#and they would have been nice to show her using her telekinesis to freeze his hand

[jyou-no-sonoko19]

Zelda Phiona Spellman is not your wife, and you will not be sacrificing her niece on the slab today, Faustus. (you little bitch.)

#Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #Zelda Spellman #Miranda Otto #I really really wanted to gif this scene because she looks stunning #The crowfeather coat and black gloves are an entire vibe #but the whole 'dancing firelight in a cave' lighting scheme is utterly dreadful #Try as I mote there were artefacts everywhere #I couldn't even keep the shots of Blackwood because it was so blocky around him #and they would have been nice to show her using her telekinesis to freeze his hand #and show him trying to free himself #I'm posting it anyway tho because there's value to it #and because it's someone's birthday today who I think will quite enjoy it :>

[thoughtfulpaperback]

CHARMED 03X10 REVIEW!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

Well Damn! This episode was far from perfect, but as far as excitement and moving the plot forward it sure enough stepped up from the last two episodes. Solid 9/10 for me.

Some things to note though are as thus follows:

We might now know who made the Tomb of Chaos and why, but we still don't know how the heck the monsters started getting out in the first place. They could just go the route of the whole fiasco last season (magic dying) caused it but that would mean there is not big bad for this storyline and we'd have to fall back on Abby's storyline for one. Unless the Perfecti are gonna become a problem which they definitely have the potential for.

The writers still can write a solid explanation for how magic works in this world. Josefina obviously is a witch or some magical being (even if she doesn't have a "main" power like telekinesis) proven by the fact she can create spells and apparently is affected by the charmed ones magical allergy. But arguably last season mortals/non magical beings were able to harness magic through combined magical elements and science so maybe anyone can use magic???

The lore is still messy as heck and the effects and vibe still feel more alien/sci-fi than magical. The tallness and the look of the perfecti are giving me star trek realness.

Anyways onto my dislikes ⏭

DISLIKES

1) Effects for Macy's Powers

Last time I mentioned that they changed the special effects for Macy's telekinesis, some of y'all suggested that it was only the force field or magical slow down/motion freeze that had a blue effect. This episode disproved that as Macy threw the dagger and used her powers to push the dagger forward with more force. The effect was blue and again I hate it.

Season 2 motion stop was a whole different color and looked different than this sort of blue force effect. I stand by what I said previously it feels more sci-fi than fantasy and I am vehement against that shift in vibe

2) The writers don't think well clock them for the board?

So the witch board has been programed to find rifts now and we didn't get to see that? I mean Harry said he figured out the calculations to predict where they'd be but not that the board could be programed to figure it out. I mean that would have been a nice feature the episode after he figured it out....I mean come one I know six days have passed but a quick line at least bringing attention to the new feature would be nice.

3) this lore is messy AF

Ya'll i think maybe I need to give up hope that the writers will ever make any of this make sense, but like okay so far we have a source of all magic that apparently isn't affected by a magical tree that -when tainted- can cause magic to die. And now we have advance ancient magic and magical tribes which predate charmed ones. So why are there different lines of charmed ones and when did they come about and why were they needed? Also magical tribes organizing enough to giving up magic to create basically magic AIs to lock up big bads, but apparently in enough chaos to have the problem???? That suggests maybe a time before the chaos of thier were organize tribes. Maybe chaos is subjective here?

Also as far as canon goes, apparently the source of all magic can give people powers (macy got all the powers when she took on the source) and we don't know what the heck happened with that since they used it to fix the tree. Like I'm sure it didn't just go away since it is the source of all fricken magic. Maybe they should look into that or Let Josefina try spending quality time with the tree and some black amber since they cured it.....just saying.

Also I guess the whole consequences for using magic for personal gain is 100% gone because I think self-medicating with your powers would fall under that category.

LIKES

1) Hacy moments that both cure depression and remind me that there are still issues afoot.

I love me those hacy scenes where they support and care for each other as a couple. I awwed, but it looks like Harry got a taste of that mortal life and won't be letting go of it as a possibility, while Macy looked a bit off put by the idea of what mortality for Harry might mean. So there is the promise of some drama in the future.

I love whitelighter Harry. I think that since the show is really shifting vibes Harry's whitelighter status and abilities (which still are vague tbh) still tether it to the OG or at least the idea of it being in the vein of the OG Charmed. If there are no more whitelighters at all then I feel like they might as well have renamed it and or just as easily have it be a different show completely. I hold onto the idea that that fantasy feeling and demons/whitelighters were the core of What made charmed (the og) charmed. So I am glad Harry hasn't permanently lost his powers and hope he never will. I mean the book of shadows had a spell that took away immortality without taking away powers-as seen in season 1- I mean macy used it along with a voodoo spell. The writers mean to tell me that Macy can't remember and rewrite a spell she used but Mel can recreate the book of shadows and possible spells we've never seen them use?!?!?

2) Pacing and energy

I dont know about yall, but the last few episodes weren't very exciting and some felt like they dragged on without moving the plot along. This epsiode was actually quick paced and I felt there were actual stakes here.

3) the messages

Love anytime a show advocates for people getting help with thier mental/emotional health. Love that the show hasn't said that Josefina isn't a witch without powers, love that they are pushing the message of not needing to prove what she is to anyone.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

So the Board detects rifts now...

Maggie forgetting the Marble

Mel being the new Harry as far as overprotective of Josefina and her "readiness"

Dagger dripping green ooze

Perfecti coming through the portal

"I am never gonna stop fighting for you..."

Perfecti coming in to solve all the problems

#the cw charmed #charmed spoilers #hacy #harry greenwood #charmed reboot #harry x macy #macy vaughn #charmed cw #macy x harry #charmed remake #cw charmed #charmed 2018 spoilers #charmed 2018 #mel vera #maggie vera

[mimsylovesloki]

Episode 3-Play by Play Reactions (Spoilers)

I’m so excited

Previously on? Oh please like I need a reminder of what I’ve been obsessing over forever

I miss Randy

This reminds me, how did that person know where the timekeepers are? I’d assume only someone of the status of Judge Renslayer would know.

Ooh funky beat

Oh lunch with Sylvie and that one soldier?

I don’t think that’s what a brain freeze is lmao

Oh they’re friends? Or is Sylvie just in her head?

Hmmmmmm

Poor girl

Oh yup

Oop—

I like the opening thing, but I was kinda hopeful that it’d change from episode to episode like wandavision

Lmao not the best security I gotta say

Yo magic don’t work here girly

Oh she just murdered that guy

Nice moves!

Oh that guy is dead too

GET HER LOKI

MY BOY GOT HIS KNIVES

See TVA, this is why guns are nice. You don’t need to engage in hand to hand combat

Yea that’s rude

SYLVIE HURT LOKI? JAIL! JAIL FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!

Rude, Renslayer

Lmao they’re like siblings fighting

Oh that’s fortunate

HAHAHA MAGIC YESSSSSS

Yea she’s not Loki

We got quips

Uh oh lol

Loki what did you do

Ohhhhh the purple realm in the trailers in called Lamentis

Soooo is this termina?

Oh she said watch out to him!

Oh her hair is up in the back. Cute.

Looking out for each other.

Soooo why no likey being called Loki?

Bonding?

No?

Hello?

Hahahahaha she can’t enchant him

What’s her issue?

No that’s not the reason he saved you. He’s just not a murderer like you.

And what’s your plan?

Cmon girl, spill. What’s your background?

Fast pace episode, gotta say.

Sky kinda looks like a painting.

Sylvie, you shut up. Don’t be rude.

“That’s not who I am anymore.” Sooo she WAS one? Sylvie just an alias?

Seems like the theories about them combining lady Loki and Sylvie together are potentially coming true.

Collapse of society? My favorite pastime!

Cmon kids, get along.

Skull kid has to be somewhere around here. (G-get it? Majora’s mask? Anyone? No? Okay...)

Get yeeted

Lmaooo

Oop shape shifting time

Oh this poor lady

Oh lmaoooooooooo

That didn’t go well

Neat weapon.

That sword she has, is that the one Loki later gets?

I hope Sylvie has a good explanation for things...

Ahhhhh the blue outfits. Turtleneck Loki soon???

Lmaoooooooo nice plan loki

Uh oh rich people

Kinda heavy handed line delivery

Lmaoooo teamwork

What’s gonna work? Teeeaaaaamwork

Can’t wait for Loki to throw someone out the window

Lmao he sounds like a robot

TURTLENECK LOKI

Loki is such a pain lol. But she deserves it.

Frigga my Queen

Oh no

Emotions

Please no

Spoiler lmao

What the heck Sylvie lucky

Or not?

What happened to her?

BONDING

WE STAN SUPPORTIVE FRIGGA

Teach Loki that magic!

I wonder how Sylvie’s past was so different than Loki’s? Wouldn’t that make her whole family variants for stepping off the scared timelines path? Why didn’t the TVA act sooner then?

I’m so happy seeing so much more of Loki’s magic.

“Love is hate.”

Loki is such a wonderful pain

Is this flirting???

Of course loki flirts with Loki

Soooo Loki dated?

“Love is mischief then.” “No. Love is... uh something I might have to have another drink to think about.”

We getting Loki drinking and talking about love. Huh.

Oh my gosh is he drunk?

Yep he’s drunk

How does an asgardian get drunk?

Now we have Loki singing in Asgardian

Seems like it’s hitting to close to home for Sylvie mayhaps?

Tom, your theatre kid is showing.

BAHAHAHAHAHHA HE PULLED A THOR OH MY GOSH

Loki dammit. Stop being drunk.

Please please please don’t make Loki a joke. Please. Please. Please. Cmon Loki.

Love?

“Love is a dagger. It’s a weapon to be wielded far away or up close. You can see yourself in it. It’s beautiful. Until it makes you bleed. But ultimately when you reach for it.” “It isn’t real.”

You were close there.

Fight?

Do it!

Please.

Loki can’t just fabricate tickets?

Hey

Did he just break that guys hand lmao

Nice Sylvie. Using your headpiece as a weapon. Copying Ragnarok Loki

Loki missed? Must be cuz he’s drunk.

Aaaaaand Loki was thrown out the window. Why does this keep happening to him? First dark world by Thor.

A little nervous rn with Loki... he seems to be a bit of a joke rn which is what I was afraid of. I hope this is just a little thing and that they’re not trying to make Sylvie better than Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. I mean, you could chalk it up to this Loki being a variant, so maybe there are other things different about him, but that begs to question, at what point does the TVA step in? We saw other Loki variants in that little hologram display in episode two that seemed like those Lokis had done a lot already.

Now now Sylvie, ahem... “LANGUAGE!”

Bragging about hedonism?

Temper tantrum

Cmon therapist Loki

Sober up Loki.

Scene from the trailer I presume.

TVA should step in soon huh? Or is this another apocalypse with no survivors so it doesn’t get picked up on.

Save this world Loki. Trigger the TVA.

Oh. So no trailer scene yet?

Lazy Loki

Cmon Sylvie, teach him! Maybe he can teach you something!

How on earth is Sylvie so different from Loki? I’m so confused.

I hope Loki is able to learn how to do this.

Wait I thought the TVA workers were made.

THEYRE ALL VARIANTS TOO????

BROOOOOOOOO

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

So they’re ALL variants? Soooo, the timekeepers are like running a labor camp? If they have no memories, then what do they think happens when a new worker shows up?

Oh man this is like ragnarok ptsd for Loki if he went through it

Very cool set I gotta say

Also very sad. So many people desperate for their lives.

Major Majora’s Mask vibes

MY BOY HAS SUCH STRONG TELEKINESIS

Tom Hiddleston really said “soooo this is all that Loki CAN do but hasn’t been able to do in the past movies. Soooooo now we’re gonna make him do ALL of it.”

Wait... that’s it????? Why did this feel like the shortest episode so far? I think it was. And the ark was destroyed.

I have so many more questions now, mostly about Sylvie. But also concerns. I really hope they are able to balance series loki with mischievous and clever and silly Loki. And I hope they don’t try to push some kind of female Loki is superior thing (I haven’t gotten that vibe yet, but it’s always a concern for me whenever I see a supposedly gender bent version of a character).

I’m having trouble forming the words for my thoughts. This episode was fun and pretty and intriguing, but probably the weakest for the three so far imo. Not to say it was bad, but it felt kind of like it was amping, then plateaued and then ended. Like we barely got much more information, but more questions and set up but it felt like it ended too quickly. Like more was supposed to happen for this episode but it didn’t.

I hope we can find a way to hear Loki sing in asgardian again, but under less jokey pretenses.

#loki #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #disney #avengers #loki on disney+ #thor #disney plus #disney+ #Loki show #Loki ep 3 #Loki episode 3 #loki reaction #tom hiddleston #sophia di martino #gugu mbatha raw #owen wilson #marvel studios #Asgard

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

The snowy mountains of Dragonpierce

Crystal icicles can be nice to look at, but they are a pain to deal with. The mountains would be a good place to explore some more if it wasn't for the sheer cold. I applaud Connie and their friends for braving the cold and spending a good part of their vacation time here for team building activities.

Dragonpierce is one of those places where looks can be deceiving. Appearance wise it looks like any other snowy place. But when you step inside it's brutal, to say the least. Amber, Bennett, and Xiang are the real MVPs for keeping us from freezing to death with their pyro powers.

It's a shame, really. I want to explore more of the mountains - it really is a fascinating place that's full of resources we can use at the camp. The glacial gyroids were a nice find along with various plants and berries I've never seen before. But the risk is too much, especially for non-seasoned outdoors people like us. I doubt even an experienced adventurer would want to set foot in the mountains without at least three backup plans or something.

Connie and Pai are back again with their team for another retreat. Things have been going a lot better for them, especially now that they have more allies as well as no immediate threats looming ahead. In fact, it's been a little slow as things outside their control has forced them to put their main mission on hold for a bit. Though that doesn't make Connie any less busy, especially now that they're moving up ranks with the Adventurer's Guild so they're up for a promotion soon.

Turns out it's a good thing we planned this adventure because it's been a while since the original team last hung out all together. Luci and Amber have stepped back a bit to focus on the Knights so they've been eager to meet up with Connie again. Noelle, Seraphina, and Xiang have been stepping up the ranks as well, becoming part of Connie's main team for missions. Xingqiu and Bennett have been helping with the new recruits as well as building up their skills.

In terms of combat, Pai says they've improved by a lot. It also helps that they have more members as well as the fact that Noelle and Seraphina are powerful healers. They still have a long way to go in terms of being in the same league as other seasoned adventurers so that's something for them to keep working towards.

Not too long after Connie and the gang first visited the camp, Xingqiu's best friend Chongyun offered his assistance. He's a psychic exorcist with telekinesis and cryo powers. Connie had ran into him a couple times before, tagging along with him on investigations regarding reported sightings of evil spirits.

The next teammates to join were Meggie and Di, both who work at a bar/cafe. Meggie's a friend of Amber's from Stone Bridge, a neighboring town of Bonsai. Meggie is a bartender/astrologer who just moved to the city in hopes of a new start. She says she's not too keen about being a bartender but she has to pay rent somehow - she refuses to monetize astrology, something she takes seriously. Connie says whether you believe her or not, she does possess strong intuition when it comes to reading people.

I have to say, some of her observations about me were spot on. I barely know her and she managed to get a glimpse of me just by reading the stars. I don't know too much about astrology - and it's not something I want to overly look into - but I like to have an open mind. Even if astrology isn't real, I believe some people are highly intuitive - it's a trait that you can't hone in on, you either have it or don't.

Di is a waitress who's from Spring Valley, not too far from the city. She comes from a family of hunters and is a master archer with the power of stealth on her side. She's quite young so Connie has kinda unoffically adopted her. Apparently she's been going through some stuff at home, so that's why she started working at the bar despite being underage. It's not an ideal situation, particularly due to the fact that alcoholism is a thing in her family so obviously she tries to avoid falling into the same path. No wonder Connie wanted to take Di under their wing.

Then along comes Lan, a renowned captain/pirate who's traveled around the continent at least three times so far. She came to the rescue after a mishap with explosives temporarily put Connie out of commission. Apparently someone at the Adventurer's Guild thought it was a good idea to set off explosive barrels at a high cliff to extract some ores. Lan happened to be around the area when Connie literally landed in her arms.

Lan hardly spends time on land as she's always out on the open seas, so she's kinda a legend around these parts. She said she heard about Connie from Xiang as they often write letters to each other, so she was hoping to meet the honorary hero one day. And so fate decided to literally hand Connie to her, which is quite funny.

I mean, imagine falling off a high cliff and landing right in the arms of this badass pirate captain? If that happened to me, I wouldn't know what to say or do.

And finally, there's the newest team member, a conqueror of demons named Xiao. He's basically an immortal being who has been protecting the land for thousands of years, often lurking in the background. Pai never expected him to offer his assistance considering that he usually avoids interactions with others. Connie was surprised too, though they had been working together a lot since having to defend the city so that's probably why he decided to stick around.

Considering how he keeps his distance from mortals, it's also a surprise that he came along for this trip. He does admit that the only reason he reluctantly joined in was to take the opportunity to observe the team, which makes sense. Pai says he's been helping out a lot in terms of improving team combat skills so that's why he needs to know how well everyone fights and what needs to be worked on.

While the others are off doing various activities, Xiao stands in the sidelines, watching over everything. He seems like the type who takes their responsibilities seriously, the kind you shouldn't mess with at all unless you have a death wish or something.

As for this gyroid event, we're gonna use the gyroids to forge weapons designed by Luci, Xingqiu, and Connie. With the team growing and moving up in the ranks, they're in need of more advanced weapons. Noelle's claymore is pretty worn out while Di's bow isn't exactly meant for combat. Connie still has their trusty sword, but it'll be in need of upgrades later on while Xiang's looking forward to switching out her old polearm for something more sturdier. According to Connie and Luci's research, glacial gyroids can produce a range of high quality weapons. In short, it's something to take advantage of as forging weapons is expensive and hard to come by.

While the mountains of Dragonpierce are hard to navigate, Connie says it's nothing compared to the snowy mountains on the outskirts of Starcatcher and Bonsai Harbor. Over there, you can freeze to death if you're poorly prepared, so most adventurers avoid it like the plague. The sheer cold is strong enough to knock you out if you don't have adequate warmth, not to mention the fierce monsters that roam about. As a result, Connie rarely takes commissions to go there, but it's not something they can avoid entirely, not with their standing as of now.

I don't think I'd survive the mountains over there - Dragonpierce is already pushing my limits. I get that Connie and the others want to collect gyroids, but using the mountains for combat training seems a bit risky. Though it's kinda in the middle of nowhere so I guess it makes for a good training ground. Something about the extreme cold helps to put them in the right mindset? I mean, there's other places where they can train that doesn't involve them risk freezing to death but then again I know nothing about fighting and stuff.

I have to say, it's cool to watch them show off their combat skills and powers. Connie's come a long way as a leader - that's what I call growth! Pai continues to cheer on from the sidelines while offering commentary once in a while. I wonder if one day she'll join in on the field too but I feel like that's asking too much of her.

As much as Connie and Pai are thick as thieves, Pai can be a bit exasperating. Maybe that's why she gets along well with people like Connie and Jamie as they both are kinda jaded and have a low tolerance for bullshit, therefore they can keep her in rein. Also, it's funny whenever Connie roasts Pai because let's face it, she had it coming. Like Pai, we love you, but sometimes you need to step back and be quiet.

It's fun seeing them train and figure out their team dynamics. Like how Xingqiu and Chongyun work well together by coordinating their powers to freeze enemies. So naturally, Connie and Xiao want to utilize that. Xiang, Connie, and Lan also make a deadly combo with Xiang's pyro combined with Lan's electro causes an explosion. Throw in Connie's wind storm and you've got your enemies cornered in a pyro and electro tornado.

At the campsite, everyone's got their own thing going on. Amber's gliding around as usual, practicing her archery as well and bringing fruit for us in the process. Lan, Seraphina, and Xiang have been cooking up a storm in the kitchen and they really like spicy food. I mean, they literally eat hot chilis like it's nothing - it's kinda scary. I though Rika was crazy when it came to spice but I think these three are in another league.

It's a shame. really. Because if it weren't for the intense heat, I would be able to enjoy these dishes more. They taste good but the spice...why must I be weak?

Di and Noelle have taken an interest in finding materials like plants and rocks. They're really good at discovering new stuff like unusual seashells that contain iron that can be extracted or poisonous weeds that can be used to make potions. Di has her methods of handling dangerous plants safely by infusing her arrows with cryo and shooting at them to temporarily make them safe to handle by putting them into a bubble until they can be stored away.

Bennett and Xingqiu have been showing Chongyun around the camp, teaching him a bunch of stuff in the process. Apparently he doesn't go out much so things like camping is completely new to him, so he needed some time to get comfortable. He comes across as a serious person, kinda innocent and naive though, but dedicated nonetheless. I think with Xingqiu around and Connie keeping everyone in rein, he's been able to loosen up a bit.

Pai's been having fun - she's either off doing her own thing and getting into some sort of trouble or bothering someone. It seems like the others have joined in on roasting Pai when she finds herself in a mess that she caused. It's also nice seeing Connie loosen up too, probably since they've gotten comfortable in this unfamiliar world. Pai says they've been making friends and allies left and right - from ordinary citizens to people among high rankings, even some gods as well - it's pretty wild actually.

Of course, Connie remains humble and shrugs it off as it's nothing. They say the high ranking people are just like everyone else, but as for the gods, it's best to exercise caution and expect the unexpected. Also, Connie's at the point where if they hang around certain places for too long, then one of their new friends will whisk them away on some adventure or job. It's only happened a couple times so far but Connie has a feeling that as time goes on, it's gonna become a regular thing, much to Pai's frustration. Connie says they don't mind too much - at least for now.

Since the gang will be coming back in the future for another camp event, I wonder how much things will change by then. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Connie's friends as well as hear more stories about their adventures. I just hope no one insists on doing combat training in Dragonpierce again - unless they're gonna collect gyroids too.

Either way, I think I'll pass on the freezing mountains - I think that's one area I don't mind putting off exploring for a long while.

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

[angstyaches]

This is a fic request for Shayne of him yelling at maybe Elliot, semi trying to protect Charlie by saying that they are not friends that he’s just being around him to get rid of the demon and that’s it aaaaand Charlie over hears....

After the events of the prompt (and the Ouija board session), while Charlie’s processing what Shayne said to Elliott in light of him leaving town without saying goodbye, as well as his childhood trauma. 

The idea for not being able to get up to turn off the light also came from @mxnsterparty​; I hope it’s alright that I added a little CT twist.

CW: headache, demon whump, medication, non-prescribed meds, anxiety, very brief mentions of near-death experience, platonic comfort

Swallow the World: The Rift

On a normal day, it should have taken about ten seconds for Charlie to make it from his own bed, across the hallway, and into the upstairs bathroom. Today should have been a normal day, too; however, the stab of pain going through his skull, practically blinding him in his left eye, was not normal, even for him.

The walk took closer to ten minutes, by the time he’d caught himself on the walls several times, guided himself around the top of the stairs by the bannister – trying not to imagine himself wobbling and falling down and ending up a broken heap in the front hallway – and stumbled through the bathroom door. The light in the bathroom reflected harshly on the white wall and floor tiles, and the brightness cut even deeper into his retinas than the pain originally had, but even in this state, Charlie knew he needed the light, needed to be able to read a label, if he was about to shove pills in his mouth.

He couldn’t tell if his hands were actively shaking or if he just didn’t have the energy to lift them, but reaching up into the cabinet for his dad’s back pain medication felt like pushing his fingers through a wall of quicksand.

Is this a good idea?

“It’s the only idea,” Charlie slurred out loud. He had felt compelled, the past few days, to speak aloud when communicating with Charlie Two, as though he couldn’t form the sentences properly in his head.

It most definitely is not.

It was easy for Charlie Two to judge; it wasn’t their head that felt like it had been clobbered with a bat. So, Charlie One, the owner of the human body, was going to do as he pleased.

You know this is just a band-aid for the real problem.

Charlie caught glimpse of his own sickly grin in the mirror as he shook two pills out of the plastic container, miraculously getting them in the palm of his hand. 

The real problem, according to Charlie Two, was that Charlie wasn’t letting himself feel. Which, again, was easy for a demon to say to a human, when there was such a giant rift between their respective definitions of feeling. And the key to fixing everything was to remember. Fully remember. Acknowledge.

“It didn’t happen, CT,” Charlie whispered before tossing the pills in his mouth. It was probably the sixtieth time he’d said it by now. 

He turned on the water at the sink and lowered his lips to take a mouthful to swallow them back with. And another few gulps for the road, because he had a feeling that once he made it back to bed, his bones wouldn’t be getting up again for the rest of the night.

The beach didn’t happen. It couldn’t have. The visions he’d had during the Ouija board session had just been hallucinations. Surely, if he’d almost drowned as a child, he wouldn’t have blocked it out of his memory for over ten years. Charlie could remember the freckles on the faces of childhood friends, remember tasting his first strawberry ice cream, remember the sting in his palms from all the times he’d fallen off the monkey bars at the park.

“How could - how could I just - just forget something like that?”

It happened, Charlie. I should have said something sooner, but I thought I was protecting you, by letting you forget.

“You can protect me now by being nice and quiet,” Charlie droned, cradling his head and closing his eyes on the way back out of the bathroom. He bumped his shoulder softly on the door jamb, and almost sent himself stumbling across the landing. He smacked at the wall until he found the light switch again, his vision too pierced through with light to keep his eyes open. The drowsy effect from the pills was already kicking in, it seemed, as the heady warmth of sleep began to gather in his cheeks.

You’re not going to forget about him, either.

Charlie gasped and slid a hand along the wall as his legs decided enough was enough. He sank to his knees, easing his forehead down against the floorboards and letting out a whimper. He hugged his arms around his head to try to block out the hallway light. It was like a giant hand had reached down from the ceiling and was pressing him deeper and deeper into the floor, like a cookie cutter into a slab of impossibly hard dough. 

He weakly twitched his wrist and imagined the light switch clicking to the off position, but he didn’t hear any such click. He peered out from under his arm, flinching back and gasping sharply as the light continued to pain down on him like pins into his eyeballs.

“Why?” he groaned. Why wasn’t his telekinesis working? His jumper had started to slide up his back because of the angle he’d positioned himself in, and the cold was rapidly settling into his skin and bones. He couldn’t bare to uncover his face again to fix it, so he just began to shudder helplessly while he winced at the pain.

I’m not helping you if you’re going to ignore me.

“Since when is that how this works?” Charlie whined, pulling his arms even more tightly to his head. 

Since we developed this rift, the night of the Ouija board. It’s thrown us off-balance.

“Well, maybe – maybe if – if you told me what happened in the forest,” Charlie muttered, “we wouldn’t have a rift.”

Maybe if you were willing to remember –

Charlie sobbed drily from deep in his core.

Friend? Shayne had said the word like it was something that revolted him. The harshness of it twisted in Charlie’s gut, even now. You think I’m stupid, that I go around letting myself get attached to people?

“Just…” Charlie whimpered towards the floorboards, his body not finding enough moisture to form any actual tears. “Just turn the light off, CT.”

You seriously think I’d be anywhere near this god-damned place if I didn’t have to be? If there was anybody else who would do it?

“CT…”

You think I’d actually make friends with someone like Charlie? I don’t have friends, Elliott, I have a fucking job.

“Turn the light off, please,” Charlie cried. His fingers grabbed so violently at his head that he felt his nails dig into his scalp, clumps of hair being crushed and tugged. He was about ready to scoop his own skull clean with a spoon, just to be rid of the agony. Light flashed behind his eyelids, penetrating every layer of him, it seemed. 

“If you won’t help me now,” he asked, “and - and you couldn’t stop my best friend from leaving, what the hell good are you?”

You think I meant for him to leave? You think I knew that night in the forest would be the last we saw of him?

“That you saw of him,” Charlie whimpered. “The last I saw of him was...”

Shayne had been trying so hard not to show his pain as he’d left the Mulberry house during the Ouija board session, but Charlie knew it was there. And still, still, the very last words Charlie spoke to him were to tell him to leave.

That was what he was left with; hollow looks, horrible words, and the terrible bloody pain that felt like it was splitting the side of his head open –

A slight click made him open his eyes a crack. He made a small gap between his arm and the floorboards, and sighed when he saw that the landing was in darkness.

“Thank you,” he muttered, tucking his head away again.

Aren’t we going back to bed?

“Can’t,” Charlie mumbled, his back arching slightly at a sharp draft that ran like nails over his back. His muscles didn’t feel like his own. They felt like a hundred splints set over his bones, locking him in place. It was almost like waking up in a state of sleep paralysis, but he hadn’t been to sleep yet.

Charlie.

Charlie?

___

He didn’t know how many times he heard Charlie Two try to stir him, or how long he had to remain on the cold floor before he next felt something warm. Hands, scrubbing at his sides, trying to loosen him. The voice saying his name became warm too, and CT began to retreat into silence again.

“Charlie Bear,” the new voice whispered, “say something to me, please.”

“R-R-R-” His jaw was so stiff that he could barely form the sounds, could barely force his neck to turn. “Rin, how - how did you -?”

“I got your text,” she said softly, sliding her hands up and down his back as though to push out the tension. “You picked a hell of a spot to fall down in a heap, Charlie Bear. It’s freezing out here.”

Charlie hummed in agreement, too exhausted to tell her that he hadn’t sent a text, hadn’t been able to move an inch for God knows how long. 

You’re welcome. You were able to use my phone? Charlie leaned against Rin as she tugged him up from the floor, pulling an arm around her shoulder. At least he could once again communicate with CT inside his head, which was aching considerably less. His thoughts were less scattered too, less pinched, as though something had clicked into place.

“Charlie?” Rin squeaked, her eyes widening behind her glasses.

He leaned one hand against the wall again, afraid he was going to drop right down at Rin’s feet. Everything was spinning, and his chest hurt, and he hadn’t even realised he’d started to cry.

“Oh, god, okay,” Rin said, flapping about him and trying to direct him towards his room. 

“No; no light,” he managed to mumble as he saw her reach for the switch. He could just about make out the shape of the bed with the light trickling up from the downstairs hallway, and that was good enough for him.

Her smile was sad and concerned as she tilted her head, and Charlie could hear everything from the way each line tentatively curved on her face. 

“Rin,” he whined. “Thank you, for - for coming over.”

“Hey, shut up with that,” she half-laughed. 

Rin sat with her back against the wall and beckoned for Charlie to lay his head down in her lap. He groaned, almost overwhelmed with gratitude, as her hand came down to gently rest on top of his head, palm smoothing over his hair. Her fingers didn’t instantly trace down over his left brow, like Shayne’s always did, and he swallowed a lump in his throat as he reached up to guide her fingers downwards.

“This is where it hurts?”

“Yeah,” he choked out. “Feels like something’s burrowing out of me.”

Rin sighed as she began to work small, gentle circles over the side of his forehead.

“Sorry if I pulled you away from studying,” he murmured.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” she chuckled softly. “I’ve basically burnt myself out. I’m not glad you’re in pain or anything, but I am glad to have a distraction. Have you managed to get anything done?”

“No,” he said, terror lurking in the pit of his stomach at the thought of the looming exams. “I think being able to focus on schoolwork would actually be a distraction for me.”

“I’ll help you tomorrow, if you’re feeling better,” Rin offered. “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s study tactics. Might as well put it to use.”

“Thanks.”

Silence drifted down onto the sheets in the darkness, broken only by their breathing, and a slight thud as Rin let her head roll back gently against the wall. The creak of a bedspring as Charlie pulled his legs up tighter to his torso. And finally, a hitched breath as all of the swirling blackness in his chest solidified, forming a dull ache in his chest rather than a sharp one.

“Hey,” Rin whispered, looking down and sweeping his hair back from his forehead. “You’re okay, Charlie Bear.”

“No, I’m – I’m not. He said…” Charlie gulped back a sob, curling his hands into fists and pulling them hard against his chest. He had told Rin the story days ago, after he’d recovered from his fainting spell, but he’d told it robotically, casually, as though he’d been describing a mediocre movie he’d just seen. “I – I almost drowned, Rin, I almost died.”

Rin smoothed the palm of her hand down the back of Charlie’s head. “I’m very glad you didn’t,” she said softly, though anything she said in that moment probably wouldn’t have mattered. She just continued to stroke his head and gently hold his shoulder as he cried. He cried like a floodgate had been opened, like the crying had always been going to happen.

“He…” Charlie began to fight the sobs. “He said he was never even my friend, Rin. He said being around me was just a job he had to do.”

“That was why you were both acting weird that night,” Rin realised.

“And in the forest, Charlie Two… I, we, we left him,” he whispered, the memory of the interaction soft and dark, but unnervingly familiar, in his head now that things had settled down. “He was asking these questions, and – and I didn’t realise he was asking because he was thinking of leaving. If I’d just listened properly, Rin, maybe he wouldn’t have…”

As the words trailed off, Rin let out a sigh. “Maybe. Maybe it would have made a difference, but maybe it wouldn’t have.  I’m sure whatever Shayne’s said or done, it was to protect you.”

Charlie sniffled, rubbing the end of a sleeve to the end of his nose. “You really think that?”

“Well, I – okay, so I’m not sure…” Rin cleared her throat. “I used to think I had a pretty good handle on people, you know? But recently, it’s like… it’s like I’ve just found out I’m a different species to everyone else.”

“I can understand that,” Charlie said, a soft laugh bubbling up through the tears. The dry sound quickly tapered into a whine as the pressure in his head pulsated.

“I guess you can, Charlie Bear,” she said, circling her fingertips over his brow again. Her movements were beginning to slow as both of them sank further into the warmth and comfort of just being there in each other’s warmth and company. “Maybe that’s why you’re the only person I can be myself around lately.”

Charlie gave a deep hum of agreement. “Screw Katie,” he whispered. “The girl clearly doesn’t know what the perfect friend looks like, even when she’s right in front of her.”

Rin bent down to kiss the top of his head, smoothing his hair down again where she’d disturbed it with her chin. “Thanks, Charlie.”

He hummed again, bringing his fists to his mouth to cover up a yawn. He couldn’t even remember at what point he’d closed his eyes.

Rin folded up her legs and began to move across the mattress to the edge of the bed. “I should go home and let you rest.”

“Unless…” Charlie slowly sat up a bit, freeing Rin’s legs and rubbing at his head. The tears had dried up, but he was still holding himself the way a wounded animal would, leaning in her direction like he was just seeking heat. “Unless you want to stay? I thought I’d love having the house to myself, but it – it sucks a bit, actually. Especially on nights like this. I don’t really want to be alone.”

“Of course I’ll stay, babe.” Rin leaned across and slipped her arms around his shoulders. She sighed deeply as he lifted one arm to loop around the back of her neck, his face disappearing over her shoulder. “I don’t want to be alone tonight either.”

#sickfic #sickfic boys #demon sickfic #demon whump #charlie #rin #my ocs #platonic comfort #hurt and comfort #headache #emotional whump #platonic caretaker #charlie two #hurt comfort fic

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA AU Ideas : Darker Stains

Also on AO3 

TL;DR: 

Being a villain might run in Izuku's family, but that doesn't mean he needs to be the same type of villain as his dad. After all, the world doesn't need another All for One.

But I could do with another Stain.

AKA: Izuku, stubbornly follows Stain around until the guy warms up to him, all while he slowly poisons his gen ed class against the concept of heroes. Iida is stuck in the middle of all of this and finding himself begrudgingly agreeing with the kid who seems too sweet to be a villain.

Basically, deku is stain's apprentice

Ok less apprentice, more like "kid he cant get rid of"

izuku has afo and is sensei's kid and its kinda been his mission to get stain onside, but he just kinda started staning stain

so he said "love u dad but can i just like, follow this guy" and his dad said "you know what, its good to broaden your villainous horizons" So he makes a deal w stain: the heroes don't have to die, but izuku will take their quirks from them

in this AU izuku can "borrow" a quirk pretty quickly but needs a solid minute of contact to fully take it

izuku goes to ua, hes a gen. ed. student! he's there to get connections/blackmail but he only shows up around 3 days a week because of "family matters" but he’s holding great grades so they haven’t pushed too hard about his attendance. the only quirk izuku is listed as having is minor telekinesis, its all he uses in school but he gets pretty far in the sports festival, all the way to the tournament but has to forfeit his match because he needs to do something

(it was against bakugo. he honestly could have fought it but bakugo would be way angrier not being allowed to fight him so he left a little early)

so bakugo has always been kinda,,, scared of izuku. he lives w his dad, his mum lives in europe or something, bakugo isn't sure (afo told her it'd be safer for her to leave the country because all might vs him would be dangerous. She agreed but asked that he A, look after izuku and B, she be allowed to give her quirk to him as a gift to keep him safe. its izukus favorite quirk) and izuku has always let off a creepy aura. he had a "weak" quirk but did a lot of unexplained things, was too smart etc and his dad was creepy as all hell

bakugo would never admit it, but he was kinda glad he didnt have to fight izuku

Iida doesn’t get the call from his mum until later so he gets his medal and everything.

turns out? tensei was stopped by the hero killers, they don't "kill" people but they do kill heroes, tensei fought, lost and lost his quirk

so everything happens as in canon up till hosu (mirio has ofa) so izuku knows iida a little, was on his team with todoroki (replaced kami, his quirk was great for grabbing headbands). He actually picked iida's team because he wanted to know more about him before they took on ingenium

he wasnt 100% onboard with the removal of ingenium because he wasn't all that bad but he wasn't perfect for stains ideology because he was pretty profit-focused, had no other heroes on team but loads of sidekicks who make lower rates than heroes and give his agency a funding boost and was from a Hero Family so it wasn't super likely he wanted to be a hero just to save people

but he was a nice guy and put his life on the line for people so izuku thought he was pretty ok but stain was sticking to his guns and izuku didn't want the guy dead,,, so he said sure. so, izuku kinda,,, knows iida is going to come after stain. he saw all the people who put in internship forms, he saw where iida put down and put 2 and 2 together. but, thing is? he really likes iida! every time he's met iida the guy has been super nice to him, if a little uptight. during the cavalry battle he even took a hit for izuku he didn’t need to and izuku liked that so he’s trying to steer stain away from where he knows iida is probably going to end up because fuck endeavour and he's in Hosu

(plus izuku wants that sweet sweet fire quirk because he's not allowed to take dabi's)

also: relevant but only just, izuku has a really cutesy villain costume and isn't linked to the hero killer (like, think bunny poncho)

so izuku is wandering around, trying to work out how to lure endeavour into a dark alley and not having much luck because the nomu are L o u d and he ends up getting pushed to the ground and trampled in a person stampede

which he's a little salty about! but, iida, a knight in shining armour, stops his search for the hero killer to help izuku up and ask if hes ok and izuku blushes despite himself because even tho hes trying to steal the number 2 heroes quirk hes a big fan of heroes and iida? pushing all the heroic buttons

so yada yada, stain ends up taking native because endeavour wasnt leaving the crowds and izuku goes over to take the quirk for him and iida shows up

He steps between izuku and stain (assuming stain ment to hurt izuku) and says hes going to get revenge for his brother

and stain just fucking,,, sighs because he can see izuku's blush from here and the kid is all starry eyed over baby ingenium but like, the kid is vengeance-y and that’s not great for a hero, so he thinks the least he can do is rough him up a bit to teach him what a hero should be doing, because he’s trying to make a point more than anything he doesn’t use his quirk yet and tries to explain his point to iida

izuku is sitting off to the side with native and just watching this go down (he,,, may also be stealing native's quirk,, because fuck that guy but thats not the point)

anyway, iida is losing, and pretty badly too because the kid is angry and alone. izuku has finished taking native's quirk, who still hasn’t realized because hes stupid so he hauls iida over his shoulder from where hes a little concussed on the ground and runs off with him, leaving stain to sigh because what has his life come to

izuku talks to iida about stains ideas while patching him up, admitting that he thinks iida's brother was actually a pretty good hero and that stains a little strict. iida cant help but understand stains way of thinking, even though hes mad at himself about it. he tries to ask izuku what he was doing but he just gets shushed

izuku kinda dumps iida on todoroki and runs

(todoroki swears there was something familiar about the rabbit costumed kid)

so, izuku like comes up to iida during school, says he heard ab. stain and that it was really impressive that he did all that yadda yadda, and then leaves, 20 minutes later todoroki sees iida trying to flex his arms and grimacing. iida admits his arms are a little sore but its nbd

during hero training iida collapses a little and ochako runs over, hes trying not to scream because his arms hurt so bad.

he heads to recovery girl and hes? ok? but now also got engines where his brother did? and todoroki and ochako are so lost. todoroki turns to iida and says "i know this is off topic, but didnt your involvement with stain get suppressed from the media?" and iida freezes

iida trying to find this gen ed student but he doesnt really remember izukus name. hes just "green boy w minor telekinesis who knew too much"

i want izuku ducking behind his bestie shinso to hide from the big bad hero student. shinso is ready to throw down for izuku honestly. izuku confided in shinso ab. his villainous quirk and shinso is honestly shaping up to be his righthand man. together they'll show the world what heroes should really be, by tearing the system to shreds

iida is trying to find "green boy". short skinny green boy who hides behind his tall angry friend and is only on campus like, half the week. 

needless to say iida is having some trouble

so iida, honestly losing faith in heroics (in this au, todoroki told iida about the quirk marriage) goes looking for stain

iida: “where is izuku”

everyone in gen ed: 💪🏽👁👄👁👊🏽

iida, now in tears: “what are you  say i ng”

basically in this au izuku has managed to poison the gen ed. kids against heroics. some of them cant stand their teachers anymore, none of them want to transfer, they fake gag when they see the heroics students and some of them have even dropped out but no one suspects izuku because the kid loves heroes!!!

mic is his homeroom teacher

ooooOOOH TRAITOR MIC TOO

so mic is also the traitor

but hes like,, stupidly in love with aizawa and izuku kinda loves eraserhead so izuku makes his dad promise to not hurt 1a/aizawa so in this au? aizawa doesn't get smashed by the nomu. aizawa was trapped by stains quirk so the guy has tr a u m a but he's not in pain. afo is honestly trying to kill allmight but izuku likes all might so they fight about it but like, a soft fight? and it's disturbing even shigiraki because you should not be lightly bickering over the life of a man

shigaraki s in the corner tears in his eyes because izuku just gave afo permission to “lightly maim him” like goddamn kid what’s wrong with u

stain runs into iida and he's like "god please i dont wanna fight you again the boss' kid will cry" and iida is like ",,, so tell me about izuku" and stain fucking glares at him w such intensity iida is both 1, sure he's correct 2, scared for his life

so stain calls kurogiri and throws iida into the bar and izuku jumps like, 6 feet in the air like a cat and is clinging to the roof but he calms the fuck down and iida is so shook that the only thing he can think to say is ",,, we are too young to be in a bar"

and izuku busts a gut and hes like, crying laughing "you're right we are way too young, why don't we go to another room?" dabi wolf whistles, then has to dodge izuku's now flying milkshake iida n izuku just chat! n iida is a little creeped? because izuku is charismatic and charming and iida agrees with him 100% but he shouldn’t be? he should be nervous or angry or at least a little confused but hes just so charming and bubbly its a little odd. honestly, all the stuff izuku pointed out? iida starts to see how bakugo can get away with acting like an ass but shinso can’t even look at someone wrong without getting set upon

iida is making massive leaps in his training because his quirk has doubled in strength! but, it feels like hes stolen something from his brother

but thats not possible, right? you cant give and take quirks.

of course not

...

right?

iida starts wondering what midoriya's quirk really is, exactly. he never named it. just said "i can use telekinesis on light stuff" but, he hung around villains and seemed to be respected by them, without any visible training, weapons or strength

and shinso, when prompted, said he empathised with midoriya, which iida thought was an odd word choice?

anyway, iida doesnt feel great during hero training. all might's villain costume feels almost offensive? and the profiling aizawa has them do feels wrong, like making assumptions based off the quirk, not the person. it just feels gross and wrong and he's starting to feel really conflicted. because stain hurt people. izuku hurt people.

but he agrees with them

#bnha au #darker stains au #Iida Tenya #tenya #midoriya izuku #izuku #stain #midoriya #iida #villain deku

[hero-philia]

BNHA Secret Santa ~ A Name for Christmas

A/N: Hello everyone! Merry Christmas to all of you, but especially one person that happened to have me being announced her Secret Santa for the BNHA Writers Fest: @antigenius (Okay, why doesn't it let me tag you Q.Q) - I REALLY HOPE THAT YOU LIKE IT!

-----

A Name for Christmas | A Midoriya Izuku Oneshot

-----

The dust in front of him needed an eternity to clear at least a little. Midoriya couldn’t say that he was pleased with not being able to see anything but darkness. Still, he patiently waited for it to disappear nevertheless because he knew that someone was there. 

That you were there. Somewhere not too far away from him, though he couldn’t exactly tell where.

„I wasn’t expecting Christmas to be like this,“ he heard you cough from his right side.

Only a second later he spotted the flashy purple of your hero costume, which made him sigh in relief. 

He would most likely not admit in public that being a pro hero didn’t come with advantages all the time. Having to patrol on Christmas Eve was such a thing. Instead of watching some movie with you, the both of you gave it their best to stop a villain from randomly attacking people. 

Some debris had already hit the ground earlier, which left the whole area covered in dust. Even breathing had become a challenge ever since.

„Let’s show him what we think of his unholy behaviour!“ With this he gave you a nod before aiming for the seemingly invisible enemy.

So far Midoriya hadn’t gotten a real clue about the quirk of the stranger. The only thing he knew happened to be that it had something to do with controlling things like telekinesis. Earlier he had thrown a car right into the house behind them, missing the heroes just by a few inches.

People were surrounding the scene, at least they had done so. Did they run away as soon as the dust had hit the area? He wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t risk to hesitate. 

Every second was important now.

Meanwhile you had managed to escape the place with bad sight. From your new position you watched the green dot going for the spot where the villain had been. Possible that he was still standing there. 

5 a.m. Who the heck attacked people at 5 a.m. on Christmas morning?! 

You stared at the tattoo on your arm, that presented your connection with your fellow hero. Luckily the wind cleared the fighting space and revealed the scenario again. From then on you guided Midoriya with ease, protecting him from the attacks by making his body move unconsciously. 

The boy threw one punch after another, groaning but getting up again if he had been hit himself. He smirked while he prepared to launch his signature attack at the unknowing man. Nothing would destroy his merry plans to celebrate Christmas with you!

„DETROIT … SMASH!“ His voice echoed through the area. A loud thud followed suit.

In order to delete the bond between him and you, you flicked your fingers. Needless to say that the third person was out cold, laying on the floor with a big crack in the road underneath his body. Never mess with Deku’s strength. 

Though he had just fought a villain, the green-head was smiling at you like nothing had happened. You appeared next to him when the few remaining witnesses cheered about your victory. 

„I can always count on you! Thank you for making me block all of those attacks,“ he blurted out in front of everyone. 

Good thing that the media hadn’t arrived yet because that would have caused an endless amount of interviews and stupid magazine articles. Admittedly, both of you were surprised that they hadn’t found out so far, despite seeing you work together as Pro Heroes for three years.

Deku and Collegato - Are they hiding a secret?

Midoriya always blushed at the thought of the newspapers revealing your relationship and everyone knowing it when they would see him. Every now and then he would ruffle his hair when he had just managed to not accidentally blurt out something.

But he enjoyed it either way as long as he could be together with you. 

~ 

„Can’t you stop risking your neck at least once, Midoriya? Both of you look horrible!“

Recovery Girl hadn’t reacted very well to seeing the two of you arriving in the emergency room. The costumes were covered in holes, his face carried one scratch next to the other, your hair pointed into every possible direction.

He scratched the back of his neck, „Sorry! But the villain was endangering a lot of innocent people. I couldn’t watch without doing something.“

In response Recovery Girl eyed at you, putting a smirk on. You tried to avoid her glare by putting your hair up into a ponytail. A rather childish behaviour for an adult and pro hero, but that didn’t matter for you.

„Ah, I see how things are. You jumped in because someone could have gotten hurt.“

And she had successfully broken him within two minutes. Midoriya turned into a stuttering mess who didn’t know where to look without sending weird signs while his face slowly changed its color. After that Recovery Girl didn’t need any official confirmation anymore. She wished a merry christmas before leaving the room.

You sighed. He sighed. 

You started to laugh. He started to laugh. 

„Seriously, I didn’t think that she would be the first one to find out,“ you gasped for air between the laughs as tears began to form in your eyes. 

Obviously, Midoriya’s mom as well as your parents and all of your friends were already informed about the relationship status. It would have been more than exhausting to hide it for two years, especially because none of you had seen a reason to. 

Several minutes later the laughter slowly died to leave space for the first silence since the attack had taken place. Regularly you caught him staring at you, your bandaged arm and the band-aid at your forehead to be more specific. That his own chest was wrapped in it didn’t seem to bother him at all. 

„Hey, Izu?“ He looked into your eyes. „I think we won’t make it to the cinema in time. How about directly going to your apartment instead?“

Originally the plan had consisted of watching a movie, then visiting a nice restaurant nearby and afterwards proceeding to simply enjoy each other’s presence at his. None of you had seen it coming that things might get messed up during your patrol.

Izuku being Izuku had insisted to take that shift because, one, you weren’t too much into Christmas as you didn’t grow up with it and, two, everyone else from the agency could take a day off to spend it with their loved ones. 

Casually you had agreed to accompany him as his patrol partner like usual, not even imagining that you could get a car thrown into your direction. Who would have?

Again he smiled at you this big, innocent smile filled with happiness: „Sounds great! Let’s do it this way…“

You thought he would continue talking as it looked like he hadn’t finished yet, but his eyes scanned the room. When he continued grinning at you while jumping off the bench, you didn’t give it another thought. Not hand in hand, yet close enough to potentially do it, you walked out of the hospital after you had promised Recovery Girl to watch after yourself a little better. Izuku had to do the same.

Still dressed in your completely stained hero costumes, Midoriya decided to make a detour to the agency. Both of you met in the lounge downstairs after you had changed into your normal clothes, which were much more comfortable and warming than the holes in your suits.

„I’m glad to see that you have a sense of sanity when it comes to wearing proper clothes in winter, that will actually keep you warm,“ you chuckled.

Within the past two years, your boyfriend’s style had made a turn to … the unexpected. 

The cropped, dark-green hoodie seemed to be at least somewhat warm. His ripped skinny jeans didn’t give off such a vibe, though you weren’t complaining about the fishnet stockings underneath. Sometimes the pullover would ride up a little too much, showing off his toned abs and you caught yourself staring at it rather often.

Too bad that he proceeded to put on this long coat, which always reminded you of fashion models. 

Compared to his hero outfit his daily life appearance didn’t have a lot in common with it. Therefore many people would not recognise who they were standing next to in public. Of course you made use of it while leaving the agency; this time hand in hand. 

~

Finally the apartment door fell shut behind your entering figures. As beautiful as all these lights in the streets might be, it didn’t take away the cold. 

You were about to step into the living room to collapse on the sofa, but Izuku physically restrained you from doing so. His bandaged hand applied a bit of pressure on your stomach area, careful not to accidentally hurt you. 

„Could you please wait here for a minute? I’ll be back in no time!“ 

A part of you wanted to walk through the now closed door anyways. On the other hand his puppy eyes had too much of an affect on you whenever he was pleading for something. Like leaving you in the chilly hallway. It always left you stunned that you wouldn’t turn mad then. 

At the same time Izuku had begun to throw around things in his bedroom before going on with the same procedure in the living room. When he had to pass the hallway, he gave you an apologetic smile only to moved on.

„Izuuuuuu? It’s getting kind of freezing out here,“ you complained a little.

Meanwhile on the other side of the door, your boyfriend was struggling with multitasking as he tried to switch on the sound station and to put on his new sweater simultaneously. 

After pushing his head through the matching hole, he shouted, „Just a minute! I’m nearly finished!“

Literally a minute later, the door swung open in front of you. A wild mix of green, red and gold jumped into your sight. And you bursted out in laughter. 

„Oh my god! That’s the most Christmas-y sweater I’ve ever seen!“

He chuckled, „I know that you aren’t the Christmas type. But I still wanted to give it a try because it’s Christmas!“

When you stepped into the living room, not only the warmth of the heater embraced your body. The soft smell of gingerbread filled the room while old Christmas hits were playing in the background. Izuku had even decorated the windows with holiday lights, that were shining in all colours of the rainbow.

Before you could sit down to relax your sore limbs, he took your hand and guided you to the window front. 

„It’s so beautiful, Izu. I can’t believe you arranged all of this!“

You leaned onto his surprisingly warm body and nuzzled your cheek into the soft fabric of the sweater. The gold it contained, managed to bring out your boyfriend’s eyes even more, like they were real green emeralds. 

In response he rested his head on yours, wrapping one arm around your waist to pull you closer.

„I’m really glad that you like it, baby.“

For a moment you didn’t react at all because you were busy replaying the scene in your head over and over again. Did this actually happen? Or did your tired mind start imagining things?

When you looked up to him with a question mark in your eyes, you noticed the small blush on his cheeks.

„Did you just call me baby?“

Out of nowhere Midoriya’s built up self-esteem disappeared and he began to fiddle around with his fingers while avoiding your glance as much as possible. His face turned into a tomato the longer the silence between the two of you lasted. You had probably pushed a button of his.

He stuttered, „Ehm, no. I mean … Yeah, I did! But if you don’t like it, we - we can forget that this happened and live on without ever mentioning it again. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you -„

„I love it. Please never stop using it.“

Now it was Izuku’s turn to replay everything in order to find out whether this had been real or his imagination. With wide eyes he looked down to you.

Your big smile eliminated all doubts and he closed both of his arms around you, leaving you caught in the middle. In this position you could hear his racing heart inside of his chest before pulling yourself up by intertwining your fingers behind his neck. By the second, your faces got closer to each other.

„Merry Christmas, baby.“

He didn’t leave you any room to answer or at least somehow return it before his warm lips made yours melt into a kiss. 

-----

Everyone have awesome holidays and enjoy your time with family/friends/yourself/your pets/etc. - I’m off to working on your requests now :3

#bnha writers fest #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha scenario #bnha fluff #bnha pro heroes #bnha x reader #bnha midoriya #bnha izuku #bnha deku #midoriya izuku #midoriya izuku x reader #midoriya x reader

[residentanchor]

Practicality/Theorem Fun Facts!

I wrote this a while ago but I forgot to save it when I moved blogs. So! Before the sequel goes up, I’m re-writing it to give you all a refresher! It has been 2 months! Edit: Chapter 1 of the sequel is now up!

Logan

Abilities: Telekinesis/mind reader

Stereotypical sweater vest nerd with telekinesis 

Brown hair and hazel eyes that almost glow gold when he uses abilities (Sometimes, very rarely blue??? Why???)

He tries hiding it through his glasses

“No, that was probably just the sun on my glasses.”

He doesn’t talk about his past much but has let it slip his parents were very supportive of his abilities

was very open about using them when he was younger

He tries not using them AT ALL if he can help it

The others convinced him to be a bit more laid back about it

He’s found himself at least moving or catching things from time to time

Has a bachelor’s degree but doesn’t use it anymore

He used to do online work and work from home but now just works at a bookstore with another job at a bakery (he’s worked there before)

He wears a plain black shirt with a tie when he goes to work--it makes him look nice but not too formal

Patton thinks he looks like a school teacher when he does

I always hinted he was probably on the ace spectrum--he’s Biromantic

It took forever to recognize and admit his feelings for Patton

He’s a hopeless nerd sometimes

Totally doesn’t have a tragic backstory

Patton

Abilities: Multiply(he can make near perfect copies of himself)/Empath

Patton has a love for terrible graphic tees/sweaters with puns and Argyle patterns

 Like he even has argyle socks he wears sometimes

It’s mostly just comfy sweaters/shirts 

He’s actually the shortest of the group, just barely shorter than Logan

He’s 5′7 and Logan’s 5′9

Despite that, he is the oldest of the group

He has blue eyes and his hair is wavy/almost curly and he just lets it do what it wants

He does have some light freckles on his face and arms you wouldn’t notice at first

He’s an only child and his parents baby him a bit too much sometimes

His mom doesn’t like his powers and tells him he can be ‘normal’ if he wants

Honestly it’s because she’s a bit of a worrywart and just wants to keep Patton safe

He likes his pals though and would never give them up!

He’s very overprotective of 3 since an incident...

his dad is a bit more laid back but stopped getting in between the two

Works in a library as a tech

literally everyone knows him because he’s so friendly

I’ve mentioned he ‘doesn’t care to find where he is LGBT+’ wise. He just ‘loves everyone equally’

Logan is pretty sure he’s Pansexual but doesn’t question it further. You don’t need a label!

Virgil

Abilities: Time control (Can freeze and break away from time)/Time travel (Creates portals when he does so)

Virgil buys his clothes almost exclusively at thrift stores

His NASA hoodie he wears sometimes isn’t vintage by choice, it’s just really that old

He loves buying old clothes and adding his own touches to them

Like this black hoodie he added purple plaid patches to he loves and wears the most

most of his style involves hoodies

He got into makeup when his Ex took him to the ren faire and he dressed up like an evil warlock but keeps it very laid back

Working at a craft store has taught him a lot too

He learned how to knit simply because an old lady made a joke about how the needles make great self-defense weapons

also he learned it’s good for his anxiety

he doesn’t share any of that though

He looks to be almost as tall as Roman but is actually sliiightly taller

He slouches a lot so he seems shorter than he is

His brown hair is so dark it looks black, same as his brown eyes

Obviously the palest of everyone 

Has always had weird odds and ends jobs at local mom and pop stores (That’s how he sticks it to the man)

currently has been working at this one for a while, his longest lasting job

He loves his bosses because they keep people away from him as long as he gets his work done

Also the wife also suffers from anxiety so they accommodate him very well

Has dated mostly men in the past but is bisexual

His dad was a little freaked out about his powers but has come to just accept it

His mother died when he was younger and he still wishes he could have done more to help her

Hates his powers but mostly uses them to get through panic attacks and other issues alone(and naps)

Not the best coping mechanism and he knows it, but he’d rather suffer silently alone then look like a mess in front of someone else

Definitely perfectly okay after the ending of Practicality

Roman

Abilities: Electromagnetic Manipulation/Pretty much a walking battery/magnet

When he decides to dress casual, most of his clothes seem to come from the Disney store

Other than that, you will always find him dressed semi-formal

Button down shirts, dress pants and open jacket are staple Roman attire most days(jacket optional)

Roman has spent more and more of his time outside and running around dressed up in a Prince costume trying to ‘be a hero’ and ‘save the world from evil’

His first costume was from one of his theater shows

He’s very much into dressing up and costumes and makeup and acting though he doesn’t let it slip into his normal life ‘much’ 

Everyone knows he's in denial about that though

His hair is light brown and his eyes are brown/hazel

He’s also a bit tan. (I always imagined him hispanic)

He makes up for the blandness in appearance in everything else he does

His prince’s outfit comes with a masquerade mask and his hair is usually slicked back

His parents and friends growing up all knew about his abilities

he described it as that ‘one character trait everyone has’ like wearing glasses so they thought nothing of it

He never formally came out as gay, his parents just accepted it and kinda had a feeling

He is the only one with another sibling--a little sister named Julie

She has no powers but always thought her brother would be taken away to become an X-Men when she was younger

They bicker and fight but she looks up to him a lot and while fulfilling her sisterly duties of being annoying, she would do anything for Ro.

His parents have and I quote “the best romance love story in history” which is why they named their kids Roman and Julie. (*cough Romeo and Juliet cough*)

He has a fan club, did you know about it?

He’s totally a real superhero with an actual fan club and it’s awesome

Went to college to get the degree his parents wanted and got a desk job

lost it shortly before moving in with the others

Life has been a roller coaster since then

Thomas

Abilities: Power absorption (Hmm, guess there is no second one, huh? ;) Strange...) EDIT: Power amplification! Surprise!

Totally didn’t have powers until he was greeted by this guy one day

Tried telling him he had abilities and just kind of freaked him out

Something weird happened and the guy kind of walked away and he tried to forget the whole thing

Met him months later and learned he copied abilities??? 

He told his closest friend Joan about the whole weird situation and gave him the address he was going to for answers when he left

Turns out he DOES have powers, who knew?

These guys just made his life a whole lot more interesting and stressful

You know the story, it’s Thomas, guys!

Life after the whole mess has been weird for him

Logan keeps looking at him weird but pretty much all his memories have returned

He gets random facts wrong he swore he knew

Someone will ask him a question and he will freeze, drawing a blank

Patton keeps in contact a lot and lets him know whats going on

While he doesn’t hang out with the group often since they all moved, he keeps in contact with all of the others in some way

He’s already invited to movie night at the new place

Secretly follows ‘Princey’s’ actions throughout the city to make sure Roman isn’t doing anything too stupid

Visits Virgil sometimes when Talyn needs stuff for some random thing they’re making

He tries to catch Logan at work and gets a new book when he can

Has grown closer to Logan who has a strange interest in his powers...

Hope you’re all ready for the sequel because I’m not haha but maybe I’ll make a newer updated one of this?

#practicality fic #practicality 2 #sanders sides #I feel like I could keep editing this forever so here you go #Minor spoilers if you haven't finished Practicality

[rynne311]

Bad Guys and You

Request: Hey can u do a younger!batsis (4-8 years old) imagine, the reader has powers; flight, elemental powers, and telekinesis. She doesn’t tell the family because she knows Bruce hates metas in his city. One day she gets kidnapped and has to save herself in order to live. She gets home and the family judges her before she runs away and they realize they are wrong and try to find her. Her mother can be anyone but before she was given to Bruce she was abused badly with scars.(Sorry it’s so lengthy I’m-)

Requested by: Anon

Word Count: 912

Requests are Open HERE.

This was nothing new to you, it should be, but it wasn’t.  You had always wished to be like one of those kids you’d seen in catalogs who always looked so happy and loved.  You even thought that was what you were getting when Gotham Family Courts sent you to live with your newly discovered dad, but now you knew that was all make believe and you weren’t going to to get your happy ending.

Cold and scared.  The two things that were most constant in your life, sometimes your only companions.  You still knew how to survive, probably the one decent outcome of being around that boyfriend of your mom’s that you hated so much.  He never meant to teach you, but when you show such unabashed hatred to a kid, they pick up a lot.  You knew you just had to survive tonight, then you could make a real plan.

You kept replaying the events leading you out to the streets.  Now you understood why you were so good at keeping your powers a secret.  Nobody expected to find out that their dad and brothers were the vigilantes keeping the city safe, but they never expected for you be a metahuman capable of rescuing yourself from danger.  The moment you returned home, everything changed and everyone was especially wary of you.  You thought they would be different from your mom’s boyfriend when you moved in, but every charged glance made your stomach drop and you knew you needed to get out.

You finally fell asleep in the alleyway, shivering but asleep nonetheless.  Falling asleep, you weren’t sure you’d make it to morning, but you had to have some hope that tomorrow would be better than today.  Tomorrow, you’d make your way out of Gotham and into a new life.

You were soaked and freezing when they finally found you after hours of scouring the city.  Once you were home safe and dried off, the questions and apologies began.  You were tired, but they wouldn’t stop.  You tried to lay down for bed, hoping that they would get the idea.  Instead, you were followed into your room; admittedly you were now considered a flight risk from the manor.

“I’ve given you too many reasons not to trust me, Y/N,” your father started. “But I’m going to need you to take a leap of faith and do it anyway.”  

Something outside the door caught his attention.  He quickly excused himself out to it, not that you’d been very responsive to his pleas for you to talk to him.

You could hear a faint conversation in the hallway.  You closed your eyes, hoping that it wouldn’t turn into yelling.  As the door creaked back open you could hear someone say, “Just let me give it a try.”

You cautiously peeked an eye open to find Jason sitting on the floor next to your bed.  There was something about him and the way he was just waiting for you that was so disarming.  He just waited as you slowly sat up in the bed

“Are you scared of me too?” you whispered.

“Do you think I should be?” He asked. “Because up until you just asked me, I didn’t think I needed to be.”

“Only bad guys in Gotham have powers,” you reasoned.

“Only bad guys and you,” he answered.  Jason patted his leg, allowing you to curl up to him on the floor.  Once you were settled and he had his arms safely around you, he continued, “You’re not a ‘bad guy,’ Y/N, you’re heart is too nice.  There are a lot of bad people and things in this world, but you’re not one of them.  In your life you’re going to see a lot of the bad stuff, but you’ll have a lot of the good stuff here too.”

“Like what? Nobody likes me because of my powers.”  You could feel yourself losing your composure.

“They’ll get over the surprise of it, I promise.” You opened your mouth to argue, but Jason cut you off, “C’mon all of their best friends have powers and they love them, what do you think makes you so different? You’re their baby sister, way above that best friend level.”

You weren’t sure you believed him, you’d been burned too many times already, but you still let him continue, “You and me, we’re a lot alike, Y/N.  I may not be able to fly or move things with my mind like you can, but I lived on the streets too before B took me in.  And just like you, I knew some not so nice people who would hurt people they thought were weaker than them, and sometimes I was on the receiving end too.  We may not always be as great as we think we are here, but we look out for each other.  And I’m guessing you already know us street kids need to stick together.”

For the first time in your life, you finally felt like someone truly understood you.  Jason had seen a lot of the same terrors of the world, just from other people than you had.  If he could move on, even just a little bit, you could too.

Maybe if you stuck close to Jason, you could have your catalog life.  It didn’t have to be perfect, but as long as you didn’t have to be scared and cold, you were willing to give it a try.

#Jason Todd x reader #Jason Todd reader insert #Jason Todd imagine #batfamily x reader #batfamily reader insert #batfamily imagine #batfam x reader #batfam reader insert #batfam imagine #dc comics x reader #dc x reader #Jason Todd #bruce wayne x reader #jason todd x batsis #jason todd x batsis!reader #bruce wayne reader insert #bruce wayne imagine #bruce wayne #bruce wayne x batsis #bruce wayne x batsis!sister #Batsis #batsis!reader #batsis imagine #batfamily x batsis #batfamily #x reader #x batsis #x batsis!reader

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist OG: Episode 4

The filler begins.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 4: "A Forger's Love"

On their way to Central, the Elrics stop at a train station where they hear of an alchemist named Majhal, whose name had appeared several times in their father's correspondences relating to human transmutation, and decide to pay him a visit in the area. Upon entering Majhal's village, they encounter a girl named Clause, who tells them that a zombie has been murdering several of the villagers, her older sister being one of them. Clause petitions the brothers to avenge her sister's death, but Ed is skeptical of the whole situation. Upon meeting Majhal, he tells the brothers that the mysterious zombie is believed to be his former lover Karin, who died in an accident several years ago. After some more investigation, the brothers discover that Majhal has been attempting to revive Karin by using mannequins that look like her, and using alchemy to attach the souls of the village girls he has kidnapped to the mannequins, kidnapping Clause to use her soul. Ed discovers that Karin had not died, but initially lost her memories and has aged. Once her memories returned, she had sought out Majhal, but he was already too possessed by his passions of reviving Karin to recognize her. Majhal refuses to accept the wrinkled old woman who has been supporting him as his Karin, and he attempts to kill Ed. Ed knocks Majhal's weapon out of his hand, which flies into the air and accidentally impales Majhal, killing him. Clause reverts to dressing femininely and sees the brothers off as they continue on their journey.

We open with the brothers on the train to Central. We get more introspection. Ed makes sure Al is on board, Al says he wants to become a State Alchemist too so he can help Ed. They wonder if it'll be hard to become a State Alchemist, and Ed looks somber for a moment before declaring that it'll be no problem for someone of his talent. Al looks sad and Ed realizes he's thinking about Winry.

Cut to Winry and Pinako looking at the burnt home and talking about how stupid the Elrics are. Winry is crying, but also looks like she's quivering with rage. They hope the brothers will come home soon.

As the Elrics wait for the next train, they stop a purse-snatcher with alchemy. They use a rather large circle to do so, and I'm dubious of how they managed to draw one so quickly.

On the carriage ride to the village, Al feels good about himself because he used alchemy to help people.

When they arrive in the village, they get jumped by a gang of urchins. The Elrics prepare to fight, but are totally uncoordinated and trip over their own feet, allowing them to be easily captured. I think this is really cute, and emphasizes that we're in the past. The skilled fighting styles we saw in Liore clearly took time and experience to develop.

Majhal instantly recognizes Al as a bound spirit, despite that being rare knowledge. Foreshadowing!

When Majhal gives them supper, Ed loudly scarfs down the food, which we hear prominently even while Majhal is giving exposition. This amuses me. It's a good use of comic relief, but has a narrative purpose too: like them failing at the battle earlier, this reminds us that Ed's still a kid, and one who probably doesn't get big meals often.

When Clause shows up, she has a fit and runs away. Ed runs after her, but she trips and starts sliding towards the river. Ed quickly draws a circle in the dirt with a stick, and uses it to freeze the water to catch her. So he doesn't know he can transmute without a circle yet.

Also, we see a mechanism for how Ed was able to freeze the water from afar: the reaction travels from the circle to the river before it freezes. See, if only we had been shown that with Isaac's telekinesis I would have had no complaints. (The grass is also frozen along the line, so okay, fair: Isaac's reactions did need to emanate from the contact point, which is why he couldn't freeze Ed from his automail. Still would have been nice if we could have seen that more explicitly when he froze the first guy.)

We see an echo of Ed's dickishness towards Rose as he dismisses Clause's argument of "dead girl showed up once = dead girl killed my sister!" more rudely than it deserves. Clause insults both of them, calling Ed a pipsqueak and Al a trashcan; this actually gets to Al too, but he just sits in the background feeling gloomy while Ed rants, which I think is hilarious. There's a cartoon shift here, but I think it's appropriate, since the tension is low and this whole childish argument is silly.

Majhal sounds pretty creepy when he talks about Karin. The emphasis that what he remembers first about this long-dead person is her beauty is a little unsettling. It's a little hard to tell if we're supposed to take this as a hint he's evil or if it's framed as a normal thing for someone to say.

Majhal uses the transmutation circle on his wristband to amplify the flame of his lantern to burn the Karin mannequin… but it appears to be the same circle he used to mend a broken object earlier, and I'm pretty sure you need a different sigil for that.

There's a shot of Lust spying on them, but she dismisses Majhal as a weak alchemist. Ed notices her briefly as she walks away. So that's a good way of reminding us of the metaplot.

Majhal says that spirit vessels tend to reject dissimilar spirits, so Al is very special. It's not explained exactly how Ed was able to do it anyway with a jury-rigged solution he made while delirious from blood loss, so we're left to assume Ed is just very speshul. I disapprove. This isn't even necessary for the plot: the bound mannequins should want to lash out just from the fact that they're murder victims.

Majhal says he tried human transmutation and failed, but he doesn't appear to have lost any body function in the process.

Ed recognizes Karin by a blue rose in her hair. I… guess she normally kept it covered, but it's still a little weird no one ever noticed. Possibly she only put it there recently, when she tried to confess to Majhal.

"One day her memory returned in a flash!" I don't think that's how amnesia works.

Also, so what, they never found a body? How did no one find that suspicious?

Majhal transforms a tiny chisel into a giant sword with no clear source for the extra mass.

Ed is somehow able to draw a transmutation circle and transmute the rose into a whip before Majhal finishes charging.

Afterward, in an echo of his optimistic statement at the beginning of the episode, Al feels down because he's realized alchemy can be used for evil.

Aaand at the end we learn Clause is wearing a dress again, which is good because Ed tells her she looks prettier in one. Wow, that is some impressive message whiplash. Obsessing over a girl's beauty is wrong except when the heroes do it?

Conclusion

So yeah, this episode is not great. But I don't think it's a total wash either. This is effective in its use of origin story tropes: we can see how the Elrics started learning their martial skills, but also that they have a long way to go before they reach the level we see in present day. We also get some hints to the metaplot – a cameo from Lust, and a connection to Hoenheim and human transmutation. Unfortunately, the alchemic mechanics featured here don't fit with the rest of the series at all, but since it's a filler episode it's pretty easy to disregard them.

On representation: Clause's plotline is awful, yes. But I actually think the A-plot is rather nuanced. In most stories of this type, the fridged woman really is dead. Having Karin still be alive and having the man reject her anyway reinforces how truly awful he is, and shoots down potential apologism. And hey, it ends with a reverse fridging. It's hardly High Feminism, but it is something a little atypical. Even in this slapdash filler episode, these writers are willing to play with tropes instead of falling into total cliché.

#fullmetal alchemist #fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fma 2003 #liveblog

[ayearofpike]

The Last Vampire 6: Creatures of Forever

Pocket Books, 1996 181 pages, 17 chapters + epilogue ISBN 0-671-55052-7 LOC: PZ7.P626 Lav 1996 OCLC: 35300865 Released September 1, 1996 (per B&N)

Sita, the last vampire, is tired of killing and not hungry anymore, but she still feels a sense of duty to stop those who would harm others. In her service, though, she encounters a larger set of monsters than she had ever imagined. These monsters, she learns, are here to convert humanity to a predominantly negative energy, and their power in our realm stems from their having some of her blood. The only way Sita can stop them is to go back in time and prevent the monsters from getting her blood in the first place.

Holy shit, did I just write that? But yeah, it’s totally what happens in this story. It’s half sci-fi, half period action drama, all frustrating. Not even because of the St. Elsewhere ending — I can deal with that. It’s more about having to craft my own pieces to complete Pike’s puzzle. I’ve said it before, and it’s still true: I don’t get mad at a story that makes me do some of the legwork in figuring out how it gets from start to finish. But I do resent when I’m expected to read the author’s mind and pull in hints that he’s dropped in other places besides the story I’m reading in order to understand what he meant.

I also don’t really appreciate a series that makes a sudden turn right at the end and forces me to mentally retcon practically every activity that has occurred to this point. Here? Aliens. Pike takes all the metaphysical and spiritual elements and jams ‘em in outer space. I know, Sita’s been dreaming about talking to Krishna before getting on a big purple spaceship for the whole series, but it could at least still be understood as a metaphor. And yeah, we got the spectral lizard spaceship in TLV5, but that’s couched in the understanding that the Setians figured out how to spread out rather than that they actually  CAME from elsewhere. Not here. You’ll see.

We open up with Sita and Seymour in a bar. Remember how she turned him into a vampire last time? It’s still true, and as he figures out his powers she’s coaching him through how to use them ethically. Like, he’s picking up this fly skimmie but Sita won’t let him hypnotize her, nor will she let him both drink from her AND fuck her. Man, save one Jeebus Baby and accept the blood of one Hindu goddess to save your own life and all of a sudden you’ve got a complicated moral code. 

Sita’s more worried about the murderer in the corner. Yes, she knows he’s a murderer. It’s a new consequence of having drunk Kalika’s blood, that she can read minds rather than simply being aware of emotions and mental states. So she goes and picks the dude up, and he takes her to a creepy warehouse so they can get busy. Only the weapon he pulls out of his pocket is not a gun or a knife ... it’s a box with buttons on it. Obviously he’s been warned about Sita. She disarms him and asks who told him about her, and right at that moment who should show up but Seymour and his skimmie. She’s got an identical box pointed at his head and tells Sita to drop the weapon. Sita grabs the murderer and tries to negotiate, but Skimmie isn’t having it. She disintegrates Murderer without even blinking.

Of course Sita immediately hides, and Skimmie makes it clear that she better come out without any weapons if she wants Seymour to have, you know, particles. So Sita stashes her knife, with the point aimed at Skimmie, and insists she release Seymour before they continue talking. Skimmie is only too happy to do so — but then she says that Sita must join her side and the first step in the initiation is to kill Seymour. Nuh-uh, Sita says, and uses her other new power: telekinesis. She makes the knife fly from its hiding spot and stab Skimmie in the neck, and while she’s surprised Sita leaps across the warehouse, kicks the box out of her hand, and rips her fucking head off and throws it into a corner. 

Sita and Seymour have to run, and the safest place to be is Jeebus Baby’s house on Lake Tahoe. It turns out that his mom has started to remember some things from her previous life as Sita’s old teacher the seer/healer. She listens to Sita’s story and understands what it means: that a change in the lives of humanity is coming, but that there’s an evil that is trying to steer people away from the light side and into darkness. This evil wants us to focus on powering ourselves for its own sake, rather than spreading the power around to everyone. It wants us to be more invested in ourselves than others, to value strength over love, to value ourselves over others. I swear I am not getting political — okay, maybe a little bit, but this is eerily prescient from a book that was written twenty-two years ago.

Then again, maybe not.

Anyway, Sita knows she needs to do something about these evil beings for the good of humanity. She tracks down the skimmie’s address and finds an indifferent boyfriend drinking beer and watching baseball, who tells Sita that she was supposed to be at a UFO convention in Phoenix. So she flies there (which, like, I know LA is a hub, but how does Sita get flights right when she wants to go?) and sits through a whole bunch of talks until she gets to the last one of the day, where the professor up front describes exactly the dilemma Sita understands (as she and some random lady she befriended snark at him under their breath). She wants to talk to him afterward, but he fuckin’ books it away into the desert. 

Of course she follows him, to a hill only thirty minutes from the Holiday Inn, which shows that Pike has never been to Phoenix (it takes at least 45 minutes to get ANYWHERE in that monstrosity). The professor says the same thing the skimmie did — that they’re going to win anyway and Sita should just join them. Plus! They already have some of her blood, dating back to a ninth-century occultist she wrangled with, thus making them more powerful than ever. And now they have her surrounded: out of nowhere three dudes with ray guns show up, and they try to take her prisoner. Luckily Sita still has her hypnotic powers, and she makes one of the guards break just enough that the other two aim at him and take him down. This gives her time to jump toward one, steal his phaser, and vaporize everybody.

The random friend is waiting for her where the desert road meets the highway. This is unexpected enough that Sita is suspicious, but the woman identifies herself as a genuine friend — and certainly Sita feels deep down that this is true. She listens as the friend talks about the coming change: it’s an increase in density or dimensionality or some such shit. This is one of the places where Pike makes us fill in the gaps, but I was too bored to do it. But anyway, our move forward has to be a choice, a conscious step into the next ... whateverthefuck, and it’ll be predicated on whether we’re positive or negative. And the phaser aliens want us to be negative for ... some reason, and they’re going to get more negativity because of that incident all those centuries ago where they got some of Sita’s blood.

There’s a way to undo this! Sita can mentally travel back in time to her body as it was when she met this evil occultist, who also so happens to be a dimension-shifting alien (I don’t remember if this is where we learn this, but who fuckin’ cares at this point). To do this she has to get on a spaceship with her new random friend and get up to hyperspeed, at which time she just has to focus on where she was and she’ll join consciousness with herself at that time. 

The moment she remembers is when she met the castrated leper who showed her the way to the dude’s castle. I’m totally serious. There’s three people torturing him, and Sita kills them all and saves his life, then talks to him about the evil dude and how to find him. It turns out the castrated leper used to be one of his servants and knows exactly where to find him, but obviously he’s afraid because of how he specifically watched the dude turn evil and get cast out by the pope and invoke demons that gave him his disease. (The missing balls were just to preserve his sweet, sweet singing voice.) Still, she persuades him to take her to the castle, and as they walk there he tells the tale of Perseus and Medusa, and the importance of the power of being able to freeze someone. This will come back later.

Near the castle, she tells the castrated leper to turn back and continues on alone. She happens on a cage on a cart full of naked women, no doubt for sacrifice to this evil monster, and she kills the guards and frees the women, and continues on without so much as a disguise or a costume change or even really a cover story. Like, she’s a four-thousand-year-old immortal vampire and doesn’t give a shit about Satanists. It’s important to note that she’s having trouble remembering the future thoughts she brought back with her, so maybe she doesn’t fully grasp the importance of what she’s doing here now. But anyway, she gets to the castle and meets the lady of the house, who insists she should have dinner with them that night.

At the dinner table, the evil lord seems ... kinda nice, actually. He claims that his falling out with the Church is over how to handle the invading Moslems from across the sea, and that they tried to keep the castrated leper safe and warm but that he ran away in fear of who he was. (I should mention: there’s a kinda gross thread throughout this book that equates the Moors with the Satanic rituals and practices we’ll see in a little bit. I’m going to mostly skip it because it’s not really about Sita, but I sure didn’t like reading it in 2018.) On the wall there’s a spear that the lord claims is the actual spearhead used to kill Christ on the cross and end his suffering, and that the owner is in charge of destiny the way the initial wielder was. There is a nail wired to it ... maybe one of the nails that held him to the cross? It makes Sita think about a baby Jesus ... or is it a baby Jeebus? She’s confused.

She gets back to her room and feels tired. Not just tired ... lethargic and slack. Obviously her food was drugged. She makes herself throw up, and then bursts the door open to find a housemaid waiting to hear her collapse and drag her down to the black rites. Sita demands to be taken there without being seen, and so they use a secret passageway that takes them far underground and into a passage with grates on the floor from which they can observe hundreds of acolytes in red robes gathered around a pentagram watching the lord (who is an evil occultist after all) sacrifice one of the girls Sita thought she’d saved. Suddenly there’s a knife in her back. Literally — the servant stabs her, and obviously has been told there’s power in Sita’s blood, because she starts licking it. They lose their balance and fall through the grate, where the servant dies instantly and Sita blacks out from the knife being shoved all the way through her body.

When she comes to, she is hanging from a wall in a dungeon cell. It’s this pain of being in a crucifixion position that finally makes her memories of the future clear — specifically, she remembers watching a Wagner production in Germany in the 1920s that retold the story of this evil douche, through the veil of being related to a devil preventing King Arthur’s knights from ever finding the holy grail. Pike has obviously done his research here: it’s a real opera that tells how the forces of good are obstructed by an evil wizard with a magic spear. I wonder if he saw a production at some point and thought it would make a cool villain for his eternal vampire to fight, and this was the best way to fit it in.

Anyway, the occult lord shows up with the castrated leper, who he hangs up on the wall next to her with the taunt that he’ll be the object of torture if she doesn’t capitulate. Sure enough, he burns the leper’s wounds until she begs him to stop, and then leaves them alone to stew on their stubbornness of love and the next step. Luckily, they don’t take the leper’s wooden leg brace, which has a wire cross concealed in it. Through much finagling, Sita manages to bend the cross into a hook that she then uses to pick the locks on her shackles. The leper knows of a secret way out of the castle on the other side of the cell wall, but it’ll require them to go through hallways and risk being seen. Unless Sita can just kick through the brick wall itself and make an opening for them to get out. Once there, she tells the leper to get up out and away, while she goes back for the monster to stop him forever.

She finds him on the beach, inside a pentagram, with his wife dead next to another of the girls Sita thought she’d saved. She goes after him, but there’s an invisible force field all the way around the pentagram, and he tells her the only way she’s going to get in after him is to kill the girl. He’s holding his wife’s heart in his hand, and it suddenly starts beating, pounding inside Sita’s head, until she’s driven to madness and rips out the other girl’s heart and jumps in after the monster. But! Now she can only stand on the points of the pentagram. The open space in the circle is fire, and the center has some kind of invisible ravenous beast that will devour her if she goes in there. Her only option is to give up, open up her veins so that the Dark Lord can have her blood. She asks to do it with the nail that is on his spear, and he throws it to her, and sure enough she’s able to use her future powers to make it fly straight into his head, which stuns him long enough that she steals the spear and stabs him in the heart. This makes him stumble into the center of the pentagram, where all his flesh is flayed off before his body is sucked down into nothingness.

And again, this is a perfectly good supernatural occult story. Why is Pike fucking it up with aliens? But Sita wonders why she hasn’t been picked up yet. And she has blood on her hand from the girl’s heart, which won’t wash off. Maybe she has to go see her leper and heal his wounds with her blood like she did the last time she escaped from this castle. So they meet at a pond, and she wants to wash him in it, only he won’t get close to the water. This is weird. Sita has enough doubts, with her memory of the Wagner play and the story he told about Medusa, and so as a test instead of her blood she rubs on blood from a lizard she finds nearby. And sure enough, she notices that the leper’s expression is one of poorly disguised triumph and trickery. She forces him close to the water before he can react —

And his reflection is Medusa. Or maybe the evil occultist. Pike never properly spells it out. But Sita knows right away that she was right: that her buddy with no balls and no left limbs is actually the one in control, that he was the evil lord’s secret puppet master and used the position of power to get what he needed. He’s made her go through the first two steps of the initiation: begging for forgiveness, killing an innocent. But now the third step — willingly giving up some of her blood, despite a warning veiled in a story — has been thwarted.

And before Evil Gorgon Castrated Leper Lord can react, Sita turns to light again, thanks to the stars and the aliens and the completion of her task. And I’m not satisfied with THIS part either. Pike started talking about the light of the stars elevating Sita like four books ago, and we just have to invent so much of the rationale for how it works and why it works and whether these aliens have been assisting her all along in order to get any kind of fulfillment out of this part of the story. It very much smacks of something that just seemed cool back when being haphazardly flushed out in an attempt to build a new (and mostly unnecessary) story element that I just don’t like or believe.

It doesn’t really matter, because Sita goes ahead and undoes the whole series here rather than going back to the ship. She takes advantage of the hyper-light-whatever stage and goes back to when she was seven years old in ancient India and murders the original vampire in the womb, the way her father offered her the opportunity back then. I kinda get this — like, ugh, I just met time-traveling aliens and am going to have to go fix all kinds of ancient wrongs, lemme just get out of it the fastest way possible — but then, didn’t this whole process just make suffering through the evil Satanist for a second time totally worthless?

And if Sita no longer existed in her lengthy state, how did we get the stories? Seymour answers that for us: it seems he’s written the whole thing while feverish with his terminal AIDS, in a six-month marathon of typing that has been handed down to him from the ether. Which, to be fair, Pike said this is how he felt when he wrote these stories too. And it sort of makes sense that in order to end the series (which he said at the time he knew he had to, otherwise he’d only be writing about Sita for the rest of his life) (*cough*Thirst*cough*) he should kill the author.

But that’s The Last Vampire 6: Creatures of Forever. The title is more of a threat than Pike probably realized, but I appreciated him giving this a rest, at least until Stephenie Meyer made it feasible for him to make money again. As for us, we get a break for at least two months before we have to get back to Sita again. Maybe I’ll be ready to plunge in again when she comes back. For now? Get me out of here, star light aliens.

[soepicsokim]

Chapter 26

Chapter 26.

Warning!!!!!! There is kidnapping and violence.!!!!!!!!!!

One week later

   I wake up as the sun breaks through the curtains in Dick’s room. I stretch and turn to look at Dick, only he isn’t there. Where Dick should be laying, is a single red rose and a note. I smile as I pick up the rose and take a whiff of the aroma. The rose smells sweet, but I also smell traces of Dick's cologne on it.

  Letting out a happy sigh, “He's my Robin and my Prince.” I smile and whisper the next part, “I love him so much.” I set the rose back down and pick up the note.

My Princess,

I ask that you have dinner with me tonight. There is a dress already picked out and hanging on the back of the bathroom door. A tiara is in the box on the kitchen counter. I'm at the precinct all day today, so I have my outfit with me. Sorry I didn't wake you up before I left. You looked so, beautiful laying there asleep. I love you.

Go on a date with me?

Your Robin.

              I hug the note and sigh, “He bought me a dress and a tiara?! Oh, my gosh.” I let out a giggle as I jump out of bed and rush to the bathroom. I look at the back of the door to find a black and blue floor length tulle dress, with rhinestones around the right shoulder strap, down the back of the dress.

    I smile as I gently touch the dress and see the stones shimmer in the light. I feel so happy just looking at it. I had to tell Dick thank you immediately. So I use our mental link. THANK YOU SO MUCH. It's so beautiful. How did you sneak it in the apartment without me knowing? And what time is our date?

    I hear Dick's small chuckle as he sits across town hearing my thoughts. It doesn't take long for his thoughts to come through, I’ll send someone to pick you up at 7:30 tonight. I brought in the dress while you were asleep. I'm glad you like it. I love you, Lyds. I would buy you the world if I could. Dick looks at the picture he has of us on his desk and he smiles widely. He softly whispers to himself, “I'm asking her tonight.”

     I giggle and smile looking at the dress, “I want to marry that boy.” I love you too, marshmallow. Can't wait to see you tonight. I jump in the shower with excitement for our date tonight. I let the warm water wash over me while I wash my long black hair. I step out of the shower and wrap my long hair up in a towel. Grabbing the robe that is on the door to the closet, I slide into it and make my way to the kitchen counter.

    There blue box on the counter and I freeze. My breath catches and I gently place my hands on the sides of the box. “I’ll be a real princess.” I whisper with a smile. I slowly open the blue box to find it lined with black felt and a insignia saying ‘Tiffany & Co.’ “He, he bought real diamonds?” My eyes widen as I look at the tiara. It’s silver with a intricate curving swirl pattern. There are small diamonds all over the tiara, along with nine tear dropped shape diamonds.

    I take a deep breath and gently lift up the tiara, it glints and sparkles in the light. I place it down to find another note.

My love,

This is your tiara to keep. You have and always will be a Princess. Now you have a tiara to show the world what I see every day. I love you Lydia Amy Lee Kent.

With all my love,

Your Marshmallow

    I wipe the tears from my face as I set the note back down beside the box and whisper to myself, “I’m a princess.” I step away and giggle spinning in circles, “I’m a princess. I’m actually a princess.” I jump and land on the couch giggling, “Oh my gosh. He bought me a dress and a tiara with real diamonds. Is, is he proposing?”  

*******************

Across town

    Dick is sitting at a desk filling out reports when a fellow officer walks by. “Hey Stewart, can I ask a favor?”

    Stewart turns around, “Sure, Dick. What’s up?”

    Dick smiles, “I’m going to propose to Lydia tonight. Do you think you can pick her up around 7:30 and take her to Gio’s? I don’t get off till five, so I’ll change here and meet her there.”

    Stewart smiles, “Yeah, Dick. I’ll pick her up. I’m happy for you and congratulations man. She’s one special girl.”

    Dick nods and looks back at the picture of me on his desk, “Yeah, she is.” Dick hands Stewart a hundred dollars, “This should cover gas, a car wash, and a new shirt.”

    Stewart takes the cash, “Thanks, man. Sports car or minivan?”

    Dick tilts his head to the side, “Sports car. I want this classy.”

    Stewart nods, “I understand.” With that Stewart walks away  and heads to his home to get ready to pick me up.

    Dick smiles and gets back to work, “Tonight will be perfect.” He says as he works and looks at my picture from time to time.

*******************

Back at the apartment

    I check the clock and see that it’s one o’clock in the afternoon. I walk into the bathroom with the blue Tiffany’s box and pull up a chair to the vanity. I let down my hair from the towel. It fans across my shoulders with small curls in it. I grab the brush and start brushing my hair while blow drying it. Grabbing the curling iron I curl it into loose curls that hang loose around my shoulders. I smile as you use hairspray and lock your curls in place

    I open the Tiffany’s box and pull out the tiara. I carefully place it on my head and secure it into place with bobby pins. It’s so pretty. I feel amazing with this one. I can’t believe he bought me real diamonds.

    As I pick up my makeup brush I hear Dick’s thoughts, Why wouldn’t I buy you real diamonds? You deserve them. You’re a princess. Princesses have diamonds. I’m excited to see how you look in it though.  

I giggle at his thoughts and look in the mirror. I have a smile that goes from one ear to the other ear. I then spend an hour on my makeup. In the end very do a very simple look. I have winged eyeliner and a light blush.

   I sigh as I check the time. It was an hour until someone is coming to pick me up. I stand up and unzip the back of the dress. I gently step into it and pull the one shoulder strap over my right shoulder. If I’m going to have telekinesis then I’m going to use it. I focus and the zipper starts to move. Next thing I know the dress was zipped up.

    I turn to face myself in the mirror. My loose black curls hanging over my shoulders with the tiara glinting in the light. I’m wearing Dick’s colors and a smile plays across my face. I gracefully walk out of the bathroom and slip on a pair of black high heels. By the time I’m ready it’s time for me to head outside.

    Stewart showed up ten minutes early. He was leaning against his silver Corvette, wearing a pair of black slacks and a black button up shirt, along with his Police jacket. He saw me walk out of the apartment building and he approached me, “Are you Dick’s Lydia?”

    I look at him up and down, then nod, “Yes. Are you here to pick me up?”

    Stewart nods and opens the passenger door for me, “He awaits.”

    I walk towards the car and carefully sit in the passenger's seat. I buckle the seatbelt. Stewart closes the door and walks around to the driver's side of the car. He gets in and starts driving to Gio’s. “So what’s he like when he isn’t being a cop?”

    I furrow my brow and look at Stewart. “He’s the same. Smart, nice, caring, he’s always smiling and happy. Why?”

    Stewart shrugs, “Yeah, but he’s a Wayne kid. That money has to get to him.”

    I pop my jaw and sigh, “Richard, has never cared about the money.” I glare at the road as Stewart starts to drive faster. “Aren’t you speeding? I think you should slow down.”

    Stewart grips the steering wheel tighter as he drives through town, “How on earth did he even land a pretty thing like you anyway? You have to be in it for the money.”

    I bite my cheek then respond, “I make my own money. I work for Bruce Wayne at his Wayne Enterprises branch here in Bludhaven. I just happen to love his oldest adopted son. I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it for the family. PLEASE SLOW DOWN!”

    Stewart hits the gas harder and causes a wreck right in front of Gio’s. The Corvette flipped and Stewart got out of the car first. He was covered in blood but, other than the few scrapes and cuts he was ok. He walked around to my side of the car and dragged me out of it, by my hair. The tiara was ripped from my head and throw on the ground. Stewart steps on it causing it to break.

    My dress is now in shreds as Stewart pulls me into the alley and throws me into a black SUV. A person in the back of the van ties ropes around my hands and feet. They hold a rag over my face and I slowly start to fall asleep. The SUV speeds away as people gather around the now crashed Corvette.

    Dick hears the noise and he runs outside Gio’s to see Stewarts Corvette flipped upside down. His heart drops. He sees pieces of my dress attached to the car. He looks on the ground and finds my broken tiara. His throat runs dry and he narrows his brow. “Everyone move back please move back. I’m an officer.” He pulls out his cell phone and calls 911. “This is Officer Grayson, there has been a wreck outside of Gio’s the driver and the passenger appear to be missing. Send backup.”

    Dick looks back at the wreck and he tries to remain calm. Whoever took me, will pay.

A/N: The dress and the tiara pictured are the ones in the story. SO CLOSE. What does Stewart want with Lydia? Dick was so close to proposing. He bought her diamonds?! Will He find Lyds? Will he try to propose again? Stay tuned

Tags: @crazy-fan-girl-with-many-fandoms, @original-colormemeow, @pinkwitch21, @gobydana, @solis200213, @speedypan, @queen-of-all-the-fandoms

@kathlyan

,

@memento-amare

,

@arkham-dame

,

@wynterrobin

,

@femdamian

,

@teachingpanda

,

@gobydana

,

@dtobin14

,

@nightwingdiva

,

@just-a-girl-maybe

,

@ellana-ravenwood

#main story

[joonie-beanie]

Welcome To The Wild Side [4]

<– [3] | [5] -->

Genre: Superpowers + College AU

Rated: T

Words: 2,028

A/N: Here’s an update that no one asked for! :D Too bad! It’s here anyway lmao

On Saturday, you find yourself walking to a pub near the west end of your campus. Jimin had suggested that you two meet for lunch, and, of course, you were always down to get food, so you had agreed to meet up.

Waiting out front, your purse slung over your shoulder, the plaid shirt tied around your waist lightly blowing with the breeze, you glance around the semi-busy street. You’re hoping Jimin didn’t forget about you—especially considering you’d actually given in to meeting despite the fact you hadn’t interacted with him more than once. Seriously—that’s a miracle in your book—so he better show u—

“Hey there!” a voice calls, and before you can turn an arm is slung over your shoulder, silky brown hair tickling the side of your face. Grunting at the impact, you fall forward a little, but Jimin is quick to help steady you.

“You keep forgetting that I am a regular human girl,” you mumble at him as he releases you, and Jimin grins somewhat apologetically.

“I haven’t forgotten~ Sorry, I was just excited to see you.”

You stare at him, eyes narrowing.

“What motive do you have in saying something like that…”

“What?? I’m not allowed to say that I was excited to see you??” Jimin asks in surprise. When your eyes only narrow further, obviously not believing him, Jimin rolls his own eyes and takes a step forward. Raising his hands, he places them on your shoulders, and you stare, now even more suspicious.

“What are you doing?”

“Do you know my power?” he asks, cheeky as hell. You pause, suddenly a little weary of him. You honestly have no idea what Jimin’s power is…in fact, you only know three of their powers. Jungkook has strength, Namjoon has regeneration, and Hoseok has teleportation, but…the other four…

“Jimin, are you going to murder me. Because listen that’d be very rude ‘cause I actually kind of like you guys—”

“Oh~? You like us?” he immediately interrupts, his tone playful. You glare at him, lips curling into an angry pout, and Jimin smiles, staring right into your eyes.

“I don’t plan on murdering you—you’re too pretty for that, and I’m not a bad guy anyway, but--,” he says, shushing you when you open your mouth to refute his words, your cheeks having turned pink from embarrassment.

“Tell me, Y/N…,” meeting his stare again, your eyes widen when you see his eyes slightly changing color—a pink tinge outlining his cornea. “How do you feel about me?”

It’s almost as if your entire attitude flips at his words. Any skepticism or weariness about the situation vanishes, replaced by the steady pounding of your heart in your chest and a burst of adrenaline through your veins. Just like that you find yourself biting your lower lip, hands pressing forward to wrap around Jimin’s neck. All you can think about is him—how much you adore him—and as if possessed you lean forward and press your lips to his cheek.

However…when your eye contact with him breaks—your arms loosening from around him, your alert mind sinking back into its rightful place, screaming warning bells at you—you slowly step back away from him. You rub at your head, as if in a slight daze, and then after a few seconds—when you feel normal again—glance back up at him, both embarrassed and petrified.

“I just kissed you,” you say, your face feeling far too warm, and Jimin laughs.

“I kissed you—what the fuck just happened?? I didn’t even…what…”

“My power is empathy,” he says, carding a hand through his floofy hair. His voice softens as he continues. “I can sense the emotions of other people and also change them—so long as I make eye contact.”

“SO,” he says, smiling at you again, his eyes pressing into little half-moons. However, this time you can tell he’s not being cheeky, just personable. “When we made eye contact I could tell that you were feeling a little…uncomfortable, right? Probably because you’re still getting to know all of us and you and I haven’t really hung out one on one but…I promise I’m nice, ok? You don’t need to be nervous around me.”

“O-Okay,” is your response, feeling a little baffled, but also somehow touched by his reassurance at the same time. However—

“Was in necessary to make me feel…whatever that was for you??” you ask as Jimin steps towards the door of the pub and pulls it open.

“It was attraction, Y/N,” he laughs, motioning for you to step inside. With a little huff you do, Jimin following a step behind you.

“And no, it wasn’t necessary—but I wanted to show you somehow, and I think that was the best outcome for the both of us~”

“Asshole,” you mumble, bumping your hip into his. Jimin laughs, smiling at the hostess as she shows the both of you to a table.

“Just be glad I only made it ‘attraction’ and not ‘lust’.”

At that, a few lewd images float through your mind, and you decide to shut up.

About an hour into your meal together—half of your plate of food now in your stomach and also a few of Jimin’s French fries (“payback for earlier, bitch” “*laughter* I’ll get you back for getting me back, just wait”)—you remember something that you had wanted to ask him.

“Hey, so…I know that usually, you know…people with super powers don’t exactly tell what their power is, but…the other day I couldn’t figure out what Jin, Yoongi, or Taehyung’s powers are. And I’m really curious…”

It’s almost embarrassing to admit it but it’s true. Your mind just keeps turning back to the instant before Hoseok teleported you out of the classroom—the remaining boys getting into fighting stance and tables lifting off the ground—but you hadn’t been able to discern their powers.

“Well, under normal circumstances I would probably look at you like you’re crazy and just walk away,” Jimin says, waving one of his only remaining fries around as he talks. “But because you bumped into Jungkook and because we decided to put our asses on the line to save you—you’re kind of lowkey stuck with us, so I’ll tell you.

“Jin hyung can use telekinesis—”

“Like…moving shit with your mind??” you clarify, wide amazed eyes making Jimin smile—just a little.

“Yeah. Like obviously the heavier the object means the more strain on him, ya know? But he’s strong. For the most part he just uses it to help him clean the house and cook meals.”

“Practical,” you laugh, and Jimin nods in agreement.

“Yoongi hyung has water manipulation.”

“Like water bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender?”

“I guess if you want to put it that way. But he has way less finesse than any water bender. He just kind of…does it. He can make his water turn to ice too—but only if he’s super mad. Overall, he’s really lazy about it, honestly. Out of all of us he actively uses his power the least.

“And Taehyungie has shape-shifting. It’s a pain in the ass,” Jimin groans, face sinking into his hands, and you laugh a little.

“Why is that?” you ask, cheek resting against your palm as you stare at him in amusement.

“Because he can be nearly anything,” Jimin explains. “One time I was at a party dancing with this girl, and she was acting weird but I was too drunk to notice, and then all of the sudden as she starts grinding on me I look up and it’s Kim fucking Taehyung. You never know where he’s gonna be! One time he changed to look like his professor and started teaching class, and then when the real professor got there Taehyung had to run for his life. Like, he uses his power too freely, ok? When he wants to skip class he’ll change into a squirrel and go hang out in a tree. Who does that??”

“Taehyung,” you respond smartly, and Jimin huffs, reaching across the table to poke your forehead.

“Shut up. He’s a dumbass.”

“Obviously you’re good friends,” you smile, and Jimin nearly blushes, cheeks puffing out indignantly. Luckily, before he can say anything, your waitress stops by to drop off your bill. Both you and Jimin smile at her, thanking her politely, but just as she’s about to walk away a disgruntled looking man storms past and knocks into her. You make a sound of surprise, quickly reaching out to catch your waitress as she half-way falls into your lap. At the same time, the now even more pissed off man—even though it’s his fault—makes a full 180 and glares daggers at her.

“Hey!” he growls, hand reaching forward to grab her, and you feel the girl push back against you, scared out of her mind. Also, who the fuck does this dude think he is?

Lashing out, you quickly grab onto his wrist, stopping him from grabbing your waitress. Immediately his anger turns to you, teeth grinding, but before he can make another move Jimin is out of his seat.

“C’mon now, let’s calm down,” he says, the male’s attention turning to him, and as soon as Jimin makes eye contact the man freezes. You release his wrist, his arm dropping back to his side, and within seconds his previous fury seems to melt away.

“Just keep going to where you were going, ok? Ok,” Jimin says somewhat awkwardly, patting his shoulder, and the guy nods before turning on his heel and walking away. As soon as he turns Jimin is digging in his back pocket for his wallet, a little frantic.

“So uhhh…at the longest he’ll only be calm for another minute before my powers wear off, so let’s get the hell out of here,” he says, and your waitress scrambles off your lap, apologizing and thanking you both. You assure her that she’s fine, and as soon as you and Jimin have enough money on the table to cover the bill, you duck out of the pub and hurry down the street.

“Nice one,” you tell him, lungs heaving as you both stop to rest.

“Thanks,” he says, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. “I see now why Jungkook had to jump in and save you that one night. You like getting into trouble, don’t you?”

“ME?” you say, flailing your arms, and Jimin laughs.

“Well, you’re nice enough to help others who are in bad situations, and consequently you end up getting in a sticky situation too. Like with the red-eyed dude and also the guy just now. When he went to grab our waitress you tried to protect her—”

“Well I’m not just going to let him hurt her when she didn’t do anything wrong—!”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Y/N,” he says, breathing a laugh. “You’re a good person for trying to help others, I’ll give you that.”

“Sorry,” you mumble, suddenly feeling a bit bad. After all, if Jimin hadn’t been there you probably would’ve been in big trouble again. “You guys keep saving my ass.”

“It’s fine,” he says, patting your shoulder. You glance up at him, and he flashes you a kind smile. “You were just trying to help, so I can’t be mad about it. And like I said, me and the rest of the guys have your back, ok? Just…try not to get into too much trouble, especially when we’re not around.”

“Fair enough,” you respond, rubbing your arm a little sheepishly, and Jimin pats your head.

“Good. Thanks for taking time to have lunch with me, Y/N. I’ll see you around, alright?”

“Alright,” you respond with a smile, waving as he walks away, and when Jimin turns his back to you, you sigh a little.

Am I just asking for trouble? You wonder, thinking of the seven boys who had accepted you into their little group. You don’t want to have them protect you…but…

“I’ll think about this a different day,” you say, shaking your head, and turn to head home.

#wttws #welcome to the wild side #bts fic #bts superpower au #jimin fic #i'm bad at tags #bts fluff

[abundantchewtoys]

RE: HS launch date and trailer!

Imagine the exhilaration of me seeing there was a launch date announced for Hiveswap today! Yes, it came early, but it was already Wednesday somewhere on Earth by then. :P

The newest holiday in Homestuck mythology is September 14th! I wonder if 914 is going to be a small Easter egg in Hiveswap proper, or even an arc number on scale with what 413, 612, 1025 and 1111 meant for Homestuck! Due to all the delays in the development, I kind of doubt the latter will be true.

I'm sure we're in for more We Love Fine merch coming to us in September as well! :D Now if I can just find the time to play it with Blaperile, that's probably going to have to wait until the weekend. Welp!

I wonder what the significance is of it coming out on a Thursday. Wait, isn't that the normal release date for movies in the US? I kind of remember it being so, because it was a big deal at one point due to Europe's day for releases being Wednesday! This meant we got a movie the earliest in the world at one point, when it released quasi-simultaneously world wide. (And Tuesdays are for avant-premieres.)

Anyway, onto the trailer!

---

A lot of new Jude faces in here, hahah, showing us he can be as dorkly as John when he's not being paranoid, scared or just plain timid.

I wonder what the bomb dropping is supposed to be? It would be something if both Dammek and Joey's homes were destroyed at the end of their respective acts! The rubble we see Xefros staring in shock at one point could point in that direction, but it could also just be Joey arriving. It (the bomb) could also be one of Grandpa's. I see him collecting WMDs for the luls, and use them as furniture or something. Or even catapult fodder.

Speaking of, we see a lot of dramatic reaction shots, but not what they're reacting to, luckily, as for keeping suspense up.

I liked the little moment where Joey and Dammek halt in the midst of the swap and get a good look at each other before getting dragged on again, hahah. Nice freeze frame.

Also, I like the effect of Joey getting suck(er)ed into the portal, kind of like she fell into a pool of candy and can't keep afloat.

What's the deal with Joey seemingly getting eaten by one of the monsters? A 'what if' imagination? Or an event she just barely gets rescued from? Or maybe she spin-kicks her way out of the beast's gut, who am I to know?

Blaperile noted the seeming-generic cube. Maybe Grandpa took it with him from the Medium? Or, since it's glowing, maybe it's just an eccentric lamp.

Notice how the captions ('AN ADVENTURE TOO BIG FOR A TEEN') are in the same font as the Hiveswap logo!

Oh dear (deer) god, at 0:30 Joey youth-rolls out of Dammek's block, to escape his lusus. That's probably the first thing she does on arrival! Then she closes the door behind her.

Blaperile also pointed out what Xefros is doing in his room - he's practicing his psychic powers! Seems he's a long way away from Aradia's control. Perhaps Aradia like many of her friends, also exhibited an exceptional version of her bloodcaste's speciality.

It seems telekinesis is also his equipped 'strife' specibus, like Joey's ballet shoes!

Oooh, and if I'm not mistaken, at 0:34, Xefros strikes a conversation through his chat client with Joey on Dammek's computer! He doesn't notice because pretending they don't know each other must be part of their shtick, perhaps because of Dammek's slightly higher blood colour. And his quirk is using X for 'ex' sounds, and for his horns in his smilies!

I like how instead of speech bubbles, the chat client shows speech hexagons. Another shoutout to the trolls' alien and insect-like biology.

Oh, hmm, at 0:37, Joey puts the generic cube in a lock of some sort. Not to say she couldn't have brought that block with her from Earth, but it looks to be less likely.

---

Yep, I'm still looking forward to playing this game and meeting these characters. It's been a long time coming!

#homestuck #hiveswap #joey claire #xefros tritoh #dammek #jude harley #reaction #spoiler alert

[thefaeriereview]

Check It Out: Sting of Thorns

https://ift.tt/2MDXoXv

   Sting of Thorns by Kristen Brand

Dark and Otherwordly #2

Paranormal Urban Fantasy

Victory always has a cost. 

The fight is over, and Leigh Morgan won. After spending months spying in Otherworld as a servant, she’s rescued the humans who were abducted by the Others and sent them safely home. She had to stay behind to destroy the gateway between worlds and keep them safe, but tough luck. She’s prepared to pay the price.

But she didn’t expect the curse that the queen of Otherworld lays on her: a thorny vine growing under Leigh’s skin that will kill her when it reaches her heart. The queen will lift the curse…if Leigh uses her connections in the human realm to locate a magical weapon lost hundreds of years ago.

To ensure she succeeds, the queen sends her son, Dredarion Rath, the cunning prince Leigh had to betray to save her people. With anger and hurt still fresh, they can barely stand to be in the same room together, much less cooperate on such a dangerous mission. But as Leigh’s friends risk everything to help her, she’ll have to find a way to reconcile with Dredarion before their quest gets her and everyone she cares about killed.

The Dark and Otherworldly series continues with deadlier threats, darker romance, and deeper secrets. Return to Otherworld and buy it now.

Walking through a portal was kind of like getting pushed into a pool. Leigh fell forward through something. It wasn’t liquid or air. Cold, silky, and semisolid, it slid over her skin, parting before her. Dredarion’s hand tightened around her arm as they plunged through it, but she couldn’t see him. She was blinded by white-blue light.

Then the light vanished, and snow crunched beneath her feet as she stumbled forward. She blinked rapidly, squinting, trying to banish the afterimage of that unearthly light from her eyeballs. The air was bitingly cold, and she rubbed her arms for warmth. Eventually her vision cleared. Trees surrounded her, but it was no otherworldly forest; just maple and pine, covered in snow and looking blessedly mundane.

A plain brown sparrow chirped from a nearby tree, and the rumble of cars came from somewhere in the distance. Leigh looked up, seeing a familiar yellow sun rather than the strange, whitish one in Otherworld. Home. She smiled and took a deep breath, having almost forgotten how different it was.

Dredarion murmured something in an arcane tongue, and the portal hovering in the air disappeared with a pop. He knelt to the ground and pushed away the inch of snow covering it. Using two gloved fingers, he traced a symbol into the dirt. It glowed faintly with golden light before fading. Then he rose, and Leigh bit down on the urge to ask what that was all about.

He surveyed the woods, his lips curling in disdain—probably unimpressed by the lack of glowing mushrooms and fluttering sprites. Then he pinned her with his gaze. “Lead the way,” he commanded.

Leigh squared her shoulders, trying not to shiver from the cold. “Where to?”

“Don’t play the fool,” he snarled. “You heard the queen. Take me to Salvador Velasquez.”

“Then what?” she asked. “What will you do?”

He lifted his chin. “Convince him to help me find the Evensong Sword.”

Leigh resisted the urge to scoff. Sure, he’d just talk to him. Nice and civil. Then again, Dredarion probably wouldn’t have to do much talking. He could just show Sal the vine growing under Leigh’s skin.

“Why do you need the sword so badly?” she asked.

“That’s none of your concern.” His jaw tightened. “The days of me explaining my plans to you are over. Just take me to the enchanter.”

The hate in his eyes made her cringe, hurting worse than the sting of thorns did. Her stomach roiled with guilt and regret, but then she forced herself to look back at him. She couldn’t let her feelings get the best of her when there was so much at stake. Holding his gaze, she dropped to the ground, planting her butt in the snow and crossing her legs.

“What in the pit are you doing?” he snapped.

“What I’m not doing,” she replied, “is leading you to my friends when I think this is a trap and your queen just wants revenge.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll pick you up and carry you if I must.”

The wet snow was starting to soak through the bottom of her tunic, but she didn’t move. “Carry me where? You don’t know where Sal is. Have you even been to this world before?”

His nostrils flared, and he took a threatening step toward her. Then he jerked to a halt, shaking his head sharply. “You can’t refuse. The heart vine will kill you.”

“Then it kills me.” Leigh swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling colder than ever. “Better I die here alone than get all my friends murdered.”

Dredarion peered at her for a long moment, his chest rising and falling beneath his leather armor. Small puffs of breath formed before his face in the cold air, and his eyes looked harder than iron. Leigh couldn’t stop herself from shivering. If she stayed out there in nothing but this light smock, she’d probably freeze to death before the vine reached her heart—which sounded like a much better way to go, to be honest. Hopefully, it would be peaceful, like falling asleep. Right now Leigh felt as if she could sleep for years.

“I don’t intend to murder your friends,” Dredarion said at last. “I need the Evensong Sword. It…” He sighed. “It’s the only thing that can stop the Rashrang.”

Where to buy: Amazon

Add to your TBR list: Goodreads

About the Author: f Kristen Brand could have any superpower, she'd want telekinesis so she wouldn't have to move from her computer to pour a new cup of tea. She spends far too much time on the internet, and when she's not writing, she's usually reading novels or comic books. She lives in Florida, the Sunshine State, and will someday go outside for long enough to actually get some sun.

To find out more about her work and read her free web fiction, visit her website you can also find her on Twitter

via Blogger https://ift.tt/35AlVY4

#Blogger #Check It Out #Paranormal #Sci-Fi & Fantasy #Urban Fantasy

[al-winchester]

The Flash - One Shot

Reader is a telekinetic working with Captain Cold and Heat Wave. They caught Cisco Ramon and are trying to find the identity of the Flash.

 I am a telekinetic. I got my ability from the particle accelerator disaster. I easily could have become a hero, like the Flash, but my moral compass sometimes points south. I heard about a pair of criminals with some fantastic guns, and I wanted them. Not to hurt people specifically, but more to just have them. I am young, and fairly attractive, which I use to my advantage. I also had a very innocent look, which made it easy to get away with a lot. I heard those two were planning on robbing a bank, so I planned to be there when it happened. I knew the one with the freezing gun was very smart, so I would have to be careful. I had to play his weaknesses against him if I wanted to make it out alive. I have the element of surprise on my side, they don't know about my telekinesis. I put on some nice clothes before leaving, and headed to the bank. I waited in the long line and looked around carefully. After a while, they came into the bank, holding their guns up. They forced everyone into the bank vault, including me. I happened to be standing right near the door. The smart one told the other one to take one of the hostages to use later. He chose me, and held my hands behind my back. I pretended to be frightened, not wanting to give my end game away. They drove me to a fancy house to keep me in. They had been staying here a while, going off of the food boxes on the table. The not smart one put me roughly in a chair and tied my hands and feet. I knew I could easily untie them with my mind, but I needed to wait. Not time yet. I sat in the chair and observed the room. There was was a pool table nearby, and another chair facing me. There was a young man with shoulder length black hair sitting in it, also tied up. He was cute, so I smiled a bit to him. The one with the cold gun walked in, sitting on the edge of the pool table.

"Cisco, I know you know who the Flash is, so why don't you tell me?"

Cisco shook his head.

He twirled the gun and pointed it at me.

"Let's try this again. You tell me, or I'll shoot her. You don't want an innocent life on your hands, do you?"

Cisco's face crinkled up, trying to think of what to do. I had an idea. His weakness is ego, so I'm going to use that.

"Whoa, darling. You don't want to do that. I'm much more use to you alive." I gave him a flirtatious smile and continued. "Let me out of these ropes and I'll show you."

He pondered my suggestion, then untied me. I stood up, and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Now I can prove to you how much better I am when I'm alive."

I brought my hand up to his face and pulled it closer, glancing between his eyes and his lips. I closed the gap between our faces and softly kissed him. When I pulled away, he put his gun on the pool table and put his hand in my hair and kissed me. My plan was working. I got his attention away from his gun. While I had him distracted, I focused on moving the parts in his gun around with my mind to keep it from firing. He had lifted me up onto the pool table, and I wrapped my legs around him to keep his focus on me. I caught a glimpse Cisco in his chair, who looked in shock. When I finished tinkering with his gun, I hopped off the table.

"Still want to use me as leverage?"

He shook his head.

"I don't. I do need that information though."

"Let me see what I can do about that, hmm?"

He nodded. I walked to Cisco and leaned down next to his ear.

"If you want to make it through this alive with your secret kept, listen to me very carefully."

Cisco whimpered slightly and nodded. I whispered in his ear.

"I am going to get you out of these ropes as soon as the dumb one is taken care of. Then you run. Now give me the name of someone you know."

Cisco still had the scared look on his face as I stepped back.

"Hartley Rathaway."

I looked back at Snart, who nodded.

"There you have it, the name of the Flash."

#flash #cw #barryallen #ciscoramon #cisco #barry #dc #tv #oneshot #writing #fandom #superhero #snart #captaincold #request #commissions #commission