#pop six squish etc

[good-beans]

When you reblogged your Mahiru Chicago Cell Block Tango drawing, I went and looked up the source material.

After I listened to Kotoko's voice drama, I kept thinking, "If you had been there, you'd have done the same." "It was murder, but not a crime."

At first, it was me holding Amane protectively, but I eventually made it Yuno for the visuals.

(Hehe, I'd drawn that pre-I Love You, because I still liked the theory that she was defending herself against a harmful bf. Aaaand maybe I wanted her in the badass outfit...) But I love that line so much, the confidence really suits a lot of Milgram characters! I can picture Yuno doing the whole number omg 👀 The piece has Kotoko's fierceness and Muu's confidence. And though she's young, that feeling of being justified because "she had it comin" suits Amane perfectly...

And now, the five merry murderesses of Milgram Prison, in their rendition of -- the Cell Block Tango

[echantedtoon]

Ocean Deep Ch13 T E N G E N

(Warnings: Mentions of killing and wounds, fighting which includes stabbing, blood/blood loss, attempted murder, implied murder at the end, etc. I'm also including a refresher on what kind of mers all of the boys that show up in the story are plus the wives-

Kyojuro would be a lionfish mer such as the one drawn by yuki2sksksk.

Tengen would be a white butterfly koi fish mer and would look like the linked post below except less eel and more butterfly koi also below.

Merman Tengen( minus the eel like features)

his tail would be more like this instead

https://images.app.goo.gl/G6CdGPbiLNgKwHTs6

his tail would be more like this instead

Makio is a Golden Dragon Koi mer

Suma is a (all blue) Halfmoon Betta Fish mer

Hinatsuru is a Strawberry Peacock Cichlid mer

Giyuu is a Pseudotropheus demasoni mer purely because I think the colors match him perfectly.

Sanemi and Genya are both bullshark mers. Same artist who drew the Mer Kyojuro.

Tanjiro is only briefly in the story and is a (green and black) Betta Fish mer

Akaza is a Betta Fish mer also by the same artist.

And Finally Obanai is a Coral Reef Snake mer specially the black and white version.

AND FINALLY A Q AND A!! You can ask me anything about the mers, this au world, etc! I'll answer all questions in the next chapter! For now just enjoy the extra beefy chapter!

taglist: @six-eyed-samurai @lavenderdrxp @jjamsbangtan @camilo-uwu @hopefulworld1

@shadyd3ar @amypop122 @azuredragonstrike

@mimisweetz @chaoticoperatorduckhairdo @staarflowerr

Remember if you want to be added to the tag list lemme know.

You had woken up surrounded by warmth.

Warmth and the sweet sound of a distant bird chirping. It stirred you into doing what you usually did in the mornings. Yawn and stretch out your arms-

"Careful! You nearly poked me in the eye."

WHAT-?!

Your eyes popped open and you squealed finding a pair of red eyes just inches away from your face. Out of instinct you squealed out again and scrambled back away from the sudden half asleep face of Kyojuro only to slip over Makio's giant golden tail and fall over onto your back.

...Well if everyone wasn't awake before they certainly were now. 

"Oh my goodness!" Hinatsuru's concerned face immediately peeked over Makio's tail and looked down at you. "Y/n, are you alright?"

A second later Rengoku perked up beside her rubbing his eyes and yawning. Suma jolted awake with a loud snort somewhere behind everyone as they all looked down at you. You groaned a hand reaching out to rub your head and slowly allowing yourself to take in what had just happened. Slowly you removed your head and looked down at your legs still half over Makio's tail. The three of them stared back at you with Suma just now sticking her head out from behind Kyojuro with the wildest bed head. You stared...until suddenly all the events of last night really kicked you good and hard in the head like grass suddenly getting squished under a falling tree. Akira. Kyojuro. KISSING!! The girls. Wife mentioned. KISSING!! You waking up in the middle of the night in Kyojuro's arms. 

K I S S I N G!!!

Your face went beat red and everyone was startled as you suddenly pulled off of Makio only to shoot up to your feet. A hand slapping over your mouth. That it-....IT ALL MUST'VE BEEN A DREAM!! YEAH!! THAT'S IT!! You were so overwhelmed by Akira showing up that you fainted, had a crazy dream, and woke up here because your friends were worried about you! Yeah! That's it! That must've been it! It was just a giant weird nightmare dream thing. You sighed somewhat even if you didn't really feel relieved.

"Honey? Are you alright?," Kyojuro asked concerning scrunching up his brows. 

"I-I'm fine," you shakily said quickly fixing your dress, "I just had t-the craziest dream with-.." You paused. Blinking before you slowly turned to look at them again. "..Did you just call me honey?"

"Do you prefer sweetheart? I'm sadly not too familiar with human nicknames for married couples but-"

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!! WAIT A SECOND!" You quickly held up your hands to the four of them with Suma rubbing her face and yawning widely. "Who said anything about us being married?! I thought you were only pretending to scare Akira off!"

As if they all were confused, the girls looked at one another in question, shrugged, and then all three looked at Rengoku as the defacto leader of their small pile. Sensing their want, Kyojuro took the lead as he should in Tengen's place and nodded.

"That's true. I was pretending to be your spouse in order to protect us all," he happily nodded with a large grin, "But then I proposed to you! You've been recuperating everything up to this point, it was only natural for us to take it to the next level!"

"But you've already accepted," he said confused gesturing to your hand.

Automatically you went to glance at your hand and to your horror found a shiny golden band around your ring finger and on the very front was a big green gem. Maybe an emerald? A pit immediately sunk into the bottom of your stomach as you stared wide eyed. Oh no. No no no no. That wasn't a dream?! This wasn't good! You didn't want to have this!

"I-.. You-.." You stuttered looking between their confused but happy faces to your hand a wave of emotions hitting you. Shock, fear, confusion, hesitation..but also strangely enough some flattery and intrigue under all of the big ones- You shook your head gaining a stern look. "Look. While I'm..." Flattered? Totally shocked? "..Humbled you all would find me attractive enough to want me to be your wife-" You settled on trying to be nice while also raising a hand. "-I can't be anymore than friends to you."

"WHAT?!," Suma wailed loud enough to make the rest of you wince, pushing herself higher by pushing up on Kyojuro's shoulders. He didn't seem to mind however and didn't seem phased at all by his wife's antics. "WHY NOT?! WE LIKE YOU AND YOU LIKE US!!"

"Not in a romantic sense! A-And on top of that we aren't even married! There's been no ceremony, no witnesses, and certainly no priest I know would officiate this-" And it was then that you had gotten an idea when you spotted the strand of rocks sewn into Rengoku's blonde hair. "Not to mention that you four are already married to Tengen! Remember?"

A silence was had between the four of them as they stopped where they sat, and then looked at one another. The elephant in the room being once again being addressed. You didn't forget about the obvious. Tengen was the entire reason they wanted to go back to the ocean

 "You have someone to go back to. Someone who loves you and cares about you so much that he's willing to destroy an entire town for you all."

You jumped as something calloused and firm grabbed your hand. The much larger hand of Kyojuro enveloped yours. F/c eyes looked up into deep red ones. The look they gave you was a deep longing. Nothing like the looks that other men gave you. 

"Neither do you. There's practically nothing here for you either is there? You said so yourself that there's not really much here."

"... Because the actions of selfish people and your Tengen are taking everything." 

In a matter of seconds his face dropped and eyes widened. "W-What?"

The smaller hand in his pulled away from him as her face fell. "You all were brought here by force, I get that and I don't blame any of you for that. But whoever this Tengen is is causing a lot of innocent people their lives. He's drowned people, drive tens of others away from here, and he's making it harder and harder for the people who're still here. And on top of it all I can't in good conscious involve myself where it'll probably only cause more trouble than I'm worth. " The coldness was felt when she pulled off the pretty ring and pushed it back into his hands. "Here. Take this back and save it for someone special you really want." 

The look he gave you followed by the looks of the others hurt a lot but...this was for the best. You couldn't live in the ocean with them and they just couldn't live the rest of their lives in a bathroom forever with the danger of being found out hanging over their heads everyday. No. You had to do what was best for everyone. 

"You four must be hungry." You finally broke the silence and turned. "There's some eggs and a head of lettuce left. I'll make you something for breakfast and recheck Kyojuro's wounds before I leave for work." 

By now his smaller wounds were all gone. His bigger wounds were nothing but surface cuts that would be nothing but maybe scars soon. The girls were all back at a healthy weight, and they didn't have any wounds that'd make it dangerous for them all to make the two week journey...It was decided then. As soon as you could get a horse and wagon, you'd take them all back. Even if you were unprepared, you couldn't delay it any longer. For everyone's best interest. As you left the room Rengoku was left staring so so confused at the ring. Why did she reject it after accepting their courtship? Was the ring not in her tastes? Did she not want him? Maybe she wasn't ready to be married yet? His thoughts stopped when Suma still hanging onto his shoulders hugged him tightly.

"Don't worry. She's probably just unsure because she hasn't met Tengen yet!"

"Yes! That's right! She wants to meet Tengen first!," Hinatsuru agreed smiling, "After all it wouldn't be fair unless he also met her! Don't worry!"

"... You're probably right." His hand closed back around the ring with a smile. "It's not fair for us to make a choice on their behalf! We shall wait until after they meet!"

You're head was filled with worries. Too many different thoughts buzzing around to really focus on one thing at a time. You made them something quick for breakfast and left them enough food for lunch to tied them over until you could bring them dinner...Which was impossible now because the entire butcher shop closed down three days ago when a quarter of the town packed up and left abandoning their homes and leaving for farther away towns or the city nearby. Even now as you walked along the road and looked upon the houses it was like you were walking through the remains of a ghost town. So many houses empty. So many businesses boarded up. So many people gone. Even now you watched as a man loaded up a wagon you had to pull by hand with who was presumably his wife standing by as he hauled another bag into the back. Wait..You knew those people.

It was Mr. and Mrs. Ochaco. The couple that ran the small series of fruit stands along the square.

You supposed with not enough people to buy their food, they didn't see the point of staying here either. It was like that everywhere now. No fish meant no income or goods. No goods means outside buyers wouldn't come by and bother. No income meant many people had no way to live. Without any customers their wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Which meant for a lot of people there was nothing left to do but become farmers (which not everyone could do) or leave for a better chance. 

THIS WASN'T FAIR! NOT TO YOU! NOT TO THESE INNOCENT PEOPLE! NOT TO THE INNOCENT PEOPLE THE HENYA'S GREED AND THAT MERMAN'S WRATH ENDED UP DOOMING!! 

It wasn't their fault! They didn't deserve to lose their families, their homes, their very way of life- And the reality only dropped from a pile of bricks to a boulder. As the legs carrying you came to a stop. F/c eyes widening as they took in the sight of wooden boards being hauled up on and over a window by one man as another took a hammer and nail and started hammering it into the home's side right over said window. And right in front of them both was your boss-

"M-Mrs. Satoshi?" You managed to get out finally snapping out of your stupor and began walking towards the old woman again. Upon hearing you the woman turned and looked surprised to see you there. "W-What are you doing?" Your arms gestured towards the flower shop. "What's going on?!"

Seeing the distress on your face, the old woman sighed sadly through her nose and shook her head. "Y/n, dear. I wasn't expecting you to show up again after yesterday. "

"What are you doing?," you repeated now recognizing the two men boarding up the shop as Niko and Mr. Satoshi. 

"Yes. It is surprising isn't it?" You blinked as she fully turned to you and put her hands in front of her. "I guess it was only a matter of time. I'm afraid I'm being forced to close up shop."

A shattering sound pierced the fragile ghost town's air. "What?! I-..B-But you can't!"

"There's really no other way around it. Without anyone coming to buy my flowers there's no reason for me to set up shop."

"Then..W-What are you going to do?"

"My son has enough room for my husband and I. It'll be nice to settle down and spend time with my new grandchildren and we won't be forced to leave our home. Oh, I'm so sorry for springing this on you." Her hands reached over and grabbed one of yours apologetically. "But you're still a young, beautiful woman and you have so many opportunities. I'm sure you'll be able to find something much more fulfilling than a flower shop."

"Mother, we're finished with the windows. Come rest with us."

She looked over briefly to her son before turning back to you, sadly nodded, and then left you standing there by yourself staring at the remains of what used to be your life crumbling around you.

"Y/N'S BACK!! Y/N'S BACK!!"

You ignored Suma's happy cheers and instead walked right past the bathroom door to drag yourself into your room and flop yourself down face first into your bed and just lay there. The roller coaster of emotions that you've been forced to deal with taking it's toll along with the stress and frustration you've been feeling over the past months. You lost.. everything. Your life savings, your free time, your job, most of your social life, and now even the job you loved is no more. The only things you had left was your sanity and home but who knows how long they'll last at this rate! You were tired. All you wanted was to lay here forever and just sleep the bad dream away. To close your eyes and never look back but unfortunately that's not meant to be because you could still hear them calling out your name from just down the hall wondering why you weren't joining them. 

...They couldn't stay here anymore. They had to go. And as your head lifted up from the warm, soft pillow you'd love nothing more than to lay on, you knew what had to be done once and for all. 

When night time came it wasn't really too much trouble to sneak out once again during the night once the moon was high in the sky. Even if you there still was people still left that could spot you, there wasn't too much of a risk considering there was barely anyone left to really spot you let alone come out at night. You felt guilt wracking your very core with each step you took against the dark night towards the only person you knew of that had what you need to hopefully save more lives in the end. The barn doors on Niko's property creaked slowly opened as moonlight shined inside lighting up everything inside in a pretty silver glow. 

A pretty brown and white pony turned it's head towards the dark figure standing in the doorway the pretty silver light reflecting off it's eyes. Before deciding the girl wasn't a threat and peacefully went back to chewing on the hay that was strewn about the pen. So it didn't mind a bit when the girl grabbed a bridle and approached it. It's so used to this being done so many times in its life that it didn't even put up a fight when she slipped it over his head or when she opened the door to the pen and pulled him out. Or when she took him outside looking around everywhere nervously as she took him beside the barn. Or when she made him stand still as she hooked up a familiar cart to him. Or when she pulled him along making him walk into the nearly empty town now. She only hoped Niko would forgive her for this.

You had done it. You'd committed theft. Yes. Technically this would be the third time you broke into someone's home, and stolen something but the first two times didn't count because the first time was technically a rescue mission and the second was recovering stolen property. There was a HUGE difference in now when you stole from innocent people and people you knew. You only hoped Niko would forgive you when you returned it to him a month later after you made the long trip back from the ocean. You quickly and quietly made your way back into your home looking back over your shoulder every five seconds expecting to see Niko or someone else come out of the darkness and raise the alarm for your crimes but the now mostly empty town remained quiet and peaceful..Or at least quiet. It was too eerie to be considered peaceful. You hadn't even gotten one step in the doorway when you were bombarded by a surprising sight. 

A pair of annoyed and worried tired red eyes bore into yours from in the middle of your common room. "And just where have YOU been, Young Lady?"

"Rengoku!? What are you doing?!"

Rengoku was sitting up and leaning against a wall, arms crossed, and with a stern look on his face. Uncovered and with his long fish tail all exposed for anyone to walk in or look through a window and see. "What am I doing? I'm waiting for you to come home. Where were YOU?" He challenged back raising a thick eyebrow. "You didn't come join us for dinner or come to bed and you worried me sick sneaking out so late. What were you up to out there all by yourself in the middle of the night?"

"What are you? My dad?" You shook your head with a sigh. "That's not important right now." You quickly poked your head out to peer outside but luckily the only witness to your guests was the horse so you quickly closed the door. "You do realize if it was anyone else who walked in you would've been in big trouble right?"

"That's no excuse. As the man it's my duty to make sure all of my ladies are safe and taken cared for!"

You felt a strange form of flattery at the gesture but it was shoved under by your annoyance. "I appreciate it but I've been taking care of myself since I was a child. I don't need you to risk your cover just to try and take care of me." 

"Well I can't help it if I'm worried! You didn't tell us or leave a note and-" He blinked as you just walked past him towards the hallway again. "H-Hey! Young Lady, you come back here when I'm talking to you! Where do you think you're going?"

"To get some bags and blankets." You could faintly hear the sounds of a thud and then Kyojuro dragging himself along the floors to follow you.

"Bags and blankets for what?", he called out confused. He wasn't very fast on land. 

"Food, clothes, and whatever else I'm going to need in order to get you four back home."

The dragging noises stopped when you opened the door to your bedroom. "Wait. You mean-?!"

"If you want to be helpful go wake up the others and see if you can slip yourselves into that wagon outside while I gather the supplies."

There was a bit of silence behind you as you began scouring for what you needed and then you heard loud and fast dragging again before the distant sounds of another door opened followed- "My fireflies, wake up! A joyous day has arrived at last! We're finally going home!"

You only sighed and began gathering what you needed to get for the long journey ahead. A few large bags for stuffing as much none parishable foods in as possible for your all you could find, another bag for clothing and essentials, a large gourd for water, and a couple large blankets to throw over the top of the wagon to hide the cargo. A tarp would've been preferable but unfortunately you didn't have the luxury or time for that. The sooner this was over with the better. In went three bags of mixed supplies. In went a giant heavy gourd you struggled to lift in. And finally in went the four of your friends. You found Rengoku struggling to pull himself in on his own attempting to climb up the back wheels making the wagon loudly creak under his weight. 

"SHH!! Kyojuro, what are you doing?!," you whisper yelled nearly dropping the lumpy bag of fruits and stale vegetables.

"Climbing in of course, Love! Is that not what you wanted?"

"...."

You had to take time out to literally help him climb in my lifting his long heavy tail and pushing it in. He was followed by you quietly picking up each of the girls and lowering them into the wagon alongside him. It was trickier than the last time you did this since they all had put on weight since the last time you had done this. Suma seemed the most excited and Makio had to slap a hand over her mouth as you pulled along the biggest blankets you had. With a light whooshing sound you threw them up in the air and pulled them all along until they draped over the entire back and effectively hiding the squirming mermaids underneath..Until they all popped their heads out excitedly on your left.

"I can't believe it! We're finally going home!," Suma practically screamed out smiling brightly, "I can't wait for all the yummy tuna again!"

A hand immediately shoved her head back down. "Pipe down! We're not out of this yet!"

"Wah! Kyojurooooo! Tell Makio to stop being so mean!"

"Let us all remain quiet. Makio is right and we are not out of this until we're back in our rightful home!" He blinked as the wagon jostled and you began pulling the horse along and in turn began to dragon the wagon along as well.

He was right. You weren't out of trouble yet. It would be at least a two week journey to the ocean and the road leading to it would take you all right past the Henya's home. You hadn't the faintest idea if Akira and his Aunt was still there or if he already left after the tantrum he through two days ago now. You didn't have a choice though. You had to take the chance. Stirring the horse towards the road headed Westward, you pulled him along and the horse followed obediently and successfully pulling the cart behind him. It was official. You all were off. Walking through the ghostly town early in the morning with the sun at least still three hours away from rising over the horizon. Each creak and rattle the cart made seemed to echo through the darkness making you fear that someone might wake up and catch you in the act. Each loud clip clip the horse made sending a chill down your spine that he'll attract something out from the darkness however as you all passed by abandoned home after abandoned home, no one showed their faces through the now empty buildings. And even if there was anyone left, they were fast asleep and oblivious to your journey. As you passed by the empty spaces, your friends stayed alert but quiet. Seemed even Suma knew the importance of being quiet right now. Soon the houses dwindled and you all were passing by the barn.

The Henya's farm. The place where this all started.

For you at least. Who knows where the girls were kept before they were moved here. Automatically you slowed the horse down to just a quieter slower walk as you approached the place. The shadow of the horrid barn seemed to loom over you all as you passed as if laughing and mocking them still for what they went through. You paid more attention to the house that laid still and dark. It looked like no one was home, so perhaps they had already left or maybe they were fast asleep. Either way you never took your eyes off of it as you all passed. The girls automatically lowered down with different levels of fear and worry and anger washing over their faces.  A growl made you jump and whirl behind fearing a stray dog or worse a wolf had chosen you all as an easy meal-..Only to half freeze half be relieved when you just noticed it was Kyojuro staring at the home too with such intensity that you swore his eyes were literally burning.

"Kyojuro, shush!," you sternly shushed him before quickly pulling the cart along.

It was doubtful that they could hear his soft growling from so far away but you weren't going to risk anything especially not when you just started your journey.  Despite all your feelings, the house remained dark as you passed it and stopped just outside the treeline and the road leading  into territory you've never been in. You took one last look at the quiet town and your home nestled inside, then at the Henya house, and then at the four pairs of eyes staring at you curiously wondering why you stopped. Two weeks. All it would take was two weeks and then you'd be free. With a shaky breath you turned back around and pulled the horse forward making the wagon creak along and leaving your old home behind. 

You never knew about the man who entered your empty home the following afternoon and discovered the remains of a locked box's burnt latch in your fireplace and the leftover scales in your bathroom. 

Your first day of traveling went..Ok you guessed. The sun rose three hours after you started and you four were surrounded by forest. You've already passed by the small river where the three Kocho sisters disappeared from here last autumn. Being so close near the ocean, it was always fairly warm and vibrant here but already it was nearing autumn again and soon you'd it'd be a year since they disappeared along with that Mitsuri girl. You know it was probably unlikely but you hoped that their families hadn't moved away too in case they ever came back. You stopped around midday by a small pond to allow the horse to rest and eat and drink and to give your aching feet a rest from the hours of walking around you had to do. And to allow yourself and the others to eat.

"Eat and drink sparingly. I don't know if all of this will last all of us until we make it there."

After an hour you continued until it was night, and you were plume tired. Sleep forcing you to tie the horse to a nearby tree and climb up into the back of the wagon to sleep with the others, Hinatsuru laying claim to you by pulling you to snuggle for the night.

"I can't wait for you to meet Lord Tengen. He's caring and kind and unlike any other man you've ever met."

The merman half responsible for your life going to hell? Yeah. Not going to happen but instead of arguing you just fell asleep to Suma snoring loudly again hugging Hinatsuru's other side. The next three days were pretty much the same. Walking, breaks, sleep, and rinse and repeat. By the fifth day you all hit your first snag. Surrounded by trees and forest constantly you didn't have exactly the ability to see far into the distance so when you came by a fork in the road. Both dirt roads looked exactly alike. Old, worn, and dirty. F/c looked between the two different directions unsure.

"...Where do we go?," you asked still so unsure.

"The right!" Makio pointed down the right path making you blink and look where she pointed.

"Right? Are you sure?"

She nodded blonde bangs swaying. "I remember that weird boulder there that looks like a bloated jellyfish when we were first brought this way. It's definitely right."

Bloated jellyfish?? There was certainly a misshapen rock there but a bloated jellyfish?? You decided not to argue and considering you've never been this far away, you just had to trust her so right it was. You pulled the horse that way and continued onto your journey. Three more days passed the same as nothing really changed but you were right days in now, more than half way in. Just supposedly six or so more days until you were able to reach the ocean. 

You never knew about the danger that was approaching fast with each rest and sleep you took  

By the ninth day the forests thinned out into half plains half trees. And the distant smells of salts and oceans were getting closer and stronger. Makio was right! You all were so close! You could taste the relief and freedom awaiting you all. Nine days turned to ten. The smells were stronger. Ten days turned to eleven. Most of the trees were gone now. Eleven days turned to twelve. You were so, SO CLOSE NOW! Twelve days turned to thirteen. You all hardly slept that night with the excitement. Thirteen turned to fourteen-

YOU ALL WERE SO EXCITED!! 

The four in the back could hardly contain themselves! You kept walking and walking despite your sore feet only taking a single break by a small pond to quickly rest and eat before moving on again. The sun rose, went to the middle of the sky, and then slowly started to set when you saw seagulls cawing and flying through the sky. And then you saw it. 

THE BEACH!!

THE BLUE OCEAN!!

THE YELLOW SAND!!

THE-...

.... the...You slowly came to a stop staring at what your eyes laid upon. The others initially excited also stopped what what they were doing to look shocked at what their sight beheld.

"Oh Posidon...Tengen.. what have you done?"

The setting sun's light lit up the beach and the blue ocean stretching far into the horizon as far as the eyes could see. And the destruction of others long past. The sounds-

The sounds of a torn sail flapped in the evening wind as it lazily flapped about from the broken mast ran into the ground, a mountain of splinters and what was once a majestic ship washed ashore next to it.

Clip. Clip. Clip. Clip.

The noises of the horse walking was quickly softened as the dirt turned into soft sand. Eyes bore sight of a graveyards worth of clutter. Where rotting wood met the cruel hot sand and the mocking waves that carried it here. Travesty after travesty you passed by. What was once boats of all sizes now marking the final resting place for those whom met a watery grave. The eyes gazed over each and every one as you passed. The result of greed and wrath. 

But it'll all be over soon. You just had to get them into the water and all of it would be over. So more deaths. No more Mermaids. Only normalcy.

You shivered and tried to ignore the deep claw marks embedded into the sides of a rather large fishing boat telling yourself that they were just marks from getting stuck on a reef. You pulled the horse along until you spotted a sight that you instantly recognized. A dock! An old honestly rigidity looking dock was right in front of you all leading to the water just deep enough to let them all swim without having to crawl stuck in the sand. You walked and walked until you were standing right in front of it all. The wind gently blowing your hair and the other four staring silently.

"....Well..this is it." You spoke after a minute breaking the silence and turning to them. "C'mon. Let's get you all back home."

There was a silence as no one moved for a moment just staring longingly at the sight- Kyojuro was the first one to take initiative, grabbing the side of the cart and pulling himself out only to land on the ground with a thud sound. Suma was next excitedly squealing and practically throwing herself out and desperately hauling herself towards the water. Hinatsuru and Rengoku weren't too far behind her as they too dragged themselves out. Meanwhile you grabbed onto Makio and started walking behind them with her in your arms. One, two, and three mermaids clambered onto the docks and without missing a single beat- Threw themselves off the sides without even waiting  to get into deeper water.

Large splashes could be heard as they disappeared into the blue, blending into the darkness as the darkness crept further into the sky.

"You don't have to go y'know?," Makio's voice spoke out as you watched what you assumed was Suma's tail slapping the water. "This doesn't have to be good bye. We still want you to meet Tengen! You'll seriously like him! I promise!" 

Makio watched as her face gazed at the water still, a hint of sadness as she opened her mouth to answer but didn't say a word as a reflection reflected by the limited sunlight caught her eyes. Pupils shrank as danger approached swiftly. Makio was once blinking in concern-

Then she was flying.

Makio elt weightless tumbling through the air as her world twisted and turned- AND THEN THERE WAS A SPLASH-

It's not often a person would see a beautiful beach. That was a privilege as eyes gazed out at the mournful sea. Gliding along in rows where it kissed the sand, it looked so peaceful in its dark blue colorful hue. The golden last rays was a gift delivered to the beholders by Angels and winds so sweetly staining the skin like a lover's kiss. The horizon itself looked as if it was a golden river of gleaming gold sewing itself in between the canopy of the dark twilight where the first few stars appeared twinkling like diamonds connecting it to the deep blue of the calm ocean paradise. In the distance, lines of the golden orbs last rays of tapered light splayed out, flowing through the cracks in the clouds like heaven was the one sewing the twilight to the waters with golden thread as the waters danced with sparkles, reflections from the light but it looked as if the angels made an accident while sewing the two together, knocking some stars out of the sky and making them shimmer and shine on the Water's surface.

It was beautiful.

She was so thankful for the beautiful sight. 

"If I can't have you, then I'll make sure no beast can either."

The cruelty and coldness of one's blade could never compare to the cruelty and coldness of one's heart and soul. Two bodies whom shared the beautiful sight fading from the blackened vision clouding her brain. A slide of cold metal and leakage of red stumbled, tumbled down in place of the pretty vision before them. Sweet salty air stained by copper as she stood. The cold cruel blade retreating from within her form as she stood there. The silence beckoning eyes of f/c to calmly turn. The sight of greed, dark with want toring away from the light embracing the hell within. Not but a whisper parted from her lips, the maw heavy swirling with blurs. 

"who..is the true monster here, Akira Henya?"

A distant woman's scream filled the void tilted sideways as the world tilted back and you were swallowed up by the coldness of the ocean blue and wrapped up in the warm embrace of lovers concerned. Catching her as world went black and echoes of sorrowful wails echoed throughout the voided night. The waves reverberating off the sky and cascading deep, deep into the Water's depths the waves carrying them further and further under the surface and muffled the unanswered sorrows of agony's past.

And two eyes of magenta stained red by wrath and blood opened wide.

"Y/N?! Y/N?!"

One who such went by such a name did not stir from the foreboding deadly slumber slipped into as shadows blurred and darkness swallowed them up. Sobs. Wails. Pleads. Cries. Prayers. It made not a difference to the one who had blood on his hands, staring down at the scene before him like a sick artist admiring the picture he painted into reality.

''That's right. Scream. It won't do a bit of good in the end!"

Hisses bore his fate as flames flared up at the one who would dare paint such a cruel thought into real form.

"HA! You think you're intimidating by just hissing at me like a fucking wet cat?! You're lucky you're in the bloody water otherwise you would've been gutted next like just another tuna!"

Anger. Wrath. Blood. Passion. And L O V E. All the red represents.

"Cry all you'd like..At the end of the day, no one is going to give a hell."

Oh how wrong he was. Someone did answer the cry of help.

And ironically hell had found him.

A violent rippling, rippling through the water like unholy blades through thin paper. A white ghost within the darkness rising amongst the dead and decayed ships and distorting the star covered water shining bright. It seemed as if even the great sun was scared of this beast as it hid behind the horizon and disappeared allowing night to cover it's unholy speed through the dark void and towards the docks above-

C R A S H-!!!

Feet shook as the old dock swayed, soon loosing his footing and the man found himself falling backwards onto his backside. Looking at the horror beyond that penetrated his sights. Splinters went flying. Wood cracked and flew in all directions cascading down into the water like unholy rain as something from below began pounding up and destroying E A C H  A N D  E V E R Y  P L A N K  O F  W O O D. Kyojuro out of instinct turned away shielding the one in his arms and the screaming women as droplets and wood bounced off his shoulders. The monster of ghost white passing by as a mighty tail passed them forcing the unholy rain to continue as it smashed and destroyed it's way up towards the human man. Bloodthirsty and itching for one thing 

TO ENACT VENGEANCE FOR HUMAN GREED.

Crashing, crunching, destroying ever closer to the human and then there was a splash. The iron like grip from the waves ceased him and he took a deep gulp of suffocation. The world around him wet and without any solid object to free him from the watery depths grip. Dark..Why was everything so dark?! He kicked out and flailed for nothing as the void never loosened it's grip on his air drained body. The menagerie of a shattered moon waved goodbye from the shattered waves of the seas rippling surface as he sunk deeper and deeper into the blackened abyss below that welcomed him in it's cold embrace. It's hands slowly wrapping around his body and killing him into that dangerous lullaby of death. It was .quiet. Almost even peaceful like as he drifted slowly down, down, down. He felt like falling asleep with his eye lids getting heavy. Until his flailing hand caught onto a floating board and he was able to pull himself up, breaching the surface, and gasping a breath of that holy air as he coughed out the void's water and laid himself upon the floating wood being his savior. Deep heavy breaths followed breathing in and out panting and coughing as panicked eyes eyes darted around but the darkness and waves enveloped any trace of the monster, and all others had disappeared. Nothing but shattered wood and darkness being his company. 

"You know ... There's five stages of grief." 

His form jumped against the board he floated upon eyes widening.

"Denial."

Panicked eyes darted around but he nothing within the darkness and waves or amongst the wreckage.

"Anger." 

The voice sounded ethereal other worldly. A ghost ebbing closer and closer from the depths.

"Bargaining."

The voice was blurred. Coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. Sounding so close yet so far away all at once.

"Depression."

Heart beats picked up. Swiveling his head this way and that as danger, panic, and fear set in with the unsettling doom ever approaching.

"And acceptance...But I would like to add to add one more step to that."

The water was silent. Nothing but the sloshing of his body sounding out as he desperately searched for the ghost that wasn't there but yet was at the same time. Until the hotness of something's breath wafted over his ear from behind as a voice whispered nothing but a word in his ear.

"R E V E N G E."

A man's shriek pierced the night and carried over the waves and forest before quiet settled once more. 

[sheep-from-rad]

I saw your Hamilton and Legally Blonde sagau stuff, I just want to request something like that with Chicago (Cell Block Tango or We Both Reached For The Gun would be cool) I imagine sadistic or cruel characters for both Roxie and Velma, I just don't know who would fill the bill, the casting is of course up to you. Love your work btw

SAGAU Musical AU x Cell block Tango Notes: I looked at my inbox and around 98% of it revolves around musical and music and I know I reached my target audience. More SAGAU musical aus in my masterlists and Requests are open 24/7 (all ask not just musical and music related) Warning: murder (this is Chicago musical so yeah murder) Masterlist 

Recap before I start. Basically this is just a normal SAGAU setting. Reader was a player, their game became self-aware and then for some reason the next time they woke up they were in a different place. They got isekai-d to Teyvat. The only difference this one makes I think it’s the fact that the reader is focused more on entertainment such as musicals and makes characters act in plays. The first part of this series (not really series because it’s a mess at this point and my masterlist is a mess) is here: SAGAU x Hamilton: The Schuyler sisters ft Ningguang, Jean, and Barbara. 

Anon, I’m sorry this one request became more on analysis rather than a fic because I don’t really know how to write the scene down. Also when I first read your request I mentally told myself, “hell I wish I can draw because this one request is better in pictures than in words”. So okay let’s go! SAGAU MUSICAL X Cell Block Tango!!

Rosaria as ‘Liz’ aka Pop!     "I took a gun and fired two warning shots—into his head."

Pop’s reason for murdering her husband is just pure annoyance. As we know Pop’s husband was very lazy and did nothing all day but to lay down, drink beer, and chew gum. Loudly. I’m not gonna cross out Misophonia here. I have Misophonia and honestly it’s not just loud sounds that gets my brain to erase all logic before diving to frustration then anger. It’s also the repetitive noises like water faucet, tongue clicking, finger tapping on desk (especially when they have acrylics and purposely doing it) and much more more. ASMR is fun but only the talking ones and not those that involve tapping etc. Mukbangs are also hell because of chewing. 

    Going back to topic I casted Rosaria as Pop because as we know Rosaria is a no nonsense person and you should never really bother her unless you guys are really close (like Kaeya for example) or something that threatens peace is afoot. Rosaria also doesn’t bother going around with people and likes to be on her own. I’m gonna be honest here, Rosaria is more likely to kill an annoying companion than an enemy. 

Ayaka as Annie aka Six!     "Single" he told me ``Single, my ass Not only was he married, Oh no, he had six wives!” 

    I want Yelan for this but I put Ayaka instead of the shit and giggles. Six tells the story of Annie Young who was courted by a man and later married. Turns out, the guy was not single at all, he had 6 wives even though he said he’s single. Annie then poisoned him with arsenic. 

I don’t have a reason for Ayaka to be here aside from the memes that rose when her banner was stuck on air for weeks and the tabibito memes. Yandere Ayaka memes count as well. Also, if you ever cheat on Ayaka, it’s not gonna be her to deliver justice to herself. It will be Ayato and his sword together with Thoma burying your body somewhere you will not be discovered. 

Eula as June aka Squish!

    “...and then he ran into my knife. He ran into my knife 10 times.” 

Moving on to our third murderess we have June.  Based on the song, June was making dinner when her husband Wilbur entered the kitchen and accused her of having an affair with the milkman. Also based on the song, the accused got violent and June started stabbing her in self-defense. It’s not clear whether she had an affair or not though.  I casted Eula as Squish because Eula is not someone you should push around. Eula left her home to become rogue and becoming violent is probably not something that she bats an eyelash on. As we see on her story quest as well, she is not afraid to get her hands dirty. She’s also not afraid to out someone even if they are related. It’s the same with June who did not hesitate to kill her husband.     Alternative to Eula, we can also cast Shenhe for this role. Shenhe gets the job done (also because her lore tells that her homicidal tendencies are just being suppressed.) 

Sucrose as Hunyak aka Uh uh! 

    “Uh uh, not guilty!”

    I don’t really know who to add here so I added Sucrose instead. Ekaterina aka Hunyak aka Uh uh’s part of the song she insisted that she did not do the crime. It is said that she committed adultery but she is not a murderer. She was accused of chopping her husband’s head while her lover held him down (based on the song) and she was then thrown to jail. Unlike the other girls in the song, she waved a white handkerchief in her part making her innocence clear but she was still hanged and was the first one to be hanged. 

    So yeah, I don’t have a reason to add Sucrose here but I guess her tagline ‘Harmless Sweetie’ can count. 

Ningguang as Velma aka Cicero!~

    “It wasn't until later when I was washing the blood off my hands I even knew they were dead”

    I originally wanted Signora for this but I have something bigger for Signora. In Velma’s part of the song, it was stated that Velma, her husband, and Velma’s sister travels around and performs acrobatic acts. One night while they are celebrating in Hotel Cicero, they run out of ice so Velma went out to get some only for her to come back with her husband cheating on her with her sister. Velma then killed them both and then pretended to have amnesia. 

    I don’t have a reason to cast Ningguang this and honestly I casted her as Velma because I want a La Signora and Ningguang showdown. Much like Ayaka, I don't think Ningguang will do the dirty deeds herself (That is Yelan’s job). We saw Ningguang fight when Liyue was in danger and then she fought again in her hangout quest. She only fights when it's threatening her or threatening her nation. 

Yae Miko as Mona aka Lipschitz

“He saw himself as alive and I saw him dead”

The last murderess that we have is Mona aka Lipschitz. Her part of the song tells that Lipschitz actually admitted to killing her boyfriend Al. She said that it was the artistic difference but  in reality she killed him because he cheated on her with different women and one man.     I don’t think Yae Miko will kill you though but she will make sure to scar you mentally (and maybe physically) for life if you ever wrong her. We know how loyal she is to Ei even though Ei locked herself and didn’t come out until things got cleared out. Aside from character, Yae’s loyalty is what makes her stand out and that loyalty is not something that you should test. 

La Signora as Roxie Hart

    La Signora my beloved. Like what I said in Ningguang’s part, I want to cast La Signora as Cicero but I think Roxie’s role will fit her more. Roxie was an aspiring actress who is a little too obsessed with fame and she is married to a dull-witted man named Amos. She frequently cheats on her husband and then a man named Fred Casely rolls in. Roxie hopes that having an affair with Casely will slowly raise her to stardom but in reality Casely was just using her. Enraged, she killed Casely and landed herself in jail. 

    Roxie then got herself a lawyer who taught her how to charm the public to get their sympathy. Roxie made a false story about Casely and then later when the media’s eyes were on her again, she pretended to be pregnant. 

    I casted La Signora here instead of Ningguang because I really think she fits the role. I won’t say La Signora is obsessed with anything but the same as Roxie, La Signora is focused on a goal even though it will get her hands dirty. Also, we know the Eleven Fatui Harbingers are based on La Commedia dell’arte right? In La Commedia dell’arte, La Signora is the wife of Pantalone and she is also a mistress to Pedroline. Also in La Commedia dell’arte, La Signora married Pantalone only for his wealth. Sounds very Roxie Hart to me. 

This concludes the casting for Chicago. I'm really sorry Anon if this is not something that you want. Once again, I still believe that this will look better drawn than written.

Taglist @chihawari / @zuri-feather @tinandabin / @eccedentesiast-sapphic

[alicanta77]

NCT Dream Reaction: their s/o being scared by another member

Mark:

subconsciously steps in front of you to shield you from the member

he probably doesn’t realise how instinctively protective of you he is

like he thinks he pretty chilled

but the second anything happens where you’re visibly uneasy or uncomfortable

he steps in front of you, squeezes your cheeks, hugs you into his chest, places the softest little kiss on your forehead

then turns away as if nothing happened

but keeps one hand in yours

so when this happens among the members

he would do all of this

then get teased mercilessly

then go bright red

but refuse to stop because you’re his baby and he needs to know that you are okay

isn’t likely to say anything to the members cause he knows it wasn’t intentional and he thinks that they can see not to do it again

but gives you EXTRA attention and cuddles until he knows you’ve recovered

he gets a tad dramatic when it comes to you

Renjun:

ok

so even though you’re the one who’s been scared

as soon as he knows you’re okay

you’re gonna be the one holding him back from launching himself at the member

especially if it’s hyuck

he goes with the rather unsubtle way of telling them never to scare you again

you end up being the one comforting him

“it’s okay baby, i’m fine you don’t need to skin jeno alive”

“but he scared you!!!!”

“ok breathe for me, and let’s not commit murder today okay?”

“...okay”

he has a lot of love for you in the smol body of his

and that translates to a lot of:

“I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR YOU TO BE HAPPY INCLUDING ERADICATING ANYTHING THAT MAKES YOU UNHAPPY!!!”

he will stop at just about nothing to make sure that you’re okay

Jeno:

Jeno probably isn’t there when you get scared

but as soon as you feel any kind of fear

alarm bells start to ring in his head

he could be in the middle of practice and he suddenly stops and stares off into the distance

“Jeno... are you okay?” a very confused Jaemin asks him

“Something’s wrong...”

no matter where he is

or what he’s doing

he somehow appears at your side in what feels like 10 seconds flat

“Are you okay?” “How did you get here???”

just engulfs you in a hug as soon as he sees you

feels as though he’s protecting you that way

i’ve said before that i think jeno is naturally protective

and this side would definitely pop out in full force here

he refuses to let anything happen to you without him there to protect you

you’re his little bby after all

Donghyuck:

the second the member notices that they’ve scared you

they probably begin to pack their bags and run for the hills

Hyuck would not care if the member was older or younger than him

he would be RUTHLESS

no one and I mean NO ONE is allowed to scare his baby in any way

that is for him and him only cause he can cuddle you after as a form of comfort

he would not hesitate to make the other member’s life hell for as long as he deemed fit

the more scared you were, the longer Hyuck’s revenge lasted

all his revenge plans are personalised too

like for Jisung they involve bugs or jump scares, he would hide or unplug Jeno’s gaming equipment, he would hide Jisung from Jaemin so he couldn’t coddle him etc.

if you thought you’d seen him at his worst he has a whole new level when it comes to protecting you

nobody scares his favourite person on the planet and gets away with it

Jaemin:

his first thought would be to see if you were okay

goes into full blown mother mode

checks you to see if you’re physically fine

then covers you in kisses to make sure that you’re emotionally fine

you sometimes exaggerate just to get more

then he turns to whichever member scared you

if it was one of the older members that he doesn’t know as well he would remain as respectful as possible

probably gently asking them to be careful not to scare you or something

if it was a dreamie

jesus-

he is ready to RAISE HELL

probably starts off by just ranting at them and gets to the point of talking so fast that no one can understand what he’s saying

refuses to cook them dinner until they apologise

and their apology has to be ‘sufficient’ and meet Nana’s standards

which are pretty damn high cause only the best for his little angel

Chenle:

probably slightly laughs at you

not because he thinks it’s funny that you’re scared

but because he thinks you look so cute

his default setting is just to laugh and be happy

so his go to solution for when ever you’re scared or upset

would be to make you laugh

whether this is him cracking jokes, making fun of another member probably the one who scared you or making an idiot out of himself

he would do anything in his power to see you smile again

probably the least scared about telling the other member not to do that again

in a joking kind of way though

for example:

he sees you get scared and pulls you into a hug

“ahhhh don’t do this to y/n!!!!”

but he seriously means it 

and for the next week makes sure to make fun of and slightly embarrass that member as his revenge

he may laugh at you most of the time but he would still do anything for you

Jisung:

the dreamies especially chenle take a lot of pleasure in scaring jisung

just cause it’s so easy

so i fully believe that if you jump easily

they will enjoy scaring you too

but

since you’re the s/o of their baby

they definitely baby you

some more than others i’m looking at you jaemin

therefore if they ever take it too far

you don’t just have jisung squishing your cheeks to make sure you’re okay

you have about six other boys cuddling within an inch of your life as an apology

so once jisung has got rid of them

he will gently stroke your hair, look at you with the softest eyes and ask a small

“are you okay y/n?”

then probably cuddle you into the night cause he loves you too much

[jadelynlace]

NSFW Prompts / Ink Drinker Modern Vikings AU Request [Ivar x F!Reader]

full series is here

request by: @quantumlocked310 

author’s note: you can find the complete NSFW prompt list here, and you can find the request by the love of my life, I mean @quantumlocked310 here. also, see if you can spot my new favorite HC for this series!

content warnings: we’re taking another trip (no, not in our favorite rocket ship), back to before these two dumb asses were out to everyone. even though, everyone basically knew it. this is mostly just sweet fluff, like you’ll need an insulin shot.

prompt: “to skinny dip with my muse”

synopsis: a weekend retreat proves to you how much Ivar is already devoted.

~

“Ivar went up to the lake house for the weekend, he said ‘for inspiration’ but I’m sure it to fuck,” Ubbe said. 

“Oh, I bet Y/N went up there too!” Hvitserk laughed. “I’ll have to text her, see what her excuse is.”

“I wonder how much longer they’re going to hide it from us, they’re practically a couple anyways.” Ubbe groaned, tossing the popcorn through the air to land on his tongue.

“Do you know how hard it is not to turn to her in the ambulance and just go “so how big is my little brother’s dick, Y/N’?” Hvitserk said. “I just want to see the look on her face before she kills me.”

“Probably the same as yours,” Ubbe started. “You two are fraternal twins after all.”

“Thanks, Ubbe, not a thought I wanted to think.” Hvitserk groaned.

The drive isn’t very long, low hum to the playlist in the mustang, your reflection in the glass as you tell Ivar about the week’s worth of calls, detail by ever loving disgusting detail. And not once does he stop you, not once does he grimace or groan, he tells you to keep going and he asks you questions about such as you blabber to him. The sun had just set as the gravel road takes to the tires, crunching as the engine slowed, rolling around the bend of the driveway and parking next to the cabin. You’re silent as you gaze at the view, pure water with the rays of diminishing sun and the breeze blows an immediate calmness through your whole body. 

Dotting the sky with a speckle of tiny lights, when night finally crept over, you two had taken to the blanket on the small patch of grass that lead to the dock. Cobble stone path in between you and the shore line as you rested your head across Ivar’s chest. Steady beating of his heart in your ears while his hands never stopped their small strokes over your shoulders, tracing your spine, but going no lower, no dirtier than he was known for. Almost as if he was trying to gauge your time together with something other than the tangles of sheets and the moans, and you gladly accepted this side of Ivar. The peaceful, relaxed side.

“Those three dots are—”

“The summer triangle,” Ivar answers. “And those, make up Sagittarius,” He adds, pulling you closer to him as the summer air laps at bare skin. 

“What about that one?” You ask, pointing your finger back at the sky. 

“That’s Libra—kinda like you,” Ivar answers through a breath of clouds as he chuckles before pulling your hand back down as he places a peck over you knuckles. 

“I’m not a Libra, actually, I’m a—”

“I meant the air sign part,” Ivar snorts. “You have strong intellect and a good mind,” He adds, taking his finger down the bridge of your nose. Your face wrinkles into a smile as your own eyes sparkle in the moon light, rivaling the great sky before you two. 

“I didn’t know you knew about constellations,” You whisper. 

“My mother used to bring me outside at night when I couldn’t sleep and she would show me the stars, and tell me the tales about each one. Sometimes I made myself stay awake just to hear her talk,” Ivar hums, turn of his lips against your forehead.

“You think I have a good mind?” You whisper, curling back up against him, inhaling the scent of his cologne from his neck line and he only hums as you nuzzle closer. “Not a dirty one?”

“I never said good can’t mean dirty,” Ivar laughs, bringing and arm out to his side to crack his elbow, popping it with a snap before curling it back around you. “Did you tell Hvitserk what you were doing this weekend?”

“No, I don’t always have to talk to him, goof ball. And he doesn’t always need to know what I’m doing, even if it’s you.” And Ivar only snorts.

“I didn’t just bring you out here for sex,”

“Oh, you’re going to kill me? Great, thank you.”

“I can’t spend time with you, without my dick being inside of you?” Ivar asks and there was a tone in his question that warranted a serious answer, like he was baring his soul and opening it before you in the night sky.

“You can, Ivar. I really like it actually,” You answer, pushing yourself up and pecking the corner of his mouth. His eyes are closed as you do so, and he fears if he opens them you’re not going to be there—it’ll all have been a dream and he’s asleep in his bed in his flat, cold and alone and sad. But they finally peel apart and catch the moon light, glimmering and lightening and you lean down to kiss his mouth, only to pull back up so you can look at him. “Your eyes are really blue…” You hum.

“I let my Dad know that you said that,” Ivar teases, cheeky smirk and you only giggle, lean back down to peck his mouth a final time but his hand stops you. Holding your head near his as his mouth takes on a war against yours, a low vibration through Ivar’s chest as he kisses you, and you can feel it from where your hand is stationed. You’re moved slowly, pushed back along the blanket and Ivar is over you, holding his weight on his forearms as his lips move with yours. It’s a slow dance they take to, a waltz that’s not hurried like most of his kisses have been. He’s savoring you now, enjoying the hours with just you and no worry for the moment you two might be caught by someone. And Ivar realizes this is what he likes more—most of all so far, between the two of you, the hidden times alone where he can enjoy you, savor you and worship you like the Goddess you are.

Your nails rake against his neck as he settles between your bent knees, nose squishing against yours and you moan as one of his hands takes on a journey down your curves. Supple touches and soft strokes from his fingerprints gracing you, touching you like a prized relic he wants to admire. Ivar’s mouth finally pulls back enough as he rests his forehead against yours, and when you open your eyes to peek up, his are still closed and there’s a soft smile on his swollen lips.

“Do you want to go swimming?” He asks suddenly.

“Yes, I love the thought of whatever is lurking in those waters having a chance to touch me.” You say back.

“I’ll hold you,” Ivar starts, moving away. “It’ll be fine trust me,” And he’s pulling you up to sit, peeling his own shirt off and then taking yours with you and you can’t help but laugh as he moves. Fingers unhooking your bra and his lips trace your shoulder blades as he works.

“Ivar—no—not fucking naked!” You squeak as he lifts you up.

“I can throw you in?”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” You hiss as he wraps you in his arms. “I will give you blue balls for the next six months,”

“Noted,” Ivar chuckles, bare feet slipping into the shore line and you shriek quietly as the water graces the backs of your thighs, chilling the heated skin and your arms are wrapped around Ivar for dear life.

“We’re not having sex in the lake,” You mumble against him and he nods, lets out a fake whine and you laugh as you feel his hands swarm your back. “And you’re going to cut your feet on the rocks,”

“Would you stop worrying for thirty seconds?” Ivar asks you, his hands dipping into the lake before he lets the water trickle down your back.

“My record is twenty, but I can try,” You answer, lips on his neck as the same wet hands start against the ends of your hair, easing you into the lake as you shiver against him slightly. “Feels nice,” You whisper and he hums as you take your own hand and drip water over his shoulder.

“Thanks for coming up with me,” Ivar says to you suddenly and you move your head away to look at him when he talks.

“Of course, Ivar,” You smile back and he can still see it, even in the darkness of the evening as you push your mouth against his gently. His hands skim your thighs, around the swell of your ass and take to your hips. You hum against him as his hands roam, sending butterflies through you. “We’re still not having sex in the lake,”

“I’ll be quick,” Ivar tries.

“As suppose to what?” You tease and Ivar scoffs. His noise makes you laugh and there’s water splashed in your face a second later; small waves you’re eager to give back before laughter rings between the two of you. “I’m only teasing, you know that I like it.” You giggle and you sag against him as he relaxes beneath the water. 

“I like it too,” Is all Ivar replies as you two stay still, relishing in each others company as the lake moves around your bodies. You know Ivar’s caught feelings, it’s so evident in how he’s holding you, how he’s being around you, and you keep you mouth closed under tight lock and key, and simply enjoy the moment. Because you know that you’ve caught them too.

Ink Drinker Tags:

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*please message me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from my tag list. specifications for series/etc. are also welcomed, as well as feedback.*

full masterlist can be found here.

[sanstropfremir]

the smf leader/subleaded/rookie/etc choreo videos just all came out and they really are something i guess. i do not personally get the creative decisions to shove like 293838 men into the two middle groups or cut dance videos like that but Oh Well. personally chosing to focus on how fascinating the styling for the subleaders choreo was. like, thoughts? visually they look semi-fantasian (for lack of better words) but you turn the volume up and its bibi & yoon mirae so … ??

took a break from my graphic design hole to watch these and.......well. mnet has never learned a single thing i guess. i'm not really sure either why the choice was to add the two 'middle' sections, bc the original way they did it in swf with just the leaders/subleaders was fine. adding the rookies worked great too, since it was still kept to eight, but then designating all the other guys as 'middle' is lowkey disrespectful lmao. like yea everyone is not the same ability but you don't need to all label them like that, yeesh. my issue with a lot of these choreographies + the way they are directed (and it was the same with swf) is that they're not very good routines because of how broken up they are via editing and use of scene changes. this especially applies to the middles, bc those are basically just two person choreos that they half-assedly expand to include 16 people. the middle 1 choreo has a cut in the middle of it that doesn't make any logistical sense in terms of the flow of the piece, and it's the same with middle 2. i have to assume that mnet has some kind of requirement for having them separated out on risers like that, because wow does it fuck with the flow AND it looks bad.

vata had a great intro for the leaders but then immediately undercut everything with shaky camerawork and a ton of cuts, whereas it would have been so much stronger if they'd kept in that first space and actually showed the transitions between everyone. the rookies was very 'pop six squish cicero but what if we were BOYS' (boring, you could have been cuntier about it, esp with a sik k song), but it did manage to stay all in one place and keep its flow. i think wootae did the best job actually, since he was willing to go beyond the hiphop styling that everyone else is stuck in bc men are fragile. he also used the camera very well, and the cuts are mostly feasible transition points (other than the costume changes). also i like the set the best as well, since it looks like it's the inside of a building atrium/courtyard that they just added plants and ionic columns too, which makes it this kind of weird space between industrial and fantastical. since the title of the song is 'love and war' (law), i'm assuming that all the juxtapositions were intentional, including the more fluid costuming. i'm not sure that it's totally conceptually coherent as a piece, but it's more interesting than any of the others specifically because it looks different, so that's a good thing

[queenangst]

Fluffy prompt: Number one pro hero Deku is constantly seen walking around wearing the hero merch of his previous UA classmates while he's off duty. (Because once a fanboy, always a fanboy). Many candid shots exist of him wearing Ingenium running shoes, a Ground Zero hoodie, some Shouto athletic wear, etc. His old classmates decide to get decked out in Deku merch and do something to surprise him.

for my 30 min fic challenge / send a prompt, and i’ll write you a fic in 30 mins / read more: ‘30 min fics’ tag | commission me!

collector’s edition [read on AO3]

“Where the hell did you get that shirt?”

“Uh,” Izuku says, glancing down at his shirt and flushing, “the store?”

Kacchan drops his head down on the desk. “Deku,” he says, nose squished, “you’re wearing one of the test print runs from before they switched the design. Of my limited edition shirts. You shit, I don’t even have one.”

“Didn’t you give it to Eijirou?” Izuku chirps, pleased.

Kacchan lifts his head back up and points with an accusing finger. “One, I did not, I gave it to Dad, two, I am not that nice.”

“You just said you gave it to Uncle Masaru!”

“That’s not nice, it’s filial piety, dumbass,” Kacchan says. “What I’m saying is, how the fuck did you get that shirt?”

“It’s your merch!” Izuku defends. He crosses his arms over his chest. “You think I’m not going to get my merch-loving hands on test prints of the limited edition Ground Zero: Gold Collection shirts you are very wrong.”

Kacchan looks a bit offended. “And you’re wearing it with Half n’ Half’s… the fucking, headband? Deku, your outfit doesn’t even match.”

“Bakubro,” Eijirou says from where he’s entered clutching a cup of steaming coffee. Oh, he looks tired—after the rescue last night Izuku hadn’t been expecting to see him at all. “This guy lives out of workout gear and hero merch.”

“They’re comfortable.”

“Are we talking about Deku’s clothes?” Ochako asks, popping around the corner. “Oh— Kirishima, call just came in about your rescue, they have a little more paperwork for you.”

“What?” Eijirou asks loudly. “I can’t hear you.”

Izuku exchanges a look with Kacchan and snickers.

“Oh, if we’re talking about clothes… I love the Ingenium shoes!”

Izuku sticks his leg in the air, showing off the running shoes—they’ve got little engine pipes on the sides. “Aren’t they great?”

“I mean, how much money do you even sink into this stuff, dude?” Eijirou asks. He’s very pointedly ignoring his paperwork in favor of leaning against one of the desks and drinking his coffee.

“As much as I need,” Izuku crows. “I just think you guys are all great, and I wanna show off how cool I think you are!”

“Nerd,” Kacchan spits.

But Eijirou and Ochako ‘ aww’ at the same time.

“Alright,” Kacchan says, standing and stretching, “I’m out of here if you guys are gonna be fuckin’ saps. Don’t forget we’re going to dinner for your birthday, Deku. Do not cry.”

“Can I cry now?” Izuku asks, because his mouth is already trembling.

Kacchan punches Izuku’s shoulder as he leaves. “No.”

After he leaves Izuku wipes away a few tears anyway. Eijirou finishes off his coffee and sets the empty mug down.

“Did you guys see the latest Creati interview?” he asks. “I’d die for Momo.”

“Me, too,” Izuku and Ochako chorus at the same time. They look at each other and laugh; at some point Ejirou really does have to go to his paperwork, but they keep him company and enjoy the time together.

It’s rare pro heroes get to relax, but after the call from this morning, Izuku, Ochako, and Kacchan have been forced to take the rest of the day off. They’d all decided to spend the day hanging out, crashing Ejirou’s agency because it was closest. Izuku’s grateful for it as he walks with Ochako, the two of them about to get lunch for everyone.

“So your birthday plans are just dinner tomorrow, right?” Ochako asks. “Seven?”

“Yeah,” Izuku says, “it’d be earlier but I have a meeting until six.”

“On your birthday?” Ochako pouts. “Cruel.”

Izuku laughs. “The team said they were going to bring cake though, so… it can’t be too bad. But I told them they didn’t have to, but everyone just laughed, Ochako.”

“Mm,” Ochako says. They go down the street to get bento boxes. Ochako’s smiling. “Well, I think you’ll like tomorrow.”

Izuku blinks at her. “What’s that mean?”

She grins, reaching over and poking his cheek with a finger. “You’ll see.”

Before Izuku can ask her what she means, she takes off running, and Izuku laughs and runs after her.

Izuku’s birthday is— kind of an ordinary day. He spends his morning evacuating people from a train crash, carrying people in his arms and on his back until every person is accounted for amongst the burning wreckage. He’s got a deep cut on his arm thanks to that, but it’s bandaged alright and the medic procures a sticker to put on top and tells Izuku happy birthday. So it’s great.

Then in the middle of his lunch break a villain attacks Izuku’s agency, and he’s not about to let his poor interns deal with that alone so he brings his chopsticks to the fight and finishes eating after the villain’s passed out on the floor.

He does paperwork until four, has a call with a reporter, takes a break to talk to Mom, and then he has other work to take care of. Gets to the six o’clock meeting tired and cranky, but the big green smiley face on the cake his team gets him makes him smile, too.

He nearly forgets about his own birthday dinner until he stumbles out of the meeting office and there’s streamers everywhere.

Izuku stops.

“Huh?”

“Surprise!” the entire room cheers. Izuku’s mouth drops. Green and black streamers are taped to the ceilings and the walls; there’s shiny balloons. A stack of presents is resting on Izuku’s desk.

And in the middle, waiting for him, is all his friends and family. And they’re all—

“What is going on?”

“Deku!” Uraraka cries happily. She’s the first to throw herself at him, and they go a little airborne as they hug. She’s beaming. “Happy birthday!”

“You’re- you’re- you’re wearing…”

Her eyes crinkle at the corners, and then she winks. “We’re all in Deku merch, duh! Because we love you!”

“I—”

And they are. Like, everyone. Shouto’s in a hoodie that’s styled like Izuku’s old costume before the upgrades last year; Kacchan’s decked in Deku green, and his shirt has the both of them on it; Toshinori has a set with a design from the latest line, based on Izuku’s favorite All Might shirts. And Izuku looks around at everyone wearing his merch and bursts into tears.

“Happy birthday,” the group says, and Izuku cries as they gather for a hug.

“You guys…”

“You’re our hero, Deku,” Yaoyorozu says, smiling, “and we wanted to show you.”

“Number one in our hearts,” Sero calls, patting Izuku’s back and ducking under Kacchan’s hand. “Nearly there in the rankings, too—ow!”

Izuku laughs, wiping his eyes. “I’ll get there.”

Sometimes Izuku doesn’t feel like a hero, like his dream is too true that it can’t be real; that he’s in a place he couldn’t have imagined, once. But looking around at all of his heroes wearing his merch he doesn’t think anyone will let him forget.

[merenguemeringue]

£13.95 from Amazon (named “OBEDA Sensory Toys for for Autism, ADHD, Stress Relief, Anti-Anxiety. Fidget Toys Set for Kids and Adults. Liquid Motion Timer, Dinosaur Squeeze Balls, Flippy Chain and More”)

ordered on the 8th july, arrived on the 13th july (though this may vary depending on your location)

came with 3 small cards with ‘happy birthday’, ‘i love you’ and ‘be unique’ written on them, so if intended as a gift, you could use these as tags (i will be saving these cards to use at a later date)

Basketball Foam Ball

Personally, i’m not a big fan of foam stress balls but this one seems to be high quality for those that do enjoy them. It’s quite firm, so it made my hand sore within a few minutes of use (however, if you’re more used to firm stress balls this may not apply to you). it does make a noise when you squish it (the air being pushed in and out of the ball) but its not particularly loud so could be used in a busy classroom, for example. Very fast-rising so returns to its original shape as soon as you stop squishing it.

Dinosaur Stress Balls

Similar to the traditional orbeez-style stress ball in a net, but the net is replaced by a rubbery dinosaur. the dinosaurs have holes in so when you squish them, part of the ball inside pokes out the holes. i haven’t tried to remove the dinosaur part, but i think it would be possible if you would rather just have the ball inside. Does make a ‘squish’ noise due to the orbeez. Good quality and doesn’t feel like it would break easily. They do look quite childish and obvious in appearance, so if you’re going for subtlety these may not be the best toy for you. Definitely my personal favourite toys in the box!

Peas In A Pod

You squish the pod and the peas pop out the top. Simple but effective. They also come with a thread and a chain so you can attach them to a bag, purse etc. so easily portable. Almost completely silent so good for quiet situations.

Bike Chain Fidgets

Two metal rings that loop through each other infinitely. took me a while to figure out how they work, but once i did i found it very therapeutic. a simple, repetitive action that’s very enjoyable. Very quiet so good for quiet situations. Also doesn’t stand out much in appearance, so won’t draw too much attention.

Rubbery Stretchy Strings

Six differently-coloured rubber strings that can be stretched. personally, i like to twist several together and stretch them as it feels more durable. really good for relieving stress or getting rid of excess energy. however, not very subtle as the strings are very colourful and the action of stretching them is very obvious to onlookers.

Oil Timer

my second favourite item in this kit. blue and pink bubbles slowly float down to the bottom, never mixing. a very soothing visual stim and id highly recommend purchasing one even if you don’t get this kit (it’s also available in different colours if purchased separately). made of very durable-feeling plastic so won’t break if dropped. completely silent and very smooth to touch.

Overall

I’d highly recommend this kit. You get a lot for the price and the variety of toys seems good. It’s also fairly affordable (though if it’s too expensive for you, you can purchase most of the toys separately). My favourites were the dinosaur stress balls and the oil visual timer.

[pcttrailsidereader]

Four Months Alone of the PCT

I posted this on this website about six years ago and just recently re-read this interview from a blog called ‘The Hairpin’.  The interview, with Myla Fay, a 25-year old thru hiker, is a good read and I thought worth re-posting.  My favorite story was her account of the hiker who found chapstick on the ground and used it to counter crotch chafing. A few minutes later a woman walked by and asked if anyone had seen her pina colada chapstick. From that point forward his trail name was “Penis Colada.”

Myla attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota as did my daughter … which came to light when I forwarded this interview to my daughter as part of my desire to have her hike a section of the PCT several summers ago (which she did join me for a lengthy stretch).

By Jia Tolentino

How did you get into long-distance hiking? I grew up in Maine and spent a lot of time outside, and when I was a kid, we went up to Blue Hill every summer to hike and swim, camping in Baxter State Park and backpacking in the White Mountains. And in high school I did some incredible trips with the Chewonki Foundation: one was a 400-mile white-water canoe trip that ended in the tiny Inuit village of Kangiqsualujjuaq in northern Quebec. I always liked the outdoors, and backpacking felt like a good fit. I was also always interested in long-distance hiking as a more structured way of traveling. I spent a summer alone in India once and felt overwhelmed by all the decisions and planning involved in traveling. With hiking, your trip is organized around managing food and water and covering distance, and there’s less of an expectation for fun and relaxation. I like the part of backpacking that’s monotonous and challenging. How long had you been thinking about hiking the PCT before doing it? I heard about the PCT my senior year in college, but during and after college I was focusing on school and work: I worked as a designer in Minneapolis and New York, which I liked. Then I wanted to work on my own projects, so I moved back to Maine and set up a printmaking studio in the basement of a rural Zen Center. But it’s difficult to make any money from printmaking and it’s also difficult to live and work in isolation. I felt unsure about what I wanted to do, so I made a list of things I never regret doing. I realized that I never regret spending time outside, traveling, and challenging myself, so I decided to hike. I don’t think any 90-year-old would look back on life and regret hiking the PCT. Did you know you wanted to go alone? I might have considered it if I had known someone willing to drop everything and go hiking for four months. But I liked the idea of hiking alone anyway. Being alone is wonderful because you never have to compromise. If I felt like swimming all day, that’s what I did.

How long did it take to get ready? I only had about three months to prepare. Most people spend around six to 12 months getting in shape, dehydrating food, and planning. For me, I bought gear and read “Yogi’s Guide,“ which has advice for thru hiking—tips for hitchhiking, choosing campsites, resupplying, etc. It also outlines motel and grocery options for each town. I bought my food in towns and mailed food ahead when the next town was too small to resupply.

Do you have to be in good shape before you start a hike like this? Or could you just tough it out and get better as you go? You don’t have to be in good shape to start a hike, but it helps. It also helps to be young. No matter what shape you are in, hiking 10 to 12 hours a day is going to be hard. I thought that after hiking for a week or two I would just be “in shape,” but I was surprised that my fitness continued to improve.

I also never stopped having some degree of pain.

What was the gear you started with and the gear you ended with? Anything you packed that you realized was useless? I started hiking in desert heat and ended my trip snowshoeing through six feet of snow, but surprisingly I used most of my gear in all situations. After a month I bought a solar charger on trail to charge my iPhone, which was a real luxury. I also bought a dress from Goodwill along the way. It was comfortable to wear hiking and convenient for peeing outside modestly. I added various warm layers as I went north—a rain skirt (which is lighter, more breathable, and easier to put on than rain pants), an emergency blanket, snowshoes, long underwear, and bread bags to wear on my feet for warmth. I eventually ditched my mace, bug spray, and a mouse-proof food bag because I felt they were unnecessary, but not everyone would agree. Now that I have a better idea of what I need, I revamped my gear for my upcoming trip on the CDT. I have a post on my blog about the new gear, and also have my gear list on my website, if anyone wants to read.

What about trail food? How’d you deal with it? Did you filter your water the whole time? What are the worst and best things you’ve tried on the trail? Food was hard to plan for because my preferences and hunger changed constantly. Sometimes I had five extra pounds of food when I arrived in town and other times I ran out. One of the benefits of buying food as you go (rather than mailing it) is that you can easily make adjustments. I hiked with a girl who mailed all her food and by the end, she literally gagged every time she ate a Clif bar or oatmeal. I think having a variety of food on trail is important. I cooked ramen with PBR once when I arrived at a road crossing where someone had left a few beers for hikers. I was out of water, so I used the beer, and it was surprisingly delicious. At the end of trail, I ate snickers dipped in cream cheese and I thought it tasted like chocolate cheesecake! One of the worst things I tried was cold instant coffee mixed with oats. I was trying to pack up quickly in the morning and didn’t want to heat water. Needless to say, it was disgusting. I also once ate a spoonful of dry protein powder at night because I was starving and low on food. It felt similar to the cinnamon challenge. How much more do you end up eating than normal? What are the cravings you develop after long hikes? I ate a TON of food. Granola bars, mini pies, peanut butter, Nutella, tortillas, ramen, Cheezits, candy, muffins (squished), pop tarts, nuts, and anything else that caught my eye in the grocery store. All hikers fantasize about food, mostly about fresh fruits, vegetables, pizza, and ice cream. I daydreamed about Slurpees a lot. There is no food guilt on trail. All notions of what, when, and how much is appropriate to eat disappear. Instead of cutting calories and dieting, hikers worry about not eating enough. I ate 3,000 to 6,000 calories a day, and it was incredibly refreshing. The downside of eating so much was the stomach aches. Sometimes I would eat a whole sleeve of Oreos, which tasted delicious, then I would feel awful for a while. It’s a lot to ask of your body, to process all that food.

Did you see a lot of other solo hikers? Did traveling alone made you more open to meeting random people? Travelling alone does make it easy to meet people. Most hikers start alone, and many hike in groups for various lengths of time. When I started, I wanted to hike alone to challenge myself and rely on my own decisions. I became more open to meeting people over time, and by the end of trail I found a balance between independence and community. Who were the coolest people you met along the way? Everyone I met had an interesting back story—one couple worked in Antarctica, one girl sold her house to live out of a backpack, there were Marines who hiked to deal with PTSD, and people who left their high-paying jobs because they didn’t want to devote their lives to work. One of my favorite characters on trail was a retired guy from New Jersey. He lived years without health insurance or hot water, and took ice-cold hose showers every day at home, even in the winter. He told only one person he was hiking the PCT and always camped alone far off trail. He didn’t own a phone, but carried a small radio to listen to baseball games. Every time he went into town to buy food, he bought a glass, because he only drank beer out of a glass. He was also a scavenger. Once in town I gave him part of a cookie and he just packed it away for later. Another time he told me that he carried a cube of bouillon for an emergency meal. I told him it didn’t have any calories, and he said, “But it sure does fill you up!” I should mention that there are more men than women on trail, and most people I met were white and middle class, so unfortunately trail culture is not too diverse. How many times were you ever truly scared, and why? Most of the time trail felt very safe, but I had a couple moments of being spooked. I almost stepped on a rattlesnake. I once got lost looking for a spring at night without my pack. I got dangerously cold during a snowstorm. These situations were all preventable had I been paying better attention. Some hikers do end up in truly scary situations. One girl had a mountain lion stalk her at night, and another guy ended up lost on a snowy cliff where he couldn’t go forward or backward. Oh my god. A lot of people on trail carry a SPOT device with an emergency button that activates a search and rescue response team. They are expensive and I personally felt safe without one, but a few people did use them on trail.

What about weather conditions? You had to hike at night sometimes because of the heat, right? The PCT covers a diverse range of terrains and temperatures. In the desert, it reaches 110 degrees, and water sources are sometimes 30 miles apart. I carried 1.5 gallons of water at a time. Hiking at night is much cooler and requires less water, so many people hike early and late (resting midday). Night hiking is beautiful but spooky. Some huge bugs and rodents that come out at night. And then there was the extreme cold: I’m reading a blog post where you did sit-ups in the middle of the night to stay warm. What’s your least favorite and most favorite weather to hike in? I still prefer hiking in desert heat over the cold Northwestern weather. In Oregon and Washington, I dealt with rain, hail and snow, which is dangerous without adequate food and gear. Most people carry down jackets and sleeping bags, but down is useless when wet. When it is cold, taking breaks is not an option. I knew one couple who hiked over 24 hours without stopping because all their gear was wet and it was snowing. They would have become hypothermic if they stopped. Can you tell me some hiker code? What’s the jargon like? There are lots of phrases specific to thru hiking. Some are practical (“slackpacking” is hiking a section without a full pack, “hiker hunger” describes the extreme hunger after hiking, “vortex” is when you spend longer than expected in town). A lot of them are meant to be funny (“Vitamin I” for ibuprofen). “Cowboy camping,” sleeping under the stars, is one of my favorite terms. It’s basically a fancy way of saying “I am too lazy to pitch my tent and I doubt it is going to rain tonight.” My friend “Scrub” has a more extensive list of hiking terms on his blog.

That’s his trail name: does everyone have one? Everyone gets a trail name, usually given by another hiker. Part of the idea is that you can leave your other life behind and be someone new on trail. And there’s other stuff like this: trail angels, trail magic, what does that mean? A “trail angel” is anyone who helps you by offering “trail magic.” It could be a day hiker who gives you an apple or someone who drives you to town. There are established trail angels who help hikers each year by leaving food or sodas on trail or even opening their homes to hikers. There are also some trail magic events, where angels make burgers or pancakes on trail for a day or two. It is hard to overstate how incredible it is to come upon fresh hot food or cold sodas after being out in the woods for a few days. The terms seem right. How was your emotional state going into the hike, and during it? What was the default state of each day? I was much happier on trail than I was prior to trail. Some of that may have had to do with the endorphins released from exercise. I also gained a lot of confidence in my body and my ability to troubleshoot difficult situations. By the end of the trail, I felt I could do anything. I certainly had moments of frustration, crankiness, and misery, but I always preferred trail to home.

Wow. What did you do to pass the time? It wasn’t too different from regular life. Sometimes I listened to music or books, sometimes I worried about logistics, sometimes I wondered what to do with my life. I thought about family and friends and remembered things I had forgotten. Sometimes I played games with other hikers, sometimes I counted my steps, sometimes I brushed my teeth for an hour. What are some good stories you heard on the trail from other people? There was a huge snowstorm in Washington that coincided with the government shutdown, and some hikers decided to road walk the last 60 miles to Canada to avoid deep snow. Rangers stopped them because it was illegal to be in the park during the shutdown. So after hiking 2600 miles, they quit because of a triviality. I also heard a story about a girl who saw a mountain lion sitting next to the trail. She roared at it, like you are supposed to (you never want to let a mountain lion know you are scared), then kept walking past it only to realize that there was a switchback in the trail and she had to pass it again. And then, there was a funny story about a hiker I never met who found chapstick on the ground and used it for crotch chafing. A few minutes later a woman walked by and asked if anyone had seen her pina colada chapstick. From that point forward his trail name was “Penis Colada.” That is a great story. What was your favorite part of the trail?

The last four days on trail were my favorite. I snowshoed on fresh snow through the most spectacular scenery on trail with a boy who I like very much. It was new and exciting and beautiful and romantic. What about the least? Southern Oregon was my least favorite part. Everyone talks about how Oregon is flat and easy, but my feet were hurting so it didn’t feel easy. In my opinion, it was also the least spectacular part of trail, just woods and ponds.

What was your favorite pit stop? One of my favorite stops was Buck’s Lake, a small town in northern California. I got off trail to apply for a job. I didn’t end up getting the job, but I stayed with the most incredible trail angels. They were welcoming and made burgers with heirloom tomatoes and peach cobbler and fruit salad. They also took me out on their pontoon for sunset to drink white wine and listen to the Beach Boys.

What did you miss most while you were hiking? Fresh fruits and vegetables, and my friends and family. How did this hike physically affect your body? I lost about 5 to 10 pounds by the end, despite gaining muscle. My breasts mostly disappeared and my feet grew a full size. Women usually lose less weight than men, which is an advantage on trail. What about your hair? My hair was crazy on trail. I was trying to grow it out, but it was a bad length for hiking: long enough to tangle and too short to pull back. I had dyed it before trail and wanted to let the dyed part grow out. I also decided to stop using shampoo, in part thanks to articles like this. Needless to say, my hair was a bleachy, greasy, tangled mess. I cut it off when returned home. Before or after, did you have a lot of people telling you that they wanted to hike the PCT too? Or were people more like, "You’re nuts!” A lot of people say something along the lines of, “Wow, that’s amazing! I could never do that!” But hiking is kind of like drawing. People say they can’t draw, as if it’s a mysterious talent, but both drawing and hiking are just a set of skills anyone could learn. If you are interested in hiking the PCT or another trail, I would encourage you to go ahead and do it. I think it is almost always a positive experience, although returning to regular life is difficult. People sometimes romanticize long-distance hiking, but I was just walking. Some people work 8 or 10 hours a day on spreadsheets or washing floors and few people say that is amazing. What’s your favorite picture from your PCT hike?

This is a campsite on an exposed ridge in northern California. The sky was smoky from a nearby fire, but I could see well enough to watch a meteor shower. It’s hard to choose one photo, but that was a good night.

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [1]

masterlist

Words: 5.2k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: strangulation

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: OOF. I told ya’ll it would be up ASAP! Again, pls leave any love, advice, suggestions, etc! I hope you engoy :)

“Look, I’m just saying that there’s no way Frodo would have ever reached Mordor without Sam.” You waved your arms in frustration. “Hell, Shrek wouldn’t have gotten Fiona, both away from the castle and as a wife, if it weren’t for Donkey.”

You kicked at a stray pebble on the edge of the path. “Sidekicks are just so underappreciated.”

You were currently in a passionate rant, which often tended to be about some pretty random things Today’s lucky subject was the mistreatment of sidekicks, but it could have easily been the folklore of the Chupacabra or deciding which movie adaption was more cringeworthy: Percy Jackson or Twilight. Your best friend sighed as you both made your way through the campus arboretum.

“Only you would be so wound up about something like this Y/N.” He grinned.

It was a cool, crisp April morning. The sun was just beginning to emerge, creating an ethereal light across the horizon. Droplets of dew clung to the grass next to the worn-in sidewalk, and the trees were plump with their newly grown leaves that painted pockets of shade against the ground. You smiled to yourself as you admired the beauty. You hated waking up early but watching the world slowly come to life as you walked to class almost made it worth it. Key word: almost.

“Oh, but my dear Jimin.” You moved the smile to his direction, nudging his shoulder playfully. “Just wait until you’re the sidekick. Then you won’t be as eager to mock them.”

Your friend just shook his head at you and chuckled, the action rumbling throughout his compact, bulky frame. He grabbed your arm and tugged you onward toward the business building.

“Come on. We’re going to be late if you keep yapping about random shit all morning.”

Your heart began going crazy, beating at a rapid pace like it was a goddamn EDM song. You mentally scolded yourself and told it to sit down and shut up. Fuck. You hated yourself for it. Jimin’s been your best friend since you were 10 years old. Ever since punching his sweet face after he tried to scare you with a spider he found lurking around during recess. You knocked him on his ass, and when he didn’t run to the teacher to tattle, you helped him fabricate the poorly detailed story of how he slipped on the wet metal of the playground and banged his face. You and Jimin have been inseparable from that day forward. And you’ve been in love with him since you were 17. Unfortunately, you know the feeling isn’t mutual. This wasn’t some friends to lovers fanfic misunderstanding either. This was reality and sometimes reality just sucks like that. You’ve watched him flirt, kiss, and date his fair share of girls throughout your time together, and not one has he ever looked at you with any romantic inkling. Why would he? There he goes with his muscular and flexible as hell body. Seriously, the only thing this boy does more than eat and nap is put in time at the studio. Paired with dark hair that prefers to be dyed a vibrant orange, plump limps that beg to be kissed, a strong nose, a cutting jaw line, and oh my god his eyes. Dark brown with flecks of amber light. Like an animated tiger’s eye gemstone. Don’t even get yourself started on the way they squish close when he smiles or laughs hard. God, you swear nobody else has eyes even clo-

SMACK.

You ran straight into the glass door.

“Shit!” You rubbed your forehead painfully. “What the hell Jimin!? Why didn’t you hold the damn door open?”

All you got in response was a choking sound as the boy tried to reply but couldn’t because of the laughter shaking his body. It caused his eyes to do the damn squishy thing. You quickly looked away so that you wouldn’t stare in blatant awe.

“Damn and you call me clumsy. It’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention,” he finally wheezed out as he doubled over from the laughter.

Asshole.

Geez that hurt. You thought while massaging your poor head.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m fine thanks for asking.” You rolled your eyes and started walking once more after safely passing through the doorway.

Four flights of stairs later and the two of you arrived outside of your 8 AM lecture. Ah yes, nothing quite like accounting at 8 in the freaking morning.

“Seriously, who invented 8 AM classes? Because I would really like to have a word with him for this terrible contribution to society,” you huff, “and I say him because there’s no way a woman would do this to society. Actually, I want to have a word with whoever talked me into taking a goddamn 8 AM!”

“Y/N…” Jimin hesitated. “That would be me.”

Of course.

“Also, why the actual fuck are we taking an accounting course?” you continued to whine. “We’re dance majors!”

After completing the awkward, squeezing, tip-toed walk through the classroom aisles to two seats next to each other, you collapsed into your respective chair.

“Because you and I are both minoring in entrepreneurship and it’s a required course.”

Raising an eyebrow at his smartass response you proceeded to poke his bicep.

“Well you and I are going to have a little chat later about your negative influences.”

“Oh, please Might Y/N, spare me from your wrath!”

You snorted in response, earning a stare from the chap sitting to your left. You retaliated with a glare, warning the bugger not to fuck with you this early.

“Whatever. But you definitely owe me some ice cream Slim Jim.”

Jimin winked before turning his attention back to the front of the class. Feeling your cheeks grow warm, you placed your face in your hands to hide the betraying blush. You inwardly groaned, reminding yourself that the semester was almost done. Just four more weeks and you can spend some time away from Jimin. Just four more weeks until he went on his annual trip to stay with some distant relative in the middle of nowhere with no reception. Maybe this year you could finally let go of your hopeless, unrequited love while he was gone.

Ugh. Ew. The thought made you roll your eyes at yourself. You were such a fucking sap.

“Ohhhhhhh my gosh.” You moaned as you licked the creamy deliciousness that trailed down the square indentations of the waffle cone.

After enduring the early class from hell, you and Jimin had separated ways for the rest of your classes for the day. Luckily, you didn’t have to withstand mindless lectures about debits and credits after 9:15.

“You are officially forgiven for making me take an 8 AM,” you informed Jimin. Although forgiven, you still side-eyed the cup which held his strawberry ice cream before continuing. “Except not getting a cone is a violation of ice cream law so…”

“Oh, come on! There is no such thing as ice cream law!” He threw his non-cup arm wide in defiance.

“There sure as fucking hell is! Thou shall never turn down ice cream and thou shall always choose a waffle cone. It’s first grade Slim Jim.”

“First I am disgusted you managed to throw in a SpongeBob reference. How do you always do that!? Second, I must simply agree to disagree. The cones get stale and leaky at the bottom. Plus, you get y/f/f ice cream, which is yucky, so I refuse to acknowledge your law.”

“Take that back! That’s like saying brownie edge pieces are better than the center pieces!”

“…But they are.”

All you could do was slowly turn and gape at your best friend in horror. It was quickly replaced with a scowl when he flicked your forehead.

Grumbling through your scowl, “Hey, so I need to hit the studio for a bit after this, but we’re still on for family dinner tonight right? I’m thinking of making that pulled pork mac and cheese you love.”

Jimin stiffened beside you and slowly let out a sigh, running a hand through his orange hair.

“Y/N, please don’t be mad, but I completely forgot about dinner and something else came up…” He awkwardly toyed with his ice cream.

“Seriously?” You weren’t mad. Just… disappointed. It was one of the last free nights you each had before finals and showcases started up. “You better not be cancelling on me for some girl you found at the bars last night.”

You murmured the last part in a low voice. Not like it wouldn’t have been the first time, though. He was constantly going out with girls he met, even if it sometimes meant leaving you behind. Not that you were salty about it. Or jealous. Nope. Not at all. But, you were his best friend, so it’s not like you could complain about it to him.

“No! No, it’s not a girl. I promise,” Jimin quickly retorted. “I just completely spaced on this project I have for K201. I have to meet up with my group to finish it, and tonight was the only night that worked with everyone.”

Well, at least it was a school excuse and not some bimbo. You thought as you popped the last bite of cone into your mouth.

Sweat dripped down your forehead and into your eyes. It left a pleasant satisfactory sting as your equally sweaty forearm rose to wipe it away. Dancing was hard, it was strenuous, but you relished in it. You loved feeling the music gliding across your body, inviting and encouraging your movement. The burn of your muscles. The stretch of your limbs. The bass in your chest. It was utterly euphoric. You had been in the studio for two hours already, but being the perfectionist you were, you kept telling yourself “one more time.” The first had been six times ago. After wiping away more sweat that fell down your face, you reached over to restart the song just. One. More. Time. Taking a deep breath, you walked back to your starting place as the ticks counted down to the start of the track.

Inhale. Exhale. Go.

After running through the routine three more times, you felt satisfied enough with the day’s progress. Breathing heavily and dripping sweat, you could not wait to take an unnecessarily long and hot shower. Yes, you were aware that cold water was much better for your body, especially after exercise, but cold water was evil. Even during the summer months, you couldn’t resist standing under scalding water for a good 30 minutes. At least you would rinse off with cold water for like 20 seconds at the end. That had to count for something, right?

But you didn’t feel like going home just yet. You didn’t want to open the fridge and see the ingredients you were originally going to cook up before Jimin threw a curve ball into the evening’s plans. As you thought of the places you could go instead of your single bedroom apartment, you realized that you hadn’t been to the state park just outside of the town in a few weeks. With Spring in full swing, it had to be breathtaking at the moment. Since you were already sweaty and gross, you figured being so for a little longer wouldn’t kill you as you grabbed your keys and turned off the studio light before walking out the door.

Twenty-seven minutes and a flash of your annual park pass later, you pulled into the first open spot you saw, which happened to be next to an ugly matte black Jeep Wrangler.

Geez, who paints their car matte and thinks it looks good? You ponder before whipping your eyes back to the vehicle.

Wait. Ugly matte black Jeep Wrangler?

You hope out of your car and slowly walk around to the Jeep. Positioning yourself beside the driver’s window, you peered through the tinted windows. There better not be a damn dreamcatcher…

...

“Slim Jim! I got you a present!” You excitedly hand over a small bag with unicorns adorning the side.

Jimin eagerly grabbed the gift, delighted with your choice of bag décor.

“I hope it’s a-”

“Dreamcatcher!” You interrupt singing as he removed the item from its magical paper prison.

“Um. Thanks Y/N, but you know I don’t really need this. I don’t get nightmares anymore,” he says as he lifts the delicate object higher to take a better look.

You punched him in the shoulder as he frowned at the white dreamcatcher in his hand.

“I wanted to get you something to hang from your rearview mirror that wasn’t so damn doom and gloom,” you explained as you gestured to his all black interior, “and it matches the one in my car! So, think of it as sort of a best friend necklace type thing.”

...

You hadn’t been sure if he would hang it up, but the next time you hoisted your y/h self into that black Jeep, it was proudly strung up above the dashboard. Where it still was as you currently looked through the window.

“Why the hell is Jimin here?”

You didn’t think he ever came here without you, because you basically had to drag him when you did. The guy loved the outdoors and every other park, but he had some weird aversion to this park in particular. Wouldn’t say why, though. You eventually just stopped asking when you were never given a straight answer. But, oh boy, were you going to be asking again today. With a groan of frustration and annoyance, you entered the hiking trail. Just wait until you find that boy, you were going to strangle him with your sweaty little hands.

You’d been walking for about thirty-five minutes before you found him. He wasn’t on the main trail, but on a side path that led to a small clearing. Not many people knew about it, but after you had stumbled upon it, you made sure to show it to Jimin the next you had dragged his ass out here.

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“-Shit.” The man of the hour cut off in the middle of whatever he had been saying to himself when he heard you.

“What the hell Jimin!? You cancel on me, have the audacity to lie about why, and then I find you out here doing… doing what exactly?”

Marching across the clearing, you stopped a few yards away from him. You crossed your arms and cocked an eyebrow, just daring him to try and make up a crappy excuse. At least he had the decency to look scared shitless at your approach.

His eyes began darting all over the clearing. His hand nervously raked through his hair, but he stayed silent.

You’d had enough. “Are you really just going to stand there and not say anything?”

“Y/N. Please. Please just go home,” he begged, his eyes still darting. “It’s not safe.”

“It’s not safe? I’m pretty sure tick season is over Jimin,” you scoffed. “Are you buying drugs or something? What’s going on with you?”

“I can’t explain. Just please go home,” Jimin continued to plead, “I don’t want you-”

His sentence was interrupted when a force suddenly seized your neck and thrust your body backwards, pinning it against a tree. The odd thing was that nothing had touched you.

“What the hell is this?” You managed to spit out to your friend, who was looking at you with wide, panicked eyes. Then the force around your neck

Began.

To.

Squeeze.

Out of the corner of your vision, you could see that Jimin was trying to reach you, but it seemed an unseen force held him at bay too. He kept shouting some gibberish that you couldn’t understand. Probably because you were currently getting, you know, choked to death.

Shit. Shit. Shit. It hit you that you were actually getting bloody choked, and not in the good way.

You tried gasping for breath, but the air was not reaching your lungs. Your head started spinning and darkness began to rim your vision, slowly invading more and more of your eyesight. Desperately, you attempted to rip away the force blocking your air. But when you brought your hands up to your throat, you registered a warm, solid substance. It felt like skin. Thoroughly freaked and near passing out, you continued trying to claw the force away, but it completely encompassed your throat and wasn’t budging. Oh my god. You were going to die because of a ghost. Hello? Welcome to death registration, what’s your cause of perishing? Casper the fucking Ghost.

Wait. Were those fingers? Your vision was almost entirely black by now. You could still faintly hear Jimin shouting over the thumping of your heart. If those were fingers, then there must be a hand, arm, and body, right? You released your grip on the supposed hand around your throat and instead reached out to find what it was attached to.

Fabric. More skin. Muscles. A man? You hope. Either way this should hurt like a bitch.

You were losing control over your body, but you weren’t done for yet. You were too much of a stubborn bitch for that. Kicking out with your leg, you located one of Casper’s appendages and sloppily found the other with another kick. Then, with what little energy you had left, you forced your right leg up as hard and high as you could manage. The sudden rush of air back into your lungs made you even more dizzy as whatever held you vanished. Collapsing to your knees, you coughed while trying to support yourself by gripping the tree trunk behind you. Suddenly, Jimin was kneeling beside you, repeatedly saying your name. You don’t know how he escaped his ghost, maybe a spiritual kick to the tender region too.

Caressing your hair, he murmured, “Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay.”

“I don’t feel okay,” was all you could mutter before your arms gave out and the world fell to black nothingness.

Slowly, ever so slowly, you cracked open your eyes and saw Jimin’s worried face looking down at you. Your body felt like it was lagging behind your head, like when you kept moving the joystick forward during a video game, but the character decided to go sideways instead.

“You’re okay Y/N,” he reassured you, “you just passed out briefly.

Oh.

You pushed yourself up onto your elbows, grunting as dirt and twigs scraped against them as you did so. It still seemed to be only the two of you within the clearing, but you knew something, someone was there. You could feel it. You know, beyond the whole thrown against a tree and strangled thing.

Gripping his arm, you looked your best friend dead in the eye. “Okay, you’re going to help me up, and then you’re going to explain to me what the hell just happened.”

After doing so, and hesitantly stepping away from you, he attempted to act nonchalant.

“You tripped on a tree root and hit your head.” He shrugged.

You stared at him because there was no way. That had to be bullshit. You decided to straight up say as much. A few seconds went by and neither of you said anything. Jimin suddenly cocked his head to the left and nodded. His hand reached out in the direction his apricot-colored head had tilted toward, and then something peculiar happened. A tiny, delicate flower petal appeared in his hand. It hadn’t floated in on the breeze or fallen from the trees above. The pink petal had just… appeared. Cupping the object in his hand, he walked directly in front of you and extended the hand that held the petal. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not understanding what revelation that petal was supposed to bring.

“Uhhh?”

Understanding your puzzlement, he explained that you apparently needed to place the petal on your tongue. You still had no reason as to why you needed to do that, but you still took the object gently out of his hand. Giving him a quizzical and skeptical glance, you proceeded to place the delicate pink petal inside your mouth. Expecting to have to gag on it as you swallowed, you were shocked when it simply dissolved on your tongue like powdered sugar. As soon as the last remnant disappeared you gasped as your vision went black. Stars erupted behind your eyes and the sounds of every living thing amplified to clarity. For a split-second, all you could see was that blinding galaxy. All you could hear was the stars twinkling and the rumbling of an endless, black expanse. You were fully alive, and you felt the world drifting by your fingertips. But the stars began to dim and dim and dim until your vision cleared. You blinked to regain yourself and stilled when you finally registered the clearing again. When you registered what was in the clearing.

You and Jimin were no longer alone.

Six strangers stood within the clearing.

Six of the most gorgeous men you had ever seen. Beautiful, regal, and intimidating as hell. They each wore a variation of what seemed to be a mix of armor and camouflage as they easily blended in with the spring colors. You sharply inhaled as you noticed that their ears extended into long, delicate points. They looked like some kind of modern Legolas. If Legolas decided to cut his hair, dye it random colors, and give you an immediate lady boner.

Damn. You seriously needed to get laid.

You stared at them before tightly closing your bugging eyes, counting to ten, and re-opening them. Nope, still there. They gazed back, waiting to see what you would do.

“You-I-I’m tripping. I’m high and I’m tripping. Whatever you gave me is some new drug, right? Which first off, screw you because that’s pretty fucked up,” you stammered out to Jimin, “Or you hired these cosplayers to appear right after I ate that thing. Mhmm. Yup. That’s it. Good prank.”

You looked at your friend, desperate for reassurance that this was just a hallucination, or some weird joke. He only shot you a sad expression before shaking his head. In a stressed gesture, he drew a hand down his face then through his orange locks.

Eyes bugging out yet again, you returned your gaze to the strangers. You noticed that one of them had moved to go lay down against the base of a tree, his arm tucked underneath his mint-colored hair. Was the situation too boring for the lad? You couldn’t exactly agree with him. About half of the others had small smiles tugging at the corner of their mouths, yet they were not all relaxed. Some were too still, too stiff to possibly be relaxed. A couple took a more forward approach and had their hands resting upon their weapons, ready to draw.

Hold the door. Weapons!?

Double taking, you saw that, yes, your eyes were correct. They were all armed. Swords, daggers, bows, one of them even had a mace. But no guns. At least that you could see. One of them had his hand tapping the ruby hilt of the dagger strapped against his side. You could see two more blades crossed behind his back. His face was more steeled than the others. He did not look in the least bit pleased.

Another with striking pale-yellow eyes said something to Jimin, in a language you couldn’t understand, gesturing to you as he spoke. Even though you had no idea what language it was, you put two and two together and realized it was the “gibberish” Jimin had been speaking earlier. The yellow-eyed man seemed to be the tallest out of the group, and although he did not appear to be pissed at the current situation, it was clear that he did not find it ideal. Whatever your friend replied with had the ruby-hilt man glaring even harder. Much to your surprise, however, was that a man to his left broke out into a huge, boxy grin.

Talk about having absolutely no clue on what was going on.

Finally getting over your initial, paralyzing shock, you found your attitude starting to make an appearance. Done with being out of the loop, you glared back at the one who seemed to have an issue with you. His hand stopped tapping the ruby gemstone and instead gripped the handle hard, his entire body locking up from the pressure. You swore he glared even heavier too, if it were possible. You internally rolled your eyes. What a chump.

Jimin took a deep breath and gently released it before turning to face you.

“Y/N/, I know how this is going to sound, but please just- Just listen.”

You looked your best friend in the eye and nodded.

“I’m not human, not entirely,” he explained, running a hand through his hair again. A habit he did constantly, but this time your eyes locked on his ears.

Jimin had never had what a person would consider a normal, rounded ear. His were slightly pointed. Not to the extent of the six strangers surrounding you, but a gentle tip that went beyond that of a typical ear. You’d never given it much thought but would occasionally tease that he was a magical creature. As you looked at them now, you could see that even though they were not as extreme, they carried the same shape and elegance as the ears of the others in the clearing.

Seeing the wheels turning behind your eyes, he motioned to the others. “I’m half Saeni. I spend my summers in their realm.”

“Uhhh-”

You were cut off by the man, no male you rethink since you were just told that they were not humans, that had spoken with Jimin earlier. He seemed to be getting impatient, his yellow eyes narrowing at you. Jimin rapidly fired back, gesturing to you over and over. God, you were getting tired of them talking about you like you weren’t there.

“Hey! Stop talking about me and not telling me what you’re saying. It’s super freaking annoying. And rude,” you declared as you crossed your arms with a huff.

Jimin whipped his head back to you in disbelief before he began chuckling. It was just such a you thing to do to already be over his big reveal and be demanding to be included in the conversation.

“Okay, okay.” He put his hands out in front of him as a peace offering. “So, they need my help, and um, need me to leave with them tomorrow.”

Um, excuse me. What?

He couldn’t just leave tomorrow. Damn looking forward to him going to his Aunt’s for the summer. He couldn’t just leave to go to this realm place out of nowhere.

“What about school? What about your Aunt’s for the summer… oh. Shit. There is no Aunt is there?”

Jimin only gave you a small, tight smile, his eyes filled with regret. Well, alrighty that answers that then. You took one deep breath, quickly deciding in your head before continuing. You still did not fully understand what was going on or what a Sinai? Saeni? Or whatever Jimin had said was, but you did know one thing for sure.

“I’m going with you,” you announced defiantly.

His eyes widened. “What!? No. No, you’re not. It’s not safe.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You could get killed,” he strained.

You simply shrugged. “To die will be an awfully great adventure. Plus, finals are going to kill me anyway so…” You mumbled the second sentence under your breath.

“Y/N/, this is serious. I mean it. You could really get hurt.”

A male appeared behind Jimin, the one with the boxy smile, and clapped him on the shoulder. You had been so caught up in the argument that you hadn’t even noticed him, and the others, moving. With him being up close, you could finally get a better look at his appearance. And damn, were you quite happy at that. He had grey, almost silver, hair that flopped against his forehead regardless of the thick headband that attempted to push it back. The band did lift the steel-colored locks enough to fully see his dark, prominent eyebrows and clear, sharp blue eyes. Hot damn. He was fucking beautiful. You also noted that he had a small mole on the tip of his nose, numerous silver hoop earrings, and a single, dangling feather earring that matched the arrows holstered on his back. While you were preoccupied admiring the specimen before you, the attractive male looked you up and down before smiling again and squeezing Jimin’s shoulder.

“For Exia’s sake, Chim. Just let her come. It’s not like you’re going to win an argument with a female like her.”

That snapped you out of your daze. A female like you? Slowly, you moved your gaze to Jimin then back to the male, ready to oh-so-kindly inquire as to what type of female you were. Just as you went to start yet another argument, you finally registered what he said. Or rather, you registered the fact that you had been able to understand him.

Your mouth dropped. “You know English?” You stupidly asked as if it hadn’t just been established that yes, he did know English.

“I do, but only sometimes.” He winked.

Ooo-kay. Like that answer made any sense.

He paused, tilting his head to the side before adding in a genuinely concerned tone, “Hey, you might want to close your mouth before you inhale bugs.”

You blinked your eyes twice in astonishment.

What the-,” you sputtered, “this is between Jimin and me, and…” you trailed off, again putting a hold on your outburst to look at your best friend.

“He called you Chim.”

He gave you another sad smile. “Park Jimin is my real name, don’t worry, but I had to go by another name over there for… reasons.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the glaring male turn his head to the side while snorting sarcastically. As you turned your head to him out of confusion for his reaction, you also saw Jimin give him a warning look before adding to his statement.

“Let’s just say that Chim is easier to go by.”

“Mmmm seems fake but okay,” you retorted, returning your attention back to your friend with a sigh.

With each minute that passed, it seemed like you knew your best friend less and less. How many secrets did he have? How could you even call yourselves “best friends” when he had seemingly lied to you since day one? You sighed once more, trying to wrap your head around it all. Although the entire situation was straight out of a goddamn fantasy book, you still trusted the person in front of you. Because this was Jimin. Your Jimin. Your Slim Jim. Even if he had avoided some things, he was still the boy that tried to scare you with a spider, he was still the person who has seen you at your worst, the person that was always there for you through breakups, injuries, and weak moments. He was still your best friend. And you wouldn’t abandon him.

You looked at him with determination. “I am going with you. Just tell me when you need me back here and what you need me to bring.”

previous [prologue] --- next [2]

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Kong: Skull Island- Rescued

Pairing: Reg Slivko x Irene Brown

James Conrad x Irene Brown (brother-sister relationship)

Jack Chapman x Irene Brown (brother-sister relationship)

Summary: They make it to the ploat, and now they have to make it to the exfil location

Warnings: cursing, screaming, wounds, etc

Word Count: 2392

“Come on!” James called as he ran to the ploat, pulling me with him.

San was steering, and she brought the ploat closer to us.

“Come on, hurry!” She beckoned.

“Slivko first!” James shouted, pointing.

Jack jumped up to help Reg up, then Hank was on. Jack helped Reg lean against the frame before giving me his hand. I hoisted myself up, groaning. I felt dizzy again. Reles and Mills climbed on after me, and I looked to James expectantly. The machine gun stopped and Houston shouted. My eyes went wide, meeting James’s.

“Marlow, a little help here!” Houston called.

“I got it, she’s temperamental, watch out!” Hank pushed him out of the way, taking over.

The Skull Crawler got closer as Kong pulled himself up slowly. James was still in the water, eyes trained on the scene before us.

“Jay!” I cried, feeling my bones ache.

Another explosion went off, and I looked over to see the Skull Crawler with a flare in its eye. My smile lasted for a split second, wiped away as the Skull Crawler looked to where Mason stood. Hank got the gun working again, and everyone but me was shooting at the Skull Crawler. I watched with tears in my eyes as James turned and ran the other way.

“Irene, don’t!” Reg shouted over the gunfire.

I sniffled as I loaded my bow and shot rather aimlessly at the Skull Crawler. It turned its head and then its direction entirely. I followed its line of sight.

“James!” I let out a scream, then a sob.

Jack grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me to him, trying to calm me down. Everything within me itched to follow my brother out there. The Skull Crawler went down, taking a propeller to the back. Kong was on his feet again. The Skull Crawler screeched as Kong wrapped the chain around its neck, choking it. It broke free but Kong grabbed it by the tail, body slamming it into a mountainside.

We watched breathlessly as Mason fell down its side. James sprinted to her, screaming her name. She landed in water, but she didn’t come back up. The tears strolled down my cheeks again. Kong turned, eyes almost human with concern. The Skull Crawler lunged at him, grabbing him by the neck with its teeth. He slammed it off and they continued their fight. I cried as James was out of my sight and Kong sliced the Skull Crawler’s throat open with the propeller.

I watched as he moved to where Mason had fallen, carefully dipping his hand in the water and coming back up with Mason in his palm. She wasn’t moving. He let out a chuff. He went back down, and I saw the Skull Crawler on his arm.

“What the hell?” Reg shouted and I felt my heart drop for the third time in the last minute.

I moved to him, pushing my head into his chest and wishing the world would stop. He winced but wrapped an arm around me, breathing heavily. His chest rumbled as he cursed loudly, gasping. I looked over to see Kong’s hand (including Mason) now halfway down the Skull Crawler’s throat. My own throat went dry. Kong tugged back, but it was no use. He finally grabbed the Skull Crawler by the neck and pulled his other hand back, tongue and internal organs following. He slowly turned and opened his palm on the ground, easing her off of his hand. James popped back into sight as he reached her, shaking her and picking her up so she could cough up water. They held each other as Kong looked at them before walking away.

Reg’s pained grunt brought me back to reality and he sunk the floor of the ploat, gritting his teeth. I dropped next to him, ignoring the pain that shot through my arm.

“What’s wrong?”

“It burns.” He mumbled, hands going for the blood-soaked bandana.

“You shouldn’t take it off.” I grabbed at his wrists.

He met my worried gaze before shutting his eyes and pushing his head into my chest and sighing.

“We have to get him out of here, now.” I spoke to Hank, who was the only one without tears in his eyes.

He nodded. “Let’s go.”

                                                            ***

James was steering the ploat toward the exfil location. San and Mason rewrapped Reg’s leg with Jack’s other sleeve while I held his hands, his head rested back against my chest. We stayed like that, stretched out as the ploat moved. Hank was off to our side, looking at the picture of his wife.

We were silent, some of us crying while others stared blankly. I tried to block my mind off as I felt Reg’s back move with his breathing. Over the last five or six days I had almost died at least three times. I had gotten separated from my brothers at least twice. I had seen people I thought were dead, alive. I had seen people get eaten. I had watched a man get his arm torn off. I had thought about things from my childhood that I had buried inside. I had put my crossbow up to my brother’s face.

I heard a few clicks as Mason fiddled with her camera. I looked over to see James moving his head side to side softly. I saw Jack writing something in his notepad. Hank was still looking at the picture of his wife. Reg breathed deeply in front of me, closing his eyes as he settled back against my chest.

Over the last five or six days, I had also expanded what I considered family. I had met a woman to lead me the way I had needed since I was born. I had been reunited with the boy turned man who I had trusted with my life and my little brother’s life. I had met two guys a few years older than me who showed me what being brave actually was. I had used my crossbow flawlessly. I fell in what felt like love with a boy. I had combed my fingers through soft brown hair more times than I could count.

“Irene?” Reg’s voice was scratchy.

I brushed his hair back with my free hand. “What is it?”

“Cole gave you something, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. I think it was a picture.” My voice trembled as I remembered what Cole had told me.

I was afraid to look, afraid the picture would be related to it, afraid to face my fears. Reg picked up on this, because he squeezed my hand and craned his neck back to look at me.

“Are you okay, doll?”

I let my head fall back against the frame of the ploat as I sighed.

“I’ll be fine.”

The sky was clear now, sun shining as it would at the beach. I grunted as my arm throbbed momentarily. Houston had an arm around San, reassuring her with whispers in her ear. Reles and Mills had sat on top of the ploat, both quiet. Mason was trying to fix her camera, which had been slightly smashed and fully submerged.

“This place will change.” James spoke up, breaking the calm silence that had settled over all of us. “Word will get out. It always does.” He looked to Mason.

“Well, it’s not coming from us.” Mason sent a small smile back.

My brother smiled back before eyeing me, sadness back on his face. I half smiled, wanting him to cheer up but at the same time understanding what was going on in his mind. We had almost died. He had almost died. I had almost died. We had promised each other to never leave after Stephen went missing. We had almost broken that promise, both of us had.

I shifted to pull the picture from my pocket. Pain moved through my arm like a storm, but my desire to know the truth was greater than it. I slung my bad arm around Reg’s chest, moving the picture to my good hand. I shook it open, resting my chin on his shoulder. I felt my heart thump, tears welling in my eyes.

Stephen, sitting with a few other kids that looked just as adopted as him, in front of a Christmas tree. He was looking at Cole, but even sitting, he was taller than the army man. Stephen was smiling, happy. The kids around him looked happy. They all looked happy. Better yet, my baby brother was alive.

“We’ll meet again. Don’t know how, don’t know when…” Hank sang softly.

Mason took a picture, smiling sadly. I looked back to the piece of paper in my hands and shuddered. I dropped my head against Reg’s shoulder, burying my face into his neck. He only grabbed me the best he could and shushed me, head leaning against mine. I heard Mason’s camera click again.

“What do you think, kids?” I heard Jack’s gentle voice come from beside me.

I brought my head back up, sniffing and wiping at my dirty face. Reg kept his hands on me and Jack smiled softly.

“This way to Key West?” Mills asked as he and Reles made their way down from the top of the ploat.

Reles laughed happily, and soon the four surviving soldiers had grins on their faces as they sat around us.

“As soon as Slivko gets better, I think we’re good to go.”

I tuned them out and watched James make his way to the front of the ploat with Mason. They hugged again, swaying slightly. We settled back into silence as the ploat came into an opening in the river. The exfil. The sound of helicopters came over our ears and I had never been more relieved.

“We have to find a way to signal to them that they’ll have to bring one down. Slivko can’t climb with his leg like that.” Mills spoke out.

There was a thudding noise and it took us all a few seconds to realize it was coming from behind us. We turned to see Kong hitting his chest, taking a moment, then roaring. Mason’s camera clicked, and I felt Reg’s grip on me tighten.

“We still have a few flares left.” James noted.

He walked over to us, practically ignoring Reg as he grabbed my face and squished my cheeks. “You ready to go home, Bitsy?”

“Bitsy?” Reg repeated, incredulously.

“Shut up or you’re dead to me.” I squinted at him.

He turned his head against me, hair tickling my skin. He looked me in the eye before faking an awful laugh. I pressed a kiss to his cheek before turning back to my brother.

“Hey, what day is it today?” James asked, nodding at Reles to fire off the flare.

Reg jumped before checking his watch. I laughed, only to receive a head thumped against my collarbone.

“It’s the fifteenth.”

James’s eyes widened and he grinned at me, squishing my face again. “Well look at that. You’ve officially made it to eighteen.”

“You’re eighteen now? Man, I don’t know if I can handle a relationship with an older woman.” Reg sighed, but I could practically see the teasing smile on his face.

I patted James’s face with a smile. “You didn’t let me die before turning into an adult. Thanks.”

He kissed my forehead before standing and going to steer the ploat to the shore, where one of the helicopters had landed. I sighed happily before ducking my head into the crook of Reg’s neck and kissing his skin.

“Wait!” Mills broke my little cloud of heaven.

“What?” Reg grumbled back, also upset.

“How are you two gonna explain the holes in you?” He pointed.

“Anaconda.” I shrugged.

“I thought they didn’t bite.” Reg spoke to me over his shoulder, confused.

“They’ve been known to bite if they can’t get a good grip on their prey at first, actually.” San stepped in, also shrugging.

“Well, I think it’s believable.” Jack shrugged too.

James sighed loudly. “It’ll have to do because we have to go.”

I looked at the riverbank next to us to see two helicopters on the ground. Jack let out a holler, and Mills and Reles helped Reg stand. I folded Cole’s picture up and shoved it in my pocket. I looked up to see James’s hand in my face. I smiled as I took it, pushing myself to my feet. He pulled me into a hug as we watched everyone left get off the ploat.

The boys helped Reg into the helicopter before getting into the one with San and Houston. Mason climbed in across from Reg, and Hank took a spot next to her. Jack was half in and half out, hand on a rail as he looked at us, head tilted. He hopped back out and beckoned to us.

“Come on, I don’t wanna stay on this island forever.” I mumbled, breaking the hug and pulling him by the arm.

“Don’t strain your arm, Ire!” He scolded.

I rolled my eyes as my feet hit the ground and I practically ran to the helicopter, letting go of James and pushing myself into Jack’s open arms. He squeezed before lifting me up and dropping me into the helicopter. It took a moment for the dizzy feeling to go away, and then I sat myself next to Reg. He hooked his arm through mine and sighed as I dropped my head on his shoulder. I felt James settle in next to me and watched through half closed eyes as Jack across from me, next to Hank. He bumped his foot against mine. I smiled before letting out a breath.

“Alright guys. Let’s get out of here.” He raised his eyebrows before patting one of the pilots on the shoulder.

The rotors started to swish and the machine rumbled to life. Reg winced, moving his leg. I looked up at him, still against his shoulder.

“You okay?”

He met my eyes and nodded softly. “I’ll be fine.”

I didn’t take my gaze off him as he smiled and leaned down, lips meeting mine. Mason’s camera clicked, but it blended into the shouts of disgust from my brothers and another unheard comment from Hank. I pulled back and put my head back against his shoulder, closing my eyes. I felt like I could breathe now.

Previous: Wounds and Shrieks

Next: Surgeries and Cover Stories

[herecomesnaya]

Hey Naya! I'm sorry to be a bother but I was wondering, since you write a bit about Slade and his fam, can you give me a breakdown of, well, what went down in his family? I get so confused cause in come continuity, Grant dies cause of H.I.V.E and TT, but no he's actually alive and just neglected. and then Joey dies from having his throat slit, and its kinda Slades fault, but no actually he's a hero named Jericho, and Slades ex shot him in the eye but no etc...Mind breaking it down for a noob?

ok, so it’s a little confusing with all the different timelines, but I’m just gonna give my best general breakdown of the Wilson fam. other fans, feel free to chime in! I’m definitely no expert, lol

so: Slade joins the military, meets Adeline, falls in love, has 2 kids. gets wanderlust, wants to use his super-soldier abilities to go around doing soldier things.

Slade goes off on these Deathstroke missions, leaving Adeline at home with the kids, growing more resentful of him. when Slade IS home, he’s an absolute jackass to Grant especially (who seems to be the scapegoat child of the Wilson household). in Rebirth, he’s explicitly shown being physically and emotionally abusive to him, driving him away.

H.I.V.E. recruits Grant because they know his father is Deathstroke, but Grant doesn’t know any of this. gets supersoldier abilities, tries to take down the Teen Titans, but the serum he took makes his heart give out during the fight. he dies in Slade’s arms, at which point Slade becomes the TT enemy we know and love

meanwhile, where’s Joey in all this? being a soft boy with a secret partying side. the good child. artistic. a painter. pop six squish uh-uh cicero lipschitz

ANYWAY people find out that Slade is Deathstroke, and go to kidnap his son and hold him hostage in exchange for info about a client of Deathstroke’s. Slade is a business man first and a family man second, and overconfident in his abilities, so he’s like “nah” and the mercenary is like “ok well I’m gonna kill your son so???”

so he slits Joey’s throat, Slade kills him (albeit too late), and Joey is left alive but mute. Adeline, who’s there for this whole thing, decides her husband is a dangerous monster who must be stopped, so she shoots him in the head, shooting his eye out. I think this was pretty effectively their divorce

(note: in Rebirth, things seem to have changed a bit. see this awesome, detailed post by a friend talking about a theory regarding the whole Joey situation!)

also worthy of note is that in Rebirth, while Joey’s being kidnapped, Slade was off on the other side of the world with Rose, but I don’t think that was the case in the original? I think he didn’t know about Rose back when The Judas Contract was first written, but I could be wrong

Grant is one of those few DC characters that actually stays dead more often than not. he’s not currently alive, but he was “alive” for a while in Rebirth when Slade traveled through the timestream to try and stop him from dying. of course, since Slade is a jackass and can’t properly express emotions for his kids, this never works, and Grant ends up dying anyway. he’s like the Jason of the Wilson family, except if Jason didn’t come back

Joey, meanwhile, grows up under Adeline, and he was initially introduced to the Titans during The Judas Contract when they showed up to help them escape from Slade/Terra/Brother Blood. he joins the Titans after, and works as a hero for a while.

I think they nixed this in Rebirth, though. in Rebirth, he has a special sorta suit that lets him fly and has cool science-y powers, designed by his ex-boyfriend, Slade’s friend. (Joey is also canon bi now, for anyone who didn’t know!) I don’t think he was ever a Teen Titan in this new universe, but again, I’m a little shaky on my Deathstroke Rebirth.

hope this helps clear a few things up, anon! if anything’s still confusing, I will consult my Panel of Wilson Experts personally on ur behalf

[mirrorworldangel]

R6S Showdown Ideas...

This idea has been swimming in my head for the past two nights, ever since @pop-six-squish posted their art on Nomad. Because of them, this idea is born.

In this AU, some of the parts of the story is still the same as the rivalry between the Sheriffs team lead by Maverick and the Graveltop gang led by Maestro. However the story begins when Maverick is trying to stop the gang from committing a train robbery heist, only it backfires when Nomad single-handedly robs the gang blind behind their backs.

Both leaders are impressed and are trying to convince her to join their respective side. Maverick slowly starts to fall in love with her over time, while Maestro thinks of her as an advantage to their gang and tries to convince her, one way or another. If all else fails, well, he’ll get creative. (Kaid does not approve with his new obsession)

However, the unexpected happens when the feared Iron Judges led by Sheriff Thatcher followed by Doc, Bandit and Thermite arrived at their town. Apparently, they were looking for Nomad, believing to be responsible for the R.S.Siege train bombing accident, which took many innocent lives. 

Each member of the gang lost their loved ones (romantic operator partner, brothers in arms, etc.) in that accident, out of despair some of them commit horrible crimes, and Thatcher gave them two choices: join him or face the gallows. Using ruthless tactics in their hunt in the name of so-called justified vengeance, they will not stop at hunting down until they get Nomad, even if they had to leave a trail of bodies behind.

Maverick is torn between his love for Nomad and his duty, even if she claims that yes, she tried to rob the train, but she did not cause that accident. 

If he believes her and tries to prove her innocence, slowly the lovers and the Sheriffs of Hereford town entangled themselves in a scandal that could threaten the fates of the Wild Wests.

With the Graveltop gang and the Iron Judges hot on their trail, it would have to take more than wits, luck, and a miracle to keep this love strong.  

I am gonna leave this here but not gonna write it because I am suffering the migraines and I have two assignments that I had to finish within these two weeks. So if there are any questions or interests about this prompt, don’t hesitate to message me and if so, I might post another one about the characters in this AU. And holy fuck, its 1 am here and I got a quiz tomorrow.

[whiskeyworen]

Idle thoughts make for strange ideas

Prepare to go down a rabbit hole of potentially WTF. That or be entertained. I’m just gonna ramble a bit. GHOSTS. Got your attention? No? Lost your attention? Probably.

I have this theory I’ve been working on over the last umpteen years about ghosts, spirits, and all that ephemeral garbage that goes along with supposed hauntings. Now don’t get me wrong; I love watching things like Ghost Adventures because they make me laugh my ass off. But I’ll never believe things at face value on shows like that. Spooky, but unless there’s stuff that can’t be debunked, I don’t really believe. That’s not to say I don’t believe period, just that I don’t believe the shows that much. I’ve voiced this theory to friends though, who alternate between ‘Dude, shut up. That’s weird and fucked up.’ to ‘I don’t get it’ to ‘That’s an interesting idea!’ So, here goes the theory, which I’m afraid you’re gonna have to look at with an open mind. Only way it works, since it’s kinda hard to prove. But it makes things work in terms of some of the shit you see and hear on the shows. My theory is that, in locations where hauntings happen (which can be damned near anywhere truthfully, but we focus on buildings because it’s an enclosed space you can turn into a controlled environment, as opposed to an uncontrolled forest or someshit) is where space and time kinda...burp. Or rather, fold and collapse a wee bit. Imagine a comforter on a bed. All the layers it makes up; outer layer, padding, maybe a thermal layer, more padding, then the lower layer. That’s the various levels of reality, most of which we can’t comprehend cuz we don’t work there. We’re basically in that lowermost level, or maybe the middle thermal layer. Got that image? Now, the blanket isn’t perfectly even. Poke a finger straight down and compress the layers in one spot. That spot is where the various layers of reality get squished slightly tighter. We don’t notice it because, again, we operate only on that one single layer. But as the layers tighten together, they overlap and interweave a bit. So... on some level we begin to perceive them. Perhaps as a feeling, or a thought, or something like that. The warm welcoming feeling here, or the icy ‘I don’t belong’ feeling there that has no rational reason.

If you’ve followed this far, congratulations; you made it farther than my friends. That said, consider the indentation itself. As a cross-section, call the area to the left the ‘past’ and the area to the right the ‘future’. In the indentation, notice how it all folds kinda inward into a cup shape? Let’s call that an echo chamber, and it’ll make sense later. Now, if you drag your finger, making the indentation move along the blanket, it’s still compressing the layers, but just in different aspects of ‘time’. Now... the haunting stuff gets entertaining here. Because the ‘past’ and ‘future’ are folded slightly at this spot in the indentation, they merge partially with the ‘present’, but without infringing on it. You’re not going to see hallways morph into older or newer versions of themselves unless there’s something like that. (though I have heard tales...) Instead, only some things cross that gap, and basically ring around that indentation like water in an active blender. Let’s create three groups of people. The First group, let’s say it’s one guy named John, at the ‘past’ end of the indentation. For sake of simplicity, we’ll say the beginning of the indentation where the layers finally crush together is listed as ‘1920′. That’s the year John lives in his house with his family. The Second Group, let’s call Ghosts Anonymous, or GA for short. Self-proclaimed demonologists and ghost hunters. They’re in the middle of the indentation, between past and ‘future’ in the ‘present’. We’ll say that’s 1970 there, because it’s easier to put the future group in OUR present than a further future. One of the team members is named Stan. The Third Group, we’ll call Spooky Stuff. Another group of amateur ghost hunters with all our modern trappings, FLIR cameras, Kinect-based sensors, etc. They’re on the ‘future’ side of the indentation. Let’s name them Dave, Mike, and Jordan. This will be important. We’ll start with Spooky Stuff. In 2018, they go into this old house, and talk about the hauntings that have been recorded over the last 100 years. About how some farmer named John went out of his gourd, started screaming about ghosts and demons, and then killed his family. And how in the 70s some other group made contact with ghosts in the same place. These guys do their EVP and callouts, try a few rituals, and loudly demand some kind of action. Maybe they get a response, maybe they don’t. Back in 1920, however, poor John is now the subject of a universal joke and doesn’t know it. Nor will his family. Late one night, he starts hearing someone whispering, shouting, bellowing, about “DEMONS!” and calling his name repeatedly in different voices. Thumping noises from nowhere, chanting, weird sounds he’s never heard. Poor John goes nuts, and after hearing one of the voices say “Kill....Family...” among other things, and he goes and does so, earning his way into the history books. Zip over to 1970s. GA is investigating the old house, and they too, chat about poor old John and the voices he heard. In their investigation, they pick up screams and cries and echoes of the past; John suffering through his madness and telling the voices to shut up. Only, from their perspective, they don’t know it’s John. They think it’s a spirit threatening them. So they try to exorcise it. The longer they chant and pray, the more whatever it is screams. They think at one point it screams ‘Dei Dei Dei’ before their encounters end. Now, back to Spooky Stuff. They too, hear mysterious chanting and screaming echoing back across the gulf of time. They have NO idea that their own voices, their own demands and questions, have crossed to the recent past and the FAR past, distorted by that distance into something else. All they can get on their recorders is stuff about ‘S..tan’ which they interpret as ‘Satan’, whispered yells of ‘leave me alone’, and stuff like that. One particularly loud sound has Jordan call out “DAVE! DAVE! DAVE!” to his buddy to get him in the same room. These guys aren’t graceful, and so thump and tromp through the ruined house, making crap fall all over the place. The voices and sounds in this particular spot are being reflected back and forth across the echo-chamber formed by that temporal indentation, so that all three groups are hearing each other, AND themselves, all distorted like a broken radio signal. None of them can make heads or tails of it, and misinterpret EVERYTHING. If they were all able to step outside of that indentation, they might realize what was going on. Especially when Jordan hears his own name called by someone.... and six years later revisits that spot with his friends again, reliving the moment, and calls his OWN name in that far future, to which his own previous self HEARD it and responded to it in kind. He literally made his own haunting at that moment. Now, some people would be like “but what about the demons and rasping and clawscratches and all that, like we see in possession episodes?” Congrats if you got this far and are still interested, btw. Add one more idea to the blanket layers. Think of it ALL as a biome. Each layer is its own biome, but the whole kit and caboodle is one big biome. Give that biome life forms that exist within it, swimming through the layers without interacting with them like fish in the sea. Make predators, prey, herbivores and carnivores. Now... Normally these critters are too spread out across space and time ( their natural home) to interact on only ONE level. They probably aren’t even aware of it. Our home layer is too flat for them to know it exists. But those indentations come into play again; their home realms get squashed together so tightly that in that short space, in that weird constantly changing spot, they can actually interact on this level for a time. Probably entirely random. So, an inquisitive alpha predator of this weird realm ventures into the Tight Spot. the Tight Spot where now, for short times, it can see these weird other creatures it sees nowhere else. Are they prey? Are they friend? Does it care? Whatever the case, it reaches out and tries to grab one of them. Or maybe just grab its attention by hitting something near it if it can’t reach them. Once in a while, it succeeds in touching them and even leaves a mark. But that time is short (or long. time is malleable), and eventually it loses interest and moves on. Suddenly, we have demons and monsters appearing from the ether, and ghost hunters getting scratched on various parts of the body, and weird threatening sounds on recorders. Maybe they even see something, but it doesn’t get recorded. And this is in addition to ALL the Echo Chamber stuff, so imagine the same critter reaching across all three timeframes, because to it, it sees three different figures standing there that it wants to contact. It can’t comprehend they’re from different spots in time, because time literally doesn’t exist for it. The figures just appear and vanish randomly before it. So there.... that’s my theory. Temporal indentation resulting in ‘hauntings’ that are echoes across time, combined with accidental encounters with inhabitants of the broader range of space and time that normally don’t even appear here. Hell, if you wanna get funny, you can say this is how Bigfoot pops in and out too; gigantopithecus or something like it accidentally stepping through an indented soft-spot that’s crushed JUST enough for it to really appear in another time frame...until either the indentation recedes or it wanders out of the indentation and back into its own timeframe. Past meet future. Future meet past. But only in those random spots. LoL. I could go on further, but this took WAY too long. There’s no science behind it, but it’s an interesting concept that I kinda hope people think about and maybe experiment with. See if they can set up a ‘contact myself 20 years from now’ moment in one of those spots. LoL.

[comfycatcrochet]

Crochet Blooky figure- Step by step

sorry for the wait but...

Step-by-step crochet tutorial for a Napsatblook inspired figure 

Tutorial is pretty in-depth so will be under the cut- if you’re willing to learn a few basic crochet stitches/know them already it won’t be too hard to try make your own! <3 

Supplies: 

White and Black wool (both DK weight) , Scissors, crochet hook (small works best for tight pattern- i used a 4mm) yarn needle, toy stuffing (or something similar) 

preferable: know how to single crochet (sc) half double crochet (hdc) and double crochet (dc) before starting (youtube is great to learn!)- this will be worked in the round so have a go at that too! 

First, start with either a magic circle or chain 5 and slip stich in the first chain to make a loop. 

into the middle hole, Single crochet 6 stitches

this pattern is worked in a continuous round, so don’t chain 1 to go onto the next round, just work into the first stich of the last round.

increase in rounds as follows:

2 sc in each stitch (12)

1 sc 2 sc six times (18)

(1sc x2 2sc) six times (24)

(1sc x3 2sc) six times (30) (you can stop increases here for a smaller figure) 

(1sc x4 2sc) six times (36)

should look something like this: 

now you’ve done the hard part- it’s about 30ish rounds of sc all the way around, it may not look circular now but as you go it will curve round: 

woo! still here? bit repetitive but you can go as long or as short as you want, it will be stuffed though so i always go to the length i want then add a few extra rounds just to be sure. 

Next is making the ‘frilly’ part at the end, this is done with scallops by doing a pattern of:

sc in one stich, sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc in the next stich- repeated all the way around, the ‘frill’ should look like this: 

and the finished frills look like this! 

cut off your yarn- leave a tail to sew in and then crochet another 36 stitch circle like you did at the start. this acts as a scaled base- leave a long tail to attach it too the bottom of your figure. 

i sew it about half way and then stuff the figure so it doesn’t spill out as much. i used toy stuffing but you can use cotton wool, scrap yarn etc- be sure to squish it around to make sure you’re happy before you finish sewing. when you’re done it should look like: 

nearly done! black yarn is used for the features, mark it out first by placing yarn if you want- i like a ‘sketchy’ feel for the features so they don’t have to be perfect. 

now you have the basic, use yarn to fill in the gaps- optional is filling in the eyes and mouth with white yarn to make the features ‘pop’

and you’re done! you can add/adjust what you like- add some headphones or a hat or like the pic at the top- try a different ghost! hope this was helpful! <3 

[aintneverhadfriendslikeus]

Parcly Taxel: Tatami (畳) is a very common flooring in Japanese restaurants and homes. Its prevalence in the latter is declining, in part because of the younger population moving into more internationally oriented apartments; these contain wooden or marble floors like those found in Canterlot Castle. Nevertheless, it remains an important cultural asset and rooms rented out to foreigners often have one or two tatami rooms.

Versatility is one of their advantages. They can serve as a base for futons, which we would sleep on throughout our trip, or support a short table for eating meals of the sort we enjoyed in Kinosaki.

For me, the most interesting thing about these mats is their combinatorics: the standard shape of one mat is a domino (with half-size squares allowed when needed to exactly cover a rectangle) and convention is to arrange those mats so that no four mats meet at a point. Counting the number of such tilings is a problem of research interest.

Spindle: Shaking off the shenanigans of the previous day, we cleaned up the place, unfolding every blanket and bedsheet flat. Regarding the waste we had generated, recycling is much more extensive in Japan than it is in some other places, so we sorted out the paper and cans and threw them in their respective bins. For the mare on the Clopham omnibus, the amount of waste that remains after this sorting is dwindling.

Airing on NHK Educational TV (Eテレ) was – to my surprise – a programming programme, explained with live characters acting out commands in video games made from a pedagogical language, Scratch. Both Parcly and I recalled happy memories of using it, me teaching a class for younger windigos and she hacking up a full reverse Polish notation calculator. My species is always aware of the need to enable other sentient beings to harness technology rather than be enslaved by it. I warmed the surrounding air, seeing that this message was being transmitted outwards.

Parcly: Our next destination was Osaka, the heart of the Keihanshin and the second-most populous city in Japan. The two-day pass for Kyoto having now expired, we bought single tickets for each leg of our journey: subway to Kyoto Central followed by JR to Sakuranomiya (桜ノ宮), transiting at Osaka Central. The last three stops in particular were on the Osaka Loop, a very heavily used ring railway which would be important for our future explorations.

Our lodging lay just under the Loop. When I arrived, the original tenant was still preparing it with his two female assistants, strewn objects lying here and there. The ceilings were a little too low for an alicorn like me, while empty areas engaged in a staring contest. Dilapidated as it was, I already knew why.

Remember the cooks? They work in cramped, sweaty conditions against hordes of patrons. Osaka is the food bowl of the nation.

Spindle: As in Kyoto, the nearest subway station of Miyakojima (都島) was an extended walk away, passing by the city's general hospital. We hopped one stop for lunch, which was udon with raw egg (the base) paired with croquette and tempura (add-ons). Unlike our stripped-down apartment, a television sat in one corner of the shop.

Parcly: A stroll down the shopping street of Tenjinbashi (天神橋) revealed a lot about local demographics and lifestyles. The ponies are generally older and more sociable, relaxed in their gait and contemplative in mind. Pachinko parlours popped up at regular intervals, some without the frosted exterior glass normally included for privacy.

Time started to skid in my working memory, causing me to turn back. I couldn't make head or tail of where I was, the ends crowded out by shifting shoppers. A wave of excitement pulsed through me; I could feel myself stretching with muscles and thinner bones, my hindlegs melting together and tickling with flaky scales… until I had transformed into a lamia, my hexagon-patterned snake tail exceeding four metres.

Considering how much distance was left till the other end, I slithered along in erratic waves, grabbing any and all food I wanted to devour. Lamias love eating things, after all! Finally, I re-entered open sky and twisted back to see my suspicions verified: Tenjinbashi is the longest shopping street in all Japan at 2.6 kilometres, cut into six segments by intersecting roads.

Needing to regain my bearings, I lunged towards the nearest subway station of Minami-morimachi (南森町), my panting warped into hisses. There I regrew my hindlegs and fuzzy tail so that closing train doors wouldn't squish me paper-thin.

Spindle: Transferring to the next stop towards Miyakojima, Higashi-Umeda (東梅田), we got swamped. Peak hours were in full swing. Shopping centres like Daimaru drove us in the right and then the wrong direction, across resonating bridges and isolated lifts. When we could see stars again, we were in a city in a city. Osaka Station City.

Dwarfing Kyoto Central when neighbouring buildings (North Gate, South Gate, Yodobashi, etc.) are included, I filtered the fresh night air through myself and we worked out where to have dinner. Ending up at Ichiran (一蘭), a booth-based ramen restaurant, Parcly seemed confused at what steps to take.

Parcly: My "shift" started out with a vending machine where I selected my meal, receiving an order ticket alongside a pad where I could fine-tune how my meal would taste. Not being a picky pony at all, I opted for a standard ramen-and-pork bowl with extra noodles and was led to one of several one-mare cubicles by a bevy of flashing occupancy lights, where my order was processed and I slurped away.

The extra noodles were at first an empty tray with their description printed. To materialise it, I placed it on a sensor plate and one of the waiters took it, giving me back one extra lump of noodles as expected. I was so happy levitating those chopsticks that only after the last strand and drop was exhausted did I feel something in my hind legs.

Tempest Shadow: I was feeling something much more serious, so I unlocked the partition to my right. Parcly had reverted to a lamia and was coiling around me!

Parcly: As soon as I became aware, I relaxed all my constricting muscles and Tempest made a small smile. "Thanks for the surprise," she commented.

Tempest: Still, she loves transforming into strange hybrids like this, and couldn't bring herself to transform back because she was naturally tsundere. I guided her via the Loop to Sakuranomiya, full and voracious like she imagined Osaka ponies would be, where she pointed out the inconvenient ceilings.

"It'd be better with a broken horn like me, you know."