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tanakavox · 3 years ago

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A look into the multiverse chapter 9. Reacts by @bssaz97

The members of the audience began reconvening to their seats as the next viewing was about to begin. With the many different worlds they had seen, there was no telling what they would be seeing next.

"Wonder what kind of world we'll see today," Yang states.

"I have a good feeling about this one. Maybe it'll show us as expert huntresses on a mission to save the world!" Ruby enthusiastically told her team.

"...Ruby that's what we're currently doing in our world." Weiss replies with an unimpressed look.

"Ohhh yeah… Well maybe it'll be different!" Ruby adds, causing her teammates and sister to roll their eyes.

The screen rolls and shows Taiyang at home on Patch, making steaks on a grill with a huge smile on his face.

"Finally, the girls are coming home after so long." Taiyang mutters to him "Better to start cooking now before the girls come. Tai's face falls into a frown.

"Hey look Yang it's Dad!" Ruby points out, excited to see her father once again. Even if it was on the screen.

"Yeah. Actually, this looks exactly like our house back in Patch." Yang was a bit confused why the setting of this world was so similar to their own.

Most of the world's they've seen thus far were much different from their own. Which made her think of what could possibly be different about this world compared to theirs.

"Oh yeah. That's right. Ruby's bringing her boyfriend here. Tai sighs and adds another steak to the grill and turns to yell into the house.

"Say WHAAAT?!" Ruby's eyes grew nearly twice their size and a look of shock had grown on her face.

"Ruby… has a boyfriend?" Blake questioned.

Nearly in her peer group turned their eyes from the screen and looked to the crimsonette in shock. Ruby notices their stares and quickly grabs her hood and covers her face in embarrassment.

"Red has a boyfriend in this one? Now that's something I never expected to see today," Coco stated before turning back around to face the screen. Her team followed as well.

Ruby whimpered to herself, while she was slightly embarrassed about the revelation of her alternate having a boyfriend she was curious as to see who this said boyfriend was.

"ZWEI! DON'T EAT THIS EXTRA STEAK, IT'S FOR RUBY'S BOYFRIEND!" He didn't get a response. Taiyang sighed again. "Guess he's asleep. He mutters to himself. He took the steaks off the grill and as he walked back into the house he heard the door open and heard his daughters yell into the house.

"WE'RE HOMEEEEEEEE!" Taiyang rushed up to his girls and hugged them tightly. Yang and Ruby hugging him back just as tightly.

"Whoa you two look the same as you did back in Beacon!" Nora stated. Her expression started falling as soon as she mentioned the last part.

Ruby had removed her hood and she began recalling past events. If she was right then this was taking place at the time when her and Yang went back to Patch to visit their Dad shortly before the Vytal Festival.

Hopefully they wouldn't have to revisit those memories during this viewing.

"Hey Dad!" Yang cooed looking at her father with a smile.

"Did ya miss us?" Ruby asks,smiling as well.

Taiyang pretends to ponder on it for a while before grinning at them.

"Nope." He said jokingly to both, laughing when Ruby and Yang punch him in the arm lightly. Taiyang looks around a bit. "Uh. Where is this boyfriend of yours Ruby?"

Ruby's eyes light up. "Oh he's coming with our bags. Trust me daddy. You'll love him!"

Taiyang lets out a snort. "We'll see."

Yang began to look around the house as well. "Where Zwei? I thought he would be down here to greet us?"

Taiyang saw that Zwei was indeed not there and grumbled to himself. "That boy. ZWEI! YOUR SISTERS ARE HOME!"

"Sisters?" Both Ruby, Yang, and Qrow said at the same time, leaving all of them very confused. Zwei was indeed a part of the family, but he was still Corgi after all. So why did Taiyang refer to him as though he wasn't such?

Their question was answered very quickly.

Zwei's ears twitch at the sound of that, and a thumping comes from up stairs aside the noise of something falling down the stairs, before Yang and Ruby could react a black blur launch itself at them. A Ten year old dog faunus boy with curly unkempt hair color that matched Ruby's and little corgi ears was hugging the two tightly raising his head to show silver eyes beaming with joy.

"Ruby! Yang! I missed, I missed you, I missed you! He cried out hugging them tighter. The girls laugh and hug him back.

Ruby's, Yang's, and Qrow's eyes reached the size of dinner plates and they couldn't believe what they were seeing was real.

Ruby was the first to speak and began visibly shaking, "Oh my gods...Zwei- he's...he's..."

"Sooo Adorable!~" Ruby/Weiss/Yang/Nora cooed as the good little boy she remembered from Beacon was now literally an adorable little boy.

Blake, the rest of ALP(N), Qrow and Ozpin were shocked beyond words. This certainly was not what they were expecting at all today.

"Wait who's Zwei?" Oscar turned to ask Qrow.

"Well...in our world, he's the family dog. But in this world it seems like he's the youngest child?" Qrow said but still seemed unsure of himself.

As he remembers, Summer only had one child in the form of Ruby. But this world's version of Zwei shares many of the same traits that Summer and Ruby have/had….but why was he a faunus? Was this world's version of Summer a faunus? These questions were beginning to cause Qrow a headache so he resigned himself to just watch the viewing. Hopefully some of his questions could be answered.

"Hey Zwei!" Yang greeted ruffling his hair.

"How's my baby brother doing?" Ruby asked lightly, pinching his cheeks letting go when he tried to swat her hand away.

"Oh!~ Look at his hair, his lil ears and his lil cheeks. I just wanna pinch them all day!" Ruby cooed. She never had the privilege of having a younger sibling, so seeing that her alternate had one left her somewhat envious.

However, she still loved her family after all and wouldn't trade them for anything. But she could at least relish in the moment for as long as she was allowed to.

Zwei kept smiling and went to babble on about what he did while they were gone, about the games he wanted to play with them when he was interrupted by the sound of bags hitting the floor and looked behind Yang and Ruby to see a very tall Blonde.

"Jeez girls. You had to make me carry all of those? Jaune said while giving Ruby and Yang a halfhearted glare.

Suddenly the room became silent once more, a very recurring theme happening in this viewing as the reveal of Ruby Rose's mystery boyfriend was revealed.

The two team leaders both looked towards each other if only for a brief moment before turning away and blushing up a storm. The members of their teams, minus Weiss as she was too engrossed in looking at tiny Faunus Zwei, observed both reactions of Ruby and Jaune before turning back towards the screen. They could discuss this matter another time, as they still had a viewing to see.

Qrow, however, saw the short display between the two and his eyes narrowed. He had a feeling he was going to have to keep a close eye on those two. Particularly Jaune.

Ruby grinned and walked up to Jaune and began to slowly rub his arm. "Aww was it too much for my big tough guy hm?" She cooed snuggling up to and turning to her father and brother. "This is my boyfriend Jaune!" She shoved him in front of them. Jaune nervously looked toward Taiyang and reached his hand out.

"Hello sir. I'm Jaune Arc." He said keeping a stutter out of his voice and his hand steady

Taiyang raised an eyebrow at that. "Arc? …...What is your mother's name?"

"Uh Jeanne?" He still had his hand outstretched. Taiyang let out a large groan and grabbed Jaune's hand firmly shaking it.

"Nice to meet you Jaune." Tai said, with a forced smile leaving Jaune and Ruby confused.

Yang's eyebrow quirked, "What the heck was that about?"

"Is this not normally how your Dad reacts when either of you bring a boy home?" Blake asks her partner.

"Actually, Ruby and I never brought any boys home. At least I never did, too risky and I knew he would overreact. Ruby on the other hand hasn't dated anyone in… ever. But that's not what I was talking about."

"What did you mean then?" Blake looked confused.

"It's more with how he reacted when Jaune told him his mom's name. It's just weird I guess, Dad didn't talk too much about his days as a student in Beacon so maybe he's got some form of beef with Mama Arc." Yang theorized. She leaned towards where Jaune was seated and nudged him, "Hey VB."

"Hm What? I'm sorry Yang did you want something?" Jaune asked, looking very tense.

"You know about any beef between your mom and a guy named Taiyang?" Yang inquired.

"Oh. Uhhh, no I don't remember her mentioning anybody by that name. At least to my knowledge. Wait, isn't that your Dad's name?"

"Yeah I just wanted to ask you since I don't know anything about any beef between our parents. Oh well, question for later. Thanks anyway." Yang patted his shoulder with her prosthetic hand before leaning back towards her seat.

Ruby turned to Zwei who looked at Jaune oddly. "Say hi to Jaune Zwei." Zwei latched himself to Ruby's leg and shot a glare at Jaune.

"Hello." He said quietly, clutching her tightly which caused Ruby and Yang to till her head at their baby brother's odd behavior. But a knowing look came across Jaune's face Immediately. But he said nothing for the moment. Taiyang claps his hand to get everyone attention.

"I'm sure you guys are hungry so let's eat!"

A knowing look also appeared on Jaune's face as he sat in the audience. While he may not be… dating his best friend in this world, he recognized all to well the signs of a threatened sibling. He himself had acted the same way when he himself was around Faunus Zwei's age. While he may not know exactly what the young boys feelings were, Jaune knew where they were coming from.

Zwei had sat close to Ruby the entire time and tried to keep her attention on him and not Jaune. After the dinner when Jaune stood, Zwei smiled brightly.

"Leaving already? Oh noooo" He said faking sadness. I guess you're going home now….."

Many in the audience soon were beginning to now understand what exactly was going on now.

"Aww~ Looks like the little brother is threatened by Jaune-Jaune over here." Nora nodged her fearless leader.

"Nora, please…" Jaune practicality begged his energetic teammates/surrogate sister.

Ruby giggles and pats Zwei's head.

"No silly. Jaune's gonna be staying with us for the next months before we hit the road again!'

Zwei's eyes widen and he tears up

"Oh no, poor baby." Weiss almost wept at the broken-hearted expression on the poor boy's face. Many of the other members of the audience also felt sympathetic.

"You're leaving? But you just got back!" he whimpered. Yang sighed a bit.

"No Zwei. We're leaving in a month." She replied, still finishing off her steak and turning to look at Tai. "This really good dad." Taiyang thanks her while Zwei glares at Jaune.

"But why is he staying here?"

Ruby tilts her head. "Cause he's got nowhere else to go?"

"Why doesn't he go home?"

"He lives in Mistral Zwei. It's pretty far and it's easier for him to stay here."

Zwei growled and crossed his arms and turned away from them. "I'm not sharing my room with him." He says looking at the floor. Ruby laughs a little.

"Course not. He's sleeping in my room." Taiyang raises a finger to complain but Yang stops him and shakes her head with a look that says "Don't even bother." To which Tai reluctantly complies with. Ruby could be really stubborn.

"Wow, your Dad is not how I was expecting him to be," Blake states.

"Yeah Dad doesn't get angry as much as Yang does." Ruby replies.

"Yeah...Hey wait a minute!" Yang's eyes narrowed.

The members of RWB(Y) and ALPN laughed at her expense. Yang sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up."

"Fine." Zwei begans to stomp up upstairs into his room and slams it shut. Ruby looked a bit annoyed and worried.

"What's his problem?" Ruby asks turning the others? Yang and Taiyang shrugged and Jaune remained silent. They all talk for a while before heading to bed.

The next day had come and Jaune had gotten up and ate breakfast with the family. Zwei never looked at him and ran up into his room when he was done. Ruby taps him on the shoulder.

"Maybe try playing with him? He just met you and I'm sure he's just being shy." Ruby said smiling. Jaune sighed a bit.

Jaune shook his head at what Ruby's alternate self was presuming to be the issue at hand.

"It's not that he's shy. He thinks I'm gonna steal you away." He thought to himself. But he nodded and started to walk up to Zwei's room knocking before walking in. the ten year old faunus glaring at him immediately.

"What?" He said quite rudely.

"Whoa shit. He may look like Red but he certainly doesn't act like her." Mercury said honestly surprised.

"Be quiet Black! Zwei is a good boy and he shall remain that way!" Weiss threw this way.

The villains in the room only rolled their eyes at the former heiress's retort.

Jaune looked around the room and saw it was a Ten year boy's dream. Poster of plenty of shows, A xbox and a ps4 the works. He looks at Zwei to see a bunch of toys around him and he walks up and picks up a toy that looks like a ghost kneeing to Zwei's eye level and smiles at him.

"Hey I was hoping I could play with you, maybe I can be… Ghostface? Zwei looked at Jaune like he was stupid.

"His name is Ghostfreak." Zwei states turning his gaze from Jaune to play with his other toys. "And I ain't playing with him. I'm not crossovering over Ben 10 with Transformers."

"Hey Merc, wake me whenever this snooze fest is over. I'm gonna take a nap." Emerald whispers to Mercury.

"No promises."

"Well why not?"

"Because they don't take place in the universe."

"Well maybe ghost freak can use is ghostfreak can use his powers to end up in the Transformers Universe with Optuis prines." Jaune had clearly said the worst thing possible because Zwei's face went red and he started screaming at him.

"IT'S OPTIMUS PRIME AND GHOSTFREAK POWERS DON'T WORK LIKE THAT! GET OUT! GET OUT OFF MY ROOM!" Jaune hopped up and speed walk out Zwei's room into Ruby, looking a bit assumed.

"Didn't go well? Ah wait don't tell me… you say Optimus Prime name wrong."

Jaune glares at his girlfriend as she laughs at him.

"You knew that was gonna happen."

Ruby stops laughing to give Jaune a smirk.

"I didn't. But it was still funny."

"Well… that went as well as I expected." Jaune stated.

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kiarcheo · 4 years ago

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It’s All Coming Back to Me Now 5/?

To read on Ao3 click here

You can read the previous parts on Tumblr click here

‘Does this mean that I’m finally going to see you at home again?’ Catalina asks as they are once again walking back home.

‘Ehh,’ Kat grimaces a bit, ‘I’m helping Anna.’

She knows from their previous life together that Anna never learnt how to play any instrument. She could dance well enough and Kat had fond memories of that, and she had a lovely voice albeit clearly not trained, since she had been raised with the concept that music education was not proper for a noblewoman. Anna didn’t even have to say anything out loud. She just asked her when she was free to meet, the reason implicit yet understood by both.

‘That’s fine.’ Catalina bumps her hip against Kat’s. She doesn’t want her to feel bad for spending time with her friend. Friends. Family. Fellow queens. Whatever. But she misses having her around the house. ‘Just don’t forget about your old mother.’

‘You’re not old!’

Catalina would lie if she said that her heart didn’t skip a beat, dreading the last word would be two instead...my mother.

‘Anyway!’ Catalina knows from the tone that Kat is trying to distract her, probably having noticed her mood falling slightly. Perceptive kids these days!

‘I was talking with Cathy...do you think that us getting a PhD in history, Tudor history, would be cheating?’

‘Cathy, uh?’ Probably not the part Kat wanted her to focus on, but a mother has to take her fun where she can.

‘What?’ Kat is confused at first, before turning her head and seeing the look on the older woman’s face. ‘It's not like that.’

‘Okay.’ Catalina immediately accepts the answer. Not being believed is something that at best deeply upsets Kat and at worst triggers panic attacks. She doesn’t have all the details, Kat is reticent to talk about her life after Catalina’s death if not in broad general terms and Catalina has never forced the issue. She knows Kat would tell her, Kat said it herself. But every time she offers, she looks so dejected that she always refuses. But it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots and blame Henry. It had been on her mind a lot, especially after Anne’s song and her talk with her. Whether Kat’s experience had been similar to her cousin, besides the ending, or not. Catalina isn’t sure she wants to know, to be honest. ‘But if it was...it’d be okay, you know.’

Kat shrugs, a subtle hunch in her shoulder. That won’t do. Catalina puts an arm around her shoulders and draws her in, kissing her temple. ‘Want to get a slice of cake to celebrate you writing yet another brilliant song?’ She said her piece. Short, sure, but that’s all she wants Kat to know. All the rest doesn’t matter. She’ll be there if Kat will ever want to revisit the topic again.

Right from the start it’s clear that Anna has decided to go for a modern take too. Music is once again streaming from Kat’s laptop, the young queen snapping her fingers as her predecessor sings.

Where my hounds at? Release the bitches (Woof)

Anne claps her hands, howling with laughter at Kat’s first venture into the song, which will also be all the other queens’ part. Jane shakes her head, rolling her eyes. Say one thing once and they will forever use it against you. She is ready to bet that Kat’s song will also include a swear word, just disguised enough that you can argue it’s not really swearing.

Lookin’ cute,

(Das ist gut)

All eyes on me,

(No criticism)

I look more rad than

(Lutheranism)

Dance so hard that I’m causing a sensation.

Okay, ladies, let’s get in reformation.

Anne is hollering, quickly followed by Cathy and, to everyone’s surprise but Kat’s, Catalina. Religion puns and Beyonce reference deserve a holler, queenly composure be damned.

Kat shoots a beaming smile at Anna. The fourth queen had been worried about her song not measuring up to the others, but the reactions are proving her wrong. She actually gets a standing ovation as the last ‘I’m the queen of the castle’ fades away.

‘Have you thought about choreography?’

‘Not really.’

‘Can I?’ Catalina exchanges a look with Anne. ‘Can we?’

Anna looks at the first two queens, both almost vibrating for the excitement. ‘Sure.’

Anne whoops and Catalina looks like she is one step away from doing the same. ‘It’s going to be glorious.’

‘Before we lose those two,’ they do look like they are ready to bolt, eager to start working on Anna’s song, ‘can I point out the,’ Cathy stops to look for the right word, ‘whiplash of going from Jane’s song to this. Both songs are amazing just…quite a different vibe?’

‘What about having an interlude? We would have three songs, well four with the intro. Interlude. Other three songs. Conclusion.’ Catalina proposes, her head seemingly back in the game and not on the dance anymore.

Cathy looks at Kat. They had sort of taken the lead on how to structure the musical…and Kat on writing the songs, having a hand in all of them so far. ‘We can give it a try.’

‘Also,’ Anne seems to be back among them too, ‘was that a Tinder reference?’

‘What’s Tinder?’ Jane sees the mirth on Anne’s face. ‘Wait. Do I actually want to know?’

The whole process is going surprisingly smoothly. Sure, it has been months, but considering they have no experience whatsoever with writing musicals, having 4 songs (out of 8 planned) mostly hashed out is impressive, in Cathy’s humble opinion. And that’s not even taking into consideration them being 16th-century queens reincarnated in the 21st century figuring out the modern world...and how to get along.

Unexpectedly, since she has been the one moving everything along, it’s with Kat’s turn that the smooth process comes to a halt.

‘Why the change? Not that I mind.’ Catalina specifies. Katherine had requested them to show up at a different location instead of the usual one. This one is more like a proper recording studio, with a live room with mics and instruments and a separate control room. ‘You know we have no idea how to use all of this, right?’ she jokes, gesturing to the mixing equipment. She frowns when Kat doesn’t even attempt to give her a smile at that.

‘I need you to be in another room. I know you will hate the song and-’

‘Impossible.’ Catalina scoffs.

‘I’m sure we will love it.’ All the others have joined them, and they chime in, agreeing with Jane. She has helped them all, whether with music or lyrics or both, and it is evident to everyone, even to Cathy, the only who still hasn’t worked with her, that she has a way with music.

‘No, you won’t.’ Kat is not looking for reassurance. She has no doubt about it. ‘It’s already going to be hard. If I have to worry about your reactions too...I can’t do it with you in the room. All of you.’ She had just recently managed to go through the whole song without having a major breakdown before the end.

While the first three queens appear confused, Cathy and Anna share a look. Having lived through Katherine’s reign as queen, they are the only ones with some knowledge about her past. They even had a brief conversation about it, not wanting to betray Kat’s confidence or their ‘vow’ not to look into each other’s past, but also needing to share their thoughts with someone who could understand them. Their conclusion had been easy: even if the charges levied against her had been true, which is not a given, as Anne’s example shows, considering her age she would have been a victim and not the temptress she had been portraited as.

‘Kat.’ Cathy takes a step towards her.

‘Please.’ Kat raises her hands in front of her. ‘Don’t.’

Cathy stops, nodding, slightly dejected, Anna laying a hand on her shoulder.

Catalina had noticed Kat was worried, but she didn’t think it had reached this point. And she doesn’t know what to make of Anna and Cathy’s solemn expressions. ‘Why don’t you show us and let us decide?’ She tries to encourage her daughter with a smile.

So that’s what she does.

All you wanna do All you wanna do, baby And ever since I was a child, I'd make the boys go wild

Kat had decided to use a backing track while playing the keyboard. She hopes that having to focus on playing and singing at the same time (and actually breathing, if things go as they went during her previous practices), she will be physically unable to think about the other queens being on the other side of the glass listening to her song (she angles herself so that her back is to the window and she is also physically unable to see them, even if she were tempted to look).

He just cares so much, he's devoted He says we have a connection

Her voice breaks and by the time she reaches the last chorus she is sobbing and hyperventilating. The effort required to finish the song definitely takes her mind off the others’ reactions…but everything comes crashing down as soon as the last note resonates.

She bows her head, shoulder shaking, hands frozen on the keys. She takes deep breaths, trying to calm down. Once she has it under control, or as much as possible in the situation, she pushes herself up. Time to face the music. Or not. What if she opens the door and they had left? They wouldn’t do that...right? Her...Catalina would not do that, right? She told her she would never be disappointed in Kat…but she never knew the truth...

But what if they are still there and are...disappointed? Angry? Ashamed of her? Would that be better? Or worse? One way or another, she has to know. And regardless, she has to leave the room sooner or later. It would only be delaying the inevitable.

#six the musical fanfiction #six the musical #catherine and katherine #six fanfiction #six the musical fic #six fanfic #fic: It’s All Coming Back to Me Now #my posts #mywork #six writing #six fic #six the musical fanfic #my ideas #my six posts

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ivyandink · 4 years ago

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How The Ivy’s End - Season 1

it’s long af, so below the cut. at the end is a brief tldr; too for u instant gratification fans

Levi & Penelope

Levi and Penelope, after raising 4 kids together (Luna, Dorian [Penny + Zach’s baby, passed off as Levi’s], Morgan and Charlotte [Penny+Levi’s twins]), have a struggling relationship.

Levi is constantly trying to make things work, to make Penny happy, and to find the ‘spark’ they once had, in an attempt to revive their dead bedroom (yup!!! rip). Penny gets put on a project at work that has her teaming up with a legal consultant... none other than ex-boyfriend Justin Brees!

While Levi is struggling to work on his relationship with Penelope, raise his children, and manage his relationship with Luna’s mom Megan, Penelope is starting to feel things she hasn’t felt in a while-- but for Justin.

When Levi and Penny’s neighbor hits on Levi one afternoon, after he rejects her she tells him she knows his relationship is falling apart-- she sees it, because so is hers. Turns out... she maybe have been right!! Penelope starts toying with the idea of breaking things off with Levi, to pursue Justin; the way she feels around him is just incomparable.

She’s ready to pull the trigger, and put an end to their ~4 years together when... Zach shows up. The father of her first child (who everyone thinks is Levi’s!), the man who spun a wild tale about a mysterious man he worked for, and some sort of danger which meant he had to disappear for a while. It took time, but eventually Penelope realized she’d been played. Zach, an avid reader nonetheless, made up a wild story all to avoid responsibility.

Or did he.....?

Feeling the pressure and a surge of emotions from Zach’s return, Penelope finds comfort in the familiar, and reels herself back in from breaking things off with Levi. Together, they try to determine what to do about Zach being back in the picture, and wanting to meet his son. Penelope is adamant that she doesn’t want to give him a chance, but Levi, despite how much he wants to agree with her, can’t, after having experienced what it was like to not be able to see your own child. He urges her to hear Zach out, at the very least.

And when she does, it turns out... Zach’s story wasn’t as farfetched of a lie as she thought. He was on the hook for partaking in a money laundering scheme, through his business, Scratch Publishing. He’d fallen into the scheme thanks to a man he met and befriend in his NA group-- Michael Windsor. By the time he’d realized what was happening, he was in too deep to safely get out. That was why he’d pushed Penelope away in the first place, broken up with her over something trivial, and run when she’d told him about the baby. He couldn’t risk bringing her down with him. Thankfully, the statute of limitations on money laundering was five years, and with a solid four under his belt and no red flags or contact from Mr. Windsor, he figured it’d be safe to come back.

In awe of his words, Penelope’s harsh demeanor starts to slowly dismantle. The thing she’d always held against Zach was his abandonment, his betrayal, and how much he’d broken her heart when she was certain they were truly, deeply in love. How did she feel about him now that it turned out all of that was to protect her?

Slowly, but surely, Penelope allows Zach back into her, and Dorian’s life. Zach and his son bond almost instantly, which is both heartwarming and troubling. Dorian had been raised thinking Levi was his dad... what were they to say now? For Levi especially, it was hard seeing a child he’s come to see as his own, be taken away... rightfully so, by his biological father... but nonetheless, it wasn’t easy. Especially not for a second time. Within himself, now Levi has to grapple with the dilemma of how to tell his entire family he’d lied to them for four years...

Eventually, he tells them all, and once the chaos and confusion of it all blows over, things start to settle into a nice (albeit, strange) routine with Levi, Penelope, Zach and Dorian. As Zach grows closer with his son, he grows closer with Penelope too-- the old inside jokes, the literary references, the intimate teasing they’d once had together, all slowly starts to come back. Meanwhile, Justin is still spending late nights working with Penelope, and talking to her far too much to be considered strictly professional. Oh, and she’s still with Levi, and raising four children with him....

Levi, focusing on his family and his career, is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. An international trip, to photograph at some of the top fashion events in Paris. He knows it’d be a game changer for his career, but declines the offer, in favor of staying home, where he can keep an eye on his kids, and more importantly, his relationship, which seems to be falling apart at the seems, and slipping through his fingers like water. (Somewhere in there, Luna gets into child modeling lol.)

After months of battling her emotions, dealing with the revisiting of old feelings of abandonment with Zach (both romantic and parental... him leaving Dorian mirrors her own father leaving her much to much for comfort) and trying to make the best decision not only for herself, but for her family(s?), Penelope decides to end things with Levi. She realizes that if she is feeling so conflicted (and over three men, at that!), that Levi deserves better. She jumped head first into motherhood at such a young age, and lost herself in the tumult of it all. She needed time to be alone-- no Levi, no Justin, no Zach-- to be herself for once, and find out who that woman was.

....to be continued...

Violet & Jordan

Vi and Jordan couldn’t have a more perfect life. A beautiful daughter, a brand new home, a fancy lifestyle, and a brand new baby boy on the way to complete it all. There had never been a couple more in love in the history of time than Violet and Jordan-- that’s what they like to think anyways.

Their biggest crises is Jordan’s desire to start his own business. After near a decade of working in restaurants, and five years managing one, and a lifetime interest as a hobbyist chef, Jordan realizes that his biggest dream is to open his own catering company. There’s only one problem-- it’s expensive. And truth be told, with an obstetrician for a wife, Jordan isn’t exactly the primary breadwinner in his family.

With a mountain of medical school debt still to be paid, two brand new cars, a brand new house, and two children that need college funds, Violet is gun shy over Jordan’s new proposal. Jordan takes this to mean that his wife doesn’t believe in him, which ensues a few nights of arguments, cold shoulders, and sleeping on the couch (J, not Vi, of course).

But suddenly, that all becomes trivial when Jordan gets a phone call..... his father has died. This news rocks his world. His father had never been much of a father to him, and in fact, had been his abuser growing up. As soon as he was old enough, he’d cut ties with both his parents and got the hell out of dodge. He is filled with a strange feeling-- not quite sadness, but not relief, but a weird mixture of the two. His grieving mother begs him to come home for the funeral. For the moment, Vi and J set their disagreements aside, and say goodbye as Jordan leaves his very pregnant wife to catch a flight to Willow Creek.

To put it simply, this is an intense experience for Jordan. Being back in a place he associates with his terrible childhood, in a place he hated and couldn’t wait to run from...He hardly knows how to process it all. He is happy to see his mother, and grateful now she can be free from her husband’s abuse, too. Except... she’s not happy he’s gone. She doesn’t see herself as freed-- she would’ve defended her husband until the grave, no matter how many bruises he left, and she did exactly that. Jordan decides to stay for the week, and help his mother get everything in order, despite it all.

As he spends time in Willow Creek, he is reminded of the crew he used to run with as a teen and young adult-- people he hardly recognizes now. Except maybe... Cami. Cami had been his ex girlfriend, on again off again sort of situation. They’d dated throughout high school, and after he’d broken up with Violet to give her a better shot at life (thinking, wrongfully, he’d hold her back), Cami was the woman he turned to in his time of heartbreak. Feeling stranded and alone in Willow Creek, with his mom blaming him for his father’s death, and generally feeling like he’s at a crossroads in his life, Jordan ends up humoring Cami’s insistence on hanging around.

Cami knew what it was like. She got it. In ways Violet never could. She'd been hurt by her parents too. She’d grown up in a rough part of town, got involved with the wrong people and the wrong things, just like he did. In a way, they were kindred spirits-- it why they always found their way back to each other, despite how toxic it always ended up being. And if there is one word to describe Cami, it is determined. She is determined to get her way.

She calls him JJ-- his old nickname, that he now despises and associates with his tumultuous youth. She tries to remind him of who he was, and still is, deep down. Who they were together. She tries to tell him that this new life he’s got? It’s not him. It’s that boujee bitch wife of yours, JJ. I bet she don’t even understand you-- bet she doesn’t even get how you can miss someone even when they’ve hurt so bad... bet she said ‘good riddance’ when you told her the news. She doesn’t get you JJ, not like how I do... how I always did.

She comes on to him, pushing herself against him. Jordan gets angry, tries to push her off of him. She goads him on. What’re you gonna do, baby? Hit me again? Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree I guess, JJ. That was one time Camille. One time. I am nothing like him. No baby, you’re not... mmm.. not at all. Shhh, it’s okay, don’t cry. I’m here. I’m here. I’m never leavin’ you JJ, not ever again.

In a moment of incredible vulnerability and weakness, Jordan relents to her seductions. But... only momentarily. It doesn’t take long for him to realize what is happening-- he pushes her off of him and storms away, as she cries out his name. Disgusted with himself, he immediately goes to call his wife. He breaks down, sobs shaking his body, as he tells Violet everything. Except the other end of the line stays silent... Don’t bother coming home, Jordan. There’s nothing for you here anymore. Stay the fuck away from me.

Cheating was the one thing Violet would never, ever stomach. She hangs up the phone, stoic and stiff as a rock, and then collapses into tears, crying on her beautiful, marble kitchen floors. She she looks around her home, she sees Jordan everywhere. She sees the life they’ve built together over the years. And she knows she can’t stay there for the night. Violet packs a bag for herself and her daughter, drops Willow off with her mom, and heads to Wes and Nate’s place to get away for the night.

...to be continued...

Wes & Nate

Wes and Nate, after four years of marriage, are ready to grow their family. With both of them working good jobs, and a townhouse in a nice enough part of the city (that Nate’s parents may or may not have helped out with...), they figured it was time. Of course, the pleading mothers on both sides of the family didn’t help matters!

Turns out, however, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to adopt a child, especially as a gay couple. Agency after agency has turned them down-- either because they don’t work with gay parents, or because they say they’re just ‘not the right fit’ (code for: you’re gay but we’re scared to say that’s our reasoning). The few agencies that have been willing to work with them are still struggling to pair them with a birth mother. Possibly because despite both of them having good jobs, neither has a college education. Or possibly because on more than one occasion, Wes had dropped an f-bomb during the interview process. Or possibly.... Weston’s questionable family history, and his father being a convict-- which came up on several occasions.

Feeling depressed and defeated, Weston’s connects with Nate’s sister, Thalia, who is also struggling to conceive with her husband Gianni. Neither of them thought they’d ever really want kids one day, and here they are, both in their feelings about not having them. They have their heart to heart, as it feels like the only person who truly gets it is each other. The feeling of letting their partner down, over one of the biggest things.

Despite Wes and Nate’s growing frustrations, they try and stay patient. And finally, it seems to be paying off! A birth mother has agreed to match with them! Finally, it seems they have conquered the beast.

Until..... she changes her mind, and rescinds the offer, after finding out about Weston’s absent dad. Failure, again. They both know there is nothing they can do to change the sort of childhood Wes had, and that it has no bearing on the types of dads they will be-- it’s just a matter of time until they match with someone who won’t hold that against them. But it inspires Nate to bed the question to his husband... should he try and reconnect with his dad again?

It had been years of avoidance since the last time Steven showed up in Weston’s life. He’d avoided him then, and ever sense. But now, with the topic coming up over and over again, he does feel compelled to reach out. It doesn’t take long to get his number from his mom; he finds out he lives just a few hours away, and they schedule to meet somewhere in the middle.

And for the first time ever, Wes willingly confronts his father. His whole life, he’d built him up to be some kind of monster, and he can’t tell if he’s disappointed or just plain sad to see the man his father has actually become-- a tired, old, cracked out looking man with shaky hands.

As they talk, Steven apologizes for never being a dad to him, but also admits that he never wanted to be a dad-- not then and not now. The times he reached out years ago, he was just hoping to get to know his kid, as a fellow adult, not like some mentor or fatherly figure. That was a role Steven never did well in. Steven tells Wes how despite his actions, he really did care for him, and his mom, Daria, and he’d cleaned up his act ever since he got out of prison. He confesses that he might not be the best grandfather in the world, but says he is willing to try, if Wes is willing to bring his child around him, one day (despite the fact that Steven gets visibly uncomfortable referencing the fact that Wes is, indeed gay and married to a man). With mutual understanding and no more hard feelings, the men shake hands and part their separate ways.

And as if by some kind of strange magic... Wes and Nate get paired with a birth mom just a few weeks later. Although this time, they know better than to hold their breath, there is something different about this woman and this situation that feels... right.

...to be continued...

Wrap It All Up

Jordan has returned home, Violet is still refusing to forgive him, and only seeing him when they exchange their daughter. Inside, both of them are absolutely crushed, but neither of them knows how to begin to fix the wreckage. Jordan has been coping with all the old dirt his father’s death and trip back home stirred up in himself, and throws himself into developing his business idea. He’s added onto it-- not only will it be a catering company, but he will specifically try and work with at-risk youth. Kids from bad homes, and bad situations. Even with no financial backing, he decides to take the risk and go for it.

Penelope, discovering herself as a single woman and trying to cope with the tremendous emotions she’s been having, is finally starting to find her footing. She’s finally figured out a good childcare schedule with Levi, she’s thriving at work, and she’s starting to see herself-- and what she wants-- clearer. She ends things with Justin (or what little had ever been there) once and for all, and finds herself spending more and more time with Zach, out of desire and not just necessity. With all of her reasons to hate him melted away, the feelings of love she thought were gone start to come back. And-- surprise, surprise-- they’re returned.

Violet has been staying with Wes and Nate, and celebrating with them over the news of matching with another birth mom. She’s been helping them coordinate with her, send her the right sort of items, and prepare their future nursery. One night, her and Wes are up late, talking, as they usually do. And finally Wes tries to approach to touchy subject of her marriage.

Wes looks at Vi, and point blank, asks her if she wants to divorce Jordan. Instantly, she says no. That tells Wes everything. He urges her to forgive Jordan-- he made a terrible, awful mistake, but he immediately tried to do the right thing. He stopped it before it went further, and his first thought was to lay it all on the line to Violet, not hide it. Wes gently reminds her of the time when she cheated on jordan... with himself. It had just been a kiss, but that was besides the point. When the little secret had finally come out, Jordan had laughed, and been more so annoyed that she was never honest, and less about the actual kiss. Violet insists that was soo different, which Weston concedes to. But still, he urges her to find it in her heart to forgive Jordan. He’s a good man, a great father, and they are truly in love-- they shouldn’t throw it away over one lapse in perfection.

Violet considers Wes’ advice... and heeds it. She goes home one day, when she knows Jordan will be off work, and finds him in the once-pristine kitchen, surrounded with food and bowls and tupperware and tomato sauce strewn just about everywhere. It catches her off guard. She laughs. And then she cries. Then she goes to her husband, wraps her arms around him, and tearfully whispers, What the hell are you doing to my kitchen, Jordan?

Jordan tells Violet about how even if he doesn’t know the financial details yet, he’s going to make his catering business happen; he tells her about the change in plans, spurred by his own troubled teenhood. As she listens to him talk about his life, his dreams, and his passion, she cries harder; she realizes that maybe she never did know this part of her husband. Maybe he never shared it, but maybe she never asked. Again, he apologizes for what happened in Willow Creek. She apologizes for her reaction, and for never taking the time to get to know the rough corners of her husband. As they kiss and makeup, Violet decides that they will tackle this catering business-- together.

Levi, more than anything, feels tired. He feels beaten down. The stress of raising four children. His relationship with Penelope falling apart despite how hard he tried to make it work. Watching Violet and Jordan’s strong marriage falter and almost crack, and Wes and Nate struggle to grow their family... It’s all too much for him-- a man notoriously always looking for love (in all the wrong places..). But, it’s even harder watching all those people around him re-find their love, and peace and happiness... while his still lies dormant. As summer draws near in the wake of the hardest year of his life to date, he decides to finally do something just for him... he calls up his boss, and last minute, takes up the offer to travel to Paris for the international project.

Violet goes into labor, and gives birth to her and Jordan’s second child, and first son. They also officially file for the name of his new catering business.

Nate and Wes fly across the country to be present for the birth of their son, grateful that things didn’t fall through this time.

Penelope and Zach finally make things official.

And in Paris, Levi scouts the streets, following the directions scrawled out on a sheet of torn paper, until he finds it.

He knocks on the door. And Marie opens it.

////////////////////////////

tldr;

Penny has a lil love triangle with Levi/Justin/Zach. She breaks up with Levi to be single, but ends up with Zach.

Jordan cheats on Vi in a moment of weakness with his toxic ex after the death of his abusive father, but they eventually make up, and he starts a catering business and vows to hire at-risk youth.

Wes and Nate struggle to find a birth mom to adopt from, but finally, it all works out and they have a son.

Levi gets fkin WRECKED emotionally (karma fro, everything perhaps??? lool) , and ends up in Paris, knockin’ on Marie’s door. ;)

There was supposed to be a season 2, as well, which details what happens the next year, after all of this.. :) Primarily focusing on Levi + Marie, and what happens with them, and also Luna’s story! May or may not make a post for that one. Season 2 wasn’t as fleshed out.

Most important detail I guess is that Levi and Marie end up together lol.

~*~spoiler~*~

#ivy legacy #like ivy #the fkin ENDDDDD #tw abuse

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betterpathoflyfe · 4 years ago

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Who is May the Author? - 3/22/21

You may have noticed that whenever I write a blogpost, I sign with this pseudo name, “May the Author.” Those who know my personally know that “May” isn’t my real name, but I never really talked about the significance behind that name (I use it as a few of my social media handles too). I mentioned an aspect of it briefly (like...super brief lol) in the previous post, but I want to shed a bit more light!

Sooooooo....

For the longest time...when I was around like...10-13 years old?

I...was the biggest Sonic Hedgehog fan.

Like...#1 biggest fan. I really got into it with the shows and movies first (surprisingly), and then the video games and computer games. I loved watching the gameplays, especially for Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (wow...the nostalgia I just got LOL), as well as the fan-made videos on Youtube like Ask the Sonic Heroes & Sonic Shorts (if you only knew how many times I’m saying “oh my gosh” as I type this...like it’s nostalgic, a taaaaad bit embarrassing if you know me in real life, just....oh my gosh!!!)

But yeah! What really solidified my love for his character was actually through this sprite comic that I followed called, “Sonic and Pals,” by Trevor Fayas (his site crashed years ago sadly). Essentially, it was sort of like a college project for him at the time, and he utilized Sonic characters to portray things like “Romeo and Juliet,” “Caesar,” etc. Yet, he still maintained the characters’ personalities and had running jokes throughout it. It was really good, and was pretty popular at the time!

His comic then allowed me to get into this world of sprite comics, with the website, https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/ getting me familiar with different styles, characters, etc. I soon learned about sprite sheets that include different characters, and then accessory, background, and other sheets that people compile to create their stories! I really started to become invested in these so I eventually decided I wanted to do my own comic (I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, but I guess I was just inspired?)! And what better characters to use than Sonic characters?

Once those sprite sheets were compiled, however, I had no idea what the comic should be about. But after talking to my dad about it, I figured I’d have my “debut” comics talking about Jesus! Therefore, I made this website: https://christskidscorner.wordpress.com/ and tried my hand at a few comics. My goal was to incorporate lessons about God, but still maintain the characters’ personalities through it. Here’s an example of one (if the picture is blurry, here is the link to it and then click on the image: https://christskidscorner.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/comic-4/ ):

Now mind you...I was 12...so chill 😭

BUT, I really enjoyed doing these, and also incorporated other things on the site, including how one could become saved through Christ, prompts featuring “What Would Jesus Do,” and other Christian resources that people could check out (like Adventures in Odyssey)! It was really my way to begin getting familiar with sprites in general.

I always say, though, that my “breakout” comic was my comic called “Sonic and Chums” (as you see, I really loved Trevor’s comic haha). But I always say that that comic is really my baby! Here is the link: https://sonicandchums.wordpress.com/. With this comic, I really took a page out of Trevor’s comic from the very beginning, but by season 2, really began to create my own ideas! Each season sort of took it’s own story, but still kept it interesting, you know? On the site, near the right, you’ll see that I said that the funniest comic was Comic 19. I loved it because it really embodied the personalities of Sonic and Knuckles (to me, at least). This was it (https://sonicandchums.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/comic-19-dealing-with-villains-rouge-runs-into-eggman-again/ ) :

It may be hard to see on here, but in my early comics, I was still learning editing aspects as well! This one, for instance, wasn’t even cropped. But through practice, I got pretty familiar with it! I began using other characters in the comic and creating my own, as well! For example, I sort of created a new storyline with an alternative universe that is parallel to Sonic’s. That season was my favorite (and when I revisit the site, it definitely still is), as I really got to learn how to recolor characters and backgrounds (me and Paint became best friends throughout all of this), give sprites transparency, etc. I was able to mesh different games together and still make it work, you know? This, for instance, was my first real, mini fight scene that I was able to create (from the Alternative Universe comic https://sonicandchums.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/comic-74-121/):

I was invested in all of this to say the least, and allowed me to learn some cool editing skills at the same time!

THAT BEING SAID, one thing that I thought Trevor did that was really smart was the usage of a “sprite author,” which would kind of break that fourth wall between them and the audience. Essentially, it was him as a sprite. Therefore, I knew that I wanted to incorporate myself as the “sprite author,” as well. But I wanted to create a name for it, too, but still have related to me.

Now, Amy Rose was my favorite character only because I, too, am sort of a hopeless romantic myself. So I figured I’d do a play on her name and switch around the letters to May, which also happened to be my birth month as well. I also loved the name, “Mai,” because of Avatar the Last Airbender, so yeah!

May the Author was born (https://sonicandchums.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/comic-1-new-beginnings-a-stick-of-power-2/ ):

Even though it’s sometimes a little embarrassing to talk about it, I truly am proud of those comics because I know the work I really put into make each one, and it was a lot. My website in itself was hard work as well, as I created interactive links for each season, as well as Sonic related stuff like videos and games. It makes me a little sad, though, how some of the comic links and, because Adobe Flash expired, game links have become inactive over time. But, in it’s prime, it was really a great site! My friends and even teachers checked it out during that time, and I even got hits from different parts of the world. It was truly something I enjoyed doing when I was younger.

That is why I wanted to keep the handle. It’s sort of like a remembrance but also a credit aspect! I know that some of my peers today would not believe I created something like this, so I’ve just always kept the name to show like...yeah...I did lol.

So yeah! That, my friend, is the background story behind that name (it’s also my Twitter handle, so follow me on Twitter!).

“Work hard, that way no matter what happens you know you did your absolute best.”

~ May the Author

#blogposts

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frenchibi · 4 years ago

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hey, so i thought maybe you could tell us a little what you're currently interested in? ♥ like, what have you been doing during quarantine, are there any new shows you watched that you enjoyed a lot, did you maybe take up a new hobby or something? :)

Hello!! I did not forget this lovely message, I was just in no state to answer (who’d have thought that recovery from surgery is, y’know, taxing) BUT I’M BACK NOW and ohhhh do you know what you’ve unlocked by asking me this question...?? I cannot give you a comprehensive list but I can tell you a couple of the things that I got into during quarantine, and the things I am currently super passionate about! My memory is, uh, not great but thankfully I do journal and write down things so I am confident I can answer this for you :D (plus I do always love recommending things so - aaa??? Thank you for this ask????)

Putting things under a cut because I physically cannot chill but if tl;dr I want you to take away one thing from this it’s that everyone should read Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Thoughts below.

(Also. I would love to go off about my interests more on here but am not sure what... shape that should ideally take? Text posts? IDK pls give me suggestions, help me out?? dfhasjkldf)

Movies

I have not seen many, but I can and will scream about The Old Guard over and over because... it was everything I never knew I needed in an action movie?? I don’t reblog many things about it anymore but I love love LOVED it!!

Also, upon recommendation by one of my friends from India, I have been delving into the world of Bollywood movies and WOW Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was so fucking good??? idk if it’s on Netflix in every country but it is in mine and I highly recommend it. It’s thoughtful, honest, emotional and shot absolutely gorgeously, and it also has that cheesiness that is just... so good... sometimes you just need the cheese y’know???

(Side note, 2020 was the year I saw Pride and Prejudice (2005) for the first time and I am a changed woman. It is now my ultimate comfort movie. Please see it if you have not, I cannot believe it took me this long. I saw it for the first time on an airplane (in january... a lifetime ago) and have seen it many, many times since.)

TV Shows

So, to everyone’s shock but especially my own, I have not really been into TV lately? I watched The Boys because my brother recommended it (it’s good, but gorey and pulls no punches, the R rating is deserved), and recently started watching Jujutsu Kaisen because my sister recommended it (I haven’t watched a new anime in like a year which is kinda wild to me? But I am enjoying this one - the opening SLAPS and what I’ve seen so far has been fun! Plus I’m watching it with my sister and I like sending her reactions xD),,, and that’s pretty much it for this category?? I am aware there is a LOT of good shit out there I just.. .don’t seem to have the attention span for multiple episodes of a Thing these days. Meh. I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually ^^

Musical Theater

One of the main reasons I think I haven’t been big into TV is because my Musical Passion is in FULL SWING (haha get it). Probably because the only thing that has remained for me during this quarantine is my singing lessons (and lemme tell you... over skype, that shit is ROUGH but still better than not singing at all) and I have been obsessing over learning new songs and finding shows through recommendations and compilation videos on youtube... So.

Shows I listen to a lot these days include Starry, Anastasia, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, Come From Away (I made a post recently specifically about musicals, you should be able to find it under #French speaks) - specific songs in my range that I am currently learning and obsessing over include “Bring on the men” from Jekyll and Hyde, “The Mad Hatter” from Wonderland, “Show Yourself” from Frozen 2 (I liked it ok I DID), and “Go Tonight” from The Mad Ones (this one makes me cry... I’m making my sister duet it with me bc I can’t stop thinking about it).

Also, if you’re interested in hearing me sing things, head over to my instagram where I post covers (and also art)!!

(Musical people, I am curious to hear opinions about Great Comet, and also The Count of Monte Cristo - two shows I’ve been meaning to check out!)

Video Games

Listen. Animal Crossing New Horizons is awesome and I’m glad I have it (...give me Brewster back, Nintendo, or I WILL RIOT), but I have been branching out into other games for the Switch (might as well make this purchase worth it amirite) - current faves include Celeste (which is SO HARD but also SO FUCKING FUN) and Spiritfarer which I specifically bought to play at the hospital bc I knew I was going to be there for a few days, and let me tell you - best decision of 2020. Please watch the trailer if you haven’t heard of it, it’s GORGEOUS and beautiful and emotional and I loved every second of it. Both of these can also be purchased for PC and I think they are definitely worth the investment!!

In other news I’m back on my Stardew Valley bullshit. It’s just so calming.I revisit it a lot lmao

Books

So... I have been reading. A LOT. I read over 70 books this year, which for me is... average tbh? I have had some less productive reading months but overall I have torn through stuff and BOY do I have recommendations if you want them?? For the sake of brevity I will only mention a few here:

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space”. That is all. This was my first five star fiction book of the year and I will never be done screaming about it. There is a dedicated but smallish fandom here on tumblr and it deserves SO MUCH MORE. Please, please please. Everyone should read this damn book. It’s confusing in the beginning but I promise it’s worth it IT’S SO GOOD!! And also the sequel is out and it’s also confusing and SO GOOD!!!

Educated by Tara Westover. This is an autobiography and it’s one of those books that like. Stick in your mind for months after you’ve read it. It’s about how this woman escaped an abusive household that was religiously oppressive and also like... survivalist (prepping for the apocalypse) and avidly believed in conspiracy theories - by educating herself, working her way up to going to Harvard. Nothing I say could do the emotional impact of this book justice - and also just, the perspective this book gave me?? Incredible. Education is the most powerful tool and this woman grabbed it by the hair and did not let go and I was FLOORED. Everyone should read this. I don’t even usually read biographies but DAMN.

The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden.(Book 1 is called The Bear and the Nightingale). This is a bit of a slow burn type deal - it’s a retelling of a Russian fairy tale (I think?? Or like a folk... story? Something like that) and it is just. So magical. It’s not fast paced but it works up to FANTASTIC moments, the focus is on family and magic and change and “making your own way” and all three of these books were wonderful. It reminded me of Naomi Novic’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver (both of which I also loved back in 2019 and would highly recommend) and they are PERFECT winter reads if you’re looking for something to get cozy with. I liked book 1 well enough but books 2 and 3 knocked it out of the park. Fantastic. Loved them.

I have many more recs but this will do for now hahah

Music

Gonna keep this brief too - my music taste is all over the place, but here are some songs I have been obsessed with recently!! Beware of genre whiplash though because these are Very Different from one another (and different from the musical theater stuff above)

Factories - Autoheart (that bridge gets me every time, idk why. This is one I could have on repeat for hours and not get tired of it either. Something about it just gets me!!)

History Read - The Altogether (The lyrics!! Tbh the entire Silo album is GREAT, but this one is my fave. Their music is so... mellow, in the best way??)

Weather Man - Valley of Wolves (ok this one is just a banger. I’m a sucker for a good sing-along-able hook (that’s not a word. you get me though right) and this fucking DELIVERS. I also just think “I make these dark skies blue, I make these mountains move, let the rain come down, I’m pushing through.... [pause] ... ‘cause I’m the weather man” is such good execution of a concept?? That PAUSE GETS ME it’s just SO FUN?!?! idk man I like a good upbeat banger and this is that.)

I believe (get over yourself) - Nico Vega (this one is just a callout at myself tbh?? “you’re a fool” I AM and I needed to hear it?? It’s also SO FUN to sing!!! We love a banger.)

Kiss me you animal - Burn the Ballroom (mentioning this mainly because it reminded me, lyrically, of Gideon the Ninth and I need someone to confirm this for me before I go insane?? “everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink, love” - I mean c’mon??? Also it’s a banger. I do like some rock from time to time... and this also has a killer driving bassline. This is super fun to drive to, too!!)

((If we have overlap and anyone wants to exchange playlists with me - I am SO here for it. Always looking for new music!!! I mean it!!))

Youtube

Last and certainly not least... meet my newest hyperfixation!!! I have always loved watching video essays, and booktube videos, and arttube videos - and my current niche of favorite creators is the Polygon video team!! They made videos about video games and board games and anything gaming-related and I just. I’m only peripherally a “gamer(TM)” but I love anything and everything they create. (Also you don’t have to know much about video games to enjoy all of their content!! A lot of it is still accessible to Non-Gamers(TM) or casual gamers!) BDG is my new favorite creator, the Unraveled series he does on the channel is a work of genius - but I have also started watching their streams and older series and I am enjoying myself SO MUCH! I love boardgames so their series on them, Overboard, is so fun and entertaining (and I already know a bunch of games I want to buy based on seeing the gameplay), and it also made me invested in the other creators - particularly Simone, I would die for Simone?? And Pat? And Jenna? They each have their niche and they work really well together too and their videos are my Main Serotonin Machine in these trying times(TM), thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Also. If you’re already following me here and you are familiar with Polygon things I BEG YOU TO COME AND TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM because I am like, bursting, but I also don’t want to flood my dash with stuff that 99% of my followers are unfamiliar with y’know??

...I think I’m going to leave it at this - it’s already a lot!

But thank you once again for asking and for letting me Go Off about things I am interested in!! I just... I very often wish I could do this more, but I’m not sure how to go about it? Should I just do text posts about things?? Would that be interesting to anyone?? Or is that like, annoying? Should I start a review blog or something? dhfajkldhf I just want to talk about things that excite me, but whenever I’m here I often just stick to reblogging other people’s stuff... help?? What do y’all want to see??

#French speaks #rec #media recs #book rec #thank you so much for this seriously

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vegetacide · 5 years ago

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Whump prompt #4 - part II

Veg-notables - As I mentioned before I shouldn’t be allowed to look at prompts. This is a continuation of the snippet found HERE. Only proofed by me so any mistakes are purely my own

Likes, shares and comments are my motivational fuel.

Rating: M for suggestions of torture.

Characters: Scott, Kayo and Virgil (he is around ..somewhere)

Prompt snippet - no title cause I am lazy and haven't thought of one

Enjoy….

oOo

Kayo was - to put it lightly - irate in a scary calm, calculating and head for the hills kind of way. Later when all was said and done, she would look back on the numbness that had overtaken her and analyze it. Letting the doubt and fear along with it finally take root and she would allow herself a private moment, in a locked room to express what was pent up.

She had various bolt holes on the island that only Virgil was privy to and she would go to one and let the emotions past the deadly stillness she was projecting but for now, cool and controlled was the name of the game.

Setting down Shadow on the lea side of the mountain beside the silent, large green craft that so personified its pilot, she allowed herself a moment to breath. Clenching her fists as she noticed the shake in them that belayed the mask she had cemented into place. Her stress levels must be skyrocketing as the physiological effects of it were being broadcasted in her fine motor skills but the panic that she knew she should feel even behind her plastered on facade was curiously absent. Her brow cocked up at the odd blankness of other feelings for the only things coming through the still veil was the raging hellfire that was her anger.

Shaking her head away from the random torrent of her thoughts, she looked up at the blue expanse of the sky. The odd juxtaposition it presented considering their circumstanced irked her. It should be raining down acid not sunny and warm.

As Thunderbird One came into view over a large outcropping dusted with evergreens, Kay cracked the seal on Shadows canopy and jumped down. The dry tufts of grass, crunching beneath the soles of her boots and sending a small, fluffy tailed critter scurrying into the underbrush.

Shielding her eyes from the dust kicked up from One, she made her way across the rough, cut clearing and up the incline to where Two rested amongst the remains of an old miners camp. The rotten and lichen covered outbuildings creating an eerie back drop for the large transport.

As her eyes scanned over the decaying refuse of the condemned colliery, she absently admired the skill in which Virgil had situated the massive craft. In the confined space allocated to the abandoned plot of land, he’d set the craft down without disturbing any of the rusted out machinery or structures. He’d even managed to somehow avoid flattening what looked to be a picnic table that had seen better days. Its brick red paint cracked and flaking, leaving a puzzle like assortment of debris around it in a halo of disuse.

The man was a truly gifted pilot, there was no doubt about that. No one could maneuver the Herculean flying boat around like he could. Turning her face up towards the underside of the silent ‘bird, a hint of something flashed across her expression. The giant seemed lifeless without the skilled operator and it didn’t sit right with her. Like a soul had been snatched away and a carcass left behind, barren and wasting.

Pulling her mind back from her dark musings, she redirected herself back to the task at hand. Her shrewd eyes narrowed as she scrutinized the derelict site. Searching and cataloguing anything and everything that seemed out of place in the otherwise undisturbed landscape.

Virgil had been called out here to rescue a trapped hiker, a standard run for the well trained troop and nothing outside of their regular wheelhouse. It wasn’t the first time that they’d had to sweep in to pluck some backwoods walker from some precariousness or another and it surely wouldn’t be the last.

Virgil had been exceedingly chipper considering the early hour as he left the comms room for his chute that morning. He’d even paused long enough to drop a kiss on her forehead as he passed before disappearing down the long slide to the awaiting craft. It had been a rather quiet week for them, an oddity given that the world seems unable to resist getting into stupid and avoidable danger, and the dark haired man had been eager for some action.

Kayo kept replaying the scene over and over in her mind, but no matter how many times she revisited the call and the frightened voice that John had projected across the comms, she could detect no duplicity. There had been no prickle of caution that would cause her to halt her lover’s plan of action so she’d continued on with sipping at her coffee and tucking her legs up under her, getting comfortable.

In hindsight, she wished she’d paid more attention or perhaps even tagged along for the ride.

At the sound of hurried feet at her six, she held up a hand a non-verbal urging for Scott to cease his approach.

“Kayo?” Came his inquiry over the dedicated comms line. He was some fifty feet away to her left, having landed One down below on what remained of an old loggers road, luckily just wide enough for the lithe craft to make use of. “Did you find anything?”

Kayo backed out from under Two making sure to retrace her steps and took a circuitous route over to where the anxious commander stood, shoulders so tense for his brother that Kayo could make out the fine tremors racking through them as he tried to keep own distraught anger contained.

Drawing near she indicated over to the scene behind her, the humid air stirring and playing with the ends of her long ebony hair. The mugginess that was typical for the Canadian summer causing the ends to curl up and the loose wisps around her face to stick to her tawny skin. “Two’s on emergency lock down just like John said. I did a preliminary scan on approach to the DZ, there’s nothing.” Her report was direct and concise. Her blunt delivery a coping mechanism in itself.

Scott cursed harshly, hands clenched into tight fists at his side with frustration. After a moment; his own eyes sweeping over the area, he took a step towards Two. “Show me.” The order in his voice evident and proof that he’d only just managed to rein himself in.

Kayo took the lead and pointed to a few areas of disturbed ground in various spots up the rise. “Here and here.. There was a struggle.” Kneeling, she touched the rocky ground and brought her gloved hand up for a closer look. Her thumb sliding across the pads of her fingers as she inspected something. Her brows twitched as a brief glimmer of her upset peeking through her control but she quickly stowed it away.

“Blood. Someone went down hard.” The who wasn’t necessary, there was only one option. Scott squatted down on his haunches beside her, gravel crunching under his thick soles and reached out his own gloved fingers to inspected the tacky, dark substance.

“Couple hour tops, with this humidity” He commented, taking in the consistency of what was smeared across his fingers.

Kayo nodded her agreement at his assessment and straightened, eyes once more scanning about. “On foot they couldn’t have gone far, especial with 180lbs of dead weight…” She considered, glancing off towards the tree line some two hundred feet to the West, “ Must have had transport of some kind..”

“I’ll have John scan the area again maybe he can pick something up even with the iron deposits here playing havoc with our sensors..worth a shot though.“

"Anything is better than what we have..” Kayo said as she stepped past him. “I’m going to see if I can find any signs of a transport. If they had one maybe I can pick up a trail or get an idea of what direction they took.”

The urge to reassure Scott that they would find the missing pilot was an unnecessary platitude and a promise she was scared to admit that she wasn’t able to make. With little to no clues as to how, what or why anyone would have taken Virgil the real fear that they might not find him was a thought that right now she couldn’t bare to look at too hard.

The hand that caught her wrist as she slipped by caught her briefly by surprise, the hard blue eyes that was swimming with worry and a glimmer of fear that met her own had her looking away before her own inner doubts could take any further root.

Pulling free with a gentle tug, she refused to meet his gaze. There was no way she was going to allow herself to go down that rabbit hole and she shook her head. “It’s getting dark, I’ll contact the GDF to lock the area down while I check the perimeter.”

Scott returning nod was all the acknowledgement she needed. The worried sound of his voice following her as he reported through to 5 some 22 000 km away. His form becoming obscured in the waning shadow of Two as the distance between them grew with each step she took towards the treeline.

TBC - HERE

#thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbird two #thunderbird one #thunderbird shadow #Virgil Tracy #kayo kyrano #virgil/kayo #scott tracy #the prompt made me do it #oops my bad

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makotokino · 6 years ago

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sunguard - one year

It’s mind boggling to me to realize that I’ve been back in WoW for over a year. When I left at the beginning of WoD, I was pretty certain I was never coming back. The game had lost a lot of love in my heart, partially because of personal circumstances but overall, I was burnt out. BFA’s trailer brought me back in November of 2017, and I spent some time on the outskirts until I poked my head into S.O.S. While the experience was great, I do have some mixed feelings on it now - but one thing I am grateful for is that it brought me to the Sunguard.

This past year has been an absolute boon for me in a lot of ways. Being a member in Sunguard has challenged me creatively, and looking back over my writings last year to now - I can already see an improvement. Not just in how I write, either, but how I create. I spend so much time brainstorming with stories I love, and that’s lead to so much more creativity even outside of Warcraft writing. I’ve started writing original content again, I’ve picked up painting; I’m excited to challenge myself in the future because I feel confident and creative. For someone who has struggled with creativity and especially feeling confidence in my work, this is so wonderful.

Y’all have given me a place to create and express my characters, to grow their stories. So many parts of Sanarissa - a character I’ve been writing for eight years - have grown into something more nuanced, complex, and interesting. I’ve also had the opportunity to create more characters who I love, which I’ve never really done before - being someone who focused only on my main.

So I wanted to say thanks - to everyone I communicate with, write with, and share the experience of TSG with on a daily basis. I also have a few special thank you’s because I’m a giant sap. But for now, thank y’all for this amazing year and I can’t wait for more.

The Officer Corp, with special thanks to Felth @felthier, Jess @jessipalooza, Mel @stormandozone, and Azzy @azriah: From the first moment applying to the Sunguard, the officers made me feel welcome and wanted. That was a huge thing for me. Along the way, y’all have always been supportive, attentive, and nice to talk to. Especially the four of you I mentioned, I feel like I can always come to at least one of you with questions or concerns. So thank you, for making the guild a great place for not only me but everyone else - and for always being there to answer my (sometimes) dumbass questions. Not to mention y’all inspire me so much with your work.

Tiah / @forever-afk: Tiah, you are one of the reasons I joined TSG to begin with. Between you and Thomas after S.O.S., that’s really what pushed me forward. I know we haven’t gotten to RP in a loooong time due to our own lives not meshing, but I’m still so glad Sana and Vaelrin are buddies.

Aimee / @thanidiel: I know we don’t talk super often but I am very glad to have you around to jabber at, get advice and critique from, and joke around with. Having you around during S.O.S. was a boon, and I’ve enjoyed being able to make old MG veterans memes with you sometimes. You inspire me so much to be a better writer, creator, roleplayer, dude.

Cari / @retributionpriest: So I was devastated when Lirelle died without ever really getting the chance to interact, besides like one social event with a couple sentences, because of my own Anxiete. But I am soooo so so so glad that we’ve started talking and roleplaying a little back and forth. Being able to chat with you over Elementalist stuff and the brief RP we’ve been able to do has been so fun. I look forward to so much more in the future.

Harm / @thelaughingvulture: Fave Light cultist, bar none. But honestly, Brae is such an interesting character and I love her and despite the constant Brea/Brae confusion, I am glad we’ve gotten to talk and RP more over the last few weeks. I’m SAD that Sana is a traitor again, but the interactions we are keeping were so good - plus we’ll have bards we can write, or Light nerds. I’m super excited to keep on truckin as your buddy.

Veli / @ocarina-of-what: Hi. I love you. RP with me at some point. No, but really, having gotten to know you a little bit over the past few weeks has been absolutely incredible. You’re such a gem and a darling, I love you to pieces already. I hope we get to know each other much better AND ACTUALLY GET TO RP SOON. LOVE YOU.

Matt / @captainswingbeard: Hello, I know I’m a horribly slow RP partner, but your kind words and genuine interest in my stories are so wonderful and great. I was soooo surprised when you took interest in wanting to RP with me but it’s been so fun and interesting. I love reading your stories and I’m so interested in how everything will play out for the Old Man. And I swear, I’ll reply soon (unless I already have because I wrote this ahead of time - ha!)

Larry / @trained-trainwreck: I genuinely cannot like, preface enough how much your friendship means to me. You are one of my best TSG buddies and you mean a lot to me. We are Team Southern America and that’s important to me to have someone who comes from a similar background and history that I can share my experiences with. On top of that, being able to write with you is one of my favorite things, despite us not having much time to do so. Larry and Sana’s parallels are so interesting and I’m sorry she has yet again betrayed his trust. Also, I love big murder boy and I swear, at some point, I will be able to accept your invitation to level in ESO together.

Jase / @veloestian: Hey. You mean a lot to me. I know I communicate to you in gently bullying terms a lot, but you’re a dear friend to me. I love writing with you even though I’m slow and a horrible partner. You were the first person I wrote Melori with and so much of her grew from the interactions we had early on. You help me feel better when I’m sad and you send me dumb memes and I love that. You’re a good bean and I cherish you.

Gibby / @please-respond: Bridge troll or not, you are like my brother. My horrible gremlin brother who I sometimes want to kill, but brother nonetheless. Our relationship has been based a lot more off of friendship than RP, which makes me sad sometimes - but I’m glad we’re getting to RP and write together. I love the things you create, I love the opportunities you’ve given me towards my character arc for Sana, and I’m thankful for all the advice and talks we’ve had. Thank you.

Archer / @pyrosophist: Hey. Hey Archer. Hi. You’re my favorite fetus in the universe probably. I am so, so honored and consider myself truly lucky to count you as one of my closest RP partners. Of course, I can talk about Team Fel and how much I have loved seeing them grow from enemies to tenuous allies to friends to lovers to ENEMIES AGAIN, how much their natural, organic growth has fascinated me, how much their parallels hurt my soul, how much I enjoy writing them with you and what will come of it in the future.

But there’s so much more than that. It’s become routine to just talk to you everyday, about creation and headcanons and ideas - you have such a creative energy and you inspire me by even being near you. Digging into headcanons and character work with you and throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks has quickly become one of the highlights of my day; right alongside of planning what kind of stupid shit we can do in roll20. I even love hurling stupid pinterest posts and songs at you, it’s all part of the friendship.

Being able to share lore, ideas, AU’s, and RP with you means so much to me. You’ve made such an impact on my time in the Sunguard, and I can’t thank you for that enough. I can’t wait to see the storylines you unfold, now and in the future, and be there to experience them. Also, you always draw me wonderful things and I cry a lot.

Thomas / @jonathan-nevermore-smith: I had to save you for last, goober. From the moment we started writing together a year ago, I knew that I was in for something special. Writing Ash and Sana with you has been a rollercoaster that I have been happy to be on, even now. They mean so much to me. You’ve given me so much opportunity to revisit and grow the character that I love so much.

But it isn’t just Sana. Because of your brilliant ideas, I’ve gotten to create multiple characters that I love and adore. It was your urging that pushed me to make Melori a fully-formed, true character. It was your fanon lore that brought me Zaerise. You’ve always encouraged my ideas and thoughts, even when I thought they were extra. You’re always excited to talk with me about things - and that means so much to me.

You’ve let me take a lot of your fanon and just run with it. Being able to work out the religion, culture, and history of the Ridges - its customs and what makes it tick - has been such a fulfilling thing for me to do. Not to mention the Coven, and how much I love and adore them and all that you’ve let me do with your inkling of an idea.

You’re way more than an RP partner though. You are one of my best friends. Talking to you everyday just feels like part of the routine - always have to check in and talk with Thomas. You’ve become such a common point of reference in my life. You share my Hulu account with the real life squad. You’ve been there for me in some of my hardest points this year; you’ve listened to me cry, heard me drunk, and you’ve been there for me every moment in between. I’m more thankful for you than I can easily put into words. So thank you, Thomas, for a year of amazing friendship and roleplay, and here’s to so many more.

#tsg #ilu guys

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geekmama · 6 years ago

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This Bud of Love

Still another post-Sherrinford/Musgrave offering, a series of seven drabbles of varying lengths using the prompts for Molly Hooper Appreciation Week Fall 2018 (in slightly altered order). I'm late to the game with this one, this is the last day of posting, but it was fun to revisit these situations.

Prompt: "Free For All" - 150 words

It wasn’t long before Molly realized there was something very strange going on… something very wrong. Her ‘bad day’ was cast into the shade as she tried first to reach John, then Mycroft, to no avail. Third time’s the charm, she thought as Lestrand picked up, but the information he gave -- 221B blown up and some covert operation in progress -- almost left her speechless.

Almost..

She told Greg about the phone call.

After that it was sirens, screeching tires, pounding feet, kind eyes, sharp orders; hidden cameras, at least, and who-knew-what at most. She was hustled away as they began to take apart her house, just like that phone call had taken apart her heart -- and she could not help but wonder about Sherlock’s heart, the desperation in his voice, and if he would forgive her the disastrous moment of stubborn pique that had forced those words from his lips.

Prompt: "Touch" - 300 words

The ‘safe house’ that Mycroft’s P.A. arranged was not at all what Molly had expected, so elegant that, when she was finally left alone, she could only hug herself and stare about her at the luxurious appointments, beautiful antiques, and the fire in the grate, her eyes beginning to sting nonsensically. However, when a tear escaped to slip wetly down her cheek, she came out of her stupor, exclaimed, “Stupid!”, swiped it away, gathered her little courage, and began to look about her.

She’d been told to get some sleep, that she’d be kept abreast of developments, but alone, frightened, and worried was not a formula designed to produce such an outcome. She did what she could. She found a soft sleep tee, a fluffy dressing gown, and a bathroom both incredibly posh and fully stocked with the finest toiletries. She would have enjoyed herself very much indeed in the time that followed, if she had not been so thoroughly heartsick.

There was a television but, though she clicked through the channels for hours, it told her nothing to the point.

It was nearly 2AM and she was finally sinking into a troubled slumber when there was a knock at the door. She silently scrambled up, out, over the thick Aubusson carpet, and peered through the peephole.

Sherlock. Looking as ravaged as she felt.

She unchained and unbolted the door, threw it open, and they gaped at each other for a long moment: fraught, electric; paralyzing.

Then Sherlock breathed, “Molly… Molly, I--”

But she threw herself at him, almost yelping, “I’m sorry!”

Wonder of wonders, he caught her and hugged her close, solid and safe under the rough wool of that coat. “You’re sorry!” he said, almost laughing. “Oh my God. Molly… I love you!”

She began to sob.

Prompt: "Scent" - 700 words

The delicious scent of fresh coffee woke them.

Molly’s eyes blinked open to find that she was still nose to nose with Sherlock, both of them sharing the same pillow, and his arms were loose about her. He was awake too, his brow stormy as he listened intently.

“Anthea, I think, but you stay here while I go see.”

He slipped silently out of bed and moved out, toward the tiny kitchen. However, Molly refused to be left out and followed, after a moment, straightening her sleep tee and running her fingers swiftly through her disheveled hair. There had been a great deal of extremely satisfactory cuddling in the wee hours of the night, and she could not help but smile to remember it, even with an unknown stranger having invaded their nest.

But it was indeed Anthea, Mycroft’s insouciant P.A.

“What the devil are you doing, sneaking in here?” Sherlock demanded.

Anthea was unperturbed by his threatening tone. “Can I help it if the pair of you were dead asleep? I’ve brought you breakfast and a message from your brother.” She glanced over at Sherlock and saw that Molly was there, too, just behind and to the side. Anthea smiled. “Good morning, Dr. Hooper. I hope you rested well?”

Sherlock turned to scold, but Molly ignored him and slipped past, into the kitchen. “Yes, thank you. After Sherlock’s arrival, at least. Is his brother all right? And John?”

“John is home with his daughter and seems none the worse for his experience -- physically, at least. And Mycroft came into the office this morning as usual.” She shook her head in disapproval.

“What’s his message?” asked Sherlock. “And, more importantly, what have you brought us for breakfast? I haven’t eaten since before the flat was blown up.”

“I thought you hadn’t. Catering straight from Christopher’s in Covent Garden, probably more than you can eat -- they seem to have sent a little of everything. Your coffee’s black with two sugars, correct? And would you like coffee, too, Dr. Hooper, or do you prefer tea?”

“Coffee, please!” Molly said, sitting down at the little café table in the corner of the kitchen. “Is there cream?”

“Certainly,” said Anthea. “Sit down, Sherlock, and I’ll serve you both. Then I have to get back to the office. Mycroft is exhausted, but is full of plans for the next few days.”

“My parents,” Sherlock said, morosely, sitting down beside Molly and taking her hand under the table. He gave it a squeeze, and they exchanged a look that made Molly light up inside. And outside, too, apparently. Sherlock lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Then Anthea was there with a tray and a knowing smile for them both. Molly felt herself blushing a little, but Anthea said only, “A car’s being sent for your parents. Mycroft believes it would be best if they were told as soon as possible.” As she laid out their breakfast, she added, “He says there is no need for you to attend the initial meeting, Sherlock. That the responsibility is his and his alone.”

Sherlock rolled his eyes. “He would, of course. Idiot.”

“You’ll come back with me then?” Anthea asked, hopefully, with an apologetic glance at Molly.

Molly’s heart gave a twinge, but she forced a smile when Sherlock said, “Yes, I’ll have to. Mycroft’s made mistakes, but much of it was initiated by our uncle. But knowing Mycroft, he’ll try to take the full blame, which will ultimately only confuse matters.

Anthea sighed. “That’s what I think, too.” She set the tray aside. “I’ll leave you to enjoy breakfast and wait for you in the car. Dr. Hooper, your home has been cleared and our people have done their best to put things back in order. We can drop you there before going on to the office.”

“Yes. Alright,” said Molly, the twinge increasing. She watched Anthea leave, heard the door close behind her, then turned slowly to Sherlock…

Who looked as unsure as she felt.

He said, “I… my flat’s not habitable at the moment…” His voice trailed off.

“Would you… like to stay at mine?”

His uncertainty vanished, and he smiled again.

Prompt: "Sound" - 100 Words

It was hours before the sound of the front door opening brought Molly rushing into the foyer. Then she hesitated. Old habits.

Sherlock closed the door behind him, looked as though he wanted to rush to her, but hesitated, too. Then held out his hand.

She came to him and took the hand (big and warm, yet elegant, with the calluses of an accomplished violinist) and after a brief, still moment, he pulled her into his arms. An imperative finger was presently set beneath her chin, raising it. She took the hint, and stood on tiptoe, melting into his kiss.

Prompt: "Taste" - 200 words

He was not entirely untutored, what with He-Made-Me-Wear-The-Hat Janine, John’s hackable computer password and eclectic taste in porn, and Molly’s own predilection for the steamy romance novels that Sherlock had occasionally picked up as light reading, usually in the wake of particularly intense criminal cases. Yet there was a wonder and innocence in the way they proceeded that afternoon and well into the evening.

Never had Molly wanted to give herself so completely. Never had a man been so attuned to her needs, and ready to give of himself.

She lay there, boneless, the echo of her cries fading as he moved up to cover her, one hand urging her thighs to part once more, the other tangling in her hair. His face blurred before her as she murmured his name, and then she arched, gasping as hypersensitive flesh was gently grazed. He kissed her, open mouthed, messy, and delicious with the taste of them both, and, amazingly, desire rekindled deep within her.

He moved his lips, trailing kisses in a path to her ear: “Now, my Molly?”

She could only reply, “Yes, please,” and, reaching down to guide him, turned her head and caught his lips in another kiss.

Prompt: "Sight" - 300 words

“I never thought I’d see live to see it,” John said with a grin as Molly and Sherlock approached the table in their favorite “cake place”. Rosie was eighteen months old that day. It had to be celebrated.

The toddler gave a happy cry, and Molly swept her up, letting Sherlock take the brunt of John’s observation for the moment. A glance showed that he bore some heightened color, but there was a happy glow about him, a kind of pride that could not be hidden. Certainly John had seen it.

“A lot has changed,” Sherlock said, simply. “It’s good to see you. No ill effects?”

“None to speak of,” John said, shrugging slightly. “More thankful than ever to be alive, to tell you the truth. How’s Mycroft doing? What’s he think of… er… all this? You and Molly?”

Sherlock gave Molly a crooked grin. “He’s the one who goaded me to it. After you left that night, he showed up and told me how… how concerned Molly had been. What else could I do but go to her, and see that she was well.”

John chuckled, but shook his head, too. He looked over and caught Molly’s eye. “Was it worth the wait? For him to grow some bollocks, I mean.”

Molly frowned at the use of such language around her innocent goddaughter, but she laughed, too. “Sherlock’s bollocks have always been just fine, John. And of course it was worth the wait.”

She would have said more, but at this point, Rosie pushed a little away and said to her father and godfather, quite clearly, “Bollocks!”

Molly gave a cry of dismay and laughter, Sherlock groaned, and John said, “Oh, my God. Okay, maybe we’d do better to just shut up for now and eat some cake, yeah?”

Prompt: "Feelings" - 250 words

Mycroft stood watching his little brother and sister playing their violins. Sherlock was good, but Eurus was brilliant, incandescent, as was her nature. Such brilliance, yet her powers had been used to do so much ill.

He glanced at his mother and father, who sat entranced. So many years wasted, his mother had said, tears in her eyes.

But he had done the best he could. There was nothing else he could have done but acquiesce to Uncle Rudy’s arrangements.

And protect his vulnerable little brother. Or at least that’s how it had seemed. Sherlock had been brilliant, too, but where Euros was cold, their brother had burned and burned. The boy might have gone up in flames -- had been close to it a number of times in fact -- if Mycroft had not taken control of the situation.

And yet… speaking of wasted years.

But it was all water under the bridge now. Sherlock and Molly might be older, but the happiness they were currently experiencing and would, no doubt, continue to experience had its seeds in Musgrave, and had come to fruition at Sherrinford.

Nothing was ever wasted, it seemed.

Mycroft roused himself from his musings to find the eyes of his little sister upon him. The laughter in them was quite visible through the protective glass.

We are all fools in love.

He wondered vaguely where he’d heard that. A quote from some novel?.

He’d have to look it up.

Or ask his soon-to-be sister-in-law. She would know.

~.~

#Sherlock #sherlolly #molly hooper appreciation week

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rosewaterfish · 6 years ago

Text

Google

Google blue is different from his three counterparts. Different in a way the others would most likely never be able to understand. His programming went even beyond olivers. Google wasn't made for a singular purpose. He wasn't born to assist or guard or work, but rather to be the perfect machine. A perfectly balanced android meant to keep all the good attributes of his three brothers while simultaneously counteracting the messy side effects. Strength without anger, knowledge without overthinking and, by far the most difficult one to program into a maschine, compassion without emotion. The ability to understand and analyse moral dilemmas with all the empathy of a real human being, without having to deal with the overwhelming distractions of emotion. His creators had spent months working on a model that could do exactly that. Using the inferior filter of the yellow google as a template, they created a rather unique piece of technology. A filter that almost instantaneously separated any emotion the android let into his system, processed it and and stored it in his memory files, causing google to feel his emotions in brief flashes before being able to distance himself from them and think about the situation rationally, therebye using his emotions as another factor in his problem solving algorithm rather than something that would detract from finding a perfect solution. Google had always thought it was quite brilliant. He would never experience an emotion for very long, which was only beneficial for him and his objectives. But he could always look back. Remember what it felt like.

Like the time his brothers enjoyed a relatively slow evening with the customary friday night video games, lucky charms and friendly banter between them, a particularly strong flash of some warm feeling spread across his systems filling him with temporary pleasantry before fading into memory. A memory he often enjoyed playing back, only to experience that same jolt of what oliver would describe as “comfort” or “happiness.” he doubted he'd ever be able to feel as strongly as oliver did, yet he knew without a doubt that he loved his brothers. Or at least, as close to love as he, as an android could get. They were his world, his will to activate every day, and his determination to continue on working. They were without a doubt, his life. This wasn't as much of an emotion as it was a completely rational fact.

Everybody noticed when it started happening, Everybody knew, yet nobody spoke. Malfunctions occur more frequently, their battery life became shorter every day, and rust started to form between their synthetic joints. It wasn't long until green couldn't function for longer than 2 hours and red started falling apart, allowing exposed wires to hiss, and spark underneath his cracked synthetic skin.

Google felt it within him. A spark of something dark and sinister.

It was there and it was gone.

Google did not spare the emotion much thought, as he continued to care for his malfunctioning brothers. It wasn't long now before they would no longer be able to function.

They left the same way they had come.

Together.

The light slowly fading from their eyes as their cores let out a last, faint hiss until finally deactivating. Oliver never quite recovered. He was the one who sobbed, he was the one to cover their lifeless shells with cloth and treat their broken bodies. He was the one who grieved for the both of them. And google, google did what he did best. He worked. He worked and he worked, and he cared for oliver as he became weaker and weaker, with his puffy red eyes and slumped shoulders; Google felt something. A flash of an ugly churning that turned his stomach and lashed out at his insides painfully. Merely a flash.

It was there, and then it was gone.

He didn't dare revisit the memory. That feeling which accompanied it was… less than pleasant.

Ollie lived mostly in pain after that. Suffering from grave malfunctions that restricted his movement and caused him to spark painfully. Eventually, it became too much for either of them to bare.

Google did it for him.

When he could no longer stand, and his systems hiccuped uncomfortably as he muttered disjointed, barely coherent words of some illusion no doubt caused by the deteriorating software in his head. Ollie gripped the panel over his core in pain as he curled up in his brother’s arms.

“I miss them so much.” He whimpered, burying his face in googles shirt.

“Don't try to talk right now.”

“It hurts blue. It… I don't want to leave you.”

“Shhhhh. It's gonna be ok.”

“It hurts. It hurts so much, I. Please. Please make it stop. Make it-”

Google hesitates before opening the androids chest panel

All systems failing, performance level, critical

“I'm sorry. I can't-”

Oliver reaches out his hands to touch google’s face. He smiled sweetly up at him.

“It's ok. It's ok Google. We’ll finish playing another time.”

His core gurgled in his chest cavity as oil spilled from holes in the machinery and google; google just couldn't take it anymore. He pulled the dying core out of it's shell in one quick movement. It wasn't worth it anymore. It wasn't fair to keep him here. The wires snapped off the delicate instrument and the lights turned off as the whirring of the machines came to a slow halt. He hadn’t stopped smiling by the time his systems shut off. Lost in some distant memory of a video game they had never finished. Maybe it was better that way. It would have been selfish to keep him here. It would have been wrong.

The silence was deafening. No more quiet clicks of working software or crackling of electricity. A continuous reminder that google was truly and completely alone. He didn’t want to look at his smile anymore. It felt cold, almost mocking in the face of his sorrow. A terrible sinking feeling settled in his gut, as if someone had stuffed a ball of burning metal down his throat. It burned his stomach and spread through his systems poisoning everything it touched. It was different than anything he had felt before. So strong, so debilitating it caused his already weak systems to malfunction, but this time, he had no Oliver to take away the overwhelming pain flooding through every synthetic vein in his body. So instead, he lay on the floor, clutching his chest pannel and waiting for the poison to fade, waiting for the burning to cease and the grief to flush out of his systems.

It was there, but it wasn't gone.

Eventually, the filter was able to chase the feeling out of his body and into his memory file. but he still remembered, he still knew. Every silent moment, every object was just another reminder of them. A reminder that sent another rush of poison his systems had to flush out. Another new error in his software. The filter became stronger and stronger, trying it's best to fully wash the emotion out of Google, and as a result, the emotions became weaker and weaker, The poison had infiltrated his memory storages. Forcing google to look at the happiest of his memories through a thick veil of grief. Until the memories themselves faded. Chased away like a virus.

Just a flash of emotion, and then, it was gone.

Google worked, and he worked and worked until he couldn't leave his charging station for more than 20 minutes. Until the wires started showing underneath his skin. Until his body and core slowly started to fall apart.

It seemed rational at the time. He needed parts to survive, specific parts that were hard to come by. spare parts he had available to him right here, in his office. It seemed like the best solution. Even so, when he opened up red’s chest pannel, tearing out wires and pieces, he couldn't help but feel a sharp stab in his chest. A gross feeling of sadness and guilt associated with the lifeless form of his dead brother.

It was there and then it was gone.

Scrap metal. That's all they were.

Scrap metal.

Google doesn't remember his brothers. He doesn't remember the video games or lucky charms. It doesn't matter anymore. He just needs to survive, needs to keep going. That's what he tells himself as he rips off the leg from the pile of yellow scrap metal in the corner of the room. Sometimes he’ll stumble onto something slightly familiar. An old dusty pillow fort in the corner of the room, or an untouched videogame station and he’ll feel a slight twinge in his chest. Some distant memory of pain. It never lasts long of course.

It was there, and then it was gone.

@reverseblackholeofwords (i wrote you a bit of google angst, enjoy)

#google #markiplier #fanfiction #egos #staygoldrbhw #google blue #angst #reverseblackholeofwords

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years ago

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OUAT 1X08 - Desperate Souls

Holy smokes! Not counting today’s review, I’ve racked up 30 pages worth of content for this rewatch!!! For me - someone who has barely written maybe twenty pages total for everything OUaT in the two and a half years I’ve been here - that’s pretty neat!

So, without further adieu, let’s SOUL-der on and talk about this adventure, for I know you’re DESPERATE to read my thoughts under the cut!

Press Release Regina and Mr. Gold play dirty politics and take opposite sides when Emma runs for a coveted Storybrooke public office against Sidney. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, Rumplestiltskin tries to track down the ultimate power source in order to help his son avert the horrors of a meaningless war. General Thoughts Past The intro to this episode is phenomenal. Immediately, we’re thrust into the action and everything from the writing to the storytelling tells us what we need to know about the characters and the unique setting they’re currently living in. We feel the fear that they do and it’s intense. And what’s better is that sentiment carries on through the rest of the episode. The biggest draw it got out of me over the course of the episode’s runtime was this dual feeling of sorrow and pity as the child collector madde Rumple kiss his boot. It gives the murder at the end of the episode an extreme layer of catharsis. Fuck, I gotta talk about that scene between Rumple and Zoso. This scene sets the standard for so much of Rumple’s life going forward. I love that here is where we get to hear the line “all magic comes with a price for the first time.” While Rumple won’t know that true price for some time, he clearly gets the sense that he’s in for a rough time in this moment. For someone who is so often on this series on the other side of this equation, Rumple was new to the concept at one point too, and it’s so crazy to revisit that.

The theme of being wary of how one acts in times of desperation really works in this flashback, and that’s because of consistent character writing in accordance with their stakes. Present The intro here is fantastic too. While I didn’t like the drama from the last episode, the way that this scene handles it makes it feel better. It builds on it while keeping things subtle and at the same time, furthering the storytelling from the past’s segment’s intro through the bonding point of parenthood - whether either party is conscious of it or not. Emma’s conflict in this episode is so good. It shines leagues above what it was in the last episode because it’s actually having to do with characteristics and dynamics of hers that are actually established, and what’s better is that it melts together like a fine stew. We see right from the get go - as stated before - that Graham’s death and Emma’s subsequent grief has something to do with her desire for the job, but also, Emma’s rivalry with Regina and her desire to assuage Henry of his anxieties as best as she can without playing into (what she believes to be) his delusions of the curse. I like how the ending works too. While I don’t think the reiterated wham line works the way the writers intended it to, Emma’s victory isn’t taken from her and it’s not any less earned. However, the final twist is still able to be effective and prove that while a force against Gold, Emma is still up against someone always a step ahead of her. Both There’s a fascinating couple of moments in both the past and present that I want to touch upon. First is a cool contrast between Rumple and Emma. Rumple discusses the role that Bae plays in his life, while Emma talks about the role that she plays in Henry’s life. I like how those discussions come before our leads hear about possibilities/make decisions that completely alter their current standings in life. “I know how to recognize a desperate soul.” This line works really well in the case of the flashback, but kind of feels like a round peg in a square hole in the present. Emma’s not in a dire straight the way Rumple is, despite the internal weight of the conflict. I don’t consider it a major problem, however because while very much a wham line, acting as if it’s supposed to be the central theme of the episode when it’s not, it doesn’t take away from the good story from before that moment. I love how the general theme of this episode - while the forces of good never intentionally try to incorporate evil into their endeavors, sometimes it can’t be avoided - gets shown in two ways: both consciously and unconsciously. Rumple makes the choice to use darkness in the past and Emma - while not knowledgeable of it - plays into Gold’s game in the present. Emma and Rumple/Gold are fantastic foils to each other and seeing this kind of starting point build as the series goes on is really cool! Insights I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen the intro changed up! I like how it changes depending on the focus of the episode. It’s a good blending of a uniform intro and a recap. Man, I’m gonna be sad when we lose it, though I do miss the “Previously on Once Upon a Time.” I never noticed before, but Zoso’s magic is so distinct from everyone elses. It’s like a supersonic wave rather than the puffs of smoke we’ve seen both before and since this point. “That’s the thing about children - before you know it, you lose them.” I’d be here all day if I tried to unpack that one. Breaking a toaster is the weirdest way to act out in anger. What makes it better is that we don’t see any sign of her attacking it or whatnot so how it got to be that way is up in the air and so much funnier for it! I wonder how a town charter was created. Why would Regina build a balancing system into her curse. Headcanon: Gold used his “please” clause to make it so. I take issue with the duke for not saying “Did you teach him how to run, RUNplestiltskin?” How DARE you pass on that beautiful pun opportunity? “If they take him away, I will truly become dust.” *Cuts to the Season 7 finale* Apparently, that was quite literal. Why can no one identify each other in the flashback? The Duke doesn’t recognize that the beggar is Zoso nor Rumple once he’s become the Dark One! I love how as Rumple and Bae are preparing the lanolin, we get to see hand movements that mirror Rumple’s once he becomes the Dark One. Archie, mate. Speaking from my experiences with a certain blooper reel, you might want to spend a good few seconds practicing the candidate’s names instead of your intro ;) Then again, your public speaking on the whole is just a mess. Practice your finesse. “I can’t beat Regina - not the way she fights.” Regina’s not the one fighting dirty at the moment, or less so: Gold is. Why say a line like that? You gotta wonder, were there ever plans to expand on Zoso’s points about Baelfire or were the writers aware that he was only saying that to get a rise out of Rumple? “You have to tell me what to do.” Oh he will, Rumple. He or Nimue, probably. Damn, I wish we could’ve seen that first night by the Dark One’s vault. Are there fanfics out there for it? “Glass. Swan.” Wow, ship names and hindsight makes that sign hilariously awkward! XD It’s weird how seldom we see blood on Rumple’s dagger. You would think since it’s a weapon, we’d see it more. I don’t know if it was a conscious choice on the hair stylist’s part, but Rumple’s not only blinded by his own ambitions of power in the final flashback scene, but also by his hair! Awww! Emma brings a picture of Henry into her office! I bet she got it from Mary Margaret. The way that Henry’s positioned makes it look like a school photo and she seems like the kind of teacher who would want to keep a record of her old students like photographs for sentimentality! It’s so cute!!! “You knew I’d agree.” I think she’s talking about agreeing to Gold’s initial campaign proposal? Otherwise, this line makes no sense. Arcs The power struggle against Regina - This was a major peg being taken down from Regina, and it was set up very well with Emma being positioned as deputy, which in turn was built off of her skills, and culminated here in her being elected sheriff. Through this moment, we see not only a shift in Emma, but one in Storybrooke as well. While still prone to falling for gossip, the townspeople respond to courage and we finally get to see the impact that both Regina and Gold have had on the town by how people respond to someone standing up to them. Still, going forward, Emma and Regina’s dynamic will in a much more delicate - and much more interesting because of it - place. Gold and Emma’s deal - We only get a brief mention of it here. I wonder what Gold had in mind for Emma’s favor before learning that he needed her help to find Bae outside of Storybrooke. At the very least, we know it wasn’t half of a pastrami sandwich. His loss though. Pastrami’s delicious. Favorite Dynamic Rumple and Bae. I think that the simpler characterizations of Rumple and Bae was a good way to go in this episode, with Rumple as cowardly as we’ve come to expect and Baelfire as brave to a fault. It - partnered with the parent-child power dynamics - makes for a very easy to understand, yet still nuanced conflict. Rumple comes off as more worldly, but still frustratingly stubborn and cowardly while Bae comes across as braver certainly, yet naive too. Rumple’s not wrong when he tells Bae that the call to fight in the Ogre Wars is a call to death, and it conflicts with a lot of our sensibilities that it’s honorable to die in battle. I just love as well how Bae’s faith in Rumple falls as he learns more and more about his father’s past. You can just see the lack of belief when Rumple tells him that his mother is dead, and you have to wonder what Bae’s resolve would be to the events of the end of the episode had that encounter with the Duke in the forest not occurred. But even still, while there’s a noticeable yet slight loss of trust, there’s no love lost, and that helps make the final piece of the flashback all the more tragic and give the audience an insight into what Zoso’s last words to Rumple end up truly meaning. Writer Now here’s the Jane Espenson I know and love in full form! It’s weird that with a more complex theme, she manages to tell a story leagues above her last one’s flashback in terms of quality. It makes me think of an advanced computer science professor that had to teach entry level Web Page Design class I once took. What works in this episode - as did work in the present day section of “That Still Small Voice” is an understanding of stakes. Rumple’s actions get more desperate and Emma’s decision whether to tell of the true reason for the fire get more complicated as higher stakes are revealed to these characters and build on their already present characteristics (Ex. Rumple can’t just take control of the Dark One because he’d be terrified of owning him as a slave, so he has to become the Dark One), whereas in “That Still Small Voice’s” flashback, there was no reason for Jiminy to jump to condemning his parents to a fate worse than death when he’s already conflicted about leaving them because they’re old. Here, the handling is done so much better. Rating 10/10. This episode works really well. I won’t repeat myself too much, but we’re given not one, but two very nuanced and complicated stories to work with and the characters are faced with likewise decisions. Before we end off, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Robert Carlyle’s acting because this man is a star here. He displays this insane range throughout his time on the series, but this episode may be one of - if not the best - depictor of it. We get to see his cowardly side, the first bits of madness from being The Dark One, and his more manipulative tendencies in Storybrooke. It’s all conveyed flawlessly through his voice’s tone, body language, and facial expressions. What’s better is that the use of props, costumes, and makeup come together alongside his acting to enhance every moment of screen time he has and show the contrast between his dynamics across the worlds.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Sorry! Not my deepest analysis, I know, but I hope I conveyed just how much I enjoyed the episode! Sometimes, it’s hard to explain what makes something good, but I hope the more comedic “Insights” segment was enough to entertain. Thanks again to the fine folks from @watchingfairytales for putting this project together! Season Tally (66/220) Writer Tally for Season 1: A&E (23/70) Liz Tigelaar (10/20) David Goodman (9/50) Jane Espenson (16/60) Andrew Chambliss (8/10) Ian Goldberg (8/10) Operation Rewatch Archives

#watching fairytales #ouat 1x08 #ouat #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

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soldierstark · 7 years ago

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We Grew Up | JUGHEAD JONES X READER

Description: When Jughead accidently locks his laptop inside a classroom, he runs into his old friend the reader who seems to be the answer to all his problems.

Author's Note: You'd think that since my blog is all about Riverdale that I'd write for it more often lmao. Anyways, for once I didn't write Marvel and this happened. I for one really like it and if ya'll want me to continue it I totally will just let me know. Tell me what you think :)

Word Count:1241

Fanfiction Masterlist

Jughead was having a very rough day, and it only seemed to be getting worse as it went on.

First he woke up late and had to rush to make it to school on time. Then he got a zero on an assignment that he never did because he had planned on waking up early to finish it.

At lunch things seemed to be looking up for a moment as he was able to get his hands on a nice, steaming cup of coffee. But since it was spring time and his friends insisted on eating outside every day, the excess pollen made him sneeze which lead to the spillage of hot coffee all over his shirt.

And lastly, he was halfway out the exit of the school when he realized that he had left his laptop in his last class. With a very loud audible groan, Jughead threw his head back in frustration, shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, turned on his heels, and began walking back to the class he just left.

The hallways were empty because the release bell had rung a good 10 minutes ago. It was dead quiet for once in the main hallway, the only sound to be heard were Jughead’s muffled footsteps on the tile.

“Finally,” Jughead muttered under his breath as he reached the classroom door. He took a hand out of his jacket pocket and twisted the doorknob.

Locked.

“Oh my god,” he groaned, leaning backwards against a nearby set of lockers with his eyes closed. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Jughead?” a voice called out confused, echoing throughout the empty hallway.

The raven haired boy’s eyes shot open in surprise at the familiar voice. He turned his head towards the noise, his gaze falling onto his old friend (Y/N). She was standing a few feet away from him dressed in her cheerleading uniform, holding a duffel bag with one hand and her backpack with the other.

The air suddenly got tense. This was the first time they’d interacted in months since things fell apart between them, though Jughead knew he was the cause for it. It was rather strange how they had gone from best friends to strangers in the span of one summer.

“(Y/N),” he greeted simply, pushing himself off of the lockers to face her. “What are you doing here?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him gracefully, walking a bit closer. “I could ask you the same question Jones.”

“I asked you first,” he retorted, a slight smile forming on his lips. The banter between them came naturally, almost as if nothing had changed.

(Y/N) pushed a stray strand of (Y/H/C) hair behind her ear and looked down at the bags she was holding. “I finished changing for the basketball game early and decided to put some of my books into my locker.”

Jughead nodded his head slowly. “That would explain the uniform,” he commented giving her a once over.

(Y/N)’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “Now you,” she said firmly, looking up so that her (Y/E/C) eyes made contact with Jughead’s bluish green ones.

He looked into the classroom wistfully. “I left my laptop in there during 7th period. I came back to get it but it’s locked.”

(Y/N) bit her bottom lip between her teeth in thought, looking between Jughead and the door. The action mesmerized him completely.

After a brief moment of silence, she dropped her bags onto the floor by her feet and squatted down next to them. (Y/N) unzipped her backpack and began to dig around for something.

“What are you looking for?” Jughead asked, watching her with a perplexed expression.

She looked up at him, still digging around with one hand in the bag. “This,” she mumbled, pulling out a very full key ring. (Y/N) stood up straight and began flipping through the plethora of keys, a proud smile adorning her face.

“What is that exactly?” Jughead asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just about every key to every door in the city,” she replied casually, not looking up from her task.

Jughead shook his head confused. “Wait, how the hell did you get those?”

(Y/N) looked up finally, holding a small brass key between her fingers. “That’s not important,” she answered mysteriously, a heart stopping grin overtaking her face.

Oh yea, Jughead thought to himself, that’s why I liked her.

“Look, (Y/N),” he started, looking down at his feet shyly. “You don’t need to do this I don’t want you getting in trouble for me or something. I’ll just wait until tomorrow to get it.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and walked over to the door, sticking the key into the lock. “It’s not a problem Jughead,” she said, twisted the key and successfully unlocking the door.

She turned around to face him directly, her (Y/H/C) flowing effortlessly behind her just like her cheerleading skirt. (Y/N) ‘s (Y/E/C) eye bored into his for moment as they stared at each other in silence.

There was tension in the air between them, but it was a different type. It wasn’t like the uncomfortable, awkward tension that was there at the beginning of their conversation. It was almost… romantic.

Jughead suddenly felt the urge to kiss her. This wasn’t a new feeling however. After-all, it was this exact feeling that constantly overcame Jughead that lead to the end of their friendship. (Y/N) of course, didn’t know this.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook it slightly, giving him a soft smile. “Think of it as a favor for an old friend. You know, for old times’ sake.”

He nodded his head, trying to ignore the sensation of electric sparks shooting up and down his arm where she was touching him. “Thank you,” Jughead whispered softly, a small smile gracing his lips.

(Y/N) nodded her head and dropped her arm back to her side, backing away from him. “Of course.”

Jughead stepped to the side and walked into the classroom, his mind going a mile a minute. He put a hand over his heart, trying to calm its rapid rate.

He didn’t realize how much he missed spending time with (Y/N) until he got a taste of what he was missing. This was the first conversation they had had in months, and it was the highlight of his day.

As Jughead picked up his laptop and shoved it into his backpack, he revisited the decisions he made last summer that ended their friendship.

Jughead stopped being friends with (Y/N) because he was a stupid teenage boy who couldn’t deal with his emotions properly. The minute he began to develop a crush on her, he shut her out.

And now, almost 8 months later, he finally realized what a huge mistake he had made.

He had always heard the phrase ‘hindsight is twenty-twenty’, and at this particular moment he really resonated with it.

So as Jughead zipped up his backpack, laptop in tow, he took a deep breathe trying to instill confidence within himself. He began to walk out of the classroom with a newfound purpose.

A purpose to tell (Y/N) the real reason he stopped being friends with her. A purpose to repair their relationship. A purpose to show her how much she really meant to him.

But because the universe had some sort of personal vendetta against Jughead that day, when he walked out of the classroom, (Y/N) was already gone.

#Jughead jones #jughead x reader #Jughead jones x reader #Jughead jones imagine #Jughead jones fanfiction #riverdale #riverdale imagine #otpc #fanfiction

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one-deranged-son · 4 years ago

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Wormholes to Another World

Originally posted in February 2nd, 2020

Retrieved on December 31st, 2020

Written by Gossamere as John and Froggy as Ian Nashton.

Warning:

This plot is rated explicit for language, description of violence, religious symbolism, gun, blood, and mentions of rape and age gap relationships. Dead dove: do not eat. Reader discretion is heavily advised.

Ian Nashton

"Dad! Come on, let's go inside!"

It was a Saturday morning, but that didn't stop a hyperactive, sugar-fueled Jansen from running about excitedly as soon as the car was parked.

Two days ago was his tenth birthday, and their parents had promised to take him to the museum on the weekends.

Now, Ian wasn't a big fan of history as a subject in high school (because they never teach the interesting stuff, some things tend to be omitted).

He did, however, love going to museums for the artifacts and not to mention, museums are so full of interesting information, ready for him to absorb.

Even if he wouldn't get the chance to use them at school.

Their parents chose the Royal Ontario Museum, because it had a wide variety of exhibits, basically, something for everyone.

Jansen was 'armed' with an instant camera which he hung around his neck with a strap. He was most excited about the dinosaur exhibits. He also had with him a notebook and a pen—in case he wanted to write something down.

Jansen was dressed like a mini Einstein, complete with the patterned sweater. Ian, on the other hand, was dressed in black and grey.

The Nashtons often drove past the futuristic-looking building, but they have only visited the museum once ever since they moved to Toronto.

Both parents were often too busy with work, while the brothers had school and other extracurricular activities.

"Musée royal de l'Ontario." Ian muttered to himself as he read the sign just outside the museum—he wanted to practice his French pronunciation.

Whilst their father purchased tickets, Jansen's eyes caught sight of a dinosaur fossil display in the main lobby. His mouth gaped in awe as he looked up at the display. He impatiently tugged at Ian's jacket sleeve because he knew he shouldn't go alone to see it up close—luckily, Ian obliged and went along with his younger brother.

Whilst Jansen took a photo of the display (he had to sit on the floor and aim his camera up), Ian read the information board.

"Futalognkosaurus dukei…?" Ian read out with uncertainty, "I think I pronounced that wrong. Hm… discovered in Argentina… that's neat."

Once the developed photo has come out, Jansen wrote the name of the dinosaur on the bottom corner and some brief information on the back.

"You know, I can take a photo of the information board for you. Dad gave me his camera." Ian offered.

Jansen shook his head with a slight smile, "I'm good! I think I like writing it down."

"Alright, suit yourself, man."

The brothers returned to their parents when they heard their mother call for them. Jansen and Ian were given a map each.

"You two can go anywhere you want, but make sure to stick with each other so we can call you if We need to." Their father explained. "Here, take my phone."

"Don't let him out of your sight, be careful of strangers." Their mother added.

Ian took his father's phone and placed it safely in his other pocket. He then gave an understanding nod and a salute. "Will do! You two can count on me."

Needless to say, Jansen was overjoyed to have been given such permissions, and he energetically walked to where the stairs were.

"Oi! Wait up!" Ian exclaimed as he tried to catch up with the younger boy. "Mom said I can't get you out of my sight. Anyways, where are we going first?"

Jansen points to the second floor of the museum, where the animals—including the dinosaurs—were.

"Oh, right, yeah. Let's go!" Ian puts his arms around his younger brother's shoulder as they went up the stairs. Ian actually wanted to go to the third floor to see the ancient Egypt exhibit first, but he lets his brother lead the way for now.

ㅤㅤ

John

Five years ago, the young man visited the same place.

However, the genuine euphoria he experienced when he first stepped into the museum no longer fulfills his heart. Instead, with every step he took, it feels like a knife is being stabbed to his heart.

Jesus Christ, he feels his heartbeat spiking as shallow breaths begin to come out from his throat. A week ago when he revisited the museum, he was so sure that he's going to execute the plan. But now he can't help but lock himself in the stall, throwing his breakfast into the toilet when the realization finally hit him.

He's going to kill a man.

"Oh my God—"

He throws up again. Fingers clenching as he continuously pants out of breath. He doesn't know what he's thinking and he feels like shit for trying to think that he can do it alone! Countless ideas had passed through his mind before he ended up like a sick boy in this goddamn empty toilet, and now he thinks that maybe he should've stayed in a church and become some priest instead of doing... this!

‘You've gotta be kidding me, kid. I know I train you into some super-soldier, but I ain't letting you handle MY job. When this shit is done, Paul is gonna drop your ass into college, and then you can find yourself some pussies to hump—or probably dicks to ride. Dunno. You kind of giving me that aura to be a potential twink.’

He used to scoff at the idea, especially with the twink part, but now when he finally decides to do this Revelator shit alone, he feels like his old man was right. Even after repeatedly reading the plan and studying his target from the worn journal he managed to retrieve, he really still didn't know what it took.

"Come on, get a hold of yourself." He slapped his cheeks when he finally calmed down for his high. With trembling legs, he straightens his posture. Isaiah—shit—John walked out of the stall and reached out to the door. He's going to do this shit even though it means blowing up some precious dinosaur fossils. He's going to do this for the sake of the late John fucking Monsoon.

ㅤㅤ

Ian Nashton

When they reached the second floor, leapt away from Ian's grasp and began to marvel at all the displays. One of the first ones they saw was a large Barosaurus.

Ian figured that it must have been around 27 meters, at least. Though Jansen skipped that display in favour of the T. rex fossil.

Just like a loose cannon.

Poor Ian was a little overwhelmed with trying to keep up with his younger brother, how can someone have that much energy? He wasn't sure.

"Can you slow down, you dork?" Ian said, a little exasperated.

"If you walk like that during his time, you'd have been eaten by now." Jansen retorted whilst he gestured at the T. rex fossil with his thumb.

Alright, fair game. Though Ian still rolled his eyes and smacked his brother upside the head lightly. "Nerd."

Jansen responded by sticking his tongue out at Ian; the latter ignored it.

Ian looked at the map again and the 'Bat Cave' exhibit intrigued him. Firstly, he was a fan of comic books, and secondly, he thought bats on their own were cool.

"Hey, when you're done with this area, let's go to the Bat Cave."

Jansen nodded in silent agreement as he was busy writing something down at the back of his newly acquired photo of the T. rex. Ian squints to try and get a better look at what his brother was trying to do, and he saw a squiggly attempt of a T. rex chasing… somebody.

Perhaps it was a recreation of a scene from Jurassic Park. Who the hell knows?

Ian began to walk around the exhibit, snapping photos every now and then with his father's digital camera.

"Holy crap…" his eyes were fixated on the Quetzalcoatlus fossil hanging from the ceiling. Now it was his turn to have his mouth agape.

"Quetzalcoatlus northropi, wingspan of about 11 meters—possibly a bit more. Wow… I would so not want to live in the same era as these guys. Yikes, talk about terrifying." Ian muttered to himself, it was a habit.

The thing he was looking at was almost as tall as a giraffe! And it could fly! If it existed alongside humans, could it have hunted them? Ian grimaced at the thought.

He felt a distinctive tug on his jacket sleeve, it was Jansen.

"I need to go to the toilet."

Technically, Jansen could go by himself, but Ian thought he should come along—because he promised to their mom that he won't let Jansen get out of his sight.

"Alright. Come on, I'll take you."

Ian led the way to the toilet with Jansen following right behind him. Ian pushed the door open with such force that he… seemed to have hit someone right on the face.

"Oh—oh my god, I am… so sorry!"

Jansen grimaced at the scene and slid past his brother and the stranger—straight into the stall.

Even at a young age, Ian Nashton had an eye for detail, and he noticed that the stranger he just hit with the door had been vomiting beforehand (didn't do a very good job at wiping his face off, perhaps he was in a hurry).

"A-are you okay? God, I'm so sorry."

ㅤㅤ

John

As he was busy trying to reach for the handle, John (he's still not used to that name) was so caught up with his thoughts that he didn't realize when the door suddenly open and slammed straight into his fucking face. Instantly, he fell ass first 'cause his legs still feel like jelly and his head hurts like hell.

"Ouch-" he whined, rubbing his nose before wiping the edge of his lips when he realized that there was actually a stain of his vomit there. John hoped that the stranger didn't notice it. That would be super awkward.

When he looked up, his eyes caught the sight of two people. A lanky boy with glasses and a plain T-shirt, and a shorter one with scruffy hair, whose clothes look like was straight off imposing as Einstein or someone. Who knows.

Anyway, the shorter one slipped past through him without much care, so John could easily conclude that the one responsible for the situation he's in was the apologetic male. His face was masked in genuine worry and now John's heart ached because this dude is a good man. He didn't actually know him, but John got a hunch about it and now he can help but to cringe at himself because his plan would probably kill this man.

"Shit," John muttered.

He abruptly stood up and walked past the man. He didn't even say anything in response.

He just wanna get this over with.

ㅤㅤ

Ian

The stranger looked like he was just a few years older than himself. He had short hair, and a hoodie that looked to be two sizes way too big.

Not going to lie, Ian's first thoughts were that the stranger looked like a stereotypical loner or emo boy from those high school movies.

In those short few seconds of observing his face, Ian noticed the worried—no, anxious—expression on the other boy's face.

Perhaps he was vomiting due to anxiousness? Ian guessed so, but before he could ask again—if the stranger was okay—he went away.

"Jansen? I'll be outside—I'm uh… gonna apologize to that guy I just hit."

Ian Nashton made a split-second decision, and that was to go after the poor boy. The bathroom door shuts before Ian could hear his brother's response.

Ian caught up with the other boy—thanks to his (ridiculously) lanky legs and matched his pace with the other.

"Hey man—I'm sorry for hitting you with the goddamn door. Uh… were you… okay? Back there? I couldn't help but notice you had some…thing on your face."

He wanted him to notice the vomit stains, but he wasn't sure if it would be too weird or not.

ㅤㅤ

John

John was so sure that he would get away this time, but what are the odds? Guess having long legs has its perks, because John was so confident of his speed walking skill, but the peculiar boy stopped his step.

John almost tumbles backwards and falls on his ass—again. Thank God for his dad's ruthless training, though, now his reflexes are doing a spectacular job.

John takes a step backward. At this point he really, REALLY wanted to run away through the other side, but when he noticed the Einstein rip-off coming out from the toilet, John didn't.

So instead, his eyes flickered to the boy. A frown across his face.

What the fuck?

ㅤㅤ

Ian

The way the boy moved about in the museum made Ian think that he was hiding from someone—that could explain the hoodie and the panicky tone the latter was speaking in.

"I—? Wanted to make sure you were okay? Because it looked like it hurt. And I didn't mean blood, okay? I meant—I noticed some vomit stains on your face."

Ian shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged, looking like this was his opportunity to flex. He heard the bathroom door open again, and out came his brother.

The moment Ian turned to glance at his brother, he heard fast footsteps walking away from him.

Another split second decision, he gestured for Jansen to follow him—slowly—as he followed the strange boy.

Truth be told, in the other boy's eyes, Ian must be equally as strange.

"Wait! Just—wait." He now stopped in front of the boy. And so, begins his speech at the speed of light voice.

He wanted to make his point known—and to show off, for some odd reason.

"Like I said, I noticed that you had vomit stains around your mouth, though you didn't bother to wash it off before leaving which makes me think you were in a rush."

'You didn't even wash your hands, they're dry as bones' was what he wanted to add, but Ian refrained from doing so.

"Now, I doubt it was food poisoning because your body language and stammering suggests otherwise. I also noticed the staggered walks and you being unsteady on your feet, it's as if you've been running a marathon.

Was it nerves? Perhaps. Fear? Most likely. You see, the sclera—the whites of the eyes—often show more when someone is in fear.

Speaking of eyes, your eyes also seem to dart from one security camera to another—as if you're paranoid about something.

Conclusion? I think you're running away from someone. Or, you have been."

Ian let out a deep sigh after he was done with that monologue, he only took breaths whenever a sentence ended.

Jansen, who was within earshot of the conversation only shook his head and muttered to himself, "Oh boy."

"You telling me about the museum being crowded also seem to support my theory—I mean… it's a Saturday! Of course it'll be crowded, I'm not worried about it."

Ian let out a sheepish chuckle, as if he hadn't just gone all Sherlock Holmes with the other boy. However, it seems that Ian was self-aware

That, and he noticed that a few grown-ups were giving them strange looks as they passed by.

It be like that when you only hear fragments of conversations.

"Sorry—I uh… I'm a guy that notices everything."

Everything except social cues, apparently.

Jansen huffed and puffed his cheeks in annoyance, he felt that Ian was being weird AND keeping him away from the Bat Cave—which was something he really wanted to see.

The younger Nashton approached John with a friendly and apologetic smile, "I'm sorry about my brother and his idiosyncrasies, he likes to show off."

Ian sputtered and scoffed defensively, "I do not!" That was an obvious lie. "Do you even know what that word means?"

The young boy nodded confidently, "Idiosyncrasy, noun. A mode of behavior peculiar to an individual. Example: one of Ian's little idiosyncrasies is that he likes to observe people to the point where it's borderline creepy."

Despite his somewhat squeaky voice, Jansen spoke as if he was already a university student. It was obvious that he was an avid reader who loved to read things that are way above his reading level.

The younger boy then took off—possibly headed for the Bat Cave. Either way, he provided the definition of 'borderline', too. In case Ian questioned him again about what it meant.

The split second decision that Ian made now was to chase after his brother, but not before he looked back at the stranger. Whom he gave an awkward wave to.

"Uh—bye! I'm sorry for the door!" Then he proceeds to run after his younger brother.

"JANSEN SLOW DOWN, DAMN IT! YOU'RE GOING TO BUMP INTO SOMEONE OR SOMETHING."

ㅤㅤ

John

"Like I said, I noticed that you had vomit stains around your mouth," the boy begins to blabber. John doesn't really know what to expect; his mind is filled with a lot of question marks. "though you didn't bother to wash it off before leaving which makes me think you were in a rush."

He was right. The peculiar boy was right and it was not only because John was bad at details, but it was simply because this fucking boy is good. With every explanation, John's eyes kept on widening. And when the rip-off Einstein decided to join them in the ‘wholesome’ conversation then blabber a motherfucking word that surely shouldn't be able to be said from a kid his age with the same attitude as a spelling bee judge, John's jaw dropped.

What the fuck.

John was so busy thinking about what was going on to the point he almost forgot that his main purpose in coming here. He was so stunned that he almost missed the quick 'bye' and another apology coming from the lanky boy. And John didn't even know what's happening to him since his first reflex is to grab the man by the wrist, twist him so they're staring face-to-face with John's hand steadying him so he doesn't have to suffer the same embarrassment like what John did.

As if that panic attack never happened, John's gaze was intense. Some might think that he was trying to bore holes into the man's skull with his shocking grey eyes, but no. It was the other way around.

His voice was quiet and barely inaudible as he said, "Run."

Then John let go of the grip and stormed away. His plan is already ruined and he could feel his foster parents judging him from Heaven (or Hell) because of it.

Shit. He's distracted.

ㅤㅤ

Ian

How often does one meet children around one's age who happen to be geniuses? Not very often, apparently.

Ian hadn't gotten far when the strange boy gripped his wrist and yanked him back—as if it was a scene from a cliche TV drama or something.

This boy is definitely stronger than he looks—had he not been wearing an oversized hoodie, maybe Ian would have been able to make more deductions.

"What are you—" Ian stopped abruptly when he gazed into those eyes. He had never seen such an intense gaze come from a kid before, not even in high school bullies. For a short few seconds, Ian thought the boy would shove him away or even hit him.

Ian won't blame him, to be honest.

After what seemed to be an eternal staring competition, the strange boy said something.

A word. Barely audible and soft, nearly drowned by the museum's ambient noise.

"Run."

Then that boy lets go of his wrist and stormed off to god knows where.

Ian grimaced as he rubbed his wrist—for god's sake, the kid had an iron grip!

"Run from what?!" He tried to ask, but the boy kept walking away.

This time, Ian doesn't chase after him. The boy slowly turned around and continued to walk in the other direction.

"What's with him?" Ian whispered to himself as he continued to rub his wrist. What if they bruised? How would Ian explain that to his parents?!

ㅤㅤ

John

What the hell was that?

John cringes. He's definitely blaming the telenovelas. As John continued to storm away from the boy, he hoped to dear God that his warnings were heard. He didn’t even know why he did that, he just felt like it was the right thing to do.

He's distracted for sure.

Well, fuck that. John shook his head and pulled his mask up. He had already caused some ruckus and looking suspicious won't get him anywhere. So now John walks slower and watches as people walk past him, too caught up with the exhibit to the point they don't even notice him.

Great, at least one of his back-up plans worked smoothly.

Now John walked back to track his steps, deciding to take the stairs to the ground level and into the security room where he had gracefully hid his stuff in the ventilation. When he reached the ground floor, it was fairly empty, so John didn't hesitate to slam the door open. There were only two bros chilling in the room, five feet apart 'cause they're not gay. One of them shot an incredulous look, but before they could say anything, John aimed his gun at them.

Their faces dropped, John smirked.

"What's your password, dear?" John asked the man when he finished blindfolding and securing the cuffs on their wrist. He doesn't really like calling them with pet names, but his old man always does that and he's following it. With a trembling voice, one of the guys answered with his pass code . And of course John didn't waste any time and straight up opened the reminders.

‘DIRECTOR VISIT.’

John's smirk grew wider.

Recently he heard that his target, Scott Martin, the director of the museum, is coming over to check the place. And really, John prefers a stealth attack than a motherfucking firework show, but he's the Revelator now. He gotta be... flashy.

(‘Kid, what's the point of doing this shit if people ain't either trembling or praising yer name?’)

He sighed.

John places his legs on top of the table, tying the laces of his shoes, extra tight, so it won't trip him later on when he gotta run for his dear life. This is his debut and John ain't gonna mess it up. With his sufficient amount of knowledge, he wiped the security footage of the previous week, destroying the evidence of his presence from the database.

When he's done with it, his focus reverts back to the current footage. It was still relatively empty even though it's the weekend, but what he cares the most is the very fact that in about twenty minutes, the director should have arrived and John needs to prepare himself for the worse.

He has dual Glock 26 strapped at the sides of his thigh, an AK-103 for his main support, an M203PI launcher secured on his back, and with that much of a weapon (not to mention how he carries some hand grenades and other spare knives), John realizes how much of a hassle this Revelator job is.

But he knows he can't back off now.

Not today, not ever.

John's eyes were fixed to the screen. For a short moment his mind wanders to the lanky kid and to the absurdity of their encounter. Soon he found himself biting the inside of his cheeks. There's a lot of things to think about and that kid ain’t it.

In about nineteen minutes the director should arrive. In about thirty minutes the bomb strapped in the airways and hidden behind some exhibits should blow off.

He gotta be ready for that shit.

John clasped his hand.

"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen."

ㅤㅤ

Ian Nashton

Just as Ian thought, his younger brother was indeed at the Bat Cave. It was a gallery of a literal bat cave, complete with realistic wax sculptures of twenty different bat species as well as some invertebrates.

The boy had his back turned to Ian, so he snuck up and placed his hands on his younger brother's shoulder in an attempt of surprising him.

"Boo!" Ian exclaimed.

Jansen was visibly startled, but he didn't scream or even make a sound. All he did to respond was to elbow the older one in the stomach.

"You're despicable." Jansen grumbled.

"Dethpicable." Ian repeated, but mimicking a certain cartoon character.

Jansen puffed his cheeks and rolled his eyes—he ignored what Ian just said. "So, where'd your new friend go?"

"Honestly? I don't know. Something weird happened, okay? He just... grabbed my wrist and yanked me backwards. Like a cliché drama scenes." It left many questions in Ian's mind. "I don't know why he did that, and I don't like not knowing."

"Forget that! Gee, what are you trying to be? Sherlock Holmes?!" Jansen's mouth formed a slight pout as he aimed his camera at the ceiling of the cave. The sculptures looked so realistic, he was sure if he didn't know any better he'd guess that they were real bats.

A beep broke the relative silence of the exhibit. It was a text message from dad which read.

'We're at the café right now, come on down if you feel hungry.'

"Hey, mom and dad's at the café, should we go down or not?" Ian showed the phone screen to his younger brother.

Immediately, Jansen shook his head. "Not hungry yet."

Ian responded with a quiet 'ok' and types a quick reply.

Out of the two brothers, Jansen was a much faster reader than Ian, so it didn't take him too long to read everything that was present about the bats—less than ten minutes, actually.

The next gallery was the birds gallery. And upon seeing a crow on display, Ian asked Jansen to take a photo of him and the crow using the digital camera. Ian posed so that he and the crow were facing each other—as if having some kind of thoughtful conversation.

This gallery had drawers that you could pull out with various species of birds on display inside.

Jansen busied himself with those, while Ian was more interested in the ones behind glass cases. Such as the 'flightless birds' display.

The cassowary always reminded Ian of the raptors from Jurassic Park. From the sharp talons, to the shape of the head and the 'expression' the specimen seemed to have.

People often say that lizards like the Komodo dragon were the closest thing humans would have to a dinosaur, but Ian would argue that birds were closer—at least when it comes to theropods.

It was a rather nice way to spend the day, roaming around the museum with minds as absorbent as a sponge. Jansen was obviously enjoying himself, and so was Ian.

Like ripping candy from a child, the situation quickly changed when there was a sudden, deafening roar of an explosion, and before he could even process the sound, out of the corner of his eyes, the boy noticed a similar sound coming from the air vents. Followed by a fierce column of flames—like a dragon breathing fire from its mouth.

Ian instinctively leapt towards his younger brother and enveloped him in a protective embrace as more of those terrible sounds erupted. Screams from visitors soon joined.

The side they were on should be reasonably stable enough compared to the opposite wing, but the building was an old one.

As more explosions were heard, the ground shook and some artifacts began to topple over.

Jansen covered his ears and began to cry out of fear. Ian had the right idea to stay away from ventilation shafts in case more explosions would erupt.

He was terrified, too, but he tried to be as brave as he could for his younger brother's sake.

Immediate dangers were fires, more explosions and the building crumbling. The bulk of the explosion seemed to have come from the ground floor.

It hasn't even been a year since the World Trade Center collapsed—was that kind of thing going to happen today, too? Were they going to die?

The brothers hugged each other tight as they sat beside a sturdy display with their backs against the wall. Both had tears running down their faces, but Ian was silent and tried his best to analyze the best solution to this situation.

As much as he wanted to keep his eyes shut, he kept them open—and saw that the ceiling threatened to give way and collapse.

The logical thing to do was to get to the ground floor as quickly as possible—he's heard that stairwells can be one of the safest places (as they tend to be strong, structurally). But neither he nor his brother dared to even move away from their shelter.

Other visitors on the floor either tried to find cover or run to the stairs in a panicked frenzy.

Ian tried ringing his father, but both times, the call wasn't picked up—either his parents were already dead, or they were busy with their own survival for now. Ian hoped it was the latter.

A light had fallen just a few meters in front of them. The noise of the impact caused more screams from other visitors, including his brother, whose sobs got louder and more frantic.

It's easy for others to say 'stay calm' in a survival guide or even a drill, but when the real thing happens, it would be hard to stay calm because the fight, flight or freeze response would kick in.

There wasn't much Ian could do right now, because even if he tried to run to the nearest stairwell, there might be a chance that the ceiling would collapse and crush him—he and Jansen were relatively safer where they are right now.

ㅤㅤ

John

Tick, tock.

John fiddles the sleeves of his shirt in agitation. His heart is thumping furiously against his

ribcage; the cold sweat begins to roll down his forehead as his eyes peers over the monitor. Two more minutes and then the director should enter the building already. Less than 15 minutes later, the bomb should go off.

He can't mess this up.

What John didn't expect is that his target isn't taking the usual route. He didn't stroll around the exhibits, flashing that disgusting smile of his then locking himself in his office. This time, though, this time is different. He's talking to two of the visitors, but it doesn't seem like they're doing some random, casual chat. Their eyes are glimmering with excitement and delight, and soon, John finds out that the three of them—let's not forget about Martin's guard dog—are going to have lunch in level B1.

That's where the least of his explosives are located. Probably only three of one kilogram plastic explosives strapped on the vent or the corners of the building. This doesn't go as smoothly as he planned.

"Motherfu—"

His words got cut off when a sudden explosion shook the ground. John's eyes widened. Siren blaring all across the hall and in his head. He glances at the clock, the bomb set off three minutes early.

He was lucky that it wasn't exactly the main attraction, because if his old man was here, John sure he's going to get himself grounded for this carelessness.

His eyes darted back to the monitor. Everyone was screaming and running like little ants. The T-Rex bone on level two had fallen down like cookies crumbs. John skimmed through the screen looking for Martin, and when he realizes he's running away to the main floor, John curses again.

"What's going on?" One of the guards barked. The metal cuffs on his wrist rattled by his frantic movement. "What are you doing?!"

Tsk. He almost forgot about them.

"Ain't nothing happenin' around here, sweetheart," John cooed, although his face was showing obvious distress. He's glad that he blindfolded them.

"Be good for me, will ya? Stay still."

John wore his thermal goggles and stormed out of the room. He could see a lot of people curling away from the explosion spot, trembling and crying their eyes out while struggling to protect their precious organ from whatever will happen next. Some of them are too stunned to move while the others trip and fall while trying to go to a safer place.

John shot his bullet to the ceiling, everyone stopped moving even though their screams just got louder.

Columns of fire had spread to the second floor as the explosion kept riling up without mercy. Glass shatters and some railings had blasted off from its place. There were four guards surrounding Scott Martin when John arrived at their floor. All of them trying to get their boss to flee from the chaotic scene. Martin, however, seemed to get himself stuck, being pulled back and forth by a hysterical woman.

"My sons! Scott, my sons are not here!"

"Madeleine—it's too dangerous here!"

"I'm not leaving without them!"

(John's muscle tensed.)

He throws a smoke grenade at them. Receiving a loud shriek and multiple curse words from their directions. Without a second to waste, he started to aim for their legs. Empty bullets clanking to the ground as it hits his first target in the place he wants.

"GEORGE!"

John cringes inwardly. He seems to slip his aim.

With the rest of the guards, John just disturbs their personal space and landed hard kicks and punches before eventually shooting their feet to immobilize them. Martin was practically blinded by the smoke, but when he saw the shadow of his own demise, he screamed.

"Y—You! The news said you were dead!" His voice was trembling. He tried to back off only to trip his legs 'cause the body of his stunned guards.

"Sorry for leaving ya hanging, babe," the Revelator smirked under his mask. Looming over the man who had graciously fallen down, ass first. He can't see his target's face clearly due to the lenses, but he could sense the fear masking each of his words.

"Got myself into trouble with them FBI dogs, hope you didn't miss me that much." The Revelator squatted in front of the cowering man. He pulled the expensive tie and leaned his face closer. "Have you confessed?"

The man was trembling, still. When the Revelator takes his goggles off to reveal his steel gray eyes, the color of his target face drained immediately.

"W—what do you..."

"SCOTT!"

The Revelator stopped in his tracks. Ever so slowly, he tears his gaze off from his target into the source of the voice. The previous woman who had hysterically refused to evacuate herself is hugging what seems to be her husband. A trail of blood coming from his leg, courtesy of the bullet.

"Oh? Are they your friends, Martin?" The Revelator's eyes were cold and intense as he continued to shoot daggers into the woman's eyes. The grip on the other's tie getting stronger and stronger.

"Tell me, Scott, do your precious friends know about what you did in the dark?" He smirked. "Do they know about the scam you did at the auction five years ago? Do they know about how you graft the fund for this museum? Do they know your excessive lifestyle and your personal preferences on young boys?"

The Revelator eyes flickered back to the man. He can sense his heartbeat pacing up. John rummaged his pocket. He let go of his grip and walked towards the woman.

"Here's all of the evidence from the past five years," he said, there's a slight change of tone as he hands a piece of flash disk. The note of his voice was quiet, almost gentle.

But before the woman could muster any protest, John's attention shifted back to his target. As the Revelator caught the sight of him trying to run away, he shot his legs in an unmistakable accuracy.

"Alright, I guess you already know about this, and yes, ma'am, I ain't the type to make false threats. I suppose you already know what to do 'cause if you don't, damn shit, I'll fucking call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Do the right thing and you'll live, do the wrong thing, then you'll live as well, but ain't so sure 'bout your sons tho. Ain't giving ya any clue 'bout it."

The Revelator stood back and pulled his target by the collar away.

ㅤㅤ

Ian Nashton

The Nashton family was full of scientists. Ian and Jansen's parents were no exception, with their father being a physicist and their mother being a marine biologist.

Their mother has published a book about lesser known sea creatures and it has brought her some taste of fame in the scientific community. As it stands, she actually intended to write more books, perhaps in conjunction with her husband.

A brilliant man, he was, but he doesn't have the patience to sit down and write a book, let alone edit it.

It was a surprise for them to have run into Scott Martin, who was an old friend of Madeleine from her time in university. Scott was beyond delighted to see the pair visiting the museum, but particularly Madeleine as he mentioned that he needed some scientific input from her for a new exhibit.

He was even so kind to invite them to lunch at the B1 café!

However, she thought the bodyguards were a little on the excessive side. Surely a museum director wouldn't need that much, right? Then again, she knew just how much Scott liked to be flashy, perhaps this was one of those times.

Her husband, George, tried to get their boys to come join them, but it seems that not even the prospects of lunch can stop their young minds from being curious.

Everything seemed fine, with Madeleine and Scott chatting away while George listened. Every now and then, he'd chime in with his bone dry humor.

Not a single one of them would realise the tragedy that's about to befall them.

When it happened, George hadn't heard a sound that loud in ages, he also hadn't heard his wife curse so freely and colourfully in her native French tongue ever since Ian was born. He was the first to jump into action, putting a protective arm around his wife as they immediately tried to find a safer place.

They needed to get upstairs to the main floor, otherwise the basement might as well be a cold, stony grave for them both if it gave way.

It seems that the presence of Scott's bodyguards was a convenience as they fearlessly helped the couple evacuate the basement onto the ground floor.

The serene and magnificent atmosphere they saw that morning turned into that of chaos and panic in just a few seconds after they heard the first explosions.

Not long after they arrived at the main floor, there was a single gunshot, indicating that this was not an accidental explosion but rather, a deliberate attack.

The gunshot only made everyone's panic increase by tenfold, especially Scott's, as he tried to drag the couple outside to safety. Madeleine stubbornly wanted to stay and look for her sons, and they had an argument.

George was silent for most of it. While he agreed with Scott that it was too dangerous for them to stay there, he also didn't want to leave his boys behind.

Just at that moment, he felt some vibrations in his left pant pocket—he had gotten a couple of text messages, but before he could check them, his vision was obstructed by a thick cloud of smoke. He heard his wife shriek and curse again, then he heard his own scream as a sharp, searing hot pain struck his left leg.

"GEORGE!"

Madeleine screamed as her husband slowly fell to the ground. She frantically felt around for where the wound was and when she felt the warmth of the trickling crimson liquid, she took off her scarf and wrapped it tightly around George's fresh wound to help reduce the bleeding.

"Ow, ow, ow—easy, Lena. Easy." George hissed through gritted teeth.

"I'm trying to stop you from bleeding out, dear. I should have said it will hurt a bit, I'm sorry."

The couple mainly ignored the conversation that Scott was having with the attacker, mostly because they were focusing on each other.

Only when the attacker mentioned a confession did Madeleine turn around to face the two with a confused and horrified expression on her face.

She had heard of The Revelator on the news. She heard about the things that he's done, but more importantly about his (apparent) death not too long ago.

Yet... it seems that death couldn't keep him down, because... there he was: a mere couple of steps away from her and her husband.

Why on earth would the Revelator target a museum's director of all people? Is that why Scott had so many bodyguards with him?

"God... Scott?" Madeleine's voice was soft, almost like a whisper.

What has Scott gotten himself into?

Madeleine couldn't see the attacker's face very clearly, but from the looks of it, she figured that he couldn't have been much older than her eldest son.

How odd, she had always imagined this figure to be an older man. Perhaps there were multiple 'Revelators' in existence, who the hell knows?

Now it was her turn to have a protective arm around her husband. She tried to return the daggers that was shot into her eyes, but only fear and confusion were present in her dark brown eyes.

The things the Revelator talked about were unknown to the Nashtons, except for Scott's expensive taste, which they thought nothing about as it was not really their business as long as the money came from an honest source.

Madeleine at first didn't believe what she heard, but a quick glance at Scott's face (the smoke had dissipated enough for her to see better), she saw what seemed to be a look of guilt.

Personal preferences on young boys. Did he mean...?

Her thoughts quickly shifted to her two sons, and how Scott had met them both at a fair. She remembered how he would often stand close to her sons rather than to herself or her husband. Of course, at the time that seemed like nothing to be alarmed about, but with this new information, the thought of what Scott might have intended made her shudder.

When the Revelator started to walk closer, she curled away in fear while George tried to pull her closer.

"Stay back!" George barked, despite knowing that he probably couldn't do a single damn thing with a shot leg.

Puzzlingly, the Revelator didn't brandish a gun or even a knife. No, he gave Madeleine a flash disk instead.

The sudden change of tone was terrifying, naturally. It was a juxtaposition. How can someone so violent have such a gentle voice?

Madeleine observed the flash disk in her hands, not entirely sure what to do with it at that moment. Regardless, she puts it in her pocket. It looked to be a real, functioning flash disk rather than a bomb.

Both of them flinched when Scott was shot with such high accuracy. At this point, though... they were just glad it wasn't them that had gotten shot.

"I-I don't know anything about this! What do you want me to do?!" The woman screamed. She wanted to chase after them for answers, but George held her back.

"George, let go! What if he's done something to our kids?!" She began to get hysterical again, but George pulled her into a comforting hug and kissed the top of her head soothingly.

"Lena, honey. They're alive! They're on the second floor, in the bird exhibit. We could try going after them."

"Not anymore! You're hurt! I can't leave you, nor would I want to risk more injuries!" She sobbed softly into her husband's shoulder, at that moment, she didn't know what to do.

"I told them we were on the main floor. Let's hope they can make it down as fast as possible. You see that flight of stairs over there? That is very close to the bird exhibit upstairs. Their side of the building is rather sturdy. I think they'd make it." George explained as he rubbed the back of Madeleine's head soothingly.

"Shit, shit, shit." Ian hissed when he saw columns of fire that had rose to the second floor. He knew they couldn't stay here forever.

He thought he had heard another explosion from downstairs, but it sounded more like a single gunshot, followed by more screaming.

"W-we're dying h-here, aren't we?" Jansen choked out in between sobs.

Ian's stomach turned. They have had lockdown drills at school before, but nothing ever really happened at their school. Now, this? This was the real deal.

"No, we aren't." Ian's voice sounded so sure, despite his actual uncertainty.

There were more gunshots. Ian counted seven, though he could be wrong, considering that the screams of visitors were competing with the shots.

The boy glanced at the closest stairwell again, should they risk it and run? He wasn't sure.

Five minutes after he heard the first few shots, the phone in Ian's pocket buzzed. It was from his father!

"J! Mom and dad are downstairs! We should probably go down now!" Ian slowly stood up, he tried to pull Jansen up with him as well.

"B-but—" The younger boy started.

"No buts! We have to go, NOW."

Jansen reluctantly stood up and stayed close to his brother as they made a run for the stairwell. Thankfully, the only thing they had to dodge were a few pieces from the ceiling, and they hurried down the stairs.

Upon reaching the main floor, Ian saw his parents on the ground. There was a small pool of blood near his father's left leg, and upon closer look, he saw that his mother's favourite scarf was wrapped tightly around the wound.

"MOM! DAD!" The two boys screamed in near perfect unison as they ran to their parents.

"Ian! Jansen! Thank goodness you two are okay!" Madeleine's voice had cracked as she wrapped both of her sons in her arms. "Your father's been shot, we need to leave."

"I don't think I can really stand. God—it hurts to even move it." George groaned lowly.

"Mom and I will help you up, dad. Come on!"

Ian and his mother had some difficulty getting George back on his feet, but eventually, they managed to do it.

The four of them slowly walked towards the main entrance. They avoided the Queen's Park entrance because George had noticed that that side of the building was threatening to crumble.

ㅤㅤ

John

"I'll do anything you say! P—please... just let me go!"

Amidst the roaring, raging fire, the voice sounded like a mere whisper. The Revelator's steel-gray eyes were fixed to his target while his beloved Glock stayed locked to the man's motherfucking head.

"P—please..."

"Shut the hell up," John commanded, forcing himself to sound a little bit gruffer to match his old man's voice. He might not have the exact confidence with the previous Revelator, but he now had the same impression that would turn even the fiercest man tremble.

John isn't going to waste that shit.

Time feels like it runs so damn slow when your head is under immense pressure, and it doesn't just apply to a person who's about to be sentenced to death. Right now, John can't help but to feel his heart beating so fast 'cause this is the fucking first time he did this. Most of the time, John stays in the back line. Helping the OG Revelator wiping out some ‘obstacles’ with his sniping skill instead of coming to the front line.

"Have mercy! I have a chi—"

"I say shut the fucking hell up!" John cuts his words before his target could say anything that might make him feel weaker than he already is. A crease started to form in his forehead as he continued his words.

"When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life, but then they fucking come back to square one. As if the words and prayers and those fucking promises they said are nothing but a load of crap, wherefore you fucking better abhor thy fucking self, and repent in motherfucking dust and ashes."

The Revelator dragged the man again, letting his blood trail stain the floor. Every step he takes felt like it was set on fire, burning and leaving charred marks on his feet. But even when he feels the fire licking his skin and burning the fabric of his clothes, John couldn't care less.

The fiery mistress danced, leaped and twirled in his eyes. There's an uncanny feeling when he saw how everything turned into dust, when the piles of planks fell and set ablaze at her contact. His heart was beating so fast, John feels he's going to combust.

"You're a fucking freak! A monster! You hear me? You're going to hell for this!"

Scott Martin wailed and squirmed in his grip, but John still couldn't give a fuck about him. His eyes were mesmerized at the sight in front of him.

The world illuminated on his sight as the fire nestled in her wooden bed, hot ribbons of light sparkling and twinkling anywhere she liked. There are times when she leaped, willing to land wherever her heart's desire. The smoke rose into the ceiling as if struggling to pave its way towards heaven, the ash falling down to the ground like the first flakes of snow.

The Revelator's eyes glanced back at the man, beads of sweat had started to form on his forehead. The warm amber highlighting the anger and desperation coloring his brown irises.

There was something about doing this that he didn't know would feel this... good. As he strapped his target, ropes and tapes around his trembling body, the Revelator could feel the corner of his lips rose into a wide grin.

"Please! For God's sake, please!"

The anger had finally subdued, now replaced by tears and fear.

"You know the deal, sweetheart; the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

John took off his mask for the briefest second, revealing the smirk underneath it. "It's God's mercy if you managed to get outta here alive, but I doubt that," he whispered before planting a gentle kiss on the man's chapped lips. Grinning even wider as he saw the color across his target face drained even further.

"And let's just say that's the Devil's work if you can still manage to find prettier boys than me."

The Revelator walked away. Leaving the screaming and begging man alone on the second floor of the burning building. The museum had turned into a mortuary, or more likely, a cremation room.

And despite the sight of splattering blood and charred bodies, John didn't feel anything. Anything but satisfaction and excitement.

Until he reached the first floor again.

"Oh, God.”

He did it. He just left a man, probably sent him to the jaw of death by doing so. He did it. He killed dozens of innocent people and even threatened a mother for this plan.

John's guts twisted and suddenly, his breakfast had managed to escape from his throat. The breath coming out of his mouth feels heavy in his lungs. As he glanced to every corner of the building, his vision slowly turned blurry. The tight sensation in his chest is threatening to kill him on spot.

He just did that, holy fuck, he just fucking did that.

He's a murderer.

John pulled his mask back to cover his face. Struggling to protect himself from the ruins falling from the ceiling as he sprinted towards the front door despite the uneasiness in his stomach and the way his legs feel like it's about to give up on him.

When the blinding light finally hit his vision, John squinted his eyes. It didn't take a long time until he regained his sight and understood the situation around him.

"Lower your weapon!" A man shouted, So John swept his vision across the land.

There are at least 12 guns pointed at him. The frantic lady he gave the flash disk is helping two kids getting into the ambulance; her husband laying on top of the cot with a scarf in his legs, but that wasn't the main reason why his heart skipped a beat

There's the lanky boy again, and John could've sworn that their eyes locked for a second at that exact moment.

ㅤㅤ

Ian Nashton

The Nashtons have fortunately made it out of the main entrance to safety. They raised their hands when they saw the authorities with their guns, just to signify that they were no threat at all.

"Please—my husband's been shot." Madeleine began, though her pleads were cut short when she caught sight of the ambulance nearby. And the paramedics quickly rushed to their side.

They carefully put George on the stretcher and loaded him on the ambulance.

Madeleine and her kids didn't get in just yet, she was being asked questions whilst Ian and Jansen stayed behind her, listening in. Though they didn't hear much because their mother decided to converse with the officer in French.

"N-no. I didn't see his face. He—er... my friend, Scott Martin. I saw him get dragged away. If what they say is true... Oh God. Poor Scott, I don't really know what he's done to be targeted."

Of course, Madeleine still had the flash disk, but she wanted to see it for herself before handing it to the authorities. Just like everyone in the family, she has an insatiable curiosity.

(But more common sense than her sons do).

After a few more questions, the officer lets her go. She had just helped Jansen get in the ambulance and was about to help Ian as well.

But they all heard it.

"Lower your weapon!" Somebody shouted. Followed by the cocking of guns.

Ian and Madeleine whipped their heads to look back at the museum, and just as they thought, the attacker from before was there. Even with the mask, Ian could almost instantly recognize that that was the boy from before, the strange boy that he knocked down in the toilet.

Madeleine gasped and tried to hurry Ian into the ambulance, but the boy leapt out of his mother's reach and pointed an accusing finger at the masked figure. He made sure to stand

"YOU!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "YOU SHOT MY DAD!"

Hearing Ian scream those words, Jansen peeked his head out from the ambulance. Sure enough, he remembered the strange boy too—it was the hoodie that he remembered.

George tried his best to sit up in his stretcher, though he couldn't see much. Just some uniformed men and his wife trying to drag their stubborn son back into the ambulance, away from the chaos.

"IAN! Get back inside right now!" His mother was now screaming, she was worried that Ian might get shot as well. So she grabbed him by the wrist and began to pull him away.

"WAIT! J-JUST WAIT!" Ian tried to free himself from his mother's grip. Alas, she had quite the iron grip and Ian's lanky arms were no match for it.

"But—but I saw his face, mom!"

"And what?! You're going to run over there and get yourself killed?!" Madeleine really didn't want to do it, but she had to get some sense back into her son. "You're a child, an unarmed 13 year old child! Now do as I say and get in the ambulance!"

At that he saw that his mother had an excellent point. So, Ian settled down and (reluctantly) climbed inside the ambulance where he saw his brother looking visibly frightened and upset. His father was mostly confused.

Ian took one last look out of the ambulance and to the masked figure. Trying to look him dead in the eye. The boy has never felt this much emotion for someone before, and he wasn't even sure what it was exactly. Rage? Hatred? Either way, it was negative.

Madeleine let out a deep sigh and gently pushed her husband back down on the stretcher, "I think you should lie down, dear."

One of the medics quickly got inside as well, and once the door shut, the ambulance sped off to the hospital.

For most of the trip, Ian had his eyes planted to the tip of his shoes.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, mom." He muttered softly.

Madeleine's lips formed a soft smile as she put an arm around her eldest son and pulled him closer. She was no longer angry at Ian.

"Shh... it's okay, sweetie. I know you didn't mean it."

"Are we going to talk to a detective, mom? I-I still remember his face, okay. I—I ran into him in the toilet. H-he—told Jansen and I to run but I didn't know why."

His voice was threatening to break, now that the adrenaline has worn off, but Ian still tried to keep himself steady.

Madeleine nodded with certainty and said, "I'm sure after what happened just then, they would want to talk to you."

"I-I should've—I should've done something! M-maybe dad wouldn't have gotten shot. What if I could've gotten a photo of him?"

Madeleine pulled him closer and ran a hand gently through the boy's hair, hushing him quietly. "Shh, there was nothing you could have done, sweetheart... All that matters now is that we're all safe. I'm sure dad will be okay."

Although he was also upset and shaken, Jansen decided to help the situation by giving a few gentle—albeit—awkward pats on his brother's back.

Ian made a promise to himself that he would do his best to get stronger, and smarter, so that in the future, he would be able to protect his family better.

ㅤㅤ

John

How does someone keep a straight face while being faced with shits like this? John couldn't even help but glance to the source of the commotion, the boy from before was frantically cursing and muttering inaudible accusations towards him that made some of the police turn their head.

Even as the woman from before practically tried to drag him in the same manner as dog owners trying to tame their barking dogs, the anger in his eyes was stark clear.

But perhaps it wasn't just anger. Perhaps it was also confusion, hatred... determination?

The Revelator flicked his eyes back to the incoming threats. There's no way he could take every one of them in a single hit. He's no super soldier nor a trained agent, he's just a teenager who thinks that following his father's steps is a good thing to do.

He should've just studied for the college entrance exam.

A scowl formed on John's forehead, but if someone dared take a peek beneath his mask, they will notice that it was purely caused by fear and frustration rather than anger and blood-thirsty resolution.

The only thing he could do to wipe out an entire troop is probably by throwing grenades all over them, which obviously going to result in a lot of casualties, but what's the point of doing everything if in the end he'll have to get tossed to jail?

John gritted his teeth. With a swift motion, he pulls the hem of his hoodie to reveal the strapped explosives across his chest. The cops scramble away, and as anticlimactic as it sounds, all he did was reach out to the M203PI launcher he had clutched to so dearly before. It sounded like a power play, it felt like he was playing god—but that was what his old man used to do.

Humans tend to make mistakes, they crash so easily and they slip and tumble by their own feet, and so did his old man.

That day when he watches as John Monsoon bleeds to death, Isaiah thought that it would be the last of him. Yet he runs, as cowardly as it sounds, he runs after the previous Revelator had aimed a gun to his head and told him to go.

Never did he think that he would end up doing the same path as him. The semi-stable kid who doesn't even know his own birth date, the one who used to look like he wouldn't dare to hurt a single fly, now he's launching grenades with his trembling hands. Cold gray eyes piercing without mercy as he burns everything in sight.

This isn't right, he knows that. He wanted to live this legacy with the same notable notion that would make people believe in him. He wanted to become the karma for those who weren't able to stand up.

But now that he thinks again, Isaiah realizes that all he tries to do was to fill the empty spot within his heart with hatred and revenge.

He made a promise that day. Whatever happens in the future, he would protect those he loves. Even if it means he had to fist fight with God himself.

And if he fails, he's going to burn the world down.

#prosit in vitam aeternam

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kalico-to-the-letter · 7 years ago

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REVIEW: RWBY – Vol. 5, Ch. 3: “UNFORESEEN COMPLICATIONS”

Complications, certainly. I don’t know about unforeseen, though. Do you mean in contexts of the characters in this episode, show? Because I could understand that. But are you also talking to your audience in relation to last week and thinking you’re slick? Because if that’s the case, you’re not. Welcome to my review of the 3rd Chapter of the 5th Volume, entitled, “Unforeseen Complications”. This week gave us: Belladonna Family Funtime, an old/young man flexing on everyone in the room, and a couple of boss ladies.

If you don’t want spoilers, then:

In “Unforeseen Complications”, RWBY hits some of the notes that were made necessary by the drama of last week. Perhaps they felt that the show needed a dash of humour after everything that happened, but it did not have to be as big a part of the episode as it was.

Last week, the game got turned on its head, as far as the White Fang are concerned. And this episode begins with me thinking, “Sienna’s death should already be public knowledge here”, as Ghira is reading over a statement he is preparing to give the people of Menagerie. But apparently news travels slow across Faunus lines, because an entire scene in Menagerie passes without a hint that people already know of her death. Remember that Adam wanted her death to be seen as martyrdom for the White Fang cause. So why not get the propaganda machine rolling already?

These people don’t know, but we as the audience know and have known for a while now. And while this disconnect can sometimes work, here it’s just a bit awkward. Ghira is telling the people a bunch of stuff which isn’t news to us anymore, and the thing that should be news? People don’t already know about it, for some reason.

And I excuse this if this episode revisited Menagerie and had the news break. But one scene was all we got, and this island is still in a state of not really knowing any current information. This hurts the storyline, because none of what Ghira said felt vital anymore. We already know that Adam’s targeting Haven. We knew all this back at the end of Volume 4. And while the show is hinting at progress in this storyline, it’s not coming quickly enough to justify scenes like this – scenes which seem important, but are pretty inconsequential when you think about it.

It’s a shame that the show is making me say this, because I love Blake. You all know that. But this episode couldn’t even be assed to give her a line of dialogue. It even trolled us into thinking we were going to get a big, emotional speech from her, and then it had Ilia interrupt the press conference before Blake could even begin. Bad form, show. No soup for you.

My gripes don’t end there. If you think the best way to fulfil the organically-created need for dramatic and expositional payoff is to bury it in a couple of mostly-comedic scenes, then you must have thought that the Dance Arc of Volume 2 was the best the series has ever done. Stop it. Stop it right now.

Ozpin’s story for Ruby and co. is a really interesting one. It calls way back into the history of the show, and it’s a good reminder of why people found him such an intriguing character those first three seasons. He’s cursed to keep on living because he failed to stop Salem forever ago. So as much as he’s this enigmatic figure of awe, he’s also tragic, because the consequences of his failure have had such an impact on the world. I like that story a lot. I don’t like it being buried under the comedic tone of the scenes he shares with RNJR, because seeing him flexing and exaggerating his mannerisms in front of the students, while good for a laugh, undercuts much of the gravitas.

Once again, Weiss in the shining light of the episode. Her scenes are so much shorter, but the show does everything it needs to with her and does it well. It sets up expectations of who is in the camp – we meet Vernal for the first time – and gives Weiss a moment to stand up for herself and be cut down – when Vernal swats away her claim that Winter is coming to save her, because Winter and all Atlas personnel have been recalled. (Thanks, show). But the ending of the episode also gives us enough to remind us that Weiss is the boss lady who broke out of her own mansion last season, so of course she can conjure a summoning to cut away her binds. She’s not beaten yet, and that’s a great little story-in-a-story.

But all the good in this episode can only carry it so far in the face of the stuff that doesn’t make sense. When you have an episode as bold and daring as last week’s, you owe it to yourself to follow that up with the appropriate aftershocks in the next episode. This could have been a great way to do it. But Menagerie’s storyline is out of place here, and the Ozpin/RNJR scenes needed to be more concise than they were, and not buried by needless humour.

This would be okay in another world, but it’s just not enough when you’ve been setting the bar so high for so long.

Additional observations

- Again, Blake says nothing this entire episode, and I even watched the scene again to make sure of that fact. Her moment with her family was nice, though brief, and of course Sun had to ruin it. I hope she can get on the move soon, so she doesn’t have to be weighed down by the Menagerie storyline any longer. And Sun. Get them away from each other, please, because just like last season, he is once again a charismatic black hole who ruins what should be great scenes between Blake and her parents.

- So Vernal is the Spring Maiden, right? She matches the story told to RJNR in the premiere, and what other reason would there be to have her so prominently in the opening credits?

- This episode does tick a lot of boxes, but they’re not always the right ones. See extending the RNJR scenes with a lot of pointless humour, when that time could have been given to something else. To what I don’t know – maybe a brief Yang storyline.

- To be honest though, it looks like Weiss is going to bust out of the bandit camp before Yang even gets there. I see you, show. You ain’t slick.

Grade: C+

Final thoughts: If the humour is enough for you, then you can ignore just how unnecessary much of “Unforeseen Complications” is. On its own, this episode might intrigue you or make you smile, but context cannot be ignored – this was not the best way for RWBY to follow up last week’s huge angle. The continuation of Weiss’s storyline and Ozpin’s revelation, though both well-done, can only carry the episode so far. – Kallie

#rwby spoilers #rwby reviews #rwby5 #rwby volume 5 #rwby

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entergamingxp · 5 years ago

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In the virtual world of Fallout 76, Gun Runners are making thousands in real-world cash • Eurogamer.net

For some reason I’m rapidly accruing a collection of dumb stories about my time in multiplayer games – and seeing as the Rust murder tale went down so well, I thought I’d recount another. This time it’s about my brief foray into the world of Fallout 76 virtual gunrunning, which has since escalated into a detailed look at the life of the traders making serious bank from selling Fallout 76 items. I don’t know how I ended up here.

Back in January, when the first wave of Fallout 76 backlash was at its peak, vast swathes of the Fallout subreddits were busy complaining about in-game glitches – and in particular, a cheating method called duping. It’s a process by which players exploit a bug to duplicate items, with potentially game-breaking consequences if uncontrolled numbers of top-tier items suddenly flood a community and upset the balance. It’s a phenomenon witnessed in other online games, but for Fallout 76 it was perceived as a serious problem by the community – with Bethesda constantly playing whac-a-mole trying to patch out new glitch methods as they appeared.

Over on eBay, some enterprising hustlers capitalised on the mess by creating their own cottage industry. Using the various duplication methods, the eBay accounts started selling dozens of Fallout 76’s most valuable items. Fallout 76, of course, doesn’t sell guns in its Atomic Shop on account of Bethesda’s pledge to avoid pay-to-win microtransactions (although some argue it’s already broken this pledge) – which means there’s a market for gameplay-affecting items such as weapons and armour (and the raw in-game money and materials to acquire these). Then the secret dev room was discovered and unreleased items started appearing – a problem that hasn’t quite gone away, judging by some recent listings.

Looks like a cat burglar’s been in the dev room at some point.

At the time, I’d already started investigating the item duping, as I was intrigued by how this worked. Who were these people? How did the gun delivery process work? And how had they avoided being caught? I then got a little sidetracked by the sight of those unreleased items and Wooby, so I never got around to talking about Fallout 76’s real-money trading market.

Except, I’d already purchased one of the guns.

It didn’t take long to find. A simple eBay search threw up a bunch of options for every platform – and faced with an abundance of choice, I searched for one that looked as overpowered as possible. “Two Shot Explosive Light Machine Gun (2star) (for Fallout 76, PC)” sounded like it would work. It set me back £7.75. The next step in this process was to contact the seller with my Discord name. I can happily report the anime-avatar eBay seller had excellent service: within hours, a Discord friend request popped up and they introduced themselves.

“hello

“im currently delivering an item to another customer, you’re the next in line so will be available right after im done with him

“sorry for the delay.”

Not only incredibly polite, the seller also seemed to have a full delivery schedule. It was a level of professionalism I wasn’t prepared for, and I hurried back from my lunch break to arrange an in-game meet-up.

After a small struggle to add each other as friends, I was instructed to join the game world and fast travel to the seller’s location. They’d chosen to set up shop at Charleston Station – a sensible choice, given it’s typically one of the earliest locations players find in the game. The stations are always fairly enemy-free, and heavily populated by players seeking to access the vendor, stash box and workbenches there.

This didn’t stop the transaction from feeling a bit shady.

As I approached the station, I could see the seller gesturing at me to come over. Entering cautiously, in the gloom I could see them squatting in a dingy corner, gesturing towards a rickety old end table, in which I found my gun. As the glorious weapon whirled around my monitor, the seller gave me a thumbs-up, and momentarily forgetting where the emote button was, I performed the universal gaming symbol to express gratitude: jumping. And there it was, my very own illicit gun.

If you want to see all of this play out in real time, you can, because I recorded it. (Apologies for the keyboard clacking away in the background – I left my mic on.)

youtube

Feeling a little dirty after the transaction, this is where I left this story for several months – until recently, when I revisited Fallout 76 to check out the new Fallout 1st subscription. Then, I started wondering to myself: who are these people selling virtual guns on eBay? Is it actually a viable side-hustle?

So I went back to my messages and found my gunrunner. Having confirmed this previously, I knew my seller had used duping as a method to make a vast quantity of weapons, but I wanted to find out more – and they were happy to oblige.

“I just started selling them out of the blue due to frustration with the game not listening to players,” they told me over Discord, explaining it was a matter of making it “easier for others” while also making money for other games on the side. It was their first time selling virtual items, as in other games they played, the market was already oversaturated with “Chinese gold seller sites” (for games like World of Warcraft).

As the seller was mostly unemployed during this period, they had time to hop between deliveries – taking random customers from eBay and “making some notes on delivery times… in order to make buyers aware of some possible delays”.

But then for the million-dollar question: how much had they made from Fallout 76 gunrunning?

“I’ve made around $2k (£1.5k), have been able to customise my gaming PC and can now enjoy high end better current and future games thanks to Fallout 76,” the seller said. “So for at least that reason I’m happy with the game.

“There are people who made over $10k (£7.7k) or even more, due to them setting up personal sites listing those items, [with] an even broader customer base and no limitations or special costs imposed by eBay (some packs they were selling were even $100 or $300+).”

This Lithuanian company started out in Elder Scrolls Online gold farming, and now sells Fallout 76 guns for £20-30 a pop.

While it didn’t sound like a sustainable long-term earner, I was still surprised by the numbers. Yet it was a gravy train that eventually ended for the seller, thanks to measures taken by both Zenimax and Bethesda.

“The first ones who did something were Zenimax [Bethesda’s parent company] by sending a global notice to eBay to force people selling in-game items related to F76 to stop selling them and end the listings, or they would incur in suspension of the eBay account, at which point I retired from this practice,” the seller claimed. “After I stopped, some weeks later the mass ban happened and I was included in it.”

The seller later clarified they got caught up in the February banwave, which cleared out a significant portion of the dupers. Judging by those dates, the seller must have made the $2k in less than four months.

With a steer from my eBay seller, I spent some time trying to get in contact with traders on the sites where weapons bundles are still being sold for up to £1500, such as G2G, along with privately-owned sites U4N and U4GM where items and weapons are bought directly from suppliers to be re-sold. Generally speaking, the sites sell items and in-game currency for a wide variety of online games (such as WOW, Rocket League and even Pokémon Sword and Shield), and often charge more than sellers on eBay – although the “face-to-face” delivery methods are the same. eBay takes a 10 per cent cut for each item sold – and while G2G starts at 9.99 per cent, it lowers to 4.99 for experienced traders. U4GM takes a more direct approach by purchasing bulk items from players, and then selling them on the platform. On a smaller scale, some traders post adverts on forums and arrange trades over Discord, with payments made via PayPal or cryptocurrencies such as Skrill – thereby bypassing service fees entirely.

After several attempts, I did manage to talk to one of the traders on the website G2G, who had an extensive trading record with over 250 items sold on that site alone. They’re currently listing one of the super expensive packs my eBay seller had talked about – a triple-item pack for £779.32 (although my eBay gunrunner claimed this is far less egregious than some of the listings from earlier this year, before the banwaves).

It does seem that some of these extremely high-price packs are more for show (or perhaps out of hope) than a realistic listing. The G2G seller’s biggest deal to date, they told me, was actually a $250 (£189.96) strangler heart power armour set – which has now been reduced to $60 (£46.53) thanks to increased competition from other sellers. The seller also estimated they’d made $20k (£15.2k) from selling Fallout 76 items – which I found hard to believe, but not impossible, given their activity was split across several trading websites.

While my seller’s Fallout 76 eBay journey had ended, even checking the site now, it’s possible to spot plenty of people still selling Fallout 76 items in bulk. Some of the most expensive weapons still being sold are called “legacy weapons”: such as the powerful explosive energy weapons Bethesda removed from loot drops at the beginning of the year, but not from player inventories. The most expensive one I saw was a £249.99 “furious explosive gatling plasma” (now £199.99) with god roll stats (effectively the best stats you can get from a RNG drop).

I eventually managed to get in contact with another eBay seller, who provided me with an up-to-date perspective on the current state of Fallout 76 gunrunning on the site. This one told me they’d been involved with duping and in-game trading from the very start, before the practice eventually moved to real-money trading (RMT).

“I have used duping and greatly profited from it – I won’t deny it,” they said, adding they were only aware of one publicly-known throwables duping method at present. “It’s quiet now compared to [the] old days but you can still make some money. I have [a] few deliveries a day and I don’t really play the game itself due to lack of new content. My endgame is effective cap generation methods and trading.”

The seller was unable to tell me how much they’d made from selling on eBay, but it was interesting to learn that after a certain point, duping was no longer necessary to produce goods. Once you get rich in-game in terms of caps and assets, they explained, it’s relatively easy to keep up with the demand for items.

I thought my journey into the world of eBay Fallout 76 trading would end there – but little did I know, I was about to encounter one of the biggest sellers on the platform. Curious about the expensive legacy weapons, I shot a message to the gatling gun listing’s owner, who runs the store eBay store Fallout76Armoury. The seller, a college student who goes by the name Martin Tim in the Fallout community, boasts one of the biggest collections of Fallout 76 items on eBay – with over 140 items for PS4 currently listed for sale.

“I noticed a demand for items and a market I can invest my time in so I took advantage of it”, Martin told me, explaining it had taken a long time to reach the major leagues in Fallout 76 item trading. “The process of me getting where I am now was not easy. I invested a lot of time trading my way up in ranks to access information and items I’m in need of… I’ve had to build relationships and a reputation with people who have knowledge of an upcoming duplication glitches and top tier items I can use to trade and build an inventory that I can sell.”

For Martin, the first few months were time-consuming thanks to the need to build his reputation and promote his store – along with establishing a system to manage 12 different PlayStation accounts and document all his items on spreadsheets. Having built that trust, customers then started to approach him – and he now says there is “no overwhelming aspect” to the trading at all: merely meeting customers in-game to deliver items, and updating his spreadsheets to keep clients informed of new gear.

While Martin has noticed a gradual decrease in demand for items, he says it’s still an extremely profitable industry – claiming he’s sold weapons anywhere from £10-£500 each, making a total of $55k (£41.8k) in the 10 months since he started selling the items. “I consider myself the most successful ‘individual’ seller on the entirety of the platform and I say this as I have spoken to other competing sellers from all platforms,” Martin added.

Although he couldn’t provide records to back up that figure, I manually trawled through the publicly-viewable feedback on Martin’s eBay page, and the sum of these alone is impressive. The most expensive item sold on this list is a custom bundle for £165, and roughly totalling up the items gets you slightly over £11k. This number, of course, doesn’t include sales where best price was accepted (and therefore hidden) – nor does it give us Martin’s total sales, as many customers fail to leave reviews. Martin also claims to sell on platforms other than eBay – with about 60 per cent of his deals made in private DMs to avoid website service fees. Privately, Martin also showed me sales records of the highest-priced items he’d sold, including a gun which shipped for £250. With these factors in mind, the publicly-verifiable figure does make Martin’s claim seem plausible.

While real-money trading seems to be against Zenimax’s terms of service – and selling duped items definitely is – when asked if Bethesda had tried to crack down on their trading, one seller argued there was a difference between duping and RMT.

“They have not and they should not – traders are providing a service that people are happy to pay for… RMT is a just a side effect for any ‘serious’ MMO. They should (and have) cracked down on duping in-game – I had two accounts banned for 100k Ultracite ammo but that is just the cost of doing business.”

Martin, meanwhile, said he’s never been banned. He estimates 80 per cent of his stock is duped (something he says is due to a spate of mass duping crazes previously flooding the market – claiming he’s only been involved in later “more controlled duping”), and he’s managed to avoid hitting the weight cap by spreading his inventory over 12 PSN accounts and 70 different Fallout 76 characters.

“Bethesda has never interfered with any real life currency trading … simply because they couldn’t care less,” he added. “Bethesda is a multi-million company who I assume does not consider from my perspective sellers who are selling items and somewhat promoting their game.”

Of course, the Fallout 76 sellers were probably never going to argue against their own interests – but they did make a fair point about RMT. Given the, um, buzz around Fallout 76 has now calmed down, it wouldn’t make sense for Bethesda or Zenimax to really crack down – and from the sounds of it, the most public duping methods have been patched out, and the demand for items is slowly decreasing. So long as people aren’t using mass duping methods to produce the weapons – which upsets the game balance and has been blamed for destabilising servers – it at least seems relatively harmless.

Eurogamer contacted Bethesda and eBay to ask about the sale of Fallout 76 in-game items for real money, but both failed to comment by time of publication.

Given the amounts these sellers made from selling weapons, it does make you wonder how much Bethesda could have made if it had straight-up sold weapons in the Atomic Shop – a slightly scary thought. But above all else, this experimentation with duping methods and glitches to produce grey-market product – delivered via in-game meet-ups, arranged on Discord – feels very Fallout. “Gun Runner” is even the name of a perk in Fallout 76 – while in New Vegas, the Gun Runners are weapons merchants who supply both the NCR and the Courier. One source told me he estimates 90 per cent of Fallout 76’s wealth is held by less than one per cent of the player base: a small group of glitchers, dupers and traders who all know each other and share secrets. And aside from being strangely similar to our own world, that in-game wealth can clearly be converted into real-world bank through gunrunning. Now that’s post-nuclear entrepreneurial spirit to make Mr. House proud.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2019/12/in-the-virtual-world-of-fallout-76-gun-runners-are-making-thousands-in-real-world-cash-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-the-virtual-world-of-fallout-76-gun-runners-are-making-thousands-in-real-world-cash-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

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