#very quickly written but like. u go girls. get outta there

[sanchoyo]

54 and 24, Mukuro and anyone of your choosing.

Soulmate AU + Secret Relationship 

OHH I LOVE THIS ONE I decided on Mukuro/Mikan and fuck the dynamics from the anime ok. My canon now. And I think both these girls deserve good things and to be Far Away From Junko :”)

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Junko didn’t know Mukuro had a soulmark. Her twin didn’t have one, and they were both supposed to be ruthless- there was no reason for the soldier to have one- Junko would have killed her for it. 

Soulmarks were weaknesses; ever since it appeared on her wrist at age fifteen, she’d kept it carefully hidden under tactical gloves, or behind a layer or makeup swiped from Junko’s huge collection. And it wasn’t like her sister was looking- why would she? (Her sister called her a brute, a vicious, ugly killer with no style and a flat chest and- quite frankly, Mukuro believed it; why would she get a soulmate and not her clearly more beautiful, talented twin?)

It was a strange shape, a little cross, even on all sides, pink in color. When she’d first discovered it, she’d tried to scrub it off, tried to cut it off, tried everything; no matter what, it faded back in. And being on the wrist, she couldn’t cut too deep, so, regardless-

She knew the little thing had damned her, so she hated it. She hated the concept of soulmates, that someone would look at her and love her, that Junko didn’t have one and she already knew if this person stumbled across her, her sister would kill them. So. She hid it, and denied having it. It was easier. 

Really. It was. It didn’t bother her in the least. Emotions were a footnote in the line of duty.

Mikan found Junko in their first year, a devoted girl at the first sight of affection. Junko had grabbed the girl’s wrist with her claw-like, blood-red nails, and laughed at her soulmark, assuring her no one would love her like Junko could. 

Mukuro saw the tiny knife in pink, and felt nauseous. 

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Her and Junko had been sparring; Junko had landed a particularly nasty hit, and then skipped out to go to a shoot for a magazine. In the silence, Mikan treating the gash, Mukuro did something she never dared to do: She spoke against her twin.

“You shouldn’t let her treat you like that.”

“Um, what? What d’you mean?” Mikan’s voice was barely a whisper. “You’re the one all cut up, she’s nice to me-”

“My sister has never been nice a day in her life. You should- you can go. I have to stay and look after her, but you-”

“I like being with Junko! She loves me.” Mikan mumbled. “So..please don’t say things like that. Besides, you’re here, too.”

You’re here too. You’re here too. The words echoed in her brain for the rest of the week, warming  her cheeks. She stole glances at Mikan, who would avoid her gaze. It was too taboo, too risky to do around Junko, but she couldn’t help it. The soldier and the nurse; soulmates. Could it really be true?

A few weeks later, she tried again, more gently.

“Mikan. Junko will be in Paris for the week. Why don’t we go out?”

“G-Go where? I can’t, you know I- I can’t.” Mikan’s thumb touched her wrist, like a nervous habit. “Why would you wanna go out with me, anyway? I’m not- I’m boring, I can’t really- I’m n-”

“I enjoy your company well enough. I might be boring, too, according to my sister.” She held her hand out, letting her glove stretch forward, to show the soulmark. Mikan’s eyes widened. 

“Y-you have a..is that a…a medical cross?” Mikan had paled, turning away. “I..you? But- But Junko said-”

“I know. She’ll be gone for an entire week, though. You don’t need to feel obligated, if you don’t want to go, but I’d like to talk more about..this. She doesn’t have to know; I’ll make sure she doesn’t.”

“I um..Can I think about it?” Mikan flinched away, like she wasn’t sure saying ‘maybe’ was allowed, and Mukuro felt her own heart sink; so many of her own mannerisms were reflected back at her; it made her want to be stronger, so she could support this girl, protect her. Mikan probably believed Junko when she told Mikan that her twin was a killing machine- merciless and horrible, but…

But she was determined to be more; for the first time, she saw a girl like herself, and she wanted to disobey. She wanted to give love unconditionally, not the harsh love Junko gave, but something kind. 

“Think all you need; and don’t worry about disappointing me. If you don’t want to, I won’t push. But i’ll be here regardless.”

“T-Thank you.” Mikan gave her the tiniest smile, and she felt like a glacier under the sun, melting and warming all at once.

 _______________________________

Mikan was humming something under her breath, and smiling gently. Mukuro watched her with a smile of her own; Mikan thought she was alone in the classroom- her and Junko had been assigned after-class cleaning duties today, and of course Junko had skipped out, dumping it on Mikan. But Mikan didn’t seem bothered, she seemed at peace.

“Do you need help with that?”

“Mhm, you can if you want.” Mikan didn’t flinch when she saw her, or squeak out in fear like she’d done the first few weeks. This was routine; when Junko discarded the girl, Mukuro would arrive, dutifully helping her, quietly, not pushing for anything, and if she was any kind of judge of that sort of thing, Mukuro would think Mikan enjoyed their time, too.

“I was thinking..um, if it’s not too weird, I like your short hair, Mukuro! I..was thinking about cutting mine, but hair salons..they make her nervous, strangers with scissors…”

She met the other girl’s eyes, blinking.

“Oh. Would you..do you want me to cut it, then? I don’t know how to do it properly. I cut mine with my knife.” Junko always said it looked awful and uneven and that she had a million split ends. Knowing Mikan thought it was nice was enough, though, and made her face redden if she thought too hard about it. 

“That’s fine! I-I trust you.” Mikan sat on one of the desks, pulling her hair back with her hands and batting her eyelashes towards Mukuro. “Is now okay?”

“Yeah,” She swallowed, taking her knife out and closing the distance. She was careful to pull the hair far away from Mikan’s neck, behind her, and slide the knife across quickly. The hair fell on the floor; they’d have to sweep again. 

“Does it look okay?”

“It’s cute.” Mukuro said, tucking a strand of it behind Mikan’s ear. They both had short hair now. Mikan was looking at her intently, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Thank you.” Mikan whispered. Then, she kissed her, only for a moment. “S-sorry, I just wanted to know how that would feel...I want to be close to you, but..Junko…”

“I know.” She put her forehead on Mikan’s. “I hate seeing her hurt you.”

“I-I wonder how you think I feel. You’re her sister, but she always- m-maybe I don’t deserve better, but you do-!”

She couldn’t help but laugh; that’s how she felt when she saw Junko bully Mikan- maybe they were suited to each other after all. 

“She doesn’t have to know. And maybe..maybe we could even…” Leave? Where would they go? With what money? How would they get away from Junko’s reach? It didn’t matter right now; it was a nice thought, and she still felt like she should be protecting Mikan, so she’d do anything to reach that seemingly impossible goal. 

She grabbed the other girl’s face with just her fingertips, hesitant to let her own calloused, rough hands be forceful at all; Mkain leaned in again, closing her eyes, and Mukuro kissed her again. 

_________________________________

That was how it started- secret meetings, assuring each other of their worth, and slowly, surely, protectiveness and affection bloomed into something more. Keeping it a secret was hardly as hard as either of them expected; they could fall into their roles easily enough, around Junko, but as frequently as she was at shoots these days or in other countries, they had plenty of time, so many moments together, and every moment they had to pretend otherwise was agony. Their soulmarks turned from a soft pink to a bright, passionate red; and soon…

Between them, they’d saved up enough to run away. Nothing was certain, but..Mukuro looked over the money again, double checking the math; Mikan was smarter than she gave herself credit for, and had figured it all up. They were both terrified, and excited. Junko had a two week stay in Italy, so the day she left, they were leaving shortly after. 

An old pickup truck with survival kits, clothes, and food and water, and blankets; that was all they were carrying. Mukuro had the survival skills; Mikan had the first aid skills if anything happened. They’d go up north, try and find somewhere to hole up. Mukuro had safe houses from her soldier days, but using any of them ran the risk of being found. So it was a lot of unknown factors; they’d deal with it as it came. Together, they’d escape Junko.

Her fingers intertwined with her soulmates, though, she felt at ease. Mikan gave her a real, genuine smile with no hesitation, and they stepped into the unknown together.

[grantzarrr]

Just a thing g.d

summary: Y/n and Grayson don’t like labels but they fuck around with each other and feelings are definitely there, but what happens when they are revealed?

warnings: poorly written smut :)

tags: @fangdolan @gothlydolan @onlyyyarii (idk why it didn’t work :(( )

There she is, in her sexiest piece of lingerie that she could find. What was she doing? Well, she was taking mirror pictures for her boyfriend—fuck buddy—? To everyone besides them, they were seemed to just be dating but Y/n and Grayson just didn’t want to put a label on it yet. They never claimed each other but would always deny that they were fuck buddies, they just wanted to enjoy each other without having to feel like there was a need to call- what they have- something. Just taking it slow.

But while she was setting that up, Grayson was in the middle of filming for his podcast with Ethan and Ryan and she knew far and well what he was doing. She knew exactly what time it was, she knew that if Grayson’s phone ‘blew up’ a few times, everyone would be on his case ready to ask questions. And that's exactly how she wanted and what she wanted.

“So gray, are you still trying to figure your love life out or—like what’s going on there?” Ryan asked, being very keen on his relationship.

“Uh, ry you mean fuck partner?” Ethan teased knowing where to push him.

“Oh fuck off e, we’re not fuck partners nor in a relationship—just enjoying each other for a bit.”

Then he felt it, his phone buzzing notifying him that he received a message, he only glanced though, roughly seeing your name and turning his phone back over. But then, that notification went off again back to back. That right there caused some heads to turn as Grayson saw it was you again and going to see what’s up this time. And oh- was he surprised, there you were sitting on your knees in some lingerie, giving him that little smirk he would love to fuck outta you. He noticed the first little remark of 4 that you sent, that one just stuck out more it seemed like you were talking as if you had known what exactly he was doing.

here’s something to talk about on ur little podcast. p.s ik u wanna tell them were together so go on ;)

And that fucked Grayson up, as much as he wanted to fucking call you his just for you to say that did something— but he couldn’t be quite sure. But as he continued staring he started to shift in his seat a little, only staring at your tits in that, looking so perfect for him. Only him. All he wanted to do was to cover them in hickies. Oh, how bad he wanted to flip you over your vanity and force you to watch him through the mirror as he pounded into you miraculously. Then to place you on your knees and shove his dick down your throat until he saw the tears himself.

“Yo gray? seems as if someone got you a little tensed there? You’re shifting bro..” Ethan chuckled, he knew it was you asking to get dicked down or something. He just wanted to fuck with his brother and see how long it would take here. “Oh no, it’s nobody.” He blurted out quickly but he knew for this to stop he had to respond, to at least say something so he did it swiftly as possible.

Y/n you better fucking stop or I swear you won’t even have free hands to type.

He was pissed, aggravated he was so mad that you were getting away with that, and he couldn’t do shit. He had to sit there and film his podcast for about an hour and he just fucking knew you wouldn’t let this go, not even for a second. And he thought everyone forgot until Ethan brought it back up and he had to say at least something they wanted to hear now.

“Is that uh is that your girlfriend? Hm? Is she asking for you to come over again?” Ethan lightheartedly joked but still, he was so determined to get Grayson to boil and steam over like he did every time just on camera. “Jesus e, would you let it go already.” Grayson gritted being so easily tempted to just end the podcast, it's been at least 58 minutes he can firmly say.

“Oh no go ahead, I would like to hear about this so to be fuck buddy, what is it only on Fridays? like a club? because I would love to be invited” Ryan joined in with Ethan on the little joke but he seriously wanted to know about this just in the goofy little way to make of it. But just as Grayson was about to answer, another one of a more scandalous photo sent. This photo made its way to his number one spot on the “Private Folder” of his. Grayson felt like he was gonna explode but the explosive was straight at his dick and his face went beat red. Not of embarrassment but because holy shit— look at you.

It was you legs spread and the camera hovering just where to leave the imagination running wild but still enough to tell you were wet, even if he has already seen it all. It still fucked him up in ways he couldn’t even began to fonder over. And it was just enough for him to say enough of that teasing.

“Yo, um, I gotta go- but finish the pod ok? Alright, I’ll be back...later.” Grayson rushed off quickly. Everyone in the room just watched in silence as he quickly gathered his phone and a few small little things he carried with him and he left. “Yup, booty call- where the fuck is my 10 dollars, Ryan!” Ethan shouted, happy he won this little ‘bet’. “Wow-.” Was all Ryan could say.

Once Grayson got to her house, he didn’t even bother to knock, he knew that the spear key was always under the 4th rock to the left. And when he got in...oh boy was he furious. Talking as he closed and locked the door back, not knowing she was right in the living room getting herself off. “Y/n what the fuck was that!? I told you that I-.” He was stopped dead in his tracks when he heard her wimpier his name softly, he gulped quickly and turning her way to watch exactly what she was doing. “Oh-, I see you’ve started without me—and that’s the biggest mistake of your fucking life babe.”

And with that, he went and grabbed both her hands and held them above her head, diving in with a very heated kiss. Y/n begun mumbling words against their kiss as she tried rolling her naked hips against his crotch for some friction. “You wanna go and send shit like that to me when I’m filming? Then have the audacity to finger yourself? Instead of simply telling me you wanted to fuck—god why are you so risky.”

He tried to not rage at her, there was no point she wasn’t his girl but nor was she a ‘fuck buddy’ well technically yeah, but to them, they weren’t. But the shit she pulls sometimes fucks him up, having him thinking about it for days and easily getting hard at the smallest memory and he can’t say shit or it’ll be over, and boy he fucking loves it, who wouldn’t? The adrenaline is what Grayson Dolan is all about. He doesn’t know if she feels the same or he just really knows how to fuck her right yet. “ Mhmm I did and I’ll do it multiple times until you boil over because I’m your little risk maker.” She smirked—oh did she just say-

“You wanna fuck with me like that hm? Have me thinking about it for days? Well, I’ll show you a good fucking alright.” He growled at her, having a good reason to give it to her good after that claim. He started attacking her neck. Sucking and licking, little nibbles here and there and he then moved down her body. Still having her hands above them. He stopped right at beginning of her pussy.

“Get up and bend over on the couch, now.” He demanded and was very determined to show her what she could have if they were together. He still didn’t quite know if she meant what she said but shit... he’ll take it. As she was getting up he smacked her ass giving her more of a little pep in her step, and she didn’t dare to say anything. As she was getting in the position, he got behind her and started to scrip, he just wanted to see her bend from behind, getting some of the action in. Once he did he started to stroke his cock, eyes fully on her pussy from behind and her ass. Her being impatient and hearing his short little breaths, she peaked from her shoulder at him and God was that a sight to see.

“Does that feel good, angel?” His deep voice rumbling within her, he knew he wouldn’t get anything out of her. His dick is big enough to keep anything but moans and groans from escaping. So all she did was nod quickly. The couch was snacking, she was shaking he was pounding into her giving out everything he had built up. “Fuck, I love the sounds my fucking pussy makes.” He gritted. She already knew face down on the couch, ass up and he hammered, Y/n wasn’t even sure she would be able to walk after this. And oh wait— did he say?

He just filled her up to the brim with his cock alone, the thickness and fullness of it alone would fulfill her. God was he good, gripping a handful of hair for a leverage of their position, “Graysonn, don’t stop, please.” She begged and since she asked so nicely he didn’t stop and wasn’t going to until her orgasm had her in tears. “Come on, baby. I know for a fact that you can be a hell of a lot louder than that.” But she couldn’t, her neighbors recently complained about it since their baby was born. But when he was going at it like this, all she could say was “Neighbor. Babies—FUCK!” He understood completely- on both ends. The neighbors that had their baby and that she was gonna cum, he also felt her pussy clench so he knew for a fact. He was already at the edge of his orgasm.

“Did you claim me?” They both coincidentally said at the same time but who was gonna answer it...

A/N: helloo, hope you liked it!! im gonna drown in holy water now :D

[nottswhore]

Hey I don't know if this is too much of a hard request if it is you don't need to do it!! I wanted to request how Draco would react to having an autistic s/o! Any gender is fine! Like how they are sensitive to loud sounds or certain touch!! Like he could be all protective about them 🥺💚 also any house is fine!!! Thank you so much!

Thank you so much for the request! Now i don’t know much about autism, so i’m going to have to research up on that. I have (i think) 3 requests that i’ll try to write today, if i can’t i’m so sorry! But this one will be written, i’m going to edit this post to add on the story. (what i’m saying is, the story will be on this exact post) so stay tuned!

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i’ve been d r a g g i n g it on to write this request since i’m pretty sure i’m gonna get it wrong but i’m bored as f u c k so yeah

autistic

kay so i know the name isn’t original but i can’t think of a better one

summary: y/n is scared to tell her boyfriend, Draco, that she’s autistic, but he accepts her right away :)

warnings: this isn’t a warning but i just wanted to let you guys know, i know that being autistic isn’t just being sensitive to loud sounds but i honestly don’t know what it’s like, so if you could tell me in the comments, i’ll gladly fix it! And the person who wrote the request said that they are sensitive to some touch, and i don’t know what that means so i’m just going to guess that they don’t like being touched during certain situations. oh and some cursing

face visual:

You woke up with the sun shining in your face, temporarily blinding the shit outta you. You groaned, getting up to close your curtains but yelped as a strong arm pulled you back.

You then remembered that Draco had fallen asleep with you last night.

Your worries flooded back to you again. You fell asleep last night, trying to figure out a way to tell him that you’re autistic... you didn’t think it was a bad quality, but Draco could be judgemental sometimes and you didn’t want to lose him. Pushing your thoughts aside, you tried to sit up.

“Dracoooooo... let me go.”

He then frown-pouted, his eyes still closed. “m’no wanna... stay with me,” he pulled you tighter.

You groaned, turning around and threading your hand through his hair. He smiled, thinking he accomplished what he wanted but then you yanked on his hair. hard.

his eyes shot open and he looked at you, narrowing his eyes. “fine... if you wanna be like that.” He then turned around, his hand accidentally pushing the lamp off your bedside table.

It landed on the floor with a loud crash, and you immediately clamped your hands over your ears and buried your face in your pillow.

After staying like that for a few minutes, (partly since you were tired and finally found a way to block out the sun) you got up again. Draco was standing next to the shattered lamp, wand in hand. He was watching you, with a confused look on his face.

Your face flushed red, and you quickly got up to get ready.

He waved a spell and the lamp re-arranged itself on your table again.

walking to potions class

Draco had his arm around your waist, glaring at any boy who looked at you and ignoring the girls who fanned over him.

You eventually made it to class, sitting down at your table at the front.

Professor Snape didn’t arrive yet, so you set to take out your stuff and started to doodle. One arm on the desk and your other hand drawing, you dipped your quill in ink, absorbed in your own world and not even knowing that Draco was watching you draw in awe.

He touched your free arm softly, making you yelp and knock over your bottle of ink.

Draco looked at you, a bit hurt but mostly confused. Before he could say anything, Snape walked through the door, his black robe flying behind him. He stopped where you were, looked down at the spilled ink, waved a spell at it and kept walking to his desk.

Snape started talking, and Draco attempted to ask you about what happened.

“y/n. y/n,” he hissed, trying to get your attention.

Professor Snape looked up and narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps, Mr. Malfoy... you would like to share whatever is more interesting than what i’m talking about with the class?”

Draco shook his head, “no professor.”

“Very well. Moving on.”

The rest of the class Draco kept stealing worried glances at you, but he made sure not to touch you again.

after class

You got up immediately, a free period next. You made it your goal to get to your room before Draco could follow you, but no such luck. He ran after you.

“y/n. y/n!” You huffed, stopping in your tracks and looking back at him. “what...”

“what was that? you’ve been acting odd all day.” He then let his imagination take over, realiziation going over his face. “am i too clingy? what did i do? i’m sorry. is it me? oh merlin. it is me, isn’t it? you realized that you didn’t like me and you’re trying to tell me. But we’ve been dating a day! please give me a chanc-”

you cut him off. You were going to tell him, you decided. If he decided he didn’t like you, then so be that. you groaned inwardly, preparing for the worst.

“Draco... i’m autistic.” “oh,” he looked at you.

You continued. “I didn’t want to tell you so soon, but i figured if you were going to date me, you deserve to know. I don’t want you liking me without knowing who i am, and if you want to leave me i underst-”

He broke you off by kissing you, him entwining one hand in your hair, the other cupping your cheek. You froze, but eventually melted into his touch. You felt his ring dig softly into your cheek, his hand slightly tugging your hair.

He broke apart, chucking at your flushed face and messy hair.

Taking your hand in his, he started leading you to the library. “Let’s go study, yeah?”

You tugged on his hand, a worried look on your face. “hey... could you not tell anyone?” “of course darling.”

You walked to the library, your hand in his. After sitting down and studying for half an hour, you heard a voice.

“There she is!”

You looked up to see a boy pointing at you, laughing with his few friends. “The autistic one.” They then burst into laughter, while you burst into tears, hiding your face in Draco’s chest. He gently pulled you off of him and stood up.

Draco wasn’t the tallest person, but he still won a few inches over the boy. “what the fuck did you say?” The boy looked up at him, mouthing ��oh shit.’

Draco laughed, pushing him against the wall by his collar. “Oh shit is right motherfucker.” He then punched the kid, giving him a bloody nose. He then continued on to drop the kid on the floor, leaving him crumpled.

He punched the kid’s friends, dragging one back that was running away by the hood.

They scrambled away, all injured in some way.

Draco then turned around, a smile on his face as if he didn’t just beat up a bunch of students.

He came over to you, wiping a tear off your face. “Don’t cry darling... i think you’re perfect. Don’t let them get to you love.”

You smiled and nodded, hugging him. He picked you up and sat down on a couch, laying your head in his lap, stroking your hair. “Is this okay?” You looked up at him, his eyes watching you.

“This is perfect.”

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YAYYYY it’s finished! i hope you liked it :) thank you so much for the request!

[bakubitch-minusultra]

Not Alone: Chapter Nine

-> an apocalyptic series with bnha characters but without quirks because im the writer and i can do whatever the fuck i want :P bruh its 3:45 in the morning and i have a softball game in six hours but fuck sleep right? This is the l o n g e s t chapter ive written and it took hours i was writing it while listening to true crime podcasts lol new characters unlocked

-> Word Count: 6.9k haha n i c e

-> Warnings: pervy doods, blood, sexual assault, violence, guns

-> Taglist: @5sosfckss @laudthingcat [if u wanna be added lmk <3]

The sunlight coming in the window blinded Y/n as she woke up disoriented. She shivered from the cold breeze that came from down the hall. She noticed she was lying on Kirishima still and smiled, thinking about the night before. But stopped when she noticed that his shirt was soaked in cold sweat.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, “No. No.” She pushed him and his body compressed against her push, but he didn’t stir.

“Y/n what is it?” Mina came running in the room.

Kirishima sputtered and snorted. He rolled over knocking Y/n off and onto the floor. She started to laugh, “He’s alive. I thought… He’s cold. Oh my god he’s alive. His fever broke. He’s going to live.” Y/n jumped up and grabbed the next vial of medication.

Mina rushed to his side and felt his face, “Oh fuck, I was scared. I thought for sure he was gone.” Mina hugged her when she came back. Mina smelt like Hades and Y/n smirked. They had traded sleeping partners for the night.

Y/n hugged her back, but noticed the difference in their bodies. Mina was melded into Y/n, squeezing her where as Y/n was rigid.

They gave him his next shot and pulled the bandages off his leg. The red lines had receded but the wound still looked red and angry. She knew they weren’t out of the danger zone, but she felt good knowing that they were one step closer.

He slept the entire day and Mina and Y/n hung out. They took turns keeping watch and playing with Hades. Y/n could see Hades’s affinity towards Mina getting stronger. She knew that even she felt different. She was getting closer to Mina and Kirishima.

“Y/n what’s for dinner?”

Y/n shrugged down at Mina from the window of the barn, “I can go kill a bird.”

Mina nodded, “Alright. I’ll start the fire.”

They sealed up the house completely and decided to cook in the bunker. It was gross and sweaty with a fire down there, but it made perfect sense. No smell escaped out into the wind.

She climbed down with her bow and quiver and headed across the grass. She slipped into the forest, but instead of finding a tree to climb she froze. She smelled them before she could see or hear them. She slid against the tree and waited to figure out where the smell was coming from.

“It was rude of you to leave without the escort we offered.”

Y/n turned to the voice but something smacked her in the forehead and everything went black.

Xxxx

“Wake up.” Pain overwhelmed her as she opened one of her eyes. She saw bars in front of her face. “Please wake up.”

In the muted firelight she could see a girl poking her with a stick. It made a small cut on her arm, but that wasn’t where the pain was coming from. She closed her eyes tightly and then opened them again. It was dark, the firelight licked across the dark metal bars of her cage. She turned to the girl.

“Where are we?”

“The others have us.” The girl said. Y/n’s stomach fell into her bowels. Her heartbeat and breath quickened. She pushed the door to the cage with her foot. Her boots were gone.

“Where are we specifically?”

The girl frowned at Y/n, “What?”

“Our location.”

The girl shrugged. She was skinny and filthy. She made Y/n think about Mina, which made her panic. She wondered if they knew where Mina and Kirishima were. She saw her bow and quiver leaning against the tree near her.

“There she is.”

Y/n looked up at the filthy scumbag who had chased her into town. He was grinning again. He seemed very proud of himself. “You’re a pretty girl. What’s your name? I bet it’s something pretty like Jessica or Stephanie or Grace.” Y/n licked her lips and put a finger to the source of her pain. He winced as she touched the red sticky spot. “Sorry ‘bout that. I had to surprise you. Bet it hurts doesn’t it.” He kneeled on the ground in front of her cage. “Wanna tell me about how you got outta town?”

Y/n gulped.

He rattled the cage suddenly and started laughing at her horrified expression. “Jesus you aren’t mute are you? I like it when you girls scream.” He pointed to the girl next to Y/n. “I guess we can make her scream for you.”

The girl shied away from the bars and curled into a small ball. Y/n wanted him dead. Right now.

He pointed at Y/n again, “You’re going to fetch us a good price. I know it.”

Fear rocked Y/n. She didn’t have a plan. That was one of her rules. Her plans where capture was a possibility had never included a cage. She always thought the girls were grabbed and dragged to trucks.

He walked back to the fire and howled into the night air. She watched as he unzipped his pants and peed on the fire.

“Jesus Christ that’s disgusting you fucker.” The hot steam rose from the fire, polluting the air around it. A large group of men started to bitch and complain. Y/n looked at the girl who had a disgusted look on her face.

“I don’t know about you but I don’t want that inside me.” Y/n gasped at her language. The girl grinned at her, “Names Jirou.”

“I’m Y/n.” Y/n looked around for Mina and Kirishima but she didn’t see them anywhere. “How old are you, Jirou?” She asked softly.

Jirou spat on the ground outside of her bars, “Sixteen.” She was malnourished. She would be made to work the farms. She wouldn’t be a breeder.

Y/n wouldn’t let either of them end up that way. She saw a small silver thing on the ground and looked at Jirou.

“Poke that stick this way again.”

She slipped her skinny arm through the bars and passed it to Y/n. Y/n looked back at the men. They were getting drunk and the fire was starting to dim. She flicked at the silver thing and dragged it back to her with several small movements. It was an old rusty nail with a silver tip. She reached her fingers through the bars and grabbed it.

“How old are you?” Jirou asked, watching the men.

“Nineteen.”

“You look older.”

Y/n wanted to frown at her, but the nail in her hands felt too amazing to bother. She passed Jirou the nail, “Pick your lock.”

She eyed it smiling, “Wow you’re good.” She reached her hands through the bars. Jirou made funny faces and then Y/n heard the clunk of the lock. She picked the lock faster than Y/n did. Y/n had only ever picked a couple.

She nodded, “Mom says we have to do whatever it takes to not be a breeder. I will die before I go there.” Her words reminded Y/n of the girl in the back of the truck who screamed. She felt sick. She was even more determined to save Jirou. The rusty nail clanked in the lock. “Want me to do it?”

Y/n gave her a look, “They’ll notice your tiny arm slipping through to my cage.” She fumbled with it again. “Dipshit is coming back.” She pulled her arm in and sat on the nail.

He grinned at Y/n, “I think I wanna taste the merchandise before I give it away.” He pulled a key out of his pants and licked his lips. He got down on the ground in front of her cage and stuck the key in. “You’re gonna like this.”

Y/n felt like throwing up.

He opened the door and reached in lightning fast. His huge hand grabbed her thin wrist and clamped down. He dragged her from the cage. She kicked at him but he was too strong. He pinned her to the ground on her stomach and pulled her hair, whispering into her ear, “Scream and I slit your throat.” He let go of her hair with force and shoved her face into the pine needles and dirt. Y/n coughed and choked. Her eyes flickered at Jirou.

“Don’t do this in front of her,” Y/n begged.

He shoved her face in the pine needles again, “She needs educating. Where you two are going, you’ll both be needing to know how to make a man happy. Think of me as your teacher.”

Y/n felt him grind himself against her and threw up. She couldn’t stop herself. She didn;t have anything in her stomach but bile filled her mouth. She spat it to the side of her face, scared that he would rub her face in it.

He pulled her pants down and she felt his hands on her underwear. She wanted to scream and fight but her hands were pinned. If she screamed, he’d kill her. She made the snap decision that death would be better than this and opened her mouth to scream, only to feel him put all his weight on her.

“Shhh Y/n. Don’t scream. We need to go now. Before they find him.”

Tears sprung from her eyes as she looked back and saw his open eyes still staring at her. The rusty nail stuck out only a little bit from his head, next to his eye. Blood trickled down his face.

Jirou heaved him off of Y/n quietly. The fire was only twenty feet from them and she could see that the group of men had dwindled. They must have gone to sleep. Y/n pushed herself up and grabbed her pants. She saw her knife in his boot and took it, holding it tightly. She wanted to stab him so bad.

Jirou grabbed her hand and pointed to the woods.

They walk hunched over. Y/n grabbed her boy and quiver and followed Jirou into the forest. They ran fast, even though they were barefoot. She recognized the forest after a few moments. Even in the dark she knew where they were.

“Oh shit.”

Y/n stopped after hearing Jirou speak. She was preparing for the worst but instead it was the best. She saw yellow eyes glowing in the dark. She quickly dropped to her knees, ignoring the branches that cut her skin. His paws were around her neck within seconds. His warm breath was in her hair. She started to cry and Hades held her like a mother would a child, and she elt soothed.

“He’s yours?”

Y/n nodded through the tears, “Hades.”

“He’s a big dog.”

Y/n smiled, “He’s a wolf. A tundra wolf.”

“Well we better get moving before they find us.”

Y/n stood and ran toward the farmhouse. She knew it was through the woods and not far. They could hide there until the men were gone. Her brain couldn’t seem to make her own survival important. She needed to know if Kirishima and Mina were safe. Jirou ran as fast as Y/n did. Her footsteps were a whisper in the grass beside Y/n. Y/n burted through the door. The house was dark and silent.

“Mina? Kirishima?” The living room was empty. The blankets were gone. She didn’t know where to go. She didn’t know where Mina and Kirishima would have gone. She ran down the basement steps into the bunker. Nothing was there. She ran back up the stairs, “We need to go hide. They’re gone. They might be looking for me.”

“Who?”

“My friends.” The words felt funny in her mouth.

Y/n grabbed Jirou’s sweaty fingers in the dark and pulled her back out to the barn. They slipped inside the dark of the barn. She dropped to her knees in the hay and felt for the hatch. It had hay glued on top of it. It was impossible to find even in the bright of day. She only found it because it was open when she arrived.

“Hurry climb down here.”

Hades jumped down into the whole like he had before many times. Jirou felt for Y/n in the dark and then the hatch. Y/n climbed down after her and pulled the huge hatch back over the hole.

Y/n felt around in the silence for a stool. She sat and suddenly the pain in her feet was overwhelming. She knew they had been cut.

“Did your feet get cut?”

Jirou was closer than Y/n thought, she whispered right in Y/n’s face, “No. My mom made us walk and run in the woods barefoot all the time. They always take the shoes.”

“Smart.”

“Yeah mom was a warden at a maximum security prison before. She says she knows all the worst things people can do and she knows why they do it.”

Y/n shivered at the thought.

They don’t hear voices or any noises. Eventually Y/n fell asleep on the wooden floor against the warm fur of Hades. Jirou slept against her. Y/n’s feet pounded too hard for her to get a good nights sleep.

Xxxx

“It’s been five days Y/n. He walks to the same spot and makes weird noises. I have a hunting hound. He does the same thing when he wants me to follow him. We need to get following him in the woods.” Jirou had not stopped talking for five days. Mom this and Mom that. Y/n didn’t know what to do to make her quiet. She didn’t take Y/n’s silence as a hint. “Yup that wolf is trying to tell us the way to go to find them. Are your feet better?”

Y/n looked at the cuts on the bottom and nodded, “They have scabs.” She rubbed salve into the bottoms of her feet and pull her socks over the scabs. She pulled on the boots she had stored in the farmhouse bunker ages ago.

Jirou threw a huge bone for Hades. He ran to get it and chewed it in the field, “Not so sharp is he? My hound brings it back.”

Y/n looked at the bone and grimaced, “Is that a human bone?”

Jirou shrugged, “Does it matter?”

Hades picked up the long thin bone and walked toward the same spot in the field like he had for the past five days and whined.

“Okay let’s follow him then.” Y/n slung on her backpack and looked back at the farmhouse. She had left a note in the bunker under the barn. Mina knew it was her favorite hiding place. Y/n’s heart hurt and she decided to not look behind her. She didn;t run through the field. Hades trotted along like a real dog. He didn’t wait at the meeting tree.

Nothing was the same.

She opened the cabin door and suddenly her life felt lost. She knew she would regret opening that stupid door and helping Mina. But she never imagined her regret would be being separated from them.

Her heart hurt when she thought about the kisses she shared with Kirishima. Her stomach hurt when she thought about Mina being taken.

Hades picked up the pace as they entered the woods.She reached out and brushed her fingers along the meeting tree. Instead of going the way home to the cabin he cut a hard left and they climbed a different hill.

“So then when I was twelve she says she wants to try to go to the city. So we get all dressed up and I mean bathed and spiffy. We walk all the way to the city but they don’t just let us in. We have to go through a bunch of tests and other nonsense. The city was brand new. It looked like nothing I’ve ever seen. Anyway they come to us in the bright white clothes and make me take all my brand new clean clothes off. They burned them. Mom was mad then. My aunt failed the diabetes test they gave us and so if we wanted to go into the city we would have to leave her behind. No diabetes in the city. Mom said they could shove that up their asses. So we left the city. My other aunt got grabbed there. Mom thinks it was because she tested healthy they told the bad ones to take her to the breeder farms. They drove up in their trucks and held guns on us. They dragged her into the truck. She screamed and reached for us. Mom never moved. She just watched. I never saw my aunt again.” Her story was the story of thousands of women.

“I’ve seen them taken too. They always leave the kids behind.”

Jirou put a finger to her lips, “Shh you hear that?”

Y/n listened. All she heard was her own heartbeat and it dawned on her that as Jirou chatted on, she listened to the forest the way Y/n does. Y/n doesn’t hear them. No birds, no squirrels. She stopped walking. She pulled an arrow instantly and held the bow ready.

A branch broke to the side of them. She swung the bow with the arrow trembling in her hands. A huge black bear groaned and walked past them to the ridge below them. Hades growled and crouched. He looked at Y/n but she shook her head.

They didn’t turn their backs on it. They walked up the hill backwards until the bear was far enough away. Hades’s dark hackles stayed up until he started sniffing the ground again. He wandered in a circle for a bit.

“So then I was saying to Mom… hey look I think he has a smell. Not totally useless is he?”

Y/n glared at her.

Jirou put her hands up, “What? He’s no hound but I think he’s got the scent.”

They followed him through the thick woods until he suddenly stopped waking. They hiked for hours and that was the most animated she had seen him. He growled in his low town and crawled along the forest floor on his belly. They follow him low to the ground. Y/n was scanning the forest but she saw nothing.

“There.” Jirou pointed to a man wearing camouflage high up in a tree. He held a sniper rifle. There was no way they wouldn’t get around him. She pulled her bow out but Jirou stopped her hand and pointed to a man in another tree just behind him.

“We wait for dark,” Jirou whispered.

Y/n looked at Jirou and frowned, “Where’s your home?”

Her brown eyes look haunted. “It’s back closer to the town by the big river. Mom was taken when they were looking for some girl. They searched all the houses and found my aunt and mom hiding. They didn’t find me. I snuck out the back and over the pointy log wall. The others snatched me outside the gates. The hunters were long gone though, so they were gonna wait for them to come back.”

“It was me,” the words slipped from Y/n’s mouth. Jirou crouched in some larger bush and sat, waiting for nightfall. Y/n spoke after a while. She felt awkward in Jirou’s silence. She was never silent. “I can help you find your mom.”

“She never got taken.”

“Where’d she go?”

“Knowing mom she went to hell. She was a mean and spiteful woman. Full of piss is what my aunt said.”

It hit Y/n like a club to the face, “She died?”

Jirou glanced at her, “I told you what she always said. You do whatever it takes to not go there. They woulda put her in the fields anyway. Her insides were injured having me. She couldn’t have more kids.”

Y/n wanted to cry. Jirou had a mother. She had someone. Y/n felt like it was her fault somehow.

“I’m really sorry Jirou. Do you have anywhere you can go? Do you have other people?”

Jirou shook her head, “Nope. It was me, mom and my aunt.”

Y/n decided she wouldn’t ever leave her. No matter what she wouldn’t leave her.

The day faded to night slowly. Spring was further along and the days were longer. The cool air was still fresh and crisp but the sun was getting warmer.

Hades slept again Y/n and Jirou whittled a small piece of wood. She passed the finished product to Y/n. She didn’t know what it was.

“It’s a rook.”

Y/n raised an eyebrow.

“For chess,” she said it like Y/n was an idiot.

“The game?”

Jirou nodded and smiled, “I’m making the pieces for a board. I guess I have to start over. Mine were in our village.”

Y/n looked confused, “You have a village?”

Jirou shook her head, “Nope. Had. The others came last month and burned it to the ground.”

“Life’s hard, Jirou. I’m convinced the god that everyone talked about before, hates us.”

Jirou’s eyes hardened and she pulled her dark blue hair back from her face, “Don’t ever say that. No matter what we have to believe that he’s going to help us. The evil is us.”

Hades jumped but it was too late. As she heard the branch snap behind her she saw a blak hood go over Jirou’s face. Y/n jumped but the guns were on her.

“What’ve got here?” The man standing before Y/n was grinning. He held a rifle to her face.

Hades was ready to attack but Y/n put her hand out, “No Hades. No.” He looked at her face confused. She could see it in her eyes. She shook her head and then looked at the man. “We’ll walk with you but you can’t put that over my head. If he can’t see my eyes he’s going to lose it and kill at least one of you.”

He nodded, “You walk with the wolf. I’ll kill him if I have to.” He removed the hood from Jirou who looked at Hades. Y/n gave her a sharp look. She knew the desperation on Jirou’s face was trying to over take, Y/n felt the same way. But they couldn’t win the fight. They could die like her mom.

One of the other guys with a gun smirked at Y/n. He was young and bold looking. He spoke to Y/n and she could hear the smile on his face, “I’d ask if you were spies for the other but you’re girls. What girls would help them out? So that leaves me with only one assumption,” He grinned and nudged Y/n, “You’re lookin for a date.”

Y/n doesn’t speak.

Jirou snorted, “You wish. No we’re looking for our friends. The other had us but we got away.” Y/n shot her a dirty look and Jirou scowled. “Don’t give me that look Y/n. Mom says we need to remember some ways of the world before an manners is one of the things we all seem to forget about.”

The man with the gun grinned, “Her mom sounds like the kind of girl we are always looking for. Warm my bed, bake my bread and say please and thank you like a lady should.”

Jirou shoved him, “My mom never warmed no man’s bed. She wasn't no lady. She was a survivor.” The man shoved Jirou back and Y/n caught her.

“Easy kid.”

The leader got in Y/n’s face with his gun. Y/n looked into his dark red eyes angrily, “Her mom just died creating a diversion for her to escape the hunters.” He made a face that surprised Y/n, remorseful.

“I’m sorry Jirou, is it? Never speak ill of the dead, unless they’re the monsters who started all of this.” He held his hands out.”

Jirou sniffed and wiped her nose on her arm, “It’s nothing. She died the way she wanted.” Y/n knew the pain Jirou felt and the strength she hid behind. The leader's eyes told her that he did too.

Hades nudged against her. He was nervous and whined. She looked as they entered a huge camp. The fires were lit making the woods smoky and smelled of food. Her mouth watered as her stomach grumbled. She didn’t the last time she actually ate.

“New recruits?” A man asked, looking Y/n up and down and nodded his head. Hades lunged at him. Y/n seriously thought the wolf could read minds, and that man’s mind was not pure. He jumped back, “Holy shit is that a wolf?”

Y/n laughed, she couldn’t help herself. Hades was hovering over him snarling. The men who had escorted them laughed at the fallen men and Y/n called him, “Hades.”

He snarled once more and ran to Y/n’s side. He stood tall and proud with his chest out. He snarled at everyone.

“You have my friends here don’t you?”

The man with the smile frowned, “Who?”

“A girl and a guy. They’re really good friends.”

His eyes narrowed, “No one’s come recently. Except you.”

“Don’t lie to me. He’s tall with red hair and red eyes. He has an injury on his leg. She’s younger and about my size. She has pink hair and black eyes. They’re really close.”

He shook his head, “Look we don’t have anyone here. We don’t take prisoners.”

Y/n looked at the guns surrounding them and raised her eyebrows.

He laughed, “You were spying on us and have a huge wolf as a pet.”

Y/n didn’t laugh. She wanted Kirishima and Mina,”

Jirou gave Y/n a look, “Why would he bring us here if they’re not here?”

Y/n shrugged, “The smell of food.”

The guy with the gun in her face pointed at Hades, “Keep him under control and we can drop the weapons.”

Y/n patted Hades on the head and scratched his ears. He shook his head once. He was still agitated,

The camp was like nothing Y/n had ever seen. It reminded her of the band of merry men Robin Hood joined in the forest.

She heard a noise she had never heard before. She turned her head when she saw where it came from. A small boy with white blond hair ran past her. He had his arms stretched out. He latched onto Hades, making her jump to his rescue but Hades looked at her and lowered her body for the child.

“Andy no, Not the wolf. Oh my god I’m so sorry.” A dark haired woman walked up to Y/n. She looked older, maybe thirty. She was dressed in a long gathered skirt and a blouse. She was pretty in a simple way. She looked at Jirou and smiled motherly. “We need to get you cleaned up and get some food in that belly. You look like you must be starved.” She looked at the man next to Y/n, “Watch him for me while I get her taken care of?”

The man nodded and kneeled next to the boy who was shrieking and hugging her wolf. Hades panted, contented.

“His name’s Hades. Be careful, okay Andy.” The man put a hand out for Hades to sniff.

Jirou gave her a pleading look as she was getting dragged off. Y/n wanted to reach for her but she didn’t. The woman with the black hair had dark doe eyes that instantly made Y/n feel comfortable.

Y/n looked around and noticed that there were fires everywhere. Small tents lined the forest and lean-tos were staggered amongst them. She had never seen anything like it. Clothes hung from lines in the trees. The canopy provided the perfect shelter. She felt like she had entered a sacred site. Everyone was busting about, as if on a mission.

“This is like the Shire.”

“You’ve read The Hobbit?”

Her neck almost snapped as she looked back him,”Yeah, have you?”

He nodded and patted Hades once more.

“Wolfie wolfie wolfie.” The white haired angel cries into Hades’s dark fur. He looked down with the hug and struggled to escape.

“He’s done.”

The man pulled the boy off, making him make an ungodly noise, “Nooo Bakugo. I wanna hug the wolfie. I wanna wolfie. Miiiine.”

Y/n gasped, “Bakugo?” The eyes and the smile. He looked almost exactly how they described him. “Mina and Kirishima’s friend Bakugo?”

His face dropped, “Mina and Kirishima? My friends?” Y/n nodded. His face grew savage. He let go of the boy and gripped her arm harshly. He shouted in her face, “Where are they?”

Y/n pointed, “I thought they were here.”

Hades didn’t like the struggle going on. He lept in between them and knocked Bakugo to the ground. He had him by the scruff of his shirt and was making a noise she had never heard before.

“Hades.”

He ignored Y/n. She sat on the ground and made a whistle sound and Hades tugged once more on his shirt before backing away. He turned and sauntered towards her. He was overwhelmed. She was overwhelmed. He curls onto her lap and as she stroked his ears while he trembled.

Bakugo stood up and walked toward Y/n. Hades growled and snarled in her lap. She looked up at Bakugo.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.”

His dark eyes played in the dim light of dusk, “They’re alive?”

“Last time I saw them.”

His jaw tenses up.

Y/n turned to see a rugged man walk up to where they were, “Bakugo I need to go over some things with you.”

The white haired boy saw the man and started his tirade all over again. He was stomping his feet and pointing at Hades who trembled. She wrapped her arms around him and glared at the young boy. She hated children.

“Stop that you little brat. You’ll get us all killed,” Y/n hissed at him. The noise would no doubt draw the others or worse.

Bakugo laughed at her but his expression was lost.

Jirou walked over to Y/n in a clean dress with patches. Her hair was slicked back and wet. She was holding a platter of sorts covered in meat and something white.

“Y/n thith ith cheeth. You have to have thum.” Her mouth was near bursting as she spoke. Y/n grimaced watching her stuff her mouth. She sat beside Hades and Y/n. He raised his face instantly and started eating from Jirou’s plate.

Hades was making his weird wolf noise that he made when he was happy. It almost sounded like a cat purring but lower and deeper inside of him.

The platter was empty and Y/n had had nothing. She couldn’t stop looking up at Bakugo, who was talking to another man. He glanced at Y/n every now and then. She could tell that he wanted to talk to her.

“The people I’m looking for, Mina and Kirishima, Bakugo is their friend.” She pointed to him subtly.

Jirou raised an eyebrow, “You think that’s why Hades brought us here?”

Y/n shrugged, “Maybe. I think he smelled the food.”

Jirou grinned with food in her teeth, “Thank god for Hades and his belly.”

“I’m worried about where they are though. If they’re not here, where could they have gone?”

“The farms,” Jirou said nonchalantly, even though Y/n knew that Jirou feared the idea of it whether he had met them or not.

Y/n’s skin prickled thinking about them in the farms. Mina was old enough to be put to ‘work’ and Kirishima was strong. He would be made to work hard labor.

Y/n looked up and saw people eyeballing them. They pretended to be working near them, but they watched Hades as he ate. It made Y/n smile. If only they know how much of a pussycat he was.

She felt fingers bite into her skin, “Wolfie mine!” He shouted in her face. The little brat was back. She hated him. His greedy little fingers were wiping an orange paste on her shirt. She leaned away from him.

“Don’t look so horrified. He’s just a kid.” Bakugo picked the little monster up and carried him back to the doe eyed lady. Y/n felt sorry for her. She thought that her life must be horrid. Y/n looked at the orange stain mixed with debris smeared across her sleeve

She glanced up at Bakugo, “Is there somewhere I can wash up?”

He nodded at the dark haired lady, “Mary can take you.”

Mary smiled, “Followed me.” She passes the evil beast with the white hair to a man next to her. Y/n looked at Jirou who nodded.

“Just don’t get roped into the dress and them brushing your hair. It’s a bad experience. Hades is fine here with me.”

Y/n walked away from Hades, she knew that he would see the fear in her eyes and follow. She didn’t want him anywhere near the little monster

“You’ve never seen a child before have you?” Mary asked sweetly as they walked past a grouping of tents and lean-tos. She led her down a steep narrow dirt path.

“Not in over ten years. Just the ones left behind when the mom’s get taken. I don’t hang around long enough to get to the know them though.”

“That’s horrible. You leave little kids alone?”

Y/n didn’t care if she judged her. She was alive, “I was a kid too Mary. I barely took care of myself and Hades.”

Mary crossed her arms, “He gets tired once it’s after six. He really is a sweet boy. Once you get to know him, you’ll love him.”

She tried not to be rude but spoke her mind, “He will get you killed with noises like that. The infected love noisy things that lead to food.”

Mary looked back aghast, “We never leave camp. None of the children do.”

“So you have an agreement with the infected and the others that they stay out of your camp so the kids can be as noisy as they want?” Her sarcasm was filled with more sarcasm.

Mary laughed, “You really don’t have any social skills do you

She shrugged, “I’ve made it this long out there, alone.”

Mary looked shocked, “How long have you been alone.”

Y/n sighed, “Since the beginning.”

The walls surrounding the water were high and rocky. Nothing could get to the massive lagoon of crystal clear dark green water. The only visible path was the one she was standing on. She pulled her boots and socks off. Her scabs stung on the dirt and rocks. She pulled down her pants and ripped off her shirt. She ran down the remainder of the path. She ran onto the huge flat rocks that made a platform and dived in. The cold ripped through her instantly but she had never felt this clean. She remembered her baths as a small kid. They were filled with bubbles and hard plastic mermaids. This was much better. The freshness of the water made her feel alive in a good way. She lied on her back and floated.

She looked over at Mary as she jumped off the rock. Y/n blushed as she entered the water with a big splash. Mary had been completely naked. Y/n had never seen another naked lady before.

Suddenly a noise ripped through the air. She turned as several people jumped into the water. The waves and splashes were taking over the lagoon.

“Oh my god it’s freezing.” Y/n saw a small blonde girl who was a little older than she was next to her. Her teeth chattered and suddenly Y/n realized that her teeth were chattering too.

In a split second a hand pushed Y/n underwater. She sputtered and coughed as she forced her head above the water.

“Hey are you okay,” a guy asked, Y/n assumed it was the one who had pushed her under. Everyone was staring at her and she ran.

She ran faster to get away from their voices. She felt like a freak. She made her way to the nearest fire. She was alone, until she felt the warm breath at her hip. His cold nose felt warm against her bare skin. Y/n went to go grab her dirty clothes but Mary was there, holding a pile.

“Here,” she said. She was dripping wet too. They stood looking at each other in the firelight. Mary was so beautiful in her soaked dress with the water dripping from her.

“Thanks,” Y/n took the pile and pulled on the shirt and pants over her soaked underwear. She pulled her bra off once the shirt was on and covered her.

Mary took it in her hand, “What’s your name?”

“Y/n.”

Mary leaned in and kissed Y/n on the cheek softly, “Y/n it’s okay. You’re safe here. No infection and no others and no military. We take care of each other.” She took Y/n’s soaking bra and pile of dirty clothes and left. Y/n stood by the fire and realized she had kissed her. She had liked that Mary kissed her. It was a nice feeling. Not nice the way Kirishima’s was. Hers was sweet and soft. It made her happy.

She looked down at Hades, who had turned his face in the light of the fire and whined. She patted his head and looked to where Mary walked. She dropped Y/n’s clothes into a basket and pointed to a bright orange glow in the woods across the camp. “Come to the fire. We sing and play guitar.”

Y/n pulled on her dry clothes and wrapped her arms around herself. Hades and Y/n followed Mary through the woods to where a large bonfire is burning. She could hear the music faintly in the crackle of the flames and embers. It was folk music, but better. She hadn’t heard music since before. She felt like an outsider but the people at the fire smiled at her. Someone shoved over on the log in front of her to make space. Hades watched her sit in a crowd. He didn’t know how to respond to it and whined a little.

Heat waves rose from the huge fire making it hard to see across where the musicians sre. The logs were built higher than the people sitting. She could make out a man with a small guitar. He was old and had a beard. A man started singing with the small guitars. His voice was incredible. It was raspy and sweet. Y/n was in a trance. She sat and closed her eyes. The music brought back something soft and sweet that she never knew she was missing. The sweet voice sent shivers down her spine and her throat was thick with unfelt emotions. They sat in a huge circle, warmed by the fire and the raw human emotions inside of the song. It was about love and sacrifice.

This was the greatest moment of her life. She had experienced nothing like this, even before. Time passed, she didn’t know how much. Songs were sung. Whiskey was passed and drank and swayed her body like everyone else. Her guard was not only lowered but completely destroyed.

In the light Y/n could see Mary. She sang and laughed and drank. Her eyes sparkled in the orange glow.

Slowly people trickled away from the fire. Hades had crept up and was lying at her feet. The pile of logs and lumber on the fire had burned down to ash and in the embers she had seen something she never expected. Bakugo was the singer with the haunting voice that had lit her up. He felt the music, she could see that. His eyes were closed and his fingers gently stroked the guitar. He finished the song and Y/n couldn’t help but see him differently.

He walked over to where she was sitting and sat down beside her.

“You’re a good singer.”

“We need to talk.”

Sitting beside him made her insides crawl.. He didn’t look sweet and soft like Mary did. He looked annoyed and angry with her. She felt intimidated by him. He didn’t seem like the goof Mina described. He was intense.

“I know you.”

His long legs seemed huge compared to hers. His were thick and strong looking. His face was handsome like Kirishima’s, but more commanding. She wanted to listen to him for some reason. She felt like he could keep her safe, like he did with everyone else there.

“So where are they?”

She shook her head and tried not to watch his mouth. “I don’t know. They were at my farmhouse last time I saw them?”

“How did thg look?

Y/n gulped, “Great. Kirishima was hurt a bit but I got him medicine. They were fine when I left though.”

“Where did you meet them?

“First my cabin,” She stated the story at the beginning and tried to not stare at his lips as he processed what she had to say. She wanted him to sing to her more.

--

im so tired holy fuck

[bbyhaikyuu]

idk how to do these things so 👀

I haven't written anything in like 4 years, so.. Hi? Im taking it easy a bit by doing these hc's(is that what you call it? Or is it called a scenario???? Idk help im a babieee) first before doing oneshots/short fics hehe

: Daichi and Sugawara: Finding out that someone is drawing them.

I did not proofread oops i just wanted to get it over with and finish

Daichi

TYPICAL hallway bump shenanigans eheheheeeee

You were carrying quite a lot of stuff, well of course, being the class rep means that you have to pass the class's workbooks to the faculty room.

Your dumbass forgot that you put your sketchbook right on top of the pile??

Chaos suddenly came and the next thing you knew is that the books were on the floor.

Looked up and saw it was Daichi??

Bumping to this mf feels like walking right into a stone wall

lmAO felt like your shoulder dislocated a bit there eh?

Daichi is a gentleman ofcourse he would help you gather the books. Suga and Asahi was with him too, which made the cleanup much more faster.

Y'all exchanged apologies(and thanks) before you sprinted away like your life depended on it.

The trio was about to head to their respective classrooms, but suga noticed something on the corner of his eyes and picked up a black sketchbook.

They knew it wasn't a typical notebook because the cover was sort of like soft leather??? Damn it felt expensive.

Sugawara quickly found your name written at the bottom center and read it out loud.

"Isn't she from class 3-A?" Asahi asked them, they nodded in reply.

All of the 3rd years knew each other's names, despite never talking or interacting.

The bell rang, lunch break was over.

"Guess she's going to be late because of us. " Daichi chuckled, though guilt was evident.

"Aaand that is why you are the one who is gunna return that to her, personally." Suga smiled before shoving the notebook to Daichi's chest and darting towards his classroom.

Asahi is gone too???

Daichi sighed and went back to his own classroom.

The period turned out to be a study hall since the teacher didn't bother to show himself. There isn't really anything to study anymore tho?? They had exams just last week???

Bored Daichi decided to flip through your sketchbook and found himself at awe and intrigued each time he flipped a page.

He quickly learned that you were into action mangas. Each page was littered with dynamic poses. Though there were some full illustrations here and there.

When he got to the last page with a drawing he CLOSED IT BY ACCIDENT BECAUSE HE WAS SURPRISED.

Homeboy got stared at lmao

Anyways he opened it up again and got an even closer look.

On the upper left, there was a messy headshot sketch of someone. Messy yet you can actually tell who it was yk what i mean????

Daichi smirked because he KNEW it was him 100%

the nowhere finished full body sketch of someone recieving a ball with the #1 below the headahot gave it away.

The facy that it has "?????" beside it is very amusing to him. He knew you had a hard time figuring out the pose.

So when y'all got dismissed, he quickly went to your room and searched for you, holding up the black sketchbook in his hand. You almost died that day because you thought you lost it.

"You look like you could use some help there, wanna come watch me and the boys practice? "

You almost blew a fuse but hey, atleast you finished that drawing of yours.

Sugawara

You're at a cafe, hoping that the change of environment will help you think and draw more.

Wrong. You needed a live reference. Pinterest pics just wont cut it.

How do u draw men???? When its women you can go like swoosh and its already decent and *chef's kiss. But men???? Boink.

So when you looked up and saw a pretty boi (cue sugawara) sat across you, you were like "hell yeah, jackpot".

You started doing sketches on your ipad(and apple pencil), your hands felt like they were moving naturally.

You know how weird it is to draw someone you completely didn't know, based from experience.

Soooo you tried to keep your stares to a minimum and only looked up when you really needed to.

Too bad, Sugawara already had his eyes on you and your ipad. he sounds like a thief wtaf

So he decided to stay still and scroll on his phone for a little bit more casually sipping his coffee.

He observed you for a while, whenever you weren't staring at him.

He would smile a lil bit every once in a while.

You thought he saw a meme. Nah hoe, he's entertained that you thought he didn't know 👀

You did 3 sketches of him???? You're so happy????

You finally stretched your arms and let out a smol sigh

Pretty boi started gathering his things already :(

You were sad that you didn't get to know him, but hey atleast you got these bomb ass sketches of him.

You decided to clean it up a bit and colour it in.

Damn his beauty mark beside is eye is perfection.

Your ass was so engrossed in finishing the drawing you didn't notice him coming to your table.

Him putting the coffee on your table startled tf outta you.

Pretty boi??? Smiled??? Im simping????

He hurried out tho, looks like he's busy.

B U T

pretty boi left a sticky note!!!

"Wanna hang out? I'll be your French girl ;)))"

xoxo Sugawara Koushi

Attached: His number with a heart

H E A R T A T T A C K

Took you a while to compose yourself.

You smiled and thought :

J a c k p o t

So that's all for now!! I accidentally made daichi's a bit longer

I kinda like this writing style???

Im thinking something mafia au related for the next one

Feel free to send me some suggestions! I could def use them hehe 👉👈

[listless-brainrot]

do u have any jet headcanons?? :0 or any freedom fighter stuff in general

ALSO i rly love your blog btw ksfksksk

ALSO ALSO a small jet for ur consideration:

thank you for this BLESSED small jet i accept him with open arms.

i will now return the favor with a LOT of headcanons for both jet and the freedom fighters. like a LOT a lot

and tysm!! i really like your blog too, you seem really cool!!

Jet

-practically Exudes dad/eldest sibling energy. good at being one too

-has a way with kids that confuses others sometimes. in that “knows just what to say to calm a crying kid down” way you know

-his “cool teenager” attitude??? 100% a front. he simply acts this way because he knows he’s got people lookin up to him

-due to his paranoia, when he gets anxious, he often picks at his own sleeves, hence why they’re so ripped. this is also why he chews on his stick/wheat. chronic but subtle fidgeter

-he can’t... read. he can only read some parts of script. this leads to many absurd misinterpretations when things are written down

-extremely crafty and clever!! built his own freakin’ base in the trees!! i like to think that he whittles and carves in his spare time

-often whistles while he works, and since it’s shown that the whistling is a code in canon, probably uses it to secretly talk shit with the freedom fighters lmao

-if you hear a bunch of birdcalls in his forest at night, it’s not because it’s mating season. it’s tea.

-personally i hc him as red-green colorblind. this is The only explanation for the way he dresses. that and also i’d like to imagine that he genuinely doesn’t realize he’s Not wearing brown

-i think he used to have siblings. i don’t like to think about it too hard.

Smellerbee

-can be extremely snappish, but everyone agrees that she’s one of the kindest in the group

-has a sisterly relationship with jet and genuinely looks up to and admires him, there’s a reason why their hair looks pretty similar

-extremely skilled with a knife to the point where, sometimes, that’s all she needs to take soldiers down

-has the braincell of the group most of the time. no she will not share it. go get your own

-the other freedom fighters affectionately call her “badgercoon”. started putting paint on her face to officially live up to it

-she has a birthmark under her bandana! i like to think that it’s heart shaped. only longshot and jet know it’s there

-she says trans rights! when she came out, the other freedom fighters were really supportive once she explained, and she’s been proudly herself since

-is pretty much an older sister to the duke, which was a role she initially didn’t want, until she spent enough time with him to learn that, yeah, he’s a cool little dude

-totally did not teach the duke how to use a knife. absolutely did not do this. sure! pin the knife thing on the knife girl!

-the headband is from her mom. the scrap tied around her arm is actually a part of longshot’s shawl.

Longshot

-selective mute and possibly on the spectrum, only comfortable with talking minimally, even around the freedom fighters

-which is cool, they’ve found that he speaks volumes with his face alone and all have their own little ways of figuring out what he’s saying

-is it cliche to think that he’s the strong silent type with a soft side? perhaps. but this is what i think he is

-he was one of the first freedom fighters jet found, and the two have been extremely close ever since. smellerbee was the second

-archery skills are extremely precise to the point where it could be comparable with the yuyan archers!! the kid is EXTREMELY talented

-so quiet to the point where people often don’t realize he’s in the room. he absolutely uses this to his advantage

-going off of that, he turns up in THE weirdest places. no one can explain it. he was in his hut one moment and is at the top of the tallest tree the next. everyone Hates playing hide n seek with him

-best friends with smellerbee; both often work together as a team on missions, with her close range fighting style and his long range one going hand in hand

-his favorite food is sticky buns!! they stole some during a raid and he’s been secretly craving them since

-the hat doesn’t have any special meaning to him, he’s said before. it’s practical, just like him. though, he’s never been seen without it.

Pipsqueak

-we don’t see much of him but he seems such like a neat, big hearted guy!

-i don’t know how old he is and i’m too afraid to ask. but i’d like to think that even if he’s older than the rest, he gets along well with these kids either way

-his laugh is extremely infectious, even if he does have a tendency to laugh at pretty much everything

-helped with a majority of the base construction, using his strength to carry the wood high up and hold it all together

-maybe he was an ex-earth rumble fighter?? i’m not sure how that would work but he’s certainly got the strength for it

-all the freedom fighters were at least a little scared of him at first, but quickly warmed up to him

-is actually a pretty good cook!! everyone looks forward to when it’s his turn to make dinner (on the contrary. smellerbee, unfortunately, cannot)

-has a strong relationship with the duke, and he’s always lookin out for the little guy, making sure he’s staying in check and not getting too outta hand

-the duke thinks that pipsqeak is one of the coolest guys around (bar jet) and will find any and all excuses to sit on his shoulders. he likes to feel tall!!

-doesn’t remember much about his village or where he came from. joining the freedom fighters gave him a sense of identity again.

The Duke

-due to being the youngest in the group, all the freedom fighters are extremely protective of him

-also due to being the youngest in the group, he’s not the biggest fan of this treatment, and alternates between taking advantage of it and despising it

-no one taught him how to fight like that. he just started dropping from the trees to attack outta nowhere. everyone just kind of went with it

-for the love of god don’t let him around candy. he will NOT calm down for DAYS. jet learned this the hard way

-often tires out easily and can be found napping in various places around the base; the only time he doesn’t nap is when he’s on patrol, and even Then

-only jet and pipsqueak can call him “duke”. the The is very important to him and if you just call him duke he gets mad

-he and smellerbee used to not get along much, with smellerbee insisting she’s no babysitter and the duke insisting that he doesn’t need to be babysat

-now though they get along really well, and they totally don’t mess with the other freedom fighters. pranking?? absolutely not. they’re innocent!

-likes to draw!! they don’t have a lot of paper or brushes, but one time they stole a calligraphy set and the duke proceeded to use it all up in one sitting (his paintings are now hanging in the freedom fighters’ respective huts)

-he found the helmet during a raid once and begged the rest of the group to let him keep it. he’s been wearing it since! both longshot and him bond over important hats

Sneers

-i don’t like him. he had an uncle he could’ve been staying with this whole time and instead freeloaded with a bunch of homeless kids til it wasn’t convenient for him. he gets no headcanons.

General HCs

-all those funny sounding names the freedom fighters have? those were little nicknames once. they were the ones who chose to keep them

-the definition of found family, and will do anything and everything to protect it and their home

-when jet destroys gaipan, the duke and pipsqueak becoming so disillusioned with him and leaving, along with other kids, upset jet for weeks

-them leaving was one of the first things that encouraged him to leave for ba sing se

-he was going to go alone, leaving smellerbee and longshot in charge, but they join him later on, not wanting him to face this alone

-all the other kids who are left can take care of themselves, but that doesn’t mean he’s got to

-despite initially protesting, jet lets them come along, internally glad that he isn’t facing this alone

-though they’re all lost and barely have a clue on what to even do, they settle on ba sing se; the most important thing for them is to be somewhere else that the fire nation can’t reach. this way, they can heal properly

-they heard “impenetrable great wall” and thought that would be absolutely perfect for them!

-

-

-they miss him.

-a lot.

[jungshookz]

SIUFSHF so i was supposed to be doing homework until i got this idea!!!! so y/n gets sucked into this alternate universe and so do all of her s/o's and all of a sudden everyone is fighting over her??? like lifeguard jk is like heyo shes my bf and ceo yoongi is like shes my WIFE and mermaid jimin is like well i sacrificed my MERMAID TAIL to date her and its all just chaos

→ pairing: every single character eVER x reader

→ genre: ???? crackhead culture most likely ????

→ wordcount: 2.3k

→ notes: oH my god the moment i got this request i had to write it because i will jump at the chance to write anything that involves the clashing of universes.,.,. anyways i took kind of a monsters inc. approach with this drabble you will see what i mean by that 

first of all

you have no idea where the hell you are

and second of all

you have a splitting headache

it feels like there are tiny construction men drilling riGht into the depths of your skull and it is overall not a very pleasant feeling  

“oh my god…” you wince as you sit up and you press your hand against your forehead

you don’t remember what happened

one minute you were sitting at your desk working away at your paper that’s due in two days

the next thing you know it feels like you’re getting suCked into a black hole as crazy as that sounds??

then you just see colours whirling around you and you’re hearing sO many different sounds and-

well

now you’re

here?

but where is here exactly

you are sitting at the end of a very long corridor

in fact it’s so long that it doesn’t even look like it ever ends

on both sides of the corridor, there are multiple doors

they’re all about same size but they’re all unique in their own way

different colours

different materials

hm

well

it wouldn’t hurt to explore a bit

it doesn’t look like you have a choice anyway because there’s nowhere else to go

unless you wanna die in this weird corridor you better get a move on

you push yourself up off the ground with a grunt and nearly stumble over because wOo you stood up way too quickly

“what in the fresh hell is this…?” your brows furrow in confusion as you approach the first door

it’s bright red and right smAck dab in the middle of the door there’s a hose that’s just winded around itself

you pick up the hose and unravel it a bit and that’s when you notice there are words printed on the underside of the hose

‘firefighter!jungkook x y/n’

“firefighter jungkook and y/n…?”

what

what??

who the hell is jungkook

…,.,was he that guy u hooked up with two months ago

he was a firefighter??

there’s an angry looking red button right next to the door that says ‘don’t touch’ 

well

that’s not going to help because now you really wanna touch it 

you shake your head and tuck the hose back into place before moving onto the next one

god

maybe you’re going crazy

see this is what happens when you only get like 10 hours of sleep in the span of 48 hours

it’s not good for you!! and now you’re totally hallucinating

maybe this is a fever dream

anyways

how- how the heck is there half a coffee machine just sticking out of this door

‘barista!jungkook x y/n’

whaT

now this jungkook person is a barista??

how does he have the time to make coffee and put out fires at the same time wtf

you’re tempted to just open the door but at the same time lol u ain’t risKing anything popping out and scaring the shit outta you

you reach over to brush your fingers over the machine and you shriek in surprise when the nozzle suddenly hiSSes to life

this one has a red button next to it too 

in fact all of these doors have red emergency buttons 

but why? 

you back away immediately and of course you end up backing up right into another door

you turn around quickly

now this

this is interesting

this isn’t just one door

these are double doors

very sleek looking double doors

they’re plain black and the silver handles wink at you underneath the light

and then you notice the metal panel plastered on the front of the door

‘ceo!yoongi x y/n’

.,,,.WHO IS YOONGI

you scratch the top of your head in confusion

man

you must really be having a good time if you can’t even remember all the people you’ve hooked up with

go girl!!!!

okay

who lives next to ceo yoongi let’s see

“demon yoongi.” you mutter to yourself and raise a brow  

this one is interesting

it doesn’t even look like a door

it looks like a black hole and you’re already sweating due to the heat that’s just radiating off of it

when you lean in closer you can hear a hundred voices whispering gibberish to you

oh hELL no

you back away immediately

may the power of christ compel that dOOR

you turn around

oOH this one looks cool

it has like a handprint and an eyeball scan kinda thing instead of a doorknob

omg and that one

is that door is made out of water????

you rush over to take a closer look and you dip a finger into the water

you have to squint to read this sign because the letters are formed from bubbles

“mermaid… jimin and y/n.”

your finger starts to tingle and you yank it out immediately

woAH

you could just dive right in

but also you’re not a good swimmer so maybe don’t do that

and that one over there kinda looks like a bookshelf instead of a door

there’s a basketball hoop hammered onto that one

there’s a life ring hanging on the one next to it

a pair of drumsticks

a tattoo gun

you spend the next half an hour or so continuing to walk down this hallway exploring the fronts of all these doors

a pair of boxing gloves - ‘boxer!jimin x y/n’

a pair of ballet shoes with a raggedy looking bandana wrapped around it - ‘hiphopdancer!hoseok x ballerina!y/n’

damn

a ballerina?????

niCE

you have two left feet so becoming a sophisticated ballerina sounds goOd to you

this one looks like a chalkboard - ‘kindergartenteacher!taehyung x singlemom!y/n’

omg

u have a kid

,..,but why are you single

who’s the asshole that left u

you’re sure this taehyung character is nice tho

this door has nuts and bolts hammered all over it - ‘mechanic!yoongi x y/n’

there’s a croWN hanging from this one - ‘prince!taehyung x y/n’

this door is literally made out of sponge cake and you wanna take a bite - ‘baker!jin x y/n’

this one has vanity lights all over it - ‘model!jungkook x y/n’

and thiS one kinda looks like the chalkboard one except instead of the alphabet written all over it there are just equations upon equations upon equations - ‘professor!namjoon x y/n’

and then it finally (finally) hits you

alternative universes

you studied the theory of alternate universes very briefly in a class that you took during your first year of university but you didn’t actually think… they existed

you’re so preoccupied with your own thoughts you don’t even realise that you’ve reached the end of the hallway

there’s one door left

you approach it and narrow your eyes at the plaque on the front

“jungshookz headquarters… cee pd’s office.”

…the hell is a jungshookz

sounds like a disease

you perk up when you suddenly hear voices on the other end of the door and you lean in to press your ear against the door

“here’s what i’m thinking. i’ll just keep posting drabbles until the next big fic is ready! everyone loves drabbles! that waiter!jungkook one from christmas is stiLL a hit. wha- no, as a matter of fact, i haven’t decided what the next big fic is. what do you mean i can’t work on two at once?! character asks?? i haven’t posted a biG fic obviously i haven’t gotten any character asks as of late-”

oh my god

another human being

well you gotta get in there

you reach down for the doorknob and-

why doesn’t this door have a doorknob

you look back up and you’re about to start banging on the-

wait whAT

WHERE DID THE DOOR GO

NO

WHERE DID IT GO

noW you’re just standing in the middle of an endLESS looking corridor agAIN

“nO nonononono wait wait wait-“

“y/n?” you whip around at the sudden introduction of a nEW voice “what are you doing out of bed? it’s 2 in the morning and the bed is coLd without you…”

okay

first things first

kudos to you

because this boy is very attractive

he has soft blonde hair and pillowy lips and his voice is oddly very soothing

but also

WHO IS THIS BITCH

“i…” you take a step back when he starts walking towards you “you…”

“i…?” he smirks and tilts his head “what’s the matter with you? c’mere silly, come back to bed.” he holds his hand out for you to take and your eyes flicker down to look at it

“where are we?” you breathe out as you take his hand “who are you?”

the stranger turns around and raises an eyebrow 

“what are you talking about? we’re… in our apartment. i’m… your boyfriend. j-i-m-i-n. jimin!” ‘jimin’ offers you a smile of confusion and reaches over to pinch your nose “we gotta get you to bed earlier, y/n. the lack of sleep is making you a little crazy.” 

he starts dragging you down the hallway to the door that’s made out of water 

he’s pulling you along like he’s on a mission and you start to panic because where the heLL are you going 

“hold on you can’t just takE me-” 

“you’re being crazy, y/n. want me to sing you to sleep?” 

“no i don’t want you to sing me to sleep you freAK-” 

you smack your fist against the angry red button next to a random door in your moment of panic 

“nO-” jimin gasps and moves to stop you but it’s too late 

suddenly EVERY SINGLE DOOR swinGS open and an alarm starts blaring 

and you are very much no longer alone

people start walking out of their respective rooms 

they’re all looking at each other weird 

and then it hits you all at once

you recognise every single one of these people

that’s your husband

and that’s your boyfriend who was a mermaid and turned human for you

and that’s your boyfriend who’s a literal android (technology is wild)

and that’s your boyfriend who kept messing up your coffee order

and that’s your daughter

and that’s your othEr daughter who’s slightly older

and that’s your boyfriend who helped you study for your philosophy exam that you passed with flying colours

and that one over there gave you your first tattoo

lifeguard!kook raises a brow at firefighter!kook 

“nice hardhat, loser.” he snorts and knocks his knuckles against firefighter!kook’s helmet

“nice tiny shorts, freak.” 

ceo!yoongi and demon!yoongi look at each other weird

ceo!yoongi immediately shields hwayoung away from demon!yoongi

“c’mon, man. do i look like i wanna hurt a fucking baby?”

librarian!namjoon and namjoon from the android!yoongiverse exchange glances 

“i like your glasses.” 

“mm. i like yours too.” 

meanwhile a couple of the jungkooks are all mimicking each other in the back 

jungkook from the basketball!yoongiverse raises a hand and at the same time mermaid/human!jungkook raises a hand too 

“woah.” they both marvel simultaneously at each other 

a couple other characters are talking to each other

“did you get a whole fic yet?” 

“nah man. she’s still ‘working’ on mine. hasn’t touched it in weeks.” 

“damn. same here!” 

“she wrote a sentence for me and moved onto your fic immediately” 

“don’t be mad at me for that!!” 

suddenly ceo!yoongi pushes through the crowd to get to you 

“who are you people?? get the hell away from my wife. y/n, c’mon, take my hand.” ceo!yoongi has hwayoung cradled in his arm and he reaches out for you with an expectant stare

you look over at his minty-haired counterpart and he wiggles his brows “or you could come with me and we can pick up from where we left off…”  

“oR you can come with me and show me that cheerleading routine you’ve been working so hard on!”

“she’s coming with me!!!”

“she’s coming with US because i’m the godparent of her chiLD and that means she loves our universe the most-“

“mommy, come home with me!! we’re supposed to go out for hot chocolate now-“

“stop!” you scream out but your voice can barely be heard over the absolute sEA of voices

“she literally biRTHED MY CHILD-“

“y/n likes splashing around with us though!! she-”

“i gave up a MERMAID taIL TO BE WITH HER she’s coming with mE-“

“stop it!!!”  

“i put out so many fires for her!!!!!! her-”

“uH there’s no way i’m losing y/n to you people do you know how many heart shaped sandwiches i had to make for her-“

the voices are piling up and getting louder and louder and louder and-

“sTOP IT!”

you shoot straIGHT up from your desk with a gasp and press a hand against your chest as you pant heavily

you’re covered with a sheen layer of sweat and you lean back against your chair as you begin to calm down

you’re… back in your bedroom

sitting at your desk

your textbook is still where you left it

your laptop is still where you left it

you must’ve like

fallen asleep or something while writing your paper

jesus

what kind of a dream was that

you look down at your laptop screen expecting to see your google doc but instead

you’re… on the ask page of some blog

‘GOT A QUESTION FOR ME OR A CHARACTER? ASK AWAY!’

the cursor blinks back at you as you stare at the screen

…do you have a question?

help me help you make your wishes come tru (aka send me a request)

masterlist

[wetalkinboutbooks]

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Summary: Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems. (Taken from Goodreads)

Our Ratings:  

 → Geena:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 → Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: This is one of the first suggestions we got and HOO BOY IT WAS A GOOD ONE. The perfect mix of action, comedy, murder, and beating up racists.... exactly what we need in a book. 

~Spoiler-full discussion below~ 

The Good:

→ Jane

Geena: I don’t think I’ve read a book where the protagonist just has so much raw power like… at the risk of sounding like I’m from 2012.. But like… my mind was totally blown. We meet Jane during a training exercise at Miss Preston’s zombie slaughtering school where we learn about all the nasty details that lead to the school’s creation. SO ESSENTIALLY, following the civil war (which ended prematurely bc u kno…. zombies) slavery is “abolished” and instead the whites decided it’d be better to set up schools to train black and native people to kill zombies for them 🙄 AND that’s where we meet Jane, in the middle of a training exercise. We also learn that she’s the daughter of one of the more wealthy white women in the area which was very scandalous given the u kno.. R a c i s m… and that even her mother’s status couldn’t keep her from being sent to the school. Jane also recounts moments from her childhood such as almost being killed when she was born… and she does it so nonchalantly that I fucking died dude. 

Kae: Nobody: …..

Jane: Yeah my momma tried to drown me. She doesn’t think I remember but I do… ANYWAY. 

Geena: LMAOOOOOOO YEA I FUCKING LOST IT LIKE DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN LIKE SHE IS SO RAW… BUT YEA, also Justina Ireland does this cool thing where she has excerpts from the letters Jane sends her mother which outline events that are VERY different from what actually happens in the chapter, and fuck I loved that sm. Jane is I think one of the girls that can read at the school and she’s got a liking for the science behind the biology of zombies but she gets in trouble cONSTANTLY because she’s too cool for Miss Preston’s school… ok jk no she gets into trouble because she always manages to piss off that one racist ass bitch, Miss Anderson. In the first few chapters we learn that Jane is smart, strong, and a total babe even though she doesn’t think so :(. 

I loved how Jane was written to be slightly hot-headed but not like bullheaded, like she would get angry real quick but she’d know when to act on her urges to beat the shit out of people. And I guess this stems from her childhood like…. SHE MURDERS HER DAD IN COLD BLOOD BC HE TRIED TO CHOKE THE LIFE OUTTA HER and also to preserve her mom’s secret which was that she was a white-passing black woman. And bc her dad was a racist white man Jane knew that wouldn’t bode well for anyone…. She did all this when she was like eight so like…. WILD (It’s what he deserved tho) but yea ever since then Jane’s been playing the game like a pro. She’s a pro zombie slayer that doesn’t take shit from ANYONE even when it lands her in trouble, and she cares a lot for the people around her even though she might pretend that she’s only out to get back to her mom. AND I LOVE HER for everything she does, but FUCK SHE WENT THROUGH SO MUCH SHIT IN THIS BOOK THAT IT HURT TO READ. ALSO WE FIND OUT THAT SHE’S BI…. WE STAN A BISEXUAL BADASS

→ Katherine

Kae:  Geena summed up, Jane very well! Jane is smart (and could read so her teachers were pissed), strong, and just an all around badass. I really love her. She deserves the world. 

Well, moving on to Katherine. Katherine is another student at Miss. Prestons school and she and Jane don’t get along well. Kate, as Jane calls her, which Katherine HATES, because she likes to be called by her full name. She is white passing with very light skin and blue eyes. She has blonde, loose curly hair and is described as absolutely gorgeous. Jane is a little jealous of her and hates admitting it. But she’s like “She’s gorgeous, it is what it is… But she’s from Virgina so ugh.” Katherine is right up to par with Jane’s zombie slaying skills and is the top of her class. Katherine is dainty, bougie, and a total rule follower. She’s into fashion and trying to find a good job protecting white folks from zombies when she graduates Miss. Prestons. She thinks of Jane as a little unruly and wild. But she tries her damndest to be respectful to Jane, even if they can’t stand each other.  

So, moving forward a bit. Kate is kind of nosey so she’s always catching Jane doing some shit she isn’t supposed to be doing… like having books smuggled to her by a boy named Red Jack. She also overhears Jane and Jack discussing how his sister went missing and he needs help to find her. So, she self invites and tags along later that night. In the mean time,  Jane and Kate have a lecture they need to attend to. When they get there, they realize that there is going to be a demonstration of proof that a “Shambler Cure” actually works. Shamblers are zombies. So this professor has a cage of three zombies and has some poor, black man risk himself and get bit. He has supposedly already been injected with the cure. Jane was like “this shit fake… He boutta die.” And Jane tries to interrupt, but she is quickly hushed. The antidote or cure or whatever DOESN’T work and the dude turns into a zombie. Jane shoots him down, then the other zombies get loose and now everyone is in a panic. Jane and Katherine take them down and save the day. A few weeks later, that are invited to the mayors house to “protect” it. (They really were only asked just so they could show up and be seen…) Someone turns into a Shambler, Jane takes them down, then that’s settled. So now they’ve saved the day TWICE. 

Red Jack has somehow SNUCK IN to the damn mayors house, so him and Jane do some snooping. They get caught. Then by default, Katherine gets in trouble. Well, Katherine gets in trouble because she is too pretty and none of the white women want her around because they think their husbands or whoever will start to be like👀  and the women get jealous. Katherine was out of a job before it even started because she’s just too damn gorgeous. So Kate, Jane, and Red Jack get sent off to the WILD WILD WEST BAYBEEE. But it actually sucks.  Let’s talk about Red Jack before we get into that though.

Geena: NGL KATE’S THE TYPE OF GIRL I WOULD’VE ABSOLUTELY HATED TOO IF I WAS JANE BUT!!!!! I love how we get to see the friendship develop between the two as they both learn about each other’s past and that maybe they CAN be friends. Also, Kate is ace and wants to travel the world which I RESPECT… but oh yea I was gonna say Jane and Kate are the true enemies to best friends trope. ALSO HER BACKSTORY IS SAD BRUH LIKE everyone looking down on her bc she’s from virginia smh……… okay but seriously the fact that Kate was constantly trying so hard to compensate for the fact that she came from a brothel that she became Miss Perfect (OR AT LEAST that’s what we learn from Jane’s perspective and as @zemenipearls pointed out Jane isn’t a reliable narrator so Kate’s backstory is kinda shady at this point but that’s what we think it is) 

→ Red Jack 

Kae: Let’s talk about Red Jack! Jackson Keats, aka Red Jack is Jane's ex boyfriend. He got the name “Red Jack” because he’s a redbone. He’s described with light brown skin and blue eyes. He also has a gold tooth and short curly hair with hints of auburn. He’s smart and can scheme his ass off and is known for taking big risks.  He also smuggles Jane books when she ask and send letters out to her mother for her. It’s also noted that he cannot read. He deals in dirty business, mostly scamming people out of money. But the kid has to make a living! I like him. Jack has a little sister named Lilly who is white passing. So he sent her with a nice white family who would let her blend in with them so she could avoid being sent off to a school like Miss. Prestons. Jack and Jane, despite them being exes, are decent friends I think. Jane hates to admit it, but she still likes Jack (even though he gets on her nerves). 

At a certain point, Jack’s little sister, along with the family she is staying with, completely disappear. Their house in still in tact, but they aren’t there. He’s worried because his sister would’ve sent word if she knew they were leaving. But he hadn’t heard a thing from her, and went to Jane. So Jane, Jack, and Kate end up at the Spencers’ house to look for clues. They can’t find anything, but they DO overhear Miss. Anderson and two other men say that they needed to clean the house out and remove all of their belongings. 

Later, when we get to the mayor’s dinner party that was previously mentioned, Jack and Jane run into each other and go snooping around the governor's office. There, Miss. Anderson is waiting for them and they are CAUGHT. She drags them to the Mayor’s basement where he is ready to send them off to a town called, Summerland, that is way out west. It’s a town where he is trying to uphold white supremecy and slavery.There, he will make sure that anyone who is black, is treated as if they are still slaves.  A man named Mr. Redfern, a Native man, escorts them out West. They are given dulled down weapons to protect the town from Shamblers, and well, this is just no good. When Jack and the crew arrive in Summerland, he punches the shit out of Redfern and tries to make a run for it. He is then tackled, jailed, and that’s the last we see of him… for a while. 

Geena: holy shit Kae litcherally outlined everything about Red Jack PERFECTLY. He’s how you would say a rascal… a cute rascal (Jane would agree). 

Kae: Lmao Jane’s got taste. I gotta give her that. BAD BOYZ are my thing lowkey

Geena: oKAY but SEE RED JACK IS A BAD BOI WITH A GOOD HEART. I mean yeh he and Jane had a “messy breakup” but they were still friends and he smuggled out letters for her mom and brought her books, and she helped him around with his ~business~ however shady it was. But I also liked how he was an idiot, I mean in the sense that UNLIKE JANE who knows how to control her anger and use it in the future, Jack just pops off like how Kae mentioned him decking Mr. Redfern. Jane thought about it but also thought ahead and realized she wouldn’t get far doing that. Red Jack tho… Boy thought he could outrun like 3 grown men 😭 AND WHEN THE READER AND JANE WERE LED TO BELIEVE THAT HE’D DIED?? BRO??? I WAS LIKE…. HOW U GONNA MAKE THIS CHARACTER A CHARMING LIL SHIT AND THEN KILL HIM ALMOST RIGHT AWAY…. BUT then when he came back I WAS THROWN.

Time to project BUT I love characters like Red Jack you know they’re shady and like to play everything off as a joke but when they get serious… they get serious. And I wonder what role he’s going to play in the second book, because all he cares about in his life is his family aka Lily right… Would he accompany Kate and Jane to save her momma when it would mean leaving Lily with people he probably can’t fully trust? Also, how did Jane and Red Jack even meet? I think it’d be cool to see where he came from, and what happened to the rest of his family and that’s another reason why I can’t wait till book 2!  

The Bad:

→ Miss. Preston and Miss Anderson

Geena: Man, we don’t even meet Miss Preston that long in the book like she has a few scenes here and there but god she is the fucking worst! Who runs a school and houses young black women and gives them a refined education with training with specialized weapons.. Only to ship them to a town where slavery is making a comeback??  And pretending like you care about them?? Disgusting… We all assume that Miss Preston is innocent and is busy running her school until the dinner that Kae has mentioned above where we find out that she’s in cahoots with the Mayor and has been supplying him girls from her school for as long as he has needed them… how “white allies” be sometimes… I really hope… from the bottom of my heart that she was devoured by a shambler bc it’s the only fate that she deserves you know… And then we have the hoe ass Miss Anderson who didn’t even try to hide her contempt of Jane and doted on Katherine → This we realize later into the book is solely because of how white-passing Katherine was and because Miss Anderson is a big ol’ racist who uses slurs like it’s nobody's business. 

Now, I realize that Ireland was trying to outline the different types of racists you come across in life. There’s those that pretend to be your friend and support you up front but behind your back they won’t hesitate to fuck you over (aka Miss Preston), like Miss Preston does help out Jane initially when she’s unfairly tested by Miss Anderson, but Preston also is the one to support sending Jane to Summerland so like….. and also we have your standard brand of racist aka Miss Anderson that doesn’t even try to hide how antiblack and dehumanizing she is because she straight up doesn’t care and knows that Jane or anybody else can do shit about it. 

→ Mr. Redfern

Kae: Okay, so now we’ve got Mr. Redfern. Mr. Redfern is a tall,  handsome, Native American man who is always scowling at Jane. He doesn’t like her and she isn’t sure why… That is, until our girl asks him. He thinks she is wasting her talents when she sneaks out and kills shamblers in the night. 

Geena: OKAY WAIT WAIT WAIT THIS BRINGS UP THE QUESTION.. HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN SPYING ON HER

Kae: OHHHH SHIT YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHAT THE FUCK. YOOO. HE HAD TO HAVE BEEN WATCHING HER FOR MONTHS. 

Geena: I FEEL LIKE…. THERE’S SOMETHING WE’RE MISSING BUT IDK WHAT

Kae: THIS IS WHAT I GET FOR BEING A SPEED READER. I BE MISSIN’ SHIT. Whew. Okay, so as you can see, we’ve just come to a sudden realization! Mr. Redfern is a sneaky son of a gun. 

But uhh, he mentions that he was taken from his tribe and sent off to one of the “Indian Shambler Schools” where he was given a new identity, etc. This is also basically what happened to Native Children back in those days, in order to erase their heritage and their entire selves. This was how they forced people to assimilate. They were sent to Indian Industrial Schools. 

Mr. Redfern is in cahoots with the Mayor (by force) and is the one to basically help kidnap Jackson, Jane, and Katherine. He stuffs them on a train for a week and at the end of their trip, they are out west. We don’t see him again after this. But later, we find out that he made Jackson a deal and sent him to a town not too far from Summerland to do “business”. Thus, when Jack returns to Summerland to steal ammunition for said town, he runs into Jane and Katherine and tells them Red Jack helped him out. 

ALTHOUGHHHH, REDFERN HELPED JACKSON, I DON’T LIKE HIM. HE WAS UNNECESSARILY MEAN TO JANE AND KIDNAPPED THE CREW AND THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. 

Geena: Yess Mr. Redfern, the man we thought would be an ally but turned out to be the opposite. Once again this mimics history I suppose because there were instances of indigenous people aiding the whites when it came to slavery and I suppose Ireland was trying to write that but she also makes it writes that while he is helping them he doesn’t seem too proud of it. But the matter of the fact is, he’s still helping enforce the white man’s rules. Though I do hope with the turn of the second book Mr. Redfern leaves that shit behind and decides to fully switch sides, aka let the whites to their own dirty work and help the people with a real cause.

ALSO, I keep talking about the second book but I really hope we meet more indigenous characters that aren’t Mr. Redfern you know, but those that aren’t under the thumb of a white person :( ALTHOUGH, I love how Ireland has the excerpt at the end where it mentions the residential schools in-depth and she encourages readers to research more of it which leads me to believe that we’ll be hearing more of them coming the next book as well. 

Kae: Just one more small part. I was like, completely convinced that those looks Redfern were shooting at Jane was because he thought she was cute. That is until Jane was like “alright, he CLEARLY doesn’t like me” and I was like oh… I totally misread those signals and I’m an idiot. BUT WHATEVER IT’s FINE. I do, however, think he will turn around. I don’t think he’s like, inherently bad. He’s just forced to do bad shit. Everyone is trying to survive in this world and I’m NOT giving him an excuse, but like, I get it. Ya feel me?

Geena: oKAY BUT KAE I TOO THOUGHT HE WAS INTO HER SO THAT MAKES US BOTH BOOBOO THE FOOL. AND YEA, it comes down to survival in a world where you’re not even considered human BUT that doesn’t excuse any actions. 

Kae: .jpg “we irritating” meme 

Geena: Is it even our review if we don’t have at least one (1) meme reference

The Ugly:  

→ Every single white person (minus Mr. Gideon) 

Geena: So I really enjoyed this book but Justina Ireland didn’t pull any punches when it came down to the true and dark details of the time period she was writing. She captures the essence of white folks, even during an apocalypse they find the time to push their white supremacy and tread on the backs of the black and indigenous people. I was grinding my teeth for a majority of the book, the way people would talk down to all the black characters and simply refer to them as though they weren’t human.

Mayor Carr, the Sheriff, and the Priest are the faces of white supremacy that think it’s in their destiny to put down bipoc and use them as slaves (though they won’t call it that) and fuck dude… Mayor Carr is like Miss Preston, pretends to be an ally and is using the people he pretends to support as fodder for his white supremacist wasteland. Even Jane mentions that he’s no better than other white men but people pretend he’s the best politician they have.

The Sheriff doesn’t even disguise his racism, he’s your typical ‘slavery wasn’t that bad’ assfuck and the way he treats Katherine bc he has an ugly crush on her thinking she’s white is disgusting bc you know if he knew that she’s simply white-passing he’d probably murder her in cold blood… and when he finds out, the exact thing Jane was afraid would happen to her mother almost happens to Katherine (she almost dies at the hand of the Sheriff’s fugly ass)....and fuck Katherine handled it so well even though she was very much uncomfortable the whole time. And the way Jane murdered him?? With no remorse… I fucking loved that, IDK if Justina Ireland was trying to go for a Jane is unhinged vibe (bc that’s how Katherine reacted to it) but I was like fuck yea girl shoot him a few times more for good measure.

The Priest is the biggest shit of them all like I cannot even begin to…… Every time I think of his wrinkly ass my blood pressure rises three levels because holy fuck. He preaches that he’s a holy man and that he’s only carrying out the orders of God and so on, and it’s DIGOSTENG the way he uses the bible as a weapon to put down the black and indigenous folk around Summerland. He blames them for how they look and says it’s their duty to “serve their white superiors” as redemption so that they may get a place in heaven 🙄🙄🙄🙄 This reminds me of what Kae had mentioned before about the story of Nate Turner who knew how to read so the plantation owners would make him read a fucked-up version of the bible to the others and like….. White people really took a faith founded by a brown man and turned it into a weapon for their white supremacy it’s disgusting. But what was really sad was that there are still people to this day like the Priest that have pretty hefty roles in churches and so on… spewing their racist rhetoric and god I can’t even fucking deal, every time he and Jane interacted I just wanted her to snap his neck in half and call it a day…. Like what was his old ass gonna do? Fart? 

Kae: Sweet! So Geena pretty much covered everything. The Sheriff is a whole ass bitch and he has a bunch of lackeys doing his dirty work while he parades around Summerland and berates anyone who is of colour. Basically, he has black people shipped out to the West so they can sacrifice themselves to defend Summerlands inhabitants with faulty weaponry and experiments. When Jane brings up that she needs better weapons so she can do her job, she’s slapped for it and told to deal with it. The black people and everyone else who is considered of low status, are treated horribly. They’re all shoved in a hot attic with thin, dirty blankets to sleep on the floor. They are locked in their rooms at night and forbidden to leave until it is time for them to work again. They all also barely have enough to eat, so essentially, they are starving. Jane and her new companions are overworked, underfed, and are only able to bathe once a week. It’s truly barbaric. The Sheriff wants to make sure they know they are “below” white people and were only created to serve them. It’s disgusting and I wanted to kill the man myself. It was infuriating reading how horrible they were treated and all of the slurs they were called. Slurs I forgot even existed. 

The Sheriff catches Jane one night after she had snuck out, and beats her in front of the whole town. He ties her to a pole, strips her shirt off, and whips her. I actually had to skip that part because I couldn’t bare to read it. It was too much and I just couldn’t do it. I’ve seen enough of it. Jane, even though she is inches away from death, is saved by Katherine speaking out against it. Since the Sheriff has a crush on her, he stops, and allows Jane to join her in the safe part of Summerland to be her servant. I usually don’t like reading books about my people being so poorly treated, but Jane shot his ass point blank when she had the opportunity and I reveled in that. I love to see us fight back! 

As for the Priest, he is the Sheriff’s father so he helps influence the bullshit that goes on in town. It is also heavily implied that underestimating the Priest is not the best decision. He apparently beat someone to death so that’s fuckin wild, considering how much of an old racist fuck he is. ANYWAY, he gives sermons every night on how “the Negro” was meant to serve and how they are to “stay in their place” and I cringed through the whole thing. It was horrible. Almost no one in the town likes the Sheriff or the Priest. The whore’s, the “slaves”, and Mr. Gideon (the Mayor's son), were all forced to be in Summerland and they hate it and the two bastards in charge. This drives them to conduct a plan to kill them both so they can escape. The plan was to have Katherine pretend to be white, have the Sherif fall in love with her, then Jane takes him out of the picture. But things didn’t go as planned so it took a few extra steps of danger BUT they made it and scarcely avoided a big zombie horde, and made it out. 

Geena: OH YEA MR. GIDEON….. He’s supposed to be this scientist guy with a limp which we find out he does on purpose, and he KNOWS that Katherine is white-passing but he doesn’t say shit bc unlike the rest of the white men there he isn’t racist and he’s trying to figure out a way out of the town… Also, this man-made an electricity grid run off of zombies and that was so fucking funny to me for no reason other than it reminded me of a scene from a sitcom when Jane walked in on the contraption. ALSO, JANE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE A THING FOR MR. GIDEON AND IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE RECIPROCATED? LIKE It’s funny reading Jane’s attraction to him like “he’s nerdy lookin… but in a cute way” but am I here for it?? Undecided...

Conclusion

Kae: So in conclusion, this book was really good. I enjoyed reading this AU of a zombfied civil war. It was interesting to see how things played out. I thought the world-building was pretty cool and I like how the South was called “The lost states” because they’d been lost to zombies. They also LOST THE WAR LMAOOO BITCHASSES. Anywaaaaay, I think Jane is such a strong, beautifully written character. She’s hotheaded, but she isn’t impulsive. She’s brave and she knows when to strike. She is smart, cunning, and a joy to be around. If she were real, I’d absolutely be her friend. She’s my kind of person. She keeps it real and I like that. Katherine is kind of complex and I can’t wait to find out more about her. She hides behind this proper, boujie demeanor, but I think a lot of it is a facade. I like how though Katherine is white-passing, she NEVER forgets or dismisses that she is black. She knows who she is and she hated pretending to be white. As for Jackson! He's impulsive, suave motherfucker and I hope we see more of him too! I think he’s going to have a bigger role to play in the next book and I’m ready to see what it’ll be. I can’t wait to find out what is in store for these characters because they are all beautifully written and their friendships are puuuure baybeeee.

Geena: GIRL YOU SUMMED UP ALL THE CHARACTERS REALLY WELL!!! You got everything that I loved about Jane, she’d be my idol irl… and Katherine is a really complex character and I’m excited to see how her story unfolds in the next book. SPEAKING OF WHICH…. THE COVER FOR THAT DROPPED AND O MY GOD…….. KATE AND JANE LOOK LIKE ABSOLUTE BABES and I cAN’T WAIT TO SEE THEM FUCK SHIT UP!

[inkspvlled-blog]

( kristen stewart, twenty-seven, cisfemale ) by chance have you met TAYLOR FLEMING yet? i hear SHE has lived in CAPITOL HILL for THREE YEARS and works as a WRITER. i’m surprised you haven’t met them yet but for when you do, i hear they can be quite CALLOW but also BEGUILING. for whatever reason they remind me of OLD FLANNEL T-SHIRTS, WORN DOWN CHUCK TAYLORS & WEARING SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT.

folks!! *claps hands* i’m ron & i’m very glad to be here w all of u cool ppl. i’m 23, pronouns she/her & i live in the gmt -3 timezone. anyways, now that all that info is outta the way, i should probably tell y’all i’m a messy person who loves messy plots so yk, any plot??? we love that, we’ll stan it, we’ll spice it up. the Flavor, yk?? so okay, let me not ramble anymore and start talking abt taylor god why do i talk so much

first of all i just wanna say taylor is the human form of this vine and also her personality is just the real bros of simi valley although??? she was born and raised in new york but who the fuck knows ya know

there’s nothing particularly strange to taylor’s story, no batman-esque Origin, no tragedy other than being completely ordinary and feeling frustrated because yk, milennials rlly b out here thinking they are special

she has an older and a younger brother, which is why she’s not really a girly girl and learned how to throw a nice uppercut really early in life so her brothers would leave her the fuck alone

during high school she was def “not one of those girls” which quickly subsided into oh fuck i’m not one of those girls cause i’m fucking in love with those girls. or any girl. she’s fucking gay :/

that whole panic lasted a few days until she decided to come out and wow big fucking shocker her whole family was already sus so it was like, not a big deal? like ofc her dad took a while getting used to it but by now they are all settled n ready to go. and her mom confided in her that she had previously experimented w women which is not something sixteen year old taylor wanted to know but guess what??? she did anyways

definitely one of those moody teens who were like no one Understands my teenage angst and spent days shackled up in her room watching old movies and feeling so unique and special writing her poems and drawing on her sneakers and listening to all time low ya know

she also really liked skating and like, experimenting with drugs which is not something she does anymore but she really made a lot of dumb choices when she was a teen. not anymore though, she will indulge in the occasional mary jane, howmstever

due to believing she looked like a fucking alien during high school (which we know its not true), she developed a personality that’s very charming and agreeable with people because it was the only way she could approach girls

anyways, she eventually grew out of all that bUT the writing and refined her personality a little. she’s less of an obnoxious person and more of a dry humor but still v approachable kinda gal. she has only written one book so far and it’s surprisingly doing well?? though she def has room to improve

she went to nyu for english literature (cliche, i know) and during that time taylor really exceeded expectations with her essays and chronics and the polished but humorous kind of way she writes. sort of a tongue in cheek kinda thing where even her most difficult professors found charming yk

her move to seattle three years ago was due to a job offer for writing for the seattle times, and she writes little chronics every now and then while she’s working on what should be her next book but we don’t know if it will ever see the light of day

*claps hands* personality

has an emotional support succulent collection

can be kind of funny in a really silly way or be very sarcastic and there’s no in between

dude and bro are definitely endearment terms

has a hard time talking about her feelings and expectations bc most of the time she feels like fucking shit which, relatable

vapes a lot :////

flirty fun & fresh but don’t try to pin her down to commitment cause....... that’s not a can of worms we want to open today mi amigo

self sabotage galore!!!

sometimes dresses like a dad and she won’t realize it until she sees an elderly man wearing the same outfit minus the baseball cap

dogs??? we love them in this household

an asshole but a nice??? asshole?? ig

here’s her pinterest board

idk if this intro makes sense at all but i tried and that’s all we can do, isn’t it??? anyways, if you’d like to plot w this???? alien pls like this post or wish upon a star and i shall contact u

[peachiefics]

Book Club

Pairing: Librarian!Joshua x OC 

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 3,147

Synopsis: A summer book club between a librarian and the most interesting girl he’s ever met may be exactly the kind of inspiration he needs to finish his novel.

Author’s Note: Happy birthday to my favorite little Sweet Potato!

     Joshua had always been a particularly imaginative boy.  Reading became his first love at a very young age, and shortly after, his love affair with writing began.  As he grew into adulthood, he honed his skill diligently, always eager to read something new that might spark his imagination in a way it hadn’t been before.  So, when he got a job at the local library, he felt like he was in Heaven.  Years passed, and his mental repertoire only grew larger.  But despite the vast number of stories he had collected by the time he reached age twenty-two, he never could’ve imagined falling for her.

     She was a walking disaster.  A five-foot-five tornado of a girl who brought with her a hectic sense of calm wherever she went.  A contradiction, he was sure, but somehow, it just made sense to him in the most confusing yet intriguing way.  He remembers the first time he saw her stumble into the library like it was yesterday.

     He sat at the front desk, head propped on his left hand as he held open his newest read with the right.  The pitter patter of rain against the windows kept him company as he sat in the empty building.  His ears perked up at the sound of the bell on the front door ringing lightly. Glancing towards it, he noticed a girl, around his age, who had been drenched to the bone.  She waddled over, her baggy clothes, now soaked, weighing her down a bit.  

     “Uh, hi,” he hesitated.

     Raising her hand to lift the endearing mess of auburn curls away from her eyes, she smiled brightly at the clerk.  “Hi, there!” she chirped.

     Joshua took note of her features.  They were a little rough, but adorable all the same.  Golden taupe skin littered with terra cotta freckles and adorned by rosy cheeks whose color spread across her wideset button nose.  “How can I help you today?” he asked, setting his book down.

     She parted her slightly chapped lips to reply, “I’m here to return a book, actually.”

     “In this weather?  I admire your dedication,” he chuckled.

     “Well, you see, my last three returns were tardy, and I really can’t afford another late fee,” she rambled, hand busy searching for the novel hidden somewhere at the bottom of her seemingly bottomless bag.  

     “Yeah, those fees do start to add u-”

     “Found it!” she exclaimed, pulling it out victoriously, before quickly reaching up to cover her mouth in embarrassment.  “Sorry,” she giggled nervously.  

     The corner of Joshua’s mouth twitched upward in something of a smile at the sound.  It seemed as though the almost childlike innocence about her went beyond the pleasant roundness of her face.  “It’s fine. The place is empty; has been all day,” he shrugged, taking the book and opening it to process the card in the back.  He gave a quiet ‘thank you’ when she handed over her library card unprompted.

     When he looked up from the computer, she was gone, but noticing the trail of water on the floor, he figured she had just gone to the back section to pick out another book.  A few moments later, she returned with a stack of books that piled up above her nose.

     “Quite the avid reader, aren’t you?” he laughed lightly.  The same melodic sound left her throat as he watched the corners of her eyes crinkle from the smile that he couldn’t see but knew was there.  She placed the books on the counter and he began to process all of them.  He stopped at one particular book and smiled brightly. “Starry-Eyed. I loved this one.”

     “Really? It was a good one?” she inquired, resting an elbow on the wooden countertop.

     “It was amazing!  It’s just…nevermind.  Sorry,” he cut himself short.

     “No, what is it?!”

     “I just don’t want to spoil the ending for you!” he laughed.  

     “No such thing!  Besides, I usually read the end first, anyway.”  The confused expression that crossed his face prompted her to explain. “Knowing the end makes connecting the dots more fun!  Besides, studies show that it makes reading more enjoyable.  It’s science.”

     “Well, can’t argue with science.  Anthony dies in the end before he can confess his love to Julia, and that apparently upsets most of the people who read this, but I won’t tell you how he dies. You’ll just have to find that out on your own.”  

     “Fair enough. And I’ll come back and give you a full book report on it,” she joked.  “I’m Maggy, by the way.”

     The dark-haired librarian felt a grin stretch across his face as he replied, “Joshua.”

     Two days later, the door forcefully swung open, the bell’s excessive ringing catching Joshua’s attention.  His lips curved into a smile as his eyes landed on the auburn bush that was moving towards the counter.  

     “This is bullshit!” she exclaimed, placing the book in front of him. Crossing his arms in amusement, he let her continue.  “He totally could’ve confessed to her if he just put his pride aside and then they would’ve lived happily ever after!”

     “But where’s the fun in that?” he chuckled.  

     “The happily ever after is the fun part, you heartless pessimist!”

     “I like to think that I’m more of a realist,” he explained nonchalantly, resting his chin in his hand as he leaned over the desk.  She frowned at his response, her slight pout making her seem even cuter to him.  “So, on a scale of one to ten, how much did you love the book?” he asked in a knowing tone.

     “Eleven,” she sighed, resting her chin in her hand in a similarly relaxed fashion.

     And that’s how their two-person book club began.  He would start from the beginning. And she would start from the end. And they would meet somewhere in between. And somewhere in between the time they first met and the time she kissed him goodbye, he knew he had fallen in love with her.  But we haven’t quite gotten there yet.

     He can’t recall the exact moment that it happened for the life of him. Years later they’ll argue about it over glasses of champagne with their closest friends admiring their playful banter. But again, we haven’t quite gotten there yet.  At this present moment, he has three guesses.

     The first is Children’s Day at the library.  He couldn’t help but smile as he watched her sitting among the children on the floor, pretzel style, reading to them with excitement as she put on funny voices.  They stared at her in awe and adoration, and to be completely honest, so did he.  

     As he was putting some books away in the kid’s section a few moments later, he noticed a little boy tug on her arm.  Once the children dispersed to find new books to take home, she followed him to a nearby shelf.  She leaned down for him to whisper something in her ear before smiling and standing upright again.  

     “This one?” she asked, pointing to a book on the top shelf.  

     He nodded with a bright grin and she reached up to grab it, having to stand on her toes in order to do so.  Handing him the book, she giggled when he wrapped his arms around her legs to thank her in the form of a hug.

     “You’re staring,” a tiny voice called out to Joshua from a few feet away.

     The sound startled him, though he’d never admit to being frightened by a five-year-old.  “What? I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” he replied nervously, having trouble meeting the precocious little girl’s gaze.  She was a regular there, so he remembered seeing her often.

     “I’m little, but I’m still smart. You like her; it’s ovbious!” she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips as she mispronounced the word.

     He quickly shushed her, frantically placing a finger over his own mouth.  “We’re in a library, remember?”

     She rolled her eyes and leaned forward to whisper, though it was still rather loud, “You like her!”

     Joshua’s hand flew to his forehead, his face burning in embarrassment.  Was it weird that maybe he did kind of like her? Was it weird that it was apparently so obvious, a child could pick up on it?  “Oh my god…. Okay, look, if you just run along and forget this, I’ll forget your last late book return, so that you can pick out a new one today.”

     The pigtailed nuisance pondered the thought for a moment before replying with a nod.  “Deal.”

     “Great, now go pick your book and get outta here, okay?” he smiled in relief.

     “You got it, Mr. Book Man!”

     About an hour later, Children’s Day came to an end and Joshua had finally processed the last of the nosy little girl’s books.  As Maggy approached the front desk, the child looked up at Joshua and winked as best she could before running off and exiting the library.  He found the gesture peculiar but assumed that it was in reference to their little agreement.

     “Hey, Josh?” his curly haired friend asked, a sly smile prominent on her face.

     “Yeah?”

     “Wanna explain why that little girl gave this to me?,” she giggled, reaching over the desk to hand him a folded piece of paper covered in crayon.

     He deadpanned, silently taking the note and opening it, his expression changing to one of horror as he scanned the crudely written letters.  

     ‘DO YOU LIKE MR. BOOK MAN? CURCLE YES OR NO’

     “That little-” He felt more embarrassed than angry, but before he could finish his statement, she took the note back and grabbed a nearby pen. He watched her in confusion as she scribbled something on it and handed it back. Looking at her with a raised eyebrow prompted her to nod towards the note in his hand.

     “Open it.”

     He did so and couldn’t help but laugh.

     “I had a feeling you wouldn’t say it first, but getting a five-year-old to do your bidding?  That’s a bold move, Mr. Book Man,” she smirked.

     “She, uh…She took the initiative on that… But I’m glad the feeling is mutual,” he smiled.    

     Perhaps Joshua fell for Maggy when she read the first draft of his first novel. It wasn’t finished at the time, so unfortunately for her, she had to start from the beginning.

     “I can’t believe I’m letting you read this,” he muttered, watching her eyes dart across the screen of his laptop.  Shifting uncomfortably, he leaned against the headboard of his bed and let his eyes drift to the beige wallpaper across the room.  “It’s so embarrassing.”

     With a sigh, she set down the laptop and closed it, turning to face him and crossing her legs. “Want me to tell you something embarrassing about myself to make things even?” Noticing him nod, she picked up a tasseled pillow and played with the fringe on the edges.  “You may not have noticed, but I happen to be very uncoordinated.”

     Without meaning to, Joshua let out a snort.  Looking down ad her band-aid-clad legs, he laughed.  “Really? I couldn’t tell.”

     With a scowl that wrinkled her nose in the least intimidating way, she threw the pillow at him, though he managed to catch it.  

     “You gotta gimmie something better than that.”

     “Fine,” she hesitated.  “My middle name is Beatrice.”

     “…Beatrice?”

     “Yes, Margret Beatrice Johnson.  Don’t you dare laugh.”

      He pressed his lips into a thin line, to keep a smile from forming. “It’s very…refined.”

     “Yeah, yeah.  Your turn,” she murmured, moving to sit next to him against the headboard.

     “I guess we’re going back and forth then, huh?” he chuckled.  She nodded in response and he let out a long sigh. “Alright, uhhhhhh….Well, I don’t know if you could consider this to be embarrassing per se, but before our first date, I hadn’t been on one in over a year.”

     “Any particular reason?” she asked, turning to look at him.

     “I guess no one piqued my interest,” he answered, meeting her gaze.

     “I suppose I can take that as a compliment,” she smiled proudly.

     “I’d say you could,” he grinned.  “You are by far the most…interesting girl I’ve ever met,” he added.

      She rolled her eyes in response before an idea seemed to strike her. “Well, that explains the weird disconnect between the love interests in your novel; no offense.”

     “None taken. I’m admittedly out of practice, which leaves me with a rather foggy point of reference,” he shrugged.

     She bit her plump bottom lip lightly, a nervous habit he picked up on a few weeks prior. Eyes leaving his, she let her hand find his.  “Well, now you have me,” she said in a soft tone, fingers toying with his slightly larger ones. “If anything, at least for research purposes,” she added on with a slight laugh to soften the impact.

     Locking his fingers with hers, he replied, “And I think you’ll be the perfect muse.”

     As she looked up, she was met with lidded eyes and fresh mint.  Just as their lips were mere centimeters apart, she pulled away. “Josh, I’m leaving in a few weeks.”

     Eyebrows now raised, he couldn’t help but utter, “Well, I definitely pictured that going differently.”  Releasing her hand and running his own through his hair, he let out a breath he was unaware he had been holding.  “Leaving?”

     “I got a job offer out of state that starts in September, and I just know that long distance isn’t for everyone, not that I wouldn’t be willing to try; it’s just that there are so many girls here who’d love a chance to be with you a-” her rambling was silenced by Joshua’s lips.

     “Josh…I can’t help but think that this is a bad idea, because we both know how this kind of thing ends,” she almost whispered as they pulled away.

     The corner of his mouth curved upward, and he pressed his forehead against hers. “Well, a very interesting girl once told me that knowing the end makes connecting the dots more fun…It’s science,” he chortled.

     “Well, can’t argue with science,” she giggled.  Leaning back to rest her weight on her palm, she tilted her head to the side and asked, “Do the couple in your story get a happy ending?”

     With a gentle hand under her chin, he leaned closer and gave an unsure smile.  “I really hope so.”

     Or maybe he realized he loved her the day he had to let her go.  

     Joshua hastily made his way through the crowded the airport, knowing that her flight would be leaving soon. Shrugging his messenger bag onto his shoulder, he looked around, searching for her auburn mess of curls.  

     “Josh, over here!” she called out to him from the food court.  A grin stretched across his face as he walked over, taking in her figure, dressed in that one sweatshirt he hadn’t been able to find for the life of him.  “Well, don’t you look snazzy,” she giggled, gesturing at his neatly tucked button-down and tie.

     “Thanks. I uh—I wanted you to remember me as well-dressed,” he blushed lightly.

     “Josh, I’m moving, not dying,” she replied, taking a sip of her Slurpee. Without a second thought, she held it out to him to offer some.  “Want some?”

     “No thanks,” he politely declined.  “And I know,” he added with a nervous laugh, hand darting to the back of his neck.  “I just wanted to look nice for you.”

      That was enough to make her heart melt faster than the frozen drink in her hand. Years from now she’ll swoon over how thoughtful he always was, noting that this was the very moment she had fallen for him.

      She wordlessly wrapped a gentle hand around his tie and tugged him into a chilly, chaste kiss.  “You’re adorable; you know that?”

     “Says the five-foot klutz with a million freckles,” he teased.  Just as he was about to get lost in another kiss, he remembered the weight in his bag and pulled away.  “Oh, I have something for you!”

      “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

      “I know, but I wanted to,” he shrugged before opening the bag and pulling out a book.  Watching her eyes light up as he handed it to her made him smile uncontrollably.

      “Starry-Eyed,” she read the cover with a bright grin and burning cheeks. “Our first book.”

      “And in this entire galaxy that exceeds my foggiest notion of existence,” he began, waiting for her to finish the quote.

     “There is no place I would rather be than lost within the depths of my lover’s starry-eyed gaze. Thank you so much, Joshua. I love it.”  Before she could pull him into a hug, he stopped her.

      “One more thing,” he explained, reaching into the bag again as she placed her drink on a nearby table.

      “Flight 29 D now boarding,” the stoic voice over the airport’s system informed, grabbing their attention.

     Joshua quickly pulled out a stapled stack of paper and gave it to her.  “I want you to be the first to read it.”

     “Your manuscript?”  She exclaimed, scanning the front with his name and the title boldly written.  “I can’t wait to read this on the plane.”

     “Well, I want you to read the last sentence on the last page right now...So I can see your face when you do.”

     She looked at him for a second, eyebrow raised in suspicion, when the airport employee spoke again.  “Flight 29 D now boarding.”

     “Please, it’ll only take a second,” Joshua ask, lightly touching Maggy’s arm.

     She nodded and flipped to the last page, eyes skimming downward.

     ‘In that moment, the uncertainties were as numerous as the terra cotta freckles adorning her cherub cheeks, but he found solace in being certain that his love for her was just as limitless.’

      Her eyes met his again, and for the first time since they had met, she was speechless.

      “I-I don’t know when it happened; I just know that it did…I love you… Margret Beatrice Johnson,” he breathed, tone changing from one of unsure hesitance to one of pure admiration.

     She haphazardly threw her arms over his shoulders, taking him by surprise as she pulled him into a hug.  “I love you, too, Josh.”

     “Oh, thank God,” he sighed in relief.  “Otherwise the ride home would’ve really sucked,” he laughed, pulling back to kiss her again.

     “Flight 29 D now boarding.”

     She begrudgingly parted from him and gave a sad smile.  “I’ll call you as soon as we land.”

     “You better,” he smiled back, kissing her forehead.

      And with that, she grabbed her things and went off to board her flight, but not before giving him one last wave goodbye. He waved back and pulled his messenger bag back on, comforted by the fact that he knew this wasn’t the end of their love story.

       It was only the beginning.

[daeneryses]

so

here’s what i think abt the episode

it wasnt as BAD as it seemed it would be but that doesnt mean it was good but my expectations were so fucking low that i could sort of enjoy it. 

but well lets unpack that shit

it began alright, the funeral was emotional, not much to be done there i suppose. jon’s speech was good. nothing spectacular. 

then the feast, which was also okay. but here begins one of my most serious concerns. what the fuck is up with sansa? in past episodes i could see her point, the north has been betrayed too much, it has bled too much, and southern rulers don’t quite get the north. but at the feast she was straight up dropping attitude towards dany, like damn girl aren’t u supposed to be a diplomatic figure in order to be a political mastermind? but well i’ll rant more about that later on. also dany legitimizing gendry was something we all saw coming i believe (even before the leaks i mean lmao) and it was a smart choice on her behalf really bc as tyrion pointed out gendry would never betray her, out of pure gratefulness if anything.

the feast lasted a lot lmao am i the only one who feels that way? 

we started to see dany drifting from jon bc for some reason my tiny brain cannot comprehend people seem to want him as a king and she know he could be king if the truth gets out (WHICH DESERVES A WHOLE ASS POST TO RANT). she also sees tyrion laughing with jaime and brienne and i just felt so bad for her? like everyone was ignoring her she was clearly uncomfortable there ;( maybe it just hit too close home ahah. Anyway, I understand her becoming wary, and i understand why she doesn’t want anyone to know abt jon’s parentage. which, ofc, jon doesn’t give a flying fuck so we end up in a very bad place (which, again, i’ll talk more abt later on)

i was pretty nervous abt the gendrya breakup ahah but it really wasnt that bad, i didnt really see it as a breakup as much as a  “c ya later” and im allowing myself to be hopeful for them. they’re both clearly very much in love but my boy’s a whole ass clown if he thought she’d say yes THAT quickly.

but im actually nervous about arya’s fate??? did she even say goodbye to sansa? bran? what the fuck was that??? she really plans to kill cersei and i just have a feeling in my HEART that she’s not gonna make it out alive and she won’t succeed either. why would u have her lecture jon abt the importance of family if she’s just going to clock out the next day. ALSO what the fuck was that line of her never returning to WF????? 

??????????????????????????????????????????????????

if she dies im gonna become a full blown alcoholic. its even worse if she dies by the mountain or some stupid shit like that.

anyways

lets fast forward shall we

when they were at the war council room (idk the name im sorry) SANSA WAS STILL PROVOKING DANY. WHAT THE HELL? was it ever explained why she distrusts her? or are we just supposed to go with it? i loved that jon for once in his life stood up for her. she lost so much, she lost her khalasar, she lost most of her unsullied, she lost JORAH. and you don’t even want to send men to fight a much less scary enemy? gtfo here. i have always always always loved sansa, and i could see where she came from when she initially didn’t trust dany, but this? dany gave them everything and more, what do they want from her. im also emo bc i always thought dany and arya would get along :( and now im wearing a clown costume. 

then the jon’s dumbass who’s a targaryen but inherited ned stark’s ability to disclose very sensible information at the WORST possible timing goes “hey, u know what will make them be at peace with dany ruling? knowing that i’m a secret targ and i can be king instead of her ahah :)x” and tells them. which, ofc, has many many consequences.

god they really are setting everything up for dany going nuts i hate this i hate this so much

everyone is plotting behind her back. that sneaky little treacherous rat varys is going to get dracarysed very soon and i will REJOICE. 

and i truly fail to see why, all of a sudden, varys doesn’t want her on the throne. i cannot see what she has done wrong, and i mean this. if it’s all bc she burned down the tarlys i s2g.... if this was all done properly, if this was well written, if dany had truly started to show signs of madness, i would not be complaining. but the second she suggests using heavy force on KL to end the war once and for all, she is MAD!!!1111! aerys reborn!11!!! get the fuck outta here w that im fuming

but well im just rambling now. we all know that rhaegal survived a fight with his undead brother but died bc apparently NO ONE saw the massive fleet that was somehow hiding behind a rock. god i wish i was joking this sounds like bad fanfiction. also they killed missandei just for the lulz apparently and to give us what they believe will be a justified reason for dany going mad. thanks i hate it.

the way she said dracarys though ;___; she wants dany to obliterate the whole lot of them.

also the show really sad fuck jaime lannister huh. 

like, it’s the same shit guys. amazing episode if you look at the technical aspects, the music was great as usual, the photography is impressive, it feels like you’re watching a blockbuster movie not a TV show and that definitely counts for something, but the story is simply not good anymore. they are crushing everything they’ve built up to this point character-wise. everyone’s acting so so so ooc it’s unbelievable, and sadly i can only see one way for the “story” they have begun to tell us. they are going to destroy the single most important character of the show, the most ICONIC character in the story of TV, one of the most beloved characters of our times, and turn her into a monster just so jon can save the day. if that ain’t trash writing, idk what is. 

i also want to point out how great the cast is. it amazes me each episode. this time in particular emilia was amazing.

i guess that’s the sad part, that this show has it all to be the best of the best, but they decided to butcher the story, which cannot be saved, no matter how amazing your crew, cast, and production is.

[akaiaowl-tales]

Reality in Motion Ch3 (Mileven - Modern College AU)

Chapter 3: Something just like this

Monday 4th, December 2017

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The pencil was repeatedly hitting the table. It was rather annoying.

“Could you stop that?” a girl asked dryly.

Trying to focus on the book she was currently reading, El was completely oblivious to the girl’s question and continued tapping the pencil on the wooden library table. She’d already reread that paragraph several times, and yet she couldn’t seem to come up with a coherent sentence to summarize it.

It was very difficult to concentrate on books and notes when her thoughts kept stubbornly wandering off from academics and reminding her of something she still was too embarrassed to allow herself to think about. She felt her cheeks starting to warm and, for what felt like the thousandth time that day, chastised herself for her own stupidity. She needed to stop thinking about Mike Wheeler.

“Ohmygod, are you freaking deaf?” the girl tapped her shoulder.

Startled by the sudden touch that wrenched her away from her restless mind, El almost jumped off from her chair and barely managed to stifle a shriek. El looked at the annoyed redhead girl with huge, clueless brown eyes.

The girl’s angry face fell, probably feeling guilty because of her aggressiveness.

“Just stop the noise, ok? The table is not a drum set,” the girl said with an almost guilty tone of voice, looking away quickly.

--….--…--…---

El had finally finished the chapter summary notes. Feeling quite accomplished and hungry after spending most of her afternoon studying, she stretched her cramped limbs and gathered her stuff.

The girl who had startled her was still there, sitting next to her and frowning, nose-deep in a bulky book. El wondered whether she should apologize or something. Truth was, most of the times, she felt completely clueless about how to act in certain social situations and this was no exception.

Just as she stood up to leave, the girl looked up at her.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about how rude I was earlier, but you and your drumming skills were annoying the heck outta me and I’m having trouble as it is with the stupid reading material”, she said, speaking really quickly.

“Anyway, I would hate to finish my first semester here making an enemy,” she continued, grimacing wryly at that.

“I get it. I also have trouble concentrating,” El answered cautiously, feeling very nervous. She tried to avoid looking at the girl’s piercing blue eyes.

“So, are you leaving already? To have dinner?” she asked, while saving her books in her maroon backpack.

Just when El opened her mouth to reply, the girl stood up too.

“Mind if I tag along,” somehow she managed to avoid phrasing it as a question.

This is going to be so awkward.

Having no other option after that, Eleven nodded and followed the feisty girl down the silent hall.

They both got out from the library together and walked towards the cafeteria. The girl – who introduced herself as Max Mayfield – immediately started complaining about her Government and Politics class (“I hate watching the news! I get bored listening to candidate speeches! WHY did I even chose this class to waste my extra credits in? ... I guess it’ll remain one of life’s biggest mysteries”).

Apparently, the redhead girl was kinesthetically intelligent – which explained her mechanical engineering major –, and that made the whole situation a lot more unexplainable and bizarre. Max was obviously one of those very fun, active, and talkative persons. It didn’t cease to amuse her how the redhead could quickly jump from one topic of conversation to another tirelessly. Much to her surprise, El found herself laughing along with her witty remarks and actually finding her really likable.

She was quite entertained by Max’s sarcastic humor and loud personality. Also, the redhead seemed unfazed by Eleven’s shyness and overall quietness, which was unexpected and really nice.

Listening to someone else’s problems helped her take her mind off what had happened that weekend and stopped her from paying attention to the cruel voice of her insecurities. As opposed to what she had been first expecting, El found the whole situation made her feel rather perky and comfortable.

“By the way, I’ve seen you before?” Max asked.

“I don’t thi-”

She interrupted her midsentence, and it suddenly dawned on El that Max was a big fan of rhetoric questions.

“Of course! You were that girl at Steve’s party!”

“That girl?” El asked, unsure about whether she should be offended or not.

“Yeah, the one with the rad dance moves.”

She blushed and couldn’t help smiling at that, remembering her sore feet and legs the morning after the party. Tentatively, she finally allowed herself to think about what she had been avoiding for almost three days now.

It really was an awesome night…

“Do you know Lucas Sinclair?” Max suddenly asked. “Wait. Why are you blushing? Do you like Lucas?”

El snapped back to reality.

“Wh-What? Will’s friend Lucas? Lucas the tall, serious guy?”

Max only stared at her with her mouth slightly agape.

“I don’t like him, I barely know him!” El answered a bit too fast, it really was the most stupid question in the world.

Max, however, still sported a suspicious expression.

If she only knew.

“Why? Do you like him, Max?”

Now it was Max’s turn to blush.

“Oh, shut up,” she said looking away, “I haven’t finally made a friend I actually find interesting so that we sit here gossiping about boys like it’s fucking high school”.

El couldn’t agree more.

--….--…--…---

Thursday 7th, December 2017

*3 missed calls from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

9:03 am WHY DON’T U PICK UP THE PHONE??????????????

*1 missed call from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

11:47 am U WORRY ME

*2 missed calls from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

She knew she couldn’t avoid him anymore.

Even though she had been successful until then – having Max as a friend had come in quite handy –, Will and her had class together on Thursday afternoons. History 102 was the class Will took as an elective just to be with her. The only way to avoid her best friend was skipping class. And El Ives never cut class. It had been hard enough getting into college with a scholarship to feel careless enough to do something like that.

Worst thing was, she wasn’t even sure why she felt so mortified about the possibility of Will saying or asking something about the party. It wasn’t like she was hiding something. Nothing major had really happened. Had it?

An innocent kiss goodbye on the cheek means nothing.

But there was nothing innocent about the weird way she felt when she remembered the feel of his big, warm palm steadying her. The cute way his dark wavy hair fell on his face, almost covering his eyes. The funny tilt of his head when he was listening to something that interested him.

Cut it out El. You’re making this a much bigger deal than it is like you always do. Heck! THERE IS NOT EVEN A “DEAL” TO TALK ABOUT.

It hurt her to listen to the ruthless voice in her head, but, as much as she hated to admit it, El knew it was probably right.

It had happened countless times before. Well, actually two. Two times in which El found herself feeling funny and giddy and hopeful about someone, only to be disappointed. It always ended that way. She was destined to be alone and it was probably for the best.

It’s probably because of all that rom-com trash you watch all the time.

She felt so guilty. Guilty about her stupid feelings, about her stupid thoughts, about her stupid hope, about her stupid attitude, about her stupid irrational fear for something that wasn’t even happening.

Worst of all, she knew her internal crisis was really no reason to be such a shitty friend to Will. He was the one who had always, always been there for her and now she was hiding things from him?

She was such a mess.

“Ellie? You ok?” Max asked with concern, looking at her expectantly.

This was the first time she ever called her ‘Ellie’.

Max had been so relieved to find a girl she actually found likable – most of the students in her classes were boys and she had gotten tired of only having male friends – and El was just as happy to have someone as nice, understanding, and extroverted as Max being her friend – also, apparently, she’d needed Max in her life to “coach her on stupid girly things that are totally dumbass but, sadly, necessary to survive in this society”.

Noticing Max’s concern, El was successfully distracted away from her restless thoughts and looked up from her phone to face her new friend’s scrutinizing gaze. She was all too aware of the guilt written all over her face.

“Yeah, it’s just Will”, she replied to Max’s question (for once without being interrupted!), biting her lip.

Max looked thoughtful. Despite their short friendship, the girls spent most of their free time together and knew a lot about each other so far. Max had even introduced Eleven to some of her closest friends. Of course, later, when El had mentioned her high school best friend and his friends, Max was very excited to meet them too (Eleven suspected it had something to do with her friend’s vehemently denied fondness of Lucas Sinclair). Therefore, El had to confess to Max that she was actively avoiding Will.

“Alright”, she said crossing her arms, “I think it’s finally time for you to spill the beans about why you are avoiding him.”

El looked away, trying to focus on anything other than Max’s stern face. She knew her friend only intended for the best, but she was way too embarrassed to tell her about her childish crush on Mike Wheeler.

“I think it’s not healthy, El”, Max continued, “The poor guy is probably worried sick”.

“I know! Ok?! This whole situation is affecting me so much too”, El finally confessed, letting all of her anxiety pour into her words.

Her hand trembling as she adjusted her shoulder-length wavy hair behind her ear.

“I’m so freaking worried I’ll lose my best friend over a stupid crush of all things. And everything, because I cannot stop thinking about what will happen the next time Will asks me to hang out with them”, El finally gushed out, completely unable to stop herself from revealing the reason behind her distress.

“WHOAH”, Max’s shocked blue eyes were wide as saucers, “HOLD. THE HELL. ON.”

El tried to mentally prepare herself for the upcoming inevitable onslaught of questions.

“So you do like Lucas?”

W H A T.

El let out a giggle and then started full on laughing unstoppably at her friend’s confused expression. She couldn’t breathe.

What the hell?

Her stomach was contracting painfully at her effort to stop laughing.

“No”, she finally admitted after her laugh subsided enough for her to talk.

“I have a crush on Mike Wheeler”.

--….--…--…---

“Hey! What’s going on with you?” asked Will, plopping down on the chair beside her, “I almost thought you were dead”.

Too nervous to stay still, she’d come super early to the History class she had with Will.

She had spent almost all lunch time telling Max about what happened at the party. However, contrary to what Eleven had expected, Max had insisted that it seemed obvious to her that Mike Wheeler was as interested as El was.

She also stressed that she thought El’s crush on him was not stupid. Nonetheless, El could not help feeling scared of the gush of hope she felt at her friend’s encouraging words. Hope was never good.

Plus, the possibility of something actually happening made everything a little bit harder. It made El’s mind wander off into cheesy fantasies she never had allowed herself to have before. It made the fluttering in her stomach a whole lot worse. It made her feel nervous and jittery and girly. And it scared her because it was new.

It made Eleven feel a lot unlike her usually phlegmatic self.

She turned to look at her best friend and couldn’t help the guilty blush from spreading on her cheeks.

“I made a friend – well actually she made me her friend…” said El, smiling at the memory of her new lively friend, “and, well, I’ve been spending a lot of time with her”.                                                

Will seemed shocked at that and then smiled.

“I’m happy for you, El, but why were you ignoring my texts and calls for days?” he asked, looking hurt.

He knew she would never, ever, replace him.

“El, you can tell me anything at all, you know that”, he said, “did anything at all happen at that party? Are you mad at me for dragging you there and then leaving you all alone? I’m so sorry!” he babbled, looking almost on the verge of tears.

The few students in the class were starting to stare at them.

She sort of panicked. Why was she such a terrible friend? Will had been worried about her, probably thinking the worst and here she was, avoiding him for such a stupid reason. She hated herself.

“Will no, I’m NOT mad at you… everything at the party was great”, El said truthfully and Will seemed confused.

“It was the best night of my life, I will forever remember it as my ultimate college experience, I am forever indebted to you for it”, she continued, trying to make her best friend laugh at her weak-ass attempt at replicating Max’s sarcastic humor.

Will’s smile was more of a grimace.

“Are you sure about that?”

“You know I would tell you if something was wrong”, El said, “Friends don’t lie”.

Everything seemed back to normal after that. They caught up with everything that had been going on those last few days. Will told El about his terrible hangover after the party and how “stupid Mike got us derailed for some reason and we finally got to the dorm at, like, 6 am” (El discreetly blushed at that, trying to hide a smile). El told Will about meeting Max and how, interestingly enough, she seemed to know Lucas (though she skipped the part in which she suspected about Max’s secret crush).

“Oh, so SHE was the cute redhead he was talking to all night?” Will said, realization dawning in on him, “I remember her! Her name seemed so familiar… BECAUSE SHE’S IN OUR APPLIED PHYSICS CLASS!”

Will looked as happy as the day Joyce got him all the vintage X-Men figurines for his birthday.

This was such big gossip material.

“I can’t believe it! And now you’re her friend!? We gotta get those two together! We gotta hang out sometime, we have to-”

El was giggling at Will’s enthusiasm, but they had to cut their conversation short because the professor arrived at that very moment.

At the second hour of the class, El was suddenly distracted by her phone vibrating in her bag. She carefully took it out and saw a text from Will.

5:14 pm Still not off the hook! u owe me an explanation about why u were acting so weird.

El sighed, she had been hoping that Will would forget about that tiny detail. She typed a short answer, wondering what in the world she would tell her best friend.

5:14 pm OK.

5:15 pm After class

--….--…--…---

The class ended faster than El expected. She actually found the topic they were currently going over quite interesting, which pushed all other thoughts away from her mind. Including thoughts about how to evade Will’s questions.

I’ll just go for the truth… if he asks, sure it’s embarrassing but I cannot lie to my best friend.

The thing that worried her the most though was Will’s reaction to the news. Would he play matchmaker (like he was currently planning to do with Max and Lucas)? Would he tell her something she would not want to hear (like maybe that she was getting her hopes up for nothing)? Would he be mad and hurt because she had kept it all from him? Would he be weirded out?

Will and El were among the last students to leave the class.

“So… What’s up? Please don’t tell me that I did something while I was drunk and embarrassed you or something”, Will said, looking horrified at the prospect.

Eleven had never seen Will drunk. At high school they had been the quiet losers that never went to parties, but she knew he had gone to a few ragers at college with his new friends. She wondered what kind of drunk her nice, quiet best friend was.

“No, I uh… actually don’t remember seeing you after you left me dancing”, she said.

“You’re too much of a pro to keep up with”, he joked.

“Hey! Max and I bonded over my amazing dance moves!”

He laughed at that.

“I like her already”, Will added.

El knew she had to say something, tell her best friend everything.

She didn’t know where to start.                              

“I was just worried about what you would think about me aft-”, she began apologetically before Will interrupted her.

“El, I would never judge you for being a drunk dancer, you know that”, he said sympathetically, completely missing the point.

“Plus, I’ve done things way more embarrassing than dancing”, he continued.

Will went ahead and told her about something that happened at the party.

“…and the last thing I remember is being found by Mike and then dragging myself into the car”, he told her, “and you were asleep on the copilot’s seat”.

El tried not to look too guilty.

“Yeah, I guess I was pretty tired after dancing my feet off”, she said.

“Who knew you secretly take cardio dancing lessons”, Will chuckled.

She punched his arm softly.

“So, how did you finally get to the car?” Will wondered.              

“Well, I found Mike outside while trying to get some air and we just talked a bit”, she said, hesitating to expand on her answer.

Will’s curiosity, however, seemed placated without her having to elaborate on the great time she had.

El couldn’t hide her relief at getting off the hook so easily.

It wasn’t like she had actively lied to Will, or hid anything from him. She’d just gone along with the conversation… which happened to skip through the very embarrassing topic she wasn’t yet willing to discuss with her best friend.

“Yeah, he said the same”.

El was dying to ask if Mike had said something else about it, or about her.

They walked around campus in silence for a while. Both deep in thought.

“Is it OK if all of us hang on Saturday?” Will asked, taking out his phone.

“Uh… I guess, I know Max is free and we were going to hang out together anyway”.

El was secretly hoping to see Mike again.

Which was childish and stupid. But, hey, Max had said her crush was okay and her opinion counted. Didn’t it? She was supposed to know much more about life and guys and relationships than she did.

“Cool, tell her we’re having lunch together”

--….--…--…---

Saturday 9th, December 2017

Lucas’ facial expression was priceless.

Will, Mike and Dustin shared a knowing look when they saw El and Max coming out of their dorm building. The four guys were sitting on a bench not too far from it.

Ever since Will had told them about their Saturday plans, they’d tried for about two days to stop themselves from bullying Lucas too much about his evident and quite cute crush on Max. However, they all knew this outing was mostly for his benefit (and because Will wanted to prove his matchmaking skills) and their resolve finally broke that morning, resulting in at least two hours of merciless teasing.

Which had resulted in reducing the usually grounded and confident Lucas into a blabbering, nervous mess.

He must really like her, Mike thought with a smile.

“Just try not to make your ‘Lucas aka Chocolate Daddy’ impression until, at least, the fifth date and you’ll probably do fine”, Mike teased loudly, trying to emulate his friend’s ridiculous voice (and failing miserably).

Dustin broke out in a laughing fit and Will smiled widely at the comment. Truth was, Mike had been feeling nervous himself about going out with the two girls and had tried to hide his anxiousness by being especially annoying to Lucas.

The girls finally reached them. They all greeted each other a little awkwardly and tried discussing what to get for lunch. Mike, however, was otherwise preoccupied (definitely not watching a certain brunette girl) and couldn’t help noticing that El blushed whenever their eyes met. It was cute.

His reaction to her was probably the same one, he realized bashfully.

From his conversations with Will so far, he had gathered that, like himself, she had also dodged Will’s questions and had not been completely honest about what happened last Saturday. He wondered why the both of them were so reluctant to admit to their friends what had happened the night of the party. It wasn’t as if something huge or terribly life changing had happened. Right?

He needed to talk to her about it, but was worried about making everything an even bigger deal. When it wasn’t. It clearly wasn’t.

After a while, everyone finally agreed to go to Taco Bell.

“Mike, didn’t you offer to drive?” Dustin asked innocently.

He hadn’t offered, but knew this was probably planned. This, especially considering that the only ones in their group with a car of their own were Lucas and himself. And there was no way in hell the guys were letting Lucas drive when they could force him to interact with his crush instead. Right in front of their prying eyes.

“I did, didn’t I?” Mike answered thoughtfully, “and we all know how serious I am about keeping my promises.”

Lucas threw a murderous look in his direction, knowing all too well what his friends were up to. Mike pretended not to notice.

Will and Dustin made sure that Lucas sat right next to Max in the back seat of the car, sandwiched between them and their giddy glances. Since there was almost no room, Max was almost sitting on Lucas’ lap, which made the whole situation even more awkward and all the more entertaining for Will and Dustin.

By that moment, Lucas was a permanent stuttering wreck and Max’s cheeks had gradually blushed to the point her face was now almost the same shade of red her hair was.

Needless to say, the guys’ antics were pretty evident by then.

“Next time we all go out, I’m driving too,” Lucas said grumpily.

El nervously got into the front seat, trying not to think about just how different this situation was from the one last week. She sat and looked at Mike, who was starting the car. She smiled as an unruly strand of wavy black hair fell onto his face, and suddenly found herself avoiding the sudden impulse to bush it away from his eyes.

Since they were effectively cut out from whatever was happening at the back seat, Mike and El began a casual chat, telling each other about their classes and majors. It turned out that El was a psychology major and Mike a physics major, which probably should mean their interests were very different. However, on that short ride they found out they had quite a few common interests besides their weird love for breakfast – like their preference for indie music, the fact that both of them were night owls, their mutual fondness for film-watching, and an (unhealthy) obsession with all things Harry Potter related.

It was no surprise to either of them to realize that they liked each other’s company the more time they spent together.

--….--…--…---

Lunch had been memorable.

The guys finally got to meet boisterous Max and immediately liked her loud personality and sarcastic humor. The atmosphere had relaxed a lot by that point and even quiet El felt comfortable enough to actively intervene in the conversation – which was currently focusing on a passionate discussion about whether the Harry Potter movies were good enough and lived up to the books.

“Of course the movies can’t even be compared to the books but they are still good!” Will exclaimed in frustration.

“I mean, as much as I love Emma Watson, I will never get over the frustration of the ‘HARRY DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE’ scene,” Dustin interjected stubbornly.

“THANK YOU FOR THAT, THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY,” El said loudly, suppressing the impulse to hug the stocky guy.

“That was SO out of character,” Lucas agreed.

“Oh, just shut up about this already. Everyone knows the problem with Harry Potter was totally the cast”, Max chimed in, “I never read the books, but it was obvious that those actors were getting too old for their roles anyway.”

The guys and El all turned to her with matching outraged expressions.

“I swear I didn’t know about this side of her when I befriended her,” Eleven said.

“What? It’s only the truth,” Max said shrugging.

“I need to forget you just said that”, Lucas said horrified, looking at Max as if she had just grown another head.

“Guys, what about going to the movies?” asked Will, desperately trying to salvage the situation.

They agreed and ended up getting tickets for an afternoon show.

Halfway through the comedy movie they had ended up watching, Mike (who had totally NOT been watching El from the corner of his eye) saw Eleven get up from her seat and leave. His heart almost jumped from his chest. This was it. The opportunity he had been looking for all afternoon.

“I’m gonna get more popcorn,” Mike said distractedly to Dustin, who was sitting next to him, as he got up.

His friend only managed a dismissive movement with his hand before exploding with laughter over something that had happened on the screen.

Mike almost tripped in his eagerness to get out of the place. He stood at the door of the room, waiting for El. He hoped he didn’t come off as a stalker.

Finally, she appeared at the end of the hall, just getting out of the bathroom. Almost as if she could sense his gaze, she lifted her head. She seemed surprised to see him.

“Mike? What are you doing here?”

READ MORE AT: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12840366/chapters/29318523

[homervnned]

––   f l o u r - c a k e d    h a n d s    c l o s e    t h e    r e g i s t e r .

                         “ oh, for fuck’s sake. ”

                                           there’s that signature eye roll.                                      they’re talking ‘bout their dead wife                                                          A G A I N.

                                          haven’t they read the roll along’s                                           no sentimental bullshit policy ?

                       “ just eat your fuckin’ cinnamon roll. ”

whaddup. hope y’like your bakers how you like your sweet rolls :  rude and emotional unavailable !

( sean teale, human, he/him & cismale ) is that ( spellbound ) by ( ac/dc ) playing? guess ( “brooks baker” / ferris feller )’s comin’ in hot! heard folks say the ( “25” / 52 ) year old ( bakery owner ) was at the thanksgiving fair, ( nearly droppin’ a tray of sweets ‘n goodies at his bakery stand as he thought he recognized the orange-wearing witch who hexed him years ago ) when chaos ensued. during the glitch, ( he tried to follow that damned lady to give her a piece of his mind, but wound up defendin’ himself from incomin’ hooligans with a blow-up baseball bat instead ).

b a c k g r o u n d. 

born as ferris feller in letum falls, oklahoma, 1930. his mother, greta feller, raised him and his little sister ( possible wc, if she’s been turned supernatural ? ) on her own. the story goes his father was stationed abroad in the military as a courier and died in a freak accident. there were photos of him ‘round the house, but really, those are just black and white photos of some random soldier his ma had written correspondence with as a volunteer letter writer during world war i. his real father was the local pastor. his mother started sleeping with him after he brought his suits in to be dry cleaned at her laundromat.

ferris took a natural liking to baseball, and distinguished himself as a standout batter early in elementary. his ma worked extra mending clothes in order to pay his little league dues, and soon little ferris was catapulted to local baseball success.

he never was the brightest tool in the shed. always quick with a comeback, but his faculties were always more geared toward the sport than mental acuity. he passed high school with the help of a tutor and very lenient teachers, who all wanted to see the first letum falls baseball star make to the big leagues.

and make it, he did. in 1948, ferris jumped on board with the new york yankees and made major league history with the team for over fifteen years.

but there was always this one gal throughout high school who couldn’t get the hint. she asked him to the sadie hawkins and he said yes out of pity, which he learned was a big mistake. this girl confessed her love for him at the end of their senior prom, ‘n ferris didn’t know what to say except no. that summer, stuff got weird. it started with small things. a beetle in his salad. worms in his burgers at the diner. and then he noticed the trend: it all happened when she was around, watchin’. she cornered him after a game in baltimore about two years after he started playin’ and demanded he propose to her, that she’d seen into the future and they were meant to be. ferris laughed in her face. and she said he’d rue the day. she said, you’ll get what’s comin’ to ya, feller, and then you won’t be so gosh darned smug.

ferris thought nothin’ of it, until the tenth year of his baseball career rolled around and he noticed his hits hadn’t changed. his records hadn’t budged anywhere but up. but... he was supposed to be pushin’ 33. his original teammates were talkin’ about retirement. developing some crow’s feet, some aches ‘n pains, some grays. yet there ferris was, as fresh-faced as when he joined.

and that’s when it hit him. that damn girl hexed him. and with the media talkin’ bout his miraculous youth, ferris knew he needed to step outta the limelight. but just retiring wasn’t an option –– they’d send reporters to monitor his post-game life. they’d see that he still looked the same. sounded the same. 

once again: not the sharpest tool in the shed. ferris ups and disappears in 1964. the media speculates kidnapping. murder. the search is on and ferris flees. ducks into the shadows. waits a few years livin’ quiet before he slinks on back to letum falls. 

it isn’t until near arrival in ‘66 he realizes he’s... he hasn’t got a plan. he parks the car he bought off the side of the road in delaware and racks his mind for a story. a name. anythin’.

brooks. it works. different letter, different sound. he buys himself a modest house near the outskirts of town ‘n gets his ducks in a row. doesn’t even blink at the idea of a surname, ‘til people start askin’. he’s gotta have a reason to be here. a story. people start sayin’ he looks familiar... and there’s his in: ferris feller’s son. came here in search of my pa, you seen him?  he’ll fake shock when folks say feller disappeared years ago. swallow his tears ‘n pay his vague condolences when they say his ma died of a heart attack in ‘64, after learnin’ about ferris’s disappearance. and he’ll... open a bakery. yeah. he’ll lie ‘n say his ma was a baker in baltimore, she met feller after a game ‘n he was the result. he’ll stay a while. open a bakery. bakery. baker. brooks baker. that’ll work.

so he opens the roll along. the town loves it. by 1970, he’s winnin’ awards with his sweets. but the baker’s disposition doesn’t match the confections’ flavor.

he’s bitter. crass. a dark cloud. you don’t walk into the roll along for a chat. but that doesn’t stop some from tryin’. behind that glare, there’s somethin’. behind those icy eyes, there’s a different story.

ask him if he knows baseball. he’ll say nah, never played a lick in my life. he misses it. god damn it, he misses the game.

he keeps facial hair to look around his age. although his age is loose –– he avoids numbers. avoids specifics. folks speculate he’s in his mid-20s and that’ll do. but if he ever shaved? he wouldn’t look a day over 22.

t h e     f a i r .

the roll along had its very own tent at the thanksgiving fair, and it was doin’ great business. brooks almost dropped a full tray of sweet rolls when chaos broke out. and then he saw the lady in orange and he just about lost his marbles. chucked the tray onto the nearest table. set off after her. but she disappeared ‘n then he had some hooligans on his hands, so he snatched the closest weapon –– a jumbo inflatable baseball bat and had at it. 

no glitz and glam. no heroics. he whacked those monsters upside the head with a useless bubble of hot air, sustained some deep slashes, ‘n then got the fuck outta there. locked himself in the bakery, slumped against the fridge, bloodied. cursed himself for bein’ here. cursed himself for not just dyin’ already.

the roll along was roped into hosting one of the pre-vigil gatherings. the mayor asked for 400 sweet rolls to honor the 400 fallen. brooks thought it was in poor taste but hey, can’t argue with asherby. he spent all night bakin’ the damned things in his blood-stained shirt.

c u r r e n t l y .

he can’t shake it. seein’ that woman. because that might be her. that might be the bitch who did this to him. the bitch who took everything by giving him it all.

so he’s stress bakin’. a lot. pawning it off on everyone and anyone. takin’ out his frustrations on unwitting customers.

people are askin’ more questions ‘bout where he’s from, but it’s been so long and he’s told so many white lies, it’s hard to keep his story straight. what’s it to you? is his go-to response, but that’s not sufficing any more.

c u r r e n t    c  o n  n e c t i o n s .

unlikely friends – duffy freely.  they’re an unlikely pair. but somehow, brooks’ bitterness doesn’t scare duffy off. and there’s somethin’ about this girl’s earnestness that’s got something akin to trust risin’ up in him. a friend. who’d have thunk.

smug flirty banter – cal caldwell.  the roll along supplies baked goods to letum skate, and ever since findin’ its owner hiding away in a closet from customers and coaxing him out with baked goods, brooks has developed... an intrigue ‘round cal. and, well. the guy’s a warlock. maybe he can help figure a way outta this fuckin’ curse.

w a n t e d    c o n n e c t i o n s .

younger sister.  she’d be pretty old now, but i imagine if this was filled, she’d have been turned supernatural in her 20s or 30s. growing up, brooks and his sister weren’t very close. brooks was always their mother’s priority because of baseball, and i imagine there was a lot of bitterness when he left town so quickly for the yankees. she’s likely around, and if they have interacted, it would be clipped and tense. dysfunctional as fuck. there’d be a lot of resentment about how their mother died. because, well... it’s his fuckin’ fault.

drinking buds.  two shots of vodka, glug glug glug !!   brooks is... well. definitely an alcoholic, among other things. he carries such a weight that it’s the only way he really knows how to dull it all. he’s bound to have a person or two for choice company in those need-to-drown-it-out moments.

bitter buds.  they don’t take one another’s shit. and in all other universes, maybe they’d be sworn enemies. but for some reason, these two wind up actually getting along.

someone haunt the shit out of him.  ghosts, i’m lookin’ at you.

unofficial baker’s aid.  alright so. brooks is all about flying solo. managing his own shit. but maybe this customer hangs around so often that they’ve become part of the process? taste testing, helping to get things out of the oven, dealing with customers when brooks is done with their shit, etc.

[jolienjoyswriting]

Mortem In Contumeliam FFVI, Ch. IX

Chapter 9 of "Mortem In Contumeliam Final Fantasy VI," a Final Fantasy VI fan fiction story.

After I redid the previous chapter (three times), I ended up having to redo this one, as well.  It didn't get quite the attention of the other one, but I still felt like my execution was lacking, up to the final revision.  Hopefully, you guys'll like what I came up with!

Word count: 5,927 – Character count: 33,907 Originally written: July 22nd, 2019 Significantly revised on: July 24th, 2019 Further revised on: July 31st, 2019

In the wake of an unsuccessful search, secrets are revealed and a soldier's trust is broken.

Final Fantasy VI, Wedge, Biggs, and related characters, scenarios, and properties created by Square Soft, Inc. and © Square Enix Co, Ltd. Significant contributions and feedback provided by Tessa and Anonymous D

[ ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → ]

    “A-Team.  Do you have anything to report, so far?”

    After spending the day and part of the night searching for any trace of the Eidolons who had made their way to Greater Triangle Island, General Leo Christophe and his party decided it was time to set up camp.  Wedge set up a deluxe, military-grade tent, then watched the two generals confer before General Chere handed her mobile radio over to Leo.

    “Nothing, so far,” called a male voice from the device.  “This town is weird, though…  Everyone’s real insistent about ‘not knowing anything,’ and they don’t seem to like us, much.  Then again… I’d probably be suspicious if strangers wandered into my town with a ninja following ’em, too!”     “Funny,” a deeper voice said, sounding somewhat far away.     “Anyway, the elder pointed us toward some short, old guy… but, that was a bust.  I’m pretty sure he knows what an Eidolon is, considering the way he acted when we mentioned it… but, just like everyone else, he immediately changed his mind and pointed us to the door.”     “The elderly gentleman,” a feminine voice added, “has a granddaughter.”     “Tina?  No offense, but why’d you mention that?  She was even less helpful – and, more rude than – her grandpa!”     There was a pause before Tina skittishly said, “Sh-she mentioned magic…”     “Oh!  Oh, yeah!  She did say that, didn’t she?”     “Listen,” Leo butted in, “is there a point to this report?”     “Calm down, soldier boy,” Lock sighed through the radio, “I’m gettin’ to it.

    “So, anyway… after we bumped into Old Man Stragos and his granddaughter–”     “Lilum,” Tina added.     “Right.  His granddaughter, Lilum, and they told us what they ‘didn’t’ know, we decided to look around a little more.  Other than being snubbed by the shopkeepers, we didn’t find anything good, but we’re–”     “That’s… not entirely true!” the young lady interrupted.  There was a pause before she said, “U-um… what I mean is… I saw a little boy using magic.  He was trying to summon fire…”     “Wait, what?”  Another blank spot filled the airwaves.  “Tina, why didn’t you say something, earlier?”     “Remember who you’re talking to, thief,” the other man said, sounding much closer.     “Treasure hunter!” Lock countered.  “And, what are you–?”     “Tina grew up in Vector, a place where they’re known to research and replicate the concept of ‘magic’ through machines,” he explained, sounding like he was choosing his words carefully.  “Elemental magic… curative magic…  It’s all manufactured, in Vector.”     “What are you getting at, Shadow…?” the “treasure hunter” impatiently asked.     “What she thought she saw probably wasn’t magic.  The kid was probably just playing with some flint and lighting leaves on fire or something...”     “I… guess that’s possible…”  Tina could be heard sighing.  “I’m sorry.”     “Well, any lead is a good lead…  That Lilum girl mentioned ‘other’ magic-users, so–”     “There is no ‘magic,’ in this village,” Shadow flatly stated, out-of-the-blue.  “We’re going back to the ship, tomorrow.  Get some sleep.”     With that, the radio went silent, leaving Leo and his companions to wonder…

    “I guess we should head to that village, tomorrow.”     “Agreed, Celes,” Leo said with a nod.  “For now… let’s just get some rest.”     “Um…”     Both generals turned, looking at Wedge as he made a noise.

    “Wedge?” the male general greeted.  “Is something on your mind?”     “Yeah, actually…”  The soldier frowned as he asked, “Biggs is at the boat, right?”     Both he and Leo looked at Celes.  She stared… then, she quickly looked away.     “He is at the boat… yes?” the latter asked his companion.     “Do I look like his keeper?” the lady snapped.     “Yes,” both Wedge and Leo told her, the latter joking and the former knowing that part of a general’s job was to keep track of their units.     “W… well, I…  H-he wasn’t with me, when I left, so…!”     Wedge gave a blink… then, he turned to General Christophe, gesturing for the radio.

    “This is Magitek Soldier Wedge A–”     “What?” a voice called from the other side of the communicator.  “Hey, who the hell–”     “Wedge!” he repeated.  “One of the soldiers with General Leo and General Celes!”     “You’re gonna have to speak up!  The signal’s kind’a weak!”     “Is this the captain of our ship…?” Wedge asked in a louder voice.     “Hey, there’s no need to yell!” the other man countered.  “Yeah, it’s me.  What the hell’d ya wake me up, for?”     “Sorry.  I was just wondering… is Biggs around?  I just… I wanna say ‘goodnight.’”     The radio went quiet for a moment…     “You want me to get outta bed and go look for him?  Is that it?”     “Look, Captain… I just wanna know if he’s on the ship.  General Celes said he ‘wouldn’t be joining us,’ so I assumed he’d be there.”     “Then, yeah, he’s probably here!  Am I gonna go find him?  Hell, no!  Now, don’t call me unless it’s important!  I’m tired…!”     The soldier was tempted to yell back, but, instead…     “Right.  Sorry,” he responded, politely.  “Thank you, Captain.  Goodnight.”

    After setting the radio to one side, Wedge stood up and gave a stretch.     “Hey, General Celes…” he said after a moment.  When she looked his way, he asked her, “Did Biggs give a reason for staying behind?”     She squirmed before saying, “He… he didn’t say anything.”     “Okay…”  The soldier scratched his helmet.  “So… you don’t know if he–”     “He won’t be joining us,” she repeated from earlier, her face showing slight anger.     “Yeah, I got that.  But, why?”     “How should I know?!” the lady-general suddenly roared.  “Stop bothering me!”     Wedge narrowed his eyes.  Again, he considered saying something impolite, but…     “Sorry, General,” he replied, deciding not to instigate, again.  Unfortunately…     “Celes…?”     General Christophe seemed like he had something to say, himself.

    “W-what?”     “Are you feeling well?” he asked the testy woman-in-gold.  “You seem a little on edge.”     “Wouldn’t you be if your traveling companions went ahead without you, leaving you in a strange place full of strange creatures?”     “I take it that you were attacked?”  When Celes didn’t respond, Leo told her, “There’s blood on your scabbard and on your vest.”     “And, there’s blood on that soldier’s chest plate,” she countered.  “What’s your point?”     “I simply wanted to know if you were alright.  That’s all.”     “I’m here, aren’t I?” Celes said with a labored sigh.  “I survived.”     “Are you… upset with us for pulling so far ahead of you?”     “Yes…?  No…?  I– I don’t know!”     She hesitated, rubbing her arm… then, she spun around, hopping onto one of three cots.     “I just need some sleep,” is what she finally said.  “S-sorry for being so rude…”     “Ah.”  Leo gave a nod.  “We could all use a little sleep, I imagine.  Wedge, if you’d please douse the lantern?”     After giving some confused looks, the soldier reached up and turned off the lantern’s fuel supply.  The light slowly faded from the tent, leaving the trio on their cots and in the darkness of the tent.  It wasn’t long after that they let the night take them into a peaceful rest…

    The next morning, Wedge was tasked with packing up.  While he broke down the cots, General Christophe cooked the party breakfast while laying out his plan for the day.     “We’ll head to the distant village of Samasa,” he told his companions.  “A-Team didn’t have much luck, but we may be able to find something of interest.”     Celes was about to say something… when a voice called from the radio.     “G’mornin’, B-Team?  Anyone awake over there?”     Almost immediately, she handed the radio to Leo, still wanting nothing to do with Lock.     “We’re here,” he told the Returner.  “Go ahead, A-Team.”     “So, yesterday was, more-or-less, a bust… but, we have a solid lead, now!”     “Go on?”     “We’re gonna search the west mountains for some place called the ‘Eidolon Holy Land,’ or something?  I dunno – Old Man Stragos was kind’a vague about it.  But, he’s preeetty sure that if the Eidolons are here… they’d be there.”     “Understood.”  General Christophe paused before asking, “What should my team do?”     “Uh…”     The radio went silent.  A moment later…     “Head back to the ship, I guess?  If we all went, the Eidolons’d probably freak out, again – especially if they saw Cheese Wedge and Big Man with their Imperial muenster armor!”     Wedge scowled, but he didn’t say anything.  Leo was smiling at him, clearly amused.     “Understood,” the general repeated.  “Thank you.”     “Sure, sure!  Oh!  And, uh… Shadow bailed on us.”     “He did?”     “Yeah.  He said he’d ‘search in his own way,’ or something…  Good riddance, I say!  That guy gave me the creeps!”     “Lock, that’s not very nice…” a soft voice called from a distance.     “Anyway, that’s all we got!  See ya at the ship, B-Team!  Lock for A-Team, out!”

    “General Christophe,” Celes said after the radio conversation.  “What are your orders?”     “Well… I think that’s pretty obvious, Celes.”  He smiled her way before saying, “We return to the ship and patiently wait.”     For some reason, the lady-general glanced over at Wedge… who just happened to be looking her way.  She was giving him a somewhat-odd look…     “Lead the way…” she quietly said as she looked back to Leo.     “Why don’t you lead the way, this time?” he suggested, catching her by surprise.  “This way, we won’t get separated, again.”     “I…  Yes, Sir,” she said with some hesitation.     “And, Celes?”     “Y-yes…?”     His smile turned into a small grin.     “We’re the same rank.  There’s no need to address me so formally.”     Again, she hesitated for a moment before saying, “Y– yes… Leo.”     “That’s more like it,” he laughed.  “Please, break down the tent, Wedge.  We’ll move out as soon as we’re packed.”     “Yessir!” the soldier said with an over-the-top salute.  Celes didn’t find it amusing, but Leo just laughed all-the-more.  Soon after, the trio headed out.

    The journey started in high spirits, that day.  With General Chere in the lead, Leo and Wedge were left to chat, again… which, they did.     “Can’t argue with the results of a good night’s sleep,” Wedge said with a bright smile.     “I must admit…” Leo started with a grin, “I feel quite refreshed for having slept on a flat, hard cot.”     “How’d you sleep, Cele– ah, General Celes?”     “On my side.  Quietly,” she shortly answered.     For a moment, both the soldier and the other general just stared at the back of her head.  But, after the moment had passed… they both burst into laughter!     “I didn’t think you had it in you to jest, Celes!” Leo commented as his laughter calmed.     “I know, right?  She’s always so stiff-and-serious!” Wedge added.  “I don’t think I’ve even ever seen her smile!”     “I did, once.”     The soldier tilted his head.  “You did?”     “Yes…”  His grin faded as he told his companion, “Right before decimating some rebel forces of on the outskirts of Tzen.”     Wedge paused… before cracking another a smile as he said, “So, what you’re saying is…”     “If you ever see her smile…” Leo commented, “run.”     “You know…” Celes suddenly chimed in, “I can hear you, back there…”     “We know,” was the soldier’s response to that.  “That’s why we’re talking so loud!”     “‘That’s why we’re–’ ha hah!”     Leo started laughing, again, which caused Wedge to do the same.  Celes, however…     “Oh, grow up, you two!”     But, that only made them laugh even harder.  Not even the lady-general’s serious personality could sour their dispositions, it seemed, and before long… she just went quiet and let them do what they would… until something interrupted them.

    “Aw, crap!  Not you, again!”

    As they made their way back through the woods, they were ambushed by another chimera.  And, unfortunately… it had brought reinforcements.

    “I thought these things were harmless!” Wedge said as he kept his back to the backs of his companions.  They were surrounded by two chimeras and three braireus – which they’d previously viewed roaming the plains and doing everything they could to avoid human contact.     “I guess these ones are hungry…” Leo commented in a way that made the soldier wonder if he was joking.     “Why aren’t they attacking…?” he asked as he noticed the monsters slowly circling…     “They’re probably sizing us up… waiting for one of us to do something stupid…” Celes said, undoubtedly aiming that comment his way.     “Then, let’s get smart!  Any ideas, Generals?”     “One, but…”  Leo paused before looking to his side.  “Celes?”     She hummed… then, she gave the two men her analysis.

    “If we attack any one of the beasts, the others will come down on us.  They’re all too large to fight as a group, and with them circling us, running doesn’t seem like a viable option…  I could cause a distraction with my magic, but there’s an equal chance that it may-or-may-not work.  We could also try and use a smoke bomb, but it would be to that same end…”     Wedge chuckled.  “So, what you’re saying is… ‘I have no idea?’”     “Don’t get smart with me, soldier!” the woman snapped, keeping her voice down.  “Do you have any better ideas?”     “Actually, I might…  Hear me out.”     The two generals went quiet.  The monsters were drawing inward, though still acting cautiously…  It seemed like they were biding their time, just like Celes had said.

    “What we do…” Wedge started to explain, “is, we slowly draw our weapons… right?”     “Right…?” Leo acknowledged as everyone did exactly that.     “Then, we grab them with both hands…”     “Okay…?” the general said as they all double-handed their blades.     “Then… on the count of three… we run in, swinging, and we don’t stop until these mangy bastards are all dog food.”     There was a long pause before anyone spoke, again.     “Are you cracked…?!” Celes squeaked, trying her best not to raise her voice but, clearly, having trouble restraining her temper.  “Do you want to get us all killed…?!”     “Hey, if you have a better plan…”     “I do,” Leo suddenly chimed in, “but I didn’t want to do this.  Close your eyes.”     “Close our–?!”  Wedge scowled, giving the general a baffled look.     “Trust me,” he reassured, “you don’t want to see this.”     “I… do trust you.” The soldier sighed, then he gave a nod.  “Alright, they’re closed.”     “Celes?”     “The same,” she responded.  “Go ahead, General.”     “Alright.  Keep them closed…”

    An uneasy silence filled the air, punctuated only by the sound of snarls and footsteps from all sides.  Wedge, true-to-his-word, kept his eyes closed.  Even when he heard General Christophe inhale, then exhale, he refused to look.  When he heard one of the creatures give a loud growl, he tensed… but, he kept his vision impaired.     “Flash of light…” Leo said, getting his attention.  “One-thousand strikes…”     A sudden roar almost made Wedge open his eyes.  Something had leaped at them!  But, not a half-second after the roar, Leo gave one of his own.     “Shock!!”     The amount of sound that followed was almost overwhelming, for the soldier.  He could hear metal-on-stone, he could hear what sounded like several blades rending flesh, and he’d even heard the sound of dozens of footsteps – both human and not.  Then… everything went alarmingly silent.

    “Open your eyes,” General Christophe called after a moment.  “The battle is over…”     Wedge did  slowly follow the suggestion… only to go completely wide-eyed!     “What did you do?!”     The trio was still standing within the forest… but, the foliage surrounding them had been greatly thinned.  In addition, all five beasts that had been lingering were nowhere to be found.  Pieces of them, however…     “That smell…!”  Wedge covered his mouth as he repeated, “What did you do…?!”     “What he always does,” Celes told the soldier as she put her weapon away.  “His job.”     “What’s that supposed to mean…?”     He scowled at Celes, not appreciating the dirty look she was giving him.  When he looked back toward General Christophe, though, he noticed that the general looked a bit worn out.

    “Oh!” he cried as he walked the few steps over to Leo.  “You alright, Le– General…?”     “The technique that I used,” the general panted as he stayed on bent knee, supporting himself with his crystalline sword.  “It’s one passed down through my family for generations.”     “Okay, but… what did you do?  And, how?”     “That combat technique is called ‘Shock,’” he said as Wedge helped him up.  “What it does is allow the user to move and attack with blinding speed for a small while.  If the right weapon is used – such as my Crystal Sword – it may also generate a blinding flash of light.”     “So, that’s why you said to keep our eyes closed…”     “As you can imagine, this burst of speed is extremely draining to the user…  I won’t be able to do that, again for a few minutes.  Not without hurting myself, at least.  Let’s try not to get into another situation like that, again, shall we?”     Though Leo had smiled, Wedge was still too much in awe to return the favor.

    “General Leo, you’ve gotta teach me how to do that!” he told the general as he stood on his own two feet.  “How long does it take to learn?”     “Longer than we have here on this island.  Perhaps, after this mission, we can–”     “We should head out,” Celes suddenly said.  “That much noise is sure to draw attention.”     “Ah.  Right, as always…”  He gave a nod.  “Come on, Wedge.  Let’s go.”     Wedge was quick to follow as Leo followed Celes, the trio setting out on their return trip through the forest on that strange island.

    By nightfall, the generals and their escort soldier had returned to the ship.  Wedge, in particular, seemed thrilled to be back.     “Man, I can’t wait to tell Biggs what he missed!  He’ll be so jealous!”     “Yeah… you do that.”     He looked over at General Chere, tilting his head.  She’d definitely said that to him… but, she was walking away, heading toward the bow of the ship.  Ultimately, he just gave a shrug and speed-walked over to the stairs leading down into the ship’s hold.

    “Biggs!  Hey, Biggs!” he called with a smile on his face.  “You missed it, man!  General Leo did this cool trick!  I think he’s gonna teach me how to do it when we get back!”     The soldier grinned as he went from-room-to-room, looking everywhere for his partner.     “Hey, where are you?  C’mon, don’t hide from me!  Look, if it’s about yesterday,” he said, referring to that awkward comment he’d made about Tina’s father’s Magicite, “don’t sweat it!  I’m totally over it!  Now, c’mon!  Let’s have a beer and kick back!”     But, no matter where he looked… no matter how loudly he shouted… no matter how badly he wanted to find Biggs… the other Magitek Soldier was simply nowhere to be found.

    “Hey, Captain…”     After searching for ten minutes, he decided to visit the captain of the ship.  Luckily, he was right up on the front deck, smoking near the Magitek Armor.     “Ah, Biggs!” he greeted.  “Wedge was looking for you!”     “No, I am Wedge,” he laughed.  “Have you seen Biggs?  I can’t find him.”     “All you soldiers look alike…”  He shrugged before informing the soldier, “Yeah, he was with that lady, last time I checked.”     “General Celes?”  The soldier smiled.  “Thanks!  Hey, General Celes!”     As luck would have it… Celes hadn’t moved from her spot at the front of the ship.

    “General?” he called, still smiling.     “What?” was her cool response.     “The Captain said Biggs was with you.  Buuut…”  He looked around.  “I don’t see ‘im.  Where’d he go?”     Celes didn’t reply.     “Well, wherever he is… he’s gotta come back here, sometime!  If you see him, tell him–”     “He won’t be joining us,” she suddenly told him.     “What, again?”  Wedge gave a blink, his smile finally fading.  “Did he run after Tina and Lock, or something?”     “He won’t be joining them, either…”     “Well, wait… if he’s not with them and he’s not here with us… then, where is–”     “He’s… he’s dead.”     “Hah.  That’s…”     He was about to compliment her joke.  But…     “Oh, gods…”     He knew she wasn’t the joking type.

    “H-how and when…?” he asked, his voice quivering as realization set in.     “On our way to meet you…” Celes started, “he… he met his end.”     “Heh…  Heh, wait…  How come you didn’t use your magic and–”     “Because, he didn’t want me to!!”     “What…?”     Wedge gave a hard blink.  The general had spun around, giving him an angry, horrible frown with wet eyes.  He wasn’t sure if she was mad at him, or upset with herself, or what.  But, either way… he had to ask her…     “General, what… what happened…?”

    “I didn’t mean for it to happen!” she excitedly told him.  “Things just…!”     “S-so, he’s really dead…?”  The soldier gave a hollow laugh.  “He’s not coming back…?”     The guilt on her face could not have been more obvious… or, more telling.     “I don’t know how to explain it…” she whimpered.  “I just… lost my cool, and–”     “Wait.”  He blinked, then flatly asked her, “What do you mean?”     “I…”     She looked away.  Her voice was barely above a whisper as she admitted…     “I killed Biggs…  I’m sorry…”     “Heh.  Heh… you killed… heh…”     “I… I thought I could trust him,” she started.  “When he told me he was the one who–”     “I’m gonna kill you.”     “What…?”     “Protocol be damned,” he said through gritted teeth, “I’m gonna kill yooou!!”

    Celes went wide-eyed as the soldier suddenly whipped his blade at her.  As he took a second swing, she rolled away and brought her sword out just in time to stop his third attack.     “W-Wedge, wait…!!” she shouted over the clash blades.  “L-let me explain…!”     “You killed my best friend!!” Wedge yelled as he slashed and swiped at the general.     “H-he called me a traitor!” she told him, spinning to swipe at the air under his boots as he dodged a slash aimed at his legs.  “He was the reason I ended up being detained!  I–”     “Liar!!”     Wedge brought his blade down onto hers, grinding the sharp edges sparking as they ground together.     “I-I’m not lying…!” she shouted, keeping her sword defensively held overhead.  “S-something wasn’t right with Biggs!  He said something about having a ‘master,’ and–”     “Shut up!!”     The soldier was in no mood for talk, anymore.  He didn’t care what she had to say or how skilled she was supposed to be with a blade.  All he wanted was vengeance for what was, in his mind, a completely unjust, cold-blooded act.

    “P… please…!” she pleaded as he brought his sword down onto hers over-and-over again.  “You have to listen to me!”     “I don’t have to do anything for you, traitor!!”     “S… so be it, then!!”     The lady-general gave a mighty war cry as she thrust her foot right into Wedge’s midsection, throwing him a small distance away.  Not long after, she began chanting…

    “If you think I’m gonna let you do that…!”     Celes suddenly found herself dodging a sword that was hurled right at her head.  She tried to re-focus on her magic as it flew overboard, but before she could, she was forced to duck and dodge his flying fists!  Eventually, she stopped trying magic and, instead, focused on blocking his attacks with the flat of her sword.

    “You’re the worst kind of traitor, blondie!!” he shouted as he tossed a barrage of punches her way.     “I never meant for– you’re not giving me– Wedge!!” she grunted as he made her sword rattle and chime with each solid punch.  “I’m trying to tell you, Biggs was– ah!”     As she tried to take another disabling swing at the enraged soldier, she found her sword knocked out of her hands.  It landed hilt-up, a few steps away, but she couldn’t retrieve it!  Wedge simply would not let up with his avenging assault!

    “Don’t think I haven’t heard the rumors, lady!” Wedge continued as he swung-and-swung-again, not caring where his fists landed so long as they connected.  “You’ve been questioning the Emperor!  Ever since that mission in Maranda–”     “Shut up!” she shouted as she gave him a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking off his helmet.  When she tried, again, he grabbed her leg, then she snapped her body around, clobbering her with her other foot and crashing to the deck with a heavy thud just before he did the same.

    “What is wrong with you, Celes…?” the soldier huffed as he got back to his feet, preparing for another attack.  “The thing in Narshe… the Devil’s Lab… now, Biggs?!  Where’s it gonna end?!”     “I told you!” she said as she retrieved her sword and stood ready for him.  “His–”     “What’s next?  You gonna change sides, again, and hurt Lock?  Or, Tina?” he spat as he picked up some rope and started whipping it at her.  “Why can’t you just stick with a side?!  No, forget it– I don’t even care if you’re an Imperial or a Returner!  Just… just…!”     “His death was an accident!” she shouted as she shredded the rope, standing her ground.     “You attacked him after he called you a traitor!”  He finally let up for a moment as he shouted, “What kind’a general does that?!”     She started to answer… only to look down and whisper, “Not a very good one…”     And, that momentary distraction was enough for her to get punched in the face.

    “We all know you’ve been planning… something, Celes!” Wedge told her as he tried to stomp on her chest.  “I mean, the Maranda thing was the start, then all the Returner crap…!”     When she rolled out of the way, he leaped at her.  One brief struggle later, he had her pinned and restrained by the wrists.     “Why’d you even come back to the Empire, Celes?!  You’re not welcome, here… especially after murdering my friend!”     She glared right into his eyes, still furiously crying.  She was just so frustrated with it all…     “Do you really want to know?!  Or, are you just looking for more reasons to hate me?!”     “I…!”  He paused, then he unexpectedly said in a calmer tone, “I really wanna know.”     The general went quiet, looked away.  After a moment, she told him something she’d been keeping to herself for a long while.     “I came back… for Doctor Marquez.”

    Wedge gave a blink.  Something about the way she’d said that made him drop his guard.     “What… does Doctor Cid have to do with any of this?” he asked, keeping her pinned.     “Doctor Marquez… Cid…  He…”  She closed her eyes.  “He means the world to me.”     “Oh, yeah?  Well…!”  The soldier scowled as he said, “Biggs meant the world to me!”     “I…”  She gave another pause before quietly whispering an apology.     “‘Sorry’ don’t bring Biggs back, Celes.”     The blond-haired woman angrily jerked her head his way.  He didn’t care that she was still crying or scowling.  What he did care about… was what she said – and, did – next.

    “Then, just kill me!”     “Wuh…?!”     Wedge gave a sharp blink as Celes broke free, throwing him off.  A second later, he found himself blankly staring as the woman threw her sword to him.  Then… she got to her feet, standing straight with her arms wide, practically inviting him to attack.     “Get up, Wedge!” she ordered.  “Strike me down!”     “C… Celes?”  He nervously chuckled as he stood up, “I know what I said, b-but–”     “Stab me through the heart, just as I did to your friend!” she interrupted.     A pang of anger shot through him.  He actually considered doing that… briefly.     “You’re insane– absolutely insane…” he whispered, shaking his head.     “If this is what will make things right, then do it!  I have nothing to live for, anyway…”     “Oh, yeah, sure…”  He rolled his eyes from under his helmet.  “Big, fancy general of the most powerful army in the world has no reason to live…  Uh-huh.”     “You don’t know me!” she shouted, letting her arms drop as she leaned forward.  “You don’t know what I’ve been through!  The mistakes I’ve made…  The people I’ve let down…”     “No.  I don’t.  And, frankly?”     He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.     “I don’t give a damn.”     “You don’t know what it’s like to not fit in anywhere…” she said, shaking her head.     “Yeah, no.  I, actually, kind’a do!”     She gave a blink, then.  Wedge still looked angry… but, he seemed to be listening.

    “I joined the army because my dad pushed me into it,” he explained to the general.  “I didn’t fit in, but I tried my best.  When I met Biggs – you know… the guy you murdered?”     Celes winced.  She knew she deserved that… but, it still hurt.     “When I met Biggs, he made things easier for me.  I had someone I could chat up… someone to ogle the local barmaids with… someone that… that liked me for who I was.  He… he was my best friend, Celes…”     He sniffled, bringing a hand up to his face.     “I… never thought he’d die before I did…  I know I joked about it, a lot, but he was the sensible one and I was the reckless one!  Heh, it was a perfect synergy!  But… I guess no one can predict pissed-off, traitorous generals with an ax to grind, huh?”     The soldier gave another sniffle… then, he practically collapsed as he sat down right where he was, his knees elevated and elbows resting atop while his hands crossed under his chin.

    “It’s surreal… thinking that I’ll never see my best friend, again…  I’ll never get to hear him berate me or tell me what an idiot I am…  I’ll never get to split another bill at the pub or share another laugh with him…  I’ll… I’ll never get to hear him tell me how glad he is that we’re partners, ever again, and I’ll never get to make fun of his helmet hair or tell him not to work so hard…  I… I’ll never get to do anything with him, anymore…”     He looked up at Celes with a scowl.     “All because some blond chick decided that he was a threat to her position…”     She rubbed her arm and tried to avoid eye contact… but, she’d noticed that he’d finally broken into tears.     “Maybe, I should kill you…”     Wedge shook his head before looking down.     “But, that won’t bring Biggs back, now will it?”     The general remained silent, at that.  She couldn’t think of anything to say.     “Do me a favor…” he said as he looked up, a moment later.  “Take me to his body.  At the very least, I can give him a proper burial – provided you haven’t, already… which I doubt.”     Without a word, Celes walked over to the engine blocks and retrieved a spare lantern.  Then, she headed down the gangplank and led Wedge back into the woods.

    “I’m sorry…” she told him after a few minutes of walking.  “I’m so sorry…”     “‘Sorry’ doesn’t bring my best friend back to life!” he shouted, making her wince.     “It was so strange…  We were having a perfectly pleasant conversation, then he–”     “Shut up, blondie…  I’ve had enough of your excuses for one night.”     “It– it’s not…” she quietly stammered before trailing off.     “Don’t care.  I just want you to find my friend’s body.”

    Fifteen more minutes passed as the two walked through near-pitch-black woods.  Both of them searched for any signs of a body, but neither of them could find anything.  At least… not until they heard an animalistic noise in the distance.     “Oh, I am not in the mood for this!” Wedge growled, drawing his borrowed sword from its scabbard.  “Shine that light over there!”     Celes gave a nod and did as requested.  The two then noticed… it was just a single briareus chewing on something.

    “There… may be more of these creatures around,” she warned as the creature turned to face them.  “We should be careful…”     “You!  Scat!” Wedge shouted before stomping at the creature.     It dropped whatever was in its mouth, hissed, and ran off, leaving the two alone.     “Heh.  Like a housecat…” the soldier mused.  “What was it doing here, anyway…?”     “E-eating something, from the look of… Wedge!  Look!”     “No,” he impatiently responded.  “Let’s keep looking.”     “No, really!  Look!”  Celes shined the light on the leftovers.  “It’s… my gods!  An arm!”     “An arm…?”  When Wedge looked for himself, he had to gasp.  “A human arm!  Could it be…?”     Then, he ran over and immediately collected the object from the ground.

    “This is Biggs’ arm!” the soldier told his escort.     “H… how do you know…?” Celes cautiously asked as guilt crept up her spine.     “Well…” Wedge started, “my first clue would be the shredded Imperial Army glove that’s still on his hand.  It has that lightning bolt thing on the back.  Also, it’s orangeish-red, not unlike my own.  Ergo… he’s beast chow, you stupid bitch!!”     Celes covered her mouth and closed her eyes, clearly unsettled by what that revelation.     “Well, that’s just dandy…” he sighed, dropping the limb.  “We came all the way out here, looking for Biggs’ body, and all we found was a flipping arm.  What a waste of–”     “Wait… what’s that?”     “What’s what?” Wedge asked, giving her another look.     “Something’s…  Hold– hold on.”     He blinked as she knelt and retrieved the detached limb.  She seemed rather intent on examining the hand of the arm, of all things…

    “Wedge… if you don’t mind my asking,” Celes said after a moment of investigation, “were you aware of any markings on your friend’s body?”     The soldier jolted and faintly blushed.  “W-why would I know about things like that…?!”     “I’m not sure how I noticed, but there’s a shiny mark on the palm of his hand,” she told him as she removed what was left of the glove.  “It’s…  No, that can’t be!”     Despite not really caring, Wedge felt obligated to ask, “What..?”     “Look at this tattoo on his palm!”     Wedge did.  It was covered in monster slobber, dried blood, and a lot of dirt and debris… but, he did notice something unusual on the palm of Biggs’ hand.  Some sort of symbol…     After looking, he gave an unimpressed “So?”     “Wedge…  That’s General Pal– uh, Kefka’s insignia!” she told him.     He shrugged.  “I wouldn’t know.  I keep as far away from that lunatic as possible.”     “Wait!”  Celes looked at the symbol a little more… then, something clicked in her head.

    “Biggs mentioned something about a ‘master’ when he was tearing me down…”     “Oh, that, again?”  The soldier sighed, losing further patience.  “Look, lady…  If Biggs was serving someone other than the Empire, I’m pretty sure I’d know!”     “Okay, but… what if he was serving someone within the Empire?” she theorized.     “I… don’t follow.”     “What if Biggs was serving Kefka, directly?”     “Impossible,” the soldier said with a shake of his head.  “Kefka never interacted with us ‘grunts.’  Not usually, anyway.  Just our C.O.”     “Maybe so… but, what if…”  She looked him right in the eye.  “What if Biggs secretly kept in contact with Kefka when you weren’t around?  I’ve heard rumors of a secret regiment of soldiers, hiding in plain sight, who–”     “This is idiotic, and I’m leaving!!” Wedge shouted, finally having enough of her crazy theories.  After taking several steps away, he paused… then, he turned back and told her, “We’re leaving.  I need your light.  Or, you can just hand me the lantern and stay here.  In fact, maybe you should do that.  I doubt General Leo’s gonna be too happy when I report this to him.”     Celes deeply frowned… but, she gave a nod and hesitantly followed.  As remorseful as she was, she knew that everyone would benefit more from her jailing than her becoming “beast chow.”  Besides… in her head, she deserved to be punished for Biggs’ unjustified death…

[askpet-archive]

PET ep 5

Ari made the we i r de s t noise waking up. i feel bad for anyone who might've heard it as she rolled over. Only to fall on the floor with a 'thump'. She opened her eyes a bit and looked up at the seeing, seeing the clock she had installed up there. 7:30 am. She got to her feet and shook her mouse to her computer, only to see V-Tale had shut off. Seems her entire computer had restarted..woops. She got to her feet and brushed herself off slightly, looking over at the bed, hoping her best friend hadnt woken up by her fall. Era blinks, snapping out of her thoughts when hearing a quiet thump. She proceeds to quickly get out of bed after hearing the noise- What if there's a intruder in the house?? Oh no that'd be bad. She opens her door before walking over to Ari's room and proceeding to knock on it "Heyyy are you okay?" Well Ari, you.. technically woke her up? She was awake anyways, she was just going back to sleep Ari walked over to the door and opened it quietly, giving a yawn first thing "oh- uh. Yea. sorry if i woke you." she mumbled "just fell off my chair-" she paused "-again.." that was some guilt. She chuckled to laugh it off and gave a tiny smile "did you get any, or well..enough sleep?" she asked, lightly patting her friend on the head "No you didn't wake me up it's okay- I was already awake." She blinks, staring at Ari "Uhm,, I think I did? Did you?" "I have no idea when i fell asleep. I walked into my room, watched VT for awhile and woop there i went." she muttered, rubbing her eyes slightly, "so..im not sure. but i mean.. i dont feel tired? like, more tired then normal. i feel normal, i guess." "Well that's good- If you feel normal, I mean- I dunno I'm still terrible with words." She pauses, taking a step backwards "M gunna go downstairs uhm, join me if you want to." She turns around, heading downstairs quietly Ari blinked, was Era okay? Was that normal? She tried recounting the times this had happened before, not remembering any.. She darted downstairs quickly and went and sat on the couch (not ontop of Max luckily), looking outside the window. The sun was up already, darn. Era looked over to Ari "Well that was fast." She blinks, looking over to where Max was sleeping on the couch "How was the talk with the newcomer yesterday?" Era questions, before sitting down on the couch herself "Max? Or Vincent?" she turned to look at her friend, then shrugged "Vincent, im p sure you heard that whole thing. i was kinda shook when i heard gunshots though. And Max seems cool. She watches VT and apparently didnt seem to know we lived right under north carolina. which is interesting. considering we're in south carolina. And she seems really eager about this job." she paused "..Era, you werent like, jealous or anythin were you? You sure acted like it. or was that just salt?" "Oh, well I mean, it's a good thing if she's eager about the job?" Era blinks, "Just my usual salt. I'm always salty over everything." Haha,, Max shifted on the couch, opening her eyes for a second before closing them again, determined to stay asleep. She knew she wasnt gonna stay asleep though. Ari blinked, that was the most obvious lie shes ever heard. "...oh my god you fuckin dork" she snickered slightly "Era your my best friend. aint nobody replacin you. got that?" she poked her friends nose and smiled softly, "besides, i just met this person. you know how my meetings can vary. Pissed, to shy, to overly happy. You had this same reaction with Angy, and me and Ang are just friends. not the bestest friends in all the multiverse." Era sighs "Ahhh, I know- sorry just. Uhm. Weird anxiety things?? But thanks hah." Ari nodded "i understand that..now, um, i do have something not as bright to ask. When are we going up a state to go meet Billy, because like..we kinda need to know our lives. considering our weird 'come back from the dead' issue." Era pauses, looking out towards the window for a moment "Uhm.. We should.. I don't know an exact time but like, we should do it pretty soon considering we don't know how many lives we even have. So, like, around today or tomorrow I guess? It kind of depends." "...Hey lil eavesdropper! we're goin to meet the Acachallas!" she called over to Max, havin known she was awake, before lookin back at her friend "We could do it today but i don't think Vincent wants to go somewhere, Arthur will hit me, Angy will say 'nope' and take a sip of sprite. and i dont want only two of us going, thats hella dangerous. they've got nukes." "..It sounds stupid but, maaaayyybe we could bring Max along? As like.. a test mission? Are you okay with doing that Max?" Max groaned. She felt slightly excited by hearing any of this, but sleep felt like a much better option. She just slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I'll do it, sure...." Ari made a snorting noise "that was a lovely noise. Alright" she clapped her hands together "What do you both want for breakfast" if anyone says Macaroni your going to have a very angry mom on your hands "I want ... wwaannntt.. cereal." "Ill eat whatever you got that isnt sausage, honestly.." Ari nodded "got it." off she goes into the kitchen Era blinks, looking over to Max "....." Klondike ears perked up "Thank you for not eating sausage" "??" "Uh, hi...." "Okay before you get confused Max, that's Klondike, a demon we have because of Spop." "Uh, okay...then..." mmm demons, woo, cause thats not gonna keep her up at night "They're friendly enough so don't worry." "I guess.." Sliiiides back into the room. she put eggs and Toast on Max's lap, and set down what looked to be juice on the side table, going over to Era and giving her some frosted flakes cereal™. She glanced at Klondike and rose an eyebrow "do you know what Spop likes to eat because i wanna get somethin ready for when she gets up." Era immediately starts eating her cereal, giving a quiet "Thanks" to Ari Max looked slightly more awake, especially with the food sitting in front of her. "Thanks dude." Piggy shrug "Spop is a strange girl. She likes worms" "...We dont..have worms but. i can make do." she grinned and ran into the kitchen, coming out with a packet of gummy worms, showing them to Klondike "will these do?" she looked back at Max and Era "no problem btw. I make breakfast for everyone alot." "You lied about not having worms" "These arent worms but okay." she went and put the gummy worms on the side table to a chair and then went back into the kitchen, coming out a few seconds later with eggs, toast, and bacon, hiding the bacon from Klondike's view. there she goes, sitting next to Era again. nom nom time "kay, wait. how are we going to explain to the group why we're disappearing. We cant just. poof. We're the leader and co-leader, and Max is a new member." she hummed "We tell them we're going to get a book on how many lives we have and put whoever we trust as leader and co-leader for the time being." "Arthur-" that was immediate, no thought there "Hes been here as long as me, and hes ore responsible then Angy...or. god forbid, Vincent." "Okay well, Arthur is the leader, Angy is kind of co-leader I guess while we leave." Up from Spop's room a frantic scream is heard "WHERE IS MY BEANIE?!!!!" "Alright then. i doubt any of em are gonna get up anytime soon and." she checked the time again, humming "its currently like 2 pm for North Carolins-" she snickered when hering the scream, bursting into uncontrollable laughter, A r i n o Klondike leapt from his place and ran upstairs to help the Spop Ari got up and ran to the closet, opening the door to take out her quiver, and taking a cat earred beanie out of it. Up the stairs she went to go into Spops room "Spop heyy, i still,, uh. had your beanie. oops. Uh. Worms are downstairs on a table if you want to eat" she smiled and lightly tossed the beanie to Spop Spop looked at Ari and caught the beanie "Thank you" ;u; beanie is hugged Ari gave a thumbs up and ran back downstairs "oooh kay. as i was saying. its now 3 pm for the north fucks. So if we wanna get up there it'd be a good idea to get outta the house asap. So.." she shrugged "we'd only be gone for like a day unless we decide to hang out there for awhile. but i doubt we will." "Well uhm. Guess we should pack then. Right now." Era stands up, walking over to where she placed her catbag near the front door, picking it up and putting on her high-heel boots "Okay I'm ready." Max just grabbed her over-stuffed laptop bag and put on her sandals. She literally never had anything more than that. Ari snickered, running upstairs, she came back down with two papers, simply having their deaths and causes written down. "welll, im ready too. Maxi?" she glanced at the other nerdo, putting one of the papers on the table and quickly writing a note for the other PET members "I'm ready, bro." Spop looked at the people about to leave. "You are gonna come back right??" Era walks over to the front door, proceeding to open it "Yep! We'll be gone for around a few hours or so. Maybe a day. Now lets goooo!" Ari nodded "kay, got it. The note just tells them where we're goin, what we're doing, and whos in charge.- Oh, Spop! i almost forgot- uh.." she paused, then blinked "Era, im not leaving my daughter alone with the maniac.s" "There's only one maniac though, shouldn't Spop be safe with Arthur and Angy?" Narrows eyes "Do you really trust Arthur and Angy with Spop?" "Nope." "Spop, you're comin along. Grab Klondike, your worms, and lets go" she muttered, out the door she goes to get the car started "Ok!" She runs off to get what she needs Era proceeds to walk outside too, heading over to the car but not going inside of it yet, waiting for Spop and Max to come out too Spop runs back out with Klondike and her gummy worms Max walked slowly out behind Spop, picking through her bag for something. Era grabs the handle of the car door, flinging it open "Well- lets get in the car, since that's a thing you need to do." She slides into the shotgun seat Max sat on the back right, closing the door and already staring out the window. Spop sat in the backseat next to Max Ari sliiides herself into the drivers seat, putting the papers in the side thing and starting the car. Woop woop roadtrip Era smiles, "Roadtrip start! Ari don't crash the car." Ari chuckled "i wooont" looks abck at Max and Spop "i dont have a drivers license." she warned, looking into the side mirror. Out of the driveway they go Spop looked out the window, fixated on the outside world