#that shit was crazy i will never ever get my OH MY GOD….IT WAS VON KARMA?!/!/!/! moment back

[sholmeser]

the crime scene photo for gregorys death is just so chilling to me because its such a stark contrast to everything else we get in aa1. we witness cindy and mia’s deaths in full color, almost like we’re watching a movie. jack hammer’s death doesn’t quite look real; the expression on his face is quite unnerving, but the impact of it goes away when you notice his costume and how the unrealistic piercing wound in his chest just makes him look hollow inside. it’s leaning more towards what you visualize when you think of a murder scene, but falls short because of the stylization applied.

and i think this was deliberate because when you get to turnabout goodbyes and you see this photo. man. it hits. the way gregory’s eyes are hidden from view. the way he’s slumped over. the way we can’t quite see the wound but blood soaks his entire chest. how the illustration is framed, him in the corner, almost like an afterthought. the way he’s presented as such a normal person, looking just like any other businessman you could run into on the street. it rips ace attorney away from its largely-unbelievable themes—spirit mediums, three-day-long trials, witnesses whose last names are puns—and sends it hurtling back into our world. it’s just so striking and sticks with you for so long after you finish turnabout goodbyes

[samioli]

Are you doing the "Drunken Love Confessions" game? If so, I'd love a 16. "This is not a dream, I think. In my dreams we're usually kissing." - narumitsu. Thanks!

Hi there! Thanks for the prompt! I can't believe this is the first narumitsu thing I've written in months, CRAZY. I hope you enjoy!

16. "This is not a dream, I think. In my dreams we're usually kissing."

Phoenix never expected Miles Edgeworth to be this much of a lightweight. 

He always pictured him drinking glass upon glass of wine and still being his perfect, elegant, slightly-pompous self. 

Who knew if you got him to do a few tequila shots that all went away?

Although to be fair, he’s definitely been less of an ass these past few months, Phoenix thought to himself, gazing at the man who was currently dozing off on his shoulder in the taxi they were in together. Once you’ve seen a guy drool on your suit jacket, he kinda seemed a little less scary to you.

Besides…he’s been through a lot. 

Phoenix softened as Edgeworth started to snore lightly in his sleep. After everything with the von Karma case, he thought the man deserved as many naps as he wanted.

Still though, Phoenix wasn’t sure what it exactly meant for the two of them. Were they acquaintances? Co-workers? Friends?

…Could they ever be more?

That’s not fair, Phoenix, he chastised himself. Let the man breathe; no need to smother him with your weird crush that you’ve had since you were kids.

He had to remind himself that the guy just found out his mentor (and kind of adoptive father) killed his dad all those years ago—a crime he blamed himself for.

Edgeworth deserved a break.

Which was exactly why Phoenix practically dragged him for a post-trial celebration. He wanted Edgeworth to get his mind off of things, to even let loose a little bit, but he wasn’t really sure if that was possible.

After tonight, Phoenix knew it was. Edgeworth turned out to be a really goofy and happy drunk, which surprised the hell out of him. He honestly never thought he’d associate the word goofy with Edgeworth before, but hey, never say never.

Edgeworth was laughing at Phoenix’s sub-par jokes, giggling to himself and practically beaming at him all night.

It was…nice.

Addicting, even. He wished he could see that side of Edgeworth more.

“Is over here alright?” The taxi driver asked, shaking Phoenix out of his thoughts. He looked out the window at this really fancy-shmancy apartment complex, hoping Edgeworth had given the right address.

Phoenix gently raised his shoulder, attempting to wake the man up. “Psst. Edgeworth. We’re here, I think.”

It took a moment, but Edgeworth started to wake, opening and closing his eyes a few times. “Hmm?”

God, he was adorable.

“Is this the right place?” he asked, trying not to fall head over heels in love with a man who could barely tolerate his existence up until recently.

Edgeworth blinked a few more times—first at him, then at the apartment building. He seemed to think about it for a bit before perking up. 

“Oh! We’re home.”

Phoenix attempted not to choke on his own spit at that, at Edgeworth implying that it was their home, but was it a fucking task. 

He didn’t mean it like that, he’s drunk right now.

Phoenix tried to get his shit together and thanked the taxi driver, shuffling Edgeworth out of the cab. He was a little wobbly in his movements, but he could still somewhat stand up on his own.

Thankfully.

“Alright, buddy,” Phoenix started, deciding to take the chance to call Edgeworth that when he knew he could totally get away with it now, “lead me to your place.”

Edgeworth nodded sagely. “Certainly,” he said, sounding almost like his usual, eloquent self.

Until he bumped straight into a wall.

“Woah!” Phoenix half exclaimed, half laughed. He rushed to Edgeworth’s side to make sure there weren’t any injuries. “You okay, bud?”

The man in question responded with a hum. “I’m fine. Tired.”

He chuckled. “Point to which apartment is yours, okay?”

They got to Edgeworth’s apartment with little to no issues (Edgeworth was wobbling here and there) and Phoenix asked him for the key to open the door. Once they were inside, he was going to ask where Edgeworth’s room was, but the man plopped himself on the couch in the living room.

“Hey, don’t you want to sleep in your bed? That’s gonna kill your back tomorrow.”

“Hmm. No. Don’t want to move,” Edgeworth said, closing his eyes and lying down on his couch.

“Come on, you have to at least change out of your suit.”

Edgeworth groaned, a bit like a child. Phoenix tried not to laugh.

“C’mon,” Phoenix urged, trying to lift Edgeworth. “Up you go.”

Edgeworth obeyed him the rest of the way until they got to his room, only muttering to himself a little bit.

Phoenix sat Edgeworth on his bed as he looked in his drawers for some kind of pajamas. 

“The top drawer has my night clothes,” Edgeworth slurred, lying back on the bed.

“Yes, sir,” Phoenix said, hearing Edgeworth giggle behind him. He grabbed what looked like really fancy pajamas—pink satin ones.

Wow. This guy lives a life of luxury.

He turned and placed them on the bed, tilting his head when Edgeworth was still giggling. “What’s so funny?”

“You…you called me—” Edgeworth went into a fit of giggles. “You called me sir. I usually call you that.”

Phoenix laughed, scrunching his face in confusion. “What? You’ve never called me that in your life.”

Edgeworth’s brow furrowed. “Oh. Really? I guess I’ve only said it in my dreams.”

Phoenix froze, feeling heat creep into his cheeks. 

He didn’t mean…No, that’s crazy.

“U-Uh.” He coughed. “Okay, then.” He cleared his throat, patting the pajamas on the bed. “You think you can change by yourself?”

Edgeworth nodded. “Indeed. Verily.”

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. “Well, okay. I’m gonna get you a glass of water okay? Give you some time to change."

He led himself into the kitchen and prepared two glasses, feeling a bit thirsty himself. 

He tried not to think about the comment Edgeworth made.

He failed. Several times.

After trying to calm himself and get rid of any inappropriate thoughts, he went back toward Edgeworth’s room holding the two glasses of water. 

“Edgeworth?” he called out. “You changed?”

Phoenix heard some sort of affirmative sound, pushing the door open. He placed the glasses of water on the nightstand.

When he looked at Edgeworth, his breath stopped.

Why does he have to be so goddamn cute? WHY.

He looked absolutely adorable in his fancy pajamas—even had a little sleeping cap on. It was so unfair.

“Before you sleep, drink some water for me okay?”

Edgeworth opened his eyes, gray irises staring at him. After a moment, he smiled softly. “Alright,” he said, rising a bit out of bed into a sitting position. He took the glass of water closest to him and started to drink.

Satisfied, Phoenix took the other glass and started drinking some of his own. Edgeworth settled his glass down on the nightstand and looked at him intensely.

He lowered his glass a bit, tilting his head. “What is it?”

“This is not a dream…is it?” Edgeworth mused, before shaking his head. “No, I don’t think it is.”

Phoenix smiled softly before taking another sip of his water.

“If this were one of my usual dreams, we’d be kissing.”

Phoenix promptly inhaled his water, going into a coughing fit.

What????

While he coughed and coughed, Phoenix’s mind went racing. Surely this was just Edgeworth talking nonsense, right? It had to be. The guy hated him until a few days ago! And even then it was pretty shaky ground!

There was no way Edgeworth had dreams about kissing him. No way at all.

…Right?

“Are you alright?” Edgeworth asked, and woah, when did he get up out of bed? He was in Phoenix’s space, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

It didn’t really help the situation.

“I’m fine,” Phoenix choked out, in between a few coughs. He waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about me, go sleep.”

Edgeworth peered at him for a few more moments, before he relented, going back toward the bed and laying down. “If you insist.”

I gotta get outta here before I do something stupid. 

There were a few moments of silence as Phoenix simply watched Edgeworth settle himself on the bed.

We’ll talk about it in the morning.

There was always going to be morning. And if there wasn’t, they’d find a chance to talk about it eventually. Phoenix would make sure of it.

It’s not like the guy was going anywhere any time soon—they’d find the time.

After a few more moments of silence, Phoenix figured Edgeworth had fallen asleep. He clicked the lamp on the nightstand off, cascading the room in darkness.

“Goodnight, Edgeworth,” he said softly. 

Tomorrow.

He walked toward the door, ready to leave the room.

“Phoenix?”

He stopped. That was the first time Edgeworth called him that in years. It made his heart pound.

“...Yes?”

“Thank you again,” Edgeworth murmured, so softly it made his chest ache. “You saved me.”

And it was the way Edgeworth said it, like he was in awe, that made Phoenix speechless.

He swallowed. “Of course.” He lingered for a few more moments. “Goodnight, Edgeworth," he repeated, feeling like it was the only thing he could say.

“Goodnight, Wright.”

Phoenix stared for a beat longer in the darkness before he forced his legs to move out of the doorway.

They’d talk about it tomorrow.

[moochipeachey]

THE VON HAUNT ESTATE

Eric: I can't believe you've been sleeping with my girlfriend?! How fucking dare you?! How could you?!

Naomi: Eric, I know it looks crazy, but I can explain.

Eric: *jabs finger in face* "I don't want to hear shit from you. Ya know, I knew you were a slut when you let me fuck after knowing me for one day, but I thought you at least had an ounce of self-respect."

Matthew: "Watch your mouth! I know you're angry but that doesn't give you an excuse to be disrespectful. Act like your mother raised you better than that, or I'll give you the ass whooping you rightfully deserve."

Eric: "And I know daddy wasn't around to teach you the bro code, but let me tell you something Matthew, it damn sure doesn't involve sticking your dick or nose into other people's relationship. Bros over hoes!"

Matthew: "Call her a name one more time and I'll-"

Eric: "You'll do what?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't send you up to meet your father."

Matthew: "That's it, I'm gonna fucking kill you!".

Naomi: "That's enough, both of you! *intense silence* Naomi: "Eric, you're upset, and rightfully so, but that's no excuse for you to talk to Matthew like that." Eric: "Of course, the whore takes his side." Matthew: "Dude, you must really want your ass beat." Naomi: "Stop! It's not about taking sides. Look, lines have been crossed on both sides and at the end of the day, we are all in the wrong. Let's just call it a night and we can talk about this later." Matthew: "Oh I have nothing to say to him. He knows we're sleeping together and now I know how he really feels about me. I'm done!" Eric: "I actually agree with the asshole, I never want to see the two of you again. I hope you have the night you deserve."

Eric: *mumbles* "Fucking piece of shit losers." Eric: *mumbles* "I swear I can never have anything to myself. First it was football, now it's my girlfriend. What's next, my father?" Lena: *sighs* "I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another." Nadine: "Uh oh. I see that look on your face, what is it now?" Lena: "I don't know, and I don't think I want to find out either. On the bright side, at least it's not Zackery this time."

Adrian: "Sooo, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Scott and Isaac-" Zack: *groans* "Et tu, Brute?" Adrian: *chuckles* "C'mon Zack, you know it's not like that at all, I fuck with you. It's just... I've been under a lot of pressure lately and I could use a little something to help me... destress. You feel me?" Zack: "I, uhh, I might still have a guy." Adrian: "Oh really? Because word on the street is you are the guy."

Adrian: "And you're sure it's practically impossible to overdose on this stuff?" Zack: "Dude, it's just molly. I thought you said you did your research and read the trip reports?" Adrian: "I mean, yeah, but there wasn't much information on overdoses." Zack: *scoffs* "Exactly. Look, molly is like the safest drug ever, a drug addict could take it with no issue. See, watch this." Zack: "Easy as pie." Adrian: "If you say so." Zack: "Come on, hurry up, let's get back before anyone notices we're gone."

Nadine: "I would do anything to see the look on Andre's face right now. I have no doubt he's rolling his eyes at whatever outlandish thing Bruce is saying." Lena: "Oh. My. God." Nadine: "What? What is - Oh."

Lena: "I think it goes without saying, but that meeting with my husband? You can kiss it goodbye.

Introduction | Meet the Characters | Previous | Next |

[docheros]

YO can I have Dochero with 👄 (sharing their first kiss) and 🍯 (friends to lovers)? (I wasn't a fan of the last category for this prompt)

thanks for the ask! decided to do some teenage au S2

======================

— Have you ever kissed anyone? — laying on the bed, Jackie kicked his legs in the air, staring at the ceiling.

— Nope — Henrik turned another page on his book as calmly as possible, without seeming to care that his friend almost fell.

— WHAT? — now on the floor, he crawled to the german's side — never? But you're so pretty!

— So?

— A lot of people must have wanted to kiss you! — of course, he was one of them.

— But I don't want to kiss them — he shrugged — I want my first kiss to be with someone special.

— Henrik Von Schneeplestein, you must be the last romantic on Earth.

Henrik smiled, a bit proud. Jackie pouted, looking at his book. Something crazy went over his head.

— ...Am I someone special to you?

— Yeah, you're my best friend.

The american's heart skipped a beat. He could do this, it wasn't wrong. But it felt wrong. Henrik was his best and only friend at school, what if he ruined everything? Him and his dumb feelings. Why being a teenager in love was so dramatic?

— ...can I be your first kiss?

Ok, thinking before speaking was never Jackie's best ability. He realized with much horror what he had said when Henrik slowly closed his book and stared at him, with pink cheeks.

— I, I... I'm sorry I didn't mean to... I mean I meant but... No, I... — oh God oh shit oh fuck. Why was him so weird about stuff. He just wanted to bury himself on the floor.

— ...Ok.

Everything stopped for a while. Jackie felt his face getting hotter. His whole body actually.

— Really?

— Yeah. I said I wanted with someone special — he looked away, playing with his hair — you fit this category very well.

That was... awkward, to say the least. Jackie have kissed other people before, he wasn't even a virgin anymore, but he was never the first of anyone. Would he be a good teacher?

Probably not.

— So... What do I have to do?

Oh right. He spaced out.

— Um, eh... — he was now in front of Henrik, staring at the floor — nothing, really. Just... close your eyes, it'll be less awkward.

— Jackie, if you don't want to, that's ok-

— I do! — he lifted his face, meeting Henrik's eyes. They were so close. Schneep giggled and he smiled — ...do I look like a creepy?

— Maybe — he closed his eyes, trying to relax — ok, on your time.

Jackie swallowed hard, he was more nervous than his friend. Why? He had kissed before! He knew what to do!

He sighed, holding his face and finally doing it. It was... something else. Henrik didn't move at all, he had to lead all of it. It's not like there was much to do, it was his first kiss and Jackie wouldn't make things more weirder by tongue kissing him.

But it was nice. Very nice. Schneep's lips were dry and his cheeks were getting warmer by the seconds, it was... cute. So cute. Jackie wanted to freeze time.

And also because he didn't know what to do after it.

But everything that's good has to end, and they stopped it. The american opened his eyes, finding a Henrik with eyes closed and red face, breathing through his mouth.

Fuck.

— ...Hen? Are you there? Earth to Henrik, Earth to Henrik — he tried to joke it off, his heart was beating so fast it almost hurt.

— Jackie — he finally opened his eyes, a smile trying to come out — I... I liked it.

— Ah — his mind went blank — I'm... I'm glad you liked it. I liked it too.

Jackie moved over, sitting by the german's side, staring at his own feet.

— You know, you... — Henrik hugged his legs, adjusting his glasses — you're a good kisser.

— Thanks.

Silence. Suddenly the clouds passing by the window looked very interesting.

— Jackie.

— Yeah?

— Can... we do it again?

— You liked that much? — He laughed, looking at his friend — for someone who had never kissed...

Schneep's face got more red.

— I liked the person I kissed better than the kiss itself...

Jackie felt like he'd pass out.

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-yigas]

Sooga gets all nasty from fighting a Hinox (or a Molduga idk just anything but a Lynel- dont do him like that) and despite the last armpit thing- is surprised that Kohga is all over him… or maybe he planned it? 👀

Oh go to hell, this is MY kink, let's go.

(Also Lynels are more Von's territory;))

Sooga mumbled an apology as he walked past the two guards. The medics required Molduga guts for various medicines, and of course, Sooga volunteered. Unfortunately, the creature's slain blood made him smell absolutely foul, causing anyone to stand near him to wince. Even as the medics accepted the guts, they didn't seem to want him there for very long. He was about to head right for the showers, when he looked at Master Kohga’s room. He SHOULD make sure he needed anything beforehand. He knocked on the door. Sure he pretty much lived there at this point, but he was his servant before he was his lover.

"Come in."

Sooga came in, seeing Kohga working at his desk. He had been into origami as a child, and it was still something he enjoyed doing today.

"Master Kohga, keeping busy I see."

"Yeah, Urbosa was telling me about these new folds that...what the hell is that smell?"

Kohga fully turned away from his project, in order to glance at Sooga. He gave a light bow of apology.

"I'm sorry. The healers required Molduga guts, so I volunteered."

"You couldn't have waited till night? They're so much slower when it's cold out."

"Oh well, there's no challenge then, is there? What's the point of the hunt if you don't sweat a little?"

He chuckled. He moved to his side of the bed, and dug a new uniform out of his nightstand. He stripped himself down, till just a towel hung around his hips. He felt Kohga’s eyes upon him during, but that was nothing new. Sooga was about to walk out and into the baths, when Kohga reached for his hand.

"Hey hey, wait. You should uh...lay down for a minute. It's pretty damn hot out there, I'd hate for you to suddenly pass out in some hallway."

"I feel quite alright? I mean, a bit gross, covered in the smell of all that blood and blubber. Not to mention the sweat."

Kohga suddenly looked...uncomfortable. 

"Just...lay down. For a minute."

Sooga thought it was a waste, fouling up the bed with his own odor. But a command was a command. He moved his clothes, laid down on the bed, and put his hands behind his head. He was about to ask how long he should stay put, when Kohga was suddenly at his side, greedily feeling up his arm.

"Master Kohga?"

"I just. Didn’t want you to be lonely here, is all. God you are just...soaked in sweat. You look all...glossy."

"Apologies. I understand this might be quite unpleasant."

Kohga felt at his sweaty bicep, and for once, Sooga got the fucking hint; that his Master was horny. He never understood it, but his Master had such an odd fetish for sweaty, foul smelling men. But, Sooga was nothing if not a servant to him. He tried not to chuckle, just now seeing that greedy look in his eyes.

"Yeah you smell just...awful. Terrible."

"Certainly doesn't help that I haven't shaved in some time,"

He scratched his armpit, watching as Kohga looked at his sweaty fingertips. Such a greedy stare from his master, it gave him quite the ego boost.

"My underarms are probably the foulest smelling thing. You can see for yourself, If you don't believe me."

"That...can't smell that bad."

"Master Kohga, I'm CAKED in sweat. Look at me, I'm simply putrid."

Kohga couldn’t help himself anymore. He dug his face into his armpit, and inhaled. Poor Kohga’s body went limp almost immediately, taken aback by the smell.

"You're...so sweaty. And gross. And…h-holy shit."

Kohga pulled out his cock (Sooga was surprised to see he was so hard already), before starting to stroke himself, refuse to pull his face away. This wasn’t Sooga’s thing, but the sight of his master so excited about him? It DID make his heart flutter.

"I bet I'd taste even worse."

Kohga’s body trembled something FIERCE, Sooga almost felt guilty by tormenting him so much. At least, he would, if he didn’t know Kohga didn’t absolutely love it. His hand was moving so quickly on his cock, he could tell he wanted to cum SO badly. Sooga let Kohga squirm and writhe, all while his tongue and lips tasted every bit of sweat from his hairy, awful armpit.

"You're the worst thing I've e-ever fucking smelled,"

Kohga trailed off for a second, tongue lapping up another bead of sweat from his underarms.

"And GOD you make me wanna cum SO badly~"

Sooga chuckled. He could see precum drip into his Master's hand. He wouldn't have to wait long.

"Why DO you like this so much? I'm curious."

"Boys smelling nice is...well, nice. But MEN should smell like absolute shit. The smell of sweat, of dirt and grime, it fucking DOES something to me, Sooga."

"You must be miserable when I wash, then."

Kohga hesitated for a second, before groaning.

"Not...totally. You know how I say I personally take your clothes to wash?"

"Yes?"

"Well...if they're sweaty. I use them to jerk off. F-fucking shit, I remember once I found just a rank pair of boxers in your clothes pile-I went crazy, Sooga."

Sooga couldn’t help himself. He full on snorted, making Kohga smack him on his shoulder.

"I'm s-sorry I just-"

"DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME."

"I'm not, I swear! Just. Knowing I have the potential to arouse you so much...it's odd. But you're right, I'm being rude. Here, let me help you finish."

Sooga grabbed Kohga’s head, and pushed him against his armpit, smothering him in his own smell. Kohga wanted to bitch and complain, obviously, but he was lost to his lust. So lost, he could do nothing but sit there, whine, and roughly stroke his cock. Until he came. Came so hard, his poor girth ached, and his body went totally stiff. Then, when Kohga went limp, Sooga finally let him go, letting his Master sit in his own cum.

"I...h-holy shit. I hate you. Fuck."

"I love you too, Master Kohga. Would you like me to wait to take a bath?"

"God yes."

"As you wish, my Master."

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Twice Bitten, Never Shy

A Stitched Story

JSE Fanfic

My mind is going blank for things to say about this part. Maybe I’m tired. Anyway, the boys have themselves a couple of new allies, and just in time to get attacked again! Timing! And that’s about all I can think of. Besides, I feel like my descriptions are getting long, so I’ll just stop. Hope you enjoy reading ^-^

Tagging @septic-dr-schneep for inspiring this AU with this post.

Read where it started: Stitched Together | Season One | Season Two

Previous Season Three story: Torn Apart | Tales to Tell | Threads

Taglist (finally): @bupine​ @violet--majesty​

“Sorry for dropping in on all of you like this. But we really need to talk.”

For a moment, everyone just stared at the person who’d just walked into the room. The same magician from...was it really just earlier that morning? One of the ones they’d fought with, the one named Delyth Mae. It took a moment to sink in. And then everything burst.

Schneep shot to his feet, wielding his scissors like a knife blade. JJ threw his hand in an arc, conjuring a shield right in front of Delyth, in case she tried to cast any spells. Chase cried out and tried to stand up but was dragged back down by Jackie still clinging to his arm. Jack scrambled backwards, tripping over the chair’s arm in an attempt to back away. “What are you doing here?!” Schneep snarled.

Delyth looked unfazed. She raised her hands like she was surrendering. “I said we need to talk,” she repeated calmly.

“You tried to kill us!” Chase squeaked.

“No,” Delyth emphasized. “That was never the plan. It wasn’t even the plan to fight you unless you were hostile. Tavish and Nairne were out of line, and I’ve removed them from this team. Now, I hope to approach this diplomatically.”

Schneep barked out a laugh. “You think we are going to trust you—”

JJ lowered the shield.

“Jay what the fuck?!” Chase shouted.

“Wait, what? What just happened?” Schneep asked, suddenly shifting his mood to confused.

“Your friend seems to be reasonable,” Delyth said, stepping further into the room. “I’m so sorry to impose on you, Mr. Akela.”

“Uh...no, it’s fine,” Malcolm said, remaining in the doorway. “I’m just...gonna...wait here.” He looked visibly awkward, standing in the entrance to his own commandeered living room.

“Hey, uh, JJ, I appreciate your...trusty-ness,” Jack said, warily edging around the room. “But is this a good idea?”

When the other two magicians were fighting us, she was trying to stop them, JJ remembered. I think she’s willing to talk it out, at least.

“She tried to stop the other two who were fighting us, huh?” Jack repeated. “I guess that makes sense.”

Schneep grumbled, but lowered his scissors. “Fine, but I will stay on my guard.”

Delyth walked yet further into the room, now standing in the center. She looked around, and her eyes landed on Jackie. “Oh hello.”

Jackie blinked. “Do I...? No, I definitely don’t know you.”

“Just say why you are here,” Schneep prompted.

“Well, last time, I told you about the unusually high levels of soul magic in the city.” Delyth folded her hands. “I believe you may know something about it. If you would give us information, I give you my promise, the ABIM will do everything we can to help you with any troubles you may have.”

“Huh...I guess that could be helpful,” Chase said reluctantly. “If you’re telling the truth.”

“Of course I am!” Delyth’s tone became suddenly impatient. “Look, we’ve been chasing this soul magic for a long time now, people above me want results. I’m sure we can help.”

“Uh...well I guess it might be good to have some magical knowledge when it comes to this.” Jack held up the water bottle with the duct-taped lid.

“Jack, please,” Schneep said, exasperated.

“Oh, sorry, Hen, I’m just talking about the strings,” Jack said.

“Well, I could get context clues, but still.” Schneep hummed. “I suppose you are right.”

“Well, I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement, then,” Delyth smiled. “Now. Can you please tell me what—wait, hold on a second.” She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small tape recorder. “I have to record this as a testimony. None of you mind, do you?”

I would like to point out that you can’t record me, JJ immediately said.

“Yeah, JJ uses sign language, how’s that gonna work?” Chase asked.

“Well I suppose one of you will have to translate,” Delyth said. “Other than that, is everything okay?” Everyone made sounds of agreement, though Schneep’s was a bit reluctant. “Great.” Delyth pressed a button on the recorder. “This is Delyth Mae, member of the Magi, Investigation Level 4. Case 3-10100703. Witness interview for information. Please state your names for the record.”

Uh...” Jack blinked, and glanced around at the others. “I’m, uh...Jack McLoughlin.”

“I’m Chase,” Chase says, now squirming to adjust positions while Jackie was still refusing to let go. “Chase Brody.”

“Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein,” Schneep states clearly. “And this is our friend Jameson Jackson, who unfortunately cannot talk for your recorder.” JJ waved.

“Thank you. Now, two of you, Mr. McLoughlin and Mr. Schneeplestein—”

“Doctor,” Schneep said tersely.

“Sorry, Dr. Schneeplestein.” Delyth paused. “Out of curiosity, what are you a doctor of?”

“I...was a surgeon,” Schneep said slowly.

“Well, the two of you give off distinct signatures of soul magic, is that correct?”

“Apparently,” Jack laughed nervously.

“And on that basis, I thought that you may know something about the high levels of soul magic in the city.” Delyth seems to be providing an explanation for the tape recorder. “Now, can you tell me what that is, that you know?”

Nobody really wanted to start. But after a moment of admittedly awkward silence, Chase said, “Well, I guess it started with this guy and his roommate.” Chase pointed to Jackie. “This is...well, he’s a friend of ours.”

“What’s your name, sir?” Delyth asked.

Jackie blinked. “I’m—we’re—I’m Jackie. But I think I—we—I have more names than that.”

“Look, it’s a long story,” Chase interrupted. “Just...don’t say anything until we’re done.” And he started to explain.

— — — — — — —

Someone was walking through the city streets. It was eleven o’clock in the morning, and a lot of people were out, pedestrians and drivers alike. But no one seemed to notice him. Which was unusual, you would think a man wearing half a mask, stained blue and shaped like a cat face, with green string stitching across his neck, eyes glimmering blue and green and occasionally red...you would think a man like that would be noticeable.

He was heading somewhere. He wasn’t sure where, but he could feel it tugging at him. Like a string pulling him to a destination. Though he didn’t know where he was going, he knew what would be on the other end of the string. More pieces of him. They were all together.

A woman was following him for a while. Until she noticed he was going in a straight line. Directly straight, cutting through alleyways and yards whenever he could. Puzzled, she opened up a map of the city on her phone, tracing a straight line in the direction he was heading. There wasn’t really anything important in that part of the city. Just a section of townhouses. But he might have been going to one of them. She hurried ahead, and halfway through running, poofed into a cloud of blue smoke. When it faded, she was gone.

The man hadn’t even noticed her disappearing. He hadn’t even noticed her following. All that was important were the missing pieces. And he was getting closer.

White noise flickered around his grinning face.

— — — — — — —

The silence after the explanation was deafening. Delyth didn’t say anything as she processed what had just happened. Chase had done most of the explaining, though naturally, there were parts he didn’t know and the others had to fill in. Malcolm had left halfway through, muttering something about stupid crazy magic shit. Jackie had stayed, but he’d stayed silent the whole time, and after a while closed his eyes. Nobody thought he was sleeping.

“This is...frankly unbelievable,” Delyth finally said.

“Don’t worry, we know,” Jack muttered.

“It’s just—” She couldn’t even come up with words to describe it. “The four of you—well, the five of you—you knew Marvin Moore?”

None of them had expected her to grab onto that, out of the whole series of events. “Well, Jameson didn’t,” Jack said. JJ shook his head, but said nothing, aware it wouldn’t be picked up on the recorder. “But yeah, we all did.”

“You know me,” Jackie said, giggling. His eyes stayed firmly closed. “You know me̶.”

The others stared at him for a moment. After a while, when it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything else, Schneep cleared his throat. “Why is that significant?” he asked.

“Marvin Moore was one of only two soul magicians in this city,” Delyth said. “Both of them, coincidentally, had a history of subverting ABIM regulations.”

Chase blinked. “I...never knew Marvin was part of this magical organization. Or, uh, going around it, whatever. Though to be fair, we didn’t think Marvin’s magic was actually magic until all this crazy shit started happening.”

“If what you say is true...” Delyth said slowly. “About this...together...fusion...thing...” She couldn’t help but give Jackie another wary glance. “Then this thing would probably have soul magic as well, thus accounting for the high amounts of trace soul magic in the city. Sounds like it was...active. Until recently.”

“Well, these string things might be...whatever’s left of him.” Jack shook the water bottle, hearing the faint sound of the strings inside. “And they’re very active.”

Delyth shook her head, visibly stunned. “Nothing like this has ever—ever—happened before. Not in all our records, and they go back quite a while. Influencing electricity, this intense hypnotism—opening the Nightmare, for god’s sake. ‘Black magic’ doesn’t even cover what this thing is. It’s—it is a magical abomination.”

Jackie’s eyes suddenly flew open. They seemed to flash red, and he growled, glaring at Delyth. She tensed, her eyes glowing a slight purple in return.

The tension was broken by the doorbell ringing. Malcolm, who’d been listening quietly, made a cry of frustration. “I swear, if it’s anyone else involved in this fucking stuff...” He muttered under his breath as he went to get the door.

“But even if you’ve never heard of something like this before, you can still...like, fix it, right?” Chase asked hopefully.

Delyth frowned. “That isn’t my area of expertise. I know some things about soul magic, but I haven’t studied it, exactly. We’d need to call in people who know more about experimental magic than I do, just to even figure out what we could do.”

“Okay,” Jack said. “So how do we do—”

“Hey!” Malcolm shouted.

Everyone looked towards the sound, just in time to see a young woman with purple and blue hair run into the room. “Mae! It is you!” she said, visibly relieved.

Malcolm ran into the room after her. “I’m sorry, she just pushed right past me, do any of you know her?”

Delyth blinked. She quickly turned off the tape recorder and stood up, shoving it in her pocket. “Yvonne Bell. What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story, but basically—” Yvonne looked like she was starting with a conversation, but then she glanced around the room and stopped. She stared, wide-eyed, at the group. “Wait, who are you?” 

“Bell, please,” Delyth said, exasperated. “You are on thin ice already—”

“Ohhhh no, wait, I get it now,” Yvonne covered her mouth with her hand. “You’re friends of his, right? Marvin.”

“Oh my god, how the fuck does everyone know Marvin?!” Schneep threw his hands in the air.

Are you a magician too? JJ asked.

“You—also—magician,” Yvonne said out loud, watching JJ’s hands move. “I’m assuming that’s what that is, I’m a bit rusty. Yes, I am.”

“Yvonne Bell is the second soul magician in the city,” Delyth explained. “It’s only natural that the two of them knew of each other.”

“Well, uh...yeah, you can say that,” Yvonne said, her voice slowly rising in pitch. “Hey, so uh, Mae, I ducked in here cause I thought it was a bit weird, sensing you in this area, I thought you might be able to help, but I think I ended up finding something more important. You are friends of Marv, right? I think I recognize you. Definitely recognize him.” She pointed at Jackie, who was now looking around as if searching for the source of a strange noise. 

“Yeah, we knew him—know him,” Jack said. “Uh...why?”

Yvonne laughed, a bit hysterically. “Well so long story short I ran into him and he’s pretty off his rocker! And also he was heading in this direction last I saw so I tried to find where he was going and that might end up being here.”

Silence fell instantly. It stayed for a few seconds, and then Malcolm immediately turned around and left, muttering something under his breath. Everyone in the living room heard the sound of the stairs creaking. “You know honestly I don’t blame him for that,” Chase sighed. “Uh...Yvonne, is it? What do you mean he’s off his rocker?”

“H-he showed up at my shop last night,” Yvonne started. “And he—well, he was bleeding from this wound on his neck, and at first I thought he was acting weird ‘cause of the blood loss, but it wasn’t that big. He didn’t know where he was or who I was or who he was, kept switching from I to we, saying stuff about puppets, it was all really weird. Then there were these green strings—” Everyone stiffened. “—that showed up, and he, like, it was creepy how he acted with them, and some of them reached him and—and he was all hostile, and he headed out, and it was like he was looking for something, but that must be you, right?”

Another few moments of silence. “Jesus,” Chase muttered, and stood up, managing to push Jackie away only because he seemed more concerned with...something. “You’re not joking, right?”

“Why the shit would I joke about that?!” Yvonne yelled. “It was freaky as fuck!”

“So when you say ‘green strings,’” Jack said, “do you mean this collection of green, slightly glowing, pieces of thread that crawled across the ground like creepy worms?”

Yvonne blinked. “Yeah, why?”

Jack held up the water bottle and tapped the side. “They showed up here, too. We caught them, but...Jackie reacted weirdly to them.”

“Clearly, these strings are somehow connected to the both of them,” Delyth said.

“Well no shit!” Schneep snapped. “Anti was held together by string, it is probably what is left of him!”

“Okay, look, we can discuss it later,” Yvonne said. “Right now we have to—”

Jameson happened to glance towards the window at just the right time. He stiffened, and threw out a shield. The window burst, glass flying inward. Most of it bounced off Jameson’s shield, which managed to cover Chase, Jack, and Jackie, all sitting close together. Schneep yelped, but was mostly blocked from the shards by Yvonne, who threw up her arms to try to protect herself. Delyth reacted as soon as she heard the sound, conjuring a personal shield of her own out of crystalline purple magic.

Strands of blue light started to crawl inside the broken window. Jackie suddenly snapped to attention and shot to his feet. Chase grabbed him, sure that this couldn’t be a good thing.

The blue light—blue strings—wrapped around Jameson’s shield, twisting along the edges. Jameson took a step back, the magic flickering. Without warning, the strings shot towards him, wrapping around his torso and pinning his arms to his side. The shield died.

“What is this?!” Delyth asked, scrambling to her feet.

“Watch out!” Yvonne shouted.

Something jumped through the broken window, moving too fast to be anything but a blur. Jack was suddenly knocked to the ground, dropping the water bottle, which rolled across the floor. He gasped, partly because the breath was knocked out of him, partly because of the sight before him. It was recognizably Marvin, but...at the same time, too strange. He was wearing a mask that looked rather like his old cat-shaped one...if it was blue instead of white and snapped in half. Behind that mask, his eyes flickered between blue and green, teeth clenched in a snarl. Green stitches crossed a line across his throat.

Jackie shouted something, and pushed Chase away. He only took two steps forward before Chase tackled him to the floor. “Marvin!” Yvonne shouted, and ran over to pull him off Jack. Delyth quickly joined her. While they were doing that, Schneep was by Jameson’s side. Trying to pull at the magic strings proved unsuccessful, so he took out his scissors and cut, managing to slice right through them, though he got very close to Jameson’s skin a couple times.

There was a burst of light, and Yvonne and Delyth got thrown back, covered in blue strings that stuck to the walls. Schneep spun around. “What is happening?!”

Jack sat up, Marvin suddenly gone. He looked around for where he went, and caught sight of him just as he grabbed the water bottle with the strings inside. “Don’t let him grab the bottle!” Jack shouted, lunging forward and landing on Marvin’s back. He managed to startle him enough to make him let go, but as the bottle rolled away, Marvin hissed, and reached for it. Jack grabbed his arm. “Chase, help?!”

“Sorry bro, bit busy!” Chase was dealing with a struggling Jackie, who kept trying to get closer to Marvin and the bottle.

Jameson shook off the last of the magic strings, and flung a disc of magic forward. It rolled across the floor and hit the bottle, knocking it across the room. Marvin and Jackie shouted in identical unison.

Schneep finished cutting Delyth and Yvonne out of the magic strings, and Delyth yelled something in a strange language. The ground quaked, and a purple spike shot out of the ground directly under the water bottle, sending it flying into the air, in a perfect arc right into Delyth’s hands. She wiggled it, as if taunting Marvin and Jackie, then threw it out the window.

Marvin screamed, and disappeared in a flurry of white noise. Jackie’s eyes flashed red, and Chase was thrown backward, staggering, bleeding from a cut that went straight from his shoulder to his navel. Not even looking back, Jackie ran forward and jumped out the window.

“Come on, outside!” Delyth said to the room. “There’ll be more room to maneuver!”

It took a few moments for everyone to get their bearings, but they knew time was of the essence so they hurried. As a group, they all ran out the front door onto the street.

Marvin had picked up the water bottle, and was struggling with the duct tape holding the lid closed. Jackie was standing a few feet in front of him, eyes fixed on his face. After a moment, Marvin seemed to notice, and looked up as well. The two of them were frozen.

Just long enough for Jameson to throw a shield up between them. Jackie stepped back, his surprised expression turning to anger. He cried out, and red light started slicing at the shield. Marvin was smarter, and whirled to look at Jameson. He threw out his hands, and more blue strings shot forward. Chase pushed Jameson out of the way, but got entangled himself. Schneep ran to him, and upon feeling the strings, started cutting at those as well.

“Get the bottle!” Jack shouted, running forward. Marvin turned to him and scowled. More strings burst out of the ground, wrapping around his legs and stopping him in his tracks.

Jameson’s shield flickered and died, and Jackie ran forward, latching onto Marvin’s side. Marvin seemed to relax a bit, his eyes starting to glow a softer green. Jackie’s eyes glowed as well, the exact same color.

“No no no no no.” Yvonne ran forward, stopping right behind Jackie. She pressed her hands to either side of her head. “Dor me sonum,” she whispered, and Jackie’s eyes rolled back in his head. He crumpled to the floor, but then Marvin’s eyes instantly locked on Yvonne. She didn’t even have time to react before she was sent flying backwards, landing heavily on the asphalt of the street, and not moving again.

“Fuck this!” Schneep hissed under his breath, turning towards Marvin. Marvin laughed, static crackling along with the sound, and threw out another wave of strings. But Schneep disappeared. And between one step and the next, he was behind Marvin, grabbing at the bottle he was holding. He managed to wrench it out of his grasp, then stepped backwards and disappeared again.

Delyth turned to Jameson. “Can you keep him busy?” she asked. He looked surprised, but nodded. “Good.” She took a deep breath, and started muttering something.

Jameson stepped forward, throwing a disc of light at Marvin, who seemed stunned at the fact that he was no longer holding the water bottle. He didn’t recover in time to avoid the disc splashing in his face. He gasped, and stumbled back, then immediately glared at Jameson. He raised his hand, and a few more strings curled around his arm and shot outward. Jameson ducked just in time to avoid them, but another few quickly wrapped around his arms, pulling him downward. “Useless f͡a͟͝ke magician,” Marvin hissed. “W̵or͠thle͟s͞ś replacement.”

“Leave him alone!” Chase shouted. In one swift motion, he pulled out his gun and BANG!

Marvin staggered backwards, more surprised than hurt. He glared at Chase and reached upward.

Delyth suddenly threw her hands out in front of her, eyes glowing bright purple. A wave of purple light flew out from her in a circle. Once it reached Marvin, pale lavender crystals started to grow out of the ground around his feet. He looked down, but the crystals accelerated, and soon they were covering him up to his armpits. There was only enough time for him to scream out in frustration before he was completely encased.

“We should hurry to get out of here,” Delyth said, not wasting any time. “That spell only lasts an hour at best. Quick, let’s all get in my car.”

“Your what?” Schneep asked.

“Yeah, what?” Chase repeated.

Delyth pointed to the side of the road. A blue car was parked there. “It should be a tight fit, but I think we can all squeeze in. Bring Bell and that...what was his name? Jackie?”

“Hang on!” Schneep had finished cutting Jack free of the strings, and was now standing up straight and glaring in Delyth’s general direction.

“I just pointed to it,” Delyth said, annoyed.

“I am fucking blind!” Schneep snapped. “Was that not obvious?!”

“...oh.” Delyth had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I suppose that would explain some things I noticed. I just thought that...nevermind. My apologies.”

“It’s okay, I’ll get you there,” Jack said to Schneep.

For his part, Schneep looked frustrated. “The first thing I am doing after everything settles down is getting one of those white canes. That way everyone will know and I can find what is around me without asking people.”

Where are we going? Jameson asked.

“Yeah, where are we going?” Chase repeated. “You’re a magician, are we going to some secret magic place?”

Delyth glanced uneasily at Marvin, still frozen. “I’ll explain on the way there.”

— — — — — — —

The car ride was short, which was lucky, since it was also very cramped. Delyth drove and Chase was in the front seat, which left the other three to fill the backseat. It wouldn’t have been a problem if they didn’t also have to fit in Jackie and Yvonne’s unconscious bodies. So they ended up having those two partly on top of them.

True to her word, Delyth explained while she drove. “Marvin clearly means you harm. We need a place with strong wards to protect you from him. And somewhere to keep those...strings safe. To study them, as well as what happened to your friend Jackie. I know a place that fits all those qualifications, near the center of town.”

After a while, Delyth parked in front of what looked like an old bookstore. The sign had fallen off and the windows were dusty, but through the clouded glass you could see lines of shelves and empty displays. They all piled out of the car, watching Delyth as she ran her hand along the edge of the building’s front door frame. It lit up with purple light, which faded to white before disappearing entirely. And without an explanation, she opened the door and stepped inside. Confused, the others quickly followed, with Chase and Jack carrying Yvonne and Jackie.

The interior wasn’t at all what it looked like it would be from the outside. In fact, it looked more like a hotel lobby than anything, decorated in white and gold colors. “Wait, what?!” Chase blinked in surprise.

We stepped into a TARDIS, JJ said succinctly.

“Fancy,” Jack commented. “Looks like the entrance to a hotel or something.” This last statement was probably for Schneep, clinging to his arm.

“This is an ABIM Sanctuary,” Delyth explained. She walked over to a desk with a computer and started typing something in. “It’s for any Magi agents or employed wizards to stay while in town.”

“I...cannot take the phrase ‘employed wizards’ seriously,” Chase said.

Delyth huffed. “‘Wizard’ just means they study magic. It’s an actual term with a long history—you know what, I can explain later. Or maybe Bell can, when she wakes up. We should probably get one of the healers here to look at her, make sure the damage from that blow wasn’t too severe.”

“What about Jackie?” Jack asked.

“It looked like Bell hit him with a sleep spell,” Delyth said. “He should wake up any minute now.” She backed away from the computer. “There. I’ve checked you all in, as my guests, now I’ll show you to your assigned rooms.” And she headed towards a set of elevator doors in the back of the room.

You said we needed strong wards, JJ asked. Does that mean Marvin can’t find us here? And what about these strings? You said we could study them. Jack translated the signs for Delyth.

“Yes, the wards here are very strong,” Delyth said, pressing the Up button next to the lift. “Tracking spells shouldn’t be able to break through them. And we’ll have to talk to some of the wizards here about the strings, I’m sure they can help. If not, I’ll call in for backup. Now come on.” The elevator doors dinged open.

Surprisingly, there were seven floors to the building, which had been just a single story from the outside. Delyth led them to the third floor and down a series of corridors, all lined with doors, until they reached one labelled 314. “I have two extra rooms, they all have two beds and a sleeper sofa. Bell can stay with me. You five can work out who stays in 312 and 313. Don’t worry, the doors aren’t locked to any of us; I put your names on the registry.”

“Uh...I’m gonna assume that’s some type of magic and say ‘thanks,’” Chase said. “Uh...well, if Jackie’s gonna wake up, I think I should stay with him? I-I don’t know, he might get upset if I don’t.”

“Okay, yes, but Jackie also became...aggressive,” Schneep said. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah...” Chase said, sighing.

I can stay with you, Chase, JJ offered. That way, if Jackie does try to attack, I can protect you.

“Oh.” Chase blinked. “Um...thanks.”

“So it’s you three, then me and Schneep,” Jack summarized. “I guess we’ll take 312 then.”

“Excellent,” Delyth said. “Now can you please hand me Miss Bell so I can take her inside?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Jack handed her off to Delyth in an awkward transition, and Delyth quickly went inside her room. “I guess we should just...check out our rooms, then.”

They all dispersed. Chase was mildly surprised when the door to room 313 opened without resistance; that didn’t seem very secure, but then again, it could be magic. He flipped on the lights, revealing what looked like a hotel suite, with a living room and kitchenette in view, two open doors showing the bathroom and bedroom. There were a pair of thick curtains on the opposite wall, no doubt hiding a window. Like the lobby downstairs, the room was mostly decorated in white with hints of gold. Chase walked over to the sofa and set Jackie down, breathing out slowly. He turned back to JJ, who was looking through the kitchenette’s cabinets. “I, uh...don’t know if they have food, bro.”

Well, it can’t hurt to look, JJ said.

“Haha, yeah...” Chase trailed off. He shifted awkwardly. “Hey can I uh...talk to you about something?”

Jameson stopped his investigation, and looked over at Chase curiously. He nodded.

“So, uh...about that...comment I made,” Chase said. “It was, like, a couple days ago. About you not having friends before we met you. I, uh, know I sorta apologized but it was really awkward, and...just, are you still mad about that? You probably are.”

It did sting, to say the least, JJ said. His expression was hard to read, but that might have been because he still had the scarf covering the lower half of his face.

Chase winced. “Yeah...look, I really didn’t mean it. I said it in the heat of the moment, I was frustrated about...just stuff, I guess. It was horrible and I’m really sorry, I...”

Chase, it’s okay, I’ve forgiven you, JJ interrupted.

“R-really?” Chase breathed.

Like you said, it was in the heat of the moment, JJ said. You were upset about the possibility of never seeing Jackie or Marvin again. And, well...you’re not technically wrong. I wasn’t too good at getting to know people. I’m still not, really.

“Yeah, but that didn’t mean I had to say it,” Chase said. “Really, I’m so, so sorry, a-and I really appreciate that you’re staying with me to protect me even though I said it—”

Of course I am, we’re still friends, right? JJ asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

One fight isn’t going to change that. JJ’s eyes crinkled like he was smiling under the scarf.

Chase chuckled. “Well, yeah. I’ve fought all the time with Schneep and Jack, and we still hang out.” He sighed. “It was still just...a bad thing to say.”

It’s water under the bridge, JJ assured him. 

After a moment, Chase reached forward and grabbed JJ’s hand, squeezing it. “Thanks.”

There was the sound of rustling fabric, and a groan. Chase and Jameson looked around, and saw Jackie sitting up. He seemed confused as he glanced around. The confusion soon gave way to some sort of frantic panicking. “Where am I? Where am I?!”

“Whoa, hey, Jackie, it’s fine.” Chase ran on over. “You’re in a safe place, okay? It’s fine.”

“But where am I?!” Jackie insisted, scrambling to his feet. “Where is the rest of me?! We were here, all of me, and now not anymore. Where is the other me?!”

Chase felt his heart sinking. “It’s fine,” he repeated. “We’ll...figure it out.”

Jackie’s eyes locked onto him. “Chase! Do you know where I am?”

“Uh...no, but we’ll figure it out.” He didn’t have much else to say.

“Figure it out, out, out,” Jackie muttered. He started walking around the perimeter of the room. Aimlessly, automatically, like he was just looking for something to do. “We’ll find me, we’ll find me.”

“Um...yeah.” Chase glanced at JJ, who gave him an uneasy look in return. “For now, let’s just...relax. It’s been a long day, and it’s only noon.”

Sounds good, JJ said, and turned back to the cabinets, looking through them again.

Chase collapsed on the sofa, and watched as Jackie continued to walk, walk, walk. Hopefully these magic people could figure out what to do about him And those strings. True, Delyth had said that nothing like this had ever happened before, but he believed there was a solution. One that would save everyone. And he did mean everyone.

He had to keep believing that. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he stopped believing.

[crowsent]

AUgust 2020: College AU

Prompt given by @augustwritingchallenge

Summary: Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the III gets peer-pressured into going to a party and meets someone.

Pairing: Minor Perc’ahlia

Characters: Scanlan, Percy, Vex’ahlia

Word Count: 3180

CW: N/A

Notes: the tumblr version is unformatted, no italics, no bold, nothing. for that reason, i highly recommend you to read the ao3 version instead so yall get that sweet sweet tone difference.

AO3 Link: HERE

=

Let it be known that Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the III was three more unnecessarily complicated essays away from trudging downstairs into the campus basement where a supposed “demon” dwells to bargain his soul away for but a day of having a clear head for once. The migraine seemed to be permanent. A persistent, obdurate nuisance that’s making his head spin and his eyes see two laptops with furiously typed half-finished assignments on the screen. Well, it was either the cause of the migraine, or it meant that Percy needed to get new glasses.

Or, according to his roommate, one Scanlan Shorthalt, all Percy needed was, “A day off.”

Rooming with Scanlan meant that Percy had experienced more than his fair share of having to skulk to the library, cafeteria, or, God forbid, being forced to wait outside their dorm room whenever Scanlan deigned to bring back a “friend.” More often than not, he had to spend more time turning down Scanlan’s many offers to “unwind” than on actually working on his assignments. Whether it be countless invitations to various parties Percy had no intention of attending, or simply skipping class and laying about with nary a care in the world, roll a couple blunts and allow the feeling to sweep him away. Let the thoughts drift. Stop existing for just a moment.

And though Percy had always turned Scanlan down without so much as a beat of hesitation, perhaps this once time was a rare moment of Scanlan being right for once. Perhaps Percy was working himself to death and maybe it was time for him to stop burning the midnight oil on an essay he was sure his professors merely gave a cursory glance at.

Scanlan swung an arm around the bedpost of his bed, sheets unmade with some of it pooling on the floor. He held a nonchalant pose even as he gave Percy a rather convincing look. “Come on. You’ve been working like a madman for hours! All work and no play makes Percy very grumpy and I, for one, don’t want to see bitchy Percy ever again.”

With another mournful look at his laptop screen, at the paragraphs dancing in his vision, Percy sighed and removed his glasses to rub the headache from his temples. “I have been rather tetchy, haven’t I?” Scanlan made various noises with meanings that might have ranged from “Yes,” to “Fucking duh,” but Percy chose to give him the benefit of doubt. With a sigh of defeat, Percy saved what little work he managed to finish and shut his laptop.

As soon as the screen made a soft ‘click,’ Scanlan let out a loud yell and pumped his fist up in the air in victory. “Finally! I was kind of thinking that you were some kind of robot.” It was the loudest thing Percy had ever had the misfortune of hearing, and he was quite sure that his migraine worsened even more at the sound of Scanlan’s voice. “Okay. I have the perfect idea for you to roll y0our shoulders a bit. Relieve all the tension penetrating your body.”

“Wording, Scanlan.”

Scanlan ignored him. “Just relax and allow yourself to experience everything that college has to offer. A couple of smokes, women, men, bad song choices and spiked drinks.”

“You’re inviting me to a party aren’t yo-”

“I’m inviting you to the best damn party you will ever be invited to,” Scanlan assured. There was fire in his eyes. Granted, Scanlan grew spirited whenever trying to cajole Percy into a party but there was sincerity behind his enthusiasm. “I know you rich kids get invited to all sorts of shit with three-piece suits and butlers with silver trays following after like lost puppies but Percy. Percival. Perc. There aren’t any fountains that shit gold or anything, but come on. If there’s ever a single party that you go to in your college career, let it be this one.”

“I really don’t think-”

“There probably won’t even be that much alcohol and drugs in it. It’ll be rated PG-mostly-13 as far as college parties go.” Scanlan had moved on from his bedside perch and had instead elected to encroach upon Percy’s space, giving his best attempt at puppy dog eyes. “There won’t even be horny assholes humping each other on the couch this time! Hopefully. Probably.”

“Scanlan.”

“Cassandra might be there, I don’t know, but Pike will definitely be there, and I’m the one planning all this for my friends and I’d really like for you to meet them so pretty please Percival Frankenstein Van Helsing Cleopatra de Rolo the Fourth will you please attend just one party to break from your perfect honour roll student life? It’s a birthday party if that helps so it won’t be as wild and crazy as the others. There will even be masks and shit because my other friends are dramatic little shits and I love them to bits and I really want you to meet them all and you don’t even have to suffer the mortal ordeal of being known so please? Please?”

“Oh for goodness’ sake, you win, Scanlan.” Another whoop and a cheer, somehow louder this time, if it was even possible, coupled with a hug that Percy only very slightly recoiled from. “I will attend, with a mask, but do not expect me to stay long.”

“Trust me my friend,” said Scanlan, pulling away with the brightest and widest grin Percy had ever seen from him, “after meeting them, you’ll want to stay.”

Percy doubted it. It had been years now since meeting the Briarwoods, but strangers still made him wary. He couldn’t bear to crush the hope in Scanlan’s eyes though, and resigned himself to an unpleasant night with people he had no intention of talking to ever again once the party was over. Well, once he left. It was going to be one of those attendances where Percy stayed just long enough to be polite. As soon as he could, he planned on booking it right back to his and Scanlan’s dorm room.

If he was already in the room, then maybe, Scanlan would have the decency to bring a potential ‘friend’ somewhere else. (The couches in the common space in the dorm were terribly uncomfortable.) Percy glanced at the clock in the room. Then to his closet, the racks and racks of somewhat formal clothing from a habit he never managed to kick. To the box he knew he kept hidden on the floor, further camouflaged by articles of clothing that don’t fit anymore. Perhaps it would be odd to bring a leather crow-like mask with goggles for eyes to a party, but then again, there was no way in heaven, hell, or any other planes that could possibly exist, that Percy would ever purchase a mask for an event he didn’t even want to attend.

Besides, store-bought masks might fall and slip. His mask won’t.

“I’m going to make some last minute prep for the party. Hang on.” Scanlan hurriedly scribbled an address down in his notebook, tore the scrap of paper off, and handed it to Percy. “Right here. A walk from campus. Starts at seven, don’t be late, see you!”

Before Percy could say anything, Scanlan was out the door, mission seemingly accomplished. He probably only returned to the dorm just so he can invite/cajole/bully Percy into attending his friend’s birthday party. Scanlan even neglected to mention the names of the friends he so wanted Percy to meet.

With a few more hours ‘til Percy has to pretend to socialise at this party, he got up out of his chair, dug out the box from the depths of his closet, and rooted out his mask. For a moment, he did nothing but stare at it.

Foreign and familiar at the same time. A distant echo of the past with a voice that only grew louder and louder the longer he held his mask. It had been years since he had last looked at it, let alone felt the tough material with his own fingers. The glass of the goggles had cracked in places, and the straps would surely no longer fit his head. But he had time, and upon closer inspection at the box itself, it seemed that Percy had subconsciously packed his leatherworking tools, along with more than enough stray pieces of metal, glass, and leather to fashion this mask into something more appropriate for a party.

The migraine still has not gone away, and with every second that passes, Percy gets closer to formulating that plan to sell his soul just to get the pulsing to stop, and he really should get some rest, but leatherworking isn’t work to him. It was relaxing. Freeing. Certainly more than any party would ever do for him. And with Scanlan gone, Percy had the chance to do some work in peace. He cleared his desk, gathered his tools and set to work.

.

“Percy?” The mask Scanlan chose covered only the lower half of his face. A smooth porcelain-like cover. With night cresting around the corner, and the cheap street lamps offering little to no illumination, (because public funding was… not particularly the best in this area) Percy couldn’t quite tell what Scanlan’s mask was made of. It fit him though. Even in the dim light, there were purple swirls that curled near the edges.

Scanlan nudged him. “Hello? Earth to Percy. Please be Percy. It would be so awkward if I was talking to not Percy.”

“Yes, Scanlan. Hello.” Percy adjusted his mask once more. It was strapped securely on his face, with buckles that would prevent any college party-goer that had one too many drinks from tugging the mask down his face.

Scanlan reached up to tap the shiny metal bits Percy managed to attach to the mask and make it look less plain. The nail of Scanlan’s finger made a soft sound as it met metal. “Huh.” Scanlan nodded and crossed his arms. “Look at you Mr. Overachiever. I thought you were just going to bring a plastic mask and be done with it.”

Percy reached up to push his glasses up his nose, only to hit the metal-plated beak of his mask. Right. The goggles were fixed, mostly, but his prescription had been altered slightly now. Scanlan looked a little blurry. “Did you honestly expect me to half-ass dramatics?” Still, with the mask on, no one could tell that Percy would be squinting for the entire night.

“Should have expected as much from the guy with fifty-thousand names.” Scanlan beckoned him over, towards a building flashing with lights and brimming with people. Pink and purple streamers hung down from the front doors, with some gold accents for flavour. “I’ll introduce you to my friends. Oh, and congratulate Vex and Vax happy birthday yeah?”

He had no idea who those were, but Percy assented. He had to shout the closer they got to the building. The music was tasteful, for a party, but it was unbearably loud. The migraine, which had subsided somewhat in the hours of silence Percy spent working on the mask, had begun to surface again. Still, he gave his word, and a de Rolo never breaks his word.

Scanlan, bless him, tried his best ot be heard over the music. Percy even tried to lean down to hear him better. All he caught was, “... nice mask… saw Cassandra…” and then, much clearer than anything else, “PIKE’S HERE!”

Now, Scanlan was a friend, possibly Percy’s only friend in the odd two years he’s been a student in Emon. None but Scanlan had the moxy and resolve to continuously track Percy down and whittle his walls little by little to form a fierce friendship with him. Percy would fight dragons for Scanlan if need be. But, he thinks with great respect mixed with even greater resignation and a little bit of frustration and regret; Scanlan packs up all logic and inhibitions and manners into a suitcase  whenever he saw Pike, and then defenestrated that suitcase as he bolted for her.

Indeed, with the occasional flash of bright light in the building, Percy saw Scanlan’s form rushing over to the side of a pretty woman with pale hair and a plain light blue mask. He could see the laughter in Scanlan’s shoulders from so far away as he and the woman, Pike, talked about things too far from Percy’s earshot.

Now he was simply alone, in a crowded room full of masked strangers with pulsing lights and too-loud music and Percy quickly took off into a corner, doing mental arithmetic with every step to count down the minutes he’d have to spend in this party he never really wanted to go to.

Mercifully, he found a punch table, several bowls lined up with various liquids. He can’t really drink anything in this mask, but he might as well look like he’s mingling with the crowd and whatnot. Percy grabbed a red plastic cup, chucked most of its contents into a potted plant, and leaned his back against a wall, looking out into the sea of people undulating their bodies with the rhythm of the music, and did his best to look like he wanted to be here.

Save the migraine and the lingering whispers in the back of his head about assignments due, the change of pace was refreshing. Annoying, but refreshing. And lacked the social obligations Percy feared he’d have to fulfill when he first came here. People saw him leaning against the wall and assumed that he was merely taking a break from the festivities or awaiting someone. It was peaceful, in a way.

That is, until a woman with an elegant blue mask marched to the punch table, grabbed two cups, downed both, and grabbed a third and joined Percy, leaning on the wall herself, body slightly angled to face him. Percy angled himself as well to face her, to be polite. The mask covered the upper half of her face, with feathers sticking out and up from one side. It matched her silvery blue dress quite well.

“Do you have a sibling?” she asked without preamble, staring into her cup.

Percy instinctively glanced about the room, trying to look for the matching shock of white hair of his sister, whom Scanlan stated might be here. “Yes, a sister,” he answered idly, if a bit sullenly as he found that she was not in attendance. “Though I’m afraid she didn’t join us this evening. A shame too, she would have made for better conversation.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to watch your sister abandon a conversation with you to trip over words with her crush,” said she. She downed her drink in one go. “Honestly, it’s not even the ‘being ignored mid-conversation’ bit that’s bothering me. It’s the pining! It’s the tripping over his own two feet! My brother is a rogue of a man who stole dad’s credit card so he can throw a couple parties and buy some new shit so I don’t have to spend a cent but have him stand in front of Keyleth and he suddenly forgets every language he’s ever known!”

Percy had no idea who this woman was talking about, but a childhood of etiquette lessons compelled him to nod. He wondered what it would feel like, to have Cassandra be so taken with someone in the romantic sense. Just thinking about it felt odd. “Well, I’ve never had the fortune -or misfortune, apparently- to know that feeling, but I can somewhat relate.” The woman gave him a look that clearly meant that she’d lap up any distraction at the moment. Percy would take a distraction just about this time, too. It would certainly make time pass quicker until he could say that he’s attended and make a beeline back to the dorms. “I was peer-pressured into attending this party by a friend, and then I had to watch that friend leave me to fend for myself so he could unsuccessfully flirt with a woman he likes. And then I’d have to listen to him pine all day when he stumbles back into our dorm room with the scent of so much alcohol on his shirt he could be safely classified as a fire hazard.”

The woman snorted and raised her empty cup in the air. “If I had anything in this cup right now, I’d toast to our shit luck.”

Percy raised his cup as well. “I also have nothing in my cup, as drinking with this mask on is terribly inconvenient, but I can toast to that.”

They tapped their cups together, the woman squinting at Percy, finally, finally getting a good look at him. “Did- did you make your mask?”

“I did.” Again, he tried to adjust his glasses, and again, he hit nothing but the beak of his mask. “Well, I made it quite a few years back, but it seems that attempting to get through Professor Groon’s dreadful history essay requirements had… sparked some of my lost creativity. Fixed a couple of things here and there, re-adjusted the straps-”

“Oh God!” she exclaimed. “I haven’t finished the essay yet.”

Neither had Percy. Seeing as he was in the middle of a party, he’d resigned himself to having to rush it in the morning. Again. “I have to admit, I’m more concerned about Professor Groon’s reaction to me not submitting the assignment than I am with taking the hit to my grades.”

She laughed again. Clearly, whatever that punch is had a kick to it that was only just now starting to take effect. “He is an intimidating man, isn’t he?”

Percy hummed in agreement. Professor Groon made a mountain seem small in comparison. “Dear God, yes. And he never seems to blink.”

“Never!” the woman laughed in agreement. “It is such a relief to hear someone else notice that too. I thought I was going mad, uh…?”

Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the III. “Please call me Percy.”

“Wonderful to meet you dear. My name is Vex’ahlia.” She smiled at him from under her mask, face just a little bit red from the punch. The pulsing  lights made the braid draped over her shoulder seem to shine. Her hand stretched delicately out towards him.

“It’s nice to meet you, Percy.”

Percy took her hand in his and returned her smile.

He had no idea what possessed him to do so. Perhaps it was her disarming smile that seemed to knock his legs out from under him, or perhaps it was the way her eyes seemed to glow as they locked onto his, maybe it was even the migraine, throwing all common sense onto the ground. But rather than shake her hand, as he would have done in any other circumstance, Percy bent down just a tad and kissed the back of her hand.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Perhaps he can stand to linger here a few hours more.

[trulycertain]

I’ve just finished Hearts of Stone for the first time (I got the expansion packs last birthday, thanks Ma), and cor, I’m... still a bit dazed. That was one of the best experiences I’ve had with a game for a long time. Heck, in some games that would’ve been the main campaign. It truly feels like a work of passion.

The negative, to get it over with

I had some issues with the portrayal of the Ofieri. The people we see are monsters, mages, mystics and enemy guards. The first Ofieri person you meet is... a toad monster you kill. And then the next ones are your jailers. 

And you might say that Temeria and Redania are full of yokel stereotypes - I mean, the “How often should I beat my wife?” NPC line is a clear nod to that kinda thing - and plays on Slavic mythology, folk tales, and fairy tales, and Ofier is the nod to the Arabian Nights... but we don’t get many Ofieri characters, nor clear examinations of those tales. Instead we’re quietly directed back to Robin Hood and Beauty and the Beast homages (which I adore, but). And one of the first introductions you get to their pseudo-Arabic language (which doesn’t feel as researched as Sapkowksi’s cod-Welsh Elven, but I don’t know about Nilfgaard’s language) is a Redanian guy calling it “gargling.” *wince* After the interesting, often nuanced takes on pseudo-Slavic culture and the fantasy non-human racism, I found that a bit frustrating. 

And yet... In some ways, it feels like CDPR were aware of this. Because you don’t actually have to kill the rest of the Ofieri guards, and then the next people you meet from Ofier are scholars and thoroughly nice dudes. (And... merchants, which is another stereotype on its own, but maybe I’m reading too much into that and reading British biases into it.) And gosh, I find it interesting what little we see of Ofieri scholarship and spirituality, and runeworking/smithing as prayer. It’s like a mix of Islamic Golden Age mathematics - but with languages instead - and humanism, maybe with some Pagan influences. It’s really, really beautiful, and it’s clearly had some thought put into it. Also interesting is the interlinked duchies/city-states sort of system that the merchant nods at, which I’d love to know more about.

OK, so... maybe this is easy for me to say as an English lass who looks like a flour explosion in a snowstorm, but it feels wonky (to say the least), but... not ill-intentioned. If anything, the portrayal of the Ofieri is rather less biting than portrayals of other countries, though those portrayals also feel less.. loaded. I’m not sure what to think, to be honest. I had some issues with how strongly the pack tries to force you into romance with Shani and makes it a bit all-or-nothing. I wish I’d been able to buy her a drink or give her a nice rowan garland (actually, seriously, I need to draw her in that flower crown, it’s lovely and she was adorable) even as a friend, as a way to say goodbye, rather than just... buggering off and leaving her there sad, and failing a side quest to boot. Framing the romance that way made it very clear that “oi, you’ve made the wrong choice,” even if you had your reasons. And when you talk to her later, it’ll still treat things like you romanced her.

The Order of the Flaming Rose didn’t do much. Yay, fancy bandits. But... thanks for the armour, guys? Made a fair bit of cash off that, nice of you.

The positive (my favourite bit)

Shani! I haven’t played the first game or the second (I’ll... get there), so I hadn’t met her before. She’s wonderful. And much as I love Yen - and stayed faithful to her, though I was sitting there thinking, “Would books Geralt do this? I’m really not sure” - I liked how in contrast, Shani often gets into the thick of it with you. I also love a) doctor characters b) characters who put their calling above all else and have such strong purpose. She’s kind and wry and I was seriously tempted to romance her. I also like her admitting that it was a “make the most of the time we have” thing, and that it probably wouldn’t work long-term. I appreciate that honesty and again, that sense of purpose. Much like Triss, she’s not dropping everything for Geralt, who has his own crazy timetable and travels to deal with. That straightforwardness is lovely. 

And also... god, I really like her friendship with Geralt. Even if you don’t romance her, they’re so comfortable with each other, and it’s so clear how happy he is to see her. They relax around each other and she knows how to gently poke fun. Seriously, I can see why people liked her and wanted her back.

“And now I have nowt.” Bloody hell, is Olgierd von Everec actually written with Northern dialect as well as voiced with the accent? Is the dashing rogue... Yorkshire-accented? God, they must be Polish, Northerners almost never get to be upper-class or smooth in British media. (Even Sean Bean had to go posher for GoldenEye.) Nice to hear the language spoken properly.  I always admire the localisation when I’m playing Wild Hunt; it’s beautifully thought-out and detailed. And yes, Von Everec was an absolute jerk in a lot of ways even before the wish, but... a well-written, nuanced one. Also, considering some of the lasses we see in Skellige: sometime, I’d really like to have seen a female character along similar lines somewhere (one Geralt couldn’t bonk), though I know that won’t happen. (No more Geralt games. ;_; )

“A man must have some moments of madness from time to time. Tells him he’s alive.”

Iris! Goodness, I hesitated for nearly ten minutes over That Decision, and I still feel sad for her typing this post up on my couch, having finished the expansion an hour ago. I think it adds even more that I’d purchased “Starry Night Over the Pontar River” by Van Rogh (I can’t believe they even did that). I played Geralt as genuinely loving her paintings. (And seriously, speaking of assets, that Iris/Olgierd marriage portrait is lovely.) She was as complicated as her husband, though she got less screentime - and some part of me would have gladly trapped Olgierd in a painting and brought her back into the world, but I also know that necromancy in The Witcher doesn’t work like that. A very romantic-fairy-tale take on the tortured artist trope.

I even found Vlodimir interesting. I was glad that Shani called him on what was basically fancy sexual harassment and told him to keep his hands to himself, and he was clearly a real shite in life, but... yeah, even I felt rather sad for him after the dressing-down he got from O’Dimm. And to be honest, he does have some bloody hilarious lines. This series excels in “likeable bastard” characters.

I get shades! And I’ve been going round with the Mastercrafted Wolven Armour and those, doing the look I fondly call Douchebag Geralt, ever since. CDPR’s nerdery. It wasn’t particularly immersion-breaking, and it made me cackle. “Merchant With A Pearl Earring”? “Witness me”? “Geralt: The Professional”? “The Professor’s Glasses”?

All the optional NPC dialogue. You can doom yourself by not researching enough. You can never find the runewright. You can miss half the wedding party dialogue. You can miss things like the Van Rogh painting and the sad, rather interesting story of Vesemir and his lover (and the Viper Armour!). The game always rewards you for being interested in the story, and thorough (you are playing a detective, after all), but because it was smaller, they’ve also made HoS so dense and all that’s here in abundance.

“Delight in the world and all its glorious creations.”

The furious pace. It’s a rollicking, rip-roaring adventure. A frog prince! An old friend/lover! A political plot! A storm! A deal with... something not-good that may or may not be The Devil! A shirtless tied-up action-movie fight with five dudes! Dueling a reluctant immortal! Characters from distant shores! A horse race through the streets of a village! A Guy Ritchie-esque heist movie nod to Robin Hood! Getting possessed by a ghost and sitcom/rom-com hijinks while fishing for boots, herding swine, and retrieving fire-eaters! Haunted mansions and tortured artists and interesting grief and depression metaphors! A Seventh Seal-esque game of wits with something very old and very unkind! O’Dimm promised a big adventure... he wasn’t wrong. And it probably sounds like they’re throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks... and yet, it all makes sense and ties in beautifully. It’s really well-written and thought-out, and balances a touching story with CDPR clearly wanting to give you your money’s worth and take you on the best journey they can.

Gaunter O’Dimm. The one thing I did think was that they’d be more vague about who/what he actually was. I was surprised at the more overt things like the crossroads deal, and the Oxenfurt scholar. But I immensely enjoyed his character, and that trippy finale was fantastic, even if I spent everything after the first second or so muttering, “It’s a REFLECTION, oh my god Gaunter you have commitment to your theme, please let there be a mirror in the house.” (And it’s also kind of perfect that one of the main spectres who attacks you in his realm is a Hym. Punishment for misdeeds, the guilty conscience... I’m seeing a theme here.)

Treasure hunts and new armour.

“Like your new gear, Roach?” We got to see a bit more of Geralt's fondness for this Roach (not sure what number she is, to be honest) and that he treats her well.

Lots of quiet but intense, lovely Geralt moments. The kindness with which he treats Shani, and his quiet, wry joking around with her in comparison to Vlodimir’s crudeness; the fondness and understated grief with which he speaks of Vesemir, and finally getting to hear a bit more of what he thinks about his mentor; the guilt he feels over being pulled here, there and everywhere on adventures and how many people he’s left behind; more stuff on “Witchers are heartless bastards because mutations” and how untrue that actually is; his steadfastness about trying to avoid bloodshed in the heist; how he doesn’t like to see Vlodimir tortured, even if he is... Vlodimir. Course, I play Geralt as a (pragmatic, blunt) goody-two-shoes, so it might be different if you play him bloodthirstier, but there were some lovely not-blank-slate-protag moments. CDPR get that the characters are why people come to the games; I adore playing a game where “go to a wedding reception” and “have a snowball fight with your daughter to cheer her up” are missions.

I’d be interested to see anyone’s takes on this pack, because I was so busy trying to avoid spoilers when it came out (and I think I might have been knee-deep in Fallout 4? Not sure) that I missed most of the stuff on it. But it was full of fascinating characters, wonderful performances, some really sad, achey complex themes, and pulpy adventure. I spent... too many moments trying not to cackle in joy. And much as I tried to be a completionist and do base-game sidequests remaining after the main story and drag it out over several days, I spent enough time on this expansion that Geralt’s beard grew back and my backside went numb. So. Even with its imperfections, probably one of my favourite gaming experiences of all time. So.

...God, and there’s another, slightly bigger expansion to go. I’m not sure I’ll survive.

[cromulentbookreview]

Cinderella! Dead?

And by that, I mean:

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron!

I do love the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, because, well, all German students cut their teeth translating bits and pieces of the the Kinder- und Hausmärchen. You have never known true suffering until you’ve had to come up with an original translation for bits of Schneewittchen or Rotkäppchen. Oh the horror. I mean, it’s not as bad as doing original translations of Goethe, and definitely not as fun as translating Struwwelpeter - and that was only fun because I was the only person in my class who got that the stories were meant to be a satire on contemporary children’s morality tales. I mean, Mark Twain did his own English translation! The original byline was Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder mit 15 schön kolorierten Tafeln für Kinder von 3–6 Jahren (funny stories and amusing pictures with 15 color panels for children ages 3-6). Once you see the Struwwelpeter stories as parodies of sickly sweet moral lessons for kids, it’s pretty clear that the actual lesson of the Struwwelpeter story (don’t suck your thumbs or else a crazy dude with scissors will literally cut them off your hands) is more dark humor than actual story to teach your kids a lesson and - 

Wait, where am I?

Oh. Yes. A blog where I review books. I should probably get on that.

So yes, Cinderella! A story known the world over, with thousands upon thousands of different versions across the globe. The oldest known being the tale of Rhodopis from ancient Greece, and the story of Ye Xian from China that dates back to the AD 860-850 or thereabouts, which itself is similar to stories found around Southeast Asia, like the story of Bawang merah dan bawang putih or the Vietnamese story of Tấm Cám and shit I wandered off again. Sorry. Fairy tale history is quite fascinating. Anyway, the first European version of the Cinderella story was published in Italy in 1634, but the story that we know best mostly comes from the 1697 French version by Charles Perrault in his Histoires ou contes du temps passé, avec des moralités (don’t look at me, I learned German, remember?). Perrault’s Cinderella story, Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre (Cinderella and the little glass slipper, thanks wikipedia!) features all of what we know of as the traditional Cinderella story: the evil stepmom and stepsisters, the ball, the glass slippers which sound both a) painful and b) super dangerous - seriously, how could you even dance in a glass slipper without breaking them and having shards of glass stuck in your feet à la Die Hard?

Anyway. Cinderella. Very traditional story, mostly French. The Brother’s Grimm version of Cinderella is...weird. Mostly because her name is Aschenputtel, which sounds like something you hack up with a phlegmy cough. (To be fair, though, that’s most German...). There’s also a magic bird instead of a fairy godmother, Aschenputtel’s father is very much alive and doesn’t seem to give two shits about how his new wife and stepdaughters treat his own kid and the slippers are made of gold instead of glass. Gold sounds a sight more comfy than glass, but also super heavy. How can you dance in shoes that weigh roughly 27 pounds / 12.4 kilograms each? That’s assuming that each gold shoe is roughly the same size and density as a standard gold bar and - 

OK. Listen to Rihanna, Cromulent Book Reviewer. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron!!

In the land of Marsailles, Cinderella is dead, and has been for the past 200 years. Her story hasn’t just become canon - it’s become law. Every year all girls at the age of sixteen must attend the mandatory royal ball, where the men are allowed to oogle them and pick out which one they want as a wife. The girls don’t get a choice in who picks them - once you’re selected by a man, you’re his, and if no one picks you, well...you’re only allowed to attend the royal ball three times before your family has to surrender you as a “forfeit.” Forfeits are never seen or heard from again. Attending the ball more than once is considered an embarrassment. And if you don’t want to get picked? Too bad. The girls of Marsailles have no choice - non-attendance will get you thrown in prison, and likely executed, while their families have all their possessions stripped from them. So...have fun at the meat parade, girls! Fingers crossed you don’t get picked by an abusive prick!

Sophia Grimmins (I see what you did there, Kalynn Bayron) doesn’t want to go to the Ball. All Sophia wants is to marry her best friend, Erin, and be free to have a future with her. But in Marsailles, being gay is not OK. It’s straight relationships only, Cinderella married a prince, and therefore, women can only marry men. Men marrying men and women marrying women? Forbidden. No not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. Instead, go straight to forfeit town. Sophia pleads with Erin to try and escape their hometown of Lille and head off into Belgium the Forbidden Lands. But Erin doesn’t want to escape - she just wants to keep her head down, go through the whole disgusting selection process, and stay safe. Well, as safe as you can with a husband who is brought up to be an abusive, misogynist prick like many men in Marsailles. Seriously, with the exception of like, 3 characters, pretty much all the dudes in Marsailles are the worst. Not just the worst, but like,

Euch. And they’re the worst in a way that all women and girls will immediately recognize. Is it terrible that I’m kind of glad for the current pandemic because mask wearing has cut down the instances of strange men telling me to smile significantly? 

Anyway, the day of the Ball has arrived, and with Erin refusing to escape, Sophia has no other choice - she has to go. Her parents have gone into debt to provide her with the best hair, makeup and dress in order to increase her chances at being chosen. Sophia’s parents know about her feelings for Erin, know that she’s always preferred to have a princess rather than a prince, but even though Sophia pleads with them to do something, anything to get her out of going to the Ball, they refuse. Her parents go full Mandalorian on her, telling her that this is The Way and she’d better just hope for the best. 

Mando would NOT approve.

So Sophia ends up going to the Ball and it’s much worse than she could have expected. The dudes are gross, the king is gross, the whole damned system is gross. 

Unable to stand it, Sophia makes a split-second decision: she’s going to run. She takes off in the middle of the ball, jumps out a window and escapes onto the palace grounds. Running blindly, she finds herself in an overgrown mausoleum which turns out to be the final resting place of Cinderella herself. There, Sophia meets Constance, a descendant of Cinderella’s supposedly evil stepsister, Gabrielle. Constance has been on the run, resisting the king’s awful laws for years. She tells Sophia that everything she’s been taught about Cinderella’s story is a lie. Constance offers Sophia a choice - escape with her and rebel, or return to Lille and face the consequences of fleeing the ball. 

At first, Sophia chooses home. But when her parents make it clear they won’t do much to protect their now outlaw daughter, Sophia meets up with Constance and together they head off into the White Wood in search of Cinderella’s fabled fairy godmother, who may or may not be a witch and who also may or may not be still alive. 

Oh man, I do love me a good story in which badass young women fight against the patriarchy. Cinderella is Dead is such a fun story - well, fun in that the misogyny and injustice rampant in Marsailles is both familiar and super scary, but fun in that Sophia looks that system square in the eye and goes “nope.” Cinderella is Dead is all about the power of story - how something as simple as a fairy tale can be used as a weapon to subjugate not just women and girls, but men and boys as well. The fairy tale made law doesn’t just keep women stuck in the role as princess, but men stuck in the role as prince, even if they, too, would rather run off with a prince than marry the princess. 

Cinderella is Dead starts strong, though it does start to meander in the middle, before speeding up toward the end. Since this is a standalone book (hurray!! No getting suckered into a series this time! More standalones, please!) character development and world building is somewhat lacking, as there’s only so much you can fit into one book and seriously thank God this isn’t the start of another trilogy I have to keep track of, I’ve got way too many trilogies, duologies, quartets and never-ending serieses I have to keep track of right now. Anyway: yes, worldbuilding and character development are a bit shallow, but such is the way with fairy tales, only this fairy tales features a queer young woman of color burning the patriarchy to the ground. And that’s absolutely something I need more of in my life. Now let us go forth and burn the patriarchy, everyone!

RECOMMENDED FOR: All young girls. All of them. Boys, too. Anyone who has ever read a fairy tale, or been forced to translate Grimm fairy tales for German class, or Charles Perrault stories for French class.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Anyone who has ever used the word “feminazi.”

RATING: 3.999 / 5 

BADASSERY RATING: 500,000,000/5

RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2020. So...today! Hurray, I technically got this review done on time! Ahahahahaha the world is on fire what do you want from me.

CINDERELLA RATING:

[jazzman-19-blog]

Crazy Little Thing Called Life

*This picture doesn’t really go along with this chapter but I thought it was a cute photo :]*

A/N: Wow, Chapter 7 is finally here. Sorry for such the delay like always, I’m horrible at time management. This chapter gets a little steamy and of course ends in a cliff hanger. Sorry to do that to you. But a lot kinda of happens in this chapter and it’s all over the place so sorry for everything horrible in here. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Bye for now. ;]

~with lots of love, Jazzman~

Summary: A road trip/vacation between two old friends turn into something more(basic plot but whateva)

Song: Stand By Me by Ben E. King

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

Word count: 3993

Warnings: language, slight naughty things, horrible writing skills.

If you would like to be added to the taglist, just let me know!

*Reblogs/asks/opinions are appreciated!*

Ch. 7: Who’s The Blonde?

-----------

This was the worst hangover you have ever experienced before in your entire life! Your head was pounding and throbbing, you felt like somebody had knocked you out. The room was spinning and the light from the windows were so bright, it was a pain to your eyes. You tried to stand up but when you got off the bed, your legs were weak that you almost fell, and oh my god, your stomach was whirling. Next thing you knew, you were running for the bathroom trying not to fall over on the way there. Sure, you had experienced small, little hangovers before but this, this was new. Maybe it’s because you had two whole bottles of wine last night. You can’t even remember anything from the night before, if you were being honest. You could have shared all of your feelings for Ben, with Ben, for all you knew! Your main concern right now, was getting rid of your sickness. 

Ben walked into the bathroom from his room and saw you on the floor next to the toilet with your head down. He knew he heard someone throwing up when he walked into his room. He woke up an hour before you and had just gotten over his killer hangover. He crouched down beside you and lifted your hair out of your face and the toilet, you hadn’t really noticed that Ben walked in. You were too busy throwing up and your head was still throbbing. 

“Love? Are you ok?” Ben asked as he rubbed your back to comfort you. As much as you loved Ben’s back rubs, you were not in the mood and you were too sick to care. 

“Do I look like I’m OK?” You snapped at him as you placed your forehead against the seat of the toilet. You felt bad for snapping at him like that but god, you just needed some time alone right now. 

“I’m sorry. I mean, do you need any help? Is there anything I can do?” Ben felt bad for you, he really did and he was just trying to be a good friend but damn, he just needed to give you some space right now.

“Yes Ben I’m fine! Can I please just be alone right now?” You were getting irritated and it wasn’t his fault. You didn’t even want to look him in the eyes or even lift up your head for that matter. Then another wave of nausea hit you and you ended back up in the toilet seat, throwing up everything in your stomach. 

“Ok, I’ll be in my room if you need me…” He left through the bathroom door, into his room. Damn it, he was trying to be nice and here you are being a total bitch to him. You would call him back in here but you always stood by your word, even if you were wrong. What you didn’t know was that Ben didn’t stay in his room, he knew to give you space so he found another way to help. He went downstairs and made you tea to ease you up, got you some water to rehydrate you(that’s what he heard would help), and some ibuprofen to take for the headache. He secretly snuck back into your room and placed everything on your night stand next to your bed with a letter. 

You felt like you were done puking but you were scared to go back to bed and have to run into the bathroom again. Your arms and legs felt weak but you pushed yourself up anyways and made your way out of the bathroom. Your hands tried to find things to hold onto as you made your way to your bed. Once you reached it, you moved all of the covers up and slid into it, all you wanted right now was some rest. That was until you realized the tea, water, and meds on your night stand. Of course you knew Ben put it there ‘cause it sure as hell wasn’t casper. 

You sat up against the headboard and grabbed the ibuprofen and water, drinking the water as you took the medication. Your headache had gone down a little before, so maybe the meds would make it go down even more. As you were about to grab the tea, you noticed a little slip of paper under the warm cup. You pulled the note from under the tea and opened it. The slip of paper read: 

I know you wanted space but I REALLY wanted to help because I felt bad, but I gave you some ibuprofen, tea, and water to at least help in some way. If there’s anything else you need, I’ll be in the room next door like always. Also I was gonna say let’s go to the beach today but your probably sick as fuck so we’ll just plan that for tomorrow but for right now I’m heading to the grocery store, if you need anything just text me! Ok bye Love! Get better soon! 

Well ok then Ben. Damn it, why did he always have to be so nice to you even when your a complete bitch to him? You place the note back on the nightstand and resume back to your warm cup of tea. You just sat there and sipped your tea while thinking of anything you needed from the store. Nothing came to mind at the moment, but you knew the minute Ben comes back, you’ll finally remember something you needed. That’s just how your brain liked to play games with you. Stupid piece of shit, stop making life more difficult than it has to be. 

Once you finished your cup of tea, you put the empty cup back on top of the note and tucked yourself away under the covers. Maybe taking a little nap wouldn’t hurt, Ben was out shopping so he probably wouldn’t care. Your eyelids suddenly got heavy and then before you knew it, you were passed out. 

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

Ben decided to go out and go grocery shopping which is new to him. Sure, he went shopping with his mom but never by himself. It was new territory for him. Especially since he’s in a whole new state too. He didn’t know exactly what to get either but he didn’t want to call and disturb you. He went to this place called Vons, it had the same vibe as a Safeway back in Arizona so maybe it was all connected somehow. 

He went through the aisles one by one and literally packed the cart with junk food and some alcohol to replace the two wine bottles you both drowned in last night. One girl came up to him and asked if something was wrong since he looked confused.

“No, I’m alright. I’m just new here actually.” 

“You’ve never been to Vons?” She looked quite puzzled. 

“No, but I also meant I’m new to Cali.” Ben chuckled as he saw how the girl’s face turned to a shade of pink from embarrassment. 

“I’m sorry, I’m stupid, I didn’t realize that’s what you meant. Of course.” 

“It’s alright, really, no need to be sorry love.” And with that, the random girl started to help him with his shopping once he explained everything and why he was here. She had to scurry away to her own cart but she gave him her number in case of anything. She seemed nice and she looked like she was in her 20’s. Sadly, he didn’t catch her name at all.

Ben checked out all of the items and was on his way home. He knew you would probably be asleep or dying over the pain. Either way he wanted to make sure you were at least better now than earlier. He pulled into the driveway and started to unload the groceries into the house from the back door. Once he was finished, he started putting all the food in the cabinets and the fridge and freezer. After that, he just went upstairs to check on you. 

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

While Ben was away you took a relaxing nap. It was all you needed and the tea really did help. You woke up and checked the time to realize that you slept for only an hour. The hangover had gone away and you decided to go see if Ben was home yet. Right when you were about to walk out of your bedroom, you bumped into Ben at the door frame. You were about to fall back until Ben caught you with his arm. 

“You alright Love?” His warm smile and soft, green eyes made you melt right into him. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Didn’t notice you came back.” You smiled as you stood up straight, out of his grip. You walked over to your bed with the little bit of grace left in you and patted the bed for him to go and sit next to you. You were still in his Bumblebee outfit from last night. 

Ben quickly walked over to the edge of your pink, fluffy bed and sat next to you. You were still kinda tired from earlier so you laid your head in Ben’s lap. His thighs were extremely warm even though it wasn’t even hot outside or inside. Ben’s face turned into a crimson red as you did so. He wasn’t expecting that. He didn’t really know what to do. So Ben just started fiddling with strands from your hair. 

“Hey Ben?” You said in a low hum that sent goosebumps up his body. 

“Yes Love?” Ben said in a deep voice that sent shivers down your spine. 

“Can you sing something to me?” Your hand was on his thigh now as you stared off into the dresser across from your bed. You rubbed your index finger in a circular motion in only one spot on his right thigh. 

“I don’t see why not, but I’m not very good.” Ben said as he was thinking of something to sing to you. He picked Stand By Me by Ben E. King. He loved that song and he knew every word. He started to hum the beginning. 

           “When the night has come

              And the land is dark

    And the moon is the only light we’ll see

    No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid

    Just as long as you stand, stand by me

  So darlin’, darlin’, stand by me, oh stand by me

           Oh stand by me, stand by me 

            If the sky that we look upon

              Should tumble and fall

   Or the mountains should crumble to the sea

     I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear

          Just as long as you stand, stand by me 

      And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me

                          Oh stand…”

Ben whispered the song and sang at such a low voice that it was making you sleepy again. You loved it when Ben sang to you, he has such a beautiful and deep voice. And only you get to hear it whenever you wanted. 

Even though Ben was good at singing, you were great at many different instruments. Such as the double and electric bass, the piano, and the guitar. Sure Ben could sing but you were the talented little bean. At least that’s what Ben called you. 

You had fallen fast asleep in Ben’s lap and weren’t planning on moving. He didn’t want to disturb you but he had to get ready for tonight. He decided to go out again but this time without you. Only so he doesn’t have to watch over you. At least, that’s what he would tell you later. He picked you up bridal style once again and laid you on your bed while tucking you in your cozy blanket. He tiptoed his way through the bathroom and into his room before shutting the door. 

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

You woke up to find yourself in your bed and the morning light shining directly on you. It would be perfect if you weren’t so tired. All you remember is Ben singing to you before you passed out on his thigh. You want to get up but at the same time, you don’t. You’ve never been a morning person anyways. But you need to shower because you reek. Your hair was so greasy and matted. Don’t even start on the fact of how gross your face feels. Your face, for some strange reason, has always been oily and greasy as fuck and it gets on your nerves to the point that you take makeup wipes with you everywhere just to make sure your face isn’t shining like the sun. 

You push over the covers of your bed and waddle your way to the bathroom. You turn on the hot water to full blast and hop on in. The scolding water feels somewhat refreshing and great on your skin. It feels good and it wakes you up a bit to start the day. 

You jump on out of the shower and pick out some shorts and a giant t-shirt to wear. You felt kinda bad for being mean to Ben yesterday and then falling asleep on him. Maybe you’ll make breakfast for him if he isn’t already up. 

You walk through the bathroom and to Ben’s door and creak it open a little to peak. He’s still asleep in his bed and barely covered by the sheets. He’s naked alright but hopefully he has some boxers or briefs on. You quietly close the door. When your done with the bathroom, you make your way down the stairs to the kitchen. 

Just as your about to make ground level, you hear footsteps. Weird, the last time you checked, only you and Ben were living here. You turn your head around the corner to see a pretty blonde making herself some cereal in the kitchen. Why the fuck is she here? Does Ben have a secret sister you don’t know about? You slowly but surely go back up to your room to figure out a plan on what the hell to do. 

You instead, go into Ben’s room and start to poke at his biceps slightly. He’s literally flexing in his sleep, Ben is a power machine while you on the other hand aren’t even able to do anything that requires upper body strength. 

“Ben…” You whispered, feeling like a helpless kid who has to wake up their parents to tell them they threw up in the middle of the night. You stab at him a little harder this time and a little louder. 

“Ben, c’mon wake up.” All he did was move around a bit and grumble something. You stabbed at him a little more.

“Ben,” you were giving up at this point until he said something. 

“Come back to bed love. How about a second round before you go?” He grabbed you with both arms and put you on the other side of him on the bed. You could tell that he was only half awake. What did he even mean by second round? 

Before you knew it, Ben was hovering over you, in nothing but his boxers and you could perfectly see the indent in them. You didn’t know what to do, you were too flushed and red to think properly. Ben was getting closer to your face by the second. His knee was in between your legs now, inching closer and closer to your core. Until eventually it was rubbing against it. Even though you’ve been liking this so far, it had to stop because of the problem downstairs. But before you could say anything, all you heard from Ben’s door, was a slam. 

His eyes fully opened and realized that he wasn’t on top of his little fling from last night, but his best friend. He hadn’t fully comprehended who it was and had mistaken Y/n for the blondie, who he had completely forgotten the name of. 

“Shit!” Ben quickly stumbled back to the edge of the bed until he fell on the floor. You were left laying there on his bed staring at the ceiling. You let out a breathe you didn’t know you were holding in. You felt cold without Ben’s body flushed up against you in every physically possible way. Almost every way. 

Ben sat up and looked at you. He noticed your chest was heaving up and down rapidly. Not that he was staring up there anyways. He was breathing fast. 

“I’m sorry, I thought- I didn’t mean-” Ben didn’t even know where to start. He felt like he violated you. 

“It’s okay Ben. Just wasn’t expecting that.” You looked over at him. His eyes were intense, usually they were soft and gentle, but these were different. They had this sort of darkness to them. You shook your head and tried to focus on the real task here.

“Who’s the model in our kitchen?” 

“Model?” 

“The pretty blonde downstairs? Do you know why she’s here?” You still hadn’t gotten the full image. 

“Oh. Well, she’s not here anymore,” Ben sighed as he got up and sat on the bed. “She just slammed the door when she saw me on top of you, I guess.” 

“Why was she here though?” You still weren’t getting it.

“She was my little fling last night, if you want to call it that,” Ben sighed, “I had mistaken you for her and that’s why I got on top of you love. If I had known it was you, I wouldn’t have done that.” 

Your face was bright red. He didn’t play with you like that because he wanted to, it was because he thought you were somebody else, he doesn’t like you like that. At least, that’s what you told yourself. You thought that he did that purposefully for you, not for her. You felt embarrassed and oh so much more. 

“Oh.” Everything was clicking into place now. You brought your legs up to your chest and sat up against the head board. Ben can’t even look at you. 

You decide to climb out of Ben’s bed and wobble your way back to the hallway. Your legs had fallen asleep, which for some reason your brain hadn’t comprehended, and you fell face flat on the floor next to Ben’s bed. He rushed over to you to try and help you up, but you just laid there. You didn’t want to move. All you wanted to do, was turn into a puddle and disappear. You felt like a distressed child. 

Ben didn’t even know what to do, he just stood there looking down at you with his head tilted to the right. He bend down beside you and began tickling you uncontrollably. You turned into a laughing fit and felt like you couldn’t breathe. You even flipped over which was a poor choice since he just assaulted your stomach even more. Tears were springing from your eyes as you tried to fight him off. 

Benny Boy lifted you off of the ground and threw you over his shoulder and carried you down stairs. You were still recovering from that tickle war with Ben and helpless on his shoulder. He sat you down on the couch and brought out the two blankets from your grandma’s house. He sat down next to you while you snuggled into the warm blanket. 

“So Ben, why’d you bring me down here?” 

“I just thought we could talk or hang out for a bit, love.” He said as his bright sage eyes bore into yours. 

“Like?” You were curious on what he wanted to talk about. He seemed confident, until it was his turn to talk. 

“Like, who that girl was. To be fairly honest, I forgot her name.” he chuckled. He felt bad but it’s not like he’d ever see her again. 

“I have a question.” 

“Ask away, princess,” 

“Where’d you go last night? And how did she end up here?” You were curious because you didn’t know what happened after you fell asleep. 

“Well, after you fell asleep, I tucked you into bed and I got bored so I went out to a club for a bit,” He started rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I also wanted to have a night where I didn’t have to watch over you.” 

“Oh. Well you could’ve just told me, I know I’m younger than you, but I’m not a child.” 

“I know. But I met the blonde at the bar and we really kicked things off and the next thing I know, we’re back here doing, you know.” 

“Ew Ben, please don’t describe anything to me. I may be eighteen but I’m still a child! Also I’m never going on your bed again.” Now that you think about, you probably were laying exactly were they were- ew, that thought made you want to vomit. You’ve been a virgin all your life, so anything that was sex related was gross to you. You acted like a twelve year old learning about sex in middle school for the first time. 

“Sure sweetheart but knowing you, you’ll probably just end up back on it in a few hours, snuggled in my blankets and clothes.” Ben had a little grin on his face because he knew he was right. You were about to smack it right off his face when Ben threw a pillow at you, hitting you right in the face. You basically pounced on him and got yourself tangled in the blankets with him. It was the start of a pillow fight. 

In just five minutes, Ben was laying on the floor with you straddling him, trying to put your hair in a ponytail as he tickled your stomach. Ben was still just in his boxer and your shorts weren’t very covering so of course you felt his bulge through the fabrics. You didn’t say anything though because you didn’t want this to end. 

Before you knew it, Ben flipped you over so now you were the one on the floor. He was hovering quite close to you. 

“Back where we started huh?” His eyes were hooded and dark. It frightened you a bit but it was kinda of exciting to see this side of the Benny Boy you knew. 

“I guess so.” 

The last thing you said before Ben closed the gap between the two of you. His lips were soft and smooth as they pressed against yours. You thought it would be a soft, sweet and slow kiss but Benny Boy over here was going at it. You wrapped your arms around his neck and tried to flip him back over which he did. You let go of the heavy kiss as you started to straddle him again, purposely pushing against his bulge. Ben let out quiet groan from the friction. 

“Oh Benny Boy? You okay down there?” You usually liked being the dominant one in almost every situation, and maybe even in bed. 

“You’ve got to speak to me baby.”

“I-I’m fine,” His head was thrown back as you kept grinding up against the ever growing bulge in his boxers. 

You leaned back down and started to pepper kisses along his jaw and neck. That was until you noticed the giant ass hickey on his neck. Why hadn’t you noticed that before? Now you weren’t really in the mood anymore. That hickey had sort of set something off in the back of your head. 

You stopped grinding against Ben and climbed off of him. You quickly grabbed your blanket and dashed to your room upstairs where you locked the door and sat against it. Leaving a confused Ben downstairs. 

He didn’t know what happened, did he rushed things too quickly? Had he done something wrong? All he saw was the sad look on your face before you got up and ran off. What he didn’t know was the reason why you left… 

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

Taglist: 

@rogmeddows @queenlover05 

[thestarsaroundyourscars]

Heat

For the weekly reddie prompt by @fyeahreddie

Rating: Teen and Up

Word count: 3,615

Located in AO3

When Richie Tozier and his family had moved away from Derry, he never thought he would go back. Even though he had lived there for fourteen years of his life, he had known he wouldn’t miss the town or his school or the people in it.

His parents had been worried of what it would mean for Richie to have to move away after Wentworth had been offered a much better job than the one he already had in Derry. They had expected him to be angry, to blame them for ruining his life or to simply refuse to move away. They had been pleasantly surprised when all he did was ask if Lady Valentina Von Sparkles, their dog, will be going with them. As soon as they said that yes, Lady would be coming with them, Richie had gone upstairs to start packing his things up.

There was only one thing, or more like, one person that Richie knew he would truly miss. And that was his best friend, Beverly Marsh.

They had been friends since the age of twelve and were pretty much inseparable. That didn’t change when Richie moved away though, they stayed in touch through all the years they spent apart and reunited again in college when they both moved to California.

Now, seven years since the last time he was in Derry, Richie was back, thanks to no other but the one and only Beverly Marsh.

He was not surprised he was hating it.

Because, of fucking course he had to come back during the hottest summer in the town’s history. Apparently a heat wave had decided to hit Derry just as Beverly and Richie arrived to spend the summer with Bev’s aunt, Elyse. Richie had been there for two days and the heat was already unbearable.

Right now, both Richie and Beverly were lying on lawn chairs in Elyse’s front lawn. Beverly was wearing a bikini and she looked completely unbothered by the heat as she worked on her tan. Richie, on the other hand, was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and was sweating profusely through them. He also had one of Bev’s aunt beach hats and a pair of sunglasses over his regular glasses. When Beverly said he looked ridiculous, he had glared at her and answered with a “Not all of us can lie under the sun without getting third degree burns, Miss Hawaiian Tropic.”

Richie was taking every precaution to avoid getting sunburnt. He didn’t want to have to rub aloe vera gel on his skin everyday for the rest of the summer.

Apparently for him that didn’t mean taking cover from the sun or covering his skin with tons of sunscreen but sitting in the sun, way to overdressed for the weather and feeling as if he was being cooked alive.

“Why did I let you convince me to spend the summer with you, again?” Richie whined for what was the third time in the last half hour.

Beverly scoffed, “You begged me to let you stay with me this summer.”

Richie hummed, “I don’t remember that.”

“You said that since your parents were going on a cruise for their anniversary, you had nowhere to go and that staying in Cali wasn’t an option because neither me nor Stan would be around to go grocery shopping and to make sure you didn’t burn down the apartment,” Beverly said, lowering her sunglasses to give Richie and unimpressed stare.

“That was before I knew I would be spending two months in a fucking furnace,” Richie said, exasperated, “I should have gone to Colorado with Stan and Patty.”

“And spend an entire month in a cabin in the mountains, being the third wheel to those two?”

“At least I wouldn’t feel like the skin was melting off my bones.”

“Oh Richie, it’s good to see you’re still just as dramatic as you were as a fourteen-year-old,” Elyse Marsh says, approaching the two of them while carrying a tray with two glasses of lemonade in it.

“Being dramatic is my God-given right, Lys,” Richie says.

“You wear it well, honey,” Elyse laughs. “As you do my hat and sunglasses.”

Bev lets out an incredulous bark of laughter, “Yeah, right.”

“You wished you looked this good, Marsh.”

Lys laughs, “Aren’t you a little overdressed though?”

“He has to protect his fair skin from the big bad sun,” Beverly says, mockingly.

“The moment I take off my shirt I’ll turn as red as your hair and you’ll be stuck with me whining and complaining about my sunburn.”

“I already have to hear you complain about how hot it is and how you are dying because of it. Big fucking difference.”

Richie sticks his tongue out at her. Elyse rolls her eyes and hands Richie his glass of lemonade, “And here I was going to suggest you go to the quarry like you did when you were kids.”

Beverly grabs the second glass and groans, “The asshole already refused.”

“FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME, SUNBURN, BEVERLY. IT HURTS LIKE A BITCH.”

“You are a bitch,” Beverly mutters under her breath, taking a sip of lemonade.

When Richie flips her off, Elyse laughs and shakes her head fondly at them, “Just like when you were kids.” Then she turns around and goes back inside.

The lemonade is delicious and it helps Richie cool down a bit. He is sipping the last of it, when he sees something on the other side of the street that makes him choke on his drink.

That something turns out to be a very attractive guy walking out from the house across the street, wearing only red swimming trunks and a pair of sunglasses.

Still coughing, Richie takes off his sunglasses and sits up straight on the lawn chair, trying to get a better look at the guy’s tanned and sculptured body.

Richie notices he’s carrying a bucket filled with rags and a hose as if he was planning on washing the car parked in the driveway like some model taken straight out of Richie’s wet dreams. The image of this guy, dripping wet and scrubbing the car while seductively smiling at Richie makes him feel hotter than the Derry’s goddamned weather and he lets a out a whine.

“I swear to God  Richard, if you whine about the heat one more fucking time-” Beverly groans before noticing Richie is sitting up and staring intently at something. She follows his line of vision and her eyes land on their neighbor.

Her laugh makes Richie snap out of his daydream and he finds her smirking knowingly at him.

“Still regretting coming back to Derry with me?”

Richie ignores her question and makes one himself, “Beverly Marsh, for how long were you planning to hide your hot new neighbor from me?”

“I didn’t know he would be back for summer,” Bev shrugs. Then, with a frown, she adds, “what do you mean ‘new’? He isn’t new, he’s lived there since I moved to Derry.”

“Bullshit,” Richie says, looking back at the guy who is currently giving him a perfectly clear view of his ass in those swimming trunks as he bends over to pick up a rag and starts scrubbing the car. “Someone else had to move into that house after I left Derry because if I recall correctly, that house belonged to Sonia Kaspbrak and her-”

“Eddie-bear!”

A loud voice coming from inside the boy’s house, interrupts Richie.

His eyes widen as realization dawns on him. Richie hears the boy answer but he isn’t paying attention to what he is saying, he is too busy staring at him in disbelief, because there is no fucking way this gorgeous man is Eddie fucking Kaspbrak.

Richie must have said so out loud because Beverly answers him, laughter in her voice, “He is.”

“Fuck me,” Richie mutters.

“I’m sure you’d like that,” Beverly snickers.

“You have to be shitting me. That is Eddie Kaspbrak?” Richie points at him and Beverly nods. “Cute, baby-faced Eddie? Fanny-pack-wearing, angry, asthmatic Eddie? Eddie Spaghetti Eddie?!”

“For fuck’s sake Richie, yes!”

“What the fuck happened to him?”

“Puberty. He also joined the track team in junior year,” Bev shrugs. Then he sees the way Richie is staring at him in complete astonishment, “Don’t look so surprised, Rich. It’s not like he changed overnight. It’s been seven years.”

Richie was shaking his head in utter disbelief as he thought back to seven years ago.

Eddie Kaspbrak had been a small kid with a cute face, as Richie liked to remind him while pinching his cheeks and chanting ‘cute cute cute’, much to Eddie’s annoyance. They had met through Bill Denbrough when they were eight and the three of them had become close friends, Richie had countless of nicknames for Eddie, all of which he claimed to hate, he remembers carrying around an extra inhaler for him in case his asthma ever decided to act up. Eddie had even been Richie’s first crush ever.

Then they had turned eleven and Richie had been placed in a different class than Eddie and Bill, where he had met the new girl, Beverly Marsh and he had drifted apart from his two friends. They would still talk from time to time and if Richie passed Eddie in the hallway he would throw an “Eddie Spaghetti” his way and he would respond with a glare and a fond “Beep beep Richie”. They just didn’t spend much time together anymore and after Richie moved away, they had never spoken again.

Just as he had changed during those seven years, it was obvious Eddie would too but Richie found it hard to associate that tiny, adorable boy from his childhood with this walking wet dream of a man.

“You should go say hi,” Bev says, effectively snapping Richie out of his trip down memory lane.

“And say what? ‘I had a crush on you when we were both ten and now you look like the man of my dreams, marry me please?’”

“I was thinking something along the lines of ‘hello’?” Bev says, staring at Richie like he was crazy.

“That’s weird, Bev.”

She snorts loudly, “Weirder than what you said?”

Richie is about to answer, when Eddie turns around and spots him and Bev on the other side of the street.

Richie yelps and uses Lys’ hat to cover his reddening face, missing Eddie’s amused smile and the excited manner in which he waves at Bev.

She smiles back at him and waves him over. Bev watches him as he goes to rinse his soapy hands before heading their way.

While Eddie is still out of hearing distance, Bev mutters to Richie, “You might want to lose the hat, he is coming over.”

Richie’s reaction is instantaneous, he sits up straight, sends the hat flying to the floor and turns to glare at Beverly.

“What the fuck, Marsh?”

She shrugs, “I’m doing you a favor. Now, be nice.”

Richie is about to argue when he notices Eddie is just a couple of steps away from them so he stays quiet. Richie is glad he’s sitting down because the sight in front of him makes him feel lightheaded and weak at the knees.

And as great as Eddie looks in those too tight swimming trunks and nothing else, it’s his face that catches Richie’s eyes.

It’s not the same child-like chubby face from seven years ago but Richie can recognize in it the boy he used to be friends with.

He recognizes his big brown eyes outlined by long eyelashes, the freckles covering his small nose and his cheekbones, more prominent now due to the sunlight, his soft curly hair, even though it’s longer now than it used to be. But most of all, he recognizes the same bright smile, because even though Eddie used to groan and roll his eyes at Richie most of the time, there were moments when he was able to get a smile or laugh from him, he remembers living for those moments.

“Bev, hi! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back this summer?” Eddie says, once he is close enough.

Eddie’s voice is music to Richie’s ears and it draws a strangled noise from him. Luckily for him, only Bev hears it, she smiles knowingly at him before she stands up to greet Eddie.

“Hi Eddie!” Bev says, hugging him. “It was a last minute thing. I was going to visit Ben but we had to reschedule.”

“I’m so glad you’re here! I was worried I was going to have to hang out with Ma all summer.” Eddie says, and he sounds genuinely relieved.

“Bill didn’t come back?”

“No, he got a publishing deal and chose to stay in Boston to work on the story. So it’s just me.”

“Well, you’re in luck because Richie and I are staying all summer.” Bev said, pointing at Richie over her shoulder.

When he heard his name, Richie lifted up his eyes and found Eddie looking at him with a curious expression. He smiled tentatively at Eddie and something in his smile, probably his too big front teeth, must have sparked Eddie’s memory because his eyes go wide and he stares at Richie in disbelief.

“Richie? As in Richie Tozier?”

Richie stands up and awkwardly holds his arms out, “The one and only.”

“Oh my God!” Eddie gasps and next thing Richie knows, he is wrapping his arms around Richie’s neck and his naked chest is pressing against his clothed one.

Richie doesn’t know what to do with his hands so they just hover over Eddie’s body before he settles them on his back. He can see Beverly laughing at him from over Eddie’s shoulders and he glares at her.

“I can’t believe it. It’s been forever!” Eddie says, letting go of Richie and falling back on his heels, because no matter how many things have changed, there is one thing that remains the same and that is the fact that Eddie’s still short and considering Richie shot up to 6'2" when he was a teenager, he towers over Eddie.

“Seven years, but who is counting?” Richie laughs, mirroring Eddie’s excitement.

“I never thought I’d see you in Derry again.”

“If I had known you were still around, I would’ve come back sooner. It’s fucking good to see you, Eddie Spaghetti. You’re just as cute now as you were then,” Richie winks.

Eddie snorts, “And I can see you’re still a Trashmouth. I somehow expected you to grow out of it.”

Richie smirks, “Oh, I grew alright. And I don’t mean just my height.”

Beverly groans and Eddie’s bark of laughter escapes him before he can try to keep it in, “Beep beep Richie.”

Eddie’s laugh and the beeping make Richie grin with how familiar those two things sound.

They are staring at each other and just like Richie had done earlier, Eddie seems to be taking in all the changes Richie suffered through the years they were apart. And if his slight blush and the glint in his eye are any indication, he likes what he sees.

Richie doesn’t know how long they stare at each other in silence, all he knows is that it goes on long enough for Beverly to grow exasperated.

She clears her throat, “I’m gonna go inside to help my aunt with lunch so that you two can catch up and make heart eyes at each other in peace.” Then she goes inside.

Eddie lets out a nervous laugh, “It’s great that you and Bev stayed friends all these years.” The ‘unlike us’ goes unsaid.

“Yeah, you and Bill too or so I gathered,” Richie says, and he feels a small pang of jealousy saying it, wishing him and Eddie hadn’t drifted apart.  

Eddie nods, “We live together in Boston.”

Richie doesn’t know what to make of that, so he says, “Ohhh, did Eddie Spaghetti and his school crush finally got together?”

Eddie frowns, then he catches on to what Richie said and he shakes his head frantically, “Oh no. No, no. It’s not like that. He has a girlfriend, Audra and I don’t think of him that way. No.”

Richie sighs in relief, he knows he is being obvious as hell but he can’t bring himself to care, “You did back when we were kids, though. You used to worship the ground Bill walked on.”

“He still makes fun of me for that,” Eddie groans, “And I don’t think that was a crush, more like childish hero-worship, you know? He was my first friend and I thought the world of him.”

Richie hums, “I always thought he was your first crush.”

Eddie laughs, he scratches the back of his neck and looks up at Richie, nervous, “Uh, no, that was, that was actually you.”

Richie’s eyes widen in surprise, “W-what? Me? You had a crush on me?”

“Yeah,” Eddie cringes, “It’s embarrassing, I know.”

“I, no, it’s not,” Richie splutters, “I-I had a crush on you, Eds.”

Eddie looks at him like he is crazy, “Why?”

“Why, he says.” Richie stares at Eddie with that same expression, “How couldn’t I? You were the cutest boy I’ve ever seen!”

Eddie blushes at that. Then, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he asks, “Were?”

“Uh, well,” Richie chuckles, nervously, “You’re still cute, I just- I think there better ways to describe you now. The words ‘fucking sex god’ come to mind.”

Eddie bursts out in laughter and Richie doesn’t even mind that he just embarrassed himself.

Giggling, Eddie says, “So we both had a crush on each other?”

“Seems like it.”

“And now we both find each other attractive?” Eddie smirks.

“Yeah,” Richie frowns, “wait, you find me attractive?”

Eddie literally face palms, “Didn’t you see me blatantly checking you out when I came over here? I thought I was being as obvious as you.”

“You offend me, mist’r, I am a master of subtlety.”

Eddie snort tells him differently, “Right. I’m surprised none of your drool ended up on my shorts.”

Richie smirks, “There are other ways we could make that happen,” he says, waggling his eyebrows.

“Richie! Oh my God, you’re disgusting!”

“Still, you had a crush on me, so who is more disgusting, I ask.”

Eddie glares at him but the corner of his mouth curls up in a smile.

Before either of them can say anything, Beverly shouts at them from the front porch, “Hey lovebirds! Food is ready! Eddie, do you want to join us for lunch?”

“I should head back and finish washing my car.”

“Great. I’ll tell Lys to set an extra plate on the table!” Beverly says, ignoring Eddie’s argument and heading back inside.

“I guess she wasn’t taking no for an answer,” Eddie chuckles.

“That’s kind of the way she rolls.”

“I should at least go put on a shirt before heading inside.”

“Please don’t,” Richie pleads.

Eddie swats at him playfully and Richie winks at him. He marvels at how easy it is to fall back into their usual banter even after years and years of not seeing each other, like nothing has changed.

Well, almost nothing.

Eddie going on his tip toes and placing a small kiss to the corner of Richie’s mouth was definitely new.

“I’ll be right back,” Eddie says, with a soft smile.

Richie nods. “Don’t take too long, Spaghetti man,” he yells after him.

Eddie turns around, his face pinched, “Damn, I had forgotten how much I hated your nicknames!”

“You loved them back then and you love them now!” Richie yelled back, laughing.

Eddie shakes his head before crossing the street and heading to his house to change.

Richie follows him with his eyes, a smile on his face and feeling hot all over, except this time he can’t blame it on Derry’s heated weather.

Later when they had finished eating and catching up on their lives, Lys left the three of them in charge of cleaning up the kitchen while she went upstairs to take a nap.

“I should head back,” Eddie says, once he finishes drying off the last of the dishes, “that car is not gonna wash itself.”

“We should do something tomorrow!” Bev says, excitedly and the two boys nod.

“I was thinking of going to the quarry tomorrow, if the weather is anything like today’s, there’s nothing I’d enjoy more than swimming in some cold water.”

Before Richie could answer, Beverly says, “Richie refuses to go to the quarry.”

Eddie frowns, “Why?

“Now now, Beverly, I didn’t say I refused,” Richie chuckles.

“Your exact words were ‘I refuse to go to the quarry’.”

“I changed my mind,” Richie shrugs.

Beverly rolls her eyes, “I wonder why.” Which makes Eddie giggle and Richie glare at her, “What about sunburns?”

“I’m willing to take a risk if Eddie Spaghetti here offers to rub sunscreen all over me.” Richie says, smirking at him.

Eddie blushes but smirks as well, “Only if you return the favor.”

Richie downright beams at that, “It would be my fucking pleasure.”

Beverly rolls her eyes at the two of them and their shameless flirting.

When Eddie leaves and it's just Beverly and Richie, watching old movies in the living room, he keeps going through the events of that day and makes a mental note to thank his parents, for going on that Royal Caribbean Cruise this summer, Stan, for not letting him crash his romantic break with Patty and Beverly, for letting him come stay with her and her aunt.

Because heat wave or not, this was bound to be the best summer Richie had ever spent in the city of Derry.

Tag list:  @daddyphantomtbh @yes-dillman-yes @richietoaster @beepbeeprichiellc @its-stranger-than-you-think @lemonaayyee @pennys-pet-kitty @thetheatregal @tinyarmedtrex  @sam-i-am2468 @nicoperryy

I’d love to know what you thought of this ❤️

[huffle-dork]

Written in the Cards (Part 7)

(There’s a certain head cannon in here from @reverseblackholeofwords! See if you can figure out what ;3)

Jackie was filling his utility belt with everything he would need for a mission: bandages, pain reliever, smoke bombs, and a sam keychain for good luck. He double checked to make sure his suit was fine, his armor adjusted right and his beaten up shoes were tied. He nodded but paused. His whole body felt stiff and tired, even though it had been so long since that last fight with Phantom. Maybe he had been going too hard too fast? He shook that thought off with a small laugh. A hero never rests, too many people to save.

He moves to head out from the balcony door and has just started to climb over the gate when he hears the front door rattle before it’s swung open, revealing a breathless red faced Marvin, mask pushed up on his head.

“Jackie!” Marvin called, pushing back his sweaty hair as he stepped into their apartment hideout and Jackie’s body tensed. He looked out at the street below in longing but knew that he was caught.

“Ah, hey Marv!” Jackie smiled nervously. Marvin approached him and settled his hands on his hips.

“Get down from there Jackie, we gotta talk,” Marvin ordered, giving Jackie a withering look. The hero sighed and lowered himself from the balcony edge and timidly approached the magician.

Marvin swallowed as he noticed Jackie wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You… you keep leaving for missions without me. Without even telling me. Why…?” Marvin tries to keep the hurt out of his voice but he sees Jackie flinch slightly and knows he’s failed.

Jackie quietly picks at the bits on his suit before he answers, “It’s nothin’.”

“Bullshit,” Marvin accused, “You’re avoiding me and i wanna know why!”

Jackie winces again and grits his teeth before he snaps, “I said its nothin’!”

“Stop lying to me! Jackie we’re friends please just be honest with me!” Marvin pleaded, trying to reach out to Jackie’s shoulder. The hero stumbles backwards and finally mets Marvin’s eyes. He looks terrified.

Jackie takes a shaky breath but he spits, “Fine. You want the truth? I just wanna work alone for a while!” Marvin’s face falls.

“Why…?” He pleaded.

The hero’s shoulders fell and he looked at the floor, “Don’t make me say it Marv…”

Marvin balks and tries to think and gasps once he realizes, “Is it because of what happened with Phantom? T-That wasn’t me Jackie! You know that! And i already apologized like a thousand times!!”

“It’s not just that,” Jackie said dryly, rubbing his face. He looked so exhausted, “I just… You’ve gone through so much shit lately Marvin. I don’t want to add onto that.”

The magician blinked, confused, “But I’m doing so much better now! I feel stronger than i've ever had!” Marvin lets his hands fall to his sides, crestfallen, “I just want to help…”

Jackie smiles and lightly pats Marvin on the shoulder, “I know you do buddy. But let’s just give it some time, okay?” Jackie then springs back up to the balcony as he calls behind him, “I’ll catch you later!” Then he plunges off the edge and goes off to find crime to fight, leaving behind a downcast Marvin. Marvin headed back to his own apartment with a heavy heart.

Hours passed and Marvin flinged the cards he was working with for a new trick onto the coffee table in frustration. He got up and started pacing, trying to think about what could be making Jackie act this way. He’s never denied his help before, Marvin knew what a hard job crime fighting was. Marvin sighed and grumbled slightly to himself, “Something is wrong… or am i crazy?” He shook his head and messed up his hair, “I should ask Schneep, maybe this is a side effect of everything?” He shrugs to himself, “worth a try ain’t?”

Marvin makes his way to the hospital, knowing Schneep would either be here in his office or at home passed out. How the guy survived with a job like this, Marvin would never know. He walked inside and made his way down to the offices, quietly knocking outside the office marked Henrik Von Schneeplestein MD. But there’s no response, even though the lights seem to be on from the soft glow emanating from the frosted glass. Marvin frowns and tries again.

“Henrik? You there?”

More silence greeted him. The magician reached for the door knob to see if it was locked, only to feel a shock go up his hand. He knew this feeling. Someone had opened this door with magic. Powerful, familiar magic.

Marvin bursts through the door to find the office in shambles. Equipment has been strewn across the floor, medicine spilled and scalpels and rolls of gauze everywhere. Chairs that lined the walls are flipped and tossed around. Schneep’s desk is a mess, papers thrown all over, pens cracked and spilling ink. Marvin’s heart is hammering in his chest. His foot touches a syringe lying on the floor filled with a bright glowing liquid. Next to a trail of blood dripping from the tip. Marvin picks it up and studies it, hardly able to breathe. HIs fingers tingle with another sensation of the magic he felt earlier and he furrows his brow. Schneep most likely would have used this in self defense, why would his attacker enchant it? Marvin closes his eyes to figure out what kind of magic was used and feels the true shape of the object. He pulls the veil away and reveals that the syringe was disguise for something else.

An ace of spades.

Marvin’s blood runs cold. He knows the symbolism of cards. The ace of spades, also known as the card of death. What could this mean? Is Schneep… dead?

Why would Phantom kill Schneep? How did he escape?

While those were important questions another popped into his head and sent a shiver down his spine: Was he going to go after the others?

Marvin quickly stuffed the card into his pocket and rocketed out of the room and down the hall. He had to find Jamie and Chase!

Jamie’s building was close by, a nice brick covered building that reminded Marvin of something out of a 30’s cartoon. Afraid of being spotted Marvin closed his eyes and shifted into the form of a black and white cat. He then sped up the stairs and searched for Jamie’s room.

He found the room number and noticed the door was cracked open. He swallowed and used his head to push open the door. The front room was dark, a lamp smashed against the ground, sending glass across the floor. There looks like there was less of struggle here, just a couple objects crashed against the floor. Marvin accidently walks across a smashed frame and he yelps slightly as the glass slices through his paw. He licks the wound before he nudges the picture to see what it was. In it Jamie has his arm looped around another man that looks like Jack, but his face is covered in ink and he can see the hint of a character in the background he swears he recognizes from somewhere.

He’s distracted from his thoughts as something shines in the light in front of him, hidden under a table as if flung under there. Marvin pads over to it to see it’s Jamie’s pocket watch. He grabs it in his mouth before he gets back out and returns to his human form. The watch pulses with magic and Marvin uses his trick before to reveal its true form. An ace of hearts.

Marvin blinks as the card is different this time. The ace of hearts doesn't have the significance of the ace of spades but there were ways to interpret it. The ace represents hidden desires. The heart represents lightheartedness and childness. Jamie to a t.

Marvin didn’t understand. Was this supposed to mean Jamie was dead like Schneep? Or just a calling card that was here?

There wasn’t any time to waste however so Marvin hid away the card with the other one, once he was sure the coast was clear. Marvin then turned back into his cat form and headed out of the apartment and back towards the street, heading for Chase’s apartment.

Chase lived near the outskirts of the city, close to the suburbs. Probably so he was close to his kids after the split. Marvin knows his way to his room well, going there often for tea breaks and advice from his fatherly friend. He climbs up the stairs on auto-pilot and finds himself at his door faster than he expected. Marvin shudders as he sees the hint of bullets shattered into the door. He taps the door with his paw and the door swings open with an eerie creak.

Marvin’s hackles raise with the amount of magic spewed in here. He sees scorch marks lining the wall, some still smoking even. The tv in the living room is sideways and skipping as it sparks, the screen ringing with static. The whole room is cast in the black and white noise as Marvin crosses silently across the floor. A couple tea cups are smashed on the floor, some tea pooling under a couple. An array of nerf darts litter the floor and Marvin prays that’s from Chase playing with his son and it wasn’t something he used for defense against the con man.

Marvin’s foot knocks against another picture frame smashed against the ground. He turns it over and sees it a picture of Chase with his family, smiling wide and laughing. Marvin feels that magic again and presses a paw against the surface and watches as it reverts into another card.

The king of hearts. The suicide king.

A crash in the bedroom has Marvin’s head jerking up and he’s leaping across the floor towards the sound. He screeches across the floor and stops when he sees the source.

Two small kids had tumbled out of the room, the boy holding out a nerf gun like he’s ready to fire despite his knees shaking and his sister clinging to his leg. The boy lowers the gun in confusion and sniffles, a bright purple bruise on his cheek.

“It’s a cat?”

Marvin drops his cat form and slowly rises up to his feet, “Kids, oh my god are you alright?” Marvin didn't even realize it was the weekend.

“Uncle Marvin!” The boy cries and soon he’s wrapped around Marvin’s leg and sobbing, his little sister taking the other one. Marvin’s heart melts and he leans down and scoops the kids up into a warm hug.

“Greyson… Skylar… Can you tell me what happened?”

The little girl, Skylar, clings and hides her face in Marvin’s arms, shaking her head and shivering. Greyson slowly forces himself to talk through his tears, “M-me and daddy were h-having a nerf war while Sky watched c-cartoons. Then all of a sudden a man bursted in with scary red eyes! And a scary cane! Then Daddy was p-pulling outa gun a tried to shoot the bad guy but he turned into scary s-smoke! Then someone grabbed m-me and Sky and held us tightly and the bad guy pointed to us…” The boy’s body shook so bad as he tried to remember and he’s clinging to Marvin’s shirt like its a lifeline. “He… he said he was gunna kill us and m-mommy unless Daddy signed s-something! A w-weird paper and Daddy looked scared. H-he started to cry and asked the bad man not to hurt us, then the guy holding us threw us in the bedroom and locked us in. I h-hit my face on the floor…” He rubs his face to wipe his tears.

Marvin’s head is spinning. Why wasn’t he faster? Why couldnt he get here in time? But at least now Marvin knew Phantom wasn’t killing them. He wasn’t sure he felt much better though, knowing they were being forced to sign deals with that devil.

He quietly shushed the kids and held them tighter, stroking their hair.

“It’ll be okay little dudes… I’m gonna take you home… and your mommy will make everything better,” His mouth felt funny saying such nice things about Stacy but the kids didn’t need to hear his disdain for the bitch right now.

“W-What about Daddy?” Greyson asked, blinking up at Marvin. He tugged on Marvin’s sleeve and whispered, “Are you save him Uncle Marvin?”

The magician swallowed and nodded, petting Greyson’s hair, “Yes. I’m gonna bring him home safe.”

Marvin struggled to think of a plan as he calms the kids down. One part of Greyson’s story stuck out in Marvin’s head.

“Say kids… Did you get a chance to see who the other person with the bad guy was?”

Greyson shook his head and rubbed his bruised cheek, “No… i hit my face when he shoved us in…”

Marvin looked over to Skylar and rubbed comforting circles into the small girl’s back. “Did you see Sky?” The little girl slowly nods her head. Marvin picks her up so he can see her better and balances her on his lap, “Can you tell me sweetie? It’s going to help me find your Dad faster.”

Skylar takes a while to respond, picking at her tea stained dress. Then suddenly she whispers, “U-Uncle Jackie…”

Part 7.5: [x]

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

KAT VON D SHARES THE UNEXPECTED INFLUENCES BEHIND HER LONG-AWAITED DEBUT ALBUM ‘LOVE MADE ME DO IT’

The glamorous gothic queen of art, tattoos, business and beauty now redirects her attention to her original passion – music.

Kat Von D has been a staple in alternative culture and pop culture as a whole ever since first exploding onto the scene in the reality television show ‘Miami Ink’ and then promptly securing her own series, ‘LA Ink’, at her home in Hollywood. Quick to prove herself as far more than just another bland reality TV star, Von D built an empire around her interests and established a unique brand of tattoo artistry, best-selling books, art galleries, clothing lines, and most notably, a massively successful and world-renowned beauty line.

But what most people don’t realize about Von D is that out of everything she’s sunken her teeth into and made business ventures out of, her first and most consistent passion has been music. She’s been a constant presence in the world of rock and metal for quite some time – and not just because she’s dated musicians like Nikki Sixx and Deadmau5 and is married to Rafael Reyes of Prayers. She’s been classically trained on the piano since she was a child, practicing every day and growing an appreciation for all different genres as she’s grown older.

Much like her dedication to veganism and animal rights, Von D has a significant place in her heart for music, adorning her body with tattoos of multiple acts like the Misfits, AC/DC, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, ZZ Top, and appearing in numerous music videos for bands such as HIM, Alkaline Trio, and Gunship. In 2008, she founded the MusInk Tattoo Convention and Music Festival, which has featured artists like Suicidal Tendencies, Limp Bizkit, The Used, Hatebreed, NOFX, Bad Religion, Deftones and more. She’s even had an entire song written for her by Eagles of Death Metal. Needless to say, her street cred in the scene is well established.

She’s now set to release her debut album, entitled ‘Love Made Me Do It’, a project that has been nearly a decade in the making. Described as “a pastiche of shapeshifting analog synths, post-punk dreamscapes, gothic hues, and shy pop magnetism”, the record deals with heartbreak, disillusionment, and ultimately enlightenment. While some might be expecting a hard-hitting, in-your-face type of attitude, Von D opts for a moodier and more atmospheric feel to her music that rides on soaring synth waves and danceable beats. Joining her are bandmates Gregg Foreman, Sammi Doll, Dave Parley, and Brynn Route, as well as notable collaborators Dave Grohl, Linda Perry, Dave Sitek, Peter Murphy, Danny Lohner, Ladyhawke and Charo.

In a conversation with Knotfest, Kat Von D discusses the many inspirations behind her music and unique sound, the artistry that goes into crafting not only her songs but her music videos and live performances as well, and shares some personal stories like the time she and her husband hit up a Rage Room and a week-long horror movie marathon she undertook with a friend.

What made this the right time to finally release your debut album?

Kat Von D – Music has always been a big part of my life and although most people know me from tattooing, they actually don’t know that music has been kind of the most consistent thing in my life. I’ve been not only classically trained since the age of five, but I’ve been playing with my friends’ bands and singing on all my talented friends’ albums and stuff like that. So I’m not a stranger to it but I think that a lot of people are not familiar with me having some form of musicianship. They’re like, “What? She’s coming out with music?” So it could be a little confusing to some people but like everything else I’ve ever done, I’ve always said the proof is in the final product. I’m not here trying to be like a celebrity just slapping my name on something and you know, collecting a check and not really caring about it. I want music to be my main focus in life. I’m not sure if this is the right time, to be honest. I feel like I probably should have released this album ten years ago when I wrote it, but I think life just got in the way. I was filming the TV show and going on book tours and just allowing all these other other forms of expression to kind of get in the way of focusing on music. Basically like a year and a half ago I decided to sell my makeup line so that I could have the time to go on tour and really give the music the attention it needs. And then obviously last year everything kind of got turned upside down and everybody was put to a halt. So I’ve just been waiting within this last year for everything to open up again so that we can go on tour and finally release the album.

How do you go about mixing your unique brand of alternative style with the kind of synth pop sound you’ve got going on?

Kat Von D – I think a lot of my fans and followers were expecting me to come out with like, metal just because I’m a huge fan of metal and I think people kind of know me for liking that music. But I also love a lot of darkwave and I love analog synthesizers and I’m a huge fan of post-punk era music. I love Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, that kind of stuff. I feel like when it comes to the music that I want to create it’s more along the lines of that. I love poetry, I love strong lyrics and soulful singing. I love Arch Enemy, but my voice does not lend itself to sing like Alissa [laughs] so I know where I belong.

It’s interesting also because like you were saying, you have your scene with metal and rock and all that stuff, but at the same time, you’ve also always been this kind of like, pop culture icon with LA Ink and everything.

Kat Von D – Yeah, I love pop structure. I’m not a big fan of pop music per se, but I do love the structure of songwriting and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. For us, I feel like we do have pop elements in our music but there’s definitely a darkness to it. Even in a lot of synthwave bands that I love, they tend to sound a lot happier than what we’re producing. I like to live in the more melancholy world. I don’t know how to write a happy love song.

There’s a consistent sound throughout the songs but each one still distinctly feels like it takes inspiration from different genres and eras. There’s definitely that predominantly 80s kind of sound.

Kat Von D – Yeah, especially the drum sounds and not just the synthesizers. I think we only have one song that actually has guitar in it. I really love that era but I also think that when my bandmates and I write songs, we don’t sit there with like, a reference. Like, “Oh, I really like this song, let me try to do a version of it.” We actually just start from scratch and we do a lot of sound design, finding specific synth sounds that are not presets in any way. It doesn’t feel dated to me. I feel like there’s a bit of a modern take on the 1980s I guess, and I think that’s important. We’re not trying to be Depeche Mode or any of those other bands that I mentioned, although you might feel the sentiment of that era.

That instrumental breakdown in ‘Fear You’ is so good, that’s very much in my lane. And that part of the music video looks dangerous as hell!

Kat Von D – Thank you, I love that too. I wanted to do a violent video because I feel like all of our other videos were beautiful. I was thinking, how do we create violence without hurting a person, or violence towards somebody versus like, inanimate objects, you know? So I had taken my husband to this thing called a Rage Room. You can rent these rooms and you buy different packages and you can just break break shit. We obviously got bored after like the first 15 minutes [laughs] but I can see how that could be therapeutic. That was a really cool experience so why not take that experience and make that into a music video?

Did you guys have any protection while you were smashing stuff?

Kat Von D – What’s funny is everybody didn’t want to wear protection, they were like, “we’ll wear some sunglasses”. Dave Parley, our drummer, was the only one that didn’t wear sunglasses and for a minute we thought he got a piece of glass in his eye. Thankfully it was just like, a dust particle but I was like “Oh my god don’t do this, Dave!” [laughs] I think aside from that we might have gotten a few little nicks and cuts but nothing crazy. We did use real glass, there was only a few prop glasses, like the sugar glass. I actually posted a video of Sammi, one of my synth players, breaking a bottle over my head and people were like, “Oh my god, that’s so crazy.” It literally felt like a kitty cat just whispered into my ear. [laughs] Those things break if you just like, squeeze them. I got those red glass skulls made and those were made out of the sugar glass, but other than that we do all our own stunts.

In the music video for Exorcism, you wrote that the song was partially inspired by a week long exorcism-themed movie binge.

Kat Von D – With my friend, Kevvy. We actually ended up writing another song together called Lost At Sea that’s on the album. He’s a huge horror fan and I am too, we’ve seen like, every single one. There’s so many terrible ones. It’s crazy. But there’s a lot of really great ones too and I was fascinated by the concept of demonic possession because it seems like there’s a pattern within every culture and every era in history that calls to some form of possession and exorcism. I just find it so weird that in an era like today, where we have cell phone cameras and all this stuff, you never actually see any footage on YouTube. It’s never like in the movies, you know? I think it’s like this romanticized idea of surrendering control to an outside force. I feel like people write a lot of love songs about the correlation between love and death or love and drugs or addiction. I just wanted to take it one step further and do a song about love that was in correlation with a demonic possession because I think that’s how I felt in the past a lot. It’s like you’re no longer in control or you don’t feel in control and you’ve given this power to somebody that may not be the greatest thing for you.

From that movie binge, which ones were your favorite and which ones were the absolute worst?

Kat Von D – I feel like I’ve subconsciously blocked out the worst ones. I think the worst ones were always like a Blair Witch-style filming, you know? One of my favorites through that marathon was one with Anthony Hopkins called The Rite. I love Anthony Hopkins obviously, who doesn’t? It was shot beautifully and it was the most realistic possession scenes. I don’t want to spoil it but there’s a giant twist at the end which I think was really different than every other exorcism movie out there. I think all of it was shot in Italy, so it’s a very beautiful background. Anthony Hopkins plays an exorcist. I loved The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but I would consider that more like a court case movie. It was so compelling, I think I cried at one point. I didn’t know that there was a part two and three to the original The Exorcist, and I had read the reviews prior to watching and everybody was talking shit about these movies. I thought they were so great. I love part two especially, I love the kind of origin story of Egypt and when you think about that era, they had pretty good CGI effects in that movie. So I gave those a thumbs up.

Were there any other kind of movie inspirations that helped guide the direction of the album?

Kat Von D – So Gregg Foreman AKA Mr. Pharmacist, he’s my other synth player and we’re both huge fans of John Carpenter, especially all the scores for most of his movies. I feel like there is inspiration behind some of those sounds that you find on the album, but as far as inspiration from movies, it was more for the music videos. For the Exorcism video, that one was really inspired by one of my favorite directors, Alejandro Jodorowsky. He did The Holy Mountain and El Topo and Santa Sangre. El Topo was my favorite just because the aesthetic way you would see these like, black silhouettes. The opening scene, for example, is this man in black on a black horse with a black umbrella just cruising through the desert. It was like putting together two things that didn’t belong together and I love that. For the music video for Enough there were definitely some Fellini inspirations with the props of the ocean where we’re kind of like, rowing through the storm and it’s a little bit campy, but in a good way. I don’t feel like the Fear You music video was inspired by any movie in particular, I just had a really clear idea of what I wanted the storyline to be. I love movies, or good movies at least. [laughs]

Do you feel like music videos kind of went away and then steadily came back with stuff like YouTube?

Kat Von D – I don’t know, I think that there are a lot of videos but the filming process for us has been pretty brutal because I don’t tend to do like, the lip syncing videos. I think that’s what the majority of people do, whether it’s hip hop or even metal. It’s like, okay, cool, you’re gonna do a fake performance and then we’re gonna lip sync and we’re gonna have some smoke and stroke. I don’t have any interest in doing that. For me, I’ve always loved music videos that have a narrative. Those just take a lot of time and energy and I can understand why bands don’t do them, but I like these little mini films. It kind of helps storytell the music more than just doing a performance piece. I think there’s creative ways of doing the performance pieces as well, I’m not gonna knock that, but to me, I’m not interested in just shooting a bunch of lip syncing all the time.

It helps show the artistry behind it. I like when artists go the extra mile.

Kat Von D – Me too. It’s funny because I really like our band, we get along so great and we love each other. We always laugh because we’re like The Munsters because we have a contortionist in our band and she looks like Marilyn Munster and then Gregg’s like Herman and so we’re this really weird little kooky family and stuff. I feel like everybody’s so extremely attractive in their own way. When I think of music videos, I always think about different parts that I want to create for each band member. Like, “Oh, this would be a really good scene for Sammi or for Dave.” In the music video for Exorcism, we actually got a stunt crew to come out and put us into those harnesses to make the bandmates fly into the air for those jumping scenes. Then we had to remove the little wires and stuff in post. My drummer always wears this leather fringe fanny pack and then he’s got this long beard and hair and I just want to see that flowing in the wind. It was my favorite jump scene out of all of them.

I just wanted to add that your work concerning animal rights is commendable. Dominion, in particular, that’s an incredibly affecting movie. If everyone was able to view that, you know, maybe things could change faster. I don’t know how you learn and see these things and not be changed by it.

Kat Von D – For sure, there’s definitely some trauma behind all that, I mean you could only imagine. But I always just commend Shaun Monson, because he’s dedicated his life to making those movies. He worked on Earthlings as well and those are just so, so brutal. But thank you, that’s very sweet.

And just so we don’t end on a bummer note, what kind of show can audiences expect to see on your upcoming concert dates?

Kat Von D – I’m a huge fan of going to see bands play and my biggest pet peeve is when you really love a band and you go and see them and it’s just like, a guy standing at a mic. So I definitely want to create an experience, especially with visuals. Like I said, I have a contortionist in my band who’s amazing and she’s part of our group. She is actually going to be playing some sounds but she’ll be moving her body in a crazy way that you won’t even be able to understand. We’ve been shooting all of our live visuals with Linda Strawberry, who does all the art directing for Smashing Pumpkins and a bunch of other bands. Her and I really see eye to eye on finding the beauty in the dark stuff. So we’ve actually been filming and prepping all of the light works and for the LED panels and everything else that we’re doing.I think people are gonna be in for a visual treat. I like that that’s just one other way of storytelling for music and I think that’s how you should be able to present your music to the world. To go back to my bandmates, it’s like they’re all superstars in their own way. I feel like they already have their own fans as well. I’m not interested in just shining a spotlight on myself, we’re all going to be doing some crazy things onstage. We’re like the goth Power Rangers.

[ellana-ravenwood]

Naked Birds - Tim Drake x Reader

Summary : You are Tim’s girlfriend, and today, you play some strip poker with the batboys...(Tim is a bit older than he is currently in the comics, like he’s around 19 or something).

for @gobydana, hope you’ll like it (I’m always stressed the people who requested things are gonna be like : “that’s shit”) : 

You can find my masterlist here : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

It was a Saturday afternoon on a rainy day when everything happened, when you gain your boyfriend’s older brothers’ respect. And also embarrassed them more than they ever been embarrassed in their lives. 

Dick, Jason, Tim and you were spending some times altogether, getting to know each other, as in five years of relationship with Tim, you never really had time to hang out with his family (busy people). 

Bruce was at work, Alfred had a day off, and Damian was hanging out with some friends (which was so rare that no one dared to tell him to stay to spent the day with you guys). 

-No Jason, we  are NOT playing strip poker right now. 

-But I’m bored and a movie is...

-I said we’re not ! 

-Why nooooowwwt ? 

-Because it’s only you, Dick, (Y/N) and I, I don’t need to see my brothers naked. 

-And (Y/N) ?

-We’ve been together for five years, what, you think I never saw her naked ? 

-I never saw her naked. 

-Good.

Jason gives his brother an infuriating smile and, taking some soda cans while Tim takes a giant bowl of pop-corns, they go back to the living room where you and Dick are waiting. 

The eldest Wayne boy is sitting upside down on the couch while you’re on the floor, browsing their...very small movie collection. You turn to look at your boyfriend and his brother coming in, and, with an exasperated look, you say : 

-You guys are the sons of one of the richest man on Earth, and you own like...Five DVDs ? Three of which are the same copy of “The Sound of Music” for some reasons...I’m worried about you guys’ sanity. 

-Bruce loves that film. 

-Really ? 

-Oh yeah, he makes us watch it at least once a month. He’s Captain Von Trapp.

-Uh ? 

-...While watching it, he re-enacts the film. He’s always Captain Von Trapp. And he forces us to be other characters as well. 

You go to sit in between your boyfriend and Jason, and with a sly smile you ask him : 

-Who are you ? 

He blushes like crazy, already regretting talking about his father’s weird habit. 

-...No one. 

-Tim, babe, who are you ? I swear I’m not gonna laugh. 

A small silence. A bit awkward. He knows that if he doesn’t tell you, his brothers will, and that it’d be worst, so : 

-...one of the daughter. Depends which one on the day, but I’m most often Liesl. Sometimes I’m all of them... 

It took everything in you to not burst out in laughter at the thought of your boyfriend singing the girls’ parti of the movie, and, swallowing a chuckle, you look at him very seriously and say : 

-Such a big role. You must be proud. 

-You swore not to...

-Laugh. I never said anything about not mocking you.

-I like your girlfriend Timmy. 

You high five Jason, and you both snicker like idiots at Tim’s pouty face. 

-Oh come on love, turn that frown, upside down ! 

You singsong, pinching his cheeks in between your fingers. He pushes you away, but can’t hide the smile growing on his face. Jason makes a small sound of disgust as you and Tim kiss, and you expertly elbow him in the ribs. 

Dick rolls off the couch and asks : 

-So, what do you guys wanna watch ? (Y/N), you’re our guest, you choose ! 

-Well, difficult choice. It’s either “Star Wars : The Phantom menace”, aka the worst Star Wars ever, “Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix” which I’ve seen a thousand times, or The Sound of Music. 

You pick up the two other copies of the DVD and add : 

-Or the Sound of Music. And oh ! The Sound of Music. 

The brothers laugh. Tim wraps an arm around your shoulder, and squeeze you against him, kissing your forehead lovingly. He loved (love) you too damned much, he hope with all his heart, prayed to every Gods, that he’d never loose you...Lost in his thoughts, your boyfriend did not notice Jason’s sly smile at your decomposed features (for real though, if you knew, you’d have come with loads of your favorite movies in DVDs !), and therefor, didn’t react quick enough to shut him up : 

-I have another idea (Y/N). Do you know how to play...poker ? 

He looks at you smugly, and you feel Tim stiffening next to you. 

-If I know how to play poker ? Oh Timothy, your brother is a funny one. I was born to play poker, mate. 

-Is that so miss (Y/L/N) ? Timmy, your girl is getting cocky. 

-Cocky uh ? You’re on Todd, we’re playing poker ! Anything is better than “The Sound of Music” really...

-Never say that in front of Bruce haha. 

You and Jason stood up, and Dick was looking at his little brother, worried. Every single muscles of Tim’s body were flexed, and his jaw was clenched. He was looking straight in front of him, and it felt like he was going to crack in a million pieces under the pressure of his own strength. Carefully, dick got closer and laid a soothing hand on his shoulder, while you and Jason went to the living room table to set up the game. 

-Are you ok Tim ? You seem a bit...tense.

-Tense ? I’m going to play strip poker with my brothers and my girlfriend, why would I be tense ? It’s fine really, everything is totally fine. 

Tim managed to say between clenched teeth. And it hit Dick. Of course Jason would. He had to admit though, he wondered what your reaction would be once Jay would tell him the extra rule of the game...

******************

Your reaction surprised all of them. When Jason said that every time someone would lose, they had to take an article of clothing off, you just went : 

-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Oh my God guys, get ready to end this nice little day naked hahahahaha. Naked little birds. Interesting. 

Under Tim’s jealous gaze, you wink mischievously at his brothers, and they felt themselves blush without being able to stop. 

-What do you mean “interesting” ?!

-Your bros are hot honey. 

-...WHAT ?! 

-You’re the hottest one though. 

You smile at his outraged face, and he’s about to say something...but the kiss you give him makes him forget everything. You knew him too well, you knew he couldn’t get mad at you when you were being affectionate. One hand in his hair, the other around his neck, his arms go to grab your waist and he deepens the kiss, you..

-Ahem. 

Dick. And Jason, as a matter of fact. You both turn to look at them, still in each other’s arms. 

-It’s getting a bit embarrassing right now...

You smile and pull away from Tim, he plants a last kiss on your cheek before you both go sit around the table. 

-Well, let’s start that game shall we ? 

******************

Stunned. That’s what they were, as Dick and Tim were down to only their pants and boxer, and Jason still only had his underwear (some brief he stole from Bruce, and his unmatched socks), while you still had all of your clothes on. All of it. 

Yep, stunned would pretty much describe really well their feelings. 

-And boom, I win again with...a pair of six ! 

-I KNEW YOU WERE BLUFFING ! 

-Yeah well, that’s the point of the game no ? Off with your socks Todd. Or your underwear, as you wish. 

You wink at him, and Tim glares at his brother, daring him to even try to get his underwear off.  

-They’re called “briefs”, Bruce wears them so...

-Are those Bruce’s ? 

-...Maybe...

-Oh my God Jason...really ? 

-I retract what I said earlier, I don’t like your girl Tim. 

-Good, cause I like her, so you can’t have her. 

Dick cannot stop his fit of laughter, and soon, all of you are struggling to breath as you giggle like children. Jason takes off his socks, and focus more than ever on the next game. 

*********************

-Oh, and look at that, naked little birds. Maybe not so little though if you gotta use both hands... 

Dick and Jason, their hands covering what they have between their thighs, are facing you, as red as tomatoes. Next to you, Tim smile slyly at them, forgetting his jealousy, standing proudly still in his boxers, as you are still...fully clothed. 

-Ok, alright, you had your fun, are you done now ? Can we like...put our clothes back on ? 

-Nope, that’s not how the game work...Run to your rooms naked, you’re not allowed to put those clothes back on. 

They look at each others, then back at you to make sure you’re serious and...oh, you’re very serious. You didn’t destroy them at poker to not even enjoy the view a little. Their muscled chests were already pretty nice...but when they hurriedly left the room...damn their back muscles, thighs and NICE BUTTS !! Tim’s hand pinching your side brought you back to real life.

-What ? It’s not because I already ordered my meal that I can’t look at the menu some more. 

You wink at him, and his scoff and little outraged expression make you laugh. 

-Besides, I enjoyed seeing them blush, and Jason’s smug face disappearing after the first game, more than “looking” at them.

-I gotta admit, their facial expressions were priceless. 

-Right ? 

Tim smiles fondly at you and take you close to him, pressing a searing kiss on your lips, just to make sure you remember that only him can make you feel that way...When you pull away, he says :

-I didn’t know you were that good at poker by the way, you amaze more and more every day. 

-Ttt, I cheated Tim. 

-What ?  

-I always cheat at poker, that’s why I’m so good at it. I count the cards, and when I shuffle them, I put some on up my sleeves. 

-Are you serious ? I didn’t see anything...

-Yup, serious as Hell. And that’s the point, for people not to realize I’m cheating. 

He looks at you, stunned again...and a bright smile spread across his face. You loved his smile. 

-Oh my, I love you so much (Y/N), you’re the most amazing woman I ever met. 

-I love you too Tim...You’re definitely in the top five most amazing men I ever met. 

-You think you’re funny don’t you ? 

-I think I’m hilarious. 

He laughs, genuinely laughs, and it’s so rare that you can’t help but kiss him. It’s so good to see him relax, and not stressed by his nightly activities (yes, you know...of course you know, you guessed pretty quickly, and anyway, he told you). His lips taste of coffee, and you remind yourself to be more careful and to watch his caffein intake with more attention. 

His father’s heavy steps make you two pull away from each other (with great regret). Enter a very confused Bruce. He’s showing somewhere behind himself with his thumbs and says, clearly troubled : 

-...Wh...Why were Dick and Jason running naked in the house ? 

Tim’s and your laugh answer him, and as you leave the room, the Batman finds himself completely clueless for the first time in years. Maybe watching “The Sound of Music” would help ? ...

FIN.

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “The Force Awakens”

Welp, “The Last Jedi” is officially coming out in theaters FRIDAAAAYYYY so I thought “... I might as well rewatch the last onee.... I mean... why not?”

*scats opening theme crazily out loud*

GUYS THEY TELL YOU WHO “THE LAST JEDI” IS IN THE OPENING CRAWL!

Plus Yoda actually calls him “the last of the Jedi” in Episode 6

That Imperial ship passing in front of the planet there looks like a big fat middle finger.  Like “Haha suckas!”

BB-8!

So, age old question, is BB-8 a boy or a girl?  I think BB-8′s a boy...

Oh hi Max von Sydow, who’s barely in this movie!

So how is the Max von Sydow character connected to Luke?  And how does he have the last bit of the map needed to find Luke?

Yeeep, this is a J.J. Abrams movie

Oh that one Stormtrooper had a freaking flamethrower!

“I’ll [Poe] come back for you [BB-8]!”  Aaawww...

I like that the first indication we get that Finn is not an ordinary Stormtrooper is that we actually hear him breathing.  You never hear the other Stormtroopers breathing, just their voices.

*Kylo Ren’s leitmotif starts playing*   Yessss, blare those French horns, John Williams!

OH THAT’S AWESOME

Lens flare!

Take a shot every time one comes up in this movie.

“So who talks first?  You talk first, I talk first?  It’s just very hard to understand you with all the... apparatus...”  OK, so there’s the indication that Poe clearly knows who Kylo Ren was before he turned to the Dark Side so he absolutely gives no shits and goes forward with the straight on mockery.  Amazing.

He’s probably like “Ooooh why hello, Darth Edgelord.  I like your cape, did your mom make it for you?  NO, BECAUSE SHE AND I ARE TOTES BFFs NOW, I HAVE A DROID FOR A SON, AND YOU HAVE A STUPID FACE!”

Oh hi Phasma, who barely has anything to do in this movie!

You guys got Brienne of Freaking Tarth to play a bad guy, and she doesn’t do anything?!?

Aaawww, BB-8!

That’s the nightwatcher!  And it pops up in “Forces of Destiny!”

John Boyega!

Phasma’s armor in that shot doesn’t really look as shiny as it usually does.  Maybe it’s the low lighting

Rey!

Oh I love Rey’s theme

No lie, Rey’s speeder kinda looks like a USB drive

Man, Zazu looks terrible....

What the heck is that?

*imitates Unkar Plutt*  ONE QUA-TAH PO-TION

So has anyone actually taken the time to figure out how long Rey has been on Jakku based on the tally marks on the wall?

BB-8 looks so offended that Rey just shushed him

Oh my gosh, BB-8′s little “Yep!”

Guys, I want a BB-8 so bad now.  Please get me one.

Holy crap, what the heck did they do to Poe?

Oh hello Hux!

I like the little hissing noise that happens when Finn takes off his Stormtrooper helmet

WHY IS THERE A CABLE?!?!?

Wilhelm Scream!

Oh, there’s a targeting thing on the windshield too!

How the heck could Kylo sense that Finn was exactly that one Stormtrooper who was freaked out at the village?  And how does he know Finn’s identification number?  Did he extract the number just on the whim of it?

“No droid can be that important!”  “This one [BB-8] is!”  ThAT’S HIS SON, DAMMIT

Finn gradually stripping off all of his Stormtrooper gear reminds me of “The Prince of Egypt” for some reason.  Plus there’s a sequence of him trekking through the desert to get to a settlement.

“They’re [Hux’s soldiers] obviously skilled at committing high treason.”  The sass is strong with this one...

Hux is like “Son of a bitch...”

Happabore!

Finn’s face when he sees Rey beat off Unkar’s men!

*Rey charges at Finn like an angry bull*  Pfffttt...

“Yes I am.  I'm with the Resistance, yeah.  *whispers* I’m with the Resistance.”  Finn is the K2-SO of the sequel trilogy.  Brilliant.

“[Finn] Stop taking my hand!” Oh let him!

*Rey offers Finn her hand*  Thank you.

AN:  Just a heads up.  I’m only 31 minutes in.  Because I am a motormouth and the video’s stalling so I got time to write down more thoughts.

“That one’s garbage!”  Don’t call the Falcon garbage!

Run, little soccer ball [BB-8], run!

*Rey and Finn absolutely wreck the Niima outpost with the Falcon*  Guys... no...

Holy shit so what exactly happened at the Battle of Jakku that so many Star Destroyers crashed to the planet’s surface?

“I’m [Finn] getting pretty good at this!”  That’s great, kid!  Don’t get cocky!

*The Falcon makes a sharp right out of the graveyard*  OOOOHHHH THAT WAS NICE!

According to the script for this movie, this dude’s name is Mitaka.... please tell me his first name is Hakuna

Wouldn’t Kylo recognize the make and model of the Falcon?  Because, you know, that’s his dad’s ship

“What girl?”  The one.  The one you’re gonna get super pissed at/obsessed with in the next movie.  Because status and other crap.

“Droid, please!”

Where the heck is the Ileenium system?  Probably in the Outer Rim as per usual I suppose?

Pretty sure BB-8 just flipped Finn off

“[Rey] You got a boyfriend?  Cute boyfriend?”  Oh my God...

The hell is that?  It’s even got teeth!

HAN AND CHEWIE!

Han’s like “Oh yeah.  Reunited with my baby.”

Where and what the heck are half the things/planets Han and Finn talk about?

Why didn’t Han have BB-8 hide with Rey and Finn?  He doesn’t know the Death Gang is working with the First Order so isn’t it only common sense that he take extra precautions?  Well then again, this is Han we’re talking about...

“I got a bad feeling about this.”  That’s prequel style IGABFAT

Take a shot every time someone fires a blaster at a sealed door and it opens

“I [Han] never ask that question until after I’ve done it.”  Same.

“This is not how I thought this day was gonna go.”  Also same.

Hi Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke)!

I like how Kylo just slowly turns toward Hux like “Excuuuusse me, bitch?”

I know Snoke here is just a hologram but dang the motion capture gets so much better in the next movie

Please tell me we get more of the Knights of Ren in the next movie.  C’mon, Rian Johnson, don’t let me down.

*claps with each word*  More flashbacks concerning Kylo’s turn to the Dark Side, please!

Ohhh the Force theme!  I hear you, John Williams!

“I didn’t know there was this much green in the whole galaxy.”  I mean, it is a green screen...

“Women always figure out the truth.”  Salud!

I would love to see/read an AU of Rey working as second mate with Han and Chewie

*sings along with the “Jabba Flow”*

“Where’s my [Maz] boyfriend?” “Chewie’s busy working on the Falcon.” *spit take*

Skeksises!

“Forgive me.  I feel it again...” *resists urge to sing “Johanna” from Sweeney Todd*

“... the pull to the light.”  Oh thank God.

How the heck was Vader’s helmet recovered from Endor?

“Leia doesn’t wanna see me [Han].”  Why the heck not?!?

Wait, that attack on the village in the beginning was Finn’s first battle?!?

The heck...

Biggest question out of the whole movie:  how was Luke’s first lightsaber recovered from Cloud City in Episode 5?

Yoda...

Palpatine?  Did I just hear Palpatine?

Alec Guinness Obi-Wan...

The heck kind of ship is that?

“These are your first steps...”  Ewan McGregor!

So Maz isn’t Force sensitive but she knows about it... please tell me she’s met Chirrut somewhere before the events of Rogue One

Roll those r’s, Hux!

No, not Martha Jones!

How the heck are the beams separating after being shot into space?  Were they separately programmed to hit a specific planet before Starkiller Base fired them?

“Where’d you [Maz] get that [Anakin’s lightsaber]?”  “A good question... for another time.”  Well that’s mighty convenient!

*Kylo Ren’s leitmotif starts playing*  Here we go...

Han just shot that Stormtrooper without looking.  Badass.

That’s like Hawkeye in “The Avengers” shooting down that one Chitauri without looking

*in best TR-8R voice*  TRAITOR!

Those wave vortexes though!

*Kylo pops out of nowhere*  Oh crap!

I like how when Kylo uses the Force to make people stop in place, it’s just like they literally freezed and they look so uncomfortable and rigid when it happens

I just noticed that whenever Adam Driver speaks like really softly, his voice gets a little high pitched

So how did Kylo knock out Rey with the Force?  Is it like a unique Force ability that’s already out there?

In Rebels, the loth wolf knocks Sabine out but it’s more of a roofie breath effect.  Here, Kylo does this kinda pulling motion when he does it.

Oh my God, Leia...

GOD DAMMIT, 3PO

OH MY GOSH BB-8 RUNNING TOWARD POE WITH JOY!

#WeNeedMorePoe2k17

Fun Fact:  the medic attending Chewie is played by Christopher Lee’s niece

“Princesses...”  Excuse you [3PO]?!?

“R2-D2 has been in low power mode ever since Master Luke went away...”  Well, that’s convenient!

Something I want to see:  young Ben Solo traveling with his dad Han Solo. 

Dad Solo:  A Star Wars Story

“Where am I [Rey]?”  “You’re my [Kylo] guest.”  Is Kylo always super smarmy with his prisoners?

*Kylo takes off his mask*  Oh no, he’s... a regular human being... with somehow perfect hair...

*shrugs*

I mean, hey, apparently we’re getting Beefcake Kylo in “The Last Jedi,” so I guess this was Star Wars getting its fandom ready...

Hey guys, I found the cast of Rogue One.

“You [Rey] know I [Kylo] can take whatever I want.”  EEEUGGHHHHH

This is how the script describes Kylo’s first attempt at reading Rey’s mind:  Kylo Ren nearly TOUCHES HER FACE...  THEY'RE BOTH SURPRISED: they react to a feeling that passes between them -- AN ENERGY THEY RECOGNIZE IN EACH OTHER. And then it's gone. Adversaries again.

STAR WARS, EXPLAIN!  I AM CONFUSION!

“You... you’re afraid... that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader.”  OOOHHHHHH

So what is Snoke’s backstory?  Apparently he’s older than both Plagueis and Palpatine and he’s got his face cut up like a Papa John’s pizza.  So what’s up?

[Kylo starts stalking down the hall] *starts scatting “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees*

Bwahahahahahaha... *deep breath*  HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Those two Stormtroopers though!

So to power Starkiller Base, they suck the energy out of a Sun?  Wasn’t that used in “Revenge of the Fallen?”

“It’s just another Death Star.”   AMEN!

“Some things never change.”  “True.  You [Han] still drive me [Leia] crazy.”  AAAGGHHH

*Han and Leia hug*  AAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH

What the heck is Galactic Standard Time?  The announcement at the base said that everyone needs to re-synchronize their time to that.  So does that mean there’s a Galactic Daylight Saving Time as well?

“We’re making our landing approach at light speed?”  Uhhh yeah... that’s gonna work out well...

*The Falcon slides to a stop*  Yeaahhhh no, everyone’s dead after that.

“That’s not how the Force works!”  Best.  Line.  Ever.

I still want that on a poster.

If Rey could get a hold on a blaster, why can’t she also just knock out a random trooper and take his armor?

Finn, why did you leave Phasma at the desk by herself?!?!?

What are those two troopers?

*Finn and Rey hug*  Aaaawwww....

“It would take a miracle to save us now.”  Oh but of course.

No lie, Kylo with his mask on kinda reminds me of Daffy Duck for some reason. 

Aaw Finn gave Rey his jacket!

“BEN!”  WhAt, Daaaad?!?!?

Oh that shot’s awesome

“I’m [Kylo] being torn apart.”  HI BEING TORN APART, I’M DAD!

NOOOOOOOOOooooooooo....

*Han runs his hand along Kylo’s cheek before falling*  Gooodd.... I’mmmm not OK, I am not OK

*Leia senses Han’s death with the Force*  AAAAAAGGGHHH

Take a shot whenever you see a random Stormtrooper go flying from an explosion

I just realized that when Kylo was giving his little speel, he was looking directly at Rey and completely ignored Finn standing right beside her.

“TRAITORRRRRRR!!”  Oh there ya go.  Now ya pissed him off.

“That lightsaber- it belongs to me!”  IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!

*Rey uses the Force to summon the lightsaber*  WHOOOOOOO LET’S GOOO!

Oh wow, they’re just hacking down trees right and left.

Ex-PLOsions...

*Rey does a somersault*  PARKOUR!

I love how Rey’s just basically using the lightsaber like a bat.

*softly*  Oooohh the Force theme...

That shot’s awesome too.  Holy crap.

Rey just sliced up Kylo’s face and arm like a Christmas ham.

[Rey and Kylo get separated]  *sings*  We’ll meet again... don’t know when... don’t know where...

I wonder if Rey even knows who Leia is.  Stupid question but it’s gotta be asked sometime...

Someone hug Chewie, dang it!

The first thing R2 does when he wakes up is insult 3PO.  Amazing.

So how long was R2 asleep?  In extension, how long has Luke been away?

Leia:  May the Force be with you

*cries*

Skellig Island [Ahch-To] looks gorgeous

How long has Luke been standing there?  Did he know Rey was coming and go “Oh, I gotta do a dramatic turn around and reveal when she comes.  Better get ready...”

*Rey offers Luke the lightsaber*  So was there a hand attached to that?

It would be pretty freaking hilarious if in the next movie, Luke takes it and then pulls a Moana and just chucks it.  I would literally die laughing.

[littlekatlizzy]

Rant about the most amazing people

Hello @missikowoman I’m choosing you as my first victim of this post since it’s your birthday today. (By the way, happy birthday) (again) I will just get straight to the point of this whole thing which is basically just me rambling about the stuff I love about you and if I don’t get to it now I’ll probabaly never finish but ANYWAYS: I love you. First things first, okay, I love you so much, holy shit alright I never guessed we would become so damn close because we were hating each other so much??? I love how a single mention of a videogame got us to the point we are at now and seriously I could never be any morehappier. You always say I’m the mom friend but then there’s you, the smol bitch that can roast anything and everyone in the blink of an eye, taking care of me like I was the child in the group. Whenever I’m feeling down you always seem to notice and immediately talk to me and try to cheer me up. When I’m sick you just randomly drop by only to fall asleep on my couch (yes I will forever remember this).We can talk about the naughtiest shit together and I never have to worry about you judging me and that is just something I’m so thankful for, regarding the shit we talked about. You give me advice. You didn’t even call me childish yesterday during the poweroutage where I almost started to cry. You’re the cutest DEAN or Wonho stan I know and whener you see Jungkook do some extra thing like he always does..I just love that dissapointed mom look you have on your face. I love how you love astrology. And that biology is pretty much your life is hella cute to me and I have no idea why, probably because you’re an adorable little nerd. I love your rage quits about your english teacher. I love how you aren’t ashamed to tell almost everyone that you’re kinda gay and that’s SO ADORABLE??? WHY ARE YOU SO ADORABLE??? I know it’s not much gayness but hey like I always say, you’re the cutest pan I know. (And the only one but AHEAM) Your addiction to Marvel is cute because it makes you even more of a nerd. AND THEN THIS CACTUS ADDICTION LIKE I CAN’T EVEN HAVE ALL CACTUS IN THE WORLD PLEASE! Oh and, yes. You ARE a makeup queen. You slay. You slay me. You slay @mermaiqprincess , you slay life. I love you.

Now to @mermaiqprincess yes hi okay this is awkward. We were best friends for around four years. Had a huge ass fight. Didn’t really talk for..4-5 years? But wow. Okay. We’re finding each other again. I’m still flashed by this, seriously. Please forgive me for not saying a lot about you. But I can happily and honestly say that you are fucking amazing. A cutiepie. Yes, you’re thin. You always were. But I still think you’re fucking beautiful okay bitch you better remember this. We’re not fully back, this might take a while for us to do. But I’m so happy we talked things out and that we’re talking again because it really hurt not to talk to you. Sweetheart, I love you, yeah? And I want to thank you for the amazing shit we’ve been through. And that even though we’re still at the beginning, you’re also trying to cheer me up no matter what. I love you. Thank you. You’re amazing.

@littlxravxn yes hello there. My baddest bitch out there. Fuck I love you. I know we fight a lot. I hate myself for every fight I had with you. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I honestly sometimes think I dont deserve to be friends with such an amazing being like you. You’ve always been my rolemodel. In everyway. You’re so amazing at art. Skilled in english. You can sing so well. You have an amazing style. You slay at makeup. I know this is childish. But I’m always just so envious of you. You’ve gone through a lot of shit that you didn’t deserve. I wish I could have helped you. I wish I could have been a better friend during these times. I wish I would be able to let you feel the love you deserve, because it’s so much more than what I can give you. I know you’re probably wondering why I’m not answering you on whatsapp right now, but I hope once you see this you will know why. I want to thank you. I want to thank you for always taking care of me. For being able to cheer me up in ways that others don’t even think of. I want to thank you for bearing with me when I’m just rambling about stupid bullshit and probably annoy the hell out of you. I want to thank you for coming over, although you have to go such a long way. I don’t do this. And I feel awful about that. I don’t deserve you. I want to thank you for almost 8 years of being my best friend. Thank you for those times we drove away together during vacation. Thank you for falling asleep against the car seat and waking up witht the marks on your face and making me laugh. Thank you for letting me be an annoying clingy little shit, even when it get’s on your nerves. Thank you for brightening up my days. Gosh I’m about to cry right now, I just really love you so much and I hope you know this. I can’t imagine living without you anymore. You’re my sister now. I don’t want to let go of you ever in my whole life. I love you. I can’t say it enough how much I love you. You just mean so much to me and I really,really,really hope that I will be able to help you go through the future. I want to travel the world with you, like you wanted. We’ll do this together, okay? You and I. Maybe the other two girls come along as well. I just want to be close to you. I want to assure you that you mean the world to me. Lexy I really love you. My best friend and sister, I will love and worship you forever. I will always be your little clingy koala. For as long as you want me to. I love you.

Aheam, now that I’ve stopped crying..(I had to wait 5 minutes to calm down)…let’s continue with you @lazyspida Ah, yes, the bias hoe. You’re crazy, You’re good at everything. You’re so fucking smart???? How??? Teach me your ways?? Okay but like..you’ve been my best friend since seventh grade. I think I just got out of therapy at that time right? When we thought everything was over and then had that one person to fuck us up completely. Honestly, I’m still not over it. I’m amazed by your existance. You look so cool on the outside. Back then I literally thought you had no feelings? Like all you ever did was either keep a poker face or smile when talking about spongebob. I remember the time we watched that movie in german class and everyone was crying asthe sister died and you just sat in the back of the class and laughed. You’re amazing. I remember the first time I saw you cry. I thought the world was about to end. I never saw you cry. I was so fucking worried, you have no idea. I remember the latest time I saw you cry. Las year on your birthday. The surprise party we planned. You’re our baby, and the fact that you didn’t know what to do just kind of upset me. You kept talking about wanting to go out and eat but your parents wouldn’t agree..Well… you know what happened. When we were standing in front of the restaurant and took off your blindfolf..it was obvious that you didn’t really understand what was happening. But gosh, I swear, that moment you started crying inside the restaurant, I cried too. I know they were happy tears but whenever I see you cry my world just breaks into pieces (hi @missikowoman ) and I feel like I did something wrong. I’m still blaming myself for the thing you told us in the café. I swear, I didn’t mean it. Please, the next time this happens just slap me across the face. I love you so much baby I would never do this on purpose. Yes, I admit, sometimes when we meet up I leave the room for a minute or two because it’s so loud. But I love you. I would never want to end this friendship. You mean so much to me. I promise to never hurt you like this again. And if I do, you may hurt me worse. I’ll sign a contract for this. I love you Spida, don’t forget that.

We’re almost at an end. Phew.

@bts-exo-seouls . Yup. It’s you my dear. I’m a bit fucked right now. I don’t know where to start. Okay so first of all, wow. Did I already tell you how much I love the way we met? Because, damn, I really love the way we met. We should have met sooner though. Way sooner. Will you still be able to get a hotel in Germany for this year? I hope so. Oh tell your dad I said hi. Now then..aheam. Yes. Sam. Sameeksha. God your name is so cute. I’ve been practicing the pronouncing. I think I’m getting there. Sammie, the one who knows how to kill me the best. I’m so amazed by you. Wow. You’re a pro at editing, writing, make up on point. Your english is PERFECT, just saying. I feel like a noob. I loved our valentines date. You got so flustered, it was adorable. I’m still trying to fix my camera, but I’m getting there. I’m already planning so many different things to pay you back for killing me. Just wait for your birthday. Just wait. OH and please send me your adress so that I can start working on that package aye. Sam, you’re my baby. Yes, I know, it’s just a few months. But I stil love you and want to protect you. You’re a mom frined. You definitely are. You give such great advice. I’m so proud of you. Sam, I love you. Sameeksha, मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हूँ (I hope this was right, if not blame google)

@littledinox Hi there sweetheart. Mal im Ernst ich wusste nicht ob ich auf Deutsch oder Englisch schreiben sollte aber hey, du siehst was daraus entstanden ist. Junge, du bist korrekt. Möchte ich jetzt mal ganz klar machen, okay? Du bist verdammt geil. Bist du sicher dass du später Koch werden willst? Ich meine, die Sache mit dem Reis…ne kleiner Scherz. Eigentlich wollte ich auf deine stories hinaus. Ich muss ehrlich sagen, dass deine Kapitel kurz gestaltet sind, aber ich weiß auch dass es schwer ist bei so etwas viel zu schreiben. In diesem Moment drehe ich halb durch weil ich befürchte bei dir steht am Ende zu wening. Was ich aber eigentlich sagen wollte ist, dass ich übelst stolz auf dich bin. Dass du dich dazu entschieden hast, dass du dich getraut hast mir zu erzählen was in dir vorgeht. Mir von deinem Erknenntniss zu erzählen. Ich möchte ganz ehrlich sein, ich will dass du weißt dass du immer auf mich zählen kannst. Wie in deiner Geschichte. Ich bringe dir auch Decke und Kissen in die Tiefgarage wenn du sie brauchst ;) Mein Freund, ich bin stolz auf dich. Ich hab dich lieb. Und ich hoffe dass du immer so bleibst wie du bist.

So yeah I’m kinda sorry to everyone who reads this because this is really just me being sentimental but I hope that the people on here know now how much I appreciate them and how much I love them.

I love you all