#we keep having ICE DAYS and SNOW DAYS so I keep having to redo all my lesson plans

[liesonthefloordramatically]

考えたってわからないし 生きてるだけでも苦しいし 音楽とか儲からないし 歌詞とか適当でもいいよ どうでもいいんだ

[yours-etc]

12 Days of Steddie-Mas

Day 1:

I’ll Have A Blue Christmas

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

The fresh snow crunches under his boots. Flakes fall from the sky, sticking to his hat and shoulders and eyelashes. A cloudy of mist fans out from Steve’s mouth when he gasps as he slips on a patch of ice. He grips the flowers tight in his hand as he regains his balance, the box of cookies he had falls from his grip and onto the ground. Luckily it stayed closed and the cookies mostly intact when he peaked in.

“God damn this fucking snow!” Steve exclaimed, kicking the white fluff in frustration. He loved Indiana, but Jesus Christ, he was so sick of Midwestern winters.

The cemetery is empty besides Steve, the headstones, and whatever ghosts of Christmas were lingering around.

Steve finds his was to the plot he was looking for. He lays out a blanket so he doesn’t have to sit directly on the cold ground. He takes the now dead and frozen old flowers from the small vase and replaces them with the poinsettias he brought.

“Hey Mom,” he breathes out, tracing the words Roasanne Harrington Loving Wife, Mother, Sister, and Friend.

“Sorry it's been a while, you know how I hate the cold,” Steve laughs out the second half, “But you always loved Christmas, so I had to come celebrate.”

There’s no response from the stone, but Steve doesn’t mind the silence.

“This isn’t the first Christmas without you, but it’s definitely the one that hurts the most,” he starts, “because I can almost pretend to be happy. There are moments where I forget you’re gone. And then there will just be a second, usually when I’m lost in thought, or when I’m watching everyone laugh, I just think about how much you’d love them all. I’m sorry you never got to meet them, my new family I guess you could call them. You would love Robin, she reminds me of you. Her love of the holidays, her sense of humor, the way she looks at the world,” Steve sucks in a deep breath trying to stop himself from crying, tears pricking at his eyes, “Oh mom, you would have adored her.” He loses his battle with his emotions. Tears flood from his eyes and sob shudders through his body.

“I’m sorry we never got to patch things up before you left. It- it felt like there— there for a moment, at the end— we were getting close to being able to. I think after the wedding we both realized how much we missed each other. And I want you to know I don’t blame you for sticking by Dad,” Steve didn’t acknowledge the headstone to his left that had his father’s name on it.

“You loved him, and I’m sure, at some point, he was good. It’s hard to let go of things sometimes.” Steve swipes away his tears with the back of his coat sleeve. He didn’t need them freezing on his lashes.

He opened the box of cookies and took a bite of one, “I never can get them to taste the same as how you made them, I’m convinced you purposefully left out an ingredient on the written recipe.”

Steve giggles as he remembered how protective his mother was of her recipes. He quite literally could not get his hands on them till she died. And like hell was he going to let Aunt Katie take them. They were more valuable than anything left to him in the will. After the accident Steve was left with a big empty house and a stack of note card recipes.

He sold the house and laminated the cards.

With the money from the old place, he was able to but his own quaint little home. With three bedrooms and two and a half baths, Steve had finally found a home. It was a fixer upper on the outside of town, but he needed a project to keep his mind busy.

He threw his heart and soul into painting the walls a soft cream color and tearing out the drab carpet to be replaced with ward hardwood floors and redoing the front porch to fit some chairs and a swing.

He had help from Dustin, Robin, and of course Eddie— Steve played with the ring on his finger at the thought of him— but the brunt of the work was done by him.

He wanted to make his dream home. And so he did.

On the day him and Eddie moved out of their shared apartment with Robin, lots of loving tears and hugs were shared and promises of a dinner party as soon as the house was properly set up were made.

The house was a bit empty at first. They only had enough to fill half an apartment, and now they had much more space to grow. Wayne had made them a kitchen table with four chairs as a house warming gift. More tears were shed that day when he dropped it off.

Slowly but surely they filled their home with cozy couches and pillows, music, and photos of their life.

Steve didn’t need to turn around to know the footsteps approaching behind him belonged to his husband.

Eddie leaned down to give him a warm kiss on the cheek. Steve leaned into his warmth, not realizing how cold he had gotten.

“Ready to go?” Eddie asks softly, “We have to pick up little Robbie from Chrissy and Robin’s before heading to Wayne’s for dinner.”

Steve nods and grabs Eddie’s outstretched hand to help him up off the ground.

Eddie gathers up the blanket and shakes it out before bundling up under his arms. He makes a swift dramatic bow to Rosanna’s stone, “Mrs. Rose, looking as gorgeous as ever,” He doesn’t look to the left, but throws up a middle finger to Robert’s grave, “Mr. Harrington, hope hell is awful as always.”

Steve laughs at his ridiculousness before giving his mom’s stone a small kiss. Leaning his forehead against the cold rock he wishers, “You really would have loved little Robin, she reminds me of you more and more everyday. Maybe I’ll bring her next time.”

He stands to his full height and walks over to Eddie lacing their fingers together and give their hands a squeeze. Eddie squeezes back. The two of them walk back to Eddie’s new mini van, which is “totally just as metal as the old one, Stevie.”

The radio plays Christmas music as they drive off to pick up their daughter from her first ever annual Auntie Christmas Eve Eve sleepover. And in the moment Steve feels content and maybe a bit lighter.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

HAPPY DECEMBER 1st!!

Throughout the month I will be posting 12 different Steddie Christmas/Winter themed ficlets!! Just short little things to bring on the Holiday fun. Now I know this one was a bit sad… I promise there will be Happy ones too!! Anyway I hope you all enjoy <3

Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6

[amazingct]

JOURNAL ENTRY 004: While all probably wonder how I am going to protect the whole planet by myself. See, heres the thing no one on my planet was trained in the arts of fighting war, and there are also no weapons here. Because we never had blood shed on our planet before as we live peace with our neighbor's and nature itself. So my assignment is to play defense, earse any data those pieces of tech might have collected on our planet. Basically, hide and go seek mix with recycling. Most importantly that they dont find the shelter where everyone is hibernating. I decided to explore my new home, I found my room to alseep. But their seems to be an extra bedroom beside mine? It's completely empty. I am not sure what it is for? So I continued to explore the carven. Their was a whole storage room of invention from the innovators. To medical supplies, cool snowmobiles, and other snow base vehicles that run on the toxic rain water. Lots of gear, like climbing gear, winter gear, warmer clothes. In the certain of the underground carven is the tree of life itself. Oh, right, you probably don't understand why this tree is so important. The tree of life is the planets master switch it's a reset button. That can repair all the damages caused by the pollution of earth. And can even fix the hole in the atmospheric canopy. Their are six other trees that are linked with the tree of life itself. They act like recievers for the planet. Each tree is located on seven different continents inside another underground cavern, just like this one. Am with the Tree of Life, the big boy the master switched itself. The reason why we don't just fix everything right now is that you can only use it once. If activated now, while the humans are still pollutioning everything. It would have been a waste where the planet would get better, but eventually, it would just get sick again. So I have to make it count their are no redos. I have to wait for maybe millions or billions of years until the issue is settled. Until I get to see my family again... all because you. You stupid humans! You are so selfish!? You have no idea how much pain you caused everyone through whole galaxy! As we all must stand down and wait... my planet wasn't the only one that was affected by you now... I have to protect my home, our planet, Emerapphire. How exactly am I supposed to be keeping taps on you humans? Well, that part is a lot easier than you think. Instead of wasting resource and time, energy. Or any way that might relieve our existence to you. We used your technology to keep taps on you. The governments of your world are always spying on you, so I have access to literally everything. Those ghost filies you have that only certain people can have access to are so easy to get into. Because it's literally in every piece of tech on earth humans have ever created. They don't even know I am their system right now. Our technology is way too advanced for humans. It's not a toy, plus it's way too complicated. Let alone, to fully understand it, how it all works. As I was saying, keeping detailed records of what's going on with earth is really a piece of cake. And won't even take too much time out of my day as I have plenty of time. The wind speed can be heard inside the cavern. I am pretty sure that is blizzard, as my toes feel like ice. I managed to find some clothes that were warmer and a pair of socks. And to make a fire, it is so warm and toasty in here as the sound of fire crackling, through the underground carven. Am thinking I should have a cup of hot coco. I never had any before, but it sounds good, plus I got myself a blanket to wrap up in. I placed the blanket on the couch. While aheading towards the kitchen to make myself some hot coco.

[phmonth]

Phmonth22 (Redo) and Vncmonth22 Prompt Masterlist!

Wonderful art (Jean Jacques and Chloé, Lacie) made by @thegracefulwillow for the Vnc Anime Countdown and the original Phmonth22 respectively!!

I keep having to look between the two posts to find the prompts, and I realized you guys might be doing the same, so I decided to just make a post that includes all the prompts to make things easier!!

Pandora Hearts Month 2022 (Redo) Prompts:

Golden Trio Week (Alice, Oz and Gilbert), October 9th—15th:

Day 1, Sunday Oct 9th: Pink

Day 2, Monday Oct 10th: Daffodil

Day 3, Tuesday Oct 11th: Queen

Day 4, Wednesday Oct 12th: Summer 

Day 5, Thursday Oct 13th: Cage 

Day 6, Friday Oct 14th: Ocean

Day 7, Saturday Oct 15th: Garden

Rainsworth Trio Week (Sharon, Break and Reim), Oct 16nd—22nd:

Day 1, Sunday Oct 16th: Purple

Day 2, Monday Oct 17th: Forest

Day 3, Tuesday Oct 18th: Sister

Day 4, Wednesday Oct 19th: Madness

Day 5, Thursday Oct 20th: Cake

Day 6, Friday Oct 21st: AU

Day 7, Saturday Oct 22nd: Whisper

Tragedy Trio Week (Lacie, Jack and Oswald), Oct 23rd—Oct 29th:

Day 1, Sunday Oct 23rd: Storm

Day 2, Monday Oct 24th: Sibling

Day 3, Tuesday Oct 25th: Secret

Day 4, Wednesday Oct 26th: Indescribable horrors

Day 5, Thursday Oct 27th: Unimaginable Wonders

Day 6, Friday Oct 28th: Tower

Day 7, Saturday Oct 29th: Snow

Fan’s choice Week, Oct 30th—November 5th:

Day 1, Sunday Oct 30th: Psyche

Day 2, Monday Oct 31st: 🎃 Metamorphosis 👻

Day 3, Tuesday Nov 1st: Perspective and/or Ivory

Day 4, Wednesday Nov 2nd: Lilies

Day 5, Thursday Nov 3rd: Wrath

Day 6, Friday Nov 4th: Tarnished

Day 7, Saturday Nov 5th: Sketch

The Case Study of Vanitas Month 2022 Prompts:

Noé and Vanitas Week Oct 2nd—8th:

Sunday October 2nd: Butterfly

Monday Oct 3rd: Autumn

And/or

Fullmetal Alchemist/FMABrotherhood Crossover

Tuesday Oct 4th: Revenge

Wednesday Oct 5th: Cat

Thursday Oct 6th: Lost

Friday Oct 7th: Memories

Saturday Oct 8th: Roof

The De Sades Week Oct 9th—15th

Sunday October 9th: AU

Monday Oct 10th: Stake

Tuesday Oct 11th: Winter

Wednesday Oct 12th: Fangs

Thursday Oct 13th: Knight

Friday Oct 14th: Ice

Saturday Oct 15th: Twins

The Chasseurs Week Oct 16th—22nd

Sunday October 16th: Envy

Monday Oct 17th: Reunion

Tuesday Oct 18th: Gems

Wednesday Oct 19th: Bones

Thursday Oct 20th: Treason

Friday Oct 21st: Haunting

Saturday Oct 22nd: Faith

Chloé and Jean Jacques Week Oct 23rd—29th

Sunday October 23rd: Instrument

Monday Oct 24th: Alone

Tuesday Oct 25th: Castle

Wednesday Oct 26th: Music

Thursday Oct 27th: Witch

Friday Oct 28th: Flowers

Saturday Oct 29th: Snow

Misha and Luna/Blue Moon Clan Week Oct 30th—Nov 5th

Sunday October 30th: Past and/or Pillow Fight

Monday Oct 31st: 🎃 Halloween 👻

Tuesday Nov 1st: Name

Wednesday Nov 2nd: Blood

Thursday Nov 3rd: Scars

Friday Nov 4th: Tears

Saturday Nov 5th: Family

(Note: Butterfly, Revenge, and Autumn all had the same amount of votes, so if you’d rather use one of the other two for the FMA/B crossover feel free!)

Also, if you want to use other prompts to make a Halloweeny piece, feel free!! You don't have to save that for Halloween day!!

Pandora Hearts Month is an event that celebrates Pandora Hearts. The first three weeks celebrate the three main trios (Golden Trio, Rainsworth Trio, and Tragedy Trio) and the fourth is a bonus week that celebrates any ships/friendships/ot3s fans chose and love. You can create edits, fanart, drabbles, fanfictions, amvs and mms!

Vanitas no Carte Month is a new event that celebrates Vanitas no Carte/The Case Study of Vanitas in all its forms (both manga and anime fans welcome!). Every week will celebrate a different character grouping. You can create edits, fanart, drabbles, fanfictions, amvs and mms!

This blog has been experiencing some technical difficulties—and has for longer, and a greater extent, than I realized. It seems as though a number of people who wanted to participate in Phmonth22 in May/June...never saw the posts about it. This means that we are now doing a redo of Pandora Hearts Month 2022! It includes the same exact prompts as before, allowing people who didn't see it before—and anyone who otherwise didn’t get the chance before—to participate now! It occurs at the same time as The Case Study of Vanitas Month 2022.

It seems as though the Tumblr staff has fixed the problem and that I can host these events on this blog once again. However, if you aren't seeing my posts and reblogs here (first and foremost, please notify me) I will reblog everything to my main blog (@i-prefer-the-term-antihero) and my Pandora Hearts and Vnc Sideblog (@this-idiots-left-eye)!

When you post, please remember to:

Tag me @i-prefer-the-term-antihero, @phmonth2022, and/or @this-idiots-left-eye in your posts to make sure I reblog them! (My main blog is your best bet).

Tag #phmonth22 or #vncmonth22 in your tags! I will go through that tag and check if I've missed any direct tags.

Either put a link, or a “read more” on long fics (or long posts in general), so they're easier to reblog!

I also made a collection on Ao3 for writers! Don't hesitate to add your fics to it!

Don’t forget to join our discord if you haven’t! It’s a fun place to discuss the series and more easily share your creations!

You are free to have fun with this!! As long as you tag it, NSFW is allowed! (Tagging ships is nice too). You can pretty much do whatever you want with the prompts!!

As long as you make sure the characters from the group are your main focus, it’s okay to use other characters in your creations too!!

You can join any time, and use as many or as few prompts as you want! And you don't have to post on the exact day if you can’t make it! I’ll reblog things late!

Since we live across the world, you are free to post whenever the day is for you. I myself will be making posts according to my time, which is Central Standard Time in America. 

About the Phmonth22 prizes:

Some of you may recall me posting about wanting to add a competition aspect to Phmonth, with the 15th anniversary merch as prizes. I ordered the prizes long ago, however they still have not arrived at my house.

You guys voted to have a raffle decide who gets the prizes, so it will be easy to do the raffle at any time after the Phmonth redo has ended.

Keep in mind that, as per your request, I do intend for there to be multiple prizes, at least one for the artists, and one for the fic writers!

I will revisit the prizes once phmonth22 ends!

Feel free to get started on making stuff early!! 

We’re so excited to see what you make! Thank you for all your support!

i-prefer-the-term-antihero

[gamerwoo]

[Tales from the Pack] Hansol: Fire and Ice (Part Six)

Characters: Hansol x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, angst, the smallest bit of fluff just bc hansol’s optimistic and a sweetheart

Word count: 2,420

Summary: You’ve always been one to let your emotions get the best of you – your power reflects that – and you’ve never been good at expressing them. That’s why you always thought you’d be awful with a mate, but you never thought things would be this awful.

a/n: things in bold are in english. also this takes place the same night as the last part but it explains where hansol was when minghao couldn’t find him, and what happened to his mate after she woke up. AND it does talk about rika and baekhyun and i used to have a series for them called amend buuuut i also took that down to redo it lmao so there’s not really much backstory on them other than what i have for star crossed so if you’re confused, that’s ok lmao 

Previous | Next | Fire and Ice Masterlist

Hansol sat on the lawn as he usually did, staring up at the stars. He always wondered if you were looking at the stars, too. He wondered if you even liked looking stars, or what you preferred looking at instead. Did you like watching the clouds or animals in the forest? Did you like watching snow fall in the winter or rain fall in the summer? Did you still find staring at the fire comforting and pleasing even though you could easily form it effortlessly at your fingertips?

You were all Hansol thought about, and truthfully, he waited up every night for you. He never once felt you were in danger, and he knew he could find you quickly if there was danger. But for now, he was giving you space. He was just hoping you’d come back to him. If you did, he’d go see that doctor your pack recommended. If not, then he’d already be dead before the pain could get any worse – unless the silver managed to kill him first, in which case, it wouldn’t really matter anyway.

Hansol heard the front door open and shut before he heard somebody walking in the grass. He could smell Seokmin’s scent, so he knew it was him coming over.

“I’m about to go to bed, and everyone else is already in their rooms,” he told the younger boy. “I just wanted to see if you needed anything.”

“Actually,” Hansol spoke up, peeling his gaze away from the night sky to look at Seokmin, “I’ve been thinking...”

“About what?” Seokmin wondered as he sat down beside his brother.

“It’s been about a week since everything,” he began, staring at the grass between the two of them, “so I think it’s safe to go look back at the old house.”

Seokmin didn’t understand why Hansol would feel any need going back there. No doubt everything would be burned to the ground. Any belongings they had were what was left in their house, or what was put there by your pack in preparation for them to move in.

“Look for what?” he asked.

Hansol’s golden eyes practically sparkled when he looked up at Seokmin, “Something of Jiung’s or Chanseong’s. I want to give it to _____.”

“When?” Seokmin scoffed. “I don’t mean to sound mean, Sol, but do you even know if she’ll come back to you?”

“I’d go leave it at the house,” he shrugged. “I won’t go see her if she doesn’t want me to, so I’d just leave it there and go.”

“What are you expecting to find, exactly? You know there won’t be any bodies.”

“There might be. Or maybe there’s something small that didn’t get completely burned. I don’t know.”

As Hansol pushed himself off of the ground, Seokmin looked up at him, “Are you leaving right now?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “Do you wanna come help me?”

Seokmin sighed but got up as well, “Somebody has to keep you out of trouble.”

“Okay, Mr. Thunder-and-Lightning,” Hansol chuckled as the two brothers walked closer to the edge of their property and into the woods, “I think you are the trouble.”

“Hey, I helped!” Seokmin insisted.

“Yeah, helped Jooyeon have a heart attack,” Hansol laughed as the two disappeared into the thick brush.

-

You woke from your nightmare with tears streaming down your face. You’d been doing this a lot lately: crying so hard you’d wake yourself up. But this time, it was better that you woke up in the middle of the night. It was the perfect time to slip out unnoticed.

Ever since that first day after Jiung died, you felt the alpha pull to Hanbin. It was supposed to be you, but it never was. You tried to pretend, but nothing changed. You were never fit to be an alpha like Jiung, but you knew Hanbin would do a good job to protect the others.

Before you left, you got out a pen and some paper and wrote a quick note to Rin. You knew this would have the biggest impact on her, but you couldn’t stay here. If you weren’t an alpha like you were supposed to be, what was the point? It was like you didn’t belong here, but you definitely knew you didn’t belong with Seungcheol’s pack �� not after you denied Hansol. To be truthful, you didn’t even really feel the tie to the pack anymore, not after the two days spent with Hansol. So you were going to just…go. You didn’t know what you’d do, but you’d either figure it out eventually or you’d die – whichever came first.

But you also knew Rin would have her mate soon enough considering she often went out and followed him around. Sure, he didn’t know since Rin kept herself invisible, but just knowing where her mate was and knowing he was doing okay was what you assumed would help her cope. It was why she was hidden the entire time his pack was here: she didn’t want her mate to see her and imprint on her – not until she learned how to speak to him, at least. So you hoped she’d be okay after you left, and that she’d learn Korean to finally go introduce herself to him. He seemed like a nice enough guy, anyway. He’d definitely help her get better and would make sure she was happy.

Rin,

When you read this, I’ll be gone. I don’t know where I’m going, but please don’t look for me. I know you’ll think I betrayed you by leaving, and I won’t try to make any excuses for myself. You were alone when Jiung and Chanseong you here, and all you had was us to rely on. I always promised to stick beside you, and I’m completely breaking that promise. I know you’ll hate me, and I deserve it. But I want you to know I still love you, and I hope you’ll do okay. And try not to stress so much – your mate will love you no matter what.

Please take care of yourself.

-_____

You left the note on your pillow before grabbing Jiung’s sweater that you left laying over the back of your chair, tugging it over your head, and going to the window. You pushed the window open before leaping out and landing softly on your feet before you ran into the woods, leaving behind your home, and the pack you used to consider family.

-

The wolves could already smell that burnt smell from the house, but they continued to run in their wolf forms until they were closer. They didn’t shift back until they reached the clearing where their house used to stand. But now, everything was reduced to rubble and ash.

“Shit…” Seokmin mumbled, looking around the plot of land they used to call home.

A place that once held bright and lively memories now looked dark and dead. They couldn’t believe this was the same place they used to run around and play. They couldn’t believe a large, warm house once stood here. On the other hand, they couldn’t believe that said house was now destroyed. It was all just a bunch of ash and useless pieces of debris.

“I’m gonna sift through some of this and see if there’s anything we can take back,” Seokmin said, gesturing toward the largest pile of dark ash.

Hansol just went over to where he last remembered seeing Jiung, all but ignoring Seokmin. There were small piles of ash around the house, which must’ve been all the dead or severely injured that they couldn’t save. There were even some detached body parts mixed in, but thankfully that stench was covered by the smell of the burned house that attacked his nose.

He reached the general area and got down on his bare knees, sifting through the ashes. He felt bad disturbing anything that might be a body, but he was determined to find something – anything – to make you feel like you could have even a little bit of closure. Hansol just wanted you to be happy.

Something suddenly caught his eye. It was something gold that shone in the moonlight above, which was what made him notice it. He brushed away some of the ash before picking up some sort of pendant on a thin gold chain. It was a plain gold circle, no bigger than a small coin, and it had Jiung’s first initial and your first initial engraved on it with a dot in between the two letters. Jiung and _____.

Hansol let the chain dangle from his teeth – he obviously didn’t have pockets, and that’s how he’d have to carry it in wolf form anyway – before searching through the rest in case there was anything else. He found a ring that had a date engraved on it as well. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he figured he should bring it just in case.

“Hansol!” Seokmin called as he rushed over with a few books in his arms. “I found a photo album, one of Danbi’s books, and a few picture frames that made it out.”

“Good job,” the younger wolf smiled. “Let’s get back to the house before sunrise, yeah?”

So the two shifted before Seokmin collected the small stack of things in his mouth, and the two raced off to their new home, happy with the small things they were able to find.

-

Hansol and Seokmin could hear their names being called before they even got close to home. They picked up their pace, Hansol howling to let them know they were nearby and safe.

When they finally made it back to the house, almost all the wolves were outside, waiting for the pair to return. Seokmin immediately dropped what he had in his mouth, but Hansol kept the ring and the necklace balanced carefully between his teeth.

Jihoon looked down at the ground, scanning over the things Seokmin brought before looking at the two wolves, “Did– Did you two go back to the house?! Are you kidding me?! You both could’ve gotten killed!”

Seokmin whined but Hansol didn’t regret it. He got what he was looking for.

“Jia’s been looking for you,” Seungcheol told Hansol.

The boy carefully placed the jewelry in the grass before shifting and collecting his two items, “Why?”

The eldest alpha sighed, running a hand through his dark hair, “_____ ran away from her pack.”

Hansol paused like he was trying to see if his instincts were about to suddenly warn him about his mate, but when nothing happened, he shrugged, “She’s okay.”

“What?” Soonyoung gasped. “You’re not even gonna go check on her?”

“No, she wants her space,” he insisted. “If something bad happens, then I’ll go find her, but until then, me smothering her won’t help.”

Junhui pointed at the gold pieces of jewelry that the younger wolf held, “What’re those?”

“They’re gifts,” he replied, smiling softly to himself as he looked down at the jewelry in the palm of his hand, “for _____.”

-

Maybe Rika was right. Maybe Baekhyun was the worst. Maybe you should’ve listened to the tiny mate whenever she complained about him. But you always found Baekhyun pretty enjoyable since he had about the same snarky attitude as Rin. But now, you were deciding to reconsider that.

Had he not had been sniffing around your property, you wouldn’t have been caught. Had he not been having issues with not only his mate -- if you could call her that -- and his pack, he wouldn’t have stopped you.

Had Chanyeol not been worried when he realized his brother was missing and gone out to find him, you would’ve gotten away.

“Can’t burn me if I burn too, _____,” Chanyeol sang as he forcefully carried you to their house.

But you had stressed that you didn’t want anyone knowing about this. Baekhyun couldn’t tell Rika, and neither of them could snitch on you to their pack. And considering the mental state they found you in, even Baekhyun knew not to double-cross you even though he just replied with, “I’ll think about it”.

Sneaking you inside was easy because the pack was asleep. So Chanyeol brought you up to Baekhyun’s room before setting you on the bed while Baekhyun shut the door. Then he turned to look at you, quirking an eyebrow while Chanyeol just studied you with furrowed brows.

“So...what happened?” Baekhyun quizzed.

He knew what happened to your alpha already. Their pack was friends with yours, and there was also the tie to Rika. But he didn’t understand what caused you to suddenly snap.

“I don’t have to tell you,” you told him, your arms crossed over your chest.

He shrugged, “Fair. But if you’re missing, I’m sure your pack will go looking for you when they realize, and then they’ll tell us what’s going on. And Rika will love me for saving her sister from a mental break.”

Your eyes widened, “I’m not going back.”

“You’re not going to do something stupid, either,” Chanyeol stated.

“I wasn’t!” you insisted. “I was just running away, okay?”

Baekhyun bit the inside of his cheek. He figured you must’ve realized that wasn’t the pack you belonged in anymore. They knew Hanbin was the alpha when they saw him last, sensing the authority radiating off of him and the way the pack acted around him. It was obvious.

But they didn’t know why you weren’t the alpha. So where did you belong?

“Is it because--”

“Where’re you gonna go?” Baekhyun cut off Chanyeol before he could ask a stupid question.

You just shrugged, “I don’t know. I can take care of myself, though.”

While Baekhyun would’ve rather just had you stay with them, he knew Junmyeon especially would ask a lot of question. And it was obvious you didn’t want to be bothered with that. Not only that, but he’d contact Hanbin.

Finally, he let out a sigh and grabbed your upper arm, “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Go where?” you asked.

He brought you to his bedroom door, whispering, “I’m gonna stay at the hut with you so I can know you’re safe, but so you’ll be away from everybody.”

You were surprised Baekhyun was doing something to help you, but you didn’t say anything else to him until you were out of the house and a good distance away. 

“Won’t your pack wonder where you went?” you pointed out.

He just shrugged, “Eh, probably not.”

[fiveisnumber1]

Timeless - Five Hargreeves x Reader

Word Count: 2860

Warnings: I’m sorry.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23

_________________________

Pt 10 - Time Moves On (With Or Without You)

In the Hargreeves household, the day started out like any other one, with breakfast. With the ring of a bell, the uniformed children all filed in one line into the dining room and made their way to their seats. Quietly standing behind their chairs with their hands behind their backs they waited in silence for their father to arrive. Once he entered the room he stood behind his seat before commanding,

"Sit."

With that word the children pulled out their seats and sat at the table to eat, each of them quietly doing their own things. Luther and Allison exchanged small smiles to each other across the table, Diego secretly scratched a knife into the armrest of his chair, Klaus fiddled with some special paper under the table, Ben read a book by Anton Chekov and Vanya quietly ate her meal. There was one child who was having trouble keeping quiet on this day and that was Five. Although he had already done so much with his powers during missions and practice sessions he wanted to do more. He knew he could do more. Five wanted to time travel and it ate him up inside that his father wouldn't allow him. Instead of eating he stared down his father from the opposite end of the table. Anger and frustration building up inside him. When his anger boiled over he grabbed his knife and stabbed it into the table. The loud sound caused everyone to look at him.

"Number Five?" Reginald questioned

"I have a question." Five stated with contempt in his voice

The other children looked at their brother with concern and shock in their eyes.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during meal times, you are interrupting Herr Carlson." Reginald replies

Unhappy with his father's response Five forcefully pushes his plate forward before saying,

"I want to time travel."

"No," Reginald says

"But I'm ready!" Five explains sitting up from his chair "I've been practicing my spacial jumps just like you said."

Five then jumps from his spot at the table to right next to his father's seat.

"See?" Five comments aggressively

"A spacial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn." Reginald explains

With his hands balled up in his pockets, he cocked his head to the side and angrily said,

"No, I don't get it,"

"Hence the reason you're not ready," Reginald replies

From down the table, Five can see Vanya shake her head no as if to tell him to stop pushing the issue.

"I'm not afraid." Five retorts to his father

"Fear isn't the issue. The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind are far too unpredictable. Now I forbid you to talk about this anymore." Reginald commands

Five couldn't believe what his father was saying. Ridiculous how he didn't believe that Five could do it. Five was going to time travel and was going to prove that old angry man wrong. Turning on his heel he runs away from the table leaving his father, Grace, and his siblings behind.

"Number Five. You can't leave the table you haven't been excused! Come back here!" Reginald yells

Five didn't care what the old man had to say though. All he cared about was proving he was ready to time travel. He ran out the front door and through the gates of the house in which he lived. Angrily walking down the street he was determined to jump through time. The one thing he didn't expect was you latching on to him. You had seen Five leave his house from out your living room window. You quickly called out to your mom telling her you were heading out before teleporting your molecules over to your friend and grabbing on to him. With a flash of blue, he had jumped through time and brought you along with him. You didn't notice though because you were too busy trying to get him attention.

"Five!" You called out as he walked for a little bit taking in the surroundings

"Not ready my ass." Five mumbles to himself

With another time jump, the two of you were in a winter scene.

"Five!" You called again

Five had heard you this time and stopped. Turning around he saw you holding onto him. You let go and took a step back.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Five yells

"I saw you leave your house from my window and you looked upset so I wanted to make sure you were okay." You reply 

"I'm fine." Five states

"You don't seem fine is there anything I can do?" You question concern evident in your tone

"You can go home." He answers

"But Five-" You start but are cut off

"You wouldn't fucking get it (Y/N)! Just leave me the hell alone!" Five yells

Before you can say anything he turns on his heel and jumps again leaving you standing there alone.

"Well screw you too I guess!" You yell at the spot where he just was

Turning around you make your way back to your house. Looking around you see the snow around you. You could've sworn there was no snow when you left and even if you just didn't notice it you wondered how you couldn't with the amount of snow on the ground. Shaking your head you make the walk back home wondering what could've gotten into your best friend. When you make it back to your house the door is locked. You were confused, your mom never leaves the door locked when you tell her you're going out. You start to knock on the door but when you get no response you start to bang on it and yell out,

"Mom? I'm home!"

When  you get no response you try again banging and calling louder,

"MOM! I'M HOME! IT'S COLD OUTSIDE LET ME IN!"

You were about to call again when you hear a voice behind you say,

"Whacha doing kid?"

When you turn around you see a garbage man putting trash in the back of the garbage truck for the houses around yours.

"I'm calling for my mom to let me in. My family lives here," you explain

"Yeah don't we all wish our family could live in that house." He replies with a scoff

"What? No, I do live here." You reply

"Yeah, and I'm the king of England. Nobody has lived in that house for eight years." The man replies

"What do you mean eight years, it's 2002." You state

"We're you banging on that door with your head? It's 2013." The man states "The family that lived there's kid went missing 11 years ago. They stayed in the house for three years but just up and left when they couldn't deal with the grief. Rumor has it they went off the grid and can't be found."

You look at him confused and he says,

"Whatever. It's not my business." 

He then gets on the back of the truck and you can faintly hear him say,

"Weird kid."

You turn back around to look at the door. That man had to be crazy, you had only left a few minutes ago, there was no way it was 2013. Phasing inside the door the room is dark but you call out to your parents again,

"Mom! Dad! I'm back home." 

You get no response. You make your way over to the light switch to try and get some light in the but they don't work. Maybe there's a power outage from the snow? You then open the living room curtains but when the light from outside shows in there's nothing there. The TV, the couches, the coffee table, nothing. The room was empty. 

"Mom? Where did the furniture go?" You call out again

All you heard was silence. You made the way around the rest of your house. Emptiness was everywhere. Running upstairs you went into your bedroom. Everything was there like it was when you had left that day. Bed, toys, clothes, everything still in its place. Maybe your parents were just redoing the whole house. You made your way to your parent's bedroom you started yelling,

"Mom! Dad! Please tell me you're in there!"

You were about to bang on the door with your fists but with one hit the door slowly swung open. There was nothing here. Their bed was gone, their clothes were gone, your parents were gone.

"No, this can't be real..."

Your heart started to race a little faster. Where could they have gone? You only left a few minutes ago. You needed answers and if there was anyone who could explain what was going on it was one of the Hargreeves. They had to know what had happened. Without even a second thought you transported yourself from your parent's bedroom to the foyer of the Hargreeves house. In a panic, you started shouting the names of the Hargreeves kids,

"Ben! Diego! Allison! Vanya! Klaus! Luther! Five! Anyone?"

Frantically you looked around the empty house when you heard a voice behind you say,

"Excuse me, can I help you."

You recognized that sweet soft voice. Turning around you saw Grace standing there. She looked shocked.

"(Y/N)? Is that you?" She asks

"Of course it's me! Who else would I be?" You question

Grace slowly makes her way over to you. Gently cupping your face she looks at you and says in awe,

"You look the exact same as when I last saw you."

"Well of course! You only saw me yesterday. This last hour has been so crazy. First I chased after Five and he told me to leave him alone, and then I went home and no one answered and some garbage man told me how nobody lives in my house and my house is empty and according to the garbage man, it's 2013. Ridiculous right? Where are the kids I need to ask them some questions."

"Oh no, sweetie..." She says with a sympathetic look in her eyes

Grace doesn't say anything else she just looks at you sadly. Your heart dropped. This couldn't be real.

"Grace please where are the kids?" You pleaded tears starting to form in your eyes

"Well- they uh- they're not here anymore." She replies softly

"No! That can't be true! None of this can be true!" You shout before running off

"(Y/N)!" Grace calls but it's too late because you had already run off

There was no way that they weren't here. You ran to the library, typically Ben or Vanya would be there but when you got there you found nothing. Diego to Klaus was usually in the kitchen but nobody was there either. Running towards the bedrooms you opened every door looking for your friends. You checked in the courtyard, the dining room, everywhere. Tears leaving a path of where you had been. Each one of them was empty, abandoned as if no one had lived there. You ran back downstairs to check the parlor but when you got in there it was empty as well. All that was there was a painting of your best friend hanging above the fireplace. You turned your head and saw Grace standing there silently.

"I'm so sorry (Y/N)" she whispered

Your heart raced faster. You couldn't believe it. You didn't want to believe it. You turned your head back to look at the painting of your friend. The realization of your situation had started to set in and your body started to shake. You collapsed to your knees unable to support the weight of your body anymore. It felt as if you had just been punched in the gut and all of your breath was taken away. The tears started to fall faster from your eyes as you screamed,

"NO!"

Your voice was filled with grief as you let out painful cries of immense sorrow. You wrapped your arms around yourself to stop your shaking but it was no use. You were barely able to breathe as you screamed your pain into the empty silence of the house. There was no other sound except for you and at that moment you knew that you were alone. Your family was gone, your friends were gone, the person who mattered most to you was gone. The pieces of your life had fallen apart and you didn't know how to get them back.

At the same moment when you were coming to the realization of your new existence so was Five. After he had told you to leave him alone he had jumped once more through time. He looked around him and saw nothing but fire and destruction. With fear coursing through his veins he turned back around and ran as fast as he could towards the Umbrella Academy. When he arrived at the destroyed remnants of the building he called out into the rubble,

"Vanya! Ben! Dad!"

He received no response from inside the building so he turned around and shouted,

"Anyone!"

All that he could hear was the crackling of flames around him. This wasn't where he was supposed to be, he needed to get home. Five immediately tried using his powers to go back in time. 

"C'mon" he begged of his power

But there was nothing he could do. Realizing it was too late and he was stuck he turned back to look at the remains of what was once him home. Collapsing to his knees the feeling of sadness overwhelmed him. There was nothing left. Slowly he regained his strength to stand and made his way around the house. Finding an area that wasn't consumed by flames, he carefully started to explore. Out of the rubble, he saw a hand sticking out holding an eye. Curiously he walks over to the hand and takes the eye out of it. He examines the eye before moving to see the person there. It was a man. He then looks to his left and looks out amongst the rubble of the building. Running over to another man he spotted he roughly tries to shake them but it is useless as they don't move. He then passes a female person before heading over to another man. He stares at the figure and sees the marking on his wrist, an umbrella in a circle. These weren't just people, these were his siblings. He could feel himself getting choked up as he stood there amongst their lifeless bodies. They were his family and they were all gone. Before he could fully acknowledge the sight he heard a faint gasping coming from further back. Running towards it he sees another figure impaled on some metal rebar. He makes his way over but when he sees who it truly is his heart sinks.

"(Y/N)!" He calls out rushing to your side

Five kneels next to you and takes in the sight of you. You were older but not as old as his siblings. It must've been because you took those jumps through time with him. 

"(Y/N)" He says softly

Slowly you turn your head to him. You couldn't tell if you were imagining things but there was  Five, your best friend, right in front of you. His blue eyes were full of sorrow.

"Five? Are you my angel here to take me to the light?"

"No, I'm here I'm real." He says tears forming in his eyes

He looks at the metal going through you. He had to get you out of here. He needed to.

"(Y/N) it's gonna be okay I'm going to get you out of here. You're going to be alright!" He says choking up

Five frantically starts looking for anything to stop your bleeding and help keep you alive.

"Five." You lightly call out

"Yes." He says turning his attention back to you

"The book." You say looking towards your hand caught under some rubble

Quickly Five removes the rubble and grabs what you were asking for. It was the diary you had gotten for your 13th birthday. Surprisingly it was undamaged compared to the world around him. Gently he brings to book to you.

"Here." He says

"Keep it." You reply weakly pushing it back towards him

Five places the book in the ground and turns back to you. Using what last bits of your strength you have, you lift your hand to the small boy's face and place your hand on his cheek. Five uses one of his hands to hold yours against his face. You can feel some of the tears that had fallen from his eyes on your hand.

"Are you still mad at me?" You ask faintly

"No, never. I could never stay mad at you." He replies his voice choking up more

"Good..." you answer quietly

You wrap your hand around your locket and then lay your head back and close your eyes. The smallest of smiles on your face as you let out a breath. Five watches waiting for your chest to rise and fall again but it doesn't. Grabbing your shoulders he starts to shake you.

"(Y/N)! (Y/N) wake up! Please I needed you here! I need you with me! Please!" Five cries out

It was too late, you were gone. Holding what he could of your lifeless body he lets all the tears flow from his eyes. His painful cries of sorrow echoing throughout the empty landscape. He had lost you and was completely alone. And so in the same exact place, in two different times, you and five dealt with the same harsh truth. Everything you loved was gone and life would never be the same.

Taglist: @xplrreylo @joebob15274 @insatiable-ivy @fruitsaladtree @angelpeachamber @academy-umbrella @lizziel1410 @ir3neeee @faith-quake @aliens-with-colas @eddiomyspaghettio @lady-celeste25 @im-dead-and-hurting @nerdypinupcrystal @cherry-ki-d @anapocalypseinmymind @vicassa @2cuteforyourlies @taylorsmakingfuckingmacandcheese @n1ghtsh4d3-67

[k0ra-kumori]

Killer Frost, Caitlin Snow (DC Super Hero Girls 2019)

#PolarDemons

It was an ordinary day at the Metropolis school, I was getting ready to go to class, and maybe my mind was still a little tormented by what happened to Casey Krinsky, I was thinking about it too much in the last few days, and I don't know why , maybe it was because every time I met her at school I felt a sense of guilt and wanted to apologize to her? No ... I already tried that, and it didn't work.

- Zee! Are you okay? You're already standing there for about 5 minutes! Let's be late, and mr.Chapin promise that if we were late again he would kick us out! (Babs)

- Sorry Babs, I'm coming after you.

I was startled when Barbara called me, but I needed to get out of that trance, maybe the class distracted me a little about Casey.

(Time Skip)

It was time to go, and studying only made my mind worse, I needed a break, Mr. Chapin was unbearable today.

"Where are my friends?" I thought, we usually all leave the class together, I went looking for them and while I was walking down the main hall I saw a crowd, and my friends were there too! I went to them as soon as possible.

- Girls! What are you doing? I looked for you everywhere.

- Hey, duh! We told you in the class that we were going to come here, but it looks like you were too distracted to pay attention to us. (Kara)

- i-I'm sorry is that I ... What are you looking at?

- The new girl, her name is Caitlin Snow, she makes magnificent ice sculptures, it looks like she was transferred

from the old school because her parents moved to metropolis.(Karen)

- I heard she was the most popular girl in the school she came from, it looks like you're going to have competition Zee haha. (Kara)

Kara slaps my arm as part of the joke and I have a very weak laugh, I was happy to have another student at school, and it looks like I wouldn't be the only popular girl here now, you might think it's envy or something, but something about this girl tells me that she’s not welcome here, there’s something wrong with her ...

- Aren't you Zee zatara? I heard a lot about you. (Caitlin)

I didn't notice Caitlin approaching, I was distracted again.

- A-ah hi, yes it is me, very pleased.

I reach out to her for a friendly handshake, but she doesn't fight back ...

- My name is Caitlin Snow, you don't feel threatened by me or anything, do you (Caitlin)

- T-threatened ?! excuse me?

- It's just that I was the most popular girl in my school before I left, and you are the most popular girl here, so ... (Caitlin)

- Oh, of course, I’m very calm about it.

- If that's what you say ... (Caitlin)

Caitlin walks towards the exit of the school door, but in the middle of the way she stops in front of the photographs of all the proms that the Metropolis school has had, and by chance, I was the queen of all these proms, she looks calmly all the pictures one by one, when Caitlin then takes one of my prom queen pictures in her hand and suddenly ... she throws it in the trash.

- I was the most popular girl in my school, and believe me Zee zatara, I don't like to share anything with anyone, especially titles, and in fact, you should feel threatened by me. This school is already mine, bye bye. (Caitlin)

I couldn't believe it, she threatened me?! I didn't feel threatened by her in any way, but now ... I felt very threatened, and it wasn't because of my title.

- You saw that-- GIRLS!

- Ah it was bad zee, we were seeing the ice statue, it moves can you believe it ?! This is very cool! (Kara)

- Were you going to say something, Zee? (Jess)

- No, I don't think so. Let's go home?

(Time skip)

After a long and tiring trip home I had time to relax a little, I was thinking more clearly now.

- Caitlin Snow is not it? Let's see what you do for a living.

I search for Caitlin's name on instagram, and luckily I found her profile, she was in first place in searches.

- but what is so impressive about you ...

I keep looking for something suspicious in Caitlin's profile, I know you think I'm jealous, but believe me, it's not jealous, I'm suspicious of this girl. Well, I look around for a while and I can't find anything, all I found out was that Caitlin makes a video of make-up, ice sculptures, and that her family has their own business, she and her mother give presentations on magical ice sculptures. and skating in a theater ... familiar isn't it? Maybe I would even be jealous of her? After all, she was beautiful, intelligent and had her own business. I was already accepting that I was getting jealous of the girl with white hair, when I decide to click on any video on her Instagram just to end it all, the video was starting, Caitlin talked about makeup, how to make a perfect contour and these things, I watched the video for about 2 minutes, until something caught my attention... I realized that every time the mirror appeared, the image would lock up, looking like those films from the 1950s, you know? I thought it was strange, but I didn't want to watch the rest of the video with the image of a film from my father's time! so I used my magic to make the video stop locking... it was a mistake, because as soon as I cast the spell on the video, I looked in the mirror, and believe me, it was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life, there was something with ... horns in the mirror! This confirmed my suspicions, there was something wrong with that girl and I intended to find out what.

- Zee, it's time to sleep.

- Okay daddy, good night.

I turn off the light and fall asleep, but I still thinking about it for a bit before falling asleep.

(Time skip)

I was already at school, and last night I decided that in addition to discovering what is strange about this girl, I was going to keep everyone away from her, if there was something more sinister behind it, it was better to let everyone away so that no one would get hurt, so I decided to give a magic show at school today, so no one would be around Caitlin.

- Ladies and gentlemen, witness the unique, incredible and fabulous, Zee zatara!

I was waiting for people's cheers, but nobody said anything, maybe everyone was on a different side of the school? Well, I take my bench and my special effects and look for a place with a lot of people at school, and walking through the halls I saw her... it was too late, everyone was surrounding Caitlin and watching her ice skating show, there was always an ice rink here? How come I never noticed ?!

- Sister! You arrived at the right time, we watching the new girl skating on the ice, join us! (Diana)

Diana pulls my arm to take me to Caitlin's show, but I release my arm from Diana's grip.

- Everything is fine? Don't you want to see the show? (Diana)

- I-i want, but ...

I sigh.

- Diana, there is something wrong with this girl, I don't know what it is but, there is something wrong with her.

- Something wrong? What you mean? (Diana)

- Yesterday I was watching a video about her on instagram, and in the reflection of the mirror something with horns appeared, look!

I had taken a screenshot of the video if it was useful, so I showed it to Diana.

- something with horns? where? (Diana)

- Right there in the mirror!

- Zee, has nothing there. (Diana)

- b-but, you don't see it?

- ... Look zee, you must be feeling threatened by Caitlin's presence I know, but remember what I said to Barbara Minerva when she said she was the cheetah? I said "One person’s success doesn’t exclude another person’s success" you don’t have to be jealous of her, Zee.(Diana)

- No, no, no, Diana please believe me I’m not jealous of her, don’t you see the horned creature in the mirror ?!

- Sorry zee, you will need more than a blank mirror to prove that Caitlin is a monster. (Diana)

Diana is gone, she went to see the show like everyone else...

- Diana... the monster... I don't believe it, am I going crazy?

I was questioning my sanity now, she is not here at school for 3 days and is already driving me crazy, is it me who is to blame? Was my magic playing with my mind? I didn't know anything else at this point, if the diana who was born in a home full of magic and monsters didn't believe me, who else would believe it? Maybe Casey Krinsky was messing with my mind right now, I better go wash my face to ease the tension.

(In the bathroom)

- control yourself Zee, you're going crazy, keep calm! My god what is happening to me...

My makeup was totally messy now, maybe redoing it would help me, so as soon as I look in the mirror I see the horned demon's reflection, from the chest down he was just bones, his outside ribs gave him a touch ghastly.

- Do you talk to yourself? (Caitlin)

- C-ca...Caitlin ?!

I look in the mirror again, and the reflection was normal now, it was just Caitlin's reflection.

- Weren't you at your skating show?

- I was, but I had to come here to touch up my makeup, by the way, today is crazy day and nobody told me? Hahahaha (Caitlin)

She snorts out of the bathroom. In just 2 days she dropped my food, made me stumble, and ruined my school work, I was sick of her being mean to me.

- Why you hate me?

- I do not hate you Zatara, you are cool, the only problem I have with you is that you are in this school with me, I remember saying that I do not like to share, and that the title of popular girl was mine, 80% of this title already belongs to me, but if you don’t leave the game I’ll never have the rest. (Caitlin)

- I'm not leaving this school, especially since I know you're hiding something scary from the rest of the people.

- Girl, you're crazy. (Caitlin)

- I'm not crazy, what is it then?!

I show the mirror photo to Caitlin, and she smiles arrogantly.

- it's good to know that you have magic.

- W-what are you talking about?

- Find out for yourself, Zatanna.

Caitlin comes out of the bathroom, leaving me with doubts and alone there.

(Time skip)

It's been 5 days, and Caitlin is officially the most popular girl in school, my friends just talked about her and about the ice skating shows, that didn't help at all, so I decided to stay a few days alone.

- Should we go over there and talk to Zee? I'm already getting worried. (Jess)

- I tried to talk to her a couple of days ago, but she insists that Caitlin is a villain, I think we better let her have some time. (Diana)

I watched my friends from afar, I was missing them so much, but I couldn't go back without discovering the horrible thing that Caitlin was, I couldn't solve this case on an empty stomach, so I went to get a snack in the cafeteria, I got one a little bit of spaghetti and I went towards my table, but suddenly Caitlin puts her foot in front of me and I fall to the floo ... face to face with the spaghetti, the whole school laughed at me.

- I do not believe that! (Kara)

- G-guys, calm down, it could have been an accident. (Karen)

- Accident will be my fist landing on the face of that pale white girl! (Kara)

I get up, I had noodles all over my hair and face, I was already irritated by all that and I wanted to hit Caitlin, but I couldn't, Jess taught me that anger is not always the way. I was annoyed, but I tried to stay calm.

- Caitlin, can I talk to you outside for a minute?

- Of course my dear, I'll be back girls.

(Out of school)

- about what you want to talk?

- "About what you want to talk?" Really?! What was that?!

- It was an accident.

- Accident ... ACCIDENT ?! ARGH.

I got annoyed, Jess would be disappointed in me, but I couldn't take any more teasing, I ended up not even caring if she was going to know that I have magic, so I hit her with a spell of magic, and of course, I regret doing that.

- Oh my god, I'm so sorry Caitlin, I'm really sorry!

Caitlin didn't move, I was worried, and as soon as I was going to call the ambulance she started to move... But it wasn't just that, I don't know if I hit my head too hard on the food tray a few minutes ago or something like that, but, I was watching Caitlin increase in size, that's right, she was growing and her shape and clothes were changing, the sky was getting cloudy and for some reason it started to snow ... it was summer! Why was it snowing?!

- I'm already tired of you Zee zatara ... (Killer Frost)

- C-Caitlin?

I was getting farther and farther away, it was getting really weird, as Caitlin moved her shape seemed bigger, she leaned on some bricks of the destroyed wall in order to get up, and as soon as she stands, I get scared, Caitlin was super tall! She had to bend down to go through the door, she are so big.

- I will kill you, Zee zatara! (Killer Frost)

I had no more doubts, Caitlin had super powers and was ready to transform into one of her ice sculptures, I wasted no time and soon changed too, and as soon as I was going to run away, she took me by the cape.

- You're in so much trouble. (Killer Frost)

- I don't want to fight with you, please let's talk!

- I have nothing to talk to you about! (Killer Frost)

Caitlin threw me so far and so high, that I ended up on the 7th floor wall of a building. My body was hurting a lot, but I had to defeat it, but as soon as I got up, Caitlin landed on my body and tried to hang me.

- By the way, you can call me Killer Frost instead of Caitlin in the next life, Zee Zatara! (Killer Frost)

- I'm not afraid of snow!

I teleport to the opposite side of Killer Frost, I needed to defeat it somehow, so I create a loop to be able to hold it, I throw the loop at Frost, but it freezes it and turns the shards into sharp pieces of ice, then throw them at me, I teleport again and try to hit her with my magic, but she creates an ice shield to protect herself from my attacks.

- Frost, let's talk! I do not want to hurt you!

- BUT I WANT TO HURT YOU! I JUST WANTED ATTENTION, YOU ALREADY HAVE TOO MUCH ATTENTION! (Killer Frost)

The earth begins to tremble, and in the midst of so much snow a giant snake made of ice chases me, I run, but the snake captures me.

- You always had everything you wanted Zatanna, attention, love, friends, and now it's my turn to have it all!

I wanted to say something, but then I start to feel my body getting cold, I look at my legs and see that I'm starting to freeze, would this be the end of me? No ... I couldn't die like that, I needed help, and luckily, I see a shiny golden lasso looping the tail of the giant snake that held me, the snake melted, and behind it revealed five super heroines, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Green Lantern and Bumblebee.

- Are you okay? (Wonder Woman)

Wonder woman said, she took my hand and saw that I had a low body temperature.

- stay out of this fight, you could end up hurting yourself even more. (Wonder Woman)

[renee-writer]

Two Into One Chapter 13 Growth

Jamie decides, with his wife being pregnant, that a long carriage ride to Lallybroch was out of the question. They send Lisa and Tom, who us tasked with seeing Lisa and their luggage gets to Lallybroch before heading back, on a carriage. He and Claire take the train. They spend the two day journey looking out the windows as he slowly introduces her to Scotland. She is enthralled by her beauty and her husband’s passion for his homeland.

“I sent instructions ahead to Ian so we will be ready to redo the crofts, start your gardens, and start the horse breeding. The beast I purchased in London is coming with Tom and Lisa.”

“That is all good, my love.” The train runs fairly smooth, but her wame isn't reacting well to it. “I need the chamber pot.”

He holds her as she is sick. “How can I help?” he asks after seeing it emptied and finding a cool rag to wash her face and neck with.

“I just need solid ground. Maybe a bit of ginger root tea.” He rings for the steward and has some brought.

Ian meets them at the station with a wagon. He greets them with enthusiasm and lots of news from home.

“Did you get the supplies ordered?” Jamie asks as they drive off. The wagon is much more wobbly and poor Claire is green before they are half way down the road.

“I did and already received some. The crofts will be expanded and the gardens built. We are also preparing for the breeding program. “

“Very good. Claire honey, do we need to stop?”

“No, let's just get there as fast as we can.”

They arrive and Jenny with her young son, hurries out to meet them. “James, what have you done to the poor lass? She looks half dead. Come, my dear, lets get you laid down.”

“Thank you. I will be better now that I am on solid ground. I am expecting.”

“Expecting? Oh, my dear, such wonderful news!” she hugs Claire and then her brother. “ Such excellent news. You both need a bath, some food, and your bride needs to lie down.” She isn't to be messed with and, despite the fact Jamie wishes to sit and talk with Ian about the changes, he submits to his sisters wishes. When they are bathed and feed, and Claire is laid down, he finds Ian.

“See, a start to what you ordered.” He shows him the area where fresh lumber is stacked.

“Wonderful. My only concern is getting enough hands for the work. It is harvest time.”

“Aye tis'. Jenny and I have discussed that. There are many a family, living rough around here. The men doing menial work to keep their families feed and roofed. Hard working men, ye ken. At the offer of a more substantial roof, they would be eager to come and help with the harvest and the building. Their wives can help set up the gardens. With more hands to plant and plow more fields, as well as hands to help with the horses, well we can easily take care of the extra tentants.”

“Brilliant. We will start talking with them in the morrow. I would also like to surprise Claire with a surgery, turn one of the crofts, closr by the main house into thus.”

“We will see it done.”

The next few months are busy ones. Lisa arrives, and after spending a month with her family, settles in to helping her mistress prepare for the coming bairn as well as helping her set up the gardens.

Claire works them until she gets to big to bend over. They are laid out, seeded, and prepared for spring. The men are building up the crofts with the help of the new tenants. A new barn has also went up, set up for breeding. They finish the surgery and she cries when she sees it.

As winter begins and the baby gets closer to being birthed, Claire is confined to the house and finds herself reading up on botany and knitting tiny clothes for the soon to be born, baby.

In the dead of winter, with the wind howling outside, she goes into labor. Jamie paces below as she, assisted by Jenny and Lisa, struggles to birth her first child. As the sun raises, over the fresh ice and snow, he emerges, with hair as fiery red as his da's and a loud cry that Jamie hears downstairs. He runs up to meet him. Brian William James Fraser, born December 5th, and wishes all to ken he is here.

He sits and cradles their child as his wife smiles at them both. “ I told you I would give you a heir.”

He looks from the sleeping baby to her. “Oh mo ghaol, you have given me much more then a heir. You have gifted me with yourself, your love, and a son born from that love. What more can a man ask for?”

[aemperatrix]

Keats Is Coughing

by Marianne Boruch

Everything is made of everything. — Leonardo da Vinci

I found Rome in the woods.

Fair to admit it’s mostly tundra to the west in the park, past Toklat the Denali I revised, low grasslands engineered to freeze deep by October — this being Alaska — the great

           Tabularium close to the Temple of            Castor and Pollux I rebuilt that same summer —             not superimposed, exact as any scheme

in secret — the Arch of Septimius Severus at the gravel bar        where fox drank from a river turned stream,           a Theater of Marcellus near               the ranger station where one raven,                                                                                    such a brat,   complained of                      my Circus Maximus, Trajan’s Column,                              my Baths of Diocletian, too many spots soaked in unpronounceable Latin.

                   I really did, I shouldered bits of it,      a ruin-hushed haunted business, my brain                                                         a truck bed, a lift, pulleys big as a whale’s heart, expletives of cheap wonder all over                                                                  my woodlot and expanse.                          One self-anoints to embellish day, years, life thus far, and think oneself so...    

                      Then busted — 

by a raven!

Well, that’s memory for you, that’s so-called        civilization for you, to layer up,                         to redo the already done.

I mean it’s a fact, the puny life span we’re allotted.              And proof — Denali in August, fireweed, spunky scrawny first Latinate — Erechtites hieracifolia — 

              giving off flowers to mark               what weeks left, little               time bomber, time traveler, ancient               slips red-flagging the countdown to winter               by climbing its own stalk.

Something perverse about that. Something perfectly fiendishly self-conscious about that.

•

From the start perverse, any premise.      Ask...We can’t know. To be compelled

           makes an occasion. Rome’s grand     past horrific, fire and ash, swamp into bog, lust              and bloodlust — 

The Alaska Range dreams lurid as Rome,                                        the worst way below being fire, summer snow at night      off the highest peaks by noon              as distant from our cabin as the size of a hand if I                         held up the one with                         an eye in the middle

to know how this works. Some have the power to raise from the dead a before, before scary and beautiful           back to mystery cults, in caves, rubble far under a Roman street, the altar to Mithras still slaying his bull, crumbling the stonework.

            All things being equal. But they’re not.                    Agony, it’s older.                      Ask the moose at Denali,                         the snowshoe hare, the lynx,

such a wily courtly lot.                                           Ask Ovid      banished to his hovel on the Black Sea, aching                for Rome’s exalted rude cacophony, each      exiled month a big thick X down

                                  Februarius,                                 Aprilis to home-shattered sick enough

for an undersong. Look it up! Undersong: a strain; a droning; the burden of a song —                                              Maybe that lowest common denominator is contagious. Rome or Denali, a mash-up of lunge and cry out, predator and prey throwing coins to a fountain, footholds made first by a hoof, pickpockets at buses and trains, nuns queuing up their no-nonsense, thorny brambles, raggedy spruce groves,                                           a look, a nod to sell loveless love on the street, a chain of mountains in choral repeat, saints stained to glass, how ice gouged rivers from rock-bound,                                 the one-lung rapturous common-sense Pope all outstretched arms, his little popemobile circling the thrilled at St. Peter’s up on our rickety chairs to see in six, seven languages how radiant —                             Cross my heart, he was. And Keats, Keats is coughing.

•

You find the fossil record everywhere. In woods, tundra, under streets, in cadaver labs.                                 Not those bright transparencies, wistful orderly page after page in biology, a lie, a kind of flip-book romance. It’s the one big mess of us in us, the generous extraordinary dead prove that, signing a paper, giving themselves away                                            to be cut, disembodied for the knowing it, sunk to their chemical depth in some afterlife, opened on a table by kids really,                                             belabored doctors-to-be, our shabby shared wilderness to untangle, bones   joints   arteries   valves,                                                         The Dissector in hand, weirdest how-to book on the planet. For Keats too, 1819, his scribbled roses and sunflowers in margins,                                                                  his training,                                                           his anatomy theatre, looking down and later: still London, then Rome (he who gets it,  body fails, second floor, beside the Spanish Steps).                                           Heart, not my heart anymore.                                     Forgive me. I’m worse than the hopelessly confused misnamed English sparrow, descendant of the great weaver birds of Africa, a finch that lost the gene

      for nest, how to beneath, to across so intricate, precise, bringing bringing sticks and hair and bits of shiny paper. Undersong: the burden of a song.                                                       Poor bird. Poor sweet muddled middle of it. I watched morning after morning, his offering...                                                                           It’s Keats who made claims about beauty and time. His bed at the last                        too low for the window, his must-have                                 tell me, what’s out there — 

I admit: a ridiculous layering, Rome in Denali. Just because? Because I went to both in short order? Two continents, an ocean apart. My mother loved hand-me-down expressions — never the twain shall meet. They do meet.                           To repeat: that’s civilization for you. Happenstance and right now drag along future and past                             and why the hell not the Denali, the Rome in any of us, no two states of being more unalike, worn-out compulsion to collect and harbor, piece together,                                                                    stupid into some remember machine.

  Such fabulous unthinkable inventions we’ve made to merge or unmake: the trash compactor,   the poem, all tragedy and story, pencils sharpened to

a point that keeps breaking, wilderness gone inward as

                  an ocean-going ship’s container,                         a Gatling gun,                                 the AR-15 of the seething deranged,                                         the H-bomb,                                             Roman legions to Canterbury to blood-up fields into legend then dig the first plumbing but

                                            how can you                                             be in two places at once                                             when you’re not anywhere at all!

       (Thank you, Firesign Theatre, brilliant wackos,              old vinyl on a turntable still in the game... )

                     Fine. Fuck it. Start over.

•

See the sheep on high ledges, the arctic squirrels below.

See the way Dante saw, sweeping his arm across Vasari’s great painting as Boccaccio looks off, the plague sealing city after city. Dante

in hell, steady-luminous     those fact-finding trips to service           his worldly Inferno.

Winter sleeps through. August at Denali, bears shovel it down       a razor-edged maw —                                                 twigs! berries! more stems! —  Fate hoards to prepare, sub-zeros, fattens into...   

See the park’s camper bus, 92 miles how most of us jolt and slow, crossing hours more daylight than night all summer, rattling tin can with its exhaust and hissing gravel, the fear landslide                  an undersong just-possible, how we zigzag a mountain. Look!

                 Nearing a bear, the young caribou abruptly                             hesitant, shy as a leaf — 

No! Don’t! Do not! That grizzly huge, bent to his ploy just                                                 these berries around here, his ignore ignore, sure, quiet-tense as a trigger, and we of                      fogged scratched windows so hard to open — 

stop! The bus stopped. Jesus. The thing curious, closer...                          They’re not

that smart anyhow, a stage-whispering drunk from the back      of our imperial realm, mile 62, the Park Road.

What did Venus decree in her temple up whichever narrow street in Rome, the Ancients’                             stink of slops, standing water,           a bear chained to a slave (out of slav, by the way,                             backdrop is horde, human spoils)

both shackled to a grindstone for                                                             a later mob and roar.

Here’s what we saw: the little caribou  in reverse wanders sideways and safe.                                             Our bus one big sigh or like a wheezing asthmatic the brakes unbrake.

Bad dream, bad dream, the undersong start to all fable if                        for real we’d seen that kill back to lions off their continent cornered, bloodied in the great amphitheaters, rearing up, a nail to hammer’s                                   bite and blow. The wilderness in us

is endless. Near the cabin, near evening, a warbler                               in the fireweed                                                    hawk saw or heard,                          his switchblade clicked to —                                                                         I was and I was                      whirling feathers, either bird —    Every hunger                            is first century. Forever-thus   feral cats at the Forum about to leap too.                                                        The Forum, last homage   I shoveled holes and rocks to   remake, mile 82, while the haymouse riddled the meadow   down deep, her catacombs.

•

Time + beauty = ruins. Perfect shapes in the mind       meet my friends Pointless and Threat and Years of       Failure to Meld or Put to Rest. Ruthless                                                                                 is human.

I ask a composer: How to live with this undersong thing                             over and over, how to

                                                                   get rid of it,                                                                        the world of it — 

 He looks at me. What undersong thing? And shrugs       I’ll put it on the test! Let students define it.

     So I dreamt such a test: Go there. To Rome.                    Half-doze against a wall                      two thousand years of

    flesh    sweat    insect wing ago, stone laid by hand, by a boy when a whip, a whip, a welling up, his will not speak.

   Have at it. Please explain. Please fill in this blank.

Grief punctures like ice, moves like a glacier   to flat and slog and myth, low blue and white flowers       we hiked trail-less. The rangers insist. They insist — 

      never follow or lead, never lay down a path.

                                                                       From above the look of us spread out, our seven or eight a band, little stray exhausted figures                                           as over the land bridge from Asia,

circa: prehistory keeps coming, older than Rome, both   both underfoot, understory, underway

        miles below numb, it’s burning.

•

To see at all, you time                                         and this time and time again.

The spirit leans intrigued, the other part bored, then there’s want,                                                                    then there’s wait.

Once a city began with a wolf whose two human pups would      build, would watch it fall, nursing                                              at her milk for centuries               in marble               in bronze.

         She stands there and cries of                                                               that pleasure, by turns a blood-chill. The tundra. At night.

A snake eats its own tail, forever at it on a fresco. A real snake                       leaves his skin near the gravel bar. Some words sting, some are sung. Another life isn’t smaller.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs “Snow Snakes.”

As always, I am always looking for new ideas, so just a reminder to send me your ideas comment or ask. I may or may not do them, but sometimes you think of things I haven’t considered.

“Come on, krill.”

“No.”

“Oh come on.”

“No.”

Captain Vir and his three brothers stood at the bottom of the snow covered mountainside arms crossed under the light of the snow-blinding sun.

“I am not getting on that.” Krill huffed stubbornly. He was sitting encased inside the specimen tube protected from the freezing cold of the snow, but despite his protection, there was no way in the seven rings of Nebulon he was going to get on the steel contraption of impending death.

He wasn’t really sure what he was expecting with the brothers insisted he come with them. Driving slowly up an ice covered mansion to a small human settlement populated by hundreds of humans in advanced snow gear.

Of course that had all seemed relatively ok, he hadn’t even questioned them when the humans began strapping waxed boards of fiberglass to their feet. Humans hated walking, and if they could avoid doing it in any condition than they would. He had even heard stories of humans strapping wheels to their feet though he had yet to see that.

Strapped to Captain Vir’s back, the group of them had slid their way down a shallow hill to where they now stood.

“No.”

“Krill, it’s safe. Humans have been doing this for hundreds… no thousands of years now.”

“Are you kidding me, just look at it.” The brothers turned in unison looking up at the “Ski lift.” Massive posts of steel rose into the air at equal distance from each other bound together by massive steel cables. Attached to these steel cables by only a single bar of steel, was a chair. Just big enough for four people, the chair swung and dangled over the drop as it carried it’s chattering humans up into the fog.

Captain vir reached down and shouldered the specimen tube with one strap, “Oh don’t worry, we promise you’ll be fine.”

The other three nodded, “We promise we won’t push Adam off as long as he’s holding you.”

Kril stared at them aghast, and they laughed sliding their way towards the gate using spike tipped poles to push themselves along when they couldn’t move their legs.

Krill hunkered down inside his tube desperately covering his eyes with the colorful scarf the female human had knitted for him. It was quite a sweet gesture, and though it was meant to keep him warm and comfortable, he now used it to cover his eyes.

He felt the humans slide forward, and then the sudden jolt as the chair swept their feet out from under them. He could just imagine the ground disappearing as they were carried into the air upon the rickety contraption.

One of these days he was just going to die of anxiety.

Eventually he was able to open his eyes terrified as the ground slowly passed by far below.

Then the humans began pushing each other.

They stopped when he began to scream.

Luckily, they made it to the top in one piece sliding down the little lift and onto the pinnacle of snow. Krill was finally able to relax, but then another confused question came up.

He looked at the brothers as they adjusted their gloves.

Two of them weren’t strapped to two pieces of fiberglass, but had decided to strap both of their feet to one piece of fiberglass, because of that, they was forced to sit down and redo the straps at the top while the other two brothers waited patiently.

“Um, one problem.”

The four humans looked up at him eyebrows raised.

“How are we going to get down? I mean those things on your feet look really slippery and we are at the top of a mountain, if you go close to the edge you’ll just start sliding, and what’s to stop you from sliding into a tree or off a cliff?”

He really should get used to the humans laughing at him. That usually meant that he had said something that clearly demonstrated that he understood nothing.

The two sitting humans stood, “What an astute observation my inhuman friend.” One of the brothers said, “Because that is exactly the point.”

“Wait, what.”

Before he could protest further the humans had pushed themselves over the edge picking up speed as they moved down the mountain. Krill felt his insides drop out from under him as they sped down a steep incline carving sharp turns into the snow. The three other brothers cut around them two oriented sideways on their single pieces of fiberglass.

Krill was just beginning to get used to the feeling of speeding down a thirty miles an hour when the human cut left heading straight for the trees. Krill screamed trying to tell him to turn before he ran into something, but Captain Vir cut through a pile of powder sending up a wave of the white fluff taking a sharp turn as trees began appearing out of nowhere.

The turns he used were sharp and fast. Krill ended up at the bottom of his containment to dizzy to keep track of where they were going. Every moment it seemed as if they were about to bash into a tree, but his human reflexes saved them every time as they cut from the forest riding over a hard packed bump catching momentary air before landing back to the ground with a thud and a spray of white.

Turning sideways, the human cut to a sharp, jolting stop, waiting for the other humans to catch up.

One of the single-board humans followed catching a good three feet of air as he came over the bump, spinning himself to his other side and landing oriented the other direction.

Vir snorted, “Not bad for an amateur.”

A middle finger was raised.

The second brother to appear came out of the trees with an extended scream careening out of control before running into a mass pile of snow. There was an explosion of white, and Krill barely caught the moment as the human turned horizontal catching his toe edge on the hard-paced snow.

He pitched violently towards the ground slamming into the unforgiving earth to skid a good six feet before coming to a stop at their feet.

He lay there for a moment moaning.

Krill’s eyes widened in horror.

The humans laughed.

The other brother joined them quickly giggling at his brother’s expense, “WHIPEOUT.”

“Pain.” The man moaned

“Sucks to suck.” Captain Vir pointed out unconcernedly as the human finally pealed himself off the ground front covered in snow, goggles shedding chunks of white.

‘Oh yeah, well if you are such an expert, than you should show us your skill, oh great master of the slopes.”

“And how do you suggest I do that. I can hardly demonstrate my great skill with the three of you hampering me.”

Laughter, booing and catcalling ensued, but they finally moved off, one human saying he had the perfect place for their younger brother to show them his skill.

 “Absolutely Not! Don’t be crazy you WILL die.”

Captain Vir looked down the slope standing next to his brothers. Krill could see the look on the man’s face as if even the HUMAN was beginning to acknowledge his mistake.

The mount of snow must have been twenty feet tall, and as they watched a distant speck raced towards the jump catching a tremendous amount of air, spinning over backwards before finally landing and skiing off as if nothing had happened.

It looked like a horrible way to die

One brother crossed his arm, “Well, let’s see it then.”

Captain Vir swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck. Krill had never seen him like this before, but then again he had never done many human activities with him, and this was just stupid.

“Chicken.” One of the brothers goaded

The Captain stood there for a long moment before his face hardened. He shrugged himself out of the straps to the specimen tube and thrust Krill into his older brother’s hands.

The man’s eyes widened in surprise as his younger brother did so, “What are you doing?”

“Showing you how it’s done.”

He held out a hand as if to stop him but missed as he began slowly gaining speed down the hill.

“Shit.” One of the brothers said

“I didn’t think he’d actually do it.” The other said, and in unison they began racing down the hill calling their younger brother’s name telling him to stop.

He either didn’t hear or didn’t listen, and by the time he reached the base of the jump he was practically flying. Snow sprayed out behind him in a tight arc. His brothers were screaming for him to stop. He had reached the apex of the jump now, and somehow, for some unknown reason the skis popped from his feet launching him into the air.

Krill watched in fascinated horror as if, in slow motion, the human flailed about until the apex of his flight he began to fall. He must have tried very hard to reorient himself, but it wouldn’t have mattered. He hit the ground hard pitching forward feet curling over his head.

“F***K.”

As far as he understood, the human spine wasn’t supposed to bend that way.

He didn’t stop there jack-knifeing down the mountain feet over head bouncing into the air and then rolling. When he finally stopped rolling, he began to slide finally coming to a stop in a mound of snow still and unmoving.

The brothers raced after him yelling, “F**K Shit….SHIT!”

“F**K Jeremy why did you tell him to do that.”

“I didn’t think he’d actually do it! F**K.”

Faster than ever before, they sped around the jump and down the hill. Krill watched in numb silence, and he just watched his friend die horribly?

They sped to a stop beside the prone body lying face down in the snow. Jeremy kicked off his skis and knelt next to his brother. Patting him on the back, “Adam, Adam, can you hear me? Adam.”

For one horrible moment he didn’t respond. And then he moaned.

A relieved sigh broke from the gathered humans and Krill felt the relief spread through him.

“Alright Adam, don’t move.”

The human didn’t seem to have heard him struggling slowly into a sitting position looking dazed. Jeremy gave up trying to keep him still and helped him into a sitting position.

“You idiot, are you ok?” He pulled off his goggles, and looked at his eyes.

Adam weakly tried to wave him off, “I’m ok.”

Krill had a tough time believing that. Apparently many of the other humans agreed, and the mountain rescue crews hand been called to take him off the mountain and look him over for injuries.

To krill’s relief and his annoyance, they found none. It was like the human was made of rubber or something. Despite the horrible way in which his spine had nearly bent in half he seemed none the worse for wear aside from some pretty nasty bruising.

In fact, Krill would have wagered that the brothers received more injury from their mother than Vir received from his fall.

As seemed to be the rule of small human towns, everyone knew everyone, and someone on the mountain had seen Captain Vir’s fall and called the female human directly. When they finally walked through the door supporting their sore brother, they received an aggressive and terrifying tirade about their behavior towards their younger brother.

Why hadn’t they stopped him, what kind of idiots were they, what if he had died?

Secretly, Krill received a huge sense of amusement from watching the three large men cowed by the small plump woman.

His conclusion, humans are made of rubber, and it’s probably not a good idea to anger a human mother.

They will hurt you.

[olaf-likeswarmhugs]

Olaf’s Frozen Adventure Part 1||  Chapter X: Texts Olaf Never Sent

A/N: So…how did Olaf end up in Swynlake?! The journey began months ago! Things sure are changing in the Icelandic Hollow, and the more they do, the more Olaf has to question.

In this chapter: Set over the past year, all the things Olaf never said. 

TW: Global warming/Climate change anxiety

@HULDUFOLK-HJARN

​CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN

April 2019

Olaf [deleted]: Hi Sindri! It’s been one month since you left on your BIG HUMAN ADVENTURE! I’m thinking about you today, especially because I’m working with a couple Frost-talents. Yup, slush-puddle duty again, haha, I know that I was just doing it when we talked yesterday but those puddles just won’t stay frozen i guess haha, anyway i’m glad its Spring so at least soon we won’t really have to worry abou

Olaf [deleted]: Viktor asked me how you were today and I realized we hadn’t talked in a week or so. He said you’re going to forget about me... that’s not true though right? 

Olaf [deleted]: We had 16 hours of sunlight today!!! Anna-mum and I went down to the black shores for pebble-collecting. :) I found one I think I’ll save for yo

May 2019

Olaf [deleted]: Happy Sugar Moon, Sindri! It feels like summer here already, it’s so beautiful! Is it nice where you are? I hear it rains a lot in England, so I hope you’re staying frosty! No meltdowns for my astvinur <3 <3 <3 

Olaf [deleted]: Elsa-mum just told me she’s going to travel to the Ok Hollow. She looked kind of nervous... I think something bad is happenin

Olaf [deleted]: Hey, I don’t know if I told you this, but Elsa and Kristoff are actually going to the Ok Hollow. Maybe its about the summer games? 

Olaf [deleted]: I was Baking-talent today and we made your favourite! Rúgbrauð! i snuck a whole loaf for you and then forgot you weren’t gonna be here to eat it haha. Could I mail it to Swynlake do you think? How does mail work? 

Olaf [deleted]: It’s been a week since Elsa-mum left. Anna-mum misses her a lot. I miss you a lot. 

Olaf [deleted]: ugh i was assigned slush-puddle duty with viktor again. xP He just keeps asking me questions about you and I don’t know how to answer...we should talk more, i think. I mean, you’re probably too busy, but if you’re not!

June 2019

Olaf [deleted]: Did you go to the Queen yet? I just had a nightmare you were without pixie dust ahahhahah but you definitely met the queen there right?? Not trying to nag!

Olaf [deleted]: Sindri, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but Elsa-mum and a whole team of Frosts and Snow and Ice-talents went to Ok Hollow last month. They were supposed to be back yesterday, but Anna-Mum read the Lights, and they won’t be back until next week. :/ Anna-mum seems really concerned and lonely. I don’t really know what to do 

Olaf [deleted]: Do you think I should participate in the Summer Games? I can’t decide which talent I’d do! I wish you were here and then we could maybe do a team talent haha, maybe we could be a pebble-skipping team or somethi

Olaf [deleted]: Hi Sindri! No news to report haha, I was just thinking of you. How are you? 

Olaf [deleted]: Hi Sindri, Elsa-mum got back from visiting the Ok Hollow and the Frosts and Ice and Snow-talents were all called to a meeting with the Queen. I dont’ think that ever happened before. Did you ever meet with the queen for some special ice meeting ever? 

Olaf [deleted]: Hi Sindri! It’s been a little bit since we talked. :) How are your summer classes? Are you very busy? Have you been to see the Swynlake Queen yet, what’s she like? 

July 2019 

Olaf [deleted]: guh i’m sick sindri :((( the healing-talents say its hay fever. i dont want you to worry though, i’ll be fine. just have to take a few days off and put on this ointment! i have the gnarliest rash haha id sent you a picture but you’d get so worried, 

Olaf [deleted]: SINDRI THEY ARE CANCELING THE SUMMER GAMES!!  Olaf [deleted]: Sindri, agh, I should have told you about this earlier, I just didn’t want to stress you out or make you feel guilty bu Olaf [deleted]: Sindri I have very big news. It’s not good news. D: Its really bad news! Olaf [deleted]: Okay, no panicking or feeling bad, but I think everyone is starting to realize how right you were. Queen Iduna just canceled the Summer Games because Ok Hollow is Olaf [deleted]: Ok Hollow is melting Olaf [deleted]: Ok Hollow is moving to our Hollow. This is a really really long story I...  Olaf [deleted]: I feel so bad. I should have talked to you before this Olaf [deleted]: By August, Ok Hollow is going to be extinct...  Olaf [deleted]: I think you need to come home, Sindri. I think the Hollow needs you more than ever. Something awful has happened and I don’t think it will get better without you... 

Olaf [sent]: Hi Sindri :) How are you? How’s your new friend, Nemo? 

August 2019

Olaf [deleted]: Elsa-mum and Kristoff are returning to Ok hollow to help the fairies move here. I’m trying to stay positive. It will be nice to meet new people. Elsa-mum even said they have two Helpers of their own and now that we’ll have their Frosts and Snow and Ice-talents, I won’t do as much slush-puddle duty because things will definitely stay frozen when everyone is working together. So that’s good. Though I keep thinking, what if it doesn’t? It didn’t when Elsa froze the ponds, and you frosted them. You both are the best Ice-talent and Frost-talents I know! Queen Iduna says not to panic and that our Hollow will be very protected, but even she’s planning to go to Reykjavik later. Can you believe that? She’s going to go with Ok’s queen. Or I guess she won’t be a queen anymore...their Spring dried up....sorry, this is...I won’t send this I just feel like I have to get my thoughts out? I just don’t know how I’m supposed to help with any of this, I guess. I know I love being a Helper-talent but if I were an Ice or Snow or Frost, then maybe I could do more. I think that’s the help we all need right now. Or a Chill talent, so I could keep the air cool all the time... 

Olaf [deleted]: my hay fever is back. :(

Olaf [deleted]: Sindri, you know how much I love summer. But I’m starting to hate it, just a little bit. It’s just way too warm. I can’t wait until the summer is over. 

September 2019

Olaf [deleted]: Elsa-mum is going with Queen Iduna to the capital. Isn’t that crazy? She asked Iduna herself and Iduna said yes! Anna-mum is worried about her, but I think she’ll be okay, especially with the queen. It’s just kinda hard because Elsa-mum’s been going away a lot, you know, ever since May. But she’s representing Ice-talents and that’s very important. 

Olaf [deleted]: Anna-mum is upset with Elsa-mum because apparently Elsa lied to her when she’s going to be back from the capital (she went to the capital, btw, long story haha) Why do you think she’d do that? I think that can’t be true, and things are just taking longer in Reykjavik. 

Olaf [deleted]: Sindri, I have this restless feeling I can’t get rid of. I think I’ve had it my whole life? But when you were around, it was easier to ignore it, I think. But I keep feeling like I’m forgetting something. I just can’t figure it out. Do you think I’m forgetting something? 

Olaf [deleted]: What if everyone has slightly different talents than we think we do? Hear me out! What if Elsa-mum’s talent is actually Take-charge talent? Captain-talent? What if yours is Figuring-things-out talent and that’s why you had to go away? I was just thinking about you said, about me. And then I was thinking about Queen Gale, from the Ok Hollow. She doesn’t have a talent anymore because her Pixie Spring is gone. I was talking to her the other day because she’s actually training to be a Helper-talent now. She’s very calm and wise and a good listener, which I think actually means that all Royal-talents must be at least PART helper-talent anyway! Maybe our talents are bigger than we think, is what I’m trying to say, just really badly, haha. Or like...they’re like snow and we can shape them like when we build snow-bears and snow-fairies. :) Queen Gale liked when I said that. Anyway, I was just thinking... the sky’s awake, so I’m awake haha. I miss you, Sindri, i guess it makes me ramble

October 2019

Olaf [deleted]: SNOWBALLS SINDRI i told Queen Gale about what you said about me being a hugging talent lolol and then we were talking about it and how that restless feeling I have, that forgetting feeling? She says that sounds like a fairy who hasn’t found their talent. She says she’s going to talk to Queen Iduna about redoing my ceremony???? I can’t believe it! They just have to get back from Reykjavik, which oh yeah, i dont think I told you but Elsa went away to the capital aga

Olaf [deleted]: ELSA-MUM AND QUEEN IDUNA ARE BACK!!! Queen Gale is going to talk to Queen Iduna tomorrow. Oooooh, I’m nervous, Sindri. I know if you were here, you’d tell me is silly to be nervous because nothing bad will happen haha. Still! What if she says yes? 

Olaf [deleted]: SHE SAID YES I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS SHE SAID YES

Olaf [deleted]: Viktor says its stupid I’m getting a redo. :( He laughed and said, who messes up their Arrival? He’s kind of right, lol. What if nothing happens again? Icicles, you were right, he really is a jerk. 

Olaf [deleted]: Hilda seemed really upset when I told her D: She’s right, I dunno why I’m looking to leave Helping-talent when there are only five of us. And with two hollows squished into one, there’s so much to do! Agh. I think I’m being very selfish. I like Helping! I really do! Do you think I should tell Queen Iduna to call it off... 

Olaf [deleted]: Two days until my ceremony! I think I should call it off. I’m going to. 

Olaf [deleted]: I nearly called off my ceremony but Queen Gale talked me out of a total meltdown lololol it was really embarrassing i was crying slush puddles all over her 

Olaf [deleted]: One day until my ceremony!!! How long does a flight take from Swynlake to here? Just wondering haha just....wondering

Olaf [deleted]: It’s today. I’m really nervous. Sindri, I’m really really nervous. I think I’m going to call it off, I can’t do this. 

Olaf:  Sindri, you’re probably busy with classes, so just ignore the fact I called! I’m fine, Anna-mum and Elsa-mum are here now. :) I’m going to call you after my ceremony. ^.^ Just a few hours to go! 

November 2019: 

Olaf [deleted]: First day on the job! I’m really nervous again. But deep breaths, right? Do you think maybe we could talk, just for a little bit...I know you’re busy but...

Olaf [deleted]: First day DONE! It wasn’t so bad. Kinda boring? Haha. But I think it will get better. Kinda missed Hilda and Bjorn and Queen Gale though. :( 

Olaf [deleted]: Whoa, Sindri, Viktor came in and asked for a hug and when I hugged him, he totally had a meltdown. We talked for like, two hours? Viktor says he’s scared because the slush puddles are still happening.. even though its Aurora-moon now and everything. And then he was talking about how he feels like he’s not a good enough frost-talent :/ I think this whole time he’s been really jealous of you since you’re better at doing the patterns in the frost and now, when things are melting all the time, it feels like even just regular frosting doesn’t matter too much. I told him of course it matters though. Of course it does! I think it matters even more than it did before! But he said he’s thinking of leaving too? I can’t believe it. What if all our Frosts leave and then...well, what then, not saying that you...I mean I don’t want to blame you, it’s not your fault at all! It’s not Viktor’s fault either. None of this is anyone’s fault. :( ugh. Wow, it’s been a long day

Olaf [deleted]: Viktor came back and he brought like, 6 other Frosts from Ok Hollow. We talked and cuddled. It mostly made me miss you though :/ They all miss their home too....

Olaf [deleted]: Honeymaren says the waiting room is not a hang-out room. :((((

Olaf [deleted]: Elsa-mum is going to the capital again. Anna-mum is so so angry... I think I need a hug lol 

Olaf [deleted]: Glade, Gliss, and Magnus all came in for hugs. The glacier is shrinking. Everyone is really upset. I’m really upset. I feel like there must be more I can do? Is this really all I can do? We’re all going to melt away-- maybe not this Winter, maybe not next, but I think everyone realizes it’s going to happen. Sindri, what can I do? 

Olaf [deleted]: Viktor told me to tell you hi and he’s sorry and that he always thought you were really cool and that we should all hang out when you come home to visit!!! Do you know when that will be? 

December 2019

Olaf [deleted]: Elsa-mum came back. They’ve been fighting for hours. I’m looking outside at the sky, and its so beautiful-- but how can it be beautiful when they’re fighting? How can the aurora lights be blue like winter when the world is melting? How can I ever stop missing you? Sindri, come home. I don’t want to be like Anna-mum. But come home, before there’s no home left. 

December 19, 2019

Olaf [deleted]: sindri i can't sleep :/ 

Olaf [deleted]:  i just keep thinking...what if we never see each other again? what if you never get enough money to come home? what if i cant get enough money to see you? Its  

Olaf [deleted]: i really

Olaf [deleted]: i miss you

Olaf [deleted]: im scared im going to miss you for my whole life 

[felixsfrecklesaremyaesthetic]

The winter ball pt.1

1.9k words 

December 20th, to most it was a normal day but to the excited teens of Hogwarts, it was the long-awaited day of the winter ball. Students sat around in the Gryffindor common room all huddled close to the roaring fireplace. All stretching their socked feet towards the flames trying to warm their practically frozen toes. 

There were considerably fewer students than before the Christmas holidays had started, Fred, noticed. Consequently, that allowed Fred to hear about every word of the conversation the two 6th year girls were having next to him. All they were blabbering on about was the ball. He happened to hear a snippet of the conversation, the blonde girl asked ‘if she should use Rachael’s pixie powder blush,” and ‘if they’ll play any of the whispering wolves’ music”. Fred rolled his eyes, in truth he also liked the whispering wolves’ music and hoped it would be played tonight, but he just couldn’t understand what the all the fuss was about the ball. it was just a dance for 5th, 6th and 7th years to mill around a bit and get uncomfortably sweaty in even more uncomfortable dress robes. It was a tradition stolen from the American wizards at Ilvermorny- it had something to do with the winter solstice and some famous wizard but Fred really couldn’t remember anything else about it.

“Freddie stop staring at them you look like a weirdo”, Lucie’s voice broke Fred from his thoughts. He turned to face her; she sat in one of the high backed, plush chairs stolen from around the fireplace. On her lap, face up, was one of the countless charms books Fred knew she kept in her trunk -her caramel coloured fingers absentmindedly ran across the very well-worn pages as she was speaking to him. she looked ever so small in the chair Fred thought; it's like the abundance of cushions were swallowing her whole. Although, she might have looked so small due to the deep maroon jumper that she loved so deeply (even though the cuffs were frayed to bits and there was a hole in the collar) was sagging sadly around her petite shoulders. The last full moon had really taken a toll on her this time, Fred made a mental note to make sure she ate plenty of food during the holidays and to keep some chocolate in his pocket just in case. The thing Fred hated the most was seeing her get ill; it made his intestines knot with guilt and worry and a cold feeling pool in the pit of his stomach.

“So, when we're both ready should we meet here or at the main hall?”, Lucie questioned, “because I think we should meet here so I can assess if your fashion is truly winter ball ready.’ Lucie laughed her way through the sentence, sarcasm dripping from her voice. A smirk played at her lips as she waited for Fred’s reply.

"Well for one I think we should meet here and two, I'll have you know I'm very fashionable.”

“yeah right, you’re about as fashionable as a mountain troll in a cocktail dress”, Lucie retorted.

The pair bickered for a little while longer before ultimately deciding they should split ways back to their rooms and begin to get ready.

Snow was falling thickly upon the grounds now, covering it in a blanket of white. All that broke up this blanket was the iced gingerbread house of Hagrid’s cabin; a pinprick of light glowing from one of its windows. Well, that was all Fred could see through one of the slits in the stone wall of the spiralling staircase he ascended to get to his room.

The more steps he took towards his room the more reality began setting in. He was going to the winter ball with Lucie- his best friend- and she was going to be his date. Before now it hadn’t been a big deal but he realized he’d probably have to do awkward things like slow dance with her and do other date stuff all night. Wiping his now sweaty palms on his trousers, other thoughts of what he’ll have to do tonight began bombarding his brain. Will it make Lucie happy if he does all that date stuff? What if he tries to dance with her and she laughs and him? What if it gets so awkward, she never wants to see him again, then who would help him with his charms homework?

Before he knew it, Fred was at the door to his room. Leaning closer to open the door, he heard the other boys getting ready and he began to laugh at himself and all his stupid thoughts. After all, it was just Lucie and he’d done way more awkward things in front of her before without her hating him and most importantly if the other boys are going to be there with him it couldn’t really be that bad.

James sat fully dressed on his bed in dark navy dress robes, his shoes and tie hanging from the chestnut bedpost by his feet. Fred thought he looked very smart in his dress robes and very much not like James. Even his unruly pitch coloured hair was brushed and styled neatly. Fred smiled knowing how desperately James wanted to impress Alice.

“Cutting it a bit close Weasley you’ll hardly have any time to doll yourself up for Lucie”, said James whilst raising his eyebrows mischievously.

“well at least I’m not waiting around in dress robes for no reason”, Fred retorted

“Oi, I’m meeting Alice in her common room on the other side of the bloody castle so I have to be ready early”, James said whilst throwing a pillow directly at Fred’s head. Beaters, perfect aim as usual.

Frankie, one of the other two boys in the room rolled his eyes, turned away and grumbled something about ‘potter’, ‘best friend’ and ‘my sister’.

After a mad panic of finding his dress robes, losing his shoes and finding them again and trying miserably to arrange his dark brown curly hair, Fred was ready and so was everyone else in the room. Looking down at the dirty blonde head of hair just by his shoulder, Fred noticed that Frankie looked just about as nervous as he felt. The taller boy clapped the shorter one on the shoulder telling him that he was bloody brave to ask out the 6th year and she was absolutely out of her mind to accept the 5th year's proposal. They both laughed, some of the nervousness weighing down their shoulders disappeared as they both set off the meet their dates, a little turquoise corsage held firmly in Frankie’s hand.

Lucie was late as usual. The sliver of black silky fabric that was once Fred’s bowtie laid miserably in his hand. He’d tried for the past ten minutes to try and tie it but to no avail. Every time it just looked like one of the bows on his grandmas Christmas presents. On the other hand, maybe he couldn’t tie it due to his hands sweating rivers and his brain feeling like a firework had gone off in his skull. After another ten minutes of Fred getting up, sitting down and staring intensely at the ink pot on the table in front of him, which he had seen nearly a thousand times before, he finally heard the click-clack of high heels on wooden stairs and knew Lucie was finally ready.

She was a symphony of deep reds; her satin dress tightly hugged her body. That was until her calves where countless large ruby red ruffles erupted and then neatly fell all the way to the floor. Fred thought she looked beautiful. He’d never seen her look like this, her usually choppy black hair was now smoothed into an ornate coil at the back of her head, she even had a rose placed neatly beside her ear. Most of all Fred had never seen her with this much makeup on, her warm brown eyes were framed by fluttering black eyelashes and her lips were the colour of red wine, her skin seemed to be made of melted gold as it shimmered with fine gold glitter. Fred couldn’t believe his eyes and felt his jaw drop when she came even closer, she looked even prettier.

“sorry I’m late I had to redo my hair at least five times and then I had to help Ariana get into her dress and …Freddie why are you staring at me?”, Lucie asked her eyebrows pushed together in confusion.

“oh, sorry I was just”, Fred felt his cheeks get suspiciously hot, “you look very pretty.” he rambled at one hundred miles an hour. Lucie shot a surprised look at him but smiled widely as she thanked him. Fred knew his face was the colour of beetroot and tried hopelessly to calm himself down slightly.

Lucie scoffed slightly. “need me to tie that for you”, she said pointing at the sliver of silk still held firmly in his fist. She began stepping towards him taking the bowtie from his hand.

“you tie a tie every day how’s this any different”, she said whilst leaning forward to wrap the bowtie around this neck. Fred felt his ears blaze with a heat like molten lava and his eyes linger anywhere that was not Lucie. How in Dumbledore’s name is he going to spend the whole night with Lucie if he can’t even look at her? Fred thought to himself.

“they’re very different ties”, Fred spoke with all the confidence he could muster. Suddenly, Lucie was finished with his tie. She leaned back and Fred began to miss the closeness of her next to him. Then they were off down the corridors, Lucie’s shoes clacking on the stone tiles and her hand grasping lightly at Fred’s upper arm.

Hundreds of students gathered outside the main hall where a rainbow of different coloured robes and dresses blended together, very much unlike their usual black uniforms. Fred scanned the room looking for his friends. His eyes laid upon professor Longbottom smiling lovingly at his daughter, Alice, she wore a dress of shimmering gold fabric that went very nicely with her flowing long blonde hair. Next to Alice was her brother Frankie and his date Minsu who were engrossed in a very energetic conversation about what Fred could make out as the proper way to do the perfect bat bogey hex.

“you two are just in time they’re just about to let us all in”, said James with wild eyes, excitement practically rolling off of him. “oh, and you look great Lucie,” to Fred’s surprise, Lucie blushed but thanked James shortly after. Then the minute of everyone complimenting each other was abruptly stopped by the voice of a loud Scottish woman telling the buzzing crowd of students that the ball was about to begin. Professor McGonagall stood tall in her green tartan robes, as she was the headmistress of Hogwarts, she had much to be proud of and it showed through the pure look of admiration Fred could see in her eyes as she looked upon her students.

“seventh years go first, then sixth, then lastly fifth. You will all go inside in an orderly manner; then we will start the festivities,” McGonagall announced.

An excited rumble erupted through the crowd as the vast oak doors of the main hall began to open. as Fred looked inside he was met with hundreds of sparkling snowflakes, crystallised and suspended in mid-air as if someone had frozen time as the snow was falling. The room was illuminated in soft blue light as glowing orbs danced around the room; on closer inspection, Fred realized that these were not any ordinary lights, these were real faerie lights with real faeries. He couldn’t make out any more of the hall as streams of 6th and 7th years began to stream forward and block his view.

[aion-rsa]

American Gods Season 3: What Awaits Shadow in Lakeside

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

When asked about the evolution of American Gods from Shadow and Wednesday on the road to the more hidebound setting of Lakeside, Ricky Whittle makes no secret of his feelings about American Gods season 3’s bold change in scenery.

“This is my favorite part of the book. I’ve always been looking forward to doing this,” Whittle tells Den of Geek.

In a sense, if you are hiding from the world, there is no better place to do it than Lakeside, which is as far out in the middle of nowhere as can be managed by someone in the modern world. There is no radio or television station; only a local newspaper. There are no megastores or malls; only a general store. There is no fast food; only a beloved local diner with famous, addictive Cornish pasties. 

Lakeside is a significant change in the story of Shadow Moon. Rather than staying on the road with Wednesday, traveling across America and meeting Gods, Shadow settles in for a very long winter in a strange little town, walking away from Odin’s revelations and washing his hands of the war. On the surface, Lakeside, Minnesota (played by Toronto, Canada) is a frosty Americana of friendly people unbothered by the troubles of the outside world. Under the surface, things are never what they seem; Shadow is pulled into a mystery that has repercussions throughout the American Gods universe. One of the fan-favorite sections of Neil Gaiman’s book is now coming into play.

Regardless of the lack of comfort provided by shooting outdoors in Canada in winter, Lakeside as a setting does offer something more valuable than the contents of Hinzelmann’s General Store or the clunkers at the bottom of the lake to Shadow Moon a.k.a. Mike Ainsel. Rest. Rest, and a chance to work through the information that Shadow learns over the course of two packed seasons.

“There’s a lot on Shadow’s mind. He’s been given a whole sack full of information that he’s got to process now. His first decision was he’s done. He was always being attacked, one way or another. We found out in season two that his mother died from cancer when he was 15. He never grew up with a father. Then we find out that Wednesday killed Laura. Wednesday wasn’t working in the local store, the local bowling alley. He’s a God. He’s Odin. He could have changed his life at any time. That’s a lot sitting with Shadow right now.”

For Shadow, Lakeside offers more than just breathing room and a chance to process information, it is a chance for Shadow to have the only thing he has ever really wanted, from the time he was a teenager. 

“Shadow is more than happy to live a normal life. That’s all he’s ever really truly wanted. We find Shadow, beginning of season three, he’s grown his hair and his beard out. He’s hiding from the FBI, the police, the authorities. He’s changed his name. He’s Mike Ainsel. He’s working in a factory. He’s got his eyes on a local girl. Because that’s all he ever truly has wanted is to live that normal life after being pounded constantly by the universe.” 

With Lakeside, Shadow gets a chance to indulge in a little normal life cosplay and pretend he’s just like everyone else. American Gods gets a chance to clear up lingering production issues and settle down after three seasons of instability behind the scenes. For both Shadow and the show, the timing for Lakeside could not be better.

“Shadow is kind of left with no other choices, to be honest. We are starting to head into our very first winter on the show, all other routes are snowed in, and he is left with this quaint little town that he heads to and starts to fall for, because it’s full of humans. This is the first time that we have seen Shadow, in the story, surrounded by humans and not gods. He’s always been the last person in the room to know what’s going on. Here, we find him in a town where he actually knows more than everybody else.”

A place for Shadow Moon, the universe’s punching bag, to catch his breath, make some normal friends, and avoid the world that his father introduced him to? If that sounds too good to be true, that’s because, as Whittle puts it several times in his interview, “this is American Gods, and Shadow’s not allowed to be happy.” On its surface, like the lake itself, Lakeside is calm, placid, and beautiful. Under the ice, however, there is something more going on there.

“There is a dark underbelly, and unfortunately for him, things take a turn,” Whittle says. “The only thing that has changed in the town is there is a new guy. So all the questions and heads start to turn towards Shadow as they start to think that he’s maybe hiding something. Unfortunately, for Shadow, it’s a lot bigger than what they think. So the walls are closing in on Shadow. Again, he finds himself trying to hide information from people he cares about.”

A man with secrets, and a town with secrets. Lakeside slows things down for American Gods, and allows the performer, and the viewer, more opportunities to explore the material and the psychology behind the characters themselves. For once, the mystery is not directly around Shadow, but outside of him, and that gives both the character and Ricky Whittle a chance to be more actively involved in things.

“Shadow really grows in this season. You really start to see him grow into his position as he starts to decide what kind of god and person he wants to be in this world,” Whittle says. 

It is all part of a larger season 3 narrative of self-discovery, both for Shadow and for the other characters involved in the storyline. Everyone is getting a break from the war, at least for a bit, to focus on themselves and their own needs while Wednesday politics in the background. Old One-Eyed’s work isn’t done, not by a longshot, but wars are fought with bodies and resources, and while World is in disarray, Odin has an opportunity to go to work and the gods, both old and new, are given a chance to figure out their place once more.

More than just a chance to breathe and learn, Lakeside will have major implications for the non-Shadow gods on the show.

“Lakeside is almost as if it has been put in a little time capsule and kept away from Tech Boy’s influence,” Technically Boy actor Bruce Langley says. “It’s not impossible for him to get on in there, but it is a lot harder.”

“I’m so excited for Lakeside. I know as any fan of the book probably is,” says Yetide Badaki when asked about Lakeside’s importance to Season 3. “We see these different characters go through journeys of self-discovery. We see that happen for Salim. We see it happen for Laura Moon. We see it happen for Technical Boy. We see it happen for Cordelia, played by the lovely Ashley Reyes. And we see Shadow Moon, not only having this moment of self-discovery, but we’re also seeing him find this whole new agency within him. It’s fascinating to see that the more all of these people learn about themselves, the more they see how interconnected they are.”

Everyone interviewed—regardless of their connection to Lakeside as a plotline in American Gods—is excited to see it brought to life on screen. The enthusiasm the actors have for Neil Gaiman’s twist into mystery is infectious. Langley and Badaki both expressed excitement for that change, but no one seems as happy about it as Whittle. Lakeside as a mystery hangs solely on the broad shoulders of Shadow Moon.

“It didn’t disappoint. It really is my favorite season so far, because it’s Lakeside. It’s my favorite part of the book. It’s where the story really starts to ramp up. So I loved it. I had a great time,” Whittle enthuses. “The show, as always, looks incredible. It has always had that incredible rich tone and stunning look that I have never seen on any other show. It’s just a completely different look this season, very Fargo. Every episode gives you a different feel, a different story, a different moment. This season really is taken to a different level thanks to Mother Nature.”

That enthusiasm for the setting and the story would definitely help keep any actor motivated and engaged with the material. However, there was one thing that neither Ricky Whittle nor Shadow were properly prepared for, and that’s the effect Mother Nature would have on all aspects of the production. Shooting in winter in Toronto, Canada, is an entirely new experience for the actor playing Shadow Moon.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“Winter in Manchester is pretty tough. It is the worst experience I’ve ever felt in my life. There were takes that I had to redo because my mouth wouldn’t open because it was so frozen. I had icicles on my eyelashes, in my beard, and in my hair. Don’t get me wrong, our makeup and hair department is incredible. They should be receiving awards for what they have done over these past two seasons. But everything you see on screen, if Shadow looks cold, it’s because Ricky is freezing. That is all natural. I’m Daniel Day Lewis. I am method as hell.”

The post American Gods Season 3: What Awaits Shadow in Lakeside appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2JZyDXT

[thegirlsinthefirehouse]

Descendants, Chapter 29

-----

After breakfast, Abby’s parents excused themselves from the group to do a little extra Christmas shopping. 

When Holtz’s dad got up and got his jacket, Holtzmann got really confused.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“Mmhmm,” said Dean. “And so are you.”

Holtz’s face scrunched up in thought. “But I didn’t plan anything?”

“I did,” he said, smiling. “Come on.” Holtz went and got her jacket and headed into the bathroom where Abby was getting out of the shower. She had said she needed to relax in the hot water after breakfast. Holtz kissed her on the lips before leaning down and kissing her growing abdomen. Abby rubbed her cheek.

“Go have fun with your dad sweetie.”

“How did you--?”

“A wild guess,” said Abby, smiling. She had been that way most of the morning so far. Holtz wanted to stay in and enjoy more of that smile, but New York and her dad were calling.

“Don’t touch the presents!” she yelled back after slipping on her jacket and heading out of the bedroom. She heard a small huff that made her cackle before following her dad down the stairs.

-----

Holtz was ready to start munching on a cheese steak (extra caramelized onions and lots of provolone) after her and her dad got seated at the restaurant with a couple of beers and an order of bacon cheese fries to tide them over until their food arrived. They had been out in the city for most of the morning, doing some last minute shopping for Dean’s friends back home and sightseeing a little. Holtz had enjoyed showing him all the intricate store windows and the Christmas trees around the city.

“I miss my car,” laughed Dean. “It’s been a good while since I’ve had to walk this much.”

“At least it’s not a really cold day,” said Holtz as she looked around the place. She nodded to Ted behind the bar, who waved in return. “No ice on the sidewalks.”

“And you don’t have to go take care of any ghosts,” said Holtz’s dad. Holtzmann nodded.

“I hope we don’t get any emergency calls over the next few days. Abby and I are the only ones here in the city.”

“Things will go smooth enough,” said Dean. He cleared his throat. “Getting scared, excited?”

“Frankly? Terrified,” Holtz admitted. “There’s a new little life that’s going to be dependent on me to teach it how to use a pencil and a toilet.”

Dean chuckled. “I know the feeling. Your mom did all the hard work for me, I suppose.”

“Nah, you taught me how to use a screwdriver. And a crock pot.”

“Do you even use one?”

“The screwdriver? All the time.”

“Smart ass,” grinned Dean. Holtz laughed.

“Babies are hard,” the older man said. “You don’t know if they’re hungry, thirsty, or just tired. And sometimes they don’t know.”

“At least with food I can hand them off to Abby for a while.”

“Abby is going to breastfeed?” asked Dean.

“She thinks it’ll be better for them in the long run. She wants to give them a high quality of life in the beginning. At some point in the future, they’ll be living on a diet of Chinese, coffee, Pringles, and gummy bears. Also large quantities of mac and cheese, along with many bowls of Trix.”

Dean nodded. “The old classic stand-bys.”

Holtzmann started picking at the bacon cheese fries with a slight grimace. “Did you enjoy being a parent to me? I know...”

“I would trade nothing in the world for it,” said Dean, breaking in. “You and your mother were the most important things in my life. You were so tiny Jillian. I was almost afraid to hold you at first. I thought I was going to drop you.”

“Did you? Because I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. It would explain some things.”

“No,” laughed Dean. “But there were times when you got older that you were just... exasperating and we might have felt like it. Especially to your mom when you kept wearing my shirts to school and they’d have grease and grass stains on them by the time you got home. I never did care about that part. They were clothes and you loved them. But she felt like we were setting a bad example that way.” He looked at his daughter’s clothing choices with a smile.

“I think we did okay.”

“You did perfectly. There will never be another one of me.”

“I think the Earth will be all the more glad of it,” chuckled Dean Holtzmann in a teasing tone. Their lunch arrived and they both dug into their sandwiches, enjoying the hot beef and melting provolone.

“I see why you like this place.”

“Yeah, it’s one of Patty’s finds. I think it just amuses her the place is called Shorty’s.” Holtzmann leaned back in her chair.

“You doing anything new at work dad?”

Dean wiped his mouth on a napkin after putting down his sandwich.

“I’m working with a tech company that’s working with one of the fabric companies I consult for. They’re wanting to develop an app that would allow a customer to choose the fabric they want based on some predetermined patterns and colors. But they can edit it to their liking, which is nice.”

“Sounds like you’re going to be busy.”

“If you’re asking if I’m going to be too busy to come back down to see my grandchild, that would be a no. Only the snow and ice could keep me away.”

“We can always come back for more sandwiches,” said Holtz, stacking some of the fries in her sandwich. Dean scoffed and shook his head.

“Alright, but I’m buying next time,” he took a sip of his beer. “I want a real pastrami sandwich piled high with lots of pickles.” He paused. “I’m not going to get any younger.”

“Nah, you’re just getting started,” said Holtz, waving her hand dismissively. Dean grabbed her hand across the table, shaking his head.

“I wanted to tell you, Jillian. I met with a lawyer and went ahead and drew up my will in October. You-- well, you know all the details. We’ve discussed this before. It’s in the safe in my bedroom, along with all the other important paperwork.”

“Dad--” began Holtzmann, grimacing.

“All my wishes are in there,” said Dean. “I know it’s something you don’t want to hear right now, but I need you to know this for in the future. And I’m planning on keeping it in the future. The FAR future, okay? I’d like to see my grandchild graduate with their Ph.D.’s in... whatever and start building the first spaceship to carry people outside of the Milky Way or solve world hunger.”

“Abby’s hoping for first alien contact.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Dean, picking up his sandwich.

“You’d better eat before you lose that to me.”

Holtzmann laughed. “Just like old times.”

“I gained a lot of your sandwiches that way.”

“Nah, I stole them back when you weren’t looking.”

Dean smiled to himself, knowing that he had looked away on purpose. He took a sip of his beer.

-----

Cynthia Yates came back to the firehouse a little early, leaving her husband to wander the streets of Tribeca a little while longer. Abby had given them her key that morning to the firehouse so they could come and go as they wished for the day. She had wondered what Abby was going to do, but her daughter hadn’t let her in on her plans. Cynthia had barely closed the door when she noticed Abby sitting at the long conference table in the space downstairs. She had stacks of paper surrounding her. They looked mostly like notes. Abby was writing furiously in a moleskin notebook and grimacing. An old boom box sat nearby, lightly playing soft Christmas tunes.

“Abby,” she said, trying to get her daughter’s attention as she walked up to the table.

“Mom,” she said after a moment, blinking as she looked up. “Sorry I was--”

“You were busy,” said Cynthia, sitting down. “I assume this is all for a new book?”

Abby shook her head. “Erin and I have been talking about trying to redo the ghost classification system. It needs updating. Since we have the containment unit and the ability to study each specimen, we’ve compiled a lot of a data over the past few years.” She gestured to the piles. “We think we can do it. The only thing is how everyone else is going to receive it.” Cynthia skimmed over the notes that she could see and crossed her arms, sitting back in the chair.

“I think the scientific community will take it very well. They like order. The paranormal groups, probably not so much.”

“They haven’t taken to liking us very much no,” said Abby, rubbing her face. “They don’t like the publicity we receive. It’s not like we actively go out and seek it.”

“I still say that they should have given you and Erin all the accolades for the stuff you have theorized and tested,” said Cynthia. “You have proven there is such a thing as a ghost particle. You have been to another plane of existence and back again, proving it with theory and physical evidence. I keep expecting to get a phone call from you one day in the near future asking me if I’m ready to believe that magic is real.”

“Still working on that,” said Abby, a small smile on her lips. Things went silent for a few minutes, Christmas tunes taking over the in-between. Cynthia Yates had always been one for science. Having been a chemist, she liked knowing things were concrete in front of her. Otherwise, you had disastrous results. She had never been able to understand her daughter growing up. She had been way too much into the fantastical. Her husband had encouraged it, even helped buy her books and such for her to learn more. But the more Cynthia had tried to steer her away from it, the more she wanted it. It had taken a fight with her husband to finally let go.

And once she had, she realized her daughter thought much like her. She believed in science and facts and loved her math and science classes. She had even wanted her mother to teach her more about everything in the evenings. The only difference was that Abby still believed in the paranormal and the existence of other things in this world besides humans and the animals that had been seen. Cynthia had never been able to bring herself to believe in what her daughter did, and had been slightly disgusted when Abby and her best friend Erin had set out to write a book about ghosts the summer after they had graduated college. She felt guilty now that she had even sold her copy of their book back to the bookstore. Her husband had kept his at least.

Abby’s mom picked up one of the stacks of papers. She couldn’t understand anything that was going on, but she really didn’t have to. This was Abby’s life’s work. She herself had been a whistleblower and knew the need for concrete results. It made her proud that her daughter and her friends were a whole damn marching band on the subject of the paranormal.

And wife. That had been startling at first. Especially since her daughter’s wife was a nuclear engineer whose mind was so brilliant that she was surprised even with the incident at CERN that someone didn't have her on their salary. The things she could invent would make them millions upon millions in revenue and would change the world.

But instead, Jillian had settled for being her daughter’s assistant and eventual girlfriend. Although she had never told the woman, she had been grateful that Jillian had come into Abby’s life. Erin’s departure had hit her hard and the hits just kept on coming after that. It had been a rough few years for Abby and her determination to explore the paranormal.

Cynthia Yates admired her daughter’s strength and always would. Especially right now. She couldn’t imagine being pregnant at 44. It had been hard enough in her 20’s. She had noticed that Abby had kept touching her baby bump as to reassure herself the other evening. She had done the same thing with Austin, but he had been a difficult pregnancy. Even the slightest movement had made her feel better. She wondered if it was the same for Abby.

“Mom, do you need something?” asked Abby, getting her attention away from her thoughts. “Coffee, a snack?”

“Coffee would be great,” said Cynthia casually. “Is there a pot down here?”

“Over there at that station behind Kevin’s desk,” said Abby. Her mom nodded and headed over that way. “You’re going to have your grandchild kicking me by the way. I think they respond to the way the smell makes me feel and they get excited.”

“Must be the caffeine rush,” said Cynthia, looking for the scoop for the coffee. “They might need it as much as we do.”

“Yates family tradition huh?”

“I drank way too much of it when I was working. Probably why you and Austin both guzzle it.”

“Like Dad didn’t help at all,” laughed Abby.

“Abby,” said Cynthia. “How are you, really? You haven’t really said much, not even to your father.”

Abby eyed her mother with uncertainty. “It’s kind of hard to talk to Dad about swollen feet and aching hips.”

“I know he’s not going to be able to much of a help, but... you could talk to your father Abigail. We’ve both been concerned about genetics. How is the baby?”

Abby’s arm went across her stomach. “Fine. Good, actually. No problems. The doctor ordered extra tests and everything’s been okay. And we’re keeping an eye on my blood pressure and blood sugar and nothing’s been bad so far. I worried a lot about a miscarriage in the early days. You can ask Holtz. 50% of women over the age of 42 on average have miscarriages in the first trimester. I... worried a lot. Although I don’t know how I fit it in between bouts of nausea.”

“And you’re still having those, aren’t you?”

The smell of coffee wafted through the room, making Abby want a cup. But she had already had one with breakfast, and she was limiting herself to only one till after the baby was on solid foods. She nodded.

“Not as often, but they’ve pretty much been a constant on this whole... journey.”

“I feel like I’ve missed out on so much being in Michigan.” She came over and surprised Abby when she put a hand on the side of her abdomen. “I could be here for you.”

“You’ve done a lot Mom,” said Abby.

“I don’t feel like I’ve done enough,” said Cynthia. “I feel like I’ve done more for Ariel and you’re my actual daughter.”

Abby shook her head. “Mom, Ariel had five with Austin. We’re only having one.”

“Is that all?”

“For the moment, yes,” said Abby. She pushed her mother’s hand a little bit towards her right side, where their little one she was pretty sure was trying to burrow itself in her organs. She had a feeling in the future their child would probably be making a nest of blankets on their bed and never coming out. Her mother laughed softly.

“Moving quite a bit.”

“Tell me about it,” grimaced Abby. She looked up and saw her dad enter the space with a couple of bags, just like Abby’s mom had. He smiled when he saw his wife and daughter together.

“Coffee?” said Abby.

“Always,” said Doug. Cynthia went to pour them a couple of cups. Abby was grateful for the distraction. Maybe her dad could keep her mom occupied till time for their lunch reservations.

-----

Abby was yawning by the time Holtzmann came back into the living room. It was Christmas Eve, not too long before midnight. They had hoped to get a few minutes to themselves before Christmas morning and exchanging gifts with their family. Everything was piling up under the tree, and it was going to be fun getting everything unwedged from each other in the morning.

“Merry Christmas,” said the blonde cheekily as she dangled the mistletoe above her head. Abby scoffed.

“And you think you can get a kiss because of that?”

“Oh, I know I can,” said Holtz, kissing Abby deep. The moan that left Abby’s mouth made Holtzmann grin when they pulled apart more than a few seconds later.

“Because I am the Casanova of the ladies. They all will bend to my will.” Abby waved her off.

“Just as long as they’re not bending tonight. You and I are going to bed and not moving for seven to eight hours and I’m going to hold you all night.” “Ah... Abby Yates, eternal cuddler is making an appearance.” Holtz pulled closer to Abby, rubbing her fingers through her pulled back hair as she curled into her side. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Mom’s feeling guilty so she’s trying to make me feel guilty. It’s not my fault New York is like a magnet for the supernatural.” Holtz thought for a second.

“So she’s wishing she has spent more time with you while you’ve been pregnant.”

“Apparently,” sighed Abby.

“Makes sense,” shrugged Holtz. “It is a mother-daughter bonding experience, I guess. You are sharing bearing a child. Maybe she feels like you should be coming to her more for advice?”

“Oh no,” said Abby. “That would be the end of everything. Then she’d want to dictate me on this and that, what to be doing, what to not to be doing...”

“Dad told me some good stories today,” said Holtz, cutting in to distract Abby. “About Mom being pregnant with me. He said I was very lazy. Doc thought something was the matter with me till I gave him a good kick while he was trying to see how much I had grown.”

“That does sound like something you would have done,” smiled Abby. “Surprised you didn’t kick him again when you were born.”

“Oh Dad said I screamed right in his ear when he was trying to check my breathing,” grinned Holtz.

“Of course,” said Abby, playfully rolling her eyes. Holtzmann rubbed Abby’s belly.

“And this little one is probably going to smile at all the nurses and charm them with all the Holtzmann suave they can muster even though they have no Holtzmann in them.”

“Someone’s got to,” said Abby. “I kind of doubt I’m going to be very much on the friendly side.”

“I wouldn’t be either if I was mostly naked, in pain, and pushing seven to ten pounds out of my body,” shrugged Holtz.

“Ugh,” said Abby, burying her head into Holtzmann. “Do we have to do that part?”

“I don’t think you can skip it Abs. It’s kind of a requirement.”

“Isn’t there an alternative assignment? A makeup exam?”

“Abby, did you EVER give a kid a makeup exam unless they were deathly ill?”

“I don’t want to do labor Jills.”

“You’re going to be fine,” said Holtzmann. “I’ll be there and there will be more than a few nurses to help out. I still can’t believe you let the doctor talk you out of the birth center.”

“It’s still on the table,” Abby said. “Depending on how my labor is going.”

“You might want to tell him that,” said Holtz. “He probably thinks you’re going to go to labor and delivery.”

“I think he’s worried about my blood pressure shooting up really high or developing pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes. They can happen late in pregnancy.”

“Doctors are such worrywarts,” scoffed Holtz, nuzzling her wife. Though she worried about the same things too, she wasn’t going to tell Abby that. That would really put her wife over the edge and she really didn't want to have a stressed out and paranoid Abby on her hands.

“You want to open our main gifts?” said Abby. She looked at the time. “It is after midnight.” She smiled softly at her wife nuzzling her chest.

“I’d love to Abs, but I’m quite comfortable,” winked Holtz.

“I bought you a black leather case to match your jacket,” smirked Abby. “It has zippers.” Holtzmann perked up at that.

She gestured to the tree. “Yours is flannel. It came with a U-Haul.”

“A lesbian joke. Quaint.”

“I know, it’s the end of the year and I’m running out of material before my New Year’s reset.” Holtz reluctantly got up off the couch, skipping as she went over to the tree and picked up the stack of presents tied up with a ribbon.

“One for me...” She looked under the tree and picked up a big box. “And one for you.” She handed Abby the big box while she sat down beside her with the stack. “You already know what it is. Not like you haven’t been hinting for months.”

“You get a new toy and I get a new toy,” said Abby delightedly. She started unwrapping the box.

“Yes!” cried out Holtzmann beside her as she opened the first gift. “It has spikes!” <– Prev | Next –>  

[worldsentwined]

Weather, Wounds, Wire

For this week’s Synchronised Screaming Flash Fic Challenge. Prompt was: Any Prologue Norwegian - Barbed-wire Winter

Snow again, as always

coats the town in white shrouds

like sheets wrapped

over friends

and neighbors

and the people you couldn't stand.

Winter has ever been sharp,

but this year allows nothing else.

Icicles form

over barbed wire

and we wait.

At first, no one noticed when the world changed. They thought it was local, the closed road and the endless rain keeping them cut off from everyone else. Reports of an illness and closing borders were met with shrugs and complaints about day-old newspapers. Some few, more prone to worry than most, took the warnings seriously. They ferried in supplies and loved ones; they holed themselves up to wait. The good news they hoped for never came.

Sigrun had never thought of herself as a particularly hopeful person in the first place, though. Sure, she wasn't a worry-wart like Aksel, but when things went bad she didn't sit around assuming they'd get better. She grumbled along with the rest of them—no fresh supplies, electronics that worked less and less well as the weeks went on, rain that kept them all soggy—but she didn't go around saying things like 'it will all be better when spring comes.'

"Ugh, this snow! I can't wait for spring."

"It's only December, Aksel. It's going to get worse before it gets better."

Aksel shot her a sour look and pulled his collar closer around his neck. "Thanks, Sigrun. You sure know how to cheer a guy up."

Sigrun bent down and casually scooped up a fistful of snow. She passed it from hand to hand, not really looking at Aksel. "Yes, well. You know that's always been my goal, making you feel better. And think of it this way—it could be so much worse! Your grandmother could still be in her old apartment, slowly starving to death while her cat nibbles on her toes." They'd heard reports that food was scarce in the city, even worse than it was in Dalsnes. And of course, rumor spun that information into all kinds of horrifying scenarios, most of which Sigrun didn't believe. The same could not be said for Aksel.

"Sigrun! Don't say things like that! I'm so thankful she made it here safe, where the rash and the cannibals can't get to her." Aksel pressed his hands to his chest. "And she'll be even safer once the wall is finished."

Sigrun grimaced. That damn wall—of all the changes they'd had to make, that was the one that made her the craziest. Who were they trying to keep out? Dalsnes was isolated enough, especially with the road washed out, that no one would be stupid enough to approach on foot. The ban on water travel had come through just before the radios malfunctioned, so they hadn't seen a boat for weeks. But no matter how unnecessary it was, the people in charge were paranoid enough to add more safety precautions.

"I still say it's a dumb idea," she said. "It's just going to make it harder to get food, if the hunters have to go through some kind of checkpoint every time they leave."

"Yeah, but...isn't it better to be safe than sorry? I heard the rash doesn't just make people sick, they've started seeing it in animals, too."

Sigrun stopped, snow clutched in the curve of her red-mittened hands. "Really? Like plague rats? I don't believe it."

"Well then, you can be the one to test it out. I'll do my best to avoid being bitten, thanks."

Right. That was enough of the gloom-and-doom talk. Sigrun pushed past Aksel, dropping her snowball down the neck of his jacket as she did so. His shouts followed her all the way home.

Sun spreads red

across the roofs,

morning

tinting the town.

Mourning

shades every face

except for those

whose minds

are no longer their own.

The barrier fence was halfway complete when the first attack came. Three people dead, two wounded. Four more possibly infected, held in quarantine and made to tend the injured. From what little they'd gleaned from news reports—when news of the outside world still came in—it would be two weeks before they knew for sure.

"Do you...do you want to talk about it?" Aksel asked, sitting down next to her. Sigrun shook her head. Blood had started to seep through the bandage on her hand again; she’d have to change it soon. It wasn't even a scratch or a bite from one of those twisted creatures; that would at least have been interesting. No, she'd managed to catch herself on the damned barbed wire.  

"Are you going to gloat a little? Rub my face in it?" She regretted the words as soon as they left her lips. Aksel looked wounded.

"Why would I do that? You’re hurt, that’s awful!” He picked up a fresh roll of bandage and took her hand. “I’m just glad you weren’t anywhere near the area of the attack, or they’d probably have quarantined you, too.” He unwrapped the dirty bandage carefully, as though her hand might break if he didn’t.

Sigrun glared at him. “Yeah, but then I’d know. Waiting like this is the worst, because even when this heals I won’t know if I’m immune to the rash. I’ll always be looking over my shoulder for the next attack. How am I supposed to live like that?”

Aksel shook his head. "How else are we supposed to live now? All we can do is wait. Maybe the rash will die down."

"Or maybe we'll die," Sigrun muttered, "Go crazy hiding behind walls that we hope will protect us." She'd heard the stories. She knew the rash made people lose themselves, slowly dwindling into something less. If the cut on her hand had come from an infected animal instead of a wire, that could have been her.

"Sigrun—"

"I think I want to be left alone for a while," she said. "Thanks for redoing my bandage." She looked away.

Aksel stood, sighing heavily. "All right. You know where to find me if you...if you need anything." He squeezed her shoulder and departed.

Sigrun sat for a long time staring into the fire, trying not to look at her hand. Trying, and failing, to think of anything other than the people in quarantine on the other side of town.

Quiet dark

creeps under our skin

into bones

and veins

and souls.

We await

our sentence:

transformation

or release

nothing in between.

We wait

for spring.

They finished the fence, but that only kept them safe to a certain extent. Some people had to leave the walls, to guard and to hunt and to salvage whatever they could from abandoned buildings. And beyond the walls, there was no guarantee of safety.

"Aksel."

He didn't respond, just curled more tightly under his blanket. Sigrun sat on the edge of the bed.

"Aksel, come talk to me."

"Go away."

She rolled her eyes, grasped the edge of the blanket, and yanked. Aksel yelped and sat up to glare at her.

"Hey!" He reached for the blanket, but Sigrun held it away. "Not until you let me check your injury. You're not allowed to die in quarantine if you don't actually have the rash." Her own wound was shallow; easy enough to check it herself. The one on the back of Aksel's leg was more worrying.

"Fine." He rolled up his pant leg and turned his back so she could see it. "This doesn't get any less awkward, does it?"

Sigrun undid the bandage and cleaned the wound, keeping an eye out for signs of infection. For signs of any kind of infection. They were a week into quarantine, and so far neither of them showed any symptoms of the rash, but they still had a week to go.

"Looks okay," she said eventually, carefully securing the new bandage. She gave him a reassuring slap, which made him jump and glare at her again.

"Sigrun!" His face burned nearly as red as his hair, and he hurried to adjust his clothes.

"What?" She feigned innocence. "I can't give you a 'congratulations, your wound isn't septic' pat?"

Aksel reclaimed his blanket and wrapped himself in it. "Is that what that was? I thought it was a 'hey, I felt like slapping your ass' pat. It's hard to tell the difference with you." He lay down again, but this time he stayed facing her.

Sigrun watched him for a minute. Thought about going back to her own bed in the other room, where the woman in the neighboring bed wouldn't stop crying. Her partner had shown signs of the rash that morning, and had been taken away to a different part of quarantine. They all did their best not to think about that part.

In the spirit of not thinking about things, Sigrun barely hesitated before joining Aksel on the bed. "Gimme some blanket," she said.

"What are you doing now?" He grumbled. He made no move to stop her though, even when she wormed her way under the blanket and poked his shins with her cold toes. She tucked herself against his chest and wrapped an arm around him.

"The way I see it," she said, "We're stuck in here until we find out if we're dead or alive. Might as well keep each other company. It's warmer with two, anyway."

And it made it easier to avoid thinking of their predicament when she could focus on other things. Aksel's breathing, instead of the scratch on her arm that might have killed her. The beating of his heart, rather than the howling winds and monsters in the dark. The warmth of his skin: normal, healthy, human warmth. Not the burn of fever. None of that yet, and maybe, if they were lucky, it would never come.

Aksel must have felt the same, because he didn't bother arguing. He draped his arm over her, let her share his warmth and his space. They waited.

Snow turns to

slush turns to

ice turns to

water.

Winter turns

to spring.

Sigrun shouldered her rifle and kept her eyes on the trees, doing her best to listen for anything unusual. It was hard, what with the noise the repair crew was making. She didn't envy them their task. Reinforcing the fence, mending the hole where an attack had gotten through, was hard enough; the added challenges of mud and half-melted ice made it all worse. Guard duty was far preferable, in her opinion. It was just as well she was immune, and could stand outside the barrier with minimal risk. An infected creature could still kill her, but the rash couldn't.

Aksel came to stand beside her, juggling his gun and a flask. “Tea?” He asked, offering the latter to Sigrun. She took it from him with a nod.

“Sure, if only to keep you from dropping it. Get your gun in position, you’re going to shoot something on accident.” She took a swig; the hot beverage warmed her all the way down to her toes.

“Sorry,” he said, hastily adjusting his grip. “I just thought you might want a hot drink. It’s still a little chilly, even with the thaw.”

“Yeah.” Sigrun knew how fickle spring could be; they weren’t out of the woods yet. And they didn’t know what new dangers might come with warmer weather, either. But with longer sunlit hours every day, it was safe to say that winter was starting to relax its grip. They’d made it through in spite of everything. Maybe they’d make it through the next winter, too.

[mealha]

Elise Mesner’s eye-catching, candy-colored dreamscapes provide a fresh take on stock photos

Ice Cream (Elise Mesner/)

Elise Mesner fills her photographs with candy-colored, eye-popping palates that are as whimsical as the sweet treats that they seem to emulate. The Detroit native, who currently lives in Los Angeles, has worked across multiple mediums, but admits that photography has taken over as her main creative outlet. Mesner has done work with a number of beauty brands, editorial publications, and regularly contributes to Adobe's Stock collection. We spoke with Mesner about her career in photography so far and the advice she would offer to anyone trying to break into the world of shooting stock.

Up and Down (Elise Mesner/)

How did you get started with photography?

I grew up with a very artistic father, I was surrounded by art and adventure, but I never thought that it was something that I wanted to do for a career, I thought ‘this is something I enjoy.’ I grew up painting and eventually it hit me that every time I painted something and gave it away, I didn’t have it anymore. I bought a camera to take pictures of my art work before they sold. Once I bought the camera I never put it down. I put painting on the back burner and started taking pictures of everything—documenting things in my apartment and setting up still lifes. With photography, I don’t have to work on something for months at a time. I can I can literally smack it together. I fell in love with it instantly.

Beets (Elise Mesner/)

What is your go-to gear setup for this work?

I don't have a ton of gear. I have a Canon 70D that I typically use. If i need to go really big, I’ll rent equipment. And then I have this Pentax extra-wide point and shoot camera that I’ve been having fun with lately. I shoot with a 50mm lens, it’s perfect for portraits and still-lifes. Typically I shoot with natural light, even if I’m using reflectors or a mirror, sometimes I’ll even redo things that I’ve done in a studio and I’ll go outside with it and for some reason I just like it better.

Shrimp Soup (Elise Mesner/)

The color palates in your work are extremely consistent, how do you approach post-processing on your images?

Everything goes through Lightroom. I don't use too many tools in there, really, I play with the saturation, I lighten the shadows, I’ll clarify things a little bit and add a little grain. I try to keep things natural. I think what really gives things a signature look is having the same process for for most of the photos, but the lighting is also a big key. With the natural light you know when you put it on a tomato red and a real lemony yellow outside versus in the house or in studio lighting the colors completely change. When you’re outdoors you are seeing the true color.

Shrimp Soup (Elise Mesner/)

When did you start pursuing stock photography?

I definitely love to support small business. I started researching stock photography and what's available for people and I thought that there was a lack here of interesting, artful photos that are authentic. We don't have very many artists that are putting that work out for sale, so I thought why not jump into this and see what I can offer people.

I love the fact that photography is extremely shareable. I can make something that can mean one thing for a business and it can be hanging up in someone’s living room as an art piece. For me that is just incredible. I like to get work out there, especially with stock photography and these small businesses, it’s not affordable to hire a photographer and have a big photo shoot.

As you know with the internet, photos are often the first impression that people see and they’re important. I like to be apart of that. I think in the past few years stock photography has just come a long way.

Ginger Hair, Yellow Glove (Elise Mesner/)

How do you approach stock photography shoots?

I do it on my own projects. If I’m traveling I like to bring my camera along and see what cool stuff I might be able to gather. I make the stock photos more personal and authentic. Obviously when I do projects for clients, I keep them separated.

Bread Hand (Elise Mesner/)

So many of your photos integrate food in interesting ways, what tips do have for photographing food and keeping it looking appetizing?

That’s the key there, do you want it to look edible? Or do you want to focus on the texture? Maybe the texture will make it look edible. Or are you more interested in the colors and the shapes? If you want to make something look edible, always go for something fresh. If you are using fruit you will want to keep it cool and make sure that things aren’t sitting under the lights for too long. If you’ve left grapes out all day long it is going to show in a photograph. If you soak them in cold water they are going to perk up.

The lighting is huge. Grapes look great with flash, all the little dew drops are going to catch with the light. It becomes completely edible. If you are just going with color and texture alone, you can really throw the rulebook away and just do what you love. Keep playing until you get something that you like.

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Kiwi Legs (Elise Mesner/)

Many of your photos playfully incorporate everyday objects in unexpected ways. The eggs covered in sprinkles are a great example. How do you come up with your ideas?

The sprinkle eggs were actually one of the first photos that I took of food. I was in my apartment in Detroit and it was one of those frigid long winters and I didn’t feel like running out to get groceries so I was rummaging through the fridge and cupboards to find something that I could make to get through the day. I just wanted to stay in and make some photographs, I didn’t really want to go out in the snow. I didn’t really have much in there. I had put some of my spices in the fridge because I was running out of room in the cupboards and I had put sprinkles in there and for some reason they were right next to a carton of eggs. I could just see the image in my head, a sunnyside up with sprinkles on it.

The bottom of the egg ran and formed the shape of Florida. At first I thought it wasn’t what I wanted, but I decided I didn’t care and put it together anyway. A few days later I put it up on my site and shared it on Tumblr and it just went viral. I’ve seen it continue to pop up over the years. That one is special to me, after I took that photo I realized that there was something to it. It made me realize that I loved working with food, fruits, and plants. It has a voice of its own. You pair different things together and it turns out pretty magical.

Corn Teeth (Elise Mesner/)

What tips do you have for someone who wants to get started with stock photography?

Be authentic. I think that is what people are looking for. Tell your own story, take pictures of things that you enjoy. I think somewhere out there, even if it’s the smallest niche, someone else will enjoy it too. I think those are the photos that people want. We expect more from advertising now, and I think that will fill in those gaps, if everyone is true to themselves, authentic and not trying to create something because they think that is what the world wants. Things become easier when you are just yourself.

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