#(introduce her to a series of roads and buildings and she is lost in the sauce.)

[ehlnofay]

It’s not until she hears Sissel’s knees hit the floor that Efri is jolted back into her body.

She blinks, whipping her head around. Sissel is kneeling, bracing a palm on the ancient stone pavement, at the barrier – no, the barrier’s gone, it’s just Sissel on the floor. She lifts her head and meets Efri’s eyes; her hair is wispy and wild, the little plaits meant to keep it neat come loose and tumbling, her eyes wide. The barrier's gone, but still, her pale face is lit up blue.

“Are you okay?” she asks. She doesn’t speak loudly, but it echoes in the great stone chamber.

Nine, Efri doesn’t know.

She blinks again, looks down at her hands, clinging to the metal stick so fiercely that her joints ache. (Her own stick, her nice wooden one, is still on the floor somewhere, where it slipped out of her grasp when she hit the wall.) The lumpy heavy end of it, the clobbering end, is still resting on –

Not on. It’s in the thing’s head, fitted neatly in the opening of its dented helmet, the horns spiralling over the floor. There’s a tooth, perfectly preserved, by Efri’s foot.

One by one, she unwraps her gloved fingers from the handle of the metal stick, letting it drop to the floor with a clang so loud it makes her wince. Kazari is nosing at her side. (When did they let go of it? When did they get so close? She must have missed that. She feels out of the loop. Her heart is juddering like fish on a line, battering like some frightened trapped thing at her ribcage, and her breath is coming fast and heavy.) Absentmindedly bringing up a hand to press over her sore shoulder, she says, “’M fine. Not too – barely touched me.”

Kazari turns and spits on the floor. Efri blinks. She does it again, tongue lolling out of her mouth, face very disgruntled – and oh, Efri gets it. She does not glance down at the thing at her feet; she doesn’t need to, she knows what its arm looks like, chewed almost to pieces even through its banded armour. (If she hadn’t been so busy being scared of it, that sight might have made her a bit scared of Kazari. But not now, when they’re trying to hack and spit the taste of dead man arm out of their mouth.)

Efri unclips her canteen from her belt and holds it out. “Here,” she says. Her voice is rough. Her heart is racing too much to let constructing sentences be easy. “Not much, but –”

Kazari stands still while Efri tips half of the remaining water onto her tongue, and then Efri watches her swilling it around in her mouth, trying to bathe all of her teeth in it, before she spits it again on the floor at the dead thing’s feet.

The water is still clear. That’s something, at least; the dead man was too old to still have blood in him. Or maybe he was embalmed, drained of it hundreds of years ago, thousands.

“Are you okay?” Efri asks Kazari when they’re done, because they were the one doing most of the fighting, who was closest. They tip their head, shift their weight – wince when they put weight on one foot. Their lips peel back from their teeth. Their clothes on that side are singed.

Efri points it out. “Your robe,” she says, which makes it sound much fancier than it is. She’s too tired to think of a better word. She rubs a hand over her face, pushing the hair back over her forehead, says, “I’ll reinforce it for you when we get out.”

Kazari noses at Efri’s shoulder – the shredded fabric of her dress, the fraying edges stained with blood. Efri says, “I know. I’ll have to sew that up too.” Over her shoulder, she calls, “Kazari’s leg’s hurt, I think.”

“There’s blood on you,” Sissel replies. She peels her hand off the floor and leans back on her heels.

Efri touches her shoulder again. “’S fine,” she says. “Just a scrape. The blood’s drying already.”

It’s really sore, actually – the flesh abraded and tender, an ache sinking deep into the muscle – but it’s normal sore, the kind of sore you really should be after being thrown into a wall. It doesn’t feel sprained or dislocated or anything like that.  Just like it will be bruised a whole rainbow of colours come tomorrow.

Kazari noses at it again. She leans too far forward and falters on her maybe-hurt leg – rights herself, wincing, and rolls her shoulder. It gleams, just for a moment, and she nearly stumbles again. Efri puts out a hand to steady her. (It doesn’t really accomplish anything – Efri’s strong, but she’s not that strong – but it’s the principle of it.) “What was that spell?”

“Pain relief,” Sissel says from behind her. “I think. Doesn’t actually fix anything, but.”

“You’ll be okay ‘til we find someone?” Efri asks, and Kazari nods. She presses a hand against their shoulder and nods back.

They both turn to look at Sissel, then, who’s just kneeling on the floor, sitting on her heels.

“You all right?” Efri asks her.

“All right,” Sissel confirms. She doesn’t look at them. “Didn’t even come near me.”

She’s staring.

Efri crosses the floor to stand with her. (She needs to lean on Kazari – her legs are too wobbly, and she doesn’t want to touch the dead thing’s stick, doesn’t want to look for her own. Kazari limps a little on their sore front leg.) There’s a moment of total, humming silence – all of them still and staring, necks craned back, looking up at the thing.

Whatever it is.

It’s a ball. Big and blue and shimmering, it floats above a wide crystalline dish set into the floor, spinning on an axis. Just spinning and spinning and spinning, endless motion. Its smooth surface is cut through with dark wavering lines, etched with lettering, and it doesn’t quite glow but it doesn’t not glow, either, the light moving across it silkily, like clouds in a blue sky. It looks like something that should be humming – a low pitch in their ears, an eerie shiver dancing over their skin – but it’s silent. Inert, maybe, but for the spinning.

“What is it?” Efri asks. Her voice cracks as she speaks. She looks down at Sissel’s face, staring as though mesmerised, illuminated by the room’s dim lighting – the fires that should not still be burning down here, the luminous not-glow of the ball.

Sissel says, “I don’t know. Something important.”

Hovering above the dish, it spins, and spins, and spins.

“Is it what the ghost was talking about?” Efri asks. She tilts her head and squints at it. It doesn’t – well, it looks strange and unearthly and powerful, but it isn’t doing anything. And it hadn’t been clear what the ghost was talking about, exactly, according to Sissel, just that it was something important – but what else could it be?

Sissel, still watching it, shrugs. “I don’t know,” she says. “I think so.”

Efri watches it with her, brushing a bit more hair out of her face. It’s sticking to her sweaty forehead. She feels a drip of not-dry blood running down her arm under her sleeve.

Kazari is staring at it too – just as confounded as the rest of them. Efri sees the light in their irises shifting as the ball spins.

They’re not learning anything from staring, the ball staying strange and mysterious as ever, so Efri raps her knuckles against her sternum to steady her breathing (it’s slowed a bit – not normal, but closer to it) and climbs up onto the stone rimming of the dish. Kazari, behind her, lows in consternation; Sissel catches her breath, a noise like a creaking door. “Careful,” she says.

“Promise,” Efri replies, and places her feet very, very carefully on the glassy blue flooring. Nothing happens. She doesn’t step on the dark curved lines as she treads toward the ball in the centre, slow and wary as if she were approaching a skittish animal. Nothing happens.

She reaches out, and, with just the tips of her fingers, she grazes the ball’s surface.

Nothing happens.

It’s cool to the touch, and smooth, like polished metal or not-frozen ice or delicate glasswork. It continues to spin gently under her fingers, warming her glove with friction, no smudges left on its clouded face.

 It really feels like there should at least be a tingle running up her arm, a strange and unfamiliar current, a spark. But it’s just Efri, standing with an arm outstretched, pressing her hand to a ball.

“It’s not doing anything,” she reports, and Sissel clambers up onto the dish with her, fitting her palm to its gently hovering underside. Kazari balks, begins pacing agitatedly. Efri frowns. “Why isn’t it doing anything? Shouldn’t it be doing something?”

“It’s important,” Sissel says definitively. There’s ancient dust on her fingers, but none of it seems to transfer. “It’s something really special, I think.”

Efri shifts restlessly. She shifts her grip and tries to grab onto the dark ridged curves ringing its surface, but they slip easily away from her grasp as though her touch was no barrier at all. “But what does it do?”

Sissel shrugs.

Behind them, Kazari lows.

Efri drops her hand and grabs Sissel’s wrist. “C’mon,” she says, and when Sissel frowns at her, “We’re not going to learn anything about it this way. We have to look for clues!”

Kazari makes a more impatient noise. (Efri thinks she found a clue.)

Sissel gives the ball one last searching look and lets Efri tug her away, off the weird blue dish and down to where Kazari stands on the stone floor, at the head of the table where the dead man sat. Efri sniffs loudly and tries not to think about it too much. The table is smooth polished stone, worn a little away with time; Efri trails a gloved finger over the edge and directs her attention to where Kazari points with their chin.

There’s something carved into the surface, the edges blunted and shapes softened by however many years it must have been since it was put there. Efri squints, trying to make it out. She has to stand right up on her tiptoes to get the right angle to see much of it in full.

“That’s not letters,” she says eventually, frowning. She’s pretty sure she knows her alphabet well enough by now to know that. “Is it magic?”

Sissel shakes her head. “I don’t know what it is. It’s not like magical writing I’ve ever seen.”

Efri looks at Kazari, who also shakes her head. “Maybe it’s a different sort of lettering,” she theorises. It must have been written a long time ago, if it’s from back when the city had people. Onmund’s been reading all about it for ages, and he’s told her a bit – Saarthal was the city of Atmorans, populated by proto-Nordic people. All complicated history stuff. But they weren’t quite the same as Nords today, he said, so it stands to reason they had different writing, too. They’re supposed to be uncovering and cataloguing artifacts (at the thought, Efri glances back at the hovering ball and swallows an inane bubble of laughter) so she suggests, “Maybe you can copy it and we can show it to someone. I’m sure there’ll be someone at the College what knows what it is.”

Sissel, also standing on her toes, nods dutifully. “What will you do?”

The chamber they’re in is cavernous, and about empty but for the ball in the dish, the altar and chair, the body on the ground. “I’ll check him,” she says, and points. “See if he has anything on him that’s special.”

Sissel follows her finger and grimaces.

She digs out her note-paper and her stick of char, and Efri assumes it’s clues time, but when she turns she feels a hand grip her elbow. She looks back over her tattered shoulder at Sissel’s face, her furrowed brow.

“Promise you’re really okay?” she says, voice anxious and solemn.

“Promise,” Efri says, twisting her arm to touch her friend’s hand. Sissel presses her lips together and lets go of her arm.

Kazari trails after Efri to look at the dead man.

First thing is the metal stick. It’s magic someway, Efri knows – he waved it and threw her into a wall, flung spells with it – but she’s not sure how. Doesn’t know enough about enchantments. Didn’t need to, to use it; when Kazari clamped down on his arm she just ripped it from his grasp and –

She doesn’t quite exactly remember, actually, except for the bitter tang of adrenaline in her mouth and nose, the horrible grunting and scuffling sounds, the heft of the stick in her hands. Impact, over and over and over, against something that had a little more give each time.

Efri scrubs a hand over her mouth and grips the handle of the stick. It takes effort to wrest it out of the thing’s face, caught as it is by the edges of the helmet, and when it’s finally yanked free it’s – actually not as bad as she might have expected. There’s no blood, and the corpse was so desiccated it already didn’t even really look like a person anymore, so it registers less as someone with horrible violence done to it and more as a really gross art piece. It’s not nice. She doesn’t like the twisted, gaping mouth, teeth embedded wrong-ways in its tissue and scattered like coins over the floor. And one of the eyes, which had glowed unearthly blue, is now a dull, rotten black, squished like a plum in its socket.

It's worse the more she looks. She sniffs and turns away.

“This is magic, right?” she asks Kazari, testing the weight of it in her hands, the cool surface of the metal, and they nod. “A good artifact?” she adds, and they nod again, emphatically. Efri sets the stick aside and kneels.

It wasn’t wearing any clothes, really – or if it was, they rotted away. She touches the rusted armour gingerly, tries to avoid brushing her gloves against the shrivelled skin at all. Whoever it was had expensive taste, it seems – there’s jewellery in a shockingly well-preserved beard, pendants around the neck, armbands. Efri asks Kazari if each thing is enchanted. No to the armbands, no to the beard-ring, and then, pressed against the wizened chest where the flesh contours to the ribs, she finds some kind of necklace, sharp-edged and thrumming. Kazari nods to that, and, face scrunched up like an old fruit, Efri reaches around the ancient neck to slip it off.

She tucks it into a belt pocket with the tripwire necklace they found at the weird wall.

“Done,” Sissel says. She folds her paper and slips it into her own pouch. Her footfalls on the echo-y stone floor as she approaches the body for the first time are almost silent. “Did you find anything?”

“Necklace,” Efri replies, watching Sissel’s face pinch at the sight of him. “And – stick.” She scoops up the metal stick and holds it out. “He did spells with it.”

Sissel looks at it warily. “Is he a draugr?” she asks, glancing back down at his mashed-up face.

“I mean,” Efri says, “he’s got to be, right?” She’s certainly never seen a draugr before, but what else could it be?

(Calling it a draugr makes her shiver, the set of her shoulders quaking. She’ll stick to dead man.)

Sissel shudders. She reaches out to grip the handle of the stick, and Efri’s not sure if she’s taking it or just trying to keep herself upright. “I can’t believe that happened,” she says. Her voice sounds, suddenly, fragile. “I can’t believe we’re alive.”

“Me neither,” Efri says. She presses the tip of the stick into the ground so Sissel can lean on it, stands a little unsteadily.

Kazari, with a hushed murmur, telegraphs something. Efri recognises the head incline of understanding – she’s familiar with that word, that idea – and, after a moment, the flickering ear of doubt.

“They’ll have to believe us,” she says with conviction, because she means it. “We’ll show them. They’ll see for themselves.”

Kazari presses their nose to her head.

Efri clasps her hands together. “We’ll go tell someone now,” she declares – though it’s easier said than done; they were lost in the ruins ages before they even found the crumbling wall, the halls, this horrible wonderful chamber. But they’ll get un-lost eventually. They’ll get out eventually. Surely. They have practice enough with walking. “But first – help me find my stick.”

#little girl has a kill count now!! more at 11 #for context: I altered stuff leading up to the discovery of the eye #efri and sissel went off to play in the undiscovered halls of this ancient archeological dig site #on the grounds that efri has a great sense of navigation and they'll find their way back to the group no problem. #(efri has a great sense of navigation in the wilderness.) #(introduce her to a series of roads and buildings and she is lost in the sauce.) #their friends split up to look for them after they've been missing from a while (wandering around with great interest and no sense of place #(incredibly lost) #kazari happens upon them right as they've found a necklace at the end of a dead-end passageway that - when dutifully grabbed #for archeological research purposes - ended up triggering the wall to crumble or disappear or otherwise remove itself from the equation #and efri wasn't going to just. LEAVE that opening there. #come ONN kazari that's weird!! we can't just leave it!! what if it closes up and we never ever find it again and there's incredible secrets #that the college never finds! what if we never know what's through there! #we HAVE to know what's through there! #so on they go. #and so ensue the horrors #they pass a lot of dead bodies before the main all but those ones are all immobile #also sissel is the only one to receive the psijic projection warning. which she explains to the others as a ghost telling her secrets #which efri accepts bc this seems like the kind of place that would for sure have ghosts #and kazari goes sure that tracks this place is fucking creepy can we leave now (<- is also curious but HAS to put on a show of reluctance #because clearly no-one else is going to) #(permanent babysitter of kids with the worst self-preservation instincts imaginable) #(she is so strong. living every childcare worker's nightmare) #ANYWAY #:D #normal type stuff #posting because it matches the artwork I'm also posting! look at that thing!!! #fay writes #oc tag #efri

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Still With You | A Jeon Jungkook Series | Chapter Seven

Summary: Jungkook introduces you to his Hyungs but his jealous streak comes out and shows you the worst of him Pairing : Luna (reader) x Jungkook and Jimin, f2l love triangle Word Count: 4.5k~ Warnings: JEALOUS JUNGKOOK like I mean jealous, possessive, territorial the whole nine yards (and it's pretty hot ngl lmaooo) which leads into an argument, explicit language (I think?) making out and all that stuff a/n: I have part one through eleven written already so I figured I would just post this to fill up some space until the next update for my other stories :) Start from the beginning

As Jungkook leads me towards his hyungs I feel myself getting a little anxious. I know I'm safe with Jungkook but I'm on edge nonetheless since I'm still not sure why we're here. The guys turn their backs and start walking towards the building behind them and we follow close behind.

Looking around I notice that this place almost looks like the bare bones of a warehouse but from the looks of it someone has been working on remodeling it. 

Once we get to the back Namjoon opens a door and leads us down a set of stairs onto what looks like a boardwalk. I knew we were getting close to the coast but I didn't realize we could get to a place like this so quickly. 

As we make our way down the boardwalk I take that time to look at all the little shops lined up on either side of us that have been long forgotten and start to imagine what this place might've looked like in its heyday.

Getting too lost in thought I feel myself trip on a loose board, and before I even have a chance to react I feel a pair of hands on my waist steadying me before I fall.

"Hey daydreamer, you alright?" Tae says with an amused smile. "Yeah, sorry" I say, quickly tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear that had fallen out of place. "You don't need to apologize" he says warmly "Just watch your step okay? Do you want to hold my hand just in case?" he offers. 

"No she's fine, I'll help her" Jungkook says coming out of nowhere and pulling me in by my waist from behind. With my back now up against his chest and his arm wrapped around my waist protectively I give Tae an awkward smile but I can see from his expression that he's clearly enjoying Jungkook's reaction. "Let me know if you change your mind" he says sending a not so subtle wink my way and giving Jungkook a devilish smile clearly taunting him. 

"What is this place?" I ask aloud in hopes to direct Jungkook's attention to something other than boring holes into the back of Tae's head. "It's an old boardwalk that my uncle just bought" Namjoon answers having overheard my question. 

"It used to be super popular back when he was younger but I guess people stopped coming once that new shopping mall opened up a couple of miles down the road. They ended up losing too much business so they finally closed up about 20 years ago, it's kind of been frozen in time ever since. He just started working on restoring it and he finally finished the arcade about a week ago, so I thought I would finally invite you guys to come and check it out!" he continues. He seems to be putting on a laid back act but I can tell he's really excited to show us.  

I look up at Jungkook with my back still pressed against his chest and notice that he hasn't made an effort to follow the guys into the arcade. "Is everything alright?" I say seeing his jaw clenching. "Jungkook" I say hoping to bring his attention back over to me. 

"Huh? What? What'd you say?" he says finally breaking out of that possessive headspace. "I asked you if everything was alright? You seem a bit tense" I say turning around to face him. "Everything's fine, it's just, I didn't like the way he was looking at you" he says finally admitting to his jealousy. 

"I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, from my perspective it seemed like he was trying to get a reaction out of you and you gave him exactly what he wanted" I say placing my hand on his arm.

"Kook I'm here with you. I came to meet your friends but I promise you, you have nothing to worry about" I say looking into his eyes trying to convey my sincerity. He looks away from mine and huffs, "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to introduce you guys".

"Aw come on they're harmless!" I say laughing at how moody he's been ever since we got here. "Plus Tae was just trying to make sure that I didn't fall" I say explaining the situation. "Yeah I know, I saw" he says looking back down at me. "So then why are you still upset?" I ask hoping to help him make sense of situation. 

"I didn't like the way he was touching you either" he says, continuing to justify his reaction. "Oh come on it wasn't that bad, see?" I say placing his hands where Tae had touched me. Looking back up at him I now realize what he meant, and feel my heart rate pick up under his gaze. 

"See" I say, clearing my throat, "It's nothing" I continue trying my best to convince him. He looks down at me and I can feel my skin burning up from the intensity of his stare, and then let out a small gasp as he quickly pulls me in by the waist.

"Now is it nothing?" he says into my ear in a tone that wakes up all of my sense. "Tae didn't do this" I respond in a breathless tone feeling the mood change drastically.

"Yeah, but he could've" he says continuing to speak directly into my ear, feeling his warm breath fanning my neck. He leans in closer and I soon feel his soft lips placing feather light kisses on my neck and now exposed shoulder. 

"Jungkook" I choke out trying to keep a level tone. "What if someone sees?" I continue once I realize he isn't stopping. "Good, because then they'll know who you belong to" he says stopping his kisses only long enough to respond. He increases the intensity of his actions and walks towards me placing my back up against the wall of the building behind me. 

I hiss slightly once I feel him start to bite and suck one spot, now realizing what he's doing. Before I'm given a chance to protest he crashes his lips against mine, swallowing the beginnings of an argument. 

The kiss is rough from the very start, feeling him kiss, bite and suck on my lips with more intensity than I've ever felt. I try to suppress a moan from coming out but it's impossible from the way he has my head spinning. 

Feeling myself running out of breath I press on his chest firmly and he pulls away from the kiss, resting his forehead against mine. Looking into his eyes and seeing the way he's looking at me makes it even harder to breathe let alone think and before I have a chance to say anything he whispers "Mine".

"Hey are you guys coming in or what?" Jin yells from the doorway. Jungkook takes a deep breath and calls out "Yeah we'll be there in a minute Hyung" not making efforts to move away from me just yet, but nonetheless Jin in turn retreats inside. 

"I don't want anyone else touching you like this. Do you understand?" He says firmly. "Jungkook I already told yo-" I start in protest still feeling breathless. "I don't care. I just want you to know that I don't want anyone else being this close to you" he says cutting me off and making his stance clear. 

"Okay" I respond, not really knowing what else to say. "But did you really have to give me a hickey to prove your point?" I question rolling my eyes at him.

"No, but it was a nice touch" he says with a smirk rubbing his thumb over the mark. "Oh so giving me swollen lips from making out wasn't gonna be enough for you?" I call after him as he walks away towards the arcade. "Nope" is all he bothers to say before opening the door and waiting for me to catch up. 

"You're insufferable" I say as I walk past him and he gives me a light slap on my ass in response. I glare at him but am cut off before I can even utter a word of scolding by Namjoon asking me to come and play a basketball game with him. Gladly accepting I take the first chance I have to escape Jungkook before giving it a second thought. 

"Have you played this game before?" he questions and then glances down at my neck where I can only assume is the place where Jungkook's mark has started to bloom.

"Uh yeah I have" respond shortly, turning away from him to place it out of his line of sight. He starts the game without any other questions and we keep going until the timer runs out. 

"Yes!" he says exclaims in victory. "Yah!" Jin exclaims, having seen the exchange. "Don't be rude, you challenged her to your favorite game so of course you won" he further scolds. "It's okay Jin, I'm not very good to begin with but it was still fun!" I say trying to lighten the mood. 

"Why don't you pick out a game and then we'll see who wins next" he says giving me a genuine smile which happens to be accompanied by two adorable dimples. "Sure! Best two out of three?" I propose excited for another chance at victory. "Best two out of three" he repeats in agreement. 

"I would propose to play a few more but my guess is that he won't let me keep you for that long" he continues, nodding his head towards Jungkook who has his eyes trained on the both of us. "He can get over himself" I say turning back towards Namjoon. 

"Now, what would you say to playing a round of Guitar Hero?" I ask excitedly. "I would say I should just accept defeat right away" he admits laughing at his lack of luck with said game. "Oh come on it'll be fun!" I say trying my best convince him to play. "Alright let's get this over with" he says shaking his head and laughing, knowing the future result.

"Man... you really do suck at this game Hyung" Tae says after watching the beating Namjoon just took from me. "Hey he tried his best" I say placing a hand on his shoulder trying my best to keep my composure.

"It's okay Luna you can laugh" he says giving me a painful smile. I can't help but break after being given permission and feel Tae joining right along side me as we laugh for a bit at Namjoon's clumsiness. 

"I'm sorry Namjoon" I say, still trying to calm down. "It's okay, and call me Joon okay? Namjoon sounds way too formal coming from you" he says playfully.

"Alright Joon" I start, complying with his request. "What should our tiebreaker game be?" I ask, feeling the tingling sensation of victory continue to run through my veins. "Hmm" he says looking around the room before laying his eyes on a particular spot. 

"Air hockey?" he suggests. I can see from his expression that he's trying to hide his confidence under an indifferent demeanor but what he doesn't know is that I haven't lost a game of air hockey in 7 years. Even Jungkook with his competitive spirt refuses to play with me anymore. "Sure, why not?" I respond following suit in trying to conceal my excitement.

Walking up to the table I look over at Jungkook and see he's still there watching me closely and I can see a smirk slowly growing on his lip. I don't make an effort to give him a reaction in return and turn back towards the table to grab a hold of the mallet. I feel the air turn on and notice that the puck comes out on Namjoon's side. 

"Why don't you start?" he says making moves to hand me the puck. "No that's okay, age before beauty" I say and hear the boys laugh at my response as they all seem to have drawn their attention towards our tiebreaker challenge. "This is gonna be good" I hear Tae whisper to Hobi but I try my best to not let our little audience psyche me out. 

Taking a deep breath I watch as Joon starts to place the puck on the table and sends it my way. I in turn send it back to him but bypass his mallet and hear the clinking sound signaling my first point.

All the guys react by laughing, cheering or teasing, but as the game continues I have yet to hear one voice during the entire match but I do my best to keep my head in the game nonetheless. 

Once the time clock is close to running out I hear the boys countdown from ten and then feel that same thrilling sensation of victory I've felt time and time again as they finally shout out zero.

I celebrate my victory for a second or two along with the guys but after taking a couple of steps back from the table I cut my cheers short as I feel myself hit a wall of muscle accompanied by arm slowly wrapping around my waist.

"Good job Noona" Jungkook says in a low voice fanning his breath against my neck again making me shiver at the unexpected contact. "How many wins in a row is that now?" he continues, speaking softly enough so I'm the only who can hear. "I-i've lost count" I stutter for a second and clear my throat immediately after. 

"I'd expect nothing less from my champion" he says as he rubs his nose into the side of my neck, taking a second to gently breathe in my scent before taking a step back making his hold a little less intimate. 

"Wow Luna! I had no idea you would be that good! I can see why Jungkook has always been so competitive being friends with someone like you" Hobi says with a big smile on his face. "Thanks! I think?" I say confused as to if I should take it as a compliment. 

"You're a worthy opponent Luna, I'll give you that" Joon says coming up to me and giving me a high five. "You too! Not gonna lie, it bruised my ego a bit losing the first game but I guess you could say it kickstarted my competitive nature" I laugh. 

"Thanks for asking me to play with you!" I continue, giving him a friendly smile. "Anytime" he responds reciprocating my smile. "Hey Hyung I think Jin Hyung is looking for you" Jungkook says while pulling me in closer. "Oh alright, I guess I'll go see what he wants then" he says and makes his way over to the man in question.

"You know you don't have to do this right?" I say turning around to face Jungkook who is still holding me. "Do what?" he says feigning innocence. "This" I say running one on my hands up his arm. "I always do this though" he says in defense. "Jungkook I already told you that I'm not interested in any of them" I say trying to reassure him yet again. 

"It's not you that I'm worried about, it's them" he says glancing over at his Hyungs, now surrounding Yoongi and Hobi while they compete in some sort of racing game. I don't bother to look at them for too long so as to not give him another reason to be jealous and continue on with our discussion. 

"What about them? They didn't do anything" I say confused, "We were just playing games, it's not like they hugged me or something. You made it very clear from the start that you didn't want that to happen" I say trying to explain away whatever he was worrying about. 

"You do realize that almost all of them were checking you out the whole time right? Especially when you were leaning over the table" he says sliding his hand down lower on my waist. "Jungkook it's whatever, don't let it bother you" I say trying my best to get him to drop it but he persists nonetheless. 

"But it does bother me Luna. I'm in love with you, and I know you haven't fully figured out how you feel about me so, I don't know, I can't help but feel insecure" he finally fully admits.

"Jungkook I'm sorry but I don't want to rush into something right now. Give me some time and I'll let you know soon okay?" I say in hopes to reassure him that I'm still thinking about us. He nods his head in response and leans in to kiss me and I turn my face to the side and make him place it on my cheek instead. 

"Time Kook" is all I say and pull away from him before he can pout any further.

Walking over to watch the madness that is this racing game unfold I feel someone take a hold of my hand. "Luna can I talk to you for a second?" Jin says as I turn and make eye contact with him. I politely slide my hand out of his grasp and nod my head yes, following him to the other side of the room so we can talk. 

"What's up?" I ask looking up and seeing his unreadable expression. "Is everything alright between you and Jungkook?" he questions straight away. "Yeah! Why wouldn't they be?" I question trying to figure out exactly what he's trying to ask me. 

"Well, ever since I saw you guys get out of Jungkook's car I noticed that things were really tense between the two of you. I know we just met, and I haven't really seen what your relationship with Jungkook is like normally, but I can tell that there's something going on" he continues doing his best to be considerate but also wanting to get some answers out of me. 

"I just want to make sure that you're feeling safe and comfortable around him. I know you guys have been friends for forever from what Jungkook has said but I just want you to know that if you ever need to talk or want me to talk to him just let me know" he finishes, fully explaining his motives. I'm taken aback by his maturity and observation of the dynamic that Jungkook and I have going on and am honestly touched by his concern. 

"Thank you Jin that really means a lot to me. Things are kind of rocky and uncertain between us right now but we'll get through it" I say trying to wrap things up neatly. "How long ago did he tell you he has feelings for you?" Jin says not wanting to drop the subject. 

My eyes widen realizing that Jin saw a lot more than I wanted him to when he came outside. "I- um-" I fumble for a second before settling on just telling him the truth. "Last night" I admit.

"And what did you say?" he prods further. "I told him that I needed time to figure things out. I just barely caught onto the fact that he might have feelings for me a few days ago so everything about our relationship has just switched up drastically and I just haven't had time to think about it all" I respond dropping my gaze to the floor. 

"You're scared of losing him aren't you?" he ask when he knows for a fact that he's right. I nod my head in response not really knowing how else to respond. "Luna, that boy is crazy about you! He's always thinking about you and bringing you up in any and every conversation he can. Not to mention how many times he's ditched us to go see you. Not that I'm complaining" he laughs trying to lighten the mood. 

"He would always tell us how much he likes you and would pout when you were taking too long to respond or had to cancel on him because of work. I highly doubt you would ever lose him even if you tried" he says smiling down at me. "

All I'm trying to say is that he loves you and cares for you a lot. If you want him to back off let me know and I'll talk to him. I know what it feels like to be put under pressure, especially when it comes to relationships so know that I'm here for you if you need anything" he finishes.

I thank Jin for his advice and make my way back over to the guys just in time to see Yoongi cross the finish line. Unfortunately for Hobi he comes in last, having somehow managed to get his car stuck going backwards off a cliff and can't seem to get it to respawn in time to catch up. 

While Hobi does his best to get Yoongi to give him a rematch I feel someone bumping their shoulder into mine and turn to see Tae looking down at me. We make eye contact and then see him turn his head over to another part of the arcade and makes his was over there. 

I turn back towards the group of guys trying to find Jungkook in the crowd and notice that he's finally taken his eyes off of me to talk to Namjoon. I take that as my chance and follow after him to see what exactly he's wanting to do. 

"Hey Luna" he says with a soft smile leaving me retuning his greeting and inquire as to why he's brought me over here. "I just wanted to see if you're having fun. You really killed it in that game against Namjoon hyung" he says with an amused smile. "Yeah it was really fun! I'm glad he asked me to play" I say truthfully turning my attention over to the other games in that area.

"Have you ever played this game?" he motions over to a Zombie Apocalypse simulator. He walks over towards it and I watch as he climbs inside the little two seater cubby that shows the war torn landscape on a big screen. I walk over to it and observe the setup. 

"I haven't. Is it scary?" I ask, apprehensive to trying out such an immersive game. "I don't really think so, you just gotta keep on telling yourself it's not real but also do your best to defend yourself. It's a delicate balance" he says with an encouraging tone. 

"You wanna try it out?" he offers, scooting away from me so I can sit next to him. "Sure" I say coming around to the idea after hearing his explanation. He pats the space next to him inviting me inside and hands me the gun that is directly in front of me once I get inside.

I mutter a quick thanks and feel myself getting a bit nervous from being this close to him but I do my best to focus on the task at hand. 

"You ready?" he asks making moves to set up the game. "Ready as I'll ever be" I say with a nervously. "You'll do great!" he says giving me a warm smile. He pulls the trigger after having chosen his gun and has me do the same. 

The pace starts off slow with a couple walkers here and there and soon escalates to more and more coming faster and faster. I flinch a bit seeing one having jumped on to the screen and do my best to get him off of me.

Tae aims his gun over onto my side of the screen to help me out and we quickly get it off and we continue on finishing the final round.

"Wow you're really good at this!" I say impressed with his skills. "You're not too bad yourself" he says bumping his shoulder against mine again making me smile at the friendly gesture. "Do you wanna play again?" he proposes the idea but I'm soon cut off by another voice. 

"Hey no fair! You can't keep her all to yourself! Luna why don't you come play with me? I'm sure you'll find it very... stimulating" Hobi says in a suggestive tone while leaning on the side of the game where I'm now held captive between the two of them. 

But yet again before I'm able to respond I see Hobi being pulled back and feel someone yanking me out by my forearm.

"Luna get your stuff we're leaving" Jungkook says dragging me towards the exit. "Jungkook hold on a second let me grab my bag!" I say trying to pull out of his grip. He loosens his grip on me just enough to place his hand in mine and have me lead him towards the spot I had left said bag. 

Once I do he pulls on my hand and leads us towards the exit yet again. I see the guys take notice and send me a questioning look, observing the situation and contemplating whether or not to intervene. "Bye Luna" is the last thing I hear before the door closes behind us. 

"Jungkook wait!" I say in protest waiting for him to listen to me yet he continues to pull me towards the building we had once come through.

"Jungkook STOP!" I yell at him finally being able to yank my hand out of his grip. "What?" he exclaims but does his best to keep his voice level. "What was that all about?" I say, finally given the chance to question his behavior. "I told you I didn't want them to be that close to you!" he says defending himself. 

"Tae and I were just playing a game and then Hobi came over seconds after we had finished our game. It's not my fault that he was trying to get closer to me. And if you had given me a chance to speak for myself I would've taken care of it" I continue, poking holes in his argument. 

"You shouldn't have been that close to Tae in the first place. I told you how it makes me feel when stuff like this happens" he continues trying to patch up his reasoning. 

"Jungkook you're not my boyfriend!" I say finally fed up with his controlling behavior, but immediately regret it as soon as the words left my mouth. Seeing the slight change in his already frustrated expression I know I've hit him where it hurts. "You're right, I'm not" he says and turns his back to continue down the path leaving me behind.

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[paintyoureyeswithavividmind]

close to home | chapter two

close to home | chapter two

plot: the night takes a turn for the worse, Daryl is introduced and must decide to trust the reader, or to kill her.

series masterlist

Pairing: Eventual Daryl Dixon x f!reader Word Count: 1,651 Warnings: violence, blood A/N: thanks for reading!

Trying to sleep for the night was useless, though Tora’s soft snores comforted you. At least someone was sleeping. Sleep was far from you, your mind thinking off too much and your stomach aching for more food. You wouldn’t touch the jerky you found, at least not until morning. It would be a long seven-mile journey back. 

The thrift store was still dark, and the rain was still hitting it hard. The building shook every so often with thunder. But other than that, it was quiet. Still, you were antsy. There was an energy in the air as if something was going to happen, and you were just bidding your time until it did. 

A soft orange glow filled the room as you finished picking dirt out from underneath your nails with a butterfly knife. Your eyebrows furrowed together, and you looked around the room. For a second, you thought it was electricity, and people would come into the room chatting about their days, and you’d awaken from the nightmare. 

But that was silly. 

The bedding shuffled as you stood up, and Tora’s head perked up, eyes adjusting to the new light in the room. It was coming from outside. 

You grabbed your gun, switching off the safety and raising it to eye level as you approached the front doors. Rain was pouring down so heavily it would’ve been hard to see ten feet out the door, but the library on fire across the street lit up the street. 

“What the fuck-” You muttered. 

Movement across the street caught your eye, and you saw a few people running about. People. Not dead ones. 

You swallowed the sudden lump in your throat and watched for another moment. Who were they? You’d been to this town dozens of times and had never seen another one. And now, suddenly, there were a few of them, just a hundred feet away. 

You grabbed the door handle and started to push the door open; unknown words on your lips when movement from down the road again caught your attention. Only it wasn’t alive, people. It was the dead ones. Hundreds of them. 

“Holy shit.” You said, backing away from the door. “We have to go now,” You said to Tora, who had just nestled back to sleep. You grabbed your bag quickly, threw it over your shoulders, and then scooped the cat in your arms. She meowed in protest for a second but settled quickly in your arms as you ran out of the thrift store. 

The rain hit hard, and Tora growled softly. You whispered apologies under your breath and started to run. Puddles of water splashed undertow, and your boots were soaked through within seconds. The bag was impossibly heavy and was only getting heavier with the rain. 

Thunder clapped again, and you stopped to look back. You couldn’t see the people running around anymore, but the dead were still there, the fire was taking down the building, and your heart ached at all the lost literature. But regardless, it wasn’t time to worry about that. 

You picked up your pace again, dodging the dead ones left and right. The fire seemed to be bringing them all out of the woods. You couldn’t tell the difference between rain and tears on your checks. 

The wind was picking up, and the air was full of smoke. It was getting harder to breathe, and the running didn’t help. But you could just barely make out the tree line. You could get Tora up a tree, follow her up there, and wait out the night. It was dangerous with the lightning, but so was the ground. 

Long shadows of trees cascaded on the forest ground, and they started to fade as you put more and more distance between you and the fire. Tora was meowing loudly, but you held on tight, not daring to lose her in the chaos. 

The path took you down a hill, and you tried to pinpoint where you were so you could get back to the campground, and find your way back to the lake. The dead ones were hot on your trail, and you couldn’t believe how quickly they appeared. You’d only seen the two this morning; now, there were hundreds. 

As you turned a bend, you slammed into something hard and fell to the ground. Tora escaped your grasp, and you heard the mechanical clicking. Your wet hair stuck to your face as you grabbed your gun and turned, ready to aim at the dead one. 

But your eyes didn’t meet the unforgiving frozen stare of death and instead met the top of a crossbow. 

***

forty-four minutes earlier

Daryl took a deep breath and leaned against the wet side of the building. The entire run had gone to shit when they stumbled on a herd a mile back. Luckily, they stumbled on the small town, with plenty of ways to get the herd off their backs. 

“We need to do something!” Rick yelled over the pouring rain. “We need to find something to distract them.” 

“‘aight,” Daryl cursed, redrawing his crossbow. “The walkers got us all cornered up. Where the hell is Glenn and Maggie?”

“I think I saw them go down the alley. They know how to handle themselves. They have to. We got to distract them.”

“This thunder is makin’ 'em go crazy!” Daryl yelled, “They’re all just spinnin’ ‘round in circles tryin’ to find us. We need to get ‘em all grouped up so we can get the hell outta here.” 

Rick looked around, the rain washing away the blood on his face. “Okay. Okay. There are a couple cars up ahead. Looks like this place fell early. There’s gotta be some gas in those tanks. Let’s light a fire.” 

No more words were needed, and the two took off, quickly siphoning gas into their empty water bottles. Thunder clapped overhead, and Daryl looked around. They had put a good distance between themselves and the walkers, but he didn’t feel safe. They’d be on them soon if they didn’t hurry.

Rick led Daryl to the closet building and laughed as he realized what it was. “I’ll knock over a few rows of books and spread the gasoline out. We don’t have much.” 

Daryl worked quickly and silently to shake the gasoline out around the room. When he’d returned, a pile of broken furniture and books were covered in gasoline. 

“Let’s light it up. We’ll make a breakthrough in the woods to return to the car. That’s where Glenn and Maggie would try to get to. If not, they’ll get to the prison on foot.” Rick said. 

Daryl nodded before grabbing a book, lighting it on fire, and then tossing it into the pile. It caught immediately, and Daryl and Rick ran from the building and into the back alley. Dozens of walkers were spread out, and the sight of the growing fire started to catch their attention. 

The archer followed Rick silently through the alley, clothes soaked through and dripping with water. Sweat, dirt, and blood ran down his face, and he kept wiping it clean as he ran. 

“Shit, shit, shit!” Rick yelled. “Walkers!”

The street was covered in the undead. The fire bringing more of them out of the woods. Daryl glanced at Rick, and he nodded. It would be a fight. It was always a fight. 

But the walkers were coming in every direction, the thunder was so loud, and the rain so heavy that Daryl lost sight of RIck. His arms were coated in blood as he brought down body after body. And still, they kept coming. 

“Rick!” Daryl yelled, his voice drowned out in the rain. He huffed and turned the corner to a quieter street. In the distance, he saw someone running into the tree line. His eyes narrowed, and he dodged an impending walker. “Rick!” He called after him. 

Another half dozen walkers were down by the time Daryl reached the treeline. He glanced back at the town drowning in water and blood. He had to get to the car. Whoever survived would be in the car. They’d all be in the car. 

***

Your eyes narrowed at the person before you, and you clicked the trigger into place. You couldn’t catch your breath and knew there wasn’t time to. He would kill you, or the dead ones would. Your throat was dry despite the rain on your face and the drops sliding over your parted lips. 

“Where are my people?” The man asked, “Who are you?”

You stayed quiet, your eyes looking around. There were dead ones in the distance, and you could hear the moans over the rain. “I’m nobody,” You finally said, “I was in the thrift store, and I saw the fire and the dead ones. Figured it’s best to get out of there while I still could.” 

“How many people are with you?” He yelled. 

“It’s just me!” You yelled back, “It’s just me, asshole. And my cat, but you scared her off.” You glanced around again for the cat. 

“Huh?”

You dropped and swept your leg out in his second confusion, knocking him to the ground. The crossbow dropped, and you quickly kicked it away, raising your gun to the man’s forehead. He froze. 

You looked around quickly again; there were dozens of dead ones headed your way. You whistled that same three-note tune and heard rustling behind you. Your eyes didn’t leave the strangers. 

“There are dozens of them. Only two of us. We need each other if we want to see the sunrise tomorrow,” You shouted, thunder booming again. You dropped your gun and offered your other hand. “My name is (Y/N).”

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl x reader #daryl x y/n #the walking dead daryl

[nyxlaufeyson]

A God's Creatures

Loki Oneshot Masterlist - Main Masterlist

POV: Second

Ship: Loki x Reader OR Loki & Reader, because it could be read as platonic or as a budding relationship. I might write a part 2 in the future, and I will tag that accordingly if I decide to make it more of a romance.

Type: Fluff

Wordcount: 1819

TW: None

Synopsis:  Loki hires you to petsit, without you knowing who you were petsitting for. You're extra surprised when you see the creatures you'll be sitting.

Day 5 of AU-gust: "Pet Sitters"

A/N: A day late, but I love this a lot.

Shoutout to the @augustwritingchallenge who suggested someone petsitting a god's creatures, because I don't think this would've came to mind if they hadn't.

As you followed the directions to where you were going, you stumbled upon a large, closed gate. There was a small building with someone inside, and the woman slid open a little window so you could hear her. “May I see your ID, please?”

You were a bit surprised by the security of the place, but quickly nodded. “Uhm yeah, of course.” you said, fumbling around in the glovebox for your ID card. You finally found it, handing it over to the woman. “Here you go.”

She looked it over, then scanned it with some sort of device before nodding and handing it back to you. “Do you have any weapons in the car with you?”

“Uh- pepper spray?” You said, unsure if that would qualify as a weapon. The lady just smiled slightly and shook her head. “That’s fine. You're all clear to go in.” She said, punching some buttons in on her side, opening the gate. 

“Thank you!” You said, putting your ID back into the glovebox and continuing down the road. Of all the sitter gigs you’ve had, you’d never come across a place with this level of security. You were hoping this would mean generous tips. 

The driveway was around mile long, and you could see trees running around the property to give it more seclusion. You finally reached a series of buildings, completely lost on where to go. One of the bigger buildings had a big “A” on it, and you figured it must just be a family name or business.

Unsure of where to park or go in, you pulled up the text conversation you had with the person you were pet sitting for. ‘Park at the SouthWest entrance, and you can enter there. The front desk will have someone to show you where to go. You can call or text me if you have any questions.’

After some driving around, you found where to park and were able to get inside the building. There were a lot more people than you were expecting, so you figured that it must be a company where some people live. 

You made your way to the front desk, smiling. “Hi, I’m here for-” You started, but the man at the desk interrupted you. “The pet sitter?” You nodded, surprised he knew what you were there for. The woman at the gate must’ve sent a heads-up. “Follow me.” the man said, and you did, following him into a fancy elevator-that also required a keycode.

Once the elevator reached the floor you were going to, the doors opened. “Go straight until you see a set of stairs, and after those, turn right.” You nodded, thanking the man as the doors to the elevator closed back.

You followed his directions, finding yourself in what looked like a common area. There was a boy sitting on the couch-he appeared to be a teenager-who smiled when he saw you. “You must be Mr. Loki’s pet sitter!” He said, standing up to shake your hand. 

“Yeah, I’m here to pet sit.” You replied, slightly surprised by the name of your new client. You figured that their parents must've appreciated mythology.

“I’m Peter.” The boy said, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Peter.” You said, introducing yourself to him. After a short conversation with Peter, two men walked into the room, appearing to be deeply immersed in a conversation. 

“Mr. Loki, the pet sitter is here.” Peter said, and Loki’s eyes snapped over to you. “My apologies, dear, I didn’t see you there.”

You looked over at Loki and the man next to him, recognizing the blonde, and suddenly it clicked in your head who you were working for. “Loki… as in Loki who-” You started but the man rolled his eyes. 

“-Who attacked New York? Yes, yes that Loki.” He interrupted, sighing. “I can assure you I’ve put those days behind me, and am now working alongside the Avengers for the time being.”

Stunned, you opened your mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “So I’m… In the Avengers headquarters?” 

The man beside him, whom you recognized as Thor, scrunched his eyebrows. “You didn’t tell her who she was working for?” Loki threw his hands up, seemingly exasperated. “No, because if I did, I would risk someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing taking the job because they want to see their ‘oh-so-famous’ heroes.”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m just a bit shocked.” You said, regaining your professionalism. “I’m here to do what I came for, so if you could just show me to your animals I can get started?” 

Loki nodded, giving you a bit of a smile. “Right. Follow me.” He led you down several hallways, and one flight of stairs, before stopping outside of a door. “You said you were good with… exotic pets?” 

You nodded, smiling. “Yes, I’ve worked with many different types of pets before.” You confirmed, and Loki opened the door, a dog immediately springing out at you. 

The dog began to run to Loki, but upon noticing you, it ran over and jumped at you. “Awww. Hi baby!” You cooed, petting the dog on its head, scratching their ears. 

“I haven’t seen a dog that looks quite like this before, it almost looks like a wolf.” You said, laughing, as you continued to pet the dog. 

“He is a wolf.” Loki said, and you looked up at him with a smile, assuming he was joking. Once you saw his face, your smile faltered a bit. 

“Really?” You asked, examining the creature a bit more. He did certainly look like a wolf. Loki nodded, rubbing his arm. “Is this alright with you? I can assure you he will not hurt you. He’s a sweet boy, aren’t you Fenrir?” 

The wolf wagged his tail, and you laughed, continuing to pet him. “No yeah, it’s totally fine. Something new I can add to my resume.” You joked, doubting anyone would believe you if you were to say you petsat a wolf.

“Well, good, because the next one might surprise you a bit more.” Loki said, and you prepared yourself. “Alright.” You said, following him into the room, Fenrir tagging along. 

You were astonished to see a large tank of water in the room, and even more so to see what was swimming inside. There was an unfathomably large serpent slithering around, and it appeared to be holding onto its tail with its mouth. 

“Wow.” You breathed, not sure what to say. “What uh, what type of animal is it?” You asked, your curiosity beyond peaked. 

“A sea serpent.” Loki replied, before reconsidering. “Kind of. He’s not really from around here though, so he has some qualities that Midgard’s sea serpents might not.”

As the creature swam around, you watched, mesmerized at the way it moved so freely. “What’s his name?” 

“Jörmungandr.” Loki replied, and your eyes widened. There was no way you were going to pronounce that right. 

“Whor-Man-dr?” You tried.

“No. Jörmungandr”

“Yo-Mun-Gr?” You sounded out, but Loki shook his head. 

“Jörmungandr.” He repeated, and you tried again.

“Yor-Moon-andr?”

“Closer. It’s not an easy name to pronounce, but that’s close enough for now.” Loki said, and you nodded. You had heard many crazy pet names, but this one might be one of the hardest you’ve ever had to pronounce.

“How do I feed him?” You asked, a bit confused on how you were going to get anything into the tank. 

Loki pointed to the top of the tank. “There is a set of stairs to get level with the top of the tank, and there's some buttons to open it. His food is all up there in fridges and freezers, and I have a sheet for you for each of the animals and what you’ll need to do.” 

“Alright then. So, I count one more animal? The horse I believe?” You ask, and Loki smiled and nodded. “Sleipnir.” He said, leading you back through the door and into an elevator. Fenrir followed, happy with the ear scratches you gave him every now and then. 

Loki took you and Fenrir outside, going to a fenced-off field, entering through a barn. Inside the barn, a horse ran up to you, Loki, and Fenrir, evidently happy to get visitors. 

“This is Sleipnir.” Loki said, and you gently pet the horse’s muzzle. You noticed the horse had eight legs, double the amount of normal horses, but you weren't overly surprised after your encounter with Jörmungandr.

“Hi buddy.” You said, stroking Sleipnir’s mane as he let out a snort. “I have to ask, do his eight legs make him a lot faster than other horses?” You asked, and Loki smiled. 

“Oh yes. Sleipnir is one of the fastest horses, if not the fastest horse in all the realms.” Loki said, proudly. “Isn’t that right?” Sleipnir neighed in response, causing you to laugh. 

Loki’s phone buzzed, and his smile faded a bit as he read whatever notification he had gotten. “Alright, me and the team have to leave, but I’ve sent over the instructions you’ll need over to your phone. Since this mission might be a few days, Stark has set up a room for you so you don’t have to travel back and forth. Security knows who you are and where you’re staying, so you shouldn’t have any problems.” 

He gave the horse one more pat before leading you and his wolf outside of the barn, closing the door to prevent Sleipnir from getting out. “I’ll go ahead and show you where your room is. Fenrir usually sleeps in my room, but if you’re not comfortable with him in there he can just roam the common areas.” 

You nodded, following Loki as he walked you back through the building and up to a door. “Here is where you’ll be staying.” He said, and you smiled and thanked him. 

“If you need anything, feel free to ask FRIDAY, the building’s AI system. She can give you directions if you need them, as this is a rather big building and it’s easy to get lost. She should also keep you updated on when I’ll be back. Feel free to leave if you need and come back, you don’t have to stay here the entire time. There should be plenty of food in the common areas which we passed through, so just help yourself.” 

After you thanked him again, he bid his goodbye and left off to go do whatever it was that the world-famous Avengers did. You opened the room, surprised at how big it was. “Well then.” You said, setting some of your things down on the bed. Fenrir followed, but you didn’t mind. 

You read through the directions Loki had sent over for each of the animals. It was going to be a lot of work, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to pet sit for a god’s creatures, wasn’t it?

A/N: So... I might make another part to this if anyone's interested?? I think it would be fun! Especially when reader finds out Fenrir can talk...

Tag List (Comment or inbox me to be added/removed; along with what to be tagged for): @michief-dream

#loki #loki fanfic #fanfic #marvel #loki fluff #loki friggason #loki laufeyson #loki oneshot #loki x reader #loki/reader #loki & reader #meet cute #pet sitting #au gust 2023

[turvi]

The Love of My Dreams - 6

Series Masterlist

Her heart was beating faster as the familiar building came into view. It looked similar to all the buildings in the street. Y/n never paid attention to the company's name. She never bothered. Colin was closed off about things, and he only cared about his accomplishments and nothing else. Only hearing the next big client's name and nothing about what made them so special.

Y/n tried to look at the building's name through her car's window, not realising a familiar tall and lanky man crossing the street. Her eyes luckily drifted towards the road, and she immediately hit the breaks her car's bumper touching Remus' leg.

She apologetically looked into his wide eyes. His hands trembled along with his lunch bag in his right hand. Y/n immediately got out of her car. "I am so sorry. I was not looking, and I know that sounds illegal...."

Remus didn't hear shit. He was lost. Her eyes, her voice. She was standing right in front of him and yet so far away. She looked so beautiful right now. He wondered if Colin told her how beautiful she is and if he told her how sweet her smile is. He never saw her smile like this in his dreams, and that was unfair because it was more beautiful than any sunrise he could see.

He was brought back to reality when he felt her warm touch on his arm. Remus felt a shiver run down his spine. "Uh..yeah I am fine don't worry...it's alright."

"Let me park my car. It's blocking the road."

Remus had no business staying there waiting for her. But he did. He watched her get out of her car. The tiffin in her hand looked more appealing and bright than his overused brown lunch bag.

"I never caught your name." Remus was surprised with his own confidence. Where did this confidence go when he needed the most?

"Y/n L/n." With a contagious smile, she introduced herself as she extended her hand.

"I'm Remus Lupin. I didn't get to thank you for helping with my panic attack." he didn't shake her hand, too busy enjoying the feeling of her soft hand against his scarred hand. Both wait for the other to pull away their hand, holding it a bit longer for being strangers. It takes a lot of strength in Remus not to trace the back of Y/n's hand with his thumb or to feel her pulse just below her palm.

A distant honking interrupted them, leading them to instantly pull their hands away. Remus cleared his throat and led Y/n awkwardly towards the entrance as if she had not been there several times before. But she let him lead her anyways.

The elevator's hum filled in the silence between them. Y/n wanted to smile, but she didn't know why. She felt her heartbeat and wondered if he could hear her heart beating so loudly.

Her eyes traced the veins on the same hand she had held just a few minutes ago. Her fingers twitched and ached to hold his hand again. Y/n felt his gaze on her. She looked up to find him looking at her not in judgement but in curiosity.

Y/n pointed towards his brown lunch bag. "You might wanna buy a lunch box the bags get ruined easily, especially a brown bag like this."

Remus shrugged. "There is barely any food in there. Why bother?" He ruefully chuckled. He missed home cooked meals. He knew how to cook, but the workload doesn't let him experiment or cook a proper meal. "And the workload is gonna increase once Colin and his team leave for a conference in Cambridge."

Y/n frowned. "Wait, Cambridge? Colin didn't tell me about any conference."

"It's tomorrow. Quite important."

The elevator dinged, and both realised it took a bit longer today for them to reach the floor. Remus was about to open the door to the office when Y/n stopped him.

"Hey...uh..I can make meals for you."

Remus looked at her in confusion. He was thankful for this offer. But he couldn't accept it for uncountable reasons. Even Y/n was surprised, but looking at Remus and the dark circles under his eyes, this was the least she could do for him.

"I can't bother you. Honestly, I am fine. I am still settling in. I can't trouble you."

"You won't be troubling me. I have to bring Colin's lunch anyways, so I will bring yours too. Until you settle down?"

Remus' heart sang at her kindness. But then he remembered. "Wouldn't Colin mind?"

"He won't notice, and even if he does, he owes me for making me drive here just for his lunch."

She chuckled, and Remus' hand twitched, wanting to trace her lips. He placed a hand on his chest and shook his head as he felt his heart flutter at that thought. "I can't thank you enough for helping me." He said with a fond smile and thought he would meet her tomorrow.

"Well, give me 30 mins, and I'll bring your lunch. Everything is ready. I just need to reheat it."

Before Remus could argue, Y/n ran towards the lift only to run back towards him and hand him Colin's lunch. "Almost forgot." He chuckled at her antics. He felt...warm and happy.

A/N: REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED

@ell0ra-br3kk3r @milivanili99 @fieldofsecretss @moon-witchs-world

#remus lupin x reader #remus lupin x you #remus lupin x y/n #remus lupin x fem!reader #remus fic #remus angst #remus lupin fanfiction #remus lupin x female reader #remus lupin #remus lupin fluff #remus lupin fic #remus lupin imagine #remus john lupin #remus being remus #remus #remus x reader #hp marauders #harry potter series #remus lupin angst #david thewlis x reader #david thewlis #the love of my dreams #turvi writes

[starshinedragon]

SSO REWRITTEN / FULL STORY SERIES SUMMERPLAINS

-> SSO Rewritten is how I would write the main story. The posts will complete the whole main storyline. -> Opening ALL the areas in the horse part of Jorvik (Harvestlands, Winterdale, Springvalley, Summerplains and Jorcrater) -> Story from arriving to Jorvik to defeating Garnok. -> You can find the story related posts with the tags "sso rewritten" and "sso full story series".

So saddle up and get ready for an adventure!

In this post: Characters Harvestlands: Phase 1-2-3 Winterdale: Phase 4-5-6 Springvalley: Phase 7-8-9 Summerplains: Phase 10-11-12 Final Battle: Phase 13-14-15

PHASE 10- Opening Summerplains, Alex and Lisa

PART 1: A Dream of Summer

-> Lisa invites you to Starshine Ranch to take part in a Western Show. MC and their horse beats every challenger, but the last one: Coyote and his horse. MC and Lisa goe to congratulate him on his victory. Herman arrives, introduces you to his brother, Coyote. -> Coyote tells you about himself (went to the USA to be a cowboy, raced, now came home to Jorvik to run a western ranch) and invites you to his Stable. MC tells him noone can get to Summerplains since the Claymore gate is closed and the Suncrown bridge is in ruins. Coyote says he knew the Claymores (those stuckups) closed the gate, but he didn’t know the bridge was in such a bad shape since hardly anyone arrives through the druids’ territory. Also they are a small, tight community with hardly any visitors and any supplies arrive by sea. -> Coyote invites you to come with him and help repair the bridge. Lisa says she will call the Everspring druids to start the repairs from that side. Riding to Fort Pinta and taking the ferry to Port Sylvia.

-> Blackscreen „The Next Morning”. You arrive in Fort Sylvia and race with Coyote at the shoreline road of the Wild Horse Plains to the Suncrown bridge. His team of the stables already arrived and brought the building materials. Helping in the construction tasks, while the druids do the repairs from the other side. You are done quickly, Lisa and Starshine arrive and people cheer as Coyote announces that the Summerplains are officially open. -> Exploring the area. First you go with Coyote and meet his crew. They lead you and Lisa around the Cattle Ranch, Stables, Horseshoe forest and Reining arena. Introduced to new races, barrel racing, reining.

-> The next day Coyote asks you to deliver stuff to Cod Point. MC notices the cool Ghost House on their way there. Introduced to Cod Point, new fishing reputation there. They also give you a package to get back to Coyote. -> On your way back MC decides to check out the ghost house. Getting scared and lost in it, triple jumpscare as MC, Lisa and Mr. Wetton run into each other at a corner. After you realize that nobody is getting murdered by a ghost, Lisa introduces you to Mr Wetton. MC asks him what is he doing in an abondoned house so he turns up the party lights, tells you it is his disco house for special occasions and patries. Tells you he is the brother of Herman and Coyote, who runs Black Light Night Club and supported Lisa and her gang when they were students at Star Academy. Mr Wetton invites you and Lisa to meet him when you are around Fort Sylvia, so he can introduce you to the city. -> Leaving the Ghost house and going to Coyote to deliver his package. He gives you another one to take to Snake Bite and meet his buddy, Tomahawk Tom there. Going to Snakebite, introduced to people there, the stables and races.

-> Next quest is to meet Mr Wetton in Fort Sylvia. Meet at a café and explore the city, he shows you his Black Light Night Club. Lisa and her band has an hour long rock music concerts there every night from 8 to 9. Now you have all reputations west of Claymore bay unlocked, and have access to all sidequests with these factions. -> Everything seems nice and peaceful, but darkness is still looming. A quest marker appears in the Great Clearing. MC is drawn there by a strange magic and goes to a great cut down tree. A team of druids and rangers ambush you asking who you are and why are you disturbing a grave. They tell you of how Jon Jarl cut down a Life Warden tree and his forest in his futile search of immortality and possibly doomed the island. -> The druids of Summerplains don’t trust you. MC asks how could they gain their trust and the druids say by fighting against the darkness, but for now, make friends with the Life Warden Trees to prove you are a good guy.           

PART 2: Primeival Trees

-> MC asks Coyote if there are ancient trees he knows about in Summerplains. He tells of one in the Old Morass and one in the Lone Star Canyon. -> MC goes to check out the Old Morass first. Riding to the swamp, but it has the same darkness over it as Pi’s swamp. Ride to the Clearing and ask a local ranger to guide you in the swamp. You meet at the border and journey through the dark, claustropobic woods, narrow bridges and muddy waters. MC follows a magic instict (appearing as a wisp) to guide them to the Primeival Tree. ->You find the Elder Witchwood and awaken it with magic. She refuses to answer your questions, asks if you are a witch. She asks witchcraft related questions to which none of the pop-up answers are correct. She concludes, that you are not a witch and says that she will only talk to witches or you only if a witch vouches for you. MC and the ranger leave the swamp. MC goes to speak with Holdsworth and Pi. They say they need time to study the ancient witch magics to answer the tree’s questions correctly. They will go to Caer Cailleach to ask the help of Sive and the vala. Pi uses her broom to fly there, but Mrs Holdworth says hers is under repairs right now and asks for a ride there. MC riding double with Holdsworth and taking her to Caer Cailleach.

-> While you wait for the witches, MC goes to Coyote, asks for directions to Lone Star Canyon. You go through Claymore village (nobody will talk to the outsider) and ride through the pass through the Rainshadow Mountains to arrive in the semidesert. You ride through that to arrive in Lone Star Canyon. -> The cowboys of Lone Star are basically like the rangers of the area, they know the maze-like place pretty well. Their leader is Blackjack Bill, who, with his buddies stop you if you try to enter. MC says they came to see the great tree in the canyon, but Bill says that’s a weird ask so you can only enter if you prove you are badass enough to beat him in a race. -> Racing through the maze-like winding paths of Lone Star, pretty obvious Bill knows the paths so much you won’t beat him. Galloping under a rock formation a piece falls down towards Bill, MC uses lightning powers to blast the rock to pieces. Finishing the race, cutscene: Bill does the sliding stop before the finish line and lets you win. He thanks you and tells the other cowboys you are one of those druid kids and MC rides with them to their camp at the foot of the Primeival Tree. -> They watch as you use your power to speak with the tree. Aspen King tells you the cowboys are his friends, and shows you the gifts they bring him – the trunk is decorated with horseshores, skulls, dried flowers,etc. MC asks about the darkness threathening SP. Aspen King tells you of the brother they lost when Jon Jarl came to the clearing (the tree called Ancient Guardian in the Clearing cut down 800 years ago) and the sister that is missing (Shadow Chestnut). MC asks to become friends with AK to make the druids believe they are here to help. AK says he saw you save Bill, so he is gonna give you a chance to prove yourself. Prove your friendship to the cowboys and he shall be your friend too. Reputation with the Lone Star Cowboys unlocked. Reach a certain level with them to unlock the next story quest. -> Once you are friendly enough with them, Bill tells you to bring a friendship gift to AK to gain his blessing. MC and Bill ride through Lone Star to gather the special gifts (water from a spring in the northernmost part of the mountains, eagle feather from Thunderbird Peak, 200 years old horseshoe from an old battlefield, etc). Bring the gifts to AK and be accepted as a Lone Star Cowboy/girl. AK gives you a branch of magic aspen fruits and flowers to show the druids. Taking it to the Clearing.

-> A raven comes to you bringing a message tied to its leg from Sive. Holdsworth and Pi asks to meet you at the Old Morass. You ask the ranger once again to lead you through the swamp and go there, meeting them and another vala witch, Aine. MC and Holdsworth and ranger and Pi riding together to the Witchwood. The witches brought a bunch of stuff that is levitated by Aine after you tied in a package. Arriving at the Elder Witchwood. -> Before waking her up again, the witches tell you what they learned. The vala used to take care of this tree, but since they were corrupted, they stopped doing it. Pi n Mrs H ask you to decorate the area like the vala used to, with the witch stuff they brought. You build a pyre and Aine magics it to look blue. After the place is decorated to look vala, MC wakes the witchwood. -> The witches answer her questions (with your help) and Aine says the vala are back and she will be the guardian of the Witchwood and her grove. The tree only has one more ask: that you ride through the swamp and collect her old witch relics that the animals scattered all over the place during the centuries. You collect them and the Witchwood declares her friendship and gifts you a brach with her flowers and fruits. MC asks EW about the last Primeival in Summerplains, she tells you Shadow Chestnut is hiding in the Claymore mountains. Aine stays, Pi and Mrs H fly home and MC rides to the Clearing to present the symbol of EW’s friendship to the druids there.

PART 3: The Claymores

-> The plan forward: the SP druids now trust you, send you to find the Shadow Chestnut. Going to Claymore Castle, but denied entrance.MC goes to Coyote, but he doesn’t know how one gets into the Claymore’s favor. You go to the Von Blyssen manor and ask Anne’s mom. She tells you the best way is to challenge and defeat one of their best riders to show you are worthy of their time. Now you have to find a Claymore to defeat. -> MC sneaks around Claymore village to look for riders, but all of them are near the manor. You are about to give up when you notice Sabine and start to follow her. You overhear the people calling her Miss Claymore, and realize this is perfect. You reveal yourself and challenge Sabine to a race, poking at her pride. Bet with Sabine in front on the whole village: if MC wins, she invites her to the manor. Elise appears, knows what MC is up to, warns Sabine not to accept, but she does. Elise is angry, knows how this is gonna end, leaves. Beating her in the race around Claymore village. -> Sabine has to keep her word, taking you to the manor. All stuck-up, mean riders, like the Bobcats used to be. You complete the entrance races to gain membership with the Claymore manor and carve out some respect. Reputation quests to the Claymores: village, manor and stables, tedious grind, hardly gives you any rep first, because they are assholes.

-> Races at the Claymore manor: show-jumping in the arenas, many cross-country trails in the mountains. Introduction to the Eventing Championship: a round of dressage, showjump and cross-country. Running the Claymore cross-country tracks, but other then in the races, you cant explore the mountains (the gates only open if you are racing). Sabine is watching you and clearly hiding something. -> Once you get to high enough reputation, Lord and Lady Claymore name you full member and you can move freely and explore the mountains. MC goes to the Clearing and talk to the druids about the next step. They say you should look for a certain type of chestnut on the ground in the Claymore mountains to find her. Going there and looking in the forest.

-> Find and meet the Shadow Chestnut and discover her standing next to another Stone Circle, just like the one on Starshine Mountain: the Awakened Stone Circle. ShCh is the sister of Astral Crown, protects the Awakened Stone Circle (ASC) from anyone entering, good or evil. MC asks why the good ones can’t enter either and ShCH tells you they trusted humans before and it cost them the Guardian. -> Darko and the whole Dark Rider gang arrives, thanking you for leading them here as they could not find the tree (it distracted the evils). This does not help ShCh to trust you. MC says she thought Darko was dead. D says he had a lot of work to do since he became the new Mr Sands, turns out the work of the old relic is not as easy after all, especially now as Garnok’s Victory draws closer. Hearing this, ShCh summons a shield around the ASC so no one can get in. The combined power of the 5 bad guys are not enough to break shield. They place an unbreakable dark ward around it, because if MC can’t access it that is already a win for them. Race: MC flees the forest and the Dark Riders.

PHASE 11- Resurrecting the Guardian

PART 1: Finding the Seed -> MC meets and tells the SRs what happened. Need to know how to help Shadow Chestnut,gain access to ASC and prove that they are the good guys. With the help of Linda, Aine, Pi and Holdsworth they make up a spell that lets Witchwood connect her to ShCh. -> Ritual in the swamp: MC taking the dream potion and waking up in the Wealdweave. Walking through it to get to the roots of ShCh and talk to her. She tells you she needs to connect to all 3 of her siblings: Aspen, Witch and Guardian to be able to banish the darkness choking her. But that is impossible, since the Guardian is dead. ShCh tells MC the only way she will ever trust them is if you resurrect the Guardian, but that is impossible. MC promises to do it.

-> Plan: Find a way to resurrect the Guardian. The druids tell you there is a legend that the seed of the Primeival trees lives forever and if the one who cut him down kept it, there is hope. They tell you it was Jon Jarl, who cut the Clearing. Need to learn more about Jon Jarl to find out if he kept the seed (there is a good chance, since he liked his treasures and there is a rumor had a secret treasure chamber dug somewhere in one of the mountains of Jorvik. Going to the Moon Chamber, but Jon’s ghost is not there now. -> Going all over Jorvik to gather clues, following Jon’s footsteps and history. The fleet got into a storm, was attacked by the „kraken” (G’s tentacles) and shipwrecked on Jorvik. Jon conquered the island, gathered many magical weird artifacts and treasures. Then finally he cut down the Guardian and met a vala coming out of the forest. The witch cursed his riches: Jon will never be able to take them away from the island, until he makes his sins right by restoring the trees. Jon tried to take some treasures away, but the ship was destroyed in a storm. He realized the curse works and had a hidden treasure chamber made for them in the remote part of the Northern Mountain Range.

-> MC finds the secret entrance in a narrow valley between the NMR between the Starshade and Coldstone forests. Solving the puzzle to get in, if you step at the wrong place it teleports you back to another valley and you have to find your way back. Jon’s ghost appears, wants to help, MC doesnt trust him, asks why would you help take your treasures. Jon tells you it is not just the tresures, that can’t leave Jorvik, he can never leave either. It has been many hundred years already, and he wants absolution for what he’s done in the hopes of finally being able to leave Jorvik one day. -> Going through the labyrinth of the treasury, finding the seed. The traps activate and the place starts collapsing. Jon is like oops, I forgot to mention. Getting out. The 4 DRs are waiting for you but Jon says take a step back and MC steps into the teleportation circle and taken to a nearby valley. The DRs have no idea where you ended up and the treasury is buried beneath the mountain. MC rides back to the Secret Stone Circle to keep the seed there until you figure out the next move.

PART 2: Find a way -> Now you have to find a way to use the seed and resurrect the guardian. Linda and the druids get to work researching, and meanwhile MC has to correct and recarve the old runestones in Summerplains, just like you did in Harvestlands, Winderdale and Springvalley. -> The next day Linda have found a clue about a restoration ritual, but some pages are missing. Go ask the LW trees. Sleeping Widow tells you of the failed attempt at resurrecting a tree near her. Tells you how the druids tried to do it, but couldn’t get the other trees to help. -> Going to Fripp’s library to piece together the spell. MC helping Linda with the research. Leave her for the night, the other day she has the spell ready. Tells you the only other thing you are going to need is a branch from Shadow Chestnut.

-> Meet up with the SRs in the Secret Stone Circle to talk about the plan: how to get close enough to get a branch and how will ShCh willingly give it to you. Plan: the SRs will go with you to the Claymore Mountains and make a crack in the shield for you to get in. Now you just need a secret way to go there. Linda says the Claymore castle was also established in Jon Jarl’s time and the druids could not have gone through the town, so they must have had a secret path. Asking the Lone Star Cowboys. They say there is a closed off, overgrown path in the Rainshadow Mountains, but they don’t know where it leads. ->The team goes there, Alex and MC cut the thorny bushes in the way. Riding through the narrow trail (just like in the Greydew mountains to Epona) through the Claymore mountains. You see the Claymore riders running the cross-country trails, but they can’t see you. Getting to the shield around ShCh and the Stone Circle. -> You don’t have much time. The SRs use their magic to make a crack on the shield and MC gets in. Going through a magic labyrinth (like the one before the circus). Sometimes you have to hide from shadow seekers, other times there is a wall and nowhere to go, you have to dispell the wall by choosing the correct runes, like the minigame when activating the runestone in Paddock island. You get to the tree. -> MC tells her they found a way to resurrect the Guardian. Tells her of where they were and what they found out, convincing the tree to give you a branch to attempt the spell. With the branch, you go back through the labirynth and meet up with the SRs.

-> An alarm has been set off and Sabine is riding here to check on the shield. Mc and the SRs ride through the secret path, back to the desert. You see Sabine searching for you in the trails, but she can’t see you. Getting back to the desert, heading towards the Clearing, it is starting to rain, a storm rolls in. In the path through the Rainshadow mountains Sabine is waiting for the team. You say you were just out trailriding in the desert, but she doesn’t buy it. -> The other DRs also appear, by standing in rock outcroppings in the hillside above Sabine. They jump down to confront you and charge you. Alex uses a lighning shield to separate the DRs. Now Sabine and Elise are stuck with Alex, Lisa and MC. Elise’s  power is the only thing that could totally destroy the seed. Linda and Anne have the seed and flee from Jess and Katja to the Clearing. You have a bossfight on your hand. -> The storm is raging and Alex is drawing power from it and keeping the shield up so you and Lisa fight Sabine and Elise. Dodge their attacks and hit them with yours. Once you deplete their health bar, the storm has passed and Alex can’t hold the shield any longer. She lets go, you mount up and race towards the Clearing. -> They chase you. Anne and Linda are safe, but Katja and Jess made a shadowfrost wall in front of you. The druids of the clearing unite their magic with the SRs to break the wall and you run through. The DRs can’t enter the glade and just stand at the edge menacingly, then leave.

PART 3: Restoration -> You all need a day to recharge your powers. The next morning you return to the clearing. There are just some more things you need to gather: relics for the four circles, amplified with Aideen’s light. The next four days you go with the SRs to do that. -> With Lisa you go to find the Rose of the Wind on top of the Lonely Hill in Wild Horse plains and infuse it with Aideen’s power. With Linda you go to the Old morass to find a pool of magic water touched by the purest moonlight. With Anne, you go to the northest point of the Lone Star area to find the „fallen star” – a special, pandorian crystal meteorite fallen through the northern lights and charged with the morning sunlight. With Alex you go to Thunderbird peak to bring a piece of the old pandorian runestone (destroyed long ago) that was hit by lightning. Once you got them all and infused them with Aideen’s light, you return to the Clearing.

-> The next day you perform the ritual. At the cut down Guardian’s trunk you place the seed. The druids plant the three branches you brought from ShCh, AK and EW around the tree. The SRs use the relics you got and MC focuses their power into the seed. A little sapling appears. -> Cutscene: a nightmarish, dark blue and purple circle in a small island, with floating black runestones. Darko kneels in the middle of a rune circle chanting, when the ground stars shaking, thunder rumbles and tentacles appear in the horizon illuminated for a second by a lightning strike. An incredibly low, animal-like angry growl echoes and turns into a roar, like the sound of a kraken. „Yes! Lord Garnok, I was finally successful to summon- „ „You incompetent, pathetic fool! You let them awaken the power of Aideen and now you do nothing as they awaken the last guardian of the island? I should crush you now and be rid of your annoying existence” lightning strikes and a tentacle hovers over Darko, but retreats. „I give you one last chance to prove your worth. Destroy the Sisterhood again. Cut and burn the trees and stop them from awakening the last defensve line. Their meddlesome spell already pulls me back to my slumber. By the time I awaken, I want them destroyed. So that not even a memory of them remains.” -> MC wakes up in the forest floor. The SRs said you blacked out for a few minutes. The Restored Guardian is already a young sapling, growing quickly, just like how Aideen raised so many trees and plants when she first came to the island.

PHASE 12- Taking the Awakened Stone Circle Back

PART 1: Raising a tree -> Other trees in the clearing also start to grow, but at a slower rate. You have to reach max rep with the SP druids by doing dailies for them, helping to raise the tree. You go to each of the Primeival trees and ask what the Guardian might need, they send you on a fetch quest near them (get water from a spring, a magic crystal, etc) and take it back to the Restored Guardian. Sometimes the DRs try to attack the grove with frost, fire, darkness or shadow and you have to defeat them. -> Once you reach max rep, RG reaches max size and comes to consciousness. Thanks you and the SRs and you tell him ShCh is in trouble. RG tells you she has the most important job, defending the Awakened Stone Circle, which is the most important line of defence and weapon against Garnok and also the strongest seal that is keeping his prison locked. You cannot let it fall into enemy hands. Plan to take the ASC back.

PART 2: Preparing the siege -> Swamp ritual again: talk to ShCh. She can barely resist the darkness now, about to give in. MC tells her the Guardian is back and reach for him. She does and the 4 trees of the Summerplains connect. She thanks you and says now she has the power to break the dark shield, but the 5 of you also need to be on the other side and help her. -> Preparing for the siege: plan to march on the Claymore manor, but get the others out of there. Talking to Anne’s mom to hold an competition in Shoreline: invite all big horse factions. MC takes the invitation letter to the Claymores. Help prepare the competition in Shoreline with the other SRs. There is gonna be all types of races, MC tests them: do a dressage routine, a showjumping and a cross-country. Help decorate and clean the place. -> When the time comes, ask Mrs Holdsworth for more of the transformation potion: 5 NPCs drink it to masquerade as you in the competition and make the DRs less sus. The races are announced as looking for the best riders in jorvik and your doppelgangers compete.

-> The DRs can’t resist the challenge and also compete to defeat „MC” and the „SRs”. Your stand-ins obviously lose and try to act in character. „Lisa” loses against Elise and says ima go write a sad song. „Linda” just says well, back to reading, „Alex” goes to punch something, and when Jess glares at her victoriously, „Anne” runs away crying. Jess is satisfied, but Elise starts to suspect, because Anne would never. By the time the DRs start to suspect something, the team is already gone. -> Cutscene: MC and SRs in the Secret Stone Circle, with many of the druids and your allies. Just finished making the plan. Fripp says „Everyone memorized it? Good. Then places everyone. Aideen be with us all.”

PART 3: Awakening of Light -> You and the SRs ride through the basically empty Claymore manor. Going up through the path to the ASC locked behind the dark shield. The DRs and Darko wait for you there saying your little distraction didn’t work out that well. They walk towards you and step into 5 suspension runes. The 5 riders reveal themselves as more doppelgangers: druids masquerading as you. They say the distraction worked perfectly, they had plenty of time to draw the runes. They concentrate their magic to keep the 5 imprisoned. -> The real MC and Srs ride through the secret path in the mountains again and form a circle: MC in the middle, the 4 around her. They start to focus their magic on MC and MC on the shield. Cutscene: Aine is warned by Witchwood that it has started, closes her eyes, goes into the dreaming. Floats through the Wildweave and talks to ShCh, AK, RG and EW saying connect now. -> MC starts breaking the dark magic shield. Playing many minigames: run around collecting magic fragments, memory game rune choosing, slider, every one that has been in the game before.

-> Once you break all 5 seals (Sab’s, Jess’, Kat’s Eli’s and Darko’s), the 4 trees light up, MC and the SRs focus their magic on the shield individually to break it. Darko breaks free of the druids’ spell and frees the DRs too. They all summon dark magic to destroy the druids (the characters you have known since the beginning of the game, like Avalon, Evergrey, Rhiannon, etc) and are about to strike. -> Roots erupt from the ground and the freed Shadow Chestnut grabs the 5 bad guys, interrupting the spell. Darko teleports them away and the battle is won. -> First time entering the Awakened Stone Circle. Looks almost exactly like SSC, needs some work, for example, you will have to recarve the runestornes, explore the place, open the portal leading to the secret chamber under the glade (find the portal, like in SSC), but later. For now you have won, some druids from the Clearing come here to guard the place. -> The last task is to help ShCh protect it against the DRs. MC, the SRs and the druids magic their own shield around the glade, and use magic to hide it from the DRs. That way if they came back they won’t be able to find even though they know where it is, the forest will just make them lose their way. The shield is complete and the day is won.

-> Last story magic horse grind: The druids of the Clearing tell you Restored Guardian wants to talk to you. He thanks you for your service to Aideen and says with his return someone else also reappeared. Since you banished most of the darkness from the island by restoring it to almost as it was in Aideen’s time, more and more magic creatures reappear. He shows you a little white foal with runes on them like on aideen’s centaur form: a Luxariel foal. -> The last grind is taking care of the foal until it grows up for you to ride them. Every day you get a daily to take the foal to a different magical place in Jorvik and complete a quest there. E.g. take them to the Secret Stone Circle and tell them the meaning of the stones, go to Wildwoods and gather them magical plants to eat, in South Hoof listen to the Singing Yew’s song, etc. Once the progression bar is done, it ages up and you recieve the last free magic horse.

TO BE CONTINUED!

THE OTHER PARTS:

SSO Rewritten 1st Part: Winterdale https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/736955792328146944/sso-winterdale-fan-written-main-storyline?source=share

SSO Rewritten 2nd Part: Springvalley https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/716459529087401984/sso-rewritten-springvalley?source=share

#sso #star stable #star stable online #ssoblr #starstableonline #sso story #sso rewritten #sso full story series #sso soul riders #sso summer

[adarkrainbow]

The sequels of the Three Little Pigs

I talked previously of Disney’s “Three Little Pigs”. But what few people know is that The Three Little Pigs wasn’t just one animated short among the Silly Symphonies, but a whole series! To bank on the success of the original animated short, three different sequels were created. Overall, all three were considered to be “failures” which led to an iconic line of Walt Disney “You can’t top pigs with pigs” - but they actually form a trio of important shorts that influenced further development of the “Three Little Pigs” world later on, for example by introducing several elements and characters that Disney would repurpose in various forms and shapes.

We are not here however to make a history of Disney characters - rather we are here once again to compare fairytales and adaptations, and analyze what exactly the adaptators did through their work.

The Big Bad Wolf, 1934

# Disney’s “Three Little Pigs” already played a bit with fairy tales inter-connections by referencing in an indirect way “The Wolf and the Seven Goats” - but here, the short “The Big Bad Wolf” fully plays on the fairytale crossover by having the Three Little Pigs meet Little Red Riding Hood. In this short, little Red Riding Hood, on her way to meet her sick grandmother to give her cake and wine, passes by the house of the Three Little Pigs. While the two first pigs are still playing music and dancing around, the third pig is still building with bricks - this time an extension to the house. It presumably seems to be a nod to the continuity of the shorts, as given his two brothers live with him now he needs to expand his own house. 

# Here the careless two little pigs advise Little Red Riding Hood to take a shortcut through the woods to reach her Grandma, much to the dismay of the third pig who explicitely says how the shortcut is dangerous due to the wolf living in the woods - he rather advises to take a longer road out of the woods, but his brothers mock him and express their lack of fear of the Big Bad Wolf who just “huffs and puffs” (clearly here a reversion of the traditional tale, as huffing and puffing is precisely the very real threat of the menacing Big Bad Wolf, but here reinterpreted literaly by the pigs as the wolf being basically “full of hot air” or “just air”). Once more, the fault of the two first little pigs is too much careleness, not taking anything seriously be it threats or warnings. 

# So the two little pigs escort Red Riding Hood through the forest. Someone else pointed out in a blog that it is quite disturbing how the human design of Little Red Riding Hood makes her look like the pigs - but I think it is the entire point. Like the Pigs, she is small, plump, pink-skinned, and when she leaves with the two pigs she becomes the third part of their trio. All of them the perfect victims for the hungry wolf...  There is also a clear divide between the countryside and the woods - the countryside the pigs live in and Red Riding Hood goes through is an open place with no obstacle to see the sky, gentle slopes of pastel colors with gentle flowers, birds and insects everywhere... Meanwhile, the wood is clearly designed as an enclosed place where the trees prevent from seeing the sky or the horizon, with darker colors and a lot of shadows everywhere - and while it is not a “creepy wood” in itself, just a normal wood, there is a clear intention at creating a darker and more claustrophobic feel for the wood. 

# The Big Bad Wolf tries to get the protagonists again through the use of disguises - this time, by becoming a ballerina-like fairy-queen called “Goldilocks”. On one side, it obviously plays into the grotesque here. The masculine, hairy, ugly wolf tries to mimick a beautiful and feminine entity ; in doing so he actually mixes up everything by acting both at the same time as a fairy and a ballerina, and adding the name “Goldilocks” taken from another little girl lost in the woods, there is a comical effect here. But on the other side, such a disguise is PRECISELY the best disguise the Wolf could have, as it is the complete antithesis of what he is. He takes an “superior” being, a fairy AND a queen, when he is an “inferior being” (an animal dressed like a hobo) ; he takes a female persona when he is male ; he tries to become your typical adjuvant and helper of fairytales when he is a villain ; and finally he tries to have the grace of a ballerina when he is clumsy and violent. In fact it is the later opposition that breaks his costume, as his heaviness is precisely what results in the destruction of his costume ; and later we again have a play on the wolf’s girth as he is too big to go through the narrow passages the smaller Red Riding Hood uses. 

# As with the previous short, the story of Red Riding Hood is HEAVILY softened here. Not only is Grandma not eaten, rather hiding in her closet at the wolf’s arrival, but Red Riding Hood either is left untouched, as she joins her grandma’s hiding in the closet (which results in a funny call-back as the Wolf asks for the women to open the door and let him in, a clear re-playing of his earlier fights with the pigs, except here instead of trying to enter a house he tries to enter a closet). In fact, while the Three Little Pigs original fairytale was adapted in a pure “adaptation” way, this short plays much more with the fairytale of Red Riding Hood by notably having the Big Bad Wolf break the fourth wall during his recitation of the “Oh my Grandma what big X you have / It is better to X you”, asking the audience “How am I doing?” ; but also by changing the last line which isn’t anymore “The better to eat you!” (which becomes invalid as he doesn’t end up eating her), but rather “You haven’t seen the half of it”. Clearly, the short considers that Red Riding Hood is such a well-known and classic tale that it can’t be fully adapted in a straightforward way and needs to be played with to work. 

# If we base ourselves on the Grimm version of “Little Red Riding Hood”, then the third pig actually fills here the role of the Woodsman, as in he is the one who, alerted, goes to save the two women. In another continuity-nod, we see that now the third pig has got a full arsenal of “wolf exterminators” ranging from rifles, bear traps and knifes to swords, canons and axes, passing by poisons and bombs - weapons he even keeps in a bag paralleling the Wolf’s own bag in which all of his disguises are hidden. But, fascinatingly, the third pig doesn’t use any of those weapons - rather he vanquishes the Wolf by throwing unpopped pop-corn in his pants, and coals. 

This demise is supposed to mirror the defeat of the Big Bad Wolf in the first short: once again we have a food-related demise (popcorn), and once again we have the Wolf being hurt on his butt. Which, as you will notice, is a recurring theme of these shorts who have a strange “let’s harm the butt” obsession... I could push forward the idea that it might be a cultural reference to a very iconic wolf-demise in European literature, one of the harsh tricks of Reynard the fox played on Ysengrin the wolf - the fox betraying the wolf so that he loses his tail... But this is probably just looking too much into what was just the humor of the time. Hit them in the butt, everyone laughs. In fact this very demise, unlike the one of the previous short which robbed the Big Bad of his human disguise and pretense, this one is just designed to be goofy and silly as the wolf runs away in a rain of popcorn. 

Three Little Wolves, 1936

# Now this short actually does what the subgenre of “fractured fairytales” would later do: start playing on the concept of twisting, reversing, breaking fairytales. And here the twist comes in the very title. We do not follow Three Little Pigs here anymore... but Three Little Wolves, who as it turn out are the triplet children of the Big Bad Wolf, miniature copies of their father. 

# We are introduced to the “house” of the Big Bad Wolf, which as it turns out is an underground lair under a big tree. A negative picture of the brick house of the third pig : both are strong houses that hold on to attacks, but where one is bright and good-looking and on top of a hill, the other is a dark and creepy underground lair. The Big Bad Wolf is notably introduced singing to his sons a song about cooking pigs... in a strong German accent and with German words mixed with the English. We are in 1936... This is not a coincidence.

# The parallel between the Three Little Wolves and the Three Little Pigs is driven even further by the three wolves imitating the pigs’ song “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf”... except that they perform this song to mock their own father due to them being naughty brats... and they use a bone instead of a flute. 

# The previous short mixed the Three Little Pigs with “Little Red Riding Hood”. Here, the fairytale is mixed yet again with another famous wolf-involved children story, though not a fairytale: rather, it is The Boy who Cried Wolf, a fable. Here the two pigs play the role of the Boy, as they blow the horn used as a “Wolf Alarm” just to play a prank and have fun on their third brother. Which later bites them back when the Wolf kidnaps them and their brother ignores the horn as one of their pranks. 

# Here, to trick the Little Pigs the Wolf disguises himself as Bo Peep, from traditional nursery rhymes (again, another confusion between fairytales, fables and nursery rhymes) and his sons as sheep. What I should note is that a recurring theme of all these sequels is how the Wolf takes on female disguises. Before we had a fairy-queen, and a grandmother ; here a sheperdess (even more, a “little girl” sheperdess), and as we will later see this continues in the next sequel. And this is driven even further by a later fact: when the Wolf, still in his Bo Peep disguise, manages to lock the Pigs in his lair... the Pigs blush and whisper “Oh, Bo Peep” as they believe something ELSE will happen now. Only to have their (either romantic, either lustful) hopes crushed when the sheperdess removes her disguise... There is clearly something to say here about the Wolf, a purely male force in all its nastiness (ugliness, brutality, hairiness), tricking the Pigs constantly with female disguises of various forms of kindness and innocence (fairy-queen, grandmother, little girl/sheperdess), and the disguise even pushing as far as hinting at a romance... Of course, the little wolves being disguised as sheep is also a nod to the expression “a wolf in sheeps’ clothing”, an expression already used in the first original short.

# In a very nice moment, after locking up the Pigs in his lair, the Big Bad Wolf swallows the key. Beyond it possibly triggering any trauma one may have gotten watching “Coraline”, it also highlights subtly the nature of the Wolf. He is a being of devouring. He only cares about eating little pigs or little girls, and he even only teaches his sons about how to cook and eat pigs - so of course, it would make sense for him to swallow the key. Swallowing the only mean of escape for the pigs is a foreshadowing of how the wolf himself will swallow them later. And the little wolves are not paling in comparison to their father, as they gleefully hunt down the pigs with a big meat cleaver - but hopefully for the pigs, the little savages are as much busy fighting each other for the meat as they are hunting the pigs. 

# The plot of this short is resolved when the Pigs trick the Big Bad Wolf into blowing the Wolf-Alarm horn. This is the reusing of a traditional and classical element of fairytales: tricking the villain in its own demise, or more specifically tricking the ogre into destroying itself. You can see it for example in the Hansel and Gretel fairytale, when Gretel convinces the witch to climb herself in the oven, or in Puss in Boots when the cat plays on the ogre’s pride to trick him into becoming a mouse. Here, as with many ogres of fairytale, the Big Bad Wolf is tricked by his own meal as his preys play on his arrogance. 

# Interestingly, to defeat the Wolf, the Third Pig reverses the original situation of the first short: this time, it is the Pig who disguises himself (into an Italian merchant) and knocks at the door of the Big Bad Wolf. And the Pig plays on the Wolf’s greed and gluttony - by offering “free tomato samples”. But unlike the Big Bad Wolf, who wanted to ENTER the Pigs house, here the Pig tries to convince the Wolf to come out, so that he can fall in the trap he purposefully designed for him... a trap disguised as a Fruit and Vegetables Shop. Here a double-play, again: the Wolf, the meat-eater by excellence, meets his doom by entering a place selling anything but meat ; and the Third Little Pig did not built a real, safe, solid building as he did with his brick house. Rather he completely inverted things by building a fake building that crumbles as soon as the wolf enters, to reveal its true nature of a trap. 

The Practical Pig, 1939

# The fourth part of the Three Little Pigs series, and the third (and last) of the sequels of the original short. Here we have again an opposition between the two little pigs and the third, the former mocking the latter for working all day and having no fun. Even more egregious: they mock their brother for building “yet another wolf machine”, and think he is crazy for building so many defenses against the wolf. And they decide to go swimming in the nearby pond, despite their brother’s insistance that the pond is a dangerous place as the Wolf is known to roam nearby. 

This is what actually made a lot of people dislike those sequels: in each of them, the two little pigs seemed to remember less and less about their original ordeal. The “moral” and the “lesson learned” after each short disappeared by the next, making it seem like the two little pigs basically deserved to die for not learning anything and not growing any kind of common sense. But it also shows one of the “traps” of fairytale adaptations: the cycle. Fairytales are basic stories with identifiable structures, repeated again and again and again. And while this series of Silly Symphonies tried to capitalize on one given story, they did so by repeating the story again and again - more specifically, they ended up returning to the same beginnings, the same “faults” leading the characters in dangers, the same mistakes... which in turn makes it feel that nothing is learned, that all the adventures are worthless, and that ultimately the characters of the Pigs and the Wolf are trapped in an endless cycle of hunts and pursuits. We already have here the logic of cartoons such as Looney Tunes - but this logic clearly was not mastered by the creators of the shorts ; OR was not appreciated back then by the early 20th century audience.

# The Wolf tricks again the swimming Pigs by putting on a disguise ; again he uses a female disguise, as I pointed out earlier. He takes the form of a mermaid - after the supernatural fairy-queen with insect wings who flew around like a bird, we have now a half-fish half-human creature. But as I also pointed out earlier: as the shorts go on, the Wolf’s disguises and luring tactics become much more overtly sexual and seductive in nature. In “The Big Bad Wolf” there was no obvious seduction or sexuality ; in “The Three Little Wolves” there was sexuality/attraction coming from the Pigs and not wanted by the Wolf ; but here the Wolf expressively plays on that, sending kisses and roses to the Pigs to lure them. 

# We find back the Wolf in his lair with his three boys, and we have a bit more of a glimpse at the dysfunctional family that is the Wolf family. This clan was clearly designed to be a clan of disorganized and chaotic brutes. In the previous short we knew that the three wolves clearly did not respect much their father (using slingshots on him and openly mocking him, even though they did obeyed to his plans and went searching for him when he was defeated), and also were quite selfish as when it came time to eat the bigs they fought among themselves. Here we see that the three little wolves are like their father brutal embodiments of gluttony, unable to wait to eat the pigs on the spot. But we also see how the Big Bad Wolf is a brutal father that answers his sons lack of obedience with violence, at first by hitting them, then by using his “huffing and puffing” on them to blow them away. It is clear that this “clan” is broken by their own selfishness and lack of respect for each other. 

# Unlike his sons’ desire to eat the pigs on the spot, strangely the Big Bad Wolf refuses. Despite having his long-desired meal in his grasp, he decides to wait. Why? Because as he explains he wants to have the Third Pig too and to eat them all at once. And this, as it turns out, will be his downfall, because his very decision to go after the Third Pig before eating the siblings will make his entire plan fail. Did he act by pure gluttony, wishing to have all three in his belly? Or did he act out of a petty revenge, unable to let go of the several times the Third Pig beat him? Or was it more of a mesure of cautioness, not wanting the third brother to spoil his fun at the last minute, as he always do? We don’t know for sure. 

# Similarly it is the three wolves own gluttony that will lead to their meal escaping: not only do they not follow their father’s orders of not eating anything until he gets back home, but they also decide to add pepper for the flavor to the baked pigs. This act of gluttony will actually accidentally free the two pigs and immobilize the three wolves, unable to catch their prey fleeing away. 

# The last thing I want to talk about is the machine the third pig newly built for the Big Bad Wolf: a lie-detector machine that beats up the liar strapped in it. What is interesting is that the machine displays only two types of punishment. One, rincing mouth with soap, which is a traditional expression when it comes to punishing people for lying or saying bad words (and unfortunately was sometimes taken literaly by some very harsh and unpleasant parents) ; and the second is rather spanking - a punishment clearly designed for a child. By using these two punishments in the machine, the short clearly targets its audience as children, because they are precisely two typical punishments inhabiting the minds of children and existing in the “children universe”

#disney #the three little pigs #fairytale adaptation #the big bad wolf #fairy tale adaptation #silly symphonies #the three little wolves #the practical pig #cartoon #walt disney

[happymeishappylife]

Books I Read in 2023 (Part 1)

1. Doctor Who: Web in Space by David Bailey

Ice Spider captures ship, Amy, Rory, and Doctor land on and try to help. Also attacked by Robots who then capture Doctor and TARDIS. With help from Messy a cute plumbing robot, they escape, save the spider and the human crew.

2. Odd Interlude by Dean Koontz (Special Story in between Novels 5 & 6)

I have to be honest, this threw me because it jumps back to invents prior to Book 5 fresh after Odd kills for the first time and while he is still trying to reconcile this it made the book hard for me. That and it’s the first and only time we’ve switched voices in the book and no offense, no 12-year-old, no matter how traumatized or amazing sounds like Jolie. Still it was a quick fast read and it explores a topic Koontz loves to visit in all his works which is Fort Wryven.

3. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (Book #2 of The Heroes of Olympus Series)

What a relief to have Percy Jackson back in action. I mean I love this boy and who doesn’t when you have lines responding back to Gods like, “All roads lead there, child. You should know that.” Percy: “Detention?” There’s just something about this very powerful, brave, and heroic demigod, just not fully understanding the things he’s told and being jealous over not being able to turn into animals when he’s already destroyed a glacier and summoned a hurricane of power. Never change Percy. But also, what a delight to be introduced to such great characters in Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang who are powerful demigods in their own right and instant family to Percy when he shows up to Camp Jupiter without his memories. I love that the three instantly click and have such a great dynamic with each other, despite the tragedies in all their lives and the immense trouble that brews throughout this book and is building in the series. I’m so excited for Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter to team up though, but I’m worried about Nico (though like Percy I kind of want to wring his neck for lying about knowing him) and I’m super worried about Annabeth even though I already know the spoilers and what’s about to happen. I’m not ready for it, but I can’t wait to read it.

4. The Musician’s Daughter by Susanne Dunlap

Overall this was a good read. I had some trouble with it at times because it was set in the past and it was overall unclear how old Teresia was so some of the actions that she was put through seemed super creepy. Plus even though the story did revolve around helping the Romani and reestablishing some of their lost titles, there was still some prejudice there through the use of the words they shouldn’t be called, and while I can excuse the ‘bad guys’ in the novel for using. Teresia and even Mirela herself used it which showed the authors lack of understanding. Still, I liked how thrust into the grief and sadness at the sudden murder of her father, Teresia not only steps up to help her family but also herself and fight for what she wants and how she wants to live her life. Plus I’m glad nothing seriously happened to Toby because that would have been awful.

5. Labyrinth by Kat Richardson (Book #5 of The Greywalker Series)

Picking up right where the previous novel ended, we join Harper as she arrives home from London to the comfort of her boyfriend and the chaos that is unfolding by the Pharoahn’s plans in Seattle. Half the book is Harper falling into danger either because people are looking for her or she throws herself into it. I didn’t always agree with her choices but I also felt her suffering the more in touch with the Grey she gets. Still wasn’t prepared for the ending though and I do wonder where it will go from here since this felt like the penultimate battle.

6. Star Wars: Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to read more of the extended Star Wars universe but I forgot how much I missed it. I really do enjoy seeing what happens to Luke, Leia, and Han after the events of the main trilogy even if one of them is hurt, about to die, and just absolutely beaten up the entire novel, cough, cough Luke… But still I enjoyed the storyline where Luke, Han, Chewie, and R2-D2 are investigating the possible former living conditions of the Jedi before they were murdered and come across the next plot from former Empire elites to takeover control. Especially Leia story where she gets to be a bad ass fighting against this dark side child and his mom. Meanwhile Luke is having to stop a ship that was built 30 years ago from destroying the planet his friends on while its picking up a collection of aliens and indoctrinating (or trying to) into the next stormtroopers while one of his students is captured and threatened with execution. The only thing that irked me in the book was the romantic story. I had no issue with Luke and Callista being friends but the romance seemed forced and I was glad at the end that Han makes a comment about it looking more like siblings than romantic partners because it just felt weird.

7. The Spy Who Haunted Me by Simon R. Green (Book #3 of the Hidden Histories Series)

Considering the absolute twists in tone and situations between the first and second book, I had no idea where this was going to go especially after a world ending fight in the last one. So a spy game solving all our favorite mysterious tall tales and creatures? It made it fun and still jammed pack because going from Nessie, Sasquach, a Russian failed experiment base, a disappearing US battleship, and Area 52 was a lot to take in. I’ll admit, I was sad that Molly wasn’t more in this book because she is a great character, but it was nice to see Eddie work without his family and his friends to see who he is when he’s alone. And he’s still a master spy but a pretty damn good hero too. Now, the one thing I’m learning is this series is Green’s way to relive all of his favorite characters from his finished series. First is was Giles and this time it was Walker which was interesting, but also I already knew 1, Walker didn’t kill the other spies but also 2, he obviously wasn’t going to die because John does that later. Still interesting to see the team up, plus I learned there is a full crossover book with the Droods and the Nightside later so I can’t wait to put Eddie and John Taylor together.

8. Stars of the Kanri by S.P. Dorning

Picked this up because it seemed like a fun independent sci-fi story, but as soon as I read the dedication, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it because of the authors insistence that God put him in this story to tell His tale. And at first all was good (ignoring the first time writing mistakes), but as soon as we land on the planet it all becomes about how The Father of All will guide us and does these miraculous things and I was turned off. Plus the big secret that Mason is a robot isn’t really a twist at the end because it was made clear in the beginning what was going on. And also the people from the stars saving primitive lifeforms because they know better has been an overtold device that’s reminiscent of that colonization vibe and I can’t stand it. So definitely not picking up the sequel whose plot is given away in the epilogue.

9. Tesla’s Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman

Overall I enjoyed the premise, the plot, and the storytelling of this book because the idea that Nikola Tesla hid away objects of incredible power and incredible abilities in some random attic in Colorado Springs is an interesting twist. That and the Accelerati (founded by Edison) are these scientists that constantly try to quash and control big inventions and mysterious happenings fits right in. And I also enjoyed the characters, but it didn’t feel like I was reading about true middle school kids or actual events that middle schoolers might become a part of. It felt at least like these kids should have been high schoolers in my opinion. So that took me out of it a little. Still I liked the book enough to see where it goes from here and since there are two more in the series it will be a fun, but short right.

10. Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz (Book #3 of Frankenstein)

In this never ending 48 hours of a story, told over 3 books so far, we got a little more action heavy in this one as all our characters begin to meet up with each other. Victor’s creatures are continuously breaking down or going overboard on their programming, Erika befriends one of them and relishes the secret proving that she’s not perfect like her predecessor. Her predecessor is alive and helping the creatures of the dump live and survive, our two favorite human cops befriend a dog, and Decaulion gets a glimpse of his maker as he not blows up one of Victor’s labs, but his backup as well. It’s going to be interesting to see how Victor responds to this, especially because it seems like more and more of his creatures are on Decaulion’s side. But I also have 2 books to go, so I know a lot can change in a day.

#2023 rewind #books i read

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Hiii!! I really love your tumblr posts and I'm pretty new to the Batfam (meaning I have only read fics and textposts about them, no comics) and I wanted to ask about the year Bruce/Batman gets "lost in time". I know general things of what the kids have been doing–Dick became batman and fired Tim from robin, giving it to Damian, everyone thinking Tim was crazy for believing Bruce was alive, (don't really know what Jason was up to though, was he still murderous towards Tim? Does the pit still affect him? Also I have no idea about Cass and Duke, were they introduced at this point??) Anyways, my real question was why was Bruce lost in time, what villain put him there? And how did he get out? And how long was he "dead"? Was Bruce in another reality or like just asleep the whole time? Oh! And how soon did this happen after Damian got introduced to the family–a couple months?

I'm so sorry this is so long, but I hope you answer and thank you!!

(I’m going to try and cover all my bases here by going into how exactly Bruce “died,” what went down during the Battle For the Cowl, what the Batkids did while Bruce was gone, and how Bruce came back. Hopefully it all makes sense?? We’ll see how it goes lmao.)

Part 1 - What Happened to Bruce:

So there was this event called Final Crisis (which I won’t go completely into since it would make this post a million times longer than it already is), but the bottom line is that Darkseid wants to overthrow reality and release his Anti-Life Equation, which would overthrow the whole planet and turn everyone into slaves. (If you’re interested in knowing more about the storyline, here’s a Reddit thread that explains it WAY better than I could.) 

What I CAN tell you is that during his final confrontation with Darkseid, Bruce is hit by an Omega Beam and turned into a burnt chicken nugget killed. Poor guy.

Final Crisis #6

Clark and Diana bring the body back to the Batcave and break the news to the Batfamily. Batman #687 covers a good portion of the aftermath such as Bruce’s funeral, the Batfamily grieving, and Dick coming to terms with his new responsibility of becoming Batman.

Batman #687

Part 2 - Battle For the Cowl: 

Musical chairs time, fellas! After word gets out that Batman is gone, Gotham erupts into chaos. Dick doesn’t want to take over the mantle, Tim needs Dick to take over the mantle, and Jason says “fuck it” and takes over the mantle himself because somebody around here has to. He becomes this murderous psychopathic Batman and starts taking out criminals with deadly force because someone’s gotta do the job, so it might as well be him.

Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1

(Okay honestly, this series had some pretty bad characterization overall, which sucks since it’s such an important storyline. Jason is portrayed as this violent psychopath, which...okay, he was kind of insane after the Pit and all, but not to this degree. Personally, I choose to owe the bad characterization to Bruce’s death because as much as Jason resents Bruce for all he’s done, he does still love him and losing him would be devastating, which would exacerbate his already fragile mental health. As for Damian, this happens roughly three years after his first appearance, so we can assume it’s been a few months since he first joined the family. He’s still relatively new at this point, so nobody knows how to write him yet. He ends up being depicted as if his main two personality traits are Bratty and Assassin-Child and that’s it. It’s all just a mess.)

Anyway, Tim tells Dick to become Batman and stop Jason’s reign of terror. Dick says no, so Tim follows Jason’s lead by saying “fuck it” and putting on the cowl himself. He goes to confront Jason, which ends in Jason beating the crap out of him (again) and leaving him for dead after Tim declines his offer to become Jason’s Robin. Dick goes to save Tim and ends up fighting Jason. 

Battle For the Cowl #3

Dick wins, Jason disappears, Tim is fine, and Dick finally gets his head out of his ass and becomes Batman. 

Part 3 - What Happens to Each Batkid While Bruce is “Dead”?:

Dick: 

As I said, Dick becomes the new Batman a month after Bruce’s death. He’s got big shoes to fill, and it takes some time for him to get used to his new role. He and Damian end up flipping around the classic Batman and Robin dynamic, with Batman now as the fun counterpart to Robin’s edginess. Dick, Damian, and Alfred relocate to the penthouse above the Wayne Foundation building, operating out of a secret Bat-Bunker in the basement.

Batman #688

Jason: 

After Battle For the Cowl, Jason is still batshit insane and determined to make Dick’s already stressful life even harder by becoming a supervillain with an ugly costume and an even uglier hairstyle. (I know it’s just because the artist sucked, but still. Jason is horrifying to look at during this time.) He mostly just gets on Dick’s nerves by running around Gotham with his new sidekick Scarlet and killing criminals as Batman and Robin wannabes. Eventually, Dick has Jason committed to Arkham Asylum and he hangs out there until Bruce returns.

Batman and Robin (2009) #5

Tim: 

Tim...doesn’t do great after Bruce’s death, mentally. Dick makes Damian Robin, his reasoning being that Robin is more of a sidekick and he sees Tim as his equal. By making Damian Robin, Dick hopes that it will give him the stability he needs to keep him from straying back toward the “bad” side. (It’s the right move ultimately, although his execution was pretty messed up since he didn’t discuss it with Tim beforehand, but he’s allowed to make mistakes. Dick’s father just died and now he’s in charge of picking up the pieces of their broken family. It’s a lot to handle.) 

Long story short, Tim has a breakdown, realizes that Bruce is alive, dons the Red Robin identity, and cuts ties with his family to travel the world in search of proof. It’s a rough time. 

Red Robin #1

Damian: 

Our little guy becomes Robin! So proud of him! As I explained earlier, Dick makes Damian his Robin with the assumption that it will keep him out of trouble, and he’s right on that account. He mentors Damian, teaching him how to channel his violent instincts into something productive, and it works! Slowly but surely, Damian makes the transition from bratty assassin to actual hero!

Batman and Robin (2009) #22

Cass:

Duke sadly was not introduced at this point in time, so he missed out on all the pandemonium. Cass, however, has been Batgirl for years by now, but she got kind of pushed aside by the writers after Bruce’s death. Bruce disappears shortly after adopting Cass, but once he was “dead,” the writers sort of moved Cass around for a while, not quite knowing what to do with her. First she was with the Outsiders. Then they got disbanded and Cass tried forming a new network of heroes to take over for Batman if needed. Then she helped out in said network during Battle for the Cowl, taking care of a newly ravaged Gotham. Then Cass gave the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie Brown after she became disillusioned with the role, thanks to the loss of her father and mentor. Then Cass picked up and moved to Hong Kong to “follow Bruce’s plans” by continuing whatever work he had set up for her there. It was all very vague and confusing, and Cass more or less got swept under the rug during this time. Thanks, writers.

Batgirl (2009) #1

Part 4 - How Bruce Came Back: 

When the Blackest Night storyline happens, the Justice League realizes that the corpse buried under Bruce’s grave is apparently not the real one and that he’s actually alive out there somewhere! How wild is that! This is further proven by Dick after he places Bruce’s body in a Lazarus Pit to revive, which has the same result because it’s very clearly Not Bruce and they should have listened to Tim from the start.

Batman and Robin (2009) #9

Anyway, what actually happened is that the Omega Beams that Darkseid shot at Bruce didn’t kill him, but rather blasted him back through time to the prehistoric era with his memories wiped. The Omega Energy inside of Bruce ends up catapulting him through various time periods, which is all part of Darkseid’s plan. With each time-hop, Bruce builds up more Omega Energy in his body which, when he gets back to his original time period, will be unleashed and destroy everything.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

It’s been a little under two years since Final Crisis, though in-universe it’s uncertain exactly how long Bruce has been “dead.” We can assume it’s been a year, give or take. The way he comes back is too scientific and complicated for me to understand, so uhhhh the bottom line is that Tim and a few Leaguers save Bruce at the Vanishing Point and the day is saved! Hooray! 

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6

(If you want to read about how it actually goes down, then I seriously recommend reading Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. It’s only six issues, so it’s a quick read and it explains the situation far better than I ever could.)

Bruce eventually reunites with his family after spying on them for a period of time as Insider to see what has changed in his absence:

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home

After that, things quickly settle back into their new normal. Dick and Damian stay on as Batman and Robin. Bruce goes back to being Batman as well, with him handling Batman Incorporated business and Dick continuing as Gotham’s defender. Tim keeps the Red Robin outfit, Steph stays on as Batgirl, and Cass becomes Black Bat. Jason stays in Arkham for a while before filing an appeal to be moved to a regular prison. He kills 82 inmates in less than a week and gets transferred back to Arkham, which he promptly escapes from. It’s a ride, I tell ya.

Aaaaand that’s about it! I hope this answered all of your questions!

#lay it on me papa bob #batman #bruce wayne #batfamily #batfam #dick grayson #nightwing #damian wayne #robin #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #idiot duckboy #cassandra cain #black bat #batgirl #stephanie brown #alfred pennyworth #darkseid #final crisis #battle for the cowl #dc comics #batman and robin #soho reads comics #get your comic references kids

[hoseokslefteyebrow]

An Act Of Kindness || M.YG

Pairing : Min Yoongi X Reader

Genre : soft yandere?

Summary : When your summer camp groupmates decide to go 'off rhe road', everything goes wrong.

Wordcount: 2.6k lol

[ A/N: Suggested for my Baby Project series, but it was a little too dark so here's a one shot instead. I'm not exactly great at 'yandere' genre yet so like,, I tried lol.Enjoy!]

" I don't know about this guys." You tell your annoying group mates as you're walking of the path and into the depths of the forest.

One of your groupmates, Heeyoung huffs as she looks over her shoulder at you.

" Psh, don't be such a whimp. We're just going off the road to make a shortcut." She tells you.

Jungkook grins at you from a few steps up front.

" Relax, it'll be fine. Besides, we've got the map, nothing will go wrong." He smiles, waving said paper map with his hand.

You still hesitate.

" I really don't know guys, they did forecast that it'll rain today too. Besides, how do we even know where we are from the map? If we walk off the path, we won't be able to track our own location." You point out.

You really aren't in the mood to die just because of these people. You've seen enough horror movies.

" Relax, it'll be fine." Jimin nudged you from beside.

You look at Jimin's face, the male has always quite charmed you in a way, and unlike the other two, he wasn't quite as annoying either.

" Jungkook's right. What could go wrong?" He smiles at you.

-

Quite frankly, almost everything went wrong.

It's now around 4 hours later, and the four of you are hopelessly lost in the depths of the forest.

It's raining now too, buckets of water falling from the grey skies, not exactly pleasant.

" Wait, can you show me the map one more time?" Heeyoung asks Jungkook as an excuse to huddle close to him.

He looks at her weirdly as she presses herself up against his arm, but doesn't comment on it. Figuring she probably just feels cold.

All of you are dressed in shorts and a t-shirt after all, except for you, as you're also wearing a long sleeved up zip up hoodie. You were lowkey prepared for this, but considering it's been raining for at least 30 minutes now, your small preparation had no effect anymore, and so you too have chattering teeth.

You watch in disappointment when Jungkook unfolds the soaked map, only to have it literally slip through his fingers, the flimsy pieces of paper falling hopelessly on the ground.

Heeyoung watches the thing fall before hitting Jungkook, now suddenly mad.

" You know what? This is all your fault! If you hadn't soaked the map!-"

" My fault?! You wanted to walk off the damn path!" Jungkook argued right back at her.

You pinched your brows. Great, so you were stuck with two idiots now too.

" Okay, uhm, let's just not blame anyone. It can't change how we're situated now, let's just find shelter and check our phones." Jimin suggests.

You nod numbly, teeth chattering as all of you go to seek for coverage.

Jungkook and Heeyoung are suddenly not attached to the hip anymore as you do so, it appeared the girl wasn't interested in him anymore.

" Hey, uhm, I'm sorry for not listening to you. I should've agreed." Jimin says as he now walks beside you.

You smile at him gratefully.

" Thanks, I appreciate that actually." 

He nods.

" So, uhm, do you mind if I hold your hand? I know we're not close and all, but you seem cold, and I can't exactly offer you my jacket, not to mention that I'm quite cold too." He suggests, not looking at you as he says so.

You smile at his antics, finding his behavior cute.

" Sure." You reply shortly as you move to grab a hold on Jimin's hand.

His fingers interlock with yours easily. Both of your skins feel cold, even against each other, but it admittedly felt nice to not feel alone in a situation like this.

It isn't until another twenty minutes later that Jungkook has found something.

" Guys! Look at that! That seems like shelter." Jungkook says, pointing to, what seems to be, part of a roof.

Jimin and you exchange glances. 

For some reason, it felt like he was asking something, and so you shrug as a response.

He nods before turning back to the other two.

" Okay, let's go there." 

-

" Nope, mine is dead too." Jimin sighs, pocketing his phone before running the same hand through his hair.

He hasn't let go of your hand since thirty minutes ago, except for when you took out your phone, and for some reason, the small action made you feel a little funnier about Jimin.

The four of you are stood in front of, what seems to be, an abandoned, mansion. Most blinds are closed, but the blinds that are open show dark rooms, and are mostly on the second floor.

" We could, try to knock?" Heeyoung suggests.

You blink, looking up at the bit of the building you can see. For some reason, it gives you a cold vibe.

" I don't thinks anyone even lives here-"

You've barely finished your sentence when Heeyoung is already knocking.

You sigh, not all too surprised by her in all honesty.

However, surprise and fear greet you as the door suddenly jiggles.

Jungkook's eyes widen, and Jimin tugs you closer to him as the sound sounds.

All of you are even more surprised when the door opens, being greeted by a rather old looking male, who blinks at all of you.

" Excuse me, but can I help you?" The man asks politely.

He seems to be around his fourties at least, and all of you let out a breath.

" Hello! Sorry for suddenly knocking. It's just that it's raining-"

As she speaks, it also starts to thunder.

What a great moment.

" - And thundering, so we wondered if we could stay here for a while until the weather dies down a bit." She asks them, a friendly smile on her face.

The male clears his throat.

" Well then, please come in and wait here in the hallway. I will ask master Min for permission." He tells her before opening the door wider.

She smiles, turning to all of you, and motioning with her head to follow her in.

You all do so. The hallway is large, stereo typical for a mansion, with multiple doors, and a clean marble floor, along with a grand staircase to the second floor.

You subconsciously tighten your grip on Jimin's hand.

He turns to you with a worried expression.

" You okay? We can go if you think it's a bad idea." He tells you.

You're barely turning to look at him before he clarifies.

" I trust your judgement."

" Oh. I see. Well, I really don't know. It feels here kind of off? But I feel like it's going to storm soon, so maybe we should just ask for a phone connection and wait here." You suggest.

He hums.

" Sounds like a plan to me."

A few moments later the man returns, a kind smile on his face.

" The master will be with us shortly, he'd like to know who'd be seeking shelter in his house before he will grant it." The man smiles.

As you study his stance, you realize that this man is most probably a staff.

" Oh, where are my manners? My name is Charles, I'm the butler of this mansion." He smiles.

Jungkook nods, about to introduce himself, when the sound of clacking shoes sounds.

All of you turn to the grand staircase, where a single male is walking down from. Your eyes widen in surprise. The male who's walking down said stairs is stunning. He's got a pale skin, black hair, and is wearing a dark blue suit with a white button up underneath.

Who relaxes in that kind of outfit? Not that you'll complain or anything, he was admittedly good looking. He walks down unbothered, seemingly not bothered by your looks.

" Say whatever you want, but he is very handsome." Heeyoung whispers to you.

You nod silently in response, and Jimin clears his throat.

You turn to blink at him.

" Something wrong?" you ask him.

" No not-"

" My name is Min Yoongi. I live here. Who are you?" 

It appeared the male, now known as Min Yoongi, had already come to a stop in front of you.

" Right, sorry! My name is Heeyoung, these are Jungkook, Jimin and Y/N." Heeyoung smiles at him.

He doesn't smile back, simply letting his eyes go over all of your forms for a moment. You shivered as his eyes went over your form.

" Fine, you may stay for now. Has any of you had dinner yet?" He asks, voice deep, and eyes holding a bored expression.

" Dinner? We've only had breakfast!-"

" Uhm, thank you! But, that's not necessary. If we could maybe make a call though, that'd be great." You hurriedly stop Jungkook.

Yoongi raises a brow at you in surprise, as both Heeyoung and Jungkook come at you.

" Okay, y'know what?! This is enough. He's literally being nice to us by offering us a meal, and you're just going to turn him down? What is wrong with you?!" Heeyoung yells at you.

" C'mon Y/N. Just one meal? We're all hungry." Jungkook tries, a little more softly.

Yoongi watches you and your friends sharply, not exactly amused by the rudeness of your group mate.

You squeeze Jimin's hand softly as you step back, not entirely sure on what to do.

" Alright, uhm, let's not get mad at her. And staying for one meal should be alright. Right?" He tries too.

You sigh, but nod anyway.

The meal was filled with chatter of your groupmates and charles, Yoongi was mostly silent, and so were you. Heeyoung tried her best to get Yoongi's attention, often complementing him for the meal and his hospitality, he didn't really do much in return, simply nodding until he at some point friendly told her to sod off.

Soon after you tried ringing the camp, but to your disappointment, the lines were dead, and the storm had only worsened.

" It's dead. Any idea if we can fix it?" You asked Yoongi as you put the phone away.

He shook his head, bangs moving.

" I'm afraid not. I can offer all of you a bed for tonight only." He suggests, messing his hair up.

You bite your lip in thought, looking out of the window beside you.

The storm certainly wasn't going to get better anytime soon.

You sighed, before nodding. Going out there now was a death wish.

" That'd be nice. Thank you, and I'm sorry for us suddenly turning up on your doorstep." You tell him.

He shakes his head.

" Don't worry about it."

About an hour later you're seated on your bed. You, Jimin, Heeyoung and Jungkook all had your own rooms. The other three in the bedrooms across the hallway from you while you're situated beside Min Yoongi's very own bedroom.

After about twenty minutes, there's a knock sounding at your door.

" Come in." You call out.

The door opens, and you're surprised to find Yoongi standing there.

" Oh, hi. Is everything alright?" You ask him.

He hums.

" Yeah, just wanted to talk to you, if you don't mind. " He tells you with a small smile.

You nod, sitting down at the bed as he sits down opposite you at the desk.

Conversation went surprisingly smooth, after a few minutes into talking, it went as if you two knew each other for years.

" Y'know, you seem to be a pretty perfect person." He tells you as your laughter died down.

You snorted.

" Pft, nah. My grades really prove otherwise." You tell him.

You're flattered a man of his 'rank' thinks like that about you, but you really don't agree.

He grins.

" Grades are just a social structure." He shrugs.

You smile at him.

" Thanks, but really though. No one is perfect. Especially not me." You tell him honestly.

You don't hate yourself, but that doesn't mean you view yourself as perfect either.

He shakes his head.

" I think your head's messing with you due to the time. I'll see you tomorrow. You guys can still stay for breakfast right?" He asks.

You think about it for a moment.

You're already here anyway. How bad could staying over for breakfast be?

-

The first thing you notice when you wake up is that it's already light out.

The second thing you notice is that it's eerily quiet.

You bolt out of bed, changing in the bathroom and folding the borrowed clothes on the sink. There's a packaged toothbrush by the sink too, and so you brush your teeth before going downstairs.

"Y/N?" You suddenly hear Yoongi's voice from somewhere beside you.

You turn around in surprise, barely tripping over your feet in your hurry.

Yoongi reacts quickly, catching you by your shoulders and holding you upright.

you both blink at each other before he gently lets go of you.

" Sorry, uhm- What are you doing here?" He asks you.

You furrow your brows at him.

" What do you mean? Where's the rest?" You ask him confused.

" They left already, I thought you went with them." He blinks.

Did they really leave you?

-

Meanwhile Jimin is looking around him in confusion.

Where was he?

He looks around, checking his surroundings.

He, Jungkook and Heeyoung seemed to be sleeping in a clearing in the forest. It takes him a moment before he remembers what happened. It takes him another moment before he realizes you're missing.

Jungkook wakes up soon after.

" Hey, where's Y/N?" Jimin asks him.

Jungkook blinked, before rolling on his side.

"Idunno, probably still asleep." He mumbles sleepily.

Jimin rolls his eyes before throwing sand at the younger, who's quick to get up.

"What the hell?-"

"What are you lads doing here?" Another voice suddenly joins the conversation.

Both males look up, only to see a man, seemingly a little over his 25's standing there.

" Uhm, hi. We're kind of lost." Jungkook explains, waking up Heeyoung before getting up and dusting off his pants.

The man blinks before nodding.

" I can see that yeah." He responds dumbly.

" We also lost a group mate. Seen a mansion around?" Jimin asks him.

At the words of a mansion, the male pales.

" You don't mean to say you're lost travelers?- I- I thought that curse was gone." The man spoke warily.

Heeyoung, who now got up, switched wary glances with Jungkook.

" Curse?" She asked.

" Yeah, there's a curse of a mansion. Apparently the Min family lived there somewhere back in the 1800's or something, but a burglar got in and killed most of the family, apart from their twenty-something year old son. A few years ago we found bodies here, on the very place you're standing right now, they were barely alive but managed to warn us. They were the last people who came from that mansion, until you that is." He explains with wide eyes.

No one knew how to react to that.

Did this mean you're dead?

" You see whenever it storms, people turn up dead. Except for the people before you. You're the only ones to have made it out alive and well. You're the first survivors- But your friend..." He trails off.

Jimin's hand balls into a fist, as Jungkook's doe eyes widen and Heeyoung held her hand over her mouth in shock.

Did they really kill you by not listening to you?

#bts #yandere x reader #yandere bts #one shot #min yoongi x reader #park jimin x reader #haunted au

[abbysfrenchbraid]

hi! i love all of your writing, especially your abby fanfics. i know you’re in the middle of your eivor series right now, so pls disregard if you don’t feel like writing this request or don’t want to write for abby, but i was wondering if you could maybe write a hurt/comfort type imagine where abby either comforts the reader when they’re sad or after they have a nightmare. i get really frequent nightmares and love to read fanfics like this but totally understand if you’re not into the idea. all the love and i hope you’re doing well; merry christmas if you celebrate!

so this is half a year late, but I finally have a little more time to go through my requests so here it is! this is also the first time I've actively avoided gendering the reader as I've gotten a few requests for a nonbinary or genderfluid reader. This is not a cop-out on that, I definitely want to write an explicitly nb reader but I figured this would make the reading experience better for quite a few people!

Summary: The reader has recently lost a family member and stranded with the WLF. They struggle with frequent panic attacks and nightmares. Abby notices and tries to take care of them.

CW for loss of a family member (sibling), death and grief, heavy trauma, panic attacks, anxiety, nightmares, and struggling to breathe. The nightmares are also fairly violent and creepy so please watch out for yourselves and only read this if you're in a good state of mind <3

I've Got You

The truck rattled as Leah drove it up the road to the WLF stadium. It had been a particularly rough day on patrol. You and the other wolf had run into a group of freshly infected that seemed to have been three families once. The children had been the worst. The youngest had probably been about ten years old before she had turned, her eyes bright blue and her blonde curls matted with dried blood. You had taken care of them all, of course you had. But it had been horrible. You folded your hands in your lap to keep them from shaking.

You had joined the WLF a few months ago after losing your team and your little sister in a clicker-infested cellar you had set up camp in. It had been so fucking stupid, so careless. But everyone had been tired, you hadn’t seen any infected in days, and so only one of you had kept watch. He barely had time to scream before the clicker had ripped out his throat. It had been chaos, madness, everyone scrambling to escape into the network of damp corridors and storage rooms, more and more clickers being drawn to you by the noise.

Leah raised her hand at the armed guards at the gate and they opened for your truck. The sun was setting behind you and most people were inside the stadium now, eating or spending time with friends. Both of you were quiet. Leah’s legs were covered in slowly darkening blood and the smell was nauseating. The tall wolf pulled the truck into its designated spot and took a deep breath.

“Y/N?” You looked up at her. The circles under her eyes could compete with yours, but her face was still as kind as ever.

“Yeah?”

“You take care of yourself today. Take a long shower, get something to eat. I’ll let Martha know to give you a double portion for dinner.”

You smiled faintly at her. This was how it was here. All the wolves had seen terrible things and probably done even worse. They all chose to let it out in training and then leave it behind them. No sense in holding on. You nodded.

“Thanks, Lee. See you in the gym tomorrow.”

The brunette grinned and patted your thigh.

“6 am sharp!” She jumped out of the car and gave back the keys at the checkpoint, then she vanished inside the stadium.

You stayed in your seat. Your fingers had cramped up and you were scared to unfold them, scared you would never be able to stop them from shaking again.

Sierra had held your hand all the way, not letting go as you dragged her through the darkness, fought off four infected, stumbled up stairs you had not come down on, and found yourself in a ravaged theater. You had run all night and only stopped when you were unable to go a single step further. When you had found a small pawnshop that you could lock up safely, you had made a bed of your jacket and a moth-eaten blanket from the theater. Sierra had started to cry. You would never forget the way dread had started to creep into your limbs, seeping into your skin and stretching dark tendrils toward your throat. You had rolled up Sierra’s sleeve and there it was. A relatively small mark, just the puncture wounds from two teeth turned into mean scratches as Sierra had pulled her arm from the jaws of a clicker and kept on running. But it had already begun to fester, the edges of the wound an angry red contrasting the white blisters forming around the site. It felt like the ground had been pulled from below your feet. You fell and fell, unable to speak, to do anything, just staring at the thing that meant the end of the world. The end of your baby sister.

A shout caught your attention - another car had returned to the stadium and was pulling into a spot a few paces away. It was Manny and Abby, everyone’s favorite duo. The attractive joker and the stoic warrior. They were among Leah’s best friends and she had introduced them to you a while ago, all of them welcoming you warmly. It had been strange, being part of a group again, a team. Your heart was still too sore.

So you had quietly pulled yourself out of most of the group evenings, the film nights and game nights and arm wrestling tournaments and what else there was to do. Manny had tried his luck flirting with you a few times and one time you had even joined him for a dance, but after realizing he wouldn’t land with you he had respectfully backed off and now treated you more like a little sister. Mel and Owen had been nice, too, both very secluded when they turned up together, but Owen was funny and enthusiastic and always yelled your name across the cafeteria or the training course when he saw you. He was one of the few people who could make you laugh no matter how hard you tried not to.

Nora was a whirlwind, the smartest person you had ever known and unfaltering no matter what the universe threw at her feet. She liked poetry and hard rock music, big men and even bigger women. You had often wondered whether she and Abby had ever hooked up. But you weren’t sure of anything concerning Abby. Always the stony face, the impenetrable wall, the arms-length smile and polite nod in the hallway. It could be infuriating at times. Especially because despite it all, against all your better judgment, you could feel yourself growing more and more interested in her, constantly looking for her in a crowd and sneaking side glances to see if she was listening to you or laughing at the same things.

The car doors banged and the sound echoed through the small space. Manny was laughing about something Abby had said and walked with a bounce in his step as he approached the counter to hand back his keys. Abby looked like she always did, khaki cargo pants and a black cutoff, her green backpack slung over one muscular shoulder. Some strands of hair had escaped her braid and curled up at the back of her neck, slightly damp from her sweat in the hot summer air. Trying to calm down and distract yourself, you let your gaze wander up her strong build, freckled biceps flexing as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. And then she looked straight at you. You didn’t move, stayed frozen as you had for the last few minutes, wishing you were invisible.

Your face felt hot and suddenly there were tears blurring your vision - what was happening?! Your knees started shaking as well, bouncing uncontrollably as your nails dug into the backs of your hands. Your throat was closing up and your bottom lip was quivering. All you saw were specks of grey and green, all you felt was your body resisting every command and rebelling against you, trying to hold you in place and suffocate you silently.

Suddenly the door opened beside you and a soft, deep voice said your name. You tried to blink the tears away but your vision wouldn’t clear up, panic blinding you further. You began shaking your head as your chest convulsed in a desperate attempt to draw breath.

“Fuck, Y/N, okay.” Abby’s voice was determined and suddenly her hands were on your wrists. Her skin was warm and dry, her grip firm. She softly shook your clasped hands and somehow moved so her face was in front of yours, a mess of green and brown and there, soft pink where her lips moved, speaking quietly and telling you to breathe with her. One hand stayed on your wrist and her thumb massaged the cramped up muscle there, digging painfully into your flesh but pulling you back to her slowly. One hand came up closer and a calloused thumb brushed the tears from your cheek before her hand landed on your shoulder, fingers pressing into your upper back.

“Hey, look at me, look at me, Y/N, you’re okay, I’m here. Can you try to breathe in with me on three? Just stop fighting for a moment, count with me and then we’ll breathe in together. Okay? One.”

You tried to sit up straighter and stop the erratic twitching of your chest, still choking on your breath as you waited for her commando.

“Two. Three.”

Her hand pressed between your shoulders from behind and suddenly you could breathe again, a loud gasp that turned into quiet sobs as you fought to release the air from your lungs before breathing in again.

“There we go, you’re doing so good,” Abby’s hand was on your cheek again, “so good, Y/N, breathe with me, that’s right.”

Your vision slowly returned to you now, though it was still distorted by  tears. Abby had half-climbed into the truck, one foot between yours and one dangling out of the open door, her weight held up only by her right leg as she pressed her back against the dashboard. A wet laugh escaped you. Abby shot you a confused look, paired with the hint of a relieved smile.

“What?”

“You’re gonna get a cramp as well,” you rasped, “if you keep that up.”

You slid further to the inside of the broad seat, making room for Abby next to you. She grinned and sat down, one hand still on your wrist. Her eyes went down to your trembling hands, your knuckles still white from your iron grip.

“Okay, let’s take care of your hands, hm?”

Her fingers wandered softly over yours, then she rested one hand over your tangled fingers and pushed her other thumb between your palms, gently loosening your hold. She pulled back each finger slowly, starting with your thumbs and stroking each one as they relaxed. Finally, your shaking hands lay freely on your thighs.

“You’re doing so well, Y/N, don’t worry.” She took one of your hands in her lap and started massaging the inside of your palm. “Wanna tell me what got you there?”

You sighed, breath still shaky with tears.

“Um.. We ran into infected today. Runners. Families, it seemed.”

Abby sucked in a breath and gave you back your hand before taking the other and starting the same gentle procedure.

“Those are the hardest. Kids?”

You nodded and Abby made a soft noise. You took another rattling breath.

“I… I lost my little sister. Back when… before I came to you.”

Her head shot up and she stared at you, shock and sympathy playing over her features.

“Fuck, Y/N, you never said…”

“I know.” You lowered your head.

When you had stumbled out of the woods around the WLF stadium and begged them to let you in, they had stripped you and searched you before bringing you to their leader. After hours of questioning to make sure you weren’t a spy for any other group, he knew about your team and everything you had done in the last three years, but you hadn’t mentioned Sierra once. It wouldn’t change anything anyway. They had brought you to Nora who had patched you up, examined you, and fed you before showing you to your new room. It was a small closet on the base level of the stadium, with only a tiny window letting in some light. You were thankful for a roof over your head and the armed posts surrounding the stadium.

“I didn’t want to talk about her. I didn’t lie to Isaac or betray you. It wasn't anyone's business.” You gave Abby a fierce look. Nothing would change your mind about this. She just nodded, her eyes wide. You sighed, brushing your hands against each other.

“She was bitten. I see her every time I close my eyes. It wasn’t fair.” You dropped your hands into your lap. “I just don’t… I can’t -”

Abby’s hand was on yours again, her fingers sliding between yours.

“Hey. I won’t tell anyone. But I’m here, okay? If you want to talk.”

You scoffed.

“No one ever talks here. You’re all made of stone.”

Abby contemplated this for a few seconds, then she squeezed your hand.

“My dad was murdered a few years ago. Almost all of our families are dead.” Now it was your turn to be shocked. Fuck. You had been so insensitive. “By us, I mean Owen, Nora, Jordan, and me. Owen lost his parents to infected and his brothers to the scars just last year.”

Abby leaned back and stared out of the windshield, the garage now dark except for a few small lamps at the exits.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry. Of course, I’m in no place to tell you how to deal with it.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right, you know. We don’t talk about those things.” She looked at you, her gaze so intense you almost pulled back. “Would you like to?”

You forced yourself to hold her gaze.

“I think I would. Now that it’s all… further away.”

Abby nodded, squeezing your hand again.

“Then we’ll talk. You can tell me all about your sister. And… I haven’t talked about my dad in a long time. I think I’d like to tell you about him, too. He was great.”

A small smile played around her lips and you felt a rush of gratitude for this wonderful woman. You could practically see the memories playing through her head behind those green eyes. She blinked, looking back at you.

“Wanna get something to eat? You must be starving. I know I am.”

“Sure.” You shared another smile and exited the car together, fingers still intertwined as you crossed the lot and Abby held the door open for you.

Dinner was already over, but Leah had kept her word and the elder woman at the counter gave you both gigantic bowls of beef stew with thick, coarse bread. You told Abby about your patrol that day and she hummed sympathetically. She knew what it felt like to deal with infected children. After a while, the door to the cafeteria flew open and Manny came in, sleek black hair still wet from a shower. He grinned brightly as he made his way over to you and sat next to you on the metal bench.

“You coming along tonight?” he asked you, drumming his fingers on the table. You raised your eyebrows.

“What’s happening tonight?”

He tutted at Abby and gave her a theatrical frown.

“You didn’t invite Y/N? It’s Mel’s birthday! Owen got his hands on some prime hooch. You celebrating with us?”

You smiled at your plate. The last thing you needed was to get wasted and completely lose any shred of sanity you had left.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll join you. I still haven’t showered and I had a terrible day. I’m just gonna read a bit and pass out, I think.” You gave him an apologetic shrug.

“Oh, come on, Y/N. Read and pass out? It’s a special occasion! You sure?”

“Yeah, but really, thank you for inviting me. Maybe next time.”

He sighed heavily, then he clapped his hand on the table and stood up.

“Abby, you need to get moving, girl. We’re meeting in 20 and you stink.”

Abby just raised her eyebrows and shook her head, finishing her stew. Manny's laughter echoed through the empty room as he left.

“Do I really smell that bad?” There was a twinkle in her eye, a conspiratorial smile on her lips. You smiled back.

“Not at all. He probably smelled me.” You grabbed her empty bowl and placed it in yours. “Go have fun, I’ll clean this up. See you at training.”

Abby cocked her head to the side, seemingly not sure what to do. You gave her another encouraging smile.

“Really, I’m fine. Thank you for taking care of me, I owe you. Go celebrate!”

The tall blonde stood up slowly. She still seemed hesitant.

“I’ll come check on you later if that’s okay. And you can always come over and talk to me if something’s wrong, alright?”

Your chest felt tight all of a sudden, but not in the way it had earlier. It was the feeling of reaching for something knowing you’d never have it, of wanting something so bad and only being able to admire it from a distance. It felt like being homesick. You thought of Sierra again and how she had been your home, the only anchor in your life. Fuck, not now.

You shook your head as if to get rid of your thoughts and gave Abby a brave smile.

“Okay. But I’ll be fine. Promise.”

“Okay. See you later, then.”

“See you.”

Abby gave you a last look over her shoulder before exiting the cafeteria and you made your way over to the kitchen. The cooks had already left and a lanky red-haired boy was the only one still there, washing dishes and listening to music on an mp3 player. The metallic sound in his headphones echoed through the peacefully quiet kitchen. He almost jumped two feet into the air when you approached from the side, bowls in your hand.

“Fuck, you scared the shit out of me! Jesus Christ.” He pressed a wet hand to his chest, the suds leaving a dark print on his shirt.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how not to scare you, music and all. Sorry.” Both of you had to laugh and he held his dripping hands out for your dirty bowls.

“Don’t worry, I just wasn’t expecting anyone this late. You just come back from a mission?”

“Just a patrol run.”

You leaned against the counter and watched him clean the dishes.

“Anything exciting happen?” His eyes were bright and excited. He was even younger than he had looked at first, he couldn’t be older than 15. “My brother is on patrols too. Maybe you know him, his name is Danny.”

You crossed your arms and tried to remember the face that matched that name. Danny had been on patrol with Owen for a while when you had first arrived, but now he was stationed on some outpost and you hadn’t seen him for a long time.

“Yeah, I think I do. He’s not here at the moment, right?”

“He’s at the Serevena Hotel. I may be able to visit him there soon, depending on how my training goes.”

You raised your eyebrows.

“Training to be a soldier?”

“Of course.” He stood up straight. “I want to do my part, protect our people. Fight the scars.”

You didn’t really know how to respond to that. Even though you were thankful the WLF had taken you in and even though you had also participated in rigorous training from the first day on, soon being cleared for missions, you didn’t really have the same loyalty and faith for the organization. The seraphites were your enemies now, of course, but they were just people. You all were. Sometimes you wondered how it could have come to this - so few people left on this earth and here you were, slaughtering each other.

“I hope you can visit your brother soon.” You let your arms fall to the side and turned to leave. “Thanks for the dishes.”

“No problem,” he mumbled, putting his headphones back in.

You were in no rush to get to your room and so you took a few detours, passing the gym which was filled with quite a lot of people getting their training in after work. You looked into empty classrooms, trying to decipher what was written on the board. Would Sierra have studied here? Sat in the front, eager to learn the things you hadn’t been able to teach her? What if you had come here earlier, before it all happened? Could they have protected her better than you had? She would probably be walking next to you now, telling you about her day.

When you finally arrived at your room, you just quickly grabbed a towel, a clean shirt, and some shorts and headed for the showers. The hot water seemed to help somewhat. You wondered what Abby was up to right now. Probably getting drunk and having fun. Was she the type of person who danced? You had never seen her dance before. Maybe Nora would persuade her. There it was again, that heavy, pulling feeling. You turned the water off, got dressed, and went straight to bed. Enough heartache for one day.

-

You woke up confused, not knowing where you were at first. It was pitch black and there was some kind of noise outside. You reached around you and finally found the flashlight next to your pillow, turning it on and trying to wipe the sleep from your eyes. What was going on?

It had to be after midnight. The lights in the stadium were only on from 5.30 am to 10 pm in order to save power. You untangled yourself from your sheets and got on your feet, swaying a little. There it was again, that strange scratching noise accompanied by a quiet mumbling sound. It wasn’t directly at your door but seemed to come from further down the corridor. There were a few other people living down here in storerooms and sectioned hallways.

Yawning, you walked to the door and opened it ever so slightly, pressing the flashlight to your thigh in order to keep the light down at first. You couldn’t see anything, so you waved the flashlight around the corridor. Your stomach dropped.

At the far end of the hallway, a small figure stood in front of one of the doors, trying to open it to no avail. Small hands scratched at the wood, quiet brabbling reached your ears. This was wrong. Very wrong. The figure hadn’t noticed the light yet. It went on to the next door, trying the door handle and whining in frustration when it didn’t open.

Why didn’t the people inside wake up from the noise? You stood frozen as the figure tried the next door. It was a child, dressed in dotted pyjamas. Its blonde hair was shoulder length and tangled in knots. You slowly pushed your door open wider in order to step out into the corridor. Suddenly, the hinges squeaked and the sound echoed through the hallway.

The child slowly turned toward you. Blood was dripping from its mouth, its eyes were cold. It took a step toward you. You looked down and realized you were holding a gun. Oh. Right. Infected. You were supposed to shoot them.

As the kid made another strange brabbling sound, more blood ran down the front of the cotton pyjama shirt. You raised the flashlight with shaky fingers and aimed it right at the child's face.

Your blood froze in your veins. No. This couldn’t be. You had taken care of her, you had made sure she wouldn’t… wouldn’t turn into one of these… No, you had given her a peaceful ending.

“Sierra.” Your voice was raspy, quiet with terror. “Sierra, what are you doing here, baby?”

She growled. A horribly wrong sound, coming from someone so small and so lovely. Only she wasn’t lovely anymore. She was sick. Infected.

“Sierra!” You spoke louder now, your voice pleading. “Baby, please don’t do that. It’s me, see?” You raised the flashlight to light your own face for a moment. When you put it back on her, she had stopped walking. Her face was a mask of ice-cold fury. When she spoke, her voice rattled like nails in a metal box, rough like chalk on board.

“Y/N… Why?

You sank to your knees.

“Oh baby, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry Siri, I was so helpless. I didn’t know, I didn’t…”

“You… killed… me.”

She was getting dangerously close now and all of a sudden you could smell her, too. Foul, dead, vile. The smell of sickness and decay. You raised the gun, a war raging between your head and your heart.

“Sierra, stop. Stop.” Tears were streaming down your face. “Please stop, Siri. Don’t come any closer. Stop, stop! Please stop!”

Your little baby sister was so close that you could have reached out a hand and brushed through her hair. You stood up and took a step back.

“I’m gonna have to shoot you if you don’t step back. You’re infected, Siri. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, but you can’t, please Sierra. Don’t, please don’t…”

She hissed at you and lurched forward. A shot rang through the air and the girl fell to the floor right before you, her tiny body at your feet, blood slowly pooling around her head. You dropped the gun and it clattered on the concrete floor. You clapped your hands to your mouth and screamed into your palms, crying out again and again, trying to gasp for air. It felt like your heart was being torn in two.

Suddenly there was a hand on your shoulder. You whirled around, but there was only darkness. You let yourself fall to the floor and kept weeping into your hands. Someone gripped your wrists and shook them slightly. You opened your eyes.

Abby was sitting on the side of your bed, her face right above yours and full of worry. You shook your head, frantically looking around your room for any kind of danger. The room was almost dark, light just seeping through the crack under the door. It was still early in the night.

“Y/N? Hey, hey. You’re okay.” Abby slowly let go of your wrists. “You had a nightmare. You’re okay now, I’m here.”

You were still too terrified to speak, so you just scooted further to the side and grabbed Abby’s hand, giving her a pleading look. She understood immediately, kicking off her shoes and climbing into bed next to you, holding out her arm for you to crawl into. You pressed yourself to her side and rested your head on her chest, feeling yourself tremble in her arms. She just held you for a while, letting you listen to her heartbeat until your own body began to calm down.

“Hi,” you whispered into the dim room. Abby stroked your hair while she held you tightly.

“Hey there,” she mumbled back. “Feeling better?”

“Not really.” You looked up at her. She smelled faintly of alcohol and something sweet. “How was your party?”

The corner of her mouth twitched.

“It was absolute chaos. I had to escape from there before it could consume me. And I also had someone to check on.” She squeezed your shoulder. You cringed at the thought of her finding you like this, writhing and talking in your sleep, crying out or even fighting her without knowing who was in front of you. You had always had horrible nightmares and Sierra had taken the brunt of them, waking you countless nights and trying to stay brave when you yelled at her or shoved her away in the first moments of consciousness, not yet fully back in the real world. Now that she was gone, they were a hundred times worse. You pressed your forehead to Abby’s shoulder.

“Did I scream?”

“Not really. I just knocked a few times and then I heard you talking, and you sounded so panicked that I thought I should make sure… I’m sorry I just came in like that.”

You shook your head.

“No, don’t. Thank you for waking me. It was… God, I hate this.”

Abby’s fingers combed through your hair, massaging your scalp. It was heavenly.

“Does this happen a lot?”

You snorted involuntarily.

“Every night. Several times. I never sleep through and I never sleep enough.” You wiped a hand over your face. “Sorry, I know I’m not the only one and it could be worse. It’s just… hard.”

“Excuse me?” Abby’s tone made you look up at her. “You’re telling me you have several panic attacks in your sleep every night but it’s fine because others have nightmares, too?”

You frowned. Panic attacks? You’d never thought of it that way.

“Y/N, you’re allowed to complain. To me especially. Remember, we wanted to talk about our problems? Be open about all this?”

She was right. You pressed yourself closer to her.

“I guess, yeah. Thank you for… for being here.”

“Wanna tell me about your nightmare?”

You held onto Abby’s shirt, clenching the fabric in your fist as if she might be ripped from you at any moment.

“I don’t know… I mean, why not. Well…” How were you even supposed to explain all this? How would you ever talk about your sister without freaking out again?

Abby pressed a kiss to the top of your head and you felt the tension in your stomach dissolve. You took a deep breath.

“I can never tell I’m dreaming. This time I thought I heard something in the corridor and I went to see what it was. A little girl was scratching on doors, trying to get in. She looked like the… like one of the infected we ran into today. But I made a noise and when she turned around she was... She was -” You gasped for air, trying to keep your calm. Abby hummed softly, stroking your back and giving you time to think.

“She had the face of my sister. Sierra.” You hadn’t said her name out loud in so long, only in the nightmares. Maybe it was time to rid her name of that terror, that fear, and grant it the love and warmth it deserved. “Sierra was my little sister. We ran with a group the last few years, stayed with them after our mom died. But she was bitten and I had to… I had to let her go.” You swallowed hard. Abby’s thumb drew circles on your back.

“So in the dream… the girl turned around and she was her . And I didn’t know what to do. I begged her to stop, to not come any closer because she was infected, she was bleeding, and -” You drew in another breath and buried your face in Abby’s chest. “She asked me why I’d done it, why I had… and she kept coming and then she attacked me and I - I had to, I had to shoot her.”

Hot tears were burning in your eyes and your throat was impossibly tight again. Abby gently placed a hand on your cheek and turned your face up toward her.

“I’m not gonna tell you it was just a dream because I know it's more complicated than that. I get them, too, sometimes. But what I can tell you is that I’m here, that you’re safe now, that your sister is in a better place and that one day you will be able to speak about her without feeling like you’re falling apart.”

“You think so?”

“I’m sure of it. And now you're with me. We can heal together. I’m here, I’ll always be here for you, okay?”

You raised your head from her chest and turned a little in order to get face to face with her.

“Abby?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you doing this? Why now? I didn’t even think you liked me. You don’t have to take care of me.”

Abby’s features softened and she huffed out a silent laugh.

“I don’t know. I really… You were right when you said we keep everything to ourselves. But some of us do it more than others. And I guess I’m the worst when it comes to showing what I want.”

The sentence hung in the air for a moment. Abby took a deep breath.

“I like you, I really do. I just thought you needed more time. I know what it’s like to suffer and to feel like you can’t breathe. I wanted to give you space. But then I saw you in the car and I immediately knew what was happening. And I finally realized that I wouldn’t make things better by staying away.”

She held your gaze and you felt something shift between you. Her hand on your back came to a halt. You smiled softly.

“I always thought you didn’t find me interesting enough to talk to me. I was so jealous of the others for being this close to you and for making you laugh. I wanted that, too.”

“You’re the most interesting person that’s ever walked into this stadium,” Abby said softly. “God, I’m so sorry. I never wanted you to feel left out.”

You rested your head back on her shoulder.

“You made it up to me already. Really, you saved me today. Twice.”

Abby chuckled.

“Just wait until I have my next breakdown and then you can return the favor. Shouldn’t be long, they get to me every few days.”

You wrapped your arms around her torso.

“Well, then you’ll just have to stay close by.”

She hesitated, holding her breath for a second. You waited.

“Do you want me to stay? Tonight?”

You smiled to yourself.

“Would you?”

“Of course.”

You kept talking for a while. Abby told you about the party and about the cook Nora was currently hooking up with, and you told her about the boy in the kitchen. She recalled training with Danny when she first joined the WLF, laughing about how he had boasted that he wouldn’t lose to a girl and how she had him on the ground in a headlock in about two seconds.

At some point you must have fallen asleep, because the next thing you knew you were in the truck again, sitting in the passenger seat as the car flew through Seattle at top speed. You looked over and in the driver's seat there was the red-haired boy from the kitchen. His face was determined, a hard mask of concentration. He was panting hard, driving as fast as he could. Arrows were flying around you, soaring through the broken windows of the car and missing you by mere inches. A horse was whinnying. Scars. You immediately pulled out your gun and started shooting at everything that moved outside, hitting at least three people and a horse.

“Sorry,” you whispered as you reloaded. Animals weren’t fair.

You looked up and suddenly there was someone standing in the middle of the street. A small girl, brown-haired and in a red dress. Her back was to you. You screamed at the driver, but it was too late. The truck hit the child and it was thrown against the windshield, making a horrible noise as it cracked the glass and rolled over the roof to the back of the car where it fell to the ground. The truck came to a shrieking halt and you jumped out, gun drawn. The scars had vanished. You and the redhead ran back to where the girl was laying in a heap on the street, so small and fragile. Blood was running through the cracks in the pavement.

You turned the girl on her back and froze when you saw her face.

“Sierra! No, no, no, oh god no, what have we done - Sierra, Sierra, baby, look at me!”

“Y/N!” You heard your name but Sierra’s lips weren’t moving. “Y/N!” You whipped your head around and woke up.

It was dark and Abby had an arm wrapped around you, the other was holding your cheek. You swallowed and struggled for air.

“I’ve got you, hey, just breathe for me, I’ve got you.” Abby’s voice was sleepy and rough, something you'd have never thought you’d have the privilege of hearing. It calmed you down instantly. You dug your fingers into her arm, strong muscle flexing beneath your touch.

“Shhh, that’s right, just hold on. You’re okay.” You melted into her arms, hands and legs still shaking. She made a quiet humming noise in the back of her throat and pressed another kiss to your scalp. “I’m here. I’ll take care of you. I’m here.”

“You’re here,” you whispered and she hummed again in response. You rested your head against her chest and listened to her breaths as they slowly became more regular, chest steadily moving against you. Her heartbeat thumped softly in your ear. Cocooned in the wolf’s arms and serenaded by the quiet symphony of her sleeping body, you finally drifted off to sleep again.

#abby anderson #abby tlou #abby tlou2 #abby anderson fic #fanfiction #angst #fluff #hurt/comfort #angst/comfort #angst/fluff #manny tlou #wlf #washington liberation front #abby anderson / reader #abby/reader

[bennifits]

fuck it.

imma talk about millie im so sorry

- Millie was homeless before the apocalypse. kicked out of her house at 17 for trying weed once. Her mother being more into the idea since she’s more traditional than her father. Her father was military, and used to take her on hunting trips, which is why she knows her way around a gun a bit. She had a younger brother as well who was 6 at the time of her getting kicked out. 

- to earn whatever little money she had, she busked on the streets with her guitar, writing a few songs in her time as well. She made a few friends on the road, but eventually had to move on. With train hopping being her main mode of transport. 

- at time of the end of the world (s1) she was 24-25

- good friends with Jesus, since those two like to bounce around a lot they tend to bump into each other. 

- she uses sound to herd walkers away, she’s read books on how clocks work and made ‘time bombs’ where she winds them up and throws them to draw them away n shit

- more often than not, if she’s out in the wild she’s got a big ass cloak on that’s covered in walker guts. She’s quiet, knows how manipulate sound n shit like that. 

- she wears a bandage or a long sleeve bc aha angst winky face (heavy angst if you know what i mean, hides the scar.)

story:

- first appearance would be in the prison era. (yes i will be talking like she’s part of the show im cringe stfu). Be one of those one off episodes, Daryl goes on a small run, just to case out an area and runs into her. He’s apprehensive of her, seeing how she deals with walkers, but he puts that aside bc a herd comes from nowhere and traps them overnight and tadaaa they bond.

- he offers her a place to stay, after seeing that she’s some what capable with a weapon and knows her way around. She declines, she was never the type to find a group and stick with it, she’d always leave in the middle of the night and strangely, felt like she couldn’t bare to hurt his feelings if they got closer than just strangers to friends. 

- she was in the surrounding area for a little while longer, actually bumping into Glenn, Daryl, Michonne and Rick a handful due to runs. every time they asked Millie to come with them and every time she declined. 

- in the sick arc of the prison era. a mysterious sack of medicine ends up at the front gate in the middle of the night. with a note saying “stay safe D” - Mills. 

- she leaves and heads towards the kingdom after that. on her own right up until...

- until she meets Ezekiel.

- They met as she was walking the road, going through buildings to look for food when he and a group got trapped in a building. So with nothing really to live for, she started playing a song to lure them away to give them a chance to escape. 

- she rounded back to check on them. Ez promised her a place to stay in exchange for her services. (Jerry was very into her using sound and calling it badass)

- it’s not a good first impression really. She’s covered in head to toe in blood and guts from covering her smell from walkers, she’s smelly and just horrible looking. 

- the kingdom took her under his wing, showed her how to trust someone. 

- she was dubbed the court’s bard / king’s bard / whatever

- she hones her skills, becoming an incredible shot with a bow and honing her skills with her bat with melee. She turns into a type of scout, keeping tabs on alexandria and helping make relations with other communities

- shiva took a particular liking to her music. 

- for some reason she ended up saving ezekiel’s life more than once. he can’t really find a way to return the favour, every time he brings something up she just tells him

-”being able to stand by your side and have a roof over my head with a hot meal at any hour of the day is all that i need your majesty”

- she helped him negotiate terms with the saviors. the one they have with the once a week drop off thing

- she went out on recon, looking for places to hit with supplies when she gets injured in some debris under a collapsed part of a building. Lucky for her, she doesn’t die, hearing voices.

- and she wakes up in Alexandria. 

- she has wounds and cannot return to her group, she doesn’t tell them about the kingdom because she simply doesn’t feel like it would be useful info.

- eyyyy then the gang shows uuuup

- reunited with the walking gamers. 

- she assures them it’s somewhat safe, they’re all stupid and don’t know how to fight walkers. She’s happy to see everyone beyond comprehension, like they’re long lost family or something.

- she finally and formally meets everyone, actually introducing herself as a travelling bard

- bonding with everyone ensues. Deanna thought she’d be a permanent resident, but after she’s all healed up she immediately bounces. (right before rick goes coo coo and and bloody and michonne bonks him on da head)

- leaves a note and present for daryl, a basket of flowers with a smiley face. she also kinda left bc she realised she might have caught feelings,,, and she’s afraid of that shit

- goes back to kingdom people are like ‘sick she’s alive that’s epic’

- time passesssssssssss

- She’d have been there for a while. Meeting Carol for the first time. Feeling drawn to her even after she left, she would often visit her while in that little cottage. She remembered the name, so she asked about the group, saying they were okay. Millie felt relieved, wanted to go out and look for them to reconnect but didn’t wanna do anything to jeopardise the kingdom.

- then the group came for help. Strumming away at her guitar when they wander in. 

- “holy shit is that you D? Oh hey Jesus”

- was like a small mind blown, two worlds colliding. 

- When daryl had to stay behind she followed him around everywhere, thinking it was a sign or something like damn 3 times she’s run into this group that’s gotta mean something. She even showed him where Carol was, and escorted him back to Hilltop

- “Don’t gotta babysit me”

- “Can’t have you being found by the saviors. that would suck”

- sticks with him right up before the big fight at the season finale where she goes back to the kingdom to relay the message and helps keep alexandria safe in the fight.

- that’s kinda all im up to atm in the series n shit im currently watching the episode titled ‘Mercy’

#millie #the walking dead oc #twd oc #stfu bennijie #bennijie writes #hehe #daryl dixon x reader #might do the meeting daryl one #hehehehe :)c

[gabzlovesu]

ღ ━ 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

series masterlist

idea suggested by @dejwrites, she's always fueling my brain rot!

You already know this man has the perfect date night set up: baking bread! Just, me, him, and the kitchen to ourselves — it was heaven to Nanami.

You already know this man has the perfect date night set up: baking bread! Just, me, him, and the kitchen to ourselves — it was heaven to Nanami.

Nanami makes the excellent choice of going shirt less under his apron, providing a small window to gaze upon his chiseled chest underneath... I definitely got caught staring a few times >.< I almost made a mess because I got distracted.

Y'all know the pottery scene from the movie Ghost? Well that was basically us kneading the dough; his strong arms enclosing mine as we work the soft mixture.

Nanami takes the opprtunity to wispher in my ear about how he would also like to knead something else tonight. I was about to lose my shit in the kitchen but I remember the other boys are watching through the camera set up across the room.

Nanami, however doesn't seem to care. Once the dough was into the oven he takes things further: kissing, nibbling, sucking, ALL OF IT!

Jean: "Yo, turn this shit off" | Ukai: "We don't want to see this"

Poor Keigo isn't even looking at the screen anymore, his head is thrown over the back of the chair because he can't watch his babybird get seduced by Nanami.

I had to beg Nanami to stop so I can throw my apron over the camera and spare their eyes lol.

Jean: "They better clean the kitchen after, or we're gonna have some problems"

˗ˋˏ KEIGO ˎˊ-

Keigo has an unfair advantage unfortunately. His wings can take him anywhere he desires, which would be somewhere far away tonight.

"Hold tight dove, I don't want you to fall."

Jean: "Is he about to leap out the window...?" | Nanami: "Apparently he does it all the time."

He took me to one of the tallest buildings in the city where a nice dinner is set and waiting for us. Of course, we’re not truly alone since a camera captures every moment of our date.

After our session of wining and dinining, Keigo suggested something else, “How about we go a little higher? I have something I want to show you.” Then he did his cute little smile that makes my heart flutter every time.

THIS MAN TOOK ME ABOVE THE CLOUDS!! The moon and all of the bright stars that were once obscured by the clouds now shined down on us. It was like I could reach out and touch the moon.

“The sky is my safe place. I come here to get away, feel things, think, or whatever I need to do. But now, it’s our space.”

I’m at lost for words, the view is breath-taking and his words had me melting like putty in his arms. I captured his lips in a warm embrace with my own.

Ukai: “I don’t think this is fair. Is that allowed?!”

Unfortunately a chill breeze puts an end to our airborne make-out session when she notices me slightly shivering.

Jean and Keigo started fighting after we got back from our date. Jean called him a ‘cheating bird bastard’ and then Keigo retaliated by flicking him off. There is never a moment of peace between those two.

˗ˋˏ UKAI ˎˊ-

He came up with the idea to take me to a festival in the Miyagi prefecture; it was it was a long drive but we had a playlist full of bangers and road games to play.

The festival is really close to Karasuno High school so he showed me around before it started. He shared so many memories with me and I felt like I was there with him through it all.

Some of the Karasuno boys were also attending the festival so Ukai introduced me to them. They’re so sweet and precious, but they sure know how to keep Ukai on his toes. They kept asking if I was his fiance and making him get flustered.

Apparently, he had called in a favor from Saeko. She showed up with her entire Taiko drum team and puts on a performance solely dedicated to me.

Ukai watches the wide smile plastered on my face as if he’s in a trance. It wasn’t until I rushed him with the biggest bear hug ever that he snapped back to reality.

He received a flurry of kisses and a hundred thank you’s as a token of my appreciation.

We stayed a bit longer to enjoy the rest of the festival, and he even caught some goldfish for me at one of the booths. They didn’t live very long sadly :(

˗ˋˏ JEAN ˎˊ-

Keigo isn't the only one who can take to the skies, and of course it's Jean that proves this to him. This rivalry will never end...

On a radnom day, Jean pulled out the old ODM gear from the closet. Both his and Marco's gear were still in good condition after being put away for quite some time.

He went over the basics, explaining the mechanics and maneavuers to utilize as a beginner. After absorbing all the information as best as I could, he had me take baby steps by trying to balance in the ODM gear.

At first he was hesistant about letting someone other than him touch Marco's gear. It was very important and priceless — this was the last tangible object that kept Marco's spirit alive. But in the end, he decided that Marco wouldn't mind him sharing it with the person he loved. Plus, this would be a special way of sharing his past with me.

I was surpirsingly really good at using the ODM gear, of course he didn't give me any blades (cuz Jean is an overprotective bum 😒), but I was swinging through the trees like the badass I am!

However, this was only the first phase of this whole experience. Once he was completely sure I wouldn't hurt myself, we used the ODM gear to swing through the city and up to a high rooftop to watch the sun set.

We talked for hours, just enjoying the view and this quiet moment alone. He also surprised me with a bottle of Marleyan wine which is very hard to find outside of Marley!

We did have a steamy makout session on the roof if you were wondering, and of course the other guys watching were not happy lol.

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓? 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄!

taglist: @angwritez, @arielspoem, @misss-chrisss, @hungrynessforfics, @dejwrites, @rinhoes, @iloveitblackbhna, @protectpancakes, @presidentmonica, @oliverwritesstories, @nneedynymph, @arean, @heifers, @po3ticb3auty, @indiecursor, @seyawrld, @nanaminshousewife, @thenerdyrebel

#FTLOG series #˳೫˚ — selfships #gabby + ukai 💗 #gabby + nanami 💗 #gabby + keigo 💗 #gabby + jean 💗 #crack series #i had fun writing these :)

[flutteringdreams-matw]

The tortoise is employed thus. The burglar has with him a flint-stone and a candle about as big as a little finger. He lights the candle and sticks it on the tortoise’s back. The tortoise is then introduced through the breach into the house, and it crawls slowly around, thereby illuminating the house and its contents

This was a difficult ask - only because I tried very VERY hard to fit it into the Road to Normal shorts. Apologises for it taking longer @profoundoperatorstatesmanopera ! Also - sorry, I used google translate... someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

By a Candle (The Road to Normal 15)

The burglar moved quietly against the building, holding a mess of objects against their side. They hid in the shadows, side stepping to avoid the brightly shining lights above.

“Where is it,” the burglar murmured to their partner, feeling the stone against their free hand. Finding the doorknob, they turned it slowly, counting their lucky stars that it was open. Probably thought no one would break in. Quietly, they descended the stairs, careful not to alert anyone working below. Thankfully, the lab below was dim - no one was there.

Gingerly, the burglar put down their partner in crime, reaching for the candle and flint at their side.

“Okay, listen here you reptil inútil,” they hissed, crouching down to put said candle on its back. “All you got to do is walk from here to the desk. Got me?”

The tortoise’s head slowly emerged from its shell, blinking up as the burglar lit the candle.

“Hello - you understand right? Manson said you were the smartest one,” they drawled, waving their hand in front of the reptile. It blinked again, turning slowly toward the inner part of the lab. They sighed, frustrated. “Serves me right for listening to that goth freak. Said you were fast too - else I’d take the hamster. Or was it the guinea pig?”

The burglar waited impatiently as the creature moved throughout the lab, illuminating a general area for them to search.

What they didn’t expect was for the Fentons to be in the lab. Or to be enamoured by the dumb tortoise as it crawled across the lab, trapping the burglar in one section of it. Or for the weirdos to think it was a ghost.

Or for them to be down there for two hours.

How was she supposed to find it now?

:-=-:

“Why are you in the dark?” Jazz asked, flipping the lights. Her eyes found her parents quickly, huddled in the middle of the lab over… “Is that a tortoise?”

“Ghost tortoise!” Jack corrected, waving her over. “Too bad your brother isn’t around to see it.”

“Jack,” Maddie started, frowning. She sat up, studying the reptile as it continued onward, looking embarassed. “The candle is tied to its back. I don’t think-“

“Why is there a livetortoise in the lab!?” Jazz exclaimed, rushing over to it. She blew out the candle, watching the smoke wisp upward and the animal stopping, retreating back into its shell.

“It’s a ghost!” Jack replied earnestly.

Maddie and Jazz looked at each other. “Does it react to the ghost scanners?” Jazz asked.

“No.”

“Or have an aura now that the candle’s out?” Maddie added.

“Uh…. No.”

“So why did the two of you think it was a ghost?” Jazz asked exasperatedly. “Seriously, sometimes I wonder how you didn’trealize there was a ghost living -“

Clang.

All three Fentons turned, bristling in surprise as the burglar knocked over a metal object. Quickly, both parents drew weapons, but it was Jazz to recognized the intruder.

“Paulina?”

“Ugh,” Paulina muttered, raising her hands in surrender as Jack and Maddie lowered their weapons. “Oh hi,” she said sweetly, batting her eyes. “I’m like, so sorry but I was just looking for something to help me contact a friend of mine. Fen- I mean Danny let me in.”

Jazz frowned sceptically. “Which friend?”

“Oh… just the ghost boy,” she said dreamily. “I lost his number a few weeks ago and I just… if anyone would have it, it’d be you all.”

Jack, Maddie and Jazz looked at each other quizzically, looked at the clock and grinned. Danny was still on patrol and wouldn’t be back for another hour.

“He wouldn’t like this would he?” Maddie whispered to Jazz.

Jazz smirked. “Nope,” she replied. “And it wouldn’t do too much harm. Just make him embarrassed for a few hours. Besides - I owe him for earlier.”

“Well girlie, of course we have his number!” Jack boomed. Paulina was ecstatic, positively glowing as the orange clad man made his way over to a desk and scribbled down something on a piece of paper. “Any friend of Phantom is a friend of ours.”

:-=-:

“Let me get this straight... Paulina broke into the lab -“

“Yep.”

“In the middle of the night-“

“Correct.”

“With a Tortoise and a candle -“

“Uh-huh.”

“To find Phantom’s phone number?”

“You betcha.”

“And you gave it to her!?”

“Relax son, we didn’t give her Phantom’s number. We gave her your number.”

“… I… I have no words.”

The phone on the table lit up for the thirty-sixth time in the last hour.

“No wait - I do. Can I change my number?”

Links to previous: Eye for an Eye Infinite Realms Girls Night Out Torrent of Terror Forever Phantom Urban Jungle Livin' Large Boxed Up Fury Frightmare Claw of the Wild D-Stabilized Kingdom Come The C.A.T. New Normal Ectostorm Series

Suggestions welcome! Just put them in my asks and I'll get to them when I can :)

#danny phantom #Fenton Family #Paulina #tortoise #his name is cornelius and he is a gem #humour #the road to normal #I have no words #me too Danny

[writingfandomfeels]

Santa Fe Part 1

Rats and Cats and Goons OH MY

Part 1 of the Santa Fe Series

Summary: You’ve just moved to New York and you happen upon a kind stranger who is willing to show you around

Your eyes darted around, nervously trying to spot a street sign to guide your path. The streets were crowded and chaotic and you’d never felt more uncomfortable. 

“You’s lost doll?” A newsie asked, approaching you. 

You’d heard of plenty of scammers in the city. All the horror stories flashed through your mind to caution you. But something in this fellow’s eyes made you feel at ease. In a strange, chaotic city where you hadn’t expected to feel so alone, this stranger felt almost like a familiar old friend. 

“I’m looking for Medda Larkin’s theatre. Do you know where it is?” You asked. 

“Sure do.” The newsie answered with a smile. “Tells you what, if you buy my last pape off me I’ll give you the grand tour on the way.” 

“Deal.” You said, giving him the penny. 

“Welcome to New York!” He reached his arm out grandly. “Them’s the rats,” he said pointing down to the gutter, “them’s the cats,” he pointed into an alley. “The cats eat the rats. E‘cept for sometimes when the rats get so big they eats the cats.” 

You stared at him with wide eyes. 

“I’m kiddin’” he smiled before looking away, “... kinda.” 

You glanced up at the buildings. “It’ll certainly take some getting used to.” 

“Where’s you from anyway?” He asked. 

“Santa Fe.” You answered. “I take it you’ve grown up here?” 

“No kiddin’.” He nearly gasped. “Yeah, I’s always been ‘ere. Unfortunately.” 

“Unfortunately? How could you say that?! Don’t you love it?!” You couldn’t hide your shock even if you tried. 

He shrugged. “Not really. I couldn’t care less for city livin’.” 

“It’s always been my dream to live here.” You explained. “It’s so big and glamorous and-” 

“Watch ya’ step.” He grabbed your arm and pulled you away from the horse poop on the road of the intersection you were crossing. 

“Thanks.” You added before continuing. “There’s just so much here. I’m not sure how anyone couldn’t like it.” 

“It’s fine I guess. It’s just not my dream like you.” He walked with his hands in his pockets now. 

“Then what is?” You inquired, curious. 

He let out a small chuckle. “Honestly? Santa Fe.” 

You laughed. “I’ll trade you.” 

“Yeah, wouldn’t that be somethin’.” He smiled and you locked eyes with him for a moment. 

“Well, ‘ere it is,�� he gestured up to the building next to you, “Medda’s.”

“Thanks for helping me find the place. Maybe I’ll see you around again…?” You lingered on the last word, hoping he would finish your sentence and give you his name. 

“Kelly. Jack Kelly.” The newsie answered. 

“Y/N Y/L/N.” You introduced. 

“Nice t’ meetcha’s.” Jack said, tipping his cap. 

“You too. I’ll see you later.” You went to open the front door but it didn’t budge. “It’s locked.” You announced. 

“Yeah, I don’t think she’s got a show on ‘til this evenin’.” He said. 

“Oh, no I’m not looking to see the show.” You corrected. “I was going to audition to be a singer for her. Have you ever met her? Do you know if she’s nice?” 

“Medda? Yeah, she’s the best! I’m sure she’ll love you.” He encouraged. 

You smiled. “Thanks.” 

“You might have t’ wait ‘till after her show tonight to get a hold a’ her. I do know a back way in but she’s usually pretty busy gettin’ ready.” Jack said. 

You sighed. “Okay, what do I do in the meantime?” 

Jack smiled. “Well, see, there’s plenty more rats and cats in the city.” 

He brought you around lower Manhattan, giving you a somewhat better tour than earlier. But between the bustling people, the traffic, and desperately trying to remember the information Jack was supplying on dangerous neighborhoods, the cheapest stores, etc. you were admittedly getting quite overwhelmed. 

“We’s almost at my place. Also known as the newsie’s lodgin’ house.” Jack stated. 

You nodded your head, not trusting your voice at the moment. 

“Outta my way!” A man shouted, pushing through the crowd, shoving you so you fell against the nearest building. 

“AYE!!! We’s walkin’ ‘ere!!!” Jack yelled back at the passerby before checking on you. “You’s okay?” 

Instinctively you nodded your head although you weren’t too sure. What were you thinking coming to such a place? 

“It’s just… not what I’m used to... ” You mumbled. 

Jack nodded, looking into your eyes. “Yeah…” his gaze darted down, “yeah I guess you wouldn’t be. Everyone’s real nice in Santa Fe, huh?” 

“I don’t know if I’d say everyone is but I certainly have never been shoved like that before by a stranger.” You replied. You looked around behind him at the fast-paced city. “What have I done… this isn’t what I wanted at all. Rats, and dirty alleys, and rude men in suits?! This wasn’t my dream!” Tears began to well in your eyes. “I should just go back home where I belong.” 

“Whoa, hey, don’t cry!” Jack hushed, taking you into a hug. 

Although you felt humiliated, you let yourself cry in the boy’s arms. You felt so stupid. Of course you’d never make it out here on your own. You had no job, no friends or family here, and the place was a filthy rotten nightmare. You were such a failure. 

“Hold on I’ve got an idea.” Jack said, pulling away. “Follow me.” 

You sniffed and wiped your tears, following the boy behind what seemed to be the newsies lodge he’d mentioned earlier. He began climbing a ladder attached to the side of the brick building and you followed. 

“Welcome to my penthouse.” He smiled, taking your hand and helping you up as you took the last few steps up the ladder. 

Still holding your hand, he used his other hand to turn you from your shoulder so you would look out at the view. You gasped. 

The sun was setting over the rooftops, it’s golden rays glowing through the hanging clothes on people’s laundry lines. Some rooftops had water tanks, others had chimneys, and some had both. A flock of pigeons flew overhead, their wings making that marvelous fluttering sound. They flew into the sunset and their silhouettes quickly disappeared. It felt as though you could see the whole city with its beautiful buildings as far as the eye could see, but you knew the city went on even further. 

“It’s amazing.” You breathed. 

“It’s no Santa Fe but it sure is somethin’.” Jack agreed. 

You nodded, not taking your eyes off the city. 

The boy nudged your side with his body. “See,” he drawled out, “it’s not all rats and cats and goons.” 

You smiled. Maybe New York wouldn’t be so bad after all.

#jack kelly #jack kelly x reader #newsies #newsies x reader #my writing

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Mega review (chapters 131 - 148): Part 2  To the side, not the sidelines

A continuation of part 1 of the mega review.  This isn’t a narrative account, but rather a look at all the other groups and happenings around where the main battle is raging.

Heroism in all sizes

It’s like the end of the world.  City Z isn’t the first city to face near total devastation.  But City A was at least gone in a flash. People had almost no time to consider their imminent demise.  In City Z, the carnage has had time to build and to come from multiple directions.  From vampiric monster roots enveloping and sucking the lives out of inhabitants by the block. From powerful earthquakes splitting and even twisting the ground. From aerial bombardments of gigantic rubble and from the sea itself as the coastline is threatened by a chain of tsunamis.  Survivors aren’t bothering to try driving: it’s whatever you can carry as fast as you can.

Those who gave up their beds.  The Hero Hospital in City S has come to serve as an impromptu staging post for nearby heroes.  Like a middle finger stuck up at face of civilisation, the tower previously buried underground and its glowing red monster is just about visible from the hillsides of City S and draws heroes in like a beacon.  First Metal Bat,  then Mumen Rider, then the Tank Toppers, then the Blizzard Group, then all the other heroes hospitalised in the aftermath of either the Day of Chaos or Garou’s depredations discharge themselves against medical advice and run in to see who they can save.

just as well they all went -- the roads are so impassable and the situation so volatile that they’re literally the only rescue coming for hours if not days

Swept up in the mood, the martial artists were considering moving out too, only for Suiryu to pour cold water on the notion.  It has done me a world of good to see that Suiryu has been inspired by Max and Snek and not Saitama. He finally gets it that a hero is someone who has the courage to step into the path of danger because someone needs help, and not because they’re strong and think they’ll win.

No space for playing hero.  It’s very wise that Suiryu advised his fellow martial artists not to play hero.  If many have complained about how heroes seem to be blessed with life, no such protections are afforded to non-heroes. The people who went in alongside heroes have suffered grievously,  although those who have died did so bravely.

I have a one-person prayer circle going for Sekingar. I pray that ONE will choose to spare his fine non-hero one-eyed, single-handed ass.  I have come to like the guy and I’ve been impressed at how he has stayed calm when trapped in City Z,  succeeded in encouraging discouraged heroes and even asserting a genuine authority to guide Metal Bat and King. I don’t think there’s too many more like him in the executive of the Hero Association and think it’d be a shame if he didn’t bring his hard-won experiences back to guide them in what’s sure to be a crisis.

The king under the mountain

This arc has introduced us to a lot of concepts and players who are likely to have long-term effect on the world.  In this series of chapters, some of these ideas are developed further.

Came for the pussy, stayed for the tentacles. I’m sorry, I’m allowed one double entendre a week and I decided to curse you with it.  I wouldn’t have mentioned this but Drive Knight’s comings and goings are almost certainly going to be very plot-relevant later.   He was supposed to be gone with his prize of one Nyan, but then he saw the tower emerge and Psykos-Orochi wave tentacles skyward and as much as a cyborg with no discernable facial features can be said to yearn, he yearned. For a sample that is.

He stuck around as long as it took him to get a sample of Orochi and then he was gone, without so much as a ‘thank you for your help’.  At present, we’ll just have to see what this is all about later.

When the cat’s away the mice will play.  The only way to foment a world ending crisis is to have the guy who can squash it all and wonder what the fuss was about occupied elsewhere.  Through meeting Flashy Flash and getting a tour into the deepest reaches of the Monster Association thanks to Manako, and a couple of other things, Saitama is literally trapped in an alternative dimension. Although, being Saitama, if he felt a sense of urgency, he’d break back into the real world without a second thought.  Right now he’s curious,worried for his house, but mostly hungry.  Some curry would be nice.

The real question is how are the heroes going to hold out until Saitama arrives?  I’ve been touched by how genre-savvy Genos and King are about this. It’d be amusing if it weren’t so brutally true.

The formal establishment of extra-spatial dimensions as a feature not restricted to a few unusual individuals.   Phoenixman first got us learning about the idea of extra dimensions, in his case a private manifestation of his inner psyche.  Neither he nor Child Emperor physically moved.

Ninchirin introduces us to the idea of an extra-spatial dimension that physical objects can be stowed in and taken from.

But nothing takes it as far as ‘God’ with the existence of a pocket dimension with its own timeline that takes people in wholesale.  Whether a lot of time passes on the outside (as it does for Saitama and co) or no time passes (as it does for Psykos-Orochi) seems to depend on ‘His’ will. 

The formal establishment of ‘God’ as a singular being with a distinct personality.  Homeless Emperor first talked about ‘God’ as being a being who tasked him with eliminating humanity after he despaired of living as one.  Pyskos expands on that concept. She saw ‘God’ very differently, as a quasi-planetary being rather than as a vaguely humanoid one, but her experience of ‘Him’ as a being who bestowed power and a mission on her bears striking similarity to that of Homeless Emperor.

How people get to talk to ‘God’ becomes clear when we see Flashy Flash and Saitama accidentally summoning ‘Him’ via handling a box.  Which leads very naturally to elucidating some of the mystery of Blast. 

Finding out why Blast is still the number 1 hero.   If the likes of Tatsumaki leave us scratching our heads as to how any hero could outwork her in terms of facing monsters, Blast gives us an answer.  He specialises in dealing with non-physical threats, which he does by having some sort of dimension-hopping gizmo.  The black box he disposes of identical to that seen in Tatsumaki’s flashback, leading us naturally to think about what business the facility holding her was having with ‘Him.’   Webcomic readers see a gimme as well in the construction of the Ninja Village Flash hails from, along with Blast paying the ninjas a visit.

With Blast having taken Saitama and co out of reality, it’s going to be an unknown while before they pop back into it.

Sleeping is such a nice euphemism for dying

The principle of explosive growth through surviving situations that should have killed one is by this point a well-established mechanic within the story.  After seeing Phoenixman come back from the dead, it should perhaps not be a surprise to us that Orochi does the same.  In coming back, he’s evolved into a distributed form that can regrow after even extensive destruction and the consequences of his doing so are already covered in part 1 of this review.

Speaking of evolution, what about Garou? We left Garou buried under tons of rock in the wake of Tatsumaki lifting the base.  Yet again, he does not die -- thank you Darkshine for your anti blunt trauma vaccination -- and little by little, we see him dig himself out, and transforming himself as he goes as he dreams of a world in which he enforces peace but very unconventional means.

In retrospect, the sequence of Garou’s eyes closing in response to his humanising memory of Tareo is the most ominous as the eyes that open again have not a shred of humanity in them.

It reminds me a lot of what we saw happen to Gouketsu when the latter accepted a monster cell, his human eyes closing as a new set of monster ones opened.

At long last, Garou makes it back to the surface.  But what’s this?  Where’s the wise-cracking, judgemental little shit we love?  What is this near silent, befanged, clawed feral creature beating down on everything he sees? Oh dear.  He is not sleeping sweetly, dreaming pleasant dreams of a world perfectly obedient while he waits for the fist of some self-righteous prince to awaken him to his destiny.  Garou may perceive it as lapses in consciousness, but it’s the monster within eating him alive.  He’s dying. He is under real existential threat of being completely lost to monsterfication and how it is that he can save his humanity is a big point of interest. 

In his flawed way,  Bang is trying to get through to Garou.  I don’t hold out big prospects of him reaching him.  And if he does, I hold out even smaller prospects of him actually beating Garou.  Barring some interruption, we might be about to see the tragedy of a master beaten down by his student.

I’m going to leave this review here.  What comes next is all too soon going to change the status quo of the story, if not for the better, then certainly for the more eventful. 

#OPM #review #Snek #Saitama #Garou #Bang #Flashy Flash #Sekingar #a lot has happened #and the heroes working bravely in the background to save as many as they can is indeed heroism at its best #how the supernatural meddling fits in with everything that we see going on we don't yet know #Garou coming back onto the scene is a far more ominous re-emergence than it was in the webcomic #this could get really ugly