#This is literally just a bomb with a top hat.

[tossawary]

Someone responded, "Howl would do chores for Sophie! He loves her so much!" to that Prince Turniphead house-boyfriend post about the "Howl's Moving Castle" movie where I said that Howl wouldn't reliably help around the house. And... no. No, I said RELIABLY, that's a really important word here, but also no.

Nothing about his home setup (the mess of the kitchen in the beginning, the RAINBOW BATHROOM, his cluttered bedroom) suggests that he's in the habit of picking up after himself. I don't think he's purposefully a slob, but I do think he's too distractible and thoughtless to do the required regular cleaning. I think he's a "I'll put this down here for now and deal with it later *proceeds to walk around this object every day for the next three years while doing more interesting / immediate things*" person at best. Being in love does not suddenly change all your habits as a person or your personal interests! I think Howl would definitely try (important word here) to do better for Sophie, but I think it would take a lot of work and he's kind of lazy about these things!

I do think he cooks. Movie Howl IS shown cooking with Calcifer and I think he and his fire demon could have fun with that task, very cute, and leave a mountain of dishes behind them in the process.

Also, (trying to limit referencing the books for those who haven't read them, but I can't resist here) Book Sophie is... kind of controlling and loves to complain? And can also do magic herself? When I said that Howl can't be trusted to RELIABLY do chores, it's partly because I don't think he'd be doing them to 1) Sophie's exacting standards and 2) in the EXACT way that Sophie wants it done. I think Sophie would in many cases decide that it's easier just to train Howl to better stay out of her way, honestly.

Especially because HOWL IS A WIZARD!!! You can't fucking trust those assholes with a simple chore! It doesn't occupy their brains enough and they're ALWAYS going to think, "I bet I could invent a spell to do this for me," and that's how you get floating dishes or animated broomsticks or a fucking water spirit in your house. It's the hubris! Can't smack it out of wizards with a stick!

Howl swallowed a star and made a deal with a fire demon! He built a giant walking castle that was holding together JUST using magic (it completely fell apart at the end of the movie) and wandered freely around the country! He was pretending to be two different people to run businesses and then abandoned the buildings when the government caught up to him! I'm pretty sure he used a magic spell to SQUAT in Sophie's family's former hat shop! He impersonated the king! He dodged the draft literally afterwards in an airship battle! He nearly irreversibly turned himself into a bird monster and fought bombing airships by HIMSELF - and there's no way that Sophie wasn't confusedly picking black feathers off the floor. He summoned the spirits of darkness and started turning into ooze because his hair dye came out the wrong color!

Howl would TRY for Sophie, I believe that. I just also think that he'd rather use magic to completely renovate the entire house than actually scrub floors. I think he would invent an incredibly ugly magical vacuum cleaner for her and Sophie would love it so much that she would choose to overlook the fact that it tries to eat the carpet and curtains and the dog sometimes. I think that if Book Sophie was told she could melt wizards with a bucket of soapy water with a little bit of lemon juice (like the Enchanted Forest Chronicles), she COULD DO IT by choosing to believe it, and Howl hides from her and that bucket because he loves her but she's TERRIFYING.

If Sophie's sister Lettie was visiting and Sophie was panicking because she hadn't had the time to dust on top of the guest room wardrobe... whatever the magical equivalent of shoving all of your stuff into a closet at the last minute to make the place LOOK clean is, THAT's how Howl would help.

#tossawary hmc #howl pendragon #sophie hatter #spoilers #fic ideas

[linhfoxmoive]

A seriously long unnecessary rant which is just me fangirling, but on my Tumblr page-

Basically this entire post is gonna be me ranting/simping/overanalyzing about a skin that’s about to be released in a game I play a lot, Brawlhalla, and it’s for the 9th anniversary! Also the skin I speak of is for Diana (WHO IS MY MAIN AND I LOVE HER <333). So, uh, you’ve been warned. Feel free to just ignore this post honestly :) (Also I can confirm I did rant about this in real life to @ducksarerealsoareyou for like 5 minutes straight hshsh)

(TERRIBLE QUALITY IMAGE I KNOW, but this is the Diana skin I will be ranting about for context. Heads up, I will say "GAH" a lot in this rant of mine-)

ANYWAYS SO OH MY GOSH IS SHE SO PRETTY LIKE LITERALLY SHE IS POPPING OFF, the colors are literally so beautiful like dude the red being the main color is gorgeous especially that one shade of red is just absolutely lovely and with the gold as an accent to it just UGH TIES IT ALL IN SO WELL FOR HER DESIGN, like the colors red and gold together with white and black not only looks so clean but is so BEAUTIFUL like GAH I love it so much the color palette is flawless on this skin I swear! 💞💛🖤🤍 I DO NOT CARE IF I HAVE TO SPEND SIX DOLLARS OR MY OWN, or someone else's 🤭, LUNGS ON GETTING THIS SKIN. I WILL DO IT AND I WILLINGLY WILL INVEST MY LIFE SAVINGS INTO IT CAUSE GAH DANG SHE IS SO PRETTY AAAAAA (Also for legal reasons, the lung part was a joke. Trust me :))) ) Like bro, the gold roses/accents added on are so beautiful and the hat. LIKE PLEASE it is so beautiful. I am such a sucker for hats with feathers in them, I think it’s so fancy and the fact my babygirl Diana has that hat now is just AMAZING!!!! AND THE GOLD ROSE/ACCENTS WITH ON THE BOW TOO TO MATCH IT GAH IT JUST MATCHES SO WELL CAUSE LIKE, you see her outfit it’s cute it’s fancy we love it but the hat is like STEALING THE SHOW and I love the way the bow MATCHES with the hat in that mission, is literally so AMAZING!!! 😍😍 I AM ALSO A SUCKER FOR CHARACTERS WITH LIPSTICK, Diana without lipstick is hot but WITH lipstick she just got HOTTER WHICH I DIDN’T KNOW WAS POSSIBLE- Bro help I’m so gay, REALL!! And like the eyeliner she has is literally so bomb gah dang she is just MWAH <33

I love how the shirt matches with the gloves. UGH I love when designs do that, I know that’s a basic ”everyone” already usually does that when designing characters but for this, THIS, HER, DIANA. IT IS SO GOOD HELP. The shirt bro, the frills on the neck, I just OBSESS over characters who cover their necks with like something- LIKE A SCARF, TURTLE NECK, CHOKER, OR WHATEVER DIANA’S SHIRT IS I JUST LOVE IT HONESTLY HELP- ALSO GLOVES MAN, I LOVE GLOVED CHARACTERS ESPECIALLY IF IT'S THE LONG GLOVES GAH DANG. DIANA MY BELOVED!! 😭💞🥺💍✨ BRO AND THE SIMPLE SPHERE RED EARRING IS LOVELY BY THE WAY, IT'S JUST SO SIMPLESTIC YET EFFECTIVE IN ESTABLISHING THE FANCINESS LEVELS SHE HAS!! TOP TIER MAX LEVEL FANCINESS GAH! <33 AND THE HAIR, so simple yet so effective I love wavy curly hair like Diana’s OG skin and this anniversary skin is just LOVELY!! She just, bro, she just I can’t even form WORDS AND I’M JUST TYPING THIS OUT THAT’S HOW MUCH I LOVE HER- She has that piece all curled prettily next to her face to frame it, like girlie knew what she was doing when styling that and she SLAYED y’all!! ✨💅👑

Like honestly I love curly short-ish hair, lipstick wearer, beautiful color palettes, something covering the neck, top hats with features, the color gold, and women DESIGNS. Like, if you even wanted to,  you can look at my persona’s design and see some of the things I mentioned I liked in his design. Like bro, the scarf around the neck? Lipstick wearer? Eyeliner? Believe it or not but slightly curly hair if he untied the ponytail? IN HIS ALT FORM HE HAS FEATHERS?? I AM JUST A SUCKER FOR THESE SORT OF THINGS AND THE FACT DIANA, MY MAIN, MY BABYGIRL, HAS THESE THINGS ON THIS ANNIVERSARY SKIN IS AMAZING!! APPARENTLY THE SKIN IS NAMED LIKE SWANKY DIANA OR SOMETHING, THAT IS LOVELY I LOVE IT!!

(Yes I did this on a whim, to be fair this entire rant was done on a whim uh 💀. But nevertheless, here is a definition of the word, thanks to Google as I search it up real quick oof-) LIKE BRO I LOVE FANCY CHARACTERS AND THE FACT DIANA IS STYLISHLY LUXURIOUS AND EXPENSIVE, GAH!! AND THIS WORD SWANKY IS SO FUN TO SAY, SWANKY SWANKY SWANKY SWAN-

Literally I am ecstatic for when November comes and for whenever the anniversary update comes, cause bruh I WILL be buying this skin and I WILL be beating up my friends as Diana now with EVEN MORE STYLE THAN BEFORE!! Like before, I had a hard time picking a Diana skin to spend money on (Cause they are ALL amazing and great to me &lt;33333), so I never got my babygirl an epic skin yet which I know TERRIBLY EVIL OF ME HOW COULD I DO THIS TO MY GIRL DIANA- BUT NOW? OH BOY, NOW? I HAVE NO WORDS MAN, SAY LESS, THIS ANNIVERSARY SKIN FOR DIANA IS THE ONE I WILL SPEND MONEY ON FOR HER AND BUY!! FOR THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF MY MOST FAVORITE SKINS FOR MY MAIN-MAINS!! (Daomadan skin for Lin Fei being like, 1st place right now for my favorite Brawlhalla skins for my top mains. WHICH BY THE WAY I TOTALLY DON'T JUST PLAY LIN FEI CAUSE WE HAVE THE SAME NAME ALMOST HAHAHA TOTALLY!! 😅😳) BUT DIANA IS JUST GAH!!! 💕💞💕💞 Anyways, IF YOU READ ALL OF MY RANTING AND GOT THIS FAR, can I just say I appreciate you? Like you a real one man for tolerating me this much, lmao💚

But also like, please tell me I can’t be the only one raving and obsessing over this skin, right?? Uh, cause I will 1000% GUARANTEE I will be drawing fanart of this skin I swear, JUST YOU WAIT!! <33

#diana brawlhalla #brawlhalla #swanky diana skin brawlhalla #link's rant post #I am a mad simp for her y'all I ain't even gonna try to lie about it #literally abouta wife her up 😤💍💞 #with respect and consent of course though #also occasionally I'll come back and edit this post to add more of my thoughts that I might have forgotten to add into the post #up until the actual skin comes out though in November I will reblog myself showing that I did INDEED buy it I SWEAR!! #also if you read like everything including these tags I appreciate it man and I appreciate you for it <3 #have a nice day/night homies hshhg

[automatictears]

“what puts a hundred-thousand children in the sand? belief can.”

“we’re never gonna win the world. we’re never gonna stop the war. we’re never gonna beat this if belief is what we’re fighting for.”

This is different post from my usual content since I don’t post about my personal politics often, but I just left a protest against the U.S.’ funding of Israel, and in support of the freedom of Palestine. On the inside, I was honestly scared shitless since we were surrounded by so many people screaming things like “Palestine should die!” “Long live Israel!” “You’re the terrorists!” etc. at the top of their lungs and in our faces (and especially since you never know how far people in such states of rage could take things/the weapons they may have). Through the fear, though, I felt such a sense of unity and power being surrounded by such a large group of people that were fighting for those who cannot. For the children, women, men, and all people that are being forced out of their homes, bombed, shot, and murdered in Palestine. If you’re reading this and don’t know, over 8,000 people have been killed in Palestine within the last two weeks alone, not to mention all those people hat have died in the decades this has been happening. These numbers will continue to rise as long as Israel has the power to commit a literal mass genocide with the help and funding from other countries, such as the United States. Please don’t turn a blind eye to this genocide that is currently happening in our world at this very moment. Please attend a protest if you can. Please feel angry about what is happening overseas. Please do what you can to spread the word, especially to the state and federal politicians that are helping to fund this.

And if you didn’t realize, this is a Pro-Palestine blog. Get the fuck off of my page if you support the zionists of Israel, a.k.a. supporting the mass genocide of the Palestinian people.

#palestine #free palestine #support palestine #Spotify

[underthetree845]

Attack on Titan Characters’ Halloween Costumes (Headcannons)

What I think each of the Attack on Titan characters would dress up as for Halloween.

(Yes I know it’s June but I just had to get this out of my system)

Cws: modern au, college au, Halloween, I don't know what to put here really

Includes: Eren Jeager, Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirschtein, Sasha Braus, Niccolo, Connie Springer, Historia Reiss, Ymir, Marco Bott

Summary: What would some of the Attack on Titan characters wear if they all attended a Halloween party together in a modern au?

Eren- Solider

I’m seeing camouflage pants, a black compression shirt, combat boots, and maybe even those metal tags that soldiers wear around their neck. Mikasa is absolutely in love with the look, and jots it down in hopes of accidentally matching with him next year. Eren idolized the whole solider thing as a kid.

-

Armin- Milo Thatch from the animated Atlantis movie

If you don’t know who he is, Milo Thatch is a young explorer on a team that discovers The Lost City of Atlantis. He wears a long muted green trench coat, baggy army-colored explorer pants, a beige sweater, round glasses, white knee breeches, low-heeled dress shoes, and he carries around a brown cross body satchel with an old book. I feel like impersonating Milo would be so in-character for Armin, he could pull it off well. And he would look adorable.

-

Mikasa- This is partially influenced by Isayama’s modern au, but I’m just seeing her completely decked out in goth attire.

She would wear rose-patterned lace black leggings and matching gloves, high black boots, a black leather skirt and sleeveless top set, V neck with an abundance of chokers. Rings, probably. We all know her makeup game would be absolutely bomb (and perfect for the dim lighting of the party). If anything, her outfit is comparable to a Misa Amane (from Death Note) cosplay.

-

Jean- A Prince

He wants to have people falling over him so bad, and what better way than to show up as a literal prince for the Halloween party? Goes all out with a navy suit and gold buttons, matching pants, sleek dress shoes, does his hair nice, even carries a pocket watch on a gold chain tucked into his pocket. His mom probably helped him with the outfit. Eren absolutely dies when Jean tries to hit on a girl dressed as a princess at the party and she asks if he’s dressed up as George Washington (the first U.S. President).

-

Sasha/Niccolo- they go for a Ratatouille Remi and Linguini couple costume (Sasha wanted to and Niccolo loved her too much to say no).

You'd think that Niccolo, the actual cook, would the the chef, but no. Sasha wanted to be the chef because then she’d “get to taste test all the food.” Sasha goes out and buys Niccolo a fake rat nose and ears. He wears white loafers, grey sweatpants, a grey long-sleeved shirt, and Sasha paints three little black whiskers on each cheek. Niccolo lets Sasha borrow a chef’s uniform and hat from his restaurant and has to take a few deep breaths because the uniform matches the one he wears while he works and he loves that. Lots of selfies.

-

Connie- Wearing a goblin mask of some sort

This man has two primary goals on Halloween. One: to consume as much candy as humanly possible. Two: to scare the absolute living crap out of as many people as possible. Connie grew up with a few siblings, so his parents probably couldn’t spend a lot of money on each of their Halloween costumes growing up. They were probably given twenty bucks, take to spirit Halloween, and told to have at it. He’s also a relatively simple, straightforward person in general, so I feel like he drops by the convenience store like the day before Halloween and picks out the best goblin mask he can find. Wears dark jeans and a black hoodie so he can wait in the bushes outside the party to catch people by surprise. Armin’s soul almost leaves his body when he falls victim to one of Connie's jump scares.

-

Historia- An angel

I know this isn’t the most creative costume for her, but there was really no other option. Plus Ymir insisted and takes a million pictures once Historia is all done getting ready. She wears fluffy Angel wings, a well-crafted gold headpiece from Etsy to be the halo, and a sleeveless, pure white, almost floor-length dress with gold rings on the shoulders. Her makeup is soft and she seems to glow, even in the darkened lighting. She looks like she was sent from heaven. (Reiner stares so hard and Ymir keeps shoving him away).

-

Ymir- A basketball uniform

Now keep in mind, Ymir doesn’t actually play basketball (although I do feel like she’d be involved in a sports team of some kind). Her top is sleeveless and has a big 00 on the front and back. Ymir probably got it at the Walmart or some convenience store like Connie. Not the type to put too much effort into a Halloween costume unless she gets to do really gory makeup and scare people (which Historia does not allow her to).

-

Marco- A Hogwarts student

He and Armin are such nerds I love it. It’s probably a Hufflepuff robe, he wears the tie and everything. He carries around a wand he got off of some authentic seller. It’s real wood, he and Armin fanboy at the attention to detail since both of them have read the books.

-

The professors aren’t supposed to attend student-organized parties or gatherings, but everyone is fairly certain they saw a displeased-looking Levi chasing Hange wearing an inflatable dinosaur costume in the distance.

Thank you for reading!

#attack on titan #aot #armin aot #armin arlert #eren jeager #headcanon #eren jaeger #eren yeager #jean kirschtein #jean aot #mikasa aot #mikasa ackerman #commander hange #hange zoe #hanji zoe #shingeki no kyojin #snk #levi aot #levi ackerman #connie springer #sasha braus #marco bott #headcannons #modern au #college #college au #aot funny #halloween headcannons #spooky season #shingeki no kyokin

[bluepecanpie]

One Piece 1064 review

Holy shit, was this fire or what!

Even looking at the past ten chapters, this was probably the best of them!

Law vs Blackbeard - or rather, the Heart Pirates vs. the Blackbeard Pirates really kicks off. I think that it’s been unmentioned that this is the first time that we’ve seen some of the Blackbeard Pirates fight (really just Doc Q) and definitely the first time we’ve seen some of the Heart Pirates get into action rather than just sound off like a nervous Law fan club.

Law is not even the slightest bit phased by what would come off as an ominous confrontation with Blackbeard literally on a flying steed, and easily puts him on the back foot by slashing Stronger in half - surprising Blackbeard long enough to shaft him with his sword. Doc Q’s apple bombs are also easily repelled by Penguin and Shaci, who turn out to be very adept swimmers, and fighters at that - Shaci being the one to knock off the bombs, as they assault the Blackbeard Pirate’s ship. The Heart Pirates seem to be really good at amphibious warfare. Law even mocks Blackbeard for having all of his top officers those with Devil Fruit powers, suggesting that Blackbeard is the one with a disdvantage here.

Of course, there are mirrors between the Blackbeard Pirates and the Straw Hats when Van Augur gripes about Blackbeard moving in unprepared, and saving him with his new teleportation ability, advising retreat - only to be rebuffed by Blackbeard’s insistence to keep fighting. Van Augur’s shooting is also easily blocked by Jean Bart covering Law as a human shield. The Blackbeard Pirates also serve as a foil to the legendary Roger Pirates - when Law mocks Blackbeard for having so many ‘anchors’, Blackbeard replies that the power gained is worth the risks - generally the opposite of how the Roger Pirates viewed Devil Fruits, preferring their ability to swim. As an aside, Kaido - who was something of a contemporary of Roger, even said to Luffy that Roger and his crew stood on top of the world without a devil fruit between them, and not to be convinced that the fruit power is enough. This gives a big indicator that Blackbeard may be rising very high right now, but he’s in for a big fall....just not by Law. Law at best, might be able to edge out a draw, but I think that this will be his loss. But Law is doing phenomenally well, and his experience with Big Mom and Kaido is definitely a huge benefit. To give an idea of the different kind of world One Piece is, one of the Blackbeard Pirates scoffed at the kidnapped Pudding’s boast that Big Mom will come for her, by pointing out Blackbeard is clashing with the guy who did her in. It really cemented the idea that everything is up for grabs now and it’s a complete free-for-all.

People might be clowning the Marines’ seeming impotence, and especially Sakazuki’s sense of resignation, but the Marines have never even back to the time of Roger, thrown their resources at containg a clash between two Yonko-class pirates. And quite a number of them have certainly happened before. They certainly can’t do jack about it.

Meanwhile, Luffy, Jinbe and Chopper and Bonney discuss the ‘police’ Pacifista they encountered in Vegapunk’s lab and how attacking the image of him must be difficult for Bonney. Luffy’s a bit unsympathetic though, saying that his crew were hunted by Pacifista before - so he’s taken to react offensively when he sees them (not to mention the real Kuma separated his crew leading to the traumas he endured just before the time skip). Speaking of no sympathy - Jinbe outright tells Bonney that her dad was a tyrant in Sorbet Kingdom, and was overthrown by his own people because of it. He also says that the World Government while taking a dim view of his connections with the Revolutionaries, accepted a deal with him to be subjected to experimentation because of his unique body, converted him into a cyborg and even made clones of him in the Pacifista project, while he serves as a member of the Royal Shichibukai. Naturally, Bonney doesn’t buy that her dad was an oppressor, but says some strange line of them being a ‘special race’. As far as she’s concerned, she’s there to confront her father’s ‘killer’ - Vegapunk. Obviously there’s a lot more to this Kuma story - but if Kuma being an oppressive ruler was bullshit, it’s weird that Jinbe would be so ready to believe it. It could be that what Jinbe said has validity to it, but encountering the Revolutionaries made him reflect on what he did, and join them. Even then, an unresolved question (going back to 2009) is why Kuma - a Revolutionary, and even a deposed king even - would join the World Government and even allow himself to be experimented on. But I guess that this is what the arc is trying to resolve.

The rest of the Straw Hats are getting sent to Vegapunk’s inner sanctum, and even they are getting a costume change - Robin’s being the most fanservicey of them all. The robot carrying them has some anti-gravity features. Apparently, Egghead has a ‘labophase’ in the sky where the main research takes place and the ‘fabriophase’ on the ground where workers and technicians operate. Vegapunk’s room seems to be in the ‘labophase’. Zoro and Brook decide to keep watch of the ship while Nami, Frank, Usopp and Robin follow Lilith. Meanwhile, Shaka!Vegapunk talks ominously about his own impending demise while in contact with Dragon, of all people. Two-week break announced.

Whoa. Too many questions! What is the connection between Vegapunk, Kuma and Dragon. In fact, Dragon even seems to know Cobra - could there even be more out of this? Are Vegapunk and Kuma playing the revolutionaries off on the WG? (unlikely) Even so, that is the basis of their collaboration? It doesn’t even entirely consensual with both, but they were both so involved to the point well beyond it being non-committal either. Also, what does ‘death’ even mean to Vegapunk anyway? He has six satellite bodies! Each representing an aspect of himself. How does CP0 intend to kill him? Will we see more Pacifista? Will even Sentomaru turn up, him being Vegapunk’s bodyguard and all? Bonney’s saying the same thing Ivankov said - that Kuma hated the World Government, and would never serve it. So what is the nature of this ‘deal’? We’ll have to find out in a fortnight.

9/10

#one piece #one piece 1064 #trafalgar law #blackbeard #heart pirates #shaci #penguin one piece #jean bart #van augur #doc q #stronger #jesus burgess #sakazuki #straw hat pirates #vegapunk #doctor vegapunk #jewelry bonney #monkey d. dragon #egghead

[crowdvscritic]

crowd vs. critic single take // MRS. MINIVER (1942)

Photo credits: IMDb.com

Mrs. Miniver takes place in two eras: the time before September 3, 1939 and the time after.

Before Great Britain declares war on Germany, Mr. Clem (Walter Pidgeon) and Mrs. Kay (Greer Garson) Miniver’s biggest concerns are about money. Specifically, they spend their energy convincing each other—and their upper crust neighbor Lady Beldon (Dame Mae Whitty)—their spending on little luxuries like hats and cars is worthy of their family’s middle class income. Though Lady Beldon does not care for blurring social lines, her granddaughter Carol (Teresa Wright) is more open-minded, catching the eye of the collegiate Vin Miniver (Richard Ney). But everything changes on September 3rd. Vin enlists, Clem volunteers, and Kay makes a bomb shelter comfortable for their young children. For the Minivers, World War II is not just on the battlefield on the continent—it’s here at home.

CROWD // And the Academy’s love affair with World War II begins! Mrs. Miniver is the first of 11 Best Picture winners set during or immediately after the war, which means more than 10% of the Academy’s top prizes have been dedicated to defeating the Nazis. Even among those titles, though, Mrs. Miniver is singular. Casablanca, From Here to Eternity, The Bridge on River Kwai, Patton, and The English Patient follow soldiers and resistance fighters; The Sound of Music, Schindler’s List, and The King’s Speech recount true stories of extraordinary individuals living through the conflict; and The Best Years of Our Lives and An American in Paris depict the struggle to rebuild the world afterward.

Unlike those epics, we only see the Minivers on the homefront. Vin joins the Royal Air Force, but like his mother, we only wonder what he sees from the cockpit. Clem supports the efforts at Dunkirk, but Christopher Nolan still felt the need to depict that rescue of troops in his own film because we never see Clem beyond the horizon of Britain’s shores. Yes, the episodic Miniver lacks the jet-fueled forward propulsion of Nolan’s film, but that wouldn’t be honest with the civilian experience. The family’s skirmishes with danger are few and unpredictable, and in some ways, that makes them more upsetting. When tragedy does strike, it hits a family we’ve laughed and rejoiced with around the dinner table, making this melodrama still moving today.

POPCORN POTENTIAL: 8/10

CRITIC // If there’s any criticism to be leveled at Mrs. Miniver, it’s that its affection for the titular family is blind. Character flaws? Complex motives? Who needs them when you’re trying to create a rousing morale-booster justifying a global conflict still in the court of public opinion? The Minivers and their neighbors are symbolic avatars more than well-rounded individuals, which is just one reason Winston Churchill called this film “propaganda worth a hundred battleships.” In fact, the last scene was literally re-distributed as print and radio propaganda!

Still, given that this particular fight against fascism is one with fewer moral gray areas, romanticizing these people fighting out of uniform has aged better than, say, a film about the Russian Revolution. In the history of cinema, a majority of war films focus on combat and political leaders, while Mrs. Miniver reminds us the people at home—including but not limited to the oft-disenfranchised women, children, elderly, and working classes—can be just as cudgeled by war without enlisting. They may avoid the trenches, but their food, shelter, life, and limb are just as uncertain, not to mention the future of their loved ones serving in the military. With that in mind, who’s to complain about making these hometown heroes so likable? 

It’s also difficult to fault Mrs. Miniver for idolizing its subjects when its cast and its craft are working in tandem with its vision. William Wyler, who still holds the record for the most Best Director nominations at 12, assembled a cast as winning as the parts they were playing, none more than the Garson’s Mrs. Miniver herself. Her hopeful but clear-eyed face of determination creates a center of gravity for the rest of the actors, and the compassion driving her never becomes too syrupy. 

ARTISTIC TASTE: 9/10

#Mrs. Miniver #1942 #Best Picture #Best Picture Project #Academy Awards #Oscars #Greer Garson #Crowd #Critic #Single Take #Dame Mae Whitty #Teresa Wright #Richard Ney #Walter Pidgeon #Mrs. Miniver review #Casablanca #From Here to Eternity #The Bridge on River Kwai #Patton #The English Patient #The Sound of Music #Schindler’s List #The King’s Speech #The Best Years of Our Lives #An American in Paris #Dunkirk #Christopher Nolan #8/10 #9/10

[cleflink]

👀

well, 14 and 18 if they weren‘t asked yet 👀

For you, my dear, anything. *bows* Thanks for playing!

14. DCMK-peerless

Oh, this one's been in my brain forever. This is a Loveless AU (anyone remember Loveless? Anyone?) where Shinichi has more than enough to worry about with the whole Conan thing and, as such, is not at all interested in all this nonsense about finding his matched Pair. (Phrasing it that way, I guess Loveless counts as a very specific flavour of soulmate fic?)

KID sighed pointedly. "Well, I suppose there's nothing for it then." He extended a white gloved hand, palm up. "Care to be my Fighter for the evening?" He wanted them to do a Spell Battle? Together? Shinichi's mind flashed back to victim profiles he'd read, and crime scenes he'd visited where Sacrifices had paired with unmatched Fighters and lost. He remembered blood running like rivers down from the Names they'd forsaken, how every hit they took did easily twice the harm it should have. He thought of broken, battered Sacrifices, thought of that happening to KID, and his entire being recoiled. "No." It wasn't a question. "You know what that does to a Sacrifice." "I can handle it," KID said. "You know I only take calculated risks when I like my odds."

"The backlash from getting hit could literally kill you!" KID raised an eyebrow. "Surely you're not going to be such a poor duelist that you let someone else put me in chains, Tantei-kun?" It was manipulation, profoundly blatant manipulation. Knowing that didn't prevent a visceral revulsion from rippling down Shinichi's spine at the thought of KID - impossible, uncatchable KID - wrapped up in spell chains by someone else's hand. He huffed and looked away to hide his expression. "Don't blame me when you get blood on your suit." He didn't need to be looking at KID to know he was grinning. "Just make sure that's all the damage that gets done to me, and we'll call it square."

18. DCMK-trust

If y’all haven’t figured out yet that I have a trust kink a mile wide, I’m not sure what to tell you. This one’s mostly Conan-KID bonding that includes bombed buildings, broken bones and KID being unconscious for most of the story. :P

In a turn of events that Shinichi was definitely not thinking about too closely, he'd wound up leaning back against a flat piece of rubble and letting KID's head rest in his lap. The top hat had vanished somewhere in the dark, leaving one of Shinichi's hands lying on KID's hair, dangerously close to the curve of KID's monocle.

The darkness was complete enough that he still couldn't make out much more than vague shapes of darker black in the gloom, but he had a flashlight on his watch. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to shine it in KID's face.

Which meant that Shinichi had a bloodied, unconscious phantom thief's head in his lap, and only his own sense of fairness was standing between him and complete knowledge of KID's real face.

Hence the crisis.

Why was KID like this? What kind of self-respecting phantom thief left himself completely defenseless against a detective who he knew was trying to get him arrested?

Oh, Shinichi had no doubt that KID would come immediately awake if he tried something; the man was beyond reckless, but he wasn't actually stupid. KID had remained at liberty for this long because he had backup plans for his backup plans. Every risk he took was calculated

That wasn't the point.

The point was that for someone like KID to pass out on him, to willingly make himself more vulnerable than he ever allowed himself to be, it could only mean that KID had considered this a calculated risk worth taking. That he trusted Shinichi not to take advantage.

And Shinichi wasn't sure how to deal with that.

Ask me about a WIP!

#ask game #wip meme #working on it #My fic #dcmk

[mistresstaru]

Virulent Waters Chapter 2

I do hope you like.

Virulent Waters

 :::

 Gods, what have I gotten myself into? What was I thinking? Just because that merman is good-looking and a smooth talker, I find myself in the middle of this war. I’m doing things that I never thought I’d do: asking my boss questions about past ‘creatures’ that have come through here, looking through doors I don’t have permission to open, listening in on whatever the sheriff or any of my senior associates had to say. Again, for what? For a guy that’s my type on top and a fish on the bottom.

 But… I would feel guilty if I didn’t try something. Not just for Silco, but for his people and the animals and plants that suffer under the water. And let’s face it, I do want to see him again, not just to study him. I read up on any history that I could find about mer-creatures in this part of Runeterra, as well as asked Heimerdinger since he was there. They came here when Piltover was being built almost 300 years ago. While it was being built, the southern part of it collapsed and fell into the water, and the mer-people fixed it up for themselves, making a city underwater. They called it Zaun, and it became their permanent home ever since. However, industrial endeavors have polluted the waters for the last 80 years, getting worse, the toxins diving deeper into their city. They begged for help, but the humans and humanoids did nothing. I always thought of Heimerdinger as a good man, stagnant and firm in his old ways but always willing to help. But time has corrupted him, and humans have, as well.

 A huge celebrity came to the lab today, the Man of Progress himself, Jayce Talis. He’s the one that invented the Hexcore. The Hexcore uses clean energy to power itself, magic and technology combined. I’ve been to his speeches and workshops on Progress Day many times, but never actually spoke to him before. He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, talking about his plans to make our lives easier, but lately those promises have been empty and he’s been playing politics behind the scenes, brown-nosing every Council member since he became one himself. So much corruption. I’ve always been pessimistic about humanity, but it’s gotten worse in this short time.

 Jayce is here to analyze the bomb. The only thing biological about it was the literal shell casing, the rest is man-made, well… merman-made. “Amazing…” He looks at the pieces. “I didn’t know mermen were capable of this.”

 “Amazing, is it?” I chime in, introducing myself.

 “Nice to meet you.” He shakes my hand before returning his attention to the pieces. “I do find it amazing. I can tell that while this wasn’t professionally made, it’s accurate enough to work and cause great damage.”

 “They’re serious then, the mer-people.”

 “Yeah. The Councilors are very upset. A couple of them almost died.” He pauses. “We’re going to have to do something about them.”

 “Why not just clean the river, then?” I decided to be direct. “That’s what they want, isn’t it? It wouldn’t just benefit them, it would benefit all of us. We could fish and swim again, and trade by sea.”

 “I wish it was so easy.” Jayce shakes his head. “Deciding to clean the river would have to be a unanimous decision among the Council, and unfortunately… war is cheaper.”

 “So lives are cheaper, then?” I grimace.

 “… You’re a biologist, so you’re on the side of life.” He gives me a sad smirk. “I wish you were on the Council.”

 “Can I put my name in a hat?” I joke, and he laughs. I can tell that he’s unhappy about all this, and that gives me some hope. Maybe soon, he’ll be on the side of life, as well.

 :::

 It was now time to see Silco again, below the abandoned cannery on the seaside. Sure enough, there is a little cave that sits underneath, the river leading into it as well as a small sliver of rock. I need to tread carefully on the slippery rock and scoot my way inside. I brought a flashlight and turn it on, gasping in surprise at what was in here: a few crates full of different things like clothes and first-aid necessities, as well as a full-length mirror in the back. The outfit that Silco wore to the gala hung on the cave wall. There was a lantern too, and I turn it on and my flashlight off. “So glad you’re here on time.” I turn around and he’s swimming into the cave, smiling at me.

 “This is your hideout.” I say, smiling back.

 “One of many.” He tells me. “This is where I got ready for the gala.”

 “You have impeccable taste.” I nod to the very stylish outfit.

 “Do I?” He genuinely asks. “I don’t know anything about fashion. Mermen don’t wear clothes, and the women only wear simple tops.”

 “Yeah, you…” I watch as he pulls himself out of the water, sitting on the edge of the cave floor and slicking his wet hair back into place. He pulls his beautiful tail out of the water next, sitting sideways. Gorgeous.

 “Hm?” He looks at me, damaged eye tracking my moves. Shit, it looks like I said that out loud.

 “I said… the outfit is gorgeous, even if you don’t know anything about… fashion.” I clear my throat. “To business, then?”

 “To business.” He nods, corner of his mouth curling upwards. “What have you found out.”

 “I’m sorry to say that it’s a lot of nothing.” I sigh. “I looked around for Vi in my building but I didn’t find anything. I don’t have access to every room, unfortunately.”

 “She must be hidden somewhere very exclusive. A place that very few have access to. I’m sure your rodent boss would know.” He scoffs.

 “I talked to him about the history of your people.” I tell him. “He didn’t seem very… empathetic.”

 “He doesn’t have any because he lived too long.”

 “You certainly have it out for my boss, huh?” I smirk.

 “All of the Council members are my enemies, but especially him, yes.” Silco explains, flicking his fins aggressively in the water. “He should know better. Talk about a ‘violation of the ethos’.”

 “How do you know so much about him?”

 “That night at the gala wasn’t my first time on land, my dear.” He grins. “My team and I have been roaming around and plotting for years. We’ve seen many things, learned the ways of humans so we can blend in. However, our legs are only temporary. We can only do so much, but it’s more than we were ever able to do before.”

 “Will you still not tell me about it?” I ask as innocently as possible.

 “I’m afraid not.” He put a finger to his lips. “It’s our only secret.”

 “Okay.” I understand. If they’re trying to infiltrate the humans than it is best it’s kept a secret. “I spoke to Jayce Talis today. He has some empathy, but his goes both ways. He says the Councilors are upset, and instead of cleaning the river, they might just go to war, because it’s cheaper.”

 “Really? Hm… that is very useful information.” He says my name, and it sends butterflies to my stomach.

 “It is? You’re not just saying that?” I look away, blushing.

 “It’s good that we are on their lips, even if it is somewhat bad news.”

 “What will you do?”

 “If it’s war they want, we’re ready for it.” He says confidently. “You’ve seen the weapons that my genius daughter can create.”

 “Your daughter made the bomb?! How old is she?”

 “She’s a teenager. Her mind might be damaged, but she’s still brilliant.” He smiles softly, thinking of her, but it shifts to a frown. “She wants her sister back more than anything. I do too, of course, but…”

 “What is it?” I sit by him, not caring if my pants get wet.

 “Vi doesn’t know that I killed Vander. I’m afraid if she learns the truth…” He stops when he feels my hand on his shoulder. He looks there for a second, surprised by the gesture.

 “It’ll be okay.” I say quietly. “She’ll probably need time to accept that, but she’ll come around.”

 “You…” He sighs. “I hope you’re right.” He puts his proud expression back on. “Now then, if that is all, shall we get to your business?”

 “Ah… right.” I brought a notebook and a pen with me, as well as measuring tape. I already took some basic notes. “I wanted to measure your tail, if that’s okay.”

 “Please.” He says, straightening his tail out. “But be careful, my fins are venomous. I can also flick deadly barbs with perfect aim.”

 “Fascinating.” I say as I measure. “Mer-creatures are vastaya, descended from the Vastayashai’rei, a race of people who called upon the powers of nature to defeat the Titans, becoming shapeshifters. There are many different vastaya, yours being among the tribes of the sea.”

 “You’ve certainly done your homework.” He is impressed. “We are originally from Bilgewater seas. My ancestors were interested in this brand-new city, since it would be a haven away from magic.”

 “Heimerdinger didn’t tell me that.” I reel in the tape measure. “You have a very long tail. Twice as long as what I had read mer-people tails to be. In fact, it represents a Bilgewater cusk-eel.”

 “Very good again. We each represent a different family of fish. It’s not just the simple illustrations you’re probably used to. My daughter’s tail is that of an electric-blue betta, and my doctor’s lower half is that of a river squid.”

 “Amazing.” I see the venomous barbs on his fringed tail and scribble in my notebook. “And your bioluminescence is stunning. Is it natural, or do you eat bioluminescent things?”

 “We eat krill we call ‘firelights’. Our glow comes from them.”

 “I never heard of those before.” I bet my eyes are glowing with excitement over the mention of a species I never studied before.

 “They are deep-sea dwellers.” He confirms. I scribble and sketch some more before peeking up at him, and he’s very amused at my expression.

 “Sorry… you must think that I’m a huge nerd.”

 “On the contrary, I admire those who have passion for what they do.” I think his smile might be venomous, as well.

 “Yeah? Uh… yes, I do… really love what I do.” I say. “This is also kind of awkward because I’ve never had a subject who could talk to me before.”

 “Should I stop talking?” He snickers.

 “No, that would just make it weirder.” I laugh, too. “I bet you’ve never been studied before, either.”

 “Actually, in a way, we all have.” He says, touching the scarred skin around his eye. “The doctor I mentioned, he has studied our injuries extensively, coming up with ways to help us. I can see out of this eye because of him. Another brilliant scientist who works with us is a specialist in bionics, and makes and maintains our artificial limbs. The man is practically a cyborg, as his illnesses have destroyed his body.”

 “A cyborg mer-creature.” I try to imagine. “All of the things you are describing… I’d really love to see them, and your home.”

 “It would be beautiful if not covered in toxins.” He says. “And I would like to see your world more… see it the way you do.”

 “I have seen beautiful places.” I draw as I talk. “And such beautiful animals. The Hexgates have opened the world to everyone. Our knowledge of other worlds has expanded in such a short amount of time.”

 “All thanks to the golden boy.” Silco references Jayce.

 “At least the Hexgates use clean energy.” I say. “Unlike every other factory.”

 “At least.” He repeats. “By the way, are you… drawing me?”

 “Oh, yes, I am.” I tell him, holding the notebook to my chest. “Is that okay?”

 “Hmm, I suppose.” He moves his eyebrow. “You’re not going to show these to anyone, right?”

 “Of course not.” I finish up. “I’d get thrown in Stillwater if they knew I was involved with you… erm… that came out wrong…”

 “It’s fine.” He smirks, reaching out his hand. “May I see?”

 “Sure.” I kneel by his side and show him the drawing. Honestly, I never thought much about my artistic abilities, but I find myself hoping he’ll love it.

 “I’ve never been drawn before.” His eyes flash with something I don’t recognize. “You should be a professional artist.”

 “Oh, stop.” I blush again, closing the book. “You’re too kind.”

 “Kind, huh?” He contemplates that, probably thinking it wasn’t true. “I should be going, now.”

 “R-Right.” I stand, and he slides back into the water. “Will we see each other again next week?”

 “Yes, we will.” He says, looking into my eyes and saying my name once more before diving into the shallow water. I can see him swim for only a few short feet before he disappears from view. He’s a graceful swimmer, as I thought. And as the night wanes and the week grows shorter, my thoughts are of nothing but him.

#arcane fanfiction #arcane #silco #silco my beloved #silco fanfiction #silco x reader

[omegaremix]

Powers, 1998.

Powers was the most awesome staff writer and editor I thought we had at the Compass, community college’s campus newspaper. He was considered a true punk with his tall lanky frame, slicked-back black hair, glasses, red cheeks, and leather jacket, and skinny jeans covering up his nerdy exterior. We had punks back in Brentwood but to me they were off-limits as they looked down on our alternative circle of friends and I. Powers was more approachable and accessible as we were on the same team so I got to know him. Eventually, he offered to cut me a tape and here it is.

On a campus with nothing but unchallenging Long Island club music, Top 40 radio, and lots of their shallow follower fan-base still holding on to their high-school mentality, This was iconoclastic. This was during a time when tape-trading and mixtapes (literally) was in full-swing, all before fire-sharing and burning took over. It was also during a time when tacky hot pink cowboy hats, fake blonde hair, and clean cut pop design was put on top of a pedestal forcing to be the best. No thanks.

You have your history-written essentials by The New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders followed by The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash. More UK from Crass, Sham 69, and Subhumans U.K., and Anti-Nowhere League. Then the state’s Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Dead Kennedys. One-timers in speed metal, goth, thrash, even garage that still connected to punk? Yes, they’re there.

It’s been years since I listened to his tape. Looking at the handwritten track-listing, I came a long way all by myself. We played “Born To Lose”, “New Rose”, “Ever Fallen In Love (You Shouldn’t Have Fallen In Love With?)”, and “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver” on Omega WUSB throughout its course. We also played about more than half of these bands on this tape through our other shows and bonus Omega specials. With the wealth of ideas going on, another punk special is way past overdue and this lost tape lights up the entire matchbook. 

What happened to Powers? I haven’t seen him since we moved on from community college. All I know is he’s somewhere in Boston, who should’ve enjoyed the last three Red Sox championships and a Bruins cup. As with all friendships of that era, we just can’t stand each other. We wear each other out, dissipate, maybe a visit or heads-up or two and that’s it. Sick of each other and never to be bothered again. And I’m perfectly fine with that. 

Thanks.

Side A:

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers “Born To Lose”

Damned, The “New Rose”

Sex Pistols “Submission”

New York Dolls “Human Being”

The Ramones “Chinese Rocks”

The Clash “Janie Jones”

Eddie & The Hot Rods “Get Out Of Denver”

Dictators “Faster And Louder”

Buzzcocks, The “Ever Fallen In Love (You Shouldn’t Have Fallen In Love With?)”

Sham 69 “Borstal Breakout”

Boys “Cop Cars”

Crass “Do They Owe Us A Living?”

4 Skins “One Low For Them”

Anti-Nowhere League “I Hate People”

Exploited, The “Dogs Of War”

Real Kids “Do The Boob”

La Peste “Better Off Dead”

Side B:

Subhumans U.K. “Religious Wars”

T.S.O.L. “80 Times”

Mission Of Burma “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver”

Lyres “I Wanna Help You Anne”

Undead “Nightmare”

Bad Brains “Regulator”

Suicidal Tendencies “I Want More”

Misfits, The “Last Caress”

Minor Threat “Think Again”

Descendants, The “Hope”

Dead Kennedys “Terminal Preppie”

Circle Jerks “Back Against The Wall”

Motorhead “Another Perfect Day”

Chaos U.K. “Selfish Few”

Patrick Fitzgerald “Irrelevant Battles”

Dropkick Murphys “Finnegan’s Wake”

New Bomb Turks “Minivan Wages Of Sin”

Electric Frankenstein “Get Of My Back!”

#punk #garage #speed #personal #friends #Long Island #Boston #omega #music #playlists #mixtapes

[knowlessman]

is it next time yet? fuck it, I guess it is 'XD bnha movie 1, Two Heroes

cacaw! eegels! murica! social darwi - oh this is straight-up actual california apparently. where's excalibur, d'you see him anywhere?

you sir are a pokemon. …no wait he has pants on, he's a digimon -- Cow Lady… sure is a character design. amazing they managed to not put a cowboy hat on no hang on never mind there it is

saitama? -- ALL MIGHT. YOU HAVE EYES. WHAT THE FUCK WHERE ARE WE

…"dave"? in this 2000's-ass hotwheelsmobile? whut even -- with a bubble blower

I was The Most Unprepared for All Might with visible eyes I tell you hwat -- his victory laugh still makes me think of santa clause tho

okay we're back to Bionicle-mode All Might, things are right side up again

…they're going for a vacation at that floating city from bioshock infinite? (turns out it's on water not flying nvm)

"the invite said I could bring a friend." "isn't that usually meant for family?" "we are family. I'm your Space Dad."

"once we get there, I must be in hulk form constantly" I thought that was literally impossible

(movie is doing a whole recap) ohey it's that guy that got caught by the slime monster, what was his name? -- that stunt in the race with the chunk of metal and the minefield was such cool bullshit tho, like only the perfect combination of being painfully aware of your limitations and being absolutely, unshakeably DETERMINED to cross that line first would have led somebody to find such a random tool so early on, drag it with them the whole way, and then manage to find a use for it at the way end. …this show has good fucking writing okay. mineta aside. it has good fucking writing.

"trivia question: why was this island created?" shits, giggles, & egotism. why do you think elon musk does anything. -- facepalm another fucking amusement park

hm. wonder if toshi's plan is to let dave in on the whole secret

blinks and they have literal godzilla. well of course they do, I guess

the literal bat-plane but blue, aye.

ohhhh, no… this Melissa character was reminding me of that girl from the pokemon 2000 movie whose only purpose is to make misty jealous about ash (and hand out that stupid lore pun I guess), and I was just thinking "but they don't have to do that, and maybe they won't, after all uraraka's not here…" -- uh. the gang's all here (well, okay like a quarter of class A so far), but since when have jiro and yaoyorozu given a shit about uraraka's… relationship? crush? unspoken tsundere bullshit that I… thought deku was oblivious to? -- why is deku explaining himself as if he has the slightest idea that uraraka has interest in him? movie weirdness I guess; so new arrivals know which cookie cutter she came out of. (tbh tho even just thinking about her like this is annoying because she does have more interesting stuff going on, with her family and her whole motivation; it feels like she's been reduced to this, and that sucks)

goddammit it's worst character and worst-character-in-training

EMERGENCY EXIT MAKIN HIS EMERGENCY ENTRY AT TOP SPEED FOR SOME REASON (so that newbies have a vague idea what his power is because they can't guess it based on the bigass exhaust ports stickin out his calves I guess), GANGWAY -- IIDA YOU ARE LITERALLY DOING THE ROBOT FOR NO REASON WHY DID THEY HAVE TO GIVE YOU THAT MANNERISM IT IS SO WEIRD ON YOU

okay hagukure with the rock paper scissors signs is funny, they finally made a joke about her invisibility that's funny

METAPOD BROS METAPOD BROS METAPOD BR - uh, hi vegeta, I guess, damn where's tetsutetsu? : /

'XDDDDD "hey, isn't that deku over there" kacchan is IMMEDIATELY in deku's face because he is Like That

ohey look vegeta, it's… wtf is todoroki then? beerus? I don't fuckin know dbz

"we got the drugs. or bomb. it's one of the two, right? what? batjesus is here? who cares."

"I can't tell Dave, who literally just did a cat scan on me and knows my powers are disappearing and has known me for decades and is sposed to be Very Smart, about One for All"

…dang, I'm only a half hour in, I gotta ease up on pausing it 'XD

boxing gloves -- iida 'XD

deku who told you you could steal napoleon dynamite's style

they finally let yaoyorozu wear clo - what have you done to earphone jack let her wear a suit or something jesus

-- …huh. also just now realized the triangle thingies she usually has must be makeup. cool.

yeah, they would give bakugo, out of the entire cast, a formal outfit that actually looks cool >:| (I mean okay uraraka's is just fine but everyone else looks like a dork, like they were stuck with whatever was on the clearance rack)

ohey tapeface and naruto's choji are here too. I expect bnha's choji is around somewhere -- yup. also birdman. tokoyami

think I know what the vague gist of Uno is, but I've never played it. is it worth trying? (froppy and mina and hagukure are stuck in their hotel room. which, like… it feels like, idk, another work would've not bothered doing that, but I like it. It's like in the digimon movie, those random cutaways where the internet is being eaten or wever and it's inconveniencing people in silly ways ("your total comes to one million one hundred HUH??? uh, yeah, that's what it says. that must be really good chocolate. paper or plastic?"). idk it's fun 'XD)

earphone jack's hero costume (which she isn't getting to wear right now bc bullshit) is cool. know what else is cool? her power. jiro is just cool.

todoroki's in a basic white suit but at least it looks good on him and fits him, like, thematically? like not even that it's white, he's a guy you can picture choosing to wear a suit.

"melissa, you stay here" "bad news, pal. none of you know how the security system works. this is an escort mission now." (also she could have gadgets on her, being literally the daughter of the most famous gadgeteer on the island)

all might's having a lot of telepathic conversations in this movie. is that what being neurotypical's like?

"this is the 30th floor" gawwwd, that's a lot of stairs. my feet hurt just thinking about em -- three… hundred… fucking yeah, you're on 50 and you're just NOW ditching the heels? fuckin A

"what does this button do?" "stop those kids!" somebody find a window and mi-yeet-a that little shit out of it

how many of you guys are there, and nobody has a quirk for just climbing up the outside of the tower? momo could probably do it. todoroki could maybe do it. deku might be able to punch handholds into it. …uraraka can literally fly, but granted, only for a limited time. -- wait mineta could get them up there that way. little shit has an entire superpower and he still exists only to represent the worst elements of anime fandom and be the "we're doomed!" guy.

oh fuck it's ornstein and smough maybe they are doomed

'XD ohai beavis and blockhead (bakugo and kirishima). wow, how lost did you get?

momo can just create bat-bombs now.

…bakugo can fly. bakugo can literally just fly, whenever he wants. …him knowing only fighting is such a waste. mfer can FLY.

ohey the penny dropped, they remembered mineta has an entire goddamn superpower.

"that guy's not opening up a hole in space, he's hollowing it out!" fucking. this is gonna be akutagawa's fucking coat all over again isn't it -- gawd damm but they went and whole-assed the animation for this relatively no-stakes fight, it doesn't even have any music but just lookit this shit

jumping daleks. how about that

these gauntlets seem like a pretty significant upgrade, considering I don't remember seeing them in any pictures of deku. makes me suspect that he only has them for this movie, but… : / idk

"don't let your guard down. one of those kids probably has a hearing quirk" and not a flying one? are hearing quirks just really common? I forget whether choji's is supposed to make him hear better

vegeta to the rescue!

"send swordkil and the others!" what kinda rob-liefeld-ass name…?

I swear this one pink-haired villain guy is reminding me of SOMEBODY, but I can't for the life of me figure out who

… : | for once, could a guy give off so many heel-turn flags and not actually turn heel? hell, for that matter, is melissa gonna die now to just tidily remove her from the canon and keep the movie self-contained? -- "did you arrange this just to get that device?" uh yeah, that device that wasn't any of the ones previously introduced? in other words, a random surprise macguffin that we have no reason to care about? -- "a device that amplifies quirks" yawn. also this guy who nobody cared about til now talked him into it, so dave can even do an emergency face turn if he feels like it when mr assistant guy whose name was only said once… gus, I think? when he turns on him (I GUESS his motive having to do with all might losing his powers is, idk, a motive) -- sam, that's what. also gawwwd this got bori - haha he got your-eternal-rewarded. wait why the hell is dave taking bullets for - bah, whatever

deku, mid-punch, without his mouth moving: "melissa, I got this, do the computer thing!" melissa: goes and does the computer thing for real tho, is this what being neurotypical is like? just, everyone has telepathy? must be fucking nice.

"BATJESUS EX MACHINA!" -- "METAL SATAN EX MACHINA. WITH TENTACLES."

…huh. so. mojo jojo was behind this all along. okay, that one's a surprise. -- lol he went for a stab-through and the screen went all red like it's fucking evangelion or something (I think eva does that when spoiler bites spoiler's spoiler? haven't actually seen it). and then all might comes out and his fucking supersuit doesn't even have a scratch on it

really tho deku did you really have no choice other than that fucking clown suit

-- also. alan rickman: "I see you've managed to get your shirt off."

there was a bit in one of the specials where all might transforms from bionicle mode to hulk mode, and I slowed it down looking for in-between frames. THIS is the kind of thing I was looking for. my guy looks like Sans Undertale.

ayup. was a movie. it movied. was fairly okay, although I gotta wonder if there'll be any callbacks to it; it felt depressingly like all the bits that sounded like they mattered were movie-only bits, and… uh. they, uh, they beat mojo jojo, so either I hadn't been understanding properly how All for One works, or they name-dropped him here for pretty much no reason, or the apparent series villain is just done and dusted already. -- movie DID resist the urge to really get my goat with uraraka's tsundere stuff or whatever and kept it down to that one scene, so I guess that could've been a lot worse

#knowless watches bnha #wtf is a text block and why does it have a charlimit that's so much lower than the amount of pics you can cram in #how in fuck do you people live here

[bisexualeliotspencer]

Prompt but also just general thought- Hardison knitting hats for his teammates. Unbeknownst to him, Eliot is crocheting them all hats. Unbeknownst to both of them, Parker is sewing some hats... a comedy of Fiber Arts?

“You made this for me?” Eliot looked down at the soft mass in his hands, holding the gift like a bomb that could go off any second.

“Yeah! It’s a hat, made one for you and Parker. I’d read this article, see, that said you should have a hobby that doesn’t involve screens just to like take a break? So I remembered nana teaching me how to do stuff like this and thought I’d give it a go between cons, sometimes on them if I was waiting in Lucille for a while you know? I just-“

“Thank you.” Eliot cut off the rambling, it was usually a soothing sound, but right now the words were filling him up and pushing the feelings he’d buried down deep a long time ago towards the surface. He distracted himself with carefully turning the, hand-knitted, bobble hat over in his hands. The wool was so soft, a contrast to the rough callouses adorning his fingers and palms. It was a cheery red, with white woven into the wool strands for texture. It was a simple pattern, but executed with the expert precision Eliot had come to lo- appreciate from the hacker.

“It’s no problem.”

Eliot looked up and found the words he so desperately wanted to say forming on the top of his tongue, coiled and ready.

“I found them!” Parker dropped then into the conversation. Quite literally, as she had disappeared upstairs as soon as Hardison announced he had a present for them both and had now decided to take the express route down. Jumping.

“Dammit Parker.” There was no heat behind his words, and the thief simply ignored him and shoved a fabric lump into his hands.

Tucking Hardison’s gift under his arm, he inspected the new prize. As he unfolded the blue fabric bundle, he realised what he was looking at.

“Parker, did you, umm, buy… us both hats?” Hardison was looking at her with confusion and a softness that made Eliot’s tattered heart ache.

“I made them, did you make this one?” Parker had torn into her own present from Hardison, and was looking at the black bobble hat with an excitement usually only reserved for stolen goods.

“Yeah, Baby, I did.”

“It has strings to tie it on my head!” Parker proceeded to do exactly that, grinning and fiddling with the pom poms at the end of the ties.

Eliot stayed quiet, turning the soft, fleece lined beanie over in his hands. It was a deep rich blue, and the lining was brighter with a pattern similar to his favourite bandana. The words were so close to spilling out now, but almost more pressing was the lump sitting in his inside left pocket, practically burning him the longer he kept them hidden.

“This is wild man, only thing weirder would be if Eliot had got us hats too!” Hardison was joking, but his smile faltered when he looked at Eliot. An Eliot who found himself unable to look at either one of them in the eye. “Eliot?”

“Are you okay? You look a little sweaty, are you sick?” Parker slapped her hand to his forehead looking concerned.

“Ow, Parker no I’m fine.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Yeah dude, you can tell us you know. If this is too much…?” Hardison, beautiful caring Hardison with his heart not only on his sleeve but wrapped around his entire being like a shield, broke down that final barrier in his soul.

He opened his mouth to speak, to let the words loose.

He couldn’t form a syllable.

With a growl of frustration, he dug his hand into his coat pocket, tugging out two carefully constructed woollen beanie hats. A purple one with delicate lacework for Hardison and a black one for Parker that featured complex ribbing for decoration.

He couldn’t say a word, but when he looked at how the two handled the carefully crocheted pieces, how they looked and caressed them, he wondered if he even needed to.

“You know, I’m gonna have to marry you now.”

Eliots Head snapped round to Hardison so fast he felt something pop in his neck.

“It’s marriage or you legally become my brother because once nana sees this that’s your only option.”

“Hardison-“

“I’m takin’ this home to nana. You Just wait. She’ll probably send you an invitation to your own wedding.”

“Can I come?” Parker looked up from the hat, where she had just been casting a thief’s gaze over every detail.

“Baby, Nana already told me I have to marry you so we can just make it a double wedding.”

Satisfied, she nodded and returned to her careful examination.

“I can’t-“ Eliot couldn’t vocalise it, didn’t know if he would ever have the words to explain. But Hardison softened anyway.

“Don’t worry, we got time. What you say we give these hats a test drive?”

Eliot nodded. He thought that the next person to understand him like that, without words, beyond words, would terrify him to the very core of his being, but here? Standing with Parker and Hardison having all created something to ease a minor discomfort simultaneously? Well that just felt like something special. He tucked the words he couldn’t say into every stitch, and it seemed that maybe, if for once in his life he was lucky, those same words were etched into his own gifts.

#leverage #leverage ot3 #eliot spencer #alec hardison #parker #lois speaks leverage #lois speaks #this got a little out of hand lmao #i hope you enjoy

[children-of-subcon]

I really missed doing character refs, so I spontaneously decided to finish this one! Meet our first side character :)

I accidentally put way too much effort into the shading, but it’s fine since he’s not that detailed anyways ^^;; Also sorry if the design just looks like Rumbi but green ;w; I’m not very good with robots, but I’m still pretty happy with this!

The info section for today will be more focused on game mechanics than usual, since you know, it’s a miniboss. See you under the cut!

[  ] Your soul was so gross that my Hoover thought it was a piece of trash. Oopsie!

The Vacuum of Doom, lovingly referred to as ‘Rumbi’ by Captor, is a massive robot vacuum that’s responsible for cleaning up after Cappy’s partying problem! Custom built by the ruler of the woods herself, Rumbi is very loyal to his creator.

Rumbi is usually the friendliest entity in the forest, albeit intimidating due to his size. Unfortunately, souls don’t quite agree with him, and if he happens to suck one up, he’ll go a bit... haywire. Instead of cleaning up trash, he just ends up spewing junk all over the place! Not to mention all the gas pollution!

Luckily, Captor can easily fix him right up! All you need to do is shut him off. Can’t be too hard, right?

Well, as it turns out, Rumbi was built to be quite sturdy since he has a habit of crashing into things. Maybe Prince can find a way to use that to his advantage, though...

Rumbi comes with several retractable spikes, partially for self defense and partially because Captor thought it’d look sick as heck. The one on his head is meant to look like a party hat! In his battle, he spins around the arena like a deadly top. Try not to get impaled!

Additionally, cherry bombs are swapped with fireworks! Where the Toilet of Doom sends bubbled cherries toward the player, Vacuum of Doom shoots out rockets from his firework launcher (in addition to trash). ...the rockets help him get rid of garbage too high up to vacuum, okay?

The yellow firework with a skull takes the place of the giant cherry bomb from ToD, and is actually even larger than Rumbi himself. I have no idea how it fit inside of him, but Prince better get up there and stop him from setting it off, quick!

During Vacuum of Doom’s attack window, he bluescreens! I am literally so proud of myself for that idea please appreciate it ;w;

For this boss theme, I imagine it’d mostly be a remix of Main Theme/Captor’s boss theme, maybe more electronic since Rumbi’s a robot and all, but there’d also be a small section of YCHE in the middle since Prince’s soul is in the mix! Basically the opposite of Toilet of Doom lol

Hopefully I didn’t forget anything, and hopefully you enjoyed as well!

#the main drawing is very referenced from Rumbi's official art bc I couldn't get the proportions right at first :"D #Rumbi might be the only character taller than Prince #on Earth at least #why does he have 4 eyes? because I said so! #they have a function but I haven't completely fleshed that out yet #and this was getting too long anyway #the miniboss stamp is based on snatchers seal! #it was hard to replicate but I think I did ok #A Hat in Time #AHiT #ahit au #USAU #ahit Rumbi #ahit Prince

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (July 8/2021) - Flying Pigs

Fundy and Foolish have a literal custody battle over Fundy’s son, Yogurt. 

Drista visits after her dog died and causes chaos with Tommy, forming a bomb squad of people riding flying pigs.

---

VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Foolish

Tommyinnit

Captain Puffy

---

- Ponk continues taking down the rest of his casino

- Ponk meets Foolish at the casino site and tells Foolish that he wants to commission a Lemon Tree opposite of where the original one stood. Foolish is reluctant, saying the Lemon Trees have never worked out

- Foolish asks about what “Little Red” was, but Ponk says it’s best not to talk about it

- Ponk notices the Bruno Mars beacon and mistakes Prince Philip for Emperor Palpatine

- Ponk pays Foolish for the tree

- Ponk is overjoyed when they get a pet Endermite, but unfortunately it despawns while Foolish is running to get a nametag

- Ponk wants a new Lemon Tree so that if anyone messes with it, he has an excuse to fight them

- Foolish discovers Karl’s secret Tommyinnit Hate Club

- Foolish and Ponk talk about exploding each other

- They mine up the floor and Ponk tells Foolish about Salamone, the pillager who killed a lot of people who used to live down underneath the casino after Ponk took his legs. Salamone was the enforcer for his essential oils shop

- Ponk shoos Foolish away. Foolish returns to the summer home and gets rid of the top hats on the statues

- Later, Foolish heads over to Las Nevadas where he finds Fundy calling from a distance. They compare outfits

- Foolish shows Fundy the outhouse that doubles as a helicopter

- Fundy is rusty at Minecraft and suggests a PvP battle, but Foolish tells him about how he’s never killed anyone. He checks his statistics and somehow, Foolish has gained three player kills but he’s not sure when 

- Fundy goes over to check on how Yogurt’s been doing. Foolish says he’s been taking care of him. Fundy tells Yogurt to look at him, but Yogurt turns to look at Foolish instead. Fundy is horrified, worried that Yogurt might not recognize him anymore

- Foolish says he is Yogurt’s father and that it is better this way

- Fundy desperately throws Yogurt some berries to try and get him to look, but again, Yogurt turns to Foolish instead

Fundy: “Do you not remember me?!”

- Foolish says that Yogurt must have started seeing him as a father figure instead. Fundy wants the PvP battle immediately. They prepare items

- They can discuss who gets Yogurt on weekdays and weekends after the battle. They decide to fight under the Eiffel Tower. Fundy declares that he will prove himself as a father today

- They negotiate the terms and Foolish counts down from ten to begin the duel. He charges at Fundy, and Fundy screams and runs away, logging out

- Fundy comes back and they start again. Fundy runs away again, but after getting a couple hits on Foolish he gains confidence and wins the first round

- They begin the second battle and Foolish charges forward while Fundy hides. But Foolish has an idea to up the stakes: climb the tower.

The two climb up opposite corners of the tower and run along the sides. Foolish gets some hits, but Fundy wins the second battle as well and the duel as a whole

- Fundy goes to feed his son some berries, and Yogurt looks at him again! Fundy is overjoyed, making happy noises

- He tells Foolish to go, so Foolish leaves Fundy with his son

- Foolish continues working on the hotel

- Drista found out about her dog, Bruno, dying, and is displeased. Tommy has the idea to go to Las Nevadas where he’s set up a new place with Wilbur, since Drista isn’t old enough to gamble

- Tommy runs over while doing his best Philza Minecraft impression with C418′s Sweden playing in the background

Tommy: “I will repent my sins through the coin of the game.”

- Tommy makes it to Fort Big, thinking he’s safe. He goes to chop some wood and that’s when Drista appears, immediately stabbing him to death

- Drista teleports him back. She is dual-wielding Netherite knives. Tommy starts up a conversation and tries to explain what happened. Drista gives him Regen so that she can stab him more

- Tommy walks over to Las Nevadas and claims that Drista isn’t allowed on this territory. He tells her she’s not the legal age to gamble. Drista points out he isn’t either

- Tommy shows her how to use the gambling machine. Drista still isn’t pleased over her dog dying

- Tommy tells Dream that his sister is mugging him for her dog dying

- Tommy starts sneaking away and Dream tells Drista, who chases him down

- He asks what he can do to make it up to her. Drista wants to vandalize  someone’s house and gives Tommy a Wither rose

- They start walking back, and Tommy tells Drista that he wants to grief Captain Puffy

- Drista spawns in a dog, gets Tommy to tame it and then promptly slaughters it

- They make it back to Tommy’s house and Tommy sees Puffy’s redecoration. Drista wants to vandalize Sapnap’s house

Drista: (looking at the picture of Prince Philip) “Oh my god it’s Philza.”

- Tommy takes down Puffy’s decorations while chatting to Drista

- They walk down the path and Drista spawns another dog. Tommy tames it and Drista kills it again

- Tommy takes her over to Kinoko Kingdom and teaches Drista how to speak imaginary French

- Sapnap comes over briefly in real life, then logs in in-game while Tommy gives Drista advice on how to say no to drugs

- Sapnap tells them to leave, threatening Tommy with what he said yesterday

- Drista takes Tommy into the sky on a flying pig and he and Sapnap have an echoing shouting match

- Drista flies Tommy over to a building and Tommy lights TNT on the roof

- Tommy sets the massive OwO sign on fire and the pig catches fire too

- At Drista’s request, Tommy DMs Techno asking what pigs eat. Techno says potatoes

- Drista tells Tommy to TNT Church Prime but Tommy refuses. They land in the Holy Land and Tommy tells Sapnap to come to Church Prime. Sapnap joins the flying pig team

- Drista asks where Technoblade’s house is. They call Dream and ask him

- Tommy realizes Techno is in prison and Sapnap suggests they bomb the prison. Drista flies them over there and Techno logs on and joins the call

- Drista teleports Techno out and he rides a pig, happy to be “canonically” out of prison. Techno joins the flying pig bomb team

- Drista flies the three of them around until she stops at the Big Innit Hotel. Tommy doesn’t want to TNT the hotel, but Drista gets him to anyway

- Tommy tells Drista he wants to destroy the YOU </3 LITTLE PENIS sign. Puffy starts shooting at them. They land on the sign and start destroying it

Only ENIS remains.

- Tommy and Puffy die and Techno takes their things. Tommy says they should imprison him again. Sapnap and Techno negotiate with Puffy while Drista and Tommy fool around in the graveyard

- Drista sends Tommy a picture of Georgina

- Tommy starts rebuilding his house out of oak wood. Puffy comes over and joins VC and they banter

- Drista bans Tommy from the server

- He comes back and does not like when they start adding a granite wall. He goes over to Karl’s studio thinking it’s Puffy’s house and bumps into a glass pane repeatedly trying to get to the water, not realizing there is glass

- Tommy plays sad Minecraft music because Drista is girlbossing him, then Mask

- He calls Dream again, then gets some sea pickles to give to Drista so that he can be forgiven. Drista forgives him. She plants the pickles in the Holy Land and says he could’ve just done that from the beginning

- Tommy speaks with Dream, who tells him that in the future Tommy will still have to make it up to Drista. Drista comes back to say that there is one thing that she asks of Tommy: that he builds a Drista Hotel with a brand new dog named Brunoto (Bruno 2)

- Tommy gets one of the Drista Daggers and logs out

- Later, Puffy builds a house out of granite and blackstone opposite of Tommy’s house and removes the section of Holy Land wall blocking her therapy office

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

#dream smp #dream smp recaps #long posts

[popopretty]

Storm Bringer Spoilers (6)

One of my favorite scenes where Port Mafia went all out on Verlaine in CODE;4. I like this part because it introduced a lot of Port Mafia’s skill users that have never appeared in both the manga and the other novels. It was so fun to read. 

Dazai made some interesting statements and theories here too. I like the dialogue at the end, where he kinda slipped and let out some of his real emotions. 

PS: I can’t believe I actually typed out 5000 words! I was drafting this on my phone so I didn’t notice the actual amount of words. I know it’s not gonna be perfect and I am gonna make mistakes and I will want to punch myself so much but gosh, I am so proud of myself now!

...

The train driver put one hand on the handle, his eyes staring at the darkness in front of him.

Twenty-seven years of service. He is a veteran. He has held this handle through rains and winds, through the Great War where the bombs poured down like rain, messing up the landform.

Even for him, today’s job is unusual.

The train company he works for was bought out overnight. Together with the trains and the service schedules. Then he was ordered to operate a temporary ride. Yet there is only one passenger on this train. Even when he protested to his boss, what he got was only “stop questioning and just drive.” And then one more thing, “If you run away, it will be even worse.”

The driver took another look at the scenery in front of him. The trees have sunk into the darkness. All he could see were the silver railroad tracks and the yellow headlight. Those are the only guidelines to tell where the train is heading.

What his boss said might actually be true. Putting other cities aside, this is the unorthodox Yokohama. Anything can happen. Even if there is only one passenger, he has no intention to talk to them. If he does so, he might end up having to catch his cut off head with his chest.  _

At that moment, from the eternal darkness of the night that looks no different from the bottom of the ocean, he felt something moving.

His well-trained eyes managed to capture it from the distance. Is that an animal? No. Is it just the trees rustling? No.

That’s a person.

A person is standing on the track.

He pulled the break even before his brain went ”Oh no”.

The compressed air was released, and the train’s speed reducer made a violent metallic noise. But it was too late. The train bumped straight into that human figure.

However, that figure took the train’s hit. A tremendous force was applied on the train. The first car jumped forward. It was like they were being pulled, the rear cars also jumped off, derailed, rolling over into the woods. Like a rampaging huge iron snake, the train hollowed out a big area around it, knocked down a bunch of trees, before finally stopping.

The person who witnessed the whole event, Verlaine, smiled with satisfaction. He took the train head-on but suffered no scratches. He started walking. Towards the car with Mori Ougai. Jumping over the cars half-buried underground, getting through the cars whose electric system were starting to catch fire, he reached his target.

Mori Ougai was lying face-down. The train was fully flipped sideway, the walls become the floors and the ceilings became the walls. He was facing away from Verlaine, not moving an inch. From beneath his body, a pool of blood is slowly spreading.

He did investigate the target’s skill in advanced. It’s not the kind of secret that a formal spy like him cannot find out. Mori Ougai does not possess a skill that can withstand such an impact.

“Too easy.”

Verlaine muttered and approached his target. He is not as stupid to walk away without confirming if his target is really dead or not. He is going to check and if by some rare chances the target is still alive, he will finish them off for real.

Verlaine flipped Mori Ougai’s body over. Then his eyes opened wide.

That was not Mori Ougai.

That was a man he had never seen. He was wearing a wig and clothes to disguise as Mori Ougai. But Verlaine’s assassination preparation was thorough. He had set up a hidden surveillance device in the last station. And the images taken from there were definitely Mori Ougai’s.

When he grabbed the man trying to confirm his identity, suddenly a hand was put on his chest.

“Too easy.”

A powerful repulsive force coming from a skill blew Verlaine away. He flew through the glass windows and landed on the humus soil outside. He rolled further while scattering the soil, and hit his back against a tree before finally stopping.

”... Not bad.”

Verlaine push his hand on the tree to stand up.

He brushed off the dirt from his clothes and started thinking. The face he saw at that moment moment, the repulsive force coming from his palm. That was probably one of Port Mafia’s constituent members, the one who with the repulsion skill, Hirotsu Ryurou.

A double!

They knew about the hidden device and let Mori Ougai’s image captured on purpose, then quickly switched the double in. In other words, Verlaine’s assassination plan was seen through. Ever since he came to this country, he only knew one person who has the ability to outsmart him with such finesse. 

“Hello, Verlaine-san.” A small was sitting on the edge of a car, on top of the overturned train.

“Dazai-kun”, Verlaine said as he picked up the hat that had fallen to his feet. “I have heard the saying that age doesn’t matter when it comes to talent, but you are really frightening.”

“You are just bad.” Dazai said with a dry voice as though he was lecturing Verlaine. “This time you acted on your personal feelings too much. When you are like that, I can read all your moves. Why are you so obsessed with Chuuya?”

“Is it that strange for someone to be concerned about his brother?”, Verlaine said as he dusted the mud off his clothes.

“It is, a lot.” Dazai affirmed. “First of all, what made you believe so firmly that Chuuya was your brother?”

“What?” Verlaine narrowed his eyes.

“You saw that too, right? Chuuya’s original experimental body. Turned into bones and died.” Dazai spoke while swinging his legs that were dangling out of the train top. “That looks almost the same as Chuuya in terms of appearance. In terms of abilities, too. And a lot of other things in common. What if that thing was actually a skill-containing artificial life form, and the Chuuya who is living outside, whose only redeeming trait is being energetic, was the original one? Can someone like you who is not an expert, someone who has only browsed through limited materials from the past, see through that?”

“That is impossible.” Verlaine shook his head. “I’m not as stupid as to mistake the target in my infiltration mission. What I stole away from the lab nine years ago was undoubtedly the same as me, an artificial life-form.”

“If I look it up I will understand right away.” Dazai said casually. “Fortunately this time, the guys from the labs has demonstrated the method to rewrite the code formula inside Chuuya. If I capture some of those researchers using Mafia’s power, they will be more than happy to tell me how to read those codes. And then I will know which one Chuuya is actually. We have all the time in the world.”

“You seem pretty confident that Chuuya is human, don’t you?”

“I am”, Dazai laughed with a sigh. “There is no way a man-made string of code could create such a personality that I detest that much.”

Verlaine signed then started walking towards Dazai. His footsteps were heavy, as if he had to clean up a lot of tedious work.

“I can gently whole-heartedly explain to you the reason that was a misunderstanding... but now I have another job for you.“ he said, walking up the gentle slope that he fell from. “That is to spit out where Mori himself, not his double, is. It’s a painstaking job. Literally”

“So you have no intention to back off?”

“Of course not.”

Dazai didn’t look at anything, he gazed aimlessly into the air, “Is that so?”. Then he spoke with a disappointed face, “Then it is your loss.” A sniper bullet went straight for Verlaine’s head. Verlaine bent his upper body, and felt down the slope of humus. He rolled three times then looked up, looking at Dazai with stern eyes.

“Sniper?”

Before he could finish his sentence, yet another bullet struck Verlaine’s forehead. He almost fell to his side, pushing his hands against the ground to support.

“Your ability only works on things that you can touch.” Dazai said, swinging his legs as he looked down on his opponent. “That’s why the bullets that hit you will hit you. They just stop immediately. However, if we aim a larger sniper bullet, which has several times the velocity of a normal bullet, then it will still give you a blow the moment you use your gravity to stop it. Also...”

Dazai casually raised his hand.

From the top of the hill, through the gaps of the trees, from inside the humus, on top of big trees, more than fifty sniper bullets were fired at Verlaine at the same time. All the bullets pierced him, Verlaine growled.

Verlaine tried to hide under the shades of the trees while protecting himself by gravity. But even in the places he ran to, he got attacked from behind. Even if he tried to lower his posture to hide, the attack would come from above the trees. He had nowhere to run.

“To be able to set up this many snipers... in such a short time...”

A bullet pierced through Verlaine’s clothes and slid through his skin. It’s not a wound that could make him bleed, but there are so many of them. Ten shots in one second, then twenty, and more kept coming. It’s like the air that surrounds his whole body has become his enemies and attacked him.

Verlaine had no choice but to protect his head with his two arms and rolled himself up.

“You picked the wrong opponent, Verlaine-san.” Dazai chuckled. “I am an expert when it comes to dealing with gravity. Because no matter if I wake or sleep, the only thing I think about is how to annoy Chuuya.”

“Don’t underestimate me!”

While enduring the rain of bullets that were striking him, Verlaine grabbed a tree close by and pulled it out of the ground.

“You think you can kill me with this kind of rock throwing play? Verlaine swung the tree, trying to throw it. He planned to use the tree as a spear to crush the snipers who were hiding faraway in the dark.

However, that hand of his stopped halfway.

It was because the tree had been cut into pieces.

“Hoho, if I look closely, you look terribly like my subordinate.”

There was a flowing female voice as graceful as the sound of harp.

The burning bright red hair, eyes of the same color. Her crimson red

ombré looked like the color of ripen maple leaves. The most eye-catching thing was what floated beside her, a masked demon in a kimono. The demon was tall with long hair. She carried a sword of almost the same height as a child, as if it had no weights at all. The golden kimono melt into the air from her knees downwards, showing that it was not a real body.

“However, it was Mr. Brother who selfishly tried to poach our boy from us. I guess I can let that go after cutting off one of your limbs or two. So you’d better get lost quickly.”

Ozaki Kouyou. The Port Mafia’s young sword-woman. A powerful skill user who took Chuuya as her subordinate, accompanied by the golden demon, an embodiment of her skill, a beautiful beast.

Kouyou rolled a bright peony-colored umbrella on her shoulder. And then she twisted its handle and pulled it out. A silver blade appeared. A hidden sword.

“Mafia’s skill user?” Verlaine smiled like a beast. “But what can a mere ability user with two swords can do against gravity?”

Verlaine lowered his posture, ready to jump at Kouyou.

“Who said that I was alone?”

Verlaine’s body sank in.

Startled, Verlaine looked at his feet. The ground undulated like a snake, swallowing his two legs and even crawling up. 

Verlaine was caught by surprise. He got rid of the gravity of his own body and jumped up. He landed on a trunk of a tree nearby. But even the trunk that definitely looked tough started to liquify the moment his shoes touched. It reached for Verlaine, trying to eat him up.

“This is...” Verlaine leaped again. However, the spot he planned to land on already turned into a mud with a will of its own, opening its mouth to wait for him.

“Hahaha. Keep running, young man. Youngsters like you exist to entertain this old man. Please die quickly and offer your head to me.”

Coming from the darkness of the woods was a big, strong man who looked just like a big tree. A military uniform that has faded in places. His bristle looked like a sewing needle. He wore a judo belt around his waist, and wooden clogs on his feet The arms folding in front of his chest were as thick as a tree that has lived for hundred years.

Port Mafia’s elite, a veteran who survived the Great War. His nickname in the organization is “Colonel.”

He swung his arms like an ancient tree and squeezed his fist tightly in front of his eyes. At the same time, the ground started to muffle. The liquified soil, trees, even the overturned train, all rushed to attack Verlaine in the air. An skill user who can manipulate objects and turn them into liquids?

Verlaine kicked the first wave of liquified soil that came towards him and retreated backward. But the soil was also coming from that direction. Even if he tried to change his orbit to run, liquified soil was still coming from beneath his feet and above his head. If they touched him they would still be blown away by the gravity, but the liquid will start to cover up from the top again, giving no time for Verlaine to prepare a counter attack.

On top of that, as if to stitch up the gaps, there were sniper shots coming from all directions.

“Tch...”

Verlaine densified a small amount of dust in the air, and stepped on that to leap his body up. He wanted to take some distance. Abilities that manipulate things like Colonel’s, in most of the cases won’t work for things that are out of their sights. That’s why he planned to hide deep in the wood then throw a huge rock enforced by gravity to finish them off.

An odd thing entered Verlaine’s field of vision at that moment.

A watch.

A watch was floating in the air.

From the outside, it looked just like a normal pocket watch. A dial with numbers, a long hand and a short hand, a crown, and the internal mechanism peeking out from the edge of the dial.

The strange thing about it was that it had a size of a man’s upper body. Also, it kept turning around as if it was staring at Verlaine.

Verlaine, who possesses a wide range of knowledge on skill users, sensed the danger from that watch almost immediately.

He tore off one button from the sleeve of his suit and amplified its gravity until it weighted dozens of kilograms. Then he threw it towards the watch.

That button comet holding enough power to knock down a building, however, couldn't interfere with the watch. It smoothly slipped through the watch, knocked off trees and disappeared into darkness.

“You can’t destroy that thing.”

A gloomy voice came from the ground.

Verlaine diverted his gaze and without his notice, a boy was already sitting on the ground. He was hugging his knees with his two arms, looking miserable. He looked up at Verlaine.

“It’s no use. That thing looks at everyone. Including me, and you. We have no choices but to die. One day it will find us. One day it will catch up with us. It’s　“time”. It’s the enemy of us all.”

He looked and sounded miserably. His clothes were so long it became awkward. The hems were all frayed. The boy who was so skinny you could see his bones through his clothes glared at Verlaine and waved his finger as if he was telling him “Come here, come here.”

The two hands of the watch clicked and pointed to the number 12 at the same time. Immediately afterwards, the watch in the air was sucked into Verlaine.

That was not a metaphor, it was literally sucked into him, into his chest.

Being wary of the disappeared watch, Verlaine stiffened his body. But nothing happened. There is nothing within his sig...

The liquified soil twisted around his legs.

Startled, Verlaine shook the liquid off by gravity. Then he looked around. He had got pretty far away for sure. It was so strange that the liquified soil could chase him this close. Right after that was a shock. A sniper bullet hit his head. Verlaine span halfway in the air. He landed on the ground, scraping the humus to stop.

It was weird. The speed of the sniper attack went up. The speed of the bullet by the moment it reached him was so fast that even if he used gravity to bounce it back, he was also blown away by a corresponding force.

“Did they replace their guns or bullets with more powerful ones? No, this is...”

The ground liquified again. Verlaine jumped out to dodge, before being eaten by the soil. But the speed of the liquid tentacles that extended and followed him also increased. Verlaine took a quick look around. From the treetops that were hit by the sniper attack just now, leaves were falling down. They were not fluttering, they were dropping as if they were stabbing the ground. This means, the attack speed didn’t get faster...

“Was my time... slowed down?”

“Everyone will die before me.” the gloomy boy stared at Verlaine with dubious eyes filled with hatred. “Brothers, parents, everyone will be killed by time. But I will get away with it. With this special power of mine”

A skill user who meddles with time. For the first time, Verlaine got a cold sweat on his forehead.

Time manipulation is not just a powerful skill, it is a extraordinary skill out of this world. As far as Verlaine knew, there were only a few cases reported in the world. The fist on the list of those time manipulation skill users who are separated from the world’s reasons, was a former skilled mechanic, H.G. Wells. After creating the skilled weapons called the “Shell”, she disappeared and became the world’s worst terrorist.

The time manipulation type of skills tinker the basic principles of this world, and rewrite them at will. Because if you look from the universe’s perspective, time and space are equivalent. The time manipulation skill users hold the same power that can alter the world, just like Verlaine’s gravity. Verlaine whose movements have become dulled because of the time delay　was flooded with Mafia’s attacks. All the bullets, the swords and liquified soil.

Even if he tried to retreat, because his time has been delayed, he could only move sluggishly as if he was under water.

Verlaine’s expressions became stiff.

Dazai gracefully looked at the wooded area echoing with gun shots and roaring sounds. He looked down at the battlefield that had turned into a hell, with such a carefree expression that cooled down in the night breeze._

“This is the rule of this world.” Dazai spoke like he was singing. “It applied in all times and ages, all creatures, the absolute truth. In this world, a group is stronger than an individual. A skill user is stronger than a group. And then...”

Feeling the pleasant cold breeze coming from the blasts of the battle on his cheeks, Dazai smiled.

“... a group of skill users are stronger than one skill user.”

Verlaine pushed his body’s gravity to the max. With a powerful driving force that surpassed the effect of the time manipulation skill, he quickly escaped from the battlefield. Verlaine’s bones cracked at the sudden speed acceleration that exceeded his limit.

Even when the danger struck in front of him, Verlaine’s judgement did not falter. It was not yet a hopeless situation. He would retreat as much as he could, taking as much distance he could from the waves of skill attacks. Then he would fix his posture, manipulate the gravity of the bullets that managed to reach him, repel them and knock down the skill users, one by one. That would be his win then.

Only three skill users. Not too much of a difference in strength.

Suddenly, blood came out from his skin.

Verlaine looked at his cuffs. The skin under his clothes was peeled off, exposing the flesh inside. But only a little blood came out. He felt almost no pains.

He landed down on the ground as a reflex. Upon touching the ground, the skin inside his shoes also came off. He could tell by the slippery feel from it. But again, there was no pain.

That was a new skill attack. But the true nature of it immediately became clear.

His breath was white.

His skin is frozen, there was frost on his eyelashes.

“Let us be held. By the frozen love. Let us be held. By the frozen flower that breaks in its full bloom.” the new skill user appeared, singing with a thin and screechy voice.

Long, white hair, white fur around her shoulders, white breath. And a crimson red rose on her chest. Every time the woman takes one breath, the trees around her froze, cracked up and snapped due to the water inside it freezing and expanding.

Verlaine understood it right away.

A skill user who can cool off the temperate. The reason why his skin was peeled off earlier was because the skin was exposed to the low temperature and got stuck to the inside of his clothes and shoes. His body really became that cold in just an instant. He was frozen from flesh to born, but not much time has even passed.

A super dangerous skill user. Freezing attack does not involve physical clashes. That’s why he can’t dodge them using gravity. It is his natural enemy

Another sniper bullet hit Verlaine’s shoulder. He groaned in pain.

The bullet was cold. It froze by the time it touched his skin, forming a frost pillar. The low temperature invaded into him through the wound, eating up his flesh.

The enemies attacks were too synchronized. Time delay, freezing, sniping. Apparently, it was a tactic that had been put together to block all of Verlaine’s strengths and exploit his weaknesses. There is still something strange about this. He has been retreating at a considerable speed since a while ago, yet the gunshots never stopped. His escape route was totally seen through. Normally if he ran at this speed in the woods in the middle of the night, he would immediately disappear from the telescopic sight. Losing the targets, sniping attack would definitely become impossible. So why?

“Hihihihi, what a sweet face. Hey, just between us, but if you cry and slobber and apologize here, maybe I will let you go this time?”

The voice was close. Really close.

Verlaine turned to that direction.  No one was there... No.

In the middle of no where, a hole the size of a coin was opened. It was like the space was burnt and hollowed out, and on the other side of the hole was another different space. From that side, a black eye was staring at this side through the hole.

“Yes, it’s me. You are being watched. From now on, you can be assured even if you lock your toilet door hihihihi”

The hole was so small to see the entire thing. But that eye alone is enough. The eye was filled with malice. It had been watching Verlaine, chasing him and reporting about his positions all the time.

Verlaine fired a rotary kick by reflex at the hole.

“Oops.”

Right before being hit, the hole closed up and disappeared.

“I’m here.”

The voice came from behind. When he turned around, the same hole had been opened in a different place, looking straight at Verlaine.

That was the type of skill that connects space and monitor the targets. The skill user was probably sitting in another safe place, and monitoring the whole battle using their space connection skill. He couldn’t attack the actual skill user. If he tried to touch it, it would close immediately so he wouldn’t be able to destroy it using gravity.

Just how many skill users they have thrown in this battle?

“Hihihi, I have a present for you. From Port Mafia with love.”

From the coin-sized hole, flower petals flew out. Countless petals surrounded Verlaine then started to shine white. Yet another new skill.

The moment Verlaine tried to take a quick avoidance action, all the flower petals exploded at once.

From the train where he sat, Dazai could see the light from that explosion very clearly. The white light split open the woods at night, the afterglow burnt into the night sky.

Dazai looked at that scene, he was grinning.

“How is it going, Dazai-dono?”

From inside the train, a middle-aged man appear. He was wearing the boss’ outfit. He was the one who played the boss’ double, Hirotsu.

“As you can see, it is going well. So well that it is boring.”

In the direction he was pointing, the explosion sound was echoing, trees were falling, sniper flashes and low frequency noises were ringing non-stop.

Hirotsu took off the wig, put on the monocle he always has on, and narrowed his eyes.

“As one would expect.”

“Of course, I had to earn a lot of time to prepare all this. “ said Dazai, who was crossing his legs elegantly like a royal. “Chuuya and I had a terrible hard time fighting Randou-san. So this time I came prepared. Just to kill Mr. Assasin King from Europe, I had to gather a total of 422 people from the combat troops and 28 skill users. That is the full strength that Mafia can put in now.” At the scene where they were looking, the cold air and gun flashes kept shining. Verlaine tried to escape by threading his way in between the trees but a yellow-white ray burnt off the whole night sky, blocking that escape route. That was yet another skill user.

The plan was extremely simple. Setting up a trap and waiting. Chuuya and Adam drafted the same tactic before to defeat the Assasin King. The plan that Dazai carried out was basically the same. Identify the next target, set up traps around that target, and ambush Verlaine from behind when he appears.

The only difference between this and Chuuya’s plan is the scale of those traps. What have been set up as traps this time, was the entire Mafia’s overwhelming combat unit. The result was a one-sided destruction.

“We can keep this battle going for the whole night.” Dazai said as if he was whispering to Verlaine from far away. “Verlaine-san, you are a flawless assassin. With that vivid skill of yours, you have never once been traced down and surrounded like that, haven’t you? That’s why you have no experiences when being cornered by such a skill users organization. Even Randou-san was afraid of that dangerous flawlessness of yours.”

Dazai took out the leather notebook.

Rimbaud’s memoir. The journal Rimbaud had kept about the birth as well as full accounts of skill user Verlaine.

“I mourn for you, Verlaine-san.” Dazai put his hand on the notebook and said as if he was praying. “I mourn not for your death, but for your birth. No one mourns for you for being born. The only one who does is you yourself. That is the reason you fights... I think you are amazing. You despise the fact that you were born, you despise your own power, you despise the world. And by doing that, you came to accept your meaningless life. How wonderful that is. I don’t have that kind of courage. That’s why I wanted to talk with you more. But this is already goodbye.”

Dazai stood up, turning his back on the battlefield in front of him. He walked away.

“Dazai-dono?”

“Report to me when it is done.”

Dazai’s voice powerlessly fell to his feet. He walked away.

The next moment. A black way swelled over the battlefield.

...

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #storm bringer #spoilers #bsd spoilers #dazai osamu #paul verlain #port mafia

[tchallasbabymama]

Troubled Waters Chapter Four

Hey, yall! Here’s the next chapter of Nia and T’Challa’s journey. I’m super proud of this one (I’m proud of all my work, but still.) With the help of @wordsfromthelivingghost being a bomb ass beta reader, I think this is some of my best work yet. And I’m only gonna get better!

Check out my masterlist to read my other stories (and catch up on this one if you’re new here.) I love when y’all talk to me and share my work so others can discover it, so hit those comment and reblog buttons. Also, be sure to let me know if you want to be tagged in anything. Enjoy!😘

Word count: 8,894

CW: A little blood and cutting but NOT for self-harm reasons. If it bothers you, skip the second half of the scene at Kokou’s temple.

Nia pressed her cheek to the window, careful not to smudge the thin line of white clay painted down the center of her face. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung slightly open as she watched Wakanda zoom by from hundreds of feet in the air. She had always loved seeing what the world looked like from above, but it had been years since she last got to enjoy the view. When she was young, Amare would carry her in his arms as he flew high above the ground to give her a taste of what she so desperately wanted: to feel the wind beneath her nonexistent wings.

T’Challa half-watched Nia from his seat off to the side of the cabin as he flipped through news articles on his kimoyo beads. As they flew over a statue of Bast in her full panther form, he could tell the bright blue light radiating from the tunnel beneath the goddess intrigued her. Her head tilted slightly to the left, and he turned off his beads right as she turned around with a question on her lips.

“That’s Mt. Bashenga,” T’Challa answered prematurely as he stood and made his way over to the window, looking out at his kingdom as Okoye steered the Royal Talon over the Mining province.

“Why’s it glowing?”

“Vibranium.”

“Ohhh.” Nia thought back to the human history books she read as a child that told their story of the founding of Wakanda. Obviously, they had censored the part about aziza, but she still found their revisionist history fascinating. “That’s where the meteorite landed, right?”

T’Challa nodded, impressed by her knowledge.

“Ubaba always said vibranium was ‘the humans’ magic’,” she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

T’Challa was mildly shocked. He had never considered it that way, but he supposed it was sort of otherworldly what they were able to do with the substance. In comparison to other humans, anyway.

Okoye kept her focus on flying the ship, but T’Challa couldn’t help but spot the slight glow that emanated from Nia’s skin while she ogled the scenery. The king reflected on the description of aziza he had read the day before and remembered that it mentioned their luminous skin. He had noticed that even when she was standoffish towards him, she seemed to radiate light from the inside out, but seeing her literally light up in excitement brought him joy.

When Birnin Zana came into view, Nia’s eyes curiously trailed along the tributaries that moseyed through the metropolis and she was reminded of the magic realm’s big city, Birnin Umlingo. She smiled fondly at how similar they were despite the fact that Birnin Zana was so much bigger. It was nestled between rolling hills and sharp cliffsides, and she was pleasantly surprised to see all the lush greenery dispersed throughout the city. There were small parks everywhere and most of the roofs were topped with well-kept gardens. The skyscrapers and apartment buildings stretched to the sky like the trees that lined the streets, but Nia was almost blinded when the sun bounced off of an impressive structure in the middle of the city. Two almost conical, shining towers spiraled up from an ancient foundation that swirled around the base like the flowing tributary that surrounded most of it like a moat. The towers were connected by a long bridge about a third of the way up and despite her amazement, Nia couldn’t help but wonder why they had to build two towers instead of just one.

“Bast, is that the palace?” She pointed up ahead.

T’Challa smirked proudly. He never tired of seeing the dual vibranium spires that towered over even the tallest skyscrapers throughout the city.

“It is,” he said proudly.

“It’s so big,” she whispered, then turned to look at him. “Does it ever feel empty?”

He furrowed his brows, making a little crease appear between them that Nia found endearing. “How do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just you and your family that live there, right?”

The king nodded.

“Then why do you need so much space? And why two instead of just one? It seems so unnecessary.”

Okoye bit the inside of her lip to keep from snickering at Nia’s sincere inquiries. She wasn’t too keen on Nia and wasn’t quite sure why she was there, but she had worked for T’Challa long enough to know he didn’t like people questioning him.

“I don’t- it’s not just...look.” He pointed back out the window to distract her, and Nia whipped her head around to watch their descent to the landing pad in front of the palace.

The three of them exited the Talon, but instead of entering T’Challa’s gratuitously large home, they made a left and walked through the palace gates and into the bustling streets of Birnin Zana. Nia had been to the big city before when she was young, but it seemed like it had exploded over the last couple of decades. It had always been a busy hub of commerce for the Merchant tribe, but business owners from the other tribes had moved there in droves over the past few years to get a piece of the pie.

The three of them passed through the financial district with ease. Nia kept her neck craned to look up at the tall banks, corporate offices, and massive parking garages filled with hovercars. In the distance, she saw an arena and she wondered what took place there. Did they have many concerts? Sporting events? She made a mental note to ask about that later and continued to take in her surroundings. The maglev trains zooming by high above the street caught her attention, and her eyes widened. She had never been on a train before.

They eventually made it to Three Step Town, the cultural hub of the city and Nia looked on in awe at the various businesses that surrounded them. Once again, she was reminded of Birnin Umlingo as she looked around at the diversity that surrounded her. Most of the older folks were dressed in the traditional clothing of their tribes, but the younger Wakandans seemed to prefer a more modern look. They really were a spectacle. Some people had brightly colored manes and shining vibranium tattoos that decorated their skin, and the sight had Nia’s wheels turning. She had never really experimented much with her look, but they were giving her the inspiration to try something different.

Just as Nia began to ponder what body modification would look good on her, she felt someone grab her and yank her to the side of the street. She began to protest right as a streetcar full of people rolled by. Nia turned to thank her savior, smiling sheepishly when she realized it was Okoye.

“Watch where you’re going,” the general warned harshly and let go of Nia’s arm. The two of them joined T’Challa as he spoke to a snaggletoothed young boy who had proudly shown him the Black Panther action figure that he carried everywhere. The boy’s parents thanked the king for being so polite before they said goodbye and went on their way. Nia’s heart warmed a little at seeing T’Challa be so kind to them. He could have easily ignored the family or had Okoye intervene, but he seemed to enjoy interacting with his people. As the three of them continued on their journey, a small smile pushed up the corners of Nia’s mouth knowing he wasn’t as arrogant as she assumed.

Nia was almost overwhelmed by the many shops they passed by. She could buy anything she wanted: jewelry, instruments, furniture, hats. It seemed like they had everything. However, she came to a halt when they walked by a store with colorful, hand-woven baskets hanging out front. The old lady that ran the shop noticed Nia staring and came forward to help her pick one out, but paused when she saw that the king was standing beside her. She saluted him fondly and turned to face his companion.

“Excuse me, how much for this one?” Nia asked the shopkeep as her fingers ran over the intricate patterns along the sides of a mid-sized sweetgrass basket.

“For you it is free,” the older woman said through a bright smile that crinkled her eyes. Before Nia could protest, she had already taken it down and pushed it into her arms.

“Are you sure? I can pay-”

“Just tell people where you got it,” the woman winked before going back inside to help a customer that was ready to check out.

Nia couldn’t believe how kind the woman had been to give her the gift, but her amazement was cut short by T’Challa leaning in close and ruining the moment.

“Just one of the perks of traveling with the king,” he teased.

Nia rolled her eyes and stepped away from him, continuing down the street with her basket swinging in the crook of her elbow. She had been so caught up in her surroundings that she hadn’t noticed the stares from passersby and began to get a little self-conscious. A few people even snapped a picture or two of the king and his elusive friend, some of which would surely end up on gossip blogs by the end of the day.

Her nervousness was short-lived and quickly got replaced with longing when they turned the corner and walked right through the food district. Not only did the colorful produce stands call to her, but the smells of curries and grilled meats continuously pulled her attention from left to right. However, when a deliciously sweet aroma tickled her nose, she stopped dead in the middle of the road.

“Where is that coming from?” Nia sniffed the air and veered off the main street as she followed the scent to a man that was serving up deep-fried sweet plantain on a stick, drizzled with chocolate. T’Challa kept a close eye on Nia but stayed back and let her wander up to the dessert cart alone. He watched as she engaged the man in conversation and saw her come alive when she tasted the sample he provided her. A small smile crept up the king’s face, but his amusement was cut short by Okoye clearing her throat next to him.

“My king,” she started, and he turned slightly in her direction, nodding for her to continue as he kept his eyes on Nia. “If I may...what exactly is her purpose here with us?”

“Nia is a devotee of Bast, and I believe she may be helpful in our attempts to understand what has happened to her,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Okoye sensed his unwillingness to go further into detail and grew quiet again as Nia damn near skipped back over to them with her hands full.

“Here you go,” Nia sang as she held out two of the desserts for them to take. “He saw I was with the king and gave me three for free!”

Neither of them was hungry, but they just couldn’t say no to her big, childlike eyes.

“Thank you,” T’Challa waved to the man behind the counter and took a bite of the dessert, eyes rolling back in ecstasy. “Mmm”

“See? It’s amazing,” Nia said with a mouth full of plantain. Even Okoye had to agree.

The three of them ate their midmorning snack as they strolled through the streets, eventually making their way to a much quieter section on the outskirts of the busy city center. Just as Nia finished licking the last bit of chocolate from the wooden stick, she came face to face with an ancient-looking stone building that didn’t quite fit the vibe of the modern neighborhood. Her eyes zeroed in on the large statue at the entrance. It was a being with the body of a man and the head of an ibis holding a scroll in one hand and a staff in the other.

“Welcome to the flagship branch of the Wakandan Public Library,” T’Challa said proudly.

While Nia loved a good library, she was a little confused about why they were there. “I thought we were going to a temple.”

T’Challa wiggled his eyebrows as he stepped past her, climbing the steps with Okoye in tow, “This is the temple.”

Nia’s curiosity got the best of her, and she followed behind the king and his general. They threw their sticks away in the trash cans outside of the doors that swished open as they approached. Nia hadn’t expected the building to have such modern technologies based on the look of it, but she surmised the library would have a few more surprises up its sleeves.

“Kumkani wam!”

All three of their heads turned towards the woman behind the large marble desk as she scrambled to salute the king, dropping the small stack of books from her arms. T’Challa quickly rounded the desk and smiled at her as he crouched down to pick the books off of the floor. Before she could stoop down to help him, he had already placed them neatly on the desk.

“T-thank you, my king,” the woman stammered and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Never in her life had she imagined she would be so close to royalty, much less her biggest crush. “What can I do for you?”

“Well…” he started, trailing off to get her name.

“Fatima, sir.”

“What a beautiful name,” he flirted innocently and leaned on the cool marble as Nia and Okoye both fought their eyes from rolling to the ceiling. Okoye was used to his flirtatious manner making women swoon at his feet, but it still irked her to no end. They had a job to do, and he was wasting time. Nia, however, felt the tiniest tinge of something deep in her gut as she watched him make eyes at the beautiful librarian. She waved it off as annoyance since she still wasn’t the king’s biggest fan. Adding “womanizer” to her list of reasons not to like him certainly tipped the scales further away from him, balancing out his actions from earlier.

Fatima giggled as she struggled to make eye contact with the handsome king, “Thank you, your highness.”

“Please, call me T’Challa,” he implored, resting his hand over his heart and flashing his irresistible smile.

“Oh, no. I couldn’t do that-”

“I insist.”

Okoye cleared her throat, and T’Challa’s eyes reluctantly shot in her direction.

“Anyway, Fatima, we were wondering if Abdu is in today,” T’Challa continued as he straightened up and stood to his full height, making Fatima swoon even more in his presence. Her eyes wandered down to his chest, but she snapped out of it and attempted to look him in the eye. Her knees nearly buckled under the intensity of his gaze, but she stood firm.

“Y-yes, he is, my ki-”

T’Challa reprimanded her with a simple raise of his right eyebrow, and she quickly corrected herself.

“I mean, T’Challa,” Fatima giggled once more. “I’ll go get him for you.”

“Thank you, Fatima,” he smiled down at her, watching as she walked away with a pep in her step and her hips twitching just a little more than usual.

Fatima disappeared behind a green velvet curtain, and when they were sure she was out of earshot, Nia and Okoye both turned to look at the king. They wore matching expressions of disapproval, but, for some reason, it stung to see on Nia’s face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

“Must you flirt with every woman you see?” Okoye butted in, clearly exasperated by his antics.

Nia’s eyebrows jumped as a teasing smirk settled on her lips. “Oh, so this is a common occurrence?”

“You wouldn’t believe how many-”

“General,” T’Challa warned, and Okoye stopped talking.

Nia tried to contain a laugh, but it came out more like a snort than she intended. Just as T’Challa opened his mouth to make fun of her, Fatima appeared from behind the curtain with a heavy-set man with tortoiseshell glasses just a few steps behind her.

“T’Challa, my boy! Oh, excuse me, my king.” The man bowed sarcastically and crossed his arms in a salute. T’Challa waved him off with a smile and a click of his tongue, and the two men embraced each other. Nia had noticed T’Challa wasn’t really one to demand formalities, but the man’s familiarity with the king intrigued her.

“Abdu, how have you been?”

It had been several months since T’Challa last visited the library. Abdu had worked and worshipped there for decades and had watched the king grow into the man before him. Some of T’Challa’s fondest childhood memories consisted of him spending hours curled up in the stacks, flipping through whatever book caught his eye that day. Abdu would bring him story after story for him to get lost in, and the older man never tired of T’Challa’s curiosity. No matter how many questions he threw at him.

“Getting old, but I can’t complain,” the much shorter man said as they pulled apart. He looked around T’Challa and noticed his company. “Okoye, a pleasure to see you as always.”

“You as well, Abdu,” she smiled.

“And who might this lovely creature be?” Abdu asked as his gaze fell on Nia. She bristled at his choice of words but said nothing. Even as a child, she had always been sensitive to the word “creature” and felt it offensive to refer to non-humans as such. She knew he had no idea about her bloodline, though, and since he meant no harm she simply ignored the terminology.

“Nia Olu, sir,” she introduced herself with a nod of her head, and he returned the gesture.

“Ah, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. And what is it that you do, Nia Olu?”

“I am a healer and a devotee of Bast.”

“A devotee, huh? Well, I think we will get along nicely,” he smiled warmly at her before turning back to the king. “What can I do for you all today?”

“Well, actually, Nia is a big part of why we’re here,” T’Challa began. “It seems Bast has gone missing. Neither of us has been able to contact her as of late.”

“Are you a priestess?” Abdu asked Nia, confused as to why a simple devotee would be partnered with the king for such a task. Okoye felt vindicated by his questioning but stayed quiet.

“No, sir.”

“Then, I must say, I’m a little confused on how you would have a direct connection to her-”

“She is highly favored in the goddess’ eyes,” T’Challa cut in, hoping his vague answer would be enough to dissuade Abdu from asking too many questions. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to hide anything from a priest of the god of wisdom, but he also knew he couldn’t give away Nia’s full identity. “We were wondering if maybe you could see if Thoth knows where she is or why she isn’t answering.”

Abdu could tell there was something else to the story, but decided not to press the subject. He figured that if the king felt it was important enough to keep from him, then he had to trust his judgment.

The priest nodded and motioned for the three of them to follow him. T’Challa winked at Fatima before falling in step with Abdu, and once again, Nia’s and Okoye’s eyes struggled to remain straight ahead as they followed behind the two men.

Nia couldn’t help but stare in awe at the rows and rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves they passed as they walked through the centuries-old library. She imagined herself spending hours combing through the texts and soaking up whatever knowledge held, just like she did with the many books Amare provided her with as a child. Her daydreaming was cut short when they passed through the children’s section, and she noticed a display of picture books, one of which caught her eye. There, on the cover, was a colorful illustration of an aziza sitting in a tree, watching over a group of children as they played in the grass below him.

Before she knew it, Nia had grabbed the book and started flipping through the pages, scanning the words and pictures for any sign of historical truth. She found none, but her hope didn’t die out. Maybe, just maybe the library held onto more of the past than the Wakandans realized. She knew magical creatures were relegated to folktales, but she began to wonder how many of those tales were historically accurate, if any. She hadn’t noticed that the others had stopped and were watching her tear through the book like it held the secrets to the universe.

“You like that one? It’s a fairly new release. Very popular with the children,” Abdu said, but his words fell on deaf ears.

“Nia?” the king called out to her.

She jumped and dropped the book, but T’Challa caught it before it could hit the ground.

“Yeah? Sorry, I just…” Nia trailed off, unsure of what to say. All three of them looked at her curiously, but when T’Challa’s eyes graced the cover, he understood why she had been called to it. “Are there many stories like this?”

“Of aziza?” Abdu asked for clarification, and Nia nodded. “Sure! Kids love fantastical creatures. You know, some of them even swear up and down that they’ve seen them in real life.”

T’Challa and Nia shared a quick glance as he set the book back where she found it. Of course, Okoye caught their quick exchange.

“Such wild imaginations,” Nia murmured, and the group continued on their trek. She was quiet for a moment as she tried to figure out the best way to word her next question when she decided to just go for it. “Abdu, is there any mention of, um, species that are no longer around in any of these books?”

T’Challa looked at her knowingly out of the corner of his eye. He knew what she was getting at, and he was curious about Abdu’s answer. After seeing Nia’s book the day before, his mind had begun to wonder about ancient Wakandan texts. She had told him that they coexisted long ago, so there had to be some evidence hidden deep in the bowels of the library. If there was proof anywhere, it was here.

“Of course!” Abdu said excitedly and pointed to the far left wall. “Species naturally go extinct all the time. If that interests you, check out our history section over there.”

Nia and T’Challa both cataloged that information for later and started mentally planning their next visits.

The deeper they traveled into the vast library, a tingling grew in Nia’s stomach. There was great power there, and she could feel it. The tingling intensified as they arrived at a large door with an image of Thoth that had been hand-carved by artisans long ago.

“We’ll take it from here, Okoye,” T’Challa ordered, and the general nodded before standing at attention with her back to the door. Then, his eyes fell to Nia. “Ready?”

“I think…”

“That’ll serve you well here,” Abdu joked as he pushed open the heavy door.

Nia wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting to see, but a winding staircase certainly wasn’t on her list of possibilities. The three of them quietly descended the steps, and all that could be heard was the sounds of their sandals connecting with the stone as they went. After what seemed like forever, Abdu came to a halt at another large door and turned to face his visitors.

“You must enter with pure intentions and a cool head, or he will not answer. Understood?”

Nia and T’Challa answered in unison.

“Yes, sir.”

“Of course.”

“Good,” Abdu smiled at them and reached for the handle, pushing it open and revealing what looked to be a private study. The lamps along the stone walls lit up when they entered, and Nia was once again amazed at how the ancient seemed to flawlessly combine with the modern. As she looked around, she noticed that instead of books, there were scrolls stacked neatly on the shelves. A high-backed chair sat behind a large wooden desk with several scrolls strewn about it, and in the center of the room, there was a stone lectern that looked like it had been there since the dawn of time. Colorful pillows surrounded it on the floor, and next to it stood another statue of Thoth. This time, his hands were out and he was holding a staff that resembled the one from the statue out front, except this one was made of gold. This one was real, and it made the hairs on the back of Nia’s neck stand at attention.

Abdu made his way over to the closest shelf and grabbed a scroll from the top of the stack. He then crossed the room again and stood behind the lectern. When he unrolled the scroll, Nia and T’Challa were both surprised to find that it was blank. They watched with bated breath as he produced a shiny gold pen from his pocket and removed the staff from the statue’s arms.

“You two, come sit down,” Abdu said to them, pointing to the floor pillows.

They obeyed his order, and each grabbed a pillow. T’Challa sat cross-legged while Nia carefully placed her new basket on the floor and tucked her feet under her. They waited patiently while Abdu mumbled a prayer under his breath. Despite T’Challa’s enhanced hearing, he could barely make out what Abdu was saying, but the more he spoke, the colder the room became. The priest continued his prayers for several minutes until the staff began to glow with blinding orange light and his mouth snapped shut tight. A soft breeze blew through the room as his eyes glowed the same color as the staff, and the pen in his left hand started to frantically scribble words onto the formerly blank scroll. His hand moved faster than humanly possible, and Nia recognized what was happening as a possession. She bowed her head in the god’s presence and nudged T’Challa in his side to do the same. He followed suit, but neither of their eyes left Abdu, too curious to look away.

It seemed like forever had come and gone as the two sat in silence, watching in awe while Abdu filled the scroll as he channeled Thoth. The only sound that filled the air was the fast-moving pen on the papyrus and a faint humming from the staff, but suddenly, it all stopped. The staff’s light waned, and Abdu blinked his eyes back to their normal shade of hazel. He carefully placed the staff back in the statue’s hands and read over the words he had been given from his god. A frown appeared on the priest’s face, and Nia made eye contact with T’Challa. Neither one felt good news was coming.

“Well,” Abdu broke the tense silence, “to sum it up, it seems Thoth hasn’t seen or heard from Bast in several weeks. He says that’s very unlike her, as I’m sure you know, T’Challa.”

The king nodded. “Is there anything else? Did he say where she might be?”

“Oh, he said plenty, but not about your question. He can be quite long-winded at times,” Abdu murmured as he scanned the text once more to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. He then looked down at his two visitors with an apology in his eyes. “I wish I could’ve been of more help.”

T’Challa stood from his seated position and reached a hand out to Nia. She swatted it away and stood on her own, straightening out her long, flowing skirt before sending Abdu a warm smile. “Thank you for trying.”

“It was a pleasure, my dear.”

“So,” Nia turned to the king, “where to next?”

--------

The smile never left Okoye’s face as she landed the Talon in an open field and proudly led them to their next destination. They had traveled to Okoye’s hometown in the Mining province, and she nodded at her former neighbors as they waved to get her attention. It wasn’t often that she could return to Birnin Djata, but since she was on duty, she had to remain professional.

The town was much smaller than Birnin Zana, and the walk to the temple was much shorter this time around. A few moderately-sized dwellings lined the road to the temple, and Nia could see the town square in the distance. They passed groups of miners boarding and exiting the trains that took them to and from work, and Nia couldn’t help but wonder what all that vibranium looked like up close.

When they arrived at the temple, Nia was pleasantly surprised that this one actually looked like a place of worship. The wall that surrounded it looked as old as time, but the vibranium door in the center had to be no more than a hundred years old. A strange sound echoed from inside, and although Nia thought she recognized it, she was confused on why it was coming from a temple of all places.

“Is something wrong? What’s going on in there?” she asked with concern, making Okoye’s smile expand and her eyes light up.

“Sparring.”

Nia’s confusion grew, and she turned to T’Challa for clarification.

“Kokou is the god of war. Fighters often train here, and many of his followers go on to become great warriors. Including Okoye,” he explained.

“Ohhh, ok.”

Okoye led them up the temple’s steps, and Nia’s attention was drawn to the rows of fire that lined the walkway. As the party of three got closer to the doors, they slowly parted to grant them access. Loud shouts and grunts came from the right, and Okoye led them down the hallway, directly towards the noise.

Nia watched excitedly as the warriors-in-training sparred with one another. Fists connected with flesh, spears sliced through the air, and fighters seemed to glide across the padded floor. She recognized some of the fighting styles and thought back to her younger days when Amare took it upon himself to teach her some of the combat skills he had to learn for his days as a secret operative. Even though she was a healer, Nia sure was scrappy and could hold her own. It had been a while, though, and she was sure she had forgotten her training over the years.

A bell rang on the other side of the training room, and all of the fighting ceased. Okoye bowed her head in deference as a tall, muscular older woman in red emerged from an observation room and smiled softly in her direction.

“My king,” the woman saluted T’Challa, making all of the fighters whip their heads around and salute him as well. The woman crossed the floor as her trainees stood at attention, and grabbed Okoye’s hands in hers. “Okoye, my dear, it has been too long.”

“Priestess Yaa, how good to see you.”

“And my king, welcome to the Temple of Kokou.”

“Thank you, priestess.”

“What brings you here?” she asked before shooting a sly glance at Okoye. “You never come visit anymore, so I know it must be important.”

“My apologies for keeping her from you,” T’Challa interjected.

“None needed. I knew when Okoye became general that she would have little time for us anymore,” Yaa waved him off and smiled proudly at Okoye before her eyes fell to Nia. “And who is this?”

“Nia Olu,” she respectfully bowed her head.

“And you are a fighter too, no?”

“Um, not exactly. My father taught me how to fight when I was young, but I am a healer and a devotee of Bast.”

This was the first T’Challa had heard of her knowledge of combat, and he wondered what else he didn’t know about her.

“I’m sure it’s still in there somewhere. You have a warrior’s spirit.”

Nia was surprised by the priestess’ comment but thanked her nonetheless.

“Priestess Yaa, we have a problem that you might be able to help us solve,” the king stated.

Yaa nodded and called to her class, “Keep sparring. I’ll be back.”

The room came alive again, and Nia couldn’t help but watch the dozens of bodies moving about with powerful grace as they fought.

Yaa gestured for them to follow her, and she led them around a corner to get away from all the noise. “How can I help you, my king?”

“Bast is missing, and we would like to ask Kokou if he knows where she is,” he cut straight to the point, and Yaa appreciated his brevity.

She gestured again, and the four of them relocated to the other side of the temple. They entered a large, empty room with nothing except a wall of ancient weapons and a huge, raging fire pit in the center.

“This eternal flame was gifted to us by Kokou many millennia ago as a way of contacting him,” Yaa narrated. “In order for him to answer, you will each have to give a sacrifice.”

“I didn’t bring anything to-”

“Blood, dear. You sacrifice blood. He is the god of war, after all,” Yaa chuckled as she glided over to the wall of weapons. Her fingers danced along the flat side of the blade of a vibranium dagger with a red and gold hilt before wrapping her hand firmly around the grip and removing it from its position. Yaa tested the weight of it in her hand as she rejoined the group. Without warning, she sliced her palm open and allowed her blood to drip into the flame. The priestess noticed the look of horror on Nia’s face and attempted to quell her fears. “Don’t worry; you’ll only need a drop or two.”

Okoye was first to step up, pressing the dagger’s tip into her hand and drawing a small amount of blood. She handed the dagger to T’Challa as she made a fist and let her blood droplets fall into the fire pit. The king did the same before passing the dagger to Nia. She looked at it apprehensively, but T’Challa continued to hold it out for her to take.

“Go on, dear,” Yaa urged. “We will heal you up after.”

Nia and T’Challa locked eyes as they were both reminded of the night they became reacquainted with one another. T’Challa’s wound would quickly heal on its own, but she wouldn’t be able to use her powers to heal herself in Yaa’s and Okoye’s presence. She took a deep breath and tried to ignore the feeling of her palm stinging with the memory of alcohol pads. T’Challa knew where her mind had wandered to and took her formerly injured hand in his as he ran his thumb over her palm.

“It won’t be as bad as last time,” he whispered so only Nia could hear him. “Just a little cut, ok?”

Nia’s mouth dried up, and her eyes traveled to Okoye and Yaa. The priestess seemed intrigued by his tenderness towards her, but the irritation on Okoye’s face was clear as day. Nia remembered that he was a serial charmer and removed her hand from his. She reached for the dagger and quickly pricked her finger, squeezing a couple of droplets into the flame.

Yaa set the dagger aside to be cleaned and watched as the flames grew in intensity. All four of them stepped back when the fire surged towards the sky and took the vague shape of a man.

“Kokou,” Yaa fell to her knees, and the others followed her lead. “Thank you for answering our call.”

“Where is the fight?” his voice boomed around the expansive room as what looked to be his head swiveled from side to side taking in the four who summoned him. He had no eyes, but Nia felt his gaze land on her and linger for a moment too long.

“There is no fight this time, but we have an inquiry,” Yaa said as she stood.

“Very well,” Kokou’s voice rang out again, and the flames whipped in T’Challa’s direction. “What is so important that the king requires my assistance? Have you not a god of your own?”

T’Challa looked to Yaa for reassurance as he began to stand, and she nodded for him to continue. “Yes, I do, but she is missing.”

“Missing?! What do you mean missing?”

“She has not spoken to me in weeks, and Thoth has not seen or heard from her either.”

Kokou turned back to Nia. “And you have not heard from her?”

“No, sir,” Nia stood tall as she answered him.

“I am surprised she has not spoken to you of all...people,” he said with a mischievous lilt in his voice. Nia stilled as she realized that he knew what she was. She slyly made eye contact with T’Challa, and though his expression was unreadable, she knew he had to have heard it, too.

“You know, blood can tell you a lot about a person...or being,” Kokou began to pace around the large fire pit. “Who they are, what their lineage is...you, Nia, are very special. But I am sure you know that already, don’t you?”

Nia ignored the confused stares from Yaa and Okoye and stared straight into where she assumed Kokou’s eyes to be. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

“Kokou-”

“Patience, your highness,” the god chastised T’Challa, “I was getting to it. I just had to take a little detour first since you brought me such an interesting young lady. Now, to answer your question: sorry to disappoint, but no. I do not know where Bast is. I wish I did, though; she is an excellent sparring partner.”

Nia and T’Challa both deflated a little bit. They had hoped for a better answer than that.

“Thank you, Kokou,” T’Challa spoke with his head bowed to the god. The others did the same, and just as quickly as he had appeared, Kokou was gone.

--------

“Third time’s the charm,” T’Challa mumbled as he held the intricate iron gate open. Nia and Okoye walked through, and the general was blown away by the beauty before them. The botanical gardens sat on a protected stretch of land on the border between the Mining and River provinces, but people from all over the country traveled there to witness its splendor.

Nia, however, was no stranger to the gardens. She made sure to visit a few times a year just to sit and commune with the diverse group of plants, but she never knew it doubled as a place of worship. She liked that the gardens were never full of people, and depending on how deep she veered off the main walkways, she could avoid the public altogether. Except for the delightful presence of one of the attendants, Nia always managed to find solitude and serenity among the plants of the botanical gardens.

“Has this always been Mujaji’s temple?” she asked as the three of them followed the long, winding path that led to the greenhouses in the back of the gardens.

“As far as I’m aware. Why?”

“It’s just that I’ve been here before, and I never knew. I always felt like there was...something here, but I just assumed I was feeling the energy from all of the plants.”

“You can do that?” Okoye asked, and she caught another shared glance between Nia and the king. They had been doing that all day, and she was growing tired of it.

Nia opened her mouth to try to fix her slip-up, but she was saved when a young woman about her age emerged from behind a mango tree and recognized her colorful headwrap.

“Nia?”

“Sukutai!”

Nia ran over to her, and the women embraced. A smile crept up T’Challa’s cheeks at seeing Nia’s faint glow again, but, unfortunately, it seemed that Okoye might have seen it as well. The king ignored her pointed stares and continued to watch Nia and the woman from afar.

“What are you doing here? It’s been months since I saw you last!” Sukutai playfully scolded her before leaning in like she had a secret to tell. “You have to see the new fire lily blooms; I know they’re your favorite.”

“They are,” Nia chuckled, “but I’m here on business today.”

“Business?”

Nia gestured behind her, and Sukutai’s eyes widened in shock as she finally noticed T’Challa and Okoye standing in the distance.

“My apologies, my king,” she quickly saluted him, but he waved her off.

“None needed. Any friend of Nia’s is a friend of mine.”

Sukutai’s eyebrows almost reached her hairline as she turned back to Nia. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but how come you never told me you knew the king?”

“He’s new,” Nia shrugged nonchalantly.

Sukutai shook her head fondly at her friend as T’Challa and Okoye came to stand next to her.

“What brings you to my humble garden, your highness?”

“I would say this is anything but humble, priestess,” he chuckled. This time it was Nia’s turn to be surprised.

“Priestess?!”

“Yeah, I don’t like to advertise it,” Sukutai shrugged.

“Well, I guess we both have our secrets,” Nia teased, making her friend giggle.

“I guess we do.”

“Sukutai, we are here because we need to speak with Mujaji. Bast is missing and-”

“You need to see if he knows where she is.”

“Yes,” T’Challa nodded.

“Right this way,” Sukutai said as she stuck her elbow out for Nia. She wrapped her arm around it, and the two of them took off, chatting about the flora they passed on the way.

Sukutai led them to the back of the botanical gardens towards the greenhouses. There were several smaller ones scattered around that were about the size of Nia’s home, but the very last greenhouse was huge. It stood about two stories tall and expanded across an acre of land.

“How did I miss this?” Nia wondered aloud.

“You weren’t looking for it,” Sukutai winked. “Too distracted by the pretty flowers, as usual.”

“You should really pay more attention to your surroundings, Nia,” T’Challa teased, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Despite the fact that she was still very hesitant to trust Nia, Okoye had to stifle a chuckle at her attitude. It was refreshing for her to see a woman that seemed to be immune to his charms.

The four of them entered the greenhouse, and Nia was amazed at what she saw. Instead of beautiful flowers and lush trees and bushes, there were rows and rows of crops.

“I knew you had some fruit trees, but I didn’t know you grew other foods here, too,” she said with her mouth wide open.

“We have to. Who do you think taught us how to work the land?”

Nia nodded as she soaked up Sukutai’s words. It had never occurred to her that the humans had to learn agriculture from somewhere...or someone. She wondered if aziza had learned from him, too, and if so, why hadn’t she heard about it? Were their history books incomplete, too? Nia’s train of thought was cut short as they arrived at the center of the greenhouse. There was a large patch of soil surrounded by an old stone wall no more than two feet tall. A small plaque near the opening caught the visitors’ eyes, and they crowded around to read it.

“The first garden?” Nia gasped, and her eyes traveled to the rich soil.

Sukutai smiled proudly, “That’s right. This is where Wakandans first learned how to grow sorghum. Mujaji’s magic still inhabits the land, and he allows us to speak to him through it.”

“How does it work?” T’Challa asked, equally in awe of the plot of land that allowed his people to prosper. Yes, they had vibranium, but what use would that be without the ability to feed themselves? Had they remained hunter-gatherers, they never would have gotten to where they are today.

“I’ll show you,” Sukutai said as she untied her shoes. “Nia, would you like to help?”

“M-me?”

“Yes, you, silly. You have the heart and hands of a gardener.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“First thing’s first, shoes off,” Sukutai instructed, and Nia slid out of her sandals. “Now, you see those jars full of seeds over there?”

Sukutai gestured behind them, and they all turned around to follow her line of vision.

“Yes,” Nia’s voice shook as she spoke.

“Don’t worry about what each one is. Just go pick whichever one calls to you.”

Nia nodded and padded her way over to the table covered in glass jars. She felt the power radiating from each one, but she felt compelled to pick up a small jar full of green coffee beans. Her hand instinctively reached out to touch it, but she pulled back and looked to the priestess for permission.

“Go ahead, take one,” Sukutai urged, and Nia carefully screwed the top off. She reached in and grabbed one of the beans, and walked back over to Sukutai.

“Ok, how does this work?”

“We start with a yes or no question. Let’s try ‘Do you know where Bast is?’ and go from there, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Follow me.”

Sukutai stepped onto the sacred land, and Nia did the same. The ground seemed to vibrate, and Nia’s face lit up. The slight glow returned to her skin, and this time Okoye was sure in what her eyes beheld. She quickly turned towards T’Challa, who looked at her out of the corner of his eye but kept quiet. He shifted his weight away from her nervously and continued to watch Nia and Sukutai work.

“You feel it too, huh?” Sukutai asked with a sly smile on her face.

“It feels...it feels like my feet are buzzing.”

Sukutai’s head cocked to the side, and her eyes narrowed as she tried to understand exactly what was happening. Nia obviously wasn’t a priestess of Mujaji, yet his magic spoke to her in some way. That wasn’t normal, and neither was the faint highlight that appeared on her skin.

“Yeah, it does,” she agreed and shook the suspicions out of her head. She knelt to the ground, and Nia followed suit. “Hold the seed in your hands, close to your face- yes, just like that. Now, close your eyes and let it feel your energy. When you are ready, speak to it. Ask your question.”

Nia shut her eyes and focused on the feeling of the seed in her hands. She pictured it growing big and strong, and after a few moments, her mouth was filled with the taste of coffee. It was ready. She brought it closer to her lips and whispered, “Do you know where Bast is?”

When she peeled her eyes open, she saw a huge grin on Sukutai’s face.

“You’re a natural.”

“Thanks,” Nia giggled. “What now?”

“Now you plant it.”

“Anywhere?”

“Wherever you choose.”

Nia studied the ground around her and turned a little to the left. She held the seed in her left hand as she made a small mound in the dirt with her right. She gave the seed one last glance before pushing it into the soil.

“No water?” she asked.

Sukutai shook her head with a mischievous smile, “No need.”

“Ok...so now we wait?”

“It won’t take long. Usually about-” Sukutai’s eyes widened. “Look!”

Four sets of eyes trained on the tiny green sprout that pushed up from the ground.

“It’s never happened that fast before.”

The sprout turned into a seedling, and the seedling matured right before their eyes. Just as hope began to fill the air, it left, and the coffee plant shriveled up. The leaves turned brown, then a murky black before decomposing entirely. Everyone’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and silence descended upon the group. Without even asking, they all knew it was a resounding “no.”

--------

The silence was thick on the ride back to Nia’s. Okoye flew the Talon with a million questions running through her mind, all of which seemed to come back to Nia. Who is she? What is she?

Nia left her position by the window, no longer interested in the ground below, and met T’Challa by his sand table. She watched for a moment as the molecules dispersed and recollected themselves in the shapes of the temples they just visited and the gods they just contacted. He chewed on his lip as he tried to put the pieces together, but there just wasn’t enough information.

“T’Challa?” Nia spoke softly to keep Okoye from hearing.

“Hm?” he grunted without looking up.

“What if the problem isn't in this realm?”

The king tore his eyes away from the table, and the sand fell flat.

“You are suggesting we go to the magic realm?”

“Again with the ‘we,’” she sighed. “No, I’m suggesting I go to the magic realm.”

He stared at her blankly for a moment before calling out to Okoye, “General?”

“Yes, my king?”

“You will travel back to the palace alone-”

“No-” Nia tried to stop him.

“I will be staying with Nia a little while longer. I will call when I need you.”

“Yes, my king.”

Nia dragged her hand down her face, then immediately looked down and noticed the clay that had transferred to her palm. She pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned in frustration, both at the king and at her careless mistake.

“T’Challa, I just said-”

“I know what you said,” he snipped, “but this is my kingdom, and I need to know what’s going on.”

“But-”

“I’m going with you, and that’s final.” He turned away and joined Okoye in the cockpit.

Nia sat off to the side and pouted the rest of the way home. When they arrived, Okoye reluctantly left the king behind and flew off to the palace.

“She could’ve just stayed outside, you know,” Nia fussed as they entered her home. “Now she definitely knows something is up.”

He rolled his eyes, “She knew something was up the moment you started glowing.”

Nia froze and mentally kicked herself for not using the glamor spell her ubaba had taught her. She was in such a rush that morning that it completely slipped her mind. The smug look on T’Challa’s face made her want to slap him, so she stormed down the hall to her bathroom to fix her facepaint. As soon as she finished, Nia heard the king make a strange noise and looked out to see what he had done. A laugh erupted from her belly as she watched the king stand on the couch to get away from Sego. He glared at her, but his eyes promptly fell back on the python that was too close for comfort.

“Call off your snake!”

“Python,” she giggled. “Sego, stop messing with him, please.”

Sego turned her way, and Nia could see the playful look in his eyes. He thoroughly enjoyed messing with the king. T’Challa climbed down from the couch and let out a calming breath as Sego slithered away to the kitchen.

“So the mighty Black Panther is scared of pythons, huh?” she mocked him as she leaned against the doorframe.

“Not scared...I just don’t like them.”

“Mhm. If it makes you feel any better, he’s not fully a python. He’s a shifter.”

“Meaning…”

“Meaning sometimes he’s in his human form, sometimes he’s in his python form.”

T’Challa thought about it for a moment. “Actually, that does make me feel better. Thanks.”

Nia smirked and rolled her eyes.

“So,” T’Challa cleared his throat, “what now?”

“First, we go see my ubaba, then the queen.”

“Ok...how do we, you know, get there?”

“It’s easy,” she bragged as she walked over to him. “Give me your hand, and I’ll show you.”

Nia reached out to him, and when their hands connected, an image of the two of them sharing a feverish kiss popped into her mind. She gasped and pulled back as though she had touched a hot stove.

“What is it?!”

“N-nothing, I just,” she had to think of something quick. “My headwrap. I take it off when I go to the magic realm...to, uh, let my ears breathe, you know?”

“Um, ok.”

Nia hurried from the room and left T’Challa standing there, confused about what just happened. He knew she was lying despite the fact that her excuse had some semblance of truth to it. Thanks to the heart-shaped herb, T’Challa could hear her heartbeat, and something had caused her heart to almost beat out of her chest. His suspicions didn’t last for long, though, because when she came back from her room, his jaw dropped. Of course, he had noticed her beauty the first time, well the second time, he laid eyes on her, but as she came down the hallway fluffing her coils out into an afro that framed her face like an obsidian halo, he felt a knot form in his chest.

“Ready?” she asked, obviously over whatever had been bothering her.

“Yeah,” T’Challa cleared his throat. He was suddenly parched. “Ready.”

“Ok.” She grabbed his hands again, but this time there was no vision. Nia sighed in relief and looked him dead in his eyes as the atmosphere around them began to thicken. “Be cool. Don’t embarrass me.”

Next Chapter

Taglist: @maddeningmayhem, @theblulife, @motheroffae, @love-mesome-me, @toni9, @bribrisback, @dersha89, @impremenior, @ljstraightnochaser, @love--life--passion, @yourstrulybrii

#cecewritessometimes #troubled waters #tchalla x oc #black!oc #black panther fanfic #black panther au #Youtube

[wondersofdreaming]

Happy Dog-mas!

Characters: Henry Cavill x female reader

Word count: 844

Warnings: Pure fluff.

Author’s note: This is written for @toomanystoriessolittletime‘s Christmas Writing Challenge.

I chose the prompt:“Why is the dog wearing a Christmas Hat?” “Because he wanted it?”

Thank you @radaofrivia for helping with the plot and inspiration <3

I do not own any characters in this short story, except the reader who is a figment of my imagination.

MASTERLIST

Feedback is appreciated.

(Gif by @fakekkoi​, you can find the set here)

Soft white fluffy flakes of snow were falling from the cloud-filled sky, it was sticking to the frozen grass in your backyard, making it look like the beginning of a winter wonderland.

You had been spending the day decorating the house you lived in with your boyfriend. Every free space had been adorned with stars, braided hearts, snow globes, snowmen, and Santa Clauses.

The last of the ornaments were put on the tree that Henry had brought in the day before. You unpacked another box filled with Christmas jumpers and Santa hats. At the bottom finding a few unframed pictures.

Nails clicking on the hardwood floor followed you to the kitchen. A hulking-size fluffy dog ran past you towards the cabinet where he knew his doggy treats were stored. An equal size dog with less poof walked more calmly and sat down next to his excited brother. You giggled and put the pictures on the kitchen island.

You reached for the peanut butter treats you had baked. Kal, your boyfriend’s dog, practically jumped on you to get to the cookie, while Willie, your Great Dane, literally rolled his eyes.

Each massive dog was given a treat. Because of their grand size, the treat was gone in milliseconds. You brewed a cup of tea as you looked through the pictures. One was of Henry in a Santa hat drinking coffee from a mug you had gifted him for your anniversary, with black text saying “I’m Superman” and the Superman logo beneath, while you had gotten the same mug, just with the written text saying “I’m Superman’s girlfriend”.

Another picture depicted Henry and Kal as a pup, running around a snow-covered field, with the snow flying around them.

“Your daddy needs to hang these up, Kal,” you tell the black and white dog, who tilted his head and looking confused at you. You chuckled and gave both dogs another treat.

You looked through the last pictures, thinking of finding some aesthetic frames to surprise Henry. You walked back to the living room with your tea. Kal stuck his bear-like head into the open box and came back up with one of the hats.

“You want to wear that?” You asked him. He barked and strutted happily towards you with the hat. He was patient as you tried but the hat was too small. You scratched the top of your head, thinking ‘what now?’. An idea struck you. You went into your shared bedroom and looked through the closet. A box labelled ‘Christmas clothes’ sat on the top shelve. You found what you were looking for, and cut some holes in it for Kal’s ears.

Kal jumped happily back downstairs wearing the hat, his ears perking through the holes, as he listened to a car door slamming in the garage.

A moment later the front door opened, both dogs running towards Henry. He laughed, a melodious joyful laugh, while Willie stood on his hind legs to lick your boyfriend’s face.

“I’m happy to see you too, Willie,” Henry chuckled. He kissed the top of Willie’s head, giving you a bright smile.

“Welcome home, my love,” you kissed his scruffy cheek. Willie walked off, having gotten his hello-scritches, making room for you to really hug your big beefy boyfriend.

“What did you do today, angel?” He asked while walking with you towards the living room.

“Take a look around.”

Henry’s eyes widened. It looked like a Christmas bomb had exploded. You had hung garlands on all the windows, a string was attached from one end of the room to the other, where you had put the Christmas cards from all your friends and family.

“Honey, this looks amazing! How did you manage to do this in a day?”

“Determination,” you answered, “and I’ve been planning this for a week.”

Henry walked around your living area, smiling at all the little details. There was an ornament on the tree for each member of his family’s name on them.

“I’m just missing the star, which is our tradition that you put on.”

You handed him the top-star, which he had to stand on the tip of his toes to place at the top of the Christmas tree.

It was at that moment Kal decided to trot inside with the white puff from the hat between his eyes. Henry looked at his fluffball dog, then at you with confusion in his eyes.

“Why is Kal wearing a Christmas hat?” he asked.

“Because he wanted it,” you answered simply.

Henry sat down to pet Kal, who decided to sneeze his daddy right in the face. Henry looked up towards you, your whole body shaking with suppressed laughter. He stood and stalked towards you.

“Come give me a kiss, babe,” he said with a wicked smile. You shrieked and ran away from him. He quickly caught up to you because of his long strides. Henry wrapped his muscular arms around your middle section, lifting you off the floor. He turned you around and nuzzled his dog-saliva filled face to yours.

“Merry Christmas, love.”

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