#i have four-five close friends atm which should be enough

[bothsidesnow2000]

Do you guys have any tips for meeting new people? I’m not very into physical activity so no dance courses please. But I always seem to end up talking to old people wherever I go but like where do the people in their 20s hang out/ meet people? I’m the youngest at my job and I currently take online courses with little to none interaction with other students

[tired-college-student-writing]

#WaynesAngel

The Maribat AU by @ozmav and @maribat-archive is all I can think about atm, so enjoy more of this

Summary- After Grayson posts a video on the wrong twitter, Damian feels like he should lose his social media privileges, and possibly his hand.

Part 1

Part 4

Part 5 (HERE)

This was a impusle write as I was trapped in a car for over 50 hours in three days. Please do not ask for another chapter. 

_________________________________________

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why is it weird that I’ve never met a Bat before? It’s not like Damian or the Waynes have ever seen Ladybug or Chat Noir or the Miraculous Team in Paris, and they’ve been in Paris a lot more than I’ve been in Gotham #confusion #AMERICAEXPLAIN

Jason Todd Lives @BestTodd

@FashionInGotham Whomst the Fuck is Ladybug and Chat Noir?? Also, Miraculous Team Sounds like some magical girl anime Cass watches

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd 🖕🏼

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve They’re the Paris superheroes, they showed up almost five years ago to fight the little bitch of a villain, Hawkmoth and his stupid peacock assistant, Mayra.

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham WHAT?! Paris has heroes??

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham @AFlyingGrayson Oh yeah, I forgot that the mayor was trying to keep it a secret from the rest of the world #MyB But yeah Ladybug and Chat Noir have been there the longest but there’s also Abeille, Viperion, Ryuko, Pegasus, King Monkey, Bunnyx, and Badulf

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her friend as she saw the tweet thread that was quickly going viral, “You realize my dad is going to flip about this.”

“He deserves it,” Adrian pipped up from where he was painstakingly painting Kagami’s nails a deep burgundy.

The other teen heroes hummed in agreement as Chloe huffed.

“Well Yeah, but I was hoping to do it with a little extra flair than a twitter thread.”

Alix snorted as she finished up Kim’s banana yellow toes, drawing a crude smiley face on his big toe with bright blue, “She’s dating the youngest kid of the most influential family in the world and has like 100 million followers. Plus she called Hawkmoth a little bitch and it already has 90k likes. I call that flair.”

It was a surprise when Nathanial had had his freak out during his second battle,  against a Crimson Peacock event no less, and had called her Lady Marinette in front of the other temporary heroes, but had lead to many nights like the one they were having now. Onesies of each other’s heroes’ identities donned as they lounged around Chloe’s room, simply enjoying each other’s company after a long patrol. Chloe and Adrian had demanded they have a spa night, which is why everyone was either giving or receiving mani-pedis while they waited for their face masks to finish. It was nice, to have so much support outside of the masks, especially as they entered their final year in Lychee.  

Marinette rolled her eyes, “It’s only 98 million, Alix, and plus I figured four months after I made this account was long enough to make the slip up seem genuine. We need to catch Hawkmoth soon, or else this entire mess will get a lot more complex.”

They all frowned as they realized the truth behind her words. They were all facing hard decisions if they couldn’t pin the man down, not like they hadn’t already sacrificed so much to continue the battle. Max had already turned down graduating early and a full ride to MIT, citing his desire to graduate with his friends before moving across the globe. Luka had been invited to tour with Jagged, only to politely decline, telling the pouting rockstar that he wanted to do some soul finding first. Kim had given up a summer training camp with the French Olympic team. Alix had given up going on an expedition with her dad and brother, missing out on the chance to explore the dunes of Egypt. Marinette had turned down three internships at this point, one from Audrey Bourgeois, One from Raven Baxter, and lastly and most devastatingly, one from Edna Mode.

They needed to end this, before the overwhelming feeling of their futures slipping right between their fingers got them akumatized.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

Seeing the demon spawn panic when he realized @FasionInGotham isn’t any safer from maniacs in Paris then she is in Gotham is strangely endearing and vaguely terrifying #whyismyfamilylikethis

Duke of Hazard @DoneWithTheRich

@TJDrake Like you and Barb aren’t frantically searching for anything you can find on the Miraculous Team and these weird-ass butterfly dude.

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich Bugout.com, It’s in French but informative.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve How did you find this before Barbs and me????

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve @TJDrake Alfred.

The news swept up the story in an instant and suddenly the whole world was demanding to know what the Parisian Mayor had been thinking and why the Justice League hadn’t been involved.

It wasn’t long until the entire Miraculous Team was seated in front of the Louvre. Countless new agencies from around the world were present, eager to hear the story of the sickeningly young-looking heroes, but the one video that received the most views was the shaky camera videos that were uploaded to Marinette’s Twitter, as they shortened the two-hour-long Press conference into manageable clips that highlighted the most important points.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

Full Lineup, Damn. Haven’t seen that since the last time we had a Scarlet Moth incident. For those who need context, this is like seeing the entire founding Justice League together to us Parisians.

The clip attached showed A panning shot as they introduced all of the heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir sat in the center of the long table flanked by Vipirion, plucking his lyre absentmindedly, Abeille, glaring down her nose at the reporters, a beaming King Monkey waving excitedly, and an eerie serious Bunnyx sitting as still as a statue to their right, on their left was fierce-looking Ryuko looking ready to slice anyone who got too close, the calculating Pegasus, mumbling under his breath, and lastly the timid Badulf, struggling to keep his red bangs out of his eyes.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

LMAO RYUKO #DRAGONQUEENSLAY

Don’t question Paris’ Heroes like that, they’re feisty.

The clip showed a British reporter demanding to know why the heroes hadn’t contacted the Justice League previously to gain their assistance in taking down the dangerous threat that was Hawkmoth.

You could Ladybug’s eye twitch at the condescending question, but before she could answer Ryuko leaned forward to the mic situated in front of her with a glint in her eyes.

“I apologize for my English,” She started, “I am not as versed in the language as some of my teammates. To answer your question on why we haven’t had the League’s help is because Green Lantern is a fuck.”

Silence filled the gathering before Chat, King Money and Bunnyx burst into giggles, the rest of the heroes struggling to keep a straight face. The media was staring at them dumbfounded until Ladybug finally leaned forward.

“I’m sorry for the outburst,” She started, lips still trying to twitch upwards, “But as Ryuko said we did ask for help. About five months into our heroship Chat and I received an answer from the League after trying for three months to contact them. The ‘help’ came in the form of Green Lantern coming and assessing the situation. Unfortunately for us, Hawkmoth is smart and when the neon green monstrosity of a hero flew in he laid low instead of attacking when a Leaguer was present. Without an attack and no physical damage present as one of my powers allows me to restore all damage done to Paris or its citizens, He decided we were powered children that were trying to get in the spotlight.”

“Getting lectured on wasting the League’s time and resources before he flew off really put a damper on us asking again,” Chat added in, toxic green eyes narrowed and laser-focused on the reporter, “So we handled it ourselves, gaining our own allies as we needed them. But please continue telling us how the League could have helped sooner if only we had asked for help.”

Clip after clip, ten of them total were uploaded into the thread. Explaining the worst battle the heroes had ever faced, the strength of their enemy, what the villain and his assistance could and would do, the worst attacks, the easiest wins, the ways that Ladybug and Chat chose their allies, but the last two clips seemed to get the largest reaction out of the audience, both at the press conference and the internet.

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Not gonna lie, seeing my tormentors get put on blast by all of the Heroes is very vindictive #IsthatMean? #MaybeSo

“You’ve seemed to have shifted your support away from one local blog, to another over any official news agency,” One of the nicer reporters at the events said, “Is there a particular reason? And why the sudden shift two years ago?”

Chat’s face was strangely pinched, “Oh you mean why we switched from giving exclusives to the LadyBlog to BugOut? It’s quite simple. We go to the news sources we trust to take the information we are willing to give without worrying about ratings as their top priority. We tried going to Nadja Chamack at first, the local news anchor that we all hold a great deal of respect for, but the producers threatened her to get a ‘highly-rated’ interview. It led to her asking questions Ladybug and I thought were counterproductive to the reason we were invited to the interview and was trying to turn us into celebrities instead of allowing us to do the jobs we needed to. It was a similar reason we stopped going to Alya Cesaire, the Ladyblog editor.”

Ladybug took over here, “Miss Cesaire has the ability to be a very good journalist, but as her blog grew in popularity, so did her need for highly viewed content, this caused her to not only start posting more rumors and speculation than anything we’ve ever said but also to stop fact-checking with us things she heard. Even after talking to her about removing the content that was blatantly untrue and was told no due to the high ratings it had received we realized that we simply couldn’t work with her anymore.”

Abeille piped up in a low regal voice that was dripping with venom, “It really didn’t help that when we started interviewing with Aurora Beaureal from BugOut, shortly after my introduction, Miss Cesaire began a smear campaign against her, claiming she was faking her sources and videos publicly on her blog. Luckily we were able to shut that down quickly enough but it didn’t stop Miss. Cesaire from running into battle to distract us, and frankly, harass us for answers even after we told her no. It’s lead to more than one incident where she, other civilians, and even ourselves have been hurt.”

“Either way,” Chat took over again, “We want to support local news sources but only when they are willing to listen to our boundaries and work with us instead of trying to push issues.”

“Does that mean that info we found on the Ladyblog is not to be believed?” Another reporter called out.

“I would take anything after the first post about Lila Rossi with a grain of salt,” Ladybug said, only for King Monkey to snort and lean towards the mic.

“Yeah and if Lila Rossi is mentioned at all in the post just assume everything in that post is fake. Miss. Rossi is a known liar and problem for us.”

“Can you give us an example?”

Ladybug sighed before explaining, “The first time I heard of Miss. Rossi was an interview on the Ladyblog of her claiming to be my best friend. Now I very much value the secrecy I and my team have created for ourselves because it protects our friends and families, but even a lie about knowing me in such a public setting is dangerous because Hawkmoth and Mayra have proven that they aren’t above underhanded tactics to try and get the upper hand in our fights. I went looking for the girl to explain why she can’t say such things for her own safety, only to find her telling a boy that she possessed the Fox Miraculous in a public park. I will admit I called her out in a way that wasn’t very nice but either claim was enough to put her in danger, but both were painting a target on her back and it scared me that someone would do something to impress a boy. After that, she was akumatized for the first time and since then it has gotten even worse despite me apologizing the second I cured the Akuma. Some of her lies are enough to count as Slander if any of the celebrities she lied about knowing saw the posts, but no amount of persuasion seems to get her to stop.”  

Wayne’s Angel @FasioninGotham

Watching their powers without the looming threat of an Akuma/Amok is a blessing. They look so cool! #Love #Miraculous

The clip started with the heroes standing in front of the table, grouped differently than before. Off to one side King Monkey, Viperion and Bunnyx stood, Viperion holding a microphone.

“While we would love to an demonstrate our powers as requested,” He explained, “Our powers are not really good for demonstrations. Mine is known as Second Chance.”

He raised his hand and pulled the slider across his bracelet as he named it, a flash of pale teal light admitting from it, “When activated like I just did, it allows me to return to the point of activation at any time before I detransform in fifteen minutes as many times as I wish with only myself remembering the previous changes I have made.”

Without even acknowledging the startled whispers from the crowd, he handed the microphone to King Monkey, who offered a cheeky smile.

“So my power is called Uproar. It allows me to create a toy-like object that when it comes into contact with someone causes all of their abilities to malfunction.”

He goes to pull his staff from where it was strapped to his back only for Vipirion to stop him. A silent exchange passed between the pair before the taller hero nodded and handed the microphone off to Bunnyx.

“Viperion and I have a similar reason for our powers being hard to show off, only his is a little more versatile,” She started in a voice devoid of any emotion, swinging her pocket watch slightly, “I have the power Burrow. It allows me, and anyone I chose to take with me, access to a pocket dimension where I can travel to any point in time or space that I chose, past, present, or future. While you might see me fight during any battle I can make it to, my power is a last-ditch effort, as I would have to travel back in time to change the past if I do this assume the future is unsavable.”

The hush that falls over the crowd was quickly broken by Ryuko tapping her group’s microphone to draw attention to the opposite side of the stage where she stood with Abeille, Badulf, Pegasus, Chat, and Ladybug.

“I believe it’s best to not dwell on any one of our powers,” She told them, “Our powers are scary and knowing that they can be taken from us at any time and used for nefarious purposes keep all of us up at night, but we ask you to trust us to use them only for good.”

She waited a moment for the crowd o calm down before giving her own explanation, “My ability is known as the Three Dragons, the Water Dragon, the Wind Dragon, and the Lightning Dragon.”

She handed off the microphone to Pegasus, before calling forth the Wind Dragon and bursting into a group of clouds that swiftly blew around the stage before traveling over to the Louvre Pyramid and watching as the heroine reformed at the top, offering a small wave before the call for Water Dragon could be heard and a large dome of water formed over the entire courtyard.

Before she could call for her last form the snake hero grabbed the microphone, “Lightning Dragon is a bad idea, Ryuko.”

The heroine didn’t even question him, instead, vaulting off of the pyramid, the crowed gasped only for her to effortlessly land next to Bunnyx in a crouch, brushing herself off as she rose and turned her gaze to the horse miraculous user, who quickly explained his power before calling forth Voyage.

His cry caused blue light to circle his arm and he sent it towards the top of the still-present water dome, with a controlled flick of his arm.

The heroes didn’t even blink as the crowd filled with cries as the Eiffel Tower fell through the portal, Ladybug’s yoyo whipping out to direct it’s decent, the entire courtyard shaking as the 10k ton structure landed.  

“I’m up next!” Chat called out with a large grin, while the reporters didn’t seem to know if they should pay attention to the moved monument or the hero. His explanation was short since they were many videos of him using it but that didn’t stop the international reporters from screaming as Cataclysm swirled around his hand eating away at the Eiffel Tower, leaving a pile of rust in the crater

“Is-Is this much property damage necessary?”

Abeille shrugged, “No, but once we get to Ladybug, it’ll make more sense. Either way my turn.”

An unpleasant chill went up the world’s spine as she demonstrated how she could freeze all voluntary movement of her target on Chat Noir, who was still as a statue the second her stinger touched him.

Ladybug quickly took the mic and began explaining her powers. The world watched in amazement at her pulling a red and black spotted camera from thin air before she launched it into the air with a cheer of “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Suddenly a glowing swarm of ladybugs formed and tore through the air, covering Chat Noir, releasing from Venom, before healing the crater and rust from nearby, dissolving the water dome in the same instance.

If there hadn’t been so many people present the world wouldn’t have believed that so much damage was just repaired in the span of ten seconds, but staring at the unimpressed Parisians around them the world finally seemed to grasp the reality of the situation.

These children were past what one would even expect from metas, from aliens and superhumans like they had seen around the world already. These were heroes that were harnessing the very forces that made up the universe and fighting them at the same time. Bunnyx wasn’t exaggerating when she mentioned that sometimes there would be apocalyptic endings to their fights.

Instead of letting the knowledge stew Badulf step forwarded, twisting the microphone as he explained his power of illusions for the reporters.

With a short tune on his flute suddenly the group of heroes was gone, All that remained was a Sign thanking them all for coming.  Even after the illusion faded the heroes were nowhere to be found, having used the final demonstration as the perfect cover to sneak away so that no one could follow them.  

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

I must say I was not expecting such an outpour of love for all of Our heroes but damn am I pleased by it. Ladybug is our big name but the others are honestly way underloved in Paris, especially Chat who’s been there since the beginning. #MiraculousTeam

Quick Poll Who’s your favorite, everyone? Mine’s Chat Noir

Ryuko (19%)

Abeille (12%)

Ladybug (14%)

Bunnyx (8%)

Viperion (12%)

Chat Noir (15%)

Pegasus (5%)

King Monkey (5%)

Badulf (10%)

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham I like Badulf, he’s the newest correct?

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @CainYouBelieve Yup! He’s only been around for four months, but he’s a pretty great fox!

Tim Drake Official @TJDrake

Fun Fact: I just heard Alfred swear for the first time while watching the press conference and it was to call Hawkmoth and Mayra an arsehole FLOB and his fucking Slag.

Never been more terrified,

Based on the faces around me neither has any of the other Waynes #AlfredisTerrifying

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why am I the go to person for everything Mircualous Team? BugOut.com is a great source if you want more info.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham Probably cause you're most famous Parsian? Or cause you were a miraculous user once?

Jason Todd Lives@BestTodd

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz IM SORRY?? DID YOU JUST SAY MARIGOLD HAD ONE OF THOSE MAGIC FUCKING GEMS???

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd That didn't come up in the conference did it? A few of the old users of miraculous got outed as heros so LB doesn't call on them anymore, but keeps tabs on them since HM and Mayra will try and emotionally malipulate them into getting akumatized. A few of us bonded over it.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd @FashionInGotham Its common knowledge in Paris, Mari, me and our other friend @NotaModel all had miraculous at one point, but HawkBitch found out so we can't ever use a miraculous again sadly. I had the Bee, Mari had the Mouse and Ari had the Snake

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

Why is Damian staring at a wall and not responding? What broke him? #Help???

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@AFlyingGrayson Nevermind #HecouldnthaveanormalGF? #HolyShitMari

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

So I can no longer say I've never seen a Bat before, just saw Signal and Red Robin, I think???

Gonna be real tho, I was expecting to see them in Gotham, NOT PARIS #wtf #Whyaretheyhere????

Marinette had barely sent the tweet before her phone was ringing.

"Are you being serious?" Adrian asked, in lieu of a greeting, "At least two of the Batfam is here?"

"Yeah," She whispered a bit numbly, eyes still focused on the roof she had watched them disappear from mere moments ago. It was far enough away that if she had been a normal human she wouldn't have heard them, but she wasn't a normal human, "Hey Adrian, Don't tell the team what I'm about to say, okay?"

"Are you okay, bugaboo?"  

"Questionable," She didn't even bother rebuking the nickname, "I think I might be dating a Bat."

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Taglist: @kceedraws @northernbluetongue @starry-bi-sky @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @lexysama @vincentvangoose @theatreandcomicfreak @vinerlover @calvin1394 @interobanginyourmom @imanerddealwith @aarushi-03 @rikku052 @fantasticfourintraining @clumsy-owl-4178 @two-faced-biatch @celestiacq @vgirl-10123 @peculiarlylostdreamer @tinybrie @treebrosha @sam-spectra @zalladane @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @7-sage-7 @blue-peach14 @nataladriana9 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @xxmadamjinxx @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @i-identify-as-a-mango @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay @vixen-uchiha @face-of-lazyness @lunar-wolf-warrior @derpingrainbow @drama-queen-supreme @vivilakitty @mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @ijustwannabecanadian @sharksharkbb @lysslovsanime @zazzlejazzle @corabeth11 @ur-average-reader @virgil-is-a-cutie @paradoxal-occurance @dur55 @this-is-vander @cowardlygaydinosaur @phantomneow12 @numbuh-7-knd @slytherinhquinn @celerystick045 @silvergold-swirl @dzcile @lordsmeldingtonthethird @asabella1224 @miraculous-simmer7 @god-is-dead-and-so-am-i @kuhakuanon @st0rmy-w1th1n @littleredrobinhoodlum @todaylillypads @screechingflapbiscuitpeach @a-complete-fool @urbanpineapplefarmer @woodland-queer @miraculousl4dybug @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @imanerddealwith @seraphichana @literalfantrash @zebrabaker @captainmac6 

[disorganizedkitten]

Surprise reminder I am not in fact dead. Happy whatever. I’m brainspewing a bunch of aus, mostly DC/batfam and Harry Potter atm and wanted to share some of my favorite moments from the HP planning sessions. These are... sort of from the same story? It’s evolved enough that I could split it into multiple stories based off which update/version it’s from.

Welcome to my Regulus Black Survives and ends up Raising Harry au that eventually melted into a very fun Twin Au that I hope I finish.

Harry: I CAN DESTROY HORCRUXES BY BLEEDING ON THEM

 Reg also sends him with a communication mirror because it's been four or five years, he's not going to be so callous as to deny he loves his kid.

  So they, being 12 and dumb, end up going in after her/him.

 Upon seeing Riddle leave the diary, Harry and Theo, who were raised by a Black and a Nott respectively, freaked. Theo didn't know what it was for sure, but could tell it was Bad, and Harry saw 75.9% sure it was a horcrux because really. What else can a person materialize out of?

 Riddle proceeds to monologue about how he hadn't expected this, Slytherins and Gryffindors working together? And aren't you a Nott? I wonder how your forefathers would feel. Etc. While Harry and Theo dodge the curses and continue to try to destroy the diary.

 "How can you be so powerful if you were defeated by a baby?!"

 The Basilisk ends up trying to listen to both of them, and then Connor tries to help, and Riddle tries to kill Harry w/ Ukri and Connor tries to take Riddle down, and Theo is darting around and tripping Ukri and Riddle up, while Ron has given up on his wand and is trying to wrestle Riddle, which leaves Harry again to take the diary.

When Sirius breaks out, Harry makes a lot of comments about just… cutting off his left arm. After all, no dark mark, no loyalty to the cause. Crippled, even if he was a loyal follower before. This is also his first elective year, which means that Reg sends him an old prosthetic to unravel for Ancient Runes.  Draco screams when Harry gets an arm in the mail.

Also Theo gets kidnapped by Sirius summer of 95 after he runs away to escape becoming a baby Death Eater. It's in broad daylight and causes so much panic

("I was wondering what that unholy shriek was" "a horcrux dying,")

 This leads to all sorts of hijinks because due to it being accidental, young, and without due process or practice, Fay is essentially an inferi. Except she still has a soul. It's weird. The necromancy-gone-sideways means that they're bonded.

Neville Longbottom and the Suspicious Letters - the Godbrother letters begin!!

 “I thought my brother was supposed to be raising you.” “I can go?” “Absolutely not, someone has to keep you alive.”

Regulus is a panicked box of nerves who accidentally acquired a child who should by all rights be his brother’s, and now he has to keep him

 Harry grew up around Reg who has Very Dangerous Magic™ all over the house, and has the time of his life watching things blow up 

 “Harry you’re going to singlehandedly give me grey hairs”

 “Honestly if it wouldn’t get more attention than I need I’d just kidnap you, they’re such horrid guardians. And I’m a Black, so that’s saying something!

(The Black Family Madness isn't inherited, it's learnt)

Adrian is a mortician because I really liked the idea of a murder basement except no one has ever actually died in the basement.

 Fay Dunbar vs the natural order

Neville Longbottom and the wallflower society

Charlie and Ginny Weasley are Parselmouths bc it makes me happy

 Happy Hogwarts day, Harry! Or should it be Happy Hogwarts Hour, Harry? Since you like alliteration? (I clearly remember Mass-Machete-Murderer).  I’m sad there’s no chance of running into you in diagon today, but hey! Hogwarts is coming soon! And then we can hang out whenever, right? Well, maybe not whenever. I guess we’d have to attend classes and make more friends. But otherwise! No more sneaking around! Unless you're a Slytherin. Then there might be some sneaking. But not as much! (Have we talked about that yet? I’m pretty sure I’m a shoe-in for Gryffindor, but… yeah. If you’re not, that’s completely okay!)  (^letter between Harry and the Other Potter Twin(tm) )

Hey, Harry. Mum just learned you’re a wizard (forgot to ask how, sorry, I’m sure she’ll tell you later) and has decided you need to come live in the wizarding world with us. I didn’t tell her anything. You and your Axe-bear uncle need to figure something out and fast. I’ll see what stalling I can do. XX, your lovely brother. (On the upside, we get 2 c e/o b4 Spt1!) (^Another actual letter from version 2-3 of this au)

 "You know," Theo says to Conner at one point. "It's a bit like Harry was raised by a Black."  Conner shrugs. "He was raised by an ex-death eater with one arm. Close enough." Theo does research and pretty much just figures that whenever Harry says he was raised by a dead man, he means legally. Theo puts his money on Regulus Black early on.

Theo’s a very smart cookie

 Harry also writes letters to Regulus using a constantly changing code which is really just pop culture references.

 We have a bunch of parselmouths this generation. See: Charlie Weasley, Ginerva Weasley. Henry Potter/Peverell. Connor Potter. Fay Dunbar/Black. (Also, Theo Nott, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, and a few others learn it for the sake of keeping up with them).  Bry is… one of those groups.

 Bryony becomes a Basilisk Breeder

 There are five prophecy children bc I can

‘Tuney rushed out “He's not here."  No duh, Connor thought but didn’t say. He hoped the adults had a plan for this, because if Harry and Connor had to come up with stories on their own (lie to their parents) there was no way it would end well.  Three years of letters and visits and Connor still didn’t have a name for Harry’s adult figure. He wondered morbidly if that was going to change today.’

‘Connor decided with a new thread of despair that yep, the adults were going to be lying to each other for the foreseeable future. Ugh.‘

‘When Reg catches Barty, the only one who does, neither of them attack.  "Why, Barty?"  "What else can I do?"  "Join us?"  "That won't be safe. Won't be fair. I'm trying to send one of those boys to their death."  "You're also helping keep them alive. Let me get you out." Barty switches allegiances that night. The moment he has a choice.’

 There are a lot of people who are willing to step away from Voldemort but don’t know how. They got in over their heads decades ago and now they’re stuck.

 That doesn’t mean they’ll sit around and watch their kids make the same mistakes.

[sixxstarrs]

too fast for love (ch. 1)

Summary: Lina was living her life how she wanted to, she was in a band and she had all of the drugs and alcohol she could want. It seemed to be her ideal until Nikki fell into her life and began rearranging things as fast as he would rearrange a hotel room.

Words: 1,885

Warnings: Drugs, alcohol, swearing

Notes: Hey guys! This is my first fic. Please do give feedback and feel free to request to join the tag list! I also write headcanons and oneshots so you can go to my inbox to request some of those as well. I really hope you all like this, I know I really enjoyed writing it. Also, this story takes place around the 1983 era, just for reference!

Tags: (none atm, feel free to request to be added!)

Alcohol was never Lina’s strong suit. Usually it was three shots of vodka and she was good to go… and by that, it means more than past tipsy. Some may call her a light weight, but to Lina it just meant she got to have fun faster, or at least that’s what she would say. Being in a band helped this, as well. Her and her bandmates were practically swimming in free booze, drugs and hookups (for the guys at least.)

Lina’s brown eyes were set on the shot glasses that were being passed around, making the one that reached her, her fifth for the night and she hadn’t even gone on stage yet.

“I’m so fucking nervous.” She whispered to her guitar player, an equally light weight girl whose family had adopted her from Korea at the age of two. With only one look Julie could tell that Lina was visibly drunk but she knew it was inevitable. “I really might piss myself.” Lina sighed and buried her face into her hands. Julie remained silent, a sort of nervous habit of hers. “Who the fuck lets us open for Motley Crue when we’ve only been a band for a year. They’re gonna shit on us.” The rambling continued and at this point it was obvious that Julie definitely had selective hearing.

“Shut the fuck up Lina.” Jack groaned from across their cramped little dressing room that all four members had to share. “You’re stressing me out, this room is so small I literally feel like I’m absorbing your negative energy.” He had both of his drum sticks clenched into one fist, the blunt ends propping his head up. He only earned a noise of complaint in response from Lina.

Jack’s complaint only earned the room about ten minutes of Lina-less silence, save the rhythmic drumming of his sticks and the mindless picking at Eric’s bass. Julie still sat in silence, choosing to read a magazine over practice her guitar.

“Five minutes.” Their manager said through the door, giving it a few heavy knocks that startled the band out of their spiraling.

“Another shot.” Lina began to pour four more shots, passing them around with frantic hands. Without missing a beat she threw back her sixth one for the night and hissed as it went down. Her eyes wandered, watching her members take their shots and Julie finally spoke up.

“We all look hot as hell, we’ve got this okay?” She gripped Lina’s face in her palms, her shot glass still in one of her hands. “Except for you, Eric, you look like you’re about to kick the bucket, but what else is new.” She teased and gently made her way past Lina, leaving the dressing room. Of course, to avoid being left alone with the boys she padded close behind Julie.

The pair of girls went to line up back stage where they knew to wait, the boys filing in soon after. Before Lina knew it she was being thrust onto stage with a microphone and a glass of vodka on ice in her hand. Y’know, as if the six shots before weren’t enough.

Lina’s usual perfect performance was marred into something new for the girl because of the copious amounts of alcohol in her system. If you were to add a couple of lines of cocaine who knows how it would have turned out. It most definitely wasn’t bad, though… It was… Maybe a new creative genius for the singer.

Honestly she couldn’t tell if she was proud of herself or not because she was more focused on stumbling off stage, running to her band’s shared dressing room and doing the couple lines of coke like she had thought about earlier.

“Wait, shit, you guys were sick!” A male’s voice echoed through the hallway in attempt to catch Lina’s attention, interrupting her in her bee line to the nearest bag of coke. She even stumbled a bit due to how fast she had been walking.

“Thanks man, we-” Eric was suddenly cut off by the blond everyone knew to be Vince Neil who had originally called out to Lina and her group.

“You should come over and party with us after this gig. Just follow the crowd.” Vince grinned as he walked by everyone, a certain lanky Tommy Lee following in his footsteps despite being almost a head taller than the other.

“Yeah… We’ll come.” Eric half heartedly called back, earning a small chorus of laughter from Julie and Jack. Lina had already taken off again to rummage through her belongings.

When the other three caught up to Lina she was already making lines on the ratty coffee table that honestly took up most of the space in their dressing room.

“Lemme get in on this.” Julie finally decided to unhinge considering she tried to limit her alcohol intake before the concert, already cleaning one up with her nose and a twenty before anything could be protested, not like Lina would have anyways. Lina followed suit almost as if it were clock work.

“Hey, if you guys want to-” Tommy Lee poked his head in the door but interrupted himself upon seeing the lines in front of the two girls, his eyebrows raising with excitement. “Yo, dude, I’ll pay you back later at the party.” The shirtless man ran over, drumsticks tucked into the waist band of his thin leather pants.

All the band could do was watch Tommy snort a line, try to explain where to meet after the gig, and then run off to join the rest of the Crue. There was a mutual agreement among Lina’s own band that no one exactly knew what to do which is why no complaints were made.

“You’re probably not gonna get that line back.” Jack said to Lina who was already going down for her second, unconcerned. Hell, it was Tommy Lee, she could have given it to worse people.

 Lina wasn’t sure if the party was what she had expected. Sure, her and her band had been on the Rock scene for a little over a year, so they had their fair share of parties, but this, this was different. It took place in a dingy, cramped apartment, half dressed groupies were filling the place, wall to wall, but there was copious amounts of drugs and alcohol. It wasn’t really enough to make up for the amount of girls, but if she was drunk enough, Lina didn’t care.

With that being said, Lina was certainly drunk enough. Jack was no where to be found, probably taking advantage of the immense amount of groupies, Eric was doing the same, but instead of off in someone’s bathroom he had one on each arm. Julie on the other hand was stuck in a corner arguing with some tall guy with black hair that Lina couldn’t quite make out from across the room, and here Lina was, mindlessly chatting with some dark haired groupie who was much more far gone than she was.

“I’ll be right back.” Lina held her hand out and promptly stood up, patting her pocket to make sure she had the one thing she needed. Her bag of cocaine. The last time she had done a line was back stage when Tommy stole one, and of course she hadn’t yet gotten one back.

Lina pushed through the people until she reached the bathroom, opening the door without hesitation. The sight in front of her made her squint her eyes. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was Nikki Sixx, Vince again and two groupies, all waiting while Nikki lined up four ivory slivers. Lina abruptly shut the door and leaned against the wall, her eyes focusing on Nikki’s hands.

“Hey, your drummer stole one from me, so like the proper loan shark I am I’m having to go to friends and family to get paid back.” Lina’s voice cut through the room and the four heads turned to look at her. Vince’s eyes automatically lit up upon seeing the girl.

“Shit I thought y’all didn’t come! Nikki cut her a line.” The blond nudged the bassist who was already pouring some out of the bag, his eyes lingering on the brunette girl.

“We’ve been hiding, pretty sure my guys are taking advantage of the amount of tits that follow your band around.” A small smile curled to the corners of Lina’s rather plump lips, her eyes focusing on Vince. With one glance to Nikki she noticed he was seemingly drilling holes into her forehead. His intense stare was enough to make her glance away before he did.

“And you’re not?” Vince teased her in response, stepping aside to let the two groupies go. At this point Lina had her head laid back against the wall she was propped up on, her eyes barely hanging open.

“I tried, wasn’t as fun as expected.” As she spoke she watched Nikki open the door to the bathroom and urge the two groupies out with a simple nod of his chin. The two girls gave him a small look of offense before trading their own looks between each other and then leaving.

“What the fuck, I was totally trying to fuck the red head.” Vince shot out, doing his line before leaving just as fast as the girls did and of course following their trail. Nikki only closed the door behind the singer, leaning on the opposite wall of Lina. Just as he had done to the two groupies, he gave Lina a small nod of his chin, but this time it was for her to go ahead of him.

“A gentleman.” She teased and bent down, doing her business before returning to her spot. The girl’s dark colored eyes fluttered closed behind her thick, mascara covered lashes, leaving Nikki to his own devices. Despite the drugs it was getting harder and harder for her to keep her eyes open. She was definitely past her limit on the alcohol and she could painfully tell.

The only thing that made her open her eyes was the feeling of pressure between her legs, and when she finally looked she was faced with Nikki who towered over her, his knee pressed between her thighs. Almost instinctively Lina allowed her arms to snake around his neck at their own pace, locking in as he took this as a ‘go.’

His warm lips ghosted his whisky filled breath against the side of her neck, and even though she couldn’t bare to keep her eyes open and her hearing was definitely fading, she thought she heard the door open and close right after, the person swearing when they saw it was ‘occupied.’

“Fuck me, Sixx.” Lina whispered out, the words rather bold even for her, but her voice faded off. The bathroom stayed silent of their voices, until Nikki pulled away to undo his belt buckle and he noticed that Lina’s eyes were seemingly glued shut. Not in a ‘I’m enjoying the moment’ type of way, but as in a ‘I took too many shots and now I need a nap’ type of way.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nikki hissed in a low voice, his arms wrapping themselves around her frame so he could at least drag her to put her somewhere safe.

[pumpkinspicejackotaco-blog]

In Your Arms Again// TRR oneshot

HELLO. MY NAME IS PUMPKINSPICEJACKOTACO BUT YOU CAN CALL ME ASSHOLE. THIS IS MY FIRST EVER FAN FICTION TO BE WRITTEN ON TUMBLR. I HAVE A WATTPAD TOO BUT I DON'T USE IT AS MUCH ANYMORE. ANYWAYS. THIS IS ABOUT MY MC (Lily Josephine Brooks) WHO HAS BEEN AWAY IN IRAQ AND DIDN'T TELL LIAM AND SHE COMES BACK AND YADAYADAYADA. ENJOYYYYYYYY

××××××××××××××storystartshere××××××××××

Lily stepped off the plane at Fort Bragg Air Force base and ran a tanned hand over her chestnut hair. The terminal was awash with people, families holding signs for their loved ones but like every tour, Lily was alone. After grabbing a crappy coffee from one of the machines, she turned on her phone to find 3 missed calls; one from Maxwell, one from Hana and one from Drake.

With a tired sigh she opened the messaging app and texted Maxwell;

FROM- Lil Blossom 🌸🌸🌸 TO- Max the Dancing Unicorn 🦄🦄🦄

🌸 heyy it's me. Just landed, flight leaves from Raleigh-Durham at 1438. I should land around noon your time.

🦄 SWEEEEEET. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU BOO! I'LL GET YOUR ROOM PREPPED AT RAMSFORD ASAP.

🌸 thanks dude. Can we have pizza?

🦄 anything for my little blossom.

🌸 great. Gotta go. Love youuu

🦄 love you too baby sis

Lily looked up to find her "mother", Lynette peeping over her shoulder.

"Going back to Cordonia?" She grinned.

"Where else? Liam and Madeleine are over and my name is a cleared." Lily grinned back, showing her ever so slightly twisted canines. Her smile wasn't perfect as she had grown up in an orphanage but everyone she met found it adorable.

" Are you forgetting you never told him?" Lynette quizzed, sounding sceptical.

"Hana told him I needed space and that I was staying with family. Both of which are true." She shrugged.

"Fair enough. Do you wanna grab some food? We have five hours til you need to be at the airport and Tom and the kids won't get here for another 90 minutes." Lynette said, hugging Lily.

"Let's do it. McDonalds or Starbucks?"

×××××LeTimeSkipApprox2HoursLater×××××

Lily and Lynette sat on a bench in a local park, watching Lynette's two, four year old sons; Harry and Milo play tag. They were still in their uniforms as neither had brought appropriate civvies with them, it was calm, peaceful almost and the fall sun shone through the fiery red branches.

"Makes the distance worth it right? Seeing them play without worrying about terrorists and bombs tryna blow them up." Lily stated, smiling softly at the two ginger boys.

"Certainly does." Lynette nodded.

First Sergeant Lynette Danvers was a tall, willowy woman of 37 with short blonde corkscrew curls and deep blue eyes that were intelligent. She had joined the Army at age 20 after doing two years in community college studying art. Her husband, Tom was an architect of 40 and stood at around six foot. He had met Lynette when she was 23 at a bar in New Orleans during mardi gras and it had been love at first sight. Their relationship had never been easy, as Lynette had devoted her time to the Army. Two years later, he had proposed in Miami and they had married a year later in Lynette's home town of St.Pauls a year later. Three years later, Lynette would meet the scared 18 year old Lily Josephine Brooks on the runway at Camp Bastian.

They had bonded instantly, Lily and Lynette, both had had troubled childhoods and Lily felt soothed by Lynette's prescence. They bonded even more after the death of Harry Rourke, a close friend and once more when Lynette invited Lily back to St Pauls for Christmas with her and Tom. Since then, they'd been inseparable.

Tom walked over, holding paper cups of hot chocolate and smiled fondly at them.

"I barely see you these days Lil." He said.

"You know I'm only a phone call away Tom." Lily grinned.

"Still."

"I can't believe how big the boys are now." She shook her head.

"I can't believe they have more stamina than a platoon of trained soldiers." Lynette scoffed.

"Hey!" Lily gasped.

Tom chuckled and shook his head. "That'll be you in a few years."

"Yeah I hope so. But if the people hate me then there's no point. Liam needs to do what's best for Cordonia." She sighed.

"Your happiness matters too you know." Lynette soothed.

"Well if it doesn't work out then I'm going on another bajillion tours. They're easier to deal with than a bunch of angry Cordonians."

"You'll be fine. Just think. In like 23 hours you'll be back there with your friends." Tom smiled.

Lily chuckled. "Oh yes."

××××××3×hours×later××××××××RDU×××××××

Lily said her goodbyes to her friends and walked through the security gate, excited to be starting a new chapter in her life.

16 hours later, Lily touched down at Kenna International Airport, just outside of Cordonia's capital, Stormholt. She was still in her uniform which made matters awkward when she was greeted by a bunch of photographers.

"Lady Lily, where have you been?"

"Lady Lily, are you happy your name is cleared?"

"I'll release an official statement later, but you'll have to excuse me for a moment. I've not slept in 4 days and I'm running off of coffee and protein bars. Thank you for your time." She rushed, spotting Bertrand and Maxwell outside waiting for her next to a black range rover. She climbed into the passenger seat and Maxwell pulled away from the screaming paparazzi.

Meanwhile in the palace, King Liam sat in a living room, drinking tea with Regina and his father, the news was on in the background. They were sat discussing Leo's most recent antics when Regina froze, picked up the remote and turned the volume up on the television.

"This just in, Lady Lily Brooks or should we say, Sergeant Lily Brooks is back in Cordonia. The woman, who was a victim of a major press scandal back in December was seen walking through Kenna International wearing full US Army uniform and carrying a rucksack. When confronted by the press, she issued this statement.;"

The screen flashed to Lily walking through the airport with bags under her eyes and her cheeks looking noticeably slimmer, her cap was on her head and a few sneaky strands had slipped out from her bun. Liam gasped.

Lily had obviously lost weight and there was a visible healing cut above her left eye. She looked so tiny and warrior like in her uniform which was dusty and wrinkled from travel, yet he had never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.

"I'll release an official statement later, but you'll have to excuse me for a moment. I've not slept in 4 days and I'm running off of coffee and protein bars. Thank you for your time." Her voice. Oh her voice! It was like a choir of angels to his ears.

He lunged for his phone and texted Maxwell.

FROM- Kingy King Liam 😉 to Maxwell Beaumont 🦄

😉 is Lily with you?

🦄 yaaaaaa but she's drivin ATM. Can I pass a message on?

😉 don't you have Bluetooth?

🦄 ohh yeah. Btw why don't you text her yoself?

😉 she blocked my number after the first 100 calls...

🦄 AHAHAHAHAHAHA

😉 it's not funny Maxwell!!!

🦄 IT LIKE TOTEZ IS

😉 let me speak to her

🦄 one sec imma askkkkk

🦄 yeah iss kewl

Regina and Constantine looked on at the anxious king who held his phone to his ear.

"Lily?" He began, putting her on speaker.

"Hey you." She said softly, while tears streamed down Liam's cheeks.

He took a deep breath. "How are you?" He asked, running a hand through his already tousled hair.

"Fine. Not slept in four days but apart from that life's good." She said clearly.

"Why the blazes are you driving then!? You could crash!" Came the voice of Bertrand.

"Calm your ass Bert. I'm fine." Lily sassed back at him.

Regina flinched at the use of Lily's choice of words.

"Don't call me Bert." Threatened Bertrand.

"Or what? You gonna spit out your tea and challenge me to a duel?"

Maxwell snorted in the background while Constantine chuckled.

Liam sat there frozen as the bickering continued, along with the odd curse from Lily at idiotic drivers.

Bertrand cleared his throat. "Perhaps, your majesty and the dowager king and queen would care to join us at Ramsford for a few days."

"If that is an invitation Duke Ramsford then we would be delighted to accept." Liam said professionally.

"MAX YOU ASSHOLE I'M TRYING NOT TO CRASH YOUR GODDAMN CAR!" Lily screamed.

Regina looked as if she was about to faint.

"THAT IS ENOUGH YOU TWO! Your majesty, I am terribly sorry, they will be SEVERELY reprimanded upon return to the Estate." Bertrand blabbered.

"Ooh kinky." Maxwell snorted.

The sounds of Lily's delightful laughter echoed in the room, before Bertrand ended the call.

ANOTHER DUCKING TIME SKIP BECAUSE I SUCK ASS. THIS TIME IT'S THREE DAYS. LILY HAS SPENT HER TIME SLEEPING AND TALKING WITH A PSYCHOLOGIST.

Liam thrust open the door of the SUV he had been travelling in, exiting before Bastien had even gotten the chance to scan the perimeter. He was dressed in his regular suit, hair perfectly styled. But to him, looks didn't matter. What mattered was the 5,2 woman that stood on the front steps of the elegant manor.

Lily, to him, was breathtaking. Half of her hair was pulled back from her face in a loose bun, the rest curling down her back like a river of autumn that shone brightly in the early morning light. Her eyes, a shade of blue that rivalled the waters of Portavira locked with his own and he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. The corner of her nude lips rose, just a little. But enough for him to catch his breath. She wore a navy blue shirt dress and a grey cashmere cardigan with black tights and light brown ankle boots.

She stood with Maxwell and her precious corgi, Pumpkin who dozed at her feet.

Bertrand stepped forward after Regina and Constantine had gotten out and welcomed them politely before gesturing for Lily and Max to follow.

Liam was done waiting. He rushed forward and caught her in his arms, spinning her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled.

"Oh god. Oh god." He murmured.

"I'm so sorry." She sobbed.

"No. It's fine. I'm glad you're safe but this can't wait."

"What can't?" She asked.

"Lily Josephine Brooks. I have loved you since day one and I will be damned if I cannot see your face every day for the rest of my life." He began, looking at his father who gave him a nod.

He got down on one knee and produced the ring from his pocket.

"Will you do me the honour of being my wife and being the queen of Cordonia?" He asked, tears pooling in his eyes.

She nodded. "Yes. Yes. A THOUSAND TIMES YES!" She yelled the last part and he slid the ring on her finger before picking her up again, the world disappearing. As it always did when they were together.

[tarithenurse]

In defense of Asgard (7/?)

Wordcount: 2178

Warnings: Language, some violence, fluff (”Keep reading” because of length)

A/N: Thanks for sticking with this so far! I’m trying to write the last chapter atm, which is a smut-fest, but keep getting distracted by other things too.

Reader’s PoV

[Y/N] is trying her best to look calm, forcing her pace to resemble a leisurely yet determined saunter, until she reaches the door to the admiral’s cabin (finding it had been easy enough after a curt chat with a lieutenant). Straightening up, she checks that nothing betrays her disguise even if her body and eyes are itching in protest of the unnatural colour scheme, that she’s adopted to move around the ship freely. Looking like the ensign that normally is tasked with chaperoning [Y/N] around is not comfortable. Then she knocks. She can see his lazy reaction, see how the admiral’s chest rises and falls with the release of a sigh before he gets to his feet and heads for the door.

“Yes?” The glare is not much friendlier than when he has faced her in the cell.

Licking the lips for a bit of moisture, [Y/N] salutes the way she has seen his subordinates do. “Pardon the intrusion, sir.” She fights to keep the voice even and professional. “I was hoping to discuss recent observations of the prisoner.”

The admiral motions for her to enter, closing the door behind them both, before he crosses the room and takes a seat in a recliner next to a low table with a glass and a metal container which he grabs to pour himself more to drink, emptying it. The thing looks heavy, sturdy. Not having been offered a seat, [Y/N] remains on her feet, sweeping her eyes over the surroundings for a sign of any weapons. There. On a hook by the foot end of the bunk is the belt with gun and the blasted taser-staff. Too far for him to reach quickly.

“What observations?” The Sovereign prompts, forcing her to face him.

“I believe the prisoner is responsible for clogging the lavatories, sir.” The only response is a subtle arching of the brow. “Not only is it more reasonable to expect, that she would try to sabotage anything she could, rather than one of us doing it, but it fits with the timing as well.”

She had not expected the force with which the admiral jumps to his feet, yelling at her: “Are you saying I’M WRONG?! That I DON’T have CONTROL over my own PRISONERS?!” Spit is flying from his mouth and veins a throbbing on the man’s neck and temple. Then, just as sudden, he takes a calming breath and steps back. “But tell me, since you believe, that you know so much, just how would she manage such a thing? Each blockage in the plumbing has been made with spray foam. Any theories as to how she should have gotten hold of that and smuggled it with her?”

That’s why they haven’t blamed me yet. “I believe, she smuggles it in her body…if I may show you?”

He nods as if it’s only to humour the young ensign but pays more attention as she unzips the uniform jacket and grabs the metal carafe. It feels like lead or solid gold, even if it’s much sturdier. Explaining exactly how [Y/N] has been doing it, but not showing, she steps closer a bit at a time before seemingly preparing to illustrate it on herself…but instead of pressing the cold metal to her abdomen and forcing it up under the ribs, she swings hard and fast, landing a dazing blow to his skull.

By the time the admiral reawakens, he finds himself tied up on the floor, the recognizable face of a dangerously calm prisoner inches from his. [Y/N] is exchanged her own borrowed uniform for his, leaving him underdressed. The next thing he discovers is the taser-staff that’s caressing his limbs, already sending tiny sparks from the overcharge into him with a crackling sound.

“You!” The responding smile is broad and too cold for his comfort. “How did –?”

[Y/N] shushes him. “I doubt you’d believe me even if I did explain…” The rod comes to rest at his neck, and she knows he sees how the violet has taken over her irises completely. “Besides, you aren’t worth the time it would take to explain it. I just wanted your toy.”

Pushing the button, she almost feels sorry for not enjoying the view of him squirming in agony for several seconds before stopping the electric current, allowing him to slump on the floor.

“Don’t…p-please!” He’s gasping, and tears are streaming down his face. “I’ll tell you everything!”

The smile dances across her lips. “Oh, thank you.”

…

Loki’s PoV

They were expecting the Sovereign cruiser to be moving at top speed towards its destination instead it was hanging immobile in the wastes near a broken, planetless moon. Loki glances over Sif’s shoulder to get a better look at the screen that are showing the results of the ongoing scan of the enemy vessel.

“There,” the queen points to a section near the belly of the ship, “very few life signs, and an access hatch we can use to gain entry.”

Fandral is already on it, bringing the M-ship (courtesy of the Ravager Stakar Ogord) into position mere feet from the cruiser’s hull. With a button, tethers are fired to connect the two ships and form the frame of a temporary air lock. It takes little effort for Loki to conjure a copy of himself on the other side of the metal, and both the copy and the real prince leers at the sight of the empty space that leads on to a darkened corridor. Facing the locking mechanism of the hatch, he is pleased to see how easy this is going to be. Ten minutes later, the real Loki is standing side by side with the Warriors Three, softly discussing where to go, until they are interrupted by Sif’s voice rings out to them to hurry up or she will go instead of one of the men, and since none of them want to sit out (least of all Loki), they head into the maze in the hopes of finding a console with an overview of the ship’s interior.

…

“This is –“

“Gross!” Volstagg finishes Fandral’s sentence.

None of the men would normally complain about getting dirty during combat, but they need to hide for a moment to allow approaching Sovereign to pass without discovering the intrusion…unfortunately the hiding spot had turned out to be the trash compactor. It is a smelly place, with gunk sticking to the walls and fat orloni are scurrying out of the reach of the sudden intruders. Loki is scanning the dimly lit room, when his eyes fall on a bit of clothing that does not belong to any of the fiends on board. Walking over, he stoops to pick up a pair of leather trousers. His knuckles are turning white as he clutches the soft object and his hands are shaking, because all the horrible reasons as to why [Y/N]’s clothing has been discarded is running though his mind. None of his comrades dare say a word, they merely watch him with pained expressions in their faces as he turns the attire around.

“No blood.” Perhaps it is meant as a reassurance to himself, when Loki voices the observation.

Magically spying into the long corridor, he signals for the others to go when he finds it empty. As they hurry along, the conjurer sends out eyes and ears in all directions, passing unhindered through walls and ceilings, to locate the reason for their presence. The insurgents do not have to walk far before finding odd scenarios mostly consisting of incapacitated or even killed Sovereign, all of them tugged away neatly in sleeping quarters or storage units to ensure that they are not easily discovered by passers by.

They hear the struggle of combat before they see it. Ignoring the whispered pleas from his friends, Loki sprints towards the sound, daggers at the ready and only vaguely aware that the others are following him closely. Skidding around the corner, he quickly takes in the scene to evaluate the options. A sliding door is moving furtively back and forth in its tracks, jammed open by the lifeless body of a sovereign commander. On the other side of the doorstep are more bodies, those most of these seem to merely be stunned, lying on the floor or awkwardly propped up against the engines of the ship. The only light sources are the yellow glare shining through the grid floor and the red flashes from a soundless alarm system, and the hellish gloom leaves most of the face of a figure in darkness as it examines the controls on one of the large engineer consoles for the propulsions. Despite the ill fitting, blue uniform, this is no Sovereign.

“Hi guys.” [Y/N] smiles deviously over the shoulder before pulling a lever. “What’re you doing here?”

The four men exchange glances that somehow sends them into a fit of laughter.

“We are here to rescue you, my flower” Loki can’t hide a grin of his own, “yet, it appears you have everything under control.”

As she moves to her husband, Hogun steps over to see what the woman has been doing, but the prince does not care about anything else now that the couple is reunited. It feels good to have [Y/N] in his arms, to breathe in her scent as he buries his face in the soft curls.

At the console, Fandral has joined the stoic friend. “My friends,” the blond’s voice sounds urgent, “we may want to abandon this vessel presently, lest we wish to perish.”

“It’s working?!” Breaking free of the embrace, [Y/N] studies the meters and lights. “I don’t know the way to the emergency pods, so how did you get here?

It takes little time to explain, and soon the five of them are hurrying back the way the men had come. They are only a few hundred meters from the hatch leading back to the M-ship when the earsplitting cacophony of alarms start blaring, accompanied by flashes of light and the prerecorded warning of imminent engine failure. Freeing a rod from her belt, [Y/N] keeps running, only once pausing to jab the item through a door opening, through which a stunned Sovereign tumbles to the ground before Fandral.

“Turn left.” Volstagg guides.

A jarring shudder travels through the cruiser, setting off new warnings of fire and pressure loss. Extending his will, Loki conjures a copy of himself inside the cockpit of the borrowed ship, making Sif jump by the sudden appearance. Explaining the situation takes little time, and the queen has prepared all she can by the time the would-be rescuers and former prisoner board the Ravager vessel, severing the pathway and the grappling cables behind them. In the nick of time. From the cockpit, the Asgardians can see the billowing flames and debris erupt through the hull of the cruiser, but thankfully Sif is already maneuvering the M-ship out of harm’s reach.

Now that the running has ended, Loki has taken a seat on a crude bench near the back of the bridge and pulled [Y/N] close to his chest, altering between caresses and frantic attempts to ensure, that she is unharmed.

“I’m fine, love,” she soothes, “they were more civilized than I’d expected.”

“We thought they had taken you prisoner.” The husband mutters.

Joining in on the conversation, Volstagg ambles towards them. “Indeed. What happened?”

Agreeing to explain everything in greater detail when they are back on Asgard, [Y/N] sketches the series of events leading up to her capture (confirming what Heimdall already had told) as well as the ploy to sabotage the ship until she had gained sufficient knowledge to find the way on her own. Loki’s heart swells with pride, when he listens to the trickeries, she has performed. It explains the male admiral uniform she is wearing.

Hogun, who rarely says much, finally speaks up. “Bear with me, m’lady, when I ask…by sabotaging the engines, you were hoping to render the ship inoperable?”

“Yes. Maybe even blow it up, but I don’t know much about those things.” She had been successful in both.

“How, then, were you planning to escape?” The Vanir’s words bring the attention of anyone to a muddy detail. “The Sovereign never invest in escape pods.”

For a brief moment, [Y/N]’s face is buried at her husband’s shoulder, making it impossible to read her expression. “That wasn’t the best discovery, I admit.” Looking anywhere but at them, she appears to blush. “Uhmm…turned out they had a fleet of Omnicrafts with them, so…yeah…I was gonna try stealing one of those.”

Taking charge of the conversation, she explains the reason the captors kept her alive and how she used the immense pride of the admiral (and his wish to make a good impression to the High Priestess) to her own advantage. Slowly, her voice becomes slower and her head rests heavier on Loki’s shoulder. Cradling her in his arms, he gets to his feet and carries her towards one of the questionable bunks on a lower deck, where he remains with her.

[glowrioustrash]

Escape

Prompt: “If you could make it a horror story involving Dean Ambrose and Renee Young as a couple? Along with Seth Rollins and Cathy Kelley as exes who pretend to hate each other, though it's clear they still have feelings for one another. I'm trying to think of a way the four of them can be brought together... Maybe Dean and Renee could be going on a road trip, and he invites his friend Seth, while she invites her friend Cathy. How the road trip leads to horror is completely up to you, but my friend loves horror and suspense, so make it as creepy as you want." Requested by @devilzadvokitty​ for her friend’s birthday. 

Pairing: Dean Ambrose x Renee Young, Seth Rollins x Cathy Kelley

Word Count: 6200+

Warnings: Kidnapping, blood, various (nonthreatening) injuries, mentions of a gun?, lots of swearing. It’s not a fun one lol

Author’s Note: WOWEE So this was a challenge - and I love a challenge. This was out of my comfort zone for a few different reasons, including: the genre, trying to get it done in time, I don’t typically write Renee, I’ve never written Cathy. Basically I had no damn idea what I was doing, but I hope it turned out okay! Part of me felt it was really short as I edited, but the fact that the word count is over 6000... and honestly this is kinda tame. I could have really put these four through the ringer, but again... timeline.

ANYWAY Happy birthday mystery friend!

Tagging: @castielscamander​ / @therealfivefeetoffuckingfury​ / @kakakatey​ / @thirstiswet​ / @calwitch​ (I don’t have my tag list with me ATM, so if I miss anyone, sorry!)

“All set?” Renee asked over Dean’s shoulder as he loaded the last of their bags into the trunk of the SUV.

“All set.” He confirmed, turning to lay an arm over her shoulders. “Just gotta wait for the tagalongs.”

“Don’t call them tagalongs,” Renee laughed, smacking him lightly on his chest. “That makes it sound like they weren’t invited.”

“Fine. The squatters.”

“Dean!” She laughed even harder, shaking her head. Dean grinned down at her, squeezing her shoulders.

“Seth’ll be here soon, then we can hit the road.” Dean told her, noticing the way she froze under his arm.

“Seth?”

“Yeah. You told me to invite a friend.” He reminded her.

“But not Seth!”

“Who else did you think I’d invite?”

“Roman.”

“You thought Roman would want to come to a cabin in the woods with us, for a whole week away from his wife and kids?” He asked her, skeptically.

“Well, not when you put it that way.” Renee grumbled.

“Why is this such a problem anyway?”

“Because I invited Cathy.” Renee told him.

“Ahh, shit.” Dean cursed. “This is gonna be nice and awkward.”

Seth and Cathy had been dating until a few months ago, both of them agreeing that the relationship just wasn’t working. The stress of being on the road, as well as dating a coworker, was getting to be too much and they parted ways. It had initially been a fairly civil breakup, a few words exchanged in passing and a functioning working relationship. In the past month however, the working relationship had dissolved. Now the ex-couple would ignore each other at best, snide comments and glares across the way at worst. Everyone knew it could be worse, they had seen plenty of messy break-ups in their company, but those usually ended with one of the two either quitting or getting fired. Their friends all hoped it would resolve itself before it got to that.

Dean had been right, though he wish he hadn’t. The moment Seth and Cathy saw each other, the temperature around the four of them dropped. Lucky for the married couple, it seemed that today the duo were happy to ignore each other and not get into any sort of fight. The silence in the car was stifling, Renee trying to carry the conversation for 45 minutes before she eventually gave up. She turned the radio on to try and alleviate the tension.

Three excruciating hours into the drive, Dean pulled into an old, abandoned looking gas station.

“Is this place even open?” Seth scoffed.

“Says it is.” Dean shrugged, pointing at the neon sign blinking in the window. Without that sign, there was nothing on the outside of the building that would give any hint to it being a functioning gas station. Renee shot him a look, clearly asking if he was out of his mind. He just shrugged and opened the door, stepping out of the SUV. Seth followed him from the backseat.

Renee turned to look at Cathy, who seemed to share the same sentiment.

“Stretch our legs, I guess?” Renee offered.

“Yeah, it’ll be nice that we stretched once we’ve been murdered in the middle of nowhere.” Cathy shot back, only half joking.

Renee glanced at the guys who were making their way into the building. “What’s going on with you and Seth?”

“Nothing’s going on. What do you mean, what’s going on?” Cathy answered, a shade too quickly for it to be true, prompting Renee to shoot her a look of disbelief.

“Everything was fine when you two broke it off, but lately...” Renee trailed off, searching for the right words.

“Maybe… maybe I miss him.” Cathy admitted quietly. “But maybe I’m just lonely. I don’t know. I can’t tell if I’m missing him for him or if I just miss someone being there.”

“Why don’t you say something?”

“Please. He hates me.” Cathy shook her head.

“You’d be surprised.” Renee encouraged.

“We should stretch before the guys come back.” Cathy shut the conversation down, opening the door and climbing out of the vehicle. Renee sighed and followed suit.

Inside they found the boys skeptically searching through the offered snacks. Nothing looked particularly appetizing. Most of the packages were covered in dust or had visible mold inside. Renee reminded herself to share the hand sanitizer she had in the car once they left. She glanced around, seeing Seth was out of earshot if she kept her voice down.

“Babe,” she wrapped her arm around Dean’s waist as he grimaced at the bags of chips. “Do you know if Seth still feels anything for Cathy?”

“How would I know?” He asked with a shrug, picking up a bag to inspect it.

“Don’t you guys talk?” Renee questioned.

“Why would we talk about his ex? He hasn’t brought her up and I haven’t asked.” Dean explained as he set the bag of chips back with disdain.

“Could you ask?” She prompted, giving him her best doe eyes.

“Why? What kinda trouble you tryin’ to get me into?” Dean smirked down at her.

“Cathy misses him. What if the break-up was just stress from all the travel or something? We’ve had a few drag downs on the road. It’s normal in this business.”

“Yeah, but we make up. And I do enjoy making up with you.” He growled lowly, pulling her in close, making her giggle.

Seth was a few rows down, frowning at the “food” being offered. He looked up at Renee’s giggles, wandering away from the section with a sour look on his face. He questioned why he had agree to come on this road trip at all. It would have been bad enough being the third wheel to the happy couple, but now on top of it he had to spend the time with his ex. It was a lose-lose situation.

Thinking about his ex, he couldn’t help it as his eyes locked onto her where she stood at the magazine rack, sunglasses pushed up on top of her head. She looked good in her peach coloured sundress. Before he could let his thoughts get away from him, he forced himself to look away. That’s when he noticed the large, older man standing at the cash register, waiting for them to finish their purchases. The man was being extremely obvious as he looked over Cathy, clearly appreciating her dress as well.

Seth frowned and marched over to Cathy, draping his arm over his shoulders.

“Seth!” She jumped. “What are-”

“Shh, the guy working here is eying you.” He whispered, picking up a magazine. “It was giving me the creeps.”

“Oh.” Cathy settled down, accepting Seth’s hold. She even leaned into his shoulder… just to really sell it, she told herself.

“So, where you kids headin’?” The man at the cash asked as Dean approached with a box of twinkies. They were dusty, but those things lasted forever, he reasoned with Renee.

“Uhh, just a cabin little ways from here.” Dean answered, keeping it vague.

“Nice rom’ntic get’way, huh?” He man leered, showing off his several missing teeth.

“Something like that.” Dean shrugged it off. “How much for the twinkies?”

“Sure tha’s all you want?” The man tried.

“Yeah. You know what?” He threw a five dollar bill on the counter. “Keep the change.” Dean stormed out.

“Dean…” Renee started as the door to the store closed behind them.

“What? Did you want to spend anymore time in there?” He challenged, which Renee didn’t respond to. “That’s what I thought.”

He opened the box, happy to see the twinkies looked edible. He tore into a package, passing one of the two to Renee. They leaned against the car, waiting for Seth and Cathy.

The two exited shortly after, neither having bought anything. Renee saw that Seth’s arm was draped over Cathy and got excited, but Cathy shook her head subtly. Renee deflated at that.

“We set?” Seth asked.

“Yeah. Thank god we packed food.” Dean spoke around a mouthful of twinkie as he opened the door.

“Let’s get out of here.” Cathy agreed, pulling her sunglasses off her head and putting them on. The four climbed back into the car, happy to have stretched their legs. Renee and Dean noted that the climate between Seth and Cathy seemed less hostile as well, which hopefully meant the rest of the trip would go over smoothly.

Dean turned the key to start the car but the engine sputtered and failed.

“Are you serious?” Renee groaned. He huffed and tried again, only to get the same result.

“What the fuck, man?” Dean grumbled under his breath as he kept trying to get the engine to turn over. After five times he sat back with a loud groan.

“What do we do?” Cathy asked from the backseat.

“C’mon Rollins. Let’s take a look at this thing.” Dean ordered, climbing back out of the vehicle. “You two stay in here, okay?” He told Renee and Cathy before closing the door. Seth parroted the instructions for the girls to stay put before he joined Dean outside. Dean popped the hood easily, looking over the engine.

Cathy and Renee sat inside, anxiously waiting for the guys to fix the car. Neither of them liked that with the hood up, they couldn’t see the guys at all.

“I’ve got no service.” Cathy spoke, moving her phone around to try and get some reception.

“Let me check.” Renee dug her cell phone out of her pocket too, unsurprised to find that in the middle of nowhere, she wasn’t getting any reception either.

“Well, if the guys can’t get it figure out, we can go back in and ask if they have a phone.” Renee suggested.

“I really just wanna get out of here.” Cathy admitted. “I’d rather not talk to that guy again.”

“Yeah, me too... “ Renee agreed. “Not that we’re damsels in distress by any means, but we’ve got some pretty good men to take care of us while we figure it out.” She joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“You’ve got a good man.” Cathy corrected. “I’ve got… well, I don’t really have anyone.”

“Seth’s not gonna just leave you out here.” Renee argued. “No matter how he feels, those two are gonna figure this out.”

Cathy opened her mouth to respond, but they were interrupted by a loud thumping noise and the car jerking suddenly. Both women jumped, looking to the front of the car. They heard a loud yell from Seth before a second thump was heard, paired with another jostle of the car.

“The hell was that?” Renee asked.

“Seth?!” Cathy called loudly, knowing it wasn’t easy for the men to hear them through the car.

“Dean?!” Renee tried as well. It was very quiet, not even the sound of the men speaking could be heard. The only noise the women could hear was the whistling of the wind through the car.

Renee reached for the door handle only for Cathy to stop her with a shout.

“They’re not answering. I’m not just going to sit here.” Renee argued, opening the door.

The hood slammed closed, making both women jump. The man from the register leered at them through the windshield, Dean and Seth nowhere in sight. Cathy screamed as Renee slammed the door shut again.

“What the fuck do you want?!” Renee screamed at him.

“Where are Seth and Dean!?” Cathy yelled. The man bent down, disappearing behind the front of the vehicle. He came back up, an unconscious Seth hauled over his shoulder making both women scream again.

“Seth!” They both called for him as the man turned and started walking back into the store with him over his shoulders.

“What do we do?” Cathy sobbed.

“Dean’s still out there.” Renee answered, determined as she opened the door. Cathy yelled at her to stay in the car but she was already outside, leaving the door open.

Dean was laying on the ground, barely conscious with a trickle of blood flowing from his forehead.

“‘Nee?” He groaned when he saw Renee. “Ge’ back in-”

“He took Seth. You need to get up.” Renee urged frantically and took Dean’s hand in her own, trying to pull him upright. Her tiny frame couldn’t support his dead weight, making him flop back onto the ground. “Dean, please.” She sobbed. “You have to get up. Before he comes back.”

“Renee get back!” Cathy cried for her. The outburst made Renee look up, another man appearing in the doorway of the shop. He looked like the first, but he was leaner. The same grown out beard, but this one was greying more than the other man’s.

“Dean, please!” She sobbed, trying again to pull Dean up.

“Go!” He moaned, trying to push her back. She reluctantly let go and ran around the side of the car. She was about to slam the car door shut when the man’s meaty hand grabbed a hold of it. He ripped the door back open, Renee scurrying back towards the driver’s side, kicking out at him as she went. The man stood there, not moving, but smirking at her.

“Get away!” Cathy yelled, throwing her shoe at him. The man chuckled and looked down at the door, one fat finger pressing the door unlock button.

The click of the lock was followed by the driver’s side door being wrenched open, Renee falling out into the arms of the first man. She flailed and screamed as the larger man picked her up easily, carrying her back into the store.

“No!” Dean screamed, trying to pull himself upright. For good measure, the man kicked Dean in the head on the way by, effectively knocking him out.

“Just you an’ me, princess.” The man still standing at the passenger door sneered at Cathy, barely heard over the sound of Renee’s screaming. “Where you gonna run, huh? I like to chase.”

Cathy was shaking wildly as she reached for the door handle to the backseat driver’s side, thinking it was her best bet. It was farthest away from the man. She pushed it open and ran out, stumbling to the ground in her hurry. She heard the man laugh as he rounded the car. She scurried back to her feet, ready to run.

His meaty paw closed over her arm and she swung back at him. She caught him in the jaw, but he was barely phased. He pulled her close to him, her back to his chest, and she started flailing to get loose.

His free hand came up and covered her mouth and nose, cutting off her air. Cathy grabbed his arm, scratching at him to get free. He didn’t budge as darkness crept into the edges of her vision. She tried to bite at his hand, scratch him up, kick behind her to connect with any part of him she could. She was doing everything she could to get free, but it wasn’t long before she fell limp against him.

Renee was still conscious when they threw her into the cellar beside Seth, who was out cold. A welt had popped up across his forehead, but he looked fine otherwise. The man followed down the stairs and held her down as he secured her hands behind her back. The cool metal and the clicking made her think they were handcuffs but she couldn’t be sure. He then clipped her cuffs to a chain around a pole in the center of the room so she couldn’t leave. The chain could move up and down the pole, letting her stand or sit, but she couldn’t move from the spot.

Soon after, Cathy was brought in and thrown unceremoniously to the ground. She called for her friends, trying to get them to wake. She could see them both breathing, which was a very small comfort.

“Let us go!” She screamed when she heard the door open once more. She watched in horror as the two men threw Dean into the room, letting his body tumble down the few stairs until he crashed to the floor beside Seth.

“Dean!” She yelled, trying to run to him to make sure he was okay. The blood had smeared over his face during the fall. She couldn’t tell if he was still bleeding from the same place as earlier or if they had hurt him anymore. “What do you want, you sick fucks!?” She shouted at them. One of the men merely laughed as he closed the door. She heard the loud clicking of a lock before she was left alone with her unconcious friends.

“Dean! Jesus Dean, please wake up.” She cried, watching as Dean’s chest rose and fell as he inhaled and exhaled.

“Seth?” She called to the brunette, who was laying almost within reach of her feet. “Seth, wake up. Please!” She begged, managing to barely nudge him with the toe of her shoe.

She kept yelling, begging for one of the three to wake up. She didn’t know how long had passed when the door to the cellar opened again, one of the men descending the stairs with an old rag.

“Please, let us go.” Renee pled.

“You’re a mouthy one, ain’tcha?” The man sighed, bending down to her level.

“W-what are you-” Renee was cut off suddenly as he tied the rag around her mouth, silencing her. She gagged as the dirty rag touched her tongue. She tried not to think about where it had been before this.

“That’ll keep you quiet.” He had the nerve to smile at her. He patted her on the head like a dog, which she flinched away from violently. The act of defiance made him frown deeply, earning her a backhand across the face. Her head snapped to the side as she cried out in pain. The man chuckled at her before retreating back up the stairs.

Renee cried quietly to herself, unable to do much more until one of her friends woke up. There were no windows in the cellar, the only light coming from a flickering fluorescent bulb overhead. She had no way to tell how long she sat there, waiting. She pulled at her bonds until her wrists were raw and aching.

Seth was the first to stir, rolling onto his side with a long, drawn out groan. Renee tried to call for him around the gag in her mouth. She tried to nudge him with her foot again, but he had rolled in the opposite direction.

“The hell?” He growled, holding his head in his hands. Renee tried once more to get his attention and he finally looked over at her.

“Renee? The fuck?” He sat up quickly, a dizzy spell hitting him and he had to brace himself to avoid falling over, even from his sitting position. Once the spell passed, he slowly looked around the room.

“What the fuck is going on?” He gasped. Renee tried to motion for him to help her and he finally crawled over, pulling the rag away from her mouth.

“Seth! Thank god you’re awake.” She gushed.

“The fuck is going on? My head is killing me.” He breathed as he took in her appearance, a little confused from the blow to the head.

“That guy… the creepy one at the register. He jumped you and Dean or something. We couldn’t see, the hood of the car was up.” As she explained, Seth looked at the chain holding her to the pole, trying to get her undone. After a moment with no progress, Renee continued.

“Please go check on Dean, he was bleeding and I don’t know how bad it is.” She started crying again, the reality of the situation hitting her all over again as she had to explain it out loud.

Seth looked towards Dean, seeing the dried blood covering his face. He crawled over, rolling Dean onto his back. Renee watched with bated breath as he checked over his tag-team partner.

“I think he’s okay?” Seth told her, sounding unsure. “He’s not bleeding anymore, and he’s breathing.”

“Thank god.” Renee breathed a sigh of relief.

“Dean?” Seth gave his shoulder a shake but the man remained unresponsive.

“Cathy?” He tried, scurrying towards his ex-girlfriend. She whined in her unconscious state as Seth gave her a shake to rouse her. “She’s coming to. Do you know what he did to her?”

“No.” Renee shook her head. “They pulled me away and locked me down here. She was still in the car when he grabbed me.”

“They?” He asked, pulling Cathy up into his lap.

“Asshole has a friend.” Renee huffed as Cathy curled into Seth.

“Cathy? C’mon baby, wake up for me.” Seth urged, stroking her cheek.

“Seth?” She croaked as she woke, blinking up at him.

“Is she okay?” Renee called over, trying to see.

“I think so.” He answered, brushing Cathy’s hair out of her face.

“Renee?” Cathy asked, lifting her head to look for her friend. Once she caught sight of Renee, still tied to the pole, her eyes widened. “No. Oh god, no.”

“Shh, it’s okay.” Seth tried to soothe her as she started crying. “We’re gonna get out of here. We’ll figure it out.”

“Are you okay? He just grabbed you like it was nothi-”

“I’ll be fine. Headache, but nothing I can’t handle.” He reassured her, forcing a smile.

“How are we going to get out of here?” She whimpered.

“Shhh!” Dean hissed, making the other three in the room jump.

“Dean!” Renee called for him, trying to move closer to her husband, the chain rattling as she moved.

“Tryin’ sleep.” He grumbled, throwing an arm over his eyes. His groaned in pain as his forearm flopped into his aching head.

“Dean, you gotta wake up, man.” Seth told him.

“Seth?” Dean questioned, pushing his head up to stare at his friend. “What’re ya doin’ in my bedr’m?”

“Dean, are you okay?” Renee urged.

“Wh’re we?” He slurred, sitting up while holding his head. He froze when he saw Renee. “Why ya tied up?”

“Try to help Renee, let me check on Dean.” Seth told Cathy, who nodded. She moved to stand, but cried out in pain when she tried to put weight on her ankle. Seth steadied her right away.

“I… I must have sprained it when I fell out of the car.” Cathy thought out loud, wincing as she slowly tried to set weight on her foot again.

“Oh fuck… that fuckin’ bitch ass....” Dean groaned as he started to remember what happened. Seth helped Cathy over to Renee, setting her down before he moved to Dean.

Cathy looked behind Renee’s back, seeing the padlock that was keeping her handcuffs attached to the chair. Seth meanwhile was looking at Dean’s pupils, try to tell if he had a concussion.

“Back off, Rollins.” Dean groaned irritably, pushing Seth away. “Could just ask. Yeah, feels like I got my bell rung. The fuck he do to me?”

The four of them paused when footsteps were heard overhead, all four of them holding their breath. They heard the man above them giggling, making their stomachs drop. Luckily, the footsteps moved away from them.

“Dean, think you could pick this?” Cathy asked.

“Let me take a look… prob’ly.” Dean nodded as he pulled himself up to cross the room. Seth followed, helping Dean get there without stumbling too much.

Dean pressed a kiss to Renee’s temple before examining the padlock. “Yeah, this is pretty simple. Either of ya got a bobby pin?”

Cathy pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, handing it to Dean.

“Just relax babe,” He soothed Renee as he fiddled with the padlock. “I could pick this in my sleep.”

“Then why didn’t you?” She teased back, trying to laugh but it came out more like a sob. Seth set his hand on her leg in solidarity as they waited for Dean to work.

It took him longer than he would have liked, his vision swimming every now and then, but the telltale click of the lock giving way echoed through the room.

“Thank god.” Cathy breathed.

“Bring your arms around your front now.” Seth suggested to Renee.

“He’s right. Easier to manage.” Dean nodded, letting himself give in to the spinning of his head for a moment now that the lock was undone.

“Help?” Renee asked. Seth helped her to stand, then kept her balance while she brought her hands past her feet, stepping through until they were locked in front of her. She saw that she had been right in guessing they were handcuffs.

She saw Dean still sitting on the ground, holding his head, and dropped to her knees next to him. She leaned heavily into him, nuzzling into his shoulder.

“Thank you.” She whimpered.

“I got ya.’ Dean cooed in response, wrapping an arm around her.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“I’ll live.” He tried to smile but it was a pathetic attempt.

“Know how to pick those cuffs?” Cathy asked.

“Yeah, just… I need a minute. Took some concentratin’...”

“Take your time.” Seth told him, trying to calm him down while eyeing the door warily.

“I was so worried when they threw you down the stairs.” Renee cried.

“Explains the pain.” Dean huffed. “C’mon now.” He gently pushed her away so he could look at the cuffs. “Sooner I get ya outta these, sooner we can prison break.”

The other three watched as Dean inspected the cuffs. He made a point of not focusing on how chaffed Renee’s wrists were from trying to get them off. He could worry about that later.

“Lock’s decent. Chain’s cheap. We might be able to break it with somethin’ heavy. Hammer or somethin’.”

Cathy had to stay sitting because of her ankle, but Renee, Seth and Dean all started looking through the cellar for a something that would work. Seth came across a small mallet when they heard the lock of the cellar door unlatch. Dean grabbed Renee and pulled her back towards Cathy, on the opposite side of the room from the door. Seth crouched down low beside the concrete stairs.

“Well, I see our guests woke up.” The second man, the one who hadn’t been inside the store, drawled as he started to descend.

“Fuck you.” Dean spat, standing in front of the women, Renee huddled next to Cathy.

“Oooh, smart mouth on the bleeder.” He laughed. “Boy when you went down. Hooo, we had a good laugh. Bled like a stuck pig ya did. Had the blonde all worried.”

“Don’t fucking look at her, fuck face.” Dean snarled, taking a step to block Renee from the guy’s view.

“Oh, you’re gonna be fun to break.” The man sneered.

“Funny. I was thinking the same about you.” Dean spat back. Seth took that as a good cue to lunge, hitting the man in the head as hard as he could with the mallet. The man crumpled to the ground in a heap, already unconscious. Dean ran forward, giving him two swift kicks to the head for good measure.

“C’mon. Let’s go.” Seth urged, nodding towards the stairs.

“My foot.” Cathy reminded him as Dean helped Renee up.

“Shit… Dean, take this.” He handed Dean the mallet. Dean took it and stood at the bottom of the stairs anxiously.

Seth scooped Cathy into his arms, carrying her easily. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you. I’m gonna get you out of here.” He promised.

“Stay close.” Dean warned Renee before ascending the stairs. Renee kept her hands on his lower back, both to stay close and to help steady him.

Dean stuck his head out, looking left and right. There was no sign of the other man and he crept forward, motioning for the others to follow.

“Left.” Renee whispered to him, remembering the route the men had taken to throw her into the cellar. Dean gave a short nod and turned left.

“Hold up.” Seth whispered, making the other two stop. He turned back towards the door and pulled it shut. “Babe, get the lock.” He told Cathy, who was able to snap the lock shut easier than he would have.

“Smart.” Renee nodded.

They stayed low, moving quickly and trying to stay quiet as Renee guided them through the house. She led them to a door at the end of a long hallway before she grabbed Dean’s arm, stopping him.

“I think this leads back to the store. He’s probably there.” She cautioned.

“Well he’s not gonna get the jump on us this time.” Dean growled, standing to his full height. With a loud roar he kicked the door open, charging into the room.

“For fuck’s sake!” Seth huffed, setting Cathy down next to Renee and rushing forward to be Dean’s back up. Cathy leaned against the wall, keeping her weight off her injured foot.

The women watched as the men stood back to back, much as they would if they were working together in the ring, searching for the other man.

“He’s not here.” Seth told them as Dean lowered the mallet. Cathy wrapped an arm around Renee’s shoulders and hobbled forward.

“We need a phone.” Renee told them. “The car wasn’t starting, remember?”

“Fuck!” Seth hissed, rushing towards the counter. There was an old landline next to the register but when he picked it up, there was no dial tone.

“There’s no service out here. We tried earlier.” Cathy mentioned. “What do we do?”

“We walk.” Seth sighed.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Renee pointed out.

“And I ain’t stayin’ here. Let’s go.” Dean added.

Seth crouched next to Cathy, instructing her to get on his back. The four of them left the store, seeing the men had rummaged through their vehicle. Their suitcases were spilled open all over the place, articles of clothing having blown away in the wind. The cooler Dean and Renee had packed was left open, but there was still water inside. Renee grabbed a bag, Dean helping her to fill it with the water. They had no idea how long they’d have to walk until they found help.

“Here.” Dean held an open water bottle up for Renee to drink from. She guzzled half of it down, he throat still raw from screaming and crying while the other three had been unconscious.

Seth crouched down, picking up a large branch that was laying on the ground. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work as a weapon if that first man made an appearance.

The quartet started walking down the road, Dean’s arm over Renee’s shoulder to help him keep walking through the dizzy spells of his concussion.

They had been walking for about 15 minutes when Dean stumbled badly, catching Renee off guard. The two fell to the ground. Renee was unable to catch herself properly with her hands cuffed and fell hard on her side.

“Shit. M’ sorry.” Dean slurred as he held his head. “Fuck, you okay?”

“You good?” Seth asked, crouching beside them.

“Head’s killin’ me. Think I’m gonna puke.” Dean admitted, leaning forward just before he started dry heaving.

“I’ll be okay.” Renee told Seth, ignoring her now aching arm. She scooted towards Dean, rubbing his back the best she could.

“We have to keep moving.” Cathy spoke up, looking back the way they came.

“Give him a minute.” Renee spoke up.

“No, she’s right.” Dean croaked, pushing himself to standing before helping Renee up. He inspected her arm, seeing she had scraped it up in her fall. He wiped the blood away with his shirt.

“Are you okay?” Renee questioned him.

“Lived through worse.” He tried to grin at her, but it was cut short as he lurched forward, dry heaving again.

“Someone’s coming!” Cathy called happily, pointing down the road where they could see a vehicle kicking up dust.

Renee guided Dean as the four of them stood off to the side of the road, out of the way of the speeding vehicle. Cathy started waving her hands  from Seth’s back, trying to flag them down. The truck stopped next to them, the person inside putting it in park but leaving the engine running as he opened the door.

“Well, well, well,” the man drawled as he stepped out of the vehicle. The man was tall and lanky, unlike the other two they had encountered. He had a thick accent like the other two, but had a noticeably nicer smile. “What do we have here?”

“Please, o-our car broke down.” Cathy started.

“Doens’t look mighty good, all this blood.” He grinned, sauntering towards the group. Renee moved closer to Dean as the man approached. “And you’re all cuffed up.”

“Long story.” Seth butted in. “Can you help us get to the nearest town?”

“Nearest town? Son, your best bet is to head back the way you was comin’ from.” The man told them. “Bet Charlie’d be real happy to see y’all again.”

Dread filled the four as the man smirked maliciously. Dean pushed Renee behind him, wobbling as he held the mallet up.

“Stay back.” He growled. Seth set Cathy down again, coming up to stand beside Dean.

“Hold on, no need for that.” The man had the audacity to laugh. “Don’t want any trouble now.”

“Oh you’ve got trouble.” Seth spat, swinging the branch to keep the man at bay.

“Fiesty ain’t’cha? I see why Charlie wanted y’all so much.” He practically giggled.

“Charlie can lick my left one. Get the fuck back.” Dean snarled.

“That’s enough outta you.” The man’s demeanor changed immediately, his smirk dropping as he reached behind him.

Seth didn’t hesitate, bolting forward and swinging the branch hard enough to knock him off his feet. Dean followed, landing a hard kick to the man’s gut.

The women hung back, knowing they couldn’t help in their current predicaments. Both of their blood ran cold when they saw the man had been reaching for a gun hanging off his belt.

The man was a blubbering, bloody mess by the time the men finished with him. Seth bent down and plucked the gun from the holster, tucking it into his waistband.

“Use one o’ those before?” Dean panted, looking pale.

“No, but I’m guessing I’m a better shot than you at this point.” He told him. Dean stumbled, Seth reaching out to steady him. “Renee, help me get him in the truck.”

Renee ran over, placing herself under Dean’s arm. The man was nearly dead weight on the other two at this point, dragging his feet.

“‘M fine.” He slurred.

“Get in the truck.” Seth told him, not wanting to argue. They managed to push him into the small backseat, Seth helping Renee to climb in with him. She laid his head in her lap, brushing his hair back.

“Tired.” Dean mumbled.

“I know, just wait til we get on the road, okay? Once we’re far away from this shit hole, you can sleep.” Renee pled.

“Killjoy.” He huffed.

Seth meanwhile rounded the truck to pick Cathy up, depositing her in the passenger seat.

“Are you okay to drive?” She asked, cupping his cheek.

“I’ll be fine.” He nodded. He started to pull away when Cathy slipped her hand around the back of his head, pulling him into a kiss.

“Get us out of here.” She whispered against his lips. Seth nodded, staring at her in surprise before he closed the door, rushing around the front of the truck. He climbed in, cursing when he noticed the truck was a stick shift.

“Can you drive stick?” Renee asked from the back, looking up from Dean.

“Yeah. Been a while though…” Seth grumbled as he situated himself. It took some thinking, especially with the headache he’d been sporting since he woke up, but within a few moments he had the truck peeling down the road.

Cathy turned to look out the rear window, making sure no one else was coming to get them, but they were alone on the road. After a few minutes, everyone felt like they could breathe easier.

“R’ly wanna sleep.” Dean mumbled, his eyes fluttering closed.

“Okay, babe. You can sleep.” Renee told him, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

“Th’nk’ya.” He mumbled, reaching blindly for her hand. Once he had it in his own, his breathing evened out.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Cathy asked, looking back at the married couple.

“I hope so.” Renee breathed.

“Ambrose can handle it.” Seth told the women, hoping to alleviate their worries. “He’s had worse concussions than this.”

“Yeah, and a trainer right there to look at him.” Renee pointed out.

“He’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine.” He promised, reaching over to rest his hand on Cathy’s leg. She gripped his hand tightly in her own, silence filling the car as they drove. None of them would call it a comfortable silence by any means, all three of them trying to make sense of what they had just gone through - replaying it in their heads, wondering what they could have done differently to prevent it - but as they got further away, as their aches and pains flared up as their adrenaline waned, the tension left their bodies as they realized how lucky they were to have escaped.

[ts-hvv4]

EPISODE EIGHT: “MERGE! Oh bitch how tasty” - Kurt

So after Trent walked there was silence for a long time, and an announcement came out (well two). The first was the Trent announcement (RIP we will avenge you!) At the bottom it announced he was the first member of the JURY! This excites me for three reasons. First off, I never made jury on my original season in Easter Island because I won and during my second season (darksided Generations) I was a self proclaimed (with heavy delusion) pre jury robbed goddess. The second reason that I almost shit my corduroys that jury stage was here was because if I was a pre merge juror, I would not under ANY circumstance vote for someone’s game I did not see. I also know Trent is personally rooting for original Armonia villains which is a vote in my pocket if I end up at the end. My final reason that I was excited was that I was happy that Trent got to participate in the jury stage because he deserves it. He played a phenomenal pre merge game and I’m happy he gets to at least have a say in the winner, regardless of the outcome.

I was getting to my other point, the second announcement came minutes later....MERGE! Oh bitch how tasty. I was stoked because we’re officially at that point. It’s also a little scary because there’s only five original Armonia left with Trent going. I’m also scared because I know Andreas and I have bad blood from Easter Island when my alliance bullied him all season long. I have a lot of ass kissing to do and I hope I have some good acting skills because this is going to be a chore. Actually the more I think about it, the only bright side of merge is that we’re that much closer to making it to the end. Oh and NED. Hydra is reunited and oh it feels good.

MERGE!! Yes! I’m so happy, and better yet—the people I wanted out most are gone! Olivia, Keegan and Trent. They were all coming for my head, and I LOVE they left one by one. That’s karma for you. Don’t get me wrong, I like/love them all on a personal level, but game wise I’m so happy they’re gone and I’m glad Trent is fine. Now I’m meeting the final batch of people. Sarah I already know but I need to catch up with her! Nikolas unless he’s just not there is online and hasn’t responded in an hour or so, but he was cool to talk to. Lukas and Matt however I do like the most right now! Matt I feel I’m connecting with a bit and same with Lukas. Kurt and Sharifa I still feel connected to, but Kurt said he can’t trust anybody right now due to what was going on, and him and sharifa were feeling me in on everything. Basically Olivia’s antics with going after me really messed her and her group up and it got her caught with her strategy like I knew she’d get caught eventually. I peeped her and Trent way before the curve, mainly because they were that fucking obvious. Jake I have to KEEP my eye on. Because they said he was upset with Olivia going but he’s saying he heard what Olivia was trying and was happy she’s gone. So imma have to feel him out but for now I think he’s lying due to what I’ve heard. As for the heroes I love them all and I really hope we stick together or they’ll just pick us all off. And that I don’t want to happen. At all. And I just hope for once I can chill and not have my name thrown, but you never know. This could be the start to a very messy round. I usually sleep late but I might sleep early because I feel I might be getting sick and I know as soon as I take this medicine I’ll be drowsy so we’ll see!!

Whew Chile... what a moment yesterday was. So the morning after me sharifa and kurt are plotting to blindside Sarah, I see that kurt called w nicklas and downplayed our relationship which nicklas didn’t buy but wasn’t too shaded by it. But I decided to tell sharifa and kurt that I know nicklas so they trust him more Which resulted in kurt going AWFF thinking that his game was ruined or something? Idk i was shaking but we talked it out and he was calm Then the plan for Sarah gets scrapped because trent decides to quit! It sucked because he would be a number for us, but it’s best to respect his wishes.... So trent goes and then we MERGE. Lord help me. I ain’t ready for this shit S O S

We merged....... im so happy because i could not stay on the heroes for much longer. We were getting too small and it was scary honestly. Of the 12 people in the game, there's 3 I haven't played this season with yet, which isn't terrible! I'm not meeting a bunch of people. I've also had a lot happening in my personal life so that's been impacting my ability to interact. One thing that is noteworthy is that Ned, Sarah, and I have reunited finally and we are about to run this game !!!!! Let it be KNOWN!!!

So these are my thoughts on everyone: Sarah: Love her, would die for her, we are co-winning this game together with Ned. Ned: Love him, would die for him, we are co-winning this game together with Sarah. Chris: So I know I've been 'working with him' but I don't trust him because I think he's a lot closer to Malik then I think. He is good for my game but I'm only working with him because I need to. Dennis: Similarly to Chris, I am only working with him because I need to. I think he might be reading into that more then Chris is... but I could be wrong. I think he presents as more of a target then me. Malik: I think he would turn on me if it meant saving his ass. But I think he's an asset to have around because people are mad with him. Lukas: I like him, he's funny and nice. I haven't been able to play with him alot because of the swap but hopefully we can. Nicklas: I think he's very smart as a former winner, so I am careful but I think we have a decent enough connection. Matt: Me and Matt are both playing each other and it's the funniest thing ever LOL.... anyways he's smart and will shoot himself in the butt for it. Jake: Don't know him much but I heard he is a snake so I want him OUT. Sharifa: SO DANGEROUS !! I think she's really dangerous but a good ally to have around maybe (?). I have a lot of respect for her coming back and being her true self so that's very empowering. Kurt: So the thing about Kurt was we played before but I wasn't really worried about that.... but I have found out from multiple sources that he worried about that. And no amount of me talking to him has changed that? So looks like I am now worried about that? UGHH Anyways this merge should be fun.... i just want single digits 

Okay so we merged and yeah now I’m feeling really grateful to have made it to this point, jokes aside. I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to not only play with Sharifa again but get to know her as a person so much deeper. She is such an admirable person and she really touches my heart. I know I’m sappy about her a lot but she truly is one of my closest friends in my real life.

The way my current relationships stand right now is ranked (w/ reasoning as so)   1.   Sharifa (duh) 2. Jake (my fellow f@ggot) 3. Ned (boy you lucky for Hydra) 4. Lukas (he thinks he’s my #1, I love him tho) 5. Malik (as much as I know his act is a facade, he thinks were close so) 6. Nicklas (we had a good talk and basically compared notes, very intelligent) 7. Matt (neutral, I trust him a bit to stay villain strong but only for so long) 8. Sarah (same feelings as I have toward Matt) 9. Andreas (we spoke and I apologized and he accepted, progress people) 10. Chris (seems friendly enough but Ned told me he has an idol so kinda sketch) 11. Dennis (hard to read, nice enough but know he’s heroes strong) & HOSTS 1. Nicole (my fav host sorry boys) 2. Owen (picks up the slack) 3. Andrew (quality humour but our fight sis :( ) 4. Monty (idk her....bc she’s intern & not around much) Love y’all ❤️

So Jake came clean to Sharifa and myself about having a relationship with Nicklas. This raises serious red flags for us because it’s like we’ve been questioning if Jake is truly with us or not this entire time and have wanted to believe he was. He claims he is closer with us and Nicklas is just the equivalent to like my Lukas. Sure, that’s a fair comparison, but the difference is that I told The Cock Destroyers about Lukas. Nicklas was Jake’s best and worst kept secret. Now I’m second guessing everything I say to him but I still want to truly believe we are sisters till the end. If he fucks us over I will be absolute heartbroken. Like, he’s my amigas cheetah.

Of the four newest people I’ve met, I feel the most connected to Lukas and slightly Matt. Nicklas before comes on or messages and Sarah only messages a couple of times and then vanishes. She’s someone I also know so I could use that bond but idk if I can trust her yet or not. The only one I feel I can trust atm is lukas but I’ll have to see how that goes.

Malik is a lot. I play along with most of his flirtation and advances but it’s solely to get myself in his good graces to ensure I have a loyal ally and someone looking out for me. It’s also because I made the mistake of purposely approaching him and almost like lead him on. Now he’s so attached and I can’t for the sake of my game just be like “not really into it please stop”. And I know there’s other boys who are uncomfortable by it too. Unfortunately right now he is our Phillip and we have to keep him around for now....Fuck im so mean. I make him sound so bad, he’s actually fine, I’m just a huge asshole and Malik when you see this I’m sorry dude.

K i guess i should update you When we swapped i connected with matt and sharifa the most Hated trent bc he tried to spread my name but we decided to vote kage out bc hes crazy-anyways now that we have merged sharifa wants to form some fucking majority alliance with the villains since we have majorty Only thing is that i like chris and dennis ALSO andreas, ned and I are in a f3 together and they know I have the idol. So anyways this isnt gonna work, i need to play secret spy but its gonna be hard deceiving sharifa. I got her to confide in me that she has the idol and I told her i have the idol as well -i regret telling her Also andreas and ned told me chris has the idol so im 100% certain the 3 of us know where all the idols are. Anyways, this is messy, im still a bitch and I need to figure something out. Wish me luck bitches ‘

I don’t like Matt anymore. He keeps reading my private messages and is talking in main chat and isn’t saying much or a word or reacted to me or anything. So I feel like he’s going to try to message me once immunity is over and I’m going to just roll my eyes and laugh so hard. I thought the guy was cool, but I spoke too soon. I did feel like something was off from the gate anyways with his first responses. I just won’t message him until he messages me but rn the only villain I like from the other tribe is Lukas. Sarah step it up sis I wanna say positive things about you!! On the other hand, Teen Titans all think we’re in trouble, so I’m thinking about snatching Kurt since he doesn’t trust anyone from his tribe and see how that goes. I would do Sharifa too, but I feel she’s likely connected with the others. But if I leave her out of a vote she could very well not trust me anymore. But the only original tribe members I trust are Ned and Kurt. And I trust the Teen Titans, we just need one more number incase they come for us. Maybe rocks I see?!

Sarah says something after I mention that she hasn’t been too talkative? Hmmm

Looking at the merge, I am PUMPED and NERVOUS and ready to LOSE! A lot of different scenarios can play out here- Heroes vs Villains prevail or Armonia vs Molysmeno. I have faith it won't end in the latter, in fact, I suspect lines may be a little blurred, but maybe not in the first tribal council or two. Having that said, a lot of people are surprising me this round in a good way such as Lukas,, Kurt, and Sharifa! Whereas my old pals of Sarah and Matt might have slipped in some people's eyes, I have to keep them in mind when figuring out what happens next. Jake may be targeted but I'm not gonna count on it just yet. All in all, I think I prefer Teen Titans more than Mystery Incorporated because it feels so genuine, but we'll see!

It would seem Malik's talking to Kurt/Lukas on turning on the villains. I'm not too sure how I feel about that. In order to fully trust that, I'd have to look into those 2 actually giving a name instead of wanting us to. Having that said, Dennis does not trust Kurt, Matt is sheeping to avoid 3-peating his merge boot status I suppose, the rest of the villains I guess dropped the whole Ned vote campaigns, and everyone else playing the Waiting Game like time is money so yeah

I do feel it is a little intriguing how the villains are acting coy and facetious when they have a majority, not to mention, hold more people than others. It's pretty telling that this group is pretty passive. Nevertheless, my intentions are to get the scoop and solve this mystery

Guess who is ready to lose their mind ???????????? So Malik is trying to get Kurt and Lukas to vote with the heroes which I know for a fact is not happening because Sarah told me that Kurt said that wasn't going to happen. Now im going to call Kurt because he's being shady and says he wants to vote the villains ? Kurt WHAT ARE YOU DOING

My goddddddd. I hate this merged tribe. The smart thing to do would be to stick to the villain numbers, but I know each villain has like 20 connections each outside of the villain tribe. I don’t like Andreas. He is fake to me. Idk why. I’m working so hard on making Malik like me, but he’s sketchy too. I love Dennis but I don’t think he loves me that much. Ned is a ghost. As of now I’m just going to sit back and let people handle this shit without me. I don’t think I’ll be the target if the heroes seize control, so that’s good. Shall be interesting.

Just got off my hour long call with Kurt and I felt good about it, I think we can trust each other. But then DENNIS messages lukas and sends a lie to him that Malik getting Lukas and Kurt is a ploy??? WTF ???? What is happening right now

Remember when I said I was going to lose my mind? YUP thats still happening. just about to hop on call with sharifa to show im willing to work with the crazy villains

Honestly? This vote sucks ass. As mentioned in the video, Nicklas was nice enough to tell me whats "actually" going on and I honestly feel like its best to just let it happen, because no matter what. One of my allies goes home. Either crackhead Malik, who has a big heart and is just trying his best, or  big heart chris who shared his idol with apparently the entire world and has to pay the price for it. I've been contemplating about this for the past 3.5 hrs and idk, as bad as this sounds, it just feels like it is better to not properly warn him. I've tried to give him hints that something isn't up or right tonight, but I can only do so much to hopefully not completely crucify my game. Of course there is the chance that I am actually the one who is going home or they are trying to send ned home anyways and bait an idol like that, but idk. I don't know why Nicklas would lie to me, when I am a valuable number to him. IF I survive I just need to start over and get my social game going properly. If you read this Chris and you actually went home tonight, I am heartbroken and sad, I would've gone as deep as possible with you and Andreas too, if he wasn't close to others aswell.

Im getting this weird feeling in my stomach that the tribal won't go as planned. Malik has gotten really quiet, and when he does that it normally means he is mad. I'm not surprised and honestly if someone didn't run their mouth I'd be surprised. Maybe I am the one going home ?? Who knows

It's gotten like wild quiet? Am i going home ? Randomly really nervous

[soap-brain]

gonna take a sec here and talk about my life in some detail bc things are happening

so like. life is fucking great atm. technically.  because there are finally people who are ... idk, interested in me and like me for me and where i don’t have to hide and who are willing to talk with me and who are here for ravenna, and not just bits and pieces of her. and ... that’s really fucking great and i’m hanging out with people who geniunely like me. and ... that’s never happened to me before (lol i am so happy i’m away from my dearest lea i hope you get fuckin’ rekt or smth you toxic bitch) (seriously though i am super happy to be rid of her, i’m feeling ... so good honestly, it’s such a relief). i’m going to a poetry slam tomorrow, we went out for dinner and drinks yesterday and sometime next week me and a couple others are going to see the new thor. so that’s awesome.

but ... i also feel like i don’t have enough time. not because i’m having such an active social life (i’m not, i’m just hanging out a normal amount), and not in the “oh my god my life is almost over i’m going to die soon i’m so old” kinda way, but just ... twenty-four hours in a day is fucking nothing. i’m currently trying to plan out my days in a bit more detail, because my general plan isn’t working too well for me, and ... there is so fucking little time. like ... tomorrow, for example. i know i’ll be fucking useless before 9am. i’m aiming for 8am but idk how well that’s gonna go. so say i start at 8. i go over my flash cards until ten, which is two hours. you’d think it’s a lot but i have a LOT of flash cards to learn. after that i’ll take a half hour break. then i’ll get ready for my presentation on monday until noon. then i’ll take another half hour break, and then i’ll take half an hour to get ready for anatomy class aka look over my topic and do research for that. then i’ll take an hour off, have lunch, write a little maybe (even tho idk what to have for lunch unless i go get bread before starting my day). then from two to three i’ll go over my flash cards again. from three to five i’ll do extra work on my presentation, maybe on my topic too if i need to, or i’ll continue working my way through the textbook. then i’ll  have an hour off and we’ll go to the poetry slam at six, and that is on until nine. i’ll get home, wash up and hopefully hit the bed at ten, which i need because otherwise i will have world’s worst time getting up the next morning. and ... the tally is seven hours of work (including smaller breaks and stuff), and ... that’s just not enough time. i don’t know whether seven hours of work is even enough, but in that time i also didn’t hit the gym at all, i didn’t vacuum, i didn’t do my laundry, i didn’t shower (which i absolutely need to do tomorrow), i didn’t clean up my desktop, i didn’t make a meal plan for next week etc etc.  and i still didn’t watch any of the sectio chirurgica eps, didn’t watch any more tas or voy, didn’t write, didn’t read ...  there just isn’t enough time and that’s so frustrating. because i’m so excited to go to the poetry slam tomorrow and i’m so excited to learn all this (even if it is a bit of a drag sometimes lmao), and i am still kinda excited about anatomy class, and i am excited about working out, and i am excited about writing, but ... there is no time, you feel? and on monday i’ll get up to be at the store at 8, so i can get breakfast items and generally do my shopping, and then i still have an hour before class so i can go over my presentation again, and then i’ll spend five hours at uni if i do go get lunch with the others (and i do want to, so), and then i’ll probably manage to squeeze two hours doing flash cards into the afternoon, but i also want to go the gym, which’ll take 90 mins approx, and then when i come back it’ll be shortly before eight, so i gotta eat by then, and then i can maybe squeeze in another hour or so of studying, either going through the textbook or preparing for the next class on tuesday, and then it’ll be nine thirty pm, and then i gotta get ready for bed, but i didn’t yet watch the new disco ep, but if i don’t go to bed at ten, then i know i won’t be able to get up early the next morning. there just isn’t enough time to do everything i need to do and want to do.  and then i’ll have pretty much the same day on tuesday, and then i’ll have wednesday off, so that’s where i might sleep an hour longer usually, but this week i have an appointment at 8:15, and then i’ll try to put in five hours of studying plus two hours of going to the voluntary seminar which i probably should do, and then i’d like to go to the gym as well, so boom, eight hours+ done for. and then the week after next it’s my little sister’s birthday on tuesday, so i should her present sent before the weekend so it arrives on time, but i don’t know when to even shop for the present, so i’ll have to do that on friday or so, and then two days after her birthday i’ve got an exam, so i also gotta study a lot for that, and then two weeks after that december is going to start, and ideally i’d have all the presents ready in the first week of december so i can relax the rest of december and don’t have to worry about that and can instead focus on starting to study for chemistry so i pass that at the end of the semester, but there’s also another exam on the organs very shortly before christmas, and then at the end of january there’s the third exam which i think is neuroanatomy, and then two days after that there’s the final on anatomy class, and sometime around that time i’ll have to do the chem exam, and then i’ll likely visit my parents again so i’m there for my mom’s birthday, and then i’m going to come back because a) i have some more uni (in my holidays, i know) and b) a great friend of mine is visiting so close to me, and then i’ll get to see them which i usually don’t (bc they come all the way from america so like ...), and then the new semester will start already and i just hope i’ll have had time to already pre-study for that. oh yeah and on one of the first days of december another really great friend of mine has their birthday, and i wanna do something for that, and i already know what, but it’ll take a lot of time.

just ... time. i don’t have nearly enough. i need 48 hrs every day, honestly.

anyways. i am super happy though. life is finally going really great. i still have a lot of work to do with my personality and who i am vs who i want to be, but ... seriously, while moving seemed so bad because i would lose my “one true friend” (who then freaked out about me “destroying the friendship” and “not taking her feelings into consideration”), and i’d have to start completely anew and i’d be all on my lonesome, it turned out to be so good for me. i’m so incredibly happy. i just seriously need more fucking time :D

anyways, i’ll go now, i’ll do some planning. if you read all the way until here, you get a free ... a free ... a free emoji. reply to this post with anything and you shall receive your free emoji for all your troubles :DDD

[skittymon]

Top five Fruitshipping moments. Cause I want to see a good show don't tell relationship and we have plenty of moments to fill a large variety of these lists.

Oh god just 5??? Okay I got this be still my heart

5. Episode 2, Yuzu and Yuya’s action duel

Okay I know this is pretty early in the series and it can be seen as platonic, but you get so much character from this scene and grounds of a solid friendship between them. Like:

Yuzu’s getting shit because she was rude to Yuya like some of the fandom does to her lol but instead she just goes with it.

Like at this point of the story we now know both Yuya and Yuzu are entertainers, and now we get to see them doing what they love together and how they work off each other.

Not to mention this scene is funny as hell. Like wow it’s just showing us two cuties performing together (granted it’s not perfect because Yuya’s in funk atm) and I already fell for their dynamic at this point and its only ep 2. 

ALSO they fucking used Plain Plain (where this duel took place) in episode 141 to rip my god damn heart out and to show this duel had meaning and we should realize that we’re missing Yuzu.

4. Yuya is PISSED/cry baby (eps 50 + 51)

At this point in the show we’ve gotten a good basis on their relationship. Yuya and Yuzu are childhood friends with the same goal and they inspire each other to become stronger. Pretty standard and honestly nothing new.

And then they get separated.

Like I did NOT expected them to act the way they did when this happened (at least Yuya because when has a main protag ever cared that much for the female protag minus Anzu from season 0)

I am 98% sure that this is the first time Yuya has cried openly to people without his goggles AND ITS CAUSE OF YUZU. This boy has hidden his emotions about his dad, his bullying, and pendulum summoning but Yuzu’s apparent capture is what got Yuya to finally show his sadness and not cover them with jokes and his goggles.

Yuya as we know, when he’s not berserker, is a pacifist but he’s going out of character because he’s so mentally distraught and sad. Like the only person I would get like that for is my twin so to me this speaks volumes since Yuya values Yuzu’s well being over his own values.  

And then in Yugioh it’s a known thing that the female protags most times stay on the side line and cheer on the main protag AND THEYRE ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGING IT AND IT’S SUPER IMPORTANT TO YUYA. Like apparently Yuma’s says something similar to Kotori near the end of Zexal but I’m not there yet but like this is ep 50 compared to 140-something.

Looking back this is super important. Like when Zarc got revived he stated he was surprised/thrilled that there was more to Pendulum Summoning than he first thought (combining all the three methods w/ it) and the reason Yuya was able to do it was because of Yuzu. He was able to go beyond Zarc’s expectations and plans BECAUSE OF YUZU.

God when has a main protag screamed out a female protags name like that before in yugioh??? 

Yuzu is also a cry baby three episodes down the line.

3. Yuzu saves Yuya from Zarc

It speaks volumes when nearly all your friends (including your bff THE MAN Gonzengaka) can’t save from Satan, but the moment you say one sentence to you, you regain some control.

Like god, I love their relationship. Zarc and Ray are literally trying to destroy the other but these two can break through their previous lives soul’s to communicate with one another cause of how god damn much they mean to each other.

Listen if you go across DIMENSIONS to get save someone in Yugioh YOU KNOW your ship is real (Spiritshipping and Keyshipping being the other prime examples). But like in my fruitshipping video (which ya’ll should watch) this moment is when I used the lyrics ‘no distance can ever keep us apart’ because WOW dimensions AND demonic/angelic possessions isn’t enough sever the bond between these two.

Also my otp tag.

2. Yuya summons Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon

Lowkey this moment is up so high because Yuya’s just fucking amazing in this scene. Like Zarc’s influence is getting stronger but like LIST OF THINGS THAT HAVE CAUSED YUYA SO GO BERSERKER 

-Ep 39 with Zarc’s trigger words and Yuya didn’t even remember it

-Yuto’s memories of being attacked the Academia 

-Being electrocuted in the god damn brain

-Being in the same area as all four boys that causes a hole to open in the sky

-Creepy old guys touching Yuzu

Like one of these things is not like the other lol

Seriously though, the others are near close to psychological torture and PTSD but someone touching Yuzu inappropriately invokes the same amount of rage from Yuya. THATS A HUGE ASS COMPARISON. Also the scene was gorgeous god damn.

1. Yuzu inspires Yuya during Friendship Cup

Okay this moment…THIS is when Fruitshipping went from a casual ship to god damn otp for me.

So for the past couple eps, Yuya has been feeling like shit (ground facility, losing Jack, missing Yuzu), of course Yuzu doesn’t know some of bad shit that’s going on, but goddamit the citrus is going to show the tomato that she’s okay.

Like dueling for other people is nothing new to yugioh but holy SHIT

Of course Yuzu doesn’t know the cost of losing, but all she wants to do is make Yuya feel at ease (which the poor boy hasn’t felt in so long fuck)

Yuzu hasn’t spoken to Yuya this entire arc but she knows how he’s feeling right now. She knows Yuya. This just furthers the belief that they’ve known each other for so god damn long and are ‘irreplaceable’ to one another.

Look at how goddamn surprised he is. Like instead of worrying about herself, she’s worried about him?? Granted this might have to do with Yuya’s self worth issues And as the duel goes on, it’s not just her feelings she trying to convey to Yuya (hot-blooded and shivers). Instead of ‘oh look it’s your love-interest’s feelings’ she shows that everyone from back in Standard are also with Yuya.

ALSO THEY PLAYED YUYA’S THEME DURING THIS GOD. EVEN THE OST’S ARE SHOWING US THEIR RELATIONSHIP.

LOOK AT HOW GOD DAMN HAPPY HE IS. LIKE WHEN HAS THIS BOY EVER CRIED FROM JOY SO FAR IN THIS SHOW. THIS IS DEVELOPMENT THAT HE SHOULDN’T HIDE HIS EMOTIONS AND SHOULD EMBRACE THEM AHH.

Just…fuck me. 

[gguksgalaxy]

Engraved pt. 11

Masterpost <– Engraved 10 | Crowned 2 –> | Sheltered 1 –> | Engraved 12 –>

Short: You’re a tattoo artist for a gang known as EXO who own a club down town. (read synopsis at masterpost) Words: 6819 (sorrynotsorry) Warnings: Threatening, blood, guns, weapons, drugs, explosive, death Pairings: D.O. x Reader, slight Kai X Reader, slight Chen X Reader A/N: Ahhhhh 3.5 hours traffic delay gives something. Enjoy guys, ask me all the questions, let me know!

AFF link

Your pov

The call from Gio had given you enough information to find the people you were looking for. You searched through some databases, found aliases, car registrations and locations on their names. While most of the locations were hotels, and there was one rental house, the information had given you enough to go on. Right now you were in the office room at their place, which has a huge map of the city. Since Suho wasn’t here you took it as your job to do all the planning. There were little red bulletins and lines distributed across the map, connecting places to names. Yellow was for location to location, green was for use of credit and debit cards. There were blue lines covering the car their gps tracks, which were a bitch to locate, but you’d managed. It might seem like they’d been sloppy, but the contrary is true. They actually hid their things pretty well. You were one of the best, along with Baekhyun it’d been easy to locate these things. “Okay, so, what is this work of art?” Chanyeol asked, obviously stunned by your different approach from Suho’s. Which was what they were all used to. Jongdae’s eyes held amusement, Jongin’s held wonder. Kyungsoo wasn’t with you, you’d told him sternly to stay home, take painkillers and rest his body. Whatever it was that had happened to him. You still had to ask Minseok about that, but this came first. 

Lay was throwing a pencil on the other end of the table, not giving you the time of day as Minseok stood next to you to observe your findings. “This helps us find their location.” You turned to the map and pointed out the blue tips where the cars were often parked. “They’re smart enough to not park their cars near their location, that is clear. But they don’t park their car near their rental house or hotel rooms either. And I bet they don’t go there in general. So if you look at al of this, you can draw a red circle around the places where they could be. Most people try to not get this much of a circular location, but they unintentionally always do. The parking spaces, the hotels, the atm’s, it all comes back to this area.” You drew a black circle around what you’d always known as the old law district, or district 8. EXO was located in district 14, mainly warehouses and older buildings. The old law district was made up of old parking lots and tall buildings that were no longer in use. Popular for homeless people to relocate in, but also home to a lot of apartment buildings rented by people who didn’t have a lot of money. The crime rate there is high, so it was no surprise they chose to relocate there. They should be easy to find as a big group. “You think they’re in the old Kappa building?” Xiumin asked, frowning. You nodded. “The old Kappa building is a five story office building that’s up for demolish in another 3 months. They will be constructing a new apartment building there, the whole district is up for rebuild since the city is expanding. It’s the perfect place for them to go because not a lot of people come there since it’s up for breakdown.” “Couldn’t they be in any of the other buildings?” Chanyeol asked, pursing his lips. Where the boy was extremely well informed in weapons, his planning and searching could use some….work. The door opened. “They’re in there.” Sehun said, and he slid a large camera across the table. “Third floor, large conference room. They have stashes in other rooms, drugs, weapons, explosives. I caught 8 of them, but they were heading out. If you go now you might be able to get in.” Sehun was the youngest of all of you, but he was good at what he did nonetheless. He was skilled on finding information of people, scouting them out without them seeing. Being a rich kid, he knew a lot of people around the city and got in at places you’d have no chance at without falsifying information. You grabbed the camera and went through the pictures. Three women, five men, lots of weapons and drugs, explosives stashed neatly on tables. “Yeol, come here for a second.” You motioned the tall one over and he looked at the pictures with you and Minseok. “How much is this?” “A lot. Enough to blow up a quarter of the city. But I don’t see anything else, it’s just the C4 in the back. I think it’s for trade, not actual use. Same for the weapons, they’re generally not put together, they might be selling separate parts. Sehun, did you notice anything up the trade scenes?” The young one brushed a hand through his dark hair and unzipped his jacket, revealing the bird tattoo on his throat. “I did notice a spike in the heroin, but I thought it was random, not enough to be suspicious. There was also an accident with faulty meth, killed four teens. Might’ve been them, not sure. Happens all the time to be honest.” “Well,” Jongdae started, “If we know where they are, why don’t we go get them?” He was leaning back with his feet on the desk. “I mean, it seems easy enough right.” Minseok nodded. “What’s your plan?” he asked, looking at you. The room had all eyes on you, and you felt the slight pressure of being in Suho’s place. “Jongdae, Jongin, get changed. Chanyeol, get a laser sniper, Baekhyun get me a hacker drive. We’re going to have a talk with them.”

***

The office was largely empty, except for a cheap desk and some drawers to the side. Crouched on the edge of the window you fished a set of lockpicks from your pocket and removed the gloves of your hands with your teeth. With the gloves in your mouth you stuck the picks in the lock and felt securely if you moved the pins in the right place. And slowly but surely the last pin fell and you were able to turn the lock over with a practiced motion. You stepped inside just as the lock on the other side started jiggling. “I’m in.” You said into the headset. Baekhyun answered calmly. “Okay Angel in position, that’s a record, how did you get there first when you had to go through the window?” With a small proud smirk on your lips you sat down on the chair with your boot clad feet on the iron desk. Dead centre in some paperwork which you were not interested in at all. The lock jiggled some more, and you wanted to call out but didn’t. He’ll get it. “Well, you know, I’m just that good.” You said as you sat up straight and pushed the hacker drive inside the computer that was standing on the desk. It was locked, but that didn’t matter for Baekhyun. “I swear I thought Dae would beat you there.” “Nah, he wanted outer position. Can you get in?” you asked, watching the screen. It was silent for a moment and then the screen flashed on. “Yep, got it.” Baek answered. “Chanyeol, you in position?” you asked as you turned around to the now closed window and was met by the red flash of a laser in your eyes. “Okay, good.” The door in front of you opened and Jongin stepped in, dusting his black jeans. “That makes three. Jongdae you good?” The other line was silent for a second or two. “Yep, I’m good. Now it’s just waiting for them to come home.” You nodded as Jongin came up beside you to watch Baekhyun move things on the screen from back home. With him was Sehun. Minseok and Lay were outside in the car in case things got messy or they turned up with all eight. But you didn’t expect that. . The camera in the upper corner turned towards you suddenly and you saluted. “See anything outside yet?” Jongin asked. “No sight of them yet. What if they don’t come back soon?” Baekhyun asked. There was a rumbling sound on one of the lines. “They’ll be back.” Jongdae said. You sighed loudly. “Are you looking around or what the hell are you doing?” “Hmmm I’m just checking the perimeters. We should take some of this stuff home you know, could get a lot of money from it.” He mused and you shook your head. “I know, I’m getting back to the post. Don’t you think it’s a little sloppy that they keep everything around and don’t instal an alarm?” Nobody really answered. Jongdae had a bad habit of blabbering a bit too much on the other end of the line for jobs like this. Sometimes it was nice, but something inside of you was tense. Maybe just because you knew that there were connections to him, or just because you’d been out of it. But you were tense, and almost jumped when Jongin placed a hand on your shoulder from beside you. He moved, sitting on the desk, facing you as you leant back in the chair. He raised his eyebrow at you, questioning. You nodded, as if to say everything was okay. But he cocked his head to the side and frowned. Trying to get a read on you. “Guys I see a car pulling up.” Xiumin said, and Jongin stood up straight. You didn’t move, still leaning back. “I thought you said they didn’t park here?” “Well, they usually don’t. But if they went to deliver they might’ve brought stuff back.” The lines were all silent, and you sighed. Jongdae was the first to speak up again. “Well isn’t it stupid of them to leave everything out in the open though?” “No,” you and Sehun answered at the same time, and he laughed. “After you Angel.” “Thanks my friend.” You shook your head, and Jongin rolled his eyes. “If they blind the windows people will get suspicious, and nobody will come here until the next few months. Which means they aren’t here to stay. Anybody getting out of that car?” “Yeah,” Xiumin trailed. “A man, and two other guys. I think it’s the one were looking for. The woman isn’t here though.” There was a flash of red in the corner of your left eye and you saw the red laser dot move over the wall to set steadily on the point beside the door. “Chanyeol, turn it off. Once I give you the signal you turn it back on.” “Wait, what signal?” he asked, but he turned it off. “You’ll know.” “Shhh.” Dae suddenly whispered. “They’re inside.” His voice was low and a little hard to follow over the static. You were still leaning back, but the screen of the computer flashed black now.  Baekhyun was probably done by now, having copied all their files and deleted the ones that he deemed problematic. “Angel if you need us, you say the word.” Xiumin said, knowing you couldn’t answer him anymore but you knew what he meant nonetheless. The code for danger, fire. Suddenly the lock on the door jiggled, and Jongin tensed up beside you. You briefly touched his hand that was resting on your shoulder, and gave it a soft squeeze. He was off, like you, but for him it could end bad. You sensed it in his stance, so you prayed he was going to be able to flip the switch. The door opened and the man that stepped through had wide eyes when he saw you. So you arched an eyebrow and took him in. Broad shoulders, tall, dressed in an expensive suit that wasn’t tailored perfectly. Sloppy work. His hair was pushed back from his face, ashen black like his eyes. Deep and dark, staring at you. His thick eyebrows furrowed and the men behind him reached for their guns. “I wouldn’t if I were you.” You mused, and saw Jongdae behind them with a gun pointed at the man’s head. “Or your boss dies.” So they put their guns back in their pockets and let Jongdae push them into the room. Your friend stayed behind them, gun still raised, eyes not moving to you but staring at a target on the back of the man’s head. “Let me get things clear before we start. We’re here to talk with you, I have no intentions of this getting dirty. But do know that we have full control over your camera recordings, and nothing that happens here will be saved to your hard drive. We have full copies of all your files and my gunman if up on the adjacent roof in case you guys decide that this isn’t going the way you want to. Yeol.” You stated, and on cue a red light flashed up on the guys chest, dead centre to his heart. “Let me also tell you that this isn’t going to go the way you want. This is going to go the way I want it to go. So you’re going to listen to me, and answer my questions honestly. If I think you’re lying, I wont hesitate to give my man the signal. He’s a perfect shot.” The leader narrowed his eyes at you, hands in his pocket. Jongdae moved, Jongin did too, as they switched places slowly. Circling all the way till Jongdae was at your left and Jongin locked the door and came to your right. Both clad in dark jeans, a white shirt and jackets tailored to perfection. “Are we clear?” you asked, hands folded in your lap. He nodded. Jongdae moved beside you, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re here to request your departure from this city.” The man opened his mouth. Jongin spoke first. “Don’t protest, our request isn’t an open one. You go or we force you to leave. Your choice. That is, if you answer our questions first.” There was something in the eyes of the guy on his right, that you could’t quite place. The quiver of his lip, the twitch in his hand. His hair was blonde, and curled smoothly at the ends, but it was seemingly dry in the terrible lighting. Thats when his hand reached for his pocket. You let him pull the gun out and point it at your head. “Leave, or I’ll shoot you.” A smirk played on your lips. “Go ahead, pull the trigger.” He did, and the gun clicked but nothing else happened. Jongin beside you reached into his own pocket and emptied his hand on the table, 7 bullets rolling out over the metal desk. “A little precaution.” He smirked. Jongdae did the same thing, emptying his hand of 14 bullets, belonging to the leader and the man on the left. The sound was hard in the small room, and one bullet rolled to the edge of the desk, rolling, rolling, and tipping of the edge to fall to the floor and roll further there till it came to a stop by the door. “I see you elevated the desk. Smart. Old building sag easily around here, that’s why it’s up for demolish. Not such a smart move of you to leave everything out in the open for us to see. We had you scouted out easily, and your tracks weren’t covered properly either. I’d say your work is quite sloppy.” You trailed, and grabbed a pen from the desk to play with it. “What do you want?” the man asked again. “We told you, we want you to leave this city.” Jongdae shrugged. “But we also want to know who you work for.” Jongin cocked his head to the side and frowned a little. “Who requested you to be here?” There was hesitation in his stance, and his eyes briefly flickered up to the camera. “Oh don’t worry about that.” Jongin said. “We got full control, whoever owns you and your brother can’t see a thing right now except for an empty office. The Smuggler, right?” The man nodded, but his eyes stayed trained on you. No matter which of the two boys spoke. Jongdae continued. “It’s weird though, he specialises in gathering things up and getting them across the border. So what would he do in a central city like this, selling his goods?” The leader shrugged. “I just follow orders. I’m a dealer” “Ah, like your brother? Or does your brother give you the orders?” Kai mused. “Is he the one who makes you do all the dirty work? I mean, I get it you know. He’ s a big shot underboss for the Smuggler and you’re…well you’re probably next to nothing compared to that. I wonder how that must feel.” Kai did his thing, trying to rile the man up. There was anger contorting in his face and you clicked your tongue approvingly. “I see, a little family feud I guess? Was he always better than you when you were a kid? How about this, you give us information on their whereabouts, and we let you get off alive and well. Including all of your men.” He doubted, before he spoke slowly. “What are you doing here, you’re not part of their crew. This shouldn’t be any of your business.” “Ahhhh,” Chen said. “But you made it her business, it’s what you get when you invade someone’s house. Break their stuff, attack them, attack their friends.” He grabbed a bullet from the table and twirled it between his fingers, as if inspecting it. “These bullets are nice, but your gun is nicer. It’s an old model, seems familiar. A lot like the ones that used to be on display in the Majors house. He collects old guns. But a few have gone missing a couple of weeks ago. I wonder who did that.” You chuckled when the man’s eyes widened. “Lesson one in thievery. Never use your stolen goods, always get rid of them. You did a good job though, getting in there. But you should know better than to steal from the Major. They’ll find you eventually and everything will go up in smoke.” “We’ll be gone from here by the end of the month.” The man snarled. You pointed an accusing finger at him. “Don’t use such a tone with me. You’ll leave today, before nightfall. Or we’ll come after you.” “We’re not going anywhere, this isn’t part of your territory.” Kai sighed. “Well I guess you were misinformed then, this city is ours. And anything that happens on here is monitored by us. You leave this city tonight, by traffic or by bodybag. The choice is yours.” “I WILL N-“ he started but you held up your hand. “If I have to get up out of this chair and teach you a lesson you’ll be in much more trouble than you already are. Don’t provoke me, don’t yell at me, don’t speak when I’m speaking. Or when any one of us is speaking.” He narrowed his eyes again, obviously not impressed by three young people trying to get one up on him, the corners of his lips quivered with contempt. So you sighed deeply. “It’s so sad that you don’t see the trouble you’re in.” And on cue, a short fired through the closed window, glass shattering behind you. The bullet lodged itself straight into the right guys chest. He collapsed to the floor, dead immediately. Blood slowly started to pool below him and you looked at the body with spite. Jongin shook his head in mock defeat. “Such a shame it had to go this way. You could’ve been gone towards the airport by now, but you chose to take the hard path. Don’t argue with us, give us the Smuggler’s location and leave. There is nothing more we request of you.” “We don’t know his location.” “Then give us your brother’s, I’m sure he knows.” Jongin smiled sweetly. “Or don’t you want to endanger your dear sibling? Because he knew we were here, he knew the way this city is ruled, and he threw you out for the wolves.” There was a silence in the room, and someone’s breathing was clear on the other line. Jongin’s and Jongdae’s lines were cut of from yours so that there wouldn’t be any echo, but someone was nervous on the other end. Or they had their mic way too close to their faces. Yours was hidden in a collarbone piercing, as was Jongin’s. A little black ball Baekhyun designed that went perfect with the jewellery. It wasn’t on display, but the opening of the first few buttons of your white blouse gave it enough space to record what needed to be recorded. Jongdae’s was in his earring, which was why he was sometimes hard to understand. Most of they time you opted for giving him a regular headset but that wasn’t an option today. “So what do you say?” Jongdae asked. “What is their location?” The man was still doubting, he eyes you, always you. He didn’t even look at the boys beside you. He knew you were in charge, his nostril flared, and you knew he was afraid of you. The way you nonchalantly sat in his chair and pretended that you owed the place. “How did you even get in here?” he asked, almost a growl. He was stalling time he didn’t have. Probably waiting for the rest of his crew to come back. “Roof.” Jongdae shrugged. “Front door.” Jongin answered. “Window.” You pointed behind you to where there were jagged edges sticking out from the open window. Glass was strewn over the floor and some probably got in your hair. “Really, your security lacks. Give us the information we want, the long your stall the more chance that I’m going to shoot you.” His eyes suddenly darted up to the roof, where Chanyeol was. “He could offer you a job, he’ll give you much money for it. Girls like you get around.” He offered, and you were utterly disgusted by it. “Let us finish business here, and you could be rich beyond you beliefs by the end of the year.” You laughed. “You’re so sad.” Another shot fired, killing the man on the left instantly too. “I’m not a whore, I won’t be traded of to rich guys. I play these rich guys, I take their money in the field they think they own. I’m not going to be his new hooker. Because I know what he does to girls like me and I want nothing to do with it.” “This is your last chance.” Jongin said. “Give us the location or you die.” There he was, standing like a grown man who tried to not put his tail between his legs. Trying to keep strong. To see if he could get one up on you, but he wouldn’t. There was something that searched your eyes, but you didn’t know anything. His gaze moved over your features, and you turned them from calm to condescending. Tipping up your chin. It wasn’t until his eyes moved to your hands that something clicked. “Looking for something?” you asked, uncrossing your legs from atop the table and putting them down on the floor. Leaning over the table to quirk an eyebrow. Most people would tell you to never sit during conversations like this. And that’s why your two companions were standing, to exert authority. You didn’t need it. Your nonchalance and way of talking did enough for you. Sometimes being calm did more to people than screaming at their faces. “Have I met you before?” he asked. This better not be what you thought it was. “You seem familiar, is that possible? I mean a rogue like you isn’t something to forget easily.” Fear shot through your body like the bullet through the window, shattering your demeanour, breaking it into pieces to pull it’s claws at you heart. The boys beside you felt it, because Jongdae tensed too. Jongin was the one who saved the situation before the man could reach over the table. “Chanyeol!” he called. A silent shot in the air, flying past your ear so close you could feel the wind move. Right as the man lunged out for you, hand reaching for your throat, it hit him in the eye socket. He fell on the desk, but he was still moving. Jongin was the first one with his gun out to finish him off. Blood splattered over your face ad white shirt. “What happened?!” Minseok yelled through the microphone, you heard the sound of a slamming car door on the other side. Nobody else spoke, nobody. So you took out your earpiece before he could yell at you more. Jongdae’s hand came to rest at the back of your neck, squeezing reassuringly as you let out a deep breath. Jongin sat on the desk across from you searching your eyes. “Are you okay? I’ve never seen you tense up like that.” He moved closer to wipe the blood from your face with the sleeve of his jacket. You covered your face with your hands, leaning back. Jongdae took your hand in his, letting you know he was there, that you weren’t alone. Because you knew that he knew what this was about. The moment you tensed he tensed just as quickly. “I never told him I was a rogue. He’s not supposed to have information like that on me. He’s not supposed to know that I’m more than just a tattoo artist that beat him up and works for a gang on her off-time. I have no connections to people who work with the Smuggler, at all. I know everyone I work with.” The small circles Jongdae rubbed on the back of your hand with his thumb calmed you down a little, and you just waited for the verdict. Minseok stepped into the room, slamming the door against the wall and not even giving the bodies on the floor a glance before he pointed a finger at you. “You’re going to tell me what the fuck just happened. We almost had him.” “He’s dead, they’ll be gone.” “What if the rest of them comes home now? What are we going to do, shoot them too? What the fuck happened Angel?” He walked around the table and you got up, pushed it back. His shoulders were bunched his eyes full with anger. Your hand broke away from Jongdae as he stood nailed to the floor while Minseok cornered you. “You’re going to fix this too?” You opened you mouth and closed it. Looking him straight in the eyes, trying your best to keep your chin up. Because it wasn’t Minseok you were afraid of, you were never afraid of him and will never be. But your system was malfunctioning and you couldn’t do what you supposed to do. “Angel, I think I asked you a question.” The door opened and Lay stepped in, only to cross his arms over his chest and lean against the wall. Here to enjoy the show. That’s when you spoke. “Don’t poke the bear Minseok. You’re playing a dangerous game here.” He narrow his feline eyes, dark and dangerous, but familiar. The slightest smudge of eyeliner at the corners, the small ring in his left eyebrow. “What are we going to do with the rest of their group.” “Nothing.” Jongin spoke first. “If their hierarchy is the way we think it is they’re not going to do anything but gather their things and leave. So they can report it to their boss.” Minseok chuckled darkly. “Yes, and then they’ll come for us with a whole lot more men than we can handle.” “The won’t.” Jongdae said, stepping up next to you and touching Minseok’s shoulder. “If we leave their stuff here nothing will happen. They’re going to take it, finish their deals, and leave. The Smuggler isn’t know for violence against other groups when it comes to killing their men. If you touch his stuff, his money, thats when you anger him.” He was right, and his eyes flickered over to you for a second. Minseok stepped away, a snarl on his lips that he didn’t speak out. Lay’s proud look in the corner of the room made anger well up in your stomach. And Chen moved to run a hand down your back, telling you to not act out right now. “What if she’s wrong?” Lay asked, looking at you instead of at his boss. You scoffed. “What if they come for us and we have to fight for our lives, again.” “They won’t.” Xiumin sighed. “The Smuggler isn’t known for violence against other groups. He doesn’t give shit about his people unless they mess with his money. So lets leave.” A hurt look crossed Lay’s face. “You’re going to let her get away with this?!” he spat. You clenched your jaw. “I didn’t do anything.” “You fucked up!” “And you never fuck up?” you spat back, stepping from Chen and Kai’s reach, closer to the surgeon. “Never, Lay?” He stared at you, thinking, and realising what you meant. “You’re filth, you know that. Whenever you’re involved, things go wrong. This has nothing to do with me.” “The only thing hat went wrong is that we didn’t get the location, we’ll get it some other way. This guy was nothing.” Lay just shook his head and stepped out of the room, Minseok following without a word. Jongin reached out for you, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you against his chest. His head resting on top of your head. “It’s okay.” He whispered. Chen came up beside you to run his hand up and down your arm, trying to calm you down. “Nobody got hurt Ang, everything is okay.” You nodded and looked at the two of them, your best friends. “What would I do without the two of you?” They smiled and synchronically answered, “Crumble and die.” The three of you laughed as you moved outside to where Chanyeol was waiting in the van. “You kay?” he asked as he leant out the small window. You nodded and moved to the back with Jongin, there wasn’t enough space for all four of you in the front, so you and Jongin would just have to sit in the back. It was a small space, but the other could just stretch his legs out in front of him. “This van is too small.” He grumbled, touching the opposite wall with his toes. You chuckled lightly and leant your head on his shoulder. “Thank you, for saving me, for staying calm when I couldn’t.” He didn’t say anything, but his hand found yours, easily intertwining your fingers in a way that was comforting while it shouldn’t be. There was always an edge when it came to being with Jongin, and it was your fault. But he was happier, calmer, in a way. And now that you were together alone you decided to ask him. “So, what’s her name?” you said softly, looking at his hand in yours. He gasped lightly and leant back to look at you. “What?” “Oh don’t play stupid with me Nini, there’s a girl. You like her, what’s her name.” “How would you know.” “Because I know you.” He sighed and leant his cheek back on the top of your head, leg against yours. “Her name is Miyong, I met her at work.” Jongin was doing an internship at a law firm via his university. Minseok was paying for it, but it was getting them in places they couldn’t dream of before. He already made a lot of connections. A pretty smirk really got you places. “She nice to you Nini?” you played with his fingers, long and slender. He leant against you more as you took a sharp turn. “She is, but she’s normal Ang.” “So?” “How will it work…I mean, I can’t drag her into this.” You squeezed his hand. “You won’t be here forever. Chose love over this Jongin, promise me that.” He didn’t answer your question, but you knew he would. This life wasn’t it for him, he wasn’t meant to be here. He should have 3 kids, a wife and a dog. Married, trying to pay of a mortgage, fighting over what they’re going to eat. He shouldn’t be scamming and killing people. No, not Jongin. “You’ve paid your debt sweetie, Minseok doesn’t keep you here. All the money you’ve made him surpasses anything he’ll owe you still for your degree. Finish you school, fall in love, leave.” You said. “I’m guessing this only applies to me?” he asked. “There is not place outside this life for me Jongin. It’s where I was born and where I shall die. But that’s okay, because it’s who I am and chose to be. You have something better waiting for you.” You took his hand that was holding yours with your other, encasing his hand in both of yours. “Look. After what happened to you, you lost your wings that granted you the world. But you didn’t lose the world. You’re in a safe cage now, where you’ve regrown your wings so that you can fly again. And soon you’ll be ready to leave it, and it’ll open you again to that world that was once at your feet.” You opened your hands, releasing his, and he looked at it in wonder. “Thank you y/n.” He whispered, and he looked up at you with tears in his eyes. “I…” he stammered, and you wiped your thumb under his eye. “Don’t cry sweetie, it’s not worth it. Things will get better.” You winked at him. The van came to a stop, and either one of the guys punched the wall, and opened the door. So you got up to leave, opening the door before Chen reached it. Jongin pulled at your shirt, and you turned around. “I’ll miss you Ang.” He said, and you smiled at him before you left. Jongdae shot you a knowing look, and he pulled you back before you left, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. “It’s okay, really. I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.” You were still smiling and nodded. “I know Dae, I know.” Your house was quiet, but warm. The heaters turned on lightly. You toed of your boots and hung your jacket on the hanger by the door. It was clean, apart from a mug on the table and a plate in the sink. The couch blanket was neatly hung over the back and there was a book on the armrest with a small marker inside about a third through. The first thing you did was throw your dirties white blouse in the bin. Blood stains weren’t worth washing out of white. You found Kyungsoo upstairs, sleeping in your bed. Red hair messy and features calm and rested. He was wearing a shirt, but the bruise peeked out lightly from under the collar of it. A faint trace of reddish purple against his pale skin. You moved a little closer and ran a hand through his hair, which caused him to scrunch up his nose. His hair was soft, and you pushed it back from his forehead. The bruise on his cheek had gone down quite a bit after some ice, but it was still swollen and purple. Suddenly his hand came up to wrap around your wrist and he pulled you over to the bed, rolling you when you squealed and hovered over you. Pinning you hand down he smirked. “Has nobody ever told you to not touch people when they’re sleeping?” he asked. A laugh escaped your lips and, you trailed a hand down his side to slip your fingers under the hem of his shirt. His back was warm and firm and you dug your fingers in a little. He dipped down to press his lips against yours, kissing you slowly and easily. Your lips pliantly parted against his and you sighed deeply. Enjoying the feeling of coming home to something like this. His chest fell, pressing against yours fully, hand leaving your wrist and tangling in your hair. He shifted again, legs tangling with yours. But he hissed as his weight moved over to his bad shoulder and you parted. “I’m going to take a shower.” You kissed his cheekbone lightly, and got up from the bed. In the bathroom you leant down on the sink, smiling stupidly and shaking your head. Was this moving to fast? How did it even get to this so quickly? The comfortable feeling of him against you, kissing you, seeing his shoes at the door, him in your bed. Was it normal? Small butterflies tickled the inside of your stomach and you took it into the shower, rinsing of the bad taste of work and stepping out cleaned and still smiling.       He was waiting for you on the bed, sheet around his waist as he was scrolling on his phone. You sat beside him and rested your chin on his shoulder, not really looking at what he was doing. “You hungry?” he asked yawning. You nodded. “I’ll make something.” He moved to get up but you wrapped your arms around his waist and held him there. “I have pizza in the freezer, turn on Netflix, pick a movie.” You whispered it without intention, but you enjoyed the silence of the moment. He turned to you, kissing your nose. “I thought you hated freezer food?” You hummed. “I do, but I don’t think either of us is up to cooking a meal right now. I’m tired, you’re tired, lets relax.” So you went downstairs and took some time to put two pizzas in the oven, waiting patiently. Kyungsoo appeared in the doorway to the stairs. “What movies do you like?” You hadn’t really noticed before but you saw now that he was only wearing boxers with his shirt, short socks on his feet. “Surprise me.” You said. “I’ll be up in a few minutes.” So you went and waited for the pizza, took it upstairs and saw he had chosen a simple thriller/romance movie. You never really watched a lot of movies but you were fine with anything. The two of you sat closely together as you at your pizza, watching the movie, laughing together when something funny happened. You felt him shiver at a certain point, the time on the clock told you that by now the heater would’ve turned off. You paused the movie and went to get a sweatshirt from your closet. It was a really big one, the clothing company delivered it two sizes too big for you, so it should fit him fine. He’s not that broad anyway. “Here.” You said, throwing him the sweatshirt. He frowned at it. “Don’t girls normally wear the boys clothes?” You rolled your eyes. “Put it on, you’ll catch a cold.” You got back on the bed, putting the now empty plates on the floor. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder and you cuddles close to him, head resting on his chest as you watched the rest of the movie that was left. A particular scene featured a couple in a theme park, high up in the ferris wheel. Neither of you had said much, but he spoke now. “I’ve never been to a theme park before.” With a frown, you looked up at him. His eyes were trained on the screen, but his jaw was set a little. You reached for his hand, your arm over his lap, entwined your fingers. “I’ll take you some time, it’s fun.” He looked down at you with wide eyes. “I promise, really.” You were sincere, and something cleared in your mind. The fact that he came into the fighting life this young, and he was good. But also his anger that was ferocious and quick. Something must’ve happened to him when he was a kid. Not a lot of the guys in the group had an easy past. Just Sehun and Chanyeol had it easy. Not that you struggled a lot either, but it wasn’t normal. “You’re going to take me to a theme park?” he snickered. You nodded. “Well, maybe just a place that has a ferris wheel. But I promise, it’ll be fun.” He smiled and kissed the top of your head, going back to the movie. You pressed your face into the crook of his neck, lips ghosting over his collarbone. Soon you fell asleep, before even the movie could end, but you were woken up by him trying to shift down and get comfortable. So you moved with him and tangled up your bare legs. “Goodnight Angel.” He whispered. “Goodnight Soo.”

@oh-beyond @xingtrash @chenbootysoo @minniescutiehands @bootyfulohsehun @nunchiwrites @damn-jongdae-slay @thawingsnowwolf @i-am-foyo @littlekatlizzy @xiubaek13 @kaori-yuki-chan @dashi-dorawa @sherbatchan @junmyeonsthighs @yoongi-insfires-me @melyyexo @i-learned-thatfromthepizzaman @tbhwtfatm-blog @ravyeolii @ruke-pammant @lolxiuminlol @kpopmafiaaus @wheredidmylifego-ohyeahbtsandexo @crowleys-crossroads-inn @yixingsbeauty @taeminte @yeollieollie @yourseth TT.TT i still can’t tag you wtf. (if you want to be added to the list let me know, sorry if i missed you!)

[starwrite-er]

Poster Girl [Chapter 1] - A Poster Boy Companion Fic

A/N: so as you may have guessed, this is a companion fic for Poster Boy, this time more-or-less from Poe's perspective so yeah. nice. hopefully? anyway here u go. also i know that this chapter is in third person but that might change i'm not really sure atm. also i have no idea how this turned out. ALSO this companion fic will hint at bits and pieces not featured in Poster Boy for obvious reasons.

A/N 2: wow writing this was surreal. we've come so far since Poe and the reader disliked each other like this.

Tags: @vanessawolfblue @kxylo-ren @britishteahater @umbrellabrass @purple-skeleton @winchesterandpie @yourgodameronright @the-creative-lie @i-alrightokaycool @definitely-nota-fangirl

"Red Squadron, Ivory Squadron, you’re up." I shout to the pilots lounging around the hangar. It was supposed to just be a simple defense mission, holding off oncoming First Order forces while the personnel stationed on Hoth could evacuate. The red squadron are already by their X-Wings, while the larger Ivory Squadron take a moment longer, seeming to have had to break up their chat mid conversation.

These are good pilots, and they waste no time in arriving at the set destination. The Hoth system is home to a small Resistance outpost in addition to the old ruins of the Rebel Alliance’s Echo Base. Coming out of hyperspace gives us a full view of the icy planet and the small scale fight happening just outside. A small squadron of X-Wing Starfighters, the Azure Squadron, had been stationed at the Hoth outpost are already fighting.

"Alright, here we go. Lock S-Foils in attack position.“ I command my pilots. It only takes a moment for the TIE Fighters to notice the backup, and, unfortunately, these pilots aren't too bad themselves.

"This is Azure Four, requesting backup! I’ve got a whole lot of TIEs on my tail here!” Calls out the voice of one of the pilots from Hoth.

"BB-09, lock onto Azure Four’s position.“ One of my pilots speak up, though it's not a voice that I’m particularly familiar with. "This is Ivory One. I’m on my way.” And that would be the reason why. I’m closer to the Red and Blue squadrons. All the pilots knew each other, but the Ivory squadron kept to themselves just a little more than the others.

Still, it's only natural for me to feel at least a bit of concern for my comrades when they dive in to do something dangerous, which is why I watch this Ivory pilot as they swoop in to save Azure Four. I have my own enemies to take down, but I still see how they quickly and cleanly destroy the TIE Fighters on the X-Wing's tail, even going as far as to show off and throw a little loop in there. Small details, but it's enough for me to crack a smile. Hearing my pilots safe and happy is music to the my ears, so hearing the gleeful laughter of Ivory One through the comms works to broaden my smile.

"That was some fancy flying, Ivory One. Thanks for the save.“ Azure Four's voice says over the comms.

"Just doing what I can.” The prior mentioned pilot replies, almost humbly.

"The laughter as you shot those ships down really made the moment.“ Their comrade - Jenn, I remember - jokes.

"What can I say, Ivory Three? I love my job.” Ivory One responds, and I can practically hear the grin in her voice.

The banter between the pilots vanishes as more First Order forces appear. My frown is deep as I recognise the old Star Destroyer entering the battle. A damn old ship for an organisation as well funded as the First Order. The General had mentioned that the personnel stationed on the Hoth outpost were coming very close to figuring out what to do with the information the Resistance had gathered on Luke Skywalker, but she failed to elaborate further, simply saying that everyone was being transferred to the main headquarters as a safety precaution. When the main base on D'Qar received the S.O.S, however, it quickly became clear that the First Order had caught drift of the Resistance's findings. So, sending in this much fire power? Desperate, but not entirely surprising. Sending in technology as flawed as that of a Star Destroyer? Well...

My mind races, the voices of my comrades background noise. It's a Star Destroyer; everyone has heard the stories of how they were destroyed. The enemy must be developing something new - data on this model of ship was old now - or they were trying to clear out their old stock for something new. Either way, it doesn't look good.

"Alright, listen up everyone. Ivory Two, Four, Five, make sure those TIE Fighters don’t get near that Star Destroyer. Ivory Three, Six, deal with those turbolasers. Azure Squadron, am I correct in thinking you still consist of six pilots?” The commanding, if not slightly pissed off voice of Ivory One breaks me from my thoughts. What in the name of the Force was she doing? She should know the consequences of usurping a commanding officer in a situation like this.

Another thought comes to mind, and I cringe inwardly at myself. I was usually better than this. Usually I was focused enough to do my job and give orders.

"Yes, Ivory Leader.“ I raise my brows at this new development from the Azure Squadron. Ivory Leader, hey?

"I need Azure One and Two to deal with those deflector shield generator globes. Azure Three, Four, help my team with those armaments - focus on the ion cannons. Azure Five, Six, help keep those TIEs off our tails.” Ivory Leader instructs. They certainly seem to have relaxed into the role quickly, bossing the team around with such certainty in their actions and firing shots at the Star Destroyer's defense system. Ivory One... Ivory One... who was that? Oh. Right. Lieutenant Y/N Y/L/N. Alright then, Lieutenant, not bad so far, but let's see how you deal with the rest of this mission.

"Red Squadron, bring down those armaments. Take out any TIE that gets too close. Red Four, watch my back. Keep an eye out for Ivory Leader, too.“ Okay, maybe the bitterness was a bit uncharacteristic and uncalled for, I'll admit, but she is kind of taking my job here, so it was more or less justified.

While Lieutenant Y/L/N circles back around the Star Destroyer, I swoop in, targeting one of the shield generators. From a ship like his, it doesn't take much to bring down the already damaged orb. Azure Two announces the destruction of of the generator they were targeting. "This is Black Leader. The shield generators are down, Ivory One.“ I inform the Lieutenant, reminding her of her place, knowing fully well that she saw them destroyed.

As I take out any TIE Fighter getting too close to the ship, I keep a close eye on the X-Wing belonging to Ivory One. It swoops round the ship and into position, constantly firing at the bridge of the Star Destroyer. Finishing it off, they finally hit it with the X-Wing’s torpedoes, activating their shield as they fly through the flames of the bridge. As they swerve around in a wide arc, directing their firepower towards the remaining TIE Fighters, Lieutenant Y/L/N whoops and laughs as the enemy warship begins to sink towards the frozen wasteland that is Hoth. My attitude softens, hearing the genuine excitement at the defeat of an enemy like that.

Okay, maybe I was being a little unfair. She was just filling my space while my mind was elsewhere. Even the teasing of her teammates doesn't bring her down.

"Azure One, send a message down to Hoth informing them of this scrap,“ I notice the Lieutenant quickly pipe down as I speak, and I honestly feel just the tiniest bit guilty. "Not bad, Ivory One, but next time leave the commanding to me."

"Right. Sorry, Sir." They reply, voice quieter, almost regretful. Okay, yeah, now I definitely feel guilty.

The area surrounding Hoth seems to be clear of First Order ships, and going through the motions as we return to base doesn't take long. Arriving on D'Qar, the pilots touch down on the landing strip, a small crowd gathered to congratulate us. Quick to exit my ship, I soak up the attention before heading to speak to General Organa. I can't help but glance back at the X-Wing belonging to Lieutenant Y/N Y/L/N, seeing her mentally prepping herself for whatever happens next.

"She knew what would happen, but she did it anyway." I murmur to myself, but the General hears me anyway.

"So would you, if your commanding officer was taking too long to respond in a situation like that," Leia gives me a look, a quiet and subtle scolding. It's brief, and the grey-haired woman turns her attention back to the other pilot quickly, calling her over. "Lieutenant Y/N Y/L/N, I'd like to have a word." The girl's friends pat her on the back and hurriedly leave.

"How can I help, General?" Lieutenant Y/L/N asks. With her helmet tucked casually under her arm, her body language relaxed, you'd guess she wasn't at all nervous. Not that that's actually the case, though. The three of us begin to walk through the corridors of the base.

"Usually somebody would be punished for disobeying the orders of their commanding officer and even giving orders of their own,” The General casts a sideways glance at me as I walk beside her on her left. “However, the orders you gave were more than suitable and the mission succeeded, so this time you’re off the hook. In fact, your actions may just earn you some recognition.”

Though I don’t look at her, I hear Y/N's almost silent sigh of relief, catching the slightest smile on her face out of the corner of my eye. Huh. She masked that uncertainty well.

"The mission will be discussed thoroughly. We may have more to tell you at a later date. You are dismissed, Lieutenant.“ General Organa tells the young woman before entering the Command Centre.

"That was some sharp flying out there. You’re not a bad pilot.” I say after a moment, drawing Y/N's attention, surprise flashing in her eyes.

"Thank you, Commander,“ She flashes a weak smile. "And, uh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken control the way I did.” I can feel that there's more she really wants to say, her apology sincere but holding an underlying bitterness.

A thought nags at the back of my mind. She really doesn't like you. What did you do?

"You took down the Star Destroyer, so I’d say your plan was a success. Maybe next time don’t show me up like that in front of my squadron, though,“ I grin at my fellow pilot. Sure, she stole my job back there, but I wasn't the type to hold unnecessary grudges. Besides, she proved herself back there. Even if I am torn about her dislike of me. "And just call me Poe.”

"Oh, right, okay. Thank you, Comman- uh, Poe,“ Y/N fidgets with her helmet. The unexpected interaction has brought out any awkwardness in her personality. "Sorry, I should probably be going.”

We hardly exchange a decent goodbye before she's left. Entering the Command Centre, I’m approached by the General.

"Of course we heard all the comms transmissions, but what do you think?" Leia pries. Yes, she was strategic and cutthroat when necessary, having grown up in the Rebel Alliance, but she had compassion for those risking life and limb for her cause. Maybe not always the best move to make, but acknowledging the opinions and feelings of her Resistance members made it all just that bit more meaningful.

"The pilots listened to her. She knew what she was doing," I say, thinking back. "I've heard the Ivory Squadron mention she was the 'leader' of their team. She not a commanding officer?"

"No. Why? Do you think she should be?" The General inquires. The pause in the conversation couldn't quite be described as hesitation.

"We all saw her plan take down a Star Destroyer. Last time I checked, that was grounds for a promotion," I find myself saying, even if it's more so me asking 'what would be best for the Resistance?' than it is my own opinion. "Even if she did cross the boundaries."

"Well, this is a rebel cause; she was just rebelling a bit." The twinkle in Leia Organa's eye is enough to tell me that she is certainly considering my comment.

[mousedetective]

The True Value Of Things

And here is the third fic I managed to write during my mother’s doctor’s appointment, @chitarra10‘s Elemenatry fic. It was inspired by two absolutely stunning watercolor portraits of Joan and Sherlock done by @inkberly that I had asked permission to base a story on ages ago and never got around to writing until today. Joan's is here and Sherlock's is here, and I highly encourage everyone to show them some love because they are beyond gorgeous.

The True Value Of Things - Joan drags Sherlock to a street fair in Tribeca and eventually to a watercolor portrait booth, where Sherlock makes a surprising discovery and Joan learns something new about her friend.

Fandom: Elementary (TV)

Relationship: Sherlock Holmes & Joan Watson

Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Joan Watson, Original Female Character(s)

Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 01, Male-Female Friendship, Friendship, Street Fair, Art, Watercolors, Sherlock-centric, Sherlock Being Sherlock, Sherlock Being Considerate, Sherlock Holmes Has Manners, Sherlock Makes Deductions, Artists, Past Sherlock Holmes/Jamie Moriarty | Irene Adler, Sentimental Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes & Joan Watson (Elementary) Friendship, Joan is a Good Friend, Irritated Joan, Happy Joan, Stubborn Joan, Sherlock Holmes and Bees, Inspired by Fanart

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“Okay, you have to actually get out of the brownstone every once in a while,” Joan said, looking at Sherlock. “And I mean more than just for cases. This is New York City. There’s life in every section of this place.”

“Death too,” Sherlock said, not looking up from the book he was holding in his hands as he paced around the living room. “Our stock and trade is in the death that permeates this city.”

Joan rolled her eyes at him, looked around for something to use as a bookmark, and then when she found something walked in front of him, dropped it in between the pages he was looking at and closed the book with a snap. “Then forget about death today and consider celebrating life for a change. I swear, you’re all about doom and gloom all of a sudden.”

“My bees are the victim of some sort of infection. I’m trying to figure out a way to stop it before a certain bee I named after a certain partner vanishes with the rest of the dead hive,” he said, giving her a mild glare.

“You can take a few hours to go join me for this massive street fair in Tribeca that I was supposed to go to with a date that someone deduced the hell of and sent him running,” she said, matching his glare with equal force.”

They locked gazes for a few moments and then he looked away and sighed. She would win, of course. She usually did. He hated to admit it, but Joan had sway over him in a way few others did. He would do much to make her happy, and if going to mingle among the masses for a street fair for a time would make her happy, he would do so. He gently tossed the book on the sofa and then went to the coat rack. “Lead on, MacDuff.”

---

It wasn’t an altogether bad sort of street fair if he wanted to be honest with himself. Rather like the Sunday Up Market at Brick Lane, in its own way. Vendors hawking their wares, food being sold from street carts and food trucks, artists trying to make a living. They had passed by one in particular a few times that Joan had seemed most intrigued by, and on the fourth go round Sherlock stopped in his tracks, immobile as a stone.

“You want a portrait,” he said to her.

“No!” Joan said hastily. “I mean, it’s street art, it’s just...” She trailed off, glancing at the art that the artist had propped up on a small easel to display their skills. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Watercolours,” Sherlock murmured, moving closer to the easel. “Very lifelike. Quite exquisite.” He glanced over ad saw the artist, a young woman, was currently subject free. “Pose.”

“What?” Joan asked, surprised.

“We have tred most of this fair and you have walked by this particular booth four times. You want a portrait.” He gestured to the canopy covered booth. “Pose for a watercolour. I will cover the cost. It is my gift to you.”

Joan gave him a smile and ducked inside, speaking with the artist and her companion while Sherlock studied the art. There was something quite familiar about the style and technique that he could not put his finger on, but it was nagging at him. When Joan called him in to hear the price, he stepped inside. “You are not a professional,” he said.

“Sherlock!” Joan said, her eyes wide.

“It’s all right,” the woman said, shaking her head. “No, I’m not. I just do this for fun.”

Sherlock nodded. “And how long have you been doing this for fun?” he asked, crossing his arms.

The woman tilted her head. “About...five years now?”

“But you’ve been painting longer,” he said.

“Since I was very young,” she replied.

“I am so sorry,” Joan said, glaring at Sherlock before turning to the woman.

“It’s alright,” the woman said, giving her a smile. “It’s good to know more about an artist when you’re getting a commission.”

“Kimmy,” her companion said. “You’re running low on the blue you’d use for her shirt.”

Kimmy pursed her lips and then looked at her paints. “I think we can manage. I’ll pull something out of the hat.”

Then it clicked. The wunderkind watercolor genius that Irene...Jamie...had espoused about, who painted such beautiful pictures as a child, whose style she could never match no matter how hard she tried. Jamie had shown him some of her aborted attempts and this was the artist. “Kimberly,” he murmured. “You disappeared from the art world at fourteen. Your parents would not allow the release of your surname or the showing of your photograph. You did not attend your gallery showings. They tried to keep you as normal a child as possible while sharing your gift with the world.”

“And yet I still managed to feel the pressure of fame,” she said, her smile becoming a little more wry as she began to paint Joan. “Not from my parents, but everyone else. They wanted more, they wanted bigger, they wanted flashier, and I just wanted to enjoy my friends and my life as a teenager. So at fourteen, I retired and walked away from the art world. But I couldn’t give up painting entirely. I didn’t go to art school because that would be too conspicuous, but things like this...that’s enough.” Her smile became warmer as she looked at Sherlock. “You’re the first to ever figure it out.”

“I once knew an art forger who tried to copy your style. She never succeeded,” he said.

Kimberly chuckled. “That makes me feel better.” She turned her attention to the work she was doing. “You should get a portrait too…?”

“Sherlock Holmes,” he said. “I would be honoured.”

“And I would be honored to paint you, free of charge.” Her companion patted the seat next to her and he sat down, having a clear view of her working. “Come and watch me work.”

Sherlock sat, entranced. He had seen Jamie paint from time to time, though never her original work; that had been the lure to her “death” scene. But he had seen her do bits and pieces of her restorations and her forgeries, so he knew great skill when he saw it. Kimberly possessed every inch of skill that Jamie had. They way she moved her brush was like poetry, should he make the comparison, and it was beautiful to watch.

Soon she was done with Joan’s portrait and it was time for his sitting. At times he found it hard to sit still for such things but it was easy today, to stay perfectly skilled so such a skilled artisan could capture his likeness. It was almost with regret when she told him it was done. Joan had taken his spot to watch and she too looked just as impressed as he had. “It’s magnificent,” she said in awe.

He moved to view it and saw a picture that looked delicate yet vibrant at the same time, with his name at the bottom. She had even signed it, which he knew to most collectors would increase its worth tenfold, though he cared not about that. “I agree.”

“They need to dry, but they should be ready to pick up in a few hours,” Kimberly said. “I promise I won’t leave until you’ve gotten them.”

“Let me tip you,” Sherlock said, reaching for his well-hidden wallet.

“You don’t need to,” Kimberly said. “Free of charge, remember?”

“For something of as great value as this, I feel I must give you some portion of it’s worth.” He pulled two bills from his wallet and folded them over before slipping them in her tip jar. Then he gave her a warm grin and bowed at the waist. “We will return in a few hours.”

He left the booth then and Joan followed, a wide grin on her face as Sherlock put his wallet back in his coat. “You do realize you just tipped her $200,” she said.

He nodded. “I do,” he replied.

“You don’t throw around money like that.”

He stopped and looked at her for a moment. “One must pay for things of value, or else they lose their worth. They are worth much more than $200, but it is something more than I believe she would normally get.” He paused. “Now. I need to find an ATM and make a withdrawal. I believe my father can stand to lose some money to gift a young artist for some exquisite paintings.” He watched her shake her head and his grin widened. Yes, this had definitely been the best decision of the day, to celebrate life instead of investigate death, if only for a brief time. A most rewarding decision indeed...

Read @ AO3 | Send Me A Prompt | Buy Me A Coffee?

[glowingstill]

5 Intimate Tips for Vacationing as a Couple with Kids

There is a flurry of excitement in our home. Vacation is just a few weeks away. 23 days to be exact-according to the daily countdown that is called out. We are going to the Caribbean on vacation, and taking the kids with us. It is a mix of fall break and the long spring vacation that we did not take (and we’ve decided that we are never going to skip that spring break again. We have got to get away!!)

We love to cruise, and will be spending a week visiting the islands of Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel while cruising with Carnival Cruise Lines. This is our 8th cruise with them, and we really like the affordability and the family fun atmosphere (no, this isn’t a paid advertisement, this is our well-earned opinion)

Vacationing with kids is almost a conundrum.  First of all, you want to vacate – i.e., to leave what you are used to, and enjoy a new environment. Secondly, you want to enjoy New foods. Activities, read a book that doesn’t have pictures on every.single.page. and maybe relax.  BUT when you add kids to the mix, vacationing can turn into a virtual romantic nightmare. And it can seem that intimate times together are “off the calendar”.

If you’re not careful, a vacation can be all about the children and not about each other.

This thought should be carefully considered, if you’re not careful, a vacation can be all about the children and not about each other. Spending time with your family is important, but so is your spouse. Your spouse is the one who you said, “I do” to, and the one who worked hard to make this happen, and the one who so desperately needs attention too. As you vacation, Don’t ignore the most important people while on vacation. So here are 5 tips that Stephen and I have found for increasing intimacy while vacationing.

One: Plan to Be Intimate

With a chuckle, I remember the early vacations that we have taken. I am a planner by nature. Sometimes an impulsive planner, but a planner none-the-less.  Vacation planning is one of my favorite things to do. I’ll scope out vacation spots, hotels, activities, transportation routes, food options, and anything else I can think of.  But one vacation, I thought I had planned everything, but I hadn’t planned on paying for parking in Charleston, SC. And there was NOWHERE to park! We drove around forever trying to find the perfect spot, but it was a busy weekend and all the locations were taken.  We were about to miss our trip to Fort Sumpter island, to see where the Civil War began, so we just pulled into a parking garage and decided we’d figure it out afterward.

Well, we had a great time visiting the island. The boat ride back and forth was fun and relaxing. Cool breezes and wind in my hair type of day (they’re my favorite).  AND…then we got back to the parking garage only to discover they ONLY took cash. 

#fail

We had to walk several blocks to use the ATM to pull out cash, which included the fee for using that ATM, to pay for parking. And we promised ourselves that never again would we NOT have cash secretly hidden away in the van to pay for parking. 

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

I love this quote by Tolkien; it states the obvious and the reminder that dragons are out there and are ready to eat you. Sometimes dragons in our marriage are closer than we think, and without planning accordingly, those dragons eat away at our marriage.

Read also: Fighting Fair in a Marriage? Is it even possible?

When you take time to be intimate with your spouse on vacation, you are showing them that you love them AND they have priority to be “on the list”. Yeah, that list. The one that you have labored feverishly trying to plan the perfect vacation. So I encourage you, for the next vacation schedule a time that you and your spouse can spend time alone together. If all you get is twenty minutes while a child is napping or 30 minutes while the others are doing a craft project in the craft area, then spend it together. This is not the time to run away and peruse facebook, it is YOUR time to spend together.

Two: Bring Lingerie

I know, believe me, I know how much STUFF has to be packed for vacation. And it seems the tinier the kids are the MORE stuff has to be taken. I mean seriously, there is no such thing as packing too many diapers and wipes. 10 pairs of underwear for a 4 day trip is completely understandable. And shoes…must not forget the shoes. Even if its just short vacation trip, 5 pairs of shoes will hopefully be enough – nope, pack the extra comfy shoes just in case.

In a small corner of your suitcase, slip in something special. Lacey, smooth, satiny, and risqué. Yes, it needs to fit at least 3 of those criteria. Notice I didn’t say, cottony, comfortable, or stained with spit-up from the nursing baby. 

Wearing lingerie is important for both the husband AND the wife. For the wife, it is important to feel pretty. Sexy. Desirable. Adored. Admired. 

I know how hard this is. After all the pregnancies, C-section scar, stretch marks – it feels that I will never be pretty and sexy again. But that is a lie. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The more I have learned to accept where I am right now (instead of hoping, wishing, and dieting for a body that will probably never happen), the happier I am wearing pretty lingerie.  I’m (slowly) learning and practicing to find pieces that I feel ok in and make me feel like the beautiful person my husband tells me that I am.

For the husband, lingerie wearing is a personal preference. Some men like silk boxers others prefer to be naked. You know your husband better than anyone else, so if you decide to pack him something this is up to you.  But, as most everyone knows, a husband LIKES TO SEE his wife in lingerie.  And this is a good thing!

It is good for a husband to see his wife in lingerie! This is good. This is holy. This is RIGHT #lifecoach #marriage #intimacy #sex #lingerie Click To Tweet

For your Christian husband, avoiding porn and scantily clad women is something he has to do ALL the time.  Let his eyes have a break for once.  Let him “SEE” you,  and enjoy the feast for his eyes. Song of Solomon 4:7 sums it perfectly when it says, “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.”  Have you heard about eye candy?  It’s NOT a sin when done correctly!!!!  Let him have moments of eye candy with you.   Not only will he enjoy this feast for his eyes, it will increase his love for you.  Remember men are visually stimulated.  As a wife, I want my husband to want to look at me and enjoy what he sees.

THREE: Utilize the Kids’ Programs

Please, please, please do it! If I could reach out to parents, and look them in the eye, hold their hand, and plead with them to learn this one very important lesson I hope they could understand it would be this.  Learn to let go of your children now. Begin by cutting the tiniest apron strings, and let them do things without you.

I know I rarely talk about parenting on this blog, as it is more focused on marriage instead of parenting, but sometimes marriage and parenting do overlap. And this is one of those overlapping times.

Note: Please know, I realize some children are not able to be away from their parents. Reasons may include nursing babies, developmental issues, safety concerns etc. I am not referring to these situations.

As a mother of 4 children, I have struggled through times of crying, clingy children who were scared of new environments. Who didn’t want to go to classes or art projects without me.  But I too have been the momma, who went in there for a few moments and got them settled down…and quietly left. My children are taught from an early age that Momma loves them, but Momma needs time to be alone as well.  

Obviously, if this is never taught before vacation, it probably won’t go well on vacation.  As you can, practice now to teach your children to be in safe places without you. Some ideas can be Library Story Hour, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Mom’s Night Out, Craft-times. 

Four: Practice in Advance

It was a freezing cold January. Bitterly cold. 5 degrees was the outside temperature that we were greeted with. Snow was piled up, and while the roads were clear, the walkways were icy and treacherous.  

In the hotel room that we were at, it was not cold. In fact, it was rather hot. Yep. really hot! 

As a family with children, it means that when we travel on vacation our kids stay in the hotel room with us.  Sometimes we’re able to get a suite with a separate sleeping area, and other times we just pile them around the room and utilize the pull-out couch. 

So back to the dark room. It was about 7 am, I was slowly waking up. The kids were already VERY awake, and were watching TV and playing on their devices. And suddenly, I felt my husband close to me under the covers. Yes, he was VERY, VERY close.

To be able to pull off intimacy in crowded locations, without letting your children know what is going on, requires a lot of practice in advance. Oh sure, the Kama Sutra has countless positions for sex, but let’s be realistic. 95% of those are virtually impossible unless you practice them.

You have to practice sexual positions to be able to successfully use them in different situations. #intimacy #sex #practice #lifecoaching #marriage Click To Tweet

So if you have to practice sexual positions, that means you actually need to be intimate with your spouse before vacation arrives, so you can enjoy it on vacation.

Five: Darkness (and other locations) are Your Friend

This 5th point is not a play on the scripture verse of ‘men love darkness rather than light’, it is simply a very notable point. A husband and a wife can be intimate in the dark on vacation. *Hint* That means the children can’t see what is going on. 

Obviously, you have to careful here. Intimacy in the dark can be difficult, and it also requires you to be quiet. But, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention! It’s kind of humorous to consider, that for hundreds of generations, couples have been intimate in the dark. If you were to search for living conditions throughout the centuries, only the wealthy people had separate rooms. Often times, whole families would share a room together to save on building costs and increase security. 

Other fun locations are the back of your minivan (of course, once all the luggage has been dragged in), the shower, the toilet – with the lid down,  a hot-tub, or a soft quilt under the stars.  Yep. They are ALL excellent ideas and so much fun to explore together which ones that you like best on vacation.

Read also: Intimate Cord of Love to Bind Your Marriage Together

Good things sometimes happen without planning, but GREAT vacations require advance planning – that includes intimacy and sex while on vacation.

Share with me in the comments some tips and tricks you have found that have worked while vacationing with children. You never know, you just might share something that makes fireworks happen for someone else!

The post 5 Intimate Tips for Vacationing as a Couple with Kids appeared first on Glowing Still Johanna Galyen.

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[alifeenrouteblog]

72 hours in havana, cuba

Why I went to Havana

 My obsession with getting to Cuba is convoluted. My Uncle Mike was sick for well over a decade; a heart transplant led to lung cancer for the 63-year-old nonsmoker. His wife, my Aunt Suzanne, unexpectedly died in the summer of 2015, which was very hard for everyone in the family. But of course, it was the hardest for Mike; they had been married for 40+ years. We all saw how a part of him died the day Suzanne died.

I could go on and on about how amazing the two of them were but I'll keep it quick. After Suzanne passed, Mike became more obsessed with traveling. I think the depression of losing his one true love drove him to want to do some very ambitious travel. He wasn't well and probably should not have traveled internationally at all, so it took us all for a surprise when he told everyone we would be doing a family trip to Cuba the Christmas after Suzanne died. He wanted to do it before he died. A newly opened country to the US does not sound like the best place for a man struggling to beat cancer. But that was Mike.

I'm not sure if my Dad talked him out of it or if Mike just forgot about it or what exactly happened, but I know the conversation about Cuba stopped after Christmas. Mike passed away that June. Four days after my Uncle Mark (his brother and roommate) died. Yes, that is correct. We lost two uncles/brothers in the span of four days. I wouldn't say I was extremely close with either one of them. Mostly because they were far across the country. But both of them were amazingly kind and loving people. I admired them very much. And I loved them deeply. When they died, I silently went into a deep depression.

At first, it was the pain of seeing my Dad in so much pain. Other than my brother and I, Mike and Mark were his only living immediate family. His parents have both died. The fourth brother David, passed away in an accident in 2005. His brothers were his best friends. Seeing my Dad lose everyone made me want to scream. It was so incredibly painful. My Dad's great at keeping it together but I knew how much he was suffering. And probably still is.

When I got home from the joint funeral, and for the rest of the summer, anytime I got home from the bar or had a couple of glasses of wine in my apartment, I would sob in my bed. For hours. Sometimes, I'd drunk dial my brother and cry to him about how much I missed them. But other than that, I never told anyone how much I was hurting. If you don't understand this next statement, I don't blame you, but it's all I can do to explain the dark place I was in at the time - I had a survivor's guilt. I didn't think I deserved to live while the two best men I knew died in their early sixties. I hated it. At the time, I wasn't proud of anything I'd done. I wasn't suicidal but I just felt like the world would have been better with Mike and Mark than with me. 

I know that's not logical thinking and I eventually healed. I still miss them but I stopped that survivor's guilt thinking. I did want to feel closer to them though and I thought the best way was to do what they always wanted to do - go to Cuba. 

A little less than a year after Mike passed, I went to Cuba - alone, and having done little research. Only for about 72 hours. And about 20 additional hours of travel. I didn't do enough museums, tours, etc. Because I was too nervous about the language barrier and not having enough cash. But fuck it. I did the best I could. It was worth it. 100%.

I cried on the cab ride from the airport to my airbnb. Just seeing this magical, forbidden place and thinking about Mike and Mark. The whole trip was profound. The buildings are beautiful and colorful. When I walked around early in the morning, the streets smelled of men's cologne.

I cried a lot there. I cried because it was so beautiful. I cried because I was grateful to be there. And I cried because I missed Mike and Mark. But I wouldn't change anything. I'd love to go back and spend more time and do the right things.

This was only my second trip alone. My first solo trip I just read on the beach in a sleepy fishing village in Nicaragua. But in Havana there is so much to do and see and I wish I did more. I wish I went to the beach or the museums or some of the tours. Unfortunately, I had a lot of anxiety there. I was too scared to ask for directions or help. But I left that trip with so much confidence and I went on the next trip much more able to navigate big city travel alone.

I didn't wait for the perfect trip, where I was there for 10 days, practiced Spanish, and planed every day’s itinerary. I saw a small window of opportunity and just went for it. Even if I missed a bunch of stuff while I was there.

I don't have all the best advice on what to do there but I think walking around Havana for hours aimlessly is the best. It’s so beautiful. You'll see things there you won't see anywhere else. The smells and sounds are once in a lifetime. 

Here is some logisitical info you might find helpful:

Getting to Cuba

I planned for a five days trip to Havana. I was flying from a client engagement in Minneapolis to Havana, so that my flight there was paid for by my client. One of the few things I miss about consulting. I ended up cutting my trip short when I was asked to do another client engagement in San Francisco the following week. I just cut the trip to three days and flew straight to San Francisco from Havana. It was so much travel and I was exhausted but well worth it.

I flew Spirit to Havana. And American Airlines for my return. When I booked my ticket online through Spirit, the airline asked why I was going, giving a list of 11 choices. I chose education purposes - I was there to learn more about the Cuban culture to better US/Cuban relations. Its not as scary as everyone made it seem. Basically, you can't be there to get shit faced and celebrate your friend's bachelor(ette) party.

After I purchased my flight, I has to go to a separate website to apply for a Visa for about $75. Spirit Air provided me the link to the company they go through for Cuban visas. I heard confirmation from the company a few days later.

 From my confirmation email from Spirit:   TRAVEL TO CUBA: We noticed you're traveling to Cuba. Que bueno!  There are very important rules & regulations for travel to Cuba relating to visa requirements, permissible travel reasons, Cuban health insurance (which has already been included in your ticket price) and more. Please be sure to review those details  here and take care of all paperwork beforehand to ensure that your travel to Cuba is authorized. Customers who don't meet the legal requirements to travel to Cuba will not be allowed to board their flight.  

I flew via Fort Lauderdale. Before my flight, I had to go to a Spirit counter and get the physical visa. The company sent Spirit the information so I just had to provide my Passport and I got my visa, which I needed to board the flight.

 From Airline Brokers, the company who issued my Visa: Dear Travelers:  Your visa has been accepted !!!!! passengers who are departing to HAVANA, CUBA your visa's will only  be given to the person who requested and paid  for them in advance through our website , they will be handed at the  SPIRIT AIRLINES DEPARTURE GATE  INSIDE the  FORT LAUDERDALE  AIRPORT FOLLOW THE SIGN THAT SAYS CUBA VISAS.

 What I Did in Havana

Customs at the Havana airport was pretty normal, but at the time, very busy. Mostly with young Americans. You're supposed to keep receipts and a log of what you do during your time in Cuba, proving you were there for educational purposes, i.e. receipts from a msueum. 

Don't plan on using debit or credit cards on the island. I brought about $200 with me and exchanged it at the airport. There are two different types of currency in Cuba.  The Cuban Peso (CUP) and the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC). You want to exchange most of your money to CUC. But apparently, its handy to have some small denominations in CUP for busses, etc. If your debit card is from the US, you probably won't be able to use your cards but might be able to use it at an ATM.

I stayed in a private room at an airbnb in Old Havana, near the Spanish Embassy. If you don't want to stay at a hotel because of price or any other reason, I recommend getting a room in an Airbnb in a family's apartment/house - Someone that speaks English. (Obviously, a hotel would have this sort of amenity too). Because you probably won't have cell or internet service and staying with someone who knows Havana and speaks English is key. 

I called both AT&T and Verizon (personal and work phones) and both said I would have service but I did not. You need to go to a government office when you get there and get an internet card, then you can use public wifi like at a hotel. 

I walked around the city for 8 to 12 hours a day. it's the most beautiful place in the world. A lot of the city is in ruin too. But I think it adds to the beauty. The people were so kind. Surprisingly, everyone, I spoke with loved Americans.

Havana is extremely safe. Tourism is one of their only imports and I heard that the government has strongly impressed upon its citizens to not fuck with tourists for that very reason. The most you'll have to deal with is the hundreds of cab drivers asking if you need a ride. 

Be prepared for less than great food. Especially if you're a Cuban food fan. It might have improved since I went, but when I was there it was still clear that the country couldn't get a lot of good food imported.

Things I didn't do but wish I did. Go to the beach. The Museum of the Revolution. Like I mentioned above, I did not do enough tourist things. It was only my second trip alone and the first one was on the beach exclusively. Again, solo travel was new to me. 

So I don't have all the best advice on what to see and do there. But I hope I helped with 

Whenever I travel alone, I listen to a lot of podcasts as I walk around. I was doing this on my last day when a woman, probably a few years older than me, stopped me and asked where I was from. Then she told me not to have my ear buds in. I should be listening to the sounds of Havana. People chatting. Music playing. Because that's what makes it so special and beautiful. 

[comicteaparty]

August 9th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on August 9th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Himawari Share by Harmony Becker.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Himawari Share by Harmony Becker~! (https://tapas.io/series/Himawari-Share) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

It's really hard to pick, but I'd say the Hyejung-focused parts (chapters 5 & 6) were my favorites. Focusing on her studies, not knowing what she wants to be, tearing out her roots to move to Japan, getting homesick and feeling guilty for it.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello!

snuffysam

like, emotions and stuff

also hello justin!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey~!

yeah heyjung's backstory is a lot more tense than i was expecting. but i loved how everything was visually framed

although my favorite moment had to be when she went to that counselor and she just flat out couldnt say what she wanted to do with her life

cause man have i been there and that moment so purely relateable

snuffysam

yeah that was a big turning point, and my favorite moment in her backstory

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Thanks for the greeting~

I have to run a quick errand but I'll be back!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i also loved the aftermath though of all the others bringing her stuff for her hangover. like that was just sweet and heartwarming.

snuffysam

sweet and heartwarming seems to be the general theme

for example, the scene where tina brings nao a soda

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. also a great scene. but also that scene made me like tina a whole lot. it had that element of goofiness (since she just picked her favorite) but had that immense kind-hearted underbelly. because i mean really, i dont know anyone who would bring me a soda to congratulate me on my first day of school.

i think my personal fave scene is actually when nao and masaki are walking together and each just having these thoughts about how they should interact and the various scenarios. especially nao imagining the music would bond them as friends while masaki is like "oh no i will be looked down upon for liking lady gaga."

snuffysam

and then they both end up too afraid to talk to each other lol

relatable scene, and i love how it helps build the characters of nao and masaki

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. i also love that it shows a good side to masaki in that hes basically just an average, socially awkward dork who is probably having some language and cultural gap problems. since ya know, our first impression of him was just rudeness otherwise.

i want to say in general i really love this comic's pacing though. like i always feel like the emotions are given time to be showcased but dont drag on too overly much.

snuffysam

the pacing is a real strong suit of the comic, agreed

were we ever told what masaki and shinichi's nationality/native language was?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

no albeit i assume for shinichi its japanese since he doesnt seem able to really do english and speaks quickly. which generally if youre a native, the quicker you speak. at the very least theyve gotta be fluent.

snuffysam

wait, i guess they aren't international students, because the comic description only says there are three

so they're just two japanese brothers who happen to live in the same house as three international students

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. for reasons O_O. although i am curious if anyone else lives there. cause nao asks tina who the curly haired guy was and tina was like "hmm maybe masaki" and then nao had to say rude for tina to be sure

so either this is just a writing goof or its implied more ppl live there?

snuffysam

yeah you'd think if it was only the five of them, "curly haired boy" would narrow it down quite a bit

also i think we ignored @Sa💅

hello Sa!

not really a scene per se, but i really like the way the comic scratches out words that aren't understood

like this page: https://tapas.io/episode/756155

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah i just thought it was a reply to the hellos. welcome @Sa💅 if you felt ignored O_O;;;

of all the things that is my fave part

cause i was skeptical on the language thing when i read the description

but man do i think it actually captures the language gap well

since it is what happens

you know lots of words but then theres always those difficult ones where youre like "omg wtf was that"

snuffysam

hamini really delivered in terms of showing how second languages work

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i also selfishly enjoyed that nao and i are decently close in japanese language understanding cause i wound up reading a lot of the japanese she could understand.

but then kanji

always kanji everywhere all the time

snuffysam

i took a semester of japanese four years ago and flunked lol. i can get through "はい " and that's about it.

i'm a bit better with spoken, but not much

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey its something.

this reminds me, i really liked that scene where tina applied language knowledge to figure out vacuum

snuffysam

that was a really cool moment!

as were the rest of the parts where tina had to figure out the instructions given to her

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. like man do i give tina all around props for that. i would have left crying cause new jobs are stressful enough without adding a language deficiency to the mix

QUESTION 2. Of those staying in Himawari Share, Shinichi and Masaki are the two we know least about in the current story. Do you think there’s any particular reason the two are staying at Himawari Share, or does it just happen to have a convenient location for them? Like the other characters, do you think they have personal histories or pasts that will come to light? Do you think that it is significant in some way that Shinichi and Masaki are mentioned to be brothers? As time goes on, do you think the others will bond with Masaki, or will the language and culture gap keep interfering? What about Shinichi? Will Nao, at least, become able to understand him better, or will his fast talking still prove too much?

i want to go out on a limb and just say theyre there cause convenient location. but i do think they got some sort of hidden past history. cause at the very least shinichi and masaki dont really look like theyre related. so it makes me wonder if this is maybe a half-sibling relationship going on

snuffysam

oh theory time?

i think they are actually brothers, they just happened to look different. that's how it goes somethimes

i think himawari share is a convenient location for them, but i have no idea what it would be convenient too. like, what are their jobs?

also, my guess - nao is going to start understanding what shinichi is saying, but at first it'll only be, like, she catches every other word.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah im confused at what the share is. cause the girls make it look like its like a special house dorm house for international students who are coming to work and learn in japan. but shinichi and masaki definitely dont appear to be international, so what are they doing there? now its possible they are also going to college in some fashion. but im not entirely sure since it still seems weird to have potentially two natives with three international students.

but to be fair, maybe they own himawari share

cause shinichi and masaki are def both first name

s

snuffysam

yeah maybe that's just their family home that they rent out

perhaps there are plenty of other people there, and the girls just don't hang out with them because they don't relate as much

international students sticking together and stuff

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah that could also be. although the house seems in a residential area so there cant be too many

alternatively

theres only one other dude living there and hes a shut in that you see once in a blue moon

and theres gonna be some other festival and suddenly hell come out and nao will be le gasp

snuffysam

that sounds about right, yeah

and it would explain tina not knowing who nao was talking about

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

alternatively alternatively, it is just the 5 of them and tina just happens to know a lot of people who look like masaki and forgets who even lives with her

snuffysam

maybe masaki doesn't live there, he just really likes the bathroom

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

masaki lives never door but his bathroom broke and hes too lazy to fix it. comes over to his brother's place all the time.

i really hope we get to see more of shinichi cause of all the characters he seems the most one note atm. and idk what to make of him. although i do like that hes kind of like their tour guide who take sthem to festivals

snuffysam

i think it's just that the comic isn't particularly long yet and shinichi isn't one of the main characters

the description says romance is in the cards, but it doesn't say between whom

that may be where shinichi gets some development

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it could be. and to be fair, shinichi's mystery kind of suits the fact that theres the language gap cause he clearly doesnt know english well or at all. so its hard to get to know someone well when theres only so many words shared between

like how that convo between nao and hyejung was really formal and stifled before they realized they both spoke english

snuffysam

well, hopefully shinichi is more open to talking about his interests than his brother

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. although backing up the train for a moment, id like to know why both brothers seemingly dont seem to know any english. cause english is generally required learning in japan and while a lot of ppl arent good at it, theyed probably at least know a few basic phrases. so it strikes me as interesting neither has attempted that much. tho tbf has masaki even said anything?

snuffysam

i think masaki corrected the neighbor lady about his name

but that's it

we don't know if they can speak english or not, i think

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i mean they could. but i could also see them choosing not to since the girls are all there to kind of learn japanese

snuffysam

oh no wait, there is a page where it's shown shinichi doesn't understand english

https://tapas.io/episode/839877

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. One of the comic’s themes revolves around finding yourself, and this issue has given many characters quite the obstacle. In the case of Nao, do you think she will come to terms with that missing part of herself by being in Japan, or will there forever be a gap no matter how much time she spends there? As Nao spends more time there, do you think she’ll feel the culture gap grow or shrink, and how might that affect her? In the case of Hyejung, do you think she’ll figure out what she wants to do with her life, or do you think that still might remain elusive? Additionally, do you think she’ll be able to reconcile with her family? Lastly, in the case of Tina, do you think her part time job will work out, or will the language gap make things too much of a struggle? If she does lose her job, what do you think she’ll do and how might this affect her reasons for being in Japan?

snuffysam

do we know why tina is in japan?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think so. and if you dont think so, im gonna feel safe in saying we havent been told

although tina seems like the type to just like adventures

although whereas nao and hyejung give me the impression that they might someday go back to their home countries, tina gives me the impression that this is a permanent thing

at least compared to hyejung, tina seems to care the least about reliving her own culture persay

snuffysam

i think it's not going to turn out how any of the girls' plan. maybe hyuejung finds her purpose is back in korea, maybe it's in japan, etc.

nao is here to reconnect to the missing part of herself and re-learn japanese. while she may end up learning japanese, i don't think reconnecting with her past will happen so much.

she'll see a large culture gap, or get distracted with something else

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'm back!

snuffysam

hi justin!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hey Snuffy!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

wb!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Thanks!

Ooh, a Japanese festival?!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

there was one in the comic, yes already, yes.

tbh i do think hyejung isnt going to find exactly what she wants. because i feel her desire to go to japan was driven more by a desire to escape her reality versus thinking "yes this is the place where i can find myself"

and shes the one who seems most homesick as well

not ot say i think the journey will be in vain

and i think shell at least learn things about herself

like how to live independently for herself

away from the parents

in nao's case, i think shell...come to terms that she cant have a different past. im actually thinking whats going to happen is shes going to run into something that makes her go "whoa wait america was way better in this aspect" and then shell realize that if she had stayed in japan, she also wouldnt know the american culture she grew up in.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

snuffysam

at some point nao likened it to having a twin that was separated from her at birth. and i think her journey will involve coming to terms with the fact that she can't recover that lost twin. she's gone forever.

lots of great metaphors in this comic btw

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I thought Nao was from Korea.

snuffysam

no you're thinking of hyejung

nao is the one who was born in japan but grew up in america

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh right, my bad I saw this page and I thought wrong because of it https://tapas.io/episode/1021922

snuffysam

yeah that chapter follows hyejung

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

aye, thanks

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i do think thats the case with nao. shes going to have to realize that she cant have two pasts or that other half. but i do think being in japan will be both good and bad for it. cause on the plus side, she gets to see what she missed out on, but on the otherhand shes also going to feel the sting of that gap cause im sure shes gonna run into a festival where shes plain just like "i dont understand this"

although assuming her mom is still alive(?) then itll be interesting if she can talk to her mom in japanese again or something

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah.

You know, reading this comic made me remember how much I thought it'd be cool to visit Japan back in high school and planned to go there as a graduation present. How wrong I was.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

this comic gives me the should go to japan itch again. especially to eat the food

which im glad food is involved a lot

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Mmm

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

cause thats a huge facet of the culture

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wish I loved Japanese food.

more than I do now

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

on a side note

i loved that little moment where hyejung bitched that the kimchi wasnt even spicy

and how it was made by a japanese run restaurant

cause i liked that detail that just how america amercanizes certain foods, other countries do the same

or at least japan does for sure XD

their mcdonalds are crazy

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol yeah

This hit home for me, in a way

like it's not "authentic"

snuffysam

I’ve had Korean food in a restaurant owned by Korean people. And yeah, it’s a lot spicier

I don’t blame Hyejung lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah i dont blame her either. cause regardless if you grow up used to one flavor, you probably arent gonna be a fan of change

QUESTION 4. Given the focus of the comic is on international students and cultural gaps, to a degree, there are lots of interesting potential scenarios. Did you find the comic’s unique method of showcasing language gaps interesting? How did it change how you viewed the characters’ experiences? Are there any cultural experiences that you’re looking forward to seeing the characters experience? If so, why? Do you feel our heroines will continue to be able to wing it, or will they commit some sort of cultural blunder? If the latter, how do you expect that to play out and emotionally affect the culprit? On a more character oriented level, what other struggles do you think the characters might have in their everyday, personal lives? Do you think everyone will continue to get along, or might tension in Himawari Share grow for some reason? Lastly, do you think romance might be in bloom with any characters?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

It's certainly very interesting and it shows up the potential troubles of going out into a whole new world

snuffysam

Everyone gets along so well, I just know someone’s going to mess up

Call me a pessimist lol

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

snuffy, youre a pessimist

but no i agree

they have been getting along real well

and at some point theyre going to fight

cause at the very least living together isnt easy

cause everyone has different habits

and call me biased, but pretty sure if its a living together thing tina is gonna be the cause of it just cause she has the most unreserved personality

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah.

Eventually all that rage and stress will just need to be all let out.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

one thing i didnt mention about the language thing was that i was glad to see there was a difference between nao and tina. cause tina clearly has a better grasp and that shows, both in how much she understands and how she has learned to learn via context clues.

snuffysam

yeah there's a clear difference between everyone's skill level

even just the "yeah it took me a while to get used to shinichi talking" is an example of that

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

It's great seeing everyone talking in all the different languages(edited)

Especially since it's not easy to do Japanese and Korean in comics unless you're overly familiar with the language yourself (or have a translator)(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes thats also true with the shinichi talking part. i really felt for nao in that moment.

cause its an easier said than done thing

im gonna ship nao and masaki. thats where im putting my shipping chips

snuffysam

perhaps a source of conflict comes from romance coming about with an odd number of people in the house?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I made it for the last bit. O.o Though you mentioned a lot of the stuff I liked in the first half hour already, I'm noticing. The bit where Tina brought the soda for Nao and the bit where the two characters were having different music conversations in their minds.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

eey Math

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I enjoyed those two. The Hyejung at the end, I can see how it's very relatable, and it was emotional, but I guess I just like a bit of funzies in my fave scenes. ^.^(edited)

I'm gonna ship Nao and Tina, because you KNOW me.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hi math~! was even just thinking "aww i guess math isnt coming after all."

plz math

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

mmm, ships

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

clearly tina and hyejung are the ship

they have more history

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

That's just it, they haven't fallen in love yet. Chips go on the new relationship.

Also, related to what SJ was saying before, the author must be very good with languages or know many herself... I have zero clue if it's right or not, but it's a pretty gutsy venture.

snuffysam

yeah either the author knows three plus languages, or has some really good friends

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the japanese is correct from what i can tell. at least the parts i could read.

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

There's also those little things that can trip one up in translation, like the "Let's Eat" kind of being the Japanese thanks for the food thing. I think the author even pointed it out once, with the part time job, both of them thanking the other for working, not really being an English thing.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah, I wouldn't ever think to do a foreign language in something of mine unless I rely on a translator.

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I didn't totally pick up on the skills of the individual characters either, but since you did, it's cool that it can come across too.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm bilingual for English and French and even I'm not sure I'd want to do it.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

what you mean you dont want to do a strip where all the tans start speaking french? XD

i feel like shinichi would be the one to bring a relationship in from the outside

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Not so much, no.

Yeah, we haven't seen much of the guys (which I notice you mentioned earlier)... honestly, I'm okay with that. I like the focus on the women (and not just because I ship that way) as they all have sort of a bond.

snuffysam

shinichi seems a bit more outgoing, so i wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to already be in a relationship

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, and the speed-talking thing was well portrayed.

I also want to say it was neat having that character who lives across the street come back in a later scene, when they were going to the post office. Helps make things extra real, incidentals like that.

snuffysam

i liked how she didn't know masaki's name lol

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol

snuffysam

he might not get out much

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Could be to avoid talking. And just not wanting to talk even to strangers for fear of making a mistake.

Maybe that explains the rudeness too.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to be fair, i dont know a single one of my neighbors. and if you dont interact with your neighbors, you dont know their names

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

If you start with rudeness, people won't talk to you either, and you won't have to interpret. Yeah, I don't know my neighbours either. ^^;;

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I don't even have any neghibors

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Final thought, super impressed by the translation stuff. Including the blurring of just some words, which was also pointed out earlier. I don't think I've seen anything like that.

Also, Nao + Tina.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Harmony Becker, as well, for making Himawari Share and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Harmony Becker’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Raison d'Etre by Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh). As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on August 16th from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://raisondetrecomic.tumblr.com/