#maybe one day I'll get another bolt of lightning

[plethomacademia]

Y'all Ripe skyrocketed to my highest kudosed one shot Durgetash in like three days. I'm so happy you all enjoyed it.

Fun story, this idea was almost entirely caused by @mightymizora with a huge assist from @todderwodders and @chronurgy and while I was chatting with them, I was in the office (I know) and was drinking coffee when the idea of a hyper reptilian dragonborn leaning in and saying "Ripe" popped in my head in such a bolt of inspiration that I had to put my mug down and force myself to swallow so I didn't spit coffee on my work computer.

Basically this was the inspiration:

If you missed this somehow, please mind the tags. This is, as someone described it, a Schrodinger's mpreg between Gortash and default Dark Urge. Very explicit.

[milliesfishes]

⋆౨ৎSomeday⋆౨ৎ

[fem reader] contains: copious amounts of angst, death pairing: billy the kid x fem reader author’s note: I never cry writing and I cried during this so...keep that in mind Pinterest Board Spotify Playlist

The ordinary defines everything. Each last is nothing special at first glance, but in memory becomes momentous. Then it all hits you like a bolt of lightning, sparking a fire that burns everything down.

Ordinary was waking up next to Billy, finding you had shifted in the night, and snuggling back up to him. It was wearing his shirt while you prepared breakfast, and having him come up behind you, arms covering your tummy as a kiss was pressed into your temple. It was giggling and turning around to give him a proper kiss, forgetting about what was cooking on the stove. It was eating your burnt pancakes and him assuring you they were delicious anyways, asking for seconds and beaming as you slipped another charred circle onto his plate.

Tan already from previous hours in the sun, he'd kissed you goodbye, big hand steady on the back of your head, eyes reflecting the beat of his heart for you. "I'll be waitin' for you, sweetheart."

The image of him toiling over the garden for you, shirt half unbuttoned in the sweltering heat of the day, was a pleasant daydream as you went about your business in town. Half-distracted by it, you absentmindedly paid for your things in the general store, meandering over to your horse, packing the saddlebags and climbing on. Steadily, you grasped the reins, spurring the creature into a gallop.

It was one of those days when the world was bright-eyed and open- the first one after so many days of rain. The sun was warm on your skin, and you knew Billy would trace the freckles you surely gained later, when you were both between your sheets, bare and blissful from the act of loving. The air held a promise of hope as springtime always did, the light of new beginnings a guiding path.

The spirit of the season had entered your home without so much as a knock. In recent weeks, Billy had begun to talk of riding out west, somewhere shiny and new where nobody would have heard his name or shuddered at his reputation. You were excited by the prospect, knowing how he had chased a fresh start for most of his life. It had always been just out of reach, or marked by some unseen consequence that set him right on the outlaw's path again. This time was different- you'd be leaving the state entirely. Tentatively, you began to make plans, set money aside. Late summertime, maybe, or early fall.

At night he whispered his dreams into your hair, stroking your collarbone lazily where his arms were wrapped around you. "Gonna get the nicest piece 'f land...and we'll live together, just the two of us. It'll be so nice, baby...you 'n me." Brushing tender kisses to your cheek, he promised it in everything he did. The way he touched you, kissed you, made love to you. It was a promise of someday.

Destiny breathed down Billy's neck, cutting sharp at his heels. It was tangled in every action, sprawled across each word. Somewhere in the back of your mind you feared your time with him would be short, the law hot on his tail. There were people out there who wanted the love of your life dead or alive, who'd do anything for a little bit of money. The thought made you cling tighter to him, though you never breathed a word about it.

So when he spoke of someday, you enthusiastically partook, determined to outrun what loomed over the life you'd built with him.

Tonight, you had agreed to start determining a route, and more importantly a destination. You imagined yourself sitting on his thigh, cheek to his shoulder with the candlelight flickering leisurely as he secured an arm around your waist, the other hand pressed to a map. Every little line was a possibility. Anywhere but here.

Smiling a little at the idea, you tugged on the reins, slowing your horse as the quaint house in which you resided came into view. It wouldn't be where you slept much longer. Your real home was the man who rested next to you.

Dismounting, you unloaded your things, petting the thick neck of the horse fondly. Grass grazed your calves as you made your way to the steps, carefully climbing each and making sure to avoid the one that creaked. The house was quiet when you opened the door, and you figured Billy must still be outside.

Humming to yourself, you opened drawers and cabinets, putting your purchases in their rightful places. The orderliness of your house was something you relished- the domesticity of it all. Out of the corner of your eye, something colorful caught your attention. Turning around, a vaseful of wildflowers, arranged in a messy bouquet, met your vision. He must have picked them for you, a sweet surprise for when you returned.

A smile parted your lips, and you touched the pretty blooms, taking careful notice. The daisies were as pure as the season's first snow, your very favorite flower. Forget-me-nots were scattered among them, the same color as his eyes. You had told him that once, and he'd pressed a kiss to the hand held in his grasp. "That's the nicest thing I ever did hear."

Childhood hadn't been easy on you, its duration long and arduous. Your past weighed on you like a stone, sinking you to the bottom of the river. Somewhere in its depths, you had found him too. In the act of falling in love you subconsciously swore to bring out the beauty of life in each other. Under the blanket of his love, you glowed.

It was just like him to make sure you had something pretty to come home to. Bouncing on your heels, you wondered why he hadn't come in yet. Surely his work hadn't taken him so long to complete. Your Billy was always toiling over the littlest details, wanting things to be perfect for you.

Deciding to go out and give him a break from his labors, you fixed one of the flowers he'd left for you behind your ear and swung the door open, stepping out onto the back porch. Peering out into the open expanse, you frowned when he was nowhere to be found.

Descending the stairs, you searched the area, bewildered. Was he outside at all? Had he gone to your bedroom, exhausted from his activities? You looked down aimlessly, already half decided to go check there.

He was flat on his back, eyes blue as the flower in your hair staring glassily at the sky. A crimson stain on the right side of his chest told the story you would never utter. You did not need to touch him to know he was cold.

The world became a void. There was nothing in it except the shell of the man you loved, lying still at your feet. Every thought you had was inconceivable, voices screaming that you were deaf to. Yesterday was suddenly your golden years.

Deadly calm, you numbly bent to the illusion before you, in the shade of the nearby oak tree. Kneeling and sliding your hand under him, his head found a place in your lap. Smoothing a hand through his hair, you brushed the dirt from it, taking one last look into his eyes before smoothing his lids over them. He didn't need to see you like this.

You saw a myriad of memories dance before your eyes, nearly taunting you. They were so close you could nearly taste them, but they lived in a different realm. You could not have them any more than you could have him.

Waking in his arms, morning light making him akin to an angel. It was so warm there burrowed into him, his body swathing yours like a blanket. Without opening your eyes you could feel his lips against your forehead, his morning tradition. Even when he didn't think you were awake, he was giving you kisses. It was the purest testament of his infinite love, washing over you in waves, rebounding for more before the last had passed.

Tucked in his stiff fist were more flowers. You could picture him studying his bouquet in the kitchen and deciding to come back out for more. Maybe if he'd stayed inside it would have saved him. Though he usually wore his holster, gun tucked at his hip, today it was nowhere to be found. A few feet away laid his hat, abandoned for unknown reasons.

Birds sang cheerfully in the distance, wind whistling softly and swaying the grass against you. It was as if the earth was reaching out, a hand on your shoulder.

"It's okay," you breathed, body operating on pure instinct now. The walls were closing in, and breathing felt like a chore. "You're okay...we'll...we'll just rest here for a moment." Swallowing thickly, you whispered, "We'll pick a place together for you to rest...longer. It's gonna be okay."

Cradling his head in your lap for the time being, you breathed in and out, fingers stroking his pale cheek. Determinedly, you did not look at the wound in his chest, focusing on his face. This was the most peaceful you'd ever seen him. The man you loved, slipped into his forever sleep. It wasn't real to you...but you could see awareness running toward you in the distance, poised to hit you at any minute. Maybe it was stupid, but you'd always imagined you'd go together.

A sudden chirp pierced the air, and you looked to it, seeing a little bird perched on the thick, knotted roots of the tree whose shade you knelt in. The little creature called incessantly, beak pecking the ground beneath its feet. It repeated the motion, as if insisting on something, before taking flight and leaving you.

He wants to be buried there.

A flood of tears stung at your eyes, and you bit the side of your lip, attempting to hold them in, but it was too late. What had been circling you had suddenly crashed, and now there was salt on your skin, falling in pearls down your cheeks like landslides. They darkened his shirt like raindrops, though the sky was clear. Helplessly, you gasped, wanting to stay strong, but the force was cruel, unable to be reasoned with. Sliding his head off your lap, you laid there on the ground beside his lifeless form, ear on his chest desperately searching for the familiar steady thump of his heart. Maybe his blood was on your face now, but you didn't care.

"Please come back," you pleaded, squeezing your eyes shut. "We're not done yet...we have to run away together, remember? And we're going to be happy-" A sob cut you off, and you buried your face in his neck, opposite hand fisting his shirt. You had always known your Billy to be warm, life bursting from the seams of him. It was disheartening to learn how cold he now was. This wasn't him. But it was all you had left.

How fragile a thing life was, how cruel a thief. The universe had given you such a love, one that transcended everything you knew, and then ripped it away, jagged edges left where he used to hold you. The future you had dreamt of, that you had counted on, had exploded into dust, as if it had expired. Dead with the one you'd desired it with.

You would never love again. There wasn't another breathing soul you could give your life to in the way you had him. The grave you would dig when you found it in you to let go wouldn't just be for his shell, but for your heart. If you could have cut out the organ and replaced his still one, you would have. Without Billy, what was the point in having it?

Grief ate at you, turned your lips down and spilled from your eyes, pathetically leaving your body weakened. However much he would have wanted you to keep going was irrelevant. Billy hadn't known how much of your will had stemmed from him.

There were so many things you wished you could have told him. So many things you had needed to do. Someday hadn't only been leaving the county. It had been getting married, something he so desperately had wanted. It had been your belly swelling with his child, growing old together, forever in love and finally free.

Now you were left with that same love, only it had unsheathed a new face, one that twisted an imaginary knife and spoke in absolutes you didn't want to believe. He will never hold you again, never kiss you again. The last time was the last time.

Love had shattered your heart and stilled his. Love separated you from him, became bloodthirsty when half of a whole was torn away.

You lifted your head, hoping he would be looking down at you, that nearly crooked smile breathing life back into your being. But he was still, and the world became greyer.

All that was wondrous and lovely before had dulled, and you were numb to any beauty probing at your senses. You could never look at it the same. Billy had told you once before that it was one of his favorite things about you, how you could find a reason to love anything. You knew now that it did not extend to death.

"I'm so sorry, my love," you murmured, leaning up and pressing your lips lingeringly to his cheek. His stubble scratched your chin, and you knew it would leave a mark. But it would fade away too, because all things end. Everything had to die when you least wanted it to.

"Rest and I'll be here with you." Your voice thinned as tears crept into it. "All is well."

His chosen burial spot beckoned, and you ignored the call, leaning your cheek back over his heart, reassuring both him and yourself. His last words to you echoed in your ears until they drew forth from your lips.

"I'll be waiting for you."

[invidiia]

❐ - yandere!dazai comforting his darling who's afraid of thunderstorms

note ; hey florida weather, what the fuck?? what happened to our sunny summer?? anyway, it's thundering here pretty badly and scaring my dog and i, so let's do this!! short cause my brain went sooo blank, i think i'll do a chuuya version sometime soon thoughh

warning ; soft-ish!yandere!!! implied kidnapped reader 🥹 so sorry to anyone who was hoping for normal hcs about this LOL!! i condone NONE of this irl.

masterlist - rules - previous

dazai often kept you home while he worked late. it was unusual, actually - he normally came home as soon as possible, even trying to get off work early because he has something else to do.. but he really just wants to see your face.

it was a bad night, really, he was kept inside the agency building while rain poured down roughly on the sidewalks. with just an umbrella, dazai tried to get to his place the fastest he could while you were curled up in a blanket waiting for the loud thunder to subside.

the thunderstorms in yokohama weren't terrible, but this one in particular made you just want to crawl under the tables and not come out until it was over.

so when dazai unlocked the door and opened it, he half expected you to run to him because he knew that the loud, inconvenient noises of the thunder bothered you, which was why he always tried not to make loud noises when he was with you.

he understood, too - he wasn't the biggest fan of thunder, but he didn't mind it. the only other reason he didn't like it was because it scared you. dazai would do something about the weather if he could, he'd do it in a heartbeat - but he couldn't, so he could try to console you instead.

dazai entered his home slowly, closing the door quickly behind him and locking it, just to be safe. he didn't full trust you, after all.

but he was quick to notice how instead of doing anything, you were on the sofa in the corner, curled in a blanket while covering your ears. usually, you'd hear when dazai came home, but this time, you only realized he was there because the door opened next to you.

"my dear, what's wrong? i'm here, the thunder can't hurt you.. what? don't look at me like that. nothing can possibly stain your beauty.. but i can't stand to see you upset, belladonna. i just love you!"

dazai was right, thunder couldn't harm you.. i mean, lightning could, but that wasn't really the issue at hand. the taller man bent down, grabbing your chin and pinching your face with his other hand. he thought you were just so cute when you were scared.

you did try to evade his touch - but lightning struck again, and seconds later, you heard a loud bang. dazai took his hands off your face and reached to hug you, but the thunder had shaken you up, causing you to jerk forward and into his arms. correction.. his chest, since he was taller, and standing up.

"ah, you're hugging me, darling, i thought this day would never come-!" dazai laughed, wrapping his arms around your frame and holding you closer, even while you tried to pull back after realizing that you were hugging him.

you wanted to yell at him to shut up - but another lightning bolt had struck, creating another loud noise. maybe it was nice, being held like this. it caused you to just hug him tighter. dazai just laughed at you, kissing the top of your head before sitting down next to you, pulling you down a bit so you could lay in his lap. he hadn't bothered taking his coat off, but it wasn't an issue.

he didn't do anything else.. he just sat there. his touch wasn't awful. maybe it wasn't that bad.

you and dazai sat there in silence. he would have commented on how you didn't do anything to get out of his hold, but he didn't want to spoil the moment. he didn't, and neither did you. it was somewhat comforting.

a/n: my mind went sooo blank after this, please forgive mee

[magicalrocketships]

Maybe you’ve moved on but I gotta ask.

How is de aged Max doing today? What is him and Daniel up to?

I will never have moved on from tiny Max. Never! He has my full and entire heart. I have at least three versions of this entire universe running concurrently in my head at any one time. But today Daniel has to find some clothes and shoes and toys for a newly small Max, and Max still refuses to tell him what he would like to eat for breakfast.

There is a POSSIBILITY that this link shows the stuff I've already posted in chronological order. Will it work on both mobile and browser? Who knows. Anyway, this bit follows directly on from this part.

1100 words of de-aged Max:

The woman who comes to deliver Max's Go Small stuff is called Charlotte, she's dressed impeccably, and she obviously thinks she's extremely good with children. 

She has, however, met her match in Max, because Max maintains the same stubborn silence he's been giving Daniel all morning. He folds his arms and sits on the sofa in Daniel's hastily washed and dried old Go Small kit, and barely allows Charlotte to measure his feet for some shoes. He does not answer any of her questions, and buries his face in Daniel's side when she has to put his foot in the foot measuring thingy.

Max is not very good in the morning when he's normal sized, but when he's just a baby and he's scared and trying to hide it and he's been up in the middle of the night having adventures with washing machines and unexpected baths and too-big Daniel t-shirts, well. He'd barely consented to eat any breakfast, even after Daniel had gone all out (little bowls of the two different types of cereal he has, another piece of toast with a jam smiley face on it, and then a fuck-it bowl of sweets from his bag of M&S Percy Pigs from when he was in Milton Keynes last month, because Max won't be small for long and he has to eat something). Max had sat at Daniel's table, sleepy and quiet and stubborn and shy, had eaten two bites of toast (avoiding the jam), a handful of cheerios, and three of the sweets. He'd eaten the sweets without taking his eyes off of Daniel's face, which remained creepy. He is absolutely not up for meeting strangers in Daniel's living room who do strange things like deposit bags and boxes in the doorway and then ask to measure his feet. 

"What kind of shoes would you like, Max?" Charlotte asks, which seems like a stupid question to ask given that Max has given her exactly zero interactions since she arrived, and he very clearly does not want any shoes at all. "We have red ones, and green ones, and blue ones, and some with pictures on, if you don't want a colour. We have Spider-man, and Pikachu, and—" 

For the very first time all day, Max makes a voluntary noise. His gaze darts to Daniel, his eyes bright. 

Daniel purposefully softens his smile. "Something there you like the sound of, Maxy-Max? Was it the green ones?"

Max shakes his head no.

"Well, it must be the Spider-man ones, then." He turns to Charlotte, giving her the ghost of a wink. "I think—"

"No," Max says quickly. When he says "Pikachu please," he says it so quickly the words run together, all mixed up like they've just run into a wall and scattered letters everywhere. 

"Pikachu, hey?" Daniel says. "That's a very good choice, Maxy-Max."

"They're in the van," Charlotte says, getting to her feet. "I'll go and get them, and some socks to match, maybe? Then we can try them on, make sure they fit nicely."

As she leaves, Max stares wide-eyed up at Daniel. "Pikachu shoes?"

"Pikachu shoes," Daniel agrees. "Pikachu, that's the chicken, right? Cluck-cluck."

"No," Max frowns. "Pikachu is a mouse, Daniel." 

"Right," Daniel says, nodding. "The purple mouse, I forgot. Silly Daniel."

"He is yellow," Max says, still frowning. "Pikachu is yellow and he's a mouse and he's the best one. He has a tail that goes like this--" he shapes out a lightning bolt in the air, kind of, and Daniel puts on his best learning face. "He likes ketchup."

"Ohhh," Daniel says. "Like you like tomato soup." 

Max's eyes get really wide. He beams.

Daniel rests his chin on his palm. "Do you know anything else about Pokemon? I don't think I know anything. I thought Pikachu was a purple chicken."

Max tells Daniel at least fifteen things about Pokemon before Charlotte comes back brandishing a pair of Pikachu trainers in one hand, and a bag of things to up-sell Daniel in the other. Daniel doesn't bother reviewing them, since they're clearly Pokemon clothes and books and socks and toys, and he's not exactly poor. If Max gets big again today, they can all go to some other Pokemon-obsessed seven year old. He agrees to take them all, even as Max tells him all about Charmander — his tail is on fire, Daniel, but he doesn't set on fire, it is all right, it is just his tail — and Squirtle, who Daniel believes is a horse and Max has to explain is a turtle.

"Of course," Daniel says, as he finishes velcroing Max's Pikachu trainers closed. They're teamed with matching socks. Daniel does not choose to think about what he's just paid for either of them. "Silly me. The horse is the other one, right?"

Max blinks at him like Daniel is extremely stupid. It's the cutest fucking thing Daniel has ever seen in his entire fucking life. He's seen that expression on Max's face before, only more grown up-shaped and usually directed towards the journalist with the stupidest question in any given press session. Right now the full baby force of it is directed towards him. 

"Jigglypuff, right?" Daniel says. "The horse?"

"He is not a horse, Daniel," Max says finally. Daniel's stupidity is clearly weighing heavy on him, because when Daniel gets up to say thank you and good bye to Charlotte, he gets up too, complete with new shoes, and hides behind Daniel's hip, hands to Daniel's waistband. He does not say goodbye. Daniel doesn't ask him to, particularly as when he shakes Charlotte's hand, she whispers, got yourself a handful there, and nods towards baby Max. 

Daniel is glad that he's standing as a physical shield between her and Max, because right now he feels like he could evolve into some kind of huge fucking terrifying Pokemon if anyone on the planet said anything mean about the scared little boy clutching his t-shirt. "I've got pretty big hands," he says finally, and shuts the door on her. 

Then, he turns back around to Max, who's looking down in wonder at his yellow Pikachu trainers and matching socks, his hand still tangled in Daniel's shirt. 

"You like your new shoes, Maxy?"

"Yes," Max says, wiggling his toes. "Is she coming back?"

"No," Daniel says, as Max slips his hand into his. Daniel's heart expands about fifteen sizes. "Do you want to look at your new book about flags?"

"A book about flags?" Max asks, blinking. 

"Yeah," Daniel says, grabbing the package off the table. "You want to look?"

"Yes, please," Max says, and doesn't let go of Daniel's hand. 

[continues here]

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

pt I the wedding dress: an actual update

For the uninitiated, my current hyperfixation (one of them) is designing a wedding dress for Crowley because I heard the song Book of Love by Peter Gabriel from their Heavenly Playlist. Here's how far I've got with the concept:

Okay, where do I start? There's so much happening and I've only got as far as the shirt, cufflinks and jacket. Let's go with the overview/jacket:

[Disclaimer: I'm a design student, but not in fashion design. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm having fun, and I hope that's what matters]

JACKET: So the first photo above was the jacket idea I had when I first decided to start this, because the season 1 waiter blazer suits Crowley, from the cropped nature to the sharp notched lapels (if you're not sure what that is, like I was at first, it's not very clear in the white but you see that lightning bolt style collar in my sketch? that's the notched lapels).

But it met too high on the chest (notice where it cuts the tie) to be soft enough for a wedding dress, so I made the two halves meet lower down in the sketch. I also made it single-breasted (which basically means a coat or blazer that has a single row of buttons, in this case, just one button).

I haven't worked out more about the jacket, oh and also if someone could tell me the material of the original costume that would be very cool. I'll probably spend an unreasonable amount of time designing the button, too. As for colour, it would be black with a garnet or currant red lining.

OVERVIEW: So like the sketch shows, there's a shirt, that's held in place by a corset over it, and the jacket covers both. The corset would probably be under bust and back-laced for more support, with hints of scarlet on snakeskin leather? I'm not entirely sure, I need to research corsets.

The cummerbund (oops misspelt it in the sketch) is a broad waist sash, you can see it in the waiter costume, too. In the wedding dress, it would overlap the shirt slightly under the corset, and I was thinking of black satin with embroidery of stars/constellations.

I was originally going to draw star charts of a significant month for them (maybe April, because that's when nightingales, which are migratory birds, usually return to England for mating season to sing). Perhaps star charts as visible from Earth versus Alpha Centauri? But that could get complicated and on the bafta livestream chat someone sent coats that have Zodiac patterns on them in gold, so I'm debating that too.

Besides, there'll already be a nightingale pin on the lapel, gold with a sapphire eye for Aziraphale.

The lower part of the wedding dress involves a train and trousers and split skirt, we won't go into that. I think this post already got too long so I'll make another one for the shirt and the cufflinks :")

Have a lovely day my maggots you're amazing and I love you. Look at you, you're gorgeous.

[minniethemoocherda]

Iridescent: Chapter 27

A/N: GUESS WHO'S FINALLY SEEN TRANSFORMERS ONE??!!!!! Xxxxxxx

Ao3

FF.net

"Mech I told you to bring her to us alive!" Jazz said, as Devcon dumped the grey husk of Silverstreak's body onto his office floor.

The bounty hunter shrugged.

"She was like that when I found her." He said, crossing his arms. "I'm still getting paid though right?"

"Since you did not complete the task you were hired to do, no." Prowl stated from where he was stood behind Jazz's chair, his voice vibrating against the sensor's of Jazz's neck.

Devcon's sharp eyes fixed onto the head of tactics' and Jazz was reminded that despite usually only taking jobs from the Autobots, at the end of the day, Devcon still killed people for money.

"Look I'll give you half." Jazz said trying to diffuse the situation. "But we're having a party tonight so you're welcome to stay and help yourself to energon there."

Devcon's eyes remained locked on Prowl for a moment before he nodded. Those sharp optics then turned to Jazz, stalking up and down the curves of his body.

"I might stick around for the after party too."

Jazz took a long look back.

Since Devcon was technically unaffiliated that meant that there wouldn't be any complications of sleeping with someone outside of his rank because Devcon was outside of having a rank at all.

And Jazz couldn't deny that there was something alluring about how those bright predatory eyes shined against that lightning blue of skin. Jazz imagined tracing said skin to find the red lights that flashed between the blue metal plates.

But thinking down that path only conjured images last night with Prowl. How the tactician had methodically discovered every pressure of pleasure in Jazz's body, touching him in such a complete way that Jazz wasn't sure he needed another's touch again.

"There is no after party." Prowl snapped startling Jazz from that rabbit hole. "And we will have to consult with Optimus Prime first to determine if you have permission to remain on board."

Jazz did have to admit that Prowl had a point.

Thankfully Devcon didn't appear too offended.

"Fair enough." The bounty hunter shrugged before once again turning the full weight of his gaze back to Jazz. "I'm sure the commander can ensure I don't make any trouble till the Prime makes his decision."

Jazz heard a crack of metal as Prowl clenched his fists.

"I shall go speak to Optimus now." Prowl said before marching out of the room.

Jazz had no idea what problem Prowl clearly had with Devcon. Maybe it was just his general lack of trust of people? Or maybe he was still upset about Bluestreak? Jazz had hoped that seeing Silverstreak's dead body might've helped the mech get out of his funk but clearly it had not. Oh well, hopefully the party would cheer Prowl up instead.

Jazz turned his attention back to the corpse currently leaking into his floor. A blaster bolt was scarred into her back where it appeared to have burnt straight through to her spark chamber. From that angle it was unlikely to be self inflicted. But with Ratchet still unconscious they wouldn't be able to perform a proper autopsy.

"Where did you find her again?" Jazz asked.

"By the rust sea." Devcon replied. "You're lucky it's the tides low season otherwise she would've dissolved away by the time I found her.'

Silverstreak's most recent mission had been near the sea so it was possible that this location had been where she had been meeting with whoever her Decepticon contracts were. Although that wouldn't explain how she got to the opposite side of the planet without a ship in less than a week. Something wasn't adding up.

But Jazz wasn't about to alert Devcon to his suspicions. No, instead he would wait to discuss them with Prowl.

[animation-cartoon-fan-writings]

Please Don’t Go

Originally written for Zutara Month 2023

The final Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula comes to a head. Zuko is winning. This is the most powerful he has ever felt in his entire life. His entire body was calling on him to egg his sister on, not even realizing the consequences that may come with it. "What? No lightning? What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?," he mocks his visibly unstable sister. In the back of his head, he knows he is playing with fire, and not the type of fire he is used to. Maybe it was the influence of Sozin's Comet going to his head or perhaps it's the adrenaline from the fight. But he was confident he would succeed, not even thinking about the possibility of what was about to happen.

Azula prepares to shoot as Zuko gets into position, ready to redirect whatever she threw at him. A sadistic smile creeps across the princess's face, like she was ready to kill her brother without a slither of remorse. Suddenly, her eyes dart to another direction and shoots a large bolt directly in that direction. Azula never misses. Even on her worst days, every shot was intentional. Realizing what was happening, Zuko turns and sees a familiar shade of blue. Katara. Frozen in fear as the lighting flies across the arena right towards her. Zuko runs to try and intercept the lightening in time, but he is too late. He trips as the lightening reaches the water bender. "NO!," he cries as the bolt hits her in the heart. Time feels like it is going by at a snail-rat's pace as he can only watch the young tribeswoman's body fall to the ground.

"Katara!," Zuko cries as he immediately gets up and runs over to her, hoping against all hope that she was going to be ok. He feels like he is back in that ghost town in the desert, right after Azula shot a bolt into Iroh's shoulder, sending the old man into a coma-like state that lasted for days. As he gets on his knees, kneeling over Katara's body, lying in a pool of blood, he could feel the life slowly slipping from her. "Katara, please wake up," he holds her limp, delicate frame in his arms. "Zuko... I-I'm sorry," her eyes crack open slightly, her voice quiet and strained. "It's ok. I'm here now. It's going to be ok. You're going to be ok. You just gotta stay with me," he assures her through the hot tears falling down his face. "Z-zuko, I-I-I'm so ss-sorry. I c-c-can't-t-t...". Katara's eyes slowly start to flutter to a close.

The fire bender feels her body getting cold, so he heats his body temperature and holds her to his chest, hoping the heat will keep her alive just a bit longer. "Katara, don't worry. I'm heating you up. Everything's going to be ok," he keeps telling her. "I-I c-c-caa-nn't feel y-yyour waa-rmthh," her voice barely going above a whisper. "Katara, no, please stay. Sokka will be here with everyone soon. We'll take you to the healers and you'll be ok. You have to be. Please, stay with me," he pleads with her, even though he knows in his heart it's no use. "D-d-don't-t-t-t w-w-wor-r-ry-y-y ab-b-b-bout-t-t me-e-e-e. I-I-I-II'll b-b-b-be o-o-k-k," she whispers, smiling one last time before her eyes finally close. "No! Katara, please! Don't go! I love you," he sobs as he finally admits how he feels out loud for the first time. "I love you, Katara. Please... don't go".

Zuko holds her limp body close to his chest as he cries out for her to stay with him. “Please, Katara. We need you, I need you. Please wake up,” he begs her through his tears. But it was too late. Katara takes her final breath in the arms of the fire prince.

As the comet finally exits the earth and the dark, nighttime sky blanket over the Fire Nation, Zuko stays on the ground in the arena. Everyone has already left. Azula had been taken away by guards hours ago. The Sages went back to the palace. All that was left was Zuko, sobbing with Katara’s lifeless corpse in his arms. Suddenly, a familiar orange glider flies over the arena, swiftly landing just feet from the prince. Aang had returned. But Zuko was too upset to care anymore. "Zuko, what happened?," the Airbender asks as he runs over to his two friends. "Katara... she's dead. I thought Azula was going to aim at me. I thought I could redirect it. But she aimed at Katara. I ran to intercept the hit. But, I tripped and fell before I could get to it in time. Azula bent lightning to her heart and killed her," the prince replies sadly, still holding her close to his chest, refusing to let her go. "You were going to intercept Azula's lightning?," the Avatar asks. "Yeah," Zuko responds. "Wouldn't that have killed you?," Aang questions.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have cared if it did. As long as she got to live"

Silence falls between the two boys. Zuko doesn't even look away from the girl in his arms. He didn't want to. He would've happily stayed there for the rest of his life if he had to. He couldn't bare to let her go.

Suddenly, Aang gets up and goes to fetch Katara’s bag on the ground nearby. After a few minutes of searching through it, he finds what he's looking for. He takes the vial in his hand and goes back over to sit on the ground beside Zuko. "Here," he presents Zuko with the vial. "What's this?," he asks, confused. "It's the spirit water from the North Pole. I had a feeling there was some left. There's only a little bit, but it just might be enough to save Katara," the Airbender explains, much to Zuko's surprise. "How do you know if it'll work?"

"Azula killed me with her lightning back at Ba Sing Se. It was the spirit water that brought me back."

Aang can feel Zuko was still doubtful of this idea.

"You love her, don't you?," he asks all of a sudden, taking Zuko a back. "Yes, I do," he answers, simply. "Then, let me try and bring her back," Aang offers. The fire bender nods, laying Katara's body down on her back, allowing Aang to bend the tiny amount of spirit water into her heart. With that bright blue light entering her bloodstream, Zuko takes her back into his arms, hoping that it worked.

As if the god Agni himself was truly shining over them all, Katara's eyes begin to slowly flutter open and Zuko feels her breathing starting to beat again. "Z-Zuko...," she speaks again. Tears of joy pour down as he sees his love come back to life, taking her into his arms for a hug. "Katara, you're ok. You came back," he rasps as he feels her hug him back. She pulls back slightly from the hug, smiling up at him with a glimmer in her eyes.

"Zuko... I love you, too," Katara confesses. He couldn't believe his ears. She had heard those last words spoken to her and she felt the same way. Zuko couldn't help himself. In the only way he could respond in that moment, Zuko captures her lips with his own in a passionate kiss. She returns the kiss with equal passion.

It was in that very moment, with Katara by his side, Zuko truly felt invincible

[mrssimply]

WIP Wednesday

People, I have WIPs, as in WIPs, plurals! Amazing! And I remebered it was wednesday, the consecrated day for WIPS, which is amazing, too!

I'm writing two things:

Invictus - which will be a retelling of Phantom Liberty if it happened after storming the tower and with Johnny back in his body, but V still dying. Let's have a look.

The same link that allowed them to communicate without speaking also meant that Johnny sometimes swore he could feel V’s pain physically, like their brains and bodies didn’t get the memo they were separate again. It made situations like this particularly unbearable to the former terrorist, who was ready to snap at the client to wrap it up. Maybe feeling the change in pace and atmosphere, the client let the end of his sentence trail off and nodded when V repeated the fee for the job and told him it would be done within two days. The guy got up, held out his hand to shake but V made no move to stand. Johnny did, crossing his arms and giving the man one of his patented smirk. “Alright, fuck off now, we got other biz to do,” he said with a drawl. He didn’t care if people thought he was an asshole, he liked it even, but he needed to preserve V’s reputation.  The guy scowled, then shrugged like he was above Johnny’s pettiness, and gave a final nod to V, who returned it with a somewhat apologetic smile. It was tight around the edge, but probably invisible for anyone who didn’t know the king of the Afterlife well. The moment the man’s back was turned, Johnny waved his hand at Claire in a motion they’d agreed on. She didn’t even break her pace in handling client drinks to acknowledge him, but took control of the audio system. “Hey folks, you benevolent King is offering you a free drink right now! Come by the bar to get it,” she singsonged, and the result was immediate. People rushed to get there first under her booming laugh. In the commotion, no one saw V’s slump against the couch with an expression of pure pain on his face. They didn’t catch Johnny picking him up with difficulty because of all the chrome in his body that turned him into a fucking dead weight. Grunting, Johnny hoisted him over his shoulder and half carried him to the back room. “Johnny,” V warned right in his ear as they pushed through the excited crowd of mercs and clients. “I got you,” the man mumbled back, playing elbows to clear the way. He could hear V’s taking very small and cautious breaths, fighting down the nausea that usually came with the episodes nowadays.  They finally crossed the door to the back alley, and Johnny sped up when he heard V grunt and swallow heavily. They barely made it to the backroom before V was falling forward, nearly bringing Johnny down with him as he heaved into the bucket strategically placed here. Unfortunately, it wasn’t their first rodeo.

And the second one is a Jedi AU. Note that I didn't call it a Star Wars AU, since I'll be mixing the game's events with Jedi lore, but it won't have any link with Star Wars. Maybe. (bellow the cut to prevent post from being too long)

The skies opened with a thundering noise and a white flash of light, before rain started pouring down. V was drenched in a few seconds as he stood, arrested by the vision in front of him. Standing on the parapet, balanced despite the howling winds around him, stood the Renegade. His silver and ebony robes were whipping around him, revealing his black boots and the hem of just as dark pants. It felt effortless, how he stood there, held by the Force and his own will, toying with the void V knew was waiting on the other side.The man seemed unbothered by the lack of exit at his disposal, looking straight at V.  His eyes were dark, so much they appeared black, only crossed by a glitter of white when another lightning bolt illuminated the sky. Locks of black hair were escaping a lazy bun and dancing over his face. One got caught at the corner of his mouth, bringing V’s attention to their redness, and the paleness of the skin surrounding it. It was broken by a scruffy beard peppered with white.  He was waiting, calm and attentive. As V hesitated, Reed’s voice echoed in his head : “You want justice for your friend, V, and Silverhand is the key to that. We will shed light on this affair, I give you my word.” The Jedi Master’s serene trust in the Order was always a balm when V lost perspective of the goal.  The young master reaffirmed his grip over his saber, and widened his stance to adopt his preferred defensive form.  The renegade looked at him passively, the only change in his attitude a small tilt to the side, like he was amused by V. “I’m here to bring you to the Order for judgment,” V finally declared with strength. He breathed in deep, feeling the Force respond to his call and that, above everything else, appeased him. The saber came to life, bathing V in soft green light. it was like the winds were forming a cocoon around them now. The Renegade moved, his robes parting to allow V a view of the metal arm that gave him his moniker.  He jumped down the parapet on the soft grass of the terrasse, his movements graceful and light, like a cat.  “Give me your name, Jedi,” Silverhand said, mocking mirth coloring his inquiry. The young knight felt a spike of annoyance that he snuffed out with another deep breath. Strangely, it made his opponent smile wider. “My name is V.” “V…” he repeated with a smirk. “Just a letter. Concise.”  Then, with a flourish, he let his coat fall to the ground, revealing a sleeveless black top that gave V an unencumbered view of his silver arm. “Don’t think I need to introduce myself,” he drawled, catching his lightsaber as it jumped into his infamous hand. V’s focus was on his feet, though, which looked like the first stance of Djem So and it surprised him a bit. It wasn’t a typical darksider’s opening. The Jedi’s eyes jumped up when he heard the familiar sound of the lightsaber coming to life… Only for air to stall in his lungs.  He’d expected red, or at least orange, but the Renegade was wielding a saber of pure white light like V had never seen.

As always, couldn't really chose a small snippet, sorry for the long post.

Both are going to be long fic, but there is no telling when or even if they will ever be finished, since inspiration and writing block have been at war for about a year now.

Do tell me if you want more, I think I might need encouragment this time!

[jasminedragoon]

oh my god I got a Bowuigi fic idea

Starting off Luigi and Bowser start off enemies after the events of the movie

But this is a soulmate mark au or maybe not idk it can be whatever you want

After a crap ton of beatings and several teaming up against a greater evil also getting to know his kids and such things are in a calm for a bit

Bowser reevaluates his tactics with Peach, slowly losing feelings for her on the dl. As a last ditch effort he tries to make himself human

Princess Daisy decides in the lull of all this peace to throw a masquerade ball! Also bc this is after Luigi beats the mansion and my man is scared and v anxious after the whole ordeal and she wants him to feel better.

Kamek makes Bowser human for a day for the masquerade ball. (This is where the soulmate mark could appear since he's now a human. Luigi notices his mark finally appeared after years of grief over it.)

Looking sharp as ever, but the spell didn't get rid of the green around his eyes. So good thing the mask covers it!

Peach recognizes him immediately but doesn't say anything just because there's been peace for a while and she'd rather not trigger his hot temper

Bowser, dense as hell, starts chatting up Luigi not knowing it's him still after all these years.

They really connect and Bowser talks about his kids and fears. Luigi thinks he's someone else that came from New York especially with his unnatural thick wavy red hair.

Mario is dense too and is just like aww look at my bro being happy I'll kill him if that guy messes up tho

By the end of the night Bowser and Luigi grow closer even going off with one another. They talk well into the night and Bowser asks to see him again and how they'd meet in an abandoned tower the next week.

They meet again and Bowser renews the spells. Kamek doesn't like this bc lying bad. His kids wanna know who their papa is dating and Mario is getting concerned he'll never meet this mystery man.

Luigi long since took off his mask and with some coaxing Bowser does too and they take a bit of a break.

Bowser is heartbroken, but remains in peace with the other kingdoms. Luigi sends a note apologizing and saying to meet in the usual place.

Bowser stays as himself they reconcile and say their feelings for one another and have a long and passionate night together.

They secretly date until it comes up about Mario and everyone pretty much. Bowser gets mad and Luigi gets frustrated and when they return to one another to be like it's okay Mario followed Luigi!

Mario is pisssedddd he thinks Luigi has been brainwashed again and Bowser has been planning this all along to get private information, knowing full well Luigi is asleep for all their meetings.

They fight and destroy everything around them and Luigi leaves with Bowser because he gets tossed to the side. Mario thinks Luigi ran away from both of them

Peach takes this as treason. Sends a search party and orders he be thrown in the dungeon if found, unbeknownst to her Prince Mario.

Bowser and Luigi have a nice time healing together and being with their kids. Luigi is a good papa teaching the kids how to cook and play Fortune Street

Peach finds out about them and orders that as soon as they leave the borders they'll kidnap Luigi I mean bring him home

Mario finds out through Toad and immediately goes to rescue him

Mario is seething, fully thinking that Bowser hid his brother from him for manipulative purposes. Mario uses his fire powers to maim Bowser. He sneakily gets the upper hand and starts the battle. While Bowser has gotten much more powerful so has Mario and is close to death by the end of it.

Bowser is down and close to passing out. Luigi screams for them to stop getting pissed no one is listening this triggers him to turn into Mr. L. He uses his lightning against Mario. Mario is stunned he thought Mr. L was gone for good?

Turns out once Pandora's box is opened it never shuts. Mr. L shoots a lightning bolt by Marios head and warns him next time he won't miss. He tears down Mario asking why would he want to go back when he's loved and appreciated here. He tells him not to return.

Mario leaves and Bowser is scared. Mr. L is kind of cold to Bowser and sometimes down right mean to him and the kids. This sets off Bowser and Mr. L starts to isolate plotting his way out.

Until on Mr. Ls way out he snaps out of it after Kamek does some magic shit at Bowsers request.

Luigi apologizes and he's been out of it for 2 weeks. He leaves to apologize to his brother and Peach takes him in the dungeon and is still pissed and thinks he's Mr. L.

Mario mad and fights Peach on this and the bros reconcile.

Peach and Mario reconcile right when Bowser is PISSED and breaks Luigi out with the kids Bowser and Luigi stay together Mario and Peach eventually explain after mayhem ensues.

They work through his issues that trigger him into Mr.L and they live happily ever after

[yuanshenexplorer]

"Thank You. Signed..."

Pairing : Wriothesley x Neuvillette Warning : Boy x Boy, Angst (at the beginning) This Pov (even if it's more like an one shot) was inspired by « The DJ is crying for help » by AJR ! Even if it don't really fit the lyrics X) Number of words : 1 476 (Not too bad, I'd say) Hope you’ll like it ! ^^

A subdued light filtered through the few gaps left by the blinds on the closed windows of his home, barely illuminating this room of scattered belongings, unmade bed, and where a dark silhouette stood in a fetal position. He had hidden his face between his arms and, behind a cascade of white hair, was holding back tears. The rain was falling hard outside, as if echoing Neuvillette's malaise, reduced to a huddled, shabby-looking form. In front of him, crumpled and sometimes torn leaves were spread out. A malevolent reminder, circling him like a vulture in front of a carcass.

Another day's work over. Again.

A day worthy of hell. A day of incessant mockery, disgusted glances, sickening insults. Why so much hate? Why be so angry with him? He hadn't done them any harm… Or had he… Maybe once he'd made them suffer…

When the truth had hit their discomfited faces, a truth that disgusted many. This way of being, this attraction, perhaps too different from the others, had upset his way of working. Neuvillette couldn't take it anymore. A tear rolled down his pale cheek, and a bolt of lightning tore the sky in response. In a rush, almost madness, he lunged for his table, his only escape. He grabbed his violin, wedged it under his chin and, without waiting any longer, began to play his heart out. He poured streams of emotion onto those strings.

Surely he'll be receiving complaints the next day.

Surely someone will be banging on the walls, yelling at him to stop. But for once, he wanted to let go. No matter the insults, no matter what will happen tomorrow.

Tonight, he was letting himself go.

Only much later did his instrument stop emitting melancholy wails. When the storm outside stopped roaring, and the rain had finished flooding the streets and accumulating his sorrows. He had no strength left. His energy had been drained, by this rain, by the sounds of his violin, now resting in its place.

He lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room, his ears still ringing with the shrill melodies of his instrument. And so, his face framed by his tangled white locks, his cheeks still red from crying, his eyes itching uncomfortably, he fell asleep, praying for a better day.

The next day was no exception to the rule: he woke abruptly, torn from the comforting world of dreams by a violent pounding on his door.

When he opened the door, his face half asleep, his hair a mess, his elegant figure cowering like a defenseless animal, his imposing form looking shabby.

He had a moment of total incomprehension, why hit his door with such force?

Oh…

His violin…

"Would it be possible not to have to endure your music for a week?"

Of course… He must have expected it.

Neuvillette looked at him neutrally. The face of his apartment neighbor came to him like a blurred face, with distorted contours. His constricted throat refused to let out the slightest sound.

Yet he had to apologize. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

"If this keeps up, I'll have to report you. You're annoying everyone with your racket."

His gray, storm-sky gaze darkened. Was he going to be homeless too? That was condemning him to a slow death without comfort.

As he forced himself, his throat tugging at him to try to get out just simple words, a door opened beside them, accompanied by a disgruntled growl.

"What's all that noise?"

An imposing man with tousled hair stepped out of his apartment, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. His sharp eyes glared at the man with the deafening complaints.

"Isn't there any way we can have a quiet morning? I don't need anyone yelling, people yell enough at my work."

His gaze turned to Neuvillette, who was watching him with a worried expression. He too was about to get angry with him. They'd both gang up on him. It was all over.

Yet his neighbor's icy blue eyes only stared at him for a brief moment. A gleam seemed to ignite them for a moment.

What was he waiting for to get angry too?

Did he want him to feel guilty too?

Yet, contrary to what they'd all hoped, for once, Neuvillette didn't blame himself. He wasn't sorry.

So he maintained the contact between them, without flinching, even though his eyes betrayed his mental weakness.

Suddenly, the man with the jet-black mane let out a simple puff of his nose, which for once didn't sound like mockery.

"Nice music last night. Personal composition?"

The man with the long white hair blinked. He'd imagined every conceivable scenario, but what about this one?

He hadn't expected it at all.

"T…Thanks…?"

His voice came to him like a squeak, as if he were regaining the use of speech after years without speaking.

When he looked more than a little surprised, the man next to him could only smile in amusement. His gaze went cold, however, as he turned his head towards the other man, who remained frozen.

"To what do I owe the honor of these unpleasant cries on a Saturday morning?"

The man said nothing, stammering inaudible words.

"No longer able to say anything?

He sighed, crossing his arms.

-Let the poor guy decompress from his days, he's got a right to have passions, hasn't he?

-Y-Yes, but…

-You're the only one it bothers. I don't get the impression you really thought about our sleeping hours when you had the music cranked up on your speakers."

Surely out of arguments, the man turned away from his two neighbors, and left, uttering a string of expletives. The man with the icy eyes sighed, resting one shoulder against the wall.

"We shouldn't hear too much more about it in a while.

-Thank you...

-That's a lot of thanks for me," the man pointed out, smirking.

Neuvillette froze slightly. It was true that it had been a long time since he had thanked anyone else.

"You'd better believe I'm in a good mood…" surmised the white man.

-Even after being woken up by such an energetic fellow?" the other pointed out, frowning.

-I guess so… Sorry to have woken you up."

The man chuckled.

Neuvillette suddenly felt nostalgic. It was the first time in a long time that a man had laughed with him and not at him. He'd missed that feeling.

"I was already awake a long time ago, unlike you."

The white man blinked in surprise. The dark-haired man straightened up, his eternal smile pasted to his thin lips.

"On that note…

He turned around.

-I hope to hear you play the violin again soon."

And so he left, waving politely. Unconsciously, Neuvillette followed him with his eyes, attracted by that rebellious hair and soothing aura, which had made his troubles disappear, leaving him in a torrent of nostalgia and well-being - a sensation he'd really missed.

He smiled. Sincerely. Before gently closing the door of his apartment, he headed for his bedroom, glancing at his violin, before cleaning himself up and dressing comfortably for the weekend.

As he dried his hair, enjoying the gentle rubbing of the soft bath towel, he was startled by the unusual sound of his doorbell.

His gray eyes narrowed in concern. Usually, disgruntled neighbors didn't bother to use it, preferring to pound on the door with their fists, even if it meant threatening to damage it.

So he was surprised to hear this high-pitched but gentle sound, instead of the usual deafening crash.

He hesitated, unsure of what to do.

Eventually, Neuvillette opened his door, softly, with distrust.

He was astonished, once he'd opened the door wide, to not notice anyone. His foot stumbled over something, and the sound of a bag being crumpled reached him.

He looked down, only to see a white plastic bag and a can of cold tea, where a post-it note had been stuck.

He picked up the package, absently, and picked up the paper on which someone had jotted down a few words in hasty handwriting.

"Every storm needs a clearing. Wriothesley."

Neuvillette remained standing, the can of cold tea in his hand, ignoring the drops wetting his hand, and the cold metal beginning to spread in his palm.

His mind had understood who had dropped off this intriguing gift, and this little message which, to the man with the violin, appeared as words of encouragement.

He returned to his house, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote a message of his own.

He went outside, delighted with his message, and stuck it on his ebony-haired neighbor's ringtone, his smile never leaving his lips.

"Thank you. Neuvillette."

A single thought occurred to him as he closed the door of his apartment, his heart light and his soul relaxed.

Decidedly, that was a lot of thanks for one man.

*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) *** (because I'm not qualified enough to write an entire POV by myself X) Sorry if there are mistakes :')) Just a question, am I the only one who is absolutely obsessed with this ship ? ;-; Have a nice day and thank you for reading this ! ^^

[miracleweaponhunt]

Miracle Weapon Hunt Chapter 66: Secure the Dagger

"And like we said the last several times, she's not interested!"

Willow stood arms crossed at the tall creep looming over her with a fake smile plastered against his face. She was the only thing separating them from the door to Luminita's throne room.

"But we wish for a little conversation, my dear." The man replied. He was tall and skinny, decked out in a pristine sky blue suit and a small lightning bolt pin. There were two guys next to him, but they were significantly shorter. This guy was probably obsessed with his height, and needed a constant reminder of how very hard he worked for it. "After all, we just want to show our support any way we can."

"You said that two days ago, we let you in two days ago, and we kicked you out two days ago. Now get lost."

The man tried his best to maintain his smile. But both knew that he was doing his best to stop the scowl building up.

"Well, I suppose I'll take my leave." He said calmly. One of his men handed him a pamphlet, which he then handed to Willow.

"Just know, miss. Not entertaining an outside audience might not give the best impression. Be sure to let Luminita know that."

Willow balled up the pamphlet and tossed it at the cultists. Landed on the head of the leader, who made an audible noise of discomfort. They left escorted by soldiers, leaving Willow to pick the paper up and toss it into an open bin. First try. Hey, times were stressful for everyone, including the cleaning staff. She stepped back into the throne room, where Luminita and Javier were waiting.

"They gone?" Javier asked. Willow responded with a tired nod.

"Good."

He was as openly sick of the Zeus cult as she was. Luminita just breathed a sigh of relief that they were in fact gone.

"How am I meant to deal with them?" Luminita whispered.

"Well, they'll give up eventually, right?" Willow asked.

"I don't think it'll be that simple." Javier sighed. "If Luminita shows any weakness during discussion, then pretty much any loser with an agenda could come for her."

"Okay, surely we could call someone to help in the meantime and show her the ropes?" Willow asked. "Like, I get there's a lot going on right now, but surely Gurpreet or something could help us out."

"Gurpreet?" Javier asked.

"Well, his relic was stolen, so It's not like he's busy. Probably."

"You know what, I doubt calling him would hurt." Javier said reaching to call his mother. She'd probably have his number. Or maybe she could talk to Luminita about this stuff.

He rang the number and waited for her to pick up. Nothing happened.

"Nothing?" Willow asked.

"Eh, she's probably just having dinner or something." Javier shrugged.

Nuria looked out the window of the castle. There was a small crowd of young people building up outside the castle, and several of her guards were stuck blocking their entrance. Some of the brigadiers brought weapons which they were attacking with, while Nuria and her husband were stuck inside their castle. A few guards were huddled around them as they made their way through the light brown walls of the castle, watching the windows just in case something happens. A window broke next to them, and everyone stood in anticipation at what would come in. After a solid twenty seconds, nothing of note.

But just as they continued their trek out, a beam of light pierced through one of the guards behind Nuria, and a dropping noise a second later. The light was so blinding that it stung Nuria's eyes, and it was only out for a second before piercing a hole in the wall. Behind them was a flaming arrow through another window, with the astral arrow quickly fading as the fire spread.

"They're after the dagger." Nuria whispered to her guard. "This has to be something to do with the Legion."

"So what's your plan?" The guard in front of her asked.

"We're destroying it."

Everyone circling her tried their best to contain their composure.

"My Queen, please reconsider-"

"My orders are final." She said calmly.

She strode through the hallways on her way downstairs, crossing the spiralling staircase to the second of three floors downward. A beam of light immediately shot past them, with a young guard peering out and immediately getting shot in the head by a second beam. His head almost disintegrated, with only a few smears of red across the orange walls remaining. A laugh rang out throughout the hallways as Nuria was huddled towards the bottom floor. Another beam hit the wall, just past a guards head. They tried not to panic with the knowledge that without the spiral design, they'd be dead. They moved on, they had to.

At the bottom floor, the crowd was starting to get louder. The names of guards were being called out outside a little after the sound of metal falling to the ground. Right beside the staircase was a door that contained the Roperia dagger, nested in between two grand staircases you would see when you enter, just below a giant orange flag with two daggers parallel each other. Nuria quickly pulled the key from her bosom and unlocked the door. Just as she stepped inside the hall, another set of beams went off. When she looked back, the remaining guards and her husband all had holes inside them, dropped dead on the ground. Nuria held in her reaction. She could cry later. She quickly locked the door hoping it would buy a little more time, before setting her sights on the hallway. It was a grand hallway once used for indoor balls, but ever since she moved them outside and left the indoor work to Mia and Freyja she didn't have much use for it. Now it was nothing but a spacious area to store a dagger and several years worth of dust. At the end of the hall behind a series of pillars was the glass that stored the dagger. It was meant to be the strong stuff that could withstand small blasts, but any Legion members willing to go this far could probably get past that.

She looked around for the right pillar of the four, two at each side, that had a small switch at the back that blended in with the rest of it. The glass went down and revealed the dagger. She briefly looked back, and the door was still locked. The grabbed the dagger. It had an orange handle and a rose coloured blade. Perfect condition like it was never used. She wasn't even sure what it did, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that it would never matter again. She tried stomping it down, but that didn't make so much as a dent. As she scrambled around the near empty room looking for something to bash against the weapon, the door was blasted open.

It was another light beam. Nuria didn't know what to do, so she just hid behind one of the pillars. She tried to stifle her breathing and come up with some kind of plan to escape. They both knew she was in here, so her only option was to run out while their back was turned. Another beam was fired to the back. The person looked like a young man, straight blonde hair combined with a light yellow t-shirt and jeans. He looked so…ordinary. But that didn't matter. His back was turned and it was obvious he didn't know where she was, so she was ready to make her escape.

Then the ringing started.

Her phone was on silent, but she never thought to leave it behind. She checked for a brief second to shut it off, and it was Manuel. The footsteps began approaching her, echoing heavier in her mind. When a hand revealed itself, she sprang up and sliced forward with the dagger. The man sprang back, before aiming a finger forward and charging it. One second later, and she was dead.

He checked the dagger. No signs of imperfections. In fact, did she even know the whole point was to reflect things? One look at her corpse suggested it was lost knowledge.

"Fall back, men." He said as he opened the doors. He calmly put a hand on a guard's shoulder, just before dodging an attack from another.

"Yeah, you might wanna look at what happened to your friends." He said, putting on a fake look of regret.

The guards did as he asked, and he strolled back to his ship. All it took was one blast from his fingers, and the people left him alone. As he got back in his ship, he stabbed the dagger into the table before sauntering into the cockpit.

"Hey, Jane." He said casually. "Daggers in the living quarters, be sure to get that back for Chelic. I'm gonna grab another ship and make a detour."

"Sure thing, number three." Jane replied calmly. An ordinary response from an ordinary girl. Whatever.

"Again with the number three stuff. I keep telling you, the name's Levin! Anyway, I'm off to visit some old friends, we'll work on that when I get back."

[alastorswifee]

~

"Team Lava wins, Jay and Lloyd have to get their nails done" Zane announced as he had tallied up the points.

Cole and Kai high fived each other as Lloyd rolled his eyes playfully, Jay humming with a grin "I'm thinking blue with a hint of gold" he bats his eyelashes causing Lloyd to chuckle. "Maybe you’ll suit them Jay” Lloyd comments with a smile, Jay grinning “maybe I will!”

~⚡️~

Jay walked into the store with Lloyd, walking to the receptionist "good day ma'am, there was an appointment made for my friend and I" Lloyd gestures to himself and the brunette next to him.

The lady smiles in a polite manner as she typed something into her computer "what is the name of the person who made the appointment?" She asks kindly.

Jay rocked on his heels as Lloyd confirms a few things with the lady, looking around the huge room they're in. He looks at the other women around the room getting their nails done. Suddenly he lands his eyes on a (h/c) haired girl typing away on her phone.

The brunette almost fell over from rocking, tumbling slightly but quickly holding the table said girl was sitting behind to steady himself. The impact caused him to lean forward, the girl looked up and blushed bright as her nose brushed against Jay’s.

Jay quickly flashed a charming grin "hey there" he tried to play it cool immediately causing Y/N to slightly laugh a little "hi there" she gently uses a finger to boop his nose making him slightly swing back and stand up straight.

Lloyd walks over "the receptionist said you'll be getting your nails done by her, I'll be over here" he walks to another table.

Jay grins and sits in the chair opposite the flustered girl, leaning his chin on his palm "today must be my lucky day" he wiggles his eyebrows causing the girl to laugh.

Man was her laugh adorable....

"Would you like me to just do your nails or would you like acrylics?" She asks causing Jay to raise an eyebrow "what're acrylics?" He questions. Y/N lifts her hand and shows her medium length nails "stick on plastics that I shape and paint into nails" she simply explains.

Jay grins "I doubt I can do that, especially since I’m the blue ninja and all so they'll most likely break" he chuckles as he slightly bragged to impress her but got taken by surprise when the girl took his hand in hers "what colours would you like?" She asks, grabbing tool and using it to push up his cuticles.

"What're you doing?" The brunette asks, finally snapping out of his happy daze from her holding his hand.

"I'm pushing back your cuticles so I can have more room to paint on your nails" Y/N flashes a soft smile while continuing to push the skin back.

"I'm Jay by the way" Jay would rest his chin on his other hand while watching her with a bright smile "Well I'm Y/N.”

"So what colours do you want?" Y/N added while putting his hands down and turning around to grab colours from the shelves "royal blue and..a golden like yellow" Jay confirms "yeah royal blue and golden yellow"

The girl nodded and stood up, grabbing the nail polish and sitting back down before grabbing his hand "any patterns you would like or just paint your nails?" She asks.

"Maybe do something simple? Lightning bolts maybe?" Jay laughs a little. His grin surely was contagious cause it had the girl grinning with him.

"So Y/N if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Jay leans forward slightly out of interest "oh I'm 19" she replies while starting to paint his nails making the red head's eyes light up happily. “How long have you been working here?” “For about a year now or more” she answered immediately. Jay raises his eyebrows "well as I’ve said before, I’m the blue ninja, ya know..lightning, crime fighter” he grins “all that jazz” he said proudly making Y/N giggle "I wonder what’s it like being a ninja" She thought out loud with a curious expression. "It’s honestly exhausting but it’s worth it when we save people and make sure there’s no bad guys" Jay explained with a soft smile while Y/N puts one of his hands into a device, turning it on making a UV light shine on his fingers "don't move your hand until the timer goes off" she says, starting to do his other hand.

~⚡️~

As Y/N was putting the nail polish back on the shelves, Jay quickly walks over to her "Y/N!~" he calls in a sing song tone.

The girl couldn't help but grin as she turns around "hi Jay!" she walks over and wraps her arms around his neck, both of them swaying lovingly as they hug.

The women in the store chuckled and smiled wide, some mumbling things like 'young love' and such.

"Is your shift over?" Jay asks while burying his face in her hair, Y/N nods slightly and hums "yeah but you're early, any special reason? You're normally here after I'm done packing up" she lets go of him and walks back to her desk to continue packing her stuff.

"Well didn't I owe you a date? I still feel bad for cancelling last time" Jay scratches the back of his neck "Babe it's okay, your sensei needed you and the other ninja for extra practice I don't blame you" Jay could've sworn you were an angel, he couldn't believe he had such a supportive and loving girl.

Y/N walks over to him and links her arm with his, intertwining their fingers while hugging his arm with her other hand "so where to?" She asks with an excited grin on her face.

Jay walked out with her while holding her hip "there's restaurant not too far from here so why not treat you to dinner" he places a gentle kiss on his lover's head. Y/N couldn't help but grin happily "you're so good to me, how can I pay you back?" "Sweetheart you don't have to pay me back, spending time with you is all I need"

"Love you're way too sweet, are you sure I'm your first girlfriend? Who wouldn't want an angel like you?" Y/N hugs his arm tightly against her chest, Jay grinning "keep my arm there yeah?" Y/N looks at him confused until she followed his gaze to his arm pressing against her breasts.

Y/N quickly looks up at him with a playful glare "you perv!" She gently hits his arm causing him to burst out laughing "I couldn't help it princess"

Jay lifts their intertwines hands up and kisses her knuckles, looking at his lover with a loving look causing her to blush "Sorry sweetheart.." "are you bribing me?" Y/N jokes.  Jay couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he cups her cheeks, squishing them "Thank you so much for giving me a chance.." Y/N placed a hand on one of his "of course honey..now let's get to that restaurant yeah?" "Of course"

[spacecasehobbit]

Infinitely easier to come up with fake fic titles, I can do that all day. How about "I'll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake" or "thunder and lightning (very very frightening)" lol

I am jealous of this skill! I even trip myself up coming up with fake titles, lol. But onto the fake fics for the fake titles!

--

"I'll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake"

Angst! Angst seems like the obvious answer, here, haha.

There's lots of potential for a fic with this title in AtLA.... Zukka could go either way (or both ways :p). I could see a Tyzula option with lots of Ty Lee secretly pining for Azula and knowing it's a mistake every time she finds little ways to feed her crush and hope it won't end in the inevitable heartbreak that she knows is coming.

But the one I'm leaning towards most is an Iroh-introspective piece in which Iroh (one who is absolutely, 100% just as Dramatic as the rest of his family, even if he pretends to be quieter about it) finds all new ways to blame himself for both Lu Ten's death and Zuko's burning immediately after the Agni Kai with Ozai, all while desperately trying to keep up a mask of hope and cheer every time Zuko wakes up long enough to look his way.

The mistakes were too numerous to count, and every one is an impossible weight he must learn to bear anyway. The secret is that he's dying inside even when he's smiling.

--

"Thunder and lightning (very very frightening)"

This one immediately inspired, "lighthearted and cute," lol.

For AtLA: maybe a Zukka fic in which Sokka experiences his first thunderstorm in the Fire Nation's rainy season, after starting his new position as Ambassador for the SWT.

Sokka is merely trying to hunker down in his warm and cozy ambassador room with some warm and cozy stew, when who should appear, between one lightning flash and another, on a nearby hilltop visible from his window - outside, in the rain - but Mr. Crazy-Fire-Guy Zuko... who is, apparently, practicing getting hit by lightning in the middle of the storm.

Who does that?

Zuko. Of course, Zuko does that, because Zuko is a crazy Fire Nation royal - Fire Nation Fire Lord, even - who would stand around in a lightning storm, shirtless, redirecting giant bolts of energy from the sky with his bare hands, with no concern whatsoever for either getting fried or for frying poor Sokka's nerves. First with, "Oh no!" and then with, "Oh, no."

[dorianpavus]

Do you have tips for organizing bg3 hotbars? Mine are overwhelming me but I don't know where to start

ooooh i can tell you how i organize mine, at least! 😊

the short version is this:

maximize the rows on your hotbar, and group things that go together. spells by level, abilities by melee/ranged, anything that forms patterns and helps you differentiate between them.

but my typical meandering, long-winded version below the cut! 🫡 also very minor spoilers regarding like, ability icons haha.

first things first i always maximize the number of rows that can be on the hotbar. this is especially important on a caster with lots of spells at their disposal, but even someone like a battle master fighter can have too much going on otherwise.

i like to do that immediately, even before they have enough abilities to fill the space, because if you organize your hotbar first and then expand the rows when you get more abilities, it messes up your organization and you have to do it all over again. 😔 so i just get it out of the way from the start.

if you didn't know, you click here for that!

generally i like to group things that go together, so it makes finding things easier. that means grouping spells by level, etc.

for instance, i always put the top row of my spells as my cantrips. and even further, i usually have "attack" cantrips first (with the one i am most likely to use most often closest to the divider), followed by utility cantrips.

after that, spells go by level! guiding bolt and fog cloud are both first level spells, and misty step is second level. third level spells (haste, lightning bolt, and fireball) get their own row. then fourth and fifth level spells are beneath that.

(also if anyone is wondering why i have cleric spells on my sorcerer, it's because i installed this mod because i really wanted my dark urge to be a divine soul sorcerer, and this lets me kinda fudge it lol)

depending on where i have the most room/what looks less cluttered (clutter on the hotbar = eyes glaze over and i don't use things enough haha), i will add other things. below i have a little gruel, put on the hotbar because it's something that is very situationally useful and i don't want to forget it (it doesn't take an action or bonus action to consume). next i have my false life scrolls, which are another thing i want to use every day on my sorcerer. next level down are the healing spells i get from my amulet, separated from my other spells so i know they're a once-per-rest use; and then a tadpole ability.

this system pretty much carries me over on all my characters. on lae'zel, i have her melee attacks on the top row, and ranged attacks on the row below it. moreover, the "basic" attacks are on the left of the divider ("main attack" and per-rest attacks you get from your weapons), and the class abilities she gets are on the right. and any of the same abilities get paired together (i.e. melee trip attack is right above ranged trip attack, and basic melee attack is right above basic ranged attack).

things are a little messier on astarion, just because he's most likely to use special arrows and poisons, but i still have a grouping system for those. melee attacks on top (basic attacks left of the divider, sneak attacks on the right side). the potions i want him to use most often i also put on the left side (elixir of viciousness and speed potion) to make them easier to spot/stand out from everything else i threw on his hotbar. then the actual items are separated according to what they do -- grenades on the top row, followed by poisons/oils, and arrows on the bottom. (don't mind the second row, which is a mix of stuff that overflowed and didn't quite fit and i have been too lazy to clean up yet lol.)

(...tbh looking at this is making me really want to organize it when i play next. 😭 i'll probably organize the arrows and oils further based on their purpose; whether a buff or an attack, friendly arrow or violent, etc. maybe go by rarity as well. i have a few more arrows that are creature type specific in my inventory (arrow of monstrosity slaying, undead slaying, etc; and i might add those to his custom hotbar tab).

this does look a little overwhelming, but i found my first playthrough that i like straight up never used most of my items (arrows, poisons, etc) and forgot about them in my inventory. now i use them every combat and they actually feel worthwhile and fun.

lastly my custom screen i devoted to spell scrolls. i only did this on my main character, who hoards them all lol. but i followed the same pattern of diving spells by level, and furthermore by whether they are attack spells or buff/friendly spells, which just helps me strategzie more/find things quicker.

i don't know if that will help you at all, but that's how i do it at least! grouping things by whatever pattern works for you, and trying to space things out so it's not just one big wall of abilities... that is what i'd recommend. :) and starting the organization as early as you can so it's easy to add things in as you go!

good luck!!! 🥰

[stevetown]

On The New Tumblr Desktop Dash

I've been using the new Tumblr desktop dashboard for a few days now and I have some Thoughts that I thought would be useful to put out in to the wild. Most of the reaction I've seen has been...abnormally harsh about this UI update, so I think it would be interesting to actually go through the changes and point out what I like, what I don't, what I think could use some improvement, and maybe break down a little about why those Twitter comparisons are way off the mark.

More below the fold, but the tldr for me is - I think it's great! At the end of the day, I feel like I use the desktop version of Tumblr more and more since the change. Whereas before I used to just pick up my phone and refresh the app, now I get a hit of dopamine flipping over to the Tumblr tab when I need a work break.

The change is clean and logical, and as someone who came to Tumblr a year ago and still never quite grokked what all the icons at the top meant, having them spelled out is much nicer than guessing what they mean, even for someone who has become more familiar with the site. And to be clear, from what I can tell that's the goal of this change - to make it easier for newer people to use Tumblr and find their way around. Despite all the hate this change is getting, that is an unabashedly good thing.

The Left Nav

It's really, really clean. The old dash had a lot of unused space on the left, it makes sense to carve some of that out to have a menu that actually lays out what each icon means. The font size and style is comfortable without overcrowding. It just feels more...confident? Like these are the features Tumblr has. Use them! It's also just a more familiar web browser experience for anyone who has been using web apps since the dawn of email.

The badges also fit much nicer with the left nav. They don't float above an unclear icon, they're right next to what it says on the tin. You got 20 new posts to read, buddy. 5 new notifications. 1 anon ask. It's just better on my eyes.

I do understand the gut reaction that things are "too" cluttered. One of the first things I did was snooze Tumblr live and that helped me out a lot. Just removing all of the noise of live tags and loading-in thumbnails of people I'm not interested in watching went very far. It brought the post content further up on the screen.

A little before and after snoozing Live:

Explore

I didn't even know what Explore was used for before. It was a compass icon. I think I thought it was some kind of search? I can't remember if I ever clicked on it before. Explore is much more interesting to me. It makes me curious. For a site that struggles with getting new users to find new content, it's a beacon that says "Find some cool new stuff!"

My problem with Explore is that clicking on it...doesn't get me much. The landing page just takes me to a feed from @todayontumblr that almost never has any content that I'm interested in. The "For You" tab on my regular dash is where I go mining for new blogs, along with "Your Tags." If Staff finds this change leads to more Explore click-throughs, I'd love if the tab itself get some love and made it a hub for finding new content easier. Maybe mixing up a feed of any tags you're following, trending posts, and other algorithmically sorted goodies that I'll want to take off the shelf and put in my chronological dash. I want it to be a place with the goal of encouraging me to follow new blogs.

Live

The transition to the Live page doesn't feel good to me. You're taken to a totally different kind of page, and the UI jumps all the way to the left. It feels like you're going to a separate site. At least when you snooze Live it also removes the menu item. That's really nice! But I'll save Live thoughts for another day.

Activity/Messages/Inbox

I never knew how much I suspected these things were a bit redundant, but I'm glad now that they're separated and labeled correctly. I don't have to remember what the face icon/mail/lightning bolt all mean or why they're different. Things are much cleaner in that regard.

I don't really care for the popups when you click on them. Those do feel cluttered to me, like I'm going to lose sight of my dash, or the notifications. I don't have much UX advice here, other than to say I think I prefer how the Inbox is handled, where you're just taken to a full page view of the page. However maybe another solution would be how the Account and Settings icons are conducted...

Account/Settings

This is the section that sold me on the new dash. On the old dash, I found navigating the Account and Settings options...ephemeral. I was afraid I was going to lose my place if I didn't find the menu I needed. Here, having them slide out as a drawer, keeps me in place and lets me orient myself easier. It's made exploring settings overall frictionless. I've changed dash palettes like ten different times just because I could and it was easy to find. Maybe something similar for inbox/messages/activity would make the UI feel more consistent and less overcluttered-feeling?

I do notice that the Account dropdown adds a new scrollbar which makes things like the t logo and badges jump to the left. That can be a bit disorienting.

TumblrMart/Get a Domain

The Get a Domain menu item is fine, but TumblrMart feels like it needs some love. On a new refresh, clicking the icon loads for a total six seconds before the mart pops up. By this point, if I wasn't intentionally testing, I would have just moved on. Again, I also just don't like pop-ups like this. Feels loosey. Much prefer the full-spread domain page you get.

Create

This is maybe my least favorite change. Every time I switch to my Tumblr tab, I see it in the bottom left and think it's the "Where were we?" button. When I do want to create a post, it feels like I have to travel far to get to the button, and then I have to travel again when the dots come up to select what type of post I'm making.

I wonder if just tucking it at the bottom of the menu under "Get a domain" would be better? Or at the top of the menu? Not sure. I feel in my jellies there's a better spot for this one.

On Twitter

If I can address the most frequent criticism I see on this site, which is that @staff are trying hard to "ruin" Tumblr by "turning it into Twitter," I understand that gut reaction.

But I'd encourage folks to think about that for a minute. UIs change, and a left-aligned nav is extremely common for a reason. Since the dawn of email, menu navigation has been relegated to a left sidebar. Twitter is not "burning to the ground" because their nav bar was on the left. Having a left sidebar means literally nothing in the grand scheme of what makes a website what it is.

What, truly, has this nav update changed? It does not change the functionality of the site at its core at all. It doesn't change what you can post, how you can post, what content you find, reblogs, or tags. For a site that struggles with new users "getting" the site and finding their way around, this nav change makes it much easier to settle in with something a bit more ubiquitous to the modern browser-viewing experience.

Thus leading me to believe the only reason people hate on this change so vehemently is they don't want to see new users or any effort at all to attract them at all, and I think that's exclusionary crap. Knock it off.

Change is Scary!

That said, the change is scary! Having your muscle memory interrupted isn't fun and can take a while to get used to. Every change has a growing period. I get that. For me, I got over that period fairly fast, but I recognize this process is different for everyone, especially those who have been around here for a lot longer than I have.

The change is also open for valid criticism. There are usability and likely accessibility concerns for sure. Staff needs time to iterate, and they need to know what problems are actually worth fixing and addressing. "I hate it turn it back" doesn't help anyone - it doesn't help Staff, and it doesn't help new users who are trying find a new place on the internet to call home after *shakes fist at the rest of the internet.*

I really like this change as a starting point, and I can't wait to see it iterated on further.

And on a small end note, if you also have thoughts and opinions that you want to tell Staff, please, please, please remember there are other human beings on the other end of line.

[violets-in-her-arms-writes]

Find the Words

I've been tagged by @amewinterswriting, thank you so much ! My words were whine, hiss, shine & miss.

Gently tagging @chayscribbles, @rubywrite and @ryns-ramblings, if you want to play your words are girl, grudge, gravity and guilt. have fun 💜

WHINE

The woman had lost her jovial, vaguely bored air and seemed to have doubled in size. Her hair had come loose from its tight bun and was floating around her face, deformed by hatred, like a vaporous halo. Her eyes were streaked with little violet lightning bolts that reminded me of what sometimes flashed through Ana when she was stressed and which always ended up setting something on fire. "Some of us find her interesting, and that's why she's still alive. But make no mistake, the moment the Virulentes turn their backs on her, I'll put an end to her miserable existence." The invisible hand pushed me once more and I fell backwards onto the marble floor. My knee screamed in pain but no sound came out of my mouth except a low whine as I tried to relearn how to breathe. I rubbed my sore throat with a trembling hand and glared at her.

HISS

The intruder was in the kitchen, opening the cupboards. A burglary then? It was better than a wolf or vampire attack, but the situation could degenerate just as quickly. "Jo, get up against the wall," my girlfriend said. "No way," I refused, crouching down on the bed behind her back. "Besides, you know as well as I do that it won't make any difference. If…" The doorknob turned slowly, Lou leaned forward, a hoarse hiss in the back of her throat, and I shifted my grip on my knife slightly. Ana's disheveled head appeared in the doorway.

SHINE

Ana stuck her tongue out at her, but handed the notebook to Iris, who flipped through the three sheets we had on the aptly named "fuck the vampires" project. Her gaze lingered on the provisional sketch. "Ruby?" "Yeah, I think so," I confirmed. "If the ruby doesn't take, we'll try another red stone, but normally it's with the ruby that we'll have the best chance of fixing the theorem and…" "Yeah, yeah. I'd say I understand what you're talking about, but I can't lie, so I'll just say I don't care. If I can get… well no, I'll get there for sure, but if I fix you a glamour or two in a pebble, what would you need?" "A pebble"? You mean a gem? "Maybe a crystal?" said Ana, slumped on the back of the sofa. "Or a precious stone? Or a semi-precious stone?" "I mean a stone that shines," replied Iris, looking at us as if we were speaking gibberish. "I don't know the difference and," she continued, raising her voice when I opened my mouth to explain, "I don't care. What I want to know is what size you need and what color, so it doesn't clash with your design."

MISS

The black cat perched on her shoulders was a few years old already, with an imposing form, long silky fur, piercing yellow eyes and a scowl. She was the kind of cat that looked more like a James Bond villain than a real cat, and she had spat on every other cat that had tried to get close to her chosen one. "She's perfect," I agreed with a decisive nod. "She's as bad-tempered as you are when you get up in the morning, so you'll get along just fine." "Because you're little miss sunshine, aren't you?" "I'm a delight any time of the day or night, I don't know what you're talking about. Is it settled then? Is she coming home with us?"