#smogs should poof

[mutteredmadness-ninjapanda16]

Random Idea

Based off the lovely reply from @gilbirda who kindly answered a few of my questions, again thank you! I haven’t done much digging into the world of dc x dp so I’m sorry if this idea is already out in the wild. 

An angst idea where a Future!Tim comes back in time from what was once a dying world that he and Dark!Danny viewed as their play ground. 

Key words was once because there was a tick and suddenly *insert names of characters he’s killed* are back. The smog that once hung over Gotham is back, covering the night sky once again (the night sky Danny worked hard to uncover). But more importantly Danny who he was just talking to is no longer standing in front of him.

Time hasn’t changed. It’s still the same date. Still the same second. Danny is just not there. And as he looks, he finds more evidence that Danny isn’t around.

Was never around.

Feats that Danny accomplished erased. Gone. Poof.

Eventually -as he steps over bodies of people who should’ve died years ago, blood dripping and dripping and dripping off his bo-staff, a bo-staff that isn’t his but somehow is because Danny got him his bo-staff and this one isn’t that one and- he traces Danny’s disappearance back to... Danny. 

A Danny from years ago, a small skinny 14 year old (15??) ghost hero, from Amity Park, who apparently, fought against Tim’s Danny and won. -There are pictures, there are videos, there are stories-

A Danny who was reported missing at the age of 16 and thus, never experiences the death of his sisters and two best friends. Never lived through the destruction of his home town at the hands of the government. Never travelled to Gotham. Never meets Tim.

It takes time, but Tim works out time travel, works out how to pass through it, how to manipulate it, how to walk through it without being seen -and if doing so includes ripping Clockwork apart? well Clockwork should know that messing with time has consequences, this was one of them-

Now Tim has a choice, he can either pull Dark!Danny back to the time he’s meant to be in.

Or.

Or he can take all the knowledge he knows about Danny -either found through his own means or pulled from Danny’s lips- and use that on this younger Danny.  

[queenharumiura]

I forgot that I wanted to do a lil omake so I’ll do it here. Based off: [x] @whiskeysmulti

-

“Hahi!?” A woman’s voice comes from the pink smog and a small cow child rushes into the smoke to cling onto the person at the center. “Haru! Are you okay?” Lambo didn’t intend for Haru to get hit with the 10 year bazooka but it just happened!

It wasn’t Lambo-san’s fault! Put the blame on someone else! Like--- ahodera! Yeah! You can just blame him! (Lambo’s go to scapegoat of choice)

“Hahi? This fluffy head… Lambo-chan?” Haru’s hand is waving away the smoke, quietly coughing the smoke out of her lungs. “Is Haru in the past?” The smoke clears and Haru is holding Lambo in her arms.

Looking around, she recognizes the location to be the Sawada household and she notices as a few familiar faces rush into the room.

"Such familiar faces, hello everyone. It seems that Haru will be in your care for 5 minutes, was it?" She chuckles, as she pats the top of Lambo's head gently. "Were you getting yourself into trouble again, Lambo-chan? You should be careful. I'm sure my younger self is quite confused right about now." She's honestly concerned about what her younger self was looking at right now. She was in Hayato's office tidying some things up so... there were a few photos there that would raise some questions.

Surely Gokudera would have that covered. There was no way her younger-self didn't make a loud entrance. "Ehhhh? Haru! Your ring, did you get married?" The small child is staring at the ring on her finger and the woman quickly retracts her hand and she spins the ring around so the others in the room can only see the silver band of the ring and not any specific distinguishing details of the ring.

She didn't want the others in the room to see the ring and make any connections. Changing the past would alter the future and that was something that sounded scary.

"Haru did get married, to someone who loves her very much. She's never been happier than when she married him."

"Who? Who is he? Lambo-san wants to know!" The child is shaking the woman with his excitement and Haru only giggles at his childish excitement. "She cant tell you that, it would be a spoiler." She looks at the others who were staring at her agape at the doorway of the room.

"Hm? Don't tell me, you thought I wasn't marriage material or something? That's rude to me, you know?" She puffs out a cheek in jest. No matter how old she is, she can still retain a bit of her playful nature, can't she?

Time should be up in a few- "It was good seeing everyone again. Bye everyone." The woman waves her hand and POOF!

"Ha-hahi... Shock-desu..." The young teen returned to her native timeline and she was in shock. Gokudera was really attractive for one, and she married someone that wasn't Tsuna-san??? What happened?

Universe-san? Answer Haru's questions!

[outofthiisworld]

[💜] It was true. The playful phantomime was a modern day superbeing, and oh— how she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Even amidst these opulent streets illuminated by the golden glow of spotlights which replaced the stars itself under an overcast of both skyscrapers and city smog alike … she still hadn’t belonged here.

When Ophelia Peekaboo popped out of the temporal rift, it was unlike anything she had ever seen. Marquees of old films flashed with names of long-forgotten celebrities, their letters bold in curved fonts that harken back to a bygone era of both glamour and grit. 

Terror and fright should have overtaken anyone displaced from their world and their time so suddenly without a guess as to why (she remembered Doc had … brought some strange artifact home, hadn’t he?)— but nonetheless: curiosity led her beneath the belly of class and decadence, where the city pulsed with an undercurrent of danger. 

After all, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. So what odds were it that this strange jester of starlight would catch a glimpse of both the Archangel of Arcadia and Detritus Devil himself? 

So now face-to-face with an adventurer of old, the past and future collide and despite the shiver that crept down her spine from such a dreadful voice and its viridian stare— she smiled.

“Second mouse gets the cheese.”

Ever playful, Peekaboo disappeared in a POOF of starlight! Only to soon reappear in the same rafter up, up, up above as she balanced on the beams like a tightrope and sought out where the stranger had hid in shadow. Both unaware and unsure where, even with that earlier glimpse.

@outofthiisworld JUNKER STARTER

♫

There was someone. Or something in the rafters.

The gunfire illuminated it at first-- it was a human. Viridian lenses gave his aviator's goggles a wide-eyed, unblinking quality. With both arms, he could lift a heavyset adult overhead, and still spare enough force to toss them.

For Ophelia Peekaboo, the Playful Phantomime, that was nothing to her ectoplasmic abilities. She was a modern day superbeing. And this was a precursor to the contemporary heroes and their more miraculous feats. His exploits, the kind they used to sell by the dime in mystery magazines and a thirty-minute chapter every Saturday at the matinee movie theater, just before a main feature of some sort. Maybe even fan clubs with decoder rings and their own ID cards.

"The early bird... gets the worm."

It's an attempt to be jovial. This so-called Archangel of Arcadia really didn't mean to be inhospitable. But he might as well have been hosting a horror movie marathon, or a pulse-pounding radio play anthology. Theatrical, but ultimately unwelcoming. Even when he was trying to reassure those caught in the crossfire.

In any case, Peekaboo was face-to-face with The Junker!

[cr0g-0]

I wanna make a part 2 for Snake Suprise but i need to find out what everyone would like

A more fluffy thing or more angst.

Pick your poison and tell me-

[invisibleraven]

Our stars collide

So I asked @where-you-go for a Rukebox headcanon, and she produced this masterpiece and I ADORED IT, so of course, now it's a fic. She also said it was inspired by @bananakarenina AMAZING want your midnights verse (which you should definitely read), so this is for her as well.

I love that stars and star gazing have become such a trope for Rukebox fics, and I'm a low key astronomy bitch, so you also know I was just itching to throw my hat into the ring with this, so I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Julie/Luke/Reggie

Rating: G

AO3 link!

Julie lays on her bed, letting her thoughts wander as the sunset streaked across the horizon. It had been a long day, as finals came to a close, so she was pretty exhausted, but her mind was too busy to sleep. She had one more day of school and then she'd be free for the summer. Free to play with the Phantoms, free to spend time with her friends without the pressure of tests or assignments looming over her. Flynn had already declared a girls night for next week, and Julie was counting down the minutes.

A knock came to the door, but when she glanced at it, she let out a giggle at the leather clad arm sticking through. Reggie claimed it was to be classy, but she did appreciate that he was taking her request to stay out of her room seriously. "Come on in Reg."

His smile, blinding as always made her heart melt. To her, Reggie was pure sunshine, always making her life brighter. She knew he had depth, and a lot more pain hidden in him than any of the boys would admit to, but he never let it show. "Whatcha doing?" he asked, approaching the bed slowly.

"Lazing, you wanna join me?" She scooted over on the bed, grinning as he kicked off his boots and flopped back next to her. The silence was comfortable, Reggie letting her drift a little as they lay there. He gazed up at the ceiling and smirked a little at seeing the space covered in glow in the dark plastic stars. But instead of them being laid out everywhere, he could see there was a method to their placement.

"Is that Cassiopeia?" he stuttered, taking in the zig zag right above his head.

Julie murmured in agreement. She pointed vaguely to another random cluster "And Orion, might be one of the Ursas there too." Then she turned her head to the side, eyes taking him in, a bit of surprise painting her expression. "Wait, you know the constellations? Did little Reggie spend his time looking at star charts when he was young like little Julie did?"

Reggie blushed a little, fiddling with his fingers. "Little Reggie grew up on a ranch where smog and light pollution is non-existent. Then cried when we moved and I couldn't see the stars anymore. I mean, I got the guys out of it, but sometimes you miss looking up and seeing something familiar. Especially now, even twenty five years later, the stars would be a comfort, just to know they didn't change even if we did."

Julie squeezed his hand, and then snuggled into his side. "When we were young, my parents would bundle us into the car and find a good spot, out of the city. Take mom's telescope, and dad's camera, and just spend hours looking at the sky. We knew all the stories behind the stars, even if we learned them in Spanish first. They were some of my favourite family bonding moments. Saw meteor showers and blood moons, any time there was a celestial event, we got into the car and went. We… haven't done that since mom died. I miss it."

Julie feels the bed dip on her other side, and glances to see Luke, wondering when he poofed in, but given the sad smile on his face, she figures long enough ago to hear her speech. He wraps his arms around her, one hand taking Reggie's, the two of them sharing a warm look. The three of them being a thing is new, but it just makes so much sense that none of them really mind the unconventional nature of it. Julie pressed a small kiss to each of their cheeks, and snuggles further in between them, letting their warmth and love lull her to sleep, her mind finally quiet.

~

It's a similar night some weeks later, a rare night off from playing gigs or writing songs, and Julie was content to veg out in her room. Flynn had a date that evening, and the boys were off doing whatever it was they did when not with her, so Julie was just enjoying the peace and quiet. A good book, soft music playing in the background, and no pressure to do anything more, truly a perfect evening.

Luke and Reggie appeared right outside the bedroom door, and when Luke went to walk through, Reggie held him back, shaking his head. He stuck his arm through to knock and Luke never understood why he did that, until Julie's sweet laugh rang out and it became clear. Julie's laugh was musical, just like the rest of her, and any chance for them to hear it had to be taken.

"Hey boys, what's up?" Julie asked, smiling at them both, then puckering her lips in a small demand for kisses from them, which they happily provided.

Reggie dumped a pile of pink fabric on her, and Luke popped open the window. "Get ready, we're going out."

Julie extracts herself from the swath of Alex's hoodie, scowling a little. "You know my dad will kill me if he catches me sneaking out again."

Luke shrugs "So we won't get caught, simple as that."

Julie took in Reggie’s eager expression and Luke’s smug grin and sighed. She was so damn soft for these two, it was hard to say no. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise!”

“Fine. But when Alex finds and kills us for stealing his hoodie, I had no part in this.” Julie said, sliding on said hoodie and her shoes before slipping out the window. Since the boys were now somewhat alive, Ray had agreed to letting them drive themselves to and from gigs. He had gotten them a cheap van, as relying on their ghost powers made him nervous. How that was worse than letting a boy with a twenty year expired license drive, Julie would never know. Reggie had proven to Ray that he was a good driver, but when the man was out of the van he treated the speed limit like a suggestion rather than a rule. Julie slid into the middle of the bench seat, flanked by her two boyfriends, and wondered how much she really trusted the two of them to take her somewhere in the van in the middle of the night. Then she let out a bit of a yawn as Reggie pulled the van away from the neighbourhood.

“Sleepy boss?” Luke asked, throwing one of his arms around her back, easing her head onto his shoulder. She nodded, and found herself falling asleep a little, the soft melody from the radio and the mindless chatter of the boys easing her into a light slumber. She had no idea how much longer it was until Luke was giving her soft kisses to wake her, Reggie coming in to give her a small peck as her eyes blinked open.

“We’re here babe.” he whispered. He then darted up to kiss Luke gently, giving him a small smile as Julie finally straightened up, yawning a little and finally taking in her surroundings.

“Is... is that the Griffith Observatory? Why are we here?” Julie asked, her voice confused.

They exited the van, the three of them stretching before Reggie replied. “Well I know how much you like stargazing.”

“And Willie was helpful in letting us know how to get into places when they’re not open without keys.” Luke said, giving her a wink and an eyebrow wiggle. Julie shook her head a little and wondered if Alex knew his boyfriend took the phrase ‘be gay, do crime’ a bit too seriously.

“We also brought a picnic!” Reggie said, pulling a cute wicker basket from the backseat of the van. The boys could eat small things now, much to their delight, but Julie was also a late night snacker, so she figured the gesture was for her as well as them. They looked at her expectantly, as if they were waiting on her to either give them the go ahead or tell them to bring her home.

Julie takes it all in, the lengths these boys went to, just to make her happy. Just from one conversation weeks ago they had looked for and found something they knew would mean something to her. Not in the way it used to with her mom, but finding a way to give her a bit of what she had lost and make it theirs. She could have burst into tears from the overwhelming love she felt right now. She never thought she would find anyone who would do something so sweet for her, but here were these two ghosts, who would do anything for her, without expecting anything back. “I love you guys so much. But if I get arrested for this, I will be so mad.”

“Love you too Jules.” Luke says, holding out a hand out to her, Reggie echoing the sentiment and the gesture. Julie took their hands and let them pull her towards the observatory, exclaiming that they should hit the planetarium first.

Apparently there was no security in place at the observatory, as they were able to get in way too easily, and when they didn’t hear sirens after twenty minutes of entering, figured they were safe. The boys spread out the blanket they had brought, the three of them laying down and enjoying the small snacks they had packed. Their conversation was idle chit chat, nothing serious or heavy. The food gone, they took turns looking at the stars, pulling each other to see every new burning orb. They soon returned to their blanket, Julie laying back in Reggie’s arms, telling him all the stories her parents had told her, her eyes trained on the constellations painting the room. Luke took out his notebook, scribbling down lyrics and humming, his song involving lots of celestial imagery, often asking Julie to repeat a story fragment, working in the legends of old into his music. Reggie glanced at the stars every so often, but for the most part his gaze was on Julie. Because the skies might be beautiful, but they were nothing compared to her.

The sky eventually turns lighter and pale, meaning they have to leave before they get caught, but they all agree that it is the best date they’ve ever had, so far. Julie sneaks back into her house, and since she isn’t met with the stern glare of her father figures they got away with it. She decides on pushing the boundaries just a little more, invites the boys to have a nap with her, the three of them curled together on top of her bed, small smiles on their faces as the last stars disappear from the sky.

[mikkomacko]

A Second Chance- Harry Styles Imagine

"Oh fuck you're bleeding!" She gasps, her eyes widening in fear. Harry realizes that his arm is dulling throbbing and he looks down to see a deep gash by his elbow, blood trickling down the wounded limb. "Oh my God, way to fucking go y/n. You had one job, one simple job. 'Don't let him get hurt'..." She continues to frantically ramble, the feathers on her wings fluffing out to make her look even more frazzled.

Harry chuckles as he realizes what's happening in front of him. Y/n, the girl that looks like a real life Wednesday Addams, is standing in front of him, cursing herself out while wearing a black shirt that's promoting Highway To Hell with the prettiest angel wings he's ever seen. She reaches up and rubs the small but prominent scar on her forehead, her eyes locking on Harry as he chuckles.

Or

Harry finds himself in a bad situation and y/n has to literally swoop in to save him in her first ever fight as his guardian angel

~~~

When Harry steps out of the locker rooms, he's immediately met with pouring rain slapping against the sidewalk and turf field. He smiles at the fresh scent in the air and pulls his hood over his chocolate curls. Like the rest of his teammates, he jogs across the soccer field and into the parking lot, giving his coach a wave as he goes. He quickly unlocks his car and hops in, turning on the engine so he can warm up as quickly as possible.

He lets the car run for a moment, sending a quick text to his mom that he's on his way home and waiting for the air blasting from the vents to stop his shivering. Once he's finally warmed up, he throws the car into reverse and backs out. He weaves his way through the parking lot, being mindful of the kids running to their cars.

The hazy rain makes it difficult to see but as Harry is approaching the street he spots a familiar black camero with a familiar girl leaning against it, chatting to her friend. He catches a brief glimpse of her warm eyes and small scar and it makes his fingers tingle. With a small smile on his face he pulls out of the parking lot, her eyes still warming him more than the heater ever could.

~

The weather is much better later that week, making it perfect for Harry to go on a walk with the lads. Louis and Zayn had been stressing about an upcoming test and Liam can't stop worrying about asking this girl out and Niall is disappointed in not being made a starter on the soccer team so Harry figured a nice walk could do them good.

Some fresh air and time to just be the lads should relax them all and hopefully he can figure out a way to comfort Niall. The poor guy has been trying to make the starting line for years now but because of his wobbly knees, he's always made second string.

They all just need a good day in the sun.

But something is off and Harry is not quite sure what it is. The sun is bright and warm and there's not even the slightest breeze to rattle the thick trees of the woods. There's something calm in the perfectly humid air, almost too calm after the storm that had happened and it puts Harry on edge. So much that as soon as they've stepped into a clearing, he's looking around the area for any sign of a threat.

His heart shudders when he spots what he assumes is the cause of today's odd atmosphere.

Across the large clearing, resting behind a shrub, stands a 15 foot tall figure. It looks like a real life grim reaper, decked out in a black cloak and giving off puffs of black smog as it pluses. Harry's watching it with fearful eyes when he realizes it's not standing, it's floating about 2 feet off the ground.

"What is that?" Liam whispers, all four boys falling silent and crowding around Harry. He's the youngest of the group but some how they always put him on the front line.

"I don't know." Harry says calmly but his hands start to tremble. He can hear whispering now but he can't make out the words. Another figure floats up from behind a bush and a third reveals itself from behind a tree.

Harry's blood runs cold as the whispers grow louder, the words still lost in his ears. He has no doubt that it's the monsters whispering, multiple voices overlapping and creating a jumble in his brain. He can't bring his brain to focus on any survival instincts because all he can hear is their cursed whispers.

"What do we do?" Louis asks, his voice trembling. The boys all pack together tighter, their breaths quiet but ragid with fear.

"Maybe we should run?" Zayn suggests. Harry's heart leaps in fright as two more figures appear. He doesn't know what those things are but there's no way they can outrun them. Whatever they are, they aren't human.

"With my bum knees I'd never make it." Niall grumbles quietly. "S'why I'm not a fooking starter." If Harry weren't so scared he'd laugh at Niall's comment. Even in the most tense situations he's always been able to remain calm.

"We still need to get outta here." Harry chimes in, his uneasiness growing by the second. "Slowly start backing away." He says as quietly as possible. He hears all of the boys shuffle back and he lifts his foot, taking a tiny step back. As soon as his toes touch the ground an inhuman shriek pierces the air, so loud Harry's eardrums ring.

He watches in horror as the figures all begin rushing forward, a whip of black smoke trailing behind them. Harry jumps back but his foot catches on one of the boys and they all go tumbling down. Something sharp pierces his right forearm and he can feel blood trickling down but he can't take his eyes off the figures.

They rapidly approach him and his friends and for some reason he feels like he can't move. His brain screams at him to run, to get away but his legs stay paralyzed. Just as it seems like the figures will decend on Harry a loud whoosh fills the air, drowning out the shrieks.

A golden light shines across the opening and Harry has to squint to see what's happening. The figure that was closest to him falters, it's body quivering in the bright light. Harry's eyes adjust to the light and he can make out a glowing figure standing in front of him, shielding him from the monster. The golden silhouette drops a metal shield to the ground, the peak of it stabbing into the moist earth.

Almost instantly a golden bubble engulfs Harry and his friends and a warmth spreads through his veins, leaving him buzzing. He watches in shock as the person exits the bubble, his view of them coming into perfect focus. It's no doubt a girl, tall and curvy and dressed in all black. Her long hair falls in curls down her back that is sporting huge white wings, huge white angel wings.

The girl thrusts her right arm out and a golden sword is resting in her hand. The girl taps the blade on the ground threateningly and it bursts into flames. She starts running towards the closest monster, her fingers easily twisting the handle around menacingly.

Her wings fold back as she dodges a black dagger from the monster, the weapon vanishing into thin air. Quick as lightning, she slices the sword through the figures. They poof into dust as soon as the sword of fire touches them, vanishing with one last shriek.

Faster than Harry thought possible the figures decrease in number. The girl has managed to clear the opening except for one last line of monsters all charging at her. Harry realizes she won't be able to stop them all by herself and he finally jumps to his feet, rushing towards her.

"Harry!" Zayn calls after him but Harry keeps going. He tries to run as fast as he can but his limbs feel heavy and as he gets closer to the bubble he realizes he can't run. Something is preventing him from getting out if it's protection. He reaches up to touch the shiny surface of it, gasping when it feels like warm jello. He presses on it but it stays firm, sending a wave of static through his arm.

"She needs help!" Harry pathetically cries out, panic overtaking him as the figures start to close in around the girl. Harry bangs against the bubble but it does nothing but shock him in return. He feels helpless as he watches her.

Her great wings unfold again and she flaps them strongly, sending a wave of wind back. She shoots in the air, holding her sword up to the sky. Harry wants her to fly away, to get out of there before they can get her but she stays twenty feet in the air, watching the monsters below.

A lump forms in Harry's throat as the figures make a full circle around her. She's going to die, they're going to turn her to dust like she did them and he's going to be stuck in this bubble forever.

But the girl swiftly drops to the floor, her sword stabbing into the ground with a loud boom. A wave of strong wind and golden light flows through the air, so rough it shakes the bubble around Harry and his friends. His mouth falls open in shock as the light wipes out all of the black figures, the flames of the sword now gone.

Harry's heart pounds in his chest. The girl rises off her one knee and swiftly pulls the gleaming weapon out. She taps it on the ground again and pulls her arm back, the sword vanishing into thin air.

Finally she turns around and Harry finds himself stumbling back. The familiar whiskey eyes are watching him in concern as she rushes back towards the bubble. Even with the wings folded neatly behind her back and the fire burning in her eyes, Harry would recognize her anywhere.

Y/n approaches the bubble, not faltering as she walks straight through it. Harry stumbles back again bumping into his friends that have gathered around him. Y/n is a lot smaller than him but his knees still shake in intimidation as she stops in front of them. He would be ashamed of being so scared of her but he did just see her take on about 50 deadly grim reapers.

"Are you okay?" She asks, the first genuine words she's said to Harry in three years. He can't find his voice so he just nods, swallowing the lump in his throat. Y/n looks around at all the boys but she stops when her eyes land by Harry's right side.

"Oh fuck you're bleeding!" She gasps, her eyes widening in fear. Harry realizes that his arm is dulling throbbing and he looks down to see a deep gash by his elbow, blood trickling down the wounded limb.

"Oh my God, way to fucking go y/n. You had one job, one simple job. 'Don't let him get hurt'..." She continues to frantically ramble, the feathers on her wings fluffing out to make her look even more frazzled.

Harry chuckles as he realizes what's happening in front of him. Y/n, the girl that looks like a real life Wednesday Addams, is standing in front of him, cursing herself out while wearing a black shirt that's promoting Highway To Hell with the prettiest angel wings he's ever seen. She reaches up and rubs the small but prominent scar on her forehead, her eyes locking on Harry as he chuckles.

The flame in her eyes settles and her wings flutter, her feathers shifting back into place as she takes a deep breath. She lifts her hands up and inhales again, lowering them as she breathes out as if preparing for an improv scene.

"Okay, y/n, you've got this. It's just a cut, you can fix this." She says firmly, her eyebrows creasing in concentration.

"You don't have to-" Harry's cut off by Niall elbowing him in his ribs. Harry looks at him to see Niall glaring at him. He doesn't have to say a word, Harry knows what he's thinking. They want to see what y/n is going to do with her 'powers.'

She takes a step closer to Harry, her hand reaching out for his arm. He lifts it, letting her gently grab his wrist. Her fingers are warm and they add to the buzzing that's still coursing through his veins, making him pleasantly shiver and step closer to her.

Y/n softly turns his arm over, her eyes landing on the gash and her lips falling into a frown. "I'm sorry." She mumbles disappointedly. "If I had gotten here sooner they wouldn't have gotten that close."

Confusion bubbles in his gut. How did she even know he was there? Why is blaming herself for a stupid cut? He's the one that tripped and fell while she was literally saving his life.

"It's okay." Harry says softly, careful to not spook her. He lets his eyes travel over her thoughtfully, drinking in her details not only as a now grown up y/n but as angel y/n. Last time he had genuinely spoken to her and looked at her this intently she had just been in an accident that took her brothers life and almost hers.

Harry softly watches the way she's frowning at his wound and how bright her eyes are. He doesn't remember them being that sweet and pretty looking. Her skin is still pale and her hair still dark, contrastingly beautifully with the pure white wings behind her shoulders. The pink mark on her forehead peaks out from behind her hair and Harry studies it intently. That's the scar she received from the accident. He remembers seeing her walking around with a bandage on it for a few days and then sporting stitches for a week after.

Y/n doesn't look up at him as she places her free hand over his elbow. Her eyes flutter shut and her jaw clenches. The throbbing in Harry's arm fades away and it feels like silk is being wrapped around his wound. Harry's eyes widen in alarm as the veins in her neck and arms turns black.

He looks down at his cut, gasping as he sees his skin pulling itself back together. Y/n slides her hand down, rubbing through the blood and pressing her palm over what's left of the wound. She squeezes his arm tightly but it doesn't hurt like he thought would.

The black in her skin fades away and her eyes flicker open looking glassy and dull. She removes her hands from Harry, allowing him to examine his arm. The wound is gone and looks like it was never there at all. The only remains of it is the blood smeared on his skin and her hands. She just magically healed him.

"Holy shit." Louis breathes out and Harry jumps, remembering that they're all there. At least he knows he's not going crazy, they all see what this is. Whatever the hell it is.

Y/n gives Louis a small smile, weakly dropping to her knees and then her bum, leaning against the shield that is still surrounding them with the golden bubble.

"Sorry," She breathes out, her eyes falling shut. "Was my first real fight and healing you takes a lot out of a girl my size. Still working on the whole stamina thing."

She leans her head against the shield, taking deep breathes.

The boys all fall on to the ground around her, anxiously waiting. Harry feels a little bad for pressing her for answers when she's obviously tired but he still sits in front of her and waits for her eyes to open. When they do, they're still a bit dull and glassy but he can see the flame continuing to burn.

"That was awesome!"

"Wicked cool!"

"You have a bloody sword of fire!"

"What the fuck were those things?"

Harry wants to smack his friends for bombarding her with question so soon but when he sees the bashful smile pulling at her lips he stops himself. He waits for them to quiet down before asking his question.

"What are you?" He gently says, careful to not rub her the wrong way. The last thing he needs is her going rouge on him while he's stuck in this bubble.

She looks at Harry, her cheeks turning pink and her smiling turning shy. She hesitates and it has all the boys inching forward anxiously.

"Thank you for the compliments, yes I do have a sword of fire Niall, and those were demons." She says casually, her eyes still locked on Harry.

His breath catches in his throat at her words. It makes sense, the demons. If she has angel wings why wouldn't demons be real? He holds his breath, his heart pounding as she nervously answers his question.

"I'm your guardian angel Harry."

~

Yayyy I finished it! I will more than likely write a part two if you all like it, let me know. I have a lot of ideas for y/n's back story and why demons are after Harry!

[darley1101]

A Bit Of Normal

A/N Some fluffy goodness featuring Damien and Ava for @confessionsofabrokegirl. “I care about you, I've always cared about you” and “Time flies when you're with someone you love.” They fit in nicely within the realm of my Perfect Match series, so that is where it is set. I hope you guys enjoy! If you would like to read more Ava and Damien you can do so by clicking HERE

Warning: cute bit of fluffiness with a side of angst

Tagging: @clarissafics  @confessionsofabrokegirl

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A Bit of Normal

Drawing her legs to her chest, Ava wrapped her arms around her calves and tucked her chin into the little valley between her knees. Through lowered lashes, she stared out at the vast expanse of woods that butted up against the back of Damien's property. With the full moon casting shadows and a slight breeze causing the trees to sway in some hypnotic dance, it reminded Ava of a scene out of a horror movie. She half way expected a monster truck sized werewolf to come galloping out to howl at the moon; or worse, Cecile and her gang of Eros thugs. Thinking about Cecile and Eros made Ava think about Alana. It hadn't come as much of a surprise that Damien's ex was connected with the corrupt research corporation. From the very start, there had been something shady about her presence in Damien's house. Hayden taking a nose dive into the hardwood floor right before they could put some distance between themselves and the scheming bitch had really put a kink in things. They couldn't travel with a comatose android and they couldn't leave him behind. Alana had seized the opportunity to drag Damien into the office, literally slamming the door in Ava's face when she tried to follow. There had been raised voices, talk of some guy named Nikos, and then their voices had dropped so low it had been pointless to try to eavesdrop further.

Letting out a sigh, Ava let one of her legs drop so that her toes barely touched the dew covered grass. Her body tensed as a bush rattled to the right of her. She let out a nervous laugh as calico cat darted out and sped across the back yard, disappearing into the woods. There was no point in telling herself to stop being so paranoid, it would be an impossible feat at the moment. Between expecting Eros to pop out of the shadows at any moment and waiting for Alana to take them all hostage, Ava was the poster child of a paranoid wreck.

“This seat taken?”

Slowly shifting her gaze from the woods to the man standing next to her, Ava tried to smile but ended up grimacing instead. “I'm surprised the treacherous bitch let you loose.”

Without waiting for an invitation Damien sat next to her, reaching for her hand. Semi-reluctantly, she let him twine his fingers through hers. She wanted to ask him why he had let Alana slam the door in her face, why their conversation had to be secret when it was all of their lives hanging in the balance. “You're pissed.”

“Not really,” she admitted, ducking her head down so that she could study her chipped toe nail polish. Her eyes brimmed with tears. Getting so emotional over something as trivial as chipped polish seemed so silly. It wasn't the polish so much as she missed the certainty of her life in New York. Now, nothing was certain;  other than Eros was hunting them and they couldn't trust Alana...except they probably had no choice now that Hayden was, for all intents and purposes, in some sort of software malfunction coma. “Just tired, I guess. I'm really tired of not knowing what's going to happen next. And yeah, okay, maybe I am a little pissed. She slammed the door in my face, that would piss anyone off.”

“Hey,” Damien said softly. He cupped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, his gaze searching her face. “I'm sorry about Alana. She had no right to do that. The only reason I let it slide was she was willing to offer up information on a source that might be able to help us getting Hayden running again.”

Ava nodded, her fingers sliding up Damien's arm to wrap around his wrist. She dragged his hand upward so that it cupped her cheek and leaned into it. “I'm not mad at you. I promise. I'm just...ready for things to be normal.” She lift her head, her eyes meeting his. “Do you think she really has a source that can help Hayden?”

“If anyone can help Hayden, it's Nikos. Long as we don't question where the parts came from or insult his bears, we'll be fine.”

“Bears?” Ava felt both of her eye brows shoot straight up. It was a joke. It had to be. This Nikos character didn't really keep bears...did he?

“He likes to surround himself with a bunch of goons and then nickname them according to whatever bear he thinks they most resemble.”

A giggle erupted from Ava. “That's ridiculous!”

“Pretty much,” Damien chuckled, wrapping his arms around her slender waist. “So, I was thinking...we have some time to kill before we meet with Nikos...how would you feel about salty, buttery popcorn and one of those ridiculous romcoms Nadia's always going on about? We can mock its cheesiness.”

Twisting in his arms, Ava narrowed her eyes. “I like rom-coms.”

“They're all the same,” Damien teased. “There's always some poor schmuck pining away for a girl whose completely oblivious until said schmuck finally says 'I care about you, I've always cared about' and then poof the girl magically realizes she feels the same way. Of course there's hilarious one liners and the accident prone co worker for shits and giggles.”

“You realize that up until recently I was the poor schmuck pining away for the boy who was oblivious to my feelings,” Ava sniped, crossing her arms over her chest and eyes still narrowed as she waited  for Damien to respond.

“Not the same thing. I wasn't the only one oblivious to how the other felt.” Damien had her there. They had both been fools, pining away for the other when had they just spoken up they could have saved themselves a world of heartache. Perhaps even avoided this whole Eros fiasco. Or, she inwardly grimaced, maybe not, since it was Nadia who initially brought Eros into their lives. Nadia and her innate need to find true love. “So...how about it? You. Me. Popcorn. Cheesy movie.” He drew her closer, nuzzling her neck with his  nose. “Would kind of be like we're having a little bit of normal before the next shit storm.”

Normal. Just the word itself was like a soothing balm. Ava closed her eyes and snuggled against Damien's chest. “A bit of normal sounds nice. There's only one problem...this place doesn't have a television.”

“Who says we need one of those?” Damien rest his cheek atop her head, tightening his hold around her. “Close your eyes.”

“They are closed,” she murmured.

“Good. Now...picture this. There's this incredibly handsome private eye whose just sitting at his desk, enjoying this beaut of a sandwich-”

“It was a hot dog,” Ava giggled. “The private eye was eating a really messy hot dog and had mustard all over his chin and down his t shirt. Which had several holes in it. He also had on this really ugly old plaid flannel shirt. But yeah...he was kinda handsome. If you're into sexy Puerto Ricans. Which I am.”

“Good to know,” Damien chuckled. “So our sexy Puerto Rican private eye is eating a messy hot dog, covered in mustard, and minding his own business when the door to his office is flung open. Standing there is this short, overly cheerful woman with lots of hair, a squeaky voice, and an armful of weird, perverted drawings. She throws the drawings on his desk, wanting to know if he can find the weirdo whose sending them because a. she wants them to stop and b. she wants to suggest they go to art school because they're not half bad and with the right training they could be really good.”

Lifting her head, Ava opened her eyes and stared at Damien. “You're kidding. There's no way Nadia thought those freaky, cartoon-ish porno comics featuring her and that bozo Randolph were any good.”

“I wish I were. She actually said if he apologized she would write him a reference for NYU's art program.”

Ava let out a groan and buried her face in Damien's chest. “My cousin is the weirdest, nicest person I know.” She toyed with the collar of his shirt. “Of course the detective took the case. It was too good to pass up. It wasn't every day some cute girl came in wanting him to track down some amateur cartoonist with a fetish for provocative caricatures.”

“Provocative caricatures?” Damien shook his head. “That's a good one.”

“I thought so,” Ava demurred. “Now...where were we?”

“Alright looking girl walks in wanting help finding perverted cartoonist.”

Giggling, Ava shifted on the bench so that her back rest against Damien's chest. Her gaze drifted towards the stars glittering above, a sense of awe washing over her. It was hard to see the stars in New York. Between the smog and the brightly lit city-scape there wasn't much room for stars. “They're so pretty,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Damien agreed. “Think our detective should ask his artist client to go on a star gazing date or...should her smoking hot cousin that he accidentally meets in a bar?”

A soft smile tipped the corners of her lips. “The smoking hot cousin,” she replied. “Always wait for the smoking hot cousin.”

“Hm. Good idea. Except, oh wait, the smoking hot cousin thinks the artist and the detective would be cute together so she tricks them into going on the most boring date in the history of boring dates.”

Ava bit back a groan. “Are you ever going to let me live that down? It was an honest mistake! I thought you guys were crushing on each other. Nadia kept talking you up and you kept asking us to come in to go over mundane details of her case.”

“Correction, I kept asking you to come by, you're the one who kept inviting Nadia. And Nadia was probably talking me up because I kept asking her if you were single.”

“We really were oblivious schmucks weren't we?”

“Absolutely.”

Twisting so that she could see his face, Ava reached up and cupped his cheek. She drew the pad of her thumb across his cheekbone, her eyes memorizing every feature. His impossibly long lashes, that tiny mole near his left ear, that lock of hair that always fell across his forehead no matter how much product he used. “I love you,” she whispered. “And thank you for the distraction. It's made things a little bit more bearable.”

“Time flies when you're with someone you love,” he joked before turning serious. “We're going to get through this. Before you know it, we'll be back home in New York and I promise to sit through as many of those cheesy rom coms as you want.”

“You don't know what you're promising,” Ava laughed, curling into his lap. “I have quite the collection of cheesy chick flicks.”

“I've been to your apartment,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I've your stash. Who knew you were a fan of Jessica Simpson's acting.”

“Hey, just because she can't act her way out of a paper bag doesn't mean the movie isn't good,” Ava protested.

“That's debatable.” Damien gathered her against his chest, squeezing her. “I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. How about we finish 'watching' that detective get his girl from the comfort of bed?”

[v-le]

Ktravels/Klife: Halfway through it all / 첫 학기 끝 !

Foreword: I am almost done! I am almost done with my first semester at Yonsei… damn.

I honestly cannot believe that time flew by so fast. I’ve mentioned this before, but I had been thinking about studying abroad for over a year before coming here. And now that I am about halfway through with this experience… damn, I just have no words. Jk I do, which is why I’m writing this right now lol.

My favorite parts about Korea so far: it is my emotional, musical wonderland. More on that later, but… it’s heart-warming to hear so many of my favorite, treasured artists occasionally on the streets or in a café. And no, not K-pop lol I know nothing about K-pop anymore. In terms of café culture, it’s a love and hate relationship because some of them are just so expensive sigh. BUT, after going to so many different cafes like all around Seoul, I have come to actually have specific preferences for what constitutes a gr8 café (for studying specifically bc that’s all my friends and I mostly do at cafes anyway LOL) hehe:

AFFORDABLE!! No normal person should be paying like 7 or 8 bucks for a goddamn coffee. Base price for drinks should be around 5,000 won. If their iced caramel macchiato costs more than 5,500 won, the place is too expensive.  If it’s less than 5,000 won,

Reasonable cup sizes! Or better, LARGE ONES! (안녕, 낯선 사람 in hongdae has some super bang-for-your-buck coffee drinks, the best I’ve seen!! :^))

Music that isn’t too loud

OUTLETS. OUTLETS ARE A MUST.

Plentiful seats so that it’s never too packed & large-enough tables

Nice temperature (aka not too cold in the winter, not too hot in the summer)

You can sneak in outside food & eat it blatantly even if there are signs saying not to, and no one will ever say anything

Not too crusty: cozy, but clean

A nice, well-maintained bathroom

It may seem impossible to find the perfect café that could meet all of these expectations, but honestly there are just SO many cafes in seoul, that if you search hard enough or have enough luck, some will be out there somewhere :^)

ALSO can I address the business turnover rate here?? Is this why Seoul is considered a fast-paced city?? So many times, my friends I have tried to go to cafes or restaurants or stores we’ve seen online or found on Kakao/Naver Maps, only to arrive and discover that THEY’RE GONE. Even if I did thorough research and found a blog post of a place from 2 months prior, the place is just POOF, disappeared into thin air. This has literally happened countless times and we are flabbergasted each time LOL. As limited as the database of 맛집’s and cafes already is online, the Internet & maps can’t even keep up to date with information either. Businesses open up so randomly fast, too it’s crazy… Mangoplate, the supposed “yelp” of Korea honestly is not that useful either LOL it usually has places on the pricier side, it is also not always up to date, and I just feel like Seoul/Korea has way too many places & businesses worth trying that they can’t even all fit into one database. There are just so many of those un-documentable places. So I suggest: find a neighborhood, go with your friends, take a stroll around the place, and try to stumble upon a place of your liking. Unless you can read Korean & utilize naver blogs (slightly more extensive and useful than mangoplate but still not 100% reliable all the time), then walking around is probably your best bet rather than attempting to do research online. Trust me.

Hmm what else is there… It’s really nice to be able to get/buy anything pretty easily, with convenience. I am afraid I will get too used to this once I go back to the states.

I think once the work started to pick up later in the semester, I definitely started falling into a routine of going to my morning class & then leaving sinchon to run errands elsewhere in Seoul, or simply doing work in the business building which quickly became my go-to spot because 1) outlets, 2) can eat food 3) very nice facility, literally sparkling 4) on campus. It kinda hurts to think that this short-lived routine will be over quite soon, but maybe next semester will be a little more exciting.

Although I haven’t been speaking as much Korean as I would like to, I do feel like my Korean has improved to an extent: (very slightly) vocab-wise, reading-wise, and writing-wise. It is honestly SO refreshing to finally be learning Korean in a formal, classroom setting. It honestly makes me regret not doing it sooner. Why did I lock myself up in my room for 8 years and only settle for learning on my own?? Sigh, it’s okay. I can only get better from here, right? As much as I hate the timing of KLI, I still really do enjoy the class nonetheless and I feel some sort of… growth? I appreciate how all my background knowledge of Korean has helped me up to this point as well. That at least, I can be proud of lol.

With languages and culture in general, throughout the semester, for the first time ever, I got to reflect on how valuable languages are. It is so interesting; I’ll try my best to explain my realizations, but it might come out as gibberish in the end… I really think anyone that has been born & raised in the US should spend a prolonged amount of time abroad. As homogeneous of a society Korea is, being here has opened my eyes to the global society. The society in which multiculturalism is embraced, there is no one correct language of communication, and every member listens to the various cultural values of one another without judgement. I never thought of English as being a powerful language. In fact, I honestly think I have been taking English for granted. I have never realized the immensity of the English language, how the rest of the world vies to master it, and how I have been blessed to have grown up with English as my native tongue. But on the flip-side, learning other languages is just as worthwhile. Communicating in a different language is literally honing a different perspective, mentality, and set of values. You can try to translate target languages into your native tongue for ease of comprehension. Or, what I have come to deeply appreciate and understand is, you can and should take the target language as it is. In order to connect with the language and consequently the culture, stop thinking in terms of your native tongue. Doing this to a deeper extent in Korea than I ever did before has felt extremely rewarding: it makes the language dynamic and exciting to learn. It has led me to cherish specific words or phrases, more so than I already did before arriving here. And it really is just… beautiful. LEARN A SECOND LANGUAGE! EXPLORE GLOBALIZATION!

Quite frankly though, I am disappointed that I haven’t been able to go to as many places as I would like, within in Korea. Okay more like: I am super grateful for the gorgeous places I have been to, but I also wish I could’ve visited those classic, “must-see” places like Busan, Jeju-do, Jeonju, Daegu, etc. I did however, visit lesser known, less expecting (??) places like Gangwon-do (Jumunjin Beach, Gangmun Beach, Gangneung, Yeongwol, Jeongseon, Pyeongchang) & Gyeongju & like Anyang & Seongnam…? Do these last two even count LOL theyre just smoller cities outside of Seoul… but yeah, I guess I’ll just have to save Busan and Jeju and the others for next semester… when I’m not as broke hopefully lmao.

But forreals, I actually really appreciated my trip to Gangwon-do even though it was technically an assignment for one of my courses called “New Media and Digital Storytelling” (shoutout to prof ted for supporting us with this valuable experience!!) because it was literally a breath of fresh air. Seoul is constantly jampacked with people and cars and smog and noises, but Gangneung was still a city, still just as civilized, but much quieter. Granted, nothing much happens out there and some parts are straight up just farming grounds, but the beaches have these stunning sunsets that look like they’re straight out of a graphically-altered fantasy movie. It was stunning and the image still lasts behind my eyes to this day.

One of the other things that I have been struggling to accept is that fact that I feel… unproductive in life? I wish I put myself more out there this semester. Even though I met a good number of locals and have had a few valuable conversations, I never deeply connected with any of them. Plus, almost all of them are going abroad next semester or graduating ☹. I also did not join any clubs or organizations or sports teams nor did I get a job or an internship or do any tutoring or volunteering on the side… I have just been going to class, occasionally spending a lot of money, and then spending some more. Last year at UCI, I feel like I ran into my freshman year with a fiery heart: I joined the badminton team, became a part of the Antleader Mentorship Program (AMP, which I miss so dearly with all of my heart) in fall & winter quarter, and took all upper division education courses my spring quarter as well as fulfilled my fieldwork major requirement by tutoring at a Kindergarten class for 6 hours every week. But coming to Korea, everything felt stagnant. Academically, career-wise, I feel like everything has been on a pause. Granted, many people could tell me that “Oh, you just being in Korea is already so much more than you need! You are doing more than enough, don’t worry”. But am I really?? I beg to differ. I am honestly pretty disappointed in myself and at this point all I can push for is to try to get more involved next semester. It has also been hurting to know that I have been digging into my precious savings that took over 2 long years to build up so quickly :(.

SO yeah, as great as Korea has been, it’s also been money-draining and disappointing from a personal-growth kind of view. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself, but that is also simply my reality. I think I am also choosing to be hard on myself because my luck with all my favorite artists has just been… totally undeserving.

I feel so blessed and “but why me??” at the same time. I have gotten to see Roy Kim four times live (fifth time will be this coming Sunday; the Seoul shows were blessedly scheduled the weekend right before I leave) & he released a new song in September. Eddy Kim, whom ive been waiting 4 years for to come back, finally did so right in the middle of my time here. Fromm, my extremely beloved indie goddess for YEARS now, released a new mini album in November; I got to see her 3 times live, and even attended her breath-taking solo?? Alone?? Personal? 그냥 단독 콘서트. Sam Kim, who I first listened to when I was 15, who has saved my life so many times with his music, finally released a FULL-length album 2 years and 6 months since his debut EP. Not only was I selected to go to his album’s release showcase, but I also got to a meet him through a fansign event. Oh yeah, I also met Fromm through a free fansigning & Eddy Kim through his new album’s fansign event, too. (I will post about these artist-meeting experiences separately because I feel like these three occasions alone have taught me so much). I saw DAY6 live for their third-year debut anniversary and I could feel the immensity and sincerity brimming from their voices, especially with an unfortunately missing member from stage; I will be seeing them soon for their newest music release, which also happened to come out this December. Nam Woohyun of Infinite, the group that I gave my heart to for over a third of my life, the group that I owe so much of my existence to, released another solo mini album, and I was lucky enough to even attend day 3 of his solo concert series; I saw a few other members of Infinite, I could feel my 12-year-old heart screaming & flailing & crying & apologizing from within because I’ve missed them for so long now, and I even heard a never-before released track from him as well. It was a miracle; I saw Woohyun & glimpses of the others on November 4th. Almost exactly 5 years ago in 2013, on November 11th, I went to a concert for the first time in my life and saw those very own loves with my own eyes: Infinite.

ALL OF THESE. ALL OF THESE EVENTS. Have been a blessing. Have been some sort of indescribable, boundless, breath-taking stroke of luck. I promise you, just luck. Roy just somehow decided to take a break from school at Georgetown THIS semester. Eddy Kim, Fromm, Sam Kim, Woohyun, and DAY6 all just somehow decided to release new music within the last half of this year. ME, I, just somehow decided to study abroad not as a 3rd year nor a 4th year, but a mere 2nd year. I decided to leave my home university barely 1 year in, and go to Korea. Just because. Because it felt right and I knew I wanted to, I knew I had to. But never could I have predicted any of these things to happen. Never in a million years. The very artists that I had only been listening to and watching from my computer screen for years as I hid beneath the deep blankets of my bed, the artists that have made me cry on cue because of how beautiful, meaningful, and healing their music is, the artists that seem to barely exist on the Internet, that are so lowkey and precious that I feel like I am the only that really listens to and loves them, the very artists that make my world revolve, that push me to go on when I want to give up, that I owe so much of my life to, all decided to release music, suddenly be active, hold events, and meet their fans in one way or another. Right. When. I am here, too. This sort of timing in life is nothing I had control of. It was all luck and I am just so deeply, infinitely, perpetually, until the end of this world, thankful. Every day I am so thankful. I didn’t ask for any of this, I didn’t hope for it, I didn’t even think about the possibility of these events happening in my life. But they did somehow. And for that, I am just so so so grateful. It’s just crazy to think that years ago, as a sophomore in high school. My heart would bulge with immense affection for these people & their music. They were unreal, almost-fantasy-like existences that made life-saving music and that I cherished so immensely. But little did I know 4 or 5 years later, this could happen to me. That there was actually a worth to loving these almost “nobody” musicians. I just constantly feel like I am always receiving from them, and never giving back. I really do owe them so much. Thank you, to my beloved artists. For everything.

Moving on to the people that have made my first semester here at Yonsei even brighter: our dumbass squad consisting of lil hoorey, 왕언니 ana, smol laura, dumbass closted weaboo Wilson, & even dumber josh LOL I am so blessed to have met such funny, stupid, understanding friends. Before arriving to Korea, I was STRESSED that I wouldn’t be able to find friends because I hate alcohol, I hate clubbing, I hate mainstream K-pop and simply many parts of popular Korean culture are things that I am not particularly a fan of. But thankfully, I have found an endearing group of friends that share these same sentiments. These reliable people have honestly shaped so much of my experiences here and I am forever thankful. IT JUST SUCKS THAT I AM THE ONLY ONE STAYING FOR A YEAR LOL. But yes, thank you friends, for everything <3 .

Have I exhausted all of my thanks at this point?? Probably not. But I’ll save those for my own heart and mind to cherish. Going abroad was and has been and will be an experience that I don’t think I could ever properly express with words alone. I think it’s always like that when it comes to these rants LOLLL. I rant because I need to vent these feelings and emotions and flaring thoughts. But I just end up struggling to articulate everything and get my heart across properly. Sigh.

Homesickness? Is this something I was supposed to address? Maybe exchange students are probably expected to always talk about this. But for me, it was a nonexistent notion. Being born and raised in the bay area, having lived in the same exact house, having slept in the same creaky, old bed for 18 years in a row, has provided me with a comfort that I probably take for granted more than I should, but has also left me with an intense urgency to explore more, see more, do more, and just breathe more. The Bay Area can be extremely toxic and suffocating in so many ways, and it a space that I know I can go back to whenever my heart desires, but it is also a space that I do not wish to prolong my stay in any further. My immediate family has also never been a significant part of my life: I have never relied on them for emotional nor mental support. Maturing into an adult with this sort of detachment has hindered and helped me in countless ways. There were definitely times throughout my life where I despised them for the way in which everything turned out. For how miserable or lonely or stuck or negligent I sometimes felt. But I know that without that detachment, I would not be where I am today. To my next semester at Yonsei, you look questionable, daunting, and exciting. I honestly can’t even begin to imagine what will be in store for me. All I can wish for is health & happiness.

가즈으으아!!~

[cuthie]

Lautner: Goodbye Kel’serrar

War Cries were drowned out by explosions. Stonetalon wasn't being invaded by a solitary war machine and it's engineers. This was a full on battle. The area was thick with smog, bodies from both sides had fallen, the ground would quake and weapons would clash. Gnomes, Elves and Worgen were fighting Orcs, Trolls, Pandas, and other Elves.

This was a common occurrence. The war had been going on for years, sometimes trickling to a cold standstill. After the last demonic invasion many of the Alliance had hoped for peace. Some, like Lautner, had hoped the Horde would try something. They would try and fail and all would be right in the world again. That's how their peace would be obtained.

He should have been more careful what he wished for.

War came at a price.

Every region was a battlefield now. Stonetalon mountains. Why were they even fighting here? So much of it had been destroyed over the last six years of fighting, and now there were azerite weapons and machines to deal with. Was this land worth it? Of course it was. Every inch was worth it if it meant keeping it out of Horde hands.

Lautner had been confused from the get-go. The plan had been to load a glaive thrower with explosives and then rush in and finish the thing off. The ‘thing��� being an azerite fueled war machine.

That’s not how it happened though. Kal’serrar warriors charged the giant metal machine, leaping on top of it and slaying their enemies. Weren’t they supposed to wait? Laut guessed not and came in a minute behind everyone else.

It was so weird, his transition. Not from man to wolf and then to something in between. No, the transition of his nature. He was used to solitude. He just wanted to be left alone. He would have been glad to live and die in Teldrassil.

Every time he had ever tried to fight back, he had failed. Even with the gifts of Goldrinn, he just presented grander failures to the audience around him. He failed in Darkshore and Teldrassil. He failed with the Kal’serrar in Feralas, and then multiple times in Drustvar. Clearly some divine being was telling him that this wasn’t his calling. It had started off as a debt. They had saved his life, so in return he was going to help them. He listened and grew into a more competent fighter, but he had never really met their expectations. He became faster and stronger. His longing for the wilds and the hunt transformed into this bloodthirst. He wanted to hurt his enemies as they had hurt him and everyone around him.

He would fight until he died, and he was okay with that.

Then came Bael’ryn. This pretty mixed boy, part elf part human. He had a way with words, a beautiful smile and Laut got to experience love. Yeah, the L word. He was never mushy, and while that didn’t really change, something had. He would get butterflies, he would envision a future together. He also half suspected that the guy would just get tired of him one day and vanish.

That didn’t happen though. Instead, they became ‘official’. They were in a relationship. Wherever one went, the other would follow. That led to Bae’s confession, the conflict with Kierro, their ‘leaving’ and then returning once again to the Kal’serrar.

Laut didn’t want to come back. He had nothing but failures there. Prejudices. Frenemies. He still wanted to beat Kierro with a sack of bricks. Had Lautner attack Fey until she was unconscious in front of Kierro, would -he- have been so easy to forgive? Doubtful.

But Bae needed them. He needed to know about his father. Maybe they all could go back to being friends, maybe. Or worst case scenario, they could pry that information out of Kierro, then go off to live their own lives. Find a place to settle down. That bloodthirst had died down as quickly as it had arisen. If Drustvar had proven anything, it was that Lautner was in over his head. He wasn’t ready for this, and now all of a sudden he had reason to stay alive. He had found peace, or something akin to it. He had found love.

He just needed to last a little while longer, that was all. Just continue helping Kal’serrar long enough to help Bael’ryn. Maybe things wouldn’t be as dangerous as Drustvar had been, now that they were at least closer to familiar territory.

Alas, Stone Talon happened. The horns were being blown, the elves were panicked and rushing away from their little outpost camp or whatever it was. The Kal’serrar had followed, Lautner had followed. The fog in the air made breathing difficult, which in turn made his head spin. It was so loud and hurried that he had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that he was a big bad werewolf with two giant ass swords. On elf was decapitated, an Orc was pelted with arrows and had fallen overboard. Bombs had went off. Bombs? Had those been the bombs that were supposed to be on the glaives? Psh, they hadn’t even barely -slowed- this thing down. What was option number two in case the bombs failed?

The shut off valves. That tech-guy, Ghost, had named the model. It had two shut off valves. His allies retreated, dealing with the injured as Fey called across to them through the wisps.

“Get the fuck out.”  “Guns..”  “Cliffside” Laut was having a hard time concentrating. The bombs had went off already, hadn’t they? Oh, he would have liked to knew. He was having trouble concentrating, let alone make out what everyone was saying between the screams and the sounds of war.

There was a gun firing overhead. A massive gun, aimed right towards dear pregnant Fey and Margo, back at the base. That’s where he needed to be. Inside, ripping this machine apart piece by piece. Kill the gunner, then find those two shut off valves.

So he ran up the ramp. He found his way inside and there sat the cringiest greasiest panda ever, gleefully mowing down people. The gunner.

When bards told stories, they allowed the drama to linger. Everything dramatic happened in slow motion, every detail was noted. In reality such things often happened fast. So quickly that one might not even register what exactly was going on. Just a blur of horror and drama and then it was over.

The metal flooring literally peeled up in jagged spikes, thrusting itself at the Worgen who had lingered in the entryway. It slammed into his body, hot, heavy and piercing. His feet had left the ground as he was expelled from the detonating war machine. Like a rocking skipping across a pond, the fortunate circumstance of his landing had him skid across the ironically named Blackwolf River.

Lautner hadn’t registered any of that, nor anything that followed. The floor had torn itself apart, then he lost consciousness when it collided into him.

Just another failure on his part.

Nurturing, rejuvenating magicks could only do so much. People like Lautner, who didn’t practitioner such arts, often assumed it to be the work of miracles. You spoke a few words, drew from a source of power and then POOF wounds were all better. Everybody got to go home with a smile on their faces and little smiley faced bandaids on their booboos.

In reality it was it’s own kind of battle.

Lautner’s body was failing, but the Light and druidic magicks had worked in unison to prevent total failure. There was no magical aura that sealed every wound. There was no magical hand performing necessary surgeries and stitching organs back together. If anything, healing was more akin to boosting the body’s natural regenerative abilities. Sure, one could concentrate and seal gaping wounds, mend the flesh, but what about the internal organs that had fractured metal pieces in them? No prayer was going to eject them, or at least not without knowledge of their existence.

So maybe you had to open them up, investigate? If you had the ability, maybe you could concentrate. Like monks navigating the chi lines, druids could sometimes ‘feel’ their way through the internal highway.

Of course, some situations were more dire. Sometimes you didn’t have the time to search, sometimes you had to act. Sometimes a giant glowing hammer would just slam next to the injured body and pulse the Light into their system.

And so as Lautner laid upstairs on the floor, the Light had bathed him. His condition improved. His breathing normalized, his burn marks had turned to slight discolorations, his wounds became scabs and scars. His body was taken to a bed at the top floor, and he was left to rest and mend.

Everything that could be done for him, was. There was a small comfort in that, but any healer would have stories to tell where everything was done to exact standard procedure and still failed. The gnome father of two who looked healthy and ready to go home to his children would take a turn and die, and the mana starved blood elf with a pole in his stomach would somehow pull through to live a full life of addiction and chaos.

So it was that Lautner did not wake up. The healing magic in his veins had certainly postponed his demise, but for how long? That was up in the air.

[ethicsustinvest]

PODCAST: Vegan Funds, Infrastructure, Utility Stocks. And More…

New coverage of US Vegan Climate ETF and Karner Blue Animal Impact Fund. The recent launch of LGBTQ100 ESG stock index is doing well. Prepare to pounce on exciting infrastructure stocks. Canadian sustainable utility stocks, attractive. 3 great alternative energy ETFs to buy as traditional energy ETFs lag. Renewable energy stocks for 2020. And more

PODCAST: Vegan Funds. Infrastructure, Utility Stocks. And More…

Transcript & Links, Episode 25, February 14, 2020

Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 25 for February 14, 2020, titled “Vegan Funds. Infrastructure, Utility Stocks. And More…”—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources.

Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols – and bonus material at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts.

And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you.

Now to this episode.

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1) Ethical and Sustainable Investing News

The outstanding success of the Beyond Meat initial public offering at $25 which rose to over $230 and now trades around $115 signifies the huge latent demand for vegan and vegetarian investments for ethical and sustainable investors.

A terrific article related to this was written by Ron Lieber in The New York Times titled, How a Vegan Ends Up With Leather in Her Portfolio. In the article, he reviews two vegan and vegetarian-friendly funds

These are the US Vegan Climate ETF and the Karner Blue Animal Impact Fund.

I’ve previously covered the US Vegan Climate ETF in my podcasts Amazon vs. eBay, First Vegan Fund, and more… on August 16, 2019, and again after the fund debuted in my podcast First Vegan Fund, Renewable Energy Stocks, and more… of September 13, 2019. So, you can go to those podcasts to review previous research and comments.

US Vegan Climate ETF

Concerning the US Vegan Climate ETF, Mr. Lieber has this to say, that “One issue that inspires deep feelings: animal welfare. It is one of the newest niches that socially responsible investment companies seek to serve, and it offers a useful template for the kinds of questions that all of us need to ask if we want to craft a portfolio that points the same way as our moral compass…

The US Vegan Climate ETF… begins with subtraction: removing companies, and even whole industries, that it considers animal unfriendly. Pharmaceuticals? Poof, because of all the animal testing…

[It] nixes fossil fuel companies, but it still owns stock in automakers that make gas-powered vehicles with leather interiors. Here, the fund’s creator, Beyond Investing, saw an opportunity to push the car companies toward skin-free seating, given that Tesla has made that move with some models…

The Vegan ETF features a fee of 0.60 percent, which is a lot for an index fund.” End quote.

Karner Blue Animal Impact Fund

And on the Karner Blue Animal Impact Fund, Mr. Lieber says that “Named for the endangered butterfly, [it] takes a different approach. It is an actively managed mutual fund, with fewer than half the number of stocks in the Vegan ETF, including companies not based in the United States.

Another big difference: It employs so-called positive screening, picking best-of-breed companies in as many industries as it can stomach…” End quote.

Then Mr. Lieber quotes Vicki L. Benjamin, president of Karner Blue Capital as saying that ‘We are not animal avoidant, We are animal engagement…” Mr. Lieber adds, “That’s how Karner Blue ends up with Chipotle in its portfolio: It likes the chain’s animal welfare efforts (its continuing food safety questions aside).” End quote.

As to the cost of the fund, Mr. Lieber writes, “Karner Blue funds can cost even more than the First Vegan Fund, though the exact amount depends on how much you invest and whether you’re using a financial adviser.” End quote. Since it is a mutual fund, it’s probably only available in the US.

-------------------------------------------------------------

2) Ethical and Sustainable Investing News

Now here’s an unusual and interesting ESG index that some ethical and sustainable investors might be interested in. Though it does appeal to a specific population segment. It’s the LGBTQ100 ESG Index (Ticker: LGBTQ100). An article describing this ESG index appeared on Yahoo! Finance under the title LGBTQ100 ESG Index Closes Above 2,000.00 Three Months Post Launch.

Quote, “Designed to advance equality throughout corporate America, the Index tracks the top 100 companies within the U.S. that rank high on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics and support the cause for diversity and equality across the nation. Bobby Blair, CEO of LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings, Inc. said, ‘I'm thrilled that our LGBTQ100 ESG Index, which screens for ESG compliance in addition to advancing equality, has outperformed the S&P 500 in its first 90 days." End quote.

-------------------------------------------------------------

4) Ethical and Sustainable Investing News

On a different note, have you ever considered infrastructure stocks? Some of them might be a fit for most ethical and sustainable investors. Matthew DiLallo writes about them on the Motley Fool site in a post titled 3 Top Infrastructure Stocks to Watch in February.

He says that “Several infrastructure stocks have made big moves over the past year, making them less appealing buys these days… [but] sell-offs can come out of nowhere [and that] is why investors should always keep an updated watchlist… With that in mind, three infrastructure-related stocks to watch this month are Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP), TerraForm Power (NASDAQ: TERP), and ONEOK (NYSE: OKE). All three could deliver some market-moving news this February, making them worth watching closely.”

-------------------------------------------------------------

5) Ethical and Sustainable Investing News

Some other stock ideas that ethical and sustainable investors might consider are utility companies with good environmental records. Divya Balji wrote an article titled ESG Rock Stars Sprout From Safe Utility Stocks in Canada that first appeared on Bloomberg and I found on Yahoo! Finance.

Ms. Balji writes “There’s a green revolution taking place in a corner of Canada’s stock market… Last year, the S&P/TSX Composite Utilities Index was the second-best group of Canadian stocks -- surging 32%...” End quote.

Ms. Balji then specifies the companies she likes, saying that “Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (INE.TO), a renewable power producer, has soared 26% in 2020 after a 34% rally last year. Just this week, it announced a C$661 million partnership with Hydro-Québec targeting wind and solar projects…

And Boralex Inc. (BLX.TO), an electricity producer with renewable energy power stations, is up 20% this year after a 45% climb in 2019.

(And) Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN.TO), the regulated utility with sustainable energy assets are trading at the highest level since it was listed about 22 years ago.”

-------------------------------------------------------------

6) Ethical and Sustainable Investing News

Continuing on the subject of energy, Todd Shriber over at the InvestorPlace site has posted an article titled 3 Great Alternative Energy ETFs to Buy as Traditional Energy ETFs Lag. His three picks are:

ALPS Clean Energy ETF (CBOE: ACES); iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (NASDAQ: ICLN); and VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: SMOG)

ALPS Clean Energy ETF

On ALPS Clean Energy ETF, he writes that it has an “Expense ratio: 0.65% per year. What’s compelling about ALPS Clean Energy ETF relative to rival alternative energy ETFs is that it reaches multiple corners of this fast-growing market segment, including wind, solar, storage and efficiency, LED and smart grid technologies, just to name a few.” End quote.

iShares Global Clean Energy ETF

Regarding the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, Mr. Shriber says its “Expense ratio is 0.46%... one of the more seasoned members of the renewable energy ETF landscape [the] iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, which tracks the S&P Global Clean Energy Index, isn’t quite as diverse, thematically speaking, as the aforementioned ALPS Clean Energy ETF, but the iShares fund does offer more than adequate penetration into the wind and solar industries, which could be a boon for the fund in 2020.” End quote.

VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF

And on the VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF, he says that its “Expense ratio is 0.63%... VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF allocates 12.28% of its weight to Tesla stock… (this ETF) follows the Ardour Global Index, which quoting VanEck, ‘is intended to track the overall performance of low carbon energy companies which are those companies primarily engaged in alternative energy which includes power derived principally from biofuels (such as ethanol), wind, solar, hydro and geothermal sources and also includes the various technologies that support the production, use, and storage of these sources.” End quote.

-------------------------------------------------------------

7) Ethical and Sustainable Investing News

So, I hope you’re not bored with my energy focus. But it’s such an important area! This next article is titled 2 Environmentally Friendly Stocks to Buy as Climate Crisis Intensifies. It also appeared on Yahoo! Finance. Its source is TipRanks and the author isn’t mentioned. The first company recommended is Renewable Energy Group Inc. (REGI).

Renewable Energy Group Inc.

Quote, “Renewable Energy Group Inc. is the largest biodiesel manufacturer in the US, with 14 biorefineries and a feedstock processing facility… The company has added over 200% to its share price since 2017… [It has a] strong buy consensus rating. At $35, the average price target suggests possible upside of 33%.” End quote.

Sunrun Inc.

The second company is Sunrun Inc. (RUN). The article’s author says “Sunrun has done very well over the last few years, with 2019’s 38% gain adding up to a cumulative 200% increase since 2017. The company is now the number 1 residential solar installer in the US… Sunrun has a unanimous strong buy consensus rating from the Street.” End quote.

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Ending Comments

Well, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks.

And to get all the links, stock symbols and more, or to read the transcript of this podcast and with additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode.

Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast.

And, please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. So, let’s help create a better world with our investments!

Contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you for listening.

Talk to you again on February 28. Bye for now.

© 2020 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.

Click here to download the episode

[quinlin-blog1]

The Lost Island ~ Chapter Eight

*Shockingly enough, this is the final chapter of The Lost Island. Yeah, I didn’t really write much, and although I did have a second book, it got lost when my previous computer was dropped. So much for that book. Either way I really hope you’ve enjoyed! 

One Week.

Two Weeks.

Three Weeks.

A month.

I Guess I didn't realize how far away Miuros was.

Let me tell you that is wasn't a simple stroll in the park.

We've crossed lakes, Climbed Mountains, passed through valleys and we did it all while trying to stay out of sight of people.

It's probably why we had to do all these things, stay out of the main town areas and we ended up having to take quite a few detours. And I don’t think that when we started this trek, how big the island actually was.

“Mommy!” Dill cried. I rushed to go see what happened.

Though, I don't think I was fully prepared for what I saw.

Dill seemed to have somehow, hung himself from a branch on a tree, above one of our tents.

“How in the name of whoever is out there, did you manage to get up there?” I asked.

“I don't know,” Dill said innocently

“Bets!” I shouted.

“Yeah?” She replied coming closer to me.

“How did Dill get up there?” I asked.

“Well you see Delly. He was trying to be a sloth, because the other sloths were teasing him that he couldn't climb the tree, He just appeared there. Like a fairy appearing in a puff of smoke!” Crystal informed me. Well, at least she's getting back to her animal obsessive-ness.

Wait, did she say puff of smoke?

“Yes Delly. I said puff of smoke,” Crystal replied.

Damn It! I thought I stopped that!

“Well you didn't,” Porter said, appearing out of, literally, nowhere.

“For God’s sake!” I said as I jumped back in shock, causing Crystal and Porter to laugh.

“Ha-ha hilarious!” I scowled.

“Mommy! Hewp! Helwp!”  Dill called.

Well at least it's a good way for me to practice my abilities.

I watched as my hands and eyes began to glow golden, I was watching myself, outside of my body.

“Alright Dill. Jump,” I told him.

He shook his head at me.

“Dill. You have to jump!” I provoked him.

He nodded and jumped out of the tree. My dis-embodied self caught him and pulled him over to where my embodied self was. Then as my hands and eyes stopped glowing, my dis-embodied self disappeared.

I looked at Dill, who looked back at me.

“Mommy! The fairies taught me how to Poof!” He exclaimed

“Is that so?” I asked.

“Yup! Dey said that I'm gonna be fwiend to Dem. Dey taught me to Poof!”

“Show me your Poof,” I said.

I set Dill on the ground, he stepped about four feet away from me before putting on a very concentrated face. (He looked like he was constipated), and he suddenly disappeared, leaving a trail of smoke and smog in his trail.

“Wow,” I said.

“Did you see mwe?! Did you see mwe?!” Dill shouted from behind me.

“I did see you and it was amazing.” It was also good to have a great get away trick.

Dill seemed extremely happy at my pride and approval.

“Dey said dat dey can teach mwe more later,” Dill told me.

“Really? They did? When did they say that?” I asked.

“Earlier, Dey said dat dey like mwe,” Dill explained briefly.

“Well they seem nice.” I said. You may possibly be thinking that I'm insane for encouraging such behavior, but you saw what he did just then, those things don't just come by themselves.

If Dill said it was the fairies then the fairies it was.

“Dey said dat dey like you too Mommy! Dey like all of us!” Dill stated.

“Do they now? Well I'm glad we made a good impression on them. Do you like them?”

“Uh-Huh! Dey nice!”  

“Well I'm glad that you made some friends. But try not to Poof into a tree next time” I responded.

    The next day, was, I will admit, extremely cold. I could have sworn that I saw frost on the bases of trees as we trudged through the forest, I'd say that now, we were two thirds of the ways there. Not too bad. But we could have been closer.

I had wrapped Dill up in my cloak that Carmen had lent me. Crystal had on her purple leather jacket and Porter was wrapped in two different green cloaks. It was just that cold.

“Damn sloths! Making it cold!” Crystal cursed.

“I don't think Damning the sloths will help our situation Bets” Porter pointed out.

“Well it's all I can do,” Crystal said.

“Dell, are you sure that we're going the right way?” Porter asked.

“Yes, why do you ask?” I wasn't used to leading, that was usually Catherine and Crystal kind of thing, but Crystal had wounded herself by trying to be a sloth so I was stuck in the leader position.

“Because we past that bush that looks like Darth Vader's helmet four times already” Porter point to the bush that I had indeed stated, looked like Darth Vader's Helmet. I sighed and buried my cold nose on the top of Dill's head.

“Well, what route should we take this time?” I asked

“I think we should take that scary looking path!” Crystal piped up, pointing down into the end of the forest that looked just as friendly as it sounded.

“How about no” Porter said.

“Well it's the only way we haven't gone yet,” Crystal told us.

As much as I wanted to disagree with Crystal and say that we should take the safe route, now that I thought about it, it really was the only way we hadn't gone yet.  

“Nope, I'm not going down there,” Porter protested.

“I thought that you were supposed to be loyal to the orders of the Alpha and the Beta?” Crystal inquired.

“Yes, but we don't follow your every wish and demand. If I see a problem with what you're saying, it's my job to point it out to you.”

“But there's a point in time where you have to just follow along.”

“Not now! That's a bloody death trap! There's no way on this Earth that you're going to get me to go into there,” Porter said.

So, I let them continue their pointless argument, I went down the right path, no matter how scary it was, they'd have to follow the guardian, they had to follow. Dill was still shivering slightly, but he was almost asleep. I wished that I could be the same. With the combination of cold, worry and slight fear, I was suffering from insomnia.

I wondered for a moment how Catherine was holding up.

How had they been treating her?

No better than they would you or any other person.

Had she given them what they wanted?

Knowing Catherine, she probably would have spit in their faces.

Did she know that we coming for her?

She's probably denying it, but she knows we wouldn't abandon her.

Is she still alive?

Yes!

What if she isn't?

She has to be.

That all depends on how stubborn those people are and how much she denied them.

Well now you're just not helping.

Did you expect me to?

Sometimes, I hate my brain.

“Well too bad for you Sissy, you're stuck with it and us.” Not helping Cal.

“We're not trying to help. You’re fun to mess with,” Arrow teased

I focused hard and heard a loud thunk that echoed through the vaults of my mind.

“OW!” They all exclaimed.

“That's what you get,” I snickered.

“That ain't nice Baby sis,” Zell stated.

“Yeah, but it was fun,” I said.

“Now that, I ain't gonna deny,” Zell told me.

“Hey! Zell! You're supposed to be on my side!” Arrow exclaimed.

“Yeah but he likes me more than any of you,” I smirked.

Arrow gasped “Zell! How could you! I thought you loved me! That's it! We're over!” Arrow yelled.

”I knew it!” I shouted, making Dill look at me. “Sorry.”

“Knew what?” Tori asked.

“The romance Tor! Can't you see the love?” I teased.

“I can!” Cal stated.

“Totally,” Tori agreed.

“I hate you all,” Arrow pouted.

“Everyone loves me Arrow,” I told him.

“It's not just him. I hate you guys too,” Zell pointed out.

“Don't be like that guys,” I said.

“We can be however we want to be and you can't say nothing about it,” Arrow said.

“How much wood could a wood-chuck chuck, if a wood-chuck could chuck wood?” Cal asked.

“I'm not even sure how that became a part of the conversation,” I blinked.

“Me too,” The others replied.

“Are you guys always this loud?” I heard Crystal ask.

“Yes. Did you guys finally finish arguing?”

“For now.” Porter said simply.

“Can you hear them?” I asked gesturing to my head.

“Only just now, Carrie connected us for a moment so I could understand why your facial expressions go too rapidly from grumpy, to happy, then serious then confused, then laughing and back to serious again.”

“I'm not that bad!” I defended.

“Yeah you are,” The others said.

“Shut up,” I grumbled.

“What? We didn't say anything,” Porter told me.

“Not you,” I said.

“Me?” Crystal asked.

“NO!”

I pointed to my head, where Cal and Zell had just gotten into a fight. From what it sounds like, it's a fist fight. Great.

“Would you Stop IT!” I yelled. Making everyone, including Porter, Dill and Crystal stop.

“Us?” Crystal and Porter asked while Dill looked at me.

“Sorry,” Cal and Zell said.

“No, Cal and Zell got into a fist fight.”

“Who won?” Porter asked excitedly.

“I did!” Cal and Zell said.

“They did,” I repeated.

“No I did!”

“No, they did,” I repeated.

“Uh-uh.”

“Uh-uh.”

“Don't be mean!”

“Don't be mean!”

I think by this time I had thoroughly freaked out the others.

“Quickly, quietly get the brain surgeon,” Crystal whispered to Porter.

“Or maybe a Psychiatrist” Porter replied quietly.

“Why not both?”

“I can hear you!” I shouted.

“We weren't doing anything!” They shouted and I rolled my eyes.

“And I don't need a brain Surgeon or a Psychiatrist!” I told them.

“Are you sure?” Bets asked me.

“OK, maybe I might need a psychiatrist. But I don't fancy the brain surgeon,” I cringed.

“Neither do we.” They replied.

“You guys Awe weird,” Dill said.

“Thank you,” I said drowsily, my eyes drooping down.

It had been a while since I had a good night’s rest. With staying up as look-out and watching over Dill and Crystal and Porter, really, I didn’t get much sleep.

It wasn't even a moment later that my eyes started drooping and I was pretty much sleep walking. Poor Dill probably got a fright.

“Delly!”

“It wasn't me!” I was lucky enough to be able to dodge the tree I was heading for.

I heard snickering and turned to see Porter really trying his best to not laugh at me. Key word, Trying.

OK, I really tried to look angry, but really, I was confused so I gave up on that and looked in front of me just in time.

All emotions washed away when we came upon a city that wasn't there in our time. The entire thing was in ruins, yet it looked intact. It looked old and abandoned, it may have been old, but there was life there.

It felt cold, but not the cold you get from snow or the wind. No, I wished it was that cold. It was the cold that you would identify something that was undead and ghostly.

“The Lost City,” I muttered as I looked at Crystal and Porter. The wind howled by our ears in an eerie fashion. Even Dill seemed to not like this place.

 “The Lost City.” They repeated. Taking the first step into the unknown City.

[cr0g-0]

Fluffy noms with big tommy and little phil? I don't really see alot of that where it's just the two of them

-------------------

New Nest

Tw-Safe Vore, Fluff, litol angst-its just a wittle bit-its barely there, don't even think I need an angst warnibg-

For you Blue! Probably isn't that good and I don't know how long/Short it is but I hope you like! P.s Your my second favorite >:)

-------------------

"Phil you look like your freezing your feathers off seriously-" Tommy looked at the tiny avian, frowning as he saw how much the blonde was shivering.

It had been raining a lot and Phil had been flying about through it all which lead to the soaking wet, waterlogged person on his windowsill.

Phil smiled a little and shrugged, trying to hide his shivers with his dark gray wings. "I'm fine mate, really-" he was cut off by a loud sneeze and covered it with his elbow.

The human sighed and chuckled, gently scooping Phil up into cupped hands and bringing him up to his face. Phil let put a noise but got comfortable in the hands and looked at Tommy.

"Tommy I swear if you-"

The blond human licked Phil's face, giggling a little as he watched the avian make a disgusted face before rolling his eyes.

"Really?" "Yes really let me take care of you for once dad you barely let anyone take care of you."

The blond sighed and nodded. "Alright fine buddy go ahead." With the all clear Tommy gently placed his dad into his mouth and started to lick at him, coating him with saliva and eliciting a few giggled and shoves from Phil

He gently sucked on the older blond, humming a little as he felt a light patting on his tongue. "I'm ready when you are Toms."

Tommy stopped sucking on Phil and tilted his head back, gently starting to swallow as he felt a few squirms come from his dad as he entered his throat and soon landed in his storage stomach.

Phil landed inside and snuggled into the walls, rubbing at the stomach walls as he got comfortable inside his new nest. It was just for today and then he could go back to babying his sons.

"Night dad..." Tommy whispered as he rubbed at the spot where his dad was, feeling the avian already dose off.

Fffffrrrr hope this was to your liking homie Blue-I've never really written Phil and i was jsut chbdbdjdnd

[cr0g-0]

Tiny Wilbur and Tommy thoughts and shit live in my head rent fuckibg free

[cr0g-0]

I should write for one of my things but also I have many gifts-

Looks at my masterlist-

Fallen Flock Au-

.........So yeah I should get something up for that but I have a question.

Would anyone like to maybe come up with any ideas or help maybe make a new au? I'm bored and I wanna do something that migjt make people smile

[v-le]

My Trip to S. Korea (5/25/16 - 6/2/16)

Hello, friends!! I am back! Ahaha I have several posts that I’ve been wanting to make, but this one in particular has been fueling my interest more than ever these days. Rather than a review or a rant, this post is simply.. a log? :)

On May 25th of last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Korea as a 16 year old junior. I left school a week and a half earlier than everyone else, but it wasn’t just for fun. I was a part of IVSBP, the Interact Vietnam Soccer Ball Project (s/o to my wonderful team: Rotarians Nick, Marriane, Avis, and Sue, Roteractor Oliver, & fellow Interactors Gina and Abdul), a service project that aimed to bring the power of play to less fortunate children in Vietnam. In 2016, the Rotary International Convention (RICON) was being held in Korea, and I was blessed enough to be a part of the team that represented IVSBP with its very own booth at RICON. In this place, over 45,000 Rotarians from all over the world would gather for several special days. 

Each and every day, I documented my journey by quickly (and messily) scribbling each entry onto a currency conversion diagram paper that was partially cut up for reasons I cannot recall. Here is my 7-day “diary”, as transcribed word for word from the paper itself, with extra commentary below each entry:

Day 1

Arrive in Seoul Incheon + struggle tremendously to find driver. Astounded/fascinated/freaked out by tons of tall apts. Notes smog. Eat funky dinner w/ ppl, walked late at night.

Yes, I was admittedly spooked by the massive apartments that stretched on and on for as long as the eye could see LOL. The drive from Incheon to Seoul was one that I will never forget. That foreign feeling of being in a country that I dreamed about so many times makes my heart bulge with longing excitement. Also, our lodging was an Airbnb located in the heart of Gangnam. And so, our first night-walk was one that I wished could last forever.

Day 2

Wake at 6:45 am. Go to convention to set up. Kintex was rly cool. Cooler empty. Ate lunch (self-service). slow business. Went home to rest. Took metro home b/c no shuttles running. Took a long ass time & struggled little bit but managed to get it down. Went to COEX. Good shops, not enough time. Son Hoyoung fansigning + mini stage. Ate kbbq alone + did well even though scary. Home @ 11:30. 1:30 am sleep.

RICON was not held in Seoul, but rather in Goyang, which is a city about an hour away from Seoul. Kintex is the convention center, a massive two-structure building, with its own restaurants inside. To this day, I have spotted several shows / dramas / music videos that were filmed at Kintex as well. The Korean metro system is hands down my favorite part about Korea. It is very affordable, convenient, & easy to use once you get the hang of it. My team and I struggled a little bit at first because we were confused by the questionable red/green colors for some stops & routes, but I quickly realized it simply meant express versus “all-stop”. Myself and two others managed to go to the COEX Mall by metro, which was about a mile from our own apartment. One of my goals for Korea was to see a celebrity randomly, and it just so happened on our first full day! I was shopping in Aland with my friend when she suddenly ran up to me and said “Vanessa, Vanessa come look over here, come with me, there is someone singing outside!!”. We hurried outside, and there was Son Hoyoung, promoting his solo album with a mini fansigning event! After shopping, we wandered the streets of Gangnam once again, settling on a random bbq place for dinner. We were just 3 measly American high schoolers in a foreign country, but we ordered, ate, and paid for everything with ease. It was quite an exhilarating experience.

Day 3

Wake 6:45 am. Preconvention. Slow business. (BTW saw Music Works notice about Song yoo bin busking the night before --> day goal: leave & get to COEX by 6 pm) Talked to lotsa ppl. Managed to rush to shuttle station 9 @ 5 pm. Very late bus out of all 20 stations. Eventually wound up @ COEX at 7:20 pm w/ a very distraught heart. Went & finished COEX shopping. Struggled to eat stew at place w/o menu. Abdul + soju = dafuq is wrong w/ you; gtfo. 1:30 am sleep.

Ah yes, this day will go down as one of the most frustrating/ stressful/ depressing days I have ever experienced. RICON offers 20 different shuttle stations, each w/ their own buses & unique routes that run all throughout Seoul. The one that was crucial for me that day was Station 9, specifically at 5 pm. I remember stressing out the entire day about how we could get permission to leave early enough, which route to use, and simply making it to Song Yubin’s event with ease. And yes, I was able to successfully figure all that out throughout the day’s activities. It was just up to the bus to take us there. Unfortunately, although each station should have had buses running every 15 minutes starting from 5 pm & onward, Station 9′s bus was late to begin with. In fact, there was just one bus at first, but it filled quickly, and with only 3 seats left, we didn’t want to separate our group of 4, so we decided to wait for the next bus that would come in “5″ minutes. Those “5″ minutes trickled into the longest hour of my life. I remember standing in the burning sun, looking towards the end of the street the entire time, keeping my eyes peeled, standing on my tippie toes, my forehead sweating, my face twisting into distress as each minute passed. We finally made it onto the bus around 6:10. Yubin’s event started at 6. I remember falling asleep on the bus ride there, but waking up every ten minutes or so, just to see if we could still make it. By the time we walked out into COEX’s exhibition hall (the same one that Son Hoyoung was at the day before), it was completely empty. I didn’t cry because I wasn’t that petty, but.... I definitely felt extremely down. I had completely missed a once in a lifetime opportunity. To see one of my favorite, young & talented vocalists before he became popular and ventured into the kpop-idol scene. There was just some terrible kinda fate happening that day, in which the world just really didn’t want me to see him. For dinner, us 4 wandered around Gangnam again, but settled for something closer to our apt. It had no English menus nor pictures at all. And so once again (the other time would be the metro debacle), my handy dandy Korean-reading skills helped us out, and we barely managed to order various ... ingredients?? (only ones that I understood, though) that all went together in some sort of soup... To this day, I’m not really sure what we ate, but I remember it tasted delicious nonetheless.

Day 4

Same wake. Opening ceremony cool = k-tigers + Lena Park. Sleep-inducing speeches. Arrived back to booth @ 1 pm. Mango six yucky bubble tea. Left to Namsan. Actually used diff shuttle route + taxi to end up @ Namsan cable car. Went to tower. Managed to wander into Myeongdong. V cool. Metro home.

RICON officially begins! Lena Park performed and I was awestruck. At the convention, there are hundreds of different kind of volunteers, and some of them aid convention-goers with travels going to and from Kintex. We asked about getting to COEX the day before, and this time, we came back to ask about getting to Namsan, because my friend especially wanted to go there. I remember hearing the girls behind the table whisper about how we were just using them for our own personal, mini adventures, and I started to feel a bit embarrassed ahah. Regardless, the shuttle we took didn’t take us directly to the cable car site; we had to take a taxi after it dropped us off. I remember we struggled immensely with flagging it down and relaying our destination, but the driver thankfully understood perfectly, and took us right to the cable cars. From there, it was smooth sailing to the tower. It was very dreamlike, arriving at the top as the sun was setting, and leaving when the night had settled in completely. I remember taking a panoramic picture of the view, which I later used (and still use) as my facebook cover photo LOL. Wandering to Myeongdong was also quite the adventure, for we tried asking a civilian about “Myeongdong market” or something, but could not receive any helpful advice. If anything, I think we simply wandered farther into the city around Namsan, and *poof* there we stood in the middle of all the stores. And of course, we conveniently used the metro to make our way back home from there.

Day 5

6 am wake WTF?!?! Still left @ 7:30 anyway. V tired today. Kept falling asleep + lightheaded. Ate 떡볶이 & fell asleep disgustingly. Waited excruciatingly long for Nick to decide to go home. Left @ 5:30. Got back to station @ 7:15. Ate expensive bbq. 쌈 so good. Ate the snow w/ signatures like 정유미, 인순이, 박서준, 유아인 etc. 100% milk! Very nice lady :) . Gong cha jumbo. cool. Night @ 12 am for once.

By this time, the long days were getting to us, and we were thoroughly exhausted. However, dinner was quite fun, we ate with other convention-goers from the Bay Area as well. To this day, whenever I eat 쌈(ssam), it never compares to the kind I ate in Korea, and I have immediate withdrawals. And im not sure why i decided to write those names in Korean, but yes, the bingsoo place we stopped by had various signatures of celebs plastered around the walls, like Jung Yoo Mi, Insooni, Park Seo Joon, Yoo Ah In, and more. The “ice” was made of 100% milk, which was the entire shop’s selling point, & it was delish. Also, I, of course, had to get my pmt fix at the gong cha located near our apt. too.

Day 6

STOP waking us @ 6!!! Went about the usual day. Learned about fire w/ DC advisers :( . Ate frozen sticky dog for lunch. Fell asleep a lot still. Oliver felt much better: Myeongdong! The travel/transportation ladies seemed to dislike us so we managed to find proper shuttle. Shopped for a while. Felt rly sad that I couldn’t find good stuff for EZ. Going broke. Ate 김치 볶음밥! Yummy! w/ cheeseee. So full; couldn’t finish. Store ppl are scary. Very late. Everyone exhausted except for me. Got home 12:30. Slept 2:15. *written on the side* Gina lost her phone :( . 

Not a super eventful day, but we went back to Myeongdong again because we felt like we didn’t have enough time to fully explore the first time we were there. Once again, whenever I eat some form of kimchi fried rice here in the states, it never ever ever compares to the kind we had that night. Literally the best fried rice I ever had. Cheap and generously filled, too. Our team was dead tired by the night, as in they kept falling asleep on the subway LOL. Except I stayed alert, out of duty, amusement, and just pure excitement for another deep night in Seoul.

Day 7

Leftovers for breakfast. Very slow day @ convention. Left later than usual. Fell asleep @ booth a lot. Closing ceremony PSY, but everyone else was p lame. Ravi’s speech was very sleep-inducing; I’m sorry :( . Went to shuttle + left @ 8 pm. Ate super expensive dinner beef 한우 w/ M & N. They r weird. Service 짬뽕! But too spicy. Large Gong cha @ 10 pm; only 5 bucks left :( . But Nick paid for the pmt. Its 1:30 am rn but we gotta wake at 3 am b/c flight @ 7:30 am. I GOT MY PERIOD, FUCK!!!

And that, is how I ended my last log in Korea LOL. The leftovers for breakfast refer to the kimchi fried rice leftovers ahaha. Getting to see PSY was also pretty cool. I’m not sure why I said “beef 한우(hanwoo)“, but yes, it was quite expensive, where like 1 of the slabs of meat costed about 50,000 won! But this restaurant was also where I finally got to experience the concept of “service” in which they gave us free food :’) Also,I’m not sure why I said 5 bucks, but I meant 5,000 won ahaha. Having a flight late at night was quite exciting, for the Seoul nights were my favorite kind of memory overall. Or rather, they were all I really had since I spent all my days at RICON.

Welp, this ended up wayyyy longer than i anticipated, but it was honestly really refreshing to go over some memories that happened over a year ago. Although this trip was mainly for RICON, I had the amazing opportunity to delve into the culture that I had only seen countless times through a computer screen. As Oliver had said, we were volunteers by day, & tourists by night. I enjoyed my time more than I ever expected, and I have promised myself that I will go back. Soon.

Thank you, sk, for treating us so well.