#its a vamp event!!! give my girls some screen time!!!!

[folansstuff]

The fact that we didn't get a Dazzler and Boom-Boom Blood Hunt mini to round out the X-Terminators gals with Wolverine and Jubilee's minis is honestly such a bummer

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

hey so I’m not trying to be gross but this genuinely something that I wonder about like how does mc survive on her period in a mansion full of vampires? Especially with a pure blood like Comte or Leonardo like can’t they sense it? sorry if this is weird I’m just genuinely interested In like pure blood and vampire lore and like what they pick up on especially comte as he’s a fave. I’d love to hear your thoughts as always I love your posts and I hope you’re doing well and staying safe and healthy 💛☺️

Haha, please don’t worry! 😂😂😂 I’ve often wondered about the very same thing, and while I don’t have any canon answers, I can offer the most likely scenario from my understanding of the game. Hope you’re doing well too, lovely, thank you! Stay safe out there~💛💛💛

Given what I know, and the fact that blood is only a small component of the discharge that comes with one’s period, I’d wager it poses a low risk generally speaking. I think the plan would be to make sure everyone’s on guard and has been keeping up with their usual doses of Blanc/Rouge (no waiting until you starve, Jeanne, yes that is a threat) but otherwise everyone proceeds as they normally would. I think it would be hardest on the vamps who are most sensitive to the presence of blood/have a harder time controlling their thirst, like Isaac and Arthur. 

Purebloods have been canonically established as having a much lower tendency to bloodlust by comparison to lesser/turned vampires, so I very much doubt Comte or Leonardo would react much. A blip on the screen for them, nothing more. (I often categorize Jeanne as the closest to pureblood level reactivity because his ability to control the thirst is exceptional; the only time he has ever come close to attacking MC was when he was at a point of intense starvation.) I think the only time her period could potentially become risky is if one of them was starving (and therefore reacting on the level of base instinct) or grievously injured. If they have feelings for her or she’s in a relationship with one of them, it may make them want to bite her more, but I don’t think they’d necessarily act on it. I’d assume most of them would be reluctant because MC is already losing blood as it is? Better to be safe than sorry, and all that.

As for whether or not they can anticipate it, I’m really not sure? It’s possible they might sense hormonal changes, but given I haven’t seen them react to anything so slight I can’t be sure. Purebloods I’d say it’s a coin toss; it’s very possible they can sense it before it comes--but I just have no way of knowing for sure. Lesser vampires, I very much doubt it. 

That being said, you bring up a very timely contention (for me) as of late. Which is to say: what are purebloods capable of sensing? I’ll be elaborating on a recent JPN collection story event that included Comte, as it had a very interesting tidbit that I’d like to share with y’all. It isn’t a huge spoiler as I’ll be focusing on the pureblood lore that was included, but for those who don’t want to see it I’ll be placing it under a cut. (Also some slight spoilers for Comte and Leo’s main story rt).

Mandatory spoiler warning:

So this last event featured MC and her suitor taking care of a child for a few days, in which they act like a pair of surrogate parents. Naturally, being a feral Comte stan, I got his story. In it, both he and MC are taking care of a young girl named Emma--the daughter of a fellow aristocrat (a friend of his). At some point during the story, MC accidentally loses sight of Emma while hanging up the laundry. MC searches the entire mansion but can’t find her anywhere, and she begins to panic when Comte encounters her. Alarmed, he gently asks her what’s wrong and she explains what happened. There’s a brief pause [”...”] and then he says “It’s okay, MC. Emma is–”. Comte then leads her to the gazebo where the little tyke is fast asleep, taking a midday nap in the shade. Naturally MC is relieved to see her safe, but also a little baffled as Comte led her directly to Emma. 

MC: “I’m so glad she’s okay. But…how did you know she’d be here?”

Comte: “Purebloods are good at sensing/detecting nearby human beings.”

And I ????? Granted it’s possible it got translated incorrectly but...I really don’t understand how else he would have known exactly where she was? If MC asked around and searched the entire place and still couldn’t find any trace of her, how would Comte have just known in an instant? Additionally, if he spotted her before he found MC panicking, then I doubt he would have just left her there without an adult/guardian nearby--he would have either stayed there or taken her with him. 

So this makes it plenty plausible that he really did just sense her presence in the vicinity. But........like..........howmst in the fuck. Is that even possible. I have no idea, but I find it a little shocking that I’ve only discovered this now? I mean maybe I missed it somewhere else where this tidbit of lore came up, but as far as I know they don’t discuss it much? The most I remember is Comte giving very clear indications that purebloods were able to sense each other, but I assumed that was restricted to purebloods only...

That being said I’ve been thinking about it and, well, there are at least three pretty strong instances in the game that could affirm his claim in this story. Namely: the beginning of the story itself (Comte’s POV of the prologue), the kidnapping incident in Comte’s main story, and the beginning of Leonardo’s main story.

I remember @a-maidens-dream asking about something very interesting in Comte’s POV story, and at the time I was a little unsure what to do with the information--it wasn’t aligning in a way that made sense. But I think this might help that tidbit fall into place? I think that Comte really hadn’t realized she followed him into the door until she was already in the mansion, and as such this ability to sense humans would explain why he knew she was there before Napoleon even told him anything. If purebloods can sense human people, then he would know a human being entered the house because of the species signature; the only human person living there otherwise was Sebastian. I’m not sure if the sixth sense is acute enough for him to be able to differentiate between human people. (My guess is that it’s not that specific, or if it is, the pureblood has to know the person very well to be sure.)

Building on that, this is a subtle distinction, but it still stood out for me. In his main story route, both MC and a fellow aristocrat (a woman she was friends with) are taken to these small cabin things in the middle of the woods. All Comte, Napoleon, and Jeanne have to go on is the general location of these hideouts. They decide to split up; Comte goes one way, Napoleon and Jeanne go another. I find this instance particularly interesting because Comte’s POV indicates a kind of loss of rational thought--he is 100% in a panic state, just moving to satisfy one objective: save MC before time runs out. This suggests that Comte very much could have been relying on that sense to pinpoint her and her assailants. We have no evidence to believe he was ever a soldier or somebody with extensive experience in tracking--or that knew the landscape well. But he only trusts she’s alive and unharmed for sure when he has her in his arms again, suggesting either that this sixth sense has its limits (in regards to specificity of the person being detected) or that his judgement in that moment was too compromised for it to be clear.

The last one, and perhaps the funniest possibility of the three, lies in the beginning of Leonardo’s main story route. Iirc, Leonardo spends much of that time hauling MC around the mansion to interact and properly situate herself in the mansion’s social dynamic. While this may just be a coincidence, MC notes that she actively tried to hide from him and make herself scarce, but whenever she tried no amount of stealth worked. One can certainly argue he just paid attention or asked other residents about where she was, but I do think it’s worth considering? I need to re-look at the chapters, but I seem to recall her trying to hide in a garden shed and he still found her immediately and just picked her up and walked right back out. 

Tl;dr: So does this mean Comte/Leo can sense when MC is on her period? I have no idea, but at this point I really can’t be sure what abilities they do and don’t have!

[julesthequirky]

Forget Me Not -Two-

Summary: You wake up as Y/N Winchester, having no recollection how you came to be, all you know is there’s a Djinn out there and you have to find it. It’s your job, your duty, except the world isn’t as it should be. Castiel isn’t Castiel and he’s claiming you aren’t you. Or are you?

Warnings: Dissociative Identity Disorder, angst, language, car accident (in flashback)

3 YEARS AGO

You preferred to take the country roads, that way you could see all the lush greenery as it whizzed by. It made you feel at peace during your busy work load. You were slightly late and you knew you would be forever making apologies. So to try and at least make it a little more on time you allowed yourself five miles over the speed limit. You weren’t a daredevil and this was even a little wild for you. Adele was on the radio with her new song ‘Hello’. You sung along making your journey just that bit better.

You thought about your lines, going over them in your head and wondered what was in store for your character in general.

You turned a corner.

You didn’t see the car before it was too late. Your heart jolted going straight to your throat and in a knee jerk reaction you spun the wheel, trying to avoid hitting them.Your breath stopped, arms locked and your knuckles whitened, your eyes widening with terror as the car didn’t slow.

Your braced for the impact.

The car hit you from front left corner making your car flip over to the right. You shielded yourself, body buffeting with each roll. Your air bag never deployed and the dodgy seatbelt decided to snap back. The car stopped hitting tree, crunching up, and you smashed through the window, rag-dolling, hitting your head hard on the cold grass, knocking unconscious.

 Everything hurt. Your bones ached, your head pounded, your throat had glass stuffed down, making it hard to swallow. You groaned, gritting your teeth. A flurry of thoughts blew up in your mind. Where were your brothers? What happened to the vamp nest? Had they beaten you? Were you now one of them?

You felt a hand cover yours and you opened your eyes, the brightness blinding you. A familiar face sat beside you, donned in his usual get-up you let your lips curve into a weak smile.

“Cas.” You croaked, your eyes fluttered with the effort to keep them up.

His hands covered your face and he pressed his lips to your forehead. You moaned as the pain radiated throughout your body.

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“What happened?”

“You got into a car accident, darling.”

Baby. Oh my God, did Baby make it out? Were Sam and Dean okay?

“Baby…”

“I’m right here. Always here.”

You brain didn’t comprehend his words. You were too hung up about the accident. The last you remembered you neck deep killing vamps.

“Sam…Dean…Where are they? Are they okay?”

He reached above you, sounding a bell for the nurse. He squeezed your hand, his eyes expressing concern for you.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

But you could tell he was lying. His eyes had widened slightly, lines etched on his forehead and his lips set in a straight line.

“Cas…”

Before he answered, a nurse came in and he stood up, rushing over to her as soon as she stepped in the room.

“Something isn’t right. She’s not herself.”

“All right, I’ll get the doctor. Please don’t worry. I’m sure it’s only temporary.” She touched his shoulder and walked out.

“Did we get the vamps?”

He turned to you. He looked like he didn’t know what to say.

A doctor walked in and delight lifted his face.

“You’re awake, that’s good news. You’re in Vancouver General Hospital and my name is Dr Butler. You’ve been in a coma for almost two months. Do you know who you are?”

Two months?! That couldn’t be right.

“Y/N Winchester. Are you sure, two months?”

He looked to Castiel, they both shared the same look. He turned back to you and gave a tight smile, nodding.

“Do you remember what happened?”

You licked your lips, Castiel came back to your side and held your hand.

“I was in Marble Falls, Texas with my brothers Sam and Dean, we were…doing business there. Pest control.”

“Doctor, I think she thinks she’s her character.” Castiel said as he stroked the back of your hand. He gingerly touched your forehead. “I think she hit her head so hard she’s become the character she plays.”

Character?

“If she was thinking about her character before the incident, it could possibly be. How long would you say she’s played this person?”

“For about two years now.”

“How often does she play her?”

“Almost constantly, except when she’s at home or on break. Is it some kind of amnesia doctor?”

“It could be an alter of hers. She could have developed Dissociative Identity Disorder.”

“You mean Multiple Personality Disorder?”

The doctor nodded.

“Well how long will it take her to go back to normal?”

“I can’t say, Dissociative Identity Disorder is rare and an alter can last from a few hours to maybe a few weeks or longer. I can run an MRI on her brain, it will detect any existing trauma and if any part of her hippocampus is damaged, but until she is her core personality, I won’t be able to tell if she does have amnesia.”

Castiel looked stricken, he had a hand to his forehead and his hand on yours tightened.

“Do it, give her the best treatment out there.”

“For now, you could try to integrate her with everyday things, something, anything, even from the smallest thing could trigger her core personality.”

Castiel nodded.

*

A week was far too long. You hadn’t remembered anything during that time. The doctor explained when you had become your core self, you were still most likely to be asleep. He called it recouping, you called it a takeover.

The last thing you did remember was the crash.

At the hospital, you talked in lengths about what you were thinking, and how the crash happened. To your husbands delight you didn’t have any amnesia, but you were both worried about Y/N Winchester resurfacing.

You were shocked when Misha explained you had been in a coma for two months.

Outside,after being discharged you hugged your husband, hard, not never wanting to let go. He had been there everyday, you hadn’t known it at the time but you could tell when you awoke. He had waited patiently for you and even dealt with your alter. And for that you didn’t know how to repay him, you didn’t know how to thank him.

All you knew was, if it happened to him, you’d do the same thing.

 NOW

It was a maze and you hadn’t a clue where you were going. You just went as you pleased. You spotted Lucifer and made a beeline for him.

“Y/N, no!”

Lucifer turned and smiled at you, spreading his arms wide.

“Y/N, how’s my favourite girl.”

You got one good punch in before fake Cas pulled you away. You struggled against him, yelling at him that it was Lucifer. Fake Sam and Dean rushed over to him, as Lucifer stemmed the blood coming from his nose.

“That’s not Lucifer. He’s just the guy who plays him. Why don’t I take you to your trailer?”

“What’s wrong with her?”

You didn’t hear fake Dean’s words as fake Cas guided you away. He pulled you to the an area where sets of trailers presided. You walked passed two enormous ones, walked passed smaller ones and bumped into fake Cas as he stopped. This trailer was on the small side. It looked more like a caravan than anything.

“This one’s yours.”

He lifted up the mat and produced a set of keys, he stepped up and opened the door.

“It’s a little basic, but you fell in love with it the first time you saw it. They tried to upgrade yours actually, but you protested.”

Inside shabby chic and minimal came to mind as you stepped in. It wasn’t your style at all. The other you had an orchid on a table, had photo’s of fake Cas and her, including the same wedding photo. It was tidy, whereas you knew you were a mess. It was pretty, but it was plain.

“Why don’t you get yourself acquainted, while I go talk to Bobby.”

You spun on your heel and grabbed his arm, stopping him from going anywhere.

“Bobby? Bobby died. I mean he did and there’s a Bobby in apocalypse world.”

He took your hand, squeezing gently and giving you the same small smile that was fast becoming regular for you, before letting go.

“I mean the director, Bobby.”

You let out a weak oh before turning back round and heading into her cupboards. The door closed behind you and you let loose inside her trailer. She didn’t live on burgers and fries, oh no, this woman, Misha’s wife lived on the crème de la crème. It was lucky for some.

Next you found scripts in folders. You pulled them out, casting your eye on over the highlighted lines, you gasped. You had done all these things. You had said those things. Had she written it all out? Fake Cas’ words came to you. None of this was real. Well you were real.

Wanting to know more, you snagged her Macbook and turned the thing on. She had no password. That was dangerous. You had a look through her files. There wasn’t anything spectacular, just speeches about mental health, specifically aimed at personality disorders.

You scoffed and found your way to her images. Most of them were ‘you’ with fake Cas and friends. ‘You’ at events and woah! Fake Cas private photos. You flew past the inappropriate ones only to find more images of ‘you’ with fake Dean and fake Sam. ‘You’ were even with Lucifer and Rowena. Crowley too!

You couldn’t take any more and slammed the lid shut. You went into the small bedroom and hunted through what little clothes she had left here. They were all plain. Where were the plaid, the rock t-shirts, and the jeans? It was full of leggings and pastel coloured t-shirts with slogans on, or fun images.

“Girl, you need a wardrobe revamp.”

Your hope of getting out of the clothes you were in was a no go.

You tripped over a bag which had somehow gone out of its way to get in your way, and crashed through the screen door and into the bathroom.

“Fuck, ow.”

You picked yourself up and nosed at her toiletries. She liked to smell like strawberry and cream whereas you just gave a crap if the motel had soap or if the bathroom by your bedroom was restocked.

The door to the trailer opened and you heard fake Cas talk to himself about your mess.

“Y/N?”

“In here.”

You sniffed at the products she had, then turned to see fake Cas in the tiny hallway. He had a hopeful smile on his face.

“See anything you know?”

“God no, and those photos- I’m scarred for life now.”

His cheeks tinged pink but he didn’t apologize.

“Y/N thought they would resurface her if her alter came through. I’m a little disappointed they didn’t work, but… what can you do?”

“What did the boss man say?”

“To try your best. We’re a little behind schedule and we’ve never done this before. They’re gonna put out new lines, so you won’t have much to say or do.”

“Lines?”

“A script.”

You nodded and spritzed perfume in the air, and sniffed.

“Ooh fancy.”

“Whilst we wait, why don’t you tidy up a little?”

You pulled a face. You hated doing that. Your room in the Bunker was a mess. Sam and Dean had quit asking you to make it a bit more representable.

Your stomach rumbled interrupting you both. You couldn’t remember when the last time you ate was.

“I’ll show you to the canteen.”

You stepped over things as you made your way to the door and hopped down the steps. He locked up and you observed him as he put the key under the mat. He lead you past the trailers and buildings until you came to a serving gazebo. You grabbed a plate and loaded up with two or more food items. You always had a big appetite and it was one of the things Dean loved about you. You could scarf down an entire hog roast and still be hungry.

You ate like you had been starved. Fake Cas or Misha as he called himself ate with you. He tried talking to you, but you held up a finger, then pointed to your food and shook your head. You didn’t like to talk whilst you ate. Food was of the God’s and you liked to give it the respect it needed by giving it your sole attention.

You went back for seconds and had dessert. You saw fake Cas talk to the people in he tent, he spoke with Gabriel giving side glances to you. He was talking about you and you didn’t like it. You wanted to know exactly what he was saying.

When the pages arrived you read them furiously. Fake Cas was talking to someone. True to fake Cas’ words, they didn’t get you to do a whole lot. You turned the page.

Rage boiled your blood and your hands shook, bunching up as you read the paper, unable to control the anger racing through you. You scrunched the few sheets you had and looked towards fake Cas.

The fuck were they about to kill you off. You were here to stay.

Forget Me Not Tags:

@ezilyamuzed @ain-t-bovvered

Misha Fic Tags:

@goobykeding

[lynseylou]

S1E2: “House of the Rising Son”

Because The Originals recently debuted their series finale, I thought I would share my rather lengthy recaps of the first six episodes of the series that I did a year ago. I was so pumped about the show I made my own Wordpress website and everything. Now I have these lonely recaps with nowhere to put them but here! Enjoy if you want.

We begin this episode by embarking on another tour through New Orleans. I’m starting to sense a running theme.

“The city of New Orleans,” exclaims all-powerful leader, Marcel Gerard, “people of all stripes and flavors from all over the country come here to party on our streets. Some are just looking for fun, some are looking for something a little darker, more dangerous. So we invite them into our home, and give it to them. Then at the stroke of midnight, everything changes, and its time to feed.”

On screen we see one of Marcel’s classic raves being turned into dinner time for the vampires. Marcel is up above watching the chaos, while explaining his methods to Klaus. In walks Thierry, Marcel’s trusted advisor, to inform him of the latest situation. Apparently six nightwalkers were killed outside the Quarter, but who could have possibly done such a thing? We get a glimpse of Rebekah Mikaelson driving away in a lavish car, wiping blood off her cheek and smiling. Oh Rebekah, you look so cute right after murder.

Meanwhile, at the plantation house Rebekah drives up leaving another worried message for Elijah. Only, Elijah cannot call back because he is somewhere daggered in a box. That’s when Rebekah meets Hayley, she’s as charming as ever mistaking Hayley for the maid while screaming for Klaus to tell her where Elijah is.

As Rebekah is searching the house for Elijah, we are gifted flashbacks of when the Mikaelson’s once lived in the plantation house in 1820. We learn that Rebekah once loved the governors son, so naturally, Klaus killed him. We are given Rebekah’s perspective of events and through her eyes, you hate to admit, Klaus looks like a cruel and brutal brother, of whom deserves Rebekah’s ire.

“Well, he wasn’t good enough for you.” Explains Klaus.

“No one was ever good enough for me, Nik. You made sure of that. Now where’s Elijah?”

Klaus recieves a text from Marcel asking him to meet for drinks, queuing Klaus’ exit. Meanwhile, Rebekah enlists Hayley for help in the search for Elijah. This unlikely duo ventures down into the dusty cellar where the Mikaelson family coffins are on, how Hayley puts it, “stand-by.” However, this macabre sight hardly fazes Rebekah, and she concludes that Elijah’s coffin isn’t here.

“Where to next Rebekah?”

“To go vamp around Sophie Deveraoux and make her totally freak out, before I demand she help me find Elijah!”

“Awesome!”

Sophie brings Rebekah to the creepy cemetery, and informs her she can’t do magic without punishment from Marcel because he has a way to tell when a witch is doing magic, and the witches can’t leave because they practice ansestral magic. Because Rebekah has hit a roadblock, she tells Sophie how idiotic her plan is of bringing down Marcel at the hands of Klaus because “Klaus loved him like a son.”

Flashback

“I was there the day they met. We were burying Emil, the governors only son. Or so we thought. Turns out the governor had another son, from a mother he owned.”

Klaus sees the boy, screaming in pain as the whip comes overtop of him another time. Angered by his torment, the boy retaliates by throwing an apple at his oppressor, which results in another blow. However, at this sight Klaus intervenes and kills the man and asks the boy for his name. Only the boy doesn’t have one, so Klaus names him Marcellus. After the “god of war.”

Returning back to present day, Klaus and Marcel are out drinking. Klaus notices that Marcel’s attention is elsewhere, and follows his gaze to the brave bartender, Cami. Klaus is wondering aloud why Marcel hasn’t just eaten her yet, but he’s wondering to himself how he could use this to his advantage. Marcel tries to change the subject to the tourists in transition, and Marcel assumes they were drunk and fell when the vampire blood was still in their system. But, as Cami is walking away to leave, Marcel is still clearly distracted by her, so he decides to help Marcel out by supplying the lamest line.

“Excuse me love? What’s that your studying?”

“Abnormal psychology.”

“Abnormal psychology. Well…” Klaus shuffles Cami to their table, “perhaps you could help me diagnose my friend over here. He’s been a little bit depressed. Can’t keep his mind of a girl, he says she’s a queen, fit for a king.” LAME. “I think he should just cut his losses and move on. What’s your professional opinion?”

Cami, playing along says, “be a nice guy. And maybe the opportunity will present itself one day.”

Marcel decides to jump in and ask Cami out, she says she’ll consider it.

Next we find Hayley, she’s at a witches shop looking for wolfsbane. Why would she want wolfsbane when it hurts werewolves? We get the answer when Hayley says she wants to kill a little wolf. The witch helps her, but when Hayley leaves she calls someone and tells them if you want to gain points, tell Marcel there is a werewolf in the Quarter. Mysterious. Not to mention problematic, being that a woman, needing help, goes to another woman thinking that she’ll understand, but instead rats her out. Shameful.

Meanwhile, Marcel takes Klaus to go see the two people in transition. Marcel makes a contest out of it. Seeing as he doesn’t want to turn them both I guess. Whoever picks up the coin will be a vampire, the other will die. There is a guy and a girl, of whom Marcel refers to as “cute dorky girl” and “gay best friend.” Marcel drops the coin and the girl snatches it up. The “gay best friend” is betrayed and hurt, while the “cute dorky girl” starts looking crazy and manic while she justifies her actions. Marcel snaps her neck.

“I have a thing about people betraying their friends.”

Woah. Subtext.

Marcel is taking a phone call and Klaus is escorting Josh (the gay best friend) into the car when you see Rebekah overhead watching.

Flashback

A young Marcel is fencing with Rebekah. It’s clear he has his first crush. How sweet.

Adult Marcel and Rebekah are now fencing. Marcel goes in for the kiss, but before he could Klaus walks in.

Back to the present, Marcel interrupts Rebekah’s memories and claims to not want to get in the middle of Mikaelson family drama.

Flashback

Marcel is trying, and failing, to convince Klaus that there’s nothing going on between him and Rebekah. However the conversation quickly takes a turn when Marcel asks why Klaus hasn’t turned him into a vampire yet. This is a side of Marcel we haven’t seen. We’ve seen confident Marcel. But never vulnerable.

We return to present day, and Rebekah asks Marcel if he is still afraid of Klaus.

“I’m afraid of no one.”

Then he vamps off.

We find Klaus at Rousseau’s, enjoying a drink, when Marcel storms in.

This whole interaction is fantastic:

“I know that face. Woman trouble.”

“Your a dick. You know that! Why didn’t you tell me your sister’s is back in town?

“I thought it more amusing for you to find out for yourself.”

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Only, she’s grown considerably more insane in the last century.”

“Or, maybe, it was her who killed my guys.”

“Doubtful. Unless that biker bar is frequented by small-town high school quarterbacks, I can’t imagine she’d be interested.”

*Marcel’s phone rings*

*Thierry:* “Just got a tip. Someone saw a werewolf in Bienville Park.”

“Get a couple of nightwalkers to run it down. Bring me back its head.”

*Marcel hangs up*

“Well, I guess that solves the mystery of the murdered riff raff. I guess my sister’s in the clear.”

“About that. I don’t have time for Mikaelson family drama. You’re my guest. Keep your sister in line.”

“I’d have a greater chance of draining the Mississippi with a straw!”

Meanwhile, we find Hayley sitting alone in a park. She hasn’t taken the wolfsbane, she’s talking herself into it.

When a vampire vamps in out of nowhere, Hayley throws the wolfsbane/vervain combination into his face. Two other vampires show up, but not to worry, Rebekah swoops in and rips their hearts out.

At the plantation house, Klaus has stacked the dead vampires into a pile perturbed because they are supposed to be keeping a low profile. Rebekah starts accusing Klaus of not being proactive, so Klaus reveals his master plan.

Kill acouple of the people who still had vampire blood in their system from Marcel’s party, so they’ll turn into vampires and Klaus can compel them before they consume any vervain (which resulted in Josh)

Compel Josh

Compel Cami to go out with Marcel and report back what she finds out

Drain the vampire who is still alive of vervain so he could compel him to tell Marcel “his mates found religion and moved to Utah” to explain why he lost more vampires

Back in the house, Klaus demands why Hayley was out in the French Quarter in the first place, and her answer results in Klaus choking the life out of her. Rebekah stops him, and reminds him once again, that its okay to care. And all Elijah and Rebekah have ever wanted for him was to be happy. Feeling guilty, Klaus reveals that he gave Elijah to Marcel as a sign of good faith.

Out on the front porch, Rebekah and Hayley have a heart to heart.

Flashback

Marcel and Rebekah are caught kissing, so Klaus daggers Rebekah.

Hayley appreciates all of Rebekah’s help so Hayley gives Rebekah the daggers that she found under their coffins.

Meanwhile, Marcel and Cami are on a date! But it doesn’t last all of two seconds before Rebekah storms in demanding that Marcel release Elijah. Being that Rebekah did a lot of vampire stuff in front of Cami, Marcel compels her to forget and to go home. And Marcel takes Rebekah to the attic where he is holding the young and very powerful witch, Davina. Davina uses her magic to throw Rebekah out a window. Ouch.

Flashback

Rebekah is waking up from being daggered, and Klaus is sitting across from her.

“Well, its about time. I was bored waiting, but I did so want to see your face, and it is indeed priceless.”

“You bastard. What day is it?”

“Sunday.”

“I have been daggered for a whole week? Marcel, what have you done to him?”

“Its 1887, Rebekah. You’ve been daggered for 52 years.”

“What?”

“And don’t worry about Marcel, I presented him with a choice. He could choose to live out the rest of his human days with you, or I could turn him instead, as he’s always wanted, in exchange for giving you up.”

“No. He wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Oh, but he did.”

In present day Rebekah is laying in what was her old room, but is now Marcel’s. Marcel threatens Rebekah telling her that was once hers and her brothers is now his. Oh, and by the way, don’t ever touch Cami again.

Back at the plantation house, Hayley is sleeping and Klaus is snooping through her things wondering if she took the poison. Hayley wakes up and assures him that she didn’t. When she was fighting off the vampires, she was protecting the baby as well as herself. Klaus respects her strength, and calls her once again his endearing nickname for her, “little wolf.” Oh, and he’ll make sure they’ll have proper air conditioning.

Rebekah storms in the house and informs Klaus that Marcel’s secret weapon is Davina the Teenage Witch. Only, she can’t remember where she was because she wiped her memory of the location. Both Klaus and Rebekah vow to do what ever it takes to get Elijah back.

There you have it, the second episode of The Originals!

Power Rankings:

#5 goes to… HAYLEY MARSHALL!

For taking back your agency.

#4 goes to… MARCEL GERARD!

For fencing, swimming, and kissing.

#3 goes to… DAVINA CLAIRE!

For being badass Davina the Teenage Witch.

#2 goes to… KLAUS MIKAELSON!

For being the diabolical genius we all know and love.

#1 goes to… REBEKAH MIKAELSON!

For your conviction and perseverance.

[japanessie]

MY FIRST STORY MMA Tour Final The Premium Symphony 2017 in retrospect

On 23rd December 2017, MY FIRST STORY made another milestone by performing at the same venue which was supposed to have been the place where their rival brother band ONE OK ROCK was originally scheduled to perform with Linkin Park in November. Looking at the visuals presented to us so far, it was a roaring success.

Photos by Masanori Fujikawa and Taka Tallman except *

Here are my thoughts .... for my reader who requested. Basically a continuation of what I had said in a previous post before.

1. The stage looks like something inspired by Jules Verne novels combined with the Parthenon. 

That’s impressive!!

Then, similar to OOR, they also used a runway heading out to the audience. OOR normally use this for their acoustic set where the band members would gather together with their instruments. MFS used the end platform for Hiro where the digital piano was mechanically raised from below the stage. For a rectangular concert hall, you have to have this kind of setting for the audience's optimal viewing.

Look at the laser lighting! It was among the elements that worried the s**t out of their boss GEN back in the Shinkiba Studio Coast show because it was expensive. But looks like he’s not worried anymore based on this elaborate display.

Ready to go “Around The World In 80 Days” or “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”! XD

2. The attendance at Makuhari was higher than the Budokan.

From the TV clips shared by Japanese fans, 18,000 people came compared to 12,000 for the Budokan. Reading through fans' reports, it looked like Blocks A & B were the most packed or the crowds consisted of the hardcore fans. One girl in Block B said she wished she could transfer to Block C where she could breathe.

Looking at the crowd placement, I started to feel doubtful whether choosing a seated ticket for this venue is worth it for someone like me (154cm tall) because unlike the multi-tiered Budokan or the Makuhari Event Hall, the Makuhari Hall 9-11 are flat. They're exhibition Halls after all. How high were the seats raised from the main floor if they were raised at all?

* Photo: Makuhari Messe Hall 9-11 when empty. Making me wish that it had a premium ceiling seat XD

3. It was MFS first attempt at using a full orchestra + a full choir

When they first announced the MMA Tour Final, they said this would be MFS as we had never seen them before. The ALL SECRET TRACKS album obviously had been arranged for this. The Live was not named The Premium Symphony for nothing. To me MFS music from the start has always been heavily layered. It was inevitable that they would arrive at this point.

Photo: The moment the curtain came down. Aaaahhhh!!! That’s 終焉レクイエム (Shuuen Requiem) making its debut everyone \(^^)/

  When MFS did the acoustic set for Itsuwari NEUROSE Final at Shinkiba Studio Coast, my mind actually wondered whether they would one day tackle the violin-cello string arrangements. Would have been slammed with the "OOR copy" moniker big time if they did it back then, wouldn't they? The difference is MFS actually created songs with orchestration right on their album rather than pick a few songs and re-arranged them with a string section for the Live show.

You know what’s beautiful about the above photo? The backup musicians were smiling as they looked at the band members giving it all. Despite the different genres they come from, all artists know passion when they see it.

4. The Surprising setlist :-o

More like shocking to me!

The most striking thing about the setlist is the fact that they had excluded their signature Live songs Second Limit, The Story Is My Life, 最終回STORY and Awake :-o. Seriously?? WTF! You know what this means??! This means they were signalling the beginning of a new era. Up to this point, an MFS show would not be complete without those songs. This is them presenting the fans the new-phase MFS!

The Setlist

1. 終焉レクイエム (Shuuen Requiem) 2. ALONE 3. Black Rail 4. 悪戯フィクション (Itazura Fiction) 5. Missing You 6. REVIVER 7. この世界で一番の幸せ者にはする事など出来ないかもしれないけど... (Kono sekai de ichiban no shiawasesha ni wa suru koto nado dekinai kamoshirenai kedo...) 8. 失踪FLAME (Shissou FLAME) 9. See you again 10. Love Letter 11. monologue 12. 虚言NEUROSE (Itsuwari NEUROSE) 13. LET IT DIE 14. "BOOM" 15. Zero Gravity 16. The Puzzle 17. CHiLD -error- 18. Tomorrowland 19. モノクロエフェクター (Monochrome Effector) 20. 不可逆リプレイス (Fukagyaku Replace)

(Encore)

-Nori Ohtani marriage proposal- EN1. 「花」 -0714- (Hanarenai yo) EN2. Merry Christmas EN3. REVIVER

While I understand their wish to move forward with their music, it's sad for me to see 最終回STORY go because that's the song through which I fell in love with MFS (T_T). 

5. Hiro debuted his piano solo performance

My wish came true \(^^)/! Back in 2014 when MFS released their Taylor Swift remake We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, I told another fan on my friend's MFS FB fanpage that I hoped to see Hiro perform with a piano. 

I guess it wasn't the right timing for it then because it was the time when Hiro was still so heavily criticized and ridiculed as being Taka's copycat. Hiro with a piano onstage would be a bad move a few years ago. Nowadays, the comparison with his famous brother is much kinder as MFS music is speaking for itself more and more. So I think Hiro picked the right time to finally do it.

By the way, Hiro played See You Again solo. For Love Letter, he played solo halfway and then joined by the others. Can’t wait to see these (^^)

6. Hiro’s vocal performance

You see this one coming. My MFS concert commentary wouldn’t be complete without me talking about Hiro’s vocals, would it? True that I wasn’t there at the Hall BUT I have come to the point were I can slowly trust him to nail it around 90 to 95%. While I wasn’t expecting perfection, I know Hiro had worked really hard as he was confident enough to again include the song I directly and openly criticised him for through the band’s social media back in 2016, 失踪FLAME . Though they did not respond to me directly but Hiro did acknowledge on STORYTELLER that the song was hard.

When I saw this visual for 失踪FLAME , I felt good because I knew he still kept his determination to get that song right. I believe he handled it well. He wouldn’t have made this visual display if he couldn’t do the song right, could he (^_-)?

7. Former drummer Masaki came (^^)

Their friendship remains solid and Masaki once again showed that he wouldn't miss his former bandmates' big moment for the world. He tweeted saying it had been awhile since he went to see them, how awesome the show was, apologizing that he was giving an impression of an elementary schoolkid’s excitement and then attached his old photo wearing his underwear with producer Nori with a congratulatory message. Because that’s the only two-shot photo he ever had with Nori XD

8. "Men In Black" (^^)

Who wasn't taken by the fact that the band performed fully in suits? 

I think rather than setting themselves apart from the backup orchestra + choir members, the look they chose tied the whole thing together. The formally attired orchestra + the choir that coloured the overall feel of ALL SECRET TRACKS and their visually impactful LET IT DIE MV from ALL LEAD TRACKS. It was "MFS The Premium Symphony" and not "MFS with some guest musicians for some songs".

Oh, yes. To me Teruki Nishizawa is the most dashing of them all in black suits. They’re all cute guys but Teru actually has that “prep school + white collar” aura which transcends well with that outfit. I don’t think I’m biased at all. Just look.

9. Hiro & Blouson Chiemi

I'm a bit blurry with this one, did he do something like her comedy skit onstage or what? I saw a few Japanese fans mentioning her name along with Hiro’s. Knowing that Hiro likes her, I was hardly surprised. But MFS always edited out extra things like this when the concerts went to DVDs. So, if he ever impersonated any celebrity at all, it probably wouldn't go on the official release (-_-)

But at least we had seen Hiro posing like her during VAMPS Halloween Party 2017 XD

*Photo: From BREAKERZ Daigo’s blog

10. Sho Tsuchiya did not perform with them this time

Though he did appear here and there on the MMA Tour, he did not perform at the Final as I previously had expected. Well, they already played up his surprise appearance to the MAX at the Budokan. Anyway, I'm glad I wasn't at the Budokan because I swear I would have pissed in my pants the moment I saw his face on the screen XD. But it wouldn't have the same impact doing it the 2nd time around, eh? The only way Sho’s re-appearance can top the Budokan is if they actually announce him coming back to them.

* Photo from iTony Entertainment (it’s JMS subsidiary too!)

11. The biggest surprise of the night ..... Nori's getting married!

Their producer Nori Ohtani proposed to his girlfriend and after which, the band launched into their wedding anthem 「花」 -0714- . The fans, including yours truly XD, flooded the band's social media with messages congratulating him and wishing him well.

My thought :

Dating a rock band's manager / producer has its perk, eh? If things go well, you may get an epic marriage proposal with an orchestra, a choir and 18,000 eye witnesses too XD

Overall

One fan commented on IG that after watching the Makuhari show, the Tokyo Dome now doesn't seem like a dream anymore. I agree with her. I mean, if a band or any artist can hold a packed show at a venue like Makuhari Messe, with glowing reports and feedback afterwards, then the Tokyo Dome is not a dream but already a given.

[hannahindie]

Not What She Seems-Chapter 1: The One Where Garth Ruins Dean’s Day

Dean x OC   and Sam x OC (friendship)

**Disclaimer: Supernatural and its characters are owned by the CW and all the people who were smart enough to create them and unfortunately this wasn't me. OC is mine though, so yay for creative license. This is rated M for eventual sexual content, language, and violence. There are descriptions/mentions of sexual assault, although not super graphic, so if that's something that will bother you please skip over this because I don't want to make you sad. This is the very first fanfic I have written, but I hope I’ve done the characters justice. This is not quite canon, due to some events being mentioned and others not, so be gentle. I know the timeline is a bit screwy.

The room was dimly lit, a single lamp with an old, ratty shade sitting in the corner the only source of light. Her vision was blurry as she opened her eyes slowly, but she could tell that the room was sparsely furnished. Her ears were ringing painfully as well, as if she had been standing near a loud speaker at a concert or loud machinery. She tried to remember where she'd been that would have been that loud, but her memory was too fuzzy. She glanced around. Besides the lamp, there was a small table and chair by the window and a nightstand next to the bed she was on. She noticed that the windows had heavy curtains that were covered in a thick layer of dust and could easily block out any light that tried to come through. There was a heavy wooden door with a large iron handle that, from her limited angle, seemed to be the only entrance and exit to the room. The entire room was exposed brick, and reminded her of a warehouse. In an attempt to figure out where she was, she tried to sit up and was immediately overcome by a wave of nausea. She closed her eyes to try to combat the feeling and became aware of something on her wrists. She cautiously opened her eyes and glanced down. Thick leather straps kept her tethered to the bed. Panicked, she began tugging at them but after a couple minutes of struggling, she gave up. She could feel similar restraints around her ankles. She closed her eyes again and fought back tears. There were no options. The location was unfamiliar and whoever had brought her here was obviously intent on keeping her. She was tired, groggy, and nauseated, with no recollection of how she'd gotten there. A creak echoed across the room as the door slowly eased open. A tall figure, hidden by shadow, slid past the door and carefully closed it behind him.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was worried I may have gone too far." The figure stepped out of the shadows. "How are you feeling? Groggy, I'm sure. I'm sorry, that's my fault. You see, I normally would have some help and your boyfriend...that was your boyfriend, correct?...well he gave me more trouble than I anticipated. I was distracted and maybe a little clumsy." As he approached the bed she tried to focus on his features, but her vision was still blurry, and she was so tired. So, so tired. He crossed the space quickly and sat on the edge of the bed, his long legs stretched out in front of him. "But you're here now! That's the important thing." He slowly pushed a strand of rogue hair from her face. "Oh, I have forgotten my manners. My name is Sebastian. What is yours?" She opened her mouth to answer but immediately closed it. What was her name?

"I...I'm not sure..." Her voice came out raspy and dry. She could feel panic swelling in her chest, and she struggled weakly against the shackles. "Where am I?...What...why am I here?" He smiled slightly.

"I should let you rest. Yes, you should rest." He stood, his tall form towering above her. "We will talk later, when you're feeling better. There's much to discuss." He quickly disappeared and the door shut quietly behind him. She closed her eyes and choked back a sob. She had to find a way out, but she was so tired. She fought against closing her eyes but finally succumbed to her exhaustion and whatever it was he'd drugged her with.

The rain was coming down in sheets, and the Impala's windshield wipers struggled to keep up. Dean squinted as lightning flashed across the sky, briefly illuminating his surroundings in a harsh white light before everything was sunk into inky blackness once more. He glanced over to see his brother, slouched against the door, fast asleep and faintly snoring. It was the first time in days that Dean had seen Sam relax enough to sleep. He was grimacing, but asleep.

"Better than nothing," Dean thought, turning his attention back to the road. It had been a rough couple weeks and as usual, the brothers were blaming themselves for things they couldn't control. Dean was handling it better than he normally would, but Sam had taken it hard. It was supposed to be a simple salt and burn, but then everything had gone tits up and, even though the spirit had been put to rest, Sam had been roughed up pretty bad and the girl they were trying to protect was killed. Although it didn't happen often, the rare failures were still hard to deal with. The kid was already full of guilt, although Dean had to wonder what hunter wasn't, including himself. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hard rock coming from his phone. "Shit," Dean mumbled as he dug around in his pocket trying to get to it before it stopped ringing. "Pinky's Porno Palace...what's your pleasure?"

"Dean? Is this...do I have the right number?" Dean heard the phone being fumbled as the person checked to make sure they had dialed correctly. "I don't remember calling a porn store...Dean?"

"Dude, yes, it's me." A sigh of relief sounded from the other phone.

"Well, thank goodness. It's Garth." Dean rolled his eyes.

"What do you want, man?" Dean heard the shuffle of papers as Garth searched for the reason he called.

"Yea, we have a case that came up, fairly close to you. Are you at the bunker?"

"We are heading there now, but we just got done with a case, we haven't slept in days. Can't someone else do it?" There was a beat of silence. "Garth, can't someone else do it, man? We're freakin' beat."

"It's pretty hectic out there right now, since the angels fell...there's just a lot...going on..." Garth trailed off and Dean glanced at Sam.

"Yea, yea, we'll be home-" Dean was interrupted as a giant bolt of lightning struck a tree, which caused it to crash into the road. "Son of a bitch!" Dean swerved to miss it and dropped the phone to put his hand back on the wheel. He began to feel the wheels give up their grip on the wet road. "Dammit!" He corrected the other way and the tires squealed in protest. He made it around the tree but the car went into a spin because of the over correction. Dean felt Sam fall into him as the car swerved violently. The car somehow came to a stop mere inches from the tree, although the Impala now faced the opposite direction. Dean was out of breath and his heart was racing. "I should lay off diner burgers," he mumbled, a hand on his chest. He looked at Sam, who seemed to be dazed but okay.

"What the hell was that?!" Dean gestured toward the tree.

"I don't know, Sammy, I just thought we needed a little excitement." Sam returned Dean's flippant answer with an eye roll.

"Guys! Hey, are you okay? Dean?" A tiny voice came from the floor near Dean's feet. He fumbled around and finally found his phone.

"We're fine. Send what you have to Sam."

"Okay, when-" Dean hung up on Garth and threw the phone in the backseat.

"I'm changing my number and if someone ever manages to find it, I'm not answering." He carefully turned the car around.

"What'd he want?"

"We've got a case. He's sending the stuff over. Apparently it's near the bunker." He looked at Sam. "You okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine." Sam pulled his laptop out of its bag and powered it on. "Looks like a man was killed in his home, all doors were locked, and it appeared that he'd been bitten by something." Sam squinted at the screen. "I'll have to look closer when we get to the bunker, but it almost looks like a vamp bite. Weird."

"Why's that weird?" Sam shrugged.

"That's not really a vamp's M.O., right? A locked house in a nice neighborhood, just to leave it behind? Something could have gone wrong, but that's too good of a target to just leave the dude laying there. I dunno." He shut his laptop and put it back in its bag. "I'll look at it more when we get home." Home. That word still felt foreign to Dean, an impossibility that would eventually be taken away.

"Yea, home...why don't you try to go back to sleep? We've still got a couple hours." Sam put his forehead against the cool window and watched the rain come down.

"Yea, sure, Dean," he replied quietly. Dean threw a worried look towards him but said nothing. The Impala sped through the rain, carrying the boys home in silence.

When she woke again, the ringing in her ears was gone, and her vision was no longer blurry. She noticed a glass of water on the nightstand and realized she couldn't remember the last time she'd drank anything. She shifted herself into as much of a sitting position as her bindings would allow and tried to reach the glass. Her fingertips brushed the slick glass but it sat just out of reach. She tried again and cried out in pain when her shoulder twinged in warning. She sat back against the headboard and tried to catch her breath. She still couldn't see anything that could tell her where she was, but she did notice a door she hadn't seen before.

"There's another door. Good. Remember that door," she mumbled to herself. "Who am I...who am I..." She closed her eyes and repeated the phrase like a mantra. "Who...am...I..." A face popped into her mind, a handsome thin face with a shock of unruly black hair and hazel eyes. "Benjamin." She'd been with Benjamin when she'd been taken. "Benjamin...Benjamin...who am I...who." She squeezed her eyes shut tight and tried to push down the panic slowly easing its way into her chest. She could feel her chest tighten and it was getting harder to breath. "No, not now...not now...what do you see?" She scanned the room. Lamp. Table. Curtains. Nightstand. Bed. "What do you feel?" Sheet. Leather...she couldn't do it. She had no range of motion, no way to reach out and touch anything. She could feel the tears coming. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." She began pulling as hard as she could on the leather cuffs, so hard that she eventually felt something warm trickling down her arm. She was bleeding. She began to cry then, huge, wracking sobs that shook her to the core. "My name is Ava...I'm Ava..." she said with each sob, each repetition becoming more and more quiet. "I'm...Ava." She sunk down and closed her eyes. She was out of tears, exhausted, and she had no idea what she was going to do.

Ava had fallen into a fitful sleep. She dreamt of coming home just to find that the front door was standing open, but only enough to see if you were directly on the porch. She gently nudged it open, her heart pounding a loud rhythm in her ears. She flipped the light switch, but the house remained swathed in darkness. "Ben?" She called out softly. "I'm home, where are you? She snapped her head to the left when she heard a sound from the kitchen. "Ben?" She slowly walked towards the sound. Maybe he was listening to music. Ben did that while he cooked. As she turned the corner, she found Ben tied to a kitchen chair and gagged. His eyes grew wide when he saw her. He began to shake his head violently and yelling incoherently through the tape. "Oh my God, Ben..." She ran towards him, but felt a large hand clamp around her upper arm.

"Well, look who's home!"

She jerked awake, her breath caught in her throat. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the tall, slender man had sprawled himself in the chair by the window.

"You're awake." He casually stood and strode to the bed, and looked down at her. "My, what did you do to your wrists? You've got blood everywhere." The man clucked his tongue. "We will take care of that later. Do you remember my name, sweetheart?" Ava looked at him but didn't answer. "It's Sebastian. You'll do well to remember that." He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. She jerked it away but he pulled her back, his grip so tight and painful she truly thought he could break her wrist with just one hand. "I think we should start by setting some ground rules. How does that sound?" Sebastian did not release his grip on Ava's arm, and she could tell it was going to be bruised. "I am trying to make this as simple for you as I can. I want you to be happy. So, I need you to do a few things for me. For instance, if I ask a question, I expect an answer. I may need you intact, but it certainly doesn't mean I can't have any fun with you. Struggling is simply out of the question," he glanced at her bloody arms, "but I'll let your little transgression slide this time since we didn't talk about my expectations." He paused and looked at her hungrily. For the first time since she'd seen him, Ava really looked at Sebastian. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black, and it was hard to even differentiate between his irises and his pupils. His soft hair laid gently across his forehead in wisps of coal black and the ends curled ever so slightly. It curled around his ears gently, and was long enough that it brushed the collar of his shirt. He was dangerously handsome, pale, and a dark shadow of bristle graced his chin. He was thin, but his well-tailored clothes accentuated his muscled form. His eyes narrowed under well trimmed eyebrows for a moment and then he smiled. It was a cold smile which did not quite reach his eyes, and revealed teeth that seemed a little too sharp to be normal. "If you follow these expectations, we shouldn't have any problems! So I'll ask again. What is your name?" Ava looked at him defiantly but said nothing. "Oh, sweet girl. Your bravery, although a quality I admire and a trait that will make this whole thing much easier as you will certainly need it, will not be useful right now. It is not in your best interest to abuse my patience." His hand slid up slowly to caress her face. "Let's try this one more time. What...is...your...name?" Ava swallowed nervously as she felt a cold knot of fear tighten in her stomach. Despite her fear, she remained silent. His cold, slender fingers were at her throat in a moment, and she could have sworn his eyes had flashed a bright blue before the color was swallowed back up by his almost black irises. His grip tightened around her throat hard enough to bruise and make it difficult to breathe but not enough to actually cut off her air supply and licked his lips. "Okay, well it doesn't really matter anyway. I was hoping to have a nice conversation, but obviously I was mistaken." He shoved his hand hard against her throat, which slammed her head into the wrought iron headboard behind her. Hot white stars flashed across her vision and for a moment, between the shock of the blow and the pain, she thought she would pass out. As swiftly as he had shoved her into the headboard, he had stood and crossed the room in the same motion. He was so incredibly fast. He grabbed the chair and a bag that she hadn't noticed before, then slammed the chair next to the bed and sat down. "You don't have to say a word really, but I was very much hoping we would be friendly enough to share." As he opened the bag, she realized it was her bag. He fished around for a moment and pulled out an embroidered wallet. "This is beautiful! Did you do this?" Her nod was barely perceptible but he caught it and flashed a smile. "See, that's my girl! All I want is a little participation." His fingers ran gently over the soft thread, tracing the pattern. "Where did you come up with this design?" he asked softly as he briefly glanced at her before looking back down at the wallet. She swallowed painfully.

"It just came into my head." Speaking was torture. She wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd had anything to drink, but every word, every swallow burned. It felt as if someone had taken sandpaper to her throat. Her voice was barely above a whisper but her reply seemed to please Sebastian.

"Interesting." He opened the wallet and perused the contents. He found her drivers license and tossed the rest on the nightstand. "Ava Rosalyn Walker." He whistled quietly to himself. "That is a beautiful name. Old. Do you know what Ava means, where it came from?" She shook her head. "Ah, well let me educate you. Ava is an old name, and it can be found in different cultures, across different time periods. It has its own cultural meanings as it crosses the oceans, spanning centuries. Of course, you were probably named after Ava Gardner, stunning woman in her own right and an absolute delight to watch perform, but it's actual origins appear much earlier than that. Some say that it may be from the Latin word 'avis', meaning bird. Common consensus though is that it is a shortened version of the Hebrew word 'chava', meaning life or living one. The Old English have a name that is similar, Avalyn, which means breath of life." He fell silent as he stared at the license. "Although unplanned, this little plot twist changes things...for the better though, my dear, don't worry." He looked up and met her bright blue-green eyes with his black ones and a chill went down her spine. "I see you're an organ donor. I truly am having a magnificent stroke of luck."

@wheresthekillswitch, I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

Chapter Two: The One Where Things Take A Dark Turn

[karen-kk]

After a long flight home, I'm finally ready to sit down and write about my experience during L'Arc~en~Ciel 25th Anniversary event. This is more of my personal experience than a live report, sharing what I enjoyed and what I didn't. Shockingly it has turned out quite long, so you are warned.

First of all I must say I was very impressed by their Japanese management team and staff members. The scope of the operation was incredible with 110k people attending, and yet everything was well organised and well prepared for. I'll use the example of the goods store. The store opened at 9am each day, I was told people started queuing as early as 4am. I joined the queue around noon, by that time it had already taken over both side of the pedestrian paths and then some. I couldn't even see the store. There were security guards and staff everywhere making sure everyone knew where the end of line was (yes, it was that confusing. It took me 15 minutes to find it because I didn't speak Japanese), we were not blocking the path and obstructing other tourists in the Tokyo Dome City, and we were moving on quickly and efficiently. The store had total of 24 booths, so it didn't take as long as I thought it would. Even with the language barrier, the transaction was very smooth. All my interaction with the staff members had been extremely pleasant. From security check to being shown to my seats they were always there when I needed help. They had always been courteous and helpful even though most people I spoke to knew very little English.

Japanese Laruku fans were very interesting to observe. They seemed to be from all age groups and occupations. I had seen teenagers, young adults, people around my age, my parents' age and older even. It never ceases to amaze me how big their male fan base is in Japan. I would say about 35-40%? In contrast VAMPS hard rock style, their split was like 5-95 with female fans completely dominating the scene when I saw them back in 2009, but I think the ratio has shifted a bit nowadays. And I don't mean guys being dragged there by their girlfriends etc. A lot of them either came by themselves or in groups. The 2 guys next to me in day 1 were dancing hyde's signature moves throughout the entire live, and they were talking about how they admired the band since primary school. At lease third of the hyde cosplayers that I spotted were male. There were many families that brought their kids with them as well (I hope Ken-chan's MCs were not too r-rated). One of the cutest hyde cosplayer was this little girl about 10 years old dressing up as hyde in the 20th L'Annivesary period. She was so adorable with the braids and jacket and everything. On my way out in day 1, I overheard another little girl babbling about haido haido excitedly to her mother, so cute! The fans were so friendly as well. I had a yuki fan coming to me and giving me a present including a Japanese traditional dessert with her hand drawing of yuki. I had another girl coming to me when she realised that I didn't have a LED wristband, and she helped me to speak to the staff to get one. Then with her broken English and my non-existed Japanese we squealed over how "cute-handsome-kawaii-kagoii" hyde was lol

The tour goods are worth mentioning as well. They are such good quality comparing to what I bought during the VAMPS tour years back. My favorites include the expensive as hell handbag and the teddy. The handbag has all the staff access passes stitched on from all of their past tours. It is like carrying a piece of Laruku history whenever I use them. The denim material is thick and strong, the only downside is it is quite heavy. I personally think it looks so much better the 20th Anniversary version. When I went sightseeing yesterday I still saw a lot of people carrying it around Tokyo. The tour book is great too, with much better English. I only wish they would stop repeating the same paragraphs over and over though. And it also reminds me of the good old days when hyde still had our beloved eyebrows...

I was very impressed with the stage design. One of the reasons why I had always wanted to see Laruku in their home land was because they would have the budget and resources to go all out. And I was not disappointed. As soon as the screens lit up, I was in awe. It was so beautiful! The theme of the concert was locating pieces of Laruku's history and it was very well incorporated into the setup. They also integrated past live footages with the current live broadcast on the giant screens. The front part of the stage was detachable, it moved during Revolution and carried the members to the smaller stage at the other side. Everything was very well thought out and visually stunning. Not to mention there were real flames and mini fireworks. The Dome looked incredible with all the LED wristband, which were being manipulated as a giant LED screen.

This was why I found hyde's outfits so incredibly jarring. I know I've complained about this numerous times in the last 2 days, I just can't let it go. His first 2 outfits made him stood out like a sore thumb for half of the concert. I literally laughed out loud when I saw what he was wearing, and it was during Niji. I felt so bad about this. It is a song that means the world to the band and its fans because of what it represents. And there I was, laughing while he sang his heart out... ==|||

The other complaint that I have is the set list, with 2 days and only 4 songs being changed. I may have been spoiled by the 20th Anniversary where 2 days had completely different set list. The thing I really love about Laruku is their ability to make their older songs shine during lives. I haven't been a fan of their older studio albums for some reason. But their more recent lives always managed to make me realize how great they were even back in the days. I fell in love with songs like In the Air, Shutting in the Sky, As If in a Dream, Garasu Dama, Floods of Tears, Dune, White Feathers etc. this way. And I was hoping because it was an Anniversary event, older songs would have been performed. But no. And my all time favorite songs such as Metropolis, Jojoushi, Bless, Ibara no Namida, New World, Hoshizora, Umibe were not played as well. I was also secretly hoping for an appearance of P'unk-en-Ciel as well... I guess they are no longer doing it?

Given my first day's seat being really bad, being on the far right hand, I can't really say much because I could barely see anything. To make the matter worse, the bass sounded really loud and distorted, and it kept bled into the vocal. It was difficult to hear at the times so I can only share my favorite moments from day 2.

During Revolution, we all went crazy when we saw hyde and ken-chan on the drum, yuki and te-chan played the bass and guitar respectively, then the stage started to separate and carried them over to the other side of arena. At the end of that session, when the stage started moving back everyone had a basket of balls that they were supposed to threw to the crowd. Yuki, on the other hand decided to take a shortcut and just dumped his entire basket of balls along with his basket. He was clearly channeling his Acid Android persona. Unfortunately, it didn't get him out of his job, he was immediately handed another basket. Then ken-chan decided to get creative as well, he tried to balance one of his balls on the edge of stage and starting to blow at it to make it fall. During one of the MCs, hyde played Fullmetal Alchemist a few times by clapping his hands and slapped them onto the ground a few times to make us create human waves. We did, and we also did it in reverse while he screamed in fake horror. The staff then blew air or dry ice on him as the waves approached his side. During second half of Blurry Eyes, he forgot that he already threw his whistle to the crowd and he had to make a mad dash toward the back to get the second one. He never made it in time and we all laughed. Did I mention how hot leader-sama was in his stylish white suit and white Alexander McQueen scarf? OMG! I had never considered him good looking until now (gomenasai, leader-sama, your array of way too colorful outfits usually blinds me). It probably helped with hyde being such stark contrast.

Edit 1: Hyde did a member introduction during day 2, even though I doubted there was a soul in the Dome who didn’t knowing who they were. It went like “drum - yuki~, guitar - ken~, bass - tetsuya, and vocal~“ and we called out HAIDO~~~~!!! He looked so proud! It was so cute!

Ken-chan had sunglasses on the entire time during day 2. At the end of the concert, right before he went off the stage he was wiping his eyes with his hand. Was he crying? I couldn't tell. Leader-sama came back to the stage with his basket of bananas and asking "mina genki, genki desuka" as usual. Only this time, he took off his Alexander McQueen scarf and wrapped around one of the bananas and threw it to the crowd. We all went eh~?

My most memorable moment was definitely during My Heart Draws A Dream. When hyde took off his earphone to hear us sing the chorus and our voices echoed throughout the Dome, I cried.  The open tenderness on his (eyebrowless) face was so beautiful. It was the perfect moment that I will treasure forever.

Overall, the concerts were not what I expected, but I don't regret spending an arm and leg to participate in this important milestone in their career. As a fan, I already had so many regrets, like not seeing their AYR and their Theater of Kiss tours, and of course missing out on the 20th Anniversary. I didn't want this to be a regret as well. Leader-sama mentioned 30th Anniversary already and I do hope I would have the privilege of being there.

Happy anniversary, L’Arc~en~Ciel.

[rmoseley]

Jacked

[First supernatural fanfic I have ever written. EVER.]

WARNINGS: Swearing, Violence (duh *rolls my eyes*), Drinking, Fluff.

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon for the young family that lived in the blue and white two story house on the end of the street. They were the Daniels, Willis and Brenda were cooking in the kitchen, casually talking to one another. Their children Jackline and Thomas were in their room. Jackline was playing with her dolls and Tom was watching cartoons. Jackline made her way downstairs to the kitchen. As she walked in she heard her parents bickering. This wasn’t new they bickered all the time here lately it had been over a man, the man who always wore black, Jackline had seen him only once, and it was enough to haunt her nightmares. As she walked in there was a loud knock on the front door. Her mother walked out of the kitchen to get the door, Jackline walked over to her dad. “Whatcha doin’?” he smiled down at her and was about to reply when her mother’s screams cut him off. Willis Daniels shovedhis daughter into his bedroom. “Hide in the closet, don’t open this door for anybody. You got that?” her father asked as Jackline nodded her head stunned by the passing events. What happened next is etched into Jackline’s memory. As she hid in her father’s closet she heard the horrified screams of her twin brother. She could hear the evil laughter as the thing crept towards the closet. The man in all black jerked the door open and saw the frightened little girl. He took great pleasure in carving into her back, and making three long scratches across her chest. Jackline was in shock she saw that the creature had sharp shark like teeth. Jackline screamed again, as the creature tried to bite her. Tom ran to where he heard Jackline’s screams. He saw that a man in black was hurting his twin, “leave her alone!” the five year old grabbed a vase and threw it at him and that’s when Jackline lost consciousness. She woke up hours later in a hospital room covered in bandages, a strange man was at her side. “The doctors said you wouldn’t be awake for another six hours.” he said. Jackline scooted away from him looking like an animal in a trap. “Who are you?” she asked as the man smiled kindly at her. “Someone who is gonna help you get stronger.” 17 years later… I was at the bar. I needed intell and some whiskey, and what better way to fulfill my list than to get my intell from some loose lip drunks. So here I was asking around. I was looking for any and all information about a string of recent attacks where the vic’s throats were torn out and the were completely drained of blood. I found bits and peicesof information and wrote them down. I sat now at the counter shooting whiskey. A man sits himself beside me and says, “I’ll have what she’s having.” I looked at him. He was tall, taller than me at least, with hazel green eyes and stubble, his jaw was strong and the look in his eye was slightly intimidating. “Ain’t that a little strong for a girl like you?” he said in a rough voice. I totally ignored his question and asked one of my own. “What brings a guy like you to town?” “Hunting trip.” I cocked an eyebrow. I habit of mine that happened when my interest was peaked. I could possibly be talking to a fellow hunter. “What are you hunting.” I said patting my iron buck knife I wore in thigh sheath. The confused look on his face vanished. The bar tender started to stare at us. I put my hand inconspicuously near my mouth to cover me mouthing, ‘Deer.’ he caught it and said “Deer.” this attractive stranger better not be honing in on my hunt. I saw eyes on me, from across the room a man about my age with shoulder length brown hair and that’s when it hit me. “You must be Dean, I just so happen to be your guide. Come with me. my name is Jackline Daniels. Call me Jack.” I said slipping off that bar stool. I motioned for them both to follow me. At least I hoped it was them.I walked out of the bar with them behind me. When we were away far away I turned to them. “Okay what really brings you two here?” I said when the both crossed their arms. “How do you know our names?” Sam asked defensively. “Easy Winchesters. Word travels in the hunter community. I’m not that far out of loop.” Dean was watching me with suspicion. “What is your real name?” Dean asked leaning against a tree. “I already told you. Jackline Daniels.” “you’re serious?” I narrowed my eyes at Dean. “As a heart attack. You haven’t given me a reason yet.” I flashed him a smirk. I took my jacket off, I was still hot from the pub. You could just see the tip of a scar on my chest. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “Why do you want to know?” “because I’m also on a hunt. A local man was found with his throat was ripped out. Completely dry, sounds like a vamp. I was able to get a description and a general area where they’ve seen it.“ I said. Showing Sam the notes I took when Dean took the note pad from me and said, “well thanks sweetheart you’re too kind. Now why don’t you go home and bake some cookies while the big kids handle this.” my eyebrow arched again. “I am no one’s sweetheart, and I’m twenty two! I’m also an experienced hunter. I’m going to take down that vamp with or without you. Oh yeah, and I like pie better.” I said yanking my notepad from his grasp and walking away to my car. It was a 1970 dodge charger, I called it Gray. This car was more important than I was. I started her up and drove off listening to ‘More than a feeling’ by Boston. Dean Winchester. I was a fool to think I could work with the celebrity of the hunter community. Everyone had an opinion about although most weren’t favorable. I always wanted to work with them. I should have listened to them when they said he was an ass. ‘But damn he made up for it with his looks.’ I shook my head. He was competition. He was standing in my way. I parked in my drive way. But already I knew something was wrong. I turn all of the lights off before leaving. Always. And yet the lamp in my study on the second floor was on. I went to Gray. I popped her trunk and Grabbed the tree pruners that I kept in the back for emergencies. I kicked me door it swing wide open. “Alright you undead fangbanger come at me!” I shouted I wish I had dead man’s blood, but this’ll do. I stepped through the door, “where you at? Are you scared of a little girl holding tree pruners?” I jeered. I felt a presence behind me, I turned around throwing my knife at something in the darkness. I heard it curse. "What the hell? Jackline? ” it was Dean. I glared at him as I yanked my knife out of his jacket that was pinned to the wall. “What the hell are you doing here?” I growled. “Inspecting.” “get out of my house.” I said with anger. He was intruding in my house and molesting my hunt. Sam came in and I didn’t have time to keep yelling because the creature came out of the shadows. “Hello Jackline.” it purred and I froze, this was the voice from my nightmares, he was here. I turned around. “Oh. Don’t look like that, it is a reunion after all.” he said. I was immobilized paralyzed like I was glued to the floor. “Jack? Jack? Jackline?” I was frozen with fear, I never froze during a hunt, but this was different. This thing almost killed me, tortured me till the point of near consciousness. He was the reason I couldn’t wear v necks or halter tops. He ruined my life. I gripped my knife, trying to move Sam and Dean took him down, all I could do was stare, shaken. Dean yanked the pruners from my hand and cut his head off just like that. I dropped to my knees having tunnel vision. Dean was shaking me saying my name but I couldn’t hear him, I felt something warm slide over my shoulders as my hearing returned. “Jackline?” Sam asked I looked at him with ashamed eyes. “He killed my family. That sorry rat bastard marked me up and killed my mom, my dad and my brother.” I said clearing my throat. “I-I usually don’t freeze up like that, I could’ve. No I should’ve helped you take him down.” Sam comforted me. Dean was no where to be seen, “Sam. That thing took my brother.” I said. They left but not before I did something sneaky. I slipped a piece of paper with my number on it in deans jacket that was around my shoulders. Watching him take down the vamp, now that I realised it was kinda hot. Even more so because the bastard killed my family. I sat with a bottle of tequila in one hand and my phone in the other. trying to ease my nerves. I felt my phone buzz as I looked at the screen I noticed a strange number. Its been two days since I met them and Dean finally texts me. It read, 'That was a classic move Jack. How you holding up?’ I replied with a picture of me with the bottle in my hand. 'Just fine.’ and so it went. Sam texted every now and again to check up on me and my luck it’d be during a hunt. I was investigating a murder in St Louis when I bumped into Sam Dean and a strange girl. When they caught me I held my hands up. “Turn around so I can see your face.” Dean said in a stern voice. I turned around slowly looking at the ground I wore a white T-shirt a green flannel ripped old jeans and my lace up boots. “Hi honey you miss me?” I said cheeky. The blonde girl looked at Sam and then at Dean. “Who is she?” she asked. I already didn’t like her. “Its an old friend of ours, she’s-” “also a detective. My name is agent Daniels, you can call me Jackline.” I said giving her a trade mark eyebrow quirk. “Who are you?” she put a hand on her hip, and narrowed her eyes obviously not liking me either. “Rebeca Warren. Why are you in my brother’s house?” I rolled my eyes. “Dean called me, said he needed me to inspect a crime scene near by.” I said eyes narrowed. The boys decided to stay out of it. “There’s nothing strange here, no forced entry.” “can I have a word, Detective?” Dean asked a hint of displeasure in his tone. “Sure, Detective. ” he escorted me by my elbow. He waited till we were outside. “What do you think you’re doing Jack?” he asked. “Hunting.” I said with an exasperating sigh. “No you aren’t.” he said looking me in the eye. “You need to go back, Sam and I can’t have you freezing up like that-” “Dean Winchester, I am perfectly capable of hunting this thing down.” “that’s what you said the last time.” Dean said. My face heated up, as did my temper. “That’s different. You try being carved up like a Christmas ham and being left for dead while you were still half conscious!” he sighed.