#it was a pleasant surprise to see a book this old completely flip the script

[snowyfrostshadows]

I think the biggest surprise reading Dracula is that Bram Stoker really said 'Actually, wolves are good. Not as good as dogs, but they got the spirit. If not for This Jerk running around, they wouldn't bother anyone'

[yoongihoseok97]

Cookies and kisses💋Pt3

BTS Jungkook

Summary- Jeon Jungkook is a broke college student who’s just trying to get his degree and find his place in the world but things aren’t always that easy. Especially when you’re only 21 years old and have a 4 year old daughter.

Warnings- Mentions of underage sex, brief mentions of past drug & alchol abuse. Mentions of past depression, self harm and suicidal thoughts. Quite a bit of swearing but nothing too harsh, don’t read if you’re sensitive to anything mentioned above.

Word count-2.7k

-

“Eunha baby please for the love of god can you just listen to me for once!” Jungkook cried out to his daughter who giggled loudly and ran away from her fathers grasp. He had been trying to get Eunha to have a bath for the past 10 minutes but the young girl was determined to get her own way. A quality she 100% got from her father.

“But daddy I had a shower the other day! I don’t need another one.” She exclaimed slightly out of breath from running up the stairs, her half naked frame was covered in a mixture of dried paint and dirt that she managed to pick up from nursery. Jungkook eventually managed to scoop her into his arms before she ran away again and locked herself in her room. A trouble he has had to face a few times when it came to bath time and he is only realising now that it would be easier to remove the lock. Luckily non of the boys were in to witness the young fathers struggle due to a ‘welcome back’ party half the campus was going to. Jungkook of course wanted to go and see everyone again after the summer break but the thought quickly disappeared when he realised he wasn’t a teenager anymore, he was a father and his daughter was his top priority, not some stupid house party that’ll probably be shut down by the police within the first few hours.

She squealed in delight when Jungkook playfully tickled her belly, an action that he knew would help win her over from past experiences. “Daddy has to shower everyday, some days when he’s really stinky he has two so you don’t get to complain misses.” He sat her down on the closed toilet seat and added the finishing touches to the bath, bubbles. Eunha hated baths more then anything but she wouldn’t even go near one of it didnt have bubbles in and so he makes sure to stock up on ‘unicorn mist bubble bath!’ Every week. After making sure that the water was just right he turned to his daughter and smiled “Bath time.”

-

It didn’t take long for Eunha to grow bored of the bath so Jungkook quickly dried her off, put her pyjamas on and ordered some food for them both whilst they relaxed in his bed. His long fingers made their way through her thick brown hair as she laid against her fathers chest. Jungkook couldn’t help but be reminded of the times when Eunha was first born and her mother was still around, cuddling into his side whist Eunha laid in his arms. Back to a time when Jungkook was vulnerable and believed her when she swore she’d never leave him. For a long while after she had left he wanted nothing more then to go back in time and and be with her where he felt loved and cared for. Now however he despised those memories. He wanted nothing more than for the images of her to be out of his head so he could finally move on. Eunha taught him what love is and he had finally learnt what she gave him was not it.

The father shook the thoughts out of his head and focused on the girl in front of him. Her glowing eyes were engaged with the tv. They were watching Beauty and The Beast, Eunhas favourite film. Even as a new born when Jungkook was 17 and had no fucking clue on how to take care of a child she always seemed to calm down and relax when it came on. Now himself and Eunha has watched it so many times together that they knew every word to every song and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t know the script inside out also. Even so Jungkook didn’t mind watching the film, deciding it was one of the better disney movies that actually taught kids the lesson of not to judge a book by its cover and that love comes in all different shapes a sizes.

Eunha lifted her head suddenly from her dads side and shifted to look around the bed, her tiny hands patted down onto the mattress clearly searching something. “What are you looking for baby?” He asksd curiously sitting up so he was beside her again. “Your phone daddy I want to know the time.” He chuckled and leaned across her small frame to grab his mobile from the bedside table.

“Why didn’t you just ask? And it’s 9:45 why do you want to know?” He picked her up and placed her on his lap so that she was facing him. She smiled brightly “Well earlier you told me to remind you about getting your clothes from the laundry place but I forgot so I’m telling you now.” Jungkook burrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he wondered what she was talking about before it dawned on him. He gasped and mumbled a small curse word under his breath and prayed that she didn’t hear him before removing her from his lap and began getting changed back into the clothes he was wearing before.

“God I completely forgot! I need those clothes for tomorrow so we’re gonna have to get them now sorry baby.” He apologized and kissed her forehead before taking her into her own room and grabbed a light jacket from the back of her wardrobe. It was a nice summer evening so she probably didn’t need it but her pyjama shorts and tank top were too little to be wearing outside at this time. The father sighed as he paced around the house, picking up his keys and turning off the television whilst Eunha waited patiently by the door.

“Are we going in the car daddy?” She asked as Jungkook picked her up and walked out of the shared apartment.

“No baby the place is only a couple minutes away so we’re gonna walk.” They strolled hand in hand down the street as the sun set in the distance. The warm evening breeze struck them with a pleasant burst over their bodies, a reminder of the summer that had just arrived in Seoul after a year of bitter coldness. The laundry shop wasn’t far from the house, just through the park and down the street so Jungkook didn’t have to worry about rushing to get there as it was a 24 hour service. Something the father was thankful for.

Despite the time there was still quite a few people sitting around, students having a beer before the sun went down and older people walking their dogs which Eunha was intraced by. She looked up towards her father and pointed out a particular dog that she always seemed to fondle over than any other. It was a golden retriever puppy that made the young girl giggle as he raced up to her and buried his face in her shoulder. “Look daddy!” She screamed in excitement and pet his golden fur whilst Jungkook laughed at the cute sight in front of him. He had always wanted to get a dog. A big silver husky that could help keep the house in check. The thought sounded stupid to some people but Jungkook weirdly felt like getting the dog was perfect to help keep Eunha safe but after discussing the plan with the rest of his housemates his idea was quickly shut down by Jin when he mentioned the price of such a dog.

The father snapped a quick photo of the pair and kneeled down to join his daughter with patting the overly energetic pet. “When can we get a dog daddy?” She said with a voice full of hope as she looked over at Jungkook, a wide smile wedged on her face. He chuckled and stood up, brushing himself off before holding his hand out to help his daughter up off of the floor. “Soon Eunnie, soon.” The young girl turned around once again and waved goodbye to the small dog. Her knees were muddy from the grass but she didn’t seem to mind as she skipped through the park, forcing her dad jog a bit to catch up with her.

-

“This needs to be done by 4:30 tomorrow latest, washed and dried. I have a very important party to go to.” The middle aged women smirked as she pulled a $50 out of her over priced Louis Vuitton purse and handed it to you from the other side of the counter. “And keep the change, you clearly need it.” The obvious fake smile on your face widened as you snatched the cash out of her perfectly manicured hand. “Of course ma’am I’ll see you tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day.” The smile stayed glued to your face until she was out of sight of the building. The last thing you needed was for her to catch you flipping her off and get you fired.

You inhaled deeply for a moment and regained your composure before putting the money into the till and taking out the tip in change. After months of searching you finally found a job that fit perfectly with your schedule and whilst working at a laundromat was not the most ideal job, it paid well and the amount of tips you got was surprising.

“God she’s a right bitch. Her names Karen Kennedy and she’s a regular, I don’t think she even owns a washing machine.” Your co worker said as she carried a large bag of clean laundry to the desk behind you. You chuckled quietly and shook your head. You’d only been working there a few weeks and you’ve already dealt with too many rich white people bossing you around and quite frankly, you were sick of it.

“Yeah well she tips good so I’m not saying anything.” You joked and turned to face the petite girl. Your co worker Mia was another reason as to why you hadn’t quit the job yet, she was slightly older then you and she was the type of girl that was pretty enough to be on a magazine cover so you had no idea why she was stuck working at a 24 hour laundromat. The two of you quickly clicked after working a 13 hour shift together and discovered that you both had a weird obsession with ‘NSYNC’. After that your friendship bloomed into snarky comments and late night trips to 7/11 after your shift.

“Anyway how’s rehearsals going?” Mia asked as she sat herself down in the space next to you, sorting through a bag of laundry that was dropped off earlier on in the day. You sighed “not the best, out choreographer broke his leg the other day so he can’t help anymore so we have to hold auditions for a new one”

“Shit that sucks, has Richards asked you too help?”

“Unfortunately, I mean it’s not like I mind helping her she’s done a lot for me it’s just I have no time at the minute”

“Oh well, why don’t you-” Mia was cut off by the sound of the bell Indicating a new customer has entered. Your eyes widened when you saw the beautiful man from the park with his daughter standing in front of you, smiles across on their faces. “Hello I’m Jungkook, I’ve come to pick up my dry cleaning.” He said as he picked up the little girl from beside him.

“Okay sir I’ll go grab them from the back, feel free to take a seat.” Mia said as she smiled at the two before raising her eyebrows at you and disappearing into the back.

He smiled at you before taking the young girl to go and sit down in the chairs closest to the counter. You looked away and pretended that you were busy so you didn’t embarrass yourself and do something stupid. You could hear the two talking quietly between themselves and you smiled as the giggles left the little girls mouth. It was just the two of them yet again, making you further wonder about the young girls mother. You turned your head away before he could catch you staring and pretended you were busy writing things down, his deep brown eyes and cute smile engraved in your mind. He was truly beautiful and the way he acted with his daughter was completely adorable, you wanted nothing more than to have the confidence to talk to him. Boys never usually made you feel like this. Why was he so different?

You were snapped out of your thoughts by Jungkooks voice “Eunha! Stop that please you’re gonna hurt yourself.” You turned to look at the two and found yourself amused when you saw the young girl twirling to the music that was playing through the building. You giggled at the sight, finding her dancing cute. He placed her on his hip and turned to look at you, a sheepish smile on his face when he heard your laughter. His tattoos were on full disply as he was wearing a short sleeved shirt and you admired the way the designs wrapped around his muscular arms.

“Sorry love, she gets excited when she hears this song it’s her favourite.” His deep voice sent shivers down your spine, a small blush covered your cheeks at the nickname he gave you. You smiled widely “Don’t worry about it, I loved it! You have some good moves.” You smiled at the brown haired girl as her eyes sparkled with delight. “I love dancing.” She stated proudly grinning widely.

“Love is an understatement, she dances all day and if she could she’d do it all night.” You laughed at the statement happy he was speaking to you. “I want to be just like daddy! He’s good at dancing too.” Excitement laced in her words as you raised your eyebrows in surprise. He was a dancer, no wonder why he was so buff, your mind filled with thoughts of how good he’d look all sweaty and panting for breath. Your cheeks flushed at the thought, Jesus this man was something else. “You’re a dancer? That’s so cool, I’m terrible at dancing it’s like I have two left feet.” You joked.

He laughed at your comment and the young girl giggled into her fathers neck. “I might have to teach you some time then.” He smiled as another blush spread across your cheeks. “Maybe” you said as Mia came out with his dry cleaning, a wide smile on her face as she handed Jungkook the bag.

“That’ll be 18.95 please sir.”

He nodded as set his daughter on the ground next to him, pulling out his wallet to give Mia 20 dollars. “You can keep the change, thanks a lot.” Jungkook smiled at Mia before turning to me, “I’ll see you around.” Giving me one last smile before mumbling a small ‘come on baby’ as the two walked out the shop. The young girl turned around and gave me a quick wave bye which I grinned at and returned.

Mia turned to me with a wide smirk wedge on her face, “He was so cute! He was so flirting with you!” She exclaimed clapping excitedly.

You turned to look at her after watching the pair walk down the street, “he was cute but he was not flirting with me, he was a daughter! Meaning he probably has a girlfriend.” You stated giving her a sad look before sitting down on the chair behind the counter. The thought of him going home to another women made you weirdly uncomfortable even though You had just met him.

“You don’t know that y/n, he could be a hot single father for all you know” she replied looking at me with another smile.

“Oh well, I doubt I’ll see him again.” You shrugged like you didn’t care when deep down you knew You were disappointed. He seemed like such a nice guy and for some weird reason he made your heart flutter whenever he spoke. You really wanted to see him again and talk more but you knew it was very unlikely.

She rolled her eyes at your words and got back to her work “whatever you say hun.”

-

Author’s note!- Hi everyone! It’s been awhile since I last updated this fanfic & it’s been awhile since we’ve been active on this account but we’ve just been so busy and we didn’t have time to update. I’m not gonna make any promises as to when chapter 4 is coming out because I have no idea but it won’t be as long a wait as this one was. Again I’m sorry it took so long but I hope you all enjoy!- love anon hobi Xxx

[marshmallowgoop]

Kill la Kill Books!

Got a small haul of Kill la Kill books the other day!

SUSHIO CLUB LOVE LOVE KLKL has been a glaring omission from my collection, so when I saw a listing of the book for 3,600 yen—which usually goes for 10,000+ these days—I bought it right away.

And I figured I might as well pick up a few more things while I was at it, right? To make the shipping more cost effective?

That’s definitely the only reason.

But anyway, my growing mass of Kill la Kill books and magazines has now reached 36 items.

And I’ve talked about some of this merch before; you can find my post about the Febri volume 21 issue here, my post about Fractal 10 here, my post about the Talking About Composite books, The Complete Script Book, and The Art of KLK Vol. 3 here (and I have a whole tag for the script book, #klk-script-book), and I yammer on about the nine Blu-ray key art collection and artboard books here. I also have several essays discussing the official manga adaptation: 

Kill la Kill Manga Chapter 7

Kill la Kill Manga Volume 3, Chapters 8-17: Thoughts and Impressions

Kill la Kill Manga Volume 3: Translation Notes, Anime Differences

Kill la Kill Manga Volume 3: Worth it?

Manga Differences

And now, I wanna briefly (lol) yap about the six new additions to my collection.

Because I have a lot of love in my heart for this ridiculous, ridiculous anime.

SUSHIO CLUB LOVE LOVE KLKL

So, I got this book for cheap because it was allegedly in poor shape and “not suitable for collection.”

(My reaction to “not suitable for collection” is always, “It’s suitable for my garbage collection! I’ll give your ‘ugly’ copies a loving home!”)

But, like? There are a couple of dents and folded corners, but the condition is really not bad at all. The art is completely intact and beautiful.

Sushio—who is the character designer for Kill la Kill—has shared much of this book on his Twitter, and I would definitely recommend fans of the series to scroll through his photos and have a look. There’s such a cute, sweet charm to Sushio’s work, and along with the polished, colored pages from LOVE LOVE that he shares online, he also shares sketches of his own fanart for the series, too.

(Okay, maybe this isn’t exactly the best demonstration of Sushio’s absolutely precious artwork, but. It’s one of my favorites from the book. Ryuko resorting to such wild extremes to be with Senketsu again is just. My heart. Kill la Kill is actually adorable.)

In any case, I don’t think any of the content in LOVE LOVE was new to me, but there’s just really something about having the book in my hands. I know there’s such a strong desire for digital media these days, but call me old-fashioned—there’s nothing quite like holding this art and really seeing every stroke and line in person.

Being able to physically flip through the pages also makes me notice things I didn’t before. For instance, I found myself charmed by the little detail of Barazo, Mako’s father, loving and adoring Sukuyo, Mako’s mother.

I mean, aw? It’s stuff like this that really makes me wish Kill la Kill were a kids’ show (as Sushio himself seemed to want!) Barazo is so much more likeable when there aren’t any signs of his less-than-pleasant behavior and he’s a loving, supportive husband and father.

Seriously!

Another thing I notice from having the book now is the order in which the pages are organized. Like, I couldn’t help but be amused about how Ryuko gets her own page here...

(Smiling for her Starketsu in the sky, right? Just like he asks her to in “Till I Die”?)

...and then the next pages have Satsuki beside Nonon and Mako (and Mataro) beside Ira...

...which strikes me as a bit funny because this isn’t exactly how Sushio organized his Tweets of these images. There, Satsuki was next to Ryuko, Nonon was next to no one, Mako and Mataro were next to Ira, and Uzu was next to Houka:

So, in LOVE LOVE, is Sushio deliberately trying to say something with the changed placement? Especially when it comes to the direction of the ladies’ eyes? 

Yeah???

I kid, I kid.

(But really, it looks much better to give Ryuko her own page and not have Nonon standing next to nobody.)

Also, one of the first things that popped out to me about LOVE LOVE is how Senketsu’s pages are right next to Ryuko’s pages. As they should be.

They belong together, okay?!

And speaking of Senketsu and Ryuko, I remember a comment years back that said you could probably find pics of your OTP with matching expressions in this book.

But, uh. Just compare Senketsu posing to Ryuko posing...

They’re kind of different types of people, lol.

But hey, they do both make cute sneezy faces.

As a final note about my copy of LOVE LOVE, I will say that my only disappointment is that I received the version with print errors. As such, this page of Nui...

...was accidentally printed twice, and I miss out on this page of Nui as a result:

There are also some minor goofs, like Mako’s arm getting cut off by the background here:

But considering I got this beautiful thing for only 3,600 yen, I really can’t complain!

Now I just need Sushiotan 2 to complete my Sushio Kill la Kill doujin collection....

Takepro

This charming little volume is a collection of animator fanart for the show (and other shows). The book includes a short profile for each featured artist, and their big Kill la Kill pieces are—like all titles in Kill la Kill—named after classic Japanese pop songs. You can read and see more about Takepro here.

It’s hard to pick favorites from this doujin because there is so much adorable and wonderful artwork, but I especially love Naoki Takeda’s “ここに幸あり,” or “Here is My Happiness,” named after the song by Yoshitsu Ootsu.

The picture features Ryuko, Mako, and Satsuki sitting together, all having a good time, and there’s just something so sweet about seeing happy Satsuki.

I also found an English translation of the song’s lyrics, courtesy of beast-senior 810:

The storm breaks and the rain falls Thorny as the women's path might be I would still keep on living with you And my happiness is here in the blue sky 

I could not tell anybody of my scars A bird of love that resided in my chest If only I wander about crying and evading A sorrowful night wind will blow through the streets 

I call out your name from the bottom of my heart Who will be awaiting me at the end of the echoes? Snuggle up to you and cheerfully look up to your face And my happiness is here in the white clouds 

Aw. This song is so Satsuki.

And speaking of Satsuki, I can’t get over how cute she and Ryuko look on the cover of this book. Like??

Aw! 

I also am quite fond of a small piece by Syuichi Iseki, which is in a super-deformed style and features Satsuki comforting Nonon after her uniform is destroyed during the Naturals Election. Nonon cries, and Satsuki pats her head. In the background, Ira looks distressed at the display, Houka seems to be deciphering it, and Mako smiles. It’s really, really cute.

Yoshie Endo’s “僕笑っちゃいます,” or “I’m Laughing,” named for the song by Shingo Kazami, is also real cute. It depicts Mataro holding up Guts, who licks his face. It’s another one of those, “I-so-wish-Kill-la-Kill-were-a-kids’-show” kinda pieces....

Hiroyuki Imaishi’s Doujin

Admittedly, I don’t actually know the title of this one, but it’s a very small doujin by Kill la Kill director Hiroyuki Imaishi. There isn’t too much Kill la Kill content, but there are two pages of Ryuko and Satsuki in their respective Kamui, accompanied by some text.

I thought the text might be something about the show, but it seems like it’s actually about Imaishi’s experience working on the show. And... it’s rather sad? He talks about how he’s able to accomplish more now, but he also has to consider a lot more as well, and he doesn’t have the time and energy that he used to. It’s a lot about aging and growing old.

At least, I think that’s what’s being communicated. Here’s a transcription, though:

なんだろう。

初会社役員とか。

昔よりやれることは増えたが考えなきゃいけないことも増えて時間と体力は足りなくなっていく。

年相応とも言える。

だけどいつまでも大人気なく生きていきたいものだ。

One last interesting thing about this doujin is the material it’s made from; it’s different than any other book in my collection. I’m not an artist, so forgive me if I sound totally ignorant here, but the paper reminds me watercolor paper. It definitely took me by surprise!

SL Sketch 3

SL Sketch 3 is a small fan doujin by Buzin. You can find most of the art in this book on their Tumblr!

Sketch 3 is a really fun collection of sketches, and I especially love the cover. I’m so desperate for art where Senketsu is acknowledged as an actual person that I’m just all heart eyes over Ryuko smiling at him here.

March 2014 Newtype

Okay, so this one’s really a magazine, not a book, but wow. I was taken aback by what’s inside!

I’ll definitely have to look at this issue in more depth because there are a bunch of Kill la Kill goodies in here that I didn’t even expect. And I don’t think most of it has been translated at all!

I also realized that I’ve been mixing up my Newtypes and will have to fix my resources page. But on the bright side, there is so much to love about this issue.

Like, the Elite Four Light Novel got reprinted in the Kamui Bansho, but it’s way better here because it has pictures!

I also love how Nonon, out of all the Elite Four, is the only one who stands beside Satsuki in these illustrations.

And I don’t even know what this is (VR or something with Ami Koshimizu, Ryuko’s VA?), but it’s cute and got me smiling:

And Ryo Akizuki, the mangaka for the official Kill la Kill manga, made a small comic about his experience working on the project. I like the little title panel with Ryuko, Senketsu, and Mako a lot:

Plus, there’s a shiny ad for the manga’s second volume, too:

One of the things that most caught my interest, though, is an article about the second opening song for Kill la Kill, GARNiDELiA’s “ambiguous”:

I got so curious about this bit because I’ve heard varying, conflicting information regarding the meaning behind the song’s lyrics. On the one hand, I’ve heard that half of the song is from Ryuko to Senketsu, and the other half is from Satsuki to Ryuko. On the other hand, I’ve heard that the whole song is from Satsuki to Ryuko. But I’ve never found any concrete sources for either of these claims!

So, I was hoping the Newtype article would help, but it’ll take a lot more digging into. Still, briefly looking over the page, I did find this bit: 

そんな私の思いと歌詞が一致しました。 『キルラキル』でいう流子ちゃんと神衣・鮮血の関係に近いかもしれませんね。 

Roughly, it says, “As such, my thoughts about the song agreed with its lyrics. You might say it’s like the relationship between Ryuko and Kamui Senketsu in Kill la Kill.”

I’m not totally sure about the context here—and I admittedly don’t even know the author’s involvement in the making of "ambiguous”—but this article might explain where the Ryuko-and-Senketsu reading of the song came from. It’s definitely something I’d like to delve into more.

Because I really love the Ryuko-and-Senketsu reading of the song, okay, and I’d love some actually official backup for it!

Finally, another favorite part of the Newtype is simply all the art. Takafumi Hori’s spread is particularly great:

(You can find a cleaner image here.)

Just... dang. I wish I got a little poster of this instead of the ones actually included in the Newtype! The artwork is just stunning.

And one of the cutest things about the Newtype is all the fanart from its readers! I particularly love the little Valentine’s Day special; there’s an illustration of Ryuko giving Senketsu chocolate, and there’s also a Ryumako piece, too!

Kill la Kill Storyboard Ep. 01

Finally, one of my favorites from this haul is the Kill la Kill Storyboard Ep. 01. The book was included as a shop bonus for the original Japanese Blu-ray/DVD release, though I was able to win it by itself in an auction. I do think I overpaid a bit, but gosh, it’s a lovely addition to my collection. It’s just really neat to see the production process of an anime in action. I wish there were storyboard books for every episode in the show!

Hiroyuki Imaishi’s storyboards are also just super amusing. Here is a small sampling of some of my faves (because there is so much gold in here, my goodness):

And that’s all for now!

...I guess this really wasn’t so brief at all, huh?

Shocker.

[dylanssprayberries]

Telesthesia - Liam Dunbar

Chapter 5.

Allison’s old laptop weighs heavy in my backpack. Not as heavy as the guilt I carry with me. Uncle Chris told me I could use Allison’s laptop for educational purposes. Although I’m not doing anything I’m not allowed, I’m sure my uncle did not mean for me to educate myself on the supernatural. 

“Noelle, wait up!” Liam easily jogs up to me in the hallway. “Everything okay?” He asks as we walk to our English lecture. It’s the only class we have together.

“I told you I’m fine.” I mutter.

“And your heart skipped a beat.” 

“Because you’re making me nervous, Liam.” 

“Another lie.” He states. “That’s okay, I only asked because I care.”

“Why do you? We barely know each other.” I roll my eyes.

“Because you saved my life.” His voice is low and he looks down to the floor.

“And if there’s anything-“

“There isn’t.” 

“If you insist.” Liam mutters.

“I do.” 

We walk in silence for a moment, avoiding the mass of students roaming the halls. They quickly disappear into their assigned classrooms. Great, now we’re late. Then Liam stops in his tracks, but I don't wait up for him. Within seconds he grabs hold of my arm, causing my books to fall to the ground. He pushes me up against a row of lockers and corners me by putting his hands on either side of my face. 

I’m frozen in spot, staring into his big, bright eyes. I swallow hard to get rid of my nerves and ignore the pleasant feeling of his breath fanning across my skin.  

“What? No biting back?” Liam raises his brows, his lips twisted into a smirk.

“Figured that’s more your thing, fangs and all.” I release the breath I was holding. I’m awfully aware of how fast my heart is beating.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me, Noelle.” 

“You have me cornered up against the wall, what the hell do you expect?” I snap.

Liam shakes his head. “That’s not it.” 

“Just let go of me.” Thankfully my voice is steady, unlike the rest of my body. My legs feel like they could give out on me any second now. 

“Tell me what’s wrong with you.” He almost pleads.

“What’s wrong with me?” I exclaim. “Liam you have me pushed against a wall and you’re asking what’s wrong with me? Let go of me you asshole.” The tears start to well at the brink of my eyes. As soon as Liam notices this, he takes a step back. 

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles. He brings his hand up to his mouth before he runs it through his hair. 

I shake my head. “No, you’re not.” 

“You’re being impossible here Noelle, clearly there’s something wrong with you, why won’t you tell me what it is?” He clenches and unclenches his jaw with so much force I’m surprised I can’t actually hear his teeth brittling.

“Because we’re not friends Liam.” He looks taken aback at this. “And after this I don’t think we ever will be.” I turn around to walk away but knock straight into Scott. We haven’t met before, but I recognize him from the pictures in Allison’s room. She kept every memory of him, even after they broke up, which I think is beautiful. Scott eyes me warily as he helps me up. “I’m her cousin.” I explain, because the question Allison? is written all across his features. 

“Noelle, right?” Scott quickly recovers. “She used to tell me about you.” 

I nod. “I should go.” I step aside to move past Scott but his voice brings me to a halt again.

“Or you could come with us?” 

I hesitate but turn around again. I lock eyes with Liam, who’s now leaning against the lockers he had me pushed up against. “Where?” 

“You should stay in the car.” Liam says to me. We’re seated in the backseat of Stiles’ Jeep. 

“Because I’m weak?” I raise my brows.

“Because you’re human.” 

“Same difference.” I shrug. 

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Liam mumbles. 

“You hurt me today.” I remind him. This gains us the stares of Scott and Stiles through the rear view mirror. They don’t say anything, though.

“I said I was sorry.” 

“‘Sorry’ isn’t some magic eraser that undoes what you did.” I snap.

“You’re staying in the car.” Liam states, then he gets out. 

“Everything okay Noelle?” Stiles asks. When I don’t reply, he continues. “Liam can be a pain in the ass.” He states. “But most of the time he’s alright.” With those words he gets out of the car. Scott looks at me once more before he, too, goes outside.

For a moment I just sit there, studying Stiles’ car a little. It’s a cool ride, falling apart at most parts, but the nostalgic feel about it makes up for that. I decide to study a little, it’s only my first day of classes, but I have a lot to catch up on.

When I go to take my books out of my backpack, my eyes catch hold of Allison’s laptop. More intrigued than ever, I find myself typing in her password, completely forgetting about the Biology chapter I intended to read. 

Allison has loads of documents saved. I make a mental note to look through her school papers some time, could spare me a lot of work. Hidden further away, I find a folder that says Scott. I feel intrusive and pray I won’t find anything too disturbing, like collages or nudes. Or collages of his nudes. 

Thankfully, I find exactly what I was looking for. There are images of beasts with fangs bigger than the people shown. Accompanied by script work I cannot make out, I’m guessing it’s latin. I sigh, guess anything on here is completely useless if I can’t even read what it says. 

Bored again, I shut the laptop close and get out of the car. Liam carefully warned me to stay inside, but he’s not the boss of me. Besides, I came along to get more information out of the pack. What a complete waste of my time it would be if I stayed in the car. Plus, agitating Liam is quite the bonus.  

I climb out of the Jeep, slam the door shut behind me and wander out into the narrower parts of the alleyway. “Great. A fucking dead end.” I mutter, staring at the wall that’s blocking me. I frown, certain Scott, Stiles and Liam all went this way. The only way they could have entered the building from here is through the window, about five meters high above the ground. There's no way I could climb up there, not even if I push the garbage can up against the wall. I sigh, but not defeated, and decide to walk around the building in search of another entrance.  

I find one, and once inside, I find the building eerily quiet.  What pieces of furniture are left are all broken, ripped and the materials are sprawled across the floor. I move through the first room, not one sign of anyone else being around. 

The same goes for the next four rooms I make it through. I reach a hallway, with ceilings higher than I’ve ever seen before. There’s a stairway in the middle of the room leading to the second floor. I hesitate to climb the stairs, but my decision is made for me when a body flies through the air and lands right in front of me. I am blocked from the stairs, but even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to move. The body in front of me doesn’t look human, nor alive. I cannot help but scream.

“Noelle what the hell are you doing here?” Liam’s voice drags me out of my daze. I blink rapidly, dragging my eyes from Liam in his wolf-like state to the body in front of me. Taking in as much of the body as possible, I conclude that it does not look like a wolf. “Noelle.” Liam’s voice cuts through the tick air. He looks like his normal self again when he grabs hold of my arm and drags me out of the room. Only when we’re outside he releases his grip on me. “I fucking told you to stay in the car.” He snaps. I don’t reply to him as I walk back to the car. 

“Noelle are you listening?” Liam exclaims, following behind me. “I’m talking to you!” he snaps again. 

My vision is a blurry combination of the car I’m walking towards and the body that came towards me. There was blood all over it, eyes open wide with shock. I think it missed a limb or two. 

“Noelle!” Liam grabs hold of my arm again, like he tends to do. 

“What?”

“Talk to me.” 

“No.” I say, even though answering him defeats my point. I shrug my arm loose and keep walking.

“Where are you even going?” 

“I’m going to study Biology and pretend I didn’t just see what I did. Or better said, what you did.” I snap at him. My hands are shaking when I open the door to the Jeep. I climb into the backseat and grab hold of my backpack, easily finding my Biology textbook in there. It’s easier to avoid Liam’s eyes when I have my gaze focussed on my book, although I can’t make out a thing I’m reading. All I see is the body, and its lifeless eyes staring into mine.

Liam sits beside me, not saying a word. Every once in a while I flip a page, none of the words stick in my mind, though. “This is ridiculous.” Liam mutters suddenly. He grabs the book from my hands and closes it shut. “What are you doing?” 

“Trying to study.” I state. 

“Noelle,” 

“Don’t.” 

“That wasn’t my doing.” He says, quietly. 

“I don’t care.” I mutter.

“It wasn’t me.” He repeats. “Peter showed up.” 

“Hale?” I frown. 

“Yes.” Liam frowns as well. “You know of him?” 

“Not really.” I shrug. “Just the name.” And the fact that Lydia resurrected him from the death, which he made happen by mind control. He and I should have a chat some time. 

“Yeah well, you should know he isn’t very patient.” Liam mutters. 

“Got that much.” Again we sit in silence for a little while. I watch the minutes pass by on the dashboard clock. After exactly six minutes, Liam speaks up again.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” He sounds honest, not forced like usual. I look up into his eyes and can tell he really means it.

I want to shrug and tell him it’s what I get for being so stubborn. I should have listened, should have stayed in the car. I deserve to have him rub it in. I can’t help but smile a little that he isn’t doing just that. He’s different now, less distant. Acknowledging I’m human, and that it’s quite horrifying to see a dead body. So instead of the cold reply my instincts tell me to give him, I tell him thanks.

[d2diamond]

Happy Halloween 1st

Halloween 1st. Better known to the rest of the world as October 1st, but really, let’s be real here, it was the first of Halloween, and everyone knew it. Especially those that lived in Mystic Village.

Mystic Village was one of many hidden realms that co-existed with the humans, but just outside the human eye. It’s where the unusual, the different, and the non-humans lived.

Which included, but was not limited too, one Katsuki Yuuri, and his family. The Katsuki’s Yu-topia were well known as one of the largest coven retreats in Japan. Both Toshiya and Hiroko coming from long lines of witches, so it was of no surprise that their own children would grow up to be so powerful.

Mari, though deadly in her own right, preferred to stay home with her parents to help run the coven. She helped with local and foreign guests as they came and went from the retreat. Some human, some not. She wasn’t a huge fan of the quad footed guests, but as long as they didn’t rip any of the furniture to shreds, she tolerated it.

Yuuri on the other hand, own and operated his own shop in town. A little place where one could buy a potion, get some needed herbs (most grown in his private gardens), or perhaps a spell or two or find a charmed trinket. It’s wasn’t huge by any means, but he liked it that way. Small and cozy. Just like him.

Although it was a four-story, slightly lopsided building, it was skinny. Yuuri’s store was on the base floor and second floors. His office and apartment on the rest. Yuuri loved the place as it was filled floor to ceiling with the books he had found over the years. The many loved plants in pots, while some were stuffed in jars. The many bottles of various sizes, filled with a variety of potions, each labeled in fancy script and topped with decorative stoppers. Each made by his own hand. His pride and joys.

It was a beautiful day when October first rolled around. The sun was out, and the wind brought the promise of a light chill and a change in the leaves. It sent a pleasant chill down Yuuri’s spine and put a smile on his lips. October the first was when the magic in the air picked up and with it the anticipation of the month’s festivities and fun.

Yuuri unlocked and opened hinged windows, pushing each one as far open as his arms would stretch out. After, he leaned on the window sill, and breathed deeply in the fresh air, taking in the scent of change. The scent of life as it reached its perfection in the garden in the back, and on the trees of apples in his front yard. The smell of death of the foliage and of the summer season filled his senses. The magic prickled his skin giving him goosebumps.

“Ahhhh,” he sighed with a smile before he stepped back into his small shop.

He moved with grace through his shop, his eyes wondering over the shelves with the empty bottles for patrons to choose their own if they wanted. His fingers of his left hand flitted across the baskets used to fill with bundled dried and bound herbs, like sage, rosemary, thyme. Whatever people needed for their own potion making, or just to flavor their favorite dishes.

Yuuri adjusted a black velvet pillow that sat in the plush, wingback chair that sat next to the largest bookshelf. A shelf that overflowed with many different size tomes. It was clear that a holding charm kept the thing upright and not toppling over from the weight and size. Yuuri tapped the small tea kettle that sat on a small octagon table nearby. The pot would fill with the customer’s favorite brew on demand, with matching cups and sauces were ready for use. At Yuuri’s touch, the kettle steamed, available for use.

It was Yuuri’s morning ritual. Ready the shop. Making sure one of the few cauldrons was filled with the latest pumpkin spiced juice for those who wanted a sample. Then check on the other on the floor he had filled with chicken bones for spells and pets. *Not for Dogs* the sign above read.

Yuuri summoned his broom and swept out the morning dust out the front door and smiled back at the Jack-o-Lantern that sat near the door and smiled at you as you entered. Its empty eyes would watch people throughout the small shop and alert Yuuri if someone decided if they didn’t feel like paying for the product that may have ‘accidentally’ slipped into their pocket.

A raven had made it’s home in a dried gourde that rested on top of a shelf of odds and ends, and despite Yuuri’s attempts, it now lived with the witch.

Minako, the local kitsune, told him it would be best to leave the bird be. Having been chosen as the raven’s home was said to be a good omen. Since the bird didn’t dirty up the shop, Yuuri left it. Eventually, he named it Poe. Not very original he knew, but it was easy enough to remember, and the bird seemed to respond to it when he called.

“Good morning Poe,” Yuuri said as he walked over to the cauldron of pumpkin juice. Freshly made that morning. “What kind of day do you think we’ll have?” he asked the bird, who only watched him walk around his store, getting things ready, but not answering. Yuuri just gave him a look, shook his head with a smile, and went on about his routine.

It was the sound of something getting knocked over that caught Yuuri’s attention. He turned quickly to see a small orangeish cat with both stripes and spots sitting up on the window sill of the open window. It was unusual looking for a domesticated house cat. Far to exotic.

“Hello? Can I help you?” he asked. The cat looked him up and down, as if evaluating him, then turned his head away like it didn’t care. “Okay,” Yuuri said and turned back to his business. “Let me know if you need anything,” he concluded.

When he was done and felt happy with his shop, Yuuri snapped his fingers, and the closed sign in the window flipped to open. Then he manually unlocked and opened the stores front entrance. He could have just waved his hand to do it, but he enjoyed the feel of the lock sliding out of place, and that first nip in the air when he opened the store. It was always refreshing. .. Except for this time, no sooner did he open the door, he was knocked over by a large white and silver wolf with blue eyes.

“What the…” he said as a smiling hound looked down at him. “Hello?” he asked tentatively.

The wolf jumped back, and in the process changed forms. At first, the man was completely naked, which really took Yuuri for a surprise.

“Hello! I’m Victor Nikiforov, I’m looking for my friend… OH there you are Yuri!” the now, tall, handsome stranger said.

He flipped his silver hair out of his eyes before he waved at the cat that hissed back at him. He looked down again, and his demeanor faltered. With a quick flip of his wrist, clothes appeared, and Victor was wearing a simple shirt and pair of jeans. A massive heart-shaped smile took over his expression, and he reached down to help Yuuri off the floor.

“Yes, here I am,” Yuuri said slightly perplexed. Victor looked at him for a moment confused. He looked at the stranger, then over to the cat that was now climbing over a bookshelf and down into the armchair, then back to Victor. “Are you talking to the cat?”

“Oh yes, that’s Yuri,” Victor said as if it explained everything. “I didn’t catch your name though,” he purred leaning forward into Yuuri’s personal space.

“Yuuri Katsuki,” he said as he pulled back a little.

“As in the Katsuki Yuuri?” Victor asked. “Owner of Be Witchin’” It was the name of the shop. Not very creative, but it worked for Yuuri.

“One in the same,” Yuuri replied. He couldn’t help but notice how Victor kept inching forward. Was it the canine part of the man, seeing as apparently, he was some kind of werewolf, or anthropomorphic, or … No had to be a dog thing.

“Just get your shit already old man,” came a new voice from the back.

Where once was a cat, was now a blond-haired, green-eyed boy sitting in the wingback chair glaring daggers at Victor.

“Oh, right. I guess I forgot,” Victor said with a smile. “I heard you might have some sunscreen for vampires,” Victor said.

Yuuri looked at him for a moment, wondering why he would need such a thing. “Aren’t you a werewolf?” he inquired as he stepped back and over to a bookshelf filled with bottles.

“Well yes, but it’s for a friend,” the werewolf said with a smile. Victor leaned over and rested an elbow on a shelf, his head on his hand as he gazed down at the witch.

Yuuri looked at him, and it was then he noticed the two small puncture wounds in the crook of the stranger's neck. “Friend huh?” he said slightly disappointed. “You should tell your friend to leave less obvious hickeys then,” he added before he pulled a black bottle off the shelf. “This has an SPF of 1000, it’ll keep them from burning up in the sun.” He handed over the bottle and then walked over to the counter. “Was there anything else?”

The werewolf placed a hand over the wound on his neck, and his face went pale, while shock replaced his smile. A snickering could be heard from the corner.

“It’s not what you think,” Victor blurted. “My friend Christophe, he’s a vampire, gets a little hungry and…” but before he could finish, he felt a sharp pain in his back.

“Stop whining you old fool. Let’s just pay for it and get out, I’m hungry,” the other Yuri had made it up to the front of the shop, and was glaring at his companion. How a werecat and werewolf got along, or kinda got along in this case, was beyond Yuuri.

“It’s alright,” Yuuri said with a small smile. He rang up the werewolf and bagged the small bottle. “How long do you and your friends plan on being in town?” he asked curiously.

“Oh, we plan on being here all month! We heard Mystic village has the best festivals,” Victor said, while the werecat just rolled his eyes. He too was wearing a t-shirt, with a tiger on it, and some black ripped jeans.

“What kind of cat are you? I don’t recognize the domestic,” Yuuri asked the boy.

“I’m not a fucking domestic cat! I’m a Bengal!” he hissed.

“Actually Yuri, you’re a domestic Bengal. A Bengal tiger is much larger and doesn’t have spots,” Victor argued which only earned him a hiss from the blond.

“Well, I look forward to seeing you again then,” Yuuri said.

For a moment they all just stood there not speaking, until the smaller Yuri growled and yanked the shirt off his older friend. Once they were out the door, the blond changed back into his cat form and ran off, while Victor waved and smiled.

Yuuri waved back and kept watching, but it was the call of the raven that spooked him to turn away. Once he looked back, both of them were gone.“Happy Halloween first,” he whispered to himself and then went into the back to work on some potions for the day.

[keyofjetwolf]

Jet Wolf Summarizes Act 31

The manga and I kind of hate each other. This is unfortunate, but still, I’m determined to come out of this with something. Rather than spend energy on a liveblog that’s increasingly negative, I’m reading each manga act (mostly) silently, and then writing up summaries at the end. I won’t pull my punches. There’s going to be criticism and snark about the manga, either wholesale or in details. If that isn’t a thing you feel like reading, please skip this post!

A philosophical question opens our exploration of the manga today: Is it better to be irritated or bored? Because on the one hand, aggravation is hardly the most pleasant of experiences, particularly when it seems inevitable from issue to issue to issue. But on the other, IT KEEPS ME THE FUCK AWAKE AND GIVES ME SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT.

SOMETHING I SEEM TO BE LACKING AT THE MOMENT

It’s not even that things didn’t happen, so much as I just didn’t CARE. And I mean “care” in this very specific manga context of critically low caring. But somehow even beyond the usual dull void that I’ve come to associate with the manga. Maybe it was that PE liveblog from earlier, maybe it reset my enjoyment levels so high that I’m simply insulated from its usual side effects.

But that isn’t going to get a summary written, so let’s fucking do this.

We open with Setsuna studying THINGS and also STUFF. There is DATA and SPIKES and TROUBLES. Also Reika shows up, for what generally appears to be no other reason than to seethe with jealousy of every little thing Motoki says, and intentionally trying to trap and punish him.

I dislike Motoki and Reika in the anime, but it’s on Motoki’s because he turns into a non-communicative petulant three year old for approximately no reason. In the manga, it’s pretty clear Reika is just a legitimately crappy human being no one should have a committed relationship with. THANKS FOR FLIPPING THAT SCRIPT MANGA GIRL POWER

Kaolinite and Tomoe meet with Pharaoh 90, who I have to say sounds like a fairly reasonable boss for a planet-sized eldritch horror.

I wonder if they have a vision plan and 401k matching. Also they talk a lot about crystals and lights and blah blah of course they do.

Kaolinite feels less job satisfaction than Tomoe, proving that even evil world-dominating organizations aren’t free from the patriarchy. She delegates to Tellu, who you may remember from the anime as “the plant one”, and that’s basically as much as you’re going to get from her in the manga, too.

In a rare burst of minor detail continuity, Chibi-Usa’s class gets their ceramic project back. Chibs, if you’ll recall from last time, made Mamoru make her a holy grail, and then smiled creepily as he and Usagi made out on top of it. The class also gets their new homework.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME “GIVE AWAY YOUR GARBAGE” IS THE FUCKING ASSIGNMENT

FOR THE WHOLE GODDAMN WEEK

NOT EVEN WRITE AN ESSAY ABOUT HOW IT MADE YOU FEEL OR GIVE A PRESENTATION ABOUT THE WONDERS OF GIVING IT’S JUST FUCKING HAND SOME SHIT OVER AND THAT’S IT YOU CAN AN “A” FOR THE WEEK

“HERE MS. GARBAGE CAN YOU’RE IMPORTANT TO ME WELL THAT’S DONE TIME TO FUCK OFF UNTIL NEXT MONDAY”

Clearly the only part worth noting is that Chibs decides to give hers to Hotaru on the basis of two entire conversations and with the full justification of “she’s beautiful and mysterious”.

SEEMS LEGIT

Chibs is about the only one to feel like this about Hotaru, it seems. At school, Hotaru’s getting picked on and laughed at and when she’s had enough and crushes a pencil case with her bare hand while looking one of the Mean Girls dead in the eye, they’re like “ohmigawd what is her DEAL” and write about her in their Burn Book.

At Crown, Usagi watches the rain fall and Has Emotions. She says she wants to talk to Haruka and Michiru, but she really means Haruka because she will make exactly zero effort to talk to Michiru later because fuck Michiru, I guess. She wants Mako and Ami to help, but they’re busy, and Usagi pouts about it. Rei and Minako are feeling each other up in an alleyway and having a considerably better time than any one of us right now.

Mako’s “busy” means she’s doing shit with the gardening club, which will be our exposition vehicle for today. There’s apparently a hot new plant everyone’s talking about (WHY DOES NOBODY HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO IN TOKYO) called a “Tellurian”, which seems completely safe and certain to cause no problems.

At Crown -- oh maybe we were at Juuban Middle earlier. Well, let’s roll with it -- Ami meets up with Minako and Rei, whose clothes are disheveled and they won’t quite make eye contact. But Ami has Theories And Ideas and thankfully doesn’t notice. “Infinity Academy is evil!” they put forth, because they didn’t already conclude that three issues ago. Usagi’s also doing work. She’s found Google, and it’s amazing.

On the way home, Mako passes by a random flower shop with Tellurians in stock which is a pretty awesome trick seeing as how just a few pages ago we were told they were only available at Mugen and were selling out. Since it’s Mako’s issue, she buys one.

As Usagi arrives home, Chibs is getting ready to go out. You know, I just realized we haven’t seen Mamoru at all yet? I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING THIS ISSUE IS TO BE REVERED AS AN INSTANT CLASSIC. Usagi invites herself to also go to Hotaru’s, so she has a front row seat to Chibs giving her gift-to-my-most-important-person holy grail to Hotaru.

“Hotaru?! This is only your fourth conversation with her, how could you give it to Hotaru!”

“STFU Usagi, you rode a haunted bus and followed Aunt Rei home with hearts in your eyes before you’d even said hello.”

And this is how Usagi came to accept that Chibi-Usa was, truly, her daughter.

Unfortunately Hotaru can’t stop being creepy for five fucking minutes, and she stares at them with endless eye voids and passes out and tries to take Chibs’ ginzuishou and has a creepy fucking voice font

and god damn, Chibs, you should maybe vet your potential future girlfriends just a little.

Usagi misses all this though as she’s busy nosing around the house. Tomoe finds her and scares the shit out of her, so she and Chibs leave just in time to catch a glimpse of Pluto on the streets. Chibs suddenly remembers she’s supposed to care about Pluto, and all of this would have just meant so much more if she hadn’t been “I guess I’m Pluto now lol” over her still-warm corpse just a few issues ago. EMOTIONAL CONTINUITY IS IMPORTANT TAKEUCHI

Is it Mako’s apartment or a hydroponics lab? They don’t have time to think about it, as Mako and Minako both immediately pass out. When they wake up, all of Mako’s plants are dead, except the Tellurian, so Mako pulls a knife out of nowhere like she’s Doc fucking Holligay and shanks it. Seems legit.

Usagi and Chibs are about to head home when all the girls arrive at the train station (don’t ask me how all that timing makes sense just go with it). They’re going to confront ... someone, like I sincerely don’t know what they fucking learned in any of this that they didn’t figure out issues ago, but sure. Usagi’s going to go too, but then she spots Haruka and Michiru and chases after them, instead. WAY TO BACK UP YOUR GIRLS USAGI.

Remember how she said she wanted to talk to both of them?

EVEN WHEN MICHIRU’S ALSO THERE SHE’S NOT THERE

Usagi goes to Haruka’s apartment and is all “WHY WON’T YOU TALK TO ME” and Haruka’s like “I wear mini-skirts now, Usagi, stop trying to make it weird.”

So the other Senshi drag her ass back to the task at hand, and they explore Mugen’s botanical gardens which the school of course absolutely has. People are dead (or not, no one ever cares), and the Senshi feel their strength fading. Tellu emerges, sounding exactly like every other member of the Witches 5 before her, ONLY SHE’S THE PLANT ONE YOU GUYS.

Then Setsuna ... awakens as Pluto? Or something? And Haruka automatically teleports to her (Michiru is also there), which seems a weird thing to have happen to Senshi who are supposed to be constantly isolated and independent but fine.

Ah shit, Mamoru got a page. WE WERE SO CLOSE TO BEING FREE

Mako attacks, as does Usagi, but no good. So Chibs wishes REALLY REALLY HARD.

If that fucking works, my next trip to the DMV just got SO much shorter.

Chibs gets a rod too and attacks, and to the surprise of no one, it does absolutely nothing, but I for one appreciate the effort. Then Pluto Dead Screams Tellu in the fucking face, and we’re one more mini-boss down.

Everyone is shocked, shocked I tell you!