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ilythecolorpink · 7 months

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Get On Your Knees (Priest Kento Nanami x female reader)

You were taking your son Yuji Itadori to church on a Sunday morning. Wearing the outfit Itadori chose for you, you enter the doors. You and Itadori take a seat in the front row after walking past the several rows of people. After a short wait, the priest enters, and everyone is required to stand up. Father Nanami appears to you; he has honeydew brown eyes, blonde hair, and prominent cheekbones. Even some of the older ladies talked about how handsome he was. He was more than handsome the man was absolutely mesmerizing.

Every time he addresses the crowd of people, I notice that his eyes always seem to make their way towards mine. Until we were given bread and wine, I thought I was just dreaming. He smiles at my son and hands him bread and grape juice as he walks down the aisle. He approaches me, and offers me the wine, but not before taking my hand and placing the bread in my palm. You slightly blush at the contact as he looks up and down at you whilst giving a small smirk before going to the next person. Itadoris' teacher Satoru Gojo approaches you after mass and asks, "Hey Yuji, how is my favorite student doing?"

"I'm doing good, Gojo Sensei," says Itadori with a smile. Gojo then looks at me and says, "You must be his mother? I have to say you are absolutely stunning." During this he places a kiss on your hand. You have to admit that your heart just skipped a beat, causing you to become flustered. You attempt to cover your face with your hand and say shyly "Oh my, thank you, you're too kind." Then Itadori chimes in saying "Gojo Sensei please stop hitting on my mom.” "Satoru, can you please not do this on holy grounds," Nanami commands as he approaches Gojo from behind. Gojo releases your hand as he wraps his arm around Nanami's shoulder and adds, "Don't be so cruel, you should know I'm very holy." Gojo displays a dramatic offended expression as he says this.

Afterward, Nanami scoffs and adds, "Just keep telling yourself that." Following that, Gojo responds, "Nanami you always look so gloomy, you should be happy at least you get to be called Father every day, I mean that's just daddy but fancier." Then Nanami places his hand on his forehead as he says annoyed “Satoru I’m going to count to 3 and once it’s 1, I will have you banned from here.” Immediately Itadori pulls Gojo away and apologizes to Nanami, saying, "Sorry about that father Nanamin, I'll get him out of your way." He continues saying "Come on Mom, let's go." You then smile and say, "You go on ahead darling, I'll catch up with you, just give me a few minutes." So Itadori departs while holding Gojo.

You soon turn to face Nanami as he apologizes for Gojo, adding "I'm sorry for him, he is just one of the many troubles I have to deal with." "It's okay Father, it's sweet of you to apologize though," you say with a pleasant chuckle. "You have a good kid, he is doing god's work by taking Satoru away," he remarks as he approaches. "Thank you, I try my best", you smile. "I hope this isn't too personal, but may I ask, why does your partner never join?" he continues. Then you rubbed the back of your neck and said, "Oh, I don't have a partner, it's just me and my son."

After that, he apologizes, saying, "I'm sorry for bringing up anything too personal." He then moves a little bit closer to you before Itadori asks, "Are you ready to go, Mom?" Following that you turn to face him and say, "Yes, dear," before returning to Nanami and saying, "I'm so sorry to end the conversation so soon." "It's quite alright," he continues, "please stay safe Miss Itadori." Then you say "Please call me Y/N" while giving an affectionate grin. As you turn to leave, you say, "Goodbye, Father, it was a pleasure speaking with you." As you walk away, Nanami murmurs, "Y/N hm such a pretty name."

A little while later, as you kissed your son goodnight and entered your bedroom, the time was 7:30. You answer the phone when it rings and notice a number you don't recognize. You then say, "Hello?" as you hold the phone to your ear. When Nanami's voice is heard on the other end, you instantly recognize him: "Hey, this is Father Nanami." Since you never gave him your phone number, you're surprised. "It's great to hear your voice, Father", you say. After chuckling he continues, "Since you told me your name, it's only fair I tell you mine, my name is Kento Nanami." "If it's okay, may I see you tonight?" He asks with a soft grin.

You feel both flustered and excited as you say “Of course, where should we meet Kento?” When he hears you call his name, he hums with satisfaction and replies, "Come meet me in the church, just you alright?" Then, after blushing even more and being relieved that no one could see you at this moment, you answer, "Yes sir, you got it, I'll see you then." Laughing, he says, "How cute, come here safely." You go to touch up your makeup and hair as he hangs up the phone, making sure to seem as presentable as you can. You hear Itadori ask, "Where are you going?" as he emerges from his room before you go out the door. You turn around and say, "Don't worry dear, mommy's going to go out for a little while Father Nanami, wants to have a little talk with me is all."

"What does Nanamin want to talk about with you at this hour?" he asks as turns his head to the side in confusion. Then, with a smile, you say, "I honestly don't know, but I'm sure it's important." Then he shrugs and says, "Well, alright, just be safe Mom." You give him a kiss on the cheek while smiling and say, "I will, darling. Now go back to sleep. Remember you have to have a lot of energy for school tomorrow" In response, he replies, "Speaking of school, can you tell Nanamin that I'm sorry about Gojo Sensei?" after pausing. Your attention is peaked as you add, "Aw baby, you don't need to apologize for him, but if it makes you feel better I will tell him." "Thank you, I know it's not my fault but I still feel bad," he then admits.

"If I'm being completely honest, I just really like Nanamin," he continues. “I wish he was my dad," he said after looking down. Next, you give him an affectionate hug and massage his head tenderly while saying, "Aw honey, I never knew you felt that way." Next, you take a small step back and put your hands on his cheeks while saying, "I promise you, I'll do my best to see what I can do." Then you go on to suggest, "How about I invite him to the house tomorrow, dear?" He smiles and asks, "Really? You mean it?" with a twinkle in his eyes.

Afterward, you laugh and remark, "Of course, I'll drag him here if I have to." Following that, he pulls you up and gives you a tight hug while saying, "You're the best mom ever, thank you so much." Then you laugh and say, "Aw, you're an angel, now you really need to go to bed." Following that, he gives an expression of surprise and says, "Oh right, I'm sorry for keeping you late." You next say, “Don’t be dear, thank you for telling me how you feel.” As you turn to walk away you hear him say “I love you Mom. Upon hearing that, you circle back and say, "I love you too, my dear."

After some time has passed, you proceed to the church's stairs. Before you can place your hand on the door handle, the door begins to open. In place of an alb, Nanami is wearing a blue collared shirt and tan slacks as you can see. "It's nice to see you, I'm glad you came", he adds as he leans up against the door. You feel a blush creep onto you. "You're too kind." You add, "By the way, Kento, I know this may feel odd but Yuji wanted to apologize for what Gojo did earlier." Then, raising an eyebrow, he replies, "I hope he knows that he doesn't have to apologize for the likes of him." You quickly nod in agreement and explain, "That's what I said, but he still wanted to apologize even if he knew it wasn't his fault."

He remarks with a smile "He really is a good boy." Then, as his large, strong hands entwine with yours and he says, "Please come in," he grabs your hand. As the door closes, he draws you closer. Now that your body is getting close to him, you can practically feel his chest. You ask, "May I confess something to you?" in a low voice. "Of course, follow me," he adds with a smile. As he chooses to maintain his grip on your hand. He places you on one side of the door and leads you to the confessional. Stepping in, you pull the door closed and sit down.

You can just make out his shadow taking a seat by looking through the divider. On the opposing side, Nanami sits down and says, "You may speak now Y/N." You subsequently turn to face Nanami and admit, "Father, I must confess, recently I have been distraught about something." As he says, "Go on," you pause. "I feel distraught about my son not having a father," you continue. Then he asks, "Why is that?" Following that, you remark, "Recently he even confessed to me saying that he wishes that you were his dad."

Following that, with a slight smirk, he asks, "Really?" "Yes, and please forgive me, but I'm afraid I've been thinking of a man ... lustfully," you remark after nodding your head. Next, he asks, "Please tell me it's not Satoru?" you laugh and respond, "Not at all." Then Nanami responds, "Good, keep going, please." Following that, you flush and confess, "I feel I have been having impure thoughts about a priest." Your breathing becomes heavier as you go along, and you start to feel aroused. "Do you think it's wrong?" you inquire. The next thing he says is, "Right now, I'm not here to decide what's right or wrong." You see him move in his chair. "Please Father, tell me what I can do," you plead as you press your legs together in an effort to control your desire. You continue, "I can't go on like this, I keep thinking about how his hands would feel over my body, please Kento just tell me what to do." Your groans become increasingly difficult to control with each word. He just speaks the word "kneel" once.

He opens the door to find you on your knees after you follow his instructions. He goes on, "Look at you, already wet for me and I haven't even touched you," as he moves to caress your cheek before moving to your lip and gliding his thumb over the underside of your lip.” He then takes a moment to kiss you, and you moan. He keeps cupping your face and smirking the entire time. You are now standing as he roughly presses you against the wall as he kisses you. "Do you want me as much as I want you, Kento?" you exclaim while exhaling heavily. His cock was simply getting harder, and the sound of your sounds made him groan. He continues, "You should know I've always wanted you darling." You blush and whimper, saying, "Please fuck me, Kento."

Nanami reaches between you both and pulls out his dick while shoving down his boxers. With drops of cum gleaming at the tip as it's already completely hard, you truly feel the true essence of the word desire. Fortunately, Nanami also feels that you cannot wait any longer. He holds your hips in place at the base of his dick while guiding you with his other hand till you are aligned with his tip. You slowly descend into him while stabilizing yourself around his neck with your arms. As you take him in, moans of pleasure burst through you both; each glorious inch stretching you farther and deeper. You quickly start wiggling your hips after settling into his lap with his dick fully immersed inside of you. Nanami then violently holds your hips and controls your movements until you both gasp in satisfaction.

He lunges forward and again captures your lips; you both don't pause for even a split second as you pursue your release. "Come on, scream, let God hear my name." you breathe "Yes, yes, oh fuck, please don't stop." He then picks up the pace, completely different from before, and drives into you with such vigor that you start to see stars. He repeatedly pounded you against the door with each rough thrust.

Your back hitting the wood barely registers in comparison to the sensation of his cock hammering into you and completely consuming you. Following that, he grabs hold of your hair and adds, "You're doing so good for me, admit you like getting fucked like a slut." Then you exhale heavily and groan, "Mhm fuck yes," Nanami tightens his hold on you as he picks up the same aggressive tempo, he had been using earlier. You can't help but scream as Nanami repeatedly rubs your clit till you reach your climax.

You cling tightly while digging your nails into his shoulders as one specific forceful thrust precisely strikes the perfect area. As your orgasm sweeps over you, you cry out in pleasure. His thrusts become sloppier by the second, and he comes inside you with a deep grunt as his cum covers your insides on his dick. Nanami then pressed himself against the wall. He gives you a gentle kiss on the neck and says, "I love you Y/N." Then you murmur "I love you too, Kento," onto the skin behind his ear.

A/N: yall i had so much fun writing, I love you guys so much. I hope you all have a good night/day. Also I have my Psych exam so wish me luck.

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kanameows · 2 years

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i realised that we didn't have enough scosage fluff, thought "is anyone going to fix that?" and didn't wait for an answer

(can be perceived as romantic or platonic, idc)

they act so much more dramatic and edgy than they actually are

if you think that scosage is a sexy vampire/holy being couple, you have fallen right into their trap because they're actually a couple of dumbasses who took "doing things for the aesthetic" a little too far

i've said this before and i will continue to say it, but they're dancers! they dance together! they're both equally shit at dancing but they pretend that they're not!

they do eachother's nail polish because there's no way that at lesst one of the two aren't nail polish guys

they frequently swap clothes because they have pretty similar sizes and similar aesthetics

they have "luncheons" which is pretty much their way of saying tea party, but fancier

they tease eachother for their taste in music while completely ignoring the fact that they have the exact same taste of music

two words: graveyard. kisses.

frequent pda around saint pearl's church and she's starting to get sick of it (not homophobic, just scottphobic and who can blame her?)

they'll make "that's what he said" jokes and wink at eachother

skirts. yes.

sometimes they wear lipstick for the sole purpose of leaving lipstick marks on the other's face when they kiss becausr lipstick marks can be difficult to get off and they want to make it obvious that they've been smooching

they got together and the first thing they did was brag about it to everyone they met

as a friend, sausage is still a pretty affectionate guy, but as partners? i don't even know how it's possible to be that affectionate

they makes puns out of eachother's names

team up to bother their server mates *cough* jimmy *cough*

unironically use the black heart emoji instead of the red one

feel free to add more <3

#headcanon tag #alsmp #alshipping #scott smajor #mythical sausage #scosage #help girl i've fallen in the scosage rabbit hole and i can't get out

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writerystuff · 3 years

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MAJOR PET PEEVE

Instead of just listing it, I'm going to give a lengthy lecture on this one.

tl;dr: Don't use the word COMPRISE, ever, under any circumstances, unless you want to read this whole thing and learn the rules.

Why do so many people have so much trouble with the distinction between COMPRISE and COMPOSE? I guess it’s partly because the words look alike and do have similar, though complimentary, meanings. Let’s try to sort this out once and for all.

To begin with, we will not be talking about COMPOSE in either of the following senses:

1. Mozart composed a violin sonata before he was toilet-trained.

2. Though violently aroused by her glimpse of Ludwig’s burnished wingtips (1), Mildred managed to compose herself sufficiently to answer his question.

The meaning of COMPOSE that we are concerned with is “make up” in the following sense:

3. A mere five ingredients compose the cookie recipe.

I’m sure you will agree, however, that this is not a natural-sounding sentence, so let’s fix it:

4. The cookie recipe is composed of a mere five ingredients.

This sounds more natural and is probably the source of part of the problem: we have put COMPOSE into the passive voice (2). Is there a way to say the same thing in a natural-sounding active voice? Yes, but not with COMPOSE:

5. The cookie recipe consists of a mere five ingredients.

So now we know that COMPOSE (in the sense we are examining) in the passive voice means roughly the same as CONSIST OF. But most people understand this meaning of COMPOSE perfectly well and use it correctly—when they use it. The difficulties arise when they try to use COMPRISE instead, which they might possibly want to do because COMPRISE sounds like a fancier word and they desire to impress.

The problem is that COMPOSE and COMPRISE are not synonyms. They do not mean the same thing and they can’t be used interchangeably. Let’s try to come up with some illustrations of the correct use of COMPRISE:

6. The United States comprises fifty states.

7. The complex comprises an office building, two apartment buildings, a church, several shops, and a parking lot.

8. The cookie recipe comprises a mere five ingredients.

Are we getting the idea? The rough-and-ready synonym for COMPRISE would be “take in.” If you can substitute “take in” for COMPRISE, it has been used correctly.

The problem, which you have of course immediately spotted, is that you can use CONSIST OF instead of COMPRISE in the sentences above. So if COMPRISE means the same as CONSIST OF, and COMPOSE means the same as CONSIST OF—no, wait! COMPOSE does not mean the same as CONSIST OF, except when COMPOSE is in the passive voice. So BE COMPOSED OF means the same as CONSIST OF.

So therefore, if COMPRISE means the same as CONSIST OF, and BE COMPOSED OF means the same as CONSIST OF, COMPRISE should mean the same as BE COMPOSED OF. And it does!

Note, however, that COMPRISE is in the active and IS COMPOSED OF is in the passive. COMPRISE and COMPOSE, both in the active voice, do not mean the same thing. As stated above, they are not synonyms and can’t be used interchangeably.

In the active voice, remember, COMPOSE means “make up.” (So BE COMPOSED OF means “be made up of.”) And COMPRISE means “take in” or “be made up of.”

So COMPRISE means the same as BE COMPOSED OF: that is, COMPRISE in the active voice means the same as COMPOSE in the passive voice.

You might want to read that over.

So if COMPRISE means “take in” or BE COMPOSED OF, COMPRISE cannot have a passive voice—you can’t say “be taken in of.” So both the following sentences are WRONG, in the same way and for the same reason:

* 9. The cookie recipe is taken in of a mere five ingredients. (3)

* 10. The cookie recipe is comprised of a mere five ingredients. (3)

So, to get to the main point of this exercise, the phrase *BE COMPRISED OF is ungrammatical and incorrect and wrong. It does not mean the same as BE COMPOSED OF; it does not mean anything at all. It’s nonsense. COMPRISE can’t be used in the passive.

I realize that this may seem, first of all, very confusing, and second, who cares? Some people do care, however, and someday one of those people may be in a position to do you some good, or some harm. And you never know when you might run into one. So here are the rough-and-ready rules:

1. Never use BE COMPRISED OF.

2. Use BE COMPOSED OF, CONSIST OF, and COMPRISE (note: active voice!) interchangeably.

These two rules are simple and easy to understand, but if you’d rather not bother learning them, don’t. Just don’t use COMPRISE at all. Simply use CONSIST OF or BE COMPOSED OF instead.

1. No, sorry; it just means a kind of shoes.

2. Do we need an essay on the difference between active and passive? Surely not.

3. In linguistics, an asterisk in front of an example means that the example is ungrammatical, or, in other words, wrong.

#writers #writing #grammar #wrong word #comprise #compose #confusion

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welcometoels · 3 years

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Session Fourteen - Dragonhall

Though she may be a full foot taller, with pointier ears, darker hair and an overall more High Elf vibe, the person standing before the party is definitely Zanthia, and she has plans for everyone.

The guards at their target location - Dragonhall - are all High Elves, so a certain amount of disguising is going to be required. Anemia, Talion and Cailynn all need the least work - the right amount of foundation and a silver cloak will be sufficient.

For Kadis, Zanthia dips into her wardrobe of disguises. A pair of false pointy ears under the right wig fits the bill. She also has a peek under his eye cover, then has second thoughts. Something about those eyes is just too peculiar to pass for Elven.

Oddsock, she leaves pretty much as he is, though she does swap out the top hat and monocle for a silver cape. He keeps the bowtie.

It’s Julius who presents the most difficulty. No amount of makeup, cloaks or fake ears will make an Otter look like an Elf. For this job, she positions Julius in front of her largest mirror, and - quite literally - works her magic.

With her left palm upon her mask pendant, and her right on Julius’ head, Zanthia utters a few words of power, and the druid begins to change: his skin becomes smoother, paler and less hairy, and his body more slender and willowy. In a matter of moments, Julius the Otter is now Julius the Elf - though his hair still has that wet look.

Now everyone looks the part, the group heads to the stables on the edge of town - Julius staring in disbelief at his new hands all the way. At the stables, the same miserable administrator who greeted them at the other side of town meets them once again, with the same charm and vigour. He take a slightly soggy horse receipt from Mr O Sock, and fetches a pair of horses.

Zanthia also produces a ticket, and more horses are produced. Two of them are much the same as the others, even down to their names, but the last is altogether fancier, darker and shorter.

Zanthia mounts this last horse, while the rest of the party finds room on the other four. Oddsock and Julius listen in on the horse chat as they ride, and they become a little concerned about that little one...

His name is Storm Hellflayer, and he has seen things that would turn your mind to soup. He doesn’t care who you are, or where you’re from - he only wants to know one thing:

Do you have any sugarlumps?

Julius reaches into his pack and pulls out a handful of sweet grass, which Storm accepts begrudgingly.

After a short while, the group arrives at Dragonhall - a well-appointed, two storey building surrounded by trees, just on the outer outskirts of Monthend. They park their steeds in a small copse - with Storm positioning himself a little away from the others.

A couple of guards stand at the front, and the group hesitantly introduces themselves as the night shift. The guards are suspicious at first, but send them through to talk to the boss - a man called Wandbutt.

Wandbutt is a grizzled old veteran who takes an immediate dislike to the team - not least because they use what they innocently thought was his actual name, but which is actually an insulting nickname that refers back to a moment of youthful misadventure.

He grills the group thoroughly. While he is a little uncertain about the slick-haired individual who calls himself Julius P Manman, he is more concerned about the blind gentleman. Kadis assures Wandbutt that his other senses are honed to perfection, and Wandbutt tests this by throwing an apple straight at his face.

Without the slightest fumble, Kadis snags the fruit from the air, and nonchalantly takes a bite. Wandbutt is sold, and promptly packs up his belongings from the reception desk, and leaves.

Once the actual guards are gone, Zanthia lays out her plan: She and Anemia will break into the basement cells, via a locked door at the back; Talion should go upstairs to check for information on the dragon hunters, and the others should split themselves throughout the rest of the building, with at least one person on the door as lookout.

Julius - the most perceptive of the bunch - takes door duty, while Cailynn joins Talion upstairs. Kadis opts to stay on the ground floor to check the rooms there. Oddsock offers his help in unlocking the door, since his Acid Splash was - in his mind - super effective in the past, but Zanthia assures him that his expertise is best employed elsewhere.

Initially feeling snubbed, Oddsock swiftly bounces back once he smells food under a nearby door. After a bit of trial and error involving a doorknob, Oddsock finds some leftover chicken on a breakroom table, and successfully navigates the bones to enjoy a nice snack.

Upstairs, Talion and Cailynn opt to explore the upstairs from the back. They enter a plush room, dominated by a heavy wooden desk with an enormous chair behind it, and a tiny wee stool in front.

Talion, mindful of traps, successfully avoids them all - not a difficult task, since there aren’t any. Cailynn makes a beeline for some shelves at the back, finding a handful of trophies - sporting, commerce, and, yes, hunting trophies - and several carefully bound bundles of paperwork.

Downstairs, Kadis investigates the reception desk. At first, he sees nothing - visual perception is still not his strong suit, thanks to the imperfect psychic connection with his pet Beholder. Using his fingers, though, he finds an interesting message carved into the desk: Wandbutt Is A Twat. Curious...

Outside, Julius carefully sets Rupert the fey weasel down on the ground, and begins to see the world through his beady eyes. Rupert dashes down the side of the building, enjoying the feel of the grass on his belly and the fading warmth of the evening sun, and offering little of actual use.

Back at the fancy room upstairs, Talion and Cailynn finish up their exploration. There is nothing under the desk but dust bunnies, and the trophies are only gold in appearance - pretty much a bust all round. However, Cailynn does find mention of Banto’s Machinations & Artifices in one of the bound bundles, and tucks it into her pack as they leave the room.

Next up, they explore the largest room upstairs. This one is noticeably less impressive, and packed with desks and shelves. As they investigate, they find very little, though there is a calendar with a picture of a boy in a wizard’s hat in front of a building called Midvale College For The Wise. There’s a door with “PULL” written on it, and his pushing as hard as he can, and it’s all very amusing.

On the groundmost floor, Kadis is exploring the largest room, after checking in with the others via his enchanted necklace. In there, he finds a large bank of desks all lined in a row, and a few pieces of uninspiring art. Using touch in the hopes of discovering more hidden messages, he discovers only a splinter in his finger.

We leave Kadis contemplating his digits, and the bent arrow motifs on the walls - exactly the same as the ones in the dog-defiled church in town - and rejoin Rupert as he skitters round to the back of the building. For a moment, he thinks he hears a owl, but it is a false alarm. Thank goodness for that.

Oddsock, having thoroughly removed all of the food from the break room, has a good snuffle around, and notices that the previously locked door is now sat open, and Zanthia and Anemia are nowhere to be seen. Popping through the door, he is momentarily stunned by a huge explosion from downstairs.

Kadis hears it from the big room. Talion and Cailynn hear it upstairs, in the drab little meeting room they are exploring. Julius hears it outside, and, presumably, so do the guards who are now approaching along the path.

Oddsock dashes down the stairs to find out what happened, and discovers the body of Anemia Rixme, crushed against a pillar behind an iron door. Allowing his eyes to wander, he soon finds the gap that the door use to fill - a huge iron cell, much like a jail cell, but filled with money and valuables rather than people.

He also sees Zanthia, hunched over and stuffing gold into a bag, grumbling to herself about the idiot thief who couldn't even disarm a trapped door properly. It is at this point that Oddsock begins to doubt that this was ever a rescue mission.

Being a dog of simple motivations though, he is much more interested in the stuff in the cage. Zanthia is too busy shovelling cash into a sack to really care what Oddsock is up to, so he sniffs around.

Immediately, something catches his attention: A book, which is giving off a powerful magical aura - an aura that makes his fur stand on end and his toy dragon squeak. The only thing he can make out on it is a name on the front: Sre’Yalp - the same name as the Codex where he stores his additional cantrips. He levitates it into his pack for later perusal.

Out at the front, Rupert joins up with Julius, and the Otter man - disguised as an Elf man called Manman - looks directly at an actual Elf who is dressed head to toe in armour, and who is demanding explanations. Julius panics and tries to talk his way out of it, but this knight-looking individual is having none of it. He briefly turns to his companions - the two guards from before, Wandbutt, and a peaky-looking Herrington - and then looks back at Julius, ushering him inside to gather up his accomplices.

As they enter, Julius does something unexpectedly sneaky. Touching a temporarily non-paw hand to his necklace, he thanks the “reinforcements” for turning up to help find the source of the explosion.

Kadis immediately understands the message, and secretes himself around a corner, while Talion and Cailynn pause at the foot of the stairs, just out of sight of the door, and Talion casts Mirror Image on himself to help in the inevitable fight. He also blesses Cailynn with her first taste of Bardic Inspiration.

Oddsock’s ears prick up at the sound of Julius’ voice, but before he can dash away, Zanthia asks him to do something - put his paw on his necklace. After a little fumble, he does so, and she leans in as close as she can, saying, with a soft purr:

“See you, dragon boy”

And with that, she kisses one of her rings, and vanishes, leaving a baffled Oddsock to rush upstairs, where all hell is about to break loose.

As Oddsock emerges from the cellar door to join Kadis at the corner, Talion and Cailynn emerge from the stairs, and the artificer summons a plume of smoke from a hallway candelabra.

The scene is set for a rumble. Let’s find out how it goes - NEXT TIME.

#dnd #5e #dnd homebrew

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obscureoperations · 3 years

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I’m not the collar anon but Martin is cute and putting him in nice cute lingerie as a way to show him that he’s cute and yours🥺🥺🥺🥺 play into his praise kink and his want to be owned by you. Maybe you even chooses what he wears and dresses him. Only you two know that he’s wearing some cute panties and bra under his clothes and once in a while you’ll brush against him to hear him subtly whimper. (If this isn’t your thing that’s fine lol, I’m just going off)

Hah! Go tf off anon! Say it with your whole chest.. I know I did...I'll admit, I never woulda came up with this concept myself. Guess thats why I like hearing your random ideas. This went on longer than I thought it would and Im operating on a questionable ammount of sleep. Oops. Nsfw but nothing too graphic...

At times you couldn’t believe this was actually a thing, the fact that he went through this “ritual”just for you. In the beginning, you told yourself you were just joking, that you only wanted to see his reaction. You couldn’t deny the flicker of excitement once he started to undress fully in front of you. No more shutting the blinds, flicking the lights off-- diving beneath the covers before anything ensued. You always made it a habit of telling him just how beautiful he was. How lucky you were to have him. He would look at you as if you were insane. The truth of the matter was you wanted him completely. You were overjoyed just to have him in your life. He never believed it-- any of it. When you first stated in simple words, just how much he meant to you-- you were sure that he might faint.

“ So you actually like me.. y/n… I mean really like me?”

One of the things you loved about Martin was the fact that he always tried so endlessly to please you. Always by your side in an instant, the moment he detected any form of distress.When it came to “the sexy stuff” His receptiveness seemed to intensify-- his only goal was to make sure you would go.

You always made sure to praise him. You let him know how good he could make you feel. Moans and whimpers pale in comparison to your words. “ You’re so good for me.. Martin.” “just like that…” “Baby please…’' You couldn't ask for a better student. So when the two of you laid together on a lazy Saturday night, you were completely thrown. His fingers fluttering beneath your shorts. Resting against the hem of your panties. It was one of your fancier pairs, black satin full of lace. It wasn’t like anything you wore everyday, Laundry was due and you needed something. It was the first thing that fell out of your drawer.

He seemed to be fascinated by the fabric, the way it clung to your skin. “Here...take these off.”

“Take what off?!” You whisper, already fumbling with his belt.

“These…” he whispers, sliding your jeans down your waist, fingers playing over the silky fabric.

He seemed mesmerized for a moment at the way the material clung to your skin, he began experimentally tugging at the fabric. Teasing you, briefly with his hand before returning his attention to the elastic. You were always beautiful to him but something was different, his desire for you seemed to intensify. The sheer lace material provides a barrier to where he wants you most. He could already feel heat rise to his face.

“Martin, I'm sure they would look so much better on you….”

His eyes snap to your face, were already laughing--arms crossing over your eyes.

“What” He whispers as he moves to shift your leg, already teasing you through the fabric.

Your teeth dig into your bottom lip, suppressing a moan-- you couldn’t believe that he already managed to get you that worked up. He leans in burying his face at the crook of your neck, increasing the motion of his hand. “Tell me…” he whispers, noting how the sheer fabric was practically soaked, his teeth digs into the flesh of your shoulder

“ You jus-- ohh “

“Would you like that?” The speed of his hand increases-- finally sending you careening over the edge.

“Ye-yess”

“If I wore yours?”

He sits back admiring his handiwork, you were panting, arms crossed over your face. A fine sheen of sweat covers your skin. His attention remained in that tiny scrap of fabric, unsure why the wheels were already spinning in his mind.

~~~~~~~~~

He was always so nervous, hesitant to leave the bathroom-- even after you tap on the door asking if he was okay. His eyes would linger at his reflection, overanalyzing every imaginary flaw. His slight figure-- to slight in his opinion shivers as a breeze flows in through the window. His skin breaks out in goosebumps,, he wraps his arms around himself lightly.

He looked ridiculous, you would surely laugh at him. He wondered briefly if this was all an elaborate prank. The midnight blue fabric clung to his skin, hipbones pronounced--jutting forward sharply. The sheerness of the material left next to nothing to the imagination, he began to blush profusely, noting how he was already slightly on. This had to be about the third occasion he agreed to modeling for you, and yet it always felt like the very first. Heartbeat hammering against his ribs, he swore he could feel your gaze as it moved over him. Fidgeting, slightly unsure what to do with his hands. “Martin… come here” In an instant, he would relax in your embrace as your fingers weave through his hair. “So pretty…” The words alone caused a warmth to bloom in his chest, he needed to hear more. “Am I?” He whispers as you lead him to the bed. He takes his place kneeling in front of you.

It was decidedly different than when he was in town, the silken fabric caressing his skin. You always knew when he might need the slight boost, a subtle reminder of who he belonged to.

You used to always lend him youus, assuring him he could pick out whichever garment he liked. They were just so pretty, he didn’t even know you had that many pairs. He was used to you wearing nothing at all or even boxers in the winter. They seemed to suit you perfectly, he had no idea why you didn't wear them more often. He didn’t bother to ask, that only meant more options for him right? One day, when the two of you were out and about, you gingerly pulled him into a lingerie shop. His face reddens immediately, as his gaze lands on a scantily clad mannequin. The entire shop smelled strongly of vanilla and something vaguely floral. Elevator music droned on in the background, his eyes move over the various displays of silky lace. Frills straps and garters. His head starts to swim “ Y/n… what are we doing in here?” He whispers, but not before a petite blond emerges from the back.

“Oh sweet! Newlyweds… am I right?”

“No” “Yes!” You pull him close, urging him to play along.

“Perfect, well I just want to let you guys know that we have a special! Every three apparel items you purchase, you have a choice at either a fifty percent off novel, perfume, or private item of your choice.” Her well practiced spiel was almost overly saccharine, but it was clear that she actually liked her job. She hovered close by, offering suggestions and ad ons. But her presence only seemed to make Martin more nervous. After a few moments, you can feel his hand tug at the hem of your shirt. “Can we leave?!” “Hang on..”

“Excuse me…” Your eyes move to her shiny name badge “Kelly… we appreciate all your help, but…my husband here is a bit embarrassed to be in here… Catholic family…” You offer with a shrug. Martin averts his gaze to the floor, he just wants her to leave. “Oh, absolutely, Im sorry! If you need anything just yell.” She lets her eyes move to Martin who suddenly seemed wildly interested in his shoes-- before looking over to you. She shot you a wink, mouthing the word “cute” with an approving nod.

The two of you moved to the corner of the shop, with his arm wrapped snugly around your own. He refused to leave your side as he surveyed the counters. “Y/n… can we just pick something and leave? What if someone sees us in here?” “Don’t be silly Martin, we’re on the other side of town-- besides we’re not here for me ...we’re here for you!”

“What?”

“Pick something, anything you like!”

Some of the color re-emerged on his face, but he couldn't deny the flicker of excitement. He could pick out anything? He had the choice in what he would wear for you? There were just so many options-- he began to feel a bit dizzy. “Oh… “

As the two of you made your way over to the check out, he hastily shoved the items in your hand. With his gaze pointed back towards his shoes, he couldn’t wait to get back home. “Alright, you guys find everything okay?” “Yes.. perfect, thank you!” You offer chipperly. “Great! Oh, well look at this you’ve got three items, would you like to take up that fifty percent off sale?” You had almost completely forgotten about that. You can feel him cling to you that much tighter, it was clear that he wanted to leave. “Martin?” He quickly grabs a book titled “The erogenous zones” tossing it on the counter. “Good, choice!”

The walk back to the train station was brief, all the while he still hovered close. You could tell he was a bit more relaxed now, but he was definitely in a way. He would act so “sweet” to you sometimes, clinging to your side, waiting for the slightest command. You could practically feel the anticipation oozing off of him as you take your places at the stop. The wheels were already spinning in your head. Martin already told you that Cuda would be meeting with some of the men from church around seven thirty. They would have dinner early, and then he would be free to leave. He could hardly contain his excitement.

#martin (1977)#martin/reader #martin/fem reader #but if you skim it could be generally whatever #now im thinking abt this goddammit...#hey it's a concept...

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wo-wann-was-wer · 4 years

Text

WHAT I WAS THINKING: DARK SEASON 3 EDITION

EPISODE 1:

Who are these dudes with the harelip and what do they want

Why did she just take him to a cave and leave that’s kinda rude

So everything in this universe is just gonna be backwards. Love it

Ugh I’ve said this a million times but this show has such Fringe energy and I can’t wait to get a tattoo for this too

This is super freaking me out, i dont like that everyone’s in everyone else’s house.

Ooooh Katharina with glasses yes girl you better work.

I like Michael and this hat he’s rocking

Super into the fact that magnus and fransizka are involved in this universe too

There’s nothing cuter than sex before school. Ahhh the nostalgia

Ten bucks says that Hannah gets out of this bed and is pregnant

Fucking YEP

I am loving Martha in this Jonas journey

I know that all they did was flip the lens of the camera but my brain is breaking at this flipped Winden

Who the fuck is this random dude Martha is with

You know what he kind of looks like Jonas. I wonder if that's relevant or if I'm just grasping at straws

Bartosz looks like he's going to his first grade violin recital

I straight up just did not recognize Charlotte with makeup. She looks hot

There's got to be another person in that picture other than Ulrich because that's a lot of space to rip out for one person

okay hold up Woller looks so good and then when I saw that he was missing an arm I almost lost my fucking mind

Oh shit okay Hannah is living in Katharina's house.

Oh my God are Ulrich and Charlotte having an affair

Is it normal in Germany for kids to just walk into classes that aren't there’s and just sit down

follow up he has a clear noose mark on his neck

Aleksander looks so hot with this beard. universe B is the fucking glow up universe

It's weirding me out that the whole school is black and gray instead of light brown

The look of satisfaction on katharina's face

Wow honestly Louis just broke my heart with his facial expression when he realized his mom didn't know who he was

he looks so scared

Yes yes do it afffffffffair

Oh no you done got found out!!!

Oh the theme of the play here is red and set of gold

Fransizka looks so cute in this little outfit

Oh my God she's deaf!!!!

What the fuck. the fact that this actress can talk is blowing my mind

RIP to Regina a real queen

Peter's a fucking priest

All the fucking weird-ass freaky motherfucking trio is back

The dopplers have the same house That's cool

excuse me sir I think your child is broken

these guys are so creepy What the fuck

I definitely don't like the piano wire

oh this motherfucker is the one who gets lost

I feel like winden in this universe is just a little bit fancier

Well Charlotte and Ulrich just be fucking like crazy

Bartosz is the Jonas of this group and I love it

who was that??????

I cannot get over Aleksander in this beard

I like that things are opposite but they also have things that are different enough.

Like I'm so into the fact that they all went down into the bunker

who in the unholy fuck is that. who is that

Oh shit old Martha

What the fuck is this Tannhaus’ factory we're at

hold up Martha's in 1888

What the fuck. why is Jonas in 1888 and looking SO good

EPISODE 2:

casually sitting over your bed watching you sleep

he's look so good though

yo what the fuck everybody else is there too

Oh no things got really ugly at Mads’ wake

Not for nothing but Tronte is a dick

I kind of don't understand why Claudia would want Regina to live in such pain in this type of universe

Peter is such a good boy

lurking is the freaking national past time of this place

Oh shit we got some spin-off timeline stuff good

who is This is blind guy

I love Katharina so fucking much

I know what she's thinking and it's the same thing I'm thinking which is can I kill a child

why does this picture of Tronte make him look like Jimmy Smits

Katharina looks amazing in this jacket

Also I definitely did not just start yelling GO GET YOUR MAN KATHARINA

Regina just gets more and more badass as time goes on. Also all of the women of the tiedemann family are so fucking badass

I am so excited to watch this fucking relationship develop. they're both too cute

awwww he's using signs!

oh they're writing back and forth

DAMNIT PETER

I always feel like little Noah should do fuckboy sign offs when he leaves rooms because he's so smooth

yesterday Laurel said that this was back to the future but serious and just now Bartosz said it's not super easy to get nuclear fuel in 1888 and now I think that Laurel's right

I will never get over how good he looks JONAAAASSSSSSS

This guy feels like the OG inventor of sic mundus right

Katerina why are you even trying to check in at the front desk bitch Go and get your man

Is this Katarina's mom why does she just recognize that woman's name

everyone on the show is so talented.I spend the whole damn time being like oh my god the performances on the show and it's like yeah we know

Katerina get your man

I literally love them so much look at the look on her face She is a mama bear She is not going to let anybody take her man or her children and I love her

Not a huge fan of people who quote Shakespeare right before they kill other people or am I an enormous fan of people who use Shakespeare right before they kill other people

using a garotte to kill someone is ugly as fuck

I feel so bad for Jana

see this is one of the reasons why I'm like why would you bring Regina back to this world.

wowwwww TRONTE what's up dude

YO WHAT

Oh so how did Charlotte get back there but Elizabeth's still there too. didn't they switch places?

oh the head bump

Not excited for the mother daughter abuse stuff that's about to happen

I love these split sequences that they do at the end

anytime somebody stands and stairs for a lonely at a spot on the ground I assume to somebody died there

Oh shit that guy is a tannhausokkkk I see you

a religious images we love to see it.

This show is a whole series of pause that frame.

No I ruined something for myself!!!!

EPISODE 3

got to love those through and through Ariadne references

okay so Charlotte's great great grandfather has her watch?

who are these horrible traveler human beings

they look like less sexy Francis dolarhydes

I can't get over the fact that wollers missing an arm here I swear

we ARE the glitch BITCH

alternate universe Ulrich is a better person than standard Ulrich

what's this new like zoom-y thing they're doing

I was attracted to Magnus at this jump of the show but he looks better with dark hair

How did they not all die of fucking flu

eternally repeating deja vu

I looked at the production stills and I was like what the fuck is this hair do that Moritz has but he looks amazing

Also everyone on this show deserves an acting award

and Magnus is wearing a skeleton sweater

Hannah does that deep dive detective work any bitch knows the Nose doesn't lie

why doesn't anybody want to fuck wöller

omgggg eat the RICH

also he has that x tattoo on his hand that represents the no future thing

oh the light is rectangular and not circular ooooooh fancy

The show is also a lot of people catching each other's wrists as they walk away

I knew we couldn't trust this bitch

What did he give her

I love the parallels and characters behaviors between universe a and universe b

I want to know how Noah factored into all of this on this side

Martha has a type and her type is iconically Aryan

Oh Aleksander's back with that beard he's back

Hannah is such a snake

Omg that's her!!!!! I thought she was a trans actress.. hm. not super happy bout that :/

What is Helge talking about Ulrich did what??? omg

I would be like SIR DO WE NEED TO FIGHT STOP FOLLOWING ME

I stopped taking notes for the last half of that episode cuz I was really sucked in haha

EPISODE 4

FIRST OF ALL I'D LIKE TO GO ON RECORD THAT I DON'T CARE FOR THESE GENTLEMEN AT ALL

second of all why is this guy being like oh I took your name

why does he have Agnes's bracelet I don't like that

I don't like anything about this guy That's the end of the story

Also hold up a red hot second is Agnes dead cuz if so that's a hate crime

see what did I say

I knew that Hannah was going to get involved with Egon

from the second she walked in that office I was like that bitch has her eye on him and as she should he's handsome as fuck

Also he spoils her so much more than any other man she's ever been with AKA is Egon the only man she ever deserved

Is Hannah going to develop a heart cuz I'm not sure how I feel about that

Also what happens if Hannah gets pregnant

why is Ines a bitch I thought she was mad cool the beginning and now I feel fucking deceived

Also it's such a sweet gig that The kids who are playing kids can now play teenagers

poor Doris. Also he was shitty to her but he was far nicer than I would have been

Doris is so beautiful it's bullshit

older Magnus is so handsome

All I wanted was middle-aged Martha

bitch you have been having unprotected sex with him why do you think that pregnancy was not on the tabl

I'm like who's this guy in the church if it's not Noah I bet it's that little bitch

yeah I fucking knew it

Is this the dude that was married to Agnes I feel like this guy isn't real or something

I'm not surprised he let her go but I don't know why I'm not surprised. I feel like she's important to his timeline and I'm not sure why

look at these relationships forming between these sweet little bab

Hannah looks good in this red. Hannah looks good in all of these styles.

who is this child

I like that already as a child Bernd had his eye on Claudia as someone who was smart and had a ton of potential

I keep forgetting that I'm taking notes because I get so invested in episodes

Also I realize the zoomi thing which is going back and forth between the universes

Is Agnes Silja’s mom And if so with whom

he gave her Agnes’ bracelet that dope All right Tronte

Wow Claudia needs to back off her man

Claudia force him into a relationship with her

I fucking hate Hannah but sometimes she speaks so much sense

ooh I don't need anyone Yes girl that's true You don't need anyone You needing people was what made you act fucking crazy You don't need anybody

This was always my big problem with Hannah was that I initially identified with her because she was such a survivor but then she did such horrible reprehensible things I just couldn't let it go and I absolutely couldn't identify with her anymore

Oh here's my daddy Noah looking so good

I mean okay so I have been in this position before where I was cheating and then my man cheated on me and I was like how dare you but also you cannot be mad if your partner cheats on you when you cheated too. You both fucked up

Is Hannah going to have a redemption arc cuz that's a lot

Oh my God she's not going to get rid of this child is she

Oh my great God I cannot believe that she gave Helene that necklace.

I knew she was fucking connected to Katharina in the older generation I knew it

Louis and Lisa are a super cute couple and I know that they're not dating in real life but I think that they're very cute together

Oh everybody fucking

yeah they created the Apocalypse yeah

Oh no they have a child outside of worlds that's a mess How does that work so they had they gave birth to that ugly fuck

honestly I hate that he's their child for the most part just because he's ugly as fuck and neither of them are ugly as fuck so it makes me mad.

#episodes 1-4 #live reacts #dark season 3 #spoilers #spoilers dark season 3 #dark #dark network

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veorlian · 4 years

Text

Idolatry - Concealed Carry

Note: Part 1/3 of the chapters on the Citadel DLC. Technically part of a much longer fic, but I think they stand up okay on their own! An everybody lives/nobody dies au except that I didn’t realize I could do that until 2/3 of the way through. Sorry Kaidan :(((((((

Pairing: Garrus Vakarian/Female Shepard

Rating: T for swearing and stabbing.

ao3 link

Excerpt:

Bullets rained down from the front of the restaurant, and Brooks let out a blood-curdling shriek. Shepard swore softly and dragged Joker down, lifting up their table as a makeshift barricade. A group of heavily armed individuals marched in, their faces masked.

“Tonight’s performance was brought to you by random acts of violence!” one of them shouted.

“Where’s Commander Shepard?” another yelled. “Find her!” They spread out through the restaurant, sending the civilians running.

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose. “Two hours. I’ve been on shore leave for two hours. They couldn’t let me have an appetizer first?”

One of the mercs hauled away Brooks, kicking and screaming. Shepard grabbed the knife she had tucked away in her coat.

“Why do you have that?? We were going for dinner!” Joker hissed.

“Would you rather I didn’t have it right now? I have a few others, do you want one?” she asked, taking stock of the room.

“No???”

Full text under the cut!

...

The apartment was huge. Shepard was sure there were other, fancier words to describe it, but she sure as hell didn’t know them. An entire wall was a window, looking out into the night lights of the Citadel. There were walls wholly covered in green, verdant plants that she couldn’t identify. There was a damn waterfall. Shepard let out a low whistle, looking around.

For the first time in weeks, she could breathe. These walls weren’t closing in on her, they were too far apart. The ceilings were vaulted like a church, reaching up into the sky.

She wandered down to what had to be the living room (two giant couches, a fireplace, a grand piano??), and the TV flickered on.

“Shepard, good to see you,” Anderson said. There were new wrinkles creasing his forehead. She could hear distant explosions in the background of the vid.

“And you. How are you holding up?” she asked.

“We’ve had better days,” he said wearily.

“I know what you mean.” Damn, did she ever. “But why am I in this apartment?”

“I want you to have it,” he said, and Shepard’s brows reached her hairline. “I bought the place for Kahlee and I to settle down. Thing is, the longer I stay on Earth, the more I don’t want to leave. Figure someone should get some use out of it.”

“That’s...very generous. Are you sure?”

“It’s practical. We need you at your best, and you need somewhere you can take a break.”

“I-- thank you,” she said. “I’m guessing I don’t have a choice anyways?”

“Not even a little bit. Make yourself at home,” he said, smiling. “You take care, Shepard.”

“You too, Anderson,” Shepard said. He nodded and stepped out of frame. Marie replaced him. Her hair was more grey than black now, but she was smiling nonetheless.

“Good to see you in one piece, Jeanne,” she said. “I hear you killed a Reaper single handedly. Have I mentioned that you should be more careful?” Shepard grinned crookedly.

“Once or twice, maybe.”

“Apparently it bears repeating.” The affectionate exasperation was palpable, even with the light years between them.

“How are things there?” Shepard asked. Marie’s face became carefully blank, but Shepard had known her since she was a child. She couldn’t disguise the look in her deep brown eyes, or the small frown on her lips. Easy to forget, impossible to forget, that she was only 24.

“We’ll make it,” Marie said firmly. And then, “You’ll make it too. That’s an order, Commander.”

Shepard’s grin widened, and she sketched a salute. “Yes, ma’am,” she said. Marie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. That was all that mattered.

“Go and get some rest, will you? The bags under your eyes are visible from Earth.”

“Harsh, but fair,” Shepard said easily. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Jeanne.” The call disconnected, and Shepard glanced around her new place. Her new place. Even the church had never truly been hers. There weren’t many things she considered truly her own, she supposed.

There were recordings littered around the apartment. Apparently Anderson had taken down voice notes for his biography. She couldn’t help the small, fond smile that flitted across her face. Her hands paused above the one labelled Shepard on the kitchen counter (she’d never had her own kitchen before). She pressed the play button, and she listened.

“Sure, I can talk about Commander Shepard. Big topic. There’s been a lot written about the Commander, but most of it isn’t true. People are quick to judge. They don’t know the whole story, I don’t even know the whole story. But I know the woman. Worked with her, fought with her, trust her with my life. Shepard’s had some rough patches, who of us hasn’t? She’s been forced to fight a lot of battles alone. God only knows how she got out of some of that. Makes your head spin.”

Anderson’s warm voice filled the apartment, and his every word was laced with pride. Shepard realized belatedly that she was crying, hot tears painting her cheeks. Gently, she sunk to the floor and rested her head against the cupboard. She thought of Aratoht then, as she always seemed to. Makes my head spin too, she thought.

“Thing is, you never heard a complaint. Never once got ‘no sir, I can’t do that.’ She never hesitated. Few people know what Shepard’s been through. I like to think I come pretty close. And I worry sometimes she forgets: there’s a whole bunch of people who lose sleep about her getting back home. Maybe it doesn’t need to be said. Maybe we’re just to dumb to say it. Soldiers like the Commander are rare. Women like Shepard...even more rare.” Anderson’s voice drifted away.

I just...you don’t need to do everything alone anymore, you know? Garrus had said. Maybe they were right. Her heart was so full. She couldn’t quite pinpoint the warm feeling in her chest. Loved, maybe? Not a word she was used to choosing, but it fit the bill. She carefully picked herself up and dusted herself off, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Her private message terminal was blinking, and she went to check her unread messages. There was a note from Joker asking him to meet him at a sushi restaurant. Huh. She’d never had sushi before. No time like the present, she supposed.

Shepard glanced down at herself. Perhaps, she thought, her N7 hoodie and cargo pants wouldn’t be appropriate for an upscale sushi place. She wandered upstairs and peeked into her room (there was a hot tub. She’d...well, she’d never had a bath before. No bathtubs in the Alliance). She tugged open the closet and her eyes widened. There was that dress Kasumi had insisted she keep, but next to it was something else entirely. Reverently, she ran her hands over the fabric. It was soft to the touch, velvet maybe? She pulled it out.

It was a suit. It had to be a suit, although it was unlike any she’d ever seen before. The matching pants and jacket were there, but that’s where the similarities stopped. It was a deep blue, but as the fabric shifted in her hands it looked dark burgundy. There was a matching silk black camisole to wear underneath. It felt luxurious, soft as a cloud. She’d never owned anything this expensive that didn’t fire bullets. There was a small note tucked in the pocket.

Thanks for all your help. Consider this an early birthday gift. Who knows, by the time you take a break it may be your actual birthday. I think I’ve got the measurements right, but nobody’s perfect. - Miranda P.S., there’s a white shirt as well, but it’s much harder to get blood stains out of white silk.

Shepard smiled down at the note, and very carefully got dressed, anxious not to damage the clothes. She tugged on the heeled boots that seemed to go with it, and examined herself in the mirror. Miranda might insist that she wasn’t perfect, but she’d done a damn fine job with this. The cuffs fell to the exact right spot on her wrists, and for the first time in her life, the legs were long enough. The boots had a low heel, comfortable and well-balanced enough that she could run.

And Miranda, blessed Miranda, had included a concealed pocket for a switchblade. Shepard loosened her strict braid into something a little more casual, and she smiled at herself in the mirror one last time. Then she left for sushi.

The lineup outside the restaurant was around the block and then some. The people waiting were distinctly unhappy that Shepard had a reservation. If looks could kill, Shepard would have been pushing the daisies. She strode past the glares with practiced ease. Joker was seated at a table at the back, and he waved her over.

“Just gotta save the galaxy twice to get a place here, huh?” he said. “Hey, maybe when we do it again they’ll let us eat free!”

“That’s the spirit,” Shepard said. “How are you enjoying your vacation?”

“I feel like I should go check the Normandy for missing parts,” he griped. “I don’t trust those engineers.” Shepard chuckled and patted him on the arm.

“She’ll be fine, Joker. She’s been through the Omega 4, she can handle a few repairs. Relax, you’re on shore leave.”

“I’m gonna need a lot more drinks with umbrellas in them,” he said mournfully.

“I’m the first human Spectre. I’ll get you two umbrellas,” she said wryly.

“Awesome use of power, boss! So, what’d you ask me here to talk about? Your note said it was important.”

“Me? You invited me here,” Shepard said, her eyebrows knitting together.

“Commander Shepard, please I need to talk to you!” A young woman in an Alliance uniform pushed her way forward, with the maitre d’ shouting after her. The people in line looked positively murderous.

“Can I help you?” Shepard asked politely.

“I’m Staff Analyst Maya Brooks of Alliance Intelligence. Someone’s trying to kill you!” the woman cried. Shepard and Joker exchanged a look.

“Uh, yeah. I think she’s aware,” Joker said dryly.

“No! I don’t mean the Reapers and Cerberus. Other people,” Brooks said. “They’re hacking your accounts, your communications, and it looks like they’re targeting you personally!”

“What information do you have?” Shepard asked. She straightened up, suddenly all business.

“Well--” Brooks began.

Bullets rained down from the front of the restaurant. Brooks let out a blood-curdling shriek. Shepard swore softly and dragged Joker down, lifting up their table as a makeshift barricade. A group of heavily armed individuals marched in, their faces masked.

“Tonight’s performance was brought to you by random acts of violence!” one of them shouted.

“Where’s Commander Shepard?” another yelled. “Find her!” They spread out through the restaurant, sending the civilians running.

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose. “Two hours. I’ve been on shore leave for two hours. They couldn’t let me have an appetizer first?”

One of the mercs hauled away Brooks, kicking and screaming. Shepard grabbed the knife she had tucked away in her coat.

“Why do you have that?? We were going for dinner!” Joker hissed.

“Would you rather I didn’t have it right now? I have a few others, do you want one?” she asked, taking stock of the room.

“No???”

“Joker, I need you to stay calm,” Shepard whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to take these guys out. When the coast is clear, go find the rest of the team. But I need you to stay here until it’s safe, understood?”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” he said fervently. One of the mercenaries approached to look behind the table. Shepard caught his arm and sent him sprawling to the ground, following it up with a devastating jab from her omni-tool directly to the face. She grabbed his gun and held it at the ready. She glanced around her cover and saw two more mercs coming at her. One went down with a shot to the face, the other with a thrown knife to the throat.

“Joker, now!” she hissed. Joker got up and stumbled away as best he could. Once he was out, Shepard activated her tactical cloak and booked it across the room. If there was one thing she’d learned these long years, it was that the best fight was the one you avoided. Once she’d made it to Brooks, she tried to help her to her feet. A sniper appeared from above and fired a shot, hitting Brooks. Shepard backed away and each shot landed by her, sinking into the ground.

If only the restaurant hadn’t decided to use fish tanks as their floor.

Shepard went down, glass shattering around her. She seemed to hit every bone on the way down the side of the building, banging into the wall over and over again. She slammed into the ground hard, all of her freshly-healed wounds screaming obscenities at her.

“Commander!” Brooks called over the comms. “Are you alright?”

“Peachy,” Shepard groaned. “Can you find me a way out of here?” Dr. Chakwas was going to have a fit. She’d been off the ship two hours and she was already broken again. Ugh. At least the clothes seemed to be in one piece. Small mercies, Shepard supposed, as she struggled to her feet.

“Uh, yes! Keep going forward, I think!” Brooks said. Shepard grit her teeth.

“Thanks,” she managed. She slid down the ladder up ahead of her and took a look around. Somewhere in the wards, she figured.

“There’s a sky-car lot up ahead of me, Brooks. Could you find me a path there?” Shepard asked.

“Ah, yes! Of course!” Brooks replied nervously. Shepard tried very hard not to roll her eyes as she wove her way through the wards. She came up on some kind of market, and she caught sight of another group of mercs barrelling towards her.

“There she is!” one of them called. Shit. This outfit really wasn’t built for stealth, huh? God, she’d kill for a rifle right about now. Instead, she slipped back into her tactical cloak and hid behind a fruit stand. What a weird fucking day.

“Shepard! Are you alright?” It was a relief to hear Garrus’ voice, even if it was only through her earpiece. Tension she didn’t realize she’d been carrying dissipated, ever so slightly.

“I’m fine, but I could use a hand,” she said ruefully, aiming an incendiary blast directly to the face of one of her attackers.

“Joker sent me your location, I’m on my way,” he said immediately.

“This is a secure channel!” Brooks cut in. “You’re putting Commander Shepard at risk!”

“I’m what? Who is this?” Garrus demanded.

“Brooks, Garrus. Garrus, this is Brooks,” Shepard said. “Now please hush, it's a little hard to kill mercenaries with people arguing in my ear.”

“Shepard, I am sending backup to your location,” EDI said.

“Sounds good, things are getting a little dicey here,” Shepard replied. She glanced over the fruit stall and had to duck quickly as a drone came barrelling towards her. It exploded directly next to her, sending pieces of watermelon and blueberries flying.

“I will attempt to register surprise,” EDI said dryly. Shepard grinned crookedly at that. She dashed forward as another round of mercs came at her. She spent the next several minutes fading in and out of invisibility, running hell for leather past the mercs. Her legs, miraculously, stayed upright. Small mercies. She pulled into the car lot and slammed the door shut behind her. A shot zipped past her, missing by inches. … “Having a bad day, Shepard?” Garrus called. He took out the merc that had shot at her, and scanned the area for any more threats. It looked like they were clear for the moment. Now to find a way out of the lot.

“You could say that,” she said, pushing flyaway hairs away from her face. “Let’s look for a control panel.” His eyes finally came to rest on her and his breath stuttered in his throat. She was wearing that thing humans called a ‘suit,’ but not like any he’d ever seen before. His mouth was suddenly too dry.

“Nice outfit,” he managed. The look she gave him was unimpressed, but he wasn’t thinking with his brain at the moment. “Ah, control panel. Right.”

Shepard strode through the lot and glanced into the darkened office. She gently tapped on the glass. Garrus hurried after her.

“Could you open the doors up?” she said politely. The doors opened a second later. “Much appreciated.”

“Please leave,” the volus inside pleaded.

Garrus motioned for Shepard to stay behind him. Only one of them was armoured, after all. She raised an eyebrow and took point.

“So...you fell through a fish tank?” he ventured.

“We’ll talk about it later,” she replied.

“Damn shame,” he said, and now he was just doing it for the reaction. Midnight blue fabric. Not thinking with his brain. “I hear it was the best on the Citadel.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” she said more firmly, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. He gave her arm a quick squeeze, and then they both stepped onto the landing zone. That Brooks person had apparently radioed to say that a C-Sec shuttle was on the way. When it appeared though, the door opened to reveal a group of the same mercs that had been attacking Shepard. Garrus ducked down and dragged her with him. Bullets skittered across the ground around them.

“Any chance I could borrow that Widow of yours?” she asked breathlessly. He looked at her incredulously.

“I must not have heard you right,” he said. “You definitely did not just ask to borrow my favourite gun.” She opened her mouth to reply, and then her eyes widened.

“Do you hear that?” she asked.

“Hear what?”

“Krogan coming through!” Wrex bellowed, soaring through the air. He slammed down onto the front of the shuttle, sending half of the mercenaries flying. He mowed his way through the other half, shooting, punching, and in one case, launching them off the shuttle. Shepard was grinning wildly.

“Wrex! What are you doing here?” she asked, running forward.

“Negotiating krogan expansion with the Council,” he explained. “But that AI of yours said there’d be a fight. So here I am.”

“Glad you could make it to the party," Garrus lied through his teeth.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Wrex said. He clapped Garrus on the shoulder harder than necessary. “Figured Shepard would need some help, if you’re the only backup she has.”

“Try to keep up, old man,” Garrus shot back.

“It may have escaped your notice, but we are being shot at right now, boys,” Shepard said dryly. Ah, right. Fair point. ... Once they were clear, they gathered in Shepard’s new apartment. Brooks was pacing back and forth, and Shepard put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.

“Me? I got shot! Like, with an actual bullet. I took a desk job so I wouldn’t get shot! They said the medi-gel might make me jumpy, do I seem jumpy to you?” Brooks said.

“Hey, hey,” Shepard said soothingly, the voice she usually reserved for grieving families. “It’s okay. You’re safe here.”

“We need to stop those guys, they might hurt more innocent people! Like me! I got shot!”

“Yes. Do we have any leads?” Shepard asked. The door to the apartment opened gently and Liara stepped through.

“I may have some suggestions on that,” she said. “Are you alright, Shepard?”

“I think my ribs are bruised again, but what else is new?” Shepard said ruefully. “That C-Sec shuttle should have had officers in it. I’ll get in touch with Commander Bailey, see what happened,” Shepard said, punching in the number in her omni-tool.

“Wait!” Brooks said. Everyone turned to look at her. “Uh, wouldn’t anyone you contact also become a target?”

“She’s got a point,” Garrus said.

Shepard nodded brusquely. “You're right. We keep this between us for now.”

“Fortunately, I’ve brought a few people who can help,” Liara said cheerfully. The door was knocked on its hinges as every member of her crew -- and a few people who weren’t -- filed in. The apartment was large, but even so Shepard was going to need to figure out where to put all of these people. What, was there an event going on at the Citadel right now that had brought them all there? Well, besides her attempted assassination.

“The riff-raff have arrived. Garrus, hide the silverware.” Shepard’s voice was pitched to carry.

“Up yours, Shepard,” Jack shot back.

“What she said,” Zaeed added.

"I'll go see what I can find. Come find me when you have a moment," Liara said.

Shepard wandered around to speak with everyone, but it all just seemed to be variations on the theme of “haha Shepard ruined the sushi restaurant” or “Shepard, how could you destroy that sushi restaurant”? Evidently they’d collectively decided to forget that she hadn't exactly chosen to be shot at. What compassionate friends she had, she thought wryly. She gave up after a while and went to talk to Liara.

“What's the word?” she asked. The others slowly gathered around. There was barely enough room for them all to stand together.

“That pistol you found, it’s not available anywhere on the market. I’ve tracked it to a weapons dealer named Elijah Khan. He owns a casino nearby. They’re holding a charity event tonight,” Liara explained.

“So we sneak in and talk to this Khan guy?” Ash asked.

“My sources tell me he’s locked himself in his panic room. We would need someone to sneak inside this vent system.” Liara pulled up a map of the casino interior. “And deactivate the lock.”

“I say we blow the place to high heaven,” Zaeed suggested.

“I’m in,” Wrex said immediately.

“I’m open to other suggestions,” Shepard said. “Any other suggestions.” Zaeed politely flipped her off.

“Bringing a large group would arouse suspicion,” Thane said thoughtfully. “A covert infiltration would be best.” Shepard nodded.

“Alright, just a small crew then. I’ll need someone to take point with me, and then someone else will crawl through that vent,” Shepard said. “Any takers for the vent?” She looked around the room for volunteers. They were not forthcoming.

“Mechs are not allowed in case they are used for cheating. Legion and I will not be able to enter,” EDI explained. Shepard’s eyes swung to Tali and she raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me!” Tali protested. “They’d uh...pick up my suit!” Shepard shrugged.

“What you need is somebody trained in zero-emissions tech. No electronics, no metal. Just undetectable polymers. We had a course back at Op-Int, disabling a bomb with these little tweezers. See, the bomb was filled with shaving cream…” Brooks trailed off as she realized everyone was looking at her. Shepard smiled at her reassuringly.

“Alright Brooks, you’re our alternate,” she said.

“What? Me? I couldn’t...what do you mean alternate?” Brooks asked. Shepard smiled ruefully.

“I wouldn’t want to put you in more danger. You’ve already been shot once. And since I’ve had two gun mods go missing since I got back, I have a sneaking suspicion that there’s someone here who can lend a helping hand. Kasumi?”

The galaxy’s best thief materialized, sitting on the kitchen counter. She had a cheeky grin under her hood.

“You’re getting very good at that,” she said cheerfully.

“Sure would’ve been awkward if I’d been wrong,” Shepard replied wryly.

“Damn, I should’ve stayed hidden!”

“What do you say to a heist with me?” Shepard asked. Kasumi hopped down from the counter and sketched a bow.

“I’d be delighted,” she said.

“There’s just one problem,” Liara cut in.

“Current estimate: 57 problems and counting,” Mordin replied. “Additional 34 if you decide to take the krogan.” Shepard couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face.

“Well, one of the problems is that it’s black-tie only,” Liara said. Shepard raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her outfit. It was still damp from crashing through a fish tank, but otherwise undamaged.

“Will this do?” she asked, motioning to the suit.

“It’ll more than do,” Garrus said huskily, and then coughed awkwardly when several sets of eyes turned to look at him. “What? I’m just answering the question.”

“Who’s going with us then?” Kasumi asked, and Shepard grinned.

Bright lights flashed in Shepard’s eyes as she and Garrus walked down the literal red carpet, arm-in-arm. Maybe one day they’d get to go somewhere nice without worrying about a nefarious plot. For now, she was on vacation and she was going to enjoy herself, attempts on her life be damned.

“You clean up well,” Shepard commented. He had on another of those intricate turian outfits, with more buckles than fabric, in a combination of black and white. He wore it well. They were, she imagined, quite a striking couple. For one, they were a good head taller than anyone else. For two, well...

“Yeah? Then it’s a damn shame that all eyes are on you,” Garrus replied.

“I did the best I could without a carapace or a crest,” she said wryly.

“Well your best has my mandible on the floor. Damn!” he said easily.

“You two are adorable,” Kasumi said from somewhere to Shepard’s left. Shepard flushed a brilliant red, and she heard Kasumi laugh brightly.

Shepard and Garrus mingled with the wealthy clientele, occasionally providing support for Kasumi as she travelled through the vents. Shepard realized, suddenly, that this was the bright and shining culture she’d seen from afar when she was younger. This was what she’d wanted to experience. As far as she was concerned, they could keep it.

Distracting the guards to disable the alarms wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, but they managed it. But when they arrived in the panic room, Khan was already dead. Shit.

“It’s never that easy, huh?” Garrus asked.

“He received a call a few minutes before he died. Give them a ring and I’ll see if I can trace it,” Kasumi said. The large screen behind the desk flickered to light and a figure appeared on the screen. Their face was concealed by static, and their voice was altered.

“Elijah? Come crawling back?” they asked.

“Guess again,” Shepard said. Kasumi's hands flashed across her omni-tool.

“You. I see you’ve recovered from flopping on the floor like a fish.”

“You’ll have to do better than that. The last guy that trash-talked me was a few kilometres taller than you.” Shepard leaned back, crossing her arms.

“Brave. I thought as much, but it won’t matter. You have nothing. All you can do is wait for the hammer to fall. I’m going to take everything you have, and everything you are.” The call ended.

“Gotcha,” Kasumi said brightly.

“Shepard, someone’s wiped the drive. Bit of a messy job though, there might be something left,” Garrus said.

“Between EDI, Legion, and Tali, I’m sure we’ll be able to find something. Let’s go.”

They were once more gathered around the pool table, now with even less room than before. They were discussing the information they’d been able to find on Khan’s drive, mostly information about the guns that Shepard’s attackers had bought. Glyph flew over and hovered above the table, flashing red.

“Commander, I have found your Spectre code being used at the Citadel Archives,” he said.

“What would they want there?” Shepard asked.

“Shall we go find out?” Liara said.

“But who? We can’t bring everyone,” Brooks piped up. Shepard grinned.

“Why not?” she asked. “All hands on deck for this one.”

“Very well, but who will take point with you?” Liara asked. Wrex coughed pointedly. And then Javik coughed even more pointedly. Tali coughed politely, but also pointedly.

“Garrus and Jack, you’re with me. Everyone else, divide up into three teams of whoever is least likely to want to kill each other.”

“What happens if I want to kill bird-brain?” Jack asked.

“Think happy thoughts,” Shepard suggested.

“Those are my happy thoughts,” Jack replied snarkily. Ah. Some things never changed.

They’d barely made it into the archives when they walked into a trap. The others were up on the catwalks above, and every door in the room slammed shut. A figure appeared behind Brooks and pressed a gun to her temple. They were shadowed, and even Shepard’s excellent vision couldn’t quite make them out.

“Don’t move, or she dies,” they said.

“Who are you?” Shepard demanded. The figure chuckled darkly.

Why do I know that voice? Shepard wondered. The figure tossed Brooks aside, and strode forward into the light. She wore the same uniform as the mercs, but her face…Shepard stared back at her own Roman nose and burning red hair. Only not quite. This nose had never been broken, and there wasn’t the familiar patchwork quilt of scar tissue across her face and neck.

“I’m you, but better,” the other Shepard said. “Without all the doubts and the wear and tear.”

“Huh. This officially takes the cake for the weirdest thing that’s happened to me,” Shepard said. “Let me rephrase: what the fuck is going on?”

“Cerberus spared no expense when it came to bringing you back. Me, they made for spare parts, in case you needed an arm, or a lung, or a kidney. When they had you, they discarded me,” her clone snapped. Shepard’s brows knit together.

“Well if you’re me, then we should be working together,” she said. The clone scoffed.

“Why would I bother helping you? Why should I care? You took everything from me, and now I’m going to take everything from you. But there was no way I’d fool your friends, so I needed to get rid of them as well. All the people that turned their backs of their responsibilities to join the cult of Shepard,” the clone spat. The cult of Shepard…?

“No one will ever believe you’re me,” Shepard said, trying a different tactic.

“Sure they will, when I’m flying your ship,” the clone replied. Shepard froze and then immediately started keying into her omni-tool.

“Traynor, I need you to lock down the ship, understood? Here are the command codes,” she said quickly. Her clone smirked and waved a hand in front of her.

“Good idea, if only that message had been sent,” she said. She keyed up her own omni-tool and raised her voice slightly. “Traynor, this is Shepard. Prepare for departure. Here are the command codes.”

Shepard’s hands balled up into fists. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before someone steals my ship.”

The clone shrugged nonchalantly. “We’ll see about that.” She turned to leave.

“Tell me,” Shepard called after her. “Do you know your own name?”

“It’s Joan,” the clone replied smugly. Shepard grinned, baring her teeth.

“Guess again,” she said, and she activated her tactical cloak.

They fought their way through the archives, the other teams racing on the catwalks above. Liara’s information drone, Glyph, scouted ahead. Occasionally he returned, saying that he mistook the clone for Shepard. Shepard tried very hard not to roll her eyes, and she mostly succeeded.

“The other Shepard’s still alive!” one of the mercs yelled.

“The next person who says that is a dead man!” the clone snapped over the comms.

“An accurate observation,” Legion said.

“What do I do??” Brooks cried. “They’re firing at me!”

“Just follow Shepard's lead and let us do all the heavy lifting!” Liara called.

“Touché, T'Soni!” Garrus shot back.

“Think you comedians could actually hit something?” Shepard shouted, ducking to avoid oncoming enemy fire.

They forged on through the archives, passing by clips of history. One by one, the teams stopped responding. Shepard pushed on faster, concern creeping up on her. And so she rushed headlong directly into a trap that she should’ve seen coming. Shepard set foot onto a platform and a forcefield appeared around her, Jack, and Garrus

The clone stepped forward, smiling smugly. Shepard tried to shoot her, but the force-field stopped the bullets dead. Shit. Shepard felt light-headed. She was locked in a small space. A very small space. Oh god, such a small space. Her heart hammered in her chest and she fought to control her breathing. She reached for her familiar, cold veneer. Like hell she was going to show weakness in front of the enemy.

“Well well, the great Commander Shepard. But not for very much longer.”

“Where are my friends?” Shepard spat.

“Locked up in iridium vaults forever. And it’s all your fault,” her clone taunted.

“The Alliance will stop you--” Shepard began.

“Will they?” Her clone cut her off. “What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks?” Brooks sauntered forward from the shadows.

“I wouldn’t know.” Her voice had shifted, becoming deeper, more assured. “I don’t actually work for them.”

“You bitch,” Jack spat.

“I’m with Jack on this one,” Garrus said. Shepard arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. When she spoke, her voice wasn’t her own.

“This feels like the time when the villain explains their grand plan,” she said. “So what the hell?”

“Really we just wanted your Spectre codes,” Brooks explained. “But then you had to insist on surviving. So, I had to improvise.”

“Then I must say, I'm impressed,” Shepard said.

“Oh?”

“Your optimism is impressive,” Shepard clarified. “You threw, what, fifty mercs at me and you thought that would finish me off? For such a smart woman, that's remarkably short-sighted of you.”

“I think I've made up for it now. Let's see you get out of a locked box.”

“What, this? No, I've been in far worse situations than this. Last week I was trapped at the bottom of an ocean in a mech. This is nothing.”

“You seem remarkably calm for a dead woman,” Shepard’s clone said. Shepard’s eyes flicked to her and she sneered.

“I could say the same of you. You can change the records, but that doesn’t mean a damn thing. You know the name on my file, but you don’t know the first thing about me. How are you going to convince Anderson or Hackett or--”

“Or General Shepard?” Brooks cut her off. “We’ll deal with her.”

Shepard stilled. Her erratic heartbeat settled. Her words, when they came, were soft. “If you threaten her again, I will make you wish that I’d only killed you.”

“That's quite a threat. I might even be afraid, if Commander Shepard had said it. But you're nobody,” Brooks said.

“And you're on borrowed time,” Shepard replied. Brooks' expression faltered, just a tiny bit, at whatever she saw in Shepard’s eyes. Shepard’s clone scoffed loudly, breaking through the tense silence.

“You know the one thing about us that they can’t replace? Our handprint. It changes based on life experiences,” the clone said. Shepard thought of the scars that used to twist across her palms. “But now I’m going to replace yours.” The clone pulled up a terminal and pressed her hand down.

“Hello, Commander Shepard,” the computer said. The clone grinned smugly.

“Goodbye,” Brooks murmured. “I guess this is where legends go to die.” She and the clone waltzed away, seemingly without a care in the world. The platform jerked beneath Shepard and walls slowly closed around her.

“I’m going to strangle them,” Shepard vowed.

“I’m all for that, but we’re still trapped in this fucking box,” Jack pointed out.

“With limited air,” Garrus added. Shepard hummed noncommittally.

“Hey Glyph, you still out there?” she called.

“Yes Commander.”

“Get us out of this thing, and then go find the others. Nobody steals my ship, not even me.”

Joker pulled up in a sky car just as the last stragglers pulled themselves up onto the roof.

“I’ve got room for Shepard and two more, and you better decide fast because those assholes are stealing my baby,” he snapped.

“I could drive--” Shepard said.

“NO!” The sound of the entire crew shouting the word echoed across the rooftop.

“Fine,” Shepard muttered. “Garrus and EDI, with me.”

“I wanted to go,” Wrex grumbled.

“You should have thought of that before you insulted my driving,” Shepard said. “Joker will be back for you soon.”

Joker hit the pedal to the floor as soon as everyone was in the car. A moment later, there was a whirring sound from the back seat.

“They’re trying to take control of the ship--” EDI said. Her eyes spun around, and sparks flew off of her. She shut down.

“Crap,” Garrus said. EDI powered back up, her eyes still askew.

“Are you...okay?” Joker ventured.

“I am functional, but I have no control of the Normandy. I feel...lost,” EDI said brokenly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have you back in no time. You have my word,” Shepard said.

“Thank you.”

They arrived on the Normandy just as it was starting to pull away. Traynor was in the entryway, sputtering various unflattering things about Shepard. She caught sight of Shepard and she held her toothbrush threateningly in front of her.

“What’s going on?” she demanded. “You were...you were back there! I was minding my own business, and then you marched in and fired me! I barely had time to grab my toothbrush!”

Shepard held up her hands. “That’s a Cision Pro Mark IV. It uses tiny mass effect fields to break up plaque and massage the gums. I know that because you told me, because I’m the real Shepard. The one you saw earlier was a clone.”

“I--”

“I wish I had time to explain, but we need to get on the ship. No one knows it better than you do, Traynor,” Shepard said quickly. Traynor thought for a second. Apparently she decided to go along with it, because she leaned down to examine the ground.

“There should be a ventilation shaft around...here.” She pulled up a piece of the floor. EDI shook her head.

“You would need something that could precisely manipulate mass effect fields,” she explained. Shepard met Traynor’s eyes, and Traynor determinedly turned on her toothbrush.

Crawling through a shaft wasn’t exactly ideal for Shepard’s over six-foot frame, but she just about managed it.

“If you’d told me this morning that a toothbrush was going to save the Normandy, I’d have been very skeptical,” she whispered. “Remind me to reimburse Traynor, I think it broke.”

“Shepard, you--” EDI began.

“Later. Remind me later.”

They opened the grate into the CIC with guns blazing. The mercenaries were no match for them. EDI looked like she was running on sheer, unadulterated rage. She grabbed hold of a dying mercenary. Her voice was like ice. “Where are they?”

“Cargo bay,” the merc managed.

“Thank you for your assistance,” EDI said, and shot him in the face. Shepard met Garrus’ eyes and shrugged helplessly. They made their way to the elevator, and Shepard’s heart dropped to the floor. Mako’s cage, along with her carefully assembled collection of model ships, was resting in a garbage bin. There was a note on top with handwriting that was almost (but not quite) the same as Shepard’s.

“Please get rid of this, a ship is no place for…oh that is so not okay. They messed with my hamster guys. Now it’s personal,” Shepard hissed.

“Was it not personal before?” Garrus asked.

“I-- well, yeah. But Mako’s defenceless. What was a little hamster going to do to them--”

“I suggest we keep moving,” EDI cut in.

“Right, right. Of course.” Shepard hit the button on the elevator.

#shakarian #mass effect #me2 #me3 #commander shepard #garrus vakarian #oc: joan shepard #50/50 odds i delete this in an hour but who knows #did i write a 100k+ word story so that i could write the citadel dlc? mayhaps

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heyhilana · 4 years

Text

50 Questions Tag

Tagged by @harryandthatgayvodka (thanks lovely)

1.) What color is your hairbrush?

It’s just a brown color because my brush is just super simple.

2.) Name a food you never eat

I hate to say this because people will seriously question me for why I won’t eat it but anything that has to do with pasta. I just don’t like it and yes, I have tried multiple versions of pasta and I really don’t like it.

3.) Are you usually too warm or too cold?

I’m usually too warm. I love being cold because it takes nothing for me to get hot. But, it’s not completely bad because I am a human heater for some of my colder peeps which offers me free hugs, cuddles, and a chance to be cold for a little while because they can cool me off while I warm them up.

4.) What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

I was watching One Punch Man. It’s actually not bad to watch and I’m on the second episode now :)

5.) What’s your favorite candy bar?

Usually Twix or Snickers.

6.) Have you ever been to a professional sports game?

Yeah I’ve been to a couple of them and I want to go to more of them.

7.) What’s the last thing you said out loud?

I said that I was hungry because I’m always hungry for some food lmao.

8.) What’s your favorite ice cream?

I like anything that’s vanilla flavored and if I want to eat some ice cream that is really bad for me, I get the cookies and cream one or the reeces pieces one :)

9.) What was the last thing you had to drink?

Water because we have to all stay hydrated :)

10.) Do you like your wallet?

Uh, I don’t hate it but I do need to get a new one since it’s been through a lot.

11.) What’s the last thing you ate?

Yogurt and a protein shake.

12.) Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

I got two new shirts that are super cute :)

13.) What’s the last sporting event you watched?

It was a rerun of some baseball game. I believe it was the Mets vs. Marlins game.

14.) What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

Regular or white cheddar? They both slap.

15.) Who’s the last person you sent a text to?

My best friend :)

16.) Ever go camping?

Nope but if I was not so fearful of someone attacking me at night and the whole bugs all around me thing I would do it. I mean, think about all the stargazing that you can do during camping.

17.) Do you take vitamins?

No because I haven’t found vitamins that don’t make me feel weird afterwards.

18.) Do you go to church every Sunday?

Nope. I’m not religious really.

19.) Do you have a tan?

Not as of late since I have been avoiding the sun but I do tan easily.

20.) Do you prefer Chinese or pizza?

Gosh that’s hard so I would say a tie?

21.) Do you drink soda through a straw?

Nope I just drink it regular.

22.) What color socks do you usually wear?

Black or grey.

23.) Do you ever drive above the speed limit?

It depends on where I’m at because well I don’t want to get in trouble or hurt somebody?

24.) What terrifies you?

I think not living the right way is what terrifies me. I want to do it all my way, even if it gets me hurt because I don’t want to die thinking that I lived on someone else’s terms.

25.) Look to your left, what to you see?

I see my nightstand, my lamp, and my book that I picked out recently.

26.) What chore do you hate the most?

Usually anything that has to do with laundry because it’s just annoying.

27.) What do you think when you hear an Australian accent?

Uh nobody really?

28.) What’s your favorite soda?

Sprite is my favorite.

29.) Do you go in fast food or in the drive through?

Drive through because I’m usually in a rush.

30.) What’s your favorite number?

31.) Who’s the last person you talked to?

My best friend because she’s awesome.

32.) Favorite cut of beef?

I don’t eat beef anymore but I would say whatever is just really bad for me. The worse it is, the more younger me would have wanted to eat it.

33.) Last song you listened to?

Favorite Mistake by Giveon.

34.) Last book you read?

The last book that I finished was They Both Die at the End. The last book that I read/started is All the Light we Cannot See.

35.) Can you say the alphabet backwards?

I get maybe 8 letters in and then I crash.

36.) Favorite day of the week?

Saturday because it’s usually a day off :)

37.) How do you like your coffee?

Usually anything cold brew because I really don’t like hot drinks and nothing overly sweet because it will make me sick sometimes.

38.) Favorite pair of shoes?

Anything vans or converse related.

39.) Time you normally wake up?

Anywhere between 10-11 am since I go to sleep hella late all the time.

40.) Sunrise or sunsets?

Sunsets because the sky just looks heavenly.

41.) How many blankets on your bed?

One and I barely use it. I use the sheet since I get hot way too fast in my sleep.

42.) Describe your kitchen plates?

I have two sets. One is a green set that is super simple and the other is a fancier set that has a marble look to it.

43.) Describe your kitchen at the moment?

It’s all cleaned up since I went on a cleaning blitz today.

44.) Do you have a favorite alcoholic drink?

I don’t have one actually. I just don’t care to drink all the time.

45.) Do you play cards?

Yes but not all the time.

46.) What color is your car?

It’s black.

47.) Can you change a tire?

No, but I am planning on learning.

48.) Your favorite state, province, country, etc.?

I like California because it’s just so laid back compared to where I live. It’s just a whole other world out there.

49.) Favorite job you’ve had?

I don’t think I have one since I’m incredibly lazy lmao.

50.) How did you get your biggest scar?

I have a scar on my leg from when I was a toddler. Strangely enough, I don’t know how I got it but I know that it’s fun to look at because it reminds me of my fun times as a kid.

Tagging: @agirllovespasta @halfwaythereroyal @archqtype @engineeredfiction

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aweirdkindofyellow · 5 years

Text

Here I Am, There You Are Pt. 3

Jack Barakat x OC ‘Rachel has been best friends with Alex, Jack, Rian, and Zack since high school. What happens when one of them gets married?’

Part 3

I turned to him, trying to hide further into my jacket that was way too light for Baltimore’s starting winter. “Whatever happens in there, please remember that I love you and that my family is not a direct reflection of who I am.”

“Babe,” Jack laughed, giving my hand a squeeze, “you’re the one that’s freaking out the most. I should be the one saying ‘whatever happens in there, remember that I love you’. Afterall, I am the one that ruined what could have been a nice normal dinner for us tonight all those years ago.”

“You didn’t ruin anything.” I kissed him on the cheek and rang the doorbell. “You just made it slightly more uncomfortable, that’s all.”

The front door opened almost immediately, the light from indoors almost making it seem like my mom had a spotlight directed on her. She grinned brightly, excited to see me again for the first time in months. The fact that I was bringing my boyfriend made her that more thrilled. My parents didn’t know it was Jack. I didn’t want to tell them over the phone after finding out about him and my sister, so they were super intrigued. My dad even joined my mom at the door, wanting to see who I had finally let myself date.

I went in first, greeting them and giving them both a hug. Jack followed me inside, waiting until it was his turn to do something. To help him out a little and to make the transition better, I decided to ‘introduce’ him.

“Mom, dad, you know Jack.” I smiled and stepped aside so they could see him.

“Of course we do!” my mom gushed and went straight for the hug instead of the handshake, seemingly happy that I was dating him.

She was hugging him like he was one of my way younger cousins who she hadn’t seen in a while. My dad, however, just gave him a nice respectful handshake and said something along the lines of being glad to see him again. I could tell they were quite surprised how he turned out. He still had a single strand of hair bleached (and now painted red), which was way better compared to the weird blonde streaks he had all over his floppy hair. Also, he was a lot less stick-like than in high school. Still tall, but not stick-like.

“I would never have expected this,” my mom breathed out with a big smile, “but we can talk about while eating. Dinner’s ready.”

“Already?!” I exclaimed, barely getting the time to take of my jacket before we were dragged to the living-slash-dining room.

“You know how I overestimate how much time I need to cook whenever I plan out a nice meal!” My mom scoffed like I had offended her before scurrying off to the kitchen.

“At least I don’t have to help,” I whispered to Jack and shrugged, making him laugh.

The table had already been set. It was fancier than usual, which made sense. There was actually a tablecloth and the nice matching white plates were taken out. Four places also had wine glasses, the fifth only having a water glass. The salad was already out on the table and there was place for the warm dishes. Back in high school whenever I had somebody over, my parents didn’t make all too much effort. It was a bit different when I was twenty-eight, though. Maybe Alex married his high school girlfriend, but I definitely didn’t marry my high school boyfriend.

Before we got to the table, we walked past the couches where my brother had just turned off his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket. While my hair was on the darker side of blonde, almost brown, and my sister had a nice light blonde, he had a more ash blonde color. If he and my sister switched hair colors, I could have said it was like an ink cartridge running out.

“Hey, Ethan,” I greeted him as well before once again pointing at Jack, “do you remember Jack?”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, as he thought for a while, inspecting Jack’s appearance. At first, he seemed confused and lost, but then he asked, “did we have some super awesome handshake?”

“Handshake?” Jack frowned, making it his turn to think back to the past. “Oh, yes, we did!”

“Yeah, I remember!” Ethan grinned as he nodded and got up as my mom and dad started putting everything on the table. “You were Rachel’s boyfriend, right?”

“No, nope, he wasn’t,” I quickly corrected, really hoping my little brother hadn’t seen anything between Jack and Anna and then confused it with me years later.

“Oh, okay.” Ethan shrugged and put his hands up at shoulder-level to show he didn’t mean any harm. “I was two when you guys first met. If I saw two ducks in the same pond, I thought they were together.”

“How old are you now?” Jack asked casually to make small talk.

“Sixteen,” Ethan answered simply as he went to the one place without the wine glasses, which was at the head of the table.

“So you were…” Jack did the math in his head. “Six when we graduated.”

“Five, actually, but we don’t like to think about those dark times.” Ethan looked into the distance and shuddered as if he could still remember any horrifying details of events that never happened.

“The worst that could have happened to you was that somebody stole your grape eraser.” I rolled my eyes and sat down next to him, Jack in turn sitting next to me

“I know!” he gasped and put a hand over his heart. “I am still traumatized!”

Not much later, my parents brought all the food to the table and my dad poured us some wine--white for me, red for Jack. Once we all had food on our plates, I nearly wanted to dig in almost immediately. It had been a while since I had had my mom’s home cooked meals, so I was excited. But I couldn’t just start eating whenever I was back home. It worked differently here than at my house in LA. Luckily Jack noticed my hesitation and wouldn’t dare touch his own food. If he hadn’t, we might have had an awkward situation.

“Rachel, do you want to say Grace?” My mom asked, already holding out her hands for my dad and brother to take (she was sitting directly across from me, my dad next to her and across from Jack).

“Oh, umm…” I looked around, trying to find a way to politely decline. “I’d rather not…”

“Alright,” she nodded and looked at my brother instead, “Ethan?”

“Sure.” He shrugged in response, feeling indifferent towards it.

You see, technically I grew up religious. Or, at least, my parents were religious. They took me and my sister to church when we were kids, but they never pushed anything on us. We got to decide whether or not we believed and whether or not we wanted to go to church. I made the decision of not going to church and also not believing, which my parents knew and were supportive about. They occasionally did ask me if I wanted to say Grace, and I did do it a few times, but sometimes I also declined. My sister, on the other hand, was just as religious as my parents. She was as open and as accepting, but she regularly went to church and didn’t eat dinner without saying grace. It kind of contradicted the person she was back in high school and a little after, but even back then she would go to our neighborhood church every Sunday.

Usually, however, back when I was still at high school and when I had a couple of friends over, my parents wouldn’t make us kids say Grace. They knew all teenagers wanted to do after a busy day was stuff their faces, and they didn’t want to force it on other people’s children. However, this dinner was family, Jack now getting the chance to join as well. So, he was a little surprised by the gesture. At least my mom hadn’t asked him. I didn’t think Jack minded, though. He was also like me; grew up religiously but didn’t really follow it himself.

We all held hands--yes, even my dad and Jack--and my parents and brother closed their eyes. I, however, made eye contact with Jack and gestured that it was okay if he wanted to keep his eyes open, I was going to do so as well. He gave me a small smile and I squeezed his hand in return.

“So, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude for something else that happened today,” Ethan started, a mischievous smile creeping on his face. “I am very thankful for that awesome kill I got on Call of Duty. My prayers were answered. I managed to get the best kill I’ve ever done. It was a real moment to be proud of. You should have seen--”

“Ethan!” My mom scolded, giving him a nudge.

“Oh, right. Sorry, homie, I’ll tell you about that later,” he apologized, but not to my mom, he was ‘apologizing’ to God. Jack and I shared a look, holding back our chuckles. Ethan continued saying Grace, taking it seriously for my mom this time. It was obvious he didn’t think it was all that serious. “Anyway, I guess it’s great that I’m able to share a meal with my parents, my eldest sister, and her boyfriend. Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, whoever eats fastest gets the most. Amen.”

“Every single time.” My dad shook his head after they all opened their eyes and we let go of each other’s hands. He wasn’t disappointed, however. It was more like he knew he had to get mad, but was too amused to do so.

We ate some of our food, surrounded by casual conversation, before my parents started asking the serious questions. Although they knew who Jack was back in high school, they still had to make sure he was right for me now. That’s a mother’s and father’s job. My dad needed to know if he could take good care of me while my mom wanted to see if we really did love each other and one of us wasn’t using the other. Even if I had been the one with bad intentions--neither of us were--my mom would have disapproved. I would never get past her with a fake boyfriend. She would know in no time.

“So, Jack,” my dad changed the subject, “I remember your band being quite your thing in high school, is it still?”

Jack nodded quite enthusiastically while trying to quickly swallow the bite of food in his mouth. He seemed quite happy that my dad had remembered. “We actually managed to make a living out of it. We have seven albums out right now. It’s so surreal to play shows and having the entire crowd singing along to songs we wrote.”

“Oh, so you tour a lot?” My dad derived.

“Umm, yeah…” Jack carefully nodded, feeling like he was getting led into a trap. I felt the same way. It was like my dad was going down the interrogation path. Yet, Jack still answered, he couldn’t just not say anything. “We used to be gone almost the entire year, only have, like, thirty days at home spread out over the year, but it’s calming down a little with Alex getting married.”

“That sounds awesome,” my dad contradicted the idea of him trying to crack Jack by showing excitement. “What’s your favorite place you’ve ever been?”

“Oh, that’s a difficult one. The crowd oversees is always very pumped. We do only come there occasionally, so when we finally come it’s quite special. Australia’s pretty cool, but so is the UK, and we also really like Japan.”

“Okay, that’s it. Ethan, you’re going to be in a successful band as well,” my dad instructed my brother.

Ethan seemed caught off guard. His chewing stopped and his eyes were wide as he looked at my dad. “Say what now? And live an unorthodox way of life?”

“Hey,” Jack interrupted jokingly, “I’m dating your sister, my way of life isn’t that unorthodox.”

Out of nowhere, Ethan suddenly hit the table loudly. “I remember! You were Anna’s boyfriend, not Rachel’s! Bro…”

Well, there it was. If my parents couldn’t remember before, this sure as hell was going to jumpstart their memories. Lisa could recall it all just after hearing my sister’s name, there was no way my parents could just forget walking in on Anna and Jack doing ‘unspeakable things’. It was like my heart sunk. There was no way they were going to be cool with us dating anymore, no matter how much my dad liked Jack.

I slid down my chair a little while everybody just stared at Ethan and didn’t say a word. He was looked back at all of us, not seeing what was wrong with what he had stated. With the way my parents were glaring at him to behave for once and the occasional worrisome glance towards me, I knew that my parents remembered what had happened between Jack and Anna since we walked through that front door, but were just afraid that I didn’t know. If that were the case, staying silent wasn’t the way to keep it hidden from me.

“Complicated stuff.” I forced a smile, trying to start up a conversation again to end the awkward silence.

“Anyway, so what type of venues do you play?” My dad continued his questions about Jack’s job like nothing had interrupted him before.

Jack, also preferring boasting about his band over talking about his time with my sister, answered the question quickly, “just the usual, but we recently did get to play arenas in the UK. Some of those shows sold out, which is pretty amazing.”

“Oh, wow! I remember buying twenty tickets from Rachel one time just so you guys could play a show.”

Jack looked at me with accusation. “Twenty tickets! When did this happen?!”

I shrugged and drunk some of my wine. “You needed to sell one hundred tickets. I sold thirty, twenty of them went to my dad.”

“And here we were, thinking you had some secret talent!” He shook his head at me and reached for his back pocket. “I can’t believe you did that!” He proceeded to pull out his wallet and take out a one-hundred dollar bill, sliding it over to my dad “This should cover that.”

“Oh, no, I don’t need your money,” my dad refused and pushed it back to Jack. “I was happy to pay for you kids to work towards your dreams, even if you’re not my own blood.”

“I insist, though,” Jack countered and handed it back yet again. “And if you really don’t want it, give it to charity.”

“You’re not going to give up, are you?”

“I will not.”

The dinner continued without another interruption from my brother bringing up the past. Of course, the conversation was not just centralized around Jack’s job the entire time. Slowly it went over to my job and then it shifted to my puppy. Then we also talked a bit about how school was going for my brother and how my parents were doing. It was the perfect dinner to me, excusing the small hiccup and awkward silence around it.

Although this dinner was technically Jack and my parents meeting again, Ethan was also quite excited to have me around again. So, my parents excused us after dinner ended and let us go up to Ethan’s room so I could catch up with him as well, this included Jack. It was kind of a weird situation, but they understood as well. Jack could have stayed with my parents, but I didn’t want to do that to him and invited him to come along with us.

Not long after, Jack and Ethan were playing video games on the small TV he had in his room--it used to be my room in high school, then my sister’s, and then his--and I was casually snooping around, not trying to hide that I was literally going through random drawers. It was mainly full of school stuff or random clutter, nothing juicy. However, bedside drawers always have some mischievous things in it.

Still, when I opened my brother’s bedside drawer and found a box of condoms, my heart skipped a beat. A normal sister would throw them back and shut the drawer, trying to do her best to act like she never saw anything. But I wasn’t a normal sister. My family and I were very close… strangelyclose. My brother would literally tell me anything, so this came as a surprise.

“Nice to know you’re being safe.” I threw the box at his head, more annoyed that he didn’t tell me than the fact that he had them in his possession.

“Ouch!” He rubbed his head briefly, quickly returning his hand to the controller to duck before briefly glancing in the direction of what I threw at him, all while Jack was snickering, seeing it all from the corner of his eye. “Oh, that. Yeah, I never used them.”

“Never used them, huh?” I nodded, walking up to the box and picking it up, stuffing back the few condoms that had fallen out. “Then why’s the box open?”

“I give them to my friends.” He shrugged, sticking his tongue out a little to concentrate better on the video game.

“Do you sell them, because that’s a great way to make money,” Jack nudged, his own eyes glued to the TV screen.

“Nope. They’re wussies and are too embarrassed to buy their own. I don’t care if it takes a couple of bucks from my pocket money, I don’t want them screwing up their lives. I have yet to… loose… my own…” he took brief pauses while trying to kill an enemy, “virginity.”

“Awe, following my footsteps!” I gushed and climbed on the bed after closing the drawer again and calling it a day on snooping around.

“Of course, you’re my favorite sister!”

“So cute!” I ruffled his hair and grinned at him even though he wasn’t looking in my direction.

“Okay, nope, Anna’s my favorite sister,” Ethan corrected, jerking his head to try and fix his hair without his hands, but to no avail. So, he quickly fixed it with his hands, which caused him to fail covering Jack and made his character die.

“Goddammit!” Jack sighed. Instead of reviving himself, though, he threw his controller down. “Okay, I gotta use the bathroom.”

“Use the one in the hallway, mine’s full of laundry,” Ethan told him so Jack wouldn’t try using the bathroom connected to this bedroom.

As Jack started getting up I double checked, “do you know where it is?”

“Yeah,” he nodded and started leaving the room, “I’ve been here before.”

That left just me and Ethan in the room. Ethan was still focused on the game and Jack’s side of the screen was still asking to be revived. So, I slipped off the bed and sat where Jack was sitting before on the floor, and grabbed the remote, doing as the screen wanted me to do. Although I wasn’t an avid gamer, I could still casually play video games with my brother. As soon as things got too competitive, though, I had to bail.

“Am I really not your favorite sister?” I joked and pushed him softly with my foot.

“No, you definitely are my favorite sister,” Ethan stressed, ignoring my push completely.

“You probably tell Anna that as well when she’s over,” I laughed and rolled my eyes a little. It was what parents always did as well--although, they often would say they didn’t have a favorite--deep down they really did have one child they preferred.

“Nope, I really don’t.” He shook his head. “You’re way cooler.”

“You wouldn’t think that with the teenager she used to be. Aren’t you supposed to think she’s the cool one because she got into parties while underage and would spend nights out doing god knows what?”

“Nah. You had fun with friends without going overboard crazy. I’d take a roadtrip and a theme park over a club and drinking any day. Also, if I call you at ungodly hours of the night, you will always answer and listen, even when all I want to talk about is fruit loops. Anna doesn’t do that. You’re cool because you can be as bitchy as a motherfucker and still get what you want, but you don’t do that at all. You care more about other people’s problems, including mine.”

“Anna cares about your problems too,” I told him seriously. I couldn’t have him thinking that his other sister didn’t care about him. I knew she did as well.

“Yeah, I know. But if Anna had found those condoms, she would have interrogated me. She wouldn’t have believed that I give them to my friends and haven’t lost my own virginity yet. It’s cause she’s Anna, she can’t imagine being a teenager and doing that. You, however, understand everything even though you haven’t experienced something in the same way. You also talk to me about everything like I can help you. Anna still acts more like I’m a child who isn’t adult enough to hear about her shit. You’re like the cool mom, you will be a cool mom someday,” he confessed. “I honestly thought you would be the first one to get married.”

I chuckled and shook my head, unfazed by the fact that I had already managed to let my character die and had to revive yet again. “I’m sure many people thought that. Anna just found the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with before me. I’ll get married someday, though.”

“Can I be your maid of honor?” Ethan asked, both joking and completely serious.

“You know what? Yes.” I nodded and held out my hand. “Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise,” he replied and let his hand leave the controller yet again to hook his pinky onto mine. It caused his screen to go black as well, but he didn’t seem to care. “Are you going to take Jack to Anna’s wedding?”

“Maybe,” I nodded, making eye contact with him for the first time again since he turned on the console, “I’ll have to check with Anna first, though.”

“Why do you have to check with her? She can’t control who you’re dating.”

“I know, and she won’t. She and Jack had a thing back in high school. I don’t want to take him to her wedding and ruin her day.”

“Wait, so I was right?!” Ethan gasped, his eyes widening. “He was Anna’s boyfriend!?”

“Not exactly…” I sucked in a breath. Although Ethan told me he loved it that I trusted him with all my secrets and troubles, I was unsure if I could give the exact details this time. It wasn’t that he was too young to know about sex--that was obvious--but it was the fact that it was his sister and my boyfriend we were talking about.

“Oh, what--” he frowned before his face relaxed and realization washed over him. “Oh… Oh, no. That-- That’s no good.”

I raised my shoulders slightly and pursed my lips briefly. “Yeah, well, I can’t do anything about the past. I only found out about it a couple of months ago, but it doesn’t really bother me.”

“It doesn’t bother you?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Nope, it doesn’t.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t bother you?”

“One-hundred-percent sure.”

“One-hundred-percent?”

“Okay… maybe just a little bit.” I held up my thumb and forefinger, showing a small distance between the tips. “Of course it’s a little weird. The idea of Anna sleeping with a guy I dated was quite a realistic one. Me dating a guy she used to sleep with, however…”

“Ugh, that sucks,” he sighed, feeling for me.

“I got over it. Well, as long as I don’t think about it when Jack and I… you know…”

“Oh my god, just say it: ‘having sex’. It’s not that difficult,” Ethan groaned, throwing his head back in frustration.

“Okay, fine!” I chuckled and held up my hands in defense. “As long as I don’t think about it when we’re ‘having sex’. Anyway, I just need to make sure that Anna is okay with it as well. She has no idea that I’m dating Jack.”

“No idea?! Aha! I am your favorite sibling too!” he exclaimed triumphantly.

I snorted and nudged him to stop being so ridiculous. “Look, Anna and I are only two years apart, we got into a buttload of fights as kids. You and I, however, and twelve years apart. The only time we got in fights was when you wanted to play and I was overwhelmed with school. You’re my baby brother.”

“I was going to say I’m not a baby anymore… but I literally have a teddy bear sitting on my bed,” Ethan remarked and looked back at the brown bear nestled in between his pillows.

“So what? I have a teddy bear in my bed as well and I’m twenty-eight.”

“That’s different!”

“How is that different?!”

He thought for awhile before mumbling, “I don’t know.”

I just shook my head and smirked at him, before pointing out, “where the hell is Jack, what’s taking him so long?”

“I don’t know. What do people do in the bathroom?” Ethan laughed.

I rolled my eyes and got up before climbing over my brother’s legs so I could leave the room as well. “I’m going to check on him.”

“He’s probably dropping a deuce!” he grunted and picked up his controller again, restarting his game.

I hit the back of his head, causing him to flinch away. Maybe he was right, but I didn’t know. It was possible that Jack went back downstairs and was waiting for me to join him and my parents. Then again, something bad couldn’t have happened in the bathroom. I don’t know why, but he could have passed out and hit his head. However, it was probably most likely that Ethan was completely correct and I was just going to make this awkward for Jack. Although I didn’t care one bit, Jack and I hadn’t exactly reached the point yet where we acknowledged what we both did in the bathroom. Maybe this was the point where we crossed that line.

The door to the bathroom was closed, so I assumed he was still inside and knocked softly. “Jack, are you okay in there?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” his muffled voice said back.

So, I decided to leave him alone and not press any further to prevent making him feel rushed if it was indeed what Ethan said. “Okay, I’m going to be downstairs with my parents. Just take your time.”

“Okay.”

I slowly stepped away from the door just in case something was actually wrong and Jack decided to say something. When nothing came, I made my way to the stairs and went down them. My parents were still sitting at the dinner table, two glasses of wine and mine and Jack’s empty along with a partially empty bottle. I took the seat across from my mom again, pulling out my phone from my back pocket and placing it on the table so I could sit comfortably.

“Jack’s still upstairs,” I told them before they asked, and didn’t give any more detail to spare him any embarrassment.

They nodded and I poured myself a glass of wine so I had something to sip on while waiting for Jack to make an appearance again. My parents shared a look, obviously having a telepathic conversation that was about me but did not include me. They were disagreeing about something, debating about the thing surrounding me.

Eventually, my mom spoke up. “I just need to ask… you do know about Jack and Anna, right?”

My dad gave her a glare, but I nodded and decided to take a big gulp of the red wine. “Yeah. Well, not back then. But I’ve known for a little while.”

“Okay, because I was going to warn you if you were going to take Jack to her wedding.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t ruin her big day,” I breathed out a laugh and fondled with the stem of my glass. “I was going to ask her. It’s one of the reasons why I haven’t directly asked him to come yet and I haven’t given any name for my plus one yet, which I’m being forced to take.”

“One of the reasons?” My dad frowned, interrupting the serious conversation I was going to have yet again with another person. “I like the guy, why so unsure?”

“I like him too!” I defended with a gasp. “But I got that wedding invitation when Jack and I had been dating for around four months. The wedding was still five months into the future then! Now I just need to ask Anna since the wedding’s in two months.”

“So, why haven’t you asked her yet?” my dad continued to interrogate. It was like he liked Jack more than me. Most fathers would tell their daughter to stay away from band dudes, my dad was doing the opposite.

“Because I still wanted to give my relationship with Jack some more time.”

My mom reached out and took hold of my hand so I could no longer clink my nails against the glass. “Seems to me like you’re stalling.”

“Oh my god,” I groaned and pulled my hand away, briefly hiding my head in my arms on the table. “Why does everybody keep thinking that the fact Jack and Anna used to be together is such a big deal to me? It really isn’t! Like, I even dated his best friend for a short while, how is it any different?”

“Hey, I didn’t say that was the reason you’re stalling,” my mom pointed out. “You’re the one that decided that was the reason, that says something.”

“No,” I shook my head and crossed my arms, “I was completely fine with it. But now you guys are making me doubt myself! Am I wrong in thinking it’s okay?”

“It’s not wrong,” my dad assured me and turned to my mom, “you stop making her change her mind!”

“I just want what’s best for her,” my mom argued.

“Look, I love Jack and that’s all that matters,” I insisted.

“You love him and that’s all that matters?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Okay,” my mom said softly and nodded, accepting my answer. Just like I said, she was happy if I was happy.

Just then, before the conversation topic could be changed to something more neutral, my phone buzzed. Although I usually never checked my phone at the dinner table, having it just lay there prompted me to just quickly check what the notification was from. Strangely enough, it was a text from Alex. I quickly read over it and didn’t reply, knowing it wasn’t needed.

I made up an excuse that was partially true so I wouldn’t be lying, “Jack and I should be going soon, I’m going to go fetch him.”

And so, I went upstairs yet again. I went straight to my brother’s room, but not to see him. Instead, I entered his bathroom. Just like he had warned, it was a big mess. The hamper was full of laundry, some more strewn across the floor, and there was a pile of clean clothes yet to go back in his closet that had fallen over, obviously hidden in here instead of neatly put away. Ethan observed me as I grabbed the toilet plunger. I made direct eye contact with him and raised my eyebrows before leaving yet again.

“Jack,” I knocked on the bathroom door and asked, “are you sure you’re okay in there?”

“Umm… yeah, it’s all good…” he replied, but I knew better than that.

“Dude, Alex literally just texted me that you texted him, just open the door.”

A second later, the lock turned, and the door opened ajar, Jack blocking my view of the bathroom. “Did you just dude me?”

“Yes.” I gave him a single nod before holding up the plunger so he could see it too.

A sheepish grin crept up and a slight blush spread across his checks. He didn’t even need to say a word, and I knew that I had rescued the day.

“Do you need me to help?” I questioned and pushed one hand up against the door so I could come inside.

Jack, however, held the door closed and instead snatched the plunger from me. “No, it’s cool. I’ll do it.”

The door shut and locked again. I just waited outside and leaned against the wall. Luckily, it didn’t take all too long for Jack to fix the problem, especially compared to how long he had already been in there. I just hoped for him that there was no mess. An overflowing toilet is never pleasant.

When Jack came out, I was still waiting for him with my arms crossed.

“Sorry about that…” he mumbled and turned off the bathroom light, having left the plunger in the bathroom for now.

“No, it’s fine,” I brushed it off, knowing it happened to the best of people. “Although, you could have asked for my help. Why didn’t you?”

“Cause it’s awkward as fuck!” he breathed out and scratched the back of his head. “And I seriously can’t believe Alex texted you.”

“What else was he supposed to do?”

“Moral support.”

I just laughed but didn’t go downstairs just yet. “It really doesn’t matter anymore. Just promise you won’t clog the hotel toilet as well, and I promise I won’t do so either.”

“Like you’ve ever clogged or will clog and toilet in your life,” Jack snorted.

“There’s still a lot left to learn about me.” I winked to make him feel better and kissed his cheek. “I love you.”

He returned the gesture by briefly pecking me on the lips and wrapping one arm around my waist.

“Anyway…” I started guiding us back to the stairs. “I kinda told my parents that we had to leave and that I just had to get you. So… we’re going to be leaving a little earlier than we first planned, meaning we’ll have some extra time at the hotel…”

“You seriously want to have sex with me after I clogged a toilet? That's not sexy in anyway.”

“Yes,” I whispered in his ear.

#all time low fanfiction #jack barakat fanfiction #all time low #jack barakat #all time low imagine #jack barakat imagine #here I am there you are

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pickalilywrites · 5 years

Note

Request for a part 2 of the rivetra magicians au?

ty for asking for it ^^ i love this au and it’s always nice to revisit aus i’ve written before!

Is This Your Card?

Rivetra. Magicians AU.

Something Like Magic series: Part I

3631 words.

Buy me a ko-fi!

Levi has done this routine hundreds of times. It’s one of his easier tricks, just rearranging the cards about quickly while distracting the audience with something in the background. He should be able to do this with his eyes closed, and yet something feels strangely off as he shuffles the deck. He can’t place his finger on what it is, and he can’t stop and check to see what it is lest he ruin the illusion. Instead, he continues to shuffle the cards from one hand to another – one of the fancier ways of ordering the cards that he tries to avoid because he finds it pretentious – but he finds nothing. Irritated, he finally allows the deck to sit in his hand and holds up what should have been the volunteer’s card.

“Is this your card?” Levi asks gruffly, already knowing the answer.

“No,” the volunteer says, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He squints at the card, leaning closer as he checks once more. “That’s not my card. I picked a different one…”

“Sir,” a voice speaks up from behind Levi. It’s not one that Levi is familiar with, but he knows he’s heard it before. When he turns around, he sees a woman with a mischievous grin, and he knows exactly who it is. “I believe this is your card.” She holds up a card – ace of spades – showing it around for everyone else to see. Showy as always.

“That’s my card!” the man says in surprise. He looks at the woman, grinning from ear to ear. He must think it’s part of the show, this woman appearing out of nowhere and displaying a trick even more impressive than anything Levi has done so far tonight, oblivious to the fact that this show woman is only here to sabotage Levi’s show. “You’re amazing! How did you do that?”

“Magic,” the woman replies, giving the man a roguish wink.

“Ral,” Levi growls.

“Ackerman!” Petra says cheerfully. She gives a quick wave to his assistants behind him – Farlan and Isabel. “Nice to see you guys too!”

“Ooh, Petra!” Isabel says excitedly, ignoring the worried look from Farlan and the seething glare from Levi. When the young woman utters the famous magician’s name, people in the audience begin to crane their necks to look at the woman who had just arrived. “We didn’t know you were here! I didn’t even see you!”

“Well, you know me,” Petra laughs, shrugging. “I like to surprise people.” She even has the audacity to smile graciously at the people now clambering over each other to try to get a peek at her, waving at her fans that are snapping photos of her on their phones so they can show their friends. If she wanted this sort of attention, she should have held her own show elsewhere, Levi thinks.

“Isabel’s right. I didn’t see you at all,” Levi says. He should have noticed her sooner – her ginger hair is difficult to miss – but then again, she’s not dressed in those ridiculously flashy outfits that she typically dons for her shows. Out in the streets, she’s dressed plainly; her attire consists almost entirely of monochrome – a black coat, gray jeans, and snow-white ankle boots. The only pop of color on her is a vibrant red scarf. The color should clash terribly with her hair, but Levi would have to grudgingly admit that she looks pleasant, the color of the scarf bringing out shades of auburn in her hair that Levi hadn’t noticed before.

“Well, I didn’t want to distract you guys,” Petra replies. She looks at him, her smile barely suppressed. “But I guess I didn’t do such a great job, huh? I really couldn’t help myself though.”

He’s about to snap at her, tell her that she hardly tried at all, but he feels a tug on his sleeve. Levi whirls around, glaring, only to find Farlan behind him.

“We still have a show to put on,” Farlan says, his eyes flickering to the crowd around them.

“Fine,” Levi mutters, yanking himself away from Farlan. He glances back at Petra, who only gives him a cheerful smile. He does his best to face the crowd with his best face, but he feels his expression turn into a scowl when he hears them whisper her name, some even rude enough to ask her to step in during the show at some point and do tricks of her own. Although she has the sense to decline, Levi’s mood doesn’t improve. In fact, it gets worse as the show goes on. All his tricks go according to plan this time – levitation, vanishing acts, and transformations – but even he can tell that his execution is messy. Not that the audience cares. Their attention is on something else, someone else – the ginger-haired woman behind him pretending to be engrossed in his little magic tricks. Then again, Levi also finds himself distracted by the woman, his attention always flickering over to her rather than staying on the objects he’s meant to be manipulating. He’s almost grateful when Farlan taps him on the shoulder, whispering that he and Isabel will take over the remainder of the show.

Levi watches the rest of the performance from a distance, wanting to get as far away as possible from the woman as he could. He swore not to even give the woman a fleeting glance, but he finds his gaze straying towards her more than once or twice during Isabel and Farlan’s performances. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to notice. She’s far too invested in the act on stage.

He’s relieved when the show finally ends, and the crowd disperses. If he’s quick enough, he can find Farlan and Isabel, and the three of them can slip away without having to be trapped in a conversation with that woman. He thinks he’s about to get away with it too when he shoves past the crowd and makes it to Farlan and Isabel until he feels an arm loop through his.

“Hey, Levi. You were walking awfully fast there. It was like you were trying to get away from me,” that voice says. He’s not surprised when he looks to his side and sees Petra there, her amber eyes twinkling playfully at him. “But you know you can never escape an escape artist.”

“Unfortunately,” he grumbles. He looks at her with a sour expression, wondering why she’s here at all.

“Petra!” Isabel’s voice is heard loud and clear over the crowd. The redhead's hand pops out from the sea of people, waving the two magicians over. When Levi and Petra arrive, Isabel grins widely, greeting Petra as if they’re old friends. “Did you see my routine? What did you think of it?”

“Oh, absolutely, I loved it!” Petra gushes. “Although, I think you could be a little more discreet when you’re stealing. The man probably didn’t notice you slipping his watch into your pocket, but I sure did.”

“Oh, come on,” Isabel says with a laugh, not at all ashamed at being caught. She pulls out the watch – a slick black obsidian piece with gold accents – and grins at the others. Compared to other watches that are riddled with gears and gizmos, this one looks quite plain, but it’s five times more expensive than the average wristwatch. Levi’s told her to quit stealing a while ago – they’ve been making enough bank that they no longer had to resort to petty thievery to survive – but even he has to admit that Isabel’s got a good eye for money. “If that guy didn’t notice, it’s fine. You’re just too perceptive, Petra!”

“Maybe,” Petra laughs. She turns over to Farlan, giving him that same friendly smile as if the two have been friends for years. “And you, Mr. Church, were amazing as always. I think that woman’s eyes were about to pop out of her head when you were able to guess the name of her grandmother.”

“It’s all in the job,” Farlan says with a shrug. He begins to smile at her, but Levi clears his throat and Farlan quickly wipes the smile from his face.

“Well, you’re good at what you do,” Petra tells him. She tilts her head up at him, reaching up to tuck a lock of her ginger hair behind her ear. “Do you think you could read my mind right now?”

Farlan doesn’t reply. He stares at her for a long time, studying her face. He takes longer than he usually does with his subjects. At most, he takes a second or two, but he stares at Petra for almost a minute before he opens his mouth. “I think some things are better left as a surprise, wouldn’t you agree?” he finally says, but he looks at her with such intrigue that Levi’s not sure if Farlan had just given up being able to read her.

She smiles again – how is she always smiling? – and asks Levi, “How on earth did you manage to get such a good mentalist? Gunter’s quite good, but he likes to over embellish details at times.”

He should know better than to snap at her, but he can’t help it. “Is that what you came here for? You wanted to charm Farlan and Isabel away from me?”

“Oh, Levi, if I wanted to steal your friends from you, I would have done it ages ago. I’m very charming, you know,” Petra jokes, the corner of her mouth quirked upward. She doesn’t seem at all intimidated by Levi’s harsh glare. “I actually came here to watch your show. I’ve told you before, I’m a huge fan.”

Levi glances at Farlan from the corner of his eye and sees the blond shift slightly. Both of them know that the woman is holding back. “What else?” Levi asks her. “You wouldn’t be here for a show you could catch on YouTube later tonight.”

“But the video resolutions are so bad,” Petra says with her eyebrows raised. When he doesn’t laugh, she sighs. “Fine, you got me. I actually have a proposition for you, Levi, but I just want you to hear me out. You don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to.”

Levi opens his mouth to respond, but Petra holds up a hand.

“Hey, let’s discuss it first before you say no. I might be able to change your mind,” she laughs. Her eyes flicker over to Isabel and Farlan before returning to Levi. “Want to do this over a coffee? I’m buying.”

“We’d love to!” Isabel says, but Farlan holds her back, shushing her.

“We actually wanted to check out this restaurant that we saw a little earlier,” Farlan says, his hand clamped over Isabel’s mouth. He yelps when the feisty redhead licks his palm, and he pulls away, glaring. Isabel simply sticks her tongue out at him. Returning his attention back to Petra, he smiles apologetically and says, “Maybe we could all grab coffee together another time?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to?” Petra asks, but Farlan is already pulling Isabel away.

“Yeah, it’s fine! Have fun!” he says, dragging a grumpy Isabel behind him. He waves at both Petra and Levi. “Levi, we’ll meet you back at the hotel tonight!”

Petra watches them leave for a bit before turning back to Levi. Her hands are shoved in her pockets, and she looks at him almost bashfully before asking, “So, shall we go?”

Normally, he would decline immediately. However, his interest is piqued, and he’s not one to say no to a free coffee. It had better be good coffee though.

“Let’s go,” Levi says, walking right past the arm she offers out to him. He only turns back when she points out that he doesn’t even know where they’re going.

In the end, he follows her to a little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. It’s a little bit brighter than he would like it, and he despises the cheerful pop music that plays overhead, but at least it’s quiet enough to talk over it easily. Some people sit in the corners playing board games while others chatter on the phone. It’s certainly not a place Levi would have chosen. He prefers darker, quieter atmospheres where he can enjoy his caffeine in peace, but he can’t say he’s surprised in Petra’s coffee shop choice. After all, this place seems to suit her bright personality, he thinks as he waits for her to retrieve their orders, a black for him and a macchiato for her.

He looks up when a steaming cup is placed before him. “Before we get started, tell me how you got that card?” His frown deepens when he sees her smile as she sits down across from him.

“I just took it from your pocket when you were playing around with the cards, shuffling them here and there. It wasn’t actually that difficult to get close to you,” she replies. She holds her coffee with both hands, using it to warm up her fingers. She blows on it lightly, the foam drifting to the edge of her cup, before taking a sip. Before she continues, she licks the foam from her lips. “You’re very good, though. I had to watch videos of you hundreds of times before I figured out your technique. I’ve never tried to do your card tricks myself. I don’t think I’d ever be able to match you.”

He looks at her through narrowed eyes, wondering if she’s patronizing him. Her shows are in an entirely different realm than his. While Levi has practiced street magic for years, he’s only known Petra to do stage magic dressed up in sparkly outfits while the overdressed audience sits with a glass of wine in their hands. He doesn’t know why on earth she would even want to do card tricks when she usually does more showy tricks. Surely, she must be making fun of him, he thinks, but she’s being genuine in her compliment as far as he can tell. Grudgingly, he finally says, “Thank you.”

“And that’s an interesting deck of cards you have too,” Petra says, sitting up straighter in her chair. She sits on the edge of her seat, leaning forward so that part of her hair falls in her face. “I was wondering if you would let me look at it, actually.”

“Why?” he asks, immediately suspicious.

The woman across from him only shrugs, sitting back as if to seem less threatening. “Just curious. I think it’s a very beautiful deck. A little worn, but very beautiful.”

His hands fly to his pocket where he hides his cards. He’s thinking against giving her the deck, but he’s finding it hard to find a reason to deny her request. It is only a deck of cards after all. Reluctantly, he pulls out the deck from his pocket and sits it down in the center of the table.

Petra sets down her drink before reaching across the table and taking the deck of cards. She pulls the cards from their shabby box and admires the design. The motif on the back, once a slick black, is now faded so that it’s almost gray. The edges, once sharp, are now blunt and the corners rounded. Even the pictures of the kings and queens and aces are no longer crisp, their design so faded that one must stare at them to really see what they once looked like. Still, Petra smiles as she looks through each one before finally putting down a card – the ace of spades, the very card she had taken from him earlier today.

“Want me to read your cards for you?” she asks him.

Levi raises an eyebrow. “Do you do tarot readings now?”

“Not at all,” she grins.

“Tch.” He takes a sip of his coffee, feeling a little less agitated when he tastes the bitterness. “Are you just here to waste my time?”

“That wasn’t the plan, but I can fit it in my schedule,” she jokes. It seems that she derives pleasure from his irritation because she only grins wider when he scowls at her. She puts the cards in a stack face-down and begins to arrange them into a pyramid. “It’s not anything that needs to be settled now. We can definitely talk about it more later. I just wanted to suggest it to you.”

Ah, Levi despises it when people talk in circles like this. He’d rather they just say what they mean. Irritated, he snaps, “Spit it out already then. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

She seems undeterred by how harshly he asks his question. Instead, she calmly finishes placing another two cards on the pyramid. “I was thinking about a collaboration,” she finally tells him, smiling at him hopefully. She clasps her hands together. “Your guys and my guys. I think it’d be grand.”

The proposition is so ridiculous that Levi has to stare at her for a second to make sure that she’s serious. When it appears that she is, he begins to shake his head. “No. No, no, no,” Levi says. He pounds on the table, hard enough to make the delicate card pyramid shake but gentle enough to ensure that it didn’t. “It’ll never work.”

“Never say never,” Petra says. She plays with her coffee cup, tracing her finger lightly around the rim. “You don’t think a collaboration would be a good idea? I think it’d be great to combine our talent. We could put on a show that would be unlike any other.”

She’s far too insistent about this show, he thinks. It’s too suspicious. “And why would you want to work so closely with me?” he asks. He glares at her, but her gaze doesn’t waver. “Do you want to know my tricks? Do you want to steal them from me? Are you excited to try them out in front of others when you eventually drop this idea of a collaboration and run away with all my hard work?”

She looks as if he’d hit her with every accusation. Petra doesn’t say a word, just sits there silently staring, and she finally opens her mouth. He’s sure he’s caught her red-handed, that he’s found her out and her true intentions behind meeting him today, but she closes her mouth and stands up, her chair screeching against the tile. For the first time, she looks angry, her expression livid and her eyes full of fire. Leaning down, she hisses, “I wanted a collaboration because I’m a huge fan of your work. I’ve always admired you even before I started to pursue this career. I thought it would be an honor to meet you, and I thought it would be incredible to work side by side with you, but I see you’re far too secretive. I just wanted to put on a show with you, Ackerman, and make something almost like magic for people to see.”

He blinks, stunned. He’s seen her show before and knows she’s got talent as an actress, but he’s not sure if she’s gifted enough to feign such fury. Had she been honest this entire time? “I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” he says stupidly.

Petra opens her mouth once more and he’s sure that she’s going to shout at him, but she only sighs. Tiredly, she brushes her hair behind her ear and pushes in her chair gently. Her fingers tap the back of the chair. “I…I know you’re very protective of your work, so I won’t push this on you.” She doesn’t look at him as she talks anymore, her eyes flicker to the house of cards and the ceiling instead. “We both love what we do, so I understand you…so think about it, alright? Just contact me if you ever change your mind.”

Levi furrows his brow, wondering why she was still leaving the collaboration open. He’s about to ask her if she’s sure it’s a good idea – they’re not exactly on the best of terms and he’s only made things worse – but she’s already shuffling out of the café, her bag slung over her shoulder.

Sighing, Levi rests his head in his hands and wonders if he had overreacted. Was it really wrong of him to be so suspicious? There is that expression about a magician and his secrets, after all. He looks up, frowning at the house of cards Petra had left behind. He lifts a finger to gently prod the structure and the entire thing comes tumbling down, the cards fluttering onto the coffee table. He’s about to sigh again, thinking about the mess he needs to clean up, when he notices something curious. The cards have all fallen face-down except for one – the queen of hearts. Gingerly, Levi picks it up, inspecting it and he notices that there’s something scribbled on the side of it. A phone number. When had she put that there, he wonders.

He wonders if it would be a good idea to call after everything that had happened. He’s still not sure a collaboration could happen even if he were completely willing. Levi looks at the card once more, his thumb running over the neat numbers written in blue ink. He puts it down the table before pulling out his phone, entering the numbers. He puts the phone up to his ear, listening to the phone ring, and wonders if she’d be willing to listen to an apology. And maybe they can set up another coffee date, he thinks. They should discuss the collaboration further at the very least. He’s just hoping that she’ll be willing to forgive him.

#rivetra #levi ackerman #petra ral #snk #magicians au #something like magic series #asks #answered #anon #requests #Anonymous

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lolainblue · 6 years

Text

Thunderbirds -- Chapter 40

T/W: Impllied abuse

@msroxyblog @nikkitasevoli @maliciousalishious@meghan12151977@mustlove6277 @fyeahproudglambert @little-poptart @lady-grinning-soul-k @snewsome756

As I held Roger and waited for him to calm down, a thousand memories flooded through my head in bits and pieces, like flashes from a movie.

In the first one, it's 1985, I'm ten and back at Sugarbush Elementary. I'm hiding in the girls bathroom, the one by the art room in the basement; the one with no windows and the fluorescent light that is about to burn out that keeps buzzing and flickering. I've been crying and I'm hiding in the last stall, my feet drawn up on the toilet seat so no one can see by my shoes that I'm there. I've listened while Abby Norris has said more mean things about me in two minutes than I have ever even thought about anyone else altogether in my entire life, listened while she called me horrible things and her friends laughed and I wished I could become invisible, or die, or at least move back to Greenwood where I didn't have a lot of friends but at least no one called me names or pushed me down on the pea gravel by the swings and tore a hole in my favorite pair of jeans, the Zena ones that didn't come from the Sears catalog or have stupid rainbows or teddy bears on the pockets. I wait until after the bell has rung before I finally get up enough courage to come out, and as soon as I am back in the hallway, there he is, one of the popular boys, the one who eats lunch at Abby's table and is always staring out the window, probably the cutest boy in the entire school. I'm ten but I already learned long ago that the prettier they are the meaner they are. I freeze as he takes in my swollen eyes and blotchy red face and I wait for him to say something ugly, or sneer and run away and tell everyone the new girl was crying in the downstairs bathroom but he just smiles and tosses his sandy bangs back out of his eyes. Hey you're that new girl from Greenwood, right? Your name is Jane isn't it? he is saying, blue eyes crinkling up as he grins at me, and I don't understand why he is being nice, everyone here has been so awful, but he reaches into the pocket of his neatly pressed khakis and pulls out a pack of Juicy Fruit gum and offers me a piece. I take it like a feral deer accepting corn from someone's hand, and as I unwrap it – I can still smell it, that distinctive tutti-frutti scent that still makes me smile eighteen years later – he is talking to me like we have been best friends from birth I'm Roger Harrington, I'm in Miss Kovacs's class too, No one new ever moves here, this town is so boring, bet you didn't want to come here and I have no idea how much my life has just changed but it's the most important thing that has ever happened to me and I want to live in that moment just for a bit but too soon the memory has slipped away, and I am back to rocking Roger in his bedroom in our oh-so modern NYC apartment but I might as well be back in that green institutional bathroom as helpless his tears have made me feel.

“What happened, Roger?” I asked him once he stopped crying enough that I thought he could form words again. “Before your mom, I mean. We both know that's not where this started.”

“It started with Daphne,” Roger admitted. “She wanted us to move in together, wanted a ring. I told her I wasn't ready, that I didn't even know what the hell I was doing with the rest of my life. She started in on wanting kids again, I told her I didn't. I reminded her that I had been clear about that from the beginning. She said she didn't think I was serious, didn't everyone say they didn't want kids when they were younger. But she knew, Jane, I told her how I grew up, that I didn't want that...”

It's still 1985 in the background movie in my memory but it's a few weeks later, and Roger is coming over to my house after school for the first time. My mother greets us in her apron, offering fruit punch and bologna sandwiches cut into little triangles, and I am waiting for Roger to comment on in it all. My mother was 44 when I was born and she is an anachronism, proud to be June Cleaver in a world of career minded Maggie Seavers and Claire Huxtables. People ask if she is my grandmother sometimes and I know it bothers her, but it makes me furious because I adore her, she is the best mom I can possibly imagine, but Roger, of course, makes no such gaffe, he is charming as always. He sits politely with me at the kitchen table while we are supposed to be doing homework, making small talk with my mother while she offers him cookies Harrington? Are you related to Alderman John Harrington? she asks him and of course he tells her he is, yes, John Harrington's son, the Alderman, the Deacon over at the Sacred Day church, those Harringtons, and I see how his voice clips a bit and his eyes change even though he keeps right on smiling. I don't know anything about Aldermen, or that church, we're Presbyterians, but Roger and my mom exchange a look and I realize an entire conversation has been had that I probably wouldn't understand if they explained it to me. They get on famously, Roger Harrington and Marybeth Sewell, and Roger comes home with me after school from that day forward almost every day until we finally walk through the door in our caps and gowns, to a fancier punch and finger sandwiches that all of my family and none of Roger's shows up for.

“It doesn't have to be like that, you know,” I said, taking his hands in mine. “It's okay to want whatever you want but it doesn't have to be like it was in your family. You would never be like that, Roger.”

He shook his head, jaws tight, and I could see another tear escape and roll down his cheek. It made me so angry even all these years later, the things he went through, the things we were powerless to stop because of who his father was, the things I tried to so hard to protect him from. He always seemed so strong then, like he was made of Teflon, like none of it ever stuck. I never even understood that he needed me at all, I thought it could have been any friend who would have taken him in. I was so naive. It took me years and a lot of life experience to really understand how much damage was done, and the more I sat here and looked at him the more the memories kept flooding in.

It's 1990 and we're in high school finally, underclassmen but we don't care, we're happy to have left middle school behind. The spring dance is coming up but Roger won't be going, he isn't allowed to go to school dances, he isn't allowed to dance at all or listen to popular music even though we dance in my family's den to New Kids On The Block and he has a secret collection of mixtapes in a box underneath my bed. I know I won't get asked. I'm skinny and awkward and I've gone back to being invisible, which isn't great but at least Abby Norris doesn't bother me much anymore. We are our own private club anyway, we plan the parties we will have when we are grown andoff to film school and living in LA, with all the fabulous connections we will make, and that's what we're doing now, gigging over imaginary menus and star-studded guests lists as we help my mother make meatloaf in the warm kitchen on Calavera Street. My father comes home from work early, he will retire in a few years from the accounting position at the supply company he loves so much, but for now, he is still working, shuffling through the door at the end of his day with a Where's my Janey? and I am still enough of a daddy's girl to throw myself into his arms and take his hat from him. He starts telling jokes, those terrible ubiquitous dad jokes, while he looks over our shoulders, Roger peeling potatoes while I chop them What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire? Frostbite! and when he chortles out the punchline he claps Roger on the back. Roger is already taller than my dad but still thin from the growth spurt, and though I expect him to collapse a bit under the force of the blow I am not prepared when he bleats like a frightened lamb, dropping the potato peeler and falling forward onto the counter, covering his head. Everything stops and I swear I can hear the big Westminster clock on the dining room wall ticking away the seconds before my father moves carefully, oh so carefully to Roger, placing his hand reassuringly on his shoulder as they make weighty eye contact. Roger's hand is shaking as he moves my father's aside and turns around, shoulders hunched forward, gripping the counter as he gives my father permission to do something he cannot do himself. They are both facing me, and I can see Roger's eyes, wet and gray, staring straight into my own, unwavering, and behind him my father's eyes as he lifts Roger's neat plaid shirt, eyes that go round as his face pales. He never says a word, just takes his jacket and hat off the hook by the door and walks out, not returning again until eleven o'clock that night, after my mother has made us Rice Krispie treats and let us watch TV while she did all the washing up and made up the trundle bed before sending us upstairs for the night. It's not the first time that this has happened, but it is the worst. I don't know what is said when he comes back, we can hear my parents speaking in hushed tones in the kitchen while Roger and I lie awake in my room, staring at the glow in the dark plastic stars on my ceiling. I know that my father has made many phone calls about Roger by this point in our lives, but it never changes anything. After this night, however, Roger is with us more than ever, and even though he only stays over a few nights a week at first my mother converts Mitch's old room into one for Roger, and he decorates it with all the things he isn't allowed to like at home.

“It's okay, Jane. She wasn't the one for me, she was never going to be. But the things she said... I know she was angry. But she said I was exhausting. That all I did was take from the people around me.”

“That's not true at all!” I protested. Roger was one the kindest and most generous people I had ever known. If Daphne had said that to him it had to have been done purposely just to upset him. “You know she was just saying that, right?”

Roger shook his head. “I am too dependent on other people for my happiness, Jane. She's right.”

“Fuck that heinous cow, she was not right. We're not meant to be islands, Roger. It's okay to need people.”

“I'm too dependent on you. In eighteen years I don't think I've made a move without you, certainly not any important one. It doesn't matter what is going on, in the back of my mind it's always “Wait and see what Jane thinks” or “You should ask Jane first” before I can do anything. And I am not sure anymore if that's the best thing for us but the biggest part of me doesn't care. I don't want to do anything if it's not with you.”

“I understand, Roger. I have these thoughts too sometimes, but I'm with you. I don't care. You're my person.”

“How are we ever going to find someone else then? If I'm devoted to you and you're devoted to me, where does that leave room in our lives for anyone else?”

“The right person will fit in, Roger. You're like a sibling I'm close to. No one would demand I ditch you if you were my brother. Shannon doesn't expect me to ditch you. Someone will come along for you that understands our bond too.”

Roger got a look on his face like I had tried to feed him broccoli sauteed in earwax. “Fuck you and Shannon. That is not the relationship you think it is Jane.”

“What the hell, Roger? Again? Could you maybe give it a chance?”

Roger let out a loud growl before picking up one of his pillows and hurling it to the floor. “That's not what the fuck I mean! Shannon isn't the problem, Janey. You are!”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded.

“You planned it all out. You were the one that gave us direction, you were the one with the goals that knew how to get there. I just wanted out. So I held on to you as tight as I could and off we went. And we did it, Jane. You've been published, I've made my career. So now what? We didn't plan past this. We're just 28. We can't be done.”

“We aren't done, Rog.”

“Then what? Because all you've done since you got that book contract is the same thing you've done in your love life. You just ricochet around like a pinball, bouncing off whatever you bump into, whatever guy you bump into. You're with Shannon because you bumped into him again. You keep typing on the laptop but you don't know what you're writing anymore. You don't have a plan. I don't have a plan. I don't even know what I want. I never expected to get this far.”

“It's not like that. I've been going full speed since I was a kid. I'm just catching my breath.”

“And what happens to me when your next plan doesn't include me?”

“I would never not include you.”

“It's funny. I never worried about us when you were with Angus. I knew he would never be there for you like I was. But with Shannon, I don't know Jane. You're all over the place with him but you get so obsessed. He's the only guy that's ever made me scared you'd leave me.”

“Roger I could never leave you.”

“Of course you could. You could throw me aside the same as anyone. My family did. You're not even related to me.”

“Fuck them, every last fucking one of them. They are horrible excuses for human beings and I am so sorry you had to be born into that family but FUCK THEM. You're a Sewell, Roger. Ask my mom. Ask my dad. Hell, ask Mitch. I will never ever ever let you go. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you. If it means I never find another boyfriend then so be it. I choose you.”

We didn't say anything else. I had more questions, I wanted to know what he had done the previous night, but instead I held Roger until he cried himself out and finally fell asleep out of exhaustion. I got Shannon to come help me tuck him into bed and then afterward I poured us both a drink and sat up until three in the morning alternating between explaining to Shannon what was going on, what Roger's childhood had been like, and checking on Roger. Shannon seemed to understand, but I knew he'd had a rough childhood as well, with troubled relationships with the various father figures in his life, so I figured if anyone was going to get it was going to be Shannon.

If he minded that his visit had been filled with dealing with Roger and his issues Shannon never said so. I apologized about not getting to go out but he just shushed me and took me to bed, holding me tightly as our bodies moved together, letting me grip him like an anchor in a rough sea. Maybe I didn't have a plan, maybe I had bounced into Shannon and lost what little focus I had left. That didn't mean I couldn't get a new one. Being without a plan for a while didn't sound like the worst thing in the world. I had always been wound a little too tightly anyway. Maybe it was time to take a step back, relax, go with the flow. As long as I could hold onto Shannon and Roger I thought everything would be fine.

When I got up late the next morning Roger was already up, hunched over a mug of coffee at the kitchen island. I poured myself a mug and sat down next to him, feeling as exhausted and hungover as if I had partied all night. We didn't talk, just periodically leaned into each other for a nuzzle, and when he got up for a refill he topped me off too. Shannon eventually joined us, pouring a mug and sitting down on the other side of me, sensing the mood enough to leave the silence unbroken. Eventually we began discussing food, and we were halfway through our late breakfast when the doorbell rang.

Jared was supposed to be picking up Shannon on his way through the city to their next stop. He wasn't supposed to be showing up until that afternoon, however. We had planned to have Shannon packed and ready to go, to minimize any contact between Jared and Roger if necessary but when the person on the other side of the door turned out to be Jared hours ahead of schedule that plan went out the window. Hoping for the best I gave him a big hug and invited him in.

“Nice place,” Jared said as he peeked around, avoiding looking directly at Roger. Roger scooped up his plate and mug and put them in the sink before heading back to his bedroom without a word.

“Sorry man, I'm not ready to go. Wasn't expecting you til later,” Shannon apologized as he wolfed down the rest of his eggs. “Give me just a minute and I'll gather things up.”

“No hurry,” Jared said, turning over a small pewter sculpture that sat on the long shelf by the door and glancing in the direction Roger had disappeared to. “Finished up early and thought I'd come by and see how everyone was.”

Shannon nodded and walked back toward the bedroom and I led Jared over to the newly vacated kitchen island, offering him some tea. As I put the kettle on I kept catching him looking down the hallway, biting at his cuticles and generally paying no attention to the small talk I was trying to make. I sat his mug and the tea bags down in front of him with a sigh. “You came here early on purpose, didn't you,” I accused. Jared shrugged. “It's really not the best time,” I explained.

“Look, I know he's pissed at me. I kind of made an ass of myself the last time I saw him. I just want to apologize, that's all.”

“No offense, Jared, but he has bigger problems right now.”

“Do you think he'll talk to me? Would you ask him? I swear I just want to make sure we're good.”

I sighed again. I wanted to protect Roger, but honestly, I didn't know what was going on between the two of them, and if Shannon had a rough enough childhood to understand where Roger was coming from, well I figured Jared shared that childhood too. Maybe they could do each other some good. “I'll ask,” I agreed, but then Roger came back out of his room, fully dressed, and he grabbed Jared by the hand and led him back with him. With one more sigh, I poured the hot water down the sink and went to help Shannon pack.

#jared leto fanfiction #jared leto fic #shannon leto fanfiction #shannon leto fic #30 Seconds To Mars #30stm #thunderbirds

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overfour-sets-of-corsets · 6 years

Text

GUYYYYSSSSSS

Alrighty so I saw Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 during closing week and I'm gonna tell you guys everything I remember about it! Just so you know, my cast was OBC except for Pierre (Okieriete Onaodawan), Sonya (Ingrid Michelson), and Mary (Courtney Bassett) and I was sitting in the rear mezzanine about as far from the actors as possible so this is everything I could see from there. Also I put some stuff in there that you can know without seeing the show, like French and Russian translations, for the good of those who might not already know. So yeah I think that’s it for my intro and go under the cut to read about the interesting stuff!

Before the show starts, the ensemble runs out, gives the whole theatre announcement stuff (phones off, be quiet, etc), and throws small boxes into the audience. They contain pirogies! And they are apparently very good although I didn't get any so I am speaking from secondhand experience

After that, there is a louder pre recorded announcement where the man will say something (e.g. "Texting") and the cast will all say "niet!"

The show is announced by the sound of what I think is bomb sirens? I'm not 100% sure, but they were definitely long wailing sounds that made me wanna hide somewhere

Prologue:

As soon as Pierre steps out and begins to play, you can hear Natasha say, "No!" After this, Andrey comes up the stairs with Natasha following him, hanging onto him and looking as though she's trying to keep him from leaving. Andrey puts on a military coat and then goes to Natasha and puts a necklace on her before leaving through the double doors to go off to war

In the cast recording, you hear a loud slamming sound before the "rahz dva tri!" Which is the sound of the double doors closing behind Andrey

Pierre is playing the accordion in the beginning which is pretty hecking cool

Throughout the show, every time Andrey is mentioned, they gesture to the doors through which he was last seen

After each person's introduction in Prologue, the character takes a drink from a shot glass they each have, and do so again each time their name is mentioned again in the song

Glasses of various kinds are used throughout the show

After Sonya's intro, she goes to Natasha and they cross arms wedding style to drink

Grace McLean sounds exactly the same live it's freaking incredible

As the song continues going back through the names, a spotlight appears on the person they're singing about and they raise their shot glass

Dolokov plays guitar

On "He spends his money on women and wine" Anatole gestures to a woman in the audience with a "maybe you?" Kind of expression

On "Anatole's friend, a crazy good shot" Dolokov pretends to shoot Anatole with his guitar, and Anatole plays along

On "Chandeliers and caviar" all the chandeliers light up

Balaga plays the drums in the pit/Pierre's study and on his introduction he hits a high hat, then continues to play the drums like a maniac as per his character

Pierre:

Pierre starts off by putting his accordion down and playing the piano

Oak has the voice of an angel

During the first chorus of Pierre, everyone is on the steps and balconies with their glasses raised in his direction

When Pierre says "I drink too much" he holds up a bottle of wine

On "I never thought that I'd end up like this" Pierre pats his tummy

During the women's section of Pierre, all the women in the show dance around him on the main circle

When Pierre says "Or do you struggle too?" he's speaking pretty much directly at ensemble member and continues speaking to him during the "I pity you, I pity me…" section as well

The ensemble is gathered on the lower stage balcony at the end of the song and kinda jumps at him on last note

Moscow:

The rahz dva tri in the beginning of the song is said by Pierre

Sonya and Natasha pretty much act like the Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp, moving together as one to tell their story

When Natasha and Sonya call each other by their proper names, they are mocking the fanciness of them and giggle as they speak

When Natasha says "No one can understand" she puts out a hand to stop Sonya, effectively shutting her out in this section of the song

Sonya leaves when she gets the hand and comes back with Marya after the Natasha/flute part

Marya pushes Sonya away right before saying "first thing tomorrow…"

"We'll buy what we can afford" is said right to audience with a kind of “you know what I’m talking about” vibe

The audience is the "gossips and crybabies"

Marya checks to see that Sonya's gone before saying "Well, now we'll talk"

A light comes up on Prince Bolkonsky when Marya mentions him

When Marya says "Just be kind to Andrey's sister" Mary walks right in between them, but they don’t acknowledge each other

The Private and Intimate Life of the House:

(Andrey and Prince Bolkonsky are same person btw if you didn't know)

There's a really long pause after the "I've aged so very much" where he looks at a section of the audience that lights come up on before saying "People enjoy me though" at those people and they all looked so terrified it was beautifully ironic

When he talks about his powdered wig he pats said wig and a crapton of powder poofs up and it's super visible in the spotlight

Every time Mary says "Yes father" she bows to him

"And I have no friends" is kind of said as a plea to the audience

Natasha killed me in this song with the "everyone has always liked me!" Lots of laughing

The "young suitor" in the song is an audience member

The "cheap French thing" is also an audience member

Courtney singing “His shaking head sinks over his plate" just absolutely wrecked me (cry count: 1)

Natasha & Bolkonskys

When Natasha comes in she and Sonya put stools in the audience who all had to move around to make room for them and the beginning of the song just consists of them gossiping to the audience around them about each other

After the constrained and strained part they pretend to laugh with each other as casual friends but it's so awkward and funny

Prince Bolkonsky is wearing only long johns for this song (hence "the mean old man in his underthings")

No One Else:

Lights come down like stars

During Natasha's "I love you I love you…" she spins around and around and it's really cute

Just before "the snow in the moonlight" Andrey comes back out like a memory and you see him walk away as Natasha tries to follow. This kind of alludes to his lack of compassion for her

There’s fake snow

"Don't you remember?" Is said at an audience member

There’s no music at the end and it really hits you pretty hard

The Opera:

In the beginning of the song, Natasha changes onstage since she wasn’t able to go off during the last song, so she slips into a fancier dress and Sonya puts a flower in her hair

On "Natasha smooth your gown" everyone glares at Natasha

"The glass" is an actual mirror, not just window glass or something like that

When Dolokov is introduced, he flirts with an audience member, kissing her hand

Dolokov and Helene are arm in arm as per the song lyrics

When Pierre says "Although I am enjoying myself this evening" He holds up a bottle of wine and smiles warmly and it's pretty much the epitome of an introvert like same dude same

Helene kind of seduces Natasha when they talk

During the opera, the spotlights go on only when there is singing and then they shut off during the silence in between

All the lighting in the actual opera is blue light

The opera dancers did a bunch of crazy weird stuff that looked really cool and a little funny

When Sonya says "a state of intoxication" the room turns red

Anatole was hella jumpy and airy, which juxtaposed Helene's swaying, grounded movements very nicely

Anatole and Dolokov have a handshake

Natasha & Anatole

During the beginning, Anatole doesn't approach, he waits for Natasha to notice him and keeps trying a bunch of different poses until she does

On "And he's as handsome up close as at a distance" Natasha leans on the balcony and stares at Anatole's face and then he turns around really quick and she gets so flustered it's great

When Natasha says "and kiss me on the neck" Anatole pulls up the hem of her dress a little and "kisses" her on the neck

"How do you like Moscow" is meant to be super casual but it's so not

“Ce sont les joulies femmes” just about translates to “is it’s beautiful women”

"Isn't that so" is said to an audience member

Anatole takes the flower from Natasha's hair on “give me this flower as a pledge”

The Duel

"How was the opera" is Pierre making fun of the opera

When Anatole says "Lend me 50 rubles" he holds out his hand

On "Gonna drink, drink…" Dolokov comes out with a tray of glasses and spins it around on the stage, pretending to fill up the glasses like that

During that little electronic part right before all the whoas the chandeliers light up in a crazy pattern

There’s very heavy strobe and everyone's in light up rave clothing

On “I will make love to her” Anatole grabs Helene from behind and does a pelvic thrust-type thing

On “better wait till she's married” Dolokov and Helene share a look

On the last “Here’s to the health of married women and their lovers” Helene and Dolokov start making out hardcore

Dolokov puts his foot on the piano when he says “now this is what I like"

Anatole’s "this is horribly stupid" is said real deadpan it was great

Dolokov gets shot in his good (right) shoulder which is why he misses

Pierre holds the getting shot pose a real real reeeeeaaaalllllll long time

Right after Helene says “of course, dear brother” she and Anatole get really uncomfortably close to each other and I couldn’t tell from where I was sitting but I’m pretty sure they kiss?

When Anatole says “we live to love another day” he does finger guns at Pierre who looks so unamused

Dust and Ashes

Pierre is playing the piano reeeeeally slow at the beginning like he's still drunk

There’s a chorus line of the entire cast on the mezzanine balcony during the end of the song

Sunday Morning

Marya's “time for church!” is so freaking funny

When Natasha hears a knock at the door, a hand comes out from behind the double doors, hits a woodblock, and then hurries back behind the door. It’s very funny

Charming

Most of charming is done with Natasha in her underwear but like old timey underwear so it's not that scandalous

So! Much! Sexual! Tension!

The dress of metallic gauze is Helene's, not Natasha’s (idk if anyone else was confused about that, but I definitely was so uhhhh yeah)

Helene takes off the necklace that Andrey gave Natasha in the beginning of the show and puts the one around her own neck on Natasha instead

“Alliez dans le monde plutôt que de dépérir d’ennui!” translates to "Go out in the world rather than perish in boredom"

They hold hands on "I will come"

The Ball

The ball is a masquerade party so the ensemble all had masks on

Anatole is waiting impatiently at the start of the song

They dance a waltz around the main ring of the stage

Some of the dancing couples were male/male and female/female!!!

At some point Natasha and Anatole separate but continue dancing around on opposite sides of the main ring as though they are still dancing with each other and it looks really cool

After "I have nothing to say" Natasha and Anatole kiss!

When Natasha says "Andrey" she turns out to the audience kind of like an “oh no” moment

Intermission

The line for the bathroom was hella long but but the line for merch was really short so thank god I used the bathroom before the show and got merch during intermission

If you had seating on the stage you weren’t allowed to enter late because it would disrupt the show which I didn’t even think about but damn I saw a couple empty chairs in the second act

Letters

There are those sirens again

As each character sings, the people they're talking to or about walk across the stage

On “Dolokov is recovering” Dolokov swaggers like the swaggerer that he is

On “Natasha is in town” Natasha walks across the stage frowning and looking at a letter in her hand

When Natasha says “How can I love him and the other one too?” Andrey and Anatole both come forward. Andrey is standing very still and collected while Anatole pops a hip and is swaying a bit

Mary's entire letter is sung right at Natasha

Natasha tries to sing back, but she can't figure out what to say and breaks away

Pierre, Natasha, and Mary sing the candle in the mirror part from different places on the main ring of the stage

The “Woah woah woah” is sung by the whole cast and there’s some fun lighting to go with it

Denee dropped her quill right as a spotlight was on her and it was kinda funny

Dolokov gets cocky on the “a letter which I composed” part and Anatole does a very stylized kind of ”really?" type gesture complete with a weight shift and heel tap

The “love letter” gets sent from Anatole to Natasha through a part of the audience

Once the cast joins in, all the lights in the theatre go on when they sing “Natalie Natalie Natalie” and then right back off again

Each “just say yes” is met with silence, which is why he does another (and at this point Anatole is on one knee)

On Natasha’s ”YES" Anatole does a two hand fist pump of victory

Anatole does a little victory dance with Helene

As Anatole is leaving, he encounters Sonya who he gives a kind of “haha she loves me more“ look to before exiting and Sonya just looks so sad it breaks my heart

Sonya & Natasha

Natasha fell asleep at the end of Letters with Anatole's letter in her hand which Sonya picks up and reads before starting the song

"I hate you Sonya" cry count: 2

Sonya Alone

Natasha stays onstage the entire song walking around oblivious to Sonya's presence, choosing to read a letter from Anatole instead

Cry count: 3

Preparations

Anatole comes onstage with a duffle bag

On “lend me fifty rubles” Pierre separates fifty from a bunch more, holding out the fifty. Anatole goes to take the fifty but then he reaches around and takes the larger stack instead

When Dolokov says “On the day that Sonya decided to save her” a spotlight appears on Sonya who’s still lookin’ real sad

During “to and fro” Dolokov paces with Anatole on a different part of the stage

Balaga

The entire song is pretty much just Balaga running around the stage while Anatole and Dolokov watch from afar

The Abduction

There's so much chaos during the abduction that I probably didn't catch all of it, but I did manage to see Helene and Marya making out for a verrrrry long time, a complete choreographed fight between two cast members, and Natasha smashing a painting over Balaga's head from where I was sitting

When Pierre does the “WOOOAAAAAH” he pauses a real hecking long time after like it’s a good 2 minutes where everyone’s pretty much frozen onstage and it’s just beautiful I love it

“Vsego horoshego! Na pososhok! Poekhali!” translates roughly to, “Good luck! A toast for the road! Let’s go!”

There's a gag that I couldn't see with Anatole and an audience member so if you know what it was please let me know

Dolokov stops everyone and starts singing about the fur coat

Pearl Rhein is the one plucking while Dolokov sings, and she is wearing the coat

After Anatole takes the coat from Pearl, they share a passionate kiss

When the doors open there's a moment where you think it's Natasha or at least you want to believe because you know what’s coming but also Anatole looked so hopeful and determined and you just want it to work out but it doesn’t

Anatole kind of freezes when he sees Marya like he can't really believe it

In My House

Quiet Marya is terrifying

I jumped on the “Now yoU LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SPEAK TO YOU” it had my heart racing a mile a minute holy shit

Sleeping on the sofa consisted of Natasha standing stock still on the lower stage balcony and crossing her arms

With each thing Marya says, (pillow under her head, etc) she gestures at a different ensemble member like they're servants going to do what she just said

Right before the second “let her sleep” Sonya goes to wake her up, but is stopped by Marya

A Call to Pierre

On the “Whaaaaaaaat" in the beginning Pierre is just so upset and t was hilarious

“I have been… studying" suuuuure you were, honey. Sure.

Find Anatole

At the club a bunch of lights come up and the ensemble is gossiping in little groups it’s actually pretty cute

Pierre hesitates when he’s like, “everything is… fine”

On the “It is essential that I see Natasha” Anatole looks so very distraught it's actually really sad and you maybe feel bad for him for a split second there

Helene is sitting with ease waiting for Pierre to come home while Anatole kneels in despair on the ground

After Helene realizes Pierre is no longer a pushover, she freaks out a little and pushes Anatole away from her

Pierre & Anatole

Anatole sits in Pierre’s chair and puts a foot up on the desk

Their fight was pretty much Pierre pushing Anatole’s feet (along with a bunch of papers) off the desk, then lifting him OFF THE GROUND, shaking him a bit, and shoving him back toward the chair and walking past (this is all during the “my face already pale…” part)

On “Come now this is stupid…” Anatole turns around to face Pierre with the chair in between them. Pierre then cuts in with his “You’re a scoundrel…” picks up the chair, throws it to the side, grabs Anatole by the collar, and shoves him against the outside of the pit

Anatole sings for a little bit on his back held in place by Pierre

Anatole seems very out of breath (hmmm I wonder why???)

Natasha comes center stage and pours something into a cup, then drinks it. We find out later that this is arsenic

She keels over, moans, and then rushes offstage with Sonya and Marya close behind

Natasha Very Ill

When Sonya mentions Andrey, he appears in the doorway

Pierre & Andrey

On “Never speak of that again” Andrey grabs Pierre's collar who looks extremely frightened by the move

At the end of the song, Andrey goes to sit in his father’s chair, pushing away Mary who tries to greet him

Pierre & Natasha

When Pierre "appears in the doorway" he steps into the light

Natasha is wearing a plain nightgown and looks quite ill

The letters make Natasha sick

On “she began to cry” Natasha cries a lot and very loudly. Her mic is cut and you can hear the rawness of her sobbing

Cry count: 4

Pierre gets very close to Natasha when he says "think of me" and it seems quite intimate

Pierre stops Natasha from walking away with the “Stop. Stop. Stop."

She makes to leave again and is stopped by Pierre saying "if-"

Oak's pauses are as such; "If-… if I were not myself… but the brightest… handsomest… best man on earth… and if I were free… I would get down, on my knees, this minute… and ask you for your hand… and for your love"

On “Oh Pierre” Natasha touches his cheek

Pierre puts on the coat, sleeves and all

The Great Comet of 1812

The entire beginning of the song is just Pierre on stage alone

As the comet forms, the chandeliers in the mezzanine light up, then the light continues traveling forward toward the stage until only the main chandelier is glowing

All cast members are sitting or standing somewhere on the stage, looking up at the comet as they sing the final song

Total cry count: 4

Alright I think that’s it! If you have any questions, my inbox is always open and you can also message me at any time :)

#Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 #the Great Comet of 1812 #The Great Comet #musicals #she speaks #my contribution to the fandom #long post #musical review #kind of #broadway #uhhhh idk what other tags to put in here so I guess that's it?#I feel like there should be more but oh whale

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bellringermal · 7 years

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Micolash for the -canon thing. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Canon: a terrible ritual of some kind was performed and somehow it went wrong in some way. The guy’s soul survived in the Nightmare realm but what was left of his sanity (assuming he was ever sane in the first place) melted away. Now he runs up and down corridors without a real purpose, not even actively trying to kill the Hunter unless he himself decides it’s time to get trapped behind a gate that only makes things easier for the Hunter. At this point, he will proceed to spam the aggressor(s) with magic tricks he and the School of Mensis stole from the fancier faction of the Church while howling and rambling about the DLC content. In his final moments, he makes clear he doesn’t even realize to be already dead in the waking world, which is kinda sad :(

Headcanon: we can deduct that his ramblings aren’t random and that the goal of the ritual was to somehow call upon/appease Mother Kos. The lyrics of Hail the Nightmare seem to imply that the School of Mensis is asking forgiveness to the goddess for what happened in Fishing Hamlet. Micolash wears the student set and that alone would explain why and how he knows about Kos since we know that it were the Old Hunters (following Burgenwerth’s orders) who raided the village. Micolash could’ve been present or he could’ve learned about it from older students gone rogue when Byrgenwerth’s gates were sealed.

Heartcanon: Micolash was the one responsible for locating Fishing Hamlet in the first place but never intended for the “gift” of Mother Kos to be wasted on Rom’s ascension as he wanted to be the one to receive such a blessing. His feelings toward Rom’s current condition and the ultimate goal of Byrgenwerth/the Church are a clusterfuck of contradictions but above all he is willingly lying to himself, trying so hard to believe that YES, everything he did up to that point and everything he’ll do onwards will be rewarded because no matter the sacrifice, the final prize will be beyond his own imagination.

Soulcanon: I KNOW he had good intentions at some point and also that he had a really deep understanding of the Great Ones and their powers, something so instinctive and natural (for him) that would make even Willem jealous. Not unlike Caryll, he could understand their words and comprehend, even if in an incomplete and confusing way, their powerful alien minds. Studying the Brain of Mensis was what shattered his sanity for good because it revealed to him that some Great Ones weren’t “great” at all and that there was nothing desirable in their miserable condition as deaf and helpless plumps of spongy flesh. And above all, there was no wisdom or great revelation waiting behind the corner.

Crotchcanon: here we go ~♡ Mico and Rom were a thing at some point and they were a force to be reckoned with. Two acute minds sharing an ambitious goal and no morals to get in the way. Their relationship was weird and incomprehensible from the outside but strangely functional and even heart-warming at times because they were outcasts in their own way. Clearly, it was a relationship leaning mostly on the mental side of things than the sexual one, but hey, I find smart people incredibly sexy just because of what they can teach to each other and how they can challenge themselves.

#anon ask #meme #micolash host of the nightmare

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justagoddamnbranch · 7 years

Text

((Mentions of someone else’s blood but otherwise no content warnings))

Doubt part 2

Words: 2461 Rating: T

((Also I probably won’t update any of the stories between tomorrow and Friday, as I’ll be busy with schoolwork. Though I can definitely work on them during the weekend!))

Rhodie was getting very tired of running, they were going to burn out soon. They hoped they'd gotten far enough away from...the other place, it was cowardly but they didn't want to be found out. Their mother would be so disappointed...they were going to have to call her soon to let her know they weren't coming back. They scrabbled up an embankment to find a chain link fence. They were too tired right then to continue, they grabbed a wire on it and used it as leverage to sit down gently. As they laid back they noted the position of the sun in the sky. It was around noon, they guessed. Their eyes fluttered shut and soon they were deeply asleep.

They awoke to a rustling nearby, their eyes opened halfway, and they saw an older woman in a pink sweater with a blue skirt poking underneath shining a flashlight onto them. She didn't say a word, and all that could be heard was crickets and leaves rustling in the breeze. They saw a flash of something shiny in her other hand, her grip trembling. They backed up against the fence and she looked ready to strike, they could hear her soul pounding from here. This was it, they were going to get stabbed. They supposed they deserved it, do unto others and all that, but they couldn't help the tears.

They let out a meek whimper, and the woman lowered her hand.

"Are you lost?" She was trying to sound assertive, but the tremble in her voice gave her away.

"Nuh no, I-I had to le-leave m-my ho-o-ouse." They hiccuped as they cried.

The woman approached them silently, knife still in hand but at her side now. She knelt down, and they started to settle.

"If you need a place to go, I can show you the way."

Rhodie nodded their head, wiping their eyes with the palm of their hand. Now that she was closer, the woman noticed the dried blood across their torso and face. They looked positively wild, and not in the good way. She stood up and beckoned them over, and they did their best to stand up full. Sleeping while sitting up had left them stiff, but the soreness had somewhat subsided. Still, they kinda hunched over as they followed her along the trail.

She walked along the wooded path, looking cautiously all about her. She turned suddenly at a rock, and they hesitantly went along with her. They reached the dimly lit back of a large building, and she fumbled with her keys. They looked up, long paned windows, with candlelight flickering making it look like there was a large fire inside. It was only a reflection though. The woman put away her key and flashlight, opened the door and ushered them inside, then quickly closed it behind the both of them. She paused to dip her middle and index fingers into a little vessel screwed into the wall next to the door before touching her head, then her chest, then both of her shoulders. Rhodie followed suit, having practiced the motion themself all their life.

She plodded along the dark hallway to an office, Rhodie clacking along behind her. She rapped on the door with her free hand. A tall, dour man with a long face peeked from behind his door, once he saw who it was he opened it fully and welcomed them both inside.

"Please, have a seat." He said, getting behind his desk and straightening the papers upon it.

"No need, I need to get back home but I found this young person while I was on my nightly walk. They were against the fence of the nature preserve!" She sounded quite ruffled.

"Thank you Ms. Harris, that's fine. Go on home to your family." He nodded understandingly.

She nodded back, more like she'd made a point rather than in agreement, but she turned tail and walked out. Rhodie could hear her footsteps down the hall and then the slam of a heavy door. They nervously turned to the man, he wasn't wearing the clothes they were used to seeing but he was obviously a member of the clergy.

"Well young man, you look like you've been through it!" He chuckled merthlessly, "I assume you have no place to go?"

"N-no, father. I'm…homeless." They mumbled, a church was the last place they wanted to be after committing murder.

He sighed, "Ya got some bad luck kid, I'm sorry to say but we just filled our last bed for the night."

He waited for a response but Rhodie said nothing.

"However I can drive you to the next church with a spot that's open." He stood up, back cracking

"I'd appreciate that very much, father." They got up as well, slowly though, so the clergyman had time to gather his things

"Come along." He waited for them to catch up before showing them the way out to his car.

The ride over was quiet, the only sound was the 80s pop music pouring out of the stereo. Rhodie was a bit surprised that such a stern looking person was listening to such upbeat music, but it was kinda funny in a way. They played nervously with the belt loops on their pants.

Soon enough they were there, and a much friendlier looking dog-faced church lady was standing outside ready to receive them. She waved to the clergyman and he waved back, a signal to come to his side of the car. He rolled down the window.

"Now see here, this young man is very beat up so prepare yourself for what is to come." He informed her solemnly.

"Oh it's no problem, sir." She smiled, "One of my own boys came home injured just yesterday. Got in a fight."

"I see, so you've got more than enough training!" He laughed genuinely

"Yep!" She said enthusiastically, walking over the the other side to help Rhodie out.

"Hey there-" she ogled what appeared to be a severe injury on them. "Do you need to go to the hospital?!"

"N-no ma'am, it's old. Just haven't washed it off yet." They tried smiling, but it looked more like a grimace.

She frowned in concern.

"Well I'll help you get cleaned up at my house. What's your name?"

They thought for a second, Ronald was a bad name it was too close to their own. Rhododendron...Rhododendron. Denny? No that was a restaurant. Danny? Hmmm, maybe Dan. Dan would be good because it didn't have the -y sound.

"Dan." They held out their hand to shake, they guessed they were Dan now.

"Alright Dan, I live a few blocks away. Can you walk?"

"Yes ma'am."

They said goodbye to the clergyman and made their way slowly to the woman's house. She told them about her boys, and they told her how old they were. She laughed, she had a boy about their age. She then got kind of serious and asked what their pronouns were, they blinked at her, and she apologized for the strange question. It was a bit out of habit, she did have a transgender son after all, and it helped clear up any confusion if she got it out of the way first thing. They nodded, and told her theirs. She nodded back. By the time she laid out most of the house rules, they were at her house.

She showed them inside, and her two boys were on the couch. The smaller one jumped at the sight of them, the larger one simply turning their ears at them.

"Hey kids, we're going to have a guest over for the night. Say hello to Dan." the mom put away her things as she explained, "Dustin, please make sure we have some clean linens for them. If there aren’t any, put some in the wash.”

The eared boy jumped up from the couch at his mother's instructions, and went upstairs.

"Petey, could you put some leftovers from dinner in the oven? 350° should be good."

"Fer sure." Petey got up from the couch, Rhodie noted that he had one arm in a sling. He must've been the one in the fight.

"Ok, Dan," they snapped their attention back to the woman, "the bathroom is in the hallway, it should be the last door to your left. Go ahead and get cleaned up, don't worry about putting those dirty ol’ pants back on. Dustin will get you something clean to wear."

"O-oh, alright. Where do you want me to put them?"

"Just on the ground in there is fine, we'll figure out a spot tomorrow."

They nervously walked over to the bathroom, they'd never showered at someone else's house before. It was kinda weird being naked in a strangers house. Oh well they couldn't question it too much, they didn't like being this dirty. The soap they had smelled nice, it was a lot fancier than they had back at their house. They finished up quickly, they didn’t want to use up all their hot water, and picked up one of their towels. It was so nice and soft, and such a pretty red color. They had forgotten that they didn’t have anything to change into before they stepped out, and in front of the bathroom door was the change of clothes.

They took the bundle into the bathroom to change, the clothes were a little too big but they weren’t going to complain. They actually thought they were a bit funny, it was an old Iron Maiden shirt laden with rips and holes and a pair of black jeans that looked like whoever was trying to cut off the legs were trying to make the edges be jaggedy or possibly even lightning bolts? Either way it was kinda silly looking on them, but they were thankful for it regardless.

They stepped out of the bathroom and nearly ran into the one called Petey, who blinked at them before breaking into a fit of giggles. He snorted, and Rhodie couldn’t help laugh either. Once he calmed down a bit he turned around, back towards the kitchen where his mother was.

“Hey mom you wouldn’t believe what Dustin picked out for them.” He could hardly get out his words without laughing.

The mom turned around and jumped at the sight of them but also broke into laughter. Rhodie knew they looked ridiculous but this was a bit excessive. Dustin walked in, having heard his family in the kitchen, smiling like a fool.

“H-holy shit Dustin, oh my god, they look just like Trentin did back then.” Petey was clutching his sides, it felt good to laugh that hard.

“Yeah except they’re taller.” Dustin winked.

A new wave of giggles hit Petey and he left the kitchen, he couldn’t handle it anymore he needed to sit down. The mom settled down a bit, and glanced over at them, noticing they’d pulled back.

“Hey, hey, Don’t worry about it, it’s a family thing. You actually look really cute in those. Go ahead and sit with Petey on the couch, the food’s almost ready.”

“Y-you sure you want me to eat on the couch?” They perked up a small bit, they never got to eat anywhere other than the table at home. Well, unless they were sick.

“Yeah,” she waved at them dismissively, “As long as you don’t spill I don’t see any problem with it. You’ve deserve to sit on something soft after all you’ve been through.”

All they’ve? Oh right they were homeless. She must’ve thought they were homeless for a while, not 18 hours. Wait...oh wait shoot they were going to call their mom.

“I-is it alright if I make a call? It won’t be long I promise.”

“Sure, sure, as long as it’s not long distance. Well actually it’s after 9, so go nuts.” She smiled, turning back to whatever she had been doing before Petey had come in.

They left the kitchen, they assumed the phone would be close to a table and scanned the room, there it was. They scurried over to it, and took it off its receiver and sat on the steps of their stairs before dialing in the familiar number. One ring, two, three, then the click of someone answering.

“Hello?!” It was their own mom, and she sounded frantic.

“Hey mom-”

“Rhodie? Oh thank all the gods and monsters, where are you? I can go right now.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m fine I’m at someone’s house.”

“Who’s house?”

“Petey’s?” They knew their mom wouldn’t know who that was but they hoped she wouldn’t question it.

“...what happened, Rhodie. You need to tell me.”

“Nothing happened, I met a guy.” they hoped that wasn’t a lie, it was technically true after all.

“Rhodie, they found him in the woods. They’re saying it was probably his disgruntled employees or a cult or something. You know how there’s those satanists and witches out there.”

“What if they figure me out anyways?”

“Then we can move, just please Rhodie, come home.”

“I need to stay out here a couple days, then I’ll come back.” They had no idea if they were actually going to follow through with that, but they needed to say something to comfort her.

“Only a few days though?”

“Unless there’s any doubts.”

“Alright then, I love you.”

“Love you too. See you soon. Bye.” They clicked the red button and held it in their hands a second.

They stood up, just in time to notice Dustin’s ear flick back forward towards the tv and away from them. He’d heard them. They slunk down the stairs, and sat down next to him on the couch. He turned to his brother and growled, Rhodie didn’t pay them much mind though. They looked like they had some dog in them and dogs growled, that’s part of what made them so scary. Or well pet dogs, they didn’t know much about dog monsters but they assumed both of them growled at each other.

A few mintues later the mom came out of the kitchen with a plate for them, and herself. She sat across them in a rocking chair and started eating, they quickly followed suit. The food tasted amazing, and they complimented her throughout the meal. When they were finished they cleaned both of their plates, and while they were busy the mom had pulled out the blankets and set the couch up for them to sleep on. The family said goodnight to them, and left as a bunch to go upstairs, leaving them all alone on the first floor. It was a bit comforting, to be alone and warm. They didn’t realize how tired they were and drifted off to sleep.

#stories #doubt #rhodie #petey #dustin #louisa #sfw

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