#i‘ve tried to colour him

[somewhere-on-kamino]

Hot days on Pabu

Coloured version of this

[lqvesoph]

She‘s WHOSE daughter??? || LN4

gif by @formulaonedirection

lando norris x webber!reader

summary: After releasing your new album you go to the Bahrain Grand Prix to finally see your two favorite Aussie’s. What you didn’t expect is to meet a certain Brit as well.

part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

masterlist | taglist

Part 1

yn.adams: Thank you for all the love on GUTS!!! Tour is coming I promissssse but now off to Bahrain���

comments:

gracieabrams: YOURE UNREAL

rachelzegler: all american t*ts frr

danielricciardo: Okay who am I fighting today🥊

oscarpiastri: See u in Bahrain (finally)

> yn.adams: FINALLY!!!

> oscarpiastri: You‘ve become busy since becoming a world star🥲

fan: SHES COMING TO BAHRAIN!!!

> fan: FINALLY!! Its been ages

fan: Has she ever been to a race??

> fan: Well… I mean obviously LMAO😭

fan: U supporting Red Bull or Mclaren this weekend?

> yn.adams: Rbr obviously!! Not even Oscar can get me into that orange Garage🤨

> oscarpiastri: It’s PAPAYA!!!

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*~*~*~*~*~*

"GOOD MORNING!!!", an australian accent yelled into your ear just moments after you entered the Bahrain paddock.

You flinched, immediately slapping the person’s arm. "Daniel!!!", you called and pushed the driver away from you as he tried to pull you into a hug.

"I‘ve missed you so much", he mumbled, pressing you close to him and ruffling your hair after, which made you slap his hand away from your head.

"You seen Osc yet?“, you asked, looking around you, spotting a few photographers whose camera’s where direct to you. Daniel shook his head. "Nope, I thought you‘d come together. I‘m surprised you’re only here now."

You rolled your eyes and kept walking with Daniel. "I was on a video call with my team, discussing the upcoming tour. We gotta work out a schedule and call the venues and stuff", you replied. "We‘ve been on there even before the album came out and I still haven’t completely made up my mind."

"Indecisive little shit", Daniel laughed, making you slap his arm with a chuckle. You made your way to the Red Bull hospitality, Daniel waving at a few people from Mclaren that he was still friends with even after he left the team at the end of the 2022 season.

"I think Kelly and P are in there", he told you before hugging you goodbye. "If you see Oscar, tell him I‘m looking for him", you said, smiling and ruffling through Daniel‘s hair as some sorta revenge, before quickly stepping back and running up the stairs to the entrance.

Daniel laughed and pointed a finger at you. "I‘m gonna get you back!" You giggled and waved as you walked backwards into the hospitality.

Looking around the room you quickly spotted Kelly with her daughter Penelope sitting on a creme coloured couch.

"Heyy, honey", she greeted you and got up to hug you. "Hey, darling", you then said and lifted Penelope up who was reaching her arms out to you.

Just when you sat down, your phone chimed with a new message.

Osc🧡: Meet me in front of Mclaren

You: I‘m not going in tho

Osc🧡: Well I can’t really walk into Red Bull can I?

You: 🙄okay

"I‘ll be back soon, Oscar just texted", you let Kelly know and high fived P who giggled as you did. Jeez, how much you missed that little sunshine!

You glanced around the front porch of Mclaren‘s hospitality but didn’t spot Oscar. And as you didn’t just want to walk into the building you stayed where you were, next to the steps leading up to the entrance.

"You walked in with Danny, right?", someone spoke behind you, making you turn around. The confused expression on your face quickly leaving when you came face to face with the other Mclaren driver.

He sat at one of the tables with another curly haired guy and a blonde girl.

You nodded. "Yeah", you simply said. "You wanna come up here?", he asked, gesturing to the empty chair next to him.

You‘ve never spoken to Lando Norris, all you knew about him was through stories from either Oscar or Daniel. You knew that he spent some of his winterbreak with Danny and Martin in Australia. Daniel had asked you to come along as well but you were busy with the release of your new album so you had to decline.

You looked around you one last time, trying to find Oscar but failed, so you nodded and took the few stairs up to the table the three of them were sitting at.

As you stood directly in front of them, you saw how the blonde girl recognized you. You‘ve always been good at reading people but over the last years you‘ve become incredibly good at telling whether people recognized you when facing them. Even if they try their hardest to hide it, that small second when their eyes widen in realization was enough for you to tell.

"I‘m Lando", he introduced himself, holding a hand out to greet you. "Y/n, nice to meet you", you smiled, trying to ignore the urge to tell him 'I know, I‘m friends with Daniel and Oscar'. "Max and Pietra, friends of me", he then gestured over to the people sitting across from you.

"So, how do you know Daniel?", Lando asked, crossing his arms on the table. "I‘ve known him since I was 8 years old, I think", you smiled, remembering tiny 8 year old you giggling and blushing when first talking to Daniel at the British Grand Prix. "Really?", his eyes widened. "How did you meet?" "Uh, through my dad, he‘s from Australia as well", you answered, leaving out most of the details.

"You‘re australian?", Lando questioned with raised eyesbrows. "No no, my dad is. My mom‘s from America and I kinda grew up between California and Canberra", you explained.

"However, for some reason she likes to ignore her australian origin", a voice said behind you, making you smirk as you recognized the familiar Melbourne accent.

You turned around in your chair and stood up before wrapping your arms around Oscar. "Hey, princess", he laughed. "How‘ve you been?"

"Bit stressful with Tour at the minute but it feels so good to be back here!", you grinned.

As you turned back to the other three, you couldn’t help but notice Lando‘s confused face. Maybe it was the fact you basically jumped Oscar or that he‘d called you 'princess', something he‘s been doing ever since your first Tour when you got gifted a little crown from your fans because it matched the dress you were wearing on stage.

"I se you‘ve made friends already, might wanna stay here for the race?", Oscar asked with a smirk. You slapped the back of his head in an affectionate way. "Nuh uh, nice try, Piastri", you chuckled. "I‘ll be watching from Red Bull, you know that."

The confused expression on Lando‘s face only seemed to deepen with everything you said so you gave him a quick explanation. "My father used to work at Red Bull, so it‘s the team I‘ve grown up with and I‘m not leaving that."

Oscar snorted at you little white lie but you rammed your elbow into his side to get him to keep quiet.

Lando nodded, still slightly confused by the way you and Oscar acted with each other but before he could question it, a team member walked out of the door and told the two drivers to start getting ready for the race.

"I‘ll see you later, okay? You‘re driving back with Daniel?", your best friend asked. "I haven’t talked to him about it but-" "Okay, then I‘m taking you back to the hotel", he interrupted you with a grin.

"Jeez, splitting my time with you two like you‘re my parents", you laughed but agreed and hugged the driver goodbye.

"Bye, bye!", you waved to Lando, Max and Pietra before walking back over to Red Bull.

*~*~*~*~*~*

After the race and all the podium celebrations, you waited in front of the Mclaren hospitality for Oscar, scrolling mindlessly on your Twitter while ignoring the 22 unread messages from your management.

"Hey, Y/n", a voice said behind you, making you look up from your phone. "Lando, hi. Congrats on your race", you smiled. "Thanks, could’ve been better but we‘ll try again next week", he shrugged.

"Jeddah, right?", you asked, not having memorized the calendar quite yet. The driver nodded and played around with the orange lanyard in his hands.

"You coming?", he dared to ask after a few seconds and from the way his fingers fiddled with the orange band faster, you could tell how nervous he was. You shrugged. "I don’t know yet, I’m quite busy with work at the minute, so probably no. But I‘ll definitely be in Melbourne", you replied, trying to lighten the mood by adding the last sentence.

"Pietra told me you’re a singer", he revealed, making you smile at the memory of the blonde girl. "I could tell she recognized me", you admitted. Lando chuckled. "She said she tried her hardest to not let it show but was freaking out on the inside! She‘s actually quite mad at herself for not asking you for a picture!"

You giggled again and shook your head. "She could’ve asked, I wouldn’t have minded", you said with a small smile. "If she’s at a Grand Prix just let me know and I promise I‘ll find her." "I‘ll let her know", he nodded and looked to the ground with the cutest smile you have seen in a while.

The combination of the brunette curly hair, the british accent, the smile and his dimples, drove you crazy and made you heart skip a few beats. But you tried your best to keep it together.

Little did you know that Lando quite literally felt the same about you. Your long hair, along with the color of your eyes and especially your smile made his heart beat a little faster as well.

You stayed in silence for a few seconds, just looking at each other admiringly before a voice interrupted your starring.

"Princess!! Sorry for being late!", Oscar called while walking out of the hospitality with Lily‘s hand in his. You smiled at the sight of your best friend’s girlfriend and send her a little wave which she returned with the hand that wasn’t wrapped in Oscar‘s.

"That‘s okay, I had Lando to keep me company", you chuckled, making the brit smile a little. "You ready?", Oscar asked and you nodded.

He said goodbye to Lando and started walking down the stairs.

"I’ll see you in Australia?", Lando asked one last time. You nodded your head with a smile. "Oh for sure, I wouldn’t miss this race for the world!", you chuckled. "Great!", Lando whispered under his breath and gave you a little wave which you returned before following Oscar and Lily.

"What do you think of him?", Oscar asked as soon as Lando was out of hearing range. "Lando? He’s pretty cute", you simply stated, not daring to mention the other words floating around your head. Nice, pretty, gorgeous, hot and handsome were just a few examples.

"Why do you ask?"

Oscar smirked. "No reason, really!"

tagged: redbullracing, danielricciardo, oscarpiastri

yn.adams: bahrain dump (feat. my two favorite aussies)

comments:

oscarpiastri: You‘re an aussie as well…

> yn.adams: But I‘m not tho…🤷‍♀️

> oscarpiastri: Y/n🤨

danielricciardo: I‘m shown before Oscar

> yn.adams: rolling my eyes as we speak

> fan: LMAOOO

fan: Am I seeing you in the Mclaren garage?

> yn.adams: JUST FOR A SECOND!!!

fan: The race weekend is better when ur there

liked by yn.adams

fan: How does she know Oscar and Daniel??

> fan: Through her dad obviously

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landonorris started following you

Part 2

taglist

Please tell me if you want to be added to the taglist or text be if you want to be taken off x

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[not-magdi]

A Future with you

Summary: Talks about the future with your boy

Warnings: none ;)

Word count: 1k

A/N

I’m so so sorry I‘ve been offline for a while but school was stressful as hell 😫 But it’s getting better so hopefully I‘ll be able to update more …

Your sister Elena has recently given birth to your first niece, and you were absolutely ecstatic about it. You helped her a lot during her pregnancy due to her having many difficulties during it, where you didn't want to leave her alone. So, the wonderful sister you were, visited her nearly every day to look after her and help her with what she needs.

So when she FaceTimed you from the hospital with her newborn daughter Nora in her arms, you cried for a solid 10 minutes, getting a worried look from a very perplexed Pablo who just wanted to get himself a cool-pack for his knee.

Turning the phone around, you showed Pablo your screen, where a very tired Elena with little Nora in her arms came into view.

With wide eyes, he limped over to you to get a closer look at the infant and the new mother.

"Dios mio Elena!"

He snatched the phone out of your hand, and his face filled your sister's screen with how close he was to the screen. You laughed at him and tried to get your phone back again, though without any success.

Pablo and your sister always had a good relationship since you introduced them. So him being so excited about the arrival of your niece made your stomach feel all warm and fuzzy.

After you finally got Pablo off the phone, you decided to visit the fresh family. At first, Pablo wasn't sure about tagging along, not wanting to disrupt the intimate family moment. But after you reminded him that he basically already was family, he grabbed the little barça jersey he got for Nora and headed to the car.

You were in the hospital room for exactly ten minutes, and your ovaries couldn't take it anymore. The sight before you was god-made. Your boyfriend, sitting in one of these uncomfortable plastic chairs, your 6-hour-old niece dozing off, absolutely comfortable and safe in his arms.

"A child looks good on him", the soft voice of your sister caught you off guard. And you quickly divert your gaze from them.

"Y-yeah-but we're definitely too young for that, like way too young!"

Hearing your sister's soft giggle made your cheeks change into a deep, rosy colour.

Ever since your sister announced she was pregnant, you couldn't help but let your mind wander to what it would be like to be pregnant with Pablo's child, if it would have your eyes or his, if it is going to be as good of a futbolista as his father, and so on.

What you didn't know was. Ever since you came running into his office, nearly tripping over a vase, telling him you were going to be an aunt, he couldn't stop thinking about your future together. He already knows that you are his forever, ever since you threw a football at his face and nearly broke his nose.

But now, he couldn't stop imagining what a future with you might look like, from your new house to what pets you would have. He has everything planned in his mind.

The moment he saw you with your niece in your arms, cooing at the little bundle of energy, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to all the different scenarios of how your future could look with him.

The whole ride home was silent, not an uncomfortable kind of silence, more like a comforting and calming kind.

Pablo's head leaned against the window. He was gazing out into the dark landscape that was passing you, completely lost in his own world.

You weren't any better either, your thoughts running wild as you drove through the familiar streets to Pablo's house, which gradually became your house too, having spent more time there than anywhere else.

The living room was filled with soft noises that came out of the TV, which was playing in the background. But nobody was paying any attention to what was currently playing. Both of you too engrossed in basking in each other's presence.

The sound of Pablo's voice broke the silence you were in, "Do you ever think about the future, amor?"

Turning your head to look at him and think for a few seconds before answering.

"Yeah, sometimes … why?"

"I don't know … I just- I was just curious, I guess."

He was grateful for the dim lights, so you couldn't see his burning cheeks, as he answered your question.

Not able to hold it back any longer, you shot up to look into his eyes, "Please tell me that Nora also got you thinking about babies. Because that's all I have been thinking about for the last two days straight, and I think I'm goin-"

Pablo's laugh made you stop your rambling, to look at him with a confused expression.

"Sorry babe, but I'm just so happy that I'm not the only one who has been going crazy here. I think I planned our whole future through over the last few days."

Relieved, that you and Pablo were on the same page, when it came to your future, you cuddled yourself deeper into his embrace, careful not to hurt his knee and asked him what exactly he planned for the two of you.

With red cheeks, he started to explain to you how he wanted to have a house with a big garden so he could teach your children how to play football like his father did with him. He went on, about how he already found the perfect ring for when the time was right and how he wished that you at least have two children, a boy and a girl, like he and his sister.

It warmed your heart to hear his excitement when he explained that he already found little barça jumpers for babies and how he thinks that Fermín would be a terrible godfather.

You spent the rest of your night cuddled up together under tons of blankets and pillows, speculating about how your future will look like, a future you couldn't wait to live in.

A future with him

[lunavagans]

II. Green and Blue + Origins of the Old Faith

Green

For Green, I decided to just go with aggressive woodland animals, since God of Chaos and all, and because I‘ve always sort of associated him with deer and the like, I went with a moose. The moss was an impulsive choice that went a little overboard; I wanted to make it similar to when moose shed the skin on their antlers and it looks like a massacre, except that it doesn‘t here because it‘s obviously just clingy flora. The cloak is, of course, based off of the ones that the CotL bishops wear, but with a more „hyrulean“ twist. The faint pattern on it is supposed to resemble tree bark, but eh. Also, if you look at the references, you‘ll notice the blood on the bandages is red, while black liquid is oozing around there. None of that here, gods have black blood now.

Blue

Same cloak as the others, with a hood for Reasons, and an extra accessory with gold Old Faith ornaments for Reasons. I chose to stick to marine animals and venom and chose dog sharks in the end (which the crown has the inspiration from obviously), but didn‘t have any opportunity to really get that in, because all the parts of the body where those light spots would be are either covered up or on the back. So I stuck to making his skin patchy - I tried and failed to portray the drastic contrast in texture, but hm. I also really wanted to get the water tunic from Twilight Princess in there somewhere, but again: failure. The only remnant from it is the lighter over-tunic thing with the tails in the front and back. I‘ll be honest, I hated how it turned out before, but I think blue boy‘s growing on me now. On another note, does english also have the phrase „shark smile“?? I‘m curious and can‘t find anything.

Origins of the Old Faith

Green, Blue, Red and Vio were born into a cult of a god eager for suffering, raised as lambs to the slaughter and only named after the colours used to mark and differentiate between them. While care was taken that they were physically fit and this worthy sacrifices, no one was allowed or willing to be close to them that could have told them their relations to each other or why they were chosen; the only thing they know is that magic was likely involved in their creation.

One day, the four managed to escape their enclosures and fled into the nearby woods to hide. These woods, however, wound up being infested with strange mechanical warriors attacking them at sight, and this, paired with other beings of the forest, caused the groups severe injuries. They found a crypt to hide within, and in that crypt, four strange crowns with eyes embedded in them. They made the impulsive decision to take the crowns, their wounds healing and their features twisting into something similar to the images of the god they were intended for.

Zelda, alerted by her creations, finds and leads them out of them forest, offering them refuge in her abode at the entrance. However, she makes clear that they‘re first and foremost thieves to her; the goods they have stolen can‘t be given back without their deaths by virtue of the nature of the crowns, though, which she doesn‘t wish for. Thus, she chooses to keep them with her until they can make her an offer that is equal to four of her treasures being stolen.

The four kept to themselves and many outbursts and discussions were had before a conclusion was made: they would conquer the land themselves, abolishing sacrifices, taking their revenge on the cult that had born them as cattle, and making the most of of these powers that they now had, for better or worse. Zelda accepted their offer of protection of her treasury and the secrecy thereof; they would do their best so their own deed wouldn‘t occur again by the hands of others.

The four had numbers on their side, as groups of gods were unheard of, and with violence, negotiations and sieges, they carved out increasingly bigger pieces of the land for themselves to name it Hyrule. Their name grew in fame and their following in numbers, and soon they were known as the Old Faith, the cult to persist the longest in and through an age characterized by war between gods.

One day, while scavenging in a prairie to the borders of their territory, they found yet another crown and brought it to Zelda to safekeep. She identified it as one granting its wearer dominion over death, and, as one familiar with divine powers, understood that this would also give them power over life itself, a nigh unparalleled concept. She shared this insight with the four, and together, lacking the knowledge of how to destroy it, they made the choice to hide it in the core of her treasury, even catching a bat-like wind spirit to guard it in addition to traps and mechas.

Below the cut: images of Leshy and Kallamar as reference and links to the other parts

I. Zelda + Setting the stage

III. Red and Vio + The war against Ganon

IV. Shadow + The prophecy and the crusades

V. Ganon + The grand finale

[monsta-x-jagi]

Crown and Chrome - Chapter 6

Synopsis: You have good friends. Kihyun gets what he deserves.

Word count: 4.2k

Triggers: none

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Past (Kihyun focus)

You saw Kihyun regularly throughout the semester, usually a couple times a week. Most afternoons, he would pick you up after classes and bring you to the warehouse where you'd study. Saturday nights remained for racing. Kihyun and Yunho had also gotten much more familiar now since Kihyun often went to pick up your custom jewellery orders. Occasionally, you’d try placing orders for Kihyun too, but Kihyun somehow kept convincing Yunho to cancel them and use the money to add something a little extra to whatever piece you ordered for yourself. 

But watching you wear these jewellery pieces, with a series of dresses as colourful as your personality, always made Kihyun feel a twinge of insecurity. Every couple of weeks you went to networking events, sometimes for your mother’s firm and sometimes with other law school classmates. Many of these classmates were dating other university students too. You always offered to take Kihyun as a plus one, which was half the reason you kept ordering extra pieces (usually lapel pins or brooches to match your outfits), but after a couple events, Kihyun began declining most of them. 

He would make up excuses about needing to work on his bikes more, but the real reason was that he wasn’t good enough for you. Someone like you - beautiful, educated, well-liked - couldn’t be with someone like him - a grease-covered biker whose biggest achievement was staying alive while racing at inhuman speeds. The solution to his dilemma came in the form of a meeting he’d never expected to have: a meeting with MX Property Development’s Executive Team. None of the names or faces in that meeting room were particularly memorable, aside from the CEO and the chief engineer, Son Hyunwoo, who offered Kihyun an ultimatum.

“Mr Yoo, I will say that your relationship with my daughter has not influenced my decision to buyout your warehouse for our redevelopment,” the CEO said. Noting Kihyun’s shocked face, she added, “I‘ve known for quite some time actually. My daughter isn’t subtle when she is happy, so I knew she was seeing someone. All I had to do was check the CCTV footage in the city to find out exactly who you were.” 

Kihyun gulped. This woman was terrifying. No wonder you kept saying you needed to feel safe.

The CEO continued. “Now lucky for you, I did consider your relationship with my daughter when I decided on the pricing.” She slid a sheet of paper across the conference  room table to Kihyun with a sum written on it that was so high Kihyun nearly fell out of his seat.

“Let me be frank, Mr Yoo. Even though you make y/n happy, I don't think you’re the man for her. She’s young, she’s starting out in life, and she needs someone of her calibre. Now the money I’ve given you is what my analysts think will be enough for you to turn your life around and become someone worthy of my daughter.”

A small smile started to break out on Kihyun’s face. 

But the CEO’s next words quickly dashed it. “However, this sum is conditional. If you leave y/n, without a single word, I will personally wire this money to you,” she said while tapping at the sheet of paper. “However, should you choose to stay with her, I will only give you the legally required amount of compensation.” The CEO sighed and finished with, “Simply put, I do not want to see you with my daughter until you are a respectable man.” 

The Past (y/n focus)

Finally, the last day of semester. Almost two months of vacation awaited you, meaning almost two months of non-stop Kihyun time. It was Friday, Kihyun was probably adding the final touches to his bike before the race tomorrow. Excited, you went to the warehouse, like you did every Friday night.

“Ki, baby, it’s the holidays!” You shouted happily as you tried pushed the door, but your voice died down quickly, as did your strength. 

The warehouse door was chained shut and couldn’t be opened fully. You pushed it enough to peek inside and saw that it was dark.

“Kihyun? Honey, are you in there?” You called into the dark, but got no answer. You fumbled for the flashlight on your phone to shine it through the door. Maybe he was asleep or something. You guided the light around, looking for the familiar couch but didn’t see it. You shifted the light some more to see if there were any bikes around, but there were none. 

The place was cleaned out. 

“K-Kihyun?” You said, much quieter, your lips quivering. 

Suddenly the wind whooshing around the harbour felt cold. All those little pathways throughout the harbour were suddenly unfamiliar and scary. And to think you walked here by yourself. You sat on the ground by the warehouse door, hugging your knees while tears slowly dripped down your face. You dialled Kihyun’s number, heard it ring, but got no answer. You tried several more times but still got no answer.

Then you tried another number - Joohoney’s. Kihyun used your phone once to call him, so it was probably in your history. 

To your surprise, Jooheon actually answered. “Hello y/n.” 

You sniffled and returned the greeting, then asked, “Where’s Kihyun?” 

You heard Jooheon sighing on the other end. “He said you guys broke up. We don’t really know where he is either.” 

“What??” You gasped. “But we literally spoke yesterday. I was going to come see him after class but he’s not here. Who said we broke up?”

“Kihyun did. He said you broke up today,” Jooheon repeated.

“How even…” you murmured, your crying intensifying. You then cleared your throat and asked, “Could you send me your address please? Maybe I can wait for Kihyun at your house?”

There was a pause, and you heard shuffling and muttering on the line before Jooheon spoke. “I am sorry y/n, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Dejected, you said goodbye to Jooheon and ended the call.

The Past (Kihyun focus)

“Are you happy now, hyung?” Jooheon asked bitterly when he put the phone down.

Kihyun groaned from his bed. “You know I didn’t have a choice.” 

“Well have you at least thought about what you’ll do with the money?”

“Yeah a bit,” Kihyun replied, sniffling away his own tears. “I’ll go to university, I’ll get whatever goddamn degree I need, and find her again.” 

“If you’re that sure about her, why didn’t you stay and fight for her?” Changkyun said from the doorway to Kihyun's bedroom. 

“I know she is everything I want in life. But I want to become everything she will ever need or want in life. There’s a difference there and currently, I am not what she needs or wants.”

“Eh judging by how much your phone has been ringing in the living room, she probably needs and wants you pretty badly,” Changkyun said with a shrug and walked away. 

The Past (y/n focus)

There was one more person you could contact. Kihyun wouldn’t like it, but it was his fault you were in this mess anyways. You had found Mingi on Instagram once, so you searched for his account and DM’d him, hoping for a response. 

You: Hi Mingi, it’s y/n here. If you’re free I’d love a favour.

He replied about 10 minutes later.

Mingi: Well this is a surprise Mingi: What can I do for ya?

You: Can you pick me up from Kihyun’s warehouse? I will explain when you get here

Mingi: Oooh mystery Mingi: I like it Mingi: Be there in 5

True to his word, Mingi arrived in 5 minutes. He even had the decency to bring a spare helmet for you. Since the last time you had seen him, he had changed his hair to black with blue highlights.

“Hello y/n. What did you need? Can’t lie, I am shocked you texted me,” Mingi said, walking up to your huddled form by the warehouse door. When you looked up at him with your swollen, red eyes, Mingi hurriedly pulled his helmet off and crouched down in front of you. 

“Oh no, what happened? Was it Kihyun? Did he dump you? Do you want revenge? Did he hurt you? Are you lost? Did something happen to Kihyun?” The words tumbled out of Mingi who wasn’t exactly sure what favour you could possibly want but never expected to find you like this.

You tried nodding, since one of those guesses were right, but you started crying before you could form any words. Mingi watched you for a few seconds, unsure of what to do, then stood up and walked away back to his bike. 

“No wait, Mingi, please don’t leave, please, just stay” you called after him, your voice cracking between your sobs. 

Mingi turned to look at you, his gaze being the softest you’d ever seen him. “Relax, y/n, I’m just going to grab that helmet for you,” he replied. 

He returned with the helmet, and placed it over you, gently trying to push it on to your head. You noticed he was struggling, probably worried about hurting you by pushing to hard, so you pulled the helmet on yourself. “Are you taking me somewhere?” 

Mingi bit a finger while he looked you up and down. “I was hoping you could tell me. You look like you’re dressed for something nice.” 

“Oh…” you looked down, smoothing the business dress you’d worn today. It was white, and probably stained now. It also fit very, very tightly over your hips, and would almost certainly ride up the second you got on that bike. “I had things on today,” you said in explanation.

“Things?” Mingi asked. “You look like you were supposed to go to a wedding or something.” 

You giggled at that, and Mingi smiled with you. At least you weren’t crying on the ground anymore. 

“I just dress nice for my classes. Law school and stuff, y’know?” You offered as an explanation.

“Oh boy, law school,” Mingi said with a low sigh. “Kihyun really won the fucking lottery with you huh? Though considering how you’re stranded here, he probably doesn’t realise it.” 

Your face immediately turned into a scowl. “Mingi, I get enough shit about that from everybody else alright?”

“Right, right, sorry, touchy subject, I see,” Mingi said, pursing his lips.

You sighed, stood up and hoisted your bag over your shoulder. “I texted because I need a ride home. I’ll give you money for the petrol when you drop me off.” 

Mingi blinked confusedly. “And I presume Kihyun can’t take you home?” 

“Mingi,” you said his name with gritted teeth. “Are you dense? Did you not notice he’s gone? The warehouse is empty?”

“Huh???” Mingi’s jaw dropped open. “No fucking way,” he said as he walked past you to peek into the darkened warehouse. “Shit, you’re right.” 

“So then, can you take me home? I can tell you the way,” you asked after giving Mingi a few moments.

“Yeah, alright.” 

You followed Mingi to his bike and got on behind him. He almost snorted when he felt you hands ghosting over his waist, unsure whether to hold on or not. 

“Y/n, all bikers understand. You hold on for safety. Kihyun won’t kill either of us.” 

You sniffled behind him but eventually wrapped your arms around his middle. “Kihyun would never hurt anybody.”

Mingi revved up his bike. “No, what you mean is Kihyun would never let anybody hurt you. He’s always been incredibly protective of you, did you know?” 

“Sorta,” you mumbled. “Turn left here.” 

Mingi did as you said. “Did you know he won’t even tell most of the other bikers your name?”

“Wait what?” This was news to you.

“Yeah, one day he came up to me and had me swear to never reveal your name to other people. I assumed he was just being a jealous possessive asshole, who thinks with his dick and not his head…”

You smacked Mingi’s shoulder for that, making him laugh. Eventually, he continued. “But I started to suspect there was another reason a few months ago when I dropped by the warehouse one time and heard you telling Jooheon about why he shouldn’t buy a restaurant in a particular suburb. It really sounded like you knew your shit.”

“Are you trying to tell me you’ve never met a person who understands the property market? Also, enter the highway over there.” 

“No, it wasn’t that, there was one more thing,” He said as he changed lanes. “I heard you say something about a company like you almost owned it.”

“Oh, I see.” 

“I feel like I’m hitting something here. There is a connection between that company and why Kihyun doesn’t want people to know your name, right? Also which exit do I take?” 

“The one in 3 kilometres. And yeah, I guess you’re right about that company,” you replied.

Mingi was quiet for a few seconds, focused on reading the signage for the exit. He then asked, “So since I already know your name, will you tell me the whole story?” 

You sighed. “Yeah alright. It’s not like my identity wasn’t known by my whole school or something. But, you’re right, I do technically own a portion of a property firm. Have you heard of MX?”

“MX? Bloody hell who hasn’t? Don't they own all those fancy apartment buildings? Fuck y/n, who even are you?” Mingi cried out, shocked, then said calmly, “Also, did I miss the turn to your street?” 

“No, it’s the next road on your left. And maybe when you drop me off, you’ll see MX’s CEO,” you replied. 

“I can’t tell if you’re joking there.”

“I’m not. She’s my mum. Also, stop over there, that’s my house,” you replied. 

Once Mingi killed the engine, you climbed off his bike and gave him back his helmet. 

“Thank you for the ride,” you replied as you rummaged through your purse and pulled out some cash. “This is for the petrol.” 

Mingi took the money and stared at it, scrunching his face. “Man I feel strange taking money from you. Like you’re Kihyun’s girl, and you’re you know… that,” he said with a nod towards your house. 

You pouted and shook your head. “No, I’m just y/n. And I’m not Kihyun’s girl anymore.” Your voice cracked at the last word of your sentence. 

“Oh hey hey, no more crying. He fucked up, not you, alright? And I know we only said hellos at the weekly races but you seem like a nice person. You’ll find someone better, okay?” Mingi said, squeezing your shoulder gently.

“Mingi you used to ask about my week and try flirt with me to piss off Kihyun,” you replied. 

“And somehow you always dodged the flirting and told me about what you were studying instead. It’s how I figured out you’re probably a cool person, and…” Mingi paused, unsure whether you’ll cry again. “…and I saw very quickly that you only had eyes for Kihyun.”

“Thanks for that,” you said with a sad smile. “But you won’t be seeing me at the racetrack anymore, so good luck to both you and Kihyun for tomorrow. I’ll get going now.” 

“Thanks y/n. See you around.” 

The Past (Kihyun focus)

“Hey asshole, you mind explaining why you left y/n stranded at your empty warehouse last night?” Mingi said he pulled on his racing gear beside Kihyun in the change rooms.

“Stay away from y/n,” Kihyun said through gritted teeth.

“I dunno man, she asked me to pick her up and I found her crying on the ground. She said you broke up,” Mingi continued. 

“Yeah we did,” Kihyun said without meeting Mingi’s gaze. 

“Can’t believe you fumbled that. She’s pretty, she’s smart, she practically owns MX, what more could you want?” 

“For you to not have the hots for my girlfriend?” Kihyun said with gritted teeth.

“Didn’t you just say you dumped her?” Mingi scoffed. 

“Shut up or else I’ll throw something at you.” Kihyun grumbled. Then he asked, “Hold up, what do you mean MX?”

“I mean exactly what you’re thinking. I know who she is,” Mingi replied nonchalantly, while folding some clothes into his bag.

“Mingi,” Kihyun said sternly, “how the hell did you find that out? I swear man if you did something to her…”

“Jesus Christ Kihyun, you really do think the world’s out to ruin your relationship huh?” 

“Shut up, you don’t know the half of it,” Kihyun said as he slumped down onto a bench.

“And neither does she, I bet. Did it ever occur to you to actually speak to her before breaking up via Joohoney’s phone, you dumb fuck?” 

“Listen Mingi, can we cool it with the criticism? I am sure she called me a bunch of names too,” Kihyun said, glaring up at Mingi. 

Mingi shook his head, keeping his voice calm. “No, she actually tried to tell me you’re a good person who would never hurt anyone. But then you left her crying at an abandoned warehouse. She trusted you to do nothing more than love her, and you failed.” 

The Present (Hyunwoo Focus)

With Hyungwon’s departure from MX Property Development, Hyunwoo was tasked with finding the replacement. He looked through the applications with Hyungwon, until one caught his attention: Yoo Kihyun. The name was admittedly familiar, and a look at the candidate’s LinkedIn profile picture showed he was precisely the young man from several years ago, all the way down to the orange hair. And he wasn’t a bad candidate either with a stellar record of negotiating some very lucrative deals. 

Hyunwoo slept on his thoughts for a few days - would you even want to work with Kihyun? By and larger, Kihyun was the best candidate, so Hyunwoo eventually told Hyungwon the story of your past. Hyungwon already knew about how your little first year uni student self fell in love with a biker, but he had no idea this biker’s workshop was part of an MX acquisition, or that your mother paid him off to leave you. Hyunwoo and Hyungwon were both pleasantly surprised that after Kihyun disappeared, he really did become the kind of man you were supposed to be with.

Hyungwon was the first to suggest an interview with Kihyun. Even without you two being star crossed lovers, he was still the best candidate, and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to finally give their lovely new CEO the happiness she needed right? But what if Kihyun had already moved on?

Luckily, Hyungwon had an answer to that. He went down the good old personal friends route. You’re school friends with Somin of Kard, who was Kihyun’s supervisor and also happened to be his reference. A quick phone call and mention of your name was all she needed to explain that Kihyun was currently single. So Hyungwon advised Hyunwoo to invite Kihyun for an interview. The two decided to hold the interview away from you, so the Friday before Hyungwon’s retirement, Hyunwoo invited Kihyun to MX’s gym of all places. Still, he did let slip there was a potential party date waiting for you at the gym that day.

The Present (y/n focus)

Having you, his boss and the love of his life bring up all the ways he unintentionally hurt you while standing in a deserted parking lot was not how Kihyun thought his evening would go. But your voice had gone from practically spitting venom to something introspective. Both of you were still holding each other’s hands too.

“Y/n,” Kihyun began. “I know I fucked up. Everyone around me who knew you made sure I knew that every single day.” 

You hung on your head, looking down at your interconnected hands. “Kihyun, I just don’t understand why you did it. If you just wanted to be sponsored, you could’ve asked the company. If you wanted to keep dating while you got your degree, you could’ve. But why did you have to leave?”

“It was your mother, y/n. She paid me to when I gave up the warehouse,” Kihyun said, somewhat worried for your reaction. 

“Are you saying you left because you were angry my mother’s company wanted to buy your warehouse?” You asked, looking up at him confusedly.

“What? No!” He said a little too quickly while pulling your hand, finally bringing your bodies together. 

You let out a small cry at the impact, and stared up at Kihyun, your faces inches away from each other.

Kihyun looked at the ceiling, trying to keep his calm and collect his thoughts. With a long exhale, he said, “What I meant is, your mother personally paid me to become a man worthy of you.”

You rolled your eyes at that. Even after all these years, you were stuck at this one question. “Jesus fucking Christ Kihyun, you still don’t get it,” you said, laughing to yourself. “You keep forgetting that I was happy with you. You gave me the affection I wanted, the support I needed and everything in between.” 

Kihyun shook his head. “No, that’s not true, y/n. You deserve to live like a princess, and as much I wanted you to have that life, I couldn’t give it to you.”

You moved your hands to hang around his neck as you spoke. “But wasn’t I your princess?” 

Kihyun leaned down to press a kiss on to the inside of your arm. “What if I still want you as my princess?” He murmured into your skin while his arms loosely circled your waist. 

You smiled at his words. “You know, the moments when I felt most like your princess was when you simply took care of me and tried to make me happy.” You started tangling your fingers into his hair as you spoke, your eyes looking dreamy and distant as you reminisced. “Stuff like packing a lunchbox for me so I could sleep more, picking me up from all my events because I wanted to drink. And more recently, how you’ve been restocking my fridge at work without telling me.”

Kihyun’s eyes widened at that. “I didn’t know you knew that,” he said sheepishly, looking to the side, away from you. 

You giggled at his reaction. “Minhyuk dobbed you in.” 

Tentatively, you leaned your head down on his chest. Almost immediately, his arms tightened around your waist. Your heart felt like it would burst out of your chest, and you knew your cheeks would begin to hurt soon with how much you were smiling. Being in Kihyun’s arms again felt like home. You felt like every bit of tension you had carried, every worry, problem and fear, had all disappeared.

 

You weren’t sure how long you stood there, wrapped up in Kihyun’s arms until he spoke. Playing with your earrings, he said, “You kept them. I am surprised.” 

You took his hand and kissed it. “Why is that?” 

“Yunho told me you returned most of the jewellery you had ordered,” Kihyun replied. 

“Oh.” It was true. Since Kihyun kept getting Yunho to add a little something extra to all the pieces you commissioned during your relationship, you ended up returning everything and having them remade. Despite this, you had one question. “How did you find out?”

Kihhyun traced his finger down your neck to your scarf, playing with the material. “When I went to order more pearl cufflinks to match all my suits.”

You plucked his hand off your scarf to examine the cufflinks. It was the same design as the earrings you gave him. The giddiest smile crept on to your face seeing that and Kihyun smiled with you. “Does it really make you that happy?” He asked. 

“Yes,” you replied, pressing yet another kiss to his hand. “It shows we are together.” 

Wait did you really say that? You hadn’t even talked about it yet. Did you and Kihyun want to be a couple again? Like sure he was holding you like this and talking about the past but what if this was just a random moment? 

“Uhh what I meant was…” you began.

“Do you actually want to give me a second chance?” Kihyun asked quickly. 

“Um well,” you tried again. 

“Please y/n.” 

“Ki…” you sighed. “Just… I don’t know. Do you want to try again?” 

Kihyun cradled your face in his hands. He couldn’t believe what you were asking. “God y/n, you’re like an angel. I would try absolutely anything in the world if it meant I could be with you. I am not letting you go again, not without fighting.” Kihyun’s own tears threatened to spill as he said this, so you stood up on your tip toes and kissed his jaw. 

“Yes. Let’s try again.”

His tears finally fell. But they were happy, relieved tears. Everything he ever achieved in life, it was all for you. Returning to you had been his only purpose in life for several years, but he could finally step up and realise his dream: loving you again.

“My princess, can I kiss you?”

[officersnickers]

Have you some headcanons of Isabella and Ray relationship post anime (since she survives) or in a manga au where she is just wounded and not killed and so survive too? (maybe also her relation with the youngest children too, like Ohil, Jemina, ect..)

I‘ve got a few *rubs hands* Let‘s do it!

I like to think Isabella tries to reconcile with Ray over time, just like she does with her other children. But in comparison to the younger ones, it‘s much more harder and it takes months, if not years for them to find a way to act fairly normal around each other. Ray can‘t stand the sight of his mother at first, but they gradually become better. Still, some scars will never heal, but both of them acknowledge this and are okay with it.

Ray‘s constantly confused when seeing Isabella wearing comfortable, slightly colourful clothes and different hairstyles. It doesn‘t look bad, mind you, but it‘s such a contrast to the way she dressed before (he would never admit it, but he doesn‘t like it when she wears her hair in a thight ponytail or even a bun, since it brings back haunting memories, and no one got time for this).

Seeing his mother being more carefree and actually gentle around him hurts Ray a lot, because a) she could have been like this before if she wanted to and b) sees himself as the reason for Isabella not being able to live a joyous life prior, since she was caught in the system of the farms, and his birth granting her the position that would rob her humanity even more and so and so on. It‘s not easy with depression, you see :/

Ray was also surprised when hearing the first time Isabella was regulary visiting a psychotherapist, which led to her smiling and asking if he really thought that after everything that happened, she wouldn‘t be affected by it and wouldn‘t need help? He turned very silent about this after her words.

About the younger children: Since they have no parents, Isabella acts as their legal guardian, managing everything you can imagine from school to doctors appointments and and and. She basically acts as a „they did ask for no pickles“-mom >:).

Norman „only“ calls her by her first name. He still views her as his mother, but damn, he went through too much to go back to the good old times. He‘s not innocent either, and even if he tried, he could never forgive her fully.

Some more ideas from my AU in which Leslie also survived: Ray couldn‘t belive his eyes (and ears lol) when witnessing Isabella trying to cook or bake, lol. Once she tried to bake a birthday cake for Leslie and she didn‘t even took the butter out of the fridge beforehand! Or did seperate egg yolk and protein! In the end, he did bake the cake, since apparently she can do anything but cook, and it eases his mind she‘s just a human after all, with faults and weaknesses, just like him.

Leslie and Ray once had some way too early heart to heart talk, with Leslie offering him a cigarette (stress relief, you know) and Isabella did caught them. Alhtough the men were fully grown at this time, she still held them a lecture about the dangers of smoking (they so made sure she never got wind of it again).

That's it for now I guess.

[sins-over-tragedy]

Just saw your post and I thought it would be quite fun to see your writing! Can i have Ranpo× S/O who loves to read...? Its ok if you dont want to-

Hey love! Of course I want to. I just wasn‘t sure if you wanted some headcons or a oneshot so I wrote a oneshot. If you meant headcons, feel free to request them again, I‘d love to write them! I tried to make it a little bit fluffy c:

I really gave my best, hope you enjoy it! ❤️

WARNIGS: SHORT MENTION OF NIGHTMARES, ANGST IF YOU SQUINT

Ranpo with a S/O who loves to read

Ranpo Edogawa was by far the greatest Detective in all of Japan. - The whole world even, if you asked him. He was one of the most clever men you‘ll ever meet, solving even the most demanding cases like it was nothing, astonishing both the public and the police in Yokohama with his infamous skills. His coworkers both loved and respected him, like they should, because they received the biggest part of their income from the cases he worked on, not even needing a partner for most of them. His deducting ability was unmatched, one look from his sharp green eyes behind his characteristic glasses was enough to unravel even the deepest and darkest secrets of the person standing in front of him.

Ranpo also couldn’t stand a lot of things. Like, when a new police officer underestimated his deduction skills. I mean, how dare they? Or the one time he ran out of candy. Now, that really was a nightmare. (Not only for him, but also for his colleagues, who had to deal with him on that dreadful day)

Another thing he hated with a burning passion, was having to rely on public transportation. Train schedules? Hell no.

But the one thing that really got on his nerves- that he couldn‘t live with for the love of god - (Or Arahabiki, if you want) is-

„Not now Ranpo, I really want to finish this book.“

Yeah, that.

Having to share your attention. That was just plain awful and cruel towards him. „But Y/N, come ooon, you‘ve already said that the last few times I‘ve asked you!“

Don‘t get him wrong, he loved your (not so) little obsession with books.

You, reading to him at night to calm his nerves, when the thoughts about his past and the death of his parents just got too fucking much and threatened to overwhelm his mind- it never failed to scare away his demons.

What got him even through the shittiest of days was the thought of coming home and cuddling up to you in the living room of your shared apartment, while you would read stories to him, about adventurers seeking long lost treasures; tales about mythical creatures like dragons and elves; Detectives, almost as clever as himself. He didn‘t really care, as long as it was you who read them to him. You could even read a goddamn phonebook to him, and he would still lay there, listening, while your soft voice lulled him to sleep.

It didn‘t matter to you what kind of book you were reading, as long as the writing was good and the story catched your attention. Your reading obsession also has helped you with your work at the agency on more than one occasion, learning different facts and stuff about almost every genre you could get your hands on.

That was just one of the many things he loved about you. You also were clever. Maybe not as clever as him, but while he cracked cases within the bat of an eye, you always came and picked him up at the train station, when he got off on the wrong stop again - Jesus, Ranpo that was the third time this week-

Not even once had you told him that you had no time, or simply didn‘t want to, because he was a grown man and he could- he should be able to come home by himself. You always were there for him, not once asking for something in return.

What he also loved was your shared apartment. It wasn‘t big, or expensive - you both couldn‘t afford that, never even wanted to - but it was enough.

Your whole apartment looked like a small library, shelves filled with books of all shapes and sizes almost reaching up to the ceiling. Plants in every corner, flowers of different colours, or just plain green dragon trees. Ranpo loved it. It was just so cozy, so warm and inviting, it was so you.

But when you‘ve found a book that really caught your attention, there was nothing that could bring you to stop reading it. Not even an angry Kunikida - and that spoke for itself. So when Ranpo saw how engrossed you were in the newest part of your collection, he feared the worst, and his mind quickly began to form a plan on how he could at least catch a bit of your attention. He went into the bedroom, grabbed a thick blanket and some cookies from his secret stash inside the sock drawer (they didn‘t call him greatest detective for nothing) and made his way back to you into the living room. He found you still sitting in the same place, not having moved an inch. Did you even realise he was here before? Ranpo really wasn‘t a fan of having to share your attention.

He also was a little shit. „What are you doing?“ Ranpo looked up from your lap, where he had placed himself and began to get comfortable. „Getting my S/O back.“ You couldn‘t hold back the small smile that stole itself on your lips at your boyfriend's antics. „Oh come on, don‘t be so dramatic!“ „I‘m not dramatic, it‘s true and you know it!“ He shifted again, not having found quite the right place to settle himself yet. You decided to have mercy on him. „Come here you drama baby.“ The book was placed on the coffee table next to you while you slided a bit farther down on the couch and stretched out your legs. That way he could settle himself in between them, comfortably laying his head on your chest. He let out a content sigh. „That‘s much better.“ You only hummed in response and began to comp your fingers through his messy mop of black hair. If he were a cat, he‘d probably purr. „Read to me, Y/N.“ „Always so demanding...“ But how could you deny him something, while he looked so freaking adorable, with his pouting lips and narrowed eyes? His sharp green orbs followed your every move, while you picked up your book again and began to read it to him.

You couldn‘t really tell at what point he had fallen asleep, but when you decided to take a small pause to rest your eyes a bit, the first thing you noticed were the faint snores that left his slightly parted lips. How cute. You couldn't help yourself, so you bent down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. You closed your book, carefully put it back on the coffee table to not disturb him by moving to much, adjusted the blanket so that both of you were covered by it and decided to join his small nap.

And while you both laid there, wraped up in each others warmth, there was only one thing to describe how you both felt in that moment: absolutly content.

——————————————————————

Why do the characters in my stories always tend to fall asleep at the end? Easy. Bcs sleep is bae.

[bmpmp3]

WAIT im supposed to be asleep right now but then I remembered about how much i ADORED destroying images in audacity when i was in highschool and i am going to become SO annoying for the forseeable future

i couldnt remember how to do it at first so i tried to mess with that drawing i posted earlier about the squirrel but i imported the raw data wrong but it was okay cause it still kinda looks like a cool texture and im kinda digging it (even if it was constantly teetering on the edge of corrupting itself too far)

so i tried again doing it right this time but its a little underwhelming, maybe ‘cause theres very few colours in the original image? or maybe i just didnt use the right effects lol but again, still could be a fun texture~

ANYWAY now ive remembered this long lost ability of mine so *starts screaming and glowing like im mr dragon ball going super saiyan*

i‘ve killed 2009 art style nobunaga. ive killed him

image from my jake hunter truck freak goof......this ones honestly pretty tasteful compared to my usual brightly coloured fare. i kept some restraint with the echo effects. some restraint

[blue-bird-lamentation]

this the story post: melohax[.]tumblr[.]com/post/639167543643340800/warning-spoilers-ahoy-only-read-this-if-youve the game has like so many secret scenes it shocked me

Thank you so much for the link!!!

I really liked reading it. I tried to skip the hikikomori route part as I will try to calmly play it, but I‘ve read a few and, as a person who saw that seen of a man trying to cut a tree and saying “you’re not my son” it intrigued me a lot what kind of information I will get from there.

I’m still puzzled and still didn’t try to see what would happen if I collected the wrong letters and if I has opened the door to Mari.

I went far on this answer and wrote a lot of random topics that are also mentioned in that post and other things I remembered too. It’s still too messy, but my memory is fresh and I decided to write about what I was thinking, even if not organized. Sorry for using your ask, but I was inspired by the link, which I think it’s a very interesting reading. I’m also sorry for the mistakes and I may come back later to correct them. There are so many fascinating things in the game, and so many others I haven’t yet explored, besided I feel good writting all of this as it is kind of asfixiating to thing about it and not having anyone to discuss it with.

This game was a rollercoaster. I knew from the begining that the cute artstyle and the pastel colours in the begining were deceiving, especially when you start in a weird whitespace room and take a knife. Omori as a black and white coloured character among the other paster colours also felt weird.

One really interesting comment I received from my brother when he watched me playing a bit, in a fight, was  “oh your character is the real neutral one, the others seem happy” while all of them were in neutral mode. Also his happy expression was scary and he was the one who got to maniac aside from villains (at least for me). The fact he has a knife intrigued me a lot if I should really fight but at first it looked like there were no consequences (aside from feeling tremendously bad for being called bunny killer. Also about these little enemies, it’s interesting how many of them were bunnies when the person we find who has a bunny is Aubrey, which is also the girl from the group that is now “against us”, at least most of the time in the real world).

Also about the knife, there are two other moments that totally hit me:

- the suicide in whitespace, which could foreshadow his suicide in some routes, but is also the means to wake up;

- Kel and Aubrey in the real world who call us out for bringing a knife, which, since the begining, was the correct thing to do.

I really wonder a lot about his family and their decisions.

It’s been 4 years. I wonder if Sunny’s mom ever put him into some kind of therapy, I wonder if her absence was on purpose because she wanted him to say goodbye to his old friends one last time. I wonder if Kel’s visit wasn’t a coincidence. I wonder if Hero coming back was also part of a last chance to bring Sunny back. I don’t know if the other route answers it, but seeing the notes and messages that mother leaves, she seems to be worried about him. I would say a mix of worry and fear, so there must be some strong reason why she’s not there besides going to buy some furniture or whatever.

Saying this, I think only Sunny’s parents know more or less what happened, but not from their son’s mouth, from autopsy report perhaps. The house was adapted to the changes: no family picture, as opposed to what I saw in Kel’s house (and I wonder if it’s only because of Mari or also with his father too as described by the cutting tree scene. I had thought this was directed to Omori and not to Sunny, but this is also part of the dream realm, so it could be Sunny’s interpretation to the end of his parents marriage which was related to Mari’s death), Mari’s bed is gone (which made the scene when she knocks the door even creepier. I never got to open the door because I was scared, but I’m also curious). Also about the 4 years,  I liked the detail of the 4th floor sign in Last Resort, which was resting there on the floor, as the number is also cursed because it symbolizes death.

I find fascinating how the complexity of the situation is represented in the dream world. His team is composed by his old friends, which are human. Mari and Basil are also human but they weren’t totally present. Mari is the safe point and overprotective of Omori, but she is also the element who encourages him to face his fears. As he faces his fears, he unravels more information about what he repressed, also helped by the presence of the blackspace Basil. But it’s ironic as the more he unravels, the more corrupted the story seems to evolve, but also the more they lose the main purpose of rescuing Basil, which is more evident in the deeper well.

I believe the human figures are the most important to him, and then there are the elements that combine real world figures with fantasy, as the candyshop girl and the fiction space boyfriend. Each story is fascinating but it also makes you lose focus on what you were supposed to do. And in my case, there was a point where I just wanted to wander around in these stories because I was to afraid to face the real story that was masked by this fictional colourful world.

These olde friends represent perhaps what Sunny never wanted to have lost, but also what he does not want to face.

When Sunny woke up in the hospital, I first followed the kids, and no, that wasn’t the right path. That was the safe path, where there is no confrontation with reality. As it was when Sunny was with company. I think it is Aubrey who says he doesn’t like to be alone, and well, that was me the whole game, imploring to not be left alone, because once the character was alone, his world seemed to be corrupted by the black space, which was also a stepping stone to reach the truth, the dark truth.

And I really like how this is all Sunny’s mental effort, which, I would say, it’s helped by him leaving his house and meeting his friends once again, as well as facing Basil one more time.

I was really sad with how the story developed. What started I was assuming it was a facing your fears story, transformed into an overcoming someone’s death, which at first I thought it would be Basil’s, to go to Mari (which was a total mystery to me why had she died (my ingenuity believed it could have been some traffic accident or something else) at first), to go to save Basil again, but now with some dark remarks about the character himself. In the middle of this development, first time the character wakes up, it is clear that the dream world character is not the same as the real world one, age wise, but is part of him.

I had written that at first I was reluctant about the fights, but well, they were necessary to me to face the villains of each arc. But at the same time thery were never too difficult (I think the most difficult part to me was to be strong enough for the Dino Dig and the rest was pretty easy). When, at the end Sunny had to face Omori I was shocked. So, the guy I had been training which was very seemingly sadistic, did I simply train him so that if Sunny wanted to face his trauma, he would hunt him with his strenght? Like the stronger I made him, ther bigger the reluctance to overcome the past. And while this sadistic character seems to be what I would compare to a Chara in Undertale, to me it was the harsh self conscious, critical part of him who could never forgive for what he had done. And which was also manifested as the monster surrounding him and Basil. It was their perception that what they had done was unforgivable, but at the same time neither of them wanted to carry that burden alone: Sunny “forgot” it, Basil manifests it by making those toxic remarks like “you aren’t going to leave me alone again, are you?”.

I don’t know if we get to see more of Basil’s backstory but he also got me curious. I think that what both of them did was bad, but given what happened between Sunny and Mari, it was really hard to know how to face it. I don’t think it makes them willingly villains, but scared children who were very self conscious and didn’t know what would happen if people found it out.

However, hadn’t Basil been there, Sunny would have been found right away next to Mari’s corpse. So I wonder what led Basil to propose such idea and to make Sunny’s burden heavier, which made him ambiguity of his disappearance with the will to save him as a friend.

I don’t think it was an ill intention, but Basil created excuses to protect Sunny because he was important to him and to the group. As the photo album showed, Sunny was the younger element, seen as the baby of the group, and he was shy, but he loved his friends even if he looked the most expressionless.

I think these elements awoke in him the need to protect Sunny from the darkness that lied ahead his actions, but he didn’t realise how heavy of a burden that would be. At the same time he probably had some issued regardin expectations and self worth which probably told him that they could never be tied to such a cruel action, even if it was accidental.

In my perspective he didn’t see the dark shadow surrounding Sunny at the time, but he engraved the memory as an act not commited by Sunny but by something surrounding him, pretty much like when he started attacking him at the end.

I like to think that, good ending wise, the malevolent side, Omori is not necessarily a potential evil that was always within Sunny, but the self guilt and lack of self worth. The fact the Sunny wouldn’t leave the house and didn’t even take good care of his health shows it. He is self destructive, because guilt consumes him, not a person who needs to apply suffering in the outter world for his own satisfaction. The whole struggle is within Sunny and not ot become a bad person per se.

Some of Basil’s dialogue was too much for me, mainly when he kept repeating for Sunny to not leave him. However I totally understand why. Sunny covered the what had happened while Sunny had to live those years knowing what they had done, as if he was the only one carrying the burden.

It’s a real complicated story where everyone was the victim.

It was so hard to see how sad and angry Aubrey was, and how she had to make new friends to overcome, how alone she was all the time. How Kel kept being such a good person, however had to move away because he didn’t know how to face the others, afraid of being misinterpreted. Hero’s pictures with Mari break me everytime. “A match made in heaven” Basil had written in the description of one of the photos. The fact that he is the element in the group that cooks, but 4 years later he had given up. The fact he can’t face Mari’s grave. The way Kel describes his struggle over Mari’s death. The way he didn’t make new friends in college, although he says it was lack of time. Basil is completely broken and can’t even touch the camera anymore and tries to “destroy” the old memories, which Aubrey discovers. Sunny’s parents, as their life turned upside down. And probably everyone around was too afraid to know how to act around them.

I really like how despite everything, the human figure that Sunny creates of Mari is forgiveful and so cheerful. Mari is such a good influence that wants to help him overcome the trauma for himself (especially when she helps him overcoming the fear of drowning and calls him Sunny for the first time. The ways she asked for his forgiveness for pushing him so hard into playing the recital. It is still part of Sunny’s dream but it’s so in Mari’s character. I believe this part is also connected to the scene where we see her saving Sunny in the real world).

I will end this text here. I will eventually come back to it, and to the omori tag, because this is certainly a very good game with a lot of space for debate and reflection.

[pauleonotis]

Tag Game

I was tagged by @rockmarina, thank you! :D ❤️

Rules: Answer 10 questions, then come up with 10 more, and tag 10 people.

1. What is something you’ve created that makes you feel proud of yourself?

I once wrote a small book with a couple of short stories and drew pictures to them. The characters in it were either me, my brother, my cousin, my best friend or a friend I had in school. We all had different roles and the stories were entertaining and hilarious. (I‘m kinda sad I don’t have it anymore, I don’t know whether I gifted it my friend to then lost it or gave it my mom who then threw it away but it’s gone now unfortunately.)

2. Share a childhood memory that includes an animal!

My whole life I’ve had bunnies (tho not anymore, my last one I owned passed away in 2018). I remember being on a class trip it was kinda like a farm? They had some goats, a lot of bunnies, some stray cats and horses. We were allowed to go inside the bunny area and pet them etc. and since I had bunnies myself that was basically my favorite thing to do. One bunny in particular (that didn’t come out often) caught my attention, he didn’t have ears and one of the caretakers there told me about a child who grabbed him by the ears and basically swung him until they ripped off.

This bunny was the only one who didn’t come out often or near any humans even if we had food but I remember sitting with the bunnies alone after having an argue with the girls I shared a room with so I was kicked out by them and that bunny then took some bites of a carrot that was laying right next to me and idk but that moment made me really happy. :)

I btw didn’t try to touch him or anything, I think that would’ve just scared him off but being so close was a huge step and I‘m so proud of that little bun! ;-;

3. Warm or cold colours?

Depends, I love both but if i have to choose then I‘d say warm colors since I feel like I work with them more whenever I draw? Idk. xD

4. What is the boomer/gen Xer societal norm that you find the most unnecessary and annoying, if any? (e.g: no elbows on the table)

Uhhhh what? I gotta admit I have absolutely no clue what else there is except that example that is given. But that no elbows on the table is pretty unnecessary if you ask me- I don’t have them on the table while eating with both hands but if I just use my fork or a spoon lemme just rest my other arm on that damn table pls??? I‘m not trying to be rude, just trying to find a comfortable position thankyouverymuch.

5. Have you ever picked anything from the street and kept it?

Yes. A One Direction pendant which basically was a gold 1 and a D. Back then I didn’t know what it meant because I never really recalled the name of that group? But funnily enough during the time I found this I was listening to the song ‚Best Song Ever‘ on repeat.

6. What is one piece of media that has helped you through some rough times?

Fanfiction net and Fanfiktion de probably? Lmao idk. But I remember I‘d always read fanfictions to save my day! :D Or maybe youtube too, I absolutely loved to watch speedpaint videos which motivated me to draw and practice.

7. Have you ever cried in front of anyone unexpected?

Yes. My ex boyfriend.

I have to admit I‘m actually not a person that cries that easily about irl situations... idk. But basically I was at his house to stay over the weekend and he kissed me and left a lot of love bites on my neck and cleavage and the thing is I wasn’t really together with him because I loved him — when he was visiting me the first time he was just an online friend I had and he then kissed me and said I‘m his now and I agreed because all my friends during that time had a bf or were in love and I was questioning my sexuality but didn’t want to be the different one or disappoint my parents by coming out as bi or lesbian so I tried to force myself into a straight relationship. So yeah and that night when he left those love bites I realized that no, I didn’t want that. I want to figure out my sexuality and not force myself to be someone I’m not and I also don’t want to rush anything. And that’s why I started to cry.

Which was really... really awkward in that situation tho. XD

8. What would someone have to do to make you hate them?

Abuse people or animals (especially those who can’t do anything/speak up/protect themselves). I was about to add something to that but it isn’t something nice and I have to admit it probably shouldn’t be said out loud.

9. What is one forbidden smell that you love? (glue, gasoline...)

Idk what else counts as forbidden smell...? I don’t like smelling glue or gasoline lmao. But unusual smells... uhh... I have to say I kinda miss the smell of the litter that was in my bunnies cage. And the smell of the grass and dandelions (Schnuffel adored them ;-;).

10. What is something you’re passionate about?

A couple of things actually, the most obvious one would be drawing and trying to improve. But let’s see uhm... learning?

Not that boring school stuff, even tho there were many interesting things I’ve learned over the 13 years that I‘ve been to school, BUT I‘m talking about more...random things.

Idk tell me random facts, or something about your culture, about languages, tell me something about history, mythology, astronomy, let me know more about yourself, about your friends or people you look up to or people that interest you. Tell me about tricks or life hacks. How did you do that? When did you learn that? What does that mean? I definitely want to know and/or learn.

Now onto my questions (it btw was so difficult coming up with 10 questions and now I have to do it a second time- WHY ;-; xD):

1. What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?

2. How do you judge a person?

3. What are you interested in that most people that you know aren’t?

4. What‘s the funniest joke you know by heart?

5. What movie/video/picture/meme/whatever always makes you laugh no matter how often you see it?

6. Which protagonist from a book/movie would make the worst roommate?

7. And what protagonist from a book/movie would make the best roommate?

8. The last song you sang along to?

9. What was the best thing that happened to you today?

10. What are your top 3 fanfiction tropes?

Tagging: @rockmarina (>:3) @aceveria @samyistrying @triggerlil @practicefortheheart @april-thelightfury115 @drarryruinedme7 @big-draco-energy @ohheavenlylord @qmortentia (only if you want to do it of course!)

[thegonnagle]

A very belated Happy Birthday again to my favourite AlMei shipper @criis55 whom I love with all my heart! I finally sat down and edited this thing, I hope you enjoy xx

„You really can’t let yourself be seen like this“, she chides gently, strolling over to where he’s claimed a quiet bench in the Imperial gardens.

„It would mean a disgrace on your family, your country, and me for having such a slobbish student. And besides, I would have thought ratty sweaters more your brother’s style than yours?“

Al picks at the fraying sleeves with two fingers, pulling out a loose thread with a quiet snort. He lifts his eyes to meet hers, and pulls his lips into a smile.

„He was the one who bought it for me, way back when I was still in the hospital. Told me I should try to fill this out by the time we went home, so I wouldn’t give Granny a heart attack. Although I don’t think anything could shock Granny into cardiac arrest after she’s been putting up with Brother for nineteen years-“

He snorts again and starts gathering up the books he’d been studying.

Mei only gives a slight huff in acknowledgement and keeps fixating him with piercing dark eyes, one eyebrow raised and one foot tapping impatiently below her dark blue robes.

Right, that probably wasn’t much of an actual explanation.

He sets the books aside and looks up at her.

„It’s his birthday today, so I suppose I was feeling a little nostalgic. I’m sorry though, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.“

She harrumphs faintly, her nose scrunching up into a decidedly un-princesslike expression, and he can’t help but grin.

She has this reaction every time Ed is mentioned, and although God knows he knows Ed‘s particular talent for pissing people off, he still can’t figure out what exactly his brother did to offend the Xingese princess.

The one time he tried to ask her about it ended with Mei muttering furiously in rapid, high-pitched Xingese, and the only words he’d managed to catch during her tirade were ‚snake-tongued fraud‘ and ‚playing with a girl‘s heart‘.

So he’s like 70% sure Mei‘s grudge isn’t serious, because honestly, nobody who’s met Ed would ever describe his brother as particularly eloquent when it comes to girls.

The other 30% would still advise his brother to stay clear of Mei‘s knives.

„I suppose I can overlook your sartorial transgressions just this once“, present-Mei announces regally, and flops down next to him on the bench not-quite-so-regally.

She’s still in her court outfit from earlier, an elaborate creation of embroidered silks in white, purple and blue.

He isn’t surprised to see her hair out of the intricate headpiece they made her wear this morning though, not after she’d complained to him for at least half an hour about the Yao clan‘s style being „pathetically garish“ and „being forced to endorse that gluttonous half-wit‘s delusions of grandeur“.

She scoots closer to him on the bench, and he feels his heartbeat stutter for a second when her hair brushes against his skin through the holes in his sleeves.

„Do you miss it? Your home, I mean?“ he asks.

Mei hums thoughtfully, her legs swinging back and forth under the bench. „Well..it is natural to miss one‘s home, I suppose. I miss the quiet sometimes, the mountains and the forests. It’s very beautiful, I‘ll have to show you some day.

But I don’t wish to be there right now, if that was your question. I can protect them here, and that’s my duty as princess. Now that I‘ve got the emperor‘s favor, we don’t have to worry about the neighboring clans trying to take over our territories anymore. He’s a good emperor really, Ling Yao.“

„I wouldn’t have believed it, but yeah“, Al smiles.

Mei scrunches up her nose once more (a tell-tale sign, he‘s noticed, that she’s cutting back some snarky response). Not that he spends that much time watching her, but- she’s interesting, to say the least.

Passionate, and unapologetic, and so undeniably alive that sometimes he forgets that there was a time when he couldn’t lose his breath in her bone-crushing hugs, or get tickled by the ends of her braids.

Mei sighs. „I‘m cold.“

He takes her hands (tiny, delicate, though her fingers are calloused) to blow some air on them like he remembers his mother doing during the winters.

„Better?“

„Hmm“ she hums. Then she suddenly pulls her legs up on the bench, letting herself fall backwards until she’s half lying on his lap.

„That’s better“, she remarks with a satisfied smile and closes her eyes.

Al‘s mind starts reeling, the world outside spinning as if he were sitting in a carousel. He feels her shifting her head on his thighs, every nerve ending dialed up to maximum sensitivity with no adaptation in sight.

Slow down, Alphonse. Focus.

It takes four heartbeats until he feels like he can open his eyes again, seven for the colours to lose their blur.

„Mei, are you- are you that tired? Do you want to go inside?“

„Be quiet, I‘m dreaming“, she mutters softly.

Now that he isn’t losing his head over it, this isn’t so bad actually. She looks very peaceful, more relaxed than usual. He sees her eyelids twitch every so often, her lashes throwing spidery shadows on her cheeks.

„Will you share your dreams with me, princess?“, he asks with a smirk.

„That won’t be necessary“, she declares, and he can’t quite hide the hurt flickering across his face.

Her eyes fly open and she adds „You’re already there, after all“ with a sly smile.

He feels his skin flushing from his neck to his ears, and looks away. It’s a little embarrassing, after how much he’s teased his brother about getting flustered speechless when Winry so much as smiled at him, but his tongue seems to have melted into hot sludge, and he can’t think of anything to say.

He probably can’t deny his relation to Ed anymore. And here he thought he was the only Elric halfway decent at smooth-talking. It might be a hereditary thing.

Mei has lifted a hand to her mouth to hide her giggling, but he can feel her body shaking with laughter. A grin starts to form on his face.

Even though she‘ll probably make fun of how easily he gets flustered all the time now, he doesn’t really care. There’s a bright ball of happiness in his chest, located somewhere close to Mei, and he can’t help but think how lucky he is to be sitting here, with his face hurting from smiling too wide, and feeling her laughter vibrate in his bones.

[theangelssecondwing]

Chapter 15

„Sephiroth...“

„Not now. We can talk about this later. After I‘ve had a chance to… calm down.“

I looked ahead again, and only when I got out my key to open my front door did I see how much I was shaking. But once we were all inside, We just let ourselves drop onto whatever seat was closest.

„I… I‘ll go get us something to drink“, I said quietly and walked over to the kitchen. Sephiroth followed.

„What were you thinking?!“, he asked once we were alone. „You could have died!“

„I know, but I… we had to see Genesis.“

Sephiroth remained quiet for a short moment… and then pulled me into his arms, holding me close like it would be the last time. „Don‘t ever be so reckless again.“

I reciprocated the embrace, pressing my face into the crook of his neck and inhaling his scent. „I‘m sorry.“

He held me like this for a moment. Then he let go, so I could get to preparing the drinks I had promised.

„So… what now?“, Zack asked once everyone had the chance to calm down a little. „Genesis seemed to calm down pretty quickly after what Sephiroth said to him.“

Sephiroth stared blankly into his drink for a moment before looking up again. „He‘s probably going to contact us soon. He knows that we‘re on his side now.“

„We might have to leave Midgar to help him though“, I mused.

His cat-like eyes darted over to me. „You don‘t have to come along. It will be dangerous, and I won‘t force you to leave everything you have ever known behind.“

„Hey, in for one Gil in for a million. You‘re not getting rid of me this easily.“

„We‘d have to make some plans first, though“, Angeal replied. „So we won‘t be leaving right away.“

Zack got up. „Okay. I‘m in, too.“

My cellphone rang, and I picked up. „Hello?“

„Cora, please tell me you weren‘t really running through the Shinra building in the middle of an attack.“

„Hi Rufus. Nice to hear from you again. Hope you‘re okay.“

„Answer the question.“

I scratched the back of my neck. „How do you know I was there?“

„I know everything going on in the company. You know that even the Turks can‘t protect you if you WILLFULLY put yourself in danger, right?“

„I know. I‘m sorry.“

„Does Sephiroth know what happend?“ I could almost hear Rufus impatiently tapping his fingers on his desk.

„He does.“

„And he was fine with this?“

„Of course not.“

Rufus sighed deeply. „Anyway, good to hear that you are unhurt. My father is currently organizing the repairs we need. And after the damages have been dealt with, he wants to hold a party to show that ‚Shinra doesn‘t bow to terrorists‘. You are invited. In fact, he was very insistent that you come and that I personally invite you as a guest of honor.“ He lowered his voice. „He dropped certain hints after he found out we were on speaking terms again, so he‘s definitely planning something. Stay on guard, and keep Sephiroth close to you.“

„Okay. Thanks for the warning.“

„I‘ll talk to you later.“ Click.

Sephiroth looked at me with a raised eyebrow. „Bad news?“

„We‘re invited to a party once the Shinra building doesn‘t look like a battlefield anymore“, I stated flatly.  

Repairing the damages and renovating the Shinra buildung ended up taking a whole month, during which we planned what to do after leaving Midgar. The biggest problem was that we had literally no idea where to start. We didn‘t hear from Genesis, either. Had he not understood the message after all? Or maybe he held off on contacting us while we were still in Midgar, knowing that Shinra would find out if he did?

I tried to feign normalcy as much as I could during work hours, but my stress clearly showed. The only positive thing I noticed was that Justine was leaving me alone for the most part, probably as a Thank You for saving her.

Working for Rufus was mostly the same as working for my father had been. Simple secretary jobs, fetching coffee for both of us, taking documents to the archives, and so on. We were both tense because of the upcoming party.

And then, finally, it was time.

„How do I look?“, I asked softly, twisting and turning in front of my bedroom mirror to try and zip up my dress. I wore simple knee-length a black dress with a tulip collar and a belt with green rhinestones all over it to spruce it up a bit.

„Don‘t worry. You look fantastic.“ Sephiroth wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my ear before gently grabbing the zipper and pulling it up.

I was still staring into the mirror, now much more used to seeing myself with Sephiroth. And we did make a cute couple, actually.

„I still got a bad feeling about this“, I told him.

„I‘ll be with you the entire time“, he promised. „Come on, we need to leave or we‘ll be late.“

The party took place at the Shinra family‘s estate, and all of the big names of the company were present. I hadn‘t even fully entered yet when I was ushered away from Sephiroth and dragged over to Rufus, who was standing with his father and looked just as uncomfortable as I felt. I looked over my shoulder over to Sephiroth, who held eye contact with me the entire time. Angeal and Yui soon joined him. Yui gave me an awkward thumbs up, appearantly trying to tell me that everything was going to be okay. If only I could believe that.

More and more people arrived. Business partners, high-ranking Shinra officials, the creme de la creme of the city. And when finally all guests had arrived, President Shinra took a glass of sparkling wine from a waitor and clinked a fork against it to gain everyone‘s attention.

„My dear friends and associates.“ I could almost feel the word ‚friends‘ sour on his tongue. This man did not do ‚friends‘. „The attack on Shinra last month has left the whole city shaken, and yet like a phoenix from the ashes, Shinra rises, as it always will. Today‘s festivities are just a reminder that we will not bow nor quiver before terrorists. We press on, to give a better future for all generations to come. And to fully emphasise that, I have a very special announcement to make.“ His cold, icy blue eyes darted over to Rufus and me, and I suddenly felt defiant. If he thought he could pressure me into marrying Rufus like this, he was dead wrong. „It is well known that there was always a certain person I wanted my Rufus to marry. Someone who would bring the necessary knowledge and assets into the marriage to expand Shinra even further, until the company can guarantee a comfortable life to everyone in the world. So it is with great joy that I announce the official engagement of Rufus to Miss Cora Hunter.“ People politely applauded.

„No“, I said firmly, and could almost hear the record scratch.

Shinra Sr looked at me as if I had suddenly sprouted a second head. „Excuse me?“

„She said ‚no‘, father“, Rufus answered. „So do I. We were not informed of this, neither have we given our consent.“

It was quite obvious that Rufus‘ father had not anticipated us to openly challenge him and cause a scene. His face was pale at first, but then became beet-red with anger. Then he grabbed both our shoulders and turned to the crowd. „Excuse us for a moment.“ Then he dragged us out of the room.

„What do you think you‘re doing?“

„Putting a stop to whatever you‘re planning“, Rufus replied. „You know we do not want this.“

„Have I ever asked about what you want?“ The bright red colour drained from Shinra Sr‘s face as he regained his composure. „You do realize that your friend‘s family is completely dependent on me? If you two do not agree with what I have decided, I can easily render her and her precious father destitute.“

I clenched my hands into fists. Damn bastard.

Rufus took a deep breath. „Okay. Fine.“

„What?!“

Rufus gave me a look and slightly shook his head. Then he turned to his father again. „But maybe we shouldn‘t announce it right away, after the scene we just caused. Give Cora and me the chance to prepare a proper announcement for ourselves.“

Satisfied that he got what he wanted, the President gave us a small smile that didn‘t quite reach his eyes. „Fine. I suppose I can at least give you that.“

The room was abuzz with gossip when we finally joined the other guests again.

„What was that all about?“, I asked Rufus once his father was out of earshot.

Rufus looked ahead blankly before turning to me again. „Tonight, after the party, I will drive you and Sephiroth to the courthouse. You can also invite Ms. Yuuji and Angeal, if you want. It‘s not the most romantic thing, but my father can‘t force you to marry me if you‘re already legally married. I‘ll serve as a witness. After that, it‘s probably better if you leave the city for a bit.“

„What about my dad?“, I asked softly. As rocky as my relationship with my father had been lately, I did not want him to suffer from all of this.

„I‘ll make sure he‘s taken care of“, Rufus replied. „Don‘t worry. I got this.“

We approached Sephiroth, and the first thing I saw was a blonde head cozying up to him.

„Get lost“, he told Justine firmly.

„Oh come on. You just heard it, she‘s engaged to someone else now. And I know you think I‘m hot. You sure acted like it during that night-“

„That was a one time thing, and it was years ago. Now leave.“

What...?

„Are you really planning on being a homewrecker? And for the Shinra family, no less?“ Justine‘s voice was dripping with false innocence. „Now, Sephiroth, I would have never guessed-“

Finally, Sephiroth spotted me and dashed forward, wrapping his arms around me possessively. „Cora. Please tell me you‘re really not going along with this.“

„I‘m not. I promise.“ I stroked his face. And in a lowered voice, I told him:„Rufus has a plan. It‘s happening tonight.“

[hellaciousdecimation]

The night had started all too serious, as Khivol had prepared himself to confront his sister alone. Rafkyl had been understandable nervous for his friend, wanting to go with him, however as Khivol removed the pendant that had hardly left his side, and handed it to the sea dweller, Raf knew there was no way he could; after all, he had his own matters to tend to, and it seemed that the elder god planned to join him. As Khivol left his apartment, he absolutely had planned on going straight to his sister’s office, yet as he arrived at the corner of a street, still several blocks away from the small shop she had rented out for the past thirty or so sweeps, Khivol couldn’t help but feel something tug at him to turn down the street to his left, instead of continuing straight. 

As he did, he immediately knew why the street felt familiar, the jade coloured neon sign down near the end of the street catching his eye. His hesitation to continue onward quickly faded away, as he found himself nearing the small occult shop, the sign he remembered making sweeps ago hanging above the doorway. Before he knew it, he had his hand on the door knob, and he stepped inside, the smell of incense, candles and odd ingredients hitting him like a gust of wind, and the droning hum began in the back of his head, like a whisper he had hoped to forget. 

Behind the counter was a petite jade, who idly flipped through a magazine, while chewing on some gum and leaning on one of her arms. Glancing up from her magazine, returning her eyes to it’s pages only to shoot her gaze back up to the indigo who had just entered the shop, the woman’s lips twitched into a smirk, as she slipped out of her chair, heading over to Khivol. 

“ Oracle be damned.., so you are still alive after all? Your sister had me convinced some asshole had landed you in your grave, she worries too much, clearly.” Branni chuckled, crossing her arms, looking up at the indigo who now towered over her. Her soft tones pulled Khivol out of the anxiety that he had started feeling, her talking to him like nothing ever happened, making him feel at home. However, before he was able to speak, Branni raised a brow, looking over his face, and tilting her head in intrigue. “ What’d you do? You’re not wobbling or anything… and.. What’s with that aura?” 

Khivol’s brows raised then furrowed, before realizing just how long it had been since the two of them had talked. Realizing the change in his body language, Branni motioned for him to follow her, leading him to the back of the shop, where she began to make some tea, and he took a seat at a table, covered in a velvet cloth, and a red, blue and gold patterned scarf was repurposed as something she draped across the table, clearly something she did her readings on. It took him a moment to realize it was one of the many things he had given her while they still were together. 

“ You still take your tea the same?” Branni’s voice pulled Khivol out of his thoughts, and he looked to her, surprised to see a reddish coloured jar of honey in her hand. 

“ You seriously still keep some of that around?” He smirked, chuckling before nodding. “ Yeah, same as always.” Branni smiled, placing her free hand on her hip, giving him a smirk once more. 

“ Yeah, of course, I wouldn’t want to be out if you visited..,” As she added a teaspoon of the ruby honey, as well as a touch of milk from the minifridge tucked under the counter,, Branni glanced at Khivol over again, raising a brow at him as she set his and her tea down at the table. “ So, I take it that it’s a long story? Well I‘ve got all the time in existence. What the fuck has happened since we last talked?” 

Setting his hands around the cup before him, soaking up the warmth it radiated, Khivol took a moment to organize his thoughts. Before taking in a deep breath, sighing softly as he began to speak. 

“.., I started trying to.., numb myself with drugs and alcohol, I hoped it’d kill my sixth sense, so I could be with you again.., It worked, however it took a lot longer than I thought, and in that time I.., I tried black jack with some of the people I drank with.., that turned into a.., a terrible cycle of addiction and debts..” Raising a brow, Branni refrained from interrupting him, letting him continue on. “ What started as a way to be able to live my life without discomfort turned into me ruining my life.. And I couldn’ face seeing you knowing the mess I had made.., even if I had the abilty to actually be near you.., the guilt became my new sixth sense…Well, two sweeps ago I.., I think I was nearing my limit. I was starting to accept that things would never get better.., but then I met him.., an elder god by the name of-” 

“Dhy’Yhvn?” Branni asked, cutting Khivol off as she realized just what the aura was that she was sensing. Khivol looked up at her, surprised but not at that she could know, but that she did know. 

“ Yeah. I take it you learned a lot about other elder gods from the Oracle then?... Yeah he showed up.., promised me he could help me and that he wanted to help me.., I think it was that he wanted to help me that made me give him a chance.., It’s been two years now.. I haven’t gambled, I don’t rely on my vices and.., I’ve felt in control again..” Branni sips her tea, processing all he had told her. Although his words were brief, she could tell all the intricacies he dared not speak, her insight being able to fill in the blanks, “ I’ve learned some from them.., But I’m guessing that’s why your sister came to me, you haven’t talked to her since meeting him, Knowing her I don’t blame you..,Lys never liked the supernatural, let alone the things beyond what we consider just that…” A silence washed over the two of them before Branni glanced over to the Tarot deck between them, and she reached over, splitting the deck into five piles, and setting them in the spread that Khivol recognized as the one often referred to as the Message from the Universe. Humming as he sipped his tea, Khivol raised a brow at Branni, his ears twitching as he formed what he was about to ask her. 

“ When she talked to you, did Lys have her around?” Before he got his answer, Khivol told Branni when to stop shuffling each pile, and told her which to reverse the alignment of. 

“ Yeah, I could sense this ‘Goddess’ before she even entered the shop.., what a lie, I know Lystal doesn’t believe it but it’s still terrifying to think of who she’s defied with her web of lies.., The Oracle only has spoken good of Dhy’Yhvn.., the rest she wouldn’t trust any more than she herself should be trusted. Shall we begin?” Taking another drink from her tea, before setting it to the side, Branni cracks her knuckles, turning the first card over, revealing 

“ The seven of wands, This card suggests that someone, or something is blocking your path, Before you can continue on your journey, you must face this challenge, you need to be strong, confident and brave, this is not a fight to ignore and because it’s reversed you must consider what it is you’re defending. Perhaps you should lower your defences while dealing with this.” 

Khivol exhaled sharply out of his nose, a knowing smile on his face. “ Work life, Right?” Branni nodded, raising a brow at him. Moving onto the next card. 

“ Four of cups. This card represents that you have been disappointed by something or someone, and you are stuck emotionally. You can’t be bothered to look further than your own brooding mind and it’s a shame because what you need is not far away, you just need to listen to the voice of wisdom to get there.” After a moment of letting Khivol take in the card he had gotten for his emotional life, Branni turns over the next, the one that represents his intellectual life.” The Queen of swords.The Queen knows much from her experiences and her studies bay it have been from books or the people around her. While the Queen can exist comfortably in any situation, interacting with people, sharing intellectual pursuits and making good, loyal friends, the queen may come off as apathetic, unable to show affection and may come off as intimidating and lacking warmth. For you, the Queen is reversed, suggesting that the Queen is cold, judgemental and harsh, her intellectual gifts being diminished by her bitterness, and she may even use her intelligence to inflict unnecessary pain.”  

Khivol hesitated from taking a sip of his tea as Branni explained the Queen card, simply giving her permission to continue as she noticed his expression change stopping her from turning the next card. 

“ The Page of Pentacles is someone who is skilled with crafty, hands on approaches to the world, enjoying learning new things and excelling in things like classes and workshops. The Page of pentacles uses their craft to help them earn and save money, always trying to have something extra on top of their income, often using it to express their generosity, giving unexpected gifts. However when the card is reversed, it suggests someone who is under a position of servitude, or someone who may not want to give more than they have to.”  Not seeing anything in Khivol that tells her to stop for a moment, Branni moves on to the center pile, turning over the card, revealing the major arcana that represented Khivol’s Spiritual life. Upon seeing the card, both her and Khivol both took a moment to laugh, meeting eyes with one another. Branni glances down once more at the card, beginning the explanation, knowing all too well that Khivol already knew, but still took enjoyment in hearing her speak. 

“ The Hermit stands for seeking one’s own truth, representing self reflection and withdrawing from the situation at hand as to find the answer you need.” She looked up at Khivol once more, giving him a smile. Khivol shook his head in disbelief. 

“ They always know too much don’t they?” Sitting up in the chair to take the Hermit into his hand, looking deep into the illustration depicted, Khivol sighed. “ That’s what this was, wasn’t it.., some time to think.., some time to reflect on the questions I had….” 

Branni waits until she’s sure he’s done musingn before weaving her fingers together, leaning on her elbows looking up at her old mate. “ Want to talk about what each of these mean to you?” Running his thumb against the card’s smooth surface, before returning it to the pile it belongs, straightening it out idly, Khvol nods, looking at the cards before him.

“ A lot of these just tell me what I already know.. I need to talk to Lystal.., I need to tell her how I feel and why I’m doing what I’m doing.. She is the Queen and I am disappointed in her.., not just because of all of this ‘goddess’ bullshit, but because.., because of how she’s treated me…, I don’t blame her.., not entirely but it still hurts and I.. I’m just tired of how she’s handled my problems.., Like I wanted it all to be like that.. Like I enjoyed it..” a depressed sigh follows his last words as Khivol takes a moment, looking to the page of pentacles. “.., However I’m also another obstacle.. One because I’ve held myself back in becoming happy.., but also I.. I’m not giving enough of myself into the things I care about.., to the people I care about..I’m scared, I think we both are.., I’m… scared of…” 

“ Of losing someone again?” Branni reached over, placing a hand on Khivol’s, her brows knitted in concern as she watched his expression change from shock to sadness as he holds back tears. “... Khiv...I know how much it hurts.. I still love you. The only reason I did it was be cause I was going to end up killing you, and I couldn’t stand that.. I wanted you to learn to control your powers.., not burn them away.., I’m sorry..” 

“ I don’t blame you Bran, I could never..” 

“ No but you’re blaming yourself, and it wasn’t your fault, It never was your fault, Not the accident, not your powers.., not any of it.. And you can’t let fate make you afraid of getting with someone else.., If you love them, don’t let them get away… I’m sure they love you too, You deserve love.” 

Khivol’s breath hitched as he laughed nervously, quickly being unable to hold back the tears that began to roll down his cheeks, however instead of the natural indigo hue  they typically were, his tears were tinted with the same strange blue hue that took to his eyes when Dhy’Yhvn’s blessing shined through. Getting out of her seat, Branni goes over to him, pulling him into a hug, which he quickly returns, sobbing into her chest as she soothingly pets the back of his head. Many minutes passed before the Khivol scooped the tiny jade into his lap, calming down from the emotional breakdown enough for Branni to part their embrace, so she could get a good look at him. 

“ It’s going to be okay Khiv..,Let’s not be strangers anymore okay?.. If you ever need someone to talk to.. I’m here..,” 

“ I’d like that… Thanks Bran….” Khivol smiles, resting his cheek against her head. 

[bragiart]

Being a hero definitely is easier

Daddy!Bakugou in da place ! READ ON AO3

Being a hero definitely is easier.

Katsuki was here, sitting on a chair, body completely limp, arms dangling in the void, his face resting on the table where today’s groceries had been abandoned. You couldn’t see his expression, and you thought for a second that he was asleep before he turned his head to see you. You repressed a laugh. God, he looked perfectly exhausted.

« You do this everyday ? » he murmured, eyes wide opened in horror.

« Everyday, » you confirmed.

    It was really late when you came home that night. The neighbourhood was completely silent, the only perceptible sounds being the ones your feet made when they met the cold bitumen. Tiny puffs of hot air flew away from your mouth each time you breathed, and you nuzzled your frozen nose deeper in your large scarf, shivering a bit.

It’s been forever since you could spend a day outside your house, busy as you were with two kids in early infancy who wouldn’t even let you pee in peace.

You finally had the opportunity when your co-workers told you that your heroes’ agency was having its annual dinner paid by the boss, and that it would be great to see you again.

You hesitated first. It wasn’t like you were being an active hero since you were still in parental leave, so you felt a bit like a freeloader to join them, but they had been very persistent. Truth to be told, it felt like the last time you could enjoy an adult discussion was during your previous life. Even when your friends dropped by to see you at home, the meeting was always short-circuited by two spiky-haired tornados requesting your complete attention.

Actually, it was Katsuki who convinced you to go. He knew it’s been a while since you had time alone for yourself, and probably felt a bit guilty for not being as present as he wished to help you raising the troublemakers he made you. So when you told him about the dinner, he took the day off right away to look after the boys for you. If you were originally planning on being absent for the sole evening, your husband managed to talk you into taking the whole day outside the house. He could be great when he wanted to.

    You finally arrived to your house, slightly surprised to see that some lights were still on. It was past midnight, you didn’t think someone would still be up this late. It better not be the kids. Unlocking your front door, you took your boots, cloak and scarf off, leaving everything in the doorway before heading to the kitchen, the room you saw lit from the outside. What you saw was beyond your expectations.

Katsuki was here, sitting on a chair, body completely limp, arms dangling in the void, his face resting on the table where today’s groceries had been abandoned. You couldn’t see his expression, and you thought for a second that he was asleep before he turned his head to see you. You repressed a laugh. God, he looked perfectly exhausted.

« You do this everyday ? » he murmured, eyes wide opened in horror.

« Everyday, » you confirmed.

You actually felt a bit proud to see how he acknowledged the toughness of your job. But boy, he really looked like if he just came back from war.

« What the hell have I done to you, » he mumbled as if he realised he inadvertently killed you or something.

« Kids, » you answered with a grin. « Hyperactive ones. »

« They never run out of energy, do they ? »

« Never. I don’t know how they do that either. But I bet they’ve been even more extra today, they must have been so happy to spend the day alone with Daddy… doesn’t happen that often. »

« They went Plus Ultra on Daddy, if you ask me… God. I feel dead. I‘ve known busy days where I arrested sixteen fuckers and went to bed less tired than that. »

« I know the feeling, » you laughed and patted his shoulder. « So… What’s all this on the table ? You’ve been staring at that carrot for how many hours now ? »

« I dunno, three, maybe four… I‘m pretty sure I can draw it from memory now… See, since the little goblins have been asking me if we could eat pizzas tonight from the very second they woke up, I followed my haunch and made them pizzas. Coz I’m a risk taker. »

« I can see that, » you smiled. « And ? »

« And they ate it all, and they liked it, and then they wanted to play a little longer and then it was bath time and then it was story time and is there really a kid on this goddamn planet who actually falls asleep at the first story ? Coz ours were just as pumped up after the sixth one. I had to kill everybody in a rush at the third page so I could just… escape. »

« No kid settle after one story, we’ve been bullshitted the whole time, » you shook your head.

« Fucking knew it. Anyway, once they finally chilled out a little, at least enough to get that no, playing Mario Kart on your DS doesn’t count as sleeping, even if you’re in the dark in your bed, I decided to clean the kitchen before passing out on the couch. And that’s when I made the biggest mistake of my whole fucking life… »

« You sat down, » you deduced in deep voice.

« And never found the strength to move again, » Katsuki confirmed. « I haven’t even done a single shit around the house like put a load on or something… »

« Don’t worry about it, Katsuki. I’m sure the kids were happy to spend the day with you and that you did great. »

Standing behind him, you started to massage his shoulders, earning a deep sigh from his lips. You smiled, fingers prodding his exposed flesh in the gentlest way.

« My poor husband, » you laughed in compassion, arms coming around his torso as you nuzzled in his neck. « It’s hard to be a housewife, huh ? »

« Fuck yes. Can’t wait to be back at work tomorrow, it’s fucking holidays compared to these two. »

« Tell me about it, I can’t wait to get back to work either… » you sighed. « Want a cup of tea ? »

« Yeah… »

He felt you nodding in the crook of his neck and kissing his cheek before heading toward the cupboard. He watched you from the corner of his eye, ash-blond strands sometimes hiding his view. He expected the day to be tiring, but not that much. It was true that you looked exhausted when he came home most of the time, but you didn’t look like a living corpse like him. To think that all your days were like this… He felt like he could sleep for the whole next week, so how you managed to wake up the next morning was beyond him right now.

« You’re going to be the fucking Terminator once you get back in action, » he said as you poured the hot water in his cup. « I think you’re getting a harder training than the Marines. »

« Sometimes I thought so too. The days where I actually manage to put them to bed for the nap and they do actually sleep I feel like I just won over the universe. Like, if someone broke into the house with a gun screaming to me to hand over my money and jewelleries, I would just look at them right in the eyes and go ‘Ha ? You think you can take on ME ? Bitch please, I just put my kids to bed and it only took me forty-five minutes’. »

« Fuck, I got you. »

Katsuki groaned loudly as he used his remaining strengths to lift his upper body from the table, sitting more properly as his hands curled around his cup.

« Hey, I didn’t even ask, how was your brats-free day ? »

« Magical, » you answered, wiping a fake tear from the corner of your eye. « For once I could go window shopping without the fear of having one of them throwing a tantrum. There was another mom whose kid was rolling on the floor for whatever reason and she looked just so… done with everything. All the others customers were looking at her and making nasty comments like ‘Well that wouldn’t happen if she raised him right’ and I was like ‘Shut the fuck up you know nothing‘. She heard it all and looked at me and asked right away ‘How many ?’ and I answered ‘Two. You ?’  and she made a face and answered ‘Four‘, and we gave each other the ‘Hang in here’ mom’s look and shook hands and the best part was that the other customers had no idea what we just talked about. »

« Tch… Childless people making comments about education, what the fuck ? Just shut your goddamn mouth, you literally have no clue what you’re talking about. »

« Yeah… But well, that was nice having the day for myself. I’m glad I could see my co-workers again, even if some spent the dinner asking me mom stuff or making me talk about the kids. I mean, I love them, you know ? They’re my kids, my bones and flesh, I’d do anything for their safety and happiness but sometimes I’m just… tired of moms’ speech. I ended up trapped between two others moms at my table and like, can we stop talking about diapers and bottles ? Even just for one minute ? Remember that we moms do exist as persons with hobbies and opinions too ? Please ? »

« Damn, I don’t get parents who never stop… parenting. Even when there are no kids around, » Katsuki frowned, emptying his cup.

« That’s not the best. One of them had the nerves to ask me if we think we’ll be empty-nesters. »

« The fuck is that ? »

« People who get really sad when their kids leave the house. »

There was a silence. A short one where the two of you just look at the other’s eyes before bursting into laughter. Katsuki’s laugh soon turned into a yawn though.

« Aw, let’s go to bed, » you said. « And don’t worry, tomorrow I’m back being the housewife and you’re free to go ! »

« Well, that’s maybe for the best. If I hear one more time the ‘Daaaaaad, Mom doesn’t do it this waaaay‘, I’m going to blow a fuse and maybe kill myself. Plus, I tried to go easy on the curses today with these two fucking parrots around, and lemme tell you it’s nerve-wracking when you find one colouring himself with felt pen to match the wall so he can become invisible. »

« Oh my… No way, » you muffled your laugh behind your hand. You could only imagine how hard it’s been for Katsuki to not swear once he found out.

« And it was after the bath. Obviously. Because it’s no fun if Dad can fix your shit right away. I was about to yell when I had this flash of a newspaper saying

‘Angry father tells his four-years old to go fuck himself, kiddo later asks mom what it means. Shit ensues’

. » You stifled your giggles the best you could in your sleeve, Katsuki’s hand coming to smack your ass as you both headed to the bedroom.

[illuminatingcomics]

I miss you!

It’s too late. It was only a matter of timebefore this happened. Out of cash, out of a job, out of my house, I only have thisplace where to vent out. I don’t want to supplicate for help, or bore you withmy sad story, I only want to open your eyes, be honest for once. This blog, andall the work published on it, was just a desperate attempt to fight back thegrowing insanity that overwhelmed my mind ever since I‘ve learned about thetruth…

And the truth, you shall learn, if you’rewilling to listen.

It’sa well known fact that Marvel experienced a terrifying financial crisis in themid nineties. Corporate greed and shady business practices saw Marvel’s stock value collapse; shares once worth$35.75 each in 1993 had sunk to $2.375 three years later. The market crashed.Retailers lost their shops, speculators jumped ship, and titles that soldmillions because they had twenty-three variant cover plated in gold and withattached trading card now sold only a few thousand copies. It was hell, and inthe back alleys of Wall Street, executives and editors were ready to cut eachother throat to salvage what little was left. Neil Gaiman compared it to thetulip mania, when back in the 17th century, the price of tulip bulbsexploded only to drastically collapse in 1637.

       Now, what happened after?How did Marvel survive? The official version of the narrative tells us theyremained afloat selling the movies rights for some of their biggest and mostremunerative franchises (Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, the Sub-Mariner), before finallyentering the Disney family in 2009, other meat for the unstoppable everconsuming grinder that company became. But that’s not the real reason. I knowthe real reason. I saw the real reason.

       I worked as an intern forMarvel from 2002 to 2003. It was a strange period in the company’s history.Modern classics like Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and Millar’s Ultimates were published side by side with stuff like Marville and that War Machine book madeentirely of 3D models. You could tell by entering their offices that editorsweren’t giving second thoughts to any idea, threw everything on the wall to seewhat stuck, a process that resulted in both masterpieces and ugly catastrophes.

       I said I was an intern, Iwas more like a glorified janitor, paid in food stamps to empty out the trashcans, make photocopies, walk out Perlmutter’s pet South Pacific cannibal, andstuff like that… I’ve never met anyone important, so if you’re expecting astory about certain famous writers being secretly lizard people, I’m sorry, thisis not it. I’ve only ever crossed roads with Joe Quesada, and aside form hisconstant need to gift me autographed copies of the issues of Ninjak he did in1993, everything was normal… everything, not everyone. There was an editor.This man… he’s why I’m writing this.

       Howard Gardner was his name,but you won’t find it printed in the credits of any book, I assure you. Yet hewas an editor, that was his role. Asking around the building, I’ve learned thathe had been working at Marvel since before the bubble burst, but only oversawfew, scattered books. Apparently he was the guy that came up with the basicideas for Avataars:Covenant of the Shield, Fantastic Four: Unlimited, and he hadghost written at least two issues of Uncanny X-Men… you know the ones.People didn’t like working with him, writers didn’t like talking to him,artists didn’t like the notes he put on their pages, yet, in an era of constantbudget cuts and people losing their job, he was still part of Marvel’s staff.

       He was a tall, lanky man,of an auburn complexion, maybe… I say that because there’re few things abouthim I can accurately describe. Something about him slips away from my mind, Ican’t put a face to a voice, can’t connect it all to a name, and I’ve met himseveral times. The harder I try to remember the less I do… or perhaps, I simplydon’t want to remember, as if my memories are protecting me from something. There was a certain oddness about the way he behaved, and the requestshe made at every editor’s meeting, all promptly ignored by the rest of thosepresent. Now, you think he was asking for something gruesome and horrifying,but knowing the graphic shit Marvel published in their MAX line, would youreally believe they wouldn’t have the stomach for something in particular? No,his requests were just strange.

       “I want Black Widow tofight iridescent orbs” he told a writer, “Make the furniture blue, it’s myfavourite colour” he asked a colorist, referring to an inconsequentialapartment shown during a fight scene. Just bizarre non sequiturs like those, atevery meeting when he wasn’t pitching some outlandish stupid book. He behavedlike he wasn’t entirely there, the best way I can describe it is that he actedlike a tourist from another country, that didn’t know anything about thecustoms of the area, but still tried his best to awkwardly fit in.

       Eventually I got used tomost of Howard Gardner’s strangeness, but one thing I just couldn’t wrap myhead around were his visits to Marvel’s “boiler room”. Sometimes he went downthere two or three times a day, sometimes once every few weeks, and neverfailed to announce it. “I’m going to the boiler room everybody!” he woulddeclare, sometimes in the middle of a meeting, standing up and marching out theroom. Nobody seemed to care, or at least, they pretended not to care. I triedto ask Quesada once, and he just replied “He’s a funny guy like that” beforehanding me over issue #3 of Sword ofAzrael.

       Such was my morbid curiosity, that oneday, after yet another announcement, I decided to follow him. He didn’t takethe elevator to reach the boiler room, but stairs. I waited five or six minutebefore chasing after him, as cautiously as possible. He was already about fourfloors lower than me, so I kept that distance, walking by the wall rather thanthe rails, only once in a while peering out to ensure he hadn’t notice me. So Iwalked, and I walked, and I walked… after several minutes I began to wonderjust how deep could Marvel’s basement be? We were already far below ground level,and yet we kept moving. I had no idea the building was that big, and thefurther down I went, the more the environment started showing signs of decay,and disuse, like nobody had been there for years, or decades…  It gradually shifted, looking more and moredecrepit, walls covered in incomprehensible, ruined graffiti, garbage coatingthe floor, huge, old stacks of Jim Lee’s X-Men #1 stuffed inthe corners. The air was filled with a stale and odd smell, a mixture ofvinegar and paper, it made my eyes watery and my mouth dry, but still, I moveddown, as an unpleasant, sweaty warmth surrounded me.

       Finally, the stairs ended, and only onelong, shadowed corridor appeared in front of my eyes, scarcely lit by orangetinged lamps. No trace of Gardner,he just vanished in the darkness. There was a noise, a rhythmic noise,reverberating in the air. The shuffling of pages, of a book, no, many books, anarmy of people skimming through hundreds of books, all at once. It wasstrangely hypnotic, and I began following it, carefully moving across thecorridor.

       The floor was wet. Puddles of a wateryblack liquid covered it. The intense smell I perceived in my descent was allaround, and I finally identified it as the acute scent of ink. Shreddedcomicbook pages were all around, so utterly cut up and ruined I couldn’t tellwhich issues they were from.

I proceeded across thecorridor, and it seemed to stretch out without end. The further I went, thedeeper the ink lake turned. I was in it up to my ankles, when finally, afterthe seemingly endless walk, I reached a single iron door, left ajar. The boilerroom. The heat was unbearable, coating me like a blanket in the summer. I wasviscous and sticky with sweat, so thirsty my throat was sore, yet, I entered,following the noise, constantly skimmingin the my ears.

       It was dark inside, Icouldn’t see anything, but still I understood, the place was bigger, muchbigger than it had any right to be. It was as if I was entering an entirelydifferent building, another place, better yet, another world. The floor was a dense, gooey swamp of ink and soaked paper, the airbasically unbreathable, polluted by the toxic smell of industrial paint. I tookjust a few steps forward into the alien world, and the marsh reached my knees. I stopped, gazed into the darkness… and I saw Gardner. He was far away,and the entire lower portion of his body, from the belt down wasn’t visible:he was immersed in the ink… I have to wonder now, was it really ink, orsomething else? And if it wasn’t, then what?

     I shivered, glaring at the scene. Gardner had his arms up. He was looking atsomething. I narrowed my eyes, looked up, saw nothing at all.

     Then, it moved. That nothing, was everything. Therewas a shape, filling the void, in its entirety. It was grandiose andstupendous, it was horrifying and atrocious. I couldn’t comprehend anythingabout its anatomy, it was as if a thousands sails moved at unison, shifting inspace, like billions of pages stacked one on top of the other. The rhythmicshuffling belonged to it, the supernatural, diseased sound of its existence.

     If it had eyes, I can’t tell. If it had consciousness,or it was just an endless sea of living flesh, I can’t tell. It was ancient andunending, primeval masterpiece of a bygone era. It existed long before anyonecould recount, it filled our dreams and our nightmares. It was the reason ofthe company’s endurance. It was its protector. The god they had swore to serve.And it, in turn, served them. It was Marvel.

     The moments that followed were a blur. I barely hadthe time to contemplate my insignificance in the greater cosmic theatre and wetmyself before I decided to run. Out of the boiler room, out of the building,out of the city, out of the goddamned country. Some would say I am coward, andit’s true, because in front of that archaic force, we’re all cowards.

     It’s been fourteen years. Itried morphine, I tried cocaine, I tried coke. I still cannot forget. The imagesare burned in my mind. Mocking the thing with silly internet edits was my wayof fighting its power, and maintain my sanity, but it’s not enough anymore. Ah!It was never enough to begin with, and anonymity only got me so far. I believethey found me. I realize now the truth about Howard Gardner. More than a man,more than an editor, he was an instrument of its hateful design. He saw meescape, and he’s been looking for me, hunting me down every waking moment hewasn’t busy green lighting projects like Marvel DIVAS and Curse of the Mutants.

       Theend is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery bodylumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, the hand! Thewindow! The window!

[imagine-by-susu]

The Promise (Jack x Reader)

Requested by milleniumxhan :

Could u do a jack sparrow x reader where he gives you one of his rings as like promise ring (and you wear it on a necklace) but then you get into a fight and rip the ring off your neck and jack picks it up and he feels really bad abt what happened. Fluffy ending plsss tho. Thank you ❤️❤️❤️ 

Requests are open! Gif is not mine! Word count: 1.064 (A/N): I really hope this is okay. I didn’t had much time to write it because I have to work >_< but don’t hesitate to tell me what you think about it. PS: sorry for any grammer or spelling errors >_> ________________________________________________________________

This was bad. Really bad. This time Jack really messed up. His sun kissed hand shook a little as he hold the ring in his right hand. The shimmering, emerald stone shone bright in the sun  in the blue sky. Jacks dark eyes looked from the ring to the direction you had run off. Your small footprints were still shown in the sandy ground of the seaport.

The pirate with black hair didn‘t even realized till now that a tear escaped his dark eyes. He knew he wasn‘t a rightful man. The total opposite to be honest, but he never meant to hurt you. Still he did without thinking that she may never return again. Still clenching the ring in his hand he followed your footprints in hope to find you. The memories of what happened before you stormed of to god knows where invaded his mind. The sad look in your (Y/E/C) trying to hold back the tears that tried to escape them. - Flashback - Your hand clenched around the round object around your neck as you bite your lip in hope not to start crying in front of the man who held fire in his eyes. „Jack, you promised.“ It was just a little whisper but you could tell he had heard you. „I promised nothing Missy. Your just too naive. I‘m a free man.“ More tears tried to escape your eyes but you kept them away. Your sadness was now replaced by pure anger. „I‘ve waited for you. Years I‘ve waited that you return. Everyday I would sit in the sand till the sunset, awaiting that you would save me from this life. Jack you promised!“ Near the end your voice was booming and your face was red with anger and tears started falling from your eyes. Jack scoffed at your outburst. „I‘m a Pirate and Pirates tell lies.“ This was the last straw for you. Your gripped on the ring that hang on a necklace around your slender neck. Ripping the object from your neck, you threw on the ground to his feet. „Fine. Than leave. If you ever show up again I will make sure that you will be hanged before you even think about what you‘ve done!“ With that you stormed of leaving Jack stunned. You two fight a lot but it never meant anything serious and Jack would have never thought that you just storm off. - Flackback end - Your footprints led into the small city near the harbour but you were no where to be seen. Jack knew this little town better than most of the people who lived there. So with confident steps he walked down the streets hoping that no guards where near. The Pirate walked to an old little house near the end of the little town. He opened the door and was not surprised when he found nothing. The house was small and dusty. It looked just like the last time he came here. Nothing had changed. He wandered around the little rooms. He sighed as he got to the uncomfortable looking bed. The man sat down and looked to the ring in his hands. Both were so young. Full of live and hopes of a better future on the sea. It was a dangerous out there both knew it. For a girl like her a bad idea. But he promised her long ago to take her away, to show her the world. He loved the sea. More than anything. That‘s what he thought all those years. But when he returned on this meaningless island and saw her sitting in sand something changed in him. She never forgot like he did. She always kept her promise of waiting. The ring on her neck proofing of her believing of his return. Jack shot up as he opened his eyes, that he closed when he thought about old days in the past. He may knew where you were. With that he left the old house and to a cliff that over viewed the whole island. The sun slowly setting. Colours of orange, red and purple mixed together with the blue of the sea. Near the cliff sat the Woman he searched for. Her (Y/H/C) blew slightly in the wind and her knees up to her chest. Her (Y/E/C) trained on the water that stretched to the horizon. Tears still escaped her eyes. Jack hold the ring tight in his hand and than sat beside her. Both of them didn‘t speak a word for a long time. The soft sounds of the waves was the only thing that could be heard. The man turned to the girl beside him. Her gaze was still on the sea. A longing look in her eye she hold his hand to her where the ring was glistening in the setting sun. Her eyes were now looking at the ring in his hand. „Take what you can“ Jack said a little smile on his lips, showing off his gold teeth. „And give nothing back.“ she ended. Slowly she reached out for the ring and took it into her small hands. Jacks dark eyes looked at her than he spoke. „Listen here (Y/N). I‘m not really one of these Gentlemen….I‘m a Pirate.“ She gazed up at him and smiled. „Good God I don‘t want to know how all this would end if you were a Gentlemen.“ they laughed a little and the girl whipped away her tears. „I don‘t care that you are a Pirate Jack.“ The man looked to the sea. „It could be dangerous.“ he said but she shrugged her shoulders. „I know.“ Jack sighed „We will be in much trouble.“ she smiled. „I know.“ He turned to her again. „Women bring bad luck.“ She started to laugh. „I know.“ Hack rose an eyebrow. „Little Lass you are braver than most Pirates on the sea.“ Her delicate hand laid in his strong hand. „You learn a few things when you are all alone and waiting.“ Jack looked at her. „You‘ll never let me get away with that, right?“ She laughed and it made him smile, too. „Sorry Sparrow.“ He frowned a little. „It‘s Captain. Captain Sparrow, Savvy?“ She giggled a little and pecked his lips. He showed her a wide smile. „That shall be an interesting adventure.“ And with that he laid his lips on her again.