#kinda trying to improvise something fast but decent

[606nox]

Heartslabyul x subnatica

Deuce x subnatica reader

Btw yall I forgot to say that in every single one of these that I will write the reader is always around the same age as them because the og subnatica player is canon like at least 21 but not here just has to say that

×××××××××××××××××××××

Deuce is trying to turn his life around so he tries to stay out of rumors or drama because "good students don't listen to drama right?". But even so he couldn't help but notice you from the opening ceremonie and not only that but he also remembers that you were magicless. He wishes you good luck he had heard the nrc can be mean to people with magic so what about people without. He feels really bad for you but he can't really help you either. So when he meet you he was honestly a little interested in learning about you after all theirs never been a case of a magicless person in the history of twisted wonderland so why wouldn't he. At first when he met you he was reminded of this old delinquent friends at first he had no reason to think so but it just felt that way. But was pleasently surprised that you were really nice and friendly but you just really didn't like ace running away from his punishment. And were very fast for a normal human ? But he didn't question it to much and it's not like its was any of his business anyways you two barely know each other. After you guys broke the chandelier deuce was the first to rush off into the cave which worried you a bit even if you didn't know him that well you still were wanted to make sure that no one got hurt. Which is why you ran into the cave dragging ace and grim with you. But the moment you guys found the stone you needed a blot monster appeared. And everyone else was freaking out but you just kinda stood their and and was like "ugh not again". Deuce then tried to pull you out of it's way because he knows that you don't have magic. You follow him out and you all make a game plan . Which you end up having to improvise. The blot ramed into the tree but soon the plan had to go out the window. You were to the side where you couldn't get hurt originally but ace,grim and deuce were clearly struggling to which you remembered a little something you had the stasis rifle. So you began to charge the rifle and while it was charging you yelled at the blot monster.

"Hey over here".

"Hey what do you think your doing".

"Yeah deuces right".

You shoot at the monster it was fully paralyzed "ok do what you guys gotta do ". Ace and deuce shot their magic and you shot the stasis rifle for a while until you got tired of the back and forth and got out you repulsion canon and threw a whole bolder at it. To everyones surprised it just died and honestly everyone was just like FINALLY. After you head back and you officially become a student deuce congratutes you and grim is pretty much jumping around the place talking about how hes the best. After he didn't expect you to stick around but he was happy you did but something weird happened while fighting riddles overblot you seemed vicious Dispite your normally chill friendly behavior it's one thing to be scared but this wasn't fear this was more like a reaction a violent one but you still seemed to be in at least a little control of your body because you weren't going for riddle himself but for his blot monster. You used your repulsion canon and threw a table at him and you continued to switch between repulsion and stasis. You even lonched riddle into a bush after taking the tree from him but even then you never actually hurt him only his blot monster after awhile everything was decently normal. You would hangout with ace and deuce. Deuce would try to help you study but he doesn't even know what's going on with half of the stuff you ask him to help with even if you end up helping him understand it. He is almost like a puppy after everything you've done he thinks your so cool and admires you. Hes even asked if you can teach him some of the moves you've used.

Deuce fell in love with you when yall were fighting riddles overblot monster he just couldn't help but admire you. You were magicless but still tried to help and also were brave and fierce you also held your ground while still being nice and polite and he really admired that about you. But that doesn't mean he realized he had a crush on you well it was more like denial because he was scared to lose your friendship so he tried to keep it to himself of course tho ace noticed and teases him a blot but ace does have too say that deuce did a good job hiding but ace knows him to well. But after deuce confirmed that it was in fact true ace tries to wing man for deuce but it never quite works because you can tell that something's up and just tell him to be himself. Eventually he confesses with a little help with his confidence boosted he asks trey for some advice and helps quite a bit well more then the others. Which is why when he confessed he brought you your favorite dessert. He wasn't expecting you to answer so fast but you automatically said yes and after he can't help but help but be giddy he's just so happy that you feel the same. Right after the confession as soon as he can he gets nervous but also happy and calls his mom up to tell her about you and his mom is so happy for him but deuce also asks her what to do now that he's in a relationship with you and his mom just tells him to be kind , patient and to just spend time with you eventually after awhile in the relationship he gets comfy. But sometimes when he's hanging out with you he can't help but think about what happened to you when riddle overblotted you seemed almost vicious ready to snap at any moment which honestly really consered him even if you two weren't dating at the time. He wanted to ask you but trusted that when you wanted to talk about it you would. But one day you two somehow get on the topic of riddles overblot and deuce decided that he would ask but if you didn't wanna answer you didn't have too

Oh yeah his overblot was really stressful.

Yeah it was but I have a question for you

Yeah what is it.

What happened to you during that if you don't want to answer you don't have too.

Oh that uuummm well that a bit of a story but if you wanna I'll tell you.

Yes please do tell

Well for around a year of my life I was crashed on a planet that was only water I had to fight to survive and had to fight giant leviathans it was very traumatizing but I did what I had to do to survive

That I just can't imagine it I'm sorry that something like that had happened to you.

But it's ok now

Are you sure?

The best I can be

[tethys-the-aquatic-sea-godness]

Elia Martell Appreciation Week - Day Two: Book Moment:

Oberyn telling Tyrion about his and Elia’s visist to Casterly Rock

[mimisempai]

Missing you comes in waves and tonight I'm drowning

Summary:

After seeing Loki disappear before his eyes and confined to the TVA because of the failed mission, Mobius decides to still believe in Loki and search for him. He witnesses the discussion between Sylvie and Loki on the train

Notes:

My theories on the method used by Mobius to locate Loki is probably very far-fetched and lacks technical truth, but that's not the most important point here, so I hope you'll forgive me for my short cuts. (I miss them together!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32162878

2008 words - Rating G

"Loki! Wait!"

Loki looked at him for a moment before stepping through the portal.

By the time they got there, it was too late Loki and the portal was gone.

"I knew he would betray us as soon as he could!" said one of the hunters right next to Mobius.

"Shut up!" shouted Mobius at him before returning to the TVA.

As he walked toward Ravonna's office, the same thoughts swirled over and over in his head.

Had Loki betrayed him! What were his plans? But worst of all, was he in danger?

He tried to think rationally.

Loki always said he was one step ahead, but Mobius knew that wasn't true. Loki was improvising. Loki was adapting. So reason told Mobius that this is what he had done.

That's when Mobius decided to do something he'd never done in his life at the TVA, he was going to bet on chaos. On the fact that Loki had chosen to follow the variant not only for his own sake but also because it was his mission.

Because Mobius could not imagine that what they had shared was nothing in the eyes of the god.

"Mobius! In my office!"

Ravonna... he was already imagining her reprimands, "I warned you" "he can't be trusted"...

As soon as he entered her office, she showed him a screen and just said, "Look!"

A scene showing the variant fighting in a hallway with the guards and Loki in the locker room retrieving his daggers then arriving at the place where the guards were eliminated.

Next scene Loki and the variant fighting, Loki trying to convince her to team up, at this point, despite the faith he has in him, Mobius could not determine if this is a way to stop her or get what he wants.

Then Rovenna arrives and the variant uses Loki as a hostage.

Mobius could not prevent a gasp.

Still on the screen, seeing that Rovenna is not persuaded, Loki grabs an object that opens a portal above them and he and the Variant disappear.

Mobius tried not to show his relief, but he saw that Rovenna was not fooled.

"So you still trust him?"

Mobius looked at her defiantly, "As long as I don't have concrete, real proof that he betrayed us, yes I’ll trust him!"

"Always the idealistic dreamer huh?"

Mobius didn't answer, Rovenna continued, "You're grounded here until I tell you otherwise. You can get out."

Once out, Mobius sat in a chair, held his head in his hands, and began to think. He was grounded, but there was nothing to stop him from trying to figure out where Loki was.

He just had to figure out how to locate him.

The difference was that now, thanks to Loki, he knew to look in the apocalypses, what he had to find now was the equivalent of that candy, something out of the ordinary, something anachronistic.

He stood up suddenly, he had found it!

He went to the office, where the screen that displayed all the nexuses was located.

"Casey! Come here!"

The younger man got up and joined him. Mobius spoke more softly, "Will you help me with a secret project?"

Casey, who had great respect for the man, nodded.

"Follow me."

They headed into the archive room. Mobius chose a table a little out of the way.

"You sit here. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, he returned with a stack of files that he separated into two piles.

"In all these apocalypses, we need to find one where it mentions two Lokis variants and unusual magical acts."

"Got it!"

Mobius didn't know if his smoky theory would work out, but he didn't have much choice.

He couldn't help but think back to a similar scene a few days earlier, when Loki had fallen asleep. He had let his guard down in the presence of Mobius, so that meant something, didn't it?

He started to flip through the files.

"M-Mobius! I think I've got it!"

Casey was showing him a file, Lamentis-1 - 2077, a woman reports that two demons tried to attack her. One even allegedly posed as her deceased husband in order to get information.

Mobius could feel it in his bones. It was Loki and the Variant.

He was going to have to gamble on someone again.

"Casey. I need you to keep this a secret for a while longer. If Ravonna gets wind of this, I'm afraid she'll launch an assault and won't hesitate to eliminate Loki."

Casey nodded without taking time to think, "As long as you need Mobius."

Mobius was surprised that he didn't have to persuade Casey more than that.

After all, he seemed to be the good, loyal employee who never disobeyed.

Casey, seeing his reaction, added with a knowing smile, "You know, I like Loki too. He promised me he'd show me what a fish is and you know? The drink he took from me the other day, he bought me another one and apologized. A villain wouldn't take the time to do something like that right?"

Mobius's throat tightened. Casey was the first person other than himself to acknowledge that there was good in Loki.

"Thanks."

Casey nodded and returned to his desk.

Mobius headed straight for the video archive room. The advantage of being an agent of his rank was that he had unrestricted access to this section of the archives.

He searched through the shelves until he found the videos of Lamentis 1 in 2077.

He sat down in front of one of the small projectors provided for this purpose. He was going to start from the described scene that Casey had shown him.

After entering a few parameters, the screen lit up with Loki being blasted by an old woman.

The noise of the meteors that rained down around

Loki and the one who accompanied him, prevented Mobius from hearing what was being said.He pressed the fast-forward button until Loki and the girl, after some trouble to enter the train, found themselves in a box in the dining car.

He turned up the volume to hear their conversation.

He was amazed at how easily they seemed to converse, despite the jabs on both sides, and couldn't help a twinge of annoyance that he refused to recognize as jealousy.

The variant said to Loki, mockingly, "FYI, that wasn't even a plan."

"Oh, really?"

God how Mobius missed that cheeky attitude. Even when unmasked, Loki still had that irritating confidence.

The variant replied, "Plans have multiple steps. Dressing as a guard and getting on a train is just doing a thing."

She couldn't hold back a yawn.

Loki responded, "Oh, are you a bit tired? Feel free to, you know, get some rest."

One thing Mobius had realized and Casey had confirmed to him just before was that Loki cared more about others than he let on if you paid attention.

The variant grunted and replied, "I can't sleep in a place like this."

"You can't sleep on a train?"

The variant retorted, irritated, "No. I can't sleep around untrustworthy people."

Loki replied, still cheeky, "Oh, right. That's me?"

Fearing he might misinterpret what had been said, Mobius pressed rewind and let the scene play out before him.

The image of Loki nodding in agreement about not being able to sleep near people he couldn't trust was superimposed on the image of Loki sound asleep in his company.

He could not suppress the pang of his heart.

Loki trusted him, Loki considered him trustworthy.

While he was thinking, the video had continued and Loki was now talking about his mother.

Mobius had witnessed Loki's relationship with his mother and his devastation at the news of her death.

Loki's voice had become more hushed, with that hint of fragility he had whenever he spoke of her.

"She was, um... A Queen of Asgard. She was good. Purely decent."

Then the variant and Loki respectively provoked each other about the fact that they were adopted and Loki continued, "You know, when I was young, she'd do these little bits of magic for me. Like turn a flower into a frog or cast fireworks over the water. It all seemed impossible. But she told me that I'd be able to do it too because... Because I could do anything. You wanna see?"

Loki sets off tiny fireworks over his hand.

Mobius could not deny his feelings at that moment.

The sight of magic coming from Loki's hands, pure magic, was enchanting.

Loki continued, "She was the kinda person you'd want to believe in you."

Mobius could not help but whisper, "Loki, I believe in you."

For a few moments he didn't catch the conversation until it was audible again. Apparently they were talking about their love interests.

The variant asked Loki, "How about you? You're a prince. Must've been would-be-princesses or perhaps, another prince." She finished with a wink.

Loki, replied with a serious look, "A bit of both. I suspect the same as you. But, nothing ever..."

The variant finished his sentence, "real."

"Let me find you and I'll prove to you how real it is." Mobius didn't realize he was speaking aloud. He pushed fast-forward again.

The Variant had fallen asleep and Loki looked a little giddy.

Loki waved his hand and was back in his TVA agent costume.

He could wear the illusion of any outfit, and he chose this one. Why stay in these clothes?

Mobius really didn't want to be under any illusions, because how could he imagine that someone like Loki, a prince, a god, would want to claim a belonging to something like the TVA... to someone like Mobius?

Loki had started to dance and sing.

Mobius could not help but laugh. Then his laughter died down as Loki's song became more melancholic,

I stormsvarte fjell, jeg vandrer alene

Over isbreen tar jeg meg frem

I eplehagen står møyen den vene

og synger "når kommer du hjem?"

Men traner danser og fossene stanser

når hun synger, hun synger "kom hjem"

Then seeming to regain his spirits, Loki began to dance and sing happily again as if trying to prevent nostalgia from invading him.

When the music stopped, he joined the Variant and resumed his seat in front of him. Mobius managed to understand what they were saying to each other.

"What did you just sing to look so disturbed?"

Loki looked a little moved and answered him with the voice Mobius knew well, the one he used when he was serious, when he was sincere.

"It's Asgardian, it says:

In storm-black mountains, I wander alone

Over the glacier I make my way

In the apple garden stands the maiden fair and sings,

"When will you come home?"

Loki stopped, apparently moved, and the Variant simply said, "So there's a would-be-princess somewhere..."

Loki chuckled looking so sad before answering her, "I like metaphors you know, it's not a princess it's a prince, and I don't know if he's waiting for me or hoping to see me again, it's not even really my home, but..."

"But you'd like to believe that right?"

Loki nodded.

Mobius, didn't dare to believe that it was him that Loki was talking about, even though he couldn't stop the hope from rising up inside him.

The video continued, much more animated, after a wild fight, both jumped off the moving train and found themselves walking through a kind of desert towards the energy source they apparently needed to reactivate the tempad.

Mobius saw Loki suddenly stop, looking shocked. But Mobius was unable to hear what they were saying, the sound of the meteors again covering their voices.

Suddenly, Loki shouted louder, "But they don't know that!"

And they began to run.

Mobius could see that Loki was repeating something as he ran, an expression that Mobius had never seen on his face. Like he was worried. But he couldn't hear him. He zoomed in closer to try to read Loki's lips and finally succeeded.

Mobius.

_________

The whole serie here : The story of Loki and Mobius

Not beta'd I hope you enjoyed it 🥰

[lucy-sky]

Opposites (Ezra x Reader)

Summary: Being a freelance digger you landed on The Green Moon in search for treasure, and found more than you expected. You meet Ezra - a man you used to work with in the past. You had a history, but this relationship led to nothing. Is it a good idea to team up with him again, or not? Soon you’ll find out. 

Words: 6 130

Warnings: Sexual content (quite fluffy, but still)

Note: Okay... I totally didn’t expect this movie to hit me THAT hard, but I guess it happened - I wrote a fic. And it’s rather long, omg. So... What you need to know about me is that I very seldom write about not Sam Rockwell characters, so this story is smth a bit out of my comfort zone. Also this is only the 2nd time I’m trying to write some kind of an action scene and it’s a real struggle for me to put such things into words (English is not my native language). Anyway, since I’m new to Pedro Pascal fandom and since I haven’t seen much content with this particular character (why though???), I’m very curious (and slightly anxious) about people’s opinions on this story. So, your feedback is greatly appreciated! But please be gentle :’D 

@biobiopsy​, you asked me to tag you, so here you go :)

That day was totally not the best in your carrier. After spending hours wandering over the wilds of The Green Moon, all you had in your case was a couple of gems. It was getting late and your filter was almost spent, but you still haven’t found a decent aurelac deposit.

After a short break you decided to head back to your ship. The filter wasn’t going to last long anyways. Maybe tomorrow you’d be luckier… But as you were just about to leave, something caught your eye. The ground… Was it what you thought it was? You got closer, took off your backpack and reached for the kit.

No way. No fucking way. It was a freaking goldmine!

Finally the fortune seemed to smile upon you! But now you had a problem: he deposit was large; getting the gems takes time, you knew from experience that rush is your worst enemy when it comes to this. Damn it! Why didn’t you just take a spare filter with you?

A sudden rustle from behind interrupted your thoughts. Your reaction was fast - you turned around abruptly, jerking out the thrower.

- Whoa, easy… Y/n??

You blinked in confusion. The man, standing in front of you, was someone you totally didn’t expect to meet right here and right now.

- Ezra?

Yes, it obviously was him. A man you used to work with about a year ago as a part of diggers team. He didn’t seem to change at all: same bold look in his dark brown eyes, same bright smile… You still remembered kissing those lips once - something you wished to forget, and almost succeeded in this… But life was never predictable.

- Damn, y/n, is it really you? Long time no see… It’s been a year, huh?

- Guess so, - you nodded, the weapon still pointed at him.

- Hey, come on, I came in peace, - Ezra chuckled, but you didn’t move.

- It’s my place, - you said harshly.

- Is it? Forgive me, but I don’t see any signs saying it’s exclusively yours.

- I got here first. The Green is big enough, go find your own.

- So we’ve just met and you’re already asking me to leave? That’s not very nice. Didn’t you miss me? - He smirked cockily.

- Not really.

- Shame. Cause I did. Where’s your team, y/n?

- I’m working for myself now.

- Oh. Why’s that?

- People can betray, - you snapped. - Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean.

- Really? So that’s the reason you’re so mad? My so called “betrayal”?

- You stole the gems and disappeared. What else should I call it?

- Hey! Let me remind you, I didn’t take the entire harvest, just took what’s mine. I think that’s fair enough. And… Whatever you call it, you should know - it has absolutely nothing to do with you. It’s all about the asshole we used to work for these days. As far as I remember, you thought he’s an asshole too, right?

- Right. You knew that. So you could at least let me know about your plans.

- I… - He stumbled, - Only didn’t want to get you in trouble. Plus you kinda pushed me away so I didn’t want to be too persistent.

- Wow, you’re such a gentleman, - you replied sarcastically. Ezra let out an annoyed sigh.

- Anyway, I’m not here to steal anything from you. I would never do such a thing. I just wanted to offer a helping hand, - he continued.

- So far, I somehow manage without you.

- And I’ve never called it in question. But hey, this deposit… it’s really impressive. There’s more than enough aurelac for both of us, and together we can harvest it way faster. I mean… you don’t want other floaters to come across it, do you?

There was something suspicious about the way he talked… You narrowed your eyes examining his face through the glass helmet.

- You need something from me, right? Apart from the gems.

- Huh?.. - It was his turn now to look confused.

- What about your team, Ezra? - You cocked an eyebrow. - Where is it?

- I uh… See, I’m not always work in a team, sometimes I run solo as well…

- Okay. What about your ship than?

- Uh…

- Let me guess. They flew away and left you here, did they?

From his expression you could already guess the answer.

- Something like that. We had a kind of a… Misunderstanding.

- Well… Guess now you see how the karma works, - you couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

- Haha. Very funny, - he grimaced. - Look, I’m really sorry about what happened… Between us, okay? Believe it or not, I don’t wanna cause you any harm. I’m actually really glad to see you… Even though you keep pointing this thing at me. I’m not an enemy. Just think of it - we can be really helpful for each other. I’ve no doubts you are prehensile enough to understand.

“Prehensile”... Only Ezra could use such kind of a word in his regular speech... Maybe that’s why he was always good at convincing. But this time it wasn’t even about benefits or something. Was he helpful or not, one thing you knew for sure: you couldn’t leave him like that.

There was also another, less noble reason to accept his suggestion: you couldn’t stay here any longer, and leaving right now meant giving him your deposit.

- Fine, - you finally put the thrower down. - My filter is very low. Could you share?

- Sure, - Ezra smiled, his posture instantly getting more relaxed. - Although mine’s not new as well… Not much for the two people… But at least we can start working. There’s still time until it gets dark.

- Deal, - you agreed.

- Hey, y/n.

- Yes?

- I’m glad you’re doing well. Really.

“Sounds like he means it”, you thought.

- Yeah… Glad you’re doing well too… Or at least you’re alive and optimistic.

- This is the way I am, sweetheart, - he winked.

- Please don’t do that.

- What?

- Don’t call me “sweetheart”. Or I’ll change my mind about giving you a ride.

- Alright, no problem, - Ezra made a serious face. - You’re the boss.

- Let’s get to it, than.

***

Darkness already blinded the sky above The Green Moon completely when you finally reached your ship.

- So this beauty is all yours, huh? Not too bad! - Ezra nodded approvingly, looking around.

- Well, I’m actually still paying for it… But yep, it’s mine. This ship is my home, so treat it respectfully, okay?

- Of course. I bet after the harvest we’re about to get you’ll be able to pay the rest easily.

- That’s why I chose working for myself. When you work for someone, it’s exhausting as fuck, and you don’t get nearly as much profit as you expect. Plus the people are sometimes assholes. But that’s not even the point. The point is - I have no idea how much time it would take me to earn enough if I kept working like I used to.

- You’re right, that’s a hell of a job. Don’t do that anymore either… Well, maybe some occasional contract gig when I’m not occupied with something else… Only I still prefer working with partners, you know… Someone who shares my views.

- Yeah, you’re apparently too talkative to stay alone for a long time.

- What can I do? - Ezra scoffed. - I’m a heart and soul of a party.

- And here’s where it took you… - You remarked. 

He just shrugged.

- Everything happens for a reason. You got something to eat?..

After an improvised dinner you spent a couple of hours revising supplies and preparing for tomorrow. When everything was ready, you took a wise decision to get some rest. Even though you covered the deposit with mud and moss as much as you possibly could before leaving, you still had to return to the dig early, or your place could be discovered by someone else.

- Hey, can I ask you something? - You said when you both were lying on the cots opposite each other.

- Shoot.

- What were you actually going to do? I mean… You’re alone here, with no ship, with the last filter left…What was your plan?

- Plan?.. Well I thought of finding some settlers and ask them. Perhaps I could bargain for something…

- Like what?

- No idea. I’d figure something out, I always do. That’s how I survive, - Ezra shrugged.

- This is crazy.

- Maybe. But you just can’t be prepared for absolutely anything.

- I’m at least trying to.

- Yeah, right. You hate asking for help, do you? Also I think you’ve got trust issues, sweetheart.

- I just choose to rely on myself, not someone else in the first place. And I don’t consider it an issue, end of story. And by the way, what did I tell you about “sweetheart”?

- Fine, fine, whatever you say, - he threw his hands up jokingly. You rolled your eyes.

- You know what? We could actually make a great team, - Ezra suddenly went after a pause.

- Seriously? - You huffed. - What makes you think so?

- Opposites attract.

- Bullshit. Go to sleep already.

With this you turned away from him. As you closed your eyes, you could hear him chuckling. What a cocky bastard. Yet you had to admit, at least to yourself - you really kind of missed him.

***

You woke up even earlier than expected. Partly due to nervous anticipation and partly because another person’s presence on your ship next to you felt a bit awkward. 

Ezra was still asleep, and you caught yourself staring at his calm and peaceful features with a subtle tender sensation deep inside your chest… What’s wrong with you, y/n? A guy you had a vaguely romantic relationship with about a year ago appears out of the blue and you’re already melting. What a shame. And yet… You couldn’t help thinking about what may have happened if you didn’t push him away, if you weren’t afraid… What exactly you were afraid of? Getting too close?.. Perhaps he was right about trust issues though… No, this relationship would most certainly lead to nothing. You’re too different in many ways…

Opposites attract.

You shook your head. There was no time for self-scrutiny at the moment. You had to concentrate on work. Once it’s done, you’d have time to figure out your feelings. And also find out if you can really trust him or not.

Decidedly, you stood up and reached out to shake his shoulder.

- Wake up, sleeping beauty. The gems are not gonna dig themselves out.

The man let out a soft grunt.

- Seriously, Ezra. I’m not gonna tell you twice.

- Alright, alright, I’m awake, - he squinted at you. - You’re not very sweet in the mornings, you know that?

- I’ll take it as a compliment.

***

It was an extremely productive day. You had to admit: working with a partner was way more effective than doing it alone. With Ezra’s help you also managed to bring and set a tent where you could have breaks and eat without returning to the ship. It saved you lots of time.

One of today’s trophies you were particularly proud of. You already sensed something special as you pulled out a cocoon way heavier than usual. The color was slightly different as well.

- Ezra, look, - you called out. He frowned, carefully examining your finding.

- Why do you think it’s like that? - You asked.

- No idea. But we have to be careful. Let’s find out, - he reached for a knife. - Hold it like that…

You both held your breath as he made a cut.

- Ha! Perfect, - he gave you a triumphant grin.

Once the meat was removed, you saw an aurelac gem you’ve never seen before. It was huge, and almost entirely golden.

- Have you ever seen something like that? - You asked, staring at the gem in awe.

- Never. Just heard something about it. I thought it’s a myth…

- Hey.

You took your eyes off the trophy and faced him.

- We’re not splitting the gems, right? We take the harvest, return to the center, sell it and then split the reward evenly. Agreed?

- Sounds fair to me, - Ezra nodded. - I’m in.

- Awesome. Let’s get back to work than?

- Yes, Ma’am! - He replied with a chuckle. - By the way, what are you gonna do with all this money, apart from paying for the ship?

- Didn’t really think about it…

- I’d go somewhere for a nice long vacation, - he said dreamily. - Kamrea maybe… I’ve heard it’s a lovely place... Care to join me for further inspection?..

- I don’t know.

- Ah, come on! Why not?

- I’m not completely sure if I can trust you yet, - you said honestly.

- Okay… - He paused, then smiled. - Anyway, since we’re stuck together, you still have plenty of time make up your mind.

***

Walking back to the ship that night you both felt tired but pretty content. It gets dark quite fast here on The Green Moon, so you had to use flashlights. Ezra was telling you one of his many funny stories as you walked, when you suddenly heard a rustle from the bushes to the left of you.

- Hey, did you hear it? - You asked, tensing immediately, your hand slowly moving to the thrower.

He nodded, ready to grab his weapon as well.

The rustle continued.

- Who’s there? - Ezra asked out loud, pointing the gun at the bushes. - Show yourself!

At first nothing happened. You looked at each other, shrugged and decided to keep going, but once you started moving again, three silhouettes stepped out of the darkness, blocking your way. And they were pointing throwers at you as well.

- What the hell… - Ezra muttered. - Hey guys! Maybe we’ll talk like civilized people first, how ‘bout that?..

The tallest person said something, but you didn’t understand a thing - apparently these people didn’t speak your language. And they didn’t sound very friendly.

- Harvest, - you finally heard. - We need harvest.

- Sorry to upset you, buddy, but I’m afraid it’s not gonna happen. Our harvest is ours, - Ezra replied boldly.

- Ours.

The following things happened really fast: the tallest guy pointed the gun at Ezra, but he was faster and managed to injure him. Dropping the tent on the ground you rushed to the right, shooting on your way. The enemies were shooting back. One of them fell. But it was just a start: there were more of them, to the right and the left, you couldn’t tell exactly how many. All you could do at the moment was run. And shoot. It was too dark already and you had no idea if you actually managed to hurt any of them or not… Good thing they didn’t have any night vision devices either. The ship wasn’t far. You could already see it. But damn! These people just didn’t let you go. They seemed to be everywhere. Whispers and rustles of the forest and darkness didn’t help you at all. But still you managed to move forward somehow.

At some point you lost Ezra and the panic immediately started rising up inside you. In this darkness you could easily hurt each other instead of the enemies. With a shaky voice, you called out his name, knowing full well that shouting is not a good idea, but you instantly felt relieved when his hand found yours.

- I’m here. C’mon!

He pulled you with him behind the nearest tree.

- Fuck! Who the hell are they?? - You whispered frantically.

- Pretty sure they ain’t no floaters. Just bastards who don’t wanna dig but prefer ravaging the others… Fucking pirates! They found the ship and set the trap.

- But we can make it, right? It’s not that far.

- We have to. Come on, let’s go.

Still holding hands tightly you proceeded moving towards the ship.

- Ezra, look out!

You saw a pirate stepping out of the bush right behind him, and you shot. When you pulled the trigger again, you realized the thrower was empty.

- Shit!

Ezra shot a couple more times, before his thrower went off, but thankfully his shots were tidy enough to fetch down the opponent. You ran a few of meters more and hid behind the tree again, catching your breath.

- Got more cassettes? - You asked him.

He searched in his pocket.

- Just one.

Damn. The situation was getting even worse.

- Okay, got an idea, - Ezra said decidedly. - Here’s what we’re gonna do. You take the case with gems and run to the ship as fast as you can. I cover you with the thrower. Get inside and start the engine. If I won't be there in… Two minutes - you take off. Clear?

The plan was risky, but what else you could do? In these circumstances you just had no other choice than to trust him.

- Y/n? Can you do that?

- Yeah… Yes, I think I can, - you nodded, breathing heavily. - Let’s do it.

- Okay.

Ezra reached his pocket and recharged his thrower with a new cassette.

- Ready? - He asked and you nodded again. - Oh, wait.

He took something off his front pocket and tucked it into yours. You thought it was probably his empty cassettes to recharge on board the ship.

- There. Now go!

- Two minutes, right?

- Two minutes, - he nodded reassuringly and squeezed your hand in his for a split second. Enough to make your heart shrink. - Go!

Without further hesitation, you took a deep breath and rushed towards the ship. Your heart was hammering wildly inside your chest; all you could hear was your heavy breathing and the shots behind you. Someone wailed in pain. You were hoping with all your heart it wasn’t Ezra.

Only a few steps were separating you from the ship when suddenly a dark figure appeared right in front of you, as if out of nowhere. You had no time to think about what you were doing. As you saw the thrower pointed at you, you had to use the only possible weapon you had - the case with gems. So you did. Before the stranger managed to pull the trigger, your case crashed against the front of his helmet. You heard the sound of cracking glass and hit again; suddenly the case popped open and about a half of its content scattered to the ground. Apparently you broke the lock somehow, but there was no time to collect the stones. Taking the advantage of your enemy being disoriented, you rushed to the door and entered the security code with shaky fingers. Whoever these pirates were, they definitely weren’t smart enough to crack this code and break inside the ship.

Taking off your helmet and gloves, you ran to the cockpit, quickly started the engines, and then recharged your thrower in case if Ezra needed help.

“Two minutes.”

The time was running out. All of a sudden you realized how you’re actually afraid of losing him.

- Come on, Ezra!.. - You muttered through clenched teeth, staring at your watch. Less than half a minute left.

“I’m not gonna take off without him.”

You stood up, grabbed the thrower, and headed back to the door. A sudden loud noise following by a low grunt made you flinch.

- Ezra? - You shouted. - Ezra, is that you?

There was no answer and you felt like sinking.

- Ezra?..

- Yes, that’s me! Take off! NOW!

You let out a deep sigh of relief and ran back to the cockpit.

“Alright than… 3… 2… 1…”

- Ezra, hold onto something!

The engines roared and the ship took off. You closed your eyes, trying to breathe evenly and compose yourself.

“It’s over. We’re safe now.”

***

In a few minutes the ship left the planet’s orbit, so you could finally switch on the automatic flight control and go check on Ezra. He still wasn’t around and you worried he might be hurt. The dust of The Green Moon made every single scratch a possible lethal danger.

You found him next to the door, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

- Ezra… Is everything alright?.. - You asked anxiously, hunkering down next to him. - Are you injured?..

He opened his eyes and looked up at you.

- I’m fine… Y/n… You won’t believe it, but… I think I twisted my ankle, - he scoffed.

For the second time tonight you didn’t know if you wanted to laugh or to cry because of relief. Unable to contain yourself, you leaned into him in a swift motion and hugged him tightly. Your reaction was so sudden it caused him jerk a little, but the next moment you felt him hugging you back.

- Hey… He whispered softly, letting his fingers run through your hair. – What did I tell you? Take off in two minutes. And how long did you wait?..

- I’ve always been stubborn, - you smirked against his shoulder.

- That’s what I always liked about you.

 ***

Later in your quarters, after you both finally got rid of the suits, you were helping Ezra to fix his ankle with a bandage.

- See, I was right, - He pointed out. - We really do make a good team. We have to think about working together in the future, huh?

- You know, I was really pissed at you, - You confessed. - When you left. I didn’t really care about the gems and stuff... But... It’s just that you simply disappeared without saying a word... As if I meant nothing for you.

You weren’t completely sure why you were telling this to him. Just a sudden desire to finally make it clear about how you felt. Ezra looked at you carefully, knitting his brow.

- I mean... I agree that it’s my fault as well, I really did pushed you away myself, so what else did I expect, but... still... - At this you stumbled, lost for words.

- Y/n, don’t. That was really shitty of me to leave like that, ‘cause it’s absolutely not true about you meaning nothing... I just... - He sighed deeply and the soft look in his brown eyes made your heart skip a beat. - I totally should have been more persistent.

Having said that, he reached out, his fingertips grazing against your cheek. A soft, barely perceptible touch, yet still so full of affection.

- I’m sorry, - he whispered, and leaned in.

The next thing you felt was his lips, warm and gentle against yours. The kiss was incredibly tender and quite chaste, but nevertheless it made you weak. Ezra pulled away a little, as if waiting for your reaction, but when you gripped onto his shoulders, he didn’t hesitate any longer. His lips crushed back on yours feverishly, his breath hot, and his tongue pushing inside your mouth decidedly, sending millions of shivers down your spine. He tasted and felt exactly the same as a year ago, but this time you both were way more desperate and needy at the sudden realization - you could have died tonight. In a way this kiss was a celebration of life, but also only now you realized very clearly how much you needed this, how long you’ve been completely on your own; and how you actually missed him, his touch and his warmth.

You gripped the back of his neck, pulling him even closer, melting against his frame with a trembling gasp as he let go of your lips only to nibble on your jawline. Your head felt light and dizzy of his closeness, sloppy kisses on your neck, tickling sensation of his facial hair against sensitive skin.

Deliriously, you let your hands wander to the hem of his shirt, slipping underneath and caressing his belly. Ezra let go of you for a moment to pull the t-shirt off over his head and toss it aside. His body was firm and tanned and you marveled at the sight. Your shirt went next, and then he pulled you back in his embrace. The skin-to-skin contact almost made you shudder, almost too much for your touch starved body. Almost unbearable, but you still craved for it. Your breath quickened as his tongue traced your collarbone while his fingers struggled to undo your bra. You reached behind your back to help him and soon your breasts were exposed to his hungry eyes, darkened with lust. You bit your lip as his thumbs brushed against your hardened nipples, it was like the sparks of electricity flashing through your body. Greedily, he kissed your lips again, pulling you down on the cot with him, on top of him.

As you straddled him, you could feel how hard he already was underneath you. Unable to let go of his lips, you started slowly grinding against him to release the pressure building in your core, earning a quiet moan from him. It encouraged you to go further and trace his neck with your tongue. You could feel him shivering, tightening his grip on your hips.

He let you explore his body for a while, tracing his chest with your fingertips, peppering his collarbones with soft kisses, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to take it for too long. It’s been a while since someone touched him with real affection. At some point he just couldn’t contain himself any longer. Letting out a low groan, he seized your waist and flipped you onto your back. Your surprised gasp was muffled by his lips capturing yours again, before moving further down your body. The tip of his tongue just barely touched a hard peak of your nipple, but it caused you whimper out loud. Tenderly, he kissed his way between your breasts and down your belly, along the hem of your sweatpants, before tugging them down slowly.

When he pressed a soft kiss on your mound through the thin cotton of your underwear, you were about to scream. There was too much of him, to many sensations at once, and your insides were tingling and aching for release, but you couldn’t get rid of a slightly awkward feeling. You’ve never been that exposed to a man before. Emotionally and physically.

Ezra seemed to feel your tension. Frowning, he looked up at you.

- Uh, y/n… did you ever…

You felt blush creeping up your cheeks.

- Sorry, I… didn’t have much time for romance… - You mumbled.

- It’s okay, - he hushed, his deep brown eyes looking at you with such warmth and affection you couldn’t help but smile. - Just relax. You won’t regret it. Trust me.

You nodded, taking a deep breath. Trust him. Yes, you did trust him.

Once your panties were gone, he positioned himself between your thighs, and his hot breath against your center made you tremble with anticipation. Then his tongue carefully slid past your folds and you almost purred at the blissful sensation. After a few long and unhurried licks he settled at your throbbing clit, sucking on it gently, and it didn’t take long before you finally exploded, writhing and moaning shamelessly, fingers entangled into his soft messy hair. He kept going through your climax, licking you clean until the overstimulation caused you flinch. You were still a panting mess when he made his way back to your parted lips.  

Slowly kissing him back, you could taste yourself on his tongue, and even though your insides still fluttered a bit in an aftermath of your climax, you still knew you needed more of him.

- You alright? - He asked quietly, stroking your cheek with his knuckles.

- Uh-huh, - you made, kissing his upper lip while reaching between your bodies to cup his bulge. He sighed, slightly bucking his hips at your touch.

- Ezra, - you whispered, your face so close to his your noses touched. – I… think you should take off your pants now…

- That makes sense, I guess, - he snickered mischievously, placing one more quick kiss on your lips before getting on his feet and tugging off his pants and underwear.

Hovering over you, Ezra pressed his forehead against yours, closing his eyes and humming softly as your fingers trailed down his torso, through the hairs on his lower belly, to stroke along his length. The throbbing, teasing sensation was driving him crazy, yet your sweet caress, so gentle and intimate, almost made him melt. He both craved for release and wanted it to last forever. He opened his eyes, met your gaze, and kissed you again, deeply and passionately, causing you tremble beneath him.

- I need you, - you breathed out against his mouth, and he obeyed. The sensation of him filling you up was overwhelming. He moved slowly at first, allowing you to adjust, but soon your moans and gasps of pleasure encouraged him to pick up the pace. Clinging to him, you enjoyed every second of this intimacy. Everything felt so good: the weight of his body on top of yours, his hot breath on your skin, quiet moans and grunts escaping him… Digging your nails into his shoulders you arched your hips to meet his thrusts, urging him to go deeper. His hand slid under the bend of your knee, lifting your leg a bit to get a better angle. You whimpered desperately, jolts of pleasure flashing deep within your core as he hit that sweet spot of yours, bringing you closer and closer to the edge. A couple more thrusts and you clenched around him, a wave of pure ecstasy washing all over your body from head to toes. Ezra felt dangerously close too. He pulled out with a groan and let go. Through the haze of your post-orgasmic bliss you could feel his warm load spilling over your belly.

He collapsed on top of you, panting, and you were simply lying like that for a while, his face buried into the crook of your neck, your fingers caressing his hair. You felt warm and sated, and completely safe in his arms. Ezra lifted his head lazily to look at you. His eyes were soft and sparkling, and you felt so much tenderness for him at the moment, that you couldn’t possibly put it into words. Instead, you kissed him. You kissed the corners of his mouth, the tip of his nose. You kissed that little wrinkle he had between his eyebrows and let your fingers run through his tousled hair. He had this little blond streak and you remembered asking him about it once, but he wasn’t sure himself when and how he actually got it. Anyway, you always found it adorable. Ezra took your hand in his and brought it to his mouth to kiss your knuckles.

- That was… Pretty intense, huh?.. - He smiled.

- Oh yes, it was.

- You know what we need right now? A shower.

- True, - you agreed. - You can go first then. The shower cabin is too small for the two of us anyways…

- Bullshit. Pretty sure we can fit. If we get close enough, - Ezra smirked. - You’re going with me, sweetheart. End of subject.

- Yes, sir, - you laughed.

Finally you could admit - you actually liked him calling you “sweetheart”. A lot.

***

You woke up lying on Ezra’s chest instead of a pillow. His calm and even breath and the warmth of his body against you felt nice and comforting, and not awkward at all this time.

In the world you lived, there was one thing you knew for sure - you had to be tough. Showing weakness was never safe. But now, with him for the first time in ages you weren’t afraid of being opened up and vulnerable. And it didn’t even matter how different you were. Yes, you’re the quiet one and he’s talkative, he’s chaotic and you’re organized, he’s spontaneous and you always need a plan… But none of these was important. The most important thing was - deep inside you both felt loneliness. Now you weren’t lonely anymore.

You felt like you could spend a lifetime just snuggling like that, it was perfection, except one thing - you realized you were hungry as a wolf. Unable to bear with the rumbling of your stomach any longer, you carefully slipped out of the bed, put on some clothes and headed to the cockpit.

Your backpack was still lying there on the floor. You opened it and grabbed a couple of protein bars and a thermos bottle. Sitting on the floor with your legs crossed, you took a sip of warm drink. Your body was aching but it was a pleasant sensation. You glanced at the timer on the dashboard to find out you still had a few hours until landing. No rush.

The case was there too, next to the backpack. You reached out and opened it. Damn. More than a half of your harvest was lost, including that rare big golden gem. You sighed. Well, at least you were alive and well… And in fact, you found something way more valuable than gemstones.

“Everything happens for a reason. “

You heard his footsteps behind you and smiled.

- Morning… - Ezra’s voice was a little hoarse after sleep. He bent down and kissed the top of your head before sitting next to you.

- Morning. Are you hungry? - You handed him a protein bar.

- I sure am, - he chucked, leaning in and gently nibbling on your exposed shoulder.

- I didn’t mean that hunger, - you scoffed.

- Well, that too, - he took a large bite of his snack.

- Hey, what’s wrong? - He frowned, as he followed your gaze and spotted the opened case.

- Well, nothing particularly terrible. It’s just… I guess your dream vacation has to wait for a while… - You shrugged, and told him what happened on your way to the ship.

- Oh yeah, I saw that guy with a smashed helmet… Almost tripped over him actually… That’s pretty badass! - He nodded in appreciation. - Um… By the way… You didn’t check the front pocket of your suit, did you?

- Nope, - you narrowed your eyes. - Why? I thought you just gave me your empty cassettes…

- There were cassettes, yes… But… There was also something else…

Intrigued, you got on your feet. Your suit was hanging next to the door. You dove your hand into the front pocket and fished out something wrapped in a piece of cloth. Carefully you unwrapped the bundle and gasped in surprise: it was the big golden gem.

- B-but… - You stuttered, turning to Ezra and giving him a questioned look. - How?... Did you steal this gem?..

- What? No! You saw all the gems when you closed the case before heading back. How could I possibly do that? Magic powers?

- Than I’m confused.

- Don’t be. It’s not the same stone, it’s another one. Remember I told you I’ve heard of these gems? Well I also heard there are usually two of them, on the opposite sides of the dig.

- Opposites… - You murmured softly and he gave you a broad smile.

- That’s right. Just like you and me, huh?

- But why didn’t you tell me?

- Just wanted to surprise you. It’s simple as that. And it seems to me that mischief managed, - he chuckled.

- Bastard, - you laughed.

- Love you too.

- Is that… A confession? - You blurted out.

- Most likely it is, - Ezra smirked, stepping closer to you and cupping your cheek. - All I know is you are way, way more precious than any gem, sweetheart. Ugh... This actually sounds a bit cheesier than I expected…

- It’s okay, - you hushed, leaning in for a kiss. - I think I can deal with it.

***

For everyone who read until the end - thank you very much for your time and patience!

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

Mango, how do the boys dance? I kinda wanna draw them but I’d like to know which styles they’d prefer. (If I’ve missed a post about this I’m very sorry)

Interesting question! I go more in dept about the dark sides in this post but i can summarize and add the others:

Patton doesn’t really know how to dance, but he does enjoy doing it! He can do those big group party dances that are done at town halls for parties and festivals, but aside from that its a lot of “funky suburban dad just trying his best”

Logan is an excellent dancer....as long as he is doing something he knows. He took several classes on the subject, and quickly converted the lessons to memory, so he looks like a natural when it comes to ballroom dancing! But, he’s not actually all that graceful, and if he’s made to improvise, it gets very bad very fast. He will trip and fall.

Roman is a very good dancer! Him and Remus were trained in all kinds of styles as children, so there’s very little they can’t do. Roman’s dancing is a little smoother than Remus’s, but Remus is more energetic, and better at improvising. They both really like the couple’s dances, like waltz, tango, swing, etc.

Dee is a decent dancer, but he doesn’t know many steps. He knows what he has had the patience to let Remus and Virgil teach him, which basically stopped after waltz and swing, because the rest was too fast and too much work. He does know how to bellydance, though, as it is a tradition for Yuan-ti.

Virgil is an amazing dancer, definitely the best in the party. (Logan is better when he’s following his steps, but aside from that, i mean.) He learned everything from Remus, and added in his own flair from the gymnastics he had to practice as a kid. He really enjoys ballroom, ballet, and contemporary, because the first two are fun and fast exercise (and bonding time with Remus), and the second is basically just doing his stretches/training, but in a way that’s more fun and allows him to show off

[square-enix-headcanons]

Hi I wanted to ask you if you could rank the organziation members by their cooking abilities? Like who could pull a 5 stars meal and who would more likely end up with burned cornflakes. And who would like baking more than cooking?

Prefers cooking: Xigbar, Vexen, Saix, MarluxiaPrefers baking: Xemnas, Axel, XionLikes/Dislikes both equally: Xaldin, Lexaeus, Zexion, Demyx, Luxord, Larxene, Roxas

Ranking:

Marluxia. He might not get up to a 5 Star meal, but his cooking is actually really good. He doesn’t do it often, but when he does, it feels vaguely familiar to him; pretty good at improvising, but he also looks up recipes occasionally. While he can go for something fancy, Marly prefers more simple recipes.

Luxord. He’s pretty good at it, and it’s something he enjoys doing in his free time. Usually he starts by looking up a recipe, and then adds his own little spin on it. He especially likes trying out fancy stuff.

Xaldin & Lexaeus are pretty much equal, though their strengths lie in different parts of cooking. Lex is especially good at making the “base” of the food so it’s got a nice look, texture, and taste, while Xaldin is really good at refining food with different spices and getting it from “Nice” to “Delicious”. When they were still apprentices, they often ended up cooking together for that reason, with Aeleus preparing the base and Dilan making the food great.

Demyx. Demyx is actually kinda hard to place; a lot of his stuff comes out wrong, but that’s because he likes to experiment. If he makes stuff that has worked at least once before, it probably works again. (Just don’t give him a recipe, for some reason he’s really bad at following those.)

Larxene. While her cooking is pretty much okay, she really doesn’t enjoy it. And that shows; she has a couple of recipes she knows and can do well enough that they taste good, but she wouldn’t look up new ones, for example.

Zexion. Opposite of Demyx in a way - He can make some really decent food, but only if he has a recipe to follow; he’s bad at improvising. That also means that while his food is nice enough, it’s often a little bit bland, since he tends to not think about spices.

Vexen. Similar to Larxene, he really doesn’t enjoy cooking. It’s time consuming and annoying. Most of the recipes he knows are really simple and fast for that reason.

Saix. He’s like, barely better than Axel; edible, but not great. Interestingly, Saix’s baking skills are a bit better than his cooking skills - But he doesn’t like to bake.

Axel. It’s... Edible, mostly. He won’t starve to death if left to his own devices, but it’s not great food, either. Baking is more fun to him, but that doesn’t mean he’s any better at it. However, there are a few things he can do pretty well.

Xigbar. Usually edible, but that’s pretty much all that can be said about it. He doesn’t really care, to be honest; as long as his food means he doesn’t die, it’s fulfilled its role.

Xemnas. He uh... Doesn’t normally cook. He is not good at it. Let’s leave it at that.

Xion & Roxas share this spot; they do have potential, it’s just that they’ve never done it before, so if you put them in the kitchen, it’s kinda just... “????”. They’ve never cracked an egg before, for example, nor do they have any idea which temperature they should put the stove, etc.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Venom review

You know, Venom really isn’t so bad.

Not that you’d know that. Critics everywhere are saying this movie is bad, with the more lenient reviews calling it “So bad it’s good.” It has been compared to The Happening, I’ve seen it compared to Catwoman, it has been called a disaster, it has been called a pile of shit… and frankly I’m still kind of unsure why after seeing it. I think the “so bad it’s good” argument has a bit more merit, but even then, I don’t actually think the film is bad enough for that. This isn’t Suicide Squad we’re talking about, my brain was on for this whole movie. It’s silly, a bit campy, kind of goofy… but I think Venom is a pretty solid movie.

Of course, right out the door Venom has an uphill battle: it’s a PG-13 version of the notoriously violent brain-eating anti-hero, so of course the lack of gruesome brain-eating is pretty disappointing. That being sad, Venom has been good in more family-friendly environments, like the PS1 Spidey game or the various cartoons, so it’s not an impossible sell. The bigger hurdle is overcoming the character’s connection to Spider-Man, but frankly I think people make a bigger deal out of that than is necessary. Venom is a cool character regardless of Spider-Man or not, and I think this movie does a solid job of establishing that. Venom doesn’t NEED Spider-Man, not necessarily. I certainly wasn’t crying over Spidey’s absence in this movie (though considering where Spidey is as of Infinity War… yeah, you know, probably a good reason why he can’t show up).

Anyway, here’s the story: Eddie Brock is a journalist, and one who kinda does what he believes is right, consequences be damned. Too bad he decided to go up against a corrupt billionaire and ended up destroying his own life and relationships in the process. Eddie gets a chance at redemption when one of said billionaire’s scientists gives him some secret details of what the guy is up to; Eddie sneaks into the labs this guy runs and ends up getting infected with an alien parasite. Now the billionaire wants his alien back, but that’s easier said than done when it has bonded with Eddie quite well, though it turns out to be more of a shoulder devil than a shoulder angel. Can Eddie curb this alien’s violent tendencies and figure out what to do before he gets captured?

Ok so that plot summary is kind of a mess, but then so is the plot. But it’s not a mess in the sense that something like, say, Suicide Squad is, where it’s a trainwreck to the point of being incomprehensible. No, Venom is more of a mess in the sense that the plot shifts gears so often it’s honestly a bit nuts. So much shit happens in the span of this film, it’s almost ludicrous. I believe Tom Hardy said in an interview that about forty minutes were cut, and honestly, it does kind of feel like it when some scenes end abruptly and some plot points just happen so fast. All that being said, the movie is still pretty straightforward and simple, and while there are bumps the ride is mostly enjoyable.

This really comes down to the absolutely brilliant and bonkers performance from Tom Hardy. Muttering in some completely unknown accent and just having the most epic freakouts and reactions imaginable, he seems to be channeling Jim Carrey from the 90s in this film, and I mean that as the highest compliment. While Eddie Brock is a bit cookie cutter in terms of character archetype, Hardy injects quite a bit of charm and likability while still making Brock a flawed but still likable character. Brock is a lot nicer than usual, but he broke into his fiancee’s computer for private files and ended up getting her fired and is okay with Venom eating people he deems as evil, so it’s clear Brock isn’t 100% nice. It really shows that a lot of Hardy’s performance was improvised, and frankly I think that was for the best; Hardy knows what he’s doing, and it pays off well as even in the duller moments Hardy carries this film.

The bickering friendship between Brock and Venom is really amusing, and Venom himself when he shows up is cool. Frankly there’s a lot of homoerotic tension here, which culminates in Venom possessing Eddie’s former flame and making out with him (as I’m sure you’ve already heard everywhere; it makes more sense in context). I guess that level of closeness just comes from being a symbiote. The best part of it all though is Venom’s eventual rationale for becoming a good guy: Venom was a loser on his home planet, just like Eddie, but together they’re a lot cooler. I am not fucking kidding. Seeing such a bizarre and silly rationale played straight like that (or IS it being played straight?) is so absolutely endearing to me; a lot of the stuff in this movie is like that.

The action is mostly ok, but it’s not anything too special. I think that neutering the film to a PG-13 was a huge mistake on Sony’s part, because they could have had a very impressive amount of black comedy on their hands. Oh, there’s still some good dark jokes here and there, but I feel like it would have been so much better if all the gory glory was on display. If they are gonna do Carnage, as the mid-credits scene teases, they better be prepared to up that rating because a neutered Venom is one thing, but a neutered Carnage is inexcusable. But yeah, the action is a bit generic but passable, which is also what can be said for the evil symbiote Riot. He’s an okay villain, but not amazing or anything. You’ll probably be wishing they had just made Carnage the bad guy, though I do have to give them props for using a character that not many people know about. I always like when comic book movies utilize less well known characters.

Overall, this film is a lot of goofy, cheesy fun. It is by no means a perfect film, but I do think it lays a decent foundation for sequels, and most importantly, unlike Sony’s previous attempts to make a Spider-Man movie, this film is very standalone and doesn’t try and shoehorn in a bunch of elements for an expanded universe like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did. So props for that Sony, you’re slowly learning! I’d definitely say check this out, especially if you’re a more casual comic book movie fan or are a big fan of cheesy early 2000s style superhero movies; I will say this is a lot more Raimi Spider-Man than theatrical Daredevil or Catwoman at least. If you’re a hardcore Venom nut who is appalled that he could be PG-13, just skip this and wait to see if they release an extended cut, because I think if there is one it could help the film be a lot better. Bottom line, it’s a fun film if you’re in the right mind for it, and I do think there is enough genuinely good elements to keep it from being bad enough to be “so bad it’s good;” with a little more polish this film could have been genuinely great, and I definitely think sequels can improve upon what was laid out here.

If nothing else, this is 100% genuinely better than the last time Venom appeared in a live-action film. I may have forgiven Spider-Man 3 for a lot of its sins to be able to find it unironically decent… but some  stains just run too deep to ever be fully cleansed. Topher Grace Venom is one such stain.

[edh-a-to-z]

Dominaria - Legendaries, Part 1.

JUST IN TIME FOR THE PRE-RELEASE

There’s 30+ Legendary Creatures and Planeswalkers.

That’s like some Kamigawa, like some Legends level of legends. And that’s not including all the Legendary other cards I covered in my other sections.

So I’ll split them up. White and Blue and Black, Red and Green, then the Multicolors, Planeswalkers.

White

Danitha Capashen, Paragon

1 of the 99: B

Commander: C+

Builds: Voltron

Whew, that’s a good card. Good as a one-of for equipment and other Voltron decks, as well as making a solid Voltron option herself. 

And look at that french vanilla word salad! Boy, have we come a long way from the Uncommon Legendaries of Legends. 

Baird, Steward of Argive

1 of the 99: B+

Commander: D-

Builds: Pillowfort, Combo

Baird is straightforward. He’s a defensive commander. He’s there to tax people attacking you. Unfortunately hiding being a fort in MonoWhite isn’t really that great.

He’s a great choice for established Pillowfort Suites looking for more defensive options, and ones that need some blockers. For W more than Ghostly Prison, you also get a 2/4 vigilant blocker - nice to hit undefended players, and keep out stray creatures that pay the tax.

Evra, Halcyon Witness

1 of the 99: ???

Commander: D

Builds:  Voltron, Lifegain

If you got guts, this can be a killing machine. At best we get a new health of 4-6 (if we can buff Evra), so we’re hyper-vulnerable to Instant speed damage. If we have 8 mana, we can swap again, so that’s nice.

We can sneak in thanks to White’s great relation with Equipment or Auras (and thus unblockability), and Evra can easily kill a player. As one of the 99, we can also use some Boros toys, like extra attack steps and Fling. 

Kwende, Pride of Femeref

1 of the 99: B- (In a Narrow FS deck)

Commander: D

Builds: Voltron, Go-Wide

Best friends with Archetype of Courage. First Strike can always be found in White, and if we can get some evasion or Trample, we can really raise hell. With an army of First Strikers, you can make a nasty assault on the field. Seems like an easy to build commander, and a usable asset in a lot of White decks relying on combat tricks (tons of combat tricks grand FS as well!)

Lyra Dawnbringer

1 of the 99: B

Commander: C+

Builds: Angel Tribal, Lifegain

Baneslayer Angel basically. And that’s just where it starts - it makes the whole Angel token crew become Baneslayers. 

Also makes a solid beater creature, or any deck with a handful of angels, or some Angel token creators. You can include non-angels alongside the set of Angelic Armaments, Angelic Destiny, Call to Serve. 

I’ve waited my entire life for this commander, so take my ratings here with a grain of salt. The first Angel Angelic Tribe commander. She’s a simple, elegant dame. Plus, with all this lifegain, LG win-cons are super easy when you get life at chunks of 5 at a time.

Shalai, Voice of Plenty

1 of the 99: A-

Commander: C

Builds: Counters.dec, Combo

It must be my birthday, two angel legends. Feels like Avacyn Restored. 

Technically Selesnya, and feels like a Sigarda, and looks like a fairly costed card. The last mana dump ability is sugar on top of its amazing text. Play Avacyn 1.0 alongside her to see non-UB players start crying.

Doesn’t really enable any particular win-con, but Creature hexproof makes combos easier, and fits really well into any other deck trying to do...well...anything.

Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle

1 of the 99: B+

Commander: C+

Builds: Artifact, Historic

I like free stuff. And this fella plays the Sun Titan better than Titan sometimes. Given that Red and Blue have much more artifact synergy, and Sisay makes the best Legendary deck pilot, and I’m not sure about Sagas in EDH yet.

There’s plenty of CMC>= 3 creatures out there, from classic white HateBears to mana dorks. Teshar feels more like a 1 of the 99 legendary so the birb can have more color synergy, 

Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp

1 of the 99: D

Commander: D+

Builds: Voltron, Blue Goodstuff

3U and Improvise is nice. Basically a strictly better Mahamoti Djinn, but I still wouldn’t run that as a commander if I have other monoblue options, and same CMC I could play Wurmcoil Engine. 

Not dodging Commander Tax is disappointing, but not too bad. Mechanically fine, but not my cuppa tea.

But seriously, I wouldn’t have Mahamoti as my commander, and I’d barely consider it for 1 of the 99.

Naban, Dean of Iterations

1 of the 99: B+

Commander: C

Builds: Wizard Tribal

I love ETB effects, and wizards have a lot of good ones, even simple ones like Archaeomancer. Also works fine with going crazy on Aura Shards or Cathar’s Crusade. Works better as part of the team than the commander, but Naban will be a solid workhorse like Brago and blinking.

He’s so bloody cheap it’s hard to deny using him. Grab a Panharmonicon and have some fun.

Naru Meha, Master Wizard

1 of the 99: C

Commander: D

Builds: Spellslinger, Wizard Tribal

For 1 more mana than Dualcaster Mage, you get 2 more stats and a Lord effect. Decent for a tribal commander, but since Inalla is already so good, Naru has some tough competition.

And adding 1 to Dualcaster makes it a lot worse, unless we’re throwing infinite mana round.

Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive

1 of the 99: B

Commander: B

Builds: Infect, Ninjitsu, Vraska’s Assassins (Sultai?)

The newest delivery system for murder. So many 1 mana creatures can deal some nasty effects when unblockable, from Vraska 1.0′s Ult assassins, to Master of Cruelties. 

For mono-blue, there’s a handful of Blue Infect creatures like Viral Drake. Plus literally any creature - super top heavy stuff...okay, Red has most of the X/1 creatures, but I think there’s tons of potential here.

Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep

Free Willie

1 of the 99: C

Commander: D-

Builds: Leviathan Tribal?

Kraken tribal is there. Whelming Wave, and now this, it’s time is soon. /s

Blue loves a big body, and for a kicker of 1U, Whelming Wave is a 95% chance of a board wipe, with 2% being that one time someone else played a blue fatty, but that’s okay, and 3% when you go against Merfolk Tribal, which isn’t. 

Sure, any 8 mana 10 mana spell can get countered, and it makes you feel like trash, but so what? Splashy plays are the name of the game, and it’s why casual EDH exists.

Demonlord Belzenlok

Gas Demon, Ultimate Faker

1 of the 99: B

Commander: D-

Builds: Griselbrand Wannabe, 

Hey, why is he an Elder? 

He draws only nonlands, and can chain a bunch of 4+ card draw. So if you build your deck to have a CMC of 4 average, he can probably net you 1-3 cards, maybe more on lucky days where Sol Ring doesn’t mess things up.

In top-heavy CMC decks, he’s more dangerous, as he could pull ten or fifteen cards in really bad days.

Exile and Reveal clause kinda stinks for black, who usually gets to tutor and draw in secret from their library.

Josu Vess, Lich Knight

1 of the 99: B+

Commander: D

Builds: Tokens, Zombie Tribal, Go Wide

Wow, some seriously scary zombie token army, that doesn’t entered tapped.

Josu is fairly priced with some evasion. The real deal is the kicker - 16/16 worth of Menace stats for 6 extra mana is a bargain. Zombie and Knight are nominally useful tribal types, especially the former.

The only big problem is he’s. so. darn. EXPENSIVE. Down on turn 10 (optimally turn 8) is slow as heck, and lets your opponents dig up ways to deal with him and his army.

Karazov, Sengir Pureblood

1 of the 99: C

Commander: C+

Builds: Voltron, Vamp Tribal, Ping.dec

A decent enough Voltron with evasion and easy growth. Technically Rakdos, but I left this in the mono colored commander section.

Bringing in any Red AOE like Anger of the Gods or Pyroclasm will pump Kazarov fast, but the fact it drops at turn 7 really hurts his offensive potential. A threat you see coming 7 turns away? I bet someones already tutored/drawn Swords to Plowshares.

Torgaar, Famine Incarnate

1 of the 99: C

Commander: B+

Builds: Voltron~, Exquisite Blood

It’s been theorycrafted to get this guy out turn 1 (Swamp - Dark Ritual - three 0 drops, maybe two and a 1 drop, sac play) and probably doable turn 2-3.

He sets someone to . Great way to control the LG player like Magister Sphinx or Sorin Markov. Also makes it easier to beat face.

Torgaar ain’t complicated, get it out fast, buff it, whale on someone. Find some blink effects and keep everyone’s life total under wraps, or increase yours to 20 if below. Have fun!

Urgoros, the Empty One

1 of the 99: D

Commander: F

Builds: Discard Synergy, Voltron

Feels like Specters haven’t been around in a while.

Compare with Hypnotic Specter. It’s a flyer that, when it connects, forces a random discard. Unlike most specters, it also has a case where there’s another benefit if it can’t force a discard, so that’s nice.

With that said, a 4/3 flyer for 6 is a rough sell. Type doesn’t matter, evasion is only so-so, ability isn’t amazing, and it has no protection so it sits naked in the field for a turn.

Whisper, Blood Liturgist

1 of the 99: B

Commander: B-

Builds: Entomb, Meren-Style GY, Sac Decks, Token decks

Whisper is the cream of the uncommon crop. Built for combo potential, she needs some help to get going.

We need something to drop 2+ tokens, and maybe have a Phyrexian/Ashnod’s Altar out to make some mana. With some blue spells like Freed from the Real you can untap her all you want, resurrect all your big Entomb’d creatures, and run wild. 

Works better as 1 of the 99 to get access to Blue’s untapping, and other colors offer more variety of creatures, but a solid Black commander.

Yargle, Glutton of Urborg

1 of the 99: F

Commander: F

Builds: Memes

Memes aside, it doesn’t pass the Bolt test. There’s Legends legends that are more interesting than this.

So that’s the first batch of Legendaries.

I was happily surprised to see solid Uncommon Legendaries, and am looking forward to seeing them on the battlefield.

See you soon campers.

[theplagueraven]

Wanted to try my hand at something extra teeny tiny, as well as relatively fast, pretty different from what I usually do. Man, it's kinda tough going quick and doing it tiny! Especially with little details and trying to smooth things out. I can barely fit my tools in there to do stuff! I also ran out of clay so I didn't have enough to do her cheek fur or hair tuft (I improvised with the hair tuft after baking and stuff because she looked so EMPTY WITHOUT HER FLUFF). Got a bit scorched in the oven, and I have yet to discover a way to keep light-colored clay from becoming fuzzy from EVERYTHING IN THE ROOM. I tried. T_T SHE'S SO SMOL SHE CAN FIT ON A QUARTER. AND ZEPHYR LOOKS SO GIANT NEXT TO HER, AAHHH Done with colored Premo Sculpey clay, with some white paint for the placements and eye highlights, and grey for the paw pads. Everything else (including eyes!) is all colored clay! Someday I'll have a proper lightbox and a decent camera again OTL

[thisgirlhastales]

Keith unintentionally spies on Lance in the training room  … (Part Two)

… where the Blue Paladin is kicking ass. And Keith’s kind of mesmerized by it. Then he’s more than mesmerized — he’s freaking out because he’s actually kinda sorta into this brutally efficient soldier version of Lance. 

(Part One Here)

By the time Lance gets to the final staging area, Keith is holding his breath. He has no idea how long it’s been (it normally takes him between twenty to thirty minutes to complete this battle simulation himself). But Lance has been powerfully fast, and, even though his chest is heaving, seemingly indefatigable.

At first, Keith thinks the heat spreading throughout his body is in empathy to seeing Lance so sweaty and disheveled. But a snarky, rather Blue Paladin–sounding voice is informing him that, Dude, you are deluding yourself right now, and it’s kinda sad. You know what this is.

And what really sucks is that Keith can’t deny it with the evidence right in front of him. 

Lance is at the penultimate set of barriers, and the reason why Keith usually starts charging with his sword at this point is because, soon enough, the gladiators will do the same — and that is exactly what starts to happen.

But Lance, Lance manages to fire off three more shots, taking down three more gladiators, before he volts himself over his cover and proceeds to beat the crap out of the robots with his rifle. Keith’s mouth is now open far down enough to probably hit his knees.

Lance is not bad when they’re out fighting the good fight. He’s quick, he’s a good shot, and when he’s not bragging about it, he’s a fairly decent pilot. Keith has even said these things out loud to the Blue Paladin, which somehow made Lance even more annoying — because now he tries to goad Keith into saying them all the time, and if Keith didn’t like him so much, it would be ...

Ah, there it is, the snarky voice in his head sounds satisfied, and that is definitely Lance’s tone that his brain has chosen to use, and Keith is so a goner.

The point he was trying to reason out in his head (not the stupid crush thing, let that go for now, freak out later) was that Lance had never really had the opportunity to do something like this — not when Keith and Shiro were the upfront, close-combat fighters, with Pidge, Hunk, and Lance performing range and support roles. It worked best that way. 

(Except yesterday, when Keith hadn’t seen the Galra soldier creeping up on him until it was too late — until the sword stabbed into his back, aiming for his heart, but just missing.)

Lance smashes one gladiator in the face, bringing it down and stomping it into submission while he raises his rife and fires at two more. Then he ducks under the electrified baton of another that got too close — Keith hisses at the near miss, at the sinuous way Lance avoids the hit — and manages to bring his weapon up again, shooting rapidly.

The Blue Paladin makes it to the finish line by rolling beneath and between several robot gladiators, and he’s there, kneeling with his rifle up, gasping for air, when everything powers down and the Castle’s computer announces, “Simulation complete. Final time sixteen doboshes and forty-two ticks.”

Lance had beaten Keith’s best time by nearly four minutes. “Holy crap.” 

While he’d said it very quietly, he had also spoken into silence, so his voice carries, almost painfully loud.

Lance whips around, his eyes widening, and their gazes lock.

“Holy crap to you,” Lance says breathlessly. “Dude, what’re you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping? Keith, you just got out of the healing pod —”

Keith takes a hesitant step forward. Then another. “I’m fine. The healing pod did its job hours ago and — forget me, what the hell was that?”

Author’s Note: Okay, so yeah, this is a thing now. At some point I’ll finish and post on my AO3, but for now it’s rather fun to improvise on the fly and post here :) 

Author’s Edit: And now there’s Part Three Here.

[royal-despair-threads]

Takuma & Petra [Prologue]

Petra was...basically at a loss. How could this guy call himself a musician when he didn't know any Jazz? That was basically blasphemy and, honestly, Petra was embarrassed for him. This simply wouldn't do. Not at all.

"Alright. I can't teach you this shit in one sitting, but the Major 7,  Minor 7, and Minor 9 chords are your new best friends. Can you at least manage to play those on your own?"

Quickly receiving his instrument from its case, Takuma's fingers darted across the fret board, his right hand plucking at the strings as he did so. The chords echoed out one after another, carefully mixed together as to create a nice tune.

"I'm the SHSL Acoustic Guitarist, of course I know how to play those chords. It'd be pretty pathetic if I didn't."

"Well thank fucking god, for all I know, you're one of those musicians that just plays everything by ear," Petra said. She wouldn't even be surprised considering the massive idiocy this guy had displayed earlier.

"Anyway, those chords are pretty commonly used in Jazz. There are obviously a shit ton of others, but it's probably better we start simple," Petra explained. "Now. Choose a random key, I literally could not care less what it is. Just play whatever you want within that key, don't worry about following any specific melodies. It can just be random. A huge part of Jazz is just improvisation. You can do that, can't you?"

Giving the Jazz Singer a cheeky grin, Takuma couldn't help but dart his fingers along the strings, plucking out a little tune that almost sounded jazzy.

"Can I improvise? How do you think I learnt to play guitar?" He almost sounded cocky as he spoke, though a subtle hint of fear still remained in his voice.

What? She'd taken a punch to the face like it was nothing. He had every right to be afraid.

That was decently close to Jazz and the best Petra could probably expect from an amateur. It took dedication to truly accomplish the soul and passion it took to play Jazz. You couldn’t just play a silly little tune and call it a day.

“Oh, so you did learn to play guitar by ear,” Petra said. Or at least something similar. Based off his comment, professional training wasn’t really a ‘thing’ for him. “Whatever. Your tune was okay, but I wouldn’t call it Jazz. Kinda pathetic that a musician can’t perform in multiple genres.”

"Well of course it wasn't Jazz, you can't honestly expect me to pick it up right away, can you?" Takuma chuckled quietly, his fingers pressing down hard on the strings as he did so. Unable to resist the opportunity to show off his skill, his left hand darted along the fret board, a fast-paced, aggressive song that could only be described as Punk echoing out. From there, the tune almost seamlessly transferred into that of an R & B song, his fingers shooting to the headstock, retuning the strings as he played.

Eventually, the song faded into silence. A silence that was instantly broken by Takuma. "I only said I didn't play Jazz. Never said I couldn't perform in multiple genres." Oh god, he sounded cocky again. "Hell, I even did Country music for a bit." His voice suddenly went monotone. "Those were dark days."

So he was able to play all those genres, but not Jazz? Petra just pursed her lips in frustration. How could a self respecting musician just...never play Jazz before? She was somewhat disgusted. Was she supposed to be impressed he could play a bunch of genres he didn’t care about?

“Yeah, no shit those were dark days,” Petra said. “You played fucking country before Jazz? Come the fuck on.”

She ran a hand through her hair.

“Have you even heard any Jazz songs before? You have to have at least heard It Don’t Mean a Thing If it Ain’t got that Swing? Or Swing, Swing, Swing. Or even Fly Me to the Moon.”

Please dear god tell her he wasn’t that hopeless.

Absentmindedly plucking at the strings, Takuma gave the redhead a small smile. "To be fair, I only started playing different genres because people asked me to, so I guess I just never met anyone who was really into Jazz." The smile twitched for a moment, just a moment, as he continued. "We don't talk about the kid who asked for County, people say that if you do, you'll never be seen again."

The mischievous glint to his eyes made it clear he was merely joking with that last part, but when he heard Petra's next question, a more thoughtful expression spread across his face.

"Not a big fan of Frank Sinatra, something about his voice just doesn't work for me, I dunno. I prefer the works of Charles Mingus and Miles Davis, though I did also enjoy listening to the other songs you mentioned." He paused for a moment. "That said, I haven't heard any of your work, so for all I know, you could be better than all of them combined." He made sure to flash the singer as charming a smile as he could manage, most likely hoping to get a reaction from her.

So he'd never met anyone who was really into Jazz before. Wow, that really showed what poor shape the world was in, lacking in Jazz fans. Absolutely disgusting.

"You'll never be seen again? What did you do? Murder him? Is his vengeful spirit out for blood?" Petra asked teasingly, though she actually seemed pretty interested in his answer.

"Mm, well, I only bring up Frank Sinatra because he's more entry level. Your knowledge of Jazz is better than I expected, even if you can't play it," Petra said. "My work is mostly covers, dumbass. People don't exactly come to Jazz lounges to hear anything recently written, they want to hear the classics. I'm a singer, not a songwriter. I have like two fucking originals and I didn't even write them. What about you, you actually write your own songs?"

"Oh, I didn't do anything to the kid, it'd put a serious stain on my permanent record." Takuma spoke in a relaxed tone, similar to that of someone talking of the weather. "That being said, one of my friends knew a guy, who knew a guy, who my lawyer tells me i'm not allowed to say anything about." All of this was clearly a joke, but at the same time, one could never be too sure with him. "It's a shame too, that kid owed me ¥500."

However, with the next question, Takuma suddenly seemed to appear rather timid, his grin seeming more forced, and his eyes glancing anywhere but Petra. "I-i mean, I've kinda been working on, erm, one or two songs in my spare time." He couldn't help but raise his hands up, palms outwards, in a worried manner. "T-they're not any good though, the lyrics are rather boring, and the chords don't flow together yet..."

Suddenly remembering who he was talking to, the guitarist's head quickly shook, his usual grin returning as he ceased the action, a hand reaching up to brush his hair back to its usual state. "We're getting off topic here, you have some original music? I'd love to hear it sometime, if you don't mind."

Petra’s excitement and interest evaporated at Takuma’s response, returning to a bored, almost annoyed, one.

“I genuinely have no idea what you’re even trying to say anymore so I’m not even going to attempt to respond to that clusterfuck,” Petra sighed.

As for his music, on the subject of it, Petra couldn’t help but notice the drastic attitude change, from bizarre and cocky, to a nervous mess. She smiled to herself. Oh? Was this a weakness she’d spotted? Good to know. She would have to build him up to really break him down. Well, that was an option anyway, she was still mulling it over. “Well dear, it probably won’t sound good if you have such little confidence while playing. You know you can make nearly anything sound good if you play with confidence. You mentioned lyrics, do you sing as well?”

And there went the moment of vulnerability, but that was fine. Petra had already seen what she needed.

“You want to hear my original stuff? I can’t imagine why, but whatever. Do you want me to sing for you now or something?”

[metalindex-hu]

Like a worldview – interview with Plini

Like a worldview – interview with Plini - http://metalindex.hu/2018/08/23/like-a-worldview-interview-with-plini/ -

It’s not your first time to play in Budapest. How do you like the city and the venue?

From purely music prospective, the crowd is always amazing. The first time we can with Animals [as Leaders], the crowd was insane. The venue is beautiful, and we came back, and it was just as beautiful, and now we’re back again and it’s still beautiful.

Do you like the architecture of Budapest? Have you had any chance to take a look at here?

Yes, we are only here about a day, but always trying to walk around. Like this morning, we went across the green bridge [Szabadság-híd] into the town a little bit, and the drummer [Chris Allison] playing with me tonight…it is his first time here, so I was walking with him and just see his reaction to it. It was funny because he was just like…’holy fuck, this is beautiful’. Yes, it is an incredible city.

How you started to have any kind of connection or relationship to music? What was the start?

When I was growing up, I guess when I was 5 or 6 years old, my family was to listen to The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson and like that, and I just started to tap along, and then eventually that turned into me wanting to play drums. And then I finally started playing drums, but it’s too loud because we lived in an apartment, so I played ukulele for a little bit until it broke. And then I got a guitar to replace the broken ukulele, in that kind of set this whole thing off.

Have you ever learnt playing guitar, or just managed to grab it, and started to play?

Yes, I just picked it up. I tried learning some scales, but I found it really boring. So I just started to learn songs by bands I like, and then techniques from guitarist I like.

What do you think, in the life of a guitarists or a guitar player, how important the role of the talent, and how important the amount of practicing is?

I think talent doesn’t necessarily matter because I know a lot of guitarist, and I know that they all have different talents, like some people are just naturally really good at playing fast or really good at learning music, and others are terrible at playing fast but they play really expressively. I guess the most important thing is to figure out what you’re naturally good at, and then work on that, because you can become more unique and expressive in that skills.

You told that drums were quite loud, and you told a bit about the broken ukulele, and later on you ended up with guitar, but why guitar was the next one, why not say piano or something like that?

I’m not sure. I can’t exactly remember, but it might be that I started getting into metal music around that time and so I was getting interested in the stuff that metal bands are doing. I guess the most interesting part to me if not the drums is all the riffs.

Where your inspiration is coming from? I know about cheese, but what else is inspiring you?

Totally stuff like this [around me]. Traveling around, getting to see different places in the world, getting to meet different people and starting to think about writing music. Sort of the same way as people who write books. The only way that they get continued inspiration is by doing things and meeting people, so they have stories to play with and I think the same with music.

I had the impression that touring all over the globe is quite a tiring job and most of the musician are simply trying to survive it without getting inspired.

I guess it can be but I never was in a band until I started doing this. So I’m sort of invented my own idea what touring should be, I think it should be totally fun, surrounded by friends and that’s not tiring. We try to sleep as much as possible, walk around and eat.

How are you writing music? You are the only person who is responsible for everything, or you can get inspirational or input from the other band members?

Usually I recorded demos, so that includes some bad bass playing and programmed drums and then send it to them and see what they think. Hopefully they like it and then from there, we can work on it together and they write their own parts to be more interesting.

In your mind or in your practice, writing the music or writing the song is a step-by-step work or it’s quite a spontaneous one?

It’s a bit of both. There are parts of it that are quite logical, like arranging a song or layering different instruments, but a lot of the time it’s random sparks of inspiration that make the song that I end up finishing and releasing.

Your main occupation is to play in a band, manage this band and do studio works, tours, whatever else. Do you have any time remaining over that?

Not really. Even today we were driving from Bratislava which was about two and a half hours, and I spent most of that time messaging somebody that I’m hoping to collaborate with next year, so just talk about how we can make it work, and when he’s free and started getting the logistics of that. It’s a kind of…like a non-stop [job], just planning ahead and head and ahead. But then I guess I have free time like when we got here, we walked around for two-three hours, so it feels quite balanced.

If I’m right, in the past you used to use Primetone pics, and I think playing fast music you need a sharp one.

I started using the same pick that Jakub Zytecki using which is the [Jim Dunlop] Jazz III, I’m not sure exactly which one it is, but it has a grip on it, that’s not like the standard one. I found that just the slightly thinner pick is a little easier for the fastest stuff.

I just read in one of your interviews that your opinion was to have very little change with the instruments, with the guitars, but nowadays we have many-many virtuoso guitar player, so what’s the reason behind if not the instrument?

I guess I’m not actually that interested in the guitar. I mean have one what I really like, it is enough for me because I want to make music not make guitar noises I guess.

How important part of your music is based on improvisation?

In the beginning I guess it all comes from improvisation because I start up just playing whatever happens, but then there’s quite a large amount of work between the original thing that I play and the final product.

Vast majority of your songs are more or less continuous or ‘endless’ solos. How easy is to learn them, to remember them?

It’s getting easier and easier I guess. I have decent muscle memory so if it comes to playing a song that we haven’t played for a year or two, usually it comes back quite fast, and I think it helps that I played it in the first place.

Do you need any kind of warm-up before starting a gig?

If the temperature is cold then definitely. But I find the best warm-up for me is just being relaxed and in a good mood because none of the music is too difficult and I’m not too worried about making mistakes. Usually if I make a horrible mistake I find it funny, and people in the crowd will find it funny rather than…I don’t think it will ruin the song, unless I were ruin three whole minutes of the song but that hasn’t happened or that maybe happened once. So the best warm-up is just getting into it, kind a good friend of mine, I can just go and have fun.

How many time do you have for your family, how they can tolerate this lifestyle?

I guess they are very supportive and excited for me. And it works out that I’m maybe home half of the year or maybe a little less than half of the year, which is still quite a lot. I mean I live with my family so I see them more than a lot of people would see their families anyway.

What was your impression on the Brutal Assault two years ago, and now?

The first one that was by far the biggest show that I ever played in my life and then to have such a positive crowd response was amazing. This time, I kind of had high expectations as because I’ve done it before, I knew that everything’s great, the catering is great, the production and all the crew are really nice, but then isn’t exceeded my expectations this time. It’s an amazing festival.

I have seen the half-moon on your guitar tabulatures, on the CD’s and also on your guitar. Does it have any kind of specific meaning for you?

Not that I remember. I think the artist who did my first EP just put one on there on a whim and then I really liked it so it ended up being on the next album artwork, and then just became a sort of logo. I guess in a loose way I like space and planets, but nothing specific about that.

Your guitar tabs are available in different kinds of shops. Are you writing them on your own? How they were created?

That is a guy that works for Sheet Happens who published them all. I send all the individual parts to him and he transcribes and then sends to me and I make sure it’s all correct. It’s kinda crazy how good he is, like he knows which fret it will be in on which string even it’s the same note. He can usually get to that 95% right straight away, and then I make the changes, and that’s it. Sometimes he transcribe in a way that’s easier to play than the way I originally played it and I end up learning that.

You are running your own band from Sydney from Australia but you are also involved in Intervals from Canada. Where the relationship has been coming from?

I guess from the internet. We are both people who play guitar and write music and sort of in a similar way. We got to know each other just because of that like ‘hey man, your project is cool’, and then started chatting eventually Matt, and got along really well as people as well, and that’s how I kind of just crossed over.

Is it possible to make any kind of practicing together because you are living on the opposite side of the globe?

Before we did those couple of tours, we would get together for a day or two before the tour started, but I guess because the quality of the musicians we play with is just so good, that everyone learns their parts, and we just come together and everyone kind of logs in quite quickly.

So you don’t really need long practicing sessions or to train together.

No, I mean in an ideal world, we probably would have a week or something but usually the first show will be pretty good, the second shall be good and then from there it’s hopefully really good.

If I’m right then you are doing different kind of workshops during tours, but what about teaching?

Teaching…it’s something that I like doing…I’ve never done much regular teaching so having a student that I see every week or anything like that. When I’m on tour I really like meeting people who were working on similar things or interested in what I’m doing…it’s a fun thing to do.

Are you doing workshop now here in Budapest, or not at the moment?

No, this is the first tour in a while when I haven’t done anything and I actually really like, because I have more free time. So right now I would normally be doing a lesson and then going to be rushing to have dinner and play the show. It’s nice to have a little bit extra time.

What the music does mean for you?

That’s a big question! I don’t know…I guess it’s the one thing that I enjoy everything about. Like if I go to a restaurant, I’ll be listening too what’s happening in the music, or I’m going to go to a concert or I’m thinking about like how can I make this river into a song, or something like that. Just a kind of like a worldview.

[oncegilded-blog]

@anarchywithin - Call me an asshole, but after reading this I kinda want to keep it going! >.> I know I’d said I’d give us a new thread, and I still will HC wise wrap this up if you want. I just wanted to give you a chance to read it all yourself, if you care to.

▬♦M♦▬

How long had it been since David disappeared? Weeks? A month now? In a way it felt like yesterday they were just joking at how awful his ‘snake stew’ was. But somehow it also seemed like ages since she’d been on her own— and on foot. The SUV had run out of gas, again. Tess was feeling ill. David’s ammo was all but gone. And aside from the random critters they managed to pick off, food supplies were dangerously low. So, he had set off alone to bring back whatever he could to get them going once more. When days passed, and so had Tess’ stomach bug, without signs of David’s return, she was forced to set out herself in hopes of finding either him, or some form of salvation. Instead she faced starvation, and the very real threat of losing her damn mind. They’d went on supply runs together before, but they never should have separated this time. He should have waited til she felt better, but he was just sure she’d get worse without something decent to put on her tumultuous stomach. It was one of the rare times the man had been wrong, and it may very well be the last time too. Without company, and hope dwindling, days began to blur together, and desperation set in, causing her usually sharp wits to fail her. See Tess had cleverly devised a two part system to keep the zombies at bay. She slathered strong smelling plant on herself to hide her body odor, and had a sack of stinking undead entrails tied to the upper shaft of a spear she’d fashioned. Being quiet and stealthy helped as well, but when the creatures would wander too close, she’d tilt that spear out towards them, so they’d get a whiff of their own kind. And on the odd times this method failed to camouflage her, she’d already have a lethal weapon pointed at their head. All in all it was a pretty creative way to avoid a lot of trouble. However it required frequent reapplication of said plants, and re-saturation of that bag whenever possible. Sometime in her haze of days and dizziness over lack of adequate nourishment, she’d gone too lax in her protective measures, and the ache in her belly clouded her head even more, having her put herself in a sticky situation over the promise of a potential meal. Now roughed up, trapped, and surrounded by the undead, Tess was certain her ticket was punched.

_______________________________________

Sawyer couldn’t tell if the woman was sick, crazy, or delirious from hunger and dehydration.

Maybe it was all of the above. At any rate, every second he spent watching her brought her closer to being ripped apart from all sides.

He counted nine. Nine stiffs all closing in on her, apparently unconvinced by the sack of rotting entrails she had been hauling. Nice trick. He’d have to remember that in the future. Assuming he lived through what he was about to do.

You never want a reason to make a Molotov cocktail, but in this day and age, it doesn’t hurt to keep a few of the materials handy. They’re not that hard to make, and Sawyer had practice even before the world ended. Back in Afghanistan, cut off from your squad and surrounded by the enemy — and very nearly out of bullets — you do what you can to hold fast until backup arrives. On more than one occasion, it meant slapping together an improvised incendiary weapon that was as likely to burn your fingers off as your intended target’s.

He judged in a split second that the woman could hold the dead at bay just long enough for him to rip the rucksack off his back and tear through it in search of the bottle he’d been saving for just such an occasion. Well, a glass jar, really, but the moonshine sloshing around inside it was the important part. He’d lifted it from the basement of some hillbilly’s hunting cabin slash homemade distillery, figuring that since no one in their right mind would want to trade for it and risk blinding themselves, it might as well be good for setting something on fire. He mixed it with a bit of dish soap and wedged in a ragged, alcohol-soaked cloth to act as a wick, before stuffing it in the bottom of his bag and hoping he’d never have to use it.

Wrenching the lid off, he pulled out his lighter and lit the end of the rag, barely feeling the heat glancing off his skin as he hurled it with all his might towards the dead.

It burst on one’s shoulder and splashed onto the two standing closest to it, igniting them both like dry kindling. The others paused, turning to blink sluggishly at their companions and momentarily forgetting the woman practically within their grasp.

Sawyer was already out of the bushes and marching towards them, gun raised, bullets cracking out in rapid succession. He didn’t have nearly enough to put down the whole crew, but he could at least cut their numbers down enough before finishing them off with his machete. The three on fire had fallen to the ground, but were still crawling determinedly towards the woman as if they could be extinguished with just one taste of her flesh. They were slow, though, and in a matter of minutes they would be nothing but charred bones.

“Get up!” Sawyer barked to the woman, grimacing as his gun finally hit that empty ‘click’. He stuffed it back into its holster under his arm and unsheathed the machete with a dry hiss, cleaving it through the first skull he came upon. By the time he wrenched it loose, another two were practically on top of the woman. He grabbed one by the back of its mouldy shirt and flung it backwards, surprised and repulsed at how damn near weightless it was.

No time to finish it off; he had to get them away from her.

“Come on, move it,” he snapped, noticing that she still hadn’t moved. Maybe she couldn’t. Maybe she was deaf, or crazy, or sick, or injured, or any number of things that might keep a person rooted to the spot in a situation like this. Hell, maybe she was bitten. Maybe this was all just a waste of his time.

Swearing under his breath,  Sawyer hacked through the fray and managed to clear a bit of space between her and those rotting, outstretched hands. There wasn’t enough time for proper head shots. All he could do was crowd control, severing limbs and breaking knee caps where and when he could. Just for the breathing room, the scant few seconds to think —

Before he knew it, the ground around them was littered with toppled bodies. Most still moving, but no longer an immediate threat. The burning corpses had stopped crawling, but still writhed in vain. Their acrid stench stung Sawyer’s nostrils, making his eyes water as he chanced a quick glance back down at the woman.

“You okay?” he panted, unaware of the decrepit blood splattered all over him. You bit? was the underlying question — as it usually is, in chance meetings like this — but now it seemed there would be time to deal with that later.

___________________________ ▬♦M♦▬ It had been the first lil town she’d come across in awhile. Salvation. Or so she’d hoped. Catching sight of a some corner store, windows below boarded up, living quarters above with a window open—- it looked so inviting. The Plan: Move the dumpster a bit, climb up, slip inside, find a way to the lower section, and raid the store. Risky? Yeah, especially since she was poorly armed to take on anyone, or thing, inside. She’d have to leave her spear, rely on her knife, get close up—- something she didn’t like to do unless she had to. Still, it was the only shot she saw to possibly get a meal. Autumn had left the edible vegetation scarce, the undead kept getting to all the rabbits in her snares first, and she’d had her last energy bar two days before. Tess was desperate. The dumpster moved, but not without making a bit of a ruckus. Every inch the wheels squealed, metal grating on metal, she cringed, knowing it would attract attention, but not having a choice. Once in place she scaled it as quietly as possible, jumped up, and started to haul herself through the window. It wasn’t easy with fatigue and mal-nourishment weighing heavy on her body. But she was certain she could do it. However she’d not been the only one lured by that open window. Someone else had beat her to it, and been attacked inside. Well perhaps that’s what happened. Either way, someone didn’t quite make it back out the window, and what was left of him was under the sill, grasping up at her, snatching hold of her sleeve. The shriek she let out was small, but unavoidable as she pulled back and fell from the window. Ass met metal dumpster lid, then she was unceremoniously cast off it to the cement, rolling her into the chain link a few feet away. Yeah that rang her bell real good. By the time her head started to clear, they were on her. Well, almost. The fence was between them, bowing down upon her with the weight of the undead attempting to sink their teeth into her. Had the dumpster not have been there to catch the edge of the wire, she’d be pressed down flat to the pavement, trapped beneath them. So, thankfully she had a bit of wiggle room, but not much. However that meant they had it as well. Clawing up the fence, spilling over the top edge, and trying to climb into the niche she was in, they were blocking her escape. Thrusting the knife into the nearest ones, a small pile stared to block others from getting to her from that side. The other–  well it was only blocked by a bit of wooden palates and boxes, easy enough for her to kick out of her way and crawl through. Though now she found herself facing even more of the undead, shambling around the corner and trying to get to her over top of the rubble she’d unceremoniously cast aside. Frantically stretching back in for her spear, she pulled it through and thrust upward, catching the first one in the side of the face. But she hadn’t managed to get to her feet yet. That’s when she heard it— the crack of a glass bottle upon the back of those further before her, then the heat and sizzle of the eruption that caused. Someone else was entering the fray it seemed, and attention was momentarily pulled from her to the burning backs of the ones struck with the makeshift Molotov. It would have been the best time to make a move. To climb atop the dumpster or over the cleared part of the fence to flee, —-but gunfire followed. Gunfire followed, and the cracking was so loud that Tess flinched hard, the echo of that sound reverberating off the nearby building, causing her head to ring from the spill she’d taken. Scrambling back til she was pressed against the wall she tried to push herself up, but weakness and some lingering disorientation combined with the gunfire and flames to cause the perfect storm of near paralyzing conditions. Suddenly she was fighting back a panic attack, trying to get her head clear and keep it from slipping back to horrible images of her past. Breaths came in heavy pants, eyes wide staring into the oncoming herd, but not quite seeing it as she should. All she could focus on was that sound— and that smell. Fire. Burning flesh. Her stomach rolled and heaved, but she bit it all back, forced with all her will to push out everything but the hear and now. A voice is what finally snaped her back. A strange voice, but it was a welcome sound. The groaning and gun shots had stopped. The sizzle still remained, but was dying. And she— she was safe. It was obvious when she became fully lucid once more, eyes sparking back from some distant and dark place, blinking rapidly and raking up the man before her with a sense of shock, and perhaps a hint of awe. He’d taken them out– all of them.           "I— I am now—“ With an unsteady voice, and even more unstead legs, she pushed herself up, then pulled her spear from the head of an undead at her feet to use it as a bit of a crutch, leaning against it to get her barrings once more. Typically she’d have been incredibly leery of strangers after her last run in with them, but he— well he’d just battled through a decent sized herd of hungry corpses to help her. How horrible could he be? Dangerous perhaps— She mused, eyes scanning the carnage he’d caused. But seemingly more so to the undead than the living. At least at the moment.          "Oh god– I thought—            I lost it. I thought I was done—            T-thank you.”

____________________________________ Sawyer’s posture relaxed somewhat, a mix of relief and delayed exhaustion loosening the knots in his shoulders. He didn’t know what to expect when she finally opened her mouth, but there was a light of awareness burgeoning in her eyes as he took in their surroundings. Maybe she wasn’t crazy after all. Well…no crazier than anyone else still fighting the good fight these days.

At her thanks, he just nodded and stooped to wipe the blood and blackened gore off his machete, using an obliging corpse’s shirt. “I was in the neighbourhood,” he offered. “Seemed like the thing to do.”

He glanced back up and pieced together her surroundings, noting the dumpster that appeared to have shifted ever so slightly. His eyes jumped up to the window not far above it, where a walker trapped in the narrow opening still thrashed in vain.

Standing up, he sheathed the machete and jerked his chin towards her. “Must have been quite a fall. You hit your head, or something?” That would explain her fuzziness, he supposed with a slight twinge of guilt. Perhaps he had been a little quick to prejudge. He’d seen firsthand what a head injury could do to someone. Himself, included.

Without preamble, he shrugged off his rucksack and rooted around inside for a second before emerging with a water bottle in hand. He lobbed it towards her, not for the first time congratulating himself on having stocked up at a well outside of town. He could afford to be charitable at the moment, since he seemed to be on that particular path anyway.

“I’d ask you to tell me what day it is, or month. Maybe who the president is, or something,” he ventured, half-smiling-half-wincing. “But I guess that wouldn’t really count for much these days.” Glancing around, as if searching for a reason why not, he shrugged and added, “Can you tell me your name, at least?”

She likely had a mild concussion, but he doubted she hit her head hard enough to forget a thing like that.

____________________________   ▬♦M♦▬ A hand reached back to steady herself, her head slowly nodding at him as she did so.           “Y-yeah— rang my bell pretty good.” In fact she was still reeling from it, but at least she could see straight again, and wasn’t teetering on the edge of consciousnesses.

  “I’m sorry I—” Slowly blinking, her gaze fell to the bottle she’d caught on instinct more than an actual decision to do so.           “Thank you, but– I uh– I have water.            What I could really use is um— some food.” After all it was the desperation of near starvation, and the weakness of lack of sustenance that had led her to that window, and the subsequent fall. If she had been stronger, she could have probably held on up there, and still managed to kill the undead without taking that spill.           “I’m not picky.” She added as an after thought, hoping it would make him see she was willing to take just about anything at this point. Even if it was stuff he was saving until he was truly desperate himself. She didn’t care. Nasty or not, she needed to eat. A shaky hand holds out his bottle towards him, not wishing to take anyone’s water if she didn’t need to. That and perhaps a part of her never really trusted others’ water sources. It was a luxury to have the filters she did, and most folks had to resort to boiling it, and hoping they’d done so long enough to keep them from getting sick. There’s a soft huff of a laugh then though, head shaking softly, as to not make it ring any worse than it already was, and her lips curved into a faint smile.           “Without work weeks, no one cares about what day it is anymore.            The month is too damn close t'Christmas time.            And the president is probably a walkin’ rotter.            Though aren’t they usually some mindless pawn anyway?            It’s the men with money that’s always had the real power, and run this world.            Well— used t'be anyway.” Funny that she sounded like a bitter hippie, when really she was a reluctant heiress who saw from the inside how much money corrupted so many men. And actually she happened to know many of those men hadn’t even survived, no matter how much money they had, or how fancy of a bunker they’d built for themselves. Her father included.           "My name though— Ya can call me Tess.“ Because god knows she didn’t want to say she was Teresa Montgomery. There was no telling who would recognize that name and make automatic assumptions on her and her worth, or lack there of in this world based on her past.

_______________________________________

Sawyer blinked and gave the woman a side-long look, smiling a little uncertainly. She sure was chatty, all of a sudden. Delayed reaction to the shock of very nearly dying, probably. Or maybe it had just been a while since she last crossed paths with something or someone not looking to kill her.

At any rate, it was a refreshing change of pace. He could barely remember the last actual conversation he’d had either.

“Tess,” he repeated with a nod. “Name’s Sawyer. Nice to meet you, under the circumstances.” He strode forward to retrieve his water bottle, habitually refraining from making any sudden movements. It doesn’t take much to startle people these days, and he’d rather not have a knife pulled on him out of nowhere. Not when they seemed to be getting along so nicely.

“Food, I’ve got,” he announced, before pulling a face. “Well…sort of.” Reaching back into his rucksack, he pulled out a pack of peanuts and a mushed up granola bar. There was also some trail mix and a can of beans he had found in a dead woman’s campsite, but he was saving that for more desperate times. If such a thing even existed.

“It’s not much,” he admitted, tossing them towards her, “but there’s a church a few blocks from here that I’m planning to check out. Could be some canned goods in the cellar, or something else worthwhile.”

It was an invitation as much as an assurance that he hadn’t been following her, or anything unsavoury like that. But if she had truly hit her head in some kind of fall, maybe it was best to get her off her feet for a moment.  

He squinted at her a moment longer. “You sure you’re okay? I mean — you’re not bleeding or anything, right?”

Call him paranoid, but it seemed somewhat irresponsible to neglect checking for injuries now, after what the two of them had just barely escaped.

_________________________________

▬♦M♦▬ Typically Tess would ramble, or even stammer when feeling awkward, so it wasn’t any real surprise to her that she’d just went on a short tangent as soon as she found her voice once more. Then again, it had been ages since she’d even spoken aloud anyway, and that might have played a part of it as well. It was just– it was so nice to be around someone else again. Especially without that overwhelmingly nagging sense of suspicion and fear. After all, he did go far out of his way to save her, and then offered her some of his water. Even if he had nefarious plans for her later, for the moment she felt a fair amount safer in his presence. The bottles slips form her hand into his with a nod of gratitude, and a faint smile.           "Sawyer— thank you.“ Again she caught what he tossed without much thought, blinking down at the items in her hands with a look of relief washing over her.           "N-no, this is great. Thanks again.” Protein! She didn’t care if it was in peanut form, even if a steak sounded a helluva lot better, she really needed that nourishment right then. Of course she tried her best not to tear into them like the starved animal she felt like, but she still probably wasn’t very ladylike in how she got those first few bites in. Swallowing with a sigh she cants her head at him.           “Ya know the area then?             I— this is the first place I saw that looked promisin’.” Though obviously she’d not really been in much condition to go exploring the town before deciding which buildings to search. Shrugging softly at his last set of questions, she decided it was as good of a time as any to mentally assess her condition more fully. Casting a glance down herself, she then tentatively touched the aching spot on her head where she’d hit it, fingers pulling from her riot of red locks to show the tips were damp with an even darker red. But it wasn’t much. A minor cut and most likely a good sized contusion, nothing major, nothing that would have even required stitches in the past.           “Lil bit, but I’ll take care of it later.” If they made it to the church he’d mentioned, and it was safe, there’d be plenty of time to clean up her head before she had to worry about any infection. And with the way things were, that was really one of most people’s major concerns, seeing as something small could easily turn into something life threatening if it wasn’t handled properly in a world with dwindling medical care items. After a few more bites of his generously offered food, she adjusts her bag, takes up her spear and gives him a more clear eyed look.           “So which way was this church?” There wasn’t a whole lot of day light left, and she wanted to make sure she had a place to hold up that night that didn’t require her to tie herself in a tree again.

___________________________

He met her thanks with a simple nod and self-consciously averted his eyes. It shouldn’t feel like a huge sacrifice — and maybe, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t — but he knew as well as anyone that a bit of food in the belly could mean the difference between life and death. He knew how scarce good food is these days, how rare it is to find something that isn’t rotten or mouldy beyond recognition. And he knew what a risk it was for him to part with any resources, even something as small as a pack of peanuts, if he didn’t have to.

It was just…the right thing to do. Anyone with half a heart would have done the same thing. Right?

Her question earned a half-shrug. “More or less. Glanced at a map this morning, just to get a sense of this place.”

He frowned compulsively at the sight of blood smudged on her fingers, but clamped down on the urge to investigate. If she said it could wait, it could wait. They were exposed enough out there, and the commotion was likely to draw more walkers from the surrounding streets. If she could walk, they had to move now while there was time.

Turning, he motioned for her to fall in step and began heading down the street. “It’s not far. Couple blocks, maybe. You can already see the spire over there.” It was the tallest landmark in town, surrounded by old oak trees.

After a moment he glanced her way and found himself just…looking. It felt strange, albeit in a good way, to have living company again. There were still countless unknown variables about her, but she didn’t give off any troubling vibes. Not yet at least. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t keep at least one eye on her for the time being.

“So,” he finally said, after a stretch of silence. “Any friends or family waiting on you somewhere?”

_______________________________

▬♦M♦▬ Matching his pace Tess kept close, casting her eyes towards the church when he’d gestured for her to take a look. Honestly she hadn’t noticed it until now, and even if she had, Tess probably wouldn’t have even tried for it. It was her thinking that most people, when faced with the existential crisis of the dead rising, would have run to their Reverend for answers, and that anything a church might have to offer, would have been hit first by those of a god fearing sort. Still, if he thought it was worth a short, who was she to argue? Obviously he’d been doing a bit better on the food front than she was after all. Carrying her spear in the crook of her arm, she picked at the peanuts, savoring the sustenance in almost a reverent fashion as her feet fell in line with is own autonomously. For that moment she put her trust in him, relying on his senses to alert them to danger, because she was distracted with the fact that she had food for once in a long time. So she was completely oblivious to his eyes regarding her, however when he spoke, and she turned her attention towards Sawyer to find him looking her way, she flushed and tucked some loose red curls behind her ear with a shrug. There were two ways to get Tess to turn red and/or awkward, and that was to either flirt with her, or ask her about her family. Both would get similar reactions for entirely different reasons. So, she faltered a bit, trying to find the right way to broach the subject.          “I uh—  I seriously doubt it.           Didn’t have much t'start with.           An’ well, I lost the only person I coulda really called either a few months back.” There was always a chance that David was alive and looking for her, just as she was looking for him, but that chance seemed slimmer and slimmer every passing day. And now— well now the spark of hope had faded beyond recognition, and more often than not when she thought of him, she’d started to allow herself to mourn his loss, instead of hold out hope for him to be alive still.            “Why– do you?”

__________________________________

Sawyer only belatedly realized that he had been staring a little. A half-forgotten but knee-jerk sense of propriety made him pull his eyes away, embarrassment stinging his cheeks for the first time since…he couldn’t even remember when.

Clearing his throat, he turned his attention forward. He should have been prepared for the question to be directed back at him, but somehow he wasn’t. And the swift punch in the gut that followed was almost enough to put a hitch in his step. He managed to recover long enough to give a stiff shake of his head.

“No — ”

dark doe-eyes staring at him from across the fire, the faintest ghost of a smile

“ — not anymore.”

He’d been on his own long enough now that he learned how to block it out, so some extent. Push it to the back of his mind and slam it behind a door marked ‘Veata’, and never open it except on nights when he was feeling particularly brave or masochistic. But having someone near him, someone alive, a woman, close enough in age and pretty enough that the more reptilian parts of his brain couldn’t help speculating just a little…it brought everything screaming back into focus. Reminding him of what he lost.

The silence that followed was a great deal more grim than before, but he couldn’t think of any meaningful way to break it. Probably better to focus on getting to the church, anyway. Talking was a distraction, and there was no telling how many more dead were in the area.

It didn’t take long for the church to emerge. Nestled in the heart of a tangle of oak trees, it looked somewhat out of place on the otherwise concrete main street, but no different from any other he’d passed in a dozen other towns.

“Looks clean,” Sawyer noted gruffly, pausing at the edge of the trees to take in their surroundings. “No broken windows. Nothing boarded up.” _No bullet holes. No blood or guts smeared anywhere.

Still. No need for indiscretion. “I’m gonna circle around, see if I can find any movement. Maybe you could go around the other way and meet me at the back entrance.” ________________________________________________

▬♦M♦▬

Despite the fact that she was quite distracted with putting some food on her aching stomach, Tess didn’t miss the way he faulted when she asked the same thing of him. “Oh–” It was her only response. What was one to say to someone who’d lost everyone anyway? I know how you feel? No— everyone’s experience was different. Some, in this day and age, much more horrifying than another’s. So she remained silent, letting the sounds around them fill the gnawing gap between them as they worked their way towards the church. It was best to stay focused on their surroundings anyway. Still she couldn’t help but wonder what she’d have caught in his eyes just then if she’d have been able to see them. Had that hazel she’d noted clouded over with shadows when he spoke that simple ‘no’? Possibly. Nowadays it felt like everyone must be haunted in some way. Surely there wasn’t a soul alive who’d not lost someone they hoped to never have to live without. Once the church came better in view though she let such thoughts slide away, absorbing the appearance of the place; like an oasis it seemed, almost unscathed by the world around it. A blessing— if she believed in those kind of things anymore. “Sounds good.” Tess finished the nuts and nodded as she took a ready grip upon her spear. Within moments she was making her way around towards the back, gaze sweeping the area, ears alert. She found what was left of a corpse, barely ‘alive’ and unable to even groan at her as it clawed her way. It was nothing to slip the tip of her weapon into where it’s eye had once been and push til it stopped twitching. However now she was a bit concerned they’d be others they’d not hear, but could still pose a danger. A slow weak danger, but one none the less. Wiping the gore that clung to the wood on the grass, she quickly made her way around back.