 7 out of 9 songs on this album in that playlist. What’s even funnier is that I liked ‘Forever’ and ‘Diamond’ the least when i first heard them, but after listening to the album so much, they became two of my favourite songs! This doesn’t happen often, where I end up liking an album I didn’t like much to begin with so much but this album really knocked me for twenty! I could probably write reams and reams for every single track on this album but what I will say is that this album really shows just how much EXO grew musically since their first album ‘XOXO’. I really feel like you can hear EXO coming into their own on this album like-they sound comfortable with the music they’re singing, as if this is what they’ve wanted to create for so long. They exude so much confidence vocally on this album that you can’t help but fall for every single track. At least that’s what I found!

Favourite tracks: Basically the entire album. Don’t even ask me to pick!

[tired-college-student-writing]

Vocal Mayhem pt. 4

Summary: A magical accident during a meeting between the Iplier and Septic Egos leads to some interesting developments, some miscommunications and someone hiding a secret.

Pt. 1

Pt. 3

Pt. 4

Pt. 5

Bing leaned back in his desk chair, security plans scrolling past the screen too fast for a human eye to read, typing at an equally inhuman speed. If he could just get this last group of work….

“Yes!” His screech startled the other androids around him, forgetting for a split second that the dial-up tone had taken over his vocal module until the spell was lifted.

“Can you not scream,” Red snapped softly, own his screeching tone coming out at a more manageable volume, “I’m sure those in India would prefer to keep their hearing intact,”

Bing just grinned, “Sorry Bro, just excited.”

“Finish early for once?” Green asked, not glancing up from the medical equipment he had been fiddling with for the last hour.

“Hell yeah, Now I can go hang with Chase! Right, Blue?” He glanced at the older ego eagerly. Blue rolled his eyes turning from his screen.

“You seem to have forgotten Chase telling you he was seeing his children today and would be unable to hang out,”

Bing deflated slightly but his grin stayed firmly in place, “Oh right that was today. I totally forgot that was today. Oh well, it’s awesome he got to see Sydney and Jonathan. Guess I’ll just have to get a head start on my work for tomorrow then,”

At this all the Googles all looked up as one, eyes boring into Bing.

“What?” Oliver asked, frowning at him, “You’re not going out to hang with someone else?”

“You actually are going to willingly do work?” Red’s asked before Oliver cuffed him over the head, “Hey!”

Bing just giggled at their antics, “Nah it’s good Ollie, plus if I get some of tomorrow’s work done then I’ll have more time to hang out with him tomorrow. It’ll be fun even if I end up on camera duty,”

Blue narrowed his eyes, “What do you mean camera duty?” If his memory banks were correct, normally Bim was always on screen running around doing and doing as many idiotic things as the septic ego. The cameras were usually done a friend of Chase’s or more recently Cameraman Jim. Bing’s face fell at the question before he plastered a smaller smile on.

“Ah just that I really can’t be on camera since my voice is stuck at ear-splitting screech. Better to keep myself behind the scene so I don’t hurt anyone’s ears. I’ll probably turn off my voice module during recording completely just so I don’t ruin the video if I got excited,”

The Googles looked at him, faces blank. Finally, Oliver’s face broke into a concerned frown.

“That doesn’t sound like a good plan Bing,”

“Nah, Dude, I’ll be totally fine,”

“Common Defect present in 76.429% of Bing units- Faulty voice module that would behave fine unless tampered with, even simply be turned off manually could cause voice module to stop working completely. The only known fix is to replace the module completely,” Red recited, reports flashing by his eyes. He ignored the wince he got from Bing as he continued, “As the Bing units have been disbanded and we have no spare voice modules compatible with your system, what was your plan if you were unable to turn your’s back on?”

“I guess you guys can’t complain about me being loud and obnoxious then,” Bing’s words were light but even Blue fought to hold back a wince at those words. Oliver was on his feet, a frown cutting across his face.

“Hey now,” He started only for Bing to wave him off.

“Don’t get all up in arms Ollie,” He laughed, “I know it’s true and with our voices on the fritz I’m more useless than ever, might as well get rid of at least one problem if I can,”

Blue leaned over his desk and slapped the younger bot over the head.

“YOWCH!” He squealed, glasses falling off of his head.

“Honestly you shouldn’t say such idiotic and self-deprecating things that hold not an ounce of truth,” Blue seethed, eyebrow twitching, “While we may find you annoying at points, you are an important member of the Office. Things would not run nearly as smoothly without you present,”

Bing looked up at him, pale orange eyes wide and sparking, face blank.

“Finally using those limited emotional processors are we, Blue?” Green teased, corners of his mouth turning up as his older brother turned to glare at him.

“Hey, why wouldn’t he?” Red laughed slinging an arm around Green’s shoulders, “No one can understand us so we don’t have to worry about anyone hearing how much our emotional processors actually do.”

“Suprised it took you this long,” Oliver laughed, leaning over the armrest of his chair to nudge Blue with his elbow, earning a scowl.

“W-What?” Bing asked arms pulled tightly over his chest. Blue sighed rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

“While I would trust every one of the egos from either the Ipliers or Septics, it must be taken into account that we’re not the most stable of groups. Should there come a time that any should slip too far into insanity I don’t want any of us to be used as pawns against the others,” He explained not looking at Bing, “it’s better to appear like we merely tolerate each other than for someone to be hurt to get to us.”

Sinking back into his chair, Bing twisted his hands into his hair, hunched over voice glitching, “I thought… I thought…”

Oliver winced, leaning over and gently removing the android’s hands from his locks, “Hey now, no need for that.”

Bing blinked up at him, confusion clouding his features as a drop of coolant rolled down his cheek, “None of you hate me?”

The Googles couldn’t stop a collective flinch this time at his soft words.

“Why would we hate you?” Oliver asked sad confusion rolling off of him.

“Because I’m defective,” Bing slipped into his default tone, emotionless and flat, “I am an inferior model to your own, useless in comparison that allows my emotional processors and reckless attitude to interfere with my primary objective,”

“Where did you get this info?” Green scandalized scream got a confused look from Bing.

“From each of you,” they reeled back at the even reply, “Well I mean it was mostly from Blue and Red but all of you guys have told me stuff like that more than once since I was brought to existence,”

Eyes flashed through memories as they realize he was right, over and over again remarks on how the other bot was incompetent, was rude and loud, was… useless. It had been worse when they first came into creation. Nobody, not even Mark, thought Bing would gain enough of a following to come to life, so when he showed up there was nothing for them to go on other in the overly extrinsic attitude and the brand feud that existed no matter the universe. As time went on though, everyone found that the defective Bing bot had a lot more to offer than, just as they did with every ego that appeared within the Office’s walls.

It was months before the more serious egos started lightening up around Bing, the Googles taking even longer, but they had fallen into a normalcy of what they had thought had simply been playful banter. How many times had he thought they were serious after the venom left their words? How many times had they unintentionally hurt the other?

“We-We didn’t realize your mental health was affected so much by our words,” Green said stiffly, not looking at the other bot, “We thought you realized that after the first two months of our existence we got over our nonsensical problems with you and were merely offering ‘brotherly banter’.” Suddenly, Bing’s whole body shuttered, eyes dulling. Electricity arced over his core and head, causing spasms across his being. Green was next to him in a second, rubbing small circles on his back.

“Breathe Bing,” He soothed, even though they all knew none of the androids actually had to breathe, “In for four… Hold it for seven…. Now slowly let it out for eight….” He recited the instructions, repeating it several times. The others struggled to stay in place, letting the medical robot take control until Bing calmed down enough not to fry a circuit.

“S-Sorry,” He mumbled, pulling his legs up to his chest and hiding his face in his knees “I just…”

“Easy Bing,” Oliver soothed, “Are you okay?” Bing refused to look up at the other bots, simply shaking his head.

“What’s wrong, B?” Red asked sternly.

“Green said brotherly… There’s no way… You guys couldn’t… not with me…”

The Googles shared a look at the shaky words. Had he not known?

“We all see you as one of our brothers,” Blue said, “We thought you were-” He was cut off by a quiet sob, emitting from Bing, who seemed to be trying to compress himself even farther into a ball.

“You didn’t know, did you?” Oliver asked slowly, being answered only by a jerky shake of his head. Oliver walked slowly towards him, standing next to Green who was clutching Bing’s shoulder roughly, green eyes pained as he knelt next to the crying bot helplessly. Swiftly, he scooped up Bing, holding him tight to his chest. Bing stiffened, before he turned curling into Oliver’s chest, one hand wrapped in his yellow shirt the other reaching out to hold the sleeve of Green’s tee. Green’s face cracked into a sad smile as he placed his hand over Bing’s running his thumb over the knuckles that were slowly turning white. Red and Blue each started moving closer to the trio, taking places around the small gathering. Red slowly traced a pattern up and down Bing’s exposed arm with his fingers, humming lowly in his chest. Blue reached out slowly, running a hand through the younger bot’s hair. Softly they began whispering saying the words they always thought the other had known.

“You’re a wonderful brother.”

“I trust you with my whole being.”

“You make me want to laugh and smile more then I do.”

“Do you know how much work Blue entrusts you with?”  

“Nothing could make me care for you less,”

“You’ll always be my big brother, no matter how annoying you”  

“You brighten up my day every time I see you,”

“We love you, bro,”

Slowly Bing’s sobs subsided to small sniffles, and he pulled his face out of Oliver’s chest, gazing up at them slowly. They all smiled softly down at him, not moving their hands away from their quiet ministrations on him. His lips twitched slightly as Oliver reached up to wipe away the coolant from his face with a gentle hand.

“I never thought you guys would… actually accept me,” His voice was hoarse, and sounded so genuinely happy compared to what they were used to it hurt for the Googles to listen to, “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank us,” Blue told him face going blank, “We should not have made you feel like we would never accept you in the first place,”

“It’s okay, Bro,” Bing’s smile grows fond at the simple endearment that held so much more meaning now, “Emotions aren’t your strong suit. That’s one thing I’ll always out do you on,”

“Androids do have hearts~” A jittering laugh made them all leap back eyes wide as they stared at Anti, who leaned against the door of the room.  Jameson was glancing over his shoulder with a tilted head.

“Glitch,” Blue growled, “I wasn’t aware we could understand each other,”

“I didn’t either,” he said with a shrug, “but here I come to ask you guys a favor and I find a sap fest,”

Red stepped forward, giving a sharp smile at the pair in front of them, “Why’d don’t you to keep this to yourself, Anti?”

Anti rolled his eyes, “Geez, cut me a little slack. I may be a psycho virus, but I’m not really the manipulative type that goes after my fellow egos.”

“Plus the fact that you have your own emotional attachments to protect,” Bing giggled slightly, jumping down from Oliver’s hold. The Googles glanced back at him in confusion as Anti stiffened.

“How did you…” Anti ground his teeth, blade appearing in his clenched hand. Bing snorted giving a small shrug.

“I hang out with Chase and Marvin at the cabin,” Bing reminded the room, “It’s not hard to see that you have two little brothers you love. It’s not that big of a deal, dude,”

“You listen here you little-”

Jameson reached forward and stole the deathly sharp knife before Anti could throw it at Bing. He waggled his finger disapprovingly at the glitch, making the older ego deflate a bit. He smiled reassuringly at the androids, notebook in his hands.

I can’t follow the conversation you’re having but I hope Anti isn’t causing too much trouble.

Bing smiled, screen projecting from his core, Don’t worry Jamie. We were just talking about how we all have more emotions than we let on.

Is that all? Jameson scribbled out with a silent laugh, I’ve been telling Anti there’s no shame in caring for Robbie and me but he never listens.

It’s not like we have much room to talk about brotherly love, as I found out today.

Jameson perked up at Bing’s message, They finally accept you, Bing? That’s Fantastic!! It took you four long enough to pull your heads out of your arses!

Anti doubles over with laughter as he read the note, “You made JJ SWEAR! He never does that!”

Red rolls his eyes projecting his own message, We weren’t aware that B thought he hated him. We’ve thought of him as a brother for months now. Had we known earlier we would have put an end to his misguided beliefs.

The younger ego’s smile widely, eyes bright, I’m glad you guys figured it out now at least. It’s good for all of us to get along.

Blue sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, Yes, yes, us patching things up is wonderful, now, Why are you two here?

Jameson’s and Anti’s split into identical mischievous smiles that would have sent a shiver up the other’s spines if they weren’t robotic.

“People are ignoring JJ again,” Anti told the group, “Last time we had to get the egos to pay attention we had a small prank fest.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that,” Bing laughed, “Isn’t that when you broke into Marvin’s potion store and made everyone talk in soprano opera voices for a week?”

“No, No,” Anti said with a wave of his hand, “That was when Chase broke Robbie’s train set. We just pretended to haunt the cabin since JJ can copy some of my powers it was great for alibis,”

“That’s right!” Bing said, as his brother’s internally grimaced, two glitches, uck, “So what exactly do you think we’ll help with?”

“Bim isn’t speaking English.”

The four simple words made all the robots stiffen, almost identical looks of intrigue settling on their features.

“That doesn’t make much sense,” Oliver mused, “He’s never showed signs of being bilingual before,”

“Not to mention he said anything when the rest of us revealed we were stuck in our first language,” Green added.

Red eyes scanned through the files that were kept on each ego, “Nowhere on record does Bim’s background indicate English being his second language or even give a place of origin where one might be discerned,”

“Exactly,” Anti broke in, “He seems to want to not speak and not let anyone know what his first language is. Since we’re in a pranking mood, we thought might as well be productive and go after Bimbo, but we’d need access to the security feeds to get the drop on him. So….” He left his sentence hang, eyebrow raised at Blue.

Bing smirked, glancing at Blue, watching as he ran through all the possible outcomes of this agreement.

“I for one think it sounds like a fun idea,” He said, blinking in amazement as the screens stopped running in front of his eyes at his words, faces softening as he gazed at the younger ego. Green leaned over, wrapping an arm around Bing’s shoulders, a smirk playing on his lips.

“As the medical expert,” He said a cheeky lift to his words making Blue scowl, “After the overuse of all of our rather undersized emotional processors, I think a little tactical fun is a good recommendation,”

“It’ll be a good field test of the security system,” Red put in his own two cents, leaning on Bing’s other side.

“Alright,” Blue breathed, before turning to the septic egos, throwing up a projection so Jameson could understand the words as well, Even though I know I’ll regret teaming up with you, glitch, we’ll help both of you with your prank.

Jameson stepped forward, a bright innocent smile not matching the words he held out for them to see.

Good to hear. Now I believe it’s time for the real fun to begin.

[aizawa-yamada-shinsou]

Vocal Mayhem pt. 4

Summary: A magical accident during a meeting between the Iplier and Septic Egos leads to some interesting developments, some miscommunications and someone hiding a secret.

Pt. 1

Pt. 3

Pt. 4

Pt. 5

Requested tags: @pleaseletthisjimbetaken @littleteenblog @immortalpoptart @sketchy-scribs-n-doods @ako1209 @silver-owl413 @the-asexual-reaper @druggie-for-your-buggies @destinggirl @risiskifi @thenarritiveofthehost @kayladaslaya @sassyinglasses @sanspie122 @supersepticsteph @mythicaltimewolf @of-chaos-and-flame @spookyscarydarky @thatonegirlwhoseobsessedwithspace (I think this was everyone that wanted one)

Bing leaned back in his desk chair, security plans scrolling past the screen too fast for a human eye to read, typing at an equally inhuman speed. If he could just get this last group of work….

“Yes!” His screech startled the other androids around him, forgetting for a split second that the dial-up tone had taken over his vocal module until the spell was lifted.

“Can you not scream,” Red snapped softly, own his screeching tone coming out at a more manageable volume, “I’m sure those in India would prefer to keep their hearing intact,”

Bing just grinned, “Sorry Bro, just excited,”

“Finish early for once?” Green asked, not glancing up from the medical equipment he had been fiddling with for the last hour.

“Hell yeah, Now I can go hang with Chase! Right, Blue?” He glanced at the older ego eagerly. Blue rolled his eyes turning from his screen.

“You seem to have forgotten Chase telling you he was seeing his children today and would be unable to hang out,”

Bing deflated slightly but his grin stayed firmly in place, “Oh right that was today. I totally forgot that was today. Oh well, it’s awesome he got to see Sydney and Jonathan. Guess I’ll just have to get a head start on my work for tomorrow then,”

At this all the Googles all looked up as one, eyes boring into Bing.

“What?” Oliver asked, frowning at him, “You’re not going out to hang with someone else?”

“You actually are going to willingly do work?” Red’s asked before Oliver cuffed him over the head, “Hey!”

Bing just giggled at their antics, “Nah it’s good Ollie, plus if I get some of tomorrow’s work done then I’ll have more time to hang out with him tomorrow. It’ll be fun even if I end up on camera duty,”

Blue narrowed his eyes, “What do you mean camera duty?” If his memory banks were correct, normally Bim was always on screen running around doing and doing as many idiotic things as the septic ego. The cameras were usually done a friend of Chase’s or more recently Cameraman Jim. Bing’s face fell at the question before he plastered a smaller smile on.

“Ah just that I really can’t be on camera since my voice is stuck at ear-splitting screech. Better to keep myself behind the scene so I don’t hurt anyone’s ears. I’ll probably turn off my voice module during recording completely just so I don’t ruin the video if I got excited,”

The Googles looked at him, faces blank. Finally, Oliver’s face broke into a concerned frown.

“That doesn’t sound like a good plan Bing,”

“Nah, Dude, I’ll be totally fine,”

“Common Defect present in 76.429% of Bing units- Faulty voice module that would behave fine unless tampered with, even simply be turned off manually could cause voice module to stop working completely. The only known fix is to replace the module completely,” Red recited, reports flashing by his eyes. He ignored the wince he got from Bing as he continued, “As the Bing units have been disbanded and we have no spare voice modules compatible with your system, what was your plan if you were unable to turn your's back on?”

“I guess you guys can’t complain about me being loud and obnoxious then,” Bing’s words were light but even Blue fought to hold back a wince at those words. Oliver was on his feet, a frown cutting across his face.

“Hey now,” He started only for Bing to wave him off.

“Don’t get all up in arms Ollie,” He laughed, “I know it’s true and with our voices on the fritz I’m more useless than ever, might as well get rid of at least one problem if I can,”

Blue leaned over his desk and slapped the younger bot over the head.

“YOWCH!” He squealed, glasses falling off of his head.

“Honestly you shouldn’t say such idiotic and self-deprecating things that hold not an ounce of truth,” Blue seethed, eyebrow twitching, “While we may find you annoying at points, you are an important member of the Office. Things would not run nearly as smoothly without you present,”

Bing looked up at him, pale orange eyes wide and sparking, face blank.

“Finally using those limited emotional processors are we, Blue?” Green teased, corners of his mouth turning up as his older brother turned to glare at him.

“Hey, why wouldn’t he?” Red laughed slinging an arm around Green’s shoulders, “No one can understand us so we don’t have to worry about anyone hearing how much our emotional processors actually do.”

“Suprised it took you this long,” Oliver laughed, leaning over the armrest of his chair to nudge Blue with his elbow, earning a scowl. 

“W-What?” Bing asked arms pulled tightly over his chest. Blue sighed rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

“While I would trust every one of the egos from either the Ipliers or Septics, it must be taken into account that we’re not the most stable of groups. Should there come a time that any should slip too far into insanity I don’t want any of us to be used as pawns against the others,” He explained not looking at Bing, “it’s better to appear like we merely tolerate each other than for someone to be hurt to get to us.”

Sinking back into his chair, Bing twisted his hands into his hair, hunched over voice glitching, “I thought… I thought…”

Oliver winced, leaning over and gently removing the android's hands from his locks, “Hey now, no need for that.”

Bing blinked up at him, confusion clouding his features as a drop of coolant rolled down his cheek, “None of you hate me?”

The Googles couldn’t stop a collective flinch this time at his soft words.

“Why would we hate you?” Oliver asked sad confusion rolling off of him.

“Because I’m defective,” Bing slipped into his default tone, emotionless and flat, “I am an inferior model to your own, useless in comparison that allows my emotional processors and reckless attitude to interfere with my primary objective,”

“Where did you get this info?” Green scandalized scream got a confused look from Bing.

“From each of you,” they reeled back at the even reply, “Well I mean it was mostly from Blue and Red but all of you guys have told me stuff like that more than once since I was brought to existence,”

Eyes flashed through memories as they realize he was right, over and over again remarks on how the other bot was incompetent, was rude and loud, was… useless. It had been worse when they first came into creation. Nobody, not even Mark, thought Bing would gain enough of a following to come to life, so when he showed up there was nothing for them to go on other in the overly extrinsic attitude and the brand feud that existed no matter the universe. As time went on though, everyone found that the defective Bing bot had a lot more to offer than, just as they did with every ego that appeared within the Office’s walls.

It was months before the more serious egos started lightening up around Bing, the Googles taking even longer, but they had fallen into a normalcy of what they had thought had simply been playful banter. How many times had he thought they were serious after the venom left their words? How many times had they unintentionally hurt the other?

“We-We didn’t realize your mental health was affected so much by our words,” Green said stiffly, not looking at the other bot, “We thought you realized that after the first two months of our existence we got over our nonsensical problems with you and were merely offering ‘brotherly banter’.” Suddenly, Bing’s whole body shuttered, eyes dulling. Electricity arced over his core and head, causing spasms across his being. Green was next to him in a second, rubbing small circles on his back.

“Breathe Bing,” He soothed, even though they all knew none of the androids actually had to breathe, “In for four… Hold it for seven…. Now slowly let it out for eight….” He recited the instructions, repeating it several times. The others struggled to stay in place, letting the medical robot take control until Bing calmed down enough not to fry a circuit.

“S-Sorry,” He mumbled, pulling his legs up to his chest and hiding his face in his knees “I just…”

“Easy Bing,” Oliver soothed, “Are you okay?” Bing refused to look up at the other bots, simply shaking his head.

“What’s wrong, B?” Red asked sternly.

“Green said brotherly... There’s no way... You guys couldn’t... not with me...”

The Googles shared a look at the shaky words. Had he not known?

“We all see you as one of our brothers,” Blue said, “We thought you were-” He was cut off by a quiet sob, emitting from Bing, who seemed to be trying to compress himself even farther into a ball.

“You didn’t know, did you?” Oliver asked slowly, being answered only by a jerky shake of his head. Oliver walked slowly towards him, standing next to Green who was clutching Bing’s shoulder roughly, green eyes pained as he knelt next to the crying bot helplessly. Swiftly, he scooped up Bing, holding him tight to his chest. Bing stiffened, before he turned curling into Oliver’s chest, one hand wrapped in his yellow shirt the other reaching out to hold the sleeve of Green’s tee. Green’s face cracked into a sad smile as he placed his hand over Bing’s running his thumb over the knuckles that were slowly turning white. Red and Blue each started moving closer to the trio, taking places around the small gathering. Red slowly traced a pattern up and down Bing’s exposed arm with his fingers, humming lowly in his chest. Blue reached out slowly, running a hand through the younger bot's hair. Softly they began whispering saying the words they always thought the other had known.

“You’re a wonderful brother.”

“I trust you with my whole being.”

“You make me want to laugh and smile more then I do.”

“Do you know how much work Blue entrusts you with?”  

“Nothing could make me care for you less,”

“You’ll always be my big brother, no matter how annoying you”  

“You brighten up my day every time I see you,”

“We love you, bro,”

Slowly Bing’s sobs subsided to small sniffles, and he pulled his face out of Oliver’s chest, gazing up at them slowly. They all smiled softly down at him, not moving their hands away from their quiet ministrations on him. His lips twitched slightly as Oliver reached up to wipe away the coolant from his face with a gentle hand.

“I never thought you guys would… actually accept me,” His voice was hoarse, and sounded so genuinely happy compared to what they were used to it hurt for the Googles to listen to, “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank us,” Blue told him face going blank, “We should not have made you feel like we would never accept you in the first place,”

“It’s okay, Bro,” Bing’s smile grows fond at the simple endearment that held so much more meaning now, “Emotions aren’t your strong suit. That’s one thing I’ll always out do you on,”

“Androids do have hearts~” A jittering laugh made them all leap back eyes wide as they stared at Anti, who leaned against the door of the room.  Jameson was glancing over his shoulder with a tilted head.

“Glitch,” Blue growled, “I wasn’t aware we could understand each other,”

“I didn’t either,” he said with a shrug, “but here I come to ask you guys a favor and I find a sap fest,”

Red stepped forward, giving a sharp smile at the pair in front of them, “Why’d don’t you to keep this to yourself, Anti?”

Anti rolled his eyes, “Geez, cut me a little slack. I may be a psycho virus, but I’m not really the manipulative type that goes after my fellow egos.”

“Plus the fact that you have your own emotional attachments to protect,” Bing giggled slightly, jumping down from Oliver’s hold. The Googles glanced back at him in confusion as Anti stiffened.

“How did you…” Anti ground his teeth, blade appearing in his clenched hand. Bing snorted giving a small shrug.

“I hang out with Chase and Marvin at the cabin,” Bing reminded the room, “It’s not hard to see that you have two little brothers you love. It’s not that big of a deal, dude,”

“You listen here you little-”

Jameson reached forward and stole the deathly sharp knife before Anti could throw it at Bing. He waggled his finger disapprovingly at the glitch, making the older ego deflate a bit. He smiled reassuringly at the androids, notebook in his hands.

I can’t follow the conversation you’re having but I hope Anti isn’t causing too much trouble.

Bing smiled, screen projecting from his core, Don’t worry Jamie. We were just talking about how we all have more emotions than we let on.

Is that all? Jameson scribbled out with a silent laugh, I’ve been telling Anti there’s no shame in caring for Robbie and me but he never listens.

It’s not like we have much room to talk about brotherly love, as I found out today.

Jameson perked up at Bing’s message, They finally accept you, Bing? That’s Fantastic!! It took you four long enough to pull your heads out of your arses!

Anti doubles over with laughter as he read the note, “You made JJ SWEAR! He never does that!”

Red rolls his eyes projecting his own message, We weren’t aware that B thought he hated him. We’ve thought of him as a brother for months now. Had we known earlier we would have put an end to his misguided beliefs.

The younger ego’s smile widely, eyes bright, I’m glad you guys figured it out now at least. It’s good for all of us to get along.

Blue sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, Yes, yes, us patching things up is wonderful, now, Why are you two here?

Jameson’s and Anti’s split into identical mischievous smiles that would have sent a shiver up the other’s spines if they weren’t robotic.

“People are ignoring JJ again,” Anti told the group, “Last time we had to get the egos to pay attention we had a small prank fest.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that,” Bing laughed, “Isn’t that when you broke into Marvin’s potion store and made everyone talk in soprano opera voices for a week?”

“No, No,” Anti said with a wave of his hand, “That was when Chase broke Robbie’s train set. We just pretended to haunt the cabin since JJ can copy some of my powers it was great for alibis,”

“That’s right!” Bing said, as his brother’s internally grimaced, two glitches, uck, “So what exactly do you think we’ll help with?”

“Bim isn’t speaking English.”

The four simple words made all the robots stiffen, almost identical looks of intrigue settling on their features.

“That doesn’t make much sense,” Oliver mused, “He’s never showed signs of being bilingual before,”

“Not to mention he said anything when the rest of us revealed we were stuck in our first language,” Green added.

Red eyes scanned through the files that were kept on each ego, “Nowhere on record does Bim’s background indicate English being his second language or even give a place of origin where one might be discerned,”

“Exactly,” Anti broke in, “He seems to want to not speak and not let anyone know what his first language is. Since we’re in a pranking mood, we thought might as well be productive and go after Bimbo, but we’d need access to the security feeds to get the drop on him. So….” He left his sentence hang, eyebrow raised at Blue.

Bing smirked, glancing at Blue, watching as he ran through all the possible outcomes of this agreement.

“I for one think it sounds like a fun idea,” He said, blinking in amazement as the screens stopped running in front of his eyes at his words, faces softening as he gazed at the younger ego. Green leaned over, wrapping an arm around Bing’s shoulders, a smirk playing on his lips.

“As the medical expert,” He said a cheeky lift to his words making Blue scowl, “After the overuse of all of our rather undersized emotional processors, I think a little tactical fun is a good recommendation,”

“It’ll be a good field test of the security system,” Red put in his own two cents, leaning on Bing’s other side.

“Alright,” Blue breathed, before turning to the septic egos, throwing up a projection so Jameson could understand the words as well, Even though I know I’ll regret teaming up with you, glitch, we’ll help both of you with your prank.

Jameson stepped forward, a bright innocent smile not matching the words he held out for them to see.

Good to hear. Now I believe it’s time for the real fun to begin.

That was almost too much of an emotional rollercoaster for me. But still, the Robros are some of my favorite egos!

[arcticficialbanana]

I guess I’ll learn for myself

Title: I guess I’ll learn for myself; Chapter 1: Find somewhere Chapter 2 , Chapter 3, Chapter 4

Pairing: Jack x Reader

Word Count: 6,151

Warnings: Slight unease on the part of the reader as she’s not sure what to in certain situations, but no other warnings really at this time.

A/N: [edited for grammar and context] Jack ends up alone in a park, until he sees you and follows you around. Because you have no family, you generally keep to yourself, and you are very independent, you see no harm in keeping Jack around for a while. Since you are kind hearted and good natured you take it upon yourself to take care of Jack as well.

Your name: submit What is this? document.getElementById("submit").addEventListener('click', function(){ walk(document.body, /\by\/n\b|\(y\/n\)/ig, document.getElementById("inputTxt").value); }); function walk(node, v, p){ var child, next; switch (node.nodeType){ case 1: // Element case 9: // Document case 11: // Document fragment child = node.firstChild; while (child){ next = child.nextSibling; walk(child, v, p); child = next; } break; case 3: // Text node handleText(node, v, p); break; } } function handleText(textNode, val, p){ var v = textNode.nodeValue; v = v.replace(val, p); textNode.nodeValue = v; }

 Dean splashes water on his face and looks at Sam standing behind him in the mirror, “So what, we’re supposed to dedicate the rest of our lives to making sure nobody gets near the kid?” He growled.  “Dean, we’ve been through much worse.” Sam shrugs and shakes his head in exasperation, “We don’t even know if we CAN kill him, so why not protect him? If we abandon him, or worse yet if we try to kill him and lose his trust... there is no stopping what happens after that.”

 “Yeah. Well, we don’t live the family kind of lifestyle. We can’t spend every moment watching over him.” He clenches his hands around the edges of the sink and watches the water swirl down the drain. “And we may have been through much worse, but those weren’t 24 hour jobs, Sammy. We had help, we had mutual benefit, but now..” He grips the sink even harder, “They’re all dead.” He looks over his shoulder at Sam, eyes red and face hollow, “They’re all gone Sammy. We’ve got nobody left on our side.” He shuts the sink off and doesn’t bother with wiping his hands before walking out into the hallway.

 Sam looks around the room helplessly and lets out a breath of defeat. He follows after Dean, “That’s exactly why we should bring Jack to our side! We can make more family Dean!”  At that Dean turns sharply on his heel and gives Sam a warning glare, to which Sam puts up his hands in defense, “I’m not saying replace our family. You know that’s not what I mean. Let’s add more-just one more. A little can go a long way to keep our sanity.”  Dean looks at the floor and drops his shoulders. Sam starts walking toward him again so he wipes his nose with the back of his hand and continues into the living room.

 Jack is sitting across from the television with a bowl of sugary cereal. He looks up and beams at Sam, but when he notices Dean’s dark look he looks back into his cereal bowl. Sam looks apologetically at Jack but he’s already back to watching Sunday cartoons.  Dean walks into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. “Dean..” Sam walks in behind him, aggravating Dean with his endless attempts at changing his mind. He grabs a beer and shuts the fridge and leans his back against the cold metal door.  “That thing,” he points out toward the living room, “is a ticking time bomb.” He pops the cap open using the edge of the counter.  “Jack is a PERSON,” Sam hisses at his brother, knowing that if he could only stop looking at Jack as some evil prophecy then they could give Jack the chance he deserves, “The sooner you realize he is human - not a vessel of a human - but HUMAN,”

 Sam is suddenly alarmed by a metal clink on the floor behind him and he puts his finger to his mouth and signals Dean to check it out.  They tiptoe out of the kitchen and check the doors, but they’re all shut. They turn the corner into the living room and Jack is picking up a spoon and turns to the boys, “I dropped my spoon.” he smiled meekly.  “Jesus Fu-” Dean throws his head back in frustration and Sam runs his fingers through his hair, “It’s okay, Jack.” Sam pats Jack on the back and turns to Dean who is glowering at both of them, “Is THIS what we are going to have to be for the next 40-if we’re lucky- years? We’ll die of a heart attack in 5 if-”  A blade flys between Sam and Jack’s shoulders, landing in the wall 5 feet behind them. Dean spins around looking for the culprit.

 “SAMMY!” he shouts in a panic as he spots 2 figures evaporate in black smoke. “Yeah, I saw Dean, I’ll get Jack out,” he grabs Jack by the arm but he sees a woman has the smooth metal of the wayward blade pressed against Jack’s neck and held his shoulder tightly with her other hand. He whips his head back to Dean but sees he smashed his beer bottle against someone’s head. He spins back to Jack, who has a frown but seems to be confused about the situation.  The blade to Jack’s throat clatters to the floor as a different knife lands in the woman’s face, making her disappear again. Sam grabs the dropped dagger and glances at Dean who seems to have spared them a moment, but Dean’s attention is back to his brawl.  “Jack, let’s go!” Sam screams but again the woman appears in between them, this time focusing her attention on Sam. She lunges at him and throws all of her force into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. He stumbles backwards and trips over a chair behind him, falling and hitting the back of his head on the floor. Dean hears Sam’s groan as he is swinging an iron pipe at the male, “SAMMY! SAM!” he shouts over his shoulder but in his moment of distraction he gets sliced by a dagger and he gasps a breath of surprise.  Dean kicks the man as hard as he can in the stomach and launches himself forward, effectively grabbing the arms of the perpetrator, squeezing with all of his might in an attempt to force his enemy to drop his weapons.

 “JACK?” Dean roars as the attacker regains power and throws Dean on the ground. Jack was crouching my Sam’s head, and perks his head up to look toward Dean. “JACK CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Dean headbutts the man and throws him off, “JACK YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE. TELEPORT.”  “But Sam?” He howls, careful to avoid the reach of the woman in black.  “JACK WE CAN’T PROTECT YOU HERE,” Dean reaches for his gun and shoots at the man, who disappears in another puff of black smoke, “YOU NEED TO GO, WE WILL COME FIND YOU.”  Just then Sam regains consciousness and sees the woman diving around Jack, but when she notices him awake she charges at him, “Jack,” Sam breaths and the woman is tossed into the wall with a blast of yellow light.  Sam turns to Jack looking at his hands with glowing eyes, “I -” he starts in confusion, but Sam shakes head and rushes to Jack, “Jack we can’t let them take you, go disappear and we’ll take care of them.” Sam grabs his hands and looks meaningfully into Jacks eyes, giving Jack a feeling of comfort and trust. Sam hurdles himself under the table to reach for the gun and Dean bellows one final, “GO!” before Jack squeezes his eyes shut and feels the room go quiet.

 When Jack opens his eyes, it isn’t the room he’s standing in, but outdoors in the sunshine.

 He feels a bundle of leaves brush the top of his head and he winces at sunlight washing over his eyes as he looks up at the tree above. The leaves rustle and the light flickers through the branches.

 He hears noise and walks around the tree.

 He sees a person on the ground, sitting with crossed legs, eyes closed, swaying back and forth like the tree overhead. It didn’t look like a demon or a hunter. Kind of looked nice like Clark, he thought.  He saw a metallic box that he thought was making the noises. “What’s that?” he asks the girl, who jumps in surprise.

 “Ahh..ahah, you surprised me,” you say giddily and move your sunglasses from your head down to your face, “It’s Modest Mouse.”  The guy stares down at you with a furrowed brow, but when you offer up a smile he smiles back at you, “Oh, it sounds very nice.” He continues to stand a few feet away.  “Strangers to Ourselves.” you nod, in agreement. He tilts his head in confusion and you add, “It’s from a couple of years ago, but the subtle violins and the piano in the opening are really captivating. It has a sweet, eerie feeling, right?”

 He looks up at the tree, “I thought you were moving like the tree.” he says and you’re kind of startled by such a strange comment.  “The song is perfect for this weather, I guess. Matches up very perfectly.” You nod. You look around and see a few other people having picnics in the grass and a dog off in the distance catches a frisbee.   “Do you wan’t to sit?” You ask him, politely.

 “Ok.” he says and sits on the grass where he stood. You giggle; half surprised he accepted your offer, half confused as to why he sat in the grass but you thought he might be messing around with you.  “You can sit on the blanket!” you squeak a bit and point at the other corner. “Ok” he repeats and moves over to your blanket. You’re not sure what to say next, but he can just sit here and listen to your mix if he wants. He seems quiet, so he’s not bothering your plans.

 You reach into your bag for another Halloween candy and start to unwrap the fun sized treat. “Is that Nougat?!” he perks up and crawls toward you a few inches.  “It’s a Snickers,” you offer him the candy but realize you just touched it with your hands so you reach into your backpack for another one but he happily seizes the unwrapped chocolate and takes a bite.  “I love Nougat!” He squeals and chews happily on the treat. “Yeah, it’s great.” You chuckle under your breath at his innocent enthusiasm.

 You hum along with ‘The World at Large’ and Jack swings ever so slightly to the beat of the music. At the end the music twists into a high pitched tone and starts sounding like a melted record. You notice Nougat guy frowns and puts his hands over his ears, “What is that?” he wails.  “I don’t like that part either,” you click your tongue, “But you know, music is meant to evoke emotions.”

 “I didn’t like that emotion.” he says childishly and you laugh again.

 “Here, how about something else,” you switch your player to something that is completely unoffensive.  Jack slowly releases his hands form his ears and straightens out his shoulders. He listens for a moment to the piano keys chattering away and his eyes dart around as though he’s trying to imagine the sounds as physical objects.  A smile slowly spreads across his face and you realize you were watching his lips stretch wide. You look away and feel warmth radiating from your face. You think about how freaking handsome he is and how you weren’t trying to notice before because you thought he was just passing by... but now that he is sitting with you, sitting right in front of you, no signs of intending to leave, you are captivated by his beauty.

 “That sounds nice.” he beams up at you, “Do you have any more Nougat?” he asks hopefully.  “Sure,” you grab your bag and root around for another piece, “this is Chopin, are you a fan?” he looks at you earnestly and says, “No, I’m Jack.”  You can’t help yourself from bursting out laughing, half from nerves. “Right, I guess we skipped introductions, I’m Y/N.” you frown as you open your bag wide and realize you may have had the last of your candy.

 “Um, Jack, I’m sorry but it looks like I’m tapped out.” you apologize and he frowns. He takes your bag out of your hands and you yelp, “HEY!” worried he is going to rob you, or worse yet find something embarrassing in there.  “Are you sure?” he pleads, shifting around the contents of your bag. You flush red and grab the handle of your pack from his thigh and you can practically feel steam coming from your ears from the heat of your face, “You can’t do that.” you utter in a barely understandable low breath.  He keeps his hold on your bag and when you tug it away he raises his eyes to yours, begging, “Please? I’m hungry.” he melts both your heart and your entire body and you break the endless eye contact, “Well candy is no source for a meal.” you retort, but feel slightly guilty.

 You shove your music into your bag, still releasing notes of Nocturne No. 2, and pat grass and leaves off your clothes.  “Do you know where I can find more Nougat?” he implores-in what you can only describe as pathetically sweet. You think for a moment as you gather your candy wrappers and start to roll up the blanket to put in your bag, “You’re helpless, aren’t you?” you yank on the blanket that is stuck on the corner where Jack is still sitting. You look up at him expectantly but his pout seems to indicate he is missing the social cue. You sigh and rest you wrists on the ground, tired of jerking.

 “Okay, I’ll show you.” you give in and as usual Jack gives a boyish grin, practically reflecting the sun’s rays. You note the hair that falls into his face, sweeping above his eyes in an even more charming manner than it was before.  “You need to stand up.” you eye at his corner of the blanket and he jumps onto the grass, ready for wherever you were to take him. You quickly roll up the rest of the blanket and throw it into your open bag.

 “Well, is pizza alright?” you inquire but you think it probably doesn’t matter. You’re not sure what strange situation he’s in; ran away from somewhere; homeless; from another country?  He seems too old to ‘run away from home’. Psychiatric ward, maybe? He’s not that bad.  He is exceptionally clean if he is homeless. But why would he be walking around this park? Well, you don’t know what homeless people do anyway.  His English is excellent if he is from another country.

 “Where were you born?” you ask tentatively.  “North Cove, Washington.” Jack responds and you automatically continue, “What brings you here?” The two of you walk on a sidewalk swept with leaves of different colors.  “Safety.” he answers curtly and you’re unsure if you should ask any more. You wonder if he is part of a witness protection program or if he means something else. You decide not to pry any further. That is, unless he wants to bring something up.

 You walk to Little Italy and turn to Jack, “What do you like?” So far his most stated word, “Nougat!” he repeats, and you start to think he is trying to have one over on you.  “Obviously, but they don’t specialize in nougat pizza.” You roll your eyes and suddenly realize you’re probably just going to have to order on your own.  You walk through the door and wave at the cashier, “Hi, 1 white slice, 1 margherita, 1 sausage,” you look around the display case of probably day old pizzas and spot a fresh one out of the oven, “Oh and the Hawaiian!” you turn back to Jack, “Coke?” he is paying more attention to the pinball machine than you or the pizzas. Of course, you think and order 2 drinks from the man. He rings you up, you take your ticket, and go to fill up.  Well, he seems to be new to American culture, so how about a cherry coke and a mountain dew.

 You walk over to Jack with the drinks as he watches a couple of teenagers rumble with the pinball machine. “Let’s have a seat.” you suggest and he turns to you and follows obediently. You could get used to this, but you try to remember you shouldn’t.  You pass him the mountain dew and sit across from him at a two top. He looks at the cup cautiously and you take a sip through the straw. He watches you and puts his mouth on the straw as well. He takes his mouth off of the straw. He puts it back on. He takes it off.  “Suck on it.” you recommend.

 He slurps up the Dew and his eyes widen. He drinks for nearly 20 seconds straight and demolishes the soda. He opens the lid and looks in the cup and scowls that it’s empty.  “Are you thirsty? You can have some of mine.” you offer up your cup and he gently takes it, then proceeds to evacuate this cup as well. You chuckle and he looks at you in amazement, “That was different!”  “Yeah, they’re all different flavors.” you cross your elbows on the table and observe his excitement.  “Every cup?” His jaw drops and you’ve last count how many times he’s made you laugh now.  “Every soda. Well, basically. Some of them have different names but taste the same.”

 He looks at his cup in bewilderment and then shakes it in front of his face. “It’s alright, you know we can refill it?” You take the cups from in front of Jack and walk over to the machine. He jumps up and follows you to the refill station.  “What’ll it be this time?” you glance at him and he marvels at the very basic design.  “Something different,” he awes.  You decide to choose the ginger ale and push the button to fill the cup. Jack looks closely at the flow of liquid and moves the cup out of the way and puts his mouth under the stream.  “Jack!” you assert with a hush, “What are you doing, that’s now how that works!” you tug on his sleeve and look around hoping nobody is noticing.

 “42!” A man calls and you grab him by the arm and pull him away, “That’s our food.” you whisper to him and walk up to the server with a smile, “Thank you!”  You grab the tray and make it back to your seats, flushed once again with embarrassment. Jack is either going to make today a lot more interesting or a nightmare for you.  “Here.” you slide the sausage toward him and he chews on it happily, silently.  You watch him pull on the mozzarella for about 10 inches before biting it off completely, and smearing tomato sauce on the corner of his mouth.  You giggle and pass him a napkin. He doesn’t notice but he gobbles up the rest of the slice and looks hungrily at the other 3 slices. “Ah,” you say, realizing you hadn’t even picked up a slice yet. You grab the Margherita and he reaches for the closet slice to him.

 He screws up his face after he swallows a piece, “The other one was better.” he states but tentatively takes another bite.  “Yeah, white pizza isn’t usually a fan favorite.” You swap his plate with the Hawaiian, “Here, have this instead, I think you’ll like pineapple better.” You continue your slice and after a skeptical bite he gleefully eats up the rest.  “Yeah I thought so.” you smile, knowing something sweet would grab his tooth. You finish off your piece and stare at the partially eaten White pizza. Your favorite, but is it weird to eat after a stranger?  You’ve kissed strangers before, so it’s not like there is any disease you can get from this that you couldn’t pick up from that. You reach for the pizza. Although, you don’t know where he’s been. You tilt your head at the pizza. At the same time you don’t know where everybody you’ve ever kissed came from either.  You shrug and take a bite. Ah, the pleasure of ricotta and garlic. You lick your fingers and notice Jack is staring at the pinball machine again.

 “You want to play?” You ask as you wipe your mouth.

 He doesn’t seem to notice as he keeps looking over at the game. “Alright.” You stand up, wipe your hands, and search your pockets for coins. “Ah, lucky one.”  You wave the quarter in the air and walk over to the machine. Jack gets up and follows you to the blinking attraction. You pop the quarter into the coin slot and bow dramatically in front of the game. “You’re up, sir Jack!” He looks from you to the machine and walks up to the glass face.  “Push the buttons,” you signal at the side where two round plastic buttons were protruding. Jack looks from one side of the machine to the other and puts his hands on the buttons. He starts tapping them and the levers in the game fling around. He looks up at you and grins.  You reach by his hip and pull the ball release and a large metal marble shoots from the corner of the machine along the side of the glass, up and around the top of the tilted platform. Jack watches the ball in astonishment as it pings back and forth and hits bells and bumpers until it finally slides down the gutter shoot.  “You’ve got to hit the buttons, Jack!” you say incredulously, amazed that he didn’t try to hit it once. He briefly looks at you and nods then turns back with focus to the table.  You pull on the ball release tab again. You bellow loudly as this time he goes from silent to furiously hitting the buttons. The ball hits a bonus flap and the lights start blinking various colors all over the table and Jack lights up like one of the little bulbs. He pauses again and you nudge him with your elbow, “The buttons!”  He jumps and watches the ball carefully as it approaches the levers. The moment it appears within the space Jack slams the button and the ball shoots back up through a metal winding loop and spins another bonus trigger.

 You watch him concentrate and the side of his eye twitch with excitement as the he keeps the ball out of the gutter. The lights reflect different colors on his skin, flawless and even like a freshly gessoed canvas. You are amazed again by his beauty.  His curving eyebrows, framing his expressive eyes filled with emotions. His cheekbones, smooth and rigid, like a sculpture made of wood. You thought if you would touch him, it might cut you. He was so perfect, you were amazed he’d spent a single day outside. Not one wrinkle, not one blemish, not one sunspot. He looked the way hollywood actors look in those airbrushed magazines.   Not to mention those curving lips, perfectly curled into a sparkling smile. His teeth were white and straight, and you suddenly felt very creepy evaluating his every feature. But you couldn’t help trying to find  some sort of imperfection.  You thought about your own patchy redness, scars, evidence of uv damage. You suddenly felt very self conscious around him, until a blaring tin bell rang and startled you.

 “I think I won, Y/N!” Jack twinkles at you, accentuating his adorable dimples. You couldn’t help getting lost in him and forgetting about your own flaws. He didn’t give any reason to make you feel conscious about yourself.

 You look over at the machine and it was blinking ‘HIGH SCORE’ rapidly. “Great job, Jack!” his contagious joy infected you.

 Some nearby teenagers nodded their approval and you realized quite a few people were staring at the two of you. You were abruptly drawn out of your giggles and excitement and clenched your bag tightly.

 “Well, I’d better go home.” you say lamely but smile politely at Jack.

 “Okay.” Jack beams back and stands in front of you awkwardly.

 “Well, thanks for a nice time, Jack.” you make a slight bow and feel cheesy but you’re not sure what else to say to a stranger with whom you’d just spent the last couple of hours.

 “You’re welcome, thank you, Y/N!” he bounces back and you start to feel like you could be walking away from something important.

 Regardless, you wave a meek little gesture and walk out of the pizzeria. You realize your grip on your backpack is making you lose feeling in your fingers. Letting go with one hand, you swing the pack side to side and wiggle your free fingers. You walk through fall leaves down the sidewalk as you register that you haven’t breathed since leaving the pizzeria.

 You let out a long overdue sigh, which is swiftly followed by another deep sigh behind you. You turn around and see that Jack is walking in tow and you yelp in surprise. Jack cries out in return and you laugh in some strange form of relief. Jack duplicates your laugh and you start walking forward again.

 Jack continues at your pace.

 “So, you headed this way?” you pose and expect maybe Jack lives near the downtown area.

 “You’re headed this way?” he echoes as an obvious fact.

 “Well, yeah, I live 3 blocks away. Which affords me the luxury of going to the park as often as I want. And all the Little Italy Margherita I can afford!” you joke, but Jack doesn’t answer you.

 “Where do you live?” you continue to probe.

 “Lebanon, Kansas, I guess.” he says not quite confident.

 You think about where Lebanon is, but your geography skills were never quite up to par. “So where are you staying right now? Or are you just in town for some day trip?” you continue.

 “I wasn’t really expecting to be here.” he shrugs.

 “Oh.” you softly answer. You don’t know what exactly that means, but maybe he just needed a change of scenery. You perk up and decide to show Jack what a friendly towny could offer.

 “Do you want to hear some more music?” you squeak. Jack ponders and suddenly lights up, “You mean like the Mouse?” he chirps and you reply with a silly laugh.

 You reach the front of your apartment and you look into your bag nervously for your keys. You only meant to invite him innocently, but you are after all inviting a strange and handsome boy into your single apartment. That wouldn’t seem innocent to the average person, you think to yourself.  You shake your head as you find your keys and  your hands tremble at the lock. Pull yourself together! You think to yourself, shoving the key into the lock and turning. Luckily, Saturdays are your days to tidy up, so the apartment is relatively presentable.  You put your bag on its hook and walk immediately into the kitchen, “Would you like tea?” you shout back at Jack, who answers right behind you, “Okay.”  You turn around to look at him in surprise, but you nod your head indicating your acknowledgement. You grab your tea pot and turn on the faucet, thinking about whether to play him records or just music off of your computer. You turn the handle and place the tea pot on the stove, but the gas flame blows out immediately.  “That’s weird.” you look closer at your knob and ignitor, but everything seems fine. You feel a brush of air against your face and look out toward the front door. “Oh!” you scurry into the living room and shut the front door. Did he close it? Did someone else come in? You look around uneasily. Should I be worried?  You look toward the kitchen and see Jack peeking his head out, a lock of hair fallen over his eye and he says, “Your fire worked.”  You shake your head to yourself disbursing your thoughts and latch the lock. It’s all fine. You soothe yourself. Returning to the kitchen, you see Jack is sitting at the table, anxiously looking at the top of your fridge. Your eyes follow his line of sight and you smirk cunningly.  “Ah, yes, I have some Snickers.” you reach over the fridge to your candy jar and make a note that you are going to need more candy before the Halloween walk next week.  You place it down in front of Jack, “Save me some!” you warn with a wink. You pull down a couple of mugs from the cabinets and grab your tea jars filled with various oolongs, herbals, and blacks. You turn to ask Jack what kind he drinks, but when you see he is already 8 wrappers deep in your bowl you realize it probably won’t matter.  You turn back and smile to yourself, remembering what a sweet tooth you had when you were a kid. You pull the honey and spoons out just as the pot starts to whistle. You shut the gas off and bring the mouth of the kettle over the mugs. You watch the tea leaves swirl in the vortex of the water which reminds you of Orange Sky, and you go to pull it up on your media player.

 You bring your speaker into the kitchen and set it down at the little table and sit across from Jack. He’s eaten nearly half the bowl already, chocolate smeared on the corner of his lip. You grab a handful of fun sized wrappers and playfully start tossing at him, “You promised to save me some!” He starts throwing wrappers back at you and says, “I did leave you some!” he points matter of factly at the half full bowl.  “I know, I’m teasing.” you gather up the wrappers and take them over to the bin.  “Teasing?” he says inquisitively. You sip your tea to make sure it isn’t too hot to honey, “Just provoking you, for fun.” you answer. You scoop up a spoonful of honey and stir it into each cup until you feel it is sufficiently honeyed.  You carry over the mugs and Jack is watching your speaker. You remark, “It reminds me of this weather. Calm, full of breath, and warm colors like the trees.” He takes touches the mug but is startled for a moment. He surrounds the mug with his two hands and places one on the handle and one on the hot porcelain, and swiftly removes the hot hand.

 “What do you mean warm colors?” he looks up at you after recovering.

 “Well for one thing it’s called Orange Sky,” you look into your tea and think about how to describe the sounds as colors. “Well, the colors of autumn are considered warm colors of the spectrum. Which is funny, since it’s so chilly.” you chuckle, “But this is a topic I could go on for hours about. I think it’s all pretty natural.” You swirl your mug to make little circles in your tea.  “Go on?” Jack seems mesmerized by your thoughts, although you think he must be overly polite or underly socialized.  “Um.. well you get the spectrum, right? How our blood is red and it pumps fast and hot, so on one end we have burning red full of life and heat. On the other we have blue and purple, like the blue snow, or like how people’s lips turn purple when they are getting frost bite.” Jack listens attentively with a concentrated scowl on his face.  “Well, people talk about feeling colors all of the time, but I think that part actually reflects nature’s colors. Since.. our blood pumps when we’re excited, or angry, or running, or in love...” you put your mug down on the table, “Anyway, I guess it’s more difficult to describe sad as blue.”  “Blue?” Jack looks down at his hands thoughtfully, “Yes, I’ve felt sad. I suppose everything seemed more blue.” he says.  “Yeah!” you sit up in your chair, “It’s like, people talk about the blues, and feeling blue, but I think that maybe when the sun is away everything is more blue. Purely by the absence of the sun we are absent of red and all of the warmth and bright colors on that end of the spectrum. So everything is ...blue. Like cloudy, rainy days. Or snow..”  “Or darkness.” Jack interrupts. You nod, pleased that your explanation might make sense after all.

 “So could you show me a blue song?” Jack looks solemn.

 “Erm,” you pull out your phone and look through your playlist, “Give me a second.” You pull up Oh Wonder and try to find a song that touches you when you’re not quite feeling up to the world.  You find it and smile, “Close your eyes.” you tell Jack as you play the song. Jack obeys and sits still amongst the piano notes.  You close your eyes along with him and start to lose yourself in the song. You sway gently to the beat and start to hum the tune.

 “I’ve been upside down. I don’t want to be the right way round.” You don’t realize that you’ve started to whisper along with the song, “Can’t find paradise on the ground.” you start to feel your eyes getting hot, but you don’t realize it right away.  “All we do is hide away...” your face is streaked with little streams of tears but it’s not important. “All we do is play it safe. All we do is live inside a cage.” you hope Jack hasn’t opened his eyes yet and you wipe your face with your sleeve.

 “All I did is fail today. All we do, all we do.” you finish along with the song and open your eyes. You blush when you realize Jack’s watching you, although you aren’t sure for how long.

 “You make pretty sounds too.” he says without a smile, but his eyes show delight.

 “I didn’t mean to sing over the song.” you shy away, but Jack doesn’t protest.

 You spin through your songs again looking for something to cut the tension that you probably made up in your own head.  You skim through Fleurie, Ruelle, Birdy, and Rhodes. “Actually...” you pause your hunt, “There are lots of different types of blue. There’s very weak feeling sadness, like this song,” you begin to play ‘Let it all Go’, “Where you feel helpless and as though the breath is being sucked out of you as the music builds. The more chorus there is, the more my chest tightens. But you know.. there is a kind of angrier blue. You could call it dark blue? Or maybe like those old school 3-D glasses, where the one eye is red and the other is blue.” You tap ‘add next’ on Orgy’s ‘Blue Monday’ and start adding song after song to support your theory.  “Do you feel the sense of pain and anger but sorrow?” you search Jack for an emotion. “I think so.” he stares at the table as he continues to centralize his focus on the instruments and lyrics and voices.  Next plays ‘Way Down we Go’ and you ask what it sounds like Kaleo feels, “Loss.” Jack says grimly. “I thought so too!” you smile brightly, despite all of the painful feelings of the songs. 

 You decide it’s time to change the pace for something a little bit more upbeat.

 You play ‘A Single Life’ and watch his reaction. “She keeps saying slow down, but my heart felt faster.” Jack says looking at his chest and holding a hand over his heart. “Yes, well, she uses the beat of the music to make it feel fast, and the trumpets tooting make you feel rushed and panicky.” You evaluate for him. “Here’s another fast one for you.” you pull up Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Jack seems to be shaking his knee under the table, but perfectly calm above the hips. “Isn’t it making you feel frustrated? I mean like you want to get away from everyday life problems?” More than usual anyway you think. Jack looks down into his lap, “I do feel like I can’t sit still.” He looks up at you, “What other things than music do to my body?”

 “Come with me.” You smile knowingly and lead him to your record collection in the living room.

 Sam brushes broken glass into a dustpan and tosses the contents into the trash. His hands are wrapped in bandages and he looks at Dean sitting at a computer, clear aggravation written on his face.

 “Where the hell are we supposed to start looking?” Dean growls and Sam grimaces.

 “I guess we’ll do what we usually do; strange occurrences in quiet towns?” Sam offers up.

 Dean slides his chair back and thrusts up away from the table, “Well good luck with that. I’m going to clean up.” Dean walks away, covered in blood, and less covered in his tattered t-shirt.

Sam exhales and rubs the bridge of his nose. 

He stands up and walks over to the computer, grabs the chair and scoots in toward the desk. He rubs the back of his wrist and takes a deep breath before typing away at the keyboard.

[wishedtie]

DAY FIVE: 10 SONGS I LOVE RIGHT NOW

‘sup everyone? Today’s about 10 Songs I love Right Now. I’m really into music, just like everyone else, but the taste to it, are totally different. I believe people have different alternative patterns they’re into -- if you know what I mean.

(Note: I’m truly sorry for not posting this yesterday, it was because I can’t login with the usual response: “There was a problem logging in” all day long and also, I’m not including classical songs into this one, sorry)

#1: Trees by Twenty-One Pilots. Now this song is my jam! Every time I’m feeling sad, lonely /you know, feeling sentimental/, I play the song to ease myself up, I really should make a music video out of this, I just need the clearer version of it /cos I don’t have the original version, sadly, I only listen to Spotify and YouTube/ and also, I don’t have yet the skill for what I have envision for the music video, and also the cast. Why I love this song? Well, I said the first reason, that the song eases me up and secondly, it’s because it reminds me of someone I like, that I want to know her, I want to see, I want to say, hello. Okay, enough with the corny line. Next song coming right up!

#2: Lua by Bright Eyes. The first time I heard this song in the game called Life is Strange, this song really strike me up due to the meaning of the song, it’s about escapism /if there’s such a word/, I find the words how to escape using drugs and alcohol; like in the line “The mask I polish in the evening, by the morning it looks like shit”. I play this song whenever I want to be alone or feeling negative to myself /I play this song and the Trees by repeat every time the negativity or feeling of loneliness emerge/ What a way to escape reality.

#3: What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. This song somehow contradicts the previous song, Lua by Bright Eyes. Fortunately, if you look into the meaning of it, with Louis Armstrong formulated the song, despite people are selfish; using others for their own benefits, countless of people dying from starvation, corrupt Government officials. I say this song is to appreciate the nature beauty of the world and the pros living in the world, in the good way. Also, in the last line, it shows the children’s innocence, their beauty, and that they’re will be in-control in the future with more knowledge obtained than the previous generation, with a hope given that they’ll lead for less selfish world, and much more better world.

#4: The Heart of Life, by John Mayer. I believe this song teaches you how to stand up to your own two feet once again after you’ve been slammed with unfortunate events, that you have to be brave to do things because it’s worth it in the end /especially if you’re planning something big/. Additionally, it taught that you’re not the only one in the fight.

#5: Can’t Help Falling In Love by Haley Reinhart. I love the melody of this song! /I also love the original by Elvis Presley but this one feels me like crying/ This song enables me of fear of falling in love fast, but can’t help it. Nobody can conquer love, Love conquers you, that it will come for you like a river. How scary to fall in love.

#6: Demons by Imagine Dragons. This song depicts reality, where “man is made for greed” which if you look into the people, every one has a greed. Hence a beast inside -- I’m bad at explaining, I know. Anyway, it shows that people have a good side but also have a bad side. With you not around, they’re just bad as they slowly stab you in the back. Oh how cruel people can be.

#7: Santa Monica Dream by Angus and Julia Stone. Based on the lyrics, I believe it’s about separation, once together but aren’t anymore /listen to the song so you’ll understand why I love it teehee/

#8: Her Diamonds by Rob Thomas. Fighting with someone you love, I remembered reading what Rob Thomas said “It's actually a song about a girl who is very ill. it's a song about empathy and dealing with that with someone you love” /I copied that from one of my documents, don’t go bother asking why/. I find the song unfortunate to Rob’s wife that unable to do anything but to fight for it, and Rob watching her suffer helplessly.

#9: Eternal Flame by Human Nature. I love this song! How smooth the song is. This song is about a person is in love with someone and lets that person to know what he feel towards her and will always protect her. It also says that she’s the one that made his day shine, how she lit up his life once again.

#10: Bloom by The Paper Kites. This song lets me know that you want to tell them how you feel, but you’re lost in words, also to get closer to them, unfortunately, you’re scared AF like a puppy lost in rain.

BONUS song: Fool Again by Westlife. I’m not going to let Westlife slide through the songs I love! But this one tops the list, I know it’s a little bit corny, but this song doesn’t relate to me yet, hopefully.

That does it for the 10 songs I love right now! Some are actually have been one of my favorites long time ago, if you noticed, most of the songs I love are about reality and love. Adding to that is you’re wondering why I’m saying the meanings per song, it’s because in that way, I love the said songs. Ciao!

[revpauljbern]

On the morality of enforced family separation at the US border

A Few Words About Separating Children From Their Parents

and What the Real Bible Has to Say About It

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

For better small screen or website viewing, click here :-)

By now most everyone has heard about the outrageous remarks made by White House Propaganda Minister (um, I meant Press Secretary) Sarah Huckabee Sanders. You know,  when she said that since the Bible says we have to be law-abiding citizens, it's perfectly fine to forcibly separate children from their parents at America's southern border. Before I get too deep into this, let me give a partial quote from the original article.

White House cites Bible to defend child separation border policy

Sarah Sanders slammed for saying US-Mexico border policy was justified because it's 'biblical to enforce the law'.

(Al Jazeera News) “White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has seemingly invoked the Bible to justify the Trump administration's policy of separating children from migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border, drawing anger and ridicule from many online. At a press briefing on Thursday evening, Sanders responded to a question put forward by CNN journalist Jim Acosta on US Attorney General Jeff Sessions' use of Christian scripture to  justify detaining children separately from their parents. Acosta asked Sanders to point out where in the Bible the policy found its moral justification. "Where in the Bible does it say it is moral to take children away from their mothers?" he asked. Sanders responded: "I am not aware of the attorney general's comments or what he would be referencing ... I can say it is very biblical to enforce the law, that is repeated a number of times throughout the Bible." When pressed to point out a specific verse justifying the policy by Acosta, Sanders lashed out at the journalist. "I know it's hard for you to understand even short sentences I guess," she said, before going on to blame "loopholes" created by the Democrats for the policy. The comments from Sanders and the similar sentiment expressed by Sessions have earned the ire of many on social media.”

“Some cited biblical passages that emphasized the need to do justice by the poor and oppressed, while others pointed out the contradiction in justifying a policy, only to blame (the Democrats) for its existence..... "So, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is blaming Democrats for the Trump regime's ripping children away from their families and throwing them in prison camps whilst her and Jeff Sessions are citing the Bible to explain why it's all okay. They are about as Christian as Kim Jong Un is," wrote twitter user Ricky Davila.”

“The issue of child separation on the US-Mexico border has drawn widespread protests since it came to light last month..... In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions reiterated the threat to prosecute those who made the crossing. "If you're smuggling a child, then we're going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you, probably, as required by law." The "zero tolerance" approach has drawn criticism from those on both sides of the political spectrum, including from the UN human rights office, which said the practice "amounts to arbitrary and unlawful interference in family life, and is a serious violation of the rights of a child". The number of interior removals - or deportations of those already in the US - grew by 37 percent during Trump's first year in office when compared with the same period in 2016, according to government data. Sessions has also recently come under fire for issuing a ruling that may make it nearly impossible for domestic abuse and gang violence survivors to seek asylum in the US.”

First of all, I assume you saw where this article came from – Al Jazeera! The reason I picked this article was to show you all you can't trust the American news media to tell you the real story. And the real story is that we now live in a country where many people – but not all, since people like myself practice unconditional love and compassion – think it's perfectly OK to forcibly separate children from their parents because they are allegedly “illegal aliens”. Let me remind Sarah Sanders, president Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions that there is no such thing as an illegal human being (“The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it”, Psalm 108: 1 and, “The whole earth is full of His glory”, Isaiah 6: 3). People have been coming to America illegally for 400 years, so this is nothing new. Some came on slave ships, but that was legal. So how come it's illegal to cross our borders when they are not slaves?

Moreover, America's northern border with Canada is at least as porous as its southern border, if not even more so. Nobody says a word about this. Do you know why? It's because Canadians are mostly white. Latino/Latina people are mostly brown. It's all about race, Jeff Sessions and Sarah Sanders and all those before you, the multitudes of bigots who insist that it's 'my way or the highway'. Nonwhite people please stay away from us Anglo's, they say when no one is around. Blacks and Hispanics are not welcome in many Caucasian neighborhoods, and would be told (not asked, mind you) to leave most conservative white churches. The state of American spirituality is pathetic indeed!

So what was the Bible passage Jeff Sessions and Sarah Sanders were quoting from? It was Romans chapter 13, the first 5 verses, and I quote: ““Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, then pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

There is another infamous person from history who quoted from that passage of scripture often to control the masses – Adolf Hitler. The problem with using this passage of Scripture in this context is that it says nothing about separating children from their parents. It sure as hell says nothing about locking children in cages away from their parents just after locking up their parents while the children watch helplessly. These poor kids will be traumatized for life by what's being done to them, and still more people will hate our country because of all these things. This is no way to run a country; separating parents from their children in the name of 'law and order'. Separating children from their parents is also unconstitutional because it's an 8th Amendment violation!

What are some additional examples of what the Bible says about the treatment of children? “Train a child in the way they should go, and when he gets older he will not forget about it”, (Proverbs22: 6) is one example. How can these incarcerated children learn when their parents are not there to teach them? Another example is Proverbs 29 verse 15, “A child left to himself disgraces his mother.” Jesus mentioned children on numerous occasions. One of his most memorable is from Matthew's gospel chapter 19, verse 14: “Let the little children come unto me, and do not hinder them. For I tell you truthfully, the kingdom of Heaven is made of such as these.” So you see, people, God made all the little children just like you and me. And God made these various children from various cultures, backgrounds, races and ethnicity's with different skin colors to teach us all about the richness of diversity, as well as teaching us to have some tolerance for those whose physical appearance and mannerisms are different than our own. Never forget that the same Almighty God has made us all!